Saturday than the blue sky would leaden, drizzle, then gathering momentum rain steadily through Sunday afternoon.
Isn't that the limit! Lucy stood provoked at the parlor window and watched the gutter's muddy current through the waterfall on the windowpane. It isn't the picnic I mind as not being able to go to the studio to practice. Only Aunt Mabel, who grumbled about everything, didn't mind the wet dreary Sunday and baked cake for afternoon coffee. A fungus damp permeated the house, and the quick growing leaves on the dripping elms outside overcast the parlor.
"One good thing about Sundays," Lucy said to Mae in their room, "when we count our money after payday there's more in our box. How much must we have before we can go to New York City?"
"Four hundred dollars, because it costs a hundred to get there, and enough for a couple of months to give me a chance to find work."
"How much have we now?"
"Two hundred and three dollars and seventy-six cents."
"My goodness, that means we can't go before August because we didn't start saving until January."
"Not so loud, dear, I don't want Mabel to hear."
"August first?"
"Maybe. Put this dress on and show Mabel. Isn't it chick?"
"How do you like my graduation dress, Aunt Mabel? Isn't it chick?"
"Looks more like a wedding dress."
"Oh no, this is the very latest thing, with this sort of clinging skirt and tighter belt. Of course I ought to have some white slippers and long silk gloves to match, but they're so expensive I guess I'll just have to wear my old patent leathers even if the other girls are all in white."
Lucy looked reflectively at her aunt, wondering if she would take the hint. Aunt Mabel gave no sign. But she didn't say no, either.
"I'm glad to see you are learning the value of money," was her only contribution.
"I'm glad," Lucy said to Mae in their room, "I'm not going to waste time in high school. Why, I'd be eighteen when I graduated and too old to begin being a dancer. School is all right but you learn from library books—and look at all the things I learned from Clem.
