"And all these little, kinky hairs, Which, though so frail, can prove such snares, And furnish some one a chance to say: 'Your comb and brush were not cleaned to-day.'
"Hair ribbons, trinkets, scraps and bits, Papers and pencils and torn snips, Left scattered about can prove _such_ pits! And _in_ we tumble, and just 'catch fits.'
"And this is the reason we formed the league, And will keep its rules, you had better believe: To keep our rooms tidy, to keep things neat, So much that is 'bitter' may be turned 'sweet.'"
[Illustration: "DO YOU WISH TO JOIN THE P. U. L.?"]
When she had finished reading, she sat down on the edge of the bed and laughed till she cried.
"Great, isn't it?" asked Ruth. "That's the way Miss Preston brings us up to schedule time. When I came home from the school-building this afternoon I thought I'd do wonders; and," she added, ruefully, "I guess I've done them. Good gracious, I'm so hungry from working so hard that I just can't see straight. Isn't there something eatable in the establishment?"
"If that much work reduces you to a state of starvation, what will you be when it's all done?" asked Edith. "There _were_ some crackers on the shelf, but land knows where they are now; you've dragged every blessed thing off of it."
"There are your crackers, right under your nose," said Ruth, triumphantly, as she pointed to a box of wafers half hidden under Edith's best hat. "There's some tea in that caddy, and you can heat some water in the kettle. What more do you want?"
Edith scratched a match and held it to the little alcohol lamp under the tea-kettle, but no flame resulted.
"Every bit of alcohol is burned out. Have you any more?"
"Not a drop; used the last to get the pine-gum off my fingers after we came back from the woods last Tuesday. Here, take the cologne, that will do just as well," and forthwith the cologne was poured into the lamp, which was soon burning away right merrily. The water was heated, the tea made, and four girls sat down in the midst of the topsy-turvy room to sip tea and munch saltines.
"I came in to ask," said Toinette, "whether you girls have any secret societies in this school; have you?"
"Nary one, as I know of," answered the irrepressible Ruth. "Wish we had."