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with the rest, waiting for the signals; but she
had been sent by her home room teacher on an
errand to the office. And on her arrival there,
the principal had appeared from his inner office
as her message was being delivered to one of
the office force.

Looking around for some one who was not
busy, he recognized Betty's presence with a
smile. "Betty," said he -- and Betty was proud
that he knew her well enough to address her by
her first name -- "will you please step to the
auditorium and see if the band leader has arrived?
If so, tell him that I should like to see
him a moment before the assembly."

Armed with this authority, Betty Lee was
now invading the present domain of boydom,
while the band gathered and practiced after this
noisy and irregular fashion. It was fun for
everybody and Betty enjoyed her unusual privilege.
She hesitated inside of the central door,
which she had entered, then walked forward as
far as the back row of seats, while she scanned
the platform to see if the young man who trained
the band had yet come in. She could not see
him. There were the rows of chairs, arranged
across the stage, the two central rows facing

 [[6]]