"What kept you so late?"
"Room 13 is turning out an election circular to-morrow. They asked me to wait while they got up the copy. Johnnie Baffin owns a small printing press; some of the fellows are going around there to-night and after Johnnie sticks the type they're going to print the job."
"Funny I wasn't told about that," Perry said with a shaft of jealousy.
"One thing at a time," Praska said. "You're making a job of the Safety Committee—and a good job, too."
Perry's face lengthened. He told of what had happened in Room B-2—told it bitterly for he was sore in spirit. Praska looked past him, a far-away stare in his eyes, as though in the distance he saw visions of strength and truth.
"Betty Lawton and every girl in Northfield," he said at last, "is a citizen of Northfield. That's the thing to remember. They're just as proud of Northfield as the rest of us. They're just as much interested in the school as any fellow. Of course, girls expect fellows to be nice to them, but I don't think they look for it, or want it, at the price of something big."
"Big what?" Perry demanded.
"Northfield citizenship," Praska answered. "Not the make-believe kind; the real thing."
