Belles on their Toes

greasiest, his trousers' cuffs the widest, his fraternity pin the biggest, his football letter the flashiest, and his sweater the loudest.
    He wasn't exactly handsome, but his features were perfect, and he was sure he had a way with women.
    We knew Ernestine was dating somebody that last week, because she had deserted Anne's beach crowd and spent hours rolling up her hair after supper. But she didn't go out at night, and he never came to call. We didn't know until later that he worked nights checking stock, but had most of the mornings off.
    Morton and four or five of Martha's ever-present and ever-neglected beaux were on the dock to see us off for Montclair. This time there was no funny business about half-fare tickets, with Mother in charge. Tom, Frank, and the pets had left a couple of days before, so that Tom could get the house opened.
    Anne allowed Morton to peck her on the cheek, which Mother pretended not to notice. Martha shook hands with her boys, and even condescended to clap them on the back.
    Then we noticed Ernestine and Al. They were holding hands, both hands, and looking into each other's eyes. The green "S" was still sewed securely to Al's crimson sweater, but the fraternity pin was gone.
    Ernestine finally tore herself loose from him. Agnes Ayres, taking leave of Rudolph Valentino to return to the old lecher she was being forced to marry because of his money, never played the scene any better.
    "Wow," shouted Bill. "Look at that hog dog in the sweater."
    "Isn't that the boy who works at the grocery store?" Mother asked Anne. "How long has she been going with him?"
    Half-way up the gangplank, Ernestine turned around, ran to Al, and flung herself into his arms. Miss Ayres never played that scene any better, either.
    Even Mother was too surprised and shocked to make believe she hadn't noticed that. Ernestine tore herself loose again, and raced radiantly up the gangplank.
    "I don't think that sort of thing ought to be done in public, dear," Mother admonished her when she was safely aboard. Mother seldom took any of us to task before the other children, but it seemed time for an exception.
    "Or in private either," Anne agreed. "The idea—a girl your age."
    "I know it," Ernestine said, throwing back her head and looking at the clouds. "I didn't intend to do it. I tried not to do it. But there was something like a powerful magnet pulling me back to his heart."
    "So that's what that green thing shaped like an 'S' is," Anne scoffed. "A magnet. Does it light up?"
    "Jealousy," intoned Ernestine, still looking at the clouds, "ill becomes you, you unfortunate wench whose troth is all but plighted to a beanpole."
    "Becomes me ill is right," said Anne. "Me becomes very ill—sick to my stomach."
    Mother shooed the younger children away.
    "I'm sure he's a lovely boy," she told Ernestine.
    Anne hooted. "You can tell he thinks he's God's gift to women."
    "You just can't bear to see your younger sister engaged before you are, can you?" Ernestine snapped, coming down from the clouds and looking Anne squarely in the eye.
    "Engaged?" Mother almost shouted. "Do you mean to tell me that you and that... I'm sure he's a lovely boy," she repeated quickly.
    Ernestine pulled back her topcoat, and there was the fraternity pin.
    "I never saw such a big one," Anne admitted. "If you had another just like it, you wouldn't need to wear anything else above the waist. What's the fraternity?"
    "Tau Tau Tau," Ernestine said proudly.
    "Never heard of it. And what high school is the 'S' for?"
    "You know perfectly well it's not for any high school," Ernestine hollered. "Make her stop, Mother."
    "Sometimes I think I can't make any of you stop anything," Mother sighed.
    "Excuse me," Anne said. "What institution of higher learning is the two-foot 'S' for?"
    "Not that it's any of your business, but Al is twenty-one, and a junior at Sagiwan Agricultural and Technical College. I suppose you never heard of that, either?"
    "Did you?" Anne asked.
    "Everyone knows about Sagiwan Agricultural. Just because it's not full of snobs like Amherst and Harvard Band Princeton."
    "A Tau Tau Tau at Saggie Aggie," said Anne, shaking her head. "Saggie Aggie. It's got a catchy sound—sort of Indian, and sort of like a fat woman who needs a corset."
    "I think," said Ernestine, bursting into tears, "that you're the most hateful person in the world. I really do."
    "Gosh, can't you take a little kidding?"
    "You and Martha both having the time of your lives all