here, Tuesdays.  Tuesday is our regular meeting day.  We have a program, music, and books suggested for the week, reports, business, and one good paper—­the topics vary; here’s ‘Old Thanksgiving Customs,’ in November, then a debate, ‘What is Friendship,’ then ’Christmas Spirit,’ and then our regular Christmas Tree and Jinks.  Once a month, on Tuesday, we have some really fine speaker from the city, and we often have fine singers, and so on.  Then we have a monthly reception for our visitors, and a supper; usually we just have tea and bread-and-butter after the meetings.  Then, first Monday, Directors’ Meeting; that doesn’t matter.  Every other Wednesday the Literary Section meets, they are doing wonderful work; Miss Foster has that; she makes it very interesting.  ’What English Literature Owes to Meredith,’ ’Rossetti, the Man,’—­you see I’m just skimming, to give you some idea.  Then the Dramatic Section, every other Thursday; they give a play once a year; that’s great fun!  ’Ibsen—­ Did he Understand Women?’ ’Please Explain—­Mr. Shaw?’—­Mrs. Moore makes that very amusing.  Then alternate Thursdays the Civic and Political Section—­”

“Ah!  What does that do?” said Mrs. Burgoyne.

“Why,” said Mrs. White hesitating, “I haven’t been—­however, I think they took up the sanitation of the schools; Miss Jewett, from Sacramento, read a splendid paper about it.  There’s a committee to look into that, and then last year that section planted a hundred trees.  And then there’s parliamentary drill.”

“Which we all need,” said Mrs. Adams, and there was laughter.

“Then there’s the Art Department once a month,” resumed Mrs. White, “Founders’ Day, Old-Timers’ Day, and, in February, we think Judge Lindsey may address us—­”

“Oh, are you doing any juvenile-court work?” said the hostess.

“We wanted his suggestions about it,” Mrs. White said.  “We feel that if we could get some of the ladies interested—!  Then here’s the French class once a week; German, Spanish, and the bridge club on Fridays.”

“Gracious!  You use your clubhouse,” said Mrs. Burgoyne.

“Nearly every day.  So come on Tuesday,” said the president winningly, “and be our guest.  A Miss Carroll is to sing, and Professor Noyesmith, of Berkeley, will read a paper on:  ’The City Beautiful.’  Keep that year-book; I butchered it, running through it so fast.”

“Well, just now,” Mrs. Burgoyne began a little hesitatingly, “I’m rather busy.  I am at the Mail office while the girls are in school, you know, and we have laid out an enormous lot of gardening for afternoons.  They never tire of gardening if I’m with them, but, of course, no children will do that sort of thing alone; and it’s doing them both so much good that I don’t want to stop it.  Then they study German and Italian with me, and on Saturday have a cooking lesson.  You see, my time is pretty full.”

“But a good governess would take every bit of that off your hands, me dear,” said Mrs. Apostleman.