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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33530-h.zip b/33530-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7b3e90 --- /dev/null +++ b/33530-h.zip diff --git a/33530-h/33530-h.htm b/33530-h/33530-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf16061 --- /dev/null +++ b/33530-h/33530-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9646 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School, +by Margaret Penrose +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School, by Margaret Penrose + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School + +Author: Margaret Penrose + +Release Date: August 24, 2010 [EBook #33530] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-cover"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2" WIDTH="419" HEIGHT="677"> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""PROCEED!" COMMANDED THE RANGER, AND DOROTHY BEGAN THE THIMBLE CHASE--<I>Page</I> 150" BORDER="2" WIDTH="473" HEIGHT="760"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 473px"> +"PROCEED!" COMMANDED THE RANGER, AND DOROTHY BEGAN THE THIMBLE CHASE—<I>Page</I> 150 +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MARGARET PENROSE +</H3> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF "DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY." +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATED +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY MARGARET PENROSE +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +Cloth. Illustrated. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY +<BR> +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL +<BR> +(Other volumes in preparation) +<BR><BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY NEW YORK +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1908, by +<BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +<BR><BR> +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">TWO YOUNG GIRLS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE FIRE-BIRD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">A QUEER SPRING SUIT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">A DAY OF DANGERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE POLICE PATROL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">A RIDE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">TAVIA'S DANGER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">AN INVERTED JOKE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">A LAWN PARTY "WITH BOYS!"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">OFF FOR GLENWOOD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">VIOLA'S MOTHER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">THE CATEGORY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE INITIATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">LOST ON MOUNT GABRIEL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">WHAT VIOLA DID</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE STRIKE OF THE REBS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">DOROTHY'S SACRIFICE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE TANGLED WEB</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">SUSPICIONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">SUNSHINE AGAIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">MISS CRANE AND VIOLA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">THE REAL STORY</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +TWO YOUNG GIRLS +</H4> + +<P> +"And you are quite sure, daddy, I am not dreaming? That I am sitting +right here with my arms around your neck, and you have just told me it +is all perfectly true?" And, to make still more certain that the whole +matter was one of unquestionable reality, the girl gave her parent such +a flesh and blood hug that a physical answer came to her question in +the shape of a protest from the very wideawake man. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, see here, Little Captain," he remarked, "it is all very well to +make sure we are not dreaming, and that all the good news is real, but +please remember I have put on a clean collar and—your tactics are +quite military. You are acquiring muscle." +</P> + +<P> +Major Dale kissed his daughter fondly as she relinquished her hold on +him, and smoothed back a stray lock of his silvery hair. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so glad for you, daddy," she went on. "You do so need a real +rest, and now we will not have to plan every day what we may spend +to-morrow. I fancy I will still keep the note-book going with pounds +and prices of things, and an occasional orange, and even some foreign +fruit now and then. Dear me! I feel the good of that money already. +We can have so many luxuries—no more scrimping and patching—" +</P> + +<P> +"But, daughter dear," interrupted the major, "you must not imagine that +mere money can bring happiness. It depends entirely upon the proper +use of that commodity—we must always exercise good judgment, whether +one dollar or one hundred dollars are involved." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, of course, I know we are not so very rich, we cannot just exactly +live sumptuously, but we may live comfortably. And really, daddy, now +that it is over, I may as well own up, I have longed with the longest +kind of longing for a brand-new hat. May I really have one? Ribbons +and all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Two, one for Sunday and one for every day," promptly responded the +major, laughing. "But your hats always look new—" +</P> + +<P> +"They do say I have talent for hats, and that one must have originality +to trim and keep old head-gear up to date. So, daddy dear, perhaps, +some day, that hint of talent may develop—I may be an artist or +something. Then I will bless the days when I had to make over hats to +discover myself," and Dorothy promptly clapped upon her blond head such +a confusion of straw and flowers, to say nothing of the dangling blue +ribbons, that even the major, with his limited appreciation of "keeping +old head-gear up-to-date" was forced to acknowledge that his daughter +did know how to trim a hat. +</P> + +<P> +"When will the money come?" she asked, tilting her head to one side to +get a look in the small oval mirror, that was sufficiently large for +the major's neckties, but was plainly too short for hats. +</P> + +<P> +"We won't get it by the pound, like butter, you know, daughter. Nor is +it a matter of so many blank checks to be filled out as we progress +with penmanship—like copy-book work. As a matter of fact, I have just +received the legal information that my dear old soldier uncle +Ned—otherwise known as Captain Edward Dale on the retired list, +resident of India, subject of Great Britain, has answered the last roll +call—and left what he had to me. Uncle Ned was the hero of our +family, daughter dear, and some day I will tell you why you are my +Little Captain—his own successor," and the major laid his hand upon +Dorothy's shoulder in a way he had of making a promise that he intended +to keep. +</P> + +<P> +A commotion on the side porch interrupted their confidences, and the +major took advantage of it to make his escape. He kissed Dorothy +good-bye, and left her to the "commotion" that presently made its way +in at the door in the shape of Tavia Travers, Dorothy's warmest friend +in every thing. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah for the good news!" shouted Tavia, flinging her sailor hat up +to the ceiling and catching it as promptly. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Three cheers for the money,<BR> +When will it come?<BR> +Give a feller some<BR> +Tiddle-umtum-tum<BR> +I have to say bunny,<BR> +To make a rhyme with money!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And Tavia swung around like a pin-wheel to bring her "verse" to an +effective full stop—a way she had of punctuating her impromptu +productions. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy made a comical "squat" to add more finish, and then the two +girls, feeling better for having opened the safety valve of physical +exertion to "let off" mental exuberance, sat down to talk it over +quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you perfectly positive, certain, sure, that it's just you, Dorothy +Dale, and no fairy or mermaid," began Tavia, settling herself among the +cushions on Major Dale's sofa. "Of all the delicious, delectable +things! To have a rich, old uncle die 'way off in India, where you +don't even have to make your nose red at his funeral. And to leave you +a million dollars—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not quite a million," interrupted Dorothy. "Something +considerable less than that, I believe." +</P> + +<P> +"But it's all kinds of money I know," went on the other. "Dear me! I +do wish some kind of money would run in our family even with red noses +thrown in. But no such luck! When we have a funeral we always have to +pay for the coach." +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia Travers! How dare you talk so, of such serious things!" +</P> + +<P> +"How else would you have me talk of serious things? The most serious +thing in my life is money—its scarcity. Funerals, of course, take +time, and are unpleasant in many respects, but, for right at home +trouble, it's money." +</P> + +<P> +"It is nice to think that the dear old captain should be so good to +father," said Dorothy. "Father was always his favorite relative, and +he particularly liked him on account of his military honors." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he ought to, of course," put in Tavia, "for your father keeps +the name Dale up for military honors. But what in the world are you +going to do with all the money? Don't, for goodness' sake, go away for +your health, and other things, and leave poor me to die here without +nobody nor nuthin'," and the girl burst into make-believe tears. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed," said Dorothy. "We can enjoy the good fortune in no place +better than in dear old Dalton, and among our own good friends," and +she put her arms affectionately about Tavia. "But one thing has been +definitely decided upon—" +</P> + +<P> +"You are going to buy the Harvy mansion?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, a new hat. Father has just this minute given his consent." +</P> + +<P> +"Make it a tiara and save the expense of hat-pins," suggested Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I have a hankering for a Gainsborough, the kind the lady hanging +over Aunt Winnie's stairs wears—the picture queen, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, she looks very nice in a picture over the stairs," remarked +Tavia, "but my advice to you would be to wear elastic under your chin +with a thing like that—or else try Gulliver's Glue. One breeze of the +Dalton kind would be enough for a Gainsborough." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall help me pick it out," agreed Dorothy. "In the meantime +don't sit on the only one I have. I just left it on the sofa as you +came in—" +</P> + +<P> +"And if it isn't the dearest, sweetest thing now," exclaimed Tavia, +rescuing the mass of perishables she had unwittingly pressed into +something like a funeral piece. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I did like that hat!" +</P> + +<P> +"And so did I!" declared Tavia. "That hat was a stunner, and I deeply +regret it's untimely taking away—it went to pieces without a groan. +That comes of having a real Leghorn. I could sit all over my poor +straw pancake and it would not as much as bend—couldn't. It would +have no place to bend to." +</P> + +<P> +"You could never wear anything that would become you more than a simple +sailor," said Dorothy, with the air of one in authority, "and if I had +your short locks I would just sport a jaunty little felt sailor all +summer. But with my head—" +</P> + +<P> +"Jaunty doesn't go. I quite agree with you, picture lady, your head is +cut out for picture hats. Another positive evidence of money running +in your family—my head was cut out for an economical pattern—lucky +thing for me!" and Tavia clapped her aforesaid sailor on her bronze +head at a decidedly rakish angle, while Dorothy busied herself with a +thorough investigation of the wreck of her own headpiece. +</P> + +<P> +As told in "Dorothy Dale: A Girl of To-Day," the first book of this +series, these two girls, Dorothy Dale and Octavia Travers, were school +friends, home friends and all kinds of friends, both about the same +age, and both living in a little interesting town called Dalton, in New +York state. Dorothy was the daughter of Major Dale, a prominent +citizen of the place, while Tavia's father was Squire Travers, a man +who was largely indebted to Dorothy for the office he held, inasmuch as +she had managed, in a girl's way, to bring about his election. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia had a brother Johnnie, quite an ordinary boy, while Dorothy had +two brothers, Joe, aged nine and Roger, aged seven years. +</P> + +<P> +There was one other member of the Dale household, Mrs. Martin, the +housekeeper, who had cared for the children since their mother had been +called away. She was that sort of responsible aged woman who seems to +grow more and more particular with years, and perhaps her only fault, +if it might be termed such, was her excessive care of Roger—her baby, +she insisted,—for to her his seven years by no means constituted a +length of time sufficient to make a boy of him. The children called +Mrs. Martin, Aunt Libby, and to them she was indeed as kind and loving +as any aunt could be. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy had an aunt, Mrs. Winthrop White, of North Birchland in summer, +and of the city in winter, a woman of social importance, as well as +being a most lovable and charming lady personally. A visit of Dorothy +and Tavia to the Cedars, Mrs. White's country place, as related in +"Dorothy Dale," was full of incidents, and in the present volume we +shall become still better acquainted with the family, which included +Mrs. White's two sons, Ned and Nat, both young men well worth knowing. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy and Tavia might well rejoice in the good news that the major +had so lately been informed of, for the acquirement of means to Dorothy +would undoubtedly bring good times to Tavia, and both deserved the +prospects of sunshine and laughter, for alas—in all lives, even those +scarcely old enough to take upon their shoulders the burden of cares, +there comes some blot to mar the page: some speck to break the glorious +blue of the noonday sky. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy Dale was not without her sorrow. A wicked man, Andrew Anderson +by name, had come into her life in a mysterious way. Dorothy had +befriended, and in her own way, helped back to a day of happiness an +unfortunate man, Miles Burlock. This man had for years been in the +strange power of Anderson, but before it was too late Dorothy had +helped Burlock break the chains of strong drink that seemed to have +bound him to the evil companion, and for this interference she had +suffered—she was now the object of Anderson's hatred. Anderson was +after the money that Miles Burlock had to leave at his death, but +Dorothy and her father saved this for its rightful owner, a little +daughter of Miles Burlock, who had for some years been kept away from +her own father by Anderson. +</P> + +<P> +The child, now an orphan, came into the care of Major Dale, her legal +guardian and so Anderson had new cause for his hatred for Dorothy—the +money and child having both been put out of his reach. So this was +Dorothy's sorrow: she had been persecuted because of her goodness. +</P> + +<P> +No one who knew Tavia Travers would have considered her capable of +worry. She was as light-hearted as air, with a great faculty for +mischief and a "hankering" for fun. But she did have a worry, a fear +that some day Dorothy Dale might pass out of her life and end the +attachment that came in childhood and waxed strong with girlhood. +Dorothy was what might be considered a girl of the aristocratic class, +while Tavia belonged to those who consider it a privilege to work for a +living and have a keen appreciation of the opportunity—as Squire +Travers proved when he turned in to show himself the best official, in +the capacity of squire, of which Dalton ever boasted. +</P> + +<P> +Now a new danger threatened Tavia: Dorothy would be almost rich. Would +that help to break the ties of love and friendship between the girls? +</P> + +<P> +Not that Dorothy could ever change in her sincere love for Tavia, but +might not circumstances separate them, and then—? +</P> + +<P> +Tavia had been first to congratulate Dorothy on the good news and the +smashed hat had furnished an incident sufficiently distracting to keep +Tavia from the lamentations that at first filled her heart. Hence it +has been necessary to take the reader through her sentiments in a very +much less interesting way than Tavia herself would have disclosed them. +She had a way of saying and doing things that was inimitable, and +amusing, if not entirely elevating. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you think you will stay in Dalton?" asked Tavia, finally, as +Dorothy succeeded in pulling the smashed hat back into some kind of +shape, if not the right kind. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked Dorothy. "Are there not plenty of good people in +Dalton?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, a few, perhaps. There's me and Johnnie—but we are not 'out' yet, +and you will be looking for society friends. Well, here's good luck to +you with your Indian millions, and don't forget that in your poorest +days I used to lend you chewing gum," and at this Tavia threw her arms +around Dorothy in a warm embrace, as if striving to hold to her heart +and keep in her life the same old darling Dorothy—in spite of the new +circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, Sis!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Do you realize that this is the very +day you are to go for an automobile ride with Nat White?" +</P> + +<P> +"And that you are to go in the same machine with Ned White? Course I +do, you selfish girl. So taken up with common money that you never +noticed my get-up. Look at this," and Tavia drew from the folds of her +skirt a cloud of something. "Automobile veil," she explained, giving +the flimsy stuff a turn that sent it floating through the air like a +cloud of smoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Splendid!" declared Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Gloriotious!" remarked Tavia, "the real thing. I found it in an old +trunk among dear old grandma Travers' things, and grandma loved it +dearly. I persuaded mother to let me inherit it, and smell," putting +the gray cloud of silk to Dorothy's face, "that perfume is lavender. +Grandma always used it." +</P> + +<P> +"What a dear old lady she must have been," said Dorothy, looking over +the dainty article critically. "You are not really going to wear it," +she faltered, realizing the value of such an heirloom. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I am not, but—you are! There, Doro, darling, it is a gift for +you from—me. You will always keep it and—love it—" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I will do no such thing as to take your dear grandma's things. +You must always keep this yourself—" +</P> + +<P> +"But I want you to, Doro. It will make me happy to know I have given +you something good—something I have loved, and something you will love +for me. There," and she put the scarf over Dorothy's blond head, "you +look like an angel. Grandma herself will be proud all the way from +heaven, to see this fall upon the shoulders of one so worthy in face +and in heart," and the two stood there clasped in each other's arms, +the silvery veil of love falling about the shoulders of both, and +binding "all the way to heaven," in its folds of sweetest lavender the +hearts of two young girls. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIRE BIRD +</H4> + +<P> +Outside sounded the strident "honk-honk" of an automobile horn, +followed by a series of explosions, like a Gatling gun in full +operation, as Ned cut out the muffler, threw off the clutch, and +brought the machine to a stop at the door. More "honk-honks" called +Dorothy out to welcome her cousins, and presently Ned and Nat, and +Dorothy and Tavia were chatting merrily on the porch, as the big +machine puffed and "gasped" after its long run from North Birchland to +Dalton. +</P> + +<P> +"We will go right off," insisted Dorothy, "so as to get all the ride we +can, it is such a beautiful day. I only have to grab up the lunch +basket, and Tavia is all ready—has been waiting in fact," as Tavia +readjusted her "sailor," and endeavored to look spick and span, as she +had looked before the series of embraces and other disturbing +activities upset her rather perishable toilette—nothing wrinkles like +freshly-ironed gingham. +</P> + +<P> +"Just a drink of cold water, lady," begged Ned, "before we start again. +My throat is macadamized, my eyes are veritable kaleidoscopes, and I +feel like a mummy generally." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course," apologized Dorothy, "you must want a rest after that +long dusty ride. Come into the sitting room, and we will try to +refresh you." +</P> + +<P> +"Just plain water, please," insisted Ned, "and then we will start off." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia lost no time in bringing a pail of fresh water—Nat doing the +bringing, while Tavia smiled approval and encouragement; it is a matter +of such importance to carry the pail just so, when one really wants a +perfectly fresh drink and not a glass of bubbles, and Nat was seemingly +so anxious to learn all about well water—all that Tavia could tell him. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on," called Ned, impatiently from the side window. "We want the +water in time to get away before nightfall. Must be lovely to go +fishing for water in a pail like Simple Simon. Nat, you can talk to +Tavia indefinitely after we have slaked our 'Fire-Bird' thirst." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia blushed prettily at the good-natured rebuke, and Dorothy +playfully shook her finger at the tardy one, who seemed to have +forgotten all about Ned wishing a drink. +</P> + +<P> +Finally the boys were satisfied that Dalton wells did justice to their +reputation, and so the "Fire-Bird" was made ready for the day's run. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so glad," commented Dorothy, "that Joe and Roger are not around, +it would be hard to go off and leave them." +</P> + +<P> +"Plenty of time for little boys," remarked Nat, turning on the +gasoline, then shoving the spark lever over, all ready to crank up. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia had taken her place in front, as Nat was to drive the car, while +Dorothy was on the leather cushions in the tonneau, where Ned would +interest her with talk of school and other topics which the two cousins +held in common. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Nat cranked up, swung himself into the car and the Fire-Bird +"grunted off" lazy enough at first, but soon increasing to a swift run +through the streets of Dalton. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it splendid!" Tavia could not refrain from exclaiming +enthusiastically. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Nat, "but I believe there is something in swift motion +that unbalances human equilibrium. The madness of motoring would make +a study. Dorothy would be proud of me could she hear me talk so +learnedly," he said, smiling at his own seriousness, "but I do really +believe half of the unaccountable accidents might be traced to the +speed-madness." +</P> + +<P> +"It does feel dreadfully reckless," said Tavia, realizing something of +the power of speed, and taking off her sailor hat before the straw +piece made away on its own account. "I think it would be just like +flying to be in a real race." +</P> + +<P> +"Not for mine," answered the practical Nat. "I like some kinds of a +good time, but I have too much regard for the insurance company that +saw fit to give me their 'promise to pay,' to trust my bones to the +intelligence of a machine let loose. There is something so uncanny +about a broken neck." +</P> + +<P> +A toot of the horn warned passersby that the Fire-Bird was about to +make a turn. Tavia bowed to those on the walk. Nat touched his cap. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's the pretty one?" he asked, looking back, just a bit rudely, at +Tavia's friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Alice MacAllister, the nicest girl in Dalton, except—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia Travers," finished Nat, politely. "Well, she does look nice. +Better get up a lawn party or something and invite her, and +incidentally ask Nat White." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy leaned forward to whisper to Tavia that Alice was going out +Dighton way to play tennis, that Alice had told her she expected to win +a trophy and this was the game to decide the series. Alice certainly +looked capable of winning most anything, she was such an athletic girl, +the kind called "tailor made," without being coarse or mannish. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Fire-Bird flew on. Out over the hill that hid Dalton from its +pretty suburbs, and then down into the glen that nestled so cozily in +its fringe of pines and cedars. Nat slackened speed to allow the party +full enjoyment of the shady road, and this gave all an opportunity of +entering into lively conversation. +</P> + +<P> +The boys wanted to know all about the mysterious man Anderson, who had +been lodged in jail. As Dorothy and Tavia had played rather a +conspicuous part in the man's capture, and all this had happened since +the girls had been out to the Cedars, on their visit, naturally Ned and +Nat were interested in the sensational news. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad he's safe out of your reach, Doro," said Ned, "for you never +seemed to know when or where he would turn up." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," put in Tavia, "Doro has actually gained flesh since we landed +him. He was such a nuisance. Had no regard for persons or places." +</P> + +<P> +"And how about the news from India?" asked Ned. "I suppose the major +will sell out in Dalton and move to better accommodations now. Not but +what Dalton is a first-rate place," seeing the look of reproach on +Dorothy's face at the idea of anyone uttering a word against her +beloved town, "but you know there are little conveniences in other +places, postmen for instance, and well—something called society, you +know." +</P> + +<P> +"We have no thought of going away," answered Dorothy. "Father says the +money is just enough to make us comfortable and there is plenty of +comfort to be bought in Dalton." +</P> + +<P> +"And some given away," ventured Nat, with an arch glance at Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way shall we go?" asked Nat, as a forking of the road made a +choice necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"Through the glen," suggested Dorothy, "there is such a pretty spot +there where we can lunch." +</P> + +<P> +"Which spot?" asked Tavia, "I thought this was all road with deep +gutters at the side, running down to the river over the hill." +</P> + +<P> +"I am quite sure this is the road father took us out to picnic on," +said Dorothy with some hesitation. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe," said Tavia, "but I think this is the old river road. It +seems to me I have been out this way before, and never even found a +place to gather wild flowers, all road and gutters, then a big bank to +the river." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's try it anyhow," decided Nat. "It looks nice and shady." +</P> + +<P> +So the turn was made to the left, and presently another turn rounded, +then another, until both Tavia and Dorothy lost all sense of the +location. +</P> + +<P> +"We will wind up somewhere," declared Nat, when the girls protested +they would be lost if the machine were not turned around, and brought +back to the river road. +</P> + +<P> +"This is such a tangle of a place," insisted Dorothy, "and we really +might not meet a person to direct us." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we will keep right on, and run into the next state," joked Nat, +to whom being lost was fun, and having an adventure the best part of a +ride. +</P> + +<P> +For some time the Fire-Bird flew along, the beautiful August day adding +a wonderful charm to the tender shade of the oaks that lined the road, +and through which just enough sunshine peeped to temper the balmy +shadows. +</P> + +<P> +"I am hungry. It must be lunch time," said Dorothy, as they reached a +pretty spot, "let's stop here and eat." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's," agreed Nat, slowing up the machine. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you suppose this road is for?" asked Ned, as neither the +rumble of a wagon wheel nor any other sound broke the stillness that +surrounded the party. +</P> + +<P> +"For instance," suggested Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Or for maps," said Ned. +</P> + +<P> +"For automobile parties," declared Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"For yours truly," finished Nat, stretching himself on the soft sod, +that came down to the road as beautifully as if it had been made to +order on a well-kept terrace. +</P> + +<P> +The girls soon had the lunch cloth spread and the basket was then +produced—or rather its contents were brought forth. +</P> + +<P> +"Yum, yum," exclaimed Nat, smacking his lips as Dorothy began placing +the eatables on the cloth. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but water," sighed Tavia. "We were to get some as we came in the +woods. There is a fine spring there." +</P> + +<P> +"Two miles back," announced Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"But there must be one near here," declared Tavia, "for there are +forget-me-nots in this grass." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that a sign of water?" asked Ned. +</P> + +<P> +"Positive—sure sign," replied Tavia. "Let's hunt for the spring." +</P> + +<P> +"Too early," answered Nat, "against the game laws. Can't hunt for two +whole months yet. Worse luck." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, look for the spring then," Tavia corrected herself. "I fancy I +smell watercress—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of all the fanciers,—first bluebells mean spring water, then +gasoline from our own tank smells like watercress. Now, Octavia +Travers, I'll go you," said Nat. "Come and find spring water, bunches +of watercress and a salt spring to go with the cress, or you will—walk +home." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia answered the challenge by skipping along through the grassy +track, with Nat dragging lazily along at her heels. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't get lost," cautioned Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"And don't expect us to watch this food all afternoon," said Ned, as +the two disappeared over a bank on the "still hunt" for water and +perhaps watercress. +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia knows everything that grows," remarked Dorothy to her cousin, "I +think it is so interesting to have a practical knowledge of nature." +</P> + +<P> +"And quite convenient when it comes to lemonade with water," answered +the boy. "It's queer Nat is like that too. He always knows things +about things when things are shy for a feed. Likely he'll bring back a +small-sized patch of the vegetable kingdom." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the explorers were making discoveries at every glade. +</P> + +<P> +"There," called Tavia, triumphantly, "that's a spring. But the +announcement came a second too late to save Nat from a foot bath. +</P> + +<P> +"So I have noticed," he declared, trying to shake some of the cold +water out of his low cut shoes. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's too bad," Tavia managed to say, although her joy at finding +the spring made any regret at the method of its discovery quite out of +the question. Being careful of her own footing she made her way along, +until the stone basin at the spring source came into view. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I tell you?" she shouted. "And there is the watercress!" +</P> + +<P> +She was on her knees now, leaning over like the goddess who saw her +face reflected in the water. Tavia knew the peculiarities of a spring, +and knew how to avoid the common penalty of wet feet when getting +either cress or a drink "by hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me," asked Nat, gallantly, as he saw her stooping over the brink. +</P> + +<P> +"I do want some of the cress," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"So do I," declared the knight. But alas; as he stepped to the brink +he went down—down—down— +</P> + +<P> +"Help!" he shouted, merrily, in spite of the second foot bath within a +few minutes. +</P> + +<P> +But Nat kept on sinking, until what seemed like a joke soon assumed a +serious aspect. +</P> + +<P> +"Give us a hand," he called to Tavia. "I must have struck quick-sand." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia ran to the side of the pool where the boy was imbedded. He had +jumped right in, instead of feeling his way as Tavia had, to make sure +of his ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Take my hand," said the girl anxiously, but the effort necessary in +reaching toward her only served to make the unfortunate youth sink +farther down. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you'll have to go for help," he admitted finally, the danger +of the situation forcing itself upon him. +</P> + +<P> +"But suppose you should go under while I am gone?" faltered Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Just pull that tree branch over to me," said Nat, "and I'll cling to +that. This must be a glue spring. My, but it has a grip! There goes +my shoe." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll run for Ned," cried Tavia, after she had given the boy in the +pool a hold on the tree branch, and then she shot across the fields +like a deer, leaving Nat to "say his prayers," as he described the +situation. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed a long time to the imprisoned boy, but as a matter of fact, +Tavia was back very soon with "reinforcements." +</P> + +<P> +Besides Dorothy and Ned, there came to the rescue a woman, who just +happened by and heard of the danger. She knew the spring, and, +depositing her basket of eggs in a safe place, pulled a fence rail from +its post, and with Ned holding one end hurried on to the spring. By +this time Nat was almost exhausted, for though it was an August day, +standing to the waist in cold spring water was not an enjoyable +position. +</P> + +<P> +"I found the spring," he tried to joke, as the others came up to him. +</P> + +<P> +"So we see," drawled Ned. +</P> + +<P> +"Here," called the strange woman, who evidently knew exactly what to +do. "Young man, you take this end of the rail to the other side. I'll +hold my end here, and the boy can pull out across it." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy and Tavia looked on anxiously. They had heard of persons being +swallowed up in quick-sands. Might not this be such a danger? +</P> + +<P> +The pool was uncomfortably wide just where Nat chose to try its depth, +so that it was difficult to span it with the fence rail. +</P> + +<P> +"Easy now," called the little woman in the big sunbonnet. "Take hold +first, then draw yourself up." +</P> + +<P> +Nat was only too anxious to do as he was told. It did seem so good to +have something solid within reach once more. +</P> + +<P> +But tug as he would, he could not extricate his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess some Chinaman has a hold of me," he said, trying to make the +best of his predicament. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute," called the farm woman. "There, now, you take the rail +to the top of the spring and get down on it. Then you (to Nat) swing +right up on it—now there, you've got it! Hold tight. Come here young +girls. Quick! Pull! Pull! Altogether! There you are!" and, at that +moment, a very muddy form was dragged from the spring. Nat was on dry +land again. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A QUEER SPRING SUIT +</H4> + +<P> +"Don't stop to talk unless you want to get the chills from that +spring," urged the little country woman in the big sunbonnet, "but just +chase across that field as fast as you can. If we are not on the road +when you get there, keep right on running. It's the only thing. Then +I'll see what I can do for you in the line of clothes. Sam hasn't got +much, but they're clean." +</P> + +<P> +Nat stood shivering. The mud had relieved him of both shoes. +</P> + +<P> +"Run along," ordered the woman, "I tell you I know all about the kind +of chills that come from that spring water. Why, we don't even eat the +watercress out of it this summer, so many folks that did eat it were +taken down. My son Sam had a spell. The doctor stuck to it it was +swimmin' but I knowed better; it was eatin' that poison watercress." +</P> + +<P> +By this time Nat had followed directions and was going across the +fields as fast as his uncomfortable legs would carry him. Tavia was +running also; she felt it was her duty to stick by Nat, and get to the +road with him, in case he should need any help. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy could not hide her dismay. Nat might get cold, he certainly +had spoiled some good clothes, and the automobile ride would not be as +pleasant now. How could it be with such a soaked boy at the wheel? +And he was sure to stick to his post. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it awful!" Dorothy remarked to Ned, as they hurried along after +Nat and Tavia, while the country woman jogged on ahead of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing of the sort," he contradicted her. "It will add to his +general knowledge, and what an experience it will be when it is handed +out to the fellows! Nat frequently has a way of making narrow escapes. +Chances are, some subterranean monster held him down in that spring. +Oh, that accident will just be pie for Nat," and his brother laughed at +the possible story Nat would concoct about his spring bath. +</P> + +<P> +Breaking through the clump of bushes that divided the field from the +road Nat and Tavia could be seen racing up and down like a pair in +"training." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," called the woman, "just cut across there to that house. +I'll be there almost as soon as you." +</P> + +<P> +And in truth the farm woman was "no slouch," as Ned expressed it, for +she tramped along at such an even pace that Dorothy found it difficult +to keep up with her on the rough roads. +</P> + +<P> +The farm house was of the typical old-fashioned kind; long and narrow, +like a train of cars side-tracked, Ned thought. Vines that had become +tired creeping clung tenaciously to window sills and broken porch +rails, while clumsy old apple trees leaned lazily toward the stone +house, although they were expected to keep their place, and outline a +walk to the garden. +</P> + +<P> +"Come right in the kitchen," invited the little woman. "I'll go +upstairs and get the clothes, and then the young man can wash up a bit. +Sam always keeps plenty of clean water in his room in summer +time—ain't so pertic'lar about it in winter." +</P> + +<P> +Nat hesitated on the door sill. Although the place presented that +crowded and almost untidy scene, so common to back doors in the +country, the room within was clean and orderly, and Nat had no idea of +carrying his mud through the apartment. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia, seeing his predicament, promptly found the broom and began such +a vigorous scraping of the muddy clothes that Nat backed down to a +bench and fell over it. +</P> + +<P> +"There," exclaimed Tavia, "no more will come off, I'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I," gasped Nat. "I wonder—well, never mind, you brushed me all +right. If ever you want work just let me know." +</P> + +<P> +The woman, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Hardy, was at the door +now, and ordered Nat to come in at once. +</P> + +<P> +"For clothes," she began, "I left out Sam's brand new pair of overalls. +They hain't never been on him, and I thought they'd be better than +anything else for summer. Then there's a clean soft shirt, and you +won't need no coat, as it's a sight too warm to-day for coats. Them +sneak shoes Sam only bought Saturday night. He likes to wear them to +picnics, and there's to be one to-morrow evenin'." +</P> + +<P> +Nat seemed unable to thank the woman. He really felt so miserable, +physically, and so confused mentally, that his usual ready wit forsook +him. But Dorothy could have hugged that dear little woman who was so +kind and thoughtful. Ned was out in the motor car, so Dorothy was the +one in "authority." +</P> + +<P> +"You are so kind," she faltered to Mrs. Hardy, as Nat's muddy heels +lost themselves from view up the box stairs. "I'm sure we cannot thank +you enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Tut, tut," interrupted the woman, busying herself at once about the +little cook stove. "If the same thing happened to my Sam I know you'd +do as much for him. He'll be in to dinner. Maybe you'll see him. I +am proud of Sam. He's all I've got, of course, that makes some +difference." +</P> + +<P> +Ned now brought the machine up to the front of the house. He blew the +horn to attract attention and Tavia ran out. +</P> + +<P> +"Of all the luck," he stammered, trying to talk and laugh at the same +time, "every scrap of our lunch is gone. Dogs, chickens, and maybe a +boy or two took it. At any rate, they did not leave as much as the +basket." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," gasped Tavia. "Isn't that mean!" +</P> + +<P> +"Rather," answered the boy. "But perhaps we can get some crackers and +milk here. I feel that the pangs of hunger will do something desperate +presently. Nat, I suppose, will get a warm drink, and no doubt +something to make him strong—homemade bread is the usual, I think. +But I may starve," and he looked truly mournful—dinner hour was +"flush" as he expressed it, meaning that the time had come to eat, as +both hour and minute hand were hugging twelve, whistles blowing and a +distant bell sounding, all of which indicated meal time was "flush." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Dorothy, coming around the house. +</P> + +<P> +"The commissary department has been looted," said Ned. "In other +words, our grub is gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Gone!" echoed Dorothy, incredulously. +</P> + +<P> +"The very gonest gone you ever saw. Not so much as a toothpick left." +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we do," sighed the girl, who had put up such a tempting +lunch, and had even partly spread it out on the paper-cloth in that +"safe" place under the tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Victuals gone?" asked Mrs. Hardy, from the side window. "I might have +told you as much, only for hurryin' to get them wet clothes off that +boy. Why, our hounds would steal the eggs from the nests, worst +thieves I ever saw. Well, never mind. When I get Sam back to the +hayfield I'll do what I can for you. But he has to be quick, for it's +all cut and there's no telling when a thunder storm 'll come up." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we wouldn't think of troubling you so much," demurred Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there any store around?" asked Ned, significantly. +</P> + +<P> +"One a mile off that has not a morsel fit to eat in it. I'd as soon +swallow poison as eat anything out of that place. Here, young girl (to +Tavia), you run down to the dairy there, the door is unlocked, and +bring up a pail of milk that's on the bench under the window. I'll +give you a couple of glasses and you can help yourselves until Sam gets +done." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia hurried off, willing enough to fetch the milk, and before she +reached the door on her return trip—there was Nat! +</P> + +<P> +Nobody dared to laugh. What might Mrs. Hardy think? +</P> + +<P> +But Nat in overalls! And a dark blue shirt! And the yellow sneaks! +</P> + +<P> +"Splendid," declared Dorothy, feeling the absolute necessity of saying +something grateful. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel like a new man," said Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"Bet you do now," spoke Mrs. Hardy, looking him over approvingly. +"Nothing like clean clothes, and them is becoming." +</P> + +<P> +Nat went near her so he could carry on conversation without delaying +the dinner preparations. +</P> + +<P> +"That spring suit," he said laughing, "I'll just throw down on the +rubbish heap. The clothes are so covered with mud, I am sure they +never could be cleaned, and if Sam will have time to get in town before +the picnic perhaps he can sell me these things. Or, if not, I'll buy +whatever he wants and send them out." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he won't need the overalls till next week," answered the mother. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I can buy them?" asked Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"And the shoes—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll have a pair sent out directly I reach town. I'll see that they +come special so there will be no mistake." +</P> + +<P> +"And the shirt—you are welcome to that." +</P> + +<P> +"Now then," said Nat, "here's five dollars, whatever will be over the +price of the clothes I am sure I owe you—" +</P> + +<P> +"Five dollars!" exclaimed the woman with genuine surprise. "Why, bless +you boy, that would buy my Sam a full, whole winter suit." +</P> + +<P> +"Get him one, then," insisted Nat. "I would be glad to help him, as he +certainly has helped me greatly. Just surprise him with a new suit for +the picnic. We'll be off as soon as I get my share of that milk, if +they have left me any, then he will know nothing of the accident. You +can give him a complete surprise," seeing the look of delight on the +poor woman's face. +</P> + +<P> +"But you dasen't drink none of that cold milk," she protested. "Step +right over here to a cup of tea, it's just fresh. But I don't feel I +should take all that money." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, just to give Sam a little surprise," argued Nat, "and indeed, I +owe it to you, for I might have taken an awful cold," and he drank down +his "piping" hot tea. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Sam will be happy," admitted the mother fondly, "and if you can +afford it—" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I can. There, they have actually stopped drinking. We are +so much obliged for the invitation to take dinner, Mrs. Hardy, but we +couldn't really stay," finished Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Dorothy, coming in at that moment, "it is very kind of you +to ask us, Mrs. Hardy, but my cousin says we must go on. Here is +something for the milk—" +</P> + +<P> +"No more money!" declared the woman. "I've taken more now than the +Bible would say was due me." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, just this change," urged Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a penny! Not one cent!" Mrs. Hardy insisted, but as Dorothy +stepped out to join the others, who by this time were getting into the +car, she managed to find a place to hide the coins—where Mrs. Hardy +would find them later on. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm to the bat," said Ned, as Nat took up his place in front. +</P> + +<P> +"Not much," shouted Nat. "I haven't been put out yet, and, in overalls +and blue shirt, Nat, the good-looking and always well-dressed boy, let +loose the Fire-Bird for another fly through the country." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DAY OF DANGERS +</H4> + +<P> +"What do you suppose will happen next?" asked Dorothy, as the +automobile sped along the narrow road through a woodland way. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't tempt the fates," cautioned Ned, "we can always get enough +trouble without beckoning it." +</P> + +<P> +"It was good sport, meeting the little country woman and all that," +said Nat, "but I must admit I did not enjoy the mud bath. I have heard +of mud baths in sanitariums. Do you suppose they are that kind?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," laughed Ned. "They perfume the mud and mix it with bay rum. +Then they allow it to trickle down your spinal column to the rhythm of +your favorite poem—so many drops to so many feet." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll never forget how you looked when you came up on that rail," +declared Tavia, merrily. "I have heard of such things, but that is the +first time I ever saw any one really ride a rail—" +</P> + +<P> +"And my initial performance, I assure you. Well, do not be so +painfully faithful as never to forget my appearance. I think you might +sympathize with a fellow." +</P> + +<P> +But Tavia only laughed more heartily. She declared he could not have +been drowned; of course it was wet and cold and muddy— +</P> + +<P> +"And he might have fallen, and not have been able to get to his feet +again," remarked Dorothy, with apprehension. "I am awfully afraid of +mysterious accidents; and who can tell what is at the bottom of a +spring?" +</P> + +<P> +"For expert testimony," replied Nat, "apply to Nathaniel White, +Esquire. He is in every way qualified—Oh, I say, my knee! Ouch! +Can't move it," and he winced in pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me get there," insisted Ned, "you may take a kink somewhere and +make us turn turtle. Besides you will not get so much breeze back +here." +</P> + +<P> +Nat was easily persuaded now, for the fact was he did not feel at all +comfortable—the mud bath was getting in its work,—so the machine was +stopped while he got in the tonneau and his brother took the place at +the wheel. +</P> + +<P> +"Put this dust robe around you," ordered Dorothy. "You may miss your +coat in spite of the day, for the wind is sharp when we cut through the +air this way. I do hope you will not be ill—" +</P> + +<P> +"Never! That race Mrs. Hardy gave me, or made me take, saved my life. +But it's pleasant to change seats. Ned will get a lot of laughs from +Tavia, and I will enjoy a chance to talk with you." +</P> + +<P> +So the little party dashed along, until a turn in the road brought a +row of houses into view, and presently, among them, could be seen a +sign that indicated eatables were for sale there. Both girls and boys +went in to do the buying—so keen were their appetites now that each +preferred to do his or her own selecting. Tavia wanted buns, cheese +and pickles. Nat had cheese, rye bread and butter (he bought a quarter +of a pound) and besides he found, on the very tip top shelf, some glass +jars of boneless herring. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's make a regular camp dinner," suggested Ned. "Buy some potatoes +and sliced bacon, make tea or coffee—" +</P> + +<P> +"In what?" asked Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, that's so. We did not bring the lunch basket. By the way, +you have not seen the basket mother received for her birthday. It has +everything for a lunch on the road; a lamp to cook over, tea and coffee +pot, enameled cups, plates, good sharp knives—the neatest things, all +in a small basket. Mother never lets us take it out, when we're alone. +She thinks so much of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think she would," remarked Dorothy. "But we were speaking of +a camp lunch—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, let's," joined in Nat. "It's no end of fun, roasting potatoes in +a stone furnace." +</P> + +<P> +"And toasting bacon on hat pins," suggested Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +So it was agreed the camp lunch should be their meal, Dorothy and Ned +doing most of the work of buying and finding things fresh enough to eat +in the old-fashioned dusty store, while Tavia and Nat tasted pickles +and tried buns, until Dorothy interposed, declaring if either ate +another mouthful before the real meal was ready they would not be +allowed a single warm morsel. +</P> + +<P> +"Just one potato," pleaded Nat. "I do so love burnt potatoes." +</P> + +<P> +"And a single slice of bacon," urged Tavia. "I haven't had that kind +of bacon since we were out at the Cedars, and I think it is so +delicious." +</P> + +<P> +"Then save your appetites," insisted Dorothy, "and help with the work. +No looking for fresh spring water this time. Nat, carry this bottle of +milk. Ned has paid for the bottle and all, so we will not have to come +back with the jar." +</P> + +<P> +The paper bundles were finally put into the car, and then, turning back +to the woodland road, it was not difficult to find a place suitable to +build the camp-fire, and set table on a big stump of a newly-felled +tree that Tavia said made her more hungry than ever, for the chips +smelt like vinegar and molasses, she declared. +</P> + +<P> +So pleasant was the camp life our friends had embarked upon, they did +not notice how far the afternoon was getting away from them, and before +they had any inclination to start out on the road again, the sun had +rolled itself up into a big red ball, and was sinking down behind the +hills. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it may be dark before we get back to Dalton," said Dorothy in +alarm. "We should have started an hour ago." +</P> + +<P> +"But the potatoes were not done," Tavia reminded her, "and we never +could have left without eating them after carrying cords and cords of +wood to the oven." +</P> + +<P> +"Get aboard," called Nat, "I'll take the wheel now, Ned. I'm entirely +thawed out." +</P> + +<P> +It had certainly been a delightful day, even the accident at the spring +was now merely an event to laugh at, while the meal on the big chestnut +stump, beside the camp-fire, had been so enjoyable, and now, all that +remained was the pleasant ride home. That is all that appeared to +remain, but automobile rides, like chickens, should not be counted +until all is over, and the machine is safely put up for the night. +Chickens have the same tendency as have autos toward surprises—and +disappointments. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a hill," remarked Ned, quite unnecessarily, as a long stretch +of brown road seemed to bound up in front of them. +</P> + +<P> +"A nice climb," acquiesced Nat. "Now, Birdy, be good. Straight ahead. +No flunking now—steady," and he "coaxed" the machine into a slow, even +run, that became more and more irksome as the grade swelled. +</P> + +<P> +"But when we get at the top?" asked Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"We will not stay there long," answered Nat, "for if there is one thing +this machine likes to do it is to coast down hill." +</P> + +<P> +The Fire-Bird made its way up the steep grade, and presently, as Nat +predicted, turned the hill-crest and "flew" down the other side. +</P> + +<P> +The swiftness of the motion made conversation impossible, for the +machine was coasting, the power being off, and surely the Fire-Bird was +"flying through the air." +</P> + +<P> +Reaching the level stretch again, Nat threw in the clutch, but a +grinding and clanking noise answered his movement of the lever. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" called Ned from the rear. "Busted!" +</P> + +<P> +"Something wrong," agreed Ned, looking at the spark and gasoline +controllers. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, as the boys expected, the machine slowed up, and then came +to a stop. +</P> + +<P> +Both were out at once, and they examined the mechanism together. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the leather facings on the friction clutch," declared Ned. "See +that one worn off?" +</P> + +<P> +"Guess that's right," answered Ned. "Well, now for a horse." +</P> + +<P> +"I sold my wheel for an automobile; Get a horse! Get a horse!" sang +Tavia, while she and Dorothy climbed out to join the inspection +committee. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it bad?" asked Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Bad enough to stall us until we can get it fixed up somewhere," said +Ned. "We'll have to take part of the clutch out," and he proceeded to +do so. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we cannot move until we get a new leather on here," added Nat. +"I wonder how far we might be from a blacksmith shop." +</P> + +<P> +"A couple of miles," answered Tavia. "I have often been through this +woods." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I suppose," went on Ned, rather dolefully, "there is nothing to +be done but 'hike' to the shop." +</P> + +<P> +"You go and I'll stay and take care of the girls," suggested Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, both go," chimed in Tavia. "You will get back sooner, and you may +have some trouble getting it fixed at the shop, for I have been there +and I know the man is as deaf as a post and—other things," she +finished vaguely. "There is a house just across the fields there and +we are not the least bit afraid—" +</P> + +<P> +"If it will hurry the work you had best both go," Dorothy added. "As +Tavia says, there is a house in sight, and we could run there if +anything came along to scare us." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, trot along Nat," commanded Ned, as he took up the piece of the +clutch. "This is sure your busy day. I'll race you to the bend to +make good time, and I assure you, young ladies, we will not be one +moment longer than necessary away from you." +</P> + +<P> +"We are so very fond of you," joked Nat, "that every moment will be +unto us an hour—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, come, quit your nonsense, if you are going to run—" +</P> + +<P> +But before Ned had finished, his brother had gained quite a handicap +and was making tracks through the glen, and then out again into the +open. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it lonely," said Dorothy, getting into the disabled machine +after the youths were out of sight. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit," declared Tavia. "No tramps around here. But such a day! +I almost feel as if one more thing must happen. Bad luck goes in +threes, you know. One more will surely make up our day—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, please don't talk so," and Dorothy shivered. "I do wish we were +safely back in Dalton." +</P> + +<P> +"And the boys gone back to the Cedars! Well, I would rather have the +ride ahead of me, than to have it all ended. It is so nice to have +good times. Sometimes I think I'll just run away, and see what there +is to do and observe outside of that stupid old Dalton," exclaimed +Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia!" and Dorothy's voice betrayed how shocked she was at the very +thought of such a thing as "running away." "How can you talk so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's all very well for you, Doro. You can have and do as you +please; but poor me! I must be content—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia, I am sure I heard someone coming!" exclaimed Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite likely. This is a common road, you know. We have no fence +around it." +</P> + +<P> +"But suppose it should be some rough person—" +</P> + +<P> +"If we don't like his looks when he comes up we can run," said Tavia, +coolly. +</P> + +<P> +"And leave the car?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't take it with us, surely." +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments neither girl spoke. Dorothy had never gotten over +the frights she had received when the man Anderson followed her for the +purpose of getting information about the Burlock matter, and every +trifling thing alarmed her now. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a man," said Tavia, as the form of a heavily-built fellow could +now be discerned on the path. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, and he has that same kind of hat on," sighed Dorothy, referring to +the hat previously worn by Anderson. +</P> + +<P> +"And it—really—does look like him! Let's run! We have just about +time to get to that house. Come out this side. There, give me your +hand," and Tavia, glancing back to the figure in the road, took +Dorothy's hand and urged her on over the rough path, until Dorothy felt +she must fall from fright and exhaustion. +</P> + +<P> +The road to the farm house was on a little side path turning off from +the one followed by the boys on their way to the blacksmith shop. +Having once gained the spot where the roads met, Tavia stopped to look +back at the car. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare!" she gasped. "He is climbing into the machine." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what shall we do?" wailed Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't do a thing but hide here until the boys come. We can see him if +he gets out, but if we went over to the house we might miss the boys, +and they might run right into his arms." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," cried Dorothy. "I am so dreadfully frightened. Don't you +suppose we can get any help until the boys come?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not unless someone happens to pass. And this is a back road: no one +seems to go home from work this way." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if someone only would!" and Dorothy was now almost in tears. +</P> + +<P> +"Just see!" exclaimed Tavia, "he is examining the front now. Suppose +he could start it up?" +</P> + +<P> +"But he cannot," Dorothy declared, "if the car worked the boys would +never have left us here all alone," and again she was dangerously near +shedding tears. +</P> + +<P> +"There now, he is getting in again. Well, I hope he stays there until +someone comes," said Tavia. "Isn't it getting dark?" +</P> + +<P> +"And if the boys do not get back— Oh, perhaps we had better run right +straight on. We may get to some town—" +</P> + +<P> +"We would be running into a deeper woods, and goodness knows, it is +dark enough here. No, we had better stay near the house, then, if +worst comes to worst, we can ask them to keep us all night—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia you make me shudder," cried Dorothy. "Of course we will not +have to do any such thing." +</P> + +<P> +But Tavia's spirit of adventure was thoroughly aroused, and, in her +sensational way, she forgot for the moment the condition of Dorothy's +nerves, and really enjoyed the speculation of what might happen if "the +worst came to the worst." +</P> + +<P> +"There he goes again," she burst out, beginning to see humor in the +situation, as the figure in the car climbed from the front seat to the +back. "He is like the little girl who got into the house of the 'Three +Bears.' One is too high and one is too low—there now, Doro, he has +found your place 'just right' and will go to sleep there, see if he +doesn't." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark! That's Ned's voice—" +</P> + +<P> +"And that's Nat's—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there they come. Oh, I am so glad—" +</P> + +<P> +"Me too," said Tavia, in her pardonable English. +</P> + +<P> +"Had we better go and meet them?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed, the man in the car might take it into his head to come to. +Better keep quiet." +</P> + +<P> +Presently Ned and Nat reached the corner. +</P> + +<P> +"Hush," called Tavia, coming out from her hiding-place. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what on earth—" began Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen," commanded Tavia. "There's a man in the car. He has been +there ever since you went away—" +</P> + +<P> +"In our car! Well, his time is up," blurted out Ned. "He must move +on," and the boy's manner indicated, "I will make him move on." +</P> + +<P> +"But he may be dangerous," cried Dorothy. "Oh, please Ned, don't go +near him until you have someone to help you!" +</P> + +<P> +"And what would I be doing?" said Nat, in that same challenging manner. +"Come along, Ned. We will teach that fellow to let our girls and our +property alone." +</P> + +<P> +"But please!" begged Dorothy, clinging to Ned. "Call someone from that +house. He did look so like—" +</P> + +<P> +"Our friend Anderson," finished Tavia, for Dorothy seemed too +frightened to utter the name. +</P> + +<P> +"Did he though?" and Nat gave Ned a significant look. "All the more +reason why I should like to make his acquaintance. You girls will have +to hide here until we get rid of him, and we have no time to spare if +we want to work by daylight. Come along, Ned. Girls, don't be the +least alarmed. We will be down the road after you in a jiffy. It +won't take two seconds to put in this clutch." +</P> + +<P> +"But I feel sure it is that dreadful man," wailed Dorothy. "Oh, if +some strong person would only come!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, you just sit down there," said Ned, tenderly, "and when you hear +us whistle you will know it is all right. It may be only a poor farmer +resting on his way home." +</P> + +<P> +But the girls were too certain that no farmer would have enjoyed +climbing from one seat to the other as they had seen this man doing, +and they had strange misgivings about him—of course Anderson was in +jail, but— +</P> + +<P> +"Now, don't be a bit worried," added Nat. "We will be spinning down +the road directly," and at this the boys left the girls again, and +started down the road to interview the strange man in their automobile. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I do feel as if I shall die!" cried Dorothy. "Let us pray, Tavia, +that nothing will happen to the boys!" +</P> + +<P> +"You pray, but I have to watch," answered Tavia, not realizing how +scriptural her words were, "for if they should need help I have got to +go to that house after it." +</P> + +<P> +Then, on the damp grass, poor Dorothy buried her head in prayer, such +prayer as can come only from a heart in distress. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia, as she had said, stood straight out in the middle of the road, +watching through the dim light. +</P> + +<P> +The boys were at the car now, and they were speaking to the man! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE POLICE PATROL +</H4> + +<P> +For some moments neither girl spoke: Tavia stood out in the road like +an officer, while Dorothy did not lift her head from her attitude of +prayer. Suddenly Dorothy, in a frenzy of fear, rushed out to where +Tavia stood, and threw her arms around her. +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia," she exclaimed, "I must go to them. I cannot stand another +moment like this—I am simply choking. Come: See, they have not been +able to manage him. He is in the car yet. Oh, do let us go!" and the +look on the terrified girl's face so frightened Tavia she forgot to +watch, forgot everything but Dorothy—something would surely happen to +her if that anxiety was not soon relieved. +</P> + +<P> +But to go to the boys! Might not that make matters worse? +</P> + +<P> +"Dorothy, darling," began Tavia, "don't be so frightened. Perhaps they +are just talking pleasantly to him—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then I must hear them. I must know what it is all about. Do come!" +and she tried to drag Tavia from the spot to which she seemed riveted. +</P> + +<P> +"If you would only wait here while I go down first, and then if it is +all right, that is, if the boys want us to come—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," cried Dorothy. "I must go at once! See! Oh, Nat is coming +this way—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, here comes Nat. It will be all right now," and Tavia was +soothing Dorothy as if she were a baby—patting her, smoothing her +hair, and even pressing her lips to her cheek. In truth Dorothy +appeared as weak as a baby, and seemed to require that help which a +loving human hand may impart to a nervous body, at once the sense of +protection and the assurance of sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"Ned is starting up the machine," exclaimed Tavia. "Oh, I know. He is +going to give the man a ride." +</P> + +<P> +Little dreaming how truly she spoke, for indeed Ned was going to give +the strange man a stranger ride, Tavia showed Dorothy that she believed +everything was all right now, and then Nat was there—they could call +to him. Yes, he was whistling lightly. How silly they were to have +been frightened! +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" demanded Dorothy, as soon as her cousin could hear her +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess it was—" +</P> + +<P> +"Nat! Nat!" screamed Tavia, at the same time running to him and +whispering a word in his ear. "There, now, Dorothy. Didn't I tell +you. Only a poor farmer. Where did he say he lived, Nat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia, you told Nat not to tell me—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Nat. "Well, of all things. Not to tell you. +Well I guess I will. Sit right down here, my little Coz, and I shall +be delighted to tell you all I know," and at this he drew the almost +exhausted girl down to a tree stump, to "tell her." But Tavia kept +close at the other side of the young man—she could nudge him if—well, +of course, just to make the story funny—perhaps! +</P> + +<P> +"Wanted a ride, that was all," declared Nat. "See, here they are. We +must not notice them as they pass!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked Dorothy. But in answer Nat squeezed her hand so hard she +knew he meant for her to keep quiet. +</P> + +<P> +The car flew past. Ned never glanced at those by the roadside. And +how strange he looked— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Nat!" almost screamed Dorothy. "That man had on striped +clothes—like—" +</P> + +<P> +"Queer kind of sweater. They come in all sorts of stripes," her cousin +interrupted, with a side glance at Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"But his leg was out of the car, and that was—" +</P> + +<P> +"Also striped. Yes, I noticed his suit was not exactly of the newest +fall pattern, but there is no telling where a farmer may pick up his +duds. Like as not his wife made the trousers out of some good strong +bed ticking." +</P> + +<P> +"Nat, you are trying to deceive me. That man is an escaped convict, +and Ned is riding alone with him—Oh, what will become of us?" and +tears welled to Dorothy's eyes. That outlet of the overstrained—a +good cry—had come to her relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there!" begged Nat. "Don't take on so. It will be all right. +Ned will be back for us before you have your eyes dry," and he kissed +his little cousin affectionately. +</P> + +<P> +"And it was that awful man out of jail! I knew it! I could tell him +before he ever got to the car! I can always tell when he is coming. +Oh! suppose he should kill Ned—" and she burst into a fresh flood of +hysterical tears. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Tavia had not yet heard what had happened to induce Ned to +take the convict away—for Anderson it was. Nat had told her it was +that awful rascal when she cautioned him to hide it from Dorothy. +Certainly it was all very strange, and very dangerous. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose we have to sit here and wait for Ned to come back," ventured +Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Or else walk to meet him," suggested Nat, who was really anxious to do +something beside sitting there listening to Dorothy cry. "Dry your +tears, Dorothy," he said kindly, "and we will walk along. It is +pleasant and cool, and it will do us good to have a walk." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't we get back to Dalton this way?" asked Dorothy. "Isn't this the +road we came out?" +</P> + +<P> +"It may be the road but it is some miles from town," answered Nat. +"Listen! What was that?" +</P> + +<P> +"The gong of an ambulance, it sounded like," exclaimed Tavia. "Hark!" +</P> + +<P> +At that moment a wagon turned a corner and came towards them. It was a +black wagon—yes, it did look like an ambulance. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," shrieked Dorothy. "What ever has happened now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's only the 'police patrol," answered Nat, trying to be +indifferent about the matter. "Probably they're—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hello there, young fellow!" called a man from the wagon. "Have you +seen a fellow in stripes about these woods?" +</P> + +<P> +The speaker was addressing Nat, and he wore the uniform of a police +officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we have," answered the young man. "And I can tell you all about +him." +</P> + +<P> +The wagon came to a full stop now, and the officer stepped down from +the seat at front, while simultaneously, two other officers dropped +from the step at the back, so that our friends suddenly became +surrounded by bluecoats. +</P> + +<P> +"There," said Tavia aside to Dorothy. "You are not afraid now, are +you? We have enough of protection at last." +</P> + +<P> +"Which way did he go?" asked the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Straight for Danvers," answered Nat, "and in my brother's custody. We +had to go to a shop to get a piece of the machine fixed and left these +two young ladies alone here. When we returned the fellow was in our +auto—he had taken possession of it, and refused to give it up. We did +everything to induce him, but he absolutely refused to leave, and +demanded a ride, so, recognizing him from the description as the fellow +who had escaped from Danvers, my brother decided there was nothing to +do but give him a ride back to the jail." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he's a plucky lad, I must say," declared the officer spokesman. +"That fellow is dangerous, he was just about to be committed to the +asylum. He's a lunatic, and should never have been in jail—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," cried Dorothy. "If he should turn on Ned—" +</P> + +<P> +"Not the least danger as long as the lad humors him," said the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"We saw that," said Nat, "and my brother knows how to manage him, I +guess." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are stalled now, can't get home until the machine comes back?" +asked one of the blue-coats, looking at Dorothy's pale face. +</P> + +<P> +"I might walk, but the girls never could," answered Nat. +</P> + +<P> +"Then suppose you go with us?" suggested the officer. "If the young +ladies would not mind riding in a patrol." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not at all," declared Tavia, but Dorothy looked askance at the +wagon, in which so many criminals had ridden from their freedom. +</P> + +<P> +"The best thing we can do," said Nat, realizing how much better any +kind of ride would be than the uncertainty of waiting there as night +came on. +</P> + +<P> +"Jump in then," invited the officer. "We must be moving. I don't know +what the captain will think of our prisoner coming up in an automobile, +and the wagon bringing in this party." +</P> + +<P> +Up the back step sprang Tavia, while Dorothy followed with less +alacrity—it did not seem pleasant to get in the big ugly black wagon; +a girl of Dorothy's nature feels the mere touch of things tainted by +real crime. +</P> + +<P> +"All right?" asked Nat, as he stepped in last. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Dorothy, timidly, taking her place on the leather seat. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it too jolly!" burst out Tavia. "I bet on the horse every time. +Of course the auto is delightful, but when night cometh on,—Get a +horse! Get a horse!" +</P> + +<P> +"The horse is a good old stand-by," admitted Nat. "But isn't this +great, though! Riding into Dalton in the hurry-up wagon!" and he +joined Tavia in the laugh over their new adventure. +</P> + +<P> +"But we must watch for Ned," spoke Dorothy, "He might go back to that +lonely place." +</P> + +<P> +"I've told the officer at front to look out for him," remarked Nat. +"He has to come this way." +</P> + +<P> +"And to think," whispered Dorothy, "that the man was crazy, and the +officer said he should never have been in jail!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you worry about him," Nat told her. "That fellow has the +faculty of making himself comfortable any place. Look at his nerve in +the Fire-Bird." +</P> + +<P> +"We were lucky to have gotten away in time," reflected Tavia. "We +would scarcely have known how to entertain a lunatic." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't talk so!" Dorothy checked her. "I am so nervous and so +anxious about Ned." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Dorothy," declared Nat, "Ned is certainly all right, and will be +the first person to meet us when we alight from this chariot. Thunder, +but this is fun!" +</P> + +<P> +The officers outside were talking of the strange capture. A reward had +been offered for the taking of the lunatic, for he had been at large +for some days, and now the bluecoats had just missed the capture. +</P> + +<P> +While at the blacksmith's Ned and Nat had heard of the escape of +Anderson and so recognized him at once when they encountered him in +their car. +</P> + +<P> +"I told you we would have three adventures," Tavia reminded Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"And we are not home yet," added Nat, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +The wagon rattled on, now and then clanging its gong to warn mere +"people," not to interfere with the law—to keep out of its way. +</P> + +<P> +"We are in some village," said Dorothy, looking out the little glass +window at front, and seeing street lights along the way. +</P> + +<P> +Presently a gang of urchins discovered the patrol wagon and as the +horses slowed up around a corner the youngsters tried to get on the +steps to catch a glimpse of the "prisoners." +</P> + +<P> +"Look at that!" exclaimed Tavia, laughing. "Wonder what they think we +were taken up for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I feel so queer about it," said Dorothy, plainly discomfited. "I +wish we could get out." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment the wagon sprang forward, the horses having been urged +on, and before Nat had a chance to reply to Dorothy's wish they were +rattling on, at greater speed than had been attained during the entire +trip. +</P> + +<P> +To reach Danvers jail the route was through Dalton, and now Tavia could +see Dalton houses, Dalton churches, and there was the postoffice block! +Surely the officer would not let them out right in the center! +</P> + +<P> +"Here you are!" called the man at front, while the wagon stopped and +Nat saw they were in front of the bank, the most conspicuous spot in +all Dalton. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing for them to do but to alight of course, and, by the +time the officers had vacated the back step, and Nat put his foot on +it, a crowd of people surrounded the wagon—waiting to see the +"prisoners" get out. +</P> + +<P> +"Girls!" exclaimed the surprised crowd in chorus. +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia Travers!" declared one voice, as Tavia showed her head. +</P> + +<P> +"And if that isn't Dorothy Dale! Well, they're nice girls!" came +another sneer, "talk about being good and always preaching." This, was +almost in Dorothy's ear. "I guess they had better begin at home!" +</P> + +<P> +Tears came to Dorothy's eyes. If her father were only there to take +her hand—could that be little Joe? +</P> + +<P> +"Dorothy! Dorothy!" called a young voice. "Come this way! We have +been down to the telegraph office," went on Joe, for Dorothy was beside +him now, "and we never had any idea you were in that wagon. Ned just +got back. He was going out again to look for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Is Ned all right?" Dorothy managed to say, while Nat was thanking the +officers who were in haste to be on their way again. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he's all right, but I guess he had an awful time. He was too +hurried to tell us about it, for he said he had to go back—There's his +car now! Ned! Ned!" shouted Joe at the top of his voice, while Nat, +seeing his brother at the same moment, gave his familiar whistle. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia had not yet been able to extricate herself from the crowd. Many +of the boys recognized her, and she was plied with all kinds of curious +questions. What had happened? Had they been arrested for speeding? +(Ned's presence in the automobile prompting this query), or was someone +hurt? In fact, there seemed to be no limit to the quality or quantity +of questions that were being poured into Tavia's ears. +</P> + +<P> +But Tavia was not the sort of girl to make explanations—under the +circumstances. If friends, or those who appeared to be friends, could +so easily lose all sympathy, and become so annoyingly curious about her +and Dorothy, why then, she declared to herself (and also made it plain +to some of the boys who were at liberty to tell the others), what +really did happen "was none of their business." +</P> + +<P> +But unfortunately there were, in that crowd, those too willing to draw +their own conclusions, especially as regarded Dorothy Dale, a girl of +whom so many others had been jealous. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was aware of some of the remarks made, but she little realized +what a part the patrol wagon ride was to play in her life, nor how a +girl who had observed her in the vehicle was to use that knowledge +against her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A RIDE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES +</H4> + +<P> +Mrs. Winthrop White was talking earnestly to her brother, Major Dale. +She had come in from the Cedars the morning after the memorable ride in +the Fire-Bird, and was now in the major's study, discussing the +situation with Dorothy's father. +</P> + +<P> +"But the child has had so many shocks lately, brother," said Mrs. +White. "It does seem the only practical plan is to remove her entirely +from these surroundings. Of course, it will be hard for you to let her +go away, but you must remember, Dorothy has always been a little +over-strained with care for one of her years, and now that your means +will allow it, she should have every possible advantage to make up for +what she may have lost in the way of nerve force." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I am sure you know, sister," replied the major, "I would not +deprive the child of anything she should have, no matter what it cost +me, in money or—the loss of her company. She has certainly been my +Little Captain, for I can always depend upon her to keep the young +troopers in line—" +</P> + +<P> +"But why remain here at all? You can give up business now. Do, +brother, come and make your home with me. I really need you so often, +when I have no one to advise with about the boys. And Joe and Roger +would be so much better off with me to look after them. Mrs. Martin +has done wonderfully well for her years, but she is no longer able to +see to them properly. Just give up this place and come to the Cedars," +urged Mrs. White. +</P> + +<P> +"I would not know how to leave dear old Dalton or my newspaper," mused +the major. "Of course you are very good to think of bothering with +another family. Most women think one family enough to bring up." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, I need something to do," argued the sister, "and Roger would +be a perfect treat to me. He is such a darling. Joe will go to +school, of course (already taking it for granted that her invitation +would be accepted), but I would have Roger taught at home for this +year. He is too young to mix up with all the others." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure it would be good for the children—" +</P> + +<P> +"And for yourself! Why, you are not too old to enjoy your life. The +idea of a man of less than fifty years, considering himself old," and +Mrs. White laughed in that captivating manner of hers, that had so +often won her cause when all other arguments failed. "And that school +you speak of for Dorothy, the one in the mountains of New England, what +did you call it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Glenwood School," replied the major. "Mrs. Pangborn, who conducts +it, is an old friend of mine, and if I should trust Dorothy with anyone +it would be with Louise Pangborn, for she knew Dorothy's mother and +would be sure to take an interest in her daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"The very thing! Capital!" exclaimed Mrs. White enthusiastically. "We +must make arrangements at once. There is little time left before the +term opens. Dear me, brother, some women may like to idle, but give me +a girl to dress up for school! Perhaps because I have never had the +joy for doing it for my own daughter, I so love to take up Dorothy and +experiment on her. No girl at school shall be better equipped than +Dorothy Dale—" +</P> + +<P> +"Now take care, sister. We are plain folks, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Not one whit plainer than your sister Ruth. I shall only get Dorothy +things that befit her station, in fact the best dressed girls do not, +by any means have more clothes than others. They simply have what is +needed." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I know! I know I can depend upon you, Ruth. Only I also know you +think Dorothy—" +</P> + +<P> +"A wonderfully pretty and attractive girl, and one who must wear the +right kind of clothes. There, I feel I am looking through the shops +now. I must admit I have a weakness for pretty things, whether girls +or their dresses." +</P> + +<P> +"Strange I should have so lately received a letter from Mrs. Pangborn +inquiring about Dorothy," remarked the major. "I have it some place," +and he pulled a packet of papers from his desk, soon finding the one +wanted. "There," he went on, glancing over the missive, "Louise says +she has now two assistants, a Miss Crane and a Miss Higley." +</P> + +<P> +"Might I see the letter?" asked Mrs. White, already assuming the mother +part toward Dorothy, and feeling it her duty to know all she might be +able to find out concerning the woman to whom Dorothy would be +entrusted. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, certainly," replied the major, handing her the letter. She +glanced over the paper. "There," she said presently, smiling. "I +fancy I see Miss Crane, whom Mrs. Pangborn describes as being such a +favorite with the girls. And the other, Miss Higley—her name is +enough. She must be the sort of teacher who does good work in classes, +but seems to put a damper on the girls' pranks. Of course, such a +person is always valuable in a boarding school," and she handed back +the paper, "but what a lot of trouble they can make! I went to a +boarding school myself, you know, and I know and remember all about the +Miss Higleys." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you think it would be a good plan to send Dorothy to Glenwood?" +and the major's voice showed that he looked favorably upon the +proposition. +</P> + +<P> +"Glenwood School, in the mountains of New England! I can see the tags +on Dorothy's trunks," she replied merrily. "Nothing could be better. +And that splendid mountain air! Why, you won't know the child when she +comes home for her holiday. But I am going to write this very morning. +Or will you do it? And I will write in reply to the next. Yes, I +think that would be better. And now I am going right up to Dorothy and +tell her all about it. The child had such a headache from her +experiences yesterday that I insisted upon her lying down. Wasn't that +the most absurd thing for those children to ride to town in the police +patrol? The boys will never stop talking of it. And Tavia Travers +thinks it the joke of her life. But Dorothy is not keen on that sort +of jokes. She does not relish the curiosity which the incident has +stirred up. I could see that this morning, when those school friends +were talking it over with her." +</P> + +<P> +"Dorothy is a very sensitive girl." +</P> + +<P> +"All fine natures are sensitive, Allen. They neither offend nor relish +being offended. It is perfectly natural that the child should resent +such remarks as some of those I have heard passed about the patrol +ride." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course they only came from children," apologized the major, "and +youngsters will have their say." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but sometimes the 'say' of jealous young girls may go a long way. +A jealous girl is, I believe, even a more dangerous enemy than a woman +scorned, about whom so much is written and said. But I am sure Dorothy +can hold her own in spite of any girl." +</P> + +<P> +Why had Mrs. White been so apprehensive about the small talk she had +overheard? What could any one say against Dorothy Dale? +</P> + +<P> +That afternoon a school friend called on Dorothy and brought with her a +young girl who had been spending part of her vacation at the +MacAllister home. She was introduced as Miss Viola Green of Dunham, +and while rather a pretty girl she had something in her manner that +made Dorothy feel uncomfortable. This unaccountable dislike on +Dorothy's part was heightened when Tavia went over to the veranda where +the girls were sitting, and upon Alice introducing Tavia to her friend +the latter merely bowed stiffly, and refused to accept the hand that +Tavia had offered in greeting. This was all the more strange since +Alice was so splendid a girl herself. +</P> + +<P> +But Viola Green had made a serious mistake in refusing to accept the +honest hand of Tavia Travers, although strange to say the incident was +a most fortunate happening, as far as Tavia and Dorothy were +concerned—it told them the kind of girl Viola was. Alice, seeing the +slight, winked slyly at Tavia, who, after flushing furiously, managed +to return the secret sign of Alice by snapping her own brown eye open +and shut. +</P> + +<P> +"I simply thought I should die," began Alice, anxious to start +conversation. "When I saw you step out of that wagon last night. +Viola and I were just down to the post-office and when the crowd +gathered of course, we had to see what was going on. Well, when I saw +Tavia—" +</P> + +<P> +A burst of laughter stopped Alice. She had a way of seeing humor in +things and of enjoying the process of extracting it. Tavia joined her +in the merriment, but Viola sat there with a curled lip. Dorothy was +not laughing either—she was observing the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't it great!" exclaimed Tavia. "I wish you could have been along. +Dorothy was scared to death, but the very idea of any one being afraid +while surrounded by four strapping policemen!" +</P> + +<P> +"And when your cousin came into the post-office to send his +telegram—to his mother, wasn't it? And we beheld—a dude in overalls +and jumper!" and Alice laughed again. "Really," she continued, +finally, "I thought I should pass away!" +</P> + +<P> +"Was that your cousin?" asked Viola unpleasantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Ola," exclaimed Alice, the ring of something like anger in her +voice, "I certainly told you the young man was Mr. Nat White from North +Birchland, Dorothy's cousin." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," sniffed the other. "I am sure I thought you said he was Tavia's +cousin." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good," chimed in Tavia. "Wish he was; he would make all kinds +of nice cousins, for he is the dandiest boy—" +</P> + +<P> +"So!" almost sneered Viola. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's so," declared Tavia, with a challenging look at the +stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Viola thinks nice boys should not be cousins," remarked Alice, trying +to patch up the squabble. But Dorothy had risen from her seat and was +toying with the honeysuckle. Evidently she had no intention of joining +in the unpleasant argument. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare, Doro," said Alice suddenly. "I have scarcely heard your +voice to-day. And all the stories that I have been contradicting about +you. That you were hurt in an auto accident; that your chauffeur was +arrested for speeding and you were obliged to go to police court to +make a statement; that some lunatic chased you, and you had to get in +the wagon to save your life—Oh! I tell you, Doro, you never know how +popular you are until you take a ride in the 'hurry up' wagon. I would +have given my new dog (and I love him dearly) to have been in that +tally-ho with you," and Alice threw her arms about Dorothy, whose face, +she could not help observing, was white and strained. +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly was an experience," admitted Dorothy, joining the group +again. +</P> + +<P> +"But what in the world makes you act like such a funeral?" Alice +blurted out. +</P> + +<P> +"I have just heard something that makes me serious," answered Dorothy. +"I may as well tell you now. I am going away to boarding school!" +</P> + +<P> +"This term?" exclaimed Viola, before either Alice or Tavia had time to +speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," replied Dorothy coolly. "Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothing, of course," returned Viola, "Only after yesterday folks +might think—oh, you know country folks can never understand the trick +of deciding things quickly. You had not thought of it—of going away +before, had you?" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was too indignant to speak. What ever could the girl mean by +such insinuations? Even Alice seemed dumbfounded, and Tavia positively +dangerous. She walked straight up to the chair Viola occupied. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Green," she called. "'After yesterday,' as you express it, is +precisely the same as before yesterday, to all concerned. The +experiences were unusual—" +</P> + +<P> +"I should think so—" the stranger had the temerity to remark, but +Alice had risen to go, while Viola stepped down from the porch, without +offering a word of apology or explanation. "And where are you going, +Dorothy dear?" asked Alice tenderly, trying to undo the harm that her +visitor had been so successful in creating. +</P> + +<P> +"To the Glenwood School, in the mountains of New England, I believe," +answered Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" spoke up Miss Green again. "That is where I attend. How +strange we should meet just before the term opens," and she smiled that +same unpleasant smile that had chilled Dorothy when Alice introduced +them. +</P> + +<P> +"You do!" exclaimed Tavia rather rudely. Then she added: "Dorothy +Dale, who told you you could go away to school? You have not asked my +permission yet. To the mountains of New England! I would like to see +you run away and leave me!" +</P> + +<P> +"It would be unpleasant indeed!" called back Viola. "You had better +come to Glenwood too!" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I will," snapped Tavia. "One thing is certain. Dorothy Dale +will have friends whereever she goes and if I could go, I would be most +happy to look on while she reaps her new conquests. Dorothy is a +regular winner, Miss Green. You will have to look out if she goes to +Glenwood. She will cut you out with your best friends. She always +makes one fell swoop of the entire outfit!" +</P> + +<P> +A look of deep scorn was the answer Viola made to Tavia's attempt at +raillery. Evidently she had made up her mind that Dorothy Dale would +never "cut her out" at Glenwood. +</P> + +<P> +And Mrs. White had remarked to her brother, Major Dale, that a jealous +girl was a dangerous enemy! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +TAVIA'S DANGER +</H4> + +<P> +"Whatever can that girl mean?" exclaimed Dorothy, when Alice and Viola +had passed down the walk. +</P> + +<P> +"Mean! The meanest thing I ever met! Did you see her refuse my hand?" +asked Tavia. "Well, it's a good thing to be able to size up a girl +like that at the first meeting; it saves complications. But who cares +for green violets? What I want to know is, are you really going away, +Doro?" and the look on Tavia's face could not be mistaken. She would +be dreadfully grieved if compelled to part with Dorothy's companionship. +</P> + +<P> +"Aunt Winnie thinks I should go, and father has decided it is best. Of +course I shall hate to leave you, Tavia," and Dorothy wound her arm +affectionately around her friend. "In fact I shall never, never, find +any girl to take your place in my heart," and something very like tears +came into Dorothy's voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew it! I just knew you would go away when you got that hateful +Indian money. And what in the world will I ever do in Dalton? Now I +have learned how much pleasure I could have, visiting your friends and +riding in automobiles, and then, just when I get to realizing what a +good time we could have, you up and leave me! I might have know better +than to go out of my own limits!" and here Tavia actually burst into +tears, a most remarkable thing for her to do. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so sorry," said Dorothy with a sigh, putting her arm around the +weeping girl. +</P> + +<P> +"There! What a goose I am! Of course I would not have done +differently if I could do it all over again. The good times we have +had are the most precious spots in all my life. And, Doro dear, you +did not drag me out of my shell—I was always running after you for +that matter, so you need not think the loneliness will be any fault of +yours—except that you are such a dreadfully dear girl that no one +could help loving you. You really should try to curb that fault." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia had dried her tears. She was that sort of girl who is both too +proud and too brave to show "the white feather" as she often expressed +the failing of giving away to emotion that might distress others. +</P> + +<P> +"I do wish you could go along," said Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't believe I would really like to go, Doro," Tavia +surprised her by saying. "I should probably get into all kinds of +scrapes with that Green Violet, and the scrapes would likely make it +unpleasant for you. Besides I have been thinking I ought to go to +work. I am old enough to do something—fifteen next month you +know—and I would just like to get right out into the world—go with +the tide." +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia!" exclaimed Dorothy in alarm, for these rash sentiments had of +late been strangely common with Tavia. "You do not know what you are +talking about. Go with the tide—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I just mean take my chances with other girls. I had a letter +from a girl in Rochester the other day. She had got work and she is no +older than I am." +</P> + +<P> +"At what?" asked Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"On the stage. She is going to take part in some chorus work—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia, dear!" cried Dorothy. "You must not get letters from such +girls. On the stage! Why, that is the most dangerous work any girl +could possibly get into." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Doro, I have not got the place, worse luck. And you must not +take on so just because I happened to mention the matter. But you must +realize there is a vast difference between poor girls like me, and +those of your station in life!" +</P> + +<P> +What had come over Tavia lately? Why did she so dwell upon the +difference between Dorothy's means and her own? Was it a natural pride +or a peculiar unrest—that unrest, perhaps, that so often leads others, +who are older, stronger and wiser than Tavia Travers, into paths not +the most elevating? And then they may urge the excuse that the world +had been hard on them; that they could not find their place in life, +when in reality they scorn to take the place offered them, and instead +of trying for a better or higher mark they deliberately refuse the +prospects held out, and turn backward—then they blame the world! +</P> + +<P> +This condition is called "Social Unrest," and Tavia Travers, though +young and inexperienced, was having a taste of its bitter moral poison. +</P> + +<P> +"Promise me you will never write another letter to that girl," begged +Dorothy, solemnly. "I know your father would not permit it Tavia, and +I know such influence is dangerous." +</P> + +<P> +"Why the idea! You should have read her letter, Doro. She says the +killingest things—But mercy, I must go. I have to go to the Green +before tea," and, with a reassuring kiss, Tavia darted off. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy looked after her friend as she skipped down the path, and a +sense of dread, of strange misgivings, took possession of her. What if +Tavia should actually run away as she had often threatened in jest! +Then Dorothy remembered how well Tavia danced, how she had practiced +the "stage fall" after seeing the play in Rochester, and how little +Johnnie Travers had barely escaped the falling ceiling that came down +with Tavia's attempt at tragedy. Then, too, Dorothy thought of the day +Tavia had painted her cheeks with mullin leaves and how Dorothy then +remarked in alarm: "Tavia, you look like an actress!" +</P> + +<P> +How strangely bright Tavia's eyes seemed that day! How wonderfully +pretty her short bronze locks fell against her unnaturally red cheeks! +All this now flashed through Dorothy's dazed brain. +</P> + +<P> +How could she leave Tavia? And yet she would so soon have to go +away—to that far-off school— +</P> + +<P> +And that strange girl who had come with Alice. What could she have +meant by those horrid insinuations about Dorothy so "suddenly making up +her mind" to go to boarding school; and that it would be "too bad to +leave Tavia alone in Dalton just then!" as if everyone did not know by +this time just what had happened on the auto ride, and that Ned had +actually been offered the reward for the capture of Anderson. Not only +this but her two cousins, Ned and Nat, had received public praise for +brave conduct, and the two girls, whose names were not mentioned (Major +Dale had asked the reporter to omit them if possible from the report), +were also spoken of as having taken part in the capture, inasmuch as +they allowed Anderson to remain quietly in the car until the young +owners of the machine arrived upon the scene. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy sat there thinking it all over. It was almost dusk and on the +little vine-clad porch the shadows of the honey-suckle shifted idly +from Dorothy's chair to the block of sunshine that was trying so +bravely to keep the lonely girl company—every other ray of sunlight +had vanished, but that gleam seemed to stay with Dorothy. She did not +fail to observe this, as she always noticed every kindness shown her, +and she considered the "ray of light" as being very significant in the +present rather gloomy situation. +</P> + +<P> +"But I must not mope," Dorothy told herself presently. "I simply must +talk the whole thing over with Aunt Winnie." +</P> + +<P> +How much better for Tavia it would have been had she too determined to +"talk the whole thing over" with someone of experience? +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy found her aunt busy writing the boarding school letters, and +when that task had been finished Mrs. White was entirely at the girl's +service. Dorothy tried to unfold to her the situation, without putting +unnecessary blame on Tavia, who was such a jolly girl and so absolutely +free from dread—never had been known to be afraid of anything, Dorothy +declared, and of course there was therefore, all the more reason to be +worried about her risks. To Tavia, a risk was synonymous with sport. +</P> + +<P> +"I had no idea she would be interested in that sort of thing," said +Mrs. White, referring to the matter of going on the stage, "and, +perhaps, Dorothy—" +</P> + +<P> +"But I am not at all sure that she is interested in it, auntie," +Dorothy interrupted. "I am only afraid she may get more letters from +that girl— And besides, I will be so lonely without her, and I know +she will miss me." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there, little girl," and the aunt kissed Dorothy's cheek, "you +take things too seriously. We will see what can be done. I, too, like +Tavia, She is an impulsive girl, but as good as gold, and I will always +be interested in her welfare." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, auntie dear. You are so kind and so generous. It would +seem enough to be bothered with me, but to give you further trouble +with my friends—" +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense, my dear, it is no trouble whatever. I heartily enjoy having +your confidences, and you may rest assured very little harm will come +to the girl who chooses a wise woman for her adviser. And I do hope, +Dorothy, I am wise in girls' ways if not in points of law, as your dear +father always contends." +</P> + +<P> +"And auntie," went on Dorothy, rather timidly, "I want to tell you +something else, Alice MacAllister brought a girl to visit me this +afternoon, and she said such strange things about yesterday's +accidents. She was positively disagreeable." +</P> + +<P> +"You are too sensitive, child. Of course people will say strange +things every time they get a chance—some people. But you must not +bother your pretty head about such gossip. When you do what is right, +good people will always think well of you and, after all, their opinion +is all that we really care for, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"But why should she be so rude? She is a perfect stranger to me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some girls think it smart to be rude, Dorothy. What did she say that +troubled you so?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's precisely it, auntie, no one could repeat her remarks. They +were merely insinuations and depended upon the entire conversation for +their meaning." +</P> + +<P> +"Insinuations? Perhaps that you had been arrested for stealing +melons?" and the aunt laughed at the idea. "Well, my dear, I believe +it will be well for you to be away from all this country gossip." +</P> + +<P> +"But Viola Green goes to Glenwood School!" declared Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"No! Really? Who is she?" +</P> + +<P> +"A friend of Alice MacAllister, from Dunham. I was so surprised when +she said she went to Glenwood." +</P> + +<P> +"But, my dear, what will that matter? There are many girls at +Glenwood. All you will have to do is to choose wisely in selecting +your friends from among them." +</P> + +<P> +"If Tavia were only with me I would not need other friends," demurred +Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Does she want to go?" asked Mrs. White suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe she does, but she denies it. I think she does that because +she does not want me to bother about her. She is such a generous girl, +auntie, and dislikes any one fussing over her." +</P> + +<P> +"There's a step on the porch," and both listened. "Yes," continued +Mrs. White, "that's Tavia looking for you. Run down to her and I will +speak with both of you before she leaves." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AN INVERTED JOKE +</H4> + +<P> +"Dorothy! Dorothy!" called Tavia. "Come here just a minute. I want +to speak to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you come in?" asked Dorothy, making her way to the side porch. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I can't, really. But I couldn't wait to tell you. I know what +the Green Violet meant by her mean remarks. And it's too killing. I +am just dead laughing over it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad it's funny," said Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"The funniest ever," continued Tavia. "You know when we got out of the +wagon Miss Green was standing a little way off from Alice. That dude, +Tom Burbank, was with her (they say she always manages to get a beau), +and she was watching us alight—you know how she can watch: like a cat. +Well, Tom asked Nat what was the matter, and if he had been speeding. +Everybody seemed to know we had gone off in the auto, for which +blessing I am duly grateful. I don't often get a ride—" +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia, will you tell me the story?" asked Dorothy with some impatience. +</P> + +<P> +"Coming to it! Coming to it, my dear, but I never knew you to be so +keen on a common, everyday story before," answered Tavia, with +provoking delay. +</P> + +<P> +"The remarks?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, as I was saying, Tom asked Nat were we speeding. And Nat +said no. Then, looking down at his farmer clothes, he added: 'Not +speeding, just melons.' And the dude believed him,—the goose! Then +Viola took it all in and she too thinks we were arrested for stealing +muskmelons." +</P> + +<P> +The idea seemed so absurd to Tavia that she went off into a new set of +laughs, knotted together with groans—she had laughed so long that the +process became actually painful. +</P> + +<P> +"Who told you?" asked Dorothy, as soon as Tavia had quieted herself +sufficiently to hear anything. +</P> + +<P> +"May Egner. She stood by and heard the whole thing. But you must not +mention it to Alice," cautioned Tavia, "for she didn't hear it, and I +just want the Green Violet to think it is true, every word. It's a +positive charity to give that girl something definitely mean to think +about. I can see her mental picture of you and Nat and myself standing +in a police court pleading 'Guilty' to being caught in a melon patch. +Wish we had thought of it: there were plenty along that road, and I +have not tasted a fresh muskmelon since I stole the last one from the +old Garrabrant place. Ummm! but that was good!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I am glad it is no worse," remarked Dorothy. "I had a suspicion +she was trying to insinuate something like that. And the idea of her +not believing that Nat was my cousin!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, and that was more of it," went on Tavia. "Tom asked Nat if I +was his cousin and he said yes. Wasn't Nat funny to tease so? But who +could blame him? I wish I had a chance to get my say in, I would have +given Greenie a story! Not only melons, but a whole farm for mine!" +</P> + +<P> +"Lucky you were otherwise engaged then. I noticed you had your hands +full answering the questions of that crowd of small boys," remarked +Dorothy, smiling at the remembrance of Tavia's struggle with the +curious ones. +</P> + +<P> +"But, Doro, are you really going away?" and Tavia's voice assumed a +very different tone—it was mournful indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I think it is quite decided. I would not mind it so much if you +were coming." +</P> + +<P> +"Me? Poor me! No boarding school for my share. They do not run in +our family," and she sighed. +</P> + +<P> +"But perhaps your fairy godmother might help you," went on Dorothy. +"She has granted your wishes before." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and I promised her that time I would never trouble her again. +There is a limit, you know, even to fairy godmothers." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment Mrs. White appeared on the porch. +</P> + +<P> +"What was that I heard about godmothers?" she asked. "You know, +Dorothy, I hold that sacred position towards you, and you must not let +any one malign the title," she said, laughingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, this was the fairy kind," replied Dorothy. "Tavia was just saying +she had promised to let hers off without further requests after the +last was granted." +</P> + +<P> +"When Doro goes away to school," interrupted Tavia, "I shall either +become a nun or—" +</P> + +<P> +"Go with her! How would that do?" asked Mrs. White, convinced that the +parting of Dorothy and Tavia would mean a direct loss for both. +</P> + +<P> +"If I worked this year and earned the money to go next? Or do they +consider the wage-earning class debarred from boarding school society?" +asked Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +Again the sentiment Tavia had expressed to Dorothy: the difference in +the classes. This was becoming a habit to Tavia, the habit of almost +sneering at those who appeared better off than herself. And yet, as +Mrs. White scrutinized her, she felt it was not a sentiment in any way +allied to jealousy, but rather regret, or the sense of loss that the +lot of Tavia Travers had been cast in a different mold to that of +Dorothy Dale. It had to do entirely with Tavia's love for Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, my dear," began Mrs. White, addressing Tavia, "you really must +not speak that way. You know there is a class of people, too prominent +nowadays, who believe that the rights of others should be their rights. +That there should be no distinction in the ownership of property—" +</P> + +<P> +"Gloriotious!" exclaimed Tavia. "Do you suppose they would let me in +their club?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you, girls," said Mrs. White. "Squire Travers is going to +call here this evening by appointment. And if you are both very, very +good little girls, perhaps I will have some very important news to give +you in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +At this both Tavia and Dorothy "took steps," Tavia doing some original +dance while Dorothy was content to join in the swing that her partner +so violently insisted upon taking at every turn. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. White laughed merrily at seeing the girls dance there in the +honeysuckle-lined porch, and she was now more positive than ever that +their companionship should not be broken. +</P> + +<P> +"All hands around!" called Tavia, at which invitation the stately +society lady could not refrain from joining in the dance herself, and +she went around and around until it was Dorothy who first had to give +in and beg to be let out of the ring. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" sighed Mrs. White, quite exhausted, "that is the best real dance +I have had in years—quite like our dear old German." +</P> + +<P> +"They call it the Virginia Reel in Dalton," said Tavia, not meaning to +deprecate the value of the society dance mentioned. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and that is the correct name, too," agreed Mrs. White, "for +almost all the good figures of the German were taken from the old time +country dance. But I am warm! I must go in at once or I may check +this perspiration too quickly. Dorothy, don't walk too far with +Tavia," she remarked, as both girls prepared to leave the porch, "I +have some little things to talk over before tea." +</P> + +<P> +"Only to the turn," replied Dorothy, with her arm wound lovingly around +Tavia, "I just want to finish about something very important." +</P> + +<P> +"She must go with Dorothy," said Mrs. White to herself, watching the +two girls make their way through the soft autumn twilight. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS +</H4> + +<P> +"Isn't it too delicious," exclaimed Tavia, excitedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Delightful," answered Dorothy. "I hope hereafter you will never doubt +the goodness of your fairy godmother." +</P> + +<P> +"Or that of my fairy godsister," added Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"And Aunt Winnie is to do all your shopping. Your mother asked her to +get everything you will need. The money you received from the railroad +company for the loss of your hair in the accident has been put aside by +your father for your education. So you cannot longer boast of that +romantic poverty you have been holding over my poor, innocent head," +and Dorothy gave her friend a "knowing squeeze," that kind of embrace +that only girl friends understand fully. +</P> + +<P> +"I can scarcely realize it," pondered Tavia, "not to have you leave me +here all alone! Why, Doro, I could not sleep nights, worrying about +what would become of me in this hamlet without you." +</P> + +<P> +"And I was equally tortured with worries about what would become of me, +when I could not tell you all my troubles. Especially when I thought +of having to—" +</P> + +<P> +"Fight the Green Violet alone! I don't blame you. But I am just dying +to know what use she will make of the muskmelon story. I met Alice +yesterday and she felt dreadfully about the way Viola acted. She is +coming over to apologize to you as soon as she can do so without +carting the vegetable along. Pity they did not name her cucumber +instead of violet—the green would match her better. I am going to +call her 'Cuke' hereafter! Short for cucumber, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that would be unkind," objected Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Unkind nothing," replied the impulsive one. "I wish I could think of +a good rhyme for her new name. I would pass it around—" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Tavia, you must not keep me worrying about the mischievous things +you intend to do at Glenwood. Remember that is one of the +stipulations—you are to be very, very good." +</P> + +<P> +"I feel a sore spot under my shoulder blade now," declared Tavia, +putting her hand back. "Wings as sure as you live, just feel!" +</P> + +<P> +"But do you realize it, we have only this week? We must be in Glenwood +next Monday." +</P> + +<P> +"All the better. I cannot wait. Won't it be too gloriotious?" and +Tavia again indulged in "steps," her favorite outlet for pent-up +sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +"The boys are coming over to-morrow afternoon," announced Dorothy, "I +had a note from Ned this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Goody," exclaimed Tavia, coming to a full stop with a twirl that stood +for the pedal period. "Another ride?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I'm afraid not. Ned said he and Nat were going to spend the +afternoon with us." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it will be fun anyway. It always is when the boys get jollying. +I am afraid I do love boys—next to you, Doro, I think a real nice boy +is the very nicest human possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Next to me? On the other side you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, on the second side, the boy is on the outside of the argument. +You are always first, Doro." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the news, that Dorothy and Tavia were to leave Dalton for a +school in New England, had spread among their former school companions. +Alice MacAllister, Sarah Ford, May Egner and a number of others had +held a little consultation over the matter and decided that some sort +of testimonial should be arranged to give their friends a parting +acknowledgment of the regard and esteem in which Dalton school girls +held Tavia Travers and Dorothy Dale. Of course Tavia was never as +popular as Dorothy had always been—she was too antagonistic, and +insisted upon having too much fun at the expense of others. But, now +that she was leaving them, the girls admitted she had been a "jolly +good fellow," and they would surely miss her mischief if nothing more. +</P> + +<P> +May Egner wanted the committee of arrangements to make the affair a +"Linen Shower" such as brides are given. +</P> + +<P> +"Because," argued the practical May, "it will be so nice to have a +lovely lot of handkerchiefs and collars. No one can have too many." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we can include the shower if you like," said Alice, who was +chairman, "but I vote for a lawn party, with boys invited." +</P> + +<P> +"A lawn party with boys!" chorused the majority, in enthusiastic +approval. +</P> + +<P> +"I think it would be a charity to let the Dalton boys come to +something," declared Sarah Ford. "If we leave them out all the time, +by and by, when we want someone to take us home on a dark night—" +</P> + +<P> +"When you stay chinning too long with Roberta," interrupted a girl who +knew Sarah's weakness for "dragging along the way." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you may be out in the dark some time yourself, Nettie, and it is +very nice to have—" +</P> + +<P> +"A very nice boy—" +</P> + +<P> +"Order! Order!" called the chairman. "We have voted to invite them +and—" +</P> + +<P> +"It's up to them," persisted Nettie Niles, who, next to Tavia Travers, +had the reputation and privilege of using more slang than any other +well-bred girl in Dalton. +</P> + +<P> +"It is to be a lawn party then," declared the chairman, with befitting +dignity. "And we have only one day to arrange the whole thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll collect the boys," volunteered the irrepressible Nettie. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are appointed a committee of one to invite all the nice boys +in the first class," said Alice, much to the surprise of the joker. +</P> + +<P> +"And not any other?" pouted Nettie. "If I should run across a real +nice little fellow, with light curly hair, and pale pink cheeks, +and—and—" +</P> + +<P> +"New tennis suit," suggested someone, who had seen Nettie walking home +with a boy of the tennis-suit description. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," agreed the chairman, "I forgot to include Charlie. He is +not now at Dalton school, but of course, Nettie, you may invite +Charlie." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," said Nettie, determined not to be abashed by the teasing. +</P> + +<P> +"We will have cake and lemonade," proposed May Egner. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad I only have to bring boys," said Nettie aside, "I couldn't +bake a cake to save me." +</P> + +<P> +"And I'll bring a whole pan of fresh taffy," volunteered Sarah. +</P> + +<P> +"Put me down for two dozen lemons," offered May Egner, who seemed to +think the entire success of a lawn party depended upon the refreshing +lemonade. +</P> + +<P> +"Where shall we have it?" asked Alice. +</P> + +<P> +The girls glanced around at the splendid lawn upon which the little +meeting was being held. It was the MacAllister place, and had the +reputation of being well-kept besides affording a recreation ground for +the family—the secret of the combination lay in the extent of the +grounds: they might be walked upon, but were never trampled upon. Mr. +MacAllister made it a rule that games should be kept to their +restricted provinces, as the tennis court and croquet grounds: other +games should never be indulged in on the range close to the house or +near the paths. "Plenty of room to play tag in the orchard," he would +tell the children, and this plan kept the place in an enviable +condition. +</P> + +<P> +"The schoolyard is awfully dry and dusty," remarked Nettie in answer to +the question of a site for the party. +</P> + +<P> +"You are welcome to come here," said Alice, modestly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that would be splendid!" declared May, whereat all the others +voiced similar sentiments. +</P> + +<P> +It was promptly decided that the invitation to hold the affair on the +MacAllister grounds should be accepted with thanks, and as there +remained not many hours of the day to attend to arrangements, as the +next afternoon would bring them to the test, the girls hastily +scattered to begin their respective duties in the matter. +</P> + +<P> +Viola Green was present at the meeting. Alice had told her of its +purpose, and as only a few days remained of the time allotted Viola to +remain at Dalton, Alice was not sorry when her visitor pleaded another +engagement. +</P> + +<P> +That engagement consisted of a promise to walk through the Green with +Tom Burbank—he, too, was a stranger in Dalton, spending a week of his +holiday with the Bennet family. +</P> + +<P> +Viola could boast of a well-filled trunk of stylish clothes, and in no +other place, of the many she had visited during her vacation, had this +wardrobe shown to such advantage as in Dalton. Even the attractive +linens that Alice was invariably gowned in (except on Sundays, when she +wore a simple summer silk), seemed of "back date" compared with the +showy dresses Viola exhibited. They were stylish in that acceptance of +the term that made them popular, but were not distinctive, and would +probably be entirely out of date by the following summer. +</P> + +<P> +On this particular afternoon Viola wore a deep blue crepe with shaded +ribbons, a dress, according to the feminine ethics of Dalton, "fit for +a party." +</P> + +<P> +Tom Burbank sported white flannels, a very good summer suit indeed, but +a little out of the ordinary in Dalton. It was not to be wondered at, +then, that the appearance of these two strangers attracted some +attention on the Green. Neither could it be doubted that such +attention was flattering to Viola, a stylishly dressed girl often +enjoys being credited with her efforts. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't that the greatest," Tom was drawling to Viola, "about those +folks riding in the police wagon." +</P> + +<P> +"Disgraceful, I should say," replied Viola, emphatically. +</P> + +<P> +"And the fellow in the—farmer's duds. Wasn't he a sight?" and the +young man chuckled at the thought of Nat in the overalls and jumper. +</P> + +<P> +"And those two girls are going to Glenwood—the boarding school I +attend!" and Viola's lip curled in hauteur. +</P> + +<P> +"The dickens they are! I—beg your pardon, but I was so surprised," +said Tom. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't blame you. I was equally surprised myself. In fact, I guess +everyone was—they made up their minds so suddenly. I suppose—" Then +Viola stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what do you suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I shouldn't say it—" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? Can't you trust me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it wasn't that. But it might seem unkind." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense," and the young man gave Viola a reassuring look. "A thing +said in good faith is never unkind." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so glad you feel that way. Alice is so different, and I have been +just dying to talk to somebody—somebody who would look at things as I +do. Sometimes I am almost homesick." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you are," said the youth, falling a victim to the girl's +coquetry as readily as water runs down hill. "A fellow is never that +way—homesick, I mean; but for a girl—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," sighed Viola, "this visiting is not all it is supposed to +be. Alice is a lovely girl, of course, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"A trifle high flown," said Tom, trying to help the faltering girl with +her criticism. +</P> + +<P> +"And so strangely fascinated with that Dorothy." Viola toyed evasively +with the stick of her parasol. "Of course she is a pretty girl—" +</P> + +<P> +"Too yellow—I mean too blondy," said Tom, feeling obliged to say +something against Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know her cousin, Nat White?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very well, I only met him the other night. But he seems like a +decent fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot imagine any boy allowing two girls to get in such a +predicament," said Viola, "feeling her way" to further criticism. +</P> + +<P> +"It was rough, but then you see he was not with them, he had gone to +the blacksmith shop to get something fixed, I believe." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they were alone!" and Viola had gained one point. "Was it really +melons, do you suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"So he said, but he seemed to take the whole thing as a joke. Ginger! +It was funny to go out in a red flyer and come back in a Black Maria," +and Tom laughed at his own attempt at a pun. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, when the cousin came back the girls were in the police patrol? +That accounts for it. I could not possibly see how any young fellow +could allow girls to get into such a scrape," persisted Viola. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Tom vaguely, not being at all particular as to what was the +nature of the remark he had given acquiescence to. +</P> + +<P> +"But to be arrested!" went on Viola. +</P> + +<P> +"Were they arrested?" asked Tom in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course," declared Viola. "Didn't Mr. White say so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I suppose he did. That is—I really had not looked at it that +way. I thought it was some kind of joke." +</P> + +<P> +But Tom had said, "Yes," Nat told him they had been arrested! And Tom +Burbank never intended to say anything of the kind! Viola Green with +her pretty clothes and pretty looks had "put the words into his mouth +and had taken them out again!" +</P> + +<P> +"We must be going!" said Viola, leaving her seat beside the little fish +pond in the park. "I suppose I shall see you at the lawn party?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I am invited?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then I invite you now. You need not say you got my invitation before +the others were out—but be sure to come!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A LAWN PARTY "WITH BOYS!" +</H4> + +<P> +The day was perfect—an item of much importance where lawn parties are +concerned. Dorothy and Tavia were kept in ignorance of the testimonial +that had been arranged in their honor, and were now, at one hour before +the appointed time, dressing for an afternoon with Alice. Ned and Nat +were to go with them and then— +</P> + +<P> +"I am going to dress in my brand new challie," Tavia announced to +Dorothy, as she left for that operation. "I'll show Miss Cucumber what +I can look like when I do dress up." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll wear my cadet blue linen," said Dorothy, "I think that such a +pretty dress." +</P> + +<P> +"Splendiferous!" agreed Tavia, "and so immensely becoming. Well, let +us get there on time. I am just dying to say things at, not to, Miss +Cuke." +</P> + +<P> +"Tavia!" but that young lady was out of reach of the admonition Dorothy +was wont to administer. The Green Violet, the Green Vegetable and all +the other Greens seemed sufficiently abusive to Dorothy, but she was +determined not to tolerate the latest epithet Tavia had coined to take +the place of that name—Viola Green. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," admitted Dorothy, reflecting upon Tavia's new word, "Viola +does seem sour, and her name is Green, but that is no reason why we +should make an enemy of her. She might make it very unpleasant at +Glenwood School." +</P> + +<P> +Ned and Nat arrived just as Dorothy finished dressing. They had been +invited over the telephone by Alice, who, in taking them into the lawn +party plot, had arranged that they bring Dorothy and Tavia ostensibly +to spend the afternoon with her. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the cousins' greeting been exchanged when Tavia made her +appearance. She did look well in the new challie—one of the school +dresses so lately acquired through Mrs. White's good management. +</P> + +<P> +"We had better go at once," said Ned, after speaking a word to Tavia. +"I am really anxious to become better acquainted with Miss Alice. She +seems such a jolly girl." +</P> + +<P> +"And as good as gold!" declared Dorothy warmly. "We all just love +Alice!" +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure you do. I would to—if I had a chance," joked Ned. +</P> + +<P> +Along the road Tavia was with Nat as usual, trying to find some +heretofore unfound item of interest in reviewing the ride in the police +wagon. But concerning the interference of the stranger, Viola Green, +Tavia was silent. Nat might say something that would spoil Tavia's +idea of the joke on Viola. +</P> + +<P> +Reaching the MacAllister gate both boys wondered that no sign of the +festivities were apparent. Even upon the very threshold of the stately +old mansion not a sound betrayed the expected lawn party. Alice +answered the ring and, with a pleasant greeting, showed the company +into the reception room, then, as she drew back the portiers opening up +the long parlor there was a wild shout: +</P> + +<P> +"Surprise! Surprise on Dorothy! Surprise on Tavia!" And the next +moment there was such an "outpouring," as Tavia termed the hilarity, +that neither Dorothy nor Tavia could find herself, so tangled had each +one become with all the others in their joyous enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +It was a complete surprise. This fact made the affair especially +enjoyable—girls do love to keep secrets in spite of all proverbial +statements to the contrary. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you even guess?" quizzed May Egner, addressing Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Never suspected a thing," declared Dorothy, as she finally managed to +make her way to a cozy little seat in the arch, and there ensconced, +began a pleasant chat with May Egner. +</P> + +<P> +"Nettie is responsible for the boys," May began. "She was a committee +of one on them. But she declares she never invited that Tom Burbank, +see him over there with Viola? And Alice is a little put out about it. +He is a stranger, you know, and none of the boys seem to take him up." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad there are boys here," remarked Dorothy, looking pleasantly +about the room and noting how well the Dalton boys had turned out, and +what a really good-looking set they were. "But surely someone must +have invited Tom Burbank." +</P> + +<P> +"I suspect Viola," whispered May. "She seems to have something private +to say to him and insists no one else shall hear it. Just see where +they are." +</P> + +<P> +In a most secluded nook indeed, a very small cozy corner under the +stairway, could be seen the pair in question. Viola looked +particularly pretty in a light green muslin that brought out to +perfection the delicate tints of her rather pale face. Her dark hair +was turned up in a "bun," and it might be said, in passing, that no +other girl in the room had assumed such a young lady-like effect. +This, with her society manners, and Tom at her elbow, easily gave Viola +a star position at the lawn party. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia was still gasping over her "surprise." The boys found it a +matter of ease to become at once a part of the party where Tavia was +concerned. They might have felt a trifle awkward before she came, this +being the social debut of most of them, but when Tavia, "got going," as +they expressed it, there was an end to all embarrassment. +</P> + +<P> +Like a queen she sat on the low couch, her head thrown back in mock +scorn, while not less than a half dozen boys wielded palm leaf fans +about her, in true oriental fashion. Someone brought a hassock for her +feet, then another ran to the porch and promptly returned with a long +spray of honeysuckle that was pressed into a crown for her head; Alice +confiscated a Japanese parasol from the side wall for her "slave" to +shade her with and then— +</P> + +<P> +The couch was the kind without a back support, cartridge cushions under +the rolled ends finishing the antique design. Against one of these +Tavia was resting, but no sooner had all her accessories been completed +than her suite fell into line, four "slaves" making hold of the couch, +lifting it majestically from its place, and with the air of Roman +history, "gents" solemnly marching off with the queen and her retinue +in full swing. +</P> + +<P> +George Mason was chief waver—that is, he had the post of honor, next +the "chariot" with his fan. +</P> + +<P> +"Ki-ah!" he called, "Tavy-wavy-Ki-yah!" +</P> + +<P> +This was the signal for a solemn chant in which all of the twenty boys +present, including Ned and Nat, but not Tom Burbank, participated. +</P> + +<P> +"Ki-ah!" called the leader. +</P> + +<P> +"Ki-ah!" answered the retinue. +</P> + +<P> +"Loddy-Shoddy, Wack-fi-Oddy Ki-ah!" sang out the head "Yamma," while +Queen Octavia smiled majestically at her subjects, and bore the honor +thrust upon her as gracefully as if born heir to an Indian throne. +</P> + +<P> +The girls were bending and fanning and bowing, some even endeavoring to +kiss the queen's hand as she passed. +</P> + +<P> +"It takes boys to find fun," remarked Alice, "But see here, Yum-kim, or +Loddy-Shoddy, whoever may be in authority," called Alice, "please bring +back that couch, very carefully now, when you have dumped the queen on +the lawn." +</P> + +<P> +At this the slaves stopped, but did not dump their queen. Instead, +they slowly lowered the chariot, and even assisted her to alight. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, awfully," said Tavia, in common English, "I suppose that honor +is saved for most persons' funerals. It's something to have tried +it—I think Indian funeral marches perfectly lovely. I must die in +India." +</P> + +<P> +"Funeral march! Well, I like that!" groaned George Mason. "Of all the +frosts—" +</P> + +<P> +"That, my dear queen," declared Ralph Wilson, "was your triumphant +procession-all! Did you notice the procesh? Funeral indeed! You +would never get off that easy with a funeral in India." +</P> + +<P> +Viola was standing on the porch smiling pleasantly. Somehow she seemed +very agreeable to-day. Dorothy noticed how cordially she had greeted +her, and even Tavia felt she should certainly have to be civil to the +"Green Violet" if the latter kept her "manners going." +</P> + +<P> +"Introduce me to your cousins," said Viola affably, coming up to where +Dorothy stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," answered Dorothy. "I was waiting for an opportunity. The +queen-show took all our attention." +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't it splendid," and Viola seemed to have enjoyed the fun. "I do +think boys do the funniest things." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they certainly are original. I have two small brothers and they +keep me going." +</P> + +<P> +"How lovely to have brothers!" remarked Viola. "I am all alone at +home." +</P> + +<P> +"It must be lonely," sympathized Dorothy, "but then, you can have +everything your own way." +</P> + +<P> +"Just like lying abed on a holiday," said Viola, "one never enjoys it. +I believe we always want what we cannot get, and scarcely ever +appreciate what we have." +</P> + +<P> +"I find it that way sometimes," admitted Dorothy, "but to make sure I +am not mistaken I often suppose myself without that which I fail to +appreciate. It is a good test of one's real self, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"But a lot of trouble," sighed Viola. "I take things as they come—and +always want more, or to be rid of some. But I have one real love, and +that's music. I was called Viola because my dear grandfather was a +celebrated violinist, and perhaps that is why I have such a passion for +music." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you play?" asked Dorothy, interested. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I study the piano and violin, but of course I like the violin +best. There is one of your cousins—" +</P> + +<P> +"Nat!" called Dorothy, as that boy ran across the lawn. "Come over +here a minute, if you can spare time from that un-understandable game." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you know that game?" asked Nat, coming up to the rustic bench +upon which the two girls were seated. "Why, I'm surprised. That is a +genuine American game 'Follow the Leader.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Let me introduce you to a friend," began Dorothy, indicating Viola. +"This is Miss Green—Mr. Nat White." +</P> + +<P> +Nat bowed and spoke pleasantly—he was no country boy. Viola had +noticed that long ago. +</P> + +<P> +"Viola has just been telling me her one hobby is music," said Dorothy, +to start the small talk, "and she studies the violin. I think it so +much more interesting than the piano," she commented. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I've tried it," admitted Nat. "It is more interesting for others, +but when it comes home to a fellow it is awfully scratchy and +monotonous. But I suppose Miss Viola has gone past that period. I +stuck there." +</P> + +<P> +"That is because you did not start early enough," said Viola. "To do +anything with the violin one ought to start before the squeaks and +scratches can be realized." +</P> + +<P> +"Good idea," agreed Nat. "That work should certainly be done in +the—sub—conscious state." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll leave you to settle the violin," said Dorothy, "while I pay my +respects to Mrs. MacAllister. She has just come out, and wasn't it +splendid of her to let us all come here?" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy made her way across the lawn to the knot of girls where Mrs. +MacAllister was gracefully presiding. +</P> + +<P> +But instantly Tavia saw that Nat was alone with Viola—the very thing +she wanted to avoid. Nat might tell her the truth about the "chariot +race," as the police patrol ride had become known. Besides, Viola +could find out so many things from an unsuspecting boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me," said Tavia to Nettie, dragging the innocent girl along. +"I want to present you to a friend of mine. Do you see that boy over +there? The best looking fellow here? Well, he's a friend of mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Delighted—I'm sure," agreed Nettie. "But what about the other girl? +Miss Nile Green?" +</P> + +<P> +"Cut her out," said Tavia, in her most business-like way, using the +slang with the old as well as the newer significance. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," responded Nettie, with a coquettish toss of her head. +"I'm on the boys committee—as a matter of fact they are all here in my +care," and straightforth the pair made for Viola's bench. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't it too funny!" Viola was exclaiming as Tavia came up. +</P> + +<P> +"I should think so," they heard Nat answer, "But Dorothy was ready to—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush!" whispered Viola, but the warning was just a moment too late, +for Tavia heard it. Then Viola said something that Tavia did not hear. +</P> + +<P> +Nat was very pleasant to Nettie. It was evident the introduction had +broken in on something interesting to Viola, if not to Nat, but he gave +no sign of the interference being annoying, although the girl was not +so tactful. +</P> + +<P> +"Nettie is the committee on boys," declared Tavia, "so I thought it +high time she had a chance to censure you—I mean to look over your +credentials." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if you and the others would join me in a swallow of that +lemonade I see under yonder tree, Miss Nettie,—No, not you Tavia, nor +Miss Green? Then we will have to drink alone, for I am deadly +thirsty," and at this he walked away with Nettie, leaving Viola on the +bench with Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there's Tom looking for me," exclaimed Viola, jumping up +instantly, "won't you let me introduce you, Tavia?" (she actually said +Tavia!) "He's a stranger and some out of place." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Tavia vaguely, probably referring to the "out of place" +clause, and not exactly giving assent to the introduction. +</P> + +<P> +Then came Viola's turn—she left Tavia with Tom and as promptly made +her own escape! +</P> + +<P> +"Of all the—clams," Tavia was saying to herself, rather rudely, it +must be confessed. +</P> + +<P> +But Tom evidently liked Tavia, at any rate he talked to her and showed +a remarkable aptness in keeping up the tete-a-tete, "against all +comers," said Nat to himself, noticing the monopoly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the time Miss Tavia was beaten at her own game," was Viola's +secret comment. "How glad I am to get rid of that bore. I heartily +wish I—that he had not been asked." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of that?" inquired Alice of Dorothy, observing the +girl's change of partners. "Look at Nat with Viola and Tavia with Tom!" +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to hear what Tavia has to say," and Dorothy smiled at the +idea of Tavia's possible conversation. "I'm just dying to tell her +that Viola's name did not come from the vegetable kingdom." +</P> + +<P> +"We had really better break up these little confabs," said Alice, +feeling her responsibility as hostess, "or we may have reason to doubt +the advisability of giving a lawn party with boys." +</P> + +<P> +"The simplest games will be the most enjoyable, I think," suggested +Dorothy. "I would begin with 'drop the handkerchief.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine idea," replied Alice. "But notice how many times Tom gets a +'drop.' I'll bet the girls will be afraid he would keep the +handkerchief. He looks girlie enough to fancy one with lace on," and +at this Alice went forth to inaugurate the old-time game. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +OFF FOR GLENWOOD +</H4> + +<P> +The lawn party ended in a shower; not only a linen shower as May Egner +had planned, but in a specific downpour of rain. The day, so +beautifully promising, suddenly changed colors and sent, from a sky of +inky blackness, one of the heaviest rainfalls of the season. But this +change only added sport to the festivities, for a game of blindman's +buff had to be finished in the dining-room, and the way the boys ducked +under the big table actually put the "blind man" (Nettie) out of +business. +</P> + +<P> +It had been a splendid afternoon, every moment of the hours spent +seemed to all present the best time of their gay young lives, and that +Viola had contributed to the merriment and made herself particularly +agreeable, left nothing to be wished for, Alice thought. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy and Tavia felt that the time had come to make their adieux, and +were about to undertake that task when, at a signal from Alice, the +room was suddenly filled with flying bits of linen—the other shower. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah!" cried the boys, catching the gifts and tossing them up again +and again. +</P> + +<P> +"Fen!" called Tavia, using a marble game expression, but the boys would +not desist. They liked the linen shower first-rate, and insisted on +keeping it going. +</P> + +<P> +"Then let us snowball the travelers," suggested Sarah Ford, and at this +Dorothy and Tavia were forced into a corner and completely snowed under +with the linen. +</P> + +<P> +When the excitement had subsided, and the gifts were counted, Dorothy +found she had fourteen beautiful dainty little handkerchiefs, four +hand-made collars, and a darling pink and white linen bag. This last +gift was from Alice, and had Dorothy's name done in a tiny green vine, +with dots of pale lavender violets peeping through. This was such a +beautiful piece that Alice admitted she had worked on it sometime +previous to the party, intending to keep it for Dorothy's birthday gift. +</P> + +<P> +Next Tavia counted twelve handkerchiefs, and seven collars. She +declared the girls knew she never had a decent collar, and, in her +profuse thanks, almost wept with joy at the unexpected blessing. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the collar that makes the girl," she assured those who stood +about her admiring her treasures, "and I never could make the collar. +So you see you have saved me from disgracing Dorothy at Glenwood. I +suppose every boarding school girl sports the hand-made variety." +</P> + +<P> +"And to think that I cannot give a party in Dalton to pay you back," +remarked Dorothy, as she was saying good-bye to a group of girls and +boys in the hall. "We are going to move to North Birchland, you know." +</P> + +<P> +But the girls did not know, and the information was received with much +regret—everyone would miss the Dales. The girls would miss Dorothy, +the boys would miss Joe, and as for Roger, he had always been a +neighborhood pet. Then Major Dale was a popular citizen, besides being +especially endeared to many whom he had befriended with money and +advice. +</P> + +<P> +"But you will come down to see us on your holidays," insisted the boys +and girls, "and perhaps we can get something up so that we may have a +reunion." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy agreed to this, and then, when all the good-byes had been said, +and all the earnest protestations of affection expressed, the +merry-makers dispersed, making their way through the wet and muddy +roads, but happy with a clear sky above—for some of the girls wore +real party dresses and the shower had made them apprehensive until it +stopped. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy and Tavia remained to thank Alice and Mrs. MacAllister for all +the trouble they had taken. During the conversation Viola assured the +girls they would be delighted with Glenwood and said it was a pity +Alice had to stay longer at Dalton school to finish a special course. +</P> + +<P> +"Because," said Viola, "we could have such glorious times all together." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think," said Tavia, as she took Dorothy's arm and "picked her +steps," across the wet road on her way home, "that Viola really means +it? That she is glad we are going to Glenwood?" +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't like to say," hesitated Dorothy. "She has such an odd way. +All afternoon she acted to me like one who had gained some point and +was satisfied." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I didn't get her away from Nat in time," declared Tavia. "I +heard her say something suspicious as I came up to them. No use asking +Nat what he told her, he would invent something to tease me and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Declare you were jealous," finished Dorothy. "We will hope she was in +earnest with her graciousness—perhaps she is always that +way—antagonistic with strangers." +</P> + +<P> +"Never," and Tavia went into a mud puddle in her attempt to speak very +decidedly. "There! I'm glad that was not my canvas shoe. I was +tempted to wear them. Ouch! Wet through! But I was about to say that +Viola is not mean to all strangers. Did you see the way she went for +Nat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we must not make trouble by going out of our way to meet it," +preached Dorothy. "Viola may not have a chance to bother us at +Glenwood, even if she cared to try." +</P> + +<P> +"Chance! You can depend upon her to make all the chance she wants. +But I have my defense all mapped out. I am certain she will try to +disgrace us with the patrol story." +</P> + +<P> +"What disgrace could she make out of that?" asked Dorothy in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know, haven't the least idea, only I fancy she will fix +something up. But I'll give her 'a run for her money,' as the boys +say," and Tavia displayed something of the defense she had "mapped out" +in a decidedly vindictive attitude. Packing of trunks and doing up of +girls' belongings made the time fly, so that when the morning of the +actual departure did arrive both girls felt as if something important +must have been overlooked, there was so much hurry and flurry. But the +train puffed off at last, with Dorothy Dale and Octavia Travers +passengers for the little place called Glenwood, situated away off in +the New England mountains. +</P> + +<P> +Major Dale felt lonely indeed when his Little Captain had kissed the +two boys—her soldiers—good-bye, and, when she pressed her warm cheek +to his own anxious face, it did seem as if a great big slice of +sunshine had suddenly darted under a heavy black cloud. But it was +best she should go, he reflected, and they must get along without her. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia's folks were conscious of similar sentiments. The squire, her +father, and her little brother Johnnie went to the station to see the +girls off, and Johnnie felt so badly that he actually refused to go +fishing with Joe Dale, an opportunity he would have "jumped at" under +any other circumstances. Roger Dale had rubbed his pretty eyes almost +sightless trying not to cry and listening to Aunt Libby's oft-told +story that had never yet failed to heal a wound of the baby's heart, +but he surely did not want Doro to go, and he surely would cry every +single night when she did not come to kiss him. +</P> + +<P> +"I just do want her," he blubbered on the newly-ironed gingham apron +that Aunt Libby buried his sweet face in, "and I don't love Auntie +Winnie for taking her away." +</P> + +<P> +So the Dalton home was left behind. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we did not have to change so often," said Dorothy to Tavia, +when she had finally dried her eyes and looked around with the +determination of being young-lady-like, and not crying for those left +behind in dear old Dalton. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's the most fun," declared Tavia. "All new people maybe, and +different conductors, besides a chance to try if our feet are +asleep—mine feel drowsy now," and she jumped into the aisle just to +straighten out and make people wonder if she had lost something. +</P> + +<P> +"We will meet the others at the junction—Viola's folks, you know. And +that reminds me,—I never had a chance to tell you why she was called +Viola. Her grandfather was a great violinist and she was called after +his—" +</P> + +<P> +"Fiddle! Good!" interrupted Tavia, the irrepressible. "Then I'll call +her 'Fiddle.' That's lots better than the vegetables." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a comfort to have all our things go by express," Dorothy remarked +when "Next station Junction!" was called from the front door of the +car. "I feel as if I am constantly forgetting something, when I have +nothing to carry, but it is a relief to find our racks empty." +</P> + +<P> +"My hat is up there," Tavia remarked, taking down the straw sailor. +"And our box of candy—you don't call that an empty rack, do you? +Alice's best mixed—all chocolate too." +</P> + +<P> +"I was quite sure you wouldn't forget the candy," answered Dorothy. +"And it was awfully good of Alice." +</P> + +<P> +"Junction! Junct-shon!" called the trainman. +</P> + +<P> +"There's our porter," remarked Tavia; with conscious pride as the +colored man, whom the major had given the girls in charge of, stepped +up the aisle, secured the small satchels and, without so much as, "by +your leave," or, "are you ready," handed the two girls off the train. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +VIOLA'S MOTHER +</H4> + +<P> +At the change of cars the Dalton girls were met by Viola and Mrs. +Green. Viola and her mother soon arranged seats for four in the chair +car, and Dorothy, with Tavia, joined them in such comfortable quarters +as are provided for long distance passengers. Then the little party +settled down for a long ride—and all the enjoyment that might be +discovered therein. Viola appeared delighted to meet the Dalton +girls—she inquired particularly about Dorothy's cousin Nat, but this +society "stunt," as Tavia termed it, was due more to the city habit of +remembering friends' friends, than a weakness on Viola's part for good +looking boys. +</P> + +<P> +But it was Viola's mother who interested both Dorothy and Tavia. She +was a small woman, evidently of foreign extraction (Spanish, Dorothy +thought) and with such a look of adoration for Viola that, to Dorothy +and Tavia, observing the wonderful mother-love, it seemed like +something inhuman, divine perhaps, or was it a physical weakness? +</P> + +<P> +They noticed that Mrs. Green used her smelling salts freely, she often +pressed her hand to her head, and seemed much like a person too +delicate to travel. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you all right, momsey?" Viola would ask continually. "I do wish +you had not risked coming." +</P> + +<P> +"But I could not allow you to travel all alone," the mother would +answer with a delightful foreign accent. "And you know, my daughter, +that father was too busy." +</P> + +<P> +"But, momsey, do not sit up if you are tired," cautioned Viola. "Just +lie back and try to be comfortable." +</P> + +<P> +"I am enjoying every word you speak," declared the little woman, +inhaling her salts. "You and your charming friends." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy had never seen so wonderful a mother—to actually hang on her +daughter's frivolous nonsense. And the attention was a positive tonic +to Tavia's chatter. She said such amusing things and saw such +ridiculous comparisons—the kind little children surprise their elders +with. +</P> + +<P> +To Dorothy, who had never known a mother's affection (she was such a +tot when her own dear mother left her), this devotion appeared to be +nothing short of marvelous. Tavia thought it unusual—Viola seemed +worried when it became too extreme. Then she would urge her mother to +rest and not excite herself over foolish schoolgirl talk. Even such an +admonition from a mere daughter did not appear to bother the strange +little woman, with the almost glaring black eyes. Tavia observed this +peculiarity, then made a mental observation that whatever ailed Viola +might have to do with a similar affliction on the mother's +part—perhaps a family weakness! +</P> + +<P> +As they journeyed on Dorothy found it very pleasant to talk with Mrs. +Green and so left Viola and Tavia pretty much to themselves. +</P> + +<P> +Numbers of Glenwood girls were picked up at various stations, and, as +each was espied, the chair car party hailed them, Viola being +acquainted with the last year's girls. Before the last station—some +twenty miles from the destination of the students—had been struck off +the time-table, there were actually twelve "Glenwoods," aboard. Those +from Dalton felt just a bit "green" Tavia admitted, never before having +mingled with a boarding school "tribe," but on the whole the scholars +were very sociable and agreeable, and made all sorts of promises for +future good times. +</P> + +<P> +"You see," explained Rose-Mary Markin, a very dear girl from somewhere +in Connecticut, "we count all this side of Boston in the Knickerbocker +set, 'Knicks,' we call them. The others are the Pilgrims; and isn't it +dreadful to nickname them the 'Pills?'" +</P> + +<P> +Tavia thought that "the best ever," and declared she would join the +Knicks (spelled "Nicks" in the school paper) no matter what the +initiation would cost her. +</P> + +<P> +"Viola is secretary of the Nicks," volunteered Amy Brook, a girl who +wore her hair parted exactly in the middle and looked classical. "We +have lots of sport; plays and meetings. You will join, surely, +Dorothy, won't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I will not be secretary this year," interrupted Viola, without +allowing Dorothy to answer Amy. "It's too much trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"But you can't resign until the first regular meeting in November," +said Amy, surprised that Viola should wish to give up the office. +</P> + +<P> +"I intend to resign the very first thing," asserted Viola. "The Nicks +can get along with a pro-tem until the regular meeting." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Green now fixed her strange gaze upon her daughter, and Dorothy, +who was plainly more interested in the delicate little woman than in +the schoolgirls' chatter, noticed a shadow come into the pale face. +Evidently Mrs. Green could stand no arguments, no confusion, and, when +the girls continued to discuss the pros and cons of a secretary +pro-tem, Dorothy suggested that they change the subject as it might be +distressing to Mrs. Green. Quick as a flash Viola was all attention to +her mother, inquiring about her head, offering to bring fresh ice +water, and showing unusual anxiety, so it seemed to Dorothy's keen +observation, when the lady was not really ill. +</P> + +<P> +Then, at the first opportunity Viola called the girls down to the end +compartment, and told them that her mother had only just recovered from +a serious illness. +</P> + +<P> +"She had a dreadful attack this time," said Viola, "and she should +never have come on this journey." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why did she?" asked Tavia, in her blunt way. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she seemed so set upon it," declared Viola, "that the doctors +thought it more dangerous to cross her about it than to allow her to +come. Our doctor is on the train, but mother does not know it. I do +wish she could get strong!" +</P> + +<P> +The tears that came to the girl's eyes seemed very pitiable—every one +of the party felt like crying with Viola. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy attempted to put her arms about the sad girl, but Viola was on +her feet instantly. +</P> + +<P> +"We must go back," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we can arrange to sit in another place," suggested Dorothy. +"Perhaps if she were quiet she might fall off asleep." +</P> + +<P> +Viola left the compartment first. There were people in the aisle—in +front of her mother. What had happened? +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" screamed the girl. "Mother! Let me go to her!" and she hurried +through the car, pushing aside the trainmen who had been summoned. +"Mother! Mother!" called the frightened Viola, for her mother was so +pale and so still! +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she is dead!" whispered Tavia, who had succeeded in reaching the +chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Open the windows!" commanded Viola. "Call Dr. Reed, quick! He is in +the next car!" +</P> + +<P> +It seemed an eternity—but in reality was only a few minutes—before +the doctor reached the spot. Dorothy could see that Mrs. Green had not +fainted—her eyes were moving. But poor Viola! How could they ever +have thought ill of her when this was her sorrow: this her sad burden! +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy Dale resolved in her heart, at that moment, that never a care +nor a sorrow should come to Viola Green if she could protect her from +it. She would be her champion at school, she would try to share this +secret sorrow with her; she would do anything in her power to make life +brighter for a girl who had this awful grief to bear. +</P> + +<P> +"It's her mind," Dorothy had heard someone whisper. Then the doctor +had the porters carry the sick woman to a private compartment, and with +her Viola remained, until the train reached Hanover. There Dr. Reed +left the train and with him went Mrs. Green in care of an attendant. +When they were gone Viola returned to her companions weeping and almost +sick herself. +</P> + +<P> +"The doctor would not let me go back home," she sighed, "and as soon as +mother was conscious she insisted on me going on to school. Dr. Reed +can always manage her so well, and if I were with him perhaps mother +would fret more. But I did think she would get over those awful +spells—" and the girl burst into fresh tears. +</P> + +<P> +"Viola, dear," said Dorothy soothingly. "Try to be brave. Perhaps the +trip may benefit her in the end." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't try to be kind to me," wailed the unhappy girl. "I can't +stand it! I hate everybody and everything in this world only my +darling little sweet mother! And I cannot have her! She can never go +with me to her own country now, and we had planned it all! Oh, mother +darling! Why did you inherit that awful sickness! Why can't we cure +you!" and so the sad daughter wailed and wept, while her companions +looked on helplessly. +</P> + +<P> +"But you will let me be you friend," pleaded Dorothy. "Try to think it +will all come right some day—every sorrow must unfold some blessing—" +</P> + +<P> +"My friend!" and Viola looked with that same sharp glance that her +mother had shown—that queer glare at Dorothy. "Dorothy Dale, you do +not know what you are talking about!" +</P> + +<P> +And every girl present had reason to remember this strange remark when +days at Glenwood school proved their meaning. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CATEGORY +</H4> + +<P> +"Isn't it great!" exclaimed Tavia, shaking out her blue dress, and +tying a worn handkerchief over its particular closet hook so that no +hump would appear in the soft blue texture. "I never would believe +boarding school was such fun. Here comes Rose-Mary with more Nicks to +introduce. I hear her laughing—hasn't she got the jolliest little +giggle—like our brook when it bubbles over." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish, Tavia, you would confine your wardrobe to your own half of the +closet," Dorothy remonstrated, as she took down several articles that +had "crossed the line." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I will, dear, only I was just listening to what those girls were +saying. I thought I heard Viola's voice. Isn't it strange she does +not call on us. I told her our room was Number Nineteen." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose she's busy, every one appears to be except Rose-Mary. She +doesn't seem to mind whether her trunk is unpacked first day or on +Christmas," said Dorothy, working diligently at her own baggage. +</P> + +<P> +"I would just love to go the rounds with her," declared Tavia, "if you +did not insist upon going right to work. I would rather have fun now +and unpack later." +</P> + +<P> +"But there is no later. We must go to bed at eight thirty, my dear, +and we have no time to spare. School will begin to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"All the more reason why we should have the fun now," persisted Tavia, +who was nevertheless getting her clothes on the hooks in short order. +"There! I'm all hung up," she declared, banging the closet door +furiously, in spite of Dorothy's hat box trying to stop it. +</P> + +<P> +"But your hats," Dorothy reminded her. "They have got to go on that +shelf, and there isn't an inch of room left." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll just stick the box under the bed," calmly remarked the new +girl, making a kick at the unlucky box and following it up to the +"goal." +</P> + +<P> +"Against the rules," announced Dorothy, pointing to a typewritten +notice on the door. "Read!" +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't time. You read them and tell me about them. I'll take the +box out if it says so, but if we have to keep things in such angelic +order why in the world don't they give us room?" +</P> + +<P> +"Room? Indeed this is a large room, given us especially, and it is +quite a favor to be allowed to room together—only real sisters ever +get a double." +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven help the singles!" sighed Tavia in mock devotion. "But come +on, Doro,—we are missing all the fun. I did think I heard the mob at +our door." +</P> + +<P> +Without further leave or license Tavia dragged Dorothy from her work +and closed the door of Number Nineteen behind her. In the hall they +found Rose-Mary, whom the girls called "Cologne," Amy Brook, Nita +Brant, and Lena Berg. All were trying to talk at once, each had "the +very most delicious vacation" to tell about, and to Dorothy it appeared +the first requisite for boarding school ways was the coining of absurd +and meaningless phrases. Tavia fell right into line, and could +discount anyone of the crowd. "Splendifiorous, glorioutious and +scrambunctious," were plainly hard to beat, and no one seemed willing +to try. Cologne had a way of saying things in a jerky little jump that +suggested bumping noses, Amy Brook fairly strangled with dashes and +other unexpected shorts stops, while Nita Brant "wallowed" in such +exclamations as: +</P> + +<P> +"Fine and dandy! Perfectly sugary! Too killingly, dear, for anything!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Cologne who declared Nita "wallowed" in slang, because the Nicks +had decided that no ready-made slang should be used at meetings, and +Nita persisted in ignoring the rule. Each new term brought the +season's current phrases back in the custody of the sandy-haired Nita +and now, on the first night, her companions took precious good care to +remind her of the transgression. +</P> + +<P> +Altogether Dorothy found it difficult to keep track of anything like +conversation, and was forced to say "yes" and "no" on suspicion. Tavia +had better luck, Edna Black (christened Ebony Ned) took her in charge +at once, and the two (Ned had already established her reputation as a +black sheep), dashed off down the corridor, bursting in on unsuspecting +"Babes" (newcomers), and managing, somehow or other, to upset +half-emptied trunk trays, and do damage generally. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! Hello!" came a shout from the first turn or senior row. +"Come, somebody, and fan me!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's 'Dick,'" Ned told Tavia. "Molly Richards, but we call her +Dick. By the way, what shall we call you? What is your full name? +The very whole of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Octavia Travers! Birthday is within the octave of Christmas," +declared the Dalton girl impressively. +</P> + +<P> +"Oct or Ouch! That sounds too much like Auch du lieber Augustine, or +like a cut finger," studied Edna. "Better take yours from +Christmas—Chrissy sounds cute." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, especially since I have lately had my hair cut Christy—after our +friend Columbus," agreed Tavia, tossing back her new set of tangles. +"I was in a railroad accident, you know, and lost my long hair. I had +the time of my life getting it cut off properly, in a real barber shop. +Dorothy's cousins, two of the nicest boys, were with us—Dorothy went +too. It was such fun." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, it shall be Chrissy then," decided Edna. "It's funny we +always turn a girl's name into a boy's name when we can. Let's go and +see Dick," and at this she dragged Tavia out of the corner of the hall +where they had taken refuge from a girl who was threatening them for +upsetting all her ribbons and laces. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there you are, Ned Ebony," greeted Molly as the two bolted into +her room. "Where's everybody. I haven't seen Fiddle yet." +</P> + +<P> +"Viola Green?" asked Tavia. "Funny I should have thought of that name +for her." +</P> + +<P> +"You knew she plays the fiddle adorably." +</P> + +<P> +"No, but I knew she had been named after her grandfather's violin. +What a queer notion." +</P> + +<P> +"Queer girl, too," remarked Molly, "but a power in her way. Did she +come up yet?" +</P> + +<P> +"On our train," said Tavia, too prudent, for once in her life, to tell +the whole story. +</P> + +<P> +"She is going to cut the Nicks," announced Edna. "She told me so first +thing. Then she slammed her door and no one has caught a glimpse of +her since." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia was fairly bursting with news at this point, but she had promised +Dorothy not to interfere with Viola in any way and she wisely decided +not to start in on such dangerous territory as Viola's visit to Dalton. +So the matter was dropped, and the girls went forth for more fun. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy had met Miss Higley, Mrs. Pangborn's assistant. She proved to +be a little woman with glasses, the stems going all the way back of her +ears. She seemed snappy, Dorothy thought, and gave all sorts of orders +to the girls while pretending to become acquainted with Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"The crankiest crank," declared one girl, when the little woman had +gone further down the hall with her objections. "But, really, we need +a chief of police. Don't you think so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't Mrs. Pangborn chief?" asked Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she's president of the board of commissioners," replied Rose-Mary. +"Miss Honorah Higley is the chief of all departments." +</P> + +<P> +"And Miss Crane?" inquired Dorothy. "I have met her." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she's all right," declared the informer. "Camille Crane is a +dear—if the girls do call her Feathers." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought all that nick-name business was done in colleges," remarked +Dorothy. "Every one here seems to have two names." +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't possibly get along without them," declared Cologne. "I've +been Cologne since my first day—what have they given you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't heard yet," said Dorothy, smiling. "But I do hope they +won't 'Dot' me. I hate dots." +</P> + +<P> +"Then make it Dashes or Specks, but you must not be Specks. We have +one already." +</P> + +<P> +"Glad of it," returned Dorothy. "I don't like Specks either." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we will make it 'D. D.' That's good, and means a whole lot of +things. There," declared Cologne. "I've had the honor of being your +sponsor. Now you must always stick by me. D. D. you are to be +hereafter." +</P> + +<P> +"That will tickle Tavia," declared Dorothy. "She always said I was a +born parson." +</P> + +<P> +"Better yet," exclaimed Cologne. "Be Parson. Now we've got it. The +Little Parson," and away she flew to impart her intelligence to a +waiting world of foolish schoolgirls. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE INITIATION +</H4> + +<P> +The first days at Glenwood revolved like a magic kaleidoscope—all bits +of brilliant things, nothing tangible, and nothing seemingly important. +Dorothy had made her usual good friends—Tavia her usual jolly chums. +But Viola Green remained a mystery. +</P> + +<P> +She certainly had avoided speaking to Dorothy, and had not even taken +the trouble to avoid Tavia—she "cut her dead." Edna tried to persuade +Tavia that "Fiddle" was a privileged character, and that the seeming +slights were not fully intended; but Tavia knew better. +</P> + +<P> +"She may be as odd as she likes," insisted the matter of fact girl from +Dalton, "but she must not expect me to smile at her ugliness—it is +nothing else—pure ugliness." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy had sought out Viola, but it was now plain that the girl +purposely avoided her. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps she is worrying about her mother, poor dear," thought the +sympathetic Dorothy. "I must insist on cheering her up. A nice walk +through these lovely grounds ought to brighten her. And the leaves on +these hills are perfectly glorious. I must ask her to go with me on my +morning walk. I'll go to her room to-night after tea—during +recreation. I have not seen her out a single morning yet." +</P> + +<P> +So Dorothy mused, and so she acted according to the logical result of +that musing. At recreation time that evening Dorothy tapped gently on +the door of Number Twelve. +</P> + +<P> +The door was slightly ajar, and Dorothy could hear the sounds of papers +being hastily gathered up. Then Viola came to the entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"May I come in?" asked Dorothy, surprised that Viola should have made +the question necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I am so busy—but of course—Did you want to see me?" and there +was no invitation in the voice or manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Just for a moment," faltered Dorothy, determined not to be turned away +without a hearing. +</P> + +<P> +Viola reluctantly opened the door. Then she stepped aside without +offering a chair. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been worried about you," began Dorothy, rather miserably. "Are +you ill, Viola?" +</P> + +<P> +"111? Why not at all. Can't a girl attend to her studies without +exciting criticism?" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy's face burned. "Oh, of course. But I did not see you out at +all—" +</P> + +<P> +"Next time I leave my room I'll send the Nicks word," snapped Viola. +"Then they may appoint a committee to see me out!" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was stung by this. She had expected that Viola would resent +the interference—try to keep to her chosen solitude—but the rudeness +was a surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"But you are getting pale, Viola," she ventured. "Couldn't you +possibly take your exercise with me to-morrow? I would so like to have +you. The walk over the mountains is perfectly splendid now." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," and Viola's black eyes again looked out of their depths +with that strange foreign keenness. "But I prefer to walk alone." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was certain a tear glistened in Viola's eye. +</P> + +<P> +"Alone!" repeated the visitor. "Viola, dear, if you would only let me +be your friend—" +</P> + +<P> +"Dorothy Dale!" and the girl's eyes flashed in anger. "I will have +none of your preaching. You came here to pry into my affairs just as +you did on the train, when you made me tell all about my dear, darling +mother's illness, before those giggling girls. Yes, you need not play +innocent. I know the kind of girl you are. 'Sugar coated!' But you +may take your sympathy where strangers will be fooled by it. Try it on +some of the Babes. But you must never again attempt to meddle in my +affairs. If you do I'll tell Miss Higley. So there! Are you +satisfied now?" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was stunned. Was this flaming, flashing girl the same that had +smiled upon her when the sick mother was present? What was that +strange unnatural gleam in the black eyes? Anger or jealousy? +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," faltered Dorothy; then she turned and left the room. +</P> + +<P> +One hour later Tavia found Dorothy buried in her pillows. Tears would +still come to her eyes, although she had struggled bravely to suppress +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Doro!" exclaimed her friend in surprise. "Are you homesick?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," sobbed the miserable girl. "It isn't exactly homesick—." Then +the thought came to her that she should not implicate Viola, she had +promised to save her from further suffering. Surely she had enough +with the sick mother. +</P> + +<P> +"Then what is it?" demanded Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I don't know, Tavia," and she tried again to check her tears, "but +I just had to cry." +</P> + +<P> +"Nervous," concluded the Dalton girl. "Well, we must cure that. You +know we are to be initiated this evening. Aren't you scared?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," and Dorothy sat upright. "I quite forgot. Do we join the +Nicks?" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless you prefer the Pills. They are the stiffest set—not a bit +like our crowd. And the way they talk! A cross between a brogue and +Tom Burbank. 'I came hawf way uptown before I could signal a car-r'," +rolled out Tavia, mocking the long A's, and rolled R's of the New +England girl. "How's that for English? I call it brogue." +</P> + +<P> +"It does sound queer, but they tell me it is the correct +pronunciation," Dorothy managed to say, while working diligently with +her handkerchief on her eyes and cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, as in all things else," declared Tavia, "I am thankful not to be +orthodox—I should get tonsilitis if I ever tried anything like that." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the meeting to be held?" asked Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know—we must not know anything. Ned says it will be easy. +Dick is the guide, and I know Cologne has something to do with it. I +do hope you won't be sad-eyed, Doro." +</P> + +<P> +"You can depend upon me to do Dalton justice," declared the girl on the +bed. "I'm anxious to see what they will do to us. No hazing, I hope." +</P> + +<P> +"In this Sunday school? Mercy no! No such luck. They will probably +make us recite psalms," asserted the irreverent Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"But being Parson that would be appropriate for me," Dorothy declared. +</P> + +<P> +"And for a Chris! That would be all right also," added Tavia. "Well, +I know one or two." +</P> + +<P> +"There is someone coming to call us," and Dorothy jumped to her feet. +"I must bathe my stupid eyes." +</P> + +<P> +A half hour later the meeting was called. It was held in a little +recreation room on the third floor. To this spot the candidates were +led blindfolded. Within the room the shuffling of feet could be heard, +then a weird voice said in a muffled tone: +</P> + +<P> +"Hear ye! Honored Nicks! Let their scales fall!" +</P> + +<P> +At the word the bandages were dropped from the eyes of Dorothy and +Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +A glimpse around the half-lighted room showed a company of masked faces +and shrouded forms—sheets and white paper arrangements. On the window +seat sat the Most High Nick—the promoter. At her feet was crouched +the Chief Ranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Number one!" called the Ranger, and Dorothy was pressed forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Chase that thimble across the room with your nose," demanded the +Ranger, placing a silver thimble at Dorothy's feet. +</P> + +<P> +Of course Dorothy laughed—all candidates do—at first. +</P> + +<P> +"Wipe your smile off," ordered the Promoter, and at this Dorothy was +obliged to "wipe the smile" on the rather uncertain rug, by brushing +her mouth into the very depths of the carpet. +</P> + +<P> +"Proceed!" commanded the Ranger, and Dorothy began the thimble chase. +</P> + +<P> +It is all very well for the "uppers" to laugh at the Babes, but it was +no easy matter to get a thimble across a room by nose effort. Yet +Dorothy was "game," her nominating committee declared in the course of +time, and, between many pauses, chief of which was caused by the +irrepressible smiles that had to be wiped off on all parts of the floor +for every offense, Dorothy did get the thimble over to the corner. +</P> + +<P> +"Number two," called the Ranger, and Tavia took the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"The clock," indicated the Promoter, whereupon Tavia was confined in a +small closet and made to do the "Cuckoo stunt." Each hour called was +responded to by the corresponding "cuckoos," and the effect was +ludicrous indeed. Every break in the call meant another trial, but +finally Tavia got through the ordeal. +</P> + +<P> +Next Dorothy was called upon to make a speech—the subject assigned +being "The Glory of the Nicks." An impromptu speech might be difficult +to make under such circumstances had the subject been a word of four +letters, like Snow, Love or even Hate, but to extemporize on the +society which was giving her the third degree—Dorothy almost +"flunked," it must be admitted. +</P> + +<P> +The final test was that of singing a lesson in mathematics to the tune +of America, and the try that Tavia had at that broke every paper mask +in the room—no, not every one, for over in the corner was a mask that +never stirred, one that left the room before the candidates had been +welcomed into the society of honorable Nicks. That mask went into room +twelve. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +LOST ON MOUNT GABRIEL +</H4> + +<P> +A full month of school life had passed at Glenwood. The beautiful +autumn had come to tint the leafy New England hills, when Mrs. Pangborn +announced that her classes might go on a little picnic to the top of +Mount Gabriel. The day chosen proved to be of the ideal Indian summer +variety, and when the crowd of happy students skipped away through the +woods that led to the mount, there seemed nothing to be wished for. +Miss Crane had been sent in charge, and as Edna said, that meant just +one more girl to make sport. +</P> + +<P> +As usual Viola did not join the merry-makers. She had the continuous +excuse of her mother's illness, which had really been a matter of great +worry to her, as Mrs. Pangborn, if no other at the school, knew to be +true. +</P> + +<P> +"It's as warm as August," declared Nita Brant, scaling a darling little +baby maple and robbing it of its most cherished pink leaves. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Nita," sighed Tavia, "couldn't you take some other tree? That +poor little thing never wore a pink dress before in all its young life!" +</P> + +<P> +"Too young to wear pink," declared the gay Nita, affecting the +brilliant leaves herself. "I just love baby leaves," and she planted +the wreath on her fair brow. +</P> + +<P> +This started the wreath brigade, which soon terminated in every one of +the picnickers being adorned with a crown of autumn foliage. +</P> + +<P> +At the foot of the mountain the girls made an effort to procure +mountain sticks, but this was not an easy matter, and much time was +taken up in the search for appropriate staffs. Those strong enough +were invariably too hard to break, and those that could be procured +were always too "splintery." But the matter was finally disposed of, +and the procession started up the mountain. +</P> + +<P> +It was growing late in the afternoon, the pilgrimage not having been +taken up until after the morning session, and when the top of the +mountain was finally reached, Miss Crane told her charges that they +might scurry about and get such specimen of leaves or stones as they +wished to bring back, as they would only remain there a short time. +</P> + +<P> +The air was very heavy by this time, and the distant roll of thunder +could be heard, but the gay girls never dreamed of a storm on that late +October afternoon as they ran wildly about gathering bits of every +procurable thing from moss to crystal rocks. Tavia wanted +Jacks-in-the-pulpit, and sought diligently for them, getting away from +all but Dorothy in her anxiety to find her home flower. She dearly +loved Jacks—they grew just against the Dale wall in dear old Dalton, +and she wanted to send one flower home to little Johnnie. It would be +crushed in a letter of course, but she would put some dainty little +ferns beside it and they would keep the lazy look. Then she could tell +Johnnie all about the mountain top—send him some bright red maple +leaves, and some yellow ones. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dorothy!" she exclaimed. "I see some almost-purple leaves," and +down the side of a ledge she slipped. "Come on! The footing is +perfectly safe." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy saw that the place was apparently safe, and she made her way +eagerly after Tavia. Dorothy, too, wanted to send specimens home from +Mount Gabriel, so she, too, must try to get the prettiest ones that +grew there. +</P> + +<P> +The roll of thunder was now heard by the pair but it was not heeded. +Bit by bit they made their way along the newly-discovered slope; step +by step they went farther away from their companions. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a flash of lightning shot down a tree! The next minute there +was a downpour of rain, like the dashing of a cloud burst. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" screamed Dorothy. "What shall we do?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-154"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-154.jpg" ALT=""OH! WHAT SHALL WE DO?" CRIED DOROTHY--<I>Page 155." BORDER="2" WIDTH="477" HEIGHT="747"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 477px"> +"OH! WHAT SHALL WE DO?" CRIED DOROTHY—<I>Page</I> 155. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Get under the cliff!" ordered Tavia. "Quick! Before the next flash!" +</P> + +<P> +Grasping wildly at stumps and brush, as they made their way down the +now gloomy slope, the two frightened girls managed to get under some +protection—where trees, overhanging the rocks, formed a sort of roof +to a very narrow strip of ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! What shall we do?" cried Dorothy again. "We can never make our +way back to the others." +</P> + +<P> +"But we must," declared Tavia. "I'm sure we cannot stay here long. +Isn't it a dreadful storm?" +</P> + +<P> +Flash upon flash, and roar upon roar tumbled over the mountain with +that strange rumble peculiar to hills and hollows. Then the rain— +</P> + +<P> +It seemed as if the storm came to the mountain first and lost half the +drops before getting farther down. It did pour with a vengeance. +Several times Tavia ventured to poke her head out to make weather +observations, but each time she was driven unceremoniously back into +shelter. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be late!" sighed Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"That it must!" agreed her companion, "and we have got to get out of +here soon. Rain or no rain, we can't stay here all night. The thunder +and lightning is not so bad now. Come on! Let's go!" +</P> + +<P> +Timidly the two girls crept out. But the rain had washed their path +away and they could barely take a step where so short a time before +they seemed to walk in safety. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't give up!" Tavia urged Dorothy. "We must get to the top." +</P> + +<P> +But the stones would slide away and the young trees, loosed by the +heavy rain, would pull up at the roots. +</P> + +<P> +"Try this way," suggested Tavia, taking another line from that which +the girls knew ran to the mountain top. +</P> + +<P> +This proved to be safer in footing at least. The rocks did not fall +with such force, and the trees were stronger to hold on to. +</P> + +<P> +But where was that path taking them? Both girls shouted continually, +hoping to make the others hear, but no welcome answer came back to them. +</P> + +<P> +Then they realized the truth. They were lost! +</P> + +<P> +Night was coming, and such a night! +</P> + +<P> +On a mountain top, in a thunder storm, with darkness falling! +</P> + +<P> +The girls never knew just what they did in that awful hour, but it +seemed afterwards that a whole lifetime had been lost with them in that +storm. So far from every one on earth! Not even a bird to break that +dreadful black solitude! +</P> + +<P> +And the others? +</P> + +<P> +The storm, violent as it was, did not deter them from searching for +Dorothy and Tavia. Miss Crane had shouted her throat powerless, and +the others had not been less active. But by the strange circumstances +that always lead the lost from their seekers, both parties had followed +different directions, and at last, as night came on, Miss Crane was +obliged to lead her weeping charges down Mount Gabriel and leave the +two lost ones behind. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT VIOLA DID +</H4> + +<P> +"When we get to the top we will surely be able to see our way down," +declared Tavia. "So let us keep right on, even though this is not the +path we came up." +</P> + +<P> +"But the others will not find us this way," sighed Dorothy, "and isn't +it getting dark!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind. There must be some way of getting out of the woods. No +mountains for mine. Good flat <I>terra firma</I> is good enough for +Chrissy." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy tried to be cheerful—there were no bears surely on these +peaks, and perhaps no tramps—what would they be doing up there? +</P> + +<P> +"Now!" cried Tavia, "I see a way down! Keep right close to me and you +will be all right! Yes, and I see a light! There's a hut at this end +of the mountain." +</P> + +<P> +To say that the lost Glenwood girls slid down the steep hill would +hardly express the kind of speed that they indulged in—they went over +the ground like human kangaroos, and made such good time that the +light, seen by Tavia, actually stood before them now, in a little house +against the hill. +</P> + +<P> +Two ferocious dogs greeted their coming—but Tavia managed to coax them +into submission, and presently a woman peered out of a dingy window and +demanded to know what was wanted. She seemed a coarse creature and the +place was such a hovel that the girls were sorry they had come. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't answer her," cautioned Dorothy quickly. "Let's make our way to +the road." +</P> + +<P> +Tavia saw that this would be safest, although she was not sure the +woman would allow them to pass unquestioned past her stone fence. But +with a dash they did reach the highway and had made tracks along +through the muddy narrow wagon road before the woman, who was now +calling after them, could do anything more disagreeable. The dogs +followed them up for a few paces, and then turned back while the woman +continued to shout in tones that struck terror into the hearts of the +miserable girls. +</P> + +<P> +"We may be running away from Glenwood!" ventured Tavia, spattering +along, "but this road surely goes to some place—if we can only get +there." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm so out of breath," panted Dorothy. "We can walk now. The +woman has ceased shouting." +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't it dreadful!" exclaimed Tavia. "I was just scared stiff!" +</P> + +<P> +"We do get into such awful predicaments," mused Dorothy. "But I +suppose the others are almost as frightened as we are now,—I was +dreadfully afraid when the woman shouted to us." +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't she a scarecrow? Just like an old witch in a story book. +Listen! I thought I heard the girls!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" echoed Dorothy. "I am sure that was Edna's yoddle. Answer it!" +</P> + +<P> +At the top of her voice Tavia shouted the familiar call. Then she +listened again. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," declared Dorothy, "that's surely Ned. Oh, do let's run! They +might turn off on another road! This place seems to be all turns." +</P> + +<P> +When the welcome sounds of that call were heard by both parties little +time was lost in reaching the lost ones. What had seemed to be +nightfall was really only the blackness of the storm, and now, on the +turnpike, a golden light shot through the trees, and wrapt its glory +about the happy girls, who tried all at once to embrace the two who had +gone through such a reign of terror. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry! Hurry!" called Miss Crane, skipping along like a schoolgirl +herself. +</P> + +<P> +To tell the story of their adventures, the Dalton girls marched in the +center of the middle row—everyone wanted to hear, and everyone wanted +to be just as near as possible to Tavia and Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +Taking refuge under the cliff seemed exciting enough, but when Dorothy +told how they had lost the trail to the mountain top, and how all the +footing slipped down as they tried to make the ascent, the girls were +spell-bound. Then to hear Tavia describe, in her own inimitable way, +the call of "the witch"—made some shout, ad the entire party ran along +as if the same "witch" was at their heels. +</P> + +<P> +When the report was made to Mrs. Pangborn, that dignified lady looked +very seriously at Dorothy and Tavia. Miss Crane had explained the +entire affair, making it clear that the girls became separated from the +others by the merest accident, and that the storm did the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"But you must remember, my dears," said Mrs. Pangborn kindly, "that, as +boarding school girls, you should always keep near to the teacher in +charge even when taking walks across the country. It is not at all +safe to wander about as you would at home. Nor can a girl depend upon +her own judgment in asking strangers to direct her. Sometimes +thoughtless boys delight in sending the girls out of their way. I am +glad the affair has ended without further trouble. You must have +suffered when you found you really could not reach your companions. +Let it be a lesson to all of you." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if Miss Higley had been in charge," whispered Edna, when the girls +rehearsed their interview with Mrs. Pangborn. "You would not have +gotten off so easily. She would have said you ran away from us." +</P> + +<P> +So the days at Glenwood gently lapped over the quiet nights, until week +after week marked events of more or less importance in the lives of +those who had given themselves to what learning may be obtained from +books; what influence may be gained from close companionship with those +who might serve as models; and what fun might be smuggled in between +the lines, always against the rules, but never in actual defiance of a +single principle of the old New England institution. +</P> + +<P> +"Just the by-laws," the girls would declare. "We can always suspend +them, as long as we do not touch the constitution." +</P> + +<P> +This meant, of course, that innocent, harmless fun was always +permissible when no one suffered by the pranks, and no damage was done +to property or character. +</P> + +<P> +Rose-Mary Markin had become Dorothy's intimate friend. She was what is +termed an all-round girl, both cultured and broad minded, a rare +combination of character to find in a girl still in a preparatory +school. She was as quick as a flash to detect deceit and yet gentle as +one of the Babes in settling all matters where there was a question of +actual intention. The benefit of the doubt was her maxim, and, as +president of the Glenwood Club, the membership of which included girls +from all the ranks, there was plenty of opportunity for Rose-Mary to +exercise her benificence. +</P> + +<P> +Viola Green had, as promised, resigned from office in the Nicks, and +what was more she had organized a society in direct opposition to its +principles. All the girls who had not done well in the old club +readily fell in with the promises of the new order, and soon Viola had +a distinct following—the girls with grievances against Rose-Mary, +imagined or otherwise. Molly Richards kept her "eye pealed for bombs," +she told Dorothy, and declared the "rebs" would be heard from sooner or +later in the midst of smokeless powder. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a conspiracy against someone," announced Molly to Rose-Mary one +evening. "I heard them hatching the plot and—well I wouldn't like to +be unfair, but that Viola does hate Dorothy." +</P> + +<P> +"She can never hurt Dorothy Dale," answered the upright president of +the Glenwood Club. "She is beyond all that sort of thing." +</P> + +<P> +But little did she know how Viola Green could hurt Dorothy Dale. Less +did she think how serious could be the "hurt" inflicted. +</P> + +<P> +The mid-year examinations had passed off, and the Dalton girls held +their own through the auspicious event. Dorothy showed a splendid +fundamental education; that which fits a girl for clear study in +subsequent undertakings, and that which is so often the result of the +good solid training given in country schools where methods are not +continually changing. Tavia surprised herself with getting through +better than she had hoped, and credited her good luck to some plain +facts picked up in the dear old Dalton schoolroom. +</P> + +<P> +But a letter from home disturbed Tavia's pleasant Glenwood life—her +father wrote of the illness of Mrs. Travers and said it was necessary +that their daughter should come home. For a few weeks only, the +missive read, just while the mother had time to rest up and recover her +strength—the illness was nothing of a serious nature. +</P> + +<P> +It did not seem possible that Tavia was packed and gone and that +Dorothy was left in the school. A sense of this loneliness almost +overpowered Dorothy when she realized that her sister-friend was +gone—and the little bed across her room all smooth and unruffled by +the careless, jolly girl who tried to make life a joke and did her best +to make others share the same opinion. +</P> + +<P> +It was Rose-Mary who came to cheer Dorothy in the loss of Tavia. She +sat with her evenings until the very last minute, and more than once +was caught in the dark halls, the lights having been turned out before +the girl could reach her own quarters. +</P> + +<P> +Rose-Mary and Dorothy had similar fancies. Both naturally refined, +they found many things to interest them—things that most of the girls +would not have bothered their pretty heads about. So their friendship +grew stronger and their hearts became attuned, each to the other's +rhythm, until Dorothy and Rose-Mary were the closest kind of friends. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn had decided upon a play for mid-year. It would be a sort +of trial for the big event which always marked the term's close at +Glenwood and the characters would embrace students from all +departments. The play was called Lalia, and was the story of a pilgrim +on her way, intercepted by a Queen of Virtue and again sought out by +the Queen of Pleasure. The pilgrim is lost in the woods of doubt, and +finally brought to the haven of happiness by the Virtuous Queen +Celesta. This Pilgrim's Progress required many characters for the +queen's retinues, besides the stars, of course, and the lesser parts. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was chosen for Lalia—the best character. +</P> + +<P> +The part had been assigned by vote, and Dorothy's splendid golden hair, +coupled with that "angelic face," according to her admirers, won the +part for her. Rose-Mary Markin was made Celesta, the Queen of Virtue: +and Viola Green, because of her dark complexion, being opposite that of +Celesta, was elected to be Frivolita, the Queen of Pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +Each queen was allowed to select her own retinue—a delicious task, +said the ones most interested. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn made a neat little speech at the Glenwood meeting where +these details were decided upon, and in it referred to the lesson of +the story, incidentally hinting that some of the pupils had lately +taken it upon themselves to do things not in strict accord with the +history of her school—the forming of a society, for instance, without +the consent or knowledge of any of the faculty. This secret doing, she +said, could not continue. Either the girls should come to her and make +known the object of their club, or this club could no longer hold +meetings. +</P> + +<P> +This came like a thunderbolt from a clear sky—and by some Dorothy was +promptly accused of tale bearing. +</P> + +<P> +But in spite of it all another secret meeting was held and at it the +"Rebs," as they actually called themselves, declared open rebellion. +They would not submit to such tyranny, and, further, they would not +take part in any play in which Dorothy Dale held an important part. +</P> + +<P> +It was then the bomb was thrown by Viola, the bomb that she carried all +the way from Dalton, and had kept waiting for a chance to set it +off—until now—the hour of seeming triumph for Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you the positive truth, girls," Viola began, first being +sure that no one but those in the "club" were within reach of her +voice, "I saw, with my own eyes, that girl, who pretends to be so good +and who goes around with a text on her simpering smile—I saw her get +out of a police patrol wagon!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" gasped the girls. "You really didn't." +</P> + +<P> +"I most positively did. Indeed!" sneered the informer, "every one in +Dalton knows it. Tavia Travers was in the same scrape, and in the same +wagon. It was after that affair that they made up their minds, in a +hurry, to get out of their home town and come to Glenwood!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE STRIKE OF THE REBS +</H4> + +<P> +One miserable day Dorothy found all her friends, at least those who had +claimed to be her friends, suddenly lost to her. Those who were not +openly rude enough to deliberately turn their backs upon the astonished +girl, made some pretense of avoiding conversation with her. +</P> + +<P> +It all came so unexpectedly, and without any apparent explanation, that +Dorothy was stunned—even the effervescent Edna only gave her a +measured smile and walked down the hall to the study room without +breaking her silence. +</P> + +<P> +The day wore on like a dream of awful fancies that try to choke but +withhold even such a mercy as a final stroke. +</P> + +<P> +What had she done? Where was Rose-Mary? And why would not someone +come and accuse her outright, that she might at least know the charge +against her—a charge serious enough to spread in one day throughout +Glenwood school! +</P> + +<P> +Evening fell, but even then Rose-Mary did not come to Dorothy's room. +On the following day there was to be a rehearsal for the play, and how +could Lalia repeat her lines? How could Dorothy pretend to be the +happy little pilgrim who starts alone on the uncertain path of life? +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn was ready in the recreation hall, some of the others were +there discussing their characters and other things. The hour for the +rehearsal came, and with it appeared some twenty girls, among them, but +not their leader (so it seemed) being Viola Green. +</P> + +<P> +They approached Mrs. Pangborn and then Adele Thomas spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Pangborn," she began with flushed cheeks, "we have come to say +that we cannot take part in the play unless another girl is selected +for the character of Lalia." +</P> + +<P> +"Why!" demanded the astonished principal. "What does this mean!" and +she too flushed at the very idea of her pupils' insurrection. +</P> + +<P> +"Because—" faltered the spokeswoman, "we do not like her. She has +pretended to be what she is not, and never will be." +</P> + +<P> +This was a bold speech. Dorothy Dale paled to the lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Hush this instant!" ordered the surprised Mrs. Pangborn. "Let no one +dare make such an assertion. If anything is wrong my office is the +place to settle it. Leave the hall instantly. I shall send for you +when I desire to make an investigation." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn placed her hand tenderly on Dorothy's shoulder as she +passed out. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not worry, dear," she whispered. "This is some nonsense those +girls with the new club idea have originated. It will be all right." +</P> + +<P> +But Dorothy flew to her room and alone she cried—cried as if her heart +would break! If only Tavia had not left her! If Rose-Mary would only +come to her! Where was Rose-Mary? She had not even appeared at class +that day. But, after all, what did it matter? Perhaps she too—no, +Dorothy could not believe that. Rose-Mary would never condemn her +unheard. +</P> + +<P> +How long Dorothy lay there sobbing out her grief on the little white +bed, she did not know. Dusk came and the supper hour, but she made no +attempt to leave the room. A maid had been sent to her with some toast +and tea, and a line from dear Miss Crane, but Dorothy was utterly +unable to do more than murmur a word of thanks to be repeated to the +thoughtful teacher. +</P> + +<P> +When it grew so dark that the window shadows no longer tried to cheer +her with their antics, Dorothy was startled by a sudden tap at her +door, and, the next moment, Rose-Mary had her in her warm, loving arms. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-172"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-172.jpg" ALT="THE NEXT MOMENT, ROSE-MARY HAD HER IN HER WARM, LOVING ARMS--<I>Page</I> 172" BORDER="2" WIDTH="479" HEIGHT="760"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 479px"> +THE NEXT MOMENT, ROSE-MARY HAD HER IN HER WARM, LOVING ARMS—<I>Page</I> 172 +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"What is it?" demanded the older girl at once. "Tell me about it. +What have they said to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Rose-Mary," sobbed Dorothy, bursting into fresh tears, "why did +you leave me all alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I did not leave you! I had to go into Rainsville early this +morning, and have just this very minute gotten back. Mrs. Pangborn +knew I would be late and sent James with the cart to meet me." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I did not know you were out of school," and the explanation +afforded Dorothy at least one ray of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't Nita tell you? I asked her to do so at study hour." +</P> + +<P> +"Not a girl has spoken to me all day!" declared the weeping one. "Oh, +Rose-Mary, what do you think it is all about?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot find out. They seem determined not to let me know. I +thought you could tell me." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't the slightest idea. If only Ned or Dick would tell you then +I might have a chance—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll never sleep until I find out!" declared Rose-Mary. "The idea!" +and her brown eyes flashed indignantly. "I never heard of such a +thing! You poor little dear!" and she held Dorothy to her in an +unmistakable embrace. +</P> + +<P> +"If Tavia were here—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she would settle it soon enough—with her fists if necessary. +And I do believe that such work deserves just such treatment. But I +will do all I can for you, and perhaps our vengeance will be just as +sure if not so swift!" +</P> + +<P> +"It seems strange that all the girls should take the same view of it," +reflected Dorothy. "I should think some of them would speak to me +about it." +</P> + +<P> +"No good to try guessing at such a thing," said Rose-Mary, wisely. +"And now do eat up that toast. Who sent it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Crane." +</P> + +<P> +"The dear! I hold Camille Crane the guardian angel of Glenwood. But +eat her toast. There, take this sip of tea, or shall I light the lamp +under it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I like it cold," said Dorothy, whose lips were quite feverish. "I +will take the toast—I feel so much better since I have you back." +</P> + +<P> +"But if I am to see Dick and Ned I must be about it," spoke Rose-Mary, +consulting her watch. "Just go to sleep and don't worry a single bit. +I'll tell you all about it to-morrow," and, with a hearty kiss, the +sweet girl was gone. +</P> + +<P> +As if events conspired to keep Dorothy worrying, it was announced the +next morning that Mrs. Pangborn had been called to Boston and this +meant, of course, that the investigation would have to wait for her +return. +</P> + +<P> +Neither was Rose-Mary successful in gaining the desired information. +Molly had not heard all about it, neither had Edna, so they said, but +they did admit they had promised not to tell either Rose or Dorothy, +for that would mean trouble for the tale bearer. +</P> + +<P> +"It's something about Dalton," said Edna, really anxious to tell Rose, +but feeling she must keep her promise, as the matter had assumed such +an importance. +</P> + +<P> +Molly declared that Amy Grant had told her it was about Dorothy and +Tavia being in some awful scrape and that they had been arrested for it. +</P> + +<P> +This seemed so ridiculous that Rose-Mary did not for a moment credit it +with being the story that caused the trouble. She would not insult +Dorothy with a hint of that silly gossip, and, if those girls were +foolish enough, she decided, to believe in any such nonsense, why, let +them go right on, they must learn their own lesson. So it happened +that Dorothy did not get the hint—that which would have been enough to +afford her the opportunity of making an explanation. But Edna did +speak pleasantly to her after Rose-Mary's talk, and Molly actually +apologized. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn had been away two days, then a week had passed since the +promise of an investigation, and Mrs. Pangborn was not at school yet. +The girls in Viola's club (they still regarded themselves as being in +it, although the forbidden meetings were suspended), left Rose-Mary, +Dorothy, Molly and Edna entirely to themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick" and "Ned" were charged with telling the story to Rose-Mary, +although they stoutly denied the allegation. But Adele Thomas +suspected them, they had always been such friends of the Dalton girls, +it seemed best to the "Rebs" to keep them out of further affairs of the +kind—they should hear no more of the secrets against the despised +Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +Even the play was at a standstill, nothing but lessons and sadness +seemed Dorothy's share at Glenwood now. If only Mrs. Pangborn would +come and give her a chance to speak for herself, she would write home +immediately and ask to go back to her dear "daddy," to thoughtful, +brave little Joe, and to dear, darling, baby Roger. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, and Aunt Libby would love her so—it would be so good to have all +love again! And they were all at North Birchland, with Aunt Winnie. +Every letter brought good news of the happy home established there +since Dorothy left for Glenwood. +</P> + +<P> +"I will ask to go home next week," sobbed Dorothy, "whether Mrs. +Pangborn comes back or not. I simply cannot stand this—I feel +like—Oh, I feel like I did when I stepped out of that awful police +patrol." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +DOROTHY'S SACRIFICE +</H4> + +<P> +The day had been unusually tiresome, all the little spots of jollity, +club meetings, evening fudge parties and the like having suddenly been +abandoned, and Dorothy, with Rose-Mary, was trying to find comfort in +watching a winter sunset. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you know Mrs. Pangborn had come back?" asked Rose, burying her +chin in her palms, and dropping into a reclining attitude. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Dorothy, simply, still watching the floating clouds. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and I overheard a maid ask Viola Green to go to the office after +tea." +</P> + +<P> +"Viola?" echoed Dorothy abstractedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you know it is she who made all this fuss, and I'm right +glad she has been called to give an explanation at last." +</P> + +<P> +"I have not been able to get the least hint of what it was all about," +mused Dorothy. "I had a letter from Tavia to-day, and I'm afraid she +cannot come back this term. My last lingering hope went out when I +read that. Tavia would be sure to dig it out someway." +</P> + +<P> +Rose-Mary thought how foolish had been the talk she had "dug out," and +smiled when she imagined Tavia at work at such nonsense. But she would +not pain Dorothy with the thought of that talk—too silly and too +unkind to bother her with,—decided Rose, so that then, as well as on +other occasions when the opportunity came to her to mention the arrest +story, she let it pass. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go see Dick," suggested Rose, "we'll find Ned there and perhaps +we may manage some fun. I'm positively getting musty." +</P> + +<P> +"You go," said Dorothy, just as Rose had expected, "I'll do my +exercises—I'm pages behind." +</P> + +<P> +"Not without you," argued the other, "I have lots I ought to do, but +I'm going to cut it for this night. Come along," and she took +Dorothy's arm. "I'm dying to hear Ned sing a coon song." +</P> + +<P> +But they found number twenty-three vacant. Edna was out, so was Molly, +in fact everybody seemed to be out, for knots of girls talked in every +corner of the halls and always stopped speaking when Dorothy and Rose +came up to them. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the investigation!" whispered Rose. "They are waiting for Viola; +did you ever see such a crowd of magpies." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going in," said Dorothy, nervously. "I can't bear the way they +look at me." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," assented Rose, "I'll see you home since I dragged you out. +And I'll promise to make known to you the words of the very first +bulletin. Sorry to be so cruel, but I cannot find any sympathy in my +heart for Viola Green." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, indeed I can," spoke up the kind-hearted Dorothy. "She has so +much worry about her mother. And perhaps she inherits some peculiar +trait—" +</P> + +<P> +"Bottle Green, I suppose. Well, you can pity her if you like, but I +will save mine until I know why." +</P> + +<P> +So Rose-Mary kissed Dorothy good-night—she had done so regularly of +late, and the two friends parted. For some time the hum of voices +could be heard in the corridor outside Dorothy's door, then the lights +were turned out and everything seemed as usual. +</P> + +<P> +But in room twelve Viola Green was struggling—struggling with a +weighty problem. What Mrs. Pangborn had said to her that evening in +the office meant for Viola dismissal from school, unless—unless— +</P> + +<P> +Viola was thinking of a plan. Surely she could make Dorothy agree to +it, Dorothy was so easy to manage, so easy to influence. +</P> + +<P> +In room nineteen Dorothy had not yet gone to her bed. She felt nervous +and restless. Then too, she had fully decided to leave Glenwood and +she had to think over what that meant for her, for her father and for +Aunt Winnie. +</P> + +<P> +What explanation could she make? She had never been a coward, why +could she not face this thing and show everybody that she deserved no +blame? +</P> + +<P> +Surely Major Dale's Little Captain should display better courage than +to let a crowd of foolish schoolgirls drive her from Glenwood! +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was thinking over the whole miserable affair when a timid knock +came to her door. +</P> + +<P> +It was too late for any of the girls—perhaps it was Mrs. Pangborn! +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy opened the door promptly. +</P> + +<P> +Viola Green stood before her—in a nightrobe, with her thick black hair +falling about her like a pall. +</P> + +<P> +"Viola!" whispered Dorothy, as kindly and quietly as if that girl had +not stood between her and happiness. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let me come in," begged the black-eyed girl in a wretched voice. +"Quick! Some one may see me!" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Dorothy, making a chair ready and then turning up +the light. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, please don't turn that up," begged the visitor. "I can't stand +it! Dorothy, I feel as if I should die!" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy had felt that way herself a moment ago, but now there was +someone else to look after; now she must not think of herself. How +different it was with Viola! The ability to act is often a wonderful +advantage. Viola made excellent use of her talent now. +</P> + +<P> +"Dorothy," she began, "I have come to ask a great favor of you. And I +do not know how to begin." She buried her face in her hands and left +the other to draw out the interview as she might choose to. It was +gaining time to lose it in that way. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it about your mother?" asked the unsuspecting Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is," wailed Viola. "It is really about her, although I am in +it too." +</P> + +<P> +"Is she worse?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dreadfully bad"—and in this Viola did not deceive—. "I had a letter +to-day—But Oh! Dorothy, promise you will help me!" +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly will if I can!" declared Dorothy, warmly, quite anxious +about Viola's grief. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you can—and you are the only one who can! But how will I ask +you?" and again Viola buried her white face in her equally white hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what it is," said Dorothy, gently. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you know that foolish story about the Dalton police wagon—" +</P> + +<P> +"What about it?" asked Dorothy, perplexed. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that nonsense about you and Tavia riding in it," and Viola tried +to pass off the "nonsense" without allowing Dorothy time to realize +just what she had to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what of that?" asked Dorothy again. +</P> + +<P> +Would she ever grasp it? Viola was almost impatient, but of course she +dare not show such a sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you know I told it to a couple of girls just for fun one day, and +they took it up in earnest. The silly things!—and then to make all +this trouble over it!" +</P> + +<P> +"What trouble could that have possibly made?" and Dorothy seemed as +much in the dark as ever. +</P> + +<P> +Could it be that Dorothy had lived it all down and did not now consider +it trouble? Viola's heart gave a jump for joy at the thought. It +might after all be easier than she expected. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so glad they have not said anything to you about it. I have been +dreadfully worried over it," went on Viola with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry, I hope you haven't been worrying on my account." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I was. You did seem so sad—but I should have known you had +better sense." +</P> + +<P> +"I have been and am still very sad at Glenwood. In fact, I have almost +made up my mind to leave." +</P> + +<P> +"When?" gasped Viola. Then to hide the joy that Dorothy's words +brought her, she continued, "Do you have to go? Is someone ill?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, not at home. But I am afraid I'll be ill if I do not stop this +worrying," and Dorothy indeed looked very pale and miserable. Even +Viola could not help noticing that. +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't blame you," spoke Viola. "It's dreadful to be homesick." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am not homesick," replied Dorothy. "I would not allow that +feeling to conquer me when I know what it meant for father to let me +come here. I must make good use of my time, and not be foolish. But +no matter how I try to be happy, it seems useless. And I know I am not +strong enough to keep that up. So," and Dorothy sighed heavily, +leaning her head against the blanket that covered the foot of her bed, +"I feel I must go away!" +</P> + +<P> +Tears rolled down her cheeks. She loved Glenwood and could not bear +the thought of leaving the school which had been so pleasant before +Tavia went, and before that awful afternoon in the hall. +</P> + +<P> +"What I really wanted to ask you, Dorothy, is about that story." +</P> + +<P> +"What story?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are not listening to me, Dorothy, and I am just as miserable as I +can be. Do tell me you will do what I ask." +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly was listening, and I am sorry you are miserable. But what +is it you want me to do?" +</P> + +<P> +Viola decided instantly upon a bold strike. She would make her demand +and then follow it up so closely Dorothy would not know just what she +was giving her promise to. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Pangborn sent for me to-night, and gave me such a dreadful +scolding, I just cried myself sick," said Viola, "and now when she +sends for you, and asks you about that ride, I want you to promise you +will not deny it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I shall not deny it! Why should I?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then, if she wants to know what it is all about, just don't give her +any more information. Say you did ride in the patrol wagon and that I +had not told a lie. She actually said she would dismiss me if—if you +said I had told what was not true. And oh, Dorothy! You know that +would kill mother! Just as sure as a shot from a gun would kill her, +my dismissal from Glenwood would do it!" +</P> + +<P> +"But why should you be dismissed? If you only told the story in fun, +and it has done no harm—" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course that's exactly the way to look at it. But I'm so afraid +Mrs. Pangborn will take another view of it. Promise me, Dorothy! Oh, +please promise me!" and Viola actually knelt before the girl on the +bedside. "When Mrs. Pangborn asks for an explanation just say I told +the truth, that you did ride in the police wagon. And then if she +insists on hearing all the story make some excuse, but do not tell it! +Oh! if you knew how worried I am! And how dreadful it would be if she +took it into her head to dismiss me!" +</P> + +<P> +As Viola expected, she did bewilder Dorothy. Why should Viola weep and +carry on so? But of course her mother was very delicate and perhaps it +might get mixed up so that Viola would be blamed! +</P> + +<P> +As if anything could be more mixed than that story was at present! +Dorothy arranging to leave school because she could not find out why +her companions had taken a sudden dislike to her, and Viola there +telling her why, and yet keeping the real truth as far from her as it +had ever been hidden. +</P> + +<P> +"But why should I not tell Mrs. Pangborn about the ride if she asks +me?" insisted Dorothy, trying to see what was hidden from her. +</P> + +<P> +"Because, don't you see, those girls may have made foolish remarks, and +they will be blamed on me. Just because I was silly enough to believe +they could see through a joke. And if you do not tell the story, there +can be no further complications. It may be a little hard but, oh, +Dorothy! do promise me!" and again Viola grasped both Dorothy's cold +hands in hers. +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly would not do anything that would bring trouble on you," +reflected Dorothy aloud, "especially if that might worry your poor, +sick mother." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you darling! I knew you would promise. Now, no matter what Mrs. +Pangborn says, promise you will not do more than admit you took the +ride—be sure not to say why you took it!" +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was not suspicious by nature, else she would have seen through +the thin veil that hung between Viola and that word "promise." She was +using it too frequently for good taste, but she wanted and insisted on +getting a real, absolute Promise. +</P> + +<P> +"But it might be rude for me to refuse to tell why we were in the +wagon, and at the same time to say we were in it." +</P> + +<P> +"Rude!" echoed Viola. "What small account that would be compared to my +dismissal from school." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy tried to think—just as Viola had planned, she was not able to +reason it all out clearly—it was too complicated. The night was +getting old, it was ten o'clock and every Glenwood girl was expected to +be sleeping honestly, but these two were still far from reaching a +satisfactory settlement of their difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +"One thing is certain, Viola," said Dorothy firmly, "I cannot and will +not do anything that would seem disrespectful to Mrs. Pangborn. Not +only is she a grand, sweet woman, a kind, just teacher, but she was my +mother's friend and is still my father's friend. So that it would be +impossible for me to do, or say, anything rude to her!" +</P> + +<P> +This was a declaration of principles at last. And Viola for the moment +seemed beaten. But girls of her type have more than one loophole in +such an emergency. +</P> + +<P> +"I had no idea of asking you to do anything unlady-like," she said with +a show of indignation. "It was you who made use of that word. I +merely asked that you would, if possible, not make known to Mrs. +Pangborn the details of the story. Of course I was foolish to think +you would care about their effect upon me, or my dying mother." +</P> + +<P> +Viola rose to leave. Tears were in her eyes and she did look forlorn. +</P> + +<P> +"I will do all I can to save you," Dorothy assured her, "and if I can +avoid the story, without being impertinent, I promise to do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, bless you, Dorothy Dale!" exclaimed the now truly miserable girl. +"I am sure, then, that it will be all right. When you make a promise +you know how to keep it!" and before Dorothy could say another word her +visitor was gone. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE TANGLED WEB +</H4> + +<P> +What happened that night seemed like a dream to Dorothy. Accustomed to +think of others and to forget herself, she pondered long and earnestly +over the grief that Viola had shown. Surely there was some strange +influence between mother and daughter. Dorothy remembered the looks +akin to adoration that Mrs. Green continually gave her daughter that +day in the train. Viola had certainly done an imprudent thing in +telling the story, Dorothy had no idea it was more than imprudent; +neither did she know how seriously that act had affected herself. Even +now, as she tried to grasp the entire situation, it never occurred to +her that this was the story that stood between her and the friendship +of the Glenwood girls. For the time that unpleasant affair was almost +forgotten—this new problem was enough to wrestle with. +</P> + +<P> +Early the next morning Mrs. Pangborn sent for Dorothy. The president's +appearance immediately struck the girl as different; she was in +mourning. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you have not lost a dear friend," said Dorothy, impulsively, +before Mrs. Pangborn had addressed her. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Dorothy," she replied, "I have—lost my father." +</P> + +<P> +There was no show of emotion, but the girl saw that no grief could be +keener. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so sorry," said Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my dear, I am sure you are. And your father knew him well. They +were very old friends." +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard him speak of Mr. Stevens." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I suppose you have. Well, his troubles are over, I hope. But, +Dorothy, I sent to ask you about that story some of the young ladies +have been circulating about you. Of course it is all nonsense—" +</P> + +<P> +"What story have you reference to, Mrs. Pangborn?" +</P> + +<P> +"You must have heard it. That you and Octavia were seen getting out of +a police patrol wagon in Dalton. It is absurd, of course." +</P> + +<P> +"But we did ride in a patrol wagon, Mrs. Pangborn," answered Dorothy, +trying hard to keep Viola's tearful face before her mind, to guide her +in her statements. +</P> + +<P> +"How foolish, child. It might have been a joke—Tell me about it!" +</P> + +<P> +"If you would excuse me, Mrs. Pangborn, and not think me rude, I would +rather not," said Dorothy, her cheeks aflame. +</P> + +<P> +"Not tell me!" and the lady raised her eyebrows. "Why, Dorothy! Is +there any good reason why you do not wish to tell me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I have made a promise. It may not be of much account, but, if +you will excuse me, it would relieve me greatly not to go over it." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn did not answer at once. For a girl to admit she had +ridden in a police van and for that girl to be Dorothy Dale! It seemed +incredible. +</P> + +<P> +"Dorothy," she began, gravely, "whatever may be back of this, I am sure +you have not been at fault—seriously at least. And since you prefer +not to make me your confidant I cannot force you to do so. I am sorry. +I had expected something different. The young ladies will scarcely +make apologies to you under the circumstances." +</P> + +<P> +She made a motion as if to dismiss Dorothy. Plainly the head of +Glenwood School could not be expected to plead with a pupil—certainly +not to-day, when her new and poignant grief could not be hidden. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall say to the young ladies," said the teacher, finally, "that +they are to show you all the respect they had shown you heretofore. +That you have done nothing to be ashamed of—I am sure of this, +although you make the matter so mysterious. I would like to have +compelled the girl who spread this report to make amends, but I cannot +do that. You do not deny her story." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment Dorothy saw, or at least guessed, what it all meant. +That had been the story of her trouble! It was that which made the +girls turn their backs on her—that which had almost broken her heart. +And now she had put it out of her power to contradict their charges! +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Pangborn had said "good morning," Dorothy was alone in the +corridor. She had left the office and could not now turn back! +</P> + +<P> +Oh, why had she been so easily deceived? Why had Viola made her give +that promise? Surely it must have been more than that! The story, to +cause all the girls to shun her! And perhaps Mrs. Pangborn believed it +all! No, she had refused to believe it. But what should Dorothy do +now? +</P> + +<P> +Oh, what a wretched girl she was! How much it had cost her to lose +Tavia! Tavia would have righted this wrong long ago. But now she +stood alone! She could not even speak of leaving the school without +strengthening the cruel suspicion, whatever it might be. +</P> + +<P> +What would she do? To whom would she turn? +</P> + +<P> +Heart-sick, and all but ill, Dorothy turned into her lonely little +room. She would not attempt to go to classes that morning. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +SUSPICIONS +</H4> + +<P> +"What did she say?" eagerly asked a knot of girls, as Viola Green made +her appearance the morning after her interview with the head of +Glenwood school. +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" sniffed Viola, "what could she say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did she send for Dorothy?" went on the curious ones. +</P> + +<P> +"I have just seen her step out of the office this minute and she +couldn't see me. Her eyes wouldn't let her." +</P> + +<P> +"Then she didn't deny it!" spoke Amy Brook. "I could scarcely make +myself believe that of her." +</P> + +<P> +"Ask her about it, then," suggested Viola, to whom the term brazen +would seem, at that moment, to be most applicable. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, excuse me," returned Amy. "I never wound where I can avoid it. +The most polite way always turns out the most satisfactory." +</P> + +<P> +"And do you suppose she is going to leave school?" asked Nita Brant, +timidly, as if afraid of her own voice in the matter. +</P> + +<P> +"She told me so last night," said Viola, meekly. "I don't blame her." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said a girl with deep blue eyes, and a baby chin, "I do not see +how any girl could stand such cuts, and Dorothy seemed such a sweet +girl." +</P> + +<P> +"Better go and hug her now," sneered Viola, "I fancy you will find her +rolled up in bed, with her red nose, dying for air." +</P> + +<P> +"It is the strangest thing—" demurred Amy. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all," insisted Viola, "all sweet girls have two sides to their +characters. But I am sick of the whole thing. Let's drop it." +</P> + +<P> +"And take up Dorothy again?" eagerly asked Nita. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, just as you like about that. If you want to associate with girls +who ride in police wagons—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I do want to!" declared Nita, suddenly. "And I don't believe +one word against Dorothy Dale. It must be some mistake. I will ask +her about it myself." +</P> + +<P> +"If you wish to spare her you will do nothing of the kind," said Viola. +"I tell you it is absolutely true. That she has just this minute +admitted it to Mrs. Pangborn. Don't you think if it were a mistake I +would have to correct it, when the thing has now been thoroughly +investigated?" +</P> + +<P> +It was plain that many of the girls were apt to take Nita's view. They +had given the thing a chance to develop, and they were satisfied now +that a mistake had been made somewhere. Of course the clever turns +made by Viola, kept "the ball rolling." +</P> + +<P> +"There's the bell!" announced Amy, reluctantly leaving the discussion +unfinished. This was the signal for laying aside all topics other than +those relative to the curriculum of Glenwood, and, as the girls filed +into the chapel for prayers, more than one missed Dorothy, her first +morning to absent herself from the exercise. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Higley was in charge, Mrs. Pangborn also being out of her +accustomed place. +</P> + +<P> +Directly after the short devotions there was whispering. +</P> + +<P> +"Young ladies!" called the teacher, in a voice unusually severe, "you +must attend strictly to your work. There has been enough lax +discipline in Glenwood recently. I will have no more of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" sniffed Viola, aside, "since when did she buy the school!" +</P> + +<P> +Miss Higley's eyes were fastened upon her. But Viola's recent +experiences had the effect of making her reckless—she felt quite +immune to punishment now. +</P> + +<P> +"Attend to your work, Miss Green!" called Miss Higley. +</P> + +<P> +"Attend to your own," answered Viola under her breath, but the teacher +saw that she had spoken, and knew that the remark was not a polite one. +</P> + +<P> +"What did you say?" asked the teacher. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," retorted Viola, still using a rude tone. +</P> + +<P> +"You certainly answered me, and I insist upon knowing what you said." +</P> + +<P> +Viola was silent now, but her eyes spoke volumes. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you please repeat that remark?" insisted Miss Higley. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Viola, sharply, "I will not!" +</P> + +<P> +Miss Higley's ruddy face flashed a deep red. To have a pupil openly +defy a teacher is beyond the forgiveness of many women less aggressive +than Miss Higley. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better leave the room," she said—"take your books with you." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't require them," snapped Viola, intending to give out the +impression that she would leave school if she were to be treated in +that manner by Miss Higley. +</P> + +<P> +"Get at your work, young ladies," finished the teacher, fastening her +eyes on her own books, and thus avoiding anything further with Viola. +</P> + +<P> +To reach her room Viola was obliged to pass Dorothy's. Just as she +came up to number nineteen Dorothy opened the door. Her eyes were red +from weeping, and she looked very unhappy indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, do come in Viola," she said, surprised to see the girl before her. +"I was going to you directly after class—I did not know you were out." +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot come now," answered Viola. "I must go to my room!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is there anything the matter?" inquired Dorothy, kindly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Viola, using her regular tactics, that of forcing +Dorothy to make her own conclusions. +</P> + +<P> +"Is your mother worse?" +</P> + +<P> +"I, oh—my head aches so. You must excuse me Dorothy," and at this +Viola burst into tears, another ruse that always worked well with the +sympathetic Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +The fact was Dorothy had spent a very miserable hour that morning, +after her talk with the president, and she had finally decided to put +the whole thing to Viola, to ask her for a straight-forward +explanation, and to oblige her to give it. But now Viola was in +trouble—Dorothy had no idea that the trouble was a matter of temper, +and of course her mother must be worse, thought Dorothy. How glad she +was, after all, that she did make the sacrifice! It was much easier +for her to stand it than to crush Viola with any more grief! +</P> + +<P> +Crush her indeed! It takes more than the mere words of a just school +teacher and more than the pale face of a persecuted girl to crush such +a character as that which Viola Green was lately cultivating. +</P> + +<P> +And as Viola turned into her room she determined never to apologize to +Miss Higley. She would leave Glenwood first. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile what different sentiments were struggling in Dorothy's heart? +She had bathed her face, and would go into the classroom. She might be +in time for some work, and now there was no use in wasting time over +the trouble. She would never mention it to Viola, that poor girl had +enough to worry her. Neither would she try to right it in any way. +After all, Mrs. Pangborn believed in her, so did Edna and Molly, and a +letter from home that morning told of the recovery of Tavia's mother. +Perhaps Tavia would be back to school soon. It might be hard to meet +the scornful looks of the other girls, but it could not possibly be as +hard as what Viola had to bear. +</P> + +<P> +So thought our dear Little Captain, she who was ever ready to take upon +her young and frail shoulders the burdens of others. +</P> + +<P> +But such virtue plainly has its own reward—Dorothy Dale entered the +classroom at eleven o'clock that morning, with peace in her heart. +Viola Green was out of the school room and was fighting the greatest +enemies of her life—Pride, mingled with Jealousy. +</P> + +<P> +It had been that from the first, from the very first moment she set her +eyes on Dorothy Dale, whose beautiful face was then framed in the +ominous black lining of the police patrol. +</P> + +<P> +It had been jealousy ever since. Dorothy had made friends with the +best girls in Glenwood, she had been taken up by the teachers, she had +been given the best part in the play (but Viola could not stand that) +and now that the play had been abandoned on account of the death of +Mrs. Panghorn's father, and that Dorothy had been disgraced, what more +did Viola crave? +</P> + +<P> +Was not her vengeance complete? +</P> + +<P> +But the girls were beginning to doubt the story, and those who did not +actually disbelieve it were tiring of its phases. The promised +excitement did not develop. All the plans of the Rebs were dead, and +to be a member of that party did not mean happiness,—it meant actual +danger of discipline. +</P> + +<P> +Viola was too shrewd not to notice all this, and to realize that her +clientele was falling off alarmingly. +</P> + +<P> +Would she really leave Glenwood? The wrong done Dorothy seemed to be +righting itself in spite of all her devices, and that girl, disgraced +though she stood in the eyes of many, seemed happier at the moment than +Viola herself. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I had gone home when I had father's last letter," reflected the +girl, looking in her mirror at the traces of grief that insisted on +setting their stamp upon her olive face. "But now, of course that old +cat Higley will make a fuss—Oh, I wish I never had seen these cracked +walls. I wish I had gone to a fashionable school—" +</P> + +<P> +She stopped suddenly. Why not get away now to that swell school near +Boston? She could surely set aside her mother's foolish sentiment +about Glenwood,—just because she had met Mrs. Pangborn abroad and had +become interested in this particular school for girls. +</P> + +<P> +Viola had enough of it. She would leave—go home. And then +perhaps—she might get to the Beaumonde Academy. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +SUNSHINE AGAIN +</H4> + +<P> +A sense of suppressed excitement greeted Dorothy as she entered the +classroom. Edna and Molly managed to greet her personally with a +pleasant little nod, and even Miss Higley raised her eyes to say good +morning. +</P> + +<P> +Certainly Dorothy felt heroic—and she had good reason. Having +suffered so long from a mysterious insult, she now had fortified +herself against its stigma. +</P> + +<P> +At the same time she was conscious of an awful weight hanging over her +head—like the gloom of those who suffer without hope. +</P> + +<P> +"She just looks like a sweet nun," whispered Ned to Amy. +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't she," agreed Amy. "I wish we could make her smile." +</P> + +<P> +But Dorothy buried herself in her studies, with a determination born of +perfect self-control. +</P> + +<P> +The morning wore into mid-day, then the recreation hour brought +relaxation from all mental effort. A number of the girls who had been +at first conspicuous figures in the Rebs made a particular effort to +speak to Dorothy. She met their advances pleasantly, but with some +hesitancy—they might only mean to make an opportunity for further +trouble, Dorothy thought. +</P> + +<P> +"See here!" called Edna, running along the walk after Dorothy. "Have +you taken the black veil? Not that such a vocation is to be made light +of," seeing a frown come over Dorothy's face, "but you know we cannot +spare you just yet. You may be the dear little nun of Glenwood, but +you will have to keep up with the Glens and the Nicks. We are planning +a reunion, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and we are going to give a play on our own account," said Molly, +coming up at that moment. "Mrs. Pangborn has granted permission and we +are about to select the operetta—it will be a musical affair this +time." +</P> + +<P> +"That ought to be lovely," responded Dorothy. "There are so many fine +players among the girls." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and you can sing," declared Molly. "We are counting on you for +our prima donna." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, and we might have Viola accompany her on the violin! Wouldn't +that be divine!" enthused a girl from Portland. +</P> + +<P> +A hush followed this suggestion. It was the awkward kind that actually +sounds louder than a yell of surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Rose-Mary, joining the group and giving Dorothy a +hug "on the half shell," which in the parlance of schoolgirls means a +spontaneous fling of the arms around the one on the defensive. +</P> + +<P> +"Cologne will be sure to suggest something from English Lit." predicted +Molly. "She being a star in that line herself thinks the stuff equally +pie for all of us. We might try French—I said 'try,' Ned Ebony; you +need not strangle yourself with that gasp!" +</P> + +<P> +"Came near it," admitted the one with her mouth open. "Fancy us doing +French!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then suppose we go back to the woods—try Red Riding Hood?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fine and dandy!" exclaimed Nita Brant. "I'll be the wolf." +</P> + +<P> +"Because he was the only party who got in on the eating," remarked +Edna. "Let me be the squire—and don't all speak at once for the +grandmother's fate." +</P> + +<P> +"Think it over girls; think it over!" advised Nita. "Back to the woods +might not suit some of our rural friends. For my part I prefer—ahem! +Something tragic!" +</P> + +<P> +"Beat Red Riding Hood for tragedy then," challenged one of the group. +"Of all the atrocities—" +</P> + +<P> +"And desperate deals—" +</P> + +<P> +"To say nothing of the grandmother's night cap going in the mix up—" +</P> + +<P> +And so they laughed it all off, and marveled that the mere mention of +the old story should awaken such comment. +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy seemed to enjoy the innocent sallies. It was pleasant to be +with the jolly crowd again, and to feel something akin to the old +happiness. +</P> + +<P> +"What happened to Fiddle?" asked Amy Brook. "I thought she would come +back to class when her pout wore off." +</P> + +<P> +"Pout?" repeated Dorothy. "I met her in the hall and she seemed to be +in great distress." +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't wonder," remarked Nita. "Any one who crosses swords with +Miss Higley is bound to come to grief sooner or later. If I had been +Fiddle I should have apologized at once—easiest way out of it with +Higley." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was confused. She had no idea of the scene that had taken +place in the schoolroom that morning between Miss Higley and Viola. +But as it was impossible for her to keep up with the run of school +events lately, she ventured no more questions. +</P> + +<P> +"When's Chrissy coming back?" asked Edna. "I'm almost dead without +her. Haven't had a single scrap since she went. And I've got the +greatest lot corked up ready to explode from spontaneous combustion." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope she'll be back before the end of this term," answered Dorothy. +"I heard to-day her mother is entirely recovered." +</P> + +<P> +"Good for the mother! Also more power to her. I think I'll crawl up +the skylight and do perfectly reckless stunts on the roof when Chrissy +returns just to celebrate," and suiting her words with the jubilant +mood the girl waltzed away down the path, making queer "jabs" at the +inoffensive air that was doing its best to make life bright and +pleasant for the girls at Glenwood. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MISS CRANE AND VIOLA +</H4> + +<P> +Viola Green was thoroughly upset. She had quarreled with Miss Higley. +She had more than quarreled with Dorothy. Mrs. Pangborn had told her +plainly that if her story concerning Dorothy was found to be untrue she +would have to leave Glenwood, for that story had touched on the fair +name of a pupil of the school, to say nothing more. Having defamed the +honored name of Dale made the matter of still greater importance. +</P> + +<P> +What should she do? To leave Glenwood seemed to be the only answer to +that oft-repeated question. But to get into Beaumonde required a clean +record from the former academy, and would Mrs. Pangborn furnish such a +record under the circumstances? +</P> + +<P> +It was evening, and the other girls were probably enjoying themselves, +visiting about and settling wherever there was the best prospect of +fudge—the only confection students were allowed to make in their rooms. +</P> + +<P> +But Viola would not go out, she was in no humor for visiting. While +reclining on her small white bed, thinking the situation over until her +head ached from very monotony, a note was slipped under her door. She +saw it instantly but did not at once attempt to pick it up—the sender +might be waiting outside and notice her readiness to become acquainted +with the contents. +</P> + +<P> +Hearing the light step make its way down the hall Viola took and opened +the note. +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" she sniffed, "from Adele Thomas." Then she glanced over the +note. It read: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +MY DEAR VIOLA: +</P> + +<P> +We are all so worried about you. Do please come out of your room or +let some of us in. We wish very much to talk to you, but if you +persist in keeping us at bay won't you please make up your mind to +apologize at once to Miss Higley? There are so many counts against us +this month that the latest is positively dangerous in its present form. +Do Viola, dear, answer, and tell us you feel better and that you will +comply with the request of the committee. Lovingly yours, +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +LOWLY. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Apologize!" echoed the girl. "As if my mother's daughter could ever +stoop to that weak American method of crawling out of things!" and her +dark eyes flashed while her olive face became as intense as if the girl +were a desperate woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't they know that the blood of the de Carlos flows in my veins?" +she asked herself. "No, that's so, they do not know it—nor shall +they. Let them think me Italian, French or whatever they choose—but +let them not trifle with Spain. Ah, Spain! and how I have longed to +see that beautiful country with mother—darling mother!" +</P> + +<P> +This thought of affection never failed to soften the temper of the wily +Viola. True she had seen fit always to hide her mother's nationality +from the schoolgirls. Often they had questioned her about her foreign +face and manners, but like many who do not admire the frankness of +Americans, it had pleased her to remain simply "foreign." +</P> + +<P> +A supercilious smile crept over Viola's face. She held Adele's note in +her hand and read it again. +</P> + +<P> +"Worried about me!" she repeated, "as if they care for anything but +excitement and nonsense. And they are aching for me to give the next +spasm of excitement! Well, they may get that, sooner than they expect." +</P> + +<P> +A step stopped at her door. Then a light tap sounded on the panel. +Casting aside the note, Viola opened the portal and was confronted by +Miss Crane. Without waiting for an invitation the pleasant little +woman stepped inside. +</P> + +<P> +"Good evening, Viola," she began. "Mrs. Pangborn sent me to have a +talk with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" replied Viola, in her most non-committal tone. +</P> + +<P> +"She has been much worried of late, so many things have been going on +that did not add to her peace of mind." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a pity," said Viola, and this time her tone admitted of any +number of interpretations. But Miss Crane expected all this and was +fully prepared for it. +</P> + +<P> +"Especially that matter about Dorothy Dale," went on the teacher. "She +is determined that the whole thing shall be cleared up at once." +</P> + +<P> +"It ought to be," said Viola coolly, without appearing to take the +least interest in the conversation. +</P> + +<P> +"In the first place," argued Miss Crane, "Mrs. Pangborn wished me to +say to you that a full explanation on your part would in the end save +you much—trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"State's evidence!" almost sneered Viola. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all," contradicted her visitor. "Simply a matter of common +justice." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe that's what they call it," persisted the girl, tossing her +head about to show a weariness of the "whole miserable thing." +</P> + +<P> +"You insist that you saw Dorothy Dale and Octavia Travers alight from a +police patrol wagon?" asked Miss Crane severely. +</P> + +<P> +"I do!" answered Viola, as solemnly as if taking an oath. +</P> + +<P> +"And that you were told they had been arrested for some theft? Garden +stuff, I believe?" +</P> + +<P> +"I heard Nat White, Dorothy Dale's own cousin, say so," again declared +Viola. +</P> + +<P> +"And you had reason to believe he was in earnest?" +</P> + +<P> +"Every reason to believe and know so." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Crane stopped. She had expected Viola to break down on this +cross-examination, but evidently her story was not to be shaken. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all?" asked the girl with a show of hauteur. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Miss Crane. "I would like you to tell me the whole story." +</P> + +<P> +"And if I refuse?" +</P> + +<P> +"You surely would not risk dismissal?" +</P> + +<P> +"No risk at all, my dear Miss Crane, I court it," and all the Spanish +fire of Viola's nature flashed and flamed with her words. +</P> + +<P> +"Viola! Do you know what you are saying?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly. Have you finished with the 'third degree?'" +</P> + +<P> +"Refrain from slang, if you please. I never countenance such +expressions." +</P> + +<P> +Viola only smiled. Evidently Miss Crane had reached "the end of her +rope." +</P> + +<P> +"And you will make no explanation of why you told such a story to the +girls of Glenwood?" and the calm voice of the teacher rang out clearly +now. "No other reason to give for depriving one of the sweetest and +best of these girls of her happy place among her companions? And that +same girl refuses to tell her own story, because of a promise! She +must bear all the shame, all the suspicion, all the wrong silently, +when everybody knows she is shielding someone. Viola Green, to whom +did Dorothy Dale make that promise?" +</P> + +<P> +"How should I know?" replied the other with curled lip. +</P> + +<P> +"Who, then, is Dorothy Dale shielding?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shielding? Why, probably her dear friend, Tavia Travers. I don't +know, of course. I am merely trying to help you out!" +</P> + +<P> +That shot blazed home—it staggered Miss Crane. She had never thought +of Octavia! And she was so close a friend of Dorothy's—besides being +over reckless! It might be that Dorothy was shielding Tavia and that +she would not and could not break a promise made to the absent member +of Glenwood school. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Crane was silent. She sat there gazing at Viola. Her pink and +white cheeks assumed a red tinge. +</P> + +<P> +Viola was victorious again. She had only made a suggestion and that +suggestion had done all the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"I will talk to Mrs. Pangborn," said Miss Crane finally, and she arose +and quietly left the room. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE REAL STORY +</H4> + +<P> +That night before twelve o'clock a telegram was delivered at Glenwood +school. It was for Viola Green and called her to the bedside of her +mother. It simply read: "Come at once. Mother very ill." +</P> + +<P> +So the girl who had been tempting fate, who had refused to right a +wrong, who had turned a deaf ear to the pleadings of friends and the +commands of superiors, was now summoned to the bedside of the one +person in all the world she really loved—her mother! +</P> + +<P> +Viola grasped the message from the hands of Mrs. Pangborn herself, who +thought to deliver it with as little alarm as possible. But it was not +possible to deceive Viola. Instantly she burst into tears and moans +with such violence that the principal was obliged to plead with the +girl to regard the feelings of those whose rooms adjoined hers. But +this did not affect Viola. She declared her darling little mother +would be dead before she could reach her, and even blamed the school +that marked the distance between the frantic daughter and the dying +parent. +</P> + +<P> +How bitterly she moaned and sobbed! What abandon and absolute lack of +self-control she displayed, Mrs. Pangborn could not help observing. +This was the character Viola had fostered, and this was the character +that turned upon her in her grief and refused to offer her sympathy or +hope. +</P> + +<P> +"You should try to control yourself, Viola," said Mrs. Pangborn gently. +"You will make yourself ill, and be unfit for travel." +</P> + +<P> +But all arguments were without avail. The girl wept herself into +hysterics, and then finally, overcome with sheer exhaustion, fell into +a troubled sleep. +</P> + +<P> +On the first train the next morning Viola left Glenwood. It was +Dorothy who helped her dress and pack, and Dorothy who tried to console +her. +</P> + +<P> +At one moment it did seem that Dorothy had finally reached the heart of +the strange girl, for Viola threw her arms about the one who had made +such sacrifices for an unrelenting pride, and begged she would pray +that the sick mother might be spared. +</P> + +<P> +"If she is only left to me a little longer," pleaded Viola, "I will try +to be satisfied, and try to do what is right. Oh, I know I have done +wrong," she wailed. "I know you have suffered for me, but, Dorothy, +dear, you did it for my mother, and I will always bless you for it. If +I had time to-day I would try—try to clear you before the girls." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will make the explanation," said Dorothy, relieved to feel that +at last she might speak for herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, please don't," spoke up Viola again, not quite sure that she was +willing to be humiliated in spite of the words she had just spoken. +"Try to forgive me, and then what does it matter about the others?" +</P> + +<P> +So Viola Green passed out of Glenwood, and left Dorothy Dale praying +that the sick woman might be spared. +</P> + +<P> +"I could not do anything against her," Dorothy reflected. "Poor girl, +she has enough to bear! It must be righted some day—oh, yes, some day +it must all come right. Another Power looks after that." +</P> + +<P> +A long letter from home, from Major Dale, was brought to Dorothy on the +early mail. This cheered her up and reflected its smiles of happiness +on all the school day. +</P> + +<P> +The major told how well the boys were; how they longed to see Dorothy, +and how little Roger had saved all his kindergarten cards and pictures +for her. Besides these a wonderful house made of toothpicks and stuck +together with green peas was in imminent danger of collapse if Dorothy +did not hurry up and come home. Then Aunt Winnie had planned a +surprise for all her children who were away at school, the letter also +stated, and on the list, for the good time promised, were Dorothy, +Tavia, Nat, Ned, Joe (and of course little Roger), besides a guest that +each of these mentioned would be allowed to invite home for the +holiday. Easter was only a few weeks off. +</P> + +<P> +The day passed quickly indeed. Spring sunshine had come, everything +had that waiting look it takes on just before the buds come, and +Dorothy was almost happy. If only everybody could know that she and +Tavia had not done wrong and had not been in disgrace! +</P> + +<P> +The classes were dismissed and Dorothy was up in her room reading her +father's letter for the third time. +</P> + +<P> +There was a rush through the hall! Then the girls' voices in laughter +stopped exactly at her door! +</P> + +<P> +The next minute Tavia bolted into the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a soul to meet me!" she began cycloning around and winding up with +crushing Dorothy. "Oh, you old honey-girl!" and Tavia kissed her +friend rapturously. "I have been dead and buried without you. Run +away, little girls (to those peeping in at the door). Run away—we're +busy." +</P> + +<P> +Dorothy was so surprised she just gazed at Tavia, but a world of love +and welcome went out in the look. "If we had known you were coming," +she faltered. +</P> + +<P> +"Known it! Couldn't you feel my presence near! Well, James brought me +up. But say, Dorothy! I ran across—whom do you think?" +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't guess!" +</P> + +<P> +"Viola Green! And say, she looked like her own ghost. Her train had a +long wait at noon and she saw me. And the way she bolted out of her +car and made her way to my window, just to say, 'Tell Dorothy to go +ahead and tell her story! It will be all right!' Now I'd like to know +if Viola Green had really gone daffy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, no, Tavia. It is all about—Oh, it is such a long story." +</P> + +<P> +"The very thing for mine—a serial. There's Cologne and Ned and Dick! +Come on in, everybody! I want you all to see this hat before I take it +off. The milliner declared I would never get it on right again." +</P> + +<P> +In rushed the "troop," all so glad to see Tavia back, and all aching +for a glimpse of the new spring hat. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me about the story, Cologne," said Tavia. "You can go on +admiring me just the same. What's Dorothy's serial that Viola has the +copyright on?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is precisely what we want you to find out," answered Rose-Mary. +"We have been trying to do it for a whole month." +</P> + +<P> +"And I'll wager it won't take me ten minutes!" +</P> + +<P> +"But do take your things off," pleaded Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet. I can't give up this hat so unceremoniously. Isn't it a +beauty? But for the story. Go ahead, Cologne." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I couldn't tell where to begin," begged off Rose-Mary. +</P> + +<P> +"Begin at the place where Dorothy Dale went to pieces, and lost all her +pretty pink cheeks," suggested Tavia, noting how much Dorothy had +changed during her absence. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you," said Rose-Mary. "We'll all run away and let you have +a minute to yourselves. Perhaps the serial will leak out." +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Dorothy?" asked Tavia seriously when they were alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, all about that police ride," sighed Dorothy. "I really never +could find out just what story was told—they kept me in ignorance of +it all, except that it was dreadful. Oh, Tavia! Only lately the girls +notice me. They all gave me up, all but Ned, Dick and Cologne!" +</P> + +<P> +"Gave you up! And about that story! Why didn't you tell them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I had promised Viola, and she was afraid she would be dismissed—" +</P> + +<P> +"Promised Viola!" and Tavia stared blankly at Dorothy. "You poor +little darling! And no one here to take your part!" and she held +Dorothy to her heart a moment. "Who knows the story as she told it—I +always knew she would tell it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps some of the Pilgrims may know. They split and formed the +Rebs." +</P> + +<P> +"Without me? I'll bet they died an early death! I'm the only +thoroughbred Reb in America!" and she brandished her hatpin wildly +above her head. "But you just stay here a minute. My ten minutes +alloted for clearing up the mystery is escaping," and at this Tavia +flew out of the room. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed she could not have gone down the corridor when she ran into +Dorothy's room again. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of all the frosts!" she exclaimed. "I almost passed away when +that stuttering girl from Maine tried to tell me. But I haven't seen +Mrs. Pangborn yet. I'll just run into the office and show her my hat," +and she was gone again. +</P> + +<P> +"How good it was to have Tavia back," thought Dorothy. It seemed as if +everything had been made right already. But Tavia would surely do +something surprising. What would she say to Mrs. Pangborn? +</P> + +<P> +But while Dorothy was thinking it over, a very lively little chat was +taking place in the principal's office. At the first word about the +"Story," Tavia blurted out the entire tale in such a way that even Mrs. +Pangborn was obliged to admit she "knew how to string words together." +</P> + +<P> +"My dear!" said that lady, when Tavia stopped, "I think this matter has +gone so far it will be best to make a public explanation." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me make it?" asked the girl eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"If you wish," agreed Mrs. Pangborn. +</P> + +<P> +"Where? When?" asked Tavia impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, if you like," consulting her watch. "We had called a meeting of +the Glenwoods for five, it wants a quarter of that now. Suppose you +speak to them in the hall?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gloriotious!" exclaimed Tavia, forgetting to whom she was making the +self-coined remark. +</P> + +<P> +The girls were already filing into the hall. Dorothy went with +Rose-Mary, Tavia preferring to go in last and so show everyone the +spring hat. It certainly was pretty, no one could deny that, and, as +she stepped to the platform, at the signal from Mrs. Pangborn, she +looked as Dorothy had seen her look before—like an actress! +</P> + +<P> +Her golden brown hair formed a halo about her face and the flowers +(what she called the spring hat) made a beautiful wreath buried in the +soft shining tresses. +</P> + +<P> +A buzz of excitement greeted her appearance on the platform. Then she +began: +</P> + +<P> +"My dear teachers (they were all present), friends and acquaintances!" +</P> + +<P> +"Three cheers for the acquaintances," broke in one girl, and this was +the signal for a hearty cheer. +</P> + +<P> +When order prevailed again, Tavia continued: +</P> + +<P> +"I understand you have heard a queer story about the girls from Dalton" +(there was silence now), "and with the kind permission of our dear +principal, I will try to tell you all of that story. I have been +informed that you were told that Dorothy Dale and myself had been +arrested in a country place, taken to a lock-up and then bailed out!" +(Dorothy looked more surprised than any one present; this was the part +of the story she had never heard). "Well," went on Tavia, "that is so +absurd that I cannot imagine the complications that could possibly have +won such a story a hearing. But perhaps when I am here a few hours, I +will be allowed to laugh over the details. However, I will tell you +all exactly what did happen," and Tavia cleared her throat like a +veteran speaker. +</P> + +<P> +"One lovely day last August, Dorothy Dale and her two cousins, Ned and +Nat White from North Birchland, took me for an automobile ride. We had +a number of adventures during the day and towards night something +happened to the machine, and the boys were obliged to leave us while +they went to have something repaired. While they were away a man, who +afterward turned out to be a lunatic, came along, and as we ran from +the car, he got into it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! mercy!" exclaimed Nita Brant, and similar exclamations went about +the room. +</P> + +<P> +"When the boys got back," went on Tavia, "and we felt they never would +come in sight, we had waited so long, and were so frightened, they +could not induce the man to leave the machine. He was crazy and wanted +a ride. Finally one of the boys, Ned, was obliged to get into the car +with him and he rode off, never stopping until he landed the lunatic in +Danvers jail!" +</P> + +<P> +Cheers again interrupted the speaker, and she paused a moment—long +enough to look at Dorothy, then she went on: +</P> + +<P> +"But we were all alone out there, it was getting dark, and how were we +to get back to town, nine miles off? That was the point where the +police patrol wagon came into our lives. The wagon was out looking for +the escaped prisoner, at least the officers in it were, and upon +questioning us, and hearing how we had lost the auto, they asked us to +ride home in their patrol!" +</P> + +<P> +"Three cheers for the officers!" broke out Edna, and the shouts that +followed caused Miss Higley to put up her hands to protect her ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we did ride home in the patrol," cried Tavia, anxious now to +finish, "and when Nat stood by the wagon trying to jolly those curious +ones about him, a young man, in the company of—of one who has just +left us, asked Nat, 'Speeding?' and Nat answered, 'No, just melons.' +Now that is the entire story of our famous ride, and I thank you for +your kind attention, etc., etc.," and bowing profusely Tavia managed to +get down from the platform. +</P> + +<P> +Then Mrs. Pangborn stood up. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear pupils," she said, "I cannot tell you how glad I am to have +this matter settled. It has given great sorrow to see our dear friend +Dorothy suffer so. And you do not yet know the real story of her +heroism. When I asked her about this report she begged me not to +question her, because she had promised a girl not to tell the story if +I would allow her to remain silent. That girl urged as her excuse her +own possible dismissal from school should Dorothy make known the facts, +not the story that has been told me, and told you, but those facts +which you have just now heard for the first time. And to save the +feelings of a selfish and I must say it—dishonest girl,—Dorothy Dale +has willingly suffered your scorn and my possible displeasure. But I +never doubted her for one moment. And now we must forgive the other." +</P> + +<P> +At this every head was bowed for a moment. When Mrs. Pangborn sat +down, the girls surrounded Dorothy. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Higley ran to the piano and struck up the "Glenwood Reel." +</P> + +<P> +"Get your partners!" shouted Molly, while there was a wild scramble for +"another pair of hands," everyone trying to get Dorothy, who had +already been taken possession of by Miss Crane. +</P> + +<P> +Tavia actually took her hat off when Edna caught her. Then the merry +dance began, and such dancing! The old hall rang with mirth broken now +and then with wild cheers when Dorothy would "go down the middle," or +"swing all hands around." +</P> + +<P> +There seemed to be no restrictions, no restraint—everyone was enjoying +herself to her heart's content. +</P> + +<P> +And the meeting all ended in the uproarious and unanimous election of +Dorothy Dale, as president of the Glenwoods of Glenwood School! +</P> + +<P> +"What a happy ending of all our troubles," said Dorothy to Tavia that +night. +</P> + +<P> +"If they are all ended," responded Tavia. "Perhaps everything is not +yet smoothed out." And what Tavia suspected proved true, as we shall +learn in the next volume, to be called "Dorothy Dale's Great Secret." +Tavia was responsible for the secret, but Dorothy kept it faithfully. +</P> + +<P> +A few days later Mrs. Pangborn received a telegram that Mrs. Green was +better and out of danger,—at least for the present. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you imagine Viola will come back to Glenwood?" said Tavia. +</P> + +<P> +"If she does, I will—I will try to do—my best by her," answered +Dorothy slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"You dear, forgiving Dorothy Dale!" cried her chum, and kissed her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RUBY AND RUTHY SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY MINNIE E. PAULL +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>Four bright and entertaining stories told in Mrs. Paull's happiest +manner are among the best stories ever written for young girls, and +cannot fail to interest any between the ages of eight and fifteen +years.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUBY AND RUTHY +</H4> + +<P> +Ruby and Ruthie were not old enough to go to school, but they certainly +were lively enough to have many exciting adventures, that taught many +useful lessons needed to be learned by little girls. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUBY'S UPS AND DOWNS +</H4> + +<P> +There were troubles enough for a dozen grown-ups, but Ruby got ahead of +them all, and, in spite of them, became a favorite in the lively times +at school. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUBY AT SCHOOL +</H4> + +<P> +Ruby had many surprises when she went to the impossible place she heard +called a boarding school, but every experience helped to make her a +stronger-minded girl. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUBY'S VACATION +</H4> + +<P> +This volume shows how a little girl improves by having varieties of +experience both happy and unhappy, provided she thinks, and is able to +use her good sense. Ruby lives and learns. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By MARGARET PENROSE +</H4> + +<P> +<I>Author of "The Motor Girls Series"</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 80 cents, postpaid.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Dorothy Dale is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is running +a weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. Her sunny disposition, her +fun-loving ways and her trials and triumphs make clean, interesting and +fascinating reading. The Dorothy Dale Series is one of the most +popular series of books for girls ever published. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY<BR> +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S GREAT SECRET<BR> +DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S QUEER HOLIDAYS<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S CAMPING DAYS<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S SCHOOL RIVALS<BR> +DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S PROMISE<BR> +DOROTHY DALE IN THE WEST<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S STRANGE DISCOVERY<BR> +DOROTHY DALE'S ENGAGEMENT<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY ALICE B. EMERSON +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle. +Her adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest of +every reader. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL<BR> +<I>or Jasper Parloe's Secret</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL<BR> +<I>or Solving the Campus Mystery</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP<BR> +<I>or Lost in the Backwoods</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT<BR> +<I>or Nita, the Girl Castaway</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH<BR> +<I>or Schoolgirls Among the Cowboys</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND<BR> +<I>or The Old Hunter's Treasure Box</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM<BR> +<I>or What Became of the Raby Orphans</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES<BR> +<I>or The Missing Pearl Necklace</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES<BR> +<I>or Helping the Dormitory Fund</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE<BR> +<I>or Great Days in the Land of Cotton</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE<BR> +<I>or The Missing Examination Papers</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE<BR> +<I>or College Girls in the Land of Gold</I><BR> +</P> + +<P> +RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS (<I>New</I>)<BR> +<I>or Doing Her Bit for Uncle Sam</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT (<I>New</I>)<BR> +<I>or The Hunt for a Lost Soldier</I><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CURLYTOPS SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY HOWARD R. GARIS +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +Author of the famous "Bedtime Animal Stories" +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Cloth, Beautifully Illustrated. Jacket in full color.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>Price per volume, 60 cents, net</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Splendid stories for the little girls and boys, told by one who is a +past master in the art of entertaining young people. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM +<BR> +<I>or Vacation Days in the Country</I> +</P> + +<P> +A tale of happy vacation days on a farm. The Curlytops have many +exciting adventures. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND +<BR> +<I>or Camping out with Grandpa</I> +</P> + +<P> +The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp on Star +Island. There they had great fun and also helped to solve a real +mystery. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN +<BR> +<I>or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds</I> +</P> + +<P> +Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates and sleds, +but when later they were snowed in they found many new ways to enjoy +themselves. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH +<BR> +<I>or Little Folks on Pony Back</I> +</P> + +<P> +Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time among the +cowboys and on pony back. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PATSY CARROLL SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY GRACE GORDON +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Illustrated. Beautiful cloth binding, stamped in gold with<BR> +cover inlay and jacket in colors.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>Price Per Volume $1.25 Net.</I> +</P> + +<P> +<I>This fascinating series is permeated with the vibrant atmosphere of +the great outdoors. The vacations spent by Patsy Carroll and her +chums, the girl Wayfarers, in the north, east, south and west of the +wonderland of our country, comprise a succession of tales unsurpassed +in plot and action.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +PATSY CARROLL AT WILDERNESS LODGE +</P> + +<P> +Patsy Carroll succeeds in coaxing her father to lease one of the +luxurious camps at Lake Placid, in the Adirondack Mountains, for the +summer. Once established at Wilderness Lodge, the Wayfarers, as they +have decided to call themselves, find they are the center of a mystery +which revolves about a missing will. How the girls solve the mystery +makes a splendid story. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES (<I>New</I>) +</P> + +<P> +Patsy Carroll and her three chums spend their Easter vacation is an old +mansion in Florida, where an exciting mystery develops, which is solved +by a very curious acrostic found by Patsy, and which leads to very +exciting and satisfactory results, making a capital story. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE JANE ALLEN COLLEGE SERIES +</H4> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By EDITH BANCROFT +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Illustrated, Beautiful cloth binding, stamped in gold with +cover inlay and jacket in colors.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>Price Per Volume S1.25 Net.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +<I>This series is a decided departure from the stories usually written of +life in the modern college for young women. They contain a deep and +fascinating theme, which has to do with the inner struggle for growth. +An authoritative account of the life of the college girl as it is lived +today.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +JANE ALLEN OF THE SUB TEAM +</P> + +<P> +When Jane Allen left her beautiful Western home in Montana, sorely +against her will, to go East, there to become a freshman at Wellington +College, she was sure that she could never learn to endure the +restrictions of college life. But she did and the account of Jane's +first year at Wellington is well worth reading. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +JANE ALLEN: RIGHT GUARD (<I>New</I>) +</P> + +<P> +Jane Allen becomes a sophomore at Wellington College, but she has to +face a severe trial that requires all her courage and character. The +meaning of true soul-nobility is brought out in the development of the +trying experience. The result is a triumph for being faithful to an +ideal. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +By MARGARET PENROSE +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +Author of the highly successful "Dorothy Dale Series" +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 80 cents, postpaid +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Since the enormous success of our "Motor Boys Series," by Clarence +Young, we have been asked to get out a similar series for girls. No +one is better equipped to furnish these tales than Mrs. Penrose, who, +besides being an able writer, is an expert automobilist. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS<BR> +<I>or A Mystery of the Road</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON A TOUR<BR> +<I>or Keeping a Strange Promise</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS AT LOOKOUT BEACH<BR> +<I>or In Quest of the Runaways</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND<BR> +<I>or Held by the Gypsies</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CEDAR LAKE<BR> +<I>or The Hermit of Fern Island</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON THE COAST<BR> +<I>or The Waif from the Sea</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CRYSTAL BAY<BR> +<I>or The Secret of the Red Oar</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON WATERS BLUE<BR> +<I>or The Strange Cruise of the Tartar</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS AT CAMP SURPRISE<BR> +<I>or The Cave in the Mountain</I><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE MOTOR GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS<BR> +<I>or The Gypsy Girl's Secret</I><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE KHAKI GIRLS SERIES +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY EDNA BROOKS +</H4> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +<I>When Uncle Sam sent forth the ringing call, "I need you!" it was not +alone his strong young sons who responded. All over the United States +capable American girls, stood ready to offer their services to their +country. How two young girls donned the khaki and made good in the +Motor Corps, an organization for women, developed by the Great War, +forms a series of stories of signal novelty and vivid interest and +action.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +THE KHAKI GIRLS OF THE MOTOR CORPS +<BR> +<I>or Finding Their Place in the Big War</I> +</P> + +<P> +Joan Mason, an enthusiastic motor girl, and Valerie Warde, a society +debutante, meet at an automobile show. Next day they go together to +the Motor Corps headquarters and in due time are accepted and become +members of the Corps, in the service of the United States. The two +girl drivers find motoring for Uncle Sam a most exciting business. +Incidentally they are instrumental in rendering valuable service to the +United States government by discovering and running down a secret +organization of its enemies. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +THE KHAKI GIRLS BEHIND THE LINES +<BR> +<I>or Driving with the Ambulance Corps</I> +</P> + +<P> +As a result of their splendid work in the Motor Corps, the Khaki Girls +receive the honor of an opportunity to drive with the Ambulance Corps +in France. After a most eventful and hazardous crossing of the +Atlantic, they arrive in France and are assigned to a station behind +the lines. Constantly within range of enemy shrapnel, out in all kinds +of weather, tearing over shell-torn roads and dodging Boche patrols, +all go to make up the day's work, and bring them many exciting +adventures. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center"> +<I>Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue.</I> +<BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers +<BR> +New York +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School, by +Margaret Penrose + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL *** + +***** This file should be named 33530-h.htm or 33530-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/5/3/33530/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School + +Author: Margaret Penrose + +Release Date: August 24, 2010 [EBook #33530] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Frontispiece: "PROCEED!" COMMANDED THE RANGER, AND DOROTHY BEGAN THE +THIMBLE CHASE--_Page_ 150] + + + + +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL + + +BY + +MARGARET PENROSE + +AUTHOR OF "DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY." + + + + +ILLUSTRATED + + + + +NEW YORK + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + + + + +THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES + +BY MARGARET PENROSE + +Cloth. Illustrated. + + +DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY + +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL + +(Other volumes in preparation) + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY NEW YORK + + + + +Copyright, 1908, by + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. TWO YOUNG GIRLS + II. THE FIRE-BIRD + III. A QUEER SPRING SUIT + IV. A DAY OF DANGERS + V. THE POLICE PATROL + VI. A RIDE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + VII. TAVIA'S DANGER + VIII. AN INVERTED JOKE + IX. COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS + X. A LAWN PARTY "WITH BOYS!" + XI. OFF FOR GLENWOOD + XII. VIOLA'S MOTHER + XIII. THE CATEGORY + XIV. THE INITIATION + XV. LOST ON MOUNT GABRIEL + XVI. WHAT VIOLA DID + XVII. THE STRIKE OF THE REBS + XVIII. DOROTHY'S SACRIFICE + XIX. THE TANGLED WEB + XX. SUSPICIONS + XXI. SUNSHINE AGAIN + XXII. MISS CRANE AND VIOLA + XXIII. THE REAL STORY + + + + +DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL + + +CHAPTER I + +TWO YOUNG GIRLS + +"And you are quite sure, daddy, I am not dreaming? That I am sitting +right here with my arms around your neck, and you have just told me it +is all perfectly true?" And, to make still more certain that the whole +matter was one of unquestionable reality, the girl gave her parent such +a flesh and blood hug that a physical answer came to her question in +the shape of a protest from the very wideawake man. + +"Now, see here, Little Captain," he remarked, "it is all very well to +make sure we are not dreaming, and that all the good news is real, but +please remember I have put on a clean collar and--your tactics are +quite military. You are acquiring muscle." + +Major Dale kissed his daughter fondly as she relinquished her hold on +him, and smoothed back a stray lock of his silvery hair. + +"I'm so glad for you, daddy," she went on. "You do so need a real +rest, and now we will not have to plan every day what we may spend +to-morrow. I fancy I will still keep the note-book going with pounds +and prices of things, and an occasional orange, and even some foreign +fruit now and then. Dear me! I feel the good of that money already. +We can have so many luxuries--no more scrimping and patching--" + +"But, daughter dear," interrupted the major, "you must not imagine that +mere money can bring happiness. It depends entirely upon the proper +use of that commodity--we must always exercise good judgment, whether +one dollar or one hundred dollars are involved." + +"Oh, of course, I know we are not so very rich, we cannot just exactly +live sumptuously, but we may live comfortably. And really, daddy, now +that it is over, I may as well own up, I have longed with the longest +kind of longing for a brand-new hat. May I really have one? Ribbons +and all?" + +"Two, one for Sunday and one for every day," promptly responded the +major, laughing. "But your hats always look new--" + +"They do say I have talent for hats, and that one must have originality +to trim and keep old head-gear up to date. So, daddy dear, perhaps, +some day, that hint of talent may develop--I may be an artist or +something. Then I will bless the days when I had to make over hats to +discover myself," and Dorothy promptly clapped upon her blond head such +a confusion of straw and flowers, to say nothing of the dangling blue +ribbons, that even the major, with his limited appreciation of "keeping +old head-gear up-to-date" was forced to acknowledge that his daughter +did know how to trim a hat. + +"When will the money come?" she asked, tilting her head to one side to +get a look in the small oval mirror, that was sufficiently large for +the major's neckties, but was plainly too short for hats. + +"We won't get it by the pound, like butter, you know, daughter. Nor is +it a matter of so many blank checks to be filled out as we progress +with penmanship--like copy-book work. As a matter of fact, I have just +received the legal information that my dear old soldier uncle +Ned--otherwise known as Captain Edward Dale on the retired list, +resident of India, subject of Great Britain, has answered the last roll +call--and left what he had to me. Uncle Ned was the hero of our +family, daughter dear, and some day I will tell you why you are my +Little Captain--his own successor," and the major laid his hand upon +Dorothy's shoulder in a way he had of making a promise that he intended +to keep. + +A commotion on the side porch interrupted their confidences, and the +major took advantage of it to make his escape. He kissed Dorothy +good-bye, and left her to the "commotion" that presently made its way +in at the door in the shape of Tavia Travers, Dorothy's warmest friend +in every thing. + +"Hurrah for the good news!" shouted Tavia, flinging her sailor hat up +to the ceiling and catching it as promptly. + + "Three cheers for the money, + When will it come? + Give a feller some + Tiddle-umtum-tum + I have to say bunny, + To make a rhyme with money!" + + +And Tavia swung around like a pin-wheel to bring her "verse" to an +effective full stop--a way she had of punctuating her impromptu +productions. + +Dorothy made a comical "squat" to add more finish, and then the two +girls, feeling better for having opened the safety valve of physical +exertion to "let off" mental exuberance, sat down to talk it over +quietly. + +"Are you perfectly positive, certain, sure, that it's just you, Dorothy +Dale, and no fairy or mermaid," began Tavia, settling herself among the +cushions on Major Dale's sofa. "Of all the delicious, delectable +things! To have a rich, old uncle die 'way off in India, where you +don't even have to make your nose red at his funeral. And to leave you +a million dollars--" + +"Oh, not quite a million," interrupted Dorothy. "Something +considerable less than that, I believe." + +"But it's all kinds of money I know," went on the other. "Dear me! I +do wish some kind of money would run in our family even with red noses +thrown in. But no such luck! When we have a funeral we always have to +pay for the coach." + +"Tavia Travers! How dare you talk so, of such serious things!" + +"How else would you have me talk of serious things? The most serious +thing in my life is money--its scarcity. Funerals, of course, take +time, and are unpleasant in many respects, but, for right at home +trouble, it's money." + +"It is nice to think that the dear old captain should be so good to +father," said Dorothy. "Father was always his favorite relative, and +he particularly liked him on account of his military honors." + +"Well, he ought to, of course," put in Tavia, "for your father keeps +the name Dale up for military honors. But what in the world are you +going to do with all the money? Don't, for goodness' sake, go away for +your health, and other things, and leave poor me to die here without +nobody nor nuthin'," and the girl burst into make-believe tears. + +"Indeed," said Dorothy. "We can enjoy the good fortune in no place +better than in dear old Dalton, and among our own good friends," and +she put her arms affectionately about Tavia. "But one thing has been +definitely decided upon--" + +"You are going to buy the Harvy mansion?" + +"No, a new hat. Father has just this minute given his consent." + +"Make it a tiara and save the expense of hat-pins," suggested Tavia. + +"No, I have a hankering for a Gainsborough, the kind the lady hanging +over Aunt Winnie's stairs wears--the picture queen, you know." + +"Oh, yes, she looks very nice in a picture over the stairs," remarked +Tavia, "but my advice to you would be to wear elastic under your chin +with a thing like that--or else try Gulliver's Glue. One breeze of the +Dalton kind would be enough for a Gainsborough." + +"You shall help me pick it out," agreed Dorothy. "In the meantime +don't sit on the only one I have. I just left it on the sofa as you +came in--" + +"And if it isn't the dearest, sweetest thing now," exclaimed Tavia, +rescuing the mass of perishables she had unwittingly pressed into +something like a funeral piece. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I did like that hat!" + +"And so did I!" declared Tavia. "That hat was a stunner, and I deeply +regret it's untimely taking away--it went to pieces without a groan. +That comes of having a real Leghorn. I could sit all over my poor +straw pancake and it would not as much as bend--couldn't. It would +have no place to bend to." + +"You could never wear anything that would become you more than a simple +sailor," said Dorothy, with the air of one in authority, "and if I had +your short locks I would just sport a jaunty little felt sailor all +summer. But with my head--" + +"Jaunty doesn't go. I quite agree with you, picture lady, your head is +cut out for picture hats. Another positive evidence of money running +in your family--my head was cut out for an economical pattern--lucky +thing for me!" and Tavia clapped her aforesaid sailor on her bronze +head at a decidedly rakish angle, while Dorothy busied herself with a +thorough investigation of the wreck of her own headpiece. + +As told in "Dorothy Dale: A Girl of To-Day," the first book of this +series, these two girls, Dorothy Dale and Octavia Travers, were school +friends, home friends and all kinds of friends, both about the same +age, and both living in a little interesting town called Dalton, in New +York state. Dorothy was the daughter of Major Dale, a prominent +citizen of the place, while Tavia's father was Squire Travers, a man +who was largely indebted to Dorothy for the office he held, inasmuch as +she had managed, in a girl's way, to bring about his election. + +Tavia had a brother Johnnie, quite an ordinary boy, while Dorothy had +two brothers, Joe, aged nine and Roger, aged seven years. + +There was one other member of the Dale household, Mrs. Martin, the +housekeeper, who had cared for the children since their mother had been +called away. She was that sort of responsible aged woman who seems to +grow more and more particular with years, and perhaps her only fault, +if it might be termed such, was her excessive care of Roger--her baby, +she insisted,--for to her his seven years by no means constituted a +length of time sufficient to make a boy of him. The children called +Mrs. Martin, Aunt Libby, and to them she was indeed as kind and loving +as any aunt could be. + +Dorothy had an aunt, Mrs. Winthrop White, of North Birchland in summer, +and of the city in winter, a woman of social importance, as well as +being a most lovable and charming lady personally. A visit of Dorothy +and Tavia to the Cedars, Mrs. White's country place, as related in +"Dorothy Dale," was full of incidents, and in the present volume we +shall become still better acquainted with the family, which included +Mrs. White's two sons, Ned and Nat, both young men well worth knowing. + +Dorothy and Tavia might well rejoice in the good news that the major +had so lately been informed of, for the acquirement of means to Dorothy +would undoubtedly bring good times to Tavia, and both deserved the +prospects of sunshine and laughter, for alas--in all lives, even those +scarcely old enough to take upon their shoulders the burden of cares, +there comes some blot to mar the page: some speck to break the glorious +blue of the noonday sky. + +Dorothy Dale was not without her sorrow. A wicked man, Andrew Anderson +by name, had come into her life in a mysterious way. Dorothy had +befriended, and in her own way, helped back to a day of happiness an +unfortunate man, Miles Burlock. This man had for years been in the +strange power of Anderson, but before it was too late Dorothy had +helped Burlock break the chains of strong drink that seemed to have +bound him to the evil companion, and for this interference she had +suffered--she was now the object of Anderson's hatred. Anderson was +after the money that Miles Burlock had to leave at his death, but +Dorothy and her father saved this for its rightful owner, a little +daughter of Miles Burlock, who had for some years been kept away from +her own father by Anderson. + +The child, now an orphan, came into the care of Major Dale, her legal +guardian and so Anderson had new cause for his hatred for Dorothy--the +money and child having both been put out of his reach. So this was +Dorothy's sorrow: she had been persecuted because of her goodness. + +No one who knew Tavia Travers would have considered her capable of +worry. She was as light-hearted as air, with a great faculty for +mischief and a "hankering" for fun. But she did have a worry, a fear +that some day Dorothy Dale might pass out of her life and end the +attachment that came in childhood and waxed strong with girlhood. +Dorothy was what might be considered a girl of the aristocratic class, +while Tavia belonged to those who consider it a privilege to work for a +living and have a keen appreciation of the opportunity--as Squire +Travers proved when he turned in to show himself the best official, in +the capacity of squire, of which Dalton ever boasted. + +Now a new danger threatened Tavia: Dorothy would be almost rich. Would +that help to break the ties of love and friendship between the girls? + +Not that Dorothy could ever change in her sincere love for Tavia, but +might not circumstances separate them, and then--? + +Tavia had been first to congratulate Dorothy on the good news and the +smashed hat had furnished an incident sufficiently distracting to keep +Tavia from the lamentations that at first filled her heart. Hence it +has been necessary to take the reader through her sentiments in a very +much less interesting way than Tavia herself would have disclosed them. +She had a way of saying and doing things that was inimitable, and +amusing, if not entirely elevating. + +"Then you think you will stay in Dalton?" asked Tavia, finally, as +Dorothy succeeded in pulling the smashed hat back into some kind of +shape, if not the right kind. + +"Why not?" asked Dorothy. "Are there not plenty of good people in +Dalton?" + +"Oh, a few, perhaps. There's me and Johnnie--but we are not 'out' yet, +and you will be looking for society friends. Well, here's good luck to +you with your Indian millions, and don't forget that in your poorest +days I used to lend you chewing gum," and at this Tavia threw her arms +around Dorothy in a warm embrace, as if striving to hold to her heart +and keep in her life the same old darling Dorothy--in spite of the new +circumstances. + +"Say, Sis!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Do you realize that this is the very +day you are to go for an automobile ride with Nat White?" + +"And that you are to go in the same machine with Ned White? Course I +do, you selfish girl. So taken up with common money that you never +noticed my get-up. Look at this," and Tavia drew from the folds of her +skirt a cloud of something. "Automobile veil," she explained, giving +the flimsy stuff a turn that sent it floating through the air like a +cloud of smoke. + +"Splendid!" declared Dorothy. + +"Gloriotious!" remarked Tavia, "the real thing. I found it in an old +trunk among dear old grandma Travers' things, and grandma loved it +dearly. I persuaded mother to let me inherit it, and smell," putting +the gray cloud of silk to Dorothy's face, "that perfume is lavender. +Grandma always used it." + +"What a dear old lady she must have been," said Dorothy, looking over +the dainty article critically. "You are not really going to wear it," +she faltered, realizing the value of such an heirloom. + +"No, I am not, but--you are! There, Doro, darling, it is a gift for +you from--me. You will always keep it and--love it--" + +"Indeed I will do no such thing as to take your dear grandma's things. +You must always keep this yourself--" + +"But I want you to, Doro. It will make me happy to know I have given +you something good--something I have loved, and something you will love +for me. There," and she put the scarf over Dorothy's blond head, "you +look like an angel. Grandma herself will be proud all the way from +heaven, to see this fall upon the shoulders of one so worthy in face +and in heart," and the two stood there clasped in each other's arms, +the silvery veil of love falling about the shoulders of both, and +binding "all the way to heaven," in its folds of sweetest lavender the +hearts of two young girls. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRE BIRD + +Outside sounded the strident "honk-honk" of an automobile horn, +followed by a series of explosions, like a Gatling gun in full +operation, as Ned cut out the muffler, threw off the clutch, and +brought the machine to a stop at the door. More "honk-honks" called +Dorothy out to welcome her cousins, and presently Ned and Nat, and +Dorothy and Tavia were chatting merrily on the porch, as the big +machine puffed and "gasped" after its long run from North Birchland to +Dalton. + +"We will go right off," insisted Dorothy, "so as to get all the ride we +can, it is such a beautiful day. I only have to grab up the lunch +basket, and Tavia is all ready--has been waiting in fact," as Tavia +readjusted her "sailor," and endeavored to look spick and span, as she +had looked before the series of embraces and other disturbing +activities upset her rather perishable toilette--nothing wrinkles like +freshly-ironed gingham. + +"Just a drink of cold water, lady," begged Ned, "before we start again. +My throat is macadamized, my eyes are veritable kaleidoscopes, and I +feel like a mummy generally." + +"Why, of course," apologized Dorothy, "you must want a rest after that +long dusty ride. Come into the sitting room, and we will try to +refresh you." + +"Just plain water, please," insisted Ned, "and then we will start off." + +Tavia lost no time in bringing a pail of fresh water--Nat doing the +bringing, while Tavia smiled approval and encouragement; it is a matter +of such importance to carry the pail just so, when one really wants a +perfectly fresh drink and not a glass of bubbles, and Nat was seemingly +so anxious to learn all about well water--all that Tavia could tell him. + +"Come on," called Ned, impatiently from the side window. "We want the +water in time to get away before nightfall. Must be lovely to go +fishing for water in a pail like Simple Simon. Nat, you can talk to +Tavia indefinitely after we have slaked our 'Fire-Bird' thirst." + +Tavia blushed prettily at the good-natured rebuke, and Dorothy +playfully shook her finger at the tardy one, who seemed to have +forgotten all about Ned wishing a drink. + +Finally the boys were satisfied that Dalton wells did justice to their +reputation, and so the "Fire-Bird" was made ready for the day's run. + +"I am so glad," commented Dorothy, "that Joe and Roger are not around, +it would be hard to go off and leave them." + +"Plenty of time for little boys," remarked Nat, turning on the +gasoline, then shoving the spark lever over, all ready to crank up. + +Tavia had taken her place in front, as Nat was to drive the car, while +Dorothy was on the leather cushions in the tonneau, where Ned would +interest her with talk of school and other topics which the two cousins +held in common. + +Presently Nat cranked up, swung himself into the car and the Fire-Bird +"grunted off" lazy enough at first, but soon increasing to a swift run +through the streets of Dalton. + +"Isn't it splendid!" Tavia could not refrain from exclaiming +enthusiastically. + +"Yes," answered Nat, "but I believe there is something in swift motion +that unbalances human equilibrium. The madness of motoring would make +a study. Dorothy would be proud of me could she hear me talk so +learnedly," he said, smiling at his own seriousness, "but I do really +believe half of the unaccountable accidents might be traced to the +speed-madness." + +"It does feel dreadfully reckless," said Tavia, realizing something of +the power of speed, and taking off her sailor hat before the straw +piece made away on its own account. "I think it would be just like +flying to be in a real race." + +"Not for mine," answered the practical Nat. "I like some kinds of a +good time, but I have too much regard for the insurance company that +saw fit to give me their 'promise to pay,' to trust my bones to the +intelligence of a machine let loose. There is something so uncanny +about a broken neck." + +A toot of the horn warned passersby that the Fire-Bird was about to +make a turn. Tavia bowed to those on the walk. Nat touched his cap. + +"Who's the pretty one?" he asked, looking back, just a bit rudely, at +Tavia's friends. + +"Alice MacAllister, the nicest girl in Dalton, except--" + +"Tavia Travers," finished Nat, politely. "Well, she does look nice. +Better get up a lawn party or something and invite her, and +incidentally ask Nat White." + +Dorothy leaned forward to whisper to Tavia that Alice was going out +Dighton way to play tennis, that Alice had told her she expected to win +a trophy and this was the game to decide the series. Alice certainly +looked capable of winning most anything, she was such an athletic girl, +the kind called "tailor made," without being coarse or mannish. + +Then the Fire-Bird flew on. Out over the hill that hid Dalton from its +pretty suburbs, and then down into the glen that nestled so cozily in +its fringe of pines and cedars. Nat slackened speed to allow the party +full enjoyment of the shady road, and this gave all an opportunity of +entering into lively conversation. + +The boys wanted to know all about the mysterious man Anderson, who had +been lodged in jail. As Dorothy and Tavia had played rather a +conspicuous part in the man's capture, and all this had happened since +the girls had been out to the Cedars, on their visit, naturally Ned and +Nat were interested in the sensational news. + +"I'm glad he's safe out of your reach, Doro," said Ned, "for you never +seemed to know when or where he would turn up." + +"Yes," put in Tavia, "Doro has actually gained flesh since we landed +him. He was such a nuisance. Had no regard for persons or places." + +"And how about the news from India?" asked Ned. "I suppose the major +will sell out in Dalton and move to better accommodations now. Not but +what Dalton is a first-rate place," seeing the look of reproach on +Dorothy's face at the idea of anyone uttering a word against her +beloved town, "but you know there are little conveniences in other +places, postmen for instance, and well--something called society, you +know." + +"We have no thought of going away," answered Dorothy. "Father says the +money is just enough to make us comfortable and there is plenty of +comfort to be bought in Dalton." + +"And some given away," ventured Nat, with an arch glance at Tavia. + +"Which way shall we go?" asked Nat, as a forking of the road made a +choice necessary. + +"Through the glen," suggested Dorothy, "there is such a pretty spot +there where we can lunch." + +"Which spot?" asked Tavia, "I thought this was all road with deep +gutters at the side, running down to the river over the hill." + +"I am quite sure this is the road father took us out to picnic on," +said Dorothy with some hesitation. + +"Well, maybe," said Tavia, "but I think this is the old river road. It +seems to me I have been out this way before, and never even found a +place to gather wild flowers, all road and gutters, then a big bank to +the river." + +"Let's try it anyhow," decided Nat. "It looks nice and shady." + +So the turn was made to the left, and presently another turn rounded, +then another, until both Tavia and Dorothy lost all sense of the +location. + +"We will wind up somewhere," declared Nat, when the girls protested +they would be lost if the machine were not turned around, and brought +back to the river road. + +"This is such a tangle of a place," insisted Dorothy, "and we really +might not meet a person to direct us." + +"Then we will keep right on, and run into the next state," joked Nat, +to whom being lost was fun, and having an adventure the best part of a +ride. + +For some time the Fire-Bird flew along, the beautiful August day adding +a wonderful charm to the tender shade of the oaks that lined the road, +and through which just enough sunshine peeped to temper the balmy +shadows. + +"I am hungry. It must be lunch time," said Dorothy, as they reached a +pretty spot, "let's stop here and eat." + +"Let's," agreed Nat, slowing up the machine. + +"What do you suppose this road is for?" asked Ned, as neither the +rumble of a wagon wheel nor any other sound broke the stillness that +surrounded the party. + +"For instance," suggested Tavia. + +"Or for maps," said Ned. + +"For automobile parties," declared Dorothy. + +"For yours truly," finished Nat, stretching himself on the soft sod, +that came down to the road as beautifully as if it had been made to +order on a well-kept terrace. + +The girls soon had the lunch cloth spread and the basket was then +produced--or rather its contents were brought forth. + +"Yum, yum," exclaimed Nat, smacking his lips as Dorothy began placing +the eatables on the cloth. + +"Oh, but water," sighed Tavia. "We were to get some as we came in the +woods. There is a fine spring there." + +"Two miles back," announced Nat. + +"But there must be one near here," declared Tavia, "for there are +forget-me-nots in this grass." + +"Is that a sign of water?" asked Ned. + +"Positive--sure sign," replied Tavia. "Let's hunt for the spring." + +"Too early," answered Nat, "against the game laws. Can't hunt for two +whole months yet. Worse luck." + +"Well, look for the spring then," Tavia corrected herself. "I fancy I +smell watercress--" + +"Well, of all the fanciers,--first bluebells mean spring water, then +gasoline from our own tank smells like watercress. Now, Octavia +Travers, I'll go you," said Nat. "Come and find spring water, bunches +of watercress and a salt spring to go with the cress, or you will--walk +home." + +Tavia answered the challenge by skipping along through the grassy +track, with Nat dragging lazily along at her heels. + +"Don't get lost," cautioned Dorothy. + +"And don't expect us to watch this food all afternoon," said Ned, as +the two disappeared over a bank on the "still hunt" for water and +perhaps watercress. + +"Tavia knows everything that grows," remarked Dorothy to her cousin, "I +think it is so interesting to have a practical knowledge of nature." + +"And quite convenient when it comes to lemonade with water," answered +the boy. "It's queer Nat is like that too. He always knows things +about things when things are shy for a feed. Likely he'll bring back a +small-sized patch of the vegetable kingdom." + +Meanwhile the explorers were making discoveries at every glade. + +"There," called Tavia, triumphantly, "that's a spring. But the +announcement came a second too late to save Nat from a foot bath. + +"So I have noticed," he declared, trying to shake some of the cold +water out of his low cut shoes. + +"Oh, that's too bad," Tavia managed to say, although her joy at finding +the spring made any regret at the method of its discovery quite out of +the question. Being careful of her own footing she made her way along, +until the stone basin at the spring source came into view. + +"Didn't I tell you?" she shouted. "And there is the watercress!" + +She was on her knees now, leaning over like the goddess who saw her +face reflected in the water. Tavia knew the peculiarities of a spring, +and knew how to avoid the common penalty of wet feet when getting +either cress or a drink "by hand." + +"Let me," asked Nat, gallantly, as he saw her stooping over the brink. + +"I do want some of the cress," she said. + +"So do I," declared the knight. But alas; as he stepped to the brink +he went down--down--down-- + +"Help!" he shouted, merrily, in spite of the second foot bath within a +few minutes. + +But Nat kept on sinking, until what seemed like a joke soon assumed a +serious aspect. + +"Give us a hand," he called to Tavia. "I must have struck quick-sand." + +Tavia ran to the side of the pool where the boy was imbedded. He had +jumped right in, instead of feeling his way as Tavia had, to make sure +of his ground. + +"Take my hand," said the girl anxiously, but the effort necessary in +reaching toward her only served to make the unfortunate youth sink +farther down. + +"I guess you'll have to go for help," he admitted finally, the danger +of the situation forcing itself upon him. + +"But suppose you should go under while I am gone?" faltered Tavia. + +"Just pull that tree branch over to me," said Nat, "and I'll cling to +that. This must be a glue spring. My, but it has a grip! There goes +my shoe." + +"I'll run for Ned," cried Tavia, after she had given the boy in the +pool a hold on the tree branch, and then she shot across the fields +like a deer, leaving Nat to "say his prayers," as he described the +situation. + +It seemed a long time to the imprisoned boy, but as a matter of fact, +Tavia was back very soon with "reinforcements." + +Besides Dorothy and Ned, there came to the rescue a woman, who just +happened by and heard of the danger. She knew the spring, and, +depositing her basket of eggs in a safe place, pulled a fence rail from +its post, and with Ned holding one end hurried on to the spring. By +this time Nat was almost exhausted, for though it was an August day, +standing to the waist in cold spring water was not an enjoyable +position. + +"I found the spring," he tried to joke, as the others came up to him. + +"So we see," drawled Ned. + +"Here," called the strange woman, who evidently knew exactly what to +do. "Young man, you take this end of the rail to the other side. I'll +hold my end here, and the boy can pull out across it." + +Dorothy and Tavia looked on anxiously. They had heard of persons being +swallowed up in quick-sands. Might not this be such a danger? + +The pool was uncomfortably wide just where Nat chose to try its depth, +so that it was difficult to span it with the fence rail. + +"Easy now," called the little woman in the big sunbonnet. "Take hold +first, then draw yourself up." + +Nat was only too anxious to do as he was told. It did seem so good to +have something solid within reach once more. + +But tug as he would, he could not extricate his feet. + +"Guess some Chinaman has a hold of me," he said, trying to make the +best of his predicament. + +"Wait a minute," called the farm woman. "There, now, you take the rail +to the top of the spring and get down on it. Then you (to Nat) swing +right up on it--now there, you've got it! Hold tight. Come here young +girls. Quick! Pull! Pull! Altogether! There you are!" and, at that +moment, a very muddy form was dragged from the spring. Nat was on dry +land again. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A QUEER SPRING SUIT + +"Don't stop to talk unless you want to get the chills from that +spring," urged the little country woman in the big sunbonnet, "but just +chase across that field as fast as you can. If we are not on the road +when you get there, keep right on running. It's the only thing. Then +I'll see what I can do for you in the line of clothes. Sam hasn't got +much, but they're clean." + +Nat stood shivering. The mud had relieved him of both shoes. + +"Run along," ordered the woman, "I tell you I know all about the kind +of chills that come from that spring water. Why, we don't even eat the +watercress out of it this summer, so many folks that did eat it were +taken down. My son Sam had a spell. The doctor stuck to it it was +swimmin' but I knowed better; it was eatin' that poison watercress." + +By this time Nat had followed directions and was going across the +fields as fast as his uncomfortable legs would carry him. Tavia was +running also; she felt it was her duty to stick by Nat, and get to the +road with him, in case he should need any help. + +Dorothy could not hide her dismay. Nat might get cold, he certainly +had spoiled some good clothes, and the automobile ride would not be as +pleasant now. How could it be with such a soaked boy at the wheel? +And he was sure to stick to his post. + +"Isn't it awful!" Dorothy remarked to Ned, as they hurried along after +Nat and Tavia, while the country woman jogged on ahead of them. + +"Nothing of the sort," he contradicted her. "It will add to his +general knowledge, and what an experience it will be when it is handed +out to the fellows! Nat frequently has a way of making narrow escapes. +Chances are, some subterranean monster held him down in that spring. +Oh, that accident will just be pie for Nat," and his brother laughed at +the possible story Nat would concoct about his spring bath. + +Breaking through the clump of bushes that divided the field from the +road Nat and Tavia could be seen racing up and down like a pair in +"training." + +"That's right," called the woman, "just cut across there to that house. +I'll be there almost as soon as you." + +And in truth the farm woman was "no slouch," as Ned expressed it, for +she tramped along at such an even pace that Dorothy found it difficult +to keep up with her on the rough roads. + +The farm house was of the typical old-fashioned kind; long and narrow, +like a train of cars side-tracked, Ned thought. Vines that had become +tired creeping clung tenaciously to window sills and broken porch +rails, while clumsy old apple trees leaned lazily toward the stone +house, although they were expected to keep their place, and outline a +walk to the garden. + +"Come right in the kitchen," invited the little woman. "I'll go +upstairs and get the clothes, and then the young man can wash up a bit. +Sam always keeps plenty of clean water in his room in summer +time--ain't so pertic'lar about it in winter." + +Nat hesitated on the door sill. Although the place presented that +crowded and almost untidy scene, so common to back doors in the +country, the room within was clean and orderly, and Nat had no idea of +carrying his mud through the apartment. + +Tavia, seeing his predicament, promptly found the broom and began such +a vigorous scraping of the muddy clothes that Nat backed down to a +bench and fell over it. + +"There," exclaimed Tavia, "no more will come off, I'm sure." + +"So am I," gasped Nat. "I wonder--well, never mind, you brushed me all +right. If ever you want work just let me know." + +The woman, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Hardy, was at the door +now, and ordered Nat to come in at once. + +"For clothes," she began, "I left out Sam's brand new pair of overalls. +They hain't never been on him, and I thought they'd be better than +anything else for summer. Then there's a clean soft shirt, and you +won't need no coat, as it's a sight too warm to-day for coats. Them +sneak shoes Sam only bought Saturday night. He likes to wear them to +picnics, and there's to be one to-morrow evenin'." + +Nat seemed unable to thank the woman. He really felt so miserable, +physically, and so confused mentally, that his usual ready wit forsook +him. But Dorothy could have hugged that dear little woman who was so +kind and thoughtful. Ned was out in the motor car, so Dorothy was the +one in "authority." + +"You are so kind," she faltered to Mrs. Hardy, as Nat's muddy heels +lost themselves from view up the box stairs. "I'm sure we cannot thank +you enough." + +"Tut, tut," interrupted the woman, busying herself at once about the +little cook stove. "If the same thing happened to my Sam I know you'd +do as much for him. He'll be in to dinner. Maybe you'll see him. I +am proud of Sam. He's all I've got, of course, that makes some +difference." + +Ned now brought the machine up to the front of the house. He blew the +horn to attract attention and Tavia ran out. + +"Of all the luck," he stammered, trying to talk and laugh at the same +time, "every scrap of our lunch is gone. Dogs, chickens, and maybe a +boy or two took it. At any rate, they did not leave as much as the +basket." + +"Oh," gasped Tavia. "Isn't that mean!" + +"Rather," answered the boy. "But perhaps we can get some crackers and +milk here. I feel that the pangs of hunger will do something desperate +presently. Nat, I suppose, will get a warm drink, and no doubt +something to make him strong--homemade bread is the usual, I think. +But I may starve," and he looked truly mournful--dinner hour was +"flush" as he expressed it, meaning that the time had come to eat, as +both hour and minute hand were hugging twelve, whistles blowing and a +distant bell sounding, all of which indicated meal time was "flush." + +"What's the matter?" asked Dorothy, coming around the house. + +"The commissary department has been looted," said Ned. "In other +words, our grub is gone." + +"Gone!" echoed Dorothy, incredulously. + +"The very gonest gone you ever saw. Not so much as a toothpick left." + +"What shall we do," sighed the girl, who had put up such a tempting +lunch, and had even partly spread it out on the paper-cloth in that +"safe" place under the tree. + +"Victuals gone?" asked Mrs. Hardy, from the side window. "I might have +told you as much, only for hurryin' to get them wet clothes off that +boy. Why, our hounds would steal the eggs from the nests, worst +thieves I ever saw. Well, never mind. When I get Sam back to the +hayfield I'll do what I can for you. But he has to be quick, for it's +all cut and there's no telling when a thunder storm 'll come up." + +"Oh, we wouldn't think of troubling you so much," demurred Dorothy. + +"Is there any store around?" asked Ned, significantly. + +"One a mile off that has not a morsel fit to eat in it. I'd as soon +swallow poison as eat anything out of that place. Here, young girl (to +Tavia), you run down to the dairy there, the door is unlocked, and +bring up a pail of milk that's on the bench under the window. I'll +give you a couple of glasses and you can help yourselves until Sam gets +done." + +Tavia hurried off, willing enough to fetch the milk, and before she +reached the door on her return trip--there was Nat! + +Nobody dared to laugh. What might Mrs. Hardy think? + +But Nat in overalls! And a dark blue shirt! And the yellow sneaks! + +"Splendid," declared Dorothy, feeling the absolute necessity of saying +something grateful. + +"I feel like a new man," said Nat. + +"Bet you do now," spoke Mrs. Hardy, looking him over approvingly. +"Nothing like clean clothes, and them is becoming." + +Nat went near her so he could carry on conversation without delaying +the dinner preparations. + +"That spring suit," he said laughing, "I'll just throw down on the +rubbish heap. The clothes are so covered with mud, I am sure they +never could be cleaned, and if Sam will have time to get in town before +the picnic perhaps he can sell me these things. Or, if not, I'll buy +whatever he wants and send them out." + +"Well, he won't need the overalls till next week," answered the mother. + +"Then I can buy them?" asked Nat. + +"And the shoes--" + +"I'll have a pair sent out directly I reach town. I'll see that they +come special so there will be no mistake." + +"And the shirt--you are welcome to that." + +"Now then," said Nat, "here's five dollars, whatever will be over the +price of the clothes I am sure I owe you--" + +"Five dollars!" exclaimed the woman with genuine surprise. "Why, bless +you boy, that would buy my Sam a full, whole winter suit." + +"Get him one, then," insisted Nat. "I would be glad to help him, as he +certainly has helped me greatly. Just surprise him with a new suit for +the picnic. We'll be off as soon as I get my share of that milk, if +they have left me any, then he will know nothing of the accident. You +can give him a complete surprise," seeing the look of delight on the +poor woman's face. + +"But you dasen't drink none of that cold milk," she protested. "Step +right over here to a cup of tea, it's just fresh. But I don't feel I +should take all that money." + +"Oh, just to give Sam a little surprise," argued Nat, "and indeed, I +owe it to you, for I might have taken an awful cold," and he drank down +his "piping" hot tea. + +"Well, Sam will be happy," admitted the mother fondly, "and if you can +afford it--" + +"Of course I can. There, they have actually stopped drinking. We are +so much obliged for the invitation to take dinner, Mrs. Hardy, but we +couldn't really stay," finished Nat. + +"No," said Dorothy, coming in at that moment, "it is very kind of you +to ask us, Mrs. Hardy, but my cousin says we must go on. Here is +something for the milk--" + +"No more money!" declared the woman. "I've taken more now than the +Bible would say was due me." + +"Oh, just this change," urged Dorothy. + +"Not a penny! Not one cent!" Mrs. Hardy insisted, but as Dorothy +stepped out to join the others, who by this time were getting into the +car, she managed to find a place to hide the coins--where Mrs. Hardy +would find them later on. + +"I'm to the bat," said Ned, as Nat took up his place in front. + +"Not much," shouted Nat. "I haven't been put out yet, and, in overalls +and blue shirt, Nat, the good-looking and always well-dressed boy, let +loose the Fire-Bird for another fly through the country." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A DAY OF DANGERS + +"What do you suppose will happen next?" asked Dorothy, as the +automobile sped along the narrow road through a woodland way. + +"Don't tempt the fates," cautioned Ned, "we can always get enough +trouble without beckoning it." + +"It was good sport, meeting the little country woman and all that," +said Nat, "but I must admit I did not enjoy the mud bath. I have heard +of mud baths in sanitariums. Do you suppose they are that kind?" + +"Oh, no," laughed Ned. "They perfume the mud and mix it with bay rum. +Then they allow it to trickle down your spinal column to the rhythm of +your favorite poem--so many drops to so many feet." + +"I'll never forget how you looked when you came up on that rail," +declared Tavia, merrily. "I have heard of such things, but that is the +first time I ever saw any one really ride a rail--" + +"And my initial performance, I assure you. Well, do not be so +painfully faithful as never to forget my appearance. I think you might +sympathize with a fellow." + +But Tavia only laughed more heartily. She declared he could not have +been drowned; of course it was wet and cold and muddy-- + +"And he might have fallen, and not have been able to get to his feet +again," remarked Dorothy, with apprehension. "I am awfully afraid of +mysterious accidents; and who can tell what is at the bottom of a +spring?" + +"For expert testimony," replied Nat, "apply to Nathaniel White, +Esquire. He is in every way qualified--Oh, I say, my knee! Ouch! +Can't move it," and he winced in pain. + +"Let me get there," insisted Ned, "you may take a kink somewhere and +make us turn turtle. Besides you will not get so much breeze back +here." + +Nat was easily persuaded now, for the fact was he did not feel at all +comfortable--the mud bath was getting in its work,--so the machine was +stopped while he got in the tonneau and his brother took the place at +the wheel. + +"Put this dust robe around you," ordered Dorothy. "You may miss your +coat in spite of the day, for the wind is sharp when we cut through the +air this way. I do hope you will not be ill--" + +"Never! That race Mrs. Hardy gave me, or made me take, saved my life. +But it's pleasant to change seats. Ned will get a lot of laughs from +Tavia, and I will enjoy a chance to talk with you." + +So the little party dashed along, until a turn in the road brought a +row of houses into view, and presently, among them, could be seen a +sign that indicated eatables were for sale there. Both girls and boys +went in to do the buying--so keen were their appetites now that each +preferred to do his or her own selecting. Tavia wanted buns, cheese +and pickles. Nat had cheese, rye bread and butter (he bought a quarter +of a pound) and besides he found, on the very tip top shelf, some glass +jars of boneless herring. + +"Let's make a regular camp dinner," suggested Ned. "Buy some potatoes +and sliced bacon, make tea or coffee--" + +"In what?" asked Dorothy. + +"Oh, yes, that's so. We did not bring the lunch basket. By the way, +you have not seen the basket mother received for her birthday. It has +everything for a lunch on the road; a lamp to cook over, tea and coffee +pot, enameled cups, plates, good sharp knives--the neatest things, all +in a small basket. Mother never lets us take it out, when we're alone. +She thinks so much of it." + +"I should think she would," remarked Dorothy. "But we were speaking of +a camp lunch--" + +"Yes, let's," joined in Nat. "It's no end of fun, roasting potatoes in +a stone furnace." + +"And toasting bacon on hat pins," suggested Tavia. + +So it was agreed the camp lunch should be their meal, Dorothy and Ned +doing most of the work of buying and finding things fresh enough to eat +in the old-fashioned dusty store, while Tavia and Nat tasted pickles +and tried buns, until Dorothy interposed, declaring if either ate +another mouthful before the real meal was ready they would not be +allowed a single warm morsel. + +"Just one potato," pleaded Nat. "I do so love burnt potatoes." + +"And a single slice of bacon," urged Tavia. "I haven't had that kind +of bacon since we were out at the Cedars, and I think it is so +delicious." + +"Then save your appetites," insisted Dorothy, "and help with the work. +No looking for fresh spring water this time. Nat, carry this bottle of +milk. Ned has paid for the bottle and all, so we will not have to come +back with the jar." + +The paper bundles were finally put into the car, and then, turning back +to the woodland road, it was not difficult to find a place suitable to +build the camp-fire, and set table on a big stump of a newly-felled +tree that Tavia said made her more hungry than ever, for the chips +smelt like vinegar and molasses, she declared. + +So pleasant was the camp life our friends had embarked upon, they did +not notice how far the afternoon was getting away from them, and before +they had any inclination to start out on the road again, the sun had +rolled itself up into a big red ball, and was sinking down behind the +hills. + +"Oh, it may be dark before we get back to Dalton," said Dorothy in +alarm. "We should have started an hour ago." + +"But the potatoes were not done," Tavia reminded her, "and we never +could have left without eating them after carrying cords and cords of +wood to the oven." + +"Get aboard," called Nat, "I'll take the wheel now, Ned. I'm entirely +thawed out." + +It had certainly been a delightful day, even the accident at the spring +was now merely an event to laugh at, while the meal on the big chestnut +stump, beside the camp-fire, had been so enjoyable, and now, all that +remained was the pleasant ride home. That is all that appeared to +remain, but automobile rides, like chickens, should not be counted +until all is over, and the machine is safely put up for the night. +Chickens have the same tendency as have autos toward surprises--and +disappointments. + +"There's a hill," remarked Ned, quite unnecessarily, as a long stretch +of brown road seemed to bound up in front of them. + +"A nice climb," acquiesced Nat. "Now, Birdy, be good. Straight ahead. +No flunking now--steady," and he "coaxed" the machine into a slow, even +run, that became more and more irksome as the grade swelled. + +"But when we get at the top?" asked Tavia. + +"We will not stay there long," answered Nat, "for if there is one thing +this machine likes to do it is to coast down hill." + +The Fire-Bird made its way up the steep grade, and presently, as Nat +predicted, turned the hill-crest and "flew" down the other side. + +The swiftness of the motion made conversation impossible, for the +machine was coasting, the power being off, and surely the Fire-Bird was +"flying through the air." + +Reaching the level stretch again, Nat threw in the clutch, but a +grinding and clanking noise answered his movement of the lever. + +"Hello!" called Ned from the rear. "Busted!" + +"Something wrong," agreed Ned, looking at the spark and gasoline +controllers. + +Presently, as the boys expected, the machine slowed up, and then came +to a stop. + +Both were out at once, and they examined the mechanism together. + +"It's the leather facings on the friction clutch," declared Ned. "See +that one worn off?" + +"Guess that's right," answered Ned. "Well, now for a horse." + +"I sold my wheel for an automobile; Get a horse! Get a horse!" sang +Tavia, while she and Dorothy climbed out to join the inspection +committee. + +"Is it bad?" asked Dorothy. + +"Bad enough to stall us until we can get it fixed up somewhere," said +Ned. "We'll have to take part of the clutch out," and he proceeded to +do so. + +"Yes, we cannot move until we get a new leather on here," added Nat. +"I wonder how far we might be from a blacksmith shop." + +"A couple of miles," answered Tavia. "I have often been through this +woods." + +"Then I suppose," went on Ned, rather dolefully, "there is nothing to +be done but 'hike' to the shop." + +"You go and I'll stay and take care of the girls," suggested Nat. + +"Oh, both go," chimed in Tavia. "You will get back sooner, and you may +have some trouble getting it fixed at the shop, for I have been there +and I know the man is as deaf as a post and--other things," she +finished vaguely. "There is a house just across the fields there and +we are not the least bit afraid--" + +"If it will hurry the work you had best both go," Dorothy added. "As +Tavia says, there is a house in sight, and we could run there if +anything came along to scare us." + +"Well, trot along Nat," commanded Ned, as he took up the piece of the +clutch. "This is sure your busy day. I'll race you to the bend to +make good time, and I assure you, young ladies, we will not be one +moment longer than necessary away from you." + +"We are so very fond of you," joked Nat, "that every moment will be +unto us an hour--" + +"Oh, come, quit your nonsense, if you are going to run--" + +But before Ned had finished, his brother had gained quite a handicap +and was making tracks through the glen, and then out again into the +open. + +"Isn't it lonely," said Dorothy, getting into the disabled machine +after the youths were out of sight. + +"Not a bit," declared Tavia. "No tramps around here. But such a day! +I almost feel as if one more thing must happen. Bad luck goes in +threes, you know. One more will surely make up our day--" + +"Oh, please don't talk so," and Dorothy shivered. "I do wish we were +safely back in Dalton." + +"And the boys gone back to the Cedars! Well, I would rather have the +ride ahead of me, than to have it all ended. It is so nice to have +good times. Sometimes I think I'll just run away, and see what there +is to do and observe outside of that stupid old Dalton," exclaimed +Tavia. + +"Tavia!" and Dorothy's voice betrayed how shocked she was at the very +thought of such a thing as "running away." "How can you talk so?" + +"Oh, it's all very well for you, Doro. You can have and do as you +please; but poor me! I must be content--" + +"Tavia, I am sure I heard someone coming!" exclaimed Dorothy. + +"Quite likely. This is a common road, you know. We have no fence +around it." + +"But suppose it should be some rough person--" + +"If we don't like his looks when he comes up we can run," said Tavia, +coolly. + +"And leave the car?" + +"Can't take it with us, surely." + +For a few moments neither girl spoke. Dorothy had never gotten over +the frights she had received when the man Anderson followed her for the +purpose of getting information about the Burlock matter, and every +trifling thing alarmed her now. + +"It's a man," said Tavia, as the form of a heavily-built fellow could +now be discerned on the path. + +"Oh, and he has that same kind of hat on," sighed Dorothy, referring to +the hat previously worn by Anderson. + +"And it--really--does look like him! Let's run! We have just about +time to get to that house. Come out this side. There, give me your +hand," and Tavia, glancing back to the figure in the road, took +Dorothy's hand and urged her on over the rough path, until Dorothy felt +she must fall from fright and exhaustion. + +The road to the farm house was on a little side path turning off from +the one followed by the boys on their way to the blacksmith shop. +Having once gained the spot where the roads met, Tavia stopped to look +back at the car. + +"I declare!" she gasped. "He is climbing into the machine." + +"Oh, what shall we do?" wailed Dorothy. + +"Can't do a thing but hide here until the boys come. We can see him if +he gets out, but if we went over to the house we might miss the boys, +and they might run right into his arms." + +"Oh," cried Dorothy. "I am so dreadfully frightened. Don't you +suppose we can get any help until the boys come?" + +"Not unless someone happens to pass. And this is a back road: no one +seems to go home from work this way." + +"Oh, if someone only would!" and Dorothy was now almost in tears. + +"Just see!" exclaimed Tavia, "he is examining the front now. Suppose +he could start it up?" + +"But he cannot," Dorothy declared, "if the car worked the boys would +never have left us here all alone," and again she was dangerously near +shedding tears. + +"There now, he is getting in again. Well, I hope he stays there until +someone comes," said Tavia. "Isn't it getting dark?" + +"And if the boys do not get back-- Oh, perhaps we had better run right +straight on. We may get to some town--" + +"We would be running into a deeper woods, and goodness knows, it is +dark enough here. No, we had better stay near the house, then, if +worst comes to worst, we can ask them to keep us all night--" + +"Tavia you make me shudder," cried Dorothy. "Of course we will not +have to do any such thing." + +But Tavia's spirit of adventure was thoroughly aroused, and, in her +sensational way, she forgot for the moment the condition of Dorothy's +nerves, and really enjoyed the speculation of what might happen if "the +worst came to the worst." + +"There he goes again," she burst out, beginning to see humor in the +situation, as the figure in the car climbed from the front seat to the +back. "He is like the little girl who got into the house of the 'Three +Bears.' One is too high and one is too low--there now, Doro, he has +found your place 'just right' and will go to sleep there, see if he +doesn't." + +"Hark! That's Ned's voice--" + +"And that's Nat's--" + +"Yes, there they come. Oh, I am so glad--" + +"Me too," said Tavia, in her pardonable English. + +"Had we better go and meet them?" + +"No, indeed, the man in the car might take it into his head to come to. +Better keep quiet." + +Presently Ned and Nat reached the corner. + +"Hush," called Tavia, coming out from her hiding-place. + +"Well, what on earth--" began Nat. + +"Listen," commanded Tavia. "There's a man in the car. He has been +there ever since you went away--" + +"In our car! Well, his time is up," blurted out Ned. "He must move +on," and the boy's manner indicated, "I will make him move on." + +"But he may be dangerous," cried Dorothy. "Oh, please Ned, don't go +near him until you have someone to help you!" + +"And what would I be doing?" said Nat, in that same challenging manner. +"Come along, Ned. We will teach that fellow to let our girls and our +property alone." + +"But please!" begged Dorothy, clinging to Ned. "Call someone from that +house. He did look so like--" + +"Our friend Anderson," finished Tavia, for Dorothy seemed too +frightened to utter the name. + +"Did he though?" and Nat gave Ned a significant look. "All the more +reason why I should like to make his acquaintance. You girls will have +to hide here until we get rid of him, and we have no time to spare if +we want to work by daylight. Come along, Ned. Girls, don't be the +least alarmed. We will be down the road after you in a jiffy. It +won't take two seconds to put in this clutch." + +"But I feel sure it is that dreadful man," wailed Dorothy. "Oh, if +some strong person would only come!" + +"Now, you just sit down there," said Ned, tenderly, "and when you hear +us whistle you will know it is all right. It may be only a poor farmer +resting on his way home." + +But the girls were too certain that no farmer would have enjoyed +climbing from one seat to the other as they had seen this man doing, +and they had strange misgivings about him--of course Anderson was in +jail, but-- + +"Now, don't be a bit worried," added Nat. "We will be spinning down +the road directly," and at this the boys left the girls again, and +started down the road to interview the strange man in their automobile. + +"Oh, I do feel as if I shall die!" cried Dorothy. "Let us pray, Tavia, +that nothing will happen to the boys!" + +"You pray, but I have to watch," answered Tavia, not realizing how +scriptural her words were, "for if they should need help I have got to +go to that house after it." + +Then, on the damp grass, poor Dorothy buried her head in prayer, such +prayer as can come only from a heart in distress. + +Tavia, as she had said, stood straight out in the middle of the road, +watching through the dim light. + +The boys were at the car now, and they were speaking to the man! + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE POLICE PATROL + +For some moments neither girl spoke: Tavia stood out in the road like +an officer, while Dorothy did not lift her head from her attitude of +prayer. Suddenly Dorothy, in a frenzy of fear, rushed out to where +Tavia stood, and threw her arms around her. + +"Tavia," she exclaimed, "I must go to them. I cannot stand another +moment like this--I am simply choking. Come: See, they have not been +able to manage him. He is in the car yet. Oh, do let us go!" and the +look on the terrified girl's face so frightened Tavia she forgot to +watch, forgot everything but Dorothy--something would surely happen to +her if that anxiety was not soon relieved. + +But to go to the boys! Might not that make matters worse? + +"Dorothy, darling," began Tavia, "don't be so frightened. Perhaps they +are just talking pleasantly to him--" + +"Then I must hear them. I must know what it is all about. Do come!" +and she tried to drag Tavia from the spot to which she seemed riveted. + +"If you would only wait here while I go down first, and then if it is +all right, that is, if the boys want us to come--" + +"No, no," cried Dorothy. "I must go at once! See! Oh, Nat is coming +this way--" + +"Yes, here comes Nat. It will be all right now," and Tavia was +soothing Dorothy as if she were a baby--patting her, smoothing her +hair, and even pressing her lips to her cheek. In truth Dorothy +appeared as weak as a baby, and seemed to require that help which a +loving human hand may impart to a nervous body, at once the sense of +protection and the assurance of sympathy. + +"Ned is starting up the machine," exclaimed Tavia. "Oh, I know. He is +going to give the man a ride." + +Little dreaming how truly she spoke, for indeed Ned was going to give +the strange man a stranger ride, Tavia showed Dorothy that she believed +everything was all right now, and then Nat was there--they could call +to him. Yes, he was whistling lightly. How silly they were to have +been frightened! + +"What is it?" demanded Dorothy, as soon as her cousin could hear her +voice. + +"I guess it was--" + +"Nat! Nat!" screamed Tavia, at the same time running to him and +whispering a word in his ear. "There, now, Dorothy. Didn't I tell +you. Only a poor farmer. Where did he say he lived, Nat?" + +"Tavia, you told Nat not to tell me--" + +"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Nat. "Well, of all things. Not to tell you. +Well I guess I will. Sit right down here, my little Coz, and I shall +be delighted to tell you all I know," and at this he drew the almost +exhausted girl down to a tree stump, to "tell her." But Tavia kept +close at the other side of the young man--she could nudge him if--well, +of course, just to make the story funny--perhaps! + +"Wanted a ride, that was all," declared Nat. "See, here they are. We +must not notice them as they pass!" + +"Why?" asked Dorothy. But in answer Nat squeezed her hand so hard she +knew he meant for her to keep quiet. + +The car flew past. Ned never glanced at those by the roadside. And +how strange he looked-- + +"Oh, Nat!" almost screamed Dorothy. "That man had on striped +clothes--like--" + +"Queer kind of sweater. They come in all sorts of stripes," her cousin +interrupted, with a side glance at Tavia. + +"But his leg was out of the car, and that was--" + +"Also striped. Yes, I noticed his suit was not exactly of the newest +fall pattern, but there is no telling where a farmer may pick up his +duds. Like as not his wife made the trousers out of some good strong +bed ticking." + +"Nat, you are trying to deceive me. That man is an escaped convict, +and Ned is riding alone with him--Oh, what will become of us?" and +tears welled to Dorothy's eyes. That outlet of the overstrained--a +good cry--had come to her relief. + +"Oh, there!" begged Nat. "Don't take on so. It will be all right. +Ned will be back for us before you have your eyes dry," and he kissed +his little cousin affectionately. + +"And it was that awful man out of jail! I knew it! I could tell him +before he ever got to the car! I can always tell when he is coming. +Oh! suppose he should kill Ned--" and she burst into a fresh flood of +hysterical tears. + +Meanwhile Tavia had not yet heard what had happened to induce Ned to +take the convict away--for Anderson it was. Nat had told her it was +that awful rascal when she cautioned him to hide it from Dorothy. +Certainly it was all very strange, and very dangerous. + +"I suppose we have to sit here and wait for Ned to come back," ventured +Tavia. + +"Or else walk to meet him," suggested Nat, who was really anxious to do +something beside sitting there listening to Dorothy cry. "Dry your +tears, Dorothy," he said kindly, "and we will walk along. It is +pleasant and cool, and it will do us good to have a walk." + +"Can't we get back to Dalton this way?" asked Dorothy. "Isn't this the +road we came out?" + +"It may be the road but it is some miles from town," answered Nat. +"Listen! What was that?" + +"The gong of an ambulance, it sounded like," exclaimed Tavia. "Hark!" + +At that moment a wagon turned a corner and came towards them. It was a +black wagon--yes, it did look like an ambulance. + +"Oh," shrieked Dorothy. "What ever has happened now?" + +"Why, it's only the 'police patrol," answered Nat, trying to be +indifferent about the matter. "Probably they're--" + +"Hello there, young fellow!" called a man from the wagon. "Have you +seen a fellow in stripes about these woods?" + +The speaker was addressing Nat, and he wore the uniform of a police +officer. + +"Yes, we have," answered the young man. "And I can tell you all about +him." + +The wagon came to a full stop now, and the officer stepped down from +the seat at front, while simultaneously, two other officers dropped +from the step at the back, so that our friends suddenly became +surrounded by bluecoats. + +"There," said Tavia aside to Dorothy. "You are not afraid now, are +you? We have enough of protection at last." + +"Which way did he go?" asked the officer. + +"Straight for Danvers," answered Nat, "and in my brother's custody. We +had to go to a shop to get a piece of the machine fixed and left these +two young ladies alone here. When we returned the fellow was in our +auto--he had taken possession of it, and refused to give it up. We did +everything to induce him, but he absolutely refused to leave, and +demanded a ride, so, recognizing him from the description as the fellow +who had escaped from Danvers, my brother decided there was nothing to +do but give him a ride back to the jail." + +"Well, he's a plucky lad, I must say," declared the officer spokesman. +"That fellow is dangerous, he was just about to be committed to the +asylum. He's a lunatic, and should never have been in jail--" + +"Oh," cried Dorothy. "If he should turn on Ned--" + +"Not the least danger as long as the lad humors him," said the officer. + +"We saw that," said Nat, "and my brother knows how to manage him, I +guess." + +"And you are stalled now, can't get home until the machine comes back?" +asked one of the blue-coats, looking at Dorothy's pale face. + +"I might walk, but the girls never could," answered Nat. + +"Then suppose you go with us?" suggested the officer. "If the young +ladies would not mind riding in a patrol." + +"Oh, not at all," declared Tavia, but Dorothy looked askance at the +wagon, in which so many criminals had ridden from their freedom. + +"The best thing we can do," said Nat, realizing how much better any +kind of ride would be than the uncertainty of waiting there as night +came on. + +"Jump in then," invited the officer. "We must be moving. I don't know +what the captain will think of our prisoner coming up in an automobile, +and the wagon bringing in this party." + +Up the back step sprang Tavia, while Dorothy followed with less +alacrity--it did not seem pleasant to get in the big ugly black wagon; +a girl of Dorothy's nature feels the mere touch of things tainted by +real crime. + +"All right?" asked Nat, as he stepped in last. + +"Yes," answered Dorothy, timidly, taking her place on the leather seat. + +"Isn't it too jolly!" burst out Tavia. "I bet on the horse every time. +Of course the auto is delightful, but when night cometh on,--Get a +horse! Get a horse!" + +"The horse is a good old stand-by," admitted Nat. "But isn't this +great, though! Riding into Dalton in the hurry-up wagon!" and he +joined Tavia in the laugh over their new adventure. + +"But we must watch for Ned," spoke Dorothy, "He might go back to that +lonely place." + +"I've told the officer at front to look out for him," remarked Nat. +"He has to come this way." + +"And to think," whispered Dorothy, "that the man was crazy, and the +officer said he should never have been in jail!" + +"Don't you worry about him," Nat told her. "That fellow has the +faculty of making himself comfortable any place. Look at his nerve in +the Fire-Bird." + +"We were lucky to have gotten away in time," reflected Tavia. "We +would scarcely have known how to entertain a lunatic." + +"Oh, don't talk so!" Dorothy checked her. "I am so nervous and so +anxious about Ned." + +"Now, Dorothy," declared Nat, "Ned is certainly all right, and will be +the first person to meet us when we alight from this chariot. Thunder, +but this is fun!" + +The officers outside were talking of the strange capture. A reward had +been offered for the taking of the lunatic, for he had been at large +for some days, and now the bluecoats had just missed the capture. + +While at the blacksmith's Ned and Nat had heard of the escape of +Anderson and so recognized him at once when they encountered him in +their car. + +"I told you we would have three adventures," Tavia reminded Dorothy. + +"And we are not home yet," added Nat, laughing. + +The wagon rattled on, now and then clanging its gong to warn mere +"people," not to interfere with the law--to keep out of its way. + +"We are in some village," said Dorothy, looking out the little glass +window at front, and seeing street lights along the way. + +Presently a gang of urchins discovered the patrol wagon and as the +horses slowed up around a corner the youngsters tried to get on the +steps to catch a glimpse of the "prisoners." + +"Look at that!" exclaimed Tavia, laughing. "Wonder what they think we +were taken up for?" + +"Oh, I feel so queer about it," said Dorothy, plainly discomfited. "I +wish we could get out." + +At that moment the wagon sprang forward, the horses having been urged +on, and before Nat had a chance to reply to Dorothy's wish they were +rattling on, at greater speed than had been attained during the entire +trip. + +To reach Danvers jail the route was through Dalton, and now Tavia could +see Dalton houses, Dalton churches, and there was the postoffice block! +Surely the officer would not let them out right in the center! + +"Here you are!" called the man at front, while the wagon stopped and +Nat saw they were in front of the bank, the most conspicuous spot in +all Dalton. + +There was nothing for them to do but to alight of course, and, by the +time the officers had vacated the back step, and Nat put his foot on +it, a crowd of people surrounded the wagon--waiting to see the +"prisoners" get out. + +"Girls!" exclaimed the surprised crowd in chorus. + +"Tavia Travers!" declared one voice, as Tavia showed her head. + +"And if that isn't Dorothy Dale! Well, they're nice girls!" came +another sneer, "talk about being good and always preaching." This, was +almost in Dorothy's ear. "I guess they had better begin at home!" + +Tears came to Dorothy's eyes. If her father were only there to take +her hand--could that be little Joe? + +"Dorothy! Dorothy!" called a young voice. "Come this way! We have +been down to the telegraph office," went on Joe, for Dorothy was beside +him now, "and we never had any idea you were in that wagon. Ned just +got back. He was going out again to look for you." + +"Is Ned all right?" Dorothy managed to say, while Nat was thanking the +officers who were in haste to be on their way again. + +"Oh, he's all right, but I guess he had an awful time. He was too +hurried to tell us about it, for he said he had to go back--There's his +car now! Ned! Ned!" shouted Joe at the top of his voice, while Nat, +seeing his brother at the same moment, gave his familiar whistle. + +Tavia had not yet been able to extricate herself from the crowd. Many +of the boys recognized her, and she was plied with all kinds of curious +questions. What had happened? Had they been arrested for speeding? +(Ned's presence in the automobile prompting this query), or was someone +hurt? In fact, there seemed to be no limit to the quality or quantity +of questions that were being poured into Tavia's ears. + +But Tavia was not the sort of girl to make explanations--under the +circumstances. If friends, or those who appeared to be friends, could +so easily lose all sympathy, and become so annoyingly curious about her +and Dorothy, why then, she declared to herself (and also made it plain +to some of the boys who were at liberty to tell the others), what +really did happen "was none of their business." + +But unfortunately there were, in that crowd, those too willing to draw +their own conclusions, especially as regarded Dorothy Dale, a girl of +whom so many others had been jealous. + +Dorothy was aware of some of the remarks made, but she little realized +what a part the patrol wagon ride was to play in her life, nor how a +girl who had observed her in the vehicle was to use that knowledge +against her. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A RIDE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + +Mrs. Winthrop White was talking earnestly to her brother, Major Dale. +She had come in from the Cedars the morning after the memorable ride in +the Fire-Bird, and was now in the major's study, discussing the +situation with Dorothy's father. + +"But the child has had so many shocks lately, brother," said Mrs. +White. "It does seem the only practical plan is to remove her entirely +from these surroundings. Of course, it will be hard for you to let her +go away, but you must remember, Dorothy has always been a little +over-strained with care for one of her years, and now that your means +will allow it, she should have every possible advantage to make up for +what she may have lost in the way of nerve force." + +"Oh, I am sure you know, sister," replied the major, "I would not +deprive the child of anything she should have, no matter what it cost +me, in money or--the loss of her company. She has certainly been my +Little Captain, for I can always depend upon her to keep the young +troopers in line--" + +"But why remain here at all? You can give up business now. Do, +brother, come and make your home with me. I really need you so often, +when I have no one to advise with about the boys. And Joe and Roger +would be so much better off with me to look after them. Mrs. Martin +has done wonderfully well for her years, but she is no longer able to +see to them properly. Just give up this place and come to the Cedars," +urged Mrs. White. + +"I would not know how to leave dear old Dalton or my newspaper," mused +the major. "Of course you are very good to think of bothering with +another family. Most women think one family enough to bring up." + +"Indeed, I need something to do," argued the sister, "and Roger would +be a perfect treat to me. He is such a darling. Joe will go to +school, of course (already taking it for granted that her invitation +would be accepted), but I would have Roger taught at home for this +year. He is too young to mix up with all the others." + +"I am sure it would be good for the children--" + +"And for yourself! Why, you are not too old to enjoy your life. The +idea of a man of less than fifty years, considering himself old," and +Mrs. White laughed in that captivating manner of hers, that had so +often won her cause when all other arguments failed. "And that school +you speak of for Dorothy, the one in the mountains of New England, what +did you call it?" + +"The Glenwood School," replied the major. "Mrs. Pangborn, who conducts +it, is an old friend of mine, and if I should trust Dorothy with anyone +it would be with Louise Pangborn, for she knew Dorothy's mother and +would be sure to take an interest in her daughter." + +"The very thing! Capital!" exclaimed Mrs. White enthusiastically. "We +must make arrangements at once. There is little time left before the +term opens. Dear me, brother, some women may like to idle, but give me +a girl to dress up for school! Perhaps because I have never had the +joy for doing it for my own daughter, I so love to take up Dorothy and +experiment on her. No girl at school shall be better equipped than +Dorothy Dale--" + +"Now take care, sister. We are plain folks, you know." + +"Not one whit plainer than your sister Ruth. I shall only get Dorothy +things that befit her station, in fact the best dressed girls do not, +by any means have more clothes than others. They simply have what is +needed." + +"Oh, I know! I know I can depend upon you, Ruth. Only I also know you +think Dorothy--" + +"A wonderfully pretty and attractive girl, and one who must wear the +right kind of clothes. There, I feel I am looking through the shops +now. I must admit I have a weakness for pretty things, whether girls +or their dresses." + +"Strange I should have so lately received a letter from Mrs. Pangborn +inquiring about Dorothy," remarked the major. "I have it some place," +and he pulled a packet of papers from his desk, soon finding the one +wanted. "There," he went on, glancing over the missive, "Louise says +she has now two assistants, a Miss Crane and a Miss Higley." + +"Might I see the letter?" asked Mrs. White, already assuming the mother +part toward Dorothy, and feeling it her duty to know all she might be +able to find out concerning the woman to whom Dorothy would be +entrusted. + +"Why, certainly," replied the major, handing her the letter. She +glanced over the paper. "There," she said presently, smiling. "I +fancy I see Miss Crane, whom Mrs. Pangborn describes as being such a +favorite with the girls. And the other, Miss Higley--her name is +enough. She must be the sort of teacher who does good work in classes, +but seems to put a damper on the girls' pranks. Of course, such a +person is always valuable in a boarding school," and she handed back +the paper, "but what a lot of trouble they can make! I went to a +boarding school myself, you know, and I know and remember all about the +Miss Higleys." + +"Then you think it would be a good plan to send Dorothy to Glenwood?" +and the major's voice showed that he looked favorably upon the +proposition. + +"Glenwood School, in the mountains of New England! I can see the tags +on Dorothy's trunks," she replied merrily. "Nothing could be better. +And that splendid mountain air! Why, you won't know the child when she +comes home for her holiday. But I am going to write this very morning. +Or will you do it? And I will write in reply to the next. Yes, I +think that would be better. And now I am going right up to Dorothy and +tell her all about it. The child had such a headache from her +experiences yesterday that I insisted upon her lying down. Wasn't that +the most absurd thing for those children to ride to town in the police +patrol? The boys will never stop talking of it. And Tavia Travers +thinks it the joke of her life. But Dorothy is not keen on that sort +of jokes. She does not relish the curiosity which the incident has +stirred up. I could see that this morning, when those school friends +were talking it over with her." + +"Dorothy is a very sensitive girl." + +"All fine natures are sensitive, Allen. They neither offend nor relish +being offended. It is perfectly natural that the child should resent +such remarks as some of those I have heard passed about the patrol +ride." + +"Of course they only came from children," apologized the major, "and +youngsters will have their say." + +"Yes, but sometimes the 'say' of jealous young girls may go a long way. +A jealous girl is, I believe, even a more dangerous enemy than a woman +scorned, about whom so much is written and said. But I am sure Dorothy +can hold her own in spite of any girl." + +Why had Mrs. White been so apprehensive about the small talk she had +overheard? What could any one say against Dorothy Dale? + +That afternoon a school friend called on Dorothy and brought with her a +young girl who had been spending part of her vacation at the +MacAllister home. She was introduced as Miss Viola Green of Dunham, +and while rather a pretty girl she had something in her manner that +made Dorothy feel uncomfortable. This unaccountable dislike on +Dorothy's part was heightened when Tavia went over to the veranda where +the girls were sitting, and upon Alice introducing Tavia to her friend +the latter merely bowed stiffly, and refused to accept the hand that +Tavia had offered in greeting. This was all the more strange since +Alice was so splendid a girl herself. + +But Viola Green had made a serious mistake in refusing to accept the +honest hand of Tavia Travers, although strange to say the incident was +a most fortunate happening, as far as Tavia and Dorothy were +concerned--it told them the kind of girl Viola was. Alice, seeing the +slight, winked slyly at Tavia, who, after flushing furiously, managed +to return the secret sign of Alice by snapping her own brown eye open +and shut. + +"I simply thought I should die," began Alice, anxious to start +conversation. "When I saw you step out of that wagon last night. +Viola and I were just down to the post-office and when the crowd +gathered of course, we had to see what was going on. Well, when I saw +Tavia--" + +A burst of laughter stopped Alice. She had a way of seeing humor in +things and of enjoying the process of extracting it. Tavia joined her +in the merriment, but Viola sat there with a curled lip. Dorothy was +not laughing either--she was observing the stranger. + +"Wasn't it great!" exclaimed Tavia. "I wish you could have been along. +Dorothy was scared to death, but the very idea of any one being afraid +while surrounded by four strapping policemen!" + +"And when your cousin came into the post-office to send his +telegram--to his mother, wasn't it? And we beheld--a dude in overalls +and jumper!" and Alice laughed again. "Really," she continued, +finally, "I thought I should pass away!" + +"Was that your cousin?" asked Viola unpleasantly. + +"Why, Ola," exclaimed Alice, the ring of something like anger in her +voice, "I certainly told you the young man was Mr. Nat White from North +Birchland, Dorothy's cousin." + +"Oh," sniffed the other. "I am sure I thought you said he was Tavia's +cousin." + +"That's good," chimed in Tavia. "Wish he was; he would make all kinds +of nice cousins, for he is the dandiest boy--" + +"So!" almost sneered Viola. + +"Yes, that's so," declared Tavia, with a challenging look at the +stranger. + +"Viola thinks nice boys should not be cousins," remarked Alice, trying +to patch up the squabble. But Dorothy had risen from her seat and was +toying with the honeysuckle. Evidently she had no intention of joining +in the unpleasant argument. + +"I declare, Doro," said Alice suddenly. "I have scarcely heard your +voice to-day. And all the stories that I have been contradicting about +you. That you were hurt in an auto accident; that your chauffeur was +arrested for speeding and you were obliged to go to police court to +make a statement; that some lunatic chased you, and you had to get in +the wagon to save your life--Oh! I tell you, Doro, you never know how +popular you are until you take a ride in the 'hurry up' wagon. I would +have given my new dog (and I love him dearly) to have been in that +tally-ho with you," and Alice threw her arms about Dorothy, whose face, +she could not help observing, was white and strained. + +"It certainly was an experience," admitted Dorothy, joining the group +again. + +"But what in the world makes you act like such a funeral?" Alice +blurted out. + +"I have just heard something that makes me serious," answered Dorothy. +"I may as well tell you now. I am going away to boarding school!" + +"This term?" exclaimed Viola, before either Alice or Tavia had time to +speak. + +"Certainly," replied Dorothy coolly. "Why not?" + +"Oh, nothing, of course," returned Viola, "Only after yesterday folks +might think--oh, you know country folks can never understand the trick +of deciding things quickly. You had not thought of it--of going away +before, had you?" + +Dorothy was too indignant to speak. What ever could the girl mean by +such insinuations? Even Alice seemed dumbfounded, and Tavia positively +dangerous. She walked straight up to the chair Viola occupied. + +"Miss Green," she called. "'After yesterday,' as you express it, is +precisely the same as before yesterday, to all concerned. The +experiences were unusual--" + +"I should think so--" the stranger had the temerity to remark, but +Alice had risen to go, while Viola stepped down from the porch, without +offering a word of apology or explanation. "And where are you going, +Dorothy dear?" asked Alice tenderly, trying to undo the harm that her +visitor had been so successful in creating. + +"To the Glenwood School, in the mountains of New England, I believe," +answered Dorothy. + +"Indeed?" spoke up Miss Green again. "That is where I attend. How +strange we should meet just before the term opens," and she smiled that +same unpleasant smile that had chilled Dorothy when Alice introduced +them. + +"You do!" exclaimed Tavia rather rudely. Then she added: "Dorothy +Dale, who told you you could go away to school? You have not asked my +permission yet. To the mountains of New England! I would like to see +you run away and leave me!" + +"It would be unpleasant indeed!" called back Viola. "You had better +come to Glenwood too!" + +"Maybe I will," snapped Tavia. "One thing is certain. Dorothy Dale +will have friends whereever she goes and if I could go, I would be most +happy to look on while she reaps her new conquests. Dorothy is a +regular winner, Miss Green. You will have to look out if she goes to +Glenwood. She will cut you out with your best friends. She always +makes one fell swoop of the entire outfit!" + +A look of deep scorn was the answer Viola made to Tavia's attempt at +raillery. Evidently she had made up her mind that Dorothy Dale would +never "cut her out" at Glenwood. + +And Mrs. White had remarked to her brother, Major Dale, that a jealous +girl was a dangerous enemy! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TAVIA'S DANGER + +"Whatever can that girl mean?" exclaimed Dorothy, when Alice and Viola +had passed down the walk. + +"Mean! The meanest thing I ever met! Did you see her refuse my hand?" +asked Tavia. "Well, it's a good thing to be able to size up a girl +like that at the first meeting; it saves complications. But who cares +for green violets? What I want to know is, are you really going away, +Doro?" and the look on Tavia's face could not be mistaken. She would +be dreadfully grieved if compelled to part with Dorothy's companionship. + +"Aunt Winnie thinks I should go, and father has decided it is best. Of +course I shall hate to leave you, Tavia," and Dorothy wound her arm +affectionately around her friend. "In fact I shall never, never, find +any girl to take your place in my heart," and something very like tears +came into Dorothy's voice. + +"I knew it! I just knew you would go away when you got that hateful +Indian money. And what in the world will I ever do in Dalton? Now I +have learned how much pleasure I could have, visiting your friends and +riding in automobiles, and then, just when I get to realizing what a +good time we could have, you up and leave me! I might have know better +than to go out of my own limits!" and here Tavia actually burst into +tears, a most remarkable thing for her to do. + +"I am so sorry," said Dorothy with a sigh, putting her arm around the +weeping girl. + +"There! What a goose I am! Of course I would not have done +differently if I could do it all over again. The good times we have +had are the most precious spots in all my life. And, Doro dear, you +did not drag me out of my shell--I was always running after you for +that matter, so you need not think the loneliness will be any fault of +yours--except that you are such a dreadfully dear girl that no one +could help loving you. You really should try to curb that fault." + +Tavia had dried her tears. She was that sort of girl who is both too +proud and too brave to show "the white feather" as she often expressed +the failing of giving away to emotion that might distress others. + +"I do wish you could go along," said Dorothy. + +"Well, I don't believe I would really like to go, Doro," Tavia +surprised her by saying. "I should probably get into all kinds of +scrapes with that Green Violet, and the scrapes would likely make it +unpleasant for you. Besides I have been thinking I ought to go to +work. I am old enough to do something--fifteen next month you +know--and I would just like to get right out into the world--go with +the tide." + +"Tavia!" exclaimed Dorothy in alarm, for these rash sentiments had of +late been strangely common with Tavia. "You do not know what you are +talking about. Go with the tide--" + +"Yes, I just mean take my chances with other girls. I had a letter +from a girl in Rochester the other day. She had got work and she is no +older than I am." + +"At what?" asked Dorothy. + +"On the stage. She is going to take part in some chorus work--" + +"Tavia, dear!" cried Dorothy. "You must not get letters from such +girls. On the stage! Why, that is the most dangerous work any girl +could possibly get into." + +"Now, Doro, I have not got the place, worse luck. And you must not +take on so just because I happened to mention the matter. But you must +realize there is a vast difference between poor girls like me, and +those of your station in life!" + +What had come over Tavia lately? Why did she so dwell upon the +difference between Dorothy's means and her own? Was it a natural pride +or a peculiar unrest--that unrest, perhaps, that so often leads others, +who are older, stronger and wiser than Tavia Travers, into paths not +the most elevating? And then they may urge the excuse that the world +had been hard on them; that they could not find their place in life, +when in reality they scorn to take the place offered them, and instead +of trying for a better or higher mark they deliberately refuse the +prospects held out, and turn backward--then they blame the world! + +This condition is called "Social Unrest," and Tavia Travers, though +young and inexperienced, was having a taste of its bitter moral poison. + +"Promise me you will never write another letter to that girl," begged +Dorothy, solemnly. "I know your father would not permit it Tavia, and +I know such influence is dangerous." + +"Why the idea! You should have read her letter, Doro. She says the +killingest things--But mercy, I must go. I have to go to the Green +before tea," and, with a reassuring kiss, Tavia darted off. + +Dorothy looked after her friend as she skipped down the path, and a +sense of dread, of strange misgivings, took possession of her. What if +Tavia should actually run away as she had often threatened in jest! +Then Dorothy remembered how well Tavia danced, how she had practiced +the "stage fall" after seeing the play in Rochester, and how little +Johnnie Travers had barely escaped the falling ceiling that came down +with Tavia's attempt at tragedy. Then, too, Dorothy thought of the day +Tavia had painted her cheeks with mullin leaves and how Dorothy then +remarked in alarm: "Tavia, you look like an actress!" + +How strangely bright Tavia's eyes seemed that day! How wonderfully +pretty her short bronze locks fell against her unnaturally red cheeks! +All this now flashed through Dorothy's dazed brain. + +How could she leave Tavia? And yet she would so soon have to go +away--to that far-off school-- + +And that strange girl who had come with Alice. What could she have +meant by those horrid insinuations about Dorothy so "suddenly making up +her mind" to go to boarding school; and that it would be "too bad to +leave Tavia alone in Dalton just then!" as if everyone did not know by +this time just what had happened on the auto ride, and that Ned had +actually been offered the reward for the capture of Anderson. Not only +this but her two cousins, Ned and Nat, had received public praise for +brave conduct, and the two girls, whose names were not mentioned (Major +Dale had asked the reporter to omit them if possible from the report), +were also spoken of as having taken part in the capture, inasmuch as +they allowed Anderson to remain quietly in the car until the young +owners of the machine arrived upon the scene. + +Dorothy sat there thinking it all over. It was almost dusk and on the +little vine-clad porch the shadows of the honey-suckle shifted idly +from Dorothy's chair to the block of sunshine that was trying so +bravely to keep the lonely girl company--every other ray of sunlight +had vanished, but that gleam seemed to stay with Dorothy. She did not +fail to observe this, as she always noticed every kindness shown her, +and she considered the "ray of light" as being very significant in the +present rather gloomy situation. + +"But I must not mope," Dorothy told herself presently. "I simply must +talk the whole thing over with Aunt Winnie." + +How much better for Tavia it would have been had she too determined to +"talk the whole thing over" with someone of experience? + +Dorothy found her aunt busy writing the boarding school letters, and +when that task had been finished Mrs. White was entirely at the girl's +service. Dorothy tried to unfold to her the situation, without putting +unnecessary blame on Tavia, who was such a jolly girl and so absolutely +free from dread--never had been known to be afraid of anything, Dorothy +declared, and of course there was therefore, all the more reason to be +worried about her risks. To Tavia, a risk was synonymous with sport. + +"I had no idea she would be interested in that sort of thing," said +Mrs. White, referring to the matter of going on the stage, "and, +perhaps, Dorothy--" + +"But I am not at all sure that she is interested in it, auntie," +Dorothy interrupted. "I am only afraid she may get more letters from +that girl-- And besides, I will be so lonely without her, and I know +she will miss me." + +"Well, there, little girl," and the aunt kissed Dorothy's cheek, "you +take things too seriously. We will see what can be done. I, too, like +Tavia, She is an impulsive girl, but as good as gold, and I will always +be interested in her welfare." + +"Thank you, auntie dear. You are so kind and so generous. It would +seem enough to be bothered with me, but to give you further trouble +with my friends--" + +"Nonsense, my dear, it is no trouble whatever. I heartily enjoy having +your confidences, and you may rest assured very little harm will come +to the girl who chooses a wise woman for her adviser. And I do hope, +Dorothy, I am wise in girls' ways if not in points of law, as your dear +father always contends." + +"And auntie," went on Dorothy, rather timidly, "I want to tell you +something else, Alice MacAllister brought a girl to visit me this +afternoon, and she said such strange things about yesterday's +accidents. She was positively disagreeable." + +"You are too sensitive, child. Of course people will say strange +things every time they get a chance--some people. But you must not +bother your pretty head about such gossip. When you do what is right, +good people will always think well of you and, after all, their opinion +is all that we really care for, isn't it?" + +"But why should she be so rude? She is a perfect stranger to me?" + +"Some girls think it smart to be rude, Dorothy. What did she say that +troubled you so?" + +"That's precisely it, auntie, no one could repeat her remarks. They +were merely insinuations and depended upon the entire conversation for +their meaning." + +"Insinuations? Perhaps that you had been arrested for stealing +melons?" and the aunt laughed at the idea. "Well, my dear, I believe +it will be well for you to be away from all this country gossip." + +"But Viola Green goes to Glenwood School!" declared Dorothy. + +"No! Really? Who is she?" + +"A friend of Alice MacAllister, from Dunham. I was so surprised when +she said she went to Glenwood." + +"But, my dear, what will that matter? There are many girls at +Glenwood. All you will have to do is to choose wisely in selecting +your friends from among them." + +"If Tavia were only with me I would not need other friends," demurred +Dorothy. + +"Does she want to go?" asked Mrs. White suddenly. + +"I believe she does, but she denies it. I think she does that because +she does not want me to bother about her. She is such a generous girl, +auntie, and dislikes any one fussing over her." + +"There's a step on the porch," and both listened. "Yes," continued +Mrs. White, "that's Tavia looking for you. Run down to her and I will +speak with both of you before she leaves." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN INVERTED JOKE + +"Dorothy! Dorothy!" called Tavia. "Come here just a minute. I want +to speak to you." + +"Won't you come in?" asked Dorothy, making her way to the side porch. + +"No, I can't, really. But I couldn't wait to tell you. I know what +the Green Violet meant by her mean remarks. And it's too killing. I +am just dead laughing over it." + +"I'm glad it's funny," said Dorothy. + +"The funniest ever," continued Tavia. "You know when we got out of the +wagon Miss Green was standing a little way off from Alice. That dude, +Tom Burbank, was with her (they say she always manages to get a beau), +and she was watching us alight--you know how she can watch: like a cat. +Well, Tom asked Nat what was the matter, and if he had been speeding. +Everybody seemed to know we had gone off in the auto, for which +blessing I am duly grateful. I don't often get a ride--" + +"Tavia, will you tell me the story?" asked Dorothy with some impatience. + +"Coming to it! Coming to it, my dear, but I never knew you to be so +keen on a common, everyday story before," answered Tavia, with +provoking delay. + +"The remarks?" + +"Oh, yes, as I was saying, Tom asked Nat were we speeding. And Nat +said no. Then, looking down at his farmer clothes, he added: 'Not +speeding, just melons.' And the dude believed him,--the goose! Then +Viola took it all in and she too thinks we were arrested for stealing +muskmelons." + +The idea seemed so absurd to Tavia that she went off into a new set of +laughs, knotted together with groans--she had laughed so long that the +process became actually painful. + +"Who told you?" asked Dorothy, as soon as Tavia had quieted herself +sufficiently to hear anything. + +"May Egner. She stood by and heard the whole thing. But you must not +mention it to Alice," cautioned Tavia, "for she didn't hear it, and I +just want the Green Violet to think it is true, every word. It's a +positive charity to give that girl something definitely mean to think +about. I can see her mental picture of you and Nat and myself standing +in a police court pleading 'Guilty' to being caught in a melon patch. +Wish we had thought of it: there were plenty along that road, and I +have not tasted a fresh muskmelon since I stole the last one from the +old Garrabrant place. Ummm! but that was good!" + +"Well, I am glad it is no worse," remarked Dorothy. "I had a suspicion +she was trying to insinuate something like that. And the idea of her +not believing that Nat was my cousin!" + +"Oh, yes, and that was more of it," went on Tavia. "Tom asked Nat if I +was his cousin and he said yes. Wasn't Nat funny to tease so? But who +could blame him? I wish I had a chance to get my say in, I would have +given Greenie a story! Not only melons, but a whole farm for mine!" + +"Lucky you were otherwise engaged then. I noticed you had your hands +full answering the questions of that crowd of small boys," remarked +Dorothy, smiling at the remembrance of Tavia's struggle with the +curious ones. + +"But, Doro, are you really going away?" and Tavia's voice assumed a +very different tone--it was mournful indeed. + +"Yes, I think it is quite decided. I would not mind it so much if you +were coming." + +"Me? Poor me! No boarding school for my share. They do not run in +our family," and she sighed. + +"But perhaps your fairy godmother might help you," went on Dorothy. +"She has granted your wishes before." + +"Yes, and I promised her that time I would never trouble her again. +There is a limit, you know, even to fairy godmothers." + +At that moment Mrs. White appeared on the porch. + +"What was that I heard about godmothers?" she asked. "You know, +Dorothy, I hold that sacred position towards you, and you must not let +any one malign the title," she said, laughingly. + +"Oh, this was the fairy kind," replied Dorothy. "Tavia was just saying +she had promised to let hers off without further requests after the +last was granted." + +"When Doro goes away to school," interrupted Tavia, "I shall either +become a nun or--" + +"Go with her! How would that do?" asked Mrs. White, convinced that the +parting of Dorothy and Tavia would mean a direct loss for both. + +"If I worked this year and earned the money to go next? Or do they +consider the wage-earning class debarred from boarding school society?" +asked Tavia. + +Again the sentiment Tavia had expressed to Dorothy: the difference in +the classes. This was becoming a habit to Tavia, the habit of almost +sneering at those who appeared better off than herself. And yet, as +Mrs. White scrutinized her, she felt it was not a sentiment in any way +allied to jealousy, but rather regret, or the sense of loss that the +lot of Tavia Travers had been cast in a different mold to that of +Dorothy Dale. It had to do entirely with Tavia's love for Dorothy. + +"Now, my dear," began Mrs. White, addressing Tavia, "you really must +not speak that way. You know there is a class of people, too prominent +nowadays, who believe that the rights of others should be their rights. +That there should be no distinction in the ownership of property--" + +"Gloriotious!" exclaimed Tavia. "Do you suppose they would let me in +their club?" + +"I'll tell you, girls," said Mrs. White. "Squire Travers is going to +call here this evening by appointment. And if you are both very, very +good little girls, perhaps I will have some very important news to give +you in the morning." + +At this both Tavia and Dorothy "took steps," Tavia doing some original +dance while Dorothy was content to join in the swing that her partner +so violently insisted upon taking at every turn. + +Mrs. White laughed merrily at seeing the girls dance there in the +honeysuckle-lined porch, and she was now more positive than ever that +their companionship should not be broken. + +"All hands around!" called Tavia, at which invitation the stately +society lady could not refrain from joining in the dance herself, and +she went around and around until it was Dorothy who first had to give +in and beg to be let out of the ring. + +"Oh!" sighed Mrs. White, quite exhausted, "that is the best real dance +I have had in years--quite like our dear old German." + +"They call it the Virginia Reel in Dalton," said Tavia, not meaning to +deprecate the value of the society dance mentioned. + +"Yes, and that is the correct name, too," agreed Mrs. White, "for +almost all the good figures of the German were taken from the old time +country dance. But I am warm! I must go in at once or I may check +this perspiration too quickly. Dorothy, don't walk too far with +Tavia," she remarked, as both girls prepared to leave the porch, "I +have some little things to talk over before tea." + +"Only to the turn," replied Dorothy, with her arm wound lovingly around +Tavia, "I just want to finish about something very important." + +"She must go with Dorothy," said Mrs. White to herself, watching the +two girls make their way through the soft autumn twilight. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS + +"Isn't it too delicious," exclaimed Tavia, excitedly. + +"Delightful," answered Dorothy. "I hope hereafter you will never doubt +the goodness of your fairy godmother." + +"Or that of my fairy godsister," added Tavia. + +"And Aunt Winnie is to do all your shopping. Your mother asked her to +get everything you will need. The money you received from the railroad +company for the loss of your hair in the accident has been put aside by +your father for your education. So you cannot longer boast of that +romantic poverty you have been holding over my poor, innocent head," +and Dorothy gave her friend a "knowing squeeze," that kind of embrace +that only girl friends understand fully. + +"I can scarcely realize it," pondered Tavia, "not to have you leave me +here all alone! Why, Doro, I could not sleep nights, worrying about +what would become of me in this hamlet without you." + +"And I was equally tortured with worries about what would become of me, +when I could not tell you all my troubles. Especially when I thought +of having to--" + +"Fight the Green Violet alone! I don't blame you. But I am just dying +to know what use she will make of the muskmelon story. I met Alice +yesterday and she felt dreadfully about the way Viola acted. She is +coming over to apologize to you as soon as she can do so without +carting the vegetable along. Pity they did not name her cucumber +instead of violet--the green would match her better. I am going to +call her 'Cuke' hereafter! Short for cucumber, you know." + +"Oh, that would be unkind," objected Dorothy. + +"Unkind nothing," replied the impulsive one. "I wish I could think of +a good rhyme for her new name. I would pass it around--" + +"Now, Tavia, you must not keep me worrying about the mischievous things +you intend to do at Glenwood. Remember that is one of the +stipulations--you are to be very, very good." + +"I feel a sore spot under my shoulder blade now," declared Tavia, +putting her hand back. "Wings as sure as you live, just feel!" + +"But do you realize it, we have only this week? We must be in Glenwood +next Monday." + +"All the better. I cannot wait. Won't it be too gloriotious?" and +Tavia again indulged in "steps," her favorite outlet for pent-up +sentiment. + +"The boys are coming over to-morrow afternoon," announced Dorothy, "I +had a note from Ned this morning." + +"Goody," exclaimed Tavia, coming to a full stop with a twirl that stood +for the pedal period. "Another ride?" + +"No, I'm afraid not. Ned said he and Nat were going to spend the +afternoon with us." + +"Well, it will be fun anyway. It always is when the boys get jollying. +I am afraid I do love boys--next to you, Doro, I think a real nice boy +is the very nicest human possible." + +"Next to me? On the other side you mean?" + +"No, on the second side, the boy is on the outside of the argument. +You are always first, Doro." + +Meanwhile the news, that Dorothy and Tavia were to leave Dalton for a +school in New England, had spread among their former school companions. +Alice MacAllister, Sarah Ford, May Egner and a number of others had +held a little consultation over the matter and decided that some sort +of testimonial should be arranged to give their friends a parting +acknowledgment of the regard and esteem in which Dalton school girls +held Tavia Travers and Dorothy Dale. Of course Tavia was never as +popular as Dorothy had always been--she was too antagonistic, and +insisted upon having too much fun at the expense of others. But, now +that she was leaving them, the girls admitted she had been a "jolly +good fellow," and they would surely miss her mischief if nothing more. + +May Egner wanted the committee of arrangements to make the affair a +"Linen Shower" such as brides are given. + +"Because," argued the practical May, "it will be so nice to have a +lovely lot of handkerchiefs and collars. No one can have too many." + +"Well, we can include the shower if you like," said Alice, who was +chairman, "but I vote for a lawn party, with boys invited." + +"A lawn party with boys!" chorused the majority, in enthusiastic +approval. + +"I think it would be a charity to let the Dalton boys come to +something," declared Sarah Ford. "If we leave them out all the time, +by and by, when we want someone to take us home on a dark night--" + +"When you stay chinning too long with Roberta," interrupted a girl who +knew Sarah's weakness for "dragging along the way." + +"Well, you may be out in the dark some time yourself, Nettie, and it is +very nice to have--" + +"A very nice boy--" + +"Order! Order!" called the chairman. "We have voted to invite them +and--" + +"It's up to them," persisted Nettie Niles, who, next to Tavia Travers, +had the reputation and privilege of using more slang than any other +well-bred girl in Dalton. + +"It is to be a lawn party then," declared the chairman, with befitting +dignity. "And we have only one day to arrange the whole thing." + +"I'll collect the boys," volunteered the irrepressible Nettie. + +"Then you are appointed a committee of one to invite all the nice boys +in the first class," said Alice, much to the surprise of the joker. + +"And not any other?" pouted Nettie. "If I should run across a real +nice little fellow, with light curly hair, and pale pink cheeks, +and--and--" + +"New tennis suit," suggested someone, who had seen Nettie walking home +with a boy of the tennis-suit description. + +"Oh, yes," agreed the chairman, "I forgot to include Charlie. He is +not now at Dalton school, but of course, Nettie, you may invite +Charlie." + +"Thanks," said Nettie, determined not to be abashed by the teasing. + +"We will have cake and lemonade," proposed May Egner. + +"I'm glad I only have to bring boys," said Nettie aside, "I couldn't +bake a cake to save me." + +"And I'll bring a whole pan of fresh taffy," volunteered Sarah. + +"Put me down for two dozen lemons," offered May Egner, who seemed to +think the entire success of a lawn party depended upon the refreshing +lemonade. + +"Where shall we have it?" asked Alice. + +The girls glanced around at the splendid lawn upon which the little +meeting was being held. It was the MacAllister place, and had the +reputation of being well-kept besides affording a recreation ground for +the family--the secret of the combination lay in the extent of the +grounds: they might be walked upon, but were never trampled upon. Mr. +MacAllister made it a rule that games should be kept to their +restricted provinces, as the tennis court and croquet grounds: other +games should never be indulged in on the range close to the house or +near the paths. "Plenty of room to play tag in the orchard," he would +tell the children, and this plan kept the place in an enviable +condition. + +"The schoolyard is awfully dry and dusty," remarked Nettie in answer to +the question of a site for the party. + +"You are welcome to come here," said Alice, modestly. + +"Oh, that would be splendid!" declared May, whereat all the others +voiced similar sentiments. + +It was promptly decided that the invitation to hold the affair on the +MacAllister grounds should be accepted with thanks, and as there +remained not many hours of the day to attend to arrangements, as the +next afternoon would bring them to the test, the girls hastily +scattered to begin their respective duties in the matter. + +Viola Green was present at the meeting. Alice had told her of its +purpose, and as only a few days remained of the time allotted Viola to +remain at Dalton, Alice was not sorry when her visitor pleaded another +engagement. + +That engagement consisted of a promise to walk through the Green with +Tom Burbank--he, too, was a stranger in Dalton, spending a week of his +holiday with the Bennet family. + +Viola could boast of a well-filled trunk of stylish clothes, and in no +other place, of the many she had visited during her vacation, had this +wardrobe shown to such advantage as in Dalton. Even the attractive +linens that Alice was invariably gowned in (except on Sundays, when she +wore a simple summer silk), seemed of "back date" compared with the +showy dresses Viola exhibited. They were stylish in that acceptance of +the term that made them popular, but were not distinctive, and would +probably be entirely out of date by the following summer. + +On this particular afternoon Viola wore a deep blue crepe with shaded +ribbons, a dress, according to the feminine ethics of Dalton, "fit for +a party." + +Tom Burbank sported white flannels, a very good summer suit indeed, but +a little out of the ordinary in Dalton. It was not to be wondered at, +then, that the appearance of these two strangers attracted some +attention on the Green. Neither could it be doubted that such +attention was flattering to Viola, a stylishly dressed girl often +enjoys being credited with her efforts. + +"Wasn't that the greatest," Tom was drawling to Viola, "about those +folks riding in the police wagon." + +"Disgraceful, I should say," replied Viola, emphatically. + +"And the fellow in the--farmer's duds. Wasn't he a sight?" and the +young man chuckled at the thought of Nat in the overalls and jumper. + +"And those two girls are going to Glenwood--the boarding school I +attend!" and Viola's lip curled in hauteur. + +"The dickens they are! I--beg your pardon, but I was so surprised," +said Tom. + +"I don't blame you. I was equally surprised myself. In fact, I guess +everyone was--they made up their minds so suddenly. I suppose--" Then +Viola stopped. + +"Well, what do you suppose?" + +"Perhaps I shouldn't say it--" + +"Why not? Can't you trust me?" + +"Oh, it wasn't that. But it might seem unkind." + +"Nonsense," and the young man gave Viola a reassuring look. "A thing +said in good faith is never unkind." + +"I'm so glad you feel that way. Alice is so different, and I have been +just dying to talk to somebody--somebody who would look at things as I +do. Sometimes I am almost homesick." + +"I suppose you are," said the youth, falling a victim to the girl's +coquetry as readily as water runs down hill. "A fellow is never that +way--homesick, I mean; but for a girl--" + +"Oh, yes," sighed Viola, "this visiting is not all it is supposed to +be. Alice is a lovely girl, of course, but--" + +"A trifle high flown," said Tom, trying to help the faltering girl with +her criticism. + +"And so strangely fascinated with that Dorothy." Viola toyed evasively +with the stick of her parasol. "Of course she is a pretty girl--" + +"Too yellow--I mean too blondy," said Tom, feeling obliged to say +something against Dorothy. + +"Do you know her cousin, Nat White?" + +"Not very well, I only met him the other night. But he seems like a +decent fellow." + +"I cannot imagine any boy allowing two girls to get in such a +predicament," said Viola, "feeling her way" to further criticism. + +"It was rough, but then you see he was not with them, he had gone to +the blacksmith shop to get something fixed, I believe." + +"Oh, they were alone!" and Viola had gained one point. "Was it really +melons, do you suppose?" + +"So he said, but he seemed to take the whole thing as a joke. Ginger! +It was funny to go out in a red flyer and come back in a Black Maria," +and Tom laughed at his own attempt at a pun. + +"Then, when the cousin came back the girls were in the police patrol? +That accounts for it. I could not possibly see how any young fellow +could allow girls to get into such a scrape," persisted Viola. + +"Yes," said Tom vaguely, not being at all particular as to what was the +nature of the remark he had given acquiescence to. + +"But to be arrested!" went on Viola. + +"Were they arrested?" asked Tom in surprise. + +"Why, of course," declared Viola. "Didn't Mr. White say so?" + +"Oh, I suppose he did. That is--I really had not looked at it that +way. I thought it was some kind of joke." + +But Tom had said, "Yes," Nat told him they had been arrested! And Tom +Burbank never intended to say anything of the kind! Viola Green with +her pretty clothes and pretty looks had "put the words into his mouth +and had taken them out again!" + +"We must be going!" said Viola, leaving her seat beside the little fish +pond in the park. "I suppose I shall see you at the lawn party?" + +"If I am invited?" + +"Then I invite you now. You need not say you got my invitation before +the others were out--but be sure to come!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A LAWN PARTY "WITH BOYS!" + +The day was perfect--an item of much importance where lawn parties are +concerned. Dorothy and Tavia were kept in ignorance of the testimonial +that had been arranged in their honor, and were now, at one hour before +the appointed time, dressing for an afternoon with Alice. Ned and Nat +were to go with them and then-- + +"I am going to dress in my brand new challie," Tavia announced to +Dorothy, as she left for that operation. "I'll show Miss Cucumber what +I can look like when I do dress up." + +"I'll wear my cadet blue linen," said Dorothy, "I think that such a +pretty dress." + +"Splendiferous!" agreed Tavia, "and so immensely becoming. Well, let +us get there on time. I am just dying to say things at, not to, Miss +Cuke." + +"Tavia!" but that young lady was out of reach of the admonition Dorothy +was wont to administer. The Green Violet, the Green Vegetable and all +the other Greens seemed sufficiently abusive to Dorothy, but she was +determined not to tolerate the latest epithet Tavia had coined to take +the place of that name--Viola Green. + +"Of course," admitted Dorothy, reflecting upon Tavia's new word, "Viola +does seem sour, and her name is Green, but that is no reason why we +should make an enemy of her. She might make it very unpleasant at +Glenwood School." + +Ned and Nat arrived just as Dorothy finished dressing. They had been +invited over the telephone by Alice, who, in taking them into the lawn +party plot, had arranged that they bring Dorothy and Tavia ostensibly +to spend the afternoon with her. + +Scarcely had the cousins' greeting been exchanged when Tavia made her +appearance. She did look well in the new challie--one of the school +dresses so lately acquired through Mrs. White's good management. + +"We had better go at once," said Ned, after speaking a word to Tavia. +"I am really anxious to become better acquainted with Miss Alice. She +seems such a jolly girl." + +"And as good as gold!" declared Dorothy warmly. "We all just love +Alice!" + +"I am sure you do. I would to--if I had a chance," joked Ned. + +Along the road Tavia was with Nat as usual, trying to find some +heretofore unfound item of interest in reviewing the ride in the police +wagon. But concerning the interference of the stranger, Viola Green, +Tavia was silent. Nat might say something that would spoil Tavia's +idea of the joke on Viola. + +Reaching the MacAllister gate both boys wondered that no sign of the +festivities were apparent. Even upon the very threshold of the stately +old mansion not a sound betrayed the expected lawn party. Alice +answered the ring and, with a pleasant greeting, showed the company +into the reception room, then, as she drew back the portiers opening up +the long parlor there was a wild shout: + +"Surprise! Surprise on Dorothy! Surprise on Tavia!" And the next +moment there was such an "outpouring," as Tavia termed the hilarity, +that neither Dorothy nor Tavia could find herself, so tangled had each +one become with all the others in their joyous enthusiasm. + +It was a complete surprise. This fact made the affair especially +enjoyable--girls do love to keep secrets in spite of all proverbial +statements to the contrary. + +"Didn't you even guess?" quizzed May Egner, addressing Dorothy. + +"Never suspected a thing," declared Dorothy, as she finally managed to +make her way to a cozy little seat in the arch, and there ensconced, +began a pleasant chat with May Egner. + +"Nettie is responsible for the boys," May began. "She was a committee +of one on them. But she declares she never invited that Tom Burbank, +see him over there with Viola? And Alice is a little put out about it. +He is a stranger, you know, and none of the boys seem to take him up." + +"I am glad there are boys here," remarked Dorothy, looking pleasantly +about the room and noting how well the Dalton boys had turned out, and +what a really good-looking set they were. "But surely someone must +have invited Tom Burbank." + +"I suspect Viola," whispered May. "She seems to have something private +to say to him and insists no one else shall hear it. Just see where +they are." + +In a most secluded nook indeed, a very small cozy corner under the +stairway, could be seen the pair in question. Viola looked +particularly pretty in a light green muslin that brought out to +perfection the delicate tints of her rather pale face. Her dark hair +was turned up in a "bun," and it might be said, in passing, that no +other girl in the room had assumed such a young lady-like effect. +This, with her society manners, and Tom at her elbow, easily gave Viola +a star position at the lawn party. + +Tavia was still gasping over her "surprise." The boys found it a +matter of ease to become at once a part of the party where Tavia was +concerned. They might have felt a trifle awkward before she came, this +being the social debut of most of them, but when Tavia, "got going," as +they expressed it, there was an end to all embarrassment. + +Like a queen she sat on the low couch, her head thrown back in mock +scorn, while not less than a half dozen boys wielded palm leaf fans +about her, in true oriental fashion. Someone brought a hassock for her +feet, then another ran to the porch and promptly returned with a long +spray of honeysuckle that was pressed into a crown for her head; Alice +confiscated a Japanese parasol from the side wall for her "slave" to +shade her with and then-- + +The couch was the kind without a back support, cartridge cushions under +the rolled ends finishing the antique design. Against one of these +Tavia was resting, but no sooner had all her accessories been completed +than her suite fell into line, four "slaves" making hold of the couch, +lifting it majestically from its place, and with the air of Roman +history, "gents" solemnly marching off with the queen and her retinue +in full swing. + +George Mason was chief waver--that is, he had the post of honor, next +the "chariot" with his fan. + +"Ki-ah!" he called, "Tavy-wavy-Ki-yah!" + +This was the signal for a solemn chant in which all of the twenty boys +present, including Ned and Nat, but not Tom Burbank, participated. + +"Ki-ah!" called the leader. + +"Ki-ah!" answered the retinue. + +"Loddy-Shoddy, Wack-fi-Oddy Ki-ah!" sang out the head "Yamma," while +Queen Octavia smiled majestically at her subjects, and bore the honor +thrust upon her as gracefully as if born heir to an Indian throne. + +The girls were bending and fanning and bowing, some even endeavoring to +kiss the queen's hand as she passed. + +"It takes boys to find fun," remarked Alice, "But see here, Yum-kim, or +Loddy-Shoddy, whoever may be in authority," called Alice, "please bring +back that couch, very carefully now, when you have dumped the queen on +the lawn." + +At this the slaves stopped, but did not dump their queen. Instead, +they slowly lowered the chariot, and even assisted her to alight. + +"Thanks, awfully," said Tavia, in common English, "I suppose that honor +is saved for most persons' funerals. It's something to have tried +it--I think Indian funeral marches perfectly lovely. I must die in +India." + +"Funeral march! Well, I like that!" groaned George Mason. "Of all the +frosts--" + +"That, my dear queen," declared Ralph Wilson, "was your triumphant +procession-all! Did you notice the procesh? Funeral indeed! You +would never get off that easy with a funeral in India." + +Viola was standing on the porch smiling pleasantly. Somehow she seemed +very agreeable to-day. Dorothy noticed how cordially she had greeted +her, and even Tavia felt she should certainly have to be civil to the +"Green Violet" if the latter kept her "manners going." + +"Introduce me to your cousins," said Viola affably, coming up to where +Dorothy stood. + +"Certainly," answered Dorothy. "I was waiting for an opportunity. The +queen-show took all our attention." + +"Wasn't it splendid," and Viola seemed to have enjoyed the fun. "I do +think boys do the funniest things." + +"Yes, they certainly are original. I have two small brothers and they +keep me going." + +"How lovely to have brothers!" remarked Viola. "I am all alone at +home." + +"It must be lonely," sympathized Dorothy, "but then, you can have +everything your own way." + +"Just like lying abed on a holiday," said Viola, "one never enjoys it. +I believe we always want what we cannot get, and scarcely ever +appreciate what we have." + +"I find it that way sometimes," admitted Dorothy, "but to make sure I +am not mistaken I often suppose myself without that which I fail to +appreciate. It is a good test of one's real self, you know." + +"But a lot of trouble," sighed Viola. "I take things as they come--and +always want more, or to be rid of some. But I have one real love, and +that's music. I was called Viola because my dear grandfather was a +celebrated violinist, and perhaps that is why I have such a passion for +music." + +"Do you play?" asked Dorothy, interested. + +"Yes, I study the piano and violin, but of course I like the violin +best. There is one of your cousins--" + +"Nat!" called Dorothy, as that boy ran across the lawn. "Come over +here a minute, if you can spare time from that un-understandable game." + +"Don't you know that game?" asked Nat, coming up to the rustic bench +upon which the two girls were seated. "Why, I'm surprised. That is a +genuine American game 'Follow the Leader.'" + +"Let me introduce you to a friend," began Dorothy, indicating Viola. +"This is Miss Green--Mr. Nat White." + +Nat bowed and spoke pleasantly--he was no country boy. Viola had +noticed that long ago. + +"Viola has just been telling me her one hobby is music," said Dorothy, +to start the small talk, "and she studies the violin. I think it so +much more interesting than the piano," she commented. + +"Oh, I've tried it," admitted Nat. "It is more interesting for others, +but when it comes home to a fellow it is awfully scratchy and +monotonous. But I suppose Miss Viola has gone past that period. I +stuck there." + +"That is because you did not start early enough," said Viola. "To do +anything with the violin one ought to start before the squeaks and +scratches can be realized." + +"Good idea," agreed Nat. "That work should certainly be done in +the--sub--conscious state." + +"I'll leave you to settle the violin," said Dorothy, "while I pay my +respects to Mrs. MacAllister. She has just come out, and wasn't it +splendid of her to let us all come here?" + +Dorothy made her way across the lawn to the knot of girls where Mrs. +MacAllister was gracefully presiding. + +But instantly Tavia saw that Nat was alone with Viola--the very thing +she wanted to avoid. Nat might tell her the truth about the "chariot +race," as the police patrol ride had become known. Besides, Viola +could find out so many things from an unsuspecting boy. + +"Come with me," said Tavia to Nettie, dragging the innocent girl along. +"I want to present you to a friend of mine. Do you see that boy over +there? The best looking fellow here? Well, he's a friend of mine." + +"Delighted--I'm sure," agreed Nettie. "But what about the other girl? +Miss Nile Green?" + +"Cut her out," said Tavia, in her most business-like way, using the +slang with the old as well as the newer significance. + +"Certainly," responded Nettie, with a coquettish toss of her head. +"I'm on the boys committee--as a matter of fact they are all here in my +care," and straightforth the pair made for Viola's bench. + +"Wasn't it too funny!" Viola was exclaiming as Tavia came up. + +"I should think so," they heard Nat answer, "But Dorothy was ready to--" + +"Hush!" whispered Viola, but the warning was just a moment too late, +for Tavia heard it. Then Viola said something that Tavia did not hear. + +Nat was very pleasant to Nettie. It was evident the introduction had +broken in on something interesting to Viola, if not to Nat, but he gave +no sign of the interference being annoying, although the girl was not +so tactful. + +"Nettie is the committee on boys," declared Tavia, "so I thought it +high time she had a chance to censure you--I mean to look over your +credentials." + +"Well, if you and the others would join me in a swallow of that +lemonade I see under yonder tree, Miss Nettie,--No, not you Tavia, nor +Miss Green? Then we will have to drink alone, for I am deadly +thirsty," and at this he walked away with Nettie, leaving Viola on the +bench with Tavia. + +"Oh, there's Tom looking for me," exclaimed Viola, jumping up +instantly, "won't you let me introduce you, Tavia?" (she actually said +Tavia!) "He's a stranger and some out of place." + +"Yes," said Tavia vaguely, probably referring to the "out of place" +clause, and not exactly giving assent to the introduction. + +Then came Viola's turn--she left Tavia with Tom and as promptly made +her own escape! + +"Of all the--clams," Tavia was saying to herself, rather rudely, it +must be confessed. + +But Tom evidently liked Tavia, at any rate he talked to her and showed +a remarkable aptness in keeping up the tete-a-tete, "against all +comers," said Nat to himself, noticing the monopoly. + +"That's the time Miss Tavia was beaten at her own game," was Viola's +secret comment. "How glad I am to get rid of that bore. I heartily +wish I--that he had not been asked." + +"What do you think of that?" inquired Alice of Dorothy, observing the +girl's change of partners. "Look at Nat with Viola and Tavia with Tom!" + +"I would like to hear what Tavia has to say," and Dorothy smiled at the +idea of Tavia's possible conversation. "I'm just dying to tell her +that Viola's name did not come from the vegetable kingdom." + +"We had really better break up these little confabs," said Alice, +feeling her responsibility as hostess, "or we may have reason to doubt +the advisability of giving a lawn party with boys." + +"The simplest games will be the most enjoyable, I think," suggested +Dorothy. "I would begin with 'drop the handkerchief.'" + +"Fine idea," replied Alice. "But notice how many times Tom gets a +'drop.' I'll bet the girls will be afraid he would keep the +handkerchief. He looks girlie enough to fancy one with lace on," and +at this Alice went forth to inaugurate the old-time game. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +OFF FOR GLENWOOD + +The lawn party ended in a shower; not only a linen shower as May Egner +had planned, but in a specific downpour of rain. The day, so +beautifully promising, suddenly changed colors and sent, from a sky of +inky blackness, one of the heaviest rainfalls of the season. But this +change only added sport to the festivities, for a game of blindman's +buff had to be finished in the dining-room, and the way the boys ducked +under the big table actually put the "blind man" (Nettie) out of +business. + +It had been a splendid afternoon, every moment of the hours spent +seemed to all present the best time of their gay young lives, and that +Viola had contributed to the merriment and made herself particularly +agreeable, left nothing to be wished for, Alice thought. + +Dorothy and Tavia felt that the time had come to make their adieux, and +were about to undertake that task when, at a signal from Alice, the +room was suddenly filled with flying bits of linen--the other shower. + +"Hurrah!" cried the boys, catching the gifts and tossing them up again +and again. + +"Fen!" called Tavia, using a marble game expression, but the boys would +not desist. They liked the linen shower first-rate, and insisted on +keeping it going. + +"Then let us snowball the travelers," suggested Sarah Ford, and at this +Dorothy and Tavia were forced into a corner and completely snowed under +with the linen. + +When the excitement had subsided, and the gifts were counted, Dorothy +found she had fourteen beautiful dainty little handkerchiefs, four +hand-made collars, and a darling pink and white linen bag. This last +gift was from Alice, and had Dorothy's name done in a tiny green vine, +with dots of pale lavender violets peeping through. This was such a +beautiful piece that Alice admitted she had worked on it sometime +previous to the party, intending to keep it for Dorothy's birthday gift. + +Next Tavia counted twelve handkerchiefs, and seven collars. She +declared the girls knew she never had a decent collar, and, in her +profuse thanks, almost wept with joy at the unexpected blessing. + +"It's the collar that makes the girl," she assured those who stood +about her admiring her treasures, "and I never could make the collar. +So you see you have saved me from disgracing Dorothy at Glenwood. I +suppose every boarding school girl sports the hand-made variety." + +"And to think that I cannot give a party in Dalton to pay you back," +remarked Dorothy, as she was saying good-bye to a group of girls and +boys in the hall. "We are going to move to North Birchland, you know." + +But the girls did not know, and the information was received with much +regret--everyone would miss the Dales. The girls would miss Dorothy, +the boys would miss Joe, and as for Roger, he had always been a +neighborhood pet. Then Major Dale was a popular citizen, besides being +especially endeared to many whom he had befriended with money and +advice. + +"But you will come down to see us on your holidays," insisted the boys +and girls, "and perhaps we can get something up so that we may have a +reunion." + +Dorothy agreed to this, and then, when all the good-byes had been said, +and all the earnest protestations of affection expressed, the +merry-makers dispersed, making their way through the wet and muddy +roads, but happy with a clear sky above--for some of the girls wore +real party dresses and the shower had made them apprehensive until it +stopped. + +Dorothy and Tavia remained to thank Alice and Mrs. MacAllister for all +the trouble they had taken. During the conversation Viola assured the +girls they would be delighted with Glenwood and said it was a pity +Alice had to stay longer at Dalton school to finish a special course. + +"Because," said Viola, "we could have such glorious times all together." + +"Do you think," said Tavia, as she took Dorothy's arm and "picked her +steps," across the wet road on her way home, "that Viola really means +it? That she is glad we are going to Glenwood?" + +"I wouldn't like to say," hesitated Dorothy. "She has such an odd way. +All afternoon she acted to me like one who had gained some point and +was satisfied." + +"Then I didn't get her away from Nat in time," declared Tavia. "I +heard her say something suspicious as I came up to them. No use asking +Nat what he told her, he would invent something to tease me and--" + +"Declare you were jealous," finished Dorothy. "We will hope she was in +earnest with her graciousness--perhaps she is always that +way--antagonistic with strangers." + +"Never," and Tavia went into a mud puddle in her attempt to speak very +decidedly. "There! I'm glad that was not my canvas shoe. I was +tempted to wear them. Ouch! Wet through! But I was about to say that +Viola is not mean to all strangers. Did you see the way she went for +Nat?" + +"Well, we must not make trouble by going out of our way to meet it," +preached Dorothy. "Viola may not have a chance to bother us at +Glenwood, even if she cared to try." + +"Chance! You can depend upon her to make all the chance she wants. +But I have my defense all mapped out. I am certain she will try to +disgrace us with the patrol story." + +"What disgrace could she make out of that?" asked Dorothy in surprise. + +"Don't know, haven't the least idea, only I fancy she will fix +something up. But I'll give her 'a run for her money,' as the boys +say," and Tavia displayed something of the defense she had "mapped out" +in a decidedly vindictive attitude. Packing of trunks and doing up of +girls' belongings made the time fly, so that when the morning of the +actual departure did arrive both girls felt as if something important +must have been overlooked, there was so much hurry and flurry. But the +train puffed off at last, with Dorothy Dale and Octavia Travers +passengers for the little place called Glenwood, situated away off in +the New England mountains. + +Major Dale felt lonely indeed when his Little Captain had kissed the +two boys--her soldiers--good-bye, and, when she pressed her warm cheek +to his own anxious face, it did seem as if a great big slice of +sunshine had suddenly darted under a heavy black cloud. But it was +best she should go, he reflected, and they must get along without her. + +Tavia's folks were conscious of similar sentiments. The squire, her +father, and her little brother Johnnie went to the station to see the +girls off, and Johnnie felt so badly that he actually refused to go +fishing with Joe Dale, an opportunity he would have "jumped at" under +any other circumstances. Roger Dale had rubbed his pretty eyes almost +sightless trying not to cry and listening to Aunt Libby's oft-told +story that had never yet failed to heal a wound of the baby's heart, +but he surely did not want Doro to go, and he surely would cry every +single night when she did not come to kiss him. + +"I just do want her," he blubbered on the newly-ironed gingham apron +that Aunt Libby buried his sweet face in, "and I don't love Auntie +Winnie for taking her away." + +So the Dalton home was left behind. + +"I wish we did not have to change so often," said Dorothy to Tavia, +when she had finally dried her eyes and looked around with the +determination of being young-lady-like, and not crying for those left +behind in dear old Dalton. + +"Oh, that's the most fun," declared Tavia. "All new people maybe, and +different conductors, besides a chance to try if our feet are +asleep--mine feel drowsy now," and she jumped into the aisle just to +straighten out and make people wonder if she had lost something. + +"We will meet the others at the junction--Viola's folks, you know. And +that reminds me,--I never had a chance to tell you why she was called +Viola. Her grandfather was a great violinist and she was called after +his--" + +"Fiddle! Good!" interrupted Tavia, the irrepressible. "Then I'll call +her 'Fiddle.' That's lots better than the vegetables." + +"It's a comfort to have all our things go by express," Dorothy remarked +when "Next station Junction!" was called from the front door of the +car. "I feel as if I am constantly forgetting something, when I have +nothing to carry, but it is a relief to find our racks empty." + +"My hat is up there," Tavia remarked, taking down the straw sailor. +"And our box of candy--you don't call that an empty rack, do you? +Alice's best mixed--all chocolate too." + +"I was quite sure you wouldn't forget the candy," answered Dorothy. +"And it was awfully good of Alice." + +"Junction! Junct-shon!" called the trainman. + +"There's our porter," remarked Tavia; with conscious pride as the +colored man, whom the major had given the girls in charge of, stepped +up the aisle, secured the small satchels and, without so much as, "by +your leave," or, "are you ready," handed the two girls off the train. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +VIOLA'S MOTHER + +At the change of cars the Dalton girls were met by Viola and Mrs. +Green. Viola and her mother soon arranged seats for four in the chair +car, and Dorothy, with Tavia, joined them in such comfortable quarters +as are provided for long distance passengers. Then the little party +settled down for a long ride--and all the enjoyment that might be +discovered therein. Viola appeared delighted to meet the Dalton +girls--she inquired particularly about Dorothy's cousin Nat, but this +society "stunt," as Tavia termed it, was due more to the city habit of +remembering friends' friends, than a weakness on Viola's part for good +looking boys. + +But it was Viola's mother who interested both Dorothy and Tavia. She +was a small woman, evidently of foreign extraction (Spanish, Dorothy +thought) and with such a look of adoration for Viola that, to Dorothy +and Tavia, observing the wonderful mother-love, it seemed like +something inhuman, divine perhaps, or was it a physical weakness? + +They noticed that Mrs. Green used her smelling salts freely, she often +pressed her hand to her head, and seemed much like a person too +delicate to travel. + +"Are you all right, momsey?" Viola would ask continually. "I do wish +you had not risked coming." + +"But I could not allow you to travel all alone," the mother would +answer with a delightful foreign accent. "And you know, my daughter, +that father was too busy." + +"But, momsey, do not sit up if you are tired," cautioned Viola. "Just +lie back and try to be comfortable." + +"I am enjoying every word you speak," declared the little woman, +inhaling her salts. "You and your charming friends." + +Dorothy had never seen so wonderful a mother--to actually hang on her +daughter's frivolous nonsense. And the attention was a positive tonic +to Tavia's chatter. She said such amusing things and saw such +ridiculous comparisons--the kind little children surprise their elders +with. + +To Dorothy, who had never known a mother's affection (she was such a +tot when her own dear mother left her), this devotion appeared to be +nothing short of marvelous. Tavia thought it unusual--Viola seemed +worried when it became too extreme. Then she would urge her mother to +rest and not excite herself over foolish schoolgirl talk. Even such an +admonition from a mere daughter did not appear to bother the strange +little woman, with the almost glaring black eyes. Tavia observed this +peculiarity, then made a mental observation that whatever ailed Viola +might have to do with a similar affliction on the mother's +part--perhaps a family weakness! + +As they journeyed on Dorothy found it very pleasant to talk with Mrs. +Green and so left Viola and Tavia pretty much to themselves. + +Numbers of Glenwood girls were picked up at various stations, and, as +each was espied, the chair car party hailed them, Viola being +acquainted with the last year's girls. Before the last station--some +twenty miles from the destination of the students--had been struck off +the time-table, there were actually twelve "Glenwoods," aboard. Those +from Dalton felt just a bit "green" Tavia admitted, never before having +mingled with a boarding school "tribe," but on the whole the scholars +were very sociable and agreeable, and made all sorts of promises for +future good times. + +"You see," explained Rose-Mary Markin, a very dear girl from somewhere +in Connecticut, "we count all this side of Boston in the Knickerbocker +set, 'Knicks,' we call them. The others are the Pilgrims; and isn't it +dreadful to nickname them the 'Pills?'" + +Tavia thought that "the best ever," and declared she would join the +Knicks (spelled "Nicks" in the school paper) no matter what the +initiation would cost her. + +"Viola is secretary of the Nicks," volunteered Amy Brook, a girl who +wore her hair parted exactly in the middle and looked classical. "We +have lots of sport; plays and meetings. You will join, surely, +Dorothy, won't you?" + +"But I will not be secretary this year," interrupted Viola, without +allowing Dorothy to answer Amy. "It's too much trouble." + +"But you can't resign until the first regular meeting in November," +said Amy, surprised that Viola should wish to give up the office. + +"I intend to resign the very first thing," asserted Viola. "The Nicks +can get along with a pro-tem until the regular meeting." + +Mrs. Green now fixed her strange gaze upon her daughter, and Dorothy, +who was plainly more interested in the delicate little woman than in +the schoolgirls' chatter, noticed a shadow come into the pale face. +Evidently Mrs. Green could stand no arguments, no confusion, and, when +the girls continued to discuss the pros and cons of a secretary +pro-tem, Dorothy suggested that they change the subject as it might be +distressing to Mrs. Green. Quick as a flash Viola was all attention to +her mother, inquiring about her head, offering to bring fresh ice +water, and showing unusual anxiety, so it seemed to Dorothy's keen +observation, when the lady was not really ill. + +Then, at the first opportunity Viola called the girls down to the end +compartment, and told them that her mother had only just recovered from +a serious illness. + +"She had a dreadful attack this time," said Viola, "and she should +never have come on this journey." + +"Then why did she?" asked Tavia, in her blunt way. + +"Well, she seemed so set upon it," declared Viola, "that the doctors +thought it more dangerous to cross her about it than to allow her to +come. Our doctor is on the train, but mother does not know it. I do +wish she could get strong!" + +The tears that came to the girl's eyes seemed very pitiable--every one +of the party felt like crying with Viola. + +Dorothy attempted to put her arms about the sad girl, but Viola was on +her feet instantly. + +"We must go back," she said. + +"Then we can arrange to sit in another place," suggested Dorothy. +"Perhaps if she were quiet she might fall off asleep." + +Viola left the compartment first. There were people in the aisle--in +front of her mother. What had happened? + +"Oh!" screamed the girl. "Mother! Let me go to her!" and she hurried +through the car, pushing aside the trainmen who had been summoned. +"Mother! Mother!" called the frightened Viola, for her mother was so +pale and so still! + +"Oh, she is dead!" whispered Tavia, who had succeeded in reaching the +chair. + +"Open the windows!" commanded Viola. "Call Dr. Reed, quick! He is in +the next car!" + +It seemed an eternity--but in reality was only a few minutes--before +the doctor reached the spot. Dorothy could see that Mrs. Green had not +fainted--her eyes were moving. But poor Viola! How could they ever +have thought ill of her when this was her sorrow: this her sad burden! + +Dorothy Dale resolved in her heart, at that moment, that never a care +nor a sorrow should come to Viola Green if she could protect her from +it. She would be her champion at school, she would try to share this +secret sorrow with her; she would do anything in her power to make life +brighter for a girl who had this awful grief to bear. + +"It's her mind," Dorothy had heard someone whisper. Then the doctor +had the porters carry the sick woman to a private compartment, and with +her Viola remained, until the train reached Hanover. There Dr. Reed +left the train and with him went Mrs. Green in care of an attendant. +When they were gone Viola returned to her companions weeping and almost +sick herself. + +"The doctor would not let me go back home," she sighed, "and as soon as +mother was conscious she insisted on me going on to school. Dr. Reed +can always manage her so well, and if I were with him perhaps mother +would fret more. But I did think she would get over those awful +spells--" and the girl burst into fresh tears. + +"Viola, dear," said Dorothy soothingly. "Try to be brave. Perhaps the +trip may benefit her in the end." + +"Oh, don't try to be kind to me," wailed the unhappy girl. "I can't +stand it! I hate everybody and everything in this world only my +darling little sweet mother! And I cannot have her! She can never go +with me to her own country now, and we had planned it all! Oh, mother +darling! Why did you inherit that awful sickness! Why can't we cure +you!" and so the sad daughter wailed and wept, while her companions +looked on helplessly. + +"But you will let me be you friend," pleaded Dorothy. "Try to think it +will all come right some day--every sorrow must unfold some blessing--" + +"My friend!" and Viola looked with that same sharp glance that her +mother had shown--that queer glare at Dorothy. "Dorothy Dale, you do +not know what you are talking about!" + +And every girl present had reason to remember this strange remark when +days at Glenwood school proved their meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CATEGORY + +"Isn't it great!" exclaimed Tavia, shaking out her blue dress, and +tying a worn handkerchief over its particular closet hook so that no +hump would appear in the soft blue texture. "I never would believe +boarding school was such fun. Here comes Rose-Mary with more Nicks to +introduce. I hear her laughing--hasn't she got the jolliest little +giggle--like our brook when it bubbles over." + +"I wish, Tavia, you would confine your wardrobe to your own half of the +closet," Dorothy remonstrated, as she took down several articles that +had "crossed the line." + +"Oh, I will, dear, only I was just listening to what those girls were +saying. I thought I heard Viola's voice. Isn't it strange she does +not call on us. I told her our room was Number Nineteen." + +"I suppose she's busy, every one appears to be except Rose-Mary. She +doesn't seem to mind whether her trunk is unpacked first day or on +Christmas," said Dorothy, working diligently at her own baggage. + +"I would just love to go the rounds with her," declared Tavia, "if you +did not insist upon going right to work. I would rather have fun now +and unpack later." + +"But there is no later. We must go to bed at eight thirty, my dear, +and we have no time to spare. School will begin to-morrow." + +"All the more reason why we should have the fun now," persisted Tavia, +who was nevertheless getting her clothes on the hooks in short order. +"There! I'm all hung up," she declared, banging the closet door +furiously, in spite of Dorothy's hat box trying to stop it. + +"But your hats," Dorothy reminded her. "They have got to go on that +shelf, and there isn't an inch of room left." + +"Then I'll just stick the box under the bed," calmly remarked the new +girl, making a kick at the unlucky box and following it up to the +"goal." + +"Against the rules," announced Dorothy, pointing to a typewritten +notice on the door. "Read!" + +"Haven't time. You read them and tell me about them. I'll take the +box out if it says so, but if we have to keep things in such angelic +order why in the world don't they give us room?" + +"Room? Indeed this is a large room, given us especially, and it is +quite a favor to be allowed to room together--only real sisters ever +get a double." + +"Heaven help the singles!" sighed Tavia in mock devotion. "But come +on, Doro,--we are missing all the fun. I did think I heard the mob at +our door." + +Without further leave or license Tavia dragged Dorothy from her work +and closed the door of Number Nineteen behind her. In the hall they +found Rose-Mary, whom the girls called "Cologne," Amy Brook, Nita +Brant, and Lena Berg. All were trying to talk at once, each had "the +very most delicious vacation" to tell about, and to Dorothy it appeared +the first requisite for boarding school ways was the coining of absurd +and meaningless phrases. Tavia fell right into line, and could +discount anyone of the crowd. "Splendifiorous, glorioutious and +scrambunctious," were plainly hard to beat, and no one seemed willing +to try. Cologne had a way of saying things in a jerky little jump that +suggested bumping noses, Amy Brook fairly strangled with dashes and +other unexpected shorts stops, while Nita Brant "wallowed" in such +exclamations as: + +"Fine and dandy! Perfectly sugary! Too killingly, dear, for anything!" + +It was Cologne who declared Nita "wallowed" in slang, because the Nicks +had decided that no ready-made slang should be used at meetings, and +Nita persisted in ignoring the rule. Each new term brought the +season's current phrases back in the custody of the sandy-haired Nita +and now, on the first night, her companions took precious good care to +remind her of the transgression. + +Altogether Dorothy found it difficult to keep track of anything like +conversation, and was forced to say "yes" and "no" on suspicion. Tavia +had better luck, Edna Black (christened Ebony Ned) took her in charge +at once, and the two (Ned had already established her reputation as a +black sheep), dashed off down the corridor, bursting in on unsuspecting +"Babes" (newcomers), and managing, somehow or other, to upset +half-emptied trunk trays, and do damage generally. + +"Hello! Hello!" came a shout from the first turn or senior row. +"Come, somebody, and fan me!" + +"That's 'Dick,'" Ned told Tavia. "Molly Richards, but we call her +Dick. By the way, what shall we call you? What is your full name? +The very whole of it?" + +"Octavia Travers! Birthday is within the octave of Christmas," +declared the Dalton girl impressively. + +"Oct or Ouch! That sounds too much like Auch du lieber Augustine, or +like a cut finger," studied Edna. "Better take yours from +Christmas--Chrissy sounds cute." + +"Yes, especially since I have lately had my hair cut Christy--after our +friend Columbus," agreed Tavia, tossing back her new set of tangles. +"I was in a railroad accident, you know, and lost my long hair. I had +the time of my life getting it cut off properly, in a real barber shop. +Dorothy's cousins, two of the nicest boys, were with us--Dorothy went +too. It was such fun." + +"All right, it shall be Chrissy then," decided Edna. "It's funny we +always turn a girl's name into a boy's name when we can. Let's go and +see Dick," and at this she dragged Tavia out of the corner of the hall +where they had taken refuge from a girl who was threatening them for +upsetting all her ribbons and laces. + +"Oh, there you are, Ned Ebony," greeted Molly as the two bolted into +her room. "Where's everybody. I haven't seen Fiddle yet." + +"Viola Green?" asked Tavia. "Funny I should have thought of that name +for her." + +"You knew she plays the fiddle adorably." + +"No, but I knew she had been named after her grandfather's violin. +What a queer notion." + +"Queer girl, too," remarked Molly, "but a power in her way. Did she +come up yet?" + +"On our train," said Tavia, too prudent, for once in her life, to tell +the whole story. + +"She is going to cut the Nicks," announced Edna. "She told me so first +thing. Then she slammed her door and no one has caught a glimpse of +her since." + +Tavia was fairly bursting with news at this point, but she had promised +Dorothy not to interfere with Viola in any way and she wisely decided +not to start in on such dangerous territory as Viola's visit to Dalton. +So the matter was dropped, and the girls went forth for more fun. + +Dorothy had met Miss Higley, Mrs. Pangborn's assistant. She proved to +be a little woman with glasses, the stems going all the way back of her +ears. She seemed snappy, Dorothy thought, and gave all sorts of orders +to the girls while pretending to become acquainted with Dorothy. + +"The crankiest crank," declared one girl, when the little woman had +gone further down the hall with her objections. "But, really, we need +a chief of police. Don't you think so?" + +"Isn't Mrs. Pangborn chief?" asked Dorothy. + +"Oh, she's president of the board of commissioners," replied Rose-Mary. +"Miss Honorah Higley is the chief of all departments." + +"And Miss Crane?" inquired Dorothy. "I have met her." + +"Oh, she's all right," declared the informer. "Camille Crane is a +dear--if the girls do call her Feathers." + +"I thought all that nick-name business was done in colleges," remarked +Dorothy. "Every one here seems to have two names." + +"Couldn't possibly get along without them," declared Cologne. "I've +been Cologne since my first day--what have they given you?" + +"I haven't heard yet," said Dorothy, smiling. "But I do hope they +won't 'Dot' me. I hate dots." + +"Then make it Dashes or Specks, but you must not be Specks. We have +one already." + +"Glad of it," returned Dorothy. "I don't like Specks either." + +"I guess we will make it 'D. D.' That's good, and means a whole lot of +things. There," declared Cologne. "I've had the honor of being your +sponsor. Now you must always stick by me. D. D. you are to be +hereafter." + +"That will tickle Tavia," declared Dorothy. "She always said I was a +born parson." + +"Better yet," exclaimed Cologne. "Be Parson. Now we've got it. The +Little Parson," and away she flew to impart her intelligence to a +waiting world of foolish schoolgirls. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE INITIATION + +The first days at Glenwood revolved like a magic kaleidoscope--all bits +of brilliant things, nothing tangible, and nothing seemingly important. +Dorothy had made her usual good friends--Tavia her usual jolly chums. +But Viola Green remained a mystery. + +She certainly had avoided speaking to Dorothy, and had not even taken +the trouble to avoid Tavia--she "cut her dead." Edna tried to persuade +Tavia that "Fiddle" was a privileged character, and that the seeming +slights were not fully intended; but Tavia knew better. + +"She may be as odd as she likes," insisted the matter of fact girl from +Dalton, "but she must not expect me to smile at her ugliness--it is +nothing else--pure ugliness." + +Dorothy had sought out Viola, but it was now plain that the girl +purposely avoided her. + +"Perhaps she is worrying about her mother, poor dear," thought the +sympathetic Dorothy. "I must insist on cheering her up. A nice walk +through these lovely grounds ought to brighten her. And the leaves on +these hills are perfectly glorious. I must ask her to go with me on my +morning walk. I'll go to her room to-night after tea--during +recreation. I have not seen her out a single morning yet." + +So Dorothy mused, and so she acted according to the logical result of +that musing. At recreation time that evening Dorothy tapped gently on +the door of Number Twelve. + +The door was slightly ajar, and Dorothy could hear the sounds of papers +being hastily gathered up. Then Viola came to the entrance. + +"May I come in?" asked Dorothy, surprised that Viola should have made +the question necessary. + +"Oh, I am so busy--but of course--Did you want to see me?" and there +was no invitation in the voice or manner. + +"Just for a moment," faltered Dorothy, determined not to be turned away +without a hearing. + +Viola reluctantly opened the door. Then she stepped aside without +offering a chair. + +"I have been worried about you," began Dorothy, rather miserably. "Are +you ill, Viola?" + +"111? Why not at all. Can't a girl attend to her studies without +exciting criticism?" + +Dorothy's face burned. "Oh, of course. But I did not see you out at +all--" + +"Next time I leave my room I'll send the Nicks word," snapped Viola. +"Then they may appoint a committee to see me out!" + +Dorothy was stung by this. She had expected that Viola would resent +the interference--try to keep to her chosen solitude--but the rudeness +was a surprise. + +"But you are getting pale, Viola," she ventured. "Couldn't you +possibly take your exercise with me to-morrow? I would so like to have +you. The walk over the mountains is perfectly splendid now." + +"Thank you," and Viola's black eyes again looked out of their depths +with that strange foreign keenness. "But I prefer to walk alone." + +Dorothy was certain a tear glistened in Viola's eye. + +"Alone!" repeated the visitor. "Viola, dear, if you would only let me +be your friend--" + +"Dorothy Dale!" and the girl's eyes flashed in anger. "I will have +none of your preaching. You came here to pry into my affairs just as +you did on the train, when you made me tell all about my dear, darling +mother's illness, before those giggling girls. Yes, you need not play +innocent. I know the kind of girl you are. 'Sugar coated!' But you +may take your sympathy where strangers will be fooled by it. Try it on +some of the Babes. But you must never again attempt to meddle in my +affairs. If you do I'll tell Miss Higley. So there! Are you +satisfied now?" + +Dorothy was stunned. Was this flaming, flashing girl the same that had +smiled upon her when the sick mother was present? What was that +strange unnatural gleam in the black eyes? Anger or jealousy? + +"I am sorry," faltered Dorothy; then she turned and left the room. + +One hour later Tavia found Dorothy buried in her pillows. Tears would +still come to her eyes, although she had struggled bravely to suppress +them. + +"Doro!" exclaimed her friend in surprise. "Are you homesick?" + +"No," sobbed the miserable girl. "It isn't exactly homesick--." Then +the thought came to her that she should not implicate Viola, she had +promised to save her from further suffering. Surely she had enough +with the sick mother. + +"Then what is it?" demanded Tavia. + +"Oh, I don't know, Tavia," and she tried again to check her tears, "but +I just had to cry." + +"Nervous," concluded the Dalton girl. "Well, we must cure that. You +know we are to be initiated this evening. Aren't you scared?" + +"Oh, yes," and Dorothy sat upright. "I quite forgot. Do we join the +Nicks?" + +"Unless you prefer the Pills. They are the stiffest set--not a bit +like our crowd. And the way they talk! A cross between a brogue and +Tom Burbank. 'I came hawf way uptown before I could signal a car-r'," +rolled out Tavia, mocking the long A's, and rolled R's of the New +England girl. "How's that for English? I call it brogue." + +"It does sound queer, but they tell me it is the correct +pronunciation," Dorothy managed to say, while working diligently with +her handkerchief on her eyes and cheeks. + +"Then, as in all things else," declared Tavia, "I am thankful not to be +orthodox--I should get tonsilitis if I ever tried anything like that." + +"Where is the meeting to be held?" asked Dorothy. + +"Don't know--we must not know anything. Ned says it will be easy. +Dick is the guide, and I know Cologne has something to do with it. I +do hope you won't be sad-eyed, Doro." + +"You can depend upon me to do Dalton justice," declared the girl on the +bed. "I'm anxious to see what they will do to us. No hazing, I hope." + +"In this Sunday school? Mercy no! No such luck. They will probably +make us recite psalms," asserted the irreverent Tavia. + +"But being Parson that would be appropriate for me," Dorothy declared. + +"And for a Chris! That would be all right also," added Tavia. "Well, +I know one or two." + +"There is someone coming to call us," and Dorothy jumped to her feet. +"I must bathe my stupid eyes." + +A half hour later the meeting was called. It was held in a little +recreation room on the third floor. To this spot the candidates were +led blindfolded. Within the room the shuffling of feet could be heard, +then a weird voice said in a muffled tone: + +"Hear ye! Honored Nicks! Let their scales fall!" + +At the word the bandages were dropped from the eyes of Dorothy and +Tavia. + +A glimpse around the half-lighted room showed a company of masked faces +and shrouded forms--sheets and white paper arrangements. On the window +seat sat the Most High Nick--the promoter. At her feet was crouched +the Chief Ranger. + +"Number one!" called the Ranger, and Dorothy was pressed forward. + +"Chase that thimble across the room with your nose," demanded the +Ranger, placing a silver thimble at Dorothy's feet. + +Of course Dorothy laughed--all candidates do--at first. + +"Wipe your smile off," ordered the Promoter, and at this Dorothy was +obliged to "wipe the smile" on the rather uncertain rug, by brushing +her mouth into the very depths of the carpet. + +"Proceed!" commanded the Ranger, and Dorothy began the thimble chase. + +It is all very well for the "uppers" to laugh at the Babes, but it was +no easy matter to get a thimble across a room by nose effort. Yet +Dorothy was "game," her nominating committee declared in the course of +time, and, between many pauses, chief of which was caused by the +irrepressible smiles that had to be wiped off on all parts of the floor +for every offense, Dorothy did get the thimble over to the corner. + +"Number two," called the Ranger, and Tavia took the floor. + +"The clock," indicated the Promoter, whereupon Tavia was confined in a +small closet and made to do the "Cuckoo stunt." Each hour called was +responded to by the corresponding "cuckoos," and the effect was +ludicrous indeed. Every break in the call meant another trial, but +finally Tavia got through the ordeal. + +Next Dorothy was called upon to make a speech--the subject assigned +being "The Glory of the Nicks." An impromptu speech might be difficult +to make under such circumstances had the subject been a word of four +letters, like Snow, Love or even Hate, but to extemporize on the +society which was giving her the third degree--Dorothy almost +"flunked," it must be admitted. + +The final test was that of singing a lesson in mathematics to the tune +of America, and the try that Tavia had at that broke every paper mask +in the room--no, not every one, for over in the corner was a mask that +never stirred, one that left the room before the candidates had been +welcomed into the society of honorable Nicks. That mask went into room +twelve. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LOST ON MOUNT GABRIEL + +A full month of school life had passed at Glenwood. The beautiful +autumn had come to tint the leafy New England hills, when Mrs. Pangborn +announced that her classes might go on a little picnic to the top of +Mount Gabriel. The day chosen proved to be of the ideal Indian summer +variety, and when the crowd of happy students skipped away through the +woods that led to the mount, there seemed nothing to be wished for. +Miss Crane had been sent in charge, and as Edna said, that meant just +one more girl to make sport. + +As usual Viola did not join the merry-makers. She had the continuous +excuse of her mother's illness, which had really been a matter of great +worry to her, as Mrs. Pangborn, if no other at the school, knew to be +true. + +"It's as warm as August," declared Nita Brant, scaling a darling little +baby maple and robbing it of its most cherished pink leaves. + +"Oh, Nita," sighed Tavia, "couldn't you take some other tree? That +poor little thing never wore a pink dress before in all its young life!" + +"Too young to wear pink," declared the gay Nita, affecting the +brilliant leaves herself. "I just love baby leaves," and she planted +the wreath on her fair brow. + +This started the wreath brigade, which soon terminated in every one of +the picnickers being adorned with a crown of autumn foliage. + +At the foot of the mountain the girls made an effort to procure +mountain sticks, but this was not an easy matter, and much time was +taken up in the search for appropriate staffs. Those strong enough +were invariably too hard to break, and those that could be procured +were always too "splintery." But the matter was finally disposed of, +and the procession started up the mountain. + +It was growing late in the afternoon, the pilgrimage not having been +taken up until after the morning session, and when the top of the +mountain was finally reached, Miss Crane told her charges that they +might scurry about and get such specimen of leaves or stones as they +wished to bring back, as they would only remain there a short time. + +The air was very heavy by this time, and the distant roll of thunder +could be heard, but the gay girls never dreamed of a storm on that late +October afternoon as they ran wildly about gathering bits of every +procurable thing from moss to crystal rocks. Tavia wanted +Jacks-in-the-pulpit, and sought diligently for them, getting away from +all but Dorothy in her anxiety to find her home flower. She dearly +loved Jacks--they grew just against the Dale wall in dear old Dalton, +and she wanted to send one flower home to little Johnnie. It would be +crushed in a letter of course, but she would put some dainty little +ferns beside it and they would keep the lazy look. Then she could tell +Johnnie all about the mountain top--send him some bright red maple +leaves, and some yellow ones. + +"Oh, Dorothy!" she exclaimed. "I see some almost-purple leaves," and +down the side of a ledge she slipped. "Come on! The footing is +perfectly safe." + +Dorothy saw that the place was apparently safe, and she made her way +eagerly after Tavia. Dorothy, too, wanted to send specimens home from +Mount Gabriel, so she, too, must try to get the prettiest ones that +grew there. + +The roll of thunder was now heard by the pair but it was not heeded. +Bit by bit they made their way along the newly-discovered slope; step +by step they went farther away from their companions. + +Suddenly a flash of lightning shot down a tree! The next minute there +was a downpour of rain, like the dashing of a cloud burst. + +"Oh!" screamed Dorothy. "What shall we do?" + +[Illustration: "OH! WHAT SHALL WE DO?" CRIED DOROTHY--_Page 155.] + +"Get under the cliff!" ordered Tavia. "Quick! Before the next flash!" + +Grasping wildly at stumps and brush, as they made their way down the +now gloomy slope, the two frightened girls managed to get under some +protection--where trees, overhanging the rocks, formed a sort of roof +to a very narrow strip of ground. + +"Oh! What shall we do?" cried Dorothy again. "We can never make our +way back to the others." + +"But we must," declared Tavia. "I'm sure we cannot stay here long. +Isn't it a dreadful storm?" + +Flash upon flash, and roar upon roar tumbled over the mountain with +that strange rumble peculiar to hills and hollows. Then the rain-- + +It seemed as if the storm came to the mountain first and lost half the +drops before getting farther down. It did pour with a vengeance. +Several times Tavia ventured to poke her head out to make weather +observations, but each time she was driven unceremoniously back into +shelter. + +"It must be late!" sighed Dorothy. + +"That it must!" agreed her companion, "and we have got to get out of +here soon. Rain or no rain, we can't stay here all night. The thunder +and lightning is not so bad now. Come on! Let's go!" + +Timidly the two girls crept out. But the rain had washed their path +away and they could barely take a step where so short a time before +they seemed to walk in safety. + +"Don't give up!" Tavia urged Dorothy. "We must get to the top." + +But the stones would slide away and the young trees, loosed by the +heavy rain, would pull up at the roots. + +"Try this way," suggested Tavia, taking another line from that which +the girls knew ran to the mountain top. + +This proved to be safer in footing at least. The rocks did not fall +with such force, and the trees were stronger to hold on to. + +But where was that path taking them? Both girls shouted continually, +hoping to make the others hear, but no welcome answer came back to them. + +Then they realized the truth. They were lost! + +Night was coming, and such a night! + +On a mountain top, in a thunder storm, with darkness falling! + +The girls never knew just what they did in that awful hour, but it +seemed afterwards that a whole lifetime had been lost with them in that +storm. So far from every one on earth! Not even a bird to break that +dreadful black solitude! + +And the others? + +The storm, violent as it was, did not deter them from searching for +Dorothy and Tavia. Miss Crane had shouted her throat powerless, and +the others had not been less active. But by the strange circumstances +that always lead the lost from their seekers, both parties had followed +different directions, and at last, as night came on, Miss Crane was +obliged to lead her weeping charges down Mount Gabriel and leave the +two lost ones behind. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WHAT VIOLA DID + +"When we get to the top we will surely be able to see our way down," +declared Tavia. "So let us keep right on, even though this is not the +path we came up." + +"But the others will not find us this way," sighed Dorothy, "and isn't +it getting dark!" + +"Never mind. There must be some way of getting out of the woods. No +mountains for mine. Good flat _terra firma_ is good enough for +Chrissy." + +Dorothy tried to be cheerful--there were no bears surely on these +peaks, and perhaps no tramps--what would they be doing up there? + +"Now!" cried Tavia, "I see a way down! Keep right close to me and you +will be all right! Yes, and I see a light! There's a hut at this end +of the mountain." + +To say that the lost Glenwood girls slid down the steep hill would +hardly express the kind of speed that they indulged in--they went over +the ground like human kangaroos, and made such good time that the +light, seen by Tavia, actually stood before them now, in a little house +against the hill. + +Two ferocious dogs greeted their coming--but Tavia managed to coax them +into submission, and presently a woman peered out of a dingy window and +demanded to know what was wanted. She seemed a coarse creature and the +place was such a hovel that the girls were sorry they had come. + +"Don't answer her," cautioned Dorothy quickly. "Let's make our way to +the road." + +Tavia saw that this would be safest, although she was not sure the +woman would allow them to pass unquestioned past her stone fence. But +with a dash they did reach the highway and had made tracks along +through the muddy narrow wagon road before the woman, who was now +calling after them, could do anything more disagreeable. The dogs +followed them up for a few paces, and then turned back while the woman +continued to shout in tones that struck terror into the hearts of the +miserable girls. + +"We may be running away from Glenwood!" ventured Tavia, spattering +along, "but this road surely goes to some place--if we can only get +there." + +"Oh, I'm so out of breath," panted Dorothy. "We can walk now. The +woman has ceased shouting." + +"Wasn't it dreadful!" exclaimed Tavia. "I was just scared stiff!" + +"We do get into such awful predicaments," mused Dorothy. "But I +suppose the others are almost as frightened as we are now,--I was +dreadfully afraid when the woman shouted to us." + +"Wasn't she a scarecrow? Just like an old witch in a story book. +Listen! I thought I heard the girls!" + +"Hark!" echoed Dorothy. "I am sure that was Edna's yoddle. Answer it!" + +At the top of her voice Tavia shouted the familiar call. Then she +listened again. + +"Yes," declared Dorothy, "that's surely Ned. Oh, do let's run! They +might turn off on another road! This place seems to be all turns." + +When the welcome sounds of that call were heard by both parties little +time was lost in reaching the lost ones. What had seemed to be +nightfall was really only the blackness of the storm, and now, on the +turnpike, a golden light shot through the trees, and wrapt its glory +about the happy girls, who tried all at once to embrace the two who had +gone through such a reign of terror. + +"Hurry! Hurry!" called Miss Crane, skipping along like a schoolgirl +herself. + +To tell the story of their adventures, the Dalton girls marched in the +center of the middle row--everyone wanted to hear, and everyone wanted +to be just as near as possible to Tavia and Dorothy. + +Taking refuge under the cliff seemed exciting enough, but when Dorothy +told how they had lost the trail to the mountain top, and how all the +footing slipped down as they tried to make the ascent, the girls were +spell-bound. Then to hear Tavia describe, in her own inimitable way, +the call of "the witch"--made some shout, ad the entire party ran along +as if the same "witch" was at their heels. + +When the report was made to Mrs. Pangborn, that dignified lady looked +very seriously at Dorothy and Tavia. Miss Crane had explained the +entire affair, making it clear that the girls became separated from the +others by the merest accident, and that the storm did the rest. + +"But you must remember, my dears," said Mrs. Pangborn kindly, "that, as +boarding school girls, you should always keep near to the teacher in +charge even when taking walks across the country. It is not at all +safe to wander about as you would at home. Nor can a girl depend upon +her own judgment in asking strangers to direct her. Sometimes +thoughtless boys delight in sending the girls out of their way. I am +glad the affair has ended without further trouble. You must have +suffered when you found you really could not reach your companions. +Let it be a lesson to all of you." + +"Oh, if Miss Higley had been in charge," whispered Edna, when the girls +rehearsed their interview with Mrs. Pangborn. "You would not have +gotten off so easily. She would have said you ran away from us." + +So the days at Glenwood gently lapped over the quiet nights, until week +after week marked events of more or less importance in the lives of +those who had given themselves to what learning may be obtained from +books; what influence may be gained from close companionship with those +who might serve as models; and what fun might be smuggled in between +the lines, always against the rules, but never in actual defiance of a +single principle of the old New England institution. + +"Just the by-laws," the girls would declare. "We can always suspend +them, as long as we do not touch the constitution." + +This meant, of course, that innocent, harmless fun was always +permissible when no one suffered by the pranks, and no damage was done +to property or character. + +Rose-Mary Markin had become Dorothy's intimate friend. She was what is +termed an all-round girl, both cultured and broad minded, a rare +combination of character to find in a girl still in a preparatory +school. She was as quick as a flash to detect deceit and yet gentle as +one of the Babes in settling all matters where there was a question of +actual intention. The benefit of the doubt was her maxim, and, as +president of the Glenwood Club, the membership of which included girls +from all the ranks, there was plenty of opportunity for Rose-Mary to +exercise her benificence. + +Viola Green had, as promised, resigned from office in the Nicks, and +what was more she had organized a society in direct opposition to its +principles. All the girls who had not done well in the old club +readily fell in with the promises of the new order, and soon Viola had +a distinct following--the girls with grievances against Rose-Mary, +imagined or otherwise. Molly Richards kept her "eye pealed for bombs," +she told Dorothy, and declared the "rebs" would be heard from sooner or +later in the midst of smokeless powder. + +"It's a conspiracy against someone," announced Molly to Rose-Mary one +evening. "I heard them hatching the plot and--well I wouldn't like to +be unfair, but that Viola does hate Dorothy." + +"She can never hurt Dorothy Dale," answered the upright president of +the Glenwood Club. "She is beyond all that sort of thing." + +But little did she know how Viola Green could hurt Dorothy Dale. Less +did she think how serious could be the "hurt" inflicted. + +The mid-year examinations had passed off, and the Dalton girls held +their own through the auspicious event. Dorothy showed a splendid +fundamental education; that which fits a girl for clear study in +subsequent undertakings, and that which is so often the result of the +good solid training given in country schools where methods are not +continually changing. Tavia surprised herself with getting through +better than she had hoped, and credited her good luck to some plain +facts picked up in the dear old Dalton schoolroom. + +But a letter from home disturbed Tavia's pleasant Glenwood life--her +father wrote of the illness of Mrs. Travers and said it was necessary +that their daughter should come home. For a few weeks only, the +missive read, just while the mother had time to rest up and recover her +strength--the illness was nothing of a serious nature. + +It did not seem possible that Tavia was packed and gone and that +Dorothy was left in the school. A sense of this loneliness almost +overpowered Dorothy when she realized that her sister-friend was +gone--and the little bed across her room all smooth and unruffled by +the careless, jolly girl who tried to make life a joke and did her best +to make others share the same opinion. + +It was Rose-Mary who came to cheer Dorothy in the loss of Tavia. She +sat with her evenings until the very last minute, and more than once +was caught in the dark halls, the lights having been turned out before +the girl could reach her own quarters. + +Rose-Mary and Dorothy had similar fancies. Both naturally refined, +they found many things to interest them--things that most of the girls +would not have bothered their pretty heads about. So their friendship +grew stronger and their hearts became attuned, each to the other's +rhythm, until Dorothy and Rose-Mary were the closest kind of friends. + +Mrs. Pangborn had decided upon a play for mid-year. It would be a sort +of trial for the big event which always marked the term's close at +Glenwood and the characters would embrace students from all +departments. The play was called Lalia, and was the story of a pilgrim +on her way, intercepted by a Queen of Virtue and again sought out by +the Queen of Pleasure. The pilgrim is lost in the woods of doubt, and +finally brought to the haven of happiness by the Virtuous Queen +Celesta. This Pilgrim's Progress required many characters for the +queen's retinues, besides the stars, of course, and the lesser parts. + +Dorothy was chosen for Lalia--the best character. + +The part had been assigned by vote, and Dorothy's splendid golden hair, +coupled with that "angelic face," according to her admirers, won the +part for her. Rose-Mary Markin was made Celesta, the Queen of Virtue: +and Viola Green, because of her dark complexion, being opposite that of +Celesta, was elected to be Frivolita, the Queen of Pleasure. + +Each queen was allowed to select her own retinue--a delicious task, +said the ones most interested. + +Mrs. Pangborn made a neat little speech at the Glenwood meeting where +these details were decided upon, and in it referred to the lesson of +the story, incidentally hinting that some of the pupils had lately +taken it upon themselves to do things not in strict accord with the +history of her school--the forming of a society, for instance, without +the consent or knowledge of any of the faculty. This secret doing, she +said, could not continue. Either the girls should come to her and make +known the object of their club, or this club could no longer hold +meetings. + +This came like a thunderbolt from a clear sky--and by some Dorothy was +promptly accused of tale bearing. + +But in spite of it all another secret meeting was held and at it the +"Rebs," as they actually called themselves, declared open rebellion. +They would not submit to such tyranny, and, further, they would not +take part in any play in which Dorothy Dale held an important part. + +It was then the bomb was thrown by Viola, the bomb that she carried all +the way from Dalton, and had kept waiting for a chance to set it +off--until now--the hour of seeming triumph for Dorothy. + +"I'll tell you the positive truth, girls," Viola began, first being +sure that no one but those in the "club" were within reach of her +voice, "I saw, with my own eyes, that girl, who pretends to be so good +and who goes around with a text on her simpering smile--I saw her get +out of a police patrol wagon!" + +"Oh!" gasped the girls. "You really didn't." + +"I most positively did. Indeed!" sneered the informer, "every one in +Dalton knows it. Tavia Travers was in the same scrape, and in the same +wagon. It was after that affair that they made up their minds, in a +hurry, to get out of their home town and come to Glenwood!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE STRIKE OF THE REBS + +One miserable day Dorothy found all her friends, at least those who had +claimed to be her friends, suddenly lost to her. Those who were not +openly rude enough to deliberately turn their backs upon the astonished +girl, made some pretense of avoiding conversation with her. + +It all came so unexpectedly, and without any apparent explanation, that +Dorothy was stunned--even the effervescent Edna only gave her a +measured smile and walked down the hall to the study room without +breaking her silence. + +The day wore on like a dream of awful fancies that try to choke but +withhold even such a mercy as a final stroke. + +What had she done? Where was Rose-Mary? And why would not someone +come and accuse her outright, that she might at least know the charge +against her--a charge serious enough to spread in one day throughout +Glenwood school! + +Evening fell, but even then Rose-Mary did not come to Dorothy's room. +On the following day there was to be a rehearsal for the play, and how +could Lalia repeat her lines? How could Dorothy pretend to be the +happy little pilgrim who starts alone on the uncertain path of life? + +Mrs. Pangborn was ready in the recreation hall, some of the others were +there discussing their characters and other things. The hour for the +rehearsal came, and with it appeared some twenty girls, among them, but +not their leader (so it seemed) being Viola Green. + +They approached Mrs. Pangborn and then Adele Thomas spoke. + +"Mrs. Pangborn," she began with flushed cheeks, "we have come to say +that we cannot take part in the play unless another girl is selected +for the character of Lalia." + +"Why!" demanded the astonished principal. "What does this mean!" and +she too flushed at the very idea of her pupils' insurrection. + +"Because--" faltered the spokeswoman, "we do not like her. She has +pretended to be what she is not, and never will be." + +This was a bold speech. Dorothy Dale paled to the lips. + +"Hush this instant!" ordered the surprised Mrs. Pangborn. "Let no one +dare make such an assertion. If anything is wrong my office is the +place to settle it. Leave the hall instantly. I shall send for you +when I desire to make an investigation." + +Mrs. Pangborn placed her hand tenderly on Dorothy's shoulder as she +passed out. + +"Do not worry, dear," she whispered. "This is some nonsense those +girls with the new club idea have originated. It will be all right." + +But Dorothy flew to her room and alone she cried--cried as if her heart +would break! If only Tavia had not left her! If Rose-Mary would only +come to her! Where was Rose-Mary? She had not even appeared at class +that day. But, after all, what did it matter? Perhaps she too--no, +Dorothy could not believe that. Rose-Mary would never condemn her +unheard. + +How long Dorothy lay there sobbing out her grief on the little white +bed, she did not know. Dusk came and the supper hour, but she made no +attempt to leave the room. A maid had been sent to her with some toast +and tea, and a line from dear Miss Crane, but Dorothy was utterly +unable to do more than murmur a word of thanks to be repeated to the +thoughtful teacher. + +When it grew so dark that the window shadows no longer tried to cheer +her with their antics, Dorothy was startled by a sudden tap at her +door, and, the next moment, Rose-Mary had her in her warm, loving arms. + +[Illustration: THE NEXT MOMENT, ROSE-MARY HAD HER IN HER WARM, LOVING +ARMS--_Page_ 172] + +"What is it?" demanded the older girl at once. "Tell me about it. +What have they said to you?" + +"Oh, Rose-Mary," sobbed Dorothy, bursting into fresh tears, "why did +you leave me all alone?" + +"Why, I did not leave you! I had to go into Rainsville early this +morning, and have just this very minute gotten back. Mrs. Pangborn +knew I would be late and sent James with the cart to meet me." + +"Oh, I did not know you were out of school," and the explanation +afforded Dorothy at least one ray of relief. + +"Didn't Nita tell you? I asked her to do so at study hour." + +"Not a girl has spoken to me all day!" declared the weeping one. "Oh, +Rose-Mary, what do you think it is all about?" + +"I cannot find out. They seem determined not to let me know. I +thought you could tell me." + +"I haven't the slightest idea. If only Ned or Dick would tell you then +I might have a chance--" + +"I'll never sleep until I find out!" declared Rose-Mary. "The idea!" +and her brown eyes flashed indignantly. "I never heard of such a +thing! You poor little dear!" and she held Dorothy to her in an +unmistakable embrace. + +"If Tavia were here--" + +"Yes, she would settle it soon enough--with her fists if necessary. +And I do believe that such work deserves just such treatment. But I +will do all I can for you, and perhaps our vengeance will be just as +sure if not so swift!" + +"It seems strange that all the girls should take the same view of it," +reflected Dorothy. "I should think some of them would speak to me +about it." + +"No good to try guessing at such a thing," said Rose-Mary, wisely. +"And now do eat up that toast. Who sent it?" + +"Miss Crane." + +"The dear! I hold Camille Crane the guardian angel of Glenwood. But +eat her toast. There, take this sip of tea, or shall I light the lamp +under it?" + +"I like it cold," said Dorothy, whose lips were quite feverish. "I +will take the toast--I feel so much better since I have you back." + +"But if I am to see Dick and Ned I must be about it," spoke Rose-Mary, +consulting her watch. "Just go to sleep and don't worry a single bit. +I'll tell you all about it to-morrow," and, with a hearty kiss, the +sweet girl was gone. + +As if events conspired to keep Dorothy worrying, it was announced the +next morning that Mrs. Pangborn had been called to Boston and this +meant, of course, that the investigation would have to wait for her +return. + +Neither was Rose-Mary successful in gaining the desired information. +Molly had not heard all about it, neither had Edna, so they said, but +they did admit they had promised not to tell either Rose or Dorothy, +for that would mean trouble for the tale bearer. + +"It's something about Dalton," said Edna, really anxious to tell Rose, +but feeling she must keep her promise, as the matter had assumed such +an importance. + +Molly declared that Amy Grant had told her it was about Dorothy and +Tavia being in some awful scrape and that they had been arrested for it. + +This seemed so ridiculous that Rose-Mary did not for a moment credit it +with being the story that caused the trouble. She would not insult +Dorothy with a hint of that silly gossip, and, if those girls were +foolish enough, she decided, to believe in any such nonsense, why, let +them go right on, they must learn their own lesson. So it happened +that Dorothy did not get the hint--that which would have been enough to +afford her the opportunity of making an explanation. But Edna did +speak pleasantly to her after Rose-Mary's talk, and Molly actually +apologized. + +Mrs. Pangborn had been away two days, then a week had passed since the +promise of an investigation, and Mrs. Pangborn was not at school yet. +The girls in Viola's club (they still regarded themselves as being in +it, although the forbidden meetings were suspended), left Rose-Mary, +Dorothy, Molly and Edna entirely to themselves. + +"Dick" and "Ned" were charged with telling the story to Rose-Mary, +although they stoutly denied the allegation. But Adele Thomas +suspected them, they had always been such friends of the Dalton girls, +it seemed best to the "Rebs" to keep them out of further affairs of the +kind--they should hear no more of the secrets against the despised +Dorothy. + +Even the play was at a standstill, nothing but lessons and sadness +seemed Dorothy's share at Glenwood now. If only Mrs. Pangborn would +come and give her a chance to speak for herself, she would write home +immediately and ask to go back to her dear "daddy," to thoughtful, +brave little Joe, and to dear, darling, baby Roger. + +Yes, and Aunt Libby would love her so--it would be so good to have all +love again! And they were all at North Birchland, with Aunt Winnie. +Every letter brought good news of the happy home established there +since Dorothy left for Glenwood. + +"I will ask to go home next week," sobbed Dorothy, "whether Mrs. +Pangborn comes back or not. I simply cannot stand this--I feel +like--Oh, I feel like I did when I stepped out of that awful police +patrol." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DOROTHY'S SACRIFICE + +The day had been unusually tiresome, all the little spots of jollity, +club meetings, evening fudge parties and the like having suddenly been +abandoned, and Dorothy, with Rose-Mary, was trying to find comfort in +watching a winter sunset. + +"Did you know Mrs. Pangborn had come back?" asked Rose, burying her +chin in her palms, and dropping into a reclining attitude. + +"No," said Dorothy, simply, still watching the floating clouds. + +"Yes, and I overheard a maid ask Viola Green to go to the office after +tea." + +"Viola?" echoed Dorothy abstractedly. + +"Of course you know it is she who made all this fuss, and I'm right +glad she has been called to give an explanation at last." + +"I have not been able to get the least hint of what it was all about," +mused Dorothy. "I had a letter from Tavia to-day, and I'm afraid she +cannot come back this term. My last lingering hope went out when I +read that. Tavia would be sure to dig it out someway." + +Rose-Mary thought how foolish had been the talk she had "dug out," and +smiled when she imagined Tavia at work at such nonsense. But she would +not pain Dorothy with the thought of that talk--too silly and too +unkind to bother her with,--decided Rose, so that then, as well as on +other occasions when the opportunity came to her to mention the arrest +story, she let it pass. + +"Let's go see Dick," suggested Rose, "we'll find Ned there and perhaps +we may manage some fun. I'm positively getting musty." + +"You go," said Dorothy, just as Rose had expected, "I'll do my +exercises--I'm pages behind." + +"Not without you," argued the other, "I have lots I ought to do, but +I'm going to cut it for this night. Come along," and she took +Dorothy's arm. "I'm dying to hear Ned sing a coon song." + +But they found number twenty-three vacant. Edna was out, so was Molly, +in fact everybody seemed to be out, for knots of girls talked in every +corner of the halls and always stopped speaking when Dorothy and Rose +came up to them. + +"It's the investigation!" whispered Rose. "They are waiting for Viola; +did you ever see such a crowd of magpies." + +"I'm going in," said Dorothy, nervously. "I can't bear the way they +look at me." + +"All right," assented Rose, "I'll see you home since I dragged you out. +And I'll promise to make known to you the words of the very first +bulletin. Sorry to be so cruel, but I cannot find any sympathy in my +heart for Viola Green." + +"Oh, indeed I can," spoke up the kind-hearted Dorothy. "She has so +much worry about her mother. And perhaps she inherits some peculiar +trait--" + +"Bottle Green, I suppose. Well, you can pity her if you like, but I +will save mine until I know why." + +So Rose-Mary kissed Dorothy good-night--she had done so regularly of +late, and the two friends parted. For some time the hum of voices +could be heard in the corridor outside Dorothy's door, then the lights +were turned out and everything seemed as usual. + +But in room twelve Viola Green was struggling--struggling with a +weighty problem. What Mrs. Pangborn had said to her that evening in +the office meant for Viola dismissal from school, unless--unless-- + +Viola was thinking of a plan. Surely she could make Dorothy agree to +it, Dorothy was so easy to manage, so easy to influence. + +In room nineteen Dorothy had not yet gone to her bed. She felt nervous +and restless. Then too, she had fully decided to leave Glenwood and +she had to think over what that meant for her, for her father and for +Aunt Winnie. + +What explanation could she make? She had never been a coward, why +could she not face this thing and show everybody that she deserved no +blame? + +Surely Major Dale's Little Captain should display better courage than +to let a crowd of foolish schoolgirls drive her from Glenwood! + +Dorothy was thinking over the whole miserable affair when a timid knock +came to her door. + +It was too late for any of the girls--perhaps it was Mrs. Pangborn! + +Dorothy opened the door promptly. + +Viola Green stood before her--in a nightrobe, with her thick black hair +falling about her like a pall. + +"Viola!" whispered Dorothy, as kindly and quietly as if that girl had +not stood between her and happiness. + +"Oh, let me come in," begged the black-eyed girl in a wretched voice. +"Quick! Some one may see me!" + +"What is it?" asked Dorothy, making a chair ready and then turning up +the light. + +"Oh, please don't turn that up," begged the visitor. "I can't stand +it! Dorothy, I feel as if I should die!" + +Dorothy had felt that way herself a moment ago, but now there was +someone else to look after; now she must not think of herself. How +different it was with Viola! The ability to act is often a wonderful +advantage. Viola made excellent use of her talent now. + +"Dorothy," she began, "I have come to ask a great favor of you. And I +do not know how to begin." She buried her face in her hands and left +the other to draw out the interview as she might choose to. It was +gaining time to lose it in that way. + +"Is it about your mother?" asked the unsuspecting Dorothy. + +"Yes, it is," wailed Viola. "It is really about her, although I am in +it too." + +"Is she worse?" + +"Dreadfully bad"--and in this Viola did not deceive--. "I had a letter +to-day--But Oh! Dorothy, promise you will help me!" + +"I certainly will if I can!" declared Dorothy, warmly, quite anxious +about Viola's grief. + +"Oh, you can--and you are the only one who can! But how will I ask +you?" and again Viola buried her white face in her equally white hands. + +"Tell me what it is," said Dorothy, gently. + +"Oh, you know that foolish story about the Dalton police wagon--" + +"What about it?" asked Dorothy, perplexed. + +"Oh, that nonsense about you and Tavia riding in it," and Viola tried +to pass off the "nonsense" without allowing Dorothy time to realize +just what she had to say. + +"Well, what of that?" asked Dorothy again. + +Would she ever grasp it? Viola was almost impatient, but of course she +dare not show such a sentiment. + +"Why, you know I told it to a couple of girls just for fun one day, and +they took it up in earnest. The silly things!--and then to make all +this trouble over it!" + +"What trouble could that have possibly made?" and Dorothy seemed as +much in the dark as ever. + +Could it be that Dorothy had lived it all down and did not now consider +it trouble? Viola's heart gave a jump for joy at the thought. It +might after all be easier than she expected. + +"I am so glad they have not said anything to you about it. I have been +dreadfully worried over it," went on Viola with a sigh. + +"I am sorry, I hope you haven't been worrying on my account." + +"Well, I was. You did seem so sad--but I should have known you had +better sense." + +"I have been and am still very sad at Glenwood. In fact, I have almost +made up my mind to leave." + +"When?" gasped Viola. Then to hide the joy that Dorothy's words +brought her, she continued, "Do you have to go? Is someone ill?" + +"No, not at home. But I am afraid I'll be ill if I do not stop this +worrying," and Dorothy indeed looked very pale and miserable. Even +Viola could not help noticing that. + +"I wouldn't blame you," spoke Viola. "It's dreadful to be homesick." + +"But I am not homesick," replied Dorothy. "I would not allow that +feeling to conquer me when I know what it meant for father to let me +come here. I must make good use of my time, and not be foolish. But +no matter how I try to be happy, it seems useless. And I know I am not +strong enough to keep that up. So," and Dorothy sighed heavily, +leaning her head against the blanket that covered the foot of her bed, +"I feel I must go away!" + +Tears rolled down her cheeks. She loved Glenwood and could not bear +the thought of leaving the school which had been so pleasant before +Tavia went, and before that awful afternoon in the hall. + +"What I really wanted to ask you, Dorothy, is about that story." + +"What story?" + +"You are not listening to me, Dorothy, and I am just as miserable as I +can be. Do tell me you will do what I ask." + +"I certainly was listening, and I am sorry you are miserable. But what +is it you want me to do?" + +Viola decided instantly upon a bold strike. She would make her demand +and then follow it up so closely Dorothy would not know just what she +was giving her promise to. + +"Mrs. Pangborn sent for me to-night, and gave me such a dreadful +scolding, I just cried myself sick," said Viola, "and now when she +sends for you, and asks you about that ride, I want you to promise you +will not deny it!" + +"Certainly I shall not deny it! Why should I?" + +"Then, if she wants to know what it is all about, just don't give her +any more information. Say you did ride in the patrol wagon and that I +had not told a lie. She actually said she would dismiss me if--if you +said I had told what was not true. And oh, Dorothy! You know that +would kill mother! Just as sure as a shot from a gun would kill her, +my dismissal from Glenwood would do it!" + +"But why should you be dismissed? If you only told the story in fun, +and it has done no harm--" + +"Of course that's exactly the way to look at it. But I'm so afraid +Mrs. Pangborn will take another view of it. Promise me, Dorothy! Oh, +please promise me!" and Viola actually knelt before the girl on the +bedside. "When Mrs. Pangborn asks for an explanation just say I told +the truth, that you did ride in the police wagon. And then if she +insists on hearing all the story make some excuse, but do not tell it! +Oh! if you knew how worried I am! And how dreadful it would be if she +took it into her head to dismiss me!" + +As Viola expected, she did bewilder Dorothy. Why should Viola weep and +carry on so? But of course her mother was very delicate and perhaps it +might get mixed up so that Viola would be blamed! + +As if anything could be more mixed than that story was at present! +Dorothy arranging to leave school because she could not find out why +her companions had taken a sudden dislike to her, and Viola there +telling her why, and yet keeping the real truth as far from her as it +had ever been hidden. + +"But why should I not tell Mrs. Pangborn about the ride if she asks +me?" insisted Dorothy, trying to see what was hidden from her. + +"Because, don't you see, those girls may have made foolish remarks, and +they will be blamed on me. Just because I was silly enough to believe +they could see through a joke. And if you do not tell the story, there +can be no further complications. It may be a little hard but, oh, +Dorothy! do promise me!" and again Viola grasped both Dorothy's cold +hands in hers. + +"I certainly would not do anything that would bring trouble on you," +reflected Dorothy aloud, "especially if that might worry your poor, +sick mother." + +"Oh, you darling! I knew you would promise. Now, no matter what Mrs. +Pangborn says, promise you will not do more than admit you took the +ride--be sure not to say why you took it!" + +Dorothy was not suspicious by nature, else she would have seen through +the thin veil that hung between Viola and that word "promise." She was +using it too frequently for good taste, but she wanted and insisted on +getting a real, absolute Promise. + +"But it might be rude for me to refuse to tell why we were in the +wagon, and at the same time to say we were in it." + +"Rude!" echoed Viola. "What small account that would be compared to my +dismissal from school." + +Dorothy tried to think--just as Viola had planned, she was not able to +reason it all out clearly--it was too complicated. The night was +getting old, it was ten o'clock and every Glenwood girl was expected to +be sleeping honestly, but these two were still far from reaching a +satisfactory settlement of their difficulty. + +"One thing is certain, Viola," said Dorothy firmly, "I cannot and will +not do anything that would seem disrespectful to Mrs. Pangborn. Not +only is she a grand, sweet woman, a kind, just teacher, but she was my +mother's friend and is still my father's friend. So that it would be +impossible for me to do, or say, anything rude to her!" + +This was a declaration of principles at last. And Viola for the moment +seemed beaten. But girls of her type have more than one loophole in +such an emergency. + +"I had no idea of asking you to do anything unlady-like," she said with +a show of indignation. "It was you who made use of that word. I +merely asked that you would, if possible, not make known to Mrs. +Pangborn the details of the story. Of course I was foolish to think +you would care about their effect upon me, or my dying mother." + +Viola rose to leave. Tears were in her eyes and she did look forlorn. + +"I will do all I can to save you," Dorothy assured her, "and if I can +avoid the story, without being impertinent, I promise to do so." + +"Oh, bless you, Dorothy Dale!" exclaimed the now truly miserable girl. +"I am sure, then, that it will be all right. When you make a promise +you know how to keep it!" and before Dorothy could say another word her +visitor was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE TANGLED WEB + +What happened that night seemed like a dream to Dorothy. Accustomed to +think of others and to forget herself, she pondered long and earnestly +over the grief that Viola had shown. Surely there was some strange +influence between mother and daughter. Dorothy remembered the looks +akin to adoration that Mrs. Green continually gave her daughter that +day in the train. Viola had certainly done an imprudent thing in +telling the story, Dorothy had no idea it was more than imprudent; +neither did she know how seriously that act had affected herself. Even +now, as she tried to grasp the entire situation, it never occurred to +her that this was the story that stood between her and the friendship +of the Glenwood girls. For the time that unpleasant affair was almost +forgotten--this new problem was enough to wrestle with. + +Early the next morning Mrs. Pangborn sent for Dorothy. The president's +appearance immediately struck the girl as different; she was in +mourning. + +"I hope you have not lost a dear friend," said Dorothy, impulsively, +before Mrs. Pangborn had addressed her. + +"Yes, Dorothy," she replied, "I have--lost my father." + +There was no show of emotion, but the girl saw that no grief could be +keener. + +"I am so sorry," said Dorothy. + +"Yes, my dear, I am sure you are. And your father knew him well. They +were very old friends." + +"I have heard him speak of Mr. Stevens." + +"Yes, I suppose you have. Well, his troubles are over, I hope. But, +Dorothy, I sent to ask you about that story some of the young ladies +have been circulating about you. Of course it is all nonsense--" + +"What story have you reference to, Mrs. Pangborn?" + +"You must have heard it. That you and Octavia were seen getting out of +a police patrol wagon in Dalton. It is absurd, of course." + +"But we did ride in a patrol wagon, Mrs. Pangborn," answered Dorothy, +trying hard to keep Viola's tearful face before her mind, to guide her +in her statements. + +"How foolish, child. It might have been a joke--Tell me about it!" + +"If you would excuse me, Mrs. Pangborn, and not think me rude, I would +rather not," said Dorothy, her cheeks aflame. + +"Not tell me!" and the lady raised her eyebrows. "Why, Dorothy! Is +there any good reason why you do not wish to tell me?" + +"Yes, I have made a promise. It may not be of much account, but, if +you will excuse me, it would relieve me greatly not to go over it." + +Mrs. Pangborn did not answer at once. For a girl to admit she had +ridden in a police van and for that girl to be Dorothy Dale! It seemed +incredible. + +"Dorothy," she began, gravely, "whatever may be back of this, I am sure +you have not been at fault--seriously at least. And since you prefer +not to make me your confidant I cannot force you to do so. I am sorry. +I had expected something different. The young ladies will scarcely +make apologies to you under the circumstances." + +She made a motion as if to dismiss Dorothy. Plainly the head of +Glenwood School could not be expected to plead with a pupil--certainly +not to-day, when her new and poignant grief could not be hidden. + +"I shall say to the young ladies," said the teacher, finally, "that +they are to show you all the respect they had shown you heretofore. +That you have done nothing to be ashamed of--I am sure of this, +although you make the matter so mysterious. I would like to have +compelled the girl who spread this report to make amends, but I cannot +do that. You do not deny her story." + +At that moment Dorothy saw, or at least guessed, what it all meant. +That had been the story of her trouble! It was that which made the +girls turn their backs on her--that which had almost broken her heart. +And now she had put it out of her power to contradict their charges! + +Mrs. Pangborn had said "good morning," Dorothy was alone in the +corridor. She had left the office and could not now turn back! + +Oh, why had she been so easily deceived? Why had Viola made her give +that promise? Surely it must have been more than that! The story, to +cause all the girls to shun her! And perhaps Mrs. Pangborn believed it +all! No, she had refused to believe it. But what should Dorothy do +now? + +Oh, what a wretched girl she was! How much it had cost her to lose +Tavia! Tavia would have righted this wrong long ago. But now she +stood alone! She could not even speak of leaving the school without +strengthening the cruel suspicion, whatever it might be. + +What would she do? To whom would she turn? + +Heart-sick, and all but ill, Dorothy turned into her lonely little +room. She would not attempt to go to classes that morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +SUSPICIONS + +"What did she say?" eagerly asked a knot of girls, as Viola Green made +her appearance the morning after her interview with the head of +Glenwood school. + +"Humph!" sniffed Viola, "what could she say?" + +"Did she send for Dorothy?" went on the curious ones. + +"I have just seen her step out of the office this minute and she +couldn't see me. Her eyes wouldn't let her." + +"Then she didn't deny it!" spoke Amy Brook. "I could scarcely make +myself believe that of her." + +"Ask her about it, then," suggested Viola, to whom the term brazen +would seem, at that moment, to be most applicable. + +"Oh, excuse me," returned Amy. "I never wound where I can avoid it. +The most polite way always turns out the most satisfactory." + +"And do you suppose she is going to leave school?" asked Nita Brant, +timidly, as if afraid of her own voice in the matter. + +"She told me so last night," said Viola, meekly. "I don't blame her." + +"No," said a girl with deep blue eyes, and a baby chin, "I do not see +how any girl could stand such cuts, and Dorothy seemed such a sweet +girl." + +"Better go and hug her now," sneered Viola, "I fancy you will find her +rolled up in bed, with her red nose, dying for air." + +"It is the strangest thing--" demurred Amy. + +"Not at all," insisted Viola, "all sweet girls have two sides to their +characters. But I am sick of the whole thing. Let's drop it." + +"And take up Dorothy again?" eagerly asked Nita. + +"Oh, just as you like about that. If you want to associate with girls +who ride in police wagons--" + +"Well, I do want to!" declared Nita, suddenly. "And I don't believe +one word against Dorothy Dale. It must be some mistake. I will ask +her about it myself." + +"If you wish to spare her you will do nothing of the kind," said Viola. +"I tell you it is absolutely true. That she has just this minute +admitted it to Mrs. Pangborn. Don't you think if it were a mistake I +would have to correct it, when the thing has now been thoroughly +investigated?" + +It was plain that many of the girls were apt to take Nita's view. They +had given the thing a chance to develop, and they were satisfied now +that a mistake had been made somewhere. Of course the clever turns +made by Viola, kept "the ball rolling." + +"There's the bell!" announced Amy, reluctantly leaving the discussion +unfinished. This was the signal for laying aside all topics other than +those relative to the curriculum of Glenwood, and, as the girls filed +into the chapel for prayers, more than one missed Dorothy, her first +morning to absent herself from the exercise. + +Miss Higley was in charge, Mrs. Pangborn also being out of her +accustomed place. + +Directly after the short devotions there was whispering. + +"Young ladies!" called the teacher, in a voice unusually severe, "you +must attend strictly to your work. There has been enough lax +discipline in Glenwood recently. I will have no more of it." + +"Humph!" sniffed Viola, aside, "since when did she buy the school!" + +Miss Higley's eyes were fastened upon her. But Viola's recent +experiences had the effect of making her reckless--she felt quite +immune to punishment now. + +"Attend to your work, Miss Green!" called Miss Higley. + +"Attend to your own," answered Viola under her breath, but the teacher +saw that she had spoken, and knew that the remark was not a polite one. + +"What did you say?" asked the teacher. + +"Nothing," retorted Viola, still using a rude tone. + +"You certainly answered me, and I insist upon knowing what you said." + +Viola was silent now, but her eyes spoke volumes. + +"Will you please repeat that remark?" insisted Miss Higley. + +"No," said Viola, sharply, "I will not!" + +Miss Higley's ruddy face flashed a deep red. To have a pupil openly +defy a teacher is beyond the forgiveness of many women less aggressive +than Miss Higley. + +"You had better leave the room," she said--"take your books with you." + +"I won't require them," snapped Viola, intending to give out the +impression that she would leave school if she were to be treated in +that manner by Miss Higley. + +"Get at your work, young ladies," finished the teacher, fastening her +eyes on her own books, and thus avoiding anything further with Viola. + +To reach her room Viola was obliged to pass Dorothy's. Just as she +came up to number nineteen Dorothy opened the door. Her eyes were red +from weeping, and she looked very unhappy indeed. + +"Oh, do come in Viola," she said, surprised to see the girl before her. +"I was going to you directly after class--I did not know you were out." + +"I cannot come now," answered Viola. "I must go to my room!" + +"Is there anything the matter?" inquired Dorothy, kindly. + +"Yes," replied Viola, using her regular tactics, that of forcing +Dorothy to make her own conclusions. + +"Is your mother worse?" + +"I, oh--my head aches so. You must excuse me Dorothy," and at this +Viola burst into tears, another ruse that always worked well with the +sympathetic Dorothy. + +The fact was Dorothy had spent a very miserable hour that morning, +after her talk with the president, and she had finally decided to put +the whole thing to Viola, to ask her for a straight-forward +explanation, and to oblige her to give it. But now Viola was in +trouble--Dorothy had no idea that the trouble was a matter of temper, +and of course her mother must be worse, thought Dorothy. How glad she +was, after all, that she did make the sacrifice! It was much easier +for her to stand it than to crush Viola with any more grief! + +Crush her indeed! It takes more than the mere words of a just school +teacher and more than the pale face of a persecuted girl to crush such +a character as that which Viola Green was lately cultivating. + +And as Viola turned into her room she determined never to apologize to +Miss Higley. She would leave Glenwood first. + +Meanwhile what different sentiments were struggling in Dorothy's heart? +She had bathed her face, and would go into the classroom. She might be +in time for some work, and now there was no use in wasting time over +the trouble. She would never mention it to Viola, that poor girl had +enough to worry her. Neither would she try to right it in any way. +After all, Mrs. Pangborn believed in her, so did Edna and Molly, and a +letter from home that morning told of the recovery of Tavia's mother. +Perhaps Tavia would be back to school soon. It might be hard to meet +the scornful looks of the other girls, but it could not possibly be as +hard as what Viola had to bear. + +So thought our dear Little Captain, she who was ever ready to take upon +her young and frail shoulders the burdens of others. + +But such virtue plainly has its own reward--Dorothy Dale entered the +classroom at eleven o'clock that morning, with peace in her heart. +Viola Green was out of the school room and was fighting the greatest +enemies of her life--Pride, mingled with Jealousy. + +It had been that from the first, from the very first moment she set her +eyes on Dorothy Dale, whose beautiful face was then framed in the +ominous black lining of the police patrol. + +It had been jealousy ever since. Dorothy had made friends with the +best girls in Glenwood, she had been taken up by the teachers, she had +been given the best part in the play (but Viola could not stand that) +and now that the play had been abandoned on account of the death of +Mrs. Panghorn's father, and that Dorothy had been disgraced, what more +did Viola crave? + +Was not her vengeance complete? + +But the girls were beginning to doubt the story, and those who did not +actually disbelieve it were tiring of its phases. The promised +excitement did not develop. All the plans of the Rebs were dead, and +to be a member of that party did not mean happiness,--it meant actual +danger of discipline. + +Viola was too shrewd not to notice all this, and to realize that her +clientele was falling off alarmingly. + +Would she really leave Glenwood? The wrong done Dorothy seemed to be +righting itself in spite of all her devices, and that girl, disgraced +though she stood in the eyes of many, seemed happier at the moment than +Viola herself. + +"I wish I had gone home when I had father's last letter," reflected the +girl, looking in her mirror at the traces of grief that insisted on +setting their stamp upon her olive face. "But now, of course that old +cat Higley will make a fuss--Oh, I wish I never had seen these cracked +walls. I wish I had gone to a fashionable school--" + +She stopped suddenly. Why not get away now to that swell school near +Boston? She could surely set aside her mother's foolish sentiment +about Glenwood,--just because she had met Mrs. Pangborn abroad and had +become interested in this particular school for girls. + +Viola had enough of it. She would leave--go home. And then +perhaps--she might get to the Beaumonde Academy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +SUNSHINE AGAIN + +A sense of suppressed excitement greeted Dorothy as she entered the +classroom. Edna and Molly managed to greet her personally with a +pleasant little nod, and even Miss Higley raised her eyes to say good +morning. + +Certainly Dorothy felt heroic--and she had good reason. Having +suffered so long from a mysterious insult, she now had fortified +herself against its stigma. + +At the same time she was conscious of an awful weight hanging over her +head--like the gloom of those who suffer without hope. + +"She just looks like a sweet nun," whispered Ned to Amy. + +"Doesn't she," agreed Amy. "I wish we could make her smile." + +But Dorothy buried herself in her studies, with a determination born of +perfect self-control. + +The morning wore into mid-day, then the recreation hour brought +relaxation from all mental effort. A number of the girls who had been +at first conspicuous figures in the Rebs made a particular effort to +speak to Dorothy. She met their advances pleasantly, but with some +hesitancy--they might only mean to make an opportunity for further +trouble, Dorothy thought. + +"See here!" called Edna, running along the walk after Dorothy. "Have +you taken the black veil? Not that such a vocation is to be made light +of," seeing a frown come over Dorothy's face, "but you know we cannot +spare you just yet. You may be the dear little nun of Glenwood, but +you will have to keep up with the Glens and the Nicks. We are planning +a reunion, you know." + +"Yes, and we are going to give a play on our own account," said Molly, +coming up at that moment. "Mrs. Pangborn has granted permission and we +are about to select the operetta--it will be a musical affair this +time." + +"That ought to be lovely," responded Dorothy. "There are so many fine +players among the girls." + +"Yes, and you can sing," declared Molly. "We are counting on you for +our prima donna." + +"Oh, and we might have Viola accompany her on the violin! Wouldn't +that be divine!" enthused a girl from Portland. + +A hush followed this suggestion. It was the awkward kind that actually +sounds louder than a yell of surprise. + +"What is it?" asked Rose-Mary, joining the group and giving Dorothy a +hug "on the half shell," which in the parlance of schoolgirls means a +spontaneous fling of the arms around the one on the defensive. + +"Cologne will be sure to suggest something from English Lit." predicted +Molly. "She being a star in that line herself thinks the stuff equally +pie for all of us. We might try French--I said 'try,' Ned Ebony; you +need not strangle yourself with that gasp!" + +"Came near it," admitted the one with her mouth open. "Fancy us doing +French!" + +"Then suppose we go back to the woods--try Red Riding Hood?" + +"Fine and dandy!" exclaimed Nita Brant. "I'll be the wolf." + +"Because he was the only party who got in on the eating," remarked +Edna. "Let me be the squire--and don't all speak at once for the +grandmother's fate." + +"Think it over girls; think it over!" advised Nita. "Back to the woods +might not suit some of our rural friends. For my part I prefer--ahem! +Something tragic!" + +"Beat Red Riding Hood for tragedy then," challenged one of the group. +"Of all the atrocities--" + +"And desperate deals--" + +"To say nothing of the grandmother's night cap going in the mix up--" + +And so they laughed it all off, and marveled that the mere mention of +the old story should awaken such comment. + +Dorothy seemed to enjoy the innocent sallies. It was pleasant to be +with the jolly crowd again, and to feel something akin to the old +happiness. + +"What happened to Fiddle?" asked Amy Brook. "I thought she would come +back to class when her pout wore off." + +"Pout?" repeated Dorothy. "I met her in the hall and she seemed to be +in great distress." + +"Shouldn't wonder," remarked Nita. "Any one who crosses swords with +Miss Higley is bound to come to grief sooner or later. If I had been +Fiddle I should have apologized at once--easiest way out of it with +Higley." + +Dorothy was confused. She had no idea of the scene that had taken +place in the schoolroom that morning between Miss Higley and Viola. +But as it was impossible for her to keep up with the run of school +events lately, she ventured no more questions. + +"When's Chrissy coming back?" asked Edna. "I'm almost dead without +her. Haven't had a single scrap since she went. And I've got the +greatest lot corked up ready to explode from spontaneous combustion." + +"I hope she'll be back before the end of this term," answered Dorothy. +"I heard to-day her mother is entirely recovered." + +"Good for the mother! Also more power to her. I think I'll crawl up +the skylight and do perfectly reckless stunts on the roof when Chrissy +returns just to celebrate," and suiting her words with the jubilant +mood the girl waltzed away down the path, making queer "jabs" at the +inoffensive air that was doing its best to make life bright and +pleasant for the girls at Glenwood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +MISS CRANE AND VIOLA + +Viola Green was thoroughly upset. She had quarreled with Miss Higley. +She had more than quarreled with Dorothy. Mrs. Pangborn had told her +plainly that if her story concerning Dorothy was found to be untrue she +would have to leave Glenwood, for that story had touched on the fair +name of a pupil of the school, to say nothing more. Having defamed the +honored name of Dale made the matter of still greater importance. + +What should she do? To leave Glenwood seemed to be the only answer to +that oft-repeated question. But to get into Beaumonde required a clean +record from the former academy, and would Mrs. Pangborn furnish such a +record under the circumstances? + +It was evening, and the other girls were probably enjoying themselves, +visiting about and settling wherever there was the best prospect of +fudge--the only confection students were allowed to make in their rooms. + +But Viola would not go out, she was in no humor for visiting. While +reclining on her small white bed, thinking the situation over until her +head ached from very monotony, a note was slipped under her door. She +saw it instantly but did not at once attempt to pick it up--the sender +might be waiting outside and notice her readiness to become acquainted +with the contents. + +Hearing the light step make its way down the hall Viola took and opened +the note. + +"Humph!" she sniffed, "from Adele Thomas." Then she glanced over the +note. It read: + + +MY DEAR VIOLA: + +We are all so worried about you. Do please come out of your room or +let some of us in. We wish very much to talk to you, but if you +persist in keeping us at bay won't you please make up your mind to +apologize at once to Miss Higley? There are so many counts against us +this month that the latest is positively dangerous in its present form. +Do Viola, dear, answer, and tell us you feel better and that you will +comply with the request of the committee. Lovingly yours, + +LOWLY. + + +"Apologize!" echoed the girl. "As if my mother's daughter could ever +stoop to that weak American method of crawling out of things!" and her +dark eyes flashed while her olive face became as intense as if the girl +were a desperate woman. + +"Don't they know that the blood of the de Carlos flows in my veins?" +she asked herself. "No, that's so, they do not know it--nor shall +they. Let them think me Italian, French or whatever they choose--but +let them not trifle with Spain. Ah, Spain! and how I have longed to +see that beautiful country with mother--darling mother!" + +This thought of affection never failed to soften the temper of the wily +Viola. True she had seen fit always to hide her mother's nationality +from the schoolgirls. Often they had questioned her about her foreign +face and manners, but like many who do not admire the frankness of +Americans, it had pleased her to remain simply "foreign." + +A supercilious smile crept over Viola's face. She held Adele's note in +her hand and read it again. + +"Worried about me!" she repeated, "as if they care for anything but +excitement and nonsense. And they are aching for me to give the next +spasm of excitement! Well, they may get that, sooner than they expect." + +A step stopped at her door. Then a light tap sounded on the panel. +Casting aside the note, Viola opened the portal and was confronted by +Miss Crane. Without waiting for an invitation the pleasant little +woman stepped inside. + +"Good evening, Viola," she began. "Mrs. Pangborn sent me to have a +talk with you." + +"Yes?" replied Viola, in her most non-committal tone. + +"She has been much worried of late, so many things have been going on +that did not add to her peace of mind." + +"That's a pity," said Viola, and this time her tone admitted of any +number of interpretations. But Miss Crane expected all this and was +fully prepared for it. + +"Especially that matter about Dorothy Dale," went on the teacher. "She +is determined that the whole thing shall be cleared up at once." + +"It ought to be," said Viola coolly, without appearing to take the +least interest in the conversation. + +"In the first place," argued Miss Crane, "Mrs. Pangborn wished me to +say to you that a full explanation on your part would in the end save +you much--trouble." + +"State's evidence!" almost sneered Viola. + +"Not at all," contradicted her visitor. "Simply a matter of common +justice." + +"I believe that's what they call it," persisted the girl, tossing her +head about to show a weariness of the "whole miserable thing." + +"You insist that you saw Dorothy Dale and Octavia Travers alight from a +police patrol wagon?" asked Miss Crane severely. + +"I do!" answered Viola, as solemnly as if taking an oath. + +"And that you were told they had been arrested for some theft? Garden +stuff, I believe?" + +"I heard Nat White, Dorothy Dale's own cousin, say so," again declared +Viola. + +"And you had reason to believe he was in earnest?" + +"Every reason to believe and know so." + +Miss Crane stopped. She had expected Viola to break down on this +cross-examination, but evidently her story was not to be shaken. + +"Is that all?" asked the girl with a show of hauteur. + +"No," said Miss Crane. "I would like you to tell me the whole story." + +"And if I refuse?" + +"You surely would not risk dismissal?" + +"No risk at all, my dear Miss Crane, I court it," and all the Spanish +fire of Viola's nature flashed and flamed with her words. + +"Viola! Do you know what you are saying?" + +"Perfectly. Have you finished with the 'third degree?'" + +"Refrain from slang, if you please. I never countenance such +expressions." + +Viola only smiled. Evidently Miss Crane had reached "the end of her +rope." + +"And you will make no explanation of why you told such a story to the +girls of Glenwood?" and the calm voice of the teacher rang out clearly +now. "No other reason to give for depriving one of the sweetest and +best of these girls of her happy place among her companions? And that +same girl refuses to tell her own story, because of a promise! She +must bear all the shame, all the suspicion, all the wrong silently, +when everybody knows she is shielding someone. Viola Green, to whom +did Dorothy Dale make that promise?" + +"How should I know?" replied the other with curled lip. + +"Who, then, is Dorothy Dale shielding?" + +"Shielding? Why, probably her dear friend, Tavia Travers. I don't +know, of course. I am merely trying to help you out!" + +That shot blazed home--it staggered Miss Crane. She had never thought +of Octavia! And she was so close a friend of Dorothy's--besides being +over reckless! It might be that Dorothy was shielding Tavia and that +she would not and could not break a promise made to the absent member +of Glenwood school. + +Miss Crane was silent. She sat there gazing at Viola. Her pink and +white cheeks assumed a red tinge. + +Viola was victorious again. She had only made a suggestion and that +suggestion had done all the rest. + +"I will talk to Mrs. Pangborn," said Miss Crane finally, and she arose +and quietly left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE REAL STORY + +That night before twelve o'clock a telegram was delivered at Glenwood +school. It was for Viola Green and called her to the bedside of her +mother. It simply read: "Come at once. Mother very ill." + +So the girl who had been tempting fate, who had refused to right a +wrong, who had turned a deaf ear to the pleadings of friends and the +commands of superiors, was now summoned to the bedside of the one +person in all the world she really loved--her mother! + +Viola grasped the message from the hands of Mrs. Pangborn herself, who +thought to deliver it with as little alarm as possible. But it was not +possible to deceive Viola. Instantly she burst into tears and moans +with such violence that the principal was obliged to plead with the +girl to regard the feelings of those whose rooms adjoined hers. But +this did not affect Viola. She declared her darling little mother +would be dead before she could reach her, and even blamed the school +that marked the distance between the frantic daughter and the dying +parent. + +How bitterly she moaned and sobbed! What abandon and absolute lack of +self-control she displayed, Mrs. Pangborn could not help observing. +This was the character Viola had fostered, and this was the character +that turned upon her in her grief and refused to offer her sympathy or +hope. + +"You should try to control yourself, Viola," said Mrs. Pangborn gently. +"You will make yourself ill, and be unfit for travel." + +But all arguments were without avail. The girl wept herself into +hysterics, and then finally, overcome with sheer exhaustion, fell into +a troubled sleep. + +On the first train the next morning Viola left Glenwood. It was +Dorothy who helped her dress and pack, and Dorothy who tried to console +her. + +At one moment it did seem that Dorothy had finally reached the heart of +the strange girl, for Viola threw her arms about the one who had made +such sacrifices for an unrelenting pride, and begged she would pray +that the sick mother might be spared. + +"If she is only left to me a little longer," pleaded Viola, "I will try +to be satisfied, and try to do what is right. Oh, I know I have done +wrong," she wailed. "I know you have suffered for me, but, Dorothy, +dear, you did it for my mother, and I will always bless you for it. If +I had time to-day I would try--try to clear you before the girls." + +"Then I will make the explanation," said Dorothy, relieved to feel that +at last she might speak for herself. + +"Oh, please don't," spoke up Viola again, not quite sure that she was +willing to be humiliated in spite of the words she had just spoken. +"Try to forgive me, and then what does it matter about the others?" + +So Viola Green passed out of Glenwood, and left Dorothy Dale praying +that the sick woman might be spared. + +"I could not do anything against her," Dorothy reflected. "Poor girl, +she has enough to bear! It must be righted some day--oh, yes, some day +it must all come right. Another Power looks after that." + +A long letter from home, from Major Dale, was brought to Dorothy on the +early mail. This cheered her up and reflected its smiles of happiness +on all the school day. + +The major told how well the boys were; how they longed to see Dorothy, +and how little Roger had saved all his kindergarten cards and pictures +for her. Besides these a wonderful house made of toothpicks and stuck +together with green peas was in imminent danger of collapse if Dorothy +did not hurry up and come home. Then Aunt Winnie had planned a +surprise for all her children who were away at school, the letter also +stated, and on the list, for the good time promised, were Dorothy, +Tavia, Nat, Ned, Joe (and of course little Roger), besides a guest that +each of these mentioned would be allowed to invite home for the +holiday. Easter was only a few weeks off. + +The day passed quickly indeed. Spring sunshine had come, everything +had that waiting look it takes on just before the buds come, and +Dorothy was almost happy. If only everybody could know that she and +Tavia had not done wrong and had not been in disgrace! + +The classes were dismissed and Dorothy was up in her room reading her +father's letter for the third time. + +There was a rush through the hall! Then the girls' voices in laughter +stopped exactly at her door! + +The next minute Tavia bolted into the room. + +"Not a soul to meet me!" she began cycloning around and winding up with +crushing Dorothy. "Oh, you old honey-girl!" and Tavia kissed her +friend rapturously. "I have been dead and buried without you. Run +away, little girls (to those peeping in at the door). Run away--we're +busy." + +Dorothy was so surprised she just gazed at Tavia, but a world of love +and welcome went out in the look. "If we had known you were coming," +she faltered. + +"Known it! Couldn't you feel my presence near! Well, James brought me +up. But say, Dorothy! I ran across--whom do you think?" + +"Couldn't guess!" + +"Viola Green! And say, she looked like her own ghost. Her train had a +long wait at noon and she saw me. And the way she bolted out of her +car and made her way to my window, just to say, 'Tell Dorothy to go +ahead and tell her story! It will be all right!' Now I'd like to know +if Viola Green had really gone daffy?" + +"Why, no, Tavia. It is all about--Oh, it is such a long story." + +"The very thing for mine--a serial. There's Cologne and Ned and Dick! +Come on in, everybody! I want you all to see this hat before I take it +off. The milliner declared I would never get it on right again." + +In rushed the "troop," all so glad to see Tavia back, and all aching +for a glimpse of the new spring hat. + +"Tell me about the story, Cologne," said Tavia. "You can go on +admiring me just the same. What's Dorothy's serial that Viola has the +copyright on?" + +"That is precisely what we want you to find out," answered Rose-Mary. +"We have been trying to do it for a whole month." + +"And I'll wager it won't take me ten minutes!" + +"But do take your things off," pleaded Dorothy. + +"Not yet. I can't give up this hat so unceremoniously. Isn't it a +beauty? But for the story. Go ahead, Cologne." + +"Why, I couldn't tell where to begin," begged off Rose-Mary. + +"Begin at the place where Dorothy Dale went to pieces, and lost all her +pretty pink cheeks," suggested Tavia, noting how much Dorothy had +changed during her absence. + +"I'll tell you," said Rose-Mary. "We'll all run away and let you have +a minute to yourselves. Perhaps the serial will leak out." + +"What is it, Dorothy?" asked Tavia seriously when they were alone. + +"Why, all about that police ride," sighed Dorothy. "I really never +could find out just what story was told--they kept me in ignorance of +it all, except that it was dreadful. Oh, Tavia! Only lately the girls +notice me. They all gave me up, all but Ned, Dick and Cologne!" + +"Gave you up! And about that story! Why didn't you tell them?" + +"Oh, I had promised Viola, and she was afraid she would be dismissed--" + +"Promised Viola!" and Tavia stared blankly at Dorothy. "You poor +little darling! And no one here to take your part!" and she held +Dorothy to her heart a moment. "Who knows the story as she told it--I +always knew she would tell it!" + +"Perhaps some of the Pilgrims may know. They split and formed the +Rebs." + +"Without me? I'll bet they died an early death! I'm the only +thoroughbred Reb in America!" and she brandished her hatpin wildly +above her head. "But you just stay here a minute. My ten minutes +alloted for clearing up the mystery is escaping," and at this Tavia +flew out of the room. + +It seemed she could not have gone down the corridor when she ran into +Dorothy's room again. + +"Well, of all the frosts!" she exclaimed. "I almost passed away when +that stuttering girl from Maine tried to tell me. But I haven't seen +Mrs. Pangborn yet. I'll just run into the office and show her my hat," +and she was gone again. + +"How good it was to have Tavia back," thought Dorothy. It seemed as if +everything had been made right already. But Tavia would surely do +something surprising. What would she say to Mrs. Pangborn? + +But while Dorothy was thinking it over, a very lively little chat was +taking place in the principal's office. At the first word about the +"Story," Tavia blurted out the entire tale in such a way that even Mrs. +Pangborn was obliged to admit she "knew how to string words together." + +"My dear!" said that lady, when Tavia stopped, "I think this matter has +gone so far it will be best to make a public explanation." + +"Let me make it?" asked the girl eagerly. + +"If you wish," agreed Mrs. Pangborn. + +"Where? When?" asked Tavia impatiently. + +"Now, if you like," consulting her watch. "We had called a meeting of +the Glenwoods for five, it wants a quarter of that now. Suppose you +speak to them in the hall?" + +"Gloriotious!" exclaimed Tavia, forgetting to whom she was making the +self-coined remark. + +The girls were already filing into the hall. Dorothy went with +Rose-Mary, Tavia preferring to go in last and so show everyone the +spring hat. It certainly was pretty, no one could deny that, and, as +she stepped to the platform, at the signal from Mrs. Pangborn, she +looked as Dorothy had seen her look before--like an actress! + +Her golden brown hair formed a halo about her face and the flowers +(what she called the spring hat) made a beautiful wreath buried in the +soft shining tresses. + +A buzz of excitement greeted her appearance on the platform. Then she +began: + +"My dear teachers (they were all present), friends and acquaintances!" + +"Three cheers for the acquaintances," broke in one girl, and this was +the signal for a hearty cheer. + +When order prevailed again, Tavia continued: + +"I understand you have heard a queer story about the girls from Dalton" +(there was silence now), "and with the kind permission of our dear +principal, I will try to tell you all of that story. I have been +informed that you were told that Dorothy Dale and myself had been +arrested in a country place, taken to a lock-up and then bailed out!" +(Dorothy looked more surprised than any one present; this was the part +of the story she had never heard). "Well," went on Tavia, "that is so +absurd that I cannot imagine the complications that could possibly have +won such a story a hearing. But perhaps when I am here a few hours, I +will be allowed to laugh over the details. However, I will tell you +all exactly what did happen," and Tavia cleared her throat like a +veteran speaker. + +"One lovely day last August, Dorothy Dale and her two cousins, Ned and +Nat White from North Birchland, took me for an automobile ride. We had +a number of adventures during the day and towards night something +happened to the machine, and the boys were obliged to leave us while +they went to have something repaired. While they were away a man, who +afterward turned out to be a lunatic, came along, and as we ran from +the car, he got into it." + +"Oh! mercy!" exclaimed Nita Brant, and similar exclamations went about +the room. + +"When the boys got back," went on Tavia, "and we felt they never would +come in sight, we had waited so long, and were so frightened, they +could not induce the man to leave the machine. He was crazy and wanted +a ride. Finally one of the boys, Ned, was obliged to get into the car +with him and he rode off, never stopping until he landed the lunatic in +Danvers jail!" + +Cheers again interrupted the speaker, and she paused a moment--long +enough to look at Dorothy, then she went on: + +"But we were all alone out there, it was getting dark, and how were we +to get back to town, nine miles off? That was the point where the +police patrol wagon came into our lives. The wagon was out looking for +the escaped prisoner, at least the officers in it were, and upon +questioning us, and hearing how we had lost the auto, they asked us to +ride home in their patrol!" + +"Three cheers for the officers!" broke out Edna, and the shouts that +followed caused Miss Higley to put up her hands to protect her ears. + +"Well, we did ride home in the patrol," cried Tavia, anxious now to +finish, "and when Nat stood by the wagon trying to jolly those curious +ones about him, a young man, in the company of--of one who has just +left us, asked Nat, 'Speeding?' and Nat answered, 'No, just melons.' +Now that is the entire story of our famous ride, and I thank you for +your kind attention, etc., etc.," and bowing profusely Tavia managed to +get down from the platform. + +Then Mrs. Pangborn stood up. + +"My dear pupils," she said, "I cannot tell you how glad I am to have +this matter settled. It has given great sorrow to see our dear friend +Dorothy suffer so. And you do not yet know the real story of her +heroism. When I asked her about this report she begged me not to +question her, because she had promised a girl not to tell the story if +I would allow her to remain silent. That girl urged as her excuse her +own possible dismissal from school should Dorothy make known the facts, +not the story that has been told me, and told you, but those facts +which you have just now heard for the first time. And to save the +feelings of a selfish and I must say it--dishonest girl,--Dorothy Dale +has willingly suffered your scorn and my possible displeasure. But I +never doubted her for one moment. And now we must forgive the other." + +At this every head was bowed for a moment. When Mrs. Pangborn sat +down, the girls surrounded Dorothy. + +Miss Higley ran to the piano and struck up the "Glenwood Reel." + +"Get your partners!" shouted Molly, while there was a wild scramble for +"another pair of hands," everyone trying to get Dorothy, who had +already been taken possession of by Miss Crane. + +Tavia actually took her hat off when Edna caught her. Then the merry +dance began, and such dancing! The old hall rang with mirth broken now +and then with wild cheers when Dorothy would "go down the middle," or +"swing all hands around." + +There seemed to be no restrictions, no restraint--everyone was enjoying +herself to her heart's content. + +And the meeting all ended in the uproarious and unanimous election of +Dorothy Dale, as president of the Glenwoods of Glenwood School! + +"What a happy ending of all our troubles," said Dorothy to Tavia that +night. + +"If they are all ended," responded Tavia. "Perhaps everything is not +yet smoothed out." And what Tavia suspected proved true, as we shall +learn in the next volume, to be called "Dorothy Dale's Great Secret." +Tavia was responsible for the secret, but Dorothy kept it faithfully. + +A few days later Mrs. Pangborn received a telegram that Mrs. Green was +better and out of danger,--at least for the present. + +"Do you imagine Viola will come back to Glenwood?" said Tavia. + +"If she does, I will--I will try to do--my best by her," answered +Dorothy slowly. + +"You dear, forgiving Dorothy Dale!" cried her chum, and kissed her. + + + + +THE END + + + + + +THE RUBY AND RUTHY SERIES + +BY MINNIE E. PAULL + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid._ + +_Four bright and entertaining stories told in Mrs. Paull's happiest +manner are among the best stories ever written for young girls, and +cannot fail to interest any between the ages of eight and fifteen +years._ + + +RUBY AND RUTHY + +Ruby and Ruthie were not old enough to go to school, but they certainly +were lively enough to have many exciting adventures, that taught many +useful lessons needed to be learned by little girls. + + +RUBY'S UPS AND DOWNS + +There were troubles enough for a dozen grown-ups, but Ruby got ahead of +them all, and, in spite of them, became a favorite in the lively times +at school. + + +RUBY AT SCHOOL + +Ruby had many surprises when she went to the impossible place she heard +called a boarding school, but every experience helped to make her a +stronger-minded girl. + + +RUBY'S VACATION + +This volume shows how a little girl improves by having varieties of +experience both happy and unhappy, provided she thinks, and is able to +use her good sense. Ruby lives and learns. + + + + * * * * * + + +THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES + +By MARGARET PENROSE + +_Author of "The Motor Girls Series"_ + +_12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 80 cents, postpaid._ + + +Dorothy Dale is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is running +a weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. Her sunny disposition, her +fun-loving ways and her trials and triumphs make clean, interesting and +fascinating reading. The Dorothy Dale Series is one of the most +popular series of books for girls ever published. + + + DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY + DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL + DOROTHY DALE'S GREAT SECRET + DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS + DOROTHY DALE'S QUEER HOLIDAYS + DOROTHY DALE'S CAMPING DAYS + DOROTHY DALE'S SCHOOL RIVALS + DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY + DOROTHY DALE'S PROMISE + DOROTHY DALE IN THE WEST + DOROTHY DALE'S STRANGE DISCOVERY + DOROTHY DALE'S ENGAGEMENT + + + + * * * * * + + +THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES + +BY ALICE B. EMERSON + +_12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid._ + + +Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle. +Her adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest of +every reader. + + +RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL + _or Jasper Parloe's Secret_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL + _or Solving the Campus Mystery_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP + _or Lost in the Backwoods_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT + _or Nita, the Girl Castaway_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH + _or Schoolgirls Among the Cowboys_ + +RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND + _or The Old Hunter's Treasure Box_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM + _or What Became of the Raby Orphans_ + +RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES + _or The Missing Pearl Necklace_ + +RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES + _or Helping the Dormitory Fund_ + +RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE + _or Great Days in the Land of Cotton_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE + _or The Missing Examination Papers_ + +RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE + _or College Girls in the Land of Gold_ + +RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS (_New_) + _or Doing Her Bit for Uncle Sam_ + +RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT (_New_) + _or The Hunt for a Lost Soldier_ + + + + * * * * * + + +THE CURLYTOPS SERIES + +BY HOWARD R. GARIS + +Author of the famous "Bedtime Animal Stories" + +_12mo. Cloth, Beautifully Illustrated. Jacket in full color._ + +_Price per volume, 60 cents, net_ + + +Splendid stories for the little girls and boys, told by one who is a +past master in the art of entertaining young people. + + +THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM + +_or Vacation Days in the Country_ + +A tale of happy vacation days on a farm. The Curlytops have many +exciting adventures. + + +THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND + +_or Camping out with Grandpa_ + +The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp on Star +Island. There they had great fun and also helped to solve a real +mystery. + + +THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN + +_or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds_ + +Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates and sleds, +but when later they were snowed in they found many new ways to enjoy +themselves. + + +THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH + +_or Little Folks on Pony Back_ + +Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time among the +cowboys and on pony back. + + + + * * * * * + + +THE PATSY CARROLL SERIES + +BY GRACE GORDON + +_12mo. Illustrated. Beautiful cloth binding, stamped in gold with +cover inlay and jacket in colors._ + +_Price Per Volume $1.25 Net._ + +_This fascinating series is permeated with the vibrant atmosphere of +the great outdoors. The vacations spent by Patsy Carroll and her +chums, the girl Wayfarers, in the north, east, south and west of the +wonderland of our country, comprise a succession of tales unsurpassed +in plot and action._ + + +PATSY CARROLL AT WILDERNESS LODGE + +Patsy Carroll succeeds in coaxing her father to lease one of the +luxurious camps at Lake Placid, in the Adirondack Mountains, for the +summer. Once established at Wilderness Lodge, the Wayfarers, as they +have decided to call themselves, find they are the center of a mystery +which revolves about a missing will. How the girls solve the mystery +makes a splendid story. + + +PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES (_New_) + +Patsy Carroll and her three chums spend their Easter vacation is an old +mansion in Florida, where an exciting mystery develops, which is solved +by a very curious acrostic found by Patsy, and which leads to very +exciting and satisfactory results, making a capital story. + + + + * * * * * + + +THE JANE ALLEN COLLEGE SERIES + +By EDITH BANCROFT + +_12mo. Illustrated, Beautiful cloth binding, stamped in gold with +cover inlay and jacket in colors._ + +_Price Per Volume S1.25 Net._ + + +_This series is a decided departure from the stories usually written of +life in the modern college for young women. They contain a deep and +fascinating theme, which has to do with the inner struggle for growth. +An authoritative account of the life of the college girl as it is lived +today._ + + +JANE ALLEN OF THE SUB TEAM + +When Jane Allen left her beautiful Western home in Montana, sorely +against her will, to go East, there to become a freshman at Wellington +College, she was sure that she could never learn to endure the +restrictions of college life. But she did and the account of Jane's +first year at Wellington is well worth reading. + + +JANE ALLEN: RIGHT GUARD (_New_) + +Jane Allen becomes a sophomore at Wellington College, but she has to +face a severe trial that requires all her courage and character. The +meaning of true soul-nobility is brought out in the development of the +trying experience. The result is a triumph for being faithful to an +ideal. + + + + * * * * * + + +THE MOTOR GIRLS SERIES + +By MARGARET PENROSE + +Author of the highly successful "Dorothy Dale Series" + +12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 80 cents, postpaid + + +Since the enormous success of our "Motor Boys Series," by Clarence +Young, we have been asked to get out a similar series for girls. No +one is better equipped to furnish these tales than Mrs. Penrose, who, +besides being an able writer, is an expert automobilist. + + +THE MOTOR GIRLS + _or A Mystery of the Road_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON A TOUR + _or Keeping a Strange Promise_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS AT LOOKOUT BEACH + _or In Quest of the Runaways_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND + _or Held by the Gypsies_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CEDAR LAKE + _or The Hermit of Fern Island_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON THE COAST + _or The Waif from the Sea_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CRYSTAL BAY + _or The Secret of the Red Oar_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS ON WATERS BLUE + _or The Strange Cruise of the Tartar_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS AT CAMP SURPRISE + _or The Cave in the Mountain_ + +THE MOTOR GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS + _or The Gypsy Girl's Secret_ + + + + * * * * * + + +THE KHAKI GIRLS SERIES + +BY EDNA BROOKS + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._ + +_Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid._ + + +_When Uncle Sam sent forth the ringing call, "I need you!" it was not +alone his strong young sons who responded. All over the United States +capable American girls, stood ready to offer their services to their +country. How two young girls donned the khaki and made good in the +Motor Corps, an organization for women, developed by the Great War, +forms a series of stories of signal novelty and vivid interest and +action._ + + +THE KHAKI GIRLS OF THE MOTOR CORPS + +_or Finding Their Place in the Big War_ + +Joan Mason, an enthusiastic motor girl, and Valerie Warde, a society +debutante, meet at an automobile show. Next day they go together to +the Motor Corps headquarters and in due time are accepted and become +members of the Corps, in the service of the United States. The two +girl drivers find motoring for Uncle Sam a most exciting business. +Incidentally they are instrumental in rendering valuable service to the +United States government by discovering and running down a secret +organization of its enemies. + + +THE KHAKI GIRLS BEHIND THE LINES + +_or Driving with the Ambulance Corps_ + +As a result of their splendid work in the Motor Corps, the Khaki Girls +receive the honor of an opportunity to drive with the Ambulance Corps +in France. After a most eventful and hazardous crossing of the +Atlantic, they arrive in France and are assigned to a station behind +the lines. Constantly within range of enemy shrapnel, out in all kinds +of weather, tearing over shell-torn roads and dodging Boche patrols, +all go to make up the day's work, and bring them many exciting +adventures. + + + + +_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue._ + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers + +New York + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School, by +Margaret Penrose + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL *** + +***** This file should be named 33530.txt or 33530.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/5/3/33530/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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