May Hollis Barton

“ After a few more words about the admirable quality of good sportsmanship, Miss Romaine dismissed them.
Nan and Sadie, with Jessie and Doris, made at once for their room where they poured the whole story into Jo's sympathetic and anxious ear.
"Glory be!" cried the latter, turning a hand-spring of delight and landing in some mysterious manner upon the bed. "The ship is ours again! The enemy is routed! All's well with the world!" ”

“ Across the table their glances challenged Kate Speed angrily. Others were looking at Kate, a disgusted question in their eyes.
Lily Darrow, her face red, sat with eyes fixed on her plate.
Kate Speed met the unfriendly glances turned in her direction with a toss of her head and a faint, disdainful smile on her lips.
"People who are late deserve to be shown up," she was heard to say in a loud stage whisper to Lily Darrow.
Doris Maybel seemed about to fling a wrathful reply across the table, but a vigorous stamp of Jessie's foot on hers beneath the table warned her to be cautious. ”

“ Yesterday they had seemed to care whether she went to Laurel Hall with them or not. To-day they appeared quite reconciled to her staying home. Was it possible that Nan and Sadie, the two chums from whom she had rarely ever been separated during their years of work and fun together, should care so little for her as their manner seemed to imply? If they did not care, then she would show them that neither did she!
Jo shrugged her shoulders impatiently and forced a smile to her quivering lips. She must not—must not!—allow herself to become morbid! ”

“ This gave an effect of privacy, almost as though the alcove were another room.
There were three dressers, each one standing formal and upright against the wall. A table, some chairs, among them three big easy-chairs, and a small desk in the far corner completed the furnishings.
But if the room within was inviting, surely the view without was even more so.
From two of their three windows the lake could be seen, rippling placidly in the valley with the grim towering bulk of one of the twin mountains in the background looming black against a brilliant sky.
"Look! There's a dock!" cried Sadie. ”

“ Nan urged, stretching luxuriously in the brilliant sunshine, like a kitten before a hearth. "Miss Jane won't care as long as we don't stay out too late."
"Away dull care and let's be gay!" sang Jo, breaking into the strains of a merry school song. The girls all joined her, and Sadie's protest was heard no more.
They rowed lazily, for, as Nan had said, they had the whole day before them. As they looked toward Laurel Hall they saw three more boatloads of merrymakers push off from the shore.
"They are making for Maple Island," called Doris from Jessie's boat. ”

“ Lily Darrow stood a little apart from the rest, so pale and quiet that more than once Kate spoke to her sharply and asked what she was "mooning" about.
Lily's reply to the last of these sharp queries was lost in a sudden cheering. The freshmen were lining up for the start.
"Go it, Jo! Go it, Sadie!" cried Nan.
Kate shot a venomous look at Nan and shrilled in a voice that carried above the rest:
"Beat 'em, Carol! Beat 'em, Ruth!"
"You can do it! Go to it!" added Lottie Sparks. ”

“ The boats were, many of them—most of them, in fact—built with a double set of oars and oar-locks. Two boats of this sort the Woodford girls and their friends chose for the trip up the lake.
"Jo and I'll do the work," said Sadie to Nan. "You sit in the stern and look handsome, Nan."
"If I sit in the stern I ought to look stern," retorted Nan, and at this feeble witticism the girls laughed happily. It was the kind of day that made them laugh at almost anything!
"Don't let's follow the crowd," called Jessie, as her boat, safely launched, floated out upon the bright surface of the lake. ”

“ So now when Nan spoke the invalid's name Jo and Sadie were all sympathy.
"Why, what's the matter with your Aunt Emma—worse than usual, I mean?" asked Jo.
"You look so dreadfully sad, Nan," added Sadie.
Nan shook her head.
"It's enough to make any one sad, to see that poor patient woman sitting there week after week and year after year, watching other people do what she is crazy to do herself. But that isn't the worst. Lately, it seems to us," Nan paused and stared at the girls tragically, "as if poor Aunt Emma were losing her mind!" ”

“ Every one turned to follow the direction of Lottie's suddenly fixed gaze. She was staring straight at Sadie Appleby!
There was a moment of complete silence, the silence of stupefaction. Then several of the girls turned vengefully upon Lottie Sparks.
"The sneak! Make her eat her words!"
"A ducking in the lake is what she ought to have!"
Lottie, casting one terrified glance at the unfriendly, scowling faces of her schoolmates, realized that she had gone too far and, turning, broke through the ring of outstretched hands. ”

“ She went on to say that if Lottie and Kate were severely punished but not expelled, if the name of the girl who overheard their plot could be kept out of the matter entirely, Lily Darrow might yet escape the penalty of her brave act.
"If I can have the coöperation of you girls," said Miss Romaine, with her grave smile, "I think I can manage everything satisfactorily. We will be partners in a kindly conspiracy that will do no harm to any one and may do some one a great deal of good." ”

“ Jo paled, and, as she did so, remembered her father's haggard face as it was lifted to hers the night before in the library.
"Mother, is that what Dad—what all of us—are facing—actual ruin?"
Mrs. Morley hesitated, then turned her steady, kindly gaze upon her daughter.
"I don't see any reason why you should not know the truth, Jo," she said. "In fact, I think it is your right to know. We may lose everything we have in the world, dear." ”

“ The girls hurried up to her and found that "this" was the ashes of a recent campfire.
"Well, what of it?" said Sadie wonderingly. "It isn't so odd for people to build a campfire in the woods, is it?"
"No, but this campfire was built just recently—and put out only a short time ago," returned Jo, thoughtfully stirring some of the still smoldering embers with her foot. "And now I wonder," she added, looking oddly at her companions, "why these campers, whoever they were, didn't come to our aid when we called for help. They must have heard us!" ”

“ She was on her feet in an instant, staring at the incoming motor boat.
Nan pulled her down to the ground again.
"Don't let them see you," she cried. "If they land we can get a really good look at them."
All watched with intense interest as the motor boat neared the island, rounded a small promontory, and put in to shore. There was something familiar about the motor boat and about the men in it, too!
"If it should be Andrew Simmer!" thought Jo, a wild hope in her heart. To Fred Fielding she whispered urgently: "Don't let them get away. If they see us and start to run, catch them. Promise me!" ”

“ With the first robbery in mind and feeling uneasy, the janitor dressed quickly and made the rounds of the gymnasium and the boathouse. Here he found his suspicions justified. The gymnasium and the boathouse had both been robbed again!
The janitor went directly to Miss Romaine with his report. In some way the news leaked out before the Head of Laurel Hall intended it should. Like wildfire it spread among the excited girls.
"The lockers in the gym have been practically cleaned out!" wailed Nan.
"We should have slept with our things under our beds, that's what we should have done!" cried Sadie. ”

“ Jo started something which interested Sadie and was heartily approved by Nan. This was a diary—or, as Jo preferred to call it, a journal in which she recorded daily the most interesting doings of that day. Jo could write amusingly. Her wit always sparkled more on paper than in speech. The journal that she prepared for that first week was so funny when read aloud to a roomful of girls that she was unanimously acclaimed a "coming literary light."
"We have been harboring a genius in our midst," Gladys Holt declaimed with full dramatic effect. ”

“ Jo answered for her chums.
"We asked for a large room with three single beds in it so that we could be together," Sadie added.
"But whether we get it or not is another matter!" finished Nan.
Jessie laughed.
"Well, of course you take what you get and feel yourself lucky enough to get anything, with the waiting list we have," she said. "Miss Jane is fair, though," she added. "She always tries to give the girls what they want and everybody loves her. Just wait till you see her and you won't wonder why!" ”

“ Then Jo ventured softly:
"I wish you would tell me just what is wrong in your business, Dad. I don't think I quite understand."
"It's hard for older heads than yours to understand, Jo," returned her father. "How a trusted employee of a company can deliberately betray the secrets of that company and ruin his employer——"
"Oh, so it's a man who has made all the trouble!" Jo cried impulsively.
"A man who is either a maniac or one of the most contemptible scoundrels alive," her father returned bitterly. "The name of the scoundrel is Andrew Simmer, and he was my trusted clerk. ”

“ Then one day Jo received a cordial note of appreciation from Mrs. Harrison in which she said that Jo's weekly "journal" was playing an important part in the invalid's improvement, both physical and mental.
"She is living her own youth over again through you, my dear," wrote Nan's mother. "She actually seems to be growing younger. She reads your letters again and again and laughs like a girl over them. Each day she tries to stand, and yesterday, for the first time, succeeded. For a full moment she stood by herself without support and has been greatly excited over it ever since. ”

“ Doris spoke quickly, pointing toward the island.
"That's right!" cried Gladys Holt. "There's one place where they can cross over——"
"If some one doesn't guess their intention and beat them to it," said Jessie, between set teeth. "My, but that's good work! Watch 'em go!"
Nan said nothing. Her heart was beating fast. She knew that spot where the girls "if they were smart" could cut across and come home on the inside of the course.
But she knew also the danger of such a strategic move. Close to the island the waters of the lake were shallow. ”

“ From these windows the view was beautiful and even included a small portion of the lake.
The pleasure of the chums at being placed close to their new friends was tempered by a discovery they made as they drew their chairs out from the table. Directly opposite them, sat Kate Speed and her meek little shadow, Lily Darrow!
"I had no idea that you were to sit at our table or I might have warned you," Jessie whispered, noting Jo's glance of annoyance. "Never mind, Kate can't bite at meals. Not with Miss Tully in charge!" ”

“ She takes it for granted that she's so important that people ought to know what she wants without being told. She could have had this room if she'd asked for it early enough, but I suppose you girls got in your application first, and so Miss Jane turned it over to you. She plays no favorites, anyway."
"No wonder the girl wanted to murder us!" said Nan. "I can't say that I blame her much, now that I know the dreadful truth."
"This sure is one great room!" murmured Jo, and wandered over toward the window. ”