Billie Bradley

“ Billie’s eyes twinkled.
“That’s what Daddy says always happens to people who try to help,” she said. “I feel awfully 44 sorry for him, just the same,” she finished decidedly.
Then Laura did a surprising thing. She put an arm about Billie’s shoulders and hugged her fondly.
“Billie Bradley,” she said sadly, “I do believe you would feel sorry for a snake that bit you, just because it was only a snake.”
“Perhaps that’s why she loves you,” said Vi innocently, and scored a point. Laura looked as if she wanted to be mad for a minute, but she was not. She only laughed with the girls. ”

“ Well, I should say I was!” said Connie’s mother, sweeping a stray lock of hair back out of her eyes. “But what do I care when it’s such a wonderful world? Haven’t I got my baby back again, and three others as well? They’re sweet girls, aren’t they, John? And Billie Bradley is going to be a beauty.”
“Well, I know some one else who is a beauty,” said Mr. Danvers, looking admiringly at his wife’s rosy face and wide-apart, laughing eyes, adding with a smile: “Even though she has a big patch of flour under one eye.” ”

“ She brushed the interruption aside impatiently and rushed on, her words pouring forth in a torrent:
“Billie Bradley is the most popular girl at Three Towers Hall. She does almost everything better than anybody else and yet the girls love her just the same. Maybe you’ve got sense enough to know what that means. She’s a perfect peach and any girl she takes up may count herself in luck. You just think of that when you are all alone and try to realize what you’ve lost. Come on Billie, let’s get away from here!”
30 Laura turned away with one last, inimical look at Edina Tooker. ”

“ It was so that Laura found them, some time later, heads close together, working out a problem in algebra.
“Say, you two, don’t you know it’s almost time for the supper bell to ring?”
“Don’t bother us!” muttered Vi. “We’ve almost got it. There! There, that’s the right answer, isn’t it, Billie? Did I get it?”
“You did!” Billie’s smile was congratulatory. “And in record time, too. We’re coming on, Vi!”
She glanced up to find Laura’s eyes fixed upon her curiously.
“Billie Bradley, what have you done to Edina? I met her in the hall downstairs. She isn’t the same person at all.” ”

“ It was not till they were entering the grim old door of the grim old house that they thought again of Billie's new discovery—the trunk that jingled.
"Goodness! how could we ever have forgotten it?" cried Billie as she, with Violet and Laura, fairly flew up the stairs, leaving the bewildered boys to follow them.
"Now what's up?" asked Teddy, as he came into the room where the girls had left their treasure. "So many things are happening all at once that it's enough to make a fellow's brain reel."
"It all depends on the brain," said Billie, looking up at him with a twinkle in her eye. ”

“ Billie watched him as he struggled through the drifts, and suddenly she was aware of an overwhelming desire to sit down where she was and cry.
“But that wouldn’t do any good,” she told herself sharply, “even if this place does look more lonely than a desert. If we don’t get where it’s warm pretty soon we’ll turn into icicles ourselves, I guess.”
The wind had become stronger and more biting, and Billie’s teeth had begun to chatter. She was glad when Teddy floundered back to her, the rope of his sled looped over one arm. ”

“ The girls were silent for a moment, letting this last remark of Billie’s sink in. Then it was Billie who broke the silence.
“I wonder,” she said, “how they have ever managed to get along up to this time. They must have had something to live on.”
“Why,” said Vi, wrinkling her forehead thoughtfully, “the doctor said something about Mrs. Haddon having to give up her work because of ill health. Didn’t he, Laura?”
“Yes,” said Laura, stuffing her hands deeper into her pockets. “He seems dreadfully sorry about poor little Peter. I heard him mumble something about troubles always coming in a heap.” ”

“ Miss Beggs gave a little helpless shrug of her shoulders.
"I can see that nobody has a chance to change your mind, Billie Bradley, when it's once made up," she said with a smile, then added as the girls turned toward home: "I know what I shall name my new statue. Her name shall be 'Billie.'"
"She's lovely, isn't she?" asked Violet, referring to Miss Beggs. "I wish she were going to be one of the instructors at Three Towers."
"I hope they're nice, for it's awful to live with people who aren't," sighed Laura. ”

“ But almost instantly the woman’s mood became softer, and, seeing the girls’ embarrassment, she tried to put them at their ease.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “Won’t you sit down? The basket is heavy and you have come a long way.”
The girls, not knowing what else to do, sat down on the three spindly chairs awkwardly enough, and Laura and Vi sent distress signals Billie-wards. For Billie was always their spokesman.
So Billie, who had been as much abashed as any of them at their rather queer reception, found her tongue with difficulty and asked Mrs. Haddon how Peter was. ”

“ Her voice broke, and for a minute she just clung to Billie and let tears wash some of the bitterness from her heart. Then she straightened up suddenly, wiped the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief that Billie had slipped into her hand, and holding the girl off at arm’s length regarded her intently.
“It seems,” said the woman softly, while Billie looked up at her out of clear, grave eyes, “that when things get as bad as they can be the Lord sends somebody to help. ”

“ Billie was conscious of thinking.
"Well, let's go up," urged Laura, as Billie showed no inclination to move. "We might as well get the agony over with."
"All right, come on," cried Billie, running ahead of them and taking two steps at a time. "As Dad says: 'A coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man only one.'"
The end of this quotation brought them to the porch, and Billie looked for the bell. ”

“ Laura's brother, Theodore, known to his intimates as Teddy, was a handsome boy, as full of wild spirits as Billie herself. Teddy had entertained a lively admiration for Billie Bradley since he was seven and she was six. Teddy was tall for his fifteen years, and had already made a name for himself in the field of athletics.
The third of the chums was Violet Farrington, a daughter of Richard Farrington, a well-known lawyer of North Bend, and Grace Farrington, a sweet, motherly woman. ”

“ A party?”
“You had better put on your leggings,” suggested Vi, looking doubtfully at the rubbers Billie had pulled on over her shoes. “The snow’s awfully deep.”
“Haven’t time,” cried Billie, adding distractedly: “For mercy sake, hurry! While you girls are dolling up for a party, Nick Budd will be gone.”
At this dreadful thought the girls stopped fussing and followed Billie hurriedly down the stairs. They slowed down in the lower hall, however, for there they were apt to meet a teacher, and undue haste might be thought suspicious by one of these “unreasonable beings.” ”

“ Bradley. "We don't want an accident."
"Oh, but we've got to catch that thief!" wailed Billie, hoping each time they rounded a bend in the road to see their quarry just ahead. "He may have got too much of a start——"
"Don't worry," Teddy shouted back. "No start will help a flivver against a car like this. Say, but she's a beauty! Just listen to that engine!" But Billie was in no mood to listen to anything except the jingle of queer old coins in a shabby old trunk. Then suddenly there came a yell from Teddy and an exclamation from Mr. Bradley. ”

“ She glared at the tricksters while Amanda tossed her head defiantly and Eliza shrank still farther back into the corner.
“But that would have been so silly,” cried Laura, who had snatched the handkerchief from Billie and was examining it eagerly. Vi, in her turn was trying to pull it from her. “Miss Race would know that you would have sense enough not to give yourself away by leaving your handkerchief. Their heads sure are made of bone,” and she favored the girls with a contemptuous glance that was harder to bear than Billie’s anger. ”

“ For a moment Laura looked a little undecided, but Billie jumped up, ran over to Vi and hugged her.
“You’re a perfect angel!” she cried. “That’s just exactly what I was thinking myself. Only I wasn’t going to ask you girls. I was just going to leave mine and say nothing about it.”
“Oh, well,” grumbled Laura, taking her own bright coin from its hiding place and handing it over reluctantly. “If you girls are going to be foolish I suppose I’ve got to be too. Only it’s no joke,” she added, in a plaintive tone that made the girls giggle, “when you think of all the sodas and candy it would buy!” ”

“ By the time they had reached Miss Arbuckle and the finding of her album in the woods they were feeling delightfully thrilly and farther away from sleep than ever.
“It really must be a mystery,” Connie was saying, snuggling deeper into the covers and staring at Billie’s pretty face and tousled hair weirdly illumined by the pale moonlight that sifted through the window, when there came a tap on the door. And right upon the tap came Mrs. Bradley, wearing a loose robe that made her look mysteriously lovely in the dim light. She sat down on the edge of the bed and regarded the girls smilingly. ”

“ The young folks had grown up in North Bend, a town of perhaps twenty thousand people, and about forty miles by rail from New York City. The girls had seen the great metropolis several times, though their visits had been all too short to satisfy their eager curiosity.
Billie Bradley was called the most popular girl in North Bend, and, indeed, after one had been with Billie five minutes, one would never again wonder where she got the title. ”

“ Miss Cora Dill turned to the teachers behind her. "Such insolence can only result in expulsion. Beatrice Bradley, come with me. The rest of you," she turned fiercely upon the other girls, "will go up to your dormitories. To-morrow I will deal with you."
As Billie, dread in her heart at that awful word "expulsion," started toward Miss Cora Dill, Caroline Brant caught her hand and whispered reassuringly in her ear.
"Don't worry," she said. "They won't dare expel you. When Miss Walters hears all about it she will be more than likely to expel them!" ”

“ Billie was given no opportunity to comment on this peculiar observation for at the moment Vi and Laura dashed in from the woods, rushed to Billie and flung their arms about her. They had come by the woods path “around Robin Hood’s barn” and had reached her as soon as possible.
“Oh-h, look out! Don’t hug so tightly, darlings. I’m—to put it mildly—sensitive. Yes, I’m alive—as you see. No there are no bones broken—I think. But I’ll have to soak in arnica to-night. Bruises—hundreds of ’em. But I’m not complaining. I know how lucky I am just to be alive!” ”

“ Billie corrected, a trifle frigidly.
“Well, Oklahoma, then. You aren’t really going to wish her on the crowd, are you, Billie? If you insist, the girls will take her up for your sake, but there will be trouble. I feel it in my bones.”
“I have no intention of wishing her on anyone,” retorted Billie coldly. “The girl saved my life and I am going to help her to be happy here at Three Towers Hall, if such a thing is possible. You girls may do as you like.”
Vi put an arm about Billie’s shoulders. ”

“ Oh, Billie, who all are going to be in the party?"
"All the girls from Nellie's dorm, we four and Caroline Brant," Billie said, in a voice scarcely above a whisper.
"But I don't think Caroline will come," said Laura doubtfully. "You know she would lots rather study than go to a party. That's her idea of a good time."
For although Caroline Brant had proved a good friend to the chums, especially to Billie, they had tried in vain to draw her into their little escapades. She was what the girls usually referred to scornfully as "a grind," yet, strange to say, they all loved her. ”

“ My name is Rose Belser, and I'm from Brighting," mentioning a town several miles the other side of North Bend.
"We're awfully glad to know you," Billie answered, with her own particular friendly smile. "I'm Beatrice Bradley, and these are my two chums, Violet Farrington and Laura Jordon. We're from North Bend."
"Glad to know you," said Rose Belser with a quick little nod of her black head. Then she curled herself on the foot of Billie's bed and proceeded to make herself at home.
"I've been staying here for the summer," she told them. "It's an awful place to spend the summer, you know. ”

“ Her eyes avoided Billie’s direct look, whether from shyness or sullenness, it was impossible to tell.
Billie, painfully conscious of all her cuts and bruises, went up to the girl and held out her hand.
“Whether you like it or not, I’m going to thank25 you. My life doesn’t mean a lot to you probably,” with a whimsical smile, “but it does to me and I am very properly grateful for it. How you can climb!” she added with genuine admiration. “If I could scale the side of a cliff like that, I wouldn’t care whether I could solve a problem in algebra or not.” ”

“ Said he and the boys had stopped there one day and had bought some waffles and real maple syrup from Mrs. Haddon. Of course, I don’t know whether it is the same one or not——”
“Well, come on—we’ll find out,” said Billie, lifting the largest of the three children in her strong arms. “You and Vi can manage the other two kiddies, I guess. You lead the way, Laura, if you know where the house is.”
“But hadn’t we better take our skates off and walk around?” suggested Vi.
“We can make it quicker on skates,” said Billie impatiently, “because we can cut across the lake——”
“But the ice!” Laura objected. ”