Billie Bradley and the School Mystery: or, The Girl From Oklahoma
TekstCHAPTER XVII
THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER
It was a lovely picnic. The girls could not remember when they had enjoyed anything so much.
The boys put themselves out to be entertaining, the weather was excellent. No one had ever tasted such nectar as those “hot dogs” cooked in the open, corn boiled in a big, blackened pot over the campfire and fairly dripping butter. Clarice’s chicken mayonnaise sandwiches were not neglected, nor the cake with its filling of thick almond cream. Never was such a feast. The young folks ate to repletion, and then ate some more.
Only Edina Tooker seemed to have lost her appetite.
After the luncheon they sat around for an hour or two, too absolutely comfortable and lazy to move.
“Like anacondas, sunning themselves,” observed Vi lazily.
Laura, half-asleep, opened one eye to stare at her reproachfully.
“How complimentary you are! I refuse to be compared to any snake – even an impressive one like the anaconda. Now, if anybody has anything more to say, please don’t say it. I’m going to sleep!”
After a while they roused themselves sufficiently to make a tour of the island. Finding a little pool among the bushes, they made themselves crude fishing tackle of tree branches, a ball of cord conveniently produced by Chet from a roomy pocket, and a few fishhooks left by someone in one of the boats.
During an hour or two of fishing, Edina succeeded in hooking one poor little fish which was so tiny and, Vi declared, looked at her so pathetically she had not the heart to keep it. At any rate, she removed it with gentle fingers from the hook and flung it back into the cool depths of the little pool.
“A fine fisherman you’d make!” scoffed Ferd. “Here you hook the best catch of the afternoon and you aren’t sport enough to recognize good fortune!”
Edina shook her head, answering his badinage seriously.
“It was too little to be any use, anyway. And I never could kill anything just for the fun of killing it.”
Here was a new light on Edina’s true character. How cruelly the girls at the Hall had misjudged her, thought Billie. At heart Edina was kindly and gentle, sympathetic and loyal. How gently she had removed the poor little tortured fish from the hook! And yet the girls still called her the “lion cub!”
“She’s a darling,” thought Billie warmly. “And I’m glad I’ve stood by her. I’d do it all over again if I had to!”
After a while the young folks resumed their stroll and wound up finally at the site of the campfire.
Here they discovered that their appetites had miraculously revived. Whereupon they fell upon what remained of the provisions and gobbled them up.
“What a swarm of locusts we are!” chuckled Laura, regarding the ruins of their feast. “I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to eat again.”
“Until to-morrow morning,” observed Billie drily.
The premature shadows of autumn were falling over the lake when they reluctantly decided that it was time to go back.
Like all good woodsmen, they cleaned up the scene of their picnic until everything was as neat and orderly as they had found it.
“I hate to go,” said Vi, looking back longingly. “It’s probably the last picnic we’ll have this year.”
“Probably,” agreed Billie. “It’s always a little sad, saying good-by to summer. And this year, what with the treasure hunt and Sun Dial Lodge, we have had such marvelous fun.”
Later, as the little fleet moved slowly across the water in the direction of Three Towers Hall, the young folks sang, joining their voices in the sweet old melodies of Juanita, Suwanee River, and ending with the solemn and beautiful Now the Day Is Over.
When they landed on the dock the shadows had descended in a gentle mist over everything, touching familiar objects with a mysterious magic, wrapping the young folks about in a pleasant isolation.
In the shadows close to her, Billie heard some one sob. She turned about, surprised, to find it was Edina who had made that choking, desperate sound.
“Why, Edina! What is it, dear? Edina, tell Billie!”
“I love it all so!” said Edina, in a curious, harsh voice. “It’s been such a wonderful day. I never knew what it was to be so happy!”
“But, Edina, that’s nothing to cry about!”
“That – that’s all you know! You shouldn’t ’a’ been so nice to me – you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t! If I have to go away from here now – it will – just clean – break my heart!”
Edina whirled quickly and vanished in the mist and the shadows, leaving Billie to wonder if she had not dreamed the curious interview.
“What’s the matter with her?” Vi stood at Billie’s elbow. “She’s upset about something, isn’t she? Could it be anything Paul Martinson said or did, do you suppose?”
Billie shook her head.
“Paul has been a lamb. I overheard him invite her to the hop at Boxton on the third.”
“What then?”
“I don’t know.” Billie spoke wearily. Her knee was beginning to hurt again – and the tennis tournament was only a little over two weeks away! “Unless there was bad news in the letter I gave her to-day,” she added. “I thought there was at the time. Now I am practically sure of it.”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE GIFT CLUB
Upon the matter of the mysterious letter and its contents, Edina Tooker maintained a stubborn silence. Even Billie Bradley, with all her cajolery, could not win a single word of explanation.
“There wasn’t nothing – anything – in it you’d be interested to hear,” she persisted. “And there on the dock I acted pretty silly. I’d take it a great favor if you’d forget about it, Billie, and not ask me no – any – more questions.”
What could Billie do after that but acquiesce? However, though the topic of the letter disappeared from her conversations with Edina, she was not at all satisfied with the girl’s explanation, or rather, lack of explanation.
That the contents of the mysterious letter had come as a severe shock to Edina, Billie had not the slightest doubt. Proof of it had been in her face during that one unguarded moment beside the campfire; further proof, if any were needed, had been forthcoming during that other unguarded moment on the dock when the girl from the West had opened her heart to Billie.
That talk of leaving Three Towers Hall. What did it mean? Was there any actual possibility of Edina being forced to such a thing? Was something wrong with those oil wells out in Oklahoma? Edina had gone so far as to admit that the letter was from home. Had the visionary Paw of Edina’s childhood overreached himself again?
Billie wondered, but, in the face of Edina’s resolute silence, could find no answer.
Meanwhile, the girl from the West became increasingly silent and thoughtful. She rarely spoke unless first spoken to, and almost never smiled.
“She acts like a person with a dreadful secret,” observed Vi upon one occasion when Edina had been more than usually uncommunicative.
“A worm is gnawing at the heart of the rosy apple,” Laura agreed. “Maybe she is trying to keep the family skeleton in its closet. Most families have them.”
Vi giggled.
“It’s hard to think of skeletons in relation to Edina Tooker!” she said.
The two girls were in the study hall preparing their lessons for the next day. Vi struggled with her always-difficult “math” while Laura marshaled ideas for a composition on “The Relation of Science to World Progress.”
Into this studious atmosphere Billie dashed like a breath of cool fresh air. With her were Rose Belser and Connie Danvers.
“Miss Gay is going to leave to be married,” Billie announced without preamble. “A number of the girls are keen to form a gift club and raise some money for a really nice parting gift.”
“You’ve got to be chairman of the club, Billie,” said Connie. “Now, don’t object. You are already elected – unanimously. Isn’t she, Rose?”
“Of course. If you don’t accept the chairmanship, Billie, there won’t be any club.”
Billie laughingly protested.
“Talk about being railroaded into a position – ”
“Oh, hush up! You are already elected.”
“There’s the question of the treasurer,” Connie went on. “Which, when you come to think of it, is even more important than the chairmanship.”
“We will have to pick on someone with an honest countenance,” chuckled Laura, adding, with a wicked air of innocence: “At first, casual glance, I can’t think of a single person for the place.”
In revenge, Vi tweaked her ear and Connie pulled her hair.
Rose observed drawlingly:
“Certainly no one would ever pick you for the place, dear child!”
“Stop squabbling and listen to me,” cried Billie. “How would Edina do?”
There was a moment of dead silence while the other girls in the room stared at Billie as though they were not quite sure they had heard correctly.
Before any one could speak, Billie backed her proposition with argument.
“Don’t you see, the girl is new here and she isn’t quite sure of her position among us, yet. Giving her a post like that would be like a vote of confidence.”
“I’ll say it would,” retorted Rose Belser drily. “It would go further than that. It would be a vote of confidence. Speaking for myself, I don’t know as I’m quite ready for that yet, Billie.”
“I’d stake my life that she is as honest and as worthy to be trusted as you or I,” said Billie hotly. She paused and regarded the silent girls with sudden suspicion. “You don’t mean to say you think she isn’t to be trusted, do you?”
“Not so fast, Billie,” Rose spoke soothingly. “Certainly this girl that you seem so keen about has never done anything to make us distrust her. It’s only that she is new and it seems to me that an important post like this should go to one of the older girls – someone we know we can trust.”
Billie wavered. There was justice in what Rose said. Still, the picture of Edina rose to haunt her, Edina pale and silent, Edina making a desperate effort to hide some secret unhappiness or fear. An offer of this sort now – it would be a vote of confidence – might be just the thing she needed to bolster up her self-confidence and help her forget whatever it was that was worrying her.
Very badly Billie coveted that post for Edina. What was the use, she thought rebelliously, of being one of the most influential girls at Three Towers Hall, if she could not have her way once in a while?
She turned pleadingly to the girls.
“If I am to be chairman of the committee, I want Edina to be treasurer. I have a very private and special reason for wanting it. Really, I have. Can’t you girls do this much for me?”
When they did not reply at once, Billie shrugged and turned away.
“Very well!” she said coldly. “If that’s the way you feel about it, I guess you will have to find another chairman!”
Connie groaned.
“Bring her back, somebody! Billie, you nit-wit, come back here! Rose – girls – if we have to take Edina to get Billie; we’ll have to take Edina, that’s all.”
“You win, Billie,” Rose surrendered. “I suppose if you proposed Amanda Peabody for the post, we’d give in just the same,” she added ruefully.
“You won’t regret it,” said Billie earnestly. “I’d stake my life on Edina’s honesty.”
Later that afternoon a formal meeting was held in the gymnasium. All the students were invited, the purpose of the Gift Club explained to them, and their support solicited.
The business of selecting officers for the club was quickly disposed of.
Billie was accepted almost unanimously as chairman, Connie Danvers was elected to the secretaryship on almost as great a wave of popularity.
“Not that I want the place at all,” Connie confided to Vi. “It’s the most thankless of all jobs – and the driest. I don’t know what I have ever done to have it wished on me!” Nevertheless, in her heart Connie was as pleased as any other normal girl would be at this proof of popularity.
When Edina’s name was proposed for treasurer and promptly seconded there was a little murmur of surprise. Girls regarded their neighbors thoughtfully and began to whisper among themselves. Edina appeared the most surprised of them all. She was starting to her feet as though to protest when Billie tugged at her and whispered sharply:
“Sit down, you great goose! I want the post for you!”
Edina won from her opponent, the pretty doll-faced Jessie Brewer, by a small majority.
“Congratulations, treasurer,” whispered Billie triumphantly. “I’m so glad, Edina. I knew they’d take you!”
When Billie rose to take the chair from Rose Belser, who had so far conducted the meeting, she was greeted by a prolonged handclapping and cries of, “Speech! Speech! We want a speech!”
When the noise died down a voice in the crowd was heard to say quite distinctly:
“It’s all a fake! Edina Tooker was railroaded into the job because Billie Bradley wanted her. Well, they’ll wait a long time before they get any of my money!”
CHAPTER XIX
A DREADFUL DISCOVERY
For a moment there was dead silence in the room. Then Edina Tooker jumped to her feet and faced the shocked, attentive girls. Her hands were clenched at her sides. Her face was fiery with anger.
“Who said that?” she demanded.
When there was no answer except a snicker somewhere in the crowd, she added furiously:
“You don’t need to answer. I know your voice. I’d know it anywhere, Amanda Peabody! If you are trying to call me a crook, come on up before all these girls and do it! Come on! I dare you!”
When there was still no answer, Edina relaxed; over her face spread a look of contempt.
“You don’t dare!” she said. “And I’ll tell you why. You’re a bully and a coward and the meanest girl in this here – in this school.”
She paused for a moment while Amanda got up and marched to the door. Before passing through it, Amanda turned to fire one parting shot.
“You can call names, if you like. I don’t care. They never hurt anyone. But I mean just what I said. I wouldn’t trust you with a cent!”
When the door had slammed behind the unpleasant girl, Edina spoke to the group of students who had just raised her to a place of honor among them. Her speech was simple, direct, and to the point.
“If there’s any more among you who feel like Amanda Peabody does about me, I’d be pleased to have you say so.”
There was a dead silence that in many ways was more disconcerting than Amanda’s accusation. It was Billie who came to the rescue of the new treasurer.
“You girls have elected Edina Tooker of your own free will. After what Amanda Peabody has said, I think it is only fair to give her a vote of confidence. Now altogether – three rousing cheers!”
The cheers were given with fair enthusiasm, thanks to the effect of Billie’s personality upon her fellow students. However, Amanda’s accusation had raised a doubt in the minds of many of them, a doubt that Edina was quick to feel and that Billie thought best to ignore.
The remainder of the business was quickly concluded. Miss Geraldine Gay, a pretty young teacher in the lower grades, was very popular among all the students of Three Towers Hall. The fact that she was about to be married to a handsome young man named Bryant Cummings lent an added glamour to the personality of the young teacher. The girls wished to give her a wedding present that would serve as a testimonial to Miss Gay of their affection for her and their good wishes for her future happiness.
“Now,” said Billie when the selection of the officers had been concluded and the routine organization finished, “we will waive formality and pass the hat. Everybody ready?”
The girls were generous with contributions from their pocket money. When the contribution was counted the new officers of the Gift Club were amazed and delighted to find that the total amount was sixty-five dollars.
Ray Carew rose to make a suggestion.
“Madam Chairman, several of the girls have whispered to me that they won’t be able to contribute until certain – er – packets arrive from home – ”
There was a general giggle at this and Billie rapped for order.
“I think we quite understand the – er – financial embarrassment of some of our fellow members,” she said, with a smile. “We have already decided to keep the fund open for several days. At the end of that time we will take a general vote as to what is to be done with the money.”
Amid a clamor of voices the meeting broke up and the girls filed out, apparently well-satisfied with their part in the proceedings.
Billie, Connie, Laura, and Vi were left behind with Edina Tooker in the big emptied gymnasium. Billie thrust the sixty-five dollars in bills and change toward Edina.
“Here, treasurer, you will have to take care of this in the future.”
Edina regarded the money doubtfully. Under considerable urging she scooped it up and deposited it in her new pocketbook.
“I never did like the job of lookin’ out for other folks’ cash,” she protested. “Suppose I should lose it?”
“That’s your job from now on,” said Connie Danvers, with a shrewd but not unkindly glance. “I’d suggest you sleep with it under your pillow.”
This advice was followed undeviatingly by Edina during the uneasy days that followed. Nightly, the new-made treasurer was haunted by dreams wherein bold robbers with masks and enormous forty-fives dashed out of dark alleys or around street corners, demanding her money or her life.
The fund grew astonishingly, and, with it, Edina’s responsibility. On the fourth day after the election of officers it had reached the – to Edina – terrifying sum of two hundred and sixty dollars.
It was then that the new treasurer made up her mind to go in search of Billie.
She found the latter on the tennis courts, playing against Amanda Peabody. Edina frowned her disapproval. Billie had promised to rest that knee for the big contest, now only a few days off. This was the way she kept her promise, prancing all over the court with that hateful Amanda Peabody!
As though in answer to Edina’s thoughts, someone beside her said:
“Isn’t it awful! She just let that horrible girl pester her into playing. Now she will cripple herself, most likely, for the big match.”
“How’s the score?” demanded Edina.
“Even, two all, with this game thirty love in Billie’s favor. It’s been a lovely game to watch, but Billie is nearly all in. See how she limps!”
“It’s an outrage!” cried Edina. “Why doesn’t someone stop her?”
“Try to do it!” said the girl at her side, who had turned out to be Nellie Bane.
“All right,” said Edina, her lips compressed. “I’ll not only try. I’ll do it! Watch me!”
As she started off toward the court, Nellie tried to hold her back; but Edina was not to be held. She paused on the edge of the court.
“Billie,” bawled Edina in a tone not to be ignored. “Come here, please! I’ve got to see you right away!”
Startled, Billie faltered, fouled a perfectly good ball into the net and turned impatiently.
“Thirty-fifteen!” called Amanda.
“Billie, I’ve got to see you right away!” Edina’s tone was urgent, imperative. It was as though her very life depended upon Billie’s acquiescence. “You can finish the set some other time.”
Billie shouldered her racket and waved to Amanda.
“I don’t know what’s wanted, but it seems to be important.”
“I get the set then by default,” called Amanda.
Billie nodded.
“Meet you again – soon,” she promised.
Nellie Bane, who had been watching the by-play with great interest, heaved a sigh when she saw Billie and Edina leave the courts and walk off in the direction of the Hall.
“That girl, Edina Tooker, knows what she wants when she wants it,” mused Nellie. “My, won’t Billie be mad when she finds it’s all a hoax!”
Billie was mad. She regarded Edina with such frigid curiosity that it is a miracle that girl did not turn into an icicle at once.
“You mean to say you dragged me off the courts when I was winning – when I was winning– just for a whim or because it amuses you to get me in bad with that horrid Amanda Peabody?”
“No, Billie,” pleaded poor Edina. She was feeling the full weight of Billie’s wrath for the first time and it made her miserable. “It wasn’t for fun. I could see you were limping and I knew – well, I knew you shouldn’t be playin’ with Amanda Peabody just now and – ”
“It seems to me I should be the best judge of that,” said Billie frigidly.
“Maybe so. But there’s good judges and bad judges and just then you wasn’t bein’ so all-fired good. I’m sorry if you’re mad at me – and that will probably make you madder – but, like George Washington, I can’t tell a lie!”
“You’ve put me in a false position,” stormed Billie. “Amanda will say I was afraid to finish the set, and there won’t be any one to disagree with her, since I won’t tell her the truth.”
“You can show her the truth next week,” said Edina gently. “That is, if you rest that knee and get yourself into shape – ”
“The knee is better,” declared Billie. “It only hurt a little to-day.”
“But it might have hurt a lot if you’d kept on going,” Edina pointed out. After a minute she added: “Anyway I did have something important to speak to you about, Billie.”
“What is it?” asked Billie listlessly.
“About the gift fund. It’s grown so big it scares me. With that five dollars Jessica Holt put in yesterday it’s touched the two hundred and sixty mark.”
Billie opened her eyes wide.
“That much? I’d no idea!”
“I’m scared to death I’ll lose it or something will happen to it,” Edina went on hurriedly. “What I really wanted to ask you when I set out to look for you and found you on the courts was whether you wouldn’t come into Molata with me. I could deposit the money in the bank there in the name of the Gift Club. After that,” with a rueful grin, “mebbe I’d be able to sleep some nights!”
Billie glanced at the watch on her wrist.
“We have time now if we hurry. I think it’s a good idea, Edina. Two hundred and sixty dollars! That’s a lot of money!”
“We could buy Miss Gay a limousine with that,” chuckled Edina, delighted to find that Billie was recovering her good humor.
The girls went in to get their wraps. Billie stopped in Miss Walters’ office to explain where she and Edina were bound and to promise to be home well before dark, then went to the dormitory for Edina.
On the steps of the Hall they almost collided with Amanda Peabody and Eliza Dilks. Amanda swung her racket and regarded Billie with malicious triumph.
“You had a very important engagement, didn’t you, Billie Bradley?” she taunted.
“Not nearly so important as the engagement I have with you next week,” retorted Billie, coolly, referring to the tournament. “And that engagement I promise to keep!”
When they had passed beyond earshot of Amanda’s mocking laughter, Billie glanced at Edina.
“You see?” she said. “You have put me in a very false position, Edina Tooker. While I have forgiven you, Amanda will take good care I don’t forget!”
A rural trolley line ran from the suburban districts into the town of Molata. It being an ideal fall day Billie and Edina found the trip both pleasant and soothing. By the time they had reached the one bank the township boasted, Billie had completely recovered her good humor.
“Hand over your money and your troubles are at an end,” she directed Edina. “No more dreams of highwaymen and thugs. Edina! Why do you look like that?”
The girl had opened her pocketbook and was staring stupidly at the contents.
“The money!” she gasped. “The money’s gone!”