CHAPTER XVI
FIGHTING FOR LIFE
Locked in Edina Tooker’s unbreakable embrace, Billie Bradley gaveherself up for lost.
Edina was stronger than she, and now her strength was the desperatestrength of mortal fear.
Billie writhed and twisted, striving to wrench herself free; but inher heart she knew her efforts were vain. Edina’s grip was the grip ofmadness. She was dragging them both down to death.
Billie wondered why her lungs did not break with the fearful pressureon them. After a long moment of agony she almost wished they wouldbreak--to have done with the torment.
Suddenly something swam close to her. There was a sharp jolt and,through glazing eyes, Billie saw Edina’s head snap backward. The hardgrip about her neck relaxed, the weight that had been holding Billie tothe bottom of the lake slumped away.
Billie felt suddenly as light as air. With all the strength thatremained to her, she fought her way to the surface of the water.
Like a benediction, air swept into her tortured lungs. She lay upon herback and let herself float, gasping.
Edina was safe, she knew. It was Paul Martinson who had dealt themerciful blow on the point of Edina’s chin, saving her life andBillie’s. Paul would take care of Edina. Paul liked Edina----
Billie felt hands tugging at her, pulling her up on something that washard and rough. The pier!
“Were you going to lie there forever and catch your death of cold?”
It was Vi’s voice scolding, and Billie thought no voice had eversounded so pleasant in her ears.
She was being pulled to her feet now, supported by loving arms, a ringof anxious faces about her. They were all scolding her, but she did notcare. It was nice to have someone care whether she was alive or not.
“Edina?”
“Edina’s all right. Paul has her. Now we are going to smuggle you bothup to the hall and into dry clothes before you die of pneumonia, orsomething equally uncomfortable. Come along!”
While Paul Martinson ruefully wrung out his sodden clothes, refusingmeanwhile to listen to a word of thanks, Billie and the half-dead Edinawere hustled to the Hall for a change of raiment.
They approached the house by a circuitous route, carefully avoiding thegroups of girls loitering in the school grounds. Entering by Clarice’simmaculate kitchen and leaving a telltale stream of water across it,they hurried up the back stairs and by great good fortune managed togain the dormitory unobserved.
“Now get out of those dripping clothes and be quick about it,” orderedLaura, then added with a heartless giggle: “Two such drowned puppies Inever did see.”
“You needn’t laugh,” retorted Billie, stripping off her wet stockings.“For a second or two, there we were as near being truly drowned as Iever care to be. How about it, Edina?”
The girl turned a stricken face to Billie.
“It was all my fault!” she said, in a low voice. “You tried to save mylife and I paid you back by doin’ my best to drown us both! Seems I’llnever get over bein’ ashamed o’ myself.”
It was a full ten minutes before the combined efforts of the girlsreassured Edina to the extent of persuading her to exchange herdripping outfit for a dry one.
“Tell me what you want to wear and I’ll sneak down the back stairs andget it,” offered Laura. “In your present low mood,” she added, with achuckle, “I’d be afraid to leave you alone. You might hang yourself tothe nearest convenient chandelier.”
“I might, at that,” returned Edina, with a reluctant smile. “I don’tknow why you girls are so nice to me. I sure don’t deserve it.”
“People so seldom get their deserts in this life,” chuckled Laura.She tossed an impish smile in the direction of Edina’s long face anddisappeared.
She reappeared a few minutes later with an armful of clothes and anexciting account of the adventures encountered in their acquisition.
“I just missed Miss Johnson and bumped head-first into Debsy. ‘Must youdash about in this frantic manner?’ inquired Debsy in a hurt voice. IfI’d stepped on her toe she couldn’t have sounded more injured! Here,Edina, these are all I could find. Hope they’ll do.”
“Guess they’ll have to.” Edina regarded Laura’s offering withoutenthusiasm. “But I won’t look near as nice as I did before. I spent anhour gettin’ ready for that duckin’ out on the pier.”
The girls giggled hilariously.
“Love’s labor lost,” said Vi, wiping her eyes. “Edina, you are puttinga lot of joy into my life!”
So they made a joke of what easily might have been a tragedy. Whenthey rejoined the boys on the dock, Edina had lost much of her formerself-consciousness and was ready to laugh with the rest over what shetermed her “clodhopper clumsiness.”
“Where’s Paul?” asked Billie.
“Gone to change his clothes,” replied Teddy. “He hasn’t yet learnedthe art of falling into the lake without getting wet.”
“Said he’d join us at the island,” added Ferd Stowing.
They made a great to-do about launching Edina safely. Ted and Chet andFerd held one of the rowboats close to the pier while Laura and Vi,doubled with laughter, assisted their new friend into the craft. Edinalooked red and sheepish, but she joined in the good-natured merrimentat her expense. Edina was learning!
“Stand back, Billie,” cried Laura. “If this girl tries anotherhigh-diving act, it’s our turn to dash to the rescue. Look out there!Ah, now she’s all right! Come on, everybody. Let’s go!”
The little fleet was launched safely at last--Vi and Laura both inChet’s boat, since Paul Martinson was missing.
They had gone only a few hundred yards from the dock when they sawPaul himself rowing toward them from the direction of Boxton MilitaryAcademy.
“Didn’t take him long!” shouted Billie, from her comfortable place inTeddy’s boat.
“Ain’t boys wonderful!” Laura shouted back.
Having arrived at the island, which was well out in the lake andremoved by a considerable expanse of water from both Boxton Academy andThree Towers Hall, the boys and girls disembarked and began the realbusiness of the day.
“Take care of those lunch baskets,” shrieked Billie, as the boat inwhich they were rocked perilously. “Ferd Stowing, you nearly dumpedthem in the lake!”
“Well, I can’t take care of both the lunch and Edina,” asserted Ferd,grinning. “Lend me a hand, someone!”
At the thoughtless words of the lad who would not willingly hurt a fly,Billie saw Edina color painfully.
“All this fun at Edina’s expense has gone far enough,” she thoughtindignantly. “It’s got to stop! I could slap Ferd Stowing!”
“Why the frown, l’il Billie?”
Billie looked up to find Paul Martinson at her elbow, smilingquizzically down at her.
“You look mad enough to bite a nail in six pieces,” continued the lad.“Just what appears to be wrong?”
An inspired thought chased the frown from Billie’s face. She smiled atthe tall, good-looking young cadet.
“Paul, will you do me a favor?”
“Dozens of ’em!”
“Then be nice to Edina Tooker, will you? Awfully nice?”
Paul looked quizzically in the direction of the girl to whom he mustbe nice--awfully nice. Then his glance returned to Billie.
“That shouldn’t be hard,” he said. “I think she’s a ripping girl,really. Regular stunner.”
“Oh, do you?” Billie’s lovely face glowed with delight. “Oh, Paul, I’mso glad! That takes such a terrible weight off my mind!”
Paul’s eyes rested questioningly on the pretty face for an instant,then he said in an odd tone:
“Billie Bradley, you are quite the nicest girl I have ever known!” Withthe words, he walked over to Edina and proceeded to monopolize hercompletely and thoroughly for the rest of that day.
Teddy Jordon came up to Billie as she stared after Paul Martinson’sstraight young back.
“What were you and Paul w
hispering about?” Teddy demanded jealously.“If he has anything to say to you, can’t he say it out loud?”
Billie glanced at him fleetingly and laughed.
“Don’t be a silly, Ted. Paul just promised me to be nice to Edina. Andhe has started right in to keep his promise, bless his heart! Come andhelp me get the lunch fixed.”
The boys had brought frankfurters, a huge bag of rolls, butter, and adozen ears of corn. Also they had brought the utensils to cook them in.
“Why did we bother with chicken sandwiches and cake?” Laura wanted toknow. “If we should sit down and eat steadily for three solid days,there would still be some frankfurters left. Are you boys quite mad?”
“My good child, that remark just goes to show how greatly you misjudgeour capacities,” said Chet, busy over the fire. “I’m ready to bet rightnow that there won’t be a sandwich or a frankfurter left--cracky, thatfire’s hot!”
“It’s apt to be, especially when you put your hands in it,” observed Viunfeelingly. “Hi, Billie, what you got?”
“Letters,” returned Billie, waving them. “I put them in my pocketbefore I left and promptly forgot all about them. Here, Edina, is onefor you. Catch!”
Edina caught the letter just as it flew past her, in the nick of timeto save it from landing in the midst of Chet’s fire.
“Good catch,” applauded Paul, standing close to her. “Open your letter,if you like. I’ll excuse you. I’ll even turn my back.”
Since Paul kept his word, it so happened that Billie was the only onefacing Edina when the girl opened her letter. So also it was Billie whorushed forward, alarmed at the girl’s sudden waxy pallor.
“Why, Edina dear! what is it? Have you had bad news?”
Edina stretched out a hand as though to push Billie away. Her colorreturned in a hot wave. She spoke in a thick tone, wavering andunsteady.
“There ain’t nothin’--anything--wrong. Please don’t notice me. I’ll--beall right--in a minute.”
So it was Billie, staunch friend that she was, who turned the attentionof the young folks into other channels, who kept up a running fireof nonsense, under cover of which Edina was once more able to resumecommand of herself.
The fact that the girl slipped the letter into her pocket withoutreading to the end of it did not pass unnoticed by Billie, nor the factthat Edina was distrait and silent for the rest of the long afternoon.
“That letter was a terrible shock to her,” thought Billie. “I’d givealmost anything I own to know what was in it.”