CHAPTER VII
ALL HALLOWE'EN
"Anne," called a chorus of boys' and girls' voices, "come out and havesome fun. Have you forgotten it's Hallowe'en?"
The door of the Pierson cottage opened and Anne appeared on thethreshhold.
"I can't," she answered; "I must study to-night."
"Oh, bother lessons!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe. "Skip them, for once, andjoin the crowd. We are going Hallowe'ening. Mother allowed it becauseDavid Nesbit and Reddy Brooks are along to look after us."
Anne looked longingly at the little company.
"I'll come," she sighed, "although it was my algebra I was working on.You know Miss Leece hates me, and, if I slip up, she'll be much harderthan any of the other teachers."
"Hang Miss Leece!" said David promptly.
"Well, let's hang her, then," exclaimed Nora. "Let's dress her up andhang her on a limb of a tree."
"What do you mean by 'hang' her?" asked Grace, while Anne went in to puton her hat and coat.
"Don't you know?" replied Nora. "You stuff an old dress full of hay andpaper, make a head out of any old thing, put a hat on it, and there youhave her mighty fine."
"That's an old stunt, Nora," observed David. "Let's have something moreimproved and up-to-date. Suppose, for instance, we use Marian'sJack-o'-lantern for the head. I'll put some little electric bulbs in theeye holes and attach them to a battery so that we can turn her eyes offand on. And we'll ride her on a broomstick in good style."
"Only, nobody must know it's Miss Leece whose being effigied," urgedGrace. "This must be merely for our own private satisfaction. Everybodypromise not to tell."
Everybody promised; so, with Anne safely in tow, they started forJessica's house to make the figure. Here they were not likely to beinterrupted. Jessica's mother was dead and her father spent most of hisevenings in his library.
Half a broomstick, with a small pumpkin attached to one end, formed theframework of Miss Leece's effigy. A cross beam gave a human touch to theshoulders and with the skeleton ready, the business of stuffing an oldulster and hanging it over the figure was simple. Tiny electric bulbswere placed in the eyes and a bonnet tied on the head with a green veilfloating behind. Miss Leece, Nora insisted, always wore one growing outof her left ear. There was nothing left to do now, but to place thefigure in a legless chair that had been nailed to two poles, and theprocession was ready.
"She's a very fine lady," cried Grace, running ahead to get the effectof the absurd lopsided figure whose eyes glared and went outalternately. "I wish the real Miss L. could see herself now. She wouldknow exactly what she looks like when she glares at poor little Anne inclass."
"Yes, Anne," said David, "this shall be your party. We are going to giveyou satisfaction for your wrongs in the only way that lies in ourpower."
"Oh, I don't really mind her," replied Anne, "only I'm afraid she'llcatch me unprepared, some day, and then I _will_ get it in earnest."
"It's a perfect outrage," exclaimed Grace. "Miss Leece is so cruel tolittle Anne, David, that it makes my blood boil. I sometimes think sheis trying to make Anne lose the freshman prize."
"The old Hessian!" cried David, who was on a sort of rampage thatevening. "What shall I do to her, Anne? Give her an electric shock?" andhe pressed the electric button rapidly up and down, which made the eyesglare hideously and go out several times in succession.
In a town the size of Oakdale strolling parties of boys and girls, onHallowe'en night, made a not unusual sight, so when our young peopleparaded boldly down the main street, singing and blowing horns, nothingwas thought of it. What they were doing might be considered exceedinglyout of place by a few straightlaced persons, but boys and girls willhave their fun, even if it must sometimes be at the expense of otherpeople.
Certainly Miss Leece was the most unpopular teacher ever employed in theHigh School as far back as memory could reach. She was cruel, strict andsharp-tongued. Often her violent, unrestrained temper got the better ofher in the class room; then she gave an exhibition that was not good foryoung girls to see. Anne, especially, was the victim of her rages--poorlittle Anne who never missed a lesson and studied twice as hard as theother girls. Miss Leece had but one weakness, apparently, and that wasMiriam Nesbit.
Twice had the faculty convened in secret session to consider MissLeece's case, but it had been decided to keep her through the year atleast, since she was engaged by contract and was moreover an excellentinstructor in mathematics.
So, it was no wonder that even this early in the school year, she wasthe object of dislike to the High School girls. But could our girls haveforeseen what the evening's fun would bring forth, they would never havebeen so reckless in carrying the effigy about town.
"Suppose we take her across the square," cried Reddy; "then over thebridge to the old graveyard and hang her on the limb of the apple treejust outside the wall?"
Off they started, singing at the tops of their voices:
Hang a mean teacher on a sour apple tree, Hang a mean teacher on a sour apple tree.
When they reached the center of the public square, where a big electriclight shed its rays, who should spring out of the shadows, from nowhereapparently, but Miss Leece herself? Nothing escaped her sharp ears andher cold blue eyes; neither words of the song nor the figure in detail,green veil and all; nor Anne Pierson, who happened to be standing quitenear the effigy at the moment.
And what was worse, and still more incriminating to the guiltymerrymakers, the moment they caught sight of her they stopped singing.The eyes in the pumpkin suddenly lost their glare, and a silentprocession wound its way hurriedly from the square.
"Good heavens!" cried Grace. "Why did we stop the song? If we had onlygone right ahead, it wouldn't have looked half as bad."
"It was a mistake," admitted David, gravely, "especially as she seemedto have seen Anne first of all. Anne, if she walks into you to-morrowmorning, you can just lay the blame on me, do you hear? I got up thewhole party and I'm willing to stand for it."
"No, no," cried Anne. "That wouldn't be fair, David. I couldn't think ofdoing that."
"Well, you are not to get the blame, at any rate," said David, "if Ihave to go up and make a confession to the principal herself."
"Let's go and hang her now, anyhow," cried Reddy. "We'll take nohalf-way measures with old Queen Bess."
But somehow the spice of the adventure seemed to have gone out of it.
"It really would be dangerous now," said Grace. "She would be certain tohear of it and make it worse for all of us."
"Why not burn her," put in Nora, who was afraid of nothing and had oftenlooked at the scolding teacher with such cold, laughing eyes, that evenMiss Leece was disconcerted.
"Good!" cried several of the others. "We will take her down below thebridge and burn her as a witch."
No one objected to this, since the ashes of the effigy would tell notales. Once more they started singing: "Merrily we roll along!" as theymarched out of the village, crossed the bridge over the little river andfinally paused on the bank below.
"Plant the pole in deep," said David, "so she won't topple, and fix herup to suit yourselves, girls, while we get the fagots."
The boys began to search about for dried sticks and twigs, while thegirls were arranging the figure for her funeral pyre.
Suddenly, there was a wild war whoop. A crowd of boys dashed out of athicket near by, each one carrying a lighted Jack-o'-lantern on top of apole, and surrounded the effigy of the teacher.
"Help!" cried the girls, trying to defend the absurd thing from theattack, but they were too late. One of the boys seized the pole andrushed off in the darkness.
Miss Leece, in effigy, had been kidnapped in an instant, before Davidand his friends had had time to realize what had happened.
"Which way did they go?" he asked breathlessly.
"Through the thicket," cried Grace.
And the whole crowd dashed after the kidnappers. It was great fun foreverybody except Anne, wh
o was too tired to keep up the chase for long,and was soon lagging behind the others. David saw her and turned back.
"You are too little for all this junketing, Anne," he said kindly."Suppose I take you home? Shall I?"
"I wish you would, David," answered the girl. "I'm just about ready todrop, I'm so tired."
Taking her arm, he helped her over the ruts and rough places, until theyfinally emerged from the wood and started on the road to town.
There were many other Hallowe'en parties out that night; singing andlaughing was heard in every direction.
"It's like a play," said Anne, "only everything is behind the scenes.Don't think I haven't enjoyed it, David, just because I got tired. Inever played with boys and girls of my own age before. What fun it is!"
"Isn't it?" replied the young man, "I love to get out, once in a while,and have a good time like this. I find I can work all the better afterit's over."
Presently the others caught up with them, breathless and laughing.
"Miss Leece is stolen," cried Grace, "before ever she was hanged orburned. I do wonder what they'll do with her."
"Oh, leave her in the woods," responded Reddy, "to scare the birdsaway."
"Good night, Anne," continued Grace. "David will take you home. We gothis way. Don't be frightened about to-morrow. I doubt if she saysanything; and if she does, we are all implicated."
The young people separated, still singing and laughing; never dreamingof the storm brewing from their evening's prank.
"Anne," pursued David, as they strolled down River Street together,"when I make my flying machine will you be afraid to take a sail withme?"
"Never," replied Anne, "but I wish it had been made in time to carry meaway from Miss Leece to-morrow morning."
And Anne's words had more meaning than either of them realized at thetime.
Imagine the surprise and horror of the Hallowe'en party when, nextmorning, they discovered the effigy of Miss Leece planted right in frontof the Girls' High School!
And the teacher herself was the first to see the impious outrage.