CHAPTER IX
ANOTHER RAID
Hester Grimes, as the doctor said, had appeared late that afternoon atthe Doyles' little tenement. She had gone there from the basketballgame instead of going directly home.
To tell the truth, she did not wish to be questioned by her mother,nor did she want to meet Lily. If she had felt hatred against hermates in Central High before, that feeling in her heart was nowdoubled!
For, as all anger is illogical (indignation may not be) Hester turnedupon the girls and blamed them for the referee's decision. BecauseMiss Lawrence had put her out of the game Hester would have been gladto know that her team mates had gone to pieces and been defeated.
She had managed to recover outwardly from her disappointment andanger, however, when she arrived at the domicile of her humbleacquaintances. Mrs. Doyle knitted jackets, and Hester had ordered onefor her mother.
"Ma is always lolling around and complaining of feeling draughts,"said Hester. "So I'll give her one of these 'snuggers' to keep hershoulders warm. She's always snuffing with a cold when it comes falland the furnace fire is not lit."
"Lots o' folks are having colds just now," complained Mrs. Doyle."Johnny's snuffling with one."
"Oh, he'll be all right--won't he, Rufie?" said Hester, chucking thebaby under his plump little chin, but speaking to his faithful nurse.
"In course he will, Miss Hester," cried Rufus, and then opened hismouth for a roar of laughter, that made even the feverish Johnny crow.
"Rufus never gets tired of minding Johnny," said the widow, proudly."But he does miss his Uncle Bill."
Rufe's face clouded over. "He ain't never home no more," he said,complainingly.
"But you can go over to see him at the gymnasium," said Hester.
"Not no more he can't, Miss," said the widow. "Rufus used to go overto see Uncle Bill evenings; but Uncle Bill can't have him there nomore."
"Why not?" asked Hester, quickly; and yet she flushed and turned herown gaze away and looked out of the window.
"Bill's had some trouble there. He's afraid the Board of Educationwould object. Somebody got into the building----"
"I heard about it," said Hester, quickly.
"Wisht Uncle Bill had another job," grumbled Rufus.
"Rufie's real bright about some things," whispered his mother. "Andsharp ain't no name for it! He is pretty cute. You can't say muchbefore him that he don't remember, and repeat."
"Wisht that old gymnasium building would burn up; then Uncle Billcould come home," muttered Rufe.
Mrs. Doyle went to see to her fire. Hester beckoned the boy to thewindow and whispered to him. Gradually Rufe's face lit up with one ofhis flashes of cunning. Money passed from the girl's hand to that ofthe half-witted youth.
Just then Dr. Agnew appeared and Hester took her departure.
On the following morning Franklin Sharp, the principal of CentralHigh, called a conference of his teachers at the first opportunity. Hewas very grave indeed when he told them that another raid had beenmade upon the girls' gymnasium.
"Not so much damage is reported as was done before. But, then, theparaphernalia before destroyed was not all removed. But this time thescoundrel--or scoundrels--tried arson.
"A fire was built in a closet on the upper floor. Bill Jackway smelledsmoke and got up to see what it was. He found no trace of thefirebug--can discover no way in which he got out----"
"But how did he get in?" asked one of the teachers.
"That is plain. It had rained early in the evening. Footprints arestill visible leading across a soft piece of ground from the eastfence to a window. The window was open, although Bill swears it wasshut and locked when he went to bed at ten o'clock. That is how themarauder entered the building. How he got out is a mystery," declaredthe principal.
"It is a very dreadful thing," complained Miss Carrington. "I do notsee what we can do about it."
"We must do something," said Miss Gould, with vigor.
"Suppose you suggest a course of procedure, Miss Gould?" said theprincipal, his eyes twinkling.
"I think it would be well," said Miss Gould, "to sift every rumor andstory regarding this matter. There is much gossip among the girls. Ihave heard of a threat that one girl made in the gymnasium----"
"That is quite ridiculous, Miss Gould!" cried Miss Carrington, withsome heat. "You have been listening to a base slander against one ofmy very best pupils."
"You mean this Hester Grimes, Henry Grimes's daughter?" said theprincipal, sternly.
"That is the girl," admitted Miss Gould. "I know little about her----"
"And I know a good deal," interposed Mrs. Case, grimly. "MissCarrington finds her good at her books, and her deportment is alwaysfair in classes. I find her the hardest girl to manage in all theschool. She has a bad temper and she has never been taught to controlit. It has gone so far that I fear I shall have to shut her out ofsome of the athletics," and she related all that had happened at thebasketball game with the East High girls the afternoon before.
"I do not approve of these contests," said Miss Carrington, primly."They are sure to cause quarreling."
"If they do, then there is something the matter with the girls,"declared Mr. Sharp, briskly.
"And I have received this request from the girls of the team--seven ofthem--this morning," continued Mrs. Case, producing the "round robin.""The only girls beside Hester who did not sign it is a girl who alwayschums with her--the only really close friend Hester has to my knowledgein the school.
"Now, I should like very much to be instructed what to do about this?The girls are perfectly in the right. Hester is not dependable on theteam. There should be another girl in her place----"
"Oh, but it is quite unfair!" cried Miss Carrington. "And remember herfather is quite an important man. There will be trouble if Hester isput down in these tiresome athletics; or if this story that is goingabout is repeated to Mr. Grimes I can't imagine what he _would_ do."
"Mr. Grimes does not run the Board of Education, nor does he control_our_ actions," declared Mr. Sharp. "We must take cognizance of thesematters at once. I believe you should remove Hester from the team, asrequested, Mrs. Case. You have ample reason for so doing. And thismatter of the attempt to burn the gymnasium must be investigatedfully."
"But no girl could do these things in the gymnasium," cried MissCarrington, with considerable asperity.
"But she could get somebody else to do them--especially a girl who isallowed as much spending money as Hester Grimes," said the principal."I can imagine no sane person committing such a crime. It is wilfuland malicious mischief, and could only be inspired by hatred, or--anunbalanced mind. That is my opinion."