The Girls of Central High on Track and Field
Page 22
CHAPTER XXII--LOU POTTER SCORES ONE
"Has he gone?" gasped Gee Gee, weakly.
"They've driven off, Miss Carrington. Margit is in no danger now," saidBobby, eyeing the teacher curiously.
"You--you know about it, too, do you?" murmured the teacher.
"I guess I know something about it," replied Bobby, promptly. "We girlssaw Margit up there in the hills when she ran away from the Gypsies thefirst time. And I was over to Eve Sitz's the night the Vareys stoleMargit away again. I'd see the police if I were you, Miss Carrington."
"The police--yes!" returned the lady. "It will all have to be draggedinto publicity, I suppose."
Bobby didn't know what to say, for she did not understand Gee Gee'spresent character, anyway! Nobody before had ever seen Miss Grace GeeCarrington so disturbed in her mind.
Bobby saw the front door open again, and Margit appeared on the porch.
"Come in! Come in! It's all right now," said the Gypsy girl. "There isnothing to fear from them now---- Ah! who is this?"
Bobby turned quickly and saw a little, stooped old man, turning in atthe gate. Miss Carrington saw him, too, and she came to her feet in amoment. The color came back into her face and she began to look verygrim again--more like her usual self.
"Morning! morning!" cackled the old gentleman, nodding at the schoolteacher, but looking hard at Bobby. And the latter recognized him asEben Chumley, a queer, miserly old man who owned a great deal ofproperty on the Hill.
"Good morning, Mr. Chumley," said Miss Carrington, quietly.
"Now, don't tell me _this_ is the gal," said Mr. Chumley, pointing along finger at Bobby. "For that's Tom Hargrew's young 'un--I know herwell enough."
"_This_ is the girl I wish you to see and talk with, Mr. Chumley," saidMiss Carrington, beckoning Margit forward. Then she added, in herseverest tone: "Miss Hargrew! you are excused."
"Well, the mean cat!" muttered Bobby, as she went out of the yard. "Ihad no intention of listening to their private affairs. But she might atleast have thanked me for tumbling over that Gypsy."
Margit came to her, however, that morning, and thanked her warmly.
"You're a brave girl, Miss Hargrew," she said. "And I think that JimVarey will let me alone hereafter. At least, he had better keep hisdistance."
And so it seemed, for thereafter, when Miss Carrington and her chargewalked to and from school, a policeman strolled behind them. Thegirls--especially those of the junior class, however--were almost eatenup with curiosity.
Luckily, as June approached, they had something else to think about outof regular recitation hours. The rivalry on the athletic field becamevery keen indeed. Mrs. Case did her best to impress upon the girls'minds that a spirit of rivalry between classes would perhaps injure thechances of the school at large at the final meet.
"Loyalty to Central High!" was her battle cry. But all of thegirls--especially a certain portion of the seniors--forgot the "good ofthe greater number" in the petty class differences.
Lou Potter, the senior, was backed strongly for first place in puttingthe shot and for the broad jump. Nobody but Mrs. Case, indeed, knew justhow Lou and Eve Sitz stood in those two events.
The Saturday afternoon came when Mrs. Case was to try out the girls withthe highest scores in the various events to be featured on the Big Day.Relay teams from each class had been gradually made up, and now thesewere to compete for the honor of representing Central High at the meet.
The Junior Four was made up of Laura Belding, Jess Morse, and Dora andDorothy Lockwood, with Bobby Hargrew as substitute. They were not onlyall fast, but they were quick-witted. A relay race isn't altogether wonwith one's feet.
The seniors averaged taller girls, and heavier. The sophomores werenearer the weight and size of Laura and her mates; and of course, it wasscarcely to be expected that the freshman four would stand a chance atall.
When the three heats were run off, however, the freshmen proved betterthan the seniors once, and surpassed the sophomores in two of the heats.The juniors won all three heats in fast time.
"Those squabs are coming on to be jimdandies!" declared Bobby,enthusiastically. "They're going to be just such another class inathletics as ours."
"And of course," remarked Lou Potter, who overheard her, "the juniorclass of Central High is just the most wonderful crowd of girls that wasever brought together."
"Now you've said it," admitted Bobby, with satisfaction. "But I neverdid expect to hear a senior say that about us!"
Mrs. Case came over and her presence halted further bickering. But therivalry of the two upper classes rankled.
Bobby took the hundred-yard dash from all competitors. Later she easilybeat all the other entries in the quarter-mile race.
Interest centered after that in the broad jump and the shot-puttingcontest. Eve was in her usual good form and equalled, in her threetrials, her best previous record. Just what that record had been thegirls as a body did not know; but on this occasion the distance was madepublic. Eve had bested all competitors by a full inch and a half. Hernearest rival was Lou Potter.
"Favoritism!" was the cry among the seniors, but they were very carefulnot to allow their physical instructor hear it.
In truth, Mrs. Case, as she always had been, was opposed to inter-classtrials on the field or track. It lowered the standard of loyalty to theschool as a whole, and was frequently the cause of bickerings andheart-burnings, as in this present case.
But she was bound by the rules of a committee in which she had but onevote. She was glad to learn, however, that other instructors in otherschools were having the same trouble. The Girls' Branch Athletic Leagueis truly against rivalry between classes of the same school.
In putting the shot the same unfortunate feeling arose between backersof Lou Potter and Evangeline Sitz. Eve carried the day; she put thetwelve-pound shot far ahead of her rival. But the seniors were notsatisfied. Their class would make a poor showing indeed at the meet.
"I'd just like to get square with that Swiss doll!" exclaimed LouPotter, as she turned out of the gate of the athletic field, after itwas all over and Mrs. Case had announced who would be therepresentatives of the school in each department of athletics, at theJune meet.
"She is a foreigner, anyway. Laura Belding got her to come to thisschool. She'd much better have gone to Keyport, where she belongs,"cried one of Lou's classmates.
They could not see that Eve's presence at Central High was likely togive the school at least two points in athletics; that Keyport mighthave won had the country girl attended the Keyport High, as she hadfirst intended.
"There she goes now--aiming for the railroad station," said Lou Potter."I wish something would keep her from getting to the field on the day ofthe meet."
It was this mean thought in her mind, perhaps, that made Miss Potternotice Eve particularly as she followed behind the country girl. Lou'sfriends separated from her, but her way led toward the railroad station,too.
And before that was reached Miss Potter suddenly became aware of thefact that a woman and a man were following Eve Sitz.
She saw them first standing at a corner, and whispering, and pointingafter Eve. They were dark-faced people, foreign-looking, and the manwore hoops of gold in his ears.
"There are a lot of those Gypsies around this Spring," was Lou's firstthought. "Hullo! those people are watching that Sitz girl."
She became curious, as she saw the Gypsies dog Eve's footsteps for blockafter block. Whether they wished to speak to the big girl, or were justwatching her, Lou could not tell.
She was a bold girl herself, and not at all afraid of the Romany folk.When Eve disappeared into the railroad station and the man and womanremained outside, Lou walked up to them.
"What are you following that girl for?" she asked, and when Queen Graceand her husband would have denied it, Lou made her reason for askingplain.
"If you don't like her, neither do I. I'd like to have her out of theway for at least one day--one day next week," and sh
e named the day ofthe Athletic Meet.
"This is a plot to trap us," growled Jim Varey to his wife.
But the Gypsy Queen was, as we have seen, a very shrewd student of humannature. She could see just how bad a heart Lou Potter had. Queen Gracepossessed no occult power. No so-called fortune-teller has. They are allwicked people, and liars. But she had long made a study of the worstside of human nature.
She saw that Lou Potter was ripe for mischief. She talked to her softlyand insinuatingly, putting Jim out of the way. Then she agreed to meetthe senior again and learn just what she wished done to Eve Sitz.
For the Gypsy Queen saw a chance to make a few dollars and, as MargitSalgo had said, the woman was very avaricious. She and her husband hadbeen following Eve idly enough. They dared not approach Margit while shewas under the protection of Miss Carrington and the police; but theylaid to Eve a part of the blame for the Gypsy girl's escape from theirhands before they had made any money out of her.
Lou Potter went away from her conference with the Gypsies very muchdelighted.
"I guess we'll show them that the seniors have something to say aboutathletics at Central High," she muttered, over and over again. "I reckonI've scored one on Miss Eve Sitz, too!"