That Helen escaped punishment was more by good fortune than anything else. In the study, however, she and Ruth and Mercy had many merry times. Mercy kept both the other girls up to their school tasks, for all lessons seemed to come easy to the lame girl and she helped her two friends not a little in the preparation of their own.
“The Triumvirate” the other girls in the dormitory building called the three girls from Cheslow. Before Thanksgiving, Ruth, Helen, and Mercy began to stand high in their several classes. And Ruth was booked for the Glee Club, too. She sang every Sunday in the chorus, while Helen played second violin in the orchestra, having taken some lessons on that instrument before coming to Briarwood.
Dr. Cranfew came often at first to see Mercy; but he declared at last that he only came socially—there was no need of medical attendance. The cripple could not go to recitations without her crutches, but sometimes in the room she walked with only Ruth’s strong arm for support. She was getting rosy, too, and began to take exercise in the gymnasium.
“I’ll develop my biceps, if my back is crooked and my legs queer,” she declared. “Then, when any of those Miss Nancy Seniors make fun of me behind my back, I can punch ’em!” for there were times when Mercy’s old, cross-grained moods came upon her, and she was not so easily borne with.
Perhaps this fact was one of the things that drove the wedge deeper between Ruth and Helen. Ruth would never neglect the crippled girl. She seldom left her in the room alone. Mercy had early joined the Sweetbriars, and Ruth and she went to the frequent meetings of that society together, while Helen retained her membership in the Up and Doing Club and spent a deal of her time in the quartette room next door.
Few of the girls went home for Thanksgiving, and as Mercy was not to return to Cheslow then, the journey being considered too arduous for her, Ruth decided not to go either. There was quite a feast made by the school on Thanksgiving, and frost having set in a week before, skating on Triton Lake was in prospect. There was a small pond attached to the Briarwood property and Ruth tried Helen’s skates there. She had been on the ice before, but not much; however, she found that the art came easily to her—as easily as tennis, in which, by this time, she was very proficient.
For the day following Thanksgiving there was a trip to Triton Lake planned, for that great sheet of water was ice-bound, too, and a small steamer had been caught ’way out in the middle of the lake, and was frozen in. The project to drive to the lake and skate out to the steamer (the ice was thick enough to hold up a team of horses, and plenty of provisions had been carried out to the crew) and to have a hot lunch on the boat originated in the fertile brain of Mary Cox; but as it was not a picnic patronized only by the Upedes, Mrs. Tellingham made no objection to it. Besides, it was vacation week, and the Preceptress was much more lenient.
Of course, Helen was going; but Ruth had her doubts. Mercy could not go, and the girl of the Red Mill hated to leave her poor little crippled friend alone. But Mercy was as sharp of perception as she was of tongue. When Helen blurted out the story of the skating frolic, Ruth said “she would see” about going; she said she wasn’t sure that she would care to go.
“I’m such a new skater, you know,” she laughed. “Maybe I’d break down skating out to the steamboat, and wouldn’t get there, and while all you folks were eating that nice hot lunch I’d be freezing to death—poor little me!—’way out there on the ice.”
But Mercy, with her head on one side and her sharp blue eyes looking from Helen to Ruth, shot out:
“Now, don’t you think you’re smart, Ruth Fielding? Why, I can see right through you—just as though you were a rag of torn mosquito netting! You won’t go because I’ll be left alone.”
“No,” said Ruth, but flushing.
“Yes,” shot back Mercy. “And I don’t have to turn red about it, either. Oh, Ruthie, Ruthie! you can’t even tell a white one without blushing about it.”
“I—don’t—know—”
“I do know!” declared Mercy. “You’re going. I’ve got plenty to do. You girls can go on and freeze your noses and your toeses, if you like. Me for the steam-heated room and a box of bonbons. But I hope the girls who go will be nicer to you than some of those Upedes have been lately, Ruthie.”
Helen blushed now; but Ruth hastened to say: “Oh, don’t you fuss about me, Mercy. Some of the Sweetbriars mean to go. This isn’t confined to one club in particular. Madge Steele is going, too, and Miss Polk. And Miss Reynolds, Mrs. Tellingham’s first assistant, is going with the party. I heard all about it at supper. Poor Heavy was full of it; but she says she can’t go because she never could skate so far. And then—the ice might break under her.”
“Whisper!” added Helen, her eyes dancing. “I’ll tell you something else—and this I know you don’t know!”
“What is it?”
“Maybe Tom will be there. Good old Tom! Just think—I haven’t seen him since we left home. Won’t it be just scrumptious to see old Tom again?”
And Ruth Fielding really thought it would be.
CHAPTER XX
AT TRITON LAKE
So on the morning following the feast-day there were two wagonettes waiting at the entrance to the Briarwood grounds to take the girls two miles by road to a certain boathouse on Triton Lake. When Ruth and Helen came out of their room, leaving Mercy cozily ensconced in the window-seat with her books and the box of bonbons, the door of the quartette was open and a faint groan sounded from within.
Helen’s eyes twinkled, as she said: “The others have gone, but Jennie’s up in dry-dock for repairs. No wonder she wouldn’t promise to be one of the skating party. The pleasures of the table must be paid for— How do you feel now, Heavy?” she added, putting her head in at the door.
“No better. Oh!” came back the complaining voice. “I do have such dreadful ill-fortune. I can’t eat just a little bit without its distressing me abominably!”
The chums ran down to the wagonettes and found most of the girls who were going already there. Ruth, seeing that there was more room in the second carriage, whisked into it, and Helen was following her when Mary Cox came up.
“Going to get in here, Cameron?” she said. “Well, I’ll get in with you—no, I won’t!” she suddenly exclaimed, seeing Ruth peering out. “Come on to the other wagonette; Belle and Lluella are there.”
For a moment Helen hesitated. Then Mary said, jerking at her sleeve:
“Come on! We want to start in a minute. I’ve heard from the boys and I want to tell you. They’ve sent a whole sleighload of things out to the Minnetonka—the boat that’s frozen in, you know—and music, and we’ll have great fun. Sh! Miss Reynolds don’t know. She’s such a fuss-budget! If she knew the boys were coming—well!”
“Oh, Tom, too!” gasped Helen, delighted. Then she turned and said, in a whisper: “Ruth!”
“Come on and let that tattle-tale alone!” exclaimed Mary Cox. “Tell her, and she’ll run to Miss Reynolds with it.”
Helen went with her.
Had Ruth Fielding possessed the power of movement just then, she would have gotten out of the wagon and run away to the dormitory. But she was stricken motionless as well as speechless by her chum’s defection, and before she could recover her poise the wagons had begun to move, rattling over the frozen road toward Triton Lake.
Ah! how it hurt! For weeks Ruth had endured slights, and haughty looks, and innuendoes from Mary Cox and her Upedes—and the girl from the Red Mill had accepted all uncomplainingly. She had heretofore believed Helen only thoughtless. But this was more than Ruth Fielding could bear. She was the last girl to get into the wagonette, and she turned her head away, that her companions might not see her tears.
The other girls chattered, and laughed, and sang, and enjoyed themselves. Ruth Fielding passed the few minutes which elapsed during the drive to the boathouse in trying to stifle her sobs and remove the traces of her emotion. She was tempted t
o remain in the wagonette and go back to the school at once—for the carriages would return to town, coming out again for the party of Briarwood students late in the afternoon.
This thought was her first intention; but as her sobs subsided she felt more the hurt of the treatment she had received. And this hurt stirred within her a self-assertion that was becoming a more prominent characteristic of Ruth every day. Why should she relapse into tears because her chum had done a cruel thing? Hurt as she was, why should she give The Fox the satisfaction of knowing she felt the slight?
Ruth began to take herself to task for her “softness.” Let Helen go with the Upedes if she wished. Here were nice girls all about her, and all the Sweetbriars particularly thought a great deal of her, Ruth knew. She need not mope and weep just because Helen Cameron, her oldest friend, had neglected her. The other girls stood ready to be her friends.
They had not noticed Ruth’s silence and abstraction—much less her tears. She wiped her eyes hard, gulped down her sobs, and determined to have a good time in spite of either the Upedes or Helen’s hardness of heart.
The first wagonette reached the shore of the lake some time ahead of the second. And perhaps this fact, as well as the placing of Miss Reynolds in the latter, had been arranged by the wily Miss Cox.
“Oh, Mary Cox!” cried Helen, looking out, “there’s a whole lot of folks here—BOYS!”
But when one of the boys came running to help her down the steps, Helen shouted with delight. She came “flopping” down into Tom Cameron’s arms.
“How scrumptious you look, Nell!” cried her brother, kissing her frankly. “Here is Bob Steele—I want you to know him. He’s my bunkie at Seven Oaks. Isn’t his sister with you—Madge Steele?”
“Yes. Miss Steele’s here,” gasped Helen.
“But where’s Ruth?” demanded the excited Tom. “Come on and get her. We want to get our skates on and make for the steamer. The ice is like glass.”
“Why—Ruth’s in the other wagonette,” said Helen.
“She’s not with you?” exclaimed Tom, rather chagrined. “Why, how’s that?”
“We—we happened to get into different ones,” said his sister.
To tell the truth, she had not thought of Ruth since leaving the school.
“Is that the other one coming—’way back on the road there?”
“Yes,” said Helen. “Here’s Miss Cox, Tom. Mary, this is my brother.”
Bob Steele, who was a tall, blond fellow, was at hand to be introduced, too. His sister jumped out of the wagon and said: “Hullo, Bobbie! How’s your poor croup?” Madge was a year and a half older than her brother and always treated him as though he were a very small boy in knickerbockers—if not actually in pinafores.
The girls giggled over this, and Bob Steele blushed. But he took his sister’s chaffing good-naturedly. Tom Cameron, however, was very much disturbed over the absence of Ruth Fielding.
“We’d better hurry out on the ice. We’ve got an awful strict teacher with us,” said Mary Cox, hastily.
“You take care of my sister, too; will you, Bob?” said Tom, bluntly. “I shall wait and bring Miss Fielding down.”
“Oh, she’ll look out for herself,” said Mary Cox, slightingly. “We must hurry if we want any fun.”
“Helen and I wouldn’t have much fun if Ruth were left behind,” declared Master Tom, firmly. “Go on, Bob; we’ll catch up with you.”
“Hadn’t you better come, too, Tom?” whispered Helen, doubtfully.
“Why, we want Ruth with us; don’t we?” demanded the puzzled Tom, looking at her in wonder. “Go on, Nell. We’ll be with you shortly.”
“Why, I want to introduce you to the other girls,” said Helen, pouting. “And I haven’t seen you myself for so long.”
“It’s too bad you got separated from your spoon, Nell,” said her brother, calmly. “But I shall wait and bring her.”
The others—even Madge Steele—were already trooping down to the landing, where there were settees for the girls to sit on while their skates were being adjusted. Helen had to run after them, and Tom waited alone the arrival of the second wagonette from Briarwood Hall.
CHAPTER XXI
ON THE ICE
If Ruth Fielding’s eyes were a bit red when the wagonette finally came to the landing, nobody would have suspected her of crying. Least of all Tom Cameron, for she jumped down with a glad cry when she saw him, and dropped her skates and shook both his hands in a most cordial greeting.
“Helen hinted that you might be here, Tom, but I could hardly believe it,” she said.
“We want to hurry and catch up with them,” he said. Some of the girls were already on the ice. “We’d better go.”
But the other girls had alighted, and following them came Miss Reynolds. Now, Ruth liked Miss Reynolds very much, but the teacher came towards them, looking rather grave.
“This is Helen Cameron’s brother Tom, Miss Reynolds,” said Ruth. “He attends the Seven Oaks Military Academy.”
“I see,” said the teacher, quietly. “And where is Miss Cameron?”
“She has gone on with Bob Steele and his sister,” explained Tom, seeing instantly that all was not right. “You see, some of us fellows got permission to come over here to Triton Lake to-day. Mr. Hargreaves, one of our tutors, is with us.”
“I know Mr. Hargreaves,” said Miss Reynolds. “But I had no warning—nor had Mrs. Tellingham, I believe—that any of the young gentlemen from Major Parradel’s school were to be here.”
“Well, it will make it all the nicer, I am sure,” Tom suggested, with his winning smile. “We’ll all—all us fellows, I mean—try to behave our prettiest, Miss Reynolds.”
“Undoubtedly you will be on your good behavior,” said the teacher, drily.
But Tom and Ruth could not hurry on ahead now. Miss Reynolds walked sedately with them down to the landing. By that time Mary Cox and most of the Upedes were on the ice—and they were joined by all the boys but Tom. The Fox had laid her plans well.
Mr. Hargreaves skated back to shake hands with Miss Reynolds. “This is a surprise,” he said. “I am sure I did not expect to find you and your young ladies here, Miss Reynolds.”
“Are you sure that the meeting is quite unexpected by both parties?” she returned, with a grave smile. “If we are surprised, Mr. Hargreaves, I fancy that our young charges may have been rather better informed in advance than we were.”
The gentleman shrugged his shoulders. “I give that up!” he said. “It may be. I see you have your hands full here. Shall I take my—er—my remaining young man away with me?” he asked, looking aside at Tom, who was already fastening Ruth’s skates.
“Oh, no,” said Miss Reynolds, grimly. “I’ll make use of him!”
And she most certainly did. Tom was anxious to get Ruth away at once so that they could catch up with the foremost skaters; but he could not refuse to aid her teacher. And then there were others of the girls to help. They were all on the ice before Master Tom could get his own skates on.
Then there was a basket to carry, and of course Tom could not see the teacher or one of the girls carry it. He took it manfully. Then Miss Reynolds gave Ruth her hand and skated with her, and Master Tom was fain to skate upon Ruth’s other hand. And so they went on slowly, while the lively crowd ahead drew farther and farther away. It was not an unpleasant journey out across the smooth lake, however, and perhaps the party who had but one boy for escort had just as pleasant a time in many respects as those in advance.
Ruth made her friend acquainted with all the Sweetbriars who were present and whispered to him how he had really named the new Briarwood society. That vastly tickled Tom and he made himself just as agreeable to the girls as he knew how. Miss Reynolds was no wet blanket on the fun, either, and she was as good a skater as Tom himself. Ruth had improved greatly, and before they reached the
frost-bound Minnetonka the teacher relieved Tom of his basket and told him to give the girl from the Red Mill a lesson in skating with a partner—practice which she sorely needed.
It was spirited indeed to fly over the ice, guided by Tom’s sure foot and hand. They described a great curve and came back to Miss Reynolds and the other girls, who progressed more sedately. Then Tom gave his hands to two of the older girls and with their arms stretched at full length the trio went careening over the ice on the “long roll” in a way that made Ruth, looking on with shining eyes, fairly hold her breath.
“It’s wonderful!” she cried, when the three came back, glowing with the exercise. “Do you suppose I can ever learn that, Tom?”
“Why, Ruthie, you’re so sure of yourself on the skates that I believe I could teach you to roll very easily. If Miss Reynolds will allow me?”
“Go on, Master Tom,” the teacher said, laughing. “But don’t go too far away. We are nearing the boat now.”
The first party that had struck out from the shore had all arrived at the ice-bound Minnetonka now, and many of them were skating in couples thereabout. At the stern of the steamboat was an open place in the ice, for Ruth and Tom could see the water sparkling. There was little wind, but it was keen; the sun was quite warm and the exercise kept the skaters from feeling the cold.
“Hullo!” exclaimed Tom to Ruth, as they began to get into good stroke—for the girl was an apt pupil—“who is that old Bobbins has got under his wing?”
“Who is Bobbins?” asked Ruth, with a laugh.
“My bunkie—that’s what we call our chums at Seven Oaks. Bob Steele.”
“Madge Steele’s brother?”
“Yes. And no end of a good fellow,” declared Tom. “But, my aunt! don’t his sister rig him, though? Asked old Bobbins if he had the croup?” and Tom went off into a burst of laughter.
“Do you mean the tall, light-haired boy?” Ruth queried.
“Yes. They’re skating back toward the steamboat now—see, towards the stern.”
“That is Mary Cox with your friend,” said Ruth, a little gravely.
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