“What’s the matter?” Doctor Norcot and Professor Lukens had appeared from among the spectators.
After a brief examination by the doctor, Professor Lukens picked Phyllis up in his arms and started toward the infirmary with her.
Gale tore off the padding of her position and ran after them.
“But the game——” mildly protested a Junior.
“Get another goalie,” directed Gale and was gone.
Gale was forced to wait in the doctor’s office. She wriggled impatiently in the uncomfortable leather chair. Getting to her feet she walked restlessly to the window and around the room. There were a lot of medical books here which at another time would have interested her immensely. However, now she could think of nothing but Phyllis, of the whiteness of her friend’s face and the stillness with which she had lain on the field.
The door knob turned and the doctor came into the room. She was in the white clothes of her profession and wore the professional smile.
“Phyl——” Gale said.
“She’ll be all right,” the doctor assured her, “but her leg is fractured.”
“B-Broken?” Gale managed to whisper.
Doctor Norcot nodded. “She must have been hit with a hockey stick—a vicious hit.”
“But she will be all right?” Gale insisted.
“After a few weeks she will be as good as new,” the doctor promised. “Would you like to see her?”
“Oh, yes!”
Gale found Phyllis awake and grumbling. The sight of her friend made Gale’s heart twinge with pity. Phyllis was trying so hard to be brave.
“I’ve climbed ivy trellises, even jumped out of an airplane with a parachute—and I break my leg playing in a hockey game,” Phyllis said disgustedly. “A fine class president you picked!”
“We picked a good one!” Gale said quickly. “We——”
“In here?” a voice said and the door was opened.
“Hi,” Janet said.
“We came as quickly as we could when we thought we could see you,” added Carol.
“Who won the game?” Phyllis demanded.
“We did,” Ricky said, “because you played so well before——”
“Before Marcia Marlette cracked you with her hockey stick,” Janet added savagely.
“She didn’t do it,” Phyllis said wearily. “No one can say who did it. Sticks were flying in all directions.”
Janet said nothing more but she and Gale exchanged significant glances. The girls did not stay long after that. It was evident that Phyllis was tired and they thoughtfully took their leave early, but Phyllis detained Gale long after the others. Gale held her friend’s hand until Phyllis was asleep then she softly left the room.
Slowly, deep in thought, Gale stepped from the infirmary building to the campus. A chill night wind had sprung up. She turned toward the gymnasium. She was still in her hockey suit. She would have to go to the lockers and change before going to the sorority house.
Dinner had been an hour ago but she scarcely missed the comfort of her meal. She had been so worried about Phyllis she did not realize how time had flown past. Finding the janitor was an easy task. He unlocked the door to the gymnasium for her and she wasted no time in going to the lockers for her things. Stepping again onto the campus, now warm in her woollen jacket, Gale caught sight of the Dean crossing the campus to her home. Dean Travis beckoned to Gale and waited until the Freshman joined her.
“How is your friend?” she asked immediately.
Gale told her.
“You missed your dinner, didn’t you?” the Dean continued. “Come home with me. We will dine together.”
“Oh, but I——” Gale began confusedly.
“Forget I am the Dean for this one night,” Dean Travis invited humorously. She smiled and Gale could not resist. “I’ve wanted to talk with you often, Gale. You aren’t merely one of the Freshmen to me, you know. You are a friend.”
Gale found the living room of the Dean’s home cozy and warm. A wood fire burned in the fireplace. She sat on the divan before it and let the warmth of the flames ease away some of the nervousness she still felt from her worry over Phyllis. The dinner was the best she had had at Briarhurst, at least she enjoyed it the most. She talked to the Dean as she might have to one of the girls. There was no stiffness or formality between them. She found herself telling the Dean about Phyllis and about the letter she, Gale, must write when she returned to the sorority house. It was a letter to Phyllis’ aunt, the cold, austere woman who was paying Phyllis’ tuition at Briarhurst. Gale did not like Miss Fields. She resented the way the woman so completely dominated Phyllis’ life and the blind obedience she exacted from the girl.
It was late when Gale got back to the sorority house. Adele Stevens met her at the door.
“How is Phyllis?”
Gale told her all the details she could and together they walked up to Gale’s room. There the sorority president stopped to chat a while. When she left Gale found it lonesome. It would be hard to get used to living alone for a few weeks. Phyllis was always so gay, so friendly and understanding, Gale would certainly miss her.
She sat down at her desk to write to Miss Fields. It was the most difficult task she had ever had to do. She didn’t like Phyllis’ aunt and her letter was not the friendly, sympathetic epistle it might have been had she been writing to one of the other girls’ mothers. When she finished she read the note through. It was decidedly stiff and unfriendly. She tore it up and began another. She finally enclosed her fifth attempt in an envelope and stamped it. She was sure Phyllis would receive scant sympathy from Miss Fields. The woman, in all the years since Phyllis was small, had given the girl no obvious affection, no love. Phyllis always had been afraid of her, always had to obey her blindly and implicitly. Gale remembered how difficult it had been for Phyllis to come to Briarhurst with the rest of the Adventure Girls. And now this had to happen! How would Miss Fields accept the news? That worried Gale quite as much as it did Phyllis.
Standing at the window, watching shadows moving slowly on the campus as clouds drifted past the moon, Gale thought of what Janet had said that afternoon. Had Marcia deliberately hit Phyllis with her hockey stick? Gale’s more charitable nature rebelled at the thought. Marcia might be selfish, stubborn, not at all likeable, but surely she wouldn’t do anything like that!
The Freshmen had won the game but at what a cost. Her zeal for the game would cost Phyllis days of suffering and weeks of inactivity that would be even harder to bear. Mentally Gale made a promise to help Phyllis all she could.
CHAPTER VI
A Note
“Surprise!” Phyllis said gaily.
Gale stared in amazement. Phyllis was in her own bed in their room in Sunshine Alley yet she hadn’t been there that morning. Doctor Norcot stood beside the bed smiling. Adele Stevens was on the other side.
“Phyl!” Gale stuttered. “What—why—how—my dear, I’m so glad to see you!”
“She wouldn’t give me a moment’s peace until I said she could come back here,” Doctor Norcot explained, smiling.
“I’ll get well twice as quickly here,” Phyllis declared. “I feel a hundred per cent better already.”
“Sunshine Alley will cure her,” Adele Stevens laughed.
When the doctor and Adele were gone Gale sat beside Phyllis and hugged her.
“Gee, I’m glad to have you back. If you hadn’t come soon I would be talking to myself.”
“Tell me everything that has happened in these weeks,” Phyllis demanded. “Who has done what and why?”
“Well, the teacher gave us a corking examination in Biology today but I don’t know why,” Gale laughed.
“I suppose it was to see how brilliant you were,” Phyllis smiled. “Gale! Guess what! Monday I start classes again. I’ll have to go on crutches for a while but at least I won’t have to stay in one room any longer. Isn’t it marvelous?”
“We’ll have a party and celebrate,” Gale proposed.
“I’ll tell Janet and Carol to come over. Let them climb our trellis this time. I’ll make fudge and——”
“Wait a minute! You take my breath away,” Phyllis declared. “Oh, Gale, you have no idea how lonesome it was over there in the infirmary.”
“I know how lonesome it was here,” Gale countered. “This was bad enough. All by myself at night, I’d dream I saw ghosts—I almost moved over to the infirmary to be with you,” she laughed.
“I hear that the Dean has started the work on the stables for the horses we are to have in the spring,” Phyllis said. “We will have a lot of fun riding. Remember that summer in Arizona?”
“We’ll have fun if we can stay on the horses,” Gale giggled. “Ricky is an authority on the subject and she doesn’t know we can ride so she has been giving us some lessons.”
“Without horses?”
“We use chairs and things,” Gale explained, “but a real live horse will be more difficult to handle than a chair with a pillow on it.”
“Rightly spoken, my friend,” Ricky herself declared, entering unannounced at that moment. “Phyllis! You’re back! Gee! Hi, Glory,” she shouted across the hall to her roommate, “look who is here! Our star hockey player is back!”
Sunshine Alley became alive with figures eager to welcome Phyllis back. The Freshman president had been sadly missed.
That night the room was the scene of a secret rendezvous of the Adventure Girls. Valerie and Madge had managed to unobtrusively sneak out of their dormitory house with Janet and Carol. A light hidden under a tilted wastepaper basket enabled just enough light to escape to dispel the darkness while the girls sat around and talked in whispers and ate Gale’s fudge.
“Has anybody heard anything more about strange things happening to the Dean?” Phyllis asked.
The others shook silent heads. However, Janet spoke up.
“I was in French class late the other day and when I came out two teachers were talking in the hall. I dropped my book accidentally and while I was picking it up I couldn’t help but hear what they said. It was strange.”
“Well? What did they say?” Carol inquired lazily.
“One said ‘Then the President hasn’t yet discovered who took the money from the fund?’”
“Yes?” Gale and Phyllis leaned forward.
“The other one said ‘No.’ Then they saw me and walked away.”
“You scared them,” Carol accused.
“What do you suppose they meant?” Madge murmured.
“By a simple act of deductive reasoning I have come to the conclusion that there is a crook loose on the campus,” Janet announced.
“Did you think of that all by yourself?” Carol chided.
“Someone took money from the school funds?” Gale murmured. “Things are getting worse.”
“Why don’t they call a policeman?” Carol asked, juggling a book on her head.
“And get the college name spread over every newspaper in the country? That would be a nice scandal for the school!” Janet scoffed.
“It’s better than having our things disappear from under our very noses,” Carol retorted.
“No one has touched any of the students’ things,” Valerie reminded them. “It seems to be the college and the Dean who are in difficulty.”
“I wonder who is doing it?” Phyllis murmured. “It must be someone in the college.”
“Did you see Marcia Marlette this afternoon?” Carol started to giggle. “Where was she going? She was dressed in all her finery.”
“She had everything on but the kitchen sink,” added Janet with a laugh.
“I hear that Professor Lukens, the Chemistry teacher, has conferences with her after classes sometimes,” Madge murmured.
“He has with Gale, too,” Valerie smiled.
“Aha! Rivals!” Carol jeered and dodged a magazine thrown by Gale.
“How about the stables going up over behind the Chemistry Hall? Wait until I dash down College Avenue on a pure white steed——” Carol began theatrically.
“You will fall off,” Janet said dryly.
Carol made a face at her. “How do you get down from a horse?” she inquired sagely.
“Jump,” offered Janet.
“Step down,” Madge said.
“You don’t, you get it from a duck,” Carol said sweetly.
Janet choked on her fudge. Madge threw a handy pillow while Carol took refuge behind Phyllis.
“In case you don’t know,” she continued, “down is what you stuff pillows with.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Janet said distastefully. “After that terrible pun I think I had better take you back to the dormitory. Come along, infant.”
“See you tomorrow, Phyl,” Valerie said in parting.
“But I don’t want to go to bed yet,” protested Carol.
“Shshsh,” Gale warned. She listened at the door. “Someone is coming.”
“Where’ll we hide?” whispered Janet frantically.
Carol dived under the bed. Janet did likewise while Valerie and Madge ran to the closet. Gale put the light out and hopped into her bed. Innocent silence settled down over the room. Footsteps halted at the door. Cautiously the doorknob turned, but the door did not open. Instead, something white was shoved under the door. When the footsteps had retreated along the corridor again the girls cautiously came out of hiding.
“Now go ahead and sneeze!” Janet stormed at Carol. “If we had been discovered it would have been your fault. You always have to sneeze at the strangest times!”
“I can’t help it,” Carol giggled. “You tickled me.”
“We had better get out before we are discovered,” Madge whispered fearfully.
“Wait until we see what is in the note,” Janet proposed. “Open it, Gale.”
Gale lit the light again, under its protective shield, and picked up the square white envelope lying on the floor. She turned it over in her hand. There was no address upon it. She tore it open and while the other girls waited read the few words. She stared retrospectively at the floor.
“Well?” Carol hissed. “Is it a secret?”
“What? Oh——” Gale turned to the note again. “It says ‘Do not interfere in affairs that are none of your concern.’”
“Is that all?” Carol said in disappointment. “No—no threats?”
“What can it mean?” Phyllis whispered to Gale.
“Just what it says,” Janet declared bluntly. “We are to mind our own business—or else.”
“Or else what?” Carol demanded.
“Mind our own business,” Madge repeated. “But what have we interfered in?”
“True,” Valerie admitted. “We haven’t done anything.”
Gale sat on the bed beside Phyllis. “I wonder if this was meant only for you and me—or for all of us,” she murmured.
“No one knows we are here tonight—at least I hope no one knows,” Janet said.
“It is obvious someone doesn’t want us to discover something,” Phyllis murmured.
“But what?” Carol insisted. “Mixed up, I call it.”
“You’re always mixed up,” Janet said loftily. “Can’t you understand, darling, that whoever wrote this note is afraid of us?”
“We aren’t that bad looking,” Carol protested humorously. “What are they afraid of?”
“I wish we knew,” Gale said. “However, now that we are accused of prying into whatever it is, we will really do some prying.”
“I’ll sleep with my eyes and ears wide open,” Carol promised.
The girls took their leave then, sneaking as noiselessly as possible down the corridor and out the back door of the building. Gale went downstairs with them, locked the door and returned to her room. She found Phyllis still awake and pondering the strange note.
“Who left it, Gale?” she asked.
Gale shook her head. “I wish I knew. It might make things clearer.”
“At any rate, we must know something that we shouldn’t,”
Phyllis said wisely. “What will we do about it?”
Gale ran restless fingers through her curls. “I don’t know, Phyl. I was beginning to think things were calming down. Now this——”
“Stirs them up again,” Phyllis said. “You had better go to bed, Gale, you are tired.”
“And you, Phyl,” Gale said contritely. “This has been a day for you, hasn’t it? The Doctor would scold if she knew you have had scarcely any rest since this morning.”
“Bother the Doctor,” Phyllis said fretfully. “Gale, promise me you won’t do anything about that note until I can go with you.”
Gale nodded slowly. “When I do something I’ll tell you—but I don’t know what we could do,” she added helplessly.
CHAPTER VII
No Clues
Gale hastily deposited her own and Phyllis’ books in their room and went flying downstairs again. Phyllis, out on her new crutches, was waiting for her on the campus. Together the two slowly made their way to the home of the Dean. They had seen her leave the office only a few minutes earlier and hoped she would interview them. Or rather, Gale corrected her thoughts, let them interview her.
The girls had talked things over long and earnestly. They had let several days elapse, but now they had decided the best thing to do was to go to the Dean with the note that had mysteriously appeared in their room.
Gale proposed to tell the Dean everything that the girls knew or suspected—things which the Dean, herself, already knew. The attempts on the Dean had been interpreted by the girls to mean direct attempts to seriously injure her. Now they wanted to know why. Since someone had chosen to link them to the mysterious events, by means of that note, they felt they had a right to share the mystery whatever it was.
Gale was trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together as they walked along. First there had been the canoe, then the acid hurled from the Chemistry room window, the candy eaten by Dean Travis’ secretary—and other things that had come to her ears such as the fire in the Dean’s home and the stolen funds from the college treasury. But what was it the girls knew that someone feared? Try as she would, Gale could not think of a thing that pointed directly to any one person. There was no reason anyone should suspect the Adventure Girls of being interested in the Dean’s difficulties.
The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls Page 282