it was a few days later that the war cry arrived in the mail, for dorothy. the young girl knew that the paper was widely circulated, and likewise that it was circulated among people who might know tom moran. men of his trade, traveling about the country, often drop into salvation army meetings for very loneliness, if nothing more.
“oh, i just hope he’ll see it, and learn about how celia wants him.” said dorothy, clasping her hands. “the poor little thing——”
“what do you s’pose miss olaine would say if she saw this notice?” interposed tavia, after reading the blue-penciled paragraph.
“miss olaine?”
“yes.”
“i can’t imagine why you say that,” observed dorothy, puzzled.
“didn’t i tell you how startled she was when she read tom moran’s name on that postal card?”
142 “but nonsense, tavia!” cried dorothy. “that was because she was reminded of the awful fire in which she came so near to losing her life.”
“how do you know?” snapped tavia.
“but—my dear——”
“i tell you i believe she knows tom moran. of course she would remember him, when he played the hero in that fire.”
“it’s ridiculous for you to talk that way, tavia,” declared dorothy. “you always do go flying off on a tangent——”
“then i get a free ride. don’t worry. i am welcome to my own ‘idee’; am i not, doro?”
“i suppose you are.”
“then i stick to it,” said tavia, with a toss of her head. “olaine was startled because you were making inquiries about tom moran. haven’t i been watching her—‘hout of me heagle heye,’ as the cockney villain says in the play——”
“you and your plays!” sniffed dorothy. “your romantic nature is working overtime again. i do wish you would make it behave.”
but tavia secretly held to her own belief. she, and not dorothy, had observed miss olaine’s emotion when she came across the postal card in the mail. pooh! merely the remainder of that rector street school fire would not make the teacher look like that. you couldn’t fool tavia—at least, so she said in her heart.
143 she secured the copy of the salvation army paper when dorothy was not near, and carried it into the recitation room in her blouse. miss olaine was more than usually severe that morning, and perhaps tavia was thus encouraged to “spring” her little surprise, as she called it.
she made an excuse to go to the teacher’s desk. she was not the only one who went there while miss olaine was at the blackboard, so the plotter did not think she would be suspected more than any of several other members of the class.
she laid the paper, with the page uppermost on which was printed the paragraph asking for news of tom moran, among the teacher’s books. and surely miss olaine could not miss noticing that paragraph with the broad, blue pencil marks about it!
tavia could not attend to the problem under discussion, her mind being centered upon what was going to happen when miss olaine got back to her desk. therefore when the teacher shot a query at tavia suddenly she made a woeful exhibition of herself.
“inattention, miss travers. i will speak to you of that later,” snapped miss olaine, striding back to her desk.
“now she’ll see it!” whispered tavia to herself, scarcely minding the threatened black mark.
but miss olaine went on with her instructions144 to the class, and did not see the paper. she sat there, looking out over the class, and tavia began to wonder if ever she would drop her gaze and see that blue-penciled paragraph in the war cry staring up at her.
tavia really became so nervous that she could not follow the trend of the lesson at all. once more miss olaine asked her a question, and the girl floundered most desperately and could not answer.
she could only think just then of dorothy. suppose miss olaine should accuse dorothy of putting the paper there? dorothy’s name was on the label pasted upon the margin of the paper.
“you evidently have no interest in this recitation, miss,” said the teacher, sneeringly, when tavia had made another lamentable exhibition of incompetence.
“oh, yes, i have, ma’am,” gasped tavia.
“you may come to me after school this afternoon and explain, then, why you show so little interest now,” declared the teacher.
then her gaze dropped to the desk. she saw the paper, and tavia saw that her attention was almost immediately fixed by the marked paragraph.
there was a sudden silence in the room. of course, the other girls knew nothing about the interest tavia had in what the teacher was reading;145 but to her it seemed as though everything came to a standstill while miss olaine read and digested the paragraph.
she suddenly looked up and tavia saw a deep flush come into her sallow cheek. she fumbled the paper, too, with shaking fingers. her lips parted as though she were about to speak angrily.
then the color left her face as though all the blood had been drained from her arteries in an instant! she sank back in her seat, with the back of her head against the chair.
“oh! oh!” whispered ned ebony, who suddenly saw the teacher’s condition.
molly richards was nearest, and she jumped up and ran to the platform. tavia felt as though her own limbs were powerless. the girl realized that the teacher had fainted.
“oh, dear me! whatever shall we do?” gasped dick, chafing the teacher’s hands.
“run get some water—or some smelling salts!” cried edna black; but she never offered to go herself.
it was dorothy who knew enough to act sensibly. when she looked up from her book and saw miss olaine’s condition, she ran for the water at once and brought it to the desk. with her handkerchief she began to bathe the teacher’s eyes and temples.
the paper was pushed off the desk into the146 wastebasket. nobody noticed this save tavia. and she could barely stand up by her seat, she felt so weak.
the result of her experiment had shocked her quite as much as miss olaine. she was hovering on the edge of the group of excited and sympathetic girls when the teacher opened her eyes.
for a moment miss olaine stared about, confused and frightened. then she put out both hands and pushed those nearest her away. her hand clutched dorothy’s wrist and she suddenly glared into the latter’s sympathetic eyes.
“what are you doing here?” she asked, thickly. “where is it?”
she looked all around the desk. the color began to flood back into her face again and there could be no doubt but that the teacher was angry. she stared again at dorothy.
“go to your seat, miss dale. i—i shall look into—into this matter later. go to your seat, instantly!”
“but—but, miss olaine——”
dorothy was certainly amazed. the teacher, however, waved her away. “immediately!” she gasped. “or i shall report you to mrs. pangborn.”
the other girls moved away, staring and surprised. of course dorothy took her seat; but147 her face showed that she was both hurt and puzzled.
tavia slipped into her own place, the war cry hidden in her blouse. she had taken it out of the teacher’s wastebasket when no one observed her. she was really frightened, now, by what she had brought about.
dorothy was suspected, it was evident. miss olaine believed that the marked paper had been thrust under her eyes by the girl whose name and address were upon the margin.
now, what would miss olaine do? what could she do, in fact? it really was a personal matter. she could not punish dorothy very well for merely laying that paper on the desk.
so tavia told herself. she had suddenly lost grip on her courage. tavia was not usually a cowardly girl—not even morally.
but she shrank from explaining to the teacher. something was gravely wrong with miss olaine, and it was connected with tom moran. it wasn’t the mention of the rector street school fire that had “sent her off,” as tavia expressed it, on that former occasion, when miss olaine read dorothy’s postal card.
there was some reason for miss olaine to be disturbed by the mention of tom moran’s name. tavia had suspected it; but now she was sorry that she had gone to work to prove her suspicion!
148 “i’ve got myself into an awful mess again!” groaned tavia, in spirit. “and i daren’t tell dorothy—not yet. she’d be mad.
“of course, if old olaine tries to punish doro for what i’ve done—— oh, she won’t dare! i wonder what is the matter with her? and what she knows about that tom moran?
“i—i wish i hadn’t ever put my finger in the pie,” sighed tavia. “for certain sure it is most awfully burned—and serves me right.”
she watched the teacher closely for the rest of the recitation hour. miss olaine seemed to be peering all about her desk for the paper, and she did not find it. then she glared again at dorothy.
“oh, dear me!” groaned tavia. “i’ve done a cruel and foolish thing, i am afraid. and i—i don’t dare tell doro about it!”
