CHAPTER VIII
CUTTING THE LECTURE
Polly awoke with a start and bounded out of bed as the rising bellclanged down the corridor.
"I knew it, I knew it; my Latin won't be finished and the Spartan willbe furious," she exclaimed to the four walls, "but I did intend to getup early. Well, it can't be helped now; hateful stuff, anyhow."
For two days the snow had been falling, and the coasting had beenperfect. As might be expected, lessons had suffered. The girls wouldcome into study hours flushed with excitement, their blood tingling andtheir eyes sparkling, and it was only the most studious that could getdown to real concentrated work.
It was Friday morning, and a particularly glorious day. The grounds werecovered with snow three feet deep, the main hill where the girls coastedhad been shoveled out, stamped down, and refrozen until it resembled abroad ribbon of ice with high banks of drifted snow on either side.
The fir trees were weighed down to the ground, icicles hung from theporches of the school building, and the gym looked like an ice palace.
This enticing scene, with sunshine over all, made Polly look longinglyfrom the corridor window on her way to Latin class, a couple of hoursafter we left her thinking of her unprepared lesson.
"I wish it were the last period instead of the first," Lois whispered,catching up with her and linking her arm in hers.
"So do I, for a lot of reasons," groaned Polly. "In the first place, Ihaven't my Latin finished, and in the second, well, it's a crime to stayindoors on a day like this."
"Really, girls, I must remind you, there is no talking allowed in thecorridors."
The Spartan was upon them. One never heard her coming; she wore rubberheels.
"You will admit you were talking, I suppose, Marianna?" she inquired.
"Certainly I will admit it. I was talking. I don't crawl, Miss Hale."And Polly sucked in her under lip, a danger sign that she was angry.
"I was talking, too, Miss Hale," spoke up Lois.
The Spartan paid no attention to this, however, but marched off down thecorridor. Two minutes later she confronted them in Latin class. Pollywas still sucking in her under lip.
"Papers for the day on my desk, _if_ you please."
"My Latin is unprepared," announced Polly with deadly calm. "And," sheadded, "I have no excuse."
"Dear me!" And Miss Hale raised her eyebrows until they disappeared intothe depths of her large pompadour. "And is there any other girl whoseLatin is not prepared, and who had no excuse?" she inquired.
As no one answered she continued:
"And may I ask why your Latin is not prepared? Don't you like Latin,Marianna?"
"No, I do not, Miss Hale," Polly answered, dangerously polite.
"You don't like Latin, so you don't prepare Latin; how veryunfortunate!"
"I never said that was the reason I was unprepared. I told you I had noexcuse."
Polly was getting very angry, still she might have controlled herself ifjust at that moment Miss Hale had not lifted a restraining hand andsaid, "Tut, my dear," in her most irritating manner.
Have you ever noticed the effect "Tut, tut," has on an angry person?Sometimes it's quite dreadful. Polly was no exception. She stamped herfoot, threw her Latin book violently on the floor and marched out of theroom, slamming the door behind her.
Punishment followed as a matter of course. Polly had expected to be sentto Mrs. Baird. She did not know how thoroughly the Spartan disapprovedof her superior's gentle lectures, preferring more drastic measures.
It was not until after school, however, that she learned her fate. Itwas in the shape of a note that read as follows:
"Kindly keep silence for the afternoon; report in the study hall andmake up today's lesson, the advance lesson, and translate the first tenlines of story on page 35. Bring work to my room."
"Hard luck," sympathized Lois, reading over Polly's shoulder. "Thatmeans no coasting. I wish I could help you." Then putting her arm aroundher. "There, dear, never mind, don't cry."
"I'm not," denied Polly, hastily daubing at her eyes, "but if you stayhere any longer, I will. Go on, or I'll blub."
Lois left to hunt up Betty, who had completely recovered from herducking and again grinned joyously on the world. Together they went outto coast. As they passed the bulletin board Lois stopped and read:
There will be a lecture on anatomy, by Miss F. Tilden-Brown, in Assembly Hall, at 8 P. M. tonight.
"The dickens there will," exclaimed Betty. "Anatomy forsooth, and byMiss Tilden-Brown. Nothing a woman with a name like that could say wouldinterest me."
"That's right, think of yourself instead of poor Polly. Latin allafternoon and anatomy all evening."
Betty looked thoughtful.
"Hum; she's already in a sweet temper," she mused. "I see troubleahead."
At 4:30 Polly, with her finished papers in her hand, crossed the Bridgeof Sighs and knocked at Miss Hale's door.
"Come in," called that lady.
She was attired in a flowered kimono and was in the act of brushing hermouse-colored hair.
"My papers, Miss Hale," announced Polly in her most frigid tones.
"Very well, if you will put them on my table, please." Then as sheturned to leave the room the demon in the Spartan prompted her to add:"Have you nothing to say? You know it is customary when one has thrownbooks about, to--"
"Oh, an apology," interrupted Polly. "I suppose Mrs. Baird would wishit." And looking straight into Miss Hale's watery blue eyes, she said:"I apologize."
It was insolence, of course, but, after all, an entire afternoon ofLatin demands some outlet.
As Polly reached the corridor, Lois and Betty met her.
"Poor darling, are you awfully tired?" Lois asked. "We did miss you so;the coasting was--" but Polly interrupted her.
"Lois, if you dare tell me what a good time you had I'll never speak toyou again." Then as she saw her surprised look, she added, laughing:"Don't get worried, I'm just awfully cranky and my head is splitting."
"Better wash your face in cold water," suggested Betty, "and stopthinking of Latin. For instance, contemplate the joys of this evening inthe arms of Miss Tilden-Brown and anatomy."
"What!" yelled Polly. "A lecture tonight. Oh, that's too much. I'm goingto cut," she announced.
There was silence for a full minute. They had reached Polly's room bynow. Then Lois said very solemnly:
"I've never cut before, but if you're determined to do it, I'll go withyou."
"So will I," echoed Betty, springing up from the window seat. "I'd braveanything--lions, Caesar's ghost, or the whale that swallowed Jonah--ratherthan listen to that lecture. Besides, I couldn't desert you, Polly.Where will we go?"
"Coasting, of course," Polly answered. "There's a gorgeous moon."
"We will be caught," remarked Lois, "but then we're all willing to facethe consequences."
That evening at 8:15 when the girls were all seated in Assembly Hall andMiss Tilden-Brown was expatiating on the evil results of tight lacing,three figures, standing on top of the hill, were silhouetted against thesky.
The moon was there, as Polly had predicted, making the snow sparkle withits blue-white rays. The silence was broken only by the crunch, crunchof the snow, as the three girls pulled their sleds into place.
"You go first, Polly," said Bet. "It's your party, and we'll followclose behind so the goblins won't get you."
"I'm off, then," and Polly threw herself flat on her sled.
It was great sport. The track was so icy that the runners made sparks asthe sleds whizzed down the steep hill.
About nine o'clock Mrs. Baird stole from the Assembly Hall and soughtthe rest of her own room. She had grown fearfully tired of MissTilden-Brown's endless talk, and heartily sorry for the girls.
As she reached her dainty chintz-hung sitting-room, she lifted thewindow and stood looking at the big full moon and breathing the coolnight air. Presently a joyous laugh rang out, followed by another. Mrs.Baird looke
d puzzled and leaned farther out of the window.
The laugh had been caused by Betty forgetting to steer and tumbling intoa snow bank, thereby blocking the way for Polly and Lois, who werefollowing close behind, so that they all landed in the drift.
"Somebody pull me out," sang Polly.
"Sorry, can't oblige," came Lois' muffled tones. "I'm on my way toChina."
"Betty to the rescue. Whose foot is this?"
"Ouch! Oh, let go!"
"That was a mix-up."
"Where are the sleds?"
After much scrambling they managed to regain the track.
"Lucky thing we were not all killed," Betty reflected.
"Serve us right for cutting," commented Lois.
"'Bout time to go in, isn't it?" Polly inquired regretfully.
"Yes, it's all over," replied Betty. "And now the consequences. Wonderwhat part of the anatomy Miss Tilden-Brown is discussing now?" And shechuckled gleefully.
Mrs. Baird smiled broadly and closed the window. A few minutes later shemet the girls in the lower hall.
"Why, girls, where have you been?" she inquired.
"Out coasting, Mrs. Baird," Lois answered. "We cut the lecture," sheadded, nervously twisting the third finger of her red mitten.
"Perhaps you had better come into my office and tell me about it,"suggested Mrs. Baird, and she led the way down the hall.
They were in the office just ten minutes, but in that time Mrs. Bairdfound out all she wanted to know. Polly's afternoon in the study hall,Betty's dislike for lectures, and Lois' love for adventure. She finishedthe interview with these words:
"I did not expect it of you girls in the past, and I am not going toexpect it of you in the future. I look to you as holding the position ofwholesome examples in the school. Your fault tonight was not very great,but it was a step in the wrong direction. Pull yourselves up, and now,good-night."
As the girls turned to go, she added with a smile:
"I promise you all, there will be no more lectures on anatomy."
They walked thoughtfully back to the corridor. As Betty opened her doorshe said:
"For two years I've been trying to find an adjective to describe Mrs.Baird and the nearest I can come to one is 'saint,' and that doesn'tsuit her at all. Good-night."
"Good-night," answered Polly. "I suppose there will be no more cutting."
"No, I suppose not," agreed Lois, "but, cricky, I wouldn't have missedtonight."
They all laughed guiltily, and then as they heard the rest of the girlstrooping out of Assembly Hall, stole quietly into their rooms.
An hour later Miss Hale and Mrs. Baird were alone in the faculty room,finishing a conversation.
"I can't understand," Mrs. Baird was saying, "why, when you bend a girlto the breaking point, you are surprised that she breaks. You know it isnear Christmas and they are all tired."
"Our ideas of discipline are very different," Miss Hale returnedstiffly.
"Well, after all, you will admit I am the head of the school," Mrs.Baird reminded her, smiling good-naturedly to soften the rebuke.
"Certainly, to be sure," Miss Hale stammered, rather lamely. "I thinkI'll be saying good-night."
When she had gone, Mrs. Baird sank into a big chair before the hearth.
"It was breaking rules, of course," she mused, smiling into the fire,"but I can't help loving them for wanting to coast instead of listeningto anatomy lectures. It shows they've healthy minds anyway, bless them."