CHAPTER XI
BELLE RINGOLD
Whether Jessie Norwood actually "had it," as she proclaimed, or not,she kept very quiet about her discovery of what she believed to be abrand new idea. She did not tell Amy, even, or Momsy. That would havebeen against the rules of the contest.
She wrote out her suggestion for the prize idea, sealed it in anenvelope, and dropped it through the slit in the locked box in theparish house, placed there for that purpose. It was not long to waituntil the next evening but one.
She rode down to the church in Momsy's car, an electric runabout, andwaited outside the committee room door with some of the other girlsand not a few of the boys of the parish, for there had been a prizeoffered, too, for the boy who made the best suggestion.
"I am sure they are going to use my idea," Belle Ringold said, with atoss of her bobbed curls.
Did we introduce you to Belle? By this speech you may know she was avery confident person, not easily persuaded that her own way was notalways best. She not only had her hair bobbed in the approved mannerof that season, but her mother was ill-advised enough to allow her towear long, dangling earrings, and she favored a manner of walking(when she did not forget) that Burd Alling called "the serpentineslink." Belle thought she was wholly grown up.
"They couldn't throw out my idea," repeated Belle.
"What is it, Belle, honey?" asked one of her chums.
"She can't tell," put in Amy, who was present. "That is one of therules."
"Pooh!" scoffed Belle. "Guess I'll tell if I want to. That won'tinvalidate my chances. They will be only too glad to use my idea."
"Dear me," drawled Amy, laughing. "You're just as sure as sure, aren'tyou?"
Miss Seymour, the girls' English teacher in school, came to the doorof the committee room with a paper in her hand. A semblance of orderimmediately fell upon the company.
"We have just now decided upon the two suggestions of all those placedin the box, the two prize ideas. And both are very good, I must say.Chippendale Truro! Is Chip here?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Chip, who was a snub-nosed boy whose chums declared"all his brains were in his head."
"Chip, I think your idea is very good. You will be interested to learnwhat it is, girls. Chip suggests that all the waitresses andsaleswomen at the lawn party wear masks--little black masks as onedoes at a masquerade party. That will make them stand out from theguests. And the committee are pleased with the idea. Chip gets thetennis racket in Mr. Brill's show-window."
"Cricky, Chip! how did you come to think of that?" demanded one of theboys in an undertone.
"Well, they are going to be regular road-agents, aren't they?" askedthe snub-nosed boy. "They take everything you have in your pockets atthose fairs. They ought to wear masks--and carry guns, too. Only Ididn't dare suggest the guns."
Amid the muffled explosion of laughter following this statement, MissSeymour began speaking again:
"The girl's prize--the sports coat at Letterblair's--goes to JessieNorwood, on whose father's lawn the bazaar is to be held on theafternoon and evening of the Fourth of July."
At this announcement Belle Ringold actually cried out: "What's that?"
"Hush!" commanded Miss Seymour. "Jessie has suggested that a tent beerected--her father has one stored in his garage--and that her radioset be placed in the tent and re-connected. With an amplifier theconcerts broadcasted from several stations can be heard inside thetent, and we will charge admission to the tent. Radio is a new andnovel form of amusement and, the committee thinks, will attract alarge patronage. The coat is yours, Jessie."
"Well, isn't that the meanest thing!" ejaculated Belle Ringold.
"Did I hear you say something, Belle?" demanded Miss Seymour, in hervery sternest way.
"Well, I want to say----"
"Don't say it," advised the teacher. "The decisions upon the prizeideas are arbitrary. The committee is responsible for its acts, andmust decide upon all such matters. The affair is closed," and she wentback into the committee room and closed the door.
"Well, isn't she the mean thing!" exclaimed one of those girls wholiked to stand well with Belle Ringold.
"I am sure your idea was as good as good could be, Belle," Jessiesaid. "Only I happened to have the radio set, and--and everything isrigged right for my idea to work out."
"Oh, I can see that it was rigged right," snapped Belle. "Your motheris on the committee, and the lawn party is going to be at your house.Oh, yes! No favoritism shown, of course."
"Oh, cat's foot!" exclaimed Amy, linking her arm in Jessie's. "Let hersplutter, Jess. We'll go to the Dainties Shop and have a GeorgeWashington sundae."
"I am afraid Belle is going to be very unpleasant about this thing,"sighed Jessie, as she and her chum came out of the parish house.
"As usual," commented Amy. "Why should we care?"
"I hate to have unpleasant things happen."
"Think of the new coat," laughed Amy. "And I do think you were awfullysmart to think of using your radio in that way. Lots of people, do youknow, don't believe it can be so. They think it is make-believe."
"How can they, when wireless telegraphy has been known so long?"
"But, after all, this is something different," Amy said. "Hearingvoices right out of the air! Well, you know, Jess, I said before, Ithought it was sort of spooky."
"Ha, ha!" giggled her chum. "All the spooks you know anything aboutpersonally are blacksnakes. Don't forget that."
"And how brave that little Hen was," sighed Amy, as they sat down tothe round glass table in the Dainties Shop. "I never saw such achild."
"I was trying to get daddy interested in her and in her lostcousin--if that was her cousin whom we saw carried off," Jessiereturned. "Come to think of it, I didn't get very far with my story. Imust talk to daddy again. But Momsy says he is much troubled over acase he has on his hands, an important case, and I suppose he hasn'ttime for our small affairs."
"I imagine that girl who was kidnaped doesn't think hers is a smallaffair," observed Amy Drew, dipping her spoon into the rich concoctionthat had been placed before her. "Oh, yum, yum! Isn't this good,Jess?"
"Scrumptious. By the way, who is going to pay for it?"
"Oh, my! Haven't you any money?" demanded Amy.
"We-ell, you suggested this treat."
"But you should stand it. You won the prize coat," giggled Amy.
"I never saw the like of you!" exclaimed Jessie. "And you say I am notfit to carry money, and all. Have you actually got me in here withoutbeing able to pay for this cream?"
"But haven't you any money?" cried Amy.
"Not one cent. I shall have to hurry back to the parish house and begsome of Momsy."
"And leave me here?" demanded Amy. "Never!"
"How will you fix it, then?" asked Jessie, who was really disturbedand could not enjoy her sundae.
"Oh, don't let that nice treat go to waste, Jess."
"It does not taste nice to me if we can't pay for it."
"Don't be foolish. Leave it to me," said Amy, getting on her feet."I'll speak to the clerk. He's nice looking and wears his hair slickedback like patent leather. Lo-o-vely hair."
"Amy Drew! Behave!"
"I am. I am behaving right up, I tell you. I am sure I can make thatclerk chalk the amount down until we come in again."
"I would be shamed to death," Jessie declared, her face flushingalmost angrily, for sometimes Amy did try her. "I will not hear ofyour doing that. You sit down here and wait till I run back to thechurch----"
"Oh, you won't have to," interrupted Amy. "Here come some of thegirls. We can borrow----"
But the girl who headed the little group just then entering the doorof the Dainties Shop was Belle Ringold. The three who followed Bellewere her particular friends. Jessie did not feel that she wanted toborrow money of Belle or her friends.