CHAPTER XIX. A FLARE-UP
At school the first of that week there was little talked about,of course, save the glories of Stella's party. No girl in thegrammar grade had ever celebrated her birthday with suchmagnificence. The commendation she heard on all sides madeStella very proud.
Because so many of the girls tried to show her their appreciationof the nice time they had had at the Latham farm, Stella began tofeel quite puffed up. She considered herself to be the mostimportant person in her grade, at least, if not in the wholeschool.
It was a privilege to be taken up by the Latham car after schooland set down at one's door; and Stella distributed such favorswith no lack of shrewdness. She meant such rides to bring herpopularity. Janice had often been the recipient of thesekindnesses, and as she had told her father, it did delight her toride in an automobile.
But since she had become so friendly with Amy Carringford, Janicehad frequently walked home with her, or Amy had accompanied herto the Day house after school.
Stella was shallow enough when it came to displaying her ownfriendship for another girl; but suddenly it struck the farmer'sdaughter that a girl who had once been much in her company wasshowing a preference for somebody else.
"That Janice Day is sly," she muttered to herself, passing Janiceand Amy as they wended their chattering way homeward. "Shethinks I don't notice what she's doing. I'll give it to herto-morrow, see if I don't!"
This threat she proceeded to put into practice. And it came mostunexpectedly both to Janice and Amy.
Janice, of course, was perfectly innocent and quite unsuspiciousof any attack, and Amy did not dream that Stella did not likeher. Had not the farmer's daughter invited Amy to her party? Infact Amy was liked by almost everybody, teachers and pupilsincluded.
In arithmetic Stella always was dull, and on this particularmorning she was more than ordinarily careless in recitation.Miss Marble gave her a sharp word and propounded the samequestion to Amy Carringford. The latter returned the correctanswer, and then gave the red-faced Stella a deprecatory smile.
"Don't you grin at me, you pauper!" hissed Stella, and so loudlythat several of the girls near by heard her words.
Even Miss Marble took notice of Stella's speech, although shecould not overhear what she said.
"No communicating during recitations, Stella," she said sharply.
Amy had paled to her very lips and the tears sprang to her eyes.Janice was too far away to understand; but she wasinterested--she could not fail to be.
None who heard the unkind remark of Stella Latham but felt sorrythat one of their mates should be so rude and ungracious.
"Of course, we all know Amy Carringford is poor--just as poor aspoverty," one of them said at recess. "But that is no reason fortelling her so!"
This girl was quite energetic in saying this--and more--to theoffending Stella.
"Just because you ride in an automobile, and your father owns afarm, you need not think that you are better than anybody else inour class--for you're not, Stella Latham! Amy Carringford isevery whit as good as you are."
"Is that so?" snapped Stella. "She's a poverty stricken thing.She hasn't got a decent thing to wear--"
"What nonsense, Stella," drawled another and older girl,shrugging her shoulders. "I noticed particularly the othernight. Amy had as pretty a frock on as anybody at your party."
"Yes! And where did she get it?" flared out Stella.
"Her mother made it, I fancy," said the same girl, laughing.
"That dress was given her by Janice Day. Amy couldn't have cometo my party otherwise--so now! You just ask Janice if what I sayisn't so," cried Stella, stamping her foot.
"I don't believe it," said the first speaker shortly.
"So I'm a story-teller, am I?" almost shrieked Stella. "You justask Janice."
Just then Janice strolled into the room where the girls weregathered at this lunch hour. Amy, of course, had run home forher lunch--and run home in tears, Janice knew. The latter knewthat Stella was the cause of Amy's trouble, but up to this pointshe had not discovered the exact reason for the flare-up.
"You think I don't tell the truth," pursued Stella, in a loud andangry voice. "I suppose you'll believe what Janice Day says.You just ask her who gave that nasty Amy Carringford the dressshe wore to my party."
Janice stopped stock still for a moment. Her schoolmate'sstatement was like a blow in the face. Mean of disposition as sheknew Stella Latham to be, she had not thought the girl would tellthe secret of Amy's pretty dress.
After the ban of silence Janice had put upon the farmer'sdaughter, and the latter's promise to obey that mandate and tellnobody about the pink and white frock, this deliberate breakingof Stella's word astounded Janice Day. Her face flushed, thenpaled, and she looked as though she were the person guilty of theoutrage, rather than Stella.
"What nonsense!" exclaimed the older girl, but looking at Janicecuriously. "Why put it on Janice, Stella? You are sayingsomething you do not know anything about."
"Oh! I don't?" exclaimed the farmer's daughter. "You just askJanice, I tell you."
"Do your own asking," said another. "Janice doesn't look verypleasant," and she laughed.
"You tell 'em!" commanded Stella, starting toward Janicethreateningly. "Didn't you give Amy that dress so she could cometo my party? Didn't you?"
Janice had begun to recover her confidence--and her good sense,too. She could not deny the accusation; but she determined toput Stella before her fellow schoolmates in just the right light.
"I do not know that it is a crime for one girl to help another,"Janice said quietly, and still very pale. "If I did what Stellaclaims I did, it was nothing shameful I am sure--either for Amyor for me."
"Of course it wasn't!" murmured one of the other girls.
"Bully for you, Janice!" said another, in commendation.
"It really was only our business--Amy's and mine. But Stella knewabout it. In fact, Stella came to me about Amy in the firstplace. She wanted to invite Amy and she feared--so shesaid--that Amy would not have aparty dress. I undertook to find her one, and hardenough time I had getting Amy and her mother to agreeto use the dress.
"But that," said Janice scornfully, "is a purely personal matterbetween them and me. I want to ask you girls, though, what youthink of a person who, after having given her word to keep thematter a secret, deliberately taunts Amy with the fact that shetook the dress from me? That is what I want to know."
The other girls were silent for the moment. Janice Day'sscornful question was too pointed to be ignored. Stella broke outagain in anger, her voice high and shrill:
"I don't care! So there! She is a dowdy little thing, and shehad no business to come to my party, anyway."
"Stella," said the older girl grimly, "you're making yourselfawfully ridiculous. And worse. You can't keep a secret. Andyou don't keep your word. I guess there will be more than AmyCarringford who will be sorry that they ever went to your oldparty. Now, stop yelling. Here comes Miss Marble."
The flare-up was only the beginning of a very unhappy time atschool for Amy Carringford. Nor could Janice escape beingunhappy, too, with her new friend.
That Stella was unable to raise any cabal against Janice and Amy,but quite the contrary, made the situation only a degree morebearable for the two friends. Although the other girls did notjoin Stella Latham in mourning the poor girl who lived in MullenLane, the latter felt deeply the fact that she was considereddifferent from her schoolmates.
"Oh, I wish mother would let me go to work," Amy sighed, on morethan one occasion, and to Janice's sympathetic ear. "I declare!I'd go out as a servant in somebody's home, if mother would letme. We need the money so."
"Goodness! Don't say such things," pleaded Janice. "We need aservant right now, bad enough. But you would not want to comeand scrub and sweep and wash and iron even for daddy and me--youknow you wouldn't."
"I don't care. Mother says she must go to work somewhere. I'
llthen have to come to school on part time only. Somebody mustlook after the twins and Edna May."
"Oh, Amy! what will your mother do?"
"She doesn't know. She has tried to get work to do at home. Butall the sewing machine work she can obtain is so heavy. And sopoorly paid! What do you suppose she gets for stitching thosegreat, heavy motorman's coats--putting them all together exceptmaking buttonholes and sewing on buttons, which is done in thefactory?"
"I have no idea," said Janice.
"Thir-ty-sev-en-cents!" exclaimed Amy, tragically. "Think of it!And they almost kill her, they are so heavy to handle."
"Oh, my dear! I wouldn't let her do them."
"I guess we wouldn't--Gummy and I--if we could help it," sobbedAmy. "But something must be done by the Carringford family tohelp out. When Mr. Strout comes over from Napsburg next week hewill make us pay off something on that mortgage, or turn us outof the house --such as it is."
"Dear Amy, I wish I could do something for you," sighed Janice.
She said nothing more than that at the time. But that veryevening she did not at once open her schoolbooks when she and herfather sat down finally in the living room, the supper disheswashed and put away and the kitchen swept.
They had remained without any help since the departure of Mrs.Sophronia Watkins. Mr. Day had gone every day to theintelligence offices and brought back the most discouragingreports.
"But, Daddy, isn't there any person in the whole of Greensboro orin the county any more who has to work for her living?" askedJanice.
"That man, Murphy, at whose office I engaged Delia, says thatthere are no good houseworkers any more. He says the girls whocome to him for situations are all 'specialists,'" said daddy,gloomily enough.
"Special dunces, I guess," Janice rejoined rather tartly, "ifDelia was a sample."
"But she wasn't," said daddy, with a smile. "At any rate, hetells me he has good cooks, and good chambermaids, and goodlaundresses; but he has no combinations of those trades."
"Oh!"
"Girls do not like to go out to service in families where'general housework' is expected. It seems," he added grimly,"that to get good help we should engage two or three girls, andthen have a lady, like Mrs. Watkins, to superintend."
"I guess we'll have to give up and go to boarding, then," sighedJanice. "Only I am sure I should just detest a boarding house,Daddy."
"I am afraid we should both dislike such a life as that. Yourdear mother gave us too good and comfortable a home."
"But we ought to be used to the discomforts of housekeeping bythis time," said Janice. "But, oh, Daddy! There are other folkswho have worse times than we do."
"So I believe," he agreed, nodding, as he unfolded his paper.
"Wait, Daddy?' she begged. "I want to tell you."
"About other people's troubles?" he asked, with a quizzicalsmile.
"Yes, I do. It's about the Carringfords."
"Ah-ha! You were saying once that they were in trouble over theirhome, were you not? I looked that place up. A fellow namedStrout--"
"And he's so mean!" declared Janice with vigor.
"Yes. That seems to be his middle name," agreed her fatherquietly. "I am afraid Mrs. Carringford got into the hands of asharper when she undertook to buy that cottage in Mullen Lane ofAbel Strout."
"Oh, dear, Daddy! isn't there any way of helping them out oftheir trouble?" Janice asked disappointedly.
"I cannot tell that until I know all the particulars."
"Oh! Let me tell you--"
"Do you know them, my dear?" he asked, interrupting her.
"Well, I know some of them," she confessed, with less vehemence.
"I think you had better ask Mrs. Carringford to come to see me.If she will tell me about it, I may be able to advise her, atleast. I know Strout is a sharper."
"Oh, my dear! That is so good of you," Janice cried. "I'll tellher."
"She can bring her papers here, instead of to the bank," addedMr. Day on second thought. "Perhaps she will like that better.Any evening that she chooses, my dear."
Janice could scarcely wait until the next day to tell her friend,Amy what her father had said.