MISS FIELDS’ VISIT
“I am going with you!” Ricky said firmly. Gale looked at Doctor Norcot
helplessly. When Ricky was determined upon a thing nothing could change
her mind.
“Why?” Gale ventured.
“I want to see what this female Simon Legree looks like,” Ricky said
calmly. “You may need my sunny presence to help persuade her.”
“There won’t be much use for persuasion I’m afraid,” Gale said drearily.
“Either she has the money or she hasn’t.”
Yesterday Gale had received a telegram with the news that Miss Fields
would be in Briarhurst this afternoon for merely an hour. As a result
Doctor Norcot and Gale were going to the railroad station to meet her
when Ricky had descended on them with the news that she was going along.
Gale was glad of the other girl’s companionship for the Doctor was
strangely silent.
The train was late and Gale found it hard to conceal her impatience. She
was impatient for Phyllis’ Aunt to arrive and yet she dreaded meeting
her. The Adventure Girls had always feared the silent woman in the house
on the hill. Now Gale did not fancy giving her the news about Phyllis.
She would let Doctor Norcot handle the situation.
The woman that descended from the train was the same stern person Gale
had known in Marchton. What change she had expected Gale did not know.
She only felt now, suddenly, definitely, that Phyllis’ case was lost
before it was ever presented. This woman would not be charitable or
generous.
The three had planned to take her to the one restaurant in the little
village for luncheon. There, seated in a booth by themselves, Gale let
Doctor Norcot tell Miss Fields all about Phyllis while she and Ricky
listened.
The Doctor was eloquent in her praise of Phyllis. In the end she
stressed particularly the need for the operation.
Gale forgot the dessert before her. With the silent Ricky she watched
the sharp features of the woman opposite her. Miss Fields was regarding
the plate before her with unwavering eyes. Not a flicker of emotion
disturbed her features. Doctor Norcot glanced at Gale and smiled, a
peculiarly baffled smile. Phyllis’ chances now lay in Miss Fields’ hands
alone. Beneath the table Ricky’s hand caught hold of Gale’s.
Miss Fields glanced at her watch and rose. “It is almost time for my
return train. Perhaps we should go.”
The girls exchanged glances with the Doctor and followed Miss Fields
from the restaurant. Silently they walked back to the station. The hour
that Phyllis’ Aunt proposed to spend in Briarhurst was up. Already her
train was approaching.
“But aren’t you going to see Phyllis?” Ricky demanded finally. She could
be quiet no longer.
“What have you decided?” Gale asked breathlessly.
Miss Fields looked at Gale and actually smiled. It was a brief smile,
and her eyes did not light with friendly warmth. Then she turned to the
Doctor.
“I want to thank you, Doctor Norcot, for taking so much interest in
Phyllis. I regret that I am not able to do what you suggest.”
“You mean——” Gale began.
“You haven’t the money?” Ricky put in brusquely. “But you are sending
Phyl to college. You must have money!”
Miss Fields’ eyes froze the garrulous Ricky with a single glance.
“My affairs are only my concern. My association with Phyllis concerns a
promise I made many years ago. Believe me, I am truly sorry.”
“But you must do something!” Gale said.
Phyllis’ Aunt stepped onto the train. “It is impossible for me.
Goodbye.”
“A promise! Sorry!” Ricky stormed when the train had gone and they were
on their way back to the campus. “She couldn’t keep a promise or be
sorry for anything!”
“I wonder what she meant?” Gale murmured. “Doctor Norcot,” she said
later, “are you going to tell Phyllis today?”
The Doctor took a deep breath. “She must know sometime. I’ll go and see
her this afternoon.”
“I’ll go with you,” Gale said immediately.
“And I,” Ricky added.
The Doctor smiled. “I would wait until tomorrow if I were you.”
“She won’t want to see us,” Ricky agreed upon second thought.
“Wait until tomorrow when she will feel better. Then you must act as if
nothing has happened—you must be perfectly natural. Don’t make it any
harder for her,” the Doctor cautioned.
“You can count on us,” Gale sighed. “When can she come back to the Omega
Chi house?”
“In a few days,” the Doctor promised. “She may feel better if she is
with the girls.”
“Then she won’t have to leave college?” Ricky asked fearfully.
“No,” the Doctor said, “not unless she wants to. She will be able to
attend classes and get about but not without a cane or crutch—ever.”
“There isn’t any justice!” Ricky said savagely as she went up the Golden
Stairs with Gale and entered the latter’s room. “Why did such a thing
have to happen to Phyl? Who——” she stopped in amazement and looked
about the room. “What’s happened?”
The room was topsy turvy. Bureau drawers were pulled out and the things
tumbled about. The desks had been thoroughly searched. Even the closet
door stood open and the girls could see the tumult within.
Gale smiled. “Someone was hunting for that note, I’ll wager.”
Ricky had been taken into the girls’ confidence. Now she stared
wide-eyed at Gale. “Did they find it do you suppose?”
“Hardly!” Gale pulled the note from her coat pocket. “Since I know
someone else would like to have it, I keep it with me.”
“Have you discovered the typewriter that wrote it?”
“No. The girls are still hunting,” Gale laughed. “Every time they see a
typewriter they run for it.”
Ricky and Gale set things to rights and then Ricky departed to find
Gloria. Gale went downstairs and over to the dormitory house to tell
Valerie and the others about Phyllis. They might as well all know now.
She was still puzzling over Phyllis’ Aunt’s words. A promise? To whom?
No promise was important enough to stop her aiding Phyllis now!
Miss Fields had been a mystery to the girls in Marchton ever since they
knew her. They had always looked with awe upon the grey silent house and
the woman who lived there. Through Phyllis they had glimpsed the life of
Miss Fields—cold, always calm. Gale reminded herself that she had
really been prepared for this. She had not thought in the very beginning
that Miss Fields would have the money. Yet she had hoped against hope
for Phyllis’ sake. Now there was nothing to be done.
Over and over again the words recurred to Gale. Miss Fields’ association
with Phyllis concerned a promise she had made several years ago. But
what sort of a promise? Gale, quite suddenly, had a brilliant idea. At
first she had thought she must wait until the Christmas vacation or at
least until she went home for Thanksgiving before she could question
Miss Fields more closely, for question her she was going to! Certainly
she was not going to consider the matter closed now! Gale was determined
to do everything in her power to help Phyllis. She knew she could count
on the other girls to feel the same. Gale was going to get to the bottom
of Miss Fields’ reserve! She determined to find out just what the woman
meant. But Thanksgiving was several weeks away—Christmas even more so.
She would write to David Kimball. He was a boy in Marchton who had been
Phyllis’ staunchest ally. He would help. He could set in motion the
wheels of their action. While he studied law in Marchton he could aid
Phyllis. She would write to David tonight!