HESTER WINS
The final games of the trophy series between the girls of the High
Schools of Centerport, Lumberport, and Keyport were played on the
grounds of Central High. It was verging on winter. Thanksgiving was at
hand, and the first basketball series must be out of the way before
the boys' big football games on Thanksgiving eve.
Although school athletics was much in the minds of the girls, those
who participated in the games had to stand well in their classes to
retain their positions on the teams. Books first, athletics afterward.
That was the iron-bound rule of the Girls' Branch Athletic League.
But most of the girls on the team of Central High were bright
scholars. Miss Grace G. Carrington was never "easy" on the athletic
girls. That wouldn't be her way. She usually seemed glad to put
obstacles in the way of those who she knew were so deeply interested
in athletics.
But aside from Bobby Hargrew, that last fortnight she had no chance to
demerit any of the basketball team. And--to the wonderment of the girls
themselves--she never said a word to Bobby regarding what had happened
when she, Miss Carrington, rapped on the office door.
Having whipped East High so decisively, Captain Laura and her mates
went at the Lumberport team with greater confidence. Lumberport was
not the weakest team in the league; but Central High had managed to
beat them in every previous game, and in this last one the home team
played such snappy basketball that the visitors never came near them
after the first toss-up.
It was a great game and the enthusiasm of the spectators increased
with every play. How the boys cheered! There was a big crowd of
spectators from Lumberport and they "rooted" for their home team.
Despite the excitement, however, there was not a moment's rough play.
Mrs. Case had watched Hester narrowly during these final games. There
had been moments when the big girl was crossed by circumstances, or by
her opponents, when--in the past--she might have flared up and said, or
done, something unpleasant. But Hester seemed to have gained some
control of her temper, and the hard places in the games were passed
over successfully.
It was a fact that Hester had very little in common with the rest of
her team-mates, save Lily. She did not put herself forward, and as
none of them had been her close friends before she was put off the
team, she still kept her distance now that she was back in harness
again.
At home Hester's mother was determined to make a heroine of her. Many
of the ladies of the Hill, who seldom before this had called on
easy-going, slip-shod Mrs. Grimes, came to see her now and praised
Hester's courage and her kindness to Johnny Doyle and his widowed
mother. Mrs. Grimes was, naturally, pleased at all this praise.
"I've a mind to give a party, so I have!" she said to Hester, one day.
"Your father could easy pay for as nice a party as was ever given on
the Hill. He needn't be stingy. And we could get to be friends with
all these nice folks----"
"Oh, Mother!" sighed Hester. "Don't be foolish. These people don't
really care a thing for us. They'd only laugh. Their houses are not
even furnished like ours----"
"I should say not!" cried Mrs. Grimes. "We have some of the most
expensive furnichoor you could buy at Stresch & Potter's----"
"Yes. At a department store. Nice people do not furnish their homes in
that way. The varnish smells too new on our chairs and tables. We are
too new. We never should have come to live on the Hill when father
made money."
"How ye talk!" exclaimed the astonished Mrs. Grimes. "Where would ye
have us live--at the Four Corners still?"
"Perhaps we wouldn't be so much like fish out of water there,"
grumbled Hester.
"I'm no fish, I'd have ye understand!" exclaimed Mrs. Grimes. "And
Mrs. Belding axed me to join a club--the New Century 'tis called. 'Tis
all women and our husbands haven't a livin' thing to say in it. I'm
goin' to join."
"The New Century!" exclaimed Hester, indeed surprised.
"Yes. I'd be glad to be in something that Henry couldn't poke his
finger into and boss," sighed the much harassed lady.
"But it's never the New Century?" cried Hester.
"Why not?"
"That's the most select club on the Hill. Lily's mother belongs, and
Mrs. Agnew, and all those folk."
"And why not _me_?" demanded her mother. "We've got as much money----"
"Hush! Stop talking about money if you want to be popular in the New
Century Club," said her daughter, who had learned a thing or two
herself of late. "That is what is the matter with us--we're proud of
our money."
"And why not? When Henry began with a shoestring."
"Well, don't be telling of it!" cried Hester. "These other people got
their money so long ago that they've forgotten how they got it. We
want to forget, too."
But Hester was learning lessons fast. It had amazed her to see how
people--and nice people, too--thought that what she had done for Johnny
Doyle was of serious importance; while her lavish expenditure of money
among her mates had heretofore won her few friends.
The fact that she had saved a man from the burning woods and carried
the warning of the forest fire, had made her friends, too. When she
had jumped into the sewer-basin after Johnny, Dr. Agnew seemed for the
first time pleased with her.
_It was unselfishness that counted!_
Hester Grimes had never thought of it before. She had never thought
out logically why Laura Belding was so popular, why Nellie Agnew was
liked so well, and what made the other girls cluster about
harum-scarum Bobby Hargrew. They were all unselfish girls, thoughtful
in their several ways for the comfort of others.
Hester was learning what really paid in life--especially in the life of
school and athletics. A good temper, a tongue without a barb to it,
and thoughtfulness for the comfort of others. Those attributes won out
among the girls of Central High--as they are bound to win out in every
walk in life.
And Hester Grimes had begun to conduct herself accordingly.
The final game of the series for the cup was slated for a certain
Friday afternoon. Colonel Richard Swayne--Laura Belding's very good
friend, and a liberal supporter of girls' athletics--had invited the
contesting basketball teams from all five High Schools to partake of a
collation in the big upper hall of Central High's new gymnasium, after
the final game. _That_ was to be played between the Keyport and
Central High teams.
Whichever of the two teams won would stand highest in the schedule of
the league, and to such winning team would be presented the trophy by
the president of the Board of Education.
There would be such a crowd to see the game that tickets had to be
issued, and those tickets went mostly to the girls who had competed in
the basketball series, for distribution among their parents and
friends. There was not so much cheering by the spectators at this
game, for the boys were cut out of it. There wasn't room for the
regular "rooters."
Many parents, however, who had not been attentive to the game before,
were in the seats provided now, to criticise the sport of which they
had heard so much. And everybody admitted that the two best teams of
the schools were now struggling for the trophy.
From the first toss-up the girls played with a snap and vigor that
amazed and delighted even their instructors. Trained as they had been
all the fall, there were few fouls to record, and very little
retarding of the game. The signals were passed silently and the girls
indulged in little talking. Unnecessary talking and laughter mars
basketball.
It was a pleasure to watch the lithe, vigorous young girls. They were
untrammeled by any foolish fashions, or demands of dress. Their bodily
movements were as free as Nature intended them to be. They jumped, and
ran, and threw, with a confidence that none but the well trained
athlete possesses.
The first half included a series of fierce rushes upon the Keyport
side for baskets; but Central High held them down. Hester played
brilliantly. Not once did she lose her temper, nor foul her opponent.
She blocked the attempts of the Keyport players to make goals, but the
referee did not catch her over-guarding or otherwise playing foul
basketball.
She really won the onlookers with her splendid form in playing. They
began cheering her particularly. Where Roberta Fish had been weak in
the mass plays, Hester was strong. The Keyport captain, remembering
that weak place in the former Central High line-up, forced the play
into Hester's territory.
"Oh, you Hester!" yelled Bobby, beside herself at last, with
enthusiasm. "You're a bear! Shoot it, Hessie! Let it come!"
But each time that the ball was shot for the basket, something
intervened. Once it went straight for the basket, rolled around the
rim, and dropped--to the floor without entering the receptacle!
The Central High rooters met this failure with a groan. But it was not
Hester's fault. She had done her best, and her shooting was as clean
as it could be.
The timekeeper's whistle called the play at the end of the half
without either side having made a point.
It had been a rasping game. Many times Hester Grimes had been tempted
to say something or do something that would be counted as "rough
play"; but she had restrained herself, and when she walked to the
dressing room she found Mrs. Case walking beside her with a hand upon
her shoulder.
"Good girl!" exclaimed the physical instructor of Central High. "Keep
it up, my dear, and you'll be the best player we have on the roll."
"But I didn't get a chance to do a thing!" grumbled Hester, shaking
her head.
"That is why I am praising you," said Mrs. Case, drily. "For what you
_didn't_ do. Keep it up. Restrain yourself as well for the rest of the
game. Your chance may come for a brilliant play; but if it doesn't,
keep a grip on yourself just the same."
Hester was secretly strengthened by this praise. She went out into the
field at the call of the gong for the second half with the
determination to deserve Mrs. Case's good word, whether the team won
or lost. And almost at first chance came Hester's way and she was
permitted to display a brilliant bit of play. It brought a goal for
Central High--the first scored in the game.
But the girls could not stop to cheer her. Laura nodded and smiled at
her, however, as the ball was brought back from the basket to be
tossed up. For some reason Hester began to feel a warm glow about her
heart. Her captain's commendation had never meant much to her before.
Up went the ball and Laura and the other jumping center did their best
to get it. The ball went from girl to girl, first in the hands of one
team, then in the other. The Keyport team almost made a goal; but they
were foiled by good guarding on Central High's part.
Up and down the field went the ball and the excitement grew moment by
moment. Two to nothing in favor of the home team! That was a situation
bound to create excitement both in the field and on the benches.
Suddenly the captain of the visiting team got the ball. She passed it
swiftly to her back center. Signaling one after the other of her
team-mates, the Keyport captain sent the ball from hand to hand
until--to the startled amazement of her opponents, the ball was in hand
for a clear throw. In another moment it was in the basket and the
score was tied again!
Four minutes more to play!
When the referee threw the ball up again every one of the eighteen
girls playing was on the _qui vive_. The subordinate players watched
their captains for signals. Central High got the ball. They rushed it
down the field. But the guarding of the Keyport team was too much for
them. They could not reach the basket.
Again and again was the ball passed back and forth. Once more the
Keyport captain shot it back for a clear throw. But Hester managed to
halt it. There were but a few moments of play left. It is not good
basketball to oppose other than one's immediate opponent; but for once
Hester went out of her field to stop the ball.
A side swipe, and the ball was hurtled directly into Laura's hands.
She turned and threw it swiftly, making the signal for the famous
massed play which was the strongest point in the game as played by
Central High.
Down the field the ball shot, from one to the other. Hester's quick
break in the Keyport plan had rattled the latter team for a moment.
And before the visitors recovered, the ball was hurtling through the
air straight for the basket.
The whistle blew. But the ball sped on. It struck the edge of the
basket; but the next breath it slid in and--_the game was won_!
Central High had outstripped its strongest opponent. The game won, so
was the series, and the beautiful cup would remain in the possession
of Central High.
"And all because of you, Hessie!" shouted Bobby, when they got back to
the dressing room. "You're a bully good sport! Isn't she, girls?"
"She won the game," declared Laura, coming forward to shake Hester's
hand.
They all had something nice to say to her. Hester couldn't reply. She
stood for a moment or two in the middle of the room, listening to
them; then she turned away and sought her own locker, for there were
tears in her eyes.