THE BITER BITTEN.
For five minutes they waited in silence. It seemed to them much longer
than that when, quietly as she had gone, Ronny re-appeared on the top
step of the dingy little porch.
"She's in there," were her first words on reaching the waiting group.
"We are just in time to make it interesting for the Sans. Now listen to
my plan. What we are to do is this. I have this long black cloak and my
mask. It's black too. I am going to scare those girls within an inch of
their wretched lives. They are masked and in dominoes. You can imagine
what Marjorie went through for a minute. I know a dance called the dance
of the vampire bat. It is terribly, _horribly_ gruesome. I am going to
prance in on them with that. I have danced it in this very cloak. See
how full it is." Ronny held up a fold for inspection. "I can make it
look like wings. Then with the dance goes a very scary noise, half sigh,
half whistle. By that dim candlelight in there it will be awful.
Marjorie won't be scared. She has seen me dance it.
"The rest of you follow me," Ronny continued rapidly. "Leila you come
first, right behind me. Stop at the door where you can't be seen from
inside of the front room and line up behind Leila, girls. Count fifty,
Leila, after I am fairly in the room, then start that awful banshee wail
you know how to give. At the first sound of it I am going to blow out
the candle. Then the Sans are going to take to the woods. The minute I
blow the last candle I shall grab Marjorie by the hand and flee for the
back door. As soon as Leila has wailed twice every one of you make the
most horrible sound you know as loudly as you can and hustle for the
back door howling as you go. They will all try to get out the front door
and in the darkness they will have a fine time of it. If they get a few
bumps and scratches in the dark it will serve them precisely right. What
you must be sure of is to get out of their way the instant the last
candle is put out by yours truly. The whole thing must be carried out
like a flash. I depend on your support."
"You are a wonder," chuckled Leila. "My stars, what a party we shall
have, with vampire bats, banshees and the like. We shall howl our best
for Beauty. Vera makes a fine banshee, too. Now lead us on and confusion
to the enemy."
Headed by Ronny the rescuing procession stole up the steps. They landed
in the kitchen of the house and made their way through it and into the
room adjoining which communicated with the short hall on both sides of
which the two front rooms were situated.
Due to Leslie Cairns' shrewd business methods the "high tribunal" stood
in no fear of interruption. Leslie, finding the house vacant, had rented
it of the agent for six months. She had stated that a few of the
students intended to fit it up as a private gymnasium. As the agent's
mind dwelt only on the glorious fact that he had been handed six months'
rental in advance, after charging a rate per month which was three times
more than the house was worth. Beyond that he was not interested in the
tenants.
The august tribunal had taken pains to lock the front door after them.
Due to a squabble among themselves on their arrival at the house, the
back door had remained unlocked. Dulcie Vale had been roughly ordered by
Leslie to see to it. Dulcie was sulking, however, at Leslie's
high-handed manner. She resolved to take her time about it. Then her
interest centered on something else, momentarily, and she forgot it.
About the time that the worried rescuers were starting from Wayland
Hall, Marjorie was throwing fearless defiance in the faces of her
captors. Her contemptuous arraignment, ending with an allusion to the
affair on the campus of the previous March, was highly displeasing to
her masked listeners. Angry murmurs arose from behind masks and several
sibilant hisses cut the storm-laden air.
"Ssss! Death! Show no mercy!" were some of the pleasant returns that met
Marjorie's ear.
The Scarlet Mask, thus-called, made a sudden move toward Marjorie as
though to lay violent hold upon her. The other masked figures also took
a step nearer. Marjorie braced herself to meet an attack, if it came to
that. There was a steady light in her brown eyes which the Scarlet Mask
did not miss seeing. She contented herself with stopping short directly
in front of Marjorie and staring fixedly at her. The effect of two
malignant eyes peering through the eye-holes of the hideous false face
would have been terrifying to a timid girl. Marjorie was not to be
intimidated.
"Prisoner, your remarks are unseemly and ill befit your serious
situation." It was evident the wily intention of the Scarlet Mask to
ignore the guilty truth which Marjorie had flung at the masked
assemblage. "You are one against many. It is not the purpose of the high
tribunal to allow you to escape. You are at our mercy until such time as
we shall choose to release you. You are pleased to pretend that our
identity is known to you. You little know those before whom you now
stand. You are in the presence of a group of stern avengers, sworn to
see justice done to those whom you have maligned. Were we to remove our
masks you would find yourself in the company of strangers. We know you.
You do not know us. I warn----"
"Save your warnings, Miss Cairns. I am not in the least interested in
them," interrupted Marjorie with dry contempt. "You might be able to
make a child of nine years believe you. I doubt even that. I have heard
of this foolishness. Malicious as it is intended to be, it is too
trivial to be deceiving. You will kindly unlock the front door and let
me go."
A subdued chorus of derisive laughter, mingled with hisses arose from
the "stern avengers." One of the tallest stepped out from the circle,
which they had gradually been forming about Marjorie, and bowed low
before the Scarlet Mask.
"I recommend, your highness, that the prisoner be taught at once proper
respect for the high tribunal of the Scarlet Mask." The request was made
in a voice that aspired to bass depths. It fell short enough of them for
Marjorie to identify it as feminine, although she did not know to whom
it belonged. She had had so slight an acquaintance with the Sans from
the beginning.
"The prisoner will be taught proper respect immediately," vindictively
assured the Scarlet Mask. Up went a scarlet-draped arm in an imperious
gesture to a domino directly behind Marjorie.
Like a flash, Marjorie whirled about to guard herself. It was precisely
what the Scarlet Mask wished her to do. In the instant she turned the
figure nearest the leader whisked something white from the voluminous
folds of her domino. Marjorie felt herself being enveloped from head to
waist in what seemed to be the heavy open meshes of a veil. It was, in
reality, a large piece of fish net. She struggled furiously to free
herself from it. While she struggled with two of the figures who were
attempting to hold her, a third was busy securing the net in a hard knot
at her back. As Marjorie was wearing a fur coat and cap, her attire was
sufficiently bulky to prevent the net from being drawn very close. She
had taken off her mask the moment she had left the campus behind her, so
she could at least breathe without difficulty.
Not content with the indignity they had trickily put upon her, two of
the dominoes caught her by the shoulders and began forcing her toward a
corner of the room. The others followed, closing in upon the trio, so
that the silent, but still wrathfully-struggling prisoner would have no
chance to make a sudden dash for the door when released.
The Scarlet Mask, now at the edge of the crowd which hemmed Marjorie in,
elbowed a rough way to where she stood.
"How do you like our methods now, prisoner?" was the satirical question.
"You are going to leave us _at once_, are you? Why don't you go? 'You
will kindly unlock the front door,' etc. Oh, my! Naturally we would be
keen on doing so after the pains we took to secure your distinguished
attendance here tonight. How very sweet you look behind a veil. Too bad
you don't wear one all the time. You would----"
"May it please your highness," interrupted a domino in hollow tones,
"the time is going. I would advise that we leave here at once with the
prisoner. A ride in the still night air may cool her fevered brain so
that when we return with her she will be in a more reasonable mood."
"I am also of that opinion," agreed a second. Several other voices rose
in approval of the plan.
The Scarlet Mask turned on them in a hurry. Not only angry at being
interrupted in her harassing of the prisoner, she did not propose to
take any dictation from her companions.
"Who is running this affair?" she asked in the familiar tones of Leslie
Cairns, minus her drawl. "This little, puffed-up hypocrite is not going
to leave here until she promises to mind her own business hereafter.
She is also going to promise not to tell where she has been tonight. She
may think she won't, but she will, or spend the rest of the night alone
here."
A murmur of dissenting voices at once ascended. Half a dozen dominoes
tried to force an opinion upon the Scarlet Mask at once. Eager to be
heard, there was small attempt made at disguising voices.
"You idiots!" Leslie rebuked in a rage, when finally able to make
herself heard. "Have you no sense? Listen to me." Whereupon she centered
her displeased attention on her helpers and berated them roundly for
daring to set up an opinion contrary to her own.
The dissenting dominoes were not to be silenced thus easily and a
spirited altercation began. There were several of the masked company who
were hotly against a punishment such as their leader proposed to visit
upon Marjorie. Meanwhile, the cause of the altercation listened to what
went on with emotions which were a mingling of wrath and amusement. If
she had needed evidence to convince her that her captors were the Sans,
she had it now. She knew from Leila that the Sans were noted for
quarreling among themselves.
After the violent manner in which she had been jerked into the
untenanted house, she had not doubted that she might meet with further
rough treatment. She knew that Leslie Cairns was quite apt to go as far
as she dared. She resolved to show, no fear of her captors. She disliked
intensely the idea of hand to hand encounter with them. It was utterly
beneath her standards. Still she did not hesitate to warn them that she
would defend herself if forced to do so. Once she was free of them she
had not decided what she would do, further than that she would set off
for the gymnasium post haste. Even before the unmasking her chums would
miss her. If only she could reach the dance prior to that!
"S--hh! Keep your voices down!" warned a domino who had taken no part in
the ill-natured discussion. "I believe you can be heard clear out in the
street."
"Mind your business," snapped the Scarlet Mask. "I pay the rent here.
It's nobody's business how much noise we make. Who amounts to a button
on this alley? Don't be so cowardly. Even Bean has more nerve than you."
This produced a laugh at "Bean's" expense. Behind her enforced veil
Marjorie could not repress a noiseless chuckle. How she wished that
someone would hear her captors and come to her assistance. No such thing
was likely to happen.
The admonishing domino, hitherto peaceful, now took umbrage. "You can't
tell me to mind my own business or call me a coward," she stormily
hurled at the scarlet executive. "You make me exceedingly weary!" Her
further candid opinion was not calculated to flatter.
"What you need is a midnight session here with Miss Bean," declared the
Scarlet Mask, with a touch of cool purpose which caused the angry domino
to flare up afresh.
"Try it, and see what happens to you," was her instant retort.
"Oh, forget it. I merely said you needed it. I didn't say you would be
left here. You are the last person I expected would go back on me." This
with intent to mollify.
"Well, you shouldn't have----" The somewhat placated rebel suddenly
paused. "Hark!" She held up a hand for silence. "I thought I heard a
noise."
"Someone going by in the street," the Scarlet Mask asserted, after
listening attentively for a moment. At the ejaculation "Hark!" the eyes
of the other maskers had been directed with one accord to the door.
After a brief interval of uneasy silence the discussion regarding the
prisoner was resumed.
The recently ruffled avenger who had given the alarm still continued to
watch the door. She was not satisfied with her leader's explanation of
the sound. Thus she was the first to note a shadow fall athwart the
doorway. Her eyes widened with fear to behold an odd, black, winged
shape hover an instant on the threshold, then flit noiselessly into the
room. It did not advance on the group collected in one corner of the
room. It lurched and dipped toward the windows like a huge sable hawk
about to swoop down on a chicken yard.