Their victim, having thus put himself beyond their torment, the other
boys turned to the brush-pile, and each taking as many branches as he
could carry skated down the river.
Viola and Nettie were still on the stump, and only Paul, Jerry and Harry
were left at the brush-pile.
"You don't suppose Miss Darrow hurt herself so badly she can't skate
back, do you?" asked Harry of his companions.
"Jove! I hadn't thought of that," returned Paul, and skating over to
where the two girls were, he asked concerning the extent of Viola's
injuries.
"She's hurt her ankle," explained Nettie.
"My! that's bad. Can you skate on it at all?" inquired Paul.
"I can't skate on it, but I may be able to step on it," dissembled
Viola, and getting to her feet, started to walk, only to sink down with
a little cry of well-feigned pain.
"Jerry and Harry, come over here! Viola's hurt her ankle, and we've got
to get her back down the river some way," called Paul to his chums.
"Remember we haven't met Mr. Watson!" exclaimed Nettie in a low voice,
as the two boys left the brush-pile and skated toward them.
"Why, I'm glad you reminded me. I'd forgotten," murmured Paul, and when
the new student joined them, he was quickly introduced.
"We'll have to go down the river and get a sled for you, Viola,"
announced Jerry. "You wait here with Nettie and Paul, and Harry and I'll
go down."
But after their maneuvering to meet Harry the two girls did not propose
to lose his companionship so quickly, and Viola hurriedly exclaimed:
"I think perhaps if you boys will help me, I shall be able to walk
down."
"But that will only make your ankle worse, Miss Darrow," declared Harry.
"I have it. We'll take a big pile of the brush and you and Miss
Masterson can sit on it and we will pull you down the river."
"The very thing!" cried the other boys, and without more ado, they
returned to the heap of dried branches, picked out several big ones,
which they placed on the ice, heaping smaller ones across them, until
they had made a rustic nest into which the girls climbed, while the
boys, with pieces of rope which they had found and with their skate
straps, bound the heavy limbs together and made a leash by which they
could pull the improvised sled.
But not without difficulty did the strange method of transportation
advance. First some of the heavy limbs spread, letting the twigs and
girls down onto the ice and frequently were they spilled from their
nest, but all enjoyed it and with much laughter and merry chatter they
approached the spot where the others were stacking the brush which was
to be set on fire in the evening.
"My eye! Look what's coming!" shouted Misery Jones, as he espied Viola
and the others.
At his cry the rest of the boys and girls followed the direction of his
gaze, and when they beheld the moving brush-heap with its two
passengers, they shouted and laughed as they skated up to meet them.
"_Ach! die liebliche Schnee-fogeln!_" exclaimed Prof. Schmidt, laughing
as he caught sight of the two pretty girls on the brush-pile. "Too bad
it iss dat wir de coronation not now can have?"
As he heard the words, Longback took a hasty glance over the crowd
assembled near the brush-pile, and not seeing Annabel, exclaimed:
"That's a good idea, Professor. It's getting so dark that we can have
the bonfire now just as well as later."
"Oh, no you don't!" cried Misery. "You can't get out of the formal
ceremony by one got up on the spur of the moment. The real queen who won
the race, you know, might object and cause you domestic unhappiness.
Even kings are allowed only one queen."
The result of the boy's protest was a lunge from Longback's hockey
stick, from which he was able to dodge back in the very nick-of-time.
But the haughty senior was not allowed to get away with his caddish
suggestion with only Misery's reproof.
"Now look here, Sam Dalton! No matter if Annabel Hutchins is a freshy
she won the race, and she's going to be crowned queen when you're
crowned king!" exclaimed several of the older girls, gathering about
Longback. "You wouldn't have made any objection, you know, if it had
been Viola, or even Nettie, and they're only freshmen, too; so if you
don't want to regret it all the rest of the time you're in Rivertown
High School, you'll be just as nice to Annabel as you possibly can be.
The poor child went home crying because she thought we were all laughing
at her."
"If it's going to make so much trouble, what's the use of having the
mock ceremony at all?" exclaimed Elmer, seeking to come to the aid of
his chum.
"That's it! Be a spoil sport!" cried several of the boys and girls.
"Then I'll resign my honor in favor of any of you who desire it,"
growled Longback.
"Let's not have the bonfire at all," exclaimed Viola, flashing a look of
contempt at the senior. "Instead let's go on a hay ride to Cardell--I'm
sure I can have the horses."
"Good! We'll take along Nettie's and Socker's mothers and then we can
have a dance at the Lake House!" exclaimed Paul.
The suggestion met with instant approval.
"Let's have a great big sleigh-ride," Socker exclaimed. "I guess father
will let me take our horses, too, and we can fix up with hay, and it
will be a great lark."
"You all can do as you please," declared Viola, "but I want Jerry and
Paul and Nettie and Mildred and Sally and Elise and Dorothy and Mr.
Watson and Misery and Jack and Horace and Annabel to be members of my
party."
Readily the boys and girls accepted, and their hostess requested them to
gather at her house at eight o'clock. The omission of Elmer, Longback
and Socker from her guests caused looks of amazement to be exchanged
between the other boys and girls, while the three fellows themselves
blushed.
"I'll take the rest of our gang!" Socker exclaimed. "We'll go up to
Cardell, anyhow, and have a dance, and Viola, if you want to bring your
little friends, we should be very pleased to see both you and them."
"Will everybody whom I've invited go?" asked the proud girl, ignoring
the remark.
One after another they accepted until it came to Harry, and he said,
mindful of what his aunt had told him:
"I thank you very much, Miss Darrow. I should like to go, but I'm afraid
it will be necessary for me to stay at home and study."
"Wow! Wow! Listen to that!" moaned Misery. "On top of saving the kids
and beating Pud's hockey team, he's a grind!" and skating over to the
new student, he felt of his shoulders, murmuring "It's just as I
thought. I can feel his wings sprouting. My, won't Rivertown get a
reputation when people know we've got an angel among the freshies."
"Well, if he stays in school until he's a senior, there won't be any
angel left about him," laughed Jerry. "Come on, Harry, you can go just
as well as not. The only thing we have to-morrow, beside drawing and
rhetoric, is Latin, and Old Grouch Plummer always flunks everybody in
that, so it isn't worthwhile to study the lesson. Besides, we want to
initiate you into the delights of the dancing floor at the Lake House,
it's----"
"Perhaps he doesn't dance," sneered Elmer. "I've always heard that a lot
of people down at Lawrenceburgh were opposed to dancing, and maybe
Watson's family is among them."
This utterly uncalled-for slur made even the rich boy's chums look at
him in amazement, but though Harry flushed hotly, the darkness concealed
his confusion, and he replied in a steady voice:
"I'm very fond of dancing, but really, Miss Darrow, I must decline your
invitation." And quickly wishing his friends among the boys and girls
"good-night," he skated over to the bank, took off the ice-runners, and
went home.