The girls walked back to school in a rather thoughtful frame of mind.
They were sorry for poor Mrs. Haddon, and they were worried about little
Peter.
"The sandwiches and milk and things that we brought this morning will
last them a little while," Billie said. "But I don't suppose Miss
Walters would want us to take them food every morning."
"Oh, and that reminds me!" cried Laura. "You haven't told us yet what
happened after we ran for the doctor and left you alone with Mrs.
Haddon."
"There isn't very much to tell," said Billie. "She didn't want to touch
the basket at first, but when she thought of the kiddies she changed her
mind. She said that the children hadn't had any real nourishing food
since the day before yesterday."
The girls were silent for a moment, letting this last remark of Billie's
sink in. Then it was Billie who broke the silence.
"I wonder," she said, "how they have ever managed to get along up to
this time. They must have had something to live on."
"Why," said Vi, wrinkling her forehead thoughtfully, "the doctor said
something about Mrs. Haddon having to give up her work because of ill
health. Didn't he, Laura?"
"Yes," said Laura, stuffing her hands deeper into her pockets. "He seems
dreadfully sorry about poor little Peter. I heard him mumble something
about troubles always coming in a heap."
"Oh," said Billie, with a big long sigh, "if somebody could only stumble
across those inventions someway or other! Then we could all be happy
again."
For a moment her classmates stared at Billie blankly. They had all but
forgotten about the invention. Somehow, Mrs. Haddon's tale of a nearly
won fortune had seemed unreal and vague to them--almost like a fairy
story. And now here was Billie bringing it all up again and even talking
about finding that knitting machine model!
"If it doesn't always take you to think up impossible things, Billie
Bradley," said Vi.
"Just the same," Laura spoke up unexpectedly, "you must admit that lots
of times Billie has done what we would think was impossible to do."
"Goodness, have you got 'em, too?" asked Vi, with a giggle. "We all know
Billie's a wonder, but I don't think she is going to find an invention
that has been missing for a long time. Probably it wouldn't be any good,
anyway. All rusted and everything."
"That wouldn't make any difference," Billie pointed out promptly. "As
long as they had the model to copy from they could make any number of
new machines just like it."
"All right, rave on, Macduff!" cried Laura, who was just beginning to
read Shakespeare and who annoyed the other girls by insisting upon
quoting him--incorrectly--upon all occasions. "If you can find this old
thing and get a fortune out of it for Mrs. Haddon and the kiddies and
twenty thousand nice little dollars for yourself, honey, nobody'll be
gladder than me."
"I," corrected Violet sternly. "Don't you know me is bad grammar?"
"Well, me's a bad girl," said Laura irrepressibly, and the girls
giggled.
A few minutes later they came within sight of the school and found to
their dismay that it was lunch hour.
"Do you mean to say we have been gone all morning?" cried Laura,
stopping short at the familiar sight of the girls pouring out on the
campus for a breath of air before their studies should commence again.
"Goodness, Miss Walters will murder us."
"Oh, come on," cried Billie, hurrying the girls along. "Haven't we been
on an errand of mercy--and everything? She can't kill us for that, even
if we were a long time about it."
Greetings and laughing gibes were flung at the girls as they hurried
across the snow-covered campus, but they did not stop to answer. They
wanted to see Miss Walters, explain why they were so late, and get a
bite of something to eat before the afternoon classes began.
They had almost reached the door when a voice called to Billie from
overhead. She looked up unsuspectingly and received an avalanche of snow
right in the face, almost blinding her and sending her staggering back
against her chums.
Sputtering and choking, she dashed the snow from her eyes and looked up
to see who had done such a mean thing. There at a window just over her
head was the grinning face of Amanda Peabody. In a flash Billie realized
that it had been Amanda who had pushed the snow from the window ledge
upon her.
"Want some more?" asked that disagreeable person in response to Billie's
stare. "There's just a little bit left," and she made a gesture as if to
push the rest of the snow from the windowsill down upon Billie's
upturned face.
But Billie did not wait to see whether she would really have done it.
With a cry she made for the door of the school, pushing through a group
of the girls who had gathered at the first sign of a fracas. Laura and
Vi followed, fuming.
As usual, instead of staying and facing the consequences of her own
deeds, Amanda tried to get away. But Billie was too quick for her. The
former reached the door of the room just as Amanda darted through it,
bent upon escape.
Her eyes blazing, Billie seized the girl's arm and hurried her through
the hall, Laura and Vi assisting, and a delighted crowd following close
behind.
"You let me go--you big cowards, you!" spluttered Amanda, almost crying
with rage and fright. "You let me go, Billie Bradley! I'll tell Miss
Walters."
"Go ahead and tell Miss Walters, you miserable sneak!" cried Billie,
giving the girl a contemptuous shake. "But you won't tell her till I'm
through with you."
"What are you going to do?" whined Amanda, too scared now even to
bluster. "I won't do it again, honest I won't. Only let me go."
"Don't you do it, Billie," cried one of the girls in the following
crowd. "Don't let her off so easy."
But Billie had no intention of letting her enemy off easily. Having now
reached the outside door, she shoved it open, at the same time motioning
to Vi and Laura to let go of Amanda.
Then she dragged the whimpering, whining girl over to a spot where the
wind had formed the snow into a small drift. Into this she flung the
protesting girl, and the next instant was upon her, washing her face
with the snow, and it is safe to say that no girl ever had her face so
thoroughly washed before. And the crowd of girls behind Billie cheered
her on gleefully.
There is no telling just how long Billie might have kept it up, for she
was enjoying herself immensely, if Laura had not brought her to her
senses. The latter leaned down, took a firm grip of the belt on Billie's
coat and jerked her to her feet.
"Better let her go," she warned. "We will have Miss Walters or one of
the teachers out here in a minute. Come on, Billie. She's had enough."
So Billie reluctantly stepped back while Amanda picked herself out of
the snow, wiped her red and dripping face on her sleeve, and pushed
through the laughing, mocking crowd of girls toward the school.
She stopped just before she reached the door, however, and faced her
tormentors, her face distorted with rage.
"You think you're smart, all of you!" she cried furiously, then added,
as her eyes fell on Billie, who had drawn a handkerchief from her pocket
and was wiping her hands carefully. "And you, Billie Bradley, standing
there grinning! Some day I'll make you grin out of the other side of
your mouth. Just wait!"
"Would you like your face washed again?" Billie demanded, darting
forward threateningly. "Come on, let's get it over with----"
But Amanda did not wait for the threat to be carried out. She scuttled
precipitately into the Hall amid delighted giggles from the girls.
Amanda, fairly choking with rage at the laughter, stopped and shook her
fist in the direction of it. Then, with all sorts of plans in her heart
for "getting even," she went on toward the dormitory.