She was out of the room and half way down the hall when Miss North called her.
Blue Bonnet came back and took the chair to which Miss North pointed, wonderingly.
"Why did you not go to your French cla.s.s, Miss Ashe?"
"Because I was so worried about Carita. I knew I couldn"t make any kind of a recitation."
"That does not excuse you from going. You may report now to Madam de Cartier. In regard to Miss Judson--" Miss North paused, as trying to think of the best way to impress her authority upon the very determined young girl before her.
"You will leave Miss Judson to the care of Mrs. Goodwin and Doctor Giles for the present. As soon as there is the slightest cause for alarm your aunt will be notified. You may go now."
In the hall Blue Bonnet met Mary Boyd.
"How"s Carita?" Mary asked. "Have they found out what"s the matter with her?"
"No. The doctor can"t tell yet."
"What doctor?"
"I think his name is Giles."
"Doctor Giles! Oh, mercy, they always get him, and he"s slower than mola.s.ses at Christmas. That"s just the way he did when I was sick. First he said it was cold--then it was grippe; then it looked like something else. By the time they got my mother here I was so sick I didn"t know her."
"Mary," Blue Bonnet said, actually frightened, "is that really true?
Aren"t you exaggerating?"
"No. You ask Peggy Austin. She"ll tell you!"
But Blue Bonnet"s mind was made up. She would take no chances. If she had been a little older, a little more experienced, she would have taken Mary"s opinion of Doctor Giles for exactly what it was worth--the prejudice of a spoiled child. But Blue Bonnet was very young herself, and very much excited.
She went directly to Professor Howe"s room, but Professor Howe was teaching. So was Madam de Cartier. Blue Bonnet"s next period was vacant, so she went to the study hall and slipped into her seat quietly.
Fraulein Herrmann was in charge of the room. She looked at Blue Bonnet suspiciously, and watched her as she got out her books.
Blue Bonnet opened her Latin, but the words danced before her eyes.
Study was out of the question. Her mind and heart centred upon Carita.
Poor little Carita, white and forlorn, miles and miles away from her father, her mother, shut up in a room with a woman she scarcely knew, the thought was intolerable.
For a few minutes she sat thinking. How could she get word to Aunt Lucinda? There was the long distance telephone, but she hardly knew how to manage that; there might be complications, and then any one could hear, the telephone was so publicly placed.
Suddenly it flashed over her that she could get a letter--a special delivery--to Woodford that afternoon. One of the day pupils would mail it.
Unmindful of Fraulein"s watchful eye, she leaned over and spoke to her seat-mate, Ethel Merrill.
"Would you do me a favor, Ethel?" she asked.
"Surely," Ethel replied.
Blue Bonnet explained--a bit indefinitely. It was a letter--a very important one--that must be mailed at noon.
Ethel promised to take it without fail.
Blue Bonnet got out some paper and began writing hastily.
"DEAR AUNT LUCINDA:--Will you please come up at once. Carita is sick. The doctor doesn"t know yet what"s the matter with her, he can"t tell for forty-eight hours,--"
"Miss Ashe!"
Fraulein"s stentorian tones rang out sharply.
Blue Bonnet looked up, startled.
"What haf you there, Miss Ashe? This is a time for study, not for the writing of letters."
Blue Bonnet remained silent.
"You may bring the paper to the desk, Miss Ashe."
Blue Bonnet gathered up her books, picked up the letter which she had been writing and tore it into bits. Then she got up and started to leave the room.
Fraulein was white with anger.
"Come back to your seat, this instant, Miss Ashe," she demanded.
Blue Bonnet continued on her way out of the room.
Fraulein ran after her, insisting upon her return.
Blue Bonnet hurried to her room, and, entering, locked the door behind her. She dropped her books on the table, and for a moment sat staring out of the window. What should she do? She had defied several rules that morning. Perhaps they would expel her. Well, they could! She wasn"t particularly anxious to remain in the school if Fraulein Herrmann did, anyway. The house hardly seemed large enough for both.
Suddenly she sat up with a start. There was Cousin Tracy! Why hadn"t she thought of him before! She could telephone to him, and he could get Aunt Lucinda. The thought acted like magic, and she was scurrying down the hall to the telephone in less than a minute.
She got Cousin Honora, but Cousin Tracy was out. Cousin Honora was not even expecting him home to lunch, but she would try to locate him and send him out to the school. Was anything wrong?
Blue Bonnet admitted that there was, a bit reluctantly, and hung up the receiver, leaving Cousin Honora mystified and uneasy.
As she started back to her room she remembered that she had not yet reported to Professor Howe. She went back, and entered Professor Howe"s office just as Fraulein Herrmann was leaving it.
Professor Howe looked serious as she motioned Blue Bonnet to a seat and closed the door quietly.
"I have a very unpleasant report of you, Miss Ashe," she said firmly, but gently. "I am surprised and sorry. What have you to say in the matter?"
The idea that she was to have a chance to explain, had not entered Blue Bonnet"s head. Professor Howe"s tendency to fairness changed her viewpoint instantly. She felt ashamed--humiliated in the presence of this clear-eyed, soft-voiced woman, whose glance fell upon her with an expression almost maternal in its interest.
Slowly--one by one--the tears gathered in Blue Bonnet"s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. But for the ticking of the clock above the desk, there was absolute silence in the room.
Professor Howe reached over and took Blue Bonnet"s hand in her own.