Patty raised her head and faced her superior in the manner of a Christian martyr.
"I only prepared the first sixty lines, Miss Lord."
"Why did you not finish the lesson that I gave out?" Miss Lord inquired sharply.
"We have decided that eighty lines are more than we can do in a day. It takes too much time away from our other lessons. We are perfectly willing to do sixty lines, and do them thoroughly, but we can"t consider any more."
Miss Lord for a moment simply stared. Never had she known such a flagrant case of insubordination. And it was purely insubordination, for Patty was the most capable person in the cla.s.s.
"What do you mean?" she gasped at last.
"We have formed a Virgil Union," Patty gravely explained. "You, Miss Lord, will appreciate the fairness of our demands better than any of the other teachers, because you believe in unions. Now, the girls in this cla.s.s feel that they are overworked and underpa--er--that is, I mean the lessons are too long."
Patty fetched a deep breath and started again.
"Eighty lines a day doesn"t leave us any time for recreation, so we have determined to join together and demand our rights. We occupy the position of skilled laborers. You can get all the girls you want for Caesar and beginning Latin, but you can"t find anybody but us to read Virgil. It"s like the laundry trade. We are not just plain boilers and starchers; we are fancy ironers. If you want to have a Virgil cla.s.s, you have _got_ to have us. You can"t call in scab labor. Now, we aren"t trying to take advantage because of our superior strength. We are perfectly willing to do an honest day"s work, but we can"t allow ourselves to be--er--to be--"
Patty fumbled a moment for her word, but in the end she brought it out triumphantly.
"We can"t allow ourselves to be exploited. Singly, we are no match for you, but together, we can dictate our own terms. Because two or three of us can keep up the pace you set, is no reason why we should allow the others to be overworked. It is our duty to stand by one another against the encroachments of our employer. We women are not so advanced as men.
But we are learning. Upon the solidarity of labor depends the life of Rosalie. In case you refuse to meet our demands, the Virgil cla.s.s will be obliged to go out on strike."
Patty p.r.o.nounced her ultimatum, and leaned back with folded arms.
A moment of silence followed. Then Miss Lord spoke. The cla.s.s went down in hopeless, abject terror before the storm. Miss Lord"s icy sarcasm was, in moments of intensity, lightened by gleams of fire. She had Irish ancestors and red hair. Patty alone listened with head erect and steely eyes. The red blood of martyrs dyed her cheeks. She was fighting for a CAUSE. Weak, helpless, little Rosalie, sniffling at her elbow, should be saved--the cowardice of her comrades put to shame. She, single-handed, would fight and win.
Miss Lord finally drew breath.
"The cla.s.s is dismissed. Patty will remain in the schoolroom until she has translated perfectly the last twenty lines. I will hear her read them after luncheon."
The girls rose and pressed in a huddled body toward the hall, while Patty turned into the empty schoolroom. On the threshold she paused to hurl one contemptuous word over her shoulder:
"Scabs!"
The lunch bell rang, and Patty at her desk in the empty schoolroom heard the girls laughing and talking, as they clattered down the tin-covered back stairs to the dining-room. She was very tired and very hungry. She had had five hours of work since breakfast, with only a gla.s.s of milk at eleven o"clock. Even the pleasurable sensation of being abused did not quite offset the pangs of hunger. She listlessly set about learning the morrow"s lesson in French History. It dealt with another martyr. Louis the Ninth left his bones bleaching on the plains of Antioch. The cause was different, but the principle remained. If she was not to be fed until she learned the Latin--very well--she would leave her bones bleaching in the schoolroom of St. Ursula"s.
An insistent tapping sounded on the window. She glanced across an angle, to find Osaki, the j.a.panese butler, leaning far out from his pantry window, and extending toward her a dinner plate containing a large, lone slab of turkey.
"Leave plate in wastebasket, Missy," he whispered hoa.r.s.ely.
Patty, for an instant, struggled with dignity and martyrdom, but hunger and a love of intrigue triumphed. She tiptoed over and received the offering. There was no knife or fork, but primitive methods suffice in a case of real starvation. She finished the turkey and buried the plate beneath a pile of algebra papers. It was Osaki"s daily business to empty the wastebasket; the plate in due course would be restored to its shelf.
A few moments later a scurrying footfall sounded at the door, and a little Junior A. darted to Patty"s side. She cast a conspiratorial glance over her shoulder as she drew from a bulging blouse two b.u.t.tered rolls.
"Take "em quick!" she panted. "I must hurry back, or they"ll suspect. I asked to be excused to get a handkerchief. Keep up your courage. We won"t let you starve. It"s splendid!"
She thrust the rolls into Patty"s lap and vanished.
Patty found it comforting to know that the school was with her. The attractions of martyrdom are enhanced by the knowledge of an audience.
Also, the rolls were a grateful addition to the turkey; her five-hour appet.i.te was still insistent. She finished one of them and was about to begin on the second, when furtive footfalls sounded behind her, and one of the maids slipped a paper plate over her shoulder.
"Here"s some fresh gingerbread, Miss Patty. Cook says--"
The sound of a closing door startled her, and she scurried off like a detected thief.
Patty placed her second roll in the wastebasket in company with the turkey plate, and was just starting on the gingerbread, when a scrambling sounded at the end window. A blue hat appeared momentarily over the sill, its owner boosted from below, and an unidentified hand sent an orange rolling down the center aisle. Patty hastily intercepted its course and dropped it into the wastebasket. Luncheon would be over momentarily, and a visit from Miss Lord was imminent. This influx of supplies was growing embarra.s.sing.
She heard the rising flood of talk as the girls poured from the dining-room. She knew that sympathetic groups were viewing her from the open doors behind. Judging from the ceaseless shuffle of footsteps, all Saint Ursula"s had errands that led past the schoolroom door. Patty did not cast a glance behind, but with rigid shoulders stared into s.p.a.ce.
Presently a rattling sounded above her head. She raised startled eyes to a register set in the ceiling, and saw Irene McCullough"s anxious face peering through the opening.
"You can live for days on chocolates," came in a stage whisper. "I"m awfully sorry there"s only half a pound; I ate the rest last night."
The register was lifted out, and a box was swiftly lowered by a string.
Irene was chief of the scabs.
"Thank you, Irene," Patty returned in a haughty stage whisper. "I do not care to accept any--"
Miss Lord"s voice became audible in the hall.
"I thought, young ladies, that afternoon recreation was to be spent out of doors?"
Patty just had time to s.n.a.t.c.h the box and drop it in her lap, with an open essay book above, when Miss Lord advanced into the room. Patty"s face a.s.sumed an air of suffering stoicism, as she stared ahead, in the profound hope that Irene would have sense enough to remove eight feet of dangling string. Miss Lord was followed by Osaki, carrying a tray with two slices of dry bread and a gla.s.s of water.
"Have you finished your Latin, Patty?"
"No, Miss Lord."
"Why not?"
"I am going to do to-morrow"s lesson in afternoon study hour."
Patty"s tone was respectful, but her meaning was clear. She emphasized slightly the word "to-morrow."
"You will do the twenty lines immediately."
A speaking silence from Patty.
"Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Miss Lord."
"Well?" The monosyllable was sharp enough to cut.
"I stand by my principles," said Patty. "I am not a scab."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Patty just had time to s.n.a.t.c.h the box]