Lois looked carefully all over the hall. Maud was nowhere in sight.
"She"s probably in her room," she whispered back.
They sat in nervous silence. The lecturer paused in his discourse for a minute.
"If I had a b.u.t.tonhook and a piece of string," he said, turning to Mrs.
Baird, "I could demonstrate what I mean."
Polly jumped from her seat, caught Mrs. Baird"s eye, before any one else, and, in obedience to her nod, left the room.
She hurried over the Bridge of Sighs, for she hoped to get the articles required, and discover Maud without being absent from a.s.sembly Hall too long. The sound of splashing made her stop and listen half way down the corridor. Some one was apparently taking a bath in the faculty tubs. She thought for a minute, and remembered all the teachers were on the platform. A horrible fear entered her mind. A second later the bark of a dog, followed by a low growl, crystallized the fear to a dreadful certainty.
She pushed open the door. Maud, her sleeves rolled up to the elbows, was kneeling beside the tub scrubbing a little wiry-haired yellow puppy, who was protesting vigorously.
Polly looked for a full minute, then she closed the door, and hurried over to her room.
When she got back to her seat, Lois whispered:
"See anything of Maud?"
"She"s giving a dog a bath in the faculty"s corridor," Polly answered, struggling to keep back the laughter.
"Poll!" Lois" jaw dropped, "I don"t believe it," she said.
Polly knew that all the teachers would go to the reception hall for coffee before going back to their rooms. So the minute the lecture was over she called Betty and Lois. "Come with me, quick," she said, hurriedly, and led them back to the faculty corridor. The splashing had stopped. She opened the door.
"Jemima! What under the sun--" Betty and Lois could hardly believe their eyes.
Maud was still on her knees, but the dog was out of the tub; he stood shivering on the blue mat, while she rubbed him vigorously with a towel.
She was not at all surprised to see the girls.
"Isn"t he an old dear?" she asked, casually. "I found him out by the stables to-night when I was taking a walk. He needed a scrub most awfully."
Polly started to explain, thought better of it, and turned to Betty. The events that followed were swift and purposeful.
Betty washed out the tub, while Lois mopped up the water that the dog had splashed on the floor.
Polly took the astonished Maud with one arm and the very wet puppy under the other and hurried them, by way of the kitchen, into the furnace room.
"You can"t have him in your room, you know," she said by way of explanation. "We"ll tie him up here for to-night, where he"ll be warm, and I"ll get him some milk. You go up to your room as fast as you can.
The bell has rung and you"re supposed to go to bed right away. Can you find your way?"
Maud"s brows drew together in a puzzled frown, but she didn"t protest.
"Yes, of course," she said, wonderingly. "Good night, pup; I"ll see you in the morning."
"Better hurry," Polly warned. "Good night."
"Good night," Maud said, cheerfully, as she went upstairs.
Polly followed her after she had found some food for the dog.
Betty and Lois were already in her room. Betty was stifling roars of laughter in one of Lois" pillows, and Lois was dabbing at her eyes and babbling foolishly.
Polly, the second the door was closed, threw herself down on her bed and gave vent to all the pent up mirth within her.
Finally Betty sat up.
"Oh, Lordy!" she choked; "how rare, how perfectly, gloriously, joyously rare. Think of Maud scrubbing a yellow pup in the faculty"s private bath, and the Spartan liable to come in any minute. What a treat? Oh, Maud! I welcome you."
CHAPTER X
A SURPRISE TO MANY
Much to the disgust of all the girls, four days of warm sunshine had melted the snow, spoiled the coasting and made rubbers a first consideration.
The roads were hidden under inches of slush, the gutters were miniature brooks, and the ground seemed to be completely covered by a thick coating of red, oozy mud.
Polly, an empty basket over one arm, was picking her way gingerly along the back road that led from the farm.
As she came in sight of the gym, Betty met her.
"h.e.l.lo, where are you going?" she demanded.
"I"m not going, I"m coming," Polly answered.
"Where from?"
"The cottage. I"ve just been to see McDonald; he"s back from the hospital, you know, and Mrs. Baird sent me over with some fruit for him."
"Is he better?"
"Yes, but I don"t believe he"ll ever do any driving again; he"s pretty feeble."
"Good old McDonald! It won"t seem right not having him around; he"s been here ever since I can remember, and that"s six long years."
Betty gave a sigh to express great age, and resumed: "Do you remember the night you and he, between you, turned off the power for the lantern and got us out of a lecture by the Spartan"s cousin?"
Polly chuckled. "McDonald was just talking about it. He said: "Sure an"
Miss Polly, I couldn"t be after spoiling your evening, that I couldn"t; so when I got back to the power house, I just let well enough alone, and all the time all I needed to do was to turn on the switch again." I told him about Maud and the dog, and he laughed till he cried. What"s doing this afternoon?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Betty said dolefully. "The coasting"s spoiled, and the gym is packed with girls."
"Then, that"s where I"m going," Polly announced, "and you"ve got to come with me. Do you realize that February is not so very far away, and that our sub team is very, very weak?"
"I do," Betty answered, solemnly. "What are you going to do about it?"