"But the dear old ivy never can be replaced," Mercy Curtis murmured to Ruth.
"We shall endeavor," went on Mrs. Tellingham, smiling, "to repeat in the new building all the advantages of the old. We shall have everything replaced, if possible, exactly as it was before the fire."
"There was a big inkspot on my rug," muttered Jennie Stone. "Bet they can"t get _that_ just in the same place again."
"You homeless girls must, in the meanwhile, possess your souls with patience. The younger girls who had quarters in the West Dormitory will be made comfortable in the East. But you older girls must be cared for in a different way.
"Some few I shall take into my own apartments, or otherwise find room for in the main building here. Some, however, will have to occupy quarters outside the school premises until the new building is constructed and ready for occupancy. Arrangements for these quarters I have already made.
And now we can separate for our usual cla.s.ses and work, with the feeling that all will come out right and that the new dormitory will be built within reasonable time."
She ceased speaking. The door near the platform suddenly opened and "the old doctor" as the girls called the absent-minded husband of their preceptress, hastily entered.
He stumbled up to the platform, waving a number of papers in his hand. He stammered so that he could hardly speak at first, and he gave no attention to the amazed girls in the audience.
"Mrs. Tellingham! Mrs. Tellingham!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. "I have made a great mistake--an unpardonable error! In renewing the insurance for the various buildings I overlooked that for the West Dormitory and its contents. The insurance on that ran out a week ago. There was not a dollar on it when it burned last night!"
CHAPTER XII
"GREAT OAKS FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROW"
Mercy Curtis was one of the older girls quartered in Mrs. Tellingham"s suite. She told her close friends how Doctor Tellingham walked the floor of the inner office and bemoaned his absent-mindedness that had brought disaster upon Mrs. Tellingham and the whole school.
"I know that Mrs. Tellingham is becoming more worried about the doctor than about the lapsed insurance," said Mercy. "Of course, he"s a foolish old man without any more head than a pin! But why did she leave the business of renewing the insurance in his charge, in the first place?"
"Oh, Mercy!" protested Ruth.
"No more head than a pin!" repeated Nettie Parsons, in horror. "Why! who ever heard the like? He writes histories! He must be a very brainy man."
"Who ever _reads_ them?" grumbled Mercy.
"They look awfully solid," confessed Lluella Fairfax. "Did you ever look at the whole row of them in the office bookcase?"
Jennie Stone began to giggle. "I don"t care," she said, "the doctor may be a great historian; but his memory is just as short as it can be. Do you know what happened only last half when he and Mrs. Tellingham were invited to the Lumberton a.s.sociation Ball?"
"What was it?" asked Helen.
"I suppose it is something perfectly ridiculous, or Heavy wouldn"t have remembered it," Ruth suggested.
"Thank you!" returned the plump girl, making a face. "I have a better memory than Dr. Tellingham, I should hope."
"Come on! tell the joke, Heavy," urged Mary c.o.x.
"Why, when he came into the office ready to escort Mrs. Tellingham to the ball, Mrs. T. criticised his tie. "Do go back, Doctor, and put on a black tie," she said. You know, he"s the best natured old dear in the world,"
Jennie pursued, "and he went right back into his bedroom to make the change. They waited, and they waited, and then they waited some more,"
chuckled Jennie. "The doctor did not reappear. So Mrs. Tellingham finally went to his bedroom and opened the door. She saw that the old doctor, having removed the tie she didn"t like, had continued the process of undressing, and just as Mrs. Tellingham looked in, he climbed placidly into bed."
"I can believe that," said Ann Hicks, when the laughter had subsided.
"And I can believe that both he and Mrs. Tellingham are just as worried about the destruction of the dormitory as they can be," Nettie added. "All their money is invested in the school, is it not?"
"Except that invested in the doctor"s useless histories," said Mercy, who was inclined to be most unmerciful of speech on occasion.
"Is there n.o.body to help them rebuild?" asked Ann, tentatively.
"Not a soul," declared Ruth.
"I believe I"ll write to Uncle Bill Hicks. He"ll help, I know," said Ann.
"Next to Heavy"s Aunt Kate, Uncle Bill thinks that the finest woman on this footstool is Mrs. Tellingham."
"And I"ll ask papa for some money," Nettie said quickly. "I had that in mind from the first."
"My father will give some," Helen said.
"We"ll write to Madge Steele," said Belle. "Her father might help, too."
"I guess all our folks will be willing to help," Lluella Fairfax added.
"And," said Jennie, "here"s Ruth, with a fortune in her own right."
But Ruth did not make any rejoinder to Jennie"s remark and that surprised them all; for they knew Ruth Fielding was not stingy.
"We are going about this thing in the wrong way, girls," she said quietly.
"At least, I think we are."
"How are we?" demanded Helen. "Surely, we all want to help Mrs.
Tellingham."
"And Old Briarwood," cried Belle Tingley.
"And all the students of our Alma Mater will want to join in," maintained Lluella.
"Now you"ve said it!" cried Ruth, with a sudden smile. "Every girl who is now attending the dear old Hall will want to help rebuild the West Dormitory."
"All can give their mites, can"t they?" demanded Jennie. "And the rich can give of their plenty."
"That is just it," Ruth went on, still seriously. "Nettie"s father will give a good sum; so will Helen"s; so will Mr. William Hicks, who is one of the most liberal men in the world. Therefore, the little gifts of the other girls" parents will look terribly small."
"Oh, Ruth! don"t say that our folks can"t give," cried Jennie, whose father likewise was rich.
"It is not in my province to say who shall, or who shall not give,"
declared Ruth, hastily. "I only want to point out to you girls that if the rich give a great deal the poorer will almost be ashamed to give what they can."
"That"s right," said Mary c.o.x, suddenly. "We haven"t much; so we couldn"t give much."
The girls looked rather troubled; but Ruth had not finished. "There is another thing," she said. "If all your fathers give to the dormitory fund, what will you girls personally give?"