Her joy was short-lived, however, for the play came back even more promptly than the stories had. Undaunted, she sent it out again and again. The reasons given for rejection would have been amusing if Migwan had not felt so disappointed. One said there was insufficient plot; one said the plot was too complicated; one said it was too long for a one-reel, and the next said it was too short even for a split-reel. Two places kept the return postage she had enclosed and sent the ma.n.u.script back collect. Scenario writing became a rather expensive amus.e.m.e.nt, instead of a bringer of fortune. In spite of all this, she kept on writing scenarios, for the fascination of the game had her in its grip, and she would never be satisfied until she succeeded. Lessons were thrust into the background of her mind by the throng of "scene-plots,"
"leaders," "bust-scenes," "inserts," "synopses," etc., that flashed through her head continually.
To write steadily night after night, after the lessons had been gotten out of the way, was a great tax on her young strength. Nyoda was inflexible about her stopping typewriting at nine o"clock, but she went home and wrote by hand until midnight. Nyoda was over at the house one afternoon when Migwan was settling down to get her lessons, and saw her take a dose from a phial.
"What are you taking medicine for?" she asked.
"Oh, this is just something to tone me up," replied Migwan.
"What is it?" insisted Nyoda.
"It"s strychnine," said Migwan.
"Strychnine!" said Nyoda in a horrified voice. "Who taught you to take strychnine as a stimulant?"
"Mabel Collins did," answered Migwan. "She said she always took it when she had a dance on for every night in the week and couldn"t keep up any other way, and it made her feel fine." Mabel Collins belonged to what the cla.s.s called the "fast bunch."
"I"ll have a talk with Mabel Collins," said Nyoda with a resolute gleam in her eye. "And, remember, no more of this "tonic" for you. I knew girls in college who took strychnine to keep themselves going through examinations or other occasions of great physical strain, and they have suffered for it ever since. If you are doing so much that you can"t "keep up" any other way than by taking powerful medicines, it is time you "kept down." Fresh air and regular sleep are all the tonic you need.
You stay away from that typewriter for a whole week and go to bed at nine o"clock every night. I"m coming down to tuck you in. Now remember!"
And with this solemn warning Nyoda left her.
CHAPTER VIII.
SAHWAH MAKES A BASKET.
The game between the Washington High School and the Carnegie Mechanics Inst.i.tute, which was to decide the girls" basketball championship of the city, was scheduled for the 15th of February. Up until this year Washington High had never come within sight of the championship. Then this season something had happened to the Varsity team which had made it a power to be reckoned with among the schools of the city. That something was Sahwah. Thanks to her playing, Washington High had not lost a single game so far. Her being put on the team was purely due to chance. Sahwah was a Junior and the Varsity team were all Seniors. She was a member of the "scrub" or practice team and an ardent devotee of the sport. During one of the early games of the season Sahwah was sitting on the side lines attentively watching every bit of play.
The game was going against the Washington, due to the fact that their forwards were too slow to break through the guarding of the rival team.
Sahwah saw the weakness and tingled with a desire to get into the game and do some speed work. As by a miracle the chance was given her. One of the forwards strained her finger slightly and was taken from the game.
Her subst.i.tute, who had been sitting next to Sahwah, had left her seat and gone to the other end of the gymnasium. The instructor, who was acting as referee, in her excitement mistook Sahwah for the subst.i.tute and called her out on the floor. Sahwah wondered but obeyed instantly and went into the game as forward. Then the spectators began to sit up and take notice. Sahwah had not been two minutes on the floor when she made a basket right between the arms of the tall guard. The ripple of surprise had hardly died away before she had made another. Then the baskets followed thick and fast. In five minutes of play she had tied the score. The guards could hardly believe their eyes when they saw this lithe girl slipping like an eel through their defense and caging the ball with a sure hand every time. The game ended with an overwhelming victory for the Washingtons and there was a new star forward on the horizon. Sahwah was changed from the practice team to the Varsity.
From that time forward Washington High forged steadily ahead in the race for the championship and as yet had no defeat on its record. However, Washington had a formidable rival in the Carnegie Mechanics Inst.i.tute, which was also undefeated so far. The Mechanicals were slightly older girls and were known as a whirlwind team. Sahwah, who foresaw long ago that the supreme struggle would be between the Washingtons and the Mechanicals, attended the games played by the Mechanicals whenever she could and studied their style of playing. "Star players, every one," was her deduction, "but weak on team work." Sahwah was not so dazzled by her own excellence as a player that she could not recognize greatness in a rival, and she readily admitted that one of the girls who guarded for the Mechanicals was the best guard she had ever seen. This was Marie Lanning, whose cousin Joe was in Sahwah"s cla.s.s at Washington High.
Sahwah knew instinctively that when the struggle came she would go up against this girl. The game would really be between these two.
Washington"s hope lay in Sahwah"s ability to make baskets, and the hope of the Mechanicals was Marie"s ability to keep her from making them. So she studied Marie"s guarding until she knew the places where she could break through.
Marie Lanning also knew that it was Sahwah she would have to deal with.
But there was a difference in the att.i.tude of the girls toward each other. Sahwah regarded Marie as her opponent, but she respected her prowess. She had no personal resentment against Marie for being a good guard; she looked upon her as an enemy merely because she belonged to a rival school. Marie on the other hand actually hated Sahwah. Before Sahwah appeared on the scene she had been the greatest player in the Athletic a.s.sociation, the heroine of every game. She was pointed out everywhere she went as "Marie Lanning, the basketball player." Now some of her glory was dimmed, for another star had risen, Sarah Ann Brewster, the whirlwind forward of the Washington High team, was threatening to overshadow her. It was a distinctly personal matter with her. Sahwah wanted to win that game so her school would have the championship; Marie wanted to win it for her own glory. She did not really believe that Sahwah was as great as she was made out. It was only because she had never run against a great guard that she had been able to roll up the score for Washington so many times. Well, she would find out a thing or two when she played the Mechanicals, Marie reflected complacently. She had never seen Sahwah play, and if any one had suggested that it would be a good thing to watch her tactics she would have been very scornful.
She was confident in her own powers.
Then there came a rather important game of Washington High"s on a night when Marie was visiting her cousin Joe. He had tickets for the game and took her along. Now for the first time she beheld her foe. After watching Sahwah"s marvelous shots at the basket and the confusion of the girl who was guarding her, Marie began to feel uneasy. It now seemed to her that Sahwah"s powers had been underestimated in the reports instead of over-estimated. The game ended just as all the others had done, with a great score for Washington High and Sahwah the idol of the hour. Marie looked on with a slight sneer when Sahwah, after the game was over, frankly congratulated the losing team on their playing, which had been pretty good throughout. "Do you know," said Sahwah straightforwardly, "that if you had had a little better team work, I don"t believe we could have beaten you."
"Any day we could have won with you in the game," said one of the losers, "the way you can shoot that ball into the basket."
Without being at all puffed up by this compliment, Sahwah proceeded to make her point. "My throwing the ball into the basket wasn"t what won the game," she said simply, "it was the fact that I had it to throw.
It"s all due to the girls who see that I get it. It"s team work that wins every time and not individual starring." Thus was Sahwah in the habit of disclaiming the credit of victory.
Joe brought up Marie Lanning and introduced her. "So this is my deadly enemy," said Sahwah pleasantly. Marie acknowledged the introduction politely, but while her lips smiled her eyes had a steely glitter.
Sahwah was surrounded by a crowd of admiring friends at this time and there was no chance for further conversation, and she did not become aware of Marie"s animosity. "We"ll meet again," Sahwah said meaningly, with a pleasant laugh, as Marie and Joe turned to go. "That is," she added with a humorous twinkle, "if I don"t go down in my studies and get myself debarred from playing."
"Fine chance of your going down," said Joe.
"Oh, I don"t know," laughed Sahwah; "it all depends on whether I get my Physics notebook in by the First." A shout of laughter greeted this remark. The idea of Sahwah"s getting herself debarred on account of her studies was too funny for words.
"Well," said Joe to Marie when they were outside the building, "that"s the girl you"re going to have to play against. What do you think of her?" In his heart Joe thought that his cousin Marie would have no trouble holding Sahwah down.
"She"s a great deal faster than I thought," said Marie with a thoughtful frown.
"But you can beat her, can"t you?" asked Joe anxiously. "You"ve got to.
I"ve staked my whole winter"s allowance that you would win the championship."
"I didn"t know that you were in the habit of betting," said Marie a little disdainfully.
"I never did before," said Joe, "but some of the fellows were saying that n.o.body could hold out against that Brewster girl and I said I bet my cousin could, and so we talked back and forth until I offered to bet real money on you."
Marie was flattered at this, as her kind would be. "I can beat her," she said, but there was fear in her heart. "Oh, if she would only be debarred from the game!" she exclaimed eagerly.
But Sahwah had no intentions of being put out on that score. She applied herself a.s.siduously to the making of the notebook that was required as the resume of the half year"s work. She finished it a whole day ahead of time, and then, Sahwah-like, was so pleased with herself that she decided to celebrate the event. "Come over to the house to-night," she said to various of her girl and boy friends in school that day. "I"m entertaining in honor of my Physics notebook!"
When the guests arrived the notebook was enthroned on a gilded easel on the parlor table and decorated with a wreath of flowers and a card bearing the inscription "Endlich!" The very ridiculousness of the whole affair was enough to make every one have a good time. The Winnebagos were there, and some of their brothers and cousins, and d.i.c.k Albright and Joe Lanning and several more boys from the cla.s.s. Naturally much of the conversation turned on the coming game, and Sahwah was solemnly a.s.sured that she would forfeit their friendship forever if she did not win the championship for the school. School spirit ran high and songs and yells were practiced until the neighbors groaned. Joe Lanning joined in the yells with as much vigor as any. No one knew that he was secretly on the side of the Mechanicals.
Sahwah"s notebook came in for inspection and much admiration, for she was good at Physics and her drawings were to be envied. "I see you have a list of all the problems the cla.s.s has done this year," said d.i.c.k Albright, looking through the notebook. "Do you mind if I copy them from your list? I lost the one Fizzy gave us in cla.s.s and it"ll take me all night to pick them out from the ones in the book."
"Certainly, you may," said Sahwah cordially. "Take it along with you and bring it to school in the morning. It"ll be all right as long as I get it in by that time. But don"t forget it, whatever you do, unless you want to see me put out of the game." Joe Lanning wished fervently that d.i.c.k would forget to bring it. The party broke up and the boys and girls prepared to depart.
"What car do you take, d.i.c.k?" asked one of the boys.
"I don"t think I"ll take any," said d.i.c.k. "I"ll just run around the corner with this lady," he said, indicating Migwan, "and then I"ll walk the rest of the way."
"Isn"t it pretty far?" asked some one else.
"Not the way I go," answered d.i.c.k. "I take the short cut through the railway tunnel." Joe Lanning"s eyes gleamed suddenly.
The good-nights were all said and Sahwah shut the door and set the furniture straight before she went to bed. "Didn"t your friends stay rather late?" asked her mother from upstairs.
"No," said Sahwah, "I don"t think so, it"s only--why, the clock has stopped," she finished after a look at the mantel, "I don"t know what time it is."
"Get the time from the telephone operator," said her mother, "and set the clock."
Sahwah picked up the receiver. There was a strange buzzing noise on the wire. "Zig-a-zig, ziz-zig-zig-a-zig, zig-g-g, zig-g-g, zig-g-g-g."
Puzzled at first, she soon recognized what it was. It was the sound of Joe Lanning"s wireless. Joe lived directly back of Sahwah on the next street, and the aerial of his wireless apparatus was fastened to the telephone pole in the Brewsters" yard. Joe was "sending," and the vibrations were being picked up by the telephone wires and carried to her ear when she had the receiver down. Sahwah understood the wireless code the boys used, and, in fact, had both sent and received messages.
She knew it was Joe"s custom to listen for the time every night as it was flashed out from the station at Arlington, and then send it to his friend Abraham Goldstein, a young Jewish lad in the cla.s.s, who also had a wireless. Then the two would send each other messages and verify them the next day. "Oh, what fun," thought Sahwah; "I can get Arlington time to-night." She asked the operator to look up a new number for her to keep her off the line and then got out paper and pencil to take down the message as it went out. As she deciphered it she gasped in astonishment.
She had expected a message something on this order: "h.e.l.lo, Abraham--how are you?--Arlington says ten bells--How"s the weather in your neck of the woods?" Instead the words were entirely different. She could not believe her eyes as she made them out. "Albright going through railway tunnel--hold him up--get notebook away--keep Brewster out of game." Her senses reeled as she understood the meaning of the message. That Joe was plotting against her when he pretended to be a friend cut her to the quick. For a moment her lip quivered; then her nature a.s.serted itself.
There was a thing to do and she must do it. d.i.c.k must be kept from going through the tunnel. Turning out the lights downstairs, she crept noiselessly out of the house, found her brother"s bicycle on the porch and pedaled off after d.i.c.k. She knew exactly the way he would take. From Migwan"s house he would go up Adams to Locust Street and from there to ----th Avenue, and keep on going until he came to the dark tunnel.
Sahwah nearly burst with indignation when she thought of Joe"s cowardly conduct. He was calmly getting Abraham to do the dirty work for him, so he would never be suspected of having anything to do with it in case d.i.c.k recognized Abraham. She could see how the thing would work out.
Abraham lived just the other side of the tunnel. All he would have to do would be to stand in the shadow of the tunnel, jump out on d.i.c.k as he came through, seize the notebook from his hand, and run away before d.i.c.k knew what had happened. There would be no need of fighting or hurting him. But Joe"s end would be accomplished and Washington would lose the game. The fact that he was a traitor to the school hurt Sahwah ten times worse than the injury he was trying to do her. "Even if his cousin _is_ on the other side, he belongs to Washington," she repeated over and over to herself.