That was the iron-bound rule of the Girls" Branch Athletic League.
But most of the girls on the team of Central High were bright scholars. Miss Grace G. Carrington was never "easy" on the athletic girls. That wouldn"t be her way. She usually seemed glad to put obstacles in the way of those who she knew were so deeply interested in athletics.
But aside from Bobby Hargrew, that last fortnight she had no chance to demerit any of the basketball team. And--to the wonderment of the girls themselves--she never said a word to Bobby regarding what had happened when she, Miss Carrington, rapped on the office door.
Having whipped East High so decisively, Captain Laura and her mates went at the Lumberport team with greater confidence. Lumberport was not the weakest team in the league; but Central High had managed to beat them in every previous game, and in this last one the home team played such snappy basketball that the visitors never came near them after the first toss-up.
It was a great game and the enthusiasm of the spectators increased with every play. How the boys cheered! There was a big crowd of spectators from Lumberport and they "rooted" for their home team.
Despite the excitement, however, there was not a moment"s rough play.
Mrs. Case had watched Hester narrowly during these final games. There had been moments when the big girl was crossed by circ.u.mstances, or by her opponents, when--in the past--she might have flared up and said, or done, something unpleasant. But Hester seemed to have gained some control of her temper, and the hard places in the games were pa.s.sed over successfully.
It was a fact that Hester had very little in common with the rest of her team-mates, save Lily. She did not put herself forward, and as none of them had been her close friends before she was put off the team, she still kept her distance now that she was back in harness again.
At home Hester"s mother was determined to make a heroine of her. Many of the ladies of the Hill, who seldom before this had called on easy-going, slip-shod Mrs. Grimes, came to see her now and praised Hester"s courage and her kindness to Johnny Doyle and his widowed mother. Mrs. Grimes was, naturally, pleased at all this praise.
"I"ve a mind to give a party, so I have!" she said to Hester, one day.
"Your father could easy pay for as nice a party as was ever given on the Hill. He needn"t be stingy. And we could get to be friends with all these nice folks----"
"Oh, Mother!" sighed Hester. "Don"t be foolish. These people don"t really care a thing for us. They"d only laugh. Their houses are not even furnished like ours----"
"I should say not!" cried Mrs. Grimes. "We have some of the most expensive furnichoor you could buy at Stresch & Potter"s----"
"Yes. At a department store. Nice people do not furnish their homes in that way. The varnish smells too new on our chairs and tables. We are too new. We never should have come to live on the Hill when father made money."
"How ye talk!" exclaimed the astonished Mrs. Grimes. "Where would ye have us live--at the Four Corners still?"
"Perhaps we wouldn"t be so much like fish out of water there,"
grumbled Hester.
"I"m no fish, I"d have ye understand!" exclaimed Mrs. Grimes. "And Mrs. Belding axed me to join a club--the New Century "tis called. "Tis all women and our husbands haven"t a livin" thing to say in it. I"m goin" to join."
"The New Century!" exclaimed Hester, indeed surprised.
"Yes. I"d be glad to be in something that Henry couldn"t poke his finger into and boss," sighed the much hara.s.sed lady.
"But it"s never the New Century?" cried Hester.
"Why not?"
"That"s the most select club on the Hill. Lily"s mother belongs, and Mrs. Agnew, and all those folk."
"And why not _me_?" demanded her mother. "We"ve got as much money----"
"Hush! Stop talking about money if you want to be popular in the New Century Club," said her daughter, who had learned a thing or two herself of late. "That is what is the matter with us--we"re proud of our money."
"And why not? When Henry began with a shoestring."
"Well, don"t be telling of it!" cried Hester. "These other people got their money so long ago that they"ve forgotten how they got it. We want to forget, too."
But Hester was learning lessons fast. It had amazed her to see how people--and nice people, too--thought that what she had done for Johnny Doyle was of serious importance; while her lavish expenditure of money among her mates had heretofore won her few friends.
The fact that she had saved a man from the burning woods and carried the warning of the forest fire, had made her friends, too. When she had jumped into the sewer-basin after Johnny, Dr. Agnew seemed for the first time pleased with her.
_It was unselfishness that counted!_
Hester Grimes had never thought of it before. She had never thought out logically why Laura Belding was so popular, why Nellie Agnew was liked so well, and what made the other girls cl.u.s.ter about harum-scarum Bobby Hargrew. They were all unselfish girls, thoughtful in their several ways for the comfort of others.
Hester was learning what really paid in life--especially in the life of school and athletics. A good temper, a tongue without a barb to it, and thoughtfulness for the comfort of others. Those attributes won out among the girls of Central High--as they are bound to win out in every walk in life.
And Hester Grimes had begun to conduct herself accordingly.
The final game of the series for the cup was slated for a certain Friday afternoon. Colonel Richard Swayne--Laura Belding"s very good friend, and a liberal supporter of girls" athletics--had invited the contesting basketball teams from all five High Schools to partake of a collation in the big upper hall of Central High"s new gymnasium, after the final game. _That_ was to be played between the Keyport and Central High teams.
Whichever of the two teams won would stand highest in the schedule of the league, and to such winning team would be presented the trophy by the president of the Board of Education.
There would be such a crowd to see the game that tickets had to be issued, and those tickets went mostly to the girls who had competed in the basketball series, for distribution among their parents and friends. There was not so much cheering by the spectators at this game, for the boys were cut out of it. There wasn"t room for the regular "rooters."
Many parents, however, who had not been attentive to the game before, were in the seats provided now, to criticise the sport of which they had heard so much. And everybody admitted that the two best teams of the schools were now struggling for the trophy.
From the first toss-up the girls played with a snap and vigor that amazed and delighted even their instructors. Trained as they had been all the fall, there were few fouls to record, and very little r.e.t.a.r.ding of the game. The signals were pa.s.sed silently and the girls indulged in little talking. Unnecessary talking and laughter mars basketball.
It was a pleasure to watch the lithe, vigorous young girls. They were untrammeled by any foolish fashions, or demands of dress. Their bodily movements were as free as Nature intended them to be. They jumped, and ran, and threw, with a confidence that none but the well trained athlete possesses.
The first half included a series of fierce rushes upon the Keyport side for baskets; but Central High held them down. Hester played brilliantly. Not once did she lose her temper, nor foul her opponent.
She blocked the attempts of the Keyport players to make goals, but the referee did not catch her over-guarding or otherwise playing foul basketball.
She really won the onlookers with her splendid form in playing. They began cheering her particularly. Where Roberta Fish had been weak in the ma.s.s plays, Hester was strong. The Keyport captain, remembering that weak place in the former Central High line-up, forced the play into Hester"s territory.
"Oh, you Hester!" yelled Bobby, beside herself at last, with enthusiasm. "You"re a bear! Shoot it, Hessie! Let it come!"
But each time that the ball was shot for the basket, something intervened. Once it went straight for the basket, rolled around the rim, and dropped--to the floor without entering the receptacle!
The Central High rooters met this failure with a groan. But it was not Hester"s fault. She had done her best, and her shooting was as clean as it could be.
The timekeeper"s whistle called the play at the end of the half without either side having made a point.
It had been a rasping game. Many times Hester Grimes had been tempted to say something or do something that would be counted as "rough play"; but she had restrained herself, and when she walked to the dressing room she found Mrs. Case walking beside her with a hand upon her shoulder.
"Good girl!" exclaimed the physical instructor of Central High. "Keep it up, my dear, and you"ll be the best player we have on the roll."
"But I didn"t get a chance to do a thing!" grumbled Hester, shaking her head.
"That is why I am praising you," said Mrs. Case, drily. "For what you _didn"t_ do. Keep it up. Restrain yourself as well for the rest of the game. Your chance may come for a brilliant play; but if it doesn"t, keep a grip on yourself just the same."
Hester was secretly strengthened by this praise. She went out into the field at the call of the gong for the second half with the determination to deserve Mrs. Case"s good word, whether the team won or lost. And almost at first chance came Hester"s way and she was permitted to display a brilliant bit of play. It brought a goal for Central High--the first scored in the game.
But the girls could not stop to cheer her. Laura nodded and smiled at her, however, as the ball was brought back from the basket to be tossed up. For some reason Hester began to feel a warm glow about her heart. Her captain"s commendation had never meant much to her before.