The Merriweather Girls and the Mystery of the Queen's Fan

CHAPTER VIII
THE THORN IN THE FLESH

School had been in session for two weeks before Bet and Kit were allowed to go. Although Kit was a year and a half older than her friends, she was in the same grade. The little mountain school which she had attended in Arizona, had not been of the best. Her friendship for her chums made up to her for the fact that she was taller than any other girl in the class and for that reason had to bear many taunts from spiteful and thoughtless schoolmates. Kit became a favorite with most of the class, her quaint sayings amused them. But Edith Whalen took a violent dislike to her, as she was apt to do when she saw another girl made much of.

"Isn't she terribly crude!" exclaimed Edith with curled lips. "I don't see why she had to be in our class. I know mother wouldn't want me to associate with her."

"Bet Baxter seems to like her," said Vivian Long, who was always to be seen at Edith's heels.

"Well her taste isn't to be imitated. I think she's horrid."

"Why Edith Whalen, how can you say a thing like that? We all think Kit is so pretty and sweet. And she's very clever!" exclaimed Shirley Williams, coming to the defense of her chum.

"But who is she? The daughter of a cowboy or a miner! She's just common white trash!"

Bet was coming toward Edith, her eyes blazing. "Why Edith Whalen you are nothing but a horrid snob. I hate you!"

This was what Miss Elder heard as she came quietly into the class room.

"Bet!" Miss Elder's voice was stern. "I'll see you after school tonight. I'm surprised to hear you talk like that to anyone."

Bet was overcome with shame and anger. She went to her place at once and bent over her books, knowing that Edith was preening herself over her success in getting others into trouble. It seemed as if Edith could always do something mean and get away with it.

"And if I so much as, – well lose my temper a wee little bit like I did this morning – I get punished." Bet was receiving the sympathy of her chums at noon.

From a distance Bet heard Edith talking to a group of girls about her, "Miss Elder will make her apologize to me, and I hope it will be before the whole school. Bet thinks she can say anything, just because Colonel Baxter is rich and popular."

Bet had started toward the corner of the room where Edith was standing, but Shirley laid her hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Bet," coaxed Shirley. "Don't listen to her. You'll only get into more trouble."

"I don't care, I'm going to tell her what I think of her."

"Aw forget it, Bet!" exclaimed Joy. "What's the matter with you today, anyway? Usually you can laugh at anything mean Edith has a mind to say to you."

"If it were about me, I could stand it. But I'll fight to the death for Kit!"

Luckily the bell rang at that moment and Bet was restrained from further quarreling.

Bet was not asked to make a public apology, as Edith had hoped. Miss Elder in her kindly way talked to the girl and made her see that to lose her temper and say unkind things was not living up to the best that was in her.

"And why did you get angry? What did Edith do?"

"Miss Elder, don't ask me to tell on her. I've never told on anyone in my life. I'll take all the punishment."

"I'm not going to punish you, Bet. I think by the looks of your unhappy face this afternoon that you have been punished enough."

"I always get sick when I get angry," said Bet shamefacedly.

"Then my advice to you is, don't get angry any more." Miss Elder had her arm about the girl and was half laughing at the serious face of the child. "Now run along home, Bet, and don't let me ever hear of you getting angry again. Promise!"

"Oh Miss Elder, I couldn't promise that. You know I get cross over the slightest thing. Dad says so! But I'll promise to try hard. Will that do? Besides I'll never be able to keep good natured when Edith is around."

"Dear girl, you must get over your habit of becoming so tense over unimportant matters. If you can't learn to like Edith, learn to be indifferent."

"I'll try ever so hard, Miss Elder but just now she's a thorn in my flesh, and oh, how she hurts!"

And Bet did try in the weeks that followed to be indifferent to Edith, but it seemed to her as if Edith went out of her way to say and do unkind things.

"It's no use," Bet often said to herself. "I'm as indifferent as I can be, but oh! how I despise that girl!"

Antagonism against Kit Patten grew daily in the heart of Edith Whalen. That Kit could come into Lynnwood and immediately get into the set that she would like to be in, was sufficient reason for Edith's enmity.

Kit was liked by all the girls and boys. Her ready smile, a knack of getting a quick and appropriate answer back when they tried to tease her, made her a popular girl. In the class club she was appointed on committees and soon was taking an active part in the organization. And what Kit did, she did well and her natural charm made new friends for her daily.

Then when Kit suddenly pushed ahead in her studies and became a leader, this seemed the spur that made Edith display her enmity toward the girl. For Edith was so self-centered that any charm she might have possessed was being smothered and her sly and treacherous ways, kept her acquaintances either indifferent to her or decidedly against her.

Kit seemed to have a natural talent for languages. From the first she excelled in Latin. Her translations were being held up as examples in class work and she was receiving praise from Miss Owens, the Latin teacher, and even from the principal.

"Oh Bet, think of me leading in anything! I don't know half as much as the rest of you girls!"

"Why shouldn't you lead? We know you're just as clever as you can be."

"No, it's not that, Bet. It's just because I have mastered one language besides my own. I've spoken Spanish ever since I can remember, first with the little Mexican children around the ranch, and later I learned it properly with a teacher who wanted to pick it up. And I think it makes it easier now in Latin."

"Which shows you're clever just the same," laughed Shirley. "Imagine being able to speak in Spanish and knowing some of the Indian dialects as well."

"Huh! I'd call that smart," exclaimed Joy. "I'll never be able to do anything in languages. Why can't they have dancing and give scholarships for that?"

"Never mind, Joy," soothed Bet. "Maybe they'll invent a way to study Latin on tiptoe, then you'll be at the head of the class."

"Those examinations next week give me heart trouble," shivered Joy. "I just hate exams!"

The dreaded quarterly examinations came, however. The Latin test was hard: most of the pupils sighed, bit their pencils and the ones who were unprepared, gave up in despair.

But Kit turned in a paper that afterwards proved to be almost perfect. Just at the close of the test when Miss Owens was picking up the test papers, she passed Kit's seat and saw a book protruding from her desk.

The order had been that all books were to be turned in and anyone found possessing a book would be given zero in the test.

Miss Owens stopped short. "Why Kit Patten!" she exclaimed in amazement. "Give me the book that you have in your desk!"

Kit started in surprise looking in her desk and handed the book to the teacher, her face white.

"Where did you get that book?" exclaimed Miss Owens. Raising the book above her head she announced to the class. "This book is a Latin Key. I'm surprised Kit Patten, that a girl like you could do such a thing."

Kit sprang to her feet. "Miss Owens, I never saw that book before." Her voice was clear and strong, no sign of guilt or embarrassment. "There must be some mistake."

"Come with me!" ordered Miss Owens, hastily picking up the rest of the test papers, and led the way to the office.

Miss Owens blurted out the story to Principal Sills. She was too outraged to be just to anyone at the moment and even the principal felt no inclination to be lenient.

"You know," said Mr. Sills, facing the girl, "that this is a serious thing you have done. It means only one thing, that is expulsion from the school. No pupil is allowed to have a key."

It was some time before Bet had a chance to state her case. Then she said quietly, "Mr. Sills, I have heard of key books but I have never seen one."

"Then how did the book get into your desk! Don't make matters worse by trying to lie out of it. Make a full confession and take the punishment. Since you are away from your parents, we will make an exception in your case and not expel you if you say you did it."

"Mr. Sills, I cannot make a confession of something that I never did. I tell you I never saw that book until Miss Owens took it from my desk."

"Let me see her test paper, Miss Owens. Then you may go back and dismiss your class, but come here again."

The principal took the test paper in his hand and commenced to go through it. He did not look surprised when he came across sentences that usually proved stumbling blocks to the pupils, to find them perfectly translated by Kit. He tapped the paper as if he were saying to himself, "I told you so!"

"Have you ever studied Latin before?" he asked her just as Miss Owens returned.

"No sir, this is my first year."

"Then I do not believe that you could have turned in such a good paper without help. It has never been done before and we do not expect anyone to answer more than half of the questions. Your mistakes are so slight that the paper may be counted perfect. That seems to me evidence enough of your guilt."

Kit did not answer for a moment, but her eyes were blazing. "You accuse me of copying without real proof! How dare you!"

The principal flushed. "Don't you think the fact that you had a key book in your desk during examination period is proof enough?"

"I know it looks bad, Mr. Sills, but it isn't proof. It can't be proof because I never saw the book before."

"Yet where the name is erased, it looks strangely like your initials."

Mr. Sills passed the book to Kit. The tracings of the first letter although dim, certainly looked like a "K."

"It doesn't make any difference. Even if my name was written in full on that page, I still tell you I never saw the book before."

And through all the questioning, Kit remained firm. Every moment Miss Owens became more excited and indignant against Kit. She felt that the good papers the girl had passed in daily, had been copied, and she disliked the idea of having had such a thing put over in the class.

Kit stood the grilling with patience for a long time, then suddenly she jumped to her feet:

"I have a right to have a friendly person to defend me," she exclaimed. "I want Miss Elder to come in!"

"We are both your friends," said Principal Sills.

Miss Owens' face flushed at the criticism. "And you know Kit, I have always been friendly."

"You are not being friendly now and you are not being just, that is certain. I need someone who will believe me in spite of this, and will help to straighten it out."

Miss Elder was sent for and came in, her eyes smouldering with sympathy for the girl. And right behind her came Bet. The three girls had gone to Miss Elder as soon as class was dismissed, Joy and Shirley in tears, but Bet, stamping up and down the room in a rage.

"Let me go to Mr. Sills!" she cried. "I'll tell him something. Why Kit wouldn't cheat. She just couldn't!"

"Now Bet, keep calm. If you want to help Kit, you must."

So when the call came from the office, Bet begged to be allowed to accompany Miss Elder.

Kit smiled when she saw Bet's troubled face. Stepping forward, she grasped the hand of her friend. "Don't you worry, Bet. I didn't do it and just as long as you and Miss Elder believe in me, I'll win out."

Mr. Sills handed the test paper to Miss Elder. "I have marked the few trifling errors on the margin. Do you think it possible that a girl who has studied Latin only a few months could write such a paper? Do either of you believe it?" he asked, looking toward Bet.

Bet was about to deliver a speech in defense of her friend, but Kit frowned and put her finger to her lips and Bet kept quiet.

Miss Elder spoke: "I have taken a particular interest in Kit Patten and I do not believe it possible that she would cheat in any way!"

Bet's eyes were shining: "Why not give her another chance? Keep her right here in the office and let her do another exam. Then you can watch her every second."

Mr. Sills went quietly toward a filing cabinet and selected an old examination paper. "Here is one that is almost as difficult. Sit over there and begin."

Miss Elder looked her sympathy. "Do you think it quite fair? After a hard day at the examinations and then all this emotional strain of the last hour, how can she do her best now?"

"Oh please, Miss Elder, don't stop me," cried Kit. "I feel sure I can do it. Yes, I can do it better than the other, for now I'm fighting for my very life."

"Dear old Kit! You show them!" said Bet with a smile of encouragement.

In a few moments Kit had a place at the long library table and was writing for all she was worth. Miss Owens and Mr. Sills never left the room while Kit's pen flew over the paper. Spurred on by the excitement, the girl never seemed to hesitate even for a word.

Miss Elder and Bet met the girls outside. "Oh I think Miss Owens is terrible!" exclaimed Joy.

"Why no, Joy. Miss Owens looks heart-broken. She is harder hit than any of us. She had taken such pride in Kit's work. Then to find the key in her desk! You know that's a terrible shock." Miss Elder tried to soothe the girls.

"But just the same she ought to know that Kit couldn't do it," protested Shirley.

"Whose book is it, anyway? Who put it in Kit's desk?" asked Joy.

"No one seems to know or if they do, they won't tell," said Bet. "But it's up to the Merriweather Girls to find out."

"Let's go into the club meeting, we almost forgot it!" Shirley led the way.

The three girls arrived just in time to hear a discussion regarding Kit Patten's behavior. Vivian Long, Edith Whalen's friend, was talking.

"I think after such a disgraceful thing, Kit Patten should be asked to resign from the club."

"Don't you think she should be allowed to defend herself?" asked Shirley, not waiting to be seated.

At a nudge from Edith, Vivian was again on her feet. "If we are to keep up the standards of our class club, we should not overlook this for a minute. The book was found in Kit's desk and that is enough."

Bet somehow got to the middle of the room, her face red and her hair tousled.

She frowned on Vivian, and the girl dropped to her seat without another word.

"That must not be put to a motion. Nothing has been proved and I do not believe Kit did anything wrong. Mr. Sills is giving her a new test now and I'm sure she'll prove that she didn't get any help anywhere."

"But if a girl had such a book in her possession! You don't want us to let a thing like that go by without notice. The club is for questions of this kind."

Bet's quick glance seemed to take in everything. She knew just the attitude that each girl was taking. Some were against Kit, and others were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Bet caught a look of triumph on Edith's face and in a burst of temper exclaimed: "Someone planted that book there to get Kit into trouble. I have my suspicions as to who did it."

"Then you had better speak out," exclaimed Vivian Long after a nudge from Edith.

"I will accuse no one – that is at present," answered Bet.

"You are accusing someone, and unless you give names, you have no right to make that statement. Now you are accusing everyone about us, after what you just said." It was Edith's sneering voice.

"Then Edith, for the present I apologize." She looked the girl straight in the eyes. "But you will hear from me later. – And what's more, if I am mistaken about it and have made this accusation falsely, then I'll send in my resignation as well."

Even Joy and Shirley had to laugh at Bet's apology. One minute she took back her accusation and the next made it stronger than ever.

The result of Kit's test in the office was even better than the other one had been. Mr. Sills put out his hand and said, "At least you have proven that you did not need a key to do your work." He hesitated a second: "But we will have to find out who put the book there before you are entirely free from suspicion with the class."

Miss Owens threw her arms about the girl. "Forgive me for doubting you for a moment. I know you didn't do it."

And when Kit heard of the loyalty of her chums in the club she was happy. "But you shouldn't have done it, Bet, you'll only get yourself in bad."

"Right-O!" cried Joy. "If you're in bad, Kit, then all the Merriweather Girls are in bad. We stick together."

"In sunshine and storm! Isn't that right, Shirley!" exclaimed Bet impulsively.

Shirley answered by putting her arm around Kit.

And when Bob and Phil heard of the trouble they were indignant. "There's only one girl in that class mean enough to do it," said Bob. "I wonder if she would!"

"I'm not only wondering, but I'm going to find out!" snapped Bet vindictively.

"We're on her trail!" laughed Joy.

"And remember if there is anything we can do, let us know. We believe in Kit!" declared Phil.

The next morning Miss Owens made a point of meeting Kit outside the door and bringing her into the room. After the class had assembled, Miss Owens said simply: "I want you all to know that Kit Patten has proved to me and to Mr. Sills that she did not use a key in her examinations. Just how the book got into her desk, we do not know, but we are making every effort to find out."

"The idea!" whispered Edith Whalen to the girl ahead of her. "How beautifully they shield her!"

"They would!" agreed Vivian Long. "It does seem as if Bet Baxter and her crowd can do anything they like."

"I never did believe Kit did it," said little Annie Randall, a meek timid child who rarely took a stand in anything.

"What do you know about it?" asked Edith contemptuously. And Annie Randall was subdued.

Although most of the class received Kit back with kindly thoughts, still the girl felt the humiliation of being doubted by others. Rather pointed jokes were flung out in her hearing occasionally. Kit was even-tempered and therefore able to endure it, but to Bet it was like a lighted match to tinder. Sparks flew and sputtered while Bet told the annoyers that Kit was worth a dozen of them, which only urged them on to further annoyance.

But Bet's heart ached for Kit, who felt these slights more than she would own. In the club, although someone would propose her name for committee work, there was always a protest, until Kit begged her friends to cease their efforts, for it only embarrassed her and kept the subject before the class all the time.

"If we could only find the one who did it!" It was on Bet's mind continually and finally she went to Principal Sills and talked the matter over with him. What she suggested was a trap to catch the one who had played such a mean trick on her friend.

"Whoever owns that book wants it back worst way or she would never have bought it. If we put it on Miss Owens' desk, sooner or later the guilty one will try to get it. No one else will want to touch it."

Mr. Sills was rather skeptical about the success of the plan.

"We can try it, anyway. I'm always here until after the school is locked at night."

Miss Owens was taken into the secret between Mr. Sills and Bet, but no one else was told about it.

"I can't even tell you Merriweather Girls," confided Bet. "But I'm sure I'll be able to tell the whole story before long, and you'll all be glad."

And the girls feeling sure that it had something to do with Kit's trouble, did not urge her to confide in them.

Bet, in a quiet way, saw to it that everyone in the class knew that the key book was on Miss Owens' desk.

And her three chums found Bet a very unsatisfactory companion for the next few days. Every night after school she excused herself by saying that she had to see Mr. Sills. If they could have seen her hiding away in one of the lower grade rooms where she could see the only unlocked door of the building they would have wondered what she was up to.

On the third afternoon she was rewarded. Just as she was about to give up and go home, she saw a figure dart around the building and come in the door.

It was Edith Whalen.

Bet wanted to go herself and confront the girl, but thought better of it and kept to the plan she and Mr. Sills had made. She ran to the office and called the principal.

Edith had tiptoed into the classroom, selected the book she wanted and turned to go. At the door she met Mr. Sills.

"I would like to see you in the office, Edith," he said quietly.

Edith clutched the book and quickly hid it under her coat, wishing she could find a place to drop it when Mr. Sills was not looking. But there was no chance to get rid of it.

When they reached the office, the principal said quietly, "Edith, give me the book you have there."

The girl hesitated. He extended his hand.

"It's the Latin key from Miss Owens' desk. I want it." Then as Edith hesitated still, he demanded: "Pass it over at once."

"Now sit down here and tell me the whole story. Why did you put that book in Kit Patten's desk?"

Edith started to deny that she had done so, then decided to be perfectly silent.

Finally after an hour, during which time the principal made threats of expulsion, the girl finally broke down and confessed.

In the meantime Bet had gone to the phone and called Miss Owens and Kit, according to the understanding with Mr. Sills.

It was Kit who begged for Edith. "Don't expel her, Mr. Sills. I'm sure she won't do such a thing again." Kit even objected to a class apology for the girl but Mr. Sills was firm in this.

And when school opened the next day Edith had to face the class and say that she had put the book into Kit's desk in order to get her into trouble.

Kit was thankful that the suspicion against her was gone, but she pitied Edith.

"I don't understand her!" exclaimed the girl to her friends later. "I'm anxious to be friends and she won't let me."

Several days later when she met Edith face to face in the dressing room, Edith exclaimed: "Get out of my sight, I hate you!"