Betty Lee, Freshman Part 22

"Take a piece of paper, Betty, and write again the English to Latin sentences."

Mr. Franklin indicated by a nod some paper on his desk. Betty took the list of questions, thought a moment and wrote, slowly. "I always Have to take plenty of time on the English to Latin," she said, "and there is one that I wrote two ways, but I wasn't sure that either were right.

It's the one that has the accusative of place to which in it."

Miss Heath nodded and her eyes twinkled. Whatever idea she had was turning out successfully, it seemed. But Betty was very busy with the sentences. She handed over the paper saying "It did not take so long, because I'd thought it out before."

"I see. Betty, why did you use _appello_ instead of _voco_ here?"

"Because it is calling in the sense of naming, as you told us in such sentences."

"Good. Why did you use the Ablative in the second sentence?"

"Because it specifies that in respect to which"Betty got no farther because Miss Heath interrupted her.

"That is enough, Betty. Mr. Franklin, I'm satisfied, are you? The other person did not know, and the third youngster plainly copied the whole thing from him."

Mr. Franklin nodded a.s.sent. "Betty," he said, "you are cleared from all suspicion of copying and cheating. We know which ones of these papers were copied. You may thank Miss Heath for her little scheme to find out.

We have already met with the others, but we can not tell you their names."

"Oh, I don't want to know!" exclaimed Betty. "Thank you so much!"

It was another Betty that ran down the steps, to find both Peggy and Carolyn waiting for her. Her face must have told them the story. "O, Betty! Is is all right?" eagerly asked Carolyn. "Peggy told me, when I asked her why she was waiting for you. Oh, you should have told me and let me worry with you! Was that why you wouldn't come up to lunch?"

"Yes."

"Please tell us how they found out that you didn't-" Carolyn would not finish.

"Well, you saw Miss Heath, that darling woman! She came over on purpose to see all about it and she had the scheme to bring the questions and find out how much each of us really knew about things. I really don't see how she told, but it must be that whoever copied couldn't give good reasons for what he would have missed on or something. She's a regular Sherlock Holmes!"

"And now, if you'll never tell a soul, I'll tell you what Sally Wright told me during lunch. I learned a lot by staying down and giving Sally an old chocolate bar!"

The girls promised, and the three, Betty in the middle, walked slowly toward the street, heads together, arms about each other.

CHAPTER XVI: SOME FRESHMAN CONCLUSIONS

What had happened between the teachers and the pupils who had cheated in the test was, naturally, not known, except that every one knew the penalty of losing a grade. The boys that had changed seats and generally "acted up" during the presence of the subst.i.tute were well rebuked and had to endure some penalty, the girls understood; but only those who had behaved ever mentioned the occurrence. The guilty carried it off with bland ignorance or nonchalance and pretended not to understand any jokes at their expense. Jakey Bechstein was out of school for several days, but came back as lively as ever and making good recitations. His basketball team lacked his presence.

At Betty Jakey never looked, but as she had never known him very well and as he did not ordinarily sit near her in any of her cla.s.ses, she scarcely noticed that he avoided her till Peggy called her attention to it.

But the year went on and Betty had many more interesting things to take up her mind. The semester examinations were a nightmare, Carolyn claimed, but they managed to live through them, as they usually do. Miss Heath was particularly fond of Betty, she told her mother when Mrs. Lee, without Amy Lou, came to visit Betty's cla.s.ses one day. "Betty is a very charming little girl, Mrs. Lee, and very bright. She is a friend of some of our best freshman girls, too, as I imagine you'd like to know. It is rather important, you know, what sort of friends the children like."

The winter pa.s.sed. Betty for the most part worked at her lessons, with pleasant Sat.u.r.day afternoons, sometimes with the girls, sometimes on expeditions with the family. Her father was greatly absorbed in business affairs, but as spring approached he often drove his family to find the first spring flowers at some spot outside of the city, or to observe the coming of bud and blossom.

On one warm April day, rather in advance of the season, they thought, Mr. Lee and Betty were alone and the machine was parked by the roadside near a little stream where some violets were growing. As the ground was dry upon the sloping bank, Betty sat down with her bunch of violets in her hand and her father decided to join her. "What do you think of this place, Betty? You'd hardly expect it so near the city, would you?"

"No, but there are lots of places in this town that are what you might call unexpected, because there are the hills and ravines, you know."

"Yes, that is so."

"Father," Betty spoke again after a pause during which she picked a flower within reach. "Father, don't you think that a girl ought to take advantage of her opportunities?"

"Seems to me I've heard something like that, Betty."

"Well, I'm serious, Father."

"To just what advantages do you refer?"

"I'm thinking about school, you know, and it does seem as if there are so many things to do in these high school years, especially here in the city, that you'll never have a chance to do again!"

"Things that you are not doing now, you mean?"

"Yes, Father. Unless you see it, you can't realize what lovely things go on at school and you can't help wanting to be in them!"

"What, for instance?"

"Well, there's the music for one thing. If you get your lessons, you haven't so much time for other things, but to be trained right here, where there's a Symphony Orchestra and everybody knowing the best music and singing and playing it.i.t doesn't seem right not to do it if you have any music in you at all. Ted Dorrance was talking about it the other day. He's a junior this year, you know. He was with some of the girls and boys in a bunch of us, talking after school.

"I imagine that Ted gets his lessons, for he's smart looking. I heard him talking to a boy the very first day I was in school, standing in line to sign up. He said he didn't know what he was going to do, not much athletics only 'swimming, of course.' You ought to see Ted swim at a swimming meet. And dive! He can turn a somersault backwards and everything.

"He said that his mother wanted him to be in the orchestra and sure enough he is. Father, he plays the violin and he's the very first violin in the orchestra, the one that does little solo parts sometimes, or whatever they do."

"And do you want to be in the orchestra, too?"

"Mer_cee_, no! What would I play? But I'd like to go on with my piano lessons, and at the Conservatory, too, and then I'd like to be in the Glee Club. Carolyn says she's going to try to be in it next year. But you see all the practice takes a lot of time."

"I see. Anything else, little daughter?"

Betty laughed. Father was so nice to talk to. "Yes, a lot of things, but I like the athletics, gym, you know, and swimming. I think maybe I'll get honors in swimming. Some of the girls are more than half afraid of the water, but I feelI feel just like a fis.h.!.+"

It was Mr. Lee's turn to laugh. "I used to feel that way, too, Betty, and I had a lake to swim in from the time I was knee-high to a duck."

"Then I suppose I inherit it from you," Betty declared. "I'm much, obliged for the trick of it! But that's another thing, Father. If you do a thing, you like to do it well and I suppose it's Louise Madison, who is president of the G. A. A., that has made me so crazy about athletics.

Why, they even have riding horseback, beside tennis and everything you can think of."

"And everything you can't think of, I suppose."

"Aren't you funnywho'd ever say that but you?"

"Have you thought out, Betty, just what you'd like to take up?"

"No, Father, not exactly. I'm justruminating, and trying to think it out."

"Then I'm glad you are willing to do it with me, Betty. Perhaps we can come to some conclusion."

"Perhaps. I'm sure I need help. It's just this way. I hate to miss it all, but I can never get my lessons and do too much. Would you care awfully, Father, if I didn't stand at the head of my cla.s.s? I did at home, I mean where we did live, but I don't believe a body ever could even _know_ who is the head in the big high schools. I guess it's only in some line or other that they get prizes and things.