Betty Lee, Freshman

by Harriet Pyne Grove

  CHAPTER XIII: BETTY MEETS TROUBLE

  There are degrees of satisfaction or of disappointment, but Betty Leehad never met what she would consider real trouble connected with herschool life until after Christmas in her freshman year.

  The happy Thanksgiving vacation with Janet and Sue as her guests cameduly to a close after a pleasant Sabbath during which they went toSabbath school and church and spent part of the afternoon in wanderingaround the main art gallery of the city, open to visitors. The girlstook an early morning train on Monday and Betty, more or less upset bytoo many good times, went back to school not feeling much like study.But neither did any one else and the teachers in the main, having had agood rest themselves, seemed not to be too hard on any one.

  Betty, however, buckled down to the work of what is always the hardestterm of the year, that before Christmas, and had many delightfulanticipations of that beautiful celebration. They could not “go toGrandma’s” this year, but they could and did enjoy Christmas daytogether. Accustomed, now, to the demands of the city school, she felt areal satisfaction in the fact that her work was being well done and hergrades upon the cards such that she need not feel ashamed.

  There were many interesting distractions toward Christmas and Bettyjoined the Girl Reserves, the group that included freshmen in her highschool, in time to help with the Christmas basket which was to go tomake some one’s Christmas brighter. The stores, with their fascinatingwindows, the hurrying crowds of shoppers, the entertainments and theChristmas music, all had their accustomed charm; but Betty’s vacation ofonly the one week, with an extra week?end, was spent largely at home,for none of the girls whom she knew well entertained and were absorbedin home affairs.

  Again it was hard to settle down to work, but Betty was anxious to dowell in the semester examinations and worked particularly hard on herLatin and mathematics. By some shifting of pupils, Betty was now in theadorable Miss Heath’s Latin class, though she had not begun the yearwith her. Betty was always very shy with her teachers and although MissHeath was most “human,” as Carolyn said, and friendly with the girls andboys there was a certain bound over which none of them stepped and Bettynever presumed even upon the privileges which she might have enjoyed, ina chat or talk or consultation. It was characteristic of her family,perhaps, to be independent. Even at home she always wanted to “geteverything herself” if she could, preferring to spend much more timeupon a problem rather than ask any one for light upon it.

  And now Miss Heath, gave them an examination which they all felt wasimportant. Indeed she told them so. “It is going to help me find outwhether you have gotten the important things that I have tried to teachyou,” she said. “As you know, I have emphasized some things. Some thingswe have gone over again and again. I see you smile, for you think thatwe have gone over _everything_ again and again. So we have. But this mayhelp you, too, in reviewing for your semester finals. The questions forthose I do not make out, except in some line assigned to me by the headof the department. This I call a review examination and its results willbe most interesting to me. This is not to ‘scare’ you at all, and itwill be recorded in my grade book as an ordinary test, but I want you to_use your brains_ to the best of your ability. Day after tomorrow,Thursday, at this hour, come prepared for a test.”

  The next day a strange teacher was at the desk, a “substitute,” youngand worried. The boys who were in the habit of “acting up” performed asfar as they dared, Betty reported at home; and the girls giggled,“because they couldn’t help it. It was so funny.”

  “You have to know how to manage the freshmen in this school,” saidCarolyn to Betty on their way from the room. “I wonder if Miss Heathwill be back tomorrow. She looked half sick yesterday and took somemedicine as we went out.”

  “Did she? I didn’t notice. That is too bad. I wonder if we’ll have thetest, then.”

  “Oh, of course. That would be the easiest thing for a substitute to giveand she wouldn’t miss doing it, I should think. But perhaps,” Carolynhopefully added, “perhaps Miss Heath couldn’t make out the questions.”

  “She talked as if she had them already made out,” thoughtfully returnedBetty, determined to go over all the vocabulary and the paradigmshardest for her to remember. “I’m going to put all the time I can onLatin tonight.”

  “I’m not,” laughed a boy behind Betty, who had caught her last words.“We have basketball practice and I’m invited to a good show tonight. Ohboy!”

  Betty smilingly remarked that he’d better not miss a little study evenif he did know everything, but the lad grinned and shook his head as hepassed her.

  “I don’t like Jakey,” said Carolyn, as her eyes followed him and theconfused group of boys and girls, passing and repassing in the hall.“He’s smart as can be and gets along in Latin better than I do, butthere’s something tricky about him once in awhile and he’s so terriblyconceited. He can’t stand it when you can answer a question that he hasmissed or can’t put up his hand for. I know. I’ve watched him. Did yousee those boys change their seats? _She_ didn’t know any better and theydid it for fun I suppose, just to do something.”

  “Do you mean during class?”

  “No. Just before class began. Jakey slid into that one just behind you.”

  “I didn’t notice.”

  “_She_ may, if they are in different seats tomorrow.”

  ————

  The zero hour came. Betty looked at the questions on the board. Oh, theyweren’t so bad. It was fair. There were the special things that MissHeath had emphasized, some of the hardest to get, to be sure, but Bettyhad studied hard and she had freshened up on the vocabulary lists andsome of the rules of syntax, for she dreaded the translations, sentencesthat Miss Heath would make up, some of them at least.

  Betty’s cheeks were hot, but she worked away. Mercy, her fountain penhad given out. She took a pencil and found its point blunt. Hastily shetraveled to the pencil sharpener and put on it as sharp a point aspossible. Miss Heath did not want them to use pencil for examinations ifit were not necessary; but this wasn’t the semester final, when Carolynsaid you _had_ to use ink, they said. But she’d better sharpen twopencils, perhaps.

  Betty scarcely saw the rest of the scholars as she returned to her deskfor another pencil, so absorbed was she in thoughts of the examinationquestions. There was a whisking of something on several desks as she andsome one else passed down parallel aisles at the same time, she toreturn, the other to go to the pencil sharpener. As she sat down andlooked off thoughtfully at the board, the teacher was looking in herdirection and two of the boys were chuckling behind her.

  The teacher rapped for order and Betty, turning, caught a glimpse ofPeggy, who was looking daggers at somebody behind Betty. But Betty wasfinishing her paper. The time was nearly up. She read over what she had,put in a long mark over a vowel in one of the declensions, looked forother omissions or mistakes, and puzzled over her last English to Latinsentence. She hoped it was right. There went the bell. Betty made readyher paper. Now it was handed in. Now they were in the hall. The test wasover. What a relief!

  “Did you see what those boys were doing?” asked Peggy, as Betty andCarolyn caught up with her at the door of the room where they wereentering for another class.

  “No, what was it?” questioned Carolyn, but the teacher just thenbeckoned Betty, to give her back a paper that she had failed to returnwith the rest given out to the class, and Betty missed Peggy’s reply.

  “That was a very good paper, Betty,” said her teacher. “I found it withsome sophomore papers where it had gotten by mistake.”

  Betty was disappointed to find only an eighty?eight for her grade, butshe knew that anything over eighty was good with Miss Smith. Tests werepopular just now at Lyon High. All too soon would come the semesterfinals!

  ————

  The busy week ended and Monday came again. The same young substitute wasin Miss Heath’s place. She was “
terribly cross” with the boys, Peggysaid, but she didn’t blame her. Four or five of the freshman boys triedto see how far they could go and went a little too far for their owngood, for when there was some chalk throwing at the blackboard, duringwritten exercises there, the teacher called several boys by name to taketheir seats and see her after class. “If any one else longs to be sentto detention, he or she may just keep on with the fun as these havedone!”

  There was an immediate cessation of performances, for D. T., as it wascalled, was not popular.

  “By the way,” the teacher added, “I should like to see after class for amoment Betty Lee and Peggy Pollard.”

  Betty, who was at the board, pausing in her work to listen to thestartling interruptions, was surprised to hear her own name. What couldthe teacher want with her? But after a surprised look at the somewhatgrim face of an otherwise attractive young woman, Betty turned again tothe board and finished the verb synopsis on which she was engaged. Theclass work went on as usual, with correction and assignments by theteacher, recitation and occasional question on the part of the class.

  The boys who had been told to stay remained in their seats at the closeof class and Betty, raising her eyebrows at Peggy, gathered up her booksand went to one of the front seats to wait the teacher’s pleasure. Shefelt in a hurry, for she was due at study hall on this day and it was onthe third floor, quite a climb from the basement floor.

  With eyes demurely on her books, she listened to a brief and sharprebuke delivered to the boys, who scurried out of the room as soon asthey were ordered to “detention” that evening, immediately after theclose of school. At “detention” some victim among the teachers, who tookturns at the disagreeable task, was in charge of a room devoted to thederelicts from duty who had from one cause or another been assigned toan extra hour in study after their classmates and others had gone. Howlong that extra hour! And when there was “doubly D. T.” or detention forseveral days, alas!

  That Betty was to receive any rebuke was the last thing that sheexpected, though she was nervously wondering for what she was asked tostay. She looked inquiringly, and in Betty’s unconsciously sweet way, asthe boys disappeared, and was beckoned to a seat in front of the desk.“Come also, Peggy Pollard,” said the teacher, Miss Masterman. “I believethis is Peggy, isn’t it?”

  “Yes’m, and that’s Betty Lee.”

  “Peggy, did you exchange papers with any one Thursday?”

  “No’m,” replied Peggy, looking surprised.

  “Did you communicate with any one?”

  “No’m.”

  “Think a minute. Are you sure that you did not say anything?”

  “No’m–oh, yes, I did say something, but it wasn’t anything about theexamination. One of the boys was acting smarty and I told him to stopit.”

  “Just what did you say?”

  “It wasn’t very polite,” said Peggy, her face very red, but her lipscurving into a smile. “I told him to mind his own affairs and leave mealone. I was mad for a moment.”

  “Are you sure that was all of the communication?”

  “Yes’m, perfectly sure. I was too _busy_!”

  “Very well. You may go, Peggy. That is all.”

  The teacher’s face was calm and cold as she turned to Betty. Peggy hadflown from the room in relief and Betty heard her unlocking her lockeroutside in the hall. She wondered if Peggy would wait.

  “Please wait here a few minutes, Betty Lee,” said Miss Masterman. Betty,wondering, waited. She didn’t like the way the teacher looked at her.What _could_ she have done to offend her. It couldn’t be anything likewhat Peggy was kept for. Why, she’d been “busy,” too, and had scarcelynoticed anything except the questions and her paper. Besides, thisteacher hadn’t walked around like Miss Heath, to go to the rearsometimes and know just what everybody was doing. She hadn’t seemed tobe a bit suspicious that day. Miss Masterman now left the room.

  In the next room her voice was to be heard. Why, she was telephoning–theoffice, Betty supposed. Mer_cee_! what in the world was the matter?Betty’s hands were cold. She grew more scared every minute. Perhapssomething was wrong at home and Miss Masterman had gotten word. No, shehad looked at her as if she had done something. Perhaps she’d have to goto detention, if not tonight, then tomorrow!

  Betty unpiled her books and piled them up again. She would leave all buther algebra in her locker tonight. There! Miss Masterman was comingback. She walked to her desk, took up a book, looked at it, put it down,gathered up some papers and put them inside the desk, went after herwraps and laid them across one of the desks. She was almost as uneasy asBetty felt. Probably she wanted to get home, though it was still thelast period.

  At last she said, “I suppose you are anxious to know why I am keepingyou. You are to go to the office of the assistant principal and he isbusy with some other pupils still. He or someone will telephone me whenhe is ready for you. He seems to have a good deal of business tonight.”Miss Masterman smiled disagreeably. “It is in connection with cheatingat examination that he wants to see you,” and Miss Masterman lookedkeenly at Betty as she made this statement quickly in a sharp tone.

  Betty gasped. “Why, Miss Masterman! I don’t know anything about anycheating in the examination!”

  “So?” coolly replied Miss Masterman. “Tell that to the assistantprincipal, then.”

  “Do–do you mean that you think I _cheated_?” vigorously asked Betty.

  “I think that very thing.”

  “Then you are mistaken, Miss Masterman,” said Betty, firmly and withsome dignity. “I hope to be able to prove it.”

  The telephone bell rang just then and Miss Masterman answered it,saying, “at last,” as she crossed to the room.

  Betty, too, thought “at last.” She was trembling from head to foot; buta little anger at the injustice of the charge sustained her and sheremembered the kind face of the assistant principal. He had somechildren. Maybe he would listen to her. But what could she say, onlytell him that she did not cheat. How did they think she could? MissHeath would have called the assistant principal by his name in speakingof him–oh, if only Miss Heath had been there at that examination!