Five Little Peppers at School

by Margaret Sidney

  IV OF VARIOUS THINGS

  And the next day, the story which flew all over the yard, how that JoelPepper was "put into Coventry" last night, was overtaken and set right.

  "Huh! there, now you see," cried Van Whitney, coming out of his rage. Hehad cried so that his eyes were all swollen up, and he was a sight tobehold. Percy, too miserable to say anything, and wishing he could evercry when he felt badly, had slunk out of sight, to bear the trouble aswell as he might. Now he came up bright and smiling. "Yes, now you see,"he cried triumphantly.

  "Oh, I hope that mean beggar Jenk will be expelled." There appeared tobe but one voice about it.

  "Well, he won't," said Van.

  "Won't? Why not?" The boys crowded around him on the playground, allgames being deserted for this new excitement. "Why not, pray tell?"

  "Of course he will," said one boy decidedly. "Dr. Marks never'll keephim after this."

  "Yes he will too," roared Van, glad he could tell the news first, butawfully disappointed that it must be that Jenkins was to stay, "for Joelgot Dr. Marks to promise there shouldn't anything be done to Jenk. Sothere now!"

  "What, not after locking that door! That was the worst." The boys, twoor three of them, took up the cry, "'Twas beastly mean."

  "Contemptible! Just like Jenk!" went all over the playground.

  "Well, he isn't to go," repeated Van with a sigh; "and Joel says he wasas bad, because he went out at night to fight."

  "Why, he had to; Jenk dared him. And he couldn't have it out in thedormitory; you know he couldn't, Whitney," said one of the boys insurprise.

  "Oh dear! I know," said Van helplessly. "Well, Joel says it's no matterthat the racket was stolen out of his room, and--"

  "No matter!" ejaculated the boys, a whole crowd of them swarming aroundhim, "well, if that isn't _monstrous_!"

  "Oh, Joel's afraid that Dr. Marks will expel Jenk," Percy, veryuncomfortable to have Joel blamed, made haste to say. "Don't you see?"

  "Well, he ought to be turned out," declared one boy decidedly. "Nevermind, we'll make it so hot for that Jenk, he'll want to go."

  "No, you mustn't," declared Percy, now very much alarmed. "Oh, no, youmustn't, Hobbs; because, if you do, Joel won't like it. Oh, he'll be soangry! He won't like it a bit, I tell you," he kept saying.

  The idea of Joel's not liking it, seemed to take all the fun out of thething; so Hobbs found himself saying, "Well, all right, I suppose we'vegot to put up with the fellow then. But you know yourself, Whitney, he'sa mean cad."

  There seemed to be but one opinion about that. But the fact remainedthat Jenkins was still to be one of them, to be treated as well as theycould manage. And for the next few days, Joel had awfully hard work tobe go-between for all the crowd, and the boy who had made it hard forhim.

  "You'll have to help me out, Tom," he said more than once in despair.

  "Pretty hard lines," said Tom. Then the color flew all over his face. "Isuppose I really ought, for you know, Pepper, I told you I wanted atfirst that you should lose your racket."

  "Never mind that now, Tom," said Joel brightly, and sticking out hisbrown hand. "You've been awfully good ever since."

  "Had to," grunted Tom, hanging to the hand, "when I saw how mean thebeggar was."

  "And but for you I should never have found the racket, at least not intime." Joel shivered, remembering the close call he had had from losingthe game.

  Tom shivered too, but for a different cause. "If I hadn't told him, I'dalways have hated myself," he thought.

  "Well, Joe, I wouldn't after this give away a racket. Now you see if youhadn't bestowed your old one on that ragamuffin in town, you wouldn'thave been in such a scrape." Tom tried to turn it off lightly.

  "Oh, that made no difference," Joel made haste to say, "'cause I couldhave borrowed another. But I'd got used to my new one. Besides,Grandpapa sent it to me to practise with for this game, and I reallycouldn't have done so well without it."

  "Yes, I know--I know," said Tom remorsefully, "and that's what Jenkknew, too, the beggar!"

  "Well, it's all over now," said Joel merrily, "so say no more about it."

  But it wasn't all over with Jenkins; and he resolved within himself topay Joel Pepper up sometime, after the boys had forgotten a little aboutthis last exploit, if they ever did.

  And that afternoon Joel staid in, foregoing all the charms of a ballgame, to write Mamsie a complete account of the affair, making light ofthe other boys' part in it, and praising up Tom Beresford to the skies."And oh, Mamsie," Joel wrote over and over, "Dave didn't have anythingto do with it--truly he didn't. And Mr. Harrow is just bully," hewrote,--then scratched it out although it mussed the letter updreadfully--"he's fine, he is! And oh, I like Dr. Marks, ever so much, Ido"--till Mrs. Fisher had a tolerably good idea of the whole thing.

  "I'm not sorry, Adoniram," she said, after Dr. Fisher had read theletter at least twice, and then looked over his spectacles at herkeenly, "that I agreed with Mr. King that it was best that the boysshould go away to school."

  "Now any other woman," exclaimed the little doctor admiringly, "wouldhave whimpered right out, and carried on dreadfully at the least sign oftrouble coming to her boy."

  "No, I'm not a bit sorry," repeated Mrs. Fisher firmly, "for it's goingto be the making of Joel, to teach him to take care of himself. And I'dtrust him anywhere," she added proudly.

  "So you may; so you may, my dear," declared the little doctor gaily."And I guess, if the truth were told, that Joel's part in this wholescrape hasn't been such a very bad one after all."

  Which came to be the general view when Dr. Marks' letter arrived, andone from the under-instructor followed, setting things in the rightlight. And although old Mr. King was for going off directly to interviewthe master, with several separate and distinct complaints andcriticisms, he was at last persuaded to give up the trip and let matterswork their course under the proper guidance at the school.

  "So, Polly, my child," he said on the following day, when the letterswere all in, "I believe I'll trust Dr. Marks, after all, to settle theaffair. He seems a very good sort of a man, on the whole, and I reallysuppose he knows what to do with a lot of boys; though goodness me! howhe can, passes my comprehension. So I am not going."

  "Oh Grandpapa!" exclaimed Polly, the color flooding her cheek, and sheseized his hand in a glad little way.

  "Yes, I really see no necessity for going," went on the old gentleman,much as if he were being urged out of his way to set forth; "so I shallstay at home. Joel can take care of himself. I'd trust him anywhere," hebrought up, using the same words that Mother Fisher had employed.

  "Wouldn't you, Grandpapa!" cried Polly with sparkling eyes, and clingingto him.

  "Yes, Polly, my child," said Grandpapa emphatically, "because, no matterinto what mischief Joe may get, he always owns up. Goodness me! Polly,that boy can't go very far wrong, with such a mother as you've got."

  Alexia Rhys, running through the wide hall, came upon the two. "Oh, begpardon, and may we girls have Polly?" all in the same breath.

  "Get away with you," laughed old Mr. King, who had his own reasons forliking Alexia, "that's the way you always do, trying to get Polly Pepperaway when we are having a good talk."

  "Oh dear!" exclaimed Alexia, doing her best to curb her impatience, andpinching her hands together, "we did so want--"

  "I can't go now, Alexia," said Polly, still clinging to Mr. King's hand.

  Grandpapa sent a keen glance over into Alexia's face. "I think youbetter go, Polly," he said. "You and I will have our talk later."

  "Oh goody!" cried Alexia, hopping up and down. And "Oh Grandpapa!"reproachfully from Polly.

  "Yes, Polly, it's best for you to go with the girls now," said old Mr.King, gently relinquishing her hands, "so run along with you, child."And he went into the library.

  "Come right along," cried Alexia gustily, and pulling Polly down thehall.

  "There now, you see, you've dragged me away from Grandpapa," cried Pollyin a vexed way.


  "Well, he said you were to go," cried Alexia, perfectly delighted at theresult. "Oh, we're to have such fun! You can't think, Polly Pepper."

  "Of course he did, when you said the girls wanted me," said Polly, halfdetermined, even then, to run back. "I'd much rather have staid withhim, Alexia."

  "Well, you can't, because he said you were to come; and besides, hereare the girls." And there they were on the back porch, six or eight ofthem in a group.

  "Oh Polly, Polly!" they cried, "are you coming--can you really go?"swarming around her. "And do get your hat on," said Clem Forsythe "andhurry up."

  "Where are you going?" asked Polly.

  "The idea! Alexia Rhys, you are a great one to send after her," criedSally Moore. "Not even to tell her where we are going, or what we wanther for!"

  "Well, I got her here, and that is half of the battle," said Alexia, inan injured way; "and my goodness me! Polly won't hardly speak to me now;and you may go yourself after her next time, Sally Moore."

  "There, girls, don't fight," said Clem sweetly. "Polly, we are going outto Silvia Horne's. Mrs. Horne has just telephoned to see if we'll comeout to supper. Come, hurry up; we want to catch the next car. She saysshe'll send somebody home with us."

  "Yes, yes, do hurry," begged the girls, hopping up and down on anxiousfeet.

  "I must ask Mamsie," said Polly. "Oh, how perfectly splendid!" runningoff with a glad remembrance of lessons all ready for the next day. "Nowhow nice it is that Mamsie always made me get them the first thing," shereflected as she sped along.

  Mamsie said "yes," for she well knew that Mrs. Horne was a carefulperson, and when she promised anything it was always well done. "Butbrush your hair, Polly," she said, "it looks very untidy flying all overyour head."

  So Polly rushed off to her own room; Alexia, who didn't dare to trusther out of her sight, at her heels, to get in the way, and hinderdreadfully by teasing Polly every minute to "hurry--we'll lose thetrain."

  "Where are you going, Polly?" asked Phronsie, hearing Alexia's voice;and laying down her doll, she went into the blue and white room that wasPolly's very own. "Oh, may I go too?" as Polly ran to the closet to getout her second-best hat.

  "Oh dear me!" began Alexia.

  "No, Pet," said Polly, her head in the closet. "Oh my goodness! where_is_ that hat?"

  "Oh dear!" exclaimed Alexia, wringing her hands, "we'll be late andmiss the train. Do hurry, Polly Pepper."

  "I'll find it, Polly," said Phronsie, going to the closet and gettingdown on her knees, to peer around.

  "Oh, it wouldn't be on the floor, Phronsie," began Polly. "Oh dear me!where _can_ it be?"

  "Here it is," cried Alexia, "behind the bed." And running off, shepicked it up, and swung it over to Polly.

  "Goodness me!" said Polly with a little laugh, "I remember now, I tossedit on the bed, I thought. Well, I'm ready now, thank fortune," pinningon her hat. "Good-bye, Pet."

  "I am so very glad it is found, Polly," said Phronsie, getting up ontiptoe to pull Polly's hat straight and get another kiss.

  "Come on, Polly," called Alexia, flying over the stairs. "Yes, yes,girls, she's coming! Oh dear me, Polly, we'll be late!"