Part 22 (2/2)

Blue Bonnet explained--a bit indefinitely. It was a letter--a very important one--that must be mailed at noon.

Ethel promised to take it without fail.

Blue Bonnet got out some paper and began writing hastily.

”DEAR AUNT LUCINDA:--Will you please come up at once. Carita is sick. The doctor doesn't know yet what's the matter with her, he can't tell for forty-eight hours,--”

”Miss Ashe!”

Fraulein's stentorian tones rang out sharply.

Blue Bonnet looked up, startled.

”What haf you there, Miss Ashe? This is a time for study, not for the writing of letters.”

Blue Bonnet remained silent.

”You may bring the paper to the desk, Miss Ashe.”

Blue Bonnet gathered up her books, picked up the letter which she had been writing and tore it into bits. Then she got up and started to leave the room.

Fraulein was white with anger.

”Come back to your seat, this instant, Miss Ashe,” she demanded.

Blue Bonnet continued on her way out of the room.

Fraulein ran after her, insisting upon her return.

Blue Bonnet hurried to her room, and, entering, locked the door behind her. She dropped her books on the table, and for a moment sat staring out of the window. What should she do? She had defied several rules that morning. Perhaps they would expel her. Well, they could! She wasn't particularly anxious to remain in the school if Fraulein Herrmann did, anyway. The house hardly seemed large enough for both.

Suddenly she sat up with a start. There was Cousin Tracy! Why hadn't she thought of him before! She could telephone to him, and he could get Aunt Lucinda. The thought acted like magic, and she was scurrying down the hall to the telephone in less than a minute.

She got Cousin Honora, but Cousin Tracy was out. Cousin Honora was not even expecting him home to lunch, but she would try to locate him and send him out to the school. Was anything wrong?

Blue Bonnet admitted that there was, a bit reluctantly, and hung up the receiver, leaving Cousin Honora mystified and uneasy.

As she started back to her room she remembered that she had not yet reported to Professor Howe. She went back, and entered Professor Howe's office just as Fraulein Herrmann was leaving it.

Professor Howe looked serious as she motioned Blue Bonnet to a seat and closed the door quietly.

”I have a very unpleasant report of you, Miss Ashe,” she said firmly, but gently. ”I am surprised and sorry. What have you to say in the matter?”

The idea that she was to have a chance to explain, had not entered Blue Bonnet's head. Professor Howe's tendency to fairness changed her viewpoint instantly. She felt ashamed--humiliated in the presence of this clear-eyed, soft-voiced woman, whose glance fell upon her with an expression almost maternal in its interest.

Slowly--one by one--the tears gathered in Blue Bonnet's eyes and rolled down her cheeks. But for the ticking of the clock above the desk, there was absolute silence in the room.

Professor Howe reached over and took Blue Bonnet's hand in her own.

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