CHAPTER IX THE INTERVIEW

Mrs. Pangborn was sitting in her pretty little office when Dorothy entered. On her desk were some late, purple daisies, or iron-weed, and their purple seemed to make the white-haired lady look regal, Dorothy thought.

After exchanging greetings the principal began with her rather painful discourse¹.

“I have sent for you, Dorothy,” she said, “on account of some rather surprising stories that have come to my ears. I can scarcely credit them. At the same time I must make sure that these rumors² are groundless. Did you—take charge of that lunch counter at the new depot³, this morning?”

“Why, yes; I did,” replied Dorothy, coloring to the eyes, “but I only did so to help the young girl who has charge of it. She had to leave, and called to me to go over there for a few minutes.”

“It seems incredible that a Glenwood young lady should do such a thing,” Mrs. Pangborn70 said. “But I have no doubt your motive⁴ was innocent enough. Then about the young gentleman with whom you were seen walking?”

Dorothy felt like crying. Who could have tattled these stories? And what a construction to put on her actions!

“He merely walked this way because——”

She hesitated. What was his reason? And how would it sound?

“Was he a personal acquaintance?” asked the inquisitor.

Again Dorothy hesitated. “I know his mother,” she said finally, “and he has been very kind. It was he who sent you the message from the train when we could not get here.”

“Oh, the young man who ’phoned from the station for our car? He certainly was kind, and I can’t see——”

It was then Mrs. Pangborn’s time to hesitate. She had no idea of letting Dorothy know that some one had notified her that Dorothy Dale was out walking with a young man whom she had met on the train—a perfect stranger!

“It is a pity,” the principal went on, “that these first days must be marred⁵ with such tattle, but you can readily understand that I am responsible, not only for the reputation of my pupils, but also for my school. I must warn you against doing71 rash things. One’s motives⁶ will not always excuse public criticism.”

Dorothy was too choked to make an answer. She turned to the door.

“One word more,” spoke⁷ Mrs. Pangborn, “you know we have a number of new girls this term, and I would ask you and your friends, as you are so well acquainted with Glenwood, to do all you can to make them happy and contented⁸. I don’t like seeing the strangers gathered in little knots alone. It is not friendly, to say the least.”

“But, Mrs. Pangborn, those girls seem to want to keep by themselves. They have refused every effort we have made to be friendly,” Dorothy answered.

“They may be shy. That little one from the South is the daughter of a friend of mine. Her name is Zada Hillis, and I am most anxious that she shall not get homesick,” insisted Mrs. Pangborn.

“I will do all I can to make her contented,” Dorothy replied, “but she seems on such friendly terms with some of the other girls—in fact Jean Faval has taken her up quite exclusively, and Jean refuses to be friends with me.”

Dorothy was glad she had said that much, for, somehow, she traced her unpleasant interview to the sly work of Jean and her chums.

Mrs. Pangborn turned to her books, indicating72 that was all she wished to say, and Dorothy left the room.

Tavia was outside waiting for her.

“All right, sis?” she asked, noting that Dorothy was trembling with suppressed emotion.

Dorothy merely pressed Tavia’s arm. She could not just then trust herself to speak.

“Come on,” Tavia said. “We’ll go back to our room. Perhaps I can make you feel better by telling how that thing happened.”

The other girls all seemed to be out of doors—the morning was too delightful⁹ to spend time unpacking¹⁰ and hanging up clothes.

Once in her room Dorothy buried her face in the couch cushions. The previous excitement had been enough—this new phase of the trouble was too much.

“Now see here,” began Tavia, “don’t you mind one thing which that crowd says or does. Jean Faval, of course, is at the bottom of the whole thing, and she has organized a club they call the ‘T’s.’ It’s secret, of course, and no one knows what the ‘T’ is for, except the members. She met you this morning with Mr. Armstrong, and that was just pie for her. They’re out under the buttonball tree now, planning and plotting. I’ll wager¹¹ they are after my scalp,” and she shook her head of bronze hair significantly. “Failing73 with the hair tonic¹², they want the whole head.”

“But to be accused of—why, Tavia! I cannot see how the little incident could be made into such a story,” sobbed¹³ Dorothy.

“Little incident! You running a lunch cart! Why it’s the very biggest thing that ever happened in Glen. I am going to apply for the position permanently¹⁴.”

Tavia went over to her dresser, and “slicked” things up some. She missed something, but did not at once speak of it, thinking it had been mislaid.

“I feel as if my reputation had been run over with a big six cylinder¹⁵ car,” Dorothy said, trying to cheer up. “It hurts all over.”

“Say,” Tavia broke out, “did you take your picture from here? Now own up. Did you give it to David Armstrong?”

“Tavia, don’t be a goose,” Dorothy said. “What would I want with my own picture, after I had given it to you?”

“Well, it’s gone, and I could have sworn I put it right here,” indicating a spot on the dresser. “If I don’t find it——”

Tavia made a more frantic¹⁶ search among the things on the dresser. She opened and shut drawers rapidly. Dorothy watched her chum curiously¹⁷.

74 Suddenly, as Tavia paused, rather disheveled and warm, there sounded a footstep out in the corridor. It seemed to pause at the door.

“Listen!” whispered Dorothy.

Tavia tiptoed to the portal.

1 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

2 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

4 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

5 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

6 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

9 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

10 unpacking   

n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等）

参考例句：

• Joe sat on the bed while Martin was unpacking. 马丁打开箱子取东西的时候，乔坐在床上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They are unpacking a trunk. 他们正在打开衣箱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

12 tonic   

n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的

参考例句：

• It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
• Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。

13 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

14 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

15 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

16 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

17 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。