CHAPTER XXVI A SCRAP OF PAPER

“Tavia!” pleaded Dorothy, “Do tell me about that letter father has written—” she hesitated, “there is grave danger of a great loss to him. Tell me all you know about it.”

“All I know about it? Why, Dorothy!”

“Yes. You did find a letter! It was written to Jean. Tell me Tavia. I will not wait to know that I must leave school—I am going to-morrow!”

“Going to-morrow! Then I will go with you,” declared Tavia. “I would never have seen Glenwood if it had not been for you.”

The girls were looking over their lessons for the day. Dorothy had just received a letter from home. Brave as she wished to be, and fearful as she had been, of that investment company, when her father wrote, in his careful way, that there might be trouble, Dorothy at once prepared to go to him, and to her two small brothers.

195 “Dorothy, I would have told you but really I felt it was a trick.”

“A trick! On such a serious matter?”

“You believe every one to be as noble as yourself,” said Tavia, “but there are people in this world born without the sense of kindness, or the instinct of charity. We seem to have a few such girls around here.”

Dorothy looked fondly at her friend. There was no use trying to use logic¹ on the subject on which her head and heart were now centered.

“Tavia, tell me what was in the letter you found at my door! Or I shall go to Jean, and demand to know.”

“Never,” said Tavia. “I’ll give you the old letter. It isn’t worth looking at, and I am sure the writer is a—cheerful—well you would not let me say fabricator; would you?”

Tavia went to her desk and soon found the torn script that had so disturbed her, until she made herself believe that it was some sort of a forgery².

“There,” she said, “if Jean did not write that to herself she got someone else to write it.”

Dorothy took the paper with trembling hands. Unfortunately Tavia did not think to cross out the words concerning Major Dale, and the possibility of his arrest.

Nerving herself to know all she should know,196 Dorothy sat down to decipher the note. Suddenly her eyes fell upon these words:

“We may have the proud Major in the toils³ within a short time.”

Dorothy glanced for a moment at Tavia, and then fled from the room, her head held high, and her eyes flashing.

“Goodness!” exclaimed Tavia, “I wonder what she is going to do? I have always heard that a quiet girl ‘riled’ is worse than I am. But I don’t believe I will follow her. Dear Doro!” and the frivolous⁴ one’s eyes filled. “I would give anything to save her from all of this.”

Dorothy, leaving her room, had gone straight to the office of the principal. Delicate girl that she was, when a question of family honor arose, she had more courage than some who might boast of power.

She found Mrs. Pangborn looking over papers.

“Good morning, Dorothy,” she was kindly⁵ greeted. “What’s the trouble now? For I see trouble in your face.”

“Yes, Mrs. Pangborn, this is trouble. I fear I shall have to leave Glenwood.”

“Leave Glenwood!” exclaimed Mrs. Pangborn. “Why?”

Then Dorothy told what she could of the tangled⁶ affair. Told how the Major had written that it was now a serious financial question, but for her to keep up her courage.
DOROTHY TOOK THE PAPER WITH TREMBLING HANDS.
Dorothy Dale’s School Rivals Page 195

197 “It cannot be possible that my old friend Major Dale would do anything unwise,” said the teacher. “You must have patience child, and not think of such a thing as leaving school. Why, you are just getting to be one of our best pupils.”

In spite of herself Dorothy’s eyes filled.

“Yes, and I love it here, but I feel it is my duty to be ready to help father, and I have no idea what I should be able to do in business,” she replied.

“Go to business! Your Aunt Winnie would never allow it,” declared the other.

“But Aunt Winnie has had a great deal to do lately. She has had to make a long trip abroad, and then the boys have not finished college yet. I would insist upon doing my part,” answered the girl very seriously.

“But if that is all the information you have—that in your father’s letter——”

“It is not,” Dorothy admitted. “A letter was found at my door. It was evidently intended that I should find it. This letter said—father was—threatened with—arrest!”

“Arrest! Impossible! What could he have done to deserve such an indignity⁷?”

Dorothy drew her hand across her eyes, but did not reply.

198 “To whom was the letter addressed?” asked Mrs. Pangborn.

“To Miss Faval,” replied Dorothy, “and I should not have looked at it except—I overheard—a remark. Then I knew it contained some serious news.”

“Who has that letter now?”

“I have it. I could not return it to her. I could not risk having it shown to anyone else.”

“Will you go and bring it to me? I must see about this. What could Miss Faval know of your family affairs?”

“I cannot tell,” replied Dorothy. “But she seems to know a great deal. Tavia first found an envelope with the name of father’s company on the corner. Then—this comes.”

“Well, get me the letter, dear. I shall do all I can, both to help you, and to help Major Dale. This is certainly a remarkable⁸ affair.”

Dorothy went to her room, and soon returned with the scrap⁹ of paper. She left it with Mrs. Pangborn without further conversation, except that the principal assured her that there was no need to worry, as Dorothy had been doing.

But that word “arrest” would neither leave the heart, head, nor eyes of the discouraged girl. Tavia did all she could to reassure¹⁰ her, but the facts were now too apparent to hide, and Dorothy was determined¹¹ to be prepared for the worst.

199 It took some time for her to feel that she could enter the classroom. As she took her place, her eyes met those of Jean Faval, and in the latter’s was a glance so scornful, and so full of meaning that a shiver ran through Dorothy.

Little Zada tugged¹² at Dorothy’s skirt, and, with eyes almost pleading, whispered:

“I want to see you at recess¹³. Come out by the lake.”

Cologne and Molly Richards were late, and entered with flushed faces. They had evidently been running.

“Young ladies, you must be punctual,” warned the English teacher. “There is no excuse for this tardiness¹⁴.”

Tavia pulled a wry¹⁵ face for the girls to see, but not intended for the teacher. Miss Cummings, however, noticed it, and asked Tavia to report to her at recess.

That almost settled Tavia’s work for the morning, as she, with a number of others, had planned how they were going to spend the hour of this beautiful day, when the frost was already in the air, and the leaves almost all off the trees.

And there were Tavia, Molly and Cologne to remain in, at least for a “lecture” which meant that the hour would be passed listening to their “sins,” as Tavia would have put it.

Whenever any of the original Glens were under200 the ban the “T’s” were jubilant, and Jean could now scarcely repress her smiles.

The morning had almost passed, when there came a summons for Jean to report to the office!

Then the tables were turned.

1 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

2 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

3 toils   

网

参考例句：

• It did not declare him to be still in Mrs. Dorset's toils. 这并不表明他仍陷于多赛特夫人的情网。
• The thief was caught in the toils of law. 这个贼陷入了法网。

4 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

7 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

10 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

14 tardiness   

n.缓慢；迟延；拖拉

参考例句：

• Her teacher gave her extra homework because of her tardiness. 由于她的迟到，老师给她布置了额外的家庭作业。 来自辞典例句
• Someone said that tardiness is the subtlest form of selflove and conceit. 有人说迟到是自私和自负的最微妙的表现形式。 来自辞典例句

15 wry   

adj.讽刺的；扭曲的

参考例句：

• He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸，打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
• Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马，噘了噘嘴。