It was Dorothy who gave this news to Tavia.
“Gone where?”
“Gone home!”
“So early?”
“Gone, not to come back? Poor Jean!”
“Don’t cry over it. Likely she was glad to get away from the work,” said Tavia, although she knew that something unexpected must have happened.
“She left a note for me and said I might read it to you,” Dorothy continued. “In fact she said she would be glad if I would tell all the girls that she—had done—foolish things—through jealousy1. But, of course, I won’t. She seems to be heartbroken.”
A messenger appeared at the open door. It was the boy from the post-office, and he held in his hand a special delivery letter for Dorothy. This interrupted the story of Jean.
234 Dorothy opened it nervously2. She had been hoping for good news that might come before the courts closed for the holidays.
Tavia watched her closely as she read. Then she saw the change in her expression, and there was scarcely need to tell her that the good news had come.
“Oh Tavia! It is all right! Father has recovered all his money! And—what do you think? It was Jean’s uncle who was at fault! He had committed a forgery3, and was keeping the funds for his own use! That is why Jean left!”
Both girls were speechless with excitement after this startling information was realized. It was Dorothy who spoke4 first.
“I am so sorry for her,” she said. “Think, if it had been father who lost all!”
“But your father would not commit a forgery,” said Tavia, in her own way.
“Yes, but neither did Jean,” objected Dorothy.
“Well, at any rate, let us be glad,” insisted Tavia. “Here is the first act,” and she tried to do a tom-boyish somersault over Dorothy’s hat box.
Then there was a rush through the hall. It meant that the girls were coming to Room Nineteen. The rush continued until Dorothy was placed on the floor, and Cologne occupied her chair while Tavia had been, not too carefully,235 lifted to the top of the chiffonier, from which all things had previously5 been removed.
The “T’s” were there as well as the Glens, but Cologne was “spokesman.”
“We have come——” she began.
“You don’t say,” interrupted Tavia.
“For that you shall be gagged—if you do it again,” threatened Cologne.
Molly Richards, or Dick as we know her, fell off the upturned jardiniere upon which she had been vainly trying to balance herself.
“This is awful,” said the chairman, “and I may have to postpone——”
“Never!” came a shout. “We came for a full meeting of the board, and we demand it.”
“Then let the Tarters elsewhere speak first. They are our—visitors,” decided6 Cologne.
Cecilia Reynolds was not as merry as the others, but she had come to do her part, and was determined7 not to flinch8.
“Well,” she began, “we feel we made a mistake in having a club opposed to the Glens.”
“Splendid feeling,” put in Tavia again. “Hurray!”
“And we did—some things—that now we see were not as funny—as we thought they might be,” went on Cecilia, with an effort. “We voted, at a meeting, to have Dorothy’s story of the lunch wagon9 published. We did not think it would236 amount to so much, and we decided that the smallest member—the one least to be suspected, should take the picture off Tavia’s bureau. Zada was the smallest.”
Tavia could not stand this. She jumped up, and although she was only joking now, since all things had turned out so well, she did throw a scrap10 basket at Cecilia. It hit another member of the Tarters, Nell Dean, and when the latter tossed it back it landed nicely over Tavia’s head, and extinguished her, for which all were thankful.
“Then Jean,” went on Cecilia, “thought we could get ahead of the older members, and we tried all sorts of tricks to do so.”
“We will not talk of those absent,” said Cologne, kindly11. “Let us hear from the Glens. Tavia and Ned, where were you the night of the fortune telling racket?”
Tavia stretched out her hands in mock entreaty12.
“Oh spare me!” she gasped13. “Spare me the shame of my bare foot.”
“Tell us,” demanded Cologne.
“Help, Ned!” begged Tavia.
“No, we have questioned you,” insisted the chairman.
“Well, then, I will tell the story of the mystery of the crystal ball,” said Tavia, making her way to the center of the group, and knocking over a237 few girls who were squatted14 on the floor in doing so. “That night we, Ned and I, heard of the fortune-telling scheme. So we made up our minds we would have her tell the truth for once. We hurried off, and gave the old lady a dollar. Ned chipped in, though I had to take it from her, and we gave her all the information she needed. We had the girls marked so she could easily tell them apart, and we, Ned and I, had the delightful15, pleasurable excitement, of listening at the broken window, while the old lady fulfilled her contract. Then, when we were scurrying16 home, I slipped——”
The uproar17 that followed this confession18 could only be described as a human earthquake. Dorothy was supposed to have known of the fraud, although she did not, and she was not spared in the efforts of the fooled ones, those who had paid money to have their fortunes told—by Tavia!
“But we had a good time,” said Ned, timidly, when some of the excitement had subsided19.
“Anything else?” asked Cologne. “Remember we are consolidating20 now—no more secrets?”
“Yes. I know how that man knew about Jean having her check,” said Nita Brant. “The old fortune teller21 used to wait for Jean and that day she had seen her go to the post-office, and get the letter. She kept Jean talking on her way back until the man got farther up in the woods, to wait238 for her. Jake got her purse back yesterday from a place where the Shebad woman had pawned22 it. And we learned, too, that Jean purposely dropped that scrap of paper near Dorothy’s door to worry her.”
This was nothing to laugh at. And the bright faces turned serious.
“Now, Dorothy,” and Cologne looked into the blue eyes of her friend, “you have a letter to read to us.”
Dorothy had not yet read Jean’s note, and she objected to doing so first in public.
“But Jean left a note to me saying she insisted on her letter being read,” went on Cologne.
Then Dorothy was compelled to yield.
Everyone sat up quietly while the message from Jean, like a sad note from another world, was read.
Dorothy began:
“My Dear Companions:
“I am going away. I can no longer be a pupil of any boarding school, and I deeply regret that I made such poor use of my time while I had the chance to do better. While I had plenty of money I felt no responsibility, but since my uncle’s failure, and the showing to me of his true character, I feel more like a woman than a girl. I want to apologize for any disturbance23 I made at Glenwood,239 particularly to Dorothy Dale, whom I thought it was sport to distress24. It is I, and not Dorothy, who will now have to go out into the world to work. But perhaps in that I may be able to give up the nonsense I have been lately plunged25 into, and in which, my own dear mother never took part. I could say much more but take this message and—good-bye.
“Jean.”
There was not a dry eye when Dorothy ceased. The coming of Mrs. Pangborn saved them from actual weeping.
“Young ladies,” she said, “I have a surprise for you. I guessed in which room I would find you. I have received a letter from Major Dale, Dorothy’s father, sending me a check with which to give you all a merry time before parting. As the snow is so beautiful to-day I thought you might like a full, school sleigh ride. So I have hired some vehicles, and——”
“Hurrah! Hurra! Hurroo!” shouted the girls, forgetting all dignity in face of such a treat.
And on the hills of Glenwood, in three big sleighs, with Jake leading in the Glenwood, its plumes26 flying, let us leave our friends, to meet them again, in another volume, to be called, “Dorothy Dale in the City.”
“Well, ‘all is well that ends well,’” murmured240 Tavia, as they flew along the snowy road, the sleighbells jingling27 merrily.
“Yes, and I am glad of it,” answered Dorothy. “But poor Jean, I am so sorry for her!”
“We all are,” came from Edna.
Then came a burst of song from the sleigh ahead. And with that song we will say good-bye.
The End
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收听单词发音
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1
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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3
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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4
spoke
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| 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 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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7
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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flinch
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| v.畏缩，退缩 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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10
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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12
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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13
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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14
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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15
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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16
scurrying
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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19
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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consolidating
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| v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并 | |
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21
teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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22
pawned
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| v.典当，抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
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23
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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24
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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25
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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26
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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27
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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