“If Sarah is careful, she can stand right up there against the statue and never be seen, while she can reach the water to throw it at the girls easily. There!” cried Belle. “They’re turning down the walk to the steps. I can see them.”
They all could see them—dimly. Like shadows the procession descended to the marble fountain, still chanting softly the refrain of the marching song. Suddenly a shriek—a very vigorous and startling sound—rang out across the campus.
“It’s begun!” giggled Belle.
But the sound was repeated—then in a thrilling chorus. Ruth was startled. She exclaimed:
“That wasn’t either of the candidates. It was Sarah who screamed. There! It is Sarah again. Something has happened!”
Something certainly had happened. There had been an unexpected fault somewhere in the initiation. The procession burst like a bombshell, and the girls scattered through the wet campus, utterly terrified, and screaming as they ran.
CHAPTER II—THE WILD GIRL
“Something awful must have occurred!” cried Helen Cameron.
Ruth did not remain at the window for more than a moment after seeing the girls engaged in the initiation disperse, and hearing their screams. She drew back from the crowding group and darted out of the room. Fortunately neither the French teacher, nor the matron, had yet been aroused. If the girls came noisily into the dormitory building, Ruth knew very well that “the powers that be” must of necessity take cognizance of the infraction of the rules.
The girl from the Red Mill sped down the broad stairway and out of the house. Some of the fastest runners among the frightened girls were already panting at the steps.