She noticed two school hats in the distance, though she could not recognize the faces under them. She was half inclined to struggle through the groups of people towards them, when she remembered to look at the church clock.
"Nearly twenty-five past!" she ejaculated. "I must fly!"
It was not an easy matter to extricate herself from the crowd. Dorothy knew it was useless to attempt to go out by the main entrance, so she made a push for the side gate; then taking a short cut by a small street, she scurried back to school. She was just changing her boots in the dressing-room when Addie Parker, Bertha Warren, and three other girls came hurrying in.
"Oh, Dorothy! Did you get off?" cried Addie. "You are lucky! We were all caught!"
"Yes, caught dead—every one of us!" echoed Bertha.
"Oh, it was horrible!" exclaimed Joyce Hickson. "I never expected she'd be there."
"And we ran almost plump against her!"
"Just our luck!"
"What do you mean? Who caught you?" asked Dorothy.
"Miss Tempest. Didn't you see her?"