(“O Jemima!” groaned Betty.)
“‘We play four other teams every year; you play only two, don’t you? Our centers are great! I remember last year when your team played here how easily we beat you! I hate to say it, Nora dear, but we’re going to beat you again!’”
“That’s all she says about the team,” Nora finished, folding up the letter. “No, wait a minute,” she added. “This may interest you, too. She says:
“‘We have the most adorable mascot; wait till you see him; and he’s never failed us yet.’”
“Thanks, ever so much,” Louise exclaimed as soon as she stopped reading. “That’s valuable information. We’re much obliged to your friend.”
“I wouldn’t have said anything about it if she hadn’t bragged so,” Nora answered, backing to the door. “But mind, you beat them well, so that I can say ‘I told you so.’”
“We will, we will,” cried the team with one voice.
“Now what do you think of that?” demanded Madelaine Ames, one of the guards, a tall lanky girl with straight hair.
“What did she say about a mascot?” Betty inquired eagerly.
“That they had an adorable one,” replied Mary Reeves, the other guard.