"If it is, it's a terrible price to pay, Mrs. Crews," answered Jack, and then told her about Ruth.
"Now that's too bad entirely," said the matron of the school. "Oh, who would want to harm a dear young lady like Miss Stevenson? It's awful how wicked some young men are," and she shook her head dolefully.
Jack took it easy for the rest of the day, and one after another his chums came in to sympathize with him.
"I can't understand a fellow like Werner," remarked Ned Lowe. "If he isn't careful he'll land in prison."
"What gets me is that a fellow like Glutts keeps on tagging after him," put in Dan Soppinger. "Sooner or later Werner is bound to lead Glutts into something pretty bad."
Jack passed a restless night, not only because his eyes hurt him, but because he could not get Ruth out of his mind. What if the girl's eyes should be permanently injured? The mere thought of such a catastrophe horrified him.
In the morning he bathed his eyes again, as Doctor Borden had directed. He had been excused from his classroom, and so sat around where he could readily be called to the telephone if any message came in for him. It was not until about eleven o'clock that his sister rang him up.
"The doctor left a few minutes ago," said Martha over the wire. "He was with Ruth about half an hour, and gave her quite a treatment. He was very much encouraged, and said he thought she would come around again all right in a few days, but that she must be careful for several weeks about how she strained her eyes or went out in the wind."
"But he really thinks she will come around all right?" questioned Jack anxiously.
"Yes, Jack, he was almost sure of it. And, oh! I am so glad, and so are all the other girls."