“Hessie has lit out!” shouted Bobby, turning back to the captain and her team-mates.
“She’s got mad and gone home!” declared Jess Morse. “Her hat and coat are gone.”
“Now what will we do?” cried Dorothy Lockwood.
And the question was echoed from all sides. For without Hester it did not seem possible that the Central High team could hold its own with its opponents.
[CHAPTER VII—THE SECOND HALF]
The dressing room buzzed like an angry beehive for a minute. It was Laura Belding, captain of the team, who finally said:
“Hester surely can’t have deserted us in this way. She knows that Roberta is not even familiar with our secret signals.”
“She’s gone, just the same,” said her chum, Jess. “That’s how mean Hester Grimes is.”
“Well, I declare! I don’t know that I blame her,” cried Lily Pendleton.
“You don’t blame her?” repeated Nellie. “I don’t believe you’d blame Hester no matter what she did.”