"Hester did it. She's always doing something mean," declared Jess herself.
"Well, there was an infraction of Mrs. Case's rules," said Laura Belding. "But it does seem as though Miss Carrington delights in setting obstacles in the way of Central High winning an athletic event. She is, deep down in her heart, opposed to after-hour athletics."
"She's just as much opposed to them," said Dorothy, "as our Aunt Dora."
"It's a mean shame!" declared Nellie Agnew, who was not usually so vigorous of speech.
"And you see, Hester Grimes and Lily Pendleton aren't penalized," said the furious Bobby. "They have crawled out of it. And I saw the whole race, and know it was Hester's fault that there was a spill."
"Let's take it to Mr. Sharp," cried Jess.
"That would do no good. You know he will not interfere with Miss Carrington's mandates. She has judged the case to the best of her knowledge and belief," said Laura.
"Hester is her favorite," complained Bobby.
"And we have no right to say that. She is punishing the twins for breaking a plain rule. If we tried to expose the whole affair, and bring the witnesses to prove our side, we would only be getting Hester and Lily into trouble, too, without making the twins' case any better," said the wise Laura.
"They ought to be conditioned as well," declared Nellie, who had a strong sense of justice.