“Drive them out,” urged Harriet. She returned the server’s stroke, putting the ball into her opponents’ court, where neither of them succeeded in hitting it.
The decisive game now stood forty-thirty, leaving the Meadow-Brook team but one point to go. This Harriet made by a puzzling “floater,” a slow ball that fell in the opposite court far out of reach.
“Game!” announced the referee. “Seven minutes’ rest at the end of third.”
For a moment the Tramp Boys were silent. They were scarcely able to believe their eyes. Then the boys tossed their hats in the air and uttered a great shout.
“Splendid!” cried Disbrow. “Keep on that way and you will win the match. If you do, it will have been a magnificent thing after the awful start you made.”
Miss Elting’s eyes were shining happily.
“Girls, do you know who the Scott Sisters are?” she cried. “Oh, you can’t imagine! Your opponents are Patricia Scott and her sister!”
“Really!” was Harriet’s sharp exclamation.
“Yes, the same Patricia Scott who was dismissed from Camp Wau-Wau because of her enmity for you and her disgraceful treatment of you. She saw you girls, too. She knows all about our being entered.”
Harriet and Jane glanced at each other. There was the same thought in the mind of each. Patricia, or her friends, had had something to do with the cutting of the tent ropes. But neither girl voiced her suspicion at the moment. They were called back to the court almost immediately. But in Harriet Burrell’s mind was a stronger determination than ever to win until she came face to face with Patricia Scott across the tennis net, provided Patricia were still playing, which seemed more than likely, for the Scott Sisters were playing a magnificent game.