At the end of an hour, however, they had come no nearer to finding the too-well-concealed drawer than when they had begun the search. Even the financier admitted himself as baffled on first hunt.
“I’m coming up to the Hedge before Thanksgiving to get it ready for occupancy. If you haven’t found the drawer by that time, I’ll have another go at it. Meantime, while I’m hunting Norris, let the girls help you keep up the search here. I have a lively hunch that we shall find Norris, or possibly his heirs, and the drawer, too, and,” his dark features set themselves with stubborn determination, “I propose to leave nothing undone toward making that hunch come true.”
CHAPTER XIX
AN UNSCRUPULOUS PLOTTER
As a result of the agreement Leila, Leslie, Marjorie and Vera had made among themselves on the night of the freshman frolic toward winning over Stephanie Norris and her chums, Leila had decided to open the season at the Playhouse with “Henry the Fifth,” rather than “The Merchant of Venice.”
It was with no particular pleasure, however, that, on an evening not long after the frolic she knocked upon Miss Norris’s door for a polite interview with the difficult freshman, concerning the honor she proposed to extend to her. “And if I should suddenly come flying back here, as though blown down the hall by a strong gale, feel no surprise!” she confided to Vera. “I am not counting upon a cordial reception.”
To her surprise, she found the arrogant freshman inclined to be gracious. Stephanie had come into a realization of several pertinent truths since the night of the freshman frolic. One of them was a nettled realization that she had behaved unwisely in flying into a fit of temper with Miss Ogden. Her own particular coterie of chums had sympathized with her, with the exception of Laura Taylor, her roommate. Mildred Ferguson was also on her side. She was not so sure of Mildred’s roommate, Miss Watson, who had escorted Laura to the frolic. Laura had voiced frank disapproval of Stephanie’s rude outburst when they had reached the privacy of their room after the frolic was over. They had in consequence quarreled hotly and had since been barely upon speaking terms.
The article which had appeared in “The Campus Echo,” three days after the frolic, relative to the “Playhouse,” had not added to Stephanie’s peace of mind. She had not supposed “that horrid Miss Cairns” to be of so much importance on the campus. According to Mildred Ferguson, Miss Cairns had no right, whatever, to be on the campus. Her father’s money alone had influenced President Matthews to overlook her many misdemeanors. She had actually been expelled from college, then later had been permitted to return to Hamilton as a matter of favoritism. As Miss Ogden’s roommate, she might be expected to sympathize with “the tiresome little creature.”
Stephanie was still brimming with rancor against the offending freshman. Thanks to Miss Ogden’s stupid clumsiness not only her lovely important gown, but also her high hope of winning the beauty contest had been ruined. She had vengefully determined “to get even” with the diminutive freshman to the point of having already considered various spiteful schemes for humiliating the object of her spite. What she purposed to do, when she had finally hit upon a telling plan of revenge, was to carry it out with a secrecy that should permit of no discovery.
Leila’s unexpected call, together with the flattering import of her errand, filled Stephanie with a sense of gratified triumph. She took good care to hide it under a forced pretense of graciousness, however. Her unreasoning dislike for the clever manager of the Playhouse must not be permitted to stand in the way of her own popularity. She had “lost out” wretchedly in the beauty contest. She could not afford any further “flivvers.” Nevertheless, she chose to demur over the stellar role which Leila now offered her on the plea that she would like to “think the matter over” before coming to a decision.