“You may sit on the front seat, Phil. You’ve something to tell Robin. I resign the place of honor in favor of you. I am too considerate to join the front seat party by sitting on you. I’m going to roost among the bumbershoots.” Barbara climbed in among the piles of umbrellas and settled herself cosily on the back seat, her feet tucked under her.
“Roosting among the bumbershoots,” laughed Phil. “That sounds almost scientific; as though the bumbershoots might be a species of rare bird, or maybe a savage tribe. Oh, but it’s good to be on the move again.” She straightened in the seat and drew a deep breath of satisfaction. “Those two hours of watchful waiting that Barbara and I put in will last us for a long time to come. Weary watchful waiters waitfully watching the weather. We weren’t the only waitful watchers, either.” Phil’s merry tones gave place to a more forceful accent.
“What do you mean, Phil?” Robin cast a quick, side-long glance toward her cousin.
“Leslie Cairns was across the street in the florist’s shop watching us. She was standing at the back of the window that had the palms in it. She had on a leather motor coat with a hood. The hood was drawn over her head and she wore knickers and high-laced boots. She looked more like an aviator than a motorist. I happened to get a good view of her. Most of the time she kept out of sight behind the palms. I think she was there for a purpose,” was Phil’s distrustful surmise.
“Oh, she may only have happened in the shop, either to order flowers or to hunt shelter from the rain,” Robin made charitable allowance. “Very likely she has a dinner date with Miss Monroe or one of the Acasia House girls. What possible interest could she have in the dormitory girls? You know what a snob she used to be. I daresay she hasn’t changed.”
“She has nerve,” grumbled Phil who had always detested Leslie Cairns with the full strength of her democratic soul. “If I had been expelled from Hamilton, even unjustly, I’d never set foot on the campus again. The idea of trying to gain a social footing on Hamilton campus after the hateful way she fought against everything fair, honest and ennobling!”
Robin, busy guiding the car through the thin, gray mist, nodded her sympathy of Phil’s impulsive outburst. “Did you see her leave the florist’s shop,” she asked.
“Yes; just before you came back this last time. She dodged out of the store like a streak, jumped into a little black car she’d parked in front of the shop, and away she drove like the wind.”
“Hm-m. That sounds rather suspicious. She may have had some dark and desperate motive.” Robin was half smiling. “More likely she simply happened to go into the shop, saw the crowd across the street and curiosity got the better of her.”
“I don’t think so,” Phil frowned and shook a doubting head. “She had an object in view. She isn’t half so much interested in getting ready to build a garage on that property she snatched from you and Marjorie as she might be. I believe she bought it purely for spite; as an excuse to keep her near the campus. She’s rich in her own right, and a law unto herself. It’s the old story of idle hands and mischief. She has no worthy object in life. She’s the kind of person who has to have something to hammer away at. So she’s settled herself near the campus to see what she can do to tear down what Page and Dean have built up.”