"Mean old thing!" said one girl, somewhat above a whisper, "he just wants the fine. Let's chase him!"
It was quite evident more than one girl felt like "chasing" the obnoxious squire, but he held his ground and continued to punctuate his impolite remarks with that noisy cane.
"I want to see Octavia Travers at my office," he announced, "and I want her to come right along with me now!"
"Squire Sanders!" cried Miss Ellis, shocked and alarmed. "I cannot and will not permit you to take a pupil from this room!"
"Oh, you won't eh?" the squire looked more unpleasantly than ever. "Well, I'd like to see you stop me! Perhaps you would like to give up your job here? There's more after it, and some knows more about the ways of keeping wild girls down than Rachel Ellis does, too. I would advise you not to interfere with an officer. Come along, Miss Travers."
"She will not!" called out Alice. "My father is a town committeeman and
I know something about the laws of Dalton. Show us your warrant!"
This was a surprise to Squire Sanders. He never expected his authority would be questioned—and by a mere schoolgirl.
"Warrant, eh?" he sneered. "Maybe you would like to come along yourself, since you are so smart!"
A wild thought flashed through the mind of Alice. What if he should take both her and Tavia to his office!
It would be a case of false arrest, and cost the squire his place in
Dalton!