“Mrs. Pangborn!”
“Yes. And she has succeeded in doing so; hasn’t she?”
“How would you have had me punish her?” demanded Miss Olaine, reddening under the principal’s rather stern eye.
“Oh, that is another matter!” and the older woman laughed. “A punishment to fit the crime is rather difficult to invent in Tavia’s case. I believe I should have demanded from her an exhaustive composition upon swine, from the earliest mention of the beast in history, down through all the ages to and including the packing-house age. I would have made Tavia industrious, and perhaps taught her something.
“As for Dorothy—— Well, you have quite mistaken her character, Miss Olaine. She is the soul of truth, and while she may have been loyal to her friend, that should not be considered a crime; should it?
“Let us go now and interview the culprits. And, if you agree, I think they have both had punishment enough. Suppose you tell them to go to their room and that they will not be expected to appear at prayers or breakfast to-morrow morning. I do not approve of my girls losing their beauty sleep.”
And that is why Dorothy and Tavia got out of their difficulty so easily. They didn’t understand it—just then. But Dorothy suspected and she knew that Mrs. Pangborn was far too wise to give them an opportunity to openly face Miss Olaine and have judgment rendered accordingly.
“But I dislike her just the same,” whispered Dorothy.
“Of course we do! And she’ll try to catch us again——”
“Then behave, Tavia. The whole trouble started with your trying to plague her,” declared her friend.