It was probably lucky for them, if not for Lottie, that things turned out this way. For as Lottie, sputtering and blowing, came to the surface, the girls noticed that several teachers were hurrying from the direction of the Hall.
Certainly, it was no laughing matter now!
Lottie dragged herself into the rowboat that she had missed by a few inches. She was a sorry spectacle indeed, with her hair matted close to her head and her clothes dripping lake water.
As the teachers—there were three of them, Miss Blitz, Miss Tully and Madame Briais—reached the dock, the girls stepped back respectfully and Lottie set up a loud wail.
"They pushed me over! They tried to drown me! They'd like to see me drowned, the horrid old things!"
This would have sounded funny to the girls if the accusation had not verged on the truth. They had no thought of drowning Lottie, of course. That accusation was absurd. Nor had they pushed her into the lake. But they had been pursuing her in no friendly spirit.
Miss Tully, who rather dominated the other teachers of the school when Miss Romaine was not present, commanded the girls sharply:
"You will all go to the Hall and to your rooms until we learn the truth of this disgraceful proceeding. Lottie Sparks," turning to the girl who was trying to wring some of the moisture from her sodden garments, "go up to the house and change your clothes. Then report at Miss Romaine's office. She will hear your story."
Madame Briais started forward as though she intended to speak, but Miss Tully silenced her with a grim look.
Smarting under a sense of injustice, the girls trooped back to the Hall, talking gloomily about the episode and wondering what the outcome would be. The one bright spot was Lottie's ducking.