Mabel Hinton, a Queen’s Cottage freshman, now popped her head in at the door, which was half open. She was a very odd character, but she was popular with her friends, who called her “The Martian,” probably because she had a phenomenal intellect and wore enormous glasses in tortoise shell frames which made her eyes look like a pair of full moons.
“I thought I heard a racket,” she said in her crisp, catchy voice. “I suppose you are all discussing the news.”
“News? What news?” they demanded.
She closed the door carefully and came farther into the room.
“Gather around me, girls,” she said mysteriously, enjoying their curiosity.
“But what is it, Mabel? Don’t keep us in suspense,” cried Judy, always impatient.
“Well, there is evidence that someone was going to set fire to the gym. to-night,” she began, in a whisper. “This morning a bundle of oil-soaked rags was discovered in a closet, and then they began to search and found several other bundles like the first. There was a lot of excitement, and the Prex came over. They tried to keep it quiet, but the story leaked out, of course, and is still leaking——” she smiled.
The girls exchanged horrified glances. What terrible disaster might not have befallen them if the rags had not been discovered?
“Of course it was the work of an insane person,” said Margaret Wakefield.
“Of course, but who? Is she one of the students or some outside person?”