Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten! Eleven! Twelve!
“Washington Rah! Washington Rah! Katherine Adams, Rah! Rah! Rah!”
SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN! EIGHTEEN! NINETEEN! TWENTY!
“WASHINGTON RAH! KATHERINE RAH! KATHERINE AD——”
The umpire ran along the net, holding up her hands, and the teams broke ranks.
“Washington High winner in the volley ball game!” shouted the scorekeeper through her megaphone. “Score, twenty-one to fifteen!”
And the grandstand thundered at Katherine, who suddenly got stage fright when it was all over and stood pigeon-toed with her head hanging down. Then she noticed for the first time that her middy was on hind side before and the long collar was down in front. Her horrified expression threw the spectators into convulsions. They had been laughing at it all through the game, but her amazing performance had made it a secondary consideration.
A few moments later she strolled nonchalantly into the grandstand and sat down among the Winnebagos. “That certainly is a strenuous game for a person with a dellyket constitooshun like mine,” she remarked ruefully, rubbing her swollen knuckles. Three fingers were sprained as a result of doing all the volleying for twelve girls, but she didn’t think it worth while to mention the matter.
Thus passed the days, filled to overflowing with fun and excitement. Katherine, thoroughly uncomfortable in a crisp new white dress and blue sash, tripped blithely along the elm-shaded avenue in the glow of the late June sunset. It was the night of the class banquet, and her mind was intent on the speech she was to make. Thus absorbed, she did not watch where she was going, and a sprawling root from a big tree tripped her unexpectedly and brought her to her knees on the soft lawn. Brought into such close contact with the ground, she spied something lying at the foot of the giant oak beside which she had fallen. It was a black leather bill fold, with a heavy elastic band around it.
“Daggers and dirks!” said Katherine, borrowing the Captain’s favorite expression. “What’s this?” She slipped off the elastic band and opened the bill fold. Across the inner flap there was a name printed in gold letters. Katherine squinted at the name and explored the inner recesses of the wallet. She took one look and hastily bound the wallet together again with its elastic and dropped it gingerly into her hand bag, as if it were red hot. Then she proceeded on her way, more absorbed than ever, but the thing her brain was intent on now was not her banquet speech.