The Girls of Central High Aiding the Red Cross | Page 4

passed it on me," murmured
the big fellow.
"Would you know him again?" Lance asked.
"Sure," returned his chum, getting his own coat and hat while his sister
put on her outdoor clothing. "All ready? We're going, Pa."
"Remember what I said about that bill, Chetwood," Mr. Belding
admonished him. "You will learn after this, I guess, to look at both
sides of a hundred-dollar bill--or any other--when it is offered to you."
"Aw, it's a good hundred, I bet," grumbled Chet.
"If it is, I'll add an extra fifty to my Red Cross subscription," rejoined
his father with some tartness.
"Well, that's something!" Bobby Hargrew said quickly. "We want to
boost the fund all we can. And what do you think?"
"My brain has stopped functioning entirely since I got so bothered by
that bank-note," declared Laura Belding, shaking her head. "I can't
think."
"Mr. Sharp and the rest of the faculty have agreed that we shall give a
show for the Red Cross," declared Bobby, with enthusiasm. "Just what
we wanted them to do!"
"Oh, joy!" cried Jess, clasping her hands in delight.
"Miss Josephine Morse, leading lady, impressarioess, and so forth,"
laughed Lance Darby, "will surely be in on the theatricals."
"Maybe they will let you write the play, Jess," said Chet admiringly.
They reached the door and stepped into the street. There had been rain
and a freeze. The sidewalks, as well as the highway itself, were slippery.
Bobby suddenly screamed:

"See there! Oh! He'll be killed!"
A rapidly-driven automobile turned the corner by the Belding store. A
man was crossing Market Street, coming toward the group of young
people.
The careless driver had not put on his chains. The car skidded. The next
instant the pedestrian was knocked down, and at least one wheel ran
over his prostrate body.
Instead of stopping, the car went into high speed and dashed up the
street and was quickly out of sight. The young people ran to the
prostrate man. Nobody for the moment thought of the automobile
driver who was responsible for the affair.
The victim had blood on his face from a cut high up on his crown. He
was unconscious. It was Chet Belding who stood up and spoke, first of
all.
"I thought so! I thought so!" he gasped. "Do you know who this is?"
"Who?" asked Jess, clinging to his arm as the crowd gathered.
"This is the man who passed that phony hundred-dollar bill on me. The
very one!"
"Is he dead?" whispered Bobby Hargrew, looking under Chefs elbow
down at the crimson-streaked face of the unfortunate man.

CHAPTER II
THE RED CROSS GIRL
Market street was well lighted, but it was not well policed. That last
fact could not be denied, or the recklessly driven automobile that had
knocked down the stranger would never have got away so easily.
People from both sides of the street and from the stores near by ran to

the spot; but no policeman appeared until long after the automobile was
out of sight.
The exciting statement that Chet Belding had made so interested and
surprised his friends that for a few moments they gave the victim of the
injury little of their attention. Meanwhile a figure glided into the group
and knelt beside the injured man who lay upon the ice-covered street. It
was a girl, not older than Laura and Jess, but one who was dressed in
the veil and cloak of the Red Cross.
She was not the only Red Cross worker on Market Street that Saturday
evening, for the drive for the big Red Cross fund had begun, and many
workers were collecting. This girl, however seemed to have a practical
knowledge of first-aid work. She drew forth a small case, wiped the
blood away from the man's face with cotton, and then began to bandage
the wound as his head rested against her knee.
"Somebody send for the ambulance," she commanded, in a clear and
pleasant voice. "I think he has a fractured leg, and he may be hurt
otherwise."
Her request brought the three girls of Central High to their senses.
Bobby darted away to telephone to the hospital from her father's store.
The older girls offered the Red Cross worker their aid.
For a year and a half the girls of Central High had been interested in the
Girls' Branch League athletics; and with their training under Mrs. Case,
the athletic instructor, they had all learned something about first-aid
work.
The girls of Centerport had changed in character without a doubt since
the three high schools of the city had become interested so deeply in
girls' athletics. With the high schools of Keyport and Lumberport, an
association of league units had been formed, and the girls of the five
educational