Just Gerry Part 12

At length it came to Gerry's turn to be questioned.

"You'll come in, Gerry, of course," remarked Dorothy, in a nicer tone of voice than she had ever before used towards the new girl.

For a moment Gerry hesitated. It seemed to her that they had not given the new form-mistress much of a chance. She might be nicer in a day or two--it would surely be kinder to wait a little while before declaring such open war upon her. But, on the other hand, it seemed as though a door had been suddenly opened which would lead to all the things Gerry most longed for--popularity, the sympathy of her form, Jack's coveted friendship. All the while Dorothy and Jack had been arguing with and persuading the other waverers to join the strike, Gerry had been battling strenuously within her own heart. She wanted, oh, so badly!

to throw in her lot with the rest of the form. Marks and favour with the mistresses meant so little in comparison with all the other important aspects of school life. Jack's hand was on her shoulder, Jack's friendship lay open to her--Gerry instinctively felt--if she would only throw in her lot with the rest of the Lower Fifth. And after all, why shouldn't she? She had really had more provocation than any of the others, for it was she who had suffered the unjust and humiliating punishment. She looked at Jack, and at the eager expression on Jack's face she threw her conscientious scruples to the winds.

"Yes, I'll come in," she said, and Dorothy turned to the rest of the form with an air of triumph.

"That's all right, then. We're all in it. What prep has that old beast set us for to-night? Learn by heart that speech of Henry the Fifth's, work right through the algebra exercise, and write five hundred words in German on 'Spring.' Thank the Lord, she teaches us German! It will be some consolation for the rows we're bound to get into, to think we shall be able to cut out that beastly German for a bit. What does that leave us for to-night? French, history a.n.a.lysis for Miss Latham, and that science paper for Miss White. Good! We shall have a jolly slack time in prep to-night, shan't we?"

"There'll be an awful bust up on Monday morning, though," said Hilda Burns.

Hilda was still rather doubtful about the strike. As head of the form, she could not help feeling that she was slightly responsible for its good behaviour, and might be called to account for its lawlessness by the powers that were. But she was not strong enough to stand up against Dorothy and Phyllis and their powerful following, so she cast in her lot with the rebels and said no more against the graceless plan.

CHAPTER XIII

A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS

Gerry pa.s.sed quite a cheerful dinner hour at Table Five that day. Jack had pushed Nita Fleming aside just before lunch and had herself taken the place next to Gerry.

"You don't mind, old girl, do you?" she said to Nita. "But I want to sit next to Gerry Wilmott, just for a change."

"I don't mind," said Nita good-naturedly, used to Jack's vagaries. And when Gerry arrived at the table, she found to her delight and surprise that Jack was to be her next-door neighbour.

"Thought I'd change with Nita to-day," observed Jack laconically, as, grace having been said, the girls sat down in their chairs. "I get fed up with sitting in one place all the time." And then, as though afraid to pursue the subject any further, she made haste to change the conversation.

"What's for dinner to-day?" she asked, as the maids began to hand round plates with a speed and dexterity born of much practice. "Oh, hang it all--it's boiled mutton again! And I bet you anything you like it will be boiled suet roll afterwards! Matron always likes to arrange things like that. Boiled mutton, boiled potatoes, boiled turnips--what did I tell you? I put my money on boiled suet roll for sweets."

"You're too optimistic," said Nita gloomily. "I feel in my bones it's going to be rice pudding. Or if it isn't rice it'll be sago. If there's one pudding I loathe worse than rice it's sago!"

"It won't be sago to-day," said Jack cheerfully. "We had sago on Wednesday. No--it'll be boiled suet roll, you just see if it isn't.

Louie darling,"--to the maid who was handing her vegetables at the moment,--"what's for pudding to-day? Do tell us, there's an angel! Is it sago or rice or boiled suet roll? Tell us the worst at once and let's get it over."

"None of them, miss; it's treacle tart to-day," replied the maid, with a grin. Jack was as thoroughly popular with the maids as she was with everybody else at Wakehurst, and the little shriek of joy which the girl emitted at her announcement made Louie determined to see that the school favourite received a good-sized share of the popular sweet.

"Hurrah! Now I can even manage to eat a little boiled mutton," said Jack. And setting to work she tackled her viands with an appet.i.te which drew forth a sardonic remark from Nita.

"For a person who doesn't like boiled mutton, I must say you're managing to get it down pretty well," she said.

"Ah, but you see, the thought of treacle tart to follow sustains me,"

replied Jack, quite unabashed. "What's your favourite pudding, Gerry?

Treacle tart or the apple pie we get on Sundays? I wonder why on Sundays it is always apple pie?"

"It's one of the rules of the Medes and Persians," said Nita, "that's why."

"Which do you like best, Gerry?" persisted Jack.

"Apple pie, I think," said Gerry, laughing, as much with pleasure at being included in the conversation again after all these weeks of exile as with amus.e.m.e.nt at Jack's nonsense--which was put on, as she very well knew, to hide the awkwardness of this reconciliation. Gerry, like Jack, felt shy at the thought of any sort of "scene" taking place, and was only too glad to fall back into friendly ways in this commonplace manner. It was rather a case of making conversation all through that meal, but Gerry responded bravely to Jack's efforts. And both girls felt that they were well on the way towards renewing the friendship which had been so nearly formed between them on the first evening of the term.

"I say, are you walking with anyone this afternoon?" asked Jack abruptly, when, dinner being over, the girls were leaving the dining-hall.

"I'm playing hockey," replied Gerry regretfully. "Worse luck!"

"_Worse luck_?" said Jack in astonishment. Then remembering some of Gerry's reasons for disliking the game, she coloured violently. "Oh, well, never mind," she said quickly. "I was going to ask you to be my walk-partner, but of course if you're playing hockey you can't."

"I'm awfully sorry," said Gerry. "I should have liked to have walked with you very much."

"We'll fix up another day," said Jack. "Let's see; to-morrow's Sat.u.r.day, so there'll be no walk, as there's a first eleven hockey match to watch. Sunday, I'm engaged to Nita. Monday, I've got hockey.

Tuesday--is Tuesday one of your hockey days?"

"No, not next week," replied Gerry.

"Well, then, will you be my walk-partner on Tuesday?"

"I'd love to," said Gerry, in a tone that left no doubt of her sincerity. And so the two parted--Jack to get ready for her walk, and Gerry to array herself in her hockey dress with a glow of happiness in her heart which even the memory of her hour of humiliation in the cla.s.s-room could not subdue.

Things really seemed to have taken a turn for the better for Gerry at last. Once again Muriel appeared to take the K teams' hockey practice, and once again Gerry managed to win the approval of the head girl. At the conclusion of the game, Muriel again elected to walk down to the school with her protegee, and signified her pleasure at Gerry's improvement in her play.

"I don't know that you'll ever be very first cla.s.s, but there's no reason at all why you shouldn't turn out a very useful player. I'm going to move you up into H. Alice Metcalfe will be your coach there.

I'll tell her to put you on the forward line somewhere and train you for forward altogether. Your next practice will be Monday. How are things going for you in your form now--better? I saw you laughing quite a lot at dinner to-day, so I rather imagine that they are."

"Oh yes, thank you--they're much better," declared Gerry, rather confused at the sudden interest evinced in her affairs by the head girl. Muriel was quick to perceive her confusion, and attributing it to the right cause made haste to turn the conversation, and talked hockey exclusively during the remainder of the walk to the school.

True to their compact, the whole of the Lower Fifth refrained from doing a stroke of work for their new form-mistress in preparation that evening, although one or two of the girls felt rather doubtful as to what the consequences of this "direct action" might be. Gerry especially was troubled with qualms of conscience. Not that she was especially afraid of consequences--she was too happy at being taken at last into favour by her form to trouble very much about them. But Gerry had a capacity for putting herself into other people's places which was rather unusual in a girl so young; and do what she would, she could not quite banish the mistress's side of the case from her mind.

Miss Burton was new and strange. She would probably grow more human in time if the girls did not too openly set themselves against her. And it was horrible to be unpopular. Gerry had had full opportunity of finding out how horrible unpopularity was. She was trying so hard to be brave--to live up to Muriel Paget's estimate of her--wasn't it rather cowardly to go against her conscience like this just for the sake of gaining the good opinion of her form-mates? Gerry had a long wrestle with her conscience as she sat at her desk that evening, when, all the rest of her preparation done, she was debating within herself whether or not she should start upon the work Miss Burton had set. But in the end, her longing for Jack's friendship overcame her sense of right and wrong. And she stifled back the small protesting voice within her.

"I promised the others I wouldn't, and I can't break my promise now,"

she argued to herself.

And when the bell rang for the end of preparation, the struggle was over. Friendship had won, and Gerry, in company with the rest of the Lower Fifth, had left undone the whole of the work that Miss Burton had set.

CHAPTER XIV

CHESTNUTS

The week-end went by much more happily than Gerry would have believed possible a few days ago. The members of the Lower Fifth were rather shy of her as a whole, it is true. But although, with the exception of Jack and Nita, they made no positive advances towards the new girl, yet they did not behave nearly as coldly as they had been doing of late.

And Jack was friendly enough to make up for all the others. She was rather fixed up with partners for the various week-end events; but she chattered away gaily to Gerry at meal-times, invited her to stand with Nita and herself to watch the hockey match on the Sat.u.r.day afternoon, and generally did her utmost to make Gerry feel happy and at home.

On Sunday evening after tea, Gerry, who had put in an attendance at both the morning services and had so secured exemption from the evening service at St. Peter's, went to the library to find a book. Having procured one which promised to be interesting, she returned to the Lower Fifth sitting-room, and finding it empty, curled herself up on the hearthrug in front of the fire, and prepared for a happy if somewhat solitary evening. She had not been established there very long, however, before the door opened and Jack came into the room.

She dropped down beside Gerry on the hearth-rug and peered over her shoulder at the book.