Just Gerry Part 19

It was all very silly and very absurd, but it seemed to the perpetrators of the unkind humour that it was deliciously funny, while to poor Gerry it was almost unendurable. She shut her desk and rose to her feet.

"Why can't you let me alone?" she pleaded, with quivering lips. "Why must you always keep on at me like this?"

"Oh, she hasn't forgotten--she still knows how to say a few words,"

said Phyllis, with an air of mock surprise.

Gerry made towards the door, but Phyllis was blocking the nearest path, and to escape she had to make a detour round the desks. Before she could reach the door, Dorothy gave a little shriek.

"Oh, look, look, Phil!" she cried, in pretended alarm. "Just look at that thing on her shoulders!"

"Where? What?" asked Phyllis; and Gerry, startled for the moment, turned half round, while her hand involuntarily went up to her shoulders. Dorothy broke into a scream of laughter.

"It's no good, German Gerry! It's the Little Black Dog, I meant.

You'll not be able to shake that off by flicking at it."

Phyllis joined in her friend's laughter, and poor Gerry, with an angry glare at her tormentors, bolted out of the cla.s.sroom, her skirt catching the door as she ran and slamming it to behind her.

"Oh, naughty, naughty!" said Phyllis reprovingly. But her victim could not hear. And there being no further amus.e.m.e.nt to be got out of Gerry for the moment, the two girls sauntered off to get ready for dinner, still laughing over Gerry's futile anger.

CHAPTER XX

AN AFTERNOON AT GYM

It happened to be wet that Thursday afternoon, and as all hockey practice was scratched in consequence, a gymnastic cla.s.s was hastily arranged for the Middle School, to take the place of the outdoor exercise.

This quite met with the approval of the girls, the majority of whom were as keen on gymnastics as they were on hockey. An extra practice such as this, too, was specially enjoyable, for drill would be reduced to a minimum, and exercises upon the various apparatus would be the order of the day. The Middle School included the Lower Fifth, the Fifth Remove, and the Upper, Middle, and Lower Fourth Forms; and directly after dinner the girls concerned hurried to their cubicles to change into their gymnastic dresses.

Gerry was not looking forward to the afternoon with quite the same enjoyment as the rest of the Middle School. She was not at all keen upon gym. In fact, she would much rather have played hockey, which, now that she had grown used to it a little, she was really beginning to enjoy. Gym to her was still a very formidable affair, and the giant's stride, rings, vaulting horse, and parallel bars filled her with terror. So far she had escaped very lightly. Miss Caton, the gym mistress, had seen how nervous and frightened the new girl was of all the feats the other girls performed so gaily upon the different apparatus, and she had contented herself with initiating Gerry very slowly into their mysteries. But this afternoon Miss Caton was not taking gym practice. Muriel Paget and three other athletic members of the Sixth were officiating in her place, as Gerry found when she wandered into the gymnasium rather earlier than most people, because her changing had not been delayed by all the talking and excitement prevalent amongst the other girls. There was n.o.body to come into Gerry Wilmott's cubicle in search of a mislaid hair-ribbon, or to borrow a darning-needle to cobble up holes in a stocking which the scantiness of the gymnastic costume might display to the eyes of authority.

The four seniors were gathered at one end of the gym, discussing what exercises they should give the school. Gerry made her way down to the other end, where, curled up against one of the radiators by which the room was warmed, lay Bruno, whom Gerry had not seen for some days past.

She stooped down to pat and caress him, pleased at seeing him again.

Much to her surprise, however, he growled and showed his teeth for a moment, a very unusual thing for Bruno to do. She had never known him anything but good-tempered hitherto, and from the very beginning he had always shown a marked affection for her.

"Why, Bruno, what's the matter? Don't you know me?" Gerry said, keeping, nevertheless, at a safe distance from him. At the sound of her voice the dog rose to his feet, wagging his tail in a deprecating manner and thrusting his nose into her hand as though apologising for his irritability.

"Poor old fellow," said Gerry, cautiously stroking his head. "Wasn't he feeling well then, and did it make him cross?"

A group of girls drew near the radiator, Phyllis Tressider and Dorothy Pemberton amongst them. Gerry, in her absorption in Bruno, did not notice them at first, but Dorothy's sharp eyes soon discovered Gerry.

"Hullo! Look at German Gerry--she's found the black dog!" she said teasingly.

Gerry looked up with a start and flushed scarlet, but she made no reply, and Myra Davies, a girl from the Upper Fourth, inquired curiously:

"What on earth do you mean, Dorothy?"

"Why, German Gerry's found her black dog!" came the jeering answer.

"It was sitting on her shoulders all the morning and she couldn't get it off. I knew it was a pretty big one, didn't you, Phil?" she added, seeing from Gerry's rising colour how surely her remarks were going home, "but I'm hanged if I knew it was such a big one as that."

Gerry closed her lips firmly and braced herself to bear the teasing in stoical silence. She knew it would do no good to say anything. Both Dorothy and Phyllis were far too quick-witted and too ready with their tongues for her to hope to compete with them in repartee. Besides, she knew quite well that if she were to venture to say a word, she would be greeted with a cool and astonished stare, while somebody would murmur something about "Germans," and so effectually silence any remonstrance she might try to make.

Fortunately for her self-control, Muriel turned round at this moment and called out orders for the forms to take up their places; and in the hurry of obeying the head girl's command, Gerry and her black dog were forgotten for the time being. Just before beginning the drilling, however, Muriel caught sight of Bruno, and sharply demanded to know who had let him into the gymnasium.

"Please, Muriel, I think he belongs to Gerry Wilmott," said Phyllis maliciously.

Muriel frowned severely at the girl.

"Don't talk rot, Phyllis," she said squashingly. "I don't know if you think that's funny--but if you do I'm sorry for your sense of humour.

Gerry, did you bring Bruno into the gym?"

"No. He was here when I came in," answered Gerry, still hot and flushed, but very grateful to Muriel for so promptly crushing Phyllis's witticisms. She had been very much afraid that her enemy might have gone on to disclose Miss Burton's remarks in form that morning about the little black dog.

Muriel accepted her explanation without comment.

"Somebody had better turn him out," was all she said. "Phyllis Tressider, you seem to know a good deal about him--you can do it."

Phyllis cast a resentful glance at Gerry. Whenever Phyllis or Dorothy got into trouble with the head girl, they appeared to put it all down to Gerry's account, however unreasonably. There was nothing to be done in the present instance, however, but to obey the order, and Phyllis, leaving her place in the ranks, laid her hand rather roughly on Bruno's collar.

"Come along!" she said impatiently, attempting to drag the dog to his feet.

Bruno resisted her efforts to move him, and gave an ominous growl and snap which caused Phyllis to remove her hand from his collar with alacrity.

"I don't know what's the matter with him, Muriel, but he looks as though he was going to bite!" she exclaimed.

The head girl came over to her side.

"Nonsense!" she said. "Bruno bite? Why, he's the best-tempered dog I ever came across!" and she held out her hand coaxingly to the big black fellow.

But Bruno resisted all her blandishments, retreating farther into his corner, and at last Muriel thought it wiser to let him alone.

"Oh, well, perhaps he'd better stay," she said. "He seems very bad-tempered and unlike himself to-day. He won't be much in the way if he stays where he is now. Everybody will have to take care not to tread on him while marching round, that's all. Now, are you ready?

Right turn! Lower Fifth, lead off in single file. Go!"

After some ten minutes or so of marching and arm and body exercises, Muriel ordered the girls to stand aside while the various apparatus were made ready. This was the time for which the girls were longing.

Soon they were divided into four sections and sent to different parts of the room to practise on the apparatus under the supervision of the four prefects. The giant's stride was perhaps the most popular. This was a form of gymnastics in which the whole school delighted, and many envious glances were cast at the Lower Fifth, to which, as the most senior form in the Middle School, the giant's stride had fallen first of all.

"Come on, Gerry, here's a rope for you!" called Muriel to the new girl.

Muriel had undertaken to direct the operations on the stride. But Gerry hung back.

"Please, Muriel, need I? I can't do it, really I can't. Miss Caton always lets me off it."

"Nonsense! Come along at once!" said Muriel impatiently. "I'll help you for the first round or two. You'll soon get used to it." And without heeding Gerry's remonstrances, she insisted upon the girl coming into the ring and taking her place at a rope.

"Hold on firmly with both hands to the bar," the prefect directed.

"Swing your body well forward when we begin to move and I'll give you a good push-off."