ge. "You have not done so. In fact you have stated quite the
opposite. On the contrary, I must also accept Miss Martin's word that
she is speaking the truth as she sees it."

"Thank you, Miss Rutledge," was Dorothy's sole comment.

"If Miss Stearns wins against Miss Seaton at the new try-out it will be
by pure luck," declared Selina, with a desperate attempt at retrieving
her previous incautious remark.

"There will, at least, be no question of unfair treatment involved."

The blunt reply should have warned Selina that she was not bettering her
case. Instead, her belated attempt at caution flew away on the wings of
anger.

"I think it's very unfair to Marian Seaton to hold another try-out!" she
exclaimed. "She won her position on the team fairly enough. This whole
affair is nothing but a plot to put Miss Stearns on the team and drop
Miss Seaton from it. Miss Stearns has four friends on the sophomore team
who have persuaded the freshman team to do what they themselves don't
dare do. As Miss Martin has frankly accused both Miss Nelson and myself
of unfairness, I will say plainly that I think her a party to the plot.
I dare say Miss Stearns knows all about it."

"Miss Brown, you are not here to criticize my methods," sternly rebuked
the dean. "Granted that you are entitled to your own opinion, harsh as
it is, you must either be in a position to prove your accusations or
else not make them. Can you prove them?"

"No, I can't. Neither can Dorothy Martin prove hers."

"I can obtain the signatures of at least thirty girls who were of the
same mind as myself at the try-out."

It had come to a point where Dorothy refused longer to remain mute.
Incensed by Selina's bold attempt to malign her friends and herself, she
now turned to Miss Rutledge and said:

"I wish you to know, Miss Rutledge, that the four sophomores chosen,
besides Miss Seaton, to make the team fully intended to resign from it
because of their loyalty to Miss Stearns. She begged them not to do so.
She was very brave over the disappointment. I am positive that neither
she nor her friends would be guilty of asking the girls of the freshman
team to take up the matter. Certainly I would not."

"I know you would not," quietly reassured the dean. "We will drop this
discussion where it now stands. It is unbecoming, to say the least. I am
greatly annoyed that it should have arisen among members of the senior
class. It is ended. Let it be forgotten. The try-out