lind; but
I am convinced that no other girl can enact the part with the spirit and
dash that Miss Pierson can. Your part of Celia is very well suited to
you, and you can win plenty of applause playing it. You must understand,
however, that once having given out a part, I should not attempt to take
it from the girl I had given it to simply because some other girl
desired it. That would be both unfair and unjust. The only thing I could
promise you would be to allow you to understudy Rosalind in case
anything happened to Miss Pierson. Would you care to understudy the
part?"

Eleanor was silent for a moment. Miss Tebbs, looking a trifle impatient,
stood awaiting her reply.

"I should like to do that," Eleanor said slowly, a curious light in her
eyes. "Thank you very much, Miss Tebbs."

"You are welcome," replied the teacher. "Be sure and be prompt at
rehearsal next Tuesday."

As Miss Tebbs entered the office, Eleanor turned and walked slowly down
the corridor.

"So Miss Tebbs thinks I ought to be satisfied with 'Celia,'" she
muttered. "Very well, I'll rehearse Celia, but I'll understudy Rosalind,
and it will be very strange if something doesn't happen to Miss
Pierson."

CHAPTER XX

THE ANONYMOUS LETTER

After the parts had been given out, rehearsals for the play went merrily
on. There were many hitches at first, but finally things settled down to
smooth running order, and as the time for its presentation approached
Miss Tebbs had good reason to feel jubilant. Each girl seemed bent on
distinguishing herself, and that teacher was heard laughingly to declare
that she had an "all star cast."

In spite of rehearsals, Grace Harlowe's team found time for a few
basketball games, and whipped the senior team twice in succession, much
to the disgust of Captain Julia Crosby, who threatened to go into deep
mourning over what she called "her dead and gone team." She even
composed a mournful ditty, which she sang in their ears in a wailing
minor key whenever she passed any of them, and practically tormented
them, until they actually did win one hard-fought victory over the
juniors, "just to keep Julia from perpetrating her eternal chant," as
one of them remarked.

Eleanor had outwardly settled down to the routine of school work in a
way that surprised even her aunt. But inwardly she was seething with
rebellion toward Miss Thompson and hatred of the Phi Sigma Tau. She had
fully determined that Anne Pierson should nev