cal defect. Gerry, who, although
delicate, had nothing really organically wrong with her, was obliged to
take her turn with the rest; but she disliked the muddy pastime
immensely, and took no interest in trying to improve her play. She was
put down in the very lowest team of all, along with quite small
children and a few other beginners like herself; and although the
prefect who took charge of the hockey practice tried occasionally to
"buck up" the slack girl from the Lower Fifth, she, herself, was not
very interested in the game and met with no success.

Just before half-term, a series of dormitory matches was arranged by
the head girl, who was captain of the first team and immensely keen on
the game. Muriel was naturally anxious that her own dormitory should
distinguish itself, and she selected her team with great care and much
anxious thought. Several of the matches had been played, and so far
the Pink Dormitory had been victorious against all the opponents they
had met. Now they were down to play against the Green Dormitory, a
very powerful rival, which also possessed, so far, an unbroken record.
It was pretty certain that the Dormitory Hockey Cup, which was the
prize of these inter-school matches, would go to one or the other of
these two teams, and excitement in the school ran high as the day
approached on which the final match was to be played.

There were thirty inhabitants of the Pink Dormitory, so it ought to
have been possible to have chosen eleven players from amongst them
without having to fall back upon one who had only begun to play that
term, and who hated hockey into the bargain. Nevertheless, by a series
of unlucky accidents, the number of possible players was gradually
reduced, until on the very morning of the day fixed for the match
against the Green Dormitory, Muriel found herself confronted with the
problem of choosing between Geraldine Wilmott and a small girl from the
Middle Third for her eleventh player. In her perplexity she consulted
Monica, who, although she was not in the first school eleven, was quite
a useful player and Muriel's principal reliance in the Pink team.

"There's literally no one else," the head girl said in despair.
"Gladys and Bee are away for the week-end. Dora Wainscott's got a
gathered hand, so she's out of the question; Ena Philpotts mayn't play
at all this term; Sister's taking Pam to the dentist's this afternoon;
and Ursula Hanson is going out with her aunt.