--and hit it out of the goal circle. But the panic which had
been raging in Gerry's soul all the afternoon took complete possession
of her at this critical moment. To her distorted imagination the ball
seemed to have grown to three times its normal size, while Jack,
bearing rapidly down upon her, appeared a veritable juggernaut. The
ball was coming straight towards her, but she did not even attempt to
stop it. Worse even than that: with a little shrill cry of terror she
dropped her stick and fled!

Of course the goal was scored. The Pink goal-keeper was too utterly
flabbergasted at her full back's desertion to do anything but stare
after Gerry's fleeing figure. Jack, however, although she too was
astounded at Gerry's behaviour, kept her wits about her sufficiently to
pounce upon the ball and send it flying between the goalposts, thus
making things even between the two teams again.

The whistle blew for a goal, and Gerry, recovering from her momentary
lapse, returned to her place. She was trembling in every limb,
overcome with shame at her exhibition of fear, and the coldness with
which Monica and the goalkeeper regarded her as she crept forlornly
back to her position did not help her to regain very much of her
equanimity.

Muriel made a desperate effort to recover her lost advantage. But she
could not succeed in breaking down the Green Dormitory's defence again,
and the whistle blew for time at last without either side gaining the
victory.

"Bother!" said Muriel, as she and Monica and one or two other members
of the Pink team walked off the field together. "That means we'll have
to play it again. We ought to have won easily, too. I messed up an
easy shot for goal in the first half--if I'd only got that we should
have been all right."

"_Or_ if that little ass, Gerry Wilmott, hadn't funked," remarked
Monica, rather bitterly. It was she who had given the casting vote in
favour of Gerry's inclusion in the team, and she was feeling more or
less responsible for the fiasco.

"Oh, well, I don't know," said Muriel leniently. "The kid didn't want
to play, I will say that for her. I practically forced her to. It was
my fault, I suppose, really, for making her do it against her will."

"_You_ weren't to know that she was such a little coward, though," said
Monica. Curiously enough it was Monica who was the more down upon
Gerry for her exhibition of fright--Monica, who might have been
expected to have had s