that."

"I've a jolly good mind to," said Jack, still furious. "I think the
way we're all treating her is a beastly mean shame."

"What! Do you mean to say you'd be friends with a kid who got you and
Nita into such a row over those chestnuts?" cried Phyllis.

Jack hesitated. Those chestnuts rankled in her mind badly. It was
very careless of Gerry! Still, it _might_ have been an accident, and,
anyway, Gerry had been punished for it too, even if not quite so
heavily as she and Nita. Dorothy saw her hesitation and quickly
interposed. She had no wish to see Jack Pym friends again with Gerry.
Dorothy had a shrewd suspicion of what Jack's friendship meant to the
lonely new girl, and she was determined to prevent any sort of
reconciliation if she possibly could.

"Did _you_ think it could possibly have been an accident?" she asked,
addressing Nita Fleming, the other unfortunate victim of Gerry's
carelessness.

"I don't know," said Nita doubtfully. "At the time I thought it was,
but afterwards--well, I really don't see how it _could_ have been quite
accidental," she ended up.

"Of course it wasn't an accident!" broke in Phyllis scornfully. "It
was just what you would expect of a German sneak. Hasn't she been
getting us into trouble all through the term? Have you forgotten the
way she stopped your trial for the hockey eleven in the beginning of
term, so that Muriel put Gertie Page in, instead? You can't say we
haven't given her a chance. We were all quite decent to her after Miss
Burton dropped down upon her in class the other day--and now look how
she's paid us out! It was principally for her sake that we decided to
strike at all, and then, when we're all deep into it, she goes and
backs out! It's just what you'd expect of a German Gerry, though," she
wound up contemptuously.

This was a way of twisting things round with a vengeance! Jack could
not help feeling that it was more than unjust to Gerry. But Phyllis's
ability of proving black was white was too much for Jack, who felt
quite unable to argue with her. And a remark made by Dorothy clinched
matters for the time being.

"If you _do_ make friends with her again, we won't have anything to do
with you either," she declared spitefully.

And this was more than Jack was brave enough to stand.

All through her school life Jack had been extraordinarily popular, and
the bare thought of being out of favour with her schoolfellows was
sufficient to det