CHAPTER XVIII
THE END OF THE STRIKE
One thing Gerry's defection certainly had done—it had quite broken the strike. Phyllis and Dorothy tried their best to spur up the courage of the form again, but it was of no use. There were waverers, but the unity of the Lower Fifth was destroyed. Unless the greater part of the form would consent to down books, the strike was bound to fail. It would be no good for just a few of the girls to refuse to do their preparation.
"Then I suppose we'd better set to work and try and rub up some of Miss Burton's stuff," said Dorothy at last, with sulky resignation. "I've got Muriel's directions for literature down, but nothing for German or algebra. Anybody remember what she set us this morning?"
Nobody had actually taken down the preparation for the new form-mistress, but one or two people had vague recollections of what it ought to have been, and during the short time that remained that evening, a real effort was made by the class to prepare a little for the next day's lessons. Contrary to general expectation, Miss Burton turned up to take her refractory form the next morning,—the prevailing opinion in the Lower Fifth had been that she would "funk" it,—and she was so agreeably surprised at her pupils' change of attitude that she made considerable allowance for deficiencies.
At the end of the morning's work, when lesson after lesson had passed and the Lower Fifth still remained dutifully attentive and amenable to discipline, the mistress's relief was so great that she was emboldened to make a short speech upon the subject.
"I am very glad to see that you have repented of your rebellious behaviour of yesterday," she said primly, blinking at her form a little nervously, nevertheless, over her spectacles. "Since you have made up your minds to submit to my authority, we will let bygones be bygones, and I will refrain from reporting your disobedience to Miss Oakley. You have had a very narrow escape, though. If Miss Oakley had not been away yesterday, I should most certainly have reported your conduct to her at once."
Then, as though repenting of her leniency, she went on in a more severe tone.
"But because I have let you off this time, you must not imagine that I shall do so again. I shall expect very much better work from you for the future. Your preparation for this morning's lessons was very far from perfect, and you will need to work very much harder to attain the standard I shall expect from you. Your algebra examples, Geraldine Wilmott, were especially badly prepared."
That, upon the whole, was hardly surprising! Gerry had been so miserable the previous evening, that it was a wonder that she had been able to do any preparation at all. The Lower Fifth smiled in broad amusement as the mistress made this pointed remark. It struck them as screamingly funny that Miss Burton should have picked out Gerry's work for special condemnation, when it was really entirely through Gerry that the form had done any work at all. They had yet to learn how fond life is of playing such practical jokes.
"It's all very well for her to talk like that," said Hilda Burns when the subject came up for discussion in the Lower Fifth sitting-room after tea that evening. The form was waiting for the bell to ring to summons it to preparation. "But she's jolly pleased not to have to report us to the Head! I happen to know that Miss Burton was most frightfully upset about us on Monday morning. It seems that Miss Oakley gave Burtie a pretty broad hint about not sneaking about us all the time—after that chestnut affair of yours on Sunday evening, Jack. Burtie was downright scared at the thought of having to go to her again so soon."
"How on earth do you know that?" said Jack grumpily. Jack had been grumpy all day. In fact, Nita declared that for some unknown reason she had been in a perfect wax ever since preparation the night before.
"Why, I was in the library just before tea, changing a book, and Monica was library monitress, and while I was hunting round the shelves Kathleen Milne came in to look up something for Miss Latham. And they began to talk about our little affair, and Kathleen said that Muriel had told her that Miss Latham had told her that it was no end of a relief to Miss Burton when we caved in. For Burtie was afraid that if there was another row Miss Oakley would have given her the sack."
"Doesn't sound much like Miss Latham to talk like that," said Jack scathingly.
"Oh, well, of course you don't suppose she said it like that, do you, donkey?" said Hilda impatiently. "That was what Kathleen said Muriel said, at least something like. I didn't hear any more, because Monica saw me listening and shut Kathleen up. Monica's always so awfully virtuous about not discussing the mistresses."
"It's jolly sickening to think how near we were to getting rid of that Burton beast," commented Dorothy, with a malicious look at Gerry, who was sitting forlornly at the table, attempting to engross herself in a book. "If it hadn't been for German sneaks we should have got her turned out in a week!"
"Yes—and got ourselves into a jolly fine row into the bargain," said Jack fiercely. "You're forgetting that part of it, Dorothy Pemberton."
Dorothy opened wide eyes at what she considered was an entirely unprovoked attack.
"All right, Jack Pym. Keep your hair on!" she retorted, with dignity. "You seem to forget that you were one of the ones who was keenest on the strike before that rotten German kid muffed the whole business for us."
A stifled exclamation came from the table where Gerry was sitting, and the new girl rose to her feet and hurried out of the room.
A spiteful chuckle came from Phyllis Tressider.
"You seem to have upset German Gerry, Dolly," she remarked to her chum.
Jack sprang to her feet in a sudden flare of temper. The abruptness of her movement upset the chair she was sitting upon, and she kicked at it viciously.
"Oh, you two! You are the meanest, caddiest girls in the whole school! Why can't you leave Gerry in peace?" she stormed angrily.
"My hat! Listen to the preacher!" jeered Dorothy, unperturbed. "I didn't know you'd turned into such a protector of the helpless, Jack. You'd better go after your precious friend and console her, if you're so jolly fond of her as all 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 deter her from taking Gerry's part any longer. Not that there was any real danger of her getting into their bad books. In her heart of hearts she knew very well that her standing in the school was strong enough to withstand any attempts Dorothy and Phyllis might make to stir up feeling against her. But Jack could not bear the thought of being unpopular with anybody. And when Nita got up and slipped her arm affectionately round her neck, with a caressing:
"You're surely not going to be such an ass as to try and take up with Gerry Wilmott again, are you, old thing?" she succumbed entirely.
"Of course I'm not going to take her up again," she said, with dignity. "She's such a little coward that I couldn't be friends with her, however much I might like her otherwise. But I do hate to hear Dorothy ragging her so. She and Phyllis are perpetually nagging at her and making beastly remarks in her hearing. It's so jolly mean to be always doing things like that!"
"I agree with you, there," said Nita. "I think we all do, except Dorothy and Phyllis. I vote we just let her alone now. As Jack says, it's beastly mean to keep on saying rotten things about her being German and a sneak, however much she may be one really."
"Who wants to keep on saying rotten things to her?" Dorothy said testily, realising that for once popular opinion was against her. "I'm sure I don't. I never want to see or speak to her again! I wish to goodness she'd never come to the school! Nearly every row we've had this term has been through her or about her in some way."
"There's the bell for prep," said Jack suddenly, glad of the opportunity of breaking off the conversation. "Come on, Nita, let's buck up and go in."
And the Lower Fifth ceased its wrangling over poor Gerry and hastened into the class-room.