It was not likely that Ruth found it any easier, after this, to attend strictly to her school duties, but after her conversation with Mrs. Tellingham she had put forth a greater effort to recover her standing in her class.
Whether Mrs. Parsons' necklace was found, or not; whether Ruth obtained a portion of the reward in pay for the information she had lodged, the girl realized that she had no right to neglect her studies.
She had come to one conclusion at least: whether or no, she would not break into that fifty dollars Uncle Jabez had given her so unwillingly. And she would use no more of his money for vacation jaunts, or for luxuries.
"I must accept his help in gaining my education," she told herself. "But beyond that, I need not go. I have gone about, and had good times, and bought many things just as though I really had a right to expect Uncle Jabez to supply every need.
"No more of that, Ruth Fielding! You prate of wishing to be independent: be so in any event!"
She was young to come to such a determination; yet Ruth's experiences since her parents had died were such as would naturally make her self-assertive. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it!
As for the matter of the new gymnasium suit—why! that Ruth gave up entirely. She decided that she had no business to use Uncle Jabez's money for it, and of course she could not go into debt for a new costume.
No matter what the other girls thought, or what they did, she would have to be content with her old uniform when it came to the exhibition games.
She did not have the courage yet to tell even Helen of this decision; nevertheless she was determined to stick to it. At once she had begun to pick up in recitation marks, and Miss Gould no longer scowled over Ruth's reports.
The strain of mind had been considerable, however; Ruth had much to make up in her studies; she wasted no time and began to forge ahead again.