"Sit down, Allison, I wanted to speak to you about Monica."
"The subject's rather an interesting one, Miss Julian," replied Allison, smiling. "Is she better?"
"Yes, practically herself now. She is a highly strung, imaginative type of child, though, apt to exaggerate and to take things very much to heart. That has largely been the cause of the trouble, I believe."
"Has anything fresh come to light about that telegram, Miss Julian?"
The Principal nodded. "Yes. I was not in the least satisfied with my interview with the girl a week or so ago. She made no attempt to deny her part in the affair—confessed it quite frankly, in fact—but beyond a few bald statements I could get nothing out of her. I did not consider I knew enough either to condemn or acquit, and in order to get to the bottom of it I wrote a letter to the Principal of Fairhurst Priory School."
"What a splendid idea!" cried Allison, who was deeply interested and listening with close attention. "Have you had an answer yet?"
"Last Wednesday, by the afternoon post. The other girl, whose name is Lilian Dredge, confessed everything when taxed by her Principal. It appears that she is by no means the best type of girl we have in our schools. She professed to admire a girl like Monica, who openly defied authority, but she lacked the courage to follow her example except in little underhand ways that would not be judged with much severity even if discovered. She was the only girl willing to be friendly with Monica during her short stay at the school, the others shunning her because of her unfriendly, hostile disposition. Monica accepted this girl's professed friendship without caring in the least about it, and knowing perfectly well that it would last only as long as Lilian thought it to her advantage."
"Then it wasn't really friendship at all?"
"No, not really. Lilian is evidently the kind of girl—and there are such to be found in our schools, though happily they are rare—who takes little interest in anything belonging to school life except the games, and even though she cares for games she seems to lack the spirit of good sportsmanship which they are supposed to develop. She is a good hockey player, a member of the school eleven that had already won the shield two years in succession, and was able to make use of this skill of hers in courting a certain measure of popularity among the other girls. She was anxious for her team to win the shield this year, and after St. Etheldreda's defeated Stavely High School she regarded us as their most dangerous opponents and the only team the Priory really had to fear."
"That accounts for her letter, then?" interrupted Allison eagerly.