“Oh, I don’t know what to do!” cried Doris. “I am just as miserable and wretched as I can be. It seems to me that every one is false and treacherous.”
“Not every one, dear,” murmured Zona, again clasping her friend. “You know you can trust me.”
Doris began to quiver:
“I—I—believe I—must cry!”
She could not keep back the tears of vexation and injured pride which welled from her eyes.
When the two girls reached the academy and were met by others who inquired about the game, Zona explained how Fardale had lost, and declared that both she and Doris had felt so badly over it they came near “crying their eyes out.”
Alone in her room, Doris gave way to her feelings, and the result of that “good cry” relieved the strain on her nerves so that she felt much better after it. Still she continued to think with perplexity and vexation of what Chester Arlington had told her.
Shortly after sunset, with the dusk of evening coming on, a carriage stopped before the academy, and June Arlington ran up the steps. She found Doris and Zona together in their room.
“Oh, girls!” she exclaimed. “I have a splendid plan! Mother has agreed to it, and I think it will be just fine! I am going to have the members of the baseball team and a few others at my house this evening, and I want you to come. I am going to invite several of the girls here, and we will have a jolly time. You know the boys feel so badly over that game that I think we ought to cheer them up. Now, what girls shall we invite?”
“That’s splendid!” laughed Zona. “Why, it’s almost an impromptu party! I wonder if we can obtain leave to go, Doris?”