Gerry caught the precious bit of ribbon and pinned it on to the tunic of her gym dress with an odd feeling of pleasure in her heart. It seemed to her a happy omen that she should be able to wear her dormitory colours after all.
"Thanks awfully, Monica," she said gratefully. "I'll pay you the twopence for it sometime."
"You just won't, then!" said Monica gaily. "It's a present to bring you luck. Vera says it's much more lucky to have your favours given to you than it is to buy them for yourself. So, with two of us wearing lucky ribbons, the Pink Dorm really ought to win!"
"I hope we shall," said Gerry fervently. Then she added under her breath, "I'm going to try and do my share to-day, anyway, and justify Muriel for having chosen me."
This little episode of the pink favour quite cheered Gerry up. Perhaps the luck of the pink ribbon would counteract for once the unlucky influence of Cubicle Thirteen. Gerry was really almost beginning to believe that the ill-omened number of her cubicle must have something to do with the persistent misfortune which dogged her footsteps! Fortified by her precious talisman, she took her place up on the hockey field as left outside without nearly such quakings of heart as she had feared. And when once the whistle had gone and the play begun she didn't have time to think about being frightened. Muriel saw to it that her nervous left outer should have plenty of work quite early in the game; and by the time the match had been in progress for ten minutes or so, Gerry had lost all her gloomy fears in the excitement and interest of the struggle.
It was obvious from the beginning that it was going to be a hard-fought fight. Both teams were out to win. As before, the Pink Dormitory forwards were far superior to the forwards from the Green Dormitory, but the splendid defence of the latter team quite balanced this. Backwards and forwards the battle raged, neither side getting a chance to shoot for goal until the first half was nearly over. Then, much to everybody's astonishment, Elsie Lipscombe succeeded in getting through for the Greens.
"I say! That's serious!" said Dorothy Pemberton to Phyllis Tressider as the two girls stood arm in arm sucking lemons at half-time. "Fancy the Green Dorm getting a goal in like that, before we've scored one! We shall have to buck up like anything this half if we're not going to let the Pink Dorm down."
During the interval Muriel Paget went up to Gerry, who was standing a little forlornly on the outskirts of the group of players, with a reassuring word.
"Well, I don't think you need be afraid of funking now, Gerry; you're doing quite well," she said.
"No; I don't think I shall funk now!" said Gerry. "It's all thanks to you, though, Muriel. If I'd been playing back I know I should have felt just the same as I did last time."