"I don't know that you'll ever be very first class, but there's no reason at all why you shouldn't turn out a very useful player. I'm going to move you up into H. Alice Metcalfe will be your coach there. I'll tell her to put you on the forward line somewhere and train you for forward altogether. Your next practice will be Monday. How are things going for you in your form now—better? I saw you laughing quite a lot at dinner to-day, so I rather imagine that they are."
"Oh yes, thank you—they're much better," declared Gerry, rather confused at the sudden interest evinced in her affairs by the head girl. Muriel was quick to perceive her confusion, and attributing it to the right cause made haste to turn the conversation, and talked hockey exclusively during the remainder of the walk to the school.
True to their compact, the whole of the Lower Fifth refrained from doing a stroke of work for their new form-mistress in preparation that evening, although one or two of the girls felt rather doubtful as to what the consequences of this "direct action" might be. Gerry especially was troubled with qualms of conscience. Not that she was especially afraid of consequences—she was too happy at being taken at last into favour by her form to trouble very much about them. But Gerry had a capacity for putting herself into other people's places which was rather unusual in a girl so young; and do what she would, she could not quite banish the mistress's side of the case from her mind. Miss Burton was new and strange. She would probably grow more human in time if the girls did not too openly set themselves against her. And it was horrible to be unpopular. Gerry had had full opportunity of finding out how horrible unpopularity was. She was trying so hard to be brave—to live up to Muriel Paget's estimate of her—wasn't it rather cowardly to go against her conscience like this just for the sake of gaining the good opinion of her form-mates? Gerry had a long wrestle with her conscience as she sat at her desk that evening, when, all the rest of her preparation done, she was debating within herself whether or not she should start upon the work Miss Burton had set. But in the end, her longing for Jack's friendship overcame her sense of right and wrong. And she stifled back the small protesting voice within her.
"I promised the others I wouldn't, and I can't break my promise now," she argued to herself.
And when the bell rang for the end of preparation, the struggle was over. Friendship had won, and Gerry, in company with the rest of the Lower Fifth, had left undone the whole of the work that Miss Burton had set.
CHAPTER XIV
CHESTNUTS
The week-end went by much more happily than Gerry would have believed possible a few days ago. The members of the Lower Fifth were rather shy of her as a whole, it is true. But although, with the exception of Jack and Nita, they made no positive advances towards the new girl, yet they did not behave nearly as coldly as they had been doing of late.
And Jack was friendly enough to make up for all the others. She was rather fixed up with partners for the various week-end events; but she chattered away gaily to Gerry at meal-times, invited her to stand with Nita and herself to watch the hockey match on the Saturday afternoon, and generally did her utmost to make Gerry feel happy and at home.