“And break up Sigma Pi! and let the Kappa Delts triumph over us! I couldn’t bear it! And the girls wouldn’t go with me, either. When it came to the point, they couldn’t! I’d resign alone, and I’d be alone. The other sororities wouldn’t have anything to do with me, and, even if there were any non-sorority girls worth knowing, they wouldn’t want me, after I had been expelled from Sigma Pi. That’s true, Tia.”
“Oh, Jacquette! Among so many, there must be some nice ones who haven’t joined sororities because their parents didn’t approve of them, or because they couldn’t stand the extra expense, or some such reason. You’d find them out before long.”
“No. You can’t understand till you’ve been there. The nice girls who aren’t allowed to join some sorority are so unhappy at Marston that their parents have to send them somewhere else. You see Mr. Pierce is going to take Winifred away. Besides,” Jacquette ended, irrelevantly, “Quis and Bobs would both despise me if I deserted my sorority. They think girls are always fighting, anyway. They say we don’t know how to be real friends to each other.”
“But had you forgotten all these things when you said you wanted to resign, Jacquette?”
“No, I hadn’t. I counted the whole cost on my way home, that day, and I thought I could face it for the sake of punishing the girls. And it isn’t remembering these things that makes me feel differently, now, Tia. It’s—it’s—oh, it’s that bunch of violets, with its message, don’t you see? They’re a darling bunch of girls, after all. I love them, Tia. I—don’t see how I could resign from Sigma Pi!”
Jacquette looked as if she expected to be laughed at for the confession, but there was not a shadow of a smile on Aunt Sula’s face as she answered,
“I’m not surprised, dear. I know you love the girls, and I’m learning to feel the net that closes about you when you consider cutting loose from the sorority. But I want you to think of everything. If you stand firm for what you believe to be right, you’ll have these same clashes of opinion over and over, with each new set of girls that comes into Sigma Pi. Then, another thing: you will be expected, more and more, to take your part in the delegations that make out of town trips to form new chapters, the way the juniors and seniors have to do, now, and the amount of money and time and strength you’ll have to spend, is bound to increase, instead of growing less. Now, is it all worth while?”
“But I don’t understand, Tia! First, you wouldn’t let me resign, and now——”
“I know; I couldn’t have you break your vows in a fit of anger, but I do want to say this: If the time ever comes when you make up your mind deliberately, without any personal pique, that the sorority is a mistake—that you’re using the best of your efforts to build up something that really ought not to be—remember, I’ll stand by you.”
Jacquette’s face was earnest, as she leaned forward to answer. “That time will never come, Tia,” she said. “I never realised until to-day what an influence I have over the girls, and I’m going to use it in the best way. For one thing, I’m going to begin new, next week, and show everybody what a good student a sorority girl can be. And I’m going to stand by Sigma Pi, and help her grow into the best, biggest high-school sorority in the whole United States!”