“They’re not common–and don’t you dare to say they are! And you certainly can’t be my friend if you’re going to talk about them that way.”
“All right!” snapped Gladys. “I guess I can get along without your friendship if you can get along without mine!”
“I didn’t mean to,” she said, disgustedly, to Bessie and Marcia, “but I’m afraid I’ve simply made her madder than ever. And there’s no telling what she’ll do now!”
“Oh, I guess there’s nothing to worry about,” said Marcia, cheerfully enough. “We can keep her in order all right, and if she doesn’t behave herself decently I guess you’ll find that Miss Turner will send her home in a hurry.”
“Oh, I hope not,” said Bessie. “That wouldn’t really do any good, would it? We want to be friends with her–not to have any more trouble.”
“I wish I’d kept out of it,” said Dolly, dolefully. “I think I can keep my temper, and then I go off and make things worse than ever! I ought to know enough not to interfere. I’m like the elephant that killed a little mother bird by accident, and he was so sorry that he sat on its nest to hatch the eggs!”
“Maybe it’s a good thing,” said Marcia, laughing at the picture of the elephant. “After all, isn’t it a good deal as Bessie said? If there’s bad feeling, it’s better to have it open and aboveboard. We all know where we are now, anyhow. And I certainly hope that something will turn up to change her mind.”
CHAPTER V
THE COUNCIL FIRE
“I hope it will, Bessie,” said Dolly. “But you know what a nasty temper I’ve got. If she keeps on talking the way she has, I don’t know what I’ll say.”