"The gamest little team I ever saw," answered Reddy.
But David, who had resumed his seat beside them, made no reply. He rose presently and went to find his sister, who was sitting somewhat apart from the other girls in gloomy silence.
"What's the matter with you, sister?" he asked gently. "You are not playing as well as usual. I expected you, especially, to do some fine work to-day. On the contrary, you have never played worse."
Miriam looked at her brother coldly.
"Why should I help them when they have dishonored me?" she demanded fiercely.
"How have they dishonored you, Miriam?" asked David.
"By making me the last in everything; putting me at the foot," she said, stifling a sob of anger.
David looked at his sister sorrowfully. He saw there was no reasoning with her in her present state of mind; yet knowing her revengeful spirit, he dreaded the consequences.
"Miriam," he said at last, speaking slowly, "perhaps, some day, you will learn by experience that the people who give a square deal are the only ones who really stay at the head. They always win out; and those who are not on the level——" He stopped. A sudden suspicion had come into his mind.
"You don't mean to say that it was you who——"