The week preceding Christmas saw the Lookouts deep in preparations for the day of days. There was to be a wonderful gift-laden tree at the nursery for the children, and the usual yearly task of supplying the Sanford poor folks with holiday cheer was also carried on with a will. Marjorie’s home became a headquarters for the tireless workers and the Lookouts spent many fruitful and pleasant hours there. Even Mignon condescended to lend her presence on one or two occasions and surprised her companions by actually doing a little work. Since her encounter with Jerry she had been extremely ill at ease. She had a coward’s respect for the plain-spoken stout girl, and she now stood more in fear of her than ever. The very day after Jerry had accosted her in Sargent’s her father had promised her an expensive electric limousine as a commencement present, provided she conducted herself in exemplary fashion until then. Mignon had therefore decided to walk softly until this prize was safely in her possession.
Christmas came and went, leaving behind for Marjorie the usual liberal amount of remembrances from her friends. It was a less happy Christmas, however, than that of the previous year. Jerry’s desertion weighed heavily upon her. The two girls had always exchanged holiday gifts and calls. This year, determined to make no exception, Marjorie had selected and sent her usual good-will present to Jerry. Irma, Constance, Susan, Muriel, Harriet and Esther Lind had done likewise. From Jerry they had received nothing in return except their own gifts. Each package contained a card, on each of which had appeared the same Jerry-like message: “Keep this and send it to me later. Mignon may not always be a Lookout.”
This pertinent message provoked a certain amount of merriment on the part of the recipients. Nevertheless, an undertone of sadness lurked in the laughter. Jerry was Jerry and could not be imitated, duplicated nor replaced. They had missed her sorely at the gay round of parties that filled their holidays. Her unexpected state of rebellion had also completely upset her brother Hal’s plans for the Macys’ usual Christmas dance. He and Jerry exchanged sharp words over what he termed her “bull-headedness” and for two weeks afterward they were not on speaking terms. All in all Jerry passed a most doleful Yuletide season for which she had only herself to blame.
CHAPTER XXII—MARJORIE DECIDES
The end of January brought with it mid-year examinations. It saw no change in the strained situation which Jerry had created. To all outward appearances she was as implacable as ever. Only Jerry herself knew the difficulty of remaining adamant in the face of longing for the comradeship which she had repudiated. Long ago, when Mary Raymond had done precisely what she was now doing, Jerry had pointed out to Mary the folly of such a course. More than once, since her self-exile from her companions, Jerry had thought of this. Vengefully remembering that Mignon had also been at the root of Mary’s difficulties, her bitterness against the French girl increased two-fold. She grew more determined than ever in her thus far fruitless effort to discover what Mignon had told Lucy Warner that had set the latter so strongly against Marjorie Dean. This learned, she was not quite decided upon what she would do next. That would depend entirely on the nature of Mignon’s gossip.
While recalcitrant Jerry pursued her will-o-the-wisp quest for useful information, the Lookout Club were adhering steadily to their resolve to make their little organization a success. Despite the jolt they had suffered by reason of the withdrawal of their president, they continued to hope that she would eventually return to the fold. Regarding Lucy Warner’s return they had little to say. Irma, Susan, Muriel and Constance, who were better posted than their fellow members on the inside details of Lucy’s cavalier treatment of Marjorie, secretly disapproved of the close-mouthed secretary’s refusal to meet Marjorie frankly. As for the other Lookouts, Lucy’s antagonistic behavior seemed to them quite in keeping with her past performances.
Thus matters dragged along through changeable, short-lived February and early March. During that period of time, however, the Lookouts put into effect the plan that had come to Marjorie at the time of the organization of the club. The project of the day nursery as the center of achievement she had reserved, broaching the subject of her plan until the more important enterprise should be firmly on its feet. Due to the excellent management of the Lookouts and the gratifying monetary returns from the Campfire, it was now in a flourishing condition. Their treasury boasted over eight hundred dollars, sufficient capital to defray the nursery’s expenses until well into the next winter.
Their hopes were now set on making the Lookout Club a high school sorority, and the names of several juniors seemingly suitable to assume the responsibilities their senior sisters would relinquish with graduation, were already under discussion. The considerable amount of internal discord with which they had been forced to contend had not been such as to create adverse criticism on the part of outsiders. The club ranked high in public estimation. Knowing this, its members, with one exception, were earnestly desirous of maintaining that high standard. On their integrity depended its establishment as a sorority.
The one exception was, of course, Mignon La Salle. She had no lofty ambitions and only one definite aim; the will to stir up mischief and thus keep her fellow members in hot water. Following her arraignment by Jerry, she had proceeded with caution. As the winter days glided by without bringing her the exposure which Jerry had threatened, she began to treat the matter lightly. So long as Jerry remained unsuccessful in ferreting out the reason for Lucy Warner’s grudge against Marjorie, she felt herself secure. Thanks to Lucy’s unassailable secrecy, she believed Jerry had small chance of learning what she did not wish known. Bent on making assurance doubly sure she had sought Lucy to remind her of her promise. The latter had received her with the utmost frigidity. She stated shortly that she had told Marjorie Dean nothing. Further, she had no intention of giving her any information. Regarding what she had said to Jerry, she was silent. That had nothing to do with her promise to Mignon. What Jerry had said to her, however, unconsciously influenced Lucy to treat the French girl with dignified disdain.
Mignon did not relish the snubbing. She accepted it because she dared not resent it. Having gained her point she could afford to dismiss it with a shrug. If she could continue to ward off possible disaster until her graduation from high school in June, the danger point would then be passed. A new set of Lookouts would replace the old, the limousine her father had promised her would be won, and her triumph over these stupid girls be complete. Another year would see her in some far-off college, well beyond their reach.