“I think we’d better do a little private investigating and find out Blanche’s real reason for all this,” hinted Jane darkly. “It’s something quite different from the one we know, or my name’s not Jane Pellew.”
“Don’t be so suspicious, Plain Jane,” reproved Frances, half bantering, half serious. “Even if Blanche has something up her sleeve, her mother’s letter is proof enough of what she told Ruth. As gentlemen, we can’t unfeelingly blast the fond hope of a sick lady bound for a sanatorium. Think of the everlasting debt of gratitude she will owe us for taking the fair but unruly Blanche under our august wing!”
“Oh, let’s end the thing once and for all by inviting her.” Anne Follett sprang impatiently to her feet. “Whatever Blanche has in her mind, she’ll be better off with us than moping at home. We are eight against one. We can afford to be generous.”
Anne’s impetuous proposal was ratified by four assenting voices. Sarah and Jane alone remained dissenters. It took ten minutes’ spirited persuasion to bring them to terms. Intrenching herself in her earlier stubborn stand against Blanche, Jane proved provokingly obdurate. She held out even after Sarah had deserted her, finally yielding with an ungracious, “All right, I give in. But don’t expect me to act as though I were delighted to have Blanche with us. I’ll treat her civilly but that’s all.”
“That won’t be fair to her, Jane. Don’t you remember what Marian said in her letter?” reminded Anne gently. “As Camp Fire Girls we must accept her as one of us or not at all.”
“Oh, well, I might be a little bit nice to her if she behaves well,” relented Jane.
“Then you are all of the same mind?” inquired Ruth. “You are willing to take Blanche on the terms of Marian’s letter?”
“We are,” was the concerted answer. This time without a dissenting voice. Blanche Shirly’s boast to Jeanette had not been an idle one.
CHAPTER VI
A SUDDEN CHANGE OF PROGRAMME