This was strictly true, for Gwen had real dramatic talent and had been given a rôle requiring more acting than that of the heroine, for she was the leader of the princess’s enemies and had some telling lines and situations.
“I certainly shall not care about spoiling the play, even if my getting out of it did spoil it, if my sister is unjustly treated,” said Gwen. “Come on, Gladys. We’ll let you know, girls, what Miss Larned says.”
The Grahams came back before many minutes, Gladys in tears, Gwen with a flushed and angry face. “She won’t explain one bit,” said Gwen. “She says it is a matter of which the least said the sooner it’s mended. She insists that Gladys understands, and she says that is all that is necessary.”
“But you don’t understand, Gladys?” asked Cena North.
Gladys gave her head a despairing shake. “Not any more than you do—not any more than if I had just landed from China and couldn’t speak a word of English,” she said. “I do think it is the meanest thing!”
The summons to return to the class-room came at that moment, as a corroborative murmur arose on all sides.
“Did you tell her you wouldn’t act?” whispered Daisy Hammond to Gwen. But Gwen shook her head. “I said nothing about any one but Gladys—yet,” she replied. Gwen, like Jan, was suspicious of treachery.
Gladys was escorted home by the sympathizing trio with whom she most consorted, but Gwen and Jan walked home together, holding an indignation meeting as they walked.
“Those Hammonds are as sweet as pie to Glad, but I wouldn’t trust them,” Gwen said. “Daisy Hammond was wild to be the princess, and she knew if Gladys could be got out of it she would be put in, for she was second choice for the part in the first place. I’m just certain that crowd is at the bottom of it!”
“So am I,” Jan agreed. “Let’s try to find out what they’ve done and straighten it out! It’s a perfect shame not to give a girl a chance to explain. I’m so sorry for Gladys! I’ll never rest till it’s made right.”