CHAPTER XIII--Diverse Paths
It took the school, and particularly the old wing, several weeks torecover from the result of the contest. Janet, much to her surprise,remained a heroine, and was not forgotten after the flush of the firstfew days, but she was not happy.
Phyllis, after her failure on Archery Day, had steadfastedly refused tohave anything more to do with the sport, and half the pleasure of theprospect of making the team was gone, when Janet realized that Phylliswould not be with her. Daphne, too, refused to show any interest, and itwas Sally that Janet spent most of her time with, practicing before thetarget.
They were coming up from the lawn this afternoon. The warm days of latesummer had chilled with the coming of Autumn, and in the late afternoonthe girls found sweaters comfortable.
When they reached the lower hall they met Ethel Rivers. She was stillincorrigible on the subject of the wings.
"I hope you know, that even if you did beat us at Archery, we're goingto win out in Dramatics."
"Win in anything your little heart wants," Sally laughed; "the old wingis never selfish."
"Well, you just wait and see," Ethel began angrily, but she turnedsuddenly to Janet and stopped. "I've--I've--wanted to congratulate youfor a long time," she said shyly. She was the same age as the two girlsbefore her, but a class below. She was feeling the difference acutely.
"Thanks awfully," Janet was almost as embarrassed as she was. She wastrying hard not to feel her position as a future member of the team, butit was difficult when girls like Ethel forgot their feeling of animositylong enough to offer congratulations.
Without realizing it Janet mounted the pedestal of a personage.
"I--I--really thought you were wonderful," Ethel continued grudgingly,"and I'm not a bit sorry, really, that you beat our twins."
"That's awfully decent of you Ethel. I'm glad to see you're comingaround to the right way of thinking. Mustn't take the rivalry of thewings too seriously, you know. Come down to target practice some day,while I'm there, and I'll show you how to fix your arrow. I saw you werehaving trouble with it." And Janet walked up the broad stairs, her headheld high, as a queen might have walked on after she had spoken to herhumble courtier.
But when they reached Sally's room and she threw herself down on thebed, her face suddenly fell.
"Sally," she said seriously. "I think Phyl is a little hurt that I spendso much time away from her. She's going to hate it if I make the team,so I think, if I am elected, I'll refuse."
Sally whistled then she looked seriously at Janet.
"You are going to do nothing of the kind, if I can help it," she saidemphatically, "but we won't talk about it now. Let's go find Phyl andTaffy."
They went over to the Twin's room, but there was no sign of them.
"Maybe Glad'll know where they are," Sally suggested.
But they found Prue and Ann and Gladys cheerfully munching crackers andpeanut butter, as they studied their English for the next day.
"Come and join us," Ann invited shoving forward the peanut butter."We've got a marvelous system. Prue reads aloud to us and then wediscuss it."
"You might as well join us," Gladys suggested. "We've only juststarted."
"We're looking for Daphne and Phil," Sally replied.
"Oh, you won't find them," Gladys told her. "They're down in theSenior's Retreat."
"What under the sun are they doing down there?" Janet demanded.
"Dramatic Club," Prue said solemnly. "Shakespeare meeting and all thatsort of thing."
Sally and Janet looked at each other in bewilderment. "How did they getdown there? They aren't Juniors or Seniors," Sally protested.
"Can't help it, Miss Slocum sent their names in to Poppy as shininglights in literature," Ann replied. "And Poppy, of course, was tickledto death."
"So was Helen Jenkins, by the way," Prue added. "She's really the brainsof the club, while Poppy's the looks."
"And they're both Old Wing Girls," Gladys exulted. "Just imagine howthey feel at the idea of letting in two Sophomores!
"But it's unheard of," Sally objected, "don't you have to be a Junior atleast, before you're eligible?"
"'Tisn't a rule, it's simply a custom," Ann told her. "It just neverhappened before, that the Sophomores showed very much brains."
"But, oh my beloved hearers!" Gladys exclaimed excitedly, "can't you seethat our Phyllis and our Taffy may be the brilliant exceptions?"
Janet had looked wonderingly from one to the other of the girls.
"You don't mean Phil and Taffy could possibly make the Dramatic Club?"she asked at length.
"But I exactly do mean just that," Gladys informed her. "And, oh my AuntJane's Poll-parrot, if they should, think what a victory it would be forthe Old Wing!"
Prue picked up the book that she had been reading when Sally and Janetinterrupted her.
"I refuse to think of it," she said with decision. "Come on, girls, sitdown and make yourselves comfy, and in my most dulcet tones I will readto you the lesson in _Guy Mannering_ for tomorrow."
Janet and Sally curled up on the end of the Countess's bed and Pruebegan.
It is a question whether any of the girls kept their mind on the book.The Dramatic Club at Hilltop was a very important institution of schoollife. There were hardly ever more than twelve members, and they werechosen for a variety of reasons. The principal one was an understandingand appreciation of literature, but equally important were good looksand an ability to act, for the Dramatic Club gave two plays a year. Theywere not the usual amateur performances, for wise Miss Slocum, with theaid of the Seniors, chose her material carefully and trained itexceedingly well.
She had hesitated a long time before suggesting two Sophomores forpossible membership, but Daphne's bewildering beauty and Phyllis's aptreading of lines finally persuaded her.
The Juniors and Seniors had accepted this innovation of an old customwith surprise, but, as Poppy had explained, it would not be necessary tomake a decision at once, for the Dramatic Club was never chosen untiljust before the Christmas holidays.
The girls who were interested met in the Senior Retreat twice a week andread plays of their own or Miss Slocum's selection. The meeting was overat six o'clock.
Daphne and Phyllis hurried to the latter's room as quickly as possible.
"Taffy, was there ever such luck?" Phyllis exclaimed, "wasn't itadorable of them to let us be there!"
"Indeed it was," Daphne agreed heartily. "And we're only new girls, too,and that makes it all the nicer. But, Phil, what do you suppose theyreally mean?"
Phyllis shook her head and her brows puckered in a puzzled frown.
"I wish I knew, Taffy," she replied slowly. "When I went in, Poppysqueezed my arm and Helen Jenkins asked me how I liked the Dramatic Clubpin."
"And when you said you loved it, she asked you how you would like towear one," Daphne finished for her. "I know, I heard it, and my heartjust flopped right over."
Phyllis walked to the balcony and stood looking out over the lawn.
"Isn't it funny the way people get jumbled up," she said musingly. "Wefour haven't paired off as we ought to. It almost looks as if we hadchanged partners. Just look at this afternoon. Jan and Sally werepracticing with their ever-lasting bows and arrows, and you and I weresitting in all our glory in the midst of the Dramatic Club."
"That's what makes us such bully good friends," Daphne explained. "Itdoesn't matter which two of our four are together, they are bound tohave a good time, and the very best times of all are when we are notpaired off, but doing something that we can all enjoy."
Phyllis nodded. "I used to think, at Miss Harding's that we weren't sovery remarkable, and that if we got away to boarding school we'd findplenty of friendships as strong as ours----"
"What nonsense!" Daphne interrupted, drawling the words until they helda wealth of scorn. "Prue and Gladys and Ann are a wonderful combinationbut they're not nearly as wonderful as we are," she added with her queerlittle laugh.
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nbsp; They both picked up books and pretended to study.
"Taffy," Phyllis said suddenly, "it really isn't fair." There was alittle catch in her voice.
Daphne looked up from her copy of _Guy Mannering_. "What isn't?" sheinquired.
"My being chosen, when Janet's left out. She knows twice as much aboutbooks as I do. Why she knew every book in _The Enchanted Kingdom_, andshe can quote poetry by the yard."
"But she can't recite it the way you do," Daphne protested. "You readRosalind's lines in _As You Like It_ when we had it in class, until Ihonestly thought I was in the Forest of Arden. I agree with you that Janloves it and appreciates it as much as you, but she reads it as thoughshe hated to have to share it with anybody else."
"Perhaps you're right," Phyllis sounded only half convinced. "But I'lltell you this, if Jan isn't elected to the Dramatic Club, I won't joineven if they ask me."
"Oh, yes you will," Daphne drawled. Her words were almost an echo ofSally's used earlier in the day under a similar circumstance.