“No,” said Miriam scornfully, “nor anything to her credit either.  Who is she, anyway?  The daughter of a strolling third-rate actor, who goes barnstorming about the country, and she has been on the stage, too.  She has a very good opinion of herself since Mrs. Gray and certain Oakdale girls took her up, but I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could see her.  Why should girls of good Oakdale families be forced to associate with such people?  I suppose she wanted to be on good terms with the juniors, too, and took that method of gaining her point.”

“That is pure nonsense,” exclaimed Nora.  “Don’t you think so, girls?”

But the other girls made no reply.  They were thinking hard.  Suspicion seemed to point in Anne’s direction.  What a pity Grace had been so rash about taking Anne up if her father were a common actor.  Miriam was right about not caring to associate with Anne.  After all, they knew very little about her.  Grace Harlowe was always picking queer people and trying to help them.

“I think we ought to be very careful about taking outsiders into our confidence,” firmly said Eva Allen, one of the team.  “I didn’t know Miss Pierson had ever been an actress.”  There was a note of horror in her voice as she pronounced the last word.

“I have always heard that they were very unreliable people,” said another miss of sixteen.

Grace was in despair.  She felt that she had lost.  By dragging up Anne’s unfortunate family history, Miriam had produced a bad impression that she was powerless to efface.

“Girls,” she said, “you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.  You know perfectly well that Anne is innocent.  If you wish to be my friend you must be Anne’s also.  Please say that you believe her.”

“Count on me,” said Nora.

But the other sophomores had nothing to say.

Grace looked about her appealingly, only to meet cold looks and averted faces.  Miriam was smiling openly.

“The meeting is adjourned,” said Grace shortly, and without another word she went to her locker and began taking out her wraps.  Nora followed her, but the majority of the girls walked over to the other end of the room and began to talk in low tones with Miriam.

Grace realized that her team had deserted her for Miriam.  It was almost unbelievable.  She set her lips and winked hard to keep back the tears which rose to her eyes.  Then, followed by her one faithful friend, she walked out of the locker room, leaving her fickle classmates with their chosen leader.

CHAPTER IX

AN UNSUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW

There were two subjects of interest under discussion in the sophomore class.  One was the coming ball, the other the story of the lost signals, which had gone the round of the class.  The general opinion seemed to be that Anne had betrayed the team, and with the unthinking cruelty of youth, the girls had resolved to teach her a lesson.  Miriam’s accusation had been repeated from one girl to another, with unconscious additions, until Anne loomed up in the light of a traitor, and was treated accordingly.