“It’s even worse,” agreed Sarah Manning with equal fervor1.
“I, for one, refuse to consent to it,” coldly declared Emmeline Cerrito.
“Let’s hear Ruth out before we condemn2 her,” smiled peace-loving Anne Follett.
“We’ve heard too much already,” grumbled3 Frances Bliss4. For once her merry face looked decidedly glum6.
“I suppose I ought to have begun at the very beginning and gradually led up to the awful revelation.” Ruth’s brown eyes roved wistfully from one to the other of her belligerent8 chums. “It simply goes to show that I’m no diplomat9. But I thought I might as well say the worst first and do most of my explaining afterward10.”
“I can’t see that there’s much more to explain,” sputtered11 Jane. “You’ve told us why Blanche Shirly has seen fit to invite herself to a strictly12 private reunion, but I can’t see why we should martyr13 ourselves for a whole month, just because Blanche’s mother has decided5 to go off to a sanatorium and leave her darling daughter at home with the housekeeper14 and a companion. I should say that her place is with her mother, sanatorium or no sanatorium.”
“Blanche says her mother doesn’t wish her to go there with her,” reminded Ruth patiently, “because Blanche makes her nervous.”
“Her mother appears to know Blanche almost as well as we do,” commented Frances wickedly.
“So it would seem,” giggled15 Sarah.
“It’s quite out of the question, Ruth.” Emmy’s chilly16 accents conveyed distinct displeasure. “You know what I said to you last night. I now say it again. Blanche has an axe17 to grind. She is very shallow in some respects and very deep in others. She isn’t in the least interested in the Camp Fire movement. She has some other secret reason for—for—”
“Butting in,” cheerfully supplied Sarah.
“Exactly,” nodded Emmy, then cast a reproachful glance at the offender18 whose ever-ready chuckle19 burst gleefully forth20. Knowing Emmy’s horror of slang, Sarah had slyly taken advantage of this glowing opportunity to trap her.
“I forgive you, Sarah.” Emmy readily joined in the laugh at her expense. “You said exactly what I meant. Slang appears to have its uses as well as its abuses. To go on with what I was saying, Blanche has her own reasons for this sudden change of heart. If we agree to let her come to the reunion, she will surely do something to make us sorry we invited her. She’s not to be trusted. She’s likely to do all sorts of foolish things. Her head is filled with beaux and clothes. Do you suppose her mother would engage a companion to look after Blanche while she is gone, if she really trusted her?”
“I’m glad you said that, Emmy,” put in Ruth quietly. “It paves the way for me. I’ve gone over almost the same things to myself. But it only makes me feel all the more that we ought to have Blanche with us. As Camp Fire Girls, we ought to be willing and ready to give her the benefit of any doubts we may have of her sincerity21. Suppose I go to her to-morrow and say: ‘We don’t want you.’ How do you suppose she will feel, if she is really in earnest? What will she think of us?”
“But she invited herself, and I am fairly certain she knew what she was about, even if she did pretend that she had misunderstood about the reunion,” maintained Emmy stubbornly.
“We can’t be certain of that,” asserted Anne gravely. “I think Ruth is right in saying that we should take Blanche on faith.”
“Thank you, Anne.” Ruth cast her one supporter a grateful smile. “There’s another thing I’d like to bring forward. It’s about my mother. I’d love to have Blanche learn to know her. Mumsie will share our good times, and I can’t help thinking that—that—well, that Mumsie could help Blanche a great deal. Don’t you believe, too, that if we make this—I must say it—little sacrifice, afterward we shall look back at it and say that we are glad we made it? Blanche won’t interfere22 much with our plans, if we don’t allow her to do so. Ever since that time when I was so perfectly23 horrid24 about Marian, I’ve vowed25 always to try to make the best of things and not run out to meet calamity26. Of course, Anne and I are two against five. The majority rules, I suppose.”
“Ruth, you make me feel ashamed of myself,” was Emmy’s penitent27 cry. “After the hateful way I treated Marian last summer, I have no right to object to Blanche Shirly or anyone else whom you may choose to invite to your home. As our hostess-to-be, you are privileged to invite whom you please. Go ahead and invite Blanche.” It had cost proud Emmy no little effort to say this. Ruth’s sturdy avowal28 of past failings had brought back to her the memory of her own lapses29.
The sudden brightening of Ruth’s sober face, repaid Emmy for her impulsively30 spoken words. “That’s sweet in you, Emmy,” she commended. “Please believe, girls, that I wouldn’t take advantage of being hostess to invite Blanche to the reunion. That has nothing to do with it. The only way to look at the question is impersonally32. It is the Equitable33 Eight who has the only right to decide it; not Ruth Garnier.”
“All right, Ruth, I surrender,” smiled Betty Wyndham, “but only because you wish it.”
“Three against four,” remarked Sarah reflectively, fixing a significant eye on Jane.
“Three lonely rebels, looking rather blue,
One changed her stubborn mind, and then there were two,”
chanted Frances.
“Frances has poetically34 given up the ghost,” laughed Anne.
“I am nothing if not charitable,” grinned Frances. “I would that I could say the same of others.”
“That’s us,” snickered Sarah, playfully prodding35 Jane with her elbow. “Good-bye, Jane. I am going to leave you. I’ve decided to enlist36 in the great Shirly reform movement.”
“Good-bye,” returned belligerent Jane unemotionally. “I intend to stay where I am for the present. I never make up my mind in a hurry. Besides Frances’ rhyme is away off. She didn’t count Marian.” Still inclined to regard Blanche as an unnecessary affliction, Jane was bent37 on being provoking.
“Humph!” ejaculated Frances. “You are laboring38 under a delusion39, Plain Jane. The first line of my—er—poem distinctly says ‘rebels.’ How do we know that Marian is a rebel?”
“You never thought of that until I reminded you,” flung back Jane.
“I—Jane, I cannot tell a lie.” Frances put on an expression of exaggerated nobility. “For once in your life you furnished me with inspiration. All the rest of your days you may be proud of it. Although your obstinacy40 grieves us deeply, Miss Pellew, we will graciously make allowance for it, Miss Pellew. We cannot hope to follow the confused meanderings of a contrary mind, Miss Pellew, we can only trust that as the golden years glide41 by, Miss Pellew, time will soften42 your stony43 heart and open your blind eyes, Miss Pellew, to the glorious possibilities of reform.
“Breathes there a Jane with soul so dead—
She yet shall lift her stubborn head
And shout: ‘Me for reform!’”
Frances’ impassioned ovation44 was hailed with a gust45 of mirth that threatened to make itself heard outside the sacred precincts of the council chamber46. Even Jane had to laugh. Frances’ diverting burst of eloquence47 was too entirely48 good-humored to arouse resentment49. Incidentally, it influenced prejudiced Jane to a broader perspective.
“I ought to be furiously angry with you, Frances Bliss, for orating on my so-called stubbornness,” she said, with a futile50 effort toward dignity, which ended in a laugh. “Just to show you that my contrary mind isn’t quite so contrary as you are trying to make out, I’ll join the reform movement now.”
“Hurrah!” exclaimed Anne and Emmy together.
“Good old Jane,” beamed Frances patronizingly. “Come to my room to-morrow and I’ll decorate you. In the dim recesses51 of my trunk repose52 a Grand Army badge, a suffragist button and a nice, crinkly, red paper Christmas bell. You may wear them all.”
“Thank you,” Jane’s sharp chin elevated itself, “but I couldn’t bear to deprive you of such treasures. Now stop teasing me. I want to ask Ruth something.”
“Ask ahead,” invited Ruth, with an encouraging smile. Fully7 expecting that of the six girls Emmy would be the hardest to convert, Jane’s obstinate53 stand had surprised her considerably54. She mentally offered a vote of thanks to Frances for her timely oration55.
“What are you going to do about Marian?” questioned Jane. “I think she ought to have her say in the matter, too.”
“I’ll write her to-night,” promptly56 assured Ruth. “Blanche is anxious to know her fate, but I didn’t promise when I would tell her. If she asks me about it to-morrow, I will explain that we can’t answer until we hear from Marian. If she should ask any one of you, please tell her the same. I don’t imagine that she will, though.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if she did,” declared Jane. “She’ll be crazy to know.”
“Having settled the question, suppose we give Blanche a rest,” suggested tactful Betty. She had sensed a slight weariness in Ruth’s voice as she gave her final direction, and realized that the valiant57 Torch Bearer would welcome a change of subject.
“Jane and I are not going to send our guests away hungry,” she made further cheerful announcement. “Hidden away in the bottom of the wardrobe are eats—glorious eats. Come on, Jane, let’s spread the feast. Which will you have, girls, tea or chocolate?”
Unanimous decision in favor of the latter sent Betty to her closet, the top shelf of which harbored the necessary ingredients. Meanwhile, Jane knelt before the open wardrobe, extracting numerous brown paper parcels that smacked58 of delicatessen.
“Come here and make yourself useful, Frances,” she ordered. “Take this stuff as I hand it to you, and be sure you put it on the table, right side up with care.”
“I will cheerfully and skillfully perform my act of contrition59. So glad of the opportunity,” amiably60 avowed61 Frances as she proceeded to carry out Jane’s directions with an exaggerated carefulness that was irresistibly62 funny.
“We’ll have to hustle,” observed Jane, who had busied herself with the laying out of the various comestibles, while Frances, under her instruction, set the oblong center table with such dishes and cutlery as were available. “It’s half past nine now. Ten-thirty will be here before we know it.”
“Tell that to Betty,” retorted Frances. The table set, she had begun the slicing of a loaf of brown bread. “Our part of the feast is almost ready.”
“What’s that?” Hearing her name, Betty turned from her alert watch on the chafing63 dish containing the chocolate.
“Jane was merely reminding me of the frenzied64 galloping65 of time,” replied Frances. “She asked me to mention it to you.”
“The chocolate is ready, if that’s what she means,” smiled Betty, as she neatly66 circumvented67 its bubbling attempt to leave the safe confines of the chafing dish. “Bring me the chocolate-pot, please, Jane, and then draw up that little table, that holds the cups, beside the big one. We can manage to squeeze ourselves around the big one. Three strong-armed ladies can haul my cedar68 chest up to it, and sit on that. With one girl at each end and two on the other side we shall be all right.”
Laughingly complying with Betty’s directions, the seven friends gathered about the table. A combination of pimento cheese, brown bread, pickles69, cold ham, olives, cocoanut layer cake and candy held for them no terrors. Blessed with good digestions70 and the proverbial schoolgirl love of spreads, they were quite ready to show their appreciation71 of the good cheer provided for them.
Over the merry little repast the subject of Blanche Shirly remained strictly taboo72, though by no means forgotten. Secretly, each of the seven experienced a slight sense of depression. It arose from the knowledge that they had resolutely73 shoved something disagreeable into the background which would remain there but temporarily. The unexpected intrusion of Blanche Shirly into their plans for the coming reunion had served to cast a damper over them all. Anne and Betty had supported Ruth’s views for purely74 conscientious75 reasons. Remorse76 for past failings had actuated Emmy’s acceptance of the situation. Sarah and Frances had yielded partly from good nature, but largely because both adored Ruth and respected her convictions. Jane had been reluctantly won by Frances’ oration. Of the seven girls, she alone actually detested77 Blanche Shirly. While Emmy regarded Blanche with considerable contempt, Jane’s dislike for the frivolous78, self-seeking girl was deep-rooted.
At three minutes before half-past ten the party broke up in a general rush for the door, punctuated79 by laughing goodnights. When the last guest had departed, leaving Jane and Betty to clear away the remnants of the spread, Jane spoke31 her mind to Betty.
“I think we are making a mistake,” she declared bluntly.
“About Blanche?” interrogated80 Betty quickly.
“Yes.” Jane wagged an emphatic81 brown head. “What we ought to do is to tell her flatly that we don’t want her. It would be more honest and save us a good lot of trouble later on. The longer I know Blanche, the less I like her. We couldn’t make her see things differently in a hundred years. I was surprised when Emmy gave in. She hasn’t any more faith in Blanche than I have. We all agreed to Ruth’s plan for Ruth’s sake. No one could stand out long against her ideas of right. Now that we’ve committed ourselves, we can only do our best. But remember what I say: Our best will be lost on Blanche.”
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1
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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3
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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4
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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5
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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glum
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| adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的 | |
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7
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
belligerent
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| adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者 | |
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diplomat
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| n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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12
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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13
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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14
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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15
giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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17
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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18
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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23
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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24
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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25
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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27
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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28
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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29
lapses
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| n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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30
impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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31
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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32
impersonally
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| ad.非人称地 | |
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33
equitable
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| adj.公平的；公正的 | |
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34
poetically
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| adv.有诗意地，用韵文 | |
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35
prodding
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| v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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36
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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37
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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39
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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40
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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41
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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42
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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43
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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44
ovation
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| n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌 | |
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45
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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46
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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48
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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50
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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51
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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52
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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53
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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54
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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55
oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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56
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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57
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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58
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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60
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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61
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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62
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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63
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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64
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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65
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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66
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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67
circumvented
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| v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的过去式和过去分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行 | |
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68
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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69
pickles
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| n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱 | |
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70
digestions
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| n.消化能力( digestion的名词复数 )；消化，领悟 | |
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71
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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72
taboo
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| n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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76
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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77
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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