"No, you"re not," Blue Bonnet said gently, putting her arm round her.
"You"re not going to do anything of the kind, you know you"re not. You"d be ashamed to. It would look as if you were afraid to face the music--and you can--you must!"
It was Mary"s turn to look amazed.
"That"s not why I"m going," she said. "I"m not afraid of punishment."
"That"s the way it would look."
"I don"t care how it would look. I wouldn"t be here to see anyway."
"Then you haven"t any pride."
"I guess I have as much pride as you have, or any one else!"
"Not if you"re going to run away, you haven"t. Besides, I can"t blame Fraulein so very much for being angry. It isn"t so funny to be drenched like that. She was doing her duty, wasn"t she?"
"Oh, she"s always snooping round, if that"s what you mean. Get her on your own hall for awhile and see how you like it."
"I shouldn"t like it. Not at all; but that"s not the point."
"What is the point?"
"That you"ve made a mistake and you aren"t big enough to take the blame.
My uncle says that making a mistake isn"t such a very grave thing in itself, it"s human nature. The trouble comes in not trying to correct it."
Mary looked out of the window, a frown on her face.
"You"d better not be so preachy," she said. "Everybody hates a goody-goody--here!"
Blue Bonnet laughed.
"Don"t worry," she said. "I"ll never be called that by any one who knows me! I"ve done nothing but make mistakes and get in hot water all my life. Wasn"t I doing penance last week myself?"
"Then I should think you would know how other people feel."
"I do. That"s why I"m trying to advise you. I reckon it"s a mighty selfish way to look at it, Mary, but you"ll be a heap happier yourself to do the square thing. It gives you such a comfy sort of feeling."
"I"m perfectly comfortable now," Mary said obstinately. "I wish it had been a hose instead of a little pitcher--"
Blue Bonnet put her hand over Mary"s mouth and gave her a little hug.
"You don"t wish anything of the kind. You"re angry. When people are angry they aren"t responsible. I"m going to tell you something I did last summer to one of my very best friends when I was angry."
She told Mary of how she had almost let Kitty Clark drown in the swimming pool of the Texas stream; how Kitty had cut her head on the rock, and of the consternation that followed.
Mary listened almost unbelievingly.
"You did--that, Blue Bonnet?"
"I did, Mary, and it was a dear lesson. I"ve had a line on my temper ever since--sometimes it gets away, for a while, but not so often. Now come on, be a thoroughbred! Go and talk to Fraulein."
Mary shrank away protesting.
Blue Bonnet shrugged her shoulders and started to pick up the room.
"All right, Mary, if you"ve got a damp cotton cord for a back bone--"
Mary got up out of her chair instantly.
"_That"s_ something I haven"t got. I"ll just show you, Miss Blue Bonnet Ashe."
She flew out of the room and Carita ran to the door to watch her.
"She"s knocking on Fraulein"s door, as sure as you live," she announced, coming back.
"Of course," Blue Bonnet said, hanging a couple of dresses back in the closet. "Mary"s all right. She doesn"t mean half she says."
A few of the girls were waiting for Blue Bonnet in the "Angel"s Retreat."
"Hurry up," Ruth Biddle said, as she entered the room. "We"ve a lot to say to you--too much for ten minutes."
"Go ahead, then, I"m listening."
"You are about to have a great honor conferred upon you," Ruth continued.
""Some achieve greatness--some have it thrust upon them,"" Blue Bonnet quoted. "This is the thrusting kind, I suppose--"
"We want you to join our club, Blue Bonnet," Annabel said. "We haven"t time to be frivolous. I have a lesson in exactly seven minutes with Mrs.
White. Will you?"
Blue Bonnet looked stunned.
"A club!" she said. "What kind of a club?"
"Oh, just a club--something like a sorority. I"m the president, if that"s any inducement."
"It certainly would be, Annabel, but--you see I belong to one club--a little one in Woodford. I don"t know how the girls would feel about my joining another."
"You won"t be in Woodford much from now on," Annabel said. "You"d better take the "good the G.o.ds provide,"--it"s some club!"
"I don"t doubt that--but--what do you do?"
"We don"t give our private affairs to the public," Sue said, laughing to take the edge off the rather bald statement. "Do you, in your club?"
"Well--there isn"t much to tell."
"There is, in ours. We have a serious purpose--sometimes."
"Who"s in it?"