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It was evident she was thinking of nothing else but the injustice and littleness of the act they had been contemplating. She felt deeply, and talked as she felt. For a moment she was an orator worthy the name. "For this ostracising, I have as little sympathy. A student does wrong, and you would cut her off immediately from all who are trying to do right. If your purpose is to assist those weaker than yourself, you will never succeed by such a method. If every one was to be ignored for every bit of deceit they practice, I fancy most of us would be going around by ourselves, rather lonely." A smile passed over the faces of her hearers--a smile of amusement and surprise, for hitherto Elizabeth had been a quiet, shy girl, almost timid in company; and now upon the instant she had taken the lead. She had come forth alone when all the odds were against her, boldly declaring her opinion, and fearless to defend the course she believed to be right. "If we are going to begin this reformation, let us begin aright--at the root of the evil, and carry it through all its branches. Let us begin with the students who leave us under false impressions--telling us romances of their adventures, their powerful friends, their finances." To do Elizabeth justice, the girl with traits like these she mentioned had no definite form in her mind. She was only supposing a case. Yet, unconsciously, her mind had received during these months of school an idea of such a person. She could not embody these qualities with a human form. Yet more than one of her hearers recognized these as characteristics of one who had been foremost in the denunciations of dishonest examinations. "Let us begin with the girls who turn out their lights and go to bed long enough to deceive Mrs. Schuyler, and then get up again to prowl--and to the girl who gets a book from the town library and allows a dozen to read it before it is returned, when she has pledged herself to withdraw the books for her use alone. "We, as a set of Christian girls"--the expression was new to Elizabeth, but it does not take one long to become a Christian--"would ostracise any who did not come up to our standard of ethics! I say here so that you may all know where I stand"--her cheeks grew scarlet, and in the energy of her emotions she emphasized strongly--"I will not declare the name of anyone who 'ponies' in class, nor will I cut them from my list of acquaintances. I shall let them know I despise
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