ing supper, which was served at small
tables in the dining-room, he had sat at the same table with the two
players and Constance, and kept up an animated and interested discussion
on music with Mr. Stevens.

But the crowning moment of the evening had been when, after supper, the
guests had gathered in the living-room to do stunts, and Constance had
sung Tosti's "Good-bye" and "Thy Blue Eyes," her exquisite voice coming
as a bewildering surprise to the assembled young people. How they had
crowded around her afterward! How glad Marjorie had been at the success
of her plan, and how Mr. Stevens' eyes had shone to hear his daughter
praised by her classmates!

In less than a week afterward Constance rose from obscurity to
semi-popularity. The story of her singing was noised about through
school until it reached even the ears of the girls who had despised her
for her poverty. Muriel and Susan had looked absolute amazement when a
talkative freshman told the news as she received it from a girl who had
attended the party. Mignon, however, was secretly furious at the, to
her, unbelievable report that "that beggarly Stevens girl could actually
sing." She had never forgiven Constance for refusing to dishonorably
assist her in an algebra test, and after her unsuccessful attempt to
fasten the disappearance of her bracelet upon Constance she had disliked
her with that fierce hatred which the transgressor so often feels for
the one he or she has wronged.

Next to Constance in Mignon's black book came Marjorie, who had caused
her to lose her proud position of center on the team, and in Miss Merton
and Marcia Arnold she had two staunch adherents. Just why Miss Merton
disliked Marjorie was hard to say. Perhaps she took violent exception to
the girl's gay, gracious manner and love of life, the early years of
which she was living so abundantly. At any rate, she never lost an
opportunity to harass or annoy the pretty freshman, and it was only by
keeping up an eternal vigilance that Marjorie managed to escape
constant, nagging reproof.

Last of all, Marcia Arnold had a grievance against Marjorie. She was no
longer manager of the freshman team. A disagreeable ten minutes with
Miss Archer after the freshman team had been disbanded, on that dreadful
day, had been sufficient to deprive her of her office, and arouse her
resentment against Marjorie to a fever pitch.

There were still a number of girls in the freshman class who clung to
Muriel