"I can't see that it has done us much harm," Jane dryly responded. "It's
come to a point, however, where we feel that we ought to assert
ourselves. We are here for study, not to quarrel, but we won't stand
everything tamely."

"I don't blame you. I wouldn't, either. I'm sure Marian Seaton is behind
all this," declared Alicia hotly. "Ever since I came back to the Hall
she's been trying to talk to me. Small good it will do her. When I broke
friendship with her last year it was for good and all."

"When you wouldn't speak to me the other day, I thought you had gone
back to her," confessed Jane. "Just a little before that Dorothy and I
had been saying that we thought we ought to try to make Marian see
things differently. Afterward I was so angry I gave up the thought as
hopeless. It may not be right to say to you, 'Let Marian alone,' when
one looks at it from one angle. The Bible says, 'Love your enemies.' On
the other hand, it seems wiser to steer clear of malicious persons.
Marian _is_ malicious. She's proved that over and over again. No one but
herself can make her different."

"I _know_ it's best for me to keep away from her," asserted Alicia. "My
influence wouldn't be one, two, three with her. Whenever I tried last
year to be honest with myself she just sneered at me. It's either be
like her or let her alone, in my case. There's no happy medium. So I
choose to let her alone."

"We all have to decide such things for ourselves," Jane said
reflectively. "It seems too bad that Marian's so determined to be always
on the wrong side. I've decided to let her stay there for the present.
If this affair of the paper involved only myself, I'd probably do
nothing about it. But it's not right to let Judith and Adrienne suffer
for something that's really meant for me."

"What are you going to do?" inquired Alicia.

"That's what I've been leading up to. With your permission I intend to
have a reckoning with Miss Noble in your room. I'd like you to be there
when it happens. Judith and Adrienne will be with me. Are you willing
that it should be so?"

"Yes, indeed," promptly answered Alicia. "When is the grand reckoning to
be?"

"This afternoon just before dinner. I can say my say in short order. Of
course if she's not in, I'll have to postpone it until later."

"I can let you know as soon as she comes in from her last class,"
volunteered Alicia.

"No, I'd rather not have it that way." Jane smiled whimsically. "It's
had