ncil Fire
to-night."

They never heard Marcia's answer to that question, for in the darkness,
Gladys herself, shaking with anger, rose and confronted them.

"You bet I'm going to stay!" she declared, furiously. "And I'll get even
with you, Dolly Ransom, and your nasty old Miss Mercer, and the whole
crew of you! Maybe you've been able to set all my friends against
me--I'm glad of it!"

"No one is set against you, Gladys," said Marcia, gently.

"Maybe you don't call it that, Marcia Bates, but I've got my own opinion
of a lot of girls who call themselves my friends and side against me the
way you've done!"

"Why, Gladys, I haven't done a thing--"

"That's just it, you sneak! Why, do you suppose I'd have let them treat
you as I was treated to-night? If it had happened to you and I'd joined
before, I'd have got up and thrown their nasty old ring back at them! I
don't want their old ring! I've got much prettier ones of my own--gold,
and set with sapphires and diamonds!"

"I'm very glad you're going to stay, Gladys!" said Dolly. "I'm sorry
I've been cross when I spoke to you lately two or three times, and I
hope you'll forgive me. And I think you'll see soon that we're not at
all what you think we are in the Camp Fire."

"Oh, you needn't talk that way to me, Dolly Ransom! You can pretend all
you like to be a saint, but I've known you too long to swallow all that!
You've done just as many mean things as anyone else! And now you stand
around and act as if you were ashamed to know me. Just you wait! I'll
get even with you, and all the rest of your new friends, if it's the
last thing I ever do!"

Bessie's hand reached out for Dolly's. She knew her chum well enough to
understand that if Dolly controlled her temper now it would only be by
the exercise of the grimmest determination. Sure enough, Dolly's hand
was trembling, and Bessie could almost feel the hot anger that was
swelling up in her. But Dolly mastered herself nobly.

"You can't make me angry now, Gladys," said Dolly, finally. "You're
perfectly right; I've done things that are meaner than anything you did
at Lake Dean. And I'm just as sorry for them now as you will be when you
understand better."

"Well, you needn't preach to me!" said Gladys, fiercely. "And you can
give up expecting me to run away. I'm not a coward, whatever else I may
be! And I'd never be able to hold up my head if I thought a lot of
common girls had frightened me into running away from this