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Page 46
"How do you do, Julia?" she said, walking over to the bed and holding out
her hand to the invalid.
"Not very well," responded Julia hoarsely. "I have a bad cold and am too
weak to be up."
"I'm sorry," said Grace, "the wetting didn't hurt me in the least. But, of
course, I wasn't in the water like you were. It didn't hurt Tom, either."
"I'm glad you are both all right," said Julia.
She looked solemnly at Grace, and then said hesitatingly, "Grace, I didn't
deserve to be rescued the other day. I've been awfully mean to you." She
buried her face in the bed clothing and sobbed convulsively.
"Julia, Julia, please don't cry," said Grace, her quick sympathy aroused
by the distress of another. "Did you think we would leave you to drown?
You would have done the same for me. Don't you know that people never
think of petty differences when real trouble arises?"
She laid her hand upon the head of the weeping girl. After a little the
sobs ceased and Julia sat up and wiped her eyes.
"Bring that chair over and sit down beside me, Grace. I want to tell you
everything," she said. "Last year I was perfectly horrid to you and that
little Pierson girl, for no earthly reason either, I thought it was smart
to annoy you and torment you. After we had the quarrel that day in the
gymnasium, I was really angry with you, and determined to pay you back.
"You know, of course, that I purposely tripped you the day of the
basketball game. I was awfully shocked when I found you had sprained your
ankle, but I was too cowardly to confess that I did it. Miss Thompson
would have suspended me from school. I didn't know whether you knew that I
had done it until I met you that day in the corridor, and the way you
looked at me made me feel miserable. Then we got hold of your signals."
She paused.
Grace leaned forward in her chair in an agony of suspense.
"Julia," she said, "I don't care what you did to me; but won't you please
say that Anne didn't give you those signals?"
"Miss Pierson did not give them to me," was the quick reply.
"I'm so glad to hear you say it," Grace answered. "I knew she was
innocent, but the girls have distrusted her all year. She lost the list
accidentally, you know, but they wouldn't believe that she did."
"Yes, I heard that she did," said Julia. "The list was given to me, but I
am not at liberty to tell who gave it. It was not your Anne, although I
was too mean to say so, even when I knew that she had been accused. I'll
write you a statement to that effect if you want me to do so. That will
clear her."
"Oh, Julia, will you truly? I want it more than anything else in the whole
world. A statement from you will carry more weight with the girls than
anything I could possibly tell them. It will convince the doubters, you
know. There are sure to be some who will insist on being skeptical."
Acting under Julia's direction, Grace brought a little writing case from a
nearby table, Julia opened it, selected a sheet of paper and wrote in a
firm, clear hand:
"To the members of the sophomore class, and to all those whom it may
concern:
"The accusation made against Anne Pierson last fall regarding the betrayal
of the basketball signals to the junior team is false. Our knowledge of
these signals came from an entirely different source.
"JULIA CROSBY,
Capt. Junior Team."
"And now," concluded Julia, "I have done something toward straightening
out the mischief I made. Will you forgive me, Grace, and try to think of
me as your friend?"
"With all my heart," replied Grace, kissing her warmly. "And I am so happy
to-day. Just think, the junior and sophomore classes will be at peace at
last."
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