Despite Leslie's denials, Elizabeth left her room only half convinced.
Being as lost to honor as Leslie, she was also as shrewd. She made a vow
to keep her own counsel thereafter. She knew herself to be as guilty as
Dulcie. She hoped Leslie would never discover that. Leslie had promised
that her name should not be mentioned in the matter. If brought to book
by Leslie, Dulcie could not accuse her of circulating the stories
intrusted to her without incriminating herself. Elizabeth felt quite
safe on that score.
For two or three days after her call upon Leslie, she kept out of
Dulcie's way for fear the latter had been taken to task for her
treachery and might suspect her as being instrumental in having brought
it about. On Friday, however, she met Dulcie in the library. Dulcie
invited her to dinner at the Colonial and she went without a tremor of
conscience. The former was not in a gossiping humor that day. She was
doing badly in all her subjects and worried in consequence.
Elizabeth went calmly to luncheon at the Lotus with Leslie on Saturday,
pluming herself in that she was on excellent terms with both factions.
She reported to Leslie her meeting with Dulcie on Friday, saying lamely
that Dulcie never gossiped a bit about the Sans. "She hadn't better,"
Leslie had returned vengefully. "She has done mischief enough already."
When Elizabeth had ventured to inquire when Dulcie was to be "called
down," Leslie had said, "When I get ready to do it. I'm not ready yet."
Natalie and Joan Myers had been informed by Leslie of Dulcie's
treachery. The trio had then set to work to discover how much damage she
had done; something not easy to determine. Natalie and Joan demanded
that she should be dropped from the club. They were sure the others
would be of the same mind. Even Eleanor Ray, her former chum, was on the
outs with Dulcie. There would be no objection to the penalty from
Eleanor. Leslie's plan was to gather the evidence against Dulcie, place
it before the Sans, minus the culprit, at a private meeting, and let
them decide her fate. In spite of Leslie Cairns' unscrupulous
disposition, she had a queer sense of justice which occasionally stirred
within her. Thus she was bent on being sure of her ground before
accusing Dulcie to her face.
After a week had passed and the three had learned nothing new regarding
the circulation of their misdeeds about the campus, Leslie called a
meeting of the club in her room while Dulcie was absent from the Hall.
Indignation ran high at the revelation. The verdict was, "Drop her from
the club." Notwithstanding the possibility pointed out by Leslie that
she might turn on them and betray them to headquarters, her associates
were keen for dropping her.
"What harm can she do us?" argued Margaret Wayne. "She can't give us
away to Doctor Matthews without cooking her own goose. That's our only
danger from her. It's our word against hers. Any stories she has told on
the campus will never go further than among the students. It is too bad!
Dulcie should have known better than to be so utterly treacherous. She
deserves to be dropped. We could never trust her again."
"That's what I think," concurred Joan Myers. "Even if her tales _did_
bring about a private inquiry, it is our word against hers. We have
really walked with a sword over our heads since last Saint Valentine's
night. It has never fallen. I say, _simply fire_ Dulcie from the Sans,
and be done with it. Let it be a lesson to the rest of us to be
discreet."
"When is the deed to be done?" Adelaide Forman inquired.
"I don't know yet. I want you girls to see what you can glean on the
campus. I must have every scrap of evidence against her that I can get,"
Leslie announced. "We may not be able to spring it on her for a week or
two. When we do, the meeting will be in this room. I'll hang a heavy
curtain over the door so we won't be heard. If she gets very angry she
will raise her voice to a positive shriek."
"Wouldn't it be better to hold that meeting outside the Hall? Dulcie
will raise an awful fuss. If she hadn't told something I made her swear
she wouldn't tell, I would not hear to having her treated that way. I am
down on her for that very reason. Otherwise I would feel very sorry for
her," explained Eleanor Ray.
"I am not on good terms with her. She made trouble between Evangeline
and me last week. We only straightened it up today." Joan volunteered
this information. "Leslie's room is the best place for the meeting. It
is situated so that Dulcie won't be heard if she cries or flies into a
temper."
While among the Sans there was not one girl who had not stooped to
dishonorable acts since her entrance into Hamilton College, the fact of
Dulcie's defection seemed monstrous indeed.
"Be careful what you say to Bess Walbert," Natalie took the liberty of
saying. "How much does she know about what we shall do with Dulc? What
did you tell her about it?"
"I said I had heard other things Dulcie had been saying; that she was
due to hear from me for gossiping. That such yarns must be stopped. I
warned her to keep to herself whatever Dulc had told her. She promised
silence. I don't know." Leslie shrugged dubiously. "Take a leaf from
Nat's book, girls, and keep mum to Bess. She may try to pump you. She's
crazy to know what I am going to say to Dulc and when the fuss is to
come off."
Natalie flushed her gratification of Leslie's approbation. The others
received their leader's counsel with marked respect. The news of
Dulcie's perfidy had given them food for uneasy reflection.
"We'll just have to depend on you, Les, to deal with Dulcie," Joan Myers
said emphatically. "You can do it scientifically. Of course, we expect
to stand by you. When the time comes you ought to do the talking."
"The firing, you mean," corrected Leslie, smiling in her most unpleasant
fashion. "Leave it to me. It's our campus reputation against her
feelings; if she has any. We all have a certain pride in ourselves as
seniors. I'm not anxious to be looked down upon by the other classes. It
is only a few months until Commencement. We must hang on until then, and
at the same time keep up an appearance of senior dignity."
An assenting murmur arose. Allowed to do as they pleased by doting or
careless parents, not one of the Sans would escape parental wrath were
she to fail in her college course. Even more serious consequences would
be attached to expellment.
"How are we to behave toward Dulcie?" was Eleanor Ray's question as the
meeting broke up.
"As though nothing had happened," Leslie directed. "I shall take her by
surprise. I wish her to be so completely broken up she won't have the
nerve to fight back, either on the night of the fuss or afterward."