“There will be a great deal of excitement to-morrow,” said Susy.  “It strikes me it will be all up with us to-morrow—­that is, if Ruth tells.”

“If Ruth tells!  What do you mean?”

“They are going to do their utmost to get her to tell; and if she does tell they will call out our names and expel us, that’s all.  Oh!  I can’t bear to think of it—­I can’t bear to think of it.”

Susy’s voice broke.  Tears trembled in her bright black eyes, and she turned her head to one side.  Kathleen gave her a quick glance.

“It will be all right,” she said.  “Ruth won’t tell.  Ruth is the kind who never tells.  She told me to-day she wouldn’t.”

“She’ll be a brick if she doesn’t,” said Kate Rourke.  “But then, of course, you know—­”

“I know what?”

“Oh, nothing.  What’s the good of making ourselves melancholy on a night like this?”

“If I were expelled,” said Clara Sawyer, “I should leave Merrifield.  I could never lift up my head again.  You can’t think what impudent sort of boys my brothers are, and they have always twitted me for my good fortune in getting into the Great Shirley School.  They say that if we are to be expelled it will be done in public.  The governors are determined to read us a lesson.  That’s what they say.”

“Who cares what they say?” said Kathleen.  “Let them say.”

“Well, that’s what I think; and I dare say half of it is untrue,” said little Janey Ford.

“I am sure, Janey, wonders will never cease when we see you in this thing,” said Susy.  “It was disgusting of the others to funk it.  But I suppose they were on the right side; only I do sometimes hate being on the right side.—­Don’t you, Kathleen?”

“Yes,” said Kathleen in a whisper, and she squeezed Susy’s hand.  It seemed to her that her soul and Susy’s had met at that moment, and had saluted each other like comrades true.

“But how was it you came, Janey?  Didn’t your little heart funk it altogether?” continued Kate.

“I was so mad to come,” said Janey.  “I am shaking and trembling now like anything.  But I had never been to a theater, and it was such a tremendous temptation.  I said about ten times to myself that I wouldn’t come, but eleven times I said that I would; and the eleventh time conquered, and here I am.  I do hope we’ll have a right good time.”

With this sort of chatter the girls got to London.  Here Kate Rourke took the lead.  She marshaled the little party in two and two, and so conveyed them out of the station.  Outside the yard at Charing Cross they all climbed on the top of an omnibus, and soon were wending their way in the direction of the Princess’ Theater, which Kate most strongly advocated.  There was no crowd at the theater this special evening.  The piece which was presented on the boards happened to be a fairly good one.  The girls got excellent seats, and found themselves in the front row of the