Page:The spirit of the leader (IA spiritofleader00heyl).pdf/137

 Perry sniffed. "You wouldn't say that if you saw the way those two girls acted to-day."

"Maybe they haven't thought of it from the right angle. Maybe they just accepted what Merritt did as the courtesy a fellow would naturally show a girl. Down in my heart I believe they're just as much alive to the real things as any of us are. I think they'd be insulted if they thought the school had one line of treatment for the boy citizens and another for the girl. I think they want to play the big game with us, and that they're ready to play it with us. I think they're eager and willing to take the knocks that go with the big game. They're not asking to be babied. They're citizens; and the fellow who refuses to judge them as citizens belittles them and belittles the school."

Perry had listened with a rising color in his cheeks. At the end he shook his head as though breaking away from a charm of words.

"Wouldn't it be fine for the school if things ran like that?" he asked wistfully.

Praska was disappointed. "You're one of those who think a girl has to be babied?"

"The bulk of 'Nimble-feet' Merritt's support is coming from the girls' home rooms," Perry said practically. It was an argument that admitted of no answer. He trudged off and left