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The Nicest Girl in the School: A Story of School Life

by Angela Brazil · English · Gutenberg #25003 · 319,657 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The Nicest Girl in the School: A Story of School Life

Author: Angela Brazil

Illustrator: Arthur A. Dixon


        
Release date: April 5, 2008 [eBook #25003]
                Most recently updated: January 3, 2021

Language: English

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THE NICEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL

A Story of School Life

by

ANGELA BRAZIL

Author of "The Third Class at Miss Kaye's"
"The Fortunes of Philippa"

Illustrated by Arthur A. Dixon







[Illustration: "SHE STARTED GUILTILY AT HER COUSIN'S ENTRANCE"]



Blackie and Son Limited
London Glasgow and Bombay




Contents


  _CHAP._                                                   Page

       I. PACKING                                              9

      II. THE PRIORY                                          20

     III. FIRST IMPRESSIONS                                   36

      IV. A MAIDEN ALL FORLORN                                50

       V. THE ARITHMETIC EXAMINATION                          69

      VI. ALBUMS                                              88

     VII. PATTY'S PLEDGE                                     106

    VIII. A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT                             125

      IX. AN AFTERNOON WITH JEAN                             145

       X. THE CAESAR TRANSLATION                              159

      XI. THE SUMMER TERM                                    176

     XII. PLAYING WITH FIRE                                  198

    XIII. THE SCHOOL PICNIC                                  212

     XIV. ON THE ROCKS                                       225

      XV. SPEECH DAY                                         243





Illustrations


                                                            Page

    "SHE STARTED GUILTILY AT HER COUSIN'S ENTRANCE"
                                                  _Frontis._ 166

    "EVERYBODY SEEMED TO BE FRIENDS AND TO BE OCCUPIED
    WITH SOME GAME OR AMUSEMENT EXCEPT HERSELF"               56

    "YOU'LL ALL THREE HAVE TO PROMISE NEVER TO LIGHT THE
    GAS AGAIN AFTER MISS ROWE'S TURNED IT OUT"               122

    "GIRLS," SHE CRIED, "SURELY YOU CAN'T SUSPECT ME OF
    OWNING THAT WRETCHED 'CRIB'?"                            173

    "THEY WERE CUT OFF ON EVERY SIDE"                        232




CHAPTER I

Packing


"Only one day more," cried Patty Hirst, surveying with deep interest the
large new box which stood by the side of the chest of drawers in her
bedroom; "just one day! How dreadfully quickly the time has come! I feel
quite queer when I think about it. I can scarcely believe that before
the end of the week both I and my luggage will be a whole hundred miles
away, and settled at Morton Priory. I do wonder how I shall like it?"

"Very much, I hope," replied her mother, pausing for a moment in her
task of packing the neat piles of linen and underclothing into as small
a compass as possible. "I'm sure it seems a delightful school, and you
are an extremely lucky girl to be going there."

"Yes," said Patty, with a rather doubtful tone in her voice, sitting
down on the edge of the bed, and beginning to turn over the pocket
handkerchiefs, the new blouses, the ties, hair ribbons, and other
articles which made up her schoolgirl outfit; "I suppose I am lucky.
Perhaps it may be nicer than I think. I wanted to go dreadfully when
Uncle Sidney first wrote about it, but somehow now that it's got almost
to starting off, do you know I feel as if I'd changed my mind, and I'm
not at all sure that I wouldn't rather stay at home. It seems too
horrible to have to go amongst so many new girls."

Mrs. Hirst laughed.

"Don't be a silly child," she said. "Of course you will feel strange
just at first, but you will soon get over your shyness. It will be quite
a fresh world for you, and a very interesting one. I expect to have the
most enthusiastic letters from you when you have been there for a few
weeks."

"It will be different from Miss Dawson's, at any rate," said Patty.

"I hope it will. Miss Dawson's is the best school we have in Kirkstone,
but it is only moderately good. I can't be too glad for you to have this
opportunity of going to a better one. Give me your stockings, dear, and
the workbasket; I've a corner I want to fill up here."

Patty sat watching her mother's deft fingers in silence for a moment or
two, only handing her from time to time the things which she required.
She gave a little sigh of satisfaction as she saw all her belongings
stowed away in the big box; she had never had so many new possessions in
her life before, and in the pleasure of owning them felt some slight
compensation for the wrench of parting from home. The two useful
navy-blue serge skirts, with their accompanying blouses, the pretty
brown velvet dress for Sundays, the flowered delaine for evenings, and
the white muslin for school parties, not to mention the hats, coats, and
the numberless small articles needed for a girl going away by herself,
all represented much thought and some self-denial on the part of her
mother, who had made a great effort to send her nicely equipped, and had
toiled hard to finish everything in time.

"I don't believe anybody could have a prettier nightdress case or
brush-and-comb bag than this," said Patty, proudly smoothing the lace
edging which she had helped to stitch on herself; "and the clothes bag
is a perfect beauty. Here's the little cash-box, Mother. It seems such a
funny thing to have to take to school. I haven't any 'valuables' to put
into it, except my pocket money, and you said Miss Lincoln would take
care of that. Why must it have two keys?"

"In case you lose one, I suppose. No doubt Miss Lincoln is well
accustomed to schoolgirls' careless ways. You can keep your brooches
inside it, and your locket and chain. Now give me your serviette ring
and your collars, and don't forget that I've put the boot laces in your
workbasket."

"I wonder if I shall unpack by myself, or if anyone will come to help
me," said Patty.

"You'll soon find out what is expected, and of course Muriel will be
able to tell you everything. It's so very nice for you to have your
cousin at the school. You'll have a friend there already."

Patty's face fell.

"I'm not sure, Mother," she said, rather hesitatingly. "The truth is,
I'm afraid Muriel doesn't want me to go. She was so queer and offhand
about it when I was staying at Thorncroft; she wouldn't talk of it at
all, though Aunt Lucy did. Somehow I think she won't like me to be at
the same school as herself."

"You must be mistaken, dear! Why, Uncle Sidney was so pleased with his
project, and said you were to take care of Muriel as if she were your
sister."

"I know he did; but all the same, I don't believe Muriel herself will
like it. She's never been very fond of me; Horace is always much jollier
when I go there. When Aunt Lucy said she hoped we should both be in the
same class, Muriel looked quite cross, and said of course I should be
lower down, as she had gone to school first, and girls who were in
different forms scarcely saw anything of each other; and then, when we
were out in the garden together, she said she didn't see why I must be
sent to The Priory, and surely there were other schools I could have
gone to."

"Never mind, dear! Perhaps she was a little out of temper that day, and
may prove nicer when you really arrive. You must try to keep friends
with her, even if she's not always quite pleasant. We mustn't forget
Uncle Sidney's kindness. I feel very grateful to him, for we couldn't
possibly have sent you to such an expensive school on our own account."

"I'll try," said Patty, "as far as she'll let me. If she were more like
Milly it would be much easier. Oh! how dreadfully I shall miss you and
Father, and Basil, and the little ones! I wish I could go to school and
take my family with me. I don't know how I'm to manage for thirteen
whole weeks without once seeing any of you. The time will never go by."

"Poor little woman!" said her mother. "It does seem hard, I know, but
you must look forward to meeting us all again, and the days will pass
much faster than you imagine."

"But, Mother darling, you'll have so much to do while I'm away. Who'll
help you with the children? Baby will almost have forgotten me by the
time I come back."

"No, he won't; he'll know you in a moment, and give you his biggest hug.
It's no use crying, Patty; young birds must leave the nest some time,
and learn to fly for themselves. We shall miss you as much as you miss
us, but we must brace our minds to bear it, because it's one of those
partings that have to come, and are for the best after all. Think what a
splendid thing it is for you to be going to such a school as Morton
Priory! I only wish I had had such advantages when I was a girl. You
must work hard, and make the very most of your time there."

"I'll do my best, but I'm not clever," said Patty, "and I'm afraid I
never shall be. Mother, dearest, you're actually crying too! What a
horrid, selfish, nasty wretch I am! I believe it's just as bad for you
as it is for me. There! I'm not going to say another word, and if I do,
please give me a smack. I'm ever so ashamed to have made my darling
little Mother cry!"

She got off the bed, and giving a hard scrub to her eyes, stuffed her
handkerchief back into her pocket with a determined air, as if the tears
went with it. All the same, her voice sounded choky, and there were such
bright drops glistening on Mrs. Hirst's eyelashes, that I think they
both felt it a welcome interruption when a loud tramping was suddenly
heard on the stairs, and four children burst tumultuously into the room:
a girl of eleven, two boys of nine and seven, and a younger girl of
about five years old.

"We ran all the way home from school," they cried. "We didn't wait a
single minute to talk to anybody. Oh! have you packed Patty's box
already? We did so want to watch you do it!"

"Go to the nursery, children," said Mrs. Hirst, "I cannot have your
meddlesome little fingers here. Robin, put down that hat immediately!
Wilfred, you're not to open that bag! No, Kitty, my pet, you mustn't
peep inside parcels. Milly, take them away, and make them wash their
hands. I didn't expect you all home so soon."

"I'll go with them, Mother," said Patty, taking the noisy four under her
elder sisterly wing, and escorting them to their own domain, where Mary,
the nurse, was endeavouring to attend to the baby, while at the same
time she restrained three-year-old Rowley from making acquaintance with
the interior of the coal box. "Did you give Miss Dawson my message,
Milly? You forgot? Oh, what a careless girl you are! I shall have to
write her a letter. No, it's no use your running back now. There
wouldn't be time before tea, it's almost ready."

Patty helped the children to put on pinafores and tidy their hair,
washed Rowley's hands, and seated him in his high chair at the table,
then made herself so useful in passing bread and butter, spreading jam,
and handing round mugs of milk, that Mary gave a heartfelt sigh of
regret.

"I simply don't know what we'll do without you when you've gone, Miss
Patty," she said dolefully.

"Oh! I wish I were going too!" cried Milly. "What lovely fun it would
be! Imagine having a gymnasium, and climbing poles, and walking on
planks. Muriel told me all about it when she was over here. She said she
learnt to swarm up a rope like sailors do. And there's a swimming bath,
and hockey, and cricket, and tennis. You can't think how I envy you,
Patty. You're the luckiest girl in the world. It will seem so slow to
stay on at Miss Dawson's. I shan't like it one scrap now."

"Will they toss you in a blanket, Patty," enquired Robin eagerly, "like
they did Cousin Horace when first he went to school, or twist your arm
round and punch it?"

"Of course not," replied Patty, laughing; "those things are only done in
boys' schools. Girls don't play such silly tricks; they don't 'punch'
people at all."

"They do sometimes," declared Robin; "Milly gave me a horrid----"

"Be quiet!" said Milly quickly, administering what appeared to be a kick
under the table. "You deserved anything you got, and if you say a word
more I'll tell about--you know what!"

"If you dare!"

"Be quiet, then."

"I will now, but wait till I catch you afterwards!" and Robin, throwing
her an indignant glance, applied himself so diligently to his bread and
butter, that he had no opportunity for further remarks; while Patty,
wisely ignoring the quarrel, turned the conversation back to the safer
channel of her future experiences, which at present seemed the most
absorbing topic they could have to discuss.

"There'll be a great many more girls there than at Miss Dawson's," she
began.

"How many?" asked Milly.

"I believe there are about seventy, and at least half of them will be
older than I am. Muriel says some of the top class have turned eighteen,
and wear their hair up. I shall only be one of the younger ones."

"How funny!" giggled the children. "Will they give you easy lessons,
then?"

"Compound addition and the first declension?" suggested Robin.

"Or spelling and tables?" said Wilfred.

"Will Patty do pot-hooks and learning to read, like me?" said Kitty.

"You will find it easier, though, if you're one of the youngest, won't
you?" said Milly.

"No, indeed. I expect all the work will be much harder than anything
I've ever done yet. It won't be all hockey and gymnasium, I can tell
you. I'm afraid I shall find I'm behind most of the other girls."

"Oh, Patty, and you were always top at Miss Dawson's!"

"That's quite different. It's easy enough to be top when there are only
four girls in a class, and two of them as stupid as the Simpsons. I may
very likely turn out bottom at The Priory."

"You won't! You won't!" cried Milly. "I heard Miss Dawson tell Mother
you were one of her best workers, and she knew you'd do well wherever
you went. There, you needn't blush! It wasn't anything very particular,
after all. If she'd been talking about me, I'd far rather she'd said I
was a good runner, and could catch a ball without missing it every time
it was thrown to me."

"She did say something about you, though: I heard her," volunteered
Robin.

"Then you shouldn't have listened, and you've no need to tell. I hate
tell-tales!" said Milly, forestalling his offered confidence. "If you've
finished tea, you'd better go and feed the guinea-pigs. Patty, do come
and help me to trace my map, it's the last evening but one that you'll
be here; and I want you to show me how to do G.C.M., because I was
looking out of the window this morning when Miss Dawson told us, and I
can't work any of my sums until I know. Come into the summer-house,
where we can get a little peace and quiet;" and hastily swallowing her
last fragment of bread and butter, she caught up her school satchel, and
beckoning persuasively to her sister, led the way downstairs, and out
into the garden.




CHAPTER II

The Priory


As this story mostly concerns Patty, I should like to describe her
exactly as she looked when she made her first start into that new,
strange world where everything was going to be so different from the
quiet home where she had spent the thirteen years of her life. She was
not very tall nor very short, just an ordinary, healthy, well-grown
girl, with a round, rather childish face, plump rosy cheeks, a nose that
had not yet decided what shape it meant to be, a mouth that for beauty
might certainly have been smaller, a frank pair of blue eyes, and hair
that had been flaxen when she was younger, but now, to her mother's
regret, was fast turning as brown as it could. No one could really call
Patty pretty, but she had such a merry, pleasant, sunny, smiling look
about her, that she always somehow made people feel like smiling too,
and put them into a good temper in spite of themselves. She was neither
dull nor particularly clever, only possessed of average abilities, able
to remember lessons when she tried hard, and gifted with a certain
capacity for plodding, but not in the least brilliant over anything she
undertook. She was never likely to win fame, or set the Thames on fire,
but she was one of those cosy, thoughtful, cheery, lovable home girls,
who are often a great deal more pleasant to live with than some who have
greater talents; and she had a magic way of making things go smoothly in
the household, and dropping oil on all the little creaking hinges of
life, without anybody quite discovering how it was done. Patty's father
was a busy doctor in the small country town of Kirkstone. He was out
nearly the whole day long, driving about in his high gig to visit people
in distant farms and villages, and had very little time to give to his
own family, so they were obliged to make the most of the few delightful
half-hours he could manage to spare for them now and then. Patty, as his
eldest daughter, held a special place in his heart. She was already
quite a nice companion for him, and I think there was no greater treat
for both than on those occasions when she was able to tuck herself into
the gig by his side, ready to open gates, and hold the reins while he
paid his visits. Patty loved those long drives along the quiet roads.
She did not care whether the weather were wet or fine, hot or cold. It
did not matter in the least if it snowed or hailed, provided her father
was there to talk to, and they could indulge in those confidential chats
that seemed to bring them so near together, and made her feel quite a
little woman instead of only a girl of thirteen. It was not often,
however, that Patty could be absent for the many hours of a doctor's
country round. School and lessons claimed most of her time, and even on
Saturdays she was so useful at home that they found it difficult to
manage without her. Seven younger brothers and sisters all looked to
Patty to settle their quarrels, hem their boat sails, dress their dolls,
kiss their bumps and bruises better, sympathize with their small woes
and troubles, tell them stories, invent new games, and generally take
the lead in all the important matters of the nursery. She was her
mother's right hand, and from the time she was old enough to feel
herself a little older than the rest, she had helped to stitch on
buttons, wash chubby faces, fasten tiny shoes, comb curly heads, keep
small fingers out of mischief and small limbs from danger, and support
the cause of law and order by an emphatic "don't" or "mustn't" when
necessary. Patty often congratulated herself on the fact that she had
taught five babies to walk. She was very proud of the family, beginning
with Basil, who was only a year younger than herself, though not nearly
so capable and reliable, and ending with the fat baby who had not yet
found his feet, while in between came harum-scarum Milly, boisterous
Robin and Wilfred, coaxing, bewitching little Kitty, and round-faced,
stolid, three-year-old Rowland, whose name was generally corrupted to
Roly-Poly, because it seemed so exactly to suit him.

It had never occurred to Patty that life could ever be very much
different from what she was accustomed to. She had seldom been away from
Kirkstone, only for short visits to relations or a seaside holiday, and
all her horizon was bounded by her home. She went to a day school, where
she was one of the elder girls, and felt obliged, even in the midst of
her lessons, to keep an eye on Milly's behaviour, and to consider
herself responsible for the good conduct of Robin, Wilfred, and Kitty,
who were also Miss Dawson's pupils. It was quite anxious work for her to
get them off in time in the mornings; to ensure that they did not leave
their books at home, or forget their macintoshes on showery days, or
lose their slates and pencils; to help to lace their boots, and put on
their hats neatly; to make Milly and Kitty wear their gloves, and
prevent Robin and Wilfred from filling their pockets with nut shells,
stones, frogs, or other unsuitable articles which were apt to stray out
in class and call down the vials of the mistress's wrath upon their
heads. She saw that they learnt their home lessons, did their sums,
practised their due portions upon the piano: and it took up so much of
her own time, that she had to work hard to get in even the moderate
amount of preparation that was deemed necessary at Miss Dawson's. It had
meant a very great change, therefore, when her uncle had written
offering to send Patty to Morton Priory with her cousin Muriel. It would
have been quite impossible for Dr. Hirst, burdened as he was with a
large family and a not too ample income, to place any of his children at
expensive boarding schools. Basil, indeed, went by train daily to
Winborough, ten miles off, where there was an excellent boys' college;
but no better teaching than Miss Dawson could give seemed in store for
Patty, until this sudden good fortune had been thrust upon her. Mr.
Pearson, her uncle, was a wealthy man, who had only one daughter. It had
occurred to him that it would be nice for the two girls to spend their
schooldays together, and he had generously undertaken the full charges
of his niece's education, declaring she should have exactly the same
advantages as her cousin. He had been fond of his sister in their
childhood, and thought how suitable it seemed for Muriel, who was three
months younger than Patty, to have the latter for a companion during the
years he wished her to remain at The Priory.

"Patty is such a good, conscientious child," he wrote to Mrs. Hirst, "I
know she will look after her cousin, and stand by her in any trouble. I
can trust her to be a true and loyal friend, and it will be a comfort to
me to think that Muriel has anyone so stanch and steady on whom to
depend. If Patty will consider my girl her special charge while she is
at The Priory, she will amply repay me for anything I may expend on her
behalf. It is a bargain to which I am sure she will agree, and which I
feel certain she will be ready to keep."

Such a tremendous occasion as being sent away to school naturally marked
an epoch in Patty's life, though she looked upon the event with mixed
feelings. Sometimes it seemed terrible to her to have to leave her dear
ones at home, and she shrank from the parting with an almost morbid fear
lest she should never see them all again; then a more sensible mood
would prevail, and she would be so glad to think she was going, and so
excited about it, that she could scarcely wait until the summer holidays
were over, and the autumn term should begin. The one thing which
troubled her most was the charge which had been laid upon her to look
after her cousin. The latter was such a totally different girl from
herself, that unfortunately she felt they had little in common; and
though she was anxious to do her utmost to prove the stanch friend in
need that her uncle required, she was sure that Muriel would greatly
resent all interference, and she did not anticipate an easy task. She
did not like to discuss the question much with her father and mother.
They seemed so pained at the thought that the two girls should not
agree, and so wishful that their schooldays should bring them nearer
together, that she determined not to mention the subject again, and
could only hope that her fears might not be fulfilled. What the future
held in store for her, and what experiences she was to encounter in her
new life at Morton Priory, it is the object of this story to relate.

A neatly printed notice had been forwarded to Dr. Hirst, reminding him
that the autumn term reopened on September 20th, and that it was
requested that all pupils should return on that day, arriving not later
than five o'clock in the afternoon. Patty wondered how anybody could be
in danger of forgetting such an important date, and from counting the
days had come to counting the hours and even the minutes up to that
particular moment when she must set out on her travels. To her great
delight, her father and mother had decided to take a little holiday and
escort her safely to school. They were anxious to see The Priory for
themselves, and to make the acquaintance of Miss Lincoln, the
headmistress, with whom they had already held some correspondence; and
they both felt they would be much better satisfied if they could picture
Patty in her new surroundings, and leave her looking tolerably cheerful
and happy there. After a terrible parting from the children, Patty tore
herself away at last from their hugs and kisses, and sat blinking back
tears until the cab reached the station, in spite of Dr. Hirst's efforts
to distract her attention. She brightened up, however, in the train. It
seemed so important to be sitting there with a new brown leather bag in
the rack over her head, and a new box in the luggage van, both marked
with her own initials, and to feel she was bound for such a particularly
interesting destination. It was a rather tedious cross-country journey.
After they had changed twice, and found themselves on the main line at a
busy junction, the long corridor carriage was suddenly filled up with so
many girls of various ages, that Patty began to think she must be face
to face with some of her school-fellows, who no doubt were arriving by
the same train as herself. Two mistresses, who were waiting on the
platform, marshalled the excited, chattering young people to their
places, and saw to the safe bestowal of their luggage--evidently no
light task, for there were many outcries after bags and parcels of wraps
and umbrellas, forgotten in the bustle of changing, and porters were
sent hurrying hither and thither to recover the lost property. Everybody
was at length on board the train, including three girls who made a great
sensation at the last moment by racing down the platform to get
chocolates from the automatic machine, and were nearly left behind, to
the equal indignation of the guard and the two teachers. The Hirsts'
compartment was crammed as tightly as it could be: five girls managed to
screw themselves into the space of four, and one, who could find no seat
at all, sat in turns on the others' knees. Two amongst them at once
attracted Patty's notice. One, a fair-haired girl of about the same age
as herself, cried persistently and unrestrainedly, burying her face in
the window curtain, and refusing all comfort, though her companions
pressed chocolates, caramels, mint rock, jujubes, and walnut toffee upon
her with well-meant sympathy.

"Oh, do stop, Avis! You make the place quite damp. No one would think it
was your fourth term. I hope you've brought a macintosh pillow, if
you're going to turn on the waterworks like this. Wipe your eyes, and
have a peppermint cream. I always take them when I feel homesick.
There's nothing does one so much good."

The speaker was a merry, bonny-looking girl of perhaps fifteen, with
bright brown eyes, a clear complexion, a freckled nose, very white
teeth, and curly brown hair tied with a red ribbon. Patty thought she
must surely have spent all her pocket money at the confectioner's before
she came away--such endless packets of sweets came out of the Gladstone
bag which she held on her knee, and disappeared with such startling
rapidity that Dr. Hirst looked on in horror.

"I got hold of my eldest brother," she explained to a companion. "I told
him I shouldn't be allowed a solitary chocolate drop at The Priory, and
how I should be simply yearning even for treacle toffee. He laughed, and
said I should have a good time before I got there, at any rate, so we
went into town, and he bought me absolutely anything I wanted. Have
another caramel, Winnie? It's no use keeping them. Miss Rowe'll
confiscate them all if she finds them in my bag. You won't have the
chance of any more sweets for thirteen weeks, remember!"

"Not unless she can manage to get up a cough," said a girl whom the
others addressed as Ida, "and it depends whether you like Miss Lincoln's
cough drops or not. I think they're hateful myself, and taste like
medicine, but Dorothy Dawson loves them. She made her throat quite sore
one day last term with trying to cough all through the history class,
and Miss Lincoln didn't give her any after all. She only told her to go
and take a glass of water. Dolly was so disgusted! No, thanks, Enid! I
really can't manage another. There are limits, you know, even for me."

"But we simply must finish them up."

"Then finish them yourself."

"She'll be ill if she does," said the short, rosy-faced girl called
Winnie. "I don't believe you've stopped eating sweets, Enid, since you
got into the train. You'll have a horrible headache to-morrow, see if
you don't!"

"I'll call it homesickness if I do," laughed Enid, "and then everybody
will sympathize with me. Look here, Avis, if you insist on crying over
the window curtains you'll take the colour out of them, and the company
will bring an action for damages. They're so dusty, too. Your face is
all in streaks of black. Let me rub it off for you. Winnie, lend me your
bottle of eau de Cologne, that's a dear. I have a clean handkerchief
here. That's better. Now do cheer up, and put your hat straight; we
shall be there in about five minutes."

Patty sat surveying these new girl comrades with deep interest. Avis and
Enid particularly claimed her attention. She had a kindred feeling for
the grief of the one, and the lively manner and bright chat of the other
were attractive, while a look in the merry brown eyes, when they
happened to glance her way, made her think their owner would be willing
to make friends. There was no opportunity, however, to speak, and the
train having reached Morton, everyone turned out in a hurry. In the
bustle of collecting handbags and umbrellas and identifying her own box
from the huge pile of similar luggage on the platform, she lost sight of
her fellow-travellers, and only thought she noticed Enid's blue dress
disappearing inside a station omnibus, and Winnie's black hat whisk past
her in a closely packed landau.

"Muriel was to arrive by the earlier train," said Dr. Hirst, as he put
Patty's belongings into a cab. "No doubt we shall find her waiting for
us at The Priory. What a number of girls! And everyone seems to have
brought a hockey stick. We shall have to ask Miss Lincoln to get one for
you, Patty. If the pretty, dark girl who was in our compartment isn't
ill to-morrow, I shall be much surprised. I'm sure she deserves to be.
If I were her medical man, I should order her a dose of rhubarb and sal
volatile. She's going to call it homesickness, the young rascal, is she?
She looks as if she could be ready to play pranks. If they would consult
me, I'd soon find a cure!" And the doctor chuckled with amusement at the
idea.

The Priory was about a mile away from the railway station, and it was
with a beating heart and a queer lump in her throat that Patty found
herself stepping from the cab and alighting at a great doorway
ornamented with ecclesiastical carvings, and, giving a hasty glance
round a courtyard where girls of various ages seemed already to be
collected, realized that she had at length reached school. In the
fourteenth century Morton Priory had been a monastery of the Franciscan
order, and it now seemed a strange irony of fate that feminine
petticoats should reign supreme within the very walls where the grey
brothers had lived in such seclusion. The old refectory where they had
dined, and the cloister where they had been wont to meditate, were now
given up to a lively, laughing crew of girls, whose serge skirts and
white blouses among the quaint surroundings made a curious blending of
ancient and modern. What remained of the monastic building occupied one
side of a large quadrangle, while the other three sides were taken up
with modern additions, erected, however, in such excellent taste, and so
closely in accordance with the architecture of the older portion, that
the whole had a strictly mediaeval appearance. In the centre of the
courtyard was a pretty Italian garden, with neat box edgings, where
stood the sundial which had marked the hours for the monks who once
paced there, and still remained an old-world protest against the big
clock in the tower over the gymnasium that set the time for the clanging
school bell. Situated in the midst of beautiful scenery, the large
grounds formed a little self-contained kingdom, shut off from the rest
of the world: the numerous tennis courts and the playing fields provided
ample space for outdoor sports; the home farm supplied milk, butter, and
eggs; the kitchen garden grew the fruit and vegetables; while a small
sanatorium in a breezy corner ensured a safe retreat for anyone who
happened to be placed upon the sick list.

Parents were received in the library by Miss Lincoln, who spoke a few
pleasant words to Dr. and Mrs. Hirst about Patty's education and
attainments, and then, as other visitors arrived, passed them on to an
under-mistress, who took them to have tea in the drawing-room, and
afterwards showed them round the school. To Patty, fresh from Miss
Dawson's modest arrangements, it seemed indeed a new world, and she
looked with eager eyes at the classrooms with their Girton desks, their
maps and their blackboards, the studio with its array of casts, models,
and easels, the row of little practising rooms, each with piano, music
stool, and a chair for the teacher; and she gazed almost with awe at the
laboratory with its mysterious bottles and retorts, and the gymnasium
fitted with ropes, bars, and other appliances as yet unknown to her. Her
bag was already placed on the chair in her neat cubicle, though her box
had not been carried upstairs, and her mother was able to note with
approval the excellent arrangements of the bedroom, curtained off as it
was into four parts.

"I'm sorry you will not be with your cousin," said Mrs. Hirst, "but no
doubt you'll soon get to know your room mates. I should like to see
Muriel before we go. I wonder where she is! We must be quick, as we have
only ten minutes left before we must start again to the station."

Miss Graveson, the mistress, volunteered to send in search of her, and a
girl started on an urgent hunt through the school; but evidently it was
a difficult task, for it was only when the Hirsts' cab was at the door
that she returned with the object of her quest.

Muriel was a remarkably pretty girl, slight and graceful, with eyes as
blue as forget-me-nots, and long, silky, golden hair; she was generally
very artistically dressed, and always looked like a picture, a fact of
which she was extremely well aware. She greeted her uncle and aunt
without much enthusiasm, gave Patty her cheek to kiss, and did not seem
particularly delighted at having been called to speak to them.

"I expected we should have seen you before, dear," said Mrs. Hirst. "I
felt quite unhappy at the idea of leaving Patty alone, but now you are
here to show her the ways of The Priory, I'm sure she'll be all right.
Muriel will be able to tell you everything, Patty, so I give you into
her hands. Now good-bye, my darling child! Don't fret, and write to us
as soon as you can. We shall be looking forward to your first letter,
and please let it be a cheerful one."




CHAPTER III

First Impressions


Patty certainly felt anything but cheerful as she stood at the top of
the steps to watch her father and mother drive away, though she put on a
brave face, and waved a vigorous farewell.

"They've only just time to catch their train," she said, turning to
Muriel. "I hope the man will go fast. It would be so tiresome for them
to miss it."

"Why aren't they staying all night at the Queen's Hotel?" asked Muriel.
"Father and Mother always do when they come to see me and so do most of
the girls' friends."

"Father wouldn't be able to spare the time," said Patty, thinking
privately that the expense would also be a consideration, though she did
not say that aloud. "He must get home to look after his patients, you
know. Mr. Barnes, our new assistant, isn't very clever, and several
people are seriously ill, and can't be left long."

Muriel shrugged her shoulders.

"I wouldn't mention they'd brought you, then," she replied. "It's
considered the correct thing for one's parents to stay at the Queen's,
and the girls will think it so queer if yours haven't. What bedroom are
you in?"

"No. 7. I hope it's a nice one?"

"Oh, tolerable! Not so nice as mine. I'm in No. 16, on the other
landing, with three of my best friends."

"Do you know who's in my room?"

"Nobody at all particular; only May Firth, Ella Johnson, and Doris
Kennedy. Do you see that new girl crossing the quad? I believe she comes
from our part of the world. She was starting too when I was setting off;
they nearly put her in my carriage, only luckily the guard had locked
the door."

"What's her name? I don't remember seeing her at Waverton."

"I daresay not. Her name's Jean Bannerman, and she lives in one of those
houses at the end of the park. I met her once at a party, but we don't
know them at all."

"Does she seem nice?"

"I'm sure I can't tell. I wasn't much impressed with her. Have you
unpacked?"

"No, not yet. My box hasn't been brought upstairs."

"It's there now. I saw John carrying it to your room. I should think
you'd better go and take your things out."

"Won't you come with me, Muriel?" asked Patty, rather shyly. "I don't
know where I'm expected to put my clothes."

"Haven't time," said Muriel, shaking her head. "I've got all my own to
do. It's easy enough; you've only to pop them into your drawers and your
wardrobe. Supper's at seven in the refectory. Why, there's Gwendolen
Farmer. I simply must go and speak to her. Ta-ta!"

And Muriel ran away to the other side of the quadrangle, leaving Patty
standing alone upon the steps.

Thus suddenly deserted, the latter watched for a moment to see if her
cousin meant to come back, but Muriel, after greeting the newcomer with
much affection, linked her arm in hers, and without even turning her
head to look round, walked through a doorway opposite, and was lost to
sight. Patty went upstairs to her cubicle with a rather sore feeling in
her heart, against which she made a violent effort to struggle. After
all, she argued to herself, it was only natural that Muriel, who must
have so many friends in the school, should be so anxious to see them all
again after the long summer holidays. She would no doubt be waiting in
the refectory to show her to her seat, and would then, perhaps,
introduce her to a few special companions. She could not mean absolutely
to ignore her, and it was absurd to take offence needlessly.

"I'm her own relation, and she surely can't forget that," thought Patty.
"She's busy now, but she'll be nicer to me later on."

Each bedroom at The Priory was divided into four cubicles by means of
curtains hung on brass rods, and each cubicle contained its own little
bed, chest of drawers, washstand, and small wardrobe. Patty was lucky
enough to have a window that looked out over the playing fields,
otherwise her division was exactly the same as the rest. The three other
occupants appeared to have already unpacked: their nightdress cases were
laid on their beds, their sponges on their washstands, various photo
frames, books, and ornaments adorned their dressing-tables, and their
curtains were drawn back, as was the rule when the cubicles were not
occupied, to allow a free current of air through the room. Patty
unlocked her box, and set to work to arrange her various possessions,
placing the photo of the family group, which had been a parting present
from home, in a prominent position, and trying to stifle the longing to
see all the dear, familiar faces again. The nightdress case, which she
had thought so beautiful when she was packing, looked quite plain and
ordinary by the side of the three elaborately worked ones on the other
beds. She had certainly nothing so dainty as the pale-pink, quilted silk
dressing-gown that she could see hanging on a peg behind the door, nor
did she possess cut-glass scent bottles, such as stood on the
dressing-table in the cubicle opposite; nevertheless Patty put her
things away with a certain pride of ownership, and when all was neatly
finished, glanced round her new quarters with much satisfaction. It was
scarcely six o'clock, and supper was not until seven, so she decided to
go downstairs again on the chance of finding Muriel, who by this time
must surely have finished her own unpacking. She waited in the hall for
a few minutes, not quite knowing what to do, until a mistress, hurrying
by, noticed her standing there, and directed her to the recreation room.
Here a number of girls appeared to be collected: a pair of bosom friends
occupied one window, and five pigtails in close proximity took up
another; by the empty fire grate a group of four stood talking
photography with a short fat girl in spectacles, seated on the edge of
the table; while others were continually passing in and out to announce
their own arrival, or to search for absent companions. Several glanced
at Patty, but nobody spoke to her, or paid any particular attention, so
she walked over to the sofa, and taking a book which she found there,
sat idly turning the pages without reading them, and feeling very
uncomfortable and extremely homesick. Everybody in the room, she
thought, seemed talking, laughing, and joking with everyone else, and
she was the only stranger amongst them. No, she was mistaken. There was
one girl as solitary as herself, sitting on the music stool, and turning
over a pile of old pieces and songs that lay on the top of the piano.
She was an interesting-looking girl, with good features, grey eyes with
very long dark lashes, a clear pale complexion, as creamy as if it had
been bathed in milk, and light-brown hair that curled charmingly round
her forehead. She did not appear to find her occupation very absorbing,
for she glanced every now and then in Patty's direction, and finally,
putting the music back on the piano, came quietly across the room and
sat down beside her on the sofa.

"I suppose you're new, aren't you?" she said. "So am I. We seem rather
out of it at present, don't we? Do you know any of these girls?"

"No," replied Patty, "not one of them. I've only just come a little
while ago."

"Yes, I saw your cab drive up. I arrived by the earlier train, so I've
had more time to get used to it. I can't say I like it at all yet,
though. To tell you the truth, I don't mind confessing I'd give
everything in the world to find myself at home again."

This was so exactly Patty's present state of mind, that she felt it
established a bond of sympathy at once with her companion, and
encouraged her sufficiently to enquire her name.

"Jean Bannerman," said the girl, "and I'm almost fifteen. What's yours?"

"Patty Hirst, and I shall be fourteen in October."

"Then I'm nearly a year older than you, for my birthday's in November.
Which bedroom are you in?"

"No. 7."

"I'm in No. 10. I don't know what my room mates are like yet. I hope
they're nice. I wish you had been one of them. It seems so horrid when
everything and everybody are strange. Isn't it dreadfully noisy here?
Suppose we go into the courtyard for a little while. It's quite light
yet, and I see ever so many girls out there. Do you know your way about
the school?"

"Yes--no--yes," replied Patty, hesitatingly.

"Which do you mean?" asked Jean, smiling.

"I mean 'yes'," said Patty. "A teacher showed us round, but I'm afraid I
didn't take very much notice, because, you see, Father and Mother were
just leaving, and I----"

Jean gave a nod of comprehension.

"Then we'll go and explore," she said. "There don't seem to be any
particular rules nor any preparation the first evening. Everybody is
unpacking, and I think we may do as we like until supper. Come along!"

Nothing loth, Patty rose and joined her companion. She was anxious to
see something of the new life into which she had been launched, and she
looked with curiosity round the large quadrangle, which appeared at
present to be the central heart of the school. Here girls of ages
varying from thirteen to eighteen were assembled, comparing holiday
experiences, examining each other's tennis rackets or hockey sticks,
passing jokes, or eagerly enquiring for news on various class topics. To
Patty it seemed almost bewildering to see so many school-fellows, and
she wondered whether it would ever become possible to learn to
distinguish their various faces, and to call each one by her right name.

"I suppose we shall get to know them in time," she said, "but it will be
confusing at first. Do you notice that some of the big girls wear
badges? I wonder what that means?"

"Let us ask somebody," said Jean, glancing round to see if there were
anyone near to whom she might venture to address her enquiry. "That fair
girl sitting on the bench over there looks nice; I'm sure she would tell
us. I don't think she's new, because she was talking to some of the
others a minute ago."

Patty turned in the direction indicated, and recognized the
fellow-traveller who had wept so copiously in the train, and whom her
companions had called Avis. Her tears were dried, but she still appeared
pensive. She held a blotter on her knee, and with a fountain pen was
evidently already beginning a letter home. She put it aside when Jean
spoke to her, and answered pleasantly:

"Of course I can tell you. The badges are worn by the prefects. They're
the six top girls, and they're supposed to keep order. It's a tremendous
honour to be a prefect. Phyllis Chambers is head of the school this
year. We're all glad, because she's so jolly, and she was our tennis
champion last summer. There she is!--that girl in the grey dress. She
won us four matches against other schools. We were so proud of her."

"Isn't she champion now?"

"We don't play tennis this term; it's all hockey. I think Mabel Morgan
is better at that. You'll both be in the lower school team, of course.
Do you know what classes you're in?"

"Not yet," said Patty. "There's to be an exam. to-morrow morning. I'm
afraid I shan't be very high up."

"Oh, you may do better than you expect. Exams. are such a chance. It's
just whether you happen to get a nice set of questions or not. I wonder
if you'll be in my class. I'm in the upper fourth, Miss Harper's."

"Is she nice?"

"Well, some adore her, and some don't care for her at all. It depends a
good deal on yourself. She likes the ones who work, but she can be
dreadfully sarcastic if she thinks you're stupid or lazy. She's
fearfully clever, and says such witty things sometimes. Half-a-dozen of
the girls absolutely worship her, but she's very fair, and won't have
favourites. I like her better than Miss Rowe."

"Who is she?"

"The second mistress in our class. You see, the fourth is in two
divisions, an upper and a lower; we do a few lessons together and some
separately. Miss Harper takes history and literature, and what I call
the more interesting things, and Miss Rowe takes arithmetic and
analysis, and looks after our preparation. There are twenty girls
altogether, counting both divisions. It's the largest class in the
school. There are only ten in the fifth."

"Which is the nicest teacher of all?" asked Jean.

"I think most of us like Miss Latimer best, the games mistress. She's
very popular with everybody. You see, we always have such fun at
gymnastics, and of course we love hockey and cricket. She teaches us
swimming too, but that's only during the summer term. There's the bell!
We must go in to supper. Do you know your way to the refectory? We all
settle places on the first evening, so it's rather exciting. Perhaps
you'd like to come with me?"

Patty would have replied in the affirmative, but at that moment she
happened to notice Muriel crossing the quadrangle, as she thought, in
search of her, and saying she had better wait, she allowed Jean and Avis
to go indoors without her. She was perfectly certain that Muriel must
have seen her, but, greatly to her surprise, her cousin turned aside and
claimed acquaintance with a chestnut-haired girl, with whom she hastened
into the house without bestowing a look in Patty's direction. The great
clanging bell was still ringing in the tower over the gymnasium, and
groups of girls came hurrying towards the refectory from all parts of
the building.

"Be quick, my dear," said a teacher, passing Patty, and noticing her
hesitation. "Everyone is going to supper. Come with me, and I will find
a place for you."

Patty followed, rather nervous, but thankful that somebody would show
her where she must sit. The refectory was almost full when they entered.
It was a large room, with a groined roof like a church, and
stained-glass windows at either side. A long table occupied the entire
length, and at one end was a raised dais, with another table for the
mistresses. It resembled in this respect the hall of a college, and was
a subject of great pride to Miss Lincoln, who liked to think that the
school had its meals in the same place where the old monks had dined six
hundred years ago. Muriel was seated towards the centre of the table,
chatting to several friends in whose company she seemed entirely
absorbed. There was evidently no room in her vicinity, and the teacher
moved farther along and found a place for Patty nearer the end. She was
between two girls rather older than herself, neither of whom spoke to
her. One appeared to be in an uncommunicative frame of mind, and
answered abruptly when a neighbour asked her a question, and the other
was occupied with a conversation with two schoolmates at the opposite
side of the table. Patty ate her supper, therefore, in silence, feeling
exceedingly shy, and very much hurt that her cousin should have treated
her so unkindly. On her first evening common politeness would have
suggested that Muriel might have sought her out and introduced her to a
few other girls, instead of leaving her thus friendless and forlorn.
Even Jean and Avis were too far away to speak to, and she was yet an
absolute outsider to everyone else. There is nothing more solitary than
to feel oneself alone in a crowd, and the tears rose to poor Patty's
eyes at the remembrance of the nursery at home, where the little ones
would just have gone to bed, and Milly and Robin would be learning their
lessons for the next day.

When the meal was over, the whole school adjourned to the lecture-room
to listen to an opening speech from Miss Lincoln, who usually began the
term with an address to her pupils. The singing class sang a few glees,
and there was a recitation by one of the prefects; after that came
prayers, and then it was bedtime. Patty was escorted to No. 7 by the
same teacher who had taken her to the refectory, and who, she learnt,
was Miss Rowe, the second mistress of the fourth class. The curtains of
the other cubicles were closely drawn, so she did not catch a glimpse of
her companions, and as all conversation was strictly forbidden, the room
was in silence. Patty went to bed in the very lowest of spirits. It had
not seemed a favourable beginning to her school life, and unless things
improved a little she was sure she could never be happy.

"I suppose I must try and make the best of it," she thought; "and one
thing I'm determined about, however wretched I feel, I'm not going to
write miserable letters home and upset Mother. She wanted me so much to
like The Priory, so I won't let her know, even if nobody ever does talk
to me or be nice. There are eighty-nine days before I can go back, and
this is one off, at any rate. I expect they'll go by somehow, though I
wish I could skip them all, and this were the last day of the term
instead of only the first."




CHAPTER IV

A Maiden all Forlorn


Patty awoke next morning with a vague, drowsy, comfortable impression
that she was in her own room at home, with Milly in the other bed, and
she was just going to turn over and fall happily asleep again, when she
suddenly remembered where she was, and felt as if her heart, instead of
being light and cheerful as usual, had changed into lead or some
substance of an equally weighty description. She realized that it was
the sound of voices that had disturbed her. Two girls in the opposite
cubicles were talking together, in low tones, certainly, but loud enough
to be most distinctly audible.

"It is a shame, Doris," said the first, "when you and I and Beatrice and
May had all put our names down for a bedroom together, and Miss Graveson
had almost promised we should have this one! And she won't say why not,
either, only that Miss Lincoln had arranged it this way."

"It's perfectly disgusting," replied the other. "Miss Lincoln's
absolutely mean. And Beatrice is as disappointed about it as we are.
She's in No. 12, with Ada and Carrie Hardman. Think of having to share
your room with the Hardmans! Beatrice says she doesn't intend even to
speak to them."

"It's just as bad for us. We don't want this new girl. Why couldn't Miss
Lincoln put her with the Hardmans, and let Beatrice come to No. 7?"

"Oh, I don't know, except that she knew we were so anxious about it. We
shan't have any fun now. I expect she'll be dreadfully priggish and
proper."

"Have you seen her?"

"Only for a moment. Ida Haslam pointed her out to me in the recreation
room. I thought she seemed rather prim. At any rate, she doesn't look
nearly as nice as Beatrice."

"She certainly couldn't be that."

"I wish she hadn't come, and I vote we don't make any fuss over her."

"I'm not going to, I assure you!"

"Well, I shan't either. She can take care of herself, and make friends
with anybody she likes. Only it's a horrible nuisance to be obliged to
have her in our room. Look here, Ella, suppose we----"

But here it suddenly dawned upon Patty that she was listening to what
was not intended for her ears, so she gave such a very wide-awake cough
that the speaker stopped, and after a suppressed giggle, apparently drew
aside the curtain of her cubicle, leaned out of bed, and continued her
remarks in a subdued whisper. It certainly was not particularly
encouraging for Patty to find she was so unwelcome in No. 7. It seemed
too bad that her room mates should be prejudiced against her before they
had really made her acquaintance. It was not her fault that she had been
put in the place of the companion they preferred, and it was unfair and
unkind to have a grudge against her on that account. She wondered if
Jean Bannerman would be accorded as cold a reception in No. 10. Jean, at
any rate, had seemed friendly, and their little walk round the
quadrangle had been so far the only bright spot since her arrival. She
had not much time, however, for further reflections; a loud bell in the
passage gave the signal for rising, and, afraid of being late, she got
up at once. Judging from the sounds in the other cubicles, Doris and
Ella appeared to have some difficulty in waking May, who was evidently a
heavy sleeper, and all three indulged in many yawns and groans before
they finally tore themselves out of bed, and hurried rapidly through
their toilets, chatting meanwhile about various affairs which were
quite unintelligible to anyone who had not yet learnt to take part in
the life at The Priory.

Patty was able to say good morning to Jean, and to sit next to her at
prayers, but they were obliged to separate in the refectory, and
breakfast was as silent a meal as supper of the night before. Lessons
began at nine o'clock, and Patty found herself escorted by Miss Rowe to
a small empty classroom, where she was to undergo an entrance
examination. All the other new girls, including Jean, had already taken
this examination at home, the papers having been sent to them by post;
but owing to a mistake, this preliminary had been omitted in Patty's
case, and she must now give some proof of her attainments before she
could be placed in any form. It was an anxious morning for her. She
wrote on steadily, but it was difficult to do herself justice, as the
history paper was on a period she had not studied specially, and the
geography also covered new ground. She was allowed an hour for each, and
gave a sigh of relief when the clock at last struck eleven, and Miss
Rowe took her to the pantry for lunch. This was a very informal affair;
the girls ran in as they liked, and helped themselves to glasses of milk
and slices of thick bread and butter, which were placed in readiness for
them. Patty looked eagerly among the chattering throng for any face
that she knew, but though girls were hurrying in and out the whole time
she was there, she saw neither Jean, Avis, nor Muriel. All seemed
occupied in discussing school topics, and far too busy to notice her,
and when the great bell rang, everyone fled hastily to lecture or
classroom, and left her still standing with her empty glass in her hand.
She put it down leisurely, and was just wondering what to do next, when
Miss Rowe came bustling up.

"Come along at once, Patty!" she said, in a rather peremptory tone.
"Didn't you hear the bell?"

"Yes," replied Patty, wondering what she had done amiss.

"Then why are you not back at your desk in the classroom?"

"I didn't know----" began Patty, but Miss Rowe broke in as if she had
not the patience to listen to explanations.

"You will have to learn punctuality here," she said. "Any girl who is
late for a class loses an order mark. Now be quick and get on with this
arithmetic paper. I can only allow you till twelve o'clock for it, and
then you must begin the grammar."

Patty obeyed in silence, feeling much subdued. It was rather hard, she
thought, that when she was still so new and strange she must be scolded
for not keeping the rules of the school. She had not really known that
she was expected to hasten back to her examination at the sound of the
bell, and had, in fact, been waiting for Miss Rowe to come and fetch
her. The latter seemed annoyed. She hurried Patty to her place, and
handed her a fresh supply of manuscript paper with very scant ceremony,
then, taking up a book, appeared to be preparing some lesson. Patty
remembered how Avis had hinted that Miss Rowe was not popular, and she
thought she began to understand why. In spite of the urgent necessity of
getting on quickly with her sums, she could not help stealing occasional
glances at the mistress, whose clear-cut profile, firm mouth, calm grey
eyes, and abundant braids of fair hair half attracted and half repelled
her. Miss Rowe was barely out of her teens; indeed, it was only a year
since she had left school herself to come as assistant governess at The
Priory, and she tried to make up for her lack of years by exacting the
utmost in the way of discipline, and asserting her dignity upon all
occasions. Miss Lincoln, who saw that there was sometimes friction
between Miss Rowe and her pupils, interfered as little as she could,
thinking the young teacher would soon learn by experience, and it was
better to leave her to fight her own battles, and hoping that time and
prudence would conquer many difficulties. Patty, of course, did not
know all this, but she realized that Miss Rowe was inclined to be
impatient and dictatorial, and in consequence began to think that she
should not like her. Morning school at The Priory was from nine till
one, and the hours from two to four were devoted to outdoor exercise.
To-day, however, owing to her examination, Patty was obliged to return
after dinner to the classroom, and she was not free until three o'clock,
when she handed in her last paper, and was told by Miss Rowe that she
might go and join the other girls in the grounds. Very much relieved
that her ordeal was over at last, she put on her hat and strolled across
the quadrangle under an archway into the garden beyond. She felt tired
out and languid. It was a warm September day, and the unwonted exertion
of answering so many questions had made her head ache. She wandered
aimlessly along the paths, pausing for a few moments at the tennis
courts, where a little crowd of spectators stood watching an exciting
set, then on towards the playing fields, where more girls appeared to be
practising hockey. Everybody seemed to be friends and to be occupied
with some game or amusement except herself, and the loneliness of her
position struck poor Patty again with full force. Muriel had entirely
deserted her, and evidently did not intend to take the slightest
notice of her. There had not yet been any opportunity of renewing the
acquaintance with either Jean Bannerman or Avis, and nobody else had
proffered even a remark.

[Illustration: "EVERYBODY SEEMED TO BE FRIENDS AND TO BE OCCUPIED WITH
SOME GAME OR AMUSEMENT EXCEPT HERSELF"]

"Do they always boycott new girls like this?" thought Patty. "It was
very different at Miss Dawson's. If a fresh girl came we used to be so
nice to her, and show her everything. If this is a big school, I'd much
rather have a little one. Oh! what can I say to Mother when I write? I
can't possibly pretend I'm happy, and I'm sure she'll expect me to
mention Muriel. I shall just have to tell her about the exams., and what
class I'm in--and I don't even know that myself yet. I must send a
letter to-morrow, I promised they should hear by Friday; but I wish I
could have told them some better news."

Patty's circumstances were certainly a little exceptional. Miss Lincoln,
as a rule, took care that every newcomer was given in charge of some
classmate, who was instructed to show her the ways of the school, and
make her feel at home there; but knowing that Patty was Muriel's cousin,
the headmistress had naturally thought it unnecessary to specially
introduce her, expecting she would at once find herself in the midst of
a pleasant set of companions. If she had had the slightest suspicion of
the true state of the case, she would have been much distressed, as she
took great pains to cultivate nice feeling among her girls, and
especially to allow no one to be neglected or unkindly treated. Miss
Rowe, the only teacher who so far had had anything to do with Patty, had
been too busy and occupied to notice whether she appeared to be mixing
with the rest of the school, and having dismissed her to the garden, did
not give her another thought. Several girls, so Patty learnt afterwards,
watched her strolling down the paths, and had half thought of speaking
to her: but thinking she was perhaps only looking for some friend, they
had not carried out their good intentions, and for the present she was
left alone. Tea was at four o'clock, and was followed by preparation
until a quarter to seven.

"Miss Lincoln has not yet been able to correct your papers, Patty," said
Miss Graveson, "so I cannot set you any definite work; but you can come
with me to the Fifth Form room, and I will find something for you to
do."

Patty followed obediently to the classroom in question. The ten girls
who occupied the desks were all strangers to her, and as strict silence
was the rule, there would certainly have been no opportunity for
conversation. Everybody seemed working as hard as possible. Some sat
with elbows on desks, and their fingers in their ears, evidently
committing rules to memory; some were biting their pens in the agonies
of composition, and others counting on their fingers as they added up
sums. I think Patty will not be blamed very much if she did not pay
great attention to the passage which Miss Graveson told her to analyse
and parse. She was growing so terribly homesick and dispirited, that she
longed to put her head down on the desk and indulge in a good fit of
crying, and only her habit of self-control saved her from showing her
feelings before her companions. After supper all the members of the
lower school were expected to bring their work-bags to the recreation
room, and to sit sewing while one of the mistresses read aloud. Patty
retired quietly to the sofa, and opening the piece of linen embroidery
which she had brought with her, began to stitch in a rather
unenthusiastic manner. She felt too shy and dejected to offer any
advances to the other girls, and nobody came and sat by her, or made any
attempt at friendship. She noticed Muriel enter, and for one second
their eyes met, but Muriel deliberately looked the other way, and with
heightened colour crossed to the opposite side of the room, cutting her
so coolly and decidedly that Patty could not possibly mistake her
intention. Jean Bannerman was seated not very far off, talking to Avis,
but as their backs were turned to Patty they did not see her, though
Jean looked round the room once or twice as if in quest of somebody. I
think Patty might perhaps have summoned up sufficient courage to go and
speak to them had not Miss Rowe entered, and after an enquiry as to
whether all the girls were provided with work, took the armchair which
had been reserved for her, and commenced to read aloud. The book was
Dickens's _Great Expectations_, and ever afterwards Patty associated the
first chapters with an indescribable feeling of misery and wretchedness.
Pip's distresses seemed quite in harmony with her state of mind, and she
thought she would almost have preferred his adventure with the escaped
convict to her own present unhappiness. Troubles always seem at their
worst at bedtime, and the memory of home rose up so strongly, that she
began to come to the conclusion it would be an absolute impossibility
ever to like The Priory in the least. A new difficulty which Patty
mastered that evening was the art of crying in bed without making the
slightest sound so as to betray her grief to the occupants of the other
cubicles--a hard and rather choky achievement, for tears are far more
bitter when they must needs be suppressed, and the sorrow that causes
them be hidden away.

She rose next day and went to breakfast, feeling still an alien and an
outsider. The three girls who shared her bedroom appeared determined to
show by their manner how much they resented her presence. They did not
even say good morning, though they were passing through the door at
exactly the same moment as herself, and they hurried on as fast as they
could to avoid walking downstairs with her. In all the large school
there seemed nobody to whom she could turn for sympathy or advice. When
the first bell rang for lessons, she lingered in the hall wondering
where she was expected to go, and was much relieved after a minute or
two to see Miss Rowe coming evidently in search of her.

"I've been looking for you, Patty," she said. "You've been placed in the
Upper Fourth Form. Come with me at once to the classroom, and I'll show
you your desk. Have you brought your pencil box? No; there isn't time to
go and fetch it now; you must manage without for this morning. I can
lend you this pencil, but be sure you don't forget to return it to me at
one o'clock."

The classroom proved large and airy, with four big windows, the lower
sashes of which were painted white to prevent wandering eyes straying
from lesson books to the view outside. It was fitted with desks arranged
to face a low platform on which stood the blackboard, a chair, and a
large desk for the teacher. The walls were hung with maps and views of
foreign places, and there was a cupboard in the corner, where chalk,
new books, ink bottles, and stationery were kept. The vacant desk
reserved for Patty proved to be in the middle of the back row, and as
she took her seat she looked anxiously to see who were her classmates.
All the girls of both the upper and lower divisions were already in
their places, and the view of twenty-one dark or fair heads, and
twenty-one various coloured hair ribbons was rather bewildering. Muriel
was two rows in front, and Jean a little to her left, and in the hasty
glance she was able to bestow she noticed Avis and two of the other
companions with whom she had travelled to Morton on the day of her
arrival. Miss Rowe took the call-over, and entered Patty's name on the
register in a neat, firm handwriting; then, mustering the seven members
of the lower division, she marched them out of the room for a separate
lesson, leaving the platform to Miss Harper, who arrived punctually at
the stroke of nine. The mistress of the Fourth Form had a striking
personality which could not fail to influence those with whom she came
into contact--tall, dark, and handsome, she gave the impression of much
strength of will, keen wits, and great abilities. She was a very clever
teacher, who liked to push on quick pupils, but was a little ruthless
towards stupid girls. She knew how to make the dullest subject
entertaining, and expected a high average of work, having no toleration
for laziness, and a contempt for incompetence. No girl ever dreamt of
whispering or idling during Miss Harper's classes. As a rule, a word or
even a look was sufficient to maintain order. She rarely if ever
inflicted a punishment for a breach of discipline; to do so, she
considered, would be an acknowledgment of her lack of authority, and
indeed the girls dreaded one of her scathing reproofs far more than an
imposition or the loss of a mark. Her bright, vivacious, interesting
style, her fund of appropriate stories for every occasion, and her many
amusing remarks and comments, made her extremely popular with her class
in spite of her strictness, and the moment she took her place on the
platform all eyes were fixed on her clever, intellectual face. The
subject of her lecture this morning was the reign of James I, and to
Patty, accustomed to Miss Dawson's mild explanations, it was a
revelation in the way of teaching. As she had not prepared the chapter,
she could, of course, not answer any of the questions asked; but in
spite of that she felt she had never grasped any lesson so thoroughly
before: every little detail seemed impressed upon her memory, and she
was quite sorry when the class came to an end, and Mademoiselle arrived
to take French translation. Eleven o'clock was the signal for ten
minutes' interval for lunch, and most of the girls began at once to
leave the room. Patty was on the point of following, when a hand was
laid on her arm, and turning round she saw Enid, the pretty dark-eyed
girl who had eaten so many sweets in the train.

"I've been looking out for you ever since we got to school," said the
latter. "What became of you yesterday? I didn't see even the end of your
hair ribbon."

"I was having exams. nearly all day," answered Patty, "but I was in the
recreation room in the evening. Didn't you see me?"

"No, of course I didn't, or I'd have come and spoken to you."

"I wish you had, then, for nobody spoke to me at all, and no one's said
a word to me at meals, or in my bedroom either."

In spite of herself, Patty could not help her voice sounding rather
aggrieved.

"What a shame! Then you don't know anybody at The Priory yet?"

"Only my cousin Muriel."

"Muriel Pearson? Is she your cousin?"

"Yes."

"Well!" exclaimed Enid, throwing such a depth of expression into the
brief monosyllable, that it seemed to convey a whole volume of indignant
comment.

"Do you actually mean to say," put in Avis, who had joined them, "that
Muriel Pearson's your cousin, and yet she's never taken any notice of
you, nor introduced you to anybody?"

Patty nodded. She did not want to accuse Muriel, but she certainly could
not deny the fact.

"Then she's the meanest, nastiest girl in the whole school, and I shall
just tell her so," said Enid, flushing quite scarlet with righteous
wrath. "I never thought much of her, but I didn't believe she'd have
done such a horrid thing as this. She deserves to be sent to Coventry
for it."

"Didn't Miss Lincoln ask anybody to be friends with you?" enquired Avis.

"No; I only saw Miss Lincoln for a few minutes in the library when I
came."

"That's queer, because she always sees that new girls are made to feel
at home. But I expect she'd think your cousin would be sure to look
after you. Oh, it's too bad! I can't forgive Muriel."

"Come with us to lunch, and we'll try and make up for it, at any rate,"
said Enid, seizing Patty by the arm, and dragging her down the passage
to the pantry. "My name's Enid Walker, and this is Avis Wentworth.
That's Winnie Robinson over there. Come here, Winnie, I want to tell you
something. Do you know, this new girl is Muriel Pearson's cousin, and
Muriel never introduced her to anybody, and she's not had a soul to talk
to since she came. Isn't Muriel mean?"

"Disgusting!" cried Winnie; "but it's just like her. She and Maud
Greening and Vera Clifford and Kitty Harrison have made a little set all
to themselves, and they won't let anyone else come into it. Not that one
wants to, I'm sure. I don't care to be friends with them in the least.
You'd better drink your milk, Avis, if you want it. Be quick! The bell
will ring in a moment. The bread and butter's all gone, I'm afraid."

"Never mind, I don't care for any. Why, talk of people and they're sure
to turn up! Here she is!" replied Avis, as Muriel entered the pantry to
replace her empty glass on the table.

"Muriel Pearson, there's something we want to say," began Enid. "The way
you've treated your cousin is simply horrid. You ought to be thoroughly
ashamed of yourself, and I hope you are."

Muriel raised her eyebrows and looked at Enid with an expression of
supercilious surprise.

"Really, Enid Walker," she replied, "who asked you to interfere in my
affairs?"

"Nobody, but I mean to, all the same. You deserve to be cut by the whole
class, and I shan't be friends with you again."

"That's no great loss," said Muriel; "I wasn't aware that we ever were
friends."

Her tone was disdainful, and the coolness of her manner contrasted
strongly with Enid's excited indignation.

"But you were mean, Muriel," said Avis. "Why couldn't you introduce
Patty to some of us?"

"It doesn't seem to have been necessary," replied Muriel; "you've
evidently taken her up on your own account. I suppose Patty can make her
friends, and I can have mine?"

"But you left her quite alone at first, with nobody to speak to," said
Winnie; "it was most unkind. You weren't treated like that when you were
a new girl. I remember taking you round the school myself."

"You've a better memory than I have, then," said Muriel. "I wish you'd
all mind your own business. When I want to know your opinions, I'll ask
for them." And she stalked out of the pantry with a very haughty look on
her face, and without bestowing a glance on Patty.

"She needn't ask me to paint anything in her album, for I shan't do her
even a pencil sketch!" declared Winnie.

"I wish I hadn't given her the rest of my chocolates! I wouldn't have
done so if I'd known," said Avis.

"I'm glad she's not my cousin," said Enid; then, suddenly realizing that
her remark was scarcely tactful, and that Patty was looking
uncomfortable, she continued: "Never mind, Patty, we like you, you know.
You shan't be able to say now that you haven't a friend in the school.
I'm going to ask Miss Lincoln to let us each move up a little, so that
you can sit next to me at dinner. I know Cissie Gardiner won't mind
giving you her seat when I tell her the reason. There's the bell! I wish
we could have our desks near each other, but Miss Harper won't let us
change when once we've chosen places for the term. Be quick! We must
fly, or we shall all lose order marks."




CHAPTER V

The Arithmetic Examination


Patty's first letter home was, after all, a far more genuinely cheerful
one than she had expected. She thought it better not to say anything
about Muriel's behaviour, knowing it would greatly distress her father
and mother, so only mentioned that she had made friends with her
fellow-travellers in the train, and how much she liked them. To be
included in such a pleasant set certainly made all the difference
between happiness and unhappiness at The Priory. Enid seemed determined
to make up to Patty for the neglect she had experienced at first, and
took great pains not only to show her the ways of the school, but to see
that she took her due part in the tennis sets and other games. Miss
Lincoln had arranged the afternoon exercise as systematically as the
morning lessons, with the object of obtaining as much variety as
possible. Twice weekly the girls played hockey under the direction of
Miss Latimer, the gymnastic mistress; twice also they were taken for
walks in the neighbourhood; and on the remaining Wednesday and Saturday
afternoons, which were regarded as half-holidays, they were allowed to
amuse themselves as they liked, though they were required to be
out-of-doors if the weather permitted. The judicious combination of work
and play made the daily round both pleasant and healthy. The girls had
enough lessons to keep them occupied, yet their brains were not
over-taxed, and the hours spent in the open air ensured rosy cheeks and
good appetites. When once she had settled down in her fresh
surroundings, and the longing for home had become less keen, Patty found
life at The Priory very congenial--whether in class, where Miss Harper
made every subject so interesting; in the refectory, where she now sat
in great content between Enid and Avis; or in the playing fields, where
she was beginning to understand the mysteries of hockey, and to grow
quite clever at putting, which was a favourite substitute for golf. She
enjoyed the atmosphere of a large school, the little excitements, and
the hundred-and-one topics of conversation which seemed continually to
be discussed by those around her. After having been the eldest at home,
and the head pupil at Miss Dawson's, with so much to overlook and to
arrange for others, it was quite a relief to find herself among the
younger ones, and she would listen with enthusiasm to the speeches of
the prefects in the debating society, and watch their prowess at hockey
with never-failing admiration. She had not yet dared to speak to any of
the big girls; but they seemed so clever and important in her eyes, that
she felt pleased if she might only stand near while they were talking,
and proud indeed if she happened to be included in the same team with
some of them.

Naturally, her new life was not without its troubles. After Miss
Dawson's easy methods, she found it needed all her energies to keep up
to the high standard required by Miss Harper. She worked her hardest
both in school hours and preparation, but even with her best efforts it
was not always possible to win approbation from her teacher, and her
most careful exercises were often returned with ruthlessly severe
comments. Her companions in No. 7 were also uncongenial. They were
themselves members of the Upper Fourth, and though they now spoke to
her, and were to a certain degree more civil, they were not really nice
and friendly, and often made her feel she was not wanted in the bedroom.
They were willing enough to accept any of the kind little services
which she was generally ready to perform, allowed her to tidy the room,
to throw open the windows, to go to the bathroom to fetch the large can
of hot water which was to be divided among the four basins; indeed, they
began to depend so much upon her, that if a button needed stitching on
hastily, a blouse fastening at the back, or a lost article must be
searched for, they all said "Ask Patty", without the least hesitation,
knowing that she would not refuse, and never seemed too busy to help
other people. Of her cousin Patty saw little, and that little was
unfortunately far from pleasant. Muriel seemed determined to show that
although they might both be in the same school, and even in the same
class, she did not intend to be compromised by their relationship. She
was a very vain girl, who thought much of her parents' wealth and
position. She considered Patty's advent would not bring her any great
credit among the set of companions whom she had chosen, whose standard
consisted mainly of pretty clothes and worldly possessions, and she was
annoyed that her father should have wished to give her cousin the same
advantages as herself. She lost no opportunity of slighting Patty, never
by any chance sat next to her, always chose the opposite side in a game,
and on many small occasions made herself actively disagreeable. Patty
bore it as patiently as she could. She ventured once to remonstrate in
private, but the result was so unfortunate, that she determined she
would not try the experiment again. Evidently the only thing to be done
was to acknowledge the estrangement, and to keep out of Muriel's way as
much as possible. Her uncle's letter, however, weighed on her mind. How
was she to prove her cousin's friend so entirely against her will? Poor
Patty's conscience, always a tender one, even accused her of accepting
Uncle Sidney's kindness without fulfilling his conditions, and she
sometimes wondered whether she was justified in remaining at The Priory,
when she was not able to play the part he had designed for her.

"And yet," she thought, "it's not my fault in the least. I'm ready any
time to help her if she'll let me. Perhaps an opportunity may come some
day, and in the meantime, however horrid she is to me, I won't say
anything disagreeable back. That's one resolve I mean to stick to, at
any rate, though it's hard sometimes, when she says such nasty things."

The Fourth Form seemed split up into a good many small sections. The
lower division kept mostly to itself, and in the upper division there
were several sets. Muriel and her three friends, for no good reason at
all, considered themselves slightly superior to the rest of the class,
and put on many airs in consequence, a state of affairs which was much
resented by Enid Walker and Winnie Robinson, who, with Avis Wentworth,
had a clique of their own, in which they now included Jean Bannerman and
Patty. Doris Kennedy, May Firth, and Ella Johnson, the three girls who
shared Patty's bedroom, made a separate little circle with Beatrice
Wynne, while Cissie Gardiner and Maggie Woodhall were such bosom friends
that they did not want anybody else's society. Patty found the liking
she had taken to Jean Bannerman increased on further acquaintance. Jean
was a most pleasant companion; she was interesting and sympathetic, and
while ready enough for fun, was more staid and thoughtful than Enid,
though the latter's amusing nonsense and bright, warm-hearted ways made
her very attractive. Poor Enid was often in trouble; her lively tongue
could not resist talking in class or whispering during preparation
hours. She was ready enough to respect Miss Harper, but she was apt to
defy Miss Rowe's authority, a form of insubordination which generally
ended in disastrous consequences. Patty, in common with most of the
class, found it rather difficult to get on with Miss Rowe. It felt hard
to be corrected sharply for some slight slip, and to be expected to
obey every trivial order as promptly as soldiers on parade duty. The
girls resented the young teacher's imperious manner, and were sometimes
on the verge of rebellion.

"She's only about five years older than we are," declared Enid, "if so
much. I believe she's younger than my sister Adeline at home, so it's
absurd to be expected to behave as if she were Miss Lincoln. She's
really not much more than a monitress, although she's called a
mistress."

"She makes so many tiresome, silly rules," said Winnie. "Miss Harper
never thinks of telling us to sit with our arms folded, or all to open
our books at exactly the same moment, and to place our pencils on the
right-hand side of our desks. One feels like a kindergarten baby with
Miss Rowe. She ought to teach children of six."

"I wish she didn't take arithmetic, at any rate," groaned Avis. "I never
can get my sums right, especially those horrid problem ones she's so
fond of. The more she explains, the more muddled I feel, and then she
says I'm the stupidest girl in the class, and tells Miss Lincoln it's no
use sending me in for the 'Cambridge', because she's sure I shouldn't
pass."

"She's good at mathematics herself," said Winnie, "and she thinks that
anyone who isn't hasn't got brains. All my problem sums were wrong
yesterday, and I got a bad mark. I hope she won't put too many of them
in the exam. to-day."

"If she does we'll go on strike, and say we can't do the paper. I can't
possibly calculate where two people will meet each other on the road, if
they start from different points at different times. I should think it
depends how often they sit down to rest, or stop to talk to friends on
the way, or how fast they want to get to the end of their journey," said
Avis.

"There was that dreadful problem about dividing oranges among
schoolboys," continued Winnie. "If I know anything of boys, they'd have
thrown them down and scrambled for them; it would have been a far easier
way of settling it. I always feel my head ache after trying to reckon
those absurd things."

Every fortnight the class had a small examination in arithmetic, which
was almost as solemn an affair as those held at the end of the term.
Among other rules, Miss Rowe had decided that the girls, instead of
remaining at their own desks, should all change places and sit according
to her directions, her object being to separate those kindred spirits
who, she considered, might be tempted to whisper or otherwise
communicate with each other if left in too close proximity. By this new
arrangement Patty found herself seated next to Muriel. Enid was at the
desk behind, and it was therefore impossible to exchange even a smile
with her without deliberately turning round. For some time the class
worked away steadily and in silence. Occasionally a girl would so far
forget herself as to count aloud, but a glare from Miss Rowe would
instantly recall her to a sense of the enormity of such a misdeed.
Naughty Enid managed to draw a cat on the margin of her blotting paper,
and held it up for an admiring comrade to see; and Beatrice Wynne gave a
terrific yawn, for which she was told to lose an order mark. Patty had
been struggling for a long time with a difficult sum in compound
proportion, and having just finished it, paused for a moment to take a
rest. She presently became aware that Muriel, with lips pursed up as if
forming the word "Hush!" was trying to attract her attention, and that
Muriel's hand was secretly passing her a small note under cover of the
desk. She opened it at once. It ran thus:

"How do you state Question 5? Ought the answer to be in bales of silk or
days?"

Now Patty had only been a fortnight at The Priory; she knew little of
the rules of a large school, and this was the first real class
examination in which she had ever taken part. At Miss Dawson's school
she was accustomed to help any girl who applied to her for aid, and
indeed had often taught the younger ones how to work new rules, with the
full sanction and approval of the mistress. She did not yet understand
that an examination was a test of individual knowledge, and that no
assistance must be either asked for or given. The only thing she
realized was that Muriel wanted to know something which it was in her
power to explain. She moved, therefore, as close to her cousin as she
could, and, leaning over towards the latter's desk, took up her paper of
questions.

"I've just finished it myself, and it comes out nicely in bales of
silk," she whispered.

"Patty Hirst!" cried Miss Rowe, springing up in horrified indignation.
"Do you know that any girl detected in the act of copying must instantly
leave the examination?"

"Please, Miss Rowe, I wasn't copying," returned Patty, with some
surprise.

"But I saw you deliberately look at your neighbour's paper."

"I wanted to show her something," explained Patty.

"Indeed!" said Miss Rowe incredulously. "You know perfectly well that
all communication is strictly forbidden. Muriel, did you ask Patty
anything?"

"I didn't speak at all, Miss Rowe," replied Muriel hastily.

"I am glad to hear it. Patty, take your papers at once and come to this
table by the window. One of our first principles at The Priory is the
strictest honesty in our work."

"But indeed I never intended----" began Patty.

"Do as you are told, or leave the room!" commanded Miss Rowe in her most
decisive tone. "I cannot have the examination interrupted."

Patty gathered up her papers and obeyed in silence. She saw that she had
been suspected of trying to cheat, and the injustice of the accusation
was hard to bear. It was impossible to clear herself without involving
Muriel, and she hated to tell tales. She felt it was too bad of her
cousin thus to let her bear all the blame, for Muriel, even if she had
not spoken, had put the question in writing, so that she had practically
told an untruth to Miss Rowe when she denied any knowledge of the
affair. Would the other girls in the class, Patty asked herself, also
think she was trying to copy her neighbour's sums and gain an unfair
advantage? To such an honourable nature the idea was terrible, and she
longed to protest her innocence. Perhaps nobody would be friends with
her any more if they believed her capable of such conduct, and she
would be lonely again, as she had been at first. The little occurrence,
though it only occupied a few minutes, completely disturbed the
examination as far as she was concerned. She found it no longer possible
to concentrate her mind on her sums. In the midst of adding up a column
her thoughts were busy trying to imagine some explanation which might
perhaps be given without betraying Muriel, and as no solution of the
difficulty occurred to her, she found herself going over the same
figures again and again without in the least realizing what she was
doing. Matters, however, were not quite so desperate as she supposed.

Enid's sharp eyes had taken in the whole situation. From her seat behind
she had seen Muriel hand the note to Patty, and had also noticed that
the little piece of paper had fallen on to the floor underneath the
desk. Putting out her foot, she managed to draw it nearer to her, then,
dropping her pocket handkerchief, she stooped and picked up the two
together, without anybody noticing that she had done so. She put the
crumpled note with her handkerchief into her pocket, and went on with
her examination, determined to sift the affair afterwards, and to take
up the cudgels boldly on Patty's account. At eleven o'clock all papers
were tied and handed in to Miss Rowe, and the girls filed out of the
room. Enid saw Muriel glance cautiously at the floor under Patty's desk,
as if searching for her note, and laughed to herself to think that she
had already secured it.

"Are you looking for anything?" she asked, meaningly.

"Oh, dear, no!" returned Muriel. "At least, I thought I'd dropped a
piece of indiarubber; but it doesn't matter, I've two or three others."

Enid waited a moment to let her pass, then, following, found all the
class collected in a group outside the pantry door, talking over the
examination and comparing the answers to the sums.

"What have you got for No. 5, Vera?" said Kitty Harrison. "Wasn't it a
most horribly difficult one?"

"Dreadful! I couldn't do it at all. I got my statements in such a
muddle, I had to leave it."

"What's your answer, Muriel?" asked Cissie Gardiner.

"270 bales of silk, but I don't believe it's right."

"Most of the others have 340 bales."

"Which others?"

"Why, Patty Hirst, and Beatrice Wynne, and Ella Johnson. Patty has most
of her sums right, I think."

"She may well have," sneered Maud Greening, "if she copies other
people's," she added under her breath.

"I don't even look at anyone else when I'm working," observed Muriel,
pointedly.

"We've never had cheating in the Upper Fourth before," put in Vera
Clifford.

"It's only the kind of thing one might expect, though," said Kitty
Harrison. "Some people aren't as particular as we are."

Poor Patty, who was standing near, flushed red with indignation at these
imputations, but did not know how to defend herself. Enid, however, flew
to the rescue.

"Look here!" she cried. "If you've anything you want to say, I wish
you'd say it straight out, instead of these back shots. If you think
Patty was trying to cheat this morning, I can tell you you're much
mistaken."

"Oh! you've taken up Patty Hirst," said Maud, "and of course you say
she's always in the right. I'm afraid it's no use your trying to make
excuses for her."

"I don't want to," declared Enid. "I only want the truth, and Muriel
knows perfectly well that it was mostly her fault."

"I don't know anything about it," said Muriel. "I can't help people
looking over my shoulder."

"Not when you ask them to!"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Copying is called sneaking in boys' schools," said Kitty Harrison.

"And so are other things," said Enid. "Look, girls! what do you think of
this? I saw Muriel pass it to Patty during the exam."

She drew the piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it round for
everybody to see. It was written in Muriel's rather peculiar
handwriting, so there was no possibility of a mistake. There it was in
black and white: "How do you state Question 5? Ought the answer to be in
bales of silk or days?"

It was Muriel's turn now to flush red; she really had not a word to say
for herself, and turned hastily away. Her three friends looked extremely
blank, and Maud Greening murmured something about a mistake.

"Well," exclaimed Cissie Gardiner, "who talked about cheating, I should
like to know?"

"And said it was called sneaking?" said Maggie Woodhall.

"I think some people can be very deceitful," said Winnie Robinson.

"She oughtn't to have been going to show Muriel how to work sums in the
middle of the exam., though," said May Firth.

"She doesn't understand exams.; she never had them at her other
school," explained Enid, "so she didn't really know she oughtn't. Did
you, Patty?"

"Indeed I didn't," declared Patty. "I won't do such a thing another
time."

"Well, there's a vast difference, at any rate, between wanting to help
people and trying to copy their sums," said Winnie.

"I hope you all thoroughly understand the matter now," said Enid.

"If I were Patty I should want that note to be shown to Miss Rowe,"
suggested Cissie Gardiner.

"It's exactly what I'm going to do with it. Give it me back at once!"
cried Enid. "Muriel thoroughly deserves to get into trouble."

"No, Enid, please don't; I beg you won't!" pleaded Patty.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to."

"But why? Miss Rowe ought to hear about it."

"Oh, it really doesn't matter! Now that all of you know I didn't mean to
cheat, I don't care. I hate tell-tales."

"I should care," declared Winnie.

"It's no use getting Muriel into trouble," said Patty.

"It would serve Muriel right," said Enid, indignantly. "Patty, you're a
great deal too good-natured."

"No, I'm not. Please let me have the note, Enid."

"I don't think I will."

"But it's mine. It was written to me, remember."

Enid relinquished the incriminating piece of paper very reluctantly, and
looked on with disfavour while Patty tore it to shreds.

"I'm fond of justice," she said, "and Muriel Pearson has got off too
easily. Patty, I'm not sure if you're not a little too good for this
world! I couldn't have torn that note up myself, and yet on the whole I
like you for it. You're one of the nicest girls I've ever known!" And
throwing her arm affectionately round Patty's waist, she walked with her
along the passage to the classroom.

During an interval in the hockey practice that afternoon, Muriel found
an opportunity to speak to her cousin.

"How stupid you were this morning, Patty!" she said. "What possessed you
to lean over my desk and whisper?"

"What else could I do, when you'd asked me how to work that sum?"
replied Patty.

"Why, of course you should have written me a note back, and handed it to
me underneath the desk."

"But I'm afraid that wouldn't have been fair," objected Patty.

"Quite as fair as whispering."

"I didn't know either was wrong. You shouldn't have asked me."

"Oh, don't begin preaching to me! You contrived to make it very
unpleasant for me, at any rate, and I shan't soon forget."

"Muriel! You know I never meant----"

"I don't care what you meant. Enid Walker has been telling Phyllis
Chambers, and Phyllis won't put my name down for the hockey final. It's
too bad."

"I'm dreadfully sorry."

"What's the use of being sorry? You should have managed better. I'm out
of the match on Friday, and it's entirely your fault. I wish you'd never
come to The Priory at all!" And Muriel walked away with such a sulky
expression on her face, that no one at that moment would have called her
pretty.

Patty knew it was no use trying to justify herself further. Muriel was
determined to be angry, and having secured what she considered a
grievance against her, would make that an excuse for avoiding her
altogether. She could only hope that her cousin would not give a
distorted version of the story in any of her letters home, and allow
Uncle Sidney to believe that she had been unkind. That would indeed be
most unjust, especially as she would have no opportunity of ever
explaining the true facts of the case.

"She surely couldn't!" thought Patty. "It would be too untruthful. I
hope she never mentions me at all when she writes. Oh, dear! How hard it
is when you know you ought to be friends with someone and you can't! If
only Muriel were Enid or Jean, how different it would be! I shouldn't
have a single trouble left in the world, and life at The Priory would be
just delightful."




CHAPTER VI

Albums


"I want you to put something in my album, Patty," said Winnie Robinson
one afternoon, producing a dainty little volume reserved for souvenirs
of her friends. "You're clever at drawing, so please let it be a
picture, and if you can colour it, so much the better."

"I hope I shan't spoil your book," replied Patty, turning over the
leaves to look at the various artistic efforts and poetical quotations
with which about half the pages were filled.

"Of course you won't! I expect yours will be one of the nicest. I want
every girl in the class to either paint or write something, and then I
shall have a keepsake of the Upper Fourth. Maggie Woodhall drew this
pretty little dog, and Ella Johnson those roses, and Enid has promised
to make up a piece of poetry on purpose."

"It was only half a promise," declared Enid.

"Then you must write half a poem."

"Suppose the Muse deserts me?"

"Oh, rubbish! You can always make up verses. They seem to flow just as
if you turned on a tap."

"Have you an album, Patty?" enquired Avis.

"No," said Patty. "I never saw one like Winnie's before. It's something
quite new to me."

"Oh! then you must get one. They're the fashion just at present, and
every girl in the class has one."

"We're rather fond of fads at The Priory," explained Winnie. "We have a
rage for some particular thing, and are quite silly over it for a while,
until we grow tired of it, and take up something else. This is about the
fifth craze since I've been at the school. They never last long."

"The first was foreign stamps," said Enid. "Don't you remember how keen
we were about collecting them, and how we envied May Firth because she
had an uncle in Persia?"

"Maggie Woodhall got several stamps from Mexico," said Avis. "I think
her collection was one of the best."

"I was very enthusiastic about mine," said Enid. "I exchanged three new
lead pencils once for a Japanese stamp, and I asked Mother for an album
for my birthday present. It was a beauty, too. Then, in the holidays, I
went to stay with my godmother, and she had a whole pillow-case full of
old letters, mostly foreign ones. She let me tear the stamps off all the
envelopes, and I got at least twenty new kinds. I was delighted with
them; but when I came back to school the fashion had changed, everybody
was tired of stamps, and nobody cared to look at mine, so I gave the
book to my brother. The boys in his class were collecting, and he was
only too pleased to have it."

"I believe crests came next," said Avis reflectively. "Vera Clifford
introduced them, because she was so proud her family has one of its own.
She put it on the front page, and showed it to everybody."

"Yes, and she never forgave Doris Kennedy for making fun of it."

"What did Doris say?"

"Well, you see, the Clifford crest is a lion holding a shell, and the
motto is a Latin one which means, 'Do not touch!' Doris said the lion
was holding a purse, and the motto meant, 'What I've got I'll keep'. It
was a good hit at Vera, because she's very stingy, although she has
plenty of pocket money. She only gave twopence to the Waifs and Strays
Fund--it was less than anybody else in the class; and she'll hardly
ever lend her things, either, though she often borrows from other
girls."

"She used all my Indian ink last term, and never gave me any back when
she bought a new bottle," said Winnie. "She's certainly rather mean."

"The crests looked beautiful when they were pasted into albums," said
Avis. "Beatrice Wynne used to paint borders round hers in red, and blue,
and gold. Her book was like an old illuminated manuscript."

"It was a difficult craze, though, to keep up," said Winnie, "because we
couldn't most of us collect enough crests to fill a book. Post-marks
were much easier. We used to arrange them according to the different
counties they were in. Miss Harper encouraged that fad; she said it
taught us geography."

"So it did; but we made the most absurd mistakes sometimes. I remember
putting Abingdon down under Devonshire, and Ilkley under Lincolnshire. I
used to have to look the places up in the atlas. It was rather too like
lessons to be very popular, so we all took to drawing pigs instead."

"Drawing pigs!" exclaimed Patty.

"Yes, with your eyes shut. It's most amusing to have a pig book. You get
each of your friends to close her eyes tightly, and then draw a pig,
putting in its tail and its eye, and to sign her name to it afterwards.
You can't think what funny pictures people make. The eye's generally in
the middle of the pig's back, and the tail twirling away anywhere but in
the right place."

"All except Miss Harper's pig," said Winnie, "and that was because she
drew the eye first. It wasn't quite fair, because you're supposed to put
it in last of all; but of course none of us dared to tell her so. I have
it in my book still, signed E.J.H.; it's got the most impertinent snout,
and large peaked ears. I'm sure she must have been practising drawing
pigs before she did it."

"Ghost signatures were nearly as much fun," said Enid.

"What are those?" enquired Patty, to whom all these schoolgirl pastimes
were unknown.

"You have a special autograph book for them," explained Enid. "You
double a page in half, and write your name inside exactly on the crease
of the paper; then you fold the two halves together again without
blotting it and press hard. It smudges your signature into such a queer
shape. Everybody's comes out differently. One looks like a caterpillar,
and another like a butterfly, or perhaps a fish's backbone. Ella
Johnson's was the exact image of an oak tree."

"And Maud Greening's was like a pressed fern," said Winnie. "Do you
remember the fad we had for pressed flowers and skeleton leaves? We used
to keep them inside all our books."

"Yes, we soaked the leaves in water till they turned into skeletons. We
pressed the flowers in blotting paper, and they were often lovely."

"Some of the girls were quite sentimental over them. Cissie Gardiner had
a pansy picked from Wordsworth's garden at Grasmere, and a sprig of
rosemary that she said came from the grave of Keats. Her aunt brought it
to her from Rome, where he's buried. She pasted it on to a piece of
paper, and wrote underneath: 'Here's rosemary, that's for remembrance. I
pray you, love, remember.' She said Keats was her favourite poet. She
thought it was so romantic for him to die so young of a broken heart,
and she admired his portrait at the beginning of his poems, and if only
she could have lived a hundred years earlier, then perhaps she might
have known him."

"It was all Cissie's fault that we lost our collections," said Avis.

"What happened?" asked Patty, who found the reminiscences interesting.

"Well, we used to keep the leaves and flowers inside our books, and look
at them during class whenever we had an opportunity. One day, during
grammar, Cissie was sitting gazing at her piece of rosemary, and, I
suppose, thinking of Keats, for she didn't hear when she was asked a
question. Miss Rowe repeated it, and Cissie gave such a start that all
her treasures fell from her book on to the floor. Miss Rowe looked very
grim, and told her to pick them up, and ordered each girl to take every
single leaf and flower out of her book also. Then she made Cissie
collect them all, and fling the whole pile into the grate. Poor Cissie
was in tears. She tried hard to save her sprig of rosemary: she begged
Miss Rowe to let her keep it, and said she'd put it away in her drawer,
and never bring it to class again; but Miss Rowe said she wouldn't
encourage such nonsense, and the best place for it was the fire."

"It was just like Miss Rowe," said Enid; "she always uses what my father
calls 'drastic measures'. Cissie's tired of Keats now. She's made a hero
of General Gordon instead, and has his portrait hanging up in her
bedroom, with a piece of palm over it. She says she should like to marry
a soldier some day, only she'd be so afraid of his getting killed."

"Cissie's a goose," said Winnie; "she can think of nothing but soldiers
since her brother went to Sandhurst. She even drew one in my album, and
it's not particularly well done. Patty, are you going to paint anything
for me, or are you not? I'll leave the book with you for a week, and at
the end of that time I shall expect to see something nice."

Patty was rather clever at drawing. She could copy very exactly, and
even make original sketches sometimes. Mr. Summers, the art master,
thought well of her work, and had praised her study of a group of apples
more highly than those of the other girls. It was quite a consolation to
Patty to excel in something. She found the afternoon spent in the studio
the pleasantest in the whole week, and wished the drawing lessons came
oftener. She was not without a secret hope that some of her work might
be considered good enough to secure a place in the small exhibition of
Arts and Crafts which was held yearly at the school, and to which only
very creditable efforts were admitted. The neat drawings with which she
illustrated her botany schedules were the admiration of her classmates,
though they did not always meet with the appreciation from Miss Harper
which they deserved. On one occasion Patty had taken immense trouble to
copy a harebell as an example of the order _Campanulaceae_. She had
shaded it carefully in Indian ink, with very fine cross hatchings, and
hoped it might win an extra mark, or at any rate a word of approbation.
Disappointment, however, was in store for her. Miss Harper handed back
the book with the remark:

"If you would spend less time on drawings, and more on the
subject-matter of your exercises, Patty Hirst, I should be better
satisfied with your work."

"It's so difficult to remember all those long, hard botanical terms,"
Patty complained afterwards to Jean. "I love the flowers, and I like to
paint them and learn their English names, but I don't care in the least
if their stamens are hypogynous or their cotyledons induplicate! I think
it spoils them to pull them to pieces. They look so much prettier just
as they're growing!"

The painting of a spray of honeysuckle which Patty did for Winnie was so
beautifully done, that it was greatly envied by the other girls, all of
whom begged for contributions to their own albums, and kept the little
artist quite busy on half-holidays, or in any other leisure moments
which she could spare. It was such a pleasant occupation that Patty did
not grudge the time spent over it, and she was magnanimous enough to
forget old grievances and to allow even Vera Clifford, Maud Greening,
and Kitty Harrison to have specimens of her work, though Enid said they
did not deserve it.

"They wouldn't any of them sit next to you when we were playing games
last night," she declared, "and they were quite rude, and left you out
altogether in the proverb questions. I think it is very cool of them to
ask you. As for Muriel, I wonder she can bear to look at the lovely
poppies you painted in her book, when she treats you so horridly."

It was Patty's birthday on the 24th of October, and for fully a week
before that event she could not help noticing an unusual amount of
mystery in the conduct of her friends. Several of them would be talking
together with the greatest animation, and would drop suddenly into
silence on her arrival. Enid twice began a sentence and stopped in the
middle at a warning glance from Jean; and once, when Patty came
unexpectedly into the classroom, there was a scuffle, the lid of
Winnie's desk was banged down violently, and Winnie herself, together
with Avis Wentworth and Cissie Gardiner, looked extremely conscious, as
though they had been almost caught in some act which they wished to keep
a secret. Patty wondered mildly why Enid seemed so anxious to ascertain
whether she preferred red or blue, and whether she did not think a
bright colour was always nicer than black; and she could not understand
why her friend should one day be poring over a catalogue from the
Stores, nor why she shut it up in such a hurry, remarking rather
pointedly that Miss Lincoln had lent it to her.

"It's a queer book to choose!" laughed Patty. "I thought you were
halfway through 'A Chaplet of Pearls'? I shouldn't think it's very
amusing to read lists of groceries and household linen."

"On the contrary, I find it most interesting," replied Enid. "I never
knew before how much shopping one could do at the Stores. They seem to
have a department for everything."

On the morning of the birthday most of the members of the Fourth Class
hurried away after breakfast with conspicuous haste. Patty stayed for a
few minutes in the refectory to talk to some of the fifth class girls,
and was in the middle of a conversation with Olive Hardman and Bella
Ashworth, when Jean entered in search of her.

"Come, Patty," she said, "you're wanted in the classroom."

"Why, it's too early. It's only twenty-five minutes to nine," said
Patty.

"Never mind. The girls are all there waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Waiting for you."

"Why for me?" asked Patty, in much surprise.

"Come along and you'll find the reason," replied Jean, taking her arm
and leading her down the passage without further delay.

Considerably mystified at Jean's impatient hurry, Patty was still more
astonished to discover the whole of both the Upper Fourth and the lower
division collected round the fire in the schoolroom, and evidently
anticipating her arrival with much eagerness.

"Here she is!" cried Jean. "Now, Enid, you can begin."

"We want to wish you very many happy returns of the day, Patty," said
Enid, who seemed to be acting as mouthpiece for the rest. "And we hope
you'll accept this birthday present; it's from us all."

"Thank you so much," said Patty, taking the offered parcel and beginning
to untie the string. "I never expected that any of you would remember my
birthday. Why, how lovely! Oh, it is good of you! The very thing in all
the world I'd rather have than anything else."

The object which lay under the many folds of tissue paper was an album.
It was bound in bright-blue morocco with gilt edges, and had smooth
pages inside for writing, interleaved with pages of drawing paper for
water colours. At the beginning was neatly printed:

    PATTY HIRST

    With love from the Fourth Class.

It was certainly a very appropriate present for the girls to have made,
and one which Patty appreciated immensely. She had greatly longed to
possess an album of her own, but had not liked to ask her mother to buy
her one, and the beauty of this handsome gift far surpassed all her
dreams.

"You'd done such lovely paintings in our books, that we felt we wanted
to put something in yours," said Avis, "though I'm afraid our
productions won't be very nice. I can't draw a stroke, and my writing's
not at all elegant. I think you'd better not ask me."

In spite of Avis's protestations, Patty naturally asked her and the rest
of the class for contributions, and the twenty-one souvenirs which
resulted went a long way towards filling her volume. They varied much,
both in quality and quantity, from Maggie Woodhall's fine pen-and-ink
drawing to May Firth's washy little attempt at a landscape, or the short
poetical quotation signed "Beatrice Wynne". Cissie Gardiner, always of a
romantic turn of mind, copied "Has sorrow thy young days shaded?" from
Moore's _Irish Melodies_, in her neatest handwriting. Naughty Winnie,
who liked to make fun of Cissie, added a version of her own on the
opposite page, which greatly destroyed the sentiment of the first, and
provoked much laughter in the class. It ran thus:--

    "Has sorrow thy young days shaded?
      Are schoolbooks and inkpots thy fate?
    Too soon is thy fair face faded
      By working at Euclid so late.
    Doth French thy bright spirit wither,
      Or Grammar thy happiness sear?
    Then, child of misfortune, come hither,
      I'll weep with thee tear for tear."

"It's too bad!" said Cissie. "It spoils my verses; and Moore's my
favourite poet just now. I like him far better than Keats; I think his
pieces about soldiers and glory are simply splendid."

All the girls exerted themselves so much on Patty's behalf, that her
album seemed to bring out an amount of talent lying dormant in the class
which nobody had suspected before. Inspired by Winnie's original lines,
several of the others set to work to make up verses, and the results
were so satisfactory, that the authors felt themselves quite budding
poetesses. Ethel Maitland, a quiet girl in the lower division,
astonished everybody by the following composition, which was the more
unexpected as nobody had ever considered her in the least clever.

    TO PATTY

    I thank the chance that doth afford
      Th' occasion fair and happy,
    Upon this page to thus record
      My gratitude to Patty.
    Within my album she hath wrought
      A picture of red roses,
    All painted with most cunning skill,
      The prettiest of posies.
    Had I but talent, in return
      A masterpiece I'd draw her,
    But failing that, I pen these lines
      Which now I place before her.

"It's not very good," declared Ethel. "It was so hard to make it scan
properly. I know 'happy' and 'Patty' don't really rhyme, but what else
could I put? The last line's rather tame, but then again I couldn't find
a rhyme for 'draw her'. I thought at first of putting 'And hope they
will not bore her', or 'To show how I adore her', but perhaps it's
better as it is."

Patty, who had no talent for poetry, was immensely impressed by these
lines. She showed them to everybody in the class, and Ethel's work was
much admired until it was entirely eclipsed by a contribution from Jean
Bannerman. Jean had drawn a funny picture of a kitten with a pile of
books under its arm. She had copied it from a magazine, but the verse
which she wrote under it was her own composition. She called it:

    AN ENTHUSIAST

    Her head well stored with copious knowledge,
    Miss Fluffy Purrem goes to College,
    Secure that never yet she's failed.
    Her subjects will not be _cur_tailed:
    On _cat_acombs she'll wax ecstatic,
    Yet much objects to be _dog_matic.
    She's great on ornithology,
    And also on astrology;
    She lets the Dog Star go astray,
    But revels in the _Milky Way_.
    She claims the _Manx_ to be a nation,
    And holds strong views about cre(a)mation;
    At _Mew_nham they declare she's sure
    A first-class try_puss_ to secure.

This delighted the girls, because the kitten's face really looked a
little like Patty's, which was round too, and what Jean described as
"purry",--"that's to say, looking pleased at everything, as if she were
purring," she explained.

Enid had reserved her efforts until the last, and her page in the album
was considered the very best of all. It was headed by a picture which
was a curious notion of her own. When glanced at casually it might be
taken for a sketch of a crocodile, but when examined closely it showed
that the body was made up of girls walking along two and two, the
smaller ones tapering down in height, and vanishing in the distance to
form the tail. Though the details were not particularly well drawn, the
whole effect was wonderfully good, and as "crocodiling" was the popular
term at The Priory for walking two and two, the idea was most
appropriate. Enid described it in the accompanying verses:

    THE BALLAD OF THE SWEET CROCODILE

    Oh! haven't you heard of the sweet crocodile?
    It lives in the mud on the banks of the Nile.
    'Neath the tropical sunshine it sits with a smile,
    And feeds on the niggers who live by the Nile.
    Oh, the sweet crocodile! The sweet crocodile!
    It lives in the mud on the banks of the Nile.

    But if you must live in this cold British isle,
    It's not often you'll meet with the sweet crocodile.
    The specimens here are as far as they're few,
    And we treasure them carefully up in the Zoo.
    Oh, the sweet crocodile! The sweet crocodile!
    It doesn't thrive well in this cold British isle.

    Yet if about Morton you'll walk for a mile,
    You may see an uncommonly sweet crocodile.
    It looks very neat, with its trim little feet,
    And the people all smile when the creature they meet.
    Oh, the sweet crocodile! The sweet crocodile!
    It walks about Morton for many a mile.

    But if you'll examine this sweet crocodile,
    You'll see it's composed all of girls in a file.
    And there's one, who's called Patty, with such a sweet smile,
    That the people all rave on this sweet crocodile.
    Oh! this Patty of mine, with the extra sweet smile,
    She's a gem in the tail of the sweet crocodile.

This proved by far the most popular of all the contributions to Patty's
album, and as numerous girls from other classes asked to look at the
crocodile picture, the book was in danger of too much wear and tear, and
at Miss Harper's suggestion it was placed temporarily in the school
museum, so that everybody might have a chance of seeing it, yet it
should be safe from careless hands. Enid was, of course, asked after
this to compose so many poems for so many various albums, that had she
consented her collected effusions might have filled a volume; but she
steadfastly declined.

"I made this up specially for Patty, and on purpose to try and make her
album a little different from anybody else's," she declared. "If I wrote
verses and drew pictures for you all, there'd be nothing particularly
out of the common about this. I don't intend to do a single thing for
one of you, so please don't ask me again, for I shall only go on saying
'No'."




CHAPTER VII

Patty's Pledge


November days found Patty thoroughly settled down at The Priory, and
quite accustomed to all the rules and regulations which obtained there.
On the whole she was happy, but there were still a few difficulties with
which she had to contend. Life in a large school, among so many
companions of various dispositions, was a totally different affair from
what it had been in her quiet home at Kirkstone. Though Miss Lincoln did
her uttermost to uphold an extremely high standard of conduct among the
girls, Patty found there were many who were capable of little
meannesses, slight lapses from the strictly straight path, and acts
which were not at all in accordance with her ideals of honour. It
sometimes needed a good deal of moral courage to keep to what she knew
was right. It was not pleasant to be laughed at and called
"straitlaced", because she would not evade rules or join in certain
doubtful undertakings. No one liked fun more than Patty, when it was
open and above-board, but she could not bear to be mixed up in anything
which seemed sly or underhand. In her bedroom particularly she found
cause of trouble. Her three companions, Ella Johnson, May Firth, and
Doris Kennedy would get up after Miss Rowe had made her evening rounds,
relight the gas, and read storybooks in bed, a proceeding which was, of
course, absolutely forbidden. They were quite angry with Patty when she
ventured to remonstrate.

"We're not going to have you interfering with us, Patty Hirst. If we
like to light the gas again we shall do so," said May.

"But if Miss Rowe catches you, you'll get into the most terrible
scrape," said Patty.

"She won't catch us; we're too careful. I can put the gas out in a
second if anyone's coming."

"You might find you had put it out a second too late, and what would you
do then?"

"It will be quite time enough to decide when it happens," said Doris.
"Don't bother! You can go to sleep yourself, if you want to, but we
three mean to enjoy ourselves."

Patty, however, found it impossible to go to sleep. She lay awake,
listening anxiously, afraid of hearing Miss Rowe's step in the passage,
and wondering what the consequences would be if it were discovered that
the occupants of No. 7 were astir after 9.30 p.m.

"Somebody might be walking through the garden and see a light in the
window," she suggested to the others. "Suppose it were Miss Lincoln
herself! How dreadfully angry she'd be!"

"Miss Lincoln's always safely in her study at this time," said May. "No
one's in the least likely to interrupt us, or to know anything about it,
unless you're mean enough to tell."

"You know quite well I'm no tell-tale," said Patty, indignantly. "You've
nothing to fear from me. I only wish you wouldn't do it. Why can't you
read the books downstairs? You've plenty of time after prep."

"Because Miss Rowe'd take them away. We're only allowed to have books
from the school library, and these are some that Doris brought with her
from home. They're most exciting. I simply must finish mine."

"Oh, May, that's worse than ever!" exclaimed Patty, "if they're books
you know you oughtn't to read."

"Please be quiet, and mind your own business, Patty Hirst!" cried May,
angrily. "We're not going to ask your leave for everything we do."

May, Ella, and Doris knew perfectly well that they were in the wrong,
but they tried to justify their conduct to each other by calling Patty
"priggish". They treated her in as cool a manner as possible, and
generally had some secrets to whisper about in a corner of the room,
making her feel how little they cared for her company, and how much they
would have preferred Beatrice Wynne in her place. Patty, who hated
quarrels, and would rather have been on friendly terms with everybody,
disliked these unpleasant bickerings with her room mates; but as she
would not yield her point, and they would not relinquish their practice,
she had perforce to remain on rather distant terms with them. In school,
too, she found that everything was not quite what might have been
desired. Several of the girls helped each other openly with their French
composition. They would meet together before class and compare
sentences, hastily correcting errors, and copying each other's work to
such an extent that one essay was simply a duplicate of the other,
faults and all. Mademoiselle was not a very observant person, and in
consequence never discovered what was taking place, though the
similarity in the mistakes might easily have aroused her suspicions. The
history exercises also gave wide scope to those who were not absolutely
scrupulous. Miss Harper left much to the girls' sense of honour,
trusting them completely, and never subjecting them to the strict
surveillance which was practised by Miss Rowe. As a rule her plan met
with excellent results, though unfortunately her confidence was
sometimes abused. At the end of each chapter in the history book were a
number of questions, which were given as a weekly exercise. The class
was supposed to prepare the chapter first, then, opening the book at the
page of questions, to write the answers entirely from memory. A few did
so, but I fear a large proportion of the girls yielded to the temptation
thus placed in their way, and would take surreptitious peeps to supply
missing dates or names. It seemed hard that the conscientious ones
should often be obliged to lose marks, while those whose standard of
right was lower won words of approval from Miss Harper for their correct
exercises. Patty's particular friends--Enid, Winnie, and Jean--were
among those to whom honour meant more than marks; but Avis, who was a
much weaker character, sometimes allowed herself to slip, condoning her
conduct by telling herself that everybody else did the same. Avis was
seated close to Patty one morning during the half-hour allowed for the
writing of the history exercise. She was not well prepared, and she was
just refreshing her memory from the forbidden chapter, when suddenly
she caught Patty's frank blue eyes fixed upon her with such a surprised
and reproachful gaze, that she flushed scarlet with shame, and turned
the pages of her book hastily back to the questions.

"I really never thought about it," she explained to Patty afterwards;
"at least I suppose I did think, but I knew all the others were looking
up what they had forgotten, so I supposed it didn't matter."

"Enid never looks," said Patty, gravely.

"Well, I won't do it again; I won't indeed."

"I was wondering," said Patty, "if we couldn't get up a little society,
and ask the members to take a pledge to be absolutely honest about our
lessons. Would you join?"

"Of course I would," said Avis, heartily. "I'd be very glad to. So would
many of the girls, I'm sure. We all hate being unfair, only it seems too
bad when two or three take an advantage and get the best marks."

Patty set to work without further delay, and managed to enrol thirteen
names on her list of honour. Enid, Winnie, and Jean were naturally
willing recruits, as were also Cissie Gardiner, Maggie Woodhall, and
five of the lower division, including Ethel Maitland. Beatrice Wynne,
after a little hesitation, added her signature, but May Firth, Doris
Kennedy, and Ella Johnson refused point-blank.

"It's just another of your absurd fads, Patty Hirst," said Ella. "You're
quite a new girl, it's only your first term here, and I think it's very
conceited of you to be always trying to make out you're so much better
than anyone else."

"Oh, Ella, you know I don't!" said poor Patty.

"Yes, you do," snapped Ella.

"You're not a monitress, Patty Hirst," said May Firth, "so I can't see
why you should concern yourself with our affairs."

"Do your own exercises, and leave us to do ours," said Doris Kennedy.
"We don't want to belong to your silly society."

After meeting with such a rebuff, Patty felt very diffident about
mentioning the matter to the remaining members of the class. She had no
wish to be considered self-righteous and interfering, but, all the same,
she thought she was bound to try and use her influence to set straight
what was certainly a doubtful practice, and she meant to persist even at
the risk of being called hard names. She found Muriel and her three
friends alone in the recreation room one afternoon, and screwed up her
courage sufficiently to broach the subject to them.

"I wasn't aware that anybody cheated," said Muriel coldly, pausing for a
moment in the letter she was writing. "If they do, by all means get
them to take your pledge. It doesn't concern me."

"Nor me either," said Vera. "I go my own way, and don't trouble about
other people."

"We thought perhaps you'd join, as so many of the girls have done so,"
said Patty, timidly.

"It's quite unnecessary," said Vera, "and for Maud and Kitty too. You'd
better take it to the Fifth Class."

Kitty Harrison said nothing, but she came to Patty afterwards and asked
that her name might be placed on the list.

"I think I can persuade Maud too," she said; "only you must promise
faithfully not to let Vera or Muriel know anything about it. I'm glad
you've got it up, Patty, because we all did really look back at the
chapter in the history exercises, even Vera, though she won't confess
it. Nobody will dare to cheat now that so much notice has been taken of
it, and we'd all rather not, if everyone else will keep square. I always
felt dreadfully mean, only I didn't like losing marks."

It was a great triumph for Patty to have won both Kitty and Maud to her
side, and she had the added satisfaction of afterwards securing the two
members of the lower division who had at first refused. Thanks to her
exertions, the standard of the class seemed undoubtedly raised, and the
Fifth Form girls, who shared the recreation room, and heard most of what
was going on, took up the idea, and formed a society of their own. It
was as if Patty had cast a stone into a smooth pond, and the ripples
were spreading in an ever-widening circle. Without in the least
realizing it, her school-fellows were influenced by her pleasant, sunny,
unselfish ways. She had set a fashion of doing little kind, considerate,
helpful things, which many of the rest began unconsciously to follow.
There are always a large number of girls in a school who drift along
without any special aim, yet are ready enough to respond to anyone who
draws out the best that is in them. If one companion succeeds in
avoiding little evils and inconsistencies, keeping her temper, and
showing forbearance and self-restraint in all the small daily acts, her
character will begin to invade other lives, and uplift them in spite of
themselves. Patty was not aware that she had made any difference at The
Priory, and certainly never for a moment intended to set herself up as
an example; but without knowing it she had given a helping hand to
several who, but for her, might never have made any endeavour to mount
to a higher level. Avis in particular was far more conscientious than
before, and Enid, who had hitherto been content if her half-learnt
lessons did not win a scolding from Miss Harper, began to put more zeal
into her work. She was a bright girl, and could easily win class laurels
if she wished, though she disliked any continuous efforts. Her essays
were full of originality, and she was quick at understanding anything
which required reasoning, but she had little patience for remembering
dates and facts, and was not capable of Patty's steady plodding. Though
both Maud Greening and Kitty Harrison had become more friendly, Vera
Clifford and Muriel still held aloof from Patty, and it was owing to
them that an unpleasant incident occurred one day which caused the
latter much distress. Patty's talent for drawing was well known in the
school; she was clever at portraits, and with a few rapid lines could
make excellent likenesses. The girls were fond of asking her to do
sketches for them on scraps of paper, which they would afterwards keep
inside their lesson books as great treasures. Among others, Patty had
drawn a capital picture of Miss Rowe, showing her classical features and
her coils of smooth, fair hair. It was regarded as her masterpiece, and
Cissie Gardiner, its lucky owner, was quite envied by the rest of the
class. Cissie placed it inside her _Merchant of Venice_, and for several
days rejoiced in its possession. One morning, however, the Upper Fourth
was reading Shakespeare with Miss Rowe. This lesson was always held in
the lecture-room instead of in the classroom, where Miss Harper was
teaching the lower division, and the girls sat on chairs arranged in a
semicircle round their mistress. Cissie could not resist taking a peep
at her portrait, and handed it to her neighbour to admire, who passed it
on to the next girl, so that in course of time it found its way down the
class to Vera Clifford. Now Miss Rowe was rather handsome, but she
happened to have a scar down the side of her forehead, which slightly
spoilt her good looks. Patty had naturally left this out in her sketch,
but Vera, who had not the same nice feeling, took a pencil and, nudging
Muriel, who sat next to her, put in the mark, which showed only too
plainly across the brow.

"What are you doing? Pass it back at once!" whispered Cissie anxiously.

Her ill-judged concern, however, had the unfortunate effect of calling
Miss Rowe's attention to the piece of paper.

"What have you there, Vera?" she asked.

Vera tried to hand the sketch back quickly to Maud Greening, and Maud
made a valiant effort to slip it inside her Shakespeare; but as Maggie
Woodhall happened at that instant to jog her elbow, she dropped the
book, and the paper fluttered on to the floor, almost at the teacher's
feet. Miss Rowe picked it up and looked at it critically.

"To whom does this belong?" she enquired sharply.

"It's mine, Miss Rowe, please," said Cissie.

"Did you draw it?"

"No, Miss Rowe."

"Then who did?"

"Patty Hirst," said Cissie, who had not seen Vera's alteration, and
thought the portrait so flattering and talented that she saw no reason
for withholding the artist's name, and, indeed, considered Patty might
well be proud of such an achievement.

"Then I think Patty Hirst might employ her time more profitably," said
Miss Rowe, and, turning very pink, she tore the picture across, and
threw it into the waste-paper basket.

Cissie rescued the fragments afterwards, and pieced them together, and
when she discovered the addition which had been made, her wrath and
indignation knew no bounds. As for Patty, she was nearly heart-broken at
the affair. She genuinely liked Miss Rowe, and could not bear her to
think that she would have been so cruel and indelicate as to call
attention to her one blemish. Even Vera was penitent, for though she had
had the bad taste to alter the drawing, she certainly had not intended
it to fall into the hands of the mistress herself. The hard part of it
was that no one liked to explain, because to refer to it at all would
only have seemed to make matters worse; so the girls consoled Patty as
best they could, but it was a long time before she could get over it.
Perhaps on the whole the occurrence made Vera a little less nasty to
Patty. She was a proud, but not altogether an ungenerous girl, and she
was genuinely sorry to have thus thrown blame on undeserving shoulders.
But for Muriel's influence she would have been almost ready to follow
the example of Kitty and Maud, and if not to make friends, at least to
treat with tolerance a companion who was so particularly inoffensive,
and so willing to meet an apology halfway.

The war which Patty waged in her bedroom still went on as before. Every
night one of her companions would relight the gas, in spite of all
entreaties. Sometimes Patty would get up and turn it out, greatly to the
wrath of the others, who would retaliate next day by hiding her brush
and comb, or dropping her cake of soap into her water jug. It was a most
unpleasant state of affairs, and seemed likely to continue indefinitely,
when an incident fortunately happened which led to a truce.

One November afternoon, when the girls were returning from hockey,
Patty, in strolling through the shrubbery, noticed that the gardener,
who had probably been unstopping one of the gutters, had left his ladder
leaning against a wall, thus giving access to the flat roof of the
lecture hall. Patty at home had sometimes been called a tomboy, and she
could not resist climbing up to see what the world looked like from the
top. She had reached the leads, and was on the point of stepping over a
large spout, when she heard the sound of laughter on the roof, and
stopped to listen. Someone was evidently already there, and, recognizing
the voices of Doris, May, and Ella, she decided not to follow them. An
idea had suddenly occurred to her, and acting upon it at once she
descended to the ground, then, very gently removing the ladder, she laid
it at the foot of the wall. The gardener's wheelbarrow, full of dead
leaves, stood conveniently near, under the shelter of a large
rhododendron, so she sat down on it, and waited for what she knew was
bound to happen. I believe there was a little mischief in her eyes, for
Patty liked a joke as well as anybody, and she thought the occasion
offered considerable opportunities for fun. She had not to wait long. In
a few minutes her three room mates, who had explored the roof as far as
they dared to venture, returned to the spot where they had left the
ladder, and were much astonished to find it gone.

"What a nuisance!" said May. "Ward must have taken it without our
hearing him. I wonder where he is?"

"We shall have to call," said Ella; "perhaps he hasn't gone very far."

None of the three noticed Patty, who was hidden by the rhododendron,
though by peeping through the leaves she was able to see them perfectly
well.

"Coo--e--e!" cried Doris, as loudly as she could.

"Cuckoo!" shouted May, hoping some passing companion might be within
earshot.

"What are we to do?" said Ella, when their calls had been repeated
several times without rousing the faintest reply.

It was rather a lonely part of the garden; most of the girls had run
from the hockey field straight into the house, and the gardener was at
that moment partaking of tea in the kitchen. Patty, who had counted on
all these points, remained quietly under cover, and suppressed her
laughter as best she could.

"I don't know; we can't possibly jump it," said May, peeping over the
edge to judge the distance between herself and the ground, and drawing
back with a shudder.

"We shall have to wait till Ward comes back," said Doris.

"Suppose he's put the ladder away, and doesn't intend to come back?"
suggested Ella.

"Then we'll have to stay here all night," said May.

"Oh, rubbish!" cried Doris. "Let us give one more good call; somebody's
sure to come."

The combined efforts of three pairs of lungs raised a lusty shout, but
beyond a slight echo there was no response.

"It's getting so dark. It must be almost tea-time, I'm sure," groaned
Ella.

"They'll miss us at tea, I expect," said Doris.

"Yes, but they won't know where to look for us. They'll hunt in every
place except the right one. No one would ever dream we were on the
roof," said May dismally.

"Call again," said Ella, who was waxing tearful.

"Cuckoo!" tried May once more, with a tinge of despair in her voice.

This time Patty judged it discreet to come to the rescue, and emerging
quietly from the shade of the rhododendron on the far side, she strolled
up in a casual manner.

"Why, what are you three doing there?" she exclaimed, with well-feigned
surprise.

"Oh, Patty! is that you?" cried Doris, with great relief. "Ward has
taken away the ladder and we can't come down. I wish you'd go and fetch
him."

"He hasn't taken the ladder away; it's lying on the ground under the
wall," replied Patty.

"Then put it up for us, that's a sweet girl," said Ella, in a far more
civil tone than she generally used.

"I don't know, on the whole, that I will," answered Patty.

Her three companions gasped.

"Why not?" asked Doris.

"Don't tease, Patty! It's getting dark and cold," said May.

"Do be quick, Patty!" said Ella.

"It would be colder still if you spent the night there," said Patty.
"Think how nice it would be for me, though, to have the bedroom all to
myself!"

"Patty, you can't really mean to leave us here!"

"If I put the ladder up, I shall expect something in return," declared
Patty.

"All right. Go on. What do you want?"

"You'll all three have to promise never to light the gas again after
Miss Rowe's turned it out, and not to read books that aren't allowed."

"Don't be stupid, Patty; we've argued that point so often."

[Illustration: "YOU'LL ALL THREE HAVE TO PROMISE NEVER TO LIGHT THE GAS
AGAIN AFTER MISS ROWE'S TURNED IT OUT"]

"Very well," said Patty, briefly, pretending to walk away.

A despairing wail from the girls, however, brought her back.

"Don't go! Won't you take anything else?" entreated Doris.

"Not a single thing," said Patty, firmly.

"How mean you are!"

"There's the tea bell," said Patty. "You'd better decide quickly,
because I can't wait."

"Suppose we promise only to read books out of the library," began Ella,
"and light the gas sometimes?"

"Good-night!" replied Patty, turning this time as if she really meant to
go.

"We'll promise! We'll promise!" cried the three shivering figures on the
roof.

"Everything?"

"Yes, if you like."

"On your honour?"

"On our honour."

"Never again?"

"Never."

"It's a bargain, then. Now you may all come down."

Patty reared the ladder against the wall, and held it steady while her
companions descended. She felt in good spirits, for she had enjoyed the
fun of keeping them imprisoned, and had been able by guile to extort a
promise which her strongest protests had hitherto failed to gain from
them.

"They don't know I hid the ladder," she said to herself as they all
hurried in to tea, "and I don't mean to tell them. It's a grand victory
for me. I shall hold them strictly to their word, and now at last we
shall have a little peace in No. 7, and I shan't have to lie awake every
night listening in fear and trembling for Miss Rowe."




CHAPTER VIII

A Great Disappointment


As December passed by, and the term drew to a close, Patty's impatience
began almost to get the better of her. No thirteen weeks had ever
appeared so long. She felt as if she had been away from home for years,
and she yearned for a sight of all the loved faces. Letters, though very
well in their way, were unsatisfactory things, especially the
children's, which contained little news for the amount of paper covered,
and consisted mostly of wishes for her return, with a whole page of
crosses meant to represent kisses at the end. Now at last, however, she
could count the remainder of the term by days instead of weeks, and her
fancy was busy painting in rainbow colours a picture of her arrival,
first at the station, where perhaps her father would meet her, and then
at the dear, well-known door, where her mother would be waiting to clasp
her in the warmest hug, and all the younger ones would be watching
eagerly to welcome her back again. It was such an enthralling prospect
that Patty's eyes shone whenever she thought about it, and she sometimes
executed a little dance of delight in the privacy of her cubicle, to let
off some of the effervescence of her spirits.

"Only four days more!" she said to herself one night. "I suppose I shall
manage to get through them somehow! I wonder if it seems as long to
Mother and the others! I've never looked forward to anything so much in
my life. It makes me wild with joy to think it's so near."

Poor Patty! In the midst of her pleasant anticipations a bitter
disappointment was in store for her. It seemed hard indeed that all her
cherished plans must suddenly and ruthlessly be destroyed; but it takes
a mingled warp and woof of joy and sorrow to weave the patterns of our
lives, and a piece of dark background is sometimes needed to bring the
brighter parts into full relief. The very next morning a letter arrived
from Mrs. Hirst, containing such bad news that Patty had to read it
twice over before she entirely grasped the full meaning of its tidings.
Three of the younger children were ill with scarlet fever, Rowley
seriously so, and Robin and Kitty quite poorly enough to cause a certain
amount of anxiety. The small patients had been carefully isolated, and
so far the other children were well; but they were of course liable to
develop the complaint, and needed careful watching. In the circumstances
it was quite impossible for Patty to come home. She must not venture
within danger of infection, for even if she did not take scarlet fever
herself, it would not be right to allow her to go back to school after
the holidays from a house where there had been sickness.

"Uncle Sidney and Aunt Lucy have very kindly invited you to Thorncroft,"
wrote Mrs. Hirst, "so you will return with Muriel, and will, I hope,
have a pleasant holiday there. It is hard for us all to miss our
Christmas together, but you must be a brave girl, darling, and look
forward to seeing us at Easter instead. I cannot even write to you
often, because I am nursing our invalids, and Father has to disinfect my
letters carefully in the surgery before he considers it safe to forward
them. Milly, however, shall write you a postcard every day, to say how
we are, and you will be constantly in my thoughts, though I may not be
able to do more than send you a brief message."

To Patty it seemed as if the sun had suddenly gone out. That she must
forego all her home joys and spend the holidays with Muriel was indeed a
great hardship.

"Muriel won't want me, I know," she sobbed, "and it won't seem like
Christmas at all to have to spend it at Thorncroft. Oh, how I wish I
could have gone home first, before the children were taken ill, and then
I could have helped to nurse them! Easter is months and months off. I
don't know how I'm going to live till I see them all again."

After one storm of grief, however, Patty, like a sensible girl, dried
her eyes, and tried to put on a bright face and make the best of things
as they were. It seemed no use bemoaning her misery, and spoiling all
her friends' happiness by dwelling on her troubles, so she managed to
interest herself in Enid's packing, and to sympathize with Jean's choice
of Christmas presents, though it was hard to listen to the others' glad
plans when her own had suffered such shipwreck. It is a great
accomplishment to be able to smile outside when we are crying inside,
and I don't believe Patty could have done it if she had not been so
accustomed to forget her own side of a question, and engross herself in
other people's affairs. As it was, her power of self-mastery helped her
to be brave and cheery in spite of her disappointment; but it was not an
easy task, and it cost her best efforts to smother her grief, and keep
up to anything like her usual level of good spirits. It is sometimes
more difficult to practise the little self-denials and do the unlauded
acts of courage than to make one supreme sacrifice while the world
applauds; so I think Patty deserved to be called a heroine for her small
victory, which nobody noticed, just as much as if it had been a great
one. She had, at any rate, one compensation to console her. Jean
Bannerman also lived at Waverton, and would travel home with Muriel and
herself, and she hoped it might be possible to see something of Jean
during the holidays. The breaking-up day arrived at last, and Patty,
after a warm good-bye to Enid, Winnie, and Avis, was put with her two
companions under the guardianship of Miss Rowe, who escorted them to the
junction, and saw them safely into the northern express. Even though she
was not going to her own home, Patty felt rather cheered at leaving The
Priory and starting upon a journey; and the prospect of Christmas and
its attendant festivities was an enlivening one.

She had a kind welcome from her uncle and aunt, and her cousin Horace,
who had returned from school the day before, also seemed pleased to see
her. Patty always liked Horace much better than Muriel. He was far
kinder to her, and would often ask her to help him with his photography,
or to arrange his cases of beetles, butterflies, and moths, entertaining
her the while with accounts of his adventures at school, some of which
were of such a thrilling description that she suspected they were made
up for her benefit. Muriel, who preferred to keep her brother to
herself, was jealous of this intimacy; she did not want to include Patty
in their family life, and though she did not dare to say so to her
parents, she secretly resented her cousin's presence. The two girls were
necessarily thrown much in each other's company, and so overbearing did
Muriel prove sometimes, that it needed all Patty's self-restraint to
prevent a quarrel. It was not pleasant to be ordered about, told to
fetch and carry, and receive no thanks for her pains; and particularly
disagreeable to be given to understand that she was an unwelcome
visitor, who ought to consider herself very fortunate to have been asked
at all. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Pearson had any idea how unkind Muriel was
to Patty in private; they were proud of their pretty little daughter,
and fondly liked to think she was everything they could desire: their
love made them blind to small indications of character, and so long as
they saw no glaring fault they thought all was well. Muriel from her
babyhood had been accustomed to expect her own way in everything. Her
father, mother, and brother had made a pet of her, and spoilt her so
entirely that she had grown up a very selfish girl, and even the
influence of school life, wholesome though it was, had not been able so
far to undo the ill effects of her home training. The first few days at
Thorncroft were naturally occupied with preparations for Christmas.
Patty was very anxious to send some little gifts home to the children,
and spent much time and thought planning how she could most
advantageously lay out the few shillings of pocket money which she
possessed. It was a difficult matter when there were so many presents
required, and one which demanded serious consideration. In lack of any
other confidant, she talked it over with Muriel.

"There's the tray-cloth for Mother, which I worked at school," she said.
"That's quite finished, and it looks very nice, only a little crushed.
Aunt Lucy says Emma shall iron it out for me. I wish I could think of
something for Father. Can you suggest anything?"

Muriel shook her head.

"I can't," she replied. "I'm in the same difficulty nearly every year.
There seems nothing you can give to a gentleman that he really cares
for. I've made shaving cloths, and cigarette cases, and match-box
holders, and heaps of other things for Father, and he always says 'Thank
you!' and puts them away in his drawer, and never uses them. He must
have a whole pile of my presents somewhere."

"I thought of a blotter," said Patty, "but I know it would only be left
lying about in the surgery. Father has a stylo. pen, and hardly ever
needs blotting-paper. The little ones give him useful things--boxes of
matches, and railway guides, and cakes of soap."

"Cakes of soap!" laughed Muriel.

"Yes, why not? They can't think of anything else to buy. But I wanted
something nicer. I wish someone would publish a book on how to make
Christmas presents for one's father."

"They might suggest things, but they couldn't guarantee his using them
when they were made."

"It's much easier for the children," said Patty, "because I know exactly
what they'd like."

"That's no trouble, then," yawned Muriel. "We shall be going into town
to-morrow. You'll have plenty of choice at Archer's."

"Too much, I'm afraid," said Patty. "I shall want to buy all I see."

"Well, if I were you, I should get them each a shilling toy, and then
one wouldn't be better than another," said Muriel carelessly, rising and
putting an end to a conversation of which she was growing tired. "I'm
thankful to say my presents are all arranged."

It was easy enough, Patty thought, for Muriel to suggest shilling toys
in such an airy manner, but quite an impossibility to provide them for
seven brothers and sisters when her small green purse only contained a
half-crown and a new sixpence. Her gifts would have to be very modest
ones, and it would take much ingenuity to make her money last out. Emma,
her aunt's maid, came to the rescue by hunting out a large bag of
coloured wools and helping her to make a ball for the baby. This Patty
knew would delight him, and would leave her a little extra to spend upon
the others. On the day before Christmas Eve, Mrs. Pearson took Muriel
and Patty to town with her, and after visiting several places, the
carriage finally drew up at Archer's, a large general store where toys
and all kinds of fancy articles were sold. The shop was so crowded that
it was quite difficult to obtain attention from the overworked
assistants, and Mrs. Pearson was obliged to wait some time before making
her purchases. It had been a busy morning for her; she was not strong,
and by the time she had bought what she needed, she was thoroughly
tired.

"You children must be quick, if there is anything you want," she said,
consulting her watch. "I particularly wish to be home by half-past
twelve, so I can only allow you ten minutes for your shopping. Where
shall we go first?"

"To the book department," said Muriel promptly. "You know I haven't
spent the present Aunt Ida sent me yet, and I want to choose something
nice."

"Wouldn't it do another day, dear?" suggested her mother.

"No, I'd like to buy it now, and then I can have it to read on Christmas
Day. Do come, Mother!"

The book department was upstairs, and proved as crowded as the floor
below. After some difficulty they managed to find a place at the
counter, and Muriel was soon occupied in turning over the pages of
various fascinating stories, hesitating so long over her choice that the
ten minutes soon lengthened out into a quarter of an hour.

"Do be quick, Muriel!" Patty ventured to whisper. "Aunt Lucy wants to go
home, and I haven't bought one of my presents yet!"

"Oh, bother!" replied Muriel. "Do you think you'd have this historical
tale, or this school story, if you were choosing?"

"The school one," said Patty, "though either looks nice. Here's the
assistant. If you buy it now, perhaps Aunt Lucy would take me to the toy
department for just five minutes."

"I can't make up my mind yet," said Muriel. "I'd rather look at a few
others first. Hand me that one bound in green. Yes, and the red one too.
Oh, don't be a nuisance! Your Christmas presents will have to wait. I'm
not going to decide in a hurry just to please you."

Poor Patty thought Muriel would never finish her purchase. She examined
book after book, till at length even her mother waxed impatient, and
declared she could stay no longer.

"It is twenty minutes past twelve now," she said, "and I have made an
appointment at half-past to meet the superintendent of the Sunday School
about the Scholars' Christmas Tree. I should not like to keep him
waiting, and I am afraid I shall be late as it is. You must choose at
once, dear, and come."

It took almost five minutes longer to secure the services of the
assistant, who in the meantime had been attending to somebody else, and
to wait while she wrapped the book in paper and fetched the change: so
when at length Muriel was able to take her parcel, Mrs. Pearson was most
anxious to start for home.

"I suppose there's no time for me to buy anything?" ventured Patty,
timidly.

"Oh no, dear!" said her aunt. "We must hurry away at once; you should
have mentioned it before. What did you want to get?"

"Some little presents for the children," said Patty. "I've brought my
purse with me."

"I am sending them a parcel to-morrow," said Mrs. Pearson, "so that will
do for you as well. You shall help me to pack it if you like. Dear me,
it's nearly half-past twelve already! How very annoying! Jackson must
drive home as quickly as he can. I shall have to apologize to Mr.
Saunders. He's always so punctual, I'm sure I shall find him in the
breakfast-room when we arrive."

Patty entered the carriage in a very dejected frame of mind. It seemed
so hard, when the money had been in her pocket all the morning, that she
should have found no opportunity of spending it. She had wished so much
to send Christmas boxes to the little ones, and though she knew her
aunt's gifts would probably be much handsomer than any she could have
afforded, she felt it was not at all the same as if they were her own.

"It's the first Christmas I've ever been away from home," she said to
herself, "and I wanted everyone to have a remembrance from me. They'll
be so disappointed, and think I've taken no trouble over them. I haven't
even any cards to send them."

In spite of her efforts she could not get over her disappointment, and
as she sat by the breakfast-room fire after lunch, the tears began to
well up in her eyes at the thought of the delightful parcel which she
had hoped by now to be packing up and despatching. Muriel, seated in the
opposite armchair, was absorbed in her new story, and beyond
occasionally asking Patty to poke the fire or put on more coals, took no
notice of her cousin, and did not see that anything was wrong. Patty
tried to fix her attention on "The Daisy Chain", which she had just
begun to read, but the description of the large family made her think of
her own, and she felt so wretchedly homesick and miserable that big
drops blurred her eyes and fell down on to the pages of her book. She
was wiping them up carefully with her pocket handkerchief when the door
opened suddenly, and Cousin Horace made his appearance.

"Hello!" he cried cheerily. "I thought I should find you two in here!
Muriel, Mother wants you for a minute in her bedroom."

"What for?"

"Your new dress has come, I believe."

Muriel jumped up with alacrity and went upstairs, and Horace, taking her
vacant chair, stretched himself lazily, and put his feet on the fender.

"I don't know what it is about holidays," he remarked; "they make a
fellow want to do nothing but lounge. Don't you feel the same, Patty?"

"I'm not sure," said Patty, so very chokily that Horace sat up and
examined her with critical eyes.

"Why, what's the matter?" he exclaimed.

"Nothing," said Patty, "at least, not much."

"But you're crying."

It was such a self-evident statement that Patty did not reply.

"Have you been quarrelling with Muriel?"

"No. Oh no!"

"Then what is it?"

"It seems hardly worth while telling."

"Of course it is. Look here, Patty, you and I are chums. If you've
anything on your mind, just reel it off and get rid of it. Perhaps I can
help."

"It's only about the children," began Patty.

"Well! Go on! What about them?"

"I meant to buy them some presents, and there was no time when we were
shopping this morning, and Aunt Lucy isn't going into town again before
Christmas, so I can't get them at all now," said Patty, blurting out her
trouble as briefly as she could.

"Is that all?" asked Horace.

"It's quite enough for me," replied Patty, wiping her eyes again.

"Why, my dear girl, that's easily remedied. Put on your hat and jacket
and I'll take you to town in the tramcar. It's only half-past three, and
we'll soon buy what you want."

"Oh! Would Aunt Lucy really let us?" cried Patty, brightening up at such
a delightful prospect.

"Why not? We'll go and ask her. Stuff that handkerchief in your pocket,
and come along now."

Horace knew exactly the right way to wheedle his mother, and very soon
persuaded her to allow them to start on their expedition.

"Patty must put on her fur," said Mrs. Pearson. "It is much too cold and
foggy for Muriel to go out. I heard her coughing last night."

"I don't want to go, thanks," said Muriel, who looked a little annoyed.
"Horace can please himself. I thought he said he was going to develop my
films."

"I'll do that another day. Be quick, Patty, or you'll find everything
bought up before you get there! I expect the shops will be crammed as
full of people as they'll hold."

It was in very different spirits indeed that Patty buttoned her boots,
and, donning her outdoor garments, joined Horace, who was waiting for
her in the hall. It was freezing keenly, and the ground crunched
crisply under their feet as they walked down the drive. They were
obliged to wait nearly ten minutes for the tramcar, and it was bitterly
cold standing at the corner of the road, but Patty did not mind in the
least when she thought of her errand. It was almost dark before they
reached the town, and the streets looked bright and cheerful, with their
many gas lamps and electric lights shining out through the murky
atmosphere. Everyone appeared to be busy with Christmas shopping, and
the pavements were crowded with people gazing at the presents displayed
in the windows: and almost all seemed to be carrying a number of
parcels. There was such a happy, cheery feeling in the air, in spite of
the fog, that Patty felt inclined to smile at everybody she met, even
the conductor who came to collect their fares, or the stout woman who
sat next to her, and whose large basket was such an inconvenience. She
was beaming with joy as she and Horace left the car at the terminus and
walked down the main street, looking at the gay shop windows as they
went.

"I hope you've made a list of your presents," said Horace, "and then we
shan't waste time. I think the best plan is to go to a shop, ask for
what you want, and insist upon having it. Don't let them show you
half-a-dozen other things, and try to persuade you they're quite as
good."

"I haven't made a list," said Patty, "but I want to buy eight presents,
and only spend three shillings. It allows just fourpence-halfpenny for
each, or if I could spend a little less on some of the children's, I
might afford rather more for Father's."

"Whew!" exclaimed Horace. "It requires rather careful calculation.
You'll have to be uncommonly economical, I'm afraid. What can you
possibly buy for fourpence-halfpenny that's worth having?"

"A great many things," said Patty. "Toys, of course, for the little
ones. It's far harder to choose presents for Basil and Milly, and it
will be terribly difficult to get one for Father, I'm sure. Why, there's
Uncle Sidney! He's seen us, and he's crossing the street."

"Well, Patty," said Mr. Pearson, "what are you and Horace doing here?"

"We've come shopping," explained Horace. "Patty's going to hunt bargains
to send home. She wants to buy eight Christmas presents for three
shillings. Isn't she plucky?" he added, with a meaning glance at his
father.

"You had better take her to Archer's stores," said Mr. Pearson, "and see
what you can find there." Then, putting his hand in his pocket, he drew
out a sovereign and slipped it into his niece's hand. "This is my
present to you, Patty," he said. "Perhaps you would rather have it now
than on Christmas Day. Spend it just as you like, my dear," and he
hurried away almost before she had time to say "Thank you".

With such wealth at her disposal, Patty could now afford to be
extravagantly generous, and I think she never enjoyed any afternoon in
her life more than the one spent in Archer's stores. I fear she tried
Horace's patience, after all, by looking at a great many unnecessary
articles; but in the end she secured exactly what she wanted, and
emerged from the crowded shop in such a state of bliss that he forbore
to scold, and took her various packages instead--a great self-denial on
his part, for he was a young gentleman who considered it much beneath
his dignity to carry a parcel. I do not know which delighted Patty most,
when she opened her treasures on her return, whether it was the pair of
thick driving gloves for her father, or the books for Basil and Milly,
or the wonderful toys for the little ones. Mary, the nurse, had not been
forgotten--a pretty handkerchief-box was to bear her name; and there was
even a bottle of scent for Anne, the kitchen servant, and a pencil-case
for Hughes, the coachman.

"They'll be so surprised," she said. "I'm sure they won't expect such
lovely presents as these."

"These aren't nearly so nice as the things Mother's sending them," said
Muriel, turning over the toys in a rather disdainful manner.

"No, but they'll like them all the same, because they come from me. It
will be so delightful to write 'From Patty' on each."

"Well, I should hardly have thought it worth while to go into town on
purpose to buy them, and especially to drag poor Horace out on such a
cold, foggy afternoon," said Muriel.

"She didn't drag me out, Sis; it was I who suggested it," interposed
Horace. "Why can't you let her enjoy her presents without finding fault
with them?"

"I'm not finding fault."

"Yes, you are."

"You're quite absurd about Patty."

"And you're not very kind."

"It's the first time you've ever called me unkind," said Muriel,
flushing angrily. "I think it's horrid of you to run away from me for a
whole afternoon and then speak to me like this! You're unkind yourself!"

And throwing down the humming top which she had been examining, she
stalked out of the room, and banged the door behind her. Horace, who
was extremely fond of his sister, followed, and succeeded in making
peace. Muriel was mollified when he played chess with her all the
evening, and forgave him for what she considered his neglect; but his
championship of Patty did not make her love her cousin any the better.




CHAPTER IX

An Afternoon with Jean


If Patty had to rub her eyes rather vigorously with her pocket
handkerchief on Christmas morning, I think there was every excuse for
her. To be in a home which was not her own home seemed in some respects
almost harder than being at school, for however kind relations may
prove, they can never quite take the place of one's family on such a
festival as Christmas Day. There were, of course, no presents for Patty
from Kirkstone, nothing but a much-disinfected letter, which Aunt Lucy
viewed with great uneasiness, and insisted that her niece should throw
into the fire directly she had read it.

"I have such a horror of scarlet fever," she declared. "Neither Horace
nor Muriel has ever had it, and germs can certainly be conveyed through
notepaper. It will be wise, I think, to burn some sulphur pastilles in
the room, and you had better wash your hands, Patty, with carbolic
soap, as you have touched the letter. I hope your mother won't write to
you very often. It would be much safer simply to send telegrams to say
how the children are getting on. I'd really rather you didn't receive
postcards from Milly."

"But Milly is quite well, and doesn't go near the ones who are ill,"
pleaded Patty.

"She might develop the disease at any time, though," said Mrs. Pearson.
"It's wiser to run no risks. I shall write to your father to-day, and
mention the matter."

To lose Milly's daily postcards was a sad blow.

"I'm sure it's not necessary," thought Patty. "Father is so careful; he
wouldn't let there be the slightest danger. Still, I suppose Aunt Lucy
is nervous, and of course when I'm staying here I can't have letters if
she's afraid of them. I do hope she'll let me go and have tea with Jean.
I shall be dreadfully disappointed if she says 'No'."

Jean's invitation was the event to which Patty looked forward most
during the holidays, but it was a little doubtful whether she would be
allowed to accept it, as, though they did not live far away, the
Bannermans were not personal friends of Mr. and Mrs. Pearson. A letter
arrived one morning from Jean, addressed to Muriel, asking both the
girls to tea on the following Thursday, and, to Patty's dismay, her
cousin at once declared that she did not intend to go.

"Jean Bannerman's all very well at school, but I really don't want to
know her during the holidays," said Muriel. "I see quite as much of her
at The Priory as I want. Do you think we need accept, Mother?"

"Well, darling, I must think about it," said Mrs. Pearson. "I have never
been introduced to Mrs. Bannerman, and I don't usually let you go to
houses where I don't visit myself. Still, on the other hand, I shouldn't
like you to disappoint your schoolfellow or hurt her feelings."

"She won't be disappointed; she doesn't care about me in the least,"
said Muriel.

"Then why does she ask you?"

"I'm sure I don't know," replied Muriel, who never paused to consider
that the invitation was also for Patty, and to consult her wishes on the
subject of accepting it.

"I hardly know what excuse we can give," said Mrs. Pearson doubtfully.

"We must give some," persisted Muriel, "because the Holdens said they
were going to ask me for Thursday, and I particularly want to go there.
I expect I shall hear from Trissie this evening. Can't we wait till
to-morrow to answer Jean's letter?"

Muriel's expected invitation arrived the following morning, and
furnished her with the excuse she needed for refusing the one from Jean.

"I shall write to her and say we can't either of us accept," she said
decisively.

"Because you are both engaged for that afternoon," added Mrs. Pearson.

"Well, the Holdens haven't invited Patty," said Muriel, "but of course
it doesn't matter."

"If I ask Mrs. Holden to include her in the invitation, I am sure she
will do so," said Mrs. Pearson.

"If it won't make too many," began Muriel, frowning at the suggestion.

"Oh, Aunt Lucy!" cried Patty, waxing bold, "if the Holdens haven't
really sent me an invitation, may I have tea with Jean instead? I should
so like to go."

"It would certainly be a good way out of the difficulty," said Mrs.
Pearson. "I think that will be quite the best plan. You had better
write, Muriel, and say that you have an engagement yourself, but your
cousin will be pleased to accept."

Patty had never expected such luck as to be able to spend a whole
afternoon with Jean without Muriel accompanying her, and she found it
quite difficult to repress her delight. The time fixed was three
o'clock, and punctual to the moment she started off, under the escort of
one of the servants, to walk to the Bannermans' house, which was only a
short distance from Thorncroft. Jean was watching for her at the window,
and flew to the front door to welcome her.

"Here you are at last!" she exclaimed, when her friend was safely inside
the hall. "I'm simply rejoiced to have you all to myself! I was obliged
to ask Muriel too, but I'm so glad she couldn't come. Now we'll have a
glorious time. Come into the drawing-room to see Mother, and then we'll
go upstairs to my bedroom. I have ever so many things I want to show
you."

Jean was the fortunate possessor of a particularly pretty little
bedroom. It was furnished partly as a sitting-room, and a fire had been
lighted there that afternoon, so that the two girls might indulge in a
private chat. Patty sank into a cosy basket chair, but she did not stay
there long, as she kept jumping up to look at the many treasures which
decorated the walls, and about most of which Jean seemed to have some
story to tell. Over the mantelpiece hung a fine pair of ram's horns that
had been polished and mounted on an oak slab.

"They came from Scotland," said Jean, "and they're a souvenir of an
adventure that Colin and I had when we were staying at our Uncle's."

"What happened?"

"We went out one day for a walk by ourselves on the hills. We had
wandered a long way, and climbed over a stone wall into a field, when
suddenly we heard a curious noise, and saw an old ram stamping its feet
at us. 'We'd better run,' said Colin. 'It'll be after us in a moment;'
and just as he spoke, the ram set off as fast as it could in our
direction. You can imagine how we rushed down the hill. The ram looked
so fierce, we were dreadfully frightened, and I thought perhaps it would
gore us like a bull. At the bottom of the field there was a stream.
Colin called to me to get across by the stones, and I tried, but I was
in such a hurry that my foot slipped, and I fell into quite a deep pool
up to my waist. The ram seemed at first as if it meant to follow me, for
it came a little way into the water; but it changed its mind, and turned
round and went up the hill again. Colin fished me out of the water, but
I was dreadfully wet, and so out of breath with running, I felt as if I
couldn't walk home; so he took me to a farm close by, and the people
dried my clothes. They were very kind, especially when they heard about
the ram. They said it was really a savage one, and it might have hurt
us if it had caught us. They were obliged to kill it that autumn, and
they sent the horns to Uncle as a present; and he had them mounted, and
gave them to me. When I see them hanging there, I often remember how
fast Colin and I ran that day."

"I should think you have splendid times in Scotland."

"So we do. We go there nearly every summer, and stay either with
Grandfather or one of our uncles. When we're at Grandfather's we have to
go to church on Sunday in the boat across the loch. It's so nice,
especially if we go to the evening service, and row back just at sunset.
Then on weekdays we go fishing. I caught a salmon all by myself last
year. I was so proud. Grandfather didn't touch my line, he only told me
what to do. We took a photo. of the salmon, and I had it framed. It's
there, hanging on the wall. You must look at it, and at some of my other
pictures."

"I like that picture best," said Patty, smiling, and pointing to a
corner where there was a little stained-glass window opening on to the
landing. Against the outside of this two noses were flattened, and two
pairs of eyes were plainly visible gazing into the room with deep
interest, while a peculiar noise, something between giggling and
snorting, seemed to indicate that the owners of the eyes and noses were
making an effort to subdue their mirth.

"Nell and Jamie!" cried Jean, springing up in a hurry. "They are the
most outrageous children!"

There was a loud scuffle, the sound of a falling chair and of flying
footsteps, and by the time Jean reached the door no one was to be seen,
though a doll, dropped in the hurried flight, afforded some evidence of
the intruders.

"I suppose they wanted to peep at you," said Jean. "Mother told them
they must be good this afternoon, and not bother if I wanted to have you
to myself. As a rule they cling to me like burs from morning till
night."

"Oh, do let us go to see them!" said Patty.

"Very well, but you don't know what you're undertaking," said Jean,
leading the way to the nursery. "You won't get rid of them all the rest
of the time you're here."

Nell and Jamie proved to be roguish-looking little people of seven and
five, with round, pink, dimpled cheeks, and crops of beautiful thick
auburn curls. They were the babies of the household, and Patty could see
that Jean, though she affected to find them troublesome, was secretly
immensely proud of them, and pleased to have an opportunity of showing
them to her friend. They were not at all shy; both climbed readily upon
the visitor's knees, and began to talk in a most friendly fashion.

"We're going to be very good," announced Jamie, whose small fingers were
busy examining Patty's brooch and locket. "We're not going to do
anything we oughtn't."

"So you say," said Jean, "but you haven't asked Patty if she likes her
locket opened. Be careful, Jamie! You'll break the hinge if you bend it
back. Don't let him, Patty! Put him down if he's a nuisance."

"I like to nurse him," said Patty. "He reminds me of my little brother
Rowley. I think I'll take off the locket and put it in my pocket, and
then it can't come to any harm. What a heavy boy you are, Jamie, for
your age! I'm sure you weigh as much as Nell."

"'Cause I eat more," said Jamie. "I can always win when we have bread
and butter races at tea. How do you like my new blouse? Nurse only
finished it half an hour ago. She made it on purpose because you were
coming. She said I had nothing else to put on."

"Oh, Jamie, I'm sure she didn't!" exclaimed Jean. "You have a whole
drawer full of clean blouses."

"They're all dirty now, every one," confided Nell. "He had on five
yesterday, and two this morning. He spilt his porridge down one at
breakfast, and he nursed Floss in the other. She had just come in from
the garden, and her paws were so muddy."

"I'm afraid he's a handful!" said Patty, kissing the pretty little
fellow who clung round her neck in such a coaxing manner.

"He certainly is," said Jean. "What do you think he did last Sunday? He
had promised to be extra good in church, and he was so quiet, we thought
he was behaving beautifully, and then I looked, and found he was rubbing
his face along the hot-water pipes, and had made black smears all across
his cheeks, and on his white sailor collar. He's an extremely naughty
boy sometimes, I can assure you. Nell, I wish you'd go and find Colin.
He wants to see you, Patty, very much; but he's so dreadfully shy with
girls, I don't know whether we shall be able to persuade him to come
into the room after all."

Nell returned in a few minutes, hauling the bashful and unwilling Colin
by the hand. He was a boy of thirteen, like Jean in appearance, and
rather gruff and abrupt in his manners, until he found that Patty was
not so formidable as he had imagined, and that she had a brother the
same age as himself, who had also won a prize for the long jump at his
school sports.

"Colin's still at a preparatory," explained Jean, "but he's to go to a
public school next year, either Marlborough or Rugby--Father can't quite
decide which."

"Which would you rather?" enquired Patty.

"Rugby, because a fellow I know is there," replied Colin, decisively.

"I shall go to Rugby too, when Colin does," announced Jamie confidently.

"No, thanks! I wouldn't take you with those curls. You may go to The
Priory with Jean," said Colin teasingly.

"Would you take me without my curls?"

"They'd certainly have to shear you first."

"Then I'll cut them off now, my own self!" cried Jamie, jumping from
Patty's knee and rummaging in his nurse's workbasket for her scissors,
which his sister promptly took away from him.

"Look here, Curlylocks!" she said. "If you cut your hair you won't get
any more chocolates. No, not a single one ever again. I should give them
all to Nell to eat instead. It's quite true. I mean it. I do indeed."

"I don't want to go to school yet," declared Nell. "Jean says you have
to sit so still in class, and not even whisper. Miss Thornton tells me
to run six times round the room when I begin to get tired."

"I'm afraid Miss Harper wouldn't let us do that, however much we might
fidget," laughed Patty. "I should like to see her face if we suggested
it. Is Miss Thornton your governess?"

"Yes; she comes every morning, but we're having holidays now. I like
holidays best."

"So do most people," said Jean; "but it's not much of a holiday for
anybody to sit nursing two big children. Come along, Patty! I want Colin
to show you his birds' eggs. He's got quite a nice collection."

"Us too!" cried the little ones, holding out beseeching hands. "We won't
touch a thing."

Colin, however, was firm in his refusal.

"No, thank you," he said. "I'd as soon let Floss loose among my birds'
eggs as trust you two."

"But we'd promise."

"I don't believe your promises. You'd break them in three seconds, and
the eggs as well. You smashed all those I gave you last term. Here, you
may have this blue chalk pencil and draw pictures. Don't quarrel over it
more than you can help."

The collection of birds' eggs was kept downstairs, so, leaving Nell and
Jamie in the nursery, the girls went with Colin to the breakfast-room,
where there were Jean's foreign stamps to look at afterwards, and a
large album full of picture postcards. Mr. Bannerman came in for tea,
and was so pleasant and jovial and full of fun, that he entertained them
all for more than half an hour with his jokes and stories. He had
travelled much in his youth, and had many tales to tell of wild
adventures in far-off countries, or amusing experiences nearer home. He
joined afterwards in playing games, in which the little ones were also
included; and the time passed away so quickly, that Patty could scarcely
believe it was eight o'clock when Aunt Lucy's maid arrived to fetch her
home.

"I expect you had a stupid afternoon," said Muriel, on her return, "one
of those tiresome duty visits that have to be paid now and then, worse
luck!"

"On the contrary, I enjoyed it immensely," said Patty.

"Why, what did you do? I can't imagine there'd be anything exciting at
the Bannermans'."

"Oh! we played games, and looked at birds' eggs, and postcards, and
things."

"That doesn't sound interesting in the least. You should have been at
the Holdens'. They have a pianola and a gramophone, and we were trying
over all the new pantomime songs."

"I liked being with Jean."

"I don't know what you see in Jean. I think she's a most stupid,
commonplace girl. I'm not at all anxious to be friends with her in
Waverton, and I'm very glad I couldn't go to-day. You were welcome to my
share of the visit if you enjoyed it, but please don't suggest to Mother
to invite her back, because we haven't an afternoon free, and I'd rather
not ask her if we had!"




CHAPTER X

The Caesar Translation


Patty heaved a sigh of relief when she found herself back again at
school. With the exception of the one afternoon at Jean Bannerman's, she
had not enjoyed her holidays. A month spent in Muriel's society had been
of little pleasure; indeed, almost every day it had needed constant
effort to keep her temper, and to submit patiently to her cousin's
whims. Muriel, taking advantage of Patty's forbearance, had ordered her
companion about, and treated her in such a haughty and disdainful
manner, that the latter had sometimes felt her position nearly
unbearable. At The Priory at least she could be independent; she could
select her own friends, with whom she might mix on equal terms, and
could secure a standing of her own, apart from Muriel's scornful
patronage. It was delightful to once more meet Enid, Avis, and Winnie,
and to make plans for various cherished schemes to be carried out during
the term; even May, Ella, and Doris proved more friendly, and chatted
quite pleasantly with her in their bedroom about their experiences:
while Cissie Gardiner and Maggie Woodhall greeted her with enthusiasm.

"I've had such a lovely time!" said Cissie. "My brother Cyril was home
from Sandhurst, and he took me to the Military Tournament. I think
there's nothing in the world equal to cavalry. I mean to be an army
sister when I grow up. We saw a staff of nurses do field drill, and
carry a wounded officer to a Red Cross tent. (He wasn't really wounded,
of course, but he pretended to be.) They looked just too sweet in their
uniforms. Grey always suits me, doesn't it? I wish there'd be another
war in South Africa, so that I might volunteer to go out."

"You won't be grown up for four years, dearest, and then perhaps you'll
be tired of soldiers, and like poets again," said Maggie, putting her
arm affectionately round her friend's waist. "Did you have nice holidays
too, Patty?"

"Yes, thank you," replied Patty, as truthfully as she could.

She had decided that it was wiser not to tell any of her friends how
unhappy she had been at Thorncroft. For Uncle Sidney's sake she would be
as loyal as she could to Muriel, so, suppressing all mention of the many
disagreeable episodes of her visit, she merely described the parties
and the afternoon at the pantomime with as much detail as possible,
leaving it to be inferred that she had enjoyed herself. The spring term
was generally regarded at The Priory as a time of particularly close
study and increased work. In the autumn there were lectures, concerts,
or other little dissipations to break the monotony of school life; the
summer term was arranged specially to allow extra time out-of-doors; but
from January to April the girls were expected to put their shoulders to
the wheel, and commit to memory such a number of pages in their
textbooks, that Avis declared it amounted to hard labour.

"The worst of it is," she complained, "that each teacher expects you to
give all your time to her particular subject. Miss Harper looks
reproachful if I can't say my history, and Miss Rowe scolds if I miss in
my grammar. Then Mademoiselle gives me yards of French poetry and two or
three irregular verbs to learn, and Miss Lincoln asks me why my essay is
so short. I could spend the whole of prep. over just one lesson, and
then not know it properly in the end. Unless I take my books to bed, I
can't possibly get through everything that's set me."

"You should do as I do," said Enid. "I learn the beginning of the
history portion almost by heart. Then I look very intelligent and
attentive, and when Miss Harper asks me a question, I rattle off a long
answer nearly word for word from the book, at such a tremendous rate
that she can scarcely follow me, and says, 'That will do, Enid'. It
makes her think I know the whole lesson, and she keeps questioning the
other girls who've hesitated and stumbled."

"She'll catch you some day," said Winnie. "Miss Harper's too clever to
be taken in by any such tricks. She's sure to ask you a question at the
end quite unexpectedly, and what will you do then?"

"Trust to luck," said Enid. "She'll perhaps think I've forgotten for
once. I manage my essays for Miss Lincoln rather well, too. When I can't
remember any facts I make up a line or two of appropriate poetry, and
put 'as the poet says'. It fills up splendidly. Miss Lincoln said once
she didn't recognize all my quotations, but she always gives me a high
mark!"

"You can't do that kind of thing with Mademoiselle," said Avis.

"No, I own it would be no use to try. When one has forty lines of French
poetry to recite, one's obliged to set to work and get it into one's
head. But I mean to manage better in the conversation class. My eldest
sister has just come home from Paris, and she's taught me the French for
'How is your throat?' and 'Do you feel a draught?' Mademoiselle always
has a cold, and wants the window shut. She'll think I'm so sympathetic,
and be sure to put 'excellent' in my report."

"I can manage French, and do pretty well in history and geography, but I
can't learn Latin," groaned Winnie. "I didn't mind so much when we only
did sentences, but now we've begun Caesar it's simply detestable. I'm an
absolute goose at translation."

"So am I," echoed Avis, mournfully. "I don't think Latin was ever meant
for girls. My brother did Caesar two years ago, and he's in Virgil now,
though he's a year younger than I am. It seems quite easy to him, but I
never know which verb goes with which substantive, or whether a thing is
a nominative or a genitive. I look out all the words in the dictionary,
and learn their meanings, but I can't make the least sense of them until
Miss Harper shows me how they fit into the sentences. Why isn't Latin
arranged like English? Everything seems turned the wrong way."

"I don't know," said Winnie. "I should think it must have been difficult
for a Roman baby to learn to talk. Miss Harper says it's good mental
exercise for us, and we must try to use our brains."

"Mine will wear out," said Avis. "They never were very strong, to begin
with. I always forget everything I have learnt the term before; I do
indeed. I knew the whole of 'Lycidas' by heart last year, and I can't
remember a line of it now. Miss Rowe says my head is like a sieve. You
ought to like Caesar, at any rate, Cissie, because it's all about
soldiers."

"I don't care for Roman soldiers," said Cissie; "at least, not in Caesar,
though I rather like them in stories. I love the one in _Puck of Pook's
Hill_, who had to set out for the great wall; he was a perfect dear. If
Rudyard Kipling could have written that wretched _De Bello Gallico_ it
would have been so different, and so much nicer."

"I should think it would!" said Enid laughing. "Much too nice for us.
They choose the driest books possible for schools. Patty, why don't you
grumble too? It's quite aggravating to see you looking so complacent."

"I grumble over mathematics, at any rate," said Patty.

"But not over Latin?"

"No, I rather like it."

"How can you like it?"

"I don't know why, but I do."

"There's nothing to like."

"Yes, there is; it's rather fun to try and turn the words into
sentences."

"You're not very good at French translation, and yet you always make
sense out of Caesar. I can't think how you manage it," said Avis.

"Ah, that's my secret!" answered Patty. "I shan't give it away, or else
perhaps you'd all do as well."

"Is it really a secret?" asked Beatrice Wynne, who had joined the group.

"Of course it is," said Patty mysteriously. "One of those things you
can't explain and wouldn't if you could."

"Oh, do tell me!" implored Beatrice.

"No!" said Patty, shaking her head solemnly. "A secret is a secret, and
you mustn't ask questions."

"I'll find out some day," returned Beatrice. "I love discovering
secrets."

"Don't be too sure of mine," said Patty. "You won't find it out,
because----"

But here she shook her head with the air of a sphinx, and, leaving her
sentence unfinished, took up her music-case and went to practise.

Now, Patty had only been having a little fun with Beatrice. She had
meant to say, "because there is no secret at all", and to have explained
what was really the fact, that she had helped her brother Basil so often
at home to prepare his Latin translation that the earlier part of _De
Bello Gallico_ was already familiar to her. Thinking, however, that it
would be possible to continue the joke, and that it would be amusing to
excite Beatrice's curiosity over nothing, she had preserved her mystery
for the present, intending to explain it on some future occasion. In
view of events which followed, it proved a most unfortunate occurrence,
and one which she afterwards bitterly regretted. Her innocent remark led
to conclusions quite unforeseen, and so disastrous that she would have
given much if her words had never been uttered; but once spoken they
were impossible to recall, and the mischief was done. Blind as yet to
what was to happen in the future, she spent half an hour at the piano,
and then went to the classroom to fetch a book which she had forgotten.
It was a pouring wet afternoon, and as it was quite impossible for the
girls to play their usual game of hockey, they were allowed to amuse
themselves as they liked until tea-time. As a rule the classroom was
empty between three and four o'clock, and Patty opened the door,
expecting to find the room unoccupied. To her astonishment, Muriel was
seated there, busily engaged in writing, and evidently copying something
from a book which she held on her knee. She started guiltily at her
cousin's entrance, as if she were being caught in some act which she did
not wish to be discovered, turned crimson, and, thrusting the book into
her desk, banged down the lid, and pretended to be tidying the contents
of her pencil-box. It was so unusual to find Muriel at work out of
school hours, that Patty could not help expressing her amazement.

"Why, what are you doing here?" she exclaimed.

"I might ask you the same," returned Muriel. "I suppose I have as good a
right to come to my desk when I want as anybody else has!"

"Why, of course," said Patty. "I was only surprised."

"Then I wish you would keep your surprise to yourself. I can't think why
you should always be following me about."

"Oh, Muriel, I wasn't! I only came to fetch my history."

"And I only came to do some of my lessons in quiet. The recreation room
is a perfect Babel."

"So it is," said Patty. "I thought I'd learn my dates quietly in here."

"Can't you learn them in prep.?" asked Muriel.

"Not so well. I want the extra time for my Latin. It's such a stiff
piece for to-morrow. Don't you think so?"

"I haven't looked at it yet," replied Muriel, in a rather strained
voice, and avoiding Patty's eye.

"Why, Muriel," cried the latter, who had come close to her cousin,
"what are you writing now? 'There remained one way through the
Sequani.'"

"I wish you'd mind your own business. I was only scribbling nonsense to
try my new pen," said Muriel angrily, tearing up her piece of paper. "Do
leave me alone!"

Patty sat down at her own desk, and, taking out her history book, was
soon deep in an effort to master the dates which Miss Harper had set for
the next day's lesson. Muriel went on for some little time arranging her
pencils and indiarubbers in a very discontented and annoyed manner.

"Look here, Patty, I wish you'd go!" she said at last.

"Go! Why?" asked Patty.

"Because you disturb me."

"But I wasn't saying it aloud."

"It doesn't matter. I can learn things much better when I'm quite
alone."

"You're never alone at prep."

"No, I wish I were. I could get through the work in half the time.
You're interrupting me now by talking."

"Then I won't talk," said Patty, taking up her book, which she had laid
down; "I won't say a single word."

"The very sight of anyone in the room is enough to stop me learning
properly. I haven't done a single thing since you came here."

Patty was on the point of saying, "It's your own fault, then;" but the
thought of Uncle Sidney stepped in, and she refrained.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked instead.

"To go and leave me in peace. You can learn your dates in a corner of
the lecture room or in the studio."

It was rather hard to be thus ordered away from the quiet place which
she had chosen, and Patty stood hesitating whether to comply or not,
when the question was settled by the ringing of the tea bell, and both
girls were obliged to hurry to the refectory. Patty did not think much
of this incident at the time, only setting it down to Muriel's caprice,
and being quite accustomed to her cousin's ill humours; but in the light
of after events it wore a different aspect. One morning at nine o'clock,
when Miss Rowe had taken the register, and the girls were in their
places waiting for school to begin, Miss Harper entered the room with an
extremely grave look on her face. Instead of commencing the lesson as
usual, she stood for a few moments without speaking, and her silence
filled her class with an uneasy apprehension that all was not right.

"Girls," she said at last, "something has happened which gives me more
pain than anything else I have experienced during the five years I have
taught at The Priory. Yesterday the monitress, when tidying the room,
found this book, which she very rightly brought at once to me. I regret
to tell you that it is a translation of Caesar's _De Bello Gallico_; in
fact, what is commonly known as a 'crib'. That any girl in my class
could so have lost her self-respect as to condescend to use it to
prepare her lesson, fills me with shame, as it shows such an absolute
lowering of the high standard of honour which we have always tried to
maintain. I ask each of you now, do you know who is the owner of this
book, or can you account for its presence here?"

There was no reply. Every girl looked at her neighbour, but nobody had
any information to volunteer. Muriel's eyes were fixed on her atlas; she
did not appear the least affected by Miss Harper's words, though a keen
observer might have noticed she was a little paler than usual. Patty's
heart beat quickly. Quite suddenly the horrible remembrance flashed
across her of the book which Muriel had replaced so quickly in the desk.
Muriel had certainly at the time been writing a translation of the Latin
lesson, though she had denied it flatly; and it was a curious
coincidence that she should have seemed so unreasonably angry with her
cousin for staying in the room. Was the book hers? Patty blushed hotly
at the very idea. What ought she to do? It was impossible to tell her
conjectures to Miss Harper in the presence of the whole class. If Muriel
were guilty, she would surely confess the matter herself. It could not
be necessary to turn informer and voice suspicions which, after all,
might prove to have been entirely groundless. Nevertheless, she felt
uncomfortable, and as Miss Harper's steady glance was fixed upon her she
could not meet the searching eyes, and dropped her own uneasily.

"I ask you again," said the teacher, with reproach in her voice, "does
any girl know anything of this occurrence? I promise I will inflict no
punishment if whoever is guilty will only honestly confess."

Once more her brown eyes scanned her class narrowly, and once more Patty
dared not look her straight in the face.

"Very well," said Miss Harper, "I shall not seek any further to find the
owner, though the initials P. and H. intertwined on the title page might
possibly give me a clue. The girl to whom it belongs will find her own
conscience her severest judge; she will surely feel, without further
remark from me, how contemptible is her conduct. I scarcely know what
to do with this book," she continued, holding up the translation as if
she did not like to touch it. "I will not take charge of it, as I
consider it unworthy to be in existence. This will show you best how I
regard it;" and, tearing its pages across and across, she flung it into
the fire. "Now, girls, open your Caesars, and we will begin the lesson."

[Illustration: "GIRLS," SHE CRIED, "SURELY YOU CAN'T SUSPECT ME OF
OWNING THAT WRETCHED CRIB"]

It was the most miserable Latin class which the girls ever remembered.
Each one was afraid to construe well, for fear she might be suspected of
having done her preparation with the aid of the translation. Miss Harper
made no comments, and gave neither praise for good work nor blame for
bad. She took the marks as usual, and at the end of the hour left the
room without referring again to the subject. I am afraid Miss Rowe, who
followed with geology, did not find her pupils particularly intelligent
that morning. She was obliged several times to correct them sharply for
wandering attention, and was annoyed at the many wrong answers to the
questions which she asked. The girls were unable to fix their thoughts
upon either glaciers or moraines; all were counting the minutes until
lunch-time, when they could rush from the room to discuss the burning
question of the ownership of the translation. As Patty walked down the
passage at eleven o'clock to the pantry, she noticed Vera Clifford
nudge Kitty Harrison and whisper something she could not hear. Most of
the girls were collected in a little group near the door, talking
eagerly, and some of them looked curiously at her as she passed.

"I don't believe it!" cried Enid's indignant voice. "It's quite untrue
and impossible!"

"You'll never persuade me, not if you try all day," said Winnie.

"She always gets such good marks for her Caesar," said Maggie Woodhall,
doubtfully.

"Well, she told me herself it was a secret how she did it," declared
Beatrice Wynne. "She said she couldn't explain it, and wouldn't if she
could, and if we knew we might all do it equally well. Could anything be
clearer than that?"

"And the initials were P. H., for Patty Hirst!" added Ella Johnson.

Patty, as she took her lunch, could not help overhearing what was said
by the group round the door. At first she did not quite understand the
drift of the conversation, but at Ella's remark a light suddenly dawned
upon her. Putting down her glass of milk, she turned abruptly to the
others.

"Girls," she cried, "surely you can't suspect me of owning that wretched
'crib'?"

"Then whose is it if it's not yours?" asked Beatrice Wynne.

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