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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A College Girl, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A College Girl
+
+Author: Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
+Illustrator: W.H.C. Groome
+
+Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21110]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COLLEGE GIRL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+
+A College Girl
+
+By Mrs George de Horne Vaizey
+________________________________________________________________________
+Here is a book about the young girl and her awakening to the world by
+this talented author.  Darsie, the heroine, is selected by an old aunt
+to come and spend a year or so as her companion.  The old woman tries
+to coach Darsie in matters of deportment and behaviour.  This would be
+pretty odious if it were not for the presence locally of a young family
+of boys and girls of Darsie's age, whom, being rich and living rather
+grandly, the aunt allows Darsie to know.  The first half of the book
+describes the times they had.  The old aunt promises Darsie that she
+will make available the funds needed for Darsie to go up to Cambridge
+as a student at Newnham, a girls' college.
+
+When the second half of the book begins the old aunt has just died, and
+Darsie feels glad that the poor old lady will be relieved of all her
+pains.  The years of studentship are well described, and the friends
+that  Darsie made come and go through the story.  Finally we reach the
+last exams.  Darsie does quite well, but is not in the First Class.  She
+has a Second, which will be enough for her to be able to go and teach at
+some less distinguished school.  But her friend Dan, one of those whom
+we met in the first half of the book, has obtained a First Class Honours
+degree, and the book ends with him asking her to marry him.  What he
+doesn't know, and I suppose the author didn't either, is that young men
+going to teach at a top-rate boys' school are expected to spend their
+spare time coaching sports, and not to be married.  In fact they would
+be better to have achieved a "Blue" at Oxford or Cambridge than a good
+degree.
+
+I have had to make a slightly strange and annoying change to the name of
+one of the girls in the story.  I changed Vi Vernon to Vie Vernon.  The
+reason was that otherwise the speech generator always read her name as
+"Six Vernon".  What we have now sounds correct, but if you read the book
+you will see this mis-spelling two dozen times.  My apologies for doing
+this, but you will understand why I did it.
+
+It is a good read, and as always I recommend making an audiobook of it,
+so that you can listen to it. NH
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+A COLLEGE GIRL
+
+BY MRS GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+BOYS AND GIRLS.
+
+This is the tale of two terraces, of two families who lived therein, of
+several boys and many girls, and especially of one Darsie, her
+education, adventures, and ultimate romance.
+
+Darsie was the second daughter in a family of six, and by reason of her
+upsetting nature had won for herself that privilege of priority which by
+all approved traditions should have belonged to Clemence, the elder
+sister.  Clemence was serene and blonde; in virtue of her seventeen
+years her pigtail was now worn doubled up, and her skirts had reached
+the discreet level of her ankles.  She had a soft pink and white face,
+and a pretty red mouth, the lips of which permanently fell apart,
+disclosing two small white teeth in the centre of the upper gum, because
+of which peculiarity her affectionate family had bestowed upon her the
+nickname of "Bunnie."  Perhaps the cognomen had something to do with her
+subordinate position.  It was impossible to imagine any one with the
+name of "Bunnie" queening it over that will-o'-the-wisp, that electric
+flash, that tantalising, audacious creature who is the heroine of these
+pages.
+
+Darsie at fifteen!  How shall one describe her to the unfortunates who
+have never beheld her in the flesh?  It is for most girls an awkward
+age, an age of angles, of ungainly bulk, of awkward ways, self-conscious
+speech, crass ignorance, and sublime conceit.  Clemence had passed
+through this stage with much suffering of spirits on her own part and
+that of her relations; Lavender, the third daughter, showed at thirteen
+preliminary symptoms of appalling violence; but Darsie remained as ever
+that fascinating combination of a child and a woman of the world, which
+had been her characteristic from earliest youth.  Always graceful and
+alert, she sailed triumphant through the trying years, with straight
+back, graceful gait, and eyes a-shine with a happy self-confidence.  "I
+am here!" announced Darsie's eyes to an admiring world.  "Let the band
+strike up!"
+
+Some inherent quality in Darsie--some grace, some charm, some spell--
+which she wove over the eyes of beholders, caused them to credit her
+with a beauty which she did not possess.  Even her family shared in this
+delusion, and set her up as the superlative in degree, so that "as
+pretty as Darsie" had come to be regarded a climax of praise.  The glint
+of her chestnut hair, the wide, bright eyes, the little oval face set on
+a long, slim throat smote the onlooker with instant delight, and so
+blinded him that he had no sight left with which to behold the blemishes
+which walked hand in hand.  Photographs valiantly strove to demonstrate
+the truth; pointed out with cruel truth the stretching mouth, the small,
+inadequate nose, but even the testimony of sunlight could not convince
+the blind.  They sniffed, and said: "What a travesty!  Never again to
+_that_ photographer!  Next time we'll try the man in C-- Street," and
+Darsie's beauty lived on, an uncontroverted legend.
+
+By a triumph of bad management, which the Garnett girls never ceased to
+deplore, their three brothers came at the end instead of the beginning
+of the family.  Three grown-up brothers would have been a grand asset;
+big boys who would have shown a manly tenderness towards the weaknesses
+of little sisters; who would have helped and amused; big boys going to
+school, young men going to college, coming home in the vacations,
+bringing their friends, acting as squires and escorts to the girls at
+home.  Later on brothers at business, wealthy brothers, generous
+brothers; brothers who understood how _long_ quarter-day was in coming
+round, and how astonishingly quickly a girl's allowance vanishes into
+space!  Clemence, Darsie, and Lavender had read of such brothers in
+books, and would have gladly welcomed their good offices in the flesh,
+but three noisy, quarrelsome, more or less grimy schoolboys, superbly
+indifferent to "those girls"--this was another, and a very different
+tale!  Harry was twelve--a fair, blunt-featured lad with a yawning
+cavity in the front of his mouth, the result of one of the many
+accidents which had punctuated his life.  On the top story of the
+Garnett house there ran a narrow passage, halfway along which, for want
+of a better site, a swing depended from two great iron hooks.  Harry, as
+champion swinger, ever striving after fresh flights, had one day in a
+frenzy of enthusiasm swung the rings free from their hold, and
+descended, swing and all, in a crash on the oil-clothed floor.  The
+crash, the shrieks of the victim and his attendant sprites, smote upon
+Mrs Garnett's ears as she sat wrestling with the "stocking basket" in a
+room below, and as she credibly avowed, took years from her life.
+Almost the first objects which met her eye, when, in one bound, as it
+seemed, she reached the scene of the disaster, was a selection of small
+white teeth scattered over the oil-clothed floor.  Henceforth for years
+Harry pursued his way minus front teeth, and the nursery legend darkly
+hinted that so injured had been the gums by his fall that no second
+supply could be expected.  Harry avowed a sincere aspiration that this
+should be the case.  "I can eat as much without them," he declared, "and
+when I grow up I'll have them false, and be an explorer, and scare
+savages like the man in Rider Haggard," so that teeth, or no teeth,
+would appear to hold the secret of his destiny.
+
+Russell had adenoids, and snored.  His peculiarities included a faculty
+for breaking his bones, at frequent and inconvenient occasions, an
+insatiable curiosity about matters with which he had no concern, and a
+most engaging and delusive silkiness of manner.  "Gentleman Russell," a
+title bestowed by his elders, had an irritating effect on an elder
+brother conscious of being condemned by the contrast, and when quoted
+downstairs brought an unfailing echo of thumps in the seclusion of the
+playroom.
+
+Tim played on his privileges as "littlest," and his mother's barely
+concealed partiality, and was as irritating to his elders as a small
+person can be, who is always present when he is not wanted, absent when
+he is, in peace adopts the airs of a conqueror, and in warfare promptly
+cries, and collapses into a curly-headed baby boy, whom the authorities
+declare it is "cr-uel" to bully!
+
+For the rest, the house was of the high and narrow order common to town
+terraces, inconveniently crowded by its many inmates, and viewed from
+without, of a dark and grimy appearance.
+
+Sandon Terrace had no boast to make either from an architectural or a
+luxurious point of view, and was so obviously inferior to its neighbour,
+Napier Terrace, that it was lacerating to the Garnett pride to feel that
+their sworn friends the Vernons were so much better domiciled than
+themselves.  Napier Terrace had a strip of garden between itself and the
+rough outer world; big gateways stood at either end, and what Vie Vernon
+grandiloquently spoke of as "a carriage sweep" curved broadly between.
+Divided accurately among the houses in the terrace, the space of ground
+apportioned to each was limited to a few square yards, but the Vernons
+were chronically superior on the subject of "the grounds," and in
+springtime when three hawthorns, a lilac, and one spindly laburnum-tree
+struggled into bloom, their airs were beyond endurance.
+
+The Vernons had also a second claim to superiority over the Garnetts,
+inasmuch as they were the proud possessors of an elder brother, a remote
+and learned person who gained scholarships, and was going to be Prime
+Minister when he was grown up.  Dan at eighteen, coaching with a tutor
+preparatory to going up to Cambridge, was removed by continents of
+superiority from day-school juniors.  Occasionally in their disguise of
+the deadly jealousy which in truth consumed them, the Garnett family
+endeavoured to make light of the personality of this envied person.  To
+begin with, his name!  "Dan" was well enough.  "Dan" sounded a boy-like
+boy, a manly man; of a "Dan" much might be expected in the way of sport
+and mischief, but--oh, my goodness--_Daniel_!  The Garnetts discussed
+the cognomen over the play-room fire.
+
+"It must be so _embarrassing_ to have a Bible name!"  Lavender opined.
+"Think of church!  When they read about me I should be covered with
+confusion, and imagine that every one was staring at our pew!"
+
+Clemence stared thoughtfully into space.  "I, Clemence, take thee
+Daniel," she recited slowly, and shuddered.  "No--really, I couldn't!"
+
+"He wouldn't have you!" the three boys piped; even Tim, who plainly was
+talking of matters he could not understand, added his note to the
+chorus, but Darsie cocked her little head, and added eagerly--
+
+"Couldn't you, really?  What _could_ you, do you think?"
+
+Clemence stared again, more rapt than ever.
+
+"Lancelot, perhaps," she opined, "or Sigismund.  Everard's nice too, or
+Ronald or Guy--"
+
+"Bah!  Sugary.  _I_ couldn't!  Daniel is _ugly_," Darsie admitted, "but
+it's strong.  Dan Vernon will fight lions like the Bible one; they'll
+roar about him, and his enemies will cast him in, but they'll not manage
+to kill him.  He'll trample them under foot, and leave them behind, like
+milestones on the road."  Darsie was nothing if not inaccurate, but in
+the bosom of one's own family romantic flights are not allowed to atone
+for discrepancies, and the elder sister was quick to correct.
+
+"Daniel didn't fight the lions!  What's the use of being high falutin'
+and making similes that aren't correct?"
+
+"Dear Clemence, you _are_ so literal!"  Darsie tilted her head with an
+air of superiority which reduced the elder to silence, the while she
+cogitated painfully why such a charge should be cast as a reproach.  To
+be literal was to be correct.  Daniel had _not_ fought the lions!
+Darsie had muddled up the fact in her usual scatterbrain fashion, and by
+good right should have deplored her error.  Darsie, however, was seldom
+known to do anything so dull; she preferred by a nimble change of front
+to put others in the wrong, and keep the honours to herself.  Now, after
+a momentary pause, she skimmed lightly on to another phase of the
+subject.  "What should you say was the character and life history of a
+woman who could call her eldest child `Daniel,' the second `Viola
+Imogen,' and the third and fourth `Hannah' and `John'?"
+
+Clemence had no inspiration on the subject.  She said: "Don't be silly!"
+sharply, and left it to Lavender to supply the necessary stimulus.
+
+"_Tell_ us, Darsie, tell us!  You make it up--"
+
+"My dear, it is evident to the meanest intellect.  She was the child of
+a simple country household, who, on her marriage, went to live in a
+town; and when her first-born son was born, she pined to have him
+christened by her father's name in the grey old church beneath the ivy
+tower; so they travelled there, and the white-haired sire held the
+infant at the font, while the tears furrowed his aged cheeks.  _But_--by
+slow degrees the insidious effects of the great capital invaded the mind
+of the sweet young wife, and the simple tastes of her girlhood turned to
+vanity, so that when the second babe was born, and her husband wished to
+call her Hannah after her sainted grandmother, she wept, and made an
+awful fuss, and would not be consoled until he gave in to Viola Imogen,
+and a christening cloak trimmed with plush.  And she was christened in a
+city church, and the organ pealed, and the godmothers wore rich array,
+and the poor old father stayed at home and had a slice of christening
+cake sent by the post.  But the years passed on.  Saddened and sobered
+by the discipline of life, aged and worn, her thoughts turned once more
+to her quiet youth, and when at last a third child--"
+
+"There's only two years between them!"
+
+Darsie frowned, but continued her narrative in a heightened voice--
+
+"--Was laid in her arms, and her husband suggested `Ermyntrude'; she
+shuddered, and murmured softly, `Hannah--_plain_ Hannah!' and plain
+Hannah she has been ever since!"
+
+A splutter of laughter greeted this _denouement_, for in truth Hannah
+Vernon was not distinguished for her beauty, being one of the plainest,
+and at the same time the most good-natured of girls.
+
+Lavender cried eagerly--
+
+"Go on!  Make up some more," but Clemence from the dignity of seventeen
+years felt bound to protest--
+
+"I don't think you--_ought_!  It's not your business.  Mrs Vernon's a
+friend, and she wouldn't be pleased.  To talk behind her back--"
+
+"All right," agreed Darsie swiftly.  "Let's crack nuts!"
+
+Positively she left one breathless!  One moment poised on imaginary
+flights, weaving stories from the baldest materials, drawing allegories
+of the lives of her friends, the next--an irresponsible wisp, with no
+thought in the world but the moment's frolic; but whatever might be the
+fancy of the moment she drew her companions after her with the magnetism
+of a born leader.
+
+In the twinkling of an eye the scene was changed, the Vernons with their
+peculiarities were consigned to the limbo of forgotten things, while
+boys and girls squatted on the rug scrambling for nuts out of a paper
+bag, and cracking them with their teeth with monkey-like agility.
+
+"How many can you crack at a time?  Bet you I can crack more than you!"
+cried Darsie loudly.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+THE TELEGRAPH STATION.
+
+The Garnetts' house stood at the corner of Sandon Terrace, and possessed
+at once the advantages and drawbacks of its position.  The advantages
+were represented by three bay windows, belonging severally to the
+drawing-room, mother's bedroom, and the play-room on the third floor.
+The bay windows at either end of the Terrace bestowed an architectural
+finish to its flattened length, and from within allowed of extended
+views up and down the street.  The drawback lay in the position of the
+front door, which stood round the corner in a side street, on which
+abutted the gardens of the houses of its more aristocratic neighbour,
+Napier Terrace.  Once, in a moment of unbridled temper, Vie Vernon had
+alluded to the Garnett residence as being located "at our back door,"
+and though she had speedily repented, and apologised, even with tears,
+the sting remained.
+
+Apart from the point of inferiority, however, the position had its
+charm.  From the eerie of the top landing window one could get a bird's-
+eye view of the Napier Terrace gardens with their miniature grass plots,
+their smutty flower-beds, and the dividing walls with their clothing of
+blackened ivy.  Some people were ambitious, and lavished unrequited
+affection on struggling rose-trees in a centre bed, others contented
+themselves with a blaze of homely nasturtiums; others, again, abandoned
+the effort after beauty, hoisted wooden poles, and on Monday mornings
+floated the week's washing unashamed.  In Number Two the tenant kept
+pigeons; Number Four owned a real Persian cat, who basked majestic on
+the top of the wall, scorning his tortoiseshell neighbours.
+
+When the lamps were lit, it was possible also to obtain glimpses into
+the dining-rooms of the two end houses, if the maids were not in too
+great a hurry to draw down the blinds.  A newly married couple had
+recently come to live in the corner house--a couple who wore evening
+clothes every night, and dined in incredible splendour at half-past
+seven.  It was thrilling to behold them seated at opposite sides of the
+gay little table, all a-sparkle with glass and silver, to watch course
+after course being handed round, the final dallying over dessert.
+
+On one never-to-be-forgotten occasion, suddenly and without the
+slightest warning, bride and bridegroom had leaped from their seats and
+begun chasing each other wildly round the table.  She flew, he flew; he
+dodged, she screamed (one could _see_ her scream!) dodged again, and
+flew wildly in an opposite direction.  The chase continued for several
+breathless moments, then, to the desolation of the beholders, swept out
+of sight into the fastnesses of the front hall.
+
+Never--no, never--could the bitterness of that disappointment be
+outlived.  To have been shut out from beholding the _denouement_--it was
+_too_ piteous!  In vain Darsie expended herself on flights of
+imagination, in vain rendered in detail the conversation which had led
+up to the thrilling chase--the provocation, the threat, the defiance--
+nothing but the reality could have satisfied the thirst of curiosity of
+the beholders.  Would he kiss her?  Would he beat her?  Would she
+triumph?  Would she cry?  Was it a frolic, or a fight?  Would the morrow
+find them smiling and happy as of yore, or driving off in separate cabs
+to take refuge in the bosoms of their separate families?  Darsie opined
+that all would _seem_ the same on the surface, but darkly hinted at the
+little rift within the lute, and somehow after that night the glamour
+seemed to have departed from this honeymoon pair, and the fair seeming
+was regarded with suspicion.
+
+As regards the matter of distance, it took an easy two minutes to cover
+the space between the front doors of the two houses, and there seemed an
+endless number of reasons why the members of the different families
+should fly round to consult each other a dozen times a day.  Darsie and
+Lavender, Vie and plain Hannah attended the same High School; the
+Garnett boys and John Vernon the same Royal Institute, but the fact that
+they walked to and from school together, and spent the intervening hours
+in the same class-rooms, by no means mitigated the necessity of meeting
+again during luncheon and tea hours.  In holiday times the necessity
+naturally increased, and bells pealed incessantly in response to tugs
+from youthful hands.
+
+Then came the time of the great servants' strike.  That bell was a
+perfect nuisance; ring, ring, ring the whole day long.  Something else
+to do than run about to open the door for a pack of children!
+
+The two mistresses, thus coerced, issued a fiat.  Once a day, and no
+oftener!  All arrangements for the afternoon to be made in the morning
+_seance_, the rendezvous to be _outside_, not _inside_ the house.
+
+After this came on the age of signals; whistlings outside the windows,
+rattling of the railings, comes through letter-boxes and ventilation
+grids, even--on occasions of special deafness--pebbles thrown against
+the panes!  A broken window, and a succession of whoops making the air
+hideous during the progress of an extra special tea party, evoked the
+displeasure of the mistresses in turns, and a second verdict went forth
+against signals in all forms, whereupon the Garnetts and Vernons in
+conclave deplored the hard-heartedness of grown-ups, and set their wits
+to work to evolve a fresh means of communication.
+
+"S'pose," said Russell, snoring thoughtfully, "s'pose we had a
+telegraph!"
+
+"S'pose we had an airship!  One's just as easy as the other.  Don't be a
+juggins."
+
+But Russell snored on unperturbed.
+
+"I don't mean a _real_ telegraph, only a sort--of _pretend_!  There's
+our side window, and your back windows.  If we could run a line across."
+
+"A line of _what_?"
+
+"String.  Wire.  Anything we like."
+
+"S'pose we _did_ fix it, what then?"
+
+"Send messages!"
+
+"How?"
+
+Russell pondered deeply.  He was the member of the family who had a
+natural aptitude for mechanism; the one who mended toys, and on occasion
+was even consulted about mother's sewing-machine and escapes of gas,
+therefore he filled the place of engineer-royal and was expected to take
+all structural difficulties upon his own shoulders.  He pondered,
+blinking his pale blue eyes.
+
+"Can't send messages in the usual way--too difficult.  If the cord were
+double, we might have a bag and switch it across."
+
+Ha! the audience pricked its ears and sat alert, seeing in imagination
+the tiny cord swung high in space above the dividing ground, stretching
+from window to window, fastened securely on the sills, "somehow,"
+according to the girls, the boys critically debating the question of
+ways and means, strong iron hoops, for choice, clamped into the
+framework of the windows.
+
+"How would the messages be sent?"
+
+"In a bag, of course.  Put the letter in the bag; then we'd pull and
+pull, and it would work round and round, till it arrived at the opposite
+end."
+
+A stealthy exchange of glances testified to the general realisation of
+the fact that it would take a _long_ time to pull, a much longer time,
+for instance, than to run round by the road, and deposit the missive in
+the letter-box, a still unforbidden means of communication.  Every one
+realised the fact, but every one scorned to put it into words.  What was
+a mere matter of time, compared with the glory and _eclat_ of owning a
+real live telegraph of one's own?
+
+The first stage of the proceedings was to obtain the parental consent,
+and this was secured with an ease and celerity which was positively
+disconcerting.  When mothers said, "Oh, yes, dears, certainly--certainly
+you may try!" with a smile in their eyes, a twist on their lips, and a
+barely concealed incredulity oozing out of every pore, it put the
+youngsters on their mettle to succeed, or perish in the attempt.  The
+mothers obviously congratulated themselves on a project which would
+provide innocent amusement for holiday afternoons, while they inwardly
+derided the idea of permanent success.
+
+"We'll show 'em!" cried Harry darkly.  "We'll let 'em see!"
+
+The next point was to decide on the window in each house which should
+act as telegraph station.  In the case of the Vernons there was
+obviously no alternative, for the third-floor landing window possessed
+qualifications far in excess of any other, but with the Garnetts two
+rival factions fought a wordy combat in favour of the boys' room and the
+little eerie inhabited by Lavender, each of which occupied equally good
+sites.
+
+"Stick to it!  Stick to it!" were Harry's instructions to his younger
+brother.  "They can't put the thing up without us, so they're bound to
+come round in the end, and if we've got the telegraph station, it will
+give us the whip hand over them for ever.  It's our room, and they've
+jolly well got to behave if they want to come in.  If they turn rusty,
+we'll lock the door, and they'll have to be civil, or do without the
+telegraph.  Let 'em talk till they're tired, and then they'll give in,
+and we'll go out and buy the cord."
+
+And in the end the girls succumbed as predicted.  Lavender's pride in
+owning the site of the great enterprise weakened before the tragic
+picture drawn for her warning, in which she saw herself roused from
+slumber at unearthly hours of the night, leaning out of an opened window
+to draw a frozen cord through bleeding hands.  She decided that on the
+whole it would be more agreeable to lie snugly in bed and receive the
+messages from the boys over a warm and leisurely breakfast.
+
+These two great points arranged, nothing now remained but the erection
+of the line itself, and two strong iron hoops having been fixed into the
+outer sills of the respective windows a fine Saturday afternoon
+witnessed the first struggle with the cord.
+
+Vie Vernon and plain Hannah unrolled one heavy skein, threaded it
+through their own hoop, and lowered the two ends into the garden, where
+John stood at attention ready to throw them over the wall.  Darsie and
+Lavender dropped their ends straight into the street, and then chased
+madly downstairs to join the boys and witness the junction of the lines.
+Each line being long enough in itself to accomplish the double journey,
+the plan was to pull the connected string into the Garnett station, cut
+off the superfluous length, and tie the ends taut and firm.  Nothing
+could have seemed easier in theory, but in practice unexpected
+difficulties presented themselves.  The side street was as a rule
+singularly free from traffic, but with the usual perversity of fate,
+every tradesman's cart in the neighbourhood seemed bent on exercising
+its horse up and down its length this Saturday afternoon.  No sooner
+were lines knotted together in the middle of the road than the
+greengrocer came prancing round the corner, and they must needs be
+hastily untied; secured a second time, the milkman appeared on
+incredibly early rounds, reined his steed on its haunches, and scowled
+fiercely around; before there was time to rally from his attack a
+procession of coal-carts came trundling heavily past.  By this time also
+the frantic efforts of the two families had attracted the attention of
+their enemies, a body of boys, scathingly designated "the Cads," who
+inhabited the smaller streets around and waged an incessant war against
+"the Softs," as they in return nicknamed their more luxurious
+neighbours.
+
+The Cads rushed to the scene with hoots and howls of derision; white-
+capped heads peered over bedroom blinds; even the tortoiseshell cats
+stalked over the dividing walls to discover the cause of the unusual
+excitement.  Clemence, with the sensitiveness of seventeen years,
+hurried round the corner, and walked hastily in an opposite direction,
+striving to look as if she had no connection with the scrimmage in the
+side street.  Darsie read the Cads a lecture on nobility of conduct,
+which they received with further hoots and sneers.  Plain Hannah planked
+herself squarely before the scene of action with intent to act as a
+bulwark from the attack of the enemy.  The three boys worked with
+feverish energy, dreading the appearance of their parents and an edict
+to cease operations forthwith.
+
+The first lull in the traffic was seized upon to secure the knots, when
+presto! the line began to move, as Russell the nimble-minded hauled
+vigorously from the upstairs station, whence he had been dispatched a
+few moments before.  The Cads yelled and booed as the first glimmering
+knowledge of what was on foot penetrated their brains; they grouped
+together and consulted as to means of frustration; but with every moment
+that passed yards of line were disappearing from view, and the skeins in
+the streets were rapidly diminishing in size.  Presently there was not a
+single coil left, and a cheer of delight burst from the onlookers as
+they watched the cord rise slowly off the ground.  Now with good luck
+and the absence of vehicles for another two minutes the deed would be
+done, and the Garnett-Vernon telegraph an accomplished fact; but alas!
+at this all-important moment one line of string caught in an ivy stem at
+the top of a garden wall, and refused to be dislodged by tuggings and
+pullings from below.  The Cads raised a derisive cheer, and to add to
+the annoyances of the moment a cab rounded the corner, the driver of
+which pulled up in scandalised amaze on finding the road barricaded by
+two stout lines of string.
+
+His strictures were strong and to the point, and though he finally
+consented to drive over the hastily lowered line, he departed shaking
+his whip in an ominous manner, and murmuring darkly concerning police.
+
+"On to the wall, John.  Quick!  Climb up and ease it over.  If we don't
+get it up in a jiffy we shall have the bobbies after us!" cried Harry
+frantically, whereupon John doubled back into his own garden, and by
+perilous graspings of ivy trunks and projecting bricks scaled to the top
+and eased the line from its grip.
+
+"Right-ho!" he cried, lifting his face to the opposite window.  "Pull,
+Russell! _pull_ for your life!"
+
+Russell pulled; a second time the double thread rose in the air.  Darsie
+jumped with excitement; Lavender clasped her hands, all white and tense
+with suspense, plain Hannah ran to and fro, emitting short, staccato
+croaks of delight; Harry stood in manly calm, arms akimbo, a beam of
+satisfaction broadening his face.  That smile, alas! gave the last touch
+of exasperation to the watching Cads.  To stand still and behold the
+line vanishing into space had been in itself an ordeal, but Harry's
+lordly air, his strut, his smile--these were beyond their endurance!
+With a rallying shout of battle they plunged forward, grabbed at the
+ascending cord, hung for a dizzy moment suspended on its length, then
+with a final cheer felt it snap in twain and drag limply along the
+ground.
+
+Alas for Harry and for John--what could they do, two men alone, against
+a dozen?  The girls screamed, declaimed, vowed shrill revenge, but in
+the matter of practical force were worse than useless.  Even with
+Russell's aid the forces were hopelessly uneven.  Harry stood looking on
+gloomily while the Cads, chortling with triumph, galloped down the road,
+trailing behind them the long lengths of cord; then, like a true
+Englishman, being half-beaten, he set his teeth and vowed to conquer, or
+to die.
+
+"They think we're sold, but they'll find their mistake!  We'll get up at
+five on Monday morning and have the thing in working trig before they
+have opened their silly eyes."
+
+This programme being duly enacted, the telegraph stations remained for
+years as an outward and visible sign of the only piece of work which
+Harry Garnett was ever known to accomplish before the hour of his
+belated breakfast.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+AUNT MARIA.
+
+Among the crowd of relations near and far most families possess one
+relation _par excellence_, who stands out from all the rest by reason
+either of generosity, aggravatingness, or strength of character.
+Sometimes this relation is an uncle; more often it is an aunt; almost
+invariably he or she is unmarried or widowed, because the single state
+naturally allows more time and energy for interests beyond the personal
+household.
+
+The Garnetts' relation _par excellence_ was Aunt Maria--_Lady_ Maria as
+they erroneously called her, being unsophisticated in the niceties of
+the peerage.  Her rightful cognomen was Lady Hayes, and she was the
+elderly, very elderly, widow of an estimable gentleman who had been
+created a Baronet in recognition of services rendered to his political
+party.  The Garnetts felt that it was very stylish to possess an aunt
+with a title, and introduced her name with an air when the Vernons grew
+superior on the subject of "the grounds."  Lady Hayes was an eccentric
+individual who inhabited a beautiful old country house in the Midlands,
+from which base she was given to suddenly swooping down upon her
+relations, choosing by preference for these visits the times when
+carpets had been sent away to be cleaned, or the maids granted days off
+to visit relations in the country.  Then Lady Hayes would appear,
+announce her intention of staying a couple of nights, declare her
+unwillingness to give the slightest trouble, and proceed to request that
+her maid should be accommodated with a room next to her own, and that
+they should both be supplied with a vegetarian diet, supplemented by
+glasses of sterilised milk at intervals of every two hours.  Sometimes
+the vegetarianism gave place to a diet of minced beef, but whatever
+might be the diet of the moment it was invariably something which no one
+else wanted to eat, and which took about three times as long to prepare
+as the entire rations for the household dinner of ten.
+
+It was at the close of the Midsummer term, when the Garnett family were
+blissfully preparing for the yearly migration to the sea, that a letter
+from Aunt Maria fell like a bombshell upon the peaceful scene.  This
+year the holiday promised to be even more blissful than usual, for the
+Vernons had secured a second farmhouse, not ten minutes' walk from their
+own, and connected with the sea by the same fascinating field-paths.  A
+farm and the sea!  Could there possibly exist a more fascinating
+combination?  The young people sniffed in advance the two dear,
+distinctive odours which, more than anything else, presented the scenes
+before them--the soft, cowy-milky scent of the farm, the salt, sharp
+whiff of the brine.  From morn till night, at every available moment,
+they discussed the day's programme--feeding animals, calling the cows,
+bathing, picnicking on the sands, crab-hunting, mountain climbing.
+Excitement grew until it really seemed impossible to exist through the
+intervening days, and then the bombshell fell!  A letter arrived by an
+evening post, when Mr and Mrs Garnett were enjoying the one
+undisturbed hour of the day.  It bore the Hayes crest, and was written
+in Aunt Maria's small, crabbed handwriting--
+
+"My dear Emily,--
+
+"I propose, all being well, to pay you a short visit from Tuesday to
+Thursday next, twelfth to fifteenth instant.  Please let me have the
+same rooms as on my last visit.  I am at present living on Benger's
+food, and must ask you to see that it is made freshly for each meal, in
+a _perfectly clean, enamelled saucepan_.
+
+"The chief object of my visit is to bring back one of your three
+daughters to stay with me during the summer vacation.  I have been
+feeling somewhat lonely of late, and my doctor recommends young society,
+so it has occurred to me that in obeying his instructions I might at the
+same time afford pleasure and benefit to one of your family.  Should I
+become interested in the child it might be to her advantage hereafter,
+but it must be understood that I can make no promises on this point.
+
+"The eighteen months which have elapsed since my last visit have
+somewhat dimmed my remembrance of your girls, so that I must see them
+again before deciding as to which of the three I should prefer as a
+companion.
+
+"With love to William and yourself,--
+
+"Believe me, my dear Emily,--
+
+"Your affectionate Aunt,--
+
+"Maria Hayes."
+
+Mrs Garnett read this communication in silence, handed it to her
+husband, and watched him flush and frown over the perusal.
+
+"Does not even go through the form of asking our consent!"
+
+"No!  That's Aunt Maria all over.  You could hardly imagine that she
+would.  Oh dear!  Oh dear!  I'm afraid, Will--I'm _afraid_ she will have
+to go!"
+
+"Poor little kiddie, yes!  How she will hate it!  Just at this moment
+when they are all wild with joy at the thought of their holiday with the
+Vernons.  It seems positively brutal!"
+
+"Oh, it does.  I am so sorry for her--whichever it may be--but one must
+sometimes be cruel to be kind.  We can't afford--I am not mercenary, as
+you know--but with our means we _can't_ afford to refuse any possible
+advantage for our girls!  The sacrifice of a summer holiday ought not to
+weigh against that."
+
+"No, you're right, quite right.  So be it then.  Write and tell her to
+come, only I tell you plainly my holiday's spoiled...  With Darsie
+gone--"
+
+"Dear! she has not chosen yet."
+
+"Dear! you know perfectly well--"
+
+They looked at each other, smiling, rueful, half-ashamed.  It seemed
+like treason to the other girls, this mutual acknowledgment that Darsie
+was the flower of the flock, the child of the six to whom all strangers
+were attracted as by a magnet.  Clarence and Lavender were equally as
+dear to the parents' hearts, but there was no denying the existence of a
+special and individual pride in the fascinations of Darsie.
+
+Mr Garnett turned aside with an impatient shrug.
+
+"There's one thing, Emily, _you_ must tell her when it is settled!
+There'll be a tremendous scene.  I flatly refuse--"
+
+"Very well, dear, very well; I'll do it.  But it's not decided yet,
+remember, and one can never be sure.  I'd better break the idea to the
+girls before Aunt Maria comes, and let them get over the first
+excitement.  To-night would be a good opportunity.  You will be out
+late, so would be spared the scene!"
+
+"Bless you, Emily!  I'm a coward, I know, but I _should_ be grateful.  I
+can't answer for what I should do if Darsie cried, and begged my
+protection.  Women have twice the pluck of men in these affairs!"
+
+Nevertheless it was with a quaking heart that Mrs Garnett broached the
+object of Aunt Maria's proposition over the schoolroom tea that
+afternoon, and her nervousness was not decreased by the smilingly
+unperturbed manner in which it was received.  Never, never for a moment
+did it appear possible to the three girls that such a proposition could
+be seriously discussed.
+
+"_So_ likely!" sneered Clemence with a fine disdain.  "Give up all the
+fun and excitement of the sea with the Vernons, to _browse_ with Aunt
+Maria.  _So_ likely, to be sure!"
+
+"Poor dear old love!  She _is_ deluded.  Thinks it would be a pleasure
+and benefit, does she.  I wouldn't take a thousand pounds--"
+
+Thus Lavender.  Darsie went a step farther in tragic declamation.
+
+"I'd drown myself first!  To sit there--panting, in hot rooms, on
+Benger's food, and know that all the others were bathing and running
+wild on the shore--I'd burst!  I'd run away in an hour--"
+
+"Dears, it's a beautiful old place.  There are gardens, and lawns, and
+horses, and dogs.  Cows, too!  I am sure there are cows--she used to
+keep a herd of Jerseys.  You could see them being milked."
+
+"Welsh cows are good enough for me.  I don't need Jerseys.  _Or_ lawns!
+Give me the free, untrammelled countryside!
+
+"`And to see it reflected in eyes that I love.'"
+
+Darsie paraphrased a line of the sweet old ballad, singing it in a
+clear, bell-like voice to a pantomime of clasped hands and rolling eyes.
+"It would be bad enough in an ordinary year, but to rend us apart from
+the Vernons--oh, no, it's unthinkable!"
+
+"You have the Vernons near you all the year, dear.  Aunt Maria only asks
+for eight weeks.  There are occasions in life when it does not do to
+think only of our own pleasure."
+
+Silence.  A note in the mother's voice had startled her hearers into the
+conviction that the invitation must be regarded seriously, and not
+tossed aside as a joke.  A lacerating suspicion that the authorities
+were in favour of an acceptance pierced like a dart.
+
+"Mother!  What do you mean?  You couldn't _possibly_ be so cruel--"
+
+"Mother, you don't mean--."
+
+"Mother, what _do_ you mean?"
+
+"I mean that you ought to go, dears, which ever one of you is asked.
+Aunt Maria is an old lady, and she is lonely.  Her doctor has ordered
+cheerful companionship.  Moreover, she has been a kind friend to father
+in the past, and has a right to expect some consideration in return.  If
+you went in the right spirit, you could be of real use and comfort, and
+would have the satisfaction of doing a kind deed."
+
+Darsie set her lips in a straight line, and tilted her chin in the air.
+
+"Couldn't pretend to go in the right spirit!  I'd be in a tearing rage.
+Somebody else can have the `satisfaction,' and I'll go to the sea."
+
+"Darsie, dear, that's naughty!"
+
+"I _feel_ naughty, mother.  `Naughty' is a mild word.  _Savage_!  I feel
+savage.  It's too appalling.  What does father say?  I'm sure he would
+never--"
+
+"Father feels as I do; very disappointed for our own sakes and for yours
+that our happy party should be disturbed, but he never shirks a
+disagreeable duty himself, and he expects his children to follow his
+example."
+
+Lavender instantly burst into tears.
+
+"It's always the way--always the way!  It was too good to be true.  We
+might have known that it was.  She'll choose me, and Hannah will go
+without me.  We'd planned every day--fishing, and bathing, and making
+hay, and I shall be mewed up in a close carriage, and have meals of
+nuts--and n-n-nobody to talk to.  Oh, I can't--I can't bear it!  I wish
+I could die and be buried--I _cannot_ bear it--"
+
+"You won't have to bear it.  She'll choose me.  I'm the eldest, and the
+most of a companion."  Clemence spoke with the calmness of despair, her
+plump cheeks whitening visibly, her pale eyes showing a flush of red
+around the lids.  "Of course, if it's my duty, I must go--but I'd as
+soon be sent to prison!  I'm feeling _very_ tired, and thought the
+holiday would set me up.  Now, of course, I shall be worse.  Eight weeks
+alone with Aunt Maria would try anybody's nerves.  I shall be a wreck
+all winter, and have neuralgia till I'm nearly mad."
+
+"Nonsense, darling!  If you are so tired, the rest and quiet of The
+Towers will be just what you need; and as we don't know yet which one of
+you Aunt Maria will wish as a companion, it is a pity for you all to
+make yourselves miserable at once.  Why not try to forget, and hope for
+the best!  Surely that would be the wiser plan."
+
+The three girls looked at each other in eloquent silence.  Easy to talk.
+Forget, indeed.  As if they _could_!  Mother didn't really believe what
+she said.  She was making the best of it, and there were occasions when
+making the best of it seemed just the most aggravating thing one could
+do.
+
+It was a relief to the girls when Mrs Garnett was summoned from the
+room on household business, and they were left to themselves.  A craving
+for sympathy was the predominant sensation, and prompted the suggestion,
+"Let's wire to the Vernons," which was followed by a stampede upstairs.
+The telegraph was a sufficiently new institution to appear a pleasure
+rather than a toil, even though a message thus dispatched was an
+infinitely longer and more laborious effort than a run round the
+terrace, so to-day a leaf was torn from the note-book, a dramatic
+announcement penned and placed in the hanging-bag, with its jingling
+bell of warning, and the three girls took it in turns to pull at the
+cord till the missive arrived at its destination.  Attracted by the
+sound of the bell, Vie and plain Hannah stood at the window awaiting the
+communication, read over its contents, and stood silent and dismayed.
+The Garnetts, watching from afar, realised the dramatic nature of that
+pause, and thrilled in sympathy.
+
+"_One of us is going to be sent to prison instead of to the country_!"
+
+"_Prison_!"  Vie and plain Hannah wagged their heads over the cipher,
+hesitated long, pencil in hand, and, finally, in a frenzy of impatience,
+which refused to be curbed even by loyalty to the telegraph itself,
+dispatched an urgent summons to speech--
+
+"_Come round and talk_!"
+
+The Garnetts flew.  The Vernons, waiting upon the doorstep, escorted
+them upstairs to the scantily furnished room which had first been a
+nursery, then promoted to playroom, and, ultimately, when the more
+juvenile name wounded the susceptibilities of its inmates, had become
+definitely and proudly "the study."  The bureau in the corner was Dan's
+special property, and might not be touched by so much as a finger-tip.
+The oak table with three sound legs and a halting fourth, supported by
+an ancient volume of _Good Words_, was Vie's property; John and plain
+Hannah shared the dining-table, covered with the shabby green baize
+cloth, which stood in the centre of the room.  There were a variety of
+uncomfortable chairs, an ink-splashed drugget, and red walls covered
+with pictures which had been banished from other rooms as they acquired
+the requisite stage of decrepitude and grime.
+
+The five girls surged into the room, faced each other, and burst into
+eager speech--
+
+"_Who's_ going to prison?"
+
+"We don't know.  Wish we did!"
+
+"What do you mean by prison?"
+
+"Aunt Maria's!"
+
+"Lady Maria's?"
+
+"Lady Maria's!  One of us has to go and stay with her for eight weeks
+instead of going with you to the sea."
+
+Vie Vernon collapsed on to the nearest chair, and gasped for breath.
+"Stu-pendous!" she murmured beneath her breath.  Vie had a new word each
+season which she used to describe every situation, good and bad.  The
+season before it had been "Weird!" this season it was "Stupendous," and
+she was thankful for the extra syllable in this moment of emotion.
+"It's really true?  You mean it in earnest?  _Why_?"
+
+"Thinks it would be a pleasure to us, and that we should be cheery
+companions.  _So_ likely, isn't it?"
+
+"But--but surely your mother-- What does she say?"
+
+"Preaches!  Oughtn't to think of ourselves.  Ought to show a right
+spirit and go."
+
+"Stu-pendous!" cried Vie once again.  Plain Hannah hoisted herself on to
+the corner of the table, and hunched herself in thought.  She really was
+extraordinarily plain.  Looking at her critically, it seemed that
+everything that should have been a line had turned into a curve, and
+everything that should have been a curve into a line; she was thick-set,
+clumsy, awkward in gait, her eyes were small, her mouth was large, she
+had a meagre wisp of putty-coloured hair, and preposterously thick
+eyebrows several shades darker in hue, and no eyelashes at all.  Friends
+and relations lavished much pity on poor dear Hannah's unfortunate
+looks, but never a sigh did Hannah breathe for herself.  She was strong
+and healthy, her sturdy limbs stood her in good stead in the various
+games and sports in which she delighted, and she would not have
+exchanged her prowess therein for all the pink cheeks and golden locks
+in the world.  Hannah's manner, like her appearance, lacked grace and
+charm; it was abrupt, forceful, and to the point.  She spoke now, chin
+sunk in her grey flannel blouse, arms wrapped round her knees--
+
+"Is she coming to see you before she chooses, or will it be done by
+post?"
+
+"She's coming!  Two days next week.  Isn't it too awful?  We were so
+happy--the telegraph up, and the weather jolly, and holidays nearly
+here.  `All unsuspecting of their doom the little victims played.'  And
+then--_this_!  Holidays with Aunt Maria!  Even the third of a chance
+turns me cold with dismay.  I couldn't bear--"
+
+"You won't need to.  She won't have you.  She'll choose Darsie."
+
+Darsie squealed in shrillest protest--
+
+"No, no!  It's not fair.  She won't!  She can't!  It's always the eldest
+or the youngest.  I'm the middle--the insignificant middle.  Why should
+she choose me?"
+
+"You are not so modest as a rule!  You know perfectly well that
+strangers always _do_ take more notice of you than any one else.  You
+are always the one who is fussed over and praised."
+
+"Because I want to be!  This time I shan't.  I'll be just as sulky and
+horrid as I can for the whole blessed time."
+
+"You'll be there anyway, and you can't alter your face."
+
+"My fatal beauty!" wailed Darsie, and wrung her hands in impassioned
+fashion.  Then she looked critically from one sister to another, and
+proceeded to candid criticisms of their charms.
+
+"Clemence is not pretty, but she's _nice_!  If she did her hair better,
+and sat up, and had a colour, and didn't poke her chin, she'd look quite
+decent.  I should think it would be interesting to take some one who
+_needed_ improving, and see what you could do.  Lavender's gawky, of
+course, girls _are_ gawky at her age, but I shouldn't wonder if she grew
+quite decent-looking in time.  Rest and quiet would do wonders!"
+
+"Thank you, indeed!  You _are_ kind!"  The sisters bridled and tossed
+their heads, by no means appeased by such prognostications of their
+future charms.  "Certainly if she took _you_, she might teach you to be
+modest!"
+
+"Oh, dear, oh, dear, I don't want _any_ of you to go!"  Vie, the
+peacemaker, rushed to the rescue.  She was just sixteen, younger than
+Clemence, older than Darsie, attached almost equally to the two.
+Lavender, of course, was quite too young for a companion, but then
+Lavender and Hannah paired together; if she were absent, Hannah at a
+loose end would demand entrance into those three-sided conferences which
+made the joy of life.  The fear of such an incursion made Lavender at
+that moment seem even more precious than her sisters.  Vie continued her
+lament with bitter emphasis--
+
+"_Too_ bad--_too_ hard--stupendous!  Spoil everything.  Horrid
+interfering old thing!  If I were your parents I wouldn't--not for all
+the money in the world, I wouldn't sacrifice a child to an old ogre like
+that!  I'd keep my own children and let them be happy while they could,
+but, of course, if she talks of duty...!  If there's one thing more
+stupendous than another it's being put on one's honour!  It gives one
+_no_ chance.  Well, you'll have to go, I suppose, and our holiday is
+spoiled.  I've never been so disappointed in my life."
+
+"Think of how _we_ feel!" croaked Clemence tragically, but this time the
+tragedy did not ring so true, for since plain Hannah's verdict her
+spirits had risen considerably.  Hannah was the shrewdest and cleverest
+of all five girls, and her prophecies were proverbially correct.
+Clemence felt sufficiently reassured to reflect that as the eldest in
+years, she would do well to show an example of resignation.  She
+lengthened her face, and added solemnly--
+
+"I don't think you ought to talk like that about honour, Vie!  It ought
+to be an incentive.  If I go, the only thing that will console me most
+is the feeling that I am doing my duty!"
+
+Vie stared, and the younger girls coughed in derisive chorus.
+
+"Isn't it easy to be resigned for somebody else?" demanded plain Hannah
+of the ceiling.  "You are _not_ going, my dear, and you know it.  Darsie
+likes well enough to queen it as a rule, and now she's got to pay the
+price.  That's the cost of good looks.  Thank goodness no one will ever
+want to run off with _me_!--not even a staid old aunt.  Tell us about
+your aunt, by the way--you've talked enough about yourselves.  Where
+does she live, and what is she like, and what does she do, and what will
+_you_ do when you're there?  Have any of you ever seen the place?"
+
+"Not since we were old enough to remember, but mother has been and told
+us all about it.  It's big, with a lodge, two lodges, and a park all
+round, very rich, and grand, and respectable, and dull.  There are men-
+servants to wait at table, and the windows are never open, and she
+drives out every day in a closed carriage, and plays patience at night,
+and wears two wigs, turn about, a week at a time.  Her cheeks are red,
+the sort of red that is made up of little red lines, and never gets
+brighter or darker, and she likes to be quiet and avoid excitement.  Oh,
+imagine what it would be like to _choose_ to be quiet, and deliberately
+run away from a fuss!  Can you imagine if you lived a thousand years
+ever reaching such a pitch as that?"
+
+Darsie held out both hands in dramatic appeal, and her hearers groaned
+with unction.  It was impossible, absolutely beyond the power of
+imagination to picture such a plight.  Each girl hugged to herself the
+conviction that with her at least would remain immortal youth; that
+happen what might to the rest of mankind, no length of years could numb
+her own splendid vitality and _joie de vivre_.
+
+Not even, and at the thought the three Garnetts sighed in concert, not
+even Aunt Maria!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+A DOUBLE PICNIC.
+
+Only four days before Aunt Maria arrived to make her great decision!
+The Garnetts were living in what Darsie graphically described as "the
+hush before the storm," adored, condoned, and indulged by parents who
+saw before them the pangs of separation, and by brothers shrewdly
+expectant of parting spoils.
+
+Clemence, Darsie, and Lavender were acutely conscious of the rarified
+atmosphere by which they were surrounded, and only regretted its
+necessarily limited duration.
+
+"Let's take advantage of it!" cried Darsie, the diplomat.  "It's our
+chance; we should be noodles if we let it slip.  Anything we ask now
+they'll let us have.  It's like prisoners who can order what they like
+for supper the night before they're hanged.  Let's think what we'd like,
+and go in a body and petition mother.  She won't have the heart to
+refuse!"
+
+The sisters agreed enthusiastically, but were not rich in suggestions.
+It is one of the curious things in life that whereas every day one is
+brought up sharply against a dozen longings and ambitions, without the
+fulfilment of which it seems impossible to live, yet if the sudden
+question be put, "_What would you have_?" instantly the brain becomes a
+blank, and not a single suggestion is forthcoming.  The Garnetts stared
+at one another in labouring silence.  It was too late for parties; too
+early for pantomimes, a definite gift, failed to meet the case, since
+each girl thought with a pang, "What's the use?  I might not be here to
+enjoy it!"  Extra indulgences, such as sitting up at night, or being
+"let off" early morning practising, did not appear sufficiently
+important, since, with a little scheming, these might be gained in
+addition.  It was Lavender who at last succeeded in hitting the popular
+taste.
+
+"A picnic!  A real whole-day one this time.  Lunch in the woods at
+Earley, tea in our old woman's cottage, walk over the fields to the
+amphitheatre, and home by train from Oxholm.  Whoever goes with Aunt
+Maria will be cheated of her holiday, for the well-behaved country
+doesn't count.  If you have to wear gloves and walk properly, you might
+as well be in town at once.  For the victim's sake we ought to have one
+more day in the woods!"
+
+Clemence and Darsie sparkled, for the programme was an opulent one,
+combining as it did the two ordinary picnics into one.  The yearly
+programme was that--"if you are good"--the Garnett family should be
+taken for two half-day excursions into the country on two summer
+Saturday afternoons, but though the woods and the amphitheatre were only
+separated by three short miles, never yet had the two places been
+visited together.  An all-day picnic seemed a regal entertainment,
+worthy of the unique occasion.
+
+"Ourselves and the Vernons!  Mrs Vernon to talk to mother, then they
+won't have as much time to look after us.  When they begin on carpets
+and curtains they forget everything else, and we can do as we like.  Do
+you suppose Dan would come?"
+
+"Sure he wouldn't."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"My dear!"
+
+Clemence held out eloquent hands.  "Does he ever come?  He's a man, soon
+going to college, and you are only `kids.'  I'm older than he is really;
+a woman is always older than a man, but he doesn't like me.  We are not
+_en rapport_."  Clemence tried hard to suppress a smirk of self-
+consciousness at the use of the French term, while the two younger
+sisters jeered and booed with the callous brutality of their kind.
+
+"Ha, ha! aren't we fine?  Roll your r's a little more next time, my
+dear.  It will sound miles better.  Your accent leaves much to be
+desired.  Aren't we grown-up to-day?  Aunt Maria _would_ be impressed!
+A little stay in Paris just to put on the accent, and it's wonderful to
+think of what you might do!  _En rapport_!  Bet you daren't say that to
+Dan!  Dare you to tell him that you are not _en rapport_!"
+
+Clemence was seized with agitation, discerning through the innocent
+words a thinly veiled threat.  If she didn't, Darsie _would_!
+
+"Darsie!" she cried loudly.  "You mustn't tell; you must _not_!  It's
+mean.  Only sneaky children repeat what is said in private.  Promise
+this minute that you won't say a word!"
+
+But Darsie, like her brothers, was keenly alive to the privilege of
+holding a rod in pickle over an elder member of the family.  So long as
+Clemence lived in fear of humiliating disclosure, so long might she
+herself walk in safety, free from rebuffs.  She laid her head on one
+side and smiled sweetly into her sister's face.
+
+"I shouldn't like exactly, positively, to _promise_, don't you know, for
+I _am_ such a creature of impulse.  If it rushed over me suddenly, it
+might pop out, don't you know, bang! before I knew what I was about!  Of
+course, on the other hand, I _might_ not--"
+
+"Very well," snapped Clemence sharply, "then I stay at home!  It would
+be no fun for _me_ to go for a picnic with that sort of thing hanging
+over my head all the time.  I know very well how you'd behave--rolling
+your eyes across the table, and beginning half-sentences, and
+introducing `_en rapport_' every other moment.  If I'm going to be made
+miserable, I'll be miserable at home.  You can go to our last picnic as
+an undivided family without me, the eldest of the family, and I only
+hope you'll enjoy it; that's all!"
+
+"Oh, Darsie!" pleaded Lavender tragically, moved almost to tears by the
+pathos of those last words, and Darsie shrugged her shoulders,
+philosophically accepting her defeat.
+
+"All right, I promise!  I'll hug the remembrance secretly in my own
+breast.  It will cheer me through the dullest hours!"
+
+Clemence bridled, but made no further protest.  To think of Darsie
+chuckling in secret was not agreeable, but it was as nothing compared
+with the humiliation of meeting Dan's grave stare, and seeing the curl
+of his lip at the repetition of her high-sounding phrase.  As the
+quickest way of changing the conversation she suggested an adjournment
+to the morning-room, where mother sat busy over the eternal mending-
+basket, to broach the picnic project without delay.
+
+Mother agreed instantly, eagerly, indeed, so that there was something
+almost uncanny in the unusualness of the situation.  To every demand,
+every suggestion came the unfailing, "Yes, darlings!  Certainly,
+darlings!"  Even the audacity of the double programme aroused no more
+notice than the remark that it was an admirable idea.  Darsie, striking
+while the iron was hot, went a step farther and attacked the subject of
+lunch.
+
+"Could we--for once--have something substantialler than sandwiches?
+Chickens?"  She gasped at the audacity of the request, for chickens were
+a state dish, reserved for occasions, and in summer for some inscrutable
+reasons just because they were smaller cost more than ever.  "Chickens
+cut up are so easy to eat.  We needn't have knives and forks.  And
+little cobby dinner-rolls from the confectioner's, with crisp, browny
+crust, cut open and stuffed with butter and potted meat, and little
+green pieces of lettuce.  They had them that way at supper at the
+Masons' party, and they were superb!  And cakes and fruit!  Do, mother,
+let us have a real swagger lunch just for once!"
+
+And mother said, "Yes, darling!" like a lamb, swallowing as it were
+spring chickens and cobby rolls at a gulp.  It was impossible in giving
+the invitation to the Vernons to refrain from a hint at the magnificence
+of the preparations, though good manners would, of course, have prompted
+silence on such a point.
+
+The Vernons accepted with acclamation, all except Dan, who rudely
+declared that he "refused with pleasure," when Darsie bearded him in his
+den and proffered the invitation.  He was seated at his desk, for the
+moment the only occupant of the workroom, and his manner was not
+expressive of welcome to the new-comer.  He was a big, heavily built
+youth, with a face which was oddly attractive despite irregular features
+and a dull complexion.  Dark eyes looked at you straight and square
+beneath bushy eyebrows; thin lips curved into the oddest, most
+expressive of lines, the square chin had a fashion of projecting until
+it seemed to become one of the most eloquent features in his face.
+
+Close observation showed that there was a shadow of his upper lip, and
+rumour had it that he shaved, actually _shaved_ every morning of his
+life.  His huge hands had a grip of steel, but it was wonderful how deft
+and gentle they could be on occasion.  Every album and collection in the
+house was labelled by Dan, indexed by Dan, embellished with ornamental
+flourishes and headlines, which Dan's big fingers alone had the power to
+produce.  Now he leaned an elbow on the desk, turned round on his chair,
+and tilted that eloquent chin in scorn.
+
+"Picnic?  Not much.  Hate 'em like poison!  You don't want me!"
+
+"We _do_ want you!  We shouldn't have asked you if we didn't.  Don't be
+unsociable, Dan.  It's an extra special occasion, and it would be so
+much jollier to be complete.  The boys will behave better if you're
+there."
+
+Dan's chin tilted still an inch higher.  That was of course, but--
+
+"I hate a family crowd!" he pronounced tersely.  "If there were only one
+or two, it wouldn't be so bad.  Usual programme, I suppose--pick flowers
+and eat biscuits?  Not much in my line--thank you all the same.  Hope
+you'll have a good time!"
+
+"We're going to have a _real_ lunch--chickens and all sorts of good
+things, and walk to Oxholm across the fields.  It will be much more
+exciting than the old picnics have been."
+
+"It might easily be that!  No, thank you, I'm off.  Some other day--"
+
+"But we want you, Dan!  _I_ want you to come."
+
+"But _I_ don't, you see.  There's the difference.  Sorry to disoblige."
+
+Darsie regarded him silently, considered the point whether wrath or
+pathos would be the most powerful weapon, decided rapidly in favour of
+pathos, and sank with a sigh on to an opposite chair.
+
+"Very well.  I _quite_ understand.  We wanted you especially because
+this may be the last, the very last time that one of us girls has any
+fun this summer, so of course it feels important.  But you are so much
+older--it's natural that you shouldn't care.  I think you've been very
+nice to be as much with us as you have been...  Dan!"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Hannah says it will be _me_!  That Aunt Maria is sure to choose me when
+she comes.  Do you think she will?"
+
+"Ten to one, I should say."
+
+"Oh, but why?  _Why_?  How can you be so sure?"
+
+Dan's dark eyes surveyed the alert little head, poised on the stem of
+the graceful throat, his thin lips lengthened in the long, straight line
+which showed that he was trying not to smile.
+
+"Because--er, you appear to me the sort of girl that an erratic old
+fossil would naturally prefer!"
+
+"Ah-h!"--Darsie's dejection was deep--"Daniel, how cruel!"  It was a
+comforting retaliation to address her tormentor by the name he so
+cordially disliked, but she remembered her role, and looked dejected
+rather than irate.  "I suppose that's true.  I _need_ discipline, and
+she would naturally choose the worst of the three.  No one wants to be
+disciplined instead of having a good time, but it may be good for me in
+the end.  All the time you are at sea, happy and free, I shall be being
+disciplined for my good...  Wednesday may be my last, my very last, glad
+day..."
+
+"Bah!  Rubbish!" snapped Dan, but he looked at the curly head, and felt
+a pang of distaste.  The idea of Darsie Garnett sobered and disciplined
+out of recognition was distinctly unpleasant.  He wriggled in his chair,
+and said tentatively: "It will take more than one old lady to tame
+_you_, young woman!  You'll have lots of fun yet--perhaps more than if
+you'd stayed at home."
+
+Darsie smiled with angelic resignation.
+
+"Perhaps so, but it won't be the same _kind_ of fun.  New friends can
+never be like old.  If she chooses me, I must go, because of my duty to
+father and the rest, but it's going to _hurt_!  I feel,"--she waved her
+arms dramatically in the air--"like a flower that is being torn out by
+the roots!  I shall not live long in a strange soil...  Well, goodbye,
+Dan; I won't bother you any more!  Thank you very much for all you've
+done for me in the past."
+
+Done!  Dan searched his memory, found therein inscribed a number of
+snubs, rebuffs, and teasings, but nothing worthy of the thanks so
+sweetly offered.
+
+He felt a stirring of reproach.  Darsie was a decent kid--an amusing
+kid; if she went away she would leave behind her a decided blank.
+Looking back over the years, Darsie seemed to have played the leading
+part in the historic exploits of the family.  She was growing into quite
+a big kid now.  He glanced at her again quickly, furtively, and drummed
+with his fingers on the desk--hardly a kid at all, almost grown up!
+
+"Oh, that's all right; don't worry about that," he mumbled vaguely.
+"What a grandiloquent kid you are!  I hope you'll have a better time
+than you think, if you do go to visit your aunt."
+
+"Thanks so much; I hope I may; and if at any time--_any_ time--I can do
+anything to help you, or give you the least--the _very_ least--pleasure,
+please let me know, Dan!  I can understand now how one feels when one
+leaves home and faces the world!" said Darsie poignantly.  "G-goodbye!"
+
+"Bye," said Dan coolly.  He leaned back in his chair, still thudding
+with his fingers on the desk.  Darsie had reached the door and held it
+open in her hands before he spoke again.  "What time did you say that
+blessed old picnic is to start?"
+
+"Wednesday.  Ten o'clock," said Darsie, and, like a true daughter of
+Eve, spoke not one more word, but shut the door and left him to his
+thoughts.
+
+"Dan's coming!  You're not to say a word till the time, but he _is_!"
+she announced to her sisters that evening; but when they questioned and
+cross-questioned concerning the means whereby the miracle had been
+wrought, she steadfastly refused to satisfy their curiosity.  That was
+not their concern.  An inherent loyalty to Dan forbade that she should
+make public the wiles by which he had been beguiled.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+LEFT BEHIND!
+
+Wednesday dawned bright and fair; it had not seemed possible that it
+could be wet, and the party of twelve, with their baskets and hampers,
+drove economically and gaily to the ferry in a three-horse omnibus, so
+ostentatiously treating it as their own vehicle that the few alien
+passengers sat abashed, and plainly felt themselves _de trop_.  Darsie's
+prophecy had been fulfilled, for Dan appeared at the starting-point,
+somewhat grim and sulky of demeanour, but obviously on picnic bent.  He
+was the only member of the party whose hands were free of basket or
+bundle, and when the omnibus trundled into sight he walked forward to
+meet it and swung himself up to a place on top as though anxious to
+convince beholders that he had no connection with the noisy crowd at the
+corner, whereupon the two mothers smiled at each other in amused
+reminiscent fashion.
+
+The girls were dressed in white; the boys wore flannel trousers with
+school blazers and caps.  Clemence had put on a veil to protect her
+complexion; plain Hannah's sailor hat left yards of forehead bleakly
+exposed.  Darsie wore her little Kodak swung across her shoulder in
+jaunty military fashion.  She invariably carried a camera on such
+occasions, and never by any chance used it to take any photographs; the
+programme was so unalterable that it had ceased to attract any attention
+among her companions.
+
+The omnibus conveyed the party to the ferry, from whence an hourly boat
+puffed several miles up the river to where the village of Earley stood
+on the opposite bank.  It was an ancient and by no means luxurious
+barque, impregnated from bow to stern with a hot, oily, funnelly smell
+from which it was impossible to escape, and as travellers to Earley were
+almost invariably on pleasure bent, the usual satellites were in
+attendance.  There was an old man in a long coat who had played the same
+ballads on the same old concertina with the same incredibly dirty
+fingers for as long as memory could recall; there was an old woman with
+a clean apron and a tray of gingerbread biscuits slung pendant from her
+shoulders, who presented them to you for three a penny, and exclaimed,
+"Bless yer little 'art!" when you paid for them yourself, because mother
+said it was a pity to spoil your lunch.  Deary me! one _would_ have to
+be old to have one's appetite--and a picnic appetite at that!--spoiled
+by three gingerbread biscuits!  The sail to Earley would have been shorn
+of one of its chief joys without these sticky sweets.  The absence of
+the clean, smiling old woman would have been resented as a positive
+crime.
+
+The ferry at Earley was an old-fashioned affair, sloping over the muddy
+shore to a little white pay-house with a clanky turnpike on either side.
+Once past these turnpikes, the visitor found himself in the midst of
+things with delightful suddenness.  A wide green stretch of grass lay
+along the river bank, bordered by shady trees.  To the right stood a
+stone hotel with gardens of brilliant flower-beds, and an array of
+white-covered tables dotted down the length of the veranda.  Grand and
+luxurious visitors took their meals in the hotel, but such a possibility
+of splendour had never dawned upon the minds of the Garnetts or their
+friends--as well might a wayfarer in Hyde Park think of asking for a cup
+of tea at Buckingham Palace!  To-day a young girl stood in the porch of
+the hotel and gazed at the procession as it passed.  She was arrayed in
+a white serge coat and skirt, and wore a white sailor hat with a blue
+band.  "Exactly like yours!" said Lavender easily, but Clemence shook
+her head in sad denial.  _Her_ coat and skirt had been bought ready-made
+at a sale, was an inch too short in the waist, and cockled at the seams;
+her hat was last year's shape, while the girl in the porch had
+just--_the_--very--latest and most perfect specimen of both.
+
+"Horrid thing, lunching in hotels in clothes like that!  Some people
+have all the luck!" said Clemence grudgingly, as she moved the heavy
+basket from one hand to the other to screen it from the gaze of the
+aristocratic eyes; and the girl in the porch spied it all the same, and
+sighed to herself wistfully: "They are going picnicking--all those boys
+and girls!  Oh, how lovely to be them.  How I _wish_ I were a big
+family..." after the manner of the ungrateful people of this world, who
+are so much occupied in envying the possessions of others that they have
+no time left in which to be thankful for their own!
+
+The woods lay not a hundred yards from the ferry itself--real, natural,
+untrammelled woods, with grand old trunks standing up tall and straight
+like the columns of a cathedral, and dear old gnarled roots which ran
+along the ground, covered with lichens and soft green moss.  To young
+people who spent their lives in one red-brick terrace looking out on
+another red-brick terrace across the road, it was like a voyage into
+fairyland to step within the cool, green shadow of the woods, to smell
+the sweet, sharp smell of the earth, and watch the dapplings of sunlight
+through the leaves overhead.  Even the boys succumbed to the spell, and
+for the first half-hour asked nothing better than to roll about on the
+grass, poke in the roots of trees, and speculate concerning rabbit-holes
+and nests; but the half-hour over, one and all were convinced that
+watches were wrong and they were right in deciding that it was beyond
+all manner of doubt full time for lunch; so the cloth was spread on a
+level piece of turf, and the good things were consumed with the
+lingering enjoyment which they deserved.
+
+Every one felt that, as lunch marked what was perhaps the most enjoyable
+epoch of the whole day, it was his or her bounden duty to eat slowly and
+to go on demanding helpings so long as the supply endured; and a certain
+feeling of blankness descended when there was no longer any excuse for
+lingering, inasmuch as nothing remained to be eaten but a dozen jam
+puffs, which, as mother said, had been _meant_ to be very nice, but had
+somehow failed to achieve success!  The paste, hard enough on top, was
+inside of a damp and doughy consistence, and cook had used gooseberry
+jam for the filling, thereby taking a mean advantage of absence from
+home, when she _knew_ that the family detested gooseberry in tarts, and
+steadily plumped for apricot instead.
+
+"We'll give them to the little boy at the ferry.  _He_ won't be so
+particular!"  Mrs Garnett said as she laid the rejected dainties on one
+side and proceeded to pack the oddments which had been required for the
+meal in one small basket, placing layers of paper in those left empty.
+The young people looked at each other with raised eyebrows as they
+watched these proceedings, the meaning of which they knew only too well.
+It was forbidden to gather roots from the woods, but no authority had
+dreamt of forbidding visitors to carry away _soil_, and this was just
+what Mrs Garnett invariably insisted upon doing.  The red-brown earth,
+rich with sweet fragments of leaf and twig, was too tempting to be
+resisted when she thought of her poor pot-bound plants at home;
+therefore, instead of swinging homewards with baskets light as air, the
+boys were doomed to bear even heavier weights than on the outward
+journey.
+
+"Mother!" cried Clemence in a deep tone of protest.  "Not _yet_!
+Remember the walk across the fields.  Plenty of time to get soil in the
+Amphitheatre!"  And Mrs Garnett put down her trowel with quite a guilty
+air and resigned herself to wait.
+
+"Well!  Perhaps it would be best ...  Mrs Vernon and I would like an
+hour's rest before going on.  What are _you_ going to do now?"
+
+Every one waited for every one else, and no suggestion was forthcoming.
+The boys were once more beginning to roll about on the grass, poking and
+pulling at each other in a manner which foretold the beginning of war.
+Clemence and Vie were gazing sentimentally through the branches.  Plain
+Hannah, stretched flat along the ground, was barricading the movements
+of a tiny beetle, and chuckling over its persistent efforts to outwit
+her schemes.  Dan sat with arms clasped around his knees, a picture of
+patience on a monument.  The sight of his twisted lips, his tilted,
+disconsolate chin fired Darsie to action.  It was her doing that he was
+here at all; it was her duty to make the time pass as agreeably as
+possible.
+
+"Sports!" she cried quickly.  "Competitive sports.  We'll each plan an
+event, and take them in turns.  Dan shall be judge, and the one who gets
+most marks shall have a prize."
+
+"What prize?"
+
+That was a stumper.  Darsie could suggest nothing better than a general
+subscription.
+
+"If we each paid a penny entrance--"
+
+"Oh, be bothered the pennies!  I'll give a prize!" cried Dan loftily.
+Darsie saw with joy that he had brisked up at the prospect of sports and
+was already beginning to cast his eye around in professional manner,
+taking in the lie of the land, the outstanding features of the position.
+As judge and manager he was in his element, and each suggestion of an
+event was altered and amended with a lordly superiority.  It is somewhat
+difficult to introduce much variety into a programme of impromptu
+sports, but one or two of this afternoon's events had the advantage of
+novelty.  A flower-gathering race, for instance, the object of which was
+to see how many varieties of wild flowers each competitor could gather
+in a given time, and a Roman water-carrier event, which consisted in
+balancing the hot-water jug on one's head and seeing how far one could
+walk without spilling its tepid contents over neck and shoulders.  Plain
+Hannah was the only one of the girls who took part in this event, and to
+her joy succeeded in travelling a longer distance than any of the male
+competitors.  The final and most elaborate event was the obstacle race,
+without which no competition of the kind is ever considered complete,
+and the united wits of the company were put to work to devise traps for
+their own undoing.  Harry discovered two small trees whose trunks grew
+so close together that it seemed impossible that any human creature
+could squeeze between, and insisted upon it being done as a _sine qua
+non_.  Russell decreed that competitors should travel over a certain
+route without touching the ground, swinging themselves from branch to
+branch like so many monkeys, and as girls were plainly disqualified for
+this feat an alternative test was invented which should score equally to
+their credit.  Hopping races, races complicated by arithmetical and
+other such baffling problems, were also devised, and at the last moment
+Darsie came forward with a thrilling novelty.
+
+"Run to the hamper, turn round three times, seize a jam puff, eat it in
+two bites, and hop back to the goal!"
+
+"Good!" cried the judge approvingly, and after that the competitors
+might storm and lament as they would; the event was fixed!
+
+The two mothers had retired from the scene of the fray and with backs
+resting against two friendly trees were peacefully discoursing on
+household trials; there was no one to preach concerning indigestion, and
+the perils of rapid eating; hot and gasping from their previous trials,
+the competitors ran, twirled, hopped and gobbled, and finally subsided
+in paroxysms of laughter on the mossy bank.  The sports were over; the
+prize had fallen to Russell, as every one had known from the start that
+it must inevitably do; he sat snoring with pride, waving aside Dan's
+inquiries as to the nature of his prize in a gentlemanly manner worthy
+of his reputation, until the two mothers, becoming conscious that the
+afternoon was passing away, rose heavily from their seats and announced
+that it was time to start on the second half of the day's expedition.
+
+The three-mile walk lay for three parts of the way through fields, which
+to the town-livers afforded a refreshing change from noisy and dusty
+streets, and when the little village was reached, "our old woman's
+cottage" was found to be as clean and neat and hospitably attractive as
+of yore.  It was a tiny whitewashed cottage standing back from the lane
+in a garden bright with old-fashioned flowers, and the stone-floored
+kitchen boasted an old oak dresser and table which were the envy of all
+beholders.
+
+"They're always after it!" our old woman would announce, chuckling.
+"Titled gentry I've had, driving up in their own carriage, a-coaxing and
+wheedling so as never was.  `_No_,' I says, `they was my mother's afore
+me, and her mother's afore that, and it's a poor tale if I can't have
+the pleasure of them while _I_ live!  If it's waluable to you, it's
+waluable to me, too.  That's only common sense...'  And what's your
+fancy today, lovies? boiled eggs and buttered toast, same as afore?"
+
+Boiled eggs and buttered toast it was, despite the protests of the
+mothers, who thought that really, after such a lunch--!  And after tea
+our old woman provided buttonholes for each member of the party, and
+hobbled to the gate to see them off, assuring them, as was her yearly
+custom, that "the gamekeepers was getting very crusty of late, but you
+leave the roots alone and nobody can't say nothing about a few bits of
+flowers."  That yearly threat of the gamekeeper lent a _soupcon_ of
+excitement to the scramble over the sloping woods, which surrounded as
+an amphitheatre a deep green meadow through which meandered a tiny
+stream.
+
+At any moment, as it appeared, a stalwart figure in velveteen bearing a
+gun over his shoulder might appear round the trunk of a tree, demanding
+your licence or your life.  It was interesting to discuss exactly what
+you would do or say under the circumstances, and the very worst thing in
+punishments which could possibly be your fate!
+
+To-day, however, no such interruption took place, and the dear old
+playground looked, if possible, more beautiful than ever.  The ground
+was carpeted with buttercups, and when one stood on the top of the steep
+banks and looked down on the green and the gold, and caught glimpses of
+the blue sky beyond--well, it was as near an approach to fairyland as
+one could hope to find within twenty miles of a big manufacturing town.
+
+Mrs Garnett packed her basket full of the soft, loamy soil; the girls
+roamed up and down making up bouquets of wild roses, honeysuckle, and
+fragrant meadowsweet; the boys were blissfully happy, risking life and
+limb in an exciting endeavour to travel from top to bottom of the bank
+without once touching grass.  An occasional tree-trunk was permitted as
+a foothold, otherwise you swung yourself from one branch to another, or
+took flying leaps into space, and trusted to fate to catch hold of
+something before you fell.
+
+Russell's hairbreadth escapes would have terrified his mother had she
+been there to see, but the boys were wise in their generation and had
+quietly worked their way round to the opposite bank before beginning
+their experiments.  It took a considerable time to call them back and
+rally forces in time to catch the eight o'clock train, and it was a
+dishevelled and by no means aristocratic-looking party which climbed
+over the high stone stile leading into the high-road.
+
+It seemed hard luck that this last mile, when every one was feeling
+tired and a trifle flat, should have to be traversed along a dusty,
+uninteresting road, and the straggly line grew even farther and farther
+apart as the distance to the station decreased.  Dan led the way,
+walking in the middle of the road, his head flung back with the old
+proud air of detachment.  The two mothers plodded steadily in the rear.
+Russell, scratched and dusty, and looking more like a street arab than a
+youth renowned for gentlemanly demeanour, scuffled in the gutter,
+kicking up the gathered dust which enveloped him as in a cloud; Harry
+and John bore the big hamper slung on a stick, the ends of which they
+frequently released for the purpose of straightening their backs and
+rubbing their tired hands.  Plain Hannah limped on the sideway, being
+afflicted with corns which, as she expressed it, always "came on" at the
+end of a day's pleasuring.  Vie and Clemence, arm-in-arm, were deep in
+sentimental conclave.  Darsie, the last of the line, hung back of intent
+until a curve in the road hid the others from sight.  A shadow of
+melancholy had descended upon her spirit during the last hour; that fear
+of "the last time" which at times makes cowards of us all, was strong
+upon her; the possibility of separation suddenly became a terror which
+gripped her breath and left her faint and weak.
+
+Mother--Father--Home!  The dear delights of the sea.  Could she--could
+she _bear_ to give them up?  Darsie whimpered miserably, and stopped
+short in the middle of the road to pull out her handkerchief, and wipe a
+threatening tear.  She really did not think she could, and yet every one
+seemed to take it for granted that Aunt Maria's choice would fall upon
+herself.  Was there nothing, nothing that she could do to lessen the
+probability?  Nothing to make herself look ugly, unattractive, unsuited
+for the post of lady's companion?
+
+A stranger walking along the high-road at this moment would have been
+amused to see a pretty, disconsolate-looking young girl deliberately
+twisting her features into one grimace after another, and critically
+examining the effect in the back of a small silver watch.  Every new
+grimace necessitated a pause for inspection, so that the distance
+between Darsie and her companions increased more and more, until on
+turning the next corner of the winding road she was surprised to find no
+one in sight--surprised and a trifle startled, for the early dusk was
+already casting its shadow over the landscape, and the solitude of a
+country road has in it something eerie to a lifelong dweller in towns.
+Darsie forgot her grimaces and set off at a trot to make up lost ground,
+and even as she ran a sound came from afar which quickened the trot into
+a run--the scream of an engine! the engine of the approaching train
+which was to bear the picnickers back to town.
+
+The next turn of the road showed that the rest of the party had taken
+alarm also, for the flying figures of Vie and Clemence could be seen
+disappearing in the distance, evidently following hastily after those in
+front.
+
+"They'll catch it--they'll rush down the steps just as it's going to
+start, bundle in anyhow, into different carriages--never miss me--go
+off, never know I'm not there till they get out!"  These thoughts rushed
+through Darsie's head as she ran gaspingly along the dusty road.  It was
+imperative that she must catch up to her friends--to be left behind,
+without a penny in her pocket to buy a ticket, would be too awful for
+words.  The shriek of the engine had given place to a repeated snort
+which was momentarily growing slower and less pronounced; the train was
+slackening speed before drawing up at the platform.
+
+Faster!  Faster!  One rush to reach the goal!  Darsie set her teeth and
+put on a last desperate spurt, caught her foot on an outstanding stone
+of the roadway, and fell heavily to the ground.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+DAN TO THE RESCUE.
+
+There were no bones broken; she was not seriously hurt; but one has to
+try for oneself the experiment of running at full tilt, and while so
+doing to pitch forward at full length on the ground, to realise how
+extremely disagreeable and disconcerting it can be.  Darsie dragged
+herself slowly to a sitting position, and sat dazed and stupefied, a
+forlorn, dust-encrusted figure, with hat tilted rakishly on one side,
+and the palm of her right hand scratched to bleeding where it had
+dragged along the stony ground.  She blinked and stared, and
+mechanically brushed at her blackened skirts, but it was several moments
+before remembrance of her position returned to her brain, and with it
+the realisation of the consequences of delay.  She scrambled to her
+feet, ran forward for a few paces, and stopped short with a sharp groan
+of pain.  She had bruised her knees as well as her hand, and the rapid
+movement was quite startlingly painful; she fell into a limp, straining
+her head upwards to peep over the hedgerow at the road beyond.  And
+then, clear and distinct after the interval of silence, came another
+sharp whistle, another laborious puff, puff, puff.
+
+The train was leaving the station, and she was left behind!
+
+Darsie stopped short, and leaned against the hedge.  There was no longer
+any need to hurry.  Either her absence had been discovered or it had
+not, and a few minutes' time would settle that question once for all.
+It soothed her to pretend that there was a chance that she might find
+some one waiting her arrival on the platform, but at the bottom of her
+heart she had little hope of such a possibility.  As members of a large
+family whose parents were not rich enough to pay for the modern plethora
+of nurses and governesses, the Garnetts and Vernons had been brought up
+to be independent, and to fend for themselves, hence the two mothers
+would not be so anxious to count the number of their brood, to see that
+each member was safe and sound, as would have been the parents of
+smaller, more indulged families.
+
+There would be a rush for tickets, a hurried glance around on emerging
+from the office, the signal of waving hands, and bobbing heads from half
+a dozen windows, a quick leap into the nearest seats, and off they would
+all steam, panting and puffing, congratulating themselves on their
+escape.
+
+No, Darsie told herself, it was stupid to pretend; certainly, quite
+certainly she was left behind; nevertheless, when two or three minutes
+later she reached the top of the railway bridge and peered over the
+stone wall, it was with quite a big pang of dismay that she beheld the
+empty platform.  Not a soul!  Not a single soul except a cross-looking
+porter sitting astride a barrow, with his hands thrust into his trousers
+pockets.
+
+Anything less promising in the shape of a forlorn hope it would be
+difficult to imagine, but the circumstances offered no alternative.
+Darsie took her courage in both hands and marched boldly towards him.
+
+"Please will you tell me the time of the next train from town?"
+
+The porter rolled his eye sideways, surveyed her up and down, formed an
+evidently poor opinion, and without a change of position muttered a curt
+reply--
+
+"Ten-thirty."
+
+"Ten-thirty!"  Dismay at the lateness of the hour struggled with wounded
+pride at the man's lack of respect.  Half-past ten before any one could
+come to the rescue; three long hours of chill and darkness, with no one
+to speak to, and nowhere to go!  Darsie threw the thought aside with the
+impetuous incredulity of youth.
+
+"When's the next train to town?"
+
+"Nine-ten."
+
+That was better!  Nine-ten.  If she could manage to travel by that train
+she would arrive at the terminus in abundance of time to prevent any one
+starting by the next stopping train.  It was all easy--perfectly easy,
+except for the want of a miserable eightpence, but, alas! for the moment
+eightpence seemed as inaccessible as eighty pounds.  Darsie bent a
+scrutinising glance upon the porter's downcast face.  "He looks about as
+disagreeable as he can be, but he's a human creature; he must have
+_some_ heart!  Perhaps he's in trouble, too, and it's soured his
+disposition.  It would mine!  I just _hate_ it when things go wrong.  I
+don't in the least see why I shouldn't have a ticket on account!  I'll
+see what I can do."
+
+She coughed and ventured tentatively--
+
+"I missed the last train."
+
+"Did ye!" said the porter coldly.  It was not a question; there was no
+flicker of the interest of a question in his voice, only a dreary
+indifference which seemed to demand what in the world you were thinking
+of to trouble him about a stupidity which had happened twenty times a
+day throughout twenty years of his service on the line.  Darsie drew
+herself up with a feeling of affront.  He was a rude, ill-mannered man,
+who ought to be taught how to speak to ladies in distress.  She would
+ask her father to complain to the railway!
+
+What were porters paid for but to make themselves useful to passengers?
+She drew herself up in haughty fashion, then as suddenly collapsed as
+her eye rested on her dusty boots and blackened, bloodstained skirt.
+Ridiculous to act the grand lady with such handicaps as these!  She drew
+a sharp breath, and said in a voice of childlike appeal--
+
+"I'm left behind!  My friends have gone on.  It's very awkward!"
+
+"Are ye?" asked the porter indifferently.  He took one hand out of his
+pocket and pointed woodenly to the right.  "Waiting-room first door.  Ye
+can sit there!"
+
+Of all the callous, cold-blooded--!  Darsie turned with a swing and
+marched forward into the bleak little cell which had the audacity to
+call itself a first-class waiting-room, seated herself on a leather-
+covered bench which seemed just the most inhospitable thing in the way
+of furniture which the mind of man could conceive, and gave herself up
+to thought.  Never, never so long as she lived would she ever again
+leave home without some money in her pocket!  How in the name of all
+that was mysterious could she contrive to possess herself of eightpence
+within the next hour?  "Our old woman" would lend it with pleasure, but
+Darsie shrank from the idea of the darkening country road with the dread
+of the town-dweller who in imagination sees a tramp lurking behind every
+bush.  No, this first and most obvious suggestion must be put on one
+side, and even if she could have humbled herself to beg from the porter,
+Darsie felt an absolute conviction that he would refuse.  At the farther
+side of the station there stretched a small straggling village.  Surely
+somehow in that village--!  With a sudden inspiration Darsie leaped to
+her feet and approached the porter once more.  Into her mind had darted
+the remembrance of the manner in which poor people in books possessed
+themselves of money in critical moments of their history.
+
+"Porter, will you please tell me the way to the nearest pawnshop?"
+
+"P-p--!"  Now, indeed, if she had wished to rouse the porter to
+animation, she had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams!  He spun round,
+and gaped at her with a stupefaction of surprise.  "Pawnshop, did ye
+say?  P-awn!  What do _you_ want with a pawnshop, a slip of a girl like
+you?"
+
+"That's my business!" returned Darsie loftily.  Since he had been so
+unsympathetic and rude, she was certainly not going to satisfy his
+curiosity.  Her dear little watch would provide her with money, and
+somehow--she didn't understand why--pawnbrokers gave things back after
+paying for them, in the most amiable and engaging of fashions.
+
+"That's my business!  If you would kindly direct me--"
+
+"We haven't got no pawnshop," said the porter gruffly.  He stared at her
+slowly up and down, down and up, appeared to awake to a suspicious
+interest, and opined gruffly, "You'd better go 'ome!"
+
+"Just what I'm trying to do," sighed poor Darsie to herself.  She turned
+and went slowly back to her leather seat, and a second disconsolate
+review of the situation.  In time to come this experience would rank as
+an adventure, and became an oft-told tale.  She would chill her
+listeners with hints of The Tramp, evoke shrieks of laughter at her
+imitation of the porter.  Darsie realised the fact, but for the moment
+it left her cold.  Summer evenings have a trick of turning chill and
+damp after the sun is set, and the vault-like waiting-room was dreary
+enough to damp the highest spirits.  _How was she going to obtain that
+eightpence for a ticket_?
+
+The station clock struck nine; the porter took a turn along the platform
+and peered curiously through the dusty window; a luggage train rattled
+slowly past, an express whizzed by with thunderous din.  The station
+clock struck the quarter, and still the problem was as far as ever from
+solution.
+
+"Well," sighed Darsie miserably, "I must just wait.  I'm perished with
+cold already.  In two more hours I shall be frozen.  Rheumatic fever, I
+suppose, or galloping decline.  It will settle Aunt Maria, that's _one_
+good thing! but it's hard all the same, in the flower of my youth!  To
+think of all that a human creature can suffer for the sake of a
+miserable eightpence!"
+
+She got up stiffly and pressed her face against the pane.  People were
+beginning to assemble for the nine-ten.  An old man with a satchel of
+tools, two old women with baskets.  "The poor are always generous to the
+poor.  Suppose I ask them?  Twopence three farthings each would not kill
+them!"  But when one is not used to begging, it is extraordinary how
+difficult it is to begin.  Darsie tried to think of the words in which
+she would proffer her request, and blushed in discomfort.  No! she
+_could_ not.  Of the two disagreeables it really seemed easier to shiver
+two hours, and retain one's pride intact, and then, suddenly, the door
+of the waiting-room opened with a bang, and Dan's heavy figure stood on
+the threshold!  The cry of delight, of breathless incredulity with which
+Darsie leaped to her feet, must have been heard to the end of the
+platform.  She rushed forward, clutched his arm, and hugged it fast in
+the rapture of relief.
+
+"Oh, Dan--you angel--you angel!  Have you dropped down straight from the
+skies?"
+
+"Not I!  Nothing so easy.  Scorched along bad roads on a rickety
+machine.  Would you be kind enough to let go my arm and stop shrieking!
+You'll have the whole village here in a moment.  So _you're_ all right,
+I see!  Sitting quietly here, after scaring us half out of our wits--"
+
+"I think _I'm_ the one to be scared!  You were all ready enough to go
+on, and leave me stranded by myself.  I've gone through a martyrdom.
+Dan! tell me, when did you miss me first?"
+
+Dan gave an expressive grimace.  He looked hot and dusty, and thankful
+to sit down on the leather bench.
+
+"Well, it was too much of a scrimmage to think of anything for the first
+few miles, but things have a way of printing themselves on one's brain,
+and when I _did_ begin to think, there seemed something missing!  I
+remembered Vie's face--the colour of a beetroot, and Clemence limping in
+the rear.  I remembered John and Russell hauling up Hannah by her arms,
+and the two mothers were safely in their carriage--I'd made sure of
+that, but--I couldn't remember a thing about _you_!  Then I asked Vie,
+and she said you were a long way behind, and I began to guess what had
+happened.  At the first stop I did a rush round, and--there you weren't!
+So of course I came back."
+
+"But how--how?  There was no train.  Did you cycle?  Where did you get
+your machine?"
+
+"Borrowed him from the stationmaster, and left my watch in exchange, in
+case I never went back.  Jolly good exchange for him, too.  It's the
+worst machine I ever rode, and that's saying a good deal.  I told your
+mother I'd bring you back all right, and persuaded her to go home.  What
+on earth possessed you to be such a muff?"
+
+Darsie tossed her head, gratitude giving place to wounded pride.
+
+"Muff, indeed!  You don't know what you are talking about, or you
+wouldn't be so unkind.  I ran like the rest, but I fell--caught my foot
+on something, and fell on my face.  I believe I fainted."  There was an
+irrepressible note of pride in her voice as she made this last
+statement, for fainting, being unknown in the healthy Garnett family,
+was regarded as a most interesting and aristocratic accomplishment.  "I
+do believe I fainted, for for several minutes I didn't know where I was.
+And I hurt myself, too; look at my hand!"
+
+Dan looked and whistled.
+
+"Skinned it properly, haven't you!  Reminds me of the days of my youth.
+Better sponge it clean with your handkerchief and some of that water.
+And when you _did_ remember, the train had gone--."
+
+"Yes--and not another until after ten, and not a halfpenny in my pocket
+to buy a ticket, and no one but a callous wretch of a porter to consult.
+Oh, Dan, I _was_ wretched--I'll bless you all my life for coming back
+like this!"
+
+"Rot!" said Dan briskly.  "I was the only man.  Couldn't do anything
+else.  I say, you know, it was your doing that I came to this blessed
+old picnic at all, and you _have_ let me in for a day!  Eleven to eleven
+before we've done with it--twelve solid hours!  I've had about as much
+picnic as I want for the rest of my natural life."
+
+"I'm sorry.  I thought it would be so nice.  I'm sorry I bothered you,
+Dan."  Darsie was tired and cold, in a condition of physical depression
+which made her peculiarly sensitive to a slighting mood.  She leaned her
+head against the ugly wall, and shut her lids over her smarting eyes.
+Her cheeks were white.  Her lips quivered like a wearied child's, but
+she made a charming picture all the same, her inherent picturesqueness
+showing itself even in this moment of collapse.
+
+Dan's gaze grew first sympathetic, then thoughtful, as he looked.  In a
+dim, abstract way he had been conscious that Darsie Garnett was what he
+would have described as "a pretty kid," but the charm of her personality
+had never appealed to him until this moment.  Now, as he looked at the
+dark eyelashes resting on the white cheek, the droop of the curved red
+lips, the long, slim throat that seemed to-night almost too frail to
+support the golden head, a feeling of tenderness stirred at his heart.
+She was such a tiny scrap of a thing, and she had been tired and
+frightened.  What a brute he was to be so gruff and ungracious!  "Buck
+up, Darsie!  Only ten minutes more to wait.  I'll get you a cup of
+coffee when we arrive.  Your mother said we were to take a cab, so all
+the worry's over and nothing but luxury ahead."
+
+But Darsie, quick to note the soothing effect of her prostration,
+refused to "buck up," and looked only more worn and pathetic than
+before.  The opportunity of lording it over Dan was too precious to be
+neglected, so she blinked at him with languid eyes, and said faintly--
+
+"I'll try, but I'm so _very_ tired!  Do you think you could talk to me,
+Dan, and amuse me a little bit?  That would pass the time.  Tell me
+about yourself, and all you are going to do when you go up to
+Cambridge."
+
+And to his own astonishment Dan found himself responding to her request.
+His was one of the silent, reserved natures which find it difficult to
+speak of the subjects which lie nearest to the heart, but even silent
+people have their moments of expansion, and when once Dan had broken the
+ice, he found it unexpectedly easy to talk, with Darsie's big eyes fixed
+on his in eloquent understanding.  She was a capital little listener;
+never interrupted at the wrong moment, indulged in senseless
+ejaculations, or fidgety, irritating movement.  Nothing about her moved,
+hardly even the blue eyes, so fixed and absorbed was their gaze, while
+Dan spoke in low, rapid tones of the course of work which lay ahead, of
+the ambitions and dreams which were to crown his efforts.  He must take
+first-class honours at Cambridge; nothing less than first-class honours
+would do--honours so distinguished that he would have no difficulty in
+obtaining a good post as schoolmaster to tide him over the next few
+years.  "Teaching's the thing for me--for it leaves four months over for
+my own work, the real work of my life--scientific study and research!
+That's the only thing worth living for from my point of view, and I
+shall plump for that.  I don't care for money, I don't want to marry,
+I'd be content to make enough to keep body and soul together, if I could
+only help on the cause of humanity.  I am not going up to Cambridge for
+two years.  I can do better grinding quietly at home, and the governor
+doesn't mind.  In fact, he is just as well pleased to think I shall have
+more time to run when Hannah goes up to Newnham."
+
+Darsie drew her breath sharply.
+
+"Oh, Dan! how fortunate you are--how fortunate Hannah is, to be able to
+do as you like!  I would give my ears to go up to Newnham, too, but
+father says it's impossible.  He can't afford it with the boys'
+education getting more expensive every year.  I shall have to stay at
+home, and turn into a miserable morning governess, teaching wretched
+little kids to read, and taking them for a walk round the park.  Oh, oh!
+it makes me _ill_ to think about it."
+
+Dan laughed shortly.
+
+"Excuse me! it makes you well.  You look quite like yourself again.
+I'll give you a bit of advice if you like: don't believe that anything's
+impossible in this world, because it isn't!  Put the nursery governess
+idea out of your mind, and fire ahead for Newnham.  There's always the
+chance of a scholarship, and even if that didn't come off, who can tell
+what may happen in three years' time?  The way may clear in a dozen
+ways; it probably _will_ clear, if you get ready yourself.  There are
+precious few things one can't gain by steady slogging ahead."
+
+Darsie looked at him with a kindling glance, her lips set, a spot of red
+showed on either cheek.
+
+"Right!" she said briefly, and at that moment the train steamed into the
+station and the conference was at an end.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+AUNT MARIA'S CHOICE.
+
+Aunt Maria arrived on Tuesday night, bringing "my woman" in attendance.
+She was more like a parrot than ever, for her face had grown narrower,
+her nose bigger, and the roundness of her eyes was accentuated by gold-
+rimmed spectacles.  When a richly coloured Paisley shawl was drawn
+tightly over her sloping shoulders the resemblance was positively
+startling to behold, and the terrors of an eight-weeks visit loomed
+larger than ever before the minds of the Garnett sisters.
+
+The extraordinary thing was that Aunt Maria seemed to take no notice of
+the girls, whom, as everybody was aware, she had come to inspect.  She
+talked to father, she talked to mother, she cross-questioned the boys as
+to their progress at school and expressed regret that they had not done
+better; she displayed an intelligent interest in the neighbours, the
+servants, and the new dining-room rug, but for the three daughters of
+the house she had not a word, hardly, it was believed, a glance.
+
+In the presence of such utter indifference it was impossible to keep up
+the various roles which each girl had privately practised with the view
+of concealing her charms and diverting Aunt Maria's attention from
+herself.  Clemence had decided that rounded shoulders and a lurching
+gait were defects which at seventeen threatened a painful permanence,
+and had therefore lurched persistently throughout the first evening,
+since which time she had slowly but steadily recovered her natural gait.
+
+After long practice before the mirror Darsie had decided that an open
+mouth and falling under-jaw could work marvels in the way of stupidity
+of expression, and had nerved herself to sit agape for the period of
+forty-eight hours.  Lavender had decided to sulk.  "Every one hates
+sulks!  It would be better to live alone on a desert island than with a
+person who sulks.  I'll sulk, and she won't be paid to have me!"  So one
+sister had sulked and the other gaped the whole of that first long
+evening, and then, becoming increasingly freed from their fears, began
+to smile secretly across the table, to nod and to nudge, to telegraph
+messages in the silent but eloquent fashions to which members of a large
+family resort when visitors are present and talking is not allowed.  And
+Aunt Maria munched her food, and wrapped the Paisley shawl more closely
+round her shoulders, and cast not a glance to right or left!  A blissful
+possibility was broached that she had changed her mind, and did not
+desire a visitor after all.
+
+Wednesday and Thursday passed in increasing calm, but on Friday morning
+certain alarming symptoms became visible.  Mrs Garnett came to
+breakfast with unmistakable signs of agitation upon her face.  Mr
+Garnett was silent and distrait, hid behind his newspaper, and answered
+at random the remarks of his family.  Late arrivals were allowed to pass
+without reproach, and Tim's raids upon the marmalade received no further
+protest than a flickering smile.
+
+The die was cast!  The girls knew it without a word; in a stupor of
+misery they sat, ears cocked, hearts in their boots, waiting for a sign
+which should betray the truth, and decide once for all the identity of
+the victim.
+
+It came at last, towards the end of the meal, in the midst of a ghastly
+silence.
+
+"Darsie, darling," said Mrs Garnett fondly, "won't you have some more
+coffee?"
+
+"_Darling_!"  Never were Mrs Garnett's north-country lips known to use
+that term except under stress of the most poignant emotion.  To be
+"darling" one was compelled to be very ill, very sad, angelically
+repentant, or in an extremity of fear, and Darsie, who this morning was
+not afflicted in any one of these three ways, realised in a flash the
+awful significance of the term.  She sat white and silent, too dazed for
+speech, and to do them justice Clemence and Lavender looked almost as
+perturbed as herself, relief on their own account being eclipsed for the
+moment by a realisation of the loss which the holiday party was about to
+sustain.  With a sudden and uninvited humility each sister mentally
+acknowledged that for the general good of the family it would have been
+better had the choice fallen upon herself!
+
+Darsie braced her feet against a leg of the table, and struggled with a
+lump in her throat.  Coffee? she never wanted to drink any more coffee
+so long as she lived!  The sight, the smell of it would be for ever
+associated with this ghastly moment.  She turned big, woeful eyes on her
+mother's face and stammered a breathless inquiry:
+
+"Mother, you have something to say!  Please say it.  Don't break it to
+me, please; it's worse to wait.  Say it bang out!"
+
+"Oh, Darsie, darling; yes, darling, it _is_ as you suppose!  Aunt Maria
+has chosen you.  She wants you to start with her on Saturday morning,
+but if it's too soon--if you would rather stay over Sunday, I will
+arrange..."
+
+Darsie bit her lips in the desperate resolve not to cry, but to carry
+off the situation with a high air.
+
+"If I'm to go at all, I'd rather go at once, and get it over.  There's
+nothing to be gained by delay.  `Better to die by sudden shock than
+perish piecemeal on the rock.'"
+
+"But you will want to say goodbye to your friends, dear; you will have
+little arrangements to make..."  Mrs Garnett was all nervousness and
+anxiety to appease, but after the manner of victims Darsie felt a
+perverse satisfaction in rejecting overtures, even when by so doing she
+doubly punished herself.
+
+"I don't mean to say goodbye.  I don't wish to see any one before I go.
+I hate scenes."
+
+"Well, well! just as you please, dear.  After all, it is for a very
+short time.  Eight weeks will soon pass."
+
+Silence.  Every youthful face at the table was set in an eloquent
+declaration that eight weeks was an eternity, a waste, a desert of
+space.  Mr Garnett put down his newspaper and hurriedly left the room.
+He had the usual male horror of scenes, and, moreover, Darsie was his
+special pet, and his own nerves were on edge at the thought of the
+coming separation.  If the child cried or appealed to him for
+protection, he would not like to say what he might do.  Flight appeared
+to be his safest course, but Darsie felt a pang of disappointment and
+wounded love at this desertion of her cause, and the smart did not help
+to improve her temper.
+
+"Aunt Maria wishes to see you, dear, as soon as you have finished your
+breakfast," continued Mrs Garnett, elaborately conciliatory.  "Father
+and I are very grateful to her for her interest in you, but you know,
+dear, how we feel about losing you, how we sympathise with your
+disappointment!  We are convinced that in the end this chance will be
+for your benefit; but in the meantime it is very hard.  We are sorry for
+you, dear."
+
+"And I," declared Darsie coldly, "am sorry for Aunt Maria!"
+
+She pushed back her chair and stalked out of the room, while her
+brothers and sisters stared after her agape.  Along the narrow oil-
+clothed hall she went, up the steep, narrow staircase to the little
+third-floor bedroom, the only place on earth which was her very own.
+There was nothing luxurious about it, nothing of any intrinsic value or
+beauty, but in the eyes of its occupant every separate article was a
+pearl of price.  All her treasures were here--her pictures, her
+ornaments, her books, mementoes of journeyings, offerings of friends.
+It was a shrine, a refuge from the cold outer world.  Alone in "my room"
+one lost the insignificance of a member of a large family, and became a
+responsible human being face to face with personal trials and
+responsibilities...
+
+Eight weeks out of a life!  To the adult mind a sacrifice of so short a
+period may be a disappointment, but can hardly be deemed a trial; to
+schoolgirl fifteen it may seem a catastrophe which clouds the whole
+horizon.  To Darsie Garnett the change of plan was the first real sorrow
+of her life, and these moments of reflection were full of a suffocating
+misery.  Anticipated joys rose before her with intolerable distinctness.
+She saw her companions happily at play, and felt a stabbing dart of
+jealousy.  Yes, they would forget all about her and feel no loss from
+her absence!  Clemence and Vie would enjoy their _tete-a-tete_, would be
+unwilling to admit a third into their conferences at her return.  Dan
+would take them for boating and fishing expeditions.  Dan would grow to
+like Clemence better than herself!  Darsie gave a little sob of misery
+at the thought.  She had no sentimental feelings as regards Dan, or any
+one else at this period of her life, but as the one _big_ boy, almost
+man, of her acquaintance Dan stood on a pedestal by himself as a lofty
+and superior being, whose favour was one of the prizes of life.  That
+Dan should become more intimate, more friendly with Clemence and
+Lavender than with herself was a possibility fraught with dismay.
+
+Darsie sobbed again, but her eyes were dry; she was angry, too angry to
+cry; her heart was seething with rebellion.  Some one knocked at the
+door and received no answer, knocked again and was curtly ordered to "go
+away"; then Mr Garnett's voice spoke, in gentle and conciliatory
+tones--
+
+"It's father!  Let me in, dear; I've just a minute..."
+
+It was impossible to refuse such a request.  Darsie opened the door, and
+there he stood, tall and thin, with the embarrassed _boy_ look upon his
+face which always made him seem especially near to his children.  It was
+the look he wore when they were in trouble and he essayed to lecture and
+advise, and it seemed to say, "I've been there myself; I understand!
+Now it's my part to play the heavy father, but _I'm not nearly so much
+shocked as I pretend_!"  To-day his manner was frankly commiserating.
+
+"Well, Kiddie, dear!  I was running off to town like a coward, but at
+the last moment I was obliged to come up for a word.  It's hard lines
+for you, dear, and I want you to know that it's hard lines for me, too!
+The country won't be half so jolly as if we'd all been together.  I'll
+miss you _badly_, little lass!"
+
+"_Don't_!  I'll howl.  _Don't_ make me howl!" pleaded Darsie hastily,
+the tight feeling about her eyes and lips giving place to an alarming
+weepiness at the sound of the tender words.  "If you really care,
+father, couldn't you--couldn't you possibly refuse?"
+
+Mr Garnett shook his head.
+
+"No!  That's settled.  We talked it over, mother and I, and agreed that
+it must be done.  It's a duty, dear, and we can't shelve duties in this
+life.  I'm sorry for you in your disappointment, and only wish I could
+help, but in this matter no one can help but yourself.  You can do a lot
+if you try.  Shall I tell you, Darsie, how you could get over your
+regret, and turn your visit to Arden into something far more agreeable
+than you can now imagine?"
+
+Darsie cocked an eye at him, suspicious and hesitating.  He was going to
+preach!  She knew the symptoms of old, and by way of counter-action put
+on her most dour and sullen expression.
+
+"Um!"
+
+"Very well, then, here it is!  Turn your back on the might-have-been,
+and try with all your might to like what _is_!  Aunt Maria will, I know,
+be all that is kind and indulgent--in her own way!  It won't be _your_
+way, however, and that's the rub.  If you begin your visit in a spirit
+of irritation, I'm afraid you are going to have a pretty poor time, but
+if you try to enjoy every little thing that comes along out of which
+enjoyment can be squeezed and to _laugh_ at the rest, to laugh instead
+of to cry--well, it's astonishing how the scene will change!  Do you
+think you could try?"
+
+Darsie pouted, sulky and unconvinced.  "Were _you_ resigned when you
+were fifteen?"
+
+"No, my lassie!  I wasn't, indeed.  Very far from it, I'm sorry to say.
+But when one has travelled on for many years and come many a cropper on
+the way one _does_ long to show one's children the short cuts!  That's
+_one_ short cut.  Darsie; I wish you'd take it, and avoid the falls.  If
+you can't have what you like, try to like what you have.  Expect good,
+not evil.  Say to yourself every morning: `This is going to be a good
+day, a happy day, one of the happiest days of my life,' and then you are
+half-way towards making it so.  Poor little Kiddie! it sounds hard, but
+try it--try it--and occasionally, just for a change, forget that you are
+Darsie Garnett for five minutes or so at a time, and pretend instead
+that you are Maria Hayes!  Pretend that you are old and lonely and
+ailing in health, and that there's a young girl staying with you from
+whom you are hoping to enjoy some brightness and variety!  Eh?  The
+other morning in church you were beside me when we were singing `Fight
+the good fight!'  You sang it heartily, Darsie; I enjoyed your
+singing.--I thought you looked as if you really meant the words.  Well,
+here's the battlefield for you, dear!  Are you going to play coward?  I
+don't believe it.  I think better of my girl!"
+
+He laid his hand on her shoulder with a caressing touch.  Darsie
+wriggled and screwed up her little nose in eloquent grimace, but when
+the hand crept up to her chin she lifted her face for the farewell kiss,
+and even volunteered an extra one on her own account on the dear, thin
+cheek.
+
+Mr Garnett smiled contentedly to himself as he descended the staircase.
+Darsie had made no promises, but he was satisfied that his words had
+not been in vain.  And Darsie, left alone in her room, fell
+instinctively to repeating the words of the grand old hymn--
+
+  "Run the straight race through God's good grace,
+  Lift up thine eyes, and seek His Face..."
+
+A little sob punctuated the lines.  To the blind eyes of earth the
+straight race appeared so very very crooked!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+FIRST DAYS.
+
+Darsie left home on the following Thursday, and in company with Aunt
+Maria and "my woman" took train for Arden, in Buckinghamshire.  The
+journey was a nightmare, for Lady Hayes disliked travelling, and was in
+a condition of nervousness, which made her acutely susceptible to the
+doings of her companions.  Within an hour of starting Darsie had been
+admonished not to sit facing the engine because of the draught, not to
+look out of the window in case she got a cinder in her eye, not to read
+in case she strained her eyes, not to rub her fingers on the pane, not
+to cross her knees because it was unladylike, not to shout, not to
+mumble, not to say "What?" not to yawn without putting her finger over
+her mouth, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
+
+Being called to account so frequently was an exhausting process, and
+Darsie felt a thrill of joy at the announcement of lunch.  A meal in a
+train would be a novel and exciting experience which would go far
+towards making up for the dullness of the preceding hour, but alas!
+Aunt Maria refused with scorn to partake of food, cooked goodness knew
+how, by goodness knew whom, and had supplied herself with a few Plasmon
+biscuits, the which she handed round with the information that they
+contained more nourishment than ounces of beefsteak.  They were very
+dull and very dry, however, and Darsie managed to get a crumb down the
+wrong way, and coughed continuously for the next hour in a tickling,
+aggravating manner, while Aunt Maria reiterated, "Really, my dear!
+_Most_ unpleasant!" and seemed to consider herself personally aggrieved.
+
+When Arden was reached the position improved, for stationmaster and
+porters alike flew to hover round the great lady of the neighbourhood,
+and Darsie sunned herself in the novel consciousness of importance.
+Outside the station a cart was waiting for luggage, and a large, old-
+fashioned barouche with two fat brown horses, and with two brown-
+liveried servants upon the box.  The village children bobbed curtsies as
+the carriage bowled through the village street, and Darsie smiled
+benignly and bent her yellow head in gracious acknowledgment.  As niece
+and guest of the Lady of the Towers, these greetings were surely partly
+intended for herself.  She felt an exhilarating glow of complacence, and
+determined to describe the scene to Vie Vernon on the earliest possible
+opportunity.
+
+The Towers was a large, very ugly, stucco house, surrounded by a
+beautiful rolling park.  Inside, the rooms were huge and square, and one
+and all characterised by a depressing pitch of orderliness, which made
+it almost impossible to believe that they could be used as ordinary
+human habitations!
+
+Darsie was escorted to a bedroom with ponderous mahogany furniture, so
+complete a contrast from her own shabby, cheery little den that the
+sight of it added the final touch to her depression.  She refreshed
+herself by a long splash in hot water, brushed out her tangled mane, put
+on her Sunday dress, and descended in state to partake of dinner, which
+was served an hour earlier than usual in consideration of the
+travellers' hunger and fatigue.
+
+Despite her weariness and nervous exhaustion, Lady Hayes had made what
+appeared to Darsie's unsophisticated eyes a magnificent toilette for the
+meal, and she eyed the Sunday frock with a criticism which was anything
+but approving.  "But it's the best I've got, except the party one, and I
+can't wear that for one old lady," said Darsie to herself as she
+followed meekly behind the _moire antique_ train, and seated herself at
+the end of the dining-table.  Two men-servants stood at attention--two!
+one for each diner, solemn, immovable-looking creatures who seemed to
+move on wheels and who kept their eyes glued upon every mouthful you
+ate, ready to pounce upon your plate and nip it swiftly and noiselessly
+away.  They were stricken with dumbness also, if you were to trust the
+evidence of your senses, but had certainly ears, and could drink in
+every word you said.
+
+For the rest, it might be soothing to one's pride to live in a big
+country house, but it was certainly abnormally dull.  The day's
+programme never varied by a hair's breadth, and Aunt Maria, though kind,
+possessed the failing of all others most trying to the youthful mind.
+_She fussed_!  She fussed about clothes, she fussed about food, she
+fussed about draughts, she fussed about manners, deportment, speech, the
+way you sat down, the way you got up, the way you laughed, yawned,
+sneezed, crossed the room, and did your hair.  From morning to night,
+"My dear, _don't_!" or "My dear, _do_!" rang in Darsie's ears, till she
+was almost beside herself with irritation.
+
+Honestly and laboriously she tried to practise her father's advice: to
+put the thought of the seaside party aside, make the most of the good
+points of her own position, and "fight the good fight," but the effort
+seemed to exhaust her physically, as well as mentally, until by the end
+of the day she looked white and drooping, pathetically unlike her
+natural glowing self.  Aunt Maria noticed the change, and fussed about
+that, too, but with an underlying tenderness that was upsetting to the
+girl's strained nerves.
+
+"You look very tired to-night, my dear!  Are you not well?  Is there
+anything the matter?"
+
+"Quite well, thank you.  Only--lonely!" replied Darsie, with a plaintive
+accent on that last word which brought Lady Hayes's glance upon her in
+quick inquiry--
+
+"Lonely!  But, my dear, you haven't been a minute alone all day long."
+
+"No," agreed Darsie meekly, and said no more, but the little
+monosyllable was more eloquent than any disclaimer.  Lady Hayes flushed,
+and knitted her brows in thought.
+
+"I must ask some young people to meet you.  I have some nice young
+friends living about a mile away.  They are visiting at present, but
+will soon be home.  I will write.  Naturally you miss the young
+society."
+
+She was so kind, so considerate, that it seemed mean to feel bored and
+impatient; but, oh dear, how long the days _did_ seem, how dull and
+monotonous the morning drive, the afternoon needlework, the evening game
+of patience or bezique.
+
+The climax came one rainy afternoon when the ordinary two-hours drive
+could not take place, and the hostess and her young guest had spent most
+of the day together in the library.  Now it is trying for an old lady as
+well as for a young one to be deprived of the usual exercise, and if
+Darsie's impatience and rebelliousness of spirit were more acute than
+usual, Lady Hayes was also more nervous and exacting.  In this instance
+the weight of the old lady's displeasure seemed to fall upon Darsie's
+unfortunate coiffure.  Whatever turn the conversation might take, it
+returned with relentless certainty to "Your hair, my dear!  When _I_ was
+young, young girls wore their hair neatly braided.  I intensely dislike
+all this purring and elaboration.  You would look a different girl if
+you brushed it smoothly."
+
+"I should," agreed Darsie coolly.  "I should look a sight.  _My_
+pompadour is the best pompadour in my class.  The girls all say so.
+They ask me how I do it.  I've taught lots of them to do their own."
+
+"I'm sorry to hear it.  Time enough when you come out to wear
+`pompadours,' as you call them.  And your bow!  Ridiculous size!  If it
+were neat and small--"
+
+"They wear them twice as big in America.  And in France.  Sash ribbons!
+I would, too, if I could afford.  It's the fashion, Aunt Maria.  Every
+one wears them big."
+
+"Surely that is all the more reason why a sensible girl should set a
+good example by being neat and moderate herself!  I don't approve of
+hair being allowed to grow long at your age, but if it _is_ long, it
+ought certainly to be kept in bounds.  Yours is hanging all over your
+shoulders at this moment.  Most untidy!  I am speaking for your own
+good."
+
+There was a moment's chilly silence, then Darsie asked in a tone of
+extraordinary politeness--
+
+"Just exactly _how_ would you do my hair, Aunt Maria, if you were in my
+place to-day?"
+
+Lady Hayes straightened herself briskly.  "I should _brush_ it," she
+said emphatically.  "It is naturally curly, no doubt, but I cannot
+believe that a good brushing would not reduce it to order!  I should
+damp it and brush it well, and then tie it back so that it would not
+hang loose over your shoulders like a mane.  It would be pleasant to see
+what a difference it would make.  A neat head is one of the things which
+every young gentlewoman should strive to possess."
+
+Darsie folded her needlework, put it neatly away in her bag, and, rising
+from her seat, marched slowly from the room.  It was nearing the hour
+for tea, when she usually went upstairs to wash and tidy-up generally,
+so that there was nothing unusual in her departure; it was only when she
+was safe inside her room that the extraordinary nature of to-day's
+preparations was revealed.
+
+She took off the lace collar and pretty bead necklace which gave an air
+of lightness to her plain dark dress, wrapped a dressing-jacket round
+her shoulders, and dipped her head deep into a basin of water.  Then
+with a comb the _wet_ hair was parted accurately in the centre, and
+brushed to the ears till it had the air of being painted rather than
+real, so smooth and plastered was the effect.  The ends, plaited with
+merciless tightness, were looped together with a fragment of a broken
+shoelace, so tightly that from the front no sign of their presence could
+be suspected.  When all was finished and the dressing-jacket thrown
+aside the effect was positively startling to behold.  It did not seem
+possible to believe that this prim, demure damsel could be the same
+brilliant-looking creature who had entered the room but ten minutes
+before, and Darsie herself was half-shocked, half-triumphant at the
+completeness of the transformation.
+
+"'Spose I had a fever and lost my hair!  How simply awful!" she said to
+herself in terror.  "If they could see me at home, they'd never call me
+pretty again.  I think even Aunt Maria will jump!"
+
+She skipped with delight at the possibility, and the gesture seemed so
+singularly out of keeping with her appearance that she laughed again,
+restored to good temper by the delightful experience of taking part in a
+prank once more.
+
+Ten minutes later, accurately at the moment when the tea equipage would
+be in course of arrangement in the drawing-room, Darsie composed her
+face into a "prunes and prism" decorum, and slipped noiselessly into the
+room.
+
+To a certain extent all was as she had expected.  Mason stood
+majestically over the tea-table; James, his satellite, approached with a
+tray of cakes and sandwiches; Aunt Maria sat waiting in her high-backed
+chair--so far all was just as she had planned; what she was all
+unprepared for, however, was the presence of three youthful visitors,
+two girls and a youth, who sat facing the door, staring at her in
+stunned dismay.
+
+The Percivals!  By all that was ill-timed and embarrassing, the
+Percivals themselves, returned from their visit, choosing a wet
+afternoon to drive over and pay their respects to Lady Hayes's young
+guest!  Sheer horror of the situation took away Darsie's breath; she
+stood stock still in the middle of the floor, felt her lips gape apart,
+the crimson rush to her face, saw in a mental flash a vision of the
+country bumpkin she must appear--just for a moment, then Aunt Maria's
+voice said, in even, equable tones--
+
+"Ah, here she is!  Darsie, these are my young friends of whom I have
+spoken.  I am pleased that you should become acquainted.  My niece,
+Darsie Garnett.  Noreen, Ida, and Ralph Percival...  Now we will have
+tea!"
+
+The voice, the manner, were absolutely normal.  Was it possible that she
+had not _seen_?  Darsie shot a quick glance at the old lady's face, met
+an unconcerned smile, and for the first time in the history of their
+acquaintance felt a thrill of admiration.  Splendid to have such self-
+control, to show _no_ sign of surprise or irritation!  She shook hands
+awkwardly with the three visitors, and sat down on the nearest chair.
+
+"So awfully pleased to meet you!" cried Noreen gushingly.  She was a
+smart-looking girl of sixteen, with brown eyes and a deeply dimpled
+chin.  Darsie knew exactly what she was thinking--understood that the
+gushing manner had been adopted to disguise dismayed disappointment in
+the aspect of a possible companion.  Ralph was quite old--eighteen at
+least, with well-cut features, thin lips, and small grey eyes, a dandy
+wearing a fancy waistcoat and resplendent white spats.  His whole aspect
+breathed a loud, "I told you so!  You _would_ drag me with you.  _Told_
+you how it would be.  Lady Hayes's grand-niece!  What could you expect?"
+Ida was bubbling over with curiosity.  What a fine story she would have
+to tell to the family party on her return!
+
+Conversation would have dragged pitifully if it had not been for Aunt
+Maria's efforts, for the visitors seemed smitten with dumbness, and
+beneath the fire of their glances Darsie's embarrassment increased
+rather than diminished.  She had no spirit left; a succession of
+monosyllables and an occasional "Oh, really!" made up the sum of her
+contributions to the conversation.  It must have been a strong sense of
+duty which nerved Noreen Percival to offer the invitation which
+presumably was the object of her visit.
+
+"We want to know if you will come to lunch with us on Thursday, and stay
+for the afternoon?  If it's fine, we can have some tennis.  We will
+drive you back after tea."
+
+Darsie hesitated, but apparently the decision was not to be left to her.
+Aunt Maria accepted with a gracious acknowledgment of Mrs Percival's
+kindness, and in answer to a scowl from Ralph his sisters rose and made
+a hasty adieu.
+
+"We came in the governess cart.  The pony gets restless--mustn't keep
+him waiting.  Thank you _so_ much!  Goodbye!"
+
+They were gone; the outer door was shut behind them.  Darsie, standing
+by the tea-table, caught a glimpse of her own reflection in a mirror at
+the opposite end of the room, a stiff, Dutch-doll of a figure, with
+plastered hair, crimson cheeks, and plain frock.  She glanced at Aunt
+Maria reseating herself in her high-backed chair, and taking up the
+inevitable knitting.  Now for it! now for the lecture!  Well, after all,
+she had only done what had been suggested, a trifle _more_ perhaps
+than had been suggested, but that was erring on the right side, not the
+wrong.  Besides, if a naughty impulse to annoy and humiliate Aunt Maria
+had really existed, in the end she had been a thousand times more
+humiliated herself.  And now, if you please, she was to be scolded and
+lectured into the bargain!
+
+But Aunt Maria neither lectured nor scolded.  All through that next hour
+when pride kept Darsie chained to her place, the older lady talked in
+her most natural manner, and even smiled at her companion across the
+patience-board without a flicker of expression to betray that the figure
+confronting her was in any way different from the one which she was
+accustomed to see.
+
+Once more admiration vanquished irritation, and Darsie roused herself to
+join in the problem of "building," and ended in actually feeling a
+dawning of interest in what had hitherto appeared the dreariest of
+problems.  When seven o'clock struck, and the old lady closed the board,
+and said, in her natural, every-day voice, "And now we must dress for
+dinner!"  Darsie walked slowly across the room, hesitated, and finally
+retraced her steps and knelt down on a footstool by Lady Hayes' side.
+
+"Aunt Maria--_please_!  I should like to thank you!"
+
+"Thank me, my dear.  For what?"
+
+"For--for saying nothing!  For not crowing over me as you might have
+done!"
+
+The flushed, upturned face was very sweet--all the sweeter perhaps for
+the plastered hair, which gave to it so quaint and old-world an air.
+Lady Hayes laid a wrinkled hand on the girl's shoulder; her eyes
+twinkled humorously through her spectacles.
+
+"No, I won't crow, my dear!  That would be ungenerous.  Circumstances
+have been pretty hard on you already.  This--this little exhibition was
+not intended for an audience, but for my own private edification.  It
+was unfortunate that the Percivals should have chosen such a moment for
+their first call.  I was sorry for your discomfiture."
+
+"You oughtn't to have been!  I _meant_ to be naughty.  Oh, you've
+scored--scored all the way.  I apologise in dust and ashes, but please--
+if you will be very noble--_never_ speak of it again!"
+
+She reached the door once more, was about to make a bolt for the
+staircase, when Lady Hayes's voice called to her to return--
+
+"Darsie?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Come here, child!"
+
+The thin hand was held out to meet hers, the kind old eyes looked
+wonderfully soft and tender.
+
+"I think it is only fair to tell you that ... in your own language, you
+have scored also! ...  Oblige me by doing your hair in your ordinary
+fashion for the future!"
+
+"Oh, Aunt Maria, you _duck_!" cried Darsie, and for the first time in
+her life flung her arms voluntarily around the old lady's neck and gave
+her a sounding kiss.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+THE PERCIVALS.
+
+It was really rather fun dressing for the visit to the Percivals on
+Thursday; trying to make oneself look one's _very_ best, and imagining
+their surprise at the transformation!  Aunt Maria, too, seemed quite to
+enter into the spirit of the thing, inquired anxiously _which_ dress,
+and gave special instructions that it should be ironed afresh, so that
+it might appear at its freshest and best.
+
+"My woman" had evidently been instructed to take the young guest's
+wardrobe under her care, since new ribbons and frilling now appeared
+with engaging frequency, giving quite an air to half-worn garments.
+Darsie in a blue muslin dress, with a white straw hat wreathed with
+daisies, and her golden locks floating past her waist, made a charming
+picture of youth and happiness as she sat in the old barouche, and when
+the hall was reached Aunt Maria cast a keen glance around the grounds,
+transparently eager to discover the young people and share in the fun of
+the meeting.
+
+Ralph was nowhere to be seen, that was _not_ to be wondered at under the
+circumstances, but the two girls were on duty on the tennis-lawn in
+front of the house, ready to come forward and welcome their guest
+immediately upon her arrival.
+
+The blank gapes of bewilderment with which they witnessed the alighting
+of the radiant blue and gold apparition afforded keen delight both to
+aunt and niece.  They were literally incapable of speech, and even after
+Aunt Maria had driven away, coughing in the most suspicious manner
+behind a raised hand, even then conversation was of the most jerky and
+spasmodic kind.  It was amusing enough for a time, but for a whole
+afternoon it would certainly pall, and Darsie _did_ want to enjoy
+herself when she had a chance.  She decided that it was time to put
+matters on a right footing, and looked smilingly to right and left, at
+her embarrassed, tongue-tied companions.
+
+"I think," said Darsie politely, "that I owe you an explanation!"
+
+She explained, and Noreen and Ida pealed with laughter, and danced up
+and down on the gravel path, and slid their hands through her arm,
+vowing undying friendship on the spot.
+
+"How per-fectly killing!  I do _love_ a girl who is up to pranks.
+_What_ a prank!  How you _must_ have felt when you saw us sitting there!
+And Lady Hayes--what _did_ she say?  Was she per-fectly furious?"
+
+"Aunt Maria behaved like an angel, a dignified angel!  I never liked her
+so much.  How did _you_ feel?  Tell me just exactly your sentiments when
+you saw me walking into that room?"
+
+"I certainly did feel upset, because we _had_ to ask you!  Mother said
+we must, and we asked each other what on _earth_ should we do with you
+all day long.  Ida did say that your eyes were pretty.  She was the only
+one who stuck up for you at all!  I thought you looked too appalling for
+words."
+
+"What did your brother say?" asked Darsie with natural feminine
+curiosity, whereupon Noreen answered with unabashed candour--
+
+"He said you were `a rummy little frump,' and that he would take very
+good care to have an engagement for to-day as many miles as possible
+away from home!"
+
+"Did he, indeed!"  The colour rose in Darsie's cheeks.  "Well, I'm very
+glad he did.  I like girls best, and I thought _he_ looked conceited and
+proud.  My best friend has a big brother, too, but he's not a bit like
+yours.  Rather shaggy, but _so_ clever and kind!  He promised to write
+to me while I was here, just because he knew I should be dull.  It's
+really an honour, you know, for he is terrifically clever.  Every one
+says he will be Prime Minister one day.  He's going to Cambridge.  Your
+brother is, too, isn't he?  I shouldn't think they would be at _all_ in
+the same set!"
+
+The Percival girls looked at each other and smiled.
+
+"Poor old Ralph!  Isn't she blighting?  You don't know anything about
+him, you know.  It's only because he called you a frump, but never mind,
+he has to be back to tea to look after some work for father, and then
+he'll see!  If you are going to be friends with us, you mustn't begin by
+disliking our brother.  He may be conceited, but he is certainly not
+`shaggy,' and he is much nicer to his sisters than most big boys.  He
+thinks we are really nicer than other girls."
+
+Darsie regarded them critically.
+
+"Well, I think you are!" she conceded graciously.  "Oh, how thankful I
+am that there is some one _young_ in the neighbourhood.  I was beginning
+to feel so painfully middle-aged.  Let's sit down and talk.  Tell me
+about yourselves.  Do you go to school?  Which school?  Do you go in for
+exams?  What subjects do you like best?"
+
+Noreen laughed, and shook her head.
+
+"We have a governess.  We are going for a year to a finishing school in
+Paris, but mother doesn't approve of exams, for girls.  She wants us to
+be able to play, and sing, and draw, and speak German and French, and
+she says that's enough.  We don't bother about Latin or mathematics or
+any of those dull old things."
+
+"They are not dull.  They're glorious.  I revel in them.  But you're
+rich, of course, and won't have to work.  I shall have to earn money
+myself, so I want to pass all the exams.  I can."
+
+The Percivals stared in solemn surprise.  The idea was so strange it
+took some time to digest.  All their friends were well off like
+themselves; really, when they came to think of it, they had never met a
+prospective _working_ girl before!  They regarded Darsie with a
+curiosity tinged with compassion.
+
+"Do you mean it--really?  Tell us about yourself?  Where do you live?"
+
+"In Birchester, Craven Street, Sandon terrace--the corner house in
+Sandon Terrace."
+
+"Craven Street.  Really!"  The girls were plainly shocked, but Ida
+rallied bravely, and said in her most courteous air: "It must be so
+_interesting_ to live in a street!  So much to see.  And have you _very_
+interesting people living across the road?"
+
+"No.  Rather dull.  Husbands and wives, and one old bachelor with a
+leg--lame leg, I mean.  No one at all thrilling, but our friends--our
+_best_ friends--live in a terrace at right angles with ours.  We have
+great times with them.  I'll tell you about our latest craze."
+
+Noreen and Ida sat breathlessly listening to the history of the
+telegraph, till it was time to go into the house for lunch, when Darsie
+was introduced to Mrs Percival, a very smartly dressed lady, who looked
+astonishingly young to be the mother of a grown-up family.  After lunch
+the three girls attempted tennis, but gave it up in deference to the
+visitor's lack of skill, visited stables and kennels and conservatory,
+and were again brought face to face with the different points of view
+existing between the town and the country dweller.
+
+"Do all people who live in the country go and stare at their horses and
+dogs every day of their lives?" demanded Darsie with an air of patient
+resignation, as Noreen and Ida patted, and whistled, and rubbed the
+noses of their four-footed friends, fed them with dainty morsels, and
+pointed out good points in technical terms which were as Greek in the
+listener's ears.  "Aunt Maria goes every single day; it's a part of the
+regular programme, like knitting in the afternoon and Patience at night.
+I get--_so_ bored!"
+
+The shocked looks which the Percival sisters turned upon her seemed
+ludicrously out of proportion with the circumstances.
+
+"Don't you--don't you _love_ animals?"
+
+"Certainly--in their place.  But I _cannot_ see the interest in staring
+in through a stable door at the same horses standing munching in the
+same stalls day after day.  It's no use pretending that I can," declared
+Darsie obstinately.  "And the dogs make such a noise, and drag at your
+clothes.  I'm always thankful to get away.  Let's go back to the garden
+and look at the flowers.  I could stare at flowers for ages.  It seems
+too glorious to be true to be able to pick as many roses as you like.
+At home mother buys a sixpenny bunch on Saturday, and cuts the stalks
+every day, and puts them into fresh water to make them last as long as
+possible, and we have nasturtiums for the rest of the week.  I love the
+fruit and vegetable garden, too.  It's so amusing to see how things
+grow!  Especially,"--she laughed mischievously, showing a whole nest of
+baby dimples in one pink cheek, "I warn you frankly that this is a
+hint!--especially things you can _eat_!"
+
+Noreen and Ida chuckled sympathetically.
+
+"Come along!  There is still a bed of late strawberries.  We'll take
+camp-stools from the summer-house, and you shall sit and feast until you
+are tired, and we'll sit and watch you, and talk.  We seem to have had
+strawberries at every meal for weeks past, and are quite tired of the
+sight, so you can have undisturbed possession."
+
+"And I," said Darsie with a sigh, "have never in my life had enough!  It
+will be quite an epoch to go on eating until I _want_ to stop.  That's
+the worst of a large family, the dainties divide into such tiny shares!"
+
+Ten minutes later the three girls had taken up their position in the
+kitchen garden in a spot which to the town-bred girl seemed ideal for
+comfort and beauty.  The strawberry-bed ran along the base of an old
+brick wall on which the branches of peach-trees stretched out in the
+formal upward curves of great candelabra.  An old apple-tree curved
+obligingly over the gravel path to form a protection from the sun, and
+it was the prettiest thing in the world to glance up through the
+branches with their clusters of tiny green apples, and see the patches
+of blue sky ahead.  Darsie sat stretching out her hand to pluck one big
+strawberry after another, an expression of beatific contentment on her
+face.
+
+"Yes--it's scrumptious to live in the country--in summer!  If it were
+always like this I'd want to stay for ever, but it must be dreadfully
+dull in winter, when everything is dead and still.  I shouldn't like it
+a bit."
+
+"No!  No!" the Percival girls protested in chorus.  "It's beautiful
+always, and livelier than ever, for there's the hunting.  Hunting is
+just _the_ most delightful sport!  We hunt once a week always, and often
+twice--the most exciting runs.  We are sorry, absolutely sorry when
+spring comes to stop us."
+
+"Oh, do you hunt!"  Darsie was quite quelled by the thought of such
+splendour.  In town it was rare even to see a girl on horseback; a hunt
+was a thing which you read about, but never expected to behold with your
+own eyes.  The knowledge that her new friends actually participated in
+this lordly sport raised them to a pinnacle of importance.  She munched
+strawberries in thoughtful silence for several moments before recovering
+enough spirit to enter another plea in favour of town.
+
+"Well, anyway--if you _don't_ hunt, it must be dull.  _And_ lonely!
+Aren't you scared to death walking along dark lanes without a single
+lamppost?  I should live in terror of tramps and burglars, and never
+dare to stir out of the house after three o'clock."
+
+"No you wouldn't, if you were accustomed to it.  Our maids come home
+quite happily at ten o'clock at night, but if they go to a city they are
+nervous in the brightly lit streets.  That's curious, but it's true.  We
+used to leave doors and windows open all day long, and hardly trouble to
+lock up at night, until a few months ago when we had a scare which made
+us more careful.  Till then we trusted every one, and every one trusted
+us."
+
+"A scare!"  Darsie pricked her ears, scenting an excitement.  "What
+scare?  Do tell me!  I love gruesome stories.  What was it?  Thieves?"
+
+Noreen nodded solemnly.
+
+"Yes!  It's gruesome enough.  Simply horrid for us, for so many other
+people lost their--but I'll tell you from the beginning.  It was the
+night of the Hunt Ball at Rakeham, and the house was crammed with
+visitors.  We were allowed to sit up to see them all start.  They looked
+so lovely--the men in their pink coats, and the ladies in their very
+best dresses and jewels.  Well, it was about half-past seven; the ladies
+had gone upstairs to dress about half an hour before, when suddenly
+there was a great noise and clamour, and some one shouted `Fire!' and
+pealed an alarm on the gong.  No one knew where it was, but you never
+heard such a hubbub and excitement.  Doors opened all down the
+corridors, and the ladies rushed out in dressing-gowns and dressing-
+jackets, with hair half done, or streaming down their backs, shrieking
+and questioning, and clinging to one another, and rushing downstairs.
+The men were more sensible; they took it quite calmly, and just set to
+work to put the fire out.  It was in a little room on the second floor,
+and the strange thing was that it hadn't been used for months, and no
+one could account for there being a fire there at all.  After a little
+time one of the men came out into the corridor, and said: `There's
+something wrong about this--this is not the result of accident!  I don't
+like the look of it at all.'  Then he turned to the ladies, who were all
+huddled together, gasping and questioning, with their maids and the
+other servants in the background, and said: `Ladies!  I advise you to go
+back to your rooms as quickly as possible.  There is not the slightest
+danger, but it might be just as well to look after your jewellery!'
+
+"You should have heard them shriek!  They turned and rushed like
+rabbits, and the maids rushed after them, shrieking too, but that was
+nothing to the noise two minutes after, when they got back to their
+rooms and found their jewels gone!  They were laid out ready to be put
+on, on the dressing-tables, and the alarm had been cleverly timed to
+give the ladies enough time to get half dressed, but not enough to have
+put on their jewellery.  Only one out of all the party had put on her
+necklace.  She _was_ pleased!
+
+"Well, they shrieked, and shrieked, and some of the men left the fire
+and came upstairs to the rescue.  Captain Beverley was the smartest, and
+he just tore along the corridor to a dressing-room over the billiard-
+room, and there was a man letting himself drop out of the window, and
+scrambling over the billiard-room roof to the ground!  Captain Beverley
+gave the alarm, and the servants rushed out to give chase.  It was very
+dark, and they could not tell how many men there were, for they kept
+dodging in and out among the trees.  Some people said there were only
+two, and some said they saw four, but only one was caught that night--an
+idle, loafing young fellow who had been staying at the village inn for a
+few weeks, pretending to be a city clerk convalescing after an illness.
+The worst of it was that he had only a few of the smaller things in his
+pockets, none of the really big, valuable pieces."
+
+"Goodness!"  Darsie's eyes sparkled with animation.  "That _was_ an
+excitement.  I wish I'd been here.  Go on!  What happened after that?"
+
+"Oh, my dear, the most awful evening!  The visitors had all brought
+their very _best_ things, as the Hunt Ball is a great occasion, and they
+almost all cried, and one poor lady went into hysterics.  Her father had
+been an ambassador and had all sorts of wonderful orders and things
+which she had had made into brooches and pendants, and they could never
+be replaced, no matter how much money she spent.  Dinner was the most
+weepy meal you can imagine, and only one or two of the sensible ones
+went on to the ball.  The others stayed at home and moped, and mother
+had to stay, too.  Poor dear! she had to keep calm, and comfort every
+one else, when she'd lost all her own pet things.  There was one string
+of pearls which has been in our family for generations, and each new
+owner adds a few more pearls, so that it gets longer and longer, and
+more and more valuable.  It would have belonged to Ralph's wife some
+day.  He was so funny about it, so disappointed!  He kept saying: `Poor
+little girl! it _is_ rough luck!'  We said: `Why pity her, when you
+haven't the least idea who she is?'  He said: `Why not, when I know very
+well that I _shall_ know some day!'"
+
+Darsie smiled with politely concealed impatience.  She was not in the
+least interested in Ralph's problematical wife, but she was devoured
+with anxiety to hear further particulars of the exciting burglary.
+
+"Well, well!  Go on!  You said they only caught one man that night.
+That means, I suppose--"
+
+"Yes!"  Noreen sighed tragically.  "That was the saddest part of it.
+The next morning they found another man lying just outside the walled
+garden.  He had scrambled up, holding on to the fruit-trees, and had
+then jumped down and broken his leg, and he was not a stranger, but one
+of our very own men--an under-gardener whom we had all liked so much.
+Father believed that he had been bribed and led away by the man from
+London, and offered to let him off if he would tell all he knew, how
+many thieves there had been, and give the names and descriptions of the
+ones who had escaped, but he wouldn't.  Nothing would make him speak.
+We all tried in turns, and then the Vicar came and was shut up with him
+for an age, but it was no use.  They say `there's honour among thieves,'
+and it's true.  He wouldn't give the others away, so the two were sent
+to prison together, and they are there still.  Father says they won't
+mind a few months' imprisonment, for when they come out they will get
+their share of the money and be quite rich.  They'll probably sail off
+for America or Australia and buy land, and live in luxury ever after.
+It _is_ a shame!  Father and mother feel it awfully.  Such a dreadful
+thing to happen when you ask your friends to stay!"
+
+"Yes! it's a comfort to have nothing to lose.  Mother has one diamond
+ring, which she always wears above the wedding one, and there's nothing
+else worth stealing in the house, except watches and silver spoons, so
+that Aunt Maria need fear no qualms on account of her present visitor.
+No one will set her house on fire on account of my jewels--a few glass
+beads and a gold safety-pin, all told!  You see them before you now!"
+Darsie tossed her head and pointed towards her treasures with an air of
+such radiant satisfaction that Noreen and Ida dropped the effort to be
+polite, and pealed with delighted laughter.
+
+"You _are_ a funny girl!  You do amuse us.  It's so nice to have a new
+friend.  The girls near here are so deadly dull.  You seem so full of
+spirit."
+
+"Too full.  It runs away with me.  I act first and think afterwards.
+_Not_ a good principle for a working life," pronounced Miss Darsie
+sententiously as she searched among the green leaves for a strawberry
+sufficiently large and red to suit her fastidious taste.  The Percivals
+watched her with fascinated gaze.  An hour before they would have
+professed the most profound pity for a girl who lived in a street, owned
+neither horse nor dog, and looked forward to earning her own living, but
+it was with something more closely resembling envy that they now
+regarded Darsie Garnett, weighted as she was with all these drawbacks.
+There was about her an air of breeziness, of adventure, which shook them
+out of their self-complacence.  It no longer seemed the all-important
+thing in life to belong to a county family, attend the hunt, and look
+forward to a presentation at Court; they felt suddenly countrified and
+dull, restricted in aim and interest.
+
+It was while Darsie was still conversing in airy, discursive fashion,
+and her companions listening with fascinated attention, that footsteps
+were heard approaching, and Ralph's tall figure appeared at the end of
+the path.  He was evidently taking a short cut through the grounds, and
+as Darsie was out of his line of vision, being planted well back among
+the strawberry plants, he saw only his two sisters, and advanced to meet
+them with cheerful unconcern.
+
+"Hulloa!  Here's luck!  Hasn't she come?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  But it is luck all the same.  Look for yourself!" cried
+Noreen gleefully, pointing with outstretched hand to where Darsie sat, a
+pale blue figure among a nest of greenery, her little, flushed, laughing
+face tilted upward on the long white throat, her scattered locks ashine
+in the sun.  With the air of a queen she extended finger-tips crimson
+with the strawberry juice towards the newcomer, and with the air of a
+courtier Ralph Percival stooped to take them in his own.
+
+For a moment they stared full into each other's eyes, while the
+bewilderment on the young man's face slowly gave place to recognition.
+
+"Glad to see you again, Princess Goldenlocks!  Let me congratulate you
+on the breaking of the spell.  Who was the kind fairy who set you free
+to appear among us in your rightful guise?"
+
+He spoke like a book; he looked tall and handsome enough to be a prince
+himself.  Darsie forgave him on the instant for his former lack of
+respect, and bent upon him her most dimpling smile.
+
+"I freed myself.  I wove my own spell, and when I was tired of it I
+broke loose."
+
+Ralph looked down at her with a slow, quizzical smile.
+
+"You had better be careful!  Spells are awkward things to move about.
+They might alight, you know, on some other shoulders, and not be so
+easily shaken off!"
+
+His eyes, his voice, added point to the words.  It was the first, the
+very first compliment which Darsie had ever received from masculine
+lips, and compared with the blunt criticisms of Dan Vernon, she found it
+wonderfully stimulating.
+
+"Come along, girls!" cried Ralph with a sudden return to a natural,
+boyish manner.  "There's a whole hour yet before tea, and we can't sit
+here doing nothing.  Let's go down to the river and punt.  Do you punt,
+Miss Garnett?  I'll teach you!  You look the sort of girl to be good at
+sport.  You'll pick it up in no time."
+
+The three girls rose obediently and followed Ralph's lead riverwards,
+while Noreen and Ida, gesticulating and grimacing in the background,
+gave the visitor to understand that a great honour had been bestowed
+upon her, and that she might consider herself fortunate in being the
+recipient of an unusual mark of attention.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+A TREATY.
+
+If there were innumerable good points in an acquaintance with the
+Percival family, there was certainly the inevitable drawback, for on the
+days when she was alone with her great-aunt, Darsie was rendered
+lonelier and more restless than before by the knowledge that a couple of
+miles away were three agreeable young companions who would be only too
+pleased to include her in their pastimes.  The different points of view
+held by youth and age were, as usual, painfully in evidence.  Darsie
+considered that it would be desirable to meet the Percivals "every
+single day"; Aunt Maria was glad that you had enjoyed yourself; was
+pleased that you should meet young friends, and suggested a return
+invitation, "some day next week!" pending which far-off period you were
+expected to be content with the usual routine of morning drive,
+afternoon needlework, and evening patience.  Really--really--really, to
+have lived to that age, and to have no better understanding!  Letters
+from the seaside did not tend to soothe the exile's discontent.  It
+seemed callous of the girls to expatiate on the joys of bathing,
+fishing, and generally running wild, to one who was practising a lady-
+like decorum in the society of an old lady over seventy years of age,
+and although Dan kept his promise to the extent of a letter of two whole
+sheets, he gave no hint of deploring Darsie's own absence.  It was in
+truth a dull, guide-booky epistle, all about stupid "places of interest"
+in the neighbourhood, in which Darsie was frankly uninterested.  All the
+Roman remains in the world could not have counted at that moment against
+one little word of friendly regret, but that word was not forthcoming,
+and the effect of the missive was depressing, rather than the reverse.
+Mother's letters contained little news, but were unusually loving--
+wistfully, almost, as it were, _apologetically_ loving!  The exile
+realised that in moments of happy excitement, when brothers and sisters
+were forgetful of her existence, a shadow would fall across mother's
+face, and she would murmur softly, "_Poor_ little Darsie!"  Darsie's own
+eyes filled at the pathos of the thought.  She was filled with
+commiseration for her own hard plight...  Father's letters were bracing.
+No pity here; only encouragement and exhortation.  "Remember, my dear,
+a sacrifice grudgingly offered is no sacrifice at all.  What is worth
+doing, is worth doing well.  I hope to hear that you are not only an
+agreeable, but also a cheerful and cheering companion to your old aunt!"
+
+Darsie's shoulders hitched impatiently.  "Oh!  Oh!  Sounds like a copy-
+book.  _I_ could make headlines, too!  Easy to talk when you're not
+tried.  Can't put an old head on young shoulders.  Callous youth, and
+crabbed age..."
+
+Not that Aunt Maria was really crabbed.  Irritable perhaps, peculiar
+certainly, finicky and old-fashioned to a degree, yet with a certain
+bedrock kindliness of nature which forbade the use of so hard a term as
+_crabbed_.  Since the date of the hair episode Darsie's admiration for
+Lady Hayes's dignified self-control had been steadily on the increase.
+She even admitted to her secret self that in time to come--far, far-off
+time to come,--she would like to become like Aunt Maria in this respect
+and cast aside her own impetuous, storm-tossed ways.  At seventy one
+_ought_ to be calm and slow to wrath, but at fifteen!  Who could expect
+a poor little flapper of fifteen to be anything but fire and flame!
+
+Wet days were the great trial--those drizzling, chilly days which have a
+disagreeable habit of intruding into our English summers.  Darsie,
+shivering in a washing dress, "occupying herself quietly with her
+needlework" in the big grim morning-room, was in her most prickly and
+rebellious of moods.
+
+"Hateful to have such weather in summer!  My fingers are so cold I can
+hardly work."
+
+"It is certainly very chill."
+
+"Aunt Maria, couldn't we have a fire?  It would be _something_ cheerful
+to look at!"
+
+"My dear!"  Lady Hayes was apparently transfixed with amazement.  "A
+fire!  You forget, surely, the month!  The month of August.  We never
+begin fires until the first of October."
+
+"You'd be much more comfortable if you did."
+
+There being no controverting the truth of this statement, Lady Hayes
+made no reply.  But after the lapse of a few minutes she volunteered a
+suggestion.
+
+"There is a grey Shetland shawl folded up under the sofa rug.  You had
+better put it over your shoulders, since you feel so cold."
+
+"_I_?"  Darsie gave an impatient laugh.  "Fancy me wrapped up in a
+Shetland shawl!  I'd sooner freeze."
+
+Lady Hayes dropped her eyelids and tightened her lips.  Her manner
+pointed out more eloquently than words the fact that her guest was
+wanting in respect, but as hostess it was her duty to consider the
+comfort of her guest, so presently she rang the bell and gave
+instructions that a cup of hot cocoa should be served at eleven o'clock
+instead of the usual glass of milk.  She herself was never guilty of the
+enormity of eating between meals, so that the listener knew perfectly
+well for whose benefit the order was given, but being at once cold,
+lonely, and cross, her heart was hardened, and she spoke no word.
+
+Between that time and the appearance of James with the tray Aunt Maria
+made three successive attempts to open new topics of conversation, which
+were each time checkmated by monosyllabic replies.  There was a tone of
+relief in her voice, as of one hailing a much-needed assistance, as she
+said briskly--
+
+"Now, my dear, here is your cocoa!  Drink it while it is hot.  It will
+warm you up."
+
+"Thank you, I don't drink cocoa.  It makes me sick."
+
+There was a moment's silence.  James stood at attention, tray in hand.
+Lady Hayes tightened her lips, and the little red lines on her cheeks
+turned a curious bluish shade.  Then she cleared her throat, and said in
+her most courteous tones--
+
+"I am sorry.  Would you kindly tell James what you would like instead.
+Tea--coffee--soup?  A warm drink would be better than milk this
+morning."
+
+"Nothing, thank you."
+
+"Nothing, James!  You may go."
+
+James departed.  Aunt Maria went on with her knitting, the click-click
+of the needles sounding startlingly distinct in the silent room.  Darsie
+sat shamed and miserable, now that her little ebullition of spleen was
+over, acutely conscious of the rudeness of her behaviour.  For five
+minutes by the clock the silence lasted; but in penitence, as in fault,
+there was no patience in Darsie's nature, and at the end of the five
+minutes the needlework was thrown on the floor, and with a quick light
+movement she was on her knees by Lady Hayes's side.
+
+"Aunt Maria, forgive me.  I'm a pig!"
+
+"Excuse me, my dear, you are mistaken.  You are a young gentlewoman who
+has failed to behave as such."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Maria, don't, _don't_ be proper!" pleaded Darsie, half-
+laughing, half in tears.  "I _am_ a pig, and I behaved as much, and
+you're a duchess and a queen, and I can't imagine how you put up with me
+at all.  I wonder you don't turn me out of doors, neck and crop!"
+
+Lady Hayes put down her knitting and rested her right hand lightly on
+the girl's head, but she did not smile; her face looked very grave and
+sad.
+
+"Indeed, Darsie, my dear," she said slowly, "that is just what I am
+thinking of doing.  Not `neck and crop'--that's an exaggerated manner of
+speaking, but, during the last few days I have been coming to the
+conclusion that I made a mistake in separating you from your family.  I
+thought too much of my own interests, and not enough of yours."  She
+smiled, a strained, pathetic little smile.  "I think I hardly realised
+how _young_ you were!  One forgets.  The years pass by; one falls deeper
+and deeper into one's own ways, one's own habits, and becomes
+unconscious of different views, different outlooks.  It was a selfish
+act to take a young thing away from her companions on the eve of a
+summer holiday.  I realise it now, my dear; rather late in the day,
+perhaps, but not too late!  I will arrange that you join your family at
+the sea before the end of the week."
+
+Darsie gasped, and sat back on her heels, breathless with surprise and
+dismay.  Yes! dismay; extraordinary though it might appear, no spark of
+joy or expectation lightened the shocked confusion of her mind.  We can
+never succeed in turning back the wheels of time so as to take up a
+position as it would have been if the disturbing element had not
+occurred.  The holiday visit to the seaside would have been joy untold
+_if_ Aunt Maria had never appeared and given her unwelcome invitation,
+but now!--now a return to Seaview would be in the character of a truant
+carrying within her heart the consciousness of failure and defeat.  In
+the moment's silence which followed Aunt Maria's startling announcement
+the words of advice and exhortation spoken by her father passed one by
+one through Darsie's brain.
+
+"If you cannot have what you like, try to like what you have...  Put
+yourself now and then in your aunt's place.--A sacrifice grudgingly
+performed is no sacrifice at all...  What is worth doing at all, is
+worth doing well."
+
+Each word condemned her afresh; she stood as judge before the tribunal
+of her own conscience, and the verdict was in every case the same.
+Guilty!  She had not tried; she had not imagined; everything that she
+had done had been done with a grudge; the effort, the forbearance, the
+courtesy, had been all on the other side...  There fell upon her a panic
+of shame and fear, a wild longing to begin again, and retrieve her
+mistakes.  She couldn't, she could _not_ be sent away and leave Aunt
+Maria uncheered, unhelped, harassed rather than helped, as the result of
+her visit.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Maria," she cried breathlessly, "give me another chance!
+Don't, don't send me away!  I'm sorry, I'm ashamed, I've behaved
+horribly, but, I _want_ to stay.  Give me another chance, and let me
+begin again!  Honestly, truly, I'll be good, I'll do all that you
+want..."
+
+Lady Hayes stared at her earnestly.  There was no mistaking the
+sincerity of the eager voice, the wide, eloquent eyes, but the poor lady
+was plainly puzzled as to what had wrought so speedy a change of front.
+With her usual deliberation she waited for several moments before
+replying, studying the girl's face with serious eyes.
+
+"My dear, don't imagine that I am thinking of sending you back in
+disgrace.  Not at all.  I will take all responsibility upon myself, and
+explain to your parents that I have come to the conclusion that it would
+be a mistake to prolong your visit.  It has been very dull for you alone
+with an old woman, and I am sure that though you have not always
+succeeded, you have at least had the intention of making yourself
+pleasant and agreeable."
+
+"No!"  Darsie shook her bright head in vigorous denial.  "I haven't!  I
+can be fifty times nicer than that, when I really try.  Let me stay,
+Aunt Maria, and you'll see...  It's quite true that I was cross at
+first.  I hated giving up the holiday with the Vernons, and there seemed
+nothing to do; but I've changed my mind.  I didn't know you, you see,
+and now I do, and I--I would like you to be pleased with me before I
+_go_!  Please, _please_, Aunt Maria, let me stay!"
+
+"Certainly, my dear, I shall be most pleased."  Lady Hayes still wore a
+somewhat puzzled expression, but she was undoubtedly gratified by the
+girl's appeal, and Darsie bent forward and kissed her cheek with the
+feeling of one who has narrowly escaped a great danger.
+
+"That's settled, and now we are going to live happily ever after!"
+
+"Ah, my dear, I am afraid that is too much to expect!  I have no
+amusements to offer you to relieve the dullness.  My health obliges me
+to live a quiet life, and I have grown to dread change.  Of course,
+there are plenty of books to read--improving, well-written books, very
+different from the rubbish published to-day.  If you would like to have
+a little reading aloud, or I could give you lessons in knitting and
+crochet..."
+
+Darsie laughed, a bright, audacious laugh.
+
+"I wouldn't like it a bit!  I've another plan to suggest, fifty times
+nicer and more exciting.  Suppose,"--she leaned her arms on the old
+lady's knee and looked gaily into her spectacled eyes--"suppose, instead
+of your trying to make me old with you, _I_ tried, for a time, to make
+you young with _me_?  Eh?  What do you think?  Wouldn't it be far more
+fun!"
+
+"You ridiculous child!"  But Lady Hayes laughed in her turn, and showed
+no signs of dismay.  "That would be too difficult an undertaking even
+for you.  To make me young again, ah, Darsie! that's an impossible
+task."
+
+"Not a whit more impossible than to make me old!" cried Darsie quickly.
+"Suppose we took turns?  That would be only fair.  Your day first, when
+you would read aloud dull books with the blinds half down; and then my
+day, when I'd read funny ones, with the blinds drawn up to the top, and
+the sun streaming into the room; your day, when we drove the ordinary
+round and came back to lunch; and mine when we went away over the hill
+and took a picnic basket and drew up at the side of the road, and ate
+it, and got milk from a cottage and drank it out of cups without
+saucers!  Your night, when we played Patience; and mine when I showed
+you tricks and danced figure dances as we do at school.  I'm _sure_
+you'd like to see me dance the Highland fling!  Now--now--promise!  I
+_know_ you'll promise.  I can see the softening in your eye!"
+
+"Ridiculous child!" protested Lady Hayes once more, but Darsie was
+right; there was certainly a softening in her eye which bespoke a
+disposition to yield.  In truth it was not so much of Darsie as of
+herself that Lady Hayes was thinking at that moment, for as the young
+voice spoke the old heart quickened with quite an agreeable sense of
+expectation.  Years since she had read a "funny book," years since she
+had partaken of a picnic meal; years--many, many years since she had
+looked on while a young girl danced!  Radical changes and innovations in
+the routine of life she could not face at this late day, but Darsie's
+girlish plan attempted nothing so ambitious.  Let the child have her
+way!  It would be interesting, undoubtedly interesting, to see how she
+behaved.
+
+So Darsie gained her point, and for the next week she and her hostess
+played in turn the part of Mistress of the Ceremonies, to their mutual
+benefit and satisfaction.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE.
+
+One of the privileges gained by the alliance between aunt and niece was
+that the former veto against bicycle riding was withdrawn, and that
+Darsie was set free each afternoon for an hour's enjoyment of this
+favourite exercise.
+
+In deference to Lady Hayes's nervousness and sense of responsibility the
+high-road was avoided as much as possible, and detours taken through
+quiet lanes, where traffic was reduced to a minimum; and it was along
+one of these lanes that Darsie rode joyously some five or six days after
+her visit to the Percivals, bearing in her pocket a return invitation to
+her new friends.  She had been longing to meet them again, had keenly
+regretted a domestic upset which had delayed the invitation until now,
+but all the same the last days had passed wonderfully quickly and
+happily.  Afire with resolution to "begin again" and show herself in the
+light of a cheerful and cheering companion, she had neglected no
+opportunity to make herself agreeable to her hostess, while Aunt Maria
+in return had been sweetly considerate, and on occasions quite startling
+in her divination of hidden wishes and desires.  The eyes behind the
+gold-rimmed spectacles would rest upon the girl's face with an intent
+scrutiny which seemed to have the power to draw free confidences, till
+to her own surprise Darsie found herself discussing fluently the all-
+important subject of her own future, and setting forth her hopes and
+fears in relation to a scholarship for Newnham.  On this, as on almost
+every topic which came up for discussion, the old woman and the girl
+held almost diametrically opposite opinions, but so far Darsie had
+contrived to subdue her impatience, and to listen with some appearance
+of humility to Lady Hayes's somewhat sententious criticism.
+
+"But I wonder if it can last!" she was asking herself doubtfully this
+afternoon, as she pedalled through the sweet-smelling lanes.  "I wonder
+if I can possibly go on being so unnaturally good without falling ill
+from the strain!  How I hope the Percival girls will be at home!  If I
+can let off steam for an hour, and make as much noise as I like, it will
+be no end of a relief, and help me to last out without a relapse.  I'd
+hate to have a relapse and spoil it all, just when I'm trying so hard;
+and she's really a dear, _quite_ an old dear!  I love to please her.
+Whenever I begin to feel scratchy I must make an excuse and get over to
+the Percivals for an hour to be soothed down.  I do _hope_ they are in
+to-day!"
+
+But alas! the butler announced "Not at home," in reply to Darsie's
+inquiry, then, seeing the blank disappointment on the young face, he
+added graciously: "The young ladies are out for a ride.  They will
+probably be home about four o'clock.  Will you not step in and wait?"
+
+Darsie brightened instantly.  Four o'clock, and she had promised to be
+back by five.  Yes, she could enjoy half an hour's talk, and still leave
+ample time for the ride home, but as it was now barely three o'clock she
+did not feel tempted by the prospect of sitting cooped in the house for
+so long a time.
+
+"Thank you," she said briskly.  "I should like to wait, but I think I'll
+stay in the garden.  Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell them when
+they return."
+
+The man bowed and withdrew, and Darsie strolled away in the direction of
+the rose pergola, the beauty of which had attracted her so greatly on
+her first visit.  She wandered up and down the archways, sniffed at the
+fragrance of the late blooms which still remained, indulged in a little
+of the sentimental poetising which seems to flow so readily when one is
+"alone among the roses," began to grow bored, wandered aimlessly ahead,
+grew very bored indeed, and, consulting her watch, was dismayed to find
+that only fifteen minutes had passed away.  Fifteen! and there still
+remained forty-five before her companions were likely to arrive!  What
+could she find to do to while away a whole forty-five minutes?  As a
+matter of prudence Darsie put the suggestion of the fruit garden
+resolutely aside.  It would not be _safe_ to put herself in proximity
+with those tempting strawberries, since on a second visit to a house one
+was, unfortunately, not on sufficiently intimate terms to take without
+being asked.
+
+She was contemplating getting on her bicycle and taking a short ride
+round the lanes, when the brilliant alternative of the river darted into
+her mind.  Of course, the river!  Nothing could be more delightful.  She
+set off at a trot, taking in her inexperience many wrong turnings, but
+arriving at last at the river, or rather the peaceful backwater of the
+river which bordered the Percival grounds.  To Darsie's mind the spot
+was the most picturesque on the whole estate, and a good many people
+could be found ready to agree with her in the conclusion; for the
+backwater though narrow was bordered by banks rich in reeds and
+bulrushes, while a hundred yards or so below the miniature jetty a pair
+of ancient wooden gates spanned the stream, through whose decaying beams
+could be seen fascinating peeps of a baby waterfall, and a great moss-
+covered wheel which proclaimed the former use of the old grey building
+of which it was a part.  In olden times this quiet backwater had been a
+busy centre of industry, but the modern inventions of machinery had left
+it hopelessly in the rear.  The mill-owner had been ruined long ago, and
+the mill-house, with its great panelled rooms, was given up to the
+occupancy of the rats, while the disused wheel was green with moss, and
+the wooden gateway threatened every day to fall free of its hinges.
+
+The young Percivals could not remember the day when the mill had been
+working, but from a personal point of view they deeply regretted its
+cessation, for, deprived of the healthy action of the wheel, the little
+backwater was becoming every year more choked with weeds, until at some
+points it was difficult to navigate the punt.
+
+At long intervals strange men came to investigate the mill and its
+machinery, and the Percivals were cheered by rumours of a certain "let,"
+but as one rumour after another died away without bringing any tangible
+result their hopes had reached a vanishing point, and they paid little
+attention to the occasional stirring into life of the dreamy backwater.
+
+Darsie walked to the end of the jetty, stepped lightly into the punt,
+and sank down on the soft red cushions.  One might not eat one's
+neighbour's fruit, but one might sit in his punt, and arrange his
+cushions to fit comfily into the crick in one's back, without infringing
+the laws of hospitality.  Darsie poked and wriggled, and finally lay at
+ease, deliciously comfortable, blinking up at the sunshine overhead, and
+congratulating herself on having hit on the spot of all others in which
+to spend the time of waiting.  She could lie here for hours without
+feeling bored; it was the most deliciously lazy, drowsy sensation she
+had ever experienced.  At the end of five minutes, however, the drowsy
+feeling threatened to become altogether too pronounced, and having no
+wish either to be discovered fast asleep, or to sleep on undiscovered
+till past the hour for her return.  Darsie sat up hurriedly and began to
+look around for fresh distractions.
+
+At the very first glimpse the usual temptation for idle hands stared her
+in the face, for there on the jetty lay, not only the long punt-pole,
+but also the dainty little paddle which she had handled under Ralph's
+instructions the week before.  It had been quite easy, ridiculously
+easy; the girls declared that she took to it as to the manner born; she
+had paddled the whole boatload for quite a considerable distance.
+Naturally it would be much easier and lighter to paddle for oneself
+alone.  The chain holding the punt to the jetty could easily be slipped
+from its ring; there was not, _could_ not be, any danger in paddling
+peacefully along a quiet little backwater.  Of course, prudent people
+would say--Aunt Maria would say-- But then if you waited until all the
+prudent people on earth approved of all that you did, you might sit with
+your hands crossed in your lap for the rest of your life!
+
+Darsie tossed her head with the defiant little jerk which meant that she
+was _going_ to do it, and she didn't care, and the consequences could
+look after themselves.  In another moment the punt was free from the
+chain, and was being paddled slowly down the stream.  Really, she told
+herself, the solid old craft was as safe as a house; so big, so heavily
+built was it that it seemed curious, not that its progress should be
+slow but that it should move at all in response to the efforts of one
+inexperienced girl!  Glancing over, Darsie could see the weeds rising
+from the bed of the stream, sometimes so high that they caught in the
+paddle as it worked and greatly impeded its force; still she was
+steadily moving along, and, fired with ambition, her eyes fell on a
+willow-tree standing out from the bank some hundred yards ahead, and she
+determined to persevere until the point should be reached.  To declare
+she had paddled "some way"--"quite a long way"--would probably be
+discounted to mean but a few yards by the Percival sisters, but "to the
+willow and back" was a definite feat which could not be gainsaid.  So
+Darsie worked and strained till her arms ached and her cheeks flamed,
+till the punt, moving heavily through the weeds, ran at last beneath the
+willow branches and found a natural anchorage.
+
+Well, it was good to lie back against the cushions and rest one's weary
+arms and back!  Darsie peeped at her watch, saw with relief that she had
+still a good quarter of an hour to spare, and abandoned herself to a
+lazy enjoyment of the situation.
+
+And then the inevitable happened, for the soothing influence of the
+shaded light lulled the tired senses into deeper and deeper
+unconsciousness, until at last the fringed eyelids ceased to flicker,
+and remained peacefully closed, and, like a happy, tired child, Darsie
+rested her cheek on her hand and slept.
+
+Subsequent comparisons proved that her doze might have lasted for half
+an hour or more, before a sudden movement of the punt roused her with a
+start.  She sat up, blinked sleepily around, and discovered to her
+surprise that the punt had moved from its anchorage and drifted into the
+centre of the stream.  It had appeared so safely moored against the tree
+that she was puzzled to understand how this had come about, but as the
+movement had roused her from sleep she was glad that it had occurred,
+and, seating herself steadily, lifted her paddle to work her way back to
+the jetty.
+
+As she settled herself, however, Darsie's attention was arrested by the
+manner in which the banks seemed to be slipping past; she turned her
+head over her shoulder, and discovered that in the minute which had
+elapsed since she had awakened from sleep the willow-tree had been left
+several yards behind.  Some mysterious change seemed to have passed over
+the surface of the still, almost stagnant, waters; they were flowing as
+with a tide, the rippling movement stirring the weedy banks.  Darsie
+used her paddle automatically, but its puny force seemed superfluous,
+for the punt was moving of itself, quickly and still more quickly,
+swinging broadside to the stream in defiance of her efforts to keep it
+straight.  Darsie ceased to struggle and leaned forward on the paddle to
+consider the situation.  Then, for the first time, she became aware that
+the former stillness of the stream was replaced by a harsh, continuous
+noise, which seemed momentarily to increase in volume.  What could it
+be?  She stared around with puzzled eyes, but there was no hint of alarm
+in her bewilderment.  A child of the city, she was inured to sudden and
+inexplicable noises; it was only when the punt swung heavily round a
+bend that she realised the seriousness of her position.  The mill was
+working!  One of the infrequent experimental trials of which she had
+heard was even now in process, the great moss-covered wheel was
+revolving creakily on its axle, waking the sleeping river into life, and
+the heavy punt was bearing down, more and more rapidly towards the crazy
+wooden gates!
+
+In a second all that she had heard on this subject from the Percival
+family flashed through Darsie's brain.  The gates were frail, so eaten
+by long action of water, that at the impact of a heavy mass they would
+almost certainly burst apart, and then--what would happen to the punt
+and to its hapless occupant?  Would she be hurled against a broken
+boulder, wedged helplessly beneath the debris, or rushed forward into
+the swirl of the millpond itself?  Whatever happened it seemed certain
+that danger--and serious danger--loomed close at hand, unless she could
+succeed in overmastering the current and landing the punt safely at the
+little jetty.  At this moment it was not fear but rather an exhilarating
+tingling of excitement of which Darsie was most aware.  Here was an
+adventure--a full-fledged adventure, such as came but seldom to break
+the monotony of life!
+
+For the sake of her future credit she must bear herself bravely, be
+swift, resourceful, energetic.  With all her strength she plied the
+paddle to and fro, but for all the effect produced she might as well
+have sat still upon her cushions.  It would have required an experienced
+hand to guide the heavy punt through the sweeping current, and under
+Darsie's unpractised strokes it twisted, and turned, and revolved in
+aimless and disconcerting circles...  No matter! she was determined to
+win; by hook or by crook she must make the left side of the stream and
+gain an anchorage.  The jetty or the millpond--that was the alternative,
+and it was one to put power into the arm and give staying power to the
+laboured breath!  The moments were flying now, the banks seemed to be
+flitting past more quickly than ever.  Darsie tried to convert the
+paddle into an oar, with which to steer more vigorously for the desired
+bank; then came a breathless second of suspense, followed by a sickening
+realisation of failure.  The punt had swept past the jetty at a distance
+just wide enough to make it impossible to grasp the chain, and was now
+bearing straight for the wooden gates!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+DARSIE'S SUGGESTION.
+
+With the passing of the jetty, fear awoke for the first time in Darsie's
+breast--the fear which arises when the possibility of action is over and
+nothing remains but to sit still and await the end.  In one moment of
+time an incredible number of thoughts flashed through her brain; she
+thought of her father and mother, of their grief and pain at the
+knowledge of her untimely end; she thought of her brothers and sisters,
+of Vie Vernon and plain Hannah, and Dan; she saw a vision of them all
+garbed in black, sitting round the study fire, enlarging upon her own
+virtues and graces; she thought of Aunt Maria and her responsibility;
+she saw a vision of herself, cold and still, being dragged out of the
+millpond, with her hair floating like seaweed behind her, and at the
+thought a wild rebellion rose in her heart, a determination to fight on,
+to fight to the end for her precious life!  One or two large trees stood
+out from the bank.
+
+Darsie leaped to her feet and, raising the paddle so high above her head
+that it caught against the branches, strove to delay the progress of the
+punt.  The result was to upset her own equilibrium, and as she fell
+forward she screamed loudly, a shrill, penetrating scream of panic and
+appeal.
+
+With almost startling quickness the answer came, in the form of an
+answering cry, close at hand.  Round the corner of the next clump of
+bushes dashed the figure of Ralph Percival, bareheaded, eager-faced,
+and, thank Heaven! unhesitating in action.  Not for one fraction of a
+second did he hesitate, but with the assurance of one who knows every
+inch of the land rushed forward waist-deep into the river; halted there,
+and called out a sharp command--
+
+"Your paddle!  Stretch out your paddle towards me!  Hold hard!  Lean out
+as far as you can!"
+
+Darsie fell on her knees, and, leaning forward to the utmost extent of
+her body, held out the paddle as directed.  There was a moment of
+sickening suspense, then came a halt, a jerk that seemed to pull her
+arms half out of the sockets, and the punt swung heavily towards the
+shore.  The danger was over; she was helped on to the bank, where she
+collapsed in a little heap, while Ralph worked the punt slowly along to
+the jetty and fastened it to its chain.
+
+_The short_ breathing space had allowed Darsie to recover her self-
+possession, to master the overpowering temptation to cry, and to swallow
+the lump in her throat sufficiently to be able to say in a weak little
+voice--
+
+"You've saved my life!"
+
+"You've spoiled my trousers!" retorted Ralph in a matter-of-fact manner
+calculated to put an instant check on sentimentality.  He sat down on
+the bank, unfastened his mud-soaked gaiters, and threw them on one side.
+"The river's beastly dirty, and the mud sticks like the Dickens.  A new
+suit, too!  It will never look the same again."
+
+"I'm sorry."
+
+"So you ought to be.  Things are bad enough as they are, _but_...  How
+on earth did you come to be careering about alone in that punt?"
+
+"I was waiting to see your sisters.  I wandered down here, and thought
+I'd just sit in it for a rest, then I thought I could just paddle up and
+down.  I managed quite well going up the stream; I got as far as the
+willow!"  Even at that moment a faint note of pride crept into Darsie's
+voice.  "We grounded there, and I--I must have fallen asleep, I suppose,
+and that hateful old mill must needs choose the opportunity to begin
+working at that very moment...  Just my luck!"
+
+Ralph pursed his lips in eloquent comment.
+
+"If it comes to that, I think you have had a fair amount of luck in
+another way!  I heard the noise of the mill and came down to look on.
+If I hadn't been there, you'd have been pretty considerably in Queer
+Street by this time.  Nice thing it would have been for us to discover
+your drowned body in the millpond, and have had to tell your aunt!"
+
+"I thought of that," agreed Darsie meekly.  "It was one of my dying
+thoughts.  Don't scold me, please, for I feel so shaky, and you wouldn't
+like it if I cried.  It was my own fault, and I got what I deserved.  I
+wasn't a bit frightened till I missed the jetty, but that one moment was
+like a hundred years.  Did my yell sound very awful?"
+
+"Pretty middling blood-curdling!" replied Ralph, smiling.  "Good thing
+it did.  Gave me a bit of a shock, I can tell you, to see the old punt
+dashing down to the gates, with you sitting huddled up in the bottom,
+with your hair hanging wild, and your face the colour of chalk.  You
+looked like a young Medusa."
+
+"Sounds attractive, I must say!  Medusa froze _other_ people's blood,
+not her own," declared Darsie, tilting her chin with a little air of
+offence, at which her companion laughed triumphantly.
+
+"Oh, _you're_ better; you're coming round again all right!  I was afraid
+you were going to faint.  I don't mind telling you that you were jolly
+plucky.  Most girls would have started screaming miles before, but you
+held on like a Briton.  How do the arms feel now?  Rather rusty at the
+hinges, I expect.  The stiffness will probably spread to the back by to-
+morrow, but it'll come all right in time.  It is a pretty good weight,
+that punt, and I had to pull for all I was worth...  Don't you think
+you'd better come up to the house and have some tea?"
+
+"Yes, please.  And you can change your clothes, too.  I should feel so
+miserable if you caught cold."
+
+"No fear of that.  I'm used to splashing in and out of the water half a
+dozen times a day.  You need have no anxiety about me."
+
+"But--the trousers?"
+
+"Oh, bother the trousers!  I piled that on a bit, just to prevent you
+from getting sentimental.  _They're_ all right!"  Ralph paused a moment,
+then, "I say!" he cried anxiously, "is this going to get you into
+trouble with the aunt?  Need you say anything about it, do you think?
+I'll swear to secrecy, if you say the word, and not a soul need know."
+
+Darsie debated the point thoughtfully while the two walked side by side
+along the gravelled paths, and finally arrived at a conclusion.
+
+"I think, on the whole, I'll tell!  Aunt Maria allowed me to go out
+alone as a great concession, and it was mean to take advantage and run
+risks.  So upsetting for her if I were killed in her house!  So I'm in
+honour bound to confess, and promise not to do it again."
+
+"You might do something else just as bad!  Probably she'll withdraw her
+permission and keep you under her thumb as she did those first weeks."
+
+"She _may_; but I don't think she _will_!  I think she will appreciate
+my confidence," said Darsie, with a grandiloquent air, at which her
+companion whistled softly, his face twitching with amusement.  He was
+much more natural and boyish in his manner than on either of the
+previous occasions on which Darsie had met him, and the agitation of the
+last few minutes seemed to have carried them in a bound past all the
+formalities of early acquaintance.
+
+"Right you are!" he said briskly.  "I like a straight girl.  But if you
+don't mind we won't speak of it before the mater.  She's a bit nervous,
+and would be always imagining that the girls were going to have the same
+experience.  You might warn Lady Hayes not to speak of it either.  We'll
+keep it a secret between us."
+
+"Just as you like!  I _believe_," said Darsie shrewdly, "that you're
+afraid of being praised and fussed over, as you would be if people knew
+that you had saved my life!  Men hate a fuss, but you can't escape my
+gratitude.  I didn't want to die.  It came over me with a sort of
+horror--the thought of leaving the flowers, and the trees, and the blue
+sky, and all the people I love.  Have you ever been so nearly dead to
+know how it feels?"
+
+"Once--when I had enteric at school.  It was a near squeak at the
+crisis."
+
+"And how did you feel?  What did you think?"
+
+"I didn't care a whit one way or another.  I wanted to have the pillow
+turned.  That seemed a hundred times more important than life or death;
+I was too ill to think...  Well, thank goodness, you are _not_ dead!  I
+hope you'll live for many years to be a pride and glory to--er--er--the
+ranks of women blue-stockings!"
+
+Darsie looked at him sharply.
+
+"The girls have been telling you of my ambitions!  Mean of them!  They
+might have known you'd scoff.  All boys do, but I fail to see why if a
+girl has brains she should not use them as well as a man."
+
+"The inference being--"
+
+"Certainly!  I'm unusually clever for my years!" returned Darsie
+proudly, whereupon they simultaneously burst into a peal of laughter.
+
+"Well, you goaded me to it!"  Darsie declared in self-vindication.  "I
+can't stand it when boys are superior.  Why must they sneer and jeer
+because a girl wants to go in for the same training as themselves,
+especially when she has to make her own living afterwards?  In our two
+cases it's more important for me than for you, for you will be a rich
+landowner, and I shall be a poor school marm.  You ought to be kind and
+sympathetic, and do all you can to cheer me on, instead of being lofty
+and blighting."
+
+Ralph Percival looked down at her with his handsome, quizzical eyes--
+
+"I don't mind betting that _you'll_ never be a school marm!" he said
+calmly; and at that very moment, round a bend of the path, the two girls
+came suddenly into view, trotting briskly towards the river.  They waved
+their hands, and tore down upon the visitor in lively welcome.
+
+"There you are!  This _is_ nice.  Bates said you were in the garden, so
+we just flew and changed, and rushed off in pursuit.  So glad you had
+Ralph to amuse you.  The mill's working!  We guessed you'd be there
+looking on..."
+
+"There's nothing to see but the old wheel creaking round.  Tea is far
+more to the point.  I'm dying for some, and I'm sure--er--Miss--er--
+Garnett is, too!  She's had a tiring afternoon."
+
+"Er--Miss--er--Garnett's name is Darsie.  You can always call a girl by
+her Christian name till her hair's up," said Darsie quickly, and Ralph
+immediately availed himself of the permission.
+
+"All right, Darsie.  It's a jolly little name.  Much easier to say."
+
+Rather to Darsie's disappointment tea was served in the drawing-room in
+formal, grown-up fashion, Mrs Percival presiding over the little table,
+with its shining silver and fine old-world china.  There were hot, brown
+little scones, crisp buttered toast, iced cakes, thick cream, and other
+indigestible luxuries, which came as an agreeable change from Lady
+Hayes's careful dietary, and Darsie was acutely conscious of the beauty
+and elegance of the room.  How small and poky and drab the home drawing-
+room would appear in comparison!  How different the outlook on another
+row of red-brick houses, from the sweep of green lawns, and the avenue
+of great beech-trees seen through the four long French windows which
+broke the side of this long, low room!
+
+How different her own life promised to be from those of the two girls by
+her side--the girls who had just returned from a ride on their own
+horses over their own land! ...  They would never need to worry about
+money; their role in life for the next few years would consist in being
+pretty and agreeable, wearing charming frocks, visiting at friends'
+houses, travelling in summer, hunting in winter, and, finally, making
+suitable Carriages, settling down as mistresses of other luxurious
+houses, and living happily ever after!
+
+She herself would study and cram for examination after examination; go
+through agonies of suspense waiting for results, and as she passed or
+failed, obtain a good or second-rate appointment in a suburban school.
+Henceforth work, work, work--teaching by day, correcting exercises by
+night, in a deserted schoolroom, with three months' holiday a year spent
+at home among brothers and sisters whose interests had necessarily
+drifted apart from her own!  As the years passed by she would become
+staid and prim; schoolmistressy manner; the girls would speak of her by
+derisive nicknames...
+
+A knifelike pang of envy pierced Darsie's heart; she dropped the dainty
+morsel of cake on to her plate with a feeling of actual physical nausea;
+for the moment her old ambitions lost their savour, and appeared grey
+and dead; she was pierced with an overpowering pity for her own hard
+lot.
+
+The sensation was, perhaps, as much physical as mental, for no one can
+pass through a moment of acute mental tension without suffering from a
+corresponding nervous collapse, but being too young and inexperienced to
+realise as much, Darsie mentally heaped ashes on her head, and shed
+tears over her blighted life.  The signs of her emotion were noticeable,
+not only in an unusual silence but in whitening cheeks, which brought
+upon her the quick attention of her friends.
+
+"Aren't you feeling quite well, dear?"  Mrs Percival asked kindly.
+"You look pale.  Would you like to lie down?"
+
+"Darsie, you are _green_!  What's the matter?  You were all right a
+moment ago."
+
+"I'm all right now.  Please, please, take no notice.  I'm perfectly all
+right."
+
+Noreen was beginning to protest again, when Ralph called her sharply to
+order--
+
+"That's enough, Nora!  Awfully bad form to fuss.  Talk about something
+else.  What about that garden-party you were discussing?  I thought you
+wanted to ask suggestions."
+
+Instantly both sisters were sparkling with excitement and animation.
+
+"Oh, yes, yes.  Of course!  We must ask Darsie.  She has such lovely
+ideas.  Darsie, we are going to have a garden-party.  The invitations
+are going out to-morrow.  Hundreds of people are coming--mother's
+friends, our friends, everybody's friends, every bowing acquaintance for
+miles around.  The question of the hour is--_What shall we do_?  Garden-
+parties are such monotonous occasions, always the same over and over
+again--people sitting about in their best clothes, eating ices and
+fruit, listening to a band, and quizzing each other's best clothes.  We
+want to hit on a brilliant novelty.  What shall it be?"
+
+Darsie mused, her face lighting with pleasure and anticipation.
+
+"I know nothing about garden-parties.  There aren't any in town.  What
+have you done before?"
+
+"Tennis, croquet, clock-golf, ping-pong, archery, yeomanry sports, blue
+bands, red bands, black and yellow bands, glee-singers, Punch and Judy,"
+Ida counted off one item after another on the ringers of her left hand.
+"And now we seem to have come to the end of our resources.  We can't
+think of anything else.  Do, like a darling, give us an idea!"
+
+The darling deliberated once more, head on one side, lips pursed, eyes
+on the ceiling, while the Percival family looked on, and exchanged
+furtive glances of admiration.  She _was_ pretty! prettier by far than
+ordinary pretty people, by reason of some picturesque and piquant
+quality more readily felt than denned.  It didn't seem to matter one bit
+that her nose turned up, and that her mouth was several sizes too large.
+"If you described me on paper, I'd sound far nicer, but I look a wur-r-
+rm beside her!" sighed Noreen mentally, just as Darsie lowered her eyes
+to meet those of her hostess, and inquired gravely--
+
+"How much may it cost?"
+
+It was the question which accompanied every home plan, and on which hung
+a momentous importance, but the Percivals appeared quite taken aback by
+the suggestion.  The girls stared, and their mother smilingly waved it
+aside.
+
+"Oh-h, I don't think we need trouble about that!  It's only once a year,
+and we must do the thing well.  If you have a suggestion, dear, please
+let us have it!"
+
+"I was thinking," said Darsie hesitatingly, "of a treasure hunt!"
+
+Instantly all four hearers acclaimed the idea with such unanimity and
+fervour that the proposer thereof was quite overpowered by the thanks
+lavished upon her.
+
+"The _very_ thing!  Why did we never think of it ourselves?  Every one
+will like it, and it will keep them moving about, which is always the
+great problem to solve.  Presents, presents, lots of presents, stowed
+away in odd corners..."
+
+"We'll each take a certain number and hide them in our _own_ pet corners
+when no one else is in the garden.  We'll make the parcels up in _green_
+paper, so as to be less easy to find..."
+
+"Every one must be told to bring them back to the lawn for a grand
+public opening, so that the disappointed ones may join in the fun..."
+
+"We may take part ourselves, mother?  We _must_ take part!  Get lots and
+lots of presents, and let us hunt with the rest!"
+
+"Certainly, dears, certainly.  It is your party as much as mine; of
+course you must hunt.  I'll run up to town and buy the presents at the
+stores.  You must help me to think of suitable things.  Bags, purses,
+umbrellas, blotters, manicure-cases--"
+
+"Boxes of French bonbons, belts, scarfs--"
+
+"Cigarettes, brushes--"
+
+"Nice little bits of jewellery--"
+
+Suggestions poured in thick and fast, and Mrs Percival jotted them down
+on a little gold and ivory tablet which hung by her side unperturbed by
+what seemed to Darsie the reckless extravagance of their nature.  It was
+most exciting talking over the arrangements for the hunt; most agreeable
+and soothing to be constantly referred to in the character of author and
+praised for cleverness and originality.  Darsie entirely forgot the wave
+of depression which had threatened to upset her composure a few minutes
+before, forgot for the time being the suspense and danger of the earlier
+afternoon.
+
+Some one else, it appeared, however, was more remindful, for when she
+prepared to depart the dog-cart stood at the door, and Ralph announced
+in his most grand seigneur manner--
+
+"We're going to drive you back, don't you know!  Too awfully fagging to
+bicycle on a hot afternoon.  Put on your hats, girls, and hurry up."
+
+The girls obediently flew upstairs, and Darsie's protestation of "My
+bicycle!" was silenced with a word.
+
+"The stable-boy shall ride it over to-morrow morning.  You're a bit
+jumpy still and can't be allowed to run any risks.  I mean to see you
+safely back in your aunt's charge."
+
+Darsie scrambled up to her high seat and leaned back thereon with an
+agreeable sense of importance.
+
+"I feel like a cat that's been stroked," she said to herself, smiling.
+"When you're one of a large family you are not used to fussing.  It's
+most invigorating!  I'd like to go in for a long course!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+THE TREASURE HUNT.
+
+The invitations for the garden-party arrived in due course: one for Lady
+Hayes, another for Miss Darsie Garnett, and in the corner of each,
+beside the name of a celebrated military band, appeared the magic words
+"_Treasure Hunt_."  Darsie felt something of the proud interest of the
+author who beholds in print the maiden effort of his brain, as she gazed
+upon those words, and reflected that but for her own suggestion they
+would never have appeared.  Lady Hayes also seemed to feel a reflected
+pride in her niece's ingenuity, which pride showed itself in a most
+agreeable anxiety about the girl's toilette for the occasion.
+
+After a survey of the few simple dresses which composed Darsie's
+wardrobe, it was pronounced that nothing was suitable for garden-party
+wear, and a dressmaker was summoned from the country town to take
+measurements for a dainty white dress and hat to match.  The dress was
+made to reach right down to the ankles, in deference to Lady Hayes's
+ideas of propriety, and Darsie felt prodigiously fine and grown-up as
+she peacocked about before the long glass of her bedroom wardrobe on the
+day of the garden-party itself.  Never in her life before had she
+possessed a gown made by an expert dressmaker, and the result was
+surprisingly flattering.  She expatiated on the same with a candour
+startling to the audience of aunt and her maid.
+
+"Don't I look s-weet?  So slim!  I'd no idea I was such a nice shape.  I
+don't know which looks nicest, the frock on me or me in the frock!
+Aren't I tall?  Isn't it graceful when I stand like this, and show the
+pleats?  The hat's a duck!  I must say I do look most scrumptiously
+nice!"
+
+"My dear!"  Lady Hayes looked both shocked and alarmed.  "My dear, how
+_can_ you?  I shall begin to regret my purchases if they encourage a
+spirit of vanity.  I was always taught to allow others to praise me and
+to keep silent myself."
+
+"But you _thought_ all the time, Aunt Maria, you couldn't help thinking,
+and it's worse to bottle it up.  I'm always quite candid on the subject
+of my appearance," returned Darsie calmly.  "On principle!  Why should
+you speak the truth on every other subject, and humbug about that?  When
+I've a plain fit I know it, and grovel accordingly, and when I'm nice
+I'm as pleased as Punch.  I _am_ nice to-day, thanks to you and Mason,
+and if other people admire me, why shouldn't I admire myself?  I _like_
+to admire myself!  It's like the cocoa advertisements, `grateful and
+comforting.'  Honest Ingin, Aunt Maria!  Didn't _you_ admire yourself
+when you saw yourself in the glass _in_ that ducky grey bonnet?"
+
+Evidently the question hit home, for Lady Hayes made a swift change of
+front.
+
+"My dear, my dear, moderate your language!  Your expressions are
+unsuitable for a young gentlewoman.  You are growing up.  Try, I beg, to
+cultivate a more ladylike demeanour!"
+
+Darsie made a little face at the charming reflection in the glass, the
+which Lady Hayes wisely affected not to see, and presently aunt and
+niece were seated side by side in the big old barouche, forming one of a
+concourse of vehicles which were converging together out of every cross
+road, and turning in a seemingly endless string in the direction of the
+Hall.  Shut carriages, open carriages, motors of different sizes and
+makes, dog-carts, pony carriages, governess carts--on they came, one
+after another, stirring up the dust of the road till the air seemed full
+of a powdery mist, through which unhappy pedestrians ploughed along in
+the shadow of the hedgerows, their skirts held high in white-gloved
+hands.
+
+Darsie thought it inhuman of her aunt not to fill the carriage to
+overflowing with these unfortunates, but she made no attempt to do so,
+but sat up stiff and straight in her seat, a typical old lady of the
+olden times, in her large bonnet, grey satin gown, and richly
+embroidered China crape shawl.
+
+"If you're not proud of yourself, I'm proud of you!" the girl declared,
+smoothing the satin folds with an approving hand.  "You look just what
+you are, a dear old fairy godmother who pretends to be proud and fierce,
+and is really a lump of kindness and generosity.  All the other old
+ladies look dowds beside you."
+
+"Don't flatter me, my dear.  I dislike it extremely," returned Lady
+Hayes with such an obvious look of satisfaction the while that Darsie
+laughed in her face, and laughed unreproved.
+
+Arrived at the Hall, the guests were escorted through the perilously
+slippery hall, on which the mats seemed to turn into fresh pitfalls and
+slide beneath the feet; then through a side-door on to a miniature lawn,
+in the centre of which stood Mrs Percival, sweetly smiling, and
+ejaculating endlessly: "Delighted to see you!  _So_ nice of you to
+come!" before passing the visitors on to her husband and children who
+were ranged at discreet intervals along the sweep of the lawn.  The
+girls whispered dramatically to Darsie that for the time being they were
+tied, literally tied by the heels, so she sat demurely by her aunt's
+side under the shade of a great beech-tree, listened to the band, spilt
+drops of hot tea down the front of her white dress, buttered the thumbs
+of her white kid gloves, and discovered the unwelcome but no doubt
+wholesome fact that there were other girls present who appeared just as
+attractive, or even more so than herself!  Then the band began to play
+item number four on the programme, and Noreen Percival came forward with
+a sigh of relief.
+
+"At last I am free!  They've all come, or practically all, and we can't
+wait for the laggards.  The Hunt begins at three o'clock.  Mother
+thought we'd better have it early, as it would shake them up and make
+them more lively and sociable.  You'll have to search by yourself,
+Darsie, for as we have all done some of the hiding, it wouldn't be fair
+to us to go about in pairs.  There are piles of presents, and your eyes
+are so sharp that you are sure to find two or three.  You mustn't open
+them on the spot, but bring them up to the cedar lawn, where mother will
+be waiting with the old fogies who are too old to run about, but who
+would like to see the fun of opening.  I _do hope_ I find the right
+thing!  There's the sweetest oxydised buckle with a cairngorm in the
+centre that would be the making of my grey dress.  I have set my heart
+upon it, but I haven't the least notion where it's stowed.  It may even
+have been among my own parcels, and of course I can't go near those..."
+
+"If I get it, we'll swop!  I wish I knew the garden better.  I don't
+know of _one_ good hiding-place except those I made myself...  Perhaps I
+shan't find anything at all."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!  Keep your eyes open and poke about with your feet and
+hands, and you can't go wrong.  The paper's just a shade lighter than
+the grass.  Remember!"
+
+Noreen flew off again to move a chair for an old lady who wished to
+escape the rays of the sun, and once more Darsie was left to her own
+resources.  By her side Lady Hayes was deep in conversation with another
+old lady on the well-worn subject of a forthcoming agricultural show,
+and the town-bred visitor, failing to take an intelligent interest in
+prize carrots and potatoes, turned her attention to the group on the
+right, where Ralph Percival was making himself agreeable to three
+fashionable-looking girls of about her own age.
+
+He wore an immaculate grey suit and a Panama hat, and regarding him
+critically, Darsie felt another shock of surprise at being compelled to
+admire a _man_!  Hitherto she had regarded the race as useful,
+intelligent creatures, strictly utilitarian in looks, as in attire, but
+to-day it was impossible to deny that the beauty was on Ralph's side
+more than on that of his companions.  The poise of the tall, slim figure
+was so graceful and easy that it was a pleasure to behold; the perfect
+lines of aquiline nose, and dented chin, the little kink and wave which
+refused to be banished from the clipped hair, the long narrow eyes, and
+well-shaped lips made up a whole which was quite startlingly handsome
+and attractive.  The three girls looked back at him with undisguised
+admiration and vied with one another in animated conversation, in return
+for which he drawled out slow replies in a tone of languid boredom.
+
+During the fortnight which had elapsed since the date of her
+misadventure on the river, Darsie had had frequent meetings with the
+Percivals, and now felt on the footing of a friend rather than an
+acquaintance.  Concerning the girls, there was no question in her mind.
+They were dears, not dears of the same calibre as Vie and plain Hannah,
+dears of a less interesting, more conventional description, but dears
+all the same, lively, good-tempered, and affectionate.  The only brother
+was a far more complex character, with regard to whom Darsie changed her
+mind a dozen times a day.  At one time he was all that was delightful,
+full of natural, boy-like good-comradeships at another he was a bored
+and supercilious dandy, looking down on schoolgirls from an intolerable
+height of patronage, and evidently priding himself on a _blase_
+indifference.  The present moment showed him in the latter mood, and
+Darsie's lips curled as she watched and listened, and in her eyes there
+danced a mocking light.  "Like a vain, affected girl!" was the mental
+comment, as her thoughts flew back to Harry and Russell, uncompromising
+and blunt, and to Dan Vernon in his shaggy strength.  Even as the
+thought passed through her mind Ralph turned, met the dancing light of
+the grey eyes, and turned impatiently aside.  He would not look at her,
+but he could _feel_!  Darsie watched with a malicious triumph the flush
+creeping slowly over the smooth pale cheek, the hitch of the shoulders,
+the restless movement of the hands which betrayed the hidden discomfort.
+Presently some friends came forward to join the three ladies, when
+Ralph immediately joined her with an invitation which sounded more like
+a command--
+
+"Come for a walk round the gardens!"
+
+Darsie rose, nothing loath, conscious that she was about to be reproved,
+and finding an agreeable sense of support in her lengthened skirts, and
+the semblance of grown-up-ness which they imparted.
+
+"What did you mean by staring at me like that?"
+
+"Like which?"
+
+"You know very well.  You did it on purpose to annoy me, and make me
+uncomfortable."
+
+"Oh no, I didn't!  I didn't do anything.  It did itself.  It was just
+the outward and visible expression of my inward and invisible thoughts."
+
+"Pretty middling disagreeable thoughts they must have been!"
+
+"Humph!  Not disagreeable exactly.  Hardly strong enough for that.  Just
+amused!"
+
+"Amused!"  The flush deepened on the lad's cheek.  Unwittingly Darsie
+had hit upon the most scathing of all indictments.  To be an object of
+_amusement_ to others!  What could be more lacerating to the dignity of
+nineteen years.  "I had no idea that I was being so funny.  Will you
+have the goodness to point out what you found so amusing?"
+
+"Your airs," replied Darsie bluntly.  "And graces!  You asked me, you
+know, so I'm bound to tell you.  It's so odd to see a boy like that.
+But you needn't be cross.  I'm speaking only for myself.  Those other
+girls liked it very much...  You could see that for yourself."
+
+"Just so.  We are talking of _your_ opinion at the moment, however, not
+of theirs.  What sort of--er--_boys_ are you accustomed to meet, if one
+may ask?"
+
+The strong accent thrown on the word "boys" showed a fresh ground of
+complaint.  Darsie felt a twinge of compunction, remembering the episode
+of the punt and her own great cause for gratitude.  The answer came with
+startling earnestness.
+
+"Not a bit braver than you, nor quicker and cleverer in an emergency.
+Perhaps not so good.  If you'd hesitated one moment I mightn't have been
+here to criticise.  But, just big, simple boys, not an ounce of
+affectation between them.  Of course, they are not handsome.  That makes
+a difference..."
+
+But Ralph was not to be mollified by a compliment on his good looks.  He
+was irritated, and considered that he had good reason for being so.
+Darsie Garnett was an unusually pretty and attractive girl, and having
+saved her from a perilous position but a fortnight earlier, it had been
+an agreeable delusion to imagine himself ensconced for life in her
+estimation as a gallant young rescuer, the object of her undying
+gratitude and admiration--a delusion indeed, since the criticism of
+those mocking eyes was more than equalled by the explicitness of her
+explanations!
+
+Ralph looked injured and melancholy, and Darsie, with characteristic
+softness of heart, was instantly seized with compunction.  She was
+finding out for herself what every one who came in contact with Ralph
+Percival discovered sooner or later--that it was exceedingly difficult
+to keep up a feeling of offence against any one who showed his
+displeasure in so interesting and attractive a fashion.
+
+He was so handsome, so graceful in movement, he had the art of
+concealing the most ordinary emotions behind a cloak of baffling
+superiority.  To-day, as he paced the garden paths by Darsie's side,
+Ralph wore the air of a lovelorn poet, of a patriot sorrowing for his
+country, an artist wrestling over a life's masterpiece, like anything or
+everything, in fact, but just what he was--a sulky and empty-headed
+young gentleman, wounded in his own conceit!
+
+To her own amazement Darsie presently found herself engaged in the
+humble position of "making it up," and in taking back one after another
+each disparaging remark which she had made, which, being done, Ralph
+graciously consented to "think no more about it!" and strolled off to
+speak to a friend, leaving her stranded by herself at the far end of the
+garden.
+
+The position would have been an uncomfortable one had it not happened
+that just at that moment a bell rang loudly, followed by a sudden
+gathering together of the guests upon the cedar lawn.  Mr Percival was
+making some announcement which was greeted by bursts of approving
+laughter.  The words of the announcement were inaudible to Darsie's
+ears, but the purport was unmistakable.  The treasure hunt had begun!
+With one accord the guests turned and streamed in the direction of the
+gardens, turning to right and to left, peering beneath bushes, poking
+delicately among the foliage of flower-beds with the ferules of walking-
+sticks and parasols...
+
+Darsie turned and fled like a lapwing along the path leading past the
+tennis-lawn and rose and vegetable gardens, to the shaded fern grotto
+which formed one of the boundaries of the grounds.  The idea had come to
+her to begin, so to speak, at the end and have the field to herself,
+but, as is usually the case, she was to discover that others were as
+ingenious as herself, for she had soon quite a string of followers along
+the narrow paths.
+
+The thickly growing ferns seemed to offer endless hiding-places, but a
+printed notice to the effect that "It is not necessary to walk upon the
+Beds!" seemed to limit the possible area to that within reach of hand or
+stick.  Darsie poked and peered, lifted the hanging fronds which fell
+over the rockwork border of the lily pond, stood on tiptoe on the rustic
+seat to peer between the branches of surrounding trees, but could
+discover nothing in the semblance of a paper packet.  It was the same
+story in the rose garden, though the thick foliage on the pergolas
+seemed to offer numberless hiding-places for dainty packets, containing
+great gear in little bulk; it was the same story in the wide, herbaceous
+border, though pathways on either side offered double opportunities for
+search.  For the first few minutes the search was pursued in almost
+complete silence, but as time went on there came the sound of one
+triumphant cry after another, as a busy searcher was rewarded by a
+sudden sight of the longed-for paper wrapping.  Darsie's envious eyes
+beheld one young girl running gaily past, with no less than three
+trophies carried bag-like in the folds of a chiffon scarf.  _Three_!
+And she herself had not yet discovered one!  What would the Percivals
+say if at the end of the hunt she returned empty-handed?  The surprised
+incredulity of the girls, the patronising condolences of Ralph, seemed
+in prospect equally unwelcome.  Desire for a present itself became
+subservient to anxiety for the credit of her own sharp-sightedness and
+intuition.  She _must_ and would discover a parcel before the time limit
+was past.
+
+The next half-hour passed in a search ever more eager and strenuous, as
+with every moment that passed the chance of success diminished.  So many
+treasures had already been discovered that Darsie began to think with a
+pang that perhaps there were no more to be found.  Every third or fourth
+visitor seemed to be carrying a trophy; some with airs of would-be
+modesty were wending their way back to the cedar lawn carrying as many
+as three or four, declaring that really and really they must not look
+any more--it was altogether _too_ greedy!  As they passed by the spot
+where Darsie pursued her ceaseless search, they would pause with words
+of maddening advice or condolence.
+
+"Not found anything yet?  How unfortunate!  Look beneath the leaves..."
+Once Ralph passed by and arched his eyebrows in eloquent surprise.  He
+seemed on the point of offering advice, but Darsie whisked off in the
+opposite direction, to take refuge in the least frequented portion of
+the grounds, the orchard.
+
+Only ten minutes left!  The bell of warning was pealing loudly from the
+cedar lawn, she could hear the merry chatter of the returning guests.
+
+Darsie lifted her muslin skirts and ran quickly in and out between the
+trees, searching for some hiding-place as yet undiscovered.  The gnarled
+branches seemed to offer endless convenient niches, but in none of them
+could anything in the shape of a parcel be discovered.  She was on the
+point of abandoning the search and returning empty-handed, when, lifting
+up a heavy branch, her eyes suddenly lit upon a cavity in the trunk of
+one of the oldest trees.  When the branch remained in its ordinary
+position, the hollow was completely hidden from sight; moreover its
+position facing the wall made it doubly invisible.  It hardly seemed
+possible that so very obscure a hiding-place would be chosen under the
+circumstances, but at this last moment no chance could be neglected.
+
+Darsie rolled back her dainty net sleeve, plunged her hand deep into the
+hollow trunk, and flushed with triumph as her fingers came in contact
+with something loose and soft.  It was not a paper parcel, it felt more
+like cloth--cloth with knotted ends all ready to pull.  Darsie pulled
+with a will, found an unexpected weight, put up a second hand to aid the
+first, and with a tug and a cloud of dust brought to light nothing more
+exciting than a workman's handkerchief, knotted round a lumpy parcel
+which seemed obviously a midday meal.
+
+It was a disappointment, but the next moment an inherent sense of humour
+had discovered its possibilities of the position and gallantly accepted
+a second best.
+
+Since she might not possess a proper present, she could at least be the
+happy proprietor of a joke!  Into the middle of the ring of guests she
+would march, handkerchief bundle in hand, and to her credit would
+remain, if not the greatest applause, at least the biggest laugh of the
+afternoon!  Darsie drew down her sleeve, brushed the top coating of dust
+from the handkerchief, and hurried onwards towards the cedar lawn.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+A TREASURE INDEED.
+
+Darsie was one of the last guests to arrive upon the final scene of the
+treasure hunt, and already the merry process of parcel opening had
+begun.  The young girl who had captured three prizes was on her knees
+before a garden seat, laying them out in a row to be seen and admired of
+all.  Gaily dressed women were running about appealing to their male
+friends for the loan of penknives to cut the encircling string, and the
+air was full of the sound of laughter and happy, triumphant voices.
+
+"How lovely!  How beautiful!  Isn't it charming?  _Just_ what I wanted!"
+
+Darsie stood in the background, her hands clasping her bundle behind her
+back, so as to screen it from view until the right moment arrived for
+its production.  The prize-winners were one and all in such a desperate
+hurry to examine their "finds" that she would not have long to wait, and
+meanwhile the scene was delightful to witness.
+
+Every one looked gay, and happy and smiling; the many-coloured frocks of
+the women made charming flecks of colour against the sombre green of the
+old cedar, as they moved to and fro with dazzling, kaleidoscopic effect.
+Darsie had never even imagined such a scene; it seemed to her more like
+fairyland than the dull work-a-day world.
+
+She looked on, absorbed in delighted admiration, while one after another
+the coverings were torn from the dainty packages, and the brilliance of
+the scene was enhanced by the glitter of silver, and glass, and dainty
+patches of colour.  It would take long, indeed, to write of the
+treasures which Mrs Percival had amassed in that day in town; it seemed
+to Darsie that nothing less than the contents of an entire shop window
+could have supplied so bewildering a variety.  Bags, purses, satchels,
+brushes, manicure-cases, blotters, boxes, cigarette-cases, photograph
+frames, fans, brooches, bracelets, buckles, studs, tie-pins, waistcoat
+buttons--wherever the eye turned there seemed something fresh and
+beautiful to admire.
+
+After such an Aladdin's feast, would not her workman's bundle fall very
+flat?  With a sudden access of humility Darsie was about to turn tail
+and put the poor man's dinner back in its hiding-place, when from across
+the lawn she met Ralph's eyes fixed upon her with an expression of
+patronising commiseration.  He was pitying her, because she had come
+back empty-handed when sharper eyes had reaped so rich a harvest!  That
+touch of superiority made short work of Darsie's hesitation.  She would
+show that she was in no need of pity, that so far from being overpowered
+by failure, she remained jaunty and self-confident enough to turn her
+own disappointment into a joke for the amusement of others!  With head
+thrown back she marched dramatically forward to the spot where Mrs
+Percival stood, the gracious mistress of the ceremonies, and held the
+bundle towards her in extended hands.
+
+"Dear child, what have you there?  A bundle--a workman's bundle!  Where
+in the world have you discovered that?"
+
+"In the trunk of an old tree, in the orchard near the wall."
+
+"In the orchard?  It belongs most likely to one of the men.  His dinner,
+I should say, but what an odd place to hide it!  So dirty!"  She gave a
+dainty little shake of distaste.  "I should put it away, dear, really!
+It is covered with dust."
+
+"It's a very _lumpy_ dinner," said Darsie, patting the surface of the
+bundle with curious fingers.  "I thought perhaps it was a treasure done
+up in a different way from the others.  It's heavy, too, far heavier
+than bread and cheese.  I can open it, can't I?  Just to make sure!"
+
+"Oh, certainly, if you like--" assented Mrs Percival dubiously, and
+Darsie waited for no further permission, but promptly knelt down on the
+grass and set to work to untie the knotted ends of the checked
+handkerchief.  The surrounding guests gathered around in a laughing
+circle, being in the gay and gratified frame of mind when any
+distraction is met halfway, and ensured of a favourable reception.  What
+was this pretty girl about?  What joke was hidden away in this
+commonplace-looking bundle?
+
+The knot was strongly tied, but Darsie's fingers were strong also and in
+a minute's time it was undone, and the corners of the handkerchief
+dropped on the grass to reveal an inner bag of thick grey linen tied
+again round the mouth.
+
+"It _is_ lumpy!" repeated Darsie again; then with a tug the string came
+loose, and lifting the bag in her hands, she rained its contents over
+the grass.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Was it a dream?  Was it some fantasy of imagination--some wonderful
+effect of sunshine shining upon hundreds and hundreds of dewdrops, and
+turning them into scintillating balls of light, catching reflections
+from the flowers in yonder beds, and sending dancing rays of red, blue,
+and green across the grass?  Red and blue and green the rainbow drops
+gleamed upon the ground, vivid and clear as the loveliest among the
+blossoms, but possessed of a radiance which no earth flower had
+inherited before.
+
+Darsie sat back on her heels, her arms, falling slack by her sides, her
+wide eyes fixed on the ground in a surprise too complete for speech.
+Nobody spoke; the stupor in her own brain must surely have communicated
+itself to the guests crowding around, for while one might have counted
+fifty there was blank, utter silence upon the lawn.  Then suddenly came
+a dramatic interruption; a cry, almost a scream, in a high, feminine
+voice, and a tall, fashionably dressed woman grasped wildly at a
+dangling chain of stones.
+
+"My rubies!  My rubies!  My beautiful, beautiful rubies!  Found again!
+_Safe_!  Oh, my rubies!"  She burst into excited sobs, a gentleman came
+forward and led her gently aside, but her place was immediately taken by
+other women--white-faced, eager, trembling with anxiety.
+
+"Oh!  Oh-h--let me look!  It's the jewels, the lost jewels-- Are my
+diamonds among them?  Do you see a diamond necklace with an emerald
+clasp?  Oh, _do_, do look!"
+
+"My sapphires!  They were taken, too.  My sapphires!--"
+
+They fell on their knees, regardless of their filmy draperies, and
+grasped at one shining treasure after another.  The delicate chains were
+knotted together; curved corners of gold had caught in other curved
+corners, so that in some cases half a dozen different ornaments
+presented the appearance of one big, bejewelled ball, and it was no easy
+matter to disentangle one from the other.  The different owners,
+however, showed a marvellous quickness in recognising even a fragment of
+their lost treasures, and their exultation was somewhat undignified as
+they turned and twisted and coaxed the dainty threads, and finally
+clasped their lost treasures, safe and sound, and all the time Darsie
+sat back on her heels, with her golden hair hanging in heavy masses over
+her shoulders, her eyes fixed upon this extraordinary scene, staring--
+staring!
+
+"Darsie, dear child, how can we thank you?"  Mrs Percival's low voice
+trembled with earnestness; she had lifted a long string of pearls from
+the grass, and now held it between both hands, with a transparent
+pleasure it was true, but without any of the hysteric excitement shown
+by her guests.
+
+"Do you realise all that your workman's bundle contained, or the weight
+you have taken off our minds?  It was the thief's bundle, the bundle of
+jewels which he stole from the house on the night of the Hunt Ball,
+which we have tried so hard to recover!  To think--to think that all
+this time they have been hidden close at hand!"
+
+"Hidden with a purpose, too!  Look at this, Evelyn!" interrupted Mr
+Percival, holding out a corner of the checked handkerchief towards his
+wife, with a stern look on his handsome face--
+
+"`B.W.'  That's Wilson's property!  He was a worse offender than we
+thought."
+
+"Wilson?  That was the young gamekeeper, wasn't it?" asked another man--
+the husband of the lady who was still crooning over her recovered
+diamonds.  "You thought he had been led away by smart London thieves,
+but this seems as if he had taken a leading part.  Looks, too, as if
+there may have been only himself and Forbes in the affair!"
+
+"Just so!  No wonder Wilson refused to give the names of his colleagues.
+When the chase grew too hot he hid the spoils in this tree--evidently
+an old hiding-place--before climbing the wall.  If he had made clear
+away that night we should never have suspected his share in the theft.
+He would have turned up as usual next morning, and expressed great
+surprise at the news.  As it is he and Forbes are no doubt patiently
+waiting until their sentences are out, expecting to slip back some dark
+night and secure their prey.  From such point of view it is a small
+business to serve a few months when there's a fortune waiting at the
+end!  Well, this takes ten years off my back.  I can't tell you how the
+whole business has preyed on our minds.  My dear fellow, I am so
+thankful that your diamonds have turned up!"
+
+"My dear fellow, it was fifteen times worse for you than for us!  A most
+uncomfortable position; I congratulate you a hundred times.  Just in the
+nick of time, too.  In a month or so there would have been no bundle to
+discover."
+
+A general gasp at once of dismay and relief passed round the little
+inner circle of those most nearly interested in the recovered treasures,
+and the first excitement of recovery having passed, every one seemed
+bent on lavishing thanks and praises upon the girl through whom the
+happy discovery had come about.
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"What is her name?"
+
+"Where does she come from?"  The questions buzzed on every side, and the
+answer, "Lady Hayes's grand-niece," served only to enhance existing
+attractions.  Darsie found herself kissed, patted, embraced, called by a
+dozen caressing names by half a dozen fine ladies in turn, during which
+process every eye on the lawn was turned upon her blushing face.
+Through a gap in the crowd she could see Lady Hayes holding as it were a
+secondary court, being thanked effusively for possessing a grand-niece
+with a faculty for recovering jewels, and bowing acknowledgments with a
+bright patch of colour on either cheekbone.  The position was so strange
+and bewildering that even yet it seemed more like a dream than reality;
+that sudden rain of jewels descending from the linen bag was the sort of
+thing one might expect in an Arabian night adventure rather than in the
+midst of a decorous English garden-party!  It must surely be in
+imagination that she, Darsie Garnett, has been hailed as a good fairy to
+all these fashionably dressed men and women!
+
+The almost hysteric effusion of the women who kissed and gushed around
+her must surely have something infectious in its nature, since she
+herself was beginning to feel an insane inclination to burst into tears
+or laughter, it was immaterial which of the two it should be.  Darsie
+turned a quick look around, searching for a way of escape, and at that
+moment Noreen's hand pressed on her arm, and she found herself being led
+gently towards the house.
+
+"Poor old Darsie, then!  She looks quite dazed!" said Noreen's voice.
+"No wonder, after all that fuss.  You've been kissed to pieces, poor
+dear, and howled over, too.  Silly things! howling when things are lost,
+and howling again when they are found!  I've no patience with them; but,
+oh, my dear, I _do_ bless you for what you've done!  You've no idea how
+relieved we shall be.  It was such a _stigma_ to have your guests robbed
+under your own roof, and by one of your own men, too.  Mother has never
+been the same since--worried herself into nerves, and fancied every one
+blamed her, and thought she'd been careless.  You can't think _how_
+happy she'll be writing to the people who aren't here to-day telling
+them that their things are found.  She'll feel a new creature."
+
+"I'm so glad.  She's a dear.  Wasn't she sweet and dignified among them
+all?  Oh, dear!  I'm all churned up.  I thought as I couldn't find a
+treasure I'd have a little joke on my own account, and after all I found
+the biggest treasure of all, Noreen! how much money were those things
+worth?"
+
+"Oh, my dear, don't ask me!  Mother's pearls alone are worth three
+thousand, and that's nothing to the rest.  Mrs Ferriers' rubies are the
+most valuable, I believe.  Altogether it must be a fortune--to say
+nothing of the associations.  Isn't it strange to think of?  An hour ago
+you were a stranger whom scarcely any one knew even by sight, and now in
+a flash you have become a celebrity, a heroine--the pet of the county!"
+
+"Am I?  Really?  It sounds agreeable.  I'll write to-night and tell Vie
+Vernon, and sign myself `The Pet of the County.'  She _will_ be
+impressed.  Pity it wasn't my own county, where it would be of more use.
+I shall probably never see these good people again."
+
+"Fiddle!" cried Noreen derisively.  "No chance of that.  Whether you
+like it or no, my dear, this day has settled your fate.  You can never
+be a mere acquaintance any more.  You've done us a service which will
+bind us together as long as we live.  Henceforth a bit of you belongs to
+us, and we'll see that we get it!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+A DREAM FULFILLED.
+
+The next week brought with it a succession of bewildering excitements.
+From morn till night, as it seemed, the bell rang, and visitors were
+ushered in to congratulate Lady Hayes and her niece on the happy episode
+of the jewel-finding, and to repeat _ad infinitum_ the same questions,
+ejaculations, and remarks.  People who had no personal interest in the
+theft seemed, strangely enough, quite as excited and curious as those
+who had; and even when their curiosity was satisfied there still
+remained the servants in the house, the tradesmen in the village, the
+very children in the roads, who seemed one and all possessed with a
+thirst to hear the romantic story from the lips of the heroine herself.
+
+Then letters from relations and friends!  However minutely one might
+retail every incident, there still seemed an endless number of details
+which remained to be told to people who could not be satisfied without
+knowing in each case what _he_ said, how _she_ looked, how _you_
+yourself felt and behaved!  The first three days were spent in talk; on
+the fourth began a second and still more exciting stage.  The bell rang,
+a small, daintily tied parcel was handed in for Miss Garnett, which
+being unwrapped revealed a red velvet jeweller's box, and within that a
+small heart-shaped pendant, slung on a gold chain, and composed of one
+large and several small rubies, set transparently, so as to show to
+advantage their glowing rosy light.  An accompanying card bore the
+inscription, "A small expression of gratitude from Mrs Eustace
+Ferriers"; but even this proof was hardly sufficient to convince Darsie
+that such splendour was really for her own possession.
+
+"Aunt Maria!  Can she _mean_ it?  Is it really to keep?"
+
+"Certainly, my dear.  Why not?  It is quite natural that Mrs Ferriers
+should wish to give you some little remembrance as you were the means of
+restoring a valuable heirloom.  It is a good stone.  You must be careful
+not to lose it."
+
+"Is it valuable, Aunt Maria--worth a lot of money?"
+
+"It is a pretty ornament, my dear.  Do not look a gift horse in the
+mouth."
+
+It was all very well for Aunt Maria, a titled lady with a box full of
+jewels of her own, to take things calmly, but for a member of a poor
+large family to receive a ruby pendant was a petrifying experience, only
+to be credited by a continual opening of the box and holding of it in
+one's hand to gaze upon its splendours.  And then the very next morning
+the bell rang again, and in came another parcel, another jeweller's box,
+and inside it a blue enamelled watch with an encircling glitter of light
+where a family of tiny diamonds formed a border round the edge.  There
+was an enamel bow also to fasten it on to a dress, but Darsie fairly
+quaked at the thought of the responsibility of wearing so gorgeous an
+ornament.
+
+"That will do for mother," she announced decidedly.  "It wouldn't be
+_decent_ for me to flaunt about in enamel and diamonds when she has an
+old gold thing that is always slow.  Besides, if she wears it I can
+watch the diamonds flash, and that is the best part of the fun.  Aunt
+Maria, that's two!  Do you suppose, should you imagine, that they'll
+_all_--"
+
+Lady Hayes looked shocked, as in duty bound.
+
+"My dear, I don't suppose anything about it.  That is not our affair.
+It is sufficient that these two friends have been most kind and
+generous, and that you ought to be a very grateful girl.  Surmises as to
+future gifts are in the worst possible taste."
+
+Darsie wrinkled her nose and sat in silence for several moments, moving
+the little watch to and fro to catch the play of light upon the stones.
+Then suddenly she spoke again--
+
+"Aunt Maria, what are your ideas with regard to _luck_?"
+
+"I have none, my dear.  I don't believe in its existence!"
+
+"But you must, Aunt Maria.  You must.  It was the merest luck my seeing
+that hole, and thinking of feeling inside, but it seems as if it were
+going to have such big consequences.  Just in a moment it has brought me
+more influential friends than most girls meet with in the whole of their
+lives.  They are all grateful to me; they feel that I have helped them;
+they want to help me in return; but after all there's no credit to me,
+it was all done without one scrap of thought or trouble.  It seems hard
+to think that many people work and slave for years, and fail to gain a
+quarter as much as I have done by just pure luck!"
+
+"Don't be so sweeping in your assertions, child.  These are early days
+yet to talk about results.  When you come to my age, my dear, you will
+look back and realise that those who go through life in the right spirit
+are never left to the mercy of what you call `luck.'  `Submit thy way
+unto the Lord, and _He_ will direct thy path.'  I am an old woman,
+Darsie, but I can say from my heart that goodness and mercy have
+followed me all the days of my life."
+
+Darsie sat gazing thoughtfully into her aunt's face.  Within the last
+weeks a degree of intimacy had developed between the old woman and the
+girl, which made it possible for the latter to speak out more openly
+than she would have believed possible a short month before.
+
+"Aunt Maria," she said slowly, "I wish you would explain...  You talk of
+goodness and mercy, but--don't be shocked!--it doesn't seem to me that
+you have so _much_ to be thankful for! ...  You are rich, of course, but
+that doesn't count for much by itself, and your life must have been
+hard...  You are delicate, and your husband died, and you have no
+children--no one to live with you in this big house.  Now when you _are_
+old you are so lonely that you are glad to have me--a girl like me--for
+a few weeks' visit!  When I go away you will be lonely again..."
+
+A tremor passed over Lady Hayes's face; the thin fingers crossed and
+uncrossed themselves on her lap, but she smiled, a brave and patient
+smile.  "You are right, Darsie.  I have had bitter trials, nevertheless
+I have gained the greatest treasure that is given to any one on this
+earth."
+
+"What is that, Aunt Maria?"
+
+"Peace in my soul, child--`the peace of God, which passeth
+understanding,'" said the old woman solemnly.
+
+There was silence in the room.  Darsie bent her head, awed and touched
+by the sound of those wondrous words.  A month ago, at home with her
+brothers and sisters, she would have scoffed at the idea of peace in
+connection with Great-aunt Maria, but a closer intimacy had altered her
+opinion.  About the trifling affairs of every day Aunt Maria continued
+to fuss.  No one could deny for a moment that she fussed; but the big
+demands of life found her calm, serene, prepared.  On the surface the
+waters might dash occasionally into foam, but the deep, strong current
+bore steadily towards the sea!
+
+Darsie pondered, and as though divining the course of her thoughts, Lady
+Hayes spoke once more.
+
+"Perhaps that appears to you a serious statement for me to make, since
+there are times when I must appear a very unpeaceful person.  I am apt
+to be unduly concerned about trifles, to my own exhaustion and that of
+others.  I am aware of the fact, and also that to one of your impetuous
+disposition such a failing must be particularly trying.  Nevertheless,
+Darsie,"--the old voice deepened impressively--"_the peace is there_!"
+
+Slowly, thoughtfully Darsie bowed her head.
+
+"Yes, I know.  I've _felt_ it.  It has made me ashamed.  The human part
+of you may get out of hand sometimes, but you are _very_ nearly an
+angel, Aunt Maria.  You haven't much more to learn!"
+
+Lady Hayes shook her head, but her hand fell on Darsie's head with a
+tender touch, and a light shone in the tired eyes.  The lonely heart was
+grateful for those words of encouragement.
+
+Darsie's surmise that still more presents might arrive was justified by
+the delivery of three more packets--a dainty little pearl necklace from
+Mrs Percival, a turquoise and diamond ring (oh, the rapture of owning a
+real ring of one's very own!) and a combination present of a jewelled
+bangle from three other ladies who had benefited by the lucky find.
+Thus in one short week had Darsie's jewellery risen from a total which
+she herself described as consisting of "a few glass beads and a gold
+safety-pin" to five separate articles of real beauty and value.
+
+She was fond of spreading her treasures in a row on the table and gazing
+at them _en bulk_, moving her head from side to side to enjoy the
+flashing colours of the stones, and as she did so Lady Hayes was more
+than surprised by a mercenary element which seemed out of keeping with
+the girl's natural character.
+
+"Rubies are the most valuable stones, aren't they, Aunt Maria--more
+valuable than diamonds?"
+
+"If they are of the right colour and depth, and of sufficient size."
+
+"You said this was a good stone.  It's a ripping colour.  I should think
+this must be a valuable stone, wouldn't you?"
+
+"I prefer not to speculate on the subject, child."
+
+Or again--
+
+"I should think this watch was worth lots of money.  I have just
+counted, and there are forty diamonds, teenies, of course, but still--
+And the enamel is so fine.  My bracelet has five _big_ diamonds, and a
+whole heap of pearls; and there's the necklace, too.  Should you think,
+Aunt Maria, that they were worth a hundred pounds put together?"
+
+Lady Hayes laid down her knitting, and stared with stony eyes into the
+girl's face.
+
+"I have told you before, Darsie, that I excessively dislike surmises as
+to the value of presents.  I am surprised and disappointed to discover
+signs of an avaricious and grasping nature!"
+
+To her surprise and dismay the only reply to this serious aspersion was
+a good-natured laugh.
+
+"Goodness gracious, mercy on us!" cried Darsie audaciously.  "I'm bad
+enough, in all conscience, but I'm not _that_!  Not a grasp in me!  You
+ask any one at home, and they'll tell you I'm quite stupidly generous.
+It's not the money for the money's sake, I think of, but for what it
+will _do_!  I've no use for jewels, Aunt Maria--shan't ever have a
+chance of wearing them, like Noreen and Ida.  Imagine a daily governess
+glittering with gems!  But if only--only I could turn them into money,
+it might fulfil the big ambition of my life and send me to Newnham,
+without troubling father for a penny!  Can you wonder that I feel
+impatient with watches and chains when I think of _that_?"
+
+"I am sorry, my dear.  I did not understand.  I apologise!" said Lady
+Hayes promptly.  It was this unfailing sense of justice, combined with
+the dignity which never forsook her under any stress of excitement or
+agitation, which had been most largely instrumental in attracting the
+girl's admiration.  From the impetuous standpoint of youth it seemed an
+almost inhuman pinnacle of perfection, but Darsie was quite determined
+that at some far-distant elderly epoch--say, in thirty years' time--she
+would begin practising these virtues on her own account.  They seemed
+the only decorous accompaniment of white hair and spectacles.
+
+She stretched out a sunburnt hand and patted the old lady's shoulder
+with an affectionate touch.
+
+"All right!  Don't worry.  It _did_ seem greedy, and of course you
+couldn't guess.  You see, it's particularly hard because plain Ha-
+Hannah Vernon, I mean--is going up, and that seems to make it worse for
+me.  Her father is richer than ours, and he believes in higher
+education, so it's all settled that she is to go to Newnham, and she
+talks about it all the time, and pities me when she's in a good temper,
+and brags when she's not.  And Dan would be at Cambridge, too, and Ralph
+Percival, and, oh dear, oh dear, we'd have such _sport_!  Balls, and
+picnics, and cocoa parties, and boating in summer--no end of lovely
+exciting pranks!"
+
+"Excuse me, my dear,"--Lady Hayes was frosty again, staring stonily over
+the rim of her spectacles--"excuse me, but would you kindly explain for
+what reason you are anxious to go to Cambridge?  I had imagined that it
+was for education, now it appears that balls and picnics are the
+attraction.  Which of the two is it of which you are really thinking?"
+
+"Oh, Aunt Maria, I'm a human girl!  Of _both_!" cried Darsie, laughing.
+"Education first, of course, because of the result, and all it will mean
+afterwards, but if you want the truth, I shouldn't be so keen if it
+wasn't for the fun!  We know a girl who's just come down, and it sounds
+such a lovely life...  I'd work hard; I love work, and when there is any
+on hand there's no peace for me till it's done; but _wouldn't_ I just
+play, too!  It would be the time of my life.  Oh, Aunt Maria, when I
+look at the governesses at school, and think that I'm going to be like
+that all my days, it _does_ seem hard that I shouldn't have just two or
+three years _first_ of the life I want!"
+
+The words, the tone, both bore a touch of real pathos; nevertheless Lady
+Hayes smiled, as if, so far from being pained by the sad prospect, she
+found something amusing in the contemplation.
+
+"It is a mistake to look too far ahead in life, but of course if you
+contemplate teaching, you ought to be thoroughly equipped."  She was
+silent for a moment, gazing thoughtfully through the window.  Then in a
+level, perfectly commonplace voice she continued: "I shall be pleased,
+my dear, to defray the expenses of your course at Newnham..."
+
+The manner in which our great ambitions in life meet their realisation
+is always and inevitably other than we have imagined.  Sometimes so many
+years have passed by since the dreaming of the cherished plans, that the
+eager spirit is transformed into a wearied and dispirited being, to whom
+fulfilment brings no joy; sometimes it comes freighted with
+complications which rob it of half its zest; sometimes it brings no
+charm at all, but only bitterness and disappointment; and again--oh,
+often again, thank God for His mercies!--it comes at the moment of
+hopelessness, of renunciation, dazzling the eyes and heart with a very
+incredulity of joy.
+
+Those few quiet words in an old woman's voice transformed for Darsie
+Garnett the whole path ahead, making what had seemed a far-away vision
+become a solid, tangible fact.  Quietly, prosaically, without any
+nourish of trumpets, the great prize of life had been handed into her
+grasp.
+
+She sat motionless, staring with distended eyes, while Lady Hayes
+continued to speak in calm, even tones.
+
+"I should like to explain to you, my dear, that I am not as rich a woman
+as I appear.  It was my dear husband's wish that I should continue to
+occupy this house for the term of my life, but after that it passes to
+his relations.  It is an expensive place to keep up, and leaves little
+margin out of the income which goes with it.  I cannot save as I should
+have wished, and my own property is not large.  When it is divided among
+my various nephews and nieces, there will not be much for each.  I
+should like to have done more for your father, as he has a large family
+to provide for, but it is impossible.  In your case, however, you have
+done me a kindness in spending these weeks with me when I needed
+companionship--and, I think, we are good friends!  I can spare a few
+hundreds to give you your training _and_ your fun--and it will be a
+pleasure to me to do so.  I will make a formal arrangement in my will so
+that in the case of my--so that in any case the money may be
+forthcoming.  So, my dear, you may look upon the matter as settled, and
+make your arrangements accordingly."
+
+Darsie put her hands to her head.  Her cheeks were white, but around her
+eyes and nose an increasing pinkness of hue betrayed the inward struggle
+of emotion.
+
+"I'm going to cry!  I'm going to cry!" she cried.  And when Lady Hayes
+began a protest, "Oh, Aunt Maria, don't, _don't_ be proper!" she pleaded
+piteously.  "I can't bear it just now.  Please, please let me thank you
+in my own way!  I must howl!  I _must_!  I'm all seething and churning
+with emotion, and if I don't cry I shall burst; but oh, I _do_ love
+you--I adore you--I shall worship you until my dying day...  You'll be
+like a saint to me.  I'll put you up on a pedestal and burn incense to
+you every day of my life.  If you _knew_ what it meant!  And I've been
+so mean and hateful--such a contemptible little worm!  Oh, if I lived a
+hundred thousand years, I could never repay you for this!"
+
+"My dear, does it strike you that you are talking in a very wild,
+exaggerated fashion?"
+
+"I am, I am!  Girls _do_, Aunt Maria, when they are off their heads with
+joy.  Wild, I mean, not exaggerated--I mean it, every word.  Oh, I
+_must_ hug you.  Never mind your cap; I must give you a bear hug, if I
+die for it.  Dear, dearest, kindest, best--"
+
+The old lady's stiff, upright figure disappeared bodily within the
+swooping arms; she was squeezed, hugged, rocked to and fro, and pelted
+with kisses until she was speechless and gasping for breath.  When she
+was released her cap was askew, and the muslin folds in the front of her
+gown crumpled out of recognition; but for a marvel she spoke no word of
+reproach, and Darsie saw, with a sobering thrill, a glitter as of tears
+in the old eyes, and the mental question which arose at the sight was
+answered with intuitive sharpness.  It was so long since she had been
+hugged before, so many, many years since anything more than a
+conventional peck had been pressed upon her cheek!  Old, stern, proper
+as she was, Aunt Maria loved to be loved!
+
+For the rest of the morning Darsie was as subdued and gentle in manner
+as she had hitherto been boisterous.  The future was discussed in
+detail, and plans made which revolutionised more and more her future
+life, for Lady Hayes seemed to take for granted that in taking upon
+herself the responsibility for the girl's education she had earned a
+certain right to her society.  Such phrases as "And in the holiday-time
+we can discuss," "When you are here in the summer vacation," "I shall
+look forward to hearing your descriptions," could not be misunderstood,
+but for the moment the big gain outweighed the loss, and Darsie smiled
+on unperturbed.  In time to come the sacrifice of merry family holidays
+would of a certainty demand its toll of suffering, but why encourage
+trouble that lay ahead when the present was so blissfully full of
+contentment?
+
+When lunch was over Darsie tucked her hostess on the sofa, and hailed
+with delight the opportunity of a free hour in which to dream
+uninterrupted over the wonderful development of the day.
+
+"I'll go out and walk it off.  I'll rush down to the village and
+telegraph home.  I can't possibly wait to write.  How can I put it so
+that it will be plain enough and not too plain?  `Newnham ahoy!'  `I'm
+off to Newnham College in the morning!'  `Plans for Newnham
+satisfactorily arranged.  Break news to Hannah.'  _Won't_ they stare!
+It's a blessing that neither Clemence nor Lavender would care to go if
+they had the chance, so they won't be jealous, but Hannah _will_ jump.
+And Dan--what will Dan say?  It is good luck knowing the boys so well.
+We'll make them take us about.  To think that I was so furious and
+rebellious about this visit, and that it should have ended like this!
+It will be a lesson to me for life!"
+
+It was very pleasant to ride through the sweet smelling lanes on this
+bright summer afternoon; very pleasant work sending off that telegram to
+the parents at the seaside, and drawing mental pictures of the
+excitement and rejoicings which would follow its arrival; pleasant to
+meet on every side kindly, interested glances, and to realise that if
+she were, as Noreen had declared, "the pet of the county," she was
+assuredly also "the heroine of the village."
+
+It was a temptation to linger in the quaint little streets; but on this
+afternoon of all others Darsie was anxious not to be late for tea, so,
+with a sigh of regret, she turned up a side lane leading to the field
+path to the Manor, and in so doing came face to face with Ralph
+Percival, who, in his lightest and most sporting attire, was escorting a
+pack of dogs for an airing.  There was the big silky-haired collie whom
+Darsie loved, the splay-footed dachshund which she hated, the huge
+mastiff which she feared, with one or two terriers of different breeds--
+alert, friendly, and gentle-eyed.  One and all came sniffing round her
+as their master stopped to shake hands, and she stood up stiff and
+straight, trying to look at ease, and as if she were not really in
+momentary terror of an attack upon her ankles and skirts.
+
+"Halloa!"
+
+"How are you?  Still living in a shower of jewels?"
+
+"I _have_ been, but it's clearing off!  The combination bracelet
+finished the list.  Now I'm beginning to live in fear of another
+burglary, on myself.  It will be a relief to get the things distributed.
+Mother is to have the watch, Clemence the pendant, Lavender the brooch,
+and I am going to be greedy and keep the bracelet and necklace and ring
+for myself."
+
+"What a miser!" cried Ralph, laughing.  His grey eyes looked very
+handsome and agreeable lit up with the twinkling light of amusement, and
+Darsie's spirits rose still a degree higher as he whistled to the dogs
+and turned round with the evident intention of accompanying her home.
+
+"We'll come along with you.  It doesn't matter where we go so long as we
+have a run.  Bound for the Manor, I suppose?  How's the old lady?  In a
+good humour, I should say.  You look particularly full of beams this
+afternoon!"
+
+"I am--brimming over!  You see before you, kind sir, the touching
+spectacle of a young female who has not a single ungratified wish in the
+world, and is so happy that she doesn't know how to preserve a decent
+appearance of calm.  It's the more extraordinary because she usually
+wants quite a lot."
+
+Ralph's eyebrows went up in expressive disdain.
+
+"Re-al-ly!  You don't say so!  Glad to hear it, I'm shaw!  The kind
+donors would be much gratified to know of the magic effect of their
+gifts.  I wonder, under the circumstances, that you could bear to part
+from any of them!"
+
+The words were spoken in his most drawling and superior voice, and
+brought the blood rushing into Darsie's cheeks.  She stood still in the
+middle of the road, and glared at him with flashing eyes.
+
+"Horrible boy!  What a disagreeable mind you must have, to think such
+mean, contemptible thoughts!  Bother the jewellery!  It may go to
+Jericho for all I care.  I'm happy for a very different reason.  Aunt
+Maria has just promised to pay for me to go to Newnham, and that has
+been the dream of my life.  There's nothing to sneer at, you see, though
+perhaps _you_ can manage to be superior even about that!"
+
+"Yes, easily.  I hate blue-stockings," said Ralph calmly, but his eyes
+twinkled as he spoke, and in spite of herself Darsie was obliged to
+smile in response.
+
+"And I hate narrow-minded, prejudiced young men!  Oh dear! you've put me
+in a bad temper on this day of days, just when I felt that I could never
+be cross again.  I'll forgive you only because it's impossible to go
+_on_ being cross.  I've just been to the post-office to telegraph the
+great news to my people at the seaside.  They'll be wild with
+excitement, especially my chum who will be going up at the same time,
+Hannah Vernon--`plain Hannah' we call her.  Funny nickname, isn't it?"
+
+"Sounds ingratiating!"  Voice and expression were alike so expressive
+that Darsie went off into a merry trill of laughter, as she hastened to
+take up the cudgels in plain Hannah's defence.
+
+"She doesn't care a bit.  Jokes about it with the rest.  And she is so
+funnily ugly that it's really rather dear.  _And_ clever!  She'll be a
+first-class girl, you'll see if she isn't.  I shall be nowhere beside
+her, but I'm going to _grind_.  Let me see: if we go up in three years'
+time, when we're eighteen, how long will you have left of your course?"
+
+"Perhaps a year, perhaps two.  Depends upon how soon I go up.  It isn't
+as if I had to go in for a profession or anything of that kind.  I shall
+spend my life looking after the property, and there's no particular need
+to swot for that."
+
+"I hate loafers," said Darsie in her turn, then once more relented and
+said genially, "But I don't believe you mean half that you say.  Anyway,
+I shall look forward to meeting you at Cambridge, and I hope you are
+prepared to be kind, and to be ready to return the good offices which I
+have been able to render to your respected family."
+
+"I am.  What do you want me to do?"
+
+"To be nice to me at Cambridge!  I shall be a shy, lone Fresher, and you
+can make things much livelier for me if you like.  I want you to like!
+Dan Vernon will be there, too, but he's so serious and clever that he
+won't be much good for the _fun_ part.  I want you to promise not to be
+superior and proud, but a real friend to take us about, and dance with
+us at the balls, and get up picnics on the river.  I can manage the work
+part for myself, but I want some help for the fun!"
+
+She expected an instant response, but Ralph was too cautious to be drawn
+into rash promises.
+
+"Er--what exactly do you mean by `we'?"
+
+"Myself and my chum, of course--Hannah Vernon."
+
+"Plain Hannah?"
+
+"Plain Hannah!"
+
+Ralph shook his handsome head.
+
+"I make no promise as regards plain Hannah.  I'm not particularly
+partial to plain Hannahs, but I'll do my level best for Darsie Garnett.
+Like to!  You can count upon me to do my best to give you a rattling
+good time."
+
+Darsie regarded him doubtfully, reflected that it was wisdom to accept
+what one could get, and smiled a gracious approval.
+
+"Thanks--so much!  Then it's a promise?"
+
+"Certainly.  A promise!"
+
+They laughed again.  The dogs leaped in the air and barked with delight.
+Everything and every one seemed happy to-day.  Darsie felt that if she
+lived to be a hundred she could never, by any possibility, reach a
+higher pinnacle of content.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+AFTER THREE YEARS.
+
+"Is your trunk ready, Darsie?  Are you ready to come down?  Lunch is on
+the table and we're all waiting.  Have you fitted everything in?  Oh
+dear, oh dear, how bleak and bare the room does look!  I shall never
+have the heart to enter it after you're gone."
+
+Clemence Garnett, aged twenty years, gave a pitiful glance round the
+dismantled room, which a few hours before had been decorated with the
+many and varied objects which were Darsie's treasures.  She looked at
+the wooden wardrobe, the doors of which swung wide, showing a row of
+empty pegs, at the scattering of paper and rejected ends of ribbon and
+lace which littered the floor, and finally back at the figure of Darsie
+herself, kneeling before the great black trunk, with her golden hair
+ruffling round a flushed, eager face.
+
+"Sit on it, Clemence, like a lamb.  It's _got_ to meet, but it's inches
+apart still.  Sit down with a flop, and be your heaviest, while I fight
+with the lock."
+
+"Better take something out.  If you make it so full, it may burst half-
+way.  How would you like that?"
+
+"Not much; but better than leaving anything behind.  It wouldn't dare to
+burst after costing so much money.  There!  It's done.  You're a pretty
+substantial weight, my dear.  Now then for lunch and a rest; I've had a
+terrific morning."
+
+Darsie rose to her feet and stood for a moment before the mirror,
+putting a tidying touch to hair and dress.  She was a tall, slim girl,
+nearly a head taller than the more substantial Clemence, and the easy
+grace which characterised her movements was the first thing which
+attracted an unaccustomed eye.  Even Clemence, with perceptions dulled
+by custom, felt dimly that it was an agreeable thing to watch Darsie
+brush her hair and shake out her skirts, though in another person such
+acts would be prosaic and tiresome.  The crisp hair needed nothing but a
+brush and a pat to settle itself into a becoming halo of waves, and the
+small face on the long white neck had a quaint, kitten-like charm.
+Clemence looked from the real Darsie to the reflected Darsie in the
+glass, and felt a sudden knife-like pang.
+
+"Oh, how I _hate_ you going!  How dull it will be.  Why _couldn't_ you
+be content to stay at home instead of taking up this Newnham craze?  I
+shall miss you hideously, Darsie!"
+
+Darsie smiled involuntarily, then nobly tried to look sad.
+
+"I expect you will, but one grown-up at home is as much as we can
+afford, and there'll be lovely long vacs.  You must think of those, and
+the letters, and coming up to see me sometimes, and term time will pass
+in a flash.  I'll be back before you realise that I'm gone."
+
+Clemence pouted in sulky denial.
+
+"Nothing of the sort.  It will seem an age.  It's easy to talk!  People
+who go away have all the fun and excitement and novelty; it's the poor
+stay-at-homes who are to be pitied.  How would you like to be me,
+sitting down to-morrow morning to darn the socks?"
+
+"Poor old Clem!" said Darsie lightly.  A moment later, with relenting
+candour, she added: "You'll like it a lot better than being examined by
+a Cambridge coach!  So don't grouse, my dear; we've both got the work we
+like best--come down to lunch, and let's see what mother has provided
+for my go-away meal!"
+
+Darsie slid a hand through Clemence's arm as she spoke and the two
+sisters squeezed down the narrow staircase, glad in their English,
+undemonstrative fashion of the close contact which an inherent shyness
+would have forbidden except in this accidental fashion.  Across the oil-
+clothed passage they went, into the red-walled dining-room, where the
+other members of the family waited their arrival.
+
+Mrs Garnett smiled at the traveller with a tinge of wistfulness on her
+face; the four young people stared, with a curiosity oddly infused with
+respect.  A girl who was on the eve of starting for college had soared
+high above the level of ordinary school.  Lavender, at "nearly
+seventeen," wore her fair locks tied back with a broad black ribbon; her
+skirts reached to her ankles; she was thin and angular; her head was
+perpetually thrust forward, and a pair of spectacles were worn
+perpetually over the bridge of her pointed little nose.  The description
+does not sound attractive, yet in some mysterious manner, and despite
+all drawbacks, Lavender _did_ manage to be attractive, and had a select
+band of followers at school who practised stoops and poked-out heads out
+of sheer admiration of her defects.
+
+Harry's voice was beginning to croak, which, taken together with a
+dawning passion for socks, ties, and brilliantine, was an unmistakable
+sign of growing up; Russell was preternaturally thin and looked all arms
+and legs; while Tim had forsaken knickers for full-fledged trousers, and
+resented any attempt at petting as an insufferable offence.
+
+One and all were on their best company manners on the occasion of
+Darsie's last lunch, and the most honeyed replies took the place of the
+usual somewhat stormy skirmish of wits; nevertheless, there was a
+universal feeling of relief when the meal was over, and a peal at the
+bell announced the arrival of the cab which was to convey Darsie and a
+girl companion on the first stage of their journey.
+
+If anything could have added to Darsie's joy in the fulfilment of a
+lifelong ambition, it would have been the fact that Hannah Vernon was to
+be her companion at Newnham, as she had been through the earlier
+schooldays.  All the Vernon family were dears of the first water, and
+might have been specially created to meet the needs of their neighbours,
+the Garnetts.  It is true that the Vernons possessed the enviable
+advantage of a big grown-up brother, but when the Garnetts felt
+particularly tried on this score, they sought comfort from the
+reflection that a brother so solemn and scholarly, so reserved and
+unresponsive, hardly counted as a brother at all.  Dan was already in
+the second year of his Cambridge course, and was expected to do great
+things before he left.  So far as such a sober person could be made
+useful, Darsie Garnett intended to use him towards the furtherance of
+her own enjoyment of the new life.
+
+For the rest, Vie, the eldest daughter of the Vernon household, was the
+sworn ally and confidante of Clemence, and John, the younger son, was in
+himself such a tower of mischievous strength that the Garnett trio sat
+at his feet.  Last, but certainly not least, came Hannah, and Hannah
+was--Darsie would have found it an almost impossible task to describe
+"plain Hannah" to an unfortunate who had not the honour of her
+acquaintance.  Hannah was Hannah, a being distinct by herself--
+absolutely different from any one else.  To begin with, she was
+extraordinarily plain; but, so far from grieving over the fact, Hannah
+wore it proudly as the foremost feather in her cap.
+
+It was she herself who had originated and sanctioned the continued use
+of the sobriquet, which had its origin in a juvenile answer given by
+herself to a stranger who inquired her name.
+
+Now Hannah was the only member of the family who was limited to one
+cognomen, so she answered unthinkingly, "Hannah; _plain_ Hannah!" and
+instantly descrying the twinkling appreciation in that stranger's eyes,
+she twinkled herself, and henceforth led the adoption of the title.
+Long use had almost deadened its meaning in the ears of the family, but
+strangers still suffered at the hearing.
+
+Plain Hannah's face peered cheerily out of the cab window, her little
+eyes twinkled merrily, her preposterous eyebrows arched in derision of
+the melancholy group upon the doorsteps.  No one dared shed a tear when
+she was so evidently on the watch for any sign of weakness, sentimental
+farewells were checked upon the speaker's lips, and the whole business
+of parting assumed a lighter, a more matter-of-fact air.
+
+A second big box was hoisted on to the cab roof, a few kisses
+shamefacedly exchanged, and then the travellers were off, and nothing
+remained to the watchers but to trail drearily back into a house from
+which half the brightness seemed to have departed.
+
+Well might Clemence say that the worst pain of a parting fell on those
+who were left behind!  While the stay-at-homes struggled heavily through
+a long afternoon, in every moment of which the feeling of loss became
+even more acute, Darsie and plain Hannah were enjoying one of the most
+exciting experiences of their lives.
+
+In spite of an almost lifelong interest in Cambridge, neither girl had
+as yet visited the town itself, so that each incident of the journey was
+full of interest and excitement.  The station was disappointingly like
+other stations, and they had abundant opportunity of examining it at
+leisure, since the porters rushed in a body to attend to the male
+students who had arrived at the same time, and who could be trusted to
+give larger tips than their female companions.  The drive through the
+streets also fell short of expectations; but, after all, Cambridge meant
+Newnham, and there could be no disappointment there!  Peered at through
+the cab window, the building appeared unexpectedly large and imposing.
+It gave one a thrill of importance to realise that for the next three
+years one would be part and parcel of its life, an inhabitant of its
+great halls.
+
+The cabman descended from the box and rang a peal at the bell, and it
+came as something as a shock to see an ordinary-looking maid throw open
+the door, though what exactly they had imagined the girls would have
+found it difficult to say.  The maid inquired their names, led them
+forward through a long corridor, and flung open the door of a sitting-
+room where a lady sat before a desk.  It was a pretty, cheerful-looking
+apartment, full of flowers, books, pictures, and quaint old-world
+furniture, and the lady herself looked so much like other middle-aged
+ladies, that if you had not known it you would never have suspected her
+of being the Vice-President of a Women's College.
+
+She was kind and agreeable.  She shook hands, and hoped you were well;
+hoped you had had a pleasant journey, hoped you would be happy in
+College, hoped you would like your rooms; but there was a certain
+mechanical quality in her voice which betrayed the fact that she had
+said the same thing over and over again on innumerable occasions, would
+say it twenty times or more this very afternoon, and that your own
+personal arrival left her perfectly calm and cool.
+
+The girls stuttered and stammered in response, felt vaguely crestfallen,
+and worried as to what they should do next, but the Vice herself was in
+no doubt.  "She hoped they were ready for tea," and with a wave of the
+hand summoned the maid to lead them a stage forward on their journey.
+
+The second stage deposited the new-comers in the dining-hall, where tea
+was already in progress, and about a dozen disconsolate-looking Freshers
+were munching at bread-and-butter and cake in a silence which could be
+felt.  Apparently Darsie and Hannah were the only ones of the number
+lucky enough to have come up in pairs, but even their tried powers of
+speech were paralysed beneath the spell of that terrible silence, and
+still more so by the relentless scrutiny of those twelve pairs of eyes.
+And how those Freshers _did_ stare!  The whites of their eyes positively
+shone, as with one accord the pupils turned towards the opening door.
+They had been stared at themselves, had come through the ordeal of being
+the last arrival; now, with thanksgiving, they were revenging themselves
+upon fresh victims!  Darsie felt a horrible certainty that she would
+drop her cup, and spill the tea over the floor; plain Hannah munched and
+munched, and looked plainer than ever, with her shoulders half-way up to
+her ears and her chin burrowed in her necktie.
+
+Presently the door opened again, and another Fresher entered, cast a
+frightened glance around, and subsided on to the nearest chair, while
+every eye turned to gaze upon her, in her turn.  This programme was
+enacted several times over before Darsie and Hannah had finished tea,
+and were ready to be escorted to the upstairs apartments, which were to
+act as bedroom and study combined.
+
+Mercifully the rooms were close together, so that, leaving Darsie half-
+way along the corridor, the maid could point to a door near at hand,
+where she could join her friend when her inspection was complete.  She
+entered with the feeling of one on the threshold of a new life, and
+stood gazing around in mingled disappointment and delight.  The first
+impression was of bareness and severity, an effect caused by the absence
+of picture or ornament of any kind.  A small white bed stood in one
+corner; a curtain draped another, acting as a substitute for a wardrobe;
+a very inadequate screen essayed unsuccessfully to conceal a wooden
+washstand, and a small square of glass discouraged vanity on the part of
+an occupant.  So far, bad! but, on the other hand, the room contained
+inexpensive luxuries, in the shape of an old oak chest, a bureau, a
+standing bookcase, and a really comfortable wicker chair.
+
+Darsie could hardly believe that these treasures were meant for her own
+use; it seemed more likely that they had belonged to a former student,
+who would presently demand their return.  She was sorrowfully resigning
+herself to this contingency when the door burst open, and in rushed
+Hannah, aglow with excitement.
+
+"I've got a chest, and a bookcase, and a bu--"
+
+Her eyes rounded with surprise.  "I say!  So have you--I thought I _was_
+swag!  Do you suppose it's the usual thing?"
+
+"Can't say.  Topping for us if it is.  But the screen's a wretch, and
+the walls will need a _lot_ of covering.  My few mites of pictures will
+go nowhere.  There's not _too_ much room for our clothes, either.  We'd
+better unpack, I suppose, and get out things for dinner.  What are you
+going to wear?"
+
+"Oh, something--whatever comes handy," replied plain Hannah in her most
+casual manner.
+
+The subject seemed to her of infinitesimal importance; but Darsie went
+through many agitations of mind before she decided on a high-necked
+summer frock, and then suffered still keener pangs because, on
+descending to Hall, several Freshers were discovered in full evening
+dress, and, in her imagination at least, eyed her lace yoke with
+disdain.
+
+Dinner was almost as silent as tea--an ordeal of curious, appraising
+eyes, as each Fresher continued to stare at every other Fresher,
+condemning her mentally for want of frankness and kindliness, while
+utterly neglecting to practise these virtues on her own account.  Then
+one by one the girls slunk upstairs, tired, shy, and homesick, and crept
+gratefully into their narrow beds.
+
+Sleep was long in coming to Darsie Garnett that night: she lay awake
+hour after hour, living over again in thought the events of the last
+three years.
+
+First and foremost her thoughts went back to the old great-aunt to whose
+generosity she owed the present fulfilment of her ambition.  Until Lady
+Hayes's death, a year ago, Darsie had spent the major part of her
+holidays at The Towers, and the friendship between the old woman and the
+girl had developed into a very real affection.
+
+It had been a wonderful experience, Darsie reflected, to watch the
+gradual mellowing of character, the patient endurance of suffering, the
+peaceful death which was so truly a "falling asleep."  Until that time
+Darsie had felt all a girl's natural shrinking from death, but the sight
+of Aunt Maria's peaceful face had dissipated that fear once for all.  As
+she knelt by the bedside looking at the still, majestic features, she
+offered the most fervent prayer of her life--a prayer that she, too,
+might be enabled to "submit her way," and so in the end find peace in
+her soul!
+
+Her acquaintance with the Percival family had ripened into friendship,
+so that, though Noreen and Ida could never by any chance supplant the
+Vernon sisters, there were moments when she actually felt more at home
+with Ralph than with queer, silent Dan.
+
+Ralph, at twenty-one, had outgrown many of his boyish failings--or
+rather, as Darsie shrewdly surmised, had attained the art of screening
+them from _view_.  Instead of snubbing his sisters' friends and adopting
+airs of haughty superiority, he was now all deference and attention,
+transparently eager for her society.  Dan, on the contrary, was absorbed
+in work; he had taken the Longs in summer, so that Darsie had no chance
+of meeting him before starting on her annual visits to Lady Hayes.  In
+the Easter vac. he had visited France and Germany to study languages,
+while at Christmas-times he was at once too shy and too busy to take
+part in the daily excursions indulged in by his brothers and sisters.
+He was doing brilliantly at College, and as a better preparation for his
+life's work had decided on a four-years course--taking the Tripos in two
+parts, in both of which it was a foregone conclusion that he would take
+a first-class.
+
+Ralph Percival was contentedly slacking it in preparation for a pass
+degree.  "What did it matter?" he demanded serenely.  One came to
+Cambridge, don't you know, because all one's people had been there,
+because it was the thing to do, and a rattling old place for sport and
+having a good time.  He would be confoundedly sorry when it was over.
+Only wished he could slack it out for twice as long!
+
+Darsie first frowned, and then smiled to herself in the dark as she
+recalled those utterances, and the actions fitly symbolised her
+sentiments towards the heir of the Percivals.  Her head had no mercy for
+such an utter want of ambition and energy, but the heart plays often a
+bigger part than the head in an estimate of a fellow-creature, and
+Darsie's heart had a way of making excuses for the handsome truant, who
+smiled with such beguiling eyes, had such a pretty knack of compliment,
+and was--generally!--ready to play knight-errant in her service.  She
+felt herself lucky in possessing so charming a friend to act the part of
+gallant, and to be at her service when she chose to call.  And then
+quite suddenly she drew a sharp breath and said aloud in a trembling
+voice, "Oh, Aunt Maria, dear Aunt Maria!" and her pillow was wet with
+tears; for Aunt Maria was dead, had died too soon to hear of her grand-
+niece's experiences at Newnham, to which she had looked forward with
+such interest, but not before evoking a real love and gratitude in
+Darsie's heart.  How thankful the girl was to remember that she had been
+able to cheer the last year of that lonely life, to recall every loving
+word and action, every tiny scrap of self-denial on her own part which
+had repaid in some small way the great gift to herself.  Thankful and
+grateful she would be to the end of her life, but she was not, and had
+not even pretended to be, _sorry_ that Aunt Maria was dead.
+
+"She was old, and she was lonely, and she was ill.  I'm _glad_, not
+sorry," she had declared to the scandalised Lavender.  "I'm glad she'll
+never come hobbling downstairs again, and sit all the long, long day in
+one chair, waiting for it to end.  I'm _glad_ she's forgotten all about
+her back, and her feet, and her head, and her joints, and all the
+thousand parts that ached, and could not rest.  I'm _glad_ she doesn't
+need any more spectacles, and sticks, and false teeth, nor to have
+people shouting into her ear to make her hear.  I'm thankful!  If I'd
+hated her I might have liked her to live on here, but I loved her, so
+I'm glad.  She has gone somewhere else, where she is happy, and
+cheerful, and _whole_, and I hope her husband has met her, and that they
+are having a lovely, lovely time together..."
+
+Darsie was glad, too, in quite an open, unconcealed fashion, when a
+legacy of a few thousand pounds lifted a little of the strain from her
+father's busy shoulders, made it possible to send Harry and Russell to a
+good boarding-school, continue Clemence's beloved music lessons, and
+provide many needfuls for household use.  It was not only pleasant but
+absolutely thrilling to know that as long as she herself lived she
+would, in addition, possess fifty pounds a year--practically a pound a
+week--of her very, very own, so that even when she grew too old to
+teach, she could retire to a tiny cottage in the country, and live the
+simple life.  In the meantime, however, she was young, and life
+stretched ahead full of delicious possibilities and excitements.
+
+Her great ambition had been achieved.  She was a student at Cambridge;
+the historic colleges whose names had so long been familiar on her lips
+lay but a few streets away, while in her own college, close at hand,
+along the very same corridor, lay other girls with whom she must work,
+with whom she must play, whose lives must of a surety touch her own.
+
+What would happen?  How would she fare?  When the last night of her
+three-years course arrived, and she lay as now in this narrow white bed,
+staring across the darkened room which had been her home, what would her
+dreams be then?  What pictures would arise in the gallery of her mind?
+What faces smile at her out of the mist?
+
+"Oh, God," sighed Darsie in a soft, involuntary appeal, "help me to be
+good!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+THE AUCTION.
+
+The next day Darsie and Hannah were interviewed by their several
+coaches, male and female, received instructions as to their future work,
+and had the excitement of witnessing the return of the second and third
+year girls, whose manner was strikingly different from that of the
+modest Freshers.  Dinner that evening was more of an ordeal than ever,
+with a galaxy of such assured, not to say aggressive, young women,
+staring with all their eyes at their new companions, and, to judge from
+the expressions on their faces, forming the meanest opinion of their
+intelligence!
+
+Hannah Vernon was of all the Freshers the least upset by their scrutiny,
+but then plain Hannah was proverbially thick-skinned about the opinion
+of others.
+
+"Let 'em stare if it amuses 'em--_I_ don't mind!  Long time since I've
+been so much admired," she returned composedly to Darsie's indignant
+whisper.  "Every dog has its day.  Wait till it's _our_ turn!  I'll wear
+specs for that day--if I never do again, and glare over them like our
+friend in green.  I've been taking notes, and her glare is worth all the
+rest put together.  I feel sure she sees into my pocket, and knows
+exactly how much there is in my purse.  Perhaps she's jealous of you.
+You're the prettiest girl here--old or new!"
+
+"Oh, am I?  _Nice_!" cried Darsie, dimpling.  She peered around the
+tables, examining the faces of the girls within sight with an appraising
+eye, compared them with the reflection which looked back at her out of
+her own mirror, and felt an agreeable sense of conviction.  There was
+one slim, dark-eyed girl with a bright rose flush on her cheeks, as to
+whose claim she felt a moment's uncertainty, but when she turned her
+head--lo, a nose was revealed soaring so unbecomingly skyward that
+Darsie breathed again.  Yes! she was the prettiest.  Now if she could
+just manage to be the most popular also, and, not the cleverest, of
+course--that was _too_ much to expect--but well in the front rank, how
+agreeable it would be, to be sure!
+
+The dining-hall looked much more cheery tonight, when the long table was
+surrounded by over sixty students in their brightly coloured dresses;
+the buzz of conversation rose steadily throughout the meal, and by the
+time that coffee was served curiosity seemed satisfied, for the staring
+had come to an end.
+
+"I think you must be Dan Vernon's sister.  May I introduce myself?  I am
+Helen Ross."  A tall girl, with brown hair brushed low over her ears,
+stood beside Hannah's chair, holding out her hand with an air of
+assurance which plainly intimated that the mention of her name was
+expected to arouse instant recognition.  Hannah, who had never heard it
+before, and was not skilled in the art of pretence, stared back in blank
+surprise.
+
+"Oh-h!  Really?  Yes, I'm Hannah Vernon.  This is my friend Miss
+Garnett."
+
+Helen Ross nicked her eyelashes at Darsie by way of a bow, but bestowed
+no spoken greeting.
+
+"Rather beastly, the first day, isn't it?" she drawled, turning to
+Hannah once more.  "Feel such a pelican in the wilderness, wandering
+about, not knowing what to be after next.  Make me useful, do!  I'd like
+to be useful.  Told your brother I'd show you the ropes.  Did you get
+your milk last night?  Half a pint each is your allowance.  You get it
+from the pantry directly after dinner, and take it upstairs for cocoa.
+Have you discovered your gyp-room yet?"
+
+Hannah stolidly shook her head, whereupon Miss Ross proceeded to further
+explanations.  The gyp-room was a species of pantry, one of which was to
+be found on each corridor, whence cups, saucers, and other utensils for
+the preparation of the famous ten o'clock "cocoas" could be obtained.
+You helped yourself, don't you know, and you took the things back when
+you had done with them, but you didn't wash them up.  The gyp-room owned
+a presiding dignitary of its own who was known as the "gyp-woman," who
+obligingly performed that service.  Then Miss Ross expressed a wish to
+see Hannah's room, and the three girls ascended the stairs together, and
+the two Freshers stood by meekly while the two-year girl indulged in
+candid criticism.
+
+"Humph!  Not so bad.  Rather a barn at present, but it'll look all right
+when you've fixed it up.  Always takes a few days to settle down, but
+one lives in one's room so much that it's worth taking pains.  You can
+get no end into the coffin, that's one blessing!"
+
+"Coffin!"  Hannah and Darsie jerked at the ominous word, whereupon Miss
+Ross smiled with complacent superiority.
+
+"Ah! of course, you don't know that name.  The chest's the `coffin,' and
+you keep hats in it, likewise odd boxes, and evening cloaks, and other
+perishable splendours.  Every one calls them coffins, so you'll have to
+get used to it, I'm afraid; and the bureau's a `burry,' and the screen's
+a `farce,' and a topply one at that.  You'll have to buy another to take
+its place.  They never _do_ supply you with decent screens.  By the way,
+there's an auction on to-night!  Did any one tell you?  That's your
+chance of picking up the things you want.  It's held in the Gym. at ten
+o'clock, and is not bad fun.  I'll come along and take you, if you'd
+care to go."
+
+"Thanks.  Yes, I'd like to see everything that's going on.  What sort of
+things are for sale?"
+
+"All sorts of discards that have been left behind by other girls--
+screens, bed-covers, curtains, china flower-pots, chairs, kettles,
+pictures.  Sometimes there's quite a fine show."
+
+"Sounds attractive!  And who is the auctioneer?"
+
+"A second-year girl--the one who is credited with the greatest amount of
+wit."
+
+There was a moment's silence while the two Freshers each mentally leaped
+a year ahead, and saw herself in this proud and enviable position.
+
+"Who's the one to-night?"
+
+"Margaret France."  Miss Ross's lips curled expressively.  "I hope you
+won't judge us by her standard.  She's certainly not the one whom _I_
+should have chosen to fill the position!"
+
+Silence again, while the Freshers reflected that they knew very well
+whom Miss Helen Ross would have chosen if she had had the chance, and
+were glad that she hadn't.
+
+"Well, I'll call round about ten.  Make up your fire, and be
+comfortable.  You're allowed a scuttle of coals a day, and let me warn
+you to _use_ it!  If it's not all burnt, keep a few lumps in a
+convenient cache--a box under the bed will do.  It comes in handy for
+another day, and when it gets really cold you can stoke up at night and
+have a fire to dress by in the morning.  The authorities don't approve
+of that--they say it's bad for the stoves.  Personally I consider myself
+before any stoves."
+
+She nodded casually and strode from the room, leaving the two friends
+divided between gratitude for her kindness and prejudice against her
+personality.
+
+"Don't like her a bit, do you?"
+
+"Humph.  So-so!  Means well, I think.  Wonder how she knows Dan?  He
+never mentioned her name."
+
+"Not at _all_ the sort of girl Dan would care for!  Such a bumptious
+manner.  A good many of them have, I observe.  Fearfully self-possessed.
+Perhaps it's a special effort to impress the Freshers.  She didn't take
+much notice of me, but I'm coming with you all the same to buy fixings
+for my room, and hear the second-year auctioneer.  Call for me when
+you're ready, like a dear.  I'm off now to read until ten o'clock."
+
+Darsie shut herself in her room, and set to work at her burry with all
+the ardour of a beginner, so that the hour and a half passed like a
+flash, and it seemed as if she had scarcely begun before Hannah's solid
+bang sounded at the door, and she went out into the corridor to follow
+Helen Ross to the Gym.
+
+The auction had already begun, and the auctioneer, a fresh-looking girl
+with grey eyes planted extraordinarily far apart, was engaged in
+extolling the excellencies of an aged kettle to a laughing circle of
+girls.  She wore a black dress cut square at the neck, and a rose-
+coloured ribbon twined round her head.  She held out the kettle at the
+length of a bare white arm, and raised her clear voice in delightful
+imitation of the professional wheedle.
+
+"Friends and Freshers!  We now come to Lot Three, one of the most
+striking and interesting on the catalogue.  A kettle, ladies, is always
+a useful article, but this is no ordinary kettle.  We have it on
+unimpeachable authority that this kettle was the kettle in residence at
+the establishment of our late colleague Miss Constantia Lawson, the
+Senior Classic of her year!  The kettle of a Senior Classic, Freshers!
+The kettle which has ministered to her refreshment, which has been, in
+the language of the poem, the fount of her inspiration!  What price
+shall I say, ladies, for the kettle of a Senior Classic?  Sixpence!  Did
+somebody say sixpence!  _For the kettle of a Senior Classic_!
+Eightpence!  Thank you, madam.  For the kettle of a-- What advance on
+eightpence?  Freshers would do well to consider this opportunity before
+it is too late.  What an--an _inebriating_ effect, if I may use the word
+without offence to the late lamented poet, would be added to the cup
+that cheers by the thought that the same handle, the same spout, the
+same--er--er--furry deposit in the inside, have ministered to the
+refreshment of one of the master spirits of our day!  Going at
+eightpence--eightpence-halfpenny--I thank you, madam!  At tenpence!  No
+advance on tenpence?  Going--going--_gone_!"
+
+The hammer descended with a rap, the auctioneer leaned back with an air
+of exhaustion, and handed the kettle to her clerk, in blue silk and
+crystal beads.
+
+"Lady to the right.  Tell the lady, Joshua, that the small hole in the
+bottom can easily be soldered by an obliging ironmonger, or, if she
+prefers, she can hang the kettle on the wall as an object of vertu!"
+
+Peals of laughter greeted this tragic disclosure.  The lady to the right
+refused for some minutes to hand over her tenpence, but finally
+succumbed to the feeling of the meeting, when a crumpled cotton bed-
+cover was next produced for sale.
+
+"Lot Four.  Handsome Oriental bedspread--design of peacocks, vultures,
+and pear-trees, in gorgeous colourings.  Encircling border on a
+background of blizzard white, and corner pieces complete.  Eight feet by
+three.  Joshua! carry the bedspread round and allow the ladies to
+examine it for themselves.  It is excessively hurtful to our feelings
+when purchasers imply that deception has been practised in order to
+induce them to purchase our goods.  Show the ladies the spread!  Pure
+cotton, ladies.  Fast colours.  Design by Alma Tadema, in his happiest
+mood.  You could not possibly purchase such a spread in any
+establishment, ladies, under the sum of two-and-six.  Fine Oriental
+goods, warranted to impart an air of opulence to the humblest bedstead.
+Any Fresher wishing to give the last touch of costly elegance to her
+room should not neglect this opportunity.  What am I to say, ladies, for
+this handsome spread?  Sixpence again!  Thank you, madam!  Sixpences
+seem in the ascendant to-night.  Let us hope the collections on Sunday
+next will benefit from the ensuing dearth.  Ninepence!  _At_ ninepence.
+Pardon, madam?  The lady in the eyeglasses wishes to make a remark,
+Joshua.  The lady in the eyeglasses remarks that one side of the spread
+has been torn.  The lady is evidently unaware that that fact is a proof
+positive of the authenticity of the spread.  No Eastern article, as all
+travellers are aware, is _ever_ even at both sides."  Another burst of
+laughter greeted this point.  The auctioneer showed her pretty white
+teeth in a complacent smile, her wide grey eyes roved round the room,
+and met Darsie's eyes raised to her in beaming admiration.
+
+"One-and-six did you say, madam?" she cried instantly.  "Did I
+understand you to say one-and-six?  The opportunity will never occur
+again.  At one-and-six for the lady in violet.  Take the name and
+address if you please, Joshua."  And Darsie, with a shrug and a laugh,
+paid out her one-and-six, and received in return the blizzard-white
+cover, ornamented with a roughly mended tear all along one side.
+
+The next articles offered for sale were framed pictures of various sizes
+which had evidently not been considered worth the trouble of removing.
+Water-colour sketches by 'prentice hands, faded photographs, or pretty-
+pretty prints evidently torn from the pages of magazines.  The
+auctioneer exerted all the blandishments to induce the Freshers to
+purchase these masterpieces, and deplored their scant response with
+pathetic reproaches.
+
+"_No_ bids for this tasty little picture?  Ladies, ladies, this is a
+great mistake!  In the midst of your arduous brain toil, what could be
+more soothing and refreshing than to gaze upon this charming pastoral
+scene?  This azure earth, this verdant sky, this lovely maid who
+combined in her person all the simpering charms of youth, and never, for
+one misguided moment, troubled her ochre head over the acquirement of
+that higher knowledge which, as we all know, is the proud prerogative of
+man!  What price shall I say for `The Maiden's Dream'?  _No_ bids!  Put
+it down if you please, Joshua.  We have no art collectors with us to-
+night.  Let me have the Botticelli for a change."
+
+The clerk in blue silk handed up another picture in a rickety Oxford
+frame, at which the auctioneer gazed rapturously for several moments
+before turning it towards her audience.
+
+"Number Six on the catalogue.  Genuine photograph of a Botticelli from
+the collection of Miss Eva Dalgleish.  Attention, Freshers, if you
+please!  This is an item of serious importance.  The presence of a
+Botticelli bestows at once the air of culture and refinement without
+which no study is worthy of the name.  A genuine photograph of a
+Botticelli, purchased by the owner in the Italian city of Florence, and
+borne home by her own fair hands, as the crack across the corner will
+give proof.  In an Oxford frame--a compliment to our sister University--
+glazed and complete, with hanging loops and fragment of wire.  _What_
+offers for the Botticelli?  Any Fresher who wishes to prove herself
+endowed with refined and artistic--One shilling?  Thank you, madam.
+_And_ sixpence!  One and nine.  One and nine for this genuine
+Botticelli.  Ladies, ladies, this is a sad day for Newnham.  And nine--
+and nine.  Going.  Going--_gone_!"
+
+It was Hannah who had testified to her own artistic qualities by
+purchasing this photograph.  She tucked it proudly under her arm, and
+turned an envious eye on a brass flower-pot which was now engaging the
+auctioneer's attention.  A simultaneous movement of the audience showed
+that this was an article on which many hopes had been set, and bidding
+promised to be brisk.
+
+"Now, ladies, we come to one of the principal events of the evening, the
+bidding for this very rich and magnificent brass, hand-beaten, richly-
+chased, Oriental, ornamental flower-pot.  We have several flower-pots in
+our catalogue, but none to be compared for one moment to the very
+superior article which you now see before you.  It is safe to say that
+no student, even in her third year, can boast of a flower-pot to equal
+this lot in either quality or design.  The possession of it will in
+itself ensure fame for its fortunate owner.  Let me have a handsome bid,
+if you please, ladies, to start this valuable article.  Half a crown!!!
+A lady, whose ignorance we can only deplore, offers me half a crown for
+a genuine antique brass!  I am thankful that in such a large and
+enlightened audience such an error is not likely to be repeated.  Three
+shillings.  _Thank_ you, madam.  And six.  Four shillings--four
+shillings.  Freshers who neglect to take advantage of this opportunity
+will be compelled to content themselves with one of these common china
+articles to my left.  A flowerpot is a necessary article of furniture
+without which no room is complete.  What is home without an aspidistra?
+You laugh, ladies, but you can find no answer to that question.  And
+six!  Five shillings!  The raw material for this masterpiece must have
+cost many times this sum.  Five--five--no advance on five.  The lady in
+green, Joshua.  Take the lady's address!"
+
+The auctioneer put up her hand to her head and patted the rose-coloured
+ribbon into place.  Inspired by the laughing appreciation of her
+sallies, her cheeks had flushed to the same bright shade, and with her
+sparkling eyes and alert, graceful movements she made a delightful and
+attractive figure, at which the Freshers stared in undisguised delight.
+
+"I adore her!" whispered Darsie in her friend's ear.
+
+"Decent sort!" croaked Hannah the undemonstrative, and then by a common
+impulse their glance passed on to rest on Helen Ross's set, supercilious
+face.
+
+"I loathe her," came the second whisper.
+
+"Mean thing--jealousy!" croaked Hannah once more, and turned her
+attention to the business in hand.
+
+After the china flower-pots had been disposed of, a trio of basket-
+chairs gave an impetus to the bidding, as the truth of the auctioneer's
+words went home to every heart.
+
+"`Three luxurious basket-chairs, cushioned complete in handsome
+cretonne, stuffed pure wool.  Condition--as new.'  Ladies, in these
+basket-chairs you see not only elegant articles of furniture, but a
+solution of the dilemma which dogs every owner of a one-comfortable-
+chair study.  One question haunts her waking and sleeping hours; one
+problem embitters the most social occasions--`_Shall I be comfortable or
+polite_?'  To this question, in this college of Newnham, there can,
+ladies, be but one reply--and the wretched hostess sits on the coal-box
+and gives her visitor the chair.  After long hours of mental toil, after
+the physical strain of the hockey-field, a quiet hour is vouchsafed
+beside her own fireside, with the companionship of a beloved friend to
+soothe and cheer, and that hour, ladies--that precious hour--I say it
+with emotion almost too strong for words--that stolen hour of peace and
+rest must needs be passed--_on the coal-box_!  Ladies, I need say no
+more.  The remedy is in your own hands."
+
+So on, and so on.  After the chairs came curtains; after the curtains,
+bookcases, ornaments, and books.  The auction flowed on, punctuated by
+explosions of laughter, until the last item on the "catalogue" was
+reached, and the auctioneer was crimson with exhaustion.
+
+Darsie and Hannah had amassed between them quite a stock of furnishings.
+A screen apiece, chairs, Oriental window-curtains in stripes of
+contrasting colours warm and comfortable to look upon, flower-pots, and
+odd pictures and ornaments.  One felt a proprietor, indeed, as one
+looked over the spoils, and the inroads into capital had been agreeably
+small.  Darsie was folding up her damaged "spread" when a voice spoke in
+her ear, and with a little jump of the heart she looked up to find
+Margaret France standing by her side.
+
+"How do you do?  I must thank you for your patronage.  You chipped in
+nobly.  Hope you'll like 'em, when you've got 'em.  Just up, aren't you?
+What's your shop?"
+
+For a moment Darsie stared blankly, then a flash of intuition revealed
+the meaning of the word.
+
+"Modern languages."
+
+"Good!  So'm I.  And your friend?"
+
+"Mathematics."
+
+"Humph!  Well, good luck!  I'm off to bed.  We shall meet on the
+Rialto!"
+
+She smiled, nodded, and was gone.  With a sudden realisation of their
+own fatigue the Freshers turned to follow her example.  Helen Ross
+joined them on their way along the corridors, and Darsie could not
+resist expressing her appreciation of the auctioneer's wit.
+
+"She was delicious.  I _have_ enjoyed it.  She _is_ amusing and clever."
+
+"Think so?" said Helen coolly.  "Really?  Glad you were pleased.  It's
+usually _far_ better than that!"
+
+With a curt good-night she turned into her own room, and the two friends
+made haste to follow her example.
+
+The banked-up fires burned warm and red; the scattered oddments had been
+hidden from sight in the "coffin's" rapacious maw; photographs and
+knick-knacks gave a homy look to the rooms which had looked so bare and
+bleak twenty-four hours before.  The Freshers tumbled into bed and fell
+happily asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+FIRST EXPERIENCES.
+
+During the first month at Newnham Darsie and Hannah fell gradually and
+happily into the routine of college life.  They grew to recognise their
+companions by name, and to place them according to their several
+"shops"; they entertained cocoa parties in their rooms; picked up slang
+terms, and talked condescendingly of "townees"; they paid up
+subscriptions to "Hall," "Games," "Flowers," and "Fic"; slept, played,
+and laughed and talked, and, above all, _worked_, with heart and mind,
+and with every day that passed were more convinced that to be a student
+at Cambridge was the most glorious fate that any girl could desire.
+
+A week after the beginning of term Helen Ross, the fortunate possessor
+of a double room, gave a tea-party, with one of the younger Dons as
+chaperon, to which Dan Vernon and a companion were invited.  Ostensibly
+the party was given in Hannah's honour, but to her astonishment and
+dismay Hannah's friend was not favoured with an invitation, and felt her
+first real twinge of loneliness in the knowledge that two old friends
+were making merry together but a few yards away, while she sat solitary
+and alone.  What she had done to incur Helen Ross's dislike Darsie could
+not imagine, and, fortunately for herself, she was too large-hearted to
+suspect that it arose simply from an unattractive girl's jealousy of one
+whom all had combined to love and admire.  Be that as it may, Darsie was
+left out of the tea-party, and her subsequent cross-questionings of
+Hannah were far from comforting.
+
+"Had a good time?"
+
+"Top hole."
+
+"Nice people there?"
+
+"Topping."
+
+"Good cakes?"
+
+"Scrum!"
+
+"Dan ask for me?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then he ought to have done!"  Darsie told herself indignantly, and her
+thoughts flew off to Ralph Percival, wondering when she would see him
+next, and recalling with pleasure his promise to "see her through."
+
+The approach of the Freshers' hockey match banished less important
+topics, for Hannah was on edge with anxiety to be at her best, and
+disport herself sufficiently well to be included in after-team
+practices, while Darsie was scarcely less eager on her behalf.
+
+When the afternoon arrived and the match began, the second and third
+year girls crowded to look on, while the Captain stood apart surrounded
+by a few satellites from the Committee, as truly the monarch of all she
+surveyed as any king who ever graced a throne.  The thoughts of each
+Fresher turned with an anguish of appeal towards this figure; a smile on
+her face raised them to the seventh heaven; a frown laid them in the
+dust!  Extraordinary to think that two short years ago this oracle had
+been a Fresher like themselves!  Inconceivable to imagine that in two
+years to come they themselves might occupy that same magnificent
+altitude!
+
+The eyes of the Oracle fell upon Hannah and approved what she saw, and
+henceforth Hannah took part in team practices, and lorded it over
+Darsie, who in her turn affected a growing antagonism to the game.
+
+"You can have too much of a good thing--even of games--and I seem to
+have _eaten_ hockey every meal since I arrived!" she announced
+impatiently; and in truth, since an unwritten law forbade the discussion
+of "shop" at table, the conversation was largely limited to
+dissertations on this the most popular of games.
+
+On Sundays the two girls went together to King's College Chapel and
+gazed with admiration at the vaulted stone roof, with its marvellous fan
+tracery; at its towering stained-glass windows, and the screen bearing
+the monogram of Anne Boleyn; at the delicate carving of the stalls.  It
+was so wonderfully different from the dreary town edifice in which they
+had been accustomed to worship, with its painted walls, heavy gallery,
+and wheezy organ played by an indifferent musician--so wonderfully,
+gloriously different that Darsie felt a pricking at the back of her eyes
+as though she were ready to cry for sheer pleasure and admiration.  The
+music and the sermon seemed alike perfect, and Darsie ardently followed
+each stage of the service.
+
+Some people are inclined to grow frivolous and forgetful when the world
+goes well with them and the desire of their hearts is accomplished;
+others are filled with a passion of gratitude and thanksgiving, and
+Darsie Garnett belonged to the latter category.  Prosperity made her
+more humble, more kindly, more overflowing with love to God and man.  A
+portrait of Lady Hayes stood on her study mantelpiece, and every morning
+and evening she bent her sunny head to kiss the stern old face.  Dear
+old Aunt Maria! she had so loved being kissed--_really_ kissed, as if
+one meant it.  If in that higher life to which she had gone she knew
+what was happening on earth, Darsie felt sure that she would like to
+know that her portrait was still cherished.  Her thoughts hovered
+gratefully about the dead woman as she sat in this wonderful old church,
+and pictured with awe the succeeding generations who had worshipped
+within its walls.  It was only when the sermon was at an end that,
+turning her head, Darsie met the gaze of a girl sitting a few seats
+away, and after a moment of bewilderment recognised the widely set eyes
+and curling lips of Margaret France.
+
+In her dark hat and coat she looked less attractive than in evening
+dress, but the fact made no difference in the thrill of pleasure with
+which Darsie realised her presence.  Some quality in this girl appealed
+to the deep places of her heart; she realised instinctively that if the
+attraction were mutual the tie between them would be close and firm, but
+it must be all or nothing--she could never dally with friendship with
+Margaret France!
+
+Walking home slowly along Silver Street, she found herself answering
+absently to Hannah's remarks, her whole attention riveted on watching
+the passers-by, wondering if by any possibility Margaret France would
+stop to speak to her once more, and her heart leaped with exultation as
+a footstep paused by her side, and the clear, crisp tones addressed her
+by name.
+
+"Morning, Miss Garnett!  Morning, Miss Vernon!  Ripping day, isn't it?
+Glad to see you in King's.  Saw you long before you spotted me, and
+enjoyed your enjoyment.  Never forgot my first services.  Good to be
+there, isn't it?"
+
+"Oh-h!"  Darsie's deep-drawn breath of rapture was an eloquent response.
+"I _have_ been happy!  I've never in my life seen anything so wonderful
+before.  It seems almost too good to be true that I can go there every
+Sunday for years to come.  Cambridge is wonderful.  I am more enchanted
+every day.  Even to walk along the streets is a joy."
+
+"Good!" cried Margaret heartily.  "Drop in to five o'clock service
+sometimes when you're feeling tired, and tied up with your work.  It's a
+grand soother.  How goes the work so far?  Enjoying the lectures?
+Finding the literature interesting?"
+
+The two Modern Languages discussed work together eagerly, while
+mathematical Hannah marched on a few feet ahead.  Darsie felt a pang of
+remorse, because she could not help wishing that she would _stay_ ahead,
+and so give the chance of a prolonged _tete-a-tete_ with Margaret
+France.  The feeling of attraction was so strong now that they were face
+to face that it was only by an effort of will that she could resist
+slipping her hand through the black serge arm, but the expression of her
+face was eloquent, and Margaret smiled back well pleased.  When they
+parted a few minutes later to go to their different halls, the older
+girl said casually, but in a lowered voice which showed that the
+invitation was meant for Darsie alone--
+
+"By the way, I'm at home for cocoa on Tuesday evenings at ten.  Bring
+your milk, and come along, will you!  I'd like to have you."
+
+"Rather!" cried Darsie eloquently, and ran up to her room aglow with
+delight and pride, which grew still deeper at lunch when a casual
+reference to the invitation (it was really impossible to keep silent on
+so thrilling a point!) evoked a wide stare of surprise.
+
+"To her Tuesdays!  Are you sure?  Nobody goes to those but her very boon
+companions.  You _are_ honoured!"
+
+"Didn't ask _me_, I notice!" sniffed Hannah huffily.  "No twin soul
+here.  Recognised an affinity in you, I suppose."
+
+"Well, _I_ wasn't asked to play in team matches!  Don't grudge me my
+little score!" returned Darsie, knowing well that an honour in sport was
+more to her companion than many cocoas.  "Besides, you must remember you
+have Helen Ross!"
+
+"Oh, ah, yes!  Helen Ross dotes on me.  Disinterested, of course.  No
+connection with the brother over the way!" commented Hannah with a grin.
+"By the way, I hear from Dan that your friend Ralph Percival is in
+trouble already, playing cards, getting into debt, and staying out after
+hours.  Seems to be a poor-spirited sort of fellow from all accounts!"
+
+"He saved my life, anyway, when I was a youngster, and very nearly
+drowned myself, paddling up a mill-stream.  There's no want of spirit
+about Ralph.  Life has been made too easy for him, that's the mischief!"
+said Darsie in her most elderly and judicial manner.  "It's difficult to
+keep to the grind when you know that you will never need to work.  He
+needs an object in life.  Until he finds that, he will be content to
+drift."
+
+"He'll drift into being sent down at this rate.  That will be the end of
+him!" croaked Hannah gloomily; whereupon Darsie knitted her brows and
+collapsed into silence for the rest of the meal.
+
+Poor, dear, handsome Ralph!  At the bottom of her heart Darsie was
+hardly surprised to hear Hannah's report.  The indifference with which
+he had entered upon his college life had not developed into any more
+earnest spirit, as had been abundantly proved by his conversation when
+the two had last met, during the long vacation, while the hesitating
+manner of his mother and sisters seemed to hint at a hidden anxiety.  In
+the depths of her heart Darsie was feeling considerably piqued by the
+fact that though she had now been over a month in Cambridge Ralph had
+shown no anxiety to meet her, or to fulfil his promise of "showing the
+ropes."  Other girls had been invited to merry tea-parties in the
+different colleges, and almost daily she had expected such an invitation
+for herself, but neither of her two men friends had paid her this mark
+of attention; but for the fact of an occasional meeting in the streets
+they might as well have been at the other end of the land.  Pride
+forbade her commenting on the fact even to Hannah; but inwardly she had
+determined to be very proud and haughty when the deferred meeting came
+about.  Dan was too wrapped up in himself to care for outsiders; Ralph
+was a slacker--not worth a thought.  Darsie dismissed them both with a
+shrug.  Margaret France was worth a dozen men put together!
+
+Ten o'clock on Tuesday evening seemed long in coming, but the moment
+that the clock pointed to the hour Darsie hastened to her new friend's
+study, and to her satisfaction found her still alone.  The room looked
+delightfully cosy with pink shades over the lights, a clear blaze upon
+the grate, and Margaret herself, in a pink rest-gown curled up in a
+wicker-chair, was the very embodiment of ease.  She did not rise as
+Darsie entered, but pointed to a chair close at hand, with an eagerness
+which was in itself the best welcome.
+
+"That's right.  Come along!  I'm glad you're the first.  Sit down and
+look around.  How do you like my den?"
+
+Darsie stared to right and left with curious eyes, and came to the
+instant conclusion that Margaret's room was like herself.  From floor to
+ceiling, from window to door, there was not one single article which did
+not give back a cheering impression.  If the article were composed of
+metal, it shone and glittered until it could shine no farther; if of
+oak, every leaf and moulding spoke of elbow-grease, and clean, fresh-
+smelling polish; if it were a fabric of wool or cotton, it was
+invariably of some shade of rose, shedding, as it were, an aspect of
+summer in the midst of November gloom.
+
+Over the fireplace was fastened a long brown-paper scroll, on which some
+words were painted in big ornamental letters.  Darsie read them with a
+thrill of appreciation--
+
+  "Two men looked out through prison bars,
+  One saw mud, the other stars!"
+
+The eyes of the two girls met, and lingered.  Then Darsie spoke--
+
+"That's your motto in life!  You look out for stars--"
+
+"Yes!  So do you.  That's why I wanted to be friends."
+
+"I wonder!" mused Darsie, and sat silent, gazing into the fire.  "It is
+beautiful, and I understand the drift, but--would you mind paraphrasing
+it for my benefit?"
+
+"It's so simple.  There _is_ mud, and there _are_ stars.  It's just a
+choice of where we choose to look."
+
+"Yes--I see.  But don't you think there are times--when one is awfully
+down on one's luck, for instance--when there's no one on earth so trying
+as the persistent optimist who _will_ make the best of everything, and
+take a cheerful view!  You want to murder him in cold blood.  I do, at
+least.  You feel ever so much more cheered by some one who acknowledges
+the mud, and says how horrid it is, and pities you for sticking so
+fast!"
+
+Margaret's ringing laugh showed all her pretty white teeth.  She rubbed
+her hands together in delighted appreciation.
+
+"Oh, I know, I know!  I want to kill them, too.  Vision's not a mite of
+use without tact.  But no bars can shut out the stars if we choose to
+let them shine."
+
+Her own face was ashine as she spoke, but anything more unlike
+"goodiness," abhorred by every normal girl, it would be impossible to
+imagine.
+
+"Tell me about your work--how do you get on with your coach?" she asked
+the next moment, switching off to ordinary subjects in the most easy and
+natural of manners, and Darsie found herself laying bare all the little
+hitches and difficulties which must needs enter into even the most
+congenial course of study, and being alternately laughed at and
+consoled, and directed towards a solution by brisk, apt words.
+
+"You're all right--you've got a head.  You'll come through on top, if
+you'll be content to go slow.  Want to take the Tripos first year, and
+honours at that--that's your style!  Calm down, my dear, and be content
+to jog.  It pays better in the end."  She flashed a radiant smile at
+Darsie's reddening face, then jumped up to greet her other guests of the
+evening, three in number, who appeared at that moment, each carrying her
+own precious portion of milk.
+
+One was "Economics" and owned so square a jaw that the line of it (there
+was no curve) seemed to run down straight with the ear; another was
+"Science" and wore spectacles; a third was "Modern Languages," like the
+host, but one and all shared an apparently unlimited appetite for Cocoa,
+Conversation, and Chelsea buns, the which they proceeded to enjoy to the
+full.  "Modern Languages" being in the ascendant, indulged in a little
+"shop" as a preliminary, accompanied by the sighs, groans, and
+complaints incidental to the subject.
+
+"How's your drama getting on?  Is it developing satisfactorily?"
+Student Number Two inquired of Darsie, in reference to the paper given
+out at the last lecture in Divinity Hall, and Darsie shrugged with a
+plaintive air.
+
+"I've been struggling to develop it, to _trace_ its development, as he
+said; but the tracings are decidedly dim!  I get on much better with a
+subject on which I can throw a little imagination.  `The growth of the
+novel,' for instance--I wove quite a fairy-tale out of that."
+
+The girls smiled, but with a dubious air.
+
+"Better be careful!  That's a ruse which most of us have tried in our
+day, and come wearily back to sober fact...  How do you like the
+Historical French Grammar?"
+
+The Fresher made a gesture as if to tear her hair, whereupon the second-
+year girls groaned in chorus.
+
+"Hopeless!  Piteous!  In last year's Tripos the paper was positively
+inhuman.  The girls said it was impossible even to understand the
+questions, much less to answer them."
+
+"Wicked!  Waste of time, I call it.  Most of us are training to teach,
+but it's not one in a hundred who will be called upon to teach _that_
+erudite horror."
+
+Darsie looked at Margaret France as she spoke, and saw at once by the
+expression of her companions that she had touched on a delicate subject.
+There was a moment's silence, then--
+
+"I am not going to teach," said Margaret, smiling.
+
+"Really!  Then-- What are you going to do?"
+
+"Live at home."
+
+A future profession seemed so universal a prospect with the Newnham
+students that Margaret's reply amazed Darsie as much as it appeared to
+annoy her other hearers.
+
+Economics sniffed, and muttered beneath her breath; Science stared
+fixedly at the ceiling through her glittering spectacles; Modern
+Languages groaned aloud.
+
+"With your brain!  With your spirit!  After this training!  Such wicked
+waste..."
+
+Margaret laughed lightly.
+
+"Oh, Darsie Garnett, how mean of you, when I feed you with my best
+Chelsea buns, to land me in this time-honoured discussion!  I'm an only
+child, and my parents have been perfect bricks in giving me my wish and
+sparing me for three whole years!  The least I can do is to go home and
+do a turn for them.  I fail to see where the waste comes in!"
+
+"All you have learned--all you have studied--all you have read--"
+
+"Just so!  I hope it will make me a more interesting companion for them.
+And for myself!  I've got to live with myself all the days of my life,
+remember, and I do _not_ wish to be bored!"
+
+"You have such power, such capacity!  You might do some work for the
+world!"
+
+"I intend to.  What's the world made up of, after all, but a number of
+separate homes?  As a matter of ordinary common sense isn't it best to
+work in one's _own_ home, rather than in a strange one?"
+
+Margaret threw out her hands with a pretty appealing gesture, and her
+companions stared at her in silence, apparently too nonplussed to reply.
+Before they had time to rally to the attack, however, a startling
+interruption had occurred.
+
+With a suddenness and violence which made the cocoa-drinkers jump in
+their seats the door burst open, and the figure of a girl in evening
+dress precipitated herself into their midst.  Her light skirt was thrown
+over her shoulders, revealing an abbreviated white petticoat; her eyes
+were fixed with a deadly determination; regardless of the occupants of
+the room or of the articles of furniture scattered here and there, she
+flew at lightning speed to the window, closed it with a resounding bang,
+leaped like a cat at the ventilator overhead, banged that also, and with
+one bound was out of the room, the door making a third bang in her wake.
+
+Darsie gasped in dismay.  She herself had been transfixed with
+astonishment, but her companions had displayed a marvellous self-
+possession.  Margaret had wrapped her arms round the cocoa-table to
+protect it from upset, another girl had steadied the screen, a third had
+obligingly lifted her chair out of the way; but no sign of alarm or
+curiosity showed upon their faces, which fact did but heighten the
+mystery of the situation.
+
+"Is she--is she _mad_?"
+
+The second-year girls laughed in chorus.  From afar could be heard a
+succession of bang, bang, bangs, as if in every study in the house the
+same performance was being enacted.  Margaret nodded at the Fresher with
+kindly reassurance.
+
+"Only the fire drill!  They've had an alarm, and she's told to shut off
+draughts.  Very good going!  Not more than five or six seconds all
+told!"
+
+"There isn't really--"
+
+"Oh, dear, no.  No such luck!  Poor fun having a fire brigade, and no
+chance to show its mettle.  But we live in hope.  You ought to join.  I
+can imagine you making a magnificent captain."
+
+So here was another ambition.  Darsie made a mental note to inquire into
+the workings of the fire brigade, and to offer her name as a recruit
+without delay.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+THE FANCY BALL.
+
+It was somewhat of a shock to the Fresher contingency to receive one
+morning the intimation of a Costume Ball, to be held in Clough Hall on
+the following night; but their protests met with scant sympathy from the
+elders.  When Darsie plaintively declared that she hadn't got a fancy
+dress, and would not have time to send home for it if she _had_, a
+third-year girl silenced her by a stern counter-question: "And where,
+pray, would be the fun if you _had_, and _could_?  If at the cost of a
+postcard you could be fitted up as the Lady of the Lake in green
+draperies and water-lilies, it would no doubt be exceedingly becoming,
+but it would be no sport.  No, young woman, you've got to contrive
+something out of nothing and an hour stolen from the night, and when
+you've done it you'll be in the mood to appreciate other people's
+contrivings into the bargain.  Buck up!  You're one of the dressy sort.
+We'll expect wonders from you."
+
+But when Darsie repaired to the seclusion of her study and set herself
+to the problem of evolving a fancy dress out of an ordinary college
+outfit, ideas were remarkably slow in coming.  She looked questioningly
+at each piece of drapery in turns, wondered if she could be a ghost in
+curtains, a statue in sheets, an eastern houri in the cotton quilt, a
+Portia in the hearthrug, discarded each possibility in turn, and turned
+her attention to her own wardrobe.
+
+Black serge, grey tweed, violet ninon; two evening frocks, and the one
+white satin which was the _piece de resistance_ of the whole.  A cloth
+coat, a mackintosh, an art serge cloak for evening wear--how _could_ one
+manufacture a fancy dress from garments so ordinary as these?
+
+In despair, Darsie betook herself to Margaret France's room and found
+that young woman seated before her dressing-table engaged in staring
+fixedly at her own reflection in the mirror.  She betrayed no
+embarrassment at being discovered in so compromising a position, but
+smiled a broad smile of welcome out of the mirror, the while she
+continued to turn and to twist, and hold up a hand-glass to scrutinise
+more closely unknown aspects of face and head.
+
+"I know what you've come for!  I've had two Freshers already.  Bowled
+over at the thought of inventing a costume--that's it, isn't it?  Oh,
+you'll rise to it yet.  The only difficulty is to hit on an idea--the
+rest's as easy as pie.  That's what I'm doing now--studying my phiz to
+see what it suggests.  My nose, now!  What d'you think of my nose?
+Seems to me that nose wasn't given me for nothing.  _And_ the width
+between the eyes!  It's borne in upon me that I must be either a turnip
+lantern or a Dutch doll.  The doll would probably be the most becoming,
+so I'll plump for that.  Don't breathe a word, for it must be a secret
+to the last.  As for you--it would be easy to suggest a dozen pretty-
+pretties."
+
+Margaret wheeled round in her chair, and sat nursing her knees,
+regarding Darsie with a twinkling eye.  "Big eyes, long neck, neat
+little feet--you'd make an adorable Alice in Wonderland, with ankle-
+strap slippers, and a comb, and a dear little pinny over a blue frock!
+And your friend can be the Mad Hatter.  Look well, wouldn't she, with a
+hat on one side?  There are only the girls to see you, and the more
+comic you can make yourself the better they'll be pleased.  You are
+about to be introduced to a new side of Newnham life, and will see how
+mad the students can be when they let themselves go.  You'll laugh
+yourself ill before the evening's over.  Well, think it over, and come
+back to me if you want any properties.  My dress will be easy enough--
+braided hair, short white frock (butter-muslin at a penny the yard),
+white stockings with sandals, another pair of stockings to cover my
+arms, chalked face and neck, with peaked eyebrows and neat little spots
+of red on the cheekbones and tip of the chin.  If you feel inclined to
+be angelic, you might run up with your paint-box at the last minute, and
+dab on my joints."
+
+"Joints!"
+
+Darsie gaped in bewilderment, whereupon Margaret cried resentfully--
+
+"Well, I must _have_ joints, mustn't I?  How do you expect me to move?
+A paint-box is invaluable on these occasions, as you'll find before you
+are through.  Now, my love, I'll bid you a fond adieu, for work presses.
+By the by, one word in your ear!  Don't ask a third-year girl to dance
+with you if you value your nose!"
+
+"What will happen to it if I do?"
+
+"Snapped off!  Never mind I look pretty and meek, and perhaps she'll ask
+_you_.  Now be off--be off--I must to work!"
+
+Darsie descended to Hannah's study and proposed the idea of the Mad
+Hatter, the which was instantly and scornfully declined.  Hannah
+explained at length that though her head might be plain, it yet
+contained more brains than other heads she could mention, and that to
+play the part of idiot for a whole night long was a feat beyond the
+powers of a mathematical student reading for honours.  She then
+explained with a dignity which seemed somewhat misplaced that she had
+set her heart upon representing a pillar-box, and was even now on the
+point of sallying forth to purchase a trio of hat-boxes, which, being of
+fashionable dimensions, would comfortably encircle her body.  Fastened
+together so as to form a tube, covered with red sateen, and supported by
+scarlet-stockinged legs, the effect would be pleasingly true to life.
+
+"I'll have peep-holes for eyes, and the slit will outline my mouth.
+Between the dances I'll kneel down in a corner so that the box touches
+the ground, and I'll look so real, that I shall expect every one to drop
+in _letters--chocolate_ letters, observe!  You might buy some and set
+the example!"
+
+For the next twenty-four hours an unusual air of excitement and bustle
+pervaded the college, and the conversation at mealtime consisted for the
+most part of fragmentary questions and answers bearing on the important
+subject of costumes in making.
+
+"Lend me your boot brushes, like a lamb!"
+
+"Got an old pair of brown stockings you can't wear again?"
+
+"Be an angel and lend me your striped curtains just for the night!"
+
+"Spare _just_ ten minutes to sew up my back?"
+
+So on it went, and in truth it was a pleasant chance to hear the merry,
+inconsequent chatter; for, like every other class of the community, girl
+students have their besetting sins, and one of the most obvious of these
+is an air of assurance, of dogmatism, of final knowledge of life,
+against which there can be no appeal.  Girls of nineteen and twenty will
+settle a dispute of ages with a casual word; students of economy will
+advance original schemes warranted to wipe the offence of poverty from
+the globe; science students with unlowered voices will indulge across
+the dinner-table in scathing criticisms on historic creeds which their
+fathers hold in reverence; and on each young face, on each young tongue,
+can be read the same story of certainty and self-esteem.
+
+This state of mind is either sad, amusing, or exasperating, according to
+the mood of the hearer; but, whatever be his mood, he yet knows in his
+heart that it is a transitory phase, and an almost inevitable result of
+theoretical knowledge.  A few years of personal grip with life and its
+problems will make short work of that over-confidence, and replace it
+with a gentler, sweeter touch.
+
+But to-night was a night of frolic, and one would have to travel far
+indeed to find a more amusing spectacle than an impromptu costume dance
+in Clough Hall.  Beauty is a secondary consideration, and the girl who
+has achieved the oddest and most ludicrous appearance is the heroine of
+the hour.  Darsie Garnett made a fascinating Alice in Wonderland in her
+short blue frock, white pinny, and little ankle-strap slippers, her hair
+fastened back by an old-fashioned round comb, and eyebrows painted into
+an inquiring arch, but she received no attention in comparison with that
+lavished upon Hannah, when she dashed nimbly in at the door, and,
+kneeling down in a corner of the room, presented a really lifelike
+appearance of a pillar-box, a white label bearing the hours of
+"Chocolate deliveries" pasted conspicuously beneath the slit.  Hannah's
+prophecies proved correct, for it became one of the amusements of the
+evening to feed that yawning cavity with chocolates and other dainties,
+so that more than one sweet tooth in the assembly made a note of the
+suggestion for a future day.
+
+The Dutch Doll was another huge success; for so dolly and so beyond all
+things Dutch did she appear, standing within the doorway with jointed
+arms and rigid back, with dark hair plastered over the forehead in the
+well-known curve, and the three little spots of colour blazing out from
+the whitened background, that it was almost impossible to believe that
+she was living flesh and blood.  Like a statue she stood until the
+laughter and applause had lasted for several minutes, and then, stepping
+jerkily on one side, made way for a new and even more startling
+apparition.
+
+Topsy, by all that was wonderful and unexpected!  A beaming, grinning
+little nigger girl, with tightly curled hair, rolling eyes, and white
+teeth showing to the gums.  A short gown of brilliantly striped cotton
+reached to the knees, brown-stockinged arms and legs were matched by
+brown-painted face and neck; standing side by side with the Dutch Doll,
+the respective whiteness and brownness became accentuated to a
+positively dazzling extent, and the onlookers were jubilant with
+delight.  The climax was reached when the two waltzed off together round
+the room, the doll sustaining a delightful stiffness and stoniness of
+mien, while Topsy's grin threatened to reach to her very ears.
+
+Ordinary costumes fell somewhat flat after these triumphs, though to the
+Freshers there was a continuing joy in beholding dignified students in
+their third year pirouetting in childlike abandonment.  There, for
+instance, was the cleverest girl in college, of whom it was accepted as
+a certainty that she would become a world-wide celebrity, an austere and
+remote personage who was seldom seen to smile; there she stood, the
+daintiest Christmas Cracker that one could wish to behold, in a sheath
+of shimmery pink, tied in the middle by a golden string, finished at
+either end with a froth of frills, and ornamented front and back with
+immense bouquets of flowers.  By an ingenious arrangement also, if you
+pulled a string in a certain way, a mysterious cracking sound was heard,
+and a motto made its appearance bearing an original couplet whose
+reference was strictly and delightfully local.
+
+The run on these mottoes was great, and after their points were fully
+enjoyed, they were folded carefully away, to be kept as souvenirs of the
+great scholar of later years.
+
+The evening was half over, and the girls had settled down to the dance,
+when suddenly, unexpectedly, the great excitement arrived.  At a moment
+when the music had ceased, and the various couples were preparing for
+the usual promenade around the Hall, a loud roar was heard from without,
+and into the middle of the floor there trotted nothing more nor less
+than a tawny yellow lion, which, being confronted by a crowd of
+spectators, drew back as if in fear, and crouched in threatening manner.
+Its masked face showed a savage row of teeth; a mass of red hair,
+shortened by that mysterious process known as "back combing," produced a
+sufficiently convincing mane; a yellow skin hearthrug was wrapped round
+the body, while paint and wadding combined had contrived a wonderfully
+good imitation of claws.
+
+It was the colour of the hair alone which revealed the identity of the
+Lion to her companions.  "It's that wretched little ginger Georgie!"
+
+"That little ginger beast!" went the cry from lip to lip.  But, abuse
+her as they might, for the rest of the evening "Ginger Georgie" remained
+the centre of attraction, as she persistently ambled after Topsy, and
+gnawed at her brown feet, evidently recognising in her at once a
+compatriot and a tit-bit.
+
+Well, well!  _Il faut souffrire pour etre--celebre_!  When supper-time
+arrived, and the lion's mask was removed, behold a countenance so
+magenta with heat that compared with it even the Letter Box herself was
+pale.  The two sufferers were waited upon with the most assiduous
+attention, as was indeed only fair.  When one has voluntarily endured a
+condition of semi-suffocation throughout an evening's "pleasuring" for
+the unselfish reason of providing amusement for others, it's a poor
+thing if one cannot be assisted to lemonade in return.
+
+The Lion sat up well into the night combing out her mane; the Letter Box
+had the first bad headache in her life, but both tumbled into bed at
+last, proud and happy in the remembrance of an historic success.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+UNDERGRADUATE FRIENDS.
+
+Hannah strolled into Darsie's study, open letter in hand.  "Here's
+games!" she announced.  "An invitation from Mrs Hoare for myself and
+friend--that's you--to go to tea on Sunday afternoon.  That's because
+I'm Dan's sister, of course.  He'll be there, too, I expect, and the
+handsome Percival, and lots more men.  The question is, shall we go?"
+
+Now Mrs Hoare was the wife of the head of that well-known college of
+which Dan and Ralph were members, and the invitation was therefore the
+fulfilment of one of Darsie's dreams.
+
+"Of course we'll go!" she cried ardently.  "Sunday tea at a man's
+college is part of the Cambridge programme, and we want to see all that
+we can.  Personally, I consider that they might have asked us before."
+She lay back in her seat, and stared dreamily at the wall, puckering her
+brow in thought, the while Hannah chuckled in the background.
+
+"I know what you are thinking about!"
+
+"You don't!" cried Darsie, and blushed, a deep guilty blush.
+
+"I _do_!  Costume for Sunday, and the question of possibly squeezing out
+three or four shillings to buy an extra bit of frippery to add to your
+charms!"
+
+"Boo!" cried Darsie impatiently; then with a sudden change of front:
+"And if I _was_, I was perfectly right!  Newnham girls are not half
+careful enough about their appearance, and it tells against the cause.
+A perfect woman, nobly planned, ought to be as clever as she is--er--
+dainty, and as dainty as she is clever."
+
+"Thank you for the concession!  Very considerate of you, I'm sure.  If
+you had stuck to `beautiful,' I should have been hopelessly left out.
+Even `dainty' is beyond me, I'm afraid; but I'll promise you to be neat
+and tidy, and saints can do no more--if they happen to have been born
+_plain_ saints, that's to say!"
+
+Hannah stood in front of the mirror, staring back at her flat, square
+face with an expression of serenely detached criticism.
+
+"If you are the beauty of this college, I run a close race for the booby
+prize!  Bit of a handicap that, if you care about popularity.  This
+Sunday afternoon now! they'll all be buzzing round you like so many
+flies, while I do wallflower in a corner.  Nonsense to say that looks
+don't count!  So far as I can see, the difference between your face and
+mine will probably make the difference in our lives.  You'll marry a
+lord of high degree, and I'll school marm and be maiden aunt."
+
+"Oh, Hannah!"  Darsie was acutely discomfited by such words from
+Hannah's lips.  True they were spoken in matter-of-fact tones, and
+without the suspicion of a whine, but as the first instance of anything
+approaching a lament, the occasion was historic.  "Oh, Hannah, dear--
+it's only at first!  After the first no one cares a rap _what_ you look
+like, so long as you're nice."
+
+"Fal-de-ral!" cried Hannah scornfully.  "Of course they care!  Any one
+would--should myself, but you needn't look so hang-dog, my dear.  It's
+not _your_ fault, and I am quite comfortable, thank you.  If any man
+ever wants to marry me, I'll know jolly well that it's for myself, and
+that he really loves me through and through.  There isn't any of the
+glamour business about this child to make him imagine that he cares,
+when it's only a passing phase.  And if it's my lot to live alone, I'll
+back myself to be as happy as most wives I come across.  It's my own
+big, splendid life, and I'm going to _make_ it splendid, or know the
+reason why!"  Hannah struck a dramatic gesture, danced a few fancy steps
+in an elephantine manner, and stumped towards, the door.  "So be it,
+then!  We accept with pleasure, and I'll leave you to trim your hat."
+
+Whether or no any such embellishment did take place history sayeth not,
+but it is certain that Darsie Garnett made a very charming picture on
+the following Sunday afternoon, and that her dainty style of beauty
+showed to peculiar advantage against the oak panelling of the stately
+old room in which the head of --- College and his gracious, fragile-
+looking wife dispensed tea to their guests.
+
+The first few minutes after their arrival were rather an ordeal to the
+two Freshers, who had never before been present at such a gathering, and
+felt themselves the cynosure of every eye; but the kindness of host and
+hostess soon put them at their ease.
+
+A fair sprinkling of college men were in the room, handing round tea and
+cakes to the guests.  Dan Vernon greeted Darsie with an illuminating
+"Halloa!" and his sister with an even shorter grunt; but it was only
+when she was comfortably settled down to tea that Darsie caught sight of
+Ralph Percival's fair, close-clipped head at the far side of the table.
+He seemed in no hurry to speak to her--a fact duly scored against him in
+Miss Darsie's mind, and this indifference served to pique her into a
+more vivacious reception of the attentions of his companions.
+
+As Hannah had foretold, her pretty friend held quite a little court as
+one man after another strolled up to join the animated group around her
+chair.  There were two other girls in that group, and a married woman
+with a strikingly sweet face, who had been introduced as the sister of
+the hostess.  Mrs Reeves, as she was called, appeared to be on intimate
+terms with the men, and her presence, instead of acting as a restraint,
+only added to their enjoyment.  Darsie thought that she was a charming
+creature, was conscious that she herself was being scrutinised with
+special attention, and sincerely hoped that the verdict was favourable.
+It was a curious person who did not wish to stand well in Alicia
+Reeves's estimation!
+
+Suddenly Ralph Percival edged in at the back of the group, and stationed
+himself by Darsie with an air of possession.
+
+"Well, Miss Darsie Garnett, isn't it about time that you had some talk
+with me?"
+
+"Quite time!"  Darsie's tone was eloquent, and she looked Ralph in the
+face with a quiet steadiness, at which he had the grace to blush.  He
+had been in no hurry to claim acquaintanceship until her social success
+was assured; she was fully aware of the fact, but her pique died a rapid
+death as she looked closely into the lad's face.  Ralph at twenty-two
+was as handsome as in his boyhood, handsomer, indeed, but there were
+other changes, which the girl's eyes were quick to read; for though we
+may keep silence with our tongue, the hand of Time imprints marks upon
+our features which are unfailing guides to our spiritual progress or
+decline.
+
+For many months past Ralph Vernon had persistently allowed himself to
+fall short of his best, slacking in work, overstepping at play,
+abandoning "straightness" for a gathering mesh of deceit.  Attached to
+his name was an unsavoury reputation of card-playing for high stakes, of
+drinking too much, although not to the extent of actual drunkenness; and
+the character had alienated from him the friendship of serious men, and
+evoked a disapproving aloofness in the manner of his instructors.  At
+the moment when he most needed help those who were best fitted to give
+it sedulously avoided his company, and in this first moment of meeting
+Darsie was tempted to follow their example.
+
+Horrid to look like that!  At his age to own those lines, those reddened
+eyes, that dulled white skin!  Up went the little head, the slender neck
+reared itself proudly, the red lips curled over small white teeth.
+Darsie intended to wither Ralph by the sight of such obvious distaste,
+but with the easy vanity of his nature he attributed her airs to girlish
+pique at his own neglect, and was correspondingly elated thereat.
+
+The little schoolgirl who had been his sister's friend had grown into a
+"stunning girl," with whom the men were evidently greatly impressed.
+Ralph decided that the hour had come to claim her as an old friend and
+take her under his wing.  He sat himself down by her side and
+persistently monopolised her attention.
+
+"College life evidently suits you, Darsie.  You are looking rippingly
+well!"
+
+"Am I?  Sorry to be unable to return the compliment!"
+
+"Oh!"  Ralph moved impatiently.  "Don't _you_ begin that tune!  It is
+dinned into my ears from morning till night.  A fellow may swot himself
+into a rag, and not a word will be said, but if he oversteps an inch for
+his own amusement there's the dickens to pay.  I said from the start
+that I intended to have a good rag.  College is one of the best times in
+a man's life, and he's a fool if he doesn't make the most of his
+chance."
+
+"It is also--incidentally--supposed to be a time for mental
+improvement," returned Darsie in sententious tones, which brought upon
+her an instant rebuke.
+
+"Oh, for pity's sake don't come the Newnham swag over me!  Can't stand
+those girls as a rule.  Avoid 'em like poison.  Take my advice as an old
+friend and avoid that style as you would the plague.  You're too jolly
+pretty to come the strong-minded female.  Far better stick to your old
+style.  Men like it a heap better."
+
+"It is a matter of perfect indifference to me _what_ men like!" declared
+Darsie, not, it is to be feared, with absolute veracity.  "I am proud to
+be a Newnhamite, and if the girls do have a few mannerisms, they count
+for precious little beside their virtues.  They are up to work, and they
+_do_ work with might and main, though there can be no place in the world
+where there is no fun.  We are always having some prank or other--
+politicals, and cocoa-parties and hockey matches, and dances--"
+
+"What's the fun of dances with no men to dance with?  Wait till May
+term, and see what a real ball is like.  We'll have some river picnics,
+too, and breakfasts at the Orchard.  There's lots to be done in summer,
+but just now there's nothing on but teas.  You must come to tea in my
+rooms.  I've got a slap-up study."  He turned towards Mrs Reeves and
+addressed her with confident familiarity.  "Mrs Reeves will play
+chaperon, and I'll promise you the best cakes that Cambridge can
+produce."
+
+"Oh, yes, I'll play chaperon."  To Darsie's surprise the sweet-faced
+woman smiled back into Ralph's face with friendly eyes, not appearing
+even to notice the over-confidence of his manner.  "Mr Percival gives
+charming parties, and I can answer for it that his boast as to the cakes
+is justified.  I can never fathom where he gets them."
+
+She turned to Darsie with a little gesture of confidence, and slightly
+lowered her voice.  "I am known as `the Professional Chaperon.'  I hope
+you will engage my services if you are in need of such a personage, but
+perhaps we ought to know one another a little better first.  I should
+like so much to know you!  Will you come to see me one afternoon next
+week when you are free, and feel inclined for a chat?  I won't ask any
+one else, so that we can have a real cosy time."
+
+Surprised and gratified, and more than a little flattered, Darsie
+mentioned her free hours, and received in return Mrs Reeves's card
+bearing an address in Grange Road, then once more Ralph engrossed her
+attention.
+
+"I say!  You might ask Ida up for a night or two, and bring her along.
+They'll let you have a friend now and then, and she'd like it all right.
+Awfully decent in writing to me, Ida is, and fights my battles at home.
+Sensible girl!  Understand it's no good to jaw.  I'd like to have Ida
+up for a bit."
+
+"So would I.  I'll ask her with pleasure."  One of Ralph's best points
+had been his affection for his sisters, and the reminder thereof
+softened Darsie's heart.  She smiled at him with recovered friendliness.
+"I'll ask Ida, and you must ask Dan and Hannah Vernon, and make a nice
+family party.  Do you see much of Dan?  I don't expect _he_ makes a rag
+of himself over amusement!"
+
+Ralph shrugged carelessly.  "I've no use for Vernon!  Good head for
+routine work, but as a pal, dull as you make 'em!  I'll ask him once as
+you make a point of it, but I don't fancy you'll want him twice.  As for
+the sister--but perhaps I'd better not make any remarks?"
+
+"Much better!"  Darsie said frostily.  "Your manners have not improved,
+Ralph.  I think, if you please, that I would rather not talk to you any
+more for the present.  Would you tell Dan Vernon that I want him to take
+your place?"
+
+It was the first, the very first time in her life that Darsie had
+essayed the part of queening it over a member of the opposite sex, and
+the success of the venture was startling even to herself.  Ralph
+flushed, flinched, rose without a word, and stalked across the room to
+summon Dan as required; and Dan came meekly forward, seated himself in
+the discarded chair, and faced her with an air of solemn expectation.
+His rugged face looked plain and roughly hewn in contrast with Ralph's
+classical features, but the dark eyes were eloquent as of yore, and the
+sight of the tilted chin brought back a score of old-time memories.
+Darsie looked at him with satisfaction, but with a disconcerting
+blankness of mind as to what to say first.  From the other side of the
+room Ralph was looking on with cynical eyes; it was imperative that the
+silence should be broken at once.
+
+"Dan, _please_ say something!  I wanted Ralph to go, so I asked for you.
+Do please find something to say."
+
+Dan smiled broadly.  Each time that she saw him smile Darsie wondered
+afresh how she could ever have thought him plain.  His dark eyes glowed
+upon her with the look she liked best to see.
+
+"What am I to say?  It's good to see you here, Darsie.  You are looking
+very--well!  Everything going all right?  Sure there's nothing I can
+do?"
+
+"No."  Darsie beamed happily.  At that moment there seemed nothing left
+to wish.  Dan's friendliness gave the finishing touch to her content,
+and the world was _couleur de rose_.  "I am loving it all more than I
+expected.  The work's glorious, and the play's glorious, and I'm just
+absorbed in both.  It's splendid, coming here to-day to see this lovely
+old house and meet you again.  I thought you had forgotten all about
+me."
+
+But Dan had drawn back into his shell, and refused to be cajoled.  He
+glowered at the opposite wall for some minutes, then asked abruptly--
+
+"Why did you send off Percival?"
+
+"Oh--!"  Darsie hesitated, and then answered with discretion: "I had
+talked to him as much as I cared about for the moment, and I shall see
+him soon again.  He is going to get up a tea-party for me, with that
+sweet Mrs Reeves as chaperon.  I told him to ask you and Hannah."
+
+"You should not have done that!"  Dan spoke with sharp displeasure.  "I
+don't care to accept Percival's hospitality for myself, and certainly
+not for my sister.  I shall tell Hannah to refuse."
+
+Darsie glanced across to where Hannah sat, a typical plain Hannah at
+that moment, with feet planted well apart, and on her face the
+expression of dour determination which she adopted in moments of
+boredom; from her to Ralph Percival, standing in graceful pose, his
+fine, almost feminine, profile outlined clearly against the panelled
+wall, and, glancing, laughed softly to herself.  It seemed so ridiculous
+to think of this girl needing protection from this man.
+
+"I fancy Hannah is quite capable of looking after herself."
+
+"I'm sure of it.  She's a new-comer, however, and she doesn't get into
+Percival's set if I can help it."
+
+"Dan!  It can't be so bad if Mrs Reeves is willing to go.  She accepted
+in a minute.  I heard her myself."
+
+"She goes everywhere, to the wildest fellows' rooms.  She has her own
+ideas, no doubt, but I don't profess to understand them."  He hesitated,
+puckering his brows, and looking at her with dark, questioning eyes.  "I
+have no authority over you, Darsie, but I wish--"
+
+"Ralph saved my life," interrupted Darsie simply.
+
+Dan looked at her sharply, stared with scrutinising attention at her
+face, but spoke no further word of protest.  He evidently realised, as
+Darsie did herself, that it would be a mean act to reject the friendship
+of a man who had wrought so great a service.
+
+Half an hour later the two girls slowly wended their way past the tower
+gateway of Trinity, past Caius, with its twinkling lights, stately
+King's, and modest Catherine's, to the homelike shelter of their own
+dear Newnham.
+
+"Well!" cried Hannah, breaking a long silence, "you had a big success
+and I had--_not_!  But you're not a bit happier than I, that I can see.
+Men are poor, blind bats.  I prefer my own sex; they are much more
+discriminating, and when they like you--they _like_ you, and there's no
+more shilly-shally.  Those men never know their own minds!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+MRS. REEVES MAKES A PROPOSAL.
+
+Four days later Darsie went by appointment to her _tete-a-tete_ tea with
+the professional chaperon with a pleasurable expectation which was
+largely streaked with curiosity.
+
+If physiognomy counted for anything, Mrs Reeves must surely be a most
+sweet and noble character.  Her grey eyes looked into yours with a
+straight, transparent gaze, her lips closed one upon another firmly
+enough to debar all trace of weakness, yet not so firmly as to hint at
+undue severity, her hair waved back from a broad white brow.  It was, as
+Dan had said, difficult to understand how such a woman could be the
+willing companion of men whom even fellow-students were anxious to shun.
+Darsie wondered if the afternoon's conversation would throw any light
+on this knotty point.
+
+She was shown, not into the drawing-room but into a cosy little den on
+the second floor, a sort of glorious edition of a college study, where
+Mrs Reeves sat reading by the fire, clad in a loose velvet gown of a
+curious reddish-brown, like the autumn tint of a leaf, which matched the
+high lights of her chestnut hair.  Darsie watched her with fascinated
+attention as she presided over the tea-table, with lithe, graceful
+movements which made a poem out of the every-day proceeding, and Mrs
+Reeves studied her in return, as she chatted lightly about a dozen
+casual subjects.  Then the tea-things were carried away, and with the
+drawing nearer to the fire conversation took a more intimate turn.
+
+"I hope your friend did not think me inhospitable for not including her
+in my invitation to-day, but when I want to get to know a girl I prefer
+to have her entirely to myself.  Perhaps she will come another day.
+Vernon's sister ought to be worth knowing."
+
+"You know Dan?"  Darsie's smile was somewhat anxious, for Dan's own
+manner with respect to her hostess was still a disturbing element.  "You
+know him well?"
+
+"No," Mrs Reeves smiled; "not well.  But I like him well by repute!
+Vernon has no need of my services.  He is strong: enough to stand by
+himself."
+
+"You mean tea-parties?" queried Darsie vaguely, whereat Mrs Reeves
+subsided into a ripple of laughter.
+
+"No, I do _not_ mean tea-parties--something very much wider.  I don't
+fancy, however, that Vernon is sociably disposed, and the authorities
+here are not inclined to encourage meetings between the men and girl
+students.  The head of his college is my brother-in-law, and one of your
+Dons is a very old friend, so I hear the question discussed from both
+sides, and then--like a wise woman--I gang my own gait!  So long as men
+are men, and girls are girls, they are bound to attract each other; it's
+natural and right, and when they are bound to meet in any case, it is my
+little hobby to help them to do so under the best conditions.  I flatter
+myself I am quite an expert in the art of being just chaperon enough,
+and not too chaperon, and I never refuse to act if I can possibly
+contrive to do so."
+
+"No!  Dan said--" began Darsie involuntarily, and then stopped short
+with a furious blush.  Mrs Reeves, however, did not share her
+discomfiture; she laughed, and said shrewdly--
+
+"Oh, I have observed his disapproving eye.  I can guess what he said.
+Many people feel the same, who judge only from the surface, and don't
+take the trouble to realise my motives.  One doesn't explain such things
+to the world in general, but I want _you_ to understand.  If one man
+less admirable than another; if his friends and his entertainments are
+inclined to become rowdy and discreditable, does he need help _less_, or
+more?  Vernon and other men of his kind consider that they do their duty
+by leaving such a man severely alone.  I find mine in being with him--
+just--as much--as ever I can!"  She emphasised the words by a series of
+taps with the poker on the top of an obstinate coal, given in the most
+delightfully school-girlish manner.  "I chaperon his parties; I talk to
+him and his friends; I make myself so agreeable that they love to have
+me, and want to have me again.  I try with every power I possess to
+encourage all that is good, and kind, and honest, and cheering in
+themselves and their conversation, and deftly, delicately, invisibly, as
+it were, to fight against everything that is mean and unworthy.  It's
+difficult, Darsie!--I may call you Darsie, mayn't I? it's such a
+beguiling little name!--one of the most difficult feats a woman could
+set herself to accomplish, and though I've had a fair measure of
+success, it's only a measure.  It's such a great big work.  Think of all
+that it means, that it _may_ mean to England, if we can keep these men
+from drifting, and give them a pull-up in time!  I am constantly
+looking, looking out for fellow-workers.  That's why I invited you here
+to-day--to ask _you_ to be on my side!"
+
+"I!"  Darsie's gasp of amazement sounded throughout the room.  "I!  Oh,
+you can't mean it!  What could I do?  I can do nothing--I'm only a
+girl!"
+
+"Only a girl!  But, dear child, that's your finest qualification!  You
+can do more than I can ever accomplish, just because you _are_ a girl,
+and will be admitted to an intimacy which is impossible for me.
+Besides, Darsie, you are a particularly pretty and attractive girl into
+the bargain; you know that, don't you?  You _ought_ to know it, and be
+very, very thankful for a great weapon given into your hands.  If you
+will join the ranks with me, and act as my curate, you will immensely
+increase my power for good."
+
+"But I can't!  I can't!  I'd love to if I could, but you don't know how
+impossible it is.  I couldn't preach to save my life."
+
+"I'm thankful to hear it.  I don't want you to preach.  You'd soon lose
+your influence if you did.  It's a case of _being_, Darsie, rather than
+doing; being your truest, sweetest, highest self when you are with these
+men, so that they may feel your influence through all the fun and
+banter.  Lots of fun, please; you can't have too much of that; a dull
+girl is soon left to herself.  People in general don't half realise the
+influence of just right _thinking_--the atmosphere which surrounds a
+person who is mentally fighting for good.  The sunbeams fall on the dark
+earth and soak up the poisoned waters, and so may our thoughts--our
+prayers," She was silent for a few moments, her hand resting lightly on
+Darsie's knees.  "There is a girl in your house--Margaret France--I
+expect you know her!  She has been one of my best helpers these last
+years.  Wherever Margaret is there is fun and laughter; she is just
+brimful of it, but--can you imagine any one going to Margaret with an
+unworthy thought, an unworthy cause?  I want you to follow in her
+steps!"
+
+She paused again for a long minute, then said slowly and emphatically--
+
+"Ralph Percival needs help, Darsie!  He has not fallen very low as yet,
+but he is drifting.  He is in a bad set, and, like too many of our
+richer men, he lacks purpose.  They come up here because their fathers
+have been before them, and it is the correct thing to do.  There is no
+real reason why they should work, or take a high place, but there seems
+to themselves every reason why they should have a good time.  Parents
+sometimes seem to hold more or less the same opinion; at others they
+seem distressed, but powerless.  College authorities are regarded as
+natural enemies; religious influences for the time beat on closed doors;
+now, Darsie, here comes the chance for `only a girl!'  A man like Ralph
+Percival, at this stage of his life, will be more influenced by a girl
+like you than by any power on earth.  It's a law of Nature and of God,
+and if every girl realised it, it would be a blessed thing for the race.
+I once heard a preacher say that so long as one dealt with general
+principles, and talked broadly of the human race, there was very little
+done.  We have to fine it down to _my next door neighbour_ before we
+really set to work.  Fine down what I have said to Ralph Percival,
+Darsie, and help me with him!  He's drifting.  He needs you.  Help me to
+pull him back!"
+
+Darsie nodded dumbly.  Mrs Reeves thought the expression on her
+downcast face touchingly sweet and earnest, but even she missed the clue
+to the girl's inmost thought.
+
+Years ago she herself had been drifting, drifting towards death, and
+Ralph had stepped forward to save her; now, in an allegorical sense, the
+positions were reversed, and she was summoned to the rescue.  There was
+no refusing a duty so obvious.  Heavy and onerous as the responsibility
+might be, it had been placed in her hands.  Darsie braced herself to the
+burden.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+CHRISTMAS DAY.
+
+It was Christmas Day; fifteen eventful months had passed by since Darsie
+Garnett and Hannah Vernon had made their appearance in Clough in the
+character of modest and diffident Freshers.  Now, advanced to the
+dignity of second-year girls, they patronised new-comers with the best,
+and talked, thought, and behaved as though, deprived of their valuable
+support, the historical centre of Cambridge must swiftly crumble to the
+dust.
+
+The little air of assurance and self-esteem which seems inseparable from
+a feminine student had laid its hand on Darsie's beauty, robbing it of
+the old shy grace, and on each fresh return to the old home Clemence and
+Lavender eloquently described themselves as "squelched flat" by the
+dignified young woman who sailed about with her head in the air, and
+delivered an ultimatum on every subject as it arose, with an air of "My
+opinion is final.  Let no dog bark!"
+
+These mannerisms, however, were only, after all, a veneer; and when two
+or three days of merry, rollicking family life had passed by, the old
+Darsie made her appearance once more, forgot to be learned and superior,
+forbore to refer to college and college ways in every second or third
+sentence, and showed a reviving interest in family affairs.
+
+Clemence was fatter than ever, a subject of intense mortification to
+herself, though at each fresh meeting she confided in whispered asides
+that she had "lost five pounds--ten pounds," as the case might be.  No
+one believed in these diminutions, but if one happened to be amiably
+disposed, one murmured vaguely, and affected conviction; and if one were
+not, one openly jeered and scoffed!  Lavender was sentimental and wrote
+poetry in which "pale roses died, in the garden wide, and the wind blew
+drear, o'er the stricken mere."  She had advanced to the dignity of long
+skirts, and dressed her hair--badly!--in the latest eccentricity of
+fashion.
+
+Vie Vernon, on the contrary, had developed into a most elegant person,
+quite an accomplished woman of the world, darkly suspected of "going to
+be engaged" to a young lawyer with a dark moustache, who had lately
+developed a suspicious fondness for her father's company.
+
+It really gave one quite a shock to realise _how_ grown-up the old
+companions had become even the brothers Harry and Russell were
+transformed into tall striplings who bought newspapers on their own
+account, and preferred, actually _preferred_, to be clean rather than
+dirty!  It was a positive relief to listen to Tim's loud voice, look at
+his grimy paws, and reflect that one member of the family was still in
+the enjoyment of youth.
+
+As usual, the postman's arrival was the first excitement of Christmas
+morning.  He brought with him an armful of letters and parcels, and
+Darsie was quick to spy Ralph Percival's handwriting upon one of the
+smallest and most attractive-looking of the packets.
+
+The colour came into her cheeks as she looked, but after holding the
+parcel uncertainly for a moment, she laid it down again, and proceeded
+to open other letters and boxes, leaving this particular one to the
+last.  An onlooker would have been puzzled to decide whether it was more
+dread or expectation which prompted this decision; and perhaps Darsie
+herself could hardly have answered the question.  The table was soon
+spread with envelopes and wrappings of paper which had enclosed
+souvenirs from college friends, and the more costly offerings from Mrs
+Percival and her girls, inscribed with the orthodox words of greeting.
+Darsie ranged them in order, and then, still hesitating, turned to the
+last packet of all.
+
+Inside was a note folded so as to act as additional wrapper for a small
+white box.  Ralph's writing, large and well-formed like himself, filled
+the half-sheet.
+
+"Dear Darsie,--I hope you will accept the enclosed trifle which has been
+made for you, from my own design.  You will understand its meaning!  I
+am more than ever in need of pulling up!  Don't fail a fellow, Darsie!
+
+"Yours,--
+
+"Ralph B.  Percival."
+
+Inside the box lay a small but beautifully modelled anchor brooch, with
+a fine golden rope twined round the stock.  Darsie looked at it with the
+same mingling of joy and pain which seemed inseparable from each stage
+of her friendship with this attractive but irresponsible young man.
+
+It was just like Ralph to have thought of this pretty and graceful way
+of expressing his sentiments, and it was not in girl nature to resist a
+glow of gratified vanity; but as she turned the golden anchor in her
+hands and realised the significance of the symbol, an old impatience
+stirred in Darsie's heart.  A man who trusted to another for anchorage
+in life, and who was ever in danger of breaking loose and drifting on to
+the rocks, was not the strong knight of a young girl's dreams.  There
+were moments when the protecting tenderness which had prompted the last
+year's efforts gave place to sudden intolerance and resentment.
+
+Inspired by Mrs Reeves's words in her first term at college, Darsie had
+set gallantly to the task of influencing Ralph Percival for good, and
+preventing his further deterioration.  At first it had appeared a
+forlorn hope; and she would have despaired many a time if it had not
+been for the encouragement which she received from Mrs Reeves and her
+"curate," Margaret France.  Then gradually and surely her influence had
+begun to make itself felt.  It could not truthfully be said that she had
+so inspired Ralph that he had turned over a new leaf, and abandoned bad
+practices from a desire for the right itself.  If the truth must be
+told, desire for his pretty mentor's approbation and praise had been a
+far stronger factor in the improvement which seemed to have been
+effected.
+
+Ralph was emotional, and as his interest in Darsie deepened into the
+sentimental attachment which seemed a natural development of their
+intimacy, he grew increasingly anxious to stand well in her estimation.
+During the May term there had been teas in the college gardens,
+breakfast parties at the Orchard, picnics on the river, which had
+afforded opportunities of _tete-a-tete_ conversations when, amidst the
+flowers and the sunshine, it had been quite an agreeable sensation to
+lament over one's weaknesses and shortcomings, and to receive in return
+the wisest of counsels from Darsie's pretty lips.
+
+"To please _you_, Darsie!--I'm hanged if I care what other people think,
+but if _you_ ask me--" The promises gained were all couched in this
+personal vein.  "If you chuck me, Darsie, I shan't worry any more."
+This was the threat held out for the future.  Unsatisfactory, if you
+will, yet the fact remained that for the first part of the last term
+Ralph _had_ appeared to show greater interest in work than he had before
+manifested, and had been involved in a minimum of scrapes.
+
+There were moments when, remembering these facts, Darsie felt proudly
+that she had not lived in vain; moments when Ralph's dependence on
+herself and graceful acknowledgments of her help seemed the chief
+interest in life.  But there were also other moments when the bond
+between them weighed heavy as a chain.  In less than two years the
+training days would be over, Ralph would be a man, and she herself a
+woman on the threshold of life.  Would she be expected to play the part
+of permanent anchor, and, if so, could she, should she undertake the
+task?
+
+For the last few weeks of the term Darsie had been so absorbed in her
+own surroundings that she had had no time or thought to bestow on
+outside interests, and Mrs Reeves being abroad, no college news came to
+her ears from that source.
+
+Now since the beginning of the holidays Ralph's name had hardly been
+mentioned, since family interests were predominant, and Darsie had
+learned from experience that the subject of "Percival" was calculated to
+send Dan Vernon into his most taciturn mood.
+
+On this Christmas morning, however, Darsie was in a mood of somewhat
+reckless gaiety; let the future take care of itself.  For to-day, at
+least, she was young and happy and free; the Vernon family was coming
+over in bulk to spend the evening, when the presence of one of Dan's
+chums would supply an agreeable element of novelty to the occasion.  Not
+one single gloomy thought must be allowed to cloud the sunshine of this
+Christmas Day!
+
+Dinner was served at seven o'clock, and was truly a festive occasion.
+The dining-room table being unequal to the task of providing
+accommodation for sixteen people, the schoolroom table had to be used as
+a supplement.  It was a good inch higher than the other, and supplied
+with a preponderance of legs, but these small drawbacks could not weigh
+against the magnificent effect of the combined length, covered, as it
+was, with fruit, flowers, and a plethora of bright red bonbons and
+crackers.  The girls wore their prettiest evening frocks; the turkey,
+the goose, the plum-pudding, and the mince-pies were all paragons of
+their kind, while dessert was enlivened by the discovery of small
+surprise presents cunningly hidden away within hollowed oranges, apples,
+and nuts.  Silver thimbles, pocket-calendars, stamp-cases, sleeve-links,
+and miniature brooches, made their appearance with such extraordinary
+unexpectedness that Darsie finally declared she was afraid to venture to
+eat even a grape, lest she might swallow a diamond alive!
+
+When the hilarious meal had come to an end, the company adjourned into a
+drawing-room illumined by firelight only, but such firelight!  For over
+a week those logs had been stacked by the kitchen grate so that they
+might become "as dry as tinder."
+
+Placed in the big grate, they sent up a leaping, crackling flame which
+was in itself an embodiment of cheer, and when the sixteen chairs were
+filled and ranged in a circle round the blaze, there was a Christmas
+picture complete, and as goodly and cheery a picture as one need wish to
+see.  A basket of fir-cones stood at either side of the grate, and the
+order of proceedings was that each guest in turn should drop a cone into
+the heart of the fire, and relate an amusing story or coincidence the
+while it burned.  Results proved that the amount of time so consumed
+varied so strangely that suggestions of foul play were made by more than
+one raconteur.
+
+"It's not fair!  Some one has got at these cones!  Some of them have
+been soaked to make them damp!--"
+
+Be that as it may, no one could possibly have foretold who would happen
+to hit on this particular cone, so that the charge of injustice fell
+swiftly to the ground.
+
+Mrs Garnett opened the ball with a coincidence taken from her own life,
+the cone burning bright and blue the while.
+
+"When I was a girl of twenty, living at home with my father and mother,
+I had a curiously distinct dream one night about a certain Mr
+Dalrymple.  We knew no one of that name, but in my dream he appeared to
+be a lifelong friend.  He was a clergyman, about sixty years of age--not
+handsome, but with a kind, clever face.  He had grey hair, and heavy
+black eyebrows almost meeting over his nose.  I was particularly
+interested in his appearance, because--this is the exciting part!--in
+my dream I was engaged to him, and we were going to be married the
+following month...  Next morning, when I awoke, the impression left was
+unusually distinct, and at breakfast I made them all laugh over my
+matrimonial plans.  My sisters called me `Mrs Dalrymple' for several
+days, and then the joke faded away, and was replaced by something newer
+and more exciting.  Two years passed by, and then, in the summer
+holidays, I went to Scotland to pay a visit.  A slight accident on the
+line delayed me at a small station for a couple of hours, and I strolled
+through the village to pass the time by seeing what could be seen.  It
+was a dull little place, and the principal street was empty of every one
+but a few children until, when I reached the end, a man in a black coat
+came suddenly out of a house and walked towards me.  He was tall and
+elderly and thin, his hair was grey, his eyebrows were dark and met in a
+peak over his nose.  My heart gave a great big jump, for it was the face
+of the man I had seen in my dream--the man who was to have been my
+husband!  You can imagine my surprise!  It was many, many months since I
+had given a thought to the silly old dream, but at the first glance at
+that face the memory of it came back as clear and distinct as on the
+morning after it had happened.  I walked towards him quite dazed with
+surprise, and then another extraordinary thing happened!  He was
+evidently short-sighted, and could not distinguish figures at a
+distance, but presently, as we drew nearer together, he in his turn
+started violently, stared in my face as if he could hardly believe his
+eyes, and then rushed forward and seized me by the hand.  `I _am_ glad
+to see you--I _am_ glad!  This _is_ a pleasure!  When did you come?'
+Poor old man!  My blank face showed him his mistake, and he dropped my
+hand and began to mumble out apologies.  `I've made a mistake.  I
+thought you were--I thought you were--' He frowned, evidently searched
+in vain for a clue, and added feebly, `I thought I knew you.  _Your face
+is so familiar_!'  It was all over in a minute.  He took off his hat,
+and hurried on overcome with embarrassment, and I turned mechanically in
+the direction of the church.  It was closed, but by the gate stood a
+board bearing the hours of services, and beneath them the name of the
+minister of the parish.  I read it with a thrill.  The name was `_The
+Rev.  John Dalrymple_'!"
+
+Mrs Garnett lay back in her chair with the contented air of a
+_raconteuse_ who has deftly led up to a _denouement_, and her audience
+gasped in mingled surprise and curiosity.
+
+"How _thrilling_!  How weird!"
+
+"What an extraordinary thing!  Go on!  Go on!  And what happened next?"
+
+Mrs Garnett chuckled contentedly.
+
+"I met your father, married him, and lived happily ever after!  As for
+Mr Dalrymple, I never met him again nor heard his name mentioned.  The
+sequel is not at all exciting, but it was certainly an extraordinary
+coincidence, and caused me much agitation at the time.  I have timed
+myself very well--my cone has just burned out.  Who's turn comes next?"
+
+There followed a somewhat lengthened pause while every one nudged a
+next-door neighbour, and disdained responsibility on his own account.
+Then Mr Vernon stepped into the breach.
+
+"I heard a curious thing the other day.  A friend of mine was taken
+suddenly ill on a hillside in Switzerland, was carried into a chalet and
+most kindly tended by the good woman.  When, at the end of several
+hours, he was well enough to leave, he wished to make her a present of
+money.  She refused to take it, but said that she had a daughter in
+service in England, and that it would be a real pleasure to her, if,
+upon his return, my friend would write to the girl telling her of his
+visit to the old home.  He asked for the address, and was told, `Mary
+Smith, care of Mr Spencer, The Towers, Chestone.'  He read it, looked
+the old woman in the face and said, `_I_ am Mr Spencer!  _I_ live at
+The Towers, Chestone; and my children's nurse is called Mary Smith!'
+There!  I can vouch for the absolute truth of that coincidence, and I
+think you will find it hard to beat."
+
+"And what did he say to the nurse?" asked literal Clemence, to the
+delight of her brothers and sisters, whose imaginary dialogues between
+master and maid filled the next few minutes with amusement.
+
+Dan's friend hailed from Oxford, and gave a highly coloured account of a
+practical joke in several stages, which he had played on an irritating
+acquaintance.  The elder members of the party listened with awe, if
+without approval, but Tim showed repeated signs of restlessness, and in
+a final outburst corrected the narrator on an all-important point.
+
+"That's the way they had it in _Britain's Boys_!" he declared, whereupon
+the Oxford man hid his head under an antimacassar, and exclaimed
+tragically that all was discovered!  "Now it's Darsie's turn!  Tell us a
+story, Darsie--an adventure, your own adventure when you went out in
+that punt, and the mill began working--"
+
+"Why should I tell what you know by heart already?  You'd only be
+bored."
+
+"Oh, but you never tell a story twice over in the same way," persisted
+Clemence with doubtful flattery.  "And Mr Leslie has never heard it.
+I'm sure he'd be interested.  It really _was_ an adventure.  So
+romantic, too.  Ralph Percival is _so_ good-looking!"
+
+"I fail to see what his looks have to do with it," said Darsie in her
+most Newnham manner.  "Strong arms were more to the purpose, and those
+he certainly does possess."
+
+"Strong arms--stout heart!" murmured Lavender in sentimental aside.
+"Well, then, tell about the treasure-hunt in the Percivals' garden--and
+how you--you know!  Go on--that's another _real_ adventure."
+
+"All Miss Darsie's adventures seem to have been in connection with the
+Percival family!" remarked the Oxford man at this point.
+
+Darsie flushed with annoyance, and retired determinedly into her shell.
+She was seated almost in the centre of the circle, between her father
+and John Vernon, and the leaping light of the fire showed up her face
+and figure in varying shades of colour.  Now she was a rose-maiden,
+dress, hair, and face glowing in a warm pink hue; anon, the rose changed
+into a faint metallic blue, which gave a ghostlike effect to the slim
+form; again, she was all white--a dazzling, unbroken white, in which the
+little oval face assumed an air of childlike fragility and pathos.  As
+she sat with her hands folded on her knee, and her head resting against
+the dark cushions of her chair, more than one of the company watched her
+with admiration: but Darsie was too much occupied with her own thoughts
+to be conscious of their scrutiny.
+
+As each story-teller began his narrative, she cast a momentary glance in
+his direction, and then turned back to fire-gazing once more.  Once or
+twice she cast a curious glance towards the far corner where Dan Vernon
+was seated, but he had drawn his chair so far back that nothing could be
+distinguished but the white blur of shirt-front.  Darsie wondered if Dan
+were uninterested, bored, asleep--yet as her eyes questioned the
+darkness she had the strangest impression of meeting other eyes--dark,
+intent eyes, which stared, and stared--
+
+Vie Vernon was telling "a _most interesting_ coincidence," her opening
+sentence--"It was told to me by a friend--a lawyer,"--causing
+surreptitious smiles and nudges among her younger hearers.  "There was a
+girl in his office--a typewriting girl.  All the money had been lost--"
+
+"Whose money?  The lawyer's or the office's?"
+
+"Neither!  Don't be silly.  The girl's father's, of course."
+
+"You never told us that she had a father!"
+
+"Russell, if you interrupt every minute, I won't play.  Of course he'd
+lost it, or the girl wouldn't have been a typist.  Any one would know
+that!  Ed--the lawyer did sea-sort of business--what do you call it?--
+marine things--and the girl typed them.  Years before a brother had
+disappeared--"
+
+"The lawyer's brother?"
+
+"No!  I'm sorry I began.  You are so disagreeable, The _girl's_ uncle,
+of course, and they often wanted to find him, because he was rich, and
+might have helped them now they were poor.  One day, when she was typing
+out one of the depositions--"
+
+"Ha!"  The unusual word evoked unanimous comment.  "`De-pos-itions--if
+you please'!  How legal we are becoming, to be sure!"
+
+Vie flushed, and hurried on breathlessly--
+
+"She came across the name of John H.  Rose, and she wondered if the H.
+meant Hesselwhaite, for that was her uncle's second name, and she looked
+it up in the big document, and it _was_ him, and he was on the west
+coast of South America, and they wrote to him, and he left them a lot of
+money, and they lived happy ever after."
+
+Polite murmurs of astonishment from the elders, unconcealed sniggerings
+from the juniors, greeted the conclusion of this thrilling tale, and
+then once more Darsie was called upon for her contribution, and this
+time consented without demur.
+
+"Very well!  I've thought of a story.  It's about a managing clerk who
+was sent to Madrid on business for his firm.  I didn't know him myself,
+so don't ask questions!  While he was in Madrid he went to the opera one
+night, and sat in a box.  Just opposite was another box, in which sat a
+beauteous Spanish maid.  He looked at her, and she looked at him.  They
+kept looking and looking.  At last he thought that she smiled, and waved
+her fan as if beckoning him to come and speak to her.  So in the first
+interval the eager youth made his way along the richly carpeted
+corridors; but just as he reached the door of the box it opened, and a
+man came out and put a letter into his hand.  It was written in Spanish,
+which the youth did not understand; but, being filled with a frenzy of
+curiosity to know what the fair one had to say, he decided to run to his
+hotel, and get the manager to translate it without delay.  Well, he
+went; but as soon as the manager had read the note he started violently,
+and said in a manner of the utmost concern: `I exceedingly regret, sir,
+to appear inhospitable or inconsiderate, but I find it my painful duty
+to ask you to leave my hotel within an hour.'  The clerk protested,
+questioned, raged, and stormed, but all in vain.  The manager refused
+even to refer to the letter; he simply insisted that he could entertain
+him no longer in the hotel, and added darkly: `It would be well for the
+Senor to take the first train out of Spain.'
+
+"Alarmed by this mysterious warning, the unhappy youth accordingly shook
+off the dust from his feet and returned to London, where he confided his
+woes to his beloved and generous employer.  The employer was a Spanish
+merchant and understood the language, so he naturally offered to solve
+the mystery.  No sooner, however, had his eye scanned the brief lines,
+than a cloud shadowed _his_ expressive countenance, and he addressed
+himself to the youth more in sorrow than in anger.  `It grieves me to
+the heart, Mr--er--_Bumpas_,' he said, `to sever our connection after
+your faithful service to the firm; but, after the perusal of this note,
+I have unfortunately no choice.  If you will apply to the cashier he
+will hand you a cheque equal to six months' salary; but I must ask you
+to understand that when you leave my office this morning it is for the
+last time!'"
+
+A rustle of excitement from the audience, a momentary glimpse of Dan's
+face in the flickering light, testified to the interest of this
+extraordinary history.
+
+Darsie bent forward to encourage her fir-cone with a pat from the poker,
+and continued dramatically--
+
+"Bewildered, broken-hearted, almost demented, the unfortunate youth
+betook him to an uncle in America (all uncles seem to live in America),
+who received him with consideration, listened to his sad tale, and bade
+him be of good cheer.  `By a strange coincidence' (coincidence again!)
+said the worthy man, `there sups with me to-night a learned professor of
+languages, resident at our local college.  He, without doubt, will make
+plain the mysterious contents of the fatal note!'  Punctual to his hour
+the professor arrived, and the harassed youth hailed with joy the end of
+his long suspense.  Whatever might be the purport of the words written
+in that fatal paper, the knowledge thereof could not be worse than the
+fate which had dogged his footsteps ever since that tragic night when he
+had first cast eyes on the baleful beauty of the Spanish maid.  Yet
+might it not be that once again the sight of these words would send him
+wandering homeless o'er the world--that the stream of his uncle's
+benevolence might be suddenly damned by a force mysterious as
+inexorable?
+
+"Trembling with emotion, the young man thrust his hand into his pocket
+to bring forth this mystic note--"
+
+Darsie paused dramatically.
+
+"And--and--and then--?"
+
+"He discovered that it was not there!  In the course of his long
+wanderings it had unfortunately been mislaid."
+
+The clamour of indignation which followed this _denouement_ can be
+better imagined than described but the example having been set,
+wonderful how many stories of the same baffling character were revived
+by the different members of the company during the remainder of the
+firelight _stance_.  So wild and exaggerated did the narratives become,
+indeed, that the meeting broke up in confusion, and took refuge in those
+admittedly uproarious Christmas games which survived from the happy
+nursery days, when "to make as much noise as we like" seemed the climax
+of enjoyment.
+
+And so ended Christmas Day for the joint ranks of the Vernons and
+Garnetts.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+THE MELODRAMA.
+
+On Boxing Day, Lavender excused herself from joining a rinking party,
+and lay curled up on a sofa reading a Christmas number.
+
+The following morning she stayed in bed to breakfast, and complained of
+a swollen face.  On the third day, the sight of the huge cheeks and
+doubled chin sent the family flying for the doctor, and the tragic
+verdict of "mumps" was whispered from mouth to mouth.
+
+Mumps in the Christmas holidays!  Isolation for the victim for days,
+even weeks; the risk of infection for others; the terrible, unthinkable
+possibility of "missing a term"!  Mrs Vernon came nobly to the rescue,
+and invited Darsie to spend the remainder of the holidays under her
+roof, since, with a Tripos in prospect, every precaution must be taken
+against infection.  For the rest, Lavender's own little eyrie was
+situated at the end of a long top passage, and might have been
+originally designed for a sanatorium and there, in solitary state, the
+poor mumpy poetess bewailed her fate, and besought the compassion of her
+companions.  Letters were not forbidden, and she therefore found a sad
+satisfaction in pouring out her woes on paper, as a result of which
+occupation the following poetical effusion presently found its way to
+the schoolroom party--
+
+  "All gay and fair the scene appeared:
+  I was a gladsome maid;
+  When the dire hand of circumstance
+  Upon my life was laid.
+  Upon the eve of festal day
+  The first dread symptoms fell;
+  And those who should have sympathised,
+  Whose tender words I would have prized,
+  Did sneer, and jeer, and with loud cries,
+  Ascribe the reason to mince-pies!
+
+  "What time I woke the third day morn,
+  By mirror was the sad truth borne;
+  Not alone exile, grief, and pain
+  Must fill my cup--but also _shame_!
+  Gone is my youthful glee and grace,
+  I have an elephantine face;
+  My cheeks are gross, which were so thin;
+  I have a loathsome pendant chin.
+  All who behold me smile aside,
+  And their derision barely hide.
+  Oh, cruel fate! instead of tears,
+  In my sad plight I get but jeers.
+
+  "Friends, comrades, readers of this ditty,
+  If heart ye have, on me have pity.
+  Go not unthinking on your way,
+  Content to sing, content to play,
+  While I and mumps sit here alone
+  In an unending, drear `At home.'
+  Put wits to work, think out some way
+  To cheer the captive's lonely day,
+  Forget yourself, and think of me,
+  And doubly blessed you shall be.
+  For since the days of earliest youth
+  You have been brought up on this truth--
+  To help the ailing by your side
+  Is the true work of Christmas-tide!"
+
+To disregard so touching an appeal being plainly an impossibility, an
+impromptu committee meeting was held in the Vernons' study, when the
+idea of an open-air melodrama was proposed, and carried with
+acclamation.  A melodrama acted in the back garden, underneath
+Lavender's window, opened out prospects of amusement for the actors as
+well as the audience, and a rainy afternoon was passed in the merriest
+fashion discussing the plot, characters, and costume.
+
+Darsie sat on the hearthrug, and prodded the fire vigorously to mark
+each point scored.  Vie wrote from dictation at the centre table.  Dan
+sat chuckling in his own particular chair, and allowed himself to be
+cast as hero with lamblike calm, and plain Hannah affected dire
+displeasure at being passed over for the part of beauteous maid.  It was
+like the dear old days when they had all been young--_really_ young--in
+pinafores and pigtails, with no dread of coming Tripos, no agitation
+about youthful lawyers to chase away sleep at night!  Looking back
+through the years, that hour stood out in remembrance as one most
+happily typical of the dear home life.
+
+The programme was delicious.  Vie discovered a great sheet of white
+paper, left over from the parcel wrappings of the week before; Dan
+printed the words in his most dashing fashion; John nailed it on the lid
+of a packing-chest, and the whole party escorted it round the terrace to
+the Garnett dwelling, and waited in the street beneath until it was
+conveyed upstairs, and Lavender, discreetly swathed in a shawl, appeared
+at her lighted window and waved a towel in triumph.
+
+This was the programme--
+
+  On Wednesday Afternoon Next (_Weather permitting_)
+  In Aid of the Fund for Sick and Suffering Spinsters
+  A First Performance will be given of
+  The Blood-Curdling and Hair-Raising Melodrama entitled
+  The Blue Cabbage
+  by Allthelotofus.
+
+  _Dramatis Personae_.
+  Efflorescence (A Guileless Maid)--Miss Darsie Garnett.
+  Meretricia (1st Villainess)--Mr Harry Garnett.
+  Mycrobe (2nd Villainess)--Mr Russell Garnett.
+  Elijah B.  Higgins (Hero)--Mr Dan Vernon.
+  Sigismund La Bas (A False Caitiff)--Mr Percy Lister.
+  D.  Spenser (Certificated Poisonmonger)--Mr John Vernon.
+  Endeavora (A Well-Meaner)--Miss Clemence Garnett.
+  The Greek Chorus--Miss Hannah Vernon.
+
+  _N.B.--_There is no Cabbage!
+
+Imagine the feelings of a solitary invalid on receipt of such a
+programme as the above--a programme of an entertainment organised,
+composed, and designed wholly and solely for her own amusement!
+Lavender's mumps were at a painful stage--so sore, so stiff, so heavy,
+that she felt all face, had no spirit to read, craved for companionship,
+and yet shrank sensitively from observing eyes.  Let those jeer who may,
+it _is_ an abominable thing to feel a martyr, and look a clown, and poor
+Lavender's sensitive nature suffered acutely from the position.  Then
+oh! it was good to feel that to-morrow something exciting was going to
+happen--that she would be amused, cheered, comforted; that her dear
+companions would be near her, so near that once again she would feel one
+of the merry throng.
+
+If only it were fine!  Really and truly Lavender felt that she could not
+support the blow if it were _wet_.  Mumps seem to sap the constitution
+of moral force; if she could not see the melodrama, she would weep like
+a child!
+
+It _was_ fine, however.  The very elements conspired in her behalf, and
+produced a still, unshiny day, when the pageant of the melodrama
+appeared to the best advantage, and the voices rose clear and distinct
+to that upper window, before which Lavender stood, a muffled figure, in
+a fur coat and cap, and a great wool shawl swathed round face and neck
+after the fashion of an English veil.
+
+The melodrama proved even more thrilling than had been expected.  On
+his, or her, first appearance on the scene, each character advanced to a
+spot directly in front of the upstairs window, and obligingly related
+the salient points of his life, character, and ambitions, together with
+a candid exposition of his intentions towards the other members of the
+cast; the while Hannah, as Greek Chorus, interposed moral remarks and
+reflections on the same.  After an indulgent hearing of these
+confessions, it would appear that two ambitions were common to the
+actors--either they wished to elope with the hero or heroine, or to
+poison the False Caitiff, and the Villainess Number One or Two, or such
+a contingent of these worthies as excluded themselves.
+
+The Well-Meaner assiduously endeavoured to foil these intents, and
+received the scant amount of encouragement which falls to well-meaning
+interference in real life; the Certified Poisonmonger presided over
+three tin pails of liquids, labelled respectively, "Lingering,"
+"Sudden," and "A highly superior article in writhes and coils.  As
+patronised by the Empress of China" and the demand for these wares was
+naturally brisk in so quarrelsome a company: the False Caitiff chose a
+sudden death for his rival, the Hero; Meretricia, the first Villainess,
+poisoned the Caitiff by a more lingering means; Villainess Number Two,
+under the false impression that the Hero had given his heart to
+Meretricia, poisoned that good lady, sparing no money on the deed,
+whereby Russell was afforded an admirable opportunity of exhibiting his
+wriggling powers.  The guileless maid poisoned herself with the dregs in
+her lover's glass; and the Poisonmonger, fatigued with the rush of
+Christmas business, fainted away, and, being revived by potions from his
+own pails, survived only long enough to administer a forcible dose in
+revenge.  The Well-Meaner's fate differed from that of her companions in
+that she was insidiously poisoned by each actor in turn, so that,
+figuratively speaking, the curtain descended upon a row of corpses, in
+the midst of which the Greek Chorus intoned exemplary precepts and
+advice.
+
+Hannah, as Greek chorus, was by common consent pronounced the star of
+the company, her interpolated reflections being so droll and to the
+point that even the lingering victims found themselves overcome with
+laughter.
+
+As for the audience, her joy, though great, was not unmixed with pain.
+As the melodrama approached its critical point the actors could see her
+at her window, holding up her mumps with either hand, and the piteous
+plea--"Don't make me laugh!  Don't make me laugh!" floated down on the
+wintry air.
+
+Next day Lavender was worse, and melodramas were banned as a means of
+recreation; but she sent a touching message of thanks to the troupe, in
+which she declared that "the joy outweighed the pain," so that, all
+things considered, "The Blue Cabbage" was voted a great success.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+DAN AND DARSIE.
+
+No sooner did the news of Lavender's illness, and Darsie's consequent
+absence from home, reach the Percival household than three separate
+letters were dispatched, insisting that at least a part of the remaining
+holidays should be spent at the Manor.
+
+Pray why, the girls demanded, should Hannah Vernon be allowed to engross
+Darsie, when she enjoyed her society practically the whole year round?
+It was unjust, mean, contemptible.  They were so dull and sad this
+Christmas-time.  Wouldn't Darsie come?
+
+Pray why, inquired Ralph ingenuously, did Darsie not come when she had
+the chance?  She knew that he would be glad to see her.  It was quite
+horribly dull.  The parents were absurdly humped--
+
+Mrs Percival's words were few but disturbing: "I want to consult with
+you about Ralph.  You have more influence over him than any one else.
+Do come, dear child, if you possibly can."
+
+In face of the last letter it was impossible to say no.  Darsie was not
+sure that she wanted to say no; on the other hand, she was aggravatingly
+uncertain if she wanted to say yes.  At college and at home alike the
+atmosphere was at once austere and bracing; it would be agreeable to
+live for a time in the lap of luxury--to be regarded as a miracle of
+cleverness and beauty; which treatment was invariably bestowed upon her
+during her visits to The Manor.  She would enjoy staying with the
+Percivals, but she would be sad to miss the cosy hours when Dan and his
+friend, Percy Lister, joined the little party in the old study, and they
+all talked together round the fire.  What talks they had; what themes
+they discussed!  What animated discussions sprang from a casual word,
+and were pursued with a go and a spirit which seem to exist only on such
+informal occasions.  Sometimes they laughed and quipped, and beheld
+everything from the comic point of view; anon, a sudden spirit of
+earnestness would pass from one to the other, and as the fading light
+hid their faces from view, tongues were set free, so that they talked of
+the things which mattered, the towering realities which lay at the heart
+of life!  During these discussions Dan invariably seated himself in the
+darkest corner, and Darsie, looking across, had again and again the
+impression of deep eyes staring--staring!  Vie Vernon considered the
+Percivals "grasping creatures," and didn't care who knew it; Hannah was
+placidly unconcerned; Dan made no remark; Percy Lister was leaving
+himself, and considered that things "fitted in well."  Altogether, in
+comparison with the enthusiasm of the invitation, the opposition was
+blightingly resigned.  Darsie tossed her head, packed her boxes, and
+prepared to depart a whole three days sooner than she had originally
+intended.
+
+On the afternoon before her departure a party was made up for the rink,
+but at the last moment Darsie excused herself, and declared a wish to
+stay at home.  There were several pieces of sewing and mending which
+were necessary, there was a letter to be written to Margaret France, and
+a farewell ode to cheer poor Lavender.  A gas fire in her bedroom
+allowed her to perform these tasks in solitude, but as soon as they were
+satisfactorily accomplished she made her way downstairs to the study,
+prepared to enjoy an hour over an interesting book.
+
+The gas was unlit, the usual large fire blazed in the grate; an arm-
+chair was drawn up to the side, and within it sat Dan, head leaning on
+hand, in an attitude which spoke of weariness and dejection.
+
+He raised his eyes and looked at her, and Darsie shut the door and came
+forward eagerly.
+
+"Dan!  Back again so soon?  Is anything wrong?"
+
+"No!"
+
+"But you look strange.  You--you didn't hurt yourself at the rink?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Quite, quite sure?"
+
+"Quite."
+
+Darsie subsided on to her favourite seat--the hearthrug--with a little
+sigh of relief.
+
+"That's all right.  You're very monosyllabic, Dan.  Shall I disturb you
+if I sit here for a time?"
+
+"No."
+
+"A hundred thanks!  You are _too_ gracious.  I can be quiet if you like.
+I like staring into the fire and dreaming myself."
+
+Dan did not answer.  Darsie peered at him, moving her little head from
+side to side so as to get the clearest view.  He looked very large--a
+great shapeless mass of dark in the old red chair.
+
+She liked the bigness of him, felt the old satisfaction at sight of the
+strong, rugged face, the old craving for confidence and approval.
+Strange how different one felt in company with different people.  _Tete-
+a-tete_ with Ralph Percival, Darsie felt a giant of strength and
+resource--assured, self-confident, a bulwark against which others might
+lean.  With Dan, well, with Dan she was just a slip of a girl, conscious
+of nothing so much as her own weaknesses, mental and physical; her
+difficult gropings, compared with his clear vision; her tiny hands and
+wrists, compared with his big sinewy paw; her slim form, compared to the
+bulk of the square-cut shoulders.  Never--Darsie realised it with a
+smile--never did she feel so humble and diffident as when in Dan's
+society; yet, strangely enough, the sensation was far from disagreeable.
+
+"Dan!"
+
+"Darsie!"
+
+"Is anything the matter?  Between you and me!  You don't happen to be
+snarkey, do you, about anything I've done?"
+
+"Why should you think I am `snarkey'?"
+
+"Because--you _are_!  You're not a bit sociable and friendly--even
+_your_ sort of sociability.  I'm a guest in your mother's house if I'm
+nothing else and it's your duty to be civil."
+
+"Haven't I always been civil to you, Darsie?"
+
+Darsie drew a quick breath of impatience and, seizing upon the poker,
+beat at the unoffending coal as the best method of letting off steam.
+
+"You are so painfully literal.  I can _feel_ what other people are
+thinking, however much they try to disguise it."
+
+"How do _I_ feel, for example?"
+
+Darsie turned her head and stared curiously into Dan's face.  The hand
+on which it leaned shielded it somewhat from view, but, even so, there
+was something in the intent gaze which filled her with a strange new
+discomfort.  She turned back to her poking once more.
+
+"I think--there's something that I don't understand--I think--there's
+something you disapprove!  I'm a very good girl, and I work very hard,
+and I'm fond of my friends, and I expect them to be fond of me in
+return.  I don't _like_ you to disapprove, Dan!"
+
+"I can't help it, Darsie.  I've hated that friendship from the
+beginning, and I hate it more with every month that passes."
+
+"Oh! _that_ old story."  Darsie's voice took a tone of impatience; for
+it was annoying to find that Dan was harking back on the well-known
+subject of dispute.  "Well, I'm sorry to distress you, but I am
+conceited enough to believe that I have taken no harm from my friendship
+with Ralph Percival, and that he has reaped some little good from mine.
+While that state of thing continues, I shall certainly refuse to give
+him up--even to please you!"
+
+There was silence for several moments, then Dan said slowly--
+
+"If I agreed with your conclusions, I should not try to persuade you,
+Darsie; but I do not, and my opportunities of judging are better than
+yours."
+
+"You are unfair, Dan.  It is a pity to allow yourself to be so
+prejudiced that you can't give a fair judgment.  I should have imagined
+that even you would be forced to admit that Ralph had done better this
+term."
+
+Dan did not speak.  He turned his head and looked Darsie full in the
+eyes, and there was in his look a puzzled, questioning air, which she
+found it difficult to understand.  When he spoke again, it was not to
+reply in any direct way to her accusation, but to ask a question on his
+own account.
+
+"Darsie, do you mind telling me--is your position entirely
+disinterested?  Do you look upon the fellow merely as a man to be
+helped, or do you care for him for his own personal sake?"
+
+Darsie deliberated.  The firelight played on her downcast face, on the
+long white throat rising from the low collar of her white blouse, on the
+little hands clenched round the steel poker.  Before her mind's eye
+arose the memory of handsome, melancholy eyes; imagination conjured back
+the sound of impassioned appeals.  Her expression softened, her voice
+took a deeper note.
+
+"He needs me, Dan!"
+
+That was her answer.  Dan nodded in silence, accepting it as sufficient.
+He rose from his chair, and paced up and down the room, hands thrust
+deep into his trouser pockets, head held back with the characteristic
+forward tilt of the chin.  Darsie, watching him, thought involuntarily
+of a caged animal striving restlessly against the bars.  Her heart gave
+a little throb of relief when he spoke again in his own natural voice.
+
+"All right, Darsie.  Good luck to your efforts!  I appreciate your
+intentions, and am only sorry that I can't agree.  According to my
+belief no one can help a man who refuses to help himself.  We've got to
+fight our own battles, and to bear our own burdens!  If some one steps
+forward and offers to undertake for us, we may imagine for a time that
+we are set free, but it's a mistake!  Sooner or later the time comes
+when we're bound to fight it out alone, and it doesn't get easier for
+being deferred.  Everything that is worth learning in life we have to
+worry out for ourselves!"
+
+Darsie drew a long, trembling sigh.  How puzzling life was, when the two
+people on whose judgment you most relied delivered themselves of
+directly opposing verdicts!  Mrs Reeves believed that her help was all-
+important to Ralph's progress; Dan insisted that her efforts were in
+vain.
+
+Was he right?  Was he wrong?  Could she honestly assure herself that
+Ralph was stronger, more self-reliant, more able to stand alone without
+the stimulus of constant support and encouragement?  Instinctively
+Darsie's hand went up to touch the little golden brooch which fastened
+the lace collar of her blouse.  If the anchor were withdrawn, would
+Ralph drift once more towards the rocks?  The answer was difficult.  She
+pondered it aloud, speaking in low, anxious tones, with lengthened
+pauses between the words.
+
+"We're both right, Dan.  We've both got hold of _bits_ of the truth!  In
+the end we must win through for ourselves, but surely, in preparation
+for the battle, we can give each other _some_ help.  Some natures seem
+made to stand, and others to lean.  A prop is not of much account, but
+it may serve to keep a plant straight while it is gathering strength.
+The big oaks need no props; they are so strong that they can't
+understand; they have no pity for weakness."
+
+Dan stopped short in his pacings.
+
+"That meant for me, Darsie?"
+
+"Humph!  Just as you please!  Oaks are nice things--big, and strong, and
+restful, but just a little bit inclined to grow--_gnarled_!"
+
+Dan vouchsafed no reply, and Darsie sat, hands clasped round knees,
+staring into the fire for five long, silent minutes.  She was hoping
+that Dan would never grow "gnarled" towards herself, longing for him to
+speak and promise that he would not, but he still remained silent, and
+presently the door burst open, the rinking party appeared on the
+threshold, and the opportunity for quiet conclave was over.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+NEW YEAR'S EVE.
+
+Seated alone in the train, _en route_ for her visit to the Percivals,
+Darsie had time to think in a more quiet and undisturbed fashion than
+had been possible in the past bustling days, and a disagreeable feeling
+of apprehension arose in her mind as she recalled the wording of the
+three invitations.  In each was present the same note of depression, the
+same hint of trouble in connection with the son of the house.  Could
+anything have happened of which she was unaware?  No letter from The
+Manor had reached her for some weeks past, but letters were proverbially
+scarce at Christmas-time, so that it would be foolish to argue ill from
+that fact alone.  Darsie braced herself physically and mentally, squared
+her shoulders, and resolutely dismissed gloomy thoughts.
+
+Noreen and Ralph met her at the station, looking reassuringly cheerful
+and at ease a magnificent new motor stood in waiting outside, with a
+cart for the luggage.  Inside the beautiful old house the atmosphere was
+warmed by hot pipes, and scented with the fragrance of hothouse plants,
+banked together in every corner.  It was not the usual case of being
+warm and cosy inside a room, and miserably chilled every time one
+crossed a passage or ascended the stairs.  Mrs Percival and the girls
+were marvels of elegance in Parisian gowns, Ralph looked his handsomest
+in knickerbocker suit and gaiters, and the servants moved noiselessly to
+and fro, performing their tasks with machine-like accuracy.
+
+Extraordinary how complete a change of scene may take place between
+lunch and tea!  How swiftly a new atmosphere makes the old unreal!
+
+As Darsie sat drinking her tea in the old wainscoted hall, it seemed
+impossible to realise that such things as poverty and struggle were in
+existence; even the shabby bustle and squeeze of her own dear home
+became incredible in the face of this spacious, well-ordered calm!
+
+Mrs Percival made no attempt at private conversation, and showed no
+trace of "ulterior motive" in manner or conversation, which was a huge
+relief to Darsie's mind.  She was not in a mood for serious
+conversation; what she wanted was the usual Percival offering of praise,
+admiration, and petting, and this was bestowed upon her with even more
+than the usual generosity.  The grey-whiskered old Squire kissed her on
+both cheeks; the girls assured her that she was prettier than ever, and
+greeted her feeblest sallies with bursts of delighted laughter.  Ralph
+gazed at her with adoring eyes; it was all, as Darsie had been wont to
+remark, most grateful and comforting!
+
+The first evening passed pleasantly enough, though there was a
+noticeable effort on the part of each member of the family to keep the
+conversation from touching upon the subject of Ralph's affairs.  Any
+reference to Cambridge was taboo, as Darsie swiftly discovered, but
+there were many points of interest left, which were both pleasant and
+amusing to discuss.
+
+The next morning--the last morning of the year--broke fine and bright,
+and the view seen through the long windows of the dining-room was almost
+as beautiful as in summer itself.  The park showed the same stretch of
+velvet green, a belt of evergreens and tall Scotch firs filled up the
+far distance, while the leafless boughs of elms and beeches made a lace-
+like tracery against the sky.  To the right the old cedar stood calm and
+unmoved, as it had stood while generations of Percivals had lived, and
+loved, and sorrowed, and died.
+
+When breakfast was over--and breakfast in the country is a meal which
+pursues a calm and leisurely course--the four young people strolled into
+the porch to discuss the programme for the day.
+
+"Darsie is nerving herself to look at the horses' tails!" said Ida
+laughingly.  It was a Percival peculiarity, agreeable or irritating
+according to the mood of the hearer, that they never by any chance
+forgot a remark, but continually resurrected it in conversation for
+years to come.  Never a morning had Darsie spent at the Manor that she
+had not been reminded of scathing comments on the habit of daily visits
+to kennels and stables, as delivered by herself on the occasion of her
+first visit.  To-day, however, she had only time to grimace a reply,
+before Ida continued cheerfully--
+
+"You won't be asked, my dear!  We have something far more important on
+hand.  You have walked right into the jaws of the tenants' annual New
+Year's treat, and will have to tire your hands decorating all the
+morning, and your gums smiling all the evening.  It's an all-day-and-
+night business, and we get home at cock-crow in a state of collapse--"
+
+"It's held in the village hall," Noreen took up the tale, slipping
+unconsciously into what Darsie called her "squire's-eldest-daughter-
+manner."
+
+"Quite a nice building.  We make it look festive with wreaths and
+bunting.  They think so much of decorations!"  ("They" in Percival
+parlance alluded to the various tenants on the estate.) "We try to think
+of something novel each year as a surprise.  They like surprises.  We've
+arranged with half a dozen girls to be there to help.  Quite nice girls,
+daughters of the principal farmers.  You must be _quite_ sweet to them,
+Darsie, please!  It is our principal meeting of the year, and we make a
+point of being friendly."
+
+"Must I really?"  Darsie assumed an expression of dejection.  "What a
+disappointment!  It's so seldom I get an opportunity of being proud and
+grand.  What's the good of staying at a Manor House, and driving down
+with `the family,' if I have to be meek and friendly like any one else?
+Couldn't you introduce me as the Lady Claire, and let me put on airs for
+a treat?  It would act as a contrast to your `friendly ways,' and make
+them all the more appreciated."
+
+The girls laughed as in duty bound, and declared that it _would_ be
+sport, and wondered if they dared, but Ralph sharply called them to
+order.
+
+"Rot!  As if everybody in this neighbourhood didn't know Darsie by
+heart!  Put on your hats, and don't talk rubbish.  It will take us all
+our time to get through with the hall before lunch."
+
+Town-bred Darsie privately hoped that the motor would appear to carry
+the helpers to the hall three miles away, but the Percivals themselves
+never seemed to dream of such a possibility.  In short skirts and thick
+boots they plodded cheerfully across boggy meadows and muddy lanes,
+climbed half a dozen stiles, and arrived at last in the High Street of
+the little village, close to the entrance of the unpretentious wooden
+building which called itself the Village Hall.
+
+Darsie thought that she had never beheld an interior which seemed so
+thoroughly to need, and at the same time to defy, decoration!
+Whitewashed walls, well splashed by damp; a double row of pegs all round
+the walls at a level of some five or six feet from the ground; wooden
+forms, and a small square platform, made up a whole which was bare and
+ugly to a degree.
+
+A group of five or six girls stood beside a pile of evergreens; a youth
+in shirt-sleeves was in process of unpacking crumpled flags and
+flattened Japanese lanterns from an old tin box; two ladders stood
+against the walls.
+
+The entrance of "the family" was marked by a general movement among the
+little company, and Darsie watched the greetings which ensued with
+twinkling amusement.
+
+Noreen and Ida were _so_ pleasant, _so_ full of gratitude for the
+presence of each individual helper, _so_ anxious to be assured that they
+could _really_ spare the time.  Ralph was so laboriously polite, while
+the girls themselves, pleasant, kindly, and well-educated, were either
+happily unaware of the thinly disguised patronage, or had the good
+manners to conceal their knowledge.  There was no doubt which side
+appeared to best advantage in the interview!
+
+"The first thing we must do is to decide upon a scheme of decoration,"
+Ida declared.  "Darsie, suggest something!  You have never done it
+before, so your ideas ought to be novel.  What can we do to make the
+hall look pretty and cheerful?"
+
+"Rebuild it!" was Darsie's instant and daring reply, whereat the
+farmers' daughters laughed _en masse_, and the Percivals looked
+haughtily displeased.
+
+"Father built it!"
+
+"Awfully good of him!  _And_ wicked of his architect.  I shan't employ
+him to build my house!"
+
+"I think," said Noreen loftily, "that we had better confine ourselves to
+discovering the scheme of decoration.  It is too late to interfere with
+the structure of the hall.  We generally make wreaths and fasten them to
+the gas brackets, and drape the platform with flags."
+
+"Then we may take it as settled that we _won't_ do that to-day.  What
+happens to the pegs?"
+
+"They hang their things on them, of course--hats, and coats, and
+mufflers--"
+
+"That _must_ be decorative!  How would it be to make them leave their
+wrappings at the entrance to-night, or put them under their own chairs,
+and to arrange a broad band of holly round the room so as to hide the
+pegs from view?  It would be so easy to tie on the branches, and it
+would have quite a fine frieze effect."
+
+"`Mrs Dick, you are invaluable!'" quoted Ralph gaily.  "It's a ripping
+idea.  Let's set to at once, and try the effect."
+
+No sooner said than done; the little band of workers spread themselves
+over the room, and began the task of trying prickly holly branches to
+the line of pegs in such fashion as to form a band about two feet deep,
+entirely round the room.  Berries being unusually plentiful that year,
+the effect was all the more cheery, and with the disappearance of the
+utilitarian pegs the hall at once assumed an improved aspect.  A second
+committee meeting hit on the happy idea of transforming the platform
+into a miniature bower, by means of green baize and miniature fir-trees,
+plentifully sprinkled with glittering white powder.  The flags were
+relegated to the entrance-hall.  The Japanese lanterns, instead of
+hanging on strings, were so grouped as to form a wonderfully lifelike
+pagoda in a corner of the hall, where--if mischievously disposed--they
+might burn at their ease without endangering life or property.  The
+ironwork of the gas-brackets was tightly swathed with red paper, and the
+bare jets fitted with paper shades to match.  From an artistic point of
+view Darsie strongly opposed the hanging of the timeworn mottoes, "A
+Hearty Welcome to All," "A Happy New Year," and the like, but the
+Squire's daughters insisted that they liked to see them, and the
+farmers' daughters confirming this theory, up they went, above the
+evergreen frieze, the white cotton letters standing out conspicuously
+from their turkey-red background.
+
+It was one o'clock before the work was finished, and a tired and
+distinctly grubby quartette started out on their three-mile return walk
+across the fields.  Certainly country-bred folk were regardless of
+fatigue!  "If I owned a motor I should _use_ it!"  Darsie said to
+herself with a distinct air of grievance as she climbed to her own room
+after lunch, and laid herself wearily on her couch, the while the
+Percival trio trotted gaily forth for "just a round" over their private
+golf-links.
+
+The evening programme was to begin with a concert, alternate items of
+which were to be given by the villagers and members of the surrounding
+"families."
+
+At ten o'clock refreshments were to be served, in adjoining classrooms,
+and during the progress of the informal supper chairs and forms were to
+be lifted away, and the room cleared for an informal dance, to be
+concluded by a general joining of hands and singing of "Auld Lang Syne"
+as the clock struck twelve.
+
+The Percival ladies and their guests from the surrounding houses made
+elaborate toilettes for the occasion.  The villagers were resplendent in
+Sunday blacks, "best frocks" and bead chains, the small girls and boys
+appearing respectively in white muslins and velveteen Lord Fauntleroy
+suits; the Squire opened proceedings with expressions of good wishes,
+interspersed with nervous coughs, and Noreen and Ida led off the musical
+proceedings with a lengthy classical duet, to which the audience
+listened with politely concealed boredom.
+
+To Darsie's mind, the entire programme as supplied by "the families" was
+dull to extinction, but to one possessing even her own slight knowledge
+of the village, the contributions of its worthies were brimful of
+interest and surprise.
+
+The red-faced butcher, who, on ordinary occasions, appeared to have no
+mind above chops and steaks, was discovered to possess a tenor voice
+infinitely superior in tone to that of his patron, the Hon.  Ivor Bruce,
+while his wife achieved a tricky accompaniment with a minimum of
+mistakes; the sandy-haired assistant at the grocer's shop supplied a
+flute obbligato, and the fishmonger and the young lady from the
+stationer's repository assured each other ardently that their true loves
+owned their hearts; two school-children with corkscrew curls held a
+heated argument--in rhyme--on the benefits of temperance; and, most
+surprising and thrilling of all, Mr Jevons, the butler from The Manor,
+so far descended from his pedestal as to volunteer "a comic item" in the
+shape of a recitation, bearing chiefly, it would appear, on the
+execution of a pig.  The last remnant of stiffness vanished before this
+inspiring theme, and the audience roared applause as one man, whereupon
+Mr Jevons bashfully hid his face, and skipped--literally skipped--from
+the platform.
+
+"Who'd have thought it!  Butlers are human beings, after all!" gasped
+Darsie, wiping tears of merriment from her eyes.  "Ralph, do you suppose
+Jevons will dance with me to-night?  I _should_ be proud!"
+
+"Certainly not.  He has one square dance with the mater, and that
+finishes it.  You must dance with me instead.  It's ages since we've had
+a hop together--or a talk.  I'm longing to have a talk, but I don't want
+the others to see us at it, or they'd think I was priming you in my own
+defence, and the mater wants to have the first innings herself.  We'll
+manage it somehow in the interval between the dances, and I know you'll
+turn out trumps, as usual, Darsie, and take my part."
+
+Ralph spoke with cheerful confidence, and Darsie listened with a sinking
+heart.  The merry interlude of supper was robbed of its zest, as she
+cudgelled her brains to imagine what she was about to hear.  Ralph was
+evidently in trouble of some sort, and his parents for once inclined to
+take a serious stand.  Yet anything more gay and debonair than the
+manner with which the culprit handed round refreshments and waited on
+his father's guests it would be impossible to imagine.  Darsie watched
+him across the room, and noted that wherever he passed faces brightened.
+As he cracked jokes with the apple-cheeked farmers, waited assiduously
+on their buxom wives, and made pretty speeches to the girls, no onlooker
+could fail to be conscious of the fact that, in the estimation of the
+tenants, "Master Ralph" was as a young prince who could do no wrong.
+
+For reasons of his own, Ralph was tonight bent on ingratiating himself
+to the full.  For the first half-hour of the dance he led out one
+village belle after another, and it was not until waltz number five had
+appeared on the board that he returned to Darsie's side.
+
+"At last I've a moment to myself!  My last partner weighed a ton, at
+least, and I'm fagged out.  Got a scarf you can put round you if we go
+and sit out?"
+
+Darsie nodded, showing a wisp of gauze, and, laying her hand on Ralph's
+arm, passed with him out of the main room into the flag-decked entrance.
+For the moment it was empty, the dancers having made _en masse_ in the
+direction of the refreshment-tables.  Ralph looked quickly from side to
+side, and, finding himself unobserved, took a key from his pocket and
+opened a small door leading into the patch of garden at the back of the
+hall.  The moonlight showed a wooden bench fitted into a recess in the
+wall.  Ralph flicked a handkerchief over its surface, and motioned
+Darsie towards a seat.
+
+"It's clean enough.  I gave it a rub this morning.  You won't be cold?"
+
+"Oh, no; not a bit."  Darsie wrapped the wisp of gauze round her
+shoulders, and prepared to risk pneumonia with as little thought as
+ninety-nine girls out of a hundred would do in a similar case.  The hour
+had come when she was to be told the nature of Ralph's trouble; she
+would not dream of losing the opportunity for so slight a consideration
+as a chill!
+
+Ralph seated himself by her side, rested an elbow on his knees, the
+thumb and first finger of the uplifted hand supporting his chin.  His
+eyes searched Darsie's face with anxious scrutiny.
+
+"You didn't hear anything about me before you left Newnham?"
+
+"Hear what?  No!  What was there to hear?"
+
+Ralph averted his eyes, and looked across the patch of garden.  The
+moonlight shining on his face gave it an appearance of pallor and
+strain.
+
+"Dan Vernon said nothing?"
+
+"No!"  Darsie recalled Dan's keen glance of scrutiny, the silence which
+had greeted her own remarks, and realised the reason which lay behind.
+"Dan is not the sort to repeat disagreeable gossip."
+
+"It's not gossip this time; worse luck, it's solid, abominable fact.
+You'll be disappointed, Darsie.  I'm sorry!  I _have_ tried.  Beastly
+bad luck being caught just at the end.  I was sent down, Darsie!  It was
+just at the end of the term, so they sent me down for the last week.  A
+week is neither here nor there, but the parents took it hard.  I'm
+afraid you, too--"
+
+Yes!  Darsie "took it hard."  One look at her face proved as much, and
+among many contending feelings, disappointment was predominant--bitter,
+intense, most humiliating disappointment.
+
+"Oh, Ralph!  What for?  I hoped, I thought--you _promised_ me to be
+careful!"
+
+"And so I was, Darsie!  Give you my word, I was.  For the first half of
+the term I never got anything worse than three penny fines.  It isn't a
+deadly thing to stay out after ten.  And I was so jolly careful--never
+was so careful in my life.  But just the night when it was most
+important I must needs be caught.  You can't expect a fellow to get away
+from a big evening before twelve.  But that's what it ended in--a big
+jaw, throwing up all my past misdeeds, and being sent down.  Now you can
+slang away."
+
+But Darsie made no attempt to "slang."  With every word that had been
+uttered her feelings of helplessness had increased.  Ralph had
+apparently made little difference in his ways; he had only been more
+careful not to be found out!  At the very moment when she had been
+congratulating herself, and boasting of the good results of her
+friendship, this crowning disgrace had fallen upon him.  No wonder Dan
+had been silent; no wonder that he had looked upon her with that long,
+questioning gaze!  The thought of Dan was singularly comforting at this
+moment--strong, silent, loyal Dan, going forth valiantly to the battle
+of life.  Darsie's little face took on a pinched look; she shivered, and
+drew the thin scarf more tightly round her.  Her silence, the suffering
+written on her face, hit Ralph more hardly than any anger; for the first
+time something deeper than embarrassment showed itself in face and
+voice.
+
+"For pity's sake, Darsie, speak!  Say something!  Don't sit there and
+look at me like that."
+
+"But, Ralph, what is there to say?"  Darsie threw out her arms with a
+gesture of hopelessness.  "I've talked so often, been so eloquent,
+believed so much!  If this is the outcome, what more can be said?"
+
+"I _have_ tried!  I _did_ want to please you!"
+
+"By not being found out!  It's not much comfort, Ralph, to feel that
+I've encouraged you in deception.  And all those nights when you stayed
+out late, were you betting as usual--getting into debt?"
+
+Ralph frowned.
+
+"I've been beastly unlucky, never knew such a persistent run.  That's
+the dickens of it, Darsie.  I haven't dared to tell the Governor yet,
+but I positively must get hold of the money before the tenth.  I'm bound
+to pay up by then.  It's a debt of honour."
+
+Darsie's red lip curled over that word.  She sat stiff and straight in
+her seat, not deigning a reply.  Ralph appeared to struggle with himself
+for several moments, before he said urgently--
+
+"The mater is going to talk to you.  She knows that you have more
+influence with me than any one else.  It's true, Darsie, whatever you
+may think--I should have drifted a lot deeper but for you.  When she
+does, do your best for a fellow!  They'll be down on me for not having
+told about this debt.  The Governor asked if there was anything else,
+but upon my word I hadn't the courage to own up at that moment."
+
+Still Darsie did not reply.  She was wondering drearily what she could
+find to say when the dreaded interview came about; shrinking from the
+thought of adding to the mother's pain, feeling a paralysing sense of
+defeat; yet, at this very moment of humiliation, a ray of light
+illumined the darkness and showed the reason of her failure.
+
+Dan was right! no one could truly help a man without first implanting in
+his heart the wish to help himself!  She had been content to bribe
+Ralph, as a spoiled child is bribed to be good; had felt a glow of
+gratified vanity in the knowledge that her own favour was the prize to
+be won.  If the foundations of her buildings were unstable, what wonder
+that the edifice had fallen to the ground?  The thought softened her
+heart towards the handsome culprit by her side, and when she spoke at
+last it was in blame of herself rather than of him.
+
+"I'm sorry, too, Ralph.  I might have helped you better.  I rushed in
+where angels fear to tread.  I gave you a wrong motive.  It should have
+been more than a question of pleasing me--more even than pleasing your
+parents...  Oh, Ralph, dear, you know--you know there is something
+higher than that!--Is religion nothing to you, Ralph?  Don't you feel
+that in wasting your life you are offending against God--against Christ!
+Can't you try again with _that_ motive to help you?--I can't make light
+of things to your people, but I can take part of the blame on myself.
+If it is true that I have any influence over you, I have thrown it
+away..."
+
+Ralph laid his hand over the gloved fingers clasped together on Darsie's
+knee.
+
+"Don't say that!  Don't think that, Darsie.  I may be a rotter, but I'd
+have been a hundred times worse if it hadn't been for you.  And don't
+exaggerate the position: it's a pity to do that.  Every man isn't born a
+Dan Vernon.  Most fellows only reach that stage of sobriety when they
+are middle-aged.  It would be a pretty dull world if no one kicked over
+the traces now and then in their youth.  What have I done, after all?
+Slacked my work, helped myself to a bit more play and come down on the
+Governor for an extra cheque now and again.  Lots of fellows come a
+worse cropper than that--"
+
+Darsie wondered if a "worse cropper" might not possibly be a less
+serious ill than persistent slacking and irresponsibility; but now that
+the bad news was out, Ralph was fast regaining his composure.
+
+"I'll turn out all right yet, Darsie, you'll see.  The tenants like me.
+I'll settle down and make a first-rate squire when my time comes.  And
+I'll make up to you then for all this worry and bother."  For a moment
+his voice was significantly tender, then the recollection of his present
+difficulty swept over him once more, and he added hastily: "You'll--
+you'll break it to the mater, won't you?  About that money, I mean.
+She'll take it best from you--"
+
+Darsie rose from her seat, and stood before him, tall and white in the
+moonlight.
+
+"No!" she said clearly.  "I will not.  You must make your own
+confession.  Things have been made easy for you all your life, Ralph.
+Now you must fight for yourself."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Ralph bore no malice; even his momentary irritation at finding himself,
+as he considered, "left in the lurch," lasted but a few moments after
+his return to the hall.  Darsie would rather have had it last a little
+longer.  To see an unclouded face, to catch the echo of merry laughter
+within ten minutes of a humiliating confession, seemed but another
+instance of instability of character.  It seemed literally impossible
+for Ralph to feel deeply on any subject for more than a few moments at a
+time; nevertheless, such was the charm of his personality that she felt
+both pleased and flattered when twelve o'clock approached and he came
+smilingly forward to lead her to her place in the great ring encircling
+the whole room.  "I must have you and mother--one on either side," he
+said, and as they crossed the floor together Darsie was conscious that
+every eye in the room followed them with a smiling significance.  The
+young Squire, and the pretty young lady who was his sister's friend--a
+nice pair they made, to be sure!  Every brain was busy with dreams of
+the future, weaving romantic plans, seeing in imagination other scenes
+like the present, with Darsie in the place of hostess.  She knew it,
+divined instinctively that Ralph knew it too, felt the recognition of it
+in the grip of Noreen's hand, in the tender pathos of Mrs Percival's
+smile.  And once again Darsie wondered, and doubted, and feared and felt
+the weight of invisible chains.  There are moments, however, when doubts
+and fears are apt to be swept away in a rush of overwhelming emotions,
+and one of those is surely the beginning of a new year.  To be young and
+pretty; to be by general acceptance the queen of the evening--no normal
+girl could help being carried away by such circumstances as these!  When
+the last chime of the twelve rang slowly out, and the audience with one
+accord burst into the strains of "Auld Lang Syne," Darsie's eyes shone
+with excitement, and she returned with unction the pressure of Ralph's
+fingers.
+
+  "Then here's a hand, my trusty friend,
+  And gie's a hand o' thine!"
+
+The volume of sound swelled and sank, here and there a voice took a
+husky tone; here and there an eye grew dim, but these belonged as a rule
+to the patriarchs among the guests, for whom the past was full of tender
+memories, for whom but a few more New Years could dawn.  Perhaps this
+might be the last, the very last, they would live to see.  The young
+folks shed no tears; they were not unconscious of the prevailing
+emotion, but with them it found vent in a tingling expectation.  Life
+lay ahead.  Life was to come.  What would life bring?
+
+When the song ceased, and the linked circle broke up into separate
+groups, Darsie, glancing up into Ralph's face, was surprised to see it
+white and tense.  She smiled, half amused, half sad, bracing herself to
+hear some emotional protest or vow for the future; but Ralph spake no
+word.  Instead, he led her to a seat, bowed formally before her, and,
+still with that white, fixed look, marched straight across the room to
+his father.
+
+Darsie's pulse quickened, her little teeth clenched on her lower lip,
+she pressed her hands against her knee the while she watched the
+eloquent scene.  Father and son faced each other; handsome man, handsome
+youth, strangely alike despite the quarter of a century between their
+respective ages; the Squire's face, at first all genial welcome and
+unconcern, showing rapidly a pained gravity.  Ralph was speaking
+rapidly, with an occasional eloquent gesture of the arm, obviously
+recounting some facts of pressing importance to himself and his hearer,
+as obviously pleading a cause.  With a thrill of excitement Darsie
+leaped to the true explanation of the situation.  Fresh from the singing
+of the New Year song, Ralph had not paused to consider conventions, but
+then and there had hastened to make his confession in his father's ears.
+
+"Governor!  I'm sorry!  I was a coward, and wouldn't own up.  I've been
+playing the fool again, and have lost more money.  I owe over fifty
+pounds, and it has to be paid up by the tenth of this month."
+
+The Squire looked his son full in the face.
+
+"Is that all the truth, Ralph, or only a part?" he asked quietly.  "Let
+me hear the whole please, now that we are about it."
+
+"That is the whole, sir.  There's nothing more to be told."
+
+"The money shall be paid, but you must do something for me in return.
+We can't talk here.  Come to my study when we get home!"
+
+The Squire laid his hand on his son's shoulder with a momentary pressure
+as he turned aside to attend to his guests, but Ralph lopped crestfallen
+and discomfited.  It was one thing to blurt out a disagreeable
+confession on the impulse of a moment, and another and very different
+one to discuss it in cold blood in the privacy of a study.  In the
+middle of the night, too!  Ralph shivered at the thought.  Why on earth
+couldn't the Governor be sensible, and wait till next morning?  The
+money would be paid--that was the main point--all the rest could wait.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+AT THE ORCHARD.
+
+Ralph Percival spent a long hour alone with his father in the chill dawn
+of that New Year's morn, and during its passing heard more stern home-
+truths than he had ever before listened to from those indulgent lips.
+The Squire had not insisted on any arduous work on his son's part: in
+his heart he shared Ralph's theory that a man whose life is to be spent
+looking after his own land has no need of much scholarly lore.  He must
+be straight and manly, intelligent enough to understand and move with
+the movements of the day, but not so intelligent as to grow discontented
+with a circle of admirable, but somewhat humdrum, neighbours.  He must
+be possessed of courteous and agreeable manners, able on occasion to
+take the chair at a meeting, possibly even on a Bench, with credit to
+himself and his family.
+
+A 'Varsity education was obviously the best means of developing such
+qualities, but who was going to bother his head as to the question of
+honours or no honours?  There was no reason why the boy should slave as
+if he had his living to make by sheer brain effort.  The Squire was
+prepared to show the utmost leniency towards Ralph's scholastic efforts,
+but that he should have persistently broken the rules, ignored warnings,
+incurred gambling debts, and, crowning indignity of all, that he should
+have been sent down, even for the last week of the term--that stabbed
+the honest old countryman to his heart.
+
+He said very little on the subject of his own feelings; such men are not
+given to talk of themselves, but the tone of his voice was eloquent, and
+Ralph winced before it.  It was a new experience for the spoilt son and
+heir to hear any accents but those of love and appreciation from a
+member of his own family, and the experience was unexpectedly bitter.
+Who could have believed that the Governor would cut up so rough--could
+deliver himself of such sledge-hammer judgments?  The card debts would
+be paid, there was no question of that--every debt should be paid--and
+Ralph should return to college with a clean sheet so far as money was
+concerned, and with his handsome allowance undiminished--_for the
+present_.  He himself must decide what would happen in the future.  The
+Squire asked for no promises; he had had experience of the uselessness
+of promises (the listener winced again at the significance of those
+words); but Ralph must understand that any debts would be subtracted
+from his own future allowance.  He must also understand that he was
+expected to take his pass the following May.  There had been too much
+shirking and running loose--now he must work for a change.  For his
+parents' sake, his sisters' sake, he must make amends for the pain and
+shame of the last weeks.
+
+It was a painful scene for both father and son, but the charm of manner
+which was the great secret of Ralph's popularity did not forsake him,
+even in this hour of humiliation.  He made an ideal penitent--abashed,
+yet manly, subdued and silenced, yet when the right moment came ready
+with a few apt, quietly spoken words.
+
+"Thank you, sir.  You are always generous.  I've made a beastly poor
+return.  I hope this year may end better than it has begun."
+
+Poor Ralph!  How little he guessed at that moment all that the year held
+in store!  How little the father dreamed of the altered conditions with
+which he would face another New Year's Day!  But so long as they both
+lived it was good to remember that the interview had ended peacefully
+and with a renewed sense of harmony, with a firm hand-grip and an
+affectionate glance.
+
+Ralph took his candle from a table in the hall and made his way quietly
+up the oak staircase, and his father stood below and watched him go,
+while his heart waxed tender within him.
+
+His son--his only son!  He would give his heart's blood for the lad.
+Had he been just, wise, prudent, in the words which he had said?  Had he
+been stern enough?--too stern?  He was in a thousand minds about his own
+conduct, but in only one as regards Ralph's.  The boy had taken his
+dressing like a man.  How handsome he had looked as he stood to listen,
+not flinching or hanging his head as an ordinary culprit would have
+done, but drawn to his full height, with straight, fearless gaze.  With
+what a frank air he had held out his hand for that farewell grasp!
+Bless the boy! his heart was in the right place.  He would settle down,
+and make a fine man yet.  Patience!  Patience!
+
+And so when the family met again for a late breakfast that New Year's
+morning there was no shadow visible on the horizon, and throughout the
+remainder of Darsie's visit every day seemed given up to enjoyment, and
+brought with it some fresh festivity.
+
+Contrary to her expectation, the subject of Ralph's troubles was avoided
+rather than sought, and it was only on the eve of her departure to
+Newnham that mother and sisters broke the silence to urge in each case
+the same request--
+
+"See as much of Ralph as you can during these next six months!  Have a
+little talk with Ralph now and again!  Show an interest in his work.
+Let him see that you care.  We must all do our best to encourage him to
+work!"
+
+By all the members of the family it was taken for granted that Darsie's
+interest in Ralph's future was equal to, if not greater than, their own;
+they made no secret of their belief that her influence had the more
+weight.  If Darsie had known a passing temptation to abandon her
+efforts, it would have been impossible to do so in the face of such
+unanimous appeals.
+
+Well, it was good to be back in Newnham once more, to get to work again
+after the lazy weeks, to wake up one's brains with tussles over Anglo-
+Saxon texts, to wrestle with philology, instead of browsing over novels
+and magazine tales.  The Divinity Schools were stuffy as ever, the men
+on one side shutting up the windows with their usual persistence, while
+the girls on theirs frowned and fumed; but the Chaucer lectures were
+full of interest, and coaching assumed a keener interest as spring
+advanced and the prospect of "Mays" drew near.  Last year both Darsie
+and Hannah had gained second-class honours; this year they had
+determined to gain firsts, or perish in the attempt.  With a second and
+a first record for Mays there was a possibility--a dazzling
+possibility--of firsts in the final Tripos.  When one thought of that it
+seemed impossible to work too hard, to put _too_ much energy into one's
+studies.  But the happy blending of work and play which characterises
+Newnham life prevented industry from being carried to an exaggerated
+extent.  The hour's informal dancing after dinner on Wednesday and
+Saturday evenings seemed to quicken circulation and brain alike, and the
+great Shakespeare Ball was a distinct fillip, although--or was it
+_because_?--it involved some slackness for the preparation of costumes.
+
+The short Easter vac. served but as a breathing-space, and then another
+May term began with an unparalleled succession of fine and sunny days.
+Everything seemed early this spring; trees and shrubs rushed into leaf,
+a wealth of blossom gave a fairy-like beauty to the old-world gardens,
+and in every youth and maid the spirit of the spring awoke also, and
+called to them to come out to play.  This was the season for picnics,
+for walks along the fields by the riverside, for boating, for bathing,
+for garden teas, for breakfast parties at the Orchard, amidst the pink
+and white wonder of the apple-blossom.
+
+Darsie Garnett was fired with a desire to give an Orchard party on her
+own account, the guests to be Hannah, Margaret France, her special
+Fresher adorer (Marian White by name), Ralph Percival, Dan Vernon, two
+agreeable Classics from King's; Mrs Reeves to play chaperon--just a
+cheery little party of nine.  What could you wish for more?
+
+Margaret, preternaturally solemn, opined that _ten_ would be a more
+desirable number.  "Poor Mrs Reeves!  What has _she_ done?  Why not ask
+some one to play about with _her_?  I can't bear to see a Lonely at a
+picnic or to be interrupted myself!"
+
+"It _might_ be judicious to invite Minerva!" agreed Darsie, twinkling,
+and alluding to the Don who enjoyed the privilege of Mrs Reeves's
+special friendship.  "Two chaperons!  What a character for propriety I
+shall gain, to be sure!  They little know."
+
+"They know perfectly well, but they are human creatures after all.
+They've been young themselves, and they enjoy the Orchard!  Set to work
+at once, my dear, and get out your invitations.  This weather can't
+possibly last, and it's going to break my heart if it is wet."
+
+But there was no sign of rain on that exquisite morning when at the
+striking of six o'clock Darsie leaped out of bed, and thrust her ruffled
+golden head out of the opened window.  A few feathery white clouds
+served but to intensify the blueness of the sky; the air was soft and
+sweet, the garden beneath was already bathed in sunlight.  Darsie gave a
+little caper of delight.  Sunshine, a picnic, a pretty frock and hat
+waiting to be worn, and one's very best friends to admire the result--
+what healthy girl of twenty could fail to be happy under such
+circumstances as these?
+
+She sang as she dressed; she made little fancy steps, and three separate
+pirouettes which would have delighted the heart of a terpsichorean
+mistress.  One pirouette greeted the effect of the white dress; the
+second, that of the wide straw hat, with its appropriate garland of
+blossom; the third was partly in celebration of the combined effect, and
+partly out of sheer inability to keep still.
+
+Her toilette completed, Darsie repaired to Hannah's room and surprised
+that tasteless young woman engaged in putting the final touches to her
+own costume, in the shape of an abomination designated "a neck
+arrangement," composed of the cheapest of machine lace and papery satin
+ribbon.  Hannah jumped with dismay as a hand descended suddenly over her
+shoulder, and tore this treasure from her grasp.
+
+"No!" cried Darsie firmly.  "You are my childhood's friend, and I love
+you dearly, but wear lace frills with a linen collar at my Orchard party
+you--_shall not_!  Miserable woman!  Will you never learn how to dress?"
+
+"I paid eleven-three for it, near the end of a term.  Thought I _would_
+please you this time!  Hate the tickling stuff myself.  Some people are
+never satisfied," grumbled Hannah, rummaging in her tie-box, but it
+never occurred to her to dispute the decree.  On questions of toilette
+Darsie's word was absolute.
+
+The two girls descended the stairs together, and found the other three
+members of the party awaiting them at the door, Margaret and the little
+Fresher abeam with smiles, and even Minerva herself looking quite young
+and skittish.  At moments like these it dawned upon the student mind
+that even a don herself could occasionally enjoy a mixture of play with
+her work.
+
+At the river Mrs Reeves and the four men came forward to meet the
+Newnham party, the canaders were ranged ready for the embarkment, and
+Darsie felt the honours of her position press heavily, as the other
+members of the party stood silently waiting for her to apportion the
+crews.  The worst of it was that one felt obliged to take the least
+desirable place oneself.  Considered as a don, Minerva had many points,
+but when bound for a river picnic one did not exactly hanker after her
+society.  Still, there it was.  Every position has its drawbacks.  The
+row up the river on that exquisite morning was a joy independent of
+society, and when the Orchard itself was reached it was undeniably
+agreeable to sit at the head of the table, and play the gracious hostess
+to one's guests.
+
+Orchard appetites are proverbial, but this particular party claimed to
+have broken all previous records.  Soon there was hardly a fragment of
+food left on a plate.  The pile of banana-skins was positively startling
+to behold; tea and coffee pots were drained, and drained again; requests
+for milk and more milk threatened the supply of later guests, and the
+birds in the trees overhead chattered not a whit more gaily than the
+company around the board.
+
+"Shop" was sternly forbidden as a subject of conversation, and the
+remotest reference thereto was instantly booed into silence, for behind
+all the lightsomeness of demeanour a weight of anxiety lay on each
+heart.  The critical time was approaching when the result of the year's
+work would be put to the test.  The two classics, as sons of a poor
+clergyman, were acutely conscious of all that was involved by a first or
+second class.  Ralph Percival was realising painfully the difficulty of
+making up for years of slacking, or even of keeping up a spurt beyond a
+few days at a time; the little Fresher trembled at the thought of her
+first Mays; even Margaret France herself showed signs of nerves before
+the ordeal of the Tripos, and on one tragic occasion had even been
+discovered weeping hysterically upon her bed.
+
+"C-c-couldn't remember a context," was her hiccoughing explanation of
+the breakdown, and henceforth Darsie had taken her in hand, fagged for
+her, petted her, scolded her, put her to bed, and ruthlessly carried off
+notebooks to her own study, to frustrate disastrous attempts at midnight
+toil.
+
+As for Dan, he was a giant among pigmies.  Examinations had no terrors
+for him; his place was assured.  When strangers visited Cambridge, their
+sons and brothers pointed out his big, lumbering form in the streets,
+and bade them remember Vernon--Vernon would arrive!  Darsie was
+conscious that his presence lent distinction to her party, for Dan but
+seldom appeared in the social world.
+
+And he was behaving so well, too! taking part in the conversation, even
+telling stories and capping anecdotes of his own accord, and behaving
+quite amiably to Ralph.  Darsie beamed approval on him from the end of
+the table, and deliberately singled him out as her companion for the
+after-breakfast stroll.
+
+"Come down to the river, Dan!  There's a tree with the most convenient
+forked branch where one can sit hidden by the leaves and watch the
+canaders come up.  Last year I heard some quite thrilling fragments of
+conversation."
+
+"I'll be wary of that tree," said Dan solemnly, but he helped Darsie to
+her eyrie, and swung himself up beside her with an alacrity which showed
+that the suggestion fell in well with his own wishes, and there they sat
+like birds in a nest, smiling at each other with bright, friendly
+glances.
+
+"Isn't this fine?  No one saw us come, did they?  They'll think we're
+lost.  I'm tired of being polite.  Thank you for coming to my party,
+Dan, and for being so jolly."
+
+"Thank you for asking me and for looking so--ripping!"  Dan cast an
+appreciative glance at the white dress and blossom-wreathed hat.  "Glad
+to see you're not knocking yourself up with too much work."
+
+Darsie bent her head with a dubious air.
+
+She wished to look well, but, on the other hand, a little sympathy would
+not have been unwelcome.  "I'm excited this morning, and that gives me a
+colour," she explained.  "If you could see me at the end of the day--I'm
+so weak in my mediaeval French Grammar.  It haunts me at night--"
+
+"Stop!" cried Dan warningly.  "Don't let it haunt you here, at any
+rate--it would be a crime among this blossom.  Tell me a story as you
+used to do in the old schoolroom days.  I haven't heard you tell a story
+since that Christmas night when we all sat round the fire and burnt fir-
+cones, and the light shone on your face.  You wore a white dress then.
+You looked _all_ white."
+
+"And you sat in the corner and glowered--I could see nothing, but I
+_felt_ eyes.  That will be one of the times we shall remember, Dan, when
+we look back on our young days--all together, and so happy and free.  I
+had a melancholy turn during that cone-burning, one of the shadows that
+fall upon one causelessly in the midst of the sunshine, but that was
+only a bit of the happiness, after all.  It's rather wonderful to be
+twenty, Dan, and never to have known a real big sorrow!  Most of the
+girls here have come through something, some of them a great deal.  I
+feel such a babe beside them.  It isn't good for one, I suppose, to have
+things _too_ smooth."
+
+"I hope they'll continue smooth for a long time to come.  You're too
+young for troubles, Darsie," said Dan hastily.  He sat silent for a few
+moments, his chin poking forward, his thin, expressive lips twitching as
+if struggling with difficult speech.  A canader came gliding slowly by,
+the man and girl occupants chatting gaily together, unconscious of the
+watchers in the tree on the bank.  Their words fell absently on Darsie's
+ear, she was waiting for what Dan had to say.
+
+"When they _do_ come, you know you can depend on me.  I'm not much of a
+hand at social life, so it's best to keep out of the way and let other
+fellows chip in who can make a better show, but if there's anything
+useful to be done, you might give me a turn.  We're very old friends."
+
+Darsie gave him an affectionate glance.  "Indeed I will.  I should feel
+you a tower of strength.  Thank you, dear Oak-tree."
+
+"Thank you, Apple-blossom!" returned Dan quite gallantly, if you please,
+and with a laugh which followed the passing seriousness vanished.
+
+For the next half-hour they laughed and sparred, capped stories, and
+made merry, more like a couple of happy children than hard-worked
+students on the verge of examinations; and then, alas! it was time to
+return to work, and, sliding down from their perch, Dan and Darsie
+walked forward to assemble the scattered members of the party.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+DISASTER.
+
+Cambridge May week is a function so well known, and so often described,
+that it would be superfluous to enter in detail into its various
+happenings.  In their first year Darsie and Hannah had taken little part
+in the festivities, but upon their second anniversary they looked
+forward to a welcome spell of gaiety.  Not only were the Percivals
+coming up for the whole week, but Mr and Mrs Vernon and Vie were also
+to be installed in rooms, and the Newnham students had received
+permission to attend the two principal balls, being housed for the
+nights by their own party.  Throughout Newnham the subject of frocks
+became, indeed, generally intermingled with the day's work.  Cardboard
+boxes arrived from home, cloaks and scarves were unearthed from the
+recesses of "coffins," and placed to air before opened windows;
+"burries" were strewn with ribbons, laces, and scraps of tinsel, instead
+of the usual notebooks; third-year girls, reviving slowly from the
+strain of the Tripos, consented languidly to have their hats re-trimmed
+by second-year admirers, and so, despite themselves, were drawn into the
+maelstrom.  One enterprising Fresher offered items of her wardrobe on
+hire, by the hour, day, or week, and reaped thereby quite a goodly sum
+towards her summer holiday.  A blue-silk parasol, in particular, was in
+universal request, and appeared with _eclat_ and in different hands at
+every outdoor function of the week.
+
+In after-years Darsie Garnett looked back upon the day of that year on
+which the Masonic Ball was held with feelings of tender recollection, as
+a piece of her girlhood which was altogether bright and unclouded.  She
+met the Percival party at one o'clock, and went with them to lunch in
+Ralph's rooms, where two other men had been invited to make the party
+complete.  There was hardly room to stir in the overcrowded little
+study, but the crush seemed but to add to the general hilarity.
+
+Ralph made the gayest and most genial of hosts, and the luncheon
+provided for his guests was a typical specimen of the daring hospitality
+of his kind!  Iced soup, lobster mayonnaise, salmon and green peas, veal
+cutlets and mushrooms, trifle, strawberries and cream, and strong
+coffee, were pressed in turns upon the guests, who--be it acknowledged
+at once--ate, drank, enjoyed, and went forth in peace.  Later in the
+afternoon the little party strolled down to the river, and in the
+evening there was fresh feasting, leading up to the culminating
+excitement of all--the ball itself.
+
+Beside the Percivals' Parisian creations, Darsie's simple dress made but
+a poor show, but then Darsie's dresses were wont to take a secondary
+place, and to appear but as a background to her fresh young beauty,
+instead of--as is too often the case--a dress _par excellence_, with a
+girl tightly laced inside.  When she made her appearance in the sitting-
+room of the lodgings, the verdict on her appearance was universally
+approving--
+
+"You look a _lamb_!" gushed Ida enthusiastically.
+
+"How do you manage it, dear?  You _always_ seem to hit the right thing!"
+exclaimed Mrs Percival in plaintive amaze; and as he helped her on with
+her cloak, Ralph murmured significantly--
+
+"As if it mattered what _you_ wore!  No one will notice the frock."
+
+At the ball there was an appalling plethora of girls; wallflowers sat
+waiting round the walls, and waited in vain.  Darsie felt sorry for
+them, tragically sorry; but the sight of their fixed smiles could not
+but heighten the sense of her own good luck in having the chance of more
+partners than she could accept.  Ralph showed at his best that evening,
+evincing as much care for his sisters' enjoyment as for that of their
+friend.  Not until the three programmes were filled to the last extra
+did he rest from his efforts, and think of his own pleasure.  It is true
+that his pleasure consisted chiefly in dancing with Darsie, and their
+steps went so well together that she was ready to give him the numbers
+for which he asked.  As for Dan Vernon, he did not dance, but out of
+some mistaken sense of duty, felt it his duty to put in an appearance
+and _glower_.
+
+"See old Vernon, glowering over there?" inquired Ralph, laughing, as he
+whirled Darsie lightly by to the strains of an inspiriting two-step, and
+for a moment a cloud shadowed the gaiety of her spirits.  Dan ought
+either to dance or stay away!  She didn't _like_ to see him looking
+glum!
+
+The dancing was carried on until four in the morning, when in the chill
+grey light the company were ranged in rows, and photographed, apparently
+to provide a demonstration of how elderly and plain even the youngest of
+the number could look under such inauspicious circumstances.
+
+The three girls had breakfast in bed the next morning, somewhere about
+twelve o'clock--a delightful occasion when all three talked at the same
+time, relating thrilling experiences of the night before, comparing
+notes, admiring, quizzing, shaking with laughter over a dozen innocent
+drolleries.  These after-conferences are perhaps the best part of the
+festivities of our youth; and Noreen, Ida, and Darsie began that fine
+June day as gaily, as happily, as unconscious of coming ill as any three
+girls in the land.
+
+Ralph had been anxious that his people should again lunch in his rooms,
+but Mrs Percival had prudently decided in favour of a simple meal at
+home, and it was approaching tea-time when the party sallied forth to
+witness the day's "bumping" on the river.  The elders were frankly tired
+after their late hours, but the three girls looked fresh as flowers in
+their dainty white frocks, and enjoyed to the full the kaleidoscopic
+beauty of the scene.
+
+The two Percivals' interest in the bumping was of the slightest
+description--Ralph was not taking part this afternoon, and with Ralph
+began and ended their concern.  They stood on the crowded bank, rather
+hot, rather bored, amusing themselves by scanning the people near at
+hand.  The Vernon party were but a few yards away, and Hannah attracted
+special attention.
+
+"She _is_ plain!" exclaimed Noreen; whereat Darsie snapped her up in
+double-quick time.
+
+"Of _course_ she is plain!  She wouldn't dream, of being anything else!"
+
+Beloved plain Hannah!  No features, however classic, could be as
+eloquent as hers in her old friend's eyes.  Darsie tossed her head, and
+looked flusty and annoyed, whereat Noreen feebly apologised, emphasising
+her offence by blundering explanations, and Ralph grew restless and
+impatient.
+
+"I say!  This is getting slow.  Come along, girls; let's take the ferry
+and cross to the other side.  It's not half bad fun to see all the
+shows.  It will be a change, anyhow, and you can come back when you're
+tired."
+
+"I'll stay with mother," Noreen decided dutifully.  Ida surveyed the
+crowd on the opposite bank with the dubious air of one who has lived all
+her life within her own gates.  "I don't _think_ I care to go into that
+crush."
+
+"Oh, come along, Darsie.  Thank goodness you're not so squeamish.  Let's
+get out of this."  Ralph pushed impatiently forward, and Mrs Percival
+turned to Darsie, with raised eyebrows, and said urgently--
+
+"Do go, dear!  Ralph will take care of you.  We will wait for you here."
+
+Darsie smiled assent, the thought passing lightly through her mind that
+Mrs Percival looked particularly sweet and gracious when she smiled.
+She never dreamt that that particular smile, that little glance of
+appeal, were to remain with her all heir life, to be her comfort in a
+bitter grief.
+
+They passed the spot where Hannah and Dan were standing with their
+friends, and acting on a sudden impulse, Darsie turned her head, with a
+few laughing words of explanation: "We're going to look at the Punch and
+Judies!"
+
+There was no definite response, but Hannah's exclamation had an envious
+tone which made Ralph quicken his footsteps.  It was rare good luck to
+get Darsie to himself for an hour; he certainly did not wish to be
+saddled with plain Hannah as an unwelcome third.
+
+The ferry-boat was on the point of starting, its flat surfaces crowded
+with pleasure-seekers.  Ralph and Darsie had to run the last few yards
+in order to secure a bare space for standing.  Ralph took the outside
+with the nonchalance of the true boating-man, who would almost as soon
+fall in the water as not.  Darsie, standing close by his side, glanced
+from one to the other of her companions, her never-failing interest in
+_people_ discovering a story in each new group.
+
+They had reached the middle of the stream, when a movement of the deck
+upset her balance, and sent her swaying against Ralph's arm.  She looked
+up with a laughing apology, and was startled by the sight of his face.
+So far was he from sharing her amusement, that never in the course of
+their acquaintance had she seen him so pale, so set.  He seized the hand
+she had laid on his arm, and held it in a vice-like grip, as he bent to
+look at the deck.  At that moment Darsie stumbled afresh, and felt the
+lapping of water against her thinly clad feet.  She exclaimed loudly,
+but her voice was drowned in the chorus of cries, questions, and appeals
+which arose from every side.
+
+How swiftly, with what incredible, paralysing speed a scene may change,
+and seeming security give way to panic fear!  Darsie, turning her head
+to look at the crowd of faces which towered so strangely above her, met
+but one expression in every eye--breathless, agonising dread.
+
+Looking back upon the scene in after-life, it seemed the nightmare of a
+moment; then the grip upon her arm tightened, she felt herself being
+pushed past Ralph towards the edge of the boat, heard his voice speaking
+to her in crisp, firm tones which she had heard in dreams, but never,
+never from his living lips.
+
+"Darsie!  She's turning turtle!  There's no danger, darling, if you jump
+clear.  The water's not deep.  Some one will come.  I'm going to throw
+you in.  Strike out for your life!"
+
+She was lifted like a doll in his strong arms; her wild eyes, searching
+his, met a cheery smile in response, she felt herself swayed to and fro,
+realised with a shudder the parting from the firm grasp--fell, splashed,
+felt the water close over her head.
+
+When she rose to the surface the water near her seemed full of
+struggling forms; she caught a terrified glimpse of a perpendicular
+deck, of passengers falling like flies from their perch, and with the
+instinct of despair struck out in the opposite direction.
+
+Like most Newnham girls, she was a fair swimmer--happy hours spent in
+the swimming-tent had ensured so much; but it was her first experience
+of fighting the water in all the crippling fineries of race-week attire.
+Her shoes, her skirts, the floating ends of sash and scarf all held her
+down; her soaking hat flopped over her eyes, her very gloves seemed to
+lessen the force of her stroke; but breathless and spent as she was, she
+could not pause while from behind arose that dread, continued cry.
+Ralph had told her to strike out, that there was no danger if only she
+kept clear.
+
+"All right, Darsie--all right!  Keep calm--keep calm!  I'm coming!  I've
+got you!  Leave yourself to me."
+
+It was Dan's voice speaking in her ear, clear and distinct in the midst
+of the clamour; she felt herself seized in scientific fashion--in the
+way at which she herself had played at rescuing her companions from
+imaginary death--and, relinquishing all effort, was towed numbly to the
+shore.
+
+It seemed as if hundreds of people were waiting to rescue her; hundreds
+of arms stretched out in welcome; hundreds of eyes grew suddenly moist
+with tears.  She was tired, and wet, and dazed, but she could stand on
+her own feet, had no need of helping arms.  Dan took her hand in his and
+ran swiftly across the grass to the nearest tent, where already
+preparations were in train for the restoration of the unfortunates.
+
+Darsie was the first of the crew to reach this shelter, and Mrs
+Percival and the girls awaited her tearfully on the threshold.  She
+awoke to fuller consciousness at sight of their faces, smiled in
+reassurement, and murmured disjointed phrases.
+
+"Quite all right--only wet!  Ralph saved me!  A second time!  So calm
+and brave!"
+
+"Yes, dear child; yes!  Take off that wet hat!" replied Mrs Percival
+urgently, the girl's praise of her son adding to her tender solicitude,
+and she hovered around with tender touches, the while from around rose a
+ceaseless string of suggestions.
+
+"Brandy!  Hot tea!"  "She ought to change at once!"  "My house is just
+at hand--do come to my house!"  "My motor is waiting outside!  Let me
+drive you home!"
+
+So on, and so on, innate kindliness of heart bubbling to the surface as
+it invariably does in moments of disaster.  As each unfortunate entered
+the tent the same programme was enacted, the same kind offices
+volunteered.  "My house is close at hand--do come to my house!"
+
+"My motor is waiting--do let me drive you back!"  Each victim of the
+immersion wore at first the same dazed, helpless expression, but the
+presence of their companions, the kindly voices speaking in their ear,
+the hot, reviving draughts soon brought about a change of mood, so that
+they began to smile, to exchange remarks, to congratulate themselves on
+escape.  Darsie, with characteristic elasticity, was one of the first to
+regain composure, and the Percivals hung delightedly on her description
+of Ralph's composure and resource.
+
+"I was terrified.  It was a dreadful sensation to feel the deck sinking
+beneath your feet on one side, and to see it gradually rising above you
+on the other.  And all the bewildered, terrified faces!  Ralph never
+turned a hair.  He told me that there was no danger so long as I kept
+clear of the boat; he lifted me up in his arms as if I had been a doll."
+
+The colour mounted to Darsie's white cheeks as she spoke, and a thrill
+of emotion tingled her blood.  The first time she hears herself
+addressed as "darling" in a man's deep voice is one that a girl cannot
+lightly forget.  She turned her head over her shoulder so as to be able
+to see the entrance into the tent.
+
+"Where _is_ Ralph?"
+
+"He will be here presently.  None of the men have come in yet.  Ralph
+will be so useful.  He is as much at home in the water as on land.  He
+will be busy helping the others."
+
+Mrs Percival spoke with happy assurance; nevertheless, she left
+Darsie's side and edged her way through the crowd towards the open
+doorway, through which she ought now to be able to see her son's return.
+As she was within a few yards of the entrance it was suddenly blocked
+by a group of men--hatless, dripping, dishevelled, but in demeanour
+composed and cheery, as if what had happened had been quite an enjoyable
+experience.
+
+The foremost of the group greeted their friends with smiles and waving
+of hands.
+
+"Hullo!  Hullo!  Here we are!  How are you feeling?  All serene now?
+Every one comfortably on shore?  Got any tea left?"
+
+"Is my son with you?  Have you seen my son--Ralph Percival?"
+
+Mrs Percival spoke in a high, clear voice, at the sound of which a
+young undergrad. wheeled round quickly towards his companions.
+
+"By Jove--yes!  He was on board.  I thought we were all here.  Where's
+Percival?"
+
+He dashed out of the tent, stood looking blankly around, turned a
+blanched face towards the tent.
+
+Then from an inner corner of the tent another voice questioned sharply:
+"Mary!  Where's Mary--Mary Everard?  She was with us--standing quite
+near.  _Mary's not here_!"
+
+No one answered.  There was a breathless silence, while each man and
+woman in that crowded tent was subtly, overpoweringly conscious of a new
+presence filling the atmosphere around--the presence of _Fear_!  Heavy
+as a palpable presence it pressed upon them; it lapped them round; the
+fumes of it mounted to their brains.
+
+Months before, Darsie had listened while a woman who had been near San
+Francisco at the time of the earthquake and fire endeavoured to describe
+what was in truth indescribable, how the very air itself was at that
+time charged with a poignancy of agony--an impalpable spiritual agony,
+apart from such physical cause as heat and fire, an agony which arose
+from the grief of thousands of tortured hearts.
+
+She had listened--interested, curious, pleased to nestle in her easy-
+chair, and ponder over a novel thought; but at this terrible moment she
+had no need to ponder; realisation came sharp and sure.  Tragedy was in
+the air; she inhaled it with every breath, tasted it, felt its heavy
+hand.
+
+With one accord the occupants of the tent streamed across the lawns
+towards the waterside, where even now an informal inquiry was taking
+place.  The officials in charge of the ferry-boat were defending
+themselves against their accusers.  Overcrowded?  The ferry-boat had
+been as crowded on two previous days, and all had gone well.  It was
+impossible to account for the accident.  Since no further harm than a
+few minutes' ducking had happened to the passengers, the greater loss
+was on their own side.
+
+To these officials, protesting, excusing, arrived in a mass a body of
+white-faced men and women, demanding with one voice their lost--a young
+man, an undergraduate; tall, fair, in a white flannel suit; last seen
+standing on the side of the boat helping to lower the women into the
+water; a young girl, in a boating-dress of blue and white.  They were
+not among the rescued.  They had not been seen since the moment of the
+accident.
+
+_Where were they_?
+
+As Darsie stood, ghastly and shuddering, by the water brink, she was
+subconsciously aware of a strong arm in hers.  Subconsciously also she
+was aware that the arm belonged to Dan Vernon, but she had no time for
+look or word; her whole being was strung to one agonising thought.  Mr
+Percival supported his half-fainting wife; the two sisters clung
+together; the relations of Mary Everard paced wildly to and fro.  On
+shore all was tumult and confusion, on the river sunbeams sparkled, the
+stream was quiet and undisturbed.
+
+"Percival was like a fish: Percival could have kept afloat for hours."
+
+A voice separated itself from the confused babel, and struck on Darsie's
+ear, but even as her heart leaped upward another voice spoke.  "It is
+not a case of swimming.  If he were not quick enough in getting away--if
+he were caught beneath--penned!"
+
+The strong arm gripped her more firmly still, steadied her trembling.  A
+fierce voice issued an order for "Silence!  Silence!"
+
+Margaret France came up with beautiful soft eyes and a beautiful soft
+voice.  She spoke wise, tender words.  You were to come away--it was
+better so.  It would add to your friends' distress if you were ill.  You
+were wet, cold.  You were to be sensible and come home.
+
+Darsie looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment.  She was thinking
+that she loved Margaret France, that she had taken a fancy to her the
+first evening at Newnham.  How droll and witty she had been as an
+auctioneer!  Of the purport of her present words she had no
+comprehension.  She sighed and turned her face to the river.
+
+"Leave her to me," said Dan's voice quietly.  "I will take care of her."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+They found them at sundown; the two young, fair bodies--the tall, pale
+lad, the slim, dark maid--two cold effigies of youth, and health, and
+joy.  On Ralph's forehead was a deep red mark, the mark of the blow
+which had given him a prey to the waters; but Mary's brown locks floated
+round a sweet, untroubled face.
+
+They bore them to the mortuary, and those who loved them sat and wept
+alone.  Darsie spent the two following days with the stricken family,
+who found their one comfort in listening again and again to the story of
+Ralph's brave end.  Weak and unstable in life, in death he had shown a
+gallant front, and more than one of the unfortunate crew came forward to
+testify to his courageous and selfless efforts on their behalf.
+
+Mr Percival went about with a set face and shoulders bowed like those
+of an old man.  The girls wept helplessly from morn till night; Mrs
+Percival lost in one night all lingering trace of youth; she kept up
+bravely before her husband and daughters, but alone with Darsie her
+anguish found vent.
+
+"My son, my son!  He was so good to me--so loving and kind.  His faults
+were the faults of youth, and, oh, Darsie, my, faults also!  We blamed
+him for faults which we had not tried to check.  If he had lived and had
+been obliged to face life for himself he would have risen to it, as he
+rose to that last great chance.  It takes a brave man to face death
+calmly.  He was not weak or selfish then--my Ralph!  No one dared call
+him weak.  Thank God!  We were with him to the end, we were happy
+together, and you were with him too.  That is what he would have wished.
+He loved you, Darsie.  If he had lived, he would have wished you for
+his wife."
+
+"Yes!" sighed Darsie, and laid her head gently on the other's knee.  In
+the silence which followed she was acutely aware of the unspoken
+question which filled the air, acutely distressed that she could not
+give the stricken mother the assurance for which she craved.
+
+In Ralph's lifetime his friendship had brought Darsie as much pain as
+joy, and, though death had wiped away all but tender recollections, even
+in this hour of grief and shock she did not delude herself that she
+sorrowed for him with the deepest sorrow of all.  The anxious, pitiful
+affection which she had felt for the man who leaned so heavily upon her
+was more that of a sister than a wife.
+
+Darsie stretched out her hand, found the chilly one of the poor mother,
+and leaning her soft cheek over it, pressed it tenderly with her lips.
+
+"You must let me be your third daughter!  We can talk about him
+together.  I can tell you about this last year--every little tiny thing
+that he said and did.  You'll never be anxious about him any more, dear,
+never afraid!  You will always be proud of your hero boy."
+
+Mrs Percival sighed.  She was in too sensitive a mood not to realise
+the meaning of the girl's lack of response, but the first pang of
+disappointment was followed by a thought full of comfort to the sore
+mother-heart.
+
+"I loved him best.  He was mine to the end!  No one loved him like his
+mother!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+BRIGHTER DAYS.
+
+Six months passed by--months of grief and pain, and bitter, unavailing
+regret; of work and play, of long summer days, and wintry fog and cold;
+of reviving happiness also, since, thank God! joy returns like the
+spring, bringing back hope and joy to a darkened world.  There was a
+place in Darsie's heart which would ever be consecrated to the memory of
+Ralph; but _it_ was not a foremost place--that most crushing of sorrows
+had been spared her; and when one not yet twenty-one is living the
+healthiest and most congenial of lives, and is above all elevated to the
+proud position of third-year girl, it would be as unnatural as wrong to
+dwell continually upon a past grief.
+
+At first Darsie felt shocked and ashamed when the old gay mood swept her
+off her balance, and she found herself dancing, singing, and making
+merry as of yore, but her two mentors, Mrs Reeves and Hannah Vernon,
+united to combat this impression.
+
+"To bear a sorrow _cheerfully_ is the only resignation worthy of the
+name!"  This was the older woman's verdict; the younger preached the
+same precept in student vernacular--
+
+"Why grizzle when you want to smile?  Pray, what good can you do
+yourself, or any one else, by going about with a face like a fiddle?
+Remember Margaret France, and don't block up the window to shut out the
+stars!  Let them twinkle for all they are worth, the blessed little
+things.  They are _tired_ of hiding behind the clouds.  You have a duty
+to the living as well as to the dead; remember that!"
+
+Yes, it was true.  Looking back over the last eight months Darsie
+realised what a debt of gratitude she owed to relations and friends
+alike for their tenderness and forbearance.  It had been hard on the
+home party to have the summer holidays clouded by the presence of a
+mourner who shuddered at the sight of water, collapsed into tears at
+unexpected moments, and lived in a condition of super-sensitiveness,
+ready as it seemed to be hurt by the most innocent word; yet how gentle
+and patient they had been, every single one of them, down to Tim
+himself!  Mother and father, of course, had been angels; one took it for
+granted that they would be, but who could have believed in such
+consideration from the boys and girls.  Dear old Clemence!  What a
+comfort she had been!  Darsie had often been inclined to think that, for
+sheer rest and soothing, no one could compete with a plump, practical,
+matter-of-fact sister, who had no thought for "ifs" or "whys," but was
+full of care to ensure your present physical well-being.  Then, if for a
+moment Clemence seemed to fall short, there was Lavender, ready to pour
+out floods of sympathy, to mingle her tears with yours, and listen to
+endless reminiscences.  As for the boys, Harry and Russell forbore to
+tease, affected blindness to reddened eyes, and said, "Buck up, old
+girl!" with real heartiness of feeling, while Tim was assiduous in the
+offer of sticky sweets.
+
+The Vernons, lucky creatures! went off _en masse_ to Switzerland for
+July and August.  Darsie morbidly told herself that they were anxious to
+avoid the depression of her own presence during the chief holiday of the
+year.  She was, as she expressed it, "too proud to say so," but the
+inward soreness made her so cold and abrupt in manner that her friends
+had good cause to reverse the accusation.
+
+With regard to Dan Vernon in especial there was a soreness at Darsie's
+heart.  During the first days after the tragic happening Dan had been a
+tower of strength, always at hand to comfort, support, and take every
+difficulty upon his own shoulders.  To outward appearance Darsie had
+appeared oblivious of his presence, but subconsciously she had leaned on
+his strength with a profound relief.  It was hard to have Dan withdraw
+into his shell just as she was beginning to long for his presence; but
+he _had_ withdrawn, and like most naturally shy and reticent people,
+withdrawn farther than ever, as if in reaction from his unusual
+demonstration.
+
+In hall itself the absence of Margaret France made a big blank.  Having
+passed her tripos with a first class, Margaret had placidly returned
+home to help her mother in the house, and take part in an ordinary
+social life.  "What a waste!" cried her Newnham acquaintances, but
+Margaret's friends, remembering her own words on the subject, believed
+that she had chosen the better part.
+
+With October came the return to Newnham, and for the first few weeks an
+access of grief and depression.  It was hard to fall into the old life
+shorn of its greatest interest, to be reminded of Ralph at every turn,
+to see his friends pass by, laughing and gay, while his place was blank.
+
+Then it was that Darsie discovered the real tenderness of heart which
+lies beneath the somewhat callous exterior of the college girl.
+Freshers, second-year girls, even austere thirds themselves, combined to
+surround her with an atmosphere of kindness and consideration.  No
+_word_ of sympathy was ever spoken, but almost every hour of the day
+brought with it some fresh deed of comfort and cheer.  Offerings of
+flowers, tendered by a friend, or laid anonymously on "burry" or coffin;
+bags of fruit and cake, invitations galore, surprise visits to her own
+study, each in turn bringing a gleam of brightness to the day.  Plain
+Hannah, too, dear old plain Hannah!  In the midst of her grief Darsie
+was filled with amusement at Hannah's unique fashion of showing her
+sympathy.  Hot water evidently commended itself to her mind as the ideal
+medium, for at a dozen hours of the day and night the door of Darsie's
+study would open and Hannah would appear on the threshold, steaming can
+in hand.  Early morning, eleven o'clock, before lunch, before tea,
+before dinner, before cocoa, before bed, Hannah and her can never failed
+to appear.  For the first half of the Michaelmas term Darsie might
+literally have been described as never out of hot water.
+
+And now it was the Lent term; eight months had passed by since the date
+of Ralph's death, and it surely behoved Darsie to rise above her
+depression, and to throw herself once more into the full, happy life of
+the house.  She was thankful to do it, thankful to welcome dawnings of
+the old zest, to feel her feet involuntarily quicken to a dance, to
+discover herself singing as she moved to and fro.  The winter had
+passed; spring was in the air.  It seemed right that it should be in her
+heart also.
+
+As usual in the Lent term, hockey was the one absorbing subject outside
+"shop," and Hannah Vernon, now advanced to the lofty position of
+captain, had special reasons for welcoming her friend's reviving
+spirits.
+
+One chilly day in February she entered Darsie's study with a somewhat
+unusual request.
+
+"The girls are getting restive, and think that it's quite time we had
+another fancy match.  They want me to arrange one on the spot.  It's so
+blighting to be told that one is so clever, and looked to for
+inspiration.  Every idea forsakes one on the instant.  You've been
+hibernating for an age, you ought to have lots stored up!"
+
+"I haven't--I've grown hideously dull.  What did we have last?"
+
+"Thicks against Thins!  Never shall I forget it!  To play forward padded
+with three separate cushions, and with shawls wound round your limbs, is
+the sort of thing one rises to _once_ in a lifetime, but never twice.  I
+made an adorable fat woman!  The Thins had no spirit left in them when
+they beheld my bulk.  I vote that we don't have anything that involves
+padding this time.  One never knows one's luck."
+
+"No-o!  I think we might hit on something more subtle," Darsie
+ruminated, with her eyes on the ceiling.  Her reputation of being the
+Newnham belle remained unchallenged after two separate incursions of
+Freshers.
+
+As she sat before a "burry," clad in a blue, pinafore-like garment, from
+which emerged white silk sleeves to match the collar and yoke, her hand
+absently turning over a pile of notebooks, bound in green and blue and
+rose, she made a striking contrast to Hannah Vernon in a cinnamon coat
+and skirt, built for wear by a cheap tailor on the principle of "there
+or thereabouts."  Even the notebooks reflected the personality of their
+owners, for the one which Hannah carried was of the shiny black
+persuasion which seemed to proclaim that, being made for good solid
+work, it disdained the affectation of beauty.  Plain Hannah's little
+eyes twinkled affectionately at her old friend.  She detached a pencil
+from a chain which dangled by her side, and said tentatively--
+
+"Subtle--yes!  Good biz!  Let's have a Subtler by all means."
+
+"I--was thinking--we might have something touching upon future
+possibilities.  I've not quite got it yet, but something about brides
+and spinsters.  Future brides--budding brides--beautiful brides."
+
+"Easy enough to have adjectives for the brides.  Where do the spinsters
+come in?"
+
+"Oh, one would have to infer--subtly, of course--that they _would_ be
+spinsters!  That would be adjective enough.  Embryo spinsters--
+preparatory spinsters--p-p-probable spinsters.  I have it!  I have it!
+`Possible Brides against Probable Spinsters!'"
+
+"Ha!" ejaculated Hannah, and drew her forefinger slowly down her nose.
+"_Good_!  Top hole.  Amusin', but--injudicious?  Shouldn't mind one rap
+myself; lead off the Probables with a cheer.  But, I fear me, there'd be
+brickbats floating in the air.  How much would you take in coin of the
+realm to go up to Vera Ruskin and invite her to play for the spinsters?
+Personally I'd rather be excused."
+
+"I'd volunteer as a start!  Love to do it!"
+
+"Ye-es!  Just so.  Noble of you, no doubt; but unconvincing," returned
+Hannah dryly.  "No!  It's a fine suggestion in theory, but in practice
+I'm afraid it won't work.  I don't want to imperil my popularity for
+good.  Think of something a trifle less searching!  Er--er--Slackers
+against--against what?  Slackers against Swotters!  How would that do
+for a change?"
+
+Darsie curled her little nose.
+
+"Dull!  No scope.  How would you dress?"
+
+"Oh-h!  The Swotters might have bandages round their heads, and study
+notebooks between play.  The Slackers would just--could just--"
+
+"Just so!  `Could just'!  Too feeble, my dear!  It won't do.  What about
+worth and charm?  Might make up something out of that.  Worth, solid
+worth, genuine worth--"
+
+"Moral worth!"
+
+"That's it!  Moral Worth against Charm, personal charm!  That'll do it.
+That'll do it!  _Moral Worth against Personal Charm_.  Nobody can be
+offended at being asked to represent Moral Worth."
+
+"They will, though!  The female heart is desperately wicked," returned
+Hannah shrewdly.  "But if they do it's their own look-out.  We'll
+preserve a high and lofty tone, and be _surprised_!  Thanks awfully, old
+girl.  It's an adorable idea.  What price the Moral Worth costume--eh,
+what?"
+
+The Hockey captain went off chuckling, and excitement ran high in the
+hockey world when the thrilling announcement was posted that afternoon.
+"For which side shall I be asked to play?"  Forwards, Backs, and Goals
+alike agitated themselves over these questions, and, sad to relate,
+Hannah proved a true prophet, for while an invitation from the `Personal
+Charm' captain aroused smiles of delight, the implication of `Moral
+Worth' was but coldly received.
+
+Darsie Garnett herself was conscious of an electric shock of the most
+unpleasant nature when, but half an hour after the posting of the
+notice, the "Moral Worths" invited her to join their ranks!  With all
+the determination in the world, she found it impossible to repress a
+start of surprise, and was acutely conscious of smothered giggles of
+amusement from those around.  She accepted, of course, with
+protestations of delight, and ten minutes later found balm in the shape
+of an invitation from the rival team.  The "Personal Charms" deplored
+Darsie's loss, but considered it a masterpiece of diplomacy on the part
+of the "Moral Worth" captain to have headed her team with the name of
+the Newnham Belle.  "No one could be snarkey after that!"
+
+The two teams held committee meetings on the subject of costumes, which
+were kept a dead secret until the hour for the match had arrived, when a
+large body of spectators awaited their arrival on the ground, with
+expectations pleasantly excited.  The "Personal Charms" appeared first,
+marching in pairs with heads erect, and stamped on each face that
+brilliant, unalterable, toothy smile affected by actresses of inferior
+rank.  Each head was frizzed and tousled to about twice its natural
+size, and crowned by an enormous topknot of blue ribbon.  White blouses
+and skirts, blue belts, ties, and hose completed an attractive costume,
+and as a finishing touch, the handle of the hockey-stick was embellished
+with a second huge blue bow.
+
+From a spectacular point of view the "Personal Charms" were certainly an
+unusually attractive spectacle, but as regards popularity with the
+"field," they fell far behind the rival team.  The "Moral Worths"
+allowed a judicious time to elapse after the appearance of the "Personal
+Charms," and then, just as the spectators were beginning to wax
+impatient, excitement was aroused by the appearance of a white banner,
+borne proudly aloft in the arms of two brawny Forwards.  Printed on the
+banner were two lines of poetry, which at nearer view proved to be a
+highly appropriate adaptation--
+
+  "Be good, sweet maid,
+  And let who will be charming!"
+
+Certainly the "Moral Worths" had been at pains to disguise any charm
+they possessed!  Even Darsie herself looked plain with her hair dragged
+back into a tight little knot, her grey flannel shirt padded into the
+similitude of stooping shoulders, her skirt turned carefully back to
+front.  With lumping gait and heavy footsteps the team marched round the
+field, and drew up beside the beaming "Personal Charms," who despite the
+blasts of easterly wind through summer muslin blouses, continued to
+smile, and smile, and smile.
+
+Throughout the heated game which followed the "Moral Worths" were
+distinctly the favourite team; nevertheless, it is the deplorable truth
+that the "Personal Charms" won at a canter, despite the handicap of
+their beribboned sticks.
+
+When, tired and muddy, Darsie reached her study again, it was to find a
+postcard from Lavender which a kindly Fresher had laid upon her "burry."
+It bore but a few words written in large characters, and plentifully
+underlined--
+
+"_Which team were you asked to play for_?"
+
+What a glow of satisfaction it gave one to be able to reply, truthfully
+and accurately, with one short, illuminating--"_Both_!"
+
+Among the other joys of the last terms, one shone out pre-eminent in
+Darsie Garnett's estimation.  She was Prime Minister!  It seemed almost
+too splendid to be true!  She, who three years before had made her first
+appearance at Political as the bashful representative of Bootle-cum-
+Linacre, to have advanced to this dizzy height of power!  To be captain
+of the Hockey Club paled into insignificance before this crowning
+honour, but as Hannah was "Speaker," Darsie was unable to crow as loudly
+as she would have done if her friend's place had been below the gangway.
+
+Political was held in College Hall on Monday evenings at eight o'clock,
+and in old-fashioned style the members were divided into three parties,
+Conservatives, Liberals, and Unionists, whose seats were so arranged as
+to form three sides of a square.
+
+Viewed from afar there was a strong element of humour about this mock
+Parliament.  Prophetic it might be, but it was distinctly droll to hear
+Honourable Members addressed as "Madam," while some of the statutes
+embodied in the Constitution-book were quite deliciously unexpected, the
+special one, which ran, "_Members occupying the front benches are
+requested not to darn stockings during Political_" being a constant
+source of delight to parents and friends.
+
+Darsie was a Liberal.  Members of the Opposition accused her openly of
+Socialism.  _What! shall we sacrifice our brother man for the sake of
+the demon gold_? she would declaim with waving hands and cheeks aflame,
+whereat the Liberals would cheer as one girl, and even the Conservatives
+themselves be moved to admiration.
+
+Debates relating to Education, Suffrage, and the House of Lords were
+held during the winter months, but the crowning excitement followed a
+daring Bill introduced by the Liberal party for the abolishment of the
+Unionists _in toto_, on the ground that, being neither fish, flesh, nor
+good red herring, they acted but as a drag on the wheels of progress.
+The benches were crowded to their fullest capacity on the occasion of
+this historic debate; even the Dons themselves came in to listen, and
+the whips flew round the corridors, giving no quarter to the few
+skulkers discovered at work in their studies, until they also were
+forced into the breach.  As a result, the Unionist party, supported by
+Moderates on both sides, achieved a brilliant and decisive victory.
+
+So much for Political, but the Prime Minister occupied another proud
+position, for Margaret France's prophecy had been fulfilled, and Darsie
+was now captain of the Clough Fire Brigade.  Beneath her were two
+lieutenants, and two companies, each seven girls strong, and the duty of
+choosing times of the utmost inconvenience and unpreparedness for drill
+alarms rested entirely at her discretion.  When the fire-bell rang,
+every member of the brigade must leave whatever she happened to be
+about, and dash pell-mell to the assembling-ground on an upper story.
+There the force ranked up in order, the captain explained the locality
+and nature of the supposed conflagration, and each "man" received "his"
+own instruction--one to shut windows and ventilators, and so diminish
+draughts, another to uncoil the hose, a third to affix the nozzle, and
+so on.  The work was accomplished, examined by the authorities, and the
+"men" were back on the top landing, ranked up in their original order,
+in an incredibly short space of time, when the captain gave a sharp
+criticism of the performance, followed by a few questions to test the
+general knowledge of the staff: Where was Mary Murray's study?  What was
+its aspect?  What was the nearest water supply?  Etcetera.
+
+One excuse for non-attendance, and one only, was allowed to pass
+muster--a member who chanced to be in a hot bath what time the bell rang
+forth the alarm might lie at ease and smile at the scurry without,
+health and the risk of chill being considered before imaginary dangers.
+If, however, the bath were _cold_, out she must get, dash into the coat
+and skirt which, for members of the fire brigade, supplanted the
+ordinary dressing-gown, and take her place with the rest.
+
+Nor--with Darsie Garnett as captain--was it any use to attempt
+deception, as a tired little Fresher discovered to her cost, when she
+naughtily turned a warm stream into her cold bath and refused to budge.
+No sooner were lightning-like instructions rapped out upstairs than down
+flew the irate captain, rapped at the door, demanded admission, and--in
+the absence of steam upon the wall--sentenced the cringing truant to a
+month's suspension of privileges.
+
+Nor was Darsie's own position free from anxiety, for once in a term it
+was the prerogative of the brigade to surprise the captain, and woe
+befall her prestige if, on that occasion, she were found wanting!  Coat,
+skirt, and slippers lay nightly on a chair by her bedside, together with
+the inevitable pile of notebooks, and she felt a burden off her mind
+when the alarm had come and gone.
+
+Deep, deep down in the recesses of Darsie's mind there slumbered a fell
+ambition.  If there could be a _real_ fire before her term of office
+expired!  Not a serious one, of course--nothing to imperil the safety of
+the dear old house, but just sufficient to cause a _real_ alarm, and
+give the brigade an opportunity of demonstrating its powers!  It was
+almost too aggravating to be borne, to hear one morning that a second-
+year girl had indulged in a study fire, and had extinguished it of her
+own accord.  Extinguished by private effort, when a captain, two
+lieutenants, and fourteen "men" were languishing for an opportunity to
+exhibit their powers!  The captain spoke sternly to the second-year
+girl, and rebuked her.
+
+"How," she demanded, "can you _expect_ a reliable force, if precious
+opportunities are to be wasted like this?  Curtains ablaze, and the
+bedclothes singeing.  We may wait for _years_ for another such
+opportunity!"
+
+"But where do _I_ come in?" cried the second-year girl.  "I gave ten and
+sixpence for that quilt.  And a jug of water standing close at hand!  It
+was only human nature--"
+
+"I hope," returned the captain of the Fire Brigade icily--"I _hope_ that
+is not the spirit in which you propose to go through life.  It's a poor
+thing if you cannot sacrifice a ten-and-sixpenny quilt in the interest
+of the public good."  And she stalked majestically from the room.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+TRIPOS WEEK.
+
+The Tripos week!  Every third-year girl felt as if life and death
+trembled in the balance during those eventful days.  They woke on the
+Monday morning with much the same feeling as that of a patient who
+expects to have an arm amputated at eleven, and is morally convinced
+that she will sink beneath the strain, and when at seven o'clock a
+second-year friend crept into the study, tray in hand, and administered
+sympathising cups of tea, the final touch was given to the illusion.
+
+Darsie quailed before the prospect of those three-hour papers.
+Experience had proved that she was not at her best in examinations;
+imaginative people rarely are, since at the critical moment the brain is
+apt to wander off on dire excursions into the future, envisaging the
+horrors of failing, instead of buckling to work in order to ensure
+success.  Historical French Grammar in especial loomed like a pall, and
+she entered the Mission Room at Saint Columba's with the operation-like
+feeling developed to its acutest point.
+
+For several minutes after taking the first paper in her hand Darsie
+found it impossible to decipher the words.  The type danced mistily
+before her eyes; and when at last letters shaped themselves out of the
+confusion, the last state was worse than the first, for she was
+convinced--drearily, hopelessly convinced--that she could not answer a
+single question out of the number.
+
+She laid down the paper, and steadied herself resolutely.  All over the
+room other girls were sitting on hard, uncomfortable chairs before
+tables like her own, some motionless and stunned-looking like herself,
+some already setting briskly to work.  On the walls, among a number of
+quotations, "_Help one another_!" stared her in the face with tragic
+significance, and again: "How far high failure overleaps the bounds of
+low successes."  _Failure_!  She lifted the paper again, and decided
+with a glimmer of hope that she could answer at least _one_ question,
+set to work, and scribbled for life until the last moment of the
+prescribed three hours!  What exhaustion!  What collapse!  Positively
+one's legs wobbled beneath one as one trailed wearily Newnhamwards.
+What a comfort to be fussed over and petted, treated as distinguished
+invalids whom the College was privileged to tend!
+
+The Tripos girls "sat at High" at the head of the room, surrounded by
+attentive Dons, with the V.C. herself smiling encouragement, and urging
+them to second helpings of chicken (chicken!!).  By the time that it was
+necessary to start forth for the afternoon's ordeal they felt mentally
+and physically braced, and the operation feeling lessened sensibly.
+
+At the afternoon's ordeal, however, the weariness and depression grew
+more acute than ever, and on the walk home the comparing of answers had
+anything but a cheering effect.  No girl was satisfied; each was morally
+convinced that her companions had done better than herself.  Where she
+had failed to answer a question, a reminder of the solution filled her
+with despair.  Of course!  It was as simple as ABC.  She had known it
+off by heart.  Nothing short of softening of the brain could explain
+such idiotic forgetfulness.
+
+It was a kindly custom which separated the sufferers on their return to
+College, each one being carried off by her special second-year adorer to
+a cheery little tea-party, for which the most congenial spirits and the
+most delectable fare were provided.  Here the tired senior was soothed
+and fed, and her self-esteem revived by an attitude of reverence on the
+part of the audience.  The second-year girls shuddered over the papers;
+were convinced that never, no never, could they face the like, and
+suggested that it would be a saving of time to go down at once.
+
+Later on that first evening, when Marian White appeared to put her
+invalid to bed, she bore in her hand a letter from Margaret France,
+which Darsie hailed with a cry of joy.
+
+"Ah!  I _thought_ she would write to me.  I wondered that I didn't have
+a letter this morning, but she was right as usual.  She knew I should
+need it more to-night!"
+
+Margaret's letter was short and to the point--
+
+"Dearest Darsie,--A year ago you were cheering me!  How I wish I could
+do the same for you in your need, but as I can't be present in the
+flesh, here comes a little line to greet you, old dear, and to tell you
+to be of good cheer.  You are very tired, and very discouraged, and very
+blue.  I _know_!  Every one is.  It's part of the game.  Do you remember
+what a stern mentor I had, and how she bullied me, and packed me to bed,
+and took away my books?  Oh, the good old times!  The good old times,
+how happy we were--how I think of them now, and long to be back!  But
+the best part remains, for I have still my friend, and you and I,
+Darsie, `belong' for our lives.
+
+"Cheer up, old dear!  _You've done a lot better than you think_!
+
+"Margaret."
+
+"What's the matter now?" asked the second-year girl sharply, spying two
+big tears course slowly down her patient's cheeks, and Darsie returned a
+stammering reply--
+
+"I've had such a ch-ch-cheering letter!"
+
+"Have you indeed!  The less of _that_ sort of cheering you get this
+week, the better for you!" snapped Marian once more.  She was jealous of
+Margaret France, as she was jealous of every girl in the College for
+whom Darsie Garnett showed a preference, and she strongly resented any
+interference with her own prerogative.  "Hurry into your dressing-gown,
+please, and I'll brush your hair," she said now in her most dictatorial
+tones.  "I'm a pro. at brushing hair--a hair-dresser taught me how to do
+it.  You hold the brush at the side to begin with, and work gradually
+round to the flat.  I let a Fresher brush mine one right when I'd a
+headache, and she began in the middle of my cheek.  There's been a
+coldness between us ever since.  There! isn't that good?  Gets right
+into the roots, doesn't it, and tingles them up!  Nothing so soothing as
+a smooth, hard brush."
+
+Darsie shut her eyes and purred like a sleek, lazy little cat.
+
+"De-lic-ious!  Lovely!  You _do_ brush well!  I could sit here for
+hours."
+
+"You won't get a chance.  Ten minutes at most, and then off you go, and
+not a peep at another book till to-morrow morning."
+
+"Marian--_really_--I _must_!  Just for ten minutes, to revive my
+memory."
+
+"I'll tell you a story!" said Marian quietly--"a _true_ story from my
+own experience.  It was when I was at school and going in for the
+Cambridge Senior, the last week, when we were having the exams.  We had
+_slaved_ all the term, and were at the last gasp.  The head girl was one
+Annie Macdiarmid, a marvel of a creature, the most all-round scholar
+I've ever met.  She was invariably first in everything, and I usually
+came in a bad third.  Well, we'd had an arithmetic exam, one day, pretty
+stiff, but not more so than usual, and on this particular morning at
+eleven o'clock we were waiting to hear the result.  The Mathematic
+Master was a lamb--so keen, and humorous, and just--a _rageur_ at times,
+but that was only to be expected.  He came into the room, papers in
+hand, his mouth screwed up, and his eyebrows nearly hidden under his
+hair.  We knew at a glance that something awful had happened.  He
+cleared his throat several times, and began to read aloud the arithmetic
+results.  `Total, a hundred.  Bessie Smith, eighty-seven.'  There was a
+rustle of surprise.  Not Annie Macdiarmid?  Just Bessie--an ordinary
+sort of creature, who wasn't going in for the Local at all.  `Mary Ross,
+eighty-two.  Stella Bruce, seventy-four.'  Where did _I_ come in?  I'd
+never been lower than that.  `Kate Stevenson, sixty-four.'  Some one
+else fifty, some one else forty, _and_ thirty _and_ twenty, and still
+not a mention of Annie Macdiarmid or of me.  You should have _seen_ her
+face!  I shall never forget it.  _Green_! and she laced her fingers in
+and out, and chewed, and chewed.  I was too stunned to feel.  The world
+seemed to have come to an end.  Down it came--sixteen, fourteen, ten--
+and then at last--at bitter, long last--`Miss Marian White, _six_!  Miss
+Macdiar-mid, Two!'"
+
+Darsie stared beneath the brush, drawing a long breath of dismay.
+
+"What _did_ you do?"
+
+"Nothing!  That was where he showed himself so wise.  An ordinary master
+would have raged and stormed, insisted upon our working for extra hours,
+going over and over the old ground, but he knew better.  He just banged
+all the books together, tucked them under his arm, and called out: `No
+more work!  Put on your hats and run off home as fast as you can go, and
+tell your mothers from me to take you to the Waxworks, or a Wild Beast
+show.  Don't dare to show yourselves in school again until Monday
+morning.  Read as many stories as you please, but open a school book at
+your peril!'"
+
+Marian paused dramatically, Darsie peered at her through a mist of hair,
+and queried weakly, "Well?"
+
+"Well--so we didn't!  We just slacked and lazed, and amused ourselves
+till the Monday morning, and then, like giants refreshed, we went down
+to the fray and--"
+
+"And what?"
+
+"I've told you before!  I got second-class honours, and the Macdiarmid
+came out first in all England, distinction in a dozen subjects--
+arithmetic among them.  So now, Miss Garnett, kindly take the moral to
+heart, and let me hear no more nonsense about `reviving memories.'
+_Your_ memory needs putting to sleep, so that it may wake up refreshed
+and active after a good night's rest."
+
+And Darsie weakly, reluctantly obeyed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+FAREWELL TO NEWNHAM.
+
+May week followed hard on the Tripos that year, but Darsie took no part
+in the festivities.  The remembrance of the tragic event of last summer
+made her shrink from witnessing the same scenes, and in her physically
+exhausted condition she was thankful to stay quietly in college.
+Moreover, a sad task lay before her in the packing up her belongings,
+preparatory to bidding adieu to the beloved little room which had been
+the scene of so many joys and sorrows during the last three years.
+
+Vie Vernon, as a publicly engaged young lady, was paying a round of
+visits to her _fiance's_ relations, but Mr and Mrs Vernon had come up
+as usual, arranging to keep on their rooms, so that they might have the
+satisfaction of being in Cambridge when the Tripos List came out.  With
+a son like Dan and a daughter like Hannah, satisfaction was a foregone
+conclusion; calm, level-headed creatures both of them, who were not to
+be flurried or excited by the knowledge of a critical moment, but most
+sanely and sensibly collected their full panoply of wits to turn them to
+good account.
+
+Hannah considered it in the last degree futile to dread an exam.  "What
+else," she would demand in forceful manner--"what else are you working
+for?  For what other reason are you here?"  But her arguments, though
+unanswerable, continued to be entirely unconvincing to Darsie and other
+nervously constituted students.
+
+The same difference of temperament showed itself in the manner of
+waiting for results.  Dan and Hannah, so to speak, wiped their pens
+after the writing of the last word of the last paper, and there and then
+resigned themselves to their fate.  They had done their best; nothing
+more was possible in the way of addition or alteration--for good or ill
+the die was cast.  Then why worry?  Wait quietly, and take what came
+along!
+
+Blessed faculty of common sense!  A man who is born with such a
+temperament escapes half the strain of life, though it is to be doubted
+whether he can rise to the same height of joy as his more imaginative
+neighbour, who lies awake shivering at the thought of possible ills, and
+can no more "wait quietly" for a momentous decision than he could
+breathe with comfort in a burning house.
+
+When the morning arrived on which the results of the Tripos were to be
+posted on the door of the Senate House, Darsie and Hannah had taken a
+last sad farewell of their beloved Newnham, and were ensconced with Mr
+and Mrs Vernon in their comfortable rooms.  The lists were expected to
+appear early in the morning, and the confident parents had arranged a
+picnic "celebration" party for the afternoon.
+
+Darsie never forgot that morning--the walk to the Senate House with Dan
+and Hannah on either side, the sight of the waiting crowd, the strained
+efforts at conversation, the dragging hours.
+
+At long last a list appeared--the men's list only: for the women's a
+further wait would be necessary.  But one glance at the paper showed
+Dan's name proudly ensconced where every one had expected it would be,
+and in a minute he was surrounded by an eager throng--congratulating,
+cheering, shaking him by the hand.  He looked quiet as ever, but his
+eyes shone, and when Darsie held out her hand he gripped it with a
+violence which almost brought the tears to her eyes.
+
+The crowd cleared away slowly, the women students retiring to refresh
+themselves with luncheon before beginning a second wait.  The Vernons
+repaired to their rooms and feasted on the contents of the hamper
+prepared for the picnic, the father and mother abeam with pride and
+satisfaction, Dan obviously filled with content, and dear old Hannah
+full of quips.  Darsie felt ashamed of herself because she alone failed
+to throw off anxiety; but her knees _would_ tremble, her throat _would_
+parch, and her eyes _would_ turn back restlessly to study the clock.
+
+  "Better to die by sudden shock,
+  Than perish piecemeal on the rock!"
+
+The old couplet which as a child she had been used to quote darted back
+into her mind with a torturing pang.  How much longer of this agony
+could she stand?  Anything, anything would be better than this dragging
+on in suspense, hour after hour.  But when once again the little party
+approached the Senate House, she experienced a swift change of front.
+No, no, this was not suspense; it was hope!  Hope was blessed and
+kindly.  Only certainty was to be dreaded, the grim, unalterable fact.
+
+The little crowd of girls pressed forward to read the lists.  Darsie
+peered with the rest, but saw nothing but a mist and blur.  Then a voice
+spoke loudly by her side; Hannah's voice:
+
+"First Class!  _Hurrah_!"
+
+Whom did she mean?  Darsie's heart soared upward with a dizzy hope, her
+eyes cleared and flashed over the list of names.  Hannah Vernon--Mary
+Bates--Eva Murray--many names, but not her own.
+
+The mist and the blur hid the list once more, she felt an arm grip her
+elbow, and Dan's voice cried cheerily--
+
+"A Second Class!  Good for you, Darsie!  I thought you were going to
+fail."
+
+It was a relief.  Not a triumph; not the proud, glad moment of which she
+had dreamed, but a relief from a great dread.  The girls congratulated
+her, wrung her hand, cried, "Well done!" and wished her luck; third-
+class girls looked envious and subdued; first-class girls in other
+"shops" whispered in her ear that it was an acknowledged fact that
+Modern Languages had had an uncommonly stiff time this year.  Modern
+Languages who had themselves gained a first class, kept discreetly out
+of the way.  Hannah said, "See, I was right!  Are you satisfied now?"
+No one showed any sign of disappointment.  Perhaps no one but herself
+had believed in the possibility of a first class.
+
+The last band of students turned away from the gates with a strange
+reluctance.  It was the last, the very last incident of the dear old
+life--the happiest years of life which they had ever known, the years
+which from this moment would exist but as a memory.  Even the most
+successful felt a pang mingling with their joy, as they turned their
+backs on the gates and walked quietly away.
+
+Later that afternoon Dan and Darsie found themselves strolling across
+the meadows towards Grantchester.  They were alone, for, the picnic
+having fallen through, Mr and Mrs Vernon had elected to rest after the
+day's excitement, and Hannah had settled herself down to the writing of
+endless letters to relations and friends, bearing the good news of the
+double honours.
+
+Darsie's few notes had been quickly accomplished, and had been more
+apologetic than jubilant in tone, but she honestly tried to put her own
+feelings in the background, and enter into Dan's happiness as he
+confided to her his plans for the future.
+
+"I'm thankful I've come through all right--it means so much.  I'm a
+lucky fellow, Darsie.  I've got a rattling opening, at the finest of the
+public schools, the school I'd have chosen above all others.  Jenson got
+a mastership there two years ago--my old coach, you remember!  He was
+always good to me, thought more of me than I deserved, and he spoke of
+me to the Head.  There's a vacancy for a junior master next term.  They
+wrote to me about it.  It was left open till the lists came out, but now!
+now it will go through.  I'm safe for it now."
+
+"Oh, Dan, I'm so glad; I'm so glad for you!  You've worked so hard that
+you deserve your reward.  A mastership, and time to write--that's your
+ambition still?  You are still thinking of your book?"
+
+"Ah, my book!"  Dan's dark eyes lightened, his rugged face shone.  It
+was easy to see how deeply that book of the future had entered into his
+life's plans.  He discussed it eagerly as they strolled across the
+fields, pointing out the respects in which it differed from other
+treatises of the kind; and Darsie listened, and sympathised, appreciated
+to the extent of her abilities, and hated herself because, the more
+absorbed and eager Dan grew, the more lonely and dejected became her own
+mood.  Then they talked of Hannah and her future.  With so good a record
+she would have little difficulty in obtaining her ambition in a post as
+mathematical mistress at a girls' school.  It would be hard on Mrs
+Vernon to lose the society of both her daughters, but she was wise
+enough to realise that Hannah's _metier_ was not for a domestic life,
+and unselfish enough to wish her girls to choose the most congenial
+_roles_.
+
+"And my mother will still have three at home, three big, incompetent
+girls!" sighed Darsie in reply, and her heart swelled with a sudden
+spasm of rebellion.  "Oh, Dan, after all my dreams!  I'm so bitterly
+disappointed.  Poor little second-class me!"
+
+"_Don't_, Darsie!" cried Dan sharply.  He stood still, facing her in the
+narrow path, but now the glow had gone from his face; it was twisted
+with lines of pain and anxiety.  "Darsie! it's the day of my life, but
+it's all going to fall to pieces if you are sad!  You've done your best,
+and you've done well, and if you are a bit disappointed that you've
+failed for a first yourself, can't you--can't you take any comfort out
+of _mine_?  It's more than half your own.  I'd never have got there by
+myself!"
+
+"Dan, dear, you're talking nonsense!  What nonsense you talk!  What have
+_I_ done?  What _could_ I do for a giant like you?"
+
+Dan brushed aside the word with a wave of the hand.
+
+"Do you remember when we were talking last year, beside the fire, in the
+old study one afternoon, when all the others were out, talking about
+poor Percival, and your answer to a question I asked?  `_He needs me,
+Dan_!' you said.  I argued very loftily about the necessity of a man
+standing alone and facing his difficulties by himself, and you said that
+was true, but only a part of the truth.  I've found that out for myself
+since then.  If that was true of Percival, it is fifty times truer of
+me!  _I_ need you, Darsie!  I shall always need you.  I've not a penny-
+piece in the world, except what my father allows me.  I shall probably
+always be poor.  For years to come I shall be grinding away as a junior
+master.  Even when the book is written it can never bring much return in
+a monetary sense, but success will come in the end, I'll _make_ it come!
+And when it does, it will belong to you as much as to me.  You'll
+remember that?"
+
+"Yes...  Thank you, Dan!"  The answer came in a breathless gasp.
+Darsie's big eyes were fixed upon Dan's face in rapt, incredulous gaze.
+The cramp of loneliness had loosened from her heart; the depression had
+vanished; a marvellous new interest had entered into her life; she was
+filled with a beatific content.
+
+"I'll remember!  I'll be proud to remember.  But--I don't understand!"
+
+"I don't understand myself," said Dan simply.  "I only know it is true.
+So don't get low, Darsie, and don't be discouraged.  You're in a class
+by yourself, and all the honours in the world couldn't improve you.  And
+now that's over, and we start afresh!"
+
+It was like Dan to hurry back with all speed to more practical talk.
+Darsie understood, and was satisfied.  They stood together for another
+moment looking back on the massed towers and spires of Cambridge, then
+slowly, reluctantly, turned away.
+
+A new life lay ahead, its outline vague and undefined like that of the
+landscape around, but the sun was shining.  It shone full on their young
+faces, as they went forward, hand in hand.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's A College Girl, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
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