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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32992-8.txt b/32992-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a282b5a --- /dev/null +++ b/32992-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9534 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Youngest Girl in the School, by Evelyn +Sharp, Illustrated by C. E. Brock + + +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: The Youngest Girl in the School + + +Author: Evelyn Sharp + + + +Release Date: June 27, 2010 [eBook #32992] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.fadedpage.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32992-h.htm or 32992-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32992/32992-h/32992-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32992/32992-h.zip) + + + + + +THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL + +by + +EVELYN SHARP + +Author of 'The Making of a Schoolgirl,' 'Wymps,' Etc. + +With Illustrations by C. E. Brock + + + + + + + +New York +The Macmillan Company +London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. +1906 +All rights reserved + +Copyright, 1901, +By the Macmillan Company. + +Set up and electrotyped September, 1901. Reprinted January, 1902. + +New edition September, 1906. + +Norwood Press +J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith +Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + + +TO + +THE PROFESSOR + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + Page + 'May I--may I have all that?' 27 + + 'Look here, Babs,' she began, smoothing the mop + of tangled hair 45 + + 'What in the name of wonder are you children + doing down there?' 99 + + Five heads suddenly appeared at the open window 108 + + 'Dear me!' he said, slightly taken aback 175 + + 'Hullo!' said Jean. 'What's the matter?' 184 + + 'Tell me, Herr Doktor' 261 + + 'So he got Jill' 310 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +IN A LONDON SCHOOLROOM + + +'It's no good,' sighed Barbara, looking disconsolately round the room; +'we shall never get straight in time. Don't you think we had better +leave it, and let Auntie Anna see us as we really are? She will only be +disappointed afterwards, if we begin by being tidy; and I don't like +disappointing people, do you?' + +There was a shout of laughter when she finished speaking, and Barbara +frowned. She never knew why the boys laughed at her when she tried to +explain her reasons for doing things, but they always did. + +'Is that why you have put on your very shortest frock?' asked Wilfred, who +was brewing something in a saucepan over the fire. 'I believe you think +that if Auntie Anna saw you for the first time in your Sunday frock, she +might suppose you were a nice, proper little girl, instead of----' + +Barbara seized the sofa cushion and aimed it at him threateningly. +'Instead of what?' she demanded. + +Wilfred was at a disadvantage, owing to his position as well as to the +precious quality of the liquid in the saucepan; and he felt it wiser to +make terms. 'Well,' he observed, 'you might at least have put on a longer +frock for the credit of the family; now, mightn't you?' + +Barbara looked down at her blue serge skirt, edged with certain rows of +white braid that only made it look shorter; and she gave it a pull to make +it fall a little lower over the slim black legs that appeared beneath +it. 'It's not my fault that I have just come from a gymnastic class,' +she protested. 'Besides, my Sunday frock is only two inches longer! What +difference does two inches make, even if we _have_ got an aunt coming? +You're so particular, Wilfred.' + +'Stick to your chemicals, Will, and leave the Babe alone,' growled Egbert, +who was trying to read a novel on the sofa and found the conversation +disturbing. + +It was not often that the eldest of the family troubled himself about the +disputes of the others, and Barbara was encouraged to go on. 'Besides,' +she added, 'there isn't time to change now. Auntie Anna will arrive +directly; and who is going to tidy up the schoolroom if I don't?' + +Certainly, no one responded to her appeal. Egbert and Wilfred became +suddenly and suspiciously interested in what they were doing, while the +two other boys, who were seated on the edge of the table, continued to +swing their legs lazily backwards and forwards without making an effort to +help her. Barbara turned upon them reproachfully. + +'It is perfectly horrible of you to sit there laughing, when a strange +aunt and a strange daughter may be here at any minute!' she declared. 'I +think _you_ might do something, Peter.' + +'Not much!' laughed Peter, a tall, broad-shouldered fellow of fifteen or +so. 'It's good for little girls to do things, and keeps them from growing +out of all their clothes.' + +'Chuck it, Babs!' advised the younger of the two. 'What does it matter +whether she thinks we live in a pig-sty or not?' + +Barbara looked at them doubtfully, then picked up a pile of ragged music +and staggered across to the cupboard, shot the music into it, and closed +the door just in time to prevent her load from recoiling upon her. A +derisive chuckle from the boys on the table greeted her first attempt at +tidying up; but she went on resolutely. + +'Visitors have no business to come and see people at a day's notice +like this,' she complained, as she swept a handful of rusty nails, empty +gum bottles, and other evidences of past occupations into a crowded +waste-paper basket. + +Christopher stopped laughing as she said this, and a change crept over +his pale, rather delicate features. 'When the visitor is an _aunt_,' he +said with energy, 'a day's notice is more than enough.' + +He associated the aunt in question with certain reforms that had taken +place from time to time in the household; and he had never forgiven her +for inducing their father, just two years ago, to dismiss the nurse they +had all adored and to send Robin and himself to a hated day-school. There +was no knowing what innovations they might not be forced to accept, now +that she was going to descend upon them in person. + +Peter chuckled again. Most things to Peter were an occasion for a chuckle. +'That depends on the spirit in which she comes,' he remarked, and he +turned his pockets graphically inside out. 'An aunt who has a big place +in the country, and can afford to travel about in beastly holes like +Munich and the Italian lakes----' + +'And can pick up other people's daughters and adopt them,' chimed in +Christopher, 'just because their fathers died fighting in the Soudan +and their mothers died--how did their mothers die, Egbert?' + +'Penniless,' grunted Egbert, in response to the kick his book had just +received. 'That's why the kid got adopted, of course.' + +'Well,' proceeded Peter, putting his pockets back and nodding wisely, 'if +an aunt like that doesn't behave decently to her deserving nephews----' + +'And niece,' added Babs from the back of the sofa, where she had just +deposited a bundle of old schoolbooks. + +Peter went on unabashed. 'To her deserving nephews and undeserving niece,' +he said, smiling, 'then she'll be an awful old dragon!' + +'There's something in that,' observed Wilfred, taking the saucepan over to +the window for inspection. 'Perhaps she'll give me those new retorts and +things I want for my laboratory--if I ever get a laboratory,' he added +with a sigh. + +'Perhaps she'll send me straight to college without expecting me to grind +for a musty old scholarship,' said Egbert, condescending to take a share +in the conversation. + +'If she asks me down to Crofts for the shooting, that will be good enough +for me,' observed Peter, drawing a long breath of anticipation. + +Barbara came slowly into the middle of the room and stood there, quite +unconscious of her rumpled hair and of the streak of dust that was +smeared across her face. 'I wonder what Auntie Anna will do for me?' she +murmured, more to herself than to the others. 'I hope, I do hope it +will be something new and interesting and beautiful!' + +Christopher overheard her, and roused himself. He slipped off the +table and walked to his favourite position on the hearthrug, giving an +unnecessary pull to the child's hair as he passed her, which was an +attention, however, that she showed no signs of resenting. Babs never +resented anything that Kit chose to do to her; besides, she wanted to +hear what he was going to say. Whenever Kit stood like that, with his +back to the fire and his legs rather wide apart, he was always going to +say something. The odd thing was, that there was something so convincing +in his way of saying it that the family generally listened. + +'Don't you fret yourselves, any of you,' he said decidedly. 'Auntie Anna +isn't going to make things pleasant for anybody in this house--not she! +Hasn't she persuaded father to do whatever she likes, all our lives?' + +'What is she going to make him do now, then?' asked Wilfred, who did not +mean to give up his dream of a laboratory without a protest. + +'First of all,' said Christopher, with an air of confidence, 'she'll see +that Egbert has a crammer next summer holidays; and he'll either have to +get that scholarship, or he doesn't go to Oxford at all! She'll talk about +discipline, and things like that. Aunts always do talk about discipline, +when it's for other people's children.' + +'I wish you'd shut up,' grumbled Egbert, returning to his book. 'How is a +fellow to read when you're making such a clatter?' + +'Then there's Peter,' continued Christopher, calmly. 'Of course she'll +say he's much too young to be trusted with a gun, though he is such an +overgrown, hulking chap; and why isn't he in the fifth instead of the +upper fourth, at _his_ age?' + +'What do you know about it, you youngest-but-two?' shouted Peter, +wrathfully. + +Kit peered at him through his spectacles, and went on as impudently as +ever. He was never afraid to speak his mind, for none of the others would +have dreamed of laying a finger, except in fun, on the one brother who was +not strong enough to defend himself; and Kit knew this, as well as he +knew his superiority over them in the matter of brains. The only wonder +was that the knowledge had not made him a prig. Perhaps it would have +been difficult, though, in the hurly-burly of the Berkeley family, for any +one to have been a prig. + +'As for Wilfred,' he resumed, 'she'll upset all his ambitions before +he can turn round. Do you suppose she'll encourage his messing about +with things in saucepans, just because he wants to be a doctor? Not she! +She'll talk about some rotten business in the City instead. Aunts always +know millions of places in the City where they can shove their unwilling +nephews.' + +'Oh, I say, dry up!' objected Wilfred, who was already sufficiently +depressed by the discovery that the brew in the saucepan was not a success. + +'Then she'll pack Robin off to a preparatory at Brighton--never knew an +aunt yet who didn't want to send you to a preparatory at Brighton!--and +she'll do the same to me, only she'll choose a beastly inferior place, +where I shall be looked after by some _woman_,' concluded Christopher, in +a tone of scorn. Then he caught sight of Barbara, who was still standing +thoughtfully in the middle of the room; and he shook his head at her +pityingly. 'After that, having cleared the house of boys, she'll turn +her attention to the Babe,' he said, and paused rather abruptly. + +Barbara woke up from her reflections with a start. 'Yes, Kit?' she said +questioningly. 'What will Auntie Anna do to me?' + +Kit's expression of pity became exaggerated. 'To begin with,' he said, +with a deep sigh, 'she'll let down your frocks, and tie back your hair, +and never let you go anywhere alone, not even to the pillar-box at the +corner!' + +The other boys began to laugh afresh. + +'Think of the Babe with her hair bunched up on the top, and fastened with +a bit of ribbon! She'll look exactly like a French poodle, won't she?' +scoffed Peter. + +'She'll have to hold up her skirt in the street, and step in and out of +the puddles like this!' added Wilfred, taking the end of his coat between +his thumb and finger, and prancing round Barbara on tiptoe. + +Egbert shut up his book, and joined lazily in the general derision. 'Poor +little Babe! will it have to turn into a young lady, and stop talking +slang, and learn about box-pleats and false hems and _tucks_?' he jeered +softly. + +Barbara turned her back on the others, and once more appealed to +Christopher. Teasing was not the kind of thing that roused her; she +had grown accustomed to it, long ago. 'What else, Kit?' she demanded +impatiently. 'There's something else, isn't there?' + +Christopher nodded. 'Yes,' he said ominously, 'there's something else. +But I'm not going to tell you what it is.' + +'Yes,' said Egbert, stretching himself, 'of course there's something else, +Babe. We all know what it is, but we're not going to tell you either.' + +Babs looked swiftly from one to the other. 'I know!' she said, shaking +the hair out of her eyes. 'It's--school!' + +Kit nodded again. 'That swagger place near Crofts, where the adopted kid +has been,' he continued in a solemn tone. + +The others copied his manner, and looked at her with a ridiculous pretence +of concern. 'Poor Babe!' they said in a chorus. + +Barbara again shook the hair out of her eyes with a defiant gesture. Then +she spun round lightly on her toes, and surprised everybody by laughing +scornfully. 'What a fuss you're all making!' she cried. 'Don't you know +I am simply _longing_ to go to school?' + +Judging from their expressions, the Berkeley boys certainly did not know +anything of the kind. Even Christopher was puzzled at her curious way of +taking his prediction. 'You're putting it on, Babs!' he said doubtfully. + +Barbara stopped spinning round, and faced them all breathlessly. 'I'm +not, honour bright!' she declared. 'I have always wanted to go to school; +I have always longed to have some real friends of my own, and to be +with people who are not trying all the time to be funny. You don't know +how tiring it is to be scored off from morning till night. I want a +change; I want to do regular, proper lessons, and to get to the top of +the school, and to have every one looking up to me! Then, they play +games at school, _real_ games, instead of the stupid ones we play in +the square, that only graze your knees. Girls are nice and jolly and +quiet, and they understand you, and they don't bother you to do things +when you'd sooner read. Of course I want to go to school, _dreadfully_!' + +She paused for breath, and Egbert whistled. 'Well, I'm bothered!' he +remarked. He had never pretended to understand his little sister, but he +could not help being astonished at this totally new side to her character. +Peter took refuge as usual in a laugh; and Wilfred stared silently. But +Kit looked more solemn than ever. + +'I'm disappointed in you, Babs,' he said. 'I should never have thought +that you wanted to be a young lady, never!' + +'But I don't, Kit!' answered the child in a troubled tone. 'I want to do +something new, that's all. I--I'm sure father will understand what I mean, +if he sends me to school,' she added, with something that sounded like a +shake in her voice. + +'Ah--father!' replied Christopher, gruffly. 'Father will not be here, you +see.' + +A sudden silence came over them; and Barbara turned to the window and +flattened her nose against the glass pane, and blinked her eyes with +all her might. There was nothing to be seen outside but the blank wall +that usually limits the view from the back of a London house; but the +child with the untidy brown hair, and the small impish face, and the +slender long legs, was able, for all that, to see pictures out there. +She always saw pictures when she was excited about anything; and just +now she was thrilled with a new dream--a dream of the place that her +imagination named 'school.' She had always hidden from the boys how much +she wanted to go to school; and it was only this afternoon, when their +derision provoked her into it, that she had let them have a guess at her +real feelings. They had not understood her a bit, as she knew they would +not; but that did not matter. Her father would understand, though she +never told him much, either, and he had to guess for himself what +went on in the quaint little mind of his only daughter; but then, +Barbara had a shrewd idea that he always guessed right, and that came to +the same thing, really. Just as she was comforting herself with this +assurance, the miserable consciousness returned that he was going +away, and she would be left at the mercy of a strange aunt; and she +found herself staring at nothing but a dismal brick wall, with eyes +that were blinking to keep back the tears. + +Peter was the first to break the pause that had settled with a kind of +gloom on the old London schoolroom. He was always on the alert to resent +anything that cast a shadow over the light gaiety of existence. + +'I say, look here,' he began, giving himself a shake as if to get rid of +an unpleasant impression; 'don't be so jolly blue, all of you! Father +will only be away six months; he said so himself. And as for Auntie Anna, +how do we know she isn't quite a decent old lady? Some old ladies are +awfully sporting. Do you remember Merton major's aunt, Will? She used to +give him whopping tips, whenever she came to see him; and he said he quite +liked her!' + +Christopher persisted in his gloomy view of the situation. 'Our aunt is +not the same as anybody else's aunt,' he said. 'And then, there's the +adopted kid.' + +'Yes,' admitted Peter, 'no doubt she'll be a trial. Five years at a girls' +school and a year abroad doesn't give anybody a chance, does it?' + +'Oh!' said Barbara, in a disappointed tone, 'I did hope _she_ would be +nice!' + +'Wonder if she'll mind the smell of chemicals,' observed Wilfred, sniffing +cautiously at the saucepan he still held in his hand. + +'Of course she will,' answered Christopher. 'She'll hate the whole jolly +lot of us, because we're boys; and she'll disapprove of the Babe.' + +The boys broke into a laugh. There was something irresistibly funny to +them in Christopher's serious way of looking at things. But Barbara was +much too worried over his last remark to join in the laugh against him. + +'Kit,' she begged anxiously, 'why is the adopted kid going to disapprove +of me?' + +The air was full of startling discoveries this afternoon, and the idea +that the 'adopted kid,' for whom she had already formed an imaginary +attachment, was not going to like her, was a great shock to her. But +before Kit had time to speak, a loud ring at the door-bell drove the words +out of his mind and startled the rest of them into an agitated expectancy. + +'That's her!' groaned Kit, and he dropped on the sofa and plunged his +head into the cushion, as if he wanted to stifle even the thought of the +dragon who was coming to work such havoc in the family. His words were +proved by the sudden arrival of Robin, who had been posted as scout on +the back staircase, and who now flung himself into their midst. He was +in far too great a hurry to look where he was going; and he tripped over +the saucepan, which had been set down casually near the door, and fell +full length into the room. + +'Heigh-ho, Bobbin!' said Peter, cheerily, as he picked him up again; for, +in spite of his nine years, there was always the chance that Robin might +be going to cry. But, on this occasion, Robin was too full of news to +trouble himself about possible bruises. + +'She's come; I've seen her!' he gasped. 'There's a carriage an' pair, big +spanking chestnuts with red rosettes; and a man--a man with pink tops to +his boots and a brush at the side of his hat----' + +'Get on, Bobbin!' urged Egbert, impatiently. 'We've all seen a carriage +and pair before. What about the dragon?' + +'Saw her too!' said Robin, panting for breath. 'Got a long black silk +thing on, and a bonnet that's rather like a hat, with pink feathers in it, +and a walking-stick with a blue knob to it, an' white kid gloves,--no, I +mean grey kid----' + +'Oh, get on, do!' interrupted Egbert again. 'Never mind about her clothes, +stupid! What is she _like_?' + +'Don't know what she's like,' said Robin, a little sulkily. 'Couldn't see +everything from the back staircase, could I? There was a girl with her,' +he added, as a concession to the general curiosity. + +'The adopted kid!' exclaimed the others in a chorus. + +Babs pressed forward eagerly. 'Does she look nice, Bobbin? Is she tall or +short? Are her dresses _quite_ long, and is her hair done up?' she cried, +pouring out her questions in a jumble. + +'Oh, yes; her skirts trail all along the ground for miles,' answered +Robin. 'And she sort of rustled like tissue paper. Didn't see her face, +'cause it was all tied up in a veil,--but she's awfully tall,' he added, +looking round the circle with his head poised on one side. 'She's taller'n +any of us--even Egbert,' he concluded viciously, remembering his recent +snubbing. + +Egbert put out a long arm, laid the boy dexterously on the flat of his +back in the middle of the floor, and pinned him there with his foot. 'Say +that's a cram!' he commanded in a stern voice. 'Say I'm a head taller than +the adopted kid, or else I'll----' + +What he would have done to him remained unheard, for Robin set up a +wail that completely drowned the end of his sentence. The other boys +only shrugged their shoulders; the thing seemed to them a necessary +incident in the education of a younger member, and they were not going +to interfere. But Barbara sprang forward passionately. That was the kind +of thing that did rouse her. + +'Leave him alone, Egbert!' she cried, but she did not wait to see whether +he would. She scarcely supposed that he would stop teasing any one for +her; besides, she never stayed to think, when once anything had roused +her. So she put her head down and made a charge straight at the offender; +and Egbert, being unprepared for the attack, fell backwards over the +footstool, with his small sister on the top of him, while Robin wriggled +free of them both and set up a louder howl than before in his surprise +and dismay. + +In the middle of the hubbub the door opened; and a voice, that attracted +their attention at once because it was strange to them, made itself heard +through the tumult. + +'Is there anybody here who is called Babs?' asked the new-comer. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WITCH IN A STEEPLE-HAT + + +Barbara picked herself up and looked towards the door. A girl of about +eighteen stood there--an exceedingly pretty girl in a pretty frock, as the +Berkeley boys might have noticed if they had been given to noticing things +of this kind. But her regular features and her pink-and-white complexion +and her reddish-brown hair made very little impression upon them, and +they only saw that she was dressed in a grown-up manner that was rather +against her than otherwise. They decided, with the hasty judgment of a +large family, that she was much too grand to be treated as a companion; +and they prepared, quite unnecessarily, to resent any attempt of hers to +be patronising. + +Nothing was further from Jill's mind than to be patronising. She had never +patronised any one in her life, not even the younger children at school, +who always expected to be patronised; and she was not likely to begin now, +with a set of schoolboys who frightened her out of her wits. For she had +never had anything to do with boys before, and she had been dreading +this moment ever since her return from abroad. She fully expected they +would play practical jokes upon her, as the schoolboys in books always +did; and she was not reassured by the uproar that met her ears when she +opened the schoolroom door. It was ridiculous that she should feel shy, +after travelling about for a whole year and meeting all sorts of people; +but as she stood rather helplessly in the doorway, she certainly found +that she was too shy to make the first advances. + +The boys hesitated, and waited for one another to begin. Egbert, who +could not forget that he had just been rolling on the floor, was brushing +himself down and looking self-conscious; and it was Christopher who +remembered his manners first and came forward with his hand out. + +'How do you do?' he began in his solemn, precise way. 'Won't you come and +sit down? There's an arm-chair over here, and a cushion too--somewhere. +Clear out, can't you, Peter? I believe we can even rise to a footstool, +if it isn't lost. You might look for it, Bobbin, instead of staring like +a stuck pig!' He installed her in the arm-chair and placed himself in +front of her, slightly bending forward, as he had seen his father do when +there were visitors in the drawing-room; and although the result was +rather funny when Kit did it, he managed to make Jill feel a little +more at home. 'I suppose you are Auntie Anna's daughter,' he continued +politely, 'but we don't know your name. I don't think we have ever heard +it.' + +'I am Jill Urquhart,' answered the girl. She swept a glance round at the +others, who stood listening, and made a little gesture of dismay. 'What a +lot there are of you!' she exclaimed, without thinking. 'I shall never +remember all your names!' + +It was an unlucky beginning, for they at once put down her remark to +affectation and counted it against her. They were so used to their numbers +themselves, that they could not understand any one else being overwhelmed +by them. Peter looked mischievous. + +'It isn't so confusing as it looks,' he hastened to tell her. 'We all +answer to our names, and you will find us warm-hearted and obedient.' + +Jill glanced at him innocently. 'Why,' she said with a little laugh, 'you +talk as though you were all dogs!' + +Peter was left staring, and the others tittered. By her perfectly +natural remark she had turned the scale in her favour and convinced them +that there was stuff in the 'adopted kid' after all. Quite unconscious +of having said anything funny, though, Jill waited till they stopped +laughing, and then turned again to Christopher. 'Won't you introduce +me?' she asked. + +Kit nodded towards Egbert, who had finished brushing himself down and was +waiting to shake hands. 'That is Egbert, who is just waking up to the +fact that you're here,' he announced. 'You will find him rather superior, +I am afraid, but we put up with him because of his age and position. Pass +along, please!' + +Egbert shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly. 'It's only Kit's way,' he +explained to Jill; 'everybody gives in to Kit.' + +Jill smiled. 'Kit's way' had made her forget her shyness, and she was +already interested in the delicate-looking lad, with the thin, clever +face, who had so promptly taken her under his protection. + +'The next is Wilfred,' continued Christopher. 'He is responsible for the +unsavoury saucepan that has just been upset on the carpet. He thinks he +is going to be a doctor, so he is always making experiments. Of course, +he isn't going to be a doctor, really; the house can't run to it; but +we let him have his fancies. Then comes Peter, whom you have just sat +upon. Peter can't help being funny, so you must try and bear with him. +There are so few jokes in this family that perhaps we have encouraged him +more than we should.' + +'Wait till she's gone, that's all!' threatened Peter in a whisper, as he +passed by after shaking hands with Jill. Christopher looked at him over +his spectacles, and went calmly on. + +'I'm next on the list, and my name is Christopher, changed by the vulgar +into Kit,' he was proceeding, when Egbert made a spirited interruption. + +'He is our genius,' he said, with a flourish of his hand towards the +spokesman. 'We are all very proud of him, for although only thirteen, +he has the wisdom and intelligence of one twice his age. He is the only +member of the family who can spell, and----' + +'Oh, dry up!' muttered Kit, but his remonstrance was drowned in the +approving jeers of the others. The genius had had it all his own way for +about ten minutes, and it was satisfactory to see him 'scored off' in +his turn. Kit tried to resume his dignified attitude in front of Jill, but +the attempt was not particularly successful. It was always impossible in +the Berkeley family to remain dignified for long. + +'Are you sure you have got them right so far, or shall I write them +down?' he asked, with so much gravity that Jill looked at him rather +suspiciously. He met her glance through his spectacles without wincing, +and the others tittered again. They were still a little doubtful about +this new cousin of theirs, who was so unlike any one who had come their +way before; and it was rather a relief to pretend to be amused. + +'The last of the boys is Robin, or Bobbin if you prefer it,' continued +Kit, glibly. 'He is the youngest of us all, and the most ill-used. Indeed, +when you came in just now, you may have seen the Babe trying to rescue +him. That reminds me! I have left out our only girl. She comes between me +and Bobbin, and here you may perceive her--the Babe!' + +Barbara came slowly round from her hiding-place at the back of the sofa, +and stood face to face with Jill. There was rather a wistful look on the +small countenance just then; for in all her dreams of the wonderful +cousin who was going to be her first girl-friend, Babs had never imagined +anything like this grown-up, elegant creature, who did her hair like the +ladies in the park and wore her watch dangling from her wrist. The +child's heart sank as she suddenly thought of her short gymnastic frock, +and her rumpled hair, and her dirty hands. As for Jill, she stared down at +the little person in front of her, and could not help smiling. Whenever +she had particularly dreaded being plunged into this family of boys, +she had always consoled herself by remembering that there would be one +girl among them to take her part. Now, as she looked at the rough little +tomboy before her, with her elf-like face and figure, and her bright +eager eyes, she had to own again to herself that a large family was a +difficult thing to understand. + +'So you are Babs,' she began, not knowing what else to say. Then she +remembered her errand, and added hastily, 'Will you please go and see +mother? She is in the library with Uncle Everard.' + +Barbara escaped and sped along the hall, full of relief at having got +away from the uncomfortable grown-up feeling that seemed to have come +into the schoolroom with Jill. She even paused outside the library door, +in her quaint, inconsequent way, to ask herself why Jill seemed so much +more grown-up than the nice old gentlemen who came to see her father, +with their pockets full of chocolates for her; and she supposed it was +because they were really old, while Jill was only grown-up, which was far +more alarming because it was so much more mysterious. But hardly had she +settled this question in her mind than a fresh one presented itself +to her. How was she to know that this other stranger, who was waiting +in there to see her, was not also going to stare at her and smile, as +Jill had done? Babs gave a troubled sigh, and opened the door with a +heavy heart. + +A little old lady sat on the sofa beside her father, with her hand in +his. She was not beautiful by any means; her back was bent--like an +old witch's, Barbara thought--and she had a nose that might have been +described as hooked, and a mouth that turned down at the corners and +gave her almost a sour expression. But she had two small, keen black +eyes, that took all the ugliness out of her face; sometimes they shone +and sometimes they softened, but more often still they twinkled, as they +did now, when her little niece stole timidly into the room. The moment +the child looked up and met those eyes, she felt she was looking at her +father's sister. If she had but known it, the same eyes, too, were +gleaming back at the old lady from the middle of a bush of tangled +brown hair. + +'So this is your tomboy, is it?' said Mrs. Crofton, bluntly. 'Come here, +child, and don't stand shivering there. Do you think I am going to do +anything to you?' + +Barbara's unusual timidity vanished at the sound of that voice. It was +sharp and abrupt and determined, but it rang true, and there was nothing +in it to frighten anybody. + +'I'm not afraid,' she said, returning the old lady's gaze frankly; 'I am +hardly ever afraid of people. Am I, father?' + +Mr. Berkeley chuckled in an amused manner. He had been very curious +to see this meeting between his wild little daughter and the sister +who had managed his domestic affairs for him since the death of his wife. +By nature a student, he lived most of his life in his library and in +himself, and only woke up now and then to the fact that he had six +growing children, who probably needed something besides the affection it +was so easy to give them. In these waking moments he would write off to +his sister, Mrs. Crofton of Crofts, for whose judgment he had quite a +pathetic regard, and would carry out to the letter every suggestion she +chose to send him. Only once had he ignored her advice, and that was +when she had proposed a governess for Barbara; for he had passed over +this idea in silence, and the child had continued to run in and out +of his library, reading what books she pleased, and ordering her own +upbringing in a way that seemed to him eminently satisfactory. For +that matter, his library was open to any of his children at any time that +they chose to invade it; and they interrupted him fearlessly as often +as they pleased, without provoking anything worse than a good-humoured +growl from him, that was never to be taken seriously for a moment. +Probably this was why the tie between them and their father had come +to be a friendly as well as an affectionate one. + +Just lately, something had happened to change the haphazard course of +affairs in the old London house. That autumn, Mr. Berkeley had brought +out a philosophical work on which he had been engaged for years, and +although it had only had a limited success in England, it had made a +great sensation in America. The result was an invitation to conduct a +lecturing tour in the States, which would take him abroad for something +like half a year. Mr. Berkeley had the vaguest notions as to the amount of +protection his children needed, but he had a sort of idea that children +left in charge of a housekeeper would be considered neglected, and he +did not want his children to feel neglected. As usual, he referred +his dilemma to Mrs. Crofton, who replied promptly from the Riviera, +saying she was on her way home to Crofts, and would stop a week in +town to settle his affairs for him. This he forgot to mention to the +children until the day she was to arrive, and then, in his innocence, +considered their dismay as one of the peculiarities of youth. + +'So you are not afraid of me, eh? Then why won't you give me a kiss, I +should like to know?' demanded Auntie Anna, as Barbara held out her hand +in a boyish fashion. + +The child looked surprised, and offered an unwilling cheek. 'We don't +often kiss in our family,' she explained; 'only when the boys go back to +school, or when somebody has banged somebody else on the head, or when +it's a birthday and presents. But that isn't often, you see.' + +Mrs. Crofton of Crofts smiled, and her brother pulled his daughter down +between them on the sofa. + +'You must forgive her appearance,' he said apologetically. 'We haven't +anybody to teach us to be ladylike, have we, Babs?' + +The old lady put her finger under Barbara's chin, and turned the small +face round, and looked into it keenly. 'What's the matter with her +appearance?' she inquired quickly. 'Don't be a goose, Everard! Now, +child, tell me! Do you want to go on being a boy for ever, reading all +sorts of books you have no business to read, and banging people on the +head when they offend you, and looking alarming old ladies in the face +without flinching; or do you want to be combed and brushed and smoothed +into a young lady, and taught to rave about art and music and poetry, and +told to look down when you are spoken to, and never to answer back if +the truth is unpleasant? Hey? Which is it to be?' + +Barbara was looking puzzled. 'I don't think I know what you mean,' she +said. 'Do you mean that I _must_ be either me or--or Jill?' + +'Well, supposing we put it that way,' replied Mrs. Crofton, smiling again. +'Which do you choose to be?' + +Barbara did not stop to think about it. 'I don't want to be either, thank +you,' she said decidedly. 'I would _much_ rather be like you or father.' + +Mr. Berkeley chuckled once more, and his sister struck her cane on the +ground and laughed heartily. 'A pretty mess you've made of your daughter's +education, I must say,' she remarked. Then she turned again to Babs. +'Well, child, I see you are going to be like your father in any case; and +as for me--well, we'll see if we can't prevent such a terrible result as +that. And now, I want you to pretend that I am a fairy godmother. Do +you think you can?' + +Barbara nodded, and her small black eyes glistened. It was not difficult +to do that. Already the bonnet with the pink feathers had turned into +a steeple-hat, and the black silk mantle into a scarlet cloak, and the +blue-knobbed cane into a broomstick. The little impish face was aglow +with delight as the old lady went on: + +'Now, I've just come down the chimney with a bang, and I am going to +give my goddaughter the wish that she wishes most in all the world. But +mind--if I have a suspicion that what she asks for is not what she really +wants--bang! up the chimney I go again!' + +Barbara took a flying leap into the middle of the room, and spun round +with her favourite movement on the tips of her toes. Her heart was +thumping wildly with excitement at finding herself in the middle of a real +fairy story; and when she at last stood still again, she was almost too +breathless to speak. + +[Illustration: 'May I--may I have all that?'] + +'Please,' she said, clasping her hands tightly together, 'I want to go to +school, a real girls' school, where there are crowds of girls, and crowds +of lessons, and crowds of story-books with nice endings, and crowds of +awfully jolly games that don't pull your hair about and don't give you +bruises. May I--may I have all that?' + +Auntie Anna once more struck her cane upon the ground. 'That shows how +much you know about your own daughter, Everard!' she said, which was a +remark that Barbara never understood. 'You may have all that, little +goddaughter, every bit of it!' she announced to the expectant child; +'and what is more, you shall have it in a week's time. Hey-day! Where are +you off to in such a hurry, if you please, and why am I allowed a kiss +all at once, eh? It isn't a birthday, is it?' + +For Barbara had rushed impetuously to the door, and then scampered back +to kiss the face with the hooked nose that peered out from beneath the +steeple-hat. 'Of course I kissed you,' she cried, 'because--because you're +such a brick, you see!' She paused half-way in her second journey to the +door, and looked back doubtfully at the old lady on the sofa. 'May I ask +you something else?' she said. + +'Anything you please,' answered Auntie Anna. 'That's what I'm here for; +eh, Everard?' + +'Then--then--are you going to do anything for the boys too?' stammered +Barbara. 'I--I don't think it's quite fair to keep all the niceness to +myself, you see!' + +'That depends on what the boys want,' replied the old lady, gravely. 'Do +you think you can give me any idea?' + +Barbara puckered up her eyebrows, and counted off the names on her +fingers. 'First there's Egbert,' she began; 'he wants to go to Oxford +without having to get a scholarship first. Then there's Wilfred; he wants +to be a doctor, but Kit says there isn't money enough and he's got to get +over it. Do you think you'll be able to make Will into a doctor? And Peter +wants lots of shooting; he says he doesn't mind about anything else, +only Kit says he isn't old enough, and you won't trust him with a gun. Kit +hasn't seen you yet, you see. Then there's Kit----' + +'That's enough for the present!' cried Mrs. Crofton, who was leaning back, +convulsed with laughter, among the sofa cushions. Mr. Berkeley again drew +his daughter towards him. + +'You are revealing all the secrets of the prison-house, little girl,' he +remarked. + +Barbara looked from one to the other. 'Auntie Anna did ask me,' she said +reproachfully. + +'To be sure I did,' answered the old lady, recovering herself with an +effort, 'and I am delighted to hear some of the things I am expected to +do. But you must allow that even a fairy godmother has a hard time of +it occasionally, and it is a little difficult to provide for all her +godchildren at once, you know. However, you shall hear what is going +to happen in a week's time, on the very day that this naughty father of +yours takes himself off to America; and if you approve of it, we can +see about the other things later on. Is that a bargain, eh?' + +'Oh! What else is going to happen in a week's time?' asked Barbara, +eagerly. By this time she was prepared for any dream to come true. Her +faith in the old lady who was playing at fairy stories was complete. + +Mr. Berkeley answered her. 'Auntie Anna is going to carry you all off to +Crofts for the whole six months that I am away,' he told her; 'and you are +going to Jill's school at Wootton Beeches, which is only ten miles off. +So Kit and Robin will be able to come over and see you sometimes, when +the others have gone away, for they are going to have a tutor and stay +at Crofts with Auntie Anna and Jill. Isn't that a fine idea?' + +Barbara was speechless with rapture. The expression on her face made them +laugh once more. Then she gave a kind of war-whoop that might have been +heard in the schoolroom, and bounded again towards the door. 'I simply +can't bear it another minute,' she gasped. 'I _must_ go and tell the boys.' + +'Bear it just one more minute, and hear what else I have to say,' begged +Auntie Anna, raising herself with the help of her stick, and walking +slowly after her excited little niece. 'Can you ride bicycles, all of you?' + +The child shook her head. 'Only Egbert,' she said; 'and that is because +he stayed with a chap, last holidays, who lent him one. Bicycles are too +jolly expensive for this family, you know,' she added quaintly. + +Auntie Anna stood still and pointed the blue-knobbed cane impressively at +the child, who stood waiting. 'What do you say to a bicycle apiece all +round,' she began, 'and----' + +But Barbara did not wait to say anything. Back along the hall she +scampered with all her might, and flung herself panting into the +schoolroom. She burst out at once with a rapturous medley of news. + +'Boys, boys!' she shouted at the top of her voice; 'the dragon isn't +a dragon, she's like a fairy godmother out of a story-book! And she's +going to send me to the adopted kid's school, and everybody is going to +live at Crofts till father comes back, and there's going to be bicycles +_all round_--no waiting 'cause you're the youngest, Bobbin!--and----' + +Suddenly she paused and stammered, and paused again. Finally, she stood +silent and uncomfortable, with the excitement and the thrill all gone +out of her. She had quite forgotten Jill; and Jill, enthroned in the one +arm-chair, with the one cushion at her back and the one footstool at her +feet, was looking as though she was not there to be forgotten. + +'I've just been telling the boys all about it,' she remarked. + +Barbara stared. It put the finishing touch to her distrust of Jill, that +she should have told anything to the boys--_her_ boys--before she had time +to tell them herself. + +'I--I think it's a shame!' she exclaimed hotly, and she bit her lip to +keep from crying. + +'Hullo, Babe! What's up?' asked Peter, in surprise. + +Jill slipped out of the arm-chair, and laid her hand on the child's +shoulder. 'I'm so sorry, Babs,' she began softly; 'I really didn't +know----' + +Barbara looked up at her doubtfully. The tone was kind, but then, why +did she go on smiling in that irritating way? 'You don't understand,' +she said, and twisted herself free from Jill's grasp, and did not speak +again until she was gone. + +The boys took no notice of her; they always left the Babe alone when +she was in one of her odd moods. But Jill, who had really meant to be +kind, went away feeling puzzled. She had got over her first shyness of +the boys in a very few minutes, for they were evidently trying to be +friendly in their blunt, boyish fashion; but Barbara baffled her. There +was something antagonistic in the child's manner; and Jill, who had always +been accustomed to meeting with affection wherever she went, did not +quite know what to make of her. Of course it was ridiculous to worry +herself about a tomboy of eleven who chose to be sulky; but it was the +first time any one had refused to make friends with her, and Jill was a +little hurt about it. + +'You're spoiled, my dear,' remarked her mother, as they drove away from +the Berkeleys' house; 'and it is I who have spoiled you. I'm a silly old +woman, but I never could bear to deny you all the sympathy you asked. I +was afraid, you see, that you might think the world was not a nice place +to be in.' + +'I'm glad you spoiled me, and I think the world _is_ a nice place to be +in,' answered Jill, laughing. 'But what has that to do with Barbara's not +liking me?' + +'Well, you can't expect every one to like you,' said the old lady, in her +brusque way. 'Babs will like you well enough when she finds that she is +still the Babe of the family, in spite of your being there.' + +'But--but I don't like to feel that there is anybody anywhere who doesn't +like me,' complained Jill, with a little pout. + +'No more does the Babe, I expect,' said Mrs. Crofton, smiling. 'However, +do your best to understand the poor little soul; she has not had much +spoiling, and I should like you two to be friends.' + +'Oh!' cried Jill, laughing again as she recalled the funny little figure +that had come bounding into the schoolroom with such a yell and a clatter. +'But she really is rather impossible, mother dear!' + +'Quite,' responded the old lady, drily; 'but she has amazing +possibilities, and I thought you might perhaps like to find them. +Well, what about the others?' + +'Oh, I like them,' said Jill; 'though I wish they would not all talk at +once; it's so confusing. And I'm a little afraid of them, too. You never +know why they are laughing at you; and if you take them seriously, they +laugh more than ever. Whatever you do, they laugh.' + +'Large families are always like that,' chuckled Mrs. Crofton. + +'Large families are rather exhausting then, aren't they?' said Jill. +'The boys are rather rough too, and they seem so proud of having scars +on their hands, and of being able to see a pig killed without feeling +bad--at least, Peter was. Kit is different from the others: I like Kit. +And they _are_ frank! They were not ashamed of calling me the "adopted +kid" to my face; and they even owned to having nicknamed you "the dragon"!' + +The old lady laughed. 'So I am, as far as they know!' she replied. Then +she patted the girl caressingly on the hand. 'My dear, it does us all good +to be with people who are frank, even if they are a little rough with it. +And I want you to help me to put as much love and gentleness as we can +into the Berkeleys' lives, for it strikes me that spoiling is what this +large family wants.' + +'Then it's what this large family will certainly get, if _you_ have +anything to do with it,' answered Jill, softly. + +In the schoolroom they had just left, the criticisms were brief and to +the point. + +'She'll do,' said Peter, condescendingly, 'when she's got over that silly +way of gaping at us, as though we were beasts at the Zoo.' + +'She's stunning to look at, and her clothes are just ripping,' said +Egbert, the eldest; 'but, of course, you kids couldn't be expected to +notice that.' + +'Oh, you think you're everybody, just because you stayed with a chap last +holidays who had a grown-up sister who called you _Mr._ Berkeley,' cried +Wilfred. + +Robin said he liked her soft way of speaking, and she reminded him of +Nurse, which set them all laughing, as they recalled that homely-looking +person in cap and spectacles. Christopher put in his opinion, when they +had all had their say. + +'She wants knowing,' he said briefly. 'There's too many of us in a lump to +let her give herself away. When she takes us separately, or in pairs, we +shall get on as right as rain. And she really does know something about +stamps.' + +But the Babe, who sat away in a corner by herself, said nothing. She +had forgotten Jill for the moment, forgotten her own fit of jealousy and +her shyness of the interloper, and she did not even hear what the others +were talking about. She was going to school at last, and nothing else +was of any consequence. Indeed, all through the week of whirl and +preparation that followed, Barbara went about in a kind of dream. She +could hardly yet believe in her good luck. A few short days ago things +had seemed likely to go on for ever in the same uneventful way, except +that they were going to be made dreary for a time by the absence of the +father she adored; and now, just through the coming of an old lady, whom +she had been prepared to hate, this amazing change in her future was +going to take place. To an imaginative little person like Barbara, it +was useless to pretend that there was nothing out of the ordinary in +this. She had lived for years in a fairy world of her own, where Kit +was a fairy prince and her father a nice old magician, and where numbers +of charming princesses, the schoolgirls of her imagination, were ready +to sympathise with her whenever the boys had been teasing her more than +usual. It was surely to this kingdom of her fancy that a fairy godmother, +who had once been a dragon, properly belonged; and all through that week, +Barbara wandered in her imaginary kingdom with this new inhabitant of it, +pointing out all its beauties to her, and even assuring her that the +magician would cure her rheumatism if she were to ask him nicely. 'Only, +you must not make her back _quite_ straight,' she whispered privately to +the magician, 'because she wouldn't be a proper fairy godmother if her +back were straight!' She also added strict injunctions to the keeper of +her gates, that a certain grown-up cousin, who might be known by her +tiresome way of smiling at people, was not to be admitted under any +circumstances into her fairy kingdom. 'It would never do,' thought +Barbara, seriously, 'to have any one in my kingdom who wanted to laugh at +me.' + +Meanwhile, the busy preparations went on around her. It was not an easy +thing to move a family of six from the home in which they had passed the +whole of their lives, especially when their aunt, in the large manner +which characterised everything she did, insisted on allowing them to pack +whatever they wished. + +'We are only young once,' she represented to a distracted housekeeper, +'and possessions are very precious when we are young. Let them bring +everything that will help to make the place seem like home to them; there +is plenty of room at Crofts. Get tired of the things? Of course they will! +We can't expect them to be wiser than the grown-ups, can we?' + +So Wilfred packed explosive liquids in bottles, and Peter packed cricket +stumps and hockey clubs, and Christopher found room among Egbert's +collars and ties to stow away microscope-slides and setting-boards and +birds' eggs, and Robin brought innumerable contributions in the shape +of torn picture-books and old toys that the others had discarded long +ago. None of them ever forgot that last week in their London home; for +besides the exquisite joys of packing up, there were also delightful +expeditions up to town with Auntie Anna, ostensibly to buy clothes, but in +reality to afford amusement to an old lady who had never enjoyed her +life so much before; and whether they went alone with her, or in such +numbers that the brougham was as full as it could be, the afternoon +always ended with a magnificent tea without limitations--'Even ices to +finish up with, and no one saying nothink about your makin' yourself ill +'cause you mixed things!' as Robin proclaimed on his return home from one +of these expeditions. + +Then there was the buying of the six bicycles; and even Barbara forgot +for the moment all about school and everything else for the sake of her +new two-wheeled possession, soon to be invested in her mind with magic +properties and converted into a fairy messenger in her fairy kingdom. +She was less patient over the purchase of her school outfit, which kept +her standing at the dressmaker's for whole half-hours together, when +she might have been trying her bicycle round the square; and she wondered +why it was necessary to have such quantities of clothes, just because +she was going to live at school instead of at home. Surely, if her +present wardrobe was good enough to pass the critical examination of +five brothers, it need not be improved to meet the friendly gaze of a +parcel of girls! However, Auntie Anna insisted on more clothes; and +Auntie Anna was a witch, so she ought to know. And since she did not take +the dressmaker's part, but even allowed Barbara to have her own way as +to the shortness of her skirts, with an added inch or so to satisfy the +scruples of the dressmaker, it was impossible to grumble very much at the +precious time that was being wasted. + +So the week drew swiftly to a close, and the day of departure came at last. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BARBARA'S DREAM + + +Once more, Kit stood with his back to the fireplace, and prepared to +address the family. It was just half an hour after Mr. Berkeley had left, +and they were all assembled rather sorrowfully in the old schoolroom. In +another ten minutes their own cabs would be at the door, and they too +would be on their way to a new life. Altogether, it was a solemn moment, +and the genius of the family could not resist the temptation to make a +speech. + +'Boys,' he began, nodding his head with mock importance, 'it is my opinion +that Auntie Anna is a jolly wise old lady!' + +'What's that to do with father going away?' asked Barbara, rubbing her +eyes furiously. She had had her cry on the back staircase, and she felt +safe for the moment against a further display of weakness. + +'It's got a lot to do with it,' rejoined Kit. 'Didn't she take us all +to the pantomime, last night--father, too? I suppose you think that was +just to amuse herself, don't you? Well, it wasn't. It was because she +was afraid of our sitting together at home, and saying it was father's +last evening, and--_blubbing_.' + +This he said severely, looking at the weaker members, Babs and Robin, as +he spoke. They bore the test heroically, and the orator went on. + +'And why,' he inquired, 'did she give us only a week to pack up, and buy +clothes and things, when there's ten days more before you other chaps go +back? Of course there's the Babe's school, but that could have waited. +Girls' schools never matter.' + +'Well, _why_, most precocious of kids?' asked Egbert, with lazy tolerance. +Certainly, no one but Christopher would have been allowed to say so much +uninterrupted. But then, even Egbert had a kind of secret admiration for +his clever young brother, though he did not pretend to understand him. + +'Well,' continued Christopher, 'if we'd had more time to think about it, +we might not have been so keen on going to live in another person's house. +And, naturally, Auntie Anna didn't want any ructions over it.' + +'Oh, stop it, Kit! What a lot of rot you are making up!' objected Peter, +impatiently. Of the three elder boys, he was nearest in age to Kit, and +was consequently less inclined to tolerate him. + +'Everything points to it, if you're not too thick-headed to see,' retorted +Kit, crushingly. 'Look at the way we're being rushed out of the house, +directly father has turned his back. Isn't that to give us something to +think about, so that we shouldn't mope about the shop, and _fancy_ +ourselves? Of course,' he added blandly, fixing his spectacles on his +nose and staring at Peter, '_some_ people don't need anything to set them +grinning again.' + +'Christopher, my son, you are a clever child, but your impudence simply +isn't to be borne,' said Peter; and he stooped down and lifted the fragile +figure of the orator high in the air, and set him down lightly outside the +door. Kit rearranged his tie, put his spectacles straight, and peered +up at the unappreciative listener who towered above him. + +'As I was saying,' he resumed gently, 'Auntie Anna can give us all points +when it comes to being 'cute.' + +The next day or two proved the truth of what, in his shrewd way, he +had already guessed for himself. Yet the Berkeleys were hardly to be +called unfeeling, because they appeared to take their father's departure +so coolly; for it would have been difficult to remain unhappy long, when +there were so many delightful things to distract them. Besides their +excitement, town-bred as they were, at finding themselves in a real +country-house, with an oak staircase, a secret room, and a ghost story, +there were separate joys waiting for each one of them as well. There +was a horse for Egbert to ride to hounds, and a well-stocked library +for Christopher to bury himself in, and a lumber-room for Wilfred to turn +into a laboratory; while Peter was allowed, the very first day, to go out +shooting with the keepers, and Robin promptly became the pet of all the +men on the estate, and spent long, happy hours with them down at the +stables and the farm. If there was any one in the family who was not +perfectly content, it was Barbara. + +No doubt, she would have been quite as absorbed as the others were in +their new home, if she had not been going to another one herself the very +next day. As it was, she found it a little difficult to share their +enthusiasm since she had a private enthusiasm of her own. But the boys +did not understand this at all. They were very affectionate to her in +their rough, undemonstrative way, and they were always telling her that +she would be sure to 'pull through all right'; for they naturally supposed +that she wanted the kind of pity they wanted so much themselves at the +stated, horrible periods when they went back to school. But as to grasping +her notion that she was going to enjoy life at Wootton Beeches, that +was not to be expected of them. So Barbara felt that her interests, for +the first time in her life, were not the same as theirs; and a queer +sort of feeling crept over her, that changes--even nice, interesting +changes--occasionally had something strange and uncomfortable about them. +She grew so perplexed over it, at last, that she even went to Jill for +sympathy. Jill was at least a girl, and Jill had been to school, in the +same delightful place to which she was going on the morrow; and Jill +at least ought to know whether the boys' idea of school was right or +wrong. So, just after tea, on her last evening at Crofts, the child +swallowed her natural distrust of her cousin, which, after all, had +arisen chiefly from their mutual shyness of each other, and started in +search of her. + +Jill was in the conservatory, arranging the flowers for the dinner-table; +and Barbara's shyness returned, as the trim, neat figure came walking +towards her, along the rows of chrysanthemums. She glanced down at her +crumpled pinafore and sighed desperately. Being dragged up a dusty +ladder into a cobwebby lumber-room by Wilfred had not proved the best of +treatments for a pinafore that really had been clean a couple of hours +ago. But Jill suddenly came out in a new light. With no teasing schoolboys +to overhear her, she felt that here, at last, was a chance of making +friends with her odd little tomboy of a cousin. + +'Have you come to help me with the flowers?' she asked, with such a +friendly smile, that Babs cheered up at once. She forgot all about her +crumpled pinafore, and went straight to the point. + +'No, I didn't come for that,' she answered simply. 'I came to ask you +about--about school.' + +'Ah!' said Jill, suddenly picking chrysanthemums at a great rate. +'Supposing you tell me what you think about it yourself?' + +Her mother's words were running in her head: 'Do your best to understand +the poor little soul!' and Jill wondered what she could tell her that +would not upset her notions of school too cruelly. + +'Oh, well,' replied Babs, 'of course, _I_ think it's going to be +beautiful; but the boys--the boys are so funny about it, and it's +made me all in a muddle inside. Do you think the boys _know_?' + +'Perhaps not,' said Jill, and she strolled away along the rows of +chrysanthemums. It seemed a shame to spoil the child's illusion; and yet, +when she thought of this quaint little untrained object being dropped in +the middle of the girls at Wootton Beeches---- + +Barbara had followed her up closely, and she suddenly interrupted her +reflections. 'You know what a girls' school is like, don't you, Jill?' she +continued appealingly. 'I wish--I _do_ wish you would tell the boys they +are all wrong about it. They _are_ wrong, aren't they?' + +There was a suspicion of a doubt in the last words that struck Jill as +being rather pathetic. She put her bunch of chrysanthemums down, and drew +Barbara towards her. 'You see, Babs, it is like this,' she said slowly; +'school is very nice, if you do not mind things being strange at first, +and if you can bear being laughed at, and----' + +'Why, that is quite easy!' interrupted Babs, with a smile. 'The boys have +teased me always.' + +'Yes,' said Jill, doubtfully; 'the boys have teased you; but that is not +quite the same thing. Girls--girls are not boys, you see.' + +'Oh no, I know they're not!' replied Barbara, happily. 'Girls are quiet +and kind and gentle; and they always understand you, and they are ready +to make friends directly they see you. I think I know what _girls_ are +like.' + +She was thinking of the princesses in her fairy kingdom; and another +little smile flickered across her face. Jill glanced at her for a moment, +and then suddenly made up her mind how to act. + +'Look here, Babs,' she began, smoothing the mop of tangled hair with her +hands; 'you go on thinking that girls are like that, and you'll get along +all right!' Barbara wriggled away from her before she had time to say +any more, gave her a swift look and a smile of gratitude, and darted off +in search of the boys. 'They'll be very stupid if they don't see what a +babe it is,' added Jill to herself. + +At the door of the conservatory, however, the small figure in the crumpled +pinafore came to a sudden standstill. + +'I say, Jill,' the child blurted out, and she clutched a handful of +pinafore to give herself courage; 'I--I want to tell you something.' + +'Do you?' said Jill, smiling. + +'I want to explain that I hated you at first, because I thought you +were going to make the boys like you better than me,' Babs went on +breathlessly. 'And you frightened me too, because you laughed in such a +funny way, just as if you were sneering at me for being in a muck. I +thought, perhaps, it was because you were so grand, and your clothes +were so grand, and all that; but I couldn't help being in a muck, because +I always am in a muck, you see; and so, you see--you see----' + +[Illustration: 'Look here Babs,' she began, smoothing the mop of tangled +hair] + +'I see,' said Jill, quietly; and she looked quite thoughtful for a minute +or two. Babs came a step nearer. + +'I don't hate you now,' she said frankly. 'For one thing, the boys +don't like you better than me, after all. They don't even like you so +much as they thought they were going to. But _I_ think you're awfully +nice,--almost as nice as Kit and Nurse and father,--and I shall go and +tell them so, now; and then, perhaps, they won't say you are young-ladyish +any more!' + +There was a vision of slim black legs and white pinafore disappearing +across the hall, and Jill could not help laughing. 'I must catch the post, +and write to that child Jean,' she decided, after a moment's reflection. +'It won't be so bad for the poor little mite if she has some one to show +her round.' + +Late on the following afternoon the 'adopted kid' found another chance +of making her way to Barbara's heart. Barbara had wandered into the +library, with a whole hour to spare before the carriage should come round +to drive her to school; and, rather to her surprise, she discovered Kit +there, sitting huddled up in the arm-chair, with his shoulders up to his +ears. She had thought that all the boys were out ratting, and she had +not expected to see any of them until they came in at tea-time to bid +her farewell. She was feeling rather doleful, now that the important +moment was so near, for she realised that if she was going to everything +that was new and delightful, she was also going away from the boys for +the first time in her life. It did not cheer her to find Christopher +sitting over the fire with an attack of asthma. + +'Kit!' she cried in distress. 'I didn't know you were ill!' + +Kit crouched closer to the fire and growled. Asthma always had a bad +effect upon his temper, and to-day he had a grievance as well. + +'Of course you didn't know,' he muttered. 'You never know anything now. +Can't think what's come over you lately.' + +Barbara reddened, and the tears welled up in her eyes. No one could hurt +her so easily as Christopher. 'I'm awfully sorry, Kit. I suppose I've been +thinking about school,' she said; and she dropped the poker with a bang +that made him wince. + +'Lucky for you to be able to go to school,' answered Kit, crossly. 'Look +at me! Just because of that journey on Wednesday I've got to coddle like +an old woman.' + +Barbara stood gazing at him helplessly. Her heart was full of pity, but +no one had ever taught her how to show it. 'Poor old boy!' she said +awkwardly. 'Would you like me to tell you a story?' + +'Not I! How can you think of a story when you're full of that stupid +school?' was the surly answer. + +'But I'm not thinking about school now, Kit,' persisted the Babe, becoming +tearful. + +'Oh, never mind. Don't cry, whatever you do; I've got such a headache,' +said Christopher, hastily. + +'I'm n--not crying; I never cry,' stammered Barbara, in a shaky voice. +'I--I want to do something for you, only you won't tell me what to do.' + +Kit answered her with a violent struggle for breath, and the child felt +more helpless than ever. It was just as she was making a feeble attempt +to raise him in his chair that Jill came in. + +'You poor fellow!' she exclaimed, taking in the whole scene at once. +'Here, Babs, give me that piece of brown paper, and run and fetch his +medicine, will you? Poor boy! Poor Kit!' + +She knelt beside him and supported him with her arm, while she wafted a +smouldering tuft of brown paper in front of him. 'Now, fetch some cushions +out of the drawing-room,' she commanded, when Barbara returned with the +medicine; and, delighted at being given something to do, the child sped +away on her errand. When she came back with her arms full of cushions, +Jill had a delightful plan to unfold. + +'Ring the bell for the lamp, Babs,' she said, in her soft voice, which +was already soothing Christopher's nerves; 'and we'll have tea together +before you go. Shall we, Kit, dear?' + +'It's awfully good of you,' he answered weakly. The attack was passing +off, and he was visibly cheering up. By the time tea was brought in, he +was sufficiently recovered to take the lead in his usual determined +manner; and Jill humoured him by giving in to him meekly, even consenting, +under his guidance, to toast slices of plum-cake at the end of a penknife. + +'It's very extravagant, when it's Auntie Anna's plum-cake instead of the +stale stuff cook used to make; but as it's the Babe's last evening we may +be extravagant, mayn't we, Jill?' argued Christopher. 'Now, Babs, you melt +the butter; and for goodness' sake do remember you're not at home, and +don't smash the plate.' + +His reminder did not wholly make the desired effect upon Babs, for when +the boys returned from the farm in a noisy tribe, flushed with the glory +of slaying, they found the 'adopted kid' scrubbing her gown with a clean +handkerchief, while Babs hung over her, covered with confusion. + +'Don't worry yourself, child,' Jill was saying consolingly. 'A lump of +butter, more or less, doesn't make any difference to a frock I've worn +all the winter.' + +'It just slid off the plate when I wasn't looking,' said Barbara, +penitently. 'I can't think why it didn't slide on to my frock instead +of yours.' + +A chorus of merriment rang from behind. + +'You ridiculous Babe!' shouted Peter. 'Why, the butter is _tired_ of being +spilled down your frock.' + +Jill jumped to her feet, and blushed a little. As Kit had predicted, +she found it much easier to get on with her cousins when she took them +'separately, or in pairs'; and she was not used yet to facing them all at +once. The sound of wheels outside gave her an excuse for escape, and she +put her arm hurriedly round Babs. + +'Come upstairs and put on your hat,' she suggested, and the two girls +hastened out of the room. + +Auntie Anna saw to it that the farewells were not prolonged, and Barbara +found herself whirled into the covered wagonette with her last words only +half said. Kit was allowed time to whisper a gruff apology for being cross +with her before tea, but the others had to follow her to the front door +to shout their good-byes after her. + +'Don't get the blues because _we_ are not there!' cried Wilfred. + +'I'll write great lots of times,' declared Robin, who was in tears. 'I +won't even wait for the lines to be ruled, Babs dear. You won't mind the +spelling, will you? 'Cause it saves so much time if you don't.' + +'Cheer up!' was all Egbert said; and Barbara wondered if she was very +hard-hearted, because she was not half so wretched as they all expected +her to be. Peter even made her laugh outright, as he sprang on the step +of the carriage, and went a little way down the drive with them. + +'Don't funk it, old girl!' he shouted through the window. 'And just send +for us, if anything goes wrong!' + +'Be off with you!' said Auntie Anna, shutting up the window; and that was +the last that the Babe of the Berkeley family saw of the boys who had been +her only companions through life. + +She had plenty to think about in her long drive in the dark; and Auntie +Anna was wise enough to leave her alone most of the time. A little more +than an hour later, however, when the carriage made a sharp turn and drove +through some gates, the old lady roused her by a touch on the arm. + +'We are just there, little woman,' she said in her quick, abrupt way. 'Not +afraid, eh?' + +'Oh no!' answered Barbara, smiling. 'I--I'm just excited.' + +Mrs. Crofton kissed the eager little face, on which the light shone as +they approached the house. + +'That's right,' she said, looking pleased. 'Always be a truthful little +girl, and don't mind if you find you are not like other people.' + +Then the horses stopped, and a blaze of light shone down a flight of +steps to the carriage door; and Babs, feeling suddenly very small and +unimportant, in spite of the extra inch or two on her new serge frock, +followed the old lady into the great wide hall of Wootton Beeches. + +Her dream was coming true at last. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +HOW IT CAME TRUE + + +Half an hour later, Barbara was being led across the hall by Miss +Finlayson, to be introduced to her school-fellows in the playroom. It +puzzled her a little to see how calm and unconcerned the head-mistress +was looking. Did she not know what a thrilling moment this was to her +little new pupil, who tripped along by her side? As Babs was puzzling +over it, they reached the baize door on the opposite side of the hall, +and Miss Finlayson stooped and fastened it back, disclosing a long +passage beyond. At the end of the passage was another door; and through +this other door the murmur and hum of many voices drifted to the ears of +the excited child. She could hardly contain her impatience; and she +wondered why Miss Finlayson did not go on, instead of being so particular +about the fastening of the baize door. She even took a step forward +in her eagerness; but a hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder, and +Barbara glanced up and met the half-amused gaze of the lady who had just +seemed so indifferent to her. + +Miss Finlayson had a way of looking at a girl that generally made a +friend of her at once. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of blue-grey that +gave them, as a rule, a cold expression; but they were also capable of a +glimpse of humour that completely altered and softened them, and it was +the discovery of this quality in them that changed Barbara's impatience +all at once to curiosity. + +'One moment, little girl, before you go through that door over there,' +began Miss Finlayson, and her face was still grave in spite of the +betraying twinkle in her eyes. 'Tell me, have you ever known any girls +before?' + +'Only Jill,' answered Barbara, wondering why she was being asked such an +odd question. + +'Ah!' said Miss Finlayson. The child caught the change in her tone, and +went on quickly. + +'I know Jill didn't approve of me at first,' she said, in her small, +anxious voice; 'but she does now, I think. Besides, Jill is grown-up, +you see; and I don't think it counts if you are grown-up, does it? I've +never met any real, nice, friendly girls before, who don't tease you, or +bully you, or anything like that. That's why I wanted to come to school.' + +'Ah!' said Miss Finlayson again. Then she put out her hand and patted +the cheek of her little new pupil. 'Do not be unhappy if you find you are +not like the other girls,' she said, just as Auntie Anna had done; 'and +come to me, if everything else fails and you cannot stand by yourself. +Only, remember--you are not in the nursery any longer: you have come here +to learn how to grow up straight and strong and healthy, just as a plant +learns; and I am only the gardener to give you a prop, when you have been +in too great a hurry and are trying to grow too fast. Do you think you +understand?' Her voice changed again, and a laugh came into it as she +added brightly: 'Come along now, and be a happy little girl. You will +find that most of us are happy in this house.' + +She took Babs by the hand, and raced her along the passage to the door +at the end, then turned the handle and pushed the child gently into the +room. + +'Girls,' said the head-mistress, in the sudden lull that followed her +entrance, 'here is a new schoolfellow for you.' + +Then all the voices broke out again, and Miss Finlayson nodded to Barbara, +and went away. It was one of Miss Finlayson's theories, that a new girl +should be left to fight her way by herself; but as she retreated slowly +along the passage this evening, she could not help feeling a little +anxious about the child with the small, eager face, whom she had just +launched into a strange and unfriendly world. + +Barbara took two quick steps forward, as the door closed behind her, and +stood there waiting. She had acted this scene over and over again in +her mind, and she had always made her entrance like this; after which +a girl, whose face was plump and ordinary, and whose legs were of the +right proportions, and whose hair was smooth and under proper control, +had always come towards her with a welcoming smile and had led her up +to the other girls, who all had welcoming smiles too. And everybody had +listened to her while she talked about her home and her father and the +boys; and nobody had laughed and nobody had teased, and nobody had told +her to 'shut up.' It had been a very favourite scene in her dream of +school, and she waited eagerly for the other actors in it to come forward +and do their part. But no one moved. + +The room in which she found herself was certainly not like the one she +had imagined. It was long and low and prettily shaped, with two wide +bow-windows thrown out on one side of it, and a great square fireplace +taking up most of the wall that faced the doorway. Next to the fireplace +was a curtained archway, which evidently formed the entrance into another +room, judging by the buzz of laughter and conversation from beyond that +the thick red curtain failed to stifle. The bookshelves on the two +remaining walls were made of plain oak; so were the desks and chairs that +stood neatly arranged round the room in rows. There were also plain oak +benches in the warm chimney-corners, and plain oak window-seats in the +bowed recesses, while the floor was made of the same wood and was left +quite bare, except for a rug in front of the hearth. A pot or two of +chrysanthemums, some blue china on the over-mantel, and one or two +hammered metal lamps that hung from the beams in the ceiling, were the +only ornaments in the room; and the whole effect was so simple and so +clean that Barbara, fresh from the dingy old schoolroom in which she had +passed her life until now, was obliged to forget everything else for the +moment and just stare round her. Then her eyes rested again on the +girls who were scattered in groups about the room, and the expectant +look on her face became a little wistful. + +There seemed to be thirty or forty of them all together; and from the +noise on the other side of the curtain Babs concluded that there were as +many, or more, in the room beyond. They all talked without ceasing,--all +at once, it seemed to Barbara,--about their Christmas holidays and their +Christmas presents, about the parties they had been to and the pantomimes +they had seen, about the girls who were not back and the girls who were, +about everything, in fact, except the child by the door, who had been +waiting all her life for this moment. What did it matter to them that +she should go through a few seconds of embarrassment? They had all been +through the same, in their time; and it was not to be supposed that they +should make things any easier for future generations of new girls. So +they went on babbling about their own affairs, and Barbara went on +expecting some one to come and put an end to her discomfort. But nobody +came. + +Slowly, she began to feel conscious, just as she had done when she +first met Jill, that there was something odd about her appearance. In +spite of the extra inch or two on the bottom hem of her frock, and the +temporary smoothness that a vigorous application of a wet brush had +produced on her hair, Babs saw with a kind of dismay that she was not made +in the same pattern as the crowd of neatly dressed girls before her. +None of them wore her hair loose and curly like her own, and none of +them looked as though she did not know what to do with her hands. If only +she could have held on to something, Barbara felt sure she would not +have felt so shy or so helpless. There was a chair only two yards off; +but something kept her standing where she was, and she did not even +reach out her hand to it. + +The girls continued their conversation, and forgot all about the new-comer +that Miss Finlayson had brought in. Most of them stood facing the fire +and had not even looked at her; and the others, who glanced now and +then towards the door, only shrugged their shoulders and wondered why +the stupid child did not sit down, instead of standing still in that +purposeless manner. They did not mean to be unkind, but how were they +to know that she was fighting through her first disillusionment? + +All at once, a diversion was made by two children from the other room, +who came tumbling through the curtain and nearly upset a tall fair girl +who was the centre of the group round the fire. + +'Look where you are going, Angela Wilkins!' said the fair girl, sternly. +'What are you children doing in here, I should like to know?' + +'Please, Margaret, don't be cross, and _do_ let me explain,' begged Angela +Wilkins, suppressing an inclination to giggle, and pouring out her words +hastily. 'Jean has had millions of letters from Jill Urquhart, and she +says----' + +'It wasn't millions, Angela, it was only one,' corrected her +fellow-culprit from behind. + +'And what business has Jean Murray to hear from Jill Urquhart?' demanded +the fair girl. + +'I'm sure I don't want to hear from her,' grumbled the other girl, whom +Angela pushed forward to answer for herself. 'She only writes to me when +she wants something. I don't call that _writing_ to a person.' + +'She's got a sister coming here this term, and she says everybody has got +to look after her, or something like that,' chimed in the irrepressible +Angela. + +'It isn't a sister, it's a cousin. And she hasn't asked everybody; I wish +she had. She's asked _me_ to look after her, and that's a very different +thing,' complained Jean Murray, looking distinctly aggrieved. + +'Yes,' added Angela, breathlessly; 'why should Jean be bothered with all +the new girls who happen to be people's cousins?' + +'She isn't,' said Margaret, curtly. 'It's only one new girl; and if she is +a cousin of Jill's, Jean ought to be very proud of being asked to look +after her. Do stop exaggerating, Angela; and go away, both of you!' Then +just as the children slunk off subdued, she recalled them and made a +gesture towards the door. 'There's a new girl over there now, I believe,' +she continued indifferently. 'You'd better see whether she's the right +one; and if she is, bring her to me.' + +She turned again to the fireplace, and the two girls made their way +towards the other end of the room, where Barbara still stood unnoticed. +She saw them coming, and heaved a sigh of relief. Things were a long +while happening in this school; but it was something if they happened in +the end. She glanced at their two faces as they came nearer, and felt +disappointed when the one with the cross expression addressed her first. + +'I say, what's your name?' began Jean, ungraciously. + +'Barbara,' answered the child, faintly. Her dream seemed more improbable +than ever, in the presence of this small stranger with the aggressive +manner. + +'Barbara what?' asked Jean, impatiently. + +Babs stared, and added her surname unwillingly. At home, when people spoke +like that, they had to do without an answer. + +'That's the one,' grumbled Jean to her companion. Then she addressed +Barbara again. 'How old are you?' she asked, in the same abrupt way. + +'Eleven,' answered Babs, obediently. 'How old are you?' + +It was Jean's turn to stare. 'What business is it of yours?' she +exclaimed. After a moment's consideration, however, she found a +satisfactory reason for replying. 'I'm a year older than you, anyhow,' +she added triumphantly, 'so you'll be the youngest in the school now, and +you can take off the head girl's boots.' + +Before Barbara had time to realise this penalty, or privilege, belonging +to her youth, Angela Wilkins, who had been silent for quite a surprising +length of time, suddenly attacked her afresh. 'Are you really Jill's +cousin?' she asked, with a giggle. + +Babs nodded; but Angela did not seem convinced. 'You're not a bit like +her, are you? Jill Urquhart is so pretty and graceful and all that,' she +observed with engaging frankness, and then giggled again. + +Barbara said nothing; it was certainly unnecessary to agree with such +a very obvious statement. Jean Murray, who had also been examining her +closely in her turn, evidently seemed to think a further snubbing was +required of her. + +'You're frightfully tall for your age,' she remarked disapprovingly, as +though Barbara were somehow to be held responsible for her height. 'If I +had straight spiky legs like yours, I should have my dresses made longer.' + +'No, you wouldn't, if you had five brothers always wanting you to do +things,' retorted Barbara, promptly. It was saddening to find that, even +here, people were prepared to make remarks about the slimness of her legs. + +Angela was so surprised at her sudden show of resistance that she forgot +to giggle. + +'I say, you'd better not speak like that to Jean Murray,' she said in a +warning tone, glancing as she spoke at Jean, as though she expected her +to take immediate measures for the suppression of the new girl. 'She's +been the youngest for so long that naturally she's inclined to be jealous, +now you've come to take her place. Of course she has to pretend she's +glad, but you can't expect her to like the idea of somebody else taking +off the head girl's----' + +'Oh, if that's all,' said Barbara, indifferently, 'I don't want to take +off anybody's boots, thank you.' + +'You'll have to, whether you like it or not,' interposed Jean, who had +been listening quite complacently to Angela's description of her feelings. +'Come along now, and see Margaret Hulme; and don't be such a month about +it, or else we shall catch it for stopping in here so long.' + +'Who is Margaret Hulme, and why have I got to go and see her?' asked Babs, +hanging back a little. It was so perplexing to have to do things without +being given any reason for it. + +Both the girls opened their eyes wide. 'Why, she is the head girl!' they +explained, as if that were reason enough for anything; and without waiting +for any more objections, they pulled her across the room to where the +fair girl still made the centre of the group round the fire. She kept +them waiting for some seconds before she condescended to notice that they +were there. + +'Didn't I tell you to go back to your own playroom?' she demanded +presently. Then her eyes fell on Barbara, and she scanned her critically +up and down. + +'This is Jill Urquhart's cousin,' explained Jean, hurriedly, and she gave +Barbara an unexpected push that sent her stumbling, with her usual lack +of good fortune, right against the head girl. + +'Take care, child!' said Margaret, frowning. And while Babs stammered out +some apology, she turned to the other girls behind her and said something +that made them all laugh. + +'She's only eleven, though she's so awfully tall; and her name is Barbara +Berkeley,' volunteered Angela, peering over the shoulder of the new girl. + +'Who spoke to you?' inquired the head girl, sarcastically, looking back +again. She once more scanned Barbara all over, and smiled in an annoying +manner to herself. 'However did Jill manage to have a cousin like you?' +she asked; and the other girls laughed more than before. + +'I don't know,' said Barbara, with a touch of scorn in her voice. The +mysterious way in which the head girl and her admirers were laughing at +her was very different from the frank teasing she was accustomed to; and +it gave her a sudden wish to assert herself. 'I never pretended to be +like Jill, or like any of you! I--I don't think I want to be like you, +either. In my home, we don't laugh behind people's backs.' + +She caused quite a small sensation in the group round the fire. One or +two began to titter afresh, and then stopped, waiting for the head girl +to take the lead. The head girl was equal to the occasion. + +'It is very certain, then, that you have stayed in your own home quite +long enough,' she remarked coldly, and resumed her conversation with her +friends. + +The two children dragged Barbara through the curtain into the next room. + +'Well, you _have_ got some cheek!' gasped Jean Murray, staring at her. +'Lucky for you that you're a new girl! If it had been _me_, Margaret Hulme +wouldn't have spoken to me for a whole day.' + +The enormity of such a punishment did not for the moment impress Barbara +much. What she did notice was that her passage of words with the head +girl had broken the ice of her introduction to the junior playroom, +especially with the aid of Angela's highly coloured account of it. + +'You never saw such a thing!' she was exclaiming rapidly to the circle +that formed round her. 'There was Margaret, looking like a dozen +thunder-clouds rolled into one, and there was the new girl, grinning from +ear to ear, not caring a bit what anybody thought of her and just +standing up to the head girl as if she was in the First herself.' + +The new girl barely recognised this description of herself; but as it +made her an object of curiosity, if not of sympathy, in the junior +playroom, she did not feel inclined to correct the picture that the +red-haired, freckled little chatterbox was painting of her. Anything was +better than being left out in the cold again. It struck her too that +the girls in the junior room were far less inclined to laugh at her +than the elder ones had seemed; and it raised her fallen spirits a +little to find that the children who were now strolling up to her, +with inquisitive glances at her hair, her clothes, and everything else +about her, seemed disposed, in spite of their calm curiosity, to show +her a kind of rough friendliness. They were more like boys, these smaller +people in the junior playroom; and Barbara, though still failing to +realise her child's ideal of girls, felt a faint kinship with their +straightforward method of addressing her. + +'No nickname?' they asked, when she had again admitted her name and her +age. + +'Oh, yes,' answered Barbara, unsuspiciously, 'the boys always call me the +Babe, or----' + +The peals of laughter that interrupted her puzzled her a good deal. It +was very queer that, wherever she went, people always laughed at her. +It was some moments before their glee over the nickname, that so exactly +suited the childish impression she produced, began to subside. + +'Have you got a nurse?' asked Angela, who had laughed louder than any one. + +'No,' said Barbara, simply, not seeing that this too was meant to be a +joke. 'She left, two years ago.' + +'Well, you ought to have one,' retorted Jean, brusquely. 'She might teach +you how to comb your hair.' + +'And let down your frock,' added two or three voices together. + +'What's the matter with my frock?' asked Babs, opening her eyes. 'It's +nearly two inches longer than any frock I ever had before.' + +The laughter began afresh, and Barbara gave up trying to explain things. +She was a little hurt, in reality, and was afraid of showing it; for it +would never do, after being teased by five brothers all her life, to be +ruffled by the laughter of a few schoolgirls. All the same, there was +something in their way of laughing at her that hurt, and she did not care +to provoke them into doing it any more. + +The loud ringing of a bell brought her a sudden respite, by clearing the +room of her tormentors. They poured hastily out of two large doors, that +slid back in the wall and revealed another square hall beyond, similar to +the one at the front of the house. The wide staircase up which the girls +were trooping evidently led to their bedrooms, for Barbara, left deserted +and forgotten in the playroom, could hear them, directly afterwards, +moving about overhead. As she waited there alone, wondering what she +was supposed to do next, Jean Murray came hurrying back into the room +and looked round for her. + +'Oh, bother!' she said, in her ungracious manner; 'what a nuisance you +are! I wish you'd do things without waiting to be told.' + +Babs explained submissively that she was quite ready to do things if she +only knew what to do; but Jean still grumbled. + +'Any one with any sense would know,' she declared, hastening out of the +door again as she spoke. When she was half-way across the hall, she +shouted, without looking back, 'Can't you come along? There's only a +quarter of an hour to dress for supper.' + +Babs hurried after her, and managed to keep her in sight up the wide +staircase and along the gallery at the top. There were doors all round +the gallery, and at one of these, marked number twelve, Jean stopped +and waited impatiently. + +'What a time you are,' she complained, when Barbara caught her up. + +'I'm very quick, when anybody doesn't take such an enormous start,' +answered Barbara, panting. 'I can beat Peter twice round the Square and up +to the gate, _easily_! And you're not in it with Peter.' + +Jean looked at her, and her expression was not a pretty one. However, she +only jerked her head at the door in front of them, and told Babs it was +her bedroom. 'Finny said I was to show you,' she added. 'Don't know, I'm +sure, why everybody thinks I've got to show you things. And you'd better +look sharp and dress, because when you're ready you've got to cut along +to number two and do the head girl's hair. It's always the business of +the youngest in the school to do the head girl's hair. See?' + +'But I don't know how to do anybody's hair,' began Barbara, in a fever of +dismay. But Jean had already scampered out of hearing; and with her +responsibilities weighing heavily upon her, the new girl turned the +handle of her bedroom door and went forlornly in. It was a simple little +room, very clean and fresh-looking, with everything there that she wanted +and nothing that she could do without. The pretty coverlets on the bed +and the dressing-table and the muslin curtains that draped the oaken +window-sash gave it a look of homely comfort, while harmonising with the +plain green colour of the walls and the blue frieze and carpet. As +Barbara walked across her small domain and pushed aside the blind to +peep out into the clear starlit night, a moment's rest came to her +perturbed little mind. The tiny bare room was all hers, and the feeling +of privacy and possession was very comforting. + +A door in the wall told her there was a room leading out of hers, and +the sound made by some one moving rapidly about in it reminded her again +of her present woes and of the necessity for dressing as quickly as +possible. Her relief at not being obliged to sleep with the other girls +was forgotten in her returning consciousness of having to live with them, +and to do their hair and to button their boots. With desperate haste +she struggled out of her serge frock and into a muslin one, that had +a strange new method of fastening that was extremely baffling; and five +minutes later, trembling, uneasy, and flushed with the hurry of her speedy +toilet, she stood knocking at the door of number two. + +'It's me,' she said feebly, in response to the curt inquiry from within. +Her inadequate explanation was followed by a few quick steps on the other +side of the door, which was then flung open with an impatient movement; +and the head girl, putting hairpins rapidly into her hair as she stood, +was looking down at her sternly. + +'You should go to one of the younger ones, if you want to know anything,' +she said crossly. 'Where's Jean Murray?' + +'It was Jean Murray who told me to come,' answered the child, looking a +pathetic little object in her half-fastened muslin frock, with her hair +standing out wildly round her head. 'I'm sure I didn't want to come; I +don't know how to do anybody's hair; I told her so. But she said it was +because I was the youngest, and----' + +'What _are_ you talking about, child?' interrupted Margaret. Her mystified +look was lost on Babs, however, as the child stared down in much misery +and confusion at the little steel buckles on her new evening shoes. She +went on unhappily with her stammering confession. + +'She said I'd got to do the head girl's hair because I was the youngest, +and I was to make haste, or I shouldn't be in time. I did make as much +haste as I could, _truthfully_,' she added, looking up timidly at her +frowning questioner; 'but there were such a lot of hooks on my new frock, +and I'm not used to hooks. I've always had buttons before, you see.' + +One or two of the neighbouring doors had opened by this time, and quite a +small audience was assembling to hear Barbara's attempt at explanation. A +giggle that swelled into a laugh brought dismay once more into her heart; +and a suspicion that she had been hoaxed slowly dawned upon her. + +'Isn't it true?' she cried, turning upon them desperately. 'Haven't I got +to do the head girl's hair?' + +'You'd better do your own first, I should say,' observed one of the +onlookers, carelessly; and the others laughed again. + +The head girl silenced them peremptorily. 'Don't, Ruth!' she said. +'It's only a babe, after all. You others had better go downstairs; +the supper-bell will ring directly.' + +The gallery slowly emptied itself, except for the little group of three +that still stood outside the head girl's door. The offending Ruth turned +to Barbara; she had a good-natured face, and was looking penitent. + +'Come here, child, and let me fasten your frock properly,' she said; +'you've done it up all wrong.' + +Barbara turned her back to her willingly. 'It's awfully bricky of you,' +she said warmly; 'I've never done up my own frock before, and this one +was so complicated, somehow.' + +'You must come to me when you want your frocks fastened,' answered her +new friend. 'I sleep next door to you, and I always help Angela, whose +room is on the farther side of mine. You've only got to tap at the door +between, when you are ready. But you mustn't speak in the morning before +breakfast, or in the evening after prayers, because that is against the +rules.' + +She fetched a brush and tried to reduce the tangled hair under her hands +to a certain degree of order. Margaret Hulme had disposed of all her +hairpins by this time, and was closely watching a door on the other +side of the gallery. When it at last opened she straightened herself and +prepared for action. + +It was Jean Murray who came out of it, rather cautiously at first, then +with a pretence of great unconcern. But her jaunty air completely deserted +her when she saw the little group outside the head girl's door, and she +tried to slink away towards the stairs unnoticed. Margaret called her +back authoritatively, and Jean came slowly and unwillingly round the +gallery. + +'Now,' said the head girl, when she was within easy hearing, 'just you +apologise to Barbara Berkeley for hoaxing her just now. If you think +there is anything funny in telling an untruth, I'm sorry for your sense of +humour, and you'd better not do it again in this house. Now then, make +haste about it.' + +Barbara tried impetuously to interfere, but Ruth Oliver held her back. +'Hush!' she whispered. 'Leave it to Margaret.' + +Jean was shifting from one foot to another, and her mouth began to quiver. +'I didn't know she'd be such a stupid as to believe it,' she muttered. + +'My dear child,' said the head girl, blandly, 'nobody supposed you were +any judge of character. So it would clearly be wiser not to play that kind +of joke on any one in future, wouldn't it? Are you going to apologise or +not?' + +Jean reddened, and a lump rose in her throat. Her worship of the head +girl was the most genuine thing about her, and she was suffering keenly +under her disapproval. But an apology to a new girl, especially to one who +had come to rob her of all her privileges, was next to an impossibility. +Barbara saved the situation. + +'I don't want anybody's apologies,' she cried. 'I'm not cross, and I don't +know what you're all talking about.' She wriggled away from the friendly +grasp of Ruth Oliver, and sped round the gallery till she came to the +head of the stairs. Arrived there, the temptation of a long, broad, +shining baluster-rail was too much for her; and in another moment the +little elf-like figure in the fresh muslin frock was astride of it and +flying down to the hall, with her hair once more in rebellion round +her face. The exhilaration of the brief rush downwards sent all her +troubles out of her head, and she uttered a war-whoop of delight as she +landed with a thump on the mat at the bottom. The elder girls, who were +just streaming across the hall in response to the supper-bell, stopped +and stared aghast. Certainly the new girl was the most impudent of her +species, and meant to make her entry into the establishment of Wootton +Beeches with a flourish! But Margaret Hulme, it was rumoured, had taken +her up; and that meant that the elder girls were no longer in a position +to criticise her. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE INK BOGIES + + +Barbara's disappointment had lost some of its bitterness by the time +the seven o'clock bell woke her on the following morning. Perhaps, +after all, it was her own fault that things had not turned out so +delightfully as she had expected. Even the boys used to call her clumsy +and stupid sometimes; so why should she expect any more tolerance from +her school-fellows? Anyhow, here was the beginning of another day, and +there was still plenty of time for her dream to come true. + +It did not seem much like coming true, though, as she stood in the +juniors' room after breakfast, jostled from right to left by the girls +who were on their way to the different classrooms, and wondering when +somebody would come and tell her where she was to go. She wished rather +sadly that everybody in this school would not expect her to know things +by instinct. + +'Do _you_ know where I am to go?' she begged, catching hold of Jean Murray +as she hurried by. Babs had forgotten, if, indeed, she had ever realised, +that Jean looked upon her as an enemy. + +'Go and ask one of the seniors,' retorted Jean, shaking her off. 'You're +much too high and mighty to have anything to do with us.' + +'What is she talking about?' asked the amazed Barbara, looking after her. + +'Well, it isn't likely she can forget all at once that you got her a +scolding from Margaret Hulme,' explained Angela, who was hurrying as +usual after her friend, like a shadow. + +'_I_ got her a scolding? What do you mean?' cried Babs. + +'Oh, it's all very well to be so innocent,' snorted Angela; and she +disappeared too. + +Barbara sighed and remained where she was, till she was moved on again. + +'Do get out of the way,' complained some one else; 'you're right in front +of my bookshelf.' + +Barbara sprang aside hastily, and caught her foot in the leg of a desk +and fell down. + +'I don't mind moving,' she said, getting up again and rubbing her elbow, +'but I do wish I knew where to move to.' + +'Can't you find out?' asked the owner of the bookshelf inconsistently, as +she rushed off with her arms full of books. + +Barbara sighed again. Try as she might to make the best of things, it was +a little tiring to be such a universal object of complaint. + +'Hullo, Babe! You ought not to be here,' said a cheery voice from the +seniors' room, and Ruth Oliver put her head round the red curtain. +'This is only the playroom, you know, and, except for preparation or for +fetching your books between the classes, you are never supposed to use +it in lesson-time. The classrooms are upstairs.' + +'I know I oughtn't to be here,' answered Babs, ruefully. 'I never am where +I ought to be.' + +'But Finny sent for you, ages ago,' said Ruth, looking astonished. 'Didn't +Jean tell you? She's a young horror, that Jean. Never mind, come along +with me, and I'll show you the way.' + +She hurried the child through the baize door into the front hall, and +pointed out a room that was close to the foot of the stairs. 'That's +Finny's study,' she said hastily. 'You'd better look sharp. Good luck +to you!' She gave her an unexpected kiss that promptly secured her the +child's allegiance from henceforth, and ran off with her books under her +arm. + +Barbara entered the room, and looked round for Miss Finlayson. Only the +head girl was there, however, sitting at the table with a frown upon her +face. + +'You ought to have been here before this,' she began reprovingly. 'Miss +Finlayson couldn't wait any longer, so I've got to miss the history +lecture and examine you, instead of her. Why couldn't you come, directly +Jean told you?' + +Barbara turned a little red and tried to look unconcerned, in which she +signally failed. 'I think,' she said, 'that you'd better ask Jean.' + +Margaret looked at her sharply, and muttered something that sounded +uncommonly like 'Little beast!' which seemed to the child rather more +than she deserved, considering that it was really Jean's fault and not +hers at all. She was rather surprised at the head girl's next words, +which seemed quite gentle by comparison. + +'Why, you look blue with cold, child,' she remarked, and drew her round +by the fire. 'Now, stand there, and tell me what history books you have +been using.' + +'I haven't used any,' answered Babs. 'I haven't had any history lessons, +you see.' + +'Do you mean to say you know nothing about the history of England--nothing +about wars or kings or laws, or any of those things?' inquired Margaret, +raising her eyebrows. + +Barbara's face brightened. 'Oh, yes,' she said, 'I know all about _them_ +from father, and the British Museum, and books. I didn't know that was +history.' + +Margaret was a little puzzled. The examination of this new girl looked +as though it were going to present difficulties. 'What kind of books?' +she asked doubtfully. + +'Lots of kinds,' answered Barbara, glibly. 'Napier's _History of the +Peninsular War_, and somebody else's _History of the Anglo-Saxons_, and +another one called _The Four Georges_, and--and--oh, that long stuffy +one, cut up into volumes, with ever so many funny words in it, called +_Cromwell's Life and_----' + +'That's enough,' cried Margaret, and she looked in amazement at the small +animated face of the new girl. 'I--I think that will do for history,' +she went on hastily. 'Now, what about geography? I suppose you know the +elements, so I won't----' + +'What's elements?' interrupted Babs. + +'Well, the beginning part,' explained the head girl--'the part that tells +you the meaning of islands and volcanoes and earthquakes, and what the +world is like inside, and things about the moon and the----' + +'But all _that_ is in Jules Verne's story-books,' remarked Babs. 'Of +course I've read Jules Verne. Is that what you call elements? I like +elements, then, especially the _Journey to the Centre of_----' + +'Oh, I say, do stop,' interrupted Margaret, biting her lip. She was +divided between perplexity and amusement, and she wished that the +head-mistress had stayed to examine this extraordinary imp of a child +herself. 'Haven't you used any real geography books?' she asked presently. + +Barbara looked vague. + +'Do you know the map of England, for instance?' pursued Margaret, rather +desperately. + +'Oh, yes, I know the map of England,' answered the child, confidently. +'It's so easy to find, because it's pink. I know America too, because +father has gone there to lecture, and he won't be back for ever so long, +not till----' + +'Hush!' said the head girl. 'Tell me what arithmetic you have done.' + +'Let me see, that's figures without letters, isn't it?' inquired Babs. +'I'm afraid I can only add up, because Bobbin hasn't got any further yet; +he's backward in sums, you see, and I've only learnt mine through helping +him with his prep. Sometimes, I wish he'd get on a little faster, because +I'm getting so tired of----' + +'Then you mean to say,' interposed Margaret, rather impatiently, 'that +you can only do simple addition?' + +'That's in arithmetic,' Barbara hastened to point out. 'I've got as far +as fractions in the funny sums that Kit does out of the other book; +they're much easier, because they have letters dotted about to help +you. I always do Kit's sums, when he has asthma; but he says I'm very +slow. Then there's the nice interesting book with pictures of triangles +and things; we've got up to----' + +'Oh, don't!' said Margaret, and Barbara paused, a little surprised. Why +did people ask her questions if they did not mean her to answer them? +Margaret was drumming her fingers on the table and looking a little +worried. 'Have you learnt any languages?' she asked suddenly. 'I mean, +anything besides French--German, for instance?' + +'No, I haven't learnt any German, and I don't want to, thank you,' said +Babs, decidedly. 'Ever since the German band complained to father, because +Peter tried to stop their noise by shying potatoes at them from the +window, we've all made a vow never to learn their beastly language. And I +don't know any French either; no more does father. I know Latin up to the +deponent verbs, though,--deponent verbs _are_ catchy, aren't they?--and +I've begun Greek with father. I'm afraid that's all the languages I----' + +'Well, you are a curiosity!' declared Margaret, giving up the attempt to +hide her amusement. 'So you've never had a governess at all? Nor been to +classes?' + +'I've been to a gymnastic class,' said Barbara, eagerly. 'It's the only +thing I can do properly. Have you got a gymnasium here?' + +She clapped her hands when Margaret nodded, and bounded towards the door. +'Mayn't I go and try it _now_?' she asked in a disappointed tone, when +the head girl called her back. + +'There's plenty of time for that,' said Margaret, reminding her with a +frown that she was only a new girl and was there to be examined; 'I've +got to settle first what class you had better go into. But I'm sure I +don't know what I am to say to Finny about you.' She sighed, and looked +at Barbara as if for inspiration. Barbara was quite equal to the occasion. + +'You'd better put me in the bottom class, I should think,' she advised +pleasantly; 'you don't know what my spelling is like yet.' + +'Thanks,' said Margaret, drily; 'I've no doubt you are quite competent to +examine yourself, and to teach all your betters into the bargain, but that +doesn't help me just now.' She drummed her fingers on the table again, +and Barbara waited and went off into a kind of dream as she stood there. +She was aroused by an exclamation from the head girl. 'I know,' she was +saying in a relieved tone. 'Can you write compositions, child? I mean, +make up things in your head and write them down?' + +Barbara smiled. Certainly, that had nothing to do with lessons. She had +scribbled over every piece of paper she could find, ever since Nurse had +first taught her to form her letters. 'I can do that all right,' she said. +'All except the spelling,' she added as an afterthought. + +Margaret paid her no attention. She was occupied in carrying out her +happy idea for concluding the examination of the new girl and leaving +herself free at the same time to go to her history lecture. 'Look here,' +she said, spreading some paper rapidly on the desk in front of her; +'come and sit in this chair and write about anything you like. You'll have +a good hour and a half before the interval for lunch; and then Miss +Finlayson will come and look at what you've written, and she will settle +what class you can go into.' + +'But what shall I write about?' asked Barbara, when the head girl had +installed her at the table and was hurrying out of the room. + +'Anything you like; it will be all the better test if I don't give you +a subject,' said Margaret; and she escaped before the child had time to +say any more. She felt a little mean about it, for she was positive she +could not have done it herself; but she consoled herself by the reflection +that the new girl was queer enough for anything. Besides, she did not +want to miss the whole of her history class for the sake of examining a +child who was ignorant of all the things that other children knew, but +had picked up the most extraordinary bits of knowledge by herself. So +Babs was left to face the difficulty, for the first time in her life, of +writing something within a given time. + +It was certainly not easy to think of anything to say, in this unfamiliar, +austere little room, with a blank sheet of paper staring at her, and +some one preparing to pounce upon her presently, to criticise what she +had done. In the library at home such a chance as this would have +filled her with joy, and the paper would have been covered in a few +minutes with a medley about giants and princesses and dragons, to be told +later on to Kit and Bobbin when they clamoured for a story. But here +it seemed impossible to get a single word on to her sheet of paper, and +she looked at the clock in despair, and wondered what would happen to +her when Miss Finlayson returned and found she had written nothing. She +plunged her pen desperately into the ink at last, and wrote the first +thing that came into her head. It was a title she remembered noticing +on the back of a book with a smart cover--one that had lately been +added to her father's library. She did not know what it meant, and she +was not sure what she was going to say about it, but it sounded more +like the kind of thing to choose for an examination than one of her fairy +stories would have been. Then, just as she had written the heading +very crookedly across the top of the page, she found that the pen she +had picked up was a quill, and possessed the most entrancing capacity +for making splutters. It was the first time she had happened upon a +quill, and the discovery was too delightful to be neglected. So she spent +the next ten minutes in adorning her paper with fantastic ink shapes, +that she named bogies on the spot and wove into a fairy story about an +enchanted princess, who had to write a composition in an hour and a half. +When this exciting occupation began to pall, she was seized with a +sudden desire to explore, and began wandering restlessly round the room. +There was very little to examine besides books; but books were always +good enough for Barbara, and she became very quiet and absorbed as her +inky forefinger travelled slowly along the bottom shelves, until she had +exhausted the outsides of all the volumes that came within her reach. +Then she stood back, with her hands behind her, and stared up at the +ones above her head; and a familiar name, printed in dull gold letters +on the back of a solid volume in russet brown, suddenly made her heart +leap. + +'Father's book!' she gasped. 'There's father's book! And I've been in this +stupid place all this time, and never discovered it till now! Oh, I must +get father's book!' + +There was a sob in her throat when she found that even a footstool, placed +on the highest chair in the room, did not mount her up sufficiently +to reach the precious volume. Her bright little eyes travelled quickly +round the study, to embrace all its resources, and she very nearly uttered +one of her wild war-whoops of delight when she spied a step-ladder +half hidden in a dark corner. It did not take her a minute to stagger +with it across the room and to fix it, more or less securely, against the +bookshelf. After that, there was no sound in the little study except the +ticking of the clock and the rustling of leaves, until the door +opened sharply and the owner herself walked in. + +For a moment Miss Finlayson thought the room was empty. Then she saw the +small figure with the big book, perched on the top of the ladder; and +the quaintness of the picture made her smile irresistibly. 'What are you +doing, Barbara?' she asked. + +She spoke as softly as she could, but the sound of her voice was quite +enough to startle the unconscious child. She dropped the heavy book with +a thud, and would have lost her balance and plunged after it, had not +Miss Finlayson been prepared for the contingency and put out an arm to +save her. Babs caught at it wildly, and found herself lifted down and +placed on the floor in safety. + +Miss Finlayson had stopped smiling, but she did not look very angry. 'What +were you doing up there, Barbara?' she repeated gently. + +'I was reading father's book,' answered Barbara, rubbing her eyes. 'I +didn't know it was there, till I looked up and saw it; and then I just +climbed up and got it. I think I must have been reading a great long time, +because I've got such an ache just there.' She curled her hand under her +arm and thumped the middle of her back. 'Do you ever get an ache in the +middle of your back when you've been reading?' she inquired earnestly. + +Miss Finlayson did not answer immediately. She stooped and picked up the +fallen book first, and replaced it on the shelf. Barbara began to wonder +if she was angry, and if that was why she had such an odd, serious look +on her face. + +'And do you like your father's book, Barbara?' she asked presently. + +'I think it's the most beautiful book in all the world,' answered Barbara, +without hesitation. + +Miss Finlayson was a little startled, but she did not show it. 'Then I +wonder if you can explain it to me,' she went on; 'for, do you know, I +find some of it rather difficult to understand?' + +Barbara threw back her head and laughed merrily. 'But I don't understand +_any_ of it,' she cried. 'You have to be grown up to understand it, father +says. And I'm not grown up yet, you see.' + +'No,' agreed Miss Finlayson. She was looking distinctly relieved, and +the twinkle had come back again into the depths of her eyes. 'I shouldn't +worry about that, though, if I were you,' she continued, sitting down +and taking the child on her lap. 'Some day, when you are quite grown up, +you will be able to understand it; and then we can read it together and +help each other over the difficult parts. What do you say to that?' + +'I think it will be beautiful; but it's a very long time to wait,' sighed +Barbara. 'When do you think I shall be quite grown up? Jill is grown up, +and she is eighteen. Shall I be grown up when I am eighteen?' + +'We will wait and see,' said Miss Finlayson, but somehow her tone was +not encouraging. 'Meanwhile,' she went on, patting the hand that was +fearlessly lying in hers, 'supposing we make a bargain that neither of us +will read your father's book until we can read it together? You see, +if you were to go on reading it now, you might understand it in quite a +wrong way, and then you would never be able to help me over the difficult +parts.' + +Barbara thought about it for a moment or two. 'But _you_ will have to do +without father's book all those years!' she exclaimed suddenly. + +'I have read it once, you see,' said Miss Finlayson, gravely; 'I think I +can manage to wait, if you will wait too.' + +Barbara still looked doubtful. 'Do you really think I shall be able to +help you over the difficult parts?' she asked. + +Miss Finlayson smiled mysteriously. 'Perhaps,' she said. 'One never knows.' + +'Then I'll wait till I'm grown up before I read it again,' decided +Barbara. 'It would certainly be a pity to spoil father's book by +understanding it all wrong.' + +'Or by dropping it from the top of other people's ladders,' observed Miss +Finlayson. That was all the reproof she gave her; and then she turned +briskly to the writing-table. 'Isn't there something you have written +for me?' she asked. + +Barbara jumped away from her in dismay. 'I quite forgot!' she said +penitently. 'I did begin to write something, and then--and then----' She +struggled in vain to remember what had happened, and gave it up with a +sigh. 'I don't know what I did, but I know I never wrote any more than +this,' she added, and produced the sheet of paper in a shamefaced manner. + +Miss Finlayson took it, and glanced at the title that was written +crookedly across the top of the page. 'A Comparrisson of the Possition of +Women, now and in the eighteenth century,' was what she read. Below that +came quantities of smudges and blots, and at the bottom of all was +inscribed: 'These are the ink bogies that came and wrote the Princess's +compossition for her, and saved her from the awfull anger of the cruel old +witch called Finny.' + +Miss Finlayson read this over more than once, then she folded up the sheet +of paper very carefully, keeping her face averted all the while. Babs was +sure she had been very naughty, and she was seized with a panic lest the +head-mistress should be too angry this time even to speak to her. + +'I--I know it was very naughty of me,' she confessed anxiously; 'I +couldn't think of anything to say about it, and the pen made such +beautiful bogies, and--and--are you _awfully_ furious?' + +Miss Finlayson had to look at her, then; and she made a last effort to +keep grave. The next moment the little room was filled with her laughter. + +'My dear little girl,' she exclaimed, 'I am afraid I am not a bit furious. +The fact is--the ink bogies _have_ saved the Princess!' + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BOOTS OF THE HEAD GIRL + + +'I'm going to be in your class for everything except Latin and +mathematics,' shouted Barbara, flying into the juniors' room just +before dinner. It seemed to her of the first importance that everybody +should know which class she was to be in, and she was distinctly +surprised when Jean Murray, whom she had addressed, turned her back on +her and began talking loudly to some one else. 'Don't you hear?' +persisted Babs, coming round in front of her again. 'I'm going to be in +your class for everything except----' + +'Sneak!' burst out Jean Murray, unable to control herself any longer. +'Tell-tale! You oughtn't to be in anybody's class, you oughtn't!' + +Barbara stood stockstill, and looked at her. All the courage she had +regained from her peaceful morning in Miss Finlayson's study dwindled away +again, and left her hopeless of propitiating these strange schoolgirls, +who seemed determined on being cross with her whatever she did. Angela +knocked roughly against her at the same instant, and surprised her at +last into a remonstrance. + +'What have I done?' she demanded. 'Won't anybody tell me what I have done?' + +No one answered her. The alliance of Jean and Angela, though Jean was +the youngest and Angela the most empty-headed of all the children there, +meant the existence of a strong party in the junior playroom; and the +poor little new girl stood a very small chance of asserting herself +against it. They were much like sheep, both in the upper and the lower +playrooms at Wootton Beeches; and the party that followed Margaret Hulme +in one room was like the party that followed Jean in the other. In +both cases it only needed some one a little stronger than the rest to +be the leader; and Jean, in spite of her inferiority in age, supplied +the strength, or what her school-fellows mistook for it, in a certain +doggedness of temper that pulled them along in her wake. Most of them +found it so unpleasant to be in her bad books, that she had very little +difficulty in managing them. + +Barbara turned appealingly to Angela. 'Why is Jean so cross with me?' she +asked. 'I haven't done anything to her, have I?' + +'Not done anything?' echoed Angela, looking over her shoulder for Jean's +support. 'Why, you went and told Margaret Hulme that Jean hadn't given +you Finny's message, and----' + +'Sneak! Tell-tale!' sneered Jean again. + +Barbara suddenly looked immensely relieved, and smiled in a friendly +manner at the enemy. At least this was a misunderstanding that she could +clear up. 'Is that all?' she cried. 'No wonder you were cross, if you +thought that. Of course I never said a word about it to Margaret Hulme, or +any one else; I suppose she guessed, or something. But why didn't you +give me the message? It would have saved such a lot of bother, wouldn't +it?' + +'Well,' gasped Jean, as though words almost failed her, 'I never heard +such wicked story-telling!' + +'Nor I either,' chimed in Angela, putting her arm round Jean's waist. +'She's done nothing but tell crams ever since she's been here. Come away, +Jean, dear; she isn't fit to be argued with.' + +The pair of them marched off, consumed with righteous wrath, to the other +end of the playroom. Babs, overwhelmed with the incredible idea that any +one should suppose her capable of telling an untruth about anything, +waited speechlessly for some one to interfere and take her part. But +those of her school-fellows who had been listening to the dispute hastily +followed the example of their leader, and ignored her entirely. They did +not stop to think whether they were being just; if the new girl told +stories--and Jean Murray said she did--it was certainly their duty to +teach her a lesson. When they looked for her presently, to see how she was +bearing their displeasure, they found she was no longer there. + +Upstairs, in the small, bare bedroom, the one spot where she felt safe +from the intrusion of horrible wicked people with horrible wicked +thoughts in them, the forlorn little new girl was covering page after page +of the ruled note-paper Auntie Anna had given her, with an ill-written, +ill-spelt account of her woes. + +'Dear, dear boys,' she wrote; 'I am very misserable. Everything is +horible. At least, that is not quite true. Finny is nice she is like +Auntie Anna and Nurse, and I've got a bedroom of my very own we all have +but mine is one of the nicest becourse it comes at the corner of the +house and looks over a wall into the orchard and there's a plant with +bunches of red beries that climes round my window and nobody else has +red berrys round their window but only me. Finny has lots of ripping books +in her study and she has father's book and she is very nice but the girls +are beests I hate girls! Girls tell stories and they say you do things +when you don't and they are awfull beests. They laugh at you every +time you open your mouth but I don't mind their siliness so much it's +their untruthfull hatefullness that I hate. I have never been so miserable +I wish father had never gone to that beestly America and I wish Auntie +Anna would come and fetch me back again. Do do ask her to come and take +me away from all those hatefull girls, tell her how miserabble I am +you don't know any of you what it is to be really misserable, etc. etc.' + +She had reached about the fifth page of this wild epistle when her door +flew open; and Ruth Oliver looked in, with a perturbed look on her +good-humoured face. + +'Why, there you are!' she exclaimed. 'Didn't you hear the dinner-bell? +We're half-way through the first course. Whatever are you doing?' + +Barbara began folding up her letter and forcing it with trembling hands +into an envelope. 'I've been writing home,' she said, and her voice +quivered. Of course, everything she did was wrong; but what did dinner +matter when there was her letter home to be written? + +'My dear child, we're not allowed to write letters except on Wednesday +afternoons. Make haste and put the thing away, do,' said Ruth, +impatiently. The sudden look of distress on the child's face touched +her, and she added more kindly--'Well, well, bring it downstairs with +you, Babe, and perhaps Finny will give you leave to send it to-day. Only, +do _come_.' + +Miss Finlayson not only gave her leave, but even offered to deliver the +letter herself, as she happened to be going to pay a call near Crofts +that same afternoon. It consoled Babs a little to feel that the boys would +not have to wait until the morning to learn how miserable she was; at +the same time, her present situation was no easier to bear, for all the +younger girls took a thoughtless pleasure in talking at her, whenever +Jean was present; and it was not nice to be with people who made remarks +about her, and yet pretended all the time that she was not there. The +early part of the afternoon at Wootton Beeches was given up to playing +games in the nine-acre field, which was marked out, during the winter, +into hockey grounds; and here Babs found herself, soon after dinner, +strolling aimlessly along by the hedge and wondering what there was about +her that made eighty-seven girls detest her so heartily. When she suddenly +remembered how much she had looked forward to playing real games with +real schoolgirls, her disappointment was too much for her, and the tears +rolled rapidly down her cheeks. + +'Why, here's the new girl, Barbara Berkeley. She'll do,' said a brisk +voice behind her, and the games-mistress descended upon her with a hasty +request 'not to hide away in corners when she was wanted.' + +'I didn't know I was wanted,' explained Barbara, following her up the +field. 'I never am wanted, you see.' + +'Nonsense! Everybody is wanted at this school,' replied the +games-mistress, who had a warm complexion, a breezy manner, and a +vigorous step, all of which, aided by her name of Burleigh, had secured +her the nickname of Hurly-burly. It never occurred to her that the new +girl was suffering from anything worse than the ordinary depression +natural to her newness, and she decided immediately that the best +thing to cheer her up would be to make her run about. In the eyes of +Miss Burleigh, running about was a cure for most things. 'Here, Charlotte +Bigley!' she called loudly; 'you ought to have looked after this child +instead of letting her escape. She'll do to play forward on your +side. Just put her where you like, and let's begin.' + +There was not much chance, when Miss Burleigh was about, of letting +private feuds spoil the game of hockey; and under the influence of +her infectious gaiety, the girls even began to show Babs a certain amount +of friendliness. Perhaps the fact that Jean Murray was bicycling round +the cinder-track, instead of playing hockey, may have had something +to do with their change of manner, but Babs did not inquire into that. +It was enough for her that she was allowed, for the first time in her +life, to run about in the open air without a hat; and she reddened +with pleasure when Charlotte Bigley, the captain of her side, actually +complimented her on the way she ran. Charlotte was the oldest of the +junior girls, and she was going to be moved into the upper Third next +term; so she always professed to be rather superior to the leadership +of Jean Murray--especially when Jean Murray was out of the way. + +'You'll make a very good right wing, when you've learnt to pass the +ball inside instead of poking at it,' she observed condescendingly, at +half-time. + +A very little was enough to send up Barbara's spirits with a bound, and +when the bell rang at four o'clock for preparation, she ran indoors with +as buoyant a step as the rest, and even whistled gaily to herself as she +unlaced her boots in the large cloakroom, where the girls were taking off +their outdoor things. Angela happened to overhear her, and at once took +upon herself to quench this unseemly appearance of cheerfulness, and to +remind her that she was still only a new girl. + +'You'd better look sharp and take off the head girl's boots, or you'll +catch it,' she advised her in a threatening tone. + +Barbara stopped whistling and became suspicious. 'Last time I was told to +go and do things for the head girl, it was all humbug,' she said. 'I'm +not going to be taken in twice, so you shut up!' + +Angela under the protection of Jean, and Angela by herself, were two +very different beings. The unexpected resistance made by Babs was quite +enough to change her bullying tone into an injured one, and she began +to edge off towards the other girls. 'This isn't humbug, anyhow,' she +said in a milder tone. 'If you don't believe me, go and see; that won't +hurt you, whether it's true or not. Of course, if you _want_ to make +Margaret jump on you, it doesn't matter to me.' + +There was certainly something in what she said, and Barbara heaved a +sigh for the complications of school life. It was so silly, she felt, +so extremely silly to make such a fuss about the displeasure of the +head girl, and to avoid it by doing such stupid things for her. Why +couldn't the head girl take off her own boots, like every one else? +However, it did not matter much, one way or the other; and Babs would +have taken off anybody's boots to secure a little friendliness in this +most unfriendly of assemblages. So she threaded her way through the crowd +of girls to where Margaret Hulme stood talking with the enthusiastic +hockey players who formed the first eleven. She had not begun to take +off her boots, Babs noticed, so perhaps it was true after all, and the +head girl was really waiting for some one to come and do it for her. + +'Ruth would make a splendid half-back if she'd only learn to strike +better,' Margaret was saying earnestly; 'and if Winifred wasn't so +frightened of tackling, we should have quite a--what is it, child?' + +'Please, I've come to know if you want your boots unlaced,' said Barbara, +rather faintly. She was fully prepared to be laughed at again for her +pains; and, indeed, it did seem a most ridiculous suggestion to make to +any one. But the head girl treated it as if it were the most natural thing +in the world. + +'Of course I do. Do you want to do them to-day?' was her reply, and she +immediately put her right foot a little forward and went on talking to +her eleven. + +'Oh, but I don't _want_ to take them off,' cried Babs, eagerly. 'I only +thought----' + +But Margaret was too deep in her conversation to pay any attention to +the youngest girl in the school; and Barbara knelt down unwillingly and +struggled with a stubborn knot in a muddy bootlace. She had hardly begun +her unattractive task, when some one dropped suddenly beside her on the +floor and laid a hot hand on hers. + +'You leave the head girl's boots alone!' said Jean's voice in her ear. +'It's just like your interfering ways, to come sneaking up to her when +I wasn't looking. Go away and mind your own business!' + +Now, Babs had just been resenting deeply the absurdity of her position at +the feet of the head girl. She did not want to take off anybody's boots, +and she thought it an exceedingly stupid thing to do. But to give up her +task because some one came and got cross about it, was quite another +matter. A lurking spirit of mischief, helped by the exhilaration she +still felt after her two hours in the open air, made her retain her hold +on the knot in the head girl's bootlace. + +'I am minding my own business,' she retorted stoutly. 'Ever since I've +been here, you and Angela have dinned the head girl's boots into my ears +till I'm sick of hearing about the stupid things. Now I'm here, I'm not +going to stop till I've done them; so you'd better go away yourself.' + +[Illustration: 'What in the name of wonder are you children doing down +there?'] + +Jean glanced at her furiously, and Barbara tugged away at the bootlace +and began whistling again, to show how little she cared whether Jean was +angry or not. Above their heads, the gossip went on busily about the style +of the first hockey eleven. + +'How about our chances against the Wilford club next month?' some one was +asking. + +'As to that,' said Margaret, with confidence, 'if we only keep our heads +we shall have no difficulty whatever in standing----' + +She did not finish her sentence, for at that instant a violent onslaught +on her right foot put a comical end to it by nearly upsetting her balance. +She just saved herself by seizing the arm of the nearest girl, and the +hockey gossip came to an abrupt finish. + +'What in the name of wonder are you children doing down there?' demanded +Margaret, wrathfully. The knot had come undone by this time, and Jean +was tugging at one end of the bootlace, while Babs, with an elfish glee +shining in her bright little eyes, was keeping a firm hold on the other +end. + +'You go away,' Jean was gasping in a choked voice. 'I've done this for +two years, and I'm not going to give up doing it now.' + +'You told me yourself I'd got to do it, and I'm not going away till it's +done, so there!' laughed Barbara, in reply. + +She made another dash at the foot between them, and the head girl again +nearly lost her balance. 'Stop quarrelling, and leave my foot alone, you +naughty little wretches!' cried Margaret, stamping her disengaged foot +vigorously. Jean, with two years of discipline behind her, awoke suddenly +to the voice of authority and started to her feet, covered with terror +at the enormity of her offence. But Babs uttered a yell of delight at +finding the victory so easily won. + +'Why don't you unlace somebody else's boots?' she shouted defiantly to +her adversary. 'There's lots of boots round here waiting to be unlaced.' + +Margaret stooped down and lifted her up bodily, and set her on her feet +beside Jean. + +'Now,' she said sternly, 'what do you both mean by behaving in this +disgraceful manner?' + +Neither of them answered her. Jean hung her head and looked as if she were +going to cry every minute, and Barbara waited to see what would happen +next. It did not seem to her that she had done anything so very dreadful, +and she wondered why no one saw how funny it all was. Ruth Oliver was +looking the other way, so she could not see her face; but the rest of +them seemed just as serious about it as the head girl herself. + +'Haven't you anything to say for yourselves?' demanded Margaret. + +Hot, angry tears began to well up into Jean's eyes. She never knew she +could have hated any one so much as she hated this new girl for coming +between her and Margaret Hulme. Barbara caught sight of her tears, and +the desire to laugh suddenly left her. + +'You see, we didn't know who had got to unlace your boots,' she explained +hastily. 'It isn't that it's such an awfully jolly thing to unlace +people's boots, but----' + +'Oh, that's it, is it?' interrupted Margaret, crushingly. 'Then you +needn't be in the same difficulty any more on my account, for in future +I shall unlace my own boots. Now, go away and do your preparation at +once, and don't let me see either of you again for the rest of the day.' + +Babs went off obediently to find her books, and she puzzled greatly as +she went over the displeasure of Margaret Hulme. 'Such a fuss to make +about _boots_,' she remarked to Charlotte Bigley, whose bookshelf was next +to hers. But even Charlotte was not proof against the furious account of +the matter that Jean Murray had just been giving to a sympathetic circle +of friends; and Barbara soon found that she had quite lost the little +popularity she might have gained in the hockey field by her behaviour +over the head girl's boots. + +'I think she must be mad,' declared Angela, in the buzz of conversation +that preceeded the call for 'Silence' from the presiding French teacher. +'She looked as though she wanted to kill Jean. I was looking at her all +the time, and I was quite frightened. She ought to be watched, I'm certain +she ought.' + +'She ought not to be spoken to by any one,' wailed Jean, hiding behind an +open atlas to avoid the scrutiny of Mademoiselle, who sat in the archway +between the two playrooms. 'Perhaps, if every one leaves her alone she'll +learn how to behave like other people.' + +Left alone she accordingly was, since Jean Murray had so decreed it; +and this time there were no half-measures about it. At tea-time, and +again at the supper table, the girls on either side of her turned their +backs upon her and talked busily to their other neighbours; and in the +playroom afterwards she found herself just as scrupulously avoided. It +was decidedly an uncomfortable state of things for the new girl, as it +was meant to be by those who were responsible for making it; but somehow +the new girl did not seem to mind it half so much as they would have +expected. All the evening she sat in the corner of the juniors' room +by herself, and any one would have said from the look on her face that +she did not care whether the others spoke to her or not. Now and then +she smiled, as she sat there with her elbows perched on her knees and +her chin supported on her hands; and the whole time her look of supreme +unconsciousness never left her. + +'She's hardened, that's what she is,' declared Jean, glancing in her +direction. This she said to keep up her own resentment against the new +girl, which was unaccountably beginning to cool. + +'She thinks it's grand to pretend not to care,' added the faithful +Angela. This, indeed, was the prevailing opinion among the children +of the junior playroom; and it was not comforting to their pride. + +All the while, Barbara guessed nothing of the comments she was provoking +by her manner. It was enough for her that she had got away once more +into her fairy kingdom, and that Kit and the magician and the old +fairy godmother had just turned out all the princesses who were called +schoolgirls, and had shut the gates in their faces. + +It was a very weary little new girl who went up to her bed that evening +after prayers. She was almost too tired to think over the events that +had been crowded into the last twenty-four hours, almost too sleepy to +realise that this was the close of her first day at school, the day she +had thought would be the happiest day in her life. Perhaps it was a good +thing she was not able to think too much about anything, at the end of +that first day at school. The moment Fräulein had turned out her light, +she went off into a dreamless sleep that might have lasted unbroken till +the morning, had not something occurred most strangely to break it. + +She did not hear the small pebbles that were thrown up, one after +another, at her window; it would have taken more than that to rouse +her from her first sleep, though once a handful of mould and gravel that +scattered itself all over the glass panes made her stir uneasily and +murmur something sleepily. It was just after this that some one began +calling 'Coo-ey' softly, on two particular notes; and after this had been +repeated two or three times, it gradually worked itself into the waking +dream of the little new girl. At the fourth time, she was wide awake +and listening with all her might. Another repetition of it, followed by a +gentle whistle that only Peter knew how to blow through his fingers, took +her with a flying leap to the window. The moon outside was flooding the +world with light and revealing every secret in the landscape for miles: +it flooded the big nine-acre field beyond the orchard; it flooded the +orchard itself, and the wall that ran along it, just under her window; and +it showed her five boys sitting astride on the top of the wall, and +five--no, _six_ bicycles leaning against the bottom of the wall. + +Barbara pushed open the lattice window as wide as it would go, and leaned +out breathlessly. Her finger was on her lips, and she shivered from head +to foot with cold and the fear of being overheard. Supposing that any +one were to find out they were there, and should send them away before she +could get to them? + +The five of them made frantic signs of welcome, as soon as they saw +the familiar dark head appear at the window. In spite of the graphic +description contained in her letter, they were beginning to be afraid +of having besieged the wrong window. Then Kit waved a screw of paper and +made more signs, and the dark head vanished from view again. It did +not take a minute to turn out all the contents of her corner drawer, +and to find the ball of string that Robin had given her for a parting +present, and then to fling the end of it down to Kit, who tied on his +screw of paper and nodded at her to haul it up. + +The moonlight was bright enough to enable her to read the few short +pencilled lines without much difficulty. + +'We've come to the rescue,' she read. 'Auntie Anna has gone away till +to-morrow, so we could not wait until then, knowing you were so jolly +blue. Come down quickly; there's a window under yours that you could get +through all right.' + +Barbara struggled with desperate haste into her pink dressing-gown, +thrust her bare feet into a pair of woolly slippers, and glided to the +door. In her haste and her half-awakened condition a more elaborate +costume than that, considering the urgency of the occasion, seemed quite +unnecessary to her. Along the silent gallery she pattered, and down +the wide staircase, then through the two empty playrooms into the front +hall. She knew the window the boys had meant; she had noticed the red +berries tapping against the glass, as she passed it on her way to Finny's +study the morning before. + +As she sped across the moonlit hall, she did not see that the study door +was ajar and that a chink of light shone out from it. All her attention +was absorbed in the one thought that the boys were going to take her away +from this houseful of unfriendly strangers, and that she would never have +to face them and their taunts again. + +She clambered on to the window-seat, and unfastened the shutter. That was +easy enough, but the bolt of the window baffled her for some seconds. +When she did manage to shoot it back, the noise it made filled her with +apprehension. In her terror lest she should have been overheard, she did +not pause another instant, but threw up the sash and hastily put one +slippered foot on the ledge. Once outside and on her bicycle, the boys +would take care that no one overtook her; and she would be free at last! + +Panting with excitement, she stooped through the open window and prepared +to draw her other foot after her. But before she had time to do so, a +light step had crossed the hall and an arm was flung round her from behind. + +'Barbara!' exclaimed Miss Finlayson. '_Barbara!_' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AN IMPROMPTU SUPPER PARTY + + +The disappointment was too much. Barbara covered her face with her hands +and burst into tears. + +'Let me go, do let me go!' she cried, struggling to free herself. 'It +can't make any difference to you whether I run away or not, and it does +matter to me and the boys!' + +'Barbara!' repeated Miss Finlayson, very quietly indeed. But the child +did not seem to hear. + +'Why won't you let me go?' she sobbed passionately. 'I can't stop any +longer in this horrible place. Nobody wants me here, nobody! Do, do let +me go back with the boys.' + +Miss Finlayson put her other arm for a moment round the little figure in +the pink dressing-gown, and she kissed the only place on the hot, wet +cheek that was to be seen. Then she stepped backwards and left her free. + +'You can go, Barbara, if you want to,' she said, just as calmly as before. + +Babs uncovered her eyes and looked at her incredulously. Now that she +was free to go the inclination to run away seemed to have left her. +Outside, the boys were waiting and wondering why she did not join them. +They could just see something at the open window, but the shadow cast +by the orchard wall made it indistinguishable. Miss Finlayson shot one +glance outwards, that took in the row of figures at the top of the wall, +and the row of bicycles at the bottom of it; then she waited passively +for Barbara to make up her mind. But this was precisely what the child +could not do. + +'Wouldn't you--wouldn't you _mind_?' she stammered at last. + +'Would it matter to you if I did?' asked Miss Finlayson. + +Babs stood still, in a miserable state of indecision, with one foot still +on the window-seat, and the other placed on the ledge outside. She was +beginning to feel exhausted by the excitement she had gone through, and +she gave a weary yawn that turned into a shiver. Miss Finlayson promptly +put an end to the situation by lifting her back into the hall. Directly +she did so, a series of thuds in the neighbourhood of the wall, followed +by the crunch of footsteps along the gravel path, sounded from without, +and the tops of five heads suddenly appeared at the open window. + +'If you please,' said a voice, pleadingly, 'it is our fault that the Babe +is trying to escape. You won't rag her for it, will you?' + +[Illustration: 'Five heads suddenly appeared at the open window'] + +'She never knew we were coming, till we came,' added another voice. 'We +made up the plan because we heard she was jolly unhappy.' + +'We couldn't possibly let her be unhappy another minute, or else we might +have waited till Auntie Anna came back,' chimed in a third. + +Then followed a disappointed cry in Robin's shrill tones. 'But _isn't_ +she going to escape, after all?' + +Miss Finlayson waited till they had finished speaking, and her large clear +eyes were brimming over with fun. + +'Of course she is going to escape, if she wants to,' answered the +head-mistress; 'but at present she seems to be in some doubt about +the matter. Supposing you come in and wait by the fire, while she +thinks it over. You might help her, perhaps, to make up her mind. Will +you climb through the window, or shall I unbolt the front door?' + +Naturally, a rescue party five strong could not do anything so tame +as to walk through a front door; so although the window was four or +five feet from the ground, Robin was hoisted up first by Peter's strong +arms, and then they all scrambled after him, one by one, till the little +procession was ready to follow Babs and her captor into the warm, cosy +study. Certainly, no one could have said that Miss Finlayson's room looked +stiff or austere at night, when the curtains were drawn and the fire had +burned down to a rich red glow. + +There was something like an uncomfortable pause, as soon as they found +themselves assembled there, with the light full on their faces. It was +true that the expedition had not failed, and that the Babe was as free +to escape now as she had been before Miss Finlayson came upon the scene; +but, for all that, none of them could help feeling that Miss Finlayson, +so far, had the game in her own hands, and that they were only making +themselves look ridiculous. For they could all see that her face was +overflowing with merriment, as she stooped down and poked the fire into a +blaze. + +Egbert cleared his throat, and tried to relieve the awkwardness of the +position by making some sort of an apology. He knew quite well that, being +the eldest, he ought to have suppressed the plot in the very beginning. + +'I am afraid you will think us rather mad,' he began, 'but the Babe's +letter put us all on our mettle; and we thought--that is, some of us +thought she ought to be rescued. Of course, we hadn't seen you then,' he +added desperately. Any apology for the rescue party certainly involved +the most unflattering insinuations about his hostess; and Egbert in his +confusion thought exceedingly bitter things about Kit and Peter, who +had dragged him against his will on this wild adventure. + +'It was awfully nice of you to think of me,' murmured Barbara, but her +tone was not so enthusiastic as it might have been. If only Finny would +stop being so obliging about it, she was sure she would find it so much +easier to run away. + +'Exceedingly nice!' echoed Miss Finlayson, warmly. 'I am only sorry +there should be this delay in carrying out your plan. However, that is +no reason why we should not have something to eat, while Barbara is +making up her mind. It must be nearly midnight, and I am starving. Will +one of you come and help me to forage? + +Egbert volunteered, with a feeling of relief at having something to do; +and he followed her out of the room. The moment the door closed, the +children's tongues were loosed. + +'Dear, dear Babs,' cried Robin, dancing round her gleefully; 'you will +come away from the horrid, cross old thing, won't you?' + +'Finny isn't cross, Bobbin; it's the others,' remonstrated Babs. + +'Why, of course you're coming, aren't you?' said Peter, who was impatient +to have done with this inaction and to carry out the glorious rescue they +had planned. The worst of it was that half its gloriousness seemed to have +subsided before the pleasant manners of the head-mistress. + +'I should think she was coming, indeed!' declared Wilfred. 'You don't +suppose I'm going to lose two hours of bed for nothing, do you?' + +Christopher, who had been silently observing Barbara all the while, shook +his head slowly. 'She won't come,' he said gruffly. 'They've made her +different already.' + +A vague feeling of uneasiness crept over Barbara. Kit was always right; +_was_ she different already? She gave herself an involuntary shake. 'Never +mind about me!' she exclaimed. 'Tell me about Crofts, and what you've been +doing since I left, and----everything. Do you mean to say your cold is +better already, Kit?' + +'Ah!' Wilfred hastened to tell her; 'that's because of the new doctor.' + +'There's a new doctor just settled in this part of the world,' explained +Peter. 'Your Finny thinks an awful lot of him, and that's why Auntie +Anna sent for him last night, when Kit got bad, instead of going to the +old-fashioned chap who lives round the corner at Crofts. _We_ don't think +anything of him at all, though; do we, boys?' + +'He _is_ a funny man,' commented Robin. + +'He's a beast,' said Kit, conclusively. + +'He's a clever beast, anyway,' protested Wilfred, feeling bound to support +the profession. 'He's done you an awful lot of good already, Kit, and +he lets you go out as much as you like. It's the modern treatment, or +something.' + +'Why is he a beast, Kit?' asked Barbara, sympathetically. The world had +convinced her so strongly, since yesterday afternoon, of its possibilities +in the way of beasts, that she felt sure Kit was right about it. + +'He grunts at you as though you weren't fit to speak to; and he isn't a +bit sorry for you, as old Browne used to be, but he seems to think you +are making it all up,' said Christopher, in an injured tone. + +'He doesn't like boys; that's at the bottom of it,' added Peter. 'He +looked black as thunder because we were rotting in the library with Kit, +and he cleared us all out before he'd even look at his tongue.' + +'And he never sent for a silver spoon, nor nothing,' cried Robin, in +much excitement. 'How did he 'xamine your throat, Kit, if he hadn't got +a silver spoon?' + +'Shoved a thing like a skewer down, that he took out of his pocket,' said +Kit, contemptuously. 'His pocket was full of rotten skewers and things.' + +'That's the modern treatment,' said Wilfred again. + +'Modern treatment be hanged!' remarked Peter, with a laugh. 'Jill hates +him too; he treated her as if she was about ten years old.' + +'Jill's furious because Auntie Anna has asked him to dinner next week; +and we shall have gone back by then, so she'll have him to herself all +the evening,' chuckled Wilfred. + +'How is Jill?' asked Barbara, as soon as she could get in a word. + +There was a little pause. 'She's all right,' said Christopher, +indifferently, after a moment or two. + +'Kit likes her _awfully_,' proclaimed Robin, with his head on one side. + +'So does Peter,' added Christopher, hastily. 'He was awfully gone on her +this morning, because she mended his cap when no one was looking.' + +'I don't think she means to be young-ladyish, really,' remarked Wilfred, +patronisingly. 'Last night, when you kids had gone to bed, she sang to +Egbert and me. She can sing!' + +'Now, why didn't she sing to us before?' demanded Peter. 'That's where +she's so awfully rum.' + +'She hasn't been properly trained, that's all,' said Christopher. + +'Why, she's studied under the best master in Paris!' interrupted Wilfred. + +'You goat! I meant _her_, not her singing,' snapped Christopher. + +'Oh, well, we all know why _you_ like her,' retorted Wilfred. 'It's +because she came and sucked up to you by offering to read aloud to you, +before Dr. Hurst said you might go----' + +'I never said I did like her,' disputed Kit. + +The door opened before they settled the matter; and the foraging party +returned, laden with spoil. + +'I brought everything I could find that looked interesting,' announced the +head-mistress. 'You must be ravenous after riding all that way; and I'm +sure I am, though I've done nothing but sit by the fire all the evening +and make time-tables. You might clear them out of the way for me, will +you, Robin? And you, Wilfred, can move the other things on to the floor, +or anywhere else you like. Will you hold this tray, Peter, while I lay +the cloth? No, I don't want you, Christopher, thank you. Can't you see +that Babs is bubbling over with news for you? Go and keep her company +by the fire till supper is ready.' + +It was very queer that she should know all their names like that, and +Egbert declared afterwards that he did not think he had told her anything +about them, though somehow she had kept him talking all the time they +were foraging in the larder. She had found out as much as she wanted +to know, however, and she found out a good deal more before supper was +over. There was something about her that made them all talk to her as +if she were an old friend of theirs instead of the stern jailer whom +they had come to defy. Not that she allowed them for all that to have +the conversation to themselves, for she chatted away herself as busily +as possible; and she made jokes about her impromptu supper until even +Egbert felt at his ease. + +'Can any one cut up his chicken without a knife?' she asked. 'There's a +knife short, but it doesn't do to be too particular on an occasion of +this sort, does it? Ah, of course, you have one in your pocket, Peter; +I am used to girls, you see, and a girl never has anything in her +pocket except a handkerchief, and that is generally half out of it. +Now, who is going to carve the beef? Not I, indeed! I have carved the +beef in this household for twelve years, and you needn't suppose I'm going +to miss such an opportunity as this of being idle. Do you know, there +have never been five gentlemen together at my table since I became a +schoolmistress? Think of that, Barbara, and do not wonder that I know +more about girls than tomboys. I'm sorry there isn't a salad, but +there's real chutnee from Bombay and not the other place--wherever that +may be. An old pupil sends me my chutnee; and I always keep it for +grand occasions, like this and the break-up party. Will you come to +our next break-up party? That depends, I suppose, on whether Babs stops +here or not. Ah, well, she will have made up her mind by that time, +won't she? I'm afraid I must forbid you cold pie, Kit, it's poison to +asthma; besides, here are real, stiff, stewed pears. Don't you like +stewed pears that are stewed _stiff_?' + +Barbara sat on the hearthrug with Kit, and she tried hard to determine +whether she should run away or not. With Finny revealing herself in +this wonderful new light, and Kit sitting beside her in the comfortable +firelight and sharing her plateful of stewed pears, the problem was +more than she could solve for herself. If this was school, she should +like to stay here always; and if it wasn't, well, she felt too lazy in +the present delicious state of things to worry herself any more about it. + +Supper came to an end at last, and Miss Finlayson glanced at the clock. +Egbert took the hint, and pulled Christopher away from the bookshelves, +which he had begun greedily to examine. + +'I think we must be going,' said the eldest of the five, politely; and +then he stopped short. The absurdity of the situation upset his dignity +again, and he stood there fingering his cap nervously. + +'What about Babs?' asked Miss Finlayson; and her eyes twinkled and shone +till one might almost have supposed them to be filled with tears. + +The boys looked towards the fireplace; but Miss Finlayson was standing in +front of it, and the little figure in the pink dressing-gown was hidden +from view. The head-mistress, at all events, had come to the conclusion +that the problem was too difficult for Barbara to solve. + +'Yes, what about the Babe?' said Egbert, glancing round at the others. + +'We did come to rescue her,' maintained Peter, 'and I do think----' + +'Isn't Babs coming?' interrupted Robin, in tones of amazement. It seemed +a great waste of time to come all this way, and not to rescue anybody in +the end. Of course, there was the supper to be taken into consideration; +but it would be contrary to all precedent in the Berkeley family, if the +boys were to let themselves be influenced by _supper_. + +'She'd be an idiot if she did come,' muttered Wilfred, under his breath. +He, undoubtedly, had been influenced by the supper. + +Christopher pushed a chair on one side with a quick, impatient movement. +'She won't come,' he said once more. Then he caught a look from his +hostess, and reddened slightly. 'Perhaps she had better stay,' he added, +with an effort. + +'Thank you, Kit,' said Miss Finlayson, with a nod and a smile at him. Then +she turned to the others again. The look of amusement never left her face +once. 'Will some one ask the Babe what she feels about the matter?' she +suggested. + +She moved on one side to give them the opportunity. But the question was +never put. Babs had stopped trying to make up her mind; and the little +girl in the pink dressing-gown was lying curled up on the hearthrug, fast +asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE DISENCHANTMENT OF A BEAST + + +Barbara was stretched, face downwards, on the floor of the junior +playroom. It was Wednesday evening, about ten days after the rescue +party had invaded Wootton Beeches; and she was trying, with the aid of +much ink and a footstool for a writing-desk, to answer Kit's last two +letters, and to send him all the news she had accumulated since that +important occasion. Over her head buzzed the desultory conversation of +her fifty-five companions, who still gloried in ignoring her; but she +heeded them no more than they had come to heed the unconscious little +person who lay stretched at their feet. It was really only a habit +with them, by this time, to ignore the new girl; for most of them had +quite forgotten the fancied grievance they had originally cherished +against her for her defiance of their favourite, Jean Murray. Indeed, if +it had not been for the fear of Jean's scorn and Jean's tongue, they would +undoubtedly have made friends with her days ago. With the best intentions +in the world, it was not easy to go on avoiding some one who never +seemed to notice that she was being avoided; and most of them wished +secretly that Jean Murray would 'come round.' But whatever Jean felt +about it, she showed no intention outwardly of coming round. Whenever she +found herself alone with a picked audience, she seized the opportunity to +inflame them and herself afresh, by recalling the evil behaviour of +Barbara over the head girl's boots, pointing out how, by a tissue of +deceit, the offender had wormed herself into Margaret's favour, to the +exclusion of other worthier members of the junior playroom--notably of +Jean Murray herself. 'You've only got to see how little she cares, and +_that_ will show you what a wicked mind she's got,' was the kind of +sentence that usually wound up one of these inflammatory addresses; +and after that, the junior playroom would redouble its coolness towards +Barbara Berkeley. But Barbara Berkeley persisted in going her own way +cheerfully, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to live +with fifty-five companions who never spoke to her; and the situation in +the junior playroom threatened to become too absurd to be maintained. + +Babs dropped her pen, and picked up one of Kit's letters for reference. +She had so much to say to him and so little time to say it in, that +she was afraid of leaving some of his questions unanswered. Kit's neat +and precisely written epistle was a great contrast to her own blotted +and smudged production; and Barbara sighed as she realised how much +he managed to say in a few words, while she expended far more time and +ink and energy, without expressing half as much as she wanted to tell him. + +'Dear Babe,' Kit had written--'This is to tell you that we got home +safely from the great Midnight Rescue Party, though of course I caught a +chill and had to have that beast Hurst again. I'll tell you presently +how Jill ragged him, though; and that was well worth being ill for. But +first of all I have to inform you what we all think is for your good in +the present crisis of your fortunes. (That means, now you are at school.) +Of course we are much afflicted to hear that you are not happy, and of +course we are not surprised to hear you do not like girls. (Nobody +could, except Egbert, and he doesn't really, only he pretends he does +because of that chap's sister last holidays. That's what has done for +Egbert, and it's a great pity, but what we must expect at his age, so +it's no use vociferating about it.) But to resume--we are all agreed +that the best thing you can do is to stop where you are until the period +of probation is over (that means till you've done being at school). You +see, it is only for three months at a time, and _we_ are here in the +holidays. It would be indescribable and unprecedented (which means +beastly, and awful, and things like that) if you had to live with girls +in the vacation too. But you are spared this, and it is your duty to be +thankful for every crumb of comfort that is to be substracted from the +situation. (Besides, you are a girl yourself; you can't get over that +though you mayn't like the idea, and you've got to go on being a girl +till you're a woman. It's something to feel that it can't last for +ever, and that in the end you will be able to be a woman, like Nurse and +Auntie Anna; and there's nothing the matter with them, is there?) If +your temporary indisposition only cures your spelling it will be money +well spent, for your spelling, my dear Babe, as father once said, is +both original and varied. So cheer up, and remember that Jill is but +a girl too, and that she is quite passable for one of that slack and +wayward sex. (Even when she is most like a girl I find I can bear with +her. For instance, when I lammented the other day that the rescue party +had been a frost, she said, "Why, you couldn't have bicycled unless it had +been, could you? Listen to the rain, now!") The post is going, so I must +infer the description of how Jill ragged the doctor till next time. +Meanwhile, cultivate the endurance for which English women have ever been +renowned; that is the result of the codgitations of the council we held +before the others went back to school.--Your affectionate brother, +Christopher Berkeley. + +'P.S.--I'm not quite sure about the m's in lammenting; it looks rum +somehow, but there isn't a dictionary, so I must leave it. C.' + +His other letter was much longer, and had evidently been written straight +off without the elaborate care that he had given to the composition of +the first one. As Babs read it, she pictured him sitting as he always did, +perched on a high chair at the writing-table, with his legs curled under +him and his nose very close to the paper; and suddenly, the deadly +feeling of home-sickness she had been battling with for days came over +her again. + +'This is the true account,' she read, through a suspicious mist in her +eyes, 'of how Jill ragged the doctor, when he came to dine with us, +the day after the boys went back. Of course, Auntie Anna didn't know he +was a beast, so she couldn't be blamed for asking him; but Jill and I much +regretted the circumstance. Robin grumbled and said he wished he was old +enough to sit up to dinner and have courses and courses and courses, +but that's his beastly greediness, as I pointed out to him, and he +doesn't know what it is to get a white tie under a filthy clean +collar and then an Eton coat under that and to wash your teeth extra +instead of only in the morning. But Jill came in and tied it, which was +something, and she even did it better than Nurse, who used to make you +feel sick by grinding her knuckles into your throat all the time. Having +prepared ourselves for the awful holocaust we then proceeded downstairs. +(Perhaps you won't be able to understand all the words in this letter, but +it's too good a joke to be spoilt by making it easy for you, so you +must do your best.) Jill had an awfully decent pink sort of thing on, and +it had rows of fringe that you could tie into knots without her rotting +you for doing it. Well, to come to the real matter of my discourse, we +found the doctor in the drawing-room, also the old Rector, who is called +Barnaby and is too old to count much, and besides Auntie Anna likes him +so we mean to extend to him the charm of our companionship. And the +Rector took in Auntie Anna, and the Beast took in Jill, and I followed +behind feeling rotten. You don't know how rotten it is, when you are +an odd one like that and nobody wants you in their conversation. You +see there were two conversations all the time, Auntie's conversation +with the old boy about tithes and rent charges and things that are +not suited to my intellect, and Jill's conversation with the doctor +which wasn't a conversation at all because he wouldn't talk. He sat and +glowered at his plate like a cat would, and if he lifted his eyes by +accident and caught one of us staring at him, he looked down again as +if he'd been shot. His conduct was most unaccountable and reprehensible +as I pointed out to Jill afterwards, and she said, "Yes," and grinned. I +was greatly incensed with him for giving her so much bother, because +she worked hard at him and never got cross once, and she asked him about +the village and about the poor people and about abroad, and all those +grown-up things, and the Beast said "Yes" and "No" and "Certainly," +till I wanted to kick him. I tried to help Jill once or twice by tossing +off one of my polite rejoinders, but he only behaved as if I wasn't there +and looked more like a poker than ever. That was what put Jill's monkey +up. She couldn't stand his indifference and acidity to me, so she began +to rag him and that shows that she is in reality a brick though +forced to maskerade as a girl. (That's another word you don't know +perhaps but it's in the dictionary.) She smiled at him as perky as you +please and she said in that soft-cotton-wolly voice of hers, "Is there +anything that _does_ interest you, Dr. Hurst?" And when the Beast was +so bowled over that he nearly dropped his knife and fork, she just went +on and explained how funny it was to sit all the evening with some one +who didn't want to talk, and didn't he think so too? I wanted to break +out into paeons of triumph in order to express my satisfaction at the +turn matters were taking, but I restrained my impetuosity in time and +waited for the Beast to speak. He stuttered rather and began chopping +up the pear on his plate as if it was for Christmas puddings, and then +he said he didn't suppose any young people were interested in what he was +interested in (which shows that all the while he lumped Jill and me +together as _kids_ and not fit to associate with him). Then Jill asked +him what he _was_ interested in, and he said "Bac--" (this is the longest +word of all and I'm afraid you won't find it in the dictionary, at +any rate not in the way I'm going to spell it) "Bacterioi--" oh hang! +here goes again--"Bacteriollodgy." Then Auntie Anna winked at Jill, and +we went upstairs and left the Beast with the Rector, which was a +punishment he more than deserved, as I told Jill. She said she was afraid +we boys were spoiling her manners, and Auntie said, "Of course they are!" +as if it was a good thing, which of course _we_ know it is. I had to +go to bed then, and Jill said it was awful desolation and despair when +I'd gone, because Auntie Anna began her conversation all over again with +old Barnaby, and the Beast instead of having the sense to join in it +went and sat with Jill all the evening. Which shows his puerrility and +blightedness. She sang to him too, and he got up to go the moment she had +finished which was beastly rude, I think. If he did think she sang badly +he might have played up better. But he's a beast, and you can't get over +that. He's very ugly and sulky looking, and he's about fifty I should +think, but Jill says not so old. That's her grown-up charitableness +which she can't get over. Anyhow----' + +The mist in Barbara's eyes threatened to become so serious at this point +that she put down Kit's letter hastily and returned to her own. Whatever +happened, she was not going to cry before all these girls, who never +understood anything she did. She was hard at work again by the time Ruth +Oliver pushed aside the curtain and looked in from the next room. + +'Barbara Berkeley!' she called. 'Has any one seen Barbara Berkeley?' + +One or two of the girls looked round casually at the slim figure on the +floor, but nobody roused her. Ruth Oliver was too good-natured a person to +inspire much authority in the junior playroom, and the children would +sooner risk her displeasure any day than Jean Murray's. If it had been +any other girl in the First, half a dozen of them would have hastened to +do her bidding at once. + +'Angela!' called Ruth, impatiently, coming into the room as she spoke; +'don't you know where the Babe is? She has got to go and see the doctor +at once.' + +On the other side of the curtain, both Barbara and her nickname met with +the popularity that was denied to them in the junior playroom; and the +note of familiarity in the elder girl's words sent Angela's impudent chin +up in the air. + +'We don't know anybody of that name in here,' she said, and went on +talking flippantly to the girl beside her. + +Ruth Oliver was not born to be a leader, and she was horribly afraid of +some of the younger ones, who had been quick enough to detect this long +ago, and naturally presumed upon it. But there were limits even to her +endurance, and she laid a stern hand on Angela's shoulder. + +'If you don't want to be reported to Margaret Hulme, you'd better fetch +Barbara to me at once,' she commanded, with a firmness she certainly did +not feel. + +Angela rose with a very bad grace, and strolled as slowly as she dared to +the other end of the room. 'If you'd only said that at first, it would +have saved all this fuss!' she muttered, as soon as she was at a safe +distance. + +Babs still lay face downwards on the floor, with her heels in the air +and her whole attention fixed on the paper she was covering with her +large round handwriting. If she did not finish her letter before the +prayer-bell rang, it would have to wait until next Wednesday. So she did +not take any notice when some one came and said something or another in +her ear. She was always in somebody's way, and if she moved, she would +only be in somebody else's way. So she stayed where she was. + +'Don't you hear? You've got to go and see the doctor,' repeated Angela, +loudly and with impatience. Thoughtless and empty-headed as she was, even +Angela Wilkins had the sense to see how absurd it was that the new girl +should turn on her persecutors by ignoring them. + +Barbara rolled over on her side and glanced up at her. + +'Oh, all right! I know how much of that to believe,' she answered; and she +rolled back again into her old position and continued her letter to Kit. + +'She says she doesn't want to see the stupid doctor, and nothing will +induce her to come, and she doesn't care what you say or anybody else +either,' was Angela's version, on her return to Ruth Oliver, of the way +in which Barbara had received her message. + +The elder girl looked down at her suspiciously. 'Did she really say that?' +she inquired. + +'Go and ask her, that's all,' cried Angela, full of righteous indignation +at having her word doubted. For she was really under the impression that +she had correctly described the attitude of the new girl towards the +doctor and Ruth Oliver. + +'Well, I will,' answered Ruth, and she threaded her way among the girls +until she too stood over the prostrate figure of the offender. + +'Babs,' she called, bending down. + +Barbara flourished her black legs in the air with an impatient movement. +'How you do bother!' she complained, stifling a sigh. 'That's the second +in five minutes. Why can't you leave me alone?' + +There was a start of surprise in the group that surrounded her. It is +probable that few of her listeners saw the ridiculous side of the new +girl's request to be left alone, when that was the punishment that had +been meted out to her ever since her second day at school; but any one of +them could have told her that that was not the way to speak to a girl +in the First. + +Ruth turned a little red from sheer nervousness; and the girls immediately +decided that she was afraid of the youngest child in the school, and began +to giggle with one accord. Barbara sighed again at this new interruption; +and raising herself on her knees, she sat back on her heels. + +'Oh, it's you!' she observed, shaking the hair out of her eyes. 'Why +didn't you say so? I thought it was just some one who wanted to bother.' + +'You've got to go and see the doctor in Finny's study. Make haste, Babe,' +said Ruth, who was smarting under the giggle, and wanted to get back into +the other room among her equals. But the Babe showed no signs of making +haste. + +'Why have I got to see the doctor?' she asked, opening her eyes. 'I'm not +ill or anything; and I want to finish my letter home. Don't you think it's +a mistake?' + +'No, I don't,' said Ruth, forgetting her nervousness all at once, and +lifting the child boldly off the floor. 'You've got to be examined to +see if you can do gymnastics, that's all. He's in Finny's study, waiting +for you.' She carried her playfully under her arm and set her down on +the further side of the curtain. Whatever the other tiresome children +might think of her, she knew that the Babe never criticised her, and that +gave her confidence. + +Barbara was still a little dubious about the sense of seeing a doctor +when she did not feel ill; but she trotted across the hall obediently +and went into Finny's study. She was only half conscious of what she +was doing, for she had been taken from her letter too abruptly to have had +time to wake up properly; and Babs always required plenty of time to +wake up, when she had been absorbed in anything. So the solemn-looking +young man, who sat in the low arm-chair, was a little upset when she not +only gave him her hand to shake but also put up her face to be kissed +as a matter of course. + +Dr. Wilson Hurst, in spite of Kit's idea of his age, was only twenty-eight +and quite young enough to feel extremely bashful. He jerked back his head +suddenly; and Barbara woke up. + +'Oh, I'm so sorry,' she said, smiling. 'I wasn't thinking. Of course you +don't want to be kissed; I shouldn't have dreamed of kissing you at home, +you know, because the boys feel just like you about kissing. But Ruth +kisses me such lots, and everybody seems to kiss everybody else here, so I +suppose I've rather got into the way of----' + +Here Miss Finlayson said 'Hush!' very softly; and the doctor pulled +something so queer and interesting out of his pocket at the same time, +that Barbara forgot everything else. 'What are you going to do with that +funny thing? Is it a speaking-tube?' she asked curiously. + +'I'm going to see whether your heart is in the right place,' answered the +doctor, and he was immediately so overcome at his stupendous levity in +making a joke over a medical examination, that he did not speak another +word till it was completed. As for Babs, she was immensely interested the +whole time, and never took her bright little eyes off his face once. + +'Is it in the right place?' she asked him, when he put the queer-looking +thing back in his pocket again. + +'Yes,' said the doctor, briefly. + +'Is anybody's in the wrong place?' pursued Babs, leaning against his knee +in the most friendly way imaginable. + +'Sometimes,' said the doctor. He marvelled at himself for not feeling more +irritated by her, when as a rule he found children so worrying. + +'Is yours in the right place?' persisted Barbara. + +'I--I hope so,' said the doctor, struggling with a grim smile. + +'Same place as mine?' continued Barbara, eagerly. + +Miss Finlayson put out her hand to stop her; but Babs did not see. The +doctor saw, and did not take any notice. + +'I imagine it is in the same place,' he said feebly. + +'But how do you know, unless some one else finds it for you?' inquired +Babs. 'You can't listen to your own heart through that funny thing, can +you?' + +'N--no, some one else has to find it,' admitted the doctor, and she +supposed he had remembered something that made him feel shy, for he +coloured furiously and rose to his feet rather hurriedly. + +Babs stood gazing up at him attentively, while he exchanged parting words +with Miss Finlayson. 'It's an awful pity you didn't go to see Kit when he +was ill,' she remarked, directly there was an opportunity. 'Kit's doctor +was a beast.' + +The long oval face turned slightly red again; and Miss Finlayson said +something very quickly about the wet evening. + +'Yes,' replied the doctor, stammering a little; 'I am sorry the evening is +so late,--so wet, I mean, and that I am so late in calling--positively +the first minute I've had to-day,--extremely busy this time of year----' + +A hand was stealing inside his, and he had to stop and look down again. +'Do you think you could go and see Kit next time he is ill?' asked Babs, +appealingly. 'It isn't nice to have a beast for a doctor, when you're ill, +is it?' + +The doctor went on looking down at her with an odd sort of smile on his +face. 'That reminds me,' he said--though how it reminded him the child +could not for the moment imagine--'that your cousin Miss Urquhart charged +me with a message for you. She sent you her love and promised to write +soon. I hope I have given it correctly.' + +'Oh!' cried Barbara, with great excitement. 'Do you know Jill?' The doctor +kept hold of her hand and nodded. 'And Auntie Anna? And the boys--_all_ +of them? Then you must know Kit!' + +'Yes,' said Dr. Hurst, grimly. 'I was the beast.' + +Then he stooped and kissed her cheek very stiffly, as if he were not used +to kissing people; and then he went away. Like Ruth Oliver, he had found +it difficult to feel nervous of the youngest girl in the school. + +Barbara climbed on the window-seat, and flattened her nose against the +window-pane, and watched the lamps of the doctor's trap receding down the +drive. 'I like doctors; don't you, Miss Finlayson?' she inquired, when +that lady came back into the study. + +Miss Finlayson agreed that she liked doctors very much indeed, and +she began to write something in a big book, while Babs knelt on the +window-seat and stared out into the rain and the darkness. Suddenly she +jumped down from her perch with a cry of dismay. + +'What's the matter now?' asked the head-mistress, absently. + +'I must have called him a beast!' gasped Barbara. + +'I think I heard something like it,' observed Miss Finlayson, still +writing. + +'But--but I didn't mean that _he_ was a beast,' proceeded Barbara, looking +distressed. 'I meant that somebody else was a beast. It wasn't my fault +that somebody else was _him_, was it, Miss Finlayson?' + +'It would be safer, I think, and perhaps a little more considerate, not to +call anybody a beast,' remarked the head-mistress, gravely. 'Then these +little mistakes would be avoided.' + +'I never will again,' sighed Babs. 'It's such a particular pity, because +he isn't a bit like a real beast, is he?' + +Miss Finlayson looked up while she dried the page she had just written. +'Have you finished your letters home?' she inquired pleasantly. 'The +prayer-bell will ring in about a quarter of an hour.' + +The reminder sent Barbara straight out of the room, and she sped swiftly +back across the hall, thinking busily. Clearly, the only reparation +she could make to the doctor was to transform him from a beast into a +fairy prince, and to offer him a place in her fairy kingdom; but he +would be rather lonely there without a princess, she feared, and she +herself already belonged to Kit. It was always easier to find princes +than princesses, and she did wish that Finny would not wear a cap and +scrape her hair back so tidily--two things which disqualified her, in +spite of her niceness, from being a princess in anybody's kingdom. +However, perhaps he would not mind doing without a princess just at +first; and in time she might be able to find some one who was neither +silly nor unkind, and would be worthy of a crown and the companionship +of a disenchanted beast. + +At this point in her reflections Barbara reached the door of the senior +playroom, and the sight of the elder girls, as they busied themselves +with their weekly correspondence, reminded her again of her letter to +Kit. For the moment, as far as she was concerned, her new prince would +have to whistle for a princess. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BABE'S 'FURY' + + +In the junior playroom Jean Murray had been taking the opportunity to +revive the animosity against the new girl. + +'Can't you see that she's laughing at us all?' she exclaimed to a circle +of humble listeners. 'It's all very well to pretend to be such a baby; +that kind of thing may go down with the elder ones, but it won't do here. +Anybody can see that she's only putting it all on, to be aggravating.' + +'She told a story the very day she arrived,' chimed in Angela from behind. +'A girl who could do that would do anything.' + +'Can't you leave the child alone?' suggested Charlotte Bigley, who +happened to be listening. 'She seems such a harmless infant to me. I +don't believe she even knows she is supposed to be in disgrace.' + +It required a good deal of courage to stand up alone against all the girls +in the junior playroom, and Charlotte flushed a little when they all +laughed at her. + +'That's where her artfulness comes in,' declared Jean. She thought she +heard her rival's voice on the other side of the curtain, and jealousy +made her more bitter than before. 'If you ask me, I believe she only +pretends not to notice any of us, so as to pick up everything she can; and +then she goes and sneaks it all to the elder ones.' + +'Oh, Jean!' remonstrated Charlotte. + +Jean looked a tiny bit ashamed of herself. It was not nearly so easy to +say unkind things about the new girl as it had been a week ago. All the +same, her unhappiness at the continued coldness of Margaret Hulme was +quite genuine, and it hurt her sorely to think that the head girl was +now smiling on the interloper as she used to smile upon her. + +'Well, it's true!' she vowed. 'I vote we don't leave her alone, or give +her the chance of mocking at us, any more. She wants to be taught that +she's the youngest girl in the school, and that it isn't anything to be +cocky about. Anybody who likes can make up to her, as the big girls do; +but _I_ am going to see that she keeps in her place.' + +'What a fuss to make about an innocent brat like that,' remarked +Charlotte, smiling scornfully. 'It's jealousy, because Margaret is +kind to her: that's all it is!' + +That was decidedly what it was, but it did not soothe Jean's temper to +be told so in this blunt manner; and by the time her rival came in from +the seniors' room, the enemy had been worked up into a fine state of +resentment against her. Unconscious as ever that there was anything +unusual in the atmosphere of the junior playroom, Barbara slipped through +the girls who were standing about, and reached her footstool and her +letter almost before they noticed that she had returned. There seemed +to be some wrangling going on between Jean Murray and Charlotte; but Jean +Murray was always wrangling with some one about something, and Babs +paid no more attention to it than to the sudden hush that followed as +she dropped down in her old position on the floor. It was a good thing, +she thought, that nobody talked just then, because there was so little +time left in which to finish her letter. She took up the pages she had +written and glanced over them. + +'Thank you awfuly much for your advice,' she had scrawled in her large +childish hand. 'I am cheering up lots and now that I don't take any +notice of the girls and their awfull siliness it is quite nice being here +but not nearly so nice as being at home with you and father all of +which is now burried for ever alass in my past. I don't hate girls +like I did at first. At first they were always bothering and asking +quesstions and being inquissitive but now they leave me alone and never +talk except when they want the salt or the butter or haven't heard the +number of the psarm at prayers or can't do their algibra I have lots +of algibra to do because girls aren't good at algibra I don't think so I +always do their algibra for them. Girls are no fun like boys but as long +as they don't say horible things to me like they did at first I think I +shall be able to bear them all right but its rather dull excep when we +play hockey I'm getting on at hockey Hurly-Burly says and she says I +shall play in matches some day and she's a brick and I like her. We +haven't had any gym yet because the gymnasiam is being painted but +we're going to begin to-morrow and I'm longing to begin they can't laugh +at my short skirts at gym because everybody's skirt is short at gym +and its red and very becomming Ruth says Ruth is Ruth Oliver and she's a +big girl and she hooks up my frocks and kisses me she kisses me rather +a lot but it's Ruth Oliver so I can put up with it. School is very nice +when it's games or algibra or latin but it's horrid when its dictation or +geography or coppies Finny says I must try so I am trying but I wish I +wasn't such an ignorrant girl I heard Jean Murray say yesterday I was the +most ignorrant girl that ever came inside this house but praps that was +because I had seventeen speling faults.' + +She sighed as she dipped her pen in the ink again. That was all she had +said, after writing nearly all the afternoon and evening. And she had so +much more to say, and there was so little time left before prayers! + +'I have just seen the doctor who is a Beast and he isn't a Beast,' she +had written laboriously on a fresh page, when Jean Murray stooped over +her and shook her vigorously by the arm. + +'Oh, dear!' sighed Babs, feeling in her pocket for the handkerchief that +so rarely seemed to be in it. 'There's another blot, and I'm in such a +hurry!' + +'It's no use losing your temper about it,' said Jean. 'You've got to get +up from the floor and fetch a desk, if you want to write letters.' + +Barbara looked up in mild surprise. 'But I'm not losing my temper! Are +you sure you don't mean _you_ when you say me?' she asked with a spice +of mischief in her tone. + +'There!' said Jean, turning triumphantly to the attendant Angela. 'Didn't +I say she was only laughing at us? Now, look here,' she continued, +turning again to Babs, 'you've got to remember that you're the youngest in +the school----' + +'Oh, don't!' interrupted Babs, putting up her hands to her ears. 'You'll +begin about the head girl's boots next.' + +It was the most luckless thing she could have said, for it convinced +Jean more than ever that the new girl was bent on making game of her +most serious feelings. + +'I shall say anything I choose,' she retorted hotly. 'Get off the floor +at once, will you? We don't want ink spilt all over the place; this isn't +a nursery.' + +'Who's spilling ink all over the place?' asked Barbara, without moving. +All the mischief that was in her rose uppermost when any one spoke to her +like that. + +'You are, of course,' returned Jean, shaking her again. 'You're so badly +brought up that you don't know how to behave in a civilised house. You're +nothing but a young savage; I heard Margaret Hulme say so, directly you +arrived--there! It's easy to see you've never had any one to look after +you.' + +The mischievous look died out of the child's face, and she gathered up +her papers and scrambled slowly to her feet. The boys would have known +that such lamblike behaviour was only the prelude to one of the Babe's +'furies'; but Jean thought she had succeeded at last in subduing her, and +she became exultant. + +'It's time that some one civilised you,' she remarked scornfully. 'I'm +glad I've been brought up properly, and not neglected like you.' + +Barbara flashed round upon her suddenly. 'What's the matter with my +bringing-up?' she demanded in a breathless voice. 'My father brought +me up, and no one in the whole world could have brought me up better +than he has.' + +'That accounts for it,' scoffed Jean. 'Fathers can't bring anybody up, +especially girls. I've heard mother say so, lots of times.' + +Barbara's eyes were glittering brightly. 'My father can,' she answered +swiftly. 'My father isn't like other people's fathers. You shouldn't judge +my father by your father. I don't expect your father to be clever because +mine is, do I?' + +The implied insult was quite accidental on her part, in spite of the anger +that was growing in her; but Jean could not be expected to know that. + +'How dare you say that my father isn't clever?' she cried indignantly. +'My father is a professor at Edinburgh, so there!' + +'My father writes books,' answered Babs, proudly. 'It's much more +wonderful to write books than to be a professor, because everybody all +over the world hears of you if you write books.' + +'That depends on whether they're good books,' argued Jean, warmly. 'You +_have_ to be clever if you want to be a professor, but any stupid person +can write a stupid book, and nobody ever hears of that kind of book at +all.' + +'Everybody has heard of my father's book, though, so that shows how little +you know about it,' replied Barbara. 'The people in America liked his book +so much that they asked him to go all the way to America to lecture about +it. The people in America never asked _your_ father----' + +'Is your father called Everard Berkeley?' asked Jean, suddenly. She +had not listened to grown-up conversations in the Christmas holidays +for nothing, and she thought she saw her way at last to crushing the +irrepressible new girl, once and for all. + +Babs nodded. She was too proud to say anything. What other girl in the +room had a father who was so celebrated that people knew him by his +Christian name, instead of calling him just _Mr._ Somebody? She had only +a short time in which to enjoy her triumph, however, for Jean Murray +turned quickly on her heel, and walked off with a swaggering step. + +'Then my father says that your father is a failure over here,' she +answered, tossing her head contemptuously. 'Nobody will read his old +book in England; so he was _obliged_ to go to America.' + +The other girls were beginning to notice the dispute, and they came +crowding round to hear what it was all about. Most of them were in +time to see Jean Murray walk off with her head in the air, just as the +little new girl clenched her fists and crouched down as if to make a +spring. Then the storm broke, and the Babe's fury was let loose among the +fifty-five occupants of the junior playroom. + +It was an easy matter, in that spring forward, to send some half dozen or +so spinning out of her way, but Barbara did not stop to see what happened +to them. All she wanted to do was to reach the arch offender of them all, +the one who had dared to slight her father, and to hold him up to the +ridicule of fifty-five girls. + +Nobody quite knew what did happen on this unexampled occasion in the +annals of Wootton Beeches; and certainly nobody stirred a finger to put +a stop to it. All that the girls in the senior playroom could tell about +it afterwards was that a sudden scuffle and several screams broke the +hush and hum of voices on the other side of the curtain; and then Angela +Wilkins dashed through the archway with a terrified look on her face, and +seized Margaret by the arm. + +'Oh, come! do come!' she sobbed out in her fright. 'Barbara Berkeley has +got Jean Murray down on the floor, and she's _killing_ her!' + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE END OF THE FEUD + + +When the prayer-bell rang that evening, it interrupted a wild tumult in +the junior playroom. The elder girls had rushed through the curtain, +on the terrified summons of Angela Wilkins; and the whole school crowded +and thronged round a confused heap in the middle of the floor. Nothing +much was to be seen except two lanky black legs, a crumpled white frock, +and a good deal of untidy brown hair; and at first nobody did anything +but stare and exclaim. The ringing of the prayer-bell, however, brought +them all to their senses. Margaret Hulme made a sudden dash at the two +combatants, picked up the one that came first, and dropped her in a corner +of the room, where she could be hidden from view until she had time to +recover herself. Then the head girl turned to the child who still lay +sobbing and gasping on the floor. + +'You get up and behave yourself!' she said in a stern undertone; and Jean +Murray struggled to her feet and went off snivelling, to be comforted +by the trembling and excited Angela. Then the elder girls melted away +again into their own room, and a kind of uneasy hush settled down on the +eighty-seven inhabitants of Wootton Beeches. + +Barbara rubbed her eyes and stared wildly round her. A solid wall of +girls stood between her and the scene of the recent scuffle; she could +not see what had become of her victim, and at first she did not even +realise what was producing this wonderful calm. Then the girls in front +of her began slowly to move away towards the archway; and once she +caught a glimpse through the curtain of the door in the room beyond. It +was only a glimpse, for the girls closed up again immediately; but it was +enough to show her the stately figure of Miss Finlayson, as she stood +and wished her pupils good-night, one by one. Barbara had watched the +same ceremony for a good many evenings now, but it had never seemed +quite so orderly or so solemn before. To-night, it made a peculiar +impression on the wild little tomboy who had been brought up without +discipline or control, and the strangeness and the misery of her position +overwhelmed her as with a new feeling. At the same instant, in striking +contrast to the dismal reality, came the remembrance of the dream she +had dreamed all her life about this very place called school; and, +unnoticed by her school-fellows, who were fully occupied in trying to +behave as if nothing had happened, she broke down and sobbed bitterly +in her corner. + +The stream of girls that had been filing past Miss Finlayson came to an +end at last; but Miss Finlayson did not follow them immediately to the +chapel. Far away, in a distant corner of the junior playroom, crouched +a dishevelled little girl in a crumpled frock, weeping dolefully for a +dream that had never come true; and Miss Finlayson stood and waited in +her place by the door. + +A sense of the extreme stillness, now that the footsteps of the girls +had ceased, slowly impressed itself upon Barbara; and she looked up with +a new feeling of alarm. There, through the opening in the curtain, she +could see the stately figure of the head-mistress in the room beyond; +and Babs thrust a round, inky ball of a handkerchief into her pocket, and +hastened towards her in a panic. + +'I didn't know you were waiting for me,' she said, fighting to keep +the quiver out of her voice. 'I didn't know they had all gone. I--I'd +forgotten it was prayers now.' + +She knocked over a chair as she stumbled across the room, and once her +dress caught on the edge of a desk and stopped her; but Miss Finlayson +waited with her hand out, and the little new girl reached her at last. +Once more, behind the grave glance of the blue-grey eyes, lurked a +suggestion of something softer and more human, and it gave Barbara a +little courage. + +'I wasn't crying because I was sorry I'd thumped Jean Murray,' she burst +out. 'I'm not a bit sorry, not a _bit_! I'd like to thump her again for +saying--for saying----' + +It sounded uncommonly like telling tales, and she had to stop. Miss +Finlayson still had hold of her hand, and still looked down at her with +the mixture of expressions on her face. + +'Are you coming up to prayers, Babs?' was all she said. + +Barbara had not even heard the question. She was full of her grievance +against Jean Murray, which she had almost forgotten for the minute; and +she burst out again, more angrily than before. + +'Don't you understand?' she cried passionately. 'I wasn't crying for +_that_; it--it was something else, but I can't tell you what it was, +because you'd only laugh. They all laugh--except when they're just being +horrible! Why didn't you let me run away last week? I don't want to stop +with people like Jean Murray, and--and all the rest of them; I hate being +here, I hate the girls, I hate you! Why won't you let me go away?' + +She hardly knew what she was saying. She had not been in such a passion +since the dreary day, two years ago, when they took her nurse away from +her, and she had made herself ill with fretting. + +Miss Finlayson tightened her grasp on the hand that was struggling to free +itself; then she bent over her rebellious little pupil, and laid her other +hand against her burning cheek. + +'Are you coming up to prayers, Babs?' she repeated. Her persistence began +to take effect, and the cool touch of her fingers was very soothing. + +'Why--why won't you let me go away?' sobbed Babs, and the tears rained +down her cheeks again. + +'Why?' echoed Miss Finlayson, producing a handkerchief that had not been +used, like Barbara's, to mop up ink blots. 'Because I want you myself, +to be sure.' + +She dried the child's eyes as she spoke; and the small tear-stained face +looked up at her wistfully. 'Do you want me?' asked Barbara. 'Does anybody +want me--_truthfully_?' + +Miss Finlayson nodded, and a look slowly deepened in her face that gave +the child confidence. 'Yes, Babs, truthfully,' she answered. Then she +repeated for the last time, 'Are you coming to prayers?' And keeping the +hot little hand within hers, she led her upstairs to the chapel. + +At Wootton Beeches the girls always walked in and out of chapel in +the order of their classes, beginning at the top of the school. But, +this evening, the youngest child in the school walked out in front of +everybody, for Miss Finlayson held her by the hand and would not let +her go. They stood together, a curiously assorted couple, at the end of +the passage that led to the other wing of the house; and one after another +the girls passed them on their way to their rooms. There was not a +sound for some moments, except the tapping of footsteps on the polished +boards; then, walking last of all, came Jean Murray. Babs broke from her +companion and flung herself impetuously forward. + +'I say, I'm awfully sorry I thumped you on the head just now,' she began, +and held out her hand invitingly to the enemy. 'I wasn't a bit sorry at +first, and I wanted to do it again, _frightfully_; but I am sorry now, +and I don't.' + +The girls who were still in the passage lingered, and looked back. +Evidently, there was no end to the sensations that Barbara Berkeley +meant to produce in her first term at school. + +'Hush!' whispered Jean, glancing round timorously at the head-mistress. + +Babs looked amazed. 'Won't you shake hands?' she asked. 'I know I thumped +you awfully hard, but still----' + +'Sh-sh!' repeated Jean, trying to push past her. 'Don't you know we're not +allowed----' + +'I think--I _do_ think you might make it up,' continued Babs, in a +disappointed tone. 'Even if I did hurt you rather, you must own you were +very mean.' + +Jean Murray, feeling the eyes of authority fixed upon her, made another +attempt to escape. 'Can't you wait till to-morrow?' she asked in an +agitated whisper. + +'I should have waited, if it hadn't been for that hymn,' answered the +child, still barring the way obstinately. 'I can't help it if the hymn +made me feel funny without making you feel funny too, can I? I can't think +what there was about that hymn,' she added to herself reflectively; 'I +never remember noticing a hymn so much before.' + +Miss Finlayson came up to them, and Jean fairly quaked. If there was a +rule that the head-mistress was strict about, it was the rule of silence +after prayers. Jean knew, for she had been unlucky enough to break it more +than once. + +'I have changed your room, Jean,' said Miss Finlayson, calmly. 'Angela +will have yours for the rest of the term, and you are to sleep in number +fourteen, next door to Ruth Oliver. I have just told Angela, so you can +go straight to her old room now, and I will send up one of the servants +to move your things for the night. The rest can be done in the morning. By +the way,' she added, as she left them, 'you three may talk till the +lights are put out; for it seems that Barbara has something to say that +will not keep until to-morrow. Good-night.' + +She walked away downstairs with a deliberate step; and the two children +were left standing together on the landing. + +'Well, I never!' exclaimed Jean, staring after Miss Finlayson. + +But Babs was less concerned with the peculiarities of the head-mistress +than with her own immediate business. 'How much longer are you going to be +before you shake hands?' she asked. + +'Oh, that's all right,' answered Jean, awkwardly, and she at last put a +limp hand into the one Barbara was tired of pressing upon her. They +trotted along the passage side by side, Jean feeling a little overwhelmed +by the suddenness of the reconciliation, while Babs wondered what had +happened to make her so silent all at once. To her it seemed the most +natural thing in the world to be on good terms with the enemy whose +head you had just thumped, provided that you had apologised suitably +afterwards; and she chatted away cheerfully until Jean was obliged to +stifle her inclination to be dignified. + +'I say,' said Babs, when they reached the gallery in the other wing of +the house and were hurrying round it to their rooms; 'shall I be punished +a lot for knocking you down this evening?' + +Jean recovered some of her self-assurance. If she was to be denied the +pleasure, in future, of persecuting the new girl, there was no reason why +she should not still patronise her. + +'Punished!' she echoed. 'That's all you know about it. Nobody is ever +punished here.' + +It took Barbara a moment or two to get used to this new idea, and by that +time they had reached their rooms. She returned to the subject soon after, +however, when Ruth had opened the doors that led from her room into both +theirs, so that they could talk across her if they liked. + +'Can you be as naughty as you choose in this school?' demanded Babs, in +a puzzled tone. + +'I don't advise you to try,' remarked Ruth. + +'Why not? What would happen if I did?' asked Babs, curiously. + +'Well, you'd feel jolly small, and have to come round in the end and +behave like other people,' said Jean, raising her voice to make herself +heard. + +Barbara wandered into Ruth's room to have her frock unfastened, and +continued the discussion from there. + +'Then, is being good at school the same thing as behaving like other +people?' she said doubtfully. + +The others seemed to have some difficulty in answering this. 'There!' said +Ruth, giving her a little push; 'make haste and get undressed.' + +Barbara wandered back into her own room again, and thought it over +carefully. 'Being good at home wouldn't be the same thing as behaving +like other people,' she observed presently. + +'Home isn't school,' answered Ruth. 'And Finny's school isn't like other +people's schools,' she added. + +'Isn't it?' said Babs, with interest. 'Where's the difference?' + +'Ask Jean,' replied Ruth; and Jean took up the tale from beyond. + +'I was at another school before I came here, and it was very different, +I can tell you,' she remarked. 'There were nothing but rules there, and +you always seemed to be breaking one or another of them, without knowing +it; and then you got punished. I was punished the whole time I was there.' + +'What sort of punishments?' asked Barbara. + +'Stupid punishments,' answered Jean, vaguely. 'Punishments that made +you feel foolish, and made you hate people. I did hate a lot of people +at that school. I thought I was awfully wicked because I hated so many +people. And then I came here,' she wound up triumphantly. + +'And did you find you were good when you came here?' asked Babs. + +'You shut up and get yourself ready for bed, or else Fräulein will catch +you,' was all Jean said in reply to this. + +Barbara gave one or two perfunctory taps to her head with a brush. 'I +suppose that's why we're left so much to ourselves,' she remarked, after +a pause. 'We never see the teachers except at meals or in lesson time, do +we?' + +'Of course we don't,' replied Ruth; 'that's where Finny's school is so +different, you see. In most schools you are being watched all day by some +one or another, and it makes you whisper because you don't want to be +overheard. Nothing makes Finny so furious as to catch any one whispering.' + +'Is she ever furious?' inquired Barbara. + +'Don't be a young silly,' said Ruth, good-naturedly, a reply which had +no effect whatever upon Barbara. + +'It seems to me,' she went on thoughtfully, 'that it's very difficult to +know what is wrong and what isn't, when there aren't any punishments and +no one is there to tell you.' + +'Well, you're supposed to have some sense, you know,' explained Ruth. +'Finny's great idea is that you should think for yourself and not go to +other people to find out things. She says being good isn't worth much, if +you're only good because some one else tells you to be good.' + +'That's all very well,' objected Babs, 'but suppose you don't know without +being told?' + +'Well, if you don't know that behaving like a wild Indian is wrong, it's +not much good being there to tell you so,' said Jean, bluntly. + +The point of her remark was quite lost on Barbara, who was still puzzling +over a question that had never occurred to her before. 'At home,' she +observed, 'we never talk about whether a thing is right or wrong. If we +did, the boys would call it awfully slack.' + +'What do they call it when you nearly kill people by knocking them down +and hitting them?' asked Jean, rather suddenly. The application of hot +water was causing the bruise on her forehead to smart most unpleasantly. + +'Oh!' said Barbara, in a surprised tone; 'I thought you had made it up?' + +'Bother making it up,' grumbled Jean, 'when you've got a lump as big +as----' + +'Why didn't you say so before?' cried Babs, in great concern. 'Haven't +you any pomade to put on it?' + +Something very like an amused chuckle came from the direction of Ruth +Oliver, but Babs was in far too great a hurry to notice that. Flinging +everything right and left on the floor, she cleared out two drawers and +a box before she succeeded in finding the bottle she wanted. + +'Here it is!' she exclaimed, taking it in to her wounded foe. 'It's +awfully good stuff, really; and it keeps you from turning blue and yellow. +We always use it at home.' + +Ruth's chuckle grew into a hearty laugh. 'I should think you wanted pounds +of it in your home, if they're all like you!' she exclaimed. + +Barbara wondered what the joke was. 'They're not like me,' she said +simply. 'The others are all boys, you see, so they get their own way +without fighting.' + +And when the German governess came to turn out their lights, she found +the three white-robed figures standing together in Jean's room, one of +them shaking with laughter, another trying rather unsuccessfully to keep +grave, while the third, holding out a bottle in her hand, looked at them +both with a puzzled air. There was no end, thought Fräulein, to the +caprices of English children. Had not Miss Finlayson been relating to +all the teachers downstairs, how the two little ones before her had +flown at each other in a passion, just before prayers? + +The junior playroom felt equally incapable of grappling with the +situation, when the new girl marched gaily into it the next morning +with her arm linked in Jean Murray's. For once, Jean's followers found +themselves at a loss. Not having been informed what actually had taken +place in the passage the night before, they could hardly be expected to +know all at once how to treat this new state of affairs. Nor did Jean +trouble herself to enlighten them. Indeed, she was so cross when any one +approached her on the subject, that even Angela had to leave her alone; +while the junior playroom in general, being less devoted, threw out +dark hints about temper as soon as Jean was out of hearing. Angela, +however, had the wit to see the one thing that was evident--the feud +with the new girl was at an end, and anybody who wanted to keep friends +with Jean Murray in future would have to accept Barbara Berkeley as +well. So she decided to accept Barbara herself, to begin with; and she +set to work at the same time to convert the whole of the junior playroom. + +'If you don't behave decently to her, you'll have Finny down on you,' +she advised, in the few moments allowed for conversation after breakfast. +'Anybody could see that, from the way Finny glared at Jean last night.' + +'Did _you_ see it?' inquired Charlotte Bigley, with unpleasant directness. + +'N--no, not exactly,' admitted Angela, uncomfortably. 'But Mary Wells +did, and she told me. And look here,' she went on, shifting her ground +hurriedly, 'Jean's made it up with Barbara Berkeley, and the sooner we +do the same the better it'll be for us. Besides, why shouldn't we make it +up? It's such a bore to have to keep on remembering all the time that +you're _furious_ with some one!' + +This was more to the point; and the junior playroom, which had never +thrown itself with any heartiness into the feud, decided that Barbara +Berkeley was to be accepted without any more delay. Unfortunately, +Barbara Berkeley, who had never realised that her school-fellows had +been leaving her in peace on purpose to annoy her, was quite unprepared +for the sudden change in their behaviour. + +Charlotte Bigley was the first to put into force the resolution that +had been arrived at by the junior playroom. 'If you like,' she observed +carelessly, when she met Barbara by the bookshelf, just before the first +class, 'you can put away Ruth Oliver's desk after preparation, instead +of me.' + +For her part, she had always felt kindly disposed towards the new girl, +and the offer she was making now came straight from her heart, and was the +most generous one she could think of at the moment. But Babs only looked +dismayed. + +'Why must I put away Ruth Oliver's desk?' she demanded. 'I have to put +away Margaret Hulme's as it is; and it's so difficult to get dressed +in time for supper when there's such a lot of desks to put away first. Of +course,' she added with an effort, 'I'll do it to please you, if you +really want me to.' + +'Why, I thought you'd _like_ to do it!' exclaimed Charlotte, staring at +her. 'You're so thick with Ruth, and naturally I supposed----' + +'Thanks awfully,' said Barbara, without enthusiasm. 'It's really awfully +kind of you, but I think p'raps you'd better go on doing it, if you're +used to doing it. Of course, I know some people like doing those stupid +things for the big girls, but----' + +'All right,' said Charlotte, abruptly; and she went away, feeling +distinctly small. + +Babs hurried off to the Fifth classroom, and arrived just in time for +the geography lesson. She was settling herself as usual at the bottom +desk, when her neighbour, rather a dull girl, for whom she secretly felt +a sort of contempt because she took no interest in her lessons, but only +learned them from conscientious motives, began making advances to her. + +'Barbara,' she whispered, nudging the new girl in a familiar way that +was meant to be sociable. Babs, having sat next to her for fourteen days +without extracting a single remark from her, was considerably startled. + +'What do you want?' she asked impatiently. She was taking a last frantic +look at the capes of Scotland, and the interruption was agonising. + +'Would you like to be my partner, next time we practise running with +Hurly-Burly?' proceeded Mary Wells, with an air of extreme benevolence. +She was rather glad that Jean Murray had made it up with the new girl, +for it had not been amusing to sit perpetually next to some one with +whom she was not allowed to associate. + +'Why, no, of course not!' answered Barbara, giving up the capes of +Scotland in despair, and turning rather crossly to the tiresome neighbour +who had never bothered her before. 'We're not a bit evenly matched, +and it wouldn't be fair. Ask Angela Wilkins, if you want a partner; she +doesn't run _much_ faster than you do.' + +If there had been time, her amazed neighbour would no doubt have told +her what she thought of her. It was bad enough to have her friendly +suggestion thrown back in her face, but to be offered a gratuitous +criticism of her running powers into the bargain was intolerable. However, +Miss Tomlinson said 'Silence!' before Mary could express her feelings, +so Babs remained in comfortable ignorance of them. + +She was not to be left alone for long, however, and it soon became +impossible even for Barbara not to see that a change of some sort had +come over her school-fellows. During the two weeks she had been at +school, meal-times had been delicious periods of peace, when every one +had babbled round her but never to her, and nobody had interrupted her +if she wanted to dream. But to-day, when they all met in the dining-room +for lunch, in the ten minutes' 'break' that occurred in the middle of +the morning, it was evident that her time for dreaming was gone by. This +was the opportunity that the children of the junior playroom had been +eagerly awaiting since the moment when Angela had succeeded in moving +them to charitable designs. So Babs had scarcely made her appearance in +the dining-room, than a crowd of eager penitents descended upon her, +jostling one another in the attempt to be first. One rushed at her +with the biscuits, another with a glass of milk, and a third with a +plateful of bread and jam. + +'I say, don't bother! Thanks awfully, don't you know,' stammered Barbara, +who was a little flustered at finding herself the object of so much +attention. She helped herself to bread and jam, accepted the milk, which +the bearer insisted on holding for her till she felt inclined to drink +it, and then tried to slip away as usual to a retired corner. But her +way was barred by another group of girls, headed by the zealous Angela +herself. + +'I wonder if you'll help me with my algebra in French class,' began +the latter, beaming upon her former enemy with the air of one who was +conferring a favour. 'I always get in such a bog over it.' + +'You're so splendid at algebra, Babs, aren't you?' added another, with +great warmth. + +'She's good at lots of things! She'll get to the top of the Fifth in no +time, won't she?' cried Angela, with her ordinary disregard for facts. + +'Oh, no,' said Barbara, earnestly. 'There's my spelling; you're forgetting +that.' + +'Ye--es,' allowed Angela, unwillingly; 'but spelling isn't everything.' + +'Should think not, indeed!' echoed the chorus of enthusiasts. + +'And I don't know any arithmetic,' proceeded Barbara, desperately. It +really hurt her regard for truth to have all these absurd remarks made +about her. + +'What's arithmetic?' demanded Angela, loudly. + +'Only think of the piles of history you know!' chimed in some one else. + +'Yes, indeed!' said the chorus. + +'And Latin!' proclaimed another admirer. + +'I--I wish you wouldn't,' murmured Babs, unhappily. + +She could not think what had come over them all; and they made her feel +foolish. Fortunately, somebody noticed just then that she had finished +the bread and jam; and they all rushed off, jostling one another again +as they went, to find fresh provisions. Barbara seized the opportunity +to escape, dodged the placid bearer of the milk, and went in search of +Jean Murray. She had an uncommonly shrewd suspicion that Jean Murray was +somehow at the bottom of this new and irritating persecution. + +She found her hidden away in a corner of the big dining-room, occupying +very much the position that Barbara herself had enjoyed until now. Her +appearance was dejected, and she looked as though the encouragement of +noble sentiments did not agree with her nearly so well as the strife +and wrangling in which she usually indulged. The truth was that her new +pose of friendliness was making her feel unpleasantly self-conscious; and +she was afraid of being laughed at by the big girls for having so meekly +accepted her late enemy for a friend. The big girls, of course, worried +themselves so little about the petty quarrels of the junior playroom, +that they had no more intention of laughing at her than Barbara had; but +it was impossible for so important a person as Jean Murray to realise +that. So she gave a guilty start when Barbara, heated, aggrieved, and +bubbling over with resentment, suddenly pounced upon her in her corner. + +'I say, look here,' began Babs, impetuously; 'I thought you'd made it up, +and it's a shame!' + +'What are you talking about?' demanded Jean Murray. 'I have made it up, +long ago.' + +'Then whose fault is it that all those girls keep bothering me?' exclaimed +Barbara, growing more indignant as she went on. 'I haven't had a moment's +peace all the morning, and it makes me feel silly. I don't like being +made to feel silly. Why don't you tell them to leave me alone?' + +'But I don't know what you're talking about,' said Jean. 'How are they +making you feel silly?' + +'They keep on telling me how clever I am,' grumbled Barbara, in a tone of +the deepest contempt. 'Me clever! Just think of it! And they say I'm +going to get to the top of the class, and all that rot. What do they mean +by it? That's what I want to know. I was just beginning to get used to +girls, and I told Kit only yesterday that they were not so bad after +all, because they left you pretty much to yourself; and now--look at them! +It's enough to make any one feel silly. Well, what's the joke?' + +Jean was laughing heartily. It was the first time that morning she had +been able to forget her own feelings of 'silliness'; and it cheered her +considerably to find that some one else was in the same plight as herself. +'You _are_ queer!' she declared. 'Why, they are doing all that to show +that they want to be nice to you, of course.' + +Barbara stared at her aghast. 'Oh!' was all she said at first. After a +pause for reflection, she added suddenly, 'Then what were they trying to +be all the time they left me alone?' + +Jean stopped laughing, and began kicking at the window-seat by which they +stood. + +'Was that their way of being nasty?' proceeded Babs, in a puzzled tone. + +'I--I suppose so,' muttered Jean, looking away from her. + +'Oh!' said Barbara again. + +There was another pause, and then Jean made an immense effort. 'I made +them leave you alone,' she jerked out. 'I hated you. It--it was because of +Margaret Hulme.' + +Barbara's puzzled look vanished. When she did begin to understand a thing, +she was generally pretty quick about it. 'I'm beastly sorry,' she said +softly. 'A little while ago, I thought Jill was going to make the boys +like her better than me; and I felt just like that. What a pity you didn't +tell me sooner!' + +That, after all, was their real reconciliation; and this time there was +no doubt about it. If there had been, it would have been ended finally by +Margaret Hulme herself, that same afternoon, in the cloakroom. The head +girl had been taking off her own muddy boots for more than a fortnight +now; and that in itself was enough to quicken her observation of events in +the junior playroom. + +'Isn't there anybody over there who would like to unlace my boots for +me?' she said in a loud voice, as the younger ones came trooping into +the cloakroom after the hockey practice. + +There was silence in the ranks of the juniors. The big girls were smiling, +the little ones looked at one another doubtfully, and the head girl +waited with her foot put forward. The etiquette of the junior playroom +was tremendous, and although forty-five sets of fingers were itching to be +at the knot in the head girl's bootlace, nobody could move until Jean +Murray did. + +'You can do it, if you like,' she said to Barbara indifferently. + +'Oh, no,' said Barbara, quickly. 'I shouldn't think of it.' This time, +her sacrifice was genuine, for Margaret had kissed her just before +dinner and told her she was a 'good little soul,' and the feeling of +the youngest girl in the school had considerably changed in consequence +with regard to the head girl's boots. + +'Of course,' said Margaret Hulme, drawing back her foot, 'if nobody +_wants_----' + +A murmur ran along the ranks of the juniors, and Babs suddenly whispered +something in Jean's ear. Then the two children joined hands and presented +themselves solemnly before the head girl. + +'Please,' said Barbara, quickly, 'we've settled it.' + +'It's about time,' observed Margaret. + +'We're going to halve it,' added Jean, in a great hurry. + +'What? My foot?' asked the head girl. + +The wit of the head girl produced a storm of laughter in the cloakroom. +When it subsided, Barbara was ready with her explanation. + +'Jean's going to do them four days, and I'm going to do them the other +three,' she said. 'And Jean's going to begin,' she added, and walked away +heroically. + +'Oh, no, you begin,' said Jean, feebly. + +But Margaret smiled and pinched her ear. 'You begin, child,' she said; +and Jean fairly loved the new girl from that moment onwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MISS FINLAYSON'S UNCLE, THE CANON + + +'It's all very well to tell you to do things for other people; but when +nobody wants anything done, how are you going to carry it out?' demanded +Charlotte Bigley of a circle of attentive listeners. + +It was plain-work evening, some five weeks or so before the end of +the term; and fifty-five busy little people, on one side of the curtain, +sewed laboriously at fifty-five flannel garments, while thirty-two others, +in the seniors' room, were cutting out fresh ones and struggling with +what Miss Smythe called the 'fixing.' Usually, plain-work evening was +the dullest out of the seven, for conversation did not flourish under +the depressing dominion of flannel, and Miss Smythe, the needlework +mistress who came from the town twice a week to teach them, had never +managed to interest her pupils either in herself or in what they were +doing. But to-night there was something to discuss that thrilled every +one of the workers on both sides of the curtain, and the effect on +the flannel garments of this unusual enthusiasm even awoke a faint +wonderment in the mind of Miss Smythe. She did not know, never having +tried to win the confidence of the children, that the cause of the +emotion that was pulsing from end to end of the two playrooms was the +temporary residence, under the honoured roof of Wootton Beeches, of Miss +Finlayson's uncle, the Canon. + +The Canon had always been an object of interest, theoretically, to the +girls at Wootton Beeches. They did not know much about him, except that +he lived in some cathedral town in the North of England, and came South +about once a year and spent part of his holiday at Wootton Beeches; +and they were familiar with his portrait, which always stood on the +writing-table in his niece's study. That was all they could have told +anybody; but the very lack of facts only added to the magic of his name, +and as none of them happened to be in touch with a bishop, or even +with a dean, Miss Finlayson's uncle the Canon continued to impress +them from a distance with his importance. Hitherto, his visit had always +happened to fall in the holidays; but, this time, he had unaccountably +appeared in the middle of the term, and the excitement of his actual +presence among them had given them enough news to put in their letters +home for quite two weeks. The day before, he had even replaced the curate +in the little chapel, and had not only read prayers but had delivered +an address on unselfishness as well; and it was this address that had +provided the whole school, on plain-work evening, with a burning topic of +conversation. + +The problem that had just been put into words by Charlotte Bigley was one +that had exercised the ingenuity of everybody since yesterday morning. +To do good works was the present ardent desire of all their hearts; but +where were the good works to be found? + +'I suppose there's always something to be done for somebody, only we've +got to discover what it is,' said Mary Wells, after profound reflection. + +'He did say life was full of little things that were waiting to be done, +but it's so easy to talk like that,' complained Jean Murray. 'Why didn't +he say _what_ things?' + +'Well, you see, we've got to discover what they are,' persisted Mary. When +she did manage to produce an idea, she was always very slow to part with +it. + +'You said that before,' retorted Jean, impolitely; 'and it doesn't help +anybody at all. You can't go round _asking_ people, can you? They'd call +you a nuisance.' + +Barbara sighed, and laid down the blackened piece of flannel she had been +toiling at since the beginning of term. Between the address of the Canon +and the shapelessness of her flannel petticoat, life was very difficult to +understand just then. + +'Besides,' she chimed in, when Jean finished speaking, 'if everybody is +doing something for everybody else, there's nobody left to do anything +for!' + +'Finny always says we are to do things for ourselves as much as we can, +and that the way to help other people most is to see that they don't +have to bother about _us_. That's not a bit the same thing as going round +and finding out what people want done for them,' continued Charlotte, +eloquently. + +'They can't both be right,' declared Angela, shrilly. 'If the Canon says +one thing and Finny says another, what are we to believe, and what is the +truth of it all, I should like to know? The _truth_--that's what _I_ want!' + +'Yes, you do,' remarked Babs, beginning to chuckle. 'You want it awfully +badly, most of the time.' + +'You mind your own business, Barbara Berkeley, and I'll mind mine,' +advised Angela, threateningly. + +'But that's just what we haven't got to do,' retorted Babs, with another +laugh. 'I've got to forget my own business and look after somebody else's, +and so have you. The Canon said so.' + +'The Canon never said anybody was to have enough cheek for two people, +anyhow,' returned Angela, rather feebly. She generally ended in coming off +the worse in a battle of words with Barbara. On this occasion, however, +she had the junior playroom with her. + +'You shouldn't joke about serious things, Barbara Berkeley,' said Mary +Wells, disapprovingly. + +'Barbara Berkeley thinks she can laugh at everything!' cried Angela, with +renewed courage. + +Miss Smythe came up at the same moment and put the crowning touch on +Barbara's discomfiture by examining the luckless flannel petticoat and +disclosing the fact that she had sewed it up all the way round. + +'How do you expect a child is going to get into that?' asked the +needlework mistress, holding up the misshapen garment to the derision of +the whole room. + +Barbara accepted the criticism and the laughter with equal unconcern. +She had never supposed that any child was going to get into a petticoat +that only existed for her express torture and the witticisms of Miss +Smythe. It had been unpicked so often that it would scarcely hold the +large, uneven stitches she repeatedly put into it; and she took up the +scissors and began to undo it all over again as a necessary part of the +evening's proceedings. Hardly, however, had she snipped at the first +piece of cotton, than she was assailed on both sides by eager helpers, +thirsting for the painful pleasures of self-sacrifice. + +'Let me do it for you, Babe!' exclaimed Angela, quite forgetting their +recent dispute on the very subject of the virtue she now was so anxious +to exploit. + +'No, let me,' begged Mary Wells on the other side. + +Barbara looked from one to the other doubtfully. The Canon had said +nothing about complications of this kind. Then Mary took the decision +and the flannel petticoat simultaneously out of her hands. + +'Do, there's a dear,' she said coaxingly. 'Think how I helped you with +your German the day before yesterday.' + +'It's a shame,' vowed Angela Wilkins, retiring sulkily. 'I did ask first!' + +'Never mind,' said Babs, soothingly; 'I'm sure to do it again before long; +I always do.' + +Angela, however, found a more abiding consolation in Barbara's temporary +idleness. + +'You're not doing anything for anybody, that's certain!' she threw back +at her jeeringly. 'Why, you're the only idle person in the room! Call that +being unselfish, indeed!' + +Barbara hastened to clear herself of the reproach by picking up Mary +Wells's neatly made and spotless piece of white flannel. She was not +sure what it was meant for, as it was not sewed together anywhere; +and she had never been shown how to do the elaborate scallops that +ornamented the edge of it. But a trifle like want of skill made very +little difference to a seeker after self-sacrifice; and Babs recklessly +plunged her needle into the beginning of the next scallop, and entangled +the silk hopelessly. A cry from Mary Wells disturbed her well-meant +efforts. The Canon, thought Mary, might say what he liked about people +doing things for others, but was it quite fair when they did them all +wrong? + +'It's for my sister's baby,' she lamented, seizing her handiwork from the +zealous Barbara; 'and if I don't finish it soon, the baby will be too big +for head-flannels at all.' + +'But--I wanted to do something for you,' protested Babs, in a disappointed +tone. + +'You've stickied the needle, and left a great black finger-mark on it,' +wailed Mary Wells, making fresh discoveries, as she went on, of what Babs +_had_ done for her. + +Miss Smythe came up to know what the fuss was about; and she promptly +added her word to the condemnation of Barbara Berkeley. + +'What do you mean by touching anybody else's work, you naughty little +girl?' she said sharply. 'You are more trouble than anybody else in the +school, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.' + +Barbara did not look at all ashamed of herself. She never did when people +were cross with her. Mary Wells had the grace to come to her assistance. + +'Please, Miss Smythe,' she said, swallowing her mortification at the +ravages in the head-flannel, 'it was my fault as well. I took Barbara's +work, to begin with.' + +The needlework mistress stared from one to the other. 'What's come over +the children?' she exclaimed. 'Why are you interfering with each other's +work like this?' + +Barbara assumed an exaggerated expression of meekness. 'Please, it was +because we were both trying to sacrifice ourselves,' she announced. + +It certainly sounded a ridiculous reason when it was put that way, but +it completed the perplexity of Miss Smythe, and that was something. + +'It seems to me,' she said severely, 'that you are strangely forgetting +yourself, Barbara Berkeley. Commence what I gave you to do at once, and +stand up until I tell you to sit down again.' + +'Why, the Canon _said_ we were to forget ourselves,' began Babs, +mischievously; and there is no doubt that a further penalty would have +been added to her punishment had not Jean Murray made a sudden diversion +by dropping her thimble. In spite of the want of success that had attended +Barbara's attempt at good works, the influence of the Canon was still +very strong among the occupants of the junior playroom; and five girls +hastily flung aside their work, and bumped their heads together on the +floor in their hurry to restore Jean her property. Jean took it with the +grudging manner of one who would like to have been in the fortunate +position of conferring rather than of accepting a service; and Miss +Smythe in despair condemned five more culprits to a standing position. + +As luck would have it, the Canon expressed a wish that evening to see what +the young people were doing with themselves; and it happened that Miss +Finlayson brought him through the curtain into the junior playroom just +after the six ringleaders had been ordered to stand up. + +'Very nice, very charming, to be sure!' murmured the old gentleman, +whose benevolent face had gone a long way in carrying his address home to +the hearts of his hearers. 'Such a beautiful and womanly sight, too! I +suppose you are all working for the poor, eh, my dears? Very excellent +indeed, I'm sure!' + +His niece was busy talking with Miss Smythe, and did not correct his +mistake; and the children were too shy to do more than look at one another +and giggle faintly. The Canon went on, and bent over Mary Wells, who +appealed to him at once by the serious expression of her face and her +diligent application to the head-flannel. + +'And for whom are you working so industriously, may I ask?' he inquired +benignly. + +'It's for my sister--I mean the baby,' stammered Mary, much flustered at +being thus singled out. The Canon felt a little perplexed, not having +supposed Mary Wells or her sister to belong to what he largely called +'the poor'; and he passed on hurriedly to where the six culprits stood +first on one leg and then on the other, trying to stitch at their work +with wavering and unsteadied fingers. + +[Illustration: 'Dear me!' he said, slightly taken aback.] + +'Dear me!' he said, slightly taken aback. 'Is it--is it quite usual--I +mean, do you find it _convenient_ to perform your--your embroidery in that +exceedingly arduous position?' + +The six girls edged up to one another; and more giggles, very nervous +ones this time, greeted the Canon's remark. He put on his eye-glasses, +and began slowly to grasp the meaning of their uncomfortable position. + +'Ah!' he said, with a knowing smile. 'So you have done something you +shouldn't, eh, my dears? Shocking, shocking! Let us see what the cause +of offence is, and perhaps we can get the punishment mitigated for you. +How would that be, eh?' + +He turned to look for Miss Smythe, and the six put their heads together +for a hasty, whispered consultation. + +'Let's tell him it's through his sermon,' urged Barbara, all agog with +mischief. 'It would be such fun!' + +'Certainly not!' decided Angela, solemnly. 'He must never know. Didn't he +say it was splendid to suffer for righteousness's sake, and isn't this +_real_ righteousness?' + +She carried the remaining four with her; and by the time Finny and Miss +Smythe joined the Canon in front of them, five out of the six faces glowed +with the fervour of martyrdom. The sixth was glowing too, but hardly +from such a lofty motive. + +'Well,' said Miss Finlayson, gently, 'and what is the reason of this?' + +Miss Smythe coughed and hesitated. She did not understand her pupils in +the least, but she had a certain feeling of loyalty towards them, and she +did not want to get them into trouble. Added to this, she really did not +know the reason of it. + +'They--they were a little tiresome, and I made them stand up,' she +explained hurriedly. 'No doubt--only high spirits, and--and so on. +I--I could not quite grasp what had been upsetting them this evening, +and I always find standing up is--is an excellent remedy for--for high +spirits, in short.' + +It was the opinion of the junior playroom afterwards that 'Smithy' had got +out of it very well; and she went up in its estimation henceforth. But +her explanation failed to satisfy Miss Finlayson. There was something +about the virtuousness on the offenders' faces that struck her as +being overdone; and she turned to the one at the end of the row, whose +countenance was a study in suppressed emotions, and tried to get at the +truth of the matter. + +'What was it, Barbara?' she asked in that tone of hers that would make +any girl tell her anything. Not that Barbara, on this occasion, needed +forcing. + +'It was because of the sermon yesterday,' she said, bubbling over +with enjoyment of the situation. 'And we were all trying to sacrifice +ourselves, and it was so difficult, because nobody wanted anything +done; and then Mary Wells sacrificed herself for me, so I tried to do +the same for her, and I only spoiled the baby's head-flannel, and made +Smithy--I mean Miss Smythe--wild. That was why I stood up. The other five +stood up because they all tried to sacrifice themselves for Jean's +thimble; and Miss Smythe hadn't heard the sermon, you see, and she only +thought they were being naughty, so----' + +'That will do,' said Miss Finlayson, and she turned her back hurriedly +on the row of martyrs. The needlework mistress was almost in tears at what +she considered a wilfully frivolous manner of referring to a sermon by a +real canon. But the Canon just passed his hand across his mouth, and then +gave up the attempt to look shocked. + +'You are very good little girls to listen so attentively to people's +sermons,' he said, smiling openly. 'And I think, if anybody ought to +stand up, it should be by rights a certain old gentleman who preaches +them. What do you say, Miss Smythe? If I promise to stand up for the +rest of the evening, will you let these six young ladies sit down?' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FURTHER PURSUIT OF GOOD WORKS + + +'All the same,' said Jean Murray afterwards, 'it doesn't mean that the +Canon's sermon was wrong just because all of you were so stupid in the +way you tried to make it work.' + +She could not really resist such an enticing opportunity of showing her +superiority; but her less fortunate school-fellows found it difficult to +appreciate her point of view, and they resented it accordingly. + +'It's only just by chance that it wasn't you as well,' Barbara hastened to +point out. + +'And you know you began by being jealous because _we_ were doing all the +sacrificing,' added Angela. + +The others, not being in the inner circle of Jean's friendship, did not +venture on an open remonstrance; but one of them asked her bluntly what +she considered the Canon did mean by his address. + +Jean drew herself up complacently. 'Well, of course he meant much bigger +things than just picking up people's thimbles and interfering with +everybody all round,' she began rather contemptuously. + +'He said _little_ things, all the same,' observed Mary Wells, doggedly. + +'That,' said Jean, airily, 'was only his way of putting it--and because +he was a canon,' she added, struck by a brilliant thought. 'When you are +a canon, the things you consider little are the same as the things that +ordinary people call big.' + +'Bravo, Jean,' said Charlotte Bigley, sarcastically. 'Now, let us hear +what the big things are.' + +Jean was on her mettle, and she gave herself a moment's desperate +reflection. + +'Well, things like helping the poor, and taking food to people who are +starving, and giving up your pocket-money to buy things for them, and not +minding how dirty they are, nor how wicked and dishonest and--and tipsy,' +she proclaimed. + +The junior playroom was much impressed by this new view of the Canon's +sermon. + +'Isn't Jean clever?' demanded Angela, proudly, of her immediate +neighbours. One of these happened to be Barbara, who fully agreed +with her, but still appeared a little puzzled. + +'It will be very difficult to do all that,' she observed. 'How can we do +things for the poor, when we never see any poor?' + +'You never know when the chance may come,' answered Jean, who was rarely +at a loss. 'Besides, there's the holidays.' + +'What!' said Mary, in a voice of dismay. 'Have we got to wait till the +_holidays_ before we can be unselfish?' + +'Well,' replied Jean, vaguely, 'you can't say that, for an opportunity +may occur at any minute. What we've got to do is to be on the look-out +for it.' + +This unsatisfactory way of disposing of the Canon's address fell very flat +after the recent excitement in the juniors' room concerning it; and most +of Jean's listeners grumbled loudly as soon as she was out of hearing. +But Babs and Angela unhesitatingly threw in their lot with Jean. They were +not quite sure what she meant, but they never doubted her right to be +their leader in this as in everything. + +'We'll all keep on the look-out,' they said to one another; 'and the first +who sees an opportunity of helping the poor must promise to share it with +the other two.' + +Saturday afternoon came round in another day or two, and on Saturday +afternoon the girls could do pretty much as they liked, as soon as the +hockey practice was over. It was one of those late wintry days in March +which bring with them a promise of spring to come: there was a sharpness +in the air, now that the sun was nearing the west, that proclaimed it +still to be winter, while a faint earthiness of smell, a tumult of birds' +voices in the hedge, and an intense blueness above, all told of the +warmer season in store. The triumvirate, as Margaret Hulme had nicknamed +Jean and her two inseparable companions, were much too fond of the open +air to go indoors before they were obliged; so, while most of their +school-fellows voted for the fire and a story-book, they wandered off +down the nine-acre field, their arms linked affectionately together. +Their conversation was very engrossing, for it turned on the gymnastic +competition that was going to be held at the end of the term, for which +the Canon had just offered a prize of six morocco-bound books, to be +chosen by the successful competitor herself. + +'That's where this hole is such a nice hole for a school,' said Jean. 'At +the other school I went to, they never asked you what books you'd like; +and they always gave you _poetry_.' + +'Some poetry is all right. I think I like poetry when it's got a story in +it, and the rhymes are not too far away from one another, and the lines +jog along without your having to bother about them,' remarked Babs. + +'Oh, that kind isn't bad,' admitted Jean. 'I didn't mean Macaulay and +Longfellow and all the _real_ poets. But the stuff they gave you at my +school was horribly dull, and it never had any sort of story in it, and +the lines didn't seem to belong to one another at all; and there was +generally a thing called a glossary at the end, which only showed that +it wasn't fit for any one to read.' + +'I know that kind of poetry; we have lots of it at home,' put in Angela. +'There's a chap called Browning who's rather like that. Have you ever read +any Browning, you two?' + +'No,' said Jean, flatly. 'Don't believe you have either. My father says +Browning didn't understand himself, and I'm sure _you_ don't know more +than Browning. So there!' + +'Never mind about the poetry,' interposed Barbara. 'I want to hear about +the gym prize. Who do you think is going to get it, Jean?' + +'Well, Margaret is awfully good, of course, but we shall know better after +the trial on Monday afternoon,' said Jean, cautiously. + +'What trial?' asked Barbara. + +'Why,' exclaimed Jean, in surprise, 'didn't you hear Finny give out that +we were all to do the show exercises before her on Monday afternoon, so +that she could decide who was to go in for the prize?' + +'Of course she didn't hear; the Babe's always asleep!' said Angela, with +scorn. 'I watched her all the time Finny was speaking, and she was smiling +away to herself as if some one was having a conversation with her.' + +'Never mind, she's getting better,' said Jean, approvingly. 'She doesn't +gape half so much as she did, and she doesn't jump when you go up and +speak to her suddenly. By the way, you've got as good a chance as any +one, Babe, of getting the gym prize.' + +Barbara, who had taken their frank criticisms of her without a murmur, +could not allow this last assertion to pass. She pulled up suddenly in +the middle of the field, and looked first at one and then at the other +of her two companions. 'What do you mean?' she gasped. + +[Illustration: 'Hullo! said Jean. What's the matter?'] + +'Oh, you're putting it on; don't be affected,' scoffed Angela. + +'No, she isn't putting it on; she never does,' objected Jean. 'Look at +home, Angela, before you talk about affectation.' + +'All the same,' continued Angela, undisturbed, 'you must know you're +perfectly splendid at gym, Babs. Now, don't you?' + +'I'd quite forgotten,' confessed Barbara, as they resumed their stroll. +'I'm so bad at most things that I'd got out of the way of thinking I could +do gymnastics. But, of course, the boys always said I wasn't bad, for +a girl; and once I got the prize at my class in London. There were only +thirty of us, though,' she added modestly. + +They strolled on as far as the gate at the bottom of the field, and +stood looking over it into the lane below. The lane was out of bounds, +which lent it an added charm; and they liked nothing better than to come +here on half-holidays and lean against the gate, and wonder where the +grass-grown path led to and what it looked like when it got round the +corner by the old elm tree. To-day, they had scarcely taken up their +position there when they were startled by sounds of distress from below; +and the next minute a small boy came slouching along the lane, crying +bitterly. + +'Hullo!' said Jean. 'What's the matter?' + +The boy was so surprised that he stopped crying and looked up. He was a +very pitiable little object, in corduroy garments that could not properly +be called knickerbockers and yet were too short for trousers, with a +small area of grey flannel shirt appearing above them, and a red worsted +comforter twisted round his neck, making an unbecoming patch of colour +against his pinched and tear-stained little face. + +'What is the matter?' asked Angela, pityingly. + +'Have you hurt yourself?' added Barbara, as the child only stared at them +vacantly. + +With a little more coaxing and the bribe of a piece of dusty chocolate +that came from the depths of Barbara's pocket, he was at last induced to +mumble out a confused statement of his woes. Between the quaver in his +voice and the broadness of his speech they had a hard matter to understand +what he said; but Angela, who lived in another part of the same county, +managed after a while to translate to the others that he was crying +because his father was away looking for work, and his mother could not +pay the rent, and they were all going into the 'house' to-morrow. To +Bobby Hearne, who was smarting under the remarks of the neighbours' +children, it was the last part of his story that seemed the worst; +but the triumvirate only grasped the fact that starvation and poverty +really stood before them in the person of the small boy with the red +comforter round his neck. They looked at one another breathlessly, for +the same thought was in all their minds. + +'It's the opportunity!' said Jean, solemnly. + +'They're really starving!' cried Barbara, clapping her hands joyfully. 'We +must go and feed them----' + +'And give them clothes,' added Angela, enthusiastically; 'and +pocket-money!' + +Babs pulled a purse out of her pocket. 'Here's three and sevenpence +halfpenny, and I've got ten shillings more in my left-hand corner drawer,' +she said earnestly. 'Will that be enough, do you think?' + +Jean had been thinking deeply. 'It's no use giving anything to that scrap +of a child,' she decided. 'We must go and see his mother first, and find +out if his story is true. My father says that indis-indiscrim-in-_ate_ +charity does an awful lot of harm. We don't want to do indiscrimin-_ate_ +charity, do we? Come along, you two, and look sharp!' + +They clambered over the gate and dropped into the lane, one by one. +Barbara was the last, and she almost forgot the solemn reason for +their expedition in the thrilling thought that they were going to find +out at last where the lane went to. She was quite unprepared for the +disappointment she felt when they turned the corner by the old elm +tree and the forbidden world beyond burst upon their view. After all, the +lane was just the same round the corner, except that it was not quite +so interesting, for it grew less grassy as it went on, and finally +widened out into a kind of cart-track that was anything but romantic. +An enchanted princess might flee with a prince down a grass-grown lane +that wound away to nowhere in particular but she would never dream of +stumbling over sharp flint stones and splashing through puddles in a +common cart-track. The other two did not seem to notice that there was +anything wrong with the lane, though; they just kept on straight ahead, +with Bobby Hearne shuffling along between them, and Barbara had to run a +little to catch them up. + +'Is it far?' she asked. + +'Oop agin the top end o' the village,' explained Bobby, who was fast +losing his shyness under the influence of these wonderful young ladies, +who carried such funny sticks in their hands, and talked in such a +magnificent way about pocket-money. + +'That's close to the church, on the way up from the station,' said Jean. +'Is yours the cottage with the red roof, Bobby, or the one with roses all +over it?' + +Bobby looked vacant again; he did not recognise his home from Jean's +picturesque description. 'There be foive pig-styes along of it,' he +announced, after long and careful reflection. + +The cart-track brought them to a ploughed field, across which they plodded +laboriously, and in the end it landed them in the road that ran right +through the village. They met a good many inquisitive glances as they +hastened along, for the young ladies of Wootton Beeches very rarely +left their own grounds, and certainly never appeared in the village +except on their way to and from the station. They found their courage +slowly evaporating in the face of the curiosity they provoked, and there +was very little of it left by the time they arrived at the cottage with +the five pig-styes. Talking about good works in the junior playroom was +a very different matter, they found, from carrying them out in a strange +cottage, where numbers of strange children came out from dark corners +and gaped at them without saying a word of welcome. Babs and Angela +pushed forward their leader, and peered over her shoulder as she stood +hesitating on the threshold. + +'Hello, mother!' shouted Bobby, hustling his brothers and sisters out of +the way and penetrating into the gloomy recesses of the cottage. 'Here be +three yoong ladies come to see ye.' + +A harassed-looking woman came in from the back-yard, and started when +she saw the three faces in the doorway. 'It be proper good of ye, for +sure,' she said, casting nervous glances from her unexpected visitors to +a bed that was made up on the floor, near the empty grate; 'but my girl +Lilian Eliza, she be ill, she be, and ye'd best not come in, I reckon.' + +She did not know the power of the Canon's address. At the sound of her +voice, the triumvirate, neither understanding nor heeding her warning, +stepped firmly into the room. + +'I'm so sorry your daughter is ill,' began Barbara, fumbling hastily in +her pocket. 'Would three and sevenpence halfpenny be any good, do you +think? And I've got ten shillings more in my----' + +Jean nudged her violently, but the woman's eyes had glistened at the +mention of money, and Babs emptied her purse impetuously on the table. + +'Bless ye, missy, for sure!' said the woman, gratefully. 'Lilian Eliza, +she be goin' to the infirmary to-morrow, she be, and I can git her +Neighbour Bunce's spring-cart wi' that, I can.' + +Her evident gratitude reproached Jean, and she forgot all about the +dangers of indiscriminate charity. She took the other two by the hand and +pulled them away to the door. + +'We'll come back again directly, Mrs. Hearne,' she called out. Then the +triumvirate broke into a run, and vanished along the road before the eyes +of the bewildered woman. + +'What are we going to do?' asked Angela, panting, when they once more +climbed the gate at the bottom of the nine-acre field. + +'We're going straight to the larder, straight as we can go; and then, +we're just going to bag all the food we can carry,' answered Jean, in +an odd, determined sort of tone. 'Did you see the look on that woman's +face when you gave her the money, Babe? I believe--I believe they've all +had nothing to eat for _weeks_! It's--it's horrible to think of!' + +There was a sob in her voice, and the other two were silent from sympathy +and a kind of awkwardness. They had never heard Jean talk like this +before, and it finished the work begun by the Canon's address. There +was not the thought of a scruple in either of their minds when they +arrived at the back of the house, and Jean bade them climb up by the +water-butt and get into the larder through the open window. + +'There's sure to be a hook you can undo so as to move the wire netting +aside,' she told them. 'If we went round to the door, some one might make +a fuss; and there's no time for fusses.' + +'Jean knows everything,' murmured Angela, as she found the hook and +squeezed successfully through the window. + +'What shall we take?' whispered Babs, slipping after her into the dimly +lighted larder. 'I think they'd like jam tart and plum-pudding, don't you?' + +She shifted the two delicacies dearest to her heart on to one dish, and +handed it up to Jean, who stood poised uncertainly on the edge of the +water-butt. + +'The jelly and the cranberry pie look rather nice,' said Angela, her own +mouth watering for them, as she passed them out to Jean. + +'Can't you find something substantial?' urged Jean, when she had deposited +the second load on the ground beside the water-butt. + +The two children in the larder looked round at the well-stocked shelves. +There was cold beef, to be sure, and a large tureen of mutton broth; but +these did not strike them as being at all the sort of present that any +one would like to have. + +'Apple dumplings,' settled Angela, swiftly, as her eye fell on a large +dish full of them; and they handed the apple dumplings after the other +things, and then followed them by way of the water-butt to the impatient +Jean, who had already loaded herself with the jelly and the cranberry pie. + +'Come along!' said Jean. 'If we're not quick, we shall be late for tea. +Besides, we must get back to see Finny, and explain to her what we've +done. She might be cross if she found it out for herself.' + +'Are you sure she won't be cross anyhow?' asked Barbara, as she staggered +along in her wake, carrying the dish that contained the plum-pudding and +the jam tart. + +'Not if we explain exactly why we did it,' said Angela, gasping for +breath just behind her companions. She found the apple dumplings decidedly +weighty. + +'Nobody,' said Jean, emphatically, 'could mind anything we chose to do +in a cause like this. Besides, there wasn't time to ask leave first, was +there? When people haven't had anything to eat for weeks, you can't keep +them waiting for food while you ask _leave_, can you?' + +The shortest cut to the nine-acre field was across the lawn at the side of +the house, and then through the little gate in the shrubbery. It was much +less secluded than the longer way by which they had come, but detection +had to be risked, now that the time was so short. And even if they were +caught, as Jean pointed out in a whisper, it would be worth while to +suffer in such a noble cause; and as for the Hearnes, Finny would be +sure to send them on the things as soon as she heard how many weeks they +had been without food. + +'But how can we suffer, if Finny isn't going to be cross about it?' +argued Barbara, becoming heated in the effort to keep the plum-pudding +from rolling into the jam tart and sticking to it. 'You said----' + +Her sentence was never finished, for just as they left the shadow of the +house and were going to strike across the lawn, they heard the click +of the little gate opposite, and two figures emerged suddenly from the +shrubbery. There was still light enough to disclose that they were the +Canon and Barbara's disenchanted beast, the Doctor. + +Even then, the triumvirate might have escaped detection by slipping round +to the back of the house again before they were seen; and Jean had the +presence of mind to sound a retreat in an agonised whisper, and turned +sharply round herself. But Barbara's effort to follow her example was too +much for the uncertain balance of the plum-pudding. It chose that very +moment to tumble into the jam tart, and the two slid together from the +dish and rolled to the feet of the astonished Canon. + +'Upon my word,' exclaimed the old gentleman, starting violently, +'Elizabeth's establishment is full of surprises!' + +The triumvirate kept very close together at the edge of the grass lawn, +and waited for the two gentlemen to approach. Very little of their +enthusiasm remained to keep up their spirits, for the erratic behaviour of +the plum-pudding made even the pursuit of good works seem foolish and +unnecessary. + +'What are you children doing here?' asked the Canon, and his voice +distinctly took a note of disapproval. He did not know very much about +girls, though his niece assured him they were not unlike little boys; but +he was quite sure that it was not the right thing for plum-puddings to +be rolling across the lawn at that time of day, and disapproval seemed +to be demanded by the circumstance. + +The effect on the three children of his mild attempt at severity was +immediate. Babs was struck dumb by it; anything so dreadful as the anger +of a Canon had never occurred to her as a possible result of feeding the +poor, and she had to think it all over before she could say anything. +Angela put down the apple dumplings, the weight of which had become +intolerable, and began to cry softly. Jean pulled herself together with a +frantic effort, and clutched the dish she was holding so fiercely that +the jelly on the summit of the cranberry pie shivered and shook. + +'It was my fault,' she blurted out, looking steadfastly over the edge of +the dish at the well-blacked boots of the Canon. 'I made them go out of +bounds, and visit the poor, and--and climb into the larder window to fetch +things for the woman who looked so hungry. They wouldn't have gone, if +it hadn't been for me. I made them--it was my fault.' + +'No, it wasn't; it was all our faults,' wept Angela, in a confused mumble. + +Babs stepped forward and tried hard not to break down and cry too. 'Please +don't rag Jean for it,' she begged. 'The boy was crying, and we all +thought it was the opportunity come at last----' + +'What opportunity?' asked the Canon, looking extremely puzzled. + +'To--to do what you said in your sermon,--good works, and feeding the +poor, and all that,' faltered Barbara. Somehow, when she expressed it that +way, it seemed like putting the blame on the Canon, and she was sure it +could not be right for a little girl to blame a Canon. Added to this, +she was possessed with the dread that they had only made themselves look +ridiculous after all; and she expected that they would all three be +very heartily laughed at, as soon as the old gentleman began to understand +their story. She was determined in her own mind that if the Doctor should +join in the laugh against them, a certain fairy prince should be turned +once more into a beast and banished for ever from her kingdom. She was +bound to admit, however, that the Doctor, so far, had not shown the +least interest in them or their story. + +'But--but I quite fail to understand,' said the Canon, rather testily. +'Who was the boy you speak of, and what had you to do with him?' + +'It was Bobby Hearne,' answered Jean, still staring down at his boots; +'and if you only knew how hungry they all looked when we got to the +cottage----' + +She was interrupted by the Doctor, who suddenly behaved in the most +extraordinary manner. For the first time he appeared to be listening to +what they were saying, and he sprang right in front of the Canon and +grasped Jean by the shoulder. + +'Do you mean to say you have been into the Hearnes' cottage?' he cried, +shaking her in his impatience until the jelly and the cranberry pie ran +some danger of following the example of the plum-pudding. 'Were you stupid +enough to go right inside?' + +'Yes!' answered the triumvirate, with one voice. + +The Doctor took his hand away, and turned with a shrug of his shoulders to +the Canon. + +'The Hearne girl is down with scarlet fever,' he said in a suppressed tone. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN 'QUORRANTEEN' + + +'MY DEAR DARLING DEAREST FATHER,--We are in quorranteen that's Jean +Murray and Angela Wilkins and me becos we tried to feed the poor after +the cannon's sermon and the poor had scarlet fever and now praps we +shall have scarlet fever too and in case we do we've got to stop in +quorranteen for eight days and it's an awful shame becourse it gives us +such a little time to practis for the gym prize. The cannon is Finny's +uncle and he's awfully nice though a little unreesonable Jean says and +Jean knows bekause her father is a professor and he has ofered a prize for +whoever is best at the gym display on the break up day. I mean the +cannon and not Jean's father. Quorranteen is a little house built by +itself in the garden and connected with the school by a covvered passage +that leads into the front hall because Jean says it's no use being in +quorranteen unless you're quite sure no one can catch things off you so we +are issolated. All the same we do free exercises every morning just to +keep our mussels in good order for the gym competition and I tell +them fairy stories when their's nothing else to do and Angela says +they're not bad only she likes reel stories best which is a great pitty +becos I don't know any reel stories but still they put up with my kind of +stories very well and Jean says I'm a funny kid. We have our dinner +early so that we can go out in the garden while the other girls are +having theirs so that no one can catch anything off us and we are +alowed to go all over Finny's garden as well as the nine aker field and +we are really in a very supperior possition Jean says. Sumtimes for a +great treat one of the big girls is alowed to come and talk to us +from the garden and we stand at the window and shout down to her because +you can't catch things off people that way Jean says and the other two +nearly always vote for Margaret that's the head girl who is adorrable and +divvine Jean says but I vote for Ruth who is a brick. The worst of being +in quorranteen is that I have learnt the true charracter of the doctor +and Kit always said he was a beast but I didn't think he was a beast but +now I think he must be rather a beast because he is so horrid and +unsimpathetick he always behaves as if we were very naughty and wicked +for wanting to feed the poor and giving such a lot of trubble insted of +understanding that it was all the cannon's fault for preaching that sermon +which meant something quite diferent and how were we to know that the +poor had scarlet fever? I think we were rather silly and it was our +silly silliness that I minded most but the doctor doesn't seem to +think that and he looks at our tungs and he says what's that? to every +paper bag he sees about in the quorranteen which is only hardbake or +chocalate from the big girls. Jean says he is much nicer to me than to +Angela or her but I haven't noticed any diference myself and I don't +want him to be nice to me if he isn't nice to them it isn't fair or above +bord is it father? Anuther bother is that Finny hasn't said a word to us +yet about feeding the poor and giving such a lot of trubble and I think +she's very cross and is saving up for an enormous skolding but Jean +says no it's Finny's way to give us time to think it over before she +says anything and it's just dissipline Jean says. Besides, she can't +be very cross or else she wouldn't have gone on feeding the poor I mean +the Hearnes ever since we came into the quorranteen which is what she's +been doing because she told us so and they haven't had to go into the +workhouse after all.' + +Barbara had scribbled so far uninterrupted, but when she picked up her +third sheet of exercise paper and began to cover that too, the patience +of her companions became exhausted. + +'I say,' said Jean, yawning, 'I wish you'd stop writing and talk; I never +knew any one so fond of writing as you are, Babe.' + +Quarantine, after nearly a week of it, was beginning to lose its novelty, +and all the paper bags that the sure aim of the head girl managed to +deposit in their prison did not make up for the many hours of her society +that they were unable to enjoy. Even the arithmetic lessons of Miss +Tomlinson, and the plain-work evenings conducted by 'Smithy,' would +not have seemed nearly so unattractive now as they did a week ago. + +'All right,' said Babs, putting down her blue pencil; 'I don't mind +stopping, but I thought Angela didn't want to talk.' + +Jean glanced round at Angela, and Angela immediately put her hand to her +head and sighed heavily. She had been doing this for some minutes without +making any effect upon Barbara, although Barbara had been the first to +notice that there was something unusual in her behaviour. That was so +like Babs! She was always the first to notice anything, but she had such +an unsatisfactory way of passing it over, whatever it was, that it was +no advantage to anybody unless some one else noticed it too. + +'Hullo!' said Jean, staring; 'what's the matter, Angela?' + +'I've got a splitting headache,' murmured Angela, half closing her eyes. + +'Anything else?' asked Jean, becoming interested. + +'My throat is rather sore, I think, and--and I'm sure I'm feverish,' +answered Angela, faintly; and she shivered to show how feverish she was. + +'Oh,' said Barbara, opening her eyes, 'that's how Dr. Hurst said it began; +and then Finny dragged him away, and we didn't hear any more.' + +'_Don't_ say anything so dreadful,' murmured Angela, complacently. 'What +shall I do if I can't go in for the competition?' + +'Besides, you might have it very badly and die,' said Jean, consolingly. + +'Yes, you might. We knew a boy on the opposite side of the square, and +_he_ died,' remarked Babs. 'Only, I'm not sure if it was scarlet fever. +His sister used to come and tell us about it, and she said he had a kettle +with a long spout in his room, all day long, and it puffed out smoke at +him, and made such a funny gurgling sound that she used to be afraid to +pass his door after dark. Perhaps it wasn't scarlet fever,' she added, +out of consideration for Angela, 'but he did die.' + +Angela looked from one to the other and shook her head mournfully. 'I +expect it was,' she said. 'It sounds exactly like it.' + +'Oh, yes,' continued Jean, cheerfully. 'I _know_, because a cousin of +mine had something that was catching once, and she nearly lost her sight +through it, and she's had to wear spectacles ever since, and her eyes +are all red and shiny, and she looks a hideous sight. I expect that was +scarlet fever too.' + +Angela shuddered, and quite closed her eyes that time. Her two comforters +looked at each other expressively. + +'Poor Angela!' said Jean, stroking her forehead. 'It's awful hard lines +that you should be the one to catch it.' + +'Oh, never mind about that,' answered the victim, meekly. 'I'm glad it's +me and not you.' + +'Lots of people don't die, you know,' added Barbara, taking hold of her +hand and waggling it up and down in a way that was intended to express +sympathy. + +'N--no,' said Angela, with some reluctance; 'but lots of people do. +Anyhow, I hope I shall be brave, whatever happens.' And she stifled a sigh. + +'Of course you will,' said Jean, warmly. '_We_ know that!' + +'If--if this should be the last time we are together before they separate +us,' continued Angela, opening her eyes again and looking up at them +appealingly, 'you _will_ remember, won't you, that----' + +The door opened and put an abrupt stop to her pathetic last request. The +triumvirate, still clasping hands affectionately, looked round and met +the astonished gaze of the head-mistress. + +'What's the matter with Angela?' she inquired briskly. + +Angela closed her eyes again hastily. The other two prepared valiantly +to defend her position. + +'She's got a headache and a sore throat, and she's feverish,' answered +Jean, glibly. + +'She thinks she's got it,' added Babs, coming straight to the point. + +They fully expected Miss Finlayson to do something startling to show her +concern at the approaching peril of Angela; but Miss Finlayson merely +smiled. + +'Oh, so that's what she thinks, is it?' she observed. 'And may I ask if +that is why you have chosen this particular moment to hang over her more +closely than usual?' + +The triumvirate loosed hands, and Miss Finlayson came and looked very +sharply at the unconscious features of the sufferer; then she suddenly +whipped a thermometer out of her pocket and into the open mouth before +her. Angela sat up in dismay, and tried to protest; but Miss Finlayson +smiled again and pressed her gently back. + +'You mustn't speak, or we shall not be able to find out your temperature,' +she said, and Angela put on a resigned air, and suffered in silence. + +'Now,' continued the head-mistress, pleasantly, 'we can have a few +minutes' conversation, while we are waiting to discover whether Angela has +scarlet fever or not. To begin with, I want to ask you if you remembered, +when you went out of bounds last Thursday, that you were abusing the +trust I had placed in you? Recollect!--I do not keep policemen at every +corner to spy over you when you are left to yourselves, but I do put +you on your honour not to do anything you know I have forbidden. Did you +think of this, Jean?' + +Jean reddened and looked down. + +'No, I didn't,' she blurted out. 'I forgot all about the bounds, at first, +and I only thought you would like us to feed the poor, and it was such +a grand opportunity. And then, afterwards----' + +'Yes--afterwards?' said Miss Finlayson, encouragingly, as Jean hesitated. + +'Afterwards, when I saw that woman look like she did, I never thought +of you or anything,' she muttered with an effort; and she was very red +indeed by the time she had finished. + +Miss Finlayson took her hand and held it between her own, and then turned +to Barbara. + +'Was that your reason too, Babs?' she asked. + +'No, it wasn't,' answered Babs, without hesitation. 'I did remember about +going out of bounds directly we climbed over the gate; but I saw the other +two had forgotten, so I didn't say anything.' + +The thermometer nearly fell out of Angela's mouth from surprise at this +amazing admission; and Jean felt compelled to say something in Barbara's +defence. + +'You see, the boy was crying so,' she interrupted anxiously; 'and I +suppose Babs thought----' + +'Hush!' said the head-mistress, softly; 'I want Babs to tell me what she +thought.' + +Barbara was almost as red as Jean by this time. 'I didn't think about +the boy, or the poor, or anything,' she confessed; 'but I wanted to see +whether the lane did lead to the enchanted grotto, where the beautiful +princess----' + +She paused, because she remembered just in time that nobody ever +understood about those things. Miss Finlayson was watching her carefully. + +'And did it?' she asked quietly. + +'Oh no,' said Barbara; 'it was _horrible_ when it got round the corner.' + +Miss Finlayson nodded, and smiled her own mysterious smile. Then she took +the thermometer out of Angela's mouth. + +'And what was your reason, Angela?' she asked. + +'I don't know,' said Angela, rather foolishly. 'Jean said "Come on!" and +we'd promised to share the first opportunity that came; and Babs went, and +so of course I went too.' + +Miss Finlayson looked relieved. 'You have made me feel much happier, +children,' she said, 'because I see now that you did not realise what you +were doing, and that your own reasons seemed good enough to you at the +time. If I thought I could not trust to your honour any more, I should +be most unhappy. Do you think you understand?' + +The triumvirate looked very thoughtful. Angela, who seemed to have +forgotten all about her alarming symptoms, was the first to speak. + +'I suppose I ought to have found out whether the others were right before +I followed them,' she said. + +Miss Finlayson nodded. + +'And we ought to have made sure we were right ourselves before we let her +follow us, because Angela always follows,' added Jean. + +Miss Finlayson nodded again. + +Barbara roused herself and shook back her hair. 'I was the worst,' she +said impetuously. 'I did remember about the bounds, and the others didn't +until afterwards. But I forgot about the honour part, truthfully!' + +'Yes,' answered the head-mistress; 'you were the worst, Babs; and you +soon found out that the lane did not lead to the enchanted grotto, didn't +you? Now, what we can all see very clearly from this conversation is that +we must think a little more carefully in future before we do things. The +rules in my school are made for people who _think_, and not for people +who have to be told whether a thing is right or wrong. People of that kind +are not the people for me. Are you going to let me trust you again in +future, children?' + +There was no doubt whatever from their faces that they thought she might; +but Babs still wanted something cleared up. + +'Was the Canon's sermon all wrong, then?' she asked in her straightforward +manner. Jean and Angela looked at the head-mistress nervously; but Miss +Finlayson did not seem to mind. + +'The Canon's sermon was rather like my rules,' she pointed out; 'and +it was meant for people who think. It is no use being unselfish in a +thoughtless kind of way, or else you do as much harm as most people do +by being selfish. I want you to try very hard to put lots of thought and +cleverness into your good deeds all your life, so that by the time you +are grown up your good deeds will be really worth doing. Then you will +be able to carry out properly what the Canon told you; for, to tell the +truth, the Canon's sermon was rather meant for grown-up thinking, and +perhaps that is why you misunderstood it. But children's thinking is +worth just as much in its own way; don't forget that, little girls.' + +She jumped up and kissed them all round, then glanced hastily at her +watch. 'It strikes me,' she said gravely, 'that if somebody looks out of +the window in five minutes' time, somebody will see something in the +garden.' + +She was just going out of the room, when an exclamation from Barbara +called her back. 'Why,' she said, 'you haven't told us about Angela's +scarlet fever yet!' + +'No more I have,' said the head-mistress, and she took the thermometer to +the window and examined it. Angela tried rather feebly to recover her +resigned expression, which she had completely dropped in the last few +minutes; and her school-fellows exchanged a look of apprehension. + +'Poor Angela!' said Miss Finlayson, pensively, as she dipped the +thermometer into a glass of water. + +Angela put her hand to her head, and the other two closed round her +sympathetically. + +'I am truly sorry for you,' continued Miss Finlayson, returning the +thermometer to her pocket and sighing deeply. + +The triumvirate gazed at her in a scared fashion. + +'Is she--is she going to have scarlet fever, _really_?' asked Barbara, +anxiously. + +Miss Finlayson walked slowly across the room, shaking her head. She turned +when she reached the door, and her eyes twinkled. 'I am afraid not,' +she said, and they heard her laughing to herself as she ran downstairs. + +The triumvirate had very little time to congratulate Angela on her escape +before their attention was caught by a loud 'Coo-ey!' from the garden +below. Certainly 'quorranteen' was full of diversions this afternoon. + +'Kit! Kit! That's Kit!' shouted Babs, and a series of flying leaps took +her across to the window. In another minute the sash was flung wide, and +she was leaning out as far as the laws of balance allowed her. She was +right about the 'Coo-ey!' for there on the lawn below stood her favourite +brother, and by his side stood Jill and Auntie Anna. + +'Well, well,' said the old lady, leaning on her blue-knobbed cane and +looking more like a witch than ever, 'and what is the meaning of this, I +should like to know? A fine lot of trouble you're giving people with your +tricks, you young monkey!' + +'Oh, it's all right,' Babs assured her; 'we've made it up with Finny, and +she's not a bit cross, and next time we're going to think first, and we're +never going to pay a bit of attention to the old Canon till we're grown +up. Then we shan't make any more mistakes, she says.' + +'It's to be hoped not, for I think you've made a young silly of yourself +all the same,' remarked Christopher, frankly. 'Whatever made you do it, +Babe?' + +Barbara looked a little crestfallen. It would be easier to explain +their escapade to twenty Canons than to one brother, even when it was +a favourite brother like Kit. Jill came hurriedly to the rescue. + +'Never mind about that, Kit,' she said. 'Think how lucky it is that she +hasn't caught scarlet fever, after all.' + +Barbara cheered up. 'Even Angela doesn't think she's going to have it +now,' she observed; 'and she's been thinking she's got it, ever since +we went into quarantine; so we shall be able to come out again the day +after to-morrow. Of course it means sums and flannel petticoats and all +those horrible things as well; but still, we shall be able to practise +up for the gym display, and that's much more important. You're all coming +to the gym display, aren't you?' + +'Rather!' said Kit. 'It's the day after the others break up; and even +Egbert says he doesn't mind coming, though it's only a girls' school, +and he says he doesn't expect much. Of course, Will is awfully keen on +coming, and so is Peter; but that's only for the grub, so don't you make +any mistake about it.' + +'I don't know why Egbert is so mighty grand,' objected Barbara. 'Our gym +is really _serious_, I can tell you. You should see Angela on the rings; +and as for Jean Murray--why, I forgot! You don't know them yet!' + +She disappeared abruptly from the window, while Auntie Anna said something +about leaving the young people to themselves, and strolled off towards +the house. Kit was attacked with a sudden fit of shyness at the prospect +of being presented to two perfectly strange schoolgirls; and he shouted +at Barbara to 'come back and chuck it!' But Barbara did not hear him, and +he edged behind Jill for protection. + +Upstairs, in the 'quorranteen,' Barbara was trying with some difficulty +to persuade Jean and Angela to show themselves. + +'Oh no!' they both said, getting as far away as possible from the window, +and contriving to look neglected. 'Never mind us, Babe; _please_ go on +talking to your people.' + +'But it's _Kit_!' represented Babs, as if that settled the matter at once. +'He's my favourite brother, and he's a genius, and he's only thirteen, +and he has asthma so badly you'd think he was going to die. You _must_ +want to know Kit! Besides, Jill is there too.' + +'Jill Urquhart?' cried Angela. 'Why didn't you say so before? Of course, +we want to see Jill Urquhart!' + +So the triumvirate squeezed themselves on to the narrow window-seat, and +hung in a row over the window-ledge, while Jill smiled and nodded from +below, and said pleasant things to them in her pretty soft voice. For all +that, her old school-fellows did not feel at their ease with her; for +they had suddenly made the discovery that Jill Urquhart, who used to be +the privileged possessor of boots to be unlaced and desks to be put away, +and other things now connected with Margaret Hulme, had somehow changed +into a daintily dressed, grown-up sort of visitor, who had to hold up +her skirt because the grass was wet. No one, not even the head girl, held +up her skirt at Wootton Beeches. + +'This is Jean Murray, Kit, and that's Angela Wilkins,' said Babs, by +way of introduction; and Christopher, who was still seeking protection +behind his cousin, pulled off his cap and grinned. Then there was a +pause, and the situation became rather strained. Barbara looked round +at her two companions, and could not imagine what had come over them. +Why, she wondered, did they not chatter away as they usually did? They +only giggled faintly, however; and Angela was covered with blushes. So +far, the introduction did not seem a success. + +'Angela can swing and turn and leave go with one hand and catch on +again--I mean on the rings,' said Barbara, by way of opening the +conversation. + +'I can't! What stories! Besides, it's quite easy; anybody could!' declared +Angela, vehemently. + +'And Jean can turn coach-wheels as well as Peter,' continued Babs, +eagerly. 'She can do hand-balance too, when Hurly-Burly isn't looking; +because we're not allowed to do hand-balance, you see, so we've got +to wait till no one is looking. Isn't it wonderful of Jean?' + +'How _can_ you, Babe?' murmured Jean, reproachfully; and she concealed her +confusion by staring up at the top of the elm tree opposite and pretending +that she was not the person referred to. + +'They are very clever, aren't they, Kit?' said Jill, in a gentle, +encouraging manner. + +'Oh, rather!' said Kit, picking a blade of grass and gnawing it in his +desperation. + +'And it will be most exciting to see Angela on the rings at the display, +won't it, Kit?' continued Jill, smiling away more pleasantly than ever. + +'Oh, rather!' said Kit, again; and he wound the blade of grass elaborately +round his little finger. + +'What we can do is nothing to Babs, though!' said Angela, making a mighty +effort to overcome her shyness. 'She's the best in the whole school!' + +'Oh, the Babe!' remarked Christopher, leaving the shelter of Jill's big +hat, and suddenly regaining confidence. '_She_ doesn't count.' + +Conversation flourished more easily after that, for the triumvirate +combined immediately in an attempt to prove to Kit that the Babe did +count. Indeed, the argument grew so hot and furious that the Doctor, +who happened at that moment to make his call upon his small patients, +knocked three times at the door of the room, and finally had to walk in +unannounced. There was a look of annoyance on his face, for he already +resented being compelled to waste his precious time in attending three +healthy young schoolgirls who had nothing whatever the matter with +them, and would not have been in their present plight but for a piece of +childish folly. When he found that his patients had not even the grace +to be ready for his visit, his irritation increased. + +'Excuse me,' he began, 'are you aware----?' He paused and frowned, for it +was quite evident that none of them was aware of anything except of +what was going on in the garden. Nothing was to be seen of his patients +except an array of black legs along the window-seat; the rest of them +appeared to be hanging over the ledge outside in a perilous and inelegant +position; and all three of them were gabbling away as fast as their +tongues would let them. + +'Well, you wait for the competition, that's all!' Angela was proclaiming +shrilly. + +'It all depends on how soon that stupid Doctor lets us out of this hole,' +added Jean, with suppressed scorn in her voice. + +'He's so funny; he never says anything important, and he only looks glum, +as if he was _so_ sorry for himself,' chimed in Babs, with a laugh. + +Dr. Wilson Hurst tapped his stick smartly on the table; and there was a +sudden pause. Then came three thuds on the floor by the window-seat, and +the triumvirate stood facing him in varying stages of confusion. + +'We--we didn't know you were there,' ventured Barbara. + +'So I gathered,' said the Doctor, without a smile. 'Will you kindly show +me your tongues?' + +He did not want to see their tongues particularly; but it seemed the most +obvious means at his disposal for producing silence. The rapidity with +which three tongues simultaneously darted out for his inspection reminded +him irresistibly of mechanical toys, and he very nearly allowed himself to +smile. + +'That will do,' he said, controlling himself sternly; and he took out his +watch and felt Barbara's pulse. The moment the child's tongue was her own +again, she began to make use of it. + +'You're sorry that we are not any iller, aren't you, Dr. Hurst?' she +remarked. + +'Eh? What?' said the Doctor, taken aback. 'I--I don't know what you are +talking about.' + +'Well, you always look as though you would like us so much better if we +_really_ had scarlet fever instead of only waiting for it,' explained +Babs, pleasantly. '_Would_ you like us better, Dr. Hurst, if we really +had scarlet fever?' + +She had so nearly guessed the truth with her quick, impish perception, +that the Doctor dropped her hand abruptly and passed on to Angela. 'There +doesn't seem to be much the matter with any of you,' he said, by way +of conducting the conversation on strict medical lines. He looked so +cross about it, however, that the attempt did not prosper. Barbara, in +the innocence of her heart, thought he needed cheering up. + +'Are you coming to the display, Dr. Hurst?' she asked politely. + +'The--I beg your pardon?' he murmured, staring hard at his watch. + +'The gymnastic display at the end of the term, when we're going to +compete for the Canon's prize, you know,' proceeded Barbara. 'Everybody's +coming--Jill too! So _you_ will, won't you, Dr. Hurst?' + +'Really, I don't know,' answered the Doctor; and he dropped Angela's +hand just as hastily, and passed on to Jean Murray. Babs looked a little +puzzled for a moment, and then her face cleared. + +'Oh, of course, you don't like Jill! I'd forgotten that,' she remarked +with a smile. 'But that doesn't matter, because you needn't sit next to +her, need you? I don't think Jill would mind your not sitting next to +her,' she added reflectively. + +The Doctor began to wish very heartily that he had accepted Miss +Finlayson's offer to let one of the teachers accompany him from the house, +and he prepared to beat a speedy retreat. But Angela, in her bland and +tactless manner, put the finishing touch to his embarrassment and cut off +his retirement. + +'Jill Urquhart is outside on the lawn now,' she observed quite pointlessly. + +'So she is!' cried Barbara, clapping her hands. 'Then you'll come to the +window and speak to her, won't you, Dr. Hurst? Kit is there too!' + +'You must really excuse me,' said the Doctor, stiffly, as he took up his +hat and stick; 'but, really----' + +'Oh, Dr. Hurst, _do_ come,' begged the child, her little black eyes +bright with entreaty. In spite of her temporary disloyalty during the +period of 'quorranteen' to the prince who had once been a beast, she +still considered him worthy to stay in her kingdom with the magician +and other privileged folk; and it really hurt her to feel that he did not +appreciate Jill and Kit, and that Jill and Kit on their side did not know +he had been disenchanted quite six weeks ago. Surely, she thought, if +they were all properly brought together, they could not fail to like one +another. + +The Doctor hesitated, and Barbara waited anxiously. He thought he only +had to decide whether he should leave at once, or whether he should stay +and be laughed at by the other schoolgirl outside--the one who had made +him feel so stupid at Mrs. Crofton's dinner-party. But to Barbara his +decision meant much more than that, for it was going to determine whether +a certain beast was a prince, or whether a certain prince was a beast. + +So she waited with a look of thrilling expectancy on her face; and the +other two, who had never seen her look like that before, began to feel +a little doubtful about the way she was behaving. + +'I say, Babe, don't!' whispered Jean, tugging at her. + +The little movement roused the Doctor, and recalled him to the absurdity +of his position. He bowed, and walked with sudden determination to the +door. + +'Good afternoon,' he said curtly; and the disappointment on Barbara's face +haunted him in the most tiresome manner for the rest of the day. + +Babs stood motionless for nearly a minute after he had gone. Then she +smiled a little wistfully to herself. + +'After all, he must have found it rather lonely without a princess, and I +can't find a princess,' she reflected out loud. + +'What _are_ you talking about?' asked Jean. + +'Hadn't we better go back to Jill?' added Angela, impatiently. + +Barbara gave a start. 'What a silly duffer I am!' she cried joyfully. 'Of +course, there's Jill; and she's been there all the time!' + +'Yes, she has,' said Jean, bluntly, 'and it's time you remembered it, for +she must be tired of waiting for us by this----' + +Barbara interrupted her with another remark--rather a mournful one this +time. + +'It never comes right,' she sighed. 'Now, I've got a princess without a +prince!' + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +PREPARING FOR THE DISPLAY + + +Dr. Hurst did not call again at the little house in the garden, and +the triumvirate came out of quarantine in due course, very little subdued +by their eight days' imprisonment, and more on the alert than ever for +any piece of excitement that might come their way. The junior playroom, +having passed an exceedingly dull and uneventful week during their +absence, welcomed their return with joy; and it was perhaps fortunate +for the internal affairs of Wootton Beeches that there was going to be +a gymnastic display to absorb the energies of its wilder spirits. As the +days rolled on and the end of the term drew nearer and nearer, the +conversation on both sides of the curtain became almost entirely limited +to the one topic of the Canon's prize; and those who were not among the +chosen competitors for it spent the best part of their time in watching +the others practise in the big gymnasium, and in disputing hotly the +various chances of the claimants. Miss Finlayson had settled that the +six morocco-bound volumes offered by her uncle should be divided into +two prizes, one for the senior and one for the junior division of the +school; and while it was generally agreed that Margaret Hulme would carry +off the first, the discussion in the junior playroom as to the winner of +the second was endless. Most of the girls were agreed that Charlotte +Bigley and the three members of the triumvirate shared equal chances, on +the whole, of being successful; and a great deal would depend, it was +said, on the exercises chosen for competition. For, until a week before +the great day, nobody knew what the exact programme was to be. 'It's +one of Finny's dodges,' Charlotte Bigley declared, 'because she wants +us to be good all round, and not to grind at one or two things just for +the sake of the prize. It's like the prize-giving in the Christmas +term; we never know what the prizes are going to be for, till after the +exams. are over.' + +So the excitement was great when Miss Burleigh walked into the gymnasium +on the Saturday before the display, and called for silence so that she +might read out the order of the competition. Even the younger children +forced themselves into a kind of uneasy order, as Hurly-Burly unfolded +her sheet of foolscap paper; for the next few minutes would practically +decide, they thought, who was to be the lucky one among the juniors. + +'First of all,' announced the games-mistress, 'the whole gymnastic class +will open the display by an exhibition of step-marching.' This was +received with average interest, for it sounded like one of the ordinary +gymnastic lessons, and had nothing to do with the competition. Miss +Burleigh waited for the murmur of comments to subside, and went on. +'Then the thirty-two girls chosen to compete for the prize will separate +into two divisions; and the senior division, led by Margaret Hulme, will +perform the following exercises:--' + +Miss Burleigh paused again, but there were no comments this time. + +'First, wand exercises by the whole senior division; then a display on the +horizontal bar, to be followed by one on the vaulting-horse,--competitors +to choose between the bar and the horse,--and the whole to conclude +with high jump. After tea, I will show you the exercises chosen for +competition, and will help you to divide yourselves into sections.' + +The buzz of remarks from the senior division lasted almost long enough +to shake the loyalty of the younger children to the head girl; and they +cast many reproachful glances towards the further end of the gymnasium, +where Margaret formed the centre of an eager, chattering group. Then +Hurly-Burly took pity on them and called for silence again, and the +juniors had their chance at last. + +'The junior division, led by Charlotte Bigley, will go through the +following exercises:--' began Miss Burleigh. She did not mean to pause +here, but a storm of remonstrance from the junior division drowned her +next words. + +'Did you _ever_!' cried the shrill voice of Angela Wilkins, who, with Jean +and Barbara, sat perched on the top of the vaulting-horse. + +'Why doesn't Jean lead?' added Babs, indignantly. + +'I say, please don't! I'm not nearly so good as you are,' contradicted +Jean, in a faint tone that lacked conviction. + +'Can't you be quiet, you three?' grumbled Mary Wells, who had a prejudice +against the triumvirate, founded on many injuries. 'As if anybody could +lead better than Charlotte! The impudence of _some_ kids----' + +'Hush-sh!' interposed the audience generally, and Miss Burleigh struggled +on. + +'First, Indian clubs for the whole section. After that----' + +'Jean--for certain!' interrupted Barbara, nodding. 'She bangs every one +at clubs!' + +'There you go again!' said the injured voice of Mary Wells. 'Everybody +knows that Charlotte----' + +'Oh, stop it!' said Charlotte herself; and temporary peace was restored. + +'After that,' continued Hurly-Burly, rapidly, 'a display on the horizontal +ladder, to be followed by one on the rings. Competitors to choose +between----' + +'I bag rings!' screamed Angela, at the top of her voice. + +'No, you don't!' said Mary Wells, in her stolid, aggravating way. 'You've +just got to wait till it's settled for you, so there! We all know why +you're so anxious not to do the ladder; why, you can't even manage a +simple travel----' + +'How can you, Mary Wells?' asked Angela, solemnly. 'You know I can bear +anything but an untruth; and to say that _I_----' + +'Sh-sh!' said Miss Burleigh, vigorously, and she was again allowed a +few seconds of silence. 'The junior division will then conclude with +rope-climbing.' + +Hardly were the words out of her mouth than her listeners fell to +disputing again. + +'Rope-climbing--Barbara!' asserted Jean. + +'What are you talking about?' cried Mary, with contempt. 'Barbara is +simply not _in_ it with Charlotte; and what's more, you know she isn't, +Jean Murray.' + +'Oh, the wicked stories some people can tell,' sighed Angela. 'Have you +seen Barbara Berkeley swarm up the----' + +'Please, please don't,' implored Babs. 'Can't you see that Hurly-Burly +wants to say something else?' + +Being the champion in question, she could not very well side with Jean, +as she usually did. Her appeal had some effect on the disputants, and +Miss Burleigh, remembering it was a half-holiday, shrugged her shoulders +good-naturedly and took advantage of the pause to proceed. + +'The display will take place at five o'clock on Thursday,' she proclaimed; +'supper will be at seven, and after supper, the Canon, who is coming +from the North on purpose, will give away the prizes to the two +successful competitors----' + +'That's Margaret and Charlotte Bigley,' interrupted Mary, noisily; and +Hurly-Burly gave it up and fled, with her hands over her ears, just +as Angela, with a yell of defiance, lost her balance and plunged down +head-first from her perch on the vaulting-horse. + +'No, no! Margaret and Jean!' she gasped out breathlessly, as she scrambled +up again from the floor and brushed the dust from her hands and knees. + +Jean sprang to her feet on the top of the vaulting-horse, and danced up +and down in her excitement. + +'Margaret and the Babe!' she shrieked, waving her arms wildly round her +head. + +But Barbara had slipped down after Angela, though not quite so +precipitately, and had retired from the contest to a particular corner +of the gymnasium, where the hot-water pipes projected sufficiently to +form what might with imagination be considered a seat. It required +some ingenuity, perhaps, to preserve any sort of balance on the edge of +a row of hot-water pipes; but that was nothing to a small person who +could never sit down tamely on a chair like other people, but always +preferred the slanting surface of a desk, or something equally +unaccommodating. So Babs felt the hot-water pipes with her grubby +little hands, to make sure they were just the right heat to be sat +upon, and then squeezed herself on to them contentedly, curled her legs +away underneath, and in a few seconds was supremely unconscious of what +was going on at the other end of the gymnasium. Jean Murray might yell +herself hoarse in her defence, for all she knew or cared; for at that +moment her mind was occupied with a far more important question. + +It was Angela who first grew tired of waging war with Mary Wells without +the valuable support of Barbara Berkeley. Angela could shriek with the +shrillest, when once some one had told her what to shriek; but there +was a solid calmness about Mary that carried more conviction with it, +and Barbara's wit was the only thing to make any impression upon that. +Besides, if Angela shrieked 'Margaret and Jean,' and Jean shrieked +'Margaret and the Babe,' who was there left but the Babe to shriek +for Angela herself? So in a very short time Angela Wilkins also left +the contest, and found her way to the place where the hot-water pipes +projected into a perch for the youngest girl in the school. + +'Hullo, Babe! What's up?' she inquired. + +Barbara looked at her vaguely. Some one in a scarlet gymnasium frock +certainly stood in front of her, but it had nothing whatever to do with +what she was worrying over in her mind; so, at first, she did not take +any notice. + +'Aren't you coming to practise rings?' pursued Angela, who had seen +Barbara look like this before, and knew from experience that in time +the child would rouse herself sufficiently to answer her. + +'Rings?' repeated Babs, vacantly. + +'Oh, come on!' said Angela, impatiently. 'How you do moon about the place, +to be sure! Don't you want to win the Canon's prize?' + +Barbara's expression changed swiftly, and she frowned. 'Get away,' she +growled, with unusual fierceness; and Angela stared and withdrew. + +'Barbara Berkeley is in an awful fury,' she announced, when she got back +to Jean. + +'What about?' asked Jean. + +'Oh, not _about_ anything,' answered Angela, shrugging her shoulders. +'When the Babe is in a fury, it's never _about_ anything, is it? It's +inside her, or something,' she added, seeking in her mind for some +explanation of the strange moods that made Barbara Berkeley a puzzle +to every one. + +'Inside her!' echoed Mary Wells, scornfully. 'What you two can see in that +child I never can make out. Fancy making friends with any one who loses +her temper _inside_!' + +'Well, it's better than losing it _outside_ and upsetting everybody by +howling like a baby, because you can't find your pencil-box, isn't it, +stupid?' cried Jean. + +Mary blushed painfully at the personal reference, and hastily changed +the conversation. 'Barbara Berkeley is a spoilt little kid,' she retorted. +'She's the most sullen, ill-tempered, obstinate little----' The words +stayed at the tip of her tongue, for the unconscious subject of them had +suddenly joined the group round Mary, and was staring at her in her most +solemn and disconcerting manner. + +Mary Wells felt foolish. There was something about the youngest girl +in the school, when she looked like that, that would make any one feel +foolish. But Babs had evidently not heard a word she had been saying. + +'Come on,' she said, hooking her arm into Jean's; 'I want to ask you +something.' + +The two wandered away together down the long gymnasium. + +'Look here,' began Barbara, impetuously, as soon as they were out of +hearing of the others. 'Are you keen on winning that prize?' + +Jean drew a long breath. She wanted to take that prize back with her to +the little home in Edinburgh, where she had been adored and spoiled for +twelve whole years, more than she had ever wanted anything in the world; +and she did not know how to answer Barbara's unexpected question. + +'Why?' she asked, at length. + +Barbara took hold of a rope and waved it backwards and forwards to +give herself courage. 'Because,' she blurted out, 'I want to get it +too,--_awfully_, and so does Angela, and--and we can't all get it, can we?' + +'No,' said Jean, looking at her curiously. She had thought she really was +beginning to understand the Babe; and here she was, showing herself in a +more puzzling light than ever. + +'You see,' Barbara went on, swarming up the rope a couple of feet and +making her next remark to the black hook in the beam above, 'I'd like +awfully to win it, because I don't want the boys to think I've got too +much like a girl to do things now; and because it's so--so splendid to +feel you _can_ do things.' + +She slid down the rope again, and Jean saw how her eyes were glowing and +shining, and she felt a little more puzzled than before. + +'Then, Angela wants to get it because she's always bottom in everything +else,' continued Barbara. 'That's not much of a reason, I think, +especially when she hasn't got any brothers--only millions of sisters, +who don't count; but still, she'll be awfully disappointed if she doesn't +get it, won't she?' + +'Yes,' said Jean. + +Babs curled the rope round her waist, and swung herself gently to and fro. +The movement seemed to aid her reflections. 'Why do _you_ want to get it, +Jean?' she asked softly. + +It was never easy to induce Jean to talk about herself; but if any one +could do it, Barbara was the person. And, this time, she succeeded. + +Jean drew another long breath, and clenched her fists. + +'Because I want to be first,' she said slowly. 'I want to be first in +_everything_. I'd sooner be bottom than second! Of course you'll think +I'm a conceited pig,' she added, almost fiercely, 'but I can't help +that; I don't expect you to understand.' Then she muttered in a lower +tone,--'Nobody ever does, excepting only mother and father.' + +Barbara's eyes were fixed on her face, and there was a warmth in their +blackness that Jean had only seen there once, and that was when she was +writing to her father in America. + +'Good old Jean!' she murmured. 'It's awfully hard to understand; but I'll +try--_truthfully_. And I'd like you to get the prize--I would, really. +I didn't want you to have it before; but I do now, Jean, old girl!' + +'I ought to want _you_ to have it, but I don't,' sighed Jean, trying +vainly not to be behindhand in unselfishness; 'I just want it myself, +so it's no good pretending I don't.' + +There was silence between them for an instant; and from the other end of +the gymnasium drifted the monotonous war-cries of Mary Wells and Angela +Wilkins. + +'Margaret and Charlotte Bigley!' shouted one. + +'Margaret and Jean Murray!' added the other. + +The enthusiasm was too infectious to be resisted. With a wild scream +of glee, Jean and Babs raced the whole length of the room and flung +themselves into the fray, without a thought of the opposite sentiments +they had just been expressing to each other. + +'Margaret and the Babe!' yelled Jean, brandishing an Indian club. + +'Margaret and Angela!' came from the panting Barbara, just behind her. + +Nothing but the entrance of Finny would have calmed the noisy tumult; but +when they saw her standing on the platform, looking down at them with +her best Saturday smile on her face, the clamour ended in a burst of +laughter; and five or six of the more eager of them invaded the platform, +and danced round her appealingly. + +'Do, do say who's going to win,' begged Barbara, catching hold of her +sleeve. + +'It's Margaret and the Babe, isn't it?' cried Jean. + +'No!' shrilled Angela. 'You mean Margaret and----' + +'Charlotte Bigley!' gasped Mary Wells, squeezing herself into the front +rank. + +Miss Finlayson put out her arms and encircled as many of them as she +could, and spun them round the platform with her. + +'Dear, dear little girls!' she exclaimed, when she was out of breath and +could dance no more. 'Do you know what the Canon ought to have done, if +he wanted to please _me_?' + +'What? What?' cried a dozen voices. + +'He ought to have offered thirty-two prizes, and then I should not have +been afraid of any of my children feeling disappointed,' answered Miss +Finlayson, nodding at them wisely; and, somehow, it seemed to Jean as if +the head-mistress's eyes rested longest of all upon her. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GYMNASTIC DISPLAY + + +The junior division, drawn up in double file, stood assembled in the +anteroom of the gymnasium, on the day of the great competition for +the Canon's prize. The figure-marching by the whole class was over, and +the senior division had just begun the wand exercises to the piano +accompaniment of the German music-master, who, being the unlucky +possessor of an unpronounceable name in three syllables, was generally +known as 'Scales.' The applause which had followed after the marching +had taken away the first shyness of the younger children; and even the +prospect of doing separate exercises presently, before an audience of +strangers, did not seem to be having much effect on the sixteen little +girls in scarlet frocks who were waiting in the anteroom for their turn +to come. Hurly-Burly, though supposed to be superintending affairs in +the gymnasium, had to look in at the door more than once, to remind +them that the crashing chords of 'Scales' did not drown everything; +but just as she had succeeded in reducing them at last to order, a +piece of information passed down the file from Charlotte Bigley, who +stood nearest the doorway and had the best view of the gymnasium, upset +them all once more. + +'Margaret has forgotten the figure,' 'Margaret has put the others out,' +'Margaret has gone wrong,' 'Margaret Hulme has clean forgotten everything, +and she's got to step out,' were the various forms in which the news +travelled down to the end of the file, the last of all being the version +of Angela Wilkins and therefore generally discredited. + +'I don't believe a word of it!' said Jean, stoutly. + +'Why, Margaret couldn't go wrong if she tried,' exclaimed Barbara, whose +belief in the head girl, though slow in coming, was quite equal by this +time to Jean's. + +'She has, though,' declared Angela, who stood with Mary Wells just in +front of Jean and Barbara. + +Mary Wells, who had stepped out of rank on hearing the surprising news, +now returned, and in her slow and conscientious manner proceeded to +reprove Angela. + +'How you do exaggerate, Angela!' she said, frowning. 'Margaret only went +a little wrong; and she's caught up again all right. Isn't it funny, +though?' she was obliged to add immediately, with a thrill of amazement +in her voice. + +The two children behind her for once were dumb. The head girl, according +to their simple creed, could do no wrong; so when she did, what words had +they left to use? Babs was the first to see a way out of the difficulty. + +'I know,' she said. 'I expect she's nervous. It makes you forget like +anything, if you're nervous. Once, when Egbert was being prepared for +confirmation, he was so nervous--it was a strange clergyman, you know, +and Egbert said he blinked--that he clean forgot his catechism, even +the easy first part about your godfathers and godmothers. So that's why +Margaret forgot her steps, you see if it wasn't!' + +'Nervous!' echoed Jean, incredulously. 'Who ever saw Margaret nervous? +Do you think she'd be able to make every new kid who comes to the school +quake in her shoes if she was _nervous_?' + +'I don't know,' answered Babs, doubtfully. Margaret Hulme had certainly +never made her quake in her shoes, even when she was a new girl; but +she did not admit this to Jean. 'Egbert can make people afraid of him +too,' she went on, 'and he can thrash any chap you please, and he always +washes his head in cold water _every_ morning, even if there's ice, and he +has more ties and clothes and things than all the others put together, +and he's awfully grand and splendid, Egbert is,--but all the same, he was +frightened of that strange clergyman. Can you see Egbert?' she concluded +proudly. 'He's at the end of them all, next to Jill. Wasn't it jolly of +Finny to put them right in the front row of the gallery?' + +Her companions forgot Margaret for a minute or two in their efforts to +stand on tiptoe and catch a glimpse through the open door of Barbara +Berkeley's five brothers. The various relatives who came to the +break-up parties, and never seemed to exist at any other time except on +letter-writing days, always caused a good deal of excitement among +the girls, and added a temporary importance to the most insignificant of +them, provided she was lucky enough to possess a parent or even a cousin +among the visitors. + +'They're all mine,' said Babs, glowing with the joy of possession. 'I'll +introduce them to you at supper, if you like.' + +'I'm rather glad I haven't any one belonging to me here,' said Jean, +cheating herself into a brief forgetfulness of the little home in +Edinburgh. 'I'm so frightened of the introducing part; I never know +what to say, and it makes me feel such a goat.' + +'Oh,' said Mary Wells, placidly; 'how funny of you, Jean. I always say, +"Here's my sister, and this is Charlotte Bigley." That's quite easy, +surely.' + +'Yes, but it isn't right,' responded Jean, frankly. 'You should hear +Margaret Hulme do it--that's something like! It reminds you of mothers, +and callers, and At Home days when you wear your best frock and hand +the scones.' + +Their talk was interrupted by the retirement from the gymnasium of the +senior division. Margaret marched into the anteroom, with her eyes +staring straight in front of her, and an exaggerated air of confidence in +her bearing. There was an obvious lack of enthusiasm among her followers, +who were all whispering and looking significantly at their leader; but +the noise produced by Scales, who seemed to think that a Beethoven sonata +was an appropriate solo to play in the interval, made conversation +impossible; and the section that was to do the horizontal bar, led by +Ruth Oliver, returned to the gymnasium before the juniors were able to +satisfy their curiosity. During the second event of the competition, +Margaret and the vaulting-horse section exchanged very few remarks, and +the feeling that there was something unusual in the air had considerably +increased by the time Ruth, looking flushed and totally unlike herself, +marched her section back again. The rumour ran down the junior file that +Ruth Oliver had been distinguishing herself, and that as much of the +clapping as Scales allowed to be heard was on her account. Certainly, +the irresolute manner that marked everything Ruth did, as a rule, had +quite deserted her as she filed past the triumvirate with her little band. + +'Why,' exclaimed Angela, audibly, 'I never knew Ruth Oliver was pretty +before!' + +'She isn't, is she?' said Jean, just as loudly. + +'Of course she is!' declared Babs, warmly. 'She's _beautiful_, and--and +classic!' + +The others laughed, and she wondered why. Somebody had said, only the +other day, that Jill Urquhart had classic features; and how was she to +know that, although she was every bit as fond of Ruth as of Jill, the +same adjective would not do for both? + +'Look at Margaret Hulme,' whispered Mary Wells, as the vaulting-horse +section marched past them. 'She's quite white!' + +The little remark was enough to set them all wondering afresh; and +Barbara, moved by a sudden impulse, darted up to Ruth Oliver. + +'_Did_ Margaret go wrong in the wands?' asked the child, in an anxious +whisper. + +The smile that had made Ruth look so surprisingly pretty died out of her +face, and she glanced gravely down at her little questioner. + +'Never mind, baby,' she said gently. 'Go back to your place.' And she came +as near snubbing any one then as she ever did in the whole of her school +career. + +A burst of applause put every one in the anteroom once more on the alert. + +'What is it?' passed eagerly from one to another. The answer, given by +Charlotte from her point of vantage near the doorway, was soon circulated. +Margaret Hulme had easily surpassed her seven companions by a brilliant +performance on the vaulting-horse; and the spirits of the anteroom went +up with a bound. Hurly-Burly had mounted the platform at the farther end +of the gymnasium, and was comparing notes with Miss Finlayson and the +expert from the London training-college, who was acting as one of the +judges; so there was no one to restrain both senior and junior divisions +from falling out of rank and pressing round the head girl, as she once +more marched back to them. They had never once made so much fuss over +their idol as they did now that she had shown, for the first time, that +even idols are capable of failure. + +Hurly-Burly returned and restored order in a stern voice; and they saw +Finny standing in the middle of the platform, waiting for Scales to bring +the _Erlkönig_ to a thundering close. The next moment she was speaking in +that low voice of hers that went straight to the ears of every one in the +room. + +'It may make the end of the senior competition more interesting to you,' +she began, 'if you know how the competitors stand now. So far, Ruth +Oliver is a little ahead of the others----' Even the solemnity of the +occasion could not stay the murmur of astonishment that rose in the +anteroom at this announcement; but Miss Finlayson waited for it to +subside, and finished her speech. 'She and Margaret Hulme are very +close, for they are exactly even as regards gymnastics; but Margaret lost +a little over the wand figure. So the prize will greatly depend upon the +result of the high jump. At the same time, I feel sure you will agree with +me that the way in which the other competitors have worked has greatly +added to our enjoyment, and deserves much of our applause.' + +A good many downcast faces in the anteroom cheered up as Miss Finlayson +made her ingenious reference to the unsuccessful ones, and so contrived +to make them feel that the applause at the end of her speech was really +for them. Then the whole senior division filed into the gymnasium for +the last time, to the slow music of Herr Scales, who had just had a polite +rebuke from Hurly-Burly, and was forcing himself desperately to keep the +soft pedal down. + +The children never forgot the tense feeling of the next few minutes, +the thrill that ran through every girl in Wootton Beeches when Ruth +Oliver knocked down the rope at four feet four, the answering thrill that +followed it when she cleared it at four feet six, the surprise they went +through when Margaret also cleared it at four feet six, but knocked +it down at four feet eight; and last of all, the enthusiasm of the +spectators when Ruth just managed to clear it at four feet eight and +Margaret still knocked it down after two tries at it. The people, who +clapped and smiled so good-naturedly, little knew that the exciting +contest they had just witnessed had upset the traditions of two and a half +years and proclaimed the triumph of the most retiring girl in the school. +They only thought how modern and delightful it was for girls to play +the same games as boys; and Mrs. Oliver beamed on every one from the +platform, and decided that Ruth should stay another year at school +instead of leaving at midsummer. But the anteroom was overwhelmed. + +'It's--impossible!' gasped Jean, when the news travelled down to the +triumvirate. 'Why, Margaret can clear four feet ten _easily_! I've seen +her.' + +'And Ruth has never done more than four feet six before,' added Angela, +forced by the seriousness of the moment into a strict statement of facts. + +'Margaret was nervous; I'm certain she was,' said Barbara, positively. 'It +was the same with Egbert, when he forgot his godfathers and godmothers; he +said there was a silly idiot at the bottom of his form, who didn't mind +the strange clergyman blinking at him a bit, and he even got through the +duty to his neighbour. And Ruth wasn't nervous, you see.' + +'What nonsense you are talking,' remarked Mary Wells, who loved to be +literal. 'Why, Ruth is more shy than any one in the whole school!' + +That was certainly true, and Babs went on puzzling over it, long after +Margaret and Ruth had retired hand in hand to the other end of the +anteroom. For whatever the head girl felt about her failure, she did not +mean to let any one guess that she cared. Her easy self-possession was +all her own again, as she kept tight hold of Ruth's hand and chatted +lightly to the girls about her; and one or two of the others, who tried +to patronise her with their consolation, received such sarcastic replies +that they were very soon put back in their place again. Margaret Hulme +was not going to forget she was head girl, even if that roomful of +strangers had robbed her of the power she had wielded for two and a half +years. + +Scales struck up a march of his own composition; and at a vigorous sign +from Miss Burleigh, Charlotte Bigley hastily marshalled her scattered +troop and led them into the gymnasium for the Indian club performance. +They were all very much subdued by the time they had separated to their +various places, for the peep they had stolen through the anteroom door +had given them no idea of what it really felt like to stand in the +middle of this staring crowd of people, who filled the gallery above +and the platform at the end, and even spread thinly round the room +close up to the wall. Jean clenched her teeth and frowned fiercely, and +would have endured twice the shyness that tortured her sooner than +forget one of the exercises she had to go through; and as for Barbara, +she took no notice of the people at all, but began to work mechanically, +as soon as the first bars of the familiar valse fell on her ears. +Angela, however, lost her head and one of her clubs at the same instant; +and a harmless aunt, who sat near, only escaped a severe blow from the +latter by the dexterity of another visitor, who put out his hand just +in time and caught it as it flew past him. It was neatly done, and the +audience applauded vigorously, while Hurly-Burly gave the command to +stop practice, and the stranger restored her property to the confused +and unhappy Angela. Then Babs recognised him. It was the Doctor who +had come out in this surprisingly new light; and even Kit, with whom she +immediately exchanged glances, was looking down at him approvingly. + +'Did you see Dr. Hurst?' whispered Babs to Jean afterwards, as they filed +out of the gymnasium again. + +'Of course I did, directly I got in,' answered Jean. 'Couldn't think who +it was looking so glum and thundery! Wonder why he came to a show like +this? He doesn't look as though he went in for gymnastics, does he?' + +'I don't know,' said Babs, trying to be fair even to the beast who had not +shown himself worthy to be a prince. 'It was very smart the way he caught +that club. Perhaps he is good at gym, though he can't take a joke.' + +Angela required so much consolation from them both on account of her +blunder, that they forgot all about the doctor, and spent most of their +time, while Charlotte's section was displaying on the horizontal ladder, +in assuring her, with more or less confidence in their tones, that when +it came to the rings no one could hope to compete with her. Then Charlotte +Bigley returned at the head of her section, trying unsuccessfully to +look as if nothing had happened; and Mary Wells proudly informed all +those who cared to hear, that if anybody thought she was going to do +the rings as well as Charlotte had just done the ladder, she was much +mistaken! + +'Oh, you shut up!' rejoined Babs. 'You haven't seen Angela yet.' + +'Or Jean!' echoed Angela, faithfully. + +The third voice for once was wanting. Jean Murray stood waiting for the +signal to advance; and her determined, almost dogged look was blotting out +every other expression on her thin, clever face. + +Babs understood, and sprang forward to her place at Jean's side. + +'It's all right, Jean,' she said earnestly. 'I must try my very hardest, +because Finny made us all promise; but--but I do want you to win, all the +same.' + +'Oh, stop it, Babe,' Jean threw back at her, in a tone that startled and +hurt her; and the child shrank into herself again, and had a hard fight +to keep back the tears that rushed into her eyes for the first time in +many weeks. + +Their persistent encouragement of Angela made her go through the first +exercise on the rings successfully. It was a swing and a pull up in front, +and she managed it more neatly than either of her supporters. Then came +the swing and turn, and here Angela's temporary courage deserted her. +Perhaps she was flurried by the little attempt made by the gallery to +applaud her the second time she came forward; in any case, the glimpse +she had of Kit, who caught her eye and nodded cheerfully just as she +was beginning, did not help to compose her. She turned too soon and too +vigorously, and spun round helplessly in the air, until Hurly-Burly +came to her aid and helped her to drop ignominiously to the ground. +After that, it was evident that the issue of the competition rested +with Jean and Barbara, for they soon showed that they were much more +finished and thorough in their work than any one else in their section; +and everybody was prepared for the statement made by Miss Finlayson +in the next interval. She announced that Charlotte Bigley, Jean Murray, +and Barbara Berkeley were exactly even up to that point, and that the +result would have to be determined by the rope-climbing. + +The rope-climbing, however, left the result still undetermined. Both Jean +and Babs reached the top in six seconds, blew the trumpet they found there +with a vigour that sent the spectators into a peal of merriment, and slid +down again, much pleased with themselves and the interest they were +exciting. Charlotte Bigley on the third rope excelled them in speed and +reached the top in five seconds, but forgot to blow the trumpet, and so +made things even once more. The junior division filed out again, while +Miss Finlayson and the expert and Hurly-Burly put their heads together +on the platform, and Herr Scales thought the moment an appropriate one for +a performance in his best manner of his favourite composition, which +was called _Sonnenschein_ and had been thumped out in the holidays to +half the parents in the room. + +Miss Finlayson rose to her feet again. As the three competitors she +had already mentioned were still equal, she must call upon each of +them to do one of the advanced exercises, Charlotte on the ladder and the +other two on the rings; they were to choose their own exercises, and if +they again proved themselves equally good, the prize would be divided. +The spectators were in a pleasant state of interest by this time, and +the three little rivals were greeted with enthusiasm when they stepped +out of the anteroom for the last time and took up their positions in front +of the platform. They looked very small and slight as they stood there +in their short red frocks against a solid background of people; but they +had quite lost every suspicion of bashfulness, and Babs even began to +look upon the whole thing as an immense joke. She nodded gaily to the boys +in the gallery, and smiled happily at Auntie Anna, who had the place +of honour on the platform next to the Canon; and in the silence that +followed, while Charlotte Bigley was jumping from rung to rung of the +horizontal ladder, she occupied herself in trying to decide on her own +exercise. If Jean chose leaving go with one hand, she should swing +and let go and catch on to the trapeze beyond--at least, if Hurly-Burly +would only be decent and give her leave. She half hoped that Jean _would_ +choose the other; for she had practised the trapeze one, only last week, +and---- + +A sudden murmur, followed by a faint attempt at applause, roused her; and +she saw Charlotte Bigley walking slowly back to the anteroom with her eyes +fixed on the ground. + +'What happened? I didn't see,' she whispered, nudging Jean. + +'Hand slipped, fell off,' answered Jean, briefly, as she went forward and +grasped the rings. + +She did choose swinging and letting go with one hand, and she went through +it very successfully, and earned every bit of the applause that greeted +her when she finished. Barbara was so delighted that she went on clapping +her loudly after everybody else had stopped, and did not notice what she +was doing till the audience began to laugh and Hurly-Burly came up and +spoke to her. + +'May I have the trapeze let down?' whispered Babs, eagerly. 'I want to +let go of the rings and catch on to it at the end of my swing--like I did +the other day.' + +Hurly-Burly looked doubtful. 'Are you sure you can manage it?' she asked. + +Barbara pleaded, and the games-mistress gave in. It was always difficult +for any one so practical as Miss Burleigh to understand the odd little +pupil, who at one moment could throw herself into a game as heartily as a +boy, and at another was liable to exasperate her companions by going +off into a dream and completely forgetting what she was doing. But it was +impossible to help liking the child, and Hurly-Burly, who had a sneaking +conviction that the trapeze exercise would decide the prize in her favour, +could not resist the temptation to let her have her own way and secure +to herself at the same time a little reflected glory. For it was she +who had taught Barbara the exercise, and she had every reason to be +proud of her pupil. So she let down the trapeze from the roof and held it +back with her hands, ready to drop it forward when the child had worked up +her swing. + +The eyes of the German music-master were filled with sentimental +interest, as the youngest girl in the school stepped up to the rings. He +knew very little about gymnastics, though a German; for his life had been +passed almost entirely in other lands, and during the brief period he +had spent in his own country he had been so absorbed in his art that he +had completely neglected the physical culture that is of so much +importance to most Germans. As for girls' gymnastics, his experience in +them had been entirely confined to a few occasions like the present, +when he was asked to play instead of the junior music-mistress. But he +never assisted at the usual lessons, when the junior music-mistress was +considered good enough to perform; so Miss Finlayson's remarks on the +merits of the three competitors conveyed very little to him. Still, he +managed to gather that Barbara stood a good chance of winning the prize, +and his fat, benevolent face beamed with satisfaction in consequence. +It was true that the little Fräulein with the black, black eyes and the +wonder-clumsy fingers had no more talent for music than his tabby +cat, while the performances of Fräulein Vilkins were the joy of his +heart; but it was the little one who asked him so many questions about +his beloved Germany, which she seemed to regard as being about the size +of Kensington Gardens, and he forgave her all her excruciating false +notes for the sake of her warm heart, which was _colossal_. When he saw +her standing there all alone, he quite gave up trying to be brilliant and +dropped into a little simple melody of his own, which he had never +thought important enough to name, but which Barbara had always told +him in her funny English was 'awfully fine.' Unfortunately, just as she +recognised the notes and nodded at him with a little smile, Jean brought +him a message from the games-mistress, asking him not to play at all +until the exercise was over. + +'It's rather a difficult exercise, and you might put her out,' explained +Jean, seeing that he looked puzzled at such a peculiar request. Her +explanation did not help him much, for Jean did not trouble to translate +it into his own language; and, never having witnessed the exercise +that was coming, he failed to see the point of Hurly-Burly's message. +However, he was glad of the opportunity to descend from the platform +and get a better view of the little Fräulein's performance; and he placed +himself, rather inconveniently, just in front of the games-mistress, and +prepared to miss nothing of what followed. + +Everybody in the room was smiling genially at the youngest girl in the +school. She had already prepossessed them in her favour by her frank +admiration for Jean Murray; and now, as she stood there waiting for +the sign from Hurly-Burly to begin, there was something about her happy +unconsciousness that appealed irresistibly to her audience. Suddenly, the +five boys in the gallery began to stamp their feet encouragingly, and +Peter shouted 'Go it, Babe!' at the top of his voice. In a moment, the +cry was taken up in the anteroom. 'Go it, Babe!' said twenty voices or +more in a breath. The enthusiasm was infectious, and the words were +repeated with many a laugh all over the room. 'Go it, Babe!' cried the +people on the platform, and the people in the gallery, and the people who +sat near her by the wall, until every one in the gymnasium was stamping +and clapping and saying 'Go it, Babe!' to the little person in the short +scarlet frock. + +Barbara held the rings tightly, and her breath came rather quickly and +unevenly. She was bewildered by the noise, and waited for it to subside +before she began the exercise. It was so difficult to know what it all +meant. Of course, the boys wanted her to win; and perhaps the other people +did too, because they were grown up, and grown-up people always were +jolly and kind to her. She could understand why the Doctor, stern as +he was, smiled away at her and clapped her as heartily as any one, from +his place on the platform; and she thought she knew dimly what was making +Jean stamp on the floor till the dust flew. But the enthusiasm of her +other school-fellows, who were pressing forward from the anteroom door, +amazed her greatly. Could it be that they had suddenly forgotten how +young and unimportant she was, and how much she needed correction, and +how often she required to be told that she was the youngest in the school? +Were these the girls she had hated so heartily only three months ago, the +disgraced princesses she had turned out of her kingdom so passionately? + +The applause died down at last, and Miss Burleigh made her the signal to +begin. Babs walked back as far as she could, stood stretched for a second +on the tips of her toes, then shook the hair out of her eyes with the +old familiar movement, and took a sharp run forward. The next minute, the +slim scarlet form was flying backwards and forwards, with graceful, +regular movements. The onlookers gazed and admired, wondering with +some curiosity what her exercise was going to be; and their interest +increased when she uttered a sharp 'Now!' just as she was sweeping +backwards from her highest swing. Only one person in the room failed +to notice that it was Miss Burleigh who let the trapeze drop forward +instantly, so that it hung ready for the small performer to grasp on +her return swing. + +The music-master had been wholly absorbed in watching the little +Fräulein, from the first moment she had begun to swing. He thought he had +never seen anything so graceful as the way she swept to and fro, nor +anything so _hübsch_ as the expression and the rose-red complexion of +the youngest girl in the school. It was truly _grossartig_! His eyes +followed her closely all the time, from end to end of her swing; and that +was how he contrived to be looking away at the precise moment when +Hurly-Burly let down the trapeze. The murmur that rose from the people who +surrounded him, as they realised what Barbara was going to do, made him +look round; and he saw the thing hanging there, as though it had +dropped from the roof by accident, and in another second would get in +the way of the child who was swinging so deliciously. Viewed afterwards +in the light of ordinary common-sense, it seemed to him _wunderbar_ +that he could so have deceived himself. At the time, not a doubt was in +his mind as to what he thought had happened. The trapeze had fallen +down by accident and was going to embarrass the little Fräulein, if +not to hurt her; and the people around him were all exclaiming aloud, +because they too had realised her danger. Nevertheless, nobody seemed to +know what to do, and the little Fräulein was already sweeping straight +towards it on her downward swing. All these reflections rushed through +his brain in the flash of a moment. There was no time to hesitate. He +must be the one to rush out and come to her aid. With a loud German +exclamation, the music-master hurled himself forward and snatched back +the trapeze just as the child let go of the rings. + +He had a dim recollection afterwards of being gripped by Hurly-Burly +just an instant too late, and of seeing the little scarlet figure twist in +the air above him and drop with a nasty thud at the edge of the last +mattress, of finding himself in the midst of a huge concourse of people, +who suddenly rose up with a great roar and bore down upon him, uttering +shriek after shriek,--and then, of coming miserably to himself again, +with his heart thumping and his head throbbing painfully, just as a +deathlike silence succeeded the uproar, and a voice like Miss Finlayson's +said something that sounded like 'Doctor!' + +Some one had sprung from the platform with a flying jump the moment the +accident happened, and was forcing a passage through the throng of people. +There was not a sound to be heard in the great gymnasium as the Doctor +knelt down on the floor and put out his hand to the little still spot +of scarlet that lay on the edge of the last mattress. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE LAST DAY OF THE TERM + + +In the annals of Wootton Beeches there had never been so dismal a +packing-day as the one that dawned on the morrow of the gymnastic +competition. Generally, packing-day was the most delightful day in the +term: it came just after the break-up party, and just before going home, +and everything that happened on it seemed filled with a peculiar interest +of its own. First of all, there was the joy of rushing up to the bedrooms +directly after breakfast, to put out all the clothes in tidy little +heaps, ready for packing later on; then, the less delightful business +of clearing the bookshelves and tearing up the old exercise-books--an +occupation which contrived, in spite of itself, to present a certain +amount of charm, simply because it belonged to the last day of the term. +And the nicest part of all was the indescribable feeling that it was the +last day of the term, that there were no more lessons to prepare and +no more penalties to avoid, no more scales to practise and no more +stockings to mend, and, best of all, no more rules to bother about, so +that Fräulein and Mademoiselle could both be addressed, much to their +own distraction, in the British tongue, and anybody who pleased could +run up and down stairs to her heart's content without asking leave +first. All these privileges made packing-day, as a rule, something to +look forward to. But to-day nothing was happening as it usually did. + +Breakfast had been gone through almost in silence, and the accustomed rush +to the bedrooms afterwards had taken place quite quietly and tamely. The +tidying of the bookshelves, which could generally be made to linger so +pleasantly over the whole morning, was accomplished for once in an hour +or so; and the girls found themselves, at eleven o'clock, with nothing +further to do until Miss Tomlinson should send for them to pack their +things. On any other packing-day the playroom would have been cleared +of chairs and tables in a few minutes, and somebody would have been +dragged to the piano to play a valse, and there would have been plenty of +amusement for every one until dinner-time. But to-day nobody wanted +to dance, and hardly any one talked. + +Jean Murray sat motionless on one of the window-seats in the senior +playroom. On packing-day all ordinary restrictions were suspended, and +the younger children wandered in and out of the two rooms as they pleased. +Jean had taken advantage of this privilege to escape from her usual +play-fellows, who were remaining behind from force of habit in their own +domain. The way Angela persisted in crying was enough to drive any one +away; she had cried all through prayers, and had begun again directly +after breakfast. Mary Wells, forgetting how much she had endured on former +occasions from the triumvirate, sat with her arm round Angela's neck, +calling her 'Poor darling!' at intervals, with an occasional sob of her +own to keep her company. Some of the others cried a little too,--at least, +they did when they came near Angela,--and Charlotte Bigley was in such +a temper that no one dared speak to her. All together, the juniors' room +was more than Jean could bear just then. Jean was not crying herself: she +had not cried a drop since she saw the streak of scarlet twist round in +the air and drop with a thud that still sounded in her ears. + +It was not a bit like the last day of the term. 'Tommy' did not once +come to the door and call out the name of the next girl who was to go +upstairs and pack. Nobody in the room was exchanging addresses with any +one else, or promising to write weekly letters during the holidays. +Margaret was as cross as Charlotte Bigley, it seemed, for she allowed no +one but Ruth Oliver to come near her; and the other big girls were +scattered about the room in idle, listless groups, conversing a little, +now and then, in hushed tones. None of them noticed Jean; and Jean +never saw them. She just sat rigidly on the window-seat, and looked +straight in front of her, with the odd, hard expression on her face +that had been there since the night before. + +Margaret was sitting at the table tracing interminable circles on the +back of an old envelope with a pair of compasses. The presence of Ruth at +her elbow, as she absorbed herself in this pursuit, was very comforting. +Ruth was a slow old thing, as every one knew, but in time of need she +was invaluable. + +After a while, the head girl dug the point of the compass into the table, +and cleared her throat nervously. + +'She's such an awfully nice little kid,' she said. She spoke hurriedly, +and her face had turned rather red. + +'Yes,' answered Ruth, staring down at the maze of circles on the back of +the envelope. + +Margaret went on, with an effort: 'She has such a queer way of getting at +you,' she said. 'I never knew how much I cared about the child, till--till +now.' + +'No,' answered Ruth, softly. + +'Supposing----' began Margaret, and stopped abruptly. 'Do you think----?' +she began again, and again hesitated. + +'Hurly-Burly said they couldn't tell till the Doctor's next visit,' +replied Ruth. 'She hadn't recovered consciousness when he left, you see.' + +'Don't!' muttered Margaret, hastily. She dug the compass a little deeper, +and cleared her throat once more. 'When did you see Hurly-Burly?' she +asked. + +'Just after prayers,' said Ruth. 'She said I wasn't to tell the younger +ones, so don't split. The Doctor stayed till five this morning, and he's +coming again presently. He's rather cut up, she says.' + +'_That_ Doctor? Don't believe it!' said Margaret, shading some of the +circles with a pencil. + +'Hurly-Burly said so,' maintained Ruth, in her resolute way. 'Perhaps he +isn't so stiff and stupid as he seems. I saw him last night, talking to +Jill Urquhart, and he looked quite young and jolly. You never know, do +you?' + +'Perhaps not. It doesn't matter, does it?' said the head girl, +indifferently. + +'Hurly-Burly is pretty bad, too,' continued Ruth. 'She thinks it's her +fault, because there was a gap in the mattresses, so that the Babe fell +half on the boards. That's how she cut her head. You see, the mattresses +were arranged for the rings, and when Hurly-Burly altered them for the +trapeze she didn't stop to test them to see if they were in the right +place. Anybody else might have done the same, with the whole room waiting +for her; but still, she is reproaching herself like anything.' + +'She needn't,' said Margaret, with quiet vehemence. 'It's only the fault +of that idiot Scales.' + +'Poor Scales!' murmured Ruth. 'I saw him too wandering about the hall; +and he was crying just like a baby, and he didn't seem to mind my seeing +him a bit. I suppose foreigners are always like that.' + +Margaret curled her lip contemptuously. 'I shouldn't waste my pity on him, +if I were you,' she remarked. 'No one but a foreigner would have anything +to cry about.' + +Ruth glanced at her timidly. 'I think, perhaps, it is worse for Scales +than any one,' she ventured to say. 'Of course, he's a hopeless idiot, +but he didn't mean----' + +'Oh, never mind about Scales!' interrupted Margaret; and Ruth took up the +compasses and began drawing invisible circles on the tablecloth. + +A bit of conversation drifted across to them from the juniors' room. + +'Her brothers stopped all night; so did the old lady,' Mary Wells was +saying. 'I saw their breakfast going into Finny's study this morning, +when Tommy called me back into the dining-room to fold my table-napkin.' + +'How could you notice a thing like that?' came in plaintive, reproving +tones from Angela. 'I wish I was able to bear up like you, Mary.' + +'Poor darling!' said Mary Wells, tenderly. + +'Was Jill there too?' asked another voice. + +'She's up in Finny's bedroom, with _her_,' answered Angela, quickly. She +was almost restored to a normal condition by the desire to tell something +that nobody else knew. Then she remembered herself, and subsided into a +proper state of tearfulness. 'I was hanging about upstairs, to see if I +could find out how _she_ was, when Jill passed me in a white apron, +looking just like a real nurse,' she went on, with a long-drawn sigh. 'I +tried to speak to her, but I was too upset.' + +'_Poor_ darling!' cried Mary Wells, more fervently than before. + +Margaret stirred impatiently, and flung down her pencil. 'I say,' she said +to Ruth, 'what can we give those children to do? I'm sure Finny wouldn't +like them to go on drivelling like that. Angela is such a little idiot!' + +'I think she's really fond of the Babe,' observed Ruth, as she followed +the head girl across the room. + +'Oh, yes,' admitted Margaret, with a shrug of her shoulders; 'Jean told +her she'd got to be.' + +At the window-seat she stopped and forgot Angela for the moment. The sight +of the child who sat there, looking so white and wretched, touched her. + +'Cheer up, kiddie!' she said, sitting down beside her. Ruth Oliver +discreetly moved on. + +'Get away!' gasped Jean. + +Margaret stroked her hand, but Jean drew it away sharply, and shifted her +position so that she looked out of the window. Her eyes wandered across +the drive and fell on the little building in the field, where she and +Angela had passed their eight days of quarantine with the youngest girl +in the school. Somehow, Jean could not bear the sight of it to-day, and +she moved round restively, till she faced Margaret again. + +'Oh, do leave me alone!' she said fiercely; and the head girl felt rather +helpless, and left her. + +In the junior playroom, Angela had relapsed at the sight of Ruth Oliver +into a fresh fit of crying. + +'What _is_ the matter, Angela?' demanded Ruth, for once almost losing her +patience. + +'Matter?' sobbed Angela, leaning back for support on the substantial arm +of Mary Wells. 'I'm full of re--remorse, and--and penitence! So would you +be, if--if you were as bad and--and as sinful as me!' + +'Why, what have you been doing now?' inquired Ruth, keeping her temper +with difficulty. + +Angela stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth, and recovered sufficient +control over herself to take it out again and make her confession. + +'Last week,' she faltered, '_she_ asked me to help her with her French; +and--and--I was cross, and--and--I wouldn't.' + +She burst into tears again, as Charlotte Bigley looked up from the book +she was pretending to read and put in a curt remark. + +'Who's _she_?' she demanded bluntly. + +Angela stopped crying to stare at her. 'You know fast enough, Charlotte!' +she mumbled indistinctly. + +Charlotte tossed her head scornfully. 'If you mean Barbara Berkeley, why +on earth can't you say so?' she exclaimed. 'She hasn't lost her name +because she fell off the rings, _has_ she?' + +Mary Wells spoke her mind solemnly. 'We all know _you_ have no feeling, +Charlotte Bigley,' she was beginning, when some one near the window +announced that the Doctor had just driven round the corner of the house. + +This in itself was enough to reduce Angela to further depths of +contrition. 'What shall I do,' she wailed, 'if she dies before I can ask +her forgiveness?' + +Margaret Hulme suddenly stood over her, and shook her by the shoulder. + +'Stop it, child!' she said, not unkindly, for even Angela's tears made her +own feel uncomfortably near the surface. She turned to the others quickly. + +'Every one will get ready and go into the field for a hockey practice,' +she commanded. + +Charlotte shut her book with a bang. 'What's the good of hockey?' she +grumbled crossly. + +'What's the good of anything,' sighed Margaret, 'with that poor little +kid lying ill up there?' + +Charlotte looked at her swiftly, and then turned away, blinking her eyes +furiously; and the head girl took her arm with astonishing condescension, +and walked silently into the cloakroom with her. + +A little later, Dr. Hurst came out of Miss Finlayson's bedroom upstairs, +and closed the door softly behind him. The head-mistress stood waiting +for him on the landing. Their eyes met, and hers were full of anxious +inquiry. In his there shone a gleam of something that had not been there +before. + +'Better,' he said, and drew a long breath. He put his hand on the +baluster-rail to steady himself. 'She'll do, now that consciousness +has returned,' he went on in a businesslike tone; 'the concussion was +only slight, after all, and the fracture to the leg could hardly be in +a better place. Wonderful what children will do to kill themselves +without succeeding! She'll pull through in no time, with rest and +quiet--perfect quiet, mind! Don't let those boys go near her, whatever you +do; and keep your girls from weeping on her neck as much as possible. Good +morning.' + +Miss Finlayson smiled, and retained his hand a moment. No one would have +thought that this practical man of medicine, who pretended to regard his +little patient merely as an interesting case, was the boyish-hearted +fellow who had sat by her bedside all night to watch for her returning +consciousness. + +'Must you go?' she said. 'Why not rest on the sofa in my study for an +hour, and stay to lunch with us? You must be worn out.' + +The Doctor drew himself up and frowned. 'Not at all, not at all!' he said, +looking vexed. 'Room full of patients waiting for me at home--I must wish +you good morning.' + +[Illustration: 'Tell me, Herr Doktor, haf I kilt her?'] + +He left her and hurried off, still frowning. Just as he turned the corner +of the gallery, Egbert and Peter, who had been lying in wait for him some +fifteen minutes, sprang out upon him from an open door. + +'How is she?' they asked eagerly. + +'Really!' fumed the Doctor, who hated being taken by surprise. 'The +bulletin is with Miss Finlayson; I have no time----' + +Peter grasped his arm as he was escaping. 'Is she going to get better?' +he implored. There was no mistaking the earnestness in the boy's face, +and the Doctor melted in spite of himself. + +'Yes, yes, to be sure,' he growled. 'That is, if you leave her alone.' + +When he reached the staircase he was again brought to a standstill. The +way was entirely blocked by the massive form of the German music-master, +who sat on the top stair with his face buried in his large, fat hands. +The Doctor tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. If one thing more +than another annoyed him, it was the sight of uncontrolled emotion. + +'Pardon me,' he said briskly, 'but will you kindly----' + +'_Gott in Himmel!_' shouted Herr Scales, springing to his feet as he +recognised the Doctor's voice. 'Tell me, Herr Doktor, haf I kilt her? Am I +a murterer of the _lieblichste_ little Fräulein that ever walked upon----' + +'Nonsense, sir!' interrupted Dr. Hurst, doing his best to keep his temper. +The sight of the tears that streamed down the good-natured face of the +music-master was enough, he told himself, to annoy any man who was not a +foreigner. 'Nobody has killed her yet; but what you are going to do, among +you, before you have done with her, I shouldn't like to say.' + +'You do not understand,' wept Herr Scales, clasping his hands. 'It was +I who nearly kilt her, _dummer_ wretch that I am.' + +'Well, you haven't killed her, my good sir, and she's going to get +better,' answered the Doctor, trying to deal gently with him in spite of +his irritating foreign behaviour. Then he left him and went quickly +down the stairs. + +Two more voices assailed him in the hall, as he took down his coat from +the peg. Restraining his impatience as best he might, the young man +looked round to find Kit and Wilfred at his elbow. Curled up on the rug +in front of the stove lay Robin, fast asleep, with his head pillowed on a +footstool. Weariness and the shedding of many tears had left their mark +on his round, babyish face, and the elder boys looked little more than +half-awake themselves. Kit's face was tear-stained too, and he suddenly +found he could not put the question he was longing to ask. It was Wilfred +who blurted it out instead. + +'Is she better?' he asked. + +The Doctor had been up all night; he had gone through more anxiety than +he could have believed himself capable of feeling; he had found that his +heart had gone out unconsciously, eleven weeks ago, to the child who had +called him a beast; and he felt that all the glory his profession could +bring him was not worth so much as the saving of that one little life +upstairs. And then people came and bothered him with their senseless +questions. If she were worse, was it likely he would be leaving her now? + +He was worn out with want of sleep, and it did not occur to him that the +same thing might possibly be true of the white-faced lads before him. + +'Bless my soul!' he exclaimed testily. 'How many _are_ there of you? +There's a couple at every corner. How can you expect your sister to get +better if you hang about the place and ask questions at the top of your +voice? There's--there's an atmosphere of nervous sentiment all over the +house that's enough to ruin any case.' + +Wilfred was dumbfounded, and stared stupidly. But Christopher suddenly +found his tongue, and, being Christopher, he found it sarcastically. + +'Counting Jill, there are only six all together,' he said, peering up at +the irritated young man through his spectacles, 'so you won't meet any +more.' + +'I don't care how many there are of you,' grumbled Dr. Hurst, flinging +on his coat. 'Keep out of her way, that's all--and mine too.' + +'You may be sure we'll do that, if we can,' retorted Wilfred, recovering +his courage. 'Only, you haven't told us yet how she is.' + +'You seem to forget she's our sister, and we're beastly cut up about her,' +added Kit, glumly. + +'She's not a rotten bacteria, either,' said Wilfred, in a vicious +undertone which the Doctor fortunately missed. + +Dr. Hurst felt a little bit ashamed of himself, and was more cross than +ever. 'There, there! She's better, of course,' he muttered, pushing past +his questioners. Then he saw the sleeping Robin curled up in front of the +stove, and he glanced back at the tired faces of the other two. 'Best +thing you can do is to go straight to bed,' he advised, jamming his hat +down on his head. 'Best thing for the case, too.' + +Kit smiled at him indulgently. 'Let them go to bed who have beds,' he +remarked. 'I've only got an arm-chair.' + +The Doctor fled discomfited, and shut the front door in their faces. He +did not understand boys, and he did not like them, and he would not have +minded if he had never had to meet another boy as long as he lived. In +a very few moments, however, he came to the conclusion that although boys +were pretty bad, girls could beat them easily, with several points to +spare. + +His man was walking the cob up and down outside, and the trap was not in +sight when Dr. Hurst shut the front door behind him. The occurrence was +particularly unfortunate, for as he stood waiting on the steps the whole +of the junior hockey team came strolling round the corner of the house. +This in itself was sufficiently embarrassing to the young man who stood +there; and he hailed the appearance of his trap with deep and earnest +satisfaction. But he was not to be allowed to escape so easily. The sound +of wheels made the children look round; and some one suddenly called +out--'It's the Doctor!' The next moment he found himself, greatly to +his consternation, in the middle of a throng of excited young ladies, +all in extremely short skirts and all armed with hockey clubs, who were +clamouring loudly and persistently to know if Barbara Berkeley was out of +danger. + +Probably it would never have happened if it had not been the last day +of the term, when a sense of unusual liberty prevailed. Certainly, if it +had been any other day the hockey team would not have been wandering round +by the front door at all, but would have gone straight to the nine-acre +field through the orchard at the back. But the Doctor knew nothing of all +this. He only realised that the girls were finishing what the boys had +begun, and that in another minute he should lose his temper very badly +indeed. + +Most eager of all was a child with a freckled face and reddish-coloured +hair, who somehow seemed familiar to him, though he could not remember +where he had met her before. She came right up to where he stood +helplessly, with his right foot placed on the carriage-step; and she +raised her voice shrilly above all the others. + +'May I see her before she gets worse?' she implored sentimentally. 'I +should never forgive myself, Mary Wells says I shouldn't, if anything +happened to her, and----' + +The Doctor made a great effort and waved them off distractedly, just as +Margaret Hulme and some of the elder ones hurried on the scene and called +angrily to his tormentors. He seized the opportunity to spring to his +seat, and then turned and glared at them. + +'See her before she gets worse?' he answered back furiously. 'If you want +to see her before you've done your best to finish her altogether, you'll +have to look sharp.' + +Miss Finlayson suddenly appeared on the doorstep. Nobody knew how much she +had seen or heard, but she was looking exceedingly stern. She opened her +mouth to speak, just as Dr. Hurst perceived her and broke into a fresh +torrent of words. By this time he had lost the last scrap of his patience. + +'What with rascally boys and hysterical _schoolgirls_,' he shouted, +seizing the whip and cracking it round his head, 'how can you expect me +to pull the case through?' + +He tugged violently at the reins; the startled animal sprang forward, and +the trap clattered noisily out of sight. + +The few short, vigorous sentences with which Miss Finlayson improved +the next five minutes sent the girls into the hockey field with a +much reduced opinion of themselves. Margaret Hulme stayed behind to +vindicate the offenders as well as she could; and the result was that the +head-mistress remembered it was the last day of the term, and blamed +herself for having almost allowed her feelings for the youngest girl +in school to run away with her. + +'Send Jean and Angela up to my bedroom at once,' she said thoughtfully, +when Margaret had finished telling her what had been going on in the +playroom that morning. + +She waited for them on the landing, and kissed them both very +affectionately when they appeared hand in hand. She glanced quickly +from Angela's red and swollen countenance to Jean's pale and miserable +one, and she decided not to say what had been in her mind the minute +before. A much better idea struck her, and she acted upon it promptly. + +'If you will promise me to be as quiet as mice,' she whispered, 'you shall +both have one peep at her.' + +The room into which she led them on tiptoe was almost dark. The only light +that was admitted came from one small window in the farther corner, and it +was just enough to reveal Jill, as she bent over the bed with a cup in +her hand. Then she moved away, and the two children, peeping from their +hiding-place behind the screen by the door, saw Barbara. + +She lay flat on her back among the white pillows; a hillock under the +bedclothes showed where the cage protected her broken leg, and a bandage +round her head kept the thick, dark hair from tumbling over her face as +it usually did. Otherwise, she was not nearly so much altered as her +play-fellows had vaguely expected to find her. The bright little eyes +gleamed out as impishly as ever from beneath the white bandage, and as +she smiled up at Jill they realised to their intense relief that the Babe, +with a hole in her head and a cage over her leg, was much the same Babe +who had arrived in their midst, with her elf-like look and her happy +unconscious smile, three months ago. + +'Why, Jean, I do believe you're crying,' said Angela, in surprise, when +Miss Finlayson had pushed them outside again, and they were retreating +slowly along the gallery. Angela herself felt no further inclination to +cry, now that she had seen the Babe and found she was not a bit altered. +There was no middle course in Angela's emotions, and her only wonder now +was why any one had made a fuss about Barbara's accident at all. + +But the tears were raining down Jean's cheeks for the first time, and the +hard, queer look was gone from her face. She flung herself away to her +own room, and left Angela to puzzle over her behaviour as best she might. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +SEVEN TIMES ROUND THE WORLD + + +'Have the girls gone home?' asked the invalid, about a week later. She +had made such strides towards recovery that she was to be allowed her +first visitor that day, and she could not help wondering whether Jean +Murray was going to be the privileged person. Everything had been so +strange and quiet since the morning she had woke up in Finny's bed; and +she had slept away so many hours of the days that followed, that she had +lost count of the time altogether. She seemed to have been lying in a +kind of delicious enchantment, with people doing things for her just as +though she were a princess; while Jill was always at hand to tell her +stories in her beautiful soft voice, whenever she grew tired of lying +still. For Jill was the nicest person in the world to be with, when one +was enchanted; she never bothered, and she always seemed to come to +the rescue just in time, when the pain of being strapped in one position +began to grow intolerable. Then, there was the Doctor too. No one would +have expected the Doctor to turn out such a trump. Only to-day, after +being so strict in the morning about what she was to eat, he had run +in again after lunch to bring her a packet of sweets. They were very +wholesome sweets, as he had assured Jill; but still they were sweets, +and a doctor who was a beast would never have thought of bringing them, +even if they were wholesome. So, clearly, he was not a beast. Even Jill +had been surprised at his coming twice in one day, now that she was so +much better; so that showed that he must be a particularly nice sort of +doctor. For Jill had once nursed Auntie Anna when she was ill, and she +knew a lot about doctors, so she would not have been surprised at his +coming twice in one day, if it had been a usual thing for a doctor to do. +Babs smiled happily to herself as she settled the Doctor's claims to +niceness; then she remembered that she was going to have a visitor after +tea, and she asked again if the girls had gone home. + +'Yes, they went five or six days ago,' said Jill, without impatience, +though she had answered the same question once already. Babs certainly +did not need an illness to make her absent-minded. + +'Then who is coming to see me after tea?' was Barbara's next inquiry. + +'I said Kit might come; I thought you would like to have him best,' +answered Jill. + +'Kit? Is he going to bicycle over from Crofts?' asked the child. + +'Why, no,' explained Jill, smiling. 'They have all been in the house ever +since you were taken ill. Finny invited them to stay, you know, and Auntie +Anna too.' + +Barbara laughed a little. 'They'll never be able to tease me again, now +that they've stopped in a girl's school themselves,' she remarked with a +chuckle. + +There was a pause, which the invalid occupied in thinking over the +things she had been too lazy to consider before. She had a great many +questions to ask, but somehow it was too much exertion to ask them. +Fortunately, Jill was so clever that she always guessed what she wanted +to know without waiting to be asked first; and that saved a lot of +trouble. In this way the child had learned that the gymnastic prize was +to be divided between Jean and herself; and thinking about the gymnastic +prize produced another question from her, rather unexpectedly. + +'Wasn't it Scales who moved the trapeze away?' she asked. + +Jill looked up surprised. None of them knew how much Babs remembered of +what had happened on the night of her accident. 'Yes,' she replied. 'He +has been very unhappy about it, poor man! He writes every day from Hanover +to say how miserable he is. But, of course, it was an accident.' + +'Of course,' said Barbara, looking distressed; and Jill was afraid she +had said too much. + +'Shall I write and send him a message from you?' she suggested quickly. +Babs brightened up, and nodded. + +'Tell him it's awfully jolly to be ill and to have every one doing things +for you, and bringing you sweets, and all that,' she said eagerly. 'And +say that if he wants me to pay him out, just to make us quits, don't you +know, he can think of the awful way I am sure to play my pieces next term.' + +'Very well,' answered Jill, laughing; and there was silence once more. + +Jill looked very pretty as she sat there by the window, working away +at her embroidery in the frame; and Babs congratulated herself, with a +glow of satisfaction, on having made her a princess in her fairy +kingdom. It was so nice of Jill, she reflected, to behave exactly like a +princess, and to sit at the window of her lonely turret making tapestry, +to while away the time until her prince should come thundering over the +drawbridge below. Jill's prince had not come yet, so of course she would +have to go on working by the window till he did; she deserved an extra +nice prince too, and Babs sighed as she remembered that she had not been +able to find her any sort of a prince so far. + +'It's a pity, isn't it, that Dr. Hurst had to be enchanted again so soon?' +she murmured aloud. + +'I'm afraid I don't _quite_ understand,' said the princess, from the +window. + +'You see,' continued Babs, solemnly, 'he began by being a beast; then I +disenchanted him and made him into a handsome and gallant young prince; +and after that he was so horrid to Jean and Angela in the quarantine that +I had to turn him out of my kingdom, and make him wander over the earth +once more in the shape of a beast.' + +'Oh,' said Jill, bending rather closely over the embroidery frame. 'Let +me see, what kingdom was that?' + +'_My_ kingdom,' answered Barbara, in an important tone. Then she realised +that Jill did not know about her kingdom. 'I've never told any one +before,' she went on doubtfully. 'If I tell you, Jill, will you promise +not to laugh?' + +Jill promised, and worked on steadily at her embroidery while the small +voice from the bed painted her the fairy kingdom she had never described +to any one before. + +'And so,' concluded Barbara, with a sigh, 'I can't make it come right, +because now there's a princess without a prince. Do you mind waiting until +I find you a prince, Jill?' + +'Not at all,' answered Jill, turning to the light rather abruptly, and +taking quite a long time to choose between two shades of silk. + +'It was so stupid of Dr. Hurst to get himself turned out like that, wasn't +it?' continued Babs. + +'He--perhaps he didn't know,' said Jill, with some hesitation. + +'You can't be a beast without knowing it,' answered Barbara, positively. + +'Are you sure he _is_ a beast?' asked Jill, who was still looking out of +the window, though she had chosen her silk some moments ago. + +'Oh, he's not a beast now. I _love_ him. Don't you?' cried the child, +enthusiastically. + +Jill began putting her work away in a great hurry. 'It's time for tea,' +she remarked. + +Barbara did not seem to have heard. The dreamy look had returned to her +face, and she was almost thinking aloud. + +'You see,' she murmured, 'however nice he is now, he _must_ walk round +the world seven times, and kill a giant, and rescue a beautiful princess, +before he can be disenchanted a second time. You can't alter that. It's +a pity you haven't got to be rescued or anything, Jill, because then----' + +'If you talk any more, child,' interrupted Jill, with decision, 'you will +be too tired to have a visitor after tea.' + +Jill _was_ a nice person, Barbara settled again in her mind, as they had +tea together out of Finny's private tea-set that the Canon had given her +last Christmas. She was so nice that she even slipped away afterwards, +when Christopher came into the room, so that he and Babs could have +their talk together without feeling that somebody else was listening. For +all that, neither of them seemed to find it easy to begin, and they +remained looking at each other in silence for some moments after Jill +had closed the door upon them. + +Then Christopher made a great effort and addressed her from the end of +the bed, where he had taken up his position. + +'Hullo!' he said, tugging at his collar as if to remove some obstruction +to his voice. + +'Hullo!' answered Babs, faintly, from among her pillows. + +Then followed another pause. They both felt there were plenty of things +to be said, but somehow they could not think of them just then. Presently, +Kit remembered that she was an invalid, and that invalids always had to +be kissed. He also decided that the sooner he got it over the better; so +he marched round to the side of the bed and kissed her. + +'How are you, Babe?' he asked, feeling more at his ease now that this +formality was over and he was free to climb on the edge of her bed and +sit there swinging his legs. + +'Oh, I'm all right,' answered Barbara, heartily. + +They both knew she was nothing of the sort, but in the Berkeley family +it was a point of honour with every one, even during a visitation of +toothache, to declare himself 'all right.' + +'How are you, Kit?' asked Babs, after a little further reflection. + +'I'm all right, thanks,' answered Christopher, faithfully, and he whistled +a tune to fill the next pause. 'Awfully poor lying here, isn't it?' he +resumed presently. + +Barbara nodded. 'It's stale,' she said expressively. + +Kit looked sympathetic. 'It would make _me_ sick,' he observed. + +'Oh, it's all right,' Barbara hastened to assure him; and he whistled a +little more. + +'Jill's all right too, isn't she?' he continued after a while. + +'Oh, Jill's all right--_rather_,' said the child, warmly. 'How are the +other boys, Kit?' + +'They're all right,' answered Kit. + +'And Auntie Anna?' + +'She's _all_ right,' answered Kit. + +Conversation again languished slightly. Barbara's eyes, wandering round +the room in search of inspiration, fell on the little bag of sweets that +the Doctor had brought her. + +'Have a sweet,' she suggested, pointing to the table by the window. + +Christopher slipped off the bed with alacrity. 'It's awfully decent of +you,' he observed. 'Sure you don't want them all?' + +'Oh, no; take the whole jolly lot,' begged his sister. + +Kit's countenance fell slightly when he peered into the bag. 'Acid drops,' +he commented briefly, and put a couple critically into his mouth. 'Who +brought them?' + +'Dr. Hurst. He said they were wholesome,' replied Babs, by way of +explanation. She did not want Kit to think she had been such a muff as to +choose acid drops in preference to chocolate. + +'That's just about what he would say,' remarked the boy, putting several +more of them into his mouth. + +'I--I think he's all right, Kit,' said Barbara, timidly. + +Christopher shook his head vigorously. It was the only form of reply +possible to him at the moment. + +'He's a rotter,' he said, as soon as he could speak; 'and so slack, too!' +He peered again into the paper bag. 'Is it worth while?' he murmured to +himself, and decided that it was not. 'Pity it wasn't some one else who +got them for you,' he added with a sigh, as he returned to the bed. + +'He isn't bad, _really_, Kit,' persisted the child, looking troubled. + +'Not bad? Why, he's an awful old soft, Babe,' answered Kit, +contemptuously. 'If you were a boy, you'd know.' + +'He isn't old, anyhow. He's only twenty-eight; I asked him,' said Babs, +eagerly. + +'Oh, rats!' laughed Kit, who had quite got over his awkwardness by this +time, and was rapidly forgetting that she was an invalid and that he had +been told not to tease her. 'He may be twenty-eight perhaps, if you just +count his birthdays, but he's as old as the hills for all that. He was +born grown-up; that sort of chap always is.' + +'He's been awfully kind to me, Kit,' persisted the child, her troubled +look returning. + +'You always think people are nicer than they are, don't you?' observed +her brother, with gentle scorn. 'When we had that beast of a housekeeper +who used to smack you and Robin, you always said her Sunday bonnet was +beautiful, or something like that.' + +'Oh, Kit!' was all Barbara felt capable of replying, and the boy rattled +on heedlessly. + +'That Doctor is the rottenest of rotters,' he declared in a cheerful tone. +'He only pretends to like you because you're what he calls a "case." If +you'd got asthma, now, he'd treat you as if you were putting it all on, +and make you feel a jolly humbug. _I_ know him!' + +'Of course, you're always right, Kit,' said Babs, growing more unhappy +every minute, 'but--but----' + +'He treated us all like kids the first day you were ill,' said +Christopher, scowling at the recollection; 'and once, when Jill was +blubbing because you weren't so well, we got in a funk and went off on +our own, Peter and I, to fetch him; and he wouldn't come. He said no one +could do anything for you by just coming and looking at you, and we +weren't to disturb him for nothing at all--or some such rot. Then we +found that he'd cooked up an arrangement with Finny not to come unless +_she_ sent for him. Just like him!' + +Barbara was struggling feebly to keep back her tears. She could not think +what was making her want to cry so much. + +The boy had stopped scowling, and was chuckling softly to himself. Barbara +held her breath, and thought that if he would only talk about something +else, she might be able to keep from crying. Perhaps the table by the +window might stop swimming about, too. + +'We've scored one against him at last, though,' her brother was saying, +in a voice that seemed suddenly to have gone a long way off. 'He must +be quite at the other end of the gallery,' Babs thought. Yet some one +was certainly sitting on the edge of her bed, because she could feel the +mattress jumping up and down. + +'We struck that little kid in the yard just now--the one who nearly gave +you scarlet fever,' Christopher went on gaily. 'He came to know how you +were, or something. Bobby Hearne, I think he called himself. Well, we +got him to go to the doctor's house with a message from his aunt, who +lives five miles t'other side of Crofts, to say that she had just fallen +downstairs and nearly killed herself, and would he go to her at once! +Thirty miles there and back, all for nothing! Rather a score, eh? It was +my idea, too, not Peter's!' + +He turned to Barbara for approval, and found her sobbing bitterly. She had +heard every word he said, with horrible distinctness, though his voice had +come from such a long way off. She had tried to stop him, but she could +not make a sound till she began to cry. + +'Babe! I say, don't! What's up, old girl?' exclaimed Kit, staring at her +in consternation. At any time it was an event, to make the Babe cry, but +now that she was so ill, he felt nothing short of a brute. + +Jill had slipped into the room and was bending over the excited child. + +'Kit doesn't understand--he doesn't know he's not really a beast--he +isn't a beast, is he?' gasped Barbara, between her sobs. 'He's played a +horrible trick on him--he's sent him seven times round the world; and I +never meant him really to walk seven times round the world--you know I +didn't, Jill. It's all my fault for turning him out of my kingdom--if +I hadn't turned him out of my kingdom, he wouldn't be wandering seven +times round----' + +'Hush!' whispered Jill, and she gave Christopher a look that sent him +stumbling out of the room in a mixture of bewilderment and remorse. Up +and down the landing he paced, feeling desperately wicked and desperately +foolish by turns, until Jill opened the door of the bedroom and beckoned +to him. She held a thermometer in her hand, and she paid no attention +whatever to the shamefaced inquiry he stammered out. + +'Send Miss Finlayson here at once, and say I want the Doctor,' she +commanded, and went hurriedly back into the room. + +Clearly, she was very angry with him, and it had never seemed possible +before that Jill could be angry with any one. But it was not this that +suddenly made Kit turn cold and funny all over as he started along the +gallery with Jill's message. He pulled up short with a jerk, and gave a +little cry of dismay. + +'What shall I do?' he exclaimed in a despairing tone. 'I've sent the +Doctor fifteen miles in the opposite direction.' + + * * * * * + +It was nearing seven o'clock and growing dusk when Kit at last struck +the high road between four and five miles below Crofts. It was a full +ten-mile drive by the road from Wootton Beeches, but Kit had saved over +two miles by taking the short cut across the fields. He stopped for the +first time since he had started on his mad chase after the Doctor, and +looked panting up and down the deserted road. + +'I can't have been much more than three-quarters of an hour, and I bet +it's four miles,' he muttered. The mud with which he was splashed up +to the collar showed the kind of ground over which he had been travelling, +and the way his breath was coming and going told how much of the four +miles had been covered at a run. Now that he had exhausted his first +impulse to rush after the Doctor and bring him back at any cost, he began +to realise what an absurd thing he had set himself to do. Dr. Hurst had +had an hour's start of him at least, and even the short cut across the +fields would not make up for that. With a quick-trotting cob like his, he +would have reached his destination easily by this time and discovered the +trick that had been played upon him, and no effort on Kit's part would +bring him back a moment sooner than he would be coming of his own accord. +Besides, if it was any good going after him, Finny would have sent her man +on horseback long before this, and he would have outdistanced Kit in any +case. + +'If only our bicycles had been there instead of at Crofts, I might have +caught him up then,' cried the boy, as the hopelessness of the position +dawned upon him. + +Nothing answered him, and the road looked more dreary than ever. A +good deal of rain had fallen that week, and the drip drip of the trees +overhead added a kind of melancholy to everything. Christopher's quick +imagination called up all the details of the scene he had left behind him: +the unwonted anger of his cousin, the anxiety of Finny and Auntie Anna +when he had rushed into the drawing-room with her message, and then +their eagerness to ring the bell and send some one for the Doctor, +whom he knew to be far away on a wild-goose chase of his own making. He +pictured with vividness too the consternation that would be caused in +the house when Finny's messenger returned from his fruitless errand, +and the look that would come on Auntie Anna's face when Peter came in +from his tramp with the other boys and explained the trick that had been +played on the Doctor. No wonder he had hurried straight out of the house +and struck blindly across the fields, without stopping to reflect whether +it would be any good or not! Even now, though he knew how little he +could do, he felt unable to remain inactive; and turning his face in +the direction of Crofts, he once more broke into a run and hurried +wildly along the muddy, desolate road. + +He had been running about thirty-five minutes, only falling into a walk +now and then to recover his breath, when the sound of wheels, coming +from behind made him draw to the side of the road. He still trudged on, +however, with his head down and his hands clenched, and he did not even +trouble to look round when the vehicle caught him up and passed him. The +light from the lamp flashed across his face as it rolled swiftly by; and +immediately afterwards, the trap pulled up just ahead of him. + +'Hullo! Is that Christopher Berkeley?' said a voice from above. + +Kit staggered, and stood speechless. It was the Doctor's voice; there was +no doubt about that. But how came he to be driving towards Crofts instead +of away from it? His sudden appearance was so remarkable that the boy's +head felt in a whirl. + +'I--I thought----' he faltered. + +The Doctor gave a quiet laugh, and climbed down from his seat. + +'You thought I was green enough for anything, didn't you?' he observed. +'Just stand by the animal, will you, while I get out of my coat?' + +Kit obeyed mechanically. Everything had turned so topsy-turvy all at once, +that it seemed no more extraordinary for him to be doing meekly what the +Doctor told him than it was for the Doctor to be struggling out of his +greatcoat just as the rain was beginning to come on again. + +'Then--then you didn't go to Bobby Hearne's aunt, after all?' he inquired +stupidly. + +'Not much!' answered the Doctor, with another short laugh. He had got his +coat off by this time, and he held it out to Christopher peremptorily. +'Put this on, and look sharp!' he commanded. + +'But----' stammered the boy, hanging back. + +'Do you want to keep me here all night?' cried Dr. Hurst, impatiently; +and as Kit still hesitated, he wrapped the coat quickly round him and +lifted him bodily into the gig. Then he mounted beside him, and turned the +animal's head. The next instant, they were bowling along towards home, +at the rate of ten miles an hour. + +For the first five minutes they did not speak. Then the Doctor jerked out +a sharp inquiry. + +'Aren't you going to ask after your sister?' he demanded. + +Kit started. 'I was afraid you'd rag me for it,' he muttered awkwardly. + +The Doctor flicked the horse with his whip. 'Sorry you think me such a +brute,' he said shortly. He flicked the horse again, and played it a +moment or two, as it tossed its head and jumped about. 'I don't think +it's anything serious,' he went on. 'I gave her a soothing draught, and +everything depends on the state in which she wakes up. But I think she'll +be all right.' + +The relief at Kit's heart nearly choked him. 'Did Jill tell you it was +my fault?' he asked after a while. + +'I gathered as much,' said Dr. Hurst. 'You mustn't excite her any more, +you know, or I won't answer for the consequences. What was it all about, +eh?' + +He was evidently making a gigantic effort to be amiable, and Christopher +felt he owed him something in return. Besides, it was a kind of relief to +put the blame on himself. + +'I said you were a rotter, and she said you weren't,' he jerked out; 'and +I said you were only decent to her because she was an interesting case, +and she said----' + +'All right,' said the Doctor, hastily. He supposed truthfulness was an +excellent thing in theory, but it added another terror to boys. + +As they neared the village Christopher summoned up courage to ask one more +question. + +'Did you come out on purpose to bring me back?' he inquired with an effort. + +'Yes,' said Dr. Hurst, briefly. + +Christopher puzzled over this. 'But--but how did you know I'd gone after +you?' he asked curiously. + +'Jill told me you'd disappeared, and I guessed,' said Dr. Hurst. If it had +not been so dark, Kit might have seen a smile flicker across the serious +face of his companion. + +'Did Jill think about me, then?' cried the boy, eagerly. 'Perhaps she +isn't so wild with me after all!' + +'Not so wild with you as you deserve, I dare say,' remarked Dr. Hurst. +'Indeed, it was because Miss Urquhart was making such an unnecessary fuss +about you, that I promised to come and look for you.' + +He thought that the boy, although a boy, would not notice the slip he +had made just before in calling his pretty cousin by her first name; +but Kit noticed fast enough. He had not much time, however, to think about +it before they pulled up with a jerk at the back entrance to Wootton +Beeches. He began to mumble out his thanks, while the Doctor helped him +out of the overcoat and then put it on himself; but the young man cut +him short. + +'Do you suppose I drove all those miles in the rain, at the end of a hard +day's work, for the sake of a scamp like you?' he growled; and Christopher +was left staring after him in the darkness. + +In the holidays supper was not before nine o'clock at Wootton Beeches, so +the boy had plenty of time to make himself presentable before the bell +rang. He looked eagerly round the drawing-room when he went into it, but +only the three elder boys were there. + +'Where's Jill?' he asked. + +'Oh, it's you, is it?' observed Egbert, without answering him. As the +eldest of the family, he felt that he ought to administer some sort of +rebuke to Kit for the commotion he had caused in the household. Indeed, +he had said as much to the others before the boy came in; but there was +something about Kit that would make any one fight shy of rebuking him, +when it came to the point. So Egbert was rather relieved than otherwise +when Wilfred interrupted him. + +'Jill's upstairs,' he said, looking over his book at Kit. 'She wants to +be with the Babe when she wakes up, in case she's excited or anything.' + +Kit flung himself into an arm-chair and whistled carelessly. Whatever his +feelings were in the matter, he was not going to let the family see them. +There was rather an awkward silence, which Peter broke by remarking that +it was ten minutes to nine, upon which Egbert said something about a clean +collar and went out of the room. There was a feeling of relief when he +had gone, Egbert having reached the age when it was never quite possible +to say whether he was going to side with the enemy or not. + +'Egbert's awfully wild with you,' observed Peter, with smiling frankness. +'He says you ought to be kicked.' + +'Let him do it,' grunted Kit, indifferently. Having given the Doctor a +glimpse of his real feelings not so many minutes ago, he did not intend +to betray himself again yet awhile. + +Wilfred, who had been watching him closely, began slowly to understand. +'It's all right, Kit,' he said good-naturedly. 'Egbert never counts! He +only does it because he's the eldest and thinks we've got to be reminded +of it. Peter and I are with you!' + +'Awfully kind of you, I'm sure,' answered Christopher, sarcastically. All +the same, he stopped whistling and seemed inclined to come round; and +Peter hastened to put in a conciliating word. + +'Of course, we know you didn't mean to make the Babe excited,' he said. +'Jill says so herself.' + +'Oh, shut up!' said Kit, ungraciously. + +'As for the Doctor,' continued Wilfred, 'anybody is justified in ragging +_him_.' + +'Rather,' chimed in Peter. 'What do you think Egbert says about him?' + +'Don't know and don't care,' rejoined Kit. Somehow, he felt it was rather +mean to join in abusing the man who had gone out after him, all in the +rain and the darkness. Still, he was sure he hated the fellow more than +ever now, for had he not outwitted him and put him under an obligation +to him at the same time? The boys did not notice his diffidence. + +'Egbert says----' began Peter, and paused to give his words more effect; +'Egbert says--that--the Doctor is in love with Jill.' + +Christopher sat up and gazed at him. For once his quick wit had not been +quite so quick as Egbert's. So that was why Dr. Hurst had called her +'Jill'; and that was what he had meant just now by his parting words +at the gate! + +'Egbert's hit it,' he said morosely. 'The chap _is_ in love with Jill. +Poor Jill!' + +'That's what Wilfred says,' cried Peter, all ready as usual for mischief. +'He says Jill has got to be saved from him, or else----' + +'Jill saved?' echoed Kit, scornfully. 'As if she needed any saving from +_that_ idiot!' + +'Well, I don't know,' objected Wilfred, shaking his head. 'Girls are so +rum. Look at Merton major's aunt----' + +'She isn't a girl, she's an _aunt_!' interrupted Christopher. + +'Well, it's all the same, really,' declared Wilfred. 'Merton major says +she only married that Indian chap because he bothered so, and because she +wanted to be obliging.' + +'And Jill is _awfully_ obliging, you know she is,' added Peter. 'You can't +tell what may happen, if that Doctor goes on bothering her.' + +'Well, what are we to do, then?' Kit condescended to ask. 'We can't lock +him up, can we?' + +'No,' admitted Wilfred, 'we can't lock him up. But there's lots of other +things we can do. We can see that she's never left alone with him, for +instance. Babs is always with them in the sickroom, that's one thing. +But what happens when he comes out of the sickroom, and Jill walks along +the gallery with him and sometimes even down to the front door? That's +dangerous, anyhow.' + +'In future,' said Peter, solemnly, 'one of us will always be on the +look-out to join them the moment they come out of the sickroom. What +else, Will?' + +Wilfred reflected a moment. 'Sometimes,' he said at last, 'I've known her +to be taking a walk in the garden, just as he happens to drive up; and +then they stay talking ever so long before they go into the house. Once, +he even made her take him round the conservatory. That must never happen +again.' + +'Never,' agreed Peter. '_I'll_ see to that.' + +'Look here,' said Christopher, doubtfully; 'perhaps Jill won't like our +hanging round her like that.' + +'She may not like it _at the time_,' began Wilfred, impressively. + +'But she'll thank us for it all her life afterwards,' concluded Peter, +with great solemnity. + +Jill's voice at the door made them start like guilty conspirators. She +was much too preoccupied to notice their confusion, however. + +'Has Kit come back?' she asked anxiously. Christopher sprang out of the +arm-chair, and her face cleared. 'I'm so glad; I was afraid you were +lost,' she said, taking his hand gently. 'Babs has just woke up,' she +explained, as they went upstairs together, 'and she is still rather upset +about something. I think you can calm her, if you will.' + +Kit muttered something indistinctly, and she went on talking in her soft +voice. 'The child has got into her head that you have done something to +the Doctor, so I want you to assure her that it is all right. Will you, +Kit dear?' + +'I'm the biggest brute,' burst out the boy, 'that ever----' + +'Nonsense!' said Jill, putting her hand over his mouth. Then she opened +the door of Barbara's room and they went in. + +Auntie Anna was sitting by the child, trying to soothe her. + +'Bless your little heart!' she was saying as they entered. 'There's +nothing the matter with the Doctor, my dear. What makes you think such +a thing, eh?' + +'You don't understand,' said the little fretful voice from the bed. 'Kit +said--Kit said----' + +Christopher pushed Jill on one side, and suddenly knew what he had got +to do. + +'That's all right, Babe; I was only rotting,' he said bluntly, and patted +the hot little hand that lay on the counterpane. + +The bright, wistful eyes were fixed searchingly on his face. 'But you've +sent him wandering seven times round the world,' she murmured wearily. +'You said you had, Kit.' + +'It's all right, Babe,' said Kit, again. 'He's come back now. I've just +seen him.' + +He only partly understood what she was talking about, but he seemed to +know how to satisfy her, and the others drew back and left him to do it +alone. + +'You've seen him?' asked Babs, wonderingly. 'But----' + +'You see,' said Kit, desperately, 'it doesn't take long to get round the +world seven times, when--when you've got a smart little cob like his!' + +The worried look faded out of the child's face, and she smiled for the +first time. 'That isn't the reason, Kit,' she told him. 'It is because he +was once a fairy prince.' + +'Oh, is it?' remarked Kit. + +The bright little eyes were closing sleepily, and the aching bandaged head +fell sideways on the pillow. + +'He has only got to kill the giant and rescue the princess now,' she +whispered contentedly. And Kit went on stroking her hand till she was +sound asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE RESCUE OF A PRINCESS + + +Barbara was none the worse for her relapse, and she made such a good +recovery in the weeks that followed, that the Doctor decided she could +be moved to Crofts on the last day of the holidays. Miss Finlayson +vowed she had never enjoyed her Easter holidays so much before for she had +persuaded Auntie Anna and the boys to remain her guests the whole time, +to save her, as she said, from the horrible feeling of loneliness that +always seized her as soon as the last fly went down the drive with the +last box on the top of it, and the last girl sitting inside. 'At my age,' +she told them laughingly, 'it is not safe to be left alone. Who knows +that I might not begin talking about rheumatism and nerves, if I had a +whole month to think about myself?' And Auntie Anna, who never talked +about rheumatism by any chance, though it had bent her back for her +ten years ago, nodded her head wisely like the old witch that she was, +and consented to remain at Wootton Beeches with her adopted daughter +and her noisy young nephews until Barbara was well enough to be taken +home. The boys, for their part, enjoyed themselves every bit as well as if +they had been at Crofts; for Finny was first-rate company as long as she +was with them, and she contrived at the same time to leave them to +themselves just as much as they wished to be left. And staying at a +girls' school was by no means such poor fun as might have been expected; +for it was big enough for them to make as much noise in it as they +pleased without disturbing anybody, while they had the run of a capital +gymnasium, and, as soon as their bicycles had been brought from Crofts, +could explore the country for miles round as well. Altogether, the +Easter holidays were a great success, and there were many groans when the +month came to an end, and school once more threatened to darken the +joy of their existence. + +'You are a lucky beast, Kit,' observed Peter, as they sat swinging on the +yard gate a couple of mornings before their departure. 'Wish I was you and +needn't go to school.' + +'You wouldn't like it, if you were me,' answered Kit, shortly. Nobody +ever guessed how much he wished he were like other boys and could lead +the healthy life they professed to despise so much. + +Wilfred, who had just strolled up, had occasional glimmerings of +understanding where Kit was concerned; and he had one now. 'Never mind, +old chap,' he said consolingly. 'You've got all the genius, you know.' + +Christopher kicked a stone across the yard without speaking; and Peter +hastened to change the conversation, which he perceived was in danger of +becoming serious. Peter never attempted to understand anybody, but he had +a determined objection to anything that was serious. + +'If we've done nothing else these holidays, we have at least saved Jill +from the Doctor,' he remarked with a chuckle. + +'What's the good of that?' growled Kit. He did not take the keen interest +in the salvation of Jill that the others expected from him, though he +certainly did not raise any grown-up objections to it, as Egbert would +have done. Egbert was going to Oxford in October, and he was getting far +too grown-up for ordinary intercourse with the rest of the family. Kit +was not in the least grown-up; besides, he hated the Doctor--that was +certain, because he so constantly said he did. But it was a pity, the +others agreed, that he did not show more enthusiasm over persecuting him. + +'It's a lot of good,' retorted Peter. 'You don't want her to marry the +chap, do you?' + +Kit smiled in a superior manner. 'I'm not interested in _marrying_,' he +observed. 'You can't have marrying, or any of that rot, without girls. +And I hate girls.' + +'Do you hate Jill?' cried Wilfred, staring. + +Christopher kicked another stone across the yard. + +'That's different,' he said vaguely. 'Jill's not a girl, exactly.' + +'What is she, anyway?' demanded Peter. + +Kit's genius was hard pressed. It was so stupid of people to take +him literally. Robin saved his embarrassment by suddenly rushing +helter-skelter into the yard, from the direction of the carriage-drive. + +'He's just driven in at the lodge gates,' he panted. 'An' Jill's waiting +on the front doorstep. If you don't look sharp you won't cob them in time.' + +The conspirators glanced hastily at one another. 'It's your turn, Kit,' +said Wilfred. + +Kit started uncomfortably. 'I don't think so,' he objected. 'I'm not in +the mood, and I should make a mess of it. You go, Peter.' + +'All right, I'm on,' said Peter, and he strode briskly towards the front +of the house, swinging his long arms as he went. + +Robin danced round the other two gleefully. 'Silly old Doctor won't marry +Jill, won't marry Jill, all on a summer's morning!' he chanted in a kind +of refrain he made up on the spur of the moment. + +Kit turned upon him sternly. 'Chuck it, Bobbin, unless you want your head +cuffed!' he commanded, and walked off before he could be provoked into +carrying out his threat. + +Upstairs Barbara lay on the sofa by the window and waited for the Doctor's +visit. Her leg was in plaster of Paris now, and she could be lifted on +to the sofa by Egbert, every morning. It was less wearisome than lying +in bed all day, but even the fun of pretending she was enchanted by an +evil fairy did not make up for the dulness of staying in one room all +through her first holidays. To be sure, she was going to Crofts the +day after to-morrow, and Auntie Anna had promised that Jean and Angela +should come and see her the very next Saturday; but that did not make +up for everything, and she hoped that if her bad fairy ever bewitched her +again, she would manage to do it in term-time instead of when the boys +came home. + +The Doctor drove up just below as she came to this conclusion, and she +forgot her own enchantment in the more thrilling amusement of thinking +about his. + +It was rather stupid of the Doctor, she reflected, to be such a long time +working out the rest of his spell. Any one who had gone round the world +seven times, as easily and as cheerfully as he had, might at least take +the trouble to find a princess to rescue. He must really want to go on +being a beast, she decided, as she craned her neck over the window-sill +and watched him dismount from his gig. The princes in the fairy tales +never wanted to go on being beasts; and it was very confusing. Just +then, Jill came out on the doorstep, and she patted the horse and began to +talk to the Doctor. Barbara laughed softly to herself. If only the cruel +giant would come along now and clap Jill into a dungeon, the Doctor +could rescue her on the spot and then stand before her in his real shape. +A prince and princess, who had no giant to bring them together, did not +make the right sort of fairy tale at all. + +'Hullo! There _is_ the giant!' exclaimed Babs, immediately afterwards, as +Peter came striding across the lawn to interrupt the conversation on +the doorstep. 'He must be the giant,' she continued, watching the trio +below her with great interest, 'because the Doctor is looking so angry +and Jill has such a funny, frightened look on her face. Besides, Peter +looks like a giant; he's so big and dangerous looking. I wonder if the +Doctor will kill the giant _now_, or--oh, dear! they've both come indoors +and left the giant outside. I don't think I ever heard of the prince and +princess running _away_ from the giant before. I'm sure that's wrong. How +Peter is grinning--just like a horrid old giant. _Coo-ey_, Peter!' + +The prince and princess came into the room, talking busily. + +'If you don't come to-morrow,' Dr. Hurst was saying, 'I am afraid it will +have to be put off indefinitely, as I am going away for ten days. When I +come back, you will have gone to Crofts, you see.' + +'I will ask Auntie Anna,' answered Jill. + +Barbara seized the first opportunity to interrupt them. 'What's going to +happen to-morrow, Dr. Hurst?' she demanded. 'Are you going to carry off +the princess at last?' + +'I--I don't think so,' said Dr. Hurst, sitting down beside her. + +'Why don't you?' demanded the child. + +'Well,' said Dr. Hurst, smiling, 'I don't know whether the princess is +ready to be carried off. Are you so anxious to get rid of her?' + +Both he and Jill were used by this time to her fancy for weaving the +people she liked best into a fairy tale. But Jill was not smiling so +much as usual this morning. + +'I don't want to be carried off by anybody, thank you, Babs,' she said +demurely. + +'Oh, that doesn't make any difference,' Babs assured her. 'If you're a +princess, you just have to be carried off whether you like it or not.' + +'Then I'll be a new kind of princess, and refuse to have anything to do +with the prince when he comes. Shall I, Babs?' suggested Jill, lightly. + +Barbara looked at her doubtfully. Jill's idea was not like anything she +had ever read in a fairy tale, and she did not think much of it. + +'You see, you're _not_ a new kind of princess,' she answered simply. And +the Doctor looked amused; but Jill hurried away to the other end of the +room and began talking about temperatures. + +The giant must have been very busy all that day, for he did not come +near the invalid's room till just before supper. Kit came, and so did the +other boys, but they only said vaguely that Peter was in the barn; and +when he ran in at last to say good-night to her, she knew it was no use +trying to find out what his plans were for locking up the princess. For +Peter did not know that he was a giant, and he did not know that Jill was +a princess; and it was better to go on with the story in her own way than +to provoke Peter's great laugh by telling him about it. So she went to +sleep and dreamed of the dear old magician, who had been away from her +kingdom for four whole months, and was going to be away for two months +more; and in her dream he came back and rescued the princess himself, +and turned the beast into a prince for her. But that was only a dream, +and in the morning the end of the story seemed further off than ever. + +'Do let me see what you have been writing, Peter,' she shouted through +her open window, just before lunch-time. Peter and Wilfred had been more +than an hour composing a letter on the lawn below, with Robin jumping +round them all the time, jogging their elbows and otherwise provoking +them into outbreaks of fury that did not improve his behaviour in the +least. + +'_Do_, there's a dear, nice, darling boy,' begged Barbara, as the +conspirators looked at one another and hesitated. + +'It's a secret,' said Wilfred. + +'I can keep a secret; you _know_ I can,' cried Babs, indignantly. + +'It's about Jill,' explained Peter, 'and you might do her a great and +lasting injury if you were to go and blab. Mightn't she, Will?' + +'I think it's a shame,' protested Babs. 'Here am I shut up all alone, with +a bad leg that hurts and hurts and----' + +'Oh, let her see it. Anything for a quiet life,' interrupted Wilfred, and +Peter strode upstairs with the letter. + +'Promise faithfully you'll endure any amount of awful tortures, sooner +than betray us?' he demanded threateningly, when he arrived in her room. + +'I'll be killed first, honour bright,' said Barbara, solemnly; and the +letter passed into her hands. Her countenance grew very perplexed as she +read it; for, to tell the truth, she could make neither head nor tail of +its mysterious contents. + + * * * * * + +'Dearest Jill,' it ran,--'We the undersigned are anxious to save you from +an awful and terrible fate that is hanging over your head. The barn, +we know, is not a place you would choose to spend a happy afternoon in, +but Peter has cleaned out as much of the filth as he can (he found +several decayed martins' nests full of insects, two dead rats in an +unspeakable condition, and a rotting owlet that made you squirm; so +you see it might have been much worse, mightn't it?) And I (that's +Wilfred) have successfully deposited in a box you will find secreted +in the manger, two apples, some seed-cake (sorry it isn't plum, but +there wasn't any), and a bottle of ginger beer. This, we think, will +keep starvation from gnawing at you till the hour of release, which is +seven o'clock, when we hope the Doctor will have given up waiting for you. +We would put some more things to eat, but they are a little difficult to +get without arousing suspicion; and we are afraid of attracting the +mice and rats, which are plentiful already, and of which we believe you +are afraid. We the undersigned all hope, dear Jill, that you will not +attribute base motives to our action in this matter. We do assure you, +honest Injun, that though you may dislike us for the moment, you will +thank us deeply all the rest of your life.--We have the honour to remain, + + + Wilfred Everard Berkeley, + Peter Everard Berkeley, + Robin Everard Berkeley. + +'P.S.--Kit isn't in it, because he raised objections and we shunted him. +So your lifelong gratitude need not be extended to him.' + + * * * * * + +'But when are you going to give Jill the letter?' asked Barbara, looking +extremely puzzled, as she came to the end of this elaborate composition. + +'We're not going to give it to her,' explained Peter. 'It's going to be +dropped into the barn through a hole in the roof, as soon as Robin has +coaxed her to go inside. The letter is to explain why we've locked her----' + +He did not finish his sentence, for Wilfred called him from below, and he +seized the sheet of paper and scampered off with it. + +Barbara was left in a great state of bewilderment. Something was evidently +going to happen to Jill, and it was apparently intended to save her from +something that was much worse; but what it all meant was a mystery to +her, and there was no one about to give her any more details. The three +conspirators were careful to keep out of her way, and she did not see +any more of them until after lunch, when they raced out of the front door +and disappeared in the direction of the nine-acre field. + +'I'm going to leave you for half an hour,' said Jill, when Barbara had +finished her midday meal. 'Bobbin has been worrying me all dinner-time +to go and look at a baby rabbit he has found, so I promised to run down +to the barn and meet him there. Do you mind?' + +Barbara said she did not mind at all; and she was left behind, consumed +with curiosity as to whether Jill was really going to be locked into the +barn, and whether it really could be for her good, as the boys had +said, and whether Jill would be angry with them for doing it or would +give them her lifelong gratitude. Somehow, Babs did not believe in the +lifelong gratitude much; it did not seem likely that Jill would be +grateful to any one for shutting her up in a dark and dirty barn for a +whole afternoon, even if it was to save her from an awful fate that +still remained to be explained. As she thought about it, Babs even +began to wonder if she had been right in promising not to warn Jill. +But then, if it _was_ to save her from an awful fate, as Peter declared +it was, it would have been very unkind to keep her from going down to +the barn. + +She gave up trying to reason it out, and hoped it was all a joke, and +that Jill would come back again at the end of half an hour. But more +than half an hour passed by, and still she did not come back. Everything +suddenly grew very dull. The garden looked more deserted than usual, +and after the pony carriage had come round and taken Finny and Auntie +Anna and Egbert for a drive, there was not another sound to break the +stillness. Babs began to feel neglected; she had not once been left +alone like this, ever since she was first taken ill, and she found it +extremely depressing. If it was really necessary for the future happiness +of Jill that she should be kept in the barn all the afternoon, some +one else might have been told off to take her place in the sickroom. +Besides, as the afternoon wore on, the little invalid realised with some +sadness that unless Jill did come in, there would be no one to get her +tea ready; and she wanted her tea rather badly. + +At last, to her intense relief, a thump came at the door, and Kit rushed +unceremoniously into the room. + +'Where's Jill?' he demanded hurriedly. + +'I wish I knew for certain, but I don't,' said Barbara, plaintively. + +'Then they've done it!' exclaimed Kit, in a tragic tone, and he dropped +into a chair and looked at her. + +'Done what?' inquired Babs, eagerly. Kit's behaviour was as remarkable +as every one else's to-day, so perhaps she was going to get at the truth +at last. + +'Locked her up in the barn!' gasped Kit. 'They said they were going to, +yesterday, but I thought they were only rotting. I told 'em it wasn't +good enough, and I'd have nothing to do with it, so I s'pose that's why +they didn't tell me any more. And then, I forgot all about it; and after +dinner to-day I went into Finny's study to read a stunning book I'd found +there; and I didn't think of anything, till it suddenly struck me how +awfully quiet everything was. If she's disappeared, they must have done +it, stupid owls!' + +'But isn't it all right?' cried Barbara, looking distressed. 'Peter said +it was to save her from an awful fate----' + +'That's all very well,' returned Kit; 'but the game isn't worth it, +and that's what I told them. You see, the Doctor's coming after tea +to-day, to fetch Jill and take her over the new infirmary he's so keen +about, because Jill is nuts on nursing and all that, don't you know. +Well, Peter overheard them talking about it yesterday and Auntie Anna +said at breakfast that she'd come home from her drive in time to go too, +if she could. But we all knew that she wouldn't get back in time, most +likely; and besides, the Doctor meant business from the look of him, Peter +said, so he'd be dead certain to come early enough to go off with Jill +alone. Trust him! That was jolly dangerous, you see, because the chap +is going away to-morrow, and it's their last chance of being together.' + +'Why is that dangerous?' asked Barbara, trying hard to follow his +bewildering tale. + +'Oh, well, if he's ever going to ask her to marry him, or any of that +rot, he must be going to do it to-day,' explained Kit, with a certain +contempt in his voice. 'Anyhow, what we've been trying to do all the +holidays is to save Jill from the Doctor; so naturally we were rather +upset when Peter brought us the news. But I said I'd have nothing to do +with locking any one up, 'specially Jill; so they said I could make myself +scarce, and I did.' + +'Oh, Kit!' exclaimed Barbara, opening her eyes, 'do you think Jill is in +that horrible dark barn all this time?' + +Kit sprang to his feet and made for the door. 'I'll go and see if I can +find those idiots,' he said, but an exclamation from the sofa made him +look back. Babs was clapping her hands wildly, and her face had suddenly +reddened with excitement. + +'It's all right, Kit. It's beautiful,' she was crying joyfully. 'Don't +stop them, Kit; don't help her to escape, whatever you do. Leave her alone +till the prince comes. Don't you see he'll be able to break the spell at +last!' + +Kit did not see at all. Indeed, he looked rather alarmed, and came back +into the room. 'Look here, Babe, you're not going to get excited again, +or anything like that, are you?' he asked her, nervously. + +Barbara set his mind at rest by laughing merrily. 'You silly old Kit, of +course I'm not!' she said. 'I never felt so jolly in my life!' + +Christopher sped away, reassured, and Barbara lay back on her cushions +and waited impatiently for the sound of the Doctor's gig. She did not have +to wait long, and she waved her hand gaily in answer to the flourish of +his whip with which he greeted her as he drove up to the door. + +'Come up here, Dr. Hurst, and be as quick as you possibly can!' she called +down to him; and a minute later he was in the room. + +The first thing he did was to ask where Jill was, just as Kit had done. +Barbara laughed more merrily than ever. Her small black eyes were +glittering with excitement. + +'She _has_ been locked up by the cruel old giant, and you can go and +rescue her at last,' she told him. + +Dr. Hurst frowned slightly. 'What do you mean, child?' he asked a little +impatiently. He was evidently not in a mood for joking, and Barbara +instantly became grave. + +'I didn't mean to play, but it _is_ so like a fairy story,' she said +penitently. 'And it's quite true about the locking up. They've put her in +the barn, Peter and the others have,--not Kit,--and they mean to keep +her there till you've gone away, so that--so that you won't get a chance +of marrying and living happily ever after! It's to save Jill from you, +they say, but Kit's furious about it, and----' + +The Doctor flung his driving-gloves on the table. They were quite new +ones, she noticed, and he had even forgotten to take the tissue paper +off the buttons of one of them. 'Where is the barn?' he asked grimly. + +'It's at the far end of the nine-acre field,' explained Barbara, and +before she could say any more she found she was alone. + +Excitement had made her forget all about her tea, though the hour for it +was long past. She wished with all her heart that she could be transported +to the scene of the rescue and actually see the princess fall into the +prince's arms, while the giant lay stretched at their feet. Then she +remembered that the giant was Peter, and perhaps Will and Bobbin too, and +she hoped he would not lie stretched there for long. + +The minutes crept slowly by, and still no one came in. It was no use +looking out of the window, for the nine-acre field was on the other +side of the house, beyond the orchard. Then she began to be afraid +that something dreadful must have happened. She reminded herself again +that Peter was the giant, and that the Doctor was small and slight in +comparison, even for a prince. Supposing, contrary though it was to all +the laws of fairy tale, that the giant should be too strong for the +prince, and the princess should not be rescued after all? At last she +heard the welcome sound of footsteps coming along the gallery, and +then Jill opened the door softly and hurried up to her. The Doctor was +just behind her. + +'My dear little Babs!' cried Jill, dropping on her knees beside the sofa, +'have you been wondering what had become of me?' + +'Oh, no,' answered the child; 'I knew about the dark and gruesome dungeon. +But I think I'd like my tea, please.' + +'Of course you would,' said Jill, in much distress, and she began bustling +about the room and making preparations for tea in quite a flustered sort +of way. Babs turned to the Doctor. A question was burning on the tip of +her tongue, and he smiled encouragingly. + +'_Did_ you rescue the princess?' she asked. + +'I did,' answered the Doctor, briefly. + +She looked anxiously at his tie, which had wandered under his right ear, +and at his collar, which was crumpled. 'Did you hurt the giant _much_?' +she asked. + +'I found him in three pieces,' answered the Doctor, gravely, 'and I give +you my word I did not leave him in more.' + +Barbara was not yet satisfied. 'How did you get into the dungeon?' she +asked. + +'Through the door,' replied the Doctor. + +She opened her eyes wide. 'Then you must have stepped over the body of +the giant,' she said. + +'So I did,' laughed Dr. Hurst. 'But do not let that alarm you, for here +he comes.' + +The door was pushed open once more, and the three conspirators tumbled +into the room. Their ties and collars were in much the same condition +as the Doctor's, but they seemed none the worse for that. Indeed, they +looked rather cheerful over it than otherwise, until they saw the Doctor +sitting there, holding Barbara's hand; and then they stopped short and +hesitated. + +'Do, do tell me,' implored Babs. 'How did Dr. Hurst rescue Jill?' + +'I'll tell you, Babs dear,' cried Robin, suddenly dancing up to the +Doctor, and climbing on his knee in quite a friendly manner. 'He came +walking with big long steps up to the door of the barn, where we was +keeping guard over Jill; and he said, "Who can wrestle, out of you young +scamps?" 'Course I said _I_ could, but he just swinged me up in the apple +tree an' left me there, which was horrid, but I didn't mind much, 'cause +I saw all the fun. An' the others said they could, if he liked; an' +the Doctor said whoever won was to have Jill, an' Peter said "Yes," +'cos he's lots bigger'n the Doctor and he thought he'd win. But he didn't +win, nobody did, 'cept only Dr. Hurst; so he got Jill and brought her +back here; an' I climbed down from the apple tree all by myself, an' the +others shook hands with the Doctor and stopped behind, lookin' scared!' + +'I beg to state,' said Jill, severely, from the other side of the room, +where she was preparing tea, 'that nobody has _got_ me, as you call it. +And the sooner you all go out of this room and leave me alone with my +patient, the better.' + +[Illustration: 'So he got Jill'] + +'I say,' began Wilfred, who was standing first on one leg and then on the +other, and trying not to laugh, 'you're not really wild with us, are you, +Jill?' + +'I'm simply _furious_ with you,' said Jill, and she began cutting bread +and butter with vigour. + +'We really did it for your good,' added Peter, putting on an air of mock +penitence. 'How were we to know you didn't _want_ to be saved from the +Doctor?' + +Jill tossed her head and went on cutting bread and butter still, with +her back turned to them all. 'Next time you try to save any one from any +one else,' she remarked, 'you'd better make sure first that she does want +saving.' + +Anything they might have said in reply to this was drowned by the noisy +entrance of Christopher. He bounced into the room and shook his fist +wrathfully at his brothers. + +'Look here, you fellows!' he shouted. 'Next time you shut a chap into a +_pig-sty_, perhaps you'll choose a pig-sty that doesn't belong to a pig +that comes home at tea-time and bangs against the door. I'd like to----' + +He was brought to an abrupt pause. It suddenly struck him that there was +something a little odd about the way every one was assembled in the Babe's +room. + +'Dry up, Kit!' said Wilfred, with a huge sigh. 'You were quite right; the +game wasn't worth it. She didn't want to be saved, after all.' + +'She's just a girl,' added Peter, in a tone of deep dejection. + +'She's a _princess_!' insisted Barbara, from the sofa. + +Christopher looked swiftly round the room. The attitude of every one +seemed a little strained. Jill was cutting enough bread and butter for a +school, and the crumbs flew in all directions as she stood there with +her back to them all. The Doctor was smiling in a way that was clearly +put on, and Bobbin was examining his watch-chain with a familiarity that +would not have seemed possible an hour ago. + +'Well, I'm bothered!' said Kit, at last. The truth was gradually dawning +upon him. 'Do you mean to say that you two have been and gone and got +_engaged_, while we've been trying to save you?' he demanded. '_Have_ +you, Jill?' + +'Oh, don't bother,' grumbled Jill. 'Why can't you ask Dr. Hurst?' + +'_Have_ you?' repeated Kit, turning to the Doctor. + +'Ask Jill,' replied the Doctor, smiling more than ever. + +'Boys,' said Christopher, fixing his spectacles firmly on his nose +and staring solemnly at his brothers, 'we've made shocking idiots of +ourselves.' + +Into the middle of them all now walked Mrs. Crofton of Crofts. + +'Such a trouble as I've had to get back in time, my dear,' she was +beginning, when she too stopped short and seemed to find things a little +unusual. + +'Hey-day!' she cried, leaning on her blue-knobbed cane and looking sharply +round. 'What's every one looking so glum about, I should like to know?' + +Nobody answered her at first. Dr. Hurst put Robin down and rose to his +feet, and he stopped smiling at last, while Jill dropped the bread-knife +and turned round with a very red face; but neither of them spoke. It was +the Babe who came to the rescue, and it was she who explained everything +in her small, dreamy voice. + +'Dr. Hurst has saved Jill from the giant,' she said, 'and they are going +away to their own kingdom, to live happily ever after! I do wish,' she +added wistfully, 'that the magician would come back too. Then things would +be _quite_ beautiful.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MAGICIAN + + +The triumvirate sat under the old cedar tree at Crofts, and once more +they discussed the important affairs of the little world at Wootton +Beeches. It was the first Saturday in the term; and Auntie Anna, true +to her promise, had invited Jean and Angela to drive over and spend +it with Barbara. The spring had come in with a rush, and May had dawned +in such a flood of warm sunshine that the child was able to pass most of +her time on a couch in the garden. The Doctor, in spite of the ten miles +that lay between his house and Crofts, came nearly every day to see how +she was; and he hinted at a promise of crutches in ten days' time, after +which she was to go away to the seaside and get strong enough to return +to school at the half-term. It was very nice, Barbara thought, to see +the Doctor so often, now that she was so much better and did not really +need him; but Christopher was very sarcastic on the subject. + +'S'pose you think he comes to see _you_, don't you?' he remarked +scornfully; and when pressed by Barbara for a more definite explanation of +the Doctor's actions, he condescended to add: 'Once a chap gets engaged +to a _girl_, it's the _girl_ who's at the bottom of everything he does!' + +The day was so hot that Kit and Bobbin came out to join the others under +the cedar tree, and they flung themselves on the grass in different +stages of exhaustion. Now and then, they threw in a lazy contribution +to the conversation that was going on over their heads, though at first +this related entirely to the number of new girls, the alterations in +the classes, and other bits of school gossip. Then, however, it took a +personal turn, and Christopher's comments grew satirical. + +'Has anybody asked after me?' inquired Barbara. + +'What a question!' scoffed Christopher. 'A kid like you!' + +'They have, though,' declared Jean, making a great effort to overcome her +shyness of Barbara Berkeley's clever brother. 'Everybody did, first thing. +You'd never think the Babe had only been there one term.' + +'Oh, well, that's because she smashed herself up,' said Kit, cheerfully. +'Girls always fuss over you, if you kill yourself ever so little.' + +'They _don't_, Kit,' objected Babs. + +'Guess what Margaret Hulme said about you yesterday,' put in Angela, +eagerly. Angela was not nearly so shy as Jean, and, much to Barbara's +astonishment, Kit found her 'better fun' in consequence. It seemed a +little strange that the genius of the family should not be able to +appreciate the amazing qualities of Jean Murray. + +'What did she say about me?' asked Barbara, only to be interrupted by +another jeer from Christopher. + +'Never knew such cockiness as the Babe's,' he laughed, tilting his straw +hat a little more over his eyes. + +'Babs always thinks that everybody's always talkin' about her,' added +Bobbin, in his shrillest voice. + +Barbara stretched as far as she could, and managed with difficulty to +knock off Kit's hat with the end of a stick. Robin was out of reach, so +she contented herself with frowning at him severely, and then leaned +back again and began to fan herself with her handkerchief. Everything +made one feel hot this afternoon. 'What did Margaret say about me?' she +repeated curiously. + +'It was when I was waiting to put away her books, just before dinner +yesterday,' Angela related with eagerness; 'or was it before tea? No! +I think it was before dinner, because----' + +'Oh, get on, Angela, do!' interrupted Jean, impatiently. Even the presence +of Barbara Berkeley's clever brother, which was paralysing her, could +not keep the leader of the junior playroom from snubbing Angela. + +'Well, she said Babs was the most popular girl in the school,' continued +Angela. 'She did, honour bright, and I'm _not_ exaggerating, Jean. She +said it to Ruth Oliver, and Ruth Oliver said: "Isn't it queer? Such a +little kid, too." And Margaret said: "That's just it, stupid!" Then she +saw me listening, and she told me not to listen but to make myself scarce; +and of course I wasn't listening at all, I was only----' + +'There's nothing new in _that_' interrupted Jean, looking superior. +'Everybody knows that the Babe----' Here she caught Kit's eye, and +stopped hastily. She was not sure that she liked Barbara Berkeley's +clever brother; he had such a queer way of looking at one. Nobody in +the junior playroom ever made her feel like that. + +Barbara was in deep perplexity. 'Is that why every one clapped, then, on +the night of the display?' she said wonderingly. + +Christopher looked in mock reproach at Angela. 'You shouldn't have told +her,' he said. 'She won't be fit to speak to for a month now.' + +'Oh, don't, Kit!' retorted Barbara, more from habit than because she +really resented his words. As a matter of fact she had hardly heard them, +for she was busy puzzling things over in her mind. 'I can't think what it +all means,' she went on; 'every one used to complain of me so. There was +Mary Wells, for instance----' + +'Oh, Mary Wells _adores_ you!' cried Angela, in her effusive manner. 'She +said so directly you broke your leg.' + +Barbara puzzled still more. 'I don't understand about Margaret Hulme a +bit, though,' she observed. 'Only the day before the display, she told +me I was a little nuisance, because I didn't hear her the first time she +spoke to me; so of course I thought she hated me!' + +'That was before you broke your leg, though,' explained Jean. + +'She _adores_ you now,' added Angela. + +Kit and Bobbin burst out laughing, but Barbara went on puzzling, and did +not notice them. Adoration at Wootton Beeches seemed to spring from the +strangest causes. After being more or less neglected for a whole term +by the greater part of her school-fellows, it was at least surprising +to be suddenly placed on a pinnacle of fame, just because she had broken +her leg. If she had only guessed at Angela's envy of that same broken +leg--an envy that was probably shared by half the junior playroom--she +might have been still further amazed. + +The boys strolled indoors to find Auntie Anna and to beg for tea in the +garden; and the conversation under the cedar tree grew more intimate. +Jean came out of her shell, and talked about her home in Edinburgh in a +way she had never done before, even on half-holidays at school; and +Angela, in her turn, gave an elaborate description of her eldest +sister's drawing-room dress, and of the longing it had aroused in her +own frivolous little mind to be presented at Court herself. + +'And so I shall be, some day; mother says so!' she announced, spreading +out the folds of her rough serge skirt, and seeing it in imagination many +times its length and composed of shimmering satin. + +'I shan't,' said Jean, regarding her with scorn. 'I don't want to be +presented. Any stupid idiot can put on a white satin dress, miles long, +and grin at Queen Victoria. _I_ want to be clever like father, and get a +degree at college, and lecture to thousands and thousands of people, +and----' + +'Oh, don't be like that, Jean,' interrupted Barbara, earnestly. 'If you're +going to give lectures you'll have to go away from all your children, for +months and months and months, and leave them to break all their legs, +all by themselves, and--oh, it _is_ so horrible to break your leg all +by yourself!' + +'Poor dear,' said Angela, ready as usual with a tearful and demonstrative +sympathy. + +Jean was much too wrapped up in her future to sympathise with anybody. +'I dare say I shan't have any children,' she said, seized with a happy +inspiration. 'You can't have everything, and I'd much sooner have a +degree.' + +Barbara looked at her in some doubt. 'That's all very well,' she remarked, +'but you'll be jolly dull if you don't look out. _I_ don't mean to go +without children; I'm going to have millions of 'em--all boys--see if I +don't! Then we can always be sure of having enough for sides, without +inviting strangers to come and play. You can never be sure how strangers +are going to play, and sometimes they spoil the game, and that's a bore.' + +'If you have boys of your own, you'll be a mother; and if you're a mother, +you won't join in the games at all. Mothers only sit and look on, and send +the ones to bed that can't agree,' said Angela, with an air of experience. + +'I don't advise you to be a mother, Babe,' added Jean, earnestly. 'You'll +have to mend such a lot of socks, and p'r'aps make babies' clothes +too; and you've been a whole term getting round the hem of one flannel +petticoat, as it is.' + +'You _can_ get things ready-made,' answered Barbara, but her tone did not +sound hopeful. She had to own sadly to herself that she was not cut out +for a mother, and she fell back on the more practical futures of other +people. 'Wilfred's going to be a doctor, after all,' she told them, with +great pride. 'Auntie Anna says she'll stand all the money that father +can't, and he's going to St. Thomas's--Will is, I mean. Isn't it awfully +splendid?' + +Her friends murmured something appropriate, but they were not deeply +interested in the career of Wilfred. At school, the girls' conversation +was largely made up of details of this kind; but Crofts was not school, +and neither Jean nor Angela felt inspired to carry on the discussion. +Babs, however, failed to notice their want of enthusiasm. Everything was +happening exactly like the fairy story she had planned, the fairy story +that had begun in the old London house, on the day that a certain +dragon had entered it as a fairy godmother; and for the moment she was +back again in her own kingdom, where the old witch still wandered +about in her steeple-hat, in the company of Kit the prince, and where the +twice-disenchanted beast was placing a crown on the charming head of +the princess who had waited so long for him, and where a crowd of other +princesses, after breaking their heads and their legs and suffering +numerous unpleasant penalties of the kind, had at last returned from +their banishment and were hailing the child herself as their queen. But +one familiar figure was still missing from her fairy kingdom; and the +little queen came sadly back to the world under the cedar tree, with a +sigh and a murmured remark about 'America' and 'lectures' that her +listeners only half understood. They recognised the Babe's very natural +wish for her father's return, but they did not know how the wish had +grown into a longing since her accident, during the weary days in which +there had been no school to distract her, and nothing to do but to think. + +'He'll be back in two months, won't he?' asked Jean, meaning to be +sympathetic, though her manner was awkward. + +'Two months!' echoed Babs, dolefully, 'What's two months?' + +'It's years, isn't it?' responded Angela, with her accustomed inaccuracy. + +Having secured their sympathy, such as it was, Barbara allowed herself to +become more doleful still. 'He must have missed all our letters, too,' +she sighed. 'The last one he sent us was from some awful American place, +that Kit says is in the map if you've got a month to look for it, only +you haven't!--and he never told us where to write next, and he didn't say +a word about me. So he's not even heard yet that I fell off the rings!' + +'Never mind, Babs dear,' said Angela, consolingly; 'think how _proud_ you +will be when you can tell him all about it yourself.' + +Not appreciating the distinction of having broken her leg quite so warmly +as Angela, Babs did not respond; and the arrival of tea, and with it +every one from the house, made her give up the immediate attempt to pity +herself. After all, people who went away to America to lecture could +not leave their children to break their legs by themselves for ever; and +meanwhile, there was home-made cake and strawberry jam under the cedar +tree. + +It was in the middle of tea, just as Robin, with a wavering hand, was +conveying a second cup to Babs, that the wonderful event happened. Jill +had the best view of the house from where she sat at the tea-table, and +her sudden exclamation interrupted the jeers of the others over Robin's +strenuous performance. + +'Such a funny-looking man is coming up the drive!' she remarked. 'He's +wearing the very oddest kind of clothes, too--a sort of Inverness cape, +and a squashy brown hat. And do look at the way he is walking, with his +arms swinging about--just like Peter, when he's in a hurry.' + +'He must be a tramp,' said Angela, giggling. + +Everybody looked round, except Barbara, who made a plaintive request, that +nobody heard, for her couch to be wheeled into a different position. + +Then Auntie Anna gave a little shriek, and dropped her pince-nez into her +lap. + +'Bless my soul!' she cried, fumbling for them in an agitated manner. 'Why, +it looks exactly like--I do believe--look, Jill! Your eyes are younger +than----' + +The boys were sharper than Jill, though, and they settled the question +at once in their own riotous fashion. Barbara's second cup of tea fell +with a crash and a splash, before she could reach out her hand for it, +and her two brothers rushed shouting and screaming across the lawn. In +another instant they had disappeared in the folds of the Inverness cape; +and Angela Wilkins realised with a shock that she had called Barbara +Berkeley's father a tramp! + + * * * * * + +'Well, Everard, and what have you to say for yourself?' demanded Auntie +Anna, in a severe tone, as soon as she could make herself heard. For quite +ten minutes, every one had been talking at once. + +'What have I to say?' repeated Mr. Berkeley, with his eyes twinkling. +'Why, plum-cake, to be sure! You haven't offered me any tea yet.' + +His sons nearly wrecked the tea-table in their efforts to be first in +supplying his wants; and Auntie Anna gave up the attempt to be firm. + +'Well, well,' she said, shaking her head, 'you always were incorrigible, +Everard! But what about the end of your lecturing tour?' + +'There won't be any end, as far as I'm concerned,' smiled her brother, +devouring plum-cake with avidity. + +'But--but what did they _say_ to your extraordinary departure?' cried +Auntie Anna. + +'I didn't give them time to say much,' answered Mr. Berkeley. 'The boat +was starting in a couple of hours, you see.' + +Auntie Anna threw up her hands. 'Of all the improvident, hot-headed----' +she was beginning, when the change of expression in her brother's face +silenced her. He held out his cup to her with a pathetic look. + +'You always forget,' he said. 'Two lumps, please.' + +The boys flung themselves upon the sugar-basin, and more than two lumps +found their way into his cup. Jill took the opportunity to present +Barbara's friends to him, and Mr. Berkeley smiled and said something +genial to both of them, which made Jean forget at once how shy she was and +drove away the last bit of Angela's confusion over her stupid mistake. But +his attention soon wandered back to his children, and he stirred his +tea and beamed upon all three of them alternately, until the others began +to feel that they were in the way. His eyes rested longest of all upon +Babs, who lay on her couch with an expression of complete contentment +on her face; and Auntie Anna saw, and understood. + +'I said all the while it was madness to write and tell you about it,' she +grumbled. + +Mr. Berkeley chuckled. 'I never got your letter till last Wednesday week,' +he said. 'It had been following me about from place to place. Poor little +Babe!' he added, pinching her cheek softly; 'what a shame to let you +knock yourself about, when your poor old father wasn't there to take care +of you!' + +Auntie Anna smiled grimly. 'No one could very well be less capable of +taking care of her,' she remarked. + +Robin clambered on his father's knee and hugged him afresh. + +'Why _did_ you come home, father?' he cried, raising his voice higher than +ever. + +Mr. Berkeley looked mildly surprised. 'Can't you guess, sonny?' he asked. +'Do you suppose I could stay another minute in somebody else's country, +when I heard that my little girl was ill over here?' + +Jill got up rather suddenly, and offered to take Jean and Angela round +the garden; and Auntie Anna grasped her blue-knobbed cane, and rose +slowly to her feet. Before she went off, however, she shot one more +question at her brother in her most abrupt manner. 'What about your +luggage, Everard?' she demanded. 'Where have you left it?' + +Mr. Berkeley reflected a moment. 'I _think_ it was Boston,' he began +doubtfully, 'but it may have been----' + +He did not finish his sentence, for the old lady shook her head in +despair at him and hobbled off towards the house. Barbara watched her +retreating figure, and smiled gently to herself. Auntie Anna might pretend +as much as she liked that she was a dragon, but nothing could prevent +her looking like a fairy godmother! + +Her father stroked her rough, tumbled hair caressingly, and smiled back at +her. + +'What is it, Babe?' he asked. + +The child gazed at him as he sat there, with the two boys clinging to him +as though they would never let him go again; and the whimsical look stole +into her bright little eyes, and lighted up the whole of her small impish +face. + +'The magician has come back,' she said, with a happy laugh; 'and there +isn't room to _move_ in my fairy kingdom!' + + + + +THE STANDARD SCHOOL LIBRARY. + +(Each Volume, cloth, 50 cents. Sold singly or in sets.) + +BAILEY. LESSONS WITH PLANTS. Suggestions for Seeing and Interpreting +Some of the Common Forms of Vegetation. By L. H. Bailey. 12mo. +Illustrated. xxxi + 491 pages. + +This volume is the outgrowth of "observation lessons." The book is based +upon the idea that the proper way to begin the study of plants is by means +of plants instead of formal ideals or definitions. Instead of a definition +as a model telling what is to be seen, the plant shows what there is to be +seen, and the definition follows. + +BARNES. YANKEE SHIPS AND YANKEE SAILORS. Tales of 1812. By James Barnes. +12mo. Illustrated. xiii + 281 pages. + +Fourteen spirited tales of the gallant defenders of the _Chesapeake_, the +_Wasp_, the _Vixen_, _Old Ironsides_, and other heroes of the Naval War of +1812. + +BELLAMY. THE WONDER CHILDREN. By Charles J. Bellamy. 12mo. Illustrated. + +Nine old-fashioned fairy stories in a modern setting. + +BLACK. THE PRACTICE OF SELF-CULTURE. By Hugh Black. 12mo. vii + 262 +pages. + +Nine essays on culture considered in its broadest sense. The title is +justified not so much from the point of view of giving many details for +self-culture, as of giving an impulse to practice. + +BONSAL. THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE. Extracts from the letters of Captain H. L. +Herndon of the 21st U. S. Infantry, on duty in the Philippine Islands, and +Lieutenant Lawrence Gill, A.D.C. to the Military Governor of Puerto Rico. +With a postscript by J. Sherman, Private, Co. D, 21st Infantry. Edited by +Stephen Bonsal. 12mo. xi + 316 pages. + +These letters throw much light on our recent history. The story of our +"Expansion" is well told, and the problems which are its outgrowth are +treated with clearness and insight. + +BUCK. BOYS' SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS. By Winifred Buck. 16mo. x + 218 pages. + +The history of self-governing clubs, with directions for their +organization and management. The author has had many years' experience as +organizer and adviser of self-governing clubs in New York City and the +vicinity. + +CARROLL. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. By Lewis Carroll. 12mo. +Illustrated. xiv + 192 pages. + +CARROLL. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. By Lewis +Carroll. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 224 pages. + +The authorized edition of these children's classics. They have recently +been reprinted from new type and new cuts made from the original wood +blocks. + +CHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ILIAD. By Rev. A. J. Church, vii + 314 pages. + +CHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY. By Rev. A. J. Church. vii + 306 pages. + +The two great epics are retold in prose by one of the best of +story-tellers. The Greek atmosphere is remarkably well preserved. + +CRADDOCK. THE STORY OF OLD FORT LOUDON. By Charles Egbert Craddock. +12mo. Illustrated. v + 409 pages. + +A story of pioneer life in Tennessee at the time of the Cherokee uprising +in 1760. The frontier fort serves as a background to this picture of +Indian craft and guile and pioneer pleasures and hardships. + +CROCKETT. RED CAP TALES. By S. R. Crockett. 8vo. 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It is a book that appeals to boys everywhere and which makes for +manliness and high ideals. + +HUTCHINSON. THE STORY OF THE HILLS. A Book about Mountains for General +Readers. By Rev. H. W. Hutchinson. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 357 pages. + +"A clear account of the geological formation of mountains and their +various methods of origin in language so clear and untechnical that it +will not confuse even the most unscientific."--Boston _Evening Transcript_. + +ILLINOIS GIRL. A PRAIRIE WINTER. By an Illinois Girl. 16mo. 164 pages. + +A record of the procession of the months from midway in September to +midway in May. The observations on Nature are accurate and sympathetic, +and they are interspersed with glimpses of a charming home life and bits +of cheerful philosophy. + +INGERSOLL. WILD NEIGHBORS. OUTDOOR STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES. By +Ernest Ingersoll. 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 301 pages. + +Studies and stories of the gray squirrel, the puma, the coyote, the +badger, and other burrowers, the porcupine, the skunk, the woodchuck, and +the raccoon. + +INMAN. THE RANCH ON THE OXHIDE. By Henry Inman. 12mo. Illustrated. xi + +297 pages. + +A story of pioneer life in Kansas in the late sixties. Adventures with +wild animals and skirmishes with Indians add interest to the narrative. + +JOHNSON. CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 12mo. +Illustrated. xxiii + 398 pages. + +A well-edited edition of this classic. The one effort has been to bring +the book to readable proportions without excluding any really essential +incident or detail, and at the same time to make the text unobjectionable +and wholesome. + +JUDSON. THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN NATION. By Harry Pratt Judson. 12mo. +Illustrations and maps. xi + 359 pages. + +The cardinal facts of American History are grasped in such a way as to +show clearly the orderly development of national life. + +KEARY. THE HEROES OF ASGARD: TALES FROM SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. By A. +and E. Keary. 12mo. Illustrated. 323 pages. + +The book is divided, into nine chapters, called "The Æsir," "How Thor +went to Jötunheim," "Frey," "The Wanderings of Freyja," "Iduna's Apples," +"Baldur," "The Binding of Fenrir," "The Punishment of Loki," "Ragnarök." + +KING. DE SOTO AND HIS MEN IN THE LAND OF FLORIDA. By Grace King. 12mo. +Illustrated. xiv + 326 pages. + +A story based upon the Spanish and Portuguese accounts of the attempted +conquest by the armada which sailed under De Soto in 1538 to subdue this +country. Miss King gives a most entertaining history of the invaders' +struggles and of their final demoralized rout; while her account of the +native tribes is a most attractive feature of the narrative. + +KINGSLEY. MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY: FIRST LESSONS IN EARTH LORE FOR +CHILDREN. By Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. xviii + 321 pages. + +Madam How and Lady Why are two fairies who teach the how and why of things +in nature. There are chapters on Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Coral Reefs, +Glaciers, etc., told in an interesting manner. The book is intended to +lead children to use their eyes and ears. + +KINGSLEY. THE WATER BABIES: A FAIRY TALE FOR A LAND BABY. By Charles +Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. 330 pages. + +One of the best children's stories ever written; it has deservedly become +a classic. + +LANGE. OUR NATIVE BIRDS: HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT THEM TO OUR +HOMES. By D. Lange. 12mo. Illustrated, x + 162 pages. + +A strong plea for the protection of birds. Methods and devices for their +encouragement are given, also a bibliography of helpful literature, and +material for Bird Day. + +LOVELL. STORIES IN STONE FROM THE ROMAN FORUM. By Isabel Lovell. 12mo. +Illustrated. viii + 258 pages. + +The eight stories in this volume give many facts that travelers wish to +know, that historical readers seek, and that young students enjoy. The +book puts the reader in close touch with Roman life. + +McFARLAND. GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES. By J. Horace McFarland. +8vo. Illustrated. xi + 241 pages. + +A charmingly written series of tree essays. They are not scientific but +popular, and are the outcome of the author's desire that others should +share the rest and comfort that have come to him through acquaintance with +trees. + +MAJOR. THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER. By Charles Major. 12mo. Illustrated. 277 +pages. + +A collection of good bear stories with a live boy for the hero. The scene +is laid in the early days of Indiana. + +MARSHALL. WINIFRED'S JOURNAL. By Emma Marshall. 12mo. Illustrated. 353 +pages. + +A story of the time of Charles the First. Some of the characters are +historical personages. + +MEANS. PALMETTO STORIES. By Celina E. Means. 12mo. Illustrated. x + 244 +pages. + +True accounts of some of the men and women who made the history of South +Carolina, and correct pictures of the conditions under which these men +and women labored. + +MORRIS. MAN AND HIS ANCESTOR: A STUDY IN EVOLUTION. By Charles Morris. +16mo. Illustrated. vii + 238 pages. + +A popular presentation of the subject of man's origin. The various +significant facts that have been discovered since Darwin's time are +given, as well as certain lines of evidence never before presented in +this connection. + +NEWBOLT. STORIES FROM FROISSART. By Henry Newbolt. 12mo. Illustrated. +xxxi + 368 pages. + +Here are given entire thirteen episodes from the "Chronicles" of Sir John +Froissart. The text is modernized sufficiently to make it intelligible to +young readers. Separated narratives are dovetailed, and new translations +have been made where necessary to make the narrative complete and easily +readable. + +OVERTON. THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER. By Gwendolen Overton. 12mo. +Illustrated. vii + 270 pages. + +A story of girl life at an army post on the frontier. The plot is an +absorbing one, and the interest of the reader is held to the end. + +PALGRAVE. THE CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONG. Selected and arranged +by Francis Turner Palgrave. 16mo. viii + 302 pages. + +This collection contains 168 selections--songs, narratives, descriptive +or reflective pieces of a lyrical quality, all suited to the taste and +understanding of children. + +PALMER. STORIES FROM THE CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF MANY NATIONS. Edited by +Bertha Palmer. 12mo. xv + 297 pages. + +A collection of sixty characteristic stories from Chinese, Japanese, +Hebrew, Babylonian, Arabian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, German, Scandinavian, +Celtic, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-Saxon, +English, Finnish, and American Indian sources. + +RIIS. CHILDREN OF THE TENEMENTS. By Jacob A. Riis. 12mo. Illustrated. +ix + 387 pages. + +Forty sketches and short stories dealing with the lights and shadows of +life in the slums of New York City, told just as they came to the writer, +fresh from the life of the people. + +SANDYS. TRAPPER JIM. By Edwyn Sandys. 12mo. Illustrated. ix + 441 pages. + +A book which will delight every normal boy. Jim is a city lad who learns +from an older cousin all the lore of outdoor life--trapping, shooting, +fishing, camping, swimming, and canoeing. The author is a well-known +writer on outdoor subjects. + +SEXTON. STORIES OF CALIFORNIA. By Ella M. Sexton. 12mo. Illustrated. +x + 211 pages. + +Twenty-two stories illustrating the early conditions and the romantic +history of California and the subsequent development of the state. + +SHARP. THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL. By Evelyn Sharp. 12mo. +Illustrated. ix + 326 pages. + +Bab, the "youngest girl," was only eleven and the pet of five brothers. +Her ups and downs in a strange boarding school make an interesting story. + +SPARKS. THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION: AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES HISTORY +FROM 1776 TO 1861. By Edwin E. Sparks. 12mo. Illustrated. viii + 415 +pages. + +The author has chosen to tell our history by selecting the one man at +various periods of our affairs who was master of the situation and about +whom events naturally grouped themselves. The characters thus selected +number twelve, as "Samuel Adams, the man of the town meeting"; "Robert +Morris, the financier of the Revolution"; "Hamilton, the advocate of +stronger government," etc., etc. + +THACHER. THE LISTENING CHILD. A selection from the stories of English +verse, made for the youngest readers and hearers. By Lucy W. Thacher. +12mo. xxx + 408 pages. + +Under this title are gathered two hundred and fifty selections. The +arrangement is most intelligent, as shown in the proportions assigned +to different authors and periods. Much prominence is given to purely +imaginative writers. The preliminary essay, "A Short Talk to Children +about Poetry," is full of suggestion. + +WALLACE. UNCLE HENRY'S LETTERS TO THE FARM BOY. By Henry Wallace. 16mo. +ix + 180 pages. + +Eighteen letters on habits, education, business, recreation, and kindred +subjects. + +WEED. LIFE HISTORIES OF AMERICAN INSECTS. By Clarence Moores Weed. 12mo. +Illustrated. xii + 272 pages. + +In these pages are described by an enthusiastic student of entomology +such changes as may often be seen in an insect's form, and which mark +the progress of its life. He shows how very wide a field of interesting +facts is within reach of any one who has the patience to collect these +little creatures. + +WELLS. THE JINGLE BOOK. By Carolyn Wells. 12mo. Illustrated. viii + 124 +pages. + +A collection of fifty delightful jingles and nonsense verses. The +illustrations by Oliver Herford do justice to the text. + +WILSON. DOMESTIC SCIENCE IN GRAMMAR GRADES. A Reader. By Lucy L. W. +Wilson. 12mo. ix + 193 pages. + +Descriptions of homes and household customs of all ages and countries, +studies of materials and industries, glimpses of the homes of literature, +and articles on various household subjects. + +WILSON. HISTORY READER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. +16mo. Illustrated. xvii + 403 pages. + +Stories grouped about the greatest men and the most striking events in our +country's history. The readings run by months, beginning with September. + +WILSON. PICTURE STUDY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. 12mo. +Illustrated. + +Ninety half-tone reproductions from celebrated paintings both old and +modern, accompanied by appropriate readings from the poets. All schools of +art are represented. + +WRIGHT. HEART OF NATURE. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. + +This volume comprises "Stories of Plants and Animals," "Stories of +Earth and Sky," and "Stories of Birds and Beasts," usually published +in three volumes and known as "The Heart of Nature Series." It is a +delightful combination of story and nature study, the author's name +being a sufficient warrant for its interest and fidelity to nature. + +WRIGHT. FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS AND THEIR KIN. By Mabel Osgood Wright, +edited by Frank Chapman. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 432 pages. + +An animal book in story form. The scene shifts from farm to woods, and +back to an old room, fitted as a sort of winter camp, where vivid stories +of the birds and beasts which cannot be seen at home are told by the +campfire,--the sailor who has hunted the sea, the woodman, the mining +engineer, and wandering scientist, each taking his turn. A useful family +tree of North American Mammals is added. + +WRIGHT. DOGTOWN. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. xiii + 405 +pages. + +"Dogtown" was a neighborhood so named because so many people loved and +kept dogs. For it is a story of people as well as of dogs, and several of +the people as well as the dogs are old friends, having been met in Mrs. +Wright's other books. + +YONGE. LITTLE LUCY'S WONDERFUL GLOBE. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo. +Illustrated. xi + 140 pages. + +An interesting and ingenious introduction to geography. In her dreams Lucy +visits the children of various lands and thus learns much of the habits +and customs of these countries. + +YONGE. UNKNOWN TO HISTORY. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo. Illustrated. +xi + 589 pages. + +A story of the captivity of Mary Queen of Scots, told in the author's best +vein. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL*** + + +******* This file should be named 32992-8.txt or 32992-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/9/9/32992 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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E. Brock + </h1> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +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 <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> + <p> + Title: The Youngest Girl in the School + </p> + <p> + Author: Evelyn Sharp + </p> + <p> + Release Date: June 27, 2010 [eBook #32992] + </p> + <p> + Language: English + </p> + <p> + Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + </p> + <p> + ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL*** + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h3 class="pg"> + E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> and the Project Gutenberg Online + Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> (http://www.fadedpage.net) + </h3> + <p> + + </p> + <hr class="full" /> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <!-- next line for epub title --> + + The Youngest Girl in the School + </h1> + <p class="c fs14"> + THE YOUNGEST GIRL + </p> + <p class="c fs12 mt15 mb15"> + IN + </p> + <p class="c fs14"> + THE SCHOOL + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <div class="tpi"> + <img alt="emblem" src="images/illus-emb.png" /> + </div> + <hr class="pb" /> + <div class="titlepage"> + <p class="fs22 mb10"> + THE YOUNGEST GIRL + </p> + <p class="fs12 mb10"> + IN + </p> + <p class="fs22 mb30"> + THE SCHOOL + </p> + <p class="fs12 mb08"> + BY + </p> + <p class="fs14 mb05"> + EVELYN SHARP + </p> + <p class="fs08 mb80"> + AUTHOR OF ’THE MAKING OF A SCHOOLGIRL,’ ’WYMPS,’ + ETC. + </p> + <p class="fs10 mb80"> + <i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. E. BROCK</i> + </p> + <p class="fs12"> + New York + </p> + <p class="fs12"> + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + </p> + <p class="fs10"> + LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., <span class="sc">Ltd.</span> + </p> + <p class="fs10 mb10"> + 1906 + </p> + <p class="fs08"> + <i>All rights reserved</i> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="pb" /> + <p class="c fs08 sc"> + Copyright, 1901,<br />By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + </p> + <hr style="border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; height: 1px; width: 10em; text-align: center; margin: 10px auto;" /> + <p class="c fs08"> + Set up and electrotyped September, 1901. Reprinted January, 1902. + </p> + <p class="c fs08 mb40"> + New edition September, 1906. + </p> + <p class="c fs08"> + Norwood Press<br />J. S. Cushing & Co.–Berwick & Smith<br />Norwood + Mass. U.S.A. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <p class="c fs10 mb05"> + TO + </p> + <p class="c fs12"> + THE PROFESSOR + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <table summary="LOI"> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"> + ILLUSTRATIONS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tar fs08"> + PAGE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘May I–may I have all that?’ + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i1">27</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘Look here, Babs,’ she began, smoothing the mop of tangled + hair + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i2">45</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘What in the name of wonder are you children doing down there?’ + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i3">99</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + Five heads suddenly appeared at the open window + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i4">108</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘Dear me!’ he said, slightly taken aback + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i5">175</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘Hullo!’ said Jean. ‘What’s the matter?’ + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i6">184</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘Tell me, Herr Doktor’ + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i7">261</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" class="center fs12"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tcol1i"> + ‘So he got Jill’ + </td> + <td class="tcol2i"> + <a href="#link_i8">310</a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_1"></a>1</span><a id="link_1"></a>CHAPTER + I<br /><span class="h2fs">IN A LONDON SCHOOLROOM</span> + </h2> + <p> + ‘It’s no good,’ sighed Barbara, looking disconsolately + round the room; ‘we shall never get straight in time. Don’t + you think we had better leave it, and let Auntie Anna see us as we really + are? She will only be disappointed afterwards, if we begin by being tidy; + and I don’t like disappointing people, do you?’ + </p> + <p> + There was a shout of laughter when she finished speaking, and Barbara + frowned. She never knew why the boys laughed at her when she tried to + explain her reasons for doing things, but they always did. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is that why you have put on your very shortest frock?’ asked + Wilfred, who was brewing something in a saucepan over the fire. ‘I + believe you think that if Auntie Anna saw you for the first time in your + Sunday frock, she might suppose you were a nice, proper little girl, + instead of<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara seized the sofa cushion and aimed it at him threateningly. ‘Instead + of what?’ she demanded. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_2"></a>2</span>Wilfred was at a + disadvantage, owing to his position as well as to the precious quality of + the liquid in the saucepan; and he felt it wiser to make terms. ‘Well,’ + he observed, ‘you might at least have put on a longer frock for the + credit of the family; now, mightn’t you?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked down at her blue serge skirt, edged with certain rows of + white braid that only made it look shorter; and she gave it a pull to make + it fall a little lower over the slim black legs that appeared beneath it. + ‘It’s not my fault that I have just come from a gymnastic + class,’ she protested. ‘Besides, my Sunday frock is only two + inches longer! What difference does two inches make, even if we <i>have</i> + got an aunt coming? You’re so particular, Wilfred.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Stick to your chemicals, Will, and leave the Babe alone,’ + growled Egbert, who was trying to read a novel on the sofa and found the + conversation disturbing. + </p> + <p> + It was not often that the eldest of the family troubled himself about the + disputes of the others, and Barbara was encouraged to go on. ‘Besides,’ + she added, ‘there isn’t time to change now. Auntie Anna will + arrive directly; and who is going to tidy up the schoolroom if I don’t?’ + </p> + <p> + Certainly, no one responded to her appeal. Egbert and Wilfred became + suddenly and suspiciously interested in what they were doing, while the + two other boys, who were seated on the edge of the table, continued to + swing their <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_3"></a>3</span> legs + lazily backwards and forwards without making an effort to help her. + Barbara turned upon them reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is perfectly horrible of you to sit there laughing, when a + strange aunt and a strange daughter may be here at any minute!’ she + declared. ‘I think <i>you</i> might do something, Peter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not much!’ laughed Peter, a tall, broad-shouldered fellow of + fifteen or so. ‘It’s good for little girls to do things, and + keeps them from growing out of all their clothes.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Chuck it, Babs!’ advised the younger of the two. ‘What + does it matter whether she thinks we live in a pig-sty or not?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked at them doubtfully, then picked up a pile of ragged music + and staggered across to the cupboard, shot the music into it, and closed + the door just in time to prevent her load from recoiling upon her. A + derisive chuckle from the boys on the table greeted her first attempt at + tidying up; but she went on resolutely. + </p> + <p> + ‘Visitors have no business to come and see people at a day’s + notice like this,’ she complained, as she swept a handful of rusty + nails, empty gum bottles, and other evidences of past occupations into a + crowded waste-paper basket. + </p> + <p> + Christopher stopped laughing as she said this, and a change crept over his + pale, rather delicate features. ‘When the visitor is an <i>aunt</i>,’ + he said with energy, ‘a day’s notice is more than enough.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_4"></a>4</span>He associated the + aunt in question with certain reforms that had taken place from time to + time in the household; and he had never forgiven her for inducing their + father, just two years ago, to dismiss the nurse they had all adored and + to send Robin and himself to a hated day-school. There was no knowing what + innovations they might not be forced to accept, now that she was going to + descend upon them in person. + </p> + <p> + Peter chuckled again. Most things to Peter were an occasion for a chuckle. + ‘That depends on the spirit in which she comes,’ he remarked, + and he turned his pockets graphically inside out. ‘An aunt who has a + big place in the country, and can afford to travel about in beastly holes + like Munich and the Italian lakes<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And can pick up other people’s daughters and adopt them,’ + chimed in Christopher, ‘just because their fathers died fighting in + the Soudan and their mothers died–how did their mothers die, Egbert?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Penniless,’ grunted Egbert, in response to the kick his book + had just received. ‘That’s why the kid got adopted, of course.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ proceeded Peter, putting his pockets back and nodding + wisely, ‘if an aunt like that doesn’t behave decently to her + deserving nephews<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And niece,’ added Babs from the back of the sofa, where she + had just deposited a bundle of old schoolbooks. + </p> + <p> + Peter went on unabashed. ‘To her deserving <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_5"></a>5</span> nephews and + undeserving niece,’ he said, smiling, ‘then she’ll be an + awful old dragon!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s something in that,’ observed Wilfred, taking + the saucepan over to the window for inspection. ‘Perhaps she’ll + give me those new retorts and things I want for my laboratory–if I + ever get a laboratory,’ he added with a sigh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps she’ll send me straight to college without expecting + me to grind for a musty old scholarship,’ said Egbert, condescending + to take a share in the conversation. + </p> + <p> + ‘If she asks me down to Crofts for the shooting, that will be good + enough for me,’ observed Peter, drawing a long breath of + anticipation. + </p> + <p> + Barbara came slowly into the middle of the room and stood there, quite + unconscious of her rumpled hair and of the streak of dust that was smeared + across her face. ‘I wonder what Auntie Anna will do for me?’ + she murmured, more to herself than to the others. ‘I hope, I do hope + it will be something new and interesting and beautiful!’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher overheard her, and roused himself. He slipped off the table + and walked to his favourite position on the hearthrug, giving an + unnecessary pull to the child’s hair as he passed her, which was an + attention, however, that she showed no signs of resenting. Babs never + resented anything that Kit chose to do to her; besides, she wanted to hear + what he was going to say. Whenever Kit stood like that, with his back to + the fire and his legs <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_6"></a>6</span> + rather wide apart, he was always going to say something. The odd thing + was, that there was something so convincing in his way of saying it that + the family generally listened. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t you fret yourselves, any of you,’ he said + decidedly. ‘Auntie Anna isn’t going to make things pleasant + for anybody in this house–not she! Hasn’t she persuaded father + to do whatever she likes, all our lives?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is she going to make him do now, then?’ asked Wilfred, + who did not mean to give up his dream of a laboratory without a protest. + </p> + <p> + ‘First of all,’ said Christopher, with an air of confidence, + ‘she’ll see that Egbert has a crammer next summer holidays; + and he’ll either have to get that scholarship, or he doesn’t + go to Oxford at all! She’ll talk about discipline, and things like + that. Aunts always do talk about discipline, when it’s for other + people’s children.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I wish you’d shut up,’ grumbled Egbert, returning to + his book. ‘How is a fellow to read when you’re making such a + clatter?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then there’s Peter,’ continued Christopher, calmly. + ‘Of course she’ll say he’s much too young to be trusted + with a gun, though he is such an overgrown, hulking chap; and why isn’t + he in the fifth instead of the upper fourth, at <i>his</i> age?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you know about it, you youngest-but-two?’ shouted + Peter, wrathfully. + </p> + <p> + Kit peered at him through his spectacles, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_7"></a>7</span> and went on as impudently as ever. He was never + afraid to speak his mind, for none of the others would have dreamed of + laying a finger, except in fun, on the one brother who was not strong + enough to defend himself; and Kit knew this, as well as he knew his + superiority over them in the matter of brains. The only wonder was that + the knowledge had not made him a prig. Perhaps it would have been + difficult, though, in the hurly-burly of the Berkeley family, for any one + to have been a prig. + </p> + <p> + ‘As for Wilfred,’ he resumed, ‘she’ll upset all + his ambitions before he can turn round. Do you suppose she’ll + encourage his messing about with things in saucepans, just because he + wants to be a doctor? Not she! She’ll talk about some rotten + business in the City instead. Aunts always know millions of places in the + City where they can shove their unwilling nephews.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I say, dry up!’ objected Wilfred, who was already + sufficiently depressed by the discovery that the brew in the saucepan was + not a success. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then she’ll pack Robin off to a preparatory at Brighton–never + knew an aunt yet who didn’t want to send you to a preparatory at + Brighton!–and she’ll do the same to me, only she’ll + choose a beastly inferior place, where I shall be looked after by some <i>woman</i>,’ + concluded Christopher, in a tone of scorn. Then he caught sight of + Barbara, who was still standing thoughtfully in the middle of the room; + and he shook his head at her pityingly. ‘After <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_8"></a>8</span> that, having cleared + the house of boys, she’ll turn her attention to the Babe,’ he + said, and paused rather abruptly. + </p> + <p> + Barbara woke up from her reflections with a start. ‘Yes, Kit?’ + she said questioningly. ‘What will Auntie Anna do to me?’ + </p> + <p> + Kit’s expression of pity became exaggerated. ‘To begin with,’ + he said, with a deep sigh, ‘she’ll let down your frocks, and + tie back your hair, and never let you go anywhere alone, not even to the + pillar-box at the corner!’ + </p> + <p> + The other boys began to laugh afresh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Think of the Babe with her hair bunched up on the top, and fastened + with a bit of ribbon! She’ll look exactly like a French poodle, won’t + she?’ scoffed Peter. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’ll have to hold up her skirt in the street, and step in + and out of the puddles like this!’ added Wilfred, taking the end of + his coat between his thumb and finger, and prancing round Barbara on + tiptoe. + </p> + <p> + Egbert shut up his book, and joined lazily in the general derision. + ‘Poor little Babe! will it have to turn into a young lady, and stop + talking slang, and learn about box-pleats and false hems and <i>tucks</i>?’ + he jeered softly. + </p> + <p> + Barbara turned her back on the others, and once more appealed to + Christopher. Teasing was not the kind of thing that roused her; she had + grown accustomed to it, long ago. ‘What else, Kit?’ she + demanded impatiently. ‘There’s something else, isn’t + there?’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_9"></a>9</span> ominously, ‘there’s + something else. But I’m not going to tell you what it is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Egbert, stretching himself, ‘of course there’s + something else, Babe. We all know what it is, but we’re not going to + tell you either.’ + </p> + <p> + Babs looked swiftly from one to the other. ‘I know!’ she said, + shaking the hair out of her eyes. ‘It’s–school!’ + </p> + <p> + Kit nodded again. ‘That swagger place near Crofts, where the adopted + kid has been,’ he continued in a solemn tone. + </p> + <p> + The others copied his manner, and looked at her with a ridiculous pretence + of concern. ‘Poor Babe!’ they said in a chorus. + </p> + <p> + Barbara again shook the hair out of her eyes with a defiant gesture. Then + she spun round lightly on her toes, and surprised everybody by laughing + scornfully. ‘What a fuss you’re all making!’ she cried. + ‘Don’t you know I am simply <i>longing</i> to go to school?’ + </p> + <p> + Judging from their expressions, the Berkeley boys certainly did not know + anything of the kind. Even Christopher was puzzled at her curious way of + taking his prediction. ‘You’re putting it on, Babs!’ he + said doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + Barbara stopped spinning round, and faced them all breathlessly. ‘I’m + not, honour bright!’ she declared. ‘I have always wanted to go + to school; I have always longed to have some real friends of my own, and + to be with people who are not trying all the time to be funny. You don’t + know how tiring it is to be <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_10"></a>10</span> + scored off from morning till night. I want a change; I want to do regular, + proper lessons, and to get to the top of the school, and to have every one + looking up to me! Then, they play games at school, <i>real</i> games, + instead of the stupid ones we play in the square, that only graze your + knees. Girls are nice and jolly and quiet, and they understand you, and + they don’t bother you to do things when you’d sooner read. Of + course I want to go to school, <i>dreadfully</i>!’ + </p> + <p> + She paused for breath, and Egbert whistled. ‘Well, I’m + bothered!’ he remarked. He had never pretended to understand his + little sister, but he could not help being astonished at this totally new + side to her character. Peter took refuge as usual in a laugh; and Wilfred + stared silently. But Kit looked more solemn than ever. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m disappointed in you, Babs,’ he said. ‘I + should never have thought that you wanted to be a young lady, never!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But I don’t, Kit!’ answered the child in a troubled + tone. ‘I want to do something new, that’s all. I–I’m + sure father will understand what I mean, if he sends me to school,’ + she added, with something that sounded like a shake in her voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah–father!’ replied Christopher, gruffly. ‘Father + will not be here, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + A sudden silence came over them; and Barbara turned to the window and + flattened her nose against the glass pane, and blinked her eyes with all + her might. There was nothing to <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_11"></a>11</span> be seen outside but the blank wall that usually + limits the view from the back of a London house; but the child with the + untidy brown hair, and the small impish face, and the slender long legs, + was able, for all that, to see pictures out there. She always saw pictures + when she was excited about anything; and just now she was thrilled with a + new dream–a dream of the place that her imagination named ‘school.’ + She had always hidden from the boys how much she wanted to go to school; + and it was only this afternoon, when their derision provoked her into it, + that she had let them have a guess at her real feelings. They had not + understood her a bit, as she knew they would not; but that did not matter. + Her father would understand, though she never told him much, either, and + he had to guess for himself what went on in the quaint little mind of his + only daughter; but then, Barbara had a shrewd idea that he always guessed + right, and that came to the same thing, really. Just as she was comforting + herself with this assurance, the miserable consciousness returned that he + was going away, and she would be left at the mercy of a strange aunt; and + she found herself staring at nothing but a dismal brick wall, with eyes + that were blinking to keep back the tears. + </p> + <p> + Peter was the first to break the pause that had settled with a kind of + gloom on the old London schoolroom. He was always on the alert to resent + anything that cast a shadow over the light gaiety of existence. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_12"></a>12</span>‘I say, + look here,’ he began, giving himself a shake as if to get rid of an + unpleasant impression; ‘don’t be so jolly blue, all of you! + Father will only be away six months; he said so himself. And as for Auntie + Anna, how do we know she isn’t quite a decent old lady? Some old + ladies are awfully sporting. Do you remember Merton major’s aunt, + Will? She used to give him whopping tips, whenever she came to see him; + and he said he quite liked her!’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher persisted in his gloomy view of the situation. ‘Our aunt + is not the same as anybody else’s aunt,’ he said. ‘And + then, there’s the adopted kid.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ admitted Peter, ‘no doubt she’ll be a + trial. Five years at a girls’ school and a year abroad doesn’t + give anybody a chance, does it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ said Barbara, in a disappointed tone, ‘I did hope + <i>she</i> would be nice!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wonder if she’ll mind the smell of chemicals,’ observed + Wilfred, sniffing cautiously at the saucepan he still held in his hand. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course she will,’ answered Christopher. ‘She’ll + hate the whole jolly lot of us, because we’re boys; and she’ll + disapprove of the Babe.’ + </p> + <p> + The boys broke into a laugh. There was something irresistibly funny to + them in Christopher’s serious way of looking at things. But Barbara + was much too worried over his last remark to join in the laugh against + him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kit,’ she begged anxiously, ‘why is the adopted kid + going to disapprove of me?’ + </p> + <p> + The air was full of startling discoveries this <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_13"></a>13</span> afternoon, and the + idea that the ‘adopted kid,’ for whom she had already formed + an imaginary attachment, was not going to like her, was a great shock to + her. But before Kit had time to speak, a loud ring at the door-bell drove + the words out of his mind and startled the rest of them into an agitated + expectancy. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s her!’ groaned Kit, and he dropped on the sofa + and plunged his head into the cushion, as if he wanted to stifle even the + thought of the dragon who was coming to work such havoc in the family. His + words were proved by the sudden arrival of Robin, who had been posted as + scout on the back staircase, and who now flung himself into their midst. + He was in far too great a hurry to look where he was going; and he tripped + over the saucepan, which had been set down casually near the door, and + fell full length into the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Heigh-ho, Bobbin!’ said Peter, cheerily, as he picked him up + again; for, in spite of his nine years, there was always the chance that + Robin might be going to cry. But, on this occasion, Robin was too full of + news to trouble himself about possible bruises. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s come; I’ve seen her!’ he gasped. ‘There’s + a carriage an’ pair, big spanking chestnuts with red rosettes; and a + man–a man with pink tops to his boots and a brush at the side of his + hat<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Get on, Bobbin!’ urged Egbert, impatiently. ‘We’ve + all seen a carriage and pair before. What about the dragon?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_14"></a>14</span>‘Saw her + too!’ said Robin, panting for breath. ‘Got a long black silk + thing on, and a bonnet that’s rather like a hat, with pink feathers + in it, and a walking-stick with a blue knob to it, an’ white kid + gloves,–no, I mean grey kid<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, get on, do!’ interrupted Egbert again. ‘Never mind + about her clothes, stupid! What is she <i>like</i>?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t know what she’s like,’ said Robin, a little + sulkily. ‘Couldn’t see everything from the back staircase, + could I? There was a girl with her,’ he added, as a concession to + the general curiosity. + </p> + <p> + ‘The adopted kid!’ exclaimed the others in a chorus. + </p> + <p> + Babs pressed forward eagerly. ‘Does she look nice, Bobbin? Is she + tall or short? Are her dresses <i>quite</i> long, and is her hair done up?’ + she cried, pouring out her questions in a jumble. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes; her skirts trail all along the ground for miles,’ + answered Robin. ‘And she sort of rustled like tissue paper. Didn’t + see her face, ’cause it was all tied up in a veil,–but she’s + awfully tall,’ he added, looking round the circle with his head + poised on one side. ‘She’s taller’n any of us–even + Egbert,’ he concluded viciously, remembering his recent snubbing. + </p> + <p> + Egbert put out a long arm, laid the boy dexterously on the flat of his + back in the middle of the floor, and pinned him there with his foot. + ‘Say that’s a cram!’ he commanded in a stern <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_15"></a>15</span> voice. ‘Say I’m + a head taller than the adopted kid, or else I’ll<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + What he would have done to him remained unheard, for Robin set up a wail + that completely drowned the end of his sentence. The other boys only + shrugged their shoulders; the thing seemed to them a necessary incident in + the education of a younger member, and they were not going to interfere. + But Barbara sprang forward passionately. That was the kind of thing that + did rouse her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Leave him alone, Egbert!’ she cried, but she did not wait to + see whether he would. She scarcely supposed that he would stop teasing any + one for her; besides, she never stayed to think, when once anything had + roused her. So she put her head down and made a charge straight at the + offender; and Egbert, being unprepared for the attack, fell backwards over + the footstool, with his small sister on the top of him, while Robin + wriggled free of them both and set up a louder howl than before in his + surprise and dismay. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the hubbub the door opened; and a voice, that attracted + their attention at once because it was strange to them, made itself heard + through the tumult. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is there anybody here who is called Babs?’ asked the + new-comer. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_16"></a>16</span><a id="link_2"></a>CHAPTER + II<br /><span class="h2fs">A WITCH IN A STEEPLE-HAT</span> + </h2> + <p> + Barbara picked herself up and looked towards the door. A girl of about + eighteen stood there–an exceedingly pretty girl in a pretty frock, + as the Berkeley boys might have noticed if they had been given to noticing + things of this kind. But her regular features and her pink-and-white + complexion and her reddish-brown hair made very little impression upon + them, and they only saw that she was dressed in a grown-up manner that was + rather against her than otherwise. They decided, with the hasty judgment + of a large family, that she was much too grand to be treated as a + companion; and they prepared, quite unnecessarily, to resent any attempt + of hers to be patronising. + </p> + <p> + Nothing was further from Jill’s mind than to be patronising. She had + never patronised any one in her life, not even the younger children at + school, who always expected to be patronised; and she was not likely to + begin now, with a set of schoolboys who frightened her out of her wits. + For she had never had anything to do with boys before, and she had been + dreading this moment ever since her return from abroad. <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_17"></a>17</span> She fully expected + they would play practical jokes upon her, as the schoolboys in books + always did; and she was not reassured by the uproar that met her ears when + she opened the schoolroom door. It was ridiculous that she should feel + shy, after travelling about for a whole year and meeting all sorts of + people; but as she stood rather helplessly in the doorway, she certainly + found that she was too shy to make the first advances. + </p> + <p> + The boys hesitated, and waited for one another to begin. Egbert, who could + not forget that he had just been rolling on the floor, was brushing + himself down and looking self-conscious; and it was Christopher who + remembered his manners first and came forward with his hand out. + </p> + <p> + ‘How do you do?’ he began in his solemn, precise way. ‘Won’t + you come and sit down? There’s an arm-chair over here, and a cushion + too–somewhere. Clear out, can’t you, Peter? I believe we can + even rise to a footstool, if it isn’t lost. You might look for it, + Bobbin, instead of staring like a stuck pig!’ He installed her in + the arm-chair and placed himself in front of her, slightly bending + forward, as he had seen his father do when there were visitors in the + drawing-room; and although the result was rather funny when Kit did it, he + managed to make Jill feel a little more at home. ‘I suppose you are + Auntie Anna’s daughter,’ he continued politely, ‘but we + don’t know your name. I don’t think we have ever heard it.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_18"></a>18</span>‘I am + Jill Urquhart,’ answered the girl. She swept a glance round at the + others, who stood listening, and made a little gesture of dismay. ‘What + a lot there are of you!’ she exclaimed, without thinking. ‘I + shall never remember all your names!’ + </p> + <p> + It was an unlucky beginning, for they at once put down her remark to + affectation and counted it against her. They were so used to their numbers + themselves, that they could not understand any one else being overwhelmed + by them. Peter looked mischievous. + </p> + <p> + ‘It isn’t so confusing as it looks,’ he hastened to tell + her. ‘We all answer to our names, and you will find us warm-hearted + and obedient.’ + </p> + <p> + Jill glanced at him innocently. ‘Why,’ she said with a little + laugh, ‘you talk as though you were all dogs!’ + </p> + <p> + Peter was left staring, and the others tittered. By her perfectly natural + remark she had turned the scale in her favour and convinced them that + there was stuff in the ‘adopted kid’ after all. Quite + unconscious of having said anything funny, though, Jill waited till they + stopped laughing, and then turned again to Christopher. ‘Won’t + you introduce me?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + Kit nodded towards Egbert, who had finished brushing himself down and was + waiting to shake hands. ‘That is Egbert, who is just waking up to + the fact that you’re here,’ he announced. ‘You will find + him rather superior, I am afraid, but we put up with him because of his + age and position. Pass along, please!’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_19"></a>19</span>Egbert shrugged + his shoulders good-naturedly. ‘It’s only Kit’s way,’ + he explained to Jill; ‘everybody gives in to Kit.’ + </p> + <p> + Jill smiled. ‘Kit’s way’ had made her forget her + shyness, and she was already interested in the delicate-looking lad, with + the thin, clever face, who had so promptly taken her under his protection. + </p> + <p> + ‘The next is Wilfred,’ continued Christopher. ‘He is + responsible for the unsavoury saucepan that has just been upset on the + carpet. He thinks he is going to be a doctor, so he is always making + experiments. Of course, he isn’t going to be a doctor, really; the + house can’t run to it; but we let him have his fancies. Then comes + Peter, whom you have just sat upon. Peter can’t help being funny, so + you must try and bear with him. There are so few jokes in this family that + perhaps we have encouraged him more than we should.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Wait till she’s gone, that’s all!’ threatened + Peter in a whisper, as he passed by after shaking hands with Jill. + Christopher looked at him over his spectacles, and went calmly on. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m next on the list, and my name is Christopher, changed by + the vulgar into Kit,’ he was proceeding, when Egbert made a spirited + interruption. + </p> + <p> + ‘He is our genius,’ he said, with a flourish of his hand + towards the spokesman. ‘We are all very proud of him, for although + only thirteen, he has the wisdom and intelligence of one twice <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_20"></a>20</span> his age. He is the + only member of the family who can spell, and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, dry up!’ muttered Kit, but his remonstrance was drowned + in the approving jeers of the others. The genius had had it all his own + way for about ten minutes, and it was satisfactory to see him ‘scored + off’ in his turn. Kit tried to resume his dignified attitude in + front of Jill, but the attempt was not particularly successful. It was + always impossible in the Berkeley family to remain dignified for long. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you sure you have got them right so far, or shall I write them + down?’ he asked, with so much gravity that Jill looked at him rather + suspiciously. He met her glance through his spectacles without wincing, + and the others tittered again. They were still a little doubtful about + this new cousin of theirs, who was so unlike any one who had come their + way before; and it was rather a relief to pretend to be amused. + </p> + <p> + ‘The last of the boys is Robin, or Bobbin if you prefer it,’ + continued Kit, glibly. ‘He is the youngest of us all, and the most + ill-used. Indeed, when you came in just now, you may have seen the Babe + trying to rescue him. That reminds me! I have left out our only girl. She + comes between me and Bobbin, and here you may perceive her–the Babe!’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara came slowly round from her hiding-place at the back of the sofa, + and stood face to face with Jill. There was rather a wistful look on the + small countenance just then; for in all <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_21"></a>21</span> her dreams of the wonderful cousin who was + going to be her first girl-friend, Babs had never imagined anything like + this grown-up, elegant creature, who did her hair like the ladies in the + park and wore her watch dangling from her wrist. The child’s heart + sank as she suddenly thought of her short gymnastic frock, and her rumpled + hair, and her dirty hands. As for Jill, she stared down at the little + person in front of her, and could not help smiling. Whenever she had + particularly dreaded being plunged into this family of boys, she had + always consoled herself by remembering that there would be one girl among + them to take her part. Now, as she looked at the rough little tomboy + before her, with her elf-like face and figure, and her bright eager eyes, + she had to own again to herself that a large family was a difficult thing + to understand. + </p> + <p> + ‘So you are Babs,’ she began, not knowing what else to say. + Then she remembered her errand, and added hastily, ‘Will you please + go and see mother? She is in the library with Uncle Everard.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara escaped and sped along the hall, full of relief at having got away + from the uncomfortable grown-up feeling that seemed to have come into the + schoolroom with Jill. She even paused outside the library door, in her + quaint, inconsequent way, to ask herself why Jill seemed so much more + grown-up than the nice old gentlemen who came to see her father, with + their pockets full of chocolates for her; and she <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_22"></a>22</span> supposed it was + because they were really old, while Jill was only grown-up, which was far + more alarming because it was so much more mysterious. But hardly had she + settled this question in her mind than a fresh one presented itself to + her. How was she to know that this other stranger, who was waiting in + there to see her, was not also going to stare at her and smile, as Jill + had done? Babs gave a troubled sigh, and opened the door with a heavy + heart. + </p> + <p> + A little old lady sat on the sofa beside her father, with her hand in his. + She was not beautiful by any means; her back was bent–like an old + witch’s, Barbara thought–and she had a nose that might have + been described as hooked, and a mouth that turned down at the corners and + gave her almost a sour expression. But she had two small, keen black eyes, + that took all the ugliness out of her face; sometimes they shone and + sometimes they softened, but more often still they twinkled, as they did + now, when her little niece stole timidly into the room. The moment the + child looked up and met those eyes, she felt she was looking at her father’s + sister. If she had but known it, the same eyes, too, were gleaming back at + the old lady from the middle of a bush of tangled brown hair. + </p> + <p> + ‘So this is your tomboy, is it?’ said Mrs. Crofton, bluntly. + ‘Come here, child, and don’t stand shivering there. Do you + think I am going to do anything to you?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara’s unusual timidity vanished at the <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_23"></a>23</span> sound of that voice. + It was sharp and abrupt and determined, but it rang true, and there was + nothing in it to frighten anybody. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m not afraid,’ she said, returning the old lady’s + gaze frankly; ‘I am hardly ever afraid of people. Am I, father?’ + </p> + <p> + Mr. Berkeley chuckled in an amused manner. He had been very curious to see + this meeting between his wild little daughter and the sister who had + managed his domestic affairs for him since the death of his wife. By + nature a student, he lived most of his life in his library and in himself, + and only woke up now and then to the fact that he had six growing + children, who probably needed something besides the affection it was so + easy to give them. In these waking moments he would write off to his + sister, Mrs. Crofton of Crofts, for whose judgment he had quite a pathetic + regard, and would carry out to the letter every suggestion she chose to + send him. Only once had he ignored her advice, and that was when she had + proposed a governess for Barbara; for he had passed over this idea in + silence, and the child had continued to run in and out of his library, + reading what books she pleased, and ordering her own upbringing in a way + that seemed to him eminently satisfactory. For that matter, his library + was open to any of his children at any time that they chose to invade it; + and they interrupted him fearlessly as often as they pleased, without + provoking anything worse than a good-humoured growl from him, that was + never to be <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_24"></a>24</span> + taken seriously for a moment. Probably this was why the tie between them + and their father had come to be a friendly as well as an affectionate one. + </p> + <p> + Just lately, something had happened to change the haphazard course of + affairs in the old London house. That autumn, Mr. Berkeley had brought out + a philosophical work on which he had been engaged for years, and although + it had only had a limited success in England, it had made a great + sensation in America. The result was an invitation to conduct a lecturing + tour in the States, which would take him abroad for something like half a + year. Mr. Berkeley had the vaguest notions as to the amount of protection + his children needed, but he had a sort of idea that children left in + charge of a housekeeper would be considered neglected, and he did not want + his children to feel neglected. As usual, he referred his dilemma to Mrs. + Crofton, who replied promptly from the Riviera, saying she was on her way + home to Crofts, and would stop a week in town to settle his affairs for + him. This he forgot to mention to the children until the day she was to + arrive, and then, in his innocence, considered their dismay as one of the + peculiarities of youth. + </p> + <p> + ‘So you are not afraid of me, eh? Then why won’t you give me a + kiss, I should like to know?’ demanded Auntie Anna, as Barbara held + out her hand in a boyish fashion. + </p> + <p> + The child looked surprised, and offered an unwilling cheek. ‘We don’t + often kiss in our <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_25"></a>25</span> + family,’ she explained; ‘only when the boys go back to school, + or when somebody has banged somebody else on the head, or when it’s + a birthday and presents. But that isn’t often, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Crofton of Crofts smiled, and her brother pulled his daughter down + between them on the sofa. + </p> + <p> + ‘You must forgive her appearance,’ he said apologetically. + ‘We haven’t anybody to teach us to be ladylike, have we, Babs?’ + </p> + <p> + The old lady put her finger under Barbara’s chin, and turned the + small face round, and looked into it keenly. ‘What’s the + matter with her appearance?’ she inquired quickly. ‘Don’t + be a goose, Everard! Now, child, tell me! Do you want to go on being a boy + for ever, reading all sorts of books you have no business to read, and + banging people on the head when they offend you, and looking alarming old + ladies in the face without flinching; or do you want to be combed and + brushed and smoothed into a young lady, and taught to rave about art and + music and poetry, and told to look down when you are spoken to, and never + to answer back if the truth is unpleasant? Hey? Which is it to be?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara was looking puzzled. ‘I don’t think I know what you + mean,’ she said. ‘Do you mean that I <i>must</i> be either me + or–or Jill?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, supposing we put it that way,’ replied Mrs. Crofton, + smiling again. ‘Which do you choose to be?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_26"></a>26</span>Barbara did not + stop to think about it. ‘I don’t want to be either, thank you,’ + she said decidedly. ‘I would <i>much</i> rather be like you or + father.’ + </p> + <p> + Mr. Berkeley chuckled once more, and his sister struck her cane on the + ground and laughed heartily. ‘A pretty mess you’ve made of + your daughter’s education, I must say,’ she remarked. Then she + turned again to Babs. ‘Well, child, I see you are going to be like + your father in any case; and as for me–well, we’ll see if we + can’t prevent such a terrible result as that. And now, I want you to + pretend that I am a fairy godmother. Do you think you can?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara nodded, and her small black eyes glistened. It was not difficult + to do that. Already the bonnet with the pink feathers had turned into a + steeple-hat, and the black silk mantle into a scarlet cloak, and the + blue-knobbed cane into a broomstick. The little impish face was aglow with + delight as the old lady went on: + </p> + <p> + ‘Now, I’ve just come down the chimney with a bang, and I am + going to give my goddaughter the wish that she wishes most in all the + world. But mind–if I have a suspicion that what she asks for is not + what she really wants–bang! up the chimney I go again!’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara took a flying leap into the middle of the room, and spun round + with her favourite movement on the tips of her toes. Her heart was + thumping wildly with excitement at finding herself in the middle of a real + fairy story; and when she at last stood still again, she was almost too + breathless to speak. + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i1"></a><img src="images/illus-027.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘May I–may I have all that?’ + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_27"></a>27</span>‘Please,’ + she said, clasping her hands tightly together, ‘I want to go to + school, a real girls’ school, where there are crowds of girls, and + crowds of lessons, and crowds of story-books with nice endings, and crowds + of awfully jolly games that don’t pull your hair about and don’t + give you bruises. May I–may I have all that?’ + </p> + <p> + Auntie Anna once more struck her cane upon the ground. ‘That shows + how much you know about your own daughter, Everard!’ she said, which + was a remark that Barbara never understood. ‘You may have all that, + little goddaughter, every bit of it!’ she announced to the expectant + child; ‘and what is more, you shall have it in a week’s time. + Hey-day! Where are you off to in such a hurry, if you please, and why am I + allowed a kiss all at once, eh? It isn’t a birthday, is it?’ + </p> + <p> + For Barbara had rushed impetuously to the door, and then scampered back to + kiss the face with the hooked nose that peered out from beneath the + steeple-hat. ‘Of course I kissed you,’ she cried, ‘because–because + you’re such a brick, you see!’ She paused half-way in her + second journey to the door, and looked back doubtfully at the old lady on + the sofa. ‘May I ask you something else?’ she said. + </p> + <p> + ‘Anything you please,’ answered Auntie Anna. ‘That’s + what I’m here for; eh, Everard?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then–then–are you going to do anything <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_28"></a>28</span> for the boys too?’ + stammered Barbara. ‘I–I don’t think it’s quite + fair to keep all the niceness to myself, you see!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That depends on what the boys want,’ replied the old lady, + gravely. ‘Do you think you can give me any idea?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara puckered up her eyebrows, and counted off the names on her + fingers. ‘First there’s Egbert,’ she began; ‘he + wants to go to Oxford without having to get a scholarship first. Then + there’s Wilfred; he wants to be a doctor, but Kit says there isn’t + money enough and he’s got to get over it. Do you think you’ll + be able to make Will into a doctor? And Peter wants lots of shooting; he + says he doesn’t mind about anything else, only Kit says he isn’t + old enough, and you won’t trust him with a gun. Kit hasn’t + seen you yet, you see. Then there’s Kit<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s enough for the present!’ cried Mrs. Crofton, who + was leaning back, convulsed with laughter, among the sofa cushions. Mr. + Berkeley again drew his daughter towards him. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are revealing all the secrets of the prison-house, little girl,’ + he remarked. + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked from one to the other. ‘Auntie Anna did ask me,’ + she said reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘To be sure I did,’ answered the old lady, recovering herself + with an effort, ‘and I am delighted to hear some of the things I am + expected to do. But you must allow that even <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_29"></a>29</span> a fairy godmother has a hard time of it + occasionally, and it is a little difficult to provide for all her + godchildren at once, you know. However, you shall hear what is going to + happen in a week’s time, on the very day that this naughty father of + yours takes himself off to America; and if you approve of it, we can see + about the other things later on. Is that a bargain, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh! What else is going to happen in a week’s time?’ + asked Barbara, eagerly. By this time she was prepared for any dream to + come true. Her faith in the old lady who was playing at fairy stories was + complete. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Berkeley answered her. ‘Auntie Anna is going to carry you all + off to Crofts for the whole six months that I am away,’ he told her; + ‘and you are going to Jill’s school at Wootton Beeches, which + is only ten miles off. So Kit and Robin will be able to come over and see + you sometimes, when the others have gone away, for they are going to have + a tutor and stay at Crofts with Auntie Anna and Jill. Isn’t that a + fine idea?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara was speechless with rapture. The expression on her face made them + laugh once more. Then she gave a kind of war-whoop that might have been + heard in the schoolroom, and bounded again towards the door. ‘I + simply can’t bear it another minute,’ she gasped. ‘I <i>must</i> + go and tell the boys.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bear it just one more minute, and hear what else I have to say,’ + begged Auntie Anna, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_30"></a>30</span> + raising herself with the help of her stick, and walking slowly after her + excited little niece. ‘Can you ride bicycles, all of you?’ + </p> + <p> + The child shook her head. ‘Only Egbert,’ she said; ‘and + that is because he stayed with a chap, last holidays, who lent him one. + Bicycles are too jolly expensive for this family, you know,’ she + added quaintly. + </p> + <p> + Auntie Anna stood still and pointed the blue-knobbed cane impressively at + the child, who stood waiting. ‘What do you say to a bicycle apiece + all round,’ she began, ‘and<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + But Barbara did not wait to say anything. Back along the hall she + scampered with all her might, and flung herself panting into the + schoolroom. She burst out at once with a rapturous medley of news. + </p> + <p> + ‘Boys, boys!’ she shouted at the top of her voice; ‘the + dragon isn’t a dragon, she’s like a fairy godmother out of a + story-book! And she’s going to send me to the adopted kid’s + school, and everybody is going to live at Crofts till father comes back, + and there’s going to be bicycles <i>all round</i>–no waiting + ’cause you’re the youngest, Bobbin!–and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she paused and stammered, and paused again. Finally, she stood + silent and uncomfortable, with the excitement and the thrill all gone out + of her. She had quite forgotten Jill; and Jill, enthroned in the one + arm-chair, with the one cushion at her back and the one footstool at her + feet, was looking as though she was not there to be forgotten. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_31"></a>31</span>‘I’ve + just been telling the boys all about it,’ she remarked. + </p> + <p> + Barbara stared. It put the finishing touch to her distrust of Jill, that + she should have told anything to the boys–<i>her</i> boys–before + she had time to tell them herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I think it’s a shame!’ she exclaimed hotly, and + she bit her lip to keep from crying. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo, Babe! What’s up?’ asked Peter, in surprise. + </p> + <p> + Jill slipped out of the arm-chair, and laid her hand on the child’s + shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry, Babs,’ she began softly; + ‘I really didn’t know<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked up at her doubtfully. The tone was kind, but then, why did + she go on smiling in that irritating way? ‘You don’t + understand,’ she said, and twisted herself free from Jill’s + grasp, and did not speak again until she was gone. + </p> + <p> + The boys took no notice of her; they always left the Babe alone when she + was in one of her odd moods. But Jill, who had really meant to be kind, + went away feeling puzzled. She had got over her first shyness of the boys + in a very few minutes, for they were evidently trying to be friendly in + their blunt, boyish fashion; but Barbara baffled her. There was something + antagonistic in the child’s manner; and Jill, who had always been + accustomed to meeting with affection wherever she went, did not quite know + what to make of her. Of course it was ridiculous to worry herself about a + tomboy of <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_32"></a>32</span> + eleven who chose to be sulky; but it was the first time any one had + refused to make friends with her, and Jill was a little hurt about it. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re spoiled, my dear,’ remarked her mother, as they + drove away from the Berkeleys’ house; ‘and it is I who have + spoiled you. I’m a silly old woman, but I never could bear to deny + you all the sympathy you asked. I was afraid, you see, that you might + think the world was not a nice place to be in.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m glad you spoiled me, and I think the world <i>is</i> a + nice place to be in,’ answered Jill, laughing. ‘But what has + that to do with Barbara’s not liking me?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you can’t expect every one to like you,’ said the + old lady, in her brusque way. ‘Babs will like you well enough when + she finds that she is still the Babe of the family, in spite of your being + there.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But–but I don’t like to feel that there is anybody + anywhere who doesn’t like me,’ complained Jill, with a little + pout. + </p> + <p> + ‘No more does the Babe, I expect,’ said Mrs. Crofton, smiling. + ‘However, do your best to understand the poor little soul; she has + not had much spoiling, and I should like you two to be friends.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ cried Jill, laughing again as she recalled the funny + little figure that had come bounding into the schoolroom with such a yell + and a clatter. ‘But she really is rather impossible, mother dear!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Quite,’ responded the old lady, drily; ‘but <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_33"></a>33</span> she has amazing + possibilities, and I thought you might perhaps like to find them. Well, + what about the others?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I like them,’ said Jill; ‘though I wish they would + not all talk at once; it’s so confusing. And I’m a little + afraid of them, too. You never know why they are laughing at you; and if + you take them seriously, they laugh more than ever. Whatever you do, they + laugh.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Large families are always like that,’ chuckled Mrs. Crofton. + </p> + <p> + ‘Large families are rather exhausting then, aren’t they?’ + said Jill. ‘The boys are rather rough too, and they seem so proud of + having scars on their hands, and of being able to see a pig killed without + feeling bad–at least, Peter was. Kit is different from the others: I + like Kit. And they <i>are</i> frank! They were not ashamed of calling me + the “adopted kid” to my face; and they even owned to having + nicknamed you “the dragon”!’ + </p> + <p> + The old lady laughed. ‘So I am, as far as they know!’ she + replied. Then she patted the girl caressingly on the hand. ‘My dear, + it does us all good to be with people who are frank, even if they are a + little rough with it. And I want you to help me to put as much love and + gentleness as we can into the Berkeleys’ lives, for it strikes me + that spoiling is what this large family wants.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then it’s what this large family will certainly get, if <i>you</i> + have anything to do with it,’ answered Jill, softly. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_34"></a>34</span>In the + schoolroom they had just left, the criticisms were brief and to the point. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’ll do,’ said Peter, condescendingly, ‘when + she’s got over that silly way of gaping at us, as though we were + beasts at the Zoo.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s stunning to look at, and her clothes are just ripping,’ + said Egbert, the eldest; ‘but, of course, you kids couldn’t be + expected to notice that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, you think you’re everybody, just because you stayed with + a chap last holidays who had a grown-up sister who called you <i>Mr.</i> + Berkeley,’ cried Wilfred. + </p> + <p> + Robin said he liked her soft way of speaking, and she reminded him of + Nurse, which set them all laughing, as they recalled that homely-looking + person in cap and spectacles. Christopher put in his opinion, when they + had all had their say. + </p> + <p> + ‘She wants knowing,’ he said briefly. ‘There’s too + many of us in a lump to let her give herself away. When she takes us + separately, or in pairs, we shall get on as right as rain. And she really + does know something about stamps.’ + </p> + <p> + But the Babe, who sat away in a corner by herself, said nothing. She had + forgotten Jill for the moment, forgotten her own fit of jealousy and her + shyness of the interloper, and she did not even hear what the others were + talking about. She was going to school at last, and nothing else was of + any consequence. Indeed, all through the week of whirl and preparation + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_35"></a>35</span> that followed, + Barbara went about in a kind of dream. She could hardly yet believe in her + good luck. A few short days ago things had seemed likely to go on for ever + in the same uneventful way, except that they were going to be made dreary + for a time by the absence of the father she adored; and now, just through + the coming of an old lady, whom she had been prepared to hate, this + amazing change in her future was going to take place. To an imaginative + little person like Barbara, it was useless to pretend that there was + nothing out of the ordinary in this. She had lived for years in a fairy + world of her own, where Kit was a fairy prince and her father a nice old + magician, and where numbers of charming princesses, the schoolgirls of her + imagination, were ready to sympathise with her whenever the boys had been + teasing her more than usual. It was surely to this kingdom of her fancy + that a fairy godmother, who had once been a dragon, properly belonged; and + all through that week, Barbara wandered in her imaginary kingdom with this + new inhabitant of it, pointing out all its beauties to her, and even + assuring her that the magician would cure her rheumatism if she were to + ask him nicely. ‘Only, you must not make her back <i>quite</i> + straight,’ she whispered privately to the magician, ‘because + she wouldn’t be a proper fairy godmother if her back were straight!’ + She also added strict injunctions to the keeper of her gates, that a + certain grown-up cousin, who might be known by her tiresome way <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_36"></a>36</span> of smiling at + people, was not to be admitted under any circumstances into her fairy + kingdom. ‘It would never do,’ thought Barbara, seriously, + ‘to have any one in my kingdom who wanted to laugh at me.’ + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the busy preparations went on around her. It was not an easy + thing to move a family of six from the home in which they had passed the + whole of their lives, especially when their aunt, in the large manner + which characterised everything she did, insisted on allowing them to pack + whatever they wished. + </p> + <p> + ‘We are only young once,’ she represented to a distracted + housekeeper, ‘and possessions are very precious when we are young. + Let them bring everything that will help to make the place seem like home + to them; there is plenty of room at Crofts. Get tired of the things? Of + course they will! We can’t expect them to be wiser than the + grown-ups, can we?’ + </p> + <p> + So Wilfred packed explosive liquids in bottles, and Peter packed cricket + stumps and hockey clubs, and Christopher found room among Egbert’s + collars and ties to stow away microscope-slides and setting-boards and + birds’ eggs, and Robin brought innumerable contributions in the + shape of torn picture-books and old toys that the others had discarded + long ago. None of them ever forgot that last week in their London home; + for besides the exquisite joys of packing up, there were also delightful + expeditions up to town with Auntie Anna, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_37"></a>37</span> ostensibly to buy clothes, but in reality to + afford amusement to an old lady who had never enjoyed her life so much + before; and whether they went alone with her, or in such numbers that the + brougham was as full as it could be, the afternoon always ended with a + magnificent tea without limitations–‘Even ices to finish up + with, and no one saying nothink about your makin’ yourself ill + ’cause you mixed things!’ as Robin proclaimed on his return + home from one of these expeditions. + </p> + <p> + Then there was the buying of the six bicycles; and even Barbara forgot for + the moment all about school and everything else for the sake of her new + two-wheeled possession, soon to be invested in her mind with magic + properties and converted into a fairy messenger in her fairy kingdom. She + was less patient over the purchase of her school outfit, which kept her + standing at the dressmaker’s for whole half-hours together, when she + might have been trying her bicycle round the square; and she wondered why + it was necessary to have such quantities of clothes, just because she was + going to live at school instead of at home. Surely, if her present + wardrobe was good enough to pass the critical examination of five + brothers, it need not be improved to meet the friendly gaze of a parcel of + girls! However, Auntie Anna insisted on more clothes; and Auntie Anna was + a witch, so she ought to know. And since she did not take the dressmaker’s + part, but even allowed Barbara to have her own way as to the shortness of + her skirts, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_38"></a>38</span> + with an added inch or so to satisfy the scruples of the dressmaker, it was + impossible to grumble very much at the precious time that was being + wasted. + </p> + <p> + So the week drew swiftly to a close, and the day of departure came at + last. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_39"></a>39</span><a id="link_3"></a>CHAPTER + III<br /><span class="h2fs">BARBARA’S DREAM</span> + </h2> + <p> + Once more, Kit stood with his back to the fireplace, and prepared to + address the family. It was just half an hour after Mr. Berkeley had left, + and they were all assembled rather sorrowfully in the old schoolroom. In + another ten minutes their own cabs would be at the door, and they too + would be on their way to a new life. Altogether, it was a solemn moment, + and the genius of the family could not resist the temptation to make a + speech. + </p> + <p> + ‘Boys,’ he began, nodding his head with mock importance, + ‘it is my opinion that Auntie Anna is a jolly wise old lady!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s that to do with father going away?’ asked + Barbara, rubbing her eyes furiously. She had had her cry on the back + staircase, and she felt safe for the moment against a further display of + weakness. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s got a lot to do with it,’ rejoined Kit. ‘Didn’t + she take us all to the pantomime, last night–father, too? I suppose + you think that was just to amuse herself, don’t you? Well, it <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_40"></a>40</span> wasn’t. It was + because she was afraid of our sitting together at home, and saying it was + father’s last evening, and–<i>blubbing</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + This he said severely, looking at the weaker members, Babs and Robin, as + he spoke. They bore the test heroically, and the orator went on. + </p> + <p> + ‘And why,’ he inquired, ‘did she give us only a week to + pack up, and buy clothes and things, when there’s ten days more + before you other chaps go back? Of course there’s the Babe’s + school, but that could have waited. Girls’ schools never matter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, <i>why</i>, most precocious of kids?’ asked Egbert, + with lazy tolerance. Certainly, no one but Christopher would have been + allowed to say so much uninterrupted. But then, even Egbert had a kind of + secret admiration for his clever young brother, though he did not pretend + to understand him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ continued Christopher, ‘if we’d had more + time to think about it, we might not have been so keen on going to live in + another person’s house. And, naturally, Auntie Anna didn’t + want any ructions over it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, stop it, Kit! What a lot of rot you are making up!’ + objected Peter, impatiently. Of the three elder boys, he was nearest in + age to Kit, and was consequently less inclined to tolerate him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Everything points to it, if you’re not too thick-headed to + see,’ retorted Kit, crushingly. ‘Look at the way we’re + being rushed out of the house, directly father has turned his back. <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_41"></a>41</span> Isn’t that to + give us something to think about, so that we shouldn’t mope about + the shop, and <i>fancy</i> ourselves? Of course,’ he added blandly, + fixing his spectacles on his nose and staring at Peter, ‘<i>some</i> + people don’t need anything to set them grinning again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Christopher, my son, you are a clever child, but your impudence + simply isn’t to be borne,’ said Peter; and he stooped down and + lifted the fragile figure of the orator high in the air, and set him down + lightly outside the door. Kit rearranged his tie, put his spectacles + straight, and peered up at the unappreciative listener who towered above + him. + </p> + <p> + ‘As I was saying,’ he resumed gently, ‘Auntie Anna can + give us all points when it comes to being ’cute.’ + </p> + <p> + The next day or two proved the truth of what, in his shrewd way, he had + already guessed for himself. Yet the Berkeleys were hardly to be called + unfeeling, because they appeared to take their father’s departure so + coolly; for it would have been difficult to remain unhappy long, when + there were so many delightful things to distract them. Besides their + excitement, town-bred as they were, at finding themselves in a real + country-house, with an oak staircase, a secret room, and a ghost story, + there were separate joys waiting for each one of them as well. There was a + horse for Egbert to ride to hounds, and a well-stocked library for + Christopher to bury himself in, and a lumber-room for Wilfred to turn into + a laboratory; while Peter was <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_42"></a>42</span> + allowed, the very first day, to go out shooting with the keepers, and + Robin promptly became the pet of all the men on the estate, and spent + long, happy hours with them down at the stables and the farm. If there was + any one in the family who was not perfectly content, it was Barbara. + </p> + <p> + No doubt, she would have been quite as absorbed as the others were in + their new home, if she had not been going to another one herself the very + next day. As it was, she found it a little difficult to share their + enthusiasm since she had a private enthusiasm of her own. But the boys did + not understand this at all. They were very affectionate to her in their + rough, undemonstrative way, and they were always telling her that she + would be sure to ‘pull through all right’; for they naturally + supposed that she wanted the kind of pity they wanted so much themselves + at the stated, horrible periods when they went back to school. But as to + grasping her notion that she was going to enjoy life at Wootton Beeches, + that was not to be expected of them. So Barbara felt that her interests, + for the first time in her life, were not the same as theirs; and a queer + sort of feeling crept over her, that changes–even nice, interesting + changes–occasionally had something strange and uncomfortable about + them. She grew so perplexed over it, at last, that she even went to Jill + for sympathy. Jill was at least a girl, and Jill had been to school, in + the same delightful place to which she was going on the <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_43"></a>43</span> morrow; and Jill at + least ought to know whether the boys’ idea of school was right or + wrong. So, just after tea, on her last evening at Crofts, the child + swallowed her natural distrust of her cousin, which, after all, had arisen + chiefly from their mutual shyness of each other, and started in search of + her. + </p> + <p> + Jill was in the conservatory, arranging the flowers for the dinner-table; + and Barbara’s shyness returned, as the trim, neat figure came + walking towards her, along the rows of chrysanthemums. She glanced down at + her crumpled pinafore and sighed desperately. Being dragged up a dusty + ladder into a cobwebby lumber-room by Wilfred had not proved the best of + treatments for a pinafore that really had been clean a couple of hours + ago. But Jill suddenly came out in a new light. With no teasing schoolboys + to overhear her, she felt that here, at last, was a chance of making + friends with her odd little tomboy of a cousin. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you come to help me with the flowers?’ she asked, with + such a friendly smile, that Babs cheered up at once. She forgot all about + her crumpled pinafore, and went straight to the point. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I didn’t come for that,’ she answered simply. + ‘I came to ask you about–about school.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Jill, suddenly picking chrysanthemums at a great + rate. ‘Supposing you tell me what you think about it yourself?’ + </p> + <p> + Her mother’s words were running in her <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_44"></a>44</span> head: ‘Do your best to understand the + poor little soul!’ and Jill wondered what she could tell her that + would not upset her notions of school too cruelly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, well,’ replied Babs, ‘of course, <i>I</i> think it’s + going to be beautiful; but the boys–the boys are so funny about it, + and it’s made me all in a muddle inside. Do you think the boys <i>know</i>?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps not,’ said Jill, and she strolled away along the rows + of chrysanthemums. It seemed a shame to spoil the child’s illusion; + and yet, when she thought of this quaint little untrained object being + dropped in the middle of the girls at Wootton Beeches<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span> + </p> + <p> + Barbara had followed her up closely, and she suddenly interrupted her + reflections. ‘You know what a girls’ school is like, don’t + you, Jill?’ she continued appealingly. ‘I wish–I <i>do</i> + wish you would tell the boys they are all wrong about it. They <i>are</i> + wrong, aren’t they?’ + </p> + <p> + There was a suspicion of a doubt in the last words that struck Jill as + being rather pathetic. She put her bunch of chrysanthemums down, and drew + Barbara towards her. ‘You see, Babs, it is like this,’ she + said slowly; ‘school is very nice, if you do not mind things being + strange at first, and if you can bear being laughed at, and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, that is quite easy!’ interrupted Babs, with a smile. + ‘The boys have teased me always.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Jill, doubtfully; ‘the boys have <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_45"></a>45</span> teased you; but that + is not quite the same thing. Girls–girls are not boys, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh no, I know they’re not!’ replied Barbara, happily. + ‘Girls are quiet and kind and gentle; and they always understand + you, and they are ready to make friends directly they see you. I think I + know what <i>girls</i> are like.’ + </p> + <p> + She was thinking of the princesses in her fairy kingdom; and another + little smile flickered across her face. Jill glanced at her for a moment, + and then suddenly made up her mind how to act. + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here, Babs,’ she began, smoothing the mop of tangled + hair with her hands; ‘you go on thinking that girls are like that, + and you’ll get along all right!’ Barbara wriggled away from + her before she had time to say any more, gave her a swift look and a smile + of gratitude, and darted off in search of the boys. ‘They’ll + be very stupid if they don’t see what a babe it is,’ added + Jill to herself. + </p> + <p> + At the door of the conservatory, however, the small figure in the crumpled + pinafore came to a sudden standstill. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, Jill,’ the child blurted out, and she clutched a + handful of pinafore to give herself courage; ‘I–I want to tell + you something.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you?’ said Jill, smiling. + </p> + <p> + ‘I want to explain that I hated you at first, because I thought you + were going to make the boys like you better than me,’ Babs went on + breathlessly. ‘And you frightened me too, because you laughed in + such a funny way, just as if you were sneering at me for being in a muck. + I thought, perhaps, it was because you were so grand, and your clothes + were so grand, and all that; but I couldn’t help being in a muck, + because I always am in a muck, you see; and so, you see–you see<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i2"></a><img src="images/illus-045.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘Look here Babs,’ she began, smoothing the mop of tangled + hair + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_46"></a>46</span>‘I see,’ + said Jill, quietly; and she looked quite thoughtful for a minute or two. + Babs came a step nearer. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t hate you now,’ she said frankly. ‘For one + thing, the boys don’t like you better than me, after all. They don’t + even like you so much as they thought they were going to. But <i>I</i> + think you’re awfully nice,–almost as nice as Kit and Nurse and + father,–and I shall go and tell them so, now; and then, perhaps, + they won’t say you are young-ladyish any more!’ + </p> + <p> + There was a vision of slim black legs and white pinafore disappearing + across the hall, and Jill could not help laughing. ‘I must catch the + post, and write to that child Jean,’ she decided, after a moment’s + reflection. ‘It won’t be so bad for the poor little mite if + she has some one to show her round.’ + </p> + <p> + Late on the following afternoon the ‘adopted kid’ found + another chance of making her way to Barbara’s heart. Barbara had + wandered into the library, with a whole hour to spare before the carriage + should come round to drive her to school; and, rather to her surprise, she + discovered Kit there, sitting huddled up in the arm-chair, with his + shoulders up to his ears. <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_47"></a>47</span> + She had thought that all the boys were out ratting, and she had not + expected to see any of them until they came in at tea-time to bid her + farewell. She was feeling rather doleful, now that the important moment + was so near, for she realised that if she was going to everything that was + new and delightful, she was also going away from the boys for the first + time in her life. It did not cheer her to find Christopher sitting over + the fire with an attack of asthma. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kit!’ she cried in distress. ‘I didn’t know you + were ill!’ + </p> + <p> + Kit crouched closer to the fire and growled. Asthma always had a bad + effect upon his temper, and to-day he had a grievance as well. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course you didn’t know,’ he muttered. ‘You + never know anything now. Can’t think what’s come over you + lately.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara reddened, and the tears welled up in her eyes. No one could hurt + her so easily as Christopher. ‘I’m awfully sorry, Kit. I + suppose I’ve been thinking about school,’ she said; and she + dropped the poker with a bang that made him wince. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lucky for you to be able to go to school,’ answered Kit, + crossly. ‘Look at me! Just because of that journey on Wednesday I’ve + got to coddle like an old woman.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara stood gazing at him helplessly. Her heart was full of pity, but no + one had ever taught her how to show it. ‘Poor old boy!’ she + said awkwardly. ‘Would you like me to tell you a story?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_48"></a>48</span>‘Not I! + How can you think of a story when you’re full of that stupid school?’ + was the surly answer. + </p> + <p> + ‘But I’m not thinking about school now, Kit,’ persisted + the Babe, becoming tearful. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, never mind. Don’t cry, whatever you do; I’ve got + such a headache,’ said Christopher, hastily. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m n–not crying; I never cry,’ stammered + Barbara, in a shaky voice. ‘I–I want to do something for you, + only you won’t tell me what to do.’ + </p> + <p> + Kit answered her with a violent struggle for breath, and the child felt + more helpless than ever. It was just as she was making a feeble attempt to + raise him in his chair that Jill came in. + </p> + <p> + ‘You poor fellow!’ she exclaimed, taking in the whole scene at + once. ‘Here, Babs, give me that piece of brown paper, and run and + fetch his medicine, will you? Poor boy! Poor Kit!’ + </p> + <p> + She knelt beside him and supported him with her arm, while she wafted a + smouldering tuft of brown paper in front of him. ‘Now, fetch some + cushions out of the drawing-room,’ she commanded, when Barbara + returned with the medicine; and, delighted at being given something to do, + the child sped away on her errand. When she came back with her arms full + of cushions, Jill had a delightful plan to unfold. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ring the bell for the lamp, Babs,’ she said, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_49"></a>49</span> in her soft voice, + which was already soothing Christopher’s nerves; ‘and we’ll + have tea together before you go. Shall we, Kit, dear?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s awfully good of you,’ he answered weakly. The + attack was passing off, and he was visibly cheering up. By the time tea + was brought in, he was sufficiently recovered to take the lead in his + usual determined manner; and Jill humoured him by giving in to him meekly, + even consenting, under his guidance, to toast slices of plum-cake at the + end of a penknife. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s very extravagant, when it’s Auntie Anna’s + plum-cake instead of the stale stuff cook used to make; but as it’s + the Babe’s last evening we may be extravagant, mayn’t we, + Jill?’ argued Christopher. ‘Now, Babs, you melt the butter; + and for goodness’ sake do remember you’re not at home, and don’t + smash the plate.’ + </p> + <p> + His reminder did not wholly make the desired effect upon Babs, for when + the boys returned from the farm in a noisy tribe, flushed with the glory + of slaying, they found the ‘adopted kid’ scrubbing her gown + with a clean handkerchief, while Babs hung over her, covered with + confusion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t worry yourself, child,’ Jill was saying + consolingly. ‘A lump of butter, more or less, doesn’t make any + difference to a frock I’ve worn all the winter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It just slid off the plate when I wasn’t looking,’ said + Barbara, penitently. ‘I can’t <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_50"></a>50</span> think why it didn’t slide on to my frock + instead of yours.’ + </p> + <p> + A chorus of merriment rang from behind. + </p> + <p> + ‘You ridiculous Babe!’ shouted Peter. ‘Why, the butter + is <i>tired</i> of being spilled down your frock.’ + </p> + <p> + Jill jumped to her feet, and blushed a little. As Kit had predicted, she + found it much easier to get on with her cousins when she took them ‘separately, + or in pairs’; and she was not used yet to facing them all at once. + The sound of wheels outside gave her an excuse for escape, and she put her + arm hurriedly round Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come upstairs and put on your hat,’ she suggested, and the + two girls hastened out of the room. + </p> + <p> + Auntie Anna saw to it that the farewells were not prolonged, and Barbara + found herself whirled into the covered wagonette with her last words only + half said. Kit was allowed time to whisper a gruff apology for being cross + with her before tea, but the others had to follow her to the front door to + shout their good-byes after her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t get the blues because <i>we</i> are not there!’ + cried Wilfred. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll write great lots of times,’ declared Robin, who + was in tears. ‘I won’t even wait for the lines to be ruled, + Babs dear. You won’t mind the spelling, will you? ’Cause it + saves so much time if you don’t.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Cheer up!’ was all Egbert said; and Barbara wondered if she + was very hard-hearted, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_51"></a>51</span> + because she was not half so wretched as they all expected her to be. Peter + even made her laugh outright, as he sprang on the step of the carriage, + and went a little way down the drive with them. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t funk it, old girl!’ he shouted through the + window. ‘And just send for us, if anything goes wrong!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Be off with you!’ said Auntie Anna, shutting up the window; + and that was the last that the Babe of the Berkeley family saw of the boys + who had been her only companions through life. + </p> + <p> + She had plenty to think about in her long drive in the dark; and Auntie + Anna was wise enough to leave her alone most of the time. A little more + than an hour later, however, when the carriage made a sharp turn and drove + through some gates, the old lady roused her by a touch on the arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘We are just there, little woman,’ she said in her quick, + abrupt way. ‘Not afraid, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh no!’ answered Barbara, smiling. ‘I–I’m + just excited.’ + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Crofton kissed the eager little face, on which the light shone as + they approached the house. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s right,’ she said, looking pleased. ‘Always + be a truthful little girl, and don’t mind if you find you are not + like other people.’ + </p> + <p> + Then the horses stopped, and a blaze of light shone down a flight of steps + to the carriage door; and Babs, feeling suddenly very small <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_52"></a>52</span> and unimportant, in + spite of the extra inch or two on her new serge frock, followed the old + lady into the great wide hall of Wootton Beeches. + </p> + <p> + Her dream was coming true at last. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_53"></a>53</span><a id="link_4"></a>CHAPTER + IV<br /><span class="h2fs">HOW IT CAME TRUE</span> + </h2> + <p> + Half an hour later, Barbara was being led across the hall by Miss + Finlayson, to be introduced to her school-fellows in the playroom. It + puzzled her a little to see how calm and unconcerned the head-mistress was + looking. Did she not know what a thrilling moment this was to her little + new pupil, who tripped along by her side? As Babs was puzzling over it, + they reached the baize door on the opposite side of the hall, and Miss + Finlayson stooped and fastened it back, disclosing a long passage beyond. + At the end of the passage was another door; and through this other door + the murmur and hum of many voices drifted to the ears of the excited + child. She could hardly contain her impatience; and she wondered why Miss + Finlayson did not go on, instead of being so particular about the + fastening of the baize door. She even took a step forward in her + eagerness; but a hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder, and Barbara + glanced up and met the half-amused gaze of the lady who had just seemed so + indifferent to her. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_54"></a>54</span>Miss Finlayson + had a way of looking at a girl that generally made a friend of her at + once. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of blue-grey that gave them, as a + rule, a cold expression; but they were also capable of a glimpse of humour + that completely altered and softened them, and it was the discovery of + this quality in them that changed Barbara’s impatience all at once + to curiosity. + </p> + <p> + ‘One moment, little girl, before you go through that door over + there,’ began Miss Finlayson, and her face was still grave in spite + of the betraying twinkle in her eyes. ‘Tell me, have you ever known + any girls before?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Only Jill,’ answered Barbara, wondering why she was being + asked such an odd question. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Miss Finlayson. The child caught the change in her + tone, and went on quickly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I know Jill didn’t approve of me at first,’ she said, + in her small, anxious voice; ‘but she does now, I think. Besides, + Jill is grown-up, you see; and I don’t think it counts if you are + grown-up, does it? I’ve never met any real, nice, friendly girls + before, who don’t tease you, or bully you, or anything like that. + That’s why I wanted to come to school.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ said Miss Finlayson again. Then she put out her hand and + patted the cheek of her little new pupil. ‘Do not be unhappy if you + find you are not like the other girls,’ she said, just as Auntie + Anna had done; ‘and come to me, if everything else fails and you + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_55"></a>55</span> cannot stand + by yourself. Only, remember–you are not in the nursery any longer: + you have come here to learn how to grow up straight and strong and + healthy, just as a plant learns; and I am only the gardener to give you a + prop, when you have been in too great a hurry and are trying to grow too + fast. Do you think you understand?’ Her voice changed again, and a + laugh came into it as she added brightly: ‘Come along now, and be a + happy little girl. You will find that most of us are happy in this house.’ + </p> + <p> + She took Babs by the hand, and raced her along the passage to the door at + the end, then turned the handle and pushed the child gently into the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Girls,’ said the head-mistress, in the sudden lull that + followed her entrance, ‘here is a new schoolfellow for you.’ + </p> + <p> + Then all the voices broke out again, and Miss Finlayson nodded to Barbara, + and went away. It was one of Miss Finlayson’s theories, that a new + girl should be left to fight her way by herself; but as she retreated + slowly along the passage this evening, she could not help feeling a little + anxious about the child with the small, eager face, whom she had just + launched into a strange and unfriendly world. + </p> + <p> + Barbara took two quick steps forward, as the door closed behind her, and + stood there waiting. She had acted this scene over and over again in her + mind, and she had always made her entrance like this; after which a girl, + whose <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_56"></a>56</span> face was + plump and ordinary, and whose legs were of the right proportions, and + whose hair was smooth and under proper control, had always come towards + her with a welcoming smile and had led her up to the other girls, who all + had welcoming smiles too. And everybody had listened to her while she + talked about her home and her father and the boys; and nobody had laughed + and nobody had teased, and nobody had told her to ‘shut up.’ + It had been a very favourite scene in her dream of school, and she waited + eagerly for the other actors in it to come forward and do their part. But + no one moved. + </p> + <p> + The room in which she found herself was certainly not like the one she had + imagined. It was long and low and prettily shaped, with two wide + bow-windows thrown out on one side of it, and a great square fireplace + taking up most of the wall that faced the doorway. Next to the fireplace + was a curtained archway, which evidently formed the entrance into another + room, judging by the buzz of laughter and conversation from beyond that + the thick red curtain failed to stifle. The bookshelves on the two + remaining walls were made of plain oak; so were the desks and chairs that + stood neatly arranged round the room in rows. There were also plain oak + benches in the warm chimney-corners, and plain oak window-seats in the + bowed recesses, while the floor was made of the same wood and was left + quite bare, except for a rug in front of the hearth. A pot or two of + chrysanthemums, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_57"></a>57</span> + some blue china on the over-mantel, and one or two hammered metal lamps + that hung from the beams in the ceiling, were the only ornaments in the + room; and the whole effect was so simple and so clean that Barbara, fresh + from the dingy old schoolroom in which she had passed her life until now, + was obliged to forget everything else for the moment and just stare round + her. Then her eyes rested again on the girls who were scattered in groups + about the room, and the expectant look on her face became a little + wistful. + </p> + <p> + There seemed to be thirty or forty of them all together; and from the + noise on the other side of the curtain Babs concluded that there were as + many, or more, in the room beyond. They all talked without ceasing,–all + at once, it seemed to Barbara,–about their Christmas holidays and + their Christmas presents, about the parties they had been to and the + pantomimes they had seen, about the girls who were not back and the girls + who were, about everything, in fact, except the child by the door, who had + been waiting all her life for this moment. What did it matter to them that + she should go through a few seconds of embarrassment? They had all been + through the same, in their time; and it was not to be supposed that they + should make things any easier for future generations of new girls. So they + went on babbling about their own affairs, and Barbara went on expecting + some one to come and put an end to her discomfort. But nobody came. + </p> + <p> + Slowly, she began to feel conscious, just as <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_58"></a>58</span> she had done when she first met Jill, that + there was something odd about her appearance. In spite of the extra inch + or two on the bottom hem of her frock, and the temporary smoothness that a + vigorous application of a wet brush had produced on her hair, Babs saw + with a kind of dismay that she was not made in the same pattern as the + crowd of neatly dressed girls before her. None of them wore her hair loose + and curly like her own, and none of them looked as though she did not know + what to do with her hands. If only she could have held on to something, + Barbara felt sure she would not have felt so shy or so helpless. There was + a chair only two yards off; but something kept her standing where she was, + and she did not even reach out her hand to it. + </p> + <p> + The girls continued their conversation, and forgot all about the new-comer + that Miss Finlayson had brought in. Most of them stood facing the fire and + had not even looked at her; and the others, who glanced now and then + towards the door, only shrugged their shoulders and wondered why the + stupid child did not sit down, instead of standing still in that + purposeless manner. They did not mean to be unkind, but how were they to + know that she was fighting through her first disillusionment? + </p> + <p> + All at once, a diversion was made by two children from the other room, who + came tumbling through the curtain and nearly upset a tall fair girl who + was the centre of the group round the fire. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_59"></a>59</span>‘Look + where you are going, Angela Wilkins!’ said the fair girl, sternly. + ‘What are you children doing in here, I should like to know?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Please, Margaret, don’t be cross, and <i>do</i> let me + explain,’ begged Angela Wilkins, suppressing an inclination to + giggle, and pouring out her words hastily. ‘Jean has had millions of + letters from Jill Urquhart, and she says<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It wasn’t millions, Angela, it was only one,’ corrected + her fellow-culprit from behind. + </p> + <p> + ‘And what business has Jean Murray to hear from Jill Urquhart?’ + demanded the fair girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m sure I don’t want to hear from her,’ grumbled + the other girl, whom Angela pushed forward to answer for herself. ‘She + only writes to me when she wants something. I don’t call that <i>writing</i> + to a person.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s got a sister coming here this term, and she says + everybody has got to look after her, or something like that,’ chimed + in the irrepressible Angela. + </p> + <p> + ‘It isn’t a sister, it’s a cousin. And she hasn’t + asked everybody; I wish she had. She’s asked <i>me</i> to look after + her, and that’s a very different thing,’ complained Jean + Murray, looking distinctly aggrieved. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ added Angela, breathlessly; ‘why should Jean be + bothered with all the new girls who happen to be people’s cousins?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She isn’t,’ said Margaret, curtly. ‘It’s + only one new girl; and if she is a cousin of Jill’s, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_60"></a>60</span> Jean ought to be + very proud of being asked to look after her. Do stop exaggerating, Angela; + and go away, both of you!’ Then just as the children slunk off + subdued, she recalled them and made a gesture towards the door. ‘There’s + a new girl over there now, I believe,’ she continued indifferently. + ‘You’d better see whether she’s the right one; and if + she is, bring her to me.’ + </p> + <p> + She turned again to the fireplace, and the two girls made their way + towards the other end of the room, where Barbara still stood unnoticed. + She saw them coming, and heaved a sigh of relief. Things were a long while + happening in this school; but it was something if they happened in the + end. She glanced at their two faces as they came nearer, and felt + disappointed when the one with the cross expression addressed her first. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, what’s your name?’ began Jean, ungraciously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara,’ answered the child, faintly. Her dream seemed more + improbable than ever, in the presence of this small stranger with the + aggressive manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara what?’ asked Jean, impatiently. + </p> + <p> + Babs stared, and added her surname unwillingly. At home, when people spoke + like that, they had to do without an answer. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s the one,’ grumbled Jean to her companion. Then + she addressed Barbara again. ‘How old are you?’ she asked, in + the same abrupt way. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_61"></a>61</span>‘Eleven,’ + answered Babs, obediently. ‘How old are you?’ + </p> + <p> + It was Jean’s turn to stare. ‘What business is it of yours?’ + she exclaimed. After a moment’s consideration, however, she found a + satisfactory reason for replying. ‘I’m a year older than you, + anyhow,’ she added triumphantly, ‘so you’ll be the + youngest in the school now, and you can take off the head girl’s + boots.’ + </p> + <p> + Before Barbara had time to realise this penalty, or privilege, belonging + to her youth, Angela Wilkins, who had been silent for quite a surprising + length of time, suddenly attacked her afresh. ‘Are you really Jill’s + cousin?’ she asked, with a giggle. + </p> + <p> + Babs nodded; but Angela did not seem convinced. ‘You’re not a + bit like her, are you? Jill Urquhart is so pretty and graceful and all + that,’ she observed with engaging frankness, and then giggled again. + </p> + <p> + Barbara said nothing; it was certainly unnecessary to agree with such a + very obvious statement. Jean Murray, who had also been examining her + closely in her turn, evidently seemed to think a further snubbing was + required of her. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re frightfully tall for your age,’ she remarked + disapprovingly, as though Barbara were somehow to be held responsible for + her height. ‘If I had straight spiky legs like yours, I should have + my dresses made longer.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, you wouldn’t, if you had five brothers always wanting you + to do things,’ retorted <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_62"></a>62</span> + Barbara, promptly. It was saddening to find that, even here, people were + prepared to make remarks about the slimness of her legs. + </p> + <p> + Angela was so surprised at her sudden show of resistance that she forgot + to giggle. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, you’d better not speak like that to Jean Murray,’ + she said in a warning tone, glancing as she spoke at Jean, as though she + expected her to take immediate measures for the suppression of the new + girl. ‘She’s been the youngest for so long that naturally she’s + inclined to be jealous, now you’ve come to take her place. Of course + she has to pretend she’s glad, but you can’t expect her to + like the idea of somebody else taking off the head girl’s<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, if that’s all,’ said Barbara, indifferently, + ‘I don’t want to take off anybody’s boots, thank you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ll have to, whether you like it or not,’ interposed + Jean, who had been listening quite complacently to Angela’s + description of her feelings. ‘Come along now, and see Margaret + Hulme; and don’t be such a month about it, or else we shall catch it + for stopping in here so long.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who is Margaret Hulme, and why have I got to go and see her?’ + asked Babs, hanging back a little. It was so perplexing to have to do + things without being given any reason for it. + </p> + <p> + Both the girls opened their eyes wide. ‘Why, she is the head girl!’ + they explained, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_63"></a>63</span> + as if that were reason enough for anything; and without waiting for any + more objections, they pulled her across the room to where the fair girl + still made the centre of the group round the fire. She kept them waiting + for some seconds before she condescended to notice that they were there. + </p> + <p> + ‘Didn’t I tell you to go back to your own playroom?’ she + demanded presently. Then her eyes fell on Barbara, and she scanned her + critically up and down. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is Jill Urquhart’s cousin,’ explained Jean, + hurriedly, and she gave Barbara an unexpected push that sent her + stumbling, with her usual lack of good fortune, right against the head + girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘Take care, child!’ said Margaret, frowning. And while Babs + stammered out some apology, she turned to the other girls behind her and + said something that made them all laugh. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s only eleven, though she’s so awfully tall; and + her name is Barbara Berkeley,’ volunteered Angela, peering over the + shoulder of the new girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who spoke to you?’ inquired the head girl, sarcastically, + looking back again. She once more scanned Barbara all over, and smiled in + an annoying manner to herself. ‘However did Jill manage to have a + cousin like you?’ she asked; and the other girls laughed more than + before. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know,’ said Barbara, with a touch of scorn in + her voice. The mysterious way in <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_64"></a>64</span> which the head girl and her admirers were + laughing at her was very different from the frank teasing she was + accustomed to; and it gave her a sudden wish to assert herself. ‘I + never pretended to be like Jill, or like any of you! I–I don’t + think I want to be like you, either. In my home, we don’t laugh + behind people’s backs.’ + </p> + <p> + She caused quite a small sensation in the group round the fire. One or two + began to titter afresh, and then stopped, waiting for the head girl to + take the lead. The head girl was equal to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + ‘It is very certain, then, that you have stayed in your own home + quite long enough,’ she remarked coldly, and resumed her + conversation with her friends. + </p> + <p> + The two children dragged Barbara through the curtain into the next room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you <i>have</i> got some cheek!’ gasped Jean Murray, + staring at her. ‘Lucky for you that you’re a new girl! If it + had been <i>me</i>, Margaret Hulme wouldn’t have spoken to me for a + whole day.’ + </p> + <p> + The enormity of such a punishment did not for the moment impress Barbara + much. What she did notice was that her passage of words with the head girl + had broken the ice of her introduction to the junior playroom, especially + with the aid of Angela’s highly coloured account of it. + </p> + <p> + ‘You never saw such a thing!’ she was exclaiming rapidly to + the circle that formed round <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_65"></a>65</span> + her. ‘There was Margaret, looking like a dozen thunder-clouds rolled + into one, and there was the new girl, grinning from ear to ear, not caring + a bit what anybody thought of her and just standing up to the head girl as + if she was in the First herself.’ + </p> + <p> + The new girl barely recognised this description of herself; but as it made + her an object of curiosity, if not of sympathy, in the junior playroom, + she did not feel inclined to correct the picture that the red-haired, + freckled little chatterbox was painting of her. Anything was better than + being left out in the cold again. It struck her too that the girls in the + junior room were far less inclined to laugh at her than the elder ones had + seemed; and it raised her fallen spirits a little to find that the + children who were now strolling up to her, with inquisitive glances at her + hair, her clothes, and everything else about her, seemed disposed, in + spite of their calm curiosity, to show her a kind of rough friendliness. + They were more like boys, these smaller people in the junior playroom; and + Barbara, though still failing to realise her child’s ideal of girls, + felt a faint kinship with their straightforward method of addressing her. + </p> + <p> + ‘No nickname?’ they asked, when she had again admitted her + name and her age. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ answered Barbara, unsuspiciously, ‘the boys + always call me the Babe, or<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + The peals of laughter that interrupted her puzzled her a good deal. It was + very queer <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_66"></a>66</span> + that, wherever she went, people always laughed at her. It was some moments + before their glee over the nickname, that so exactly suited the childish + impression she produced, began to subside. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you got a nurse?’ asked Angela, who had laughed louder + than any one. + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ said Barbara, simply, not seeing that this too was meant + to be a joke. ‘She left, two years ago.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you ought to have one,’ retorted Jean, brusquely. + ‘She might teach you how to comb your hair.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And let down your frock,’ added two or three voices together. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the matter with my frock?’ asked Babs, opening + her eyes. ‘It’s nearly two inches longer than any frock I ever + had before.’ + </p> + <p> + The laughter began afresh, and Barbara gave up trying to explain things. + She was a little hurt, in reality, and was afraid of showing it; for it + would never do, after being teased by five brothers all her life, to be + ruffled by the laughter of a few schoolgirls. All the same, there was + something in their way of laughing at her that hurt, and she did not care + to provoke them into doing it any more. + </p> + <p> + The loud ringing of a bell brought her a sudden respite, by clearing the + room of her tormentors. They poured hastily out of two large doors, that + slid back in the wall and revealed another square hall beyond, similar to + the one at the front of the house. The wide <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_67"></a>67</span> staircase up which the girls were trooping + evidently led to their bedrooms, for Barbara, left deserted and forgotten + in the playroom, could hear them, directly afterwards, moving about + overhead. As she waited there alone, wondering what she was supposed to do + next, Jean Murray came hurrying back into the room and looked round for + her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, bother!’ she said, in her ungracious manner; ‘what + a nuisance you are! I wish you’d do things without waiting to be + told.’ + </p> + <p> + Babs explained submissively that she was quite ready to do things if she + only knew what to do; but Jean still grumbled. + </p> + <p> + ‘Any one with any sense would know,’ she declared, hastening + out of the door again as she spoke. When she was half-way across the hall, + she shouted, without looking back, ‘Can’t you come along? + There’s only a quarter of an hour to dress for supper.’ + </p> + <p> + Babs hurried after her, and managed to keep her in sight up the wide + staircase and along the gallery at the top. There were doors all round the + gallery, and at one of these, marked number twelve, Jean stopped and + waited impatiently. + </p> + <p> + ‘What a time you are,’ she complained, when Barbara caught her + up. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m very quick, when anybody doesn’t take such an + enormous start,’ answered Barbara, panting. ‘I can beat Peter + twice round the Square and up to the gate, <i>easily</i>! And you’re + not in it with Peter.’ + </p> + <p> + Jean looked at her, and her expression was <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_68"></a>68</span> not a pretty one. However, she only jerked her + head at the door in front of them, and told Babs it was her bedroom. + ‘Finny said I was to show you,’ she added. ‘Don’t + know, I’m sure, why everybody thinks I’ve got to show you + things. And you’d better look sharp and dress, because when you’re + ready you’ve got to cut along to number two and do the head girl’s + hair. It’s always the business of the youngest in the school to do + the head girl’s hair. See?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But I don’t know how to do anybody’s hair,’ began + Barbara, in a fever of dismay. But Jean had already scampered out of + hearing; and with her responsibilities weighing heavily upon her, the new + girl turned the handle of her bedroom door and went forlornly in. It was a + simple little room, very clean and fresh-looking, with everything there + that she wanted and nothing that she could do without. The pretty + coverlets on the bed and the dressing-table and the muslin curtains that + draped the oaken window-sash gave it a look of homely comfort, while + harmonising with the plain green colour of the walls and the blue frieze + and carpet. As Barbara walked across her small domain and pushed aside the + blind to peep out into the clear starlit night, a moment’s rest came + to her perturbed little mind. The tiny bare room was all hers, and the + feeling of privacy and possession was very comforting. + </p> + <p> + A door in the wall told her there was a room leading out of hers, and the + sound made by some one moving rapidly about in it reminded <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_69"></a>69</span> her again of her + present woes and of the necessity for dressing as quickly as possible. Her + relief at not being obliged to sleep with the other girls was forgotten in + her returning consciousness of having to live with them, and to do their + hair and to button their boots. With desperate haste she struggled out of + her serge frock and into a muslin one, that had a strange new method of + fastening that was extremely baffling; and five minutes later, trembling, + uneasy, and flushed with the hurry of her speedy toilet, she stood + knocking at the door of number two. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s me,’ she said feebly, in response to the curt + inquiry from within. Her inadequate explanation was followed by a few + quick steps on the other side of the door, which was then flung open with + an impatient movement; and the head girl, putting hairpins rapidly into + her hair as she stood, was looking down at her sternly. + </p> + <p> + ‘You should go to one of the younger ones, if you want to know + anything,’ she said crossly. ‘Where’s Jean Murray?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was Jean Murray who told me to come,’ answered the child, + looking a pathetic little object in her half-fastened muslin frock, with + her hair standing out wildly round her head. ‘I’m sure I didn’t + want to come; I don’t know how to do anybody’s hair; I told + her so. But she said it was because I was the youngest, and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What <i>are</i> you talking about, child?’ <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_70"></a>70</span> interrupted + Margaret. Her mystified look was lost on Babs, however, as the child + stared down in much misery and confusion at the little steel buckles on + her new evening shoes. She went on unhappily with her stammering + confession. + </p> + <p> + ‘She said I’d got to do the head girl’s hair because I + was the youngest, and I was to make haste, or I shouldn’t be in + time. I did make as much haste as I could, <i>truthfully</i>,’ she + added, looking up timidly at her frowning questioner; ‘but there + were such a lot of hooks on my new frock, and I’m not used to hooks. + I’ve always had buttons before, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + One or two of the neighbouring doors had opened by this time, and quite a + small audience was assembling to hear Barbara’s attempt at + explanation. A giggle that swelled into a laugh brought dismay once more + into her heart; and a suspicion that she had been hoaxed slowly dawned + upon her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Isn’t it true?’ she cried, turning upon them + desperately. ‘Haven’t I got to do the head girl’s hair?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’d better do your own first, I should say,’ observed + one of the onlookers, carelessly; and the others laughed again. + </p> + <p> + The head girl silenced them peremptorily. ‘Don’t, Ruth!’ + she said. ‘It’s only a babe, after all. You others had better + go downstairs; the supper-bell will ring directly.’ + </p> + <p> + The gallery slowly emptied itself, except for the little group of three + that still stood outside the head girl’s door. The offending Ruth + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_71"></a>71</span> turned to + Barbara; she had a good-natured face, and was looking penitent. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come here, child, and let me fasten your frock properly,’ she + said; ‘you’ve done it up all wrong.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara turned her back to her willingly. ‘It’s awfully bricky + of you,’ she said warmly; ‘I’ve never done up my own + frock before, and this one was so complicated, somehow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You must come to me when you want your frocks fastened,’ + answered her new friend. ‘I sleep next door to you, and I always + help Angela, whose room is on the farther side of mine. You’ve only + got to tap at the door between, when you are ready. But you mustn’t + speak in the morning before breakfast, or in the evening after prayers, + because that is against the rules.’ + </p> + <p> + She fetched a brush and tried to reduce the tangled hair under her hands + to a certain degree of order. Margaret Hulme had disposed of all her + hairpins by this time, and was closely watching a door on the other side + of the gallery. When it at last opened she straightened herself and + prepared for action. + </p> + <p> + It was Jean Murray who came out of it, rather cautiously at first, then + with a pretence of great unconcern. But her jaunty air completely deserted + her when she saw the little group outside the head girl’s door, and + she tried to slink away towards the stairs unnoticed. Margaret called her + back authoritatively, and Jean came slowly and unwillingly round the + gallery. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_72"></a>72</span>‘Now,’ + said the head girl, when she was within easy hearing, ‘just you + apologise to Barbara Berkeley for hoaxing her just now. If you think there + is anything funny in telling an untruth, I’m sorry for your sense of + humour, and you’d better not do it again in this house. Now then, + make haste about it.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara tried impetuously to interfere, but Ruth Oliver held her back. + ‘Hush!’ she whispered. ‘Leave it to Margaret.’ + </p> + <p> + Jean was shifting from one foot to another, and her mouth began to quiver. + ‘I didn’t know she’d be such a stupid as to believe it,’ + she muttered. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear child,’ said the head girl, blandly, ‘nobody + supposed you were any judge of character. So it would clearly be wiser not + to play that kind of joke on any one in future, wouldn’t it? Are you + going to apologise or not?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean reddened, and a lump rose in her throat. Her worship of the head girl + was the most genuine thing about her, and she was suffering keenly under + her disapproval. But an apology to a new girl, especially to one who had + come to rob her of all her privileges, was next to an impossibility. + Barbara saved the situation. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want anybody’s apologies,’ she cried. + ‘I’m not cross, and I don’t know what you’re all + talking about.’ She wriggled away from the friendly grasp of Ruth + Oliver, and sped round the gallery till she came to the head of the + stairs. Arrived there, the temptation <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_73"></a>73</span> of a long, broad, shining baluster-rail was too + much for her; and in another moment the little elf-like figure in the + fresh muslin frock was astride of it and flying down to the hall, with her + hair once more in rebellion round her face. The exhilaration of the brief + rush downwards sent all her troubles out of her head, and she uttered a + war-whoop of delight as she landed with a thump on the mat at the bottom. + The elder girls, who were just streaming across the hall in response to + the supper-bell, stopped and stared aghast. Certainly the new girl was the + most impudent of her species, and meant to make her entry into the + establishment of Wootton Beeches with a flourish! But Margaret Hulme, it + was rumoured, had taken her up; and that meant that the elder girls were + no longer in a position to criticise her. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_74"></a>74</span><a id="link_5"></a>CHAPTER + V<br /><span class="h2fs">THE INK BOGIES</span> + </h2> + <p> + Barbara’s disappointment had lost some of its bitterness by the time + the seven o’clock bell woke her on the following morning. Perhaps, + after all, it was her own fault that things had not turned out so + delightfully as she had expected. Even the boys used to call her clumsy + and stupid sometimes; so why should she expect any more tolerance from her + school-fellows? Anyhow, here was the beginning of another day, and there + was still plenty of time for her dream to come true. + </p> + <p> + It did not seem much like coming true, though, as she stood in the juniors’ + room after breakfast, jostled from right to left by the girls who were on + their way to the different classrooms, and wondering when somebody would + come and tell her where she was to go. She wished rather sadly that + everybody in this school would not expect her to know things by instinct. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do <i>you</i> know where I am to go?’ she begged, catching + hold of Jean Murray as she <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_75"></a>75</span> + hurried by. Babs had forgotten, if, indeed, she had ever realised, that + Jean looked upon her as an enemy. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go and ask one of the seniors,’ retorted Jean, shaking her + off. ‘You’re much too high and mighty to have anything to do + with us.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is she talking about?’ asked the amazed Barbara, looking + after her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, it isn’t likely she can forget all at once that you got + her a scolding from Margaret Hulme,’ explained Angela, who was + hurrying as usual after her friend, like a shadow. + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>I</i> got her a scolding? What do you mean?’ cried Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s all very well to be so innocent,’ snorted + Angela; and she disappeared too. + </p> + <p> + Barbara sighed and remained where she was, till she was moved on again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do get out of the way,’ complained some one else; ‘you’re + right in front of my bookshelf.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara sprang aside hastily, and caught her foot in the leg of a desk and + fell down. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t mind moving,’ she said, getting up again and + rubbing her elbow, ‘but I do wish I knew where to move to.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Can’t you find out?’ asked the owner of the bookshelf + inconsistently, as she rushed off with her arms full of books. + </p> + <p> + Barbara sighed again. Try as she might to make the best of things, it was + a little tiring to be such a universal object of complaint. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo, Babe! You ought not to be here,’ <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_76"></a>76</span> said a cheery voice + from the seniors’ room, and Ruth Oliver put her head round the red + curtain. ‘This is only the playroom, you know, and, except for + preparation or for fetching your books between the classes, you are never + supposed to use it in lesson-time. The classrooms are upstairs.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know I oughtn’t to be here,’ answered Babs, ruefully. + ‘I never am where I ought to be.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But Finny sent for you, ages ago,’ said Ruth, looking + astonished. ‘Didn’t Jean tell you? She’s a young horror, + that Jean. Never mind, come along with me, and I’ll show you the + way.’ + </p> + <p> + She hurried the child through the baize door into the front hall, and + pointed out a room that was close to the foot of the stairs. ‘That’s + Finny’s study,’ she said hastily. ‘You’d better + look sharp. Good luck to you!’ She gave her an unexpected kiss that + promptly secured her the child’s allegiance from henceforth, and ran + off with her books under her arm. + </p> + <p> + Barbara entered the room, and looked round for Miss Finlayson. Only the + head girl was there, however, sitting at the table with a frown upon her + face. + </p> + <p> + ‘You ought to have been here before this,’ she began + reprovingly. ‘Miss Finlayson couldn’t wait any longer, so I’ve + got to miss the history lecture and examine you, instead of her. Why + couldn’t you come, directly Jean told you?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara turned a little red and tried to look <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_77"></a>77</span> unconcerned, in which she signally failed. + ‘I think,’ she said, ‘that you’d better ask Jean.’ + </p> + <p> + Margaret looked at her sharply, and muttered something that sounded + uncommonly like ‘Little beast!’ which seemed to the child + rather more than she deserved, considering that it was really Jean’s + fault and not hers at all. She was rather surprised at the head girl’s + next words, which seemed quite gentle by comparison. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, you look blue with cold, child,’ she remarked, and drew + her round by the fire. ‘Now, stand there, and tell me what history + books you have been using.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I haven’t used any,’ answered Babs. ‘I haven’t + had any history lessons, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you mean to say you know nothing about the history of England–nothing + about wars or kings or laws, or any of those things?’ inquired + Margaret, raising her eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + Barbara’s face brightened. ‘Oh, yes,’ she said, ‘I + know all about <i>them</i> from father, and the British Museum, and books. + I didn’t know that was history.’ + </p> + <p> + Margaret was a little puzzled. The examination of this new girl looked as + though it were going to present difficulties. ‘What kind of books?’ + she asked doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + ‘Lots of kinds,’ answered Barbara, glibly. ‘Napier’s + <i>History of the Peninsular War</i>, and somebody else’s <i>History + of the Anglo-Saxons</i>, and another one called <i>The Four Georges</i>, + and–and–oh, that long stuffy one, cut up into <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_78"></a>78</span> volumes, with ever + so many funny words in it, called <i>Cromwell’s Life and</i><span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s enough,’ cried Margaret, and she looked in + amazement at the small animated face of the new girl. ‘I–I + think that will do for history,’ she went on hastily. ‘Now, + what about geography? I suppose you know the elements, so I won’t<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s elements?’ interrupted Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, the beginning part,’ explained the head girl–‘the + part that tells you the meaning of islands and volcanoes and earthquakes, + and what the world is like inside, and things about the moon and the<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But all <i>that</i> is in Jules Verne’s story-books,’ + remarked Babs. ‘Of course I’ve read Jules Verne. Is that what + you call elements? I like elements, then, especially the <i>Journey to the + Centre of</i><span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I say, do stop,’ interrupted Margaret, biting her lip. + She was divided between perplexity and amusement, and she wished that the + head-mistress had stayed to examine this extraordinary imp of a child + herself. ‘Haven’t you used any real geography books?’ + she asked presently. + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked vague. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you know the map of England, for instance?’ pursued + Margaret, rather desperately. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes, I know the map of England,’ answered the child, + confidently. ‘It’s so easy to find, because it’s pink. I + know America too, because father has gone there to lecture, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_79"></a>79</span> and he won’t + be back for ever so long, not till<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush!’ said the head girl. ‘Tell me what arithmetic you + have done.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let me see, that’s figures without letters, isn’t it?’ + inquired Babs. ‘I’m afraid I can only add up, because Bobbin + hasn’t got any further yet; he’s backward in sums, you see, + and I’ve only learnt mine through helping him with his prep. + Sometimes, I wish he’d get on a little faster, because I’m + getting so tired of<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then you mean to say,’ interposed Margaret, rather + impatiently, ‘that you can only do simple addition?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s in arithmetic,’ Barbara hastened to point out. + ‘I’ve got as far as fractions in the funny sums that Kit does + out of the other book; they’re much easier, because they have + letters dotted about to help you. I always do Kit’s sums, when he + has asthma; but he says I’m very slow. Then there’s the nice + interesting book with pictures of triangles and things; we’ve got up + to<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, don’t!’ said Margaret, and Barbara paused, a little + surprised. Why did people ask her questions if they did not mean her to + answer them? Margaret was drumming her fingers on the table and looking a + little worried. ‘Have you learnt any languages?’ she asked + suddenly. ‘I mean, anything besides French–German, for + instance?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I haven’t learnt any German, and I don’t want to, + thank you,’ said Babs, decidedly. ‘Ever <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_80"></a>80</span> since the German + band complained to father, because Peter tried to stop their noise by + shying potatoes at them from the window, we’ve all made a vow never + to learn their beastly language. And I don’t know any French either; + no more does father. I know Latin up to the deponent verbs, though,–deponent + verbs <i>are</i> catchy, aren’t they?–and I’ve begun + Greek with father. I’m afraid that’s all the languages I<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you are a curiosity!’ declared Margaret, giving up the + attempt to hide her amusement. ‘So you’ve never had a + governess at all? Nor been to classes?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve been to a gymnastic class,’ said Barbara, eagerly. + ‘It’s the only thing I can do properly. Have you got a + gymnasium here?’ + </p> + <p> + She clapped her hands when Margaret nodded, and bounded towards the door. + ‘Mayn’t I go and try it <i>now</i>?’ she asked in a + disappointed tone, when the head girl called her back. + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s plenty of time for that,’ said Margaret, + reminding her with a frown that she was only a new girl and was there to + be examined; ‘I’ve got to settle first what class you had + better go into. But I’m sure I don’t know what I am to say to + Finny about you.’ She sighed, and looked at Barbara as if for + inspiration. Barbara was quite equal to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’d better put me in the bottom class, I <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_81"></a>81</span> should think,’ + she advised pleasantly; ‘you don’t know what my spelling is + like yet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thanks,’ said Margaret, drily; ‘I’ve no doubt you + are quite competent to examine yourself, and to teach all your betters + into the bargain, but that doesn’t help me just now.’ She + drummed her fingers on the table again, and Barbara waited and went off + into a kind of dream as she stood there. She was aroused by an exclamation + from the head girl. ‘I know,’ she was saying in a relieved + tone. ‘Can you write compositions, child? I mean, make up things in + your head and write them down?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara smiled. Certainly, that had nothing to do with lessons. She had + scribbled over every piece of paper she could find, ever since Nurse had + first taught her to form her letters. ‘I can do that all right,’ + she said. ‘All except the spelling,’ she added as an + afterthought. + </p> + <p> + Margaret paid her no attention. She was occupied in carrying out her happy + idea for concluding the examination of the new girl and leaving herself + free at the same time to go to her history lecture. ‘Look here,’ + she said, spreading some paper rapidly on the desk in front of her; + ‘come and sit in this chair and write about anything you like. You’ll + have a good hour and a half before the interval for lunch; and then Miss + Finlayson will come and look at what you’ve written, and she will + settle what class you can go into.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But what shall I write about?’ asked Barbara, when the head + girl had installed her <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_82"></a>82</span> + at the table and was hurrying out of the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Anything you like; it will be all the better test if I don’t + give you a subject,’ said Margaret; and she escaped before the child + had time to say any more. She felt a little mean about it, for she was + positive she could not have done it herself; but she consoled herself by + the reflection that the new girl was queer enough for anything. Besides, + she did not want to miss the whole of her history class for the sake of + examining a child who was ignorant of all the things that other children + knew, but had picked up the most extraordinary bits of knowledge by + herself. So Babs was left to face the difficulty, for the first time in + her life, of writing something within a given time. + </p> + <p> + It was certainly not easy to think of anything to say, in this unfamiliar, + austere little room, with a blank sheet of paper staring at her, and some + one preparing to pounce upon her presently, to criticise what she had + done. In the library at home such a chance as this would have filled her + with joy, and the paper would have been covered in a few minutes with a + medley about giants and princesses and dragons, to be told later on to Kit + and Bobbin when they clamoured for a story. But here it seemed impossible + to get a single word on to her sheet of paper, and she looked at the clock + in despair, and wondered what would happen to her when Miss Finlayson + returned and found she had written nothing. She plunged her pen + desperately into <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_83"></a>83</span> + the ink at last, and wrote the first thing that came into her head. It was + a title she remembered noticing on the back of a book with a smart cover–one + that had lately been added to her father’s library. She did not know + what it meant, and she was not sure what she was going to say about it, + but it sounded more like the kind of thing to choose for an examination + than one of her fairy stories would have been. Then, just as she had + written the heading very crookedly across the top of the page, she found + that the pen she had picked up was a quill, and possessed the most + entrancing capacity for making splutters. It was the first time she had + happened upon a quill, and the discovery was too delightful to be + neglected. So she spent the next ten minutes in adorning her paper with + fantastic ink shapes, that she named bogies on the spot and wove into a + fairy story about an enchanted princess, who had to write a composition in + an hour and a half. When this exciting occupation began to pall, she was + seized with a sudden desire to explore, and began wandering restlessly + round the room. There was very little to examine besides books; but books + were always good enough for Barbara, and she became very quiet and + absorbed as her inky forefinger travelled slowly along the bottom shelves, + until she had exhausted the outsides of all the volumes that came within + her reach. Then she stood back, with her hands behind her, and stared up + at the ones above her head; and a familiar name, printed in dull gold + letters <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_84"></a>84</span> on the + back of a solid volume in russet brown, suddenly made her heart leap. + </p> + <p> + ‘Father’s book!’ she gasped. ‘There’s father’s + book! And I’ve been in this stupid place all this time, and never + discovered it till now! Oh, I must get father’s book!’ + </p> + <p> + There was a sob in her throat when she found that even a footstool, placed + on the highest chair in the room, did not mount her up sufficiently to + reach the precious volume. Her bright little eyes travelled quickly round + the study, to embrace all its resources, and she very nearly uttered one + of her wild war-whoops of delight when she spied a step-ladder half hidden + in a dark corner. It did not take her a minute to stagger with it across + the room and to fix it, more or less securely, against the bookshelf. + After that, there was no sound in the little study except the ticking of + the clock and the rustling of leaves, until the door opened sharply and + the owner herself walked in. + </p> + <p> + For a moment Miss Finlayson thought the room was empty. Then she saw the + small figure with the big book, perched on the top of the ladder; and the + quaintness of the picture made her smile irresistibly. ‘What are you + doing, Barbara?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + She spoke as softly as she could, but the sound of her voice was quite + enough to startle the unconscious child. She dropped the heavy book with a + thud, and would have lost her balance and plunged after it, had not Miss + Finlayson been prepared for the contingency <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_85"></a>85</span> and put out an arm to save her. Babs caught at + it wildly, and found herself lifted down and placed on the floor in + safety. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson had stopped smiling, but she did not look very angry. + ‘What were you doing up there, Barbara?’ she repeated gently. + </p> + <p> + ‘I was reading father’s book,’ answered Barbara, rubbing + her eyes. ‘I didn’t know it was there, till I looked up and + saw it; and then I just climbed up and got it. I think I must have been + reading a great long time, because I’ve got such an ache just there.’ + She curled her hand under her arm and thumped the middle of her back. + ‘Do you ever get an ache in the middle of your back when you’ve + been reading?’ she inquired earnestly. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson did not answer immediately. She stooped and picked up the + fallen book first, and replaced it on the shelf. Barbara began to wonder + if she was angry, and if that was why she had such an odd, serious look on + her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘And do you like your father’s book, Barbara?’ she asked + presently. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think it’s the most beautiful book in all the world,’ + answered Barbara, without hesitation. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson was a little startled, but she did not show it. ‘Then + I wonder if you can explain it to me,’ she went on; ‘for, do + you know, I find some of it rather difficult to understand?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara threw back her head and laughed merrily. ‘But I don’t + understand <i>any</i> of it,’ she cried. ‘You have to be grown + up to <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_86"></a>86</span> + understand it, father says. And I’m not grown up yet, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ agreed Miss Finlayson. She was looking distinctly + relieved, and the twinkle had come back again into the depths of her eyes. + ‘I shouldn’t worry about that, though, if I were you,’ + she continued, sitting down and taking the child on her lap. ‘Some + day, when you are quite grown up, you will be able to understand it; and + then we can read it together and help each other over the difficult parts. + What do you say to that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think it will be beautiful; but it’s a very long time to + wait,’ sighed Barbara. ‘When do you think I shall be quite + grown up? Jill is grown up, and she is eighteen. Shall I be grown up when + I am eighteen?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We will wait and see,’ said Miss Finlayson, but somehow her + tone was not encouraging. ‘Meanwhile,’ she went on, patting + the hand that was fearlessly lying in hers, ‘supposing we make a + bargain that neither of us will read your father’s book until we can + read it together? You see, if you were to go on reading it now, you might + understand it in quite a wrong way, and then you would never be able to + help me over the difficult parts.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara thought about it for a moment or two. ‘But <i>you</i> will + have to do without father’s book all those years!’ she + exclaimed suddenly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have read it once, you see,’ said Miss Finlayson, gravely; + ‘I think I can manage to wait, if you will wait too.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_87"></a>87</span>Barbara still + looked doubtful. ‘Do you really think I shall be able to help you + over the difficult parts?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson smiled mysteriously. ‘Perhaps,’ she said. + ‘One never knows.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I’ll wait till I’m grown up before I read it + again,’ decided Barbara. ‘It would certainly be a pity to + spoil father’s book by understanding it all wrong.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Or by dropping it from the top of other people’s ladders,’ + observed Miss Finlayson. That was all the reproof she gave her; and then + she turned briskly to the writing-table. ‘Isn’t there + something you have written for me?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + Barbara jumped away from her in dismay. ‘I quite forgot!’ she + said penitently. ‘I did begin to write something, and then–and + then<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ She + struggled in vain to remember what had happened, and gave it up with a + sigh. ‘I don’t know what I did, but I know I never wrote any + more than this,’ she added, and produced the sheet of paper in a + shamefaced manner. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson took it, and glanced at the title that was written + crookedly across the top of the page. ‘A Comparrisson of the + Possition of Women, now and in the eighteenth century,’ was what she + read. Below that came quantities of smudges and blots, and at the bottom + of all was inscribed: ‘These are the ink bogies that came and wrote + the Princess’s compossition for her, and saved her from the awfull + anger of the cruel old witch called Finny.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_88"></a>88</span>Miss Finlayson + read this over more than once, then she folded up the sheet of paper very + carefully, keeping her face averted all the while. Babs was sure she had + been very naughty, and she was seized with a panic lest the head-mistress + should be too angry this time even to speak to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I know it was very naughty of me,’ she confessed + anxiously; ‘I couldn’t think of anything to say about it, and + the pen made such beautiful bogies, and–and–are you <i>awfully</i> + furious?’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson had to look at her, then; and she made a last effort to + keep grave. The next moment the little room was filled with her laughter. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear little girl,’ she exclaimed, ‘I am afraid I am + not a bit furious. The fact is–the ink bogies <i>have</i> saved the + Princess!’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_89"></a>89</span><a id="link_6"></a>CHAPTER + VI<br /><span class="h2fs">THE BOOTS OF THE HEAD GIRL</span> + </h2> + <p> + ‘I’m going to be in your class for everything except Latin and + mathematics,’ shouted Barbara, flying into the juniors’ room + just before dinner. It seemed to her of the first importance that + everybody should know which class she was to be in, and she was distinctly + surprised when Jean Murray, whom she had addressed, turned her back on her + and began talking loudly to some one else. ‘Don’t you hear?’ + persisted Babs, coming round in front of her again. ‘I’m going + to be in your class for everything except<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sneak!’ burst out Jean Murray, unable to control herself any + longer. ‘Tell-tale! You oughtn’t to be in anybody’s + class, you oughtn’t!’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara stood stockstill, and looked at her. All the courage she had + regained from her peaceful morning in Miss Finlayson’s study + dwindled away again, and left her hopeless of propitiating these strange + schoolgirls, who seemed determined on being cross with her whatever she + did. Angela knocked roughly <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_90"></a>90</span> + against her at the same instant, and surprised her at last into a + remonstrance. + </p> + <p> + ‘What have I done?’ she demanded. ‘Won’t anybody + tell me what I have done?’ + </p> + <p> + No one answered her. The alliance of Jean and Angela, though Jean was the + youngest and Angela the most empty-headed of all the children there, meant + the existence of a strong party in the junior playroom; and the poor + little new girl stood a very small chance of asserting herself against it. + They were much like sheep, both in the upper and the lower playrooms at + Wootton Beeches; and the party that followed Margaret Hulme in one room + was like the party that followed Jean in the other. In both cases it only + needed some one a little stronger than the rest to be the leader; and + Jean, in spite of her inferiority in age, supplied the strength, or what + her school-fellows mistook for it, in a certain doggedness of temper that + pulled them along in her wake. Most of them found it so unpleasant to be + in her bad books, that she had very little difficulty in managing them. + </p> + <p> + Barbara turned appealingly to Angela. ‘Why is Jean so cross with me?’ + she asked. ‘I haven’t done anything to her, have I?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not done anything?’ echoed Angela, looking over her shoulder + for Jean’s support. ‘Why, you went and told Margaret Hulme + that Jean hadn’t given you Finny’s message, and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sneak! Tell-tale!’ sneered Jean again. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_91"></a>91</span>Barbara + suddenly looked immensely relieved, and smiled in a friendly manner at the + enemy. At least this was a misunderstanding that she could clear up. + ‘Is that all?’ she cried. ‘No wonder you were cross, if + you thought that. Of course I never said a word about it to Margaret + Hulme, or any one else; I suppose she guessed, or something. But why didn’t + you give me the message? It would have saved such a lot of bother, wouldn’t + it?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ gasped Jean, as though words almost failed her, + ‘I never heard such wicked story-telling!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nor I either,’ chimed in Angela, putting her arm round Jean’s + waist. ‘She’s done nothing but tell crams ever since she’s + been here. Come away, Jean, dear; she isn’t fit to be argued with.’ + </p> + <p> + The pair of them marched off, consumed with righteous wrath, to the other + end of the playroom. Babs, overwhelmed with the incredible idea that any + one should suppose her capable of telling an untruth about anything, + waited speechlessly for some one to interfere and take her part. But those + of her school-fellows who had been listening to the dispute hastily + followed the example of their leader, and ignored her entirely. They did + not stop to think whether they were being just; if the new girl told + stories–and Jean Murray said she did–it was certainly their + duty to teach her a lesson. When they looked for her presently, to see how + she was bearing their <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_92"></a>92</span> + displeasure, they found she was no longer there. + </p> + <p> + Upstairs, in the small, bare bedroom, the one spot where she felt safe + from the intrusion of horrible wicked people with horrible wicked thoughts + in them, the forlorn little new girl was covering page after page of the + ruled note-paper Auntie Anna had given her, with an ill-written, ill-spelt + account of her woes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dear, dear boys,’ she wrote; ‘I am very misserable. + Everything is horible. At least, that is not quite true. Finny is nice she + is like Auntie Anna and Nurse, and I’ve got a bedroom of my very own + we all have but mine is one of the nicest becourse it comes at the corner + of the house and looks over a wall into the orchard and there’s a + plant with bunches of red beries that climes round my window and nobody + else has red berrys round their window but only me. Finny has lots of + ripping books in her study and she has father’s book and she is very + nice but the girls are beests I hate girls! Girls tell stories and they + say you do things when you don’t and they are awfull beests. They + laugh at you every time you open your mouth but I don’t mind their + siliness so much it’s their untruthfull hatefullness that I hate. I + have never been so miserable I wish father had never gone to that beestly + America and I wish Auntie Anna would come and fetch me back again. Do do + ask her to come and take me away from all those hatefull girls, tell her + how miserabble I am you don’t know any <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_93"></a>93</span> of you what it is to be really misserable, etc. + etc.’ + </p> + <p> + She had reached about the fifth page of this wild epistle when her door + flew open; and Ruth Oliver looked in, with a perturbed look on her + good-humoured face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, there you are!’ she exclaimed. ‘Didn’t you + hear the dinner-bell? We’re half-way through the first course. + Whatever are you doing?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara began folding up her letter and forcing it with trembling hands + into an envelope. ‘I’ve been writing home,’ she said, + and her voice quivered. Of course, everything she did was wrong; but what + did dinner matter when there was her letter home to be written? + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear child, we’re not allowed to write letters except on + Wednesday afternoons. Make haste and put the thing away, do,’ said + Ruth, impatiently. The sudden look of distress on the child’s face + touched her, and she added more kindly–‘Well, well, bring it + downstairs with you, Babe, and perhaps Finny will give you leave to send + it to-day. Only, do <i>come</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson not only gave her leave, but even offered to deliver the + letter herself, as she happened to be going to pay a call near Crofts that + same afternoon. It consoled Babs a little to feel that the boys would not + have to wait until the morning to learn how miserable she was; at the same + time, her present situation was no easier to bear, for all the younger + girls took a thoughtless pleasure in talking at her, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_94"></a>94</span> whenever Jean was + present; and it was not nice to be with people who made remarks about her, + and yet pretended all the time that she was not there. The early part of + the afternoon at Wootton Beeches was given up to playing games in the + nine-acre field, which was marked out, during the winter, into hockey + grounds; and here Babs found herself, soon after dinner, strolling + aimlessly along by the hedge and wondering what there was about her that + made eighty-seven girls detest her so heartily. When she suddenly + remembered how much she had looked forward to playing real games with real + schoolgirls, her disappointment was too much for her, and the tears rolled + rapidly down her cheeks. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, here’s the new girl, Barbara Berkeley. She’ll do,’ + said a brisk voice behind her, and the games-mistress descended upon her + with a hasty request ‘not to hide away in corners when she was + wanted.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I didn’t know I was wanted,’ explained Barbara, + following her up the field. ‘I never am wanted, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nonsense! Everybody is wanted at this school,’ replied the + games-mistress, who had a warm complexion, a breezy manner, and a vigorous + step, all of which, aided by her name of Burleigh, had secured her the + nickname of Hurly-burly. It never occurred to her that the new girl was + suffering from anything worse than the ordinary depression natural to her + newness, and she decided immediately that the <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_95"></a>95</span> best thing to cheer her up would be to make her + run about. In the eyes of Miss Burleigh, running about was a cure for most + things. ‘Here, Charlotte Bigley!’ she called loudly; ‘you + ought to have looked after this child instead of letting her escape. She’ll + do to play forward on your side. Just put her where you like, and let’s + begin.’ + </p> + <p> + There was not much chance, when Miss Burleigh was about, of letting + private feuds spoil the game of hockey; and under the influence of her + infectious gaiety, the girls even began to show Babs a certain amount of + friendliness. Perhaps the fact that Jean Murray was bicycling round the + cinder-track, instead of playing hockey, may have had something to do with + their change of manner, but Babs did not inquire into that. It was enough + for her that she was allowed, for the first time in her life, to run about + in the open air without a hat; and she reddened with pleasure when + Charlotte Bigley, the captain of her side, actually complimented her on + the way she ran. Charlotte was the oldest of the junior girls, and she was + going to be moved into the upper Third next term; so she always professed + to be rather superior to the leadership of Jean Murray–especially + when Jean Murray was out of the way. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ll make a very good right wing, when you’ve learnt + to pass the ball inside instead of poking at it,’ she observed + condescendingly, at half-time. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_96"></a>96</span>A very little + was enough to send up Barbara’s spirits with a bound, and when the + bell rang at four o’clock for preparation, she ran indoors with as + buoyant a step as the rest, and even whistled gaily to herself as she + unlaced her boots in the large cloakroom, where the girls were taking off + their outdoor things. Angela happened to overhear her, and at once took + upon herself to quench this unseemly appearance of cheerfulness, and to + remind her that she was still only a new girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’d better look sharp and take off the head girl’s + boots, or you’ll catch it,’ she advised her in a threatening + tone. + </p> + <p> + Barbara stopped whistling and became suspicious. ‘Last time I was + told to go and do things for the head girl, it was all humbug,’ she + said. ‘I’m not going to be taken in twice, so you shut up!’ + </p> + <p> + Angela under the protection of Jean, and Angela by herself, were two very + different beings. The unexpected resistance made by Babs was quite enough + to change her bullying tone into an injured one, and she began to edge off + towards the other girls. ‘This isn’t humbug, anyhow,’ + she said in a milder tone. ‘If you don’t believe me, go and + see; that won’t hurt you, whether it’s true or not. Of course, + if you <i>want</i> to make Margaret jump on you, it doesn’t matter + to me.’ + </p> + <p> + There was certainly something in what she said, and Barbara heaved a sigh + for the complications of school life. It was so silly, she <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_97"></a>97</span> felt, so extremely + silly to make such a fuss about the displeasure of the head girl, and to + avoid it by doing such stupid things for her. Why couldn’t the head + girl take off her own boots, like every one else? However, it did not + matter much, one way or the other; and Babs would have taken off anybody’s + boots to secure a little friendliness in this most unfriendly of + assemblages. So she threaded her way through the crowd of girls to where + Margaret Hulme stood talking with the enthusiastic hockey players who + formed the first eleven. She had not begun to take off her boots, Babs + noticed, so perhaps it was true after all, and the head girl was really + waiting for some one to come and do it for her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ruth would make a splendid half-back if she’d only learn to + strike better,’ Margaret was saying earnestly; ‘and if + Winifred wasn’t so frightened of tackling, we should have quite a–what + is it, child?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Please, I’ve come to know if you want your boots unlaced,’ + said Barbara, rather faintly. She was fully prepared to be laughed at + again for her pains; and, indeed, it did seem a most ridiculous suggestion + to make to any one. But the head girl treated it as if it were the most + natural thing in the world. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course I do. Do you want to do them to-day?’ was her + reply, and she immediately put her right foot a little forward and went on + talking to her eleven. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_98"></a>98</span>‘Oh, but + I don’t <i>want</i> to take them off,’ cried Babs, eagerly. + ‘I only thought<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + But Margaret was too deep in her conversation to pay any attention to the + youngest girl in the school; and Barbara knelt down unwillingly and + struggled with a stubborn knot in a muddy bootlace. She had hardly begun + her unattractive task, when some one dropped suddenly beside her on the + floor and laid a hot hand on hers. + </p> + <p> + ‘You leave the head girl’s boots alone!’ said Jean’s + voice in her ear. ‘It’s just like your interfering ways, to + come sneaking up to her when I wasn’t looking. Go away and mind your + own business!’ + </p> + <p> + Now, Babs had just been resenting deeply the absurdity of her position at + the feet of the head girl. She did not want to take off anybody’s + boots, and she thought it an exceedingly stupid thing to do. But to give + up her task because some one came and got cross about it, was quite + another matter. A lurking spirit of mischief, helped by the exhilaration + she still felt after her two hours in the open air, made her retain her + hold on the knot in the head girl’s bootlace. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am minding my own business,’ she retorted stoutly. ‘Ever + since I’ve been here, you and Angela have dinned the head girl’s + boots into my ears till I’m sick of hearing about the stupid things. + Now I’m here, I’m not going to stop till I’ve done them; + so you’d better go away yourself.’ + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i3"></a><img src="images/illus-098.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘What in the name of wonder are you children doing down there?’ + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_99"></a>99</span>Jean glanced at + her furiously, and Barbara tugged away at the bootlace and began whistling + again, to show how little she cared whether Jean was angry or not. Above + their heads, the gossip went on busily about the style of the first hockey + eleven. + </p> + <p> + ‘How about our chances against the Wilford club next month?’ + some one was asking. + </p> + <p> + ‘As to that,’ said Margaret, with confidence, ‘if we + only keep our heads we shall have no difficulty whatever in standing<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + She did not finish her sentence, for at that instant a violent onslaught + on her right foot put a comical end to it by nearly upsetting her balance. + She just saved herself by seizing the arm of the nearest girl, and the + hockey gossip came to an abrupt finish. + </p> + <p> + ‘What in the name of wonder are you children doing down there?’ + demanded Margaret, wrathfully. The knot had come undone by this time, and + Jean was tugging at one end of the bootlace, while Babs, with an elfish + glee shining in her bright little eyes, was keeping a firm hold on the + other end. + </p> + <p> + ‘You go away,’ Jean was gasping in a choked voice. ‘I’ve + done this for two years, and I’m not going to give up doing it now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You told me yourself I’d got to do it, and I’m not + going away till it’s done, so there!’ laughed Barbara, in + reply. + </p> + <p> + She made another dash at the foot between them, and the head girl again + nearly lost her balance. ‘Stop quarrelling, and leave my foot <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_100"></a>100</span> alone, you naughty + little wretches!’ cried Margaret, stamping her disengaged foot + vigorously. Jean, with two years of discipline behind her, awoke suddenly + to the voice of authority and started to her feet, covered with terror at + the enormity of her offence. But Babs uttered a yell of delight at finding + the victory so easily won. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why don’t you unlace somebody else’s boots?’ she + shouted defiantly to her adversary. ‘There’s lots of boots + round here waiting to be unlaced.’ + </p> + <p> + Margaret stooped down and lifted her up bodily, and set her on her feet + beside Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now,’ she said sternly, ‘what do you both mean by + behaving in this disgraceful manner?’ + </p> + <p> + Neither of them answered her. Jean hung her head and looked as if she were + going to cry every minute, and Barbara waited to see what would happen + next. It did not seem to her that she had done anything so very dreadful, + and she wondered why no one saw how funny it all was. Ruth Oliver was + looking the other way, so she could not see her face; but the rest of them + seemed just as serious about it as the head girl herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘Haven’t you anything to say for yourselves?’ demanded + Margaret. + </p> + <p> + Hot, angry tears began to well up into Jean’s eyes. She never knew + she could have hated any one so much as she hated this new girl for coming + between her and Margaret Hulme. Barbara caught sight of her tears, and the + desire to laugh suddenly left her. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_101"></a>101</span>‘You + see, we didn’t know who had got to unlace your boots,’ she + explained hastily. ‘It isn’t that it’s such an awfully + jolly thing to unlace people’s boots, but<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, that’s it, is it?’ interrupted Margaret, + crushingly. ‘Then you needn’t be in the same difficulty any + more on my account, for in future I shall unlace my own boots. Now, go + away and do your preparation at once, and don’t let me see either of + you again for the rest of the day.’ + </p> + <p> + Babs went off obediently to find her books, and she puzzled greatly as she + went over the displeasure of Margaret Hulme. ‘Such a fuss to make + about <i>boots</i>,’ she remarked to Charlotte Bigley, whose + bookshelf was next to hers. But even Charlotte was not proof against the + furious account of the matter that Jean Murray had just been giving to a + sympathetic circle of friends; and Barbara soon found that she had quite + lost the little popularity she might have gained in the hockey field by + her behaviour over the head girl’s boots. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think she must be mad,’ declared Angela, in the buzz of + conversation that preceeded the call for ‘Silence’ from the + presiding French teacher. ‘She looked as though she wanted to kill + Jean. I was looking at her all the time, and I was quite frightened. She + ought to be watched, I’m certain she ought.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She ought not to be spoken to by any one,’ wailed Jean, + hiding behind an open atlas to avoid the scrutiny of Mademoiselle, who sat + in <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_102"></a>102</span> the + archway between the two playrooms. ‘Perhaps, if every one leaves her + alone she’ll learn how to behave like other people.’ + </p> + <p> + Left alone she accordingly was, since Jean Murray had so decreed it; and + this time there were no half-measures about it. At tea-time, and again at + the supper table, the girls on either side of her turned their backs upon + her and talked busily to their other neighbours; and in the playroom + afterwards she found herself just as scrupulously avoided. It was + decidedly an uncomfortable state of things for the new girl, as it was + meant to be by those who were responsible for making it; but somehow the + new girl did not seem to mind it half so much as they would have expected. + All the evening she sat in the corner of the juniors’ room by + herself, and any one would have said from the look on her face that she + did not care whether the others spoke to her or not. Now and then she + smiled, as she sat there with her elbows perched on her knees and her chin + supported on her hands; and the whole time her look of supreme + unconsciousness never left her. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s hardened, that’s what she is,’ declared + Jean, glancing in her direction. This she said to keep up her own + resentment against the new girl, which was unaccountably beginning to + cool. + </p> + <p> + ‘She thinks it’s grand to pretend not to care,’ added + the faithful Angela. This, indeed, was the prevailing opinion among the + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_103"></a>103</span> children of + the junior playroom; and it was not comforting to their pride. + </p> + <p> + All the while, Barbara guessed nothing of the comments she was provoking + by her manner. It was enough for her that she had got away once more into + her fairy kingdom, and that Kit and the magician and the old fairy + godmother had just turned out all the princesses who were called + schoolgirls, and had shut the gates in their faces. + </p> + <p> + It was a very weary little new girl who went up to her bed that evening + after prayers. She was almost too tired to think over the events that had + been crowded into the last twenty-four hours, almost too sleepy to realise + that this was the close of her first day at school, the day she had + thought would be the happiest day in her life. Perhaps it was a good thing + she was not able to think too much about anything, at the end of that + first day at school. The moment Fräulein had turned out her light, she + went off into a dreamless sleep that might have lasted unbroken till the + morning, had not something occurred most strangely to break it. + </p> + <p> + She did not hear the small pebbles that were thrown up, one after another, + at her window; it would have taken more than that to rouse her from her + first sleep, though once a handful of mould and gravel that scattered + itself all over the glass panes made her stir uneasily and murmur + something sleepily. It was just after this that some one began calling + ‘Coo-ey’ softly, on two particular notes; and after this <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_104"></a>104</span> had been repeated + two or three times, it gradually worked itself into the waking dream of + the little new girl. At the fourth time, she was wide awake and listening + with all her might. Another repetition of it, followed by a gentle whistle + that only Peter knew how to blow through his fingers, took her with a + flying leap to the window. The moon outside was flooding the world with + light and revealing every secret in the landscape for miles: it flooded + the big nine-acre field beyond the orchard; it flooded the orchard itself, + and the wall that ran along it, just under her window; and it showed her + five boys sitting astride on the top of the wall, and five–no, <i>six</i> + bicycles leaning against the bottom of the wall. + </p> + <p> + Barbara pushed open the lattice window as wide as it would go, and leaned + out breathlessly. Her finger was on her lips, and she shivered from head + to foot with cold and the fear of being overheard. Supposing that any one + were to find out they were there, and should send them away before she + could get to them? + </p> + <p> + The five of them made frantic signs of welcome, as soon as they saw the + familiar dark head appear at the window. In spite of the graphic + description contained in her letter, they were beginning to be afraid of + having besieged the wrong window. Then Kit waved a screw of paper and made + more signs, and the dark head vanished from view again. It did not take a + minute to turn out all the contents of <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_105"></a>105</span> her corner drawer, and to find the ball of + string that Robin had given her for a parting present, and then to fling + the end of it down to Kit, who tied on his screw of paper and nodded at + her to haul it up. + </p> + <p> + The moonlight was bright enough to enable her to read the few short + pencilled lines without much difficulty. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’ve come to the rescue,’ she read. ‘Auntie Anna + has gone away till to-morrow, so we could not wait until then, knowing you + were so jolly blue. Come down quickly; there’s a window under yours + that you could get through all right.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara struggled with desperate haste into her pink dressing-gown, thrust + her bare feet into a pair of woolly slippers, and glided to the door. In + her haste and her half-awakened condition a more elaborate costume than + that, considering the urgency of the occasion, seemed quite unnecessary to + her. Along the silent gallery she pattered, and down the wide staircase, + then through the two empty playrooms into the front hall. She knew the + window the boys had meant; she had noticed the red berries tapping against + the glass, as she passed it on her way to Finny’s study the morning + before. + </p> + <p> + As she sped across the moonlit hall, she did not see that the study door + was ajar and that a chink of light shone out from it. All her attention + was absorbed in the one thought that the boys were going to take her away + from <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_106"></a>106</span> this + houseful of unfriendly strangers, and that she would never have to face + them and their taunts again. + </p> + <p> + She clambered on to the window-seat, and unfastened the shutter. That was + easy enough, but the bolt of the window baffled her for some seconds. When + she did manage to shoot it back, the noise it made filled her with + apprehension. In her terror lest she should have been overheard, she did + not pause another instant, but threw up the sash and hastily put one + slippered foot on the ledge. Once outside and on her bicycle, the boys + would take care that no one overtook her; and she would be free at last! + </p> + <p> + Panting with excitement, she stooped through the open window and prepared + to draw her other foot after her. But before she had time to do so, a + light step had crossed the hall and an arm was flung round her from + behind. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara!’ exclaimed Miss Finlayson. ‘<i>Barbara!</i>’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_107"></a>107</span><a id="link_7"></a>CHAPTER + VII<br /><span class="h2fs">AN IMPROMPTU SUPPER PARTY</span> + </h2> + <p> + The disappointment was too much. Barbara covered her face with her hands + and burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let me go, do let me go!’ she cried, struggling to free + herself. ‘It can’t make any difference to you whether I run + away or not, and it does matter to me and the boys!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara!’ repeated Miss Finlayson, very quietly indeed. But + the child did not seem to hear. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why won’t you let me go?’ she sobbed passionately. + ‘I can’t stop any longer in this horrible place. Nobody wants + me here, nobody! Do, do let me go back with the boys.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson put her other arm for a moment round the little figure in + the pink dressing-gown, and she kissed the only place on the hot, wet + cheek that was to be seen. Then she stepped backwards and left her free. + </p> + <p> + ‘You can go, Barbara, if you want to,’ she said, just as + calmly as before. + </p> + <p> + Babs uncovered her eyes and looked at her <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_108"></a>108</span> incredulously. Now that she was free to go + the inclination to run away seemed to have left her. Outside, the boys + were waiting and wondering why she did not join them. They could just see + something at the open window, but the shadow cast by the orchard wall made + it indistinguishable. Miss Finlayson shot one glance outwards, that took + in the row of figures at the top of the wall, and the row of bicycles at + the bottom of it; then she waited passively for Barbara to make up her + mind. But this was precisely what the child could not do. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wouldn’t you–wouldn’t you <i>mind</i>?’ she + stammered at last. + </p> + <p> + ‘Would it matter to you if I did?’ asked Miss Finlayson. + </p> + <p> + Babs stood still, in a miserable state of indecision, with one foot still + on the window-seat, and the other placed on the ledge outside. She was + beginning to feel exhausted by the excitement she had gone through, and + she gave a weary yawn that turned into a shiver. Miss Finlayson promptly + put an end to the situation by lifting her back into the hall. Directly + she did so, a series of thuds in the neighbourhood of the wall, followed + by the crunch of footsteps along the gravel path, sounded from without, + and the tops of five heads suddenly appeared at the open window. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you please,’ said a voice, pleadingly, ‘it is our + fault that the Babe is trying to escape. You won’t rag her for it, + will you?’ + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i4"></a><img src="images/illus-108.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘Five heads suddenly appeared at the open window’ + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_109"></a>109</span>‘She + never knew we were coming, till we came,’ added another voice. + ‘We made up the plan because we heard she was jolly unhappy.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘We couldn’t possibly let her be unhappy another minute, or + else we might have waited till Auntie Anna came back,’ chimed in a + third. + </p> + <p> + Then followed a disappointed cry in Robin’s shrill tones. ‘But + <i>isn’t</i> she going to escape, after all?’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson waited till they had finished speaking, and her large clear + eyes were brimming over with fun. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course she is going to escape, if she wants to,’ answered + the head-mistress; ‘but at present she seems to be in some doubt + about the matter. Supposing you come in and wait by the fire, while she + thinks it over. You might help her, perhaps, to make up her mind. Will you + climb through the window, or shall I unbolt the front door?’ + </p> + <p> + Naturally, a rescue party five strong could not do anything so tame as to + walk through a front door; so although the window was four or five feet + from the ground, Robin was hoisted up first by Peter’s strong arms, + and then they all scrambled after him, one by one, till the little + procession was ready to follow Babs and her captor into the warm, cosy + study. Certainly, no one could have said that Miss Finlayson’s room + looked stiff or austere at night, when the curtains were drawn and the + fire had burned down to a rich red glow. + </p> + <p> + There was something like an uncomfortable pause, as soon as they found + themselves <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_110"></a>110</span> + assembled there, with the light full on their faces. It was true that the + expedition had not failed, and that the Babe was as free to escape now as + she had been before Miss Finlayson came upon the scene; but, for all that, + none of them could help feeling that Miss Finlayson, so far, had the game + in her own hands, and that they were only making themselves look + ridiculous. For they could all see that her face was overflowing with + merriment, as she stooped down and poked the fire into a blaze. + </p> + <p> + Egbert cleared his throat, and tried to relieve the awkwardness of the + position by making some sort of an apology. He knew quite well that, being + the eldest, he ought to have suppressed the plot in the very beginning. + </p> + <p> + ‘I am afraid you will think us rather mad,’ he began, ‘but + the Babe’s letter put us all on our mettle; and we thought–that + is, some of us thought she ought to be rescued. Of course, we hadn’t + seen you then,’ he added desperately. Any apology for the rescue + party certainly involved the most unflattering insinuations about his + hostess; and Egbert in his confusion thought exceedingly bitter things + about Kit and Peter, who had dragged him against his will on this wild + adventure. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was awfully nice of you to think of me,’ murmured Barbara, + but her tone was not so enthusiastic as it might have been. If only Finny + would stop being so obliging about it, she was sure she would find it so + much easier to run away. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_111"></a>111</span>‘Exceedingly + nice!’ echoed Miss Finlayson, warmly. ‘I am only sorry there + should be this delay in carrying out your plan. However, that is no reason + why we should not have something to eat, while Barbara is making up her + mind. It must be nearly midnight, and I am starving. Will one of you come + and help me to forage? + </p> + <p> + Egbert volunteered, with a feeling of relief at having something to do; + and he followed her out of the room. The moment the door closed, the + children’s tongues were loosed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dear, dear Babs,’ cried Robin, dancing round her gleefully; + ‘you will come away from the horrid, cross old thing, won’t + you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Finny isn’t cross, Bobbin; it’s the others,’ + remonstrated Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, of course you’re coming, aren’t you?’ said + Peter, who was impatient to have done with this inaction and to carry out + the glorious rescue they had planned. The worst of it was that half its + gloriousness seemed to have subsided before the pleasant manners of the + head-mistress. + </p> + <p> + ‘I should think she was coming, indeed!’ declared Wilfred. + ‘You don’t suppose I’m going to lose two hours of bed + for nothing, do you?’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher, who had been silently observing Barbara all the while, shook + his head slowly. ‘She won’t come,’ he said gruffly. + ‘They’ve made her different already.’ + </p> + <p> + A vague feeling of uneasiness crept over Barbara. Kit was always right; <i>was</i> + she different <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_112"></a>112</span> + already? She gave herself an involuntary shake. ‘Never mind about + me!’ she exclaimed. ‘Tell me about Crofts, and what you’ve + been doing since I left, and<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>everything. + Do you mean to say your cold is better already, Kit?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ Wilfred hastened to tell her; ‘that’s + because of the new doctor.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s a new doctor just settled in this part of the world,’ + explained Peter. ‘Your Finny thinks an awful lot of him, and that’s + why Auntie Anna sent for him last night, when Kit got bad, instead of + going to the old-fashioned chap who lives round the corner at Crofts. <i>We</i> + don’t think anything of him at all, though; do we, boys?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He <i>is</i> a funny man,’ commented Robin. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s a beast,’ said Kit, conclusively. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s a clever beast, anyway,’ protested Wilfred, + feeling bound to support the profession. ‘He’s done you an + awful lot of good already, Kit, and he lets you go out as much as you + like. It’s the modern treatment, or something.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why is he a beast, Kit?’ asked Barbara, sympathetically. The + world had convinced her so strongly, since yesterday afternoon, of its + possibilities in the way of beasts, that she felt sure Kit was right about + it. + </p> + <p> + ‘He grunts at you as though you weren’t fit to speak to; and + he isn’t a bit sorry for you, as old Browne used to be, but he seems + to think you are making it all up,’ said Christopher, in an injured + tone. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_113"></a>113</span>‘He + doesn’t like boys; that’s at the bottom of it,’ added + Peter. ‘He looked black as thunder because we were rotting in the + library with Kit, and he cleared us all out before he’d even look at + his tongue.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And he never sent for a silver spoon, nor nothing,’ cried + Robin, in much excitement. ‘How did he ’xamine your throat, + Kit, if he hadn’t got a silver spoon?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Shoved a thing like a skewer down, that he took out of his pocket,’ + said Kit, contemptuously. ‘His pocket was full of rotten skewers and + things.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s the modern treatment,’ said Wilfred again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Modern treatment be hanged!’ remarked Peter, with a laugh. + ‘Jill hates him too; he treated her as if she was about ten years + old.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill’s furious because Auntie Anna has asked him to dinner + next week; and we shall have gone back by then, so she’ll have him + to herself all the evening,’ chuckled Wilfred. + </p> + <p> + ‘How is Jill?’ asked Barbara, as soon as she could get in a + word. + </p> + <p> + There was a little pause. ‘She’s all right,’ said + Christopher, indifferently, after a moment or two. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kit likes her <i>awfully</i>,’ proclaimed Robin, with his + head on one side. + </p> + <p> + ‘So does Peter,’ added Christopher, hastily. ‘He was + awfully gone on her this morning, because she mended his cap when no one + was looking.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_114"></a>114</span>‘I don’t + think she means to be young-ladyish, really,’ remarked Wilfred, + patronisingly. ‘Last night, when you kids had gone to bed, she sang + to Egbert and me. She can sing!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Now, why didn’t she sing to us before?’ demanded Peter. + ‘That’s where she’s so awfully rum.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She hasn’t been properly trained, that’s all,’ + said Christopher. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, she’s studied under the best master in Paris!’ + interrupted Wilfred. + </p> + <p> + ‘You goat! I meant <i>her</i>, not her singing,’ snapped + Christopher. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, well, we all know why <i>you</i> like her,’ retorted + Wilfred. ‘It’s because she came and sucked up to you by + offering to read aloud to you, before Dr. Hurst said you might go<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I never said I did like her,’ disputed Kit. + </p> + <p> + The door opened before they settled the matter; and the foraging party + returned, laden with spoil. + </p> + <p> + ‘I brought everything I could find that looked interesting,’ + announced the head-mistress. ‘You must be ravenous after riding all + that way; and I’m sure I am, though I’ve done nothing but sit + by the fire all the evening and make time-tables. You might clear them out + of the way for me, will you, Robin? And you, Wilfred, can move the other + things on to the floor, or anywhere else you like. Will you hold this + tray, Peter, while I lay the cloth? No, I don’t want you, + Christopher, thank you. Can’t you see that Babs is bubbling over + with <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_115"></a>115</span> news + for you? Go and keep her company by the fire till supper is ready.’ + </p> + <p> + It was very queer that she should know all their names like that, and + Egbert declared afterwards that he did not think he had told her anything + about them, though somehow she had kept him talking all the time they were + foraging in the larder. She had found out as much as she wanted to know, + however, and she found out a good deal more before supper was over. There + was something about her that made them all talk to her as if she were an + old friend of theirs instead of the stern jailer whom they had come to + defy. Not that she allowed them for all that to have the conversation to + themselves, for she chatted away herself as busily as possible; and she + made jokes about her impromptu supper until even Egbert felt at his ease. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can any one cut up his chicken without a knife?’ she asked. + ‘There’s a knife short, but it doesn’t do to be too + particular on an occasion of this sort, does it? Ah, of course, you have + one in your pocket, Peter; I am used to girls, you see, and a girl never + has anything in her pocket except a handkerchief, and that is generally + half out of it. Now, who is going to carve the beef? Not I, indeed! I have + carved the beef in this household for twelve years, and you needn’t + suppose I’m going to miss such an opportunity as this of being idle. + Do you know, there have never been five gentlemen together at my table + since I became <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_116"></a>116</span> + a schoolmistress? Think of that, Barbara, and do not wonder that I know + more about girls than tomboys. I’m sorry there isn’t a salad, + but there’s real chutnee from Bombay and not the other place–wherever + that may be. An old pupil sends me my chutnee; and I always keep it for + grand occasions, like this and the break-up party. Will you come to our + next break-up party? That depends, I suppose, on whether Babs stops here + or not. Ah, well, she will have made up her mind by that time, won’t + she? I’m afraid I must forbid you cold pie, Kit, it’s poison + to asthma; besides, here are real, stiff, stewed pears. Don’t you + like stewed pears that are stewed <i>stiff</i>?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara sat on the hearthrug with Kit, and she tried hard to determine + whether she should run away or not. With Finny revealing herself in this + wonderful new light, and Kit sitting beside her in the comfortable + firelight and sharing her plateful of stewed pears, the problem was more + than she could solve for herself. If this was school, she should like to + stay here always; and if it wasn’t, well, she felt too lazy in the + present delicious state of things to worry herself any more about it. + </p> + <p> + Supper came to an end at last, and Miss Finlayson glanced at the clock. + Egbert took the hint, and pulled Christopher away from the bookshelves, + which he had begun greedily to examine. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think we must be going,’ said the eldest of the five, + politely; and then he stopped short. <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_117"></a>117</span> The absurdity of the situation upset his + dignity again, and he stood there fingering his cap nervously. + </p> + <p> + ‘What about Babs?’ asked Miss Finlayson; and her eyes twinkled + and shone till one might almost have supposed them to be filled with + tears. + </p> + <p> + The boys looked towards the fireplace; but Miss Finlayson was standing in + front of it, and the little figure in the pink dressing-gown was hidden + from view. The head-mistress, at all events, had come to the conclusion + that the problem was too difficult for Barbara to solve. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, what about the Babe?’ said Egbert, glancing round at the + others. + </p> + <p> + ‘We did come to rescue her,’ maintained Peter, ‘and I do + think<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Isn’t Babs coming?’ interrupted Robin, in tones of + amazement. It seemed a great waste of time to come all this way, and not + to rescue anybody in the end. Of course, there was the supper to be taken + into consideration; but it would be contrary to all precedent in the + Berkeley family, if the boys were to let themselves be influenced by <i>supper</i>. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’d be an idiot if she did come,’ muttered Wilfred, + under his breath. He, undoubtedly, had been influenced by the supper. + </p> + <p> + Christopher pushed a chair on one side with a quick, impatient movement. + ‘She won’t come,’ he said once more. Then he caught a + look from his hostess, and reddened slightly. <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_118"></a>118</span> ‘Perhaps she had better stay,’ he + added, with an effort. + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you, Kit,’ said Miss Finlayson, with a nod and a smile + at him. Then she turned to the others again. The look of amusement never + left her face once. ‘Will some one ask the Babe what she feels about + the matter?’ she suggested. + </p> + <p> + She moved on one side to give them the opportunity. But the question was + never put. Babs had stopped trying to make up her mind; and the little + girl in the pink dressing-gown was lying curled up on the hearthrug, fast + asleep. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_119"></a>119</span><a id="link_8"></a>CHAPTER + VIII<br /><span class="h2fs">THE DISENCHANTMENT OF A BEAST</span> + </h2> + <p> + Barbara was stretched, face downwards, on the floor of the junior + playroom. It was Wednesday evening, about ten days after the rescue party + had invaded Wootton Beeches; and she was trying, with the aid of much ink + and a footstool for a writing-desk, to answer Kit’s last two + letters, and to send him all the news she had accumulated since that + important occasion. Over her head buzzed the desultory conversation of her + fifty-five companions, who still gloried in ignoring her; but she heeded + them no more than they had come to heed the unconscious little person who + lay stretched at their feet. It was really only a habit with them, by this + time, to ignore the new girl; for most of them had quite forgotten the + fancied grievance they had originally cherished against her for her + defiance of their favourite, Jean Murray. Indeed, if it had not been for + the fear of Jean’s scorn and Jean’s tongue, they would + undoubtedly have made friends with her days ago. With the best intentions + in <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_120"></a>120</span> the + world, it was not easy to go on avoiding some one who never seemed to + notice that she was being avoided; and most of them wished secretly that + Jean Murray would ‘come round.’ But whatever Jean felt about + it, she showed no intention outwardly of coming round. Whenever she found + herself alone with a picked audience, she seized the opportunity to + inflame them and herself afresh, by recalling the evil behaviour of + Barbara over the head girl’s boots, pointing out how, by a tissue of + deceit, the offender had wormed herself into Margaret’s favour, to + the exclusion of other worthier members of the junior playroom–notably + of Jean Murray herself. ‘You’ve only got to see how little she + cares, and <i>that</i> will show you what a wicked mind she’s got,’ + was the kind of sentence that usually wound up one of these inflammatory + addresses; and after that, the junior playroom would redouble its coolness + towards Barbara Berkeley. But Barbara Berkeley persisted in going her own + way cheerfully, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to live + with fifty-five companions who never spoke to her; and the situation in + the junior playroom threatened to become too absurd to be maintained. + </p> + <p> + Babs dropped her pen, and picked up one of Kit’s letters for + reference. She had so much to say to him and so little time to say it in, + that she was afraid of leaving some of his questions unanswered. Kit’s + neat and precisely written epistle was a great contrast to <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_121"></a>121</span> her own blotted + and smudged production; and Barbara sighed as she realised how much he + managed to say in a few words, while she expended far more time and ink + and energy, without expressing half as much as she wanted to tell him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dear Babe,’ Kit had written–‘This is to tell you + that we got home safely from the great Midnight Rescue Party, though of + course I caught a chill and had to have that beast Hurst again. I’ll + tell you presently how Jill ragged him, though; and that was well worth + being ill for. But first of all I have to inform you what we all think is + for your good in the present crisis of your fortunes. (That means, now you + are at school.) Of course we are much afflicted to hear that you are not + happy, and of course we are not surprised to hear you do not like girls. + (Nobody could, except Egbert, and he doesn’t really, only he + pretends he does because of that chap’s sister last holidays. That’s + what has done for Egbert, and it’s a great pity, but what we must + expect at his age, so it’s no use vociferating about it.) But to + resume–we are all agreed that the best thing you can do is to stop + where you are until the period of probation is over (that means till you’ve + done being at school). You see, it is only for three months at a time, and + <i>we</i> are here in the holidays. It would be indescribable and + unprecedented (which means beastly, and awful, and things like that) if + you had to live with girls in the vacation too. But you are spared this, + and it <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_122"></a>122</span> is + your duty to be thankful for every crumb of comfort that is to be + substracted from the situation. (Besides, you are a girl yourself; you can’t + get over that though you mayn’t like the idea, and you’ve got + to go on being a girl till you’re a woman. It’s something to + feel that it can’t last for ever, and that in the end you will be + able to be a woman, like Nurse and Auntie Anna; and there’s nothing + the matter with them, is there?) If your temporary indisposition only + cures your spelling it will be money well spent, for your spelling, my + dear Babe, as father once said, is both original and varied. So cheer up, + and remember that Jill is but a girl too, and that she is quite passable + for one of that slack and wayward sex. (Even when she is most like a girl + I find I can bear with her. For instance, when I lammented the other day + that the rescue party had been a frost, she said, “Why, you couldn’t + have bicycled unless it had been, could you? Listen to the rain, now!”) + The post is going, so I must infer the description of how Jill ragged the + doctor till next time. Meanwhile, cultivate the endurance for which + English women have ever been renowned; that is the result of the + codgitations of the council we held before the others went back to school.–Your + affectionate brother, <span class="sc">Christopher Berkeley</span>. + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>P.S.</i>–I’m not quite sure about the m’s in + lammenting; it looks rum somehow, but there isn’t a dictionary, so I + must leave it. C.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_123"></a>123</span>His other + letter was much longer, and had evidently been written straight off + without the elaborate care that he had given to the composition of the + first one. As Babs read it, she pictured him sitting as he always did, + perched on a high chair at the writing-table, with his legs curled under + him and his nose very close to the paper; and suddenly, the deadly feeling + of home-sickness she had been battling with for days came over her again. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is the true account,’ she read, through a suspicious + mist in her eyes, ‘of how Jill ragged the doctor, when he came to + dine with us, the day after the boys went back. Of course, Auntie Anna + didn’t know he was a beast, so she couldn’t be blamed for + asking him; but Jill and I much regretted the circumstance. Robin grumbled + and said he wished he was old enough to sit up to dinner and have courses + and courses and courses, but that’s his beastly greediness, as I + pointed out to him, and he doesn’t know what it is to get a white + tie under a filthy clean collar and then an Eton coat under that and to + wash your teeth extra instead of only in the morning. But Jill came in and + tied it, which was something, and she even did it better than Nurse, who + used to make you feel sick by grinding her knuckles into your throat all + the time. Having prepared ourselves for the awful holocaust we then + proceeded downstairs. (Perhaps you won’t be able to understand all + the words in this letter, but it’s too good a joke to be spoilt by + making it easy for you, so you <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_124"></a>124</span> must do your best.) Jill had an awfully + decent pink sort of thing on, and it had rows of fringe that you could tie + into knots without her rotting you for doing it. Well, to come to the real + matter of my discourse, we found the doctor in the drawing-room, also the + old Rector, who is called Barnaby and is too old to count much, and + besides Auntie Anna likes him so we mean to extend to him the charm of our + companionship. And the Rector took in Auntie Anna, and the Beast took in + Jill, and I followed behind feeling rotten. You don’t know how + rotten it is, when you are an odd one like that and nobody wants you in + their conversation. You see there were two conversations all the time, + Auntie’s conversation with the old boy about tithes and rent charges + and things that are not suited to my intellect, and Jill’s + conversation with the doctor which wasn’t a conversation at all + because he wouldn’t talk. He sat and glowered at his plate like a + cat would, and if he lifted his eyes by accident and caught one of us + staring at him, he looked down again as if he’d been shot. His + conduct was most unaccountable and reprehensible as I pointed out to Jill + afterwards, and she said, “Yes,” and grinned. I was greatly + incensed with him for giving her so much bother, because she worked hard + at him and never got cross once, and she asked him about the village and + about the poor people and about abroad, and all those grown-up things, and + the Beast said “Yes” and “No” and “Certainly,” + till I wanted to kick him. I tried <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_125"></a>125</span> to help Jill once or twice by tossing off one + of my polite rejoinders, but he only behaved as if I wasn’t there + and looked more like a poker than ever. That was what put Jill’s + monkey up. She couldn’t stand his indifference and acidity to me, so + she began to rag him and that shows that she is in reality a brick though + forced to maskerade as a girl. (That’s another word you don’t + know perhaps but it’s in the dictionary.) She smiled at him as perky + as you please and she said in that soft-cotton-wolly voice of hers, + “Is there anything that <i>does</i> interest you, Dr. Hurst?” + And when the Beast was so bowled over that he nearly dropped his knife and + fork, she just went on and explained how funny it was to sit all the + evening with some one who didn’t want to talk, and didn’t he + think so too? I wanted to break out into paeons of triumph in order to + express my satisfaction at the turn matters were taking, but I restrained + my impetuosity in time and waited for the Beast to speak. He stuttered + rather and began chopping up the pear on his plate as if it was for + Christmas puddings, and then he said he didn’t suppose any young + people were interested in what he was interested in (which shows that all + the while he lumped Jill and me together as <i>kids</i> and not fit to + associate with him). Then Jill asked him what he <i>was</i> interested in, + and he said “Bac–” (this is the longest word of all and + I’m afraid you won’t find it in the dictionary, at any rate + not in the way I’m going to spell it) “Bacterioi–” + oh hang! here goes <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_126"></a>126</span> + again–“Bacteriollodgy.” Then Auntie Anna winked at Jill, + and we went upstairs and left the Beast with the Rector, which was a + punishment he more than deserved, as I told Jill. She said she was afraid + we boys were spoiling her manners, and Auntie said, “Of course they + are!” as if it was a good thing, which of course <i>we</i> know it + is. I had to go to bed then, and Jill said it was awful desolation and + despair when I’d gone, because Auntie Anna began her conversation + all over again with old Barnaby, and the Beast instead of having the sense + to join in it went and sat with Jill all the evening. Which shows his + puerrility and blightedness. She sang to him too, and he got up to go the + moment she had finished which was beastly rude, I think. If he did think + she sang badly he might have played up better. But he’s a beast, and + you can’t get over that. He’s very ugly and sulky looking, and + he’s about fifty I should think, but Jill says not so old. That’s + her grown-up charitableness which she can’t get over. Anyhow<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + The mist in Barbara’s eyes threatened to become so serious at this + point that she put down Kit’s letter hastily and returned to her + own. Whatever happened, she was not going to cry before all these girls, + who never understood anything she did. She was hard at work again by the + time Ruth Oliver pushed aside the curtain and looked in from the next + room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara Berkeley!’ she called. ‘Has any one seen + Barbara Berkeley?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_127"></a>127</span>One or two of + the girls looked round casually at the slim figure on the floor, but + nobody roused her. Ruth Oliver was too good-natured a person to inspire + much authority in the junior playroom, and the children would sooner risk + her displeasure any day than Jean Murray’s. If it had been any other + girl in the First, half a dozen of them would have hastened to do her + bidding at once. + </p> + <p> + ‘Angela!’ called Ruth, impatiently, coming into the room as + she spoke; ‘don’t you know where the Babe is? She has got to + go and see the doctor at once.’ + </p> + <p> + On the other side of the curtain, both Barbara and her nickname met with + the popularity that was denied to them in the junior playroom; and the + note of familiarity in the elder girl’s words sent Angela’s + impudent chin up in the air. + </p> + <p> + ‘We don’t know anybody of that name in here,’ she said, + and went on talking flippantly to the girl beside her. + </p> + <p> + Ruth Oliver was not born to be a leader, and she was horribly afraid of + some of the younger ones, who had been quick enough to detect this long + ago, and naturally presumed upon it. But there were limits even to her + endurance, and she laid a stern hand on Angela’s shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you don’t want to be reported to Margaret Hulme, you’d + better fetch Barbara to me at once,’ she commanded, with a firmness + she certainly did not feel. + </p> + <p> + Angela rose with a very bad grace, and <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_128"></a>128</span> strolled as slowly as she dared to the other + end of the room. ‘If you’d only said that at first, it would + have saved all this fuss!’ she muttered, as soon as she was at a + safe distance. + </p> + <p> + Babs still lay face downwards on the floor, with her heels in the air and + her whole attention fixed on the paper she was covering with her large + round handwriting. If she did not finish her letter before the prayer-bell + rang, it would have to wait until next Wednesday. So she did not take any + notice when some one came and said something or another in her ear. She + was always in somebody’s way, and if she moved, she would only be in + somebody else’s way. So she stayed where she was. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t you hear? You’ve got to go and see the doctor,’ + repeated Angela, loudly and with impatience. Thoughtless and empty-headed + as she was, even Angela Wilkins had the sense to see how absurd it was + that the new girl should turn on her persecutors by ignoring them. + </p> + <p> + Barbara rolled over on her side and glanced up at her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, all right! I know how much of that to believe,’ she + answered; and she rolled back again into her old position and continued + her letter to Kit. + </p> + <p> + ‘She says she doesn’t want to see the stupid doctor, and + nothing will induce her to come, and she doesn’t care what you say + or anybody else either,’ was Angela’s version, on her <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_129"></a>129</span> return to Ruth + Oliver, of the way in which Barbara had received her message. + </p> + <p> + The elder girl looked down at her suspiciously. ‘Did she really say + that?’ she inquired. + </p> + <p> + ‘Go and ask her, that’s all,’ cried Angela, full of + righteous indignation at having her word doubted. For she was really under + the impression that she had correctly described the attitude of the new + girl towards the doctor and Ruth Oliver. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, I will,’ answered Ruth, and she threaded her way among + the girls until she too stood over the prostrate figure of the offender. + </p> + <p> + ‘Babs,’ she called, bending down. + </p> + <p> + Barbara flourished her black legs in the air with an impatient movement. + ‘How you do bother!’ she complained, stifling a sigh. ‘That’s + the second in five minutes. Why can’t you leave me alone?’ + </p> + <p> + There was a start of surprise in the group that surrounded her. It is + probable that few of her listeners saw the ridiculous side of the new girl’s + request to be left alone, when that was the punishment that had been meted + out to her ever since her second day at school; but any one of them could + have told her that that was not the way to speak to a girl in the First. + </p> + <p> + Ruth turned a little red from sheer nervousness; and the girls immediately + decided that she was afraid of the youngest child in the school, and began + to giggle with one accord. <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_130"></a>130</span> + Barbara sighed again at this new interruption; and raising herself on her + knees, she sat back on her heels. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s you!’ she observed, shaking the hair out of + her eyes. ‘Why didn’t you say so? I thought it was just some + one who wanted to bother.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ve got to go and see the doctor in Finny’s study. + Make haste, Babe,’ said Ruth, who was smarting under the giggle, and + wanted to get back into the other room among her equals. But the Babe + showed no signs of making haste. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why have I got to see the doctor?’ she asked, opening her + eyes. ‘I’m not ill or anything; and I want to finish my letter + home. Don’t you think it’s a mistake?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I don’t,’ said Ruth, forgetting her nervousness all + at once, and lifting the child boldly off the floor. ‘You’ve + got to be examined to see if you can do gymnastics, that’s all. He’s + in Finny’s study, waiting for you.’ She carried her playfully + under her arm and set her down on the further side of the curtain. + Whatever the other tiresome children might think of her, she knew that the + Babe never criticised her, and that gave her confidence. + </p> + <p> + Barbara was still a little dubious about the sense of seeing a doctor when + she did not feel ill; but she trotted across the hall obediently and went + into Finny’s study. She was only half conscious of what she was + doing, for she had been taken from her letter too abruptly to <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_131"></a>131</span> have had time to + wake up properly; and Babs always required plenty of time to wake up, when + she had been absorbed in anything. So the solemn-looking young man, who + sat in the low arm-chair, was a little upset when she not only gave him + her hand to shake but also put up her face to be kissed as a matter of + course. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Wilson Hurst, in spite of Kit’s idea of his age, was only + twenty-eight and quite young enough to feel extremely bashful. He jerked + back his head suddenly; and Barbara woke up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ she said, smiling. ‘I wasn’t + thinking. Of course you don’t want to be kissed; I shouldn’t + have dreamed of kissing you at home, you know, because the boys feel just + like you about kissing. But Ruth kisses me such lots, and everybody seems + to kiss everybody else here, so I suppose I’ve rather got into the + way of<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Here Miss Finlayson said ‘Hush!’ very softly; and the doctor + pulled something so queer and interesting out of his pocket at the same + time, that Barbara forgot everything else. ‘What are you going to do + with that funny thing? Is it a speaking-tube?’ she asked curiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m going to see whether your heart is in the right place,’ + answered the doctor, and he was immediately so overcome at his stupendous + levity in making a joke over a medical examination, that he did not speak + another word till it was completed. As for Babs, she was <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_132"></a>132</span> immensely + interested the whole time, and never took her bright little eyes off his + face once. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it in the right place?’ she asked him, when he put the + queer-looking thing back in his pocket again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said the doctor, briefly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is anybody’s in the wrong place?’ pursued Babs, leaning + against his knee in the most friendly way imaginable. + </p> + <p> + ‘Sometimes,’ said the doctor. He marvelled at himself for not + feeling more irritated by her, when as a rule he found children so + worrying. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is yours in the right place?’ persisted Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I hope so,’ said the doctor, struggling with a grim + smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘Same place as mine?’ continued Barbara, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson put out her hand to stop her; but Babs did not see. The + doctor saw, and did not take any notice. + </p> + <p> + ‘I imagine it is in the same place,’ he said feebly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But how do you know, unless some one else finds it for you?’ + inquired Babs. ‘You can’t listen to your own heart through + that funny thing, can you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘N–no, some one else has to find it,’ admitted the + doctor, and she supposed he had remembered something that made him feel + shy, for he coloured furiously and rose to his feet rather hurriedly. + </p> + <p> + Babs stood gazing up at him attentively, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_133"></a>133</span> while he exchanged parting words with Miss + Finlayson. ‘It’s an awful pity you didn’t go to see Kit + when he was ill,’ she remarked, directly there was an opportunity. + ‘Kit’s doctor was a beast.’ + </p> + <p> + The long oval face turned slightly red again; and Miss Finlayson said + something very quickly about the wet evening. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ replied the doctor, stammering a little; ‘I am + sorry the evening is so late,–so wet, I mean, and that I am so late + in calling–positively the first minute I’ve had to-day,–extremely + busy this time of year<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + A hand was stealing inside his, and he had to stop and look down again. + ‘Do you think you could go and see Kit next time he is ill?’ + asked Babs, appealingly. ‘It isn’t nice to have a beast for a + doctor, when you’re ill, is it?’ + </p> + <p> + The doctor went on looking down at her with an odd sort of smile on his + face. ‘That reminds me,’ he said–though how it reminded + him the child could not for the moment imagine–‘that your + cousin Miss Urquhart charged me with a message for you. She sent you her + love and promised to write soon. I hope I have given it correctly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ cried Barbara, with great excitement. ‘Do you know + Jill?’ The doctor kept hold of her hand and nodded. ‘And + Auntie Anna? And the boys–<i>all</i> of them? Then you must know + Kit!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Dr. Hurst, grimly. ‘I was the beast.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_134"></a>134</span>Then he + stooped and kissed her cheek very stiffly, as if he were not used to + kissing people; and then he went away. Like Ruth Oliver, he had found it + difficult to feel nervous of the youngest girl in the school. + </p> + <p> + Barbara climbed on the window-seat, and flattened her nose against the + window-pane, and watched the lamps of the doctor’s trap receding + down the drive. ‘I like doctors; don’t you, Miss Finlayson?’ + she inquired, when that lady came back into the study. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson agreed that she liked doctors very much indeed, and she + began to write something in a big book, while Babs knelt on the + window-seat and stared out into the rain and the darkness. Suddenly she + jumped down from her perch with a cry of dismay. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the matter now?’ asked the head-mistress, + absently. + </p> + <p> + ‘I must have called him a beast!’ gasped Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘I think I heard something like it,’ observed Miss Finlayson, + still writing. + </p> + <p> + ‘But–but I didn’t mean that <i>he</i> was a beast,’ + proceeded Barbara, looking distressed. ‘I meant that somebody else + was a beast. It wasn’t my fault that somebody else was <i>him</i>, + was it, Miss Finlayson?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It would be safer, I think, and perhaps a little more considerate, + not to call anybody a beast,’ remarked the head-mistress, gravely. + ‘Then these little mistakes would be avoided.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I never will again,’ sighed Babs. ‘It’s <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_135"></a>135</span> such a particular + pity, because he isn’t a bit like a real beast, is he?’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson looked up while she dried the page she had just written. + ‘Have you finished your letters home?’ she inquired + pleasantly. ‘The prayer-bell will ring in about a quarter of an + hour.’ + </p> + <p> + The reminder sent Barbara straight out of the room, and she sped swiftly + back across the hall, thinking busily. Clearly, the only reparation she + could make to the doctor was to transform him from a beast into a fairy + prince, and to offer him a place in her fairy kingdom; but he would be + rather lonely there without a princess, she feared, and she herself + already belonged to Kit. It was always easier to find princes than + princesses, and she did wish that Finny would not wear a cap and scrape + her hair back so tidily–two things which disqualified her, in spite + of her niceness, from being a princess in anybody’s kingdom. + However, perhaps he would not mind doing without a princess just at first; + and in time she might be able to find some one who was neither silly nor + unkind, and would be worthy of a crown and the companionship of a + disenchanted beast. + </p> + <p> + At this point in her reflections Barbara reached the door of the senior + playroom, and the sight of the elder girls, as they busied themselves with + their weekly correspondence, reminded her again of her letter to Kit. For + the moment, as far as she was concerned, her new prince would have to + whistle for a princess. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_136"></a>136</span><a id="link_9"></a>CHAPTER + IX<br /><span class="h2fs">THE BABE’S ‘FURY’</span> + </h2> + <p> + In the junior playroom Jean Murray had been taking the opportunity to + revive the animosity against the new girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can’t you see that she’s laughing at us all?’ she + exclaimed to a circle of humble listeners. ‘It’s all very well + to pretend to be such a baby; that kind of thing may go down with the + elder ones, but it won’t do here. Anybody can see that she’s + only putting it all on, to be aggravating.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She told a story the very day she arrived,’ chimed in Angela + from behind. ‘A girl who could do that would do anything.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Can’t you leave the child alone?’ suggested Charlotte + Bigley, who happened to be listening. ‘She seems such a harmless + infant to me. I don’t believe she even knows she is supposed to be + in disgrace.’ + </p> + <p> + It required a good deal of courage to stand up alone against all the girls + in the junior playroom, and Charlotte flushed a little when they all + laughed at her. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s where her artfulness comes in,’ <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_137"></a>137</span> declared Jean. She + thought she heard her rival’s voice on the other side of the + curtain, and jealousy made her more bitter than before. ‘If you ask + me, I believe she only pretends not to notice any of us, so as to pick up + everything she can; and then she goes and sneaks it all to the elder ones.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Jean!’ remonstrated Charlotte. + </p> + <p> + Jean looked a tiny bit ashamed of herself. It was not nearly so easy to + say unkind things about the new girl as it had been a week ago. All the + same, her unhappiness at the continued coldness of Margaret Hulme was + quite genuine, and it hurt her sorely to think that the head girl was now + smiling on the interloper as she used to smile upon her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, it’s true!’ she vowed. ‘I vote we don’t + leave her alone, or give her the chance of mocking at us, any more. She + wants to be taught that she’s the youngest girl in the school, and + that it isn’t anything to be cocky about. Anybody who likes can make + up to her, as the big girls do; but <i>I</i> am going to see that she + keeps in her place.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What a fuss to make about an innocent brat like that,’ + remarked Charlotte, smiling scornfully. ‘It’s jealousy, + because Margaret is kind to her: that’s all it is!’ + </p> + <p> + That was decidedly what it was, but it did not soothe Jean’s temper + to be told so in this blunt manner; and by the time her rival came in from + the seniors’ room, the enemy had been worked up into a fine state of + resentment against <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_138"></a>138</span> + her. Unconscious as ever that there was anything unusual in the atmosphere + of the junior playroom, Barbara slipped through the girls who were + standing about, and reached her footstool and her letter almost before + they noticed that she had returned. There seemed to be some wrangling + going on between Jean Murray and Charlotte; but Jean Murray was always + wrangling with some one about something, and Babs paid no more attention + to it than to the sudden hush that followed as she dropped down in her old + position on the floor. It was a good thing, she thought, that nobody + talked just then, because there was so little time left in which to finish + her letter. She took up the pages she had written and glanced over them. + </p> + <p> + ‘Thank you awfuly much for your advice,’ she had scrawled in + her large childish hand. ‘I am cheering up lots and now that I don’t + take any notice of the girls and their awfull siliness it is quite nice + being here but not nearly so nice as being at home with you and father all + of which is now burried for ever alass in my past. I don’t hate + girls like I did at first. At first they were always bothering and asking + quesstions and being inquissitive but now they leave me alone and never + talk except when they want the salt or the butter or haven’t heard + the number of the psarm at prayers or can’t do their algibra I have + lots of algibra to do because girls aren’t good at algibra I don’t + think so I always do their algibra for them. <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_139"></a>139</span> Girls are no fun like boys but as long as + they don’t say horible things to me like they did at first I think I + shall be able to bear them all right but its rather dull excep when we + play hockey I’m getting on at hockey Hurly-Burly says and she says I + shall play in matches some day and she’s a brick and I like her. We + haven’t had any gym yet because the gymnasiam is being painted but + we’re going to begin to-morrow and I’m longing to begin they + can’t laugh at my short skirts at gym because everybody’s + skirt is short at gym and its red and very becomming Ruth says Ruth is + Ruth Oliver and she’s a big girl and she hooks up my frocks and + kisses me she kisses me rather a lot but it’s Ruth Oliver so I can + put up with it. School is very nice when it’s games or algibra or + latin but it’s horrid when its dictation or geography or coppies + Finny says I must try so I am trying but I wish I wasn’t such an + ignorrant girl I heard Jean Murray say yesterday I was the most ignorrant + girl that ever came inside this house but praps that was because I had + seventeen speling faults.’ + </p> + <p> + She sighed as she dipped her pen in the ink again. That was all she had + said, after writing nearly all the afternoon and evening. And she had so + much more to say, and there was so little time left before prayers! + </p> + <p> + ‘I have just seen the doctor who is a Beast and he isn’t a + Beast,’ she had written laboriously on a fresh page, when Jean + Murray stooped over her and shook her vigorously by the arm. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_140"></a>140</span>‘Oh, + dear!’ sighed Babs, feeling in her pocket for the handkerchief that + so rarely seemed to be in it. ‘There’s another blot, and I’m + in such a hurry!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s no use losing your temper about it,’ said Jean. + ‘You’ve got to get up from the floor and fetch a desk, if you + want to write letters.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked up in mild surprise. ‘But I’m not losing my + temper! Are you sure you don’t mean <i>you</i> when you say me?’ + she asked with a spice of mischief in her tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘There!’ said Jean, turning triumphantly to the attendant + Angela. ‘Didn’t I say she was only laughing at us? Now, look + here,’ she continued, turning again to Babs, ‘you’ve got + to remember that you’re the youngest in the school<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, don’t!’ interrupted Babs, putting up her hands to + her ears. ‘You’ll begin about the head girl’s boots + next.’ + </p> + <p> + It was the most luckless thing she could have said, for it convinced Jean + more than ever that the new girl was bent on making game of her most + serious feelings. + </p> + <p> + ‘I shall say anything I choose,’ she retorted hotly. ‘Get + off the floor at once, will you? We don’t want ink spilt all over + the place; this isn’t a nursery.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Who’s spilling ink all over the place?’ asked Barbara, + without moving. All the mischief that was in her rose uppermost when any + one spoke to her like that. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_141"></a>141</span>‘You + are, of course,’ returned Jean, shaking her again. ‘You’re + so badly brought up that you don’t know how to behave in a civilised + house. You’re nothing but a young savage; I heard Margaret Hulme say + so, directly you arrived–there! It’s easy to see you’ve + never had any one to look after you.’ + </p> + <p> + The mischievous look died out of the child’s face, and she gathered + up her papers and scrambled slowly to her feet. The boys would have known + that such lamblike behaviour was only the prelude to one of the Babe’s + ‘furies’; but Jean thought she had succeeded at last in + subduing her, and she became exultant. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s time that some one civilised you,’ she remarked + scornfully. ‘I’m glad I’ve been brought up properly, and + not neglected like you.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara flashed round upon her suddenly. ‘What’s the matter + with my bringing-up?’ she demanded in a breathless voice. ‘My + father brought me up, and no one in the whole world could have brought me + up better than he has.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That accounts for it,’ scoffed Jean. ‘Fathers can’t + bring anybody up, especially girls. I’ve heard mother say so, lots + of times.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara’s eyes were glittering brightly. ‘My father can,’ + she answered swiftly. ‘My father isn’t like other people’s + fathers. You shouldn’t judge my father by your father. I don’t + expect your father to be clever because mine is, do I?’ + </p> + <p> + The implied insult was quite accidental on <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_142"></a>142</span> her part, in spite of the anger that was + growing in her; but Jean could not be expected to know that. + </p> + <p> + ‘How dare you say that my father isn’t clever?’ she + cried indignantly. ‘My father is a professor at Edinburgh, so there!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘My father writes books,’ answered Babs, proudly. ‘It’s + much more wonderful to write books than to be a professor, because + everybody all over the world hears of you if you write books.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That depends on whether they’re good books,’ argued + Jean, warmly. ‘You <i>have</i> to be clever if you want to be a + professor, but any stupid person can write a stupid book, and nobody ever + hears of that kind of book at all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Everybody has heard of my father’s book, though, so that + shows how little you know about it,’ replied Barbara. ‘The + people in America liked his book so much that they asked him to go all the + way to America to lecture about it. The people in America never asked <i>your</i> + father<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is your father called Everard Berkeley?’ asked Jean, + suddenly. She had not listened to grown-up conversations in the Christmas + holidays for nothing, and she thought she saw her way at last to crushing + the irrepressible new girl, once and for all. + </p> + <p> + Babs nodded. She was too proud to say anything. What other girl in the + room had a father who was so celebrated that people knew him by his + Christian name, instead of calling <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_143"></a>143</span> him just <i>Mr.</i> Somebody? She had only a + short time in which to enjoy her triumph, however, for Jean Murray turned + quickly on her heel, and walked off with a swaggering step. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then my father says that your father is a failure over here,’ + she answered, tossing her head contemptuously. ‘Nobody will read his + old book in England; so he was <i>obliged</i> to go to America.’ + </p> + <p> + The other girls were beginning to notice the dispute, and they came + crowding round to hear what it was all about. Most of them were in time to + see Jean Murray walk off with her head in the air, just as the little new + girl clenched her fists and crouched down as if to make a spring. Then the + storm broke, and the Babe’s fury was let loose among the fifty-five + occupants of the junior playroom. + </p> + <p> + It was an easy matter, in that spring forward, to send some half dozen or + so spinning out of her way, but Barbara did not stop to see what happened + to them. All she wanted to do was to reach the arch offender of them all, + the one who had dared to slight her father, and to hold him up to the + ridicule of fifty-five girls. + </p> + <p> + Nobody quite knew what did happen on this unexampled occasion in the + annals of Wootton Beeches; and certainly nobody stirred a finger to put a + stop to it. All that the girls in the senior playroom could tell about it + afterwards was that a sudden scuffle and several screams broke the hush + and hum of voices on the other side of the curtain; and then Angela <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_144"></a>144</span> Wilkins dashed + through the archway with a terrified look on her face, and seized Margaret + by the arm. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, come! do come!’ she sobbed out in her fright. ‘Barbara + Berkeley has got Jean Murray down on the floor, and she’s <i>killing</i> + her!’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_145"></a>145</span><a + id="link_10"></a>CHAPTER X<br /><span class="h2fs">THE END OF THE FEUD</span> + </h2> + <p> + When the prayer-bell rang that evening, it interrupted a wild tumult in + the junior playroom. The elder girls had rushed through the curtain, on + the terrified summons of Angela Wilkins; and the whole school crowded and + thronged round a confused heap in the middle of the floor. Nothing much + was to be seen except two lanky black legs, a crumpled white frock, and a + good deal of untidy brown hair; and at first nobody did anything but stare + and exclaim. The ringing of the prayer-bell, however, brought them all to + their senses. Margaret Hulme made a sudden dash at the two combatants, + picked up the one that came first, and dropped her in a corner of the + room, where she could be hidden from view until she had time to recover + herself. Then the head girl turned to the child who still lay sobbing and + gasping on the floor. + </p> + <p> + ‘You get up and behave yourself!’ she said in a stern + undertone; and Jean Murray struggled to her feet and went off snivelling, + to be <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_146"></a>146</span> + comforted by the trembling and excited Angela. Then the elder girls melted + away again into their own room, and a kind of uneasy hush settled down on + the eighty-seven inhabitants of Wootton Beeches. + </p> + <p> + Barbara rubbed her eyes and stared wildly round her. A solid wall of girls + stood between her and the scene of the recent scuffle; she could not see + what had become of her victim, and at first she did not even realise what + was producing this wonderful calm. Then the girls in front of her began + slowly to move away towards the archway; and once she caught a glimpse + through the curtain of the door in the room beyond. It was only a glimpse, + for the girls closed up again immediately; but it was enough to show her + the stately figure of Miss Finlayson, as she stood and wished her pupils + good-night, one by one. Barbara had watched the same ceremony for a good + many evenings now, but it had never seemed quite so orderly or so solemn + before. To-night, it made a peculiar impression on the wild little tomboy + who had been brought up without discipline or control, and the strangeness + and the misery of her position overwhelmed her as with a new feeling. At + the same instant, in striking contrast to the dismal reality, came the + remembrance of the dream she had dreamed all her life about this very + place called school; and, unnoticed by her school-fellows, who were fully + occupied in trying to behave as if nothing had happened, she broke down + and sobbed bitterly in her corner. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_147"></a>147</span>The stream of + girls that had been filing past Miss Finlayson came to an end at last; but + Miss Finlayson did not follow them immediately to the chapel. Far away, in + a distant corner of the junior playroom, crouched a dishevelled little + girl in a crumpled frock, weeping dolefully for a dream that had never + come true; and Miss Finlayson stood and waited in her place by the door. + </p> + <p> + A sense of the extreme stillness, now that the footsteps of the girls had + ceased, slowly impressed itself upon Barbara; and she looked up with a new + feeling of alarm. There, through the opening in the curtain, she could see + the stately figure of the head-mistress in the room beyond; and Babs + thrust a round, inky ball of a handkerchief into her pocket, and hastened + towards her in a panic. + </p> + <p> + ‘I didn’t know you were waiting for me,’ she said, + fighting to keep the quiver out of her voice. ‘I didn’t know + they had all gone. I–I’d forgotten it was prayers now.’ + </p> + <p> + She knocked over a chair as she stumbled across the room, and once her + dress caught on the edge of a desk and stopped her; but Miss Finlayson + waited with her hand out, and the little new girl reached her at last. + Once more, behind the grave glance of the blue-grey eyes, lurked a + suggestion of something softer and more human, and it gave Barbara a + little courage. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wasn’t crying because I was sorry I’d thumped Jean + Murray,’ she burst out. ‘I’m <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_148"></a>148</span> not a bit sorry, + not a <i>bit</i>! I’d like to thump her again for saying–for + saying<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + It sounded uncommonly like telling tales, and she had to stop. Miss + Finlayson still had hold of her hand, and still looked down at her with + the mixture of expressions on her face. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you coming up to prayers, Babs?’ was all she said. + </p> + <p> + Barbara had not even heard the question. She was full of her grievance + against Jean Murray, which she had almost forgotten for the minute; and + she burst out again, more angrily than before. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t you understand?’ she cried passionately. ‘I + wasn’t crying for <i>that</i>; it–it was something else, but I + can’t tell you what it was, because you’d only laugh. They all + laugh–except when they’re just being horrible! Why didn’t + you let me run away last week? I don’t want to stop with people like + Jean Murray, and–and all the rest of them; I hate being here, I hate + the girls, I hate you! Why won’t you let me go away?’ + </p> + <p> + She hardly knew what she was saying. She had not been in such a passion + since the dreary day, two years ago, when they took her nurse away from + her, and she had made herself ill with fretting. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson tightened her grasp on the hand that was struggling to free + itself; then she bent over her rebellious little pupil, and laid her other + hand against her burning cheek. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you coming up to prayers, Babs?’ she <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_149"></a>149</span> repeated. Her + persistence began to take effect, and the cool touch of her fingers was + very soothing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why–why won’t you let me go away?’ sobbed Babs, + and the tears rained down her cheeks again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why?’ echoed Miss Finlayson, producing a handkerchief that + had not been used, like Barbara’s, to mop up ink blots. ‘Because + I want you myself, to be sure.’ + </p> + <p> + She dried the child’s eyes as she spoke; and the small tear-stained + face looked up at her wistfully. ‘Do you want me?’ asked + Barbara. ‘Does anybody want me–<i>truthfully</i>?’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson nodded, and a look slowly deepened in her face that gave + the child confidence. ‘Yes, Babs, truthfully,’ she answered. + Then she repeated for the last time, ‘Are you coming to prayers?’ + And keeping the hot little hand within hers, she led her upstairs to the + chapel. + </p> + <p> + At Wootton Beeches the girls always walked in and out of chapel in the + order of their classes, beginning at the top of the school. But, this + evening, the youngest child in the school walked out in front of + everybody, for Miss Finlayson held her by the hand and would not let her + go. They stood together, a curiously assorted couple, at the end of the + passage that led to the other wing of the house; and one after another the + girls passed them on their way to their rooms. There was not a sound for + some moments, except the tapping <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_150"></a>150</span> of footsteps on the polished boards; then, + walking last of all, came Jean Murray. Babs broke from her companion and + flung herself impetuously forward. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, I’m awfully sorry I thumped you on the head just now,’ + she began, and held out her hand invitingly to the enemy. ‘I wasn’t + a bit sorry at first, and I wanted to do it again, <i>frightfully</i>; but + I am sorry now, and I don’t.’ + </p> + <p> + The girls who were still in the passage lingered, and looked back. + Evidently, there was no end to the sensations that Barbara Berkeley meant + to produce in her first term at school. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush!’ whispered Jean, glancing round timorously at the + head-mistress. + </p> + <p> + Babs looked amazed. ‘Won’t you shake hands?’ she asked. + ‘I know I thumped you awfully hard, but still<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sh-sh!’ repeated Jean, trying to push past her. ‘Don’t + you know we’re not allowed<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think–I <i>do</i> think you might make it up,’ + continued Babs, in a disappointed tone. ‘Even if I did hurt you + rather, you must own you were very mean.’ + </p> + <p> + Jean Murray, feeling the eyes of authority fixed upon her, made another + attempt to escape. ‘Can’t you wait till to-morrow?’ she + asked in an agitated whisper. + </p> + <p> + ‘I should have waited, if it hadn’t been for that hymn,’ + answered the child, still barring the way obstinately. ‘I can’t + help it if the hymn made me feel funny without making you feel <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_151"></a>151</span> funny too, can I? + I can’t think what there was about that hymn,’ she added to + herself reflectively; ‘I never remember noticing a hymn so much + before.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson came up to them, and Jean fairly quaked. If there was a + rule that the head-mistress was strict about, it was the rule of silence + after prayers. Jean knew, for she had been unlucky enough to break it more + than once. + </p> + <p> + ‘I have changed your room, Jean,’ said Miss Finlayson, calmly. + ‘Angela will have yours for the rest of the term, and you are to + sleep in number fourteen, next door to Ruth Oliver. I have just told + Angela, so you can go straight to her old room now, and I will send up one + of the servants to move your things for the night. The rest can be done in + the morning. By the way,’ she added, as she left them, ‘you + three may talk till the lights are put out; for it seems that Barbara has + something to say that will not keep until to-morrow. Good-night.’ + </p> + <p> + She walked away downstairs with a deliberate step; and the two children + were left standing together on the landing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, I never!’ exclaimed Jean, staring after Miss Finlayson. + </p> + <p> + But Babs was less concerned with the peculiarities of the head-mistress + than with her own immediate business. ‘How much longer are you going + to be before you shake hands?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, that’s all right,’ answered Jean, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_152"></a>152</span> awkwardly, and she + at last put a limp hand into the one Barbara was tired of pressing upon + her. They trotted along the passage side by side, Jean feeling a little + overwhelmed by the suddenness of the reconciliation, while Babs wondered + what had happened to make her so silent all at once. To her it seemed the + most natural thing in the world to be on good terms with the enemy whose + head you had just thumped, provided that you had apologised suitably + afterwards; and she chatted away cheerfully until Jean was obliged to + stifle her inclination to be dignified. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say,’ said Babs, when they reached the gallery in the other + wing of the house and were hurrying round it to their rooms; ‘shall + I be punished a lot for knocking you down this evening?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean recovered some of her self-assurance. If she was to be denied the + pleasure, in future, of persecuting the new girl, there was no reason why + she should not still patronise her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Punished!’ she echoed. ‘That’s all you know about + it. Nobody is ever punished here.’ + </p> + <p> + It took Barbara a moment or two to get used to this new idea, and by that + time they had reached their rooms. She returned to the subject soon after, + however, when Ruth had opened the doors that led from her room into both + theirs, so that they could talk across her if they liked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can you be as naughty as you choose in this school?’ demanded + Babs, in a puzzled tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t advise you to try,’ remarked Ruth. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_153"></a>153</span>‘Why + not? What would happen if I did?’ asked Babs, curiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you’d feel jolly small, and have to come round in the + end and behave like other people,’ said Jean, raising her voice to + make herself heard. + </p> + <p> + Barbara wandered into Ruth’s room to have her frock unfastened, and + continued the discussion from there. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, is being good at school the same thing as behaving like other + people?’ she said doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + The others seemed to have some difficulty in answering this. ‘There!’ + said Ruth, giving her a little push; ‘make haste and get undressed.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara wandered back into her own room again, and thought it over + carefully. ‘Being good at home wouldn’t be the same thing as + behaving like other people,’ she observed presently. + </p> + <p> + ‘Home isn’t school,’ answered Ruth. ‘And Finny’s + school isn’t like other people’s schools,’ she added. + </p> + <p> + ‘Isn’t it?’ said Babs, with interest. ‘Where’s + the difference?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Ask Jean,’ replied Ruth; and Jean took up the tale from + beyond. + </p> + <p> + ‘I was at another school before I came here, and it was very + different, I can tell you,’ she remarked. ‘There were nothing + but rules there, and you always seemed to be breaking one or another of + them, without knowing it; and then <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_154"></a>154</span> you got punished. I was punished the whole + time I was there.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What sort of punishments?’ asked Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘Stupid punishments,’ answered Jean, vaguely. ‘Punishments + that made you feel foolish, and made you hate people. I did hate a lot of + people at that school. I thought I was awfully wicked because I hated so + many people. And then I came here,’ she wound up triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘And did you find you were good when you came here?’ asked + Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘You shut up and get yourself ready for bed, or else Fräulein will + catch you,’ was all Jean said in reply to this. + </p> + <p> + Barbara gave one or two perfunctory taps to her head with a brush. ‘I + suppose that’s why we’re left so much to ourselves,’ she + remarked, after a pause. ‘We never see the teachers except at meals + or in lesson time, do we?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course we don’t,’ replied Ruth; ‘that’s + where Finny’s school is so different, you see. In most schools you + are being watched all day by some one or another, and it makes you whisper + because you don’t want to be overheard. Nothing makes Finny so + furious as to catch any one whispering.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Is she ever furious?’ inquired Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t be a young silly,’ said Ruth, good-naturedly, a + reply which had no effect whatever upon Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘It seems to me,’ she went on thoughtfully, ‘that it’s + very difficult to know what is wrong <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_155"></a>155</span> and what isn’t, when there aren’t + any punishments and no one is there to tell you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you’re supposed to have some sense, you know,’ + explained Ruth. ‘Finny’s great idea is that you should think + for yourself and not go to other people to find out things. She says being + good isn’t worth much, if you’re only good because some one + else tells you to be good.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s all very well,’ objected Babs, ‘but + suppose you don’t know without being told?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, if you don’t know that behaving like a wild Indian is + wrong, it’s not much good being there to tell you so,’ said + Jean, bluntly. + </p> + <p> + The point of her remark was quite lost on Barbara, who was still puzzling + over a question that had never occurred to her before. ‘At home,’ + she observed, ‘we never talk about whether a thing is right or + wrong. If we did, the boys would call it awfully slack.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What do they call it when you nearly kill people by knocking them + down and hitting them?’ asked Jean, rather suddenly. The application + of hot water was causing the bruise on her forehead to smart most + unpleasantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ said Barbara, in a surprised tone; ‘I thought you + had made it up?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bother making it up,’ grumbled Jean, ‘when you’ve + got a lump as big as<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’ cried Babs, in great + concern. ‘Haven’t you any pomade to put on it?’ + </p> + <p> + Something very like an amused chuckle came <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_156"></a>156</span> from the direction of Ruth Oliver, but Babs + was in far too great a hurry to notice that. Flinging everything right and + left on the floor, she cleared out two drawers and a box before she + succeeded in finding the bottle she wanted. + </p> + <p> + ‘Here it is!’ she exclaimed, taking it in to her wounded foe. + ‘It’s awfully good stuff, really; and it keeps you from + turning blue and yellow. We always use it at home.’ + </p> + <p> + Ruth’s chuckle grew into a hearty laugh. ‘I should think you + wanted pounds of it in your home, if they’re all like you!’ + she exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + Barbara wondered what the joke was. ‘They’re not like me,’ + she said simply. ‘The others are all boys, you see, so they get + their own way without fighting.’ + </p> + <p> + And when the German governess came to turn out their lights, she found the + three white-robed figures standing together in Jean’s room, one of + them shaking with laughter, another trying rather unsuccessfully to keep + grave, while the third, holding out a bottle in her hand, looked at them + both with a puzzled air. There was no end, thought Fräulein, to the + caprices of English children. Had not Miss Finlayson been relating to all + the teachers downstairs, how the two little ones before her had flown at + each other in a passion, just before prayers? + </p> + <p> + The junior playroom felt equally incapable of grappling with the + situation, when the new girl marched gaily into it the next morning <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_157"></a>157</span> with her arm + linked in Jean Murray’s. For once, Jean’s followers found + themselves at a loss. Not having been informed what actually had taken + place in the passage the night before, they could hardly be expected to + know all at once how to treat this new state of affairs. Nor did Jean + trouble herself to enlighten them. Indeed, she was so cross when any one + approached her on the subject, that even Angela had to leave her alone; + while the junior playroom in general, being less devoted, threw out dark + hints about temper as soon as Jean was out of hearing. Angela, however, + had the wit to see the one thing that was evident–the feud with the + new girl was at an end, and anybody who wanted to keep friends with Jean + Murray in future would have to accept Barbara Berkeley as well. So she + decided to accept Barbara herself, to begin with; and she set to work at + the same time to convert the whole of the junior playroom. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you don’t behave decently to her, you’ll have Finny + down on you,’ she advised, in the few moments allowed for + conversation after breakfast. ‘Anybody could see that, from the way + Finny glared at Jean last night.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Did <i>you</i> see it?’ inquired Charlotte Bigley, with + unpleasant directness. + </p> + <p> + ‘N–no, not exactly,’ admitted Angela, uncomfortably. + ‘But Mary Wells did, and she told me. And look here,’ she went + on, shifting her ground hurriedly, ‘Jean’s made it up with + Barbara Berkeley, and the sooner we do the <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_158"></a>158</span> same the better it’ll be for us. + Besides, why shouldn’t we make it up? It’s such a bore to have + to keep on remembering all the time that you’re <i>furious</i> with + some one!’ + </p> + <p> + This was more to the point; and the junior playroom, which had never + thrown itself with any heartiness into the feud, decided that Barbara + Berkeley was to be accepted without any more delay. Unfortunately, Barbara + Berkeley, who had never realised that her school-fellows had been leaving + her in peace on purpose to annoy her, was quite unprepared for the sudden + change in their behaviour. + </p> + <p> + Charlotte Bigley was the first to put into force the resolution that had + been arrived at by the junior playroom. ‘If you like,’ she + observed carelessly, when she met Barbara by the bookshelf, just before + the first class, ‘you can put away Ruth Oliver’s desk after + preparation, instead of me.’ + </p> + <p> + For her part, she had always felt kindly disposed towards the new girl, + and the offer she was making now came straight from her heart, and was the + most generous one she could think of at the moment. But Babs only looked + dismayed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why must I put away Ruth Oliver’s desk?’ she demanded. + ‘I have to put away Margaret Hulme’s as it is; and it’s + so difficult to get dressed in time for supper when there’s such a + lot of desks to put away first. Of course,’ she added with an + effort, ‘I’ll do it to please you, if you really want me to.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_159"></a>159</span>‘Why, I + thought you’d <i>like</i> to do it!’ exclaimed Charlotte, + staring at her. ‘You’re so thick with Ruth, and naturally I + supposed<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Thanks awfully,’ said Barbara, without enthusiasm. ‘It’s + really awfully kind of you, but I think p’raps you’d better go + on doing it, if you’re used to doing it. Of course, I know some + people like doing those stupid things for the big girls, but<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All right,’ said Charlotte, abruptly; and she went away, + feeling distinctly small. + </p> + <p> + Babs hurried off to the Fifth classroom, and arrived just in time for the + geography lesson. She was settling herself as usual at the bottom desk, + when her neighbour, rather a dull girl, for whom she secretly felt a sort + of contempt because she took no interest in her lessons, but only learned + them from conscientious motives, began making advances to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara,’ she whispered, nudging the new girl in a familiar + way that was meant to be sociable. Babs, having sat next to her for + fourteen days without extracting a single remark from her, was + considerably startled. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you want?’ she asked impatiently. She was taking a + last frantic look at the capes of Scotland, and the interruption was + agonising. + </p> + <p> + ‘Would you like to be my partner, next time we practise running with + Hurly-Burly?’ proceeded Mary Wells, with an air of extreme + benevolence. She was rather glad that Jean Murray had made it up with the + new girl, for it had not been amusing to sit perpetually next <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_160"></a>160</span> to some one with + whom she was not allowed to associate. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, no, of course not!’ answered Barbara, giving up the + capes of Scotland in despair, and turning rather crossly to the tiresome + neighbour who had never bothered her before. ‘We’re not a bit + evenly matched, and it wouldn’t be fair. Ask Angela Wilkins, if you + want a partner; she doesn’t run <i>much</i> faster than you do.’ + </p> + <p> + If there had been time, her amazed neighbour would no doubt have told her + what she thought of her. It was bad enough to have her friendly suggestion + thrown back in her face, but to be offered a gratuitous criticism of her + running powers into the bargain was intolerable. However, Miss Tomlinson + said ‘Silence!’ before Mary could express her feelings, so + Babs remained in comfortable ignorance of them. + </p> + <p> + She was not to be left alone for long, however, and it soon became + impossible even for Barbara not to see that a change of some sort had come + over her school-fellows. During the two weeks she had been at school, + meal-times had been delicious periods of peace, when every one had babbled + round her but never to her, and nobody had interrupted her if she wanted + to dream. But to-day, when they all met in the dining-room for lunch, in + the ten minutes’ ‘break’ that occurred in the middle of + the morning, it was evident that her time for dreaming was gone by. This + was the opportunity <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_161"></a>161</span> + that the children of the junior playroom had been eagerly awaiting since + the moment when Angela had succeeded in moving them to charitable designs. + So Babs had scarcely made her appearance in the dining-room, than a crowd + of eager penitents descended upon her, jostling one another in the attempt + to be first. One rushed at her with the biscuits, another with a glass of + milk, and a third with a plateful of bread and jam. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, don’t bother! Thanks awfully, don’t you know,’ + stammered Barbara, who was a little flustered at finding herself the + object of so much attention. She helped herself to bread and jam, accepted + the milk, which the bearer insisted on holding for her till she felt + inclined to drink it, and then tried to slip away as usual to a retired + corner. But her way was barred by another group of girls, headed by the + zealous Angela herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wonder if you’ll help me with my algebra in French class,’ + began the latter, beaming upon her former enemy with the air of one who + was conferring a favour. ‘I always get in such a bog over it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re so splendid at algebra, Babs, aren’t you?’ + added another, with great warmth. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s good at lots of things! She’ll get to the top of + the Fifth in no time, won’t she?’ cried Angela, with her + ordinary disregard for facts. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no,’ said Barbara, earnestly. ‘There’s my + spelling; you’re forgetting that.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_162"></a>162</span>‘Ye–es,’ + allowed Angela, unwillingly; ‘but spelling isn’t everything.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Should think not, indeed!’ echoed the chorus of enthusiasts. + </p> + <p> + ‘And I don’t know any arithmetic,’ proceeded Barbara, + desperately. It really hurt her regard for truth to have all these absurd + remarks made about her. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s arithmetic?’ demanded Angela, loudly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Only think of the piles of history you know!’ chimed in some + one else. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, indeed!’ said the chorus. + </p> + <p> + ‘And Latin!’ proclaimed another admirer. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I wish you wouldn’t,’ murmured Babs, unhappily. + </p> + <p> + She could not think what had come over them all; and they made her feel + foolish. Fortunately, somebody noticed just then that she had finished the + bread and jam; and they all rushed off, jostling one another again as they + went, to find fresh provisions. Barbara seized the opportunity to escape, + dodged the placid bearer of the milk, and went in search of Jean Murray. + She had an uncommonly shrewd suspicion that Jean Murray was somehow at the + bottom of this new and irritating persecution. + </p> + <p> + She found her hidden away in a corner of the big dining-room, occupying + very much the position that Barbara herself had enjoyed until now. Her + appearance was dejected, and she looked as though the encouragement of + noble sentiments did not agree with her nearly so <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_163"></a>163</span> well as the strife + and wrangling in which she usually indulged. The truth was that her new + pose of friendliness was making her feel unpleasantly self-conscious; and + she was afraid of being laughed at by the big girls for having so meekly + accepted her late enemy for a friend. The big girls, of course, worried + themselves so little about the petty quarrels of the junior playroom, that + they had no more intention of laughing at her than Barbara had; but it was + impossible for so important a person as Jean Murray to realise that. So + she gave a guilty start when Barbara, heated, aggrieved, and bubbling over + with resentment, suddenly pounced upon her in her corner. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, look here,’ began Babs, impetuously; ‘I thought + you’d made it up, and it’s a shame!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What are you talking about?’ demanded Jean Murray. ‘I + have made it up, long ago.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then whose fault is it that all those girls keep bothering me?’ + exclaimed Barbara, growing more indignant as she went on. ‘I haven’t + had a moment’s peace all the morning, and it makes me feel silly. I + don’t like being made to feel silly. Why don’t you tell them + to leave me alone?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said + Jean. ‘How are they making you feel silly?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They keep on telling me how clever I am,’ grumbled Barbara, + in a tone of the deepest contempt. ‘Me clever! Just think of it! And + they say I’m going to get to the top of <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_164"></a>164</span> the class, and all that rot. What do they + mean by it? That’s what I want to know. I was just beginning to get + used to girls, and I told Kit only yesterday that they were not so bad + after all, because they left you pretty much to yourself; and now–look + at them! It’s enough to make any one feel silly. Well, what’s + the joke?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean was laughing heartily. It was the first time that morning she had + been able to forget her own feelings of ‘silliness’; and it + cheered her considerably to find that some one else was in the same plight + as herself. ‘You <i>are</i> queer!’ she declared. ‘Why, + they are doing all that to show that they want to be nice to you, of + course.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara stared at her aghast. ‘Oh!’ was all she said at first. + After a pause for reflection, she added suddenly, ‘Then what were + they trying to be all the time they left me alone?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean stopped laughing, and began kicking at the window-seat by which they + stood. + </p> + <p> + ‘Was that their way of being nasty?’ proceeded Babs, in a + puzzled tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I suppose so,’ muttered Jean, looking away from her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh!’ said Barbara again. + </p> + <p> + There was another pause, and then Jean made an immense effort. ‘I + made them leave you alone,’ she jerked out. ‘I hated you. It–it + was because of Margaret Hulme.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara’s puzzled look vanished. When she did begin to understand a + thing, she was <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_165"></a>165</span> + generally pretty quick about it. ‘I’m beastly sorry,’ + she said softly. ‘A little while ago, I thought Jill was going to + make the boys like her better than me; and I felt just like that. What a + pity you didn’t tell me sooner!’ + </p> + <p> + That, after all, was their real reconciliation; and this time there was no + doubt about it. If there had been, it would have been ended finally by + Margaret Hulme herself, that same afternoon, in the cloakroom. The head + girl had been taking off her own muddy boots for more than a fortnight + now; and that in itself was enough to quicken her observation of events in + the junior playroom. + </p> + <p> + ‘Isn’t there anybody over there who would like to unlace my + boots for me?’ she said in a loud voice, as the younger ones came + trooping into the cloakroom after the hockey practice. + </p> + <p> + There was silence in the ranks of the juniors. The big girls were smiling, + the little ones looked at one another doubtfully, and the head girl waited + with her foot put forward. The etiquette of the junior playroom was + tremendous, and although forty-five sets of fingers were itching to be at + the knot in the head girl’s bootlace, nobody could move until Jean + Murray did. + </p> + <p> + ‘You can do it, if you like,’ she said to Barbara + indifferently. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no,’ said Barbara, quickly. ‘I shouldn’t + think of it.’ This time, her sacrifice was genuine, for Margaret had + kissed her just before dinner and told her she was a ‘good <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_166"></a>166</span> little soul,’ + and the feeling of the youngest girl in the school had considerably + changed in consequence with regard to the head girl’s boots. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course,’ said Margaret Hulme, drawing back her foot, + ‘if nobody <i>wants</i><span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + A murmur ran along the ranks of the juniors, and Babs suddenly whispered + something in Jean’s ear. Then the two children joined hands and + presented themselves solemnly before the head girl. + </p> + <p> + ‘Please,’ said Barbara, quickly, ‘we’ve settled + it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s about time,’ observed Margaret. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’re going to halve it,’ added Jean, in a great hurry. + </p> + <p> + ‘What? My foot?’ asked the head girl. + </p> + <p> + The wit of the head girl produced a storm of laughter in the cloakroom. + When it subsided, Barbara was ready with her explanation. + </p> + <p> + ‘Jean’s going to do them four days, and I’m going to do + them the other three,’ she said. ‘And Jean’s going to + begin,’ she added, and walked away heroically. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no, you begin,’ said Jean, feebly. + </p> + <p> + But Margaret smiled and pinched her ear. ‘You begin, child,’ + she said; and Jean fairly loved the new girl from that moment onwards. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_167"></a>167</span><a + id="link_11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /><span class="h2fs">MISS FINLAYSON’S + UNCLE, THE CANON</span> + </h2> + <p> + ‘It’s all very well to tell you to do things for other people; + but when nobody wants anything done, how are you going to carry it out?’ + demanded Charlotte Bigley of a circle of attentive listeners. + </p> + <p> + It was plain-work evening, some five weeks or so before the end of the + term; and fifty-five busy little people, on one side of the curtain, sewed + laboriously at fifty-five flannel garments, while thirty-two others, in + the seniors’ room, were cutting out fresh ones and struggling with + what Miss Smythe called the ‘fixing.’ Usually, plain-work + evening was the dullest out of the seven, for conversation did not + flourish under the depressing dominion of flannel, and Miss Smythe, the + needlework mistress who came from the town twice a week to teach them, had + never managed to interest her pupils either in herself or in what they + were doing. But to-night there was something to discuss that thrilled + every one of the workers on both sides of the curtain, and the effect on + the flannel <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_168"></a>168</span> + garments of this unusual enthusiasm even awoke a faint wonderment in the + mind of Miss Smythe. She did not know, never having tried to win the + confidence of the children, that the cause of the emotion that was pulsing + from end to end of the two playrooms was the temporary residence, under + the honoured roof of Wootton Beeches, of Miss Finlayson’s uncle, the + Canon. + </p> + <p> + The Canon had always been an object of interest, theoretically, to the + girls at Wootton Beeches. They did not know much about him, except that he + lived in some cathedral town in the North of England, and came South about + once a year and spent part of his holiday at Wootton Beeches; and they + were familiar with his portrait, which always stood on the writing-table + in his niece’s study. That was all they could have told anybody; but + the very lack of facts only added to the magic of his name, and as none of + them happened to be in touch with a bishop, or even with a dean, Miss + Finlayson’s uncle the Canon continued to impress them from a + distance with his importance. Hitherto, his visit had always happened to + fall in the holidays; but, this time, he had unaccountably appeared in the + middle of the term, and the excitement of his actual presence among them + had given them enough news to put in their letters home for quite two + weeks. The day before, he had even replaced the curate in the little + chapel, and had not only read prayers but had delivered an address on + unselfishness as <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_169"></a>169</span> + well; and it was this address that had provided the whole school, on + plain-work evening, with a burning topic of conversation. + </p> + <p> + The problem that had just been put into words by Charlotte Bigley was one + that had exercised the ingenuity of everybody since yesterday morning. To + do good works was the present ardent desire of all their hearts; but where + were the good works to be found? + </p> + <p> + ‘I suppose there’s always something to be done for somebody, + only we’ve got to discover what it is,’ said Mary Wells, after + profound reflection. + </p> + <p> + ‘He did say life was full of little things that were waiting to be + done, but it’s so easy to talk like that,’ complained Jean + Murray. ‘Why didn’t he say <i>what</i> things?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you see, we’ve got to discover what they are,’ + persisted Mary. When she did manage to produce an idea, she was always + very slow to part with it. + </p> + <p> + ‘You said that before,’ retorted Jean, impolitely; ‘and + it doesn’t help anybody at all. You can’t go round <i>asking</i> + people, can you? They’d call you a nuisance.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara sighed, and laid down the blackened piece of flannel she had been + toiling at since the beginning of term. Between the address of the Canon + and the shapelessness of her flannel petticoat, life was very difficult to + understand just then. + </p> + <p> + ‘Besides,’ she chimed in, when Jean finished speaking, ‘if + everybody is doing something for <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_170"></a>170</span> everybody else, there’s nobody left to + do anything for!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Finny always says we are to do things for ourselves as much as we + can, and that the way to help other people most is to see that they don’t + have to bother about <i>us</i>. That’s not a bit the same thing as + going round and finding out what people want done for them,’ + continued Charlotte, eloquently. + </p> + <p> + ‘They can’t both be right,’ declared Angela, shrilly. + ‘If the Canon says one thing and Finny says another, what are we to + believe, and what is the truth of it all, I should like to know? The <i>truth</i>–that’s + what <i>I</i> want!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, you do,’ remarked Babs, beginning to chuckle. ‘You + want it awfully badly, most of the time.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You mind your own business, Barbara Berkeley, and I’ll mind + mine,’ advised Angela, threateningly. + </p> + <p> + ‘But that’s just what we haven’t got to do,’ + retorted Babs, with another laugh. ‘I’ve got to forget my own + business and look after somebody else’s, and so have you. The Canon + said so.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘The Canon never said anybody was to have enough cheek for two + people, anyhow,’ returned Angela, rather feebly. She generally ended + in coming off the worse in a battle of words with Barbara. On this + occasion, however, she had the junior playroom with her. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_171"></a>171</span>‘You + shouldn’t joke about serious things, Barbara Berkeley,’ said + Mary Wells, disapprovingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara Berkeley thinks she can laugh at everything!’ cried + Angela, with renewed courage. + </p> + <p> + Miss Smythe came up at the same moment and put the crowning touch on + Barbara’s discomfiture by examining the luckless flannel petticoat + and disclosing the fact that she had sewed it up all the way round. + </p> + <p> + ‘How do you expect a child is going to get into that?’ asked + the needlework mistress, holding up the misshapen garment to the derision + of the whole room. + </p> + <p> + Barbara accepted the criticism and the laughter with equal unconcern. She + had never supposed that any child was going to get into a petticoat that + only existed for her express torture and the witticisms of Miss Smythe. It + had been unpicked so often that it would scarcely hold the large, uneven + stitches she repeatedly put into it; and she took up the scissors and + began to undo it all over again as a necessary part of the evening’s + proceedings. Hardly, however, had she snipped at the first piece of + cotton, than she was assailed on both sides by eager helpers, thirsting + for the painful pleasures of self-sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let me do it for you, Babe!’ exclaimed Angela, quite + forgetting their recent dispute on the very subject of the virtue she now + was so anxious to exploit. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_172"></a>172</span>‘No, + let me,’ begged Mary Wells on the other side. + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked from one to the other doubtfully. The Canon had said + nothing about complications of this kind. Then Mary took the decision and + the flannel petticoat simultaneously out of her hands. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do, there’s a dear,’ she said coaxingly. ‘Think + how I helped you with your German the day before yesterday.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a shame,’ vowed Angela Wilkins, retiring sulkily. + ‘I did ask first!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never mind,’ said Babs, soothingly; ‘I’m sure to + do it again before long; I always do.’ + </p> + <p> + Angela, however, found a more abiding consolation in Barbara’s + temporary idleness. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re not doing anything for anybody, that’s certain!’ + she threw back at her jeeringly. ‘Why, you’re the only idle + person in the room! Call that being unselfish, indeed!’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara hastened to clear herself of the reproach by picking up Mary Wells’s + neatly made and spotless piece of white flannel. She was not sure what it + was meant for, as it was not sewed together anywhere; and she had never + been shown how to do the elaborate scallops that ornamented the edge of + it. But a trifle like want of skill made very little difference to a + seeker after self-sacrifice; and Babs recklessly plunged her needle into + the beginning of the next scallop, and entangled the silk hopelessly. A + cry from Mary Wells disturbed her well-meant efforts. The Canon, thought + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_173"></a>173</span> Mary, might + say what he liked about people doing things for others, but was it quite + fair when they did them all wrong? + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s for my sister’s baby,’ she lamented, seizing + her handiwork from the zealous Barbara; ‘and if I don’t finish + it soon, the baby will be too big for head-flannels at all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But–I wanted to do something for you,’ protested Babs, + in a disappointed tone. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’ve stickied the needle, and left a great black + finger-mark on it,’ wailed Mary Wells, making fresh discoveries, as + she went on, of what Babs <i>had</i> done for her. + </p> + <p> + Miss Smythe came up to know what the fuss was about; and she promptly + added her word to the condemnation of Barbara Berkeley. + </p> + <p> + ‘What do you mean by touching anybody else’s work, you naughty + little girl?’ she said sharply. ‘You are more trouble than + anybody else in the school, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara did not look at all ashamed of herself. She never did when people + were cross with her. Mary Wells had the grace to come to her assistance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Please, Miss Smythe,’ she said, swallowing her mortification + at the ravages in the head-flannel, ‘it was my fault as well. I took + Barbara’s work, to begin with.’ + </p> + <p> + The needlework mistress stared from one to the other. ‘What’s + come over the children?’ she exclaimed. ‘Why are you + interfering with each other’s work like this?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_174"></a>174</span>Barbara + assumed an exaggerated expression of meekness. ‘Please, it was + because we were both trying to sacrifice ourselves,’ she announced. + </p> + <p> + It certainly sounded a ridiculous reason when it was put that way, but it + completed the perplexity of Miss Smythe, and that was something. + </p> + <p> + ‘It seems to me,’ she said severely, ‘that you are + strangely forgetting yourself, Barbara Berkeley. Commence what I gave you + to do at once, and stand up until I tell you to sit down again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, the Canon <i>said</i> we were to forget ourselves,’ + began Babs, mischievously; and there is no doubt that a further penalty + would have been added to her punishment had not Jean Murray made a sudden + diversion by dropping her thimble. In spite of the want of success that + had attended Barbara’s attempt at good works, the influence of the + Canon was still very strong among the occupants of the junior playroom; + and five girls hastily flung aside their work, and bumped their heads + together on the floor in their hurry to restore Jean her property. Jean + took it with the grudging manner of one who would like to have been in the + fortunate position of conferring rather than of accepting a service; and + Miss Smythe in despair condemned five more culprits to a standing + position. + </p> + <p> + As luck would have it, the Canon expressed a wish that evening to see what + the young people were doing with themselves; and it <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_175"></a>175</span> happened that Miss + Finlayson brought him through the curtain into the junior playroom just + after the six ringleaders had been ordered to stand up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Very nice, very charming, to be sure!’ murmured the old + gentleman, whose benevolent face had gone a long way in carrying his + address home to the hearts of his hearers. ‘Such a beautiful and + womanly sight, too! I suppose you are all working for the poor, eh, my + dears? Very excellent indeed, I’m sure!’ + </p> + <p> + His niece was busy talking with Miss Smythe, and did not correct his + mistake; and the children were too shy to do more than look at one another + and giggle faintly. The Canon went on, and bent over Mary Wells, who + appealed to him at once by the serious expression of her face and her + diligent application to the head-flannel. + </p> + <p> + ‘And for whom are you working so industriously, may I ask?’ he + inquired benignly. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s for my sister–I mean the baby,’ stammered + Mary, much flustered at being thus singled out. The Canon felt a little + perplexed, not having supposed Mary Wells or her sister to belong to what + he largely called ‘the poor’; and he passed on hurriedly to + where the six culprits stood first on one leg and then on the other, + trying to stitch at their work with wavering and unsteadied fingers. + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i5"></a><img src="images/illus-175.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘Dear me!’ he said, slightly taken aback. + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_176"></a>176</span>‘Dear + me!’ he said, slightly taken aback. ‘Is it–is it quite + usual–I mean, do you find it <i>convenient</i> to perform your–your + embroidery in that exceedingly arduous position?’ + </p> + <p> + The six girls edged up to one another; and more giggles, very nervous ones + this time, greeted the Canon’s remark. He put on his eye-glasses, + and began slowly to grasp the meaning of their uncomfortable position. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ah!’ he said, with a knowing smile. ‘So you have done + something you shouldn’t, eh, my dears? Shocking, shocking! Let us + see what the cause of offence is, and perhaps we can get the punishment + mitigated for you. How would that be, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + He turned to look for Miss Smythe, and the six put their heads together + for a hasty, whispered consultation. + </p> + <p> + ‘Let’s tell him it’s through his sermon,’ urged + Barbara, all agog with mischief. ‘It would be such fun!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Certainly not!’ decided Angela, solemnly. ‘He must + never know. Didn’t he say it was splendid to suffer for + righteousness’s sake, and isn’t this <i>real</i> + righteousness?’ + </p> + <p> + She carried the remaining four with her; and by the time Finny and Miss + Smythe joined the Canon in front of them, five out of the six faces glowed + with the fervour of martyrdom. The sixth was glowing too, but hardly from + such a lofty motive. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said Miss Finlayson, gently, ‘and what is the + reason of this?’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Smythe coughed and hesitated. She did not understand her pupils in + the least, but <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_177"></a>177</span> + she had a certain feeling of loyalty towards them, and she did not want to + get them into trouble. Added to this, she really did not know the reason + of it. + </p> + <p> + ‘They–they were a little tiresome, and I made them stand up,’ + she explained hurriedly. ‘No doubt–only high spirits, and–and + so on. I–I could not quite grasp what had been upsetting them this + evening, and I always find standing up is–is an excellent remedy for–for + high spirits, in short.’ + </p> + <p> + It was the opinion of the junior playroom afterwards that ‘Smithy’ + had got out of it very well; and she went up in its estimation henceforth. + But her explanation failed to satisfy Miss Finlayson. There was something + about the virtuousness on the offenders’ faces that struck her as + being overdone; and she turned to the one at the end of the row, whose + countenance was a study in suppressed emotions, and tried to get at the + truth of the matter. + </p> + <p> + ‘What was it, Barbara?’ she asked in that tone of hers that + would make any girl tell her anything. Not that Barbara, on this occasion, + needed forcing. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was because of the sermon yesterday,’ she said, bubbling + over with enjoyment of the situation. ‘And we were all trying to + sacrifice ourselves, and it was so difficult, because nobody wanted + anything done; and then Mary Wells sacrificed herself for me, so I tried + to do the same for her, and I only spoiled the baby’s head-flannel, + and made Smithy–I mean <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_178"></a>178</span> + Miss Smythe–wild. That was why I stood up. The other five stood up + because they all tried to sacrifice themselves for Jean’s thimble; + and Miss Smythe hadn’t heard the sermon, you see, and she only + thought they were being naughty, so<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That will do,’ said Miss Finlayson, and she turned her back + hurriedly on the row of martyrs. The needlework mistress was almost in + tears at what she considered a wilfully frivolous manner of referring to a + sermon by a real canon. But the Canon just passed his hand across his + mouth, and then gave up the attempt to look shocked. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are very good little girls to listen so attentively to people’s + sermons,’ he said, smiling openly. ‘And I think, if anybody + ought to stand up, it should be by rights a certain old gentleman who + preaches them. What do you say, Miss Smythe? If I promise to stand up for + the rest of the evening, will you let these six young ladies sit down?’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_179"></a>179</span><a + id="link_12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /><span class="h2fs">THE FURTHER PURSUIT OF + GOOD WORKS</span> + </h2> + <p> + ‘All the same,’ said Jean Murray afterwards, ‘it doesn’t + mean that the Canon’s sermon was wrong just because all of you were + so stupid in the way you tried to make it work.’ + </p> + <p> + She could not really resist such an enticing opportunity of showing her + superiority; but her less fortunate school-fellows found it difficult to + appreciate her point of view, and they resented it accordingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s only just by chance that it wasn’t you as well,’ + Barbara hastened to point out. + </p> + <p> + ‘And you know you began by being jealous because <i>we</i> were + doing all the sacrificing,’ added Angela. + </p> + <p> + The others, not being in the inner circle of Jean’s friendship, did + not venture on an open remonstrance; but one of them asked her bluntly + what she considered the Canon did mean by his address. + </p> + <p> + Jean drew herself up complacently. ‘Well, of course he meant much + bigger things than just picking up people’s thimbles and interfering + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_180"></a>180</span> with + everybody all round,’ she began rather contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + ‘He said <i>little</i> things, all the same,’ observed Mary + Wells, doggedly. + </p> + <p> + ‘That,’ said Jean, airily, ‘was only his way of putting + it–and because he was a canon,’ she added, struck by a + brilliant thought. ‘When you are a canon, the things you consider + little are the same as the things that ordinary people call big.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Bravo, Jean,’ said Charlotte Bigley, sarcastically. ‘Now, + let us hear what the big things are.’ + </p> + <p> + Jean was on her mettle, and she gave herself a moment’s desperate + reflection. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, things like helping the poor, and taking food to people who + are starving, and giving up your pocket-money to buy things for them, and + not minding how dirty they are, nor how wicked and dishonest and–and + tipsy,’ she proclaimed. + </p> + <p> + The junior playroom was much impressed by this new view of the Canon’s + sermon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Isn’t Jean clever?’ demanded Angela, proudly, of her + immediate neighbours. One of these happened to be Barbara, who fully + agreed with her, but still appeared a little puzzled. + </p> + <p> + ‘It will be very difficult to do all that,’ she observed. + ‘How can we do things for the poor, when we never see any poor?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You never know when the chance may come,’ answered Jean, who + was rarely at a loss. ‘Besides, there’s the holidays.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What!’ said Mary, in a voice of dismay. <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_181"></a>181</span> ‘Have we got + to wait till the <i>holidays</i> before we can be unselfish?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ replied Jean, vaguely, ‘you can’t say + that, for an opportunity may occur at any minute. What we’ve got to + do is to be on the look-out for it.’ + </p> + <p> + This unsatisfactory way of disposing of the Canon’s address fell + very flat after the recent excitement in the juniors’ room + concerning it; and most of Jean’s listeners grumbled loudly as soon + as she was out of hearing. But Babs and Angela unhesitatingly threw in + their lot with Jean. They were not quite sure what she meant, but they + never doubted her right to be their leader in this as in everything. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’ll all keep on the look-out,’ they said to one + another; ‘and the first who sees an opportunity of helping the poor + must promise to share it with the other two.’ + </p> + <p> + Saturday afternoon came round in another day or two, and on Saturday + afternoon the girls could do pretty much as they liked, as soon as the + hockey practice was over. It was one of those late wintry days in March + which bring with them a promise of spring to come: there was a sharpness + in the air, now that the sun was nearing the west, that proclaimed it + still to be winter, while a faint earthiness of smell, a tumult of birds’ + voices in the hedge, and an intense blueness above, all told of the warmer + season in store. The triumvirate, as Margaret Hulme had nicknamed Jean and + her two inseparable companions, were much too fond of <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_182"></a>182</span> the open air to go + indoors before they were obliged; so, while most of their school-fellows + voted for the fire and a story-book, they wandered off down the nine-acre + field, their arms linked affectionately together. Their conversation was + very engrossing, for it turned on the gymnastic competition that was going + to be held at the end of the term, for which the Canon had just offered a + prize of six morocco-bound books, to be chosen by the successful + competitor herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s where this hole is such a nice hole for a school,’ + said Jean. ‘At the other school I went to, they never asked you what + books you’d like; and they always gave you <i>poetry</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Some poetry is all right. I think I like poetry when it’s got + a story in it, and the rhymes are not too far away from one another, and + the lines jog along without your having to bother about them,’ + remarked Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, that kind isn’t bad,’ admitted Jean. ‘I didn’t + mean Macaulay and Longfellow and all the <i>real</i> poets. But the stuff + they gave you at my school was horribly dull, and it never had any sort of + story in it, and the lines didn’t seem to belong to one another at + all; and there was generally a thing called a glossary at the end, which + only showed that it wasn’t fit for any one to read.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I know that kind of poetry; we have lots of it at home,’ put + in Angela. ‘There’s a chap called Browning who’s rather + like that. Have you ever read any Browning, you two?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_183"></a>183</span>‘No,’ + said Jean, flatly. ‘Don’t believe you have either. My father + says Browning didn’t understand himself, and I’m sure <i>you</i> + don’t know more than Browning. So there!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never mind about the poetry,’ interposed Barbara. ‘I + want to hear about the gym prize. Who do you think is going to get it, + Jean?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, Margaret is awfully good, of course, but we shall know better + after the trial on Monday afternoon,’ said Jean, cautiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘What trial?’ asked Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why,’ exclaimed Jean, in surprise, ‘didn’t you + hear Finny give out that we were all to do the show exercises before her + on Monday afternoon, so that she could decide who was to go in for the + prize?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course she didn’t hear; the Babe’s always asleep!’ + said Angela, with scorn. ‘I watched her all the time Finny was + speaking, and she was smiling away to herself as if some one was having a + conversation with her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never mind, she’s getting better,’ said Jean, + approvingly. ‘She doesn’t gape half so much as she did, and + she doesn’t jump when you go up and speak to her suddenly. By the + way, you’ve got as good a chance as any one, Babe, of getting the + gym prize.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara, who had taken their frank criticisms of her without a murmur, + could not allow this last assertion to pass. She pulled up suddenly in the + middle of the field, and looked first at one and then at the other of her + two companions. ‘What do you mean?’ she gasped. + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i6"></a><img src="images/illus-183.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘Hullo! said Jean. What’s the matter?’ + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_184"></a>184</span>‘Oh, + you’re putting it on; don’t be affected,’ scoffed + Angela. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, she isn’t putting it on; she never does,’ objected + Jean. ‘Look at home, Angela, before you talk about affectation.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All the same,’ continued Angela, undisturbed, ‘you must + know you’re perfectly splendid at gym, Babs. Now, don’t you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’d quite forgotten,’ confessed Barbara, as they + resumed their stroll. ‘I’m so bad at most things that I’d + got out of the way of thinking I could do gymnastics. But, of course, the + boys always said I wasn’t bad, for a girl; and once I got the prize + at my class in London. There were only thirty of us, though,’ she + added modestly. + </p> + <p> + They strolled on as far as the gate at the bottom of the field, and stood + looking over it into the lane below. The lane was out of bounds, which + lent it an added charm; and they liked nothing better than to come here on + half-holidays and lean against the gate, and wonder where the grass-grown + path led to and what it looked like when it got round the corner by the + old elm tree. To-day, they had scarcely taken up their position there when + they were startled by sounds of distress from below; and the next minute a + small boy came slouching along the lane, crying bitterly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ said Jean. ‘What’s the matter?’ + </p> + <p> + The boy was so surprised that he stopped crying and looked up. He was a + very pitiable little object, in corduroy garments that could <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_185"></a>185</span> not properly be + called knickerbockers and yet were too short for trousers, with a small + area of grey flannel shirt appearing above them, and a red worsted + comforter twisted round his neck, making an unbecoming patch of colour + against his pinched and tear-stained little face. + </p> + <p> + ‘What is the matter?’ asked Angela, pityingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have you hurt yourself?’ added Barbara, as the child only + stared at them vacantly. + </p> + <p> + With a little more coaxing and the bribe of a piece of dusty chocolate + that came from the depths of Barbara’s pocket, he was at last + induced to mumble out a confused statement of his woes. Between the quaver + in his voice and the broadness of his speech they had a hard matter to + understand what he said; but Angela, who lived in another part of the same + county, managed after a while to translate to the others that he was + crying because his father was away looking for work, and his mother could + not pay the rent, and they were all going into the ‘house’ + to-morrow. To Bobby Hearne, who was smarting under the remarks of the + neighbours’ children, it was the last part of his story that seemed + the worst; but the triumvirate only grasped the fact that starvation and + poverty really stood before them in the person of the small boy with the + red comforter round his neck. They looked at one another breathlessly, for + the same thought was in all their minds. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s the opportunity!’ said Jean, solemnly. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_186"></a>186</span>‘They’re + really starving!’ cried Barbara, clapping her hands joyfully. + ‘We must go and feed them<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And give them clothes,’ added Angela, enthusiastically; + ‘and pocket-money!’ + </p> + <p> + Babs pulled a purse out of her pocket. ‘Here’s three and + sevenpence halfpenny, and I’ve got ten shillings more in my + left-hand corner drawer,’ she said earnestly. ‘Will that be + enough, do you think?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean had been thinking deeply. ‘It’s no use giving anything to + that scrap of a child,’ she decided. ‘We must go and see his + mother first, and find out if his story is true. My father says that + indis-indiscrim-in-<i>ate</i> charity does an awful lot of harm. We don’t + want to do indiscrimin-<i>ate</i> charity, do we? Come along, you two, and + look sharp!’ + </p> + <p> + They clambered over the gate and dropped into the lane, one by one. + Barbara was the last, and she almost forgot the solemn reason for their + expedition in the thrilling thought that they were going to find out at + last where the lane went to. She was quite unprepared for the + disappointment she felt when they turned the corner by the old elm tree + and the forbidden world beyond burst upon their view. After all, the lane + was just the same round the corner, except that it was not quite so + interesting, for it grew less grassy as it went on, and finally widened + out into a kind of cart-track that was anything but romantic. An enchanted + princess might flee with a prince down a grass-grown <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_187"></a>187</span> lane that wound + away to nowhere in particular but she would never dream of stumbling over + sharp flint stones and splashing through puddles in a common cart-track. + The other two did not seem to notice that there was anything wrong with + the lane, though; they just kept on straight ahead, with Bobby Hearne + shuffling along between them, and Barbara had to run a little to catch + them up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is it far?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oop agin the top end o’ the village,’ explained Bobby, + who was fast losing his shyness under the influence of these wonderful + young ladies, who carried such funny sticks in their hands, and talked in + such a magnificent way about pocket-money. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s close to the church, on the way up from the station,’ + said Jean. ‘Is yours the cottage with the red roof, Bobby, or the + one with roses all over it?’ + </p> + <p> + Bobby looked vacant again; he did not recognise his home from Jean’s + picturesque description. ‘There be foive pig-styes along of it,’ + he announced, after long and careful reflection. + </p> + <p> + The cart-track brought them to a ploughed field, across which they plodded + laboriously, and in the end it landed them in the road that ran right + through the village. They met a good many inquisitive glances as they + hastened along, for the young ladies of Wootton Beeches very rarely left + their own grounds, and certainly never appeared in the village except on + their <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_188"></a>188</span> way to + and from the station. They found their courage slowly evaporating in the + face of the curiosity they provoked, and there was very little of it left + by the time they arrived at the cottage with the five pig-styes. Talking + about good works in the junior playroom was a very different matter, they + found, from carrying them out in a strange cottage, where numbers of + strange children came out from dark corners and gaped at them without + saying a word of welcome. Babs and Angela pushed forward their leader, and + peered over her shoulder as she stood hesitating on the threshold. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hello, mother!’ shouted Bobby, hustling his brothers and + sisters out of the way and penetrating into the gloomy recesses of the + cottage. ‘Here be three yoong ladies come to see ye.’ + </p> + <p> + A harassed-looking woman came in from the back-yard, and started when she + saw the three faces in the doorway. ‘It be proper good of ye, for + sure,’ she said, casting nervous glances from her unexpected + visitors to a bed that was made up on the floor, near the empty grate; + ‘but my girl Lilian Eliza, she be ill, she be, and ye’d best + not come in, I reckon.’ + </p> + <p> + She did not know the power of the Canon’s address. At the sound of + her voice, the triumvirate, neither understanding nor heeding her warning, + stepped firmly into the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m so sorry your daughter is ill,’ began Barbara, + fumbling hastily in her pocket. ‘Would three and sevenpence + halfpenny be any <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_189"></a>189</span> + good, do you think? And I’ve got ten shillings more in my<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Jean nudged her violently, but the woman’s eyes had glistened at the + mention of money, and Babs emptied her purse impetuously on the table. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bless ye, missy, for sure!’ said the woman, gratefully. + ‘Lilian Eliza, she be goin’ to the infirmary to-morrow, she + be, and I can git her Neighbour Bunce’s spring-cart wi’ that, + I can.’ + </p> + <p> + Her evident gratitude reproached Jean, and she forgot all about the + dangers of indiscriminate charity. She took the other two by the hand and + pulled them away to the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’ll come back again directly, Mrs. Hearne,’ she + called out. Then the triumvirate broke into a run, and vanished along the + road before the eyes of the bewildered woman. + </p> + <p> + ‘What are we going to do?’ asked Angela, panting, when they + once more climbed the gate at the bottom of the nine-acre field. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’re going straight to the larder, straight as we can go; + and then, we’re just going to bag all the food we can carry,’ + answered Jean, in an odd, determined sort of tone. ‘Did you see the + look on that woman’s face when you gave her the money, Babe? I + believe–I believe they’ve all had nothing to eat for <i>weeks</i>! + It’s–it’s horrible to think of!’ + </p> + <p> + There was a sob in her voice, and the other two were silent from sympathy + and a kind of awkwardness. They had never heard Jean talk like this + before, and it finished the work <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_190"></a>190</span> begun by the Canon’s address. There was + not the thought of a scruple in either of their minds when they arrived at + the back of the house, and Jean bade them climb up by the water-butt and + get into the larder through the open window. + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s sure to be a hook you can undo so as to move the wire + netting aside,’ she told them. ‘If we went round to the door, + some one might make a fuss; and there’s no time for fusses.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jean knows everything,’ murmured Angela, as she found the + hook and squeezed successfully through the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘What shall we take?’ whispered Babs, slipping after her into + the dimly lighted larder. ‘I think they’d like jam tart and + plum-pudding, don’t you?’ + </p> + <p> + She shifted the two delicacies dearest to her heart on to one dish, and + handed it up to Jean, who stood poised uncertainly on the edge of the + water-butt. + </p> + <p> + ‘The jelly and the cranberry pie look rather nice,’ said + Angela, her own mouth watering for them, as she passed them out to Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can’t you find something substantial?’ urged Jean, when + she had deposited the second load on the ground beside the water-butt. + </p> + <p> + The two children in the larder looked round at the well-stocked shelves. + There was cold beef, to be sure, and a large tureen of mutton broth; but + these did not strike them as being at all the sort of present that any one + would like to have. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_191"></a>191</span>‘Apple + dumplings,’ settled Angela, swiftly, as her eye fell on a large dish + full of them; and they handed the apple dumplings after the other things, + and then followed them by way of the water-butt to the impatient Jean, who + had already loaded herself with the jelly and the cranberry pie. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come along!’ said Jean. ‘If we’re not quick, we + shall be late for tea. Besides, we must get back to see Finny, and explain + to her what we’ve done. She might be cross if she found it out for + herself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you sure she won’t be cross anyhow?’ asked Barbara, + as she staggered along in her wake, carrying the dish that contained the + plum-pudding and the jam tart. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not if we explain exactly why we did it,’ said Angela, + gasping for breath just behind her companions. She found the apple + dumplings decidedly weighty. + </p> + <p> + ‘Nobody,’ said Jean, emphatically, ‘could mind anything + we chose to do in a cause like this. Besides, there wasn’t time to + ask leave first, was there? When people haven’t had anything to eat + for weeks, you can’t keep them waiting for food while you ask <i>leave</i>, + can you?’ + </p> + <p> + The shortest cut to the nine-acre field was across the lawn at the side of + the house, and then through the little gate in the shrubbery. It was much + less secluded than the longer way by which they had come, but detection + had to be risked, now that the time was so short. And even if they were + caught, as Jean pointed <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_192"></a>192</span> + out in a whisper, it would be worth while to suffer in such a noble cause; + and as for the Hearnes, Finny would be sure to send them on the things as + soon as she heard how many weeks they had been without food. + </p> + <p> + ‘But how can we suffer, if Finny isn’t going to be cross about + it?’ argued Barbara, becoming heated in the effort to keep the + plum-pudding from rolling into the jam tart and sticking to it. ‘You + said<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Her sentence was never finished, for just as they left the shadow of the + house and were going to strike across the lawn, they heard the click of + the little gate opposite, and two figures emerged suddenly from the + shrubbery. There was still light enough to disclose that they were the + Canon and Barbara’s disenchanted beast, the Doctor. + </p> + <p> + Even then, the triumvirate might have escaped detection by slipping round + to the back of the house again before they were seen; and Jean had the + presence of mind to sound a retreat in an agonised whisper, and turned + sharply round herself. But Barbara’s effort to follow her example + was too much for the uncertain balance of the plum-pudding. It chose that + very moment to tumble into the jam tart, and the two slid together from + the dish and rolled to the feet of the astonished Canon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Upon my word,’ exclaimed the old gentleman, starting + violently, ‘Elizabeth’s establishment is full of surprises!’ + </p> + <p> + The triumvirate kept very close together at <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_193"></a>193</span> the edge of the grass lawn, and waited for + the two gentlemen to approach. Very little of their enthusiasm remained to + keep up their spirits, for the erratic behaviour of the plum-pudding made + even the pursuit of good works seem foolish and unnecessary. + </p> + <p> + ‘What are you children doing here?’ asked the Canon, and his + voice distinctly took a note of disapproval. He did not know very much + about girls, though his niece assured him they were not unlike little + boys; but he was quite sure that it was not the right thing for + plum-puddings to be rolling across the lawn at that time of day, and + disapproval seemed to be demanded by the circumstance. + </p> + <p> + The effect on the three children of his mild attempt at severity was + immediate. Babs was struck dumb by it; anything so dreadful as the anger + of a Canon had never occurred to her as a possible result of feeding the + poor, and she had to think it all over before she could say anything. + Angela put down the apple dumplings, the weight of which had become + intolerable, and began to cry softly. Jean pulled herself together with a + frantic effort, and clutched the dish she was holding so fiercely that the + jelly on the summit of the cranberry pie shivered and shook. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was my fault,’ she blurted out, looking steadfastly over + the edge of the dish at the well-blacked boots of the Canon. ‘I made + them go out of bounds, and visit the poor, and–and climb into the + larder window to fetch <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_194"></a>194</span> + things for the woman who looked so hungry. They wouldn’t have gone, + if it hadn’t been for me. I made them–it was my fault.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No, it wasn’t; it was all our faults,’ wept Angela, in + a confused mumble. + </p> + <p> + Babs stepped forward and tried hard not to break down and cry too. ‘Please + don’t rag Jean for it,’ she begged. ‘The boy was crying, + and we all thought it was the opportunity come at last<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What opportunity?’ asked the Canon, looking extremely + puzzled. + </p> + <p> + ‘To–to do what you said in your sermon,–good works, and + feeding the poor, and all that,’ faltered Barbara. Somehow, when she + expressed it that way, it seemed like putting the blame on the Canon, and + she was sure it could not be right for a little girl to blame a Canon. + Added to this, she was possessed with the dread that they had only made + themselves look ridiculous after all; and she expected that they would all + three be very heartily laughed at, as soon as the old gentleman began to + understand their story. She was determined in her own mind that if the + Doctor should join in the laugh against them, a certain fairy prince + should be turned once more into a beast and banished for ever from her + kingdom. She was bound to admit, however, that the Doctor, so far, had not + shown the least interest in them or their story. + </p> + <p> + ‘But–but I quite fail to understand,’ said the Canon, + rather testily. ‘Who was the boy <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_195"></a>195</span> you speak of, and what had you to do with + him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It was Bobby Hearne,’ answered Jean, still staring down at + his boots; ‘and if you only knew how hungry they all looked when we + got to the cottage<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + She was interrupted by the Doctor, who suddenly behaved in the most + extraordinary manner. For the first time he appeared to be listening to + what they were saying, and he sprang right in front of the Canon and + grasped Jean by the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you mean to say you have been into the Hearnes’ cottage?’ + he cried, shaking her in his impatience until the jelly and the cranberry + pie ran some danger of following the example of the plum-pudding. ‘Were + you stupid enough to go right inside?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes!’ answered the triumvirate, with one voice. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor took his hand away, and turned with a shrug of his shoulders to + the Canon. + </p> + <p> + ‘The Hearne girl is down with scarlet fever,’ he said in a + suppressed tone. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_196"></a>196</span><a + id="link_13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /><span class="h2fs">IN ‘QUORRANTEEN’</span> + </h2> + <p> + ‘<span class="sc">My dear darling dearest Father</span>,–We + are in quorranteen that’s Jean Murray and Angela Wilkins and me + becos we tried to feed the poor after the cannon’s sermon and the + poor had scarlet fever and now praps we shall have scarlet fever too and + in case we do we’ve got to stop in quorranteen for eight days and it’s + an awful shame becourse it gives us such a little time to practis for the + gym prize. The cannon is Finny’s uncle and he’s awfully nice + though a little unreesonable Jean says and Jean knows bekause her father + is a professor and he has ofered a prize for whoever is best at the gym + display on the break up day. I mean the cannon and not Jean’s + father. Quorranteen is a little house built by itself in the garden and + connected with the school by a covvered passage that leads into the front + hall because Jean says it’s no use being in quorranteen unless you’re + quite sure no one can catch things off you so we are issolated. All the + same we do free exercises every morning just to keep our <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_197"></a>197</span> mussels in good + order for the gym competition and I tell them fairy stories when their’s + nothing else to do and Angela says they’re not bad only she likes + reel stories best which is a great pitty becos I don’t know any reel + stories but still they put up with my kind of stories very well and Jean + says I’m a funny kid. We have our dinner early so that we can go out + in the garden while the other girls are having theirs so that no one can + catch anything off us and we are alowed to go all over Finny’s + garden as well as the nine aker field and we are really in a very + supperior possition Jean says. Sumtimes for a great treat one of the big + girls is alowed to come and talk to us from the garden and we stand at the + window and shout down to her because you can’t catch things off + people that way Jean says and the other two nearly always vote for + Margaret that’s the head girl who is adorrable and divvine Jean says + but I vote for Ruth who is a brick. The worst of being in quorranteen is + that I have learnt the true charracter of the doctor and Kit always said + he was a beast but I didn’t think he was a beast but now I think he + must be rather a beast because he is so horrid and unsimpathetick he + always behaves as if we were very naughty and wicked for wanting to feed + the poor and giving such a lot of trubble insted of understanding that it + was all the cannon’s fault for preaching that sermon which meant + something quite diferent and how were we to know that the poor had scarlet + fever? <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_198"></a>198</span> I + think we were rather silly and it was our silly silliness that I minded + most but the doctor doesn’t seem to think that and he looks at our + tungs and he says what’s that? to every paper bag he sees about in + the quorranteen which is only hardbake or chocalate from the big girls. + Jean says he is much nicer to me than to Angela or her but I haven’t + noticed any diference myself and I don’t want him to be nice to me + if he isn’t nice to them it isn’t fair or above bord is it + father? Anuther bother is that Finny hasn’t said a word to us yet + about feeding the poor and giving such a lot of trubble and I think she’s + very cross and is saving up for an enormous skolding but Jean says no it’s + Finny’s way to give us time to think it over before she says + anything and it’s just dissipline Jean says. Besides, she can’t + be very cross or else she wouldn’t have gone on feeding the poor I + mean the Hearnes ever since we came into the quorranteen which is what she’s + been doing because she told us so and they haven’t had to go into + the workhouse after all.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara had scribbled so far uninterrupted, but when she picked up her + third sheet of exercise paper and began to cover that too, the patience of + her companions became exhausted. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say,’ said Jean, yawning, ‘I wish you’d stop + writing and talk; I never knew any one so fond of writing as you are, + Babe.’ + </p> + <p> + Quarantine, after nearly a week of it, was beginning to lose its novelty, + and all the paper bags that the sure aim of the head girl managed <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_199"></a>199</span> to deposit in + their prison did not make up for the many hours of her society that they + were unable to enjoy. Even the arithmetic lessons of Miss Tomlinson, and + the plain-work evenings conducted by ‘Smithy,’ would not have + seemed nearly so unattractive now as they did a week ago. + </p> + <p> + ‘All right,’ said Babs, putting down her blue pencil; ‘I + don’t mind stopping, but I thought Angela didn’t want to talk.’ + </p> + <p> + Jean glanced round at Angela, and Angela immediately put her hand to her + head and sighed heavily. She had been doing this for some minutes without + making any effect upon Barbara, although Barbara had been the first to + notice that there was something unusual in her behaviour. That was so like + Babs! She was always the first to notice anything, but she had such an + unsatisfactory way of passing it over, whatever it was, that it was no + advantage to anybody unless some one else noticed it too. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ said Jean, staring; ‘what’s the matter, + Angela?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ve got a splitting headache,’ murmured Angela, half + closing her eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Anything else?’ asked Jean, becoming interested. + </p> + <p> + ‘My throat is rather sore, I think, and–and I’m sure I’m + feverish,’ answered Angela, faintly; and she shivered to show how + feverish she was. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh,’ said Barbara, opening her eyes, ‘that’s + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_200"></a>200</span> how Dr. + Hurst said it began; and then Finny dragged him away, and we didn’t + hear any more.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Don’t</i> say anything so dreadful,’ murmured + Angela, complacently. ‘What shall I do if I can’t go in for + the competition?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Besides, you might have it very badly and die,’ said Jean, + consolingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, you might. We knew a boy on the opposite side of the square, + and <i>he</i> died,’ remarked Babs. ‘Only, I’m not sure + if it was scarlet fever. His sister used to come and tell us about it, and + she said he had a kettle with a long spout in his room, all day long, and + it puffed out smoke at him, and made such a funny gurgling sound that she + used to be afraid to pass his door after dark. Perhaps it wasn’t + scarlet fever,’ she added, out of consideration for Angela, ‘but + he did die.’ + </p> + <p> + Angela looked from one to the other and shook her head mournfully. ‘I + expect it was,’ she said. ‘It sounds exactly like it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ continued Jean, cheerfully. ‘I <i>know</i>, + because a cousin of mine had something that was catching once, and she + nearly lost her sight through it, and she’s had to wear spectacles + ever since, and her eyes are all red and shiny, and she looks a hideous + sight. I expect that was scarlet fever too.’ + </p> + <p> + Angela shuddered, and quite closed her eyes that time. Her two comforters + looked at each other expressively. + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor Angela!’ said Jean, stroking her <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_201"></a>201</span> forehead. ‘It’s + awful hard lines that you should be the one to catch it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, never mind about that,’ answered the victim, meekly. + ‘I’m glad it’s me and not you.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Lots of people don’t die, you know,’ added Barbara, + taking hold of her hand and waggling it up and down in a way that was + intended to express sympathy. + </p> + <p> + ‘N–no,’ said Angela, with some reluctance; ‘but + lots of people do. Anyhow, I hope I shall be brave, whatever happens.’ + And she stifled a sigh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course you will,’ said Jean, warmly. ‘<i>We</i> know + that!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If–if this should be the last time we are together before + they separate us,’ continued Angela, opening her eyes again and + looking up at them appealingly, ‘you <i>will</i> remember, won’t + you, that<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + The door opened and put an abrupt stop to her pathetic last request. The + triumvirate, still clasping hands affectionately, looked round and met the + astonished gaze of the head-mistress. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the matter with Angela?’ she inquired briskly. + </p> + <p> + Angela closed her eyes again hastily. The other two prepared valiantly to + defend her position. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s got a headache and a sore throat, and she’s + feverish,’ answered Jean, glibly. + </p> + <p> + ‘She thinks she’s got it,’ added Babs, coming straight + to the point. + </p> + <p> + They fully expected Miss Finlayson to do <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_202"></a>202</span> something startling to show her concern at + the approaching peril of Angela; but Miss Finlayson merely smiled. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, so that’s what she thinks, is it?’ she observed. + ‘And may I ask if that is why you have chosen this particular moment + to hang over her more closely than usual?’ + </p> + <p> + The triumvirate loosed hands, and Miss Finlayson came and looked very + sharply at the unconscious features of the sufferer; then she suddenly + whipped a thermometer out of her pocket and into the open mouth before + her. Angela sat up in dismay, and tried to protest; but Miss Finlayson + smiled again and pressed her gently back. + </p> + <p> + ‘You mustn’t speak, or we shall not be able to find out your + temperature,’ she said, and Angela put on a resigned air, and + suffered in silence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Now,’ continued the head-mistress, pleasantly, ‘we can + have a few minutes’ conversation, while we are waiting to discover + whether Angela has scarlet fever or not. To begin with, I want to ask you + if you remembered, when you went out of bounds last Thursday, that you + were abusing the trust I had placed in you? Recollect!–I do not keep + policemen at every corner to spy over you when you are left to yourselves, + but I do put you on your honour not to do anything you know I have + forbidden. Did you think of this, Jean?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean reddened and looked down. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, I didn’t,’ she blurted out. ‘I forgot all + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_203"></a>203</span> about the + bounds, at first, and I only thought you would like us to feed the poor, + and it was such a grand opportunity. And then, afterwards<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes–afterwards?’ said Miss Finlayson, encouragingly, as + Jean hesitated. + </p> + <p> + ‘Afterwards, when I saw that woman look like she did, I never + thought of you or anything,’ she muttered with an effort; and she + was very red indeed by the time she had finished. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson took her hand and held it between her own, and then turned + to Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘Was that your reason too, Babs?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, it wasn’t,’ answered Babs, without hesitation. + ‘I did remember about going out of bounds directly we climbed over + the gate; but I saw the other two had forgotten, so I didn’t say + anything.’ + </p> + <p> + The thermometer nearly fell out of Angela’s mouth from surprise at + this amazing admission; and Jean felt compelled to say something in + Barbara’s defence. + </p> + <p> + ‘You see, the boy was crying so,’ she interrupted anxiously; + ‘and I suppose Babs thought<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush!’ said the head-mistress, softly; ‘I want Babs to + tell me what she thought.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara was almost as red as Jean by this time. ‘I didn’t + think about the boy, or the poor, or anything,’ she confessed; + ‘but I wanted to see whether the lane did lead to <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_204"></a>204</span> the enchanted + grotto, where the beautiful princess<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + She paused, because she remembered just in time that nobody ever + understood about those things. Miss Finlayson was watching her carefully. + </p> + <p> + ‘And did it?’ she asked quietly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh no,’ said Barbara; ‘it was <i>horrible</i> when it + got round the corner.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson nodded, and smiled her own mysterious smile. Then she took + the thermometer out of Angela’s mouth. + </p> + <p> + ‘And what was your reason, Angela?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know,’ said Angela, rather foolishly. ‘Jean + said “Come on!” and we’d promised to share the first + opportunity that came; and Babs went, and so of course I went too.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson looked relieved. ‘You have made me feel much happier, + children,’ she said, ‘because I see now that you did not + realise what you were doing, and that your own reasons seemed good enough + to you at the time. If I thought I could not trust to your honour any + more, I should be most unhappy. Do you think you understand?’ + </p> + <p> + The triumvirate looked very thoughtful. Angela, who seemed to have + forgotten all about her alarming symptoms, was the first to speak. + </p> + <p> + ‘I suppose I ought to have found out whether the others were right + before I followed them,’ she said. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson nodded. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_205"></a>205</span>‘And we + ought to have made sure we were right ourselves before we let her follow + us, because Angela always follows,’ added Jean. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson nodded again. + </p> + <p> + Barbara roused herself and shook back her hair. ‘I was the worst,’ + she said impetuously. ‘I did remember about the bounds, and the + others didn’t until afterwards. But I forgot about the honour part, + truthfully!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ answered the head-mistress; ‘you were the worst, + Babs; and you soon found out that the lane did not lead to the enchanted + grotto, didn’t you? Now, what we can all see very clearly from this + conversation is that we must think a little more carefully in future + before we do things. The rules in my school are made for people who <i>think</i>, + and not for people who have to be told whether a thing is right or wrong. + People of that kind are not the people for me. Are you going to let me + trust you again in future, children?’ + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt whatever from their faces that they thought she might; + but Babs still wanted something cleared up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Was the Canon’s sermon all wrong, then?’ she asked in + her straightforward manner. Jean and Angela looked at the head-mistress + nervously; but Miss Finlayson did not seem to mind. + </p> + <p> + ‘The Canon’s sermon was rather like my rules,’ she + pointed out; ‘and it was meant for people who think. It is no use + being unselfish in a thoughtless kind of way, or else you do as <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_206"></a>206</span> much harm as most + people do by being selfish. I want you to try very hard to put lots of + thought and cleverness into your good deeds all your life, so that by the + time you are grown up your good deeds will be really worth doing. Then you + will be able to carry out properly what the Canon told you; for, to tell + the truth, the Canon’s sermon was rather meant for grown-up + thinking, and perhaps that is why you misunderstood it. But children’s + thinking is worth just as much in its own way; don’t forget that, + little girls.’ + </p> + <p> + She jumped up and kissed them all round, then glanced hastily at her + watch. ‘It strikes me,’ she said gravely, ‘that if + somebody looks out of the window in five minutes’ time, somebody + will see something in the garden.’ + </p> + <p> + She was just going out of the room, when an exclamation from Barbara + called her back. ‘Why,’ she said, ‘you haven’t + told us about Angela’s scarlet fever yet!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No more I have,’ said the head-mistress, and she took the + thermometer to the window and examined it. Angela tried rather feebly to + recover her resigned expression, which she had completely dropped in the + last few minutes; and her school-fellows exchanged a look of apprehension. + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor Angela!’ said Miss Finlayson, pensively, as she dipped + the thermometer into a glass of water. + </p> + <p> + Angela put her hand to her head, and the other two closed round her + sympathetically. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_207"></a>207</span>‘I am + truly sorry for you,’ continued Miss Finlayson, returning the + thermometer to her pocket and sighing deeply. + </p> + <p> + The triumvirate gazed at her in a scared fashion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is she–is she going to have scarlet fever, <i>really</i>?’ + asked Barbara, anxiously. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson walked slowly across the room, shaking her head. She turned + when she reached the door, and her eyes twinkled. ‘I am afraid not,’ + she said, and they heard her laughing to herself as she ran downstairs. + </p> + <p> + The triumvirate had very little time to congratulate Angela on her escape + before their attention was caught by a loud ‘Coo-ey!’ from the + garden below. Certainly ‘quorranteen’ was full of diversions + this afternoon. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kit! Kit! That’s Kit!’ shouted Babs, and a series of + flying leaps took her across to the window. In another minute the sash was + flung wide, and she was leaning out as far as the laws of balance allowed + her. She was right about the ‘Coo-ey!’ for there on the lawn + below stood her favourite brother, and by his side stood Jill and Auntie + Anna. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well,’ said the old lady, leaning on her blue-knobbed + cane and looking more like a witch than ever, ‘and what is the + meaning of this, I should like to know? A fine lot of trouble you’re + giving people with your tricks, you young monkey!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s all right,’ Babs assured her; ‘we’ve + made it up with Finny, and she’s not a bit <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_208"></a>208</span> cross, and next + time we’re going to think first, and we’re never going to pay + a bit of attention to the old Canon till we’re grown up. Then we + shan’t make any more mistakes, she says.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s to be hoped not, for I think you’ve made a young + silly of yourself all the same,’ remarked Christopher, frankly. + ‘Whatever made you do it, Babe?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked a little crestfallen. It would be easier to explain their + escapade to twenty Canons than to one brother, even when it was a + favourite brother like Kit. Jill came hurriedly to the rescue. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never mind about that, Kit,’ she said. ‘Think how lucky + it is that she hasn’t caught scarlet fever, after all.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara cheered up. ‘Even Angela doesn’t think she’s + going to have it now,’ she observed; ‘and she’s been + thinking she’s got it, ever since we went into quarantine; so we + shall be able to come out again the day after to-morrow. Of course it + means sums and flannel petticoats and all those horrible things as well; + but still, we shall be able to practise up for the gym display, and that’s + much more important. You’re all coming to the gym display, aren’t + you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Rather!’ said Kit. ‘It’s the day after the others + break up; and even Egbert says he doesn’t mind coming, though it’s + only a girls’ school, and he says he doesn’t expect much. Of + course, Will is awfully keen on coming, and <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_209"></a>209</span> so is Peter; but that’s only for the + grub, so don’t you make any mistake about it.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know why Egbert is so mighty grand,’ objected + Barbara. ‘Our gym is really <i>serious</i>, I can tell you. You + should see Angela on the rings; and as for Jean Murray–why, I + forgot! You don’t know them yet!’ + </p> + <p> + She disappeared abruptly from the window, while Auntie Anna said something + about leaving the young people to themselves, and strolled off towards the + house. Kit was attacked with a sudden fit of shyness at the prospect of + being presented to two perfectly strange schoolgirls; and he shouted at + Barbara to ‘come back and chuck it!’ But Barbara did not hear + him, and he edged behind Jill for protection. + </p> + <p> + Upstairs, in the ‘quorranteen,’ Barbara was trying with some + difficulty to persuade Jean and Angela to show themselves. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh no!’ they both said, getting as far away as possible from + the window, and contriving to look neglected. ‘Never mind us, Babe; + <i>please</i> go on talking to your people.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But it’s <i>Kit</i>!’ represented Babs, as if that + settled the matter at once. ‘He’s my favourite brother, and he’s + a genius, and he’s only thirteen, and he has asthma so badly you’d + think he was going to die. You <i>must</i> want to know Kit! Besides, Jill + is there too.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill Urquhart?’ cried Angela. ‘Why didn’t you say + so before? Of course, we want to see Jill Urquhart!’ + </p> + <p> + So the triumvirate squeezed themselves on <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_210"></a>210</span> to the narrow window-seat, and hung in a row + over the window-ledge, while Jill smiled and nodded from below, and said + pleasant things to them in her pretty soft voice. For all that, her old + school-fellows did not feel at their ease with her; for they had suddenly + made the discovery that Jill Urquhart, who used to be the privileged + possessor of boots to be unlaced and desks to be put away, and other + things now connected with Margaret Hulme, had somehow changed into a + daintily dressed, grown-up sort of visitor, who had to hold up her skirt + because the grass was wet. No one, not even the head girl, held up her + skirt at Wootton Beeches. + </p> + <p> + ‘This is Jean Murray, Kit, and that’s Angela Wilkins,’ + said Babs, by way of introduction; and Christopher, who was still seeking + protection behind his cousin, pulled off his cap and grinned. Then there + was a pause, and the situation became rather strained. Barbara looked + round at her two companions, and could not imagine what had come over + them. Why, she wondered, did they not chatter away as they usually did? + They only giggled faintly, however; and Angela was covered with blushes. + So far, the introduction did not seem a success. + </p> + <p> + ‘Angela can swing and turn and leave go with one hand and catch on + again–I mean on the rings,’ said Barbara, by way of opening + the conversation. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can’t! What stories! Besides, it’s <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_211"></a>211</span> quite easy; + anybody could!’ declared Angela, vehemently. + </p> + <p> + ‘And Jean can turn coach-wheels as well as Peter,’ continued + Babs, eagerly. ‘She can do hand-balance too, when Hurly-Burly isn’t + looking; because we’re not allowed to do hand-balance, you see, so + we’ve got to wait till no one is looking. Isn’t it wonderful + of Jean?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How <i>can</i> you, Babe?’ murmured Jean, reproachfully; and + she concealed her confusion by staring up at the top of the elm tree + opposite and pretending that she was not the person referred to. + </p> + <p> + ‘They are very clever, aren’t they, Kit?’ said Jill, in + a gentle, encouraging manner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, rather!’ said Kit, picking a blade of grass and gnawing + it in his desperation. + </p> + <p> + ‘And it will be most exciting to see Angela on the rings at the + display, won’t it, Kit?’ continued Jill, smiling away more + pleasantly than ever. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, rather!’ said Kit, again; and he wound the blade of grass + elaborately round his little finger. + </p> + <p> + ‘What we can do is nothing to Babs, though!’ said Angela, + making a mighty effort to overcome her shyness. ‘She’s the + best in the whole school!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, the Babe!’ remarked Christopher, leaving the shelter of + Jill’s big hat, and suddenly regaining confidence. ‘<i>She</i> + doesn’t count.’ + </p> + <p> + Conversation flourished more easily after that, for the triumvirate + combined immediately <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_212"></a>212</span> + in an attempt to prove to Kit that the Babe did count. Indeed, the + argument grew so hot and furious that the Doctor, who happened at that + moment to make his call upon his small patients, knocked three times at + the door of the room, and finally had to walk in unannounced. There was a + look of annoyance on his face, for he already resented being compelled to + waste his precious time in attending three healthy young schoolgirls who + had nothing whatever the matter with them, and would not have been in + their present plight but for a piece of childish folly. When he found that + his patients had not even the grace to be ready for his visit, his + irritation increased. + </p> + <p> + ‘Excuse me,’ he began, ‘are you aware<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>?’ He paused and + frowned, for it was quite evident that none of them was aware of anything + except of what was going on in the garden. Nothing was to be seen of his + patients except an array of black legs along the window-seat; the rest of + them appeared to be hanging over the ledge outside in a perilous and + inelegant position; and all three of them were gabbling away as fast as + their tongues would let them. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you wait for the competition, that’s all!’ Angela + was proclaiming shrilly. + </p> + <p> + ‘It all depends on how soon that stupid Doctor lets us out of this + hole,’ added Jean, with suppressed scorn in her voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s so funny; he never says anything important, and he only + looks glum, as if he was <i>so</i> sorry for himself,’ chimed in + Babs, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_213"></a>213</span>Dr. Wilson + Hurst tapped his stick smartly on the table; and there was a sudden pause. + Then came three thuds on the floor by the window-seat, and the triumvirate + stood facing him in varying stages of confusion. + </p> + <p> + ‘We–we didn’t know you were there,’ ventured + Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘So I gathered,’ said the Doctor, without a smile. ‘Will + you kindly show me your tongues?’ + </p> + <p> + He did not want to see their tongues particularly; but it seemed the most + obvious means at his disposal for producing silence. The rapidity with + which three tongues simultaneously darted out for his inspection reminded + him irresistibly of mechanical toys, and he very nearly allowed himself to + smile. + </p> + <p> + ‘That will do,’ he said, controlling himself sternly; and he + took out his watch and felt Barbara’s pulse. The moment the child’s + tongue was her own again, she began to make use of it. + </p> + <p> + ‘You’re sorry that we are not any iller, aren’t you, Dr. + Hurst?’ she remarked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Eh? What?’ said the Doctor, taken aback. ‘I–I don’t + know what you are talking about.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you always look as though you would like us so much better if + we <i>really</i> had scarlet fever instead of only waiting for it,’ + explained Babs, pleasantly. ‘<i>Would</i> you like us better, Dr. + Hurst, if we really had scarlet fever?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_214"></a>214</span>She had so + nearly guessed the truth with her quick, impish perception, that the + Doctor dropped her hand abruptly and passed on to Angela. ‘There + doesn’t seem to be much the matter with any of you,’ he said, + by way of conducting the conversation on strict medical lines. He looked + so cross about it, however, that the attempt did not prosper. Barbara, in + the innocence of her heart, thought he needed cheering up. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you coming to the display, Dr. Hurst?’ she asked + politely. + </p> + <p> + ‘The–I beg your pardon?’ he murmured, staring hard at + his watch. + </p> + <p> + ‘The gymnastic display at the end of the term, when we’re + going to compete for the Canon’s prize, you know,’ proceeded + Barbara. ‘Everybody’s coming–Jill too! So <i>you</i> + will, won’t you, Dr. Hurst?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Really, I don’t know,’ answered the Doctor; and he + dropped Angela’s hand just as hastily, and passed on to Jean Murray. + Babs looked a little puzzled for a moment, and then her face cleared. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, of course, you don’t like Jill! I’d forgotten that,’ + she remarked with a smile. ‘But that doesn’t matter, because + you needn’t sit next to her, need you? I don’t think Jill + would mind your not sitting next to her,’ she added reflectively. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor began to wish very heartily that he had accepted Miss Finlayson’s + offer to let one of the teachers accompany him from the <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_215"></a>215</span> house, and he + prepared to beat a speedy retreat. But Angela, in her bland and tactless + manner, put the finishing touch to his embarrassment and cut off his + retirement. + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill Urquhart is outside on the lawn now,’ she observed quite + pointlessly. + </p> + <p> + ‘So she is!’ cried Barbara, clapping her hands. ‘Then + you’ll come to the window and speak to her, won’t you, Dr. + Hurst? Kit is there too!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You must really excuse me,’ said the Doctor, stiffly, as he + took up his hat and stick; ‘but, really<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Dr. Hurst, <i>do</i> come,’ begged the child, her little + black eyes bright with entreaty. In spite of her temporary disloyalty + during the period of ‘quorranteen’ to the prince who had once + been a beast, she still considered him worthy to stay in her kingdom with + the magician and other privileged folk; and it really hurt her to feel + that he did not appreciate Jill and Kit, and that Jill and Kit on their + side did not know he had been disenchanted quite six weeks ago. Surely, + she thought, if they were all properly brought together, they could not + fail to like one another. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor hesitated, and Barbara waited anxiously. He thought he only had + to decide whether he should leave at once, or whether he should stay and + be laughed at by the other schoolgirl outside–the one who had made + him feel so stupid at Mrs. Crofton’s dinner-party. But to Barbara + his decision meant much more <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_216"></a>216</span> + than that, for it was going to determine whether a certain beast was a + prince, or whether a certain prince was a beast. + </p> + <p> + So she waited with a look of thrilling expectancy on her face; and the + other two, who had never seen her look like that before, began to feel a + little doubtful about the way she was behaving. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, Babe, don’t!’ whispered Jean, tugging at her. + </p> + <p> + The little movement roused the Doctor, and recalled him to the absurdity + of his position. He bowed, and walked with sudden determination to the + door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good afternoon,’ he said curtly; and the disappointment on + Barbara’s face haunted him in the most tiresome manner for the rest + of the day. + </p> + <p> + Babs stood motionless for nearly a minute after he had gone. Then she + smiled a little wistfully to herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘After all, he must have found it rather lonely without a princess, + and I can’t find a princess,’ she reflected out loud. + </p> + <p> + ‘What <i>are</i> you talking about?’ asked Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hadn’t we better go back to Jill?’ added Angela, + impatiently. + </p> + <p> + Barbara gave a start. ‘What a silly duffer I am!’ she cried + joyfully. ‘Of course, there’s Jill; and she’s been there + all the time!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, she has,’ said Jean, bluntly, ‘and it’s + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_217"></a>217</span> time you + remembered it, for she must be tired of waiting for us by this<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara interrupted her with another remark–rather a mournful one + this time. + </p> + <p> + ‘It never comes right,’ she sighed. ‘Now, I’ve got + a princess without a prince!’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_218"></a>218</span><a + id="link_14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /><span class="h2fs">PREPARING FOR THE + DISPLAY</span> + </h2> + <p> + Dr. Hurst did not call again at the little house in the garden, and the + triumvirate came out of quarantine in due course, very little subdued by + their eight days’ imprisonment, and more on the alert than ever for + any piece of excitement that might come their way. The junior playroom, + having passed an exceedingly dull and uneventful week during their + absence, welcomed their return with joy; and it was perhaps fortunate for + the internal affairs of Wootton Beeches that there was going to be a + gymnastic display to absorb the energies of its wilder spirits. As the + days rolled on and the end of the term drew nearer and nearer, the + conversation on both sides of the curtain became almost entirely limited + to the one topic of the Canon’s prize; and those who were not among + the chosen competitors for it spent the best part of their time in + watching the others practise in the big gymnasium, and in disputing hotly + the various chances of the claimants. Miss Finlayson had settled that the + six morocco-bound volumes <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_219"></a>219</span> + offered by her uncle should be divided into two prizes, one for the senior + and one for the junior division of the school; and while it was generally + agreed that Margaret Hulme would carry off the first, the discussion in + the junior playroom as to the winner of the second was endless. Most of + the girls were agreed that Charlotte Bigley and the three members of the + triumvirate shared equal chances, on the whole, of being successful; and a + great deal would depend, it was said, on the exercises chosen for + competition. For, until a week before the great day, nobody knew what the + exact programme was to be. ‘It’s one of Finny’s dodges,’ + Charlotte Bigley declared, ‘because she wants us to be good all + round, and not to grind at one or two things just for the sake of the + prize. It’s like the prize-giving in the Christmas term; we never + know what the prizes are going to be for, till after the exams. are over.’ + </p> + <p> + So the excitement was great when Miss Burleigh walked into the gymnasium + on the Saturday before the display, and called for silence so that she + might read out the order of the competition. Even the younger children + forced themselves into a kind of uneasy order, as Hurly-Burly unfolded her + sheet of foolscap paper; for the next few minutes would practically + decide, they thought, who was to be the lucky one among the juniors. + </p> + <p> + ‘First of all,’ announced the games-mistress, ‘the whole + gymnastic class will open the display by an exhibition of step-marching.’ + This was <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_220"></a>220</span> + received with average interest, for it sounded like one of the ordinary + gymnastic lessons, and had nothing to do with the competition. Miss + Burleigh waited for the murmur of comments to subside, and went on. + ‘Then the thirty-two girls chosen to compete for the prize will + separate into two divisions; and the senior division, led by Margaret + Hulme, will perform the following exercises:–’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Burleigh paused again, but there were no comments this time. + </p> + <p> + ‘First, wand exercises by the whole senior division; then a display + on the horizontal bar, to be followed by one on the vaulting-horse,–competitors + to choose between the bar and the horse,–and the whole to conclude + with high jump. After tea, I will show you the exercises chosen for + competition, and will help you to divide yourselves into sections.’ + </p> + <p> + The buzz of remarks from the senior division lasted almost long enough to + shake the loyalty of the younger children to the head girl; and they cast + many reproachful glances towards the further end of the gymnasium, where + Margaret formed the centre of an eager, chattering group. Then Hurly-Burly + took pity on them and called for silence again, and the juniors had their + chance at last. + </p> + <p> + ‘The junior division, led by Charlotte Bigley, will go through the + following exercises:–’ began Miss Burleigh. She did not mean + to pause here, but a storm of remonstrance from the junior division + drowned her next words. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_221"></a>221</span>‘Did + you <i>ever</i>!’ cried the shrill voice of Angela Wilkins, who, + with Jean and Barbara, sat perched on the top of the vaulting-horse. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why doesn’t Jean lead?’ added Babs, indignantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I say, please don’t! I’m not nearly so good as you are,’ + contradicted Jean, in a faint tone that lacked conviction. + </p> + <p> + ‘Can’t you be quiet, you three?’ grumbled Mary Wells, + who had a prejudice against the triumvirate, founded on many injuries. + ‘As if anybody could lead better than Charlotte! The impudence of <i>some</i> + kids<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush-sh!’ interposed the audience generally, and Miss + Burleigh struggled on. + </p> + <p> + ‘First, Indian clubs for the whole section. After that<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jean–for certain!’ interrupted Barbara, nodding. + ‘She bangs every one at clubs!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There you go again!’ said the injured voice of Mary Wells. + ‘Everybody knows that Charlotte<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, stop it!’ said Charlotte herself; and temporary peace was + restored. + </p> + <p> + ‘After that,’ continued Hurly-Burly, rapidly, ‘a display + on the horizontal ladder, to be followed by one on the rings. Competitors + to choose between<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I bag rings!’ screamed Angela, at the top of her voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, you don’t!’ said Mary Wells, in her stolid, + aggravating way. ‘You’ve just got to wait till it’s + settled for you, so there! We all <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_222"></a>222</span> know why you’re so anxious not to do + the ladder; why, you can’t even manage a simple travel<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How can you, Mary Wells?’ asked Angela, solemnly. ‘You + know I can bear anything but an untruth; and to say that <i>I</i><span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Sh-sh!’ said Miss Burleigh, vigorously, and she was again + allowed a few seconds of silence. ‘The junior division will then + conclude with rope-climbing.’ + </p> + <p> + Hardly were the words out of her mouth than her listeners fell to + disputing again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Rope-climbing–Barbara!’ asserted Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘What are you talking about?’ cried Mary, with contempt. + ‘Barbara is simply not <i>in</i> it with Charlotte; and what’s + more, you know she isn’t, Jean Murray.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, the wicked stories some people can tell,’ sighed Angela. + ‘Have you seen Barbara Berkeley swarm up the<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Please, please don’t,’ implored Babs. ‘Can’t + you see that Hurly-Burly wants to say something else?’ + </p> + <p> + Being the champion in question, she could not very well side with Jean, as + she usually did. Her appeal had some effect on the disputants, and Miss + Burleigh, remembering it was a half-holiday, shrugged her shoulders + good-naturedly and took advantage of the pause to proceed. + </p> + <p> + ‘The display will take place at five o’clock on Thursday,’ + she proclaimed; ‘supper will be at seven, and after supper, the + Canon, who is coming from the North on purpose, will give <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_223"></a>223</span> away the prizes to + the two successful competitors<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s Margaret and Charlotte Bigley,’ interrupted + Mary, noisily; and Hurly-Burly gave it up and fled, with her hands over + her ears, just as Angela, with a yell of defiance, lost her balance and + plunged down head-first from her perch on the vaulting-horse. + </p> + <p> + ‘No, no! Margaret and Jean!’ she gasped out breathlessly, as + she scrambled up again from the floor and brushed the dust from her hands + and knees. + </p> + <p> + Jean sprang to her feet on the top of the vaulting-horse, and danced up + and down in her excitement. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret and the Babe!’ she shrieked, waving her arms wildly + round her head. + </p> + <p> + But Barbara had slipped down after Angela, though not quite so + precipitately, and had retired from the contest to a particular corner of + the gymnasium, where the hot-water pipes projected sufficiently to form + what might with imagination be considered a seat. It required some + ingenuity, perhaps, to preserve any sort of balance on the edge of a row + of hot-water pipes; but that was nothing to a small person who could never + sit down tamely on a chair like other people, but always preferred the + slanting surface of a desk, or something equally unaccommodating. So Babs + felt the hot-water pipes with her grubby little hands, to make sure they + were just the right heat to be sat upon, and then squeezed herself on to + them <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_224"></a>224</span> + contentedly, curled her legs away underneath, and in a few seconds was + supremely unconscious of what was going on at the other end of the + gymnasium. Jean Murray might yell herself hoarse in her defence, for all + she knew or cared; for at that moment her mind was occupied with a far + more important question. + </p> + <p> + It was Angela who first grew tired of waging war with Mary Wells without + the valuable support of Barbara Berkeley. Angela could shriek with the + shrillest, when once some one had told her what to shriek; but there was a + solid calmness about Mary that carried more conviction with it, and + Barbara’s wit was the only thing to make any impression upon that. + Besides, if Angela shrieked ‘Margaret and Jean,’ and Jean + shrieked ‘Margaret and the Babe,’ who was there left but the + Babe to shriek for Angela herself? So in a very short time Angela Wilkins + also left the contest, and found her way to the place where the hot-water + pipes projected into a perch for the youngest girl in the school. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo, Babe! What’s up?’ she inquired. + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked at her vaguely. Some one in a scarlet gymnasium frock + certainly stood in front of her, but it had nothing whatever to do with + what she was worrying over in her mind; so, at first, she did not take any + notice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aren’t you coming to practise rings?’ pursued Angela, + who had seen Barbara look like this before, and knew from experience that + in <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_225"></a>225</span> time the + child would rouse herself sufficiently to answer her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Rings?’ repeated Babs, vacantly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, come on!’ said Angela, impatiently. ‘How you do + moon about the place, to be sure! Don’t you want to win the Canon’s + prize?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara’s expression changed swiftly, and she frowned. ‘Get + away,’ she growled, with unusual fierceness; and Angela stared and + withdrew. + </p> + <p> + ‘Barbara Berkeley is in an awful fury,’ she announced, when + she got back to Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘What about?’ asked Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, not <i>about</i> anything,’ answered Angela, shrugging + her shoulders. ‘When the Babe is in a fury, it’s never <i>about</i> + anything, is it? It’s inside her, or something,’ she added, + seeking in her mind for some explanation of the strange moods that made + Barbara Berkeley a puzzle to every one. + </p> + <p> + ‘Inside her!’ echoed Mary Wells, scornfully. ‘What you + two can see in that child I never can make out. Fancy making friends with + any one who loses her temper <i>inside</i>!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, it’s better than losing it <i>outside</i> and upsetting + everybody by howling like a baby, because you can’t find your + pencil-box, isn’t it, stupid?’ cried Jean. + </p> + <p> + Mary blushed painfully at the personal reference, and hastily changed the + conversation. ‘Barbara Berkeley is a spoilt little kid,’ she + retorted. ‘She’s the most sullen, ill-tempered, obstinate + little<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ The + words stayed at the <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_226"></a>226</span> + tip of her tongue, for the unconscious subject of them had suddenly joined + the group round Mary, and was staring at her in her most solemn and + disconcerting manner. + </p> + <p> + Mary Wells felt foolish. There was something about the youngest girl in + the school, when she looked like that, that would make any one feel + foolish. But Babs had evidently not heard a word she had been saying. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come on,’ she said, hooking her arm into Jean’s; + ‘I want to ask you something.’ + </p> + <p> + The two wandered away together down the long gymnasium. + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here,’ began Barbara, impetuously, as soon as they were + out of hearing of the others. ‘Are you keen on winning that prize?’ + </p> + <p> + Jean drew a long breath. She wanted to take that prize back with her to + the little home in Edinburgh, where she had been adored and spoiled for + twelve whole years, more than she had ever wanted anything in the world; + and she did not know how to answer Barbara’s unexpected question. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why?’ she asked, at length. + </p> + <p> + Barbara took hold of a rope and waved it backwards and forwards to give + herself courage. ‘Because,’ she blurted out, ‘I want to + get it too,–<i>awfully</i>, and so does Angela, and–and we can’t + all get it, can we?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ said Jean, looking at her curiously. She had thought she + really was beginning to understand the Babe; and here she was, showing + herself in a more puzzling light than ever. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_227"></a>227</span>‘You + see,’ Barbara went on, swarming up the rope a couple of feet and + making her next remark to the black hook in the beam above, ‘I’d + like awfully to win it, because I don’t want the boys to think I’ve + got too much like a girl to do things now; and because it’s so–so + splendid to feel you <i>can</i> do things.’ + </p> + <p> + She slid down the rope again, and Jean saw how her eyes were glowing and + shining, and she felt a little more puzzled than before. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then, Angela wants to get it because she’s always bottom in + everything else,’ continued Barbara. ‘That’s not much of + a reason, I think, especially when she hasn’t got any brothers–only + millions of sisters, who don’t count; but still, she’ll be + awfully disappointed if she doesn’t get it, won’t she?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Jean. + </p> + <p> + Babs curled the rope round her waist, and swung herself gently to and fro. + The movement seemed to aid her reflections. ‘Why do <i>you</i> want + to get it, Jean?’ she asked softly. + </p> + <p> + It was never easy to induce Jean to talk about herself; but if any one + could do it, Barbara was the person. And, this time, she succeeded. + </p> + <p> + Jean drew another long breath, and clenched her fists. + </p> + <p> + ‘Because I want to be first,’ she said slowly. ‘I want + to be first in <i>everything</i>. I’d sooner be bottom than second! + Of course you’ll think I’m a conceited pig,’ she added, + almost fiercely, ‘but I can’t help that; I don’t expect + you to <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_228"></a>228</span> + understand.’ Then she muttered in a lower tone,–‘Nobody + ever does, excepting only mother and father.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara’s eyes were fixed on her face, and there was a warmth in + their blackness that Jean had only seen there once, and that was when she + was writing to her father in America. + </p> + <p> + ‘Good old Jean!’ she murmured. ‘It’s awfully hard + to understand; but I’ll try–<i>truthfully</i>. And I’d + like you to get the prize–I would, really. I didn’t want you + to have it before; but I do now, Jean, old girl!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I ought to want <i>you</i> to have it, but I don’t,’ + sighed Jean, trying vainly not to be behindhand in unselfishness; ‘I + just want it myself, so it’s no good pretending I don’t.’ + </p> + <p> + There was silence between them for an instant; and from the other end of + the gymnasium drifted the monotonous war-cries of Mary Wells and Angela + Wilkins. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret and Charlotte Bigley!’ shouted one. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret and Jean Murray!’ added the other. + </p> + <p> + The enthusiasm was too infectious to be resisted. With a wild scream of + glee, Jean and Babs raced the whole length of the room and flung + themselves into the fray, without a thought of the opposite sentiments + they had just been expressing to each other. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret and the Babe!’ yelled Jean, brandishing an Indian + club. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret and Angela!’ came from the panting Barbara, just + behind her. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_229"></a>229</span>Nothing but + the entrance of Finny would have calmed the noisy tumult; but when they + saw her standing on the platform, looking down at them with her best + Saturday smile on her face, the clamour ended in a burst of laughter; and + five or six of the more eager of them invaded the platform, and danced + round her appealingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do, do say who’s going to win,’ begged Barbara, + catching hold of her sleeve. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s Margaret and the Babe, isn’t it?’ cried + Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘No!’ shrilled Angela. ‘You mean Margaret and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Charlotte Bigley!’ gasped Mary Wells, squeezing herself into + the front rank. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson put out her arms and encircled as many of them as she + could, and spun them round the platform with her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dear, dear little girls!’ she exclaimed, when she was out of + breath and could dance no more. ‘Do you know what the Canon ought to + have done, if he wanted to please <i>me</i>?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What? What?’ cried a dozen voices. + </p> + <p> + ‘He ought to have offered thirty-two prizes, and then I should not + have been afraid of any of my children feeling disappointed,’ + answered Miss Finlayson, nodding at them wisely; and, somehow, it seemed + to Jean as if the head-mistress’s eyes rested longest of all upon + her. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_230"></a>230</span><a + id="link_15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /><span class="h2fs">THE GYMNASTIC DISPLAY</span> + </h2> + <p> + The junior division, drawn up in double file, stood assembled in the + anteroom of the gymnasium, on the day of the great competition for the + Canon’s prize. The figure-marching by the whole class was over, and + the senior division had just begun the wand exercises to the piano + accompaniment of the German music-master, who, being the unlucky possessor + of an unpronounceable name in three syllables, was generally known as + ‘Scales.’ The applause which had followed after the marching + had taken away the first shyness of the younger children; and even the + prospect of doing separate exercises presently, before an audience of + strangers, did not seem to be having much effect on the sixteen little + girls in scarlet frocks who were waiting in the anteroom for their turn to + come. Hurly-Burly, though supposed to be superintending affairs in the + gymnasium, had to look in at the door more than once, to remind them that + the crashing chords of ‘Scales’ did not drown everything; but + just as <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_231"></a>231</span> she + had succeeded in reducing them at last to order, a piece of information + passed down the file from Charlotte Bigley, who stood nearest the doorway + and had the best view of the gymnasium, upset them all once more. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret has forgotten the figure,’ ‘Margaret has put + the others out,’ ‘Margaret has gone wrong,’ ‘Margaret + Hulme has clean forgotten everything, and she’s got to step out,’ + were the various forms in which the news travelled down to the end of the + file, the last of all being the version of Angela Wilkins and therefore + generally discredited. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t believe a word of it!’ said Jean, stoutly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, Margaret couldn’t go wrong if she tried,’ + exclaimed Barbara, whose belief in the head girl, though slow in coming, + was quite equal by this time to Jean’s. + </p> + <p> + ‘She has, though,’ declared Angela, who stood with Mary Wells + just in front of Jean and Barbara. + </p> + <p> + Mary Wells, who had stepped out of rank on hearing the surprising news, + now returned, and in her slow and conscientious manner proceeded to + reprove Angela. + </p> + <p> + ‘How you do exaggerate, Angela!’ she said, frowning. ‘Margaret + only went a little wrong; and she’s caught up again all right. Isn’t + it funny, though?’ she was obliged to add immediately, with a thrill + of amazement in her voice. + </p> + <p> + The two children behind her for once were dumb. The head girl, according + to their simple <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_232"></a>232</span> + creed, could do no wrong; so when she did, what words had they left to + use? Babs was the first to see a way out of the difficulty. + </p> + <p> + ‘I know,’ she said. ‘I expect she’s nervous. It + makes you forget like anything, if you’re nervous. Once, when Egbert + was being prepared for confirmation, he was so nervous–it was a + strange clergyman, you know, and Egbert said he blinked–that he + clean forgot his catechism, even the easy first part about your godfathers + and godmothers. So that’s why Margaret forgot her steps, you see if + it wasn’t!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nervous!’ echoed Jean, incredulously. ‘Who ever saw + Margaret nervous? Do you think she’d be able to make every new kid + who comes to the school quake in her shoes if she was <i>nervous</i>?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know,’ answered Babs, doubtfully. Margaret + Hulme had certainly never made her quake in her shoes, even when she was a + new girl; but she did not admit this to Jean. ‘Egbert can make + people afraid of him too,’ she went on, ‘and he can thrash any + chap you please, and he always washes his head in cold water <i>every</i> + morning, even if there’s ice, and he has more ties and clothes and + things than all the others put together, and he’s awfully grand and + splendid, Egbert is,–but all the same, he was frightened of that + strange clergyman. Can you see Egbert?’ she concluded proudly. + ‘He’s at the end of them all, next to Jill. <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_233"></a>233</span> Wasn’t it + jolly of Finny to put them right in the front row of the gallery?’ + </p> + <p> + Her companions forgot Margaret for a minute or two in their efforts to + stand on tiptoe and catch a glimpse through the open door of Barbara + Berkeley’s five brothers. The various relatives who came to the + break-up parties, and never seemed to exist at any other time except on + letter-writing days, always caused a good deal of excitement among the + girls, and added a temporary importance to the most insignificant of them, + provided she was lucky enough to possess a parent or even a cousin among + the visitors. + </p> + <p> + ‘They’re all mine,’ said Babs, glowing with the joy of + possession. ‘I’ll introduce them to you at supper, if you + like.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m rather glad I haven’t any one belonging to me here,’ + said Jean, cheating herself into a brief forgetfulness of the little home + in Edinburgh. ‘I’m so frightened of the introducing part; I + never know what to say, and it makes me feel such a goat.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh,’ said Mary Wells, placidly; ‘how funny of you, + Jean. I always say, “Here’s my sister, and this is Charlotte + Bigley.” That’s quite easy, surely.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, but it isn’t right,’ responded Jean, frankly. + ‘You should hear Margaret Hulme do it–that’s something + like! It reminds you of mothers, and callers, and At Home days when you + wear your best frock and hand the scones.’ + </p> + <p> + Their talk was interrupted by the retirement <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_234"></a>234</span> from the gymnasium of the senior division. + Margaret marched into the anteroom, with her eyes staring straight in + front of her, and an exaggerated air of confidence in her bearing. There + was an obvious lack of enthusiasm among her followers, who were all + whispering and looking significantly at their leader; but the noise + produced by Scales, who seemed to think that a Beethoven sonata was an + appropriate solo to play in the interval, made conversation impossible; + and the section that was to do the horizontal bar, led by Ruth Oliver, + returned to the gymnasium before the juniors were able to satisfy their + curiosity. During the second event of the competition, Margaret and the + vaulting-horse section exchanged very few remarks, and the feeling that + there was something unusual in the air had considerably increased by the + time Ruth, looking flushed and totally unlike herself, marched her section + back again. The rumour ran down the junior file that Ruth Oliver had been + distinguishing herself, and that as much of the clapping as Scales allowed + to be heard was on her account. Certainly, the irresolute manner that + marked everything Ruth did, as a rule, had quite deserted her as she filed + past the triumvirate with her little band. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why,’ exclaimed Angela, audibly, ‘I never knew Ruth + Oliver was pretty before!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She isn’t, is she?’ said Jean, just as loudly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course she is!’ declared Babs, warmly. ‘She’s + <i>beautiful</i>, and–and classic!’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_235"></a>235</span>The others + laughed, and she wondered why. Somebody had said, only the other day, that + Jill Urquhart had classic features; and how was she to know that, although + she was every bit as fond of Ruth as of Jill, the same adjective would not + do for both? + </p> + <p> + ‘Look at Margaret Hulme,’ whispered Mary Wells, as the + vaulting-horse section marched past them. ‘She’s quite white!’ + </p> + <p> + The little remark was enough to set them all wondering afresh; and + Barbara, moved by a sudden impulse, darted up to Ruth Oliver. + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Did</i> Margaret go wrong in the wands?’ asked the child, + in an anxious whisper. + </p> + <p> + The smile that had made Ruth look so surprisingly pretty died out of her + face, and she glanced gravely down at her little questioner. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never mind, baby,’ she said gently. ‘Go back to your + place.’ And she came as near snubbing any one then as she ever did + in the whole of her school career. + </p> + <p> + A burst of applause put every one in the anteroom once more on the alert. + </p> + <p> + ‘What is it?’ passed eagerly from one to another. The answer, + given by Charlotte from her point of vantage near the doorway, was soon + circulated. Margaret Hulme had easily surpassed her seven companions by a + brilliant performance on the vaulting-horse; and the spirits of the + anteroom went up with a bound. Hurly-Burly had mounted the platform at the + farther end of the gymnasium, and was <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_236"></a>236</span> comparing notes with Miss Finlayson and the + expert from the London training-college, who was acting as one of the + judges; so there was no one to restrain both senior and junior divisions + from falling out of rank and pressing round the head girl, as she once + more marched back to them. They had never once made so much fuss over + their idol as they did now that she had shown, for the first time, that + even idols are capable of failure. + </p> + <p> + Hurly-Burly returned and restored order in a stern voice; and they saw + Finny standing in the middle of the platform, waiting for Scales to bring + the <i>Erlkönig</i> to a thundering close. The next moment she was + speaking in that low voice of hers that went straight to the ears of every + one in the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘It may make the end of the senior competition more interesting to + you,’ she began, ‘if you know how the competitors stand now. + So far, Ruth Oliver is a little ahead of the others<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ Even the + solemnity of the occasion could not stay the murmur of astonishment that + rose in the anteroom at this announcement; but Miss Finlayson waited for + it to subside, and finished her speech. ‘She and Margaret Hulme are + very close, for they are exactly even as regards gymnastics; but Margaret + lost a little over the wand figure. So the prize will greatly depend upon + the result of the high jump. At the same time, I feel sure you will agree + with me that the way in which the other competitors have worked has <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_237"></a>237</span> greatly added to + our enjoyment, and deserves much of our applause.’ + </p> + <p> + A good many downcast faces in the anteroom cheered up as Miss Finlayson + made her ingenious reference to the unsuccessful ones, and so contrived to + make them feel that the applause at the end of her speech was really for + them. Then the whole senior division filed into the gymnasium for the last + time, to the slow music of Herr Scales, who had just had a polite rebuke + from Hurly-Burly, and was forcing himself desperately to keep the soft + pedal down. + </p> + <p> + The children never forgot the tense feeling of the next few minutes, the + thrill that ran through every girl in Wootton Beeches when Ruth Oliver + knocked down the rope at four feet four, the answering thrill that + followed it when she cleared it at four feet six, the surprise they went + through when Margaret also cleared it at four feet six, but knocked it + down at four feet eight; and last of all, the enthusiasm of the spectators + when Ruth just managed to clear it at four feet eight and Margaret still + knocked it down after two tries at it. The people, who clapped and smiled + so good-naturedly, little knew that the exciting contest they had just + witnessed had upset the traditions of two and a half years and proclaimed + the triumph of the most retiring girl in the school. They only thought how + modern and delightful it was for girls to play the same games as boys; and + Mrs. Oliver beamed on every one from the <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_238"></a>238</span> platform, and decided that Ruth should stay + another year at school instead of leaving at midsummer. But the anteroom + was overwhelmed. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s–impossible!’ gasped Jean, when the news + travelled down to the triumvirate. ‘Why, Margaret can clear four + feet ten <i>easily</i>! I’ve seen her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And Ruth has never done more than four feet six before,’ + added Angela, forced by the seriousness of the moment into a strict + statement of facts. + </p> + <p> + ‘Margaret was nervous; I’m certain she was,’ said + Barbara, positively. ‘It was the same with Egbert, when he forgot + his godfathers and godmothers; he said there was a silly idiot at the + bottom of his form, who didn’t mind the strange clergyman blinking + at him a bit, and he even got through the duty to his neighbour. And Ruth + wasn’t nervous, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What nonsense you are talking,’ remarked Mary Wells, who + loved to be literal. ‘Why, Ruth is more shy than any one in the + whole school!’ + </p> + <p> + That was certainly true, and Babs went on puzzling over it, long after + Margaret and Ruth had retired hand in hand to the other end of the + anteroom. For whatever the head girl felt about her failure, she did not + mean to let any one guess that she cared. Her easy self-possession was all + her own again, as she kept tight hold of Ruth’s hand and chatted + lightly to the girls about her; and one or two of the others, who tried to + patronise her with their <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_239"></a>239</span> + consolation, received such sarcastic replies that they were very soon put + back in their place again. Margaret Hulme was not going to forget she was + head girl, even if that roomful of strangers had robbed her of the power + she had wielded for two and a half years. + </p> + <p> + Scales struck up a march of his own composition; and at a vigorous sign + from Miss Burleigh, Charlotte Bigley hastily marshalled her scattered + troop and led them into the gymnasium for the Indian club performance. + They were all very much subdued by the time they had separated to their + various places, for the peep they had stolen through the anteroom door had + given them no idea of what it really felt like to stand in the middle of + this staring crowd of people, who filled the gallery above and the + platform at the end, and even spread thinly round the room close up to the + wall. Jean clenched her teeth and frowned fiercely, and would have endured + twice the shyness that tortured her sooner than forget one of the + exercises she had to go through; and as for Barbara, she took no notice of + the people at all, but began to work mechanically, as soon as the first + bars of the familiar valse fell on her ears. Angela, however, lost her + head and one of her clubs at the same instant; and a harmless aunt, who + sat near, only escaped a severe blow from the latter by the dexterity of + another visitor, who put out his hand just in time and caught it as it + flew past him. It was neatly done, and the audience applauded <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_240"></a>240</span> vigorously, while + Hurly-Burly gave the command to stop practice, and the stranger restored + her property to the confused and unhappy Angela. Then Babs recognised him. + It was the Doctor who had come out in this surprisingly new light; and + even Kit, with whom she immediately exchanged glances, was looking down at + him approvingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did you see Dr. Hurst?’ whispered Babs to Jean afterwards, as + they filed out of the gymnasium again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course I did, directly I got in,’ answered Jean. ‘Couldn’t + think who it was looking so glum and thundery! Wonder why he came to a + show like this? He doesn’t look as though he went in for gymnastics, + does he?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t know,’ said Babs, trying to be fair even to the + beast who had not shown himself worthy to be a prince. ‘It was very + smart the way he caught that club. Perhaps he is good at gym, though he + can’t take a joke.’ + </p> + <p> + Angela required so much consolation from them both on account of her + blunder, that they forgot all about the doctor, and spent most of their + time, while Charlotte’s section was displaying on the horizontal + ladder, in assuring her, with more or less confidence in their tones, that + when it came to the rings no one could hope to compete with her. Then + Charlotte Bigley returned at the head of her section, trying + unsuccessfully to look as if nothing had happened; and Mary Wells proudly + informed all those who cared to hear, that if anybody <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_241"></a>241</span> thought she was + going to do the rings as well as Charlotte had just done the ladder, she + was much mistaken! + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, you shut up!’ rejoined Babs. ‘You haven’t + seen Angela yet.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Or Jean!’ echoed Angela, faithfully. + </p> + <p> + The third voice for once was wanting. Jean Murray stood waiting for the + signal to advance; and her determined, almost dogged look was blotting out + every other expression on her thin, clever face. + </p> + <p> + Babs understood, and sprang forward to her place at Jean’s side. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s all right, Jean,’ she said earnestly. ‘I + must try my very hardest, because Finny made us all promise; but–but + I do want you to win, all the same.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, stop it, Babe,’ Jean threw back at her, in a tone that + startled and hurt her; and the child shrank into herself again, and had a + hard fight to keep back the tears that rushed into her eyes for the first + time in many weeks. + </p> + <p> + Their persistent encouragement of Angela made her go through the first + exercise on the rings successfully. It was a swing and a pull up in front, + and she managed it more neatly than either of her supporters. Then came + the swing and turn, and here Angela’s temporary courage deserted + her. Perhaps she was flurried by the little attempt made by the gallery to + applaud her the second time she came forward; in any case, the glimpse she + had of Kit, who <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_242"></a>242</span> + caught her eye and nodded cheerfully just as she was beginning, did not + help to compose her. She turned too soon and too vigorously, and spun + round helplessly in the air, until Hurly-Burly came to her aid and helped + her to drop ignominiously to the ground. After that, it was evident that + the issue of the competition rested with Jean and Barbara, for they soon + showed that they were much more finished and thorough in their work than + any one else in their section; and everybody was prepared for the + statement made by Miss Finlayson in the next interval. She announced that + Charlotte Bigley, Jean Murray, and Barbara Berkeley were exactly even up + to that point, and that the result would have to be determined by the + rope-climbing. + </p> + <p> + The rope-climbing, however, left the result still undetermined. Both Jean + and Babs reached the top in six seconds, blew the trumpet they found there + with a vigour that sent the spectators into a peal of merriment, and slid + down again, much pleased with themselves and the interest they were + exciting. Charlotte Bigley on the third rope excelled them in speed and + reached the top in five seconds, but forgot to blow the trumpet, and so + made things even once more. The junior division filed out again, while + Miss Finlayson and the expert and Hurly-Burly put their heads together on + the platform, and Herr Scales thought the moment an appropriate one for a + performance in his best manner of his favourite composition, which <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_243"></a>243</span> was called <i>Sonnenschein</i> + and had been thumped out in the holidays to half the parents in the room. + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson rose to her feet again. As the three competitors she had + already mentioned were still equal, she must call upon each of them to do + one of the advanced exercises, Charlotte on the ladder and the other two + on the rings; they were to choose their own exercises, and if they again + proved themselves equally good, the prize would be divided. The spectators + were in a pleasant state of interest by this time, and the three little + rivals were greeted with enthusiasm when they stepped out of the anteroom + for the last time and took up their positions in front of the platform. + They looked very small and slight as they stood there in their short red + frocks against a solid background of people; but they had quite lost every + suspicion of bashfulness, and Babs even began to look upon the whole thing + as an immense joke. She nodded gaily to the boys in the gallery, and + smiled happily at Auntie Anna, who had the place of honour on the platform + next to the Canon; and in the silence that followed, while Charlotte + Bigley was jumping from rung to rung of the horizontal ladder, she + occupied herself in trying to decide on her own exercise. If Jean chose + leaving go with one hand, she should swing and let go and catch on to the + trapeze beyond–at least, if Hurly-Burly would only be decent and + give her leave. She half hoped that Jean <i>would</i> choose the other; + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_244"></a>244</span> for she had + practised the trapeze one, only last week, and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span> + </p> + <p> + A sudden murmur, followed by a faint attempt at applause, roused her; and + she saw Charlotte Bigley walking slowly back to the anteroom with her eyes + fixed on the ground. + </p> + <p> + ‘What happened? I didn’t see,’ she whispered, nudging + Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hand slipped, fell off,’ answered Jean, briefly, as she went + forward and grasped the rings. + </p> + <p> + She did choose swinging and letting go with one hand, and she went through + it very successfully, and earned every bit of the applause that greeted + her when she finished. Barbara was so delighted that she went on clapping + her loudly after everybody else had stopped, and did not notice what she + was doing till the audience began to laugh and Hurly-Burly came up and + spoke to her. + </p> + <p> + ‘May I have the trapeze let down?’ whispered Babs, eagerly. + ‘I want to let go of the rings and catch on to it at the end of my + swing–like I did the other day.’ + </p> + <p> + Hurly-Burly looked doubtful. ‘Are you sure you can manage it?’ + she asked. + </p> + <p> + Barbara pleaded, and the games-mistress gave in. It was always difficult + for any one so practical as Miss Burleigh to understand the odd little + pupil, who at one moment could throw herself into a game as heartily as a + boy, and at another was liable to exasperate her companions by going off + into a dream and completely <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_245"></a>245</span> + forgetting what she was doing. But it was impossible to help liking the + child, and Hurly-Burly, who had a sneaking conviction that the trapeze + exercise would decide the prize in her favour, could not resist the + temptation to let her have her own way and secure to herself at the same + time a little reflected glory. For it was she who had taught Barbara the + exercise, and she had every reason to be proud of her pupil. So she let + down the trapeze from the roof and held it back with her hands, ready to + drop it forward when the child had worked up her swing. + </p> + <p> + The eyes of the German music-master were filled with sentimental interest, + as the youngest girl in the school stepped up to the rings. He knew very + little about gymnastics, though a German; for his life had been passed + almost entirely in other lands, and during the brief period he had spent + in his own country he had been so absorbed in his art that he had + completely neglected the physical culture that is of so much importance to + most Germans. As for girls’ gymnastics, his experience in them had + been entirely confined to a few occasions like the present, when he was + asked to play instead of the junior music-mistress. But he never assisted + at the usual lessons, when the junior music-mistress was considered good + enough to perform; so Miss Finlayson’s remarks on the merits of the + three competitors conveyed very little to him. Still, he managed to gather + that Barbara stood a good chance of winning the <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_246"></a>246</span> prize, and his + fat, benevolent face beamed with satisfaction in consequence. It was true + that the little Fräulein with the black, black eyes and the wonder-clumsy + fingers had no more talent for music than his tabby cat, while the + performances of Fräulein Vilkins were the joy of his heart; but it was the + little one who asked him so many questions about his beloved Germany, + which she seemed to regard as being about the size of Kensington Gardens, + and he forgave her all her excruciating false notes for the sake of her + warm heart, which was <i>colossal</i>. When he saw her standing there all + alone, he quite gave up trying to be brilliant and dropped into a little + simple melody of his own, which he had never thought important enough to + name, but which Barbara had always told him in her funny English was + ‘awfully fine.’ Unfortunately, just as she recognised the + notes and nodded at him with a little smile, Jean brought him a message + from the games-mistress, asking him not to play at all until the exercise + was over. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s rather a difficult exercise, and you might put her out,’ + explained Jean, seeing that he looked puzzled at such a peculiar request. + Her explanation did not help him much, for Jean did not trouble to + translate it into his own language; and, never having witnessed the + exercise that was coming, he failed to see the point of Hurly-Burly’s + message. However, he was glad of the opportunity to descend from the + platform and get a better view of the little Fräulein’s performance; + and he placed himself, <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_247"></a>247</span> + rather inconveniently, just in front of the games-mistress, and prepared + to miss nothing of what followed. + </p> + <p> + Everybody in the room was smiling genially at the youngest girl in the + school. She had already prepossessed them in her favour by her frank + admiration for Jean Murray; and now, as she stood there waiting for the + sign from Hurly-Burly to begin, there was something about her happy + unconsciousness that appealed irresistibly to her audience. Suddenly, the + five boys in the gallery began to stamp their feet encouragingly, and + Peter shouted ‘Go it, Babe!’ at the top of his voice. In a + moment, the cry was taken up in the anteroom. ‘Go it, Babe!’ + said twenty voices or more in a breath. The enthusiasm was infectious, and + the words were repeated with many a laugh all over the room. ‘Go it, + Babe!’ cried the people on the platform, and the people in the + gallery, and the people who sat near her by the wall, until every one in + the gymnasium was stamping and clapping and saying ‘Go it, Babe!’ + to the little person in the short scarlet frock. + </p> + <p> + Barbara held the rings tightly, and her breath came rather quickly and + unevenly. She was bewildered by the noise, and waited for it to subside + before she began the exercise. It was so difficult to know what it all + meant. Of course, the boys wanted her to win; and perhaps the other people + did too, because they were grown up, and grown-up people always were jolly + and kind to her. She could understand <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_248"></a>248</span> why the Doctor, stern as he was, smiled away + at her and clapped her as heartily as any one, from his place on the + platform; and she thought she knew dimly what was making Jean stamp on the + floor till the dust flew. But the enthusiasm of her other school-fellows, + who were pressing forward from the anteroom door, amazed her greatly. + Could it be that they had suddenly forgotten how young and unimportant she + was, and how much she needed correction, and how often she required to be + told that she was the youngest in the school? Were these the girls she had + hated so heartily only three months ago, the disgraced princesses she had + turned out of her kingdom so passionately? + </p> + <p> + The applause died down at last, and Miss Burleigh made her the signal to + begin. Babs walked back as far as she could, stood stretched for a second + on the tips of her toes, then shook the hair out of her eyes with the old + familiar movement, and took a sharp run forward. The next minute, the slim + scarlet form was flying backwards and forwards, with graceful, regular + movements. The onlookers gazed and admired, wondering with some curiosity + what her exercise was going to be; and their interest increased when she + uttered a sharp ‘Now!’ just as she was sweeping backwards from + her highest swing. Only one person in the room failed to notice that it + was Miss Burleigh who let the trapeze drop forward instantly, so that it + hung ready for the small performer to grasp on her return swing. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_249"></a>249</span>The + music-master had been wholly absorbed in watching the little Fräulein, + from the first moment she had begun to swing. He thought he had never seen + anything so graceful as the way she swept to and fro, nor anything so <i>hübsch</i> + as the expression and the rose-red complexion of the youngest girl in the + school. It was truly <i>grossartig</i>! His eyes followed her closely all + the time, from end to end of her swing; and that was how he contrived to + be looking away at the precise moment when Hurly-Burly let down the + trapeze. The murmur that rose from the people who surrounded him, as they + realised what Barbara was going to do, made him look round; and he saw the + thing hanging there, as though it had dropped from the roof by accident, + and in another second would get in the way of the child who was swinging + so deliciously. Viewed afterwards in the light of ordinary common-sense, + it seemed to him <i>wunderbar</i> that he could so have deceived himself. + At the time, not a doubt was in his mind as to what he thought had + happened. The trapeze had fallen down by accident and was going to + embarrass the little Fräulein, if not to hurt her; and the people around + him were all exclaiming aloud, because they too had realised her danger. + Nevertheless, nobody seemed to know what to do, and the little Fräulein + was already sweeping straight towards it on her downward swing. All these + reflections rushed through his brain in the flash of a moment. There was + no time to hesitate. He <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_250"></a>250</span> + must be the one to rush out and come to her aid. With a loud German + exclamation, the music-master hurled himself forward and snatched back the + trapeze just as the child let go of the rings. + </p> + <p> + He had a dim recollection afterwards of being gripped by Hurly-Burly just + an instant too late, and of seeing the little scarlet figure twist in the + air above him and drop with a nasty thud at the edge of the last mattress, + of finding himself in the midst of a huge concourse of people, who + suddenly rose up with a great roar and bore down upon him, uttering shriek + after shriek,–and then, of coming miserably to himself again, with + his heart thumping and his head throbbing painfully, just as a deathlike + silence succeeded the uproar, and a voice like Miss Finlayson’s said + something that sounded like ‘Doctor!’ + </p> + <p> + Some one had sprung from the platform with a flying jump the moment the + accident happened, and was forcing a passage through the throng of people. + There was not a sound to be heard in the great gymnasium as the Doctor + knelt down on the floor and put out his hand to the little still spot of + scarlet that lay on the edge of the last mattress. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_251"></a>251</span><a + id="link_16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /><span class="h2fs">THE LAST DAY OF THE + TERM</span> + </h2> + <p> + In the annals of Wootton Beeches there had never been so dismal a + packing-day as the one that dawned on the morrow of the gymnastic + competition. Generally, packing-day was the most delightful day in the + term: it came just after the break-up party, and just before going home, + and everything that happened on it seemed filled with a peculiar interest + of its own. First of all, there was the joy of rushing up to the bedrooms + directly after breakfast, to put out all the clothes in tidy little heaps, + ready for packing later on; then, the less delightful business of clearing + the bookshelves and tearing up the old exercise-books–an occupation + which contrived, in spite of itself, to present a certain amount of charm, + simply because it belonged to the last day of the term. And the nicest + part of all was the indescribable feeling that it was the last day of the + term, that there were no more lessons to prepare and no more penalties to + avoid, no more scales to practise and no more stockings to mend, and, best + of all, no <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_252"></a>252</span> + more rules to bother about, so that Fräulein and Mademoiselle could both + be addressed, much to their own distraction, in the British tongue, and + anybody who pleased could run up and down stairs to her heart’s + content without asking leave first. All these privileges made packing-day, + as a rule, something to look forward to. But to-day nothing was happening + as it usually did. + </p> + <p> + Breakfast had been gone through almost in silence, and the accustomed rush + to the bedrooms afterwards had taken place quite quietly and tamely. The + tidying of the bookshelves, which could generally be made to linger so + pleasantly over the whole morning, was accomplished for once in an hour or + so; and the girls found themselves, at eleven o’clock, with nothing + further to do until Miss Tomlinson should send for them to pack their + things. On any other packing-day the playroom would have been cleared of + chairs and tables in a few minutes, and somebody would have been dragged + to the piano to play a valse, and there would have been plenty of + amusement for every one until dinner-time. But to-day nobody wanted to + dance, and hardly any one talked. + </p> + <p> + Jean Murray sat motionless on one of the window-seats in the senior + playroom. On packing-day all ordinary restrictions were suspended, and the + younger children wandered in and out of the two rooms as they pleased. + Jean had taken advantage of this privilege to escape from her usual + play-fellows, who were <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_253"></a>253</span> + remaining behind from force of habit in their own domain. The way Angela + persisted in crying was enough to drive any one away; she had cried all + through prayers, and had begun again directly after breakfast. Mary Wells, + forgetting how much she had endured on former occasions from the + triumvirate, sat with her arm round Angela’s neck, calling her + ‘Poor darling!’ at intervals, with an occasional sob of her + own to keep her company. Some of the others cried a little too,–at + least, they did when they came near Angela,–and Charlotte Bigley was + in such a temper that no one dared speak to her. All together, the juniors’ + room was more than Jean could bear just then. Jean was not crying herself: + she had not cried a drop since she saw the streak of scarlet twist round + in the air and drop with a thud that still sounded in her ears. + </p> + <p> + It was not a bit like the last day of the term. ‘Tommy’ did + not once come to the door and call out the name of the next girl who was + to go upstairs and pack. Nobody in the room was exchanging addresses with + any one else, or promising to write weekly letters during the holidays. + Margaret was as cross as Charlotte Bigley, it seemed, for she allowed no + one but Ruth Oliver to come near her; and the other big girls were + scattered about the room in idle, listless groups, conversing a little, + now and then, in hushed tones. None of them noticed Jean; and Jean never + saw them. She just sat rigidly on the window-seat, and looked straight + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_254"></a>254</span> in front of + her, with the odd, hard expression on her face that had been there since + the night before. + </p> + <p> + Margaret was sitting at the table tracing interminable circles on the back + of an old envelope with a pair of compasses. The presence of Ruth at her + elbow, as she absorbed herself in this pursuit, was very comforting. Ruth + was a slow old thing, as every one knew, but in time of need she was + invaluable. + </p> + <p> + After a while, the head girl dug the point of the compass into the table, + and cleared her throat nervously. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s such an awfully nice little kid,’ she said. She + spoke hurriedly, and her face had turned rather red. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ answered Ruth, staring down at the maze of circles on + the back of the envelope. + </p> + <p> + Margaret went on, with an effort: ‘She has such a queer way of + getting at you,’ she said. ‘I never knew how much I cared + about the child, till–till now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ answered Ruth, softly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Supposing<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + began Margaret, and stopped abruptly. ‘Do you think<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>?’ she began again, + and again hesitated. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hurly-Burly said they couldn’t tell till the Doctor’s + next visit,’ replied Ruth. ‘She hadn’t recovered + consciousness when he left, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t!’ muttered Margaret, hastily. She dug the compass + a little deeper, and cleared her throat once more. ‘When did you see + Hurly-Burly?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_255"></a>255</span>‘Just + after prayers,’ said Ruth. ‘She said I wasn’t to tell + the younger ones, so don’t split. The Doctor stayed till five this + morning, and he’s coming again presently. He’s rather cut up, + she says.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>That</i> Doctor? Don’t believe it!’ said Margaret, + shading some of the circles with a pencil. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hurly-Burly said so,’ maintained Ruth, in her resolute way. + ‘Perhaps he isn’t so stiff and stupid as he seems. I saw him + last night, talking to Jill Urquhart, and he looked quite young and jolly. + You never know, do you?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Perhaps not. It doesn’t matter, does it?’ said the head + girl, indifferently. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hurly-Burly is pretty bad, too,’ continued Ruth. ‘She + thinks it’s her fault, because there was a gap in the mattresses, so + that the Babe fell half on the boards. That’s how she cut her head. + You see, the mattresses were arranged for the rings, and when Hurly-Burly + altered them for the trapeze she didn’t stop to test them to see if + they were in the right place. Anybody else might have done the same, with + the whole room waiting for her; but still, she is reproaching herself like + anything.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She needn’t,’ said Margaret, with quiet vehemence. + ‘It’s only the fault of that idiot Scales.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor Scales!’ murmured Ruth. ‘I saw him too wandering + about the hall; and he was crying just like a baby, and he didn’t + seem to <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_256"></a>256</span> mind + my seeing him a bit. I suppose foreigners are always like that.’ + </p> + <p> + Margaret curled her lip contemptuously. ‘I shouldn’t waste my + pity on him, if I were you,’ she remarked. ‘No one but a + foreigner would have anything to cry about.’ + </p> + <p> + Ruth glanced at her timidly. ‘I think, perhaps, it is worse for + Scales than any one,’ she ventured to say. ‘Of course, he’s + a hopeless idiot, but he didn’t mean<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, never mind about Scales!’ interrupted Margaret; and Ruth + took up the compasses and began drawing invisible circles on the + tablecloth. + </p> + <p> + A bit of conversation drifted across to them from the juniors’ room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Her brothers stopped all night; so did the old lady,’ Mary + Wells was saying. ‘I saw their breakfast going into Finny’s + study this morning, when Tommy called me back into the dining-room to fold + my table-napkin.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How could you notice a thing like that?’ came in plaintive, + reproving tones from Angela. ‘I wish I was able to bear up like you, + Mary.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor darling!’ said Mary Wells, tenderly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Was Jill there too?’ asked another voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s up in Finny’s bedroom, with <i>her</i>,’ + answered Angela, quickly. She was almost restored to a normal condition by + the desire to tell something that nobody else knew. Then she remembered + herself, and subsided into a proper state of tearfulness. ‘I was + hanging about upstairs, to see if I could find out how <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_257"></a>257</span> <i>she</i> was, + when Jill passed me in a white apron, looking just like a real nurse,’ + she went on, with a long-drawn sigh. ‘I tried to speak to her, but I + was too upset.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Poor</i> darling!’ cried Mary Wells, more fervently than + before. + </p> + <p> + Margaret stirred impatiently, and flung down her pencil. ‘I say,’ + she said to Ruth, ‘what can we give those children to do? I’m + sure Finny wouldn’t like them to go on drivelling like that. Angela + is such a little idiot!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think she’s really fond of the Babe,’ observed Ruth, + as she followed the head girl across the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, yes,’ admitted Margaret, with a shrug of her shoulders; + ‘Jean told her she’d got to be.’ + </p> + <p> + At the window-seat she stopped and forgot Angela for the moment. The sight + of the child who sat there, looking so white and wretched, touched her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Cheer up, kiddie!’ she said, sitting down beside her. Ruth + Oliver discreetly moved on. + </p> + <p> + ‘Get away!’ gasped Jean. + </p> + <p> + Margaret stroked her hand, but Jean drew it away sharply, and shifted her + position so that she looked out of the window. Her eyes wandered across + the drive and fell on the little building in the field, where she and + Angela had passed their eight days of quarantine with the youngest girl in + the school. Somehow, Jean could not bear the sight of it to-day, and she + moved round restively, till she faced Margaret again. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_258"></a>258</span>‘Oh, do + leave me alone!’ she said fiercely; and the head girl felt rather + helpless, and left her. + </p> + <p> + In the junior playroom, Angela had relapsed at the sight of Ruth Oliver + into a fresh fit of crying. + </p> + <p> + ‘What <i>is</i> the matter, Angela?’ demanded Ruth, for once + almost losing her patience. + </p> + <p> + ‘Matter?’ sobbed Angela, leaning back for support on the + substantial arm of Mary Wells. ‘I’m full of re–remorse, + and–and penitence! So would you be, if–if you were as bad and–and + as sinful as me!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, what have you been doing now?’ inquired Ruth, keeping + her temper with difficulty. + </p> + <p> + Angela stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth, and recovered sufficient + control over herself to take it out again and make her confession. + </p> + <p> + ‘Last week,’ she faltered, ‘<i>she</i> asked me to help + her with her French; and–and–I was cross, and–and–I + wouldn’t.’ + </p> + <p> + She burst into tears again, as Charlotte Bigley looked up from the book + she was pretending to read and put in a curt remark. + </p> + <p> + ‘Who’s <i>she</i>?’ she demanded bluntly. + </p> + <p> + Angela stopped crying to stare at her. ‘You know fast enough, + Charlotte!’ she mumbled indistinctly. + </p> + <p> + Charlotte tossed her head scornfully. ‘If you mean Barbara Berkeley, + why on earth can’t you say so?’ she exclaimed. ‘She hasn’t + lost <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_259"></a>259</span> her + name because she fell off the rings, <i>has</i> she?’ + </p> + <p> + Mary Wells spoke her mind solemnly. ‘We all know <i>you</i> have no + feeling, Charlotte Bigley,’ she was beginning, when some one near + the window announced that the Doctor had just driven round the corner of + the house. + </p> + <p> + This in itself was enough to reduce Angela to further depths of + contrition. ‘What shall I do,’ she wailed, ‘if she dies + before I can ask her forgiveness?’ + </p> + <p> + Margaret Hulme suddenly stood over her, and shook her by the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘Stop it, child!’ she said, not unkindly, for even Angela’s + tears made her own feel uncomfortably near the surface. She turned to the + others quickly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Every one will get ready and go into the field for a hockey + practice,’ she commanded. + </p> + <p> + Charlotte shut her book with a bang. ‘What’s the good of + hockey?’ she grumbled crossly. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the good of anything,’ sighed Margaret, ‘with + that poor little kid lying ill up there?’ + </p> + <p> + Charlotte looked at her swiftly, and then turned away, blinking her eyes + furiously; and the head girl took her arm with astonishing condescension, + and walked silently into the cloakroom with her. + </p> + <p> + A little later, Dr. Hurst came out of Miss Finlayson’s bedroom + upstairs, and closed the door softly behind him. The head-mistress <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_260"></a>260</span> stood waiting for + him on the landing. Their eyes met, and hers were full of anxious inquiry. + In his there shone a gleam of something that had not been there before. + </p> + <p> + ‘Better,’ he said, and drew a long breath. He put his hand on + the baluster-rail to steady himself. ‘She’ll do, now that + consciousness has returned,’ he went on in a businesslike tone; + ‘the concussion was only slight, after all, and the fracture to the + leg could hardly be in a better place. Wonderful what children will do to + kill themselves without succeeding! She’ll pull through in no time, + with rest and quiet–perfect quiet, mind! Don’t let those boys + go near her, whatever you do; and keep your girls from weeping on her neck + as much as possible. Good morning.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson smiled, and retained his hand a moment. No one would have + thought that this practical man of medicine, who pretended to regard his + little patient merely as an interesting case, was the boyish-hearted + fellow who had sat by her bedside all night to watch for her returning + consciousness. + </p> + <p> + ‘Must you go?’ she said. ‘Why not rest on the sofa in my + study for an hour, and stay to lunch with us? You must be worn out.’ + </p> + <p> + The Doctor drew himself up and frowned. ‘Not at all, not at all!’ + he said, looking vexed. ‘Room full of patients waiting for me at + home–I must wish you good morning.’ + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i7"></a><img src="images/illus-260.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘Tell me, Herr Doktor, haf I kilt her?’ + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_261"></a>261</span>He left her + and hurried off, still frowning. Just as he turned the corner of the + gallery, Egbert and Peter, who had been lying in wait for him some fifteen + minutes, sprang out upon him from an open door. + </p> + <p> + ‘How is she?’ they asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Really!’ fumed the Doctor, who hated being taken by surprise. + ‘The bulletin is with Miss Finlayson; I have no time<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Peter grasped his arm as he was escaping. ‘Is she going to get + better?’ he implored. There was no mistaking the earnestness in the + boy’s face, and the Doctor melted in spite of himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, yes, to be sure,’ he growled. ‘That is, if you + leave her alone.’ + </p> + <p> + When he reached the staircase he was again brought to a standstill. The + way was entirely blocked by the massive form of the German music-master, + who sat on the top stair with his face buried in his large, fat hands. The + Doctor tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. If one thing more than + another annoyed him, it was the sight of uncontrolled emotion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Pardon me,’ he said briskly, ‘but will you kindly<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Gott in Himmel!</i>’ shouted Herr Scales, springing to his + feet as he recognised the Doctor’s voice. ‘Tell me, Herr + Doktor, haf I kilt her? Am I a murterer of the <i>lieblichste</i> little + Fräulein that ever walked upon<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nonsense, sir!’ interrupted Dr. Hurst, doing his best to keep + his temper. The sight of the tears that streamed down the <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_262"></a>262</span> good-natured face + of the music-master was enough, he told himself, to annoy any man who was + not a foreigner. ‘Nobody has killed her yet; but what you are going + to do, among you, before you have done with her, I shouldn’t like to + say.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You do not understand,’ wept Herr Scales, clasping his hands. + ‘It was I who nearly kilt her, <i>dummer</i> wretch that I am.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, you haven’t killed her, my good sir, and she’s + going to get better,’ answered the Doctor, trying to deal gently + with him in spite of his irritating foreign behaviour. Then he left him + and went quickly down the stairs. + </p> + <p> + Two more voices assailed him in the hall, as he took down his coat from + the peg. Restraining his impatience as best he might, the young man looked + round to find Kit and Wilfred at his elbow. Curled up on the rug in front + of the stove lay Robin, fast asleep, with his head pillowed on a + footstool. Weariness and the shedding of many tears had left their mark on + his round, babyish face, and the elder boys looked little more than + half-awake themselves. Kit’s face was tear-stained too, and he + suddenly found he could not put the question he was longing to ask. It was + Wilfred who blurted it out instead. + </p> + <p> + ‘Is she better?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor had been up all night; he had gone through more anxiety than he + could have believed himself capable of feeling; he had found that his + heart had gone out unconsciously, eleven weeks ago, to the child who had + called <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_263"></a>263</span> him a + beast; and he felt that all the glory his profession could bring him was + not worth so much as the saving of that one little life upstairs. And then + people came and bothered him with their senseless questions. If she were + worse, was it likely he would be leaving her now? + </p> + <p> + He was worn out with want of sleep, and it did not occur to him that the + same thing might possibly be true of the white-faced lads before him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bless my soul!’ he exclaimed testily. ‘How many <i>are</i> + there of you? There’s a couple at every corner. How can you expect + your sister to get better if you hang about the place and ask questions at + the top of your voice? There’s–there’s an atmosphere of + nervous sentiment all over the house that’s enough to ruin any case.’ + </p> + <p> + Wilfred was dumbfounded, and stared stupidly. But Christopher suddenly + found his tongue, and, being Christopher, he found it sarcastically. + </p> + <p> + ‘Counting Jill, there are only six all together,’ he said, + peering up at the irritated young man through his spectacles, ‘so + you won’t meet any more.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t care how many there are of you,’ grumbled Dr. + Hurst, flinging on his coat. ‘Keep out of her way, that’s all–and + mine too.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You may be sure we’ll do that, if we can,’ retorted + Wilfred, recovering his courage. ‘Only, you haven’t told us + yet how she is.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_264"></a>264</span>‘You + seem to forget she’s our sister, and we’re beastly cut up + about her,’ added Kit, glumly. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s not a rotten bacteria, either,’ said Wilfred, in + a vicious undertone which the Doctor fortunately missed. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Hurst felt a little bit ashamed of himself, and was more cross than + ever. ‘There, there! She’s better, of course,’ he + muttered, pushing past his questioners. Then he saw the sleeping Robin + curled up in front of the stove, and he glanced back at the tired faces of + the other two. ‘Best thing you can do is to go straight to bed,’ + he advised, jamming his hat down on his head. ‘Best thing for the + case, too.’ + </p> + <p> + Kit smiled at him indulgently. ‘Let them go to bed who have beds,’ + he remarked. ‘I’ve only got an arm-chair.’ + </p> + <p> + The Doctor fled discomfited, and shut the front door in their faces. He + did not understand boys, and he did not like them, and he would not have + minded if he had never had to meet another boy as long as he lived. In a + very few moments, however, he came to the conclusion that although boys + were pretty bad, girls could beat them easily, with several points to + spare. + </p> + <p> + His man was walking the cob up and down outside, and the trap was not in + sight when Dr. Hurst shut the front door behind him. The occurrence was + particularly unfortunate, for as he stood waiting on the steps the whole + of the junior hockey team came strolling round <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_265"></a>265</span> the corner of the + house. This in itself was sufficiently embarrassing to the young man who + stood there; and he hailed the appearance of his trap with deep and + earnest satisfaction. But he was not to be allowed to escape so easily. + The sound of wheels made the children look round; and some one suddenly + called out–‘It’s the Doctor!’ The next moment he + found himself, greatly to his consternation, in the middle of a throng of + excited young ladies, all in extremely short skirts and all armed with + hockey clubs, who were clamouring loudly and persistently to know if + Barbara Berkeley was out of danger. + </p> + <p> + Probably it would never have happened if it had not been the last day of + the term, when a sense of unusual liberty prevailed. Certainly, if it had + been any other day the hockey team would not have been wandering round by + the front door at all, but would have gone straight to the nine-acre field + through the orchard at the back. But the Doctor knew nothing of all this. + He only realised that the girls were finishing what the boys had begun, + and that in another minute he should lose his temper very badly indeed. + </p> + <p> + Most eager of all was a child with a freckled face and reddish-coloured + hair, who somehow seemed familiar to him, though he could not remember + where he had met her before. She came right up to where he stood + helplessly, with his right foot placed on the carriage-step; and she + raised her voice shrilly above all the others. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_266"></a>266</span>‘May I + see her before she gets worse?’ she implored sentimentally. ‘I + should never forgive myself, Mary Wells says I shouldn’t, if + anything happened to her, and<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + The Doctor made a great effort and waved them off distractedly, just as + Margaret Hulme and some of the elder ones hurried on the scene and called + angrily to his tormentors. He seized the opportunity to spring to his + seat, and then turned and glared at them. + </p> + <p> + ‘See her before she gets worse?’ he answered back furiously. + ‘If you want to see her before you’ve done your best to finish + her altogether, you’ll have to look sharp.’ + </p> + <p> + Miss Finlayson suddenly appeared on the doorstep. Nobody knew how much she + had seen or heard, but she was looking exceedingly stern. She opened her + mouth to speak, just as Dr. Hurst perceived her and broke into a fresh + torrent of words. By this time he had lost the last scrap of his patience. + </p> + <p> + ‘What with rascally boys and hysterical <i>schoolgirls</i>,’ + he shouted, seizing the whip and cracking it round his head, ‘how + can you expect me to pull the case through?’ + </p> + <p> + He tugged violently at the reins; the startled animal sprang forward, and + the trap clattered noisily out of sight. + </p> + <p> + The few short, vigorous sentences with which Miss Finlayson improved the + next five minutes sent the girls into the hockey field with a much reduced + opinion of themselves. Margaret Hulme stayed behind to vindicate <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_267"></a>267</span> the offenders as + well as she could; and the result was that the head-mistress remembered it + was the last day of the term, and blamed herself for having almost allowed + her feelings for the youngest girl in school to run away with her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Send Jean and Angela up to my bedroom at once,’ she said + thoughtfully, when Margaret had finished telling her what had been going + on in the playroom that morning. + </p> + <p> + She waited for them on the landing, and kissed them both very + affectionately when they appeared hand in hand. She glanced quickly from + Angela’s red and swollen countenance to Jean’s pale and + miserable one, and she decided not to say what had been in her mind the + minute before. A much better idea struck her, and she acted upon it + promptly. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you will promise me to be as quiet as mice,’ she + whispered, ‘you shall both have one peep at her.’ + </p> + <p> + The room into which she led them on tiptoe was almost dark. The only light + that was admitted came from one small window in the farther corner, and it + was just enough to reveal Jill, as she bent over the bed with a cup in her + hand. Then she moved away, and the two children, peeping from their + hiding-place behind the screen by the door, saw Barbara. + </p> + <p> + She lay flat on her back among the white pillows; a hillock under the + bedclothes showed where the cage protected her broken leg, and a bandage + round her head kept the thick, dark <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_268"></a>268</span> hair from tumbling over her face as it + usually did. Otherwise, she was not nearly so much altered as her + play-fellows had vaguely expected to find her. The bright little eyes + gleamed out as impishly as ever from beneath the white bandage, and as she + smiled up at Jill they realised to their intense relief that the Babe, + with a hole in her head and a cage over her leg, was much the same Babe + who had arrived in their midst, with her elf-like look and her happy + unconscious smile, three months ago. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, Jean, I do believe you’re crying,’ said Angela, in + surprise, when Miss Finlayson had pushed them outside again, and they were + retreating slowly along the gallery. Angela herself felt no further + inclination to cry, now that she had seen the Babe and found she was not a + bit altered. There was no middle course in Angela’s emotions, and + her only wonder now was why any one had made a fuss about Barbara’s + accident at all. + </p> + <p> + But the tears were raining down Jean’s cheeks for the first time, + and the hard, queer look was gone from her face. She flung herself away to + her own room, and left Angela to puzzle over her behaviour as best she + might. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_269"></a>269</span><a + id="link_17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /><span class="h2fs">SEVEN TIMES ROUND THE + WORLD</span> + </h2> + <p> + ‘Have the girls gone home?’ asked the invalid, about a week + later. She had made such strides towards recovery that she was to be + allowed her first visitor that day, and she could not help wondering + whether Jean Murray was going to be the privileged person. Everything had + been so strange and quiet since the morning she had woke up in Finny’s + bed; and she had slept away so many hours of the days that followed, that + she had lost count of the time altogether. She seemed to have been lying + in a kind of delicious enchantment, with people doing things for her just + as though she were a princess; while Jill was always at hand to tell her + stories in her beautiful soft voice, whenever she grew tired of lying + still. For Jill was the nicest person in the world to be with, when one + was enchanted; she never bothered, and she always seemed to come to the + rescue just in time, when the pain of being strapped in one position began + to grow intolerable. Then, there was the Doctor too. <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_270"></a>270</span> No one would have + expected the Doctor to turn out such a trump. Only to-day, after being so + strict in the morning about what she was to eat, he had run in again after + lunch to bring her a packet of sweets. They were very wholesome sweets, as + he had assured Jill; but still they were sweets, and a doctor who was a + beast would never have thought of bringing them, even if they were + wholesome. So, clearly, he was not a beast. Even Jill had been surprised + at his coming twice in one day, now that she was so much better; so that + showed that he must be a particularly nice sort of doctor. For Jill had + once nursed Auntie Anna when she was ill, and she knew a lot about + doctors, so she would not have been surprised at his coming twice in one + day, if it had been a usual thing for a doctor to do. Babs smiled happily + to herself as she settled the Doctor’s claims to niceness; then she + remembered that she was going to have a visitor after tea, and she asked + again if the girls had gone home. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes, they went five or six days ago,’ said Jill, without + impatience, though she had answered the same question once already. Babs + certainly did not need an illness to make her absent-minded. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then who is coming to see me after tea?’ was Barbara’s + next inquiry. + </p> + <p> + ‘I said Kit might come; I thought you would like to have him best,’ + answered Jill. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_271"></a>271</span>‘Kit? + Is he going to bicycle over from Crofts?’ asked the child. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why, no,’ explained Jill, smiling. ‘They have all been + in the house ever since you were taken ill. Finny invited them to stay, + you know, and Auntie Anna too.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara laughed a little. ‘They’ll never be able to tease me + again, now that they’ve stopped in a girl’s school themselves,’ + she remarked with a chuckle. + </p> + <p> + There was a pause, which the invalid occupied in thinking over the things + she had been too lazy to consider before. She had a great many questions + to ask, but somehow it was too much exertion to ask them. Fortunately, + Jill was so clever that she always guessed what she wanted to know without + waiting to be asked first; and that saved a lot of trouble. In this way + the child had learned that the gymnastic prize was to be divided between + Jean and herself; and thinking about the gymnastic prize produced another + question from her, rather unexpectedly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wasn’t it Scales who moved the trapeze away?’ she + asked. + </p> + <p> + Jill looked up surprised. None of them knew how much Babs remembered of + what had happened on the night of her accident. ‘Yes,’ she + replied. ‘He has been very unhappy about it, poor man! He writes + every day from Hanover to say how miserable he is. But, of course, it was + an accident.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course,’ said Barbara, looking <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_272"></a>272</span> distressed; and + Jill was afraid she had said too much. + </p> + <p> + ‘Shall I write and send him a message from you?’ she suggested + quickly. Babs brightened up, and nodded. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tell him it’s awfully jolly to be ill and to have every one + doing things for you, and bringing you sweets, and all that,’ she + said eagerly. ‘And say that if he wants me to pay him out, just to + make us quits, don’t you know, he can think of the awful way I am + sure to play my pieces next term.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Very well,’ answered Jill, laughing; and there was silence + once more. + </p> + <p> + Jill looked very pretty as she sat there by the window, working away at + her embroidery in the frame; and Babs congratulated herself, with a glow + of satisfaction, on having made her a princess in her fairy kingdom. It + was so nice of Jill, she reflected, to behave exactly like a princess, and + to sit at the window of her lonely turret making tapestry, to while away + the time until her prince should come thundering over the drawbridge + below. Jill’s prince had not come yet, so of course she would have + to go on working by the window till he did; she deserved an extra nice + prince too, and Babs sighed as she remembered that she had not been able + to find her any sort of a prince so far. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a pity, isn’t it, that Dr. Hurst had to be + enchanted again so soon?’ she murmured aloud. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_273"></a>273</span>‘I’m + afraid I don’t <i>quite</i> understand,’ said the princess, + from the window. + </p> + <p> + ‘You see,’ continued Babs, solemnly, ‘he began by being + a beast; then I disenchanted him and made him into a handsome and gallant + young prince; and after that he was so horrid to Jean and Angela in the + quarantine that I had to turn him out of my kingdom, and make him wander + over the earth once more in the shape of a beast.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh,’ said Jill, bending rather closely over the embroidery + frame. ‘Let me see, what kingdom was that?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>My</i> kingdom,’ answered Barbara, in an important tone. + Then she realised that Jill did not know about her kingdom. ‘I’ve + never told any one before,’ she went on doubtfully. ‘If I tell + you, Jill, will you promise not to laugh?’ + </p> + <p> + Jill promised, and worked on steadily at her embroidery while the small + voice from the bed painted her the fairy kingdom she had never described + to any one before. + </p> + <p> + ‘And so,’ concluded Barbara, with a sigh, ‘I can’t + make it come right, because now there’s a princess without a prince. + Do you mind waiting until I find you a prince, Jill?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not at all,’ answered Jill, turning to the light rather + abruptly, and taking quite a long time to choose between two shades of + silk. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was so stupid of Dr. Hurst to get himself turned out like that, + wasn’t it?’ continued Babs. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_274"></a>274</span>‘He–perhaps + he didn’t know,’ said Jill, with some hesitation. + </p> + <p> + ‘You can’t be a beast without knowing it,’ answered + Barbara, positively. + </p> + <p> + ‘Are you sure he <i>is</i> a beast?’ asked Jill, who was still + looking out of the window, though she had chosen her silk some moments + ago. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, he’s not a beast now. I <i>love</i> him. Don’t you?’ + cried the child, enthusiastically. + </p> + <p> + Jill began putting her work away in a great hurry. ‘It’s time + for tea,’ she remarked. + </p> + <p> + Barbara did not seem to have heard. The dreamy look had returned to her + face, and she was almost thinking aloud. + </p> + <p> + ‘You see,’ she murmured, ‘however nice he is now, he <i>must</i> + walk round the world seven times, and kill a giant, and rescue a beautiful + princess, before he can be disenchanted a second time. You can’t + alter that. It’s a pity you haven’t got to be rescued or + anything, Jill, because then<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you talk any more, child,’ interrupted Jill, with + decision, ‘you will be too tired to have a visitor after tea.’ + </p> + <p> + Jill <i>was</i> a nice person, Barbara settled again in her mind, as they + had tea together out of Finny’s private tea-set that the Canon had + given her last Christmas. She was so nice that she even slipped away + afterwards, when Christopher came into the room, so that he and Babs could + have their talk together without feeling that somebody else was listening. + For <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_275"></a>275</span> all + that, neither of them seemed to find it easy to begin, and they remained + looking at each other in silence for some moments after Jill had closed + the door upon them. + </p> + <p> + Then Christopher made a great effort and addressed her from the end of the + bed, where he had taken up his position. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ he said, tugging at his collar as if to remove some + obstruction to his voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo!’ answered Babs, faintly, from among her pillows. + </p> + <p> + Then followed another pause. They both felt there were plenty of things to + be said, but somehow they could not think of them just then. Presently, + Kit remembered that she was an invalid, and that invalids always had to be + kissed. He also decided that the sooner he got it over the better; so he + marched round to the side of the bed and kissed her. + </p> + <p> + ‘How are you, Babe?’ he asked, feeling more at his ease now + that this formality was over and he was free to climb on the edge of her + bed and sit there swinging his legs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, I’m all right,’ answered Barbara, heartily. + </p> + <p> + They both knew she was nothing of the sort, but in the Berkeley family it + was a point of honour with every one, even during a visitation of + toothache, to declare himself ‘all right.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘How are you, Kit?’ asked Babs, after a little further + reflection. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m all right, thanks,’ answered Christopher, + faithfully, and he whistled a tune to fill the <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_276"></a>276</span> next pause. + ‘Awfully poor lying here, isn’t it?’ he resumed + presently. + </p> + <p> + Barbara nodded. ‘It’s stale,’ she said expressively. + </p> + <p> + Kit looked sympathetic. ‘It would make <i>me</i> sick,’ he + observed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s all right,’ Barbara hastened to assure him; + and he whistled a little more. + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill’s all right too, isn’t she?’ he continued + after a while. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Jill’s all right–<i>rather</i>,’ said the + child, warmly. ‘How are the other boys, Kit?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They’re all right,’ answered Kit. + </p> + <p> + ‘And Auntie Anna?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s <i>all</i> right,’ answered Kit. + </p> + <p> + Conversation again languished slightly. Barbara’s eyes, wandering + round the room in search of inspiration, fell on the little bag of sweets + that the Doctor had brought her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Have a sweet,’ she suggested, pointing to the table by the + window. + </p> + <p> + Christopher slipped off the bed with alacrity. ‘It’s awfully + decent of you,’ he observed. ‘Sure you don’t want them + all?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no; take the whole jolly lot,’ begged his sister. + </p> + <p> + Kit’s countenance fell slightly when he peered into the bag. ‘Acid + drops,’ he commented briefly, and put a couple critically into his + mouth. ‘Who brought them?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Dr. Hurst. He said they were wholesome,’ replied Babs, by way + of explanation. She did not want Kit to think she had been such a muff + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_277"></a>277</span> as to choose + acid drops in preference to chocolate. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s just about what he would say,’ remarked the boy, + putting several more of them into his mouth. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I think he’s all right, Kit,’ said Barbara, + timidly. + </p> + <p> + Christopher shook his head vigorously. It was the only form of reply + possible to him at the moment. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s a rotter,’ he said, as soon as he could speak; + ‘and so slack, too!’ He peered again into the paper bag. + ‘Is it worth while?’ he murmured to himself, and decided that + it was not. ‘Pity it wasn’t some one else who got them for + you,’ he added with a sigh, as he returned to the bed. + </p> + <p> + ‘He isn’t bad, <i>really</i>, Kit,’ persisted the child, + looking troubled. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not bad? Why, he’s an awful old soft, Babe,’ answered + Kit, contemptuously. ‘If you were a boy, you’d know.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He isn’t old, anyhow. He’s only twenty-eight; I asked + him,’ said Babs, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, rats!’ laughed Kit, who had quite got over his + awkwardness by this time, and was rapidly forgetting that she was an + invalid and that he had been told not to tease her. ‘He may be + twenty-eight perhaps, if you just count his birthdays, but he’s as + old as the hills for all that. He was born grown-up; that sort of chap + always is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s been awfully kind to me, Kit,’ <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_278"></a>278</span> persisted the + child, her troubled look returning. + </p> + <p> + ‘You always think people are nicer than they are, don’t you?’ + observed her brother, with gentle scorn. ‘When we had that beast of + a housekeeper who used to smack you and Robin, you always said her Sunday + bonnet was beautiful, or something like that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Kit!’ was all Barbara felt capable of replying, and the + boy rattled on heedlessly. + </p> + <p> + ‘That Doctor is the rottenest of rotters,’ he declared in a + cheerful tone. ‘He only pretends to like you because you’re + what he calls a “case.” If you’d got asthma, now, he’d + treat you as if you were putting it all on, and make you feel a jolly + humbug. <i>I</i> know him!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course, you’re always right, Kit,’ said Babs, + growing more unhappy every minute, ‘but–but<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He treated us all like kids the first day you were ill,’ said + Christopher, scowling at the recollection; ‘and once, when Jill was + blubbing because you weren’t so well, we got in a funk and went off + on our own, Peter and I, to fetch him; and he wouldn’t come. He said + no one could do anything for you by just coming and looking at you, and we + weren’t to disturb him for nothing at all–or some such rot. + Then we found that he’d cooked up an arrangement with Finny not to + come unless <i>she</i> sent for him. Just like him!’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara was struggling feebly to keep back <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_279"></a>279</span> her tears. She could not think what was + making her want to cry so much. + </p> + <p> + The boy had stopped scowling, and was chuckling softly to himself. Barbara + held her breath, and thought that if he would only talk about something + else, she might be able to keep from crying. Perhaps the table by the + window might stop swimming about, too. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’ve scored one against him at last, though,’ her + brother was saying, in a voice that seemed suddenly to have gone a long + way off. ‘He must be quite at the other end of the gallery,’ + Babs thought. Yet some one was certainly sitting on the edge of her bed, + because she could feel the mattress jumping up and down. + </p> + <p> + ‘We struck that little kid in the yard just now–the one who + nearly gave you scarlet fever,’ Christopher went on gaily. ‘He + came to know how you were, or something. Bobby Hearne, I think he called + himself. Well, we got him to go to the doctor’s house with a message + from his aunt, who lives five miles t’other side of Crofts, to say + that she had just fallen downstairs and nearly killed herself, and would + he go to her at once! Thirty miles there and back, all for nothing! Rather + a score, eh? It was my idea, too, not Peter’s!’ + </p> + <p> + He turned to Barbara for approval, and found her sobbing bitterly. She had + heard every word he said, with horrible distinctness, though his voice had + come from such a long way off. She had tried to stop him, but she <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_280"></a>280</span> could not make a + sound till she began to cry. + </p> + <p> + ‘Babe! I say, don’t! What’s up, old girl?’ + exclaimed Kit, staring at her in consternation. At any time it was an + event, to make the Babe cry, but now that she was so ill, he felt nothing + short of a brute. + </p> + <p> + Jill had slipped into the room and was bending over the excited child. + </p> + <p> + ‘Kit doesn’t understand–he doesn’t know he’s + not really a beast–he isn’t a beast, is he?’ gasped + Barbara, between her sobs. ‘He’s played a horrible trick on + him–he’s sent him seven times round the world; and I never + meant him really to walk seven times round the world–you know I didn’t, + Jill. It’s all my fault for turning him out of my kingdom–if I + hadn’t turned him out of my kingdom, he wouldn’t be wandering + seven times round<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Hush!’ whispered Jill, and she gave Christopher a look that + sent him stumbling out of the room in a mixture of bewilderment and + remorse. Up and down the landing he paced, feeling desperately wicked and + desperately foolish by turns, until Jill opened the door of the bedroom + and beckoned to him. She held a thermometer in her hand, and she paid no + attention whatever to the shamefaced inquiry he stammered out. + </p> + <p> + ‘Send Miss Finlayson here at once, and say I want the Doctor,’ + she commanded, and went hurriedly back into the room. + </p> + <p> + Clearly, she was very angry with him, and <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_281"></a>281</span> it had never seemed possible before that Jill + could be angry with any one. But it was not this that suddenly made Kit + turn cold and funny all over as he started along the gallery with Jill’s + message. He pulled up short with a jerk, and gave a little cry of dismay. + </p> + <p> + ‘What shall I do?’ he exclaimed in a despairing tone. ‘I’ve + sent the Doctor fifteen miles in the opposite direction.’ + </p> + <hr class="tb" /> + <p> + It was nearing seven o’clock and growing dusk when Kit at last + struck the high road between four and five miles below Crofts. It was a + full ten-mile drive by the road from Wootton Beeches, but Kit had saved + over two miles by taking the short cut across the fields. He stopped for + the first time since he had started on his mad chase after the Doctor, and + looked panting up and down the deserted road. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can’t have been much more than three-quarters of an hour, + and I bet it’s four miles,’ he muttered. The mud with which he + was splashed up to the collar showed the kind of ground over which he had + been travelling, and the way his breath was coming and going told how much + of the four miles had been covered at a run. Now that he had exhausted his + first impulse to rush after the Doctor and bring him back at any cost, he + began to realise what an absurd thing he had set himself to do. Dr. Hurst + had had an hour’s start of him at least, and even the short cut + across the fields would not make up for that. With a quick-trotting <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_282"></a>282</span> cob like his, he + would have reached his destination easily by this time and discovered the + trick that had been played upon him, and no effort on Kit’s part + would bring him back a moment sooner than he would be coming of his own + accord. Besides, if it was any good going after him, Finny would have sent + her man on horseback long before this, and he would have outdistanced Kit + in any case. + </p> + <p> + ‘If only our bicycles had been there instead of at Crofts, I might + have caught him up then,’ cried the boy, as the hopelessness of the + position dawned upon him. + </p> + <p> + Nothing answered him, and the road looked more dreary than ever. A good + deal of rain had fallen that week, and the drip drip of the trees overhead + added a kind of melancholy to everything. Christopher’s quick + imagination called up all the details of the scene he had left behind him: + the unwonted anger of his cousin, the anxiety of Finny and Auntie Anna + when he had rushed into the drawing-room with her message, and then their + eagerness to ring the bell and send some one for the Doctor, whom he knew + to be far away on a wild-goose chase of his own making. He pictured with + vividness too the consternation that would be caused in the house when + Finny’s messenger returned from his fruitless errand, and the look + that would come on Auntie Anna’s face when Peter came in from his + tramp with the other boys and explained the trick that had been played on + the Doctor. No wonder he had hurried <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_283"></a>283</span> straight out of the house and struck blindly + across the fields, without stopping to reflect whether it would be any + good or not! Even now, though he knew how little he could do, he felt + unable to remain inactive; and turning his face in the direction of + Crofts, he once more broke into a run and hurried wildly along the muddy, + desolate road. + </p> + <p> + He had been running about thirty-five minutes, only falling into a walk + now and then to recover his breath, when the sound of wheels, coming from + behind made him draw to the side of the road. He still trudged on, + however, with his head down and his hands clenched, and he did not even + trouble to look round when the vehicle caught him up and passed him. The + light from the lamp flashed across his face as it rolled swiftly by; and + immediately afterwards, the trap pulled up just ahead of him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo! Is that Christopher Berkeley?’ said a voice from + above. + </p> + <p> + Kit staggered, and stood speechless. It was the Doctor’s voice; + there was no doubt about that. But how came he to be driving towards + Crofts instead of away from it? His sudden appearance was so remarkable + that the boy’s head felt in a whirl. + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I thought<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + he faltered. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor gave a quiet laugh, and climbed down from his seat. + </p> + <p> + ‘You thought I was green enough for anything, didn’t you?’ + he observed. ‘Just stand by the animal, will you, while I get out of + my coat?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_284"></a>284</span>Kit obeyed + mechanically. Everything had turned so topsy-turvy all at once, that it + seemed no more extraordinary for him to be doing meekly what the Doctor + told him than it was for the Doctor to be struggling out of his greatcoat + just as the rain was beginning to come on again. + </p> + <p> + ‘Then–then you didn’t go to Bobby Hearne’s aunt, + after all?’ he inquired stupidly. + </p> + <p> + ‘Not much!’ answered the Doctor, with another short laugh. He + had got his coat off by this time, and he held it out to Christopher + peremptorily. ‘Put this on, and look sharp!’ he commanded. + </p> + <p> + ‘But<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + stammered the boy, hanging back. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you want to keep me here all night?’ cried Dr. Hurst, + impatiently; and as Kit still hesitated, he wrapped the coat quickly round + him and lifted him bodily into the gig. Then he mounted beside him, and + turned the animal’s head. The next instant, they were bowling along + towards home, at the rate of ten miles an hour. + </p> + <p> + For the first five minutes they did not speak. Then the Doctor jerked out + a sharp inquiry. + </p> + <p> + ‘Aren’t you going to ask after your sister?’ he + demanded. + </p> + <p> + Kit started. ‘I was afraid you’d rag me for it,’ he + muttered awkwardly. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor flicked the horse with his whip. ‘Sorry you think me such + a brute,’ he said shortly. He flicked the horse again, and played it + a moment or two, as it tossed its head and <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_285"></a>285</span> jumped about. ‘I don’t think it’s + anything serious,’ he went on. ‘I gave her a soothing draught, + and everything depends on the state in which she wakes up. But I think she’ll + be all right.’ + </p> + <p> + The relief at Kit’s heart nearly choked him. ‘Did Jill tell + you it was my fault?’ he asked after a while. + </p> + <p> + ‘I gathered as much,’ said Dr. Hurst. ‘You mustn’t + excite her any more, you know, or I won’t answer for the + consequences. What was it all about, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + He was evidently making a gigantic effort to be amiable, and Christopher + felt he owed him something in return. Besides, it was a kind of relief to + put the blame on himself. + </p> + <p> + ‘I said you were a rotter, and she said you weren’t,’ he + jerked out; ‘and I said you were only decent to her because she was + an interesting case, and she said<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All right,’ said the Doctor, hastily. He supposed + truthfulness was an excellent thing in theory, but it added another terror + to boys. + </p> + <p> + As they neared the village Christopher summoned up courage to ask one more + question. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did you come out on purpose to bring me back?’ he inquired + with an effort. + </p> + <p> + ‘Yes,’ said Dr. Hurst, briefly. + </p> + <p> + Christopher puzzled over this. ‘But–but how did you know I’d + gone after you?’ he asked curiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill told me you’d disappeared, and I guessed,’ said + Dr. Hurst. If it had not been <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_286"></a>286</span> so dark, Kit might have seen a smile flicker + across the serious face of his companion. + </p> + <p> + ‘Did Jill think about me, then?’ cried the boy, eagerly. + ‘Perhaps she isn’t so wild with me after all!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Not so wild with you as you deserve, I dare say,’ remarked + Dr. Hurst. ‘Indeed, it was because Miss Urquhart was making such an + unnecessary fuss about you, that I promised to come and look for you.’ + </p> + <p> + He thought that the boy, although a boy, would not notice the slip he had + made just before in calling his pretty cousin by her first name; but Kit + noticed fast enough. He had not much time, however, to think about it + before they pulled up with a jerk at the back entrance to Wootton Beeches. + He began to mumble out his thanks, while the Doctor helped him out of the + overcoat and then put it on himself; but the young man cut him short. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you suppose I drove all those miles in the rain, at the end of a + hard day’s work, for the sake of a scamp like you?’ he + growled; and Christopher was left staring after him in the darkness. + </p> + <p> + In the holidays supper was not before nine o’clock at Wootton + Beeches, so the boy had plenty of time to make himself presentable before + the bell rang. He looked eagerly round the drawing-room when he went into + it, but only the three elder boys were there. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where’s Jill?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, it’s you, is it?’ observed Egbert, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_287"></a>287</span> without answering + him. As the eldest of the family, he felt that he ought to administer some + sort of rebuke to Kit for the commotion he had caused in the household. + Indeed, he had said as much to the others before the boy came in; but + there was something about Kit that would make any one fight shy of + rebuking him, when it came to the point. So Egbert was rather relieved + than otherwise when Wilfred interrupted him. + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill’s upstairs,’ he said, looking over his book at + Kit. ‘She wants to be with the Babe when she wakes up, in case she’s + excited or anything.’ + </p> + <p> + Kit flung himself into an arm-chair and whistled carelessly. Whatever his + feelings were in the matter, he was not going to let the family see them. + There was rather an awkward silence, which Peter broke by remarking that + it was ten minutes to nine, upon which Egbert said something about a clean + collar and went out of the room. There was a feeling of relief when he had + gone, Egbert having reached the age when it was never quite possible to + say whether he was going to side with the enemy or not. + </p> + <p> + ‘Egbert’s awfully wild with you,’ observed Peter, with + smiling frankness. ‘He says you ought to be kicked.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Let him do it,’ grunted Kit, indifferently. Having given the + Doctor a glimpse of his real feelings not so many minutes ago, he did not + intend to betray himself again yet awhile. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_288"></a>288</span>Wilfred, who + had been watching him closely, began slowly to understand. ‘It’s + all right, Kit,’ he said good-naturedly. ‘Egbert never counts! + He only does it because he’s the eldest and thinks we’ve got + to be reminded of it. Peter and I are with you!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Awfully kind of you, I’m sure,’ answered Christopher, + sarcastically. All the same, he stopped whistling and seemed inclined to + come round; and Peter hastened to put in a conciliating word. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course, we know you didn’t mean to make the Babe excited,’ + he said. ‘Jill says so herself.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, shut up!’ said Kit, ungraciously. + </p> + <p> + ‘As for the Doctor,’ continued Wilfred, ‘anybody is + justified in ragging <i>him</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Rather,’ chimed in Peter. ‘What do you think Egbert + says about him?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Don’t know and don’t care,’ rejoined Kit. + Somehow, he felt it was rather mean to join in abusing the man who had + gone out after him, all in the rain and the darkness. Still, he was sure + he hated the fellow more than ever now, for had he not outwitted him and + put him under an obligation to him at the same time? The boys did not + notice his diffidence. + </p> + <p> + ‘Egbert says<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + began Peter, and paused to give his words more effect; ‘Egbert says–that–the + Doctor is in love with Jill.’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher sat up and gazed at him. For once his quick wit had not been + quite so quick as Egbert’s. So that was why Dr. Hurst had <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_289"></a>289</span> called her ‘Jill’; + and that was what he had meant just now by his parting words at the gate! + </p> + <p> + ‘Egbert’s hit it,’ he said morosely. ‘The chap <i>is</i> + in love with Jill. Poor Jill!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s what Wilfred says,’ cried Peter, all ready as + usual for mischief. ‘He says Jill has got to be saved from him, or + else<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Jill saved?’ echoed Kit, scornfully. ‘As if she needed + any saving from <i>that</i> idiot!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, I don’t know,’ objected Wilfred, shaking his + head. ‘Girls are so rum. Look at Merton major’s aunt<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She isn’t a girl, she’s an <i>aunt</i>!’ + interrupted Christopher. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, it’s all the same, really,’ declared Wilfred. + ‘Merton major says she only married that Indian chap because he + bothered so, and because she wanted to be obliging.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘And Jill is <i>awfully</i> obliging, you know she is,’ added + Peter. ‘You can’t tell what may happen, if that Doctor goes on + bothering her.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, what are we to do, then?’ Kit condescended to ask. + ‘We can’t lock him up, can we?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘No,’ admitted Wilfred, ‘we can’t lock him up. But + there’s lots of other things we can do. We can see that she’s + never left alone with him, for instance. Babs is always with them in the + sickroom, that’s one thing. But what happens when he comes out of + the sickroom, and Jill walks along the gallery with him and <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_290"></a>290</span> sometimes even + down to the front door? That’s dangerous, anyhow.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘In future,’ said Peter, solemnly, ‘one of us will + always be on the look-out to join them the moment they come out of the + sickroom. What else, Will?’ + </p> + <p> + Wilfred reflected a moment. ‘Sometimes,’ he said at last, + ‘I’ve known her to be taking a walk in the garden, just as he + happens to drive up; and then they stay talking ever so long before they + go into the house. Once, he even made her take him round the conservatory. + That must never happen again.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never,’ agreed Peter. ‘<i>I’ll</i> see to that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here,’ said Christopher, doubtfully; ‘perhaps Jill + won’t like our hanging round her like that.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She may not like it <i>at the time</i>,’ began Wilfred, + impressively. + </p> + <p> + ‘But she’ll thank us for it all her life afterwards,’ + concluded Peter, with great solemnity. + </p> + <p> + Jill’s voice at the door made them start like guilty conspirators. + She was much too preoccupied to notice their confusion, however. + </p> + <p> + ‘Has Kit come back?’ she asked anxiously. Christopher sprang + out of the arm-chair, and her face cleared. ‘I’m so glad; I + was afraid you were lost,’ she said, taking his hand gently. ‘Babs + has just woke up,’ she explained, as they went upstairs together, + ‘and she is still rather upset about something. I think you can calm + her, if you will.’ + </p> + <p> + Kit muttered something indistinctly, and <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_291"></a>291</span> she went on talking in her soft voice. + ‘The child has got into her head that you have done something to the + Doctor, so I want you to assure her that it is all right. Will you, Kit + dear?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m the biggest brute,’ burst out the boy, ‘that + ever<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Nonsense!’ said Jill, putting her hand over his mouth. Then + she opened the door of Barbara’s room and they went in. + </p> + <p> + Auntie Anna was sitting by the child, trying to soothe her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bless your little heart!’ she was saying as they entered. + ‘There’s nothing the matter with the Doctor, my dear. What + makes you think such a thing, eh?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You don’t understand,’ said the little fretful voice + from the bed. ‘Kit said–Kit said<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher pushed Jill on one side, and suddenly knew what he had got to + do. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s all right, Babe; I was only rotting,’ he said + bluntly, and patted the hot little hand that lay on the counterpane. + </p> + <p> + The bright, wistful eyes were fixed searchingly on his face. ‘But + you’ve sent him wandering seven times round the world,’ she + murmured wearily. ‘You said you had, Kit.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s all right, Babe,’ said Kit, again. ‘He’s + come back now. I’ve just seen him.’ + </p> + <p> + He only partly understood what she was talking about, but he seemed to + know how to satisfy her, and the others drew back and left him to do it + alone. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_292"></a>292</span>‘You’ve + seen him?’ asked Babs, wonderingly. ‘But<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You see,’ said Kit, desperately, ‘it doesn’t take + long to get round the world seven times, when–when you’ve got + a smart little cob like his!’ + </p> + <p> + The worried look faded out of the child’s face, and she smiled for + the first time. ‘That isn’t the reason, Kit,’ she told + him. ‘It is because he was once a fairy prince.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, is it?’ remarked Kit. + </p> + <p> + The bright little eyes were closing sleepily, and the aching bandaged head + fell sideways on the pillow. + </p> + <p> + ‘He has only got to kill the giant and rescue the princess now,’ + she whispered contentedly. And Kit went on stroking her hand till she was + sound asleep. + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_293"></a>293</span><a + id="link_18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /><span class="h2fs">THE RESCUE OF A + PRINCESS</span> + </h2> + <p> + Barbara was none the worse for her relapse, and she made such a good + recovery in the weeks that followed, that the Doctor decided she could be + moved to Crofts on the last day of the holidays. Miss Finlayson vowed she + had never enjoyed her Easter holidays so much before for she had persuaded + Auntie Anna and the boys to remain her guests the whole time, to save her, + as she said, from the horrible feeling of loneliness that always seized + her as soon as the last fly went down the drive with the last box on the + top of it, and the last girl sitting inside. ‘At my age,’ she + told them laughingly, ‘it is not safe to be left alone. Who knows + that I might not begin talking about rheumatism and nerves, if I had a + whole month to think about myself?’ And Auntie Anna, who never + talked about rheumatism by any chance, though it had bent her back for her + ten years ago, nodded her head wisely like the old witch that she was, and + consented to remain at Wootton Beeches with her adopted <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_294"></a>294</span> daughter and her + noisy young nephews until Barbara was well enough to be taken home. The + boys, for their part, enjoyed themselves every bit as well as if they had + been at Crofts; for Finny was first-rate company as long as she was with + them, and she contrived at the same time to leave them to themselves just + as much as they wished to be left. And staying at a girls’ school + was by no means such poor fun as might have been expected; for it was big + enough for them to make as much noise in it as they pleased without + disturbing anybody, while they had the run of a capital gymnasium, and, as + soon as their bicycles had been brought from Crofts, could explore the + country for miles round as well. Altogether, the Easter holidays were a + great success, and there were many groans when the month came to an end, + and school once more threatened to darken the joy of their existence. + </p> + <p> + ‘You are a lucky beast, Kit,’ observed Peter, as they sat + swinging on the yard gate a couple of mornings before their departure. + ‘Wish I was you and needn’t go to school.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You wouldn’t like it, if you were me,’ answered Kit, + shortly. Nobody ever guessed how much he wished he were like other boys + and could lead the healthy life they professed to despise so much. + </p> + <p> + Wilfred, who had just strolled up, had occasional glimmerings of + understanding where Kit was concerned; and he had one now. ‘Never + mind, old chap,’ he said <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_295"></a>295</span> consolingly. ‘You’ve got all the + genius, you know.’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher kicked a stone across the yard without speaking; and Peter + hastened to change the conversation, which he perceived was in danger of + becoming serious. Peter never attempted to understand anybody, but he had + a determined objection to anything that was serious. + </p> + <p> + ‘If we’ve done nothing else these holidays, we have at least + saved Jill from the Doctor,’ he remarked with a chuckle. + </p> + <p> + ‘What’s the good of that?’ growled Kit. He did not take + the keen interest in the salvation of Jill that the others expected from + him, though he certainly did not raise any grown-up objections to it, as + Egbert would have done. Egbert was going to Oxford in October, and he was + getting far too grown-up for ordinary intercourse with the rest of the + family. Kit was not in the least grown-up; besides, he hated the Doctor–that + was certain, because he so constantly said he did. But it was a pity, the + others agreed, that he did not show more enthusiasm over persecuting him. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a lot of good,’ retorted Peter. ‘You don’t + want her to marry the chap, do you?’ + </p> + <p> + Kit smiled in a superior manner. ‘I’m not interested in <i>marrying</i>,’ + he observed. ‘You can’t have marrying, or any of that rot, + without girls. And I hate girls.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Do you hate Jill?’ cried Wilfred, staring. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_296"></a>296</span>Christopher + kicked another stone across the yard. + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s different,’ he said vaguely. ‘Jill’s + not a girl, exactly.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘What is she, anyway?’ demanded Peter. + </p> + <p> + Kit’s genius was hard pressed. It was so stupid of people to take + him literally. Robin saved his embarrassment by suddenly rushing + helter-skelter into the yard, from the direction of the carriage-drive. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’s just driven in at the lodge gates,’ he panted. + ‘An’ Jill’s waiting on the front doorstep. If you don’t + look sharp you won’t cob them in time.’ + </p> + <p> + The conspirators glanced hastily at one another. ‘It’s your + turn, Kit,’ said Wilfred. + </p> + <p> + Kit started uncomfortably. ‘I don’t think so,’ he + objected. ‘I’m not in the mood, and I should make a mess of + it. You go, Peter.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘All right, I’m on,’ said Peter, and he strode briskly + towards the front of the house, swinging his long arms as he went. + </p> + <p> + Robin danced round the other two gleefully. ‘Silly old Doctor won’t + marry Jill, won’t marry Jill, all on a summer’s morning!’ + he chanted in a kind of refrain he made up on the spur of the moment. + </p> + <p> + Kit turned upon him sternly. ‘Chuck it, Bobbin, unless you want your + head cuffed!’ he commanded, and walked off before he could be + provoked into carrying out his threat. + </p> + <p> + Upstairs Barbara lay on the sofa by the window and waited for the Doctor’s + visit. Her <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_297"></a>297</span> + leg was in plaster of Paris now, and she could be lifted on to the sofa by + Egbert, every morning. It was less wearisome than lying in bed all day, + but even the fun of pretending she was enchanted by an evil fairy did not + make up for the dulness of staying in one room all through her first + holidays. To be sure, she was going to Crofts the day after to-morrow, and + Auntie Anna had promised that Jean and Angela should come and see her the + very next Saturday; but that did not make up for everything, and she hoped + that if her bad fairy ever bewitched her again, she would manage to do it + in term-time instead of when the boys came home. + </p> + <p> + The Doctor drove up just below as she came to this conclusion, and she + forgot her own enchantment in the more thrilling amusement of thinking + about his. + </p> + <p> + It was rather stupid of the Doctor, she reflected, to be such a long time + working out the rest of his spell. Any one who had gone round the world + seven times, as easily and as cheerfully as he had, might at least take + the trouble to find a princess to rescue. He must really want to go on + being a beast, she decided, as she craned her neck over the window-sill + and watched him dismount from his gig. The princes in the fairy tales + never wanted to go on being beasts; and it was very confusing. Just then, + Jill came out on the doorstep, and she patted the horse and began to talk + to the Doctor. Barbara laughed softly to herself. If <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_298"></a>298</span> only the cruel + giant would come along now and clap Jill into a dungeon, the Doctor could + rescue her on the spot and then stand before her in his real shape. A + prince and princess, who had no giant to bring them together, did not make + the right sort of fairy tale at all. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hullo! There <i>is</i> the giant!’ exclaimed Babs, + immediately afterwards, as Peter came striding across the lawn to + interrupt the conversation on the doorstep. ‘He must be the giant,’ + she continued, watching the trio below her with great interest, ‘because + the Doctor is looking so angry and Jill has such a funny, frightened look + on her face. Besides, Peter looks like a giant; he’s so big and + dangerous looking. I wonder if the Doctor will kill the giant <i>now</i>, + or–oh, dear! they’ve both come indoors and left the giant + outside. I don’t think I ever heard of the prince and princess + running <i>away</i> from the giant before. I’m sure that’s + wrong. How Peter is grinning–just like a horrid old giant. <i>Coo-ey</i>, + Peter!’ + </p> + <p> + The prince and princess came into the room, talking busily. + </p> + <p> + ‘If you don’t come to-morrow,’ Dr. Hurst was saying, + ‘I am afraid it will have to be put off indefinitely, as I am going + away for ten days. When I come back, you will have gone to Crofts, you + see.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I will ask Auntie Anna,’ answered Jill. + </p> + <p> + Barbara seized the first opportunity to interrupt them. ‘What’s + going to happen <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_299"></a>299</span> + to-morrow, Dr. Hurst?’ she demanded. ‘Are you going to carry + off the princess at last?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I–I don’t think so,’ said Dr. Hurst, sitting down + beside her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why don’t you?’ demanded the child. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well,’ said Dr. Hurst, smiling, ‘I don’t know + whether the princess is ready to be carried off. Are you so anxious to get + rid of her?’ + </p> + <p> + Both he and Jill were used by this time to her fancy for weaving the + people she liked best into a fairy tale. But Jill was not smiling so much + as usual this morning. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t want to be carried off by anybody, thank you, Babs,’ + she said demurely. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, that doesn’t make any difference,’ Babs assured + her. ‘If you’re a princess, you just have to be carried off + whether you like it or not.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Then I’ll be a new kind of princess, and refuse to have + anything to do with the prince when he comes. Shall I, Babs?’ + suggested Jill, lightly. + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked at her doubtfully. Jill’s idea was not like anything + she had ever read in a fairy tale, and she did not think much of it. + </p> + <p> + ‘You see, you’re <i>not</i> a new kind of princess,’ she + answered simply. And the Doctor looked amused; but Jill hurried away to + the other end of the room and began talking about temperatures. + </p> + <p> + The giant must have been very busy all that day, for he did not come near + the invalid’s <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_300"></a>300</span> + room till just before supper. Kit came, and so did the other boys, but + they only said vaguely that Peter was in the barn; and when he ran in at + last to say good-night to her, she knew it was no use trying to find out + what his plans were for locking up the princess. For Peter did not know + that he was a giant, and he did not know that Jill was a princess; and it + was better to go on with the story in her own way than to provoke Peter’s + great laugh by telling him about it. So she went to sleep and dreamed of + the dear old magician, who had been away from her kingdom for four whole + months, and was going to be away for two months more; and in her dream he + came back and rescued the princess himself, and turned the beast into a + prince for her. But that was only a dream, and in the morning the end of + the story seemed further off than ever. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do let me see what you have been writing, Peter,’ she shouted + through her open window, just before lunch-time. Peter and Wilfred had + been more than an hour composing a letter on the lawn below, with Robin + jumping round them all the time, jogging their elbows and otherwise + provoking them into outbreaks of fury that did not improve his behaviour + in the least. + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Do</i>, there’s a dear, nice, darling boy,’ begged + Barbara, as the conspirators looked at one another and hesitated. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s a secret,’ said Wilfred. + </p> + <p> + ‘I can keep a secret; you <i>know</i> I can,’ cried Babs, + indignantly. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_301"></a>301</span>‘It’s + about Jill,’ explained Peter, ‘and you might do her a great + and lasting injury if you were to go and blab. Mightn’t she, Will?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I think it’s a shame,’ protested Babs. ‘Here am I + shut up all alone, with a bad leg that hurts and hurts and<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, let her see it. Anything for a quiet life,’ interrupted + Wilfred, and Peter strode upstairs with the letter. + </p> + <p> + ‘Promise faithfully you’ll endure any amount of awful + tortures, sooner than betray us?’ he demanded threateningly, when he + arrived in her room. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll be killed first, honour bright,’ said Barbara, + solemnly; and the letter passed into her hands. Her countenance grew very + perplexed as she read it; for, to tell the truth, she could make neither + head nor tail of its mysterious contents. + </p> + <hr class="tb" /> + <p> + ‘Dearest Jill,’ it ran,–‘We the undersigned are + anxious to save you from an awful and terrible fate that is hanging over + your head. The barn, we know, is not a place you would choose to spend a + happy afternoon in, but Peter has cleaned out as much of the filth as he + can (he found several decayed martins’ nests full of insects, two + dead rats in an unspeakable condition, and a rotting owlet that made you + squirm; so you see it might have been much worse, mightn’t it?) And + I (that’s Wilfred) have successfully deposited in a box you will + find secreted in the manger, two apples, some <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_302"></a>302</span> seed-cake (sorry it isn’t plum, but + there wasn’t any), and a bottle of ginger beer. This, we think, will + keep starvation from gnawing at you till the hour of release, which is + seven o’clock, when we hope the Doctor will have given up waiting + for you. We would put some more things to eat, but they are a little + difficult to get without arousing suspicion; and we are afraid of + attracting the mice and rats, which are plentiful already, and of which we + believe you are afraid. We the undersigned all hope, dear Jill, that you + will not attribute base motives to our action in this matter. We do assure + you, honest Injun, that though you may dislike us for the moment, you will + thank us deeply all the rest of your life.–We have the honour to + remain, + </p> + <div style="width:12em; margin:0 0 0 auto;"> + <p class="sc"> + Wilfred Everard Berkeley,<br /> Peter Everard Berkeley,<br /> Robin + Everard Berkeley. + </p> + </div> + <p> + ‘<i>P.S.</i>–Kit isn’t in it, because he raised + objections and we shunted him. So your lifelong gratitude need not be + extended to him.’ + </p> + <hr class="tb" /> + <p> + ‘But when are you going to give Jill the letter?’ asked + Barbara, looking extremely puzzled, as she came to the end of this + elaborate composition. + </p> + <p> + ‘We’re not going to give it to her,’ explained Peter. + ‘It’s going to be dropped into the barn through a hole in the + roof, as soon as Robin has coaxed her to go inside. The letter is to + explain why we’ve locked her<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + He did not finish his sentence, for Wilfred <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_303"></a>303</span> called him from below, and he seized the + sheet of paper and scampered off with it. + </p> + <p> + Barbara was left in a great state of bewilderment. Something was evidently + going to happen to Jill, and it was apparently intended to save her from + something that was much worse; but what it all meant was a mystery to her, + and there was no one about to give her any more details. The three + conspirators were careful to keep out of her way, and she did not see any + more of them until after lunch, when they raced out of the front door and + disappeared in the direction of the nine-acre field. + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m going to leave you for half an hour,’ said Jill, + when Barbara had finished her midday meal. ‘Bobbin has been worrying + me all dinner-time to go and look at a baby rabbit he has found, so I + promised to run down to the barn and meet him there. Do you mind?’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara said she did not mind at all; and she was left behind, consumed + with curiosity as to whether Jill was really going to be locked into the + barn, and whether it really could be for her good, as the boys had said, + and whether Jill would be angry with them for doing it or would give them + her lifelong gratitude. Somehow, Babs did not believe in the lifelong + gratitude much; it did not seem likely that Jill would be grateful to any + one for shutting her up in a dark and dirty barn for a whole afternoon, + even if it was to save her from an awful fate that still remained to be + explained. As she thought about it, Babs even began to <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_304"></a>304</span> wonder if she had + been right in promising not to warn Jill. But then, if it <i>was</i> to + save her from an awful fate, as Peter declared it was, it would have been + very unkind to keep her from going down to the barn. + </p> + <p> + She gave up trying to reason it out, and hoped it was all a joke, and that + Jill would come back again at the end of half an hour. But more than half + an hour passed by, and still she did not come back. Everything suddenly + grew very dull. The garden looked more deserted than usual, and after the + pony carriage had come round and taken Finny and Auntie Anna and Egbert + for a drive, there was not another sound to break the stillness. Babs + began to feel neglected; she had not once been left alone like this, ever + since she was first taken ill, and she found it extremely depressing. If + it was really necessary for the future happiness of Jill that she should + be kept in the barn all the afternoon, some one else might have been told + off to take her place in the sickroom. Besides, as the afternoon wore on, + the little invalid realised with some sadness that unless Jill did come + in, there would be no one to get her tea ready; and she wanted her tea + rather badly. + </p> + <p> + At last, to her intense relief, a thump came at the door, and Kit rushed + unceremoniously into the room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Where’s Jill?’ he demanded hurriedly. + </p> + <p> + ‘I wish I knew for certain, but I don’t,’ said Barbara, + plaintively. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_305"></a>305</span>‘Then + they’ve done it!’ exclaimed Kit, in a tragic tone, and he + dropped into a chair and looked at her. + </p> + <p> + ‘Done what?’ inquired Babs, eagerly. Kit’s behaviour was + as remarkable as every one else’s to-day, so perhaps she was going + to get at the truth at last. + </p> + <p> + ‘Locked her up in the barn!’ gasped Kit. ‘They said they + were going to, yesterday, but I thought they were only rotting. I told + ’em it wasn’t good enough, and I’d have nothing to do + with it, so I s’pose that’s why they didn’t tell me any + more. And then, I forgot all about it; and after dinner to-day I went into + Finny’s study to read a stunning book I’d found there; and I + didn’t think of anything, till it suddenly struck me how awfully + quiet everything was. If she’s disappeared, they must have done it, + stupid owls!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘But isn’t it all right?’ cried Barbara, looking + distressed. ‘Peter said it was to save her from an awful fate<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That’s all very well,’ returned Kit; ‘but the + game isn’t worth it, and that’s what I told them. You see, the + Doctor’s coming after tea to-day, to fetch Jill and take her over + the new infirmary he’s so keen about, because Jill is nuts on + nursing and all that, don’t you know. Well, Peter overheard them + talking about it yesterday and Auntie Anna said at breakfast that she’d + come home from her drive in time to go too, if she could. But we all knew + that she wouldn’t get back in time, most likely; and besides, the + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_306"></a>306</span> Doctor meant + business from the look of him, Peter said, so he’d be dead certain + to come early enough to go off with Jill alone. Trust him! That was jolly + dangerous, you see, because the chap is going away to-morrow, and it’s + their last chance of being together.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Why is that dangerous?’ asked Barbara, trying hard to follow + his bewildering tale. + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, well, if he’s ever going to ask her to marry him, or any + of that rot, he must be going to do it to-day,’ explained Kit, with + a certain contempt in his voice. ‘Anyhow, what we’ve been + trying to do all the holidays is to save Jill from the Doctor; so + naturally we were rather upset when Peter brought us the news. But I said + I’d have nothing to do with locking any one up, ’specially + Jill; so they said I could make myself scarce, and I did.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Kit!’ exclaimed Barbara, opening her eyes, ‘do you + think Jill is in that horrible dark barn all this time?’ + </p> + <p> + Kit sprang to his feet and made for the door. ‘I’ll go and see + if I can find those idiots,’ he said, but an exclamation from the + sofa made him look back. Babs was clapping her hands wildly, and her face + had suddenly reddened with excitement. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s all right, Kit. It’s beautiful,’ she was + crying joyfully. ‘Don’t stop them, Kit; don’t help her + to escape, whatever you do. Leave her alone till the prince comes. Don’t + you see he’ll be able to break the spell at last!’ + </p> + <p> + Kit did not see at all. Indeed, he looked <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_307"></a>307</span> rather alarmed, and came back into the room. + ‘Look here, Babe, you’re not going to get excited again, or + anything like that, are you?’ he asked her, nervously. + </p> + <p> + Barbara set his mind at rest by laughing merrily. ‘You silly old + Kit, of course I’m not!’ she said. ‘I never felt so + jolly in my life!’ + </p> + <p> + Christopher sped away, reassured, and Barbara lay back on her cushions and + waited impatiently for the sound of the Doctor’s gig. She did not + have to wait long, and she waved her hand gaily in answer to the flourish + of his whip with which he greeted her as he drove up to the door. + </p> + <p> + ‘Come up here, Dr. Hurst, and be as quick as you possibly can!’ + she called down to him; and a minute later he was in the room. + </p> + <p> + The first thing he did was to ask where Jill was, just as Kit had done. + Barbara laughed more merrily than ever. Her small black eyes were + glittering with excitement. + </p> + <p> + ‘She <i>has</i> been locked up by the cruel old giant, and you can + go and rescue her at last,’ she told him. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Hurst frowned slightly. ‘What do you mean, child?’ he + asked a little impatiently. He was evidently not in a mood for joking, and + Barbara instantly became grave. + </p> + <p> + ‘I didn’t mean to play, but it <i>is</i> so like a fairy + story,’ she said penitently. ‘And it’s quite true about + the locking up. They’ve put her in the barn, Peter and the others + have,–not Kit,–and they mean to keep her there till <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_308"></a>308</span> you’ve gone + away, so that–so that you won’t get a chance of marrying and + living happily ever after! It’s to save Jill from you, they say, but + Kit’s furious about it, and<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + The Doctor flung his driving-gloves on the table. They were quite new + ones, she noticed, and he had even forgotten to take the tissue paper off + the buttons of one of them. ‘Where is the barn?’ he asked + grimly. + </p> + <p> + ‘It’s at the far end of the nine-acre field,’ explained + Barbara, and before she could say any more she found she was alone. + </p> + <p> + Excitement had made her forget all about her tea, though the hour for it + was long past. She wished with all her heart that she could be transported + to the scene of the rescue and actually see the princess fall into the + prince’s arms, while the giant lay stretched at their feet. Then she + remembered that the giant was Peter, and perhaps Will and Bobbin too, and + she hoped he would not lie stretched there for long. + </p> + <p> + The minutes crept slowly by, and still no one came in. It was no use + looking out of the window, for the nine-acre field was on the other side + of the house, beyond the orchard. Then she began to be afraid that + something dreadful must have happened. She reminded herself again that + Peter was the giant, and that the Doctor was small and slight in + comparison, even for a prince. Supposing, contrary though it was to all + the laws of fairy tale, that the giant should be too strong for the + prince, and the princess should not be rescued after all? At <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_309"></a>309</span> last she heard the + welcome sound of footsteps coming along the gallery, and then Jill opened + the door softly and hurried up to her. The Doctor was just behind her. + </p> + <p> + ‘My dear little Babs!’ cried Jill, dropping on her knees + beside the sofa, ‘have you been wondering what had become of me?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, no,’ answered the child; ‘I knew about the dark and + gruesome dungeon. But I think I’d like my tea, please.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course you would,’ said Jill, in much distress, and she + began bustling about the room and making preparations for tea in quite a + flustered sort of way. Babs turned to the Doctor. A question was burning + on the tip of her tongue, and he smiled encouragingly. + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Did</i> you rescue the princess?’ she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I did,’ answered the Doctor, briefly. + </p> + <p> + She looked anxiously at his tie, which had wandered under his right ear, + and at his collar, which was crumpled. ‘Did you hurt the giant <i>much</i>?’ + she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘I found him in three pieces,’ answered the Doctor, gravely, + ‘and I give you my word I did not leave him in more.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara was not yet satisfied. ‘How did you get into the dungeon?’ + she asked. + </p> + <p> + ‘Through the door,’ replied the Doctor. + </p> + <p> + She opened her eyes wide. ‘Then you must have stepped over the body + of the giant,’ she said. + </p> + <p> + ‘So I did,’ laughed Dr. Hurst. ‘But do not let that + alarm you, for here he comes.’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_310"></a>310</span>The door was + pushed open once more, and the three conspirators tumbled into the room. + Their ties and collars were in much the same condition as the Doctor’s, + but they seemed none the worse for that. Indeed, they looked rather + cheerful over it than otherwise, until they saw the Doctor sitting there, + holding Barbara’s hand; and then they stopped short and hesitated. + </p> + <p> + ‘Do, do tell me,’ implored Babs. ‘How did Dr. Hurst + rescue Jill?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’ll tell you, Babs dear,’ cried Robin, suddenly + dancing up to the Doctor, and climbing on his knee in quite a friendly + manner. ‘He came walking with big long steps up to the door of the + barn, where we was keeping guard over Jill; and he said, “Who can + wrestle, out of you young scamps?” ’Course I said <i>I</i> + could, but he just swinged me up in the apple tree an’ left me + there, which was horrid, but I didn’t mind much, ’cause I saw + all the fun. An’ the others said they could, if he liked; an’ + the Doctor said whoever won was to have Jill, an’ Peter said “Yes,” + ’cos he’s lots bigger’n the Doctor and he thought he’d + win. But he didn’t win, nobody did, ’cept only Dr. Hurst; so + he got Jill and brought her back here; an’ I climbed down from the + apple tree all by myself, an’ the others shook hands with the Doctor + and stopped behind, lookin’ scared!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I beg to state,’ said Jill, severely, from the other side of + the room, where she was preparing tea, ‘that nobody has <i>got</i> + me, as you call it. And the sooner you all go out of this room and leave + me alone with my patient, the better.’ + </p> + <div class="figcenter"> + <a id="link_i8"></a><img src="images/illus-310.jpg" alt="" /> + <p class="center caption"> + ‘So he got Jill’ + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_311"></a>311</span>‘I say,’ + began Wilfred, who was standing first on one leg and then on the other, + and trying not to laugh, ‘you’re not really wild with us, are + you, Jill?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘I’m simply <i>furious</i> with you,’ said Jill, and she + began cutting bread and butter with vigour. + </p> + <p> + ‘We really did it for your good,’ added Peter, putting on an + air of mock penitence. ‘How were we to know you didn’t <i>want</i> + to be saved from the Doctor?’ + </p> + <p> + Jill tossed her head and went on cutting bread and butter still, with her + back turned to them all. ‘Next time you try to save any one from any + one else,’ she remarked, ‘you’d better make sure first + that she does want saving.’ + </p> + <p> + Anything they might have said in reply to this was drowned by the noisy + entrance of Christopher. He bounced into the room and shook his fist + wrathfully at his brothers. + </p> + <p> + ‘Look here, you fellows!’ he shouted. ‘Next time you + shut a chap into a <i>pig-sty</i>, perhaps you’ll choose a pig-sty + that doesn’t belong to a pig that comes home at tea-time and bangs + against the door. I’d like to<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + He was brought to an abrupt pause. It suddenly struck him that there was + something a little odd about the way every one was assembled in the Babe’s + room. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dry up, Kit!’ said Wilfred, with a huge sigh. ‘You were + quite right; the game wasn’t <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_312"></a>312</span> worth it. She didn’t want to be saved, + after all.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s just a girl,’ added Peter, in a tone of deep + dejection. + </p> + <p> + ‘She’s a <i>princess</i>!’ insisted Barbara, from the + sofa. + </p> + <p> + Christopher looked swiftly round the room. The attitude of every one + seemed a little strained. Jill was cutting enough bread and butter for a + school, and the crumbs flew in all directions as she stood there with her + back to them all. The Doctor was smiling in a way that was clearly put on, + and Bobbin was examining his watch-chain with a familiarity that would not + have seemed possible an hour ago. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, I’m bothered!’ said Kit, at last. The truth was + gradually dawning upon him. ‘Do you mean to say that you two have + been and gone and got <i>engaged</i>, while we’ve been trying to + save you?’ he demanded. ‘<i>Have</i> you, Jill?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, don’t bother,’ grumbled Jill. ‘Why can’t + you ask Dr. Hurst?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘<i>Have</i> you?’ repeated Kit, turning to the Doctor. + </p> + <p> + ‘Ask Jill,’ replied the Doctor, smiling more than ever. + </p> + <p> + ‘Boys,’ said Christopher, fixing his spectacles firmly on his + nose and staring solemnly at his brothers, ‘we’ve made + shocking idiots of ourselves.’ + </p> + <p> + Into the middle of them all now walked Mrs. Crofton of Crofts. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_313"></a>313</span>‘Such a + trouble as I’ve had to get back in time, my dear,’ she was + beginning, when she too stopped short and seemed to find things a little + unusual. + </p> + <p> + ‘Hey-day!’ she cried, leaning on her blue-knobbed cane and + looking sharply round. ‘What’s every one looking so glum + about, I should like to know?’ + </p> + <p> + Nobody answered her at first. Dr. Hurst put Robin down and rose to his + feet, and he stopped smiling at last, while Jill dropped the bread-knife + and turned round with a very red face; but neither of them spoke. It was + the Babe who came to the rescue, and it was she who explained everything + in her small, dreamy voice. + </p> + <p> + ‘Dr. Hurst has saved Jill from the giant,’ she said, ‘and + they are going away to their own kingdom, to live happily ever after! I do + wish,’ she added wistfully, ‘that the magician would come back + too. Then things would be <i>quite</i> beautiful.’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <h2> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_314"></a>314</span><a + id="link_19"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /><span class="h2fs">THE MAGICIAN</span> + </h2> + <p> + The triumvirate sat under the old cedar tree at Crofts, and once more they + discussed the important affairs of the little world at Wootton Beeches. It + was the first Saturday in the term; and Auntie Anna, true to her promise, + had invited Jean and Angela to drive over and spend it with Barbara. The + spring had come in with a rush, and May had dawned in such a flood of warm + sunshine that the child was able to pass most of her time on a couch in + the garden. The Doctor, in spite of the ten miles that lay between his + house and Crofts, came nearly every day to see how she was; and he hinted + at a promise of crutches in ten days’ time, after which she was to + go away to the seaside and get strong enough to return to school at the + half-term. It was very nice, Barbara thought, to see the Doctor so often, + now that she was so much better and did not really need him; but + Christopher was very sarcastic on the subject. + </p> + <p> + ‘S’pose you think he comes to see <i>you</i>, don’t + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_315"></a>315</span> you?’ + he remarked scornfully; and when pressed by Barbara for a more definite + explanation of the Doctor’s actions, he condescended to add: ‘Once + a chap gets engaged to a <i>girl</i>, it’s the <i>girl</i> who’s + at the bottom of everything he does!’ + </p> + <p> + The day was so hot that Kit and Bobbin came out to join the others under + the cedar tree, and they flung themselves on the grass in different stages + of exhaustion. Now and then, they threw in a lazy contribution to the + conversation that was going on over their heads, though at first this + related entirely to the number of new girls, the alterations in the + classes, and other bits of school gossip. Then, however, it took a + personal turn, and Christopher’s comments grew satirical. + </p> + <p> + ‘Has anybody asked after me?’ inquired Barbara. + </p> + <p> + ‘What a question!’ scoffed Christopher. ‘A kid like you!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They have, though,’ declared Jean, making a great effort to + overcome her shyness of Barbara Berkeley’s clever brother. ‘Everybody + did, first thing. You’d never think the Babe had only been there one + term.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, well, that’s because she smashed herself up,’ said + Kit, cheerfully. ‘Girls always fuss over you, if you kill yourself + ever so little.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘They <i>don’t</i>, Kit,’ objected Babs. + </p> + <p> + ‘Guess what Margaret Hulme said about you yesterday,’ put in + Angela, eagerly. Angela was not nearly so shy as Jean, and, much to <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_316"></a>316</span> Barbara’s + astonishment, Kit found her ‘better fun’ in consequence. It + seemed a little strange that the genius of the family should not be able + to appreciate the amazing qualities of Jean Murray. + </p> + <p> + ‘What did she say about me?’ asked Barbara, only to be + interrupted by another jeer from Christopher. + </p> + <p> + ‘Never knew such cockiness as the Babe’s,’ he laughed, + tilting his straw hat a little more over his eyes. + </p> + <p> + ‘Babs always thinks that everybody’s always talkin’ + about her,’ added Bobbin, in his shrillest voice. + </p> + <p> + Barbara stretched as far as she could, and managed with difficulty to + knock off Kit’s hat with the end of a stick. Robin was out of reach, + so she contented herself with frowning at him severely, and then leaned + back again and began to fan herself with her handkerchief. Everything made + one feel hot this afternoon. ‘What did Margaret say about me?’ + she repeated curiously. + </p> + <p> + ‘It was when I was waiting to put away her books, just before dinner + yesterday,’ Angela related with eagerness; ‘or was it before + tea? No! I think it was before dinner, because<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, get on, Angela, do!’ interrupted Jean, impatiently. Even + the presence of Barbara Berkeley’s clever brother, which was + paralysing her, could not keep the leader of the junior playroom from + snubbing Angela. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, she said Babs was the most popular <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_317"></a>317</span> girl in the + school,’ continued Angela. ‘She did, honour bright, and I’m + <i>not</i> exaggerating, Jean. She said it to Ruth Oliver, and Ruth Oliver + said: “Isn’t it queer? Such a little kid, too.” And + Margaret said: “That’s just it, stupid!” Then she saw me + listening, and she told me not to listen but to make myself scarce; and of + course I wasn’t listening at all, I was only<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There’s nothing new in <i>that</i>’ interrupted Jean, + looking superior. ‘Everybody knows that the Babe<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ Here she caught + Kit’s eye, and stopped hastily. She was not sure that she liked + Barbara Berkeley’s clever brother; he had such a queer way of + looking at one. Nobody in the junior playroom ever made her feel like + that. + </p> + <p> + Barbara was in deep perplexity. ‘Is that why every one clapped, + then, on the night of the display?’ she said wonderingly. + </p> + <p> + Christopher looked in mock reproach at Angela. ‘You shouldn’t + have told her,’ he said. ‘She won’t be fit to speak to + for a month now.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, don’t, Kit!’ retorted Barbara, more from habit than + because she really resented his words. As a matter of fact she had hardly + heard them, for she was busy puzzling things over in her mind. ‘I + can’t think what it all means,’ she went on; ‘every one + used to complain of me so. There was Mary Wells, for instance<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, Mary Wells <i>adores</i> you!’ cried Angela, <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_318"></a>318</span> in her effusive + manner. ‘She said so directly you broke your leg.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara puzzled still more. ‘I don’t understand about Margaret + Hulme a bit, though,’ she observed. ‘Only the day before the + display, she told me I was a little nuisance, because I didn’t hear + her the first time she spoke to me; so of course I thought she hated me!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘That was before you broke your leg, though,’ explained Jean. + </p> + <p> + ‘She <i>adores</i> you now,’ added Angela. + </p> + <p> + Kit and Bobbin burst out laughing, but Barbara went on puzzling, and did + not notice them. Adoration at Wootton Beeches seemed to spring from the + strangest causes. After being more or less neglected for a whole term by + the greater part of her school-fellows, it was at least surprising to be + suddenly placed on a pinnacle of fame, just because she had broken her + leg. If she had only guessed at Angela’s envy of that same broken + leg–an envy that was probably shared by half the junior playroom–she + might have been still further amazed. + </p> + <p> + The boys strolled indoors to find Auntie Anna and to beg for tea in the + garden; and the conversation under the cedar tree grew more intimate. Jean + came out of her shell, and talked about her home in Edinburgh in a way she + had never done before, even on half-holidays at school; and Angela, in her + turn, gave an elaborate description of her eldest sister’s + drawing-room dress, and of the longing <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_319"></a>319</span> it had aroused in her own frivolous little + mind to be presented at Court herself. + </p> + <p> + ‘And so I shall be, some day; mother says so!’ she announced, + spreading out the folds of her rough serge skirt, and seeing it in + imagination many times its length and composed of shimmering satin. + </p> + <p> + ‘I shan’t,’ said Jean, regarding her with scorn. ‘I + don’t want to be presented. Any stupid idiot can put on a white + satin dress, miles long, and grin at Queen Victoria. <i>I</i> want to be + clever like father, and get a degree at college, and lecture to thousands + and thousands of people, and<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Oh, don’t be like that, Jean,’ interrupted Barbara, + earnestly. ‘If you’re going to give lectures you’ll have + to go away from all your children, for months and months and months, and + leave them to break all their legs, all by themselves, and–oh, it <i>is</i> + so horrible to break your leg all by yourself!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Poor dear,’ said Angela, ready as usual with a tearful and + demonstrative sympathy. + </p> + <p> + Jean was much too wrapped up in her future to sympathise with anybody. + ‘I dare say I shan’t have any children,’ she said, + seized with a happy inspiration. ‘You can’t have everything, + and I’d much sooner have a degree.’ + </p> + <p> + Barbara looked at her in some doubt. ‘That’s all very well,’ + she remarked, ‘but you’ll be jolly dull if you don’t + look out. <i>I</i> don’t mean to go without children; I’m + going to have millions of ’em–all boys–see if I don’t! + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_320"></a>320</span> Then we can + always be sure of having enough for sides, without inviting strangers to + come and play. You can never be sure how strangers are going to play, and + sometimes they spoil the game, and that’s a bore.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘If you have boys of your own, you’ll be a mother; and if you’re + a mother, you won’t join in the games at all. Mothers only sit and + look on, and send the ones to bed that can’t agree,’ said + Angela, with an air of experience. + </p> + <p> + ‘I don’t advise you to be a mother, Babe,’ added Jean, + earnestly. ‘You’ll have to mend such a lot of socks, and p’r’aps + make babies’ clothes too; and you’ve been a whole term getting + round the hem of one flannel petticoat, as it is.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘You <i>can</i> get things ready-made,’ answered Barbara, but + her tone did not sound hopeful. She had to own sadly to herself that she + was not cut out for a mother, and she fell back on the more practical + futures of other people. ‘Wilfred’s going to be a doctor, + after all,’ she told them, with great pride. ‘Auntie Anna says + she’ll stand all the money that father can’t, and he’s + going to St. Thomas’s–Will is, I mean. Isn’t it awfully + splendid?’ + </p> + <p> + Her friends murmured something appropriate, but they were not deeply + interested in the career of Wilfred. At school, the girls’ + conversation was largely made up of details of this kind; but Crofts was + not school, and neither Jean nor Angela felt inspired to carry on the + discussion. Babs, however, failed to notice <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_321"></a>321</span> their want of enthusiasm. Everything was + happening exactly like the fairy story she had planned, the fairy story + that had begun in the old London house, on the day that a certain dragon + had entered it as a fairy godmother; and for the moment she was back again + in her own kingdom, where the old witch still wandered about in her + steeple-hat, in the company of Kit the prince, and where the + twice-disenchanted beast was placing a crown on the charming head of the + princess who had waited so long for him, and where a crowd of other + princesses, after breaking their heads and their legs and suffering + numerous unpleasant penalties of the kind, had at last returned from their + banishment and were hailing the child herself as their queen. But one + familiar figure was still missing from her fairy kingdom; and the little + queen came sadly back to the world under the cedar tree, with a sigh and a + murmured remark about ‘America’ and ‘lectures’ + that her listeners only half understood. They recognised the Babe’s + very natural wish for her father’s return, but they did not know how + the wish had grown into a longing since her accident, during the weary + days in which there had been no school to distract her, and nothing to do + but to think. + </p> + <p> + ‘He’ll be back in two months, won’t he?’ asked + Jean, meaning to be sympathetic, though her manner was awkward. + </p> + <p> + ‘Two months!’ echoed Babs, dolefully, ‘What’s two + months?’ + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_322"></a>322</span>‘It’s + years, isn’t it?’ responded Angela, with her accustomed + inaccuracy. + </p> + <p> + Having secured their sympathy, such as it was, Barbara allowed herself to + become more doleful still. ‘He must have missed all our letters, + too,’ she sighed. ‘The last one he sent us was from some awful + American place, that Kit says is in the map if you’ve got a month to + look for it, only you haven’t!–and he never told us where to + write next, and he didn’t say a word about me. So he’s not + even heard yet that I fell off the rings!’ + </p> + <p> + ‘Never mind, Babs dear,’ said Angela, consolingly; ‘think + how <i>proud</i> you will be when you can tell him all about it yourself.’ + </p> + <p> + Not appreciating the distinction of having broken her leg quite so warmly + as Angela, Babs did not respond; and the arrival of tea, and with it every + one from the house, made her give up the immediate attempt to pity + herself. After all, people who went away to America to lecture could not + leave their children to break their legs by themselves for ever; and + meanwhile, there was home-made cake and strawberry jam under the cedar + tree. + </p> + <p> + It was in the middle of tea, just as Robin, with a wavering hand, was + conveying a second cup to Babs, that the wonderful event happened. Jill + had the best view of the house from where she sat at the tea-table, and + her sudden exclamation interrupted the jeers of the others over Robin’s + strenuous performance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Such a funny-looking man is coming up <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_323"></a>323</span> the drive!’ she remarked. ‘He’s + wearing the very oddest kind of clothes, too–a sort of Inverness + cape, and a squashy brown hat. And do look at the way he is walking, with + his arms swinging about–just like Peter, when he’s in a hurry.’ + </p> + <p> + ‘He must be a tramp,’ said Angela, giggling. + </p> + <p> + Everybody looked round, except Barbara, who made a plaintive request, that + nobody heard, for her couch to be wheeled into a different position. + </p> + <p> + Then Auntie Anna gave a little shriek, and dropped her pince-nez into her + lap. + </p> + <p> + ‘Bless my soul!’ she cried, fumbling for them in an agitated + manner. ‘Why, it looks exactly like–I do believe–look, + Jill! Your eyes are younger than<span style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + The boys were sharper than Jill, though, and they settled the question at + once in their own riotous fashion. Barbara’s second cup of tea fell + with a crash and a splash, before she could reach out her hand for it, and + her two brothers rushed shouting and screaming across the lawn. In another + instant they had disappeared in the folds of the Inverness cape; and + Angela Wilkins realised with a shock that she had called Barbara Berkeley’s + father a tramp! + </p> + <hr class="tb" /> + <p> + ‘Well, Everard, and what have you to say for yourself?’ + demanded Auntie Anna, in a severe tone, as soon as she could make herself + <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_324"></a>324</span> heard. For + quite ten minutes, every one had been talking at once. + </p> + <p> + ‘What have I to say?’ repeated Mr. Berkeley, with his eyes + twinkling. ‘Why, plum-cake, to be sure! You haven’t offered me + any tea yet.’ + </p> + <p> + His sons nearly wrecked the tea-table in their efforts to be first in + supplying his wants; and Auntie Anna gave up the attempt to be firm. + </p> + <p> + ‘Well, well,’ she said, shaking her head, ‘you always + were incorrigible, Everard! But what about the end of your lecturing tour?’ + </p> + <p> + ‘There won’t be any end, as far as I’m concerned,’ + smiled her brother, devouring plum-cake with avidity. + </p> + <p> + ‘But–but what did they <i>say</i> to your extraordinary + departure?’ cried Auntie Anna. + </p> + <p> + ‘I didn’t give them time to say much,’ answered Mr. + Berkeley. ‘The boat was starting in a couple of hours, you see.’ + </p> + <p> + Auntie Anna threw up her hands. ‘Of all the improvident, hot-headed<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ she was + beginning, when the change of expression in her brother’s face + silenced her. He held out his cup to her with a pathetic look. + </p> + <p> + ‘You always forget,’ he said. ‘Two lumps, please.’ + </p> + <p> + The boys flung themselves upon the sugar-basin, and more than two lumps + found their way into his cup. Jill took the opportunity to present Barbara’s + friends to him, and Mr. Berkeley smiled and said something genial to <span + class="pagenum pncolor"><a id="page_325"></a>325</span> both of them, + which made Jean forget at once how shy she was and drove away the last bit + of Angela’s confusion over her stupid mistake. But his attention + soon wandered back to his children, and he stirred his tea and beamed upon + all three of them alternately, until the others began to feel that they + were in the way. His eyes rested longest of all upon Babs, who lay on her + couch with an expression of complete contentment on her face; and Auntie + Anna saw, and understood. + </p> + <p> + ‘I said all the while it was madness to write and tell you about it,’ + she grumbled. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Berkeley chuckled. ‘I never got your letter till last Wednesday + week,’ he said. ‘It had been following me about from place to + place. Poor little Babe!’ he added, pinching her cheek softly; + ‘what a shame to let you knock yourself about, when your poor old + father wasn’t there to take care of you!’ + </p> + <p> + Auntie Anna smiled grimly. ‘No one could very well be less capable + of taking care of her,’ she remarked. + </p> + <p> + Robin clambered on his father’s knee and hugged him afresh. + </p> + <p> + ‘Why <i>did</i> you come home, father?’ he cried, raising his + voice higher than ever. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Berkeley looked mildly surprised. ‘Can’t you guess, sonny?’ + he asked. ‘Do you suppose I could stay another minute in somebody + else’s country, when I heard that my little girl was ill over here?’ + </p> + <p> + Jill got up rather suddenly, and offered to <span class="pagenum pncolor"><a + id="page_326"></a>326</span> take Jean and Angela round the garden; and + Auntie Anna grasped her blue-knobbed cane, and rose slowly to her feet. + Before she went off, however, she shot one more question at her brother in + her most abrupt manner. ‘What about your luggage, Everard?’ + she demanded. ‘Where have you left it?’ + </p> + <p> + Mr. Berkeley reflected a moment. ‘I <i>think</i> it was Boston,’ + he began doubtfully, ‘but it may have been<span + style="white-space: nowrap">––</span>’ + </p> + <p> + He did not finish his sentence, for the old lady shook her head in despair + at him and hobbled off towards the house. Barbara watched her retreating + figure, and smiled gently to herself. Auntie Anna might pretend as much as + she liked that she was a dragon, but nothing could prevent her looking + like a fairy godmother! + </p> + <p> + Her father stroked her rough, tumbled hair caressingly, and smiled back at + her. + </p> + <p> + ‘What is it, Babe?’ he asked. + </p> + <p> + The child gazed at him as he sat there, with the two boys clinging to him + as though they would never let him go again; and the whimsical look stole + into her bright little eyes, and lighted up the whole of her small impish + face. + </p> + <p> + ‘The magician has come back,’ she said, with a happy laugh; + ‘and there isn’t room to <i>move</i> in my fairy kingdom!’ + </p> + <hr class="pb" /> + <p class="c fs12 mb10"> + THE STANDARD SCHOOL LIBRARY. + </p> + <p class="c fs08 mb15"> + (Each Volume, cloth, 50 cents. Sold singly or in sets.) + </p> + <p> + <b>BAILEY. LESSONS WITH PLANTS.</b> Suggestions for Seeing and + Interpreting Some of the Common Forms of Vegetation. By L. H. Bailey. + 12mo. Illustrated. xxxi + 491 pages. + </p> + <p> + This volume is the outgrowth of “observation lessons.” The + book is based upon the idea that the proper way to begin the study of + plants is by means of plants instead of formal ideals or definitions. + Instead of a definition as a model telling what is to be seen, the plant + shows what there is to be seen, and the definition follows. + </p> + <p> + <b>BARNES. YANKEE SHIPS AND YANKEE SAILORS.</b> Tales of 1812. By James + Barnes. 12mo. Illustrated. xiii + 281 pages. + </p> + <p> + Fourteen spirited tales of the gallant defenders of the <i>Chesapeake</i>, + the <i>Wasp</i>, the <i>Vixen</i>, <i>Old Ironsides</i>, and other heroes + of the Naval War of 1812. + </p> + <p> + <b>BELLAMY. THE WONDER CHILDREN.</b> By Charles J. Bellamy. 12mo. + Illustrated. + </p> + <p> + Nine old-fashioned fairy stories in a modern setting. + </p> + <p> + <b>BLACK. THE PRACTICE OF SELF-CULTURE.</b> By Hugh Black. 12mo. vii + 262 + pages. + </p> + <p> + Nine essays on culture considered in its broadest sense. The title is + justified not so much from the point of view of giving many details for + self-culture, as of giving an impulse to practice. + </p> + <p> + <b>BONSAL. THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE.</b> Extracts from the letters of Captain + H. L. Herndon of the 21st U. S. Infantry, on duty in the Philippine + Islands, and Lieutenant Lawrence Gill, A.D.C. to the Military Governor of + Puerto Rico. With a postscript by J. Sherman, Private, Co. D, 21st + Infantry. Edited by Stephen Bonsal. 12mo. xi + 316 pages. + </p> + <p> + These letters throw much light on our recent history. The story of our + “Expansion” is well told, and the problems which are its + outgrowth are treated with clearness and insight. + </p> + <p> + <b>BUCK. BOYS’ SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS.</b> By Winifred Buck. 16mo. x + + 218 pages. + </p> + <p> + The history of self-governing clubs, with directions for their + organization and management. The author has had many years’ + experience as organizer and adviser of self-governing clubs in New York + City and the vicinity. + </p> + <p> + <b>CARROLL. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.</b> By Lewis Carroll. + 12mo. Illustrated. xiv + 192 pages. + </p> + <p> + <b>CARROLL. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE.</b> By + Lewis Carroll. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 224 pages. + </p> + <p> + The authorized edition of these children’s classics. They have + recently been reprinted from new type and new cuts made from the original + wood blocks. + </p> + <p> + <b>CHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ILIAD.</b> By Rev. A. J. Church, vii + 314 + pages. + </p> + <p> + <b>CHURCH. THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY.</b> By Rev. A. J. Church. vii + 306 + pages. + </p> + <p> + The two great epics are retold in prose by one of the best of + story-tellers. The Greek atmosphere is remarkably well preserved. + </p> + <p> + <b>CRADDOCK. THE STORY OF OLD FORT LOUDON.</b> By Charles Egbert Craddock. + 12mo. Illustrated. v + 409 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story of pioneer life in Tennessee at the time of the Cherokee uprising + in 1760. The frontier fort serves as a background to this picture of + Indian craft and guile and pioneer pleasures and hardships. + </p> + <p> + <b>CROCKETT. RED CAP TALES.</b> By S. R. Crockett. 8vo. Illustrated. xii + + 413 pages. + </p> + <p> + The volume consists of a number of tales told in succession from four of + Scott’s novels–“Waverley,” “Guy Mannering,” + “Rob Roy,” and “The Antiquary”; with a break here + and there while the children to whom they are told discuss the story just + told from their own point of view. No better introduction to Scott’s + novels could be imagined or contrived. Half a dozen or more tales are + given from each book. + </p> + <p> + <b>DIX. A LITTLE CAPTIVE LAD.</b> By Beulah Marie Dix. 12mo. Illustrated. + vii + 286 pages. + </p> + <p> + The story is laid in the time of Cromwell, and the captive lad is a + cavalier, full of the pride of his caste. The plot develops around the + child’s relations to his Puritan relatives. It is a well-told story, + with plenty of action, and is a faithful picture of the times. + </p> + <p> + <b>EGGLESTON. SOUTHERN SOLDIER STORIES.</b> By George Cary Eggleston. + 12mo. Illustrated. xi + 251 pages. + </p> + <p> + Forty-seven stories illustrating the heroism of those brave Americans who + fought on the losing side in the Civil War. Humor and pathos are found + side by side in these pages which bear evidence of absolute truth. + </p> + <p> + <b>ELSON. SIDE LIGHTS ON AMERICAN HISTORY.</b> + </p> + <p> + This volume takes a contemporary view of the leading events in the history + of the country from the period of the Declaration of Independence to the + close of the Spanish-American War. The result is a very valuable series of + studies in many respects more interesting and informing than consecutive + history. + </p> + <p> + <b>GAYE. THE GREAT WORLD’S FARM.</b> Some Account of Nature’s + Crops and How they are Sown. By Selina Gaye. 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 365 + pages. + </p> + <p> + A readable account of plants and how they live and grow. It is as free as + possible from technicalities and well adapted to young people. + </p> + <p> + <b>GREENE. PICKETT’S GAP.</b> By Homer Greene. 12mo. Illustrated. + vii + 288 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story of American life and character illustrated in the personal heroism + and manliness of an American boy. It is well told, and the lessons in + morals and character are such as will appeal to every honest instinct. + </p> + <p> + <b>HAPGOOD. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</b> By Norman Hapgood. 12mo. Illustrated. + xiii + 433 pages. + </p> + <p> + This is one of the best one-volume biographies of Lincoln, and a faithful + picture of the strong character of the great President, not only when he + was at the head of the nation, but also as a boy and a young man, making + his way in the world. + </p> + <p> + <b>HAPGOOD. GEORGE WASHINGTON.</b> By Norman Hapgood. 12mo. Illustrated. + xi + 419 pages. + </p> + <p> + Not the semi-mythical Washington of some biographers, but a clear, + comprehensive account of the man as he really appeared in camp, in the + field, in the councils of his country, at home, and in society. + </p> + <p> + <b>HOLDEN. REAL THINGS IN NATURE.</b> A Reading Book of Science for + American Boys and Girls. By Edward S. Holden. Illustrated. 12mo. xxxviii + + 443 pages. + </p> + <p> + The topics are grouped under nine general heads: Astronomy, Physics, + Meteorology, Chemistry, Geology, Zoology, Botany, The Human Body, and The + Early History of Mankind. The various parts of the volume give the answers + to the thousand and one questions continually arising in the minds of + youths at an age when habits of thought for life are being formed. + </p> + <p> + <b>HUFFORD. SHAKESPEARE IN TALE AND VERSE.</b> By Lois Grosvenor Hufford. + 12mo. ix + 445 pages. + </p> + <p> + The purpose of the author is to introduce Shakespeare to such of his + readers as find the intricacies of the plots of the dramas somewhat + difficult to manage. The stories which constitute the main plots are + given, and are interspersed with the dramatic dialogue in such a manner as + to make tale and verse interpret each other. + </p> + <p> + <b>HUGHES. TOM BROWN’S SCHOOL DAYS.</b> By Thomas Hughes. 12mo. + Illustrated. xxi + 376 pages. + </p> + <p> + An attractive and convenient edition of this great story of life at Rugby. + It is a book that appeals to boys everywhere and which makes for manliness + and high ideals. + </p> + <p> + <b>HUTCHINSON. THE STORY OF THE HILLS.</b> A Book about Mountains for + General Readers. By Rev. H. W. Hutchinson. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 357 + pages. + </p> + <p> + “A clear account of the geological formation of mountains and their + various methods of origin in language so clear and untechnical that it + will not confuse even the most unscientific.”–Boston <i>Evening + Transcript</i>. + </p> + <p> + <b>ILLINOIS GIRL. A PRAIRIE WINTER.</b> By an Illinois Girl. 16mo. 164 + pages. + </p> + <p> + A record of the procession of the months from midway in September to + midway in May. The observations on Nature are accurate and sympathetic, + and they are interspersed with glimpses of a charming home life and bits + of cheerful philosophy. + </p> + <p> + <b>INGERSOLL. WILD NEIGHBORS. OUTDOOR STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES.</b> By + Ernest Ingersoll. 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 301 pages. + </p> + <p> + Studies and stories of the gray squirrel, the puma, the coyote, the + badger, and other burrowers, the porcupine, the skunk, the woodchuck, and + the raccoon. + </p> + <p> + <b>INMAN. THE RANCH ON THE OXHIDE.</b> By Henry Inman. 12mo. Illustrated. + xi + 297 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story of pioneer life in Kansas in the late sixties. Adventures with + wild animals and skirmishes with Indians add interest to the narrative. + </p> + <p> + <b>JOHNSON. CERVANTES’ DON QUIXOTE.</b> Edited by Clifton Johnson. + 12mo. Illustrated. xxiii + 398 pages. + </p> + <p> + A well-edited edition of this classic. The one effort has been to bring + the book to readable proportions without excluding any really essential + incident or detail, and at the same time to make the text unobjectionable + and wholesome. + </p> + <p> + <b>JUDSON. THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN NATION.</b> By Harry Pratt Judson. + 12mo. Illustrations and maps. xi + 359 pages. + </p> + <p> + The cardinal facts of American History are grasped in such a way as to + show clearly the orderly development of national life. + </p> + <p> + <b>KEARY. THE HEROES OF ASGARD: TALES FROM SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY.</b> By + A. and E. Keary. 12mo. Illustrated. 323 pages. + </p> + <p> + The book is divided, into nine chapters, called “The Æsir,” + “How Thor went to Jötunheim,” “Frey,” “The + Wanderings of Freyja,” “Iduna’s Apples,” “Baldur,” + “The Binding of Fenrir,” “The Punishment of Loki,” + “Ragnarök.” + </p> + <p> + <b>KING. DE SOTO AND HIS MEN IN THE LAND OF FLORIDA.</b> By Grace King. + 12mo. Illustrated. xiv + 326 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story based upon the Spanish and Portuguese accounts of the attempted + conquest by the armada which sailed under De Soto in 1538 to subdue this + country. Miss King gives a most entertaining history of the invaders’ + struggles and of their final demoralized rout; while her account of the + native tribes is a most attractive feature of the narrative. + </p> + <p> + <b>KINGSLEY. MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY: FIRST LESSONS IN EARTH LORE FOR + CHILDREN.</b> By Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. xviii + 321 pages. + </p> + <p> + Madam How and Lady Why are two fairies who teach the how and why of things + in nature. There are chapters on Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Coral Reefs, + Glaciers, etc., told in an interesting manner. The book is intended to + lead children to use their eyes and ears. + </p> + <p> + <b>KINGSLEY. THE WATER BABIES: A FAIRY TALE FOR A LAND BABY.</b> By + Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. 330 pages. + </p> + <p> + One of the best children’s stories ever written; it has deservedly + become a classic. + </p> + <p> + <b>LANGE. OUR NATIVE BIRDS: HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT THEM TO OUR + HOMES.</b> By D. Lange. 12mo. Illustrated, x + 162 pages. + </p> + <p> + A strong plea for the protection of birds. Methods and devices for their + encouragement are given, also a bibliography of helpful literature, and + material for Bird Day. + </p> + <p> + <b>LOVELL. STORIES IN STONE FROM THE ROMAN FORUM.</b> By Isabel Lovell. + 12mo. Illustrated. viii + 258 pages. + </p> + <p> + The eight stories in this volume give many facts that travelers wish to + know, that historical readers seek, and that young students enjoy. The + book puts the reader in close touch with Roman life. + </p> + <p> + <b>McFARLAND. GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES.</b> By J. Horace + McFarland. 8vo. Illustrated. xi + 241 pages. + </p> + <p> + A charmingly written series of tree essays. They are not scientific but + popular, and are the outcome of the author’s desire that others + should share the rest and comfort that have come to him through + acquaintance with trees. + </p> + <p> + <b>MAJOR. THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER.</b> By Charles Major. 12mo. + Illustrated. 277 pages. + </p> + <p> + A collection of good bear stories with a live boy for the hero. The scene + is laid in the early days of Indiana. + </p> + <p> + <b>MARSHALL. WINIFRED’S JOURNAL.</b> By Emma Marshall. 12mo. + Illustrated. 353 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story of the time of Charles the First. Some of the characters are + historical personages. + </p> + <p> + <b>MEANS. PALMETTO STORIES.</b> By Celina E. Means. 12mo. Illustrated. x + + 244 pages. + </p> + <p> + True accounts of some of the men and women who made the history of South + Carolina, and correct pictures of the conditions under which these men and + women labored. + </p> + <p> + <b>MORRIS. MAN AND HIS ANCESTOR: A STUDY IN EVOLUTION.</b> By Charles + Morris. 16mo. Illustrated. vii + 238 pages. + </p> + <p> + A popular presentation of the subject of man’s origin. The various + significant facts that have been discovered since Darwin’s time are + given, as well as certain lines of evidence never before presented in this + connection. + </p> + <p> + <b>NEWBOLT. STORIES FROM FROISSART.</b> By Henry Newbolt. 12mo. + Illustrated. xxxi + 368 pages. + </p> + <p> + Here are given entire thirteen episodes from the “Chronicles” + of Sir John Froissart. The text is modernized sufficiently to make it + intelligible to young readers. Separated narratives are dovetailed, and + new translations have been made where necessary to make the narrative + complete and easily readable. + </p> + <p> + <b>OVERTON. THE CAPTAIN’S DAUGHTER.</b> By Gwendolen Overton. 12mo. + Illustrated. vii + 270 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story of girl life at an army post on the frontier. The plot is an + absorbing one, and the interest of the reader is held to the end. + </p> + <p> + <b>PALGRAVE. THE CHILDREN’S TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONG.</b> Selected + and arranged by Francis Turner Palgrave. 16mo. viii + 302 pages. + </p> + <p> + This collection contains 168 selections–songs, narratives, + descriptive or reflective pieces of a lyrical quality, all suited to the + taste and understanding of children. + </p> + <p> + <b>PALMER. STORIES FROM THE CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF MANY NATIONS.</b> + Edited by Bertha Palmer. 12mo. xv + 297 pages. + </p> + <p> + A collection of sixty characteristic stories from Chinese, Japanese, + Hebrew, Babylonian, Arabian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, German, Scandinavian, + Celtic, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-Saxon, + English, Finnish, and American Indian sources. + </p> + <p> + <b>RIIS. CHILDREN OF THE TENEMENTS.</b> By Jacob A. Riis. 12mo. + Illustrated. ix + 387 pages. + </p> + <p> + Forty sketches and short stories dealing with the lights and shadows of + life in the slums of New York City, told just as they came to the writer, + fresh from the life of the people. + </p> + <p> + <b>SANDYS. TRAPPER JIM.</b> By Edwyn Sandys. 12mo. Illustrated. ix + 441 + pages. + </p> + <p> + A book which will delight every normal boy. Jim is a city lad who learns + from an older cousin all the lore of outdoor life–trapping, + shooting, fishing, camping, swimming, and canoeing. The author is a + well-known writer on outdoor subjects. + </p> + <p> + <b>SEXTON. STORIES OF CALIFORNIA.</b> By Ella M. Sexton. 12mo. + Illustrated. x + 211 pages. + </p> + <p> + Twenty-two stories illustrating the early conditions and the romantic + history of California and the subsequent development of the state. + </p> + <p> + <b>SHARP. THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL.</b> By Evelyn Sharp. 12mo. + Illustrated. ix + 326 pages. + </p> + <p> + Bab, the “youngest girl,” was only eleven and the pet of five + brothers. Her ups and downs in a strange boarding school make an + interesting story. + </p> + <p> + <b>SPARKS. THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION: AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES + HISTORY FROM 1776 TO 1861.</b> By Edwin E. Sparks. 12mo. Illustrated. viii + + 415 pages. + </p> + <p> + The author has chosen to tell our history by selecting the one man at + various periods of our affairs who was master of the situation and about + whom events naturally grouped themselves. The characters thus selected + number twelve, as “Samuel Adams, the man of the town meeting”; + “Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution”; “Hamilton, + the advocate of stronger government,” etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + <b>THACHER. THE LISTENING CHILD.</b> A selection from the stories of + English verse, made for the youngest readers and hearers. By Lucy W. + Thacher. 12mo. xxx + 408 pages. + </p> + <p> + Under this title are gathered two hundred and fifty selections. The + arrangement is most intelligent, as shown in the proportions assigned to + different authors and periods. Much prominence is given to purely + imaginative writers. The preliminary essay, “A Short Talk to + Children about Poetry,” is full of suggestion. + </p> + <p> + <b>WALLACE. UNCLE HENRY’S LETTERS TO THE FARM BOY.</b> By Henry + Wallace. 16mo. ix + 180 pages. + </p> + <p> + Eighteen letters on habits, education, business, recreation, and kindred + subjects. + </p> + <p> + <b>WEED. LIFE HISTORIES OF AMERICAN INSECTS.</b> By Clarence Moores Weed. + 12mo. Illustrated. xii + 272 pages. + </p> + <p> + In these pages are described by an enthusiastic student of entomology such + changes as may often be seen in an insect’s form, and which mark the + progress of its life. He shows how very wide a field of interesting facts + is within reach of any one who has the patience to collect these little + creatures. + </p> + <p> + <b>WELLS. THE JINGLE BOOK.</b> By Carolyn Wells. 12mo. Illustrated. viii + + 124 pages. + </p> + <p> + A collection of fifty delightful jingles and nonsense verses. The + illustrations by Oliver Herford do justice to the text. + </p> + <p> + <b>WILSON. DOMESTIC SCIENCE IN GRAMMAR GRADES.</b> A Reader. By Lucy L. W. + Wilson. 12mo. ix + 193 pages. + </p> + <p> + Descriptions of homes and household customs of all ages and countries, + studies of materials and industries, glimpses of the homes of literature, + and articles on various household subjects. + </p> + <p> + <b>WILSON. HISTORY READER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.</b> By Lucy L. W. + Wilson. 16mo. Illustrated. xvii + 403 pages. + </p> + <p> + Stories grouped about the greatest men and the most striking events in our + country’s history. The readings run by months, beginning with + September. + </p> + <p> + <b>WILSON. PICTURE STUDY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.</b> By Lucy L. W. Wilson. + 12mo. Illustrated. + </p> + <p> + Ninety half-tone reproductions from celebrated paintings both old and + modern, accompanied by appropriate readings from the poets. All schools of + art are represented. + </p> + <p> + <b>WRIGHT. HEART OF NATURE.</b> By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. + </p> + <p> + This volume comprises “Stories of Plants and Animals,” “Stories + of Earth and Sky,” and “Stories of Birds and Beasts,” + usually published in three volumes and known as “The Heart of Nature + Series.” It is a delightful combination of story and nature study, + the author’s name being a sufficient warrant for its interest and + fidelity to nature. + </p> + <p> + <b>WRIGHT. FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS AND THEIR KIN.</b> By Mabel Osgood + Wright, edited by Frank Chapman. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 432 pages. + </p> + <p> + An animal book in story form. The scene shifts from farm to woods, and + back to an old room, fitted as a sort of winter camp, where vivid stories + of the birds and beasts which cannot be seen at home are told by the + campfire,–the sailor who has hunted the sea, the woodman, the mining + engineer, and wandering scientist, each taking his turn. A useful family + tree of North American Mammals is added. + </p> + <p> + <b>WRIGHT. DOGTOWN.</b> By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. xiii + + 405 pages. + </p> + <p> + “Dogtown” was a neighborhood so named because so many people + loved and kept dogs. For it is a story of people as well as of dogs, and + several of the people as well as the dogs are old friends, having been met + in Mrs. Wright’s other books. + </p> + <p> + <b>YONGE. LITTLE LUCY’S WONDERFUL GLOBE.</b> By Charlotte M. Yonge. + 12mo. Illustrated. xi + 140 pages. + </p> + <p> + An interesting and ingenious introduction to geography. In her dreams Lucy + visits the children of various lands and thus learns much of the habits + and customs of these countries. + </p> + <p> + <b>YONGE. UNKNOWN TO HISTORY.</b> By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo. + Illustrated. xi + 589 pages. + </p> + <p> + A story of the captivity of Mary Queen of Scots, told in the author’s + best vein. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <hr class="full" /> + <p> + ***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL*** + </p> + <p> + ******* This file should be named 32992-h.txt or 32992-h.zip ******* + </p> + <p> + This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/9/9/32992">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/9/9/32992</a> + </p> + <p> + Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be + renamed. + </p> + <p> + Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one + owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and + you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission + and without paying copyright royalties. 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E. Brock + + +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: The Youngest Girl in the School + + +Author: Evelyn Sharp + + + +Release Date: June 27, 2010 [eBook #32992] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.fadedpage.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32992-h.htm or 32992-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32992/32992-h/32992-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32992/32992-h.zip) + + + + + +THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL + +by + +EVELYN SHARP + +Author of 'The Making of a Schoolgirl,' 'Wymps,' Etc. + +With Illustrations by C. E. Brock + + + + + + + +New York +The Macmillan Company +London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. +1906 +All rights reserved + +Copyright, 1901, +By the Macmillan Company. + +Set up and electrotyped September, 1901. Reprinted January, 1902. + +New edition September, 1906. + +Norwood Press +J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith +Norwood Mass. U.S.A. + + + + +TO + +THE PROFESSOR + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + Page + 'May I--may I have all that?' 27 + + 'Look here, Babs,' she began, smoothing the mop + of tangled hair 45 + + 'What in the name of wonder are you children + doing down there?' 99 + + Five heads suddenly appeared at the open window 108 + + 'Dear me!' he said, slightly taken aback 175 + + 'Hullo!' said Jean. 'What's the matter?' 184 + + 'Tell me, Herr Doktor' 261 + + 'So he got Jill' 310 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +IN A LONDON SCHOOLROOM + + +'It's no good,' sighed Barbara, looking disconsolately round the room; +'we shall never get straight in time. Don't you think we had better +leave it, and let Auntie Anna see us as we really are? She will only be +disappointed afterwards, if we begin by being tidy; and I don't like +disappointing people, do you?' + +There was a shout of laughter when she finished speaking, and Barbara +frowned. She never knew why the boys laughed at her when she tried to +explain her reasons for doing things, but they always did. + +'Is that why you have put on your very shortest frock?' asked Wilfred, who +was brewing something in a saucepan over the fire. 'I believe you think +that if Auntie Anna saw you for the first time in your Sunday frock, she +might suppose you were a nice, proper little girl, instead of----' + +Barbara seized the sofa cushion and aimed it at him threateningly. +'Instead of what?' she demanded. + +Wilfred was at a disadvantage, owing to his position as well as to the +precious quality of the liquid in the saucepan; and he felt it wiser to +make terms. 'Well,' he observed, 'you might at least have put on a longer +frock for the credit of the family; now, mightn't you?' + +Barbara looked down at her blue serge skirt, edged with certain rows of +white braid that only made it look shorter; and she gave it a pull to make +it fall a little lower over the slim black legs that appeared beneath +it. 'It's not my fault that I have just come from a gymnastic class,' +she protested. 'Besides, my Sunday frock is only two inches longer! What +difference does two inches make, even if we _have_ got an aunt coming? +You're so particular, Wilfred.' + +'Stick to your chemicals, Will, and leave the Babe alone,' growled Egbert, +who was trying to read a novel on the sofa and found the conversation +disturbing. + +It was not often that the eldest of the family troubled himself about the +disputes of the others, and Barbara was encouraged to go on. 'Besides,' +she added, 'there isn't time to change now. Auntie Anna will arrive +directly; and who is going to tidy up the schoolroom if I don't?' + +Certainly, no one responded to her appeal. Egbert and Wilfred became +suddenly and suspiciously interested in what they were doing, while the +two other boys, who were seated on the edge of the table, continued to +swing their legs lazily backwards and forwards without making an effort to +help her. Barbara turned upon them reproachfully. + +'It is perfectly horrible of you to sit there laughing, when a strange +aunt and a strange daughter may be here at any minute!' she declared. 'I +think _you_ might do something, Peter.' + +'Not much!' laughed Peter, a tall, broad-shouldered fellow of fifteen or +so. 'It's good for little girls to do things, and keeps them from growing +out of all their clothes.' + +'Chuck it, Babs!' advised the younger of the two. 'What does it matter +whether she thinks we live in a pig-sty or not?' + +Barbara looked at them doubtfully, then picked up a pile of ragged music +and staggered across to the cupboard, shot the music into it, and closed +the door just in time to prevent her load from recoiling upon her. A +derisive chuckle from the boys on the table greeted her first attempt at +tidying up; but she went on resolutely. + +'Visitors have no business to come and see people at a day's notice +like this,' she complained, as she swept a handful of rusty nails, empty +gum bottles, and other evidences of past occupations into a crowded +waste-paper basket. + +Christopher stopped laughing as she said this, and a change crept over +his pale, rather delicate features. 'When the visitor is an _aunt_,' he +said with energy, 'a day's notice is more than enough.' + +He associated the aunt in question with certain reforms that had taken +place from time to time in the household; and he had never forgiven her +for inducing their father, just two years ago, to dismiss the nurse they +had all adored and to send Robin and himself to a hated day-school. There +was no knowing what innovations they might not be forced to accept, now +that she was going to descend upon them in person. + +Peter chuckled again. Most things to Peter were an occasion for a chuckle. +'That depends on the spirit in which she comes,' he remarked, and he +turned his pockets graphically inside out. 'An aunt who has a big place +in the country, and can afford to travel about in beastly holes like +Munich and the Italian lakes----' + +'And can pick up other people's daughters and adopt them,' chimed in +Christopher, 'just because their fathers died fighting in the Soudan +and their mothers died--how did their mothers die, Egbert?' + +'Penniless,' grunted Egbert, in response to the kick his book had just +received. 'That's why the kid got adopted, of course.' + +'Well,' proceeded Peter, putting his pockets back and nodding wisely, 'if +an aunt like that doesn't behave decently to her deserving nephews----' + +'And niece,' added Babs from the back of the sofa, where she had just +deposited a bundle of old schoolbooks. + +Peter went on unabashed. 'To her deserving nephews and undeserving niece,' +he said, smiling, 'then she'll be an awful old dragon!' + +'There's something in that,' observed Wilfred, taking the saucepan over to +the window for inspection. 'Perhaps she'll give me those new retorts and +things I want for my laboratory--if I ever get a laboratory,' he added +with a sigh. + +'Perhaps she'll send me straight to college without expecting me to grind +for a musty old scholarship,' said Egbert, condescending to take a share +in the conversation. + +'If she asks me down to Crofts for the shooting, that will be good enough +for me,' observed Peter, drawing a long breath of anticipation. + +Barbara came slowly into the middle of the room and stood there, quite +unconscious of her rumpled hair and of the streak of dust that was +smeared across her face. 'I wonder what Auntie Anna will do for me?' she +murmured, more to herself than to the others. 'I hope, I do hope it +will be something new and interesting and beautiful!' + +Christopher overheard her, and roused himself. He slipped off the +table and walked to his favourite position on the hearthrug, giving an +unnecessary pull to the child's hair as he passed her, which was an +attention, however, that she showed no signs of resenting. Babs never +resented anything that Kit chose to do to her; besides, she wanted to +hear what he was going to say. Whenever Kit stood like that, with his +back to the fire and his legs rather wide apart, he was always going to +say something. The odd thing was, that there was something so convincing +in his way of saying it that the family generally listened. + +'Don't you fret yourselves, any of you,' he said decidedly. 'Auntie Anna +isn't going to make things pleasant for anybody in this house--not she! +Hasn't she persuaded father to do whatever she likes, all our lives?' + +'What is she going to make him do now, then?' asked Wilfred, who did not +mean to give up his dream of a laboratory without a protest. + +'First of all,' said Christopher, with an air of confidence, 'she'll see +that Egbert has a crammer next summer holidays; and he'll either have to +get that scholarship, or he doesn't go to Oxford at all! She'll talk about +discipline, and things like that. Aunts always do talk about discipline, +when it's for other people's children.' + +'I wish you'd shut up,' grumbled Egbert, returning to his book. 'How is a +fellow to read when you're making such a clatter?' + +'Then there's Peter,' continued Christopher, calmly. 'Of course she'll +say he's much too young to be trusted with a gun, though he is such an +overgrown, hulking chap; and why isn't he in the fifth instead of the +upper fourth, at _his_ age?' + +'What do you know about it, you youngest-but-two?' shouted Peter, +wrathfully. + +Kit peered at him through his spectacles, and went on as impudently as +ever. He was never afraid to speak his mind, for none of the others would +have dreamed of laying a finger, except in fun, on the one brother who was +not strong enough to defend himself; and Kit knew this, as well as he +knew his superiority over them in the matter of brains. The only wonder +was that the knowledge had not made him a prig. Perhaps it would have +been difficult, though, in the hurly-burly of the Berkeley family, for any +one to have been a prig. + +'As for Wilfred,' he resumed, 'she'll upset all his ambitions before +he can turn round. Do you suppose she'll encourage his messing about +with things in saucepans, just because he wants to be a doctor? Not she! +She'll talk about some rotten business in the City instead. Aunts always +know millions of places in the City where they can shove their unwilling +nephews.' + +'Oh, I say, dry up!' objected Wilfred, who was already sufficiently +depressed by the discovery that the brew in the saucepan was not a success. + +'Then she'll pack Robin off to a preparatory at Brighton--never knew an +aunt yet who didn't want to send you to a preparatory at Brighton!--and +she'll do the same to me, only she'll choose a beastly inferior place, +where I shall be looked after by some _woman_,' concluded Christopher, in +a tone of scorn. Then he caught sight of Barbara, who was still standing +thoughtfully in the middle of the room; and he shook his head at her +pityingly. 'After that, having cleared the house of boys, she'll turn +her attention to the Babe,' he said, and paused rather abruptly. + +Barbara woke up from her reflections with a start. 'Yes, Kit?' she said +questioningly. 'What will Auntie Anna do to me?' + +Kit's expression of pity became exaggerated. 'To begin with,' he said, +with a deep sigh, 'she'll let down your frocks, and tie back your hair, +and never let you go anywhere alone, not even to the pillar-box at the +corner!' + +The other boys began to laugh afresh. + +'Think of the Babe with her hair bunched up on the top, and fastened with +a bit of ribbon! She'll look exactly like a French poodle, won't she?' +scoffed Peter. + +'She'll have to hold up her skirt in the street, and step in and out of +the puddles like this!' added Wilfred, taking the end of his coat between +his thumb and finger, and prancing round Barbara on tiptoe. + +Egbert shut up his book, and joined lazily in the general derision. 'Poor +little Babe! will it have to turn into a young lady, and stop talking +slang, and learn about box-pleats and false hems and _tucks_?' he jeered +softly. + +Barbara turned her back on the others, and once more appealed to +Christopher. Teasing was not the kind of thing that roused her; she +had grown accustomed to it, long ago. 'What else, Kit?' she demanded +impatiently. 'There's something else, isn't there?' + +Christopher nodded. 'Yes,' he said ominously, 'there's something else. +But I'm not going to tell you what it is.' + +'Yes,' said Egbert, stretching himself, 'of course there's something else, +Babe. We all know what it is, but we're not going to tell you either.' + +Babs looked swiftly from one to the other. 'I know!' she said, shaking +the hair out of her eyes. 'It's--school!' + +Kit nodded again. 'That swagger place near Crofts, where the adopted kid +has been,' he continued in a solemn tone. + +The others copied his manner, and looked at her with a ridiculous pretence +of concern. 'Poor Babe!' they said in a chorus. + +Barbara again shook the hair out of her eyes with a defiant gesture. Then +she spun round lightly on her toes, and surprised everybody by laughing +scornfully. 'What a fuss you're all making!' she cried. 'Don't you know +I am simply _longing_ to go to school?' + +Judging from their expressions, the Berkeley boys certainly did not know +anything of the kind. Even Christopher was puzzled at her curious way of +taking his prediction. 'You're putting it on, Babs!' he said doubtfully. + +Barbara stopped spinning round, and faced them all breathlessly. 'I'm +not, honour bright!' she declared. 'I have always wanted to go to school; +I have always longed to have some real friends of my own, and to be +with people who are not trying all the time to be funny. You don't know +how tiring it is to be scored off from morning till night. I want a +change; I want to do regular, proper lessons, and to get to the top of +the school, and to have every one looking up to me! Then, they play +games at school, _real_ games, instead of the stupid ones we play in +the square, that only graze your knees. Girls are nice and jolly and +quiet, and they understand you, and they don't bother you to do things +when you'd sooner read. Of course I want to go to school, _dreadfully_!' + +She paused for breath, and Egbert whistled. 'Well, I'm bothered!' he +remarked. He had never pretended to understand his little sister, but he +could not help being astonished at this totally new side to her character. +Peter took refuge as usual in a laugh; and Wilfred stared silently. But +Kit looked more solemn than ever. + +'I'm disappointed in you, Babs,' he said. 'I should never have thought +that you wanted to be a young lady, never!' + +'But I don't, Kit!' answered the child in a troubled tone. 'I want to do +something new, that's all. I--I'm sure father will understand what I mean, +if he sends me to school,' she added, with something that sounded like a +shake in her voice. + +'Ah--father!' replied Christopher, gruffly. 'Father will not be here, you +see.' + +A sudden silence came over them; and Barbara turned to the window and +flattened her nose against the glass pane, and blinked her eyes with +all her might. There was nothing to be seen outside but the blank wall +that usually limits the view from the back of a London house; but the +child with the untidy brown hair, and the small impish face, and the +slender long legs, was able, for all that, to see pictures out there. +She always saw pictures when she was excited about anything; and just +now she was thrilled with a new dream--a dream of the place that her +imagination named 'school.' She had always hidden from the boys how much +she wanted to go to school; and it was only this afternoon, when their +derision provoked her into it, that she had let them have a guess at her +real feelings. They had not understood her a bit, as she knew they would +not; but that did not matter. Her father would understand, though she +never told him much, either, and he had to guess for himself what +went on in the quaint little mind of his only daughter; but then, +Barbara had a shrewd idea that he always guessed right, and that came to +the same thing, really. Just as she was comforting herself with this +assurance, the miserable consciousness returned that he was going +away, and she would be left at the mercy of a strange aunt; and she +found herself staring at nothing but a dismal brick wall, with eyes +that were blinking to keep back the tears. + +Peter was the first to break the pause that had settled with a kind of +gloom on the old London schoolroom. He was always on the alert to resent +anything that cast a shadow over the light gaiety of existence. + +'I say, look here,' he began, giving himself a shake as if to get rid of +an unpleasant impression; 'don't be so jolly blue, all of you! Father +will only be away six months; he said so himself. And as for Auntie Anna, +how do we know she isn't quite a decent old lady? Some old ladies are +awfully sporting. Do you remember Merton major's aunt, Will? She used to +give him whopping tips, whenever she came to see him; and he said he quite +liked her!' + +Christopher persisted in his gloomy view of the situation. 'Our aunt is +not the same as anybody else's aunt,' he said. 'And then, there's the +adopted kid.' + +'Yes,' admitted Peter, 'no doubt she'll be a trial. Five years at a girls' +school and a year abroad doesn't give anybody a chance, does it?' + +'Oh!' said Barbara, in a disappointed tone, 'I did hope _she_ would be +nice!' + +'Wonder if she'll mind the smell of chemicals,' observed Wilfred, sniffing +cautiously at the saucepan he still held in his hand. + +'Of course she will,' answered Christopher. 'She'll hate the whole jolly +lot of us, because we're boys; and she'll disapprove of the Babe.' + +The boys broke into a laugh. There was something irresistibly funny to +them in Christopher's serious way of looking at things. But Barbara was +much too worried over his last remark to join in the laugh against him. + +'Kit,' she begged anxiously, 'why is the adopted kid going to disapprove +of me?' + +The air was full of startling discoveries this afternoon, and the idea +that the 'adopted kid,' for whom she had already formed an imaginary +attachment, was not going to like her, was a great shock to her. But +before Kit had time to speak, a loud ring at the door-bell drove the words +out of his mind and startled the rest of them into an agitated expectancy. + +'That's her!' groaned Kit, and he dropped on the sofa and plunged his +head into the cushion, as if he wanted to stifle even the thought of the +dragon who was coming to work such havoc in the family. His words were +proved by the sudden arrival of Robin, who had been posted as scout on +the back staircase, and who now flung himself into their midst. He was +in far too great a hurry to look where he was going; and he tripped over +the saucepan, which had been set down casually near the door, and fell +full length into the room. + +'Heigh-ho, Bobbin!' said Peter, cheerily, as he picked him up again; for, +in spite of his nine years, there was always the chance that Robin might +be going to cry. But, on this occasion, Robin was too full of news to +trouble himself about possible bruises. + +'She's come; I've seen her!' he gasped. 'There's a carriage an' pair, big +spanking chestnuts with red rosettes; and a man--a man with pink tops to +his boots and a brush at the side of his hat----' + +'Get on, Bobbin!' urged Egbert, impatiently. 'We've all seen a carriage +and pair before. What about the dragon?' + +'Saw her too!' said Robin, panting for breath. 'Got a long black silk +thing on, and a bonnet that's rather like a hat, with pink feathers in it, +and a walking-stick with a blue knob to it, an' white kid gloves,--no, I +mean grey kid----' + +'Oh, get on, do!' interrupted Egbert again. 'Never mind about her clothes, +stupid! What is she _like_?' + +'Don't know what she's like,' said Robin, a little sulkily. 'Couldn't see +everything from the back staircase, could I? There was a girl with her,' +he added, as a concession to the general curiosity. + +'The adopted kid!' exclaimed the others in a chorus. + +Babs pressed forward eagerly. 'Does she look nice, Bobbin? Is she tall or +short? Are her dresses _quite_ long, and is her hair done up?' she cried, +pouring out her questions in a jumble. + +'Oh, yes; her skirts trail all along the ground for miles,' answered +Robin. 'And she sort of rustled like tissue paper. Didn't see her face, +'cause it was all tied up in a veil,--but she's awfully tall,' he added, +looking round the circle with his head poised on one side. 'She's taller'n +any of us--even Egbert,' he concluded viciously, remembering his recent +snubbing. + +Egbert put out a long arm, laid the boy dexterously on the flat of his +back in the middle of the floor, and pinned him there with his foot. 'Say +that's a cram!' he commanded in a stern voice. 'Say I'm a head taller than +the adopted kid, or else I'll----' + +What he would have done to him remained unheard, for Robin set up a +wail that completely drowned the end of his sentence. The other boys +only shrugged their shoulders; the thing seemed to them a necessary +incident in the education of a younger member, and they were not going +to interfere. But Barbara sprang forward passionately. That was the kind +of thing that did rouse her. + +'Leave him alone, Egbert!' she cried, but she did not wait to see whether +he would. She scarcely supposed that he would stop teasing any one for +her; besides, she never stayed to think, when once anything had roused +her. So she put her head down and made a charge straight at the offender; +and Egbert, being unprepared for the attack, fell backwards over the +footstool, with his small sister on the top of him, while Robin wriggled +free of them both and set up a louder howl than before in his surprise +and dismay. + +In the middle of the hubbub the door opened; and a voice, that attracted +their attention at once because it was strange to them, made itself heard +through the tumult. + +'Is there anybody here who is called Babs?' asked the new-comer. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WITCH IN A STEEPLE-HAT + + +Barbara picked herself up and looked towards the door. A girl of about +eighteen stood there--an exceedingly pretty girl in a pretty frock, as the +Berkeley boys might have noticed if they had been given to noticing things +of this kind. But her regular features and her pink-and-white complexion +and her reddish-brown hair made very little impression upon them, and +they only saw that she was dressed in a grown-up manner that was rather +against her than otherwise. They decided, with the hasty judgment of a +large family, that she was much too grand to be treated as a companion; +and they prepared, quite unnecessarily, to resent any attempt of hers to +be patronising. + +Nothing was further from Jill's mind than to be patronising. She had never +patronised any one in her life, not even the younger children at school, +who always expected to be patronised; and she was not likely to begin now, +with a set of schoolboys who frightened her out of her wits. For she had +never had anything to do with boys before, and she had been dreading +this moment ever since her return from abroad. She fully expected they +would play practical jokes upon her, as the schoolboys in books always +did; and she was not reassured by the uproar that met her ears when she +opened the schoolroom door. It was ridiculous that she should feel shy, +after travelling about for a whole year and meeting all sorts of people; +but as she stood rather helplessly in the doorway, she certainly found +that she was too shy to make the first advances. + +The boys hesitated, and waited for one another to begin. Egbert, who +could not forget that he had just been rolling on the floor, was brushing +himself down and looking self-conscious; and it was Christopher who +remembered his manners first and came forward with his hand out. + +'How do you do?' he began in his solemn, precise way. 'Won't you come and +sit down? There's an arm-chair over here, and a cushion too--somewhere. +Clear out, can't you, Peter? I believe we can even rise to a footstool, +if it isn't lost. You might look for it, Bobbin, instead of staring like +a stuck pig!' He installed her in the arm-chair and placed himself in +front of her, slightly bending forward, as he had seen his father do when +there were visitors in the drawing-room; and although the result was +rather funny when Kit did it, he managed to make Jill feel a little +more at home. 'I suppose you are Auntie Anna's daughter,' he continued +politely, 'but we don't know your name. I don't think we have ever heard +it.' + +'I am Jill Urquhart,' answered the girl. She swept a glance round at the +others, who stood listening, and made a little gesture of dismay. 'What a +lot there are of you!' she exclaimed, without thinking. 'I shall never +remember all your names!' + +It was an unlucky beginning, for they at once put down her remark to +affectation and counted it against her. They were so used to their numbers +themselves, that they could not understand any one else being overwhelmed +by them. Peter looked mischievous. + +'It isn't so confusing as it looks,' he hastened to tell her. 'We all +answer to our names, and you will find us warm-hearted and obedient.' + +Jill glanced at him innocently. 'Why,' she said with a little laugh, 'you +talk as though you were all dogs!' + +Peter was left staring, and the others tittered. By her perfectly +natural remark she had turned the scale in her favour and convinced them +that there was stuff in the 'adopted kid' after all. Quite unconscious +of having said anything funny, though, Jill waited till they stopped +laughing, and then turned again to Christopher. 'Won't you introduce +me?' she asked. + +Kit nodded towards Egbert, who had finished brushing himself down and was +waiting to shake hands. 'That is Egbert, who is just waking up to the +fact that you're here,' he announced. 'You will find him rather superior, +I am afraid, but we put up with him because of his age and position. Pass +along, please!' + +Egbert shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly. 'It's only Kit's way,' he +explained to Jill; 'everybody gives in to Kit.' + +Jill smiled. 'Kit's way' had made her forget her shyness, and she was +already interested in the delicate-looking lad, with the thin, clever +face, who had so promptly taken her under his protection. + +'The next is Wilfred,' continued Christopher. 'He is responsible for the +unsavoury saucepan that has just been upset on the carpet. He thinks he +is going to be a doctor, so he is always making experiments. Of course, +he isn't going to be a doctor, really; the house can't run to it; but +we let him have his fancies. Then comes Peter, whom you have just sat +upon. Peter can't help being funny, so you must try and bear with him. +There are so few jokes in this family that perhaps we have encouraged him +more than we should.' + +'Wait till she's gone, that's all!' threatened Peter in a whisper, as he +passed by after shaking hands with Jill. Christopher looked at him over +his spectacles, and went calmly on. + +'I'm next on the list, and my name is Christopher, changed by the vulgar +into Kit,' he was proceeding, when Egbert made a spirited interruption. + +'He is our genius,' he said, with a flourish of his hand towards the +spokesman. 'We are all very proud of him, for although only thirteen, +he has the wisdom and intelligence of one twice his age. He is the only +member of the family who can spell, and----' + +'Oh, dry up!' muttered Kit, but his remonstrance was drowned in the +approving jeers of the others. The genius had had it all his own way for +about ten minutes, and it was satisfactory to see him 'scored off' in +his turn. Kit tried to resume his dignified attitude in front of Jill, but +the attempt was not particularly successful. It was always impossible in +the Berkeley family to remain dignified for long. + +'Are you sure you have got them right so far, or shall I write them +down?' he asked, with so much gravity that Jill looked at him rather +suspiciously. He met her glance through his spectacles without wincing, +and the others tittered again. They were still a little doubtful about +this new cousin of theirs, who was so unlike any one who had come their +way before; and it was rather a relief to pretend to be amused. + +'The last of the boys is Robin, or Bobbin if you prefer it,' continued +Kit, glibly. 'He is the youngest of us all, and the most ill-used. Indeed, +when you came in just now, you may have seen the Babe trying to rescue +him. That reminds me! I have left out our only girl. She comes between me +and Bobbin, and here you may perceive her--the Babe!' + +Barbara came slowly round from her hiding-place at the back of the sofa, +and stood face to face with Jill. There was rather a wistful look on the +small countenance just then; for in all her dreams of the wonderful +cousin who was going to be her first girl-friend, Babs had never imagined +anything like this grown-up, elegant creature, who did her hair like the +ladies in the park and wore her watch dangling from her wrist. The +child's heart sank as she suddenly thought of her short gymnastic frock, +and her rumpled hair, and her dirty hands. As for Jill, she stared down at +the little person in front of her, and could not help smiling. Whenever +she had particularly dreaded being plunged into this family of boys, +she had always consoled herself by remembering that there would be one +girl among them to take her part. Now, as she looked at the rough little +tomboy before her, with her elf-like face and figure, and her bright +eager eyes, she had to own again to herself that a large family was a +difficult thing to understand. + +'So you are Babs,' she began, not knowing what else to say. Then she +remembered her errand, and added hastily, 'Will you please go and see +mother? She is in the library with Uncle Everard.' + +Barbara escaped and sped along the hall, full of relief at having got +away from the uncomfortable grown-up feeling that seemed to have come +into the schoolroom with Jill. She even paused outside the library door, +in her quaint, inconsequent way, to ask herself why Jill seemed so much +more grown-up than the nice old gentlemen who came to see her father, +with their pockets full of chocolates for her; and she supposed it was +because they were really old, while Jill was only grown-up, which was far +more alarming because it was so much more mysterious. But hardly had she +settled this question in her mind than a fresh one presented itself +to her. How was she to know that this other stranger, who was waiting +in there to see her, was not also going to stare at her and smile, as +Jill had done? Babs gave a troubled sigh, and opened the door with a +heavy heart. + +A little old lady sat on the sofa beside her father, with her hand in +his. She was not beautiful by any means; her back was bent--like an +old witch's, Barbara thought--and she had a nose that might have been +described as hooked, and a mouth that turned down at the corners and +gave her almost a sour expression. But she had two small, keen black +eyes, that took all the ugliness out of her face; sometimes they shone +and sometimes they softened, but more often still they twinkled, as they +did now, when her little niece stole timidly into the room. The moment +the child looked up and met those eyes, she felt she was looking at her +father's sister. If she had but known it, the same eyes, too, were +gleaming back at the old lady from the middle of a bush of tangled +brown hair. + +'So this is your tomboy, is it?' said Mrs. Crofton, bluntly. 'Come here, +child, and don't stand shivering there. Do you think I am going to do +anything to you?' + +Barbara's unusual timidity vanished at the sound of that voice. It was +sharp and abrupt and determined, but it rang true, and there was nothing +in it to frighten anybody. + +'I'm not afraid,' she said, returning the old lady's gaze frankly; 'I am +hardly ever afraid of people. Am I, father?' + +Mr. Berkeley chuckled in an amused manner. He had been very curious +to see this meeting between his wild little daughter and the sister +who had managed his domestic affairs for him since the death of his wife. +By nature a student, he lived most of his life in his library and in +himself, and only woke up now and then to the fact that he had six +growing children, who probably needed something besides the affection it +was so easy to give them. In these waking moments he would write off to +his sister, Mrs. Crofton of Crofts, for whose judgment he had quite a +pathetic regard, and would carry out to the letter every suggestion she +chose to send him. Only once had he ignored her advice, and that was +when she had proposed a governess for Barbara; for he had passed over +this idea in silence, and the child had continued to run in and out +of his library, reading what books she pleased, and ordering her own +upbringing in a way that seemed to him eminently satisfactory. For +that matter, his library was open to any of his children at any time that +they chose to invade it; and they interrupted him fearlessly as often +as they pleased, without provoking anything worse than a good-humoured +growl from him, that was never to be taken seriously for a moment. +Probably this was why the tie between them and their father had come +to be a friendly as well as an affectionate one. + +Just lately, something had happened to change the haphazard course of +affairs in the old London house. That autumn, Mr. Berkeley had brought +out a philosophical work on which he had been engaged for years, and +although it had only had a limited success in England, it had made a +great sensation in America. The result was an invitation to conduct a +lecturing tour in the States, which would take him abroad for something +like half a year. Mr. Berkeley had the vaguest notions as to the amount of +protection his children needed, but he had a sort of idea that children +left in charge of a housekeeper would be considered neglected, and he +did not want his children to feel neglected. As usual, he referred +his dilemma to Mrs. Crofton, who replied promptly from the Riviera, +saying she was on her way home to Crofts, and would stop a week in +town to settle his affairs for him. This he forgot to mention to the +children until the day she was to arrive, and then, in his innocence, +considered their dismay as one of the peculiarities of youth. + +'So you are not afraid of me, eh? Then why won't you give me a kiss, I +should like to know?' demanded Auntie Anna, as Barbara held out her hand +in a boyish fashion. + +The child looked surprised, and offered an unwilling cheek. 'We don't +often kiss in our family,' she explained; 'only when the boys go back to +school, or when somebody has banged somebody else on the head, or when +it's a birthday and presents. But that isn't often, you see.' + +Mrs. Crofton of Crofts smiled, and her brother pulled his daughter down +between them on the sofa. + +'You must forgive her appearance,' he said apologetically. 'We haven't +anybody to teach us to be ladylike, have we, Babs?' + +The old lady put her finger under Barbara's chin, and turned the small +face round, and looked into it keenly. 'What's the matter with her +appearance?' she inquired quickly. 'Don't be a goose, Everard! Now, +child, tell me! Do you want to go on being a boy for ever, reading all +sorts of books you have no business to read, and banging people on the +head when they offend you, and looking alarming old ladies in the face +without flinching; or do you want to be combed and brushed and smoothed +into a young lady, and taught to rave about art and music and poetry, and +told to look down when you are spoken to, and never to answer back if +the truth is unpleasant? Hey? Which is it to be?' + +Barbara was looking puzzled. 'I don't think I know what you mean,' she +said. 'Do you mean that I _must_ be either me or--or Jill?' + +'Well, supposing we put it that way,' replied Mrs. Crofton, smiling again. +'Which do you choose to be?' + +Barbara did not stop to think about it. 'I don't want to be either, thank +you,' she said decidedly. 'I would _much_ rather be like you or father.' + +Mr. Berkeley chuckled once more, and his sister struck her cane on the +ground and laughed heartily. 'A pretty mess you've made of your daughter's +education, I must say,' she remarked. Then she turned again to Babs. +'Well, child, I see you are going to be like your father in any case; and +as for me--well, we'll see if we can't prevent such a terrible result as +that. And now, I want you to pretend that I am a fairy godmother. Do +you think you can?' + +Barbara nodded, and her small black eyes glistened. It was not difficult +to do that. Already the bonnet with the pink feathers had turned into +a steeple-hat, and the black silk mantle into a scarlet cloak, and the +blue-knobbed cane into a broomstick. The little impish face was aglow +with delight as the old lady went on: + +'Now, I've just come down the chimney with a bang, and I am going to +give my goddaughter the wish that she wishes most in all the world. But +mind--if I have a suspicion that what she asks for is not what she really +wants--bang! up the chimney I go again!' + +Barbara took a flying leap into the middle of the room, and spun round +with her favourite movement on the tips of her toes. Her heart was +thumping wildly with excitement at finding herself in the middle of a real +fairy story; and when she at last stood still again, she was almost too +breathless to speak. + +[Illustration: 'May I--may I have all that?'] + +'Please,' she said, clasping her hands tightly together, 'I want to go to +school, a real girls' school, where there are crowds of girls, and crowds +of lessons, and crowds of story-books with nice endings, and crowds of +awfully jolly games that don't pull your hair about and don't give you +bruises. May I--may I have all that?' + +Auntie Anna once more struck her cane upon the ground. 'That shows how +much you know about your own daughter, Everard!' she said, which was a +remark that Barbara never understood. 'You may have all that, little +goddaughter, every bit of it!' she announced to the expectant child; +'and what is more, you shall have it in a week's time. Hey-day! Where are +you off to in such a hurry, if you please, and why am I allowed a kiss +all at once, eh? It isn't a birthday, is it?' + +For Barbara had rushed impetuously to the door, and then scampered back +to kiss the face with the hooked nose that peered out from beneath the +steeple-hat. 'Of course I kissed you,' she cried, 'because--because you're +such a brick, you see!' She paused half-way in her second journey to the +door, and looked back doubtfully at the old lady on the sofa. 'May I ask +you something else?' she said. + +'Anything you please,' answered Auntie Anna. 'That's what I'm here for; +eh, Everard?' + +'Then--then--are you going to do anything for the boys too?' stammered +Barbara. 'I--I don't think it's quite fair to keep all the niceness to +myself, you see!' + +'That depends on what the boys want,' replied the old lady, gravely. 'Do +you think you can give me any idea?' + +Barbara puckered up her eyebrows, and counted off the names on her +fingers. 'First there's Egbert,' she began; 'he wants to go to Oxford +without having to get a scholarship first. Then there's Wilfred; he wants +to be a doctor, but Kit says there isn't money enough and he's got to get +over it. Do you think you'll be able to make Will into a doctor? And Peter +wants lots of shooting; he says he doesn't mind about anything else, +only Kit says he isn't old enough, and you won't trust him with a gun. Kit +hasn't seen you yet, you see. Then there's Kit----' + +'That's enough for the present!' cried Mrs. Crofton, who was leaning back, +convulsed with laughter, among the sofa cushions. Mr. Berkeley again drew +his daughter towards him. + +'You are revealing all the secrets of the prison-house, little girl,' he +remarked. + +Barbara looked from one to the other. 'Auntie Anna did ask me,' she said +reproachfully. + +'To be sure I did,' answered the old lady, recovering herself with an +effort, 'and I am delighted to hear some of the things I am expected to +do. But you must allow that even a fairy godmother has a hard time of +it occasionally, and it is a little difficult to provide for all her +godchildren at once, you know. However, you shall hear what is going +to happen in a week's time, on the very day that this naughty father of +yours takes himself off to America; and if you approve of it, we can +see about the other things later on. Is that a bargain, eh?' + +'Oh! What else is going to happen in a week's time?' asked Barbara, +eagerly. By this time she was prepared for any dream to come true. Her +faith in the old lady who was playing at fairy stories was complete. + +Mr. Berkeley answered her. 'Auntie Anna is going to carry you all off to +Crofts for the whole six months that I am away,' he told her; 'and you are +going to Jill's school at Wootton Beeches, which is only ten miles off. +So Kit and Robin will be able to come over and see you sometimes, when +the others have gone away, for they are going to have a tutor and stay +at Crofts with Auntie Anna and Jill. Isn't that a fine idea?' + +Barbara was speechless with rapture. The expression on her face made them +laugh once more. Then she gave a kind of war-whoop that might have been +heard in the schoolroom, and bounded again towards the door. 'I simply +can't bear it another minute,' she gasped. 'I _must_ go and tell the boys.' + +'Bear it just one more minute, and hear what else I have to say,' begged +Auntie Anna, raising herself with the help of her stick, and walking +slowly after her excited little niece. 'Can you ride bicycles, all of you?' + +The child shook her head. 'Only Egbert,' she said; 'and that is because +he stayed with a chap, last holidays, who lent him one. Bicycles are too +jolly expensive for this family, you know,' she added quaintly. + +Auntie Anna stood still and pointed the blue-knobbed cane impressively at +the child, who stood waiting. 'What do you say to a bicycle apiece all +round,' she began, 'and----' + +But Barbara did not wait to say anything. Back along the hall she +scampered with all her might, and flung herself panting into the +schoolroom. She burst out at once with a rapturous medley of news. + +'Boys, boys!' she shouted at the top of her voice; 'the dragon isn't +a dragon, she's like a fairy godmother out of a story-book! And she's +going to send me to the adopted kid's school, and everybody is going to +live at Crofts till father comes back, and there's going to be bicycles +_all round_--no waiting 'cause you're the youngest, Bobbin!--and----' + +Suddenly she paused and stammered, and paused again. Finally, she stood +silent and uncomfortable, with the excitement and the thrill all gone +out of her. She had quite forgotten Jill; and Jill, enthroned in the one +arm-chair, with the one cushion at her back and the one footstool at her +feet, was looking as though she was not there to be forgotten. + +'I've just been telling the boys all about it,' she remarked. + +Barbara stared. It put the finishing touch to her distrust of Jill, that +she should have told anything to the boys--_her_ boys--before she had time +to tell them herself. + +'I--I think it's a shame!' she exclaimed hotly, and she bit her lip to +keep from crying. + +'Hullo, Babe! What's up?' asked Peter, in surprise. + +Jill slipped out of the arm-chair, and laid her hand on the child's +shoulder. 'I'm so sorry, Babs,' she began softly; 'I really didn't +know----' + +Barbara looked up at her doubtfully. The tone was kind, but then, why +did she go on smiling in that irritating way? 'You don't understand,' +she said, and twisted herself free from Jill's grasp, and did not speak +again until she was gone. + +The boys took no notice of her; they always left the Babe alone when +she was in one of her odd moods. But Jill, who had really meant to be +kind, went away feeling puzzled. She had got over her first shyness of +the boys in a very few minutes, for they were evidently trying to be +friendly in their blunt, boyish fashion; but Barbara baffled her. There +was something antagonistic in the child's manner; and Jill, who had always +been accustomed to meeting with affection wherever she went, did not +quite know what to make of her. Of course it was ridiculous to worry +herself about a tomboy of eleven who chose to be sulky; but it was the +first time any one had refused to make friends with her, and Jill was a +little hurt about it. + +'You're spoiled, my dear,' remarked her mother, as they drove away from +the Berkeleys' house; 'and it is I who have spoiled you. I'm a silly old +woman, but I never could bear to deny you all the sympathy you asked. I +was afraid, you see, that you might think the world was not a nice place +to be in.' + +'I'm glad you spoiled me, and I think the world _is_ a nice place to be +in,' answered Jill, laughing. 'But what has that to do with Barbara's not +liking me?' + +'Well, you can't expect every one to like you,' said the old lady, in her +brusque way. 'Babs will like you well enough when she finds that she is +still the Babe of the family, in spite of your being there.' + +'But--but I don't like to feel that there is anybody anywhere who doesn't +like me,' complained Jill, with a little pout. + +'No more does the Babe, I expect,' said Mrs. Crofton, smiling. 'However, +do your best to understand the poor little soul; she has not had much +spoiling, and I should like you two to be friends.' + +'Oh!' cried Jill, laughing again as she recalled the funny little figure +that had come bounding into the schoolroom with such a yell and a clatter. +'But she really is rather impossible, mother dear!' + +'Quite,' responded the old lady, drily; 'but she has amazing +possibilities, and I thought you might perhaps like to find them. +Well, what about the others?' + +'Oh, I like them,' said Jill; 'though I wish they would not all talk at +once; it's so confusing. And I'm a little afraid of them, too. You never +know why they are laughing at you; and if you take them seriously, they +laugh more than ever. Whatever you do, they laugh.' + +'Large families are always like that,' chuckled Mrs. Crofton. + +'Large families are rather exhausting then, aren't they?' said Jill. +'The boys are rather rough too, and they seem so proud of having scars +on their hands, and of being able to see a pig killed without feeling +bad--at least, Peter was. Kit is different from the others: I like Kit. +And they _are_ frank! They were not ashamed of calling me the "adopted +kid" to my face; and they even owned to having nicknamed you "the dragon"!' + +The old lady laughed. 'So I am, as far as they know!' she replied. Then +she patted the girl caressingly on the hand. 'My dear, it does us all good +to be with people who are frank, even if they are a little rough with it. +And I want you to help me to put as much love and gentleness as we can +into the Berkeleys' lives, for it strikes me that spoiling is what this +large family wants.' + +'Then it's what this large family will certainly get, if _you_ have +anything to do with it,' answered Jill, softly. + +In the schoolroom they had just left, the criticisms were brief and to +the point. + +'She'll do,' said Peter, condescendingly, 'when she's got over that silly +way of gaping at us, as though we were beasts at the Zoo.' + +'She's stunning to look at, and her clothes are just ripping,' said +Egbert, the eldest; 'but, of course, you kids couldn't be expected to +notice that.' + +'Oh, you think you're everybody, just because you stayed with a chap last +holidays who had a grown-up sister who called you _Mr._ Berkeley,' cried +Wilfred. + +Robin said he liked her soft way of speaking, and she reminded him of +Nurse, which set them all laughing, as they recalled that homely-looking +person in cap and spectacles. Christopher put in his opinion, when they +had all had their say. + +'She wants knowing,' he said briefly. 'There's too many of us in a lump to +let her give herself away. When she takes us separately, or in pairs, we +shall get on as right as rain. And she really does know something about +stamps.' + +But the Babe, who sat away in a corner by herself, said nothing. She +had forgotten Jill for the moment, forgotten her own fit of jealousy and +her shyness of the interloper, and she did not even hear what the others +were talking about. She was going to school at last, and nothing else +was of any consequence. Indeed, all through the week of whirl and +preparation that followed, Barbara went about in a kind of dream. She +could hardly yet believe in her good luck. A few short days ago things +had seemed likely to go on for ever in the same uneventful way, except +that they were going to be made dreary for a time by the absence of the +father she adored; and now, just through the coming of an old lady, whom +she had been prepared to hate, this amazing change in her future was +going to take place. To an imaginative little person like Barbara, it +was useless to pretend that there was nothing out of the ordinary in +this. She had lived for years in a fairy world of her own, where Kit +was a fairy prince and her father a nice old magician, and where numbers +of charming princesses, the schoolgirls of her imagination, were ready +to sympathise with her whenever the boys had been teasing her more than +usual. It was surely to this kingdom of her fancy that a fairy godmother, +who had once been a dragon, properly belonged; and all through that week, +Barbara wandered in her imaginary kingdom with this new inhabitant of it, +pointing out all its beauties to her, and even assuring her that the +magician would cure her rheumatism if she were to ask him nicely. 'Only, +you must not make her back _quite_ straight,' she whispered privately to +the magician, 'because she wouldn't be a proper fairy godmother if her +back were straight!' She also added strict injunctions to the keeper of +her gates, that a certain grown-up cousin, who might be known by her +tiresome way of smiling at people, was not to be admitted under any +circumstances into her fairy kingdom. 'It would never do,' thought +Barbara, seriously, 'to have any one in my kingdom who wanted to laugh at +me.' + +Meanwhile, the busy preparations went on around her. It was not an easy +thing to move a family of six from the home in which they had passed the +whole of their lives, especially when their aunt, in the large manner +which characterised everything she did, insisted on allowing them to pack +whatever they wished. + +'We are only young once,' she represented to a distracted housekeeper, +'and possessions are very precious when we are young. Let them bring +everything that will help to make the place seem like home to them; there +is plenty of room at Crofts. Get tired of the things? Of course they will! +We can't expect them to be wiser than the grown-ups, can we?' + +So Wilfred packed explosive liquids in bottles, and Peter packed cricket +stumps and hockey clubs, and Christopher found room among Egbert's +collars and ties to stow away microscope-slides and setting-boards and +birds' eggs, and Robin brought innumerable contributions in the shape +of torn picture-books and old toys that the others had discarded long +ago. None of them ever forgot that last week in their London home; for +besides the exquisite joys of packing up, there were also delightful +expeditions up to town with Auntie Anna, ostensibly to buy clothes, but in +reality to afford amusement to an old lady who had never enjoyed her +life so much before; and whether they went alone with her, or in such +numbers that the brougham was as full as it could be, the afternoon +always ended with a magnificent tea without limitations--'Even ices to +finish up with, and no one saying nothink about your makin' yourself ill +'cause you mixed things!' as Robin proclaimed on his return home from one +of these expeditions. + +Then there was the buying of the six bicycles; and even Barbara forgot +for the moment all about school and everything else for the sake of her +new two-wheeled possession, soon to be invested in her mind with magic +properties and converted into a fairy messenger in her fairy kingdom. +She was less patient over the purchase of her school outfit, which kept +her standing at the dressmaker's for whole half-hours together, when +she might have been trying her bicycle round the square; and she wondered +why it was necessary to have such quantities of clothes, just because +she was going to live at school instead of at home. Surely, if her +present wardrobe was good enough to pass the critical examination of +five brothers, it need not be improved to meet the friendly gaze of a +parcel of girls! However, Auntie Anna insisted on more clothes; and +Auntie Anna was a witch, so she ought to know. And since she did not take +the dressmaker's part, but even allowed Barbara to have her own way as +to the shortness of her skirts, with an added inch or so to satisfy the +scruples of the dressmaker, it was impossible to grumble very much at the +precious time that was being wasted. + +So the week drew swiftly to a close, and the day of departure came at last. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BARBARA'S DREAM + + +Once more, Kit stood with his back to the fireplace, and prepared to +address the family. It was just half an hour after Mr. Berkeley had left, +and they were all assembled rather sorrowfully in the old schoolroom. In +another ten minutes their own cabs would be at the door, and they too +would be on their way to a new life. Altogether, it was a solemn moment, +and the genius of the family could not resist the temptation to make a +speech. + +'Boys,' he began, nodding his head with mock importance, 'it is my opinion +that Auntie Anna is a jolly wise old lady!' + +'What's that to do with father going away?' asked Barbara, rubbing her +eyes furiously. She had had her cry on the back staircase, and she felt +safe for the moment against a further display of weakness. + +'It's got a lot to do with it,' rejoined Kit. 'Didn't she take us all +to the pantomime, last night--father, too? I suppose you think that was +just to amuse herself, don't you? Well, it wasn't. It was because she +was afraid of our sitting together at home, and saying it was father's +last evening, and--_blubbing_.' + +This he said severely, looking at the weaker members, Babs and Robin, as +he spoke. They bore the test heroically, and the orator went on. + +'And why,' he inquired, 'did she give us only a week to pack up, and buy +clothes and things, when there's ten days more before you other chaps go +back? Of course there's the Babe's school, but that could have waited. +Girls' schools never matter.' + +'Well, _why_, most precocious of kids?' asked Egbert, with lazy tolerance. +Certainly, no one but Christopher would have been allowed to say so much +uninterrupted. But then, even Egbert had a kind of secret admiration for +his clever young brother, though he did not pretend to understand him. + +'Well,' continued Christopher, 'if we'd had more time to think about it, +we might not have been so keen on going to live in another person's house. +And, naturally, Auntie Anna didn't want any ructions over it.' + +'Oh, stop it, Kit! What a lot of rot you are making up!' objected Peter, +impatiently. Of the three elder boys, he was nearest in age to Kit, and +was consequently less inclined to tolerate him. + +'Everything points to it, if you're not too thick-headed to see,' retorted +Kit, crushingly. 'Look at the way we're being rushed out of the house, +directly father has turned his back. Isn't that to give us something to +think about, so that we shouldn't mope about the shop, and _fancy_ +ourselves? Of course,' he added blandly, fixing his spectacles on his +nose and staring at Peter, '_some_ people don't need anything to set them +grinning again.' + +'Christopher, my son, you are a clever child, but your impudence simply +isn't to be borne,' said Peter; and he stooped down and lifted the fragile +figure of the orator high in the air, and set him down lightly outside the +door. Kit rearranged his tie, put his spectacles straight, and peered +up at the unappreciative listener who towered above him. + +'As I was saying,' he resumed gently, 'Auntie Anna can give us all points +when it comes to being 'cute.' + +The next day or two proved the truth of what, in his shrewd way, he +had already guessed for himself. Yet the Berkeleys were hardly to be +called unfeeling, because they appeared to take their father's departure +so coolly; for it would have been difficult to remain unhappy long, when +there were so many delightful things to distract them. Besides their +excitement, town-bred as they were, at finding themselves in a real +country-house, with an oak staircase, a secret room, and a ghost story, +there were separate joys waiting for each one of them as well. There +was a horse for Egbert to ride to hounds, and a well-stocked library +for Christopher to bury himself in, and a lumber-room for Wilfred to turn +into a laboratory; while Peter was allowed, the very first day, to go out +shooting with the keepers, and Robin promptly became the pet of all the +men on the estate, and spent long, happy hours with them down at the +stables and the farm. If there was any one in the family who was not +perfectly content, it was Barbara. + +No doubt, she would have been quite as absorbed as the others were in +their new home, if she had not been going to another one herself the very +next day. As it was, she found it a little difficult to share their +enthusiasm since she had a private enthusiasm of her own. But the boys +did not understand this at all. They were very affectionate to her in +their rough, undemonstrative way, and they were always telling her that +she would be sure to 'pull through all right'; for they naturally supposed +that she wanted the kind of pity they wanted so much themselves at the +stated, horrible periods when they went back to school. But as to grasping +her notion that she was going to enjoy life at Wootton Beeches, that +was not to be expected of them. So Barbara felt that her interests, for +the first time in her life, were not the same as theirs; and a queer +sort of feeling crept over her, that changes--even nice, interesting +changes--occasionally had something strange and uncomfortable about them. +She grew so perplexed over it, at last, that she even went to Jill for +sympathy. Jill was at least a girl, and Jill had been to school, in the +same delightful place to which she was going on the morrow; and Jill +at least ought to know whether the boys' idea of school was right or +wrong. So, just after tea, on her last evening at Crofts, the child +swallowed her natural distrust of her cousin, which, after all, had +arisen chiefly from their mutual shyness of each other, and started in +search of her. + +Jill was in the conservatory, arranging the flowers for the dinner-table; +and Barbara's shyness returned, as the trim, neat figure came walking +towards her, along the rows of chrysanthemums. She glanced down at her +crumpled pinafore and sighed desperately. Being dragged up a dusty +ladder into a cobwebby lumber-room by Wilfred had not proved the best of +treatments for a pinafore that really had been clean a couple of hours +ago. But Jill suddenly came out in a new light. With no teasing schoolboys +to overhear her, she felt that here, at last, was a chance of making +friends with her odd little tomboy of a cousin. + +'Have you come to help me with the flowers?' she asked, with such a +friendly smile, that Babs cheered up at once. She forgot all about her +crumpled pinafore, and went straight to the point. + +'No, I didn't come for that,' she answered simply. 'I came to ask you +about--about school.' + +'Ah!' said Jill, suddenly picking chrysanthemums at a great rate. +'Supposing you tell me what you think about it yourself?' + +Her mother's words were running in her head: 'Do your best to understand +the poor little soul!' and Jill wondered what she could tell her that +would not upset her notions of school too cruelly. + +'Oh, well,' replied Babs, 'of course, _I_ think it's going to be +beautiful; but the boys--the boys are so funny about it, and it's +made me all in a muddle inside. Do you think the boys _know_?' + +'Perhaps not,' said Jill, and she strolled away along the rows of +chrysanthemums. It seemed a shame to spoil the child's illusion; and yet, +when she thought of this quaint little untrained object being dropped in +the middle of the girls at Wootton Beeches---- + +Barbara had followed her up closely, and she suddenly interrupted her +reflections. 'You know what a girls' school is like, don't you, Jill?' she +continued appealingly. 'I wish--I _do_ wish you would tell the boys they +are all wrong about it. They _are_ wrong, aren't they?' + +There was a suspicion of a doubt in the last words that struck Jill as +being rather pathetic. She put her bunch of chrysanthemums down, and drew +Barbara towards her. 'You see, Babs, it is like this,' she said slowly; +'school is very nice, if you do not mind things being strange at first, +and if you can bear being laughed at, and----' + +'Why, that is quite easy!' interrupted Babs, with a smile. 'The boys have +teased me always.' + +'Yes,' said Jill, doubtfully; 'the boys have teased you; but that is not +quite the same thing. Girls--girls are not boys, you see.' + +'Oh no, I know they're not!' replied Barbara, happily. 'Girls are quiet +and kind and gentle; and they always understand you, and they are ready +to make friends directly they see you. I think I know what _girls_ are +like.' + +She was thinking of the princesses in her fairy kingdom; and another +little smile flickered across her face. Jill glanced at her for a moment, +and then suddenly made up her mind how to act. + +'Look here, Babs,' she began, smoothing the mop of tangled hair with her +hands; 'you go on thinking that girls are like that, and you'll get along +all right!' Barbara wriggled away from her before she had time to say +any more, gave her a swift look and a smile of gratitude, and darted off +in search of the boys. 'They'll be very stupid if they don't see what a +babe it is,' added Jill to herself. + +At the door of the conservatory, however, the small figure in the crumpled +pinafore came to a sudden standstill. + +'I say, Jill,' the child blurted out, and she clutched a handful of +pinafore to give herself courage; 'I--I want to tell you something.' + +'Do you?' said Jill, smiling. + +'I want to explain that I hated you at first, because I thought you +were going to make the boys like you better than me,' Babs went on +breathlessly. 'And you frightened me too, because you laughed in such a +funny way, just as if you were sneering at me for being in a muck. I +thought, perhaps, it was because you were so grand, and your clothes +were so grand, and all that; but I couldn't help being in a muck, because +I always am in a muck, you see; and so, you see--you see----' + +[Illustration: 'Look here Babs,' she began, smoothing the mop of tangled +hair] + +'I see,' said Jill, quietly; and she looked quite thoughtful for a minute +or two. Babs came a step nearer. + +'I don't hate you now,' she said frankly. 'For one thing, the boys +don't like you better than me, after all. They don't even like you so +much as they thought they were going to. But _I_ think you're awfully +nice,--almost as nice as Kit and Nurse and father,--and I shall go and +tell them so, now; and then, perhaps, they won't say you are young-ladyish +any more!' + +There was a vision of slim black legs and white pinafore disappearing +across the hall, and Jill could not help laughing. 'I must catch the post, +and write to that child Jean,' she decided, after a moment's reflection. +'It won't be so bad for the poor little mite if she has some one to show +her round.' + +Late on the following afternoon the 'adopted kid' found another chance +of making her way to Barbara's heart. Barbara had wandered into the +library, with a whole hour to spare before the carriage should come round +to drive her to school; and, rather to her surprise, she discovered Kit +there, sitting huddled up in the arm-chair, with his shoulders up to his +ears. She had thought that all the boys were out ratting, and she had +not expected to see any of them until they came in at tea-time to bid +her farewell. She was feeling rather doleful, now that the important +moment was so near, for she realised that if she was going to everything +that was new and delightful, she was also going away from the boys for +the first time in her life. It did not cheer her to find Christopher +sitting over the fire with an attack of asthma. + +'Kit!' she cried in distress. 'I didn't know you were ill!' + +Kit crouched closer to the fire and growled. Asthma always had a bad +effect upon his temper, and to-day he had a grievance as well. + +'Of course you didn't know,' he muttered. 'You never know anything now. +Can't think what's come over you lately.' + +Barbara reddened, and the tears welled up in her eyes. No one could hurt +her so easily as Christopher. 'I'm awfully sorry, Kit. I suppose I've been +thinking about school,' she said; and she dropped the poker with a bang +that made him wince. + +'Lucky for you to be able to go to school,' answered Kit, crossly. 'Look +at me! Just because of that journey on Wednesday I've got to coddle like +an old woman.' + +Barbara stood gazing at him helplessly. Her heart was full of pity, but +no one had ever taught her how to show it. 'Poor old boy!' she said +awkwardly. 'Would you like me to tell you a story?' + +'Not I! How can you think of a story when you're full of that stupid +school?' was the surly answer. + +'But I'm not thinking about school now, Kit,' persisted the Babe, becoming +tearful. + +'Oh, never mind. Don't cry, whatever you do; I've got such a headache,' +said Christopher, hastily. + +'I'm n--not crying; I never cry,' stammered Barbara, in a shaky voice. +'I--I want to do something for you, only you won't tell me what to do.' + +Kit answered her with a violent struggle for breath, and the child felt +more helpless than ever. It was just as she was making a feeble attempt +to raise him in his chair that Jill came in. + +'You poor fellow!' she exclaimed, taking in the whole scene at once. +'Here, Babs, give me that piece of brown paper, and run and fetch his +medicine, will you? Poor boy! Poor Kit!' + +She knelt beside him and supported him with her arm, while she wafted a +smouldering tuft of brown paper in front of him. 'Now, fetch some cushions +out of the drawing-room,' she commanded, when Barbara returned with the +medicine; and, delighted at being given something to do, the child sped +away on her errand. When she came back with her arms full of cushions, +Jill had a delightful plan to unfold. + +'Ring the bell for the lamp, Babs,' she said, in her soft voice, which +was already soothing Christopher's nerves; 'and we'll have tea together +before you go. Shall we, Kit, dear?' + +'It's awfully good of you,' he answered weakly. The attack was passing +off, and he was visibly cheering up. By the time tea was brought in, he +was sufficiently recovered to take the lead in his usual determined +manner; and Jill humoured him by giving in to him meekly, even consenting, +under his guidance, to toast slices of plum-cake at the end of a penknife. + +'It's very extravagant, when it's Auntie Anna's plum-cake instead of the +stale stuff cook used to make; but as it's the Babe's last evening we may +be extravagant, mayn't we, Jill?' argued Christopher. 'Now, Babs, you melt +the butter; and for goodness' sake do remember you're not at home, and +don't smash the plate.' + +His reminder did not wholly make the desired effect upon Babs, for when +the boys returned from the farm in a noisy tribe, flushed with the glory +of slaying, they found the 'adopted kid' scrubbing her gown with a clean +handkerchief, while Babs hung over her, covered with confusion. + +'Don't worry yourself, child,' Jill was saying consolingly. 'A lump of +butter, more or less, doesn't make any difference to a frock I've worn +all the winter.' + +'It just slid off the plate when I wasn't looking,' said Barbara, +penitently. 'I can't think why it didn't slide on to my frock instead +of yours.' + +A chorus of merriment rang from behind. + +'You ridiculous Babe!' shouted Peter. 'Why, the butter is _tired_ of being +spilled down your frock.' + +Jill jumped to her feet, and blushed a little. As Kit had predicted, +she found it much easier to get on with her cousins when she took them +'separately, or in pairs'; and she was not used yet to facing them all at +once. The sound of wheels outside gave her an excuse for escape, and she +put her arm hurriedly round Babs. + +'Come upstairs and put on your hat,' she suggested, and the two girls +hastened out of the room. + +Auntie Anna saw to it that the farewells were not prolonged, and Barbara +found herself whirled into the covered wagonette with her last words only +half said. Kit was allowed time to whisper a gruff apology for being cross +with her before tea, but the others had to follow her to the front door +to shout their good-byes after her. + +'Don't get the blues because _we_ are not there!' cried Wilfred. + +'I'll write great lots of times,' declared Robin, who was in tears. 'I +won't even wait for the lines to be ruled, Babs dear. You won't mind the +spelling, will you? 'Cause it saves so much time if you don't.' + +'Cheer up!' was all Egbert said; and Barbara wondered if she was very +hard-hearted, because she was not half so wretched as they all expected +her to be. Peter even made her laugh outright, as he sprang on the step +of the carriage, and went a little way down the drive with them. + +'Don't funk it, old girl!' he shouted through the window. 'And just send +for us, if anything goes wrong!' + +'Be off with you!' said Auntie Anna, shutting up the window; and that was +the last that the Babe of the Berkeley family saw of the boys who had been +her only companions through life. + +She had plenty to think about in her long drive in the dark; and Auntie +Anna was wise enough to leave her alone most of the time. A little more +than an hour later, however, when the carriage made a sharp turn and drove +through some gates, the old lady roused her by a touch on the arm. + +'We are just there, little woman,' she said in her quick, abrupt way. 'Not +afraid, eh?' + +'Oh no!' answered Barbara, smiling. 'I--I'm just excited.' + +Mrs. Crofton kissed the eager little face, on which the light shone as +they approached the house. + +'That's right,' she said, looking pleased. 'Always be a truthful little +girl, and don't mind if you find you are not like other people.' + +Then the horses stopped, and a blaze of light shone down a flight of +steps to the carriage door; and Babs, feeling suddenly very small and +unimportant, in spite of the extra inch or two on her new serge frock, +followed the old lady into the great wide hall of Wootton Beeches. + +Her dream was coming true at last. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +HOW IT CAME TRUE + + +Half an hour later, Barbara was being led across the hall by Miss +Finlayson, to be introduced to her school-fellows in the playroom. It +puzzled her a little to see how calm and unconcerned the head-mistress +was looking. Did she not know what a thrilling moment this was to her +little new pupil, who tripped along by her side? As Babs was puzzling +over it, they reached the baize door on the opposite side of the hall, +and Miss Finlayson stooped and fastened it back, disclosing a long +passage beyond. At the end of the passage was another door; and through +this other door the murmur and hum of many voices drifted to the ears of +the excited child. She could hardly contain her impatience; and she +wondered why Miss Finlayson did not go on, instead of being so particular +about the fastening of the baize door. She even took a step forward +in her eagerness; but a hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder, and +Barbara glanced up and met the half-amused gaze of the lady who had just +seemed so indifferent to her. + +Miss Finlayson had a way of looking at a girl that generally made a +friend of her at once. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of blue-grey that +gave them, as a rule, a cold expression; but they were also capable of a +glimpse of humour that completely altered and softened them, and it was +the discovery of this quality in them that changed Barbara's impatience +all at once to curiosity. + +'One moment, little girl, before you go through that door over there,' +began Miss Finlayson, and her face was still grave in spite of the +betraying twinkle in her eyes. 'Tell me, have you ever known any girls +before?' + +'Only Jill,' answered Barbara, wondering why she was being asked such an +odd question. + +'Ah!' said Miss Finlayson. The child caught the change in her tone, and +went on quickly. + +'I know Jill didn't approve of me at first,' she said, in her small, +anxious voice; 'but she does now, I think. Besides, Jill is grown-up, +you see; and I don't think it counts if you are grown-up, does it? I've +never met any real, nice, friendly girls before, who don't tease you, or +bully you, or anything like that. That's why I wanted to come to school.' + +'Ah!' said Miss Finlayson again. Then she put out her hand and patted +the cheek of her little new pupil. 'Do not be unhappy if you find you are +not like the other girls,' she said, just as Auntie Anna had done; 'and +come to me, if everything else fails and you cannot stand by yourself. +Only, remember--you are not in the nursery any longer: you have come here +to learn how to grow up straight and strong and healthy, just as a plant +learns; and I am only the gardener to give you a prop, when you have been +in too great a hurry and are trying to grow too fast. Do you think you +understand?' Her voice changed again, and a laugh came into it as she +added brightly: 'Come along now, and be a happy little girl. You will +find that most of us are happy in this house.' + +She took Babs by the hand, and raced her along the passage to the door +at the end, then turned the handle and pushed the child gently into the +room. + +'Girls,' said the head-mistress, in the sudden lull that followed her +entrance, 'here is a new schoolfellow for you.' + +Then all the voices broke out again, and Miss Finlayson nodded to Barbara, +and went away. It was one of Miss Finlayson's theories, that a new girl +should be left to fight her way by herself; but as she retreated slowly +along the passage this evening, she could not help feeling a little +anxious about the child with the small, eager face, whom she had just +launched into a strange and unfriendly world. + +Barbara took two quick steps forward, as the door closed behind her, and +stood there waiting. She had acted this scene over and over again in +her mind, and she had always made her entrance like this; after which +a girl, whose face was plump and ordinary, and whose legs were of the +right proportions, and whose hair was smooth and under proper control, +had always come towards her with a welcoming smile and had led her up +to the other girls, who all had welcoming smiles too. And everybody had +listened to her while she talked about her home and her father and the +boys; and nobody had laughed and nobody had teased, and nobody had told +her to 'shut up.' It had been a very favourite scene in her dream of +school, and she waited eagerly for the other actors in it to come forward +and do their part. But no one moved. + +The room in which she found herself was certainly not like the one she +had imagined. It was long and low and prettily shaped, with two wide +bow-windows thrown out on one side of it, and a great square fireplace +taking up most of the wall that faced the doorway. Next to the fireplace +was a curtained archway, which evidently formed the entrance into another +room, judging by the buzz of laughter and conversation from beyond that +the thick red curtain failed to stifle. The bookshelves on the two +remaining walls were made of plain oak; so were the desks and chairs that +stood neatly arranged round the room in rows. There were also plain oak +benches in the warm chimney-corners, and plain oak window-seats in the +bowed recesses, while the floor was made of the same wood and was left +quite bare, except for a rug in front of the hearth. A pot or two of +chrysanthemums, some blue china on the over-mantel, and one or two +hammered metal lamps that hung from the beams in the ceiling, were the +only ornaments in the room; and the whole effect was so simple and so +clean that Barbara, fresh from the dingy old schoolroom in which she had +passed her life until now, was obliged to forget everything else for the +moment and just stare round her. Then her eyes rested again on the +girls who were scattered in groups about the room, and the expectant +look on her face became a little wistful. + +There seemed to be thirty or forty of them all together; and from the +noise on the other side of the curtain Babs concluded that there were as +many, or more, in the room beyond. They all talked without ceasing,--all +at once, it seemed to Barbara,--about their Christmas holidays and their +Christmas presents, about the parties they had been to and the pantomimes +they had seen, about the girls who were not back and the girls who were, +about everything, in fact, except the child by the door, who had been +waiting all her life for this moment. What did it matter to them that +she should go through a few seconds of embarrassment? They had all been +through the same, in their time; and it was not to be supposed that they +should make things any easier for future generations of new girls. So +they went on babbling about their own affairs, and Barbara went on +expecting some one to come and put an end to her discomfort. But nobody +came. + +Slowly, she began to feel conscious, just as she had done when she +first met Jill, that there was something odd about her appearance. In +spite of the extra inch or two on the bottom hem of her frock, and the +temporary smoothness that a vigorous application of a wet brush had +produced on her hair, Babs saw with a kind of dismay that she was not made +in the same pattern as the crowd of neatly dressed girls before her. +None of them wore her hair loose and curly like her own, and none of +them looked as though she did not know what to do with her hands. If only +she could have held on to something, Barbara felt sure she would not +have felt so shy or so helpless. There was a chair only two yards off; +but something kept her standing where she was, and she did not even +reach out her hand to it. + +The girls continued their conversation, and forgot all about the new-comer +that Miss Finlayson had brought in. Most of them stood facing the fire +and had not even looked at her; and the others, who glanced now and +then towards the door, only shrugged their shoulders and wondered why +the stupid child did not sit down, instead of standing still in that +purposeless manner. They did not mean to be unkind, but how were they +to know that she was fighting through her first disillusionment? + +All at once, a diversion was made by two children from the other room, +who came tumbling through the curtain and nearly upset a tall fair girl +who was the centre of the group round the fire. + +'Look where you are going, Angela Wilkins!' said the fair girl, sternly. +'What are you children doing in here, I should like to know?' + +'Please, Margaret, don't be cross, and _do_ let me explain,' begged Angela +Wilkins, suppressing an inclination to giggle, and pouring out her words +hastily. 'Jean has had millions of letters from Jill Urquhart, and she +says----' + +'It wasn't millions, Angela, it was only one,' corrected her +fellow-culprit from behind. + +'And what business has Jean Murray to hear from Jill Urquhart?' demanded +the fair girl. + +'I'm sure I don't want to hear from her,' grumbled the other girl, whom +Angela pushed forward to answer for herself. 'She only writes to me when +she wants something. I don't call that _writing_ to a person.' + +'She's got a sister coming here this term, and she says everybody has got +to look after her, or something like that,' chimed in the irrepressible +Angela. + +'It isn't a sister, it's a cousin. And she hasn't asked everybody; I wish +she had. She's asked _me_ to look after her, and that's a very different +thing,' complained Jean Murray, looking distinctly aggrieved. + +'Yes,' added Angela, breathlessly; 'why should Jean be bothered with all +the new girls who happen to be people's cousins?' + +'She isn't,' said Margaret, curtly. 'It's only one new girl; and if she is +a cousin of Jill's, Jean ought to be very proud of being asked to look +after her. Do stop exaggerating, Angela; and go away, both of you!' Then +just as the children slunk off subdued, she recalled them and made a +gesture towards the door. 'There's a new girl over there now, I believe,' +she continued indifferently. 'You'd better see whether she's the right +one; and if she is, bring her to me.' + +She turned again to the fireplace, and the two girls made their way +towards the other end of the room, where Barbara still stood unnoticed. +She saw them coming, and heaved a sigh of relief. Things were a long +while happening in this school; but it was something if they happened in +the end. She glanced at their two faces as they came nearer, and felt +disappointed when the one with the cross expression addressed her first. + +'I say, what's your name?' began Jean, ungraciously. + +'Barbara,' answered the child, faintly. Her dream seemed more improbable +than ever, in the presence of this small stranger with the aggressive +manner. + +'Barbara what?' asked Jean, impatiently. + +Babs stared, and added her surname unwillingly. At home, when people spoke +like that, they had to do without an answer. + +'That's the one,' grumbled Jean to her companion. Then she addressed +Barbara again. 'How old are you?' she asked, in the same abrupt way. + +'Eleven,' answered Babs, obediently. 'How old are you?' + +It was Jean's turn to stare. 'What business is it of yours?' she +exclaimed. After a moment's consideration, however, she found a +satisfactory reason for replying. 'I'm a year older than you, anyhow,' +she added triumphantly, 'so you'll be the youngest in the school now, and +you can take off the head girl's boots.' + +Before Barbara had time to realise this penalty, or privilege, belonging +to her youth, Angela Wilkins, who had been silent for quite a surprising +length of time, suddenly attacked her afresh. 'Are you really Jill's +cousin?' she asked, with a giggle. + +Babs nodded; but Angela did not seem convinced. 'You're not a bit like +her, are you? Jill Urquhart is so pretty and graceful and all that,' she +observed with engaging frankness, and then giggled again. + +Barbara said nothing; it was certainly unnecessary to agree with such +a very obvious statement. Jean Murray, who had also been examining her +closely in her turn, evidently seemed to think a further snubbing was +required of her. + +'You're frightfully tall for your age,' she remarked disapprovingly, as +though Barbara were somehow to be held responsible for her height. 'If I +had straight spiky legs like yours, I should have my dresses made longer.' + +'No, you wouldn't, if you had five brothers always wanting you to do +things,' retorted Barbara, promptly. It was saddening to find that, even +here, people were prepared to make remarks about the slimness of her legs. + +Angela was so surprised at her sudden show of resistance that she forgot +to giggle. + +'I say, you'd better not speak like that to Jean Murray,' she said in a +warning tone, glancing as she spoke at Jean, as though she expected her +to take immediate measures for the suppression of the new girl. 'She's +been the youngest for so long that naturally she's inclined to be jealous, +now you've come to take her place. Of course she has to pretend she's +glad, but you can't expect her to like the idea of somebody else taking +off the head girl's----' + +'Oh, if that's all,' said Barbara, indifferently, 'I don't want to take +off anybody's boots, thank you.' + +'You'll have to, whether you like it or not,' interposed Jean, who had +been listening quite complacently to Angela's description of her feelings. +'Come along now, and see Margaret Hulme; and don't be such a month about +it, or else we shall catch it for stopping in here so long.' + +'Who is Margaret Hulme, and why have I got to go and see her?' asked Babs, +hanging back a little. It was so perplexing to have to do things without +being given any reason for it. + +Both the girls opened their eyes wide. 'Why, she is the head girl!' they +explained, as if that were reason enough for anything; and without waiting +for any more objections, they pulled her across the room to where the +fair girl still made the centre of the group round the fire. She kept +them waiting for some seconds before she condescended to notice that they +were there. + +'Didn't I tell you to go back to your own playroom?' she demanded +presently. Then her eyes fell on Barbara, and she scanned her critically +up and down. + +'This is Jill Urquhart's cousin,' explained Jean, hurriedly, and she gave +Barbara an unexpected push that sent her stumbling, with her usual lack +of good fortune, right against the head girl. + +'Take care, child!' said Margaret, frowning. And while Babs stammered out +some apology, she turned to the other girls behind her and said something +that made them all laugh. + +'She's only eleven, though she's so awfully tall; and her name is Barbara +Berkeley,' volunteered Angela, peering over the shoulder of the new girl. + +'Who spoke to you?' inquired the head girl, sarcastically, looking back +again. She once more scanned Barbara all over, and smiled in an annoying +manner to herself. 'However did Jill manage to have a cousin like you?' +she asked; and the other girls laughed more than before. + +'I don't know,' said Barbara, with a touch of scorn in her voice. The +mysterious way in which the head girl and her admirers were laughing at +her was very different from the frank teasing she was accustomed to; and +it gave her a sudden wish to assert herself. 'I never pretended to be +like Jill, or like any of you! I--I don't think I want to be like you, +either. In my home, we don't laugh behind people's backs.' + +She caused quite a small sensation in the group round the fire. One or +two began to titter afresh, and then stopped, waiting for the head girl +to take the lead. The head girl was equal to the occasion. + +'It is very certain, then, that you have stayed in your own home quite +long enough,' she remarked coldly, and resumed her conversation with her +friends. + +The two children dragged Barbara through the curtain into the next room. + +'Well, you _have_ got some cheek!' gasped Jean Murray, staring at her. +'Lucky for you that you're a new girl! If it had been _me_, Margaret Hulme +wouldn't have spoken to me for a whole day.' + +The enormity of such a punishment did not for the moment impress Barbara +much. What she did notice was that her passage of words with the head +girl had broken the ice of her introduction to the junior playroom, +especially with the aid of Angela's highly coloured account of it. + +'You never saw such a thing!' she was exclaiming rapidly to the circle +that formed round her. 'There was Margaret, looking like a dozen +thunder-clouds rolled into one, and there was the new girl, grinning from +ear to ear, not caring a bit what anybody thought of her and just +standing up to the head girl as if she was in the First herself.' + +The new girl barely recognised this description of herself; but as it +made her an object of curiosity, if not of sympathy, in the junior +playroom, she did not feel inclined to correct the picture that the +red-haired, freckled little chatterbox was painting of her. Anything was +better than being left out in the cold again. It struck her too that +the girls in the junior room were far less inclined to laugh at her +than the elder ones had seemed; and it raised her fallen spirits a +little to find that the children who were now strolling up to her, +with inquisitive glances at her hair, her clothes, and everything else +about her, seemed disposed, in spite of their calm curiosity, to show +her a kind of rough friendliness. They were more like boys, these smaller +people in the junior playroom; and Barbara, though still failing to +realise her child's ideal of girls, felt a faint kinship with their +straightforward method of addressing her. + +'No nickname?' they asked, when she had again admitted her name and her +age. + +'Oh, yes,' answered Barbara, unsuspiciously, 'the boys always call me the +Babe, or----' + +The peals of laughter that interrupted her puzzled her a good deal. It +was very queer that, wherever she went, people always laughed at her. +It was some moments before their glee over the nickname, that so exactly +suited the childish impression she produced, began to subside. + +'Have you got a nurse?' asked Angela, who had laughed louder than any one. + +'No,' said Barbara, simply, not seeing that this too was meant to be a +joke. 'She left, two years ago.' + +'Well, you ought to have one,' retorted Jean, brusquely. 'She might teach +you how to comb your hair.' + +'And let down your frock,' added two or three voices together. + +'What's the matter with my frock?' asked Babs, opening her eyes. 'It's +nearly two inches longer than any frock I ever had before.' + +The laughter began afresh, and Barbara gave up trying to explain things. +She was a little hurt, in reality, and was afraid of showing it; for it +would never do, after being teased by five brothers all her life, to be +ruffled by the laughter of a few schoolgirls. All the same, there was +something in their way of laughing at her that hurt, and she did not care +to provoke them into doing it any more. + +The loud ringing of a bell brought her a sudden respite, by clearing the +room of her tormentors. They poured hastily out of two large doors, that +slid back in the wall and revealed another square hall beyond, similar to +the one at the front of the house. The wide staircase up which the girls +were trooping evidently led to their bedrooms, for Barbara, left deserted +and forgotten in the playroom, could hear them, directly afterwards, +moving about overhead. As she waited there alone, wondering what she +was supposed to do next, Jean Murray came hurrying back into the room +and looked round for her. + +'Oh, bother!' she said, in her ungracious manner; 'what a nuisance you +are! I wish you'd do things without waiting to be told.' + +Babs explained submissively that she was quite ready to do things if she +only knew what to do; but Jean still grumbled. + +'Any one with any sense would know,' she declared, hastening out of the +door again as she spoke. When she was half-way across the hall, she +shouted, without looking back, 'Can't you come along? There's only a +quarter of an hour to dress for supper.' + +Babs hurried after her, and managed to keep her in sight up the wide +staircase and along the gallery at the top. There were doors all round +the gallery, and at one of these, marked number twelve, Jean stopped +and waited impatiently. + +'What a time you are,' she complained, when Barbara caught her up. + +'I'm very quick, when anybody doesn't take such an enormous start,' +answered Barbara, panting. 'I can beat Peter twice round the Square and up +to the gate, _easily_! And you're not in it with Peter.' + +Jean looked at her, and her expression was not a pretty one. However, she +only jerked her head at the door in front of them, and told Babs it was +her bedroom. 'Finny said I was to show you,' she added. 'Don't know, I'm +sure, why everybody thinks I've got to show you things. And you'd better +look sharp and dress, because when you're ready you've got to cut along +to number two and do the head girl's hair. It's always the business of +the youngest in the school to do the head girl's hair. See?' + +'But I don't know how to do anybody's hair,' began Barbara, in a fever of +dismay. But Jean had already scampered out of hearing; and with her +responsibilities weighing heavily upon her, the new girl turned the +handle of her bedroom door and went forlornly in. It was a simple little +room, very clean and fresh-looking, with everything there that she wanted +and nothing that she could do without. The pretty coverlets on the bed +and the dressing-table and the muslin curtains that draped the oaken +window-sash gave it a look of homely comfort, while harmonising with the +plain green colour of the walls and the blue frieze and carpet. As +Barbara walked across her small domain and pushed aside the blind to +peep out into the clear starlit night, a moment's rest came to her +perturbed little mind. The tiny bare room was all hers, and the feeling +of privacy and possession was very comforting. + +A door in the wall told her there was a room leading out of hers, and +the sound made by some one moving rapidly about in it reminded her again +of her present woes and of the necessity for dressing as quickly as +possible. Her relief at not being obliged to sleep with the other girls +was forgotten in her returning consciousness of having to live with them, +and to do their hair and to button their boots. With desperate haste +she struggled out of her serge frock and into a muslin one, that had +a strange new method of fastening that was extremely baffling; and five +minutes later, trembling, uneasy, and flushed with the hurry of her speedy +toilet, she stood knocking at the door of number two. + +'It's me,' she said feebly, in response to the curt inquiry from within. +Her inadequate explanation was followed by a few quick steps on the other +side of the door, which was then flung open with an impatient movement; +and the head girl, putting hairpins rapidly into her hair as she stood, +was looking down at her sternly. + +'You should go to one of the younger ones, if you want to know anything,' +she said crossly. 'Where's Jean Murray?' + +'It was Jean Murray who told me to come,' answered the child, looking a +pathetic little object in her half-fastened muslin frock, with her hair +standing out wildly round her head. 'I'm sure I didn't want to come; I +don't know how to do anybody's hair; I told her so. But she said it was +because I was the youngest, and----' + +'What _are_ you talking about, child?' interrupted Margaret. Her mystified +look was lost on Babs, however, as the child stared down in much misery +and confusion at the little steel buckles on her new evening shoes. She +went on unhappily with her stammering confession. + +'She said I'd got to do the head girl's hair because I was the youngest, +and I was to make haste, or I shouldn't be in time. I did make as much +haste as I could, _truthfully_,' she added, looking up timidly at her +frowning questioner; 'but there were such a lot of hooks on my new frock, +and I'm not used to hooks. I've always had buttons before, you see.' + +One or two of the neighbouring doors had opened by this time, and quite a +small audience was assembling to hear Barbara's attempt at explanation. A +giggle that swelled into a laugh brought dismay once more into her heart; +and a suspicion that she had been hoaxed slowly dawned upon her. + +'Isn't it true?' she cried, turning upon them desperately. 'Haven't I got +to do the head girl's hair?' + +'You'd better do your own first, I should say,' observed one of the +onlookers, carelessly; and the others laughed again. + +The head girl silenced them peremptorily. 'Don't, Ruth!' she said. +'It's only a babe, after all. You others had better go downstairs; +the supper-bell will ring directly.' + +The gallery slowly emptied itself, except for the little group of three +that still stood outside the head girl's door. The offending Ruth turned +to Barbara; she had a good-natured face, and was looking penitent. + +'Come here, child, and let me fasten your frock properly,' she said; +'you've done it up all wrong.' + +Barbara turned her back to her willingly. 'It's awfully bricky of you,' +she said warmly; 'I've never done up my own frock before, and this one +was so complicated, somehow.' + +'You must come to me when you want your frocks fastened,' answered her +new friend. 'I sleep next door to you, and I always help Angela, whose +room is on the farther side of mine. You've only got to tap at the door +between, when you are ready. But you mustn't speak in the morning before +breakfast, or in the evening after prayers, because that is against the +rules.' + +She fetched a brush and tried to reduce the tangled hair under her hands +to a certain degree of order. Margaret Hulme had disposed of all her +hairpins by this time, and was closely watching a door on the other +side of the gallery. When it at last opened she straightened herself and +prepared for action. + +It was Jean Murray who came out of it, rather cautiously at first, then +with a pretence of great unconcern. But her jaunty air completely deserted +her when she saw the little group outside the head girl's door, and she +tried to slink away towards the stairs unnoticed. Margaret called her +back authoritatively, and Jean came slowly and unwillingly round the +gallery. + +'Now,' said the head girl, when she was within easy hearing, 'just you +apologise to Barbara Berkeley for hoaxing her just now. If you think +there is anything funny in telling an untruth, I'm sorry for your sense of +humour, and you'd better not do it again in this house. Now then, make +haste about it.' + +Barbara tried impetuously to interfere, but Ruth Oliver held her back. +'Hush!' she whispered. 'Leave it to Margaret.' + +Jean was shifting from one foot to another, and her mouth began to quiver. +'I didn't know she'd be such a stupid as to believe it,' she muttered. + +'My dear child,' said the head girl, blandly, 'nobody supposed you were +any judge of character. So it would clearly be wiser not to play that kind +of joke on any one in future, wouldn't it? Are you going to apologise or +not?' + +Jean reddened, and a lump rose in her throat. Her worship of the head +girl was the most genuine thing about her, and she was suffering keenly +under her disapproval. But an apology to a new girl, especially to one who +had come to rob her of all her privileges, was next to an impossibility. +Barbara saved the situation. + +'I don't want anybody's apologies,' she cried. 'I'm not cross, and I don't +know what you're all talking about.' She wriggled away from the friendly +grasp of Ruth Oliver, and sped round the gallery till she came to the +head of the stairs. Arrived there, the temptation of a long, broad, +shining baluster-rail was too much for her; and in another moment the +little elf-like figure in the fresh muslin frock was astride of it and +flying down to the hall, with her hair once more in rebellion round +her face. The exhilaration of the brief rush downwards sent all her +troubles out of her head, and she uttered a war-whoop of delight as she +landed with a thump on the mat at the bottom. The elder girls, who were +just streaming across the hall in response to the supper-bell, stopped +and stared aghast. Certainly the new girl was the most impudent of her +species, and meant to make her entry into the establishment of Wootton +Beeches with a flourish! But Margaret Hulme, it was rumoured, had taken +her up; and that meant that the elder girls were no longer in a position +to criticise her. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE INK BOGIES + + +Barbara's disappointment had lost some of its bitterness by the time +the seven o'clock bell woke her on the following morning. Perhaps, +after all, it was her own fault that things had not turned out so +delightfully as she had expected. Even the boys used to call her clumsy +and stupid sometimes; so why should she expect any more tolerance from +her school-fellows? Anyhow, here was the beginning of another day, and +there was still plenty of time for her dream to come true. + +It did not seem much like coming true, though, as she stood in the +juniors' room after breakfast, jostled from right to left by the girls +who were on their way to the different classrooms, and wondering when +somebody would come and tell her where she was to go. She wished rather +sadly that everybody in this school would not expect her to know things +by instinct. + +'Do _you_ know where I am to go?' she begged, catching hold of Jean Murray +as she hurried by. Babs had forgotten, if, indeed, she had ever realised, +that Jean looked upon her as an enemy. + +'Go and ask one of the seniors,' retorted Jean, shaking her off. 'You're +much too high and mighty to have anything to do with us.' + +'What is she talking about?' asked the amazed Barbara, looking after her. + +'Well, it isn't likely she can forget all at once that you got her a +scolding from Margaret Hulme,' explained Angela, who was hurrying as +usual after her friend, like a shadow. + +'_I_ got her a scolding? What do you mean?' cried Babs. + +'Oh, it's all very well to be so innocent,' snorted Angela; and she +disappeared too. + +Barbara sighed and remained where she was, till she was moved on again. + +'Do get out of the way,' complained some one else; 'you're right in front +of my bookshelf.' + +Barbara sprang aside hastily, and caught her foot in the leg of a desk +and fell down. + +'I don't mind moving,' she said, getting up again and rubbing her elbow, +'but I do wish I knew where to move to.' + +'Can't you find out?' asked the owner of the bookshelf inconsistently, as +she rushed off with her arms full of books. + +Barbara sighed again. Try as she might to make the best of things, it was +a little tiring to be such a universal object of complaint. + +'Hullo, Babe! You ought not to be here,' said a cheery voice from the +seniors' room, and Ruth Oliver put her head round the red curtain. +'This is only the playroom, you know, and, except for preparation or for +fetching your books between the classes, you are never supposed to use +it in lesson-time. The classrooms are upstairs.' + +'I know I oughtn't to be here,' answered Babs, ruefully. 'I never am where +I ought to be.' + +'But Finny sent for you, ages ago,' said Ruth, looking astonished. 'Didn't +Jean tell you? She's a young horror, that Jean. Never mind, come along +with me, and I'll show you the way.' + +She hurried the child through the baize door into the front hall, and +pointed out a room that was close to the foot of the stairs. 'That's +Finny's study,' she said hastily. 'You'd better look sharp. Good luck +to you!' She gave her an unexpected kiss that promptly secured her the +child's allegiance from henceforth, and ran off with her books under her +arm. + +Barbara entered the room, and looked round for Miss Finlayson. Only the +head girl was there, however, sitting at the table with a frown upon her +face. + +'You ought to have been here before this,' she began reprovingly. 'Miss +Finlayson couldn't wait any longer, so I've got to miss the history +lecture and examine you, instead of her. Why couldn't you come, directly +Jean told you?' + +Barbara turned a little red and tried to look unconcerned, in which she +signally failed. 'I think,' she said, 'that you'd better ask Jean.' + +Margaret looked at her sharply, and muttered something that sounded +uncommonly like 'Little beast!' which seemed to the child rather more +than she deserved, considering that it was really Jean's fault and not +hers at all. She was rather surprised at the head girl's next words, +which seemed quite gentle by comparison. + +'Why, you look blue with cold, child,' she remarked, and drew her round +by the fire. 'Now, stand there, and tell me what history books you have +been using.' + +'I haven't used any,' answered Babs. 'I haven't had any history lessons, +you see.' + +'Do you mean to say you know nothing about the history of England--nothing +about wars or kings or laws, or any of those things?' inquired Margaret, +raising her eyebrows. + +Barbara's face brightened. 'Oh, yes,' she said, 'I know all about _them_ +from father, and the British Museum, and books. I didn't know that was +history.' + +Margaret was a little puzzled. The examination of this new girl looked +as though it were going to present difficulties. 'What kind of books?' +she asked doubtfully. + +'Lots of kinds,' answered Barbara, glibly. 'Napier's _History of the +Peninsular War_, and somebody else's _History of the Anglo-Saxons_, and +another one called _The Four Georges_, and--and--oh, that long stuffy +one, cut up into volumes, with ever so many funny words in it, called +_Cromwell's Life and_----' + +'That's enough,' cried Margaret, and she looked in amazement at the small +animated face of the new girl. 'I--I think that will do for history,' +she went on hastily. 'Now, what about geography? I suppose you know the +elements, so I won't----' + +'What's elements?' interrupted Babs. + +'Well, the beginning part,' explained the head girl--'the part that tells +you the meaning of islands and volcanoes and earthquakes, and what the +world is like inside, and things about the moon and the----' + +'But all _that_ is in Jules Verne's story-books,' remarked Babs. 'Of +course I've read Jules Verne. Is that what you call elements? I like +elements, then, especially the _Journey to the Centre of_----' + +'Oh, I say, do stop,' interrupted Margaret, biting her lip. She was +divided between perplexity and amusement, and she wished that the +head-mistress had stayed to examine this extraordinary imp of a child +herself. 'Haven't you used any real geography books?' she asked presently. + +Barbara looked vague. + +'Do you know the map of England, for instance?' pursued Margaret, rather +desperately. + +'Oh, yes, I know the map of England,' answered the child, confidently. +'It's so easy to find, because it's pink. I know America too, because +father has gone there to lecture, and he won't be back for ever so long, +not till----' + +'Hush!' said the head girl. 'Tell me what arithmetic you have done.' + +'Let me see, that's figures without letters, isn't it?' inquired Babs. +'I'm afraid I can only add up, because Bobbin hasn't got any further yet; +he's backward in sums, you see, and I've only learnt mine through helping +him with his prep. Sometimes, I wish he'd get on a little faster, because +I'm getting so tired of----' + +'Then you mean to say,' interposed Margaret, rather impatiently, 'that +you can only do simple addition?' + +'That's in arithmetic,' Barbara hastened to point out. 'I've got as far +as fractions in the funny sums that Kit does out of the other book; +they're much easier, because they have letters dotted about to help +you. I always do Kit's sums, when he has asthma; but he says I'm very +slow. Then there's the nice interesting book with pictures of triangles +and things; we've got up to----' + +'Oh, don't!' said Margaret, and Barbara paused, a little surprised. Why +did people ask her questions if they did not mean her to answer them? +Margaret was drumming her fingers on the table and looking a little +worried. 'Have you learnt any languages?' she asked suddenly. 'I mean, +anything besides French--German, for instance?' + +'No, I haven't learnt any German, and I don't want to, thank you,' said +Babs, decidedly. 'Ever since the German band complained to father, because +Peter tried to stop their noise by shying potatoes at them from the +window, we've all made a vow never to learn their beastly language. And I +don't know any French either; no more does father. I know Latin up to the +deponent verbs, though,--deponent verbs _are_ catchy, aren't they?--and +I've begun Greek with father. I'm afraid that's all the languages I----' + +'Well, you are a curiosity!' declared Margaret, giving up the attempt to +hide her amusement. 'So you've never had a governess at all? Nor been to +classes?' + +'I've been to a gymnastic class,' said Barbara, eagerly. 'It's the only +thing I can do properly. Have you got a gymnasium here?' + +She clapped her hands when Margaret nodded, and bounded towards the door. +'Mayn't I go and try it _now_?' she asked in a disappointed tone, when +the head girl called her back. + +'There's plenty of time for that,' said Margaret, reminding her with a +frown that she was only a new girl and was there to be examined; 'I've +got to settle first what class you had better go into. But I'm sure I +don't know what I am to say to Finny about you.' She sighed, and looked +at Barbara as if for inspiration. Barbara was quite equal to the occasion. + +'You'd better put me in the bottom class, I should think,' she advised +pleasantly; 'you don't know what my spelling is like yet.' + +'Thanks,' said Margaret, drily; 'I've no doubt you are quite competent to +examine yourself, and to teach all your betters into the bargain, but that +doesn't help me just now.' She drummed her fingers on the table again, +and Barbara waited and went off into a kind of dream as she stood there. +She was aroused by an exclamation from the head girl. 'I know,' she was +saying in a relieved tone. 'Can you write compositions, child? I mean, +make up things in your head and write them down?' + +Barbara smiled. Certainly, that had nothing to do with lessons. She had +scribbled over every piece of paper she could find, ever since Nurse had +first taught her to form her letters. 'I can do that all right,' she said. +'All except the spelling,' she added as an afterthought. + +Margaret paid her no attention. She was occupied in carrying out her +happy idea for concluding the examination of the new girl and leaving +herself free at the same time to go to her history lecture. 'Look here,' +she said, spreading some paper rapidly on the desk in front of her; +'come and sit in this chair and write about anything you like. You'll have +a good hour and a half before the interval for lunch; and then Miss +Finlayson will come and look at what you've written, and she will settle +what class you can go into.' + +'But what shall I write about?' asked Barbara, when the head girl had +installed her at the table and was hurrying out of the room. + +'Anything you like; it will be all the better test if I don't give you +a subject,' said Margaret; and she escaped before the child had time to +say any more. She felt a little mean about it, for she was positive she +could not have done it herself; but she consoled herself by the reflection +that the new girl was queer enough for anything. Besides, she did not +want to miss the whole of her history class for the sake of examining a +child who was ignorant of all the things that other children knew, but +had picked up the most extraordinary bits of knowledge by herself. So +Babs was left to face the difficulty, for the first time in her life, of +writing something within a given time. + +It was certainly not easy to think of anything to say, in this unfamiliar, +austere little room, with a blank sheet of paper staring at her, and +some one preparing to pounce upon her presently, to criticise what she +had done. In the library at home such a chance as this would have +filled her with joy, and the paper would have been covered in a few +minutes with a medley about giants and princesses and dragons, to be told +later on to Kit and Bobbin when they clamoured for a story. But here +it seemed impossible to get a single word on to her sheet of paper, and +she looked at the clock in despair, and wondered what would happen to +her when Miss Finlayson returned and found she had written nothing. She +plunged her pen desperately into the ink at last, and wrote the first +thing that came into her head. It was a title she remembered noticing +on the back of a book with a smart cover--one that had lately been +added to her father's library. She did not know what it meant, and she +was not sure what she was going to say about it, but it sounded more +like the kind of thing to choose for an examination than one of her fairy +stories would have been. Then, just as she had written the heading +very crookedly across the top of the page, she found that the pen she +had picked up was a quill, and possessed the most entrancing capacity +for making splutters. It was the first time she had happened upon a +quill, and the discovery was too delightful to be neglected. So she spent +the next ten minutes in adorning her paper with fantastic ink shapes, +that she named bogies on the spot and wove into a fairy story about an +enchanted princess, who had to write a composition in an hour and a half. +When this exciting occupation began to pall, she was seized with a +sudden desire to explore, and began wandering restlessly round the room. +There was very little to examine besides books; but books were always +good enough for Barbara, and she became very quiet and absorbed as her +inky forefinger travelled slowly along the bottom shelves, until she had +exhausted the outsides of all the volumes that came within her reach. +Then she stood back, with her hands behind her, and stared up at the +ones above her head; and a familiar name, printed in dull gold letters +on the back of a solid volume in russet brown, suddenly made her heart +leap. + +'Father's book!' she gasped. 'There's father's book! And I've been in this +stupid place all this time, and never discovered it till now! Oh, I must +get father's book!' + +There was a sob in her throat when she found that even a footstool, placed +on the highest chair in the room, did not mount her up sufficiently +to reach the precious volume. Her bright little eyes travelled quickly +round the study, to embrace all its resources, and she very nearly uttered +one of her wild war-whoops of delight when she spied a step-ladder +half hidden in a dark corner. It did not take her a minute to stagger +with it across the room and to fix it, more or less securely, against the +bookshelf. After that, there was no sound in the little study except the +ticking of the clock and the rustling of leaves, until the door +opened sharply and the owner herself walked in. + +For a moment Miss Finlayson thought the room was empty. Then she saw the +small figure with the big book, perched on the top of the ladder; and +the quaintness of the picture made her smile irresistibly. 'What are you +doing, Barbara?' she asked. + +She spoke as softly as she could, but the sound of her voice was quite +enough to startle the unconscious child. She dropped the heavy book with +a thud, and would have lost her balance and plunged after it, had not +Miss Finlayson been prepared for the contingency and put out an arm to +save her. Babs caught at it wildly, and found herself lifted down and +placed on the floor in safety. + +Miss Finlayson had stopped smiling, but she did not look very angry. 'What +were you doing up there, Barbara?' she repeated gently. + +'I was reading father's book,' answered Barbara, rubbing her eyes. 'I +didn't know it was there, till I looked up and saw it; and then I just +climbed up and got it. I think I must have been reading a great long time, +because I've got such an ache just there.' She curled her hand under her +arm and thumped the middle of her back. 'Do you ever get an ache in the +middle of your back when you've been reading?' she inquired earnestly. + +Miss Finlayson did not answer immediately. She stooped and picked up the +fallen book first, and replaced it on the shelf. Barbara began to wonder +if she was angry, and if that was why she had such an odd, serious look +on her face. + +'And do you like your father's book, Barbara?' she asked presently. + +'I think it's the most beautiful book in all the world,' answered Barbara, +without hesitation. + +Miss Finlayson was a little startled, but she did not show it. 'Then I +wonder if you can explain it to me,' she went on; 'for, do you know, I +find some of it rather difficult to understand?' + +Barbara threw back her head and laughed merrily. 'But I don't understand +_any_ of it,' she cried. 'You have to be grown up to understand it, father +says. And I'm not grown up yet, you see.' + +'No,' agreed Miss Finlayson. She was looking distinctly relieved, and +the twinkle had come back again into the depths of her eyes. 'I shouldn't +worry about that, though, if I were you,' she continued, sitting down +and taking the child on her lap. 'Some day, when you are quite grown up, +you will be able to understand it; and then we can read it together and +help each other over the difficult parts. What do you say to that?' + +'I think it will be beautiful; but it's a very long time to wait,' sighed +Barbara. 'When do you think I shall be quite grown up? Jill is grown up, +and she is eighteen. Shall I be grown up when I am eighteen?' + +'We will wait and see,' said Miss Finlayson, but somehow her tone was +not encouraging. 'Meanwhile,' she went on, patting the hand that was +fearlessly lying in hers, 'supposing we make a bargain that neither of us +will read your father's book until we can read it together? You see, +if you were to go on reading it now, you might understand it in quite a +wrong way, and then you would never be able to help me over the difficult +parts.' + +Barbara thought about it for a moment or two. 'But _you_ will have to do +without father's book all those years!' she exclaimed suddenly. + +'I have read it once, you see,' said Miss Finlayson, gravely; 'I think I +can manage to wait, if you will wait too.' + +Barbara still looked doubtful. 'Do you really think I shall be able to +help you over the difficult parts?' she asked. + +Miss Finlayson smiled mysteriously. 'Perhaps,' she said. 'One never knows.' + +'Then I'll wait till I'm grown up before I read it again,' decided +Barbara. 'It would certainly be a pity to spoil father's book by +understanding it all wrong.' + +'Or by dropping it from the top of other people's ladders,' observed Miss +Finlayson. That was all the reproof she gave her; and then she turned +briskly to the writing-table. 'Isn't there something you have written +for me?' she asked. + +Barbara jumped away from her in dismay. 'I quite forgot!' she said +penitently. 'I did begin to write something, and then--and then----' She +struggled in vain to remember what had happened, and gave it up with a +sigh. 'I don't know what I did, but I know I never wrote any more than +this,' she added, and produced the sheet of paper in a shamefaced manner. + +Miss Finlayson took it, and glanced at the title that was written +crookedly across the top of the page. 'A Comparrisson of the Possition of +Women, now and in the eighteenth century,' was what she read. Below that +came quantities of smudges and blots, and at the bottom of all was +inscribed: 'These are the ink bogies that came and wrote the Princess's +compossition for her, and saved her from the awfull anger of the cruel old +witch called Finny.' + +Miss Finlayson read this over more than once, then she folded up the sheet +of paper very carefully, keeping her face averted all the while. Babs was +sure she had been very naughty, and she was seized with a panic lest the +head-mistress should be too angry this time even to speak to her. + +'I--I know it was very naughty of me,' she confessed anxiously; 'I +couldn't think of anything to say about it, and the pen made such +beautiful bogies, and--and--are you _awfully_ furious?' + +Miss Finlayson had to look at her, then; and she made a last effort to +keep grave. The next moment the little room was filled with her laughter. + +'My dear little girl,' she exclaimed, 'I am afraid I am not a bit furious. +The fact is--the ink bogies _have_ saved the Princess!' + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BOOTS OF THE HEAD GIRL + + +'I'm going to be in your class for everything except Latin and +mathematics,' shouted Barbara, flying into the juniors' room just +before dinner. It seemed to her of the first importance that everybody +should know which class she was to be in, and she was distinctly +surprised when Jean Murray, whom she had addressed, turned her back on +her and began talking loudly to some one else. 'Don't you hear?' +persisted Babs, coming round in front of her again. 'I'm going to be in +your class for everything except----' + +'Sneak!' burst out Jean Murray, unable to control herself any longer. +'Tell-tale! You oughtn't to be in anybody's class, you oughtn't!' + +Barbara stood stockstill, and looked at her. All the courage she had +regained from her peaceful morning in Miss Finlayson's study dwindled away +again, and left her hopeless of propitiating these strange schoolgirls, +who seemed determined on being cross with her whatever she did. Angela +knocked roughly against her at the same instant, and surprised her at +last into a remonstrance. + +'What have I done?' she demanded. 'Won't anybody tell me what I have done?' + +No one answered her. The alliance of Jean and Angela, though Jean was +the youngest and Angela the most empty-headed of all the children there, +meant the existence of a strong party in the junior playroom; and the +poor little new girl stood a very small chance of asserting herself +against it. They were much like sheep, both in the upper and the lower +playrooms at Wootton Beeches; and the party that followed Margaret Hulme +in one room was like the party that followed Jean in the other. In +both cases it only needed some one a little stronger than the rest to +be the leader; and Jean, in spite of her inferiority in age, supplied +the strength, or what her school-fellows mistook for it, in a certain +doggedness of temper that pulled them along in her wake. Most of them +found it so unpleasant to be in her bad books, that she had very little +difficulty in managing them. + +Barbara turned appealingly to Angela. 'Why is Jean so cross with me?' she +asked. 'I haven't done anything to her, have I?' + +'Not done anything?' echoed Angela, looking over her shoulder for Jean's +support. 'Why, you went and told Margaret Hulme that Jean hadn't given +you Finny's message, and----' + +'Sneak! Tell-tale!' sneered Jean again. + +Barbara suddenly looked immensely relieved, and smiled in a friendly +manner at the enemy. At least this was a misunderstanding that she could +clear up. 'Is that all?' she cried. 'No wonder you were cross, if you +thought that. Of course I never said a word about it to Margaret Hulme, or +any one else; I suppose she guessed, or something. But why didn't you +give me the message? It would have saved such a lot of bother, wouldn't +it?' + +'Well,' gasped Jean, as though words almost failed her, 'I never heard +such wicked story-telling!' + +'Nor I either,' chimed in Angela, putting her arm round Jean's waist. +'She's done nothing but tell crams ever since she's been here. Come away, +Jean, dear; she isn't fit to be argued with.' + +The pair of them marched off, consumed with righteous wrath, to the other +end of the playroom. Babs, overwhelmed with the incredible idea that any +one should suppose her capable of telling an untruth about anything, +waited speechlessly for some one to interfere and take her part. But +those of her school-fellows who had been listening to the dispute hastily +followed the example of their leader, and ignored her entirely. They did +not stop to think whether they were being just; if the new girl told +stories--and Jean Murray said she did--it was certainly their duty to +teach her a lesson. When they looked for her presently, to see how she was +bearing their displeasure, they found she was no longer there. + +Upstairs, in the small, bare bedroom, the one spot where she felt safe +from the intrusion of horrible wicked people with horrible wicked +thoughts in them, the forlorn little new girl was covering page after page +of the ruled note-paper Auntie Anna had given her, with an ill-written, +ill-spelt account of her woes. + +'Dear, dear boys,' she wrote; 'I am very misserable. Everything is +horible. At least, that is not quite true. Finny is nice she is like +Auntie Anna and Nurse, and I've got a bedroom of my very own we all have +but mine is one of the nicest becourse it comes at the corner of the +house and looks over a wall into the orchard and there's a plant with +bunches of red beries that climes round my window and nobody else has +red berrys round their window but only me. Finny has lots of ripping books +in her study and she has father's book and she is very nice but the girls +are beests I hate girls! Girls tell stories and they say you do things +when you don't and they are awfull beests. They laugh at you every +time you open your mouth but I don't mind their siliness so much it's +their untruthfull hatefullness that I hate. I have never been so miserable +I wish father had never gone to that beestly America and I wish Auntie +Anna would come and fetch me back again. Do do ask her to come and take +me away from all those hatefull girls, tell her how miserabble I am +you don't know any of you what it is to be really misserable, etc. etc.' + +She had reached about the fifth page of this wild epistle when her door +flew open; and Ruth Oliver looked in, with a perturbed look on her +good-humoured face. + +'Why, there you are!' she exclaimed. 'Didn't you hear the dinner-bell? +We're half-way through the first course. Whatever are you doing?' + +Barbara began folding up her letter and forcing it with trembling hands +into an envelope. 'I've been writing home,' she said, and her voice +quivered. Of course, everything she did was wrong; but what did dinner +matter when there was her letter home to be written? + +'My dear child, we're not allowed to write letters except on Wednesday +afternoons. Make haste and put the thing away, do,' said Ruth, +impatiently. The sudden look of distress on the child's face touched +her, and she added more kindly--'Well, well, bring it downstairs with +you, Babe, and perhaps Finny will give you leave to send it to-day. Only, +do _come_.' + +Miss Finlayson not only gave her leave, but even offered to deliver the +letter herself, as she happened to be going to pay a call near Crofts +that same afternoon. It consoled Babs a little to feel that the boys would +not have to wait until the morning to learn how miserable she was; at +the same time, her present situation was no easier to bear, for all the +younger girls took a thoughtless pleasure in talking at her, whenever +Jean was present; and it was not nice to be with people who made remarks +about her, and yet pretended all the time that she was not there. The +early part of the afternoon at Wootton Beeches was given up to playing +games in the nine-acre field, which was marked out, during the winter, +into hockey grounds; and here Babs found herself, soon after dinner, +strolling aimlessly along by the hedge and wondering what there was about +her that made eighty-seven girls detest her so heartily. When she suddenly +remembered how much she had looked forward to playing real games with +real schoolgirls, her disappointment was too much for her, and the tears +rolled rapidly down her cheeks. + +'Why, here's the new girl, Barbara Berkeley. She'll do,' said a brisk +voice behind her, and the games-mistress descended upon her with a hasty +request 'not to hide away in corners when she was wanted.' + +'I didn't know I was wanted,' explained Barbara, following her up the +field. 'I never am wanted, you see.' + +'Nonsense! Everybody is wanted at this school,' replied the +games-mistress, who had a warm complexion, a breezy manner, and a +vigorous step, all of which, aided by her name of Burleigh, had secured +her the nickname of Hurly-burly. It never occurred to her that the new +girl was suffering from anything worse than the ordinary depression +natural to her newness, and she decided immediately that the best +thing to cheer her up would be to make her run about. In the eyes of +Miss Burleigh, running about was a cure for most things. 'Here, Charlotte +Bigley!' she called loudly; 'you ought to have looked after this child +instead of letting her escape. She'll do to play forward on your +side. Just put her where you like, and let's begin.' + +There was not much chance, when Miss Burleigh was about, of letting +private feuds spoil the game of hockey; and under the influence of +her infectious gaiety, the girls even began to show Babs a certain amount +of friendliness. Perhaps the fact that Jean Murray was bicycling round +the cinder-track, instead of playing hockey, may have had something +to do with their change of manner, but Babs did not inquire into that. +It was enough for her that she was allowed, for the first time in her +life, to run about in the open air without a hat; and she reddened +with pleasure when Charlotte Bigley, the captain of her side, actually +complimented her on the way she ran. Charlotte was the oldest of the +junior girls, and she was going to be moved into the upper Third next +term; so she always professed to be rather superior to the leadership +of Jean Murray--especially when Jean Murray was out of the way. + +'You'll make a very good right wing, when you've learnt to pass the +ball inside instead of poking at it,' she observed condescendingly, at +half-time. + +A very little was enough to send up Barbara's spirits with a bound, and +when the bell rang at four o'clock for preparation, she ran indoors with +as buoyant a step as the rest, and even whistled gaily to herself as she +unlaced her boots in the large cloakroom, where the girls were taking off +their outdoor things. Angela happened to overhear her, and at once took +upon herself to quench this unseemly appearance of cheerfulness, and to +remind her that she was still only a new girl. + +'You'd better look sharp and take off the head girl's boots, or you'll +catch it,' she advised her in a threatening tone. + +Barbara stopped whistling and became suspicious. 'Last time I was told to +go and do things for the head girl, it was all humbug,' she said. 'I'm +not going to be taken in twice, so you shut up!' + +Angela under the protection of Jean, and Angela by herself, were two +very different beings. The unexpected resistance made by Babs was quite +enough to change her bullying tone into an injured one, and she began +to edge off towards the other girls. 'This isn't humbug, anyhow,' she +said in a milder tone. 'If you don't believe me, go and see; that won't +hurt you, whether it's true or not. Of course, if you _want_ to make +Margaret jump on you, it doesn't matter to me.' + +There was certainly something in what she said, and Barbara heaved a +sigh for the complications of school life. It was so silly, she felt, +so extremely silly to make such a fuss about the displeasure of the +head girl, and to avoid it by doing such stupid things for her. Why +couldn't the head girl take off her own boots, like every one else? +However, it did not matter much, one way or the other; and Babs would +have taken off anybody's boots to secure a little friendliness in this +most unfriendly of assemblages. So she threaded her way through the crowd +of girls to where Margaret Hulme stood talking with the enthusiastic +hockey players who formed the first eleven. She had not begun to take +off her boots, Babs noticed, so perhaps it was true after all, and the +head girl was really waiting for some one to come and do it for her. + +'Ruth would make a splendid half-back if she'd only learn to strike +better,' Margaret was saying earnestly; 'and if Winifred wasn't so +frightened of tackling, we should have quite a--what is it, child?' + +'Please, I've come to know if you want your boots unlaced,' said Barbara, +rather faintly. She was fully prepared to be laughed at again for her +pains; and, indeed, it did seem a most ridiculous suggestion to make to +any one. But the head girl treated it as if it were the most natural thing +in the world. + +'Of course I do. Do you want to do them to-day?' was her reply, and she +immediately put her right foot a little forward and went on talking to +her eleven. + +'Oh, but I don't _want_ to take them off,' cried Babs, eagerly. 'I only +thought----' + +But Margaret was too deep in her conversation to pay any attention to +the youngest girl in the school; and Barbara knelt down unwillingly and +struggled with a stubborn knot in a muddy bootlace. She had hardly begun +her unattractive task, when some one dropped suddenly beside her on the +floor and laid a hot hand on hers. + +'You leave the head girl's boots alone!' said Jean's voice in her ear. +'It's just like your interfering ways, to come sneaking up to her when +I wasn't looking. Go away and mind your own business!' + +Now, Babs had just been resenting deeply the absurdity of her position at +the feet of the head girl. She did not want to take off anybody's boots, +and she thought it an exceedingly stupid thing to do. But to give up her +task because some one came and got cross about it, was quite another +matter. A lurking spirit of mischief, helped by the exhilaration she +still felt after her two hours in the open air, made her retain her hold +on the knot in the head girl's bootlace. + +'I am minding my own business,' she retorted stoutly. 'Ever since I've +been here, you and Angela have dinned the head girl's boots into my ears +till I'm sick of hearing about the stupid things. Now I'm here, I'm not +going to stop till I've done them; so you'd better go away yourself.' + +[Illustration: 'What in the name of wonder are you children doing down +there?'] + +Jean glanced at her furiously, and Barbara tugged away at the bootlace +and began whistling again, to show how little she cared whether Jean was +angry or not. Above their heads, the gossip went on busily about the style +of the first hockey eleven. + +'How about our chances against the Wilford club next month?' some one was +asking. + +'As to that,' said Margaret, with confidence, 'if we only keep our heads +we shall have no difficulty whatever in standing----' + +She did not finish her sentence, for at that instant a violent onslaught +on her right foot put a comical end to it by nearly upsetting her balance. +She just saved herself by seizing the arm of the nearest girl, and the +hockey gossip came to an abrupt finish. + +'What in the name of wonder are you children doing down there?' demanded +Margaret, wrathfully. The knot had come undone by this time, and Jean +was tugging at one end of the bootlace, while Babs, with an elfish glee +shining in her bright little eyes, was keeping a firm hold on the other +end. + +'You go away,' Jean was gasping in a choked voice. 'I've done this for +two years, and I'm not going to give up doing it now.' + +'You told me yourself I'd got to do it, and I'm not going away till it's +done, so there!' laughed Barbara, in reply. + +She made another dash at the foot between them, and the head girl again +nearly lost her balance. 'Stop quarrelling, and leave my foot alone, you +naughty little wretches!' cried Margaret, stamping her disengaged foot +vigorously. Jean, with two years of discipline behind her, awoke suddenly +to the voice of authority and started to her feet, covered with terror +at the enormity of her offence. But Babs uttered a yell of delight at +finding the victory so easily won. + +'Why don't you unlace somebody else's boots?' she shouted defiantly to +her adversary. 'There's lots of boots round here waiting to be unlaced.' + +Margaret stooped down and lifted her up bodily, and set her on her feet +beside Jean. + +'Now,' she said sternly, 'what do you both mean by behaving in this +disgraceful manner?' + +Neither of them answered her. Jean hung her head and looked as if she were +going to cry every minute, and Barbara waited to see what would happen +next. It did not seem to her that she had done anything so very dreadful, +and she wondered why no one saw how funny it all was. Ruth Oliver was +looking the other way, so she could not see her face; but the rest of +them seemed just as serious about it as the head girl herself. + +'Haven't you anything to say for yourselves?' demanded Margaret. + +Hot, angry tears began to well up into Jean's eyes. She never knew she +could have hated any one so much as she hated this new girl for coming +between her and Margaret Hulme. Barbara caught sight of her tears, and +the desire to laugh suddenly left her. + +'You see, we didn't know who had got to unlace your boots,' she explained +hastily. 'It isn't that it's such an awfully jolly thing to unlace +people's boots, but----' + +'Oh, that's it, is it?' interrupted Margaret, crushingly. 'Then you +needn't be in the same difficulty any more on my account, for in future +I shall unlace my own boots. Now, go away and do your preparation at +once, and don't let me see either of you again for the rest of the day.' + +Babs went off obediently to find her books, and she puzzled greatly as +she went over the displeasure of Margaret Hulme. 'Such a fuss to make +about _boots_,' she remarked to Charlotte Bigley, whose bookshelf was next +to hers. But even Charlotte was not proof against the furious account of +the matter that Jean Murray had just been giving to a sympathetic circle +of friends; and Barbara soon found that she had quite lost the little +popularity she might have gained in the hockey field by her behaviour +over the head girl's boots. + +'I think she must be mad,' declared Angela, in the buzz of conversation +that preceeded the call for 'Silence' from the presiding French teacher. +'She looked as though she wanted to kill Jean. I was looking at her all +the time, and I was quite frightened. She ought to be watched, I'm certain +she ought.' + +'She ought not to be spoken to by any one,' wailed Jean, hiding behind an +open atlas to avoid the scrutiny of Mademoiselle, who sat in the archway +between the two playrooms. 'Perhaps, if every one leaves her alone she'll +learn how to behave like other people.' + +Left alone she accordingly was, since Jean Murray had so decreed it; +and this time there were no half-measures about it. At tea-time, and +again at the supper table, the girls on either side of her turned their +backs upon her and talked busily to their other neighbours; and in the +playroom afterwards she found herself just as scrupulously avoided. It +was decidedly an uncomfortable state of things for the new girl, as it +was meant to be by those who were responsible for making it; but somehow +the new girl did not seem to mind it half so much as they would have +expected. All the evening she sat in the corner of the juniors' room +by herself, and any one would have said from the look on her face that +she did not care whether the others spoke to her or not. Now and then +she smiled, as she sat there with her elbows perched on her knees and +her chin supported on her hands; and the whole time her look of supreme +unconsciousness never left her. + +'She's hardened, that's what she is,' declared Jean, glancing in her +direction. This she said to keep up her own resentment against the new +girl, which was unaccountably beginning to cool. + +'She thinks it's grand to pretend not to care,' added the faithful +Angela. This, indeed, was the prevailing opinion among the children +of the junior playroom; and it was not comforting to their pride. + +All the while, Barbara guessed nothing of the comments she was provoking +by her manner. It was enough for her that she had got away once more +into her fairy kingdom, and that Kit and the magician and the old +fairy godmother had just turned out all the princesses who were called +schoolgirls, and had shut the gates in their faces. + +It was a very weary little new girl who went up to her bed that evening +after prayers. She was almost too tired to think over the events that +had been crowded into the last twenty-four hours, almost too sleepy to +realise that this was the close of her first day at school, the day she +had thought would be the happiest day in her life. Perhaps it was a good +thing she was not able to think too much about anything, at the end of +that first day at school. The moment Fraeulein had turned out her light, +she went off into a dreamless sleep that might have lasted unbroken till +the morning, had not something occurred most strangely to break it. + +She did not hear the small pebbles that were thrown up, one after +another, at her window; it would have taken more than that to rouse +her from her first sleep, though once a handful of mould and gravel that +scattered itself all over the glass panes made her stir uneasily and +murmur something sleepily. It was just after this that some one began +calling 'Coo-ey' softly, on two particular notes; and after this had been +repeated two or three times, it gradually worked itself into the waking +dream of the little new girl. At the fourth time, she was wide awake +and listening with all her might. Another repetition of it, followed by a +gentle whistle that only Peter knew how to blow through his fingers, took +her with a flying leap to the window. The moon outside was flooding the +world with light and revealing every secret in the landscape for miles: +it flooded the big nine-acre field beyond the orchard; it flooded the +orchard itself, and the wall that ran along it, just under her window; and +it showed her five boys sitting astride on the top of the wall, and +five--no, _six_ bicycles leaning against the bottom of the wall. + +Barbara pushed open the lattice window as wide as it would go, and leaned +out breathlessly. Her finger was on her lips, and she shivered from head +to foot with cold and the fear of being overheard. Supposing that any +one were to find out they were there, and should send them away before she +could get to them? + +The five of them made frantic signs of welcome, as soon as they saw +the familiar dark head appear at the window. In spite of the graphic +description contained in her letter, they were beginning to be afraid +of having besieged the wrong window. Then Kit waved a screw of paper and +made more signs, and the dark head vanished from view again. It did +not take a minute to turn out all the contents of her corner drawer, +and to find the ball of string that Robin had given her for a parting +present, and then to fling the end of it down to Kit, who tied on his +screw of paper and nodded at her to haul it up. + +The moonlight was bright enough to enable her to read the few short +pencilled lines without much difficulty. + +'We've come to the rescue,' she read. 'Auntie Anna has gone away till +to-morrow, so we could not wait until then, knowing you were so jolly +blue. Come down quickly; there's a window under yours that you could get +through all right.' + +Barbara struggled with desperate haste into her pink dressing-gown, +thrust her bare feet into a pair of woolly slippers, and glided to the +door. In her haste and her half-awakened condition a more elaborate +costume than that, considering the urgency of the occasion, seemed quite +unnecessary to her. Along the silent gallery she pattered, and down +the wide staircase, then through the two empty playrooms into the front +hall. She knew the window the boys had meant; she had noticed the red +berries tapping against the glass, as she passed it on her way to Finny's +study the morning before. + +As she sped across the moonlit hall, she did not see that the study door +was ajar and that a chink of light shone out from it. All her attention +was absorbed in the one thought that the boys were going to take her away +from this houseful of unfriendly strangers, and that she would never have +to face them and their taunts again. + +She clambered on to the window-seat, and unfastened the shutter. That was +easy enough, but the bolt of the window baffled her for some seconds. +When she did manage to shoot it back, the noise it made filled her with +apprehension. In her terror lest she should have been overheard, she did +not pause another instant, but threw up the sash and hastily put one +slippered foot on the ledge. Once outside and on her bicycle, the boys +would take care that no one overtook her; and she would be free at last! + +Panting with excitement, she stooped through the open window and prepared +to draw her other foot after her. But before she had time to do so, a +light step had crossed the hall and an arm was flung round her from behind. + +'Barbara!' exclaimed Miss Finlayson. '_Barbara!_' + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AN IMPROMPTU SUPPER PARTY + + +The disappointment was too much. Barbara covered her face with her hands +and burst into tears. + +'Let me go, do let me go!' she cried, struggling to free herself. 'It +can't make any difference to you whether I run away or not, and it does +matter to me and the boys!' + +'Barbara!' repeated Miss Finlayson, very quietly indeed. But the child +did not seem to hear. + +'Why won't you let me go?' she sobbed passionately. 'I can't stop any +longer in this horrible place. Nobody wants me here, nobody! Do, do let +me go back with the boys.' + +Miss Finlayson put her other arm for a moment round the little figure in +the pink dressing-gown, and she kissed the only place on the hot, wet +cheek that was to be seen. Then she stepped backwards and left her free. + +'You can go, Barbara, if you want to,' she said, just as calmly as before. + +Babs uncovered her eyes and looked at her incredulously. Now that she +was free to go the inclination to run away seemed to have left her. +Outside, the boys were waiting and wondering why she did not join them. +They could just see something at the open window, but the shadow cast +by the orchard wall made it indistinguishable. Miss Finlayson shot one +glance outwards, that took in the row of figures at the top of the wall, +and the row of bicycles at the bottom of it; then she waited passively +for Barbara to make up her mind. But this was precisely what the child +could not do. + +'Wouldn't you--wouldn't you _mind_?' she stammered at last. + +'Would it matter to you if I did?' asked Miss Finlayson. + +Babs stood still, in a miserable state of indecision, with one foot still +on the window-seat, and the other placed on the ledge outside. She was +beginning to feel exhausted by the excitement she had gone through, and +she gave a weary yawn that turned into a shiver. Miss Finlayson promptly +put an end to the situation by lifting her back into the hall. Directly +she did so, a series of thuds in the neighbourhood of the wall, followed +by the crunch of footsteps along the gravel path, sounded from without, +and the tops of five heads suddenly appeared at the open window. + +'If you please,' said a voice, pleadingly, 'it is our fault that the Babe +is trying to escape. You won't rag her for it, will you?' + +[Illustration: 'Five heads suddenly appeared at the open window'] + +'She never knew we were coming, till we came,' added another voice. 'We +made up the plan because we heard she was jolly unhappy.' + +'We couldn't possibly let her be unhappy another minute, or else we might +have waited till Auntie Anna came back,' chimed in a third. + +Then followed a disappointed cry in Robin's shrill tones. 'But _isn't_ +she going to escape, after all?' + +Miss Finlayson waited till they had finished speaking, and her large clear +eyes were brimming over with fun. + +'Of course she is going to escape, if she wants to,' answered the +head-mistress; 'but at present she seems to be in some doubt about +the matter. Supposing you come in and wait by the fire, while she +thinks it over. You might help her, perhaps, to make up her mind. Will +you climb through the window, or shall I unbolt the front door?' + +Naturally, a rescue party five strong could not do anything so tame +as to walk through a front door; so although the window was four or +five feet from the ground, Robin was hoisted up first by Peter's strong +arms, and then they all scrambled after him, one by one, till the little +procession was ready to follow Babs and her captor into the warm, cosy +study. Certainly, no one could have said that Miss Finlayson's room looked +stiff or austere at night, when the curtains were drawn and the fire had +burned down to a rich red glow. + +There was something like an uncomfortable pause, as soon as they found +themselves assembled there, with the light full on their faces. It was +true that the expedition had not failed, and that the Babe was as free +to escape now as she had been before Miss Finlayson came upon the scene; +but, for all that, none of them could help feeling that Miss Finlayson, +so far, had the game in her own hands, and that they were only making +themselves look ridiculous. For they could all see that her face was +overflowing with merriment, as she stooped down and poked the fire into a +blaze. + +Egbert cleared his throat, and tried to relieve the awkwardness of the +position by making some sort of an apology. He knew quite well that, being +the eldest, he ought to have suppressed the plot in the very beginning. + +'I am afraid you will think us rather mad,' he began, 'but the Babe's +letter put us all on our mettle; and we thought--that is, some of us +thought she ought to be rescued. Of course, we hadn't seen you then,' he +added desperately. Any apology for the rescue party certainly involved +the most unflattering insinuations about his hostess; and Egbert in his +confusion thought exceedingly bitter things about Kit and Peter, who +had dragged him against his will on this wild adventure. + +'It was awfully nice of you to think of me,' murmured Barbara, but her +tone was not so enthusiastic as it might have been. If only Finny would +stop being so obliging about it, she was sure she would find it so much +easier to run away. + +'Exceedingly nice!' echoed Miss Finlayson, warmly. 'I am only sorry +there should be this delay in carrying out your plan. However, that is +no reason why we should not have something to eat, while Barbara is +making up her mind. It must be nearly midnight, and I am starving. Will +one of you come and help me to forage? + +Egbert volunteered, with a feeling of relief at having something to do; +and he followed her out of the room. The moment the door closed, the +children's tongues were loosed. + +'Dear, dear Babs,' cried Robin, dancing round her gleefully; 'you will +come away from the horrid, cross old thing, won't you?' + +'Finny isn't cross, Bobbin; it's the others,' remonstrated Babs. + +'Why, of course you're coming, aren't you?' said Peter, who was impatient +to have done with this inaction and to carry out the glorious rescue they +had planned. The worst of it was that half its gloriousness seemed to have +subsided before the pleasant manners of the head-mistress. + +'I should think she was coming, indeed!' declared Wilfred. 'You don't +suppose I'm going to lose two hours of bed for nothing, do you?' + +Christopher, who had been silently observing Barbara all the while, shook +his head slowly. 'She won't come,' he said gruffly. 'They've made her +different already.' + +A vague feeling of uneasiness crept over Barbara. Kit was always right; +_was_ she different already? She gave herself an involuntary shake. 'Never +mind about me!' she exclaimed. 'Tell me about Crofts, and what you've been +doing since I left, and----everything. Do you mean to say your cold is +better already, Kit?' + +'Ah!' Wilfred hastened to tell her; 'that's because of the new doctor.' + +'There's a new doctor just settled in this part of the world,' explained +Peter. 'Your Finny thinks an awful lot of him, and that's why Auntie +Anna sent for him last night, when Kit got bad, instead of going to the +old-fashioned chap who lives round the corner at Crofts. _We_ don't think +anything of him at all, though; do we, boys?' + +'He _is_ a funny man,' commented Robin. + +'He's a beast,' said Kit, conclusively. + +'He's a clever beast, anyway,' protested Wilfred, feeling bound to support +the profession. 'He's done you an awful lot of good already, Kit, and +he lets you go out as much as you like. It's the modern treatment, or +something.' + +'Why is he a beast, Kit?' asked Barbara, sympathetically. The world had +convinced her so strongly, since yesterday afternoon, of its possibilities +in the way of beasts, that she felt sure Kit was right about it. + +'He grunts at you as though you weren't fit to speak to; and he isn't a +bit sorry for you, as old Browne used to be, but he seems to think you +are making it all up,' said Christopher, in an injured tone. + +'He doesn't like boys; that's at the bottom of it,' added Peter. 'He +looked black as thunder because we were rotting in the library with Kit, +and he cleared us all out before he'd even look at his tongue.' + +'And he never sent for a silver spoon, nor nothing,' cried Robin, in +much excitement. 'How did he 'xamine your throat, Kit, if he hadn't got +a silver spoon?' + +'Shoved a thing like a skewer down, that he took out of his pocket,' said +Kit, contemptuously. 'His pocket was full of rotten skewers and things.' + +'That's the modern treatment,' said Wilfred again. + +'Modern treatment be hanged!' remarked Peter, with a laugh. 'Jill hates +him too; he treated her as if she was about ten years old.' + +'Jill's furious because Auntie Anna has asked him to dinner next week; +and we shall have gone back by then, so she'll have him to herself all +the evening,' chuckled Wilfred. + +'How is Jill?' asked Barbara, as soon as she could get in a word. + +There was a little pause. 'She's all right,' said Christopher, +indifferently, after a moment or two. + +'Kit likes her _awfully_,' proclaimed Robin, with his head on one side. + +'So does Peter,' added Christopher, hastily. 'He was awfully gone on her +this morning, because she mended his cap when no one was looking.' + +'I don't think she means to be young-ladyish, really,' remarked Wilfred, +patronisingly. 'Last night, when you kids had gone to bed, she sang to +Egbert and me. She can sing!' + +'Now, why didn't she sing to us before?' demanded Peter. 'That's where +she's so awfully rum.' + +'She hasn't been properly trained, that's all,' said Christopher. + +'Why, she's studied under the best master in Paris!' interrupted Wilfred. + +'You goat! I meant _her_, not her singing,' snapped Christopher. + +'Oh, well, we all know why _you_ like her,' retorted Wilfred. 'It's +because she came and sucked up to you by offering to read aloud to you, +before Dr. Hurst said you might go----' + +'I never said I did like her,' disputed Kit. + +The door opened before they settled the matter; and the foraging party +returned, laden with spoil. + +'I brought everything I could find that looked interesting,' announced the +head-mistress. 'You must be ravenous after riding all that way; and I'm +sure I am, though I've done nothing but sit by the fire all the evening +and make time-tables. You might clear them out of the way for me, will +you, Robin? And you, Wilfred, can move the other things on to the floor, +or anywhere else you like. Will you hold this tray, Peter, while I lay +the cloth? No, I don't want you, Christopher, thank you. Can't you see +that Babs is bubbling over with news for you? Go and keep her company +by the fire till supper is ready.' + +It was very queer that she should know all their names like that, and +Egbert declared afterwards that he did not think he had told her anything +about them, though somehow she had kept him talking all the time they +were foraging in the larder. She had found out as much as she wanted +to know, however, and she found out a good deal more before supper was +over. There was something about her that made them all talk to her as +if she were an old friend of theirs instead of the stern jailer whom +they had come to defy. Not that she allowed them for all that to have +the conversation to themselves, for she chatted away herself as busily +as possible; and she made jokes about her impromptu supper until even +Egbert felt at his ease. + +'Can any one cut up his chicken without a knife?' she asked. 'There's a +knife short, but it doesn't do to be too particular on an occasion of +this sort, does it? Ah, of course, you have one in your pocket, Peter; +I am used to girls, you see, and a girl never has anything in her +pocket except a handkerchief, and that is generally half out of it. +Now, who is going to carve the beef? Not I, indeed! I have carved the +beef in this household for twelve years, and you needn't suppose I'm going +to miss such an opportunity as this of being idle. Do you know, there +have never been five gentlemen together at my table since I became a +schoolmistress? Think of that, Barbara, and do not wonder that I know +more about girls than tomboys. I'm sorry there isn't a salad, but +there's real chutnee from Bombay and not the other place--wherever that +may be. An old pupil sends me my chutnee; and I always keep it for +grand occasions, like this and the break-up party. Will you come to +our next break-up party? That depends, I suppose, on whether Babs stops +here or not. Ah, well, she will have made up her mind by that time, +won't she? I'm afraid I must forbid you cold pie, Kit, it's poison to +asthma; besides, here are real, stiff, stewed pears. Don't you like +stewed pears that are stewed _stiff_?' + +Barbara sat on the hearthrug with Kit, and she tried hard to determine +whether she should run away or not. With Finny revealing herself in +this wonderful new light, and Kit sitting beside her in the comfortable +firelight and sharing her plateful of stewed pears, the problem was +more than she could solve for herself. If this was school, she should +like to stay here always; and if it wasn't, well, she felt too lazy in +the present delicious state of things to worry herself any more about it. + +Supper came to an end at last, and Miss Finlayson glanced at the clock. +Egbert took the hint, and pulled Christopher away from the bookshelves, +which he had begun greedily to examine. + +'I think we must be going,' said the eldest of the five, politely; and +then he stopped short. The absurdity of the situation upset his dignity +again, and he stood there fingering his cap nervously. + +'What about Babs?' asked Miss Finlayson; and her eyes twinkled and shone +till one might almost have supposed them to be filled with tears. + +The boys looked towards the fireplace; but Miss Finlayson was standing in +front of it, and the little figure in the pink dressing-gown was hidden +from view. The head-mistress, at all events, had come to the conclusion +that the problem was too difficult for Barbara to solve. + +'Yes, what about the Babe?' said Egbert, glancing round at the others. + +'We did come to rescue her,' maintained Peter, 'and I do think----' + +'Isn't Babs coming?' interrupted Robin, in tones of amazement. It seemed +a great waste of time to come all this way, and not to rescue anybody in +the end. Of course, there was the supper to be taken into consideration; +but it would be contrary to all precedent in the Berkeley family, if the +boys were to let themselves be influenced by _supper_. + +'She'd be an idiot if she did come,' muttered Wilfred, under his breath. +He, undoubtedly, had been influenced by the supper. + +Christopher pushed a chair on one side with a quick, impatient movement. +'She won't come,' he said once more. Then he caught a look from his +hostess, and reddened slightly. 'Perhaps she had better stay,' he added, +with an effort. + +'Thank you, Kit,' said Miss Finlayson, with a nod and a smile at him. Then +she turned to the others again. The look of amusement never left her face +once. 'Will some one ask the Babe what she feels about the matter?' she +suggested. + +She moved on one side to give them the opportunity. But the question was +never put. Babs had stopped trying to make up her mind; and the little +girl in the pink dressing-gown was lying curled up on the hearthrug, fast +asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE DISENCHANTMENT OF A BEAST + + +Barbara was stretched, face downwards, on the floor of the junior +playroom. It was Wednesday evening, about ten days after the rescue +party had invaded Wootton Beeches; and she was trying, with the aid of +much ink and a footstool for a writing-desk, to answer Kit's last two +letters, and to send him all the news she had accumulated since that +important occasion. Over her head buzzed the desultory conversation of +her fifty-five companions, who still gloried in ignoring her; but she +heeded them no more than they had come to heed the unconscious little +person who lay stretched at their feet. It was really only a habit +with them, by this time, to ignore the new girl; for most of them had +quite forgotten the fancied grievance they had originally cherished +against her for her defiance of their favourite, Jean Murray. Indeed, if +it had not been for the fear of Jean's scorn and Jean's tongue, they would +undoubtedly have made friends with her days ago. With the best intentions +in the world, it was not easy to go on avoiding some one who never +seemed to notice that she was being avoided; and most of them wished +secretly that Jean Murray would 'come round.' But whatever Jean felt +about it, she showed no intention outwardly of coming round. Whenever she +found herself alone with a picked audience, she seized the opportunity to +inflame them and herself afresh, by recalling the evil behaviour of +Barbara over the head girl's boots, pointing out how, by a tissue of +deceit, the offender had wormed herself into Margaret's favour, to the +exclusion of other worthier members of the junior playroom--notably of +Jean Murray herself. 'You've only got to see how little she cares, and +_that_ will show you what a wicked mind she's got,' was the kind of +sentence that usually wound up one of these inflammatory addresses; +and after that, the junior playroom would redouble its coolness towards +Barbara Berkeley. But Barbara Berkeley persisted in going her own way +cheerfully, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to live +with fifty-five companions who never spoke to her; and the situation in +the junior playroom threatened to become too absurd to be maintained. + +Babs dropped her pen, and picked up one of Kit's letters for reference. +She had so much to say to him and so little time to say it in, that +she was afraid of leaving some of his questions unanswered. Kit's neat +and precisely written epistle was a great contrast to her own blotted +and smudged production; and Barbara sighed as she realised how much +he managed to say in a few words, while she expended far more time and +ink and energy, without expressing half as much as she wanted to tell him. + +'Dear Babe,' Kit had written--'This is to tell you that we got home +safely from the great Midnight Rescue Party, though of course I caught a +chill and had to have that beast Hurst again. I'll tell you presently +how Jill ragged him, though; and that was well worth being ill for. But +first of all I have to inform you what we all think is for your good in +the present crisis of your fortunes. (That means, now you are at school.) +Of course we are much afflicted to hear that you are not happy, and of +course we are not surprised to hear you do not like girls. (Nobody +could, except Egbert, and he doesn't really, only he pretends he does +because of that chap's sister last holidays. That's what has done for +Egbert, and it's a great pity, but what we must expect at his age, so +it's no use vociferating about it.) But to resume--we are all agreed +that the best thing you can do is to stop where you are until the period +of probation is over (that means till you've done being at school). You +see, it is only for three months at a time, and _we_ are here in the +holidays. It would be indescribable and unprecedented (which means +beastly, and awful, and things like that) if you had to live with girls +in the vacation too. But you are spared this, and it is your duty to be +thankful for every crumb of comfort that is to be substracted from the +situation. (Besides, you are a girl yourself; you can't get over that +though you mayn't like the idea, and you've got to go on being a girl +till you're a woman. It's something to feel that it can't last for +ever, and that in the end you will be able to be a woman, like Nurse and +Auntie Anna; and there's nothing the matter with them, is there?) If +your temporary indisposition only cures your spelling it will be money +well spent, for your spelling, my dear Babe, as father once said, is +both original and varied. So cheer up, and remember that Jill is but +a girl too, and that she is quite passable for one of that slack and +wayward sex. (Even when she is most like a girl I find I can bear with +her. For instance, when I lammented the other day that the rescue party +had been a frost, she said, "Why, you couldn't have bicycled unless it had +been, could you? Listen to the rain, now!") The post is going, so I must +infer the description of how Jill ragged the doctor till next time. +Meanwhile, cultivate the endurance for which English women have ever been +renowned; that is the result of the codgitations of the council we held +before the others went back to school.--Your affectionate brother, +Christopher Berkeley. + +'P.S.--I'm not quite sure about the m's in lammenting; it looks rum +somehow, but there isn't a dictionary, so I must leave it. C.' + +His other letter was much longer, and had evidently been written straight +off without the elaborate care that he had given to the composition of +the first one. As Babs read it, she pictured him sitting as he always did, +perched on a high chair at the writing-table, with his legs curled under +him and his nose very close to the paper; and suddenly, the deadly +feeling of home-sickness she had been battling with for days came over +her again. + +'This is the true account,' she read, through a suspicious mist in her +eyes, 'of how Jill ragged the doctor, when he came to dine with us, +the day after the boys went back. Of course, Auntie Anna didn't know he +was a beast, so she couldn't be blamed for asking him; but Jill and I much +regretted the circumstance. Robin grumbled and said he wished he was old +enough to sit up to dinner and have courses and courses and courses, +but that's his beastly greediness, as I pointed out to him, and he +doesn't know what it is to get a white tie under a filthy clean +collar and then an Eton coat under that and to wash your teeth extra +instead of only in the morning. But Jill came in and tied it, which was +something, and she even did it better than Nurse, who used to make you +feel sick by grinding her knuckles into your throat all the time. Having +prepared ourselves for the awful holocaust we then proceeded downstairs. +(Perhaps you won't be able to understand all the words in this letter, but +it's too good a joke to be spoilt by making it easy for you, so you +must do your best.) Jill had an awfully decent pink sort of thing on, and +it had rows of fringe that you could tie into knots without her rotting +you for doing it. Well, to come to the real matter of my discourse, we +found the doctor in the drawing-room, also the old Rector, who is called +Barnaby and is too old to count much, and besides Auntie Anna likes him +so we mean to extend to him the charm of our companionship. And the +Rector took in Auntie Anna, and the Beast took in Jill, and I followed +behind feeling rotten. You don't know how rotten it is, when you are +an odd one like that and nobody wants you in their conversation. You +see there were two conversations all the time, Auntie's conversation +with the old boy about tithes and rent charges and things that are +not suited to my intellect, and Jill's conversation with the doctor +which wasn't a conversation at all because he wouldn't talk. He sat and +glowered at his plate like a cat would, and if he lifted his eyes by +accident and caught one of us staring at him, he looked down again as +if he'd been shot. His conduct was most unaccountable and reprehensible +as I pointed out to Jill afterwards, and she said, "Yes," and grinned. I +was greatly incensed with him for giving her so much bother, because +she worked hard at him and never got cross once, and she asked him about +the village and about the poor people and about abroad, and all those +grown-up things, and the Beast said "Yes" and "No" and "Certainly," +till I wanted to kick him. I tried to help Jill once or twice by tossing +off one of my polite rejoinders, but he only behaved as if I wasn't there +and looked more like a poker than ever. That was what put Jill's monkey +up. She couldn't stand his indifference and acidity to me, so she began +to rag him and that shows that she is in reality a brick though +forced to maskerade as a girl. (That's another word you don't know +perhaps but it's in the dictionary.) She smiled at him as perky as you +please and she said in that soft-cotton-wolly voice of hers, "Is there +anything that _does_ interest you, Dr. Hurst?" And when the Beast was +so bowled over that he nearly dropped his knife and fork, she just went +on and explained how funny it was to sit all the evening with some one +who didn't want to talk, and didn't he think so too? I wanted to break +out into paeons of triumph in order to express my satisfaction at the +turn matters were taking, but I restrained my impetuosity in time and +waited for the Beast to speak. He stuttered rather and began chopping +up the pear on his plate as if it was for Christmas puddings, and then +he said he didn't suppose any young people were interested in what he was +interested in (which shows that all the while he lumped Jill and me +together as _kids_ and not fit to associate with him). Then Jill asked +him what he _was_ interested in, and he said "Bac--" (this is the longest +word of all and I'm afraid you won't find it in the dictionary, at +any rate not in the way I'm going to spell it) "Bacterioi--" oh hang! +here goes again--"Bacteriollodgy." Then Auntie Anna winked at Jill, and +we went upstairs and left the Beast with the Rector, which was a +punishment he more than deserved, as I told Jill. She said she was afraid +we boys were spoiling her manners, and Auntie said, "Of course they are!" +as if it was a good thing, which of course _we_ know it is. I had to +go to bed then, and Jill said it was awful desolation and despair when +I'd gone, because Auntie Anna began her conversation all over again with +old Barnaby, and the Beast instead of having the sense to join in it +went and sat with Jill all the evening. Which shows his puerrility and +blightedness. She sang to him too, and he got up to go the moment she had +finished which was beastly rude, I think. If he did think she sang badly +he might have played up better. But he's a beast, and you can't get over +that. He's very ugly and sulky looking, and he's about fifty I should +think, but Jill says not so old. That's her grown-up charitableness +which she can't get over. Anyhow----' + +The mist in Barbara's eyes threatened to become so serious at this point +that she put down Kit's letter hastily and returned to her own. Whatever +happened, she was not going to cry before all these girls, who never +understood anything she did. She was hard at work again by the time Ruth +Oliver pushed aside the curtain and looked in from the next room. + +'Barbara Berkeley!' she called. 'Has any one seen Barbara Berkeley?' + +One or two of the girls looked round casually at the slim figure on the +floor, but nobody roused her. Ruth Oliver was too good-natured a person to +inspire much authority in the junior playroom, and the children would +sooner risk her displeasure any day than Jean Murray's. If it had been +any other girl in the First, half a dozen of them would have hastened to +do her bidding at once. + +'Angela!' called Ruth, impatiently, coming into the room as she spoke; +'don't you know where the Babe is? She has got to go and see the doctor +at once.' + +On the other side of the curtain, both Barbara and her nickname met with +the popularity that was denied to them in the junior playroom; and the +note of familiarity in the elder girl's words sent Angela's impudent chin +up in the air. + +'We don't know anybody of that name in here,' she said, and went on +talking flippantly to the girl beside her. + +Ruth Oliver was not born to be a leader, and she was horribly afraid of +some of the younger ones, who had been quick enough to detect this long +ago, and naturally presumed upon it. But there were limits even to her +endurance, and she laid a stern hand on Angela's shoulder. + +'If you don't want to be reported to Margaret Hulme, you'd better fetch +Barbara to me at once,' she commanded, with a firmness she certainly did +not feel. + +Angela rose with a very bad grace, and strolled as slowly as she dared to +the other end of the room. 'If you'd only said that at first, it would +have saved all this fuss!' she muttered, as soon as she was at a safe +distance. + +Babs still lay face downwards on the floor, with her heels in the air +and her whole attention fixed on the paper she was covering with her +large round handwriting. If she did not finish her letter before the +prayer-bell rang, it would have to wait until next Wednesday. So she did +not take any notice when some one came and said something or another in +her ear. She was always in somebody's way, and if she moved, she would +only be in somebody else's way. So she stayed where she was. + +'Don't you hear? You've got to go and see the doctor,' repeated Angela, +loudly and with impatience. Thoughtless and empty-headed as she was, even +Angela Wilkins had the sense to see how absurd it was that the new girl +should turn on her persecutors by ignoring them. + +Barbara rolled over on her side and glanced up at her. + +'Oh, all right! I know how much of that to believe,' she answered; and she +rolled back again into her old position and continued her letter to Kit. + +'She says she doesn't want to see the stupid doctor, and nothing will +induce her to come, and she doesn't care what you say or anybody else +either,' was Angela's version, on her return to Ruth Oliver, of the way +in which Barbara had received her message. + +The elder girl looked down at her suspiciously. 'Did she really say that?' +she inquired. + +'Go and ask her, that's all,' cried Angela, full of righteous indignation +at having her word doubted. For she was really under the impression that +she had correctly described the attitude of the new girl towards the +doctor and Ruth Oliver. + +'Well, I will,' answered Ruth, and she threaded her way among the girls +until she too stood over the prostrate figure of the offender. + +'Babs,' she called, bending down. + +Barbara flourished her black legs in the air with an impatient movement. +'How you do bother!' she complained, stifling a sigh. 'That's the second +in five minutes. Why can't you leave me alone?' + +There was a start of surprise in the group that surrounded her. It is +probable that few of her listeners saw the ridiculous side of the new +girl's request to be left alone, when that was the punishment that had +been meted out to her ever since her second day at school; but any one of +them could have told her that that was not the way to speak to a girl +in the First. + +Ruth turned a little red from sheer nervousness; and the girls immediately +decided that she was afraid of the youngest child in the school, and began +to giggle with one accord. Barbara sighed again at this new interruption; +and raising herself on her knees, she sat back on her heels. + +'Oh, it's you!' she observed, shaking the hair out of her eyes. 'Why +didn't you say so? I thought it was just some one who wanted to bother.' + +'You've got to go and see the doctor in Finny's study. Make haste, Babe,' +said Ruth, who was smarting under the giggle, and wanted to get back into +the other room among her equals. But the Babe showed no signs of making +haste. + +'Why have I got to see the doctor?' she asked, opening her eyes. 'I'm not +ill or anything; and I want to finish my letter home. Don't you think it's +a mistake?' + +'No, I don't,' said Ruth, forgetting her nervousness all at once, and +lifting the child boldly off the floor. 'You've got to be examined to +see if you can do gymnastics, that's all. He's in Finny's study, waiting +for you.' She carried her playfully under her arm and set her down on +the further side of the curtain. Whatever the other tiresome children +might think of her, she knew that the Babe never criticised her, and that +gave her confidence. + +Barbara was still a little dubious about the sense of seeing a doctor +when she did not feel ill; but she trotted across the hall obediently +and went into Finny's study. She was only half conscious of what she +was doing, for she had been taken from her letter too abruptly to have had +time to wake up properly; and Babs always required plenty of time to +wake up, when she had been absorbed in anything. So the solemn-looking +young man, who sat in the low arm-chair, was a little upset when she not +only gave him her hand to shake but also put up her face to be kissed +as a matter of course. + +Dr. Wilson Hurst, in spite of Kit's idea of his age, was only twenty-eight +and quite young enough to feel extremely bashful. He jerked back his head +suddenly; and Barbara woke up. + +'Oh, I'm so sorry,' she said, smiling. 'I wasn't thinking. Of course you +don't want to be kissed; I shouldn't have dreamed of kissing you at home, +you know, because the boys feel just like you about kissing. But Ruth +kisses me such lots, and everybody seems to kiss everybody else here, so I +suppose I've rather got into the way of----' + +Here Miss Finlayson said 'Hush!' very softly; and the doctor pulled +something so queer and interesting out of his pocket at the same time, +that Barbara forgot everything else. 'What are you going to do with that +funny thing? Is it a speaking-tube?' she asked curiously. + +'I'm going to see whether your heart is in the right place,' answered the +doctor, and he was immediately so overcome at his stupendous levity in +making a joke over a medical examination, that he did not speak another +word till it was completed. As for Babs, she was immensely interested the +whole time, and never took her bright little eyes off his face once. + +'Is it in the right place?' she asked him, when he put the queer-looking +thing back in his pocket again. + +'Yes,' said the doctor, briefly. + +'Is anybody's in the wrong place?' pursued Babs, leaning against his knee +in the most friendly way imaginable. + +'Sometimes,' said the doctor. He marvelled at himself for not feeling more +irritated by her, when as a rule he found children so worrying. + +'Is yours in the right place?' persisted Barbara. + +'I--I hope so,' said the doctor, struggling with a grim smile. + +'Same place as mine?' continued Barbara, eagerly. + +Miss Finlayson put out her hand to stop her; but Babs did not see. The +doctor saw, and did not take any notice. + +'I imagine it is in the same place,' he said feebly. + +'But how do you know, unless some one else finds it for you?' inquired +Babs. 'You can't listen to your own heart through that funny thing, can +you?' + +'N--no, some one else has to find it,' admitted the doctor, and she +supposed he had remembered something that made him feel shy, for he +coloured furiously and rose to his feet rather hurriedly. + +Babs stood gazing up at him attentively, while he exchanged parting words +with Miss Finlayson. 'It's an awful pity you didn't go to see Kit when he +was ill,' she remarked, directly there was an opportunity. 'Kit's doctor +was a beast.' + +The long oval face turned slightly red again; and Miss Finlayson said +something very quickly about the wet evening. + +'Yes,' replied the doctor, stammering a little; 'I am sorry the evening is +so late,--so wet, I mean, and that I am so late in calling--positively +the first minute I've had to-day,--extremely busy this time of year----' + +A hand was stealing inside his, and he had to stop and look down again. +'Do you think you could go and see Kit next time he is ill?' asked Babs, +appealingly. 'It isn't nice to have a beast for a doctor, when you're ill, +is it?' + +The doctor went on looking down at her with an odd sort of smile on his +face. 'That reminds me,' he said--though how it reminded him the child +could not for the moment imagine--'that your cousin Miss Urquhart charged +me with a message for you. She sent you her love and promised to write +soon. I hope I have given it correctly.' + +'Oh!' cried Barbara, with great excitement. 'Do you know Jill?' The doctor +kept hold of her hand and nodded. 'And Auntie Anna? And the boys--_all_ +of them? Then you must know Kit!' + +'Yes,' said Dr. Hurst, grimly. 'I was the beast.' + +Then he stooped and kissed her cheek very stiffly, as if he were not used +to kissing people; and then he went away. Like Ruth Oliver, he had found +it difficult to feel nervous of the youngest girl in the school. + +Barbara climbed on the window-seat, and flattened her nose against the +window-pane, and watched the lamps of the doctor's trap receding down the +drive. 'I like doctors; don't you, Miss Finlayson?' she inquired, when +that lady came back into the study. + +Miss Finlayson agreed that she liked doctors very much indeed, and +she began to write something in a big book, while Babs knelt on the +window-seat and stared out into the rain and the darkness. Suddenly she +jumped down from her perch with a cry of dismay. + +'What's the matter now?' asked the head-mistress, absently. + +'I must have called him a beast!' gasped Barbara. + +'I think I heard something like it,' observed Miss Finlayson, still +writing. + +'But--but I didn't mean that _he_ was a beast,' proceeded Barbara, looking +distressed. 'I meant that somebody else was a beast. It wasn't my fault +that somebody else was _him_, was it, Miss Finlayson?' + +'It would be safer, I think, and perhaps a little more considerate, not to +call anybody a beast,' remarked the head-mistress, gravely. 'Then these +little mistakes would be avoided.' + +'I never will again,' sighed Babs. 'It's such a particular pity, because +he isn't a bit like a real beast, is he?' + +Miss Finlayson looked up while she dried the page she had just written. +'Have you finished your letters home?' she inquired pleasantly. 'The +prayer-bell will ring in about a quarter of an hour.' + +The reminder sent Barbara straight out of the room, and she sped swiftly +back across the hall, thinking busily. Clearly, the only reparation +she could make to the doctor was to transform him from a beast into a +fairy prince, and to offer him a place in her fairy kingdom; but he +would be rather lonely there without a princess, she feared, and she +herself already belonged to Kit. It was always easier to find princes +than princesses, and she did wish that Finny would not wear a cap and +scrape her hair back so tidily--two things which disqualified her, in +spite of her niceness, from being a princess in anybody's kingdom. +However, perhaps he would not mind doing without a princess just at +first; and in time she might be able to find some one who was neither +silly nor unkind, and would be worthy of a crown and the companionship +of a disenchanted beast. + +At this point in her reflections Barbara reached the door of the senior +playroom, and the sight of the elder girls, as they busied themselves +with their weekly correspondence, reminded her again of her letter to +Kit. For the moment, as far as she was concerned, her new prince would +have to whistle for a princess. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BABE'S 'FURY' + + +In the junior playroom Jean Murray had been taking the opportunity to +revive the animosity against the new girl. + +'Can't you see that she's laughing at us all?' she exclaimed to a circle +of humble listeners. 'It's all very well to pretend to be such a baby; +that kind of thing may go down with the elder ones, but it won't do here. +Anybody can see that she's only putting it all on, to be aggravating.' + +'She told a story the very day she arrived,' chimed in Angela from behind. +'A girl who could do that would do anything.' + +'Can't you leave the child alone?' suggested Charlotte Bigley, who +happened to be listening. 'She seems such a harmless infant to me. I +don't believe she even knows she is supposed to be in disgrace.' + +It required a good deal of courage to stand up alone against all the girls +in the junior playroom, and Charlotte flushed a little when they all +laughed at her. + +'That's where her artfulness comes in,' declared Jean. She thought she +heard her rival's voice on the other side of the curtain, and jealousy +made her more bitter than before. 'If you ask me, I believe she only +pretends not to notice any of us, so as to pick up everything she can; and +then she goes and sneaks it all to the elder ones.' + +'Oh, Jean!' remonstrated Charlotte. + +Jean looked a tiny bit ashamed of herself. It was not nearly so easy to +say unkind things about the new girl as it had been a week ago. All the +same, her unhappiness at the continued coldness of Margaret Hulme was +quite genuine, and it hurt her sorely to think that the head girl was +now smiling on the interloper as she used to smile upon her. + +'Well, it's true!' she vowed. 'I vote we don't leave her alone, or give +her the chance of mocking at us, any more. She wants to be taught that +she's the youngest girl in the school, and that it isn't anything to be +cocky about. Anybody who likes can make up to her, as the big girls do; +but _I_ am going to see that she keeps in her place.' + +'What a fuss to make about an innocent brat like that,' remarked +Charlotte, smiling scornfully. 'It's jealousy, because Margaret is +kind to her: that's all it is!' + +That was decidedly what it was, but it did not soothe Jean's temper to +be told so in this blunt manner; and by the time her rival came in from +the seniors' room, the enemy had been worked up into a fine state of +resentment against her. Unconscious as ever that there was anything +unusual in the atmosphere of the junior playroom, Barbara slipped through +the girls who were standing about, and reached her footstool and her +letter almost before they noticed that she had returned. There seemed +to be some wrangling going on between Jean Murray and Charlotte; but Jean +Murray was always wrangling with some one about something, and Babs +paid no more attention to it than to the sudden hush that followed as +she dropped down in her old position on the floor. It was a good thing, +she thought, that nobody talked just then, because there was so little +time left in which to finish her letter. She took up the pages she had +written and glanced over them. + +'Thank you awfuly much for your advice,' she had scrawled in her large +childish hand. 'I am cheering up lots and now that I don't take any +notice of the girls and their awfull siliness it is quite nice being here +but not nearly so nice as being at home with you and father all of +which is now burried for ever alass in my past. I don't hate girls +like I did at first. At first they were always bothering and asking +quesstions and being inquissitive but now they leave me alone and never +talk except when they want the salt or the butter or haven't heard the +number of the psarm at prayers or can't do their algibra I have lots +of algibra to do because girls aren't good at algibra I don't think so I +always do their algibra for them. Girls are no fun like boys but as long +as they don't say horible things to me like they did at first I think I +shall be able to bear them all right but its rather dull excep when we +play hockey I'm getting on at hockey Hurly-Burly says and she says I +shall play in matches some day and she's a brick and I like her. We +haven't had any gym yet because the gymnasiam is being painted but +we're going to begin to-morrow and I'm longing to begin they can't laugh +at my short skirts at gym because everybody's skirt is short at gym +and its red and very becomming Ruth says Ruth is Ruth Oliver and she's a +big girl and she hooks up my frocks and kisses me she kisses me rather +a lot but it's Ruth Oliver so I can put up with it. School is very nice +when it's games or algibra or latin but it's horrid when its dictation or +geography or coppies Finny says I must try so I am trying but I wish I +wasn't such an ignorrant girl I heard Jean Murray say yesterday I was the +most ignorrant girl that ever came inside this house but praps that was +because I had seventeen speling faults.' + +She sighed as she dipped her pen in the ink again. That was all she had +said, after writing nearly all the afternoon and evening. And she had so +much more to say, and there was so little time left before prayers! + +'I have just seen the doctor who is a Beast and he isn't a Beast,' she +had written laboriously on a fresh page, when Jean Murray stooped over +her and shook her vigorously by the arm. + +'Oh, dear!' sighed Babs, feeling in her pocket for the handkerchief that +so rarely seemed to be in it. 'There's another blot, and I'm in such a +hurry!' + +'It's no use losing your temper about it,' said Jean. 'You've got to get +up from the floor and fetch a desk, if you want to write letters.' + +Barbara looked up in mild surprise. 'But I'm not losing my temper! Are +you sure you don't mean _you_ when you say me?' she asked with a spice +of mischief in her tone. + +'There!' said Jean, turning triumphantly to the attendant Angela. 'Didn't +I say she was only laughing at us? Now, look here,' she continued, +turning again to Babs, 'you've got to remember that you're the youngest in +the school----' + +'Oh, don't!' interrupted Babs, putting up her hands to her ears. 'You'll +begin about the head girl's boots next.' + +It was the most luckless thing she could have said, for it convinced +Jean more than ever that the new girl was bent on making game of her +most serious feelings. + +'I shall say anything I choose,' she retorted hotly. 'Get off the floor +at once, will you? We don't want ink spilt all over the place; this isn't +a nursery.' + +'Who's spilling ink all over the place?' asked Barbara, without moving. +All the mischief that was in her rose uppermost when any one spoke to her +like that. + +'You are, of course,' returned Jean, shaking her again. 'You're so badly +brought up that you don't know how to behave in a civilised house. You're +nothing but a young savage; I heard Margaret Hulme say so, directly you +arrived--there! It's easy to see you've never had any one to look after +you.' + +The mischievous look died out of the child's face, and she gathered up +her papers and scrambled slowly to her feet. The boys would have known +that such lamblike behaviour was only the prelude to one of the Babe's +'furies'; but Jean thought she had succeeded at last in subduing her, and +she became exultant. + +'It's time that some one civilised you,' she remarked scornfully. 'I'm +glad I've been brought up properly, and not neglected like you.' + +Barbara flashed round upon her suddenly. 'What's the matter with my +bringing-up?' she demanded in a breathless voice. 'My father brought +me up, and no one in the whole world could have brought me up better +than he has.' + +'That accounts for it,' scoffed Jean. 'Fathers can't bring anybody up, +especially girls. I've heard mother say so, lots of times.' + +Barbara's eyes were glittering brightly. 'My father can,' she answered +swiftly. 'My father isn't like other people's fathers. You shouldn't judge +my father by your father. I don't expect your father to be clever because +mine is, do I?' + +The implied insult was quite accidental on her part, in spite of the anger +that was growing in her; but Jean could not be expected to know that. + +'How dare you say that my father isn't clever?' she cried indignantly. +'My father is a professor at Edinburgh, so there!' + +'My father writes books,' answered Babs, proudly. 'It's much more +wonderful to write books than to be a professor, because everybody all +over the world hears of you if you write books.' + +'That depends on whether they're good books,' argued Jean, warmly. 'You +_have_ to be clever if you want to be a professor, but any stupid person +can write a stupid book, and nobody ever hears of that kind of book at +all.' + +'Everybody has heard of my father's book, though, so that shows how little +you know about it,' replied Barbara. 'The people in America liked his book +so much that they asked him to go all the way to America to lecture about +it. The people in America never asked _your_ father----' + +'Is your father called Everard Berkeley?' asked Jean, suddenly. She +had not listened to grown-up conversations in the Christmas holidays +for nothing, and she thought she saw her way at last to crushing the +irrepressible new girl, once and for all. + +Babs nodded. She was too proud to say anything. What other girl in the +room had a father who was so celebrated that people knew him by his +Christian name, instead of calling him just _Mr._ Somebody? She had only +a short time in which to enjoy her triumph, however, for Jean Murray +turned quickly on her heel, and walked off with a swaggering step. + +'Then my father says that your father is a failure over here,' she +answered, tossing her head contemptuously. 'Nobody will read his old +book in England; so he was _obliged_ to go to America.' + +The other girls were beginning to notice the dispute, and they came +crowding round to hear what it was all about. Most of them were in +time to see Jean Murray walk off with her head in the air, just as the +little new girl clenched her fists and crouched down as if to make a +spring. Then the storm broke, and the Babe's fury was let loose among the +fifty-five occupants of the junior playroom. + +It was an easy matter, in that spring forward, to send some half dozen or +so spinning out of her way, but Barbara did not stop to see what happened +to them. All she wanted to do was to reach the arch offender of them all, +the one who had dared to slight her father, and to hold him up to the +ridicule of fifty-five girls. + +Nobody quite knew what did happen on this unexampled occasion in the +annals of Wootton Beeches; and certainly nobody stirred a finger to put +a stop to it. All that the girls in the senior playroom could tell about +it afterwards was that a sudden scuffle and several screams broke the +hush and hum of voices on the other side of the curtain; and then Angela +Wilkins dashed through the archway with a terrified look on her face, and +seized Margaret by the arm. + +'Oh, come! do come!' she sobbed out in her fright. 'Barbara Berkeley has +got Jean Murray down on the floor, and she's _killing_ her!' + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE END OF THE FEUD + + +When the prayer-bell rang that evening, it interrupted a wild tumult in +the junior playroom. The elder girls had rushed through the curtain, +on the terrified summons of Angela Wilkins; and the whole school crowded +and thronged round a confused heap in the middle of the floor. Nothing +much was to be seen except two lanky black legs, a crumpled white frock, +and a good deal of untidy brown hair; and at first nobody did anything +but stare and exclaim. The ringing of the prayer-bell, however, brought +them all to their senses. Margaret Hulme made a sudden dash at the two +combatants, picked up the one that came first, and dropped her in a corner +of the room, where she could be hidden from view until she had time to +recover herself. Then the head girl turned to the child who still lay +sobbing and gasping on the floor. + +'You get up and behave yourself!' she said in a stern undertone; and Jean +Murray struggled to her feet and went off snivelling, to be comforted +by the trembling and excited Angela. Then the elder girls melted away +again into their own room, and a kind of uneasy hush settled down on the +eighty-seven inhabitants of Wootton Beeches. + +Barbara rubbed her eyes and stared wildly round her. A solid wall of +girls stood between her and the scene of the recent scuffle; she could +not see what had become of her victim, and at first she did not even +realise what was producing this wonderful calm. Then the girls in front +of her began slowly to move away towards the archway; and once she +caught a glimpse through the curtain of the door in the room beyond. It +was only a glimpse, for the girls closed up again immediately; but it was +enough to show her the stately figure of Miss Finlayson, as she stood +and wished her pupils good-night, one by one. Barbara had watched the +same ceremony for a good many evenings now, but it had never seemed +quite so orderly or so solemn before. To-night, it made a peculiar +impression on the wild little tomboy who had been brought up without +discipline or control, and the strangeness and the misery of her position +overwhelmed her as with a new feeling. At the same instant, in striking +contrast to the dismal reality, came the remembrance of the dream she +had dreamed all her life about this very place called school; and, +unnoticed by her school-fellows, who were fully occupied in trying to +behave as if nothing had happened, she broke down and sobbed bitterly +in her corner. + +The stream of girls that had been filing past Miss Finlayson came to an +end at last; but Miss Finlayson did not follow them immediately to the +chapel. Far away, in a distant corner of the junior playroom, crouched +a dishevelled little girl in a crumpled frock, weeping dolefully for a +dream that had never come true; and Miss Finlayson stood and waited in +her place by the door. + +A sense of the extreme stillness, now that the footsteps of the girls +had ceased, slowly impressed itself upon Barbara; and she looked up with +a new feeling of alarm. There, through the opening in the curtain, she +could see the stately figure of the head-mistress in the room beyond; +and Babs thrust a round, inky ball of a handkerchief into her pocket, and +hastened towards her in a panic. + +'I didn't know you were waiting for me,' she said, fighting to keep +the quiver out of her voice. 'I didn't know they had all gone. I--I'd +forgotten it was prayers now.' + +She knocked over a chair as she stumbled across the room, and once her +dress caught on the edge of a desk and stopped her; but Miss Finlayson +waited with her hand out, and the little new girl reached her at last. +Once more, behind the grave glance of the blue-grey eyes, lurked a +suggestion of something softer and more human, and it gave Barbara a +little courage. + +'I wasn't crying because I was sorry I'd thumped Jean Murray,' she burst +out. 'I'm not a bit sorry, not a _bit_! I'd like to thump her again for +saying--for saying----' + +It sounded uncommonly like telling tales, and she had to stop. Miss +Finlayson still had hold of her hand, and still looked down at her with +the mixture of expressions on her face. + +'Are you coming up to prayers, Babs?' was all she said. + +Barbara had not even heard the question. She was full of her grievance +against Jean Murray, which she had almost forgotten for the minute; and +she burst out again, more angrily than before. + +'Don't you understand?' she cried passionately. 'I wasn't crying for +_that_; it--it was something else, but I can't tell you what it was, +because you'd only laugh. They all laugh--except when they're just being +horrible! Why didn't you let me run away last week? I don't want to stop +with people like Jean Murray, and--and all the rest of them; I hate being +here, I hate the girls, I hate you! Why won't you let me go away?' + +She hardly knew what she was saying. She had not been in such a passion +since the dreary day, two years ago, when they took her nurse away from +her, and she had made herself ill with fretting. + +Miss Finlayson tightened her grasp on the hand that was struggling to free +itself; then she bent over her rebellious little pupil, and laid her other +hand against her burning cheek. + +'Are you coming up to prayers, Babs?' she repeated. Her persistence began +to take effect, and the cool touch of her fingers was very soothing. + +'Why--why won't you let me go away?' sobbed Babs, and the tears rained +down her cheeks again. + +'Why?' echoed Miss Finlayson, producing a handkerchief that had not been +used, like Barbara's, to mop up ink blots. 'Because I want you myself, +to be sure.' + +She dried the child's eyes as she spoke; and the small tear-stained face +looked up at her wistfully. 'Do you want me?' asked Barbara. 'Does anybody +want me--_truthfully_?' + +Miss Finlayson nodded, and a look slowly deepened in her face that gave +the child confidence. 'Yes, Babs, truthfully,' she answered. Then she +repeated for the last time, 'Are you coming to prayers?' And keeping the +hot little hand within hers, she led her upstairs to the chapel. + +At Wootton Beeches the girls always walked in and out of chapel in +the order of their classes, beginning at the top of the school. But, +this evening, the youngest child in the school walked out in front of +everybody, for Miss Finlayson held her by the hand and would not let +her go. They stood together, a curiously assorted couple, at the end of +the passage that led to the other wing of the house; and one after another +the girls passed them on their way to their rooms. There was not a +sound for some moments, except the tapping of footsteps on the polished +boards; then, walking last of all, came Jean Murray. Babs broke from her +companion and flung herself impetuously forward. + +'I say, I'm awfully sorry I thumped you on the head just now,' she began, +and held out her hand invitingly to the enemy. 'I wasn't a bit sorry at +first, and I wanted to do it again, _frightfully_; but I am sorry now, +and I don't.' + +The girls who were still in the passage lingered, and looked back. +Evidently, there was no end to the sensations that Barbara Berkeley +meant to produce in her first term at school. + +'Hush!' whispered Jean, glancing round timorously at the head-mistress. + +Babs looked amazed. 'Won't you shake hands?' she asked. 'I know I thumped +you awfully hard, but still----' + +'Sh-sh!' repeated Jean, trying to push past her. 'Don't you know we're not +allowed----' + +'I think--I _do_ think you might make it up,' continued Babs, in a +disappointed tone. 'Even if I did hurt you rather, you must own you were +very mean.' + +Jean Murray, feeling the eyes of authority fixed upon her, made another +attempt to escape. 'Can't you wait till to-morrow?' she asked in an +agitated whisper. + +'I should have waited, if it hadn't been for that hymn,' answered the +child, still barring the way obstinately. 'I can't help it if the hymn +made me feel funny without making you feel funny too, can I? I can't think +what there was about that hymn,' she added to herself reflectively; 'I +never remember noticing a hymn so much before.' + +Miss Finlayson came up to them, and Jean fairly quaked. If there was a +rule that the head-mistress was strict about, it was the rule of silence +after prayers. Jean knew, for she had been unlucky enough to break it more +than once. + +'I have changed your room, Jean,' said Miss Finlayson, calmly. 'Angela +will have yours for the rest of the term, and you are to sleep in number +fourteen, next door to Ruth Oliver. I have just told Angela, so you can +go straight to her old room now, and I will send up one of the servants +to move your things for the night. The rest can be done in the morning. By +the way,' she added, as she left them, 'you three may talk till the +lights are put out; for it seems that Barbara has something to say that +will not keep until to-morrow. Good-night.' + +She walked away downstairs with a deliberate step; and the two children +were left standing together on the landing. + +'Well, I never!' exclaimed Jean, staring after Miss Finlayson. + +But Babs was less concerned with the peculiarities of the head-mistress +than with her own immediate business. 'How much longer are you going to be +before you shake hands?' she asked. + +'Oh, that's all right,' answered Jean, awkwardly, and she at last put a +limp hand into the one Barbara was tired of pressing upon her. They +trotted along the passage side by side, Jean feeling a little overwhelmed +by the suddenness of the reconciliation, while Babs wondered what had +happened to make her so silent all at once. To her it seemed the most +natural thing in the world to be on good terms with the enemy whose +head you had just thumped, provided that you had apologised suitably +afterwards; and she chatted away cheerfully until Jean was obliged to +stifle her inclination to be dignified. + +'I say,' said Babs, when they reached the gallery in the other wing of +the house and were hurrying round it to their rooms; 'shall I be punished +a lot for knocking you down this evening?' + +Jean recovered some of her self-assurance. If she was to be denied the +pleasure, in future, of persecuting the new girl, there was no reason why +she should not still patronise her. + +'Punished!' she echoed. 'That's all you know about it. Nobody is ever +punished here.' + +It took Barbara a moment or two to get used to this new idea, and by that +time they had reached their rooms. She returned to the subject soon after, +however, when Ruth had opened the doors that led from her room into both +theirs, so that they could talk across her if they liked. + +'Can you be as naughty as you choose in this school?' demanded Babs, in +a puzzled tone. + +'I don't advise you to try,' remarked Ruth. + +'Why not? What would happen if I did?' asked Babs, curiously. + +'Well, you'd feel jolly small, and have to come round in the end and +behave like other people,' said Jean, raising her voice to make herself +heard. + +Barbara wandered into Ruth's room to have her frock unfastened, and +continued the discussion from there. + +'Then, is being good at school the same thing as behaving like other +people?' she said doubtfully. + +The others seemed to have some difficulty in answering this. 'There!' said +Ruth, giving her a little push; 'make haste and get undressed.' + +Barbara wandered back into her own room again, and thought it over +carefully. 'Being good at home wouldn't be the same thing as behaving +like other people,' she observed presently. + +'Home isn't school,' answered Ruth. 'And Finny's school isn't like other +people's schools,' she added. + +'Isn't it?' said Babs, with interest. 'Where's the difference?' + +'Ask Jean,' replied Ruth; and Jean took up the tale from beyond. + +'I was at another school before I came here, and it was very different, +I can tell you,' she remarked. 'There were nothing but rules there, and +you always seemed to be breaking one or another of them, without knowing +it; and then you got punished. I was punished the whole time I was there.' + +'What sort of punishments?' asked Barbara. + +'Stupid punishments,' answered Jean, vaguely. 'Punishments that made +you feel foolish, and made you hate people. I did hate a lot of people +at that school. I thought I was awfully wicked because I hated so many +people. And then I came here,' she wound up triumphantly. + +'And did you find you were good when you came here?' asked Babs. + +'You shut up and get yourself ready for bed, or else Fraeulein will catch +you,' was all Jean said in reply to this. + +Barbara gave one or two perfunctory taps to her head with a brush. 'I +suppose that's why we're left so much to ourselves,' she remarked, after +a pause. 'We never see the teachers except at meals or in lesson time, do +we?' + +'Of course we don't,' replied Ruth; 'that's where Finny's school is so +different, you see. In most schools you are being watched all day by some +one or another, and it makes you whisper because you don't want to be +overheard. Nothing makes Finny so furious as to catch any one whispering.' + +'Is she ever furious?' inquired Barbara. + +'Don't be a young silly,' said Ruth, good-naturedly, a reply which had +no effect whatever upon Barbara. + +'It seems to me,' she went on thoughtfully, 'that it's very difficult to +know what is wrong and what isn't, when there aren't any punishments and +no one is there to tell you.' + +'Well, you're supposed to have some sense, you know,' explained Ruth. +'Finny's great idea is that you should think for yourself and not go to +other people to find out things. She says being good isn't worth much, if +you're only good because some one else tells you to be good.' + +'That's all very well,' objected Babs, 'but suppose you don't know without +being told?' + +'Well, if you don't know that behaving like a wild Indian is wrong, it's +not much good being there to tell you so,' said Jean, bluntly. + +The point of her remark was quite lost on Barbara, who was still puzzling +over a question that had never occurred to her before. 'At home,' she +observed, 'we never talk about whether a thing is right or wrong. If we +did, the boys would call it awfully slack.' + +'What do they call it when you nearly kill people by knocking them down +and hitting them?' asked Jean, rather suddenly. The application of hot +water was causing the bruise on her forehead to smart most unpleasantly. + +'Oh!' said Barbara, in a surprised tone; 'I thought you had made it up?' + +'Bother making it up,' grumbled Jean, 'when you've got a lump as big +as----' + +'Why didn't you say so before?' cried Babs, in great concern. 'Haven't +you any pomade to put on it?' + +Something very like an amused chuckle came from the direction of Ruth +Oliver, but Babs was in far too great a hurry to notice that. Flinging +everything right and left on the floor, she cleared out two drawers and +a box before she succeeded in finding the bottle she wanted. + +'Here it is!' she exclaimed, taking it in to her wounded foe. 'It's +awfully good stuff, really; and it keeps you from turning blue and yellow. +We always use it at home.' + +Ruth's chuckle grew into a hearty laugh. 'I should think you wanted pounds +of it in your home, if they're all like you!' she exclaimed. + +Barbara wondered what the joke was. 'They're not like me,' she said +simply. 'The others are all boys, you see, so they get their own way +without fighting.' + +And when the German governess came to turn out their lights, she found +the three white-robed figures standing together in Jean's room, one of +them shaking with laughter, another trying rather unsuccessfully to keep +grave, while the third, holding out a bottle in her hand, looked at them +both with a puzzled air. There was no end, thought Fraeulein, to the +caprices of English children. Had not Miss Finlayson been relating to +all the teachers downstairs, how the two little ones before her had +flown at each other in a passion, just before prayers? + +The junior playroom felt equally incapable of grappling with the +situation, when the new girl marched gaily into it the next morning +with her arm linked in Jean Murray's. For once, Jean's followers found +themselves at a loss. Not having been informed what actually had taken +place in the passage the night before, they could hardly be expected to +know all at once how to treat this new state of affairs. Nor did Jean +trouble herself to enlighten them. Indeed, she was so cross when any one +approached her on the subject, that even Angela had to leave her alone; +while the junior playroom in general, being less devoted, threw out +dark hints about temper as soon as Jean was out of hearing. Angela, +however, had the wit to see the one thing that was evident--the feud +with the new girl was at an end, and anybody who wanted to keep friends +with Jean Murray in future would have to accept Barbara Berkeley as +well. So she decided to accept Barbara herself, to begin with; and she +set to work at the same time to convert the whole of the junior playroom. + +'If you don't behave decently to her, you'll have Finny down on you,' +she advised, in the few moments allowed for conversation after breakfast. +'Anybody could see that, from the way Finny glared at Jean last night.' + +'Did _you_ see it?' inquired Charlotte Bigley, with unpleasant directness. + +'N--no, not exactly,' admitted Angela, uncomfortably. 'But Mary Wells +did, and she told me. And look here,' she went on, shifting her ground +hurriedly, 'Jean's made it up with Barbara Berkeley, and the sooner we +do the same the better it'll be for us. Besides, why shouldn't we make it +up? It's such a bore to have to keep on remembering all the time that +you're _furious_ with some one!' + +This was more to the point; and the junior playroom, which had never +thrown itself with any heartiness into the feud, decided that Barbara +Berkeley was to be accepted without any more delay. Unfortunately, +Barbara Berkeley, who had never realised that her school-fellows had +been leaving her in peace on purpose to annoy her, was quite unprepared +for the sudden change in their behaviour. + +Charlotte Bigley was the first to put into force the resolution that +had been arrived at by the junior playroom. 'If you like,' she observed +carelessly, when she met Barbara by the bookshelf, just before the first +class, 'you can put away Ruth Oliver's desk after preparation, instead +of me.' + +For her part, she had always felt kindly disposed towards the new girl, +and the offer she was making now came straight from her heart, and was the +most generous one she could think of at the moment. But Babs only looked +dismayed. + +'Why must I put away Ruth Oliver's desk?' she demanded. 'I have to put +away Margaret Hulme's as it is; and it's so difficult to get dressed +in time for supper when there's such a lot of desks to put away first. Of +course,' she added with an effort, 'I'll do it to please you, if you +really want me to.' + +'Why, I thought you'd _like_ to do it!' exclaimed Charlotte, staring at +her. 'You're so thick with Ruth, and naturally I supposed----' + +'Thanks awfully,' said Barbara, without enthusiasm. 'It's really awfully +kind of you, but I think p'raps you'd better go on doing it, if you're +used to doing it. Of course, I know some people like doing those stupid +things for the big girls, but----' + +'All right,' said Charlotte, abruptly; and she went away, feeling +distinctly small. + +Babs hurried off to the Fifth classroom, and arrived just in time for +the geography lesson. She was settling herself as usual at the bottom +desk, when her neighbour, rather a dull girl, for whom she secretly felt +a sort of contempt because she took no interest in her lessons, but only +learned them from conscientious motives, began making advances to her. + +'Barbara,' she whispered, nudging the new girl in a familiar way that +was meant to be sociable. Babs, having sat next to her for fourteen days +without extracting a single remark from her, was considerably startled. + +'What do you want?' she asked impatiently. She was taking a last frantic +look at the capes of Scotland, and the interruption was agonising. + +'Would you like to be my partner, next time we practise running with +Hurly-Burly?' proceeded Mary Wells, with an air of extreme benevolence. +She was rather glad that Jean Murray had made it up with the new girl, +for it had not been amusing to sit perpetually next to some one with +whom she was not allowed to associate. + +'Why, no, of course not!' answered Barbara, giving up the capes of +Scotland in despair, and turning rather crossly to the tiresome neighbour +who had never bothered her before. 'We're not a bit evenly matched, +and it wouldn't be fair. Ask Angela Wilkins, if you want a partner; she +doesn't run _much_ faster than you do.' + +If there had been time, her amazed neighbour would no doubt have told +her what she thought of her. It was bad enough to have her friendly +suggestion thrown back in her face, but to be offered a gratuitous +criticism of her running powers into the bargain was intolerable. However, +Miss Tomlinson said 'Silence!' before Mary could express her feelings, +so Babs remained in comfortable ignorance of them. + +She was not to be left alone for long, however, and it soon became +impossible even for Barbara not to see that a change of some sort had +come over her school-fellows. During the two weeks she had been at +school, meal-times had been delicious periods of peace, when every one +had babbled round her but never to her, and nobody had interrupted her +if she wanted to dream. But to-day, when they all met in the dining-room +for lunch, in the ten minutes' 'break' that occurred in the middle of +the morning, it was evident that her time for dreaming was gone by. This +was the opportunity that the children of the junior playroom had been +eagerly awaiting since the moment when Angela had succeeded in moving +them to charitable designs. So Babs had scarcely made her appearance in +the dining-room, than a crowd of eager penitents descended upon her, +jostling one another in the attempt to be first. One rushed at her +with the biscuits, another with a glass of milk, and a third with a +plateful of bread and jam. + +'I say, don't bother! Thanks awfully, don't you know,' stammered Barbara, +who was a little flustered at finding herself the object of so much +attention. She helped herself to bread and jam, accepted the milk, which +the bearer insisted on holding for her till she felt inclined to drink +it, and then tried to slip away as usual to a retired corner. But her +way was barred by another group of girls, headed by the zealous Angela +herself. + +'I wonder if you'll help me with my algebra in French class,' began +the latter, beaming upon her former enemy with the air of one who was +conferring a favour. 'I always get in such a bog over it.' + +'You're so splendid at algebra, Babs, aren't you?' added another, with +great warmth. + +'She's good at lots of things! She'll get to the top of the Fifth in no +time, won't she?' cried Angela, with her ordinary disregard for facts. + +'Oh, no,' said Barbara, earnestly. 'There's my spelling; you're forgetting +that.' + +'Ye--es,' allowed Angela, unwillingly; 'but spelling isn't everything.' + +'Should think not, indeed!' echoed the chorus of enthusiasts. + +'And I don't know any arithmetic,' proceeded Barbara, desperately. It +really hurt her regard for truth to have all these absurd remarks made +about her. + +'What's arithmetic?' demanded Angela, loudly. + +'Only think of the piles of history you know!' chimed in some one else. + +'Yes, indeed!' said the chorus. + +'And Latin!' proclaimed another admirer. + +'I--I wish you wouldn't,' murmured Babs, unhappily. + +She could not think what had come over them all; and they made her feel +foolish. Fortunately, somebody noticed just then that she had finished +the bread and jam; and they all rushed off, jostling one another again +as they went, to find fresh provisions. Barbara seized the opportunity +to escape, dodged the placid bearer of the milk, and went in search of +Jean Murray. She had an uncommonly shrewd suspicion that Jean Murray was +somehow at the bottom of this new and irritating persecution. + +She found her hidden away in a corner of the big dining-room, occupying +very much the position that Barbara herself had enjoyed until now. Her +appearance was dejected, and she looked as though the encouragement of +noble sentiments did not agree with her nearly so well as the strife +and wrangling in which she usually indulged. The truth was that her new +pose of friendliness was making her feel unpleasantly self-conscious; and +she was afraid of being laughed at by the big girls for having so meekly +accepted her late enemy for a friend. The big girls, of course, worried +themselves so little about the petty quarrels of the junior playroom, +that they had no more intention of laughing at her than Barbara had; but +it was impossible for so important a person as Jean Murray to realise +that. So she gave a guilty start when Barbara, heated, aggrieved, and +bubbling over with resentment, suddenly pounced upon her in her corner. + +'I say, look here,' began Babs, impetuously; 'I thought you'd made it up, +and it's a shame!' + +'What are you talking about?' demanded Jean Murray. 'I have made it up, +long ago.' + +'Then whose fault is it that all those girls keep bothering me?' exclaimed +Barbara, growing more indignant as she went on. 'I haven't had a moment's +peace all the morning, and it makes me feel silly. I don't like being +made to feel silly. Why don't you tell them to leave me alone?' + +'But I don't know what you're talking about,' said Jean. 'How are they +making you feel silly?' + +'They keep on telling me how clever I am,' grumbled Barbara, in a tone of +the deepest contempt. 'Me clever! Just think of it! And they say I'm +going to get to the top of the class, and all that rot. What do they mean +by it? That's what I want to know. I was just beginning to get used to +girls, and I told Kit only yesterday that they were not so bad after +all, because they left you pretty much to yourself; and now--look at them! +It's enough to make any one feel silly. Well, what's the joke?' + +Jean was laughing heartily. It was the first time that morning she had +been able to forget her own feelings of 'silliness'; and it cheered her +considerably to find that some one else was in the same plight as herself. +'You _are_ queer!' she declared. 'Why, they are doing all that to show +that they want to be nice to you, of course.' + +Barbara stared at her aghast. 'Oh!' was all she said at first. After a +pause for reflection, she added suddenly, 'Then what were they trying to +be all the time they left me alone?' + +Jean stopped laughing, and began kicking at the window-seat by which they +stood. + +'Was that their way of being nasty?' proceeded Babs, in a puzzled tone. + +'I--I suppose so,' muttered Jean, looking away from her. + +'Oh!' said Barbara again. + +There was another pause, and then Jean made an immense effort. 'I made +them leave you alone,' she jerked out. 'I hated you. It--it was because of +Margaret Hulme.' + +Barbara's puzzled look vanished. When she did begin to understand a thing, +she was generally pretty quick about it. 'I'm beastly sorry,' she said +softly. 'A little while ago, I thought Jill was going to make the boys +like her better than me; and I felt just like that. What a pity you didn't +tell me sooner!' + +That, after all, was their real reconciliation; and this time there was +no doubt about it. If there had been, it would have been ended finally by +Margaret Hulme herself, that same afternoon, in the cloakroom. The head +girl had been taking off her own muddy boots for more than a fortnight +now; and that in itself was enough to quicken her observation of events in +the junior playroom. + +'Isn't there anybody over there who would like to unlace my boots for +me?' she said in a loud voice, as the younger ones came trooping into +the cloakroom after the hockey practice. + +There was silence in the ranks of the juniors. The big girls were smiling, +the little ones looked at one another doubtfully, and the head girl +waited with her foot put forward. The etiquette of the junior playroom +was tremendous, and although forty-five sets of fingers were itching to be +at the knot in the head girl's bootlace, nobody could move until Jean +Murray did. + +'You can do it, if you like,' she said to Barbara indifferently. + +'Oh, no,' said Barbara, quickly. 'I shouldn't think of it.' This time, +her sacrifice was genuine, for Margaret had kissed her just before +dinner and told her she was a 'good little soul,' and the feeling of +the youngest girl in the school had considerably changed in consequence +with regard to the head girl's boots. + +'Of course,' said Margaret Hulme, drawing back her foot, 'if nobody +_wants_----' + +A murmur ran along the ranks of the juniors, and Babs suddenly whispered +something in Jean's ear. Then the two children joined hands and presented +themselves solemnly before the head girl. + +'Please,' said Barbara, quickly, 'we've settled it.' + +'It's about time,' observed Margaret. + +'We're going to halve it,' added Jean, in a great hurry. + +'What? My foot?' asked the head girl. + +The wit of the head girl produced a storm of laughter in the cloakroom. +When it subsided, Barbara was ready with her explanation. + +'Jean's going to do them four days, and I'm going to do them the other +three,' she said. 'And Jean's going to begin,' she added, and walked away +heroically. + +'Oh, no, you begin,' said Jean, feebly. + +But Margaret smiled and pinched her ear. 'You begin, child,' she said; +and Jean fairly loved the new girl from that moment onwards. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MISS FINLAYSON'S UNCLE, THE CANON + + +'It's all very well to tell you to do things for other people; but when +nobody wants anything done, how are you going to carry it out?' demanded +Charlotte Bigley of a circle of attentive listeners. + +It was plain-work evening, some five weeks or so before the end of +the term; and fifty-five busy little people, on one side of the curtain, +sewed laboriously at fifty-five flannel garments, while thirty-two others, +in the seniors' room, were cutting out fresh ones and struggling with +what Miss Smythe called the 'fixing.' Usually, plain-work evening was +the dullest out of the seven, for conversation did not flourish under +the depressing dominion of flannel, and Miss Smythe, the needlework +mistress who came from the town twice a week to teach them, had never +managed to interest her pupils either in herself or in what they were +doing. But to-night there was something to discuss that thrilled every +one of the workers on both sides of the curtain, and the effect on +the flannel garments of this unusual enthusiasm even awoke a faint +wonderment in the mind of Miss Smythe. She did not know, never having +tried to win the confidence of the children, that the cause of the +emotion that was pulsing from end to end of the two playrooms was the +temporary residence, under the honoured roof of Wootton Beeches, of Miss +Finlayson's uncle, the Canon. + +The Canon had always been an object of interest, theoretically, to the +girls at Wootton Beeches. They did not know much about him, except that +he lived in some cathedral town in the North of England, and came South +about once a year and spent part of his holiday at Wootton Beeches; +and they were familiar with his portrait, which always stood on the +writing-table in his niece's study. That was all they could have told +anybody; but the very lack of facts only added to the magic of his name, +and as none of them happened to be in touch with a bishop, or even +with a dean, Miss Finlayson's uncle the Canon continued to impress +them from a distance with his importance. Hitherto, his visit had always +happened to fall in the holidays; but, this time, he had unaccountably +appeared in the middle of the term, and the excitement of his actual +presence among them had given them enough news to put in their letters +home for quite two weeks. The day before, he had even replaced the curate +in the little chapel, and had not only read prayers but had delivered +an address on unselfishness as well; and it was this address that had +provided the whole school, on plain-work evening, with a burning topic of +conversation. + +The problem that had just been put into words by Charlotte Bigley was one +that had exercised the ingenuity of everybody since yesterday morning. +To do good works was the present ardent desire of all their hearts; but +where were the good works to be found? + +'I suppose there's always something to be done for somebody, only we've +got to discover what it is,' said Mary Wells, after profound reflection. + +'He did say life was full of little things that were waiting to be done, +but it's so easy to talk like that,' complained Jean Murray. 'Why didn't +he say _what_ things?' + +'Well, you see, we've got to discover what they are,' persisted Mary. When +she did manage to produce an idea, she was always very slow to part with +it. + +'You said that before,' retorted Jean, impolitely; 'and it doesn't help +anybody at all. You can't go round _asking_ people, can you? They'd call +you a nuisance.' + +Barbara sighed, and laid down the blackened piece of flannel she had been +toiling at since the beginning of term. Between the address of the Canon +and the shapelessness of her flannel petticoat, life was very difficult to +understand just then. + +'Besides,' she chimed in, when Jean finished speaking, 'if everybody is +doing something for everybody else, there's nobody left to do anything +for!' + +'Finny always says we are to do things for ourselves as much as we can, +and that the way to help other people most is to see that they don't +have to bother about _us_. That's not a bit the same thing as going round +and finding out what people want done for them,' continued Charlotte, +eloquently. + +'They can't both be right,' declared Angela, shrilly. 'If the Canon says +one thing and Finny says another, what are we to believe, and what is the +truth of it all, I should like to know? The _truth_--that's what _I_ want!' + +'Yes, you do,' remarked Babs, beginning to chuckle. 'You want it awfully +badly, most of the time.' + +'You mind your own business, Barbara Berkeley, and I'll mind mine,' +advised Angela, threateningly. + +'But that's just what we haven't got to do,' retorted Babs, with another +laugh. 'I've got to forget my own business and look after somebody else's, +and so have you. The Canon said so.' + +'The Canon never said anybody was to have enough cheek for two people, +anyhow,' returned Angela, rather feebly. She generally ended in coming off +the worse in a battle of words with Barbara. On this occasion, however, +she had the junior playroom with her. + +'You shouldn't joke about serious things, Barbara Berkeley,' said Mary +Wells, disapprovingly. + +'Barbara Berkeley thinks she can laugh at everything!' cried Angela, with +renewed courage. + +Miss Smythe came up at the same moment and put the crowning touch on +Barbara's discomfiture by examining the luckless flannel petticoat and +disclosing the fact that she had sewed it up all the way round. + +'How do you expect a child is going to get into that?' asked the +needlework mistress, holding up the misshapen garment to the derision of +the whole room. + +Barbara accepted the criticism and the laughter with equal unconcern. +She had never supposed that any child was going to get into a petticoat +that only existed for her express torture and the witticisms of Miss +Smythe. It had been unpicked so often that it would scarcely hold the +large, uneven stitches she repeatedly put into it; and she took up the +scissors and began to undo it all over again as a necessary part of the +evening's proceedings. Hardly, however, had she snipped at the first +piece of cotton, than she was assailed on both sides by eager helpers, +thirsting for the painful pleasures of self-sacrifice. + +'Let me do it for you, Babe!' exclaimed Angela, quite forgetting their +recent dispute on the very subject of the virtue she now was so anxious +to exploit. + +'No, let me,' begged Mary Wells on the other side. + +Barbara looked from one to the other doubtfully. The Canon had said +nothing about complications of this kind. Then Mary took the decision +and the flannel petticoat simultaneously out of her hands. + +'Do, there's a dear,' she said coaxingly. 'Think how I helped you with +your German the day before yesterday.' + +'It's a shame,' vowed Angela Wilkins, retiring sulkily. 'I did ask first!' + +'Never mind,' said Babs, soothingly; 'I'm sure to do it again before long; +I always do.' + +Angela, however, found a more abiding consolation in Barbara's temporary +idleness. + +'You're not doing anything for anybody, that's certain!' she threw back +at her jeeringly. 'Why, you're the only idle person in the room! Call that +being unselfish, indeed!' + +Barbara hastened to clear herself of the reproach by picking up Mary +Wells's neatly made and spotless piece of white flannel. She was not +sure what it was meant for, as it was not sewed together anywhere; +and she had never been shown how to do the elaborate scallops that +ornamented the edge of it. But a trifle like want of skill made very +little difference to a seeker after self-sacrifice; and Babs recklessly +plunged her needle into the beginning of the next scallop, and entangled +the silk hopelessly. A cry from Mary Wells disturbed her well-meant +efforts. The Canon, thought Mary, might say what he liked about people +doing things for others, but was it quite fair when they did them all +wrong? + +'It's for my sister's baby,' she lamented, seizing her handiwork from the +zealous Barbara; 'and if I don't finish it soon, the baby will be too big +for head-flannels at all.' + +'But--I wanted to do something for you,' protested Babs, in a disappointed +tone. + +'You've stickied the needle, and left a great black finger-mark on it,' +wailed Mary Wells, making fresh discoveries, as she went on, of what Babs +_had_ done for her. + +Miss Smythe came up to know what the fuss was about; and she promptly +added her word to the condemnation of Barbara Berkeley. + +'What do you mean by touching anybody else's work, you naughty little +girl?' she said sharply. 'You are more trouble than anybody else in the +school, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.' + +Barbara did not look at all ashamed of herself. She never did when people +were cross with her. Mary Wells had the grace to come to her assistance. + +'Please, Miss Smythe,' she said, swallowing her mortification at the +ravages in the head-flannel, 'it was my fault as well. I took Barbara's +work, to begin with.' + +The needlework mistress stared from one to the other. 'What's come over +the children?' she exclaimed. 'Why are you interfering with each other's +work like this?' + +Barbara assumed an exaggerated expression of meekness. 'Please, it was +because we were both trying to sacrifice ourselves,' she announced. + +It certainly sounded a ridiculous reason when it was put that way, but +it completed the perplexity of Miss Smythe, and that was something. + +'It seems to me,' she said severely, 'that you are strangely forgetting +yourself, Barbara Berkeley. Commence what I gave you to do at once, and +stand up until I tell you to sit down again.' + +'Why, the Canon _said_ we were to forget ourselves,' began Babs, +mischievously; and there is no doubt that a further penalty would have +been added to her punishment had not Jean Murray made a sudden diversion +by dropping her thimble. In spite of the want of success that had attended +Barbara's attempt at good works, the influence of the Canon was still +very strong among the occupants of the junior playroom; and five girls +hastily flung aside their work, and bumped their heads together on the +floor in their hurry to restore Jean her property. Jean took it with the +grudging manner of one who would like to have been in the fortunate +position of conferring rather than of accepting a service; and Miss +Smythe in despair condemned five more culprits to a standing position. + +As luck would have it, the Canon expressed a wish that evening to see what +the young people were doing with themselves; and it happened that Miss +Finlayson brought him through the curtain into the junior playroom just +after the six ringleaders had been ordered to stand up. + +'Very nice, very charming, to be sure!' murmured the old gentleman, +whose benevolent face had gone a long way in carrying his address home to +the hearts of his hearers. 'Such a beautiful and womanly sight, too! I +suppose you are all working for the poor, eh, my dears? Very excellent +indeed, I'm sure!' + +His niece was busy talking with Miss Smythe, and did not correct his +mistake; and the children were too shy to do more than look at one another +and giggle faintly. The Canon went on, and bent over Mary Wells, who +appealed to him at once by the serious expression of her face and her +diligent application to the head-flannel. + +'And for whom are you working so industriously, may I ask?' he inquired +benignly. + +'It's for my sister--I mean the baby,' stammered Mary, much flustered at +being thus singled out. The Canon felt a little perplexed, not having +supposed Mary Wells or her sister to belong to what he largely called +'the poor'; and he passed on hurriedly to where the six culprits stood +first on one leg and then on the other, trying to stitch at their work +with wavering and unsteadied fingers. + +[Illustration: 'Dear me!' he said, slightly taken aback.] + +'Dear me!' he said, slightly taken aback. 'Is it--is it quite usual--I +mean, do you find it _convenient_ to perform your--your embroidery in that +exceedingly arduous position?' + +The six girls edged up to one another; and more giggles, very nervous +ones this time, greeted the Canon's remark. He put on his eye-glasses, +and began slowly to grasp the meaning of their uncomfortable position. + +'Ah!' he said, with a knowing smile. 'So you have done something you +shouldn't, eh, my dears? Shocking, shocking! Let us see what the cause +of offence is, and perhaps we can get the punishment mitigated for you. +How would that be, eh?' + +He turned to look for Miss Smythe, and the six put their heads together +for a hasty, whispered consultation. + +'Let's tell him it's through his sermon,' urged Barbara, all agog with +mischief. 'It would be such fun!' + +'Certainly not!' decided Angela, solemnly. 'He must never know. Didn't he +say it was splendid to suffer for righteousness's sake, and isn't this +_real_ righteousness?' + +She carried the remaining four with her; and by the time Finny and Miss +Smythe joined the Canon in front of them, five out of the six faces glowed +with the fervour of martyrdom. The sixth was glowing too, but hardly +from such a lofty motive. + +'Well,' said Miss Finlayson, gently, 'and what is the reason of this?' + +Miss Smythe coughed and hesitated. She did not understand her pupils in +the least, but she had a certain feeling of loyalty towards them, and she +did not want to get them into trouble. Added to this, she really did not +know the reason of it. + +'They--they were a little tiresome, and I made them stand up,' she +explained hurriedly. 'No doubt--only high spirits, and--and so on. +I--I could not quite grasp what had been upsetting them this evening, +and I always find standing up is--is an excellent remedy for--for high +spirits, in short.' + +It was the opinion of the junior playroom afterwards that 'Smithy' had got +out of it very well; and she went up in its estimation henceforth. But +her explanation failed to satisfy Miss Finlayson. There was something +about the virtuousness on the offenders' faces that struck her as +being overdone; and she turned to the one at the end of the row, whose +countenance was a study in suppressed emotions, and tried to get at the +truth of the matter. + +'What was it, Barbara?' she asked in that tone of hers that would make +any girl tell her anything. Not that Barbara, on this occasion, needed +forcing. + +'It was because of the sermon yesterday,' she said, bubbling over +with enjoyment of the situation. 'And we were all trying to sacrifice +ourselves, and it was so difficult, because nobody wanted anything +done; and then Mary Wells sacrificed herself for me, so I tried to do +the same for her, and I only spoiled the baby's head-flannel, and made +Smithy--I mean Miss Smythe--wild. That was why I stood up. The other five +stood up because they all tried to sacrifice themselves for Jean's +thimble; and Miss Smythe hadn't heard the sermon, you see, and she only +thought they were being naughty, so----' + +'That will do,' said Miss Finlayson, and she turned her back hurriedly +on the row of martyrs. The needlework mistress was almost in tears at what +she considered a wilfully frivolous manner of referring to a sermon by a +real canon. But the Canon just passed his hand across his mouth, and then +gave up the attempt to look shocked. + +'You are very good little girls to listen so attentively to people's +sermons,' he said, smiling openly. 'And I think, if anybody ought to +stand up, it should be by rights a certain old gentleman who preaches +them. What do you say, Miss Smythe? If I promise to stand up for the +rest of the evening, will you let these six young ladies sit down?' + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FURTHER PURSUIT OF GOOD WORKS + + +'All the same,' said Jean Murray afterwards, 'it doesn't mean that the +Canon's sermon was wrong just because all of you were so stupid in the +way you tried to make it work.' + +She could not really resist such an enticing opportunity of showing her +superiority; but her less fortunate school-fellows found it difficult to +appreciate her point of view, and they resented it accordingly. + +'It's only just by chance that it wasn't you as well,' Barbara hastened to +point out. + +'And you know you began by being jealous because _we_ were doing all the +sacrificing,' added Angela. + +The others, not being in the inner circle of Jean's friendship, did not +venture on an open remonstrance; but one of them asked her bluntly what +she considered the Canon did mean by his address. + +Jean drew herself up complacently. 'Well, of course he meant much bigger +things than just picking up people's thimbles and interfering with +everybody all round,' she began rather contemptuously. + +'He said _little_ things, all the same,' observed Mary Wells, doggedly. + +'That,' said Jean, airily, 'was only his way of putting it--and because +he was a canon,' she added, struck by a brilliant thought. 'When you are +a canon, the things you consider little are the same as the things that +ordinary people call big.' + +'Bravo, Jean,' said Charlotte Bigley, sarcastically. 'Now, let us hear +what the big things are.' + +Jean was on her mettle, and she gave herself a moment's desperate +reflection. + +'Well, things like helping the poor, and taking food to people who are +starving, and giving up your pocket-money to buy things for them, and not +minding how dirty they are, nor how wicked and dishonest and--and tipsy,' +she proclaimed. + +The junior playroom was much impressed by this new view of the Canon's +sermon. + +'Isn't Jean clever?' demanded Angela, proudly, of her immediate +neighbours. One of these happened to be Barbara, who fully agreed +with her, but still appeared a little puzzled. + +'It will be very difficult to do all that,' she observed. 'How can we do +things for the poor, when we never see any poor?' + +'You never know when the chance may come,' answered Jean, who was rarely +at a loss. 'Besides, there's the holidays.' + +'What!' said Mary, in a voice of dismay. 'Have we got to wait till the +_holidays_ before we can be unselfish?' + +'Well,' replied Jean, vaguely, 'you can't say that, for an opportunity +may occur at any minute. What we've got to do is to be on the look-out +for it.' + +This unsatisfactory way of disposing of the Canon's address fell very flat +after the recent excitement in the juniors' room concerning it; and most +of Jean's listeners grumbled loudly as soon as she was out of hearing. +But Babs and Angela unhesitatingly threw in their lot with Jean. They were +not quite sure what she meant, but they never doubted her right to be +their leader in this as in everything. + +'We'll all keep on the look-out,' they said to one another; 'and the first +who sees an opportunity of helping the poor must promise to share it with +the other two.' + +Saturday afternoon came round in another day or two, and on Saturday +afternoon the girls could do pretty much as they liked, as soon as the +hockey practice was over. It was one of those late wintry days in March +which bring with them a promise of spring to come: there was a sharpness +in the air, now that the sun was nearing the west, that proclaimed it +still to be winter, while a faint earthiness of smell, a tumult of birds' +voices in the hedge, and an intense blueness above, all told of the +warmer season in store. The triumvirate, as Margaret Hulme had nicknamed +Jean and her two inseparable companions, were much too fond of the open +air to go indoors before they were obliged; so, while most of their +school-fellows voted for the fire and a story-book, they wandered off +down the nine-acre field, their arms linked affectionately together. +Their conversation was very engrossing, for it turned on the gymnastic +competition that was going to be held at the end of the term, for which +the Canon had just offered a prize of six morocco-bound books, to be +chosen by the successful competitor herself. + +'That's where this hole is such a nice hole for a school,' said Jean. 'At +the other school I went to, they never asked you what books you'd like; +and they always gave you _poetry_.' + +'Some poetry is all right. I think I like poetry when it's got a story in +it, and the rhymes are not too far away from one another, and the lines +jog along without your having to bother about them,' remarked Babs. + +'Oh, that kind isn't bad,' admitted Jean. 'I didn't mean Macaulay and +Longfellow and all the _real_ poets. But the stuff they gave you at my +school was horribly dull, and it never had any sort of story in it, and +the lines didn't seem to belong to one another at all; and there was +generally a thing called a glossary at the end, which only showed that +it wasn't fit for any one to read.' + +'I know that kind of poetry; we have lots of it at home,' put in Angela. +'There's a chap called Browning who's rather like that. Have you ever read +any Browning, you two?' + +'No,' said Jean, flatly. 'Don't believe you have either. My father says +Browning didn't understand himself, and I'm sure _you_ don't know more +than Browning. So there!' + +'Never mind about the poetry,' interposed Barbara. 'I want to hear about +the gym prize. Who do you think is going to get it, Jean?' + +'Well, Margaret is awfully good, of course, but we shall know better after +the trial on Monday afternoon,' said Jean, cautiously. + +'What trial?' asked Barbara. + +'Why,' exclaimed Jean, in surprise, 'didn't you hear Finny give out that +we were all to do the show exercises before her on Monday afternoon, so +that she could decide who was to go in for the prize?' + +'Of course she didn't hear; the Babe's always asleep!' said Angela, with +scorn. 'I watched her all the time Finny was speaking, and she was smiling +away to herself as if some one was having a conversation with her.' + +'Never mind, she's getting better,' said Jean, approvingly. 'She doesn't +gape half so much as she did, and she doesn't jump when you go up and +speak to her suddenly. By the way, you've got as good a chance as any +one, Babe, of getting the gym prize.' + +Barbara, who had taken their frank criticisms of her without a murmur, +could not allow this last assertion to pass. She pulled up suddenly in +the middle of the field, and looked first at one and then at the other +of her two companions. 'What do you mean?' she gasped. + +[Illustration: 'Hullo! said Jean. What's the matter?'] + +'Oh, you're putting it on; don't be affected,' scoffed Angela. + +'No, she isn't putting it on; she never does,' objected Jean. 'Look at +home, Angela, before you talk about affectation.' + +'All the same,' continued Angela, undisturbed, 'you must know you're +perfectly splendid at gym, Babs. Now, don't you?' + +'I'd quite forgotten,' confessed Barbara, as they resumed their stroll. +'I'm so bad at most things that I'd got out of the way of thinking I could +do gymnastics. But, of course, the boys always said I wasn't bad, for +a girl; and once I got the prize at my class in London. There were only +thirty of us, though,' she added modestly. + +They strolled on as far as the gate at the bottom of the field, and +stood looking over it into the lane below. The lane was out of bounds, +which lent it an added charm; and they liked nothing better than to come +here on half-holidays and lean against the gate, and wonder where the +grass-grown path led to and what it looked like when it got round the +corner by the old elm tree. To-day, they had scarcely taken up their +position there when they were startled by sounds of distress from below; +and the next minute a small boy came slouching along the lane, crying +bitterly. + +'Hullo!' said Jean. 'What's the matter?' + +The boy was so surprised that he stopped crying and looked up. He was a +very pitiable little object, in corduroy garments that could not properly +be called knickerbockers and yet were too short for trousers, with a +small area of grey flannel shirt appearing above them, and a red worsted +comforter twisted round his neck, making an unbecoming patch of colour +against his pinched and tear-stained little face. + +'What is the matter?' asked Angela, pityingly. + +'Have you hurt yourself?' added Barbara, as the child only stared at them +vacantly. + +With a little more coaxing and the bribe of a piece of dusty chocolate +that came from the depths of Barbara's pocket, he was at last induced to +mumble out a confused statement of his woes. Between the quaver in his +voice and the broadness of his speech they had a hard matter to understand +what he said; but Angela, who lived in another part of the same county, +managed after a while to translate to the others that he was crying +because his father was away looking for work, and his mother could not +pay the rent, and they were all going into the 'house' to-morrow. To +Bobby Hearne, who was smarting under the remarks of the neighbours' +children, it was the last part of his story that seemed the worst; +but the triumvirate only grasped the fact that starvation and poverty +really stood before them in the person of the small boy with the red +comforter round his neck. They looked at one another breathlessly, for +the same thought was in all their minds. + +'It's the opportunity!' said Jean, solemnly. + +'They're really starving!' cried Barbara, clapping her hands joyfully. 'We +must go and feed them----' + +'And give them clothes,' added Angela, enthusiastically; 'and +pocket-money!' + +Babs pulled a purse out of her pocket. 'Here's three and sevenpence +halfpenny, and I've got ten shillings more in my left-hand corner drawer,' +she said earnestly. 'Will that be enough, do you think?' + +Jean had been thinking deeply. 'It's no use giving anything to that scrap +of a child,' she decided. 'We must go and see his mother first, and find +out if his story is true. My father says that indis-indiscrim-in-_ate_ +charity does an awful lot of harm. We don't want to do indiscrimin-_ate_ +charity, do we? Come along, you two, and look sharp!' + +They clambered over the gate and dropped into the lane, one by one. +Barbara was the last, and she almost forgot the solemn reason for +their expedition in the thrilling thought that they were going to find +out at last where the lane went to. She was quite unprepared for the +disappointment she felt when they turned the corner by the old elm +tree and the forbidden world beyond burst upon their view. After all, the +lane was just the same round the corner, except that it was not quite +so interesting, for it grew less grassy as it went on, and finally +widened out into a kind of cart-track that was anything but romantic. +An enchanted princess might flee with a prince down a grass-grown lane +that wound away to nowhere in particular but she would never dream of +stumbling over sharp flint stones and splashing through puddles in a +common cart-track. The other two did not seem to notice that there was +anything wrong with the lane, though; they just kept on straight ahead, +with Bobby Hearne shuffling along between them, and Barbara had to run a +little to catch them up. + +'Is it far?' she asked. + +'Oop agin the top end o' the village,' explained Bobby, who was fast +losing his shyness under the influence of these wonderful young ladies, +who carried such funny sticks in their hands, and talked in such a +magnificent way about pocket-money. + +'That's close to the church, on the way up from the station,' said Jean. +'Is yours the cottage with the red roof, Bobby, or the one with roses all +over it?' + +Bobby looked vacant again; he did not recognise his home from Jean's +picturesque description. 'There be foive pig-styes along of it,' he +announced, after long and careful reflection. + +The cart-track brought them to a ploughed field, across which they plodded +laboriously, and in the end it landed them in the road that ran right +through the village. They met a good many inquisitive glances as they +hastened along, for the young ladies of Wootton Beeches very rarely +left their own grounds, and certainly never appeared in the village +except on their way to and from the station. They found their courage +slowly evaporating in the face of the curiosity they provoked, and there +was very little of it left by the time they arrived at the cottage with +the five pig-styes. Talking about good works in the junior playroom was +a very different matter, they found, from carrying them out in a strange +cottage, where numbers of strange children came out from dark corners +and gaped at them without saying a word of welcome. Babs and Angela +pushed forward their leader, and peered over her shoulder as she stood +hesitating on the threshold. + +'Hello, mother!' shouted Bobby, hustling his brothers and sisters out of +the way and penetrating into the gloomy recesses of the cottage. 'Here be +three yoong ladies come to see ye.' + +A harassed-looking woman came in from the back-yard, and started when +she saw the three faces in the doorway. 'It be proper good of ye, for +sure,' she said, casting nervous glances from her unexpected visitors to +a bed that was made up on the floor, near the empty grate; 'but my girl +Lilian Eliza, she be ill, she be, and ye'd best not come in, I reckon.' + +She did not know the power of the Canon's address. At the sound of her +voice, the triumvirate, neither understanding nor heeding her warning, +stepped firmly into the room. + +'I'm so sorry your daughter is ill,' began Barbara, fumbling hastily in +her pocket. 'Would three and sevenpence halfpenny be any good, do you +think? And I've got ten shillings more in my----' + +Jean nudged her violently, but the woman's eyes had glistened at the +mention of money, and Babs emptied her purse impetuously on the table. + +'Bless ye, missy, for sure!' said the woman, gratefully. 'Lilian Eliza, +she be goin' to the infirmary to-morrow, she be, and I can git her +Neighbour Bunce's spring-cart wi' that, I can.' + +Her evident gratitude reproached Jean, and she forgot all about the +dangers of indiscriminate charity. She took the other two by the hand and +pulled them away to the door. + +'We'll come back again directly, Mrs. Hearne,' she called out. Then the +triumvirate broke into a run, and vanished along the road before the eyes +of the bewildered woman. + +'What are we going to do?' asked Angela, panting, when they once more +climbed the gate at the bottom of the nine-acre field. + +'We're going straight to the larder, straight as we can go; and then, +we're just going to bag all the food we can carry,' answered Jean, in +an odd, determined sort of tone. 'Did you see the look on that woman's +face when you gave her the money, Babe? I believe--I believe they've all +had nothing to eat for _weeks_! It's--it's horrible to think of!' + +There was a sob in her voice, and the other two were silent from sympathy +and a kind of awkwardness. They had never heard Jean talk like this +before, and it finished the work begun by the Canon's address. There +was not the thought of a scruple in either of their minds when they +arrived at the back of the house, and Jean bade them climb up by the +water-butt and get into the larder through the open window. + +'There's sure to be a hook you can undo so as to move the wire netting +aside,' she told them. 'If we went round to the door, some one might make +a fuss; and there's no time for fusses.' + +'Jean knows everything,' murmured Angela, as she found the hook and +squeezed successfully through the window. + +'What shall we take?' whispered Babs, slipping after her into the dimly +lighted larder. 'I think they'd like jam tart and plum-pudding, don't you?' + +She shifted the two delicacies dearest to her heart on to one dish, and +handed it up to Jean, who stood poised uncertainly on the edge of the +water-butt. + +'The jelly and the cranberry pie look rather nice,' said Angela, her own +mouth watering for them, as she passed them out to Jean. + +'Can't you find something substantial?' urged Jean, when she had deposited +the second load on the ground beside the water-butt. + +The two children in the larder looked round at the well-stocked shelves. +There was cold beef, to be sure, and a large tureen of mutton broth; but +these did not strike them as being at all the sort of present that any +one would like to have. + +'Apple dumplings,' settled Angela, swiftly, as her eye fell on a large +dish full of them; and they handed the apple dumplings after the other +things, and then followed them by way of the water-butt to the impatient +Jean, who had already loaded herself with the jelly and the cranberry pie. + +'Come along!' said Jean. 'If we're not quick, we shall be late for tea. +Besides, we must get back to see Finny, and explain to her what we've +done. She might be cross if she found it out for herself.' + +'Are you sure she won't be cross anyhow?' asked Barbara, as she staggered +along in her wake, carrying the dish that contained the plum-pudding and +the jam tart. + +'Not if we explain exactly why we did it,' said Angela, gasping for +breath just behind her companions. She found the apple dumplings decidedly +weighty. + +'Nobody,' said Jean, emphatically, 'could mind anything we chose to do +in a cause like this. Besides, there wasn't time to ask leave first, was +there? When people haven't had anything to eat for weeks, you can't keep +them waiting for food while you ask _leave_, can you?' + +The shortest cut to the nine-acre field was across the lawn at the side of +the house, and then through the little gate in the shrubbery. It was much +less secluded than the longer way by which they had come, but detection +had to be risked, now that the time was so short. And even if they were +caught, as Jean pointed out in a whisper, it would be worth while to +suffer in such a noble cause; and as for the Hearnes, Finny would be +sure to send them on the things as soon as she heard how many weeks they +had been without food. + +'But how can we suffer, if Finny isn't going to be cross about it?' +argued Barbara, becoming heated in the effort to keep the plum-pudding +from rolling into the jam tart and sticking to it. 'You said----' + +Her sentence was never finished, for just as they left the shadow of the +house and were going to strike across the lawn, they heard the click +of the little gate opposite, and two figures emerged suddenly from the +shrubbery. There was still light enough to disclose that they were the +Canon and Barbara's disenchanted beast, the Doctor. + +Even then, the triumvirate might have escaped detection by slipping round +to the back of the house again before they were seen; and Jean had the +presence of mind to sound a retreat in an agonised whisper, and turned +sharply round herself. But Barbara's effort to follow her example was too +much for the uncertain balance of the plum-pudding. It chose that very +moment to tumble into the jam tart, and the two slid together from the +dish and rolled to the feet of the astonished Canon. + +'Upon my word,' exclaimed the old gentleman, starting violently, +'Elizabeth's establishment is full of surprises!' + +The triumvirate kept very close together at the edge of the grass lawn, +and waited for the two gentlemen to approach. Very little of their +enthusiasm remained to keep up their spirits, for the erratic behaviour of +the plum-pudding made even the pursuit of good works seem foolish and +unnecessary. + +'What are you children doing here?' asked the Canon, and his voice +distinctly took a note of disapproval. He did not know very much about +girls, though his niece assured him they were not unlike little boys; but +he was quite sure that it was not the right thing for plum-puddings to +be rolling across the lawn at that time of day, and disapproval seemed +to be demanded by the circumstance. + +The effect on the three children of his mild attempt at severity was +immediate. Babs was struck dumb by it; anything so dreadful as the anger +of a Canon had never occurred to her as a possible result of feeding the +poor, and she had to think it all over before she could say anything. +Angela put down the apple dumplings, the weight of which had become +intolerable, and began to cry softly. Jean pulled herself together with a +frantic effort, and clutched the dish she was holding so fiercely that +the jelly on the summit of the cranberry pie shivered and shook. + +'It was my fault,' she blurted out, looking steadfastly over the edge of +the dish at the well-blacked boots of the Canon. 'I made them go out of +bounds, and visit the poor, and--and climb into the larder window to fetch +things for the woman who looked so hungry. They wouldn't have gone, if +it hadn't been for me. I made them--it was my fault.' + +'No, it wasn't; it was all our faults,' wept Angela, in a confused mumble. + +Babs stepped forward and tried hard not to break down and cry too. 'Please +don't rag Jean for it,' she begged. 'The boy was crying, and we all +thought it was the opportunity come at last----' + +'What opportunity?' asked the Canon, looking extremely puzzled. + +'To--to do what you said in your sermon,--good works, and feeding the +poor, and all that,' faltered Barbara. Somehow, when she expressed it that +way, it seemed like putting the blame on the Canon, and she was sure it +could not be right for a little girl to blame a Canon. Added to this, +she was possessed with the dread that they had only made themselves look +ridiculous after all; and she expected that they would all three be +very heartily laughed at, as soon as the old gentleman began to understand +their story. She was determined in her own mind that if the Doctor should +join in the laugh against them, a certain fairy prince should be turned +once more into a beast and banished for ever from her kingdom. She was +bound to admit, however, that the Doctor, so far, had not shown the +least interest in them or their story. + +'But--but I quite fail to understand,' said the Canon, rather testily. +'Who was the boy you speak of, and what had you to do with him?' + +'It was Bobby Hearne,' answered Jean, still staring down at his boots; +'and if you only knew how hungry they all looked when we got to the +cottage----' + +She was interrupted by the Doctor, who suddenly behaved in the most +extraordinary manner. For the first time he appeared to be listening to +what they were saying, and he sprang right in front of the Canon and +grasped Jean by the shoulder. + +'Do you mean to say you have been into the Hearnes' cottage?' he cried, +shaking her in his impatience until the jelly and the cranberry pie ran +some danger of following the example of the plum-pudding. 'Were you stupid +enough to go right inside?' + +'Yes!' answered the triumvirate, with one voice. + +The Doctor took his hand away, and turned with a shrug of his shoulders to +the Canon. + +'The Hearne girl is down with scarlet fever,' he said in a suppressed tone. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN 'QUORRANTEEN' + + +'MY DEAR DARLING DEAREST FATHER,--We are in quorranteen that's Jean +Murray and Angela Wilkins and me becos we tried to feed the poor after +the cannon's sermon and the poor had scarlet fever and now praps we +shall have scarlet fever too and in case we do we've got to stop in +quorranteen for eight days and it's an awful shame becourse it gives us +such a little time to practis for the gym prize. The cannon is Finny's +uncle and he's awfully nice though a little unreesonable Jean says and +Jean knows bekause her father is a professor and he has ofered a prize for +whoever is best at the gym display on the break up day. I mean the +cannon and not Jean's father. Quorranteen is a little house built by +itself in the garden and connected with the school by a covvered passage +that leads into the front hall because Jean says it's no use being in +quorranteen unless you're quite sure no one can catch things off you so we +are issolated. All the same we do free exercises every morning just to +keep our mussels in good order for the gym competition and I tell +them fairy stories when their's nothing else to do and Angela says +they're not bad only she likes reel stories best which is a great pitty +becos I don't know any reel stories but still they put up with my kind of +stories very well and Jean says I'm a funny kid. We have our dinner +early so that we can go out in the garden while the other girls are +having theirs so that no one can catch anything off us and we are +alowed to go all over Finny's garden as well as the nine aker field and +we are really in a very supperior possition Jean says. Sumtimes for a +great treat one of the big girls is alowed to come and talk to us +from the garden and we stand at the window and shout down to her because +you can't catch things off people that way Jean says and the other two +nearly always vote for Margaret that's the head girl who is adorrable and +divvine Jean says but I vote for Ruth who is a brick. The worst of being +in quorranteen is that I have learnt the true charracter of the doctor +and Kit always said he was a beast but I didn't think he was a beast but +now I think he must be rather a beast because he is so horrid and +unsimpathetick he always behaves as if we were very naughty and wicked +for wanting to feed the poor and giving such a lot of trubble insted of +understanding that it was all the cannon's fault for preaching that sermon +which meant something quite diferent and how were we to know that the +poor had scarlet fever? I think we were rather silly and it was our +silly silliness that I minded most but the doctor doesn't seem to +think that and he looks at our tungs and he says what's that? to every +paper bag he sees about in the quorranteen which is only hardbake or +chocalate from the big girls. Jean says he is much nicer to me than to +Angela or her but I haven't noticed any diference myself and I don't +want him to be nice to me if he isn't nice to them it isn't fair or above +bord is it father? Anuther bother is that Finny hasn't said a word to us +yet about feeding the poor and giving such a lot of trubble and I think +she's very cross and is saving up for an enormous skolding but Jean +says no it's Finny's way to give us time to think it over before she +says anything and it's just dissipline Jean says. Besides, she can't +be very cross or else she wouldn't have gone on feeding the poor I mean +the Hearnes ever since we came into the quorranteen which is what she's +been doing because she told us so and they haven't had to go into the +workhouse after all.' + +Barbara had scribbled so far uninterrupted, but when she picked up her +third sheet of exercise paper and began to cover that too, the patience +of her companions became exhausted. + +'I say,' said Jean, yawning, 'I wish you'd stop writing and talk; I never +knew any one so fond of writing as you are, Babe.' + +Quarantine, after nearly a week of it, was beginning to lose its novelty, +and all the paper bags that the sure aim of the head girl managed to +deposit in their prison did not make up for the many hours of her society +that they were unable to enjoy. Even the arithmetic lessons of Miss +Tomlinson, and the plain-work evenings conducted by 'Smithy,' would +not have seemed nearly so unattractive now as they did a week ago. + +'All right,' said Babs, putting down her blue pencil; 'I don't mind +stopping, but I thought Angela didn't want to talk.' + +Jean glanced round at Angela, and Angela immediately put her hand to her +head and sighed heavily. She had been doing this for some minutes without +making any effect upon Barbara, although Barbara had been the first to +notice that there was something unusual in her behaviour. That was so +like Babs! She was always the first to notice anything, but she had such +an unsatisfactory way of passing it over, whatever it was, that it was +no advantage to anybody unless some one else noticed it too. + +'Hullo!' said Jean, staring; 'what's the matter, Angela?' + +'I've got a splitting headache,' murmured Angela, half closing her eyes. + +'Anything else?' asked Jean, becoming interested. + +'My throat is rather sore, I think, and--and I'm sure I'm feverish,' +answered Angela, faintly; and she shivered to show how feverish she was. + +'Oh,' said Barbara, opening her eyes, 'that's how Dr. Hurst said it began; +and then Finny dragged him away, and we didn't hear any more.' + +'_Don't_ say anything so dreadful,' murmured Angela, complacently. 'What +shall I do if I can't go in for the competition?' + +'Besides, you might have it very badly and die,' said Jean, consolingly. + +'Yes, you might. We knew a boy on the opposite side of the square, and +_he_ died,' remarked Babs. 'Only, I'm not sure if it was scarlet fever. +His sister used to come and tell us about it, and she said he had a kettle +with a long spout in his room, all day long, and it puffed out smoke at +him, and made such a funny gurgling sound that she used to be afraid to +pass his door after dark. Perhaps it wasn't scarlet fever,' she added, +out of consideration for Angela, 'but he did die.' + +Angela looked from one to the other and shook her head mournfully. 'I +expect it was,' she said. 'It sounds exactly like it.' + +'Oh, yes,' continued Jean, cheerfully. 'I _know_, because a cousin of +mine had something that was catching once, and she nearly lost her sight +through it, and she's had to wear spectacles ever since, and her eyes +are all red and shiny, and she looks a hideous sight. I expect that was +scarlet fever too.' + +Angela shuddered, and quite closed her eyes that time. Her two comforters +looked at each other expressively. + +'Poor Angela!' said Jean, stroking her forehead. 'It's awful hard lines +that you should be the one to catch it.' + +'Oh, never mind about that,' answered the victim, meekly. 'I'm glad it's +me and not you.' + +'Lots of people don't die, you know,' added Barbara, taking hold of her +hand and waggling it up and down in a way that was intended to express +sympathy. + +'N--no,' said Angela, with some reluctance; 'but lots of people do. +Anyhow, I hope I shall be brave, whatever happens.' And she stifled a sigh. + +'Of course you will,' said Jean, warmly. '_We_ know that!' + +'If--if this should be the last time we are together before they separate +us,' continued Angela, opening her eyes again and looking up at them +appealingly, 'you _will_ remember, won't you, that----' + +The door opened and put an abrupt stop to her pathetic last request. The +triumvirate, still clasping hands affectionately, looked round and met +the astonished gaze of the head-mistress. + +'What's the matter with Angela?' she inquired briskly. + +Angela closed her eyes again hastily. The other two prepared valiantly +to defend her position. + +'She's got a headache and a sore throat, and she's feverish,' answered +Jean, glibly. + +'She thinks she's got it,' added Babs, coming straight to the point. + +They fully expected Miss Finlayson to do something startling to show her +concern at the approaching peril of Angela; but Miss Finlayson merely +smiled. + +'Oh, so that's what she thinks, is it?' she observed. 'And may I ask if +that is why you have chosen this particular moment to hang over her more +closely than usual?' + +The triumvirate loosed hands, and Miss Finlayson came and looked very +sharply at the unconscious features of the sufferer; then she suddenly +whipped a thermometer out of her pocket and into the open mouth before +her. Angela sat up in dismay, and tried to protest; but Miss Finlayson +smiled again and pressed her gently back. + +'You mustn't speak, or we shall not be able to find out your temperature,' +she said, and Angela put on a resigned air, and suffered in silence. + +'Now,' continued the head-mistress, pleasantly, 'we can have a few +minutes' conversation, while we are waiting to discover whether Angela has +scarlet fever or not. To begin with, I want to ask you if you remembered, +when you went out of bounds last Thursday, that you were abusing the +trust I had placed in you? Recollect!--I do not keep policemen at every +corner to spy over you when you are left to yourselves, but I do put +you on your honour not to do anything you know I have forbidden. Did you +think of this, Jean?' + +Jean reddened and looked down. + +'No, I didn't,' she blurted out. 'I forgot all about the bounds, at first, +and I only thought you would like us to feed the poor, and it was such +a grand opportunity. And then, afterwards----' + +'Yes--afterwards?' said Miss Finlayson, encouragingly, as Jean hesitated. + +'Afterwards, when I saw that woman look like she did, I never thought +of you or anything,' she muttered with an effort; and she was very red +indeed by the time she had finished. + +Miss Finlayson took her hand and held it between her own, and then turned +to Barbara. + +'Was that your reason too, Babs?' she asked. + +'No, it wasn't,' answered Babs, without hesitation. 'I did remember about +going out of bounds directly we climbed over the gate; but I saw the other +two had forgotten, so I didn't say anything.' + +The thermometer nearly fell out of Angela's mouth from surprise at this +amazing admission; and Jean felt compelled to say something in Barbara's +defence. + +'You see, the boy was crying so,' she interrupted anxiously; 'and I +suppose Babs thought----' + +'Hush!' said the head-mistress, softly; 'I want Babs to tell me what she +thought.' + +Barbara was almost as red as Jean by this time. 'I didn't think about +the boy, or the poor, or anything,' she confessed; 'but I wanted to see +whether the lane did lead to the enchanted grotto, where the beautiful +princess----' + +She paused, because she remembered just in time that nobody ever +understood about those things. Miss Finlayson was watching her carefully. + +'And did it?' she asked quietly. + +'Oh no,' said Barbara; 'it was _horrible_ when it got round the corner.' + +Miss Finlayson nodded, and smiled her own mysterious smile. Then she took +the thermometer out of Angela's mouth. + +'And what was your reason, Angela?' she asked. + +'I don't know,' said Angela, rather foolishly. 'Jean said "Come on!" and +we'd promised to share the first opportunity that came; and Babs went, and +so of course I went too.' + +Miss Finlayson looked relieved. 'You have made me feel much happier, +children,' she said, 'because I see now that you did not realise what you +were doing, and that your own reasons seemed good enough to you at the +time. If I thought I could not trust to your honour any more, I should +be most unhappy. Do you think you understand?' + +The triumvirate looked very thoughtful. Angela, who seemed to have +forgotten all about her alarming symptoms, was the first to speak. + +'I suppose I ought to have found out whether the others were right before +I followed them,' she said. + +Miss Finlayson nodded. + +'And we ought to have made sure we were right ourselves before we let her +follow us, because Angela always follows,' added Jean. + +Miss Finlayson nodded again. + +Barbara roused herself and shook back her hair. 'I was the worst,' she +said impetuously. 'I did remember about the bounds, and the others didn't +until afterwards. But I forgot about the honour part, truthfully!' + +'Yes,' answered the head-mistress; 'you were the worst, Babs; and you +soon found out that the lane did not lead to the enchanted grotto, didn't +you? Now, what we can all see very clearly from this conversation is that +we must think a little more carefully in future before we do things. The +rules in my school are made for people who _think_, and not for people +who have to be told whether a thing is right or wrong. People of that kind +are not the people for me. Are you going to let me trust you again in +future, children?' + +There was no doubt whatever from their faces that they thought she might; +but Babs still wanted something cleared up. + +'Was the Canon's sermon all wrong, then?' she asked in her straightforward +manner. Jean and Angela looked at the head-mistress nervously; but Miss +Finlayson did not seem to mind. + +'The Canon's sermon was rather like my rules,' she pointed out; 'and +it was meant for people who think. It is no use being unselfish in a +thoughtless kind of way, or else you do as much harm as most people do +by being selfish. I want you to try very hard to put lots of thought and +cleverness into your good deeds all your life, so that by the time you +are grown up your good deeds will be really worth doing. Then you will +be able to carry out properly what the Canon told you; for, to tell the +truth, the Canon's sermon was rather meant for grown-up thinking, and +perhaps that is why you misunderstood it. But children's thinking is +worth just as much in its own way; don't forget that, little girls.' + +She jumped up and kissed them all round, then glanced hastily at her +watch. 'It strikes me,' she said gravely, 'that if somebody looks out of +the window in five minutes' time, somebody will see something in the +garden.' + +She was just going out of the room, when an exclamation from Barbara +called her back. 'Why,' she said, 'you haven't told us about Angela's +scarlet fever yet!' + +'No more I have,' said the head-mistress, and she took the thermometer to +the window and examined it. Angela tried rather feebly to recover her +resigned expression, which she had completely dropped in the last few +minutes; and her school-fellows exchanged a look of apprehension. + +'Poor Angela!' said Miss Finlayson, pensively, as she dipped the +thermometer into a glass of water. + +Angela put her hand to her head, and the other two closed round her +sympathetically. + +'I am truly sorry for you,' continued Miss Finlayson, returning the +thermometer to her pocket and sighing deeply. + +The triumvirate gazed at her in a scared fashion. + +'Is she--is she going to have scarlet fever, _really_?' asked Barbara, +anxiously. + +Miss Finlayson walked slowly across the room, shaking her head. She turned +when she reached the door, and her eyes twinkled. 'I am afraid not,' +she said, and they heard her laughing to herself as she ran downstairs. + +The triumvirate had very little time to congratulate Angela on her escape +before their attention was caught by a loud 'Coo-ey!' from the garden +below. Certainly 'quorranteen' was full of diversions this afternoon. + +'Kit! Kit! That's Kit!' shouted Babs, and a series of flying leaps took +her across to the window. In another minute the sash was flung wide, and +she was leaning out as far as the laws of balance allowed her. She was +right about the 'Coo-ey!' for there on the lawn below stood her favourite +brother, and by his side stood Jill and Auntie Anna. + +'Well, well,' said the old lady, leaning on her blue-knobbed cane and +looking more like a witch than ever, 'and what is the meaning of this, I +should like to know? A fine lot of trouble you're giving people with your +tricks, you young monkey!' + +'Oh, it's all right,' Babs assured her; 'we've made it up with Finny, and +she's not a bit cross, and next time we're going to think first, and we're +never going to pay a bit of attention to the old Canon till we're grown +up. Then we shan't make any more mistakes, she says.' + +'It's to be hoped not, for I think you've made a young silly of yourself +all the same,' remarked Christopher, frankly. 'Whatever made you do it, +Babe?' + +Barbara looked a little crestfallen. It would be easier to explain +their escapade to twenty Canons than to one brother, even when it was +a favourite brother like Kit. Jill came hurriedly to the rescue. + +'Never mind about that, Kit,' she said. 'Think how lucky it is that she +hasn't caught scarlet fever, after all.' + +Barbara cheered up. 'Even Angela doesn't think she's going to have it +now,' she observed; 'and she's been thinking she's got it, ever since +we went into quarantine; so we shall be able to come out again the day +after to-morrow. Of course it means sums and flannel petticoats and all +those horrible things as well; but still, we shall be able to practise +up for the gym display, and that's much more important. You're all coming +to the gym display, aren't you?' + +'Rather!' said Kit. 'It's the day after the others break up; and even +Egbert says he doesn't mind coming, though it's only a girls' school, +and he says he doesn't expect much. Of course, Will is awfully keen on +coming, and so is Peter; but that's only for the grub, so don't you make +any mistake about it.' + +'I don't know why Egbert is so mighty grand,' objected Barbara. 'Our gym +is really _serious_, I can tell you. You should see Angela on the rings; +and as for Jean Murray--why, I forgot! You don't know them yet!' + +She disappeared abruptly from the window, while Auntie Anna said something +about leaving the young people to themselves, and strolled off towards +the house. Kit was attacked with a sudden fit of shyness at the prospect +of being presented to two perfectly strange schoolgirls; and he shouted +at Barbara to 'come back and chuck it!' But Barbara did not hear him, and +he edged behind Jill for protection. + +Upstairs, in the 'quorranteen,' Barbara was trying with some difficulty +to persuade Jean and Angela to show themselves. + +'Oh no!' they both said, getting as far away as possible from the window, +and contriving to look neglected. 'Never mind us, Babe; _please_ go on +talking to your people.' + +'But it's _Kit_!' represented Babs, as if that settled the matter at once. +'He's my favourite brother, and he's a genius, and he's only thirteen, +and he has asthma so badly you'd think he was going to die. You _must_ +want to know Kit! Besides, Jill is there too.' + +'Jill Urquhart?' cried Angela. 'Why didn't you say so before? Of course, +we want to see Jill Urquhart!' + +So the triumvirate squeezed themselves on to the narrow window-seat, and +hung in a row over the window-ledge, while Jill smiled and nodded from +below, and said pleasant things to them in her pretty soft voice. For all +that, her old school-fellows did not feel at their ease with her; for +they had suddenly made the discovery that Jill Urquhart, who used to be +the privileged possessor of boots to be unlaced and desks to be put away, +and other things now connected with Margaret Hulme, had somehow changed +into a daintily dressed, grown-up sort of visitor, who had to hold up +her skirt because the grass was wet. No one, not even the head girl, held +up her skirt at Wootton Beeches. + +'This is Jean Murray, Kit, and that's Angela Wilkins,' said Babs, by +way of introduction; and Christopher, who was still seeking protection +behind his cousin, pulled off his cap and grinned. Then there was a +pause, and the situation became rather strained. Barbara looked round +at her two companions, and could not imagine what had come over them. +Why, she wondered, did they not chatter away as they usually did? They +only giggled faintly, however; and Angela was covered with blushes. So +far, the introduction did not seem a success. + +'Angela can swing and turn and leave go with one hand and catch on +again--I mean on the rings,' said Barbara, by way of opening the +conversation. + +'I can't! What stories! Besides, it's quite easy; anybody could!' declared +Angela, vehemently. + +'And Jean can turn coach-wheels as well as Peter,' continued Babs, +eagerly. 'She can do hand-balance too, when Hurly-Burly isn't looking; +because we're not allowed to do hand-balance, you see, so we've got +to wait till no one is looking. Isn't it wonderful of Jean?' + +'How _can_ you, Babe?' murmured Jean, reproachfully; and she concealed her +confusion by staring up at the top of the elm tree opposite and pretending +that she was not the person referred to. + +'They are very clever, aren't they, Kit?' said Jill, in a gentle, +encouraging manner. + +'Oh, rather!' said Kit, picking a blade of grass and gnawing it in his +desperation. + +'And it will be most exciting to see Angela on the rings at the display, +won't it, Kit?' continued Jill, smiling away more pleasantly than ever. + +'Oh, rather!' said Kit, again; and he wound the blade of grass elaborately +round his little finger. + +'What we can do is nothing to Babs, though!' said Angela, making a mighty +effort to overcome her shyness. 'She's the best in the whole school!' + +'Oh, the Babe!' remarked Christopher, leaving the shelter of Jill's big +hat, and suddenly regaining confidence. '_She_ doesn't count.' + +Conversation flourished more easily after that, for the triumvirate +combined immediately in an attempt to prove to Kit that the Babe did +count. Indeed, the argument grew so hot and furious that the Doctor, +who happened at that moment to make his call upon his small patients, +knocked three times at the door of the room, and finally had to walk in +unannounced. There was a look of annoyance on his face, for he already +resented being compelled to waste his precious time in attending three +healthy young schoolgirls who had nothing whatever the matter with +them, and would not have been in their present plight but for a piece of +childish folly. When he found that his patients had not even the grace +to be ready for his visit, his irritation increased. + +'Excuse me,' he began, 'are you aware----?' He paused and frowned, for it +was quite evident that none of them was aware of anything except of +what was going on in the garden. Nothing was to be seen of his patients +except an array of black legs along the window-seat; the rest of them +appeared to be hanging over the ledge outside in a perilous and inelegant +position; and all three of them were gabbling away as fast as their +tongues would let them. + +'Well, you wait for the competition, that's all!' Angela was proclaiming +shrilly. + +'It all depends on how soon that stupid Doctor lets us out of this hole,' +added Jean, with suppressed scorn in her voice. + +'He's so funny; he never says anything important, and he only looks glum, +as if he was _so_ sorry for himself,' chimed in Babs, with a laugh. + +Dr. Wilson Hurst tapped his stick smartly on the table; and there was a +sudden pause. Then came three thuds on the floor by the window-seat, and +the triumvirate stood facing him in varying stages of confusion. + +'We--we didn't know you were there,' ventured Barbara. + +'So I gathered,' said the Doctor, without a smile. 'Will you kindly show +me your tongues?' + +He did not want to see their tongues particularly; but it seemed the most +obvious means at his disposal for producing silence. The rapidity with +which three tongues simultaneously darted out for his inspection reminded +him irresistibly of mechanical toys, and he very nearly allowed himself to +smile. + +'That will do,' he said, controlling himself sternly; and he took out his +watch and felt Barbara's pulse. The moment the child's tongue was her own +again, she began to make use of it. + +'You're sorry that we are not any iller, aren't you, Dr. Hurst?' she +remarked. + +'Eh? What?' said the Doctor, taken aback. 'I--I don't know what you are +talking about.' + +'Well, you always look as though you would like us so much better if we +_really_ had scarlet fever instead of only waiting for it,' explained +Babs, pleasantly. '_Would_ you like us better, Dr. Hurst, if we really +had scarlet fever?' + +She had so nearly guessed the truth with her quick, impish perception, +that the Doctor dropped her hand abruptly and passed on to Angela. 'There +doesn't seem to be much the matter with any of you,' he said, by way +of conducting the conversation on strict medical lines. He looked so +cross about it, however, that the attempt did not prosper. Barbara, in +the innocence of her heart, thought he needed cheering up. + +'Are you coming to the display, Dr. Hurst?' she asked politely. + +'The--I beg your pardon?' he murmured, staring hard at his watch. + +'The gymnastic display at the end of the term, when we're going to +compete for the Canon's prize, you know,' proceeded Barbara. 'Everybody's +coming--Jill too! So _you_ will, won't you, Dr. Hurst?' + +'Really, I don't know,' answered the Doctor; and he dropped Angela's +hand just as hastily, and passed on to Jean Murray. Babs looked a little +puzzled for a moment, and then her face cleared. + +'Oh, of course, you don't like Jill! I'd forgotten that,' she remarked +with a smile. 'But that doesn't matter, because you needn't sit next to +her, need you? I don't think Jill would mind your not sitting next to +her,' she added reflectively. + +The Doctor began to wish very heartily that he had accepted Miss +Finlayson's offer to let one of the teachers accompany him from the house, +and he prepared to beat a speedy retreat. But Angela, in her bland and +tactless manner, put the finishing touch to his embarrassment and cut off +his retirement. + +'Jill Urquhart is outside on the lawn now,' she observed quite pointlessly. + +'So she is!' cried Barbara, clapping her hands. 'Then you'll come to the +window and speak to her, won't you, Dr. Hurst? Kit is there too!' + +'You must really excuse me,' said the Doctor, stiffly, as he took up his +hat and stick; 'but, really----' + +'Oh, Dr. Hurst, _do_ come,' begged the child, her little black eyes +bright with entreaty. In spite of her temporary disloyalty during the +period of 'quorranteen' to the prince who had once been a beast, she +still considered him worthy to stay in her kingdom with the magician +and other privileged folk; and it really hurt her to feel that he did not +appreciate Jill and Kit, and that Jill and Kit on their side did not know +he had been disenchanted quite six weeks ago. Surely, she thought, if +they were all properly brought together, they could not fail to like one +another. + +The Doctor hesitated, and Barbara waited anxiously. He thought he only +had to decide whether he should leave at once, or whether he should stay +and be laughed at by the other schoolgirl outside--the one who had made +him feel so stupid at Mrs. Crofton's dinner-party. But to Barbara his +decision meant much more than that, for it was going to determine whether +a certain beast was a prince, or whether a certain prince was a beast. + +So she waited with a look of thrilling expectancy on her face; and the +other two, who had never seen her look like that before, began to feel +a little doubtful about the way she was behaving. + +'I say, Babe, don't!' whispered Jean, tugging at her. + +The little movement roused the Doctor, and recalled him to the absurdity +of his position. He bowed, and walked with sudden determination to the +door. + +'Good afternoon,' he said curtly; and the disappointment on Barbara's face +haunted him in the most tiresome manner for the rest of the day. + +Babs stood motionless for nearly a minute after he had gone. Then she +smiled a little wistfully to herself. + +'After all, he must have found it rather lonely without a princess, and I +can't find a princess,' she reflected out loud. + +'What _are_ you talking about?' asked Jean. + +'Hadn't we better go back to Jill?' added Angela, impatiently. + +Barbara gave a start. 'What a silly duffer I am!' she cried joyfully. 'Of +course, there's Jill; and she's been there all the time!' + +'Yes, she has,' said Jean, bluntly, 'and it's time you remembered it, for +she must be tired of waiting for us by this----' + +Barbara interrupted her with another remark--rather a mournful one this +time. + +'It never comes right,' she sighed. 'Now, I've got a princess without a +prince!' + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +PREPARING FOR THE DISPLAY + + +Dr. Hurst did not call again at the little house in the garden, and +the triumvirate came out of quarantine in due course, very little subdued +by their eight days' imprisonment, and more on the alert than ever for +any piece of excitement that might come their way. The junior playroom, +having passed an exceedingly dull and uneventful week during their +absence, welcomed their return with joy; and it was perhaps fortunate +for the internal affairs of Wootton Beeches that there was going to be +a gymnastic display to absorb the energies of its wilder spirits. As the +days rolled on and the end of the term drew nearer and nearer, the +conversation on both sides of the curtain became almost entirely limited +to the one topic of the Canon's prize; and those who were not among the +chosen competitors for it spent the best part of their time in watching +the others practise in the big gymnasium, and in disputing hotly the +various chances of the claimants. Miss Finlayson had settled that the +six morocco-bound volumes offered by her uncle should be divided into +two prizes, one for the senior and one for the junior division of the +school; and while it was generally agreed that Margaret Hulme would carry +off the first, the discussion in the junior playroom as to the winner of +the second was endless. Most of the girls were agreed that Charlotte +Bigley and the three members of the triumvirate shared equal chances, on +the whole, of being successful; and a great deal would depend, it was +said, on the exercises chosen for competition. For, until a week before +the great day, nobody knew what the exact programme was to be. 'It's +one of Finny's dodges,' Charlotte Bigley declared, 'because she wants +us to be good all round, and not to grind at one or two things just for +the sake of the prize. It's like the prize-giving in the Christmas +term; we never know what the prizes are going to be for, till after the +exams. are over.' + +So the excitement was great when Miss Burleigh walked into the gymnasium +on the Saturday before the display, and called for silence so that she +might read out the order of the competition. Even the younger children +forced themselves into a kind of uneasy order, as Hurly-Burly unfolded +her sheet of foolscap paper; for the next few minutes would practically +decide, they thought, who was to be the lucky one among the juniors. + +'First of all,' announced the games-mistress, 'the whole gymnastic class +will open the display by an exhibition of step-marching.' This was +received with average interest, for it sounded like one of the ordinary +gymnastic lessons, and had nothing to do with the competition. Miss +Burleigh waited for the murmur of comments to subside, and went on. +'Then the thirty-two girls chosen to compete for the prize will separate +into two divisions; and the senior division, led by Margaret Hulme, will +perform the following exercises:--' + +Miss Burleigh paused again, but there were no comments this time. + +'First, wand exercises by the whole senior division; then a display on the +horizontal bar, to be followed by one on the vaulting-horse,--competitors +to choose between the bar and the horse,--and the whole to conclude +with high jump. After tea, I will show you the exercises chosen for +competition, and will help you to divide yourselves into sections.' + +The buzz of remarks from the senior division lasted almost long enough +to shake the loyalty of the younger children to the head girl; and they +cast many reproachful glances towards the further end of the gymnasium, +where Margaret formed the centre of an eager, chattering group. Then +Hurly-Burly took pity on them and called for silence again, and the +juniors had their chance at last. + +'The junior division, led by Charlotte Bigley, will go through the +following exercises:--' began Miss Burleigh. She did not mean to pause +here, but a storm of remonstrance from the junior division drowned her +next words. + +'Did you _ever_!' cried the shrill voice of Angela Wilkins, who, with Jean +and Barbara, sat perched on the top of the vaulting-horse. + +'Why doesn't Jean lead?' added Babs, indignantly. + +'I say, please don't! I'm not nearly so good as you are,' contradicted +Jean, in a faint tone that lacked conviction. + +'Can't you be quiet, you three?' grumbled Mary Wells, who had a prejudice +against the triumvirate, founded on many injuries. 'As if anybody could +lead better than Charlotte! The impudence of _some_ kids----' + +'Hush-sh!' interposed the audience generally, and Miss Burleigh struggled +on. + +'First, Indian clubs for the whole section. After that----' + +'Jean--for certain!' interrupted Barbara, nodding. 'She bangs every one +at clubs!' + +'There you go again!' said the injured voice of Mary Wells. 'Everybody +knows that Charlotte----' + +'Oh, stop it!' said Charlotte herself; and temporary peace was restored. + +'After that,' continued Hurly-Burly, rapidly, 'a display on the horizontal +ladder, to be followed by one on the rings. Competitors to choose +between----' + +'I bag rings!' screamed Angela, at the top of her voice. + +'No, you don't!' said Mary Wells, in her stolid, aggravating way. 'You've +just got to wait till it's settled for you, so there! We all know why +you're so anxious not to do the ladder; why, you can't even manage a +simple travel----' + +'How can you, Mary Wells?' asked Angela, solemnly. 'You know I can bear +anything but an untruth; and to say that _I_----' + +'Sh-sh!' said Miss Burleigh, vigorously, and she was again allowed a +few seconds of silence. 'The junior division will then conclude with +rope-climbing.' + +Hardly were the words out of her mouth than her listeners fell to +disputing again. + +'Rope-climbing--Barbara!' asserted Jean. + +'What are you talking about?' cried Mary, with contempt. 'Barbara is +simply not _in_ it with Charlotte; and what's more, you know she isn't, +Jean Murray.' + +'Oh, the wicked stories some people can tell,' sighed Angela. 'Have you +seen Barbara Berkeley swarm up the----' + +'Please, please don't,' implored Babs. 'Can't you see that Hurly-Burly +wants to say something else?' + +Being the champion in question, she could not very well side with Jean, +as she usually did. Her appeal had some effect on the disputants, and +Miss Burleigh, remembering it was a half-holiday, shrugged her shoulders +good-naturedly and took advantage of the pause to proceed. + +'The display will take place at five o'clock on Thursday,' she proclaimed; +'supper will be at seven, and after supper, the Canon, who is coming +from the North on purpose, will give away the prizes to the two +successful competitors----' + +'That's Margaret and Charlotte Bigley,' interrupted Mary, noisily; and +Hurly-Burly gave it up and fled, with her hands over her ears, just +as Angela, with a yell of defiance, lost her balance and plunged down +head-first from her perch on the vaulting-horse. + +'No, no! Margaret and Jean!' she gasped out breathlessly, as she scrambled +up again from the floor and brushed the dust from her hands and knees. + +Jean sprang to her feet on the top of the vaulting-horse, and danced up +and down in her excitement. + +'Margaret and the Babe!' she shrieked, waving her arms wildly round her +head. + +But Barbara had slipped down after Angela, though not quite so +precipitately, and had retired from the contest to a particular corner +of the gymnasium, where the hot-water pipes projected sufficiently to +form what might with imagination be considered a seat. It required +some ingenuity, perhaps, to preserve any sort of balance on the edge of +a row of hot-water pipes; but that was nothing to a small person who +could never sit down tamely on a chair like other people, but always +preferred the slanting surface of a desk, or something equally +unaccommodating. So Babs felt the hot-water pipes with her grubby +little hands, to make sure they were just the right heat to be sat +upon, and then squeezed herself on to them contentedly, curled her legs +away underneath, and in a few seconds was supremely unconscious of what +was going on at the other end of the gymnasium. Jean Murray might yell +herself hoarse in her defence, for all she knew or cared; for at that +moment her mind was occupied with a far more important question. + +It was Angela who first grew tired of waging war with Mary Wells without +the valuable support of Barbara Berkeley. Angela could shriek with the +shrillest, when once some one had told her what to shriek; but there +was a solid calmness about Mary that carried more conviction with it, +and Barbara's wit was the only thing to make any impression upon that. +Besides, if Angela shrieked 'Margaret and Jean,' and Jean shrieked +'Margaret and the Babe,' who was there left but the Babe to shriek +for Angela herself? So in a very short time Angela Wilkins also left +the contest, and found her way to the place where the hot-water pipes +projected into a perch for the youngest girl in the school. + +'Hullo, Babe! What's up?' she inquired. + +Barbara looked at her vaguely. Some one in a scarlet gymnasium frock +certainly stood in front of her, but it had nothing whatever to do with +what she was worrying over in her mind; so, at first, she did not take +any notice. + +'Aren't you coming to practise rings?' pursued Angela, who had seen +Barbara look like this before, and knew from experience that in time +the child would rouse herself sufficiently to answer her. + +'Rings?' repeated Babs, vacantly. + +'Oh, come on!' said Angela, impatiently. 'How you do moon about the place, +to be sure! Don't you want to win the Canon's prize?' + +Barbara's expression changed swiftly, and she frowned. 'Get away,' she +growled, with unusual fierceness; and Angela stared and withdrew. + +'Barbara Berkeley is in an awful fury,' she announced, when she got back +to Jean. + +'What about?' asked Jean. + +'Oh, not _about_ anything,' answered Angela, shrugging her shoulders. +'When the Babe is in a fury, it's never _about_ anything, is it? It's +inside her, or something,' she added, seeking in her mind for some +explanation of the strange moods that made Barbara Berkeley a puzzle +to every one. + +'Inside her!' echoed Mary Wells, scornfully. 'What you two can see in that +child I never can make out. Fancy making friends with any one who loses +her temper _inside_!' + +'Well, it's better than losing it _outside_ and upsetting everybody by +howling like a baby, because you can't find your pencil-box, isn't it, +stupid?' cried Jean. + +Mary blushed painfully at the personal reference, and hastily changed +the conversation. 'Barbara Berkeley is a spoilt little kid,' she retorted. +'She's the most sullen, ill-tempered, obstinate little----' The words +stayed at the tip of her tongue, for the unconscious subject of them had +suddenly joined the group round Mary, and was staring at her in her most +solemn and disconcerting manner. + +Mary Wells felt foolish. There was something about the youngest girl +in the school, when she looked like that, that would make any one feel +foolish. But Babs had evidently not heard a word she had been saying. + +'Come on,' she said, hooking her arm into Jean's; 'I want to ask you +something.' + +The two wandered away together down the long gymnasium. + +'Look here,' began Barbara, impetuously, as soon as they were out of +hearing of the others. 'Are you keen on winning that prize?' + +Jean drew a long breath. She wanted to take that prize back with her to +the little home in Edinburgh, where she had been adored and spoiled for +twelve whole years, more than she had ever wanted anything in the world; +and she did not know how to answer Barbara's unexpected question. + +'Why?' she asked, at length. + +Barbara took hold of a rope and waved it backwards and forwards to +give herself courage. 'Because,' she blurted out, 'I want to get it +too,--_awfully_, and so does Angela, and--and we can't all get it, can we?' + +'No,' said Jean, looking at her curiously. She had thought she really was +beginning to understand the Babe; and here she was, showing herself in a +more puzzling light than ever. + +'You see,' Barbara went on, swarming up the rope a couple of feet and +making her next remark to the black hook in the beam above, 'I'd like +awfully to win it, because I don't want the boys to think I've got too +much like a girl to do things now; and because it's so--so splendid to +feel you _can_ do things.' + +She slid down the rope again, and Jean saw how her eyes were glowing and +shining, and she felt a little more puzzled than before. + +'Then, Angela wants to get it because she's always bottom in everything +else,' continued Barbara. 'That's not much of a reason, I think, +especially when she hasn't got any brothers--only millions of sisters, +who don't count; but still, she'll be awfully disappointed if she doesn't +get it, won't she?' + +'Yes,' said Jean. + +Babs curled the rope round her waist, and swung herself gently to and fro. +The movement seemed to aid her reflections. 'Why do _you_ want to get it, +Jean?' she asked softly. + +It was never easy to induce Jean to talk about herself; but if any one +could do it, Barbara was the person. And, this time, she succeeded. + +Jean drew another long breath, and clenched her fists. + +'Because I want to be first,' she said slowly. 'I want to be first in +_everything_. I'd sooner be bottom than second! Of course you'll think +I'm a conceited pig,' she added, almost fiercely, 'but I can't help +that; I don't expect you to understand.' Then she muttered in a lower +tone,--'Nobody ever does, excepting only mother and father.' + +Barbara's eyes were fixed on her face, and there was a warmth in their +blackness that Jean had only seen there once, and that was when she was +writing to her father in America. + +'Good old Jean!' she murmured. 'It's awfully hard to understand; but I'll +try--_truthfully_. And I'd like you to get the prize--I would, really. +I didn't want you to have it before; but I do now, Jean, old girl!' + +'I ought to want _you_ to have it, but I don't,' sighed Jean, trying +vainly not to be behindhand in unselfishness; 'I just want it myself, +so it's no good pretending I don't.' + +There was silence between them for an instant; and from the other end of +the gymnasium drifted the monotonous war-cries of Mary Wells and Angela +Wilkins. + +'Margaret and Charlotte Bigley!' shouted one. + +'Margaret and Jean Murray!' added the other. + +The enthusiasm was too infectious to be resisted. With a wild scream +of glee, Jean and Babs raced the whole length of the room and flung +themselves into the fray, without a thought of the opposite sentiments +they had just been expressing to each other. + +'Margaret and the Babe!' yelled Jean, brandishing an Indian club. + +'Margaret and Angela!' came from the panting Barbara, just behind her. + +Nothing but the entrance of Finny would have calmed the noisy tumult; but +when they saw her standing on the platform, looking down at them with +her best Saturday smile on her face, the clamour ended in a burst of +laughter; and five or six of the more eager of them invaded the platform, +and danced round her appealingly. + +'Do, do say who's going to win,' begged Barbara, catching hold of her +sleeve. + +'It's Margaret and the Babe, isn't it?' cried Jean. + +'No!' shrilled Angela. 'You mean Margaret and----' + +'Charlotte Bigley!' gasped Mary Wells, squeezing herself into the front +rank. + +Miss Finlayson put out her arms and encircled as many of them as she +could, and spun them round the platform with her. + +'Dear, dear little girls!' she exclaimed, when she was out of breath and +could dance no more. 'Do you know what the Canon ought to have done, if +he wanted to please _me_?' + +'What? What?' cried a dozen voices. + +'He ought to have offered thirty-two prizes, and then I should not have +been afraid of any of my children feeling disappointed,' answered Miss +Finlayson, nodding at them wisely; and, somehow, it seemed to Jean as if +the head-mistress's eyes rested longest of all upon her. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GYMNASTIC DISPLAY + + +The junior division, drawn up in double file, stood assembled in the +anteroom of the gymnasium, on the day of the great competition for +the Canon's prize. The figure-marching by the whole class was over, and +the senior division had just begun the wand exercises to the piano +accompaniment of the German music-master, who, being the unlucky +possessor of an unpronounceable name in three syllables, was generally +known as 'Scales.' The applause which had followed after the marching +had taken away the first shyness of the younger children; and even the +prospect of doing separate exercises presently, before an audience of +strangers, did not seem to be having much effect on the sixteen little +girls in scarlet frocks who were waiting in the anteroom for their turn +to come. Hurly-Burly, though supposed to be superintending affairs in +the gymnasium, had to look in at the door more than once, to remind +them that the crashing chords of 'Scales' did not drown everything; +but just as she had succeeded in reducing them at last to order, a +piece of information passed down the file from Charlotte Bigley, who +stood nearest the doorway and had the best view of the gymnasium, upset +them all once more. + +'Margaret has forgotten the figure,' 'Margaret has put the others out,' +'Margaret has gone wrong,' 'Margaret Hulme has clean forgotten everything, +and she's got to step out,' were the various forms in which the news +travelled down to the end of the file, the last of all being the version +of Angela Wilkins and therefore generally discredited. + +'I don't believe a word of it!' said Jean, stoutly. + +'Why, Margaret couldn't go wrong if she tried,' exclaimed Barbara, whose +belief in the head girl, though slow in coming, was quite equal by this +time to Jean's. + +'She has, though,' declared Angela, who stood with Mary Wells just in +front of Jean and Barbara. + +Mary Wells, who had stepped out of rank on hearing the surprising news, +now returned, and in her slow and conscientious manner proceeded to +reprove Angela. + +'How you do exaggerate, Angela!' she said, frowning. 'Margaret only went +a little wrong; and she's caught up again all right. Isn't it funny, +though?' she was obliged to add immediately, with a thrill of amazement +in her voice. + +The two children behind her for once were dumb. The head girl, according +to their simple creed, could do no wrong; so when she did, what words had +they left to use? Babs was the first to see a way out of the difficulty. + +'I know,' she said. 'I expect she's nervous. It makes you forget like +anything, if you're nervous. Once, when Egbert was being prepared for +confirmation, he was so nervous--it was a strange clergyman, you know, +and Egbert said he blinked--that he clean forgot his catechism, even +the easy first part about your godfathers and godmothers. So that's why +Margaret forgot her steps, you see if it wasn't!' + +'Nervous!' echoed Jean, incredulously. 'Who ever saw Margaret nervous? +Do you think she'd be able to make every new kid who comes to the school +quake in her shoes if she was _nervous_?' + +'I don't know,' answered Babs, doubtfully. Margaret Hulme had certainly +never made her quake in her shoes, even when she was a new girl; but +she did not admit this to Jean. 'Egbert can make people afraid of him +too,' she went on, 'and he can thrash any chap you please, and he always +washes his head in cold water _every_ morning, even if there's ice, and he +has more ties and clothes and things than all the others put together, +and he's awfully grand and splendid, Egbert is,--but all the same, he was +frightened of that strange clergyman. Can you see Egbert?' she concluded +proudly. 'He's at the end of them all, next to Jill. Wasn't it jolly of +Finny to put them right in the front row of the gallery?' + +Her companions forgot Margaret for a minute or two in their efforts to +stand on tiptoe and catch a glimpse through the open door of Barbara +Berkeley's five brothers. The various relatives who came to the +break-up parties, and never seemed to exist at any other time except on +letter-writing days, always caused a good deal of excitement among +the girls, and added a temporary importance to the most insignificant of +them, provided she was lucky enough to possess a parent or even a cousin +among the visitors. + +'They're all mine,' said Babs, glowing with the joy of possession. 'I'll +introduce them to you at supper, if you like.' + +'I'm rather glad I haven't any one belonging to me here,' said Jean, +cheating herself into a brief forgetfulness of the little home in +Edinburgh. 'I'm so frightened of the introducing part; I never know +what to say, and it makes me feel such a goat.' + +'Oh,' said Mary Wells, placidly; 'how funny of you, Jean. I always say, +"Here's my sister, and this is Charlotte Bigley." That's quite easy, +surely.' + +'Yes, but it isn't right,' responded Jean, frankly. 'You should hear +Margaret Hulme do it--that's something like! It reminds you of mothers, +and callers, and At Home days when you wear your best frock and hand +the scones.' + +Their talk was interrupted by the retirement from the gymnasium of the +senior division. Margaret marched into the anteroom, with her eyes +staring straight in front of her, and an exaggerated air of confidence in +her bearing. There was an obvious lack of enthusiasm among her followers, +who were all whispering and looking significantly at their leader; but +the noise produced by Scales, who seemed to think that a Beethoven sonata +was an appropriate solo to play in the interval, made conversation +impossible; and the section that was to do the horizontal bar, led by +Ruth Oliver, returned to the gymnasium before the juniors were able to +satisfy their curiosity. During the second event of the competition, +Margaret and the vaulting-horse section exchanged very few remarks, and +the feeling that there was something unusual in the air had considerably +increased by the time Ruth, looking flushed and totally unlike herself, +marched her section back again. The rumour ran down the junior file that +Ruth Oliver had been distinguishing herself, and that as much of the +clapping as Scales allowed to be heard was on her account. Certainly, +the irresolute manner that marked everything Ruth did, as a rule, had +quite deserted her as she filed past the triumvirate with her little band. + +'Why,' exclaimed Angela, audibly, 'I never knew Ruth Oliver was pretty +before!' + +'She isn't, is she?' said Jean, just as loudly. + +'Of course she is!' declared Babs, warmly. 'She's _beautiful_, and--and +classic!' + +The others laughed, and she wondered why. Somebody had said, only the +other day, that Jill Urquhart had classic features; and how was she to +know that, although she was every bit as fond of Ruth as of Jill, the +same adjective would not do for both? + +'Look at Margaret Hulme,' whispered Mary Wells, as the vaulting-horse +section marched past them. 'She's quite white!' + +The little remark was enough to set them all wondering afresh; and +Barbara, moved by a sudden impulse, darted up to Ruth Oliver. + +'_Did_ Margaret go wrong in the wands?' asked the child, in an anxious +whisper. + +The smile that had made Ruth look so surprisingly pretty died out of her +face, and she glanced gravely down at her little questioner. + +'Never mind, baby,' she said gently. 'Go back to your place.' And she came +as near snubbing any one then as she ever did in the whole of her school +career. + +A burst of applause put every one in the anteroom once more on the alert. + +'What is it?' passed eagerly from one to another. The answer, given by +Charlotte from her point of vantage near the doorway, was soon circulated. +Margaret Hulme had easily surpassed her seven companions by a brilliant +performance on the vaulting-horse; and the spirits of the anteroom went +up with a bound. Hurly-Burly had mounted the platform at the farther end +of the gymnasium, and was comparing notes with Miss Finlayson and the +expert from the London training-college, who was acting as one of the +judges; so there was no one to restrain both senior and junior divisions +from falling out of rank and pressing round the head girl, as she once +more marched back to them. They had never once made so much fuss over +their idol as they did now that she had shown, for the first time, that +even idols are capable of failure. + +Hurly-Burly returned and restored order in a stern voice; and they saw +Finny standing in the middle of the platform, waiting for Scales to bring +the _Erlkoenig_ to a thundering close. The next moment she was speaking in +that low voice of hers that went straight to the ears of every one in the +room. + +'It may make the end of the senior competition more interesting to you,' +she began, 'if you know how the competitors stand now. So far, Ruth +Oliver is a little ahead of the others----' Even the solemnity of the +occasion could not stay the murmur of astonishment that rose in the +anteroom at this announcement; but Miss Finlayson waited for it to +subside, and finished her speech. 'She and Margaret Hulme are very +close, for they are exactly even as regards gymnastics; but Margaret lost +a little over the wand figure. So the prize will greatly depend upon the +result of the high jump. At the same time, I feel sure you will agree with +me that the way in which the other competitors have worked has greatly +added to our enjoyment, and deserves much of our applause.' + +A good many downcast faces in the anteroom cheered up as Miss Finlayson +made her ingenious reference to the unsuccessful ones, and so contrived +to make them feel that the applause at the end of her speech was really +for them. Then the whole senior division filed into the gymnasium for +the last time, to the slow music of Herr Scales, who had just had a polite +rebuke from Hurly-Burly, and was forcing himself desperately to keep the +soft pedal down. + +The children never forgot the tense feeling of the next few minutes, +the thrill that ran through every girl in Wootton Beeches when Ruth +Oliver knocked down the rope at four feet four, the answering thrill that +followed it when she cleared it at four feet six, the surprise they went +through when Margaret also cleared it at four feet six, but knocked +it down at four feet eight; and last of all, the enthusiasm of the +spectators when Ruth just managed to clear it at four feet eight and +Margaret still knocked it down after two tries at it. The people, who +clapped and smiled so good-naturedly, little knew that the exciting +contest they had just witnessed had upset the traditions of two and a half +years and proclaimed the triumph of the most retiring girl in the school. +They only thought how modern and delightful it was for girls to play +the same games as boys; and Mrs. Oliver beamed on every one from the +platform, and decided that Ruth should stay another year at school +instead of leaving at midsummer. But the anteroom was overwhelmed. + +'It's--impossible!' gasped Jean, when the news travelled down to the +triumvirate. 'Why, Margaret can clear four feet ten _easily_! I've seen +her.' + +'And Ruth has never done more than four feet six before,' added Angela, +forced by the seriousness of the moment into a strict statement of facts. + +'Margaret was nervous; I'm certain she was,' said Barbara, positively. 'It +was the same with Egbert, when he forgot his godfathers and godmothers; he +said there was a silly idiot at the bottom of his form, who didn't mind +the strange clergyman blinking at him a bit, and he even got through the +duty to his neighbour. And Ruth wasn't nervous, you see.' + +'What nonsense you are talking,' remarked Mary Wells, who loved to be +literal. 'Why, Ruth is more shy than any one in the whole school!' + +That was certainly true, and Babs went on puzzling over it, long after +Margaret and Ruth had retired hand in hand to the other end of the +anteroom. For whatever the head girl felt about her failure, she did not +mean to let any one guess that she cared. Her easy self-possession was +all her own again, as she kept tight hold of Ruth's hand and chatted +lightly to the girls about her; and one or two of the others, who tried +to patronise her with their consolation, received such sarcastic replies +that they were very soon put back in their place again. Margaret Hulme +was not going to forget she was head girl, even if that roomful of +strangers had robbed her of the power she had wielded for two and a half +years. + +Scales struck up a march of his own composition; and at a vigorous sign +from Miss Burleigh, Charlotte Bigley hastily marshalled her scattered +troop and led them into the gymnasium for the Indian club performance. +They were all very much subdued by the time they had separated to their +various places, for the peep they had stolen through the anteroom door +had given them no idea of what it really felt like to stand in the +middle of this staring crowd of people, who filled the gallery above +and the platform at the end, and even spread thinly round the room +close up to the wall. Jean clenched her teeth and frowned fiercely, and +would have endured twice the shyness that tortured her sooner than +forget one of the exercises she had to go through; and as for Barbara, +she took no notice of the people at all, but began to work mechanically, +as soon as the first bars of the familiar valse fell on her ears. +Angela, however, lost her head and one of her clubs at the same instant; +and a harmless aunt, who sat near, only escaped a severe blow from the +latter by the dexterity of another visitor, who put out his hand just +in time and caught it as it flew past him. It was neatly done, and the +audience applauded vigorously, while Hurly-Burly gave the command to +stop practice, and the stranger restored her property to the confused +and unhappy Angela. Then Babs recognised him. It was the Doctor who +had come out in this surprisingly new light; and even Kit, with whom she +immediately exchanged glances, was looking down at him approvingly. + +'Did you see Dr. Hurst?' whispered Babs to Jean afterwards, as they filed +out of the gymnasium again. + +'Of course I did, directly I got in,' answered Jean. 'Couldn't think who +it was looking so glum and thundery! Wonder why he came to a show like +this? He doesn't look as though he went in for gymnastics, does he?' + +'I don't know,' said Babs, trying to be fair even to the beast who had not +shown himself worthy to be a prince. 'It was very smart the way he caught +that club. Perhaps he is good at gym, though he can't take a joke.' + +Angela required so much consolation from them both on account of her +blunder, that they forgot all about the doctor, and spent most of their +time, while Charlotte's section was displaying on the horizontal ladder, +in assuring her, with more or less confidence in their tones, that when +it came to the rings no one could hope to compete with her. Then Charlotte +Bigley returned at the head of her section, trying unsuccessfully to +look as if nothing had happened; and Mary Wells proudly informed all +those who cared to hear, that if anybody thought she was going to do +the rings as well as Charlotte had just done the ladder, she was much +mistaken! + +'Oh, you shut up!' rejoined Babs. 'You haven't seen Angela yet.' + +'Or Jean!' echoed Angela, faithfully. + +The third voice for once was wanting. Jean Murray stood waiting for the +signal to advance; and her determined, almost dogged look was blotting out +every other expression on her thin, clever face. + +Babs understood, and sprang forward to her place at Jean's side. + +'It's all right, Jean,' she said earnestly. 'I must try my very hardest, +because Finny made us all promise; but--but I do want you to win, all the +same.' + +'Oh, stop it, Babe,' Jean threw back at her, in a tone that startled and +hurt her; and the child shrank into herself again, and had a hard fight +to keep back the tears that rushed into her eyes for the first time in +many weeks. + +Their persistent encouragement of Angela made her go through the first +exercise on the rings successfully. It was a swing and a pull up in front, +and she managed it more neatly than either of her supporters. Then came +the swing and turn, and here Angela's temporary courage deserted her. +Perhaps she was flurried by the little attempt made by the gallery to +applaud her the second time she came forward; in any case, the glimpse +she had of Kit, who caught her eye and nodded cheerfully just as she +was beginning, did not help to compose her. She turned too soon and too +vigorously, and spun round helplessly in the air, until Hurly-Burly +came to her aid and helped her to drop ignominiously to the ground. +After that, it was evident that the issue of the competition rested +with Jean and Barbara, for they soon showed that they were much more +finished and thorough in their work than any one else in their section; +and everybody was prepared for the statement made by Miss Finlayson +in the next interval. She announced that Charlotte Bigley, Jean Murray, +and Barbara Berkeley were exactly even up to that point, and that the +result would have to be determined by the rope-climbing. + +The rope-climbing, however, left the result still undetermined. Both Jean +and Babs reached the top in six seconds, blew the trumpet they found there +with a vigour that sent the spectators into a peal of merriment, and slid +down again, much pleased with themselves and the interest they were +exciting. Charlotte Bigley on the third rope excelled them in speed and +reached the top in five seconds, but forgot to blow the trumpet, and so +made things even once more. The junior division filed out again, while +Miss Finlayson and the expert and Hurly-Burly put their heads together +on the platform, and Herr Scales thought the moment an appropriate one for +a performance in his best manner of his favourite composition, which +was called _Sonnenschein_ and had been thumped out in the holidays to +half the parents in the room. + +Miss Finlayson rose to her feet again. As the three competitors she +had already mentioned were still equal, she must call upon each of +them to do one of the advanced exercises, Charlotte on the ladder and the +other two on the rings; they were to choose their own exercises, and if +they again proved themselves equally good, the prize would be divided. +The spectators were in a pleasant state of interest by this time, and +the three little rivals were greeted with enthusiasm when they stepped +out of the anteroom for the last time and took up their positions in front +of the platform. They looked very small and slight as they stood there +in their short red frocks against a solid background of people; but they +had quite lost every suspicion of bashfulness, and Babs even began to +look upon the whole thing as an immense joke. She nodded gaily to the boys +in the gallery, and smiled happily at Auntie Anna, who had the place +of honour on the platform next to the Canon; and in the silence that +followed, while Charlotte Bigley was jumping from rung to rung of the +horizontal ladder, she occupied herself in trying to decide on her own +exercise. If Jean chose leaving go with one hand, she should swing +and let go and catch on to the trapeze beyond--at least, if Hurly-Burly +would only be decent and give her leave. She half hoped that Jean _would_ +choose the other; for she had practised the trapeze one, only last week, +and---- + +A sudden murmur, followed by a faint attempt at applause, roused her; and +she saw Charlotte Bigley walking slowly back to the anteroom with her eyes +fixed on the ground. + +'What happened? I didn't see,' she whispered, nudging Jean. + +'Hand slipped, fell off,' answered Jean, briefly, as she went forward and +grasped the rings. + +She did choose swinging and letting go with one hand, and she went through +it very successfully, and earned every bit of the applause that greeted +her when she finished. Barbara was so delighted that she went on clapping +her loudly after everybody else had stopped, and did not notice what she +was doing till the audience began to laugh and Hurly-Burly came up and +spoke to her. + +'May I have the trapeze let down?' whispered Babs, eagerly. 'I want to +let go of the rings and catch on to it at the end of my swing--like I did +the other day.' + +Hurly-Burly looked doubtful. 'Are you sure you can manage it?' she asked. + +Barbara pleaded, and the games-mistress gave in. It was always difficult +for any one so practical as Miss Burleigh to understand the odd little +pupil, who at one moment could throw herself into a game as heartily as a +boy, and at another was liable to exasperate her companions by going +off into a dream and completely forgetting what she was doing. But it was +impossible to help liking the child, and Hurly-Burly, who had a sneaking +conviction that the trapeze exercise would decide the prize in her favour, +could not resist the temptation to let her have her own way and secure +to herself at the same time a little reflected glory. For it was she +who had taught Barbara the exercise, and she had every reason to be +proud of her pupil. So she let down the trapeze from the roof and held it +back with her hands, ready to drop it forward when the child had worked up +her swing. + +The eyes of the German music-master were filled with sentimental +interest, as the youngest girl in the school stepped up to the rings. He +knew very little about gymnastics, though a German; for his life had been +passed almost entirely in other lands, and during the brief period he +had spent in his own country he had been so absorbed in his art that he +had completely neglected the physical culture that is of so much +importance to most Germans. As for girls' gymnastics, his experience in +them had been entirely confined to a few occasions like the present, +when he was asked to play instead of the junior music-mistress. But he +never assisted at the usual lessons, when the junior music-mistress was +considered good enough to perform; so Miss Finlayson's remarks on the +merits of the three competitors conveyed very little to him. Still, he +managed to gather that Barbara stood a good chance of winning the prize, +and his fat, benevolent face beamed with satisfaction in consequence. +It was true that the little Fraeulein with the black, black eyes and the +wonder-clumsy fingers had no more talent for music than his tabby +cat, while the performances of Fraeulein Vilkins were the joy of his +heart; but it was the little one who asked him so many questions about +his beloved Germany, which she seemed to regard as being about the size +of Kensington Gardens, and he forgave her all her excruciating false +notes for the sake of her warm heart, which was _colossal_. When he saw +her standing there all alone, he quite gave up trying to be brilliant and +dropped into a little simple melody of his own, which he had never +thought important enough to name, but which Barbara had always told +him in her funny English was 'awfully fine.' Unfortunately, just as she +recognised the notes and nodded at him with a little smile, Jean brought +him a message from the games-mistress, asking him not to play at all +until the exercise was over. + +'It's rather a difficult exercise, and you might put her out,' explained +Jean, seeing that he looked puzzled at such a peculiar request. Her +explanation did not help him much, for Jean did not trouble to translate +it into his own language; and, never having witnessed the exercise +that was coming, he failed to see the point of Hurly-Burly's message. +However, he was glad of the opportunity to descend from the platform +and get a better view of the little Fraeulein's performance; and he placed +himself, rather inconveniently, just in front of the games-mistress, and +prepared to miss nothing of what followed. + +Everybody in the room was smiling genially at the youngest girl in the +school. She had already prepossessed them in her favour by her frank +admiration for Jean Murray; and now, as she stood there waiting for +the sign from Hurly-Burly to begin, there was something about her happy +unconsciousness that appealed irresistibly to her audience. Suddenly, the +five boys in the gallery began to stamp their feet encouragingly, and +Peter shouted 'Go it, Babe!' at the top of his voice. In a moment, the +cry was taken up in the anteroom. 'Go it, Babe!' said twenty voices or +more in a breath. The enthusiasm was infectious, and the words were +repeated with many a laugh all over the room. 'Go it, Babe!' cried the +people on the platform, and the people in the gallery, and the people who +sat near her by the wall, until every one in the gymnasium was stamping +and clapping and saying 'Go it, Babe!' to the little person in the short +scarlet frock. + +Barbara held the rings tightly, and her breath came rather quickly and +unevenly. She was bewildered by the noise, and waited for it to subside +before she began the exercise. It was so difficult to know what it all +meant. Of course, the boys wanted her to win; and perhaps the other people +did too, because they were grown up, and grown-up people always were +jolly and kind to her. She could understand why the Doctor, stern as +he was, smiled away at her and clapped her as heartily as any one, from +his place on the platform; and she thought she knew dimly what was making +Jean stamp on the floor till the dust flew. But the enthusiasm of her +other school-fellows, who were pressing forward from the anteroom door, +amazed her greatly. Could it be that they had suddenly forgotten how +young and unimportant she was, and how much she needed correction, and +how often she required to be told that she was the youngest in the school? +Were these the girls she had hated so heartily only three months ago, the +disgraced princesses she had turned out of her kingdom so passionately? + +The applause died down at last, and Miss Burleigh made her the signal to +begin. Babs walked back as far as she could, stood stretched for a second +on the tips of her toes, then shook the hair out of her eyes with the +old familiar movement, and took a sharp run forward. The next minute, the +slim scarlet form was flying backwards and forwards, with graceful, +regular movements. The onlookers gazed and admired, wondering with +some curiosity what her exercise was going to be; and their interest +increased when she uttered a sharp 'Now!' just as she was sweeping +backwards from her highest swing. Only one person in the room failed +to notice that it was Miss Burleigh who let the trapeze drop forward +instantly, so that it hung ready for the small performer to grasp on +her return swing. + +The music-master had been wholly absorbed in watching the little +Fraeulein, from the first moment she had begun to swing. He thought he had +never seen anything so graceful as the way she swept to and fro, nor +anything so _huebsch_ as the expression and the rose-red complexion of +the youngest girl in the school. It was truly _grossartig_! His eyes +followed her closely all the time, from end to end of her swing; and that +was how he contrived to be looking away at the precise moment when +Hurly-Burly let down the trapeze. The murmur that rose from the people who +surrounded him, as they realised what Barbara was going to do, made him +look round; and he saw the thing hanging there, as though it had +dropped from the roof by accident, and in another second would get in +the way of the child who was swinging so deliciously. Viewed afterwards +in the light of ordinary common-sense, it seemed to him _wunderbar_ +that he could so have deceived himself. At the time, not a doubt was in +his mind as to what he thought had happened. The trapeze had fallen +down by accident and was going to embarrass the little Fraeulein, if +not to hurt her; and the people around him were all exclaiming aloud, +because they too had realised her danger. Nevertheless, nobody seemed to +know what to do, and the little Fraeulein was already sweeping straight +towards it on her downward swing. All these reflections rushed through +his brain in the flash of a moment. There was no time to hesitate. He +must be the one to rush out and come to her aid. With a loud German +exclamation, the music-master hurled himself forward and snatched back +the trapeze just as the child let go of the rings. + +He had a dim recollection afterwards of being gripped by Hurly-Burly +just an instant too late, and of seeing the little scarlet figure twist in +the air above him and drop with a nasty thud at the edge of the last +mattress, of finding himself in the midst of a huge concourse of people, +who suddenly rose up with a great roar and bore down upon him, uttering +shriek after shriek,--and then, of coming miserably to himself again, +with his heart thumping and his head throbbing painfully, just as a +deathlike silence succeeded the uproar, and a voice like Miss Finlayson's +said something that sounded like 'Doctor!' + +Some one had sprung from the platform with a flying jump the moment the +accident happened, and was forcing a passage through the throng of people. +There was not a sound to be heard in the great gymnasium as the Doctor +knelt down on the floor and put out his hand to the little still spot +of scarlet that lay on the edge of the last mattress. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE LAST DAY OF THE TERM + + +In the annals of Wootton Beeches there had never been so dismal a +packing-day as the one that dawned on the morrow of the gymnastic +competition. Generally, packing-day was the most delightful day in the +term: it came just after the break-up party, and just before going home, +and everything that happened on it seemed filled with a peculiar interest +of its own. First of all, there was the joy of rushing up to the bedrooms +directly after breakfast, to put out all the clothes in tidy little +heaps, ready for packing later on; then, the less delightful business +of clearing the bookshelves and tearing up the old exercise-books--an +occupation which contrived, in spite of itself, to present a certain +amount of charm, simply because it belonged to the last day of the term. +And the nicest part of all was the indescribable feeling that it was the +last day of the term, that there were no more lessons to prepare and +no more penalties to avoid, no more scales to practise and no more +stockings to mend, and, best of all, no more rules to bother about, so +that Fraeulein and Mademoiselle could both be addressed, much to their +own distraction, in the British tongue, and anybody who pleased could +run up and down stairs to her heart's content without asking leave +first. All these privileges made packing-day, as a rule, something to +look forward to. But to-day nothing was happening as it usually did. + +Breakfast had been gone through almost in silence, and the accustomed rush +to the bedrooms afterwards had taken place quite quietly and tamely. The +tidying of the bookshelves, which could generally be made to linger so +pleasantly over the whole morning, was accomplished for once in an hour +or so; and the girls found themselves, at eleven o'clock, with nothing +further to do until Miss Tomlinson should send for them to pack their +things. On any other packing-day the playroom would have been cleared +of chairs and tables in a few minutes, and somebody would have been +dragged to the piano to play a valse, and there would have been plenty of +amusement for every one until dinner-time. But to-day nobody wanted +to dance, and hardly any one talked. + +Jean Murray sat motionless on one of the window-seats in the senior +playroom. On packing-day all ordinary restrictions were suspended, and +the younger children wandered in and out of the two rooms as they pleased. +Jean had taken advantage of this privilege to escape from her usual +play-fellows, who were remaining behind from force of habit in their own +domain. The way Angela persisted in crying was enough to drive any one +away; she had cried all through prayers, and had begun again directly +after breakfast. Mary Wells, forgetting how much she had endured on former +occasions from the triumvirate, sat with her arm round Angela's neck, +calling her 'Poor darling!' at intervals, with an occasional sob of her +own to keep her company. Some of the others cried a little too,--at least, +they did when they came near Angela,--and Charlotte Bigley was in such +a temper that no one dared speak to her. All together, the juniors' room +was more than Jean could bear just then. Jean was not crying herself: she +had not cried a drop since she saw the streak of scarlet twist round in +the air and drop with a thud that still sounded in her ears. + +It was not a bit like the last day of the term. 'Tommy' did not once +come to the door and call out the name of the next girl who was to go +upstairs and pack. Nobody in the room was exchanging addresses with any +one else, or promising to write weekly letters during the holidays. +Margaret was as cross as Charlotte Bigley, it seemed, for she allowed no +one but Ruth Oliver to come near her; and the other big girls were +scattered about the room in idle, listless groups, conversing a little, +now and then, in hushed tones. None of them noticed Jean; and Jean +never saw them. She just sat rigidly on the window-seat, and looked +straight in front of her, with the odd, hard expression on her face +that had been there since the night before. + +Margaret was sitting at the table tracing interminable circles on the +back of an old envelope with a pair of compasses. The presence of Ruth at +her elbow, as she absorbed herself in this pursuit, was very comforting. +Ruth was a slow old thing, as every one knew, but in time of need she +was invaluable. + +After a while, the head girl dug the point of the compass into the table, +and cleared her throat nervously. + +'She's such an awfully nice little kid,' she said. She spoke hurriedly, +and her face had turned rather red. + +'Yes,' answered Ruth, staring down at the maze of circles on the back of +the envelope. + +Margaret went on, with an effort: 'She has such a queer way of getting at +you,' she said. 'I never knew how much I cared about the child, till--till +now.' + +'No,' answered Ruth, softly. + +'Supposing----' began Margaret, and stopped abruptly. 'Do you think----?' +she began again, and again hesitated. + +'Hurly-Burly said they couldn't tell till the Doctor's next visit,' +replied Ruth. 'She hadn't recovered consciousness when he left, you see.' + +'Don't!' muttered Margaret, hastily. She dug the compass a little deeper, +and cleared her throat once more. 'When did you see Hurly-Burly?' she +asked. + +'Just after prayers,' said Ruth. 'She said I wasn't to tell the younger +ones, so don't split. The Doctor stayed till five this morning, and he's +coming again presently. He's rather cut up, she says.' + +'_That_ Doctor? Don't believe it!' said Margaret, shading some of the +circles with a pencil. + +'Hurly-Burly said so,' maintained Ruth, in her resolute way. 'Perhaps he +isn't so stiff and stupid as he seems. I saw him last night, talking to +Jill Urquhart, and he looked quite young and jolly. You never know, do +you?' + +'Perhaps not. It doesn't matter, does it?' said the head girl, +indifferently. + +'Hurly-Burly is pretty bad, too,' continued Ruth. 'She thinks it's her +fault, because there was a gap in the mattresses, so that the Babe fell +half on the boards. That's how she cut her head. You see, the mattresses +were arranged for the rings, and when Hurly-Burly altered them for the +trapeze she didn't stop to test them to see if they were in the right +place. Anybody else might have done the same, with the whole room waiting +for her; but still, she is reproaching herself like anything.' + +'She needn't,' said Margaret, with quiet vehemence. 'It's only the fault +of that idiot Scales.' + +'Poor Scales!' murmured Ruth. 'I saw him too wandering about the hall; +and he was crying just like a baby, and he didn't seem to mind my seeing +him a bit. I suppose foreigners are always like that.' + +Margaret curled her lip contemptuously. 'I shouldn't waste my pity on him, +if I were you,' she remarked. 'No one but a foreigner would have anything +to cry about.' + +Ruth glanced at her timidly. 'I think, perhaps, it is worse for Scales +than any one,' she ventured to say. 'Of course, he's a hopeless idiot, +but he didn't mean----' + +'Oh, never mind about Scales!' interrupted Margaret; and Ruth took up the +compasses and began drawing invisible circles on the tablecloth. + +A bit of conversation drifted across to them from the juniors' room. + +'Her brothers stopped all night; so did the old lady,' Mary Wells was +saying. 'I saw their breakfast going into Finny's study this morning, +when Tommy called me back into the dining-room to fold my table-napkin.' + +'How could you notice a thing like that?' came in plaintive, reproving +tones from Angela. 'I wish I was able to bear up like you, Mary.' + +'Poor darling!' said Mary Wells, tenderly. + +'Was Jill there too?' asked another voice. + +'She's up in Finny's bedroom, with _her_,' answered Angela, quickly. She +was almost restored to a normal condition by the desire to tell something +that nobody else knew. Then she remembered herself, and subsided into a +proper state of tearfulness. 'I was hanging about upstairs, to see if I +could find out how _she_ was, when Jill passed me in a white apron, +looking just like a real nurse,' she went on, with a long-drawn sigh. 'I +tried to speak to her, but I was too upset.' + +'_Poor_ darling!' cried Mary Wells, more fervently than before. + +Margaret stirred impatiently, and flung down her pencil. 'I say,' she said +to Ruth, 'what can we give those children to do? I'm sure Finny wouldn't +like them to go on drivelling like that. Angela is such a little idiot!' + +'I think she's really fond of the Babe,' observed Ruth, as she followed +the head girl across the room. + +'Oh, yes,' admitted Margaret, with a shrug of her shoulders; 'Jean told +her she'd got to be.' + +At the window-seat she stopped and forgot Angela for the moment. The sight +of the child who sat there, looking so white and wretched, touched her. + +'Cheer up, kiddie!' she said, sitting down beside her. Ruth Oliver +discreetly moved on. + +'Get away!' gasped Jean. + +Margaret stroked her hand, but Jean drew it away sharply, and shifted her +position so that she looked out of the window. Her eyes wandered across +the drive and fell on the little building in the field, where she and +Angela had passed their eight days of quarantine with the youngest girl +in the school. Somehow, Jean could not bear the sight of it to-day, and +she moved round restively, till she faced Margaret again. + +'Oh, do leave me alone!' she said fiercely; and the head girl felt rather +helpless, and left her. + +In the junior playroom, Angela had relapsed at the sight of Ruth Oliver +into a fresh fit of crying. + +'What _is_ the matter, Angela?' demanded Ruth, for once almost losing her +patience. + +'Matter?' sobbed Angela, leaning back for support on the substantial arm +of Mary Wells. 'I'm full of re--remorse, and--and penitence! So would you +be, if--if you were as bad and--and as sinful as me!' + +'Why, what have you been doing now?' inquired Ruth, keeping her temper +with difficulty. + +Angela stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth, and recovered sufficient +control over herself to take it out again and make her confession. + +'Last week,' she faltered, '_she_ asked me to help her with her French; +and--and--I was cross, and--and--I wouldn't.' + +She burst into tears again, as Charlotte Bigley looked up from the book +she was pretending to read and put in a curt remark. + +'Who's _she_?' she demanded bluntly. + +Angela stopped crying to stare at her. 'You know fast enough, Charlotte!' +she mumbled indistinctly. + +Charlotte tossed her head scornfully. 'If you mean Barbara Berkeley, why +on earth can't you say so?' she exclaimed. 'She hasn't lost her name +because she fell off the rings, _has_ she?' + +Mary Wells spoke her mind solemnly. 'We all know _you_ have no feeling, +Charlotte Bigley,' she was beginning, when some one near the window +announced that the Doctor had just driven round the corner of the house. + +This in itself was enough to reduce Angela to further depths of +contrition. 'What shall I do,' she wailed, 'if she dies before I can ask +her forgiveness?' + +Margaret Hulme suddenly stood over her, and shook her by the shoulder. + +'Stop it, child!' she said, not unkindly, for even Angela's tears made her +own feel uncomfortably near the surface. She turned to the others quickly. + +'Every one will get ready and go into the field for a hockey practice,' +she commanded. + +Charlotte shut her book with a bang. 'What's the good of hockey?' she +grumbled crossly. + +'What's the good of anything,' sighed Margaret, 'with that poor little +kid lying ill up there?' + +Charlotte looked at her swiftly, and then turned away, blinking her eyes +furiously; and the head girl took her arm with astonishing condescension, +and walked silently into the cloakroom with her. + +A little later, Dr. Hurst came out of Miss Finlayson's bedroom upstairs, +and closed the door softly behind him. The head-mistress stood waiting +for him on the landing. Their eyes met, and hers were full of anxious +inquiry. In his there shone a gleam of something that had not been there +before. + +'Better,' he said, and drew a long breath. He put his hand on the +baluster-rail to steady himself. 'She'll do, now that consciousness +has returned,' he went on in a businesslike tone; 'the concussion was +only slight, after all, and the fracture to the leg could hardly be in +a better place. Wonderful what children will do to kill themselves +without succeeding! She'll pull through in no time, with rest and +quiet--perfect quiet, mind! Don't let those boys go near her, whatever you +do; and keep your girls from weeping on her neck as much as possible. Good +morning.' + +Miss Finlayson smiled, and retained his hand a moment. No one would have +thought that this practical man of medicine, who pretended to regard his +little patient merely as an interesting case, was the boyish-hearted +fellow who had sat by her bedside all night to watch for her returning +consciousness. + +'Must you go?' she said. 'Why not rest on the sofa in my study for an +hour, and stay to lunch with us? You must be worn out.' + +The Doctor drew himself up and frowned. 'Not at all, not at all!' he said, +looking vexed. 'Room full of patients waiting for me at home--I must wish +you good morning.' + +[Illustration: 'Tell me, Herr Doktor, haf I kilt her?'] + +He left her and hurried off, still frowning. Just as he turned the corner +of the gallery, Egbert and Peter, who had been lying in wait for him some +fifteen minutes, sprang out upon him from an open door. + +'How is she?' they asked eagerly. + +'Really!' fumed the Doctor, who hated being taken by surprise. 'The +bulletin is with Miss Finlayson; I have no time----' + +Peter grasped his arm as he was escaping. 'Is she going to get better?' +he implored. There was no mistaking the earnestness in the boy's face, +and the Doctor melted in spite of himself. + +'Yes, yes, to be sure,' he growled. 'That is, if you leave her alone.' + +When he reached the staircase he was again brought to a standstill. The +way was entirely blocked by the massive form of the German music-master, +who sat on the top stair with his face buried in his large, fat hands. +The Doctor tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. If one thing more +than another annoyed him, it was the sight of uncontrolled emotion. + +'Pardon me,' he said briskly, 'but will you kindly----' + +'_Gott in Himmel!_' shouted Herr Scales, springing to his feet as he +recognised the Doctor's voice. 'Tell me, Herr Doktor, haf I kilt her? Am I +a murterer of the _lieblichste_ little Fraeulein that ever walked upon----' + +'Nonsense, sir!' interrupted Dr. Hurst, doing his best to keep his temper. +The sight of the tears that streamed down the good-natured face of the +music-master was enough, he told himself, to annoy any man who was not a +foreigner. 'Nobody has killed her yet; but what you are going to do, among +you, before you have done with her, I shouldn't like to say.' + +'You do not understand,' wept Herr Scales, clasping his hands. 'It was +I who nearly kilt her, _dummer_ wretch that I am.' + +'Well, you haven't killed her, my good sir, and she's going to get +better,' answered the Doctor, trying to deal gently with him in spite of +his irritating foreign behaviour. Then he left him and went quickly +down the stairs. + +Two more voices assailed him in the hall, as he took down his coat from +the peg. Restraining his impatience as best he might, the young man +looked round to find Kit and Wilfred at his elbow. Curled up on the rug +in front of the stove lay Robin, fast asleep, with his head pillowed on a +footstool. Weariness and the shedding of many tears had left their mark +on his round, babyish face, and the elder boys looked little more than +half-awake themselves. Kit's face was tear-stained too, and he suddenly +found he could not put the question he was longing to ask. It was Wilfred +who blurted it out instead. + +'Is she better?' he asked. + +The Doctor had been up all night; he had gone through more anxiety than +he could have believed himself capable of feeling; he had found that his +heart had gone out unconsciously, eleven weeks ago, to the child who had +called him a beast; and he felt that all the glory his profession could +bring him was not worth so much as the saving of that one little life +upstairs. And then people came and bothered him with their senseless +questions. If she were worse, was it likely he would be leaving her now? + +He was worn out with want of sleep, and it did not occur to him that the +same thing might possibly be true of the white-faced lads before him. + +'Bless my soul!' he exclaimed testily. 'How many _are_ there of you? +There's a couple at every corner. How can you expect your sister to get +better if you hang about the place and ask questions at the top of your +voice? There's--there's an atmosphere of nervous sentiment all over the +house that's enough to ruin any case.' + +Wilfred was dumbfounded, and stared stupidly. But Christopher suddenly +found his tongue, and, being Christopher, he found it sarcastically. + +'Counting Jill, there are only six all together,' he said, peering up at +the irritated young man through his spectacles, 'so you won't meet any +more.' + +'I don't care how many there are of you,' grumbled Dr. Hurst, flinging +on his coat. 'Keep out of her way, that's all--and mine too.' + +'You may be sure we'll do that, if we can,' retorted Wilfred, recovering +his courage. 'Only, you haven't told us yet how she is.' + +'You seem to forget she's our sister, and we're beastly cut up about her,' +added Kit, glumly. + +'She's not a rotten bacteria, either,' said Wilfred, in a vicious +undertone which the Doctor fortunately missed. + +Dr. Hurst felt a little bit ashamed of himself, and was more cross than +ever. 'There, there! She's better, of course,' he muttered, pushing past +his questioners. Then he saw the sleeping Robin curled up in front of the +stove, and he glanced back at the tired faces of the other two. 'Best +thing you can do is to go straight to bed,' he advised, jamming his hat +down on his head. 'Best thing for the case, too.' + +Kit smiled at him indulgently. 'Let them go to bed who have beds,' he +remarked. 'I've only got an arm-chair.' + +The Doctor fled discomfited, and shut the front door in their faces. He +did not understand boys, and he did not like them, and he would not have +minded if he had never had to meet another boy as long as he lived. In +a very few moments, however, he came to the conclusion that although boys +were pretty bad, girls could beat them easily, with several points to +spare. + +His man was walking the cob up and down outside, and the trap was not in +sight when Dr. Hurst shut the front door behind him. The occurrence was +particularly unfortunate, for as he stood waiting on the steps the whole +of the junior hockey team came strolling round the corner of the house. +This in itself was sufficiently embarrassing to the young man who stood +there; and he hailed the appearance of his trap with deep and earnest +satisfaction. But he was not to be allowed to escape so easily. The sound +of wheels made the children look round; and some one suddenly called +out--'It's the Doctor!' The next moment he found himself, greatly to +his consternation, in the middle of a throng of excited young ladies, +all in extremely short skirts and all armed with hockey clubs, who were +clamouring loudly and persistently to know if Barbara Berkeley was out of +danger. + +Probably it would never have happened if it had not been the last day +of the term, when a sense of unusual liberty prevailed. Certainly, if it +had been any other day the hockey team would not have been wandering round +by the front door at all, but would have gone straight to the nine-acre +field through the orchard at the back. But the Doctor knew nothing of all +this. He only realised that the girls were finishing what the boys had +begun, and that in another minute he should lose his temper very badly +indeed. + +Most eager of all was a child with a freckled face and reddish-coloured +hair, who somehow seemed familiar to him, though he could not remember +where he had met her before. She came right up to where he stood +helplessly, with his right foot placed on the carriage-step; and she +raised her voice shrilly above all the others. + +'May I see her before she gets worse?' she implored sentimentally. 'I +should never forgive myself, Mary Wells says I shouldn't, if anything +happened to her, and----' + +The Doctor made a great effort and waved them off distractedly, just as +Margaret Hulme and some of the elder ones hurried on the scene and called +angrily to his tormentors. He seized the opportunity to spring to his +seat, and then turned and glared at them. + +'See her before she gets worse?' he answered back furiously. 'If you want +to see her before you've done your best to finish her altogether, you'll +have to look sharp.' + +Miss Finlayson suddenly appeared on the doorstep. Nobody knew how much she +had seen or heard, but she was looking exceedingly stern. She opened her +mouth to speak, just as Dr. Hurst perceived her and broke into a fresh +torrent of words. By this time he had lost the last scrap of his patience. + +'What with rascally boys and hysterical _schoolgirls_,' he shouted, +seizing the whip and cracking it round his head, 'how can you expect me +to pull the case through?' + +He tugged violently at the reins; the startled animal sprang forward, and +the trap clattered noisily out of sight. + +The few short, vigorous sentences with which Miss Finlayson improved +the next five minutes sent the girls into the hockey field with a +much reduced opinion of themselves. Margaret Hulme stayed behind to +vindicate the offenders as well as she could; and the result was that the +head-mistress remembered it was the last day of the term, and blamed +herself for having almost allowed her feelings for the youngest girl +in school to run away with her. + +'Send Jean and Angela up to my bedroom at once,' she said thoughtfully, +when Margaret had finished telling her what had been going on in the +playroom that morning. + +She waited for them on the landing, and kissed them both very +affectionately when they appeared hand in hand. She glanced quickly +from Angela's red and swollen countenance to Jean's pale and miserable +one, and she decided not to say what had been in her mind the minute +before. A much better idea struck her, and she acted upon it promptly. + +'If you will promise me to be as quiet as mice,' she whispered, 'you shall +both have one peep at her.' + +The room into which she led them on tiptoe was almost dark. The only light +that was admitted came from one small window in the farther corner, and it +was just enough to reveal Jill, as she bent over the bed with a cup in +her hand. Then she moved away, and the two children, peeping from their +hiding-place behind the screen by the door, saw Barbara. + +She lay flat on her back among the white pillows; a hillock under the +bedclothes showed where the cage protected her broken leg, and a bandage +round her head kept the thick, dark hair from tumbling over her face as +it usually did. Otherwise, she was not nearly so much altered as her +play-fellows had vaguely expected to find her. The bright little eyes +gleamed out as impishly as ever from beneath the white bandage, and as +she smiled up at Jill they realised to their intense relief that the Babe, +with a hole in her head and a cage over her leg, was much the same Babe +who had arrived in their midst, with her elf-like look and her happy +unconscious smile, three months ago. + +'Why, Jean, I do believe you're crying,' said Angela, in surprise, when +Miss Finlayson had pushed them outside again, and they were retreating +slowly along the gallery. Angela herself felt no further inclination to +cry, now that she had seen the Babe and found she was not a bit altered. +There was no middle course in Angela's emotions, and her only wonder now +was why any one had made a fuss about Barbara's accident at all. + +But the tears were raining down Jean's cheeks for the first time, and the +hard, queer look was gone from her face. She flung herself away to her +own room, and left Angela to puzzle over her behaviour as best she might. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +SEVEN TIMES ROUND THE WORLD + + +'Have the girls gone home?' asked the invalid, about a week later. She +had made such strides towards recovery that she was to be allowed her +first visitor that day, and she could not help wondering whether Jean +Murray was going to be the privileged person. Everything had been so +strange and quiet since the morning she had woke up in Finny's bed; and +she had slept away so many hours of the days that followed, that she had +lost count of the time altogether. She seemed to have been lying in a +kind of delicious enchantment, with people doing things for her just as +though she were a princess; while Jill was always at hand to tell her +stories in her beautiful soft voice, whenever she grew tired of lying +still. For Jill was the nicest person in the world to be with, when one +was enchanted; she never bothered, and she always seemed to come to +the rescue just in time, when the pain of being strapped in one position +began to grow intolerable. Then, there was the Doctor too. No one would +have expected the Doctor to turn out such a trump. Only to-day, after +being so strict in the morning about what she was to eat, he had run +in again after lunch to bring her a packet of sweets. They were very +wholesome sweets, as he had assured Jill; but still they were sweets, +and a doctor who was a beast would never have thought of bringing them, +even if they were wholesome. So, clearly, he was not a beast. Even Jill +had been surprised at his coming twice in one day, now that she was so +much better; so that showed that he must be a particularly nice sort of +doctor. For Jill had once nursed Auntie Anna when she was ill, and she +knew a lot about doctors, so she would not have been surprised at his +coming twice in one day, if it had been a usual thing for a doctor to do. +Babs smiled happily to herself as she settled the Doctor's claims to +niceness; then she remembered that she was going to have a visitor after +tea, and she asked again if the girls had gone home. + +'Yes, they went five or six days ago,' said Jill, without impatience, +though she had answered the same question once already. Babs certainly +did not need an illness to make her absent-minded. + +'Then who is coming to see me after tea?' was Barbara's next inquiry. + +'I said Kit might come; I thought you would like to have him best,' +answered Jill. + +'Kit? Is he going to bicycle over from Crofts?' asked the child. + +'Why, no,' explained Jill, smiling. 'They have all been in the house ever +since you were taken ill. Finny invited them to stay, you know, and Auntie +Anna too.' + +Barbara laughed a little. 'They'll never be able to tease me again, now +that they've stopped in a girl's school themselves,' she remarked with a +chuckle. + +There was a pause, which the invalid occupied in thinking over the +things she had been too lazy to consider before. She had a great many +questions to ask, but somehow it was too much exertion to ask them. +Fortunately, Jill was so clever that she always guessed what she wanted +to know without waiting to be asked first; and that saved a lot of +trouble. In this way the child had learned that the gymnastic prize was +to be divided between Jean and herself; and thinking about the gymnastic +prize produced another question from her, rather unexpectedly. + +'Wasn't it Scales who moved the trapeze away?' she asked. + +Jill looked up surprised. None of them knew how much Babs remembered of +what had happened on the night of her accident. 'Yes,' she replied. 'He +has been very unhappy about it, poor man! He writes every day from Hanover +to say how miserable he is. But, of course, it was an accident.' + +'Of course,' said Barbara, looking distressed; and Jill was afraid she +had said too much. + +'Shall I write and send him a message from you?' she suggested quickly. +Babs brightened up, and nodded. + +'Tell him it's awfully jolly to be ill and to have every one doing things +for you, and bringing you sweets, and all that,' she said eagerly. 'And +say that if he wants me to pay him out, just to make us quits, don't you +know, he can think of the awful way I am sure to play my pieces next term.' + +'Very well,' answered Jill, laughing; and there was silence once more. + +Jill looked very pretty as she sat there by the window, working away +at her embroidery in the frame; and Babs congratulated herself, with a +glow of satisfaction, on having made her a princess in her fairy +kingdom. It was so nice of Jill, she reflected, to behave exactly like a +princess, and to sit at the window of her lonely turret making tapestry, +to while away the time until her prince should come thundering over the +drawbridge below. Jill's prince had not come yet, so of course she would +have to go on working by the window till he did; she deserved an extra +nice prince too, and Babs sighed as she remembered that she had not been +able to find her any sort of a prince so far. + +'It's a pity, isn't it, that Dr. Hurst had to be enchanted again so soon?' +she murmured aloud. + +'I'm afraid I don't _quite_ understand,' said the princess, from the +window. + +'You see,' continued Babs, solemnly, 'he began by being a beast; then I +disenchanted him and made him into a handsome and gallant young prince; +and after that he was so horrid to Jean and Angela in the quarantine that +I had to turn him out of my kingdom, and make him wander over the earth +once more in the shape of a beast.' + +'Oh,' said Jill, bending rather closely over the embroidery frame. 'Let +me see, what kingdom was that?' + +'_My_ kingdom,' answered Barbara, in an important tone. Then she realised +that Jill did not know about her kingdom. 'I've never told any one +before,' she went on doubtfully. 'If I tell you, Jill, will you promise +not to laugh?' + +Jill promised, and worked on steadily at her embroidery while the small +voice from the bed painted her the fairy kingdom she had never described +to any one before. + +'And so,' concluded Barbara, with a sigh, 'I can't make it come right, +because now there's a princess without a prince. Do you mind waiting until +I find you a prince, Jill?' + +'Not at all,' answered Jill, turning to the light rather abruptly, and +taking quite a long time to choose between two shades of silk. + +'It was so stupid of Dr. Hurst to get himself turned out like that, wasn't +it?' continued Babs. + +'He--perhaps he didn't know,' said Jill, with some hesitation. + +'You can't be a beast without knowing it,' answered Barbara, positively. + +'Are you sure he _is_ a beast?' asked Jill, who was still looking out of +the window, though she had chosen her silk some moments ago. + +'Oh, he's not a beast now. I _love_ him. Don't you?' cried the child, +enthusiastically. + +Jill began putting her work away in a great hurry. 'It's time for tea,' +she remarked. + +Barbara did not seem to have heard. The dreamy look had returned to her +face, and she was almost thinking aloud. + +'You see,' she murmured, 'however nice he is now, he _must_ walk round +the world seven times, and kill a giant, and rescue a beautiful princess, +before he can be disenchanted a second time. You can't alter that. It's +a pity you haven't got to be rescued or anything, Jill, because then----' + +'If you talk any more, child,' interrupted Jill, with decision, 'you will +be too tired to have a visitor after tea.' + +Jill _was_ a nice person, Barbara settled again in her mind, as they had +tea together out of Finny's private tea-set that the Canon had given her +last Christmas. She was so nice that she even slipped away afterwards, +when Christopher came into the room, so that he and Babs could have +their talk together without feeling that somebody else was listening. For +all that, neither of them seemed to find it easy to begin, and they +remained looking at each other in silence for some moments after Jill +had closed the door upon them. + +Then Christopher made a great effort and addressed her from the end of +the bed, where he had taken up his position. + +'Hullo!' he said, tugging at his collar as if to remove some obstruction +to his voice. + +'Hullo!' answered Babs, faintly, from among her pillows. + +Then followed another pause. They both felt there were plenty of things +to be said, but somehow they could not think of them just then. Presently, +Kit remembered that she was an invalid, and that invalids always had to +be kissed. He also decided that the sooner he got it over the better; so +he marched round to the side of the bed and kissed her. + +'How are you, Babe?' he asked, feeling more at his ease now that this +formality was over and he was free to climb on the edge of her bed and +sit there swinging his legs. + +'Oh, I'm all right,' answered Barbara, heartily. + +They both knew she was nothing of the sort, but in the Berkeley family +it was a point of honour with every one, even during a visitation of +toothache, to declare himself 'all right.' + +'How are you, Kit?' asked Babs, after a little further reflection. + +'I'm all right, thanks,' answered Christopher, faithfully, and he whistled +a tune to fill the next pause. 'Awfully poor lying here, isn't it?' he +resumed presently. + +Barbara nodded. 'It's stale,' she said expressively. + +Kit looked sympathetic. 'It would make _me_ sick,' he observed. + +'Oh, it's all right,' Barbara hastened to assure him; and he whistled a +little more. + +'Jill's all right too, isn't she?' he continued after a while. + +'Oh, Jill's all right--_rather_,' said the child, warmly. 'How are the +other boys, Kit?' + +'They're all right,' answered Kit. + +'And Auntie Anna?' + +'She's _all_ right,' answered Kit. + +Conversation again languished slightly. Barbara's eyes, wandering round +the room in search of inspiration, fell on the little bag of sweets that +the Doctor had brought her. + +'Have a sweet,' she suggested, pointing to the table by the window. + +Christopher slipped off the bed with alacrity. 'It's awfully decent of +you,' he observed. 'Sure you don't want them all?' + +'Oh, no; take the whole jolly lot,' begged his sister. + +Kit's countenance fell slightly when he peered into the bag. 'Acid drops,' +he commented briefly, and put a couple critically into his mouth. 'Who +brought them?' + +'Dr. Hurst. He said they were wholesome,' replied Babs, by way of +explanation. She did not want Kit to think she had been such a muff as to +choose acid drops in preference to chocolate. + +'That's just about what he would say,' remarked the boy, putting several +more of them into his mouth. + +'I--I think he's all right, Kit,' said Barbara, timidly. + +Christopher shook his head vigorously. It was the only form of reply +possible to him at the moment. + +'He's a rotter,' he said, as soon as he could speak; 'and so slack, too!' +He peered again into the paper bag. 'Is it worth while?' he murmured to +himself, and decided that it was not. 'Pity it wasn't some one else who +got them for you,' he added with a sigh, as he returned to the bed. + +'He isn't bad, _really_, Kit,' persisted the child, looking troubled. + +'Not bad? Why, he's an awful old soft, Babe,' answered Kit, +contemptuously. 'If you were a boy, you'd know.' + +'He isn't old, anyhow. He's only twenty-eight; I asked him,' said Babs, +eagerly. + +'Oh, rats!' laughed Kit, who had quite got over his awkwardness by this +time, and was rapidly forgetting that she was an invalid and that he had +been told not to tease her. 'He may be twenty-eight perhaps, if you just +count his birthdays, but he's as old as the hills for all that. He was +born grown-up; that sort of chap always is.' + +'He's been awfully kind to me, Kit,' persisted the child, her troubled +look returning. + +'You always think people are nicer than they are, don't you?' observed +her brother, with gentle scorn. 'When we had that beast of a housekeeper +who used to smack you and Robin, you always said her Sunday bonnet was +beautiful, or something like that.' + +'Oh, Kit!' was all Barbara felt capable of replying, and the boy rattled +on heedlessly. + +'That Doctor is the rottenest of rotters,' he declared in a cheerful tone. +'He only pretends to like you because you're what he calls a "case." If +you'd got asthma, now, he'd treat you as if you were putting it all on, +and make you feel a jolly humbug. _I_ know him!' + +'Of course, you're always right, Kit,' said Babs, growing more unhappy +every minute, 'but--but----' + +'He treated us all like kids the first day you were ill,' said +Christopher, scowling at the recollection; 'and once, when Jill was +blubbing because you weren't so well, we got in a funk and went off on +our own, Peter and I, to fetch him; and he wouldn't come. He said no one +could do anything for you by just coming and looking at you, and we +weren't to disturb him for nothing at all--or some such rot. Then we +found that he'd cooked up an arrangement with Finny not to come unless +_she_ sent for him. Just like him!' + +Barbara was struggling feebly to keep back her tears. She could not think +what was making her want to cry so much. + +The boy had stopped scowling, and was chuckling softly to himself. Barbara +held her breath, and thought that if he would only talk about something +else, she might be able to keep from crying. Perhaps the table by the +window might stop swimming about, too. + +'We've scored one against him at last, though,' her brother was saying, +in a voice that seemed suddenly to have gone a long way off. 'He must +be quite at the other end of the gallery,' Babs thought. Yet some one +was certainly sitting on the edge of her bed, because she could feel the +mattress jumping up and down. + +'We struck that little kid in the yard just now--the one who nearly gave +you scarlet fever,' Christopher went on gaily. 'He came to know how you +were, or something. Bobby Hearne, I think he called himself. Well, we +got him to go to the doctor's house with a message from his aunt, who +lives five miles t'other side of Crofts, to say that she had just fallen +downstairs and nearly killed herself, and would he go to her at once! +Thirty miles there and back, all for nothing! Rather a score, eh? It was +my idea, too, not Peter's!' + +He turned to Barbara for approval, and found her sobbing bitterly. She had +heard every word he said, with horrible distinctness, though his voice had +come from such a long way off. She had tried to stop him, but she could +not make a sound till she began to cry. + +'Babe! I say, don't! What's up, old girl?' exclaimed Kit, staring at her +in consternation. At any time it was an event, to make the Babe cry, but +now that she was so ill, he felt nothing short of a brute. + +Jill had slipped into the room and was bending over the excited child. + +'Kit doesn't understand--he doesn't know he's not really a beast--he +isn't a beast, is he?' gasped Barbara, between her sobs. 'He's played a +horrible trick on him--he's sent him seven times round the world; and I +never meant him really to walk seven times round the world--you know I +didn't, Jill. It's all my fault for turning him out of my kingdom--if +I hadn't turned him out of my kingdom, he wouldn't be wandering seven +times round----' + +'Hush!' whispered Jill, and she gave Christopher a look that sent him +stumbling out of the room in a mixture of bewilderment and remorse. Up +and down the landing he paced, feeling desperately wicked and desperately +foolish by turns, until Jill opened the door of the bedroom and beckoned +to him. She held a thermometer in her hand, and she paid no attention +whatever to the shamefaced inquiry he stammered out. + +'Send Miss Finlayson here at once, and say I want the Doctor,' she +commanded, and went hurriedly back into the room. + +Clearly, she was very angry with him, and it had never seemed possible +before that Jill could be angry with any one. But it was not this that +suddenly made Kit turn cold and funny all over as he started along the +gallery with Jill's message. He pulled up short with a jerk, and gave a +little cry of dismay. + +'What shall I do?' he exclaimed in a despairing tone. 'I've sent the +Doctor fifteen miles in the opposite direction.' + + * * * * * + +It was nearing seven o'clock and growing dusk when Kit at last struck +the high road between four and five miles below Crofts. It was a full +ten-mile drive by the road from Wootton Beeches, but Kit had saved over +two miles by taking the short cut across the fields. He stopped for the +first time since he had started on his mad chase after the Doctor, and +looked panting up and down the deserted road. + +'I can't have been much more than three-quarters of an hour, and I bet +it's four miles,' he muttered. The mud with which he was splashed up +to the collar showed the kind of ground over which he had been travelling, +and the way his breath was coming and going told how much of the four +miles had been covered at a run. Now that he had exhausted his first +impulse to rush after the Doctor and bring him back at any cost, he began +to realise what an absurd thing he had set himself to do. Dr. Hurst had +had an hour's start of him at least, and even the short cut across the +fields would not make up for that. With a quick-trotting cob like his, he +would have reached his destination easily by this time and discovered the +trick that had been played upon him, and no effort on Kit's part would +bring him back a moment sooner than he would be coming of his own accord. +Besides, if it was any good going after him, Finny would have sent her man +on horseback long before this, and he would have outdistanced Kit in any +case. + +'If only our bicycles had been there instead of at Crofts, I might have +caught him up then,' cried the boy, as the hopelessness of the position +dawned upon him. + +Nothing answered him, and the road looked more dreary than ever. A +good deal of rain had fallen that week, and the drip drip of the trees +overhead added a kind of melancholy to everything. Christopher's quick +imagination called up all the details of the scene he had left behind him: +the unwonted anger of his cousin, the anxiety of Finny and Auntie Anna +when he had rushed into the drawing-room with her message, and then +their eagerness to ring the bell and send some one for the Doctor, +whom he knew to be far away on a wild-goose chase of his own making. He +pictured with vividness too the consternation that would be caused in +the house when Finny's messenger returned from his fruitless errand, +and the look that would come on Auntie Anna's face when Peter came in +from his tramp with the other boys and explained the trick that had been +played on the Doctor. No wonder he had hurried straight out of the house +and struck blindly across the fields, without stopping to reflect whether +it would be any good or not! Even now, though he knew how little he +could do, he felt unable to remain inactive; and turning his face in +the direction of Crofts, he once more broke into a run and hurried +wildly along the muddy, desolate road. + +He had been running about thirty-five minutes, only falling into a walk +now and then to recover his breath, when the sound of wheels, coming +from behind made him draw to the side of the road. He still trudged on, +however, with his head down and his hands clenched, and he did not even +trouble to look round when the vehicle caught him up and passed him. The +light from the lamp flashed across his face as it rolled swiftly by; and +immediately afterwards, the trap pulled up just ahead of him. + +'Hullo! Is that Christopher Berkeley?' said a voice from above. + +Kit staggered, and stood speechless. It was the Doctor's voice; there was +no doubt about that. But how came he to be driving towards Crofts instead +of away from it? His sudden appearance was so remarkable that the boy's +head felt in a whirl. + +'I--I thought----' he faltered. + +The Doctor gave a quiet laugh, and climbed down from his seat. + +'You thought I was green enough for anything, didn't you?' he observed. +'Just stand by the animal, will you, while I get out of my coat?' + +Kit obeyed mechanically. Everything had turned so topsy-turvy all at once, +that it seemed no more extraordinary for him to be doing meekly what the +Doctor told him than it was for the Doctor to be struggling out of his +greatcoat just as the rain was beginning to come on again. + +'Then--then you didn't go to Bobby Hearne's aunt, after all?' he inquired +stupidly. + +'Not much!' answered the Doctor, with another short laugh. He had got his +coat off by this time, and he held it out to Christopher peremptorily. +'Put this on, and look sharp!' he commanded. + +'But----' stammered the boy, hanging back. + +'Do you want to keep me here all night?' cried Dr. Hurst, impatiently; +and as Kit still hesitated, he wrapped the coat quickly round him and +lifted him bodily into the gig. Then he mounted beside him, and turned the +animal's head. The next instant, they were bowling along towards home, +at the rate of ten miles an hour. + +For the first five minutes they did not speak. Then the Doctor jerked out +a sharp inquiry. + +'Aren't you going to ask after your sister?' he demanded. + +Kit started. 'I was afraid you'd rag me for it,' he muttered awkwardly. + +The Doctor flicked the horse with his whip. 'Sorry you think me such a +brute,' he said shortly. He flicked the horse again, and played it a +moment or two, as it tossed its head and jumped about. 'I don't think +it's anything serious,' he went on. 'I gave her a soothing draught, and +everything depends on the state in which she wakes up. But I think she'll +be all right.' + +The relief at Kit's heart nearly choked him. 'Did Jill tell you it was +my fault?' he asked after a while. + +'I gathered as much,' said Dr. Hurst. 'You mustn't excite her any more, +you know, or I won't answer for the consequences. What was it all about, +eh?' + +He was evidently making a gigantic effort to be amiable, and Christopher +felt he owed him something in return. Besides, it was a kind of relief to +put the blame on himself. + +'I said you were a rotter, and she said you weren't,' he jerked out; 'and +I said you were only decent to her because she was an interesting case, +and she said----' + +'All right,' said the Doctor, hastily. He supposed truthfulness was an +excellent thing in theory, but it added another terror to boys. + +As they neared the village Christopher summoned up courage to ask one more +question. + +'Did you come out on purpose to bring me back?' he inquired with an effort. + +'Yes,' said Dr. Hurst, briefly. + +Christopher puzzled over this. 'But--but how did you know I'd gone after +you?' he asked curiously. + +'Jill told me you'd disappeared, and I guessed,' said Dr. Hurst. If it had +not been so dark, Kit might have seen a smile flicker across the serious +face of his companion. + +'Did Jill think about me, then?' cried the boy, eagerly. 'Perhaps she +isn't so wild with me after all!' + +'Not so wild with you as you deserve, I dare say,' remarked Dr. Hurst. +'Indeed, it was because Miss Urquhart was making such an unnecessary fuss +about you, that I promised to come and look for you.' + +He thought that the boy, although a boy, would not notice the slip he +had made just before in calling his pretty cousin by her first name; +but Kit noticed fast enough. He had not much time, however, to think about +it before they pulled up with a jerk at the back entrance to Wootton +Beeches. He began to mumble out his thanks, while the Doctor helped him +out of the overcoat and then put it on himself; but the young man cut +him short. + +'Do you suppose I drove all those miles in the rain, at the end of a hard +day's work, for the sake of a scamp like you?' he growled; and Christopher +was left staring after him in the darkness. + +In the holidays supper was not before nine o'clock at Wootton Beeches, so +the boy had plenty of time to make himself presentable before the bell +rang. He looked eagerly round the drawing-room when he went into it, but +only the three elder boys were there. + +'Where's Jill?' he asked. + +'Oh, it's you, is it?' observed Egbert, without answering him. As the +eldest of the family, he felt that he ought to administer some sort of +rebuke to Kit for the commotion he had caused in the household. Indeed, +he had said as much to the others before the boy came in; but there was +something about Kit that would make any one fight shy of rebuking him, +when it came to the point. So Egbert was rather relieved than otherwise +when Wilfred interrupted him. + +'Jill's upstairs,' he said, looking over his book at Kit. 'She wants to +be with the Babe when she wakes up, in case she's excited or anything.' + +Kit flung himself into an arm-chair and whistled carelessly. Whatever his +feelings were in the matter, he was not going to let the family see them. +There was rather an awkward silence, which Peter broke by remarking that +it was ten minutes to nine, upon which Egbert said something about a clean +collar and went out of the room. There was a feeling of relief when he +had gone, Egbert having reached the age when it was never quite possible +to say whether he was going to side with the enemy or not. + +'Egbert's awfully wild with you,' observed Peter, with smiling frankness. +'He says you ought to be kicked.' + +'Let him do it,' grunted Kit, indifferently. Having given the Doctor a +glimpse of his real feelings not so many minutes ago, he did not intend +to betray himself again yet awhile. + +Wilfred, who had been watching him closely, began slowly to understand. +'It's all right, Kit,' he said good-naturedly. 'Egbert never counts! He +only does it because he's the eldest and thinks we've got to be reminded +of it. Peter and I are with you!' + +'Awfully kind of you, I'm sure,' answered Christopher, sarcastically. All +the same, he stopped whistling and seemed inclined to come round; and +Peter hastened to put in a conciliating word. + +'Of course, we know you didn't mean to make the Babe excited,' he said. +'Jill says so herself.' + +'Oh, shut up!' said Kit, ungraciously. + +'As for the Doctor,' continued Wilfred, 'anybody is justified in ragging +_him_.' + +'Rather,' chimed in Peter. 'What do you think Egbert says about him?' + +'Don't know and don't care,' rejoined Kit. Somehow, he felt it was rather +mean to join in abusing the man who had gone out after him, all in the +rain and the darkness. Still, he was sure he hated the fellow more than +ever now, for had he not outwitted him and put him under an obligation +to him at the same time? The boys did not notice his diffidence. + +'Egbert says----' began Peter, and paused to give his words more effect; +'Egbert says--that--the Doctor is in love with Jill.' + +Christopher sat up and gazed at him. For once his quick wit had not been +quite so quick as Egbert's. So that was why Dr. Hurst had called her +'Jill'; and that was what he had meant just now by his parting words +at the gate! + +'Egbert's hit it,' he said morosely. 'The chap _is_ in love with Jill. +Poor Jill!' + +'That's what Wilfred says,' cried Peter, all ready as usual for mischief. +'He says Jill has got to be saved from him, or else----' + +'Jill saved?' echoed Kit, scornfully. 'As if she needed any saving from +_that_ idiot!' + +'Well, I don't know,' objected Wilfred, shaking his head. 'Girls are so +rum. Look at Merton major's aunt----' + +'She isn't a girl, she's an _aunt_!' interrupted Christopher. + +'Well, it's all the same, really,' declared Wilfred. 'Merton major says +she only married that Indian chap because he bothered so, and because she +wanted to be obliging.' + +'And Jill is _awfully_ obliging, you know she is,' added Peter. 'You can't +tell what may happen, if that Doctor goes on bothering her.' + +'Well, what are we to do, then?' Kit condescended to ask. 'We can't lock +him up, can we?' + +'No,' admitted Wilfred, 'we can't lock him up. But there's lots of other +things we can do. We can see that she's never left alone with him, for +instance. Babs is always with them in the sickroom, that's one thing. +But what happens when he comes out of the sickroom, and Jill walks along +the gallery with him and sometimes even down to the front door? That's +dangerous, anyhow.' + +'In future,' said Peter, solemnly, 'one of us will always be on the +look-out to join them the moment they come out of the sickroom. What +else, Will?' + +Wilfred reflected a moment. 'Sometimes,' he said at last, 'I've known her +to be taking a walk in the garden, just as he happens to drive up; and +then they stay talking ever so long before they go into the house. Once, +he even made her take him round the conservatory. That must never happen +again.' + +'Never,' agreed Peter. '_I'll_ see to that.' + +'Look here,' said Christopher, doubtfully; 'perhaps Jill won't like our +hanging round her like that.' + +'She may not like it _at the time_,' began Wilfred, impressively. + +'But she'll thank us for it all her life afterwards,' concluded Peter, +with great solemnity. + +Jill's voice at the door made them start like guilty conspirators. She +was much too preoccupied to notice their confusion, however. + +'Has Kit come back?' she asked anxiously. Christopher sprang out of the +arm-chair, and her face cleared. 'I'm so glad; I was afraid you were +lost,' she said, taking his hand gently. 'Babs has just woke up,' she +explained, as they went upstairs together, 'and she is still rather upset +about something. I think you can calm her, if you will.' + +Kit muttered something indistinctly, and she went on talking in her soft +voice. 'The child has got into her head that you have done something to +the Doctor, so I want you to assure her that it is all right. Will you, +Kit dear?' + +'I'm the biggest brute,' burst out the boy, 'that ever----' + +'Nonsense!' said Jill, putting her hand over his mouth. Then she opened +the door of Barbara's room and they went in. + +Auntie Anna was sitting by the child, trying to soothe her. + +'Bless your little heart!' she was saying as they entered. 'There's +nothing the matter with the Doctor, my dear. What makes you think such +a thing, eh?' + +'You don't understand,' said the little fretful voice from the bed. 'Kit +said--Kit said----' + +Christopher pushed Jill on one side, and suddenly knew what he had got +to do. + +'That's all right, Babe; I was only rotting,' he said bluntly, and patted +the hot little hand that lay on the counterpane. + +The bright, wistful eyes were fixed searchingly on his face. 'But you've +sent him wandering seven times round the world,' she murmured wearily. +'You said you had, Kit.' + +'It's all right, Babe,' said Kit, again. 'He's come back now. I've just +seen him.' + +He only partly understood what she was talking about, but he seemed to +know how to satisfy her, and the others drew back and left him to do it +alone. + +'You've seen him?' asked Babs, wonderingly. 'But----' + +'You see,' said Kit, desperately, 'it doesn't take long to get round the +world seven times, when--when you've got a smart little cob like his!' + +The worried look faded out of the child's face, and she smiled for the +first time. 'That isn't the reason, Kit,' she told him. 'It is because he +was once a fairy prince.' + +'Oh, is it?' remarked Kit. + +The bright little eyes were closing sleepily, and the aching bandaged head +fell sideways on the pillow. + +'He has only got to kill the giant and rescue the princess now,' she +whispered contentedly. And Kit went on stroking her hand till she was +sound asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE RESCUE OF A PRINCESS + + +Barbara was none the worse for her relapse, and she made such a good +recovery in the weeks that followed, that the Doctor decided she could +be moved to Crofts on the last day of the holidays. Miss Finlayson +vowed she had never enjoyed her Easter holidays so much before for she had +persuaded Auntie Anna and the boys to remain her guests the whole time, +to save her, as she said, from the horrible feeling of loneliness that +always seized her as soon as the last fly went down the drive with the +last box on the top of it, and the last girl sitting inside. 'At my age,' +she told them laughingly, 'it is not safe to be left alone. Who knows +that I might not begin talking about rheumatism and nerves, if I had a +whole month to think about myself?' And Auntie Anna, who never talked +about rheumatism by any chance, though it had bent her back for her +ten years ago, nodded her head wisely like the old witch that she was, +and consented to remain at Wootton Beeches with her adopted daughter +and her noisy young nephews until Barbara was well enough to be taken +home. The boys, for their part, enjoyed themselves every bit as well as if +they had been at Crofts; for Finny was first-rate company as long as she +was with them, and she contrived at the same time to leave them to +themselves just as much as they wished to be left. And staying at a +girls' school was by no means such poor fun as might have been expected; +for it was big enough for them to make as much noise in it as they +pleased without disturbing anybody, while they had the run of a capital +gymnasium, and, as soon as their bicycles had been brought from Crofts, +could explore the country for miles round as well. Altogether, the +Easter holidays were a great success, and there were many groans when the +month came to an end, and school once more threatened to darken the +joy of their existence. + +'You are a lucky beast, Kit,' observed Peter, as they sat swinging on the +yard gate a couple of mornings before their departure. 'Wish I was you and +needn't go to school.' + +'You wouldn't like it, if you were me,' answered Kit, shortly. Nobody +ever guessed how much he wished he were like other boys and could lead +the healthy life they professed to despise so much. + +Wilfred, who had just strolled up, had occasional glimmerings of +understanding where Kit was concerned; and he had one now. 'Never mind, +old chap,' he said consolingly. 'You've got all the genius, you know.' + +Christopher kicked a stone across the yard without speaking; and Peter +hastened to change the conversation, which he perceived was in danger of +becoming serious. Peter never attempted to understand anybody, but he had +a determined objection to anything that was serious. + +'If we've done nothing else these holidays, we have at least saved Jill +from the Doctor,' he remarked with a chuckle. + +'What's the good of that?' growled Kit. He did not take the keen interest +in the salvation of Jill that the others expected from him, though he +certainly did not raise any grown-up objections to it, as Egbert would +have done. Egbert was going to Oxford in October, and he was getting far +too grown-up for ordinary intercourse with the rest of the family. Kit +was not in the least grown-up; besides, he hated the Doctor--that was +certain, because he so constantly said he did. But it was a pity, the +others agreed, that he did not show more enthusiasm over persecuting him. + +'It's a lot of good,' retorted Peter. 'You don't want her to marry the +chap, do you?' + +Kit smiled in a superior manner. 'I'm not interested in _marrying_,' he +observed. 'You can't have marrying, or any of that rot, without girls. +And I hate girls.' + +'Do you hate Jill?' cried Wilfred, staring. + +Christopher kicked another stone across the yard. + +'That's different,' he said vaguely. 'Jill's not a girl, exactly.' + +'What is she, anyway?' demanded Peter. + +Kit's genius was hard pressed. It was so stupid of people to take +him literally. Robin saved his embarrassment by suddenly rushing +helter-skelter into the yard, from the direction of the carriage-drive. + +'He's just driven in at the lodge gates,' he panted. 'An' Jill's waiting +on the front doorstep. If you don't look sharp you won't cob them in time.' + +The conspirators glanced hastily at one another. 'It's your turn, Kit,' +said Wilfred. + +Kit started uncomfortably. 'I don't think so,' he objected. 'I'm not in +the mood, and I should make a mess of it. You go, Peter.' + +'All right, I'm on,' said Peter, and he strode briskly towards the front +of the house, swinging his long arms as he went. + +Robin danced round the other two gleefully. 'Silly old Doctor won't marry +Jill, won't marry Jill, all on a summer's morning!' he chanted in a kind +of refrain he made up on the spur of the moment. + +Kit turned upon him sternly. 'Chuck it, Bobbin, unless you want your head +cuffed!' he commanded, and walked off before he could be provoked into +carrying out his threat. + +Upstairs Barbara lay on the sofa by the window and waited for the Doctor's +visit. Her leg was in plaster of Paris now, and she could be lifted on +to the sofa by Egbert, every morning. It was less wearisome than lying +in bed all day, but even the fun of pretending she was enchanted by an +evil fairy did not make up for the dulness of staying in one room all +through her first holidays. To be sure, she was going to Crofts the +day after to-morrow, and Auntie Anna had promised that Jean and Angela +should come and see her the very next Saturday; but that did not make +up for everything, and she hoped that if her bad fairy ever bewitched her +again, she would manage to do it in term-time instead of when the boys +came home. + +The Doctor drove up just below as she came to this conclusion, and she +forgot her own enchantment in the more thrilling amusement of thinking +about his. + +It was rather stupid of the Doctor, she reflected, to be such a long time +working out the rest of his spell. Any one who had gone round the world +seven times, as easily and as cheerfully as he had, might at least take +the trouble to find a princess to rescue. He must really want to go on +being a beast, she decided, as she craned her neck over the window-sill +and watched him dismount from his gig. The princes in the fairy tales +never wanted to go on being beasts; and it was very confusing. Just +then, Jill came out on the doorstep, and she patted the horse and began to +talk to the Doctor. Barbara laughed softly to herself. If only the cruel +giant would come along now and clap Jill into a dungeon, the Doctor +could rescue her on the spot and then stand before her in his real shape. +A prince and princess, who had no giant to bring them together, did not +make the right sort of fairy tale at all. + +'Hullo! There _is_ the giant!' exclaimed Babs, immediately afterwards, as +Peter came striding across the lawn to interrupt the conversation on +the doorstep. 'He must be the giant,' she continued, watching the trio +below her with great interest, 'because the Doctor is looking so angry +and Jill has such a funny, frightened look on her face. Besides, Peter +looks like a giant; he's so big and dangerous looking. I wonder if the +Doctor will kill the giant _now_, or--oh, dear! they've both come indoors +and left the giant outside. I don't think I ever heard of the prince and +princess running _away_ from the giant before. I'm sure that's wrong. How +Peter is grinning--just like a horrid old giant. _Coo-ey_, Peter!' + +The prince and princess came into the room, talking busily. + +'If you don't come to-morrow,' Dr. Hurst was saying, 'I am afraid it will +have to be put off indefinitely, as I am going away for ten days. When I +come back, you will have gone to Crofts, you see.' + +'I will ask Auntie Anna,' answered Jill. + +Barbara seized the first opportunity to interrupt them. 'What's going to +happen to-morrow, Dr. Hurst?' she demanded. 'Are you going to carry off +the princess at last?' + +'I--I don't think so,' said Dr. Hurst, sitting down beside her. + +'Why don't you?' demanded the child. + +'Well,' said Dr. Hurst, smiling, 'I don't know whether the princess is +ready to be carried off. Are you so anxious to get rid of her?' + +Both he and Jill were used by this time to her fancy for weaving the +people she liked best into a fairy tale. But Jill was not smiling so +much as usual this morning. + +'I don't want to be carried off by anybody, thank you, Babs,' she said +demurely. + +'Oh, that doesn't make any difference,' Babs assured her. 'If you're a +princess, you just have to be carried off whether you like it or not.' + +'Then I'll be a new kind of princess, and refuse to have anything to do +with the prince when he comes. Shall I, Babs?' suggested Jill, lightly. + +Barbara looked at her doubtfully. Jill's idea was not like anything she +had ever read in a fairy tale, and she did not think much of it. + +'You see, you're _not_ a new kind of princess,' she answered simply. And +the Doctor looked amused; but Jill hurried away to the other end of the +room and began talking about temperatures. + +The giant must have been very busy all that day, for he did not come +near the invalid's room till just before supper. Kit came, and so did the +other boys, but they only said vaguely that Peter was in the barn; and +when he ran in at last to say good-night to her, she knew it was no use +trying to find out what his plans were for locking up the princess. For +Peter did not know that he was a giant, and he did not know that Jill was +a princess; and it was better to go on with the story in her own way than +to provoke Peter's great laugh by telling him about it. So she went to +sleep and dreamed of the dear old magician, who had been away from her +kingdom for four whole months, and was going to be away for two months +more; and in her dream he came back and rescued the princess himself, +and turned the beast into a prince for her. But that was only a dream, +and in the morning the end of the story seemed further off than ever. + +'Do let me see what you have been writing, Peter,' she shouted through +her open window, just before lunch-time. Peter and Wilfred had been more +than an hour composing a letter on the lawn below, with Robin jumping +round them all the time, jogging their elbows and otherwise provoking +them into outbreaks of fury that did not improve his behaviour in the +least. + +'_Do_, there's a dear, nice, darling boy,' begged Barbara, as the +conspirators looked at one another and hesitated. + +'It's a secret,' said Wilfred. + +'I can keep a secret; you _know_ I can,' cried Babs, indignantly. + +'It's about Jill,' explained Peter, 'and you might do her a great and +lasting injury if you were to go and blab. Mightn't she, Will?' + +'I think it's a shame,' protested Babs. 'Here am I shut up all alone, with +a bad leg that hurts and hurts and----' + +'Oh, let her see it. Anything for a quiet life,' interrupted Wilfred, and +Peter strode upstairs with the letter. + +'Promise faithfully you'll endure any amount of awful tortures, sooner +than betray us?' he demanded threateningly, when he arrived in her room. + +'I'll be killed first, honour bright,' said Barbara, solemnly; and the +letter passed into her hands. Her countenance grew very perplexed as she +read it; for, to tell the truth, she could make neither head nor tail of +its mysterious contents. + + * * * * * + +'Dearest Jill,' it ran,--'We the undersigned are anxious to save you from +an awful and terrible fate that is hanging over your head. The barn, +we know, is not a place you would choose to spend a happy afternoon in, +but Peter has cleaned out as much of the filth as he can (he found +several decayed martins' nests full of insects, two dead rats in an +unspeakable condition, and a rotting owlet that made you squirm; so +you see it might have been much worse, mightn't it?) And I (that's +Wilfred) have successfully deposited in a box you will find secreted +in the manger, two apples, some seed-cake (sorry it isn't plum, but +there wasn't any), and a bottle of ginger beer. This, we think, will +keep starvation from gnawing at you till the hour of release, which is +seven o'clock, when we hope the Doctor will have given up waiting for you. +We would put some more things to eat, but they are a little difficult to +get without arousing suspicion; and we are afraid of attracting the +mice and rats, which are plentiful already, and of which we believe you +are afraid. We the undersigned all hope, dear Jill, that you will not +attribute base motives to our action in this matter. We do assure you, +honest Injun, that though you may dislike us for the moment, you will +thank us deeply all the rest of your life.--We have the honour to remain, + + + Wilfred Everard Berkeley, + Peter Everard Berkeley, + Robin Everard Berkeley. + +'P.S.--Kit isn't in it, because he raised objections and we shunted him. +So your lifelong gratitude need not be extended to him.' + + * * * * * + +'But when are you going to give Jill the letter?' asked Barbara, looking +extremely puzzled, as she came to the end of this elaborate composition. + +'We're not going to give it to her,' explained Peter. 'It's going to be +dropped into the barn through a hole in the roof, as soon as Robin has +coaxed her to go inside. The letter is to explain why we've locked her----' + +He did not finish his sentence, for Wilfred called him from below, and he +seized the sheet of paper and scampered off with it. + +Barbara was left in a great state of bewilderment. Something was evidently +going to happen to Jill, and it was apparently intended to save her from +something that was much worse; but what it all meant was a mystery to +her, and there was no one about to give her any more details. The three +conspirators were careful to keep out of her way, and she did not see +any more of them until after lunch, when they raced out of the front door +and disappeared in the direction of the nine-acre field. + +'I'm going to leave you for half an hour,' said Jill, when Barbara had +finished her midday meal. 'Bobbin has been worrying me all dinner-time +to go and look at a baby rabbit he has found, so I promised to run down +to the barn and meet him there. Do you mind?' + +Barbara said she did not mind at all; and she was left behind, consumed +with curiosity as to whether Jill was really going to be locked into the +barn, and whether it really could be for her good, as the boys had +said, and whether Jill would be angry with them for doing it or would +give them her lifelong gratitude. Somehow, Babs did not believe in the +lifelong gratitude much; it did not seem likely that Jill would be +grateful to any one for shutting her up in a dark and dirty barn for a +whole afternoon, even if it was to save her from an awful fate that +still remained to be explained. As she thought about it, Babs even +began to wonder if she had been right in promising not to warn Jill. +But then, if it _was_ to save her from an awful fate, as Peter declared +it was, it would have been very unkind to keep her from going down to +the barn. + +She gave up trying to reason it out, and hoped it was all a joke, and +that Jill would come back again at the end of half an hour. But more +than half an hour passed by, and still she did not come back. Everything +suddenly grew very dull. The garden looked more deserted than usual, +and after the pony carriage had come round and taken Finny and Auntie +Anna and Egbert for a drive, there was not another sound to break the +stillness. Babs began to feel neglected; she had not once been left +alone like this, ever since she was first taken ill, and she found it +extremely depressing. If it was really necessary for the future happiness +of Jill that she should be kept in the barn all the afternoon, some +one else might have been told off to take her place in the sickroom. +Besides, as the afternoon wore on, the little invalid realised with some +sadness that unless Jill did come in, there would be no one to get her +tea ready; and she wanted her tea rather badly. + +At last, to her intense relief, a thump came at the door, and Kit rushed +unceremoniously into the room. + +'Where's Jill?' he demanded hurriedly. + +'I wish I knew for certain, but I don't,' said Barbara, plaintively. + +'Then they've done it!' exclaimed Kit, in a tragic tone, and he dropped +into a chair and looked at her. + +'Done what?' inquired Babs, eagerly. Kit's behaviour was as remarkable +as every one else's to-day, so perhaps she was going to get at the truth +at last. + +'Locked her up in the barn!' gasped Kit. 'They said they were going to, +yesterday, but I thought they were only rotting. I told 'em it wasn't +good enough, and I'd have nothing to do with it, so I s'pose that's why +they didn't tell me any more. And then, I forgot all about it; and after +dinner to-day I went into Finny's study to read a stunning book I'd found +there; and I didn't think of anything, till it suddenly struck me how +awfully quiet everything was. If she's disappeared, they must have done +it, stupid owls!' + +'But isn't it all right?' cried Barbara, looking distressed. 'Peter said +it was to save her from an awful fate----' + +'That's all very well,' returned Kit; 'but the game isn't worth it, +and that's what I told them. You see, the Doctor's coming after tea +to-day, to fetch Jill and take her over the new infirmary he's so keen +about, because Jill is nuts on nursing and all that, don't you know. +Well, Peter overheard them talking about it yesterday and Auntie Anna +said at breakfast that she'd come home from her drive in time to go too, +if she could. But we all knew that she wouldn't get back in time, most +likely; and besides, the Doctor meant business from the look of him, Peter +said, so he'd be dead certain to come early enough to go off with Jill +alone. Trust him! That was jolly dangerous, you see, because the chap +is going away to-morrow, and it's their last chance of being together.' + +'Why is that dangerous?' asked Barbara, trying hard to follow his +bewildering tale. + +'Oh, well, if he's ever going to ask her to marry him, or any of that +rot, he must be going to do it to-day,' explained Kit, with a certain +contempt in his voice. 'Anyhow, what we've been trying to do all the +holidays is to save Jill from the Doctor; so naturally we were rather +upset when Peter brought us the news. But I said I'd have nothing to do +with locking any one up, 'specially Jill; so they said I could make myself +scarce, and I did.' + +'Oh, Kit!' exclaimed Barbara, opening her eyes, 'do you think Jill is in +that horrible dark barn all this time?' + +Kit sprang to his feet and made for the door. 'I'll go and see if I can +find those idiots,' he said, but an exclamation from the sofa made him +look back. Babs was clapping her hands wildly, and her face had suddenly +reddened with excitement. + +'It's all right, Kit. It's beautiful,' she was crying joyfully. 'Don't +stop them, Kit; don't help her to escape, whatever you do. Leave her alone +till the prince comes. Don't you see he'll be able to break the spell at +last!' + +Kit did not see at all. Indeed, he looked rather alarmed, and came back +into the room. 'Look here, Babe, you're not going to get excited again, +or anything like that, are you?' he asked her, nervously. + +Barbara set his mind at rest by laughing merrily. 'You silly old Kit, of +course I'm not!' she said. 'I never felt so jolly in my life!' + +Christopher sped away, reassured, and Barbara lay back on her cushions +and waited impatiently for the sound of the Doctor's gig. She did not have +to wait long, and she waved her hand gaily in answer to the flourish of +his whip with which he greeted her as he drove up to the door. + +'Come up here, Dr. Hurst, and be as quick as you possibly can!' she called +down to him; and a minute later he was in the room. + +The first thing he did was to ask where Jill was, just as Kit had done. +Barbara laughed more merrily than ever. Her small black eyes were +glittering with excitement. + +'She _has_ been locked up by the cruel old giant, and you can go and +rescue her at last,' she told him. + +Dr. Hurst frowned slightly. 'What do you mean, child?' he asked a little +impatiently. He was evidently not in a mood for joking, and Barbara +instantly became grave. + +'I didn't mean to play, but it _is_ so like a fairy story,' she said +penitently. 'And it's quite true about the locking up. They've put her in +the barn, Peter and the others have,--not Kit,--and they mean to keep +her there till you've gone away, so that--so that you won't get a chance +of marrying and living happily ever after! It's to save Jill from you, +they say, but Kit's furious about it, and----' + +The Doctor flung his driving-gloves on the table. They were quite new +ones, she noticed, and he had even forgotten to take the tissue paper +off the buttons of one of them. 'Where is the barn?' he asked grimly. + +'It's at the far end of the nine-acre field,' explained Barbara, and +before she could say any more she found she was alone. + +Excitement had made her forget all about her tea, though the hour for it +was long past. She wished with all her heart that she could be transported +to the scene of the rescue and actually see the princess fall into the +prince's arms, while the giant lay stretched at their feet. Then she +remembered that the giant was Peter, and perhaps Will and Bobbin too, and +she hoped he would not lie stretched there for long. + +The minutes crept slowly by, and still no one came in. It was no use +looking out of the window, for the nine-acre field was on the other +side of the house, beyond the orchard. Then she began to be afraid +that something dreadful must have happened. She reminded herself again +that Peter was the giant, and that the Doctor was small and slight in +comparison, even for a prince. Supposing, contrary though it was to all +the laws of fairy tale, that the giant should be too strong for the +prince, and the princess should not be rescued after all? At last she +heard the welcome sound of footsteps coming along the gallery, and +then Jill opened the door softly and hurried up to her. The Doctor was +just behind her. + +'My dear little Babs!' cried Jill, dropping on her knees beside the sofa, +'have you been wondering what had become of me?' + +'Oh, no,' answered the child; 'I knew about the dark and gruesome dungeon. +But I think I'd like my tea, please.' + +'Of course you would,' said Jill, in much distress, and she began bustling +about the room and making preparations for tea in quite a flustered sort +of way. Babs turned to the Doctor. A question was burning on the tip of +her tongue, and he smiled encouragingly. + +'_Did_ you rescue the princess?' she asked. + +'I did,' answered the Doctor, briefly. + +She looked anxiously at his tie, which had wandered under his right ear, +and at his collar, which was crumpled. 'Did you hurt the giant _much_?' +she asked. + +'I found him in three pieces,' answered the Doctor, gravely, 'and I give +you my word I did not leave him in more.' + +Barbara was not yet satisfied. 'How did you get into the dungeon?' she +asked. + +'Through the door,' replied the Doctor. + +She opened her eyes wide. 'Then you must have stepped over the body of +the giant,' she said. + +'So I did,' laughed Dr. Hurst. 'But do not let that alarm you, for here +he comes.' + +The door was pushed open once more, and the three conspirators tumbled +into the room. Their ties and collars were in much the same condition +as the Doctor's, but they seemed none the worse for that. Indeed, they +looked rather cheerful over it than otherwise, until they saw the Doctor +sitting there, holding Barbara's hand; and then they stopped short and +hesitated. + +'Do, do tell me,' implored Babs. 'How did Dr. Hurst rescue Jill?' + +'I'll tell you, Babs dear,' cried Robin, suddenly dancing up to the +Doctor, and climbing on his knee in quite a friendly manner. 'He came +walking with big long steps up to the door of the barn, where we was +keeping guard over Jill; and he said, "Who can wrestle, out of you young +scamps?" 'Course I said _I_ could, but he just swinged me up in the apple +tree an' left me there, which was horrid, but I didn't mind much, 'cause +I saw all the fun. An' the others said they could, if he liked; an' +the Doctor said whoever won was to have Jill, an' Peter said "Yes," +'cos he's lots bigger'n the Doctor and he thought he'd win. But he didn't +win, nobody did, 'cept only Dr. Hurst; so he got Jill and brought her +back here; an' I climbed down from the apple tree all by myself, an' the +others shook hands with the Doctor and stopped behind, lookin' scared!' + +'I beg to state,' said Jill, severely, from the other side of the room, +where she was preparing tea, 'that nobody has _got_ me, as you call it. +And the sooner you all go out of this room and leave me alone with my +patient, the better.' + +[Illustration: 'So he got Jill'] + +'I say,' began Wilfred, who was standing first on one leg and then on the +other, and trying not to laugh, 'you're not really wild with us, are you, +Jill?' + +'I'm simply _furious_ with you,' said Jill, and she began cutting bread +and butter with vigour. + +'We really did it for your good,' added Peter, putting on an air of mock +penitence. 'How were we to know you didn't _want_ to be saved from the +Doctor?' + +Jill tossed her head and went on cutting bread and butter still, with +her back turned to them all. 'Next time you try to save any one from any +one else,' she remarked, 'you'd better make sure first that she does want +saving.' + +Anything they might have said in reply to this was drowned by the noisy +entrance of Christopher. He bounced into the room and shook his fist +wrathfully at his brothers. + +'Look here, you fellows!' he shouted. 'Next time you shut a chap into a +_pig-sty_, perhaps you'll choose a pig-sty that doesn't belong to a pig +that comes home at tea-time and bangs against the door. I'd like to----' + +He was brought to an abrupt pause. It suddenly struck him that there was +something a little odd about the way every one was assembled in the Babe's +room. + +'Dry up, Kit!' said Wilfred, with a huge sigh. 'You were quite right; the +game wasn't worth it. She didn't want to be saved, after all.' + +'She's just a girl,' added Peter, in a tone of deep dejection. + +'She's a _princess_!' insisted Barbara, from the sofa. + +Christopher looked swiftly round the room. The attitude of every one +seemed a little strained. Jill was cutting enough bread and butter for a +school, and the crumbs flew in all directions as she stood there with +her back to them all. The Doctor was smiling in a way that was clearly +put on, and Bobbin was examining his watch-chain with a familiarity that +would not have seemed possible an hour ago. + +'Well, I'm bothered!' said Kit, at last. The truth was gradually dawning +upon him. 'Do you mean to say that you two have been and gone and got +_engaged_, while we've been trying to save you?' he demanded. '_Have_ +you, Jill?' + +'Oh, don't bother,' grumbled Jill. 'Why can't you ask Dr. Hurst?' + +'_Have_ you?' repeated Kit, turning to the Doctor. + +'Ask Jill,' replied the Doctor, smiling more than ever. + +'Boys,' said Christopher, fixing his spectacles firmly on his nose +and staring solemnly at his brothers, 'we've made shocking idiots of +ourselves.' + +Into the middle of them all now walked Mrs. Crofton of Crofts. + +'Such a trouble as I've had to get back in time, my dear,' she was +beginning, when she too stopped short and seemed to find things a little +unusual. + +'Hey-day!' she cried, leaning on her blue-knobbed cane and looking sharply +round. 'What's every one looking so glum about, I should like to know?' + +Nobody answered her at first. Dr. Hurst put Robin down and rose to his +feet, and he stopped smiling at last, while Jill dropped the bread-knife +and turned round with a very red face; but neither of them spoke. It was +the Babe who came to the rescue, and it was she who explained everything +in her small, dreamy voice. + +'Dr. Hurst has saved Jill from the giant,' she said, 'and they are going +away to their own kingdom, to live happily ever after! I do wish,' she +added wistfully, 'that the magician would come back too. Then things would +be _quite_ beautiful.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MAGICIAN + + +The triumvirate sat under the old cedar tree at Crofts, and once more +they discussed the important affairs of the little world at Wootton +Beeches. It was the first Saturday in the term; and Auntie Anna, true +to her promise, had invited Jean and Angela to drive over and spend +it with Barbara. The spring had come in with a rush, and May had dawned +in such a flood of warm sunshine that the child was able to pass most of +her time on a couch in the garden. The Doctor, in spite of the ten miles +that lay between his house and Crofts, came nearly every day to see how +she was; and he hinted at a promise of crutches in ten days' time, after +which she was to go away to the seaside and get strong enough to return +to school at the half-term. It was very nice, Barbara thought, to see +the Doctor so often, now that she was so much better and did not really +need him; but Christopher was very sarcastic on the subject. + +'S'pose you think he comes to see _you_, don't you?' he remarked +scornfully; and when pressed by Barbara for a more definite explanation of +the Doctor's actions, he condescended to add: 'Once a chap gets engaged +to a _girl_, it's the _girl_ who's at the bottom of everything he does!' + +The day was so hot that Kit and Bobbin came out to join the others under +the cedar tree, and they flung themselves on the grass in different +stages of exhaustion. Now and then, they threw in a lazy contribution +to the conversation that was going on over their heads, though at first +this related entirely to the number of new girls, the alterations in +the classes, and other bits of school gossip. Then, however, it took a +personal turn, and Christopher's comments grew satirical. + +'Has anybody asked after me?' inquired Barbara. + +'What a question!' scoffed Christopher. 'A kid like you!' + +'They have, though,' declared Jean, making a great effort to overcome her +shyness of Barbara Berkeley's clever brother. 'Everybody did, first thing. +You'd never think the Babe had only been there one term.' + +'Oh, well, that's because she smashed herself up,' said Kit, cheerfully. +'Girls always fuss over you, if you kill yourself ever so little.' + +'They _don't_, Kit,' objected Babs. + +'Guess what Margaret Hulme said about you yesterday,' put in Angela, +eagerly. Angela was not nearly so shy as Jean, and, much to Barbara's +astonishment, Kit found her 'better fun' in consequence. It seemed a +little strange that the genius of the family should not be able to +appreciate the amazing qualities of Jean Murray. + +'What did she say about me?' asked Barbara, only to be interrupted by +another jeer from Christopher. + +'Never knew such cockiness as the Babe's,' he laughed, tilting his straw +hat a little more over his eyes. + +'Babs always thinks that everybody's always talkin' about her,' added +Bobbin, in his shrillest voice. + +Barbara stretched as far as she could, and managed with difficulty to +knock off Kit's hat with the end of a stick. Robin was out of reach, so +she contented herself with frowning at him severely, and then leaned +back again and began to fan herself with her handkerchief. Everything +made one feel hot this afternoon. 'What did Margaret say about me?' she +repeated curiously. + +'It was when I was waiting to put away her books, just before dinner +yesterday,' Angela related with eagerness; 'or was it before tea? No! +I think it was before dinner, because----' + +'Oh, get on, Angela, do!' interrupted Jean, impatiently. Even the presence +of Barbara Berkeley's clever brother, which was paralysing her, could +not keep the leader of the junior playroom from snubbing Angela. + +'Well, she said Babs was the most popular girl in the school,' continued +Angela. 'She did, honour bright, and I'm _not_ exaggerating, Jean. She +said it to Ruth Oliver, and Ruth Oliver said: "Isn't it queer? Such a +little kid, too." And Margaret said: "That's just it, stupid!" Then she +saw me listening, and she told me not to listen but to make myself scarce; +and of course I wasn't listening at all, I was only----' + +'There's nothing new in _that_' interrupted Jean, looking superior. +'Everybody knows that the Babe----' Here she caught Kit's eye, and +stopped hastily. She was not sure that she liked Barbara Berkeley's +clever brother; he had such a queer way of looking at one. Nobody in +the junior playroom ever made her feel like that. + +Barbara was in deep perplexity. 'Is that why every one clapped, then, on +the night of the display?' she said wonderingly. + +Christopher looked in mock reproach at Angela. 'You shouldn't have told +her,' he said. 'She won't be fit to speak to for a month now.' + +'Oh, don't, Kit!' retorted Barbara, more from habit than because she +really resented his words. As a matter of fact she had hardly heard them, +for she was busy puzzling things over in her mind. 'I can't think what it +all means,' she went on; 'every one used to complain of me so. There was +Mary Wells, for instance----' + +'Oh, Mary Wells _adores_ you!' cried Angela, in her effusive manner. 'She +said so directly you broke your leg.' + +Barbara puzzled still more. 'I don't understand about Margaret Hulme a +bit, though,' she observed. 'Only the day before the display, she told +me I was a little nuisance, because I didn't hear her the first time she +spoke to me; so of course I thought she hated me!' + +'That was before you broke your leg, though,' explained Jean. + +'She _adores_ you now,' added Angela. + +Kit and Bobbin burst out laughing, but Barbara went on puzzling, and did +not notice them. Adoration at Wootton Beeches seemed to spring from the +strangest causes. After being more or less neglected for a whole term +by the greater part of her school-fellows, it was at least surprising +to be suddenly placed on a pinnacle of fame, just because she had broken +her leg. If she had only guessed at Angela's envy of that same broken +leg--an envy that was probably shared by half the junior playroom--she +might have been still further amazed. + +The boys strolled indoors to find Auntie Anna and to beg for tea in the +garden; and the conversation under the cedar tree grew more intimate. +Jean came out of her shell, and talked about her home in Edinburgh in a +way she had never done before, even on half-holidays at school; and +Angela, in her turn, gave an elaborate description of her eldest +sister's drawing-room dress, and of the longing it had aroused in her +own frivolous little mind to be presented at Court herself. + +'And so I shall be, some day; mother says so!' she announced, spreading +out the folds of her rough serge skirt, and seeing it in imagination many +times its length and composed of shimmering satin. + +'I shan't,' said Jean, regarding her with scorn. 'I don't want to be +presented. Any stupid idiot can put on a white satin dress, miles long, +and grin at Queen Victoria. _I_ want to be clever like father, and get a +degree at college, and lecture to thousands and thousands of people, +and----' + +'Oh, don't be like that, Jean,' interrupted Barbara, earnestly. 'If you're +going to give lectures you'll have to go away from all your children, for +months and months and months, and leave them to break all their legs, +all by themselves, and--oh, it _is_ so horrible to break your leg all +by yourself!' + +'Poor dear,' said Angela, ready as usual with a tearful and demonstrative +sympathy. + +Jean was much too wrapped up in her future to sympathise with anybody. +'I dare say I shan't have any children,' she said, seized with a happy +inspiration. 'You can't have everything, and I'd much sooner have a +degree.' + +Barbara looked at her in some doubt. 'That's all very well,' she remarked, +'but you'll be jolly dull if you don't look out. _I_ don't mean to go +without children; I'm going to have millions of 'em--all boys--see if I +don't! Then we can always be sure of having enough for sides, without +inviting strangers to come and play. You can never be sure how strangers +are going to play, and sometimes they spoil the game, and that's a bore.' + +'If you have boys of your own, you'll be a mother; and if you're a mother, +you won't join in the games at all. Mothers only sit and look on, and send +the ones to bed that can't agree,' said Angela, with an air of experience. + +'I don't advise you to be a mother, Babe,' added Jean, earnestly. 'You'll +have to mend such a lot of socks, and p'r'aps make babies' clothes +too; and you've been a whole term getting round the hem of one flannel +petticoat, as it is.' + +'You _can_ get things ready-made,' answered Barbara, but her tone did not +sound hopeful. She had to own sadly to herself that she was not cut out +for a mother, and she fell back on the more practical futures of other +people. 'Wilfred's going to be a doctor, after all,' she told them, with +great pride. 'Auntie Anna says she'll stand all the money that father +can't, and he's going to St. Thomas's--Will is, I mean. Isn't it awfully +splendid?' + +Her friends murmured something appropriate, but they were not deeply +interested in the career of Wilfred. At school, the girls' conversation +was largely made up of details of this kind; but Crofts was not school, +and neither Jean nor Angela felt inspired to carry on the discussion. +Babs, however, failed to notice their want of enthusiasm. Everything was +happening exactly like the fairy story she had planned, the fairy story +that had begun in the old London house, on the day that a certain +dragon had entered it as a fairy godmother; and for the moment she was +back again in her own kingdom, where the old witch still wandered +about in her steeple-hat, in the company of Kit the prince, and where the +twice-disenchanted beast was placing a crown on the charming head of +the princess who had waited so long for him, and where a crowd of other +princesses, after breaking their heads and their legs and suffering +numerous unpleasant penalties of the kind, had at last returned from +their banishment and were hailing the child herself as their queen. But +one familiar figure was still missing from her fairy kingdom; and the +little queen came sadly back to the world under the cedar tree, with a +sigh and a murmured remark about 'America' and 'lectures' that her +listeners only half understood. They recognised the Babe's very natural +wish for her father's return, but they did not know how the wish had +grown into a longing since her accident, during the weary days in which +there had been no school to distract her, and nothing to do but to think. + +'He'll be back in two months, won't he?' asked Jean, meaning to be +sympathetic, though her manner was awkward. + +'Two months!' echoed Babs, dolefully, 'What's two months?' + +'It's years, isn't it?' responded Angela, with her accustomed inaccuracy. + +Having secured their sympathy, such as it was, Barbara allowed herself to +become more doleful still. 'He must have missed all our letters, too,' +she sighed. 'The last one he sent us was from some awful American place, +that Kit says is in the map if you've got a month to look for it, only +you haven't!--and he never told us where to write next, and he didn't say +a word about me. So he's not even heard yet that I fell off the rings!' + +'Never mind, Babs dear,' said Angela, consolingly; 'think how _proud_ you +will be when you can tell him all about it yourself.' + +Not appreciating the distinction of having broken her leg quite so warmly +as Angela, Babs did not respond; and the arrival of tea, and with it +every one from the house, made her give up the immediate attempt to pity +herself. After all, people who went away to America to lecture could +not leave their children to break their legs by themselves for ever; and +meanwhile, there was home-made cake and strawberry jam under the cedar +tree. + +It was in the middle of tea, just as Robin, with a wavering hand, was +conveying a second cup to Babs, that the wonderful event happened. Jill +had the best view of the house from where she sat at the tea-table, and +her sudden exclamation interrupted the jeers of the others over Robin's +strenuous performance. + +'Such a funny-looking man is coming up the drive!' she remarked. 'He's +wearing the very oddest kind of clothes, too--a sort of Inverness cape, +and a squashy brown hat. And do look at the way he is walking, with his +arms swinging about--just like Peter, when he's in a hurry.' + +'He must be a tramp,' said Angela, giggling. + +Everybody looked round, except Barbara, who made a plaintive request, that +nobody heard, for her couch to be wheeled into a different position. + +Then Auntie Anna gave a little shriek, and dropped her pince-nez into her +lap. + +'Bless my soul!' she cried, fumbling for them in an agitated manner. 'Why, +it looks exactly like--I do believe--look, Jill! Your eyes are younger +than----' + +The boys were sharper than Jill, though, and they settled the question +at once in their own riotous fashion. Barbara's second cup of tea fell +with a crash and a splash, before she could reach out her hand for it, +and her two brothers rushed shouting and screaming across the lawn. In +another instant they had disappeared in the folds of the Inverness cape; +and Angela Wilkins realised with a shock that she had called Barbara +Berkeley's father a tramp! + + * * * * * + +'Well, Everard, and what have you to say for yourself?' demanded Auntie +Anna, in a severe tone, as soon as she could make herself heard. For quite +ten minutes, every one had been talking at once. + +'What have I to say?' repeated Mr. Berkeley, with his eyes twinkling. +'Why, plum-cake, to be sure! You haven't offered me any tea yet.' + +His sons nearly wrecked the tea-table in their efforts to be first in +supplying his wants; and Auntie Anna gave up the attempt to be firm. + +'Well, well,' she said, shaking her head, 'you always were incorrigible, +Everard! But what about the end of your lecturing tour?' + +'There won't be any end, as far as I'm concerned,' smiled her brother, +devouring plum-cake with avidity. + +'But--but what did they _say_ to your extraordinary departure?' cried +Auntie Anna. + +'I didn't give them time to say much,' answered Mr. Berkeley. 'The boat +was starting in a couple of hours, you see.' + +Auntie Anna threw up her hands. 'Of all the improvident, hot-headed----' +she was beginning, when the change of expression in her brother's face +silenced her. He held out his cup to her with a pathetic look. + +'You always forget,' he said. 'Two lumps, please.' + +The boys flung themselves upon the sugar-basin, and more than two lumps +found their way into his cup. Jill took the opportunity to present +Barbara's friends to him, and Mr. Berkeley smiled and said something +genial to both of them, which made Jean forget at once how shy she was and +drove away the last bit of Angela's confusion over her stupid mistake. But +his attention soon wandered back to his children, and he stirred his +tea and beamed upon all three of them alternately, until the others began +to feel that they were in the way. His eyes rested longest of all upon +Babs, who lay on her couch with an expression of complete contentment +on her face; and Auntie Anna saw, and understood. + +'I said all the while it was madness to write and tell you about it,' she +grumbled. + +Mr. Berkeley chuckled. 'I never got your letter till last Wednesday week,' +he said. 'It had been following me about from place to place. Poor little +Babe!' he added, pinching her cheek softly; 'what a shame to let you +knock yourself about, when your poor old father wasn't there to take care +of you!' + +Auntie Anna smiled grimly. 'No one could very well be less capable of +taking care of her,' she remarked. + +Robin clambered on his father's knee and hugged him afresh. + +'Why _did_ you come home, father?' he cried, raising his voice higher than +ever. + +Mr. Berkeley looked mildly surprised. 'Can't you guess, sonny?' he asked. +'Do you suppose I could stay another minute in somebody else's country, +when I heard that my little girl was ill over here?' + +Jill got up rather suddenly, and offered to take Jean and Angela round +the garden; and Auntie Anna grasped her blue-knobbed cane, and rose +slowly to her feet. Before she went off, however, she shot one more +question at her brother in her most abrupt manner. 'What about your +luggage, Everard?' she demanded. 'Where have you left it?' + +Mr. Berkeley reflected a moment. 'I _think_ it was Boston,' he began +doubtfully, 'but it may have been----' + +He did not finish his sentence, for the old lady shook her head in +despair at him and hobbled off towards the house. Barbara watched her +retreating figure, and smiled gently to herself. Auntie Anna might pretend +as much as she liked that she was a dragon, but nothing could prevent +her looking like a fairy godmother! + +Her father stroked her rough, tumbled hair caressingly, and smiled back at +her. + +'What is it, Babe?' he asked. + +The child gazed at him as he sat there, with the two boys clinging to him +as though they would never let him go again; and the whimsical look stole +into her bright little eyes, and lighted up the whole of her small impish +face. + +'The magician has come back,' she said, with a happy laugh; 'and there +isn't room to _move_ in my fairy kingdom!' + + + + +THE STANDARD SCHOOL LIBRARY. + +(Each Volume, cloth, 50 cents. Sold singly or in sets.) + +BAILEY. LESSONS WITH PLANTS. Suggestions for Seeing and Interpreting +Some of the Common Forms of Vegetation. By L. H. Bailey. 12mo. +Illustrated. xxxi + 491 pages. + +This volume is the outgrowth of "observation lessons." The book is based +upon the idea that the proper way to begin the study of plants is by means +of plants instead of formal ideals or definitions. Instead of a definition +as a model telling what is to be seen, the plant shows what there is to be +seen, and the definition follows. + +BARNES. YANKEE SHIPS AND YANKEE SAILORS. Tales of 1812. By James Barnes. +12mo. Illustrated. xiii + 281 pages. + +Fourteen spirited tales of the gallant defenders of the _Chesapeake_, the +_Wasp_, the _Vixen_, _Old Ironsides_, and other heroes of the Naval War of +1812. + +BELLAMY. THE WONDER CHILDREN. By Charles J. Bellamy. 12mo. Illustrated. + +Nine old-fashioned fairy stories in a modern setting. + +BLACK. THE PRACTICE OF SELF-CULTURE. By Hugh Black. 12mo. vii + 262 +pages. + +Nine essays on culture considered in its broadest sense. The title is +justified not so much from the point of view of giving many details for +self-culture, as of giving an impulse to practice. + +BONSAL. THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE. 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Illustrated. xii + 301 pages. + +Studies and stories of the gray squirrel, the puma, the coyote, the +badger, and other burrowers, the porcupine, the skunk, the woodchuck, and +the raccoon. + +INMAN. THE RANCH ON THE OXHIDE. By Henry Inman. 12mo. Illustrated. xi + +297 pages. + +A story of pioneer life in Kansas in the late sixties. Adventures with +wild animals and skirmishes with Indians add interest to the narrative. + +JOHNSON. CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE. Edited by Clifton Johnson. 12mo. +Illustrated. xxiii + 398 pages. + +A well-edited edition of this classic. The one effort has been to bring +the book to readable proportions without excluding any really essential +incident or detail, and at the same time to make the text unobjectionable +and wholesome. + +JUDSON. THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN NATION. By Harry Pratt Judson. 12mo. +Illustrations and maps. xi + 359 pages. + +The cardinal facts of American History are grasped in such a way as to +show clearly the orderly development of national life. + +KEARY. THE HEROES OF ASGARD: TALES FROM SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. By A. +and E. Keary. 12mo. Illustrated. 323 pages. + +The book is divided, into nine chapters, called "The Aesir," "How Thor +went to Jotunheim," "Frey," "The Wanderings of Freyja," "Iduna's Apples," +"Baldur," "The Binding of Fenrir," "The Punishment of Loki," "Ragnarok." + +KING. DE SOTO AND HIS MEN IN THE LAND OF FLORIDA. By Grace King. 12mo. +Illustrated. xiv + 326 pages. + +A story based upon the Spanish and Portuguese accounts of the attempted +conquest by the armada which sailed under De Soto in 1538 to subdue this +country. Miss King gives a most entertaining history of the invaders' +struggles and of their final demoralized rout; while her account of the +native tribes is a most attractive feature of the narrative. + +KINGSLEY. MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY: FIRST LESSONS IN EARTH LORE FOR +CHILDREN. By Charles Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. xviii + 321 pages. + +Madam How and Lady Why are two fairies who teach the how and why of things +in nature. There are chapters on Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Coral Reefs, +Glaciers, etc., told in an interesting manner. The book is intended to +lead children to use their eyes and ears. + +KINGSLEY. THE WATER BABIES: A FAIRY TALE FOR A LAND BABY. By Charles +Kingsley. 12mo. Illustrated. 330 pages. + +One of the best children's stories ever written; it has deservedly become +a classic. + +LANGE. OUR NATIVE BIRDS: HOW TO PROTECT THEM AND ATTRACT THEM TO OUR +HOMES. By D. Lange. 12mo. Illustrated, x + 162 pages. + +A strong plea for the protection of birds. Methods and devices for their +encouragement are given, also a bibliography of helpful literature, and +material for Bird Day. + +LOVELL. STORIES IN STONE FROM THE ROMAN FORUM. By Isabel Lovell. 12mo. +Illustrated. viii + 258 pages. + +The eight stories in this volume give many facts that travelers wish to +know, that historical readers seek, and that young students enjoy. The +book puts the reader in close touch with Roman life. + +McFARLAND. GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE TREES. By J. Horace McFarland. +8vo. Illustrated. xi + 241 pages. + +A charmingly written series of tree essays. They are not scientific but +popular, and are the outcome of the author's desire that others should +share the rest and comfort that have come to him through acquaintance with +trees. + +MAJOR. THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER. By Charles Major. 12mo. Illustrated. 277 +pages. + +A collection of good bear stories with a live boy for the hero. The scene +is laid in the early days of Indiana. + +MARSHALL. WINIFRED'S JOURNAL. By Emma Marshall. 12mo. Illustrated. 353 +pages. + +A story of the time of Charles the First. Some of the characters are +historical personages. + +MEANS. PALMETTO STORIES. By Celina E. Means. 12mo. Illustrated. x + 244 +pages. + +True accounts of some of the men and women who made the history of South +Carolina, and correct pictures of the conditions under which these men +and women labored. + +MORRIS. MAN AND HIS ANCESTOR: A STUDY IN EVOLUTION. By Charles Morris. +16mo. Illustrated. vii + 238 pages. + +A popular presentation of the subject of man's origin. The various +significant facts that have been discovered since Darwin's time are +given, as well as certain lines of evidence never before presented in +this connection. + +NEWBOLT. STORIES FROM FROISSART. By Henry Newbolt. 12mo. Illustrated. +xxxi + 368 pages. + +Here are given entire thirteen episodes from the "Chronicles" of Sir John +Froissart. The text is modernized sufficiently to make it intelligible to +young readers. Separated narratives are dovetailed, and new translations +have been made where necessary to make the narrative complete and easily +readable. + +OVERTON. THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER. By Gwendolen Overton. 12mo. +Illustrated. vii + 270 pages. + +A story of girl life at an army post on the frontier. The plot is an +absorbing one, and the interest of the reader is held to the end. + +PALGRAVE. THE CHILDREN'S TREASURY OF ENGLISH SONG. Selected and arranged +by Francis Turner Palgrave. 16mo. viii + 302 pages. + +This collection contains 168 selections--songs, narratives, descriptive +or reflective pieces of a lyrical quality, all suited to the taste and +understanding of children. + +PALMER. STORIES FROM THE CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF MANY NATIONS. Edited by +Bertha Palmer. 12mo. xv + 297 pages. + +A collection of sixty characteristic stories from Chinese, Japanese, +Hebrew, Babylonian, Arabian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, German, Scandinavian, +Celtic, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-Saxon, +English, Finnish, and American Indian sources. + +RIIS. CHILDREN OF THE TENEMENTS. By Jacob A. Riis. 12mo. Illustrated. +ix + 387 pages. + +Forty sketches and short stories dealing with the lights and shadows of +life in the slums of New York City, told just as they came to the writer, +fresh from the life of the people. + +SANDYS. TRAPPER JIM. By Edwyn Sandys. 12mo. Illustrated. ix + 441 pages. + +A book which will delight every normal boy. Jim is a city lad who learns +from an older cousin all the lore of outdoor life--trapping, shooting, +fishing, camping, swimming, and canoeing. The author is a well-known +writer on outdoor subjects. + +SEXTON. STORIES OF CALIFORNIA. By Ella M. Sexton. 12mo. Illustrated. +x + 211 pages. + +Twenty-two stories illustrating the early conditions and the romantic +history of California and the subsequent development of the state. + +SHARP. THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL. By Evelyn Sharp. 12mo. +Illustrated. ix + 326 pages. + +Bab, the "youngest girl," was only eleven and the pet of five brothers. +Her ups and downs in a strange boarding school make an interesting story. + +SPARKS. THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION: AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES HISTORY +FROM 1776 TO 1861. By Edwin E. Sparks. 12mo. Illustrated. viii + 415 +pages. + +The author has chosen to tell our history by selecting the one man at +various periods of our affairs who was master of the situation and about +whom events naturally grouped themselves. The characters thus selected +number twelve, as "Samuel Adams, the man of the town meeting"; "Robert +Morris, the financier of the Revolution"; "Hamilton, the advocate of +stronger government," etc., etc. + +THACHER. THE LISTENING CHILD. A selection from the stories of English +verse, made for the youngest readers and hearers. By Lucy W. Thacher. +12mo. xxx + 408 pages. + +Under this title are gathered two hundred and fifty selections. The +arrangement is most intelligent, as shown in the proportions assigned +to different authors and periods. Much prominence is given to purely +imaginative writers. The preliminary essay, "A Short Talk to Children +about Poetry," is full of suggestion. + +WALLACE. UNCLE HENRY'S LETTERS TO THE FARM BOY. By Henry Wallace. 16mo. +ix + 180 pages. + +Eighteen letters on habits, education, business, recreation, and kindred +subjects. + +WEED. LIFE HISTORIES OF AMERICAN INSECTS. By Clarence Moores Weed. 12mo. +Illustrated. xii + 272 pages. + +In these pages are described by an enthusiastic student of entomology +such changes as may often be seen in an insect's form, and which mark +the progress of its life. He shows how very wide a field of interesting +facts is within reach of any one who has the patience to collect these +little creatures. + +WELLS. THE JINGLE BOOK. By Carolyn Wells. 12mo. Illustrated. viii + 124 +pages. + +A collection of fifty delightful jingles and nonsense verses. The +illustrations by Oliver Herford do justice to the text. + +WILSON. DOMESTIC SCIENCE IN GRAMMAR GRADES. A Reader. By Lucy L. W. +Wilson. 12mo. ix + 193 pages. + +Descriptions of homes and household customs of all ages and countries, +studies of materials and industries, glimpses of the homes of literature, +and articles on various household subjects. + +WILSON. HISTORY READER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. +16mo. Illustrated. xvii + 403 pages. + +Stories grouped about the greatest men and the most striking events in our +country's history. The readings run by months, beginning with September. + +WILSON. PICTURE STUDY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. By Lucy L. W. Wilson. 12mo. +Illustrated. + +Ninety half-tone reproductions from celebrated paintings both old and +modern, accompanied by appropriate readings from the poets. All schools of +art are represented. + +WRIGHT. HEART OF NATURE. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. + +This volume comprises "Stories of Plants and Animals," "Stories of +Earth and Sky," and "Stories of Birds and Beasts," usually published +in three volumes and known as "The Heart of Nature Series." It is a +delightful combination of story and nature study, the author's name +being a sufficient warrant for its interest and fidelity to nature. + +WRIGHT. FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS AND THEIR KIN. By Mabel Osgood Wright, +edited by Frank Chapman. 12mo. Illustrated. xv + 432 pages. + +An animal book in story form. The scene shifts from farm to woods, and +back to an old room, fitted as a sort of winter camp, where vivid stories +of the birds and beasts which cannot be seen at home are told by the +campfire,--the sailor who has hunted the sea, the woodman, the mining +engineer, and wandering scientist, each taking his turn. A useful family +tree of North American Mammals is added. + +WRIGHT. DOGTOWN. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 12mo. Illustrated. xiii + 405 +pages. + +"Dogtown" was a neighborhood so named because so many people loved and +kept dogs. For it is a story of people as well as of dogs, and several of +the people as well as the dogs are old friends, having been met in Mrs. +Wright's other books. + +YONGE. LITTLE LUCY'S WONDERFUL GLOBE. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo. +Illustrated. xi + 140 pages. + +An interesting and ingenious introduction to geography. In her dreams Lucy +visits the children of various lands and thus learns much of the habits +and customs of these countries. + +YONGE. UNKNOWN TO HISTORY. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 12mo. Illustrated. +xi + 589 pages. + +A story of the captivity of Mary Queen of Scots, told in the author's best +vein. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL*** + + +******* This file should be named 32992.txt or 32992.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/9/9/32992 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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