at school claudia rapidly became one of lorraine's best allies. she made no undue fuss, but she could always be depended upon for support. being a new girl, she was more ready to take up new ways than were the other monitresses, who remembered the régime of lily anderson, and were inclined to judge everything by former standards. the chief bone of contention was the bar between seniors and juniors. hitherto it had not been etiquette for the upper and lower school to mix more than was absolutely necessary; the elder girls had held themselves aloof, and even in the too numerous guilds and societies had insisted upon senior and junior branches.
having broken the ice with the social gathering, at which every one alike showed exhibits, lorraine began to run all her organizations on more popular lines. she persuaded a few volunteers to superintend the little girls' games; she set aside two special pages for their efforts in the manuscript magazine, and allowed them to vote for their own captain in their basket-ball club. these fresh departures did not pass without opposition. some of [62]her colleagues hinted broadly that lorraine was making a bid for popularity.
"monitresses should be loyal to the sixth!" sniffed vivien. "we don't want to mix with dick, tom and harry!"
"don't you?" laughed patsie, who never could resist a shot at vivien. "i should have thought it was just dick, tom and harry you wanted to mix with, and you're disgusted because it's only maud, gertie and florrie! honestly, you'd be far happier in a boys' school. you'd better get your mother to send you to one!"
"there's such a thing as co-education!" retorted vivien.
"so there is!" chuckled patsie.
she chuckled thoughtfully, for vivien's remark had given her an idea. she confided it to audrey, who was rather a chum of hers.
"i'm a little fed up with the duchess," she remarked, "and i want to play a rag on her. i must play a rag on somebody, for things have been so dull lately, and the school wants livening up. she said something about co-education."
"what's co-education?" asked audrey vaguely.
"why, boys and girls going to school together. i believe they do it in america, and at just two or three places in england. i'm going to pretend that miss kingsley's taken it up, and that some boys are coming here. vivien would be so fearfully excited. oh! and i'll tell you what"—patsie's eyes danced—"the most topping notion's just come to me! let me whisper it!"
[63]audrey bent a wavy brown head with a pale pink hair ribbon to receive the communication, then exploded into ripples of laughter.
"gracie and sybil! they've got short hair!" she hinnied. "oh, it will be an absolute stunt!"
the confederates did not publish their plans beforehand. patsie was an experienced joker, and knew that the point would be lost if any hint were to leak out. it was noticeable, however, that in recreation time she paraded round the gymnasium arm-in-arm with gracie tatham and sybil snow, two tall fifth form girls. the fact was commented upon by vivien herself.
"another of patsie's sudden friendships!" she remarked. "she doesn't generally have two going at the same time. what's come to her?"
"she's weighed down by her responsibility as a monitress, and is trying to spread culture through the school," explained audrey, with a grave mouth, but an irrepressible twinkle in her eyes.
"culture! great minerva! i'm sorry for the school if it takes patsie as a model!"
vivien, like most of us, was a mixture of faults and virtues. one of her strong points was punctuality, and on this patsie counted. she was nearly always one of the first to enter the cloak-room in the mornings. she liked to look over her lessons and set her books in order. on the following thursday she turned up as usual at about a quarter to nine, and found, to her surprise, that patsie and audrey had already taken off their hats, and were tidying their hair in front of the mirror.
[64]"you here! wonders will never cease! what's brought you out so early? dear me, there's a large amount of titivating going on! is all that for miss turner's benefit?"
patsie deliberately fluffed out her hair, twisted a kiss-curl round her finger, and readjusted her slide before she answered:
"haven't you heard the news?" she said abstractedly, pushing aside audrey, who was trying to edge her from the mirror.
"what news?"
"miss kingsley's trying a new venture. i think you'll get a surprise when you go into our class-room!"
"of course some boys' schools have really had to be given up for lack of masters, so what else can be done while the war's on?" added audrey.
"what d'you mean?"
"i won't exactly tell you, but i can give you a hint. look over there!" and patsie nodded in the direction of the window.
hanging on hooks were two boys' overcoats and caps. vivien gazed at them as if thunderstruck.
"not co-education!" she gasped.
"i don't know what you call it," said audrey, "but i think it will be rather a stunt. come along, patsie, and have first innings!"
as the chums ran from the room, vivien hurriedly buttoned her shoes and tore after them.
"where are they?" she asked excitedly, catching audrey by the arm, "what are their names?"
[65]"i don't know any more than yourself yet."
"we'll soon find out," volunteered patsie flinging open the door of the sixth form room.
an unusual spectacle certainly greeted them: unusual at any rate in a ladies' school. sitting on the desks with their backs to the door were two masculine figures, engaged in the pleasing occupation of pelting each other with exercise-books.
apparently they did not hear the girls' entrance, for they continued their conversation.
"rather a blossomy stunt to be here!"
"great judkins, yes! guess we'll make things hum! i'm nuts on the girls!"
"hope they're a decent-looking set!"
"oh, right enough on the whole! but, old chap, let me tell you there's one—her name's vivien——"
here, to prevent awkward revelations, vivien interrupted with a judicious cough. the long, trouser-clad legs slid from the desks, and the two manly voices ejaculated:
"hallo! our new school mates! how d'ye do?"
"charmed to meet you, i'm sure!"
quite in a flutter, vivien advanced, looked, gasped, and spluttered out:
"gracie and sybil; you wretches!"
the masculine figures, unmindful of manners, collapsed on to the nearest seats, and sobbed with laughter.
"took you in this time, old sport! don't we [66]make killing boys? i believe you were just gone on us both! oh, how it hurts to laugh! i feel weak!"
"i think you're a pair of idiots!" retorted vivien. "i don't see anything funny in it."
"we do, though!" cackled patsie. "oh, vivien, you looked so interested and excited! it gave me spasms! there, don't get ratty over it! brace up!"
"it was a jinky joke!" burbled audrey. "i say, you two, you'd better scoot quick and do some lightning changing! if miss janet comes in there'll be squalls! she's not quite ready yet for co-education here. stick on your waterproofs again! there, bolt before you're caught!"
"a nice monitress you are, patsie sullivan!" exploded the outraged vivien. "where's our authority to go to, i should like to know, if you and audrey put fifth form girls up to such tricks? i wonder you condescend to it! if i were head girl, i can tell you i'd have something to say to you! but with these new slack ways there'll be no respect for us left. the school's going to the dogs, in my opinion!"
patsie and audrey beat a hurried retreat, for they knew that there was a certain amount of justice in vivien's remarks. their escapade, a report of which would, of course, be circulated through the school, would in no way enhance the authority of the sixth. they hoped lorraine would not hear about it, though it seemed inevitable that it must come to her ears. as a matter of [67]fact, lorraine learnt the whole story before she had taken off her boots. she made little comment, but went into class with a cloud on her face.
the head girl was going through the difficult experience, shared by all who are suddenly placed in authority, of trying to hold the reins so as to satisfy everybody. to keep slackers up to the mark without gaining for herself the unenviable reputation of "a tartar", to be pleasant with the juniors without loss of dignity, to preserve old standards while adopting new ones, called for all the tact she possessed. she often felt her cousin a great impediment. vivien was one of those people who love to give good advice, and to say what they would do in certain circumstances, urging on others drastic measures which they would probably never enforce themselves if they happened to be in authority. sometimes, however, the objections were just, and this was a case in point. the matter floated in lorraine's mind all the morning, as a kind of background to english literature and mathematics. she called a monitresses' meeting for four o'clock that very day.
when afternoon school was over, and miss janet, with the big volume of milton, had taken her departure, lorraine assembled her committee, intercepting patsie and audrey, who were trying to sneak from the room.
"look here, you've got to stop!" she assured them.
"i've to call at the dressmaker's; i've brought my bicycle on purpose!" objected audrey.
[68]"then the dressmaker will have to wait ten minutes."
"and i'm due at the dentist's," declared patsie.
"the dentist can wait too! it's most important for us all to be at this meeting. i can't possibly let any one off it."
rather sulkily, audrey and patsie went back to their desks. possibly they might have rebelled, but public opinion was plainly against them. vivien was looking virtuous, and dorothy made some pointed remarks about duty before pleasure.
"if you think going to the dentist's and having that horrible drill whirling round and round inside your tooth is a pleasure, i wish you'd go instead of me," retorted patsie, flinging her books back into her desk and banging the lid hard. "you'd be only too welcome to take my place."
"don't be shrill, child. business is business, and the sooner we get it over the better. i want to go home myself."
"i won't keep you all more than a few minutes," interposed lorraine. "what i want to say is this, that though i have openly rather held a brief for the juniors in some ways, i don't mean our authority over them to be in the least lessened. please don't misunderstand me about it. we must thoroughly uphold our dignity as monitresses," (turning a reproachful eye on patsie and audrey) "and enforce the rules as much as ever."
"hear! hear! it doesn't do to grow slack," said vivien pointedly.
"we're certainly not going to grow slack. i [69]put it to every monitress to make it a point of honour to keep up discipline. there must be no truckling even with fifth form girls. rules are rules!"
"right you are, o queen!"
"we'll be a regular set of dragons!"
"no giving in on our part!"
"those juniors have been trying it on lately!"
"they're the limit sometimes!"
"well, i'm glad we're all agreed," remarked lorraine. "whatever happens, we must support one another. i need not keep you any longer now. patsie wants to get away to her dentist."
"ugh! i don't feel in such a hurry to go and be tortured when it comes to the point," shuddered patsie.
"but i'm keen on the dressmaker. she's making me the sweetest coat-frock you ever saw—in brown velveteen with braid trimming!" purred audrey.
having decided to keep a tight hand over the turbulent juniors, the monitresses proceeded to live up to their resolution. they inspected the cloak-room, sternly repressed giggling and talking on the stairs, and insisted upon an orderly queue for the issue of library books. even patsie turned the twinkle in her eye into a glance of reproof. the lower forms, who had certainly been trying how far they could go, were disposed to rebel, and gave trouble on one or two occasions, but the slightest attempt at mutiny was met with instant firmness.
"don't let them master you for a minute," counselled lorraine. "if anything very flagrant [70]happens, report to me, and we'll deal with it in committee."
it was only a few days after this, at twenty minutes past two by the big clock in the hall, that vivien turned into the sixth form room, where most of her fellow-monitresses were assembled. her cheeks were scarlet, and her eyes flashed sparks.
"i've been having such a row with those wretched kids!" she exploded. "what do you think a lot of them were doing? why, they'd actually gone into the gym., where everything had been placed ready for senior drill, and were racketing about with the clubs and dumb-bells. the second they saw me they bolted, and made a dash through the far door and out into the garden, leaving clubs and dumb-bells lying just anywhere. you never saw such a mess as the gym. was in! i had to send effie swan and theresa dawson to put things in order again. then i went round to the cloak-room, and asked every single girl if she had been in the gym. some of them owned up quite frankly, but one told me a deliberate lie."
"a lie! good gracious! are you perfectly certain?"
"absolutely sure. couldn't be mistaken. i saw her myself in the gym. she was the very last to run out."
"the mean little sneak! lying is the absolute limit!" frowned lorraine. "we can't stand that kind of thing—we shall just have to make an example of her. which kiddie was it?"
[71]"i'm frightfully sorry to have to say it—but it was monica."
there was dead silence for a moment. lorraine's face was grim.
"are you perfectly sure, vivien?" asked claudia.
"if you saw her, there's no more to be said," declared lorraine emphatically. "monica must report herself here after four o'clock, and we'll deal with the case as it deserves. nellie, will you please take her this message," rapidly scribbling the summons on a piece of exercise-paper, "and tell her she's to come before going to the cloak-room. dorothy, would you mind fetching me the guilds register? i'm going to cross off monica's name. we can't have a liar in any of the societies."
"oh, lorraine, stop! don't condemn her unheard!" pleaded claudia. "she may have some excuse to offer."
"qui s'excuse s'accuse!" returned lorraine bitterly. "i'm afraid it's only too plain."
"but do let me try to find out! don't be in such a dreadful hurry! wait a bit!"
"what's the use of waiting? it had better be done now!"
and lorraine, with a firm hand, drew a thick ink line through the name of monica forrester.
all through afternoon school lorraine's head was in a whirl. the fact that monica was her sister made her the more ready to punish her severely. no one should say that she showed favour to her own family. after the crusade she had made for discipline, it was necessary to be [72]stern. and yet—monica! she could not credit the child with telling a lie. naughty and wilful she had often been, but deceitful and untruthful never. it was indeed a hard blow to be obliged to convict her of such sneaking behaviour. yet duty was duty, and lorraine set her teeth. just before four o'clock claudia asked permission from the mistress to leave a few minutes earlier, and made her exit while patsie was collecting the essay books. lorraine looked at her reproachfully, but of course could make no comment before miss turner. directly the latter had taken her departure, there came a timid tap at the door, and monica entered, a white-faced little figure with big puzzled eyes.
"you sent for me?" she faltered.
"yes, i did send for you," replied lorraine grimly. "i want to ask you, before all the monitresses, whether you were in the gym. this afternoon. give a straight answer, monica!"
"i've told vivien i wasn't."
"do you stick to that?"
"yes."
"but vivien saw you!"
"so she says. can't you believe me, lorraine?"
monica's grey eyes were fixed full on her sister's face. there was a quiver in her voice. lorraine steeled her heart and looked away.
"the word of a monitress is sufficient. i have been obliged to strike your name off the guilds register, monica. for this term, at any rate, you won't have the privilege of belonging to any of the societies. i want you juniors to understand once and for all that you can't break rules and tell untruths. if you'd only confess!"
"i can't confess what i've not done!"
"but it's been proved against you, so it's no use persisting in denying it. i——"
"stop a moment, lorraine!" cried claudia, bursting suddenly into the room. "it's quite a mistake! it wasn't monica, after all! i ran downstairs and caught those juniors as they came out. i watched their backs, and irene holt has just the same blue serge and buttons as monica, and the same coloured hair ribbon. they aren't alike in front, but their back views are absolute twins. i took irene by the shoulders, and told her i knew she was guilty, and letting the blame fall on monica, and she threw up the sponge at once, literally howled, and acknowledged it was she who had been in the gym. i told her to go and wait in her own form room, and she's sitting there, boo-hooing for all she's worth."
"irene! the little sneak! i'm awfully sorry, monica!" apologized vivien.
lorraine's face cleared like sunlight bursting through a cloud. her relief at the turn events had taken was intense.
"shall i bring up the wretched kid?" asked claudia.
"oh, do please forgive her!" pleaded monica. "she's such a scared rabbit! she never knows what she's saying!"
"well, i call that sporting of you!" said vivien, [74]smacking monica heartily on the back. "i vote we just say no more about the whole business. let irene scoot off and mop her eyes at home. she's been punished enough, i dare say."
"right you are!" agreed the others readily.
"i'll tell her she may go, then," said claudia. "lorraine, for goodness' sake take a penknife and scratch out that score you made through monica's name in the guilds register. i told you to wait, but you were in such a precious hurry to execute vengeance."
"i'll be only too glad to restore the honour of the family," smiled lorraine.
