mavis and merle started for school on tuesday morning confident of finding many changes. hitherto 'the moorings' had been a modest establishment where about twenty-four children had been educated by miss pollard and her sister miss fanny, who were the daughters of the late vicar of the parish. they were neither of them particularly learned or up to date, but they had a happy knack with girls, and had been especially successful in the care of delicate pupils. the remarkably mild climate of durracombe made the place peculiarly suitable for those who had been born in india or other hot countries, and so many more boarders had been entered for this term that the school was practically doubled. recognising the fact that this sudden enlargement in numbers ought also to mean a march forward in other ways, the sisters were wise enough to seize their golden opportunity and completely reorganise their methods. they were fortunate in being able to get hold of the house next to their own, and, turning that into a hostel for boarders, they devoted the whole of 'the moorings' to classrooms. they engaged a thoroughly competent and reliable mistress, with a university degree and high school experience, and gave her carte blanche to revise the curriculum and institute what innovations she thought fit. they allowed her to choose her own assistant mistress, and made fresh arrangements for visiting teachers, reserving for themselves only a very few of the classes, and concentrating most of their energies on the management of the hostel. these new plans gave great satisfaction to both parents and pupils.
"it will be rather nice to have somebody modern at the head of things, so long as miss pollard and miss fanny aren't entirely shelved," declared merle.
"they're perfect dears! we couldn't do without them," agreed mavis.
"but they're not clever!"
"um—i don't know! it depends what you call clever! they mayn't be b.a.'s and all the rest of it, but they're well read, and they can sketch and sing and play and do a hundred things that a great many graduates can't. i call them 'cultured,' that's the right name for them. they're such absolute and perfect ladies. it's a style you really don't meet every day. and they're so pretty with their pink cheeks and their silver hair, like the sweet old-fashioned pictures of eighteenth-century beauties in powder and patches. i love to look at them, and to listen to the gentle refined way they talk—i think they're adorable!"
"so they are—but you want something more in a school. i hope the fresh teacher will be a regular sport, and that she'll use slang sometimes, and play hockey. that's my ideal of a head mistress."
miss mitchell, the new peg upon which so much was now to depend at 'the moorings,' might not have been blamed for regarding tuesday morning as somewhat of an ordeal. if she was nervous, however, she managed to conceal her feelings, and bore the introduction to her prospective pupils with cheerful calm.
forty-six girls, taking mental stock of her, decided instantly that she was 'the right sort.' she was tall, in her middle twenties, had a fresh complexion, light brown hair, a brisk decisive manner, and a pleasant twinkle in her hazel eyes. she was evidently not in the least afraid of her audience, a fact which at once gave her the right handle. she faced their united stare smilingly.
"i'm very pleased to meet you all!" she began. "i hope we shall work together splendidly and have an extremely happy term. as miss pollard has just told you, there have been so many changes at 'the moorings' that it is practically a new school. it's a tremendous opportunity to be able to make a fresh start like this. we can make our own traditions and our own rules. some of you have been at the school before and some have been at other schools, but i want you all to forget past traditions and unite together to make 'the moorings' the biggest success that can possibly be. we're all going to love it and to be very loyal to it. we hope to do well with our work, and well with our games. i must explain to you later about all the various societies which we mean to start, but i want to tell you that though there is plenty of work in front of you there's also plenty of fun, and that if every girl makes up her mind to do her very best all round we shall get on grandly. now i am going to read out the lists of the various forms, and then you can march away in turn to your own classrooms."
in making her arrangements for the reorganisation of the school miss mitchell had decided to have no sixth form as yet. the girls were all under seventeen, and she did not consider any of them sufficiently advanced to be placed in so high a position. the fifth was at present to be the top form, and consisted of eleven girls, all of whom she intended should work their uttermost and fit themselves for the honour of becoming the sixth a year later.
mavis and merle, both of whom were included in this elect eleven, walked demurely away to their new classroom. five of their old companions were with them, iva westwood, nesta pitman, aubrey simpson, muriel burnitt, and edith carey, and the remaining four consisted of beata castleton, fay macleod, and two strangers, sybil vernon and kitty trefyre. romola castleton had been placed in the fourth, together with maude carey, babbie williams, nan colville, tattie carew, and several other new girls.
the fifth, as the top form, was to be mainly miss mitchell's; miss barnes, the fresh assistant mistress, was to take the fourth; and the teaching of the three lower forms would be shared by miss hopkins, mademoiselle, and miss fanny pollard. lessons, on a first morning, are usually more or less haphazard, but at any rate a beginning was made, the pupils were entered on their class registers, their capacities were tested, and they began in some slight degree to know their teachers. before the school separated at 12.30 for dinner miss pollard had an announcement to make.
"miss mitchell and i have decided that for the general good of the school it will be wise to appoint four monitresses. two of these must be boarders and will be chosen by us, but the other two may be elected by yourselves. we will have a ballot this afternoon. you may nominate any girls you like by writing their names upon slips of paper and handing them in to me before 2.30. all candidates, however, must be over the age of fifteen and must have spent at least two previous terms at 'the moorings.' the voting will take place in the big schoolroom immediately after four o'clock."
mavis and merle, walking home to lunch at bridge house, discussed the project eagerly as they went.
"good for miss pollard! or i expect it's really miss mitchell who suggested it! i call it a ripping idea. it's just exactly what's wanted. the monitresses will lead the games and all the various societies. run the school, in fact. what sport!" rejoiced merle, with shining eyes. "the old 'moorings' will really wake up at last."
"only four monitresses, and two of them are to be boarders and chosen by the powers that be!" mused mavis. "that means iva and nesta, if i know anything of miss pollard and miss fanny! now the question is who are to be the other two lucky ones?"
"it ought to be somebody who could lead!" flushed merle. "somebody really good at games and able to organise all that rabble of kids. some one who's been accustomed to a big school and knows what ought to be done. not girls who've spent all their lives in a tiny school like this. they've no standards. i've often told them that! they've simply no idea of how things used to swing at the whinburn high!"
"i wish miss pollard and miss mitchell would have done all the choosing," said mavis anxiously. "i think myself it's a mistake to put it to the vote. probably somebody quite unsuitable will be elected. the juniors will plump for the girl they like best, without caring whether she knows anything about games or not. there's aubrey simpson!"
"oh! they can't choose 'the jackdaw'!" interrupted merle.
"they can choose her if they like. she's over fifteen and perfectly eligible. edith carey is rather a favourite, i believe."
"that silly goose! good-night!"
"well, there's muriel burnitt at any rate. she's been a long time at 'the
moorings.'"
"all the worse for that, though she's better than edith or aubrey. i shall vote for her myself, and for you."
"and i'm going to vote for you, and for muriel, because, as you say, she's better than the others. i sincerely hope you'll win."
"i hope we both shall. i'll nominate you if you'll nominate me!"
"rather a family affair, isn't it? i think i'll ask first and see if anybody else is going to give in our names. perhaps iva or nesta may. it would be much nicer than seeming to poke ourselves forward."
"if we don't hustle a little we'll never get there! that's my opinion! you're too good for this wicked world, mavis! i've often told you so!" declared merle, running into the house and putting down her books with a slam. "angel girls are all very well at home, but school is a scrimmage and it's those who fight who come up on top! don't laugh! oh, i enjoy fighting! i tell you i want most desperately and tremendously to be made a monitress, and if i'm not chosen, well—it will be the disappointment of my life! i'm not joking! i mean it really and truly. i've set my heart upon it."
mavis, who had a very fine sense of the fitness of things, and who did not think sisters should nominate one another, returned early to school that afternoon and hunted up iva westwood. she found her very enthusiastic about the election.
"we've never had anything of the sort before at 'the moorings,'" purred iva. "we're beginning to wake up here, aren't we? i'm going to give in your name as a candidate, mavis! i'm just writing it now."
"thanks! won't you put merle too?"
"oh, i will if you like." (iva's voice was not too enthusiastic.) "i suppose it doesn't matter how many we nominate. somehow i never thought of merle."
"she's a splendid leader, and a1 at games. you should have seen her at
whinburn high!"
"oh, i daresay! well, to please you i'll put her name on my list. it can do no harm at any rate."
"thanks ever so!"
"old muriel's canvassing like anything downstairs among the kids!"
"is canvassing allowed?"
"well, it hasn't been forbidden. nesta and i are too proud to go and beg for votes, but mu doesn't care in the least; rather enjoys it, in fact. she's sitting in the playroom, with florrie leach and betty marshall on her knee, 'doing the popular,' and giving away whole packets of sweets. if merle really wants—hello! here's merle herself!"
mavis turned quickly, for her younger sister, looking flushed and excited, had burst suddenly into the room and was speaking eagerly.
"mavis! have you a shilling in your pocket? i left my purse at home! do lend it to me! what for? i want to tear out and buy some sweets. oh yes, i've time. i shall simply sprint. hand it over, that's a saintly girl! thanks immensely!"
merle departed like a whirlwind, slamming the door after her. iva
westwood pulled an expressive grimace and laughed.
"so she's trying the popular trick too! well, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. i think edith carey has a good chance myself. the kids are rather fond of her. have you written your nominations yet, mavis? then come along, and we'll drop them inside the box."
as the first bell rang at 2.25 and the girls began to assemble in the big schoolroom, muriel burnitt walked in followed by a perfect comet's tail of juniors, some of whom were hanging on to her arms. each was sucking a peppermint bull's-eye, and each wore a piece of pink ribbon pinned on to her dress.
"muriel's favours!" they explained, giggling loudly. "we're all of us going to vote for her. isn't it fun?"
mavis glanced round for merle, hoping her expedition to the sweet-shop would not have made her late, and to her relief saw her sitting on the opposite side of the room, in company with beata and romola castleton, fay macleod, and a number of other new girls whose acquaintance she had evidently just made. they were passing round chocolates, and seemingly enjoying themselves. merle waved a hand gaily at her sister, beckoning her to join the group, but at that moment miss mitchell entered the room, and all seated themselves on the nearest available benches while the roll-call was taken.
"we will meet here at four o'clock for the election," said the mistress, as she closed the register and dismissed the various forms to their classrooms.
the first day of a new term always seems intolerably long, and with such an interesting event as a ballot before them most of the girls felt the hour and a half to drag, and turned many surreptitious glances towards wrist watches. merle in especial, who hated french translation, groaned as she looked up words in the dictionary, and made several stupid mistakes, because her thoughts were focussed on the election instead of on the matter in hand. once she yawned openly, and drew down a reproof from mademoiselle, whereupon she heaved a submissive sigh, controlled her boredom, and went on wearily transferring the flowery sentiments of fénelon into the english tongue. at precisely five minutes to four the big bell clanged out a warning, dictionaries were shut, exercise-books handed in, pencil-boxes replaced in desks, and the class filed downstairs to the big schoolroom. miss pollard was not there: she was busy in the hostel; and miss fanny, looking rather flustered and nervous, had evidently given over the conduct of the meeting to miss mitchell, and was present merely as a spectator. the new mistress seemed perfectly at home and ready for the occasion. she passed round pieces of paper, inquired whether everybody had a pencil, then made her announcements.
"as miss pollard told you this morning, you are here to elect two monitresses. two from among the boarders have already been chosen by us, these are iva westwood and nesta pitman, but the remaining two are to be balloted for from among the list of candidates. as perhaps some of you don't understand a ballot, i will tell you just what to do. i have written on the blackboard the names of those girls who have been nominated:
"muriel burnitt.
"aubrey simpson.
"edith carey.
"mavis ramsay.
"merle ramsay.
"what i want you to do is to write on your piece of paper the names of the two candidates for whom you wish to vote, then fold your paper and hand it in. you must not add your own name to it, and you have no need to tell anybody how you voted. the whole principle of a ballot is that it is done in secret. are you ready? then please begin."
the little ceremony was soon over, the girls scribbled rapidly, folded their papers, and passed them along the benches to nesta and iva, who collected them and gave them to miss mitchell.
"it will take a short time to count the votes," explained the mistress. "those girls who wish to go home can do so, but any who like to wait and hear the result can stay."
miss mitchell and miss fanny retired to the study and the meeting broke up. most of the day-girls put on their hats and coats in readiness to go home, but hung about the hall until the names should be announced. the contingent from chagmouth, whose car was stationed outside in the road, and whose driver was waxing impatient, were obliged to depart without the exciting news. merle went as far as the gate to watch them pack into their 'sardine-tin.' four sat behind, and two in front with the chauffeur, all quite radiant and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
"good-bye! i hope you'll win!" said beata, waving a hand to merle with difficulty, for she was tightly sandwiched between fay and tattie. "we did our best for you and mavis. i didn't know any of those others. romola, have you got the books? that's all right. i was afraid we'd left the satchel. yes," (to the chauffeur) "we're quite ready now, thanks! ta-ta, merle! good luck to you! we're off!"
merle, looking after the retreating car, was joined by aubrey simpson, rather injured, and disconsolate.
"i didn't know all these new girls were to have votes," she grumbled.
"how can they choose a monitress when they don't know anybody!
it's rather humbug, isn't it?"
"they know me" perked merle.
"did you canvass them? oh, how mean!"
"why mean? you could have done it yourself. muriel was canvassing among the juniors as hard as she could go."
"i might have canvassed among the new boarders! why didn't i think of it?" wailed aubrey.
"well, really, it's your own stupid fault! don't blame me!" snapped
merle.
"iva and nesta said they didn't mean to ask for votes."
"well, they'd no need to. they were both jolly certain that miss pollard would make them monitresses. it's easy to talk loftily when you're sure of your innings."
"did mavis canvass?"
"no—but then, of course, mavis wouldn't!"
"why not?"
"oh—because she's mavis! i can't see her doing it somehow. what a long time miss mitchell and miss fanny are over their counting! i wish they'd hurry up. i want to go home to tea."
the girls had not much longer, however, to wait.
in the course of a few minutes the new mistress entered the hall and read out the important result.
"the polling is as follows," she announced.
"muriel burnitt . . . 27
mavis ramsay . . . 20
merle ramsay . . . 19
edith carey . . . 14
aubrey simpson . . . 12
"the two monitresses elected, therefore, are muriel burnitt and mavis
ramsay."
some of the girls raised a cheer, others took no notice; miss mitchell, who seemed in a hurry, vanished back into the study. the boarders, hearing their tea-bell, made for the hostel.
"congrats, mavis!" said iva, as she walked away arm-in-arm with nesta. "i'm glad the lot has fallen on you. muriel was pretty sure of a walk-over, but it was a toss-up who was to be the fourth. i don't mind telling you i voted for you myself. and so did nesta, i'm sure."
"it was a ballot, and i'm not going to let out whom i voted for!" declared nesta. "some people can't keep their own secrets! all the same, i'm glad it's you, mavis. i wouldn't have had aubrey a monitress for worlds."
the ramsays walked home together along the high street to bridge house. muriel burnitt, escorted by florrie and viola leach and the three little andrews, was on in front, pluming herself upon her victory. the careys had disappeared down the short cut to the vicarage. mavis hardly dared to look at merle. the latter kept her face turned away and blinked her eyes hard. she had enough self-restraint not to weep openly in the high street. when they reached their own door however, she bolted through the surgery entrance and, running into the garden, hid herself in the summer-house, whither mavis, after a word to aunt nellie, presently followed her to offer what consolation she could.
"it's not that i'm jealous of you!" sobbed merle stormily. "i wanted us both to win! what does muriel know about a decent game of hockey, or how to conduct a society, or run a school magazine? it's idiotic that she should be chosen. neither she nor iva nor nesta has ever been at a big school. a precious bungle they'll make of their meetings. i know you'll be there—but you're so gentle you'll never stand up against them, and they'll have everything their own silly way. 'the moorings' won't be very much changed if it's just to be run upon the same old lines. i shan't bother to try and help. i might have done so much if they'd elected me, but what's the use now? i'm frightfully and frantically disappointed. if miss mitchell had had any sense she'd have waited a fortnight till she got to know the girls, and then have chosen the monitresses herself. if it's miss fanny's fault, i'm not friends with her any more! tea-time, did you say? i suppose i shall have to come in then, though i really don't want any. ugh! i hate everything!"
tea that day was a dreary affair. uncle david was out, aunt nellie had a headache so was unusually quiet, and merle, with red eyes, sat silent and brooding. mavis tried desperately to make a little conversation, but it was impossible to maintain a monologue, and she soon dropped the futile attempt. merle, after eating half a piece of bread and butter and declining a chocolate biscuit, begged suddenly to be excused, and with two big unruly tears splashing down her cheeks fled from the room.
"poor child! i'm afraid she's terribly disappointed," commented aunt
nellie sympathetically.
"it seems a pity she wasn't chosen. i suppose she would have made a splendid monitress. it's half the battle to be keen about anything."
mavis agreed, passed the cake, finished her tea, picked up the dropped stitches in aunt nellie's piece of knitting, carried a message to the cook, then went out into the garden. she wanted to be alone for a little while. there was a retired corner among the bushes by the wall overlooking the river. she had placed a box here for a seat, and called it her hermitage. even merle had not so far discovered it. it was a retreat where she could withdraw from everybody, and be absolutely uninterrupted and by herself. there was something about which she wished to think in quiet. the idea had been pressing upon her, clamouring in her brain ever since miss mitchell's announcement, but she must consider it carefully before she acted upon it. sitting in her green nook, watching the golden light sparkling upon the river below, she faced her problem:
"merle would really make a far better monitress than i should. oughtn't i to give the post up to her?"
it was a struggle, and a very difficult one, for mavis, quiet though she was, had her ambitions, and it would be hard to yield place to her younger sister. it is only those who are accustomed to practise self- control who have the strength for an emergency. she longed for the opportunity of helping the school, and to stand aside voluntarily and give the work up to another seemed a big sacrifice.
"it's got to be, though!" sighed mavis. "i'll go down and see miss fanny about it at once. i expect i can make her understand."
dodging merle, who was disconsolately doing some gardening, she walked back to 'the moorings' and went to the hostel. miss fanny, busy among the new boarders, received her with astonishment.
"what is it, mavis? i can only spare you five minutes. you want to speak to me about the monitress-ship? my dear child, miss mitchell will explain everything to you to-morrow, and tell you exactly what you have to do. there's no need to trouble about it now."
"it isn't that, please, miss fanny!" blushed mavis. "the fact of the matter is that i think merle ought to have been chosen instead of me. i was only one mark ahead of her. she'd make a far better monitress than i should. may i resign and let her have the post instead?"
this was coming to the point with a vengeance. miss fanny knitted her eyebrows and pursed up her mouth into a button.
"i rather expected merle to be elected," she admitted cautiously.
"she'd be splendid!" urged mavis, pursuing her advantage. "she's a born leader. she's able to organise things and to keep order, and she's good at games. she'd throw herself heart and soul into it, and work tremendously at all the new schemes. she'd start clubs among the juniors as well as the seniors, and coach them in hockey, and do her level best! i'll guarantee she would!"
"and what about yourself? can't you do any of these things?" questioned
miss fanny.
"not so well as merle! i'm shyer, and i daren't speak out, and i'm not much good at games. and oh! miss fanny, there's another side of the question. i know merle so well. if she's made monitress she'll be heart and soul for the school and an enormous help, but—she's a queer girl, and if she has no special place here or anything to concentrate her energy on, she may give trouble."
"that is certainly no reason for placing her in a post of authority," frowned miss fanny.
"no—but she's a girl who's always for or against, and it's so very important she should be on the right side. i believe this would be the making of her. she'd try for the sake of others when she wouldn't make any effort for herself."
"i believe you're right," conceded miss fanny thoughtfully. "miss mitchell would certainly be most relieved to have a monitress who was capable of organising the juniors at games. she was wondering how she was going to manage. do i understand, then, that you wish to resign in favour of merle?"
"please! i'll help her all i can in the background."
"very well, mavis. i'll accept your resignation and announce the matter in school to-morrow. now i must go, for i have a hundred things to do. tell merle to come five minutes earlier in the morning and i'll talk to her in the study. on the whole, i think the arrangement will be all for the best."
it was a very radiant, triumphant mavis who ran home to the old garden, found merle among the flowerbeds, and told her the glorious news.
"sis! you can't mean it! is it true? oh, i don't like to take it! it's too good of you! don't you really mind? it's all the world to me. i've been hoping to be made monitress ever since miss pollard spoke about reorganising the school. won't i have the time of my life! monitress merle! it sounds nice, doesn't it? i must go and tell jessop and aunt nellie! how astonished everybody will be in school to-morrow. fay and beata will be pleased. they were tremendously keen on my winning the ballot. i'm so glad about it i want to turn a somersault or do something mad. come and dance with me, you old darling! what a trump you are! you're sure you don't mind?"
"not a bit," said mavis, swallowing a little lump in her throat. "of course i'll be ready to help you with anything whenever you want me. there'll be plenty of hard work just at first, no doubt. you'll soon be up to your eyes in starting clubs and societies. keep a corner for me on the school magazine if you found one. that's all i bargain for. i always liked the literary society at whinburn high. my hearty congratulations to you, and every good wish for the success of everything you undertake —miss monitress merle!"
