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Other Books by Enid Blyton













Arabella Comes To Stay

Off To Whyteleafe School Again
Four New Children
The School Meeting
Arabella Gets Into Trouble
Arabella Makes A Complaint
The Meeting Deals With Arabella
Elizabeth Lays A Trap
Elizabeth Gets A Shock
A Dreadful Quarrel
Julian Plays A Trick
Elizabeth In Disgrace
Arabella's Secret
Sneezing Powder
A Stormy Meeting
Elizabeth Sees William And Rita
Good At Heart
Julian Is Very Funny
Julian Has Some Shocks
Julian Makes A Solemn Promise
Martin Gives Elizabeth A Surprise
Martin Really Is A Puzzle !
A School MatchAnd Other Things
Martin Gets A Chance
An Adventure For Elizabeth
Happy Ending



Arabella Comes to Stay
IT was in the middle of the Christmas holidays that Mother
sprang a surprise on Elizabeth. Christmas was over, and
Elizabeth had been to the pantomime and the circus, and to three
Now she was beginning to look forward to going back to
boarding-school again. It was dull being an only child, now that
she had got used to living with so many girls and boys at
Whyteleafe School. She missed their laughter and their chatter,
the fun and games they had together.
" Mother, I love being at homebut I do miss Kathleen and
Belinda and Nora and Harry and John and Richard," she said. "
Joan has been over here to see me once or twice, but she's got a
cousin staying with her now, and I don't expect I'U see her any
more these hols."
Then Mother gave Elizabeth a surprise.
" Well," she said, " I knew you would be lonely so I have
arranged for someone to come and keep you company for the
last two weeks of these holidays, Elizabeth."
" Mother ! Who ? " cried Elizabeth. " Somebody I know ?"
" No," said Mother. " It is a girl who is to go to Whyteleafe
School next terma girl called Arabella Buckley. I am sure you
will like her."
" Tell me about her," said Elizabeth, still very surprised. "
Why didn't you tell me this before, Mother ? "
" Well, it has been decided in a hurry," said Mother. " You
know Mrs. Peters, don't you ? She has a sister

who has to go to America, and she does not want to take

Arabella with her. So she wanted to put the child into a
boarding-school for a year, perhaps longer."
" And she chose Whyteleafe School! " said Elizabeth. "
Well, it's the best school in the world, / think ! "
"That's what I told Mrs. Peters," said Mother. " And she told
her sisterand Mrs. Buckley at once went to see the
headmistresses, Miss Belle and Miss Best. ..."
" The Beauty and the Beast," said Elizabeth with a grin.
" And it was arranged that Arabella should go to Whyteleafe
this term," went on Mother. " As Mrs. Buckley had to leave for
America almost at once, I offered to have Arabella herepartly
as company for you, and partly so that you might be able to tell
her a little about Whyteleafe."
" Mother, I do hope she's a decent sort of girl," said
Elizabeth. " It will be fun sharing hols with someone I like, but
awful if it's someone I don't like."
" I have, seen Arabella," said Mother. " She was a very
pretty girl with most beautiful manners and she was dressed
very nicely too."
" Oh," said Elizabeth, who was often untidily dressed, and
was sometimes too impatient to have very good manners. "
MotherI don't think I like the sound of her very much. Usually
beautifully-dressed girls aren't much good at games and things
like that."
" Wellyou'll see," said Mother. " Anyway, she is coming
to-morrowso give her a good welcome and tell her as much
about Whyteleafe as you can. I am sure she will love it."
Elizabeth couldn't help looking forward to Arabella coming,
even if she did sound rather goody-goody. She put flowers into
the room her new friend was to have, and put beside the bed
some of her own favourite books.
" It will be rather fun to tell someone all about Whyteleafe
School," she thought. " I'm so proud of

Whyteleafe. I think it's marvellous. And ohI'm to be a

monitor next term ! "
Impatient, hot-tempered Elizabeth had actually been chosen
to be a monitor for the coming term. It had been a great surprise
to her, and she had been happier about that than about anything
else in her life. She had often thought about it in the holidays,
and planned how good and trustworthy and wise she would be
next term.
" No quarrels with anyoneno bad tempersno silly flareups! " said Elizabeth to herself. She knew her own faults very
well. Indeed, all the children at Whyteleafe knew their faults, for
it was part of the rule of the school that every child should be
helped with his faultsand how could anyone be helped if his
faults were not known ?
The next day Elizabeth watched from the window for
Arabella to come. In the afternoon a rather grand car drew up at
the front door. The chauffeur got out and opened the car door
and out stepped someone


who looked more like a little princess than a schoolgirl !

" Golly! " said Elizabeth to herself, and looked down at her own
school tunic of navy blue with its bright yellow badge. " Golly !
I shall never be able to live up to Arabella ! "
Arabella was dressed in a beautiful blue coat with a white
fur collar. She wore white fur gloves and a round white fur hat
on her fair curls. Her eyes were very blue indeed and had dark
lashes that curled up. She had a rather haughty look on her pink
and white face as she stepped out of the car.
She looked at Elizabeth's house as if she didn't like it very
much. The chauffeur rang the bell, and put a trunk and a bag
down on the step.
Elizabeth had meant to rush down and give Arabella a
hearty welcome. She had decided to call her " Bella " because
she thought Arabella rather a stupid name " like a doll's
name," thought Elizabeth. But somehow she didn't feel like
calling her " Bella " now.
" Arabella suits her better after all," thought Elizabeth. "
She is rather like a doll with her golden curls and blue eyes, and
lovely coat and hat. I don't think I like her. In factI think I feel
a bit afraid of her! "
This was queer, because Elizabeth was rarely afraid ef
anything or anyone. But she had never before met anyone quite
like Arabella Buckley.
" Although she's not much older than I am, she looks rather
grown-up, and she walks like a grown-upall properand I'm
sure she talks like a grown-up too ! " thought Elizabeth. " Oh
dear, I don't want to go down and talk to her."
So she didn't go down. The maid opened the door and
then Mrs. Allen, Elizabeth's mother, came hurrying forward to
welcome the visitor.
She kissed Arabella, and asked her if she had had a tiring

" Oh no, thank you," said

Arabella, in a clear, smooth
" Our car is very
comfortable, and I had plenty
of sandwiches to eat halfway
here. It is so kind . of you to
have me here, Mrs. Allen. I
hear you have a girl about
my age."
" Yes," said Mrs. Allen. "
She ought to be down here
giving you a welcome. She
said she would be. Elizabeth!
Elizabeth, where are you?
Arabella is here."
So Elizabeth had to go
down. She ran down the stairs
in her usual manner, two at a
time, landing with a bump at
the bottom. She held out her
hand to Arabella, who seemed
a little surprised at her very
sudden appearance.
" Do come down the
stairs properly," said Mrs.
Allen. It was a thing she said
at least twelve times a day.
Elizabeth never seemed able to
remember to go anywhere
quietly. Mrs. Allen hoped that
Elizabeth some of her own
quietness and politeness.

" Hallo," said Elizabeth, and Arabella held out a limp hand
for her to shake.
" Good afternoon," she said. " How do you do ? "
" Gracious! " thought Elizabeth, " I feel as if she's Princess
High-and-Mighty come to pay a call on one of her poor
subjects. In a minute she'll be offering me a bowl of hot soup or
a warm shawl."
Stillit might be that Arabella was only feeling shy. Some
people did go all stiff and proper when they felt shy. Elizabeth
thought she had better give Arabella a. chance before making up
her mind about her.
" After all, I'm always making up my mind about people
and then having to unmake it because I am wrong," thought the
little girl. " I've made an awful lot of mistakes about people at
Whyteleafe School in the last two terms. I'll be careful now."
So she smiled at Arabella and took her up to her room to
wash and have a talk.
" I expect you didn't like saying good-bye to your mother,
when she went off to America," said Elizabeth in a pleasant
voice. " That was bad luck. But it's good luck for you to be
going to Whyteleafe School. I can tell you that! "
" I shall be able to judge whether it is or not when I get
there," said Arabella. " I hope to goodness there are decent
children there."
"Of course there areand if they are horrid when they first
come, we soon make them ah1 right," said Elizabeth. " We had
one or two boys who were awful but now they are my best
" Boys ! Did you say boys I " said. Arabella in the greatest
horror. " I thought this was a girls' school I was going to. I hate
boys ! "


" It's a mixed schoolboys and girls together," said

Elizabeth. " It's fun. You won't hate boys after a bit. You soon
get used to them."
" If my mother had known there were boys at the school, I
am sure she would not have sent me," said Arabella in a tight,
prim little voice. " Rough, ill-mannered creaturesdirty and
untidy, with shouting voices ! "
" Oh, welleven the girls get dirty and untidy sometimes,"
said Elizabeth patiently, " and as for shoutingyou should just
hear me when I'm watching a school match ! "
" It sounds a terrible school to me," said Arabella. " I had
hoped Mother would send me to Grey Towers, where two of my
friends had goneit's such a nice school. They all have their
own pretty bedroomsand wonderful food. In fact, the girls are
treated like princesses."
" Wellif you think you'll be treated like a princess at
Whyteleafe, you'll jolly well find out you're wrong ! " said
Elizabeth sharply. " You'll be treated as what you area little
girl like me, with lots of things to learn ! And if you put on any
airs there, you'll soon be sorry, let me tell you that, Miss Highand-Mighty ! "
"I think you are very rude, considering that I am a visitor,
and have only just come," said Arabella, looking down her nose
in a way that made Elizabeth feel very angry. " If that's the sort
of manners they teach you at Whyteleafe, I am quite sure I
shan't want to stay there more than a term."
" I jolly well hope you don't stay a week ! " said hottempered Elizabeth at once. She was sorry the moment after.
" Oh dear ! " she said to herself. " What a bad beginning ! I
really must be careful! "


Off to Whyteleafe School Again
ARABELLA and Elizabeth did not mix well at all. There
was nothing that Elizabeth liked about Arabella, and it seemed
that Elizabeth was everything that Arabella most despised and
Unfortunately Mother liked Arabellaand certainly the
little girl had most beautiful manners. She always stood up when
Mrs. Allen came into the room, she opened and shut the door for
her, and fetched and carried for her in a very kind and polite
The politer Arabella was, the noisier Elizabeth became.
And then Mrs. Allen began to say things that made Elizabeth
" If only you had as nice manners as Arabella, dear ! I do
wish you would come into a room more quietly ! And I wish
you would wait till I have finished speaking before you
interrupt. . . ."
All this made Elizabeth rather sulky. Arabella saw it, and
in her smooth, polite way, she enjoyed making the differences
between her and Elizabeth show up very clearly.
A week went by. Everyone in the house by this time liked
Arabella, even Mrs. Jenks, the rather fierce cook.
" She only likes you because you suck up to her," said
Elizabeth, when Arabella came up from the kitchen to say that
Mrs. Jenks was making her very favourite cake for her that


"I don't suck up to her," said Arabella in her usual polite

tones. "And I do wish, Elizabeth, that you wouldn't use such
unladylike words. Suck up! I think it's a very ugly saying."
" Oh, shut up," said Elizabeth rudely.
Arabella sighed. " I wish I wasn't going to Whyteleafe. If
you're the sort of girl they have there, I'm not going to like it at
Elizabeth sat up. " Look here, Arabella," she said. " I'm just
going to tell you a bit about my school, then you'll know exactly
what you're in for. You won't like itand the school won't like
you. So it's only fair to prepare you a bit, so that you don't feel
too awful when you get there."
" All right. Tell me," said Arabella, looking rather scared.
" Well, what I'm going to tell you would please most
children," said Elizabeth. " It's all so sensible and fair and kind.
But I dare say a Miss High-and-Mighty like you will think it's
all dreadful."
" Don't call me that," said Arabella crossly.
" Well, listen! At Whyteleafe we have a head-boy and a
head-girl. They are called William and Rita, and they are fine,"
said Elizabeth. " Then there are twelve monitors."
" Whatever are they ? " asked Arabella, wrinkling up her
nose as if monitors had a nasty smell.
" They are boys and girls chosen by the whole school as
leaders," said Elizabeth. " They are chosen because we trust
them, and know them to be kind and just and wise. They see that
we keep the rules, they keep the rules themselves, and they help
Rita and William to decide what punishments and rewards the
children must have at each Weekly Meeting."
" What's the Weekly Meeting ? " asked Arabella, her blue
eyes round with surprise.
" It's a kind of School Parliament," said Elizabeth, enjoying
telling Arabella all these things. " At each meeting we put into


the money-box any money we have had that week-^-that's the

" What! Put our own money into a school money- box ! "
said Arabella, in horror. " I have a lot of money. I shan't do
that! What a mad idea.'
" It seems mad at first if you're not used to it," said
Elizabeth, remembering how she had hated the idea two terms
ago. " But actually it's a very good idea. You see, Arabella, it
doesn't do for one or two of us to have pounds and pounds to
spend at school and the rest of us only a few shillings. That's
not fair."
" I think it's quite fair," said Arabella, knowing that she
would be one of the few very rich ones.
" Well, it isn't," said Elizabeth. " What we do is we all
put our money in, and then we are each given two shillings out
of the box, to spend as we like. So we all have the same."
" Only two shillings ! " said Arabella, looking quite
" Well, if you badly want some more, you have to tell the
head-boy and girl, and they will decide whether you can have it
or not," said Elizabeth.
" What else do you do at the Meeting ? " asked Arabella. "
I think it all sounds dreadful. Don't the headmistresses have a
say in anything ? "
" Only if we ask them," said Elizabeth. " You see, they like
us to make our own rules, plan our own punishments, and give
our own rewards. For instance, Arabella, suppose you were too
high-and-mighty for anything, well, we would try to cure you
" You won't try to cure me of anything," said Arabella in a
very stiff tone. "You're the one that ought to be cured of a lot of
things. I wonder the monitors haven't tried to cure you before
now. Perhaps they will this term."

" I've been chosen to be a monitor," said Elizabeth proudly.

" I shall be one of the twelve jurymen, sitting up on the
platform. If a complaint is made about you by anyone, I shall
have power to judge it and say what ought to be done with you."
Arabella went very red. " The very idea of a tomboy like
you judging me I " she said. " You don't know how
to walk properly, you don't know your manners, and you
laugh much too loudly. "
" Oh, be quiet," said Elizabeth. " I'm not prim and proper
like you. I don't suck up to every grown-up I meet. I don't
pretend, and put on airs and graces and try to look like a silly,
beautifully dressed doll who says ' Ma-ma ' when you pull a
string ! "
" Elizabeth Allen, if I were like you, I'd throw something at
your head for saying that! " said Arabella, standing up in a rage.
" Well, throw it, then," said Elizabeth. " Anything would
be better than being such a good-little-girl, Mummy's-preciousdarling 1 "
Arabella went out of the room, and so far forgot her
manners as to slam the door, a thing she had never done in her
life before. Elizabeth grinned. Then she looked thoughtful.
" Now," she said to herself, " you be careful, Elizabeth
Allen. You're very good at making enemies, but you know quite
well that leads to nothing but rows and unhappiness. Arabella's
an idiota conceited, silly, empty-headed dollyou let
Whyteleafe deal with her, and don't try to cure her all at once by
yourself. Try to be friends and help her."
So Elizabeth tried to forget how much she disliked vain
little Arabella and her doll-like clothes and manners; and treated
her in as friendly a manner as she could. But she was very glad
indeed when the day came for her to return to school. It was
dreadful to have no other companion but Arabella. At
Whyteleafe she would have dozens of others round her, all


talking and laughing. She need never speak to Arabella unless

she wanted to.
" She's older than I am, and perhaps she will be in a higher
form," she thought, as she put on her school uniform with
delight. It was a nice uniform. The coat was dark blue with a
yellow edge to the collar and cuffs. The hat was also dark blue,
and had a yellow band. On

her legs Elizabeth wore long brown stockings, and brown

lace shoes on her feet.
" How I hate these dark school clothes," said Arabella in
disgust, " What a dreadful uniform! Now at Grey Towers, the
school I wanted to go to, the girls are allowed to wear anything
that suits them."
" How silly," said Elizabeth. She looked at Arabella. The girl
seemed different now that she was in the ordinary school uniform,
and. not in her expensive, well-cut clothes. She looked more like a
schoolgirl and less like a pink-faced doll.
" I like you better in your uniform," said Elizabeth. " You
look more real, somehow."
" Elizabeth, you do say extraordinary things," said Arabella
in surprise. " I'm as real as you are,"

" I don't think you are," said Elizabeth, looking hard at

Arabella. " You're all hidden away behind airs and graces, and
good manners and sweet speeches, and I don't know if there is a
real You at all! "
" I think you're silly," said Arabella.
" Girls ! Are you ready 1 " called Mrs. Allen. " The car is at
the door."
They went downstairs, carrying their small night-bags.
Each girl had to take one small bag with the things in it that she
would need for the first night, such as a nightdress, tooth-brush
and so on, for their big trunks were not unpacked till the next
They carried lacrosse and hockey-sticks, though Arabella
had said she hoped she wouldn't have to play either game. She
hated games.
They caught the train up to London, and at the big station
there they met the girls and boys returning to their school. Miss
Ranger, Elizabeth's form-mistress, was there, and she welcomed
" This is Arabella Buckley," said Elizabeth. All the boys
and girls, round turned to look at Arabella. How new and spick
and span she looked ! Not a hair out of place, no wrinkles in her
brown stockings, no smut on her cheek!
" Hallo, Elizabeth! " cried Joan, and put her arm through
her friend's.
" Hallo, Elizabeth ! Hallo, Elizabeth ! "
One by one all her friends came up, smiling, delighted to
see the girl who had once been the naughtiest in the school.
Harry clapped her on the back and so did Robert. John asked her
if she had done any gardening. Kathleen carne up, rosy-cheeked
and dimpled. Richard waved to her as he carried a violin-case to
the train.
" Oh, it's lovely to be back with them all again," thought
Elizabeth. " And this termthis term I'm to be a monitor! And

won't I be a success! I'll make that stuck-up Arabella look up to

me all right ! "
" Get in the train quickly! " called Miss Ranger. " Say
good-bye, and get in."
The guard blew his whistle. The train puffed out. They
were off to Whyteleafe once more.

Four New Children
ONE of the exciting things about a new term is are there
any new children ? What are they like ? Whose form will they
be in ?
All the old children looked to see who was new. Arabella
was, of course. Then there were three more, two of them boys,
and one a girl.
Elizabeth, as a monitor, made it her business to make the
new children feel at home. As* soon as they arrived at
Whyteleafe she set things going.
" Kathleen, show Arabella her dormitory, and tell her the
rules. I'll help the other three. Robert, will you give a hand too ?
You will have two new boys to see to to-day."
" Right," said Robert, grinning. He had grown in the
holidays and was tall and burly now. He was glad to be back at
school, for at Whyteleafe were the horses he loved so much. He
hoped that he would be allowed to take charge of some of them,
as he had been the term before.
Elizabeth turned to the new children. Arabella had already
gone off with Kathleen, looking rather scared. The other three
new ones stood together, one boy making rather a curious noise,
like a hen clucking.


" That's just like a hen clucking," said Elizabeth. " You
sound as if you've laid an egg ! "
The boy grinned. " I can imitate most animals," he said. "
My name's Julian Holland. What's yours ? "
"Elizabeth Allen," said Elizabeth. She looked at the new
boy with interest. He was the untidiest person she had ever seen.
He had long black hair that fell in a wild lock over his forehead,
and his eyes were deep green,
and brilliant, like a cat's. " He looks jolly clever," said
Elizabeth to herself. " I bet he'll be top of the class if he's with
Miss Ranger."
The boy made a noise like a turkey gobbling. Mr. Lewis,
the music-master, was passing by, and looked round, startled.
Julian at once made a noise like a violin being tuned, which
made Mr. Lewis hurry into the nearest music-practice room,
thinking that someone must be there with a violin.
Elizabeth gave a squeal of laughter. " Oh! You are clever !
I hope you're in my form."
The other boy, Martin, was quite different. He looked very
clean and neat and tidy. His hair was well-brushed back from
his forehead, and his eyes were a very clear blue. They were set
a little close together, but they had a very wide and innocent
expression. Elizabeth liked him.
" I'm Martin-Follett," he said in a pleasant voice.
" And I'm Rosemary Wing," said the new girl, rather shyly.
She had a pretty little face, with a smiling mouth, but her eyes
were rather small, and she did not seem to like to look anyone
full in the face. Elizabeth thought she must feel very shy. Well,
she would soon get over that.
" Robert, you take Julian and Martin to the boys'
dormitories," she said, " and I'll take Rosemary to hers.


Hang on to them till they know their way about, won't you,
and show them where they have their meals and things like
Right, Monitor," said Robert, with another grin. Elizabeth
felt proud. It was grand to be a monitor.
" Oh, are you a monitor ? " asked Rosemary, trotting after
Elizabeth. " That's something very special, isn't it ? "
" It is rather," said Elizabeth. " I'm your monitor,
Rosemary. So, if ever you are in any difficulty or trouble, you
must come to me and tell meand I'll try and help you."
" I thought we had to bring our troubles or complaints to
the Weekly Meeting," said Rosemary. She had heard about this
in the train that day.
" Oh yes; but at first you had better tell me what you'd like
to bring before the Meeting," said Elizabeth, " because, you see,
we are only allowed to bring proper difficulties or complaints to
the Meetingnot just tales. You might not know the difference
between just telling tales and bringing a real complaint."
" I see," said Rosemary. " That's a very good idea. I'll do
" She's a nice little thing," thought Elizabeth, as she
showed Rosemary where to put her things and told her to put
out her tooth-brush, hair-brush and nightdress. "By the way,


Rosemary, we are only allowed to have six things out on our

dressing-tables, not more. You can choose what you like."
It was fun to give out the rules like this. Elizabeth
remembered how Nora, her own monitor two terms ago, had
told her the rulesand how she had disobeyed them at once by
putting out eleven things ! She wondered now how she could
have been so sillyhow she could have dared!
" Yes, Elizabeth," said Rosemary obediently and she
counted the things to put out.
In the next dormitory Kathleen was having trouble
with Arabella, who was very scornful about all the rules
told her.
" Well, there are not many," said Kathleen, " and after all,
we make the rules ourselves, so we ought to obey them,
Arabella. I'll fetch Elizabeth here, if you likeshe is the
monitor and can tell you the rules properly."
v " I don't want to see Elizabeth," said Arabella at once. " I
saw her quite enough in the holidays. I only hope I'm not in the
same form."
Kathleen had a great admiration for Elizabeth, although she
had hated her part of the term before. She spoke up at once.
" You'd better not say things like that about our monitors.
We choose them ourselves because we like and admire them.
Anyway, it's bad manners to talk like that about somebody
whose guest you have just been."
Arabella had never in her life been-accused of bad manners
before. She went quite pale and could think of nothing to say.
She looked at Kathleen and decided that she didn't like her. In
fact, she didn't think she liked anyone at all, so far, except that
little pretty girl called Rosemarythe one who was new.
Perhaps she could, make friends with her. Arabella felt sure that
Rosemary would be most impressed with her tales of wealth,
rich clothes, and marvellous holidays.

The next few days everyone settled down. A few were

homesick, but Whyteleafe was such a sensible school and the
children were so jolly and
friendly that even new boys
and girls found it hard to miss
their homes. There was
laughter and chatter to be heard
All the new children were
in Elizabeth's class. Good ! It
was fun to have new children,
and now that Elizabeth was a
monitor, it was nice to impress
Julian and the others. Joan had
gone up into the next class, so
Elizabeth was the only monitor
in hers.
Miss Ranger, the formmistress, soon sized up the new
children, and talked them over
with Mam'zelle.
" Julian is a lazy boy," she
said. " A pity, because I'm sure
he has a wonderful brain. He
thinks of plenty of clever things
to do outside lessons. He can
make simply anything with his
hands, I saw him showing the
others a little aeroplane he had
madeit flies beautifully. All
his own ideas are in it, none of
them copied. He'll spend hours thinking out things like that

but not one minute will he spend on learning his geography or

history ! "
"Ah, that Julian," said Mam'zelle, in a tone Of great
disgust. " I do not like him. Always he makes some
extraordinary noise."
"Noise?" said Miss Ranger in surprise. '' Well, I must say
he hasn't tried out any extraordinary noises on me yet. But I dare
say he will."
" Yesterday, in my class, there was a noise like a lost
kitten," said Mam'zelle. " Ah, the poor thing ! " I said. " It has
come into our big class-room
and got lost. And for ten minutes 1 looked for it. But it was
that boy Julian doing his mews."
" Really ? " said Miss Ranger, making up her mind that
Julian would not do any mews or barks or whines in her class. "
Well, thanks for the tip. I'll look out for Julian's noises ! "
The talk passed on to Arabella. " A silly, empty-headed
doll," said Miss Ranger. " I hope we can make something out of
her. She really ought to be in the next class, but she is rather
backward, so I must push her on a bit before she goes up. She
seems to have a very high opinion of herself! She is always
doing her hair, or smoothing down her dressor else trying to
show us what perfect manners she has ! "
" She is not bad, that one," said Mam'zelle, who was quite
pleased with Arabella because the girl had lived for a year in
France and could speak French well. " In my country, Miss
Ranger, the children have better manners than the children here
and it is pleasant to see one with manners as good as
" Hm," said Miss Ranger, who knew that Mam'zelle would
rarely have anything to say against children who spoke French
well. " What do you think of Martin and Rosemary ?"


" Oh, the sweet children ! " said Mam'zelle, who loved
Rosemary's willingness to please, and to obey her in everything.
" The little Martin nowhe is so good, he tries so hard."
" Well, I'm not so sure about him," said Miss Ranger. "
Rosemary is all right, I thinkbut she's a weak little thing. I
hope she'll make the right friends. I wish Elizabeth Allen or
Jenny would make friends with her."
So the teachers sized up their new childrenand the old
children sized them up too. Julian was an enormous success. He
was a real dare-devil, with most extraordinary gifts which he
used when he pleased. He had a wonderful brain, inventive and
brilliant, and he could make all kind of things, and think of all
kinds of amusing
tricks which he was quite prepared to perform in class as
soon as he had settled down a bit.
" It's a shame you are so low in form, Julian," said
Elizabeth at the end of a week. " You've got such marvellous
brains. You ought to be top! "
Julian looked at her with his brilliant green eyes. Can't be
bothered," he said in a his slow, deep voice. Who wants to learn
history dates ? I'll forget them all when I'm grown. Who wants
to learn the highest mountains in the world ? I'll never climb
them, so I don't care. Lessons are a bore."
Elizabeth remembered that-she was a monitor. She spoke
earnestly to Julian.
" Julian, do work hard. Do try to be top."
Julian laughed. " You're just saying that because you've
remembered you're a monitor! You can't catch me with goodygoody talk like that! You'll have to think of some jolly good
reason for me to work hard before I do ! "
Elizabeth went red. She didn't like being called goodygoody. She turned away.
But Julian came after her. " It's all right, I'm only teasing,"
he said. " Listen, ElizabethJoan, your best friend, has gone up

into the next formso why can't we be friends ? You've got the
best brain in the form after mine, of course !and you're fun.
You be mv friend."
t " All right," said Elizabeth, rather proud that the brilliant
and unusual Julian should ask her. " All right We'll be friends.
It will be fun."
It was funbut it brought a lot of trouble too !

The School Meeting
ARABELLA and the other new children waited
with much interest for the first Meeting.
At none of their
other schools had they had a kind of school Parliament, run by
the children themselves.
They wondered what it would be like.
" It sounds a good idea," said Martin.
" I think so too," said Rosemary, in her timid little voice.
She always agreed with everyone, no matter what they said.
" Stupid idea, I think," said Arabella. She made a point of
running down everything at Whyteleafe if she could, because
she had so badly wanted to go to the grand school her friends
had gone toand she looked down on Whyteleafe, with its
sensible ideas.
Julian unexpectedly agreed with her, though he usually had
no lime for Arabella, with her silly airs and graces. " I can't say

I shall bother much about the School Meeting," he said. " I don't
care what it says or does. It will never make any difference to
me. *As long as I can do what I like I am quite willing to let
others do what they like too."
" Oh, Julianyou say that, but you don't mean it," said
Kathleen. " You'd hate it if someone broke one of the things you
are always making, you know! Or told tales about you, or
something like that. You'd go up in smoke ! "
Julian did not like being argued with. He tossed his long
black hair back, and screwed up his nose in the way he" always
did when he was annoyed. He was making a tiny boat out of an
odd bit of wood. It was like magic to see it form under his hand.
" Anyone, can tell tales of me as much as they like ! " said
Julian. " I don't care. I don't care about anything so long as I can
do what I like."
" You're a funny boy, I think," said Jenny. " You are either
terribly stupid in class, orjust sometimes terribly bright."
" Why ? What did he do that was so bright ? " asked Joan,
who was listening. She was in the next form, and so did not see
Julian in class.
" We were having mental arithmetic," said Jenny. " And
usually Julian gets every single thing wrong in maths. Well, for
some reason or otherjust because he wanted to show off, I
thinkhe answered every single question right, straight off,
almost before Miss Ranger had got them out of her mouth ! "
" Yesand Miss Ranger was so astonished," said Belinda.
" She went on asking him harder and harder onesthings we
would have to think about and work out


in our heads for a minute or twobut Julian just answered

them pat. It was funny."
" It made Miss Ranger awfully cross with him next time,
though," said Kathleen, " because at the next maths lesson, he
seemed to go to sleep and wouldn't
answer a thing."
Julian grinned. He really was an extraordinary boy. The
others couldn't help liking him. He was so exciting. They all
begged and begged him to make some of his amazing noises in
Miss Ranger's class, but he wouldn't.
" She's watching out for them, I know she is," he said. " It's
no fun doing them if people know it's me. It's really fun when
people honestly think there's a kitten in the room or
something like that like Mam'zelle did the other day. You
wait. I'll give you some fun one day soonbut I'd like to choose
the person myself to try my tricks on."


Elizabeth was longing for the first School Meeting. She

wanted to go and sit up on the platform with the other monitors,
in front of the whole school. She was not vain about being made
a monitor, but she was rightly proud of it.
" It really is an honour," she said to herself. " It does mean
that the school trusts me and thinks I'm worth while. Oh, I do
hope this term will go well, without any upsets or troubles."
The children filed into the big hall for the first Meeting.
Then in came the twelve monitors, serious-faced. They took
their places, and sat, like a thoughtful jury, in front of all the
children. Arabella gazed at Elizabeth with dislike. Fancy that
tomboy, with her bad manners, being made a monitor !
Then in came William and Rita, the head-boy and girl, the
judges of the whole Meeting. All the children rose to their feet
as they came in.
At the back sat Miss Belle and Miss Best, the two
headmistresses, with Mr. Johns, one of the masters.

They were always interested in the Meetings, but unless

the head boy and girl asked them to, they did not enter into it
in any way. This was the children's own Parliament, where
they made their own laws, their own rules, and where they
themselves rewarded or punished any child who deserved it.
There was very little to talk about at that first Meeting.
Every child was told to put what money it had into the big
school money-box. Elizabeth looked with interest at Arabella,
when she was sent round with the box. Would Arabella do as
she had said and refuse to put in her money ?
Arabella sat looking as if butter would not melt in her
mouth. When the box came to her, she put in a ten-shilling
note and two separate shillings. She did not look at Elizabeth.
Most of the children had quite a lot of money to put into
the box at the beginning of term. Parents, uncles, and aunts

had given them shillings, half-crowns, and even notes to go

back to school with, and the box felt nice and heavy when
Elizabeth took it back to William and Rita.
" Thank you," said William. The children were all talking
together, and William knocked on the table with his little
hammer. At once there was silenceexcept for a curious
bubbling noise, like a saucepan boiling over.
It seemed to come from somewhere near Jenny, Julian,
and Kathleen. William looked rather astonished. He knocked
again with his hammerbut still the noise went on, a little
louder, if anything.
Elizabeth knew at once that it was one of Julian's
extraordinary noises. She looked at him. He sat on the form,
his green eyes looking over the heads of the others, his mouth
and throat prefectly still. How could he do noises like that ?
Elizabeth felt a tremendous giggle coming and she swallowed
it down quickly.
" I mustn't giggle when I'm sitting up here as monitor,"


she thought. "Oh dear, I wish Julian would stop. It's just
like a saucepan boiling over, but louder."
By this time one or two children were giggling, and
William knocked sharply with his hammer again. Elizabeth
wondered if she ought to say that it was Julian who was making
the noise and holding up the Meeting.
" But I can't. He's my friend. And I'm not going to get him
into trouble, even if I am a monitor," she thought. She tried to
make Julian look at her, and he suddenly did. She glared at him,
then frowned.
Julian made one last loud bubbling noise, and then stopped.
William had no idea at all who had made the noise. He gazed
round the Meeting.
" It may be funny to hold up the School Meeting once," he
said. " But it would riot be funny a second time. We will now
get on with the money-sharing."
Each child came up to take two shillings from the
monitors, out of the school box. William had brought
plenty of change with him, which he put into the box,
taking out the notes instead.
When each child had its two shillings for spending William
spoke again.
" The new children probably know that out of this two
shillings they must buy their own stamps, sweets, hair-ribbons,
papers, and so on that they want. If any extra money is needed,
it can be asked for. Does anyone want any extra this week ? "
John Terry stood up. He was in charge of the school
garden, and was a very hard and very good worker. He, with
those other children who helped him, managed to supply the
school with fine vegetables and flowers. Everyone was proud of
" William, we could do with a new small barrow," he said.
" You see, there are one or two of the younger children who are


helping in the garden this term, and the old barrow is really too
heavy for them."
" Well, how much would a smaller one cost ? " asked
William. " We've got plenty of money in the box at the moment,
but we don't want to spend too much money."
John Terry had a price-list with him. He read out the prices
of various barrows.
" They seem very expensive," said William. " I almost
think we had better wait a bit to see if the younger children are
going to go on being keen, John. You know what sometimes
happensthey start so well, and then get tired of it. It would be
a waste of a barrow if we bought it and then no one used it."
John looked disappointed, " Well," he said, " it's just as you
like, William, But I do think the youngsters are keen. Peter is,
anyway. He worked hard last term, and I really couldn't do
without him in the garden now. He's got his two friends with
him now, helping us."
Small Peter glowed red with pleasure at hearing John say
this. His two small friends at once made up their
minds that they would work hard in the garden too, and
make John as proud of them as he seemed to be of Peter.
" Has anyone anything to say about a new barrow ? " asked
Rita. Nobody spokeuntil Julian suddenly opened his mouth
and spoke in his deep voice.
" Yes. Let the youngsters have their barrowbut I'll make
it for them. I can easily do that."
Julian had not stood up to speak. He lolled on the form in
his usual lazy fashion.
" Stand up when you speak," said Rita. Julian looked as if
he was not going to. But at last he did, and then repeated his
" I'll make a barrow, a small one. If I can go into the sheds,
I can easily find everything I want. You don't need to spend any
money then."

Everyone was interested. Elizabeth spoke up eagerly.

" Let Julian do it, William ! He's awfully clever at making
things. He can make anything ! "
" Very well. Thank you for your offer, Julian," said
William. " Get on with the job as soon as you can. Nowany
other business to discuss ? "
There was not. William closed the Meeting and the
children filed out.
" Good, Julian! " said Elizabeth, slipping her arm through
his. " I bet you'll make the finest barrow in the world ! "

Arabella Gets Into Trouble
ALL the new children settled down as the days went on.
Julian set about making the new barrow in a very workmanlike
way. He explored the various sheds, and brought out an old rubber
wheel that had once belonged to somebody's tricycle. He found
some odd bits of wood and other odds and ends, and took them all
to the carpentering room.
The children heard him whistling there as he hammered
away. Then they heard the creaking of a barrow being wheeled up
and down.


" Golly ! Has he finished it already ? " said Harry in surprise.

" He's a marvel! "
But he hadn't, of course. He was only making one of his
noises. His green eyes twinkled as the children peeped round the
door. He loved a joke.
The boys and girls crowded round him, exclaiming in
" Julian! It's going to be a marvellous barrow ! Julian, how
clever you are ! "
" No, I'm not," said Julian, laughing. '' I was bottom of the
form this week. Didn't you hear ? "
" Well, the barrow is fine, anyway," said Belinda. " It's just
as good as a real one."
Julian cared for neither praise nor blame. He had not offered
to make the barrow because he was sorry that the youngsters
hadn't one. He had offered to make it simply because he knew he
could, and he would enjoy making it.
Julian was very well liked, for all his don't-care ways. But
Arabella was not. She would make friends with no one but the
little meek Rosemary. Rosemary thought the lovely wellmannered girl was like a princess. She
followed her everywhere, listened eagerly to all she said and
agreed with everything.
" I think this is a stupid school," Arabella said to Rosemary
many times. " Think of the silly rules it hasall the sillier
because they are made by the children themselves."
Up till then Rosemary had thought that the reason the rules
were so good was because they had been made by the boys and
girls. But now she agreed with Arabella at once.
" Yes. They are silly."
" Especially the one about putting all our money into the
school money-box," said Arabella.
This had not mattered much to Rosemary, who had only had
two shillings and sixpence to put in. Her parents were not very


well off, and she had not been given much money at any time.
Still, she agreed with Arabella, of course.

" Yes, that's a very silly rule," she said. " Especially for
people like you, Arabella, who have to give up so much money.
It's a shame. I saw you put in the ten-shilling note and the two
Arabella looked at Rosemary and wondered if she could
trust herfor Arabella had a secret. She had not put in all her
money! She had kept a whole pound note for herself, so that,
with the two shillings she had been allowed, she had twenty-two
shillings. She was not going to give that up for anyone! It was
hidden in her handkerchief case, neatly folded up in a hanky.


" No," she thought. " I won't tell Rosemary yet. I don't
know her very well, and although she is my friend, she's a bit
silly sometimes. I'll keep my own secret."
So she told no one. But she and Rosemary went down to
the town together that day to buy stamps, and a hair-grip for
Rosemaryand Arabella could not help spending some of her
money !
" You go to the post-office and buy your stamps, and I'll go
and buy some chocolates at the sweet-shop," she said to
Rosemary. She did not want the other girl to see her buying
expensive chocolates, and handing over three or four shillings
for them.
So, whilst Rosemary was buying a tuppenny-ha'penny
stamp in the post-office, Arabella slipped into the big sweetshop and bought a pound of peppermint chocolates, the kind she
She saw a bottle of barley-sugar too, and bought that.
Lovely ! Then, as Rosemary didn't come, she went into the shop
next door, and bought herself a book.
The two girls wandered round the town a little while, and
then went back to school. " You know," said Arabella, linking
her arm in Rosemary's, " you know, that's another silly
Whyteleafe rulethat no one is allowed to go down to the town
alone unless she's a monitor or in the higher forms."
" Awfully silly," agreed Rosemary. Arabella undid the bag
of chocolates. " Have one ? " she said.
" Oooh, Arabellawhat a lovely lot of chocolates ! " said
Rosemary, her rather small eyes opening wide. " Golly, you
must have spent all your two shillings at once! "
They went in at the school gate, munching chocolates.
They were really delicious. Arabella shut up the bag and stuffed
it into her winter coat pocket. She did not want the others to see
what a lot of chocolates she had, in case they might guess she
had spent more than two shillings on them.

She went to take off her hat and coat. Jenny was putting
hers on, and when Arabella put the book she had bought down
on the bench between them, Jenny picked it up.
" Hallo ! I always wanted to read this book. Lend it to me,
will you, Arabella ? "
" Well, I haven't read it myself yet," said Arabella. " I only
bought it this afternoon."
Jenny looked at the price inside the cover, and whistled. "
It's a three-and-sixpenny book. How could you buy that with
two shillings ? "
" I got it cheap," said Arabella, after a moment's pause. She
went red as she said it, and sharp-eyed Jenny saw the blush. She
said no more, but went off, thinking hard.
" The mean thing! She didn't put all her money into the box
! " thought Jenny.
Rosemary annoyed Arabella very much that evening when
they were in the common-room together, because she gave away
the fact that Arabella had bought the chocolate peppermints!
She did not mean to, of coursebut she did it, all the same !
The children were talking about the sweet-shop, which
they all loved, and where they all spent money each week.
" I think those boiled sweets are the best bargain," said


" Oh nothose clear gums last much the longest," said

" Not if you chew them," said Harry. " I bet if you sucked a
boiled sweet properly, right to the end without crunching it up,
and after that sucked a clear gum without chewing at all, there
wouldn't be much to choose between them."
" Let's have a competition and see," said John.
" It's no good me trying," said Jenny. " I always crunch
everything, and it goes like lightning down my throat."
" 7 think the best bargain of all is chocolate peppermints,"
suddenly said Rosemary's meek little voice.
Everyone laughed scornfully. " Idiot! " said Julian. " You
only get about five for sixpence. They are most awfully
" They're not," said Rosemary, " really they are not.
Arabella, show them the enormous bagful you got to-day at the
This was the last thing that Arabella wanted to do. She
frowned heavily at Rosemary.

" Don't be silly," she said. " I only got a few. They are
Rosemary was amazed. Hadn't she taken one herself from
an overflowing bag ? She opened her mouth to say so, but
caught sight of Arabella's warning face and stopped.
The others had listened to all this with much interest. They
felt perfectly certain that Arabella had spent a lot of money on
the chocolates, and Jenny remembered the book too. She looked
sharply at Arabella.
But Arabella was now looking her usual calm self, rather
haughty. " You're a deceitful person, in spite of your grand,
high-and-mighty ways," thought Jenny to herself. " I bet you've
got those chocolates hidden away somewhere, so that no one
shall know you spent a lot of money on them. I'll find them too
just see if I won't!"
Arabella got up in a few minutes and went out. She soon
came back, carrying a small paper bag in which were six or
seven chocolate peppermints. " These are all I got my for
money," she said graciously. " I'm afraid there isn't enough for
one eachbut we could divide them in half."
But nobody wanted any. It was an unwritten rule at
Whyteleafe that if you didn't like a person, you didn't accept
things from them. So everyone except Rosemary said No.
Rosemary took one, feeling puzzled and astonished. She knew
she had seen a much bigger bag of chocolate peppermints
before. Could she have been mistaken ?
Jenny grinned to herself. Arabella must think they were all
stupid if she thought she could make the other boys and girls
believe she had only bought a few sweets when that silly little
Rosemary had given the secret away ! She wondered where
Arabella could have hidden the rest of the chocolates.
She thought she knew. Arabella learnt music and had a big
music-case. Jenny had seen her go to it that


afternoon, although she had neither lesson or practice to

do. Why?
" Because she wanted to put her chocs there," thought
Jenny. She slipped off to the music-room, where everyone kept
their music. She took up Arabella's case and peeped inside it.
The chocolate peppermints were there, where Arabella had
hurriedly emptied them.
Richard came into the room whilst she was looking. " See
Richard," said Jenny, in a tone of disgust, " Arabella has kept
some money backand bought heaps of chocs and a bookand
told all kinds of lies."
" Well, make a complaint at the Meeting, then," said
Richard, taking up his case and going out.
Jenny stood and thought for a moment. " Would a
complaint at the Meeting be thought a tale ? " she wondered.
She had better ask the others before saying anything. But she
wouldn't tell Elizabethnot yet, anyhowbecause Arabella
had been staying with Elizabeth, and it might be awkward for
the new monitor if she knew about Arabella.
So Jenny told the others, when Elizabeth, Rosemary, and
Arabella were not there. They were really disgusted.
" I'm sure it would be a proper complaint," said Harry. "
All the same, it's rather awful to have your name brought up at
the Meeting quite so soon in the term, just when you're still new.
Let's just show Arabella that we think her jolly mean. She'll
soon guess whyand at the next Meeting I bet she'll pop all her
money into the Box ! "
Then poor Arabella was in for a bad time ! For the first
time in her life she knew what it was to be with children who
didn't like her at all, and who showed it!


Arabella Makes a Complaint
ARABELLA had turned up her nose at the boys and girls
of Whyteleafe School from the first day she had arrived. She
had told Rosemary" that she didn't care whether they liked her
or whether they didn't.
But it was difficult not to mind when everyone seemed to
turn up their noses at her ! It gave Arabella a very important,
superior sort of feeling to despise all her class except Rosemary.
But it gave her quite a different kind of feeling when she felt
she was despised !
The children would not have been so thorough about it if
Arabella had not behaved so stupidly from the beginning. Now
they couldn't help feeling they were getting a bit of their own
back !
" They treat ne as if I was a bad smell! " Arabella
complained to tire faithful Rosemary. " Why, that horrid boy
Julian actually holds his nose when he passes me."
This was quite true. Julian did hold his nose with his finger
and thumb every time he came near Arabella. It annoyed her
dreadfully. She was so used to being i looked up to and admired
by children, and to being praised by grown-ups that she simply
didn't understand this sort of behaviour. It made her very angry
Arabella did not guess why the children were treating her
like this. She had no idea that it was because they thought she
had been dishonest and deceitful over her money. She felt sure
she had been so clever about that that no one knew about it. She
did not know that Jenny had peeped into her music-case and
seen the chocolates there.

Jenny entered into the fun of teasing Arabella too. Her way
of teasing her was to talk in a very smooth,
polite voice, exactly like
Arabella's, of amazing riches and
wonderful holidays, in the very
same way that Arabella loved to
Jenny was a very good
mimic. She could imitate anyone's
voice, and anyone's laugh. It made
the children giggle to hear her
talking just like Arabella, when
Arabella was there.
'' And, my dears,'' Jenny
would say, " last hols were the
most marvellous of all. We
actually took three cars with us
when we went awayand the last
one held nothing but my party
clothes! Oh, and I really must tell
you of the time when I went to
stay with my grandmother. She
allowed me to stay up to dinner
every night, and we had fifteen
different courses to eat, and four
gingerbeer! "
Shrieks of laughter followed
all this. Only Arabella did not
laugh. She did not think it was at
all funny. She thought it was
simply horrid. At her old school


had loved hearing her tales. Why did they make fun of
them at this nasty school ?
Another very annoying thing happened to Arabella, too.
She would be sitting in the common-room, sewing or writing,
and suddenly Jenny or someone would say " Oh, lookis that
an aeroplane ? " Or, " I sayis that a moth ? " pointing at the
same tune out of the window or up to the ceiling.
Everyone would at once turn their heads, Arabella as well
and when poor Arabella turned back to her sewing or her
writing, she would find her pen gone, or her scissors. She would
hunt on the floor for them until she suddenly heard a giggle.
Then she would know that someone had quickly snatched
them up and put them on the window-sill or on a desk in the
corner, just to tease her.
She told Rosemary about all the teasing, and the other girl
listened with sympathy. " It's too bad, Arabella," she said. " I
don't know why they do it."
" Well, you ask them, and find out," said Arabella. " See ?
Now, don't forgetand don't say I asked you to find out."
So, when Arabella was next out of the room Rosemary
found courage enough to speak to Jenny.
" Why are you so beastly to Arabella ? "
" Because she deserves it," said Jenny shortly.
" Why does she deserve it ? " asked Rosemary.
" Well, don't you think she's a stuck-up, deceitful creature ?
" said Jenny. " I know you're always hanging round her like a
little dog, but you must surely know it's dishonest to keep back
money from the School Box and spend it on herselfand then
tell lies about it."
Jenny's sharp eyes were fixed on timid Rosemary. The
other girl dropped her eyes and did not look at Jenny.
She was too weak to stick up for her friend, or even to say
that she did not know that what Jenny said was


truethough now that Jenny had said it, it did seem to

Rosemary that Arabella had been deceitful.
' Yes. That was bad," said Rosemary at last. " Oh dear.
Is that why you are so horrid to her ? "
' Well, she must know why we are," said Jenny impatiently. " She's not so stupid as all that, surely."
Rosemary did not like to say that Arabella had no idea why
everyone was horrid to her. Neither did she like to tell Arabella
why the others were annoying her so. She was like a leaf in the
wind, blown this way and that" Shall I tell her ? I'd better. No,
I can't, she'd be angry. Well, I won't tell her then. Oh, perhaps
I'd better. No, I really can't."
So, in the end Rosemary did not tell Arabella and when
Arabella asked her what the others had said, she shook her head.
" They'rethey're just teasing you because they think it's
fun," she said. " Just because they're horrid."
" Oh ! " said Arabella, red with anger. ' WellI shall
complain to the Meeting. I just won't have this happen! "
" Oh, Arabella, don't do that," said Rosemary in alarm. "
They might say it was telling talesand you'd get into worse
trouble ! Tell your monitor first, and see if she thinks it would
be telling tales to tell the Meeting."
"I certainly shan't say anything to Elizabeth ! " said
Arabella. " Go and ask advice from her ? No, thank you !
And so silly Arabella, not guessing the trouble that would
come to her, boiled away inside all the week, hating the others
and longing for the Meeting to come !
It came at last.
Arabella's lips were tightly pressed
together as she looked round at the children of her form. ' Just
wait! " her eyes seemed to say. ' Just wait and see how I will
show you up ! "
The School money-box was handed round, but not very
much was put in. Arabella put nothing in. Then


the two shillings were handed to everyone, and the usual

business began.
" Any requests ?
" Please can I have fivepence extra, William ? " asked
Belinda, standing up. " A letter came for me this week without a
stamp onso I had to pay double postage on it, and it cost me
fivepence. It was from one of my aunts. I expect she forgot to
put a stamp on."
" Fivepence for Belinda," ordered William. " It wasn't her
fault that she had to pay extra."
Fivepence was handed out to Belinda, and she sat down,
" Could I have sixpence to buy a new ball, please ? " said a
small boy, standing up rather shyly. "Mine rolled down the
railway bank and we're not allowed to go on the line."
"Go to Eileen, and she will sell you one of our old balls for
twopence," said William. ' You will have to pay it out of your
own money."
There were no more requests. The children were
whispering between themselves and William knocked on his
table with his little hammer. Everyone stopped talking.
" Any complaints ? '''
Arabella and another girl stood up almost at the same
" Sit down, Arabella. We'll hear you next," said Rita. '
What is it, Pamela ? "
" It's a very silly complaint," began Pamela, " but it's an
awful nuisance. You see, my cubicle is by the big window in my
dormitory, and my monitor says it must be kept open when we
are not thereand it must, of coursebut on windy days all the
things on my dressing-table blow out of the window and I'm
always getting into trouble because they are found outside ! "
Everyone laughed. Rita and William smiled. Joan, who was in
Pamela's form, spoke to Rita. She was Pamela's monitor.

" Pamela is quite right," she said. " Anyone who has that
cubicle has the same trouble. But we could move the dressingtable out of the window, if Matron wouldn't mind."
" Ask her to-morrow," said Rita. Matron was the one who
saw to things of that sort, and she would see that the table was
" Now, Arabella," said William, noticing the angry, flushed
face of the little girl, waiting her turn. Arabella stood up
gracefully, not forgetting her little airs even in her rage.
" Please, William," she said, in her smooth polite voice, a
little shaken now by nervousness and anger, " please, I have a
very serious complaint to make."
Everyone sat up straight. This was interesting and exciting.
Serious complaints were worth listening to. All the first form
looked at one another and pulled faces. Was Arabella going to
complain about them ? Wellshe was very silly then, because
her own secret would be bound to come out!
" What is your complaint ? " asked William.
" Well," said Arabella, " ever since I have been to this
school the children in my classall except Rosemaryhave
been absolutely horrid to me. I can't tell you the things they do
to me ! "
" I think you must tell me," said William. " It's no use
making a complaint and not saying what it really is. I can't
believe that the whole form have been horrid to you."
" Well, they have," said Arabella, almost in tears. " Julian
is the horridest. Hehe hold his nose whenever he comes near
me ! "
There were a few giggles at this. Julian laughed loudly top.
Arabella glared at him. Elizabeth, up on the monitor's platform,
looked most surprised. She was the only one who did not know
the real reason for the first form's treatment of Arabella, and she
thought it was very foolish of the girl to complain of ordinary


teasing. She had not known there was a real reason behind
it all. But now she guessed that there was.
Arabella went on with her complaints. " Then there is
Jenny. She mimics me and mocks me whenever she can. I'm a
new girl and it's very unkind. I haven't done anything to make
them so unkind to me. It makes me very unhappy. I shall write
to my mother. I shall ..."
" Be quiet," said Rita, seeing that Arabella was working
herself up in a real tantrum. " Be quiet now, and sit down. We
will go into this. You shall have another chance to speak later, if
you want to. But wait a minutehave you told your monitor
about this ? "
" No," said Arabella sulkily. " She doesn't like me either."
Elizabeth went red. That was true. She had shown that she
didn't like Arabella tooand so Arabella hadn't come to her for
help or advice before putting everything before the Meeting. Oh,
dearthat was a pity!
" Oh," said Rita, glancing at Elizabeth. " Well, now, let me
see.. We'll hear Jenny first. Jenny, will you please explain your
unkind behaviour, and tell us if you have any real reason for it?"
Jenny stood up. WellArabella had brought all this on
herself! She began to tell what she knew.


The Meeting Deals With Arabella
"YOU see," said Jenny, " Arabella really brought all the
trouble on herself. She didn't keep the rules, and we knew it, and
so we didn't like her, and we teased her. That's all."
" Oh, you storyteller ! " said Arabella. " I have kept the
rules! "
" Arabella, be quiet," said William. " Who is Arabella's
monitor ? Ohyou are, Elizabeth Allen. Will you tell us,
Elizabeth, if in your opinion Arabella has kept the rules ? "
" Elizabeth doesn't know what we know," said Jenny,
interrupting. " We know the deceitful and dishonest thing that
Arabella didbut Elizabeth doesn't."
Elizabeth looked very upset. How was it she hadn't known ?
She spoke to William.
" I'm afraid I don't know what Jenny is talking about,
William," she said. " I know I ought to because I'm a monitor
and I should see all that goes on in the formbut I really don't
know this."
" Thank you," said William gravely. He turned to Jenny. "
What have you to complain of about Arabella, Jenny ? " he
asked, with a glance at the fiery-red face of Arabella. The girl
was full of horror nowwhatever was Jenny going to say ? She,
Arabella, had meant to make a complaint, but she had never
guessed that anyone else would complain about her.
Then, of course, it all came out.
" Arabella didn't put all her money into the Box last week.
We know, because she bought a three-and-six-penny book in the
town and a lot of expensive chocolates," said Jenny. " She hid
some in her music-case so


that we wouldn't know. She told lies about it too. So, you
see, William, we don't like her and we showed it. We thought
perhaps she would be ashamed of herself if we teased her, and
be honest next time and put all her money in."
" I see," said William. " Sit down, Jenny."
Everyone was now looking at Arabella. She didn't know
what to say.
How she wished she had never made her
Whatever was she to do ! This was simply
" Arabella," said Rita, " what have you to say to this ? Is it
true ? "
Arabella sat quite still and said nothing. Then a tear trickled
down her cheek. She felt very very sorry for herself. Why had
her mother sent her to this horrid school where they had
Meetings like this every week, and where no fault could be kept
hidden ?
" Arabella," said Rita, " please stand up. Is this true ? "
Arabella's knees were shaking, but she stood up. " Yes," she
said, in a low voice. " Some of it is true. But not all. You seeI
didn't quite understand about putting all my money in. I did put
in most of it. I wanted to ask my monitor, Elizabeth, about lots
of things, but she seems to dislike me too, andand . . .."
Elizabeth felt angry. Arabella was trying to put some of the
blame on to her. She scowled at the girl and disliked her all the
"That's nonsense," said Rita briskly. "Elizabeth would
always tell you anything, even if she did dislike you. Now
listen, Arabellayou have behaved very foolishly, and you
have only yourself to blame for the others' treatment of you.
You will have to put things right."
The head-girl turned to William and spoke in a low voice for
a moment or two. He nodded. Rita spoke again. The whole
school listened with interest.


" It is sometimes difficult for new children to understand

and fall in with our rules," said Rita in her clear voice. " But
after they have been here for a while, every boy and girl agrees
that our rules are good. After all, we make them ourselves for
ourselves, so it would be silly of us to make bad rules. We
haven't very many, anyway. But what we have must be kept."
" I see that," said Arabella, who was still standing up. "I'm
sorry I broke that rule, Rita. If the others had told me I had
broken the rule, and just scolded me and given me a chance to
put all my money in next time, I'd have done it. But they didn't.
They were just horrid and I didn't know why."
" You will go to your monitor after this Meeting and give
her all the money you have got, every penny. She


will put it into the Box. You will be allowed only sixpence
this week, for stamps, as you had so much extra last week."
Arabella sat down, her cheeks flaming red again. Give her
money to Elizabeth ! Oh, dear, how she would hate that.
Rita had not quite finished with the matter. She spoke to
the first form rather sternly.
"There is no need for you to take things in hand yourselves
and do any punishing," she said. "After all, your monitors are
there to give advice, and we have the Meeting each week to put
anything right. You first-formers are not sensible enough to
know how to treat a thing of this sort. You should have gone to
The first-formers looked uncomfortable and felt small.
" It is all rather a mountain made out of a molehill," said
" Arabella is a new girl and didn't understand the
importance of our rules. Now that she does she will keep
A little more business was done at the Meeting and then
the children filed out. Elizabeth went to Jenny.
" Why didn't you tell me about Arabella. It was mean of
you not to. I did feel an idiot, sitting up there on the monitors'
platform, hearing all this and not knowing a thing about it! "
" Yeswe ought to have told you," said Jenny. " I'm sorry.
But, you see, we knew Arabella had been staying with you7 and
we thought it might be rather awkward, if she was a friend of
" Well, she's not," said Elizabeth in a fierce tone, " I can't
bear her. She quite spoilt the last two weeks of my holidays for
" Sh-sh, you idiot! " said Kathleen, giving her a nudge.
Arabella was coming by, and must have overheard what was
" Arabella ! You'd better get your money now and give it to
me," said Elizabeth hastily, hoping that

Arabella hadn't overheard what she had just said. " I'd like
it now, whilst the School Box is out."
Arabella was rather white. She said nothing, but went to
her dormitory. She took out all the money she had hidden in
various places.
She went downstairs again and found Elizabeth. Elizabeth,
feeling rather awkward, held out her hand. Arabella crashed all
the money into her palm, making Elizabeth cry out in pain.
Some of the money went on the floor.
" There you are, you horrid thing ! " said Arabella, her
voice full of anger and tears. " I suppose you were pleased to see
me made fun of at the Meeting! Well, you didn't come out of it
so well yourself, did youthe only person who didn't know
anything! I'm sorry I spoilt your holidaysyou may as well
know that you spoilt mine too! I hated your home and
everything in it, you most of all I "
Elizabeth was shocked and angry. She stared at Arabella,
and spoke sharply.
" Pick up the money you've dropped. Pull yourself
together, and don't talk to your monitor like that. Even if we
don't like one another, we can at least be civil."
" I can't imagine why anyone made yow a monitor ! " said
Arabella in a scornful voice. " Ill-mannered tomboy ! I hate
Arabella went quickly to the door, went through it, and
slammed it after her. Elizabeth was left alone to pick up the
money and put it into the Box. She was astonished at Arabella's
fierceness, and worried too.
" Oh, dear, it's going to be very difficult to be a monitor in
the first form if this sort of thing is going to happen," thought
Elizabeth, rattling the money into the Box.
As she went down the passage Arabella met Rita. The
head-girl saw her tear-stained face and stopped her kindly.
" Arabella, we all make mistakes at first so don't

take things too much to heart. And do go to your monitor

for advice and help!' said Rita. " Elizabeth is a very wise little
person, and very fair and just. I
am sure she can always help
This was not at all what
Arabella wanted to hear at that
moment. She was glad to have
Rita's kind word but she did not
want to hear praise of Elizabeth.
As for going to Elizabeth for
advicewell, she would never,
never do that!
Rita went on her way, rather
worried about Arabella, for she
did not really feel that she was
sorry for her mistake. If a person
was really sorry, it was all right
they did try to do better. But if
they were not sorry, only angry
at being found out, then things
went from bad to worse.
Elizabeth went to find
Julian. " I say, you might have
warned me about Arabella," she
said. " You really might. Why
didn't you ? "
" Couldn't be bothered,"
said Julian. " I don't care whether
she puts her money into the Box
or notand I certainly don't care
if she's teased or not. I like to do


as I likeand I'm not interfering with other people. Let

them do as they like."
" But Julian," said Elizabeth earnestly, " you must see that
we can't all do as we like, when we live so many together. We
" Now don't start that goody-goody monitor talk," said
Julian at once. " That's the only thing I don't like about you,
Elizabeththat you're a monitor. You seem to think it gives you
a right to lecture me and make me into a Good Boy, and put
everything right the way you think it should be."
Elizabeth stared at Julian in dismay. " Julian I How horrid
of you ! I'm very proud of being a monitor. It's mean of you to
say it's the one thing you don't like about me. It's the thing I'm
proudest of."
" I wish I'd known you when you were the naughtiest girl
in the school," said Julian. " I'd have liked you better then, I'm
" You wouldn't," said Elizabeth crossly. " I was silly then.
Anyway, I'm just the same girl now as I was then, only I'm more
sensible, and a monitor."
" There you go again! " said Julian, heaving an enormous
sigh. " You simply can't forget for one moment that you are one
of those grand, marvellous, and altogether wonderful beingsa
He stalked away and left Elizabeth looking after him
angrily. How stupid it was to have a friend who didn't like the
thing you were proudest of! Really, Julian was most annoying at
times !


Elizabeth Lays a Trap
SCHOOL life went on its jolly way in that Easter term.
Games were played and matches were won and lost. Many of
the children who liked riding rode out every morning before
breakfast. Robert always rode with Elizabeth, and the little girl
chattered away to him as they rode.
" Do you like being a monitor, Elizabeth ? " asked Robert
one morning not long after the second Meeting of the school.
" Well," said Elizabeth, and stopped to think. " It's funny,
Robert, I felt terribly proud when I was made a monitorand I
do stillbut somehow it's set me a bit apart from the others, and
I don't like that. And Julian will keep saying I'm goody-goody,
and you know I'm not!"
" No, that's the very last thing you are," said Robert with a
grin. " Well, I've never been a monitor or leader of any sort,
Elizabeth, but I've often heard my uncle say that being set over
others isn't altogether a happy thing at firsttill you're used to
it, and shake down into your new position."
" I didn't like not being told about that Arabella business,"
said Elizabeth. " I felt left out. Last term I'd have been in the
middle of it and heard everything. I think someone might have
told me."
" Well, we will, next time, I expect," said Robert.
Elizabeth worked in the School Garden as hard as ever
with John Terry. The crocuses they had planted together came
up by the hundred, and looked wonderful in the early spring.
The yellow ones came out first, and opened out well in the
sunshine. Then the purple ones and the white ones came out


Julian's barrow was a great success. It was queer looking,

but strong and well made. The smaller boys loved using it.
" Thanks, Julian," said John, " that has saved us quite a
large amount of money. I shall come to you when I want
anything else ! "
There was a great deal to do in the garden that term. There
always was in the spring term. There was a good deal of digging
to finish, and many things to plant. The children, under John's
direction, sowed rows and rows of broad beans.
" Oh, dear, must we sow so many thousands, John ? "
groaned small Peter, standing up to straighten his back.
" Well, the whole school likes broad beans," said John. "
It's nice to grow what people like."
The children could keep pets if they liked, although they
were not allowed to have cats or dogs, because these could not
be kept in cages. Any child who had a pet had to look after it,
and look after it well. If he or she did not, the pet was taken
away from thembut that rarely happened, because the children
were fond of their guinea-pigs, mice, budgies, pigeons, and so
on, and took a great pride in keeping them clean and happy.
Arabella did not give Elizabeth any trouble in the next
week or two, but she did not speak to her or have any more to
do with her than she could help. She and Rosemary went about
together, sometimes with Martin Follett. Julian made friends
with everyoneor rather, everyone made friends with him, for
he did not seem to care whether people were nice to him or not
but the boys and girls thought him an exciting and very clever
His only real friend was Elizabeth, and the two laughed
and joked together a great deal. He did not say any more about
her being a goody-goody monitor, and slowly Elizabeth began
to get used to the idea that she was set over the others. In fact
she sometimes forgot it altogether.


She was reminded of it when Rosemary came to her in

trouble. " Elizabethcan I speak to you about something ? "
said the girl timidly.
" Of course," said Elizabeth, remembering at once that she
was a monitor, and must help, and act wisely.
" WellI keep missing money," said Rosemary,
looking upset.
" Missing money ! " said Elizabeth. " What do you mean ?
Losing it, do you mean ! "
"Well, I did think I was losing it at first," said

Rosemary. " I thought I must have a hole in my pocketbut

I haven't. I missed tuppence last week. And yesterday a whole
sixpence wentand you know what a lot that is out of two
shillings, Elizabeth ! And to-day a penny has gone out of my
Elizabeth was really astonished. She stared at Rosemary, and
could hardly believe her ears.
" But Rosemary," she said at last, " Rosemary, you don't
think anybody took your money ! "
" Well, I do," said Rosemary. " I hate to say anything,
Elizabeth, really I do. But I haven't any money left now except
threepence, and that has to last me till the next Meeting, and I
really must buy some stamps."
" This is awful," said Elizabeth. " It'sit's stealing,
Rosemary. Are you quite, quite sure of what you say ? "
" Yes," said Rosemary. " Shall I make a complaint at the
next Meeting ? "
" No," said Elizabeth grandly. " I may be able to settle it
myself. Then we will bring it before the Meeting, and we can tell
them we settled the matter between us."
" All right," said Rosemary, who had no wish to get up and
say anything before the Meeting. She was far too timid and weak !
" How will you settle it ? "
"We'll lay a trap," said Elizabeth. "I'll think about it,
Rosemary, and tell you. Don't tell anyone else."
" WellI did tell Martin Follett," said Rosemary. " I
couldn't very well help it, because I was looking all over the place
for my sixpence yesterday, and feeling very miserable at losing it
and he came in and was awfully kind. He helped me hunt for
ages, and he offered me tuppence of his own. So then I told him
that I couldn't understand what was happening to my money. But I
haven't told anyone else."


" Well, don't," said Elizabeth. " We don't want to put anyone
on their guard. I must say it was decent of Martin to offer you
tuppence, though."
" He's very generous," said Rosemary. " He bought
John Terry a packet of very special dwarf beans for the
garden, you know. He said he wasn't keen on garden-Sag himself,
so that was his only way of doing his bit."
" I wonderI do wonder who could possibly be mean
enough to take anyone's money," thought Elizabeth as Rosemary
went out of the room. " What a horrible ' thing to do ! Now, this
really is a problem for me, and I must think about it. I'm a
monitor, and I must try to put it right."
She sat down and thought hard. She must find out the thief.
Then she could deal with heror himand prove to everyone
what a fine, sensible monitor she was. ' But how could she catch
him ?
" I know what I'll do," said Elizabeth to herself. " I'll Show
everyone the fine new shilling I got out of the School Box last
week, and then I'll put it in my desk but I'll mark it first, so that
I shall be able to know it againand then watch to see if it
So, the next day, when the children were playing in the gym
at break, because it was raining out-of-doors, Elizabeth took out
her brand-new shilling and showed it round.
" Look," she said. " It must have come out of the mint only
last week, I should think ! Isn't it bright and new ?"
Ruth had a new penny, as bright as gold, and she brought
that out of her purse too. Robert had a new threepenny bit.
"I shan't keep my shining shilling in my pocket, in Case I get
a hole there," said Elizabeth. " I shall put ft in my desk, just under
the ink-hole. It will be safe there."
Before she put it there she marked a little cross on it with
black Indian ink. Then she placed it under the ink-hole, in front of
everyone, just before Miss Ranger came to take the class.


She glanced at Rosemary. The girl nodded her head lightly

to tell Elizabeth that she knew why she had

shown off her shilling and put it into a safe place in front of
" Now we'll just see," thought Elizabeth glancing round the
class and wondering for the hundredth time which boy or girl
could possibly be mean enough to take it.
The children left the schoolroom after morning lessons
were finished and went to have a quick run and play in the
garden. Then they had to come in to wash before dinner.
Elizabeth ran into the classroom to see whether her shilling
was still in its place. She opened her desk. Yesher shilling
was still there. She felt glad. Perhaps Rosemary was mistaken
after all!
It was still there when afternoon school began. Rosemary
looked across at her and Elizabeth nodded her head to tell her
that the money was still there. Suppose the thief did not take it ?
Elizabeth would have to think of something else.
The shilling was still there after tea. Rosemary came up to
Elizabeth. " Don't leave your shilling there any more," she said.
" I don't want it to be taken. You might not get it backand a
whole shilling lost would be dreadful."
" I'll leave it there till to-morrow," said Elizabeth. " Just to
In the morning, before school, the little girl slipped along
to the classroom. She opened her desk and felt for the bright
new shilling.
It wasn't there. It was gone. Although she had half
expected this, Elizabeth was really shocked. So there was a thief
in the classa mean, horrible thief. Who was it ? Wellwait
till she saw that marked shillingthen she would know !


Elizabeth Gets a Shock
IT was one thing to mark a coin so that she would know it
again when she saw it, but another thing to make a plan to find it
in someone's keeping! Elizabeth wondered and wondered how
she could manage this.
After tea that day it was still raining and the children
gathered together in their common-room. It was a cheerful room
with wide windows, a big fireplace, a gramophone, and a
wireless, and lockers for all the children to keep their things in.
It was the room the children liked best and felt to be really their
There was a merry noise that evening. The wireless was
going, and the gramophone too, so that the one or two who
wanted to read groaned aloud, and went to turn off either the
wireless or the gramophone.
But as these were immediately turned on again by
somebody else, it was waste of time to turn them off!
" I say! Let's play a game of some sort," said somebody. "
I've got a good race-game here. Let's all play it. There are
twelve horses to race."
" Right," said the children, and watched Ruth put out the
big game. It almost covered the table. There was a little
squabbling over which horses to choose, and then the game
It was fun to be playing a game all together like this, and it
was exciting to move the horses along the big board.

" Blow ! " said Harry. '.' I've landed in the middle of a
ditch. I've to go back six. Onetwothree fourfivesix!"
The game was played to the end. Belinda won, and was
presented with a bar of chocolate. Then Kathleen

got out a game of her own. It was a spinning game. There

were many little tops, all of different colours, to be spun. They
spun beautifully, making a tiny whirring sound as they did so.
Seeing the tops spinning gave Elizabeth an idea. She
banged on the table.
" Let's all see if we can spin coins. Who is the best at it ? "
The children put their hands into their pockets and brought
out money. Some had pennies, some ha'pennies, some
sixpences, and one or two of them had shillings.
Julian had been far and away the best at spinning the tops.
He could make them jump and hop across the table in a
marvellous way. Now he showed how clever he was with coins.

" See my penny hop! " he cried, and spun it deftly on the
polished table-top. It hopped and skipped as it spun in a most
peculiar way. Nobody else could do the trick.
" Watch me spin a shilling on the top of a glass ! " said
Julian. " It will make a peculiar noise. Fetch a glass, somebody."
A glass appeared and was put on the table. Everyone
watched Julian. His green eyes gleamed with pleasure as he saw
the admiring looks around him. He spun the shilling on the
bottom of the upturned glass, and it made a very funny noise.
" Like singing a little song," said Ruth. " Let me try,
The shilling fell off the glass, and Ruth picked it up. She
tried her best to spin it, but it hopped off the glass at once and
rolled off the table beside Elizabeth. The little girl bent to pick it
It was a bright new one. Elizabeth glanced at it, j thinking
it was funny that there should be a second brand-new shilling in
the formand then she saw something that gave her a terrible
She saw the tiny black cross she had made on the shilling!
She stared at it in the greatest dismay. It was her own shilling,
her very own, the one she had shown everyone, the one she had
marked and put into her desk.
" Come on, Elizabethhand over the shilling! " said Rum
impatiently. " Anyone would think you had never seen a shilling
before, the way you are staring at it! "
Elizabeth threw the shilling across to Ruth. Her hand was
trembling. Julian ! Julian had her shilling. But Julian was her
friend. He couldn't have her shilling. But he hadhe had ! He
had taken it out of his pocket. Elizabeth herself had seen him.
The little girl stared miserably across at Julian, who was


watching Ruth with his deep-set eyes, a lock of black hair over
his forehead as usual.
Rosemary had noticed Elizabeth's face. She had

seen her staring at the shilling. She knew that it must be the
same one that the little girl had marked. She too looked in
amazement at Julian.
Elizabeth was not going to say anything to Julian just then,
but she could hardly wait for a chance to speak to him alone.
She waited about that evening, hoping that she would find a
chance. She thought and thought about the whole affair.
" Of course, I know Julian does just as he likes, and says
so," thought Elizabeth. " He just doesn't care about anything or
anybody. But after all, I am his friend, and he should care about
what he does to me. He could have had my shilling if he had
asked me. How could he do such a thing ? "
Then another thought came into her mind. " I mustn't judge
him till I hear what he says. Somebody may have lent it to him
or he may have given someone change for a shilling. I must
be careful what I say. I really must."
Just before bedtime her chance carne to speak to Julian
alone. He went to get a book from the library, and Elizabeth met
him in the passage as he came back.
" Julian," she said, " where did you get your nice bright
shilling from ? "
" From the School Box last week," said Julian, at once. "
Why ? "
" Are you sure ? " said Elizabeth. " Oh, Julian, are you
quite, quite sure ? "
" Of course I am, idiot. Where else can we get money
from? " said Julian, puzzled. " What are you looking so upset
about ? What's the matter with my shilling ? "

Elizabeth was about to say that it was her shilling, when

she stopped. " Noshe mustn't say that, or Julian would know
she was accusing him of taking it from her. He was her friend.
She couldn't accuse him of anything so dreadful. She must think
about it

" Nothing's the matter with the shilling," she answered at

last, thinking that something must be dreadfully the matter with
" All right then, don't look so peculiar," said Julian, getting
impatient. " It's my shillingout of the School Boxand that's
He stalked off, looking puzzled and annoyed. Elizabeth
stared after him. Her mind was in a complete muddle. Of all the


people in the form, the one she had never even thought of for
one moment as the thief was Julian.
She slipped into a music-room by herself and began to play
a sad and gloomy piece on the piano. Richard, who was passing,
looked in in surprise.
" Gracious, Elizabeth ! Why are you playing like
that ? Anyone would think you had lost a shilling and
found sixpence! "
This old saying was half true at the moment, and Elizabeth
gave a choky laugh. " WellI have lost a shillingbut I haven't
found sixpence," she said.
" Golly, Elizabeth, you're not making yourself miserable
over a shilling, are you ? " said Richard. "I've never heard you
playing so dolefully before. Cheer up."
" Richard, listenI'm not silly enough to be miserable over
a shilling," said Elizabeth. " It's something else."
" Well, tell me then," said Richard. " I shan't tell anyone
else, you know that."
This was true. Elizabeth looked at Richard, and thought
perhaps he could help her.
" Suppose you had a friend, and suppose he did something
simply terribly mean to youwhat would you do ? " she asked.
Richard laughed. "If it really was my friend well, I
wouldn't believe it! " he said. " I'd know there was some
" Oh, Richard, I think you're right," said Elizabeth. " I just
won't believe it! "
She began to play the piano again, a happier tune. Richard
grinned and left Elizabeth. He was used to her troubles by now.
She was always getting into some difficulty or bother!
" Richard is right," said Elizabeth. " I shan't believe it. It's
some accident that Julian has got that shilling. I'll have to begin
all over again and find some way to catch the real thief."

So she was just as friendly to Julian as ever, though

Rosemary, who knew what had happened, was very puzzled to
see it. She spoke to Elizabeth about it.
" It couldn't have been Julian," said Elizabeth shortly. " It
must have been someone else. He got that shilling out of the
School Box. He said he did, when I asked him. There is some
The next day Rosemary came to Elizabeth again. " Listen,"
she said, " what do you think has happened ? Arabella has lost
some money now I Do you suppose it's the thief at work again?"
" Oh, golly! " said Elizabeth. " I was so hoping that nothing
more would happen. How much has Arabella lost ? "
" Sixpence," said Rosemary. " She put it into her mack
pocket, and left it thereand when she went to get it, it was
gone. And, Elizabeth, Belinda left some chocolate in her desk
and that's gone too. Isn't it awful ? "
"Yesit is," said Elizabeth. " How hateful it all is! Well
I'm absolutely determined to find out who the thief is nowand
I'll haul him or her in front of the Meeting at once ! "
The next thing that disappeared was sweets out of
Elizabeth's locker. She went to get themand they were not
" Blow ! " said Elizabeth, angry and shocked. " This is
getting worse. I wish I knew who had my sweets."
She soon knew. In class that afternoon Julian screwed up
his face as if he wanted to sneeze. He pulled a hanky out of his
pocket quickly, and something fell out. It was a sweet.
" One of my sweets ! " said Elizabeth angrily to herself. "
The beast 1 He's taken my sweets. Then he must have taken that
shilling too. And he calls himself my friend! "


A Dreadful Quarrel
THE more Elizabeth thought about the stolen money and
sweets, the angrier she felt with Julian. It must be Julianbut
how could he do such a thing ?
" He's always saying he does as he likes, so I suppose he
takes other people's things if he wants them," thought the little
girl. " He's bad. I know he's clever and amusing and jollybut
he's bad. I shall have to speak to him."
She could hardly wait till the afternoon class was over. She
paid no attention whatever to her lessons and Miss Ranger
glanced at her sharply two or three times. Elizabeth did not
seem to hear any questions at all, but simply gazed into space,
with an angry look in her eyes.
" Elizabeth, I suppose you know you are in class ? " said
Miss Ranger at last. " You have not answered a single question
for the last half-hour."
" I'm sorry, Miss Ranger," said Elizabeth hastily. " II
was thinking of something else."
" Well, will you kindly think of what you are supposed to
be doing ? " said Miss Ranger.


So Elizabeth had to try and forget Julian's misdeeds for a

while, and think of Mary, Queen of Scots. But somehow her
thoughts always slid away to Julian.
She looked at the boy, who sat in front of her. He was
writing, his lock of black hair falling over his face. He brushed
it impatiently away from time to time. Elizabeth wondered why
he didn't have his hair cut shorter. Then it wouldn't worry him
so. He looked round and grinned at her, his green eyes rather
like a goblin's.
Elizabeth would not smile back. She bent her head down to
her book, and Julian looked surprised. Elizabeth was usually
ready with her smiles.
The class went rushing off at four o'clockall except
Elizabeth, who had to stay in and copy out some work for Miss
Ranger. She was annoyed at this but not really surprised, for she
knew she had not done any work at all that afternoon. So she
raced through it, her mind still thinking of what she should say
to Julian. She must get him alone somewhere.
It was tea-time when she had finished. She went to have
her tea, but because she was upset she could not eat much, and
the others teased her.
" She's sickening for measles or something," said Harry. "
I've never seen Elizabeth off her food before. There must be
something wrong with her ! "
" Don't be funny," said Elizabeth crossly.
Harry looked surprised.
' What's the matter ? Are you all right ? "
Elizabeth nodded. Yesshe was all right, but something
else was all wrong. Oh, dear. She didn't want to tackle Julian,
and yet she wouldn't have any peace of mind till she did.
She went to Julian after tea. " Julian, I want to talk to you.
It's very important."
" Can't it wait ? " asked Julian. " I want to finish a job I'm

" No. It can't wait," said Elizabeth. " It's really important."
" All right," said Julian. " I'll come and hear this terribly
important thing."
" Come into the garden," said Elizabeth. " I want to talk to
you where we can't be overheard."
" WellI'll come to the stables," said Julian. ' There won't
be anybody about there now. You're very mysterious,
Elizabeth." They walked together to the stables. No one was to
be seen there at all. " Now, what is it ? " said Julian.

" Hurry up, because I want to get on with my job. I'm

mending a spade for John."
" Julian. Why did you take that moneyand the chocolate
and my sweets ? " asked Elizabeth.

' What moneyand what sweets ? " said Julian.

" Oh, don't pretend you don't know ! " cried Elizabeth
losing her temper. 'You took my shillingand you must have
taken Rosemary's money tooand I saw one of my sweets drop
out of your pocket this afternoon when you pulled out your
hanky to sneeze."
' Elizabeth, how dare you say these things to me ? " said
Julian, his face going red, and his green eyes getting very deep
in colour.
" I dare because I'm a monitor, and I know all about your
meanness ! " said Elizabeth in a low, angry voice. " You called
yourself my friendand ..."
" Well, I like that! You call yourself my friend and yet
you say these hateful things to me ! " said Julian in a loud voice,
also losing his temper. " Just because you're a monitor you think
you have the right to go round accusing innocent people of
horrible tricks. You're not fit to be anyone's friend. You aren't
mine any longer."
He began to walk off, but Elizabeth ran after him, her eyes
blazing. She caught hold of his coat-sleeve. Julian tried to skake
her off.
" You've got to listen to me, Julian ! " almost shouted
Elizabeth. " You've got to ! Do you want all this to be brought
out at the next Meeting ? "
" If you dare to say anything to anyone else, I'll pay you
out in a way you won't like/'said Julian, between his teeth. " All
girls are the samecatty and dishonourablemaking wild
statements that aren't true and not even believing people when
they do tell the truth ! "
" Julian ! I don't want to bring it up at the Meeting," cried
Elizabeth. " I don'tI don't. That's why I'm giving you this
chance of telling me, so that I can help you and put things right.


You always say you do as you likeso I suppose you thought

you could take anything you wantedand . . ."
"Elizabeth, I do do as I likebut there are many many
things I don't like, and would never do," said Julian, his green
eyes flashing, and his black brows coming down low over them.
"I don't like stealing I don't like lyingI don't like taletelling. So I don't do those things. Now I'm going. You're my
worst enemy now, not my best friend. I shall never, never like
you again."
" I'm not your worst enemy, I want to help you," said
Elizabeth. " I saw my own marked shilling, I tell you
I saw my own sweet come out of your pocket.
I'm a
monitor, so I . . ."
" So you thought you had the right to accuse me, and you
thought I'd confess to something I don't happen to have done,
and you thought I'd cry on your shoulder and promise my
monitor to be a good little boy," said Julian in a horrid voice. "
Well, you are mistaken, my dear Elizabeth. Why anyone made
you a monitor I can't think ! "
He walked away. Elizabeth by now was in a real temper,
and she tried to pull him back once more. Julian turned in a
rage, took hold of Elizabeth by the shoulders and shook her so
hard that her teeth rattled in her head.
" If you were a boy I'd show you what I really think of
you ! " said Julian in a low, fierce voice. He suddenly let
Elizabeth go and walked off, his hands deep in his pockets, his
hair untidy, and his mouth in a straight, angry line.
Elizabeth felt rather weak. She leaned against the stable
wall and tried to get back her breath. She tried to think clearly,
but she couldn't. What a dreadful, dreadful thing to happen !
Footsteps near by made her jump. Martin Follett came out
of the stable, looking very white and scared.
" Elizabeth ! I couldn't help hearing. I didn't like to come
out and interrupt. Elizabeth, I'm so sorry for you. Julian had no

right to be so beastly when you were trying your hardest to help

Elizabeth felt grateful for Martin's friendly words, but she
was sorry he had overheard everything.
" Martin, you're not to say a word to anyone about this,"
she said, standing up straight again, and pushing back her curls.
" It's very private and secret. Do you promise ? "
" Of course," said Martin, " but, Elizabeth, let me help a
bit. I'll give you some of my sweets. And I'll give you a shilling
to make up for the one you lost.
That will put things right, won't it ? Then you needn't
bother Julian any more, or quarrel with him. You needn't bring
the matter up at the Meeting either."
" Oh, Martin, it's all very kind of you," said Elizabeth,
feeling very tired suddenly, " but you don't see the point. It's not
my shilling or my sweets I mind, sillyit's the fact that Julian
has been taking them. You can't put that right, can you! Giving
me a shilling and your sweets won't help Julian to stop taking
what isn't his. I should have thought you could have seen that."
"Well give him a chance," said Martin earnestly. " Don't
report him at the Meeting. Just give him a chance."
" I'll see," said Elizabeth. " I'll have to think it all out. Oh,
dear, I wish I wasn't a monitor. I wish I could go to a monitor
for help! I don't seem much use as a monitor myself. I can't even
think what I ought to do."


Martin slipped his arm through hers. 'Come and

have a talk with John

about the garden," he said. That
will do you good."
" You're kind to me,
Martin," said Elizabeth gratefully. " But I don't want to talk
to John. I don't want to talk to
anybody just now. I want to
think by myself. So leave me,
please, Martin. And, Martin,
you do promise not to tell
anyone about this, don't you ?
It's Julian's business and mine,
not anybody else's."
" Of course I promise,"
said Martin, looking straight at
Elizabeth. " You can trust me,
Elizabeth. I'll leave you now,
but if I can help you any time, I
He went, and Elizabeth
thought how nice he was. " I'm
sure he won't tell anyone," she
thought. " It would be so awful
if the others got to know about
this. I simply don't know what
to do. Julian will really hate me
now. If only things would blow
over ! "
But they didn't blow over. They got very much worse.
Julian was not the kind of boy to forget and forgive easily, and

he was certainly not going to make things easy for Elizabeth.

She had been his best friend now she was his worst enemy!
Look out then, Elizabeth!

Julian Plays a Trick
EVERYONE soon noticed that Julian and Elizabeth were
no longer friends. Elizabeth looked thoroughly miserable and
upset, and Julian took no notice of her at all.
Arabella was pleased. She liked and admired Julian
tremendously, for all his careless, untidy ways. She had been
annoyed when he had chosen Elizabeth for his friend. She
would have liked to have been chosen instead.
" He's got simply marvellous brains ! " said Arabella to
Rosemary, who, not having many herself, sincerely admired
those who had. " He could do anything, that boy ! I think he will
be a wonderful inventor when he grows upreally do
something in the world ! "


" Yes, I think so too," said Rosemary, agreeing with

Arabella, as she always did, " Arabella, I wonder why Elizabeth
and Julian have quarrelled. They haven't spoken a word to one
another all dayand whenever Julian does take a look in
Elizabeth's direction, it's really fierce ! "
" YesI'd like to know too why they've quarrelled," said
Arabella, " I think I'll ask Julian. Perhaps he would like to be
friends with us, now that he's quarrelled with Elizabeth."
So Arabella asked Julian that afternoon. " Julian, I'm sorry
to see that you and Elizabeth have quarrelled," she said in her
sweetest voice. " I'm sure it must have been Elizabeth's fault.
Why did you quarrel ? "
" Sorry, Arabella, but I'm afraid that's my own business,"
said Julian rather shortly.
" You might tell me," said Arabella. " I am on your side,
not Elizabeth's I never did like Elizabeth."
" There aren't any ' sides,' as you call it," said Julian.
And that was all that Arabella could get out of Julian. She
felt cross about it and more curious than ever. Whatever could the
matter be ? It must be something serious or Elizabeth wouldn't
look so worried.
" I do wish we could find out," she said to Rosemary. " I
really do wish we could."
" What do you want to find out ? " asked Martin, coming up
behind them.
" Why Elizabeth and Julian have quarrelled," said Arabella.
" You haven't any idea, have you, Martin ? "
"WellI do know something," said Martin.
stared at him in excitement.
" Tell us," she said.
" Well," said Martin, " it's a dead secret. You mustn't
tell anyone at all. Promise ? "


" Of course," said Arabella, not meaning to keep the secret at

all. " Who told you, Martin ? "
" WellElizabeth told me herself," said Martin.

" Then you can quite well tell us," said Arabella at once. "
If Elizabeth told you, she will be sure to tell the others too."
So Martin told the secrethow Elizabeth had accused
Julian of stealing money and sweets, and how he had denied it
angrily. Arabella's big eyes nearly fell out of her head as she
listened. Rosemary could hardly believe it either.
" Oh, how beastly of Elizabeth! " said Arabella. " How
could she, Martin ? I'm sure that however don't-careish Julian is,
he is honest! "
Soon the secret was out all over the form. Everyone knew
why Julian and Elizabeth had quarrelled. Everyone spoke about
stolen money and sweets, Julian and Elizabeth.
" I think Julian ought to know that Elizabeth has spread the
tale about him," said Arabella to Rosemary. " I really do. It's not


" But did she spread it ? " asked Rosemary doubtfully. " It
was Martin that told us."
" Well, he said Elizabeth told him, didn't sheand if she
told him, she would probably have told others," said Arabella. "
After all, everyone knows now, so I expect Elizabeth did a lot of
the telling."
Rosemary felt a little uncomfortable. She knew how much
Arabella herself had told, and she knew too that Arabella had
added a little to the story. But Rosemary was too weak to argue
with her friend. So she said nothing.
Arabella spoke to Julian the next day. "Julian," she said, ' I
do think it is mean of Elizabeth to spread that tale of-you taking
thingsyou know, money and sweets. I do really."
Julian looked as if he could not believe his ears. " What do
you mean ? " he asked at last.
" Wellit's all over the form now that you and Elizabeth
quarrelled because she said you took things that belonged to
other people, and you denied it," said
Arabella. She slipped her arm through Julian's. The boy
.had gone very pale.
" Don't worry, Julian," she said. " We all know what
Elizabeth is ! Goodness knows why she was made a monitor!
Who would go to her for help, I'd like to know ! She's not to be
trusted at all."
" You're right," said Julian, " but I thought she was. I never
imagined for one moment she would spread such a story. A
monitor, too! She's a little beast. I can't think why I ever liked
" No, I'm sure you can't," said Arabella, delighted. " Fancy
her going all round the form whispering these horrible things
about youand you haven't said a word about her!"
Of course, Elizabeth had not said a word either, but Julian
did not know that. He had not known that Martin had overheard
everything, and he thought that if the story got round, it could

only have been told to the others by Elizabeth herself. He

thought very bitterly of her indeed.
" I'll pay her out for that," he said to Arabella.
" I should," said Arabella eagerly. " As I told you before,
Julian, I'm on your side, and so is Rosemary. I expect lots of
others are too."
This time Julian did not say anything about there being no
sides. He was hurt and angry, and the only thing he wanted to do
was to get back at Elizabeth and hurt her.
And then many curious things began to happen to
Elizabeth. Julian used all his clever brains to think out tricks that
would get her into troubleand when Julian really used his
brains things began to happen !
Julian sat just in front of Elizabeth in class. In one lesson,
history, the children had to have out a good many books, which
they put in a neat pile on the back of their desks, so that they
might refer quickly to them when they needed to.
Julian invented a curious little gadget like a spring.


He twisted the spring up in a peculiar way so that it took a

long time to untwist itself. He slipped it under Elizabeth's pile of
The lesson began. Miss Ranger was not in a good temper
that day, for she had a headache, so the children were being
rather careful not to make noises. Nobody let their desk-lids fall
with a slam, nobody dropped 'Anything.
Julian grinned to himself, as he worked quietly in front of
Elizabeth. He knew that the peculiar little spring was slowly
untwisting itself under the bottom book. It was extremely
strong, and when it reached a certain twist it would spring wide
open and force the books off the desk.
Sure enough, this happened after about five minutes had
gone by. The spring gave itself a final twist and the books
moved. The top one fell, and then the others, all in a pile to the


Miss Ranger jumped. "

Whose books fell then? " she said
crossly. " Elizabeth, don't be
careless. How
did that happen ? "
" I don't know, Miss Ranger,"
said Elizabeth, puzzled. " I really
Julian bent to pick up the
books, which had fallen just
behind. He put another twisted
spring under the bottom one again,
pocketing the first one, which had
fallen to the floor with the books.
In five minutes' time that
spring worked too. It was a
stronger one, and the books shot
off the desk in a hurry. Crash,
crash, crash, crash, crash!
violently, and her fountain-pen,
which she was using, made a blot
on the book she was correcting.
" Elizabeth ! Are you doing
this on purpose ? " she cried. "If it
happens again you will go out of
the room. I will not have you
disturbing the class like this."
Elizabeth was extremely
puzzled. "I'm very sorry,
Miss Ranger," she said.
" Honestly, the books seemed to jump off my desk by


" Don't be childish, Elizabeth," said Miss Ranger. " That's

the kind of thing a child in the lower school might say to me."
Julian picked up the books, grinning. Elizabeth gave him a
furious look. She had no idea that he was playing a trick on her,
but she didn't like the grin. Once more Julian placed one of his
curious springs under the bottom book.
And once again all the books jumped off the desk in a
hurry. This time Miss Ranger lost her temper.
" Go out of the room," she snapped at Elizabeth. " Once
might have been an accidenteven twicebut not three times.
I'm ashamed of you. You're a monitor and should know how to
With scarlet cheeks Elizabeth went put of the room. In her
first term she had tried to be sent out of the room but now she
felt it to be a great disgrace. She hated it. She stood outside the
door, almost ready to cry for shame and anger.
" It wasn't my fault. My books really did seem to jump off
by themselves. I never even touched the beastly things ! " she
And then, how dreadful! Who should come by but Rita, the
head-girl, herself! She looked in the greatest surprise at
Elizabeth, standing red-faced outside the door. " Why are you
here, Elizabeth ? " she asked gravely.


Elizabeth in Disgrace
I WAS sent out of the room, Rita," said Elizabeth, " but it
was for something that wasn't my fault. Please believe me."
"Don't let it happen again, Elizabeth," said Rita. " You
know that you are a monitor, and should set an example to the
others. I am not very pleased, with various things I have heard
about you and the first form this term."
She walked down the passage and Elizabeth stared after
her, wondering what Rita knew. She felt suddenly very sad and
gloomy. " I looked forward to this term so much," she thought, "
and now everything is going wrong."
She was called back into the room at the end of the lesson,
and Miss Ranger spoke a few stern words to her. Elizabeth
knew that it was no good saying again that she had not made the
books fall, so she said nothing.
The next trick that Julian thought of was most
extraordinary. He grinned with delight when it came into his
mind. He went into the laboratory, where the children did most
of their science work, and mixed up various chemicals together.
He made them into a few wet little pellets and put them into a
box. Then, before afternoon school, he slipped into the empty
classroom, moved Elizabeth's desk, and put a table in its place.
He stood a chair on top of the table and then climbed up
and stood on it. He could reach the ceiling then. He arranged the
little wet pellets close together on the white ceiling. He brushed
them quickly over with a queer-smelling liquid. This would
have the effect of making the little pellets gradually swell
and burst,


letting out a large drop of water which would fall straight

" This is a good trick," thought Julian, as he jumped down
from the chair, put it back in its place, and pulled the table
away. He put Elizabeth's desk back, arranging it exactly under
the pellets on the ceiling. They were white and hardly
That afternoon Mam'zelle came to take French. Elizabeth
and the others had learnt French verbs and some French poetry.
Mam'zelle was to hear it. All the children gabbled it over to
themselves just before the lesson, making sure they knew it.
Mam'zelle was heard coming along the passage and Elizabeth
sprang to hold open the door.
Mam'zelle was in a good temper. The children were glad.
Miss Ranger didn't get cross unless there really was something
to be cross aboutbut Mam'zelle often got cross about nothing.
Still, this afternoon she looked very pleasant indeed.
"And now we will have a very nice afternoon," she said,
beaming round. " You will all say your verbs without one single
mistake, and you will say your poetry most beautifully. And I
shall be very pleased with you."


No one made any reply to this. It would be nice if nobody

made any mistake, but that was too much to be hoped for!
Someone always came to grief in the French class.
Julian chose that-afternoon to use his brains in the proper
way. He rattled off his verbs without a single mistake. He
addressed Mam'zelle in excellent French, so that she beamed all
over her face with pleasure.
" Ah, this Julian! Always he pretends he is so stupid, but he
is very clever! Now we will see if he knows his poetry well!
Speak it to me, Julian."
Julian began, reciting the French smoothly and well. But no
sooner had he begun that there came an interruption. It was
She had been sitting down, her head bent over her French
book. And right on the top of her head had come a big drop of
water! Elizabeth was most astonished. She gave a small cry and
rubbed the top of her head. It was wet!
" What is the matter, Elizabeth ? " asked Mamzelle
" A drop of water fell on my head," said Elizabeth, puzzled.
She looked up at the ceiling, but there did not seem anything to be
seen there.
" You are silly, Elizabeth," said Mam'zelle. " You do not
expect me to believe that."
" But a drop of water did fall on my head," said Elizabeth. " I
felt it."
Jenny and Robert began to giggle. They thought Elizabeth
was making it up in order to have a bit of fun. Mam'zelle rapped
sharply on her desk.
" Silence ! " she said. " Julian, go on with your poetry. Begin
Julian began again, knowing that another drop or two would
fall on Elizabeth's head shortly. He wanted to laugh.
" Oh ! Oh ! " said Elizabeth suddenly from behind him ! Two
drops had fallen splash on to her hair. The

little girl simply couldn't understand it. She rubbed her head.
" Elizabeth ! Once more you interrupt! " said Mam'zelle
angrily. " Are you trying to spoil Julian's work ? He is doing it so
well. What is the matter now ? Do not tell me again that it is
raining on your head ! "
"Well, Mam'zelle, it is," said Elizabeth, and she rubbed her
hand in her wet hair. Everyone roared with laughter. Mam'zelle
began to get really angry.
" Silence, everybody ! " she cried. "I will not have this noise.
Elizabeth, I am surprised at you. A monitor should not behave like
" But Mam'zelle, honestly, it's very queer," began Elizabeth
againand then another drop fell on her hair. She gave a jump
and looked up at the ceiling. She really felt very puzzled indeed.
" Ah ! You look at the ceiling as if it was the sky ? You think
it is raining on you ! You think you will play me a silly joke! "
cried Mam'zelle, her eyes beginning to flash. Everyone sat up,
enjoying the fun. It was exciting when Mam'zelle lost her temper.
" Well, can I sit somewhere else ? " asked Elizabeth


in despair. " Something does keep dropping on my head and I

don't like it."
" You can go and sit outside the room," said Mam'zelle
sternly. "This is the silliest joke I have ever heard of. You will
ask next if you can bring an umbrella into my class and sit with
it over your head."
The whole class squealed with laughter at the thought of
this. But Mam'zelle had not meant to be funny, and she banged
angrily on her desk.
" Silence ! I do not make a joke. I am very angry.
Elizabeth, leave my class."
" Oh, please, Mam'zelle, no," said poor Elizabeth. " Please
don't send me out of the room. I won't interrupt again. But,
honestly, it's very queer."


Another drop fell on her head, but she said nothing this time.
She could not bear to be sent out of the room a second time, she
really couldn't! She would rather get soaked through than that!
" Wellone more word from you and you will go,"
threatened Mam'zelle. Elizabeth thankfully sat down, and made up
her mind not even to jump if another of those unexpected drops
landed on her hair.
But there were no more to come. Soon Elizabeth's hair was
dry again, and nothing fell to wet it. She recited her verbs and
poetry in her turn, and was allowed to remain in the room for the
rest of the lesson.
Afterwards most of the children crowded round her. "
Elizabeth ! How did you dare to act like that ? Let's feel your
head! "
But it was now dry, and no one would believe Elizabeth
when she said over and over again that drops of water had fallen
on her. They rubbed their hands over her hair, but not a bit of
wetness was left.
" Why don't you own up to us and say it was a good joke ? "
asked Harry. " You might just as well."
" Because it wasn't a joke, it was real," answered Elizabeth
The children went off. They all thought Elizabeth had played
a joke, but they also thought it wasn't right not to own up to it
" She's telling untruths," said Arabella to Rosemary. " Well,
all I can say isshe's a funny sort of monitor to have ! "
One or two of the others agreed. They had enjoyed the joke
but they really did think that Elizabeth had made up the story of
the falling drops, and they felt rather disgusted with her when she
denied it.
Mam'zelle related the story to Miss Ranger in the mistresses'
common-room that day. " It is not like Elizabeth to be so silly,"
she said.


Miss Ranger looked puzzled. " I don't understand her," she

said. " She is not behaving like herself lately.
She was very stupid in my class too kept pushing piles
of books over ! So childish."
" I thought she would make a good monitor," said
Mam'zelle. " I am disappointed in Elizabeth."
Arabella spoke against Elizabeth whenever she could, and
some of the children listened. Arabella was clever in the way
she spoke.
" Of course," she said, " I like a joke as much as any one,
and it's fun to play a trick in a dull lesson. But honestly I don't
think a monitor should do that. I mean, I don't see why any of us
shouldn't play the fool a bit if we like but not a monitor. You
do expect a monitor to behave or why make them monitors?"
" She was called the Naughtiest Girl in the School two
terms ago, wasn't she ? " said Martin. " Well, it must be difficult
to stop being that, really. I think it was silly to make her a
monitor. She couldn't have been ready to be one."
" Look at the beastly stories she spread about poor Julian
too," said Arabella. " A monitor should be the first to stop a
thing like that, not start it. Well, I always did say I couldn't
imagine why Elizabeth was a monitor."
" Perhaps she won't be for long ! " said Martin. " I don't
see why we should put up with someone who behaves like
Elizabeth. How can we look up to her or go to her for advice ?
She oughtn't to be a monitor ! "
Poor Elizabeth. She knew the children were whispering
about her and she couldn't do anything about it.


Arabella's Secret
THE next School Meeting came and went without anything
being said by Elizabeth. The girl was so miserable and so
puzzled as to what she should do for the best that she had made
up her mind to say nothing, at least for the present.
Meanwhile Arabella was soon going to have a birthday.
Her mother had promised to send her a big birthday cake, and
whatever else she liked to ask for to eat or drink. Mrs. Buckley
was now in America, but Arabella could order what she liked
from one of the big London stores.
Arabella talked about it a good deal. She loved to boast,
and she talked of all the good things she would order.
Then she had an idea. She told it to Rosemary. " What
about a midnight feast, Rosemary ? We had one once at my old
school and it was such fun. We should have plenty to eat and
drinkand think how exciting it would be to have it in the
middle of the night! "
Rosemary agreed. '' Should we have it at midnight ?" she
asked. " We couldn't very well have it earlier, because some of
the mistresses and masters might be up."
" Yeswe'll have it just after midnight," said Arabella. "
But we won't ask Elizabeth ! She's such a horrid thing she might
give the secret away and spoil the feast! "
" All right," said Rosemary. " Wellwho will you ask,
then ?"
Everyoneexcept just a few who are Elizabeth's old
friends," said Arabella. " We won't ask Kathleen or Harryor
Robert. They still stick up for Elizabeth.


Anyway, I suppose Elizabeth wouldn't come, even if we

did ask her, because she might think a midnight feast was
against the silly rules, and she's a monitor."
So the first form once more had a secret that was
whispered from one to the other. Elizabeth heard the talking,
and noticed that it died down when she passed. She thought they
must be whispering about her again, and she was angry and sad.
Julian was asked, of course, and Martin. Julian's green eyes
gleamed when he heard of the midnight feast. This was just the
sort of daring thing he liked.
The children discussed where they should hide the food
and drink. They did not Want the mistresses to guess what they
were going to do.
" We'll show the birthday-cake round, and have some of it
for tea," said Arabella, " but we won't say anything about the
other things."
" Hide the ginger beers in one of the garden sheds," said
Martin. " I know a good place. I'll put them there. I can fetch
them on the night."
" And put the biscuits in the old games locker in the
passage," said Julian. " It's never used, and no one will see it
there. I'll take them along."
So the goodies were hidden here and there, and the
children began to feel most excited. The few that were left out
did not know what was happening. They only knew that it was
Arabella's secret, and that a great fuss was being made of it.
Arabella always made a point of talking in a low voice
about the party whenever she saw Elizabeth coming near. Then
she would give a jump when she looked up and saw Elizabeth,
nudge the person she was talking to, and change the subject
quickly and loudly.
This annoyed Elizabeth very much. "You need not think 7
want to hear your stupid secret," she said to Arabella. " I don't.
So talk all you like about itI'll shut my ears ! "

All the same, it was not pleasant to be left out.

Neither was it pleasant to see Julian talking and laughing to
Arabella and Rosemary. She did not know that he did it
sometimes to annoy her. He could not bring himself to like the
boastful, vain little Arabella very much. But if his friendship with
her annoyed Elizabeth, then be would certainly go on with it!
Arabella's birthday came. The children wished her many
happy returns of the day and gave her little presents, which she
accepted graciously, with pretty Words of thanks. There was no
doubt that Arabella knew how to behave when she was getting her
own way !
Elizabeth gave Arabella nothingneither did she wish her a
happy birthday. She saw Julian give her a beautiful little brooch
he had made with his own clever hands. Arabella pinned it on

" Oh, Julian!" she said loudly, knowing that Elizabeth

could hear. " You are a good friend! Thank you ever so much."
The midnight feast was to be held in the common-room.
This room was well away from any of the mistresses' bedrooms,
and the children felt they would be safe there. They all felt
excited that day, and Miss Ranger wondered what could be the
matter with her class.
Quite by chance Elizabeth opened the old games locker in
the passage. She was hunting for a ball to practise catching
with on the lacrosse field, and she thought there might possibly
be one there. She stared in surprise at the bag of biscuits.
" I suppose Miss Ranger put them there," she thought, "
Perhaps she has forgotten them. I must tell her. She may want
them for the biscuits to give out at break."
But Elizabeth forgot all about them and didn't say anything
to Miss Ranger. She had no idea that they belonged to Arabella,
and were going to be eaten at the feast,
Arabella's secret was well kept. The children who had been
asked really were afraid that if Elizabeth got to know it she
might try to stop it, as she was a monitor. So they carefully said
nothing at all to her. She and a few others were quite in the dark
about it.
When midnight came all the children but Arabella were
asleep. She had said she would keep awake and tell everyone
when it was time. She was so excited that she had no difficulty
at all in keeping her eyes wide open until she heard the school
clock strike midnight from its tower.
She sat up in bed and groped for her dressing-gown. She
put on her slippers. Then, taking a small torch she went to wake
her friends, giving them little nudges.
They awoke with jumps. " Sh! " whispered Arabella to
each one. " Don't make a noise ! It's time for the midnight feast."


Elizabeth was sound asleep, and so was Kathleen. They did

not wake when the others padded out of their room to meet the
boys, who were now coming from their own part of the school
to the common-room. There was a lot of whispering, and
choked-back giggles could be heard all the way down the
The children crowded into the common-room and lighted
candles. They were afraid to put on the electric light in case the
strong light showed through the blinds.
" Anyway, it's more fun to have candles! " said Arabella
gleefully. This was the kind of thing she liked. She was queen of
the party ! She wore a beautiful blue silk dressing-gown and
blue silk slippers to match. She really looked lovely, and she
knew it.
The children set out the food and drink. What a lovely lot
there was !
" Sardines ! I love those ! " said Ruth.
" Tinned peaches ! Oooh ! How lovely ! "
" Bags I some of those chocolate buns ! They look as if
they would melt in my mouth ! "
" Pass that spoon, someone. I'll ladle out the peaches."
" Don't make such a noise, Belinda. That's twice you've
dropped a fork! You'll have Miss Ranger here if you don't look
Pop! A ginger-beer bottle was opened and another and
another. Pop ! Pop ! The children looked at one knottier,
delighted. This was really fun. It was past midnightand here
they were eating and drinking all kinds of lovely things !
" Where are the biscuits ? " said Arabella. " I feel as if I'd
like a biscuit to eat with these peaches. I can't See the biscuits.
Where are they ? "
" OhI forgot to get them," said Julian, getting up. " I'll
fetch them now, Arabella. I won't be a minute. They are in that
games locker."

He went out to fetch the biscuits, groping his way

along the passage, then up the stairs to where the locker stood in
a corner.
He had no torch and it was darkr He stumbled along, trying
to be as quiet as possible. He walked into a chair, and knocked it
over with a crash. He stood still, wondering if anyone had heard.
He was not far from the room where Elizabeth slept. When
the chair went over, the little girl awoke with a jump. She sat up
in bed, wondering what the noise was.
" I'd better go and see," she thought. She slipped out of bed
and put on her dressing-gown. She did not notice that half the
beds were empty in the dormitory.


She put on her slippers and crept to the door with her ,
torch not yet switched on.
She went into the passage and stood there. She walked
along a little way and thought she heard the noise of someone
not very far in front of her. She padded softly down the passage.
The Someone went to the old games locker. Elizabeth
distinctly heard the creak as it was opened. Who could it be ?
And what were they doing at that time of night? Elizabeth
walked softly up to the locker. She switched on her torch very
suddenly, and made Julian almost jump out of his skin.
" Julian ! What are you doing here ? Ohyou horrid, mean
thiefyou're stealing biscuits now! I think you're too disgusting
for words ! Put them back at once ! "
. " Sh ! " hissed Julian.
" You'll wake everyone, you
He did not attempt to put back the bag of biscuits. He
meant to take them to the feast. But Elizabeth did not know that,
of course. She honestly thought he had come there to steal the
biscuits in the middle of the night.
" WellI've really caught you this time ! " she cried. "
Caught you with stolen goods in your hand! You can't deny
that! Give them to me ! "
Julian snatched them away. The lid of the locker fell with a
terrific bang that echoed all up and down the passage.
" Idiot! " said Julian, in despair. " Now you've wakened


Sneezing Powder
THE crash of the locker lid certainly had awakened a good
many people. There came the sound of footsteps and of doors
being opened. The mistresses would soon be on the scene.
Julian fled to warn the others, giving Elizabeth a furious
push as he passed her. She ,almost fell over. She did not know
where he had gone, so she ran back to her own dormitory,
excited to think that she really had caught Julian in the very act
of stealing the biscuits.
" Now I'll report him ! " she thought, as she climbed into
bed. " I jolly well will ! "
Julian ran to the common-room and opened the door. "
Quick ! " he said. " Get back to your beds. Elizabeth caught me
as I was getting the biscuits, and made an awful noise. If you
don't get back quickly, we'll all be caught."
Hastily the children stuffed everything into their lockers
round the wall, or into empty desks. Then they blew out the
candles and fled, hoping that they had not left too many crumbs
The boys raced for their own dormitories. The girls rushed
to theirs.
" Blow Elizabeth! " panted Arabella as she took off her
dressing-gown and slipped into bed. " We were just in the
middle of everything. Now it's all spoilt I "
The mistresses had been asking one another what the noise
was. Mam'zelle, who slept nearest to the first-form dormitories,
was a sound sleeper, and had heard nothing at all. She was
surprised when Miss Ranger opened the door and woke her.
" Perhaps it is the girls in the first-form dormitories

playing tricks on one another," said Mam'zelle sleepily.

You go and see, Miss Ranger."
But, by the time that Miss Ranger went into the dormitories
and switched on the lights, not a sound was
to be heard. All the children seemed to be sleeping most
-peacefully. Too peacefully really, Miss Ranger thought!
Elizabeth saw the light switched on, and out of the corner
of her eye she watched Miss Ranger. Should she tell her what
had happened ? No-she wouldn't. She would spring it on the
School Meeting to-morrow, and make everyone sit up and take
Miss Ranger switched off the light and went quietly back
to bed. She couldn't imagine what the noise had been. Perhaps
the school cat had been chasing about and upset something.
Miss Ranger got into bed and fell asleep.
Elizabeth lay awake a long time, thinking of Julian and the
biscuits. She was quite, quite sure now that Julian was a
disgusting thief. All that talk about doing what he liked and
letting others do what they liked ! It was just a way of excusing
himself for his bad ways.
" He'll get a shock when I stand up at the Meeting and
report him," thought Elizabeth.
The children were angry that Elizabeth should have
brought their fun to such a sudden end. " Shall we give her a
good scolding ? " said Arabella primly.
" Wellshe doesn't know about the feast," said Julian, "
though she must have wondered what you had all been up to
when you crept back to bed so suddenly."
Elizabeth had wonderedbut she knew that Arabella had
had a birthday and she had simply thought that the girls had
visited her that night, and had a few games. She had not thought
of a feast.
" Don't let's tell her," said Julian. " We could finish , the
feast to-nightand she might stop it if she guessed."

So no one told Elizabeth that she had spoilt the feast, but
they gave her many black looks which puzzled her very much.
Julian thought of a way to pay back Elizabeth for spoiling
the fun the night before. He told the others.
" Look," he said, " I've made some sneezing powder. I'll
scatter some between the pages of Elizabeth's French book
and we'll all watch her get a sneezing fit in Mam'zelle's class."
" Oooh yes ! " said everyone in delight. This -was a joke
after their own hearts.
Julian slipped into the classroom before afternoon school.
He went to Elizabeth's desk and opened it. He found her French
book, and lightly scattered the curious sneezing" powder over it.
He had discovered it when he was inventing something else, and
had found himself suddenly sneezing. Julian was always


something new, thinking of something that no one had

thought of before!
He scattered the pages full of the white powder, then shut
the book carefully and put it back. He slipped out of the
classroom, grinning. Elizabeth would get a surprise in the
French class. So would Mam'zelle.
The children went to their form-rooms when the bell rang
for afternoon school. " French! " groaned Jenny. " Oh dear.
I'm sure I shall forget everything if Mam'zelle is in a bad
" I feel so sleepy," whispered Arabella to Rosemary, who
also looked tired, after the midnight feast. " I hope Mam'zelle
doesn't pick on me if she wants to be cross. I hope she'll pick
Elizabeth. Won't it be fun if she does start sneezing! "
There was oral French for the first ten minutes. Then
Mam'zelle told the class to get out their French reading books.
Elizabeth got out hers and opened it.
It was not long before the sneezing powder did its work.
As the little girl turned over the pages, some of the fine white
powder flew up her nose and tickled it. She felt a sneeze coming
and got out her hanky.
" A-tish-oo ! " she said. Mam'zelle took no notice.
" A-TISH-OO ! " said Elizabeth, wondering if she had got a
cold. " A-TISH-OOOOOO ! "
Mam'zelle looked up.
Elizabeth hastily tried to
smother the next sneeze. There was a pause, in which
' Jenny read out loud from her French book. She came to
the end of the page, and turned over. Everyone did the same.
The turning of the page sent more of the powder up
Elizabeth's nose. She felt another sneeze coming and hurriedly
put up her hanky. But she couldn't stop it.
were quite loud enough to drown Jenny's reading. One or two of
the children began to choke back giggles. They waited for

Elizabeth's next sneeze. It came. It was such a loud one that it

made Mam'zelle jump.
" Enough, Elizabeth," she said. " You will sneeze no more.
It is not necessary. Do not disturb the class like this."
" I can'ta-TISH-ooohelp it," said poor Elizabeth, with
tears streaming down her cheeks, for the powder was very
strong. " A-tish-tish-tish-oooo ! "
Mam^zelle became angry. " Elizabeth ! Last week it was
drops falling on your headthis week it is sneezes. I will not
have it."
" A-tish-ish-ish-ooo-ooo," said poor Elizabeth. The class
began to laugh helplessly. Mam'zelle flew into a temper and
banged on the desk.
" Elizabeth! You are a monitor and you behave like this ! I
will not have it. You will stop this sneezing game at once."
" A tish-OOOOOO ! " said Elizabeth. The children
laughed till the tears ran down their cheeks. This was the
funniest thing they had ever seen.
" Leave the room, and do not come back," ordered
Mam'zelle sternly. " I will not have you in my class."
" But oh, Mam'zelle, pleasetishoo, tishoo, tishoo oh
Mam'zelle," began Elizabeth. But Mam'zelle came over to her,
took her firmly by the shoulders, and walked her to the door.
She shut it behind Elizabeth and turned to face the class
" This is not funny," she said. " Not at all funny."
The boys and girls thought it was. They tried their hardest
to swallow down their giggles, but every now and again
someone would choke, and that would set the whole class
giggling again.
Mam'zelle was very angry indeed. She set them a page of
poetry to copy out that evening as a punishment, but even that
did not make the class stop giggling.


Elizabeth stood outside the door, upset and puzzled. "

Whatever made me sneeze like that ? " she wondered. " I'm not
sneezing at all, out here. Am I starting a very bad cold ? I
simply could not stop sneezing in the
classroom. It was mean of Mam'zelle to send me out here."
And then, to Elizabeth's horror, William, the head-boy,
came along, talking to Mr. Lewis, the music-master. Elizabeth
tried to look as if she wasn't there s all. But it was no use.
William knew at once she had been sent out of the room.
" Elizabeth ! " he said. " Surely you haven't been sent out
of the room again! Rita told me you had, last week. Are you
forgetting you are a monitor ? "
" No," said Elizabeth miserably. " I'm not. Mam'zelle sent
me out because I couldn't stop sneezing, William. She thought I
was doing it on purpose. But I wasn't."
" Well, you are not sneezing now," said William.
" I know. I stopped as soon as I came out here," said
William walked on, thinking that Elizabeth must have been
playing a silly joke. He would have to speak to Rita about it.
They could not have monitors being sent out of the room like
that. It was not right to have monitors setting a bad example.
Elizabeth had no idea that Julian had played a joke on her.
She really thought she had been sneezing because she was
beginning a cold. She was surprised when no cold came.
" Well, I shall go to the Meeting to-night," she thought.
"And it will serve Julian right to be shown up in front of
everyone. I know they will believe me, because I am a monitor."


A Stormy Meeting
THE children filed into the big hall for the usual School
Meeting that night. Elizabeth was excited and strung-up. She
longed to get the Meeting over, and have everything settled.
" Any money for the Box ? " said William, as usual. Ten
shillings came in from a boy who had had a postal order from an
uncle. Arabella put in two poundsher birthday money. She
had learnt her lesson about that! She was not going to be
reported for keeping back money again.
Two shillings was given to everyone. Then William and
Rita dealt with requests for more money. Elizabeth could hardly
keep still. She felt nervous. She glanced at Julian. He sat as
usual on the bench, a lock of hair falling into his eyes. He
brushed it back impatiently.
" Any complaints ? " The familiar question came from
William, and a small boy sprang up before Elizabeth could
" Please, William ! The other children in my class are
always calling me a dunce because I'm bottom. It isn't fair."
" Have you spoken to your monitor about it ? " asked
" Yes," said the small boy.
" Who is your monitor ? " asked William.
A bigger boy stood up. " I am," he said. " Yes the others
do tease James. He has missed a lot of school through illness, so
he doesn't know as much as the others. But I spoke to his
teacher, and she says he could really try harder than he does,
because he has good brains. He doesn't need to be bottom very

" Thank you," said William. The monitor sat down, " Well,
James, you heard what your monitor said. You yourself can soon
stop the others teasing you, by using your good brains and not
being bottom! You may have got so used always to being at the
bottom that it didn't occur to you you could be anything else. But
it seems that you can ! "
" Oh," said James, looking pleased and rather surprised. He
sat down with a bump. His form looked at him, not quite knowing
whether to be cross with him or amused. They suddenly nudged
one another and grinned. James looked round, smiling too.
" Any more complaints ? " asked Rita.
" Yes, Rita! " said Elizabeth, and jumped up so suddenly that
she almost upset her chair. "I have a very serious complaint to
A ripple of whispering ran through the school. Everyone sat
up straight. What was Elizabeth going to say ? Arabella went
rather pale. She hoped Elizabeth was not going to complain about
her again. Julian glanced sharply at Elizabeth. Surelysurely she
wasn't going to speak about him !
But she was, of course. She began to make her complaint,
her words almost falling over one another.
" Rita, William! It's about Julian," she began. " I have
thought for some time that he was taking things that didn't belong
to himand yesterday I caught him at it! I caught him with the
things in his hand! He was taking them out of the old games
locker in the passage."
" Elizabeth, you must explain better," said Rita, looking
grave and serious. " This is a terrible charge you are making. We
shall have to go deeply into it, and unless you really have proof
you had better say no more, but come to me and William
" I have got proof ! " said Elizabeth. " I saw Julian take the
biscuits out of the locker. I don't know who they belonged to
Miss Ranger, I suppose. Anyway, Julian


must have found them there, and when he thought we were

all asleep at night he went to take them. And I heard him and
saw him."
The whole school was quite silent. The first-formers
looked at one another, their hearts beating fast. Now their
midnight feast would have to be found out! Julian would have to
give away their secret.
William looked at Julian. He was sitting with his hands in
his pockets, looking amused.
" Stand up, Julian, and tell us your side of the story," said
Julian stood up, his hands still in his pockets. " Take your
hands out of your pockets," ordered William. Julian did so. He
looked untidy and careless as he stood there, his green eyes
twinkling like a gnome's.
" I'm sorry, William," he said, " but I can't give any
explanation, because I should give away a secret belonging to
others. All I can say isI was not stealing the biscuits. I was
certainly taking thembut not stealing them ! "
He sat down. Elizabeth jumped up, like a jack-in-the-box. "
You see, William ! " she said, " he can't give you a proper
explanation ! "
" Sit down, Elizabeth," said William sternly. He looked at
the first-formers, who all sat silent and uncomfortable, not
daring to glance at one another. How good of Julian not to gi /e
them away! How awful all this was!
" First-formers," said William gravely, " I hope that if any
one of you can help to clear Julian of this very serious charge,
you will do so, whether it means giving away some secret or
not. If Julian, out of loyalty to one or more of you, cannot stick
up for himself, then you must be loyal to him, and tell what you


There was a silence after this. Rosemary sat trembling, not

daring to move. Belinda half got up then sat down again. Martin
looked straight ahead, rather pale.
It was Arabella who gave the first form a great surprise.
She suddenly stood up, and spoke in a low voice.
" William, I'd better say something, I think. We did have a
secret, and it's decent of Julian not to give it away. You seeit
was my birthday yesterdayand we thought we'd have aaa
midnight feast."
She stopped, so nervous that she could hardly go on. The
whole school was listening with the greatest interest.
" Go on," said Rita gently.
" Wellwell, you see, we had to hide the things here and
there," said Arabella. " It was all such fun. We didn't tell
Elizabethbecause she's a monitor and might have tried to stop
us. Well, Julian hid my biscuits in the old games lockerand he
went to get them after midnight, when the feast had begun. I
suppose that's when Elizabeth means. But they were my biscuits,
and I asked him to get them, and he brought them back to


the common-room where we were. And I think it's jolly

mean of Elizabeth to accuse Julian of stealing them. She's done
that before. The whole forms knows she's been saying that he
takes money and sweets that don't belong to him."
This was a very long speech. Arabella finished it suddenly,
and sat down, almost panting. Julian looked at her gratefully. He
knew that she would not at all like telling the secret of the
midnight partybut she had done it to save him. His opinion of
the vain little girl went up sky-highand so did everyone else's.
William and Rita had listened closely to all that Arabella
had said. So had Elizabeth. When she had heard the explanation
of Julian's midnight wanderings she went very white, and her
knees shook. She knew in a moment that in that one thing, at
any rate, she had made a terrible mistake. William turned to
Elizabeth, and his eyes were very sharp and stern.
" Elizabeth, it seems that you have done a most unforgiveable thingyou have accused Julian publicly of
something he hasn't done. I suppose you did not even ask him to
explain his action to you, but just took it for granted that he was
doing wrong."
Elizabeth sat glued to her seat. She could not say a word.
" Arabella says that this is not the only time you have
accused Julian. There have been other times too. As this last
accusation of yours has been proved to be wrong, it is likely that
the other complaints you have made to the first form are wrong
too. So we will not hear them in public. But Rita and I will want
you to come to us privately and explain everything."
" Yes, William," said Elizabeth in a low voice. " I'm I'm
very, very sorry about what I said just now. I didn't know."
" That isn't any excuse," said William sternly. " I can't
think what has happened to you this term, Elizabeth. We made
you a monitor at the end of last


term because we all thought you should bebut this term

you have let us all down. I am afraid that already many of us are
thinking that you should no longer be a monitor."
Several boys and girls agreed. They stamped on the floor
with their feet.
" Twice you have been sent out of your classroom," said
William. " And for the same reasondisturbing the class by
playing foolish tricks. That is not the behaviour of a monitor.
Elizabeth, I am afraid that we can no longer ask you to help us
as a monitor. You must step down and leave us to choose
someone else in your place."
This was top much for Elizabeth. She gave an enormous
sob, jumped down from the platform and rushed out of the
room. She was a failure. She was no good as a monitor. And oh,
she had been so proud of it too!
William did not attempt to stop her rushing from the room.
He looked gravely round the well-filled benches. " We must
now choose another monitor," he said. " Will you please begin
thinking who will best take Elizabeth's place ? "
The children sat still, thinking. The Meeting had been
rather dreadful in some waysbut to every child there had
come a great lesson. They must never, never accuse anyone of
wrong-doing unless they were absolutely certain. Every child
had clearly seen the misery that might have been caused, and
they knew ,that Elizabeth's punishment was just.
Poor Elizabeth! Always rushing into trouble. What would
she do now ?


Elizabeth Sees William and Rita
ANEW monitor was chosen in place of Elizabeth. It was a
girl in the second form, called Susan. Not one child outside the
first form had chosen a first-former. It was clear that most
people felt that the first form would do better to have an older
girl or boy for a monitor.
" Arabella, it was brave of you to own up about the
midnight feast," said Rosemary admiringly. All the others
thought so too. Arabella felt pleased with herself. She really had
done it unselfishly, and she was rather surprised at herself for
doing such a thing. It was nice to feel that the rest of the form
admired her for something.
One person was feeling rather uncomfortable. It was
Julian. He felt very angry with Elizabeth for making such an
untruthful and horrible complaint about him but he did know
that it was because of his tricks she had been sent out of the
room twice, and not because of her own foolishness. Partly
because of his tricks and their results, Elizabeth had lost the
honour of being a monitor.
" Of course, William and Rita might have said she couldn't
be because she complained wrongly about me," said Julian to
himself. " But it sounded as if it was because of her being sent
out of the room. Well, she doesn't deserve to be a monitor
anywayso why should I worry ? "
But he did worry a little, because, like Elizabeth, he was
really very fair-minded, and although he did not like the little
girl, he knew that dislike was no excuse at all for being unfair.
He had come very well out of the whole affair, thanks to
Arabella. But Elizabeth had


not. Even Harry, Robert, and Kathleen, her own good

friends, had nothing nice to say
of her at the moment.
The Meeting broke up after
choosing the new monitor. The
children went out, talking over
what had happened. You never
knew what would come out at a
School Meeting.
" Nothing can be hidden at
Whyteleafe School!" said Eileen,
one of the older girls. " Sooner or
later everyone's faults come to
light, and are put right. Sooner or
later our good points are seen and
rewarded. And we do it all
ourselves. It's very good for us, I
Miss Belle and Miss Best
had been present at the Meeting,
and had listened with great
interest to all that had happened.
William and Rita stayed behind
to have a word with them.
" Did we do right, Miss
-Belle ? " asked William.
" I think so," said Miss
Belle, and Miss Best nodded too.
"But, William, have Elizabeth
along as soon as ever you can,
and let her get off her chest all
that she has been thinking about Julian there is clearly
something puzzling there. Elisabeth does not get such


fixed ideas into her head without some reason. There is still
something we don't know."
"Yes. We'll send for Elizabeth now," said Rita. " I wonder
where she is."
She was out in the stables in the dark, sobbing against the
horse she rode each morning. The horse nuzzled up to her,
wondering what was upsetting his little mistress. Soon she dried
her eyes, and sat down on an upturned pail in a corner.
She was puzzled, deeply sorry for what she had said j(bout
Julian, very much ashamed of herself, and horrified at losing the
honour of being a monitor. She felt that she could never face the
others again. But she knew she would have to.


" What is the matter with me ? " she wondered. " I make up
my mind to be so good and helpful and everythingand then I
go and do just the opposite ! I lose
my temper, I say dreadful thingsand now everyone hates
me. Especially Julian. It's funny about Julian. I did see that he
had my marked shilling. I did see that one of my sweets fell out
of his pocket. So that's why I thought he was stealing the
biscuits, and he wasn't. But did he take the other things ? "
Someone came by calling loudly. " Elizabeth! Where are
you ? "
Messengers had been sent to find her, to tell her to go to
Rita and William. She could not be found in the school, so Nora
had come outside to look for her with a torch.
At first Elizabeth thought she would not answer. She
simply could not go in and face the others just yet. Then a little
courage came to her, and she stood up.
" I'm not a coward," she thought. " William and Rita have
punished me partly for something I haven't donebecause I
really didn't play about in classbut the other thing I did doI
did make an untruthful complaint about Julian, though I thought
at the time it was true. So I must just face up to it and not be
" Elizabeth, are you out here ? " came Nora's voice again.
This time the little girl answered. " Yes. I'm coming."
She came out of the stables, rubbing her eyes. Nora flashed
her torch at her. " I've been looking everywhere for you, idiot,"
she said. " William and Rita want you. Hurry up."
" All right," said Elizabeth, feeling her heart sink. Was she
going to be scolded again ? Wasn't it enough that she should
have been disgraced in public without being scolded in private ?
She rubbed her hanky over her face and ran to the school.
She made her way to William's study. She knocked at the door.
" Come in ! " said William's voice. She went in and


saw the head-boy and girl sitting in arm-chairs. They both

looked up gravely as she came in.
" Sit there," said Rita in a kindly voice. She felt sorry for
the headstrong little girl who was so often in trouble. Elizabeth
felt glad to hear the kindness in Rita's voice. She sat down.
" Rita," she said, " I'm terribly sorry for being wrong about
Julian. I did think I was right. I honestly did."
" That's what we want to see you about," said Rita. " We
couldn't allow you to say any more about Julian in public, in
case you were wrong again. But we want you to tell us now all
that has happened to make you feel so strongly against Julian."
Elizabeth told the head-boy and girl everythingall about
Rosemary's money going and Arabella's; how her own marked
shilling had goneand had appeared in Julian's hand, when he
was spinning coins; and how her own sweet had fallen from his
" You are quite, quite sure about these things ? " asked
William, looking worried. It was quite clear to him that there
was a thief aboutsomebody in the first formbut he was not
so sure as Elizabeth that it was Julian! He and Rita both thought
that whatever the boy's faults were, however careless and don'tcareish he was, dishonesty was not one of his failings.
" So you see, William and Rita," finished Elizabeth
earnestly, " because of all these things I jumped to the idea that
Julian was stealing the biscuits last night. It was terribly wrong
of mebut it was the other things that made me think it."
" Elizabeth, why did you think you could put matters right
yourself, when the money first began to disappear ? " asked
Rita. " It was not your business. You should not have laid a trap.
You should have come straight to us, and let us deal with it.
You, as a monitor, should report these things to us, and let us
think out the right way of dealing with them."


" Oh," said Elizabeth, surprised. " Oh. I somehow thought

that as I was a monitor I could settle things myselfand I
thought it would be nice to put things right without worrying
you or the Meeting."
" Elizabeth, you must learn to see the difference between
big things and little things," said Rita. " Monitors can settle such
matters as seeing that no one talks after lights are out, giving
advice in silly little quarrels, and things like that. But when a big
thing crops up we expect our monitors to come to us and report
it. See what you have done by trying to settle the matter
yourself. You have brought a terrible complaint against Julian,
you have made Arabella give away the secret she wanted to
keep, and you have lost the honour of being made a monitor."
"I felt so grand and important, being a monitor," said
Elizabeth, wiping away two tears that ran down her cheek.
" Yesyou felt too grand and important," said Rita. " So
grand that you thought you could settle a matter that even Miss
Belle and Miss Best might find difficult! Well, there is a lot you
have to learn, Elizabethbut you do make things as hard for
yourself as possible, don't you ' "


" Yes, I do," said Elizabeth. " I don't think enough. I just go
rushing along, losing my temperand my friendsand
everything ! " She gave a heavy sigh.
" Well," said William, " there is one thing about you,
Elizabethyou have got the courage to see your own faults, and
that is the first step to curing them. Don't worry too much. You
may get back all you have lost if only you are sensible."
" I think we had better get Julian here and tell him all that
Elizabeth has said," said Rita. " Perhaps he can throw some light
on that marked shillingand the sweet. I feel certain he didn't
take them."
" Ohlet me go before he comes," begged Elizabeth, who
felt that Julian was the very last person she wanted to meet just
then. She pictured his green eyes looking scornfully at her. No
she couldn't bear to meet him just then.
" Noyou must stay and hear what he has to say," said
Rita firmly. " If Julian didn't take these things, there is
something queer about the matter. We must find out what it is."
So Elizabeth had to sit in William's study, waiting for
Julian to come. Oh dear, what a perfectly horrid day this was !


Good at Heart!
JULIAN came at once. He was surprised to see Elizabeth
in the study too. He gave her a look, and then turned politely to
William and Rita.
" Julian, we have heard a lot of puzzling things from
Elizabeth," said William. " We are sure you have an explanation
of them. Will you listen to me, whilst I tell you themand then
you can tell us what you think."
Julian listened whilst William told all that Elizabeth had
poured out to him and Rita. Julian looked surprised and puzzled.
" I see now why Elizabeth thought I was the thief," he said.
" It did look very odd, I must say. Did I really have the marked
shilling ? And did a sweet of Elizabeth's really fall out of my
pocket ? I heard something fall, but as the sweet wasn't mine, I
didn't pick it up. I saw it on the floor, but I didn't even know it
had fallen from my pocket. I certainly never put it there."
" How did it get there then ? " said Rita, puzzled.
" I believe I've got that shilling now," said Julian suddenly.
He felt in his pockets and took out a brand-new coin. He looked
at it closely. In one place a tiny black cross could still be seen. "
It's the same shilling," said Julian.
" That's the cross I marked," said Elizabeth, pointing to it.
Julian stared at it thoughtfully.
" You know, I'm sure, now I come to think of it, that I
didn't have a bright new shilling like this out of the box that
week," he said. " I'd have noticed it. I'm sure I got two old
shillings. So someone must have pot this new shilling into my
pocketand taken out an Old shilling. Why?"


" And someone must have put one of Elizabeth's sweets

into your pocket too," said William. " Does any boy or girl
dislike you very much, Julian ? "
Julian thought hard. " Well, noexcept, of course,
Elizabeth," he said.
Elizabeth suddenly felt dreadfully upset when she heard
this. All her dislike for Julian had gone, now that she felt, with
Rita and William, that Julian hadn't taken the money or sweets,
but that someone had played a horrible trick on him.
" Elizabeth just hates me," said Julian, " but I'm sure she
wouldn't do a thing like that! "
" Oh, Julianof course I wouldn't," said poor Elizabeth,
almost in tears again. " Julian, I don't hate you. I'm more sorry
than I can say about everything that has happened. I feel so
ashamed of myself. I'm always doing things like this. You'll
never forgive me, I know."
Julian looked gravely at her out of his curious green eyes. "
I have forgiven you," he said unexpectedly. " I never bear
malice. But I don't like you very much and I can't be good
friends with you any more, Elizabeth. But there is something I'd
like to own up to now."
He turned to William and Rita. " You said, at the Meeting,
that Elizabeth had twice been sent out of the room for
misbehaving herself," he said. " Well, it wasn't her fault." He
turned to Elizabeth. " Elizabeth, I played a trick on you over
those books. I put springs under the bottom onesand they fell
over when the springs had untwisted themselves. And I stuck
pellets on the ceiling just above your chair, so that drops fell on
your head when the chemicals in them changed to water. And I
put sneezing powder in the pages of your French book."
William and Rita listened to all this in the greatest
astonishment. They hardly knew what Julian was talking about.
But Elizabeth, of course, knew very well indeed. She gaped at
Julian in the greatest surprise.

Springs under her books ! Pellets on the ceiling that turned to

water ! Sneezing powder in her books ! The little girl could hardly
believe her ears. She stared at Julian in amazement, quite
forgetting her tears.
And then, very suddenly, she laughed. She couldn't help it.
She thought of her books jumping off her desk in that peculiar
manner. She thought of those puzzling drops of water splashing
downand that fit of sneezing. It all seemed to her very funny,
even though it had brought her scoldings and punishments.
How she laughed! She threw back her head and roared.
William, Rita, and Julian could not have been more surprised.
They stared at the laughing girl, and then they began to laugh too.
Elizabeth had a very infectious laugh that always made everyone
else want to join in.
At last Elizabeth wiped her eyes and stopped. " Oh, dear,"
she said, "I can't imagine how I could laugh like that when I felt
so unhappy. But I couldn't help it, it all seemed so funny when I
looked back and remembered what happened and how puzzled I
Julian suddenly put out his hand and took Elizabeth's.
"You're a little sport," he said. " I never for one moment thought
you'd laugh when I told you what I'd done to pay you out. I
thought you might cryor fly into a temperor sulkbut I
never thought you'd laugh. You're a real little sport, Elizabeth, and
I like you all over again ! "
" Oh," said Elizabeth, hardly believing her ears. " Oh,
Julian ! You are nice. But oh, what a funny thing to like me again
just because I laughed."
" It isn't really funny," said William. " People who can laugh
like that, when the joke has been against them, are, as Julian says,
good sports, and very lovable. That laugh of yours has made
things a lot better, Elizabeth. Now we understand one another a
good deal more."
Julian squeezed Elizabeth's hand. " I don't mind *the silly things
you said about me, and you don't mind

the silly things I did against you," he said. " So we're quits
and we can begin all over again. Will you be my friend ? "
" Oh yes, Julian ! " said Elizabeth happily. " Yes, I'd love
to. And I don't care if you make hail or snow fall on my head, or
put any powder you like into my books now. Oh, I do feel happy
William and Rita looked at one another and smiled.
Elizabeth seemed to fall in and out of trouble as easily as a duck
splashed in and out of water. She could be very foolish and do
silly, hot-tempered, wrong thingsbut she was all right at heart.
" Well," said William, " we have cleared up a lot of things
but we still don't know who the real thief was or is, for he
or she may still be taking other things. We can only hope to find
out soon, before any other trouble is made. By the way,
Elizabeth, if your first accusation of Julian was made privately
and secretly, as you said, how was it that all the first form
knew ? Surely you did not tell them yourself ? "
" No, I didn't say a word," said Elizabeth at once. " I said I
wouldn't, and I didn't."
" Well, 7 didn't say anything," said Julian. " And yet the
whole form knew and came to tell me about it."
" Only one other person knew," said Elizabeth, looking
troubled. " And that was Martin Follett. He was in the stables,
Julian, whilst we were outside. He came out when you had
walked off, and he offered me a shilling in place of mine that
had gone. I thought it was very nice of him. He promised not to
say a word of what he had heard."
" Well, he must have told pretty well everyone, the little
sneak," said Julias, who, for some reason, had never liked
Martin as much as the others had. "Anyway, it doesn't matter.
Wellthanks, William and Rita, for having us along and
making us see sense."
He gave his sudden, goblin-like grin, and his green yes
shone. Elizabeth looked at him with a warm liking.

How could she ever have thought that Julian would do a

really mean thing ? How awful she was! She never gave anyone
a chance.
" He's always saying he does as he likes, and he's not going
to bother to work if he doesn't want to, and he doesn't care what
trouble he gets into, and he plays the most awful tricksbut I'm
certain as certain could be that he's good at heart," said
Elizabeth to herself.
And Julian grinned at her and thought: " She flies into the
most awful tempers, and says the silliest things, and makes
enemies right and leftbut I'm certain as certain can be that
she's good at heart! "
" Well, good-night, you two trouble-makers," said
.William, and he gave them a friendly push. " Elizabeth,

I'm sorry about you not being a monitor any more, but I
think you see yourself that you want to get a bit more common
sense before the children will trust you again. You do fly off the
handle so when you get an idea into your head."
" Yes, I know," said Elizabeth. " I've failed this timebut
I'll have another shot and do it properly, you see if I don't!"
The two went out, and William and Rita looked at one
" Good stuff in both those kids," said William. " Let's make
some cocoa, Rita. It's getting late. Golly, I wonder who's the
nasty little thief in the first form. It must be somebody there.
He's not only a nasty little thief, but somebody very doublefaced, trying to make someone else bear the blame for his own
misdeeds by putting the marked shilling into Julian's pocket! "
" Yes, it must be someone really bad at heart," said Rita. "
Someone it will be very difficult to deal with. It might be a girl
or a boyI wonder which."
Julian and Elizabeth went down the passage to their own
common-room. It was almost time for bed. There was about a
quarter of an hour left.
" I'm coming into the common-room with you," said Julian,
and Elizabeth squeezed his arm gratefully. He had sensed that
she did not want to appear alone in front of all the first form. It
was going to be hard to face everyone, now that she had been
disgraced, and was no longer a monitor.
" Thank you, Julian," she said, and opened the door to go


Julian is Very Funny
THE first-formers had been talking about Elizabeth most
of the time, wondering where she was, and saying that it served
her right to be punished. Everyone was on Julian's side, there
was no doubt about that.
" I shall tell Julian just what I think of Elizabeth," said
Arabella. " I never did like her, not even when I stayed with her
in the hols."
" I must say I think it was a pity that Elizabeth accused
Julian without being certain," said Jenny.
"I suppose she was feeling annoyed because she had been
left out of my party," said Arabella spitefully. "So she got back
at Julian like that."
" No. That wouldn't be like Elizabeth," said Robert. " She
does do silly things, but she isn't spiteful."
" Well, I shan't speak a word to her ! " said Martin. " I
think she's been mean to Julian."
" Sh. Here she comes," suddenly said Belinda. The door
opened, and Elizabeth came in. She expected to see scornful
looks and even to hear scornful words, and she did. Some of the
children turned their backs on her.
Close behind her came Julian. He saw at once that the firstformers were going to make things difficult for Elizabeth.
" Julian," said Arabella, turning towards him. " We all feel
sorry to think of what you had to face at the Meeting to-night. It
was too bad."
" You must feel very angry about it," said Martin, " I
" I did," said Julian in his deep and pleasant voice, " but I
don't now. Come on, Elizabethwe've still got

about ten minutes before bed-time. I'll play a game of

double-patience with you. Where are the cards ? "
"In my locker," said
Elizabeth gratefully. It had been
dreadful coming into the room
and facing everyonebut how
good it was to have Julian sticking up for her like this her
friend once more. She fumbled
about for the cards in her locker.
Every boy and girl stared in
the greatest astonishment at
Julian. Had he gone mad ? Was
he being friendly to the person,
the very person, who had said
such awful things about him ? It
was impossible. It couldn't be
But clearly it was true.
Julian dealt the cards, and soon
he and Elizabeth were in the
middle of the game. The others
were so surprised that they
watched silently, not finding a
word to say. Arabella was the
most surprised, and it was she
who found her tongue first.
" Well! " she said, " what's
come over you, Julian ? Don't
you know that Elizabeth is your
worst enemy ? "
" You're wrong, Arabella," said Julian in an amiable voice.
" She's my best friend. Everything was a silly mistake."


There was something in Julian's voice that warned* the

others to say nothing. They turned to their own games, and left
Julian and Elizabeth alone.
" Thanks, Julian," whispered Elizabeth.
His green eyes looked at her with amusement. " That's all
right," he said. " Count on me if you want any help, Worst
Enemy ! "
" Oh, Julian! " said Elizabeth, half laughing and half
crying. Then the bell went for bed-time and everyone cleared
away books and games and went upstairs.
Things were not very easy for Elizabeth the next few days.
The other children did not forgive and forget as easily as Julian
did, and they treated her coldly. One or two were nice to her
Kathleen was, and Robert, and Harry. But most of them took no
notice of her, and seemed to be glad she was no longer monitor.
Joan, of the second form, who had been Elizabeth's friend
in the first term, came to find her. She took Elizabeth's hand and
squeezed it. " I don't quite know the rights and wrongs of it all,"
she said, " but I do know this, Elizabeththat you wouldn't
have said what you did if you hadn't really thought it was true. It
will all blow over and you'll be made monitor again, you'll see t"
Elizabeth was glad of the kind words that her real friends
gave her. " Now I know what it is like when people are kind to
others in trouble," she thought. " I ! shall remember how much I
like kindness now, when things have gone wrongand I shall
be the same to others if they get into trouble."
Elizabeth looked very serious these days. She
worked very hard, was very quiet, and her merry laugh did not
sound nearly so often. Julian teased her about it.
"You've gone all quiet, like Rosemary," he said. "Come on
laugh a bit, Elizabeth. I don't want a gloomy friend."
But Elizabeth had had a shock and had to get over it. Julian
wondered what he could do to make her her old jolly self. He
began to think out a few jokes.

He told the children what he was going to do. " Listen," he

said, " when Mr. Leslie, the science master, takes us for science
in the laboratory, I shall make some of my noises. But you must
none of you make out that you hear them. See ? Pretend that you
hear nothing, and we'll have a bit of fun."
Science was a bit dull that term. Mr. Leslie was rather
boring, and very strict. The children did not like him much, so
they looked forward with the greatest glee to Julian's idea. They
rushed to the lab that morning with much eagerness.
" What noises will you make ? " asked Belinda.
" Wait and see," said Julian, grinning. " We will have a bit
of funand Mr. Leslie will get a few surprises."
He certainly did. He walked stiffly into the room, nodded
to the children, and told them to take their places.
" Now, this morning," he said, " we are going to test potato
slices for starch. I have here ..."
He went on talking for a while, and then handed out small
slices of potato. Soon all the children's heads were bent over
their experiment.
A curious noise gradually made itself heard. It was like a
very high whistle, so high that it might have been the continual
squeak of a bat, or of a bow drawn over a very tightly strung
" Eeeeeeeeeee," went the noise. " Eeeeeeeeeee."
All the boys and girls stole a look at Julian. He was
bending over his work, and there was not a single movement of
mouth, lips, or throat to be seen. Yet they all knew he must be
making that weird noise.
Mr. Leslie looked up sharply. " What is that noise ! " he
asked at once.
" Noise ? " said Jenny, with an innocent stare. "What noise,
Mr. Leslie ? "
" That high, squeaking noise," said Mr. Leslie impatiently.


Jenny put her head on one side like a bird, pretending to

listen. All the other children did the same. From outside the
window there came the sound of an aeroplane in the sky, and in
a moment the plane came in sight.
" Oh. It was the aeroplane you heard, Mr. Leslie," said
Jenny brightly. Everyone giggled.
Mr. Leslie frowned. " Don't be absurd, Jenny. Aeroplanes
do not make a high squeaking noise. There it is again ! "
" Eeeeeeeeeee! " Everyone heard the noise, but pretended
not to. They bent their heads over their work, badly wanting to
Julian changed his noise. Into the room came a deep,
growling noise. Mr. Leslie looked startled.
" Is there a dog in the room ? " he asked.
" A dog, Mr. Leslie ? " said Belinda, looking all round. " I
can't see one."
Elizabeth exploded into a giggle which she tried to turn
into a cough. The growling noise went on,


sometimes hardly to be heard, sometimes very loud. Mr.

Leslie couldn't understand it.
" Can't you hear that noise ? " he said to the nearest
children. " Like a grow!."
" You said it was a squeak just now, sir," said Harry,
looking surprised. " Is it a squeaky growl, or a growly squeak ?"

Elizabeth exploded again, and Jenny stuffed her hanky into

her mouth. Mr. Leslie grew very cross.
" There is nothing funny to laugh at," he snapped. " My
goodnesswhat's that now ? "
Julian had changed his noise, and a curious, muffled boomboom-boom sound could be heard. It did not seem to come from
anywhere particular, least of all from Julian !
Mr. Leslie felt scared. He glanced at the children. Not one
of them seemed to be hearing this new boom-boom noise. How
strange! It must be his ears going wrong. He pmt his hands up to
them. Perhaps he wasn't well. People had noises in their ears
Boom-boom-boom went the strange muffled sound. " Can
you hear a boom-boom, noise? said Mr. Leslie in a low voice
to Harry. Harry put his head on one side and listened. He
listened with his hand behind one ear. He listened with it behind
the other. He listened with both hands behind both ears.
Elizabeth gave a loud giggle. She really couldn't help it.
Jenny giggled too. Mr. Leslie glared at them. Then he turned to
" Well, if you can't hear it, it must be something wrong
with my ears," he said. " Get on with your work, everyone. Stop
giggling, Jenny."
The next noise was like a creaking gate. It was too much
for poor Mr. Leslie. Muttering something about not feeling very
well, he fled out of the classroom, telling the children to get on
with their work till he came back.
Get on with their work ? That was quite impossible! Peals
of laughter, roars of mirth, squeals and giggles filled the room
from end to end. Tears poured down Jenny's cheeks. Harry
rolled on the floor, holding his aching sides. Elizabeth sent out
peal after peal of infectious laughter. Julian stood in the middle
of it and grinned.

" Oh, that has done me good! " said Elizabeth, wiping the
tears from her eyes. " I've never laughed so much in my life. Oh,
Julian, you're marvellous ! You must do it again. Oh, it was
gorgeous ! "
It did everyone good. Those gusts of laughter had cleared
the air of all spitefulness, scorn, and enmity. Everyone suddenly
felt friendly and warm. It was good to be together to laugh and
to play, to be friends. The first form was suddenly a much nicer
place altogether!

Julian has Some Shocks
JULIAN'S success in Mr. Leslie's class rather went to his
head. He tried several other noises in Mam'zelle's class, and in
the art class too. He tried a mooing noise in Mam'zelle's class,
not knowing how terrified she was of cows.
Poor Mam'zelle honestly thought that a cow was
wandering about in the passage outside, and she stood trembling
in horror. " A cow! " she said. "It is nothing but a cow that
makes that noise."
" Moo-ooo-oo," said the cow, and Mam'zelle shuddered.
She could not bear cows, and would never go into a field where
there was one.
" I'll go and shoo the cow away, Mam'zelle," said Jenny,
enjoying herself. She rushed to the door and there began a great
shooing, mooing noise which sent the class into fits of laughter.
Then Mam'zelle suddenly -came to the conclusion that cows do
not usually wander about school passages, and she looked

sharply at Julian. Could that dreadful boy be making one of his

famous noises ?
The first form had a wonderful time with Julian's noises
and tricks. There seemed no end to them. His brilliant brains
invented trick after trick, and they were so clever that no
mistress or master seemed able to guess that they were tricks
until it was too late.
Julian used the sneezing powder again, this time on Mr.
Lewis, the music-master, when he was taking a ringing lesson.
He took two or three forms together for singing, and the lesson
quickly became a gale of laughter as poor Mr. Lewis sneezed
time after time, trying in vain to stop himself. Julian was quite a
in the school for his many extraordinary jokes and tricks.
But he was not a hero to the teachers. They often talked of
him, sometimes angrily, sometimes sadly.
" He's the cleverest boy we've ever had at Whyte-leafe,"
said Miss Ranger. " Far and away the cleverest. If only he would
work he would win every scholarship there is. His brains are
marvellous if only he would use them."
"He thinks of nothing but jokes," said Mr. Leslie angrily.
He was now firmly convinced that the extraordinary noises he
had heard in the science lesson had been made by Julian, and he
was angry every time he thought of it. And yet that boy, as if to
make up for playing such a trick, had written out a really
brilliant essay for Mr. Leslie, an essay that he himself would
have been proud to write. He was a queer fellow, there was no
doubt about it.
At the School Meeting following the one in which
Elizabeth had lost her position as monitor, the little girl, now no
longer on the platform with the " Jury," but down in the hall
with the others, had got up to speak.


" I just want to say that I know now I was completely

wrong about Julian," she said humbly. " I have said so to him,
and he has been very nice about itand we are good friends
again, so that shows you how nice he has been. I'm sorry I was
such a bad monitor. If ever I am a monitor again I will do
" Thank you, Elizabeth," said William, as the little girl sat
down. " We are very glad to have Julian absolutely cleared of
the charge against himand glad to know that he has been big
enough to forgive you and to be friends so quickly."
There was a pause. Julian grinned at Elizabeth, and she
smiled back. It was good to be friends once more. Then William
spoke again, and a graver note was in his voice.
" But I have something else to say to Julian," he said. "
Something not quite so pleasant. Julian, all your teachers are
displeased with you. It is not so much that you play the fool in
class, and play tricks and jokes, but that you only use your
brains for those things and for nothing else. According to
everyone you have really wonderful brains, inventive and
originalbrains that could do something for the world later on

but you only use them for nonsense and rubbish, and never
for worth-while work."
He stopped. Julian flushed and put his hands deeper into
his pockets. He didn't like this at all.
" It's all very well to keep your class in fits of laughter, and
to be a hero because of your jokes," said William, " but it would
be much better to work hard also, and later on become a hero in
the world of science, or in the world of inventions."
" Oh, I don't care whether I'm famous or not when I'm
grown up," said Julian rather rudely. He was always rude when
he felt awkward. " I just want to have a good time, do what Ilike
and let others do what they like. Hard work is silly, and------"
" Stand up when you speak to us, and take your hands out
of your pockets," said William.
Julian frowned, stood up, and took his hands out of his
" Sorry, William," he said, his green eyes looking rather
angry. " I haven't any more to sayonly that they're my brains,
and I can choose how to use them myself, thank you. All this
goody-goody talk doesn't mean a thing to me."
" I can see that," said William. " It's a pity. It seems you
only care for yourself and what you want yourself. One day you
will learn differentlybut what will teach you, I don't know. I
am afraid it will be something that will hurt you badly."
Julian sat down, still red. Use his brains for hard work
when he could have a good time and laze around, playing tricks
and jokes to make his friends laugh! No, thank you. Time
enough to use his brains when he had to go out into the world
and earn his living.
Elizabeth said nothing to him about William's talk. It was a
little like she herself had once said to him when she was a
monitor. It wasn't goody-goody talk. It was common sense.
Julian was silly not to work. He could win marvellous


scholarships, and do all kinds of fine things when he grew up. It

was odd that he didn't want to.
The only effect that William's talk had on Julian was to
make him even lower in the form than before ! He was nearly
always bottom, but the next week his marks were so poor that
even Julian himself was surprised ; when they were read out. He
grinned round cheerfully. He didn't care if he was bottom or not!
The week went on, and soon half-term came near. The
children began to talk about their parents coming to see them.
Elizabeth spoke to Julian about it.
" Will your parents come, Julian ? "
" I hope so," said the boy. " I'd like you to see my mother.
She's simply lovely. She really isand so gay and merry and
"Julian's eyes shone as he spoke of his mother. It
was clear that he loved her better than anything on earth. He
loved his father too, but it was his pretty, gay mother who had his
" It's because of Mother I wear my hair too long," he said to
Elizabeth with a laugh. " She likes this silly haircut of mine, with
this annoying lock of hair always tumbling over my forehead. So I
keep it like that to please her. And she loves my jokes and tricks
and noises."
" But isn't she disappointed when she knows you are always
bottom of the form ? " asked Elizabeth curiously. " My mother
would be ashamed of me."
" Oh, mine likes me to have a good time," said Julian, " She
doesn't mind about places in class, or whether I'm top of exams or
Elizabeth thought that Julian's mother must be rather queer.
But then Julian was queer toovery lovable and exciting, but
Half-term came at lastand with it came most of the
children's parents, eager to see them. Mrs. Allen came and
Elizabeth gave her a great hug.

" You're looking well, darling," said Mrs. Allen. " Now, we
must ask Arabella to come out with us, mustn't webecause no
one is here to see her."
" Oh," said Elizabeth, " must we, Mother ? "
She caught sight of Julian, and called to him. " Julian, here's
my mother. Has yours come yet ? "
" No," said Julian, looking a little worried. " She hasn'tand
she said she would be here early. I wonder if the car has broken
Just then the telephone bell rang loudly in the hall. Mr. Johns
went to answer it. He beckoned to Julian and took the boy into the
nearest room. Elizabeth wondered if anything had happened.
" Mother, I must just wait for Julian to come out before I go
and get ready to come with you," she said. She hadn't long to wait.
The door opened, and Julian came out. But what a different


Julian! His face was quite white, and his eyes were full of
such pain that Elizabeth could hardly bear to look at them. She ran
to him.
"Julian! What's the matter? What has happened ? "
" Go away," said Julian, pushing her away blindly, as if he
could hardly see. He went into the garden by himself. Elizabeth
ran after Mr. Johns.
" Mr. Johns ! Mr. Johns ! What's the matter with Julian ?
Pleaseplease tell me."
" It's his mother," said Mr. Johns, " she's very ill
desperately ill. His father is a doctor, you know, and he is with
her, and some other very clever doctors too. She is too ill for him
even to see her. It's rather a blow for

him, as you can see. Maybe you can help him, Elizabeth.
You're his friend, aren't you ? "
" Yes," said Elizabeth, all her warm heart longing to
comfort the boy. He was so proud of his motherhe loved her
so much. She was the most wonderful person on earth to him.
Oh, surely, surely she would get better !
She ran to her mother. " Mother, listen. I can't come out today. I'm so sorrybut Julian's mother is desperately illand
I'm his friend, so I must stay with him. Could you just take
Arabella out, do you think ? I think I really must stay with
".Very well," said her mother, and she went to find
Arabella. Elizabeth went to hunt for Julian. Goodness knew
where he would hide himself ? He would be like a wounded
animal, going to some hole. Poor, poor Julian what could she
say to comfort him ?


Julian Makes a Solemn Promise
JULIAN was nowhere to be seen. Wherever had he gone ?
Elizabeth called to Harry. " Harry! have you seen Julian anywhere
" YesI saw him tearing down to the gates," said Harry. "
What's the matter with him ? "
Elizabeth didn't answer. She rushed down to the big school
gates too. She wondered if Julian had thought of catching a train
and going to his mother. She ran out of the gates and stood
looking down the road.
Some distance away, hurrying fast, was a boy. It must be
Julian. Elizabeth tore after him, panting. She must get hold of him
somehow. He was in trouble, and she might be able to help him.
She ran down the country lane and turned the corner. There
was no one in sight. How could Julian have gone so far in such a
short time !
He couldn't possibly have turned the next corner
yet! Elizabeth hurried along, feeling worried.
She came to the next corner. There was no one in sight on
the main road either. Where could Julian have gone ? She went
back some way, thinking that he might have gone into a field
through a gate a little way back. She passed a red telephone kiosk
without thinking of looking inside itand she was very startled
when she suddenly heard the click of the kiosk door, and heard
Julian's voice calling her urgently.
" Elizabeth ! Oh, Elizabeth! Have you got any change on
you? "
Elizabeth turned, and saw that Julian was in the telephone
box. She ran to him eagerly, fumbling in her pocket for her


" Yeshere is a sixpenceand some pennies," she said. "

What are you doing ? "
"Telephoning my father," said Julian. "Mr. Johns said I
wasn't to, at schoolhe said my father wouldn't want to be
worried by phone callsand I dare say he's rightbut I've GOT to
ask him a few questions myself. But I haven't got the right money
to put in the box for the call."
He took the money Elizabeth offered, and shut himself in the
telephone-box again. Elizabeth waited outside. She had to wait for
a long time.
It was a quarter of an hour before Julian could get through to
his father, and the boy was almost in despair with the delay. He
kept brushing his long lock of hair back, and he looked so white
and forlorn that it was all


Elizabeth could do not to open the kiosk door and go in

beside him.
But at last he got through to his father, and Elizabeth could
see him asking urgent questions, though she could hear nothing.
He spoke to his father for about five minutes, and then put down
the receiver. He came out, looking very white.
" I think I'm going to be sick," he said and went pale green.
He took Elizabeth's hand, and went through the near-by gate into
the field. He sat down, still looking green. But he wasn't sick. He
slowly lost his green look, and a little colour came back to his
" I'm an idiot," he said to Elizabeth, not looking at her, " but
I can't help it. Nobody knows how much I love my motheror
how sweet and loving she is."
Elizabeth saw that he was making a great effort not to cry,
and she wanted to cry herself. She didn't know what to do or say.
There didn't seem any words that were any use at all. So she just
sat close to Julian and squeezed his hand.
At last she spoke in a low voice. " What did your father
" He saidhe saidMother had just got a tiny chance," said
Julian, and he bit his lip hard. " Only a tiny chance. I can't bear to
think of it, Elizabeth."
" Juliandoctors are so clever nowadays," said Elizabeth. "
She will get better. They'll do something to save heryou'll see !
" My father said they're trying a new drug, a new ( medicine
on her," said Julian restlessly, pulling up the grass that grew
beside him. " He said that he and two other doctors have been
working on it for yearsand it's almost ready. He's getting some
to-day, to try it on Mother. He says it's the last hopeit will give
her a tiny chance."
" Julian, your father must be very clever," said Elizabeth. "
Oh, Julian, it must be marvellous to be as clever as that, and to be
able to discover things that can

save people's lives. Fancyjust fancyif your fathers

clever work should save your mother's life.
You must take
after him in brains, I think, Julian.
You're very clever too.
Oh, Julian, one day you might be able to save the life of
someone you love by using a great invention of your own."
Elizabeth had said these words in order to comfort Julian
but to her dismay and horror the boy turned over on to the grass
and began to sob.
"What's the matter? Don't do that," begged Elizabeth. But
Julian took no notice. After a while he sat up again, looked for a
hanky which he hadn't got, and rubbed his hands over his dirty
face. Elizabeth offered him her hanky. He took it and wiped his
" If my father's new drug does save my mother's life, it will
be because of his years of hard work, it will be because he's
used his brains to the utmost," said Julian, almost as if he were
speaking to himself. "I thought he was silly to work so hard as
he did, and hardly ever have a good time or take long holidays."
He rubbed his eyes again. Elizabeth listened, not daring to
interrupt. Julian was terribly in earnest. This was perhaps the
biggest moment in his lifethe moment when he decided which
road he was going to treadthe easy, happy-go-lucky road, or
the hard, tiring road his father had takenthe road of hard
work, of unselfish labour, always for others.
Julian went on speaking, still as if he were thinking aloud.
" I've been given brains tooand I've wasted them. I
deserve to have this happen to me. There's my father using his
brains all these yearsand maybe he can save my mother
because of that. It's the finest reward he could have. Oh, if only I
could still have my mother, how hard I'd work ! It's a
punishment for me. William said something would teach me
sooner or later-^and it might be something that would hurt me
badly." Julian brushed back his hair, and bit his trembling lip.


" You have got the most wonderful brain, Ju," said Elizabeth
in a low voice. " I've heard the teachers talking about you. They
said you could do anything you liked, anything in the world.
And, you know, I do think if you've got a gift of any sort, or
good brains, you can be very, very happy using them, and you
can bring happiness to other people too. This isn't goody-goody
talk, Julian, really it isn't."
" I know," said Julian. " It's wise and sensible talk. Oh, why
didn't I show Mother what I could do, when I had the chance ?
She would have been so proud of me ! She always said she
didn't mind what I did, or how I fooled aboutbut she would
have been so proud if I'd really done something. Now it's too
" It isn'tit isn't," said Elizabeth. " You know your mother
has a chance. Your father said so. Anyway,


whatever happens, Julian, you can still work hard and use
your brains and do something in the world. You could be
anything you liked ! "
" I shall be a surgeon," said Julian, his green eyes
gleaming. " I shall find new ways of curing ill people. I shall
make experiments, and discover things that will give millions of
people their health again."
" You will, Julian, you will! " said Elizabeth. " I know you
" But Mother won't be there to see me," said Julian, and he
got up suddenly and went to the gate. " Oh, Elizabeth, I see why
this has happened to me now. It's about the only thing that could
have made me really see myself, and be ashamed. I wishoh I
wish ..."
He stopped. Elizabeth knew what he wished. He wished
that such a dreadful lesson need not have come to him. But
things happened like that. The little girl got up and went through
the gate with him.
They walked back to the school, and on the way they
passed a small country church. The door was open.
" I'm going in for a minute," said Julian. " I've .got a very
solemn promise to make, and I'd better make it here. It's a
promise that's going to last all my life. You stay outside,
He went inside the little, dim church. Elizabeth sat down
on the wooden bench outside, looking at the early daffodils
blowing in the wind.
" I'd better pray too," she thought. " If only Julian's mother
would get better ! But I don't somehow think she will. I think
poor Julian will have to work hard and do brilliantly without his
mother to be proud of him, and love him for his big promise."
After a short while Julian came out again, looking more at
peace. He had a very steadfast look in his green eyes, and
Elizabeth knew that, whatever happened, his promise of a

minute ago would never be broken. Julian's brains would no

longer be used only to amuse himself. Now, all his life long, he
would do as his father had done, and use them for other people.
Perhaps, as he had said, he would be a great surgeon, a
wonderful doctor.
They walked back to the school in silence. There were no
boys or girls there, for they all had gone out with friends or
parents. Julian gave Elizabeth back her dirty hanky.
" Sorry you've had to miss your outing," he said with a
crooked little smile, " but I couldn't have done without you."
" Let's take some food and go for a picnic." said Elizabeth.
Julian shook his head. " No," he said, " I want to be here
in case there's any news. There may not be, to-day, my father
saidor even for a day or two. But there might be, you see."
" Yes," said Elizabeth. " All right, we'll stay here. Let's go
and do some gardening. John won't be there, but I know what to
do. There are some lettuces to plant, and there is still a bit of
digging to be done. Could you do that, do you think ? "
Julian nodded. They went out together, and were soon
working in the wind and the sun. How good it was to work in
the wind and the sun! How good it was, to have a friend, and
stick by him in time of trouble !


Martin Gives Elizabeth a Surprise
NO news came for Julian that day, except a message to say
that his mother was about the same, no worse and no better. The
other children were upset to hear of the boy's trouble, and
everyone did their best to comfort him, in their various ways.
Strangely enough, Martin seemed the most upset. This was
odd, Elizabeth thought, because Julian had never liked Martin
very much, and had not troubled to hide it. Martin went to
Elizabeth, looking very distressed.
" Can I do anything to help Julian ? " he said. " Isn't there
anything I can do ? "
" I -don't think so," said Elizabeth. " It's kind of you to
want to help, Martinbut even I can't do very much, you
" Do you think his mother will get better ? " asked Martin.
" I don't somehow think so," said Elizabeth. " It's going to
be awful for him when the news comes. I wouldn't bother him at
all if I were you, Martin."
Martin shuffled about, fidgeting with books and pencils,
and Elizabeth grew impatient.
" What's the matter with you, Martin ? You are awfully
fidgety ! " she said. " You keep shaking the table, and I want to
There was only one person in the common-robin besides
Elizabeth and Martin, and that was Belinda. She finished what
she was doing, and then went out. Martin shut the door after her
and came back to Elizabeth.
" I want to ask your advice about something, Elizabeth," he
said nervously,


" Well, don't," said Elizabeth at once. " I'm not a monitor
any more. I'm not the right person to ask for advice now. You
go to our new monitor. She's sensible."
" I don't know Susan, and I do know you," said Martin. "
There's something worrying me awfully, Elizabeth and now
that Julian is in trouble, it's worrying me still more. I love my
own mother very much too, so I know what Julian must be
feeling. Please let me tell you what I want to, Elizabeth."
Martin, don't tell me," said Elizabeth. " Honestly, I shan't
be able to help you. I'm not sure of myself any moreI keep
doing the wrong things. Look how I accused poor Julian of
stealing, I shall be ashamed of that all my life. He was so decent
about it too. You go and tell Susan."


" I can't tell someone I don't know," said Martin in despair.

" I don't want you to help me. I just want to get it off my chest."
" All righttell me then," said Elizabeth. " Have you done
something wrong ? For goodness' sake stop shuffling about,
Martin. Whatever's the matter with you?"
Martin sat down at the table, and put his face in his hands.
Elizabeth saw that his face was getting red, and she wondered
curiously what was up with him. He spoke in a muffled voice
through his fingers.
" I took that moneyquite a lot of itfrom Arabella
and Rosemaryand youand other people too. And I took the
sweets and the chocolateand I took biscuits too and cake
once," said Martin, in a funny dull voice.
Elizabeth sat staring at him, startled and shocked.
" You thief! " she said. " You horrid, beastly thief. And yet
you always seemed so kind and generous. Why, you even
offered me a shilling in place of the one I lost and all the time
you had taken it! And you offered Rosemary money too, and she
liked you awfully for it. Martin Follett, you are a very wicked
boy, and a horrid pretender too, because you made yourself out
to be so kind and generous and all the time you were a deceitful
Martin said nothing. He just sat there with his face in his
hands. Elizabeth felt angry and disgusted.
" What did you tell me for ? I didn't want to hear. I accused
poor, unhappy Julian of doing what you did, you beast. And oh,
Martinwas it you who put the marked shilling into Julian's
pocketand the sweetJoo to make me think it was he who
had taken them ? Could you be so mean as that ? "
Martin nodded. His face was still hidden. " Yes. I did all
that. I was afraid when I found that shilling was markedand I
never liked Julian because he didn't like me. I was afraid that if I
was found out, none of you would like me. And I so badly
wanted to be liked. Hardly anyone ever likes me."

" I don't wonder," said Elizabeth scornfully. " Good

gracious ! It was mean enough to take the money and the other
thingsbut it was much, much meaner to try and put the blame
on somebody else. That's not only mean, but cowardly. I can't
imagine why you've told me all this. It's a thing to tell William
and Rita, not me."
" I can't," said Martin with a groan.
" Think of all the damage you've done! " said Elizabeth,
growing very angry as she thought of it. " You made me think
poor Julian stoleand I accused himand he got back at me by
getting me turned out of classand I lost my position as
monitor. Martin Follett, I think you're the meanest, hatefullest
boy I've ever met. I wish to goodness you hadn't told me."
" WellI can't bear to think that I got Julian into trouble,
now that he's soso desperately unhappy," said Martin. " That's
why I told you. I had to get it off my chest. It seemed about the
only thing I could do for Julian."
"Well, I wish you'd confessed to somebody else," said
Elizabeth, getting up. " I can't help you and I don't want to.
You're mean and cowardly and horrible. You oughtn't to be at
Whyteleafe. You're not fit to be. Anyway, I'm too worried about
Julian just now to bother my head about you I "
The little girl gave Martin a scornful glance, got up and
went out of the room. How disgusting! Fancy behaving like that
stealing, and then putting the blame on to othersand letting
them bear it too !
Rosemary went into the common-room as Elizabeth
walked out. Elizabeth went to a music-room, got out her music,
and began to practise, thinking of Julian and Martin and herself,
as she played.
After a short while the door of the practice-room opened
and Rosemary looked in. Her pretty, weak little face looked
rather scared as Elizabeth frowned at her.


But for once in a way Rosemary was strong, and in spite of

Elizabeth's frown she went into the music-room and shut the
" What do you want ? " said Elizabeth.
" What's the matter with Martin ? " asked Rosemary. " Is
he ill ? He looked awful when I went into the common-room
just now."
" Good," said Elizabeth, beginning to play again. " Serves
him right! "
" Why ? " asked Rosemary in surprise.
Elizabeth would not tell her. " I don't like Martin," she
said, and went on playing.
" But Elizabeth, why not ? " said Rosemary. " He's really
awfully kind. You know, he's always giving away sweets and
things. And if ever anyone loses their money, he offers to give
them some. I really think he's the most generous boy I know. He
never eats any sweets himselfhe only keeps them to give
away. I think he's most unselfish."
" Go away, Rosemary, please. I'm practising," said
Elizabeth, who didn't want to hear Martin praised just then.
" But, Elizabeth, what is the matter with poor Martin ? "
said Rosemary, overcoming her timidity for once. " He really
did look dreadful. Have you been saying anything unkind to
him. You know how unkind you were to poor Julian. You never
give anyone a chance, do you ? "
Elizabeth did not answer, and Rosemary went out of the
room, going so far as to bang the door because she really felt
cross with Elizabeth. She did not like to go back to Martin,
because he had turned his back on her, and told her to go away.
It was all very puzzling.
"I suppose Elizabeth has quarrelled with him no to ! " she
thought. " WellI haven't done any good by going to her."


But she had. As soon as she had gone, Elizabeth began to

remember the things that Rosemary had said about Martinand
they suddenly seemed very queer to her.
" She said he was the most generous boy she knew," said
Elizabeth to herself. " She said he never ate sweets himself but
always gave them away. And when anyone loses their money he
always offers them some. And it's quite true he offered me
sweets and money. How queer to steal things and then give
them away! I've never heard of that before."
Elizabeth stopped practising, and began to think hard. How
could Martin be mean and yet generous ? How could he make
people unhappy by taking their things, and make others happy
by giving them things ? It didn't seem to make sense. And yet he
didthere was no doubt about it.
" He doesn't steal for himself," thought Elizabeth.


" I do think it's odd. I wish I could ask someone about it. '
But I'm not going to Susan, and I'm certainly not going to
William and Rita again just now. I don't want them to think I'm
interfering againand anyway I'm not a monitor now. It was
tiresome of Martin to tell me."
She thought about it all for some time, and then something
happened that made her forget. It was in the middle of the
arithmetic class.
The children heard the telephone bell ring shrilly in the
hall. It rang two or three times and then someone went to answer
it. Then footsteps came down the passage, and a knock came at
the classroom door.
A maid came in and spoke to Miss Ranger. "If you please,
Miss, there's someone urgently wanting Master Julian on the
telephone. It's a long-distance call, so I didn't go to tell Miss
Belle, in case the call was cut off before Master Julian got to the
Julian was out of his seat almost before the maid had
finished. With a face as white as a sheet he half ran out of the
room and down the hall. Elizabeth's heart almost stopped
beating. At last news had come for Julian. But was it good or
bad ? The whole class was silent, waiting.
" Let the news be goodlet the news be good," said
Elizabeth to herself over and over again, and didn't even notice
that she had made blots all across her book.


Martin Really is a Puzzle!
THERE came the faint tinkle of the telephone bell as the
receiver was put down.
Then came the sound of footsteps
down the passage, back to the
footsteps. The door was flung open, and Julian came in, a
radiant Julian, with sparkling eyes and a smiling mouth.
" It's all right," he said. " It's good news. It's all right."
" Hurrah ! " said Elizabeth, most absurdly wanting to cry.
She banged on her desk for joy.
" Good, oh good 1 " cried Jenny.
" I'm so glad ! " shouted Harry, and he drummed with his
feet on the floor. It seemed as if the children had to make some
sort of noise to express their delight. Some of them clapped.
Jenny smacked Belinda hard on the back, she didn't know why.
Everyone was full of joy.
" I'm very glad for you, Julian," said Miss Ranger. " It has
been a great worry. Now it's over. Is your mother much better ?"
" Muchmuch better," said Julian, his face glowing. "
And it was all because of that wonderful new medicine my
father and his two friends have been working on for so many
years. It gave my mother a chance, just a chanceand this
morning she suddenly turned the corner, and she's going to be
all right. GollyI don't know how I'm going to do any more
lessons this morning!"
Miss Ranger laughed. " Wellthere are only five minutes
left of this lesson before break. You had better all clear away
your books and have five minutes' extra


break, just to work off your high spirits. Everyone is glad

for you, Julian ! "
So the first form put away their books, chattering gaily,
and rushed out into the garden early. The other forms were
surprised to hear them playing there before the bell had gone.
Elizabeth dragged Julian to a quiet corner.
" Julian, isn't it marvellous ? Are you happy again now ? "
" Happier than I've ever felt before," said the boy. " I feel
as if I've been given another chanceone more chance to show
my mother she's got someone to be


proud of. Golly, I'm going to work now! I'm going to take
all my exams with top marks, I'm going to win any scholarship I
can, I'm going to take my medical exams as young as possible,
I'm going to use my brains in a way they've never been used
before ! "
" You'll be top of the form in a week," laughed Elizabeth. "
But, Julian, don't give up being funny, will you ? "
" WellI don't know about that," said Julian. " I'll perhaps
think of jokes and tricks in my spare time but I shan't waste
my time or anybody else's now by being too silly. I'll see. I'm
turning over a new leaf going all goody-goody, like you
wanted me to be ! "
" NoI didn't want that," said Elizabeth. " I like good
people, but not goody-goody. Save up some noises and jokes for
us, Julianyou'll want a bit of rest from hard work sometimes!"
Julian laughed, and they went off to play with the others.
The boy was quite mad with delight. All his fears were gone
his mother was betterhe would see her again soonthere was
time this term to work hard for her, and let her see what he
could do.
For a time Elizabeth forgot about Martin. Then she noticed
him now and again, looking, as Rosemary had said, very
forlorn. He hung round Julian in an irritating way, and Julian,
who didn't like him, had difficulty in shaking him off.
" Oh blowI'd forgotten about Martin," thought Elizabeth
to herself. " Well, I shan't tell Julian what he told me. He's so
happy to-day and I won't let Martin's meanness spoil his day.
Anyway, I've been ticked off enough for trying to manage
things my own way. I shan't bother about this. I should only get
into trouble again."
So she tried not to think any more about Martin. But soon
he stopped trying to hang round Julian and began to hang round
Elizabeth instead. He seemed


completely lost somehow. Elizabeth was glad when bedtime came and she could get rid of him.
The excitements of the day were a bit too much for
Elizabeth. She lay in bed that night and could not get to sleep.
She turned this way, she turned that way, she punched her
pillow, she threw off her eiderdown, she pulled it on againbut
she couldn't go to sleep, no matter what she did!
She began to think about the puzzle of Martin. Again and
again she thought: "How can a person be two different things at
one and the same time ? How can you be selfish and unselfish,
mean and generous, kind and unkind ? I wish I knew."
She lay and remembered all the School Meetings she had
been to. She thought of the queer things some children did, and
how, when the reason for their actions was found, they could be
" There was Harryhe was a cheat-but it was only
because he was afraid of being bottom of the form and letting
his father down," thought Elizabeth. " And there was Robert
he was a bully last termbut it was only because he had once
been dreadfully jealous of his small brothers, so he got rid of his
jealousy by being beastly to other small children. And there's
meI was awful, but I am better now, even though I've been in
disgrace this term."
She remembered the big book in which William and Rita
wrote down the accounts of every School Meeting. In it were
the stories of many bad or difficult children who, through many
a year at Whyteleafe, had had their faults and wrongdoings
shown up, discussed kindly and firmly, and, in the end, been
helped to cure themselves.
" I don't believe there's any cure for Martin, anyway,"
thought Elizabeth. " I wonder if there's anything in William's big
book that would explain Martin's funny behaviour. I'd like to
see. Oh dear, I wish it was morning, then I could go and see."


The children were allowed to refer to " William's big

book," as they called it, when they liked. There was so much
sound common sense in it.
" I'll go and read it now,"
thought Elizabeth suddenly. " I
shall never go to sleep to-night.
There won't be anyone about
now, so I'll just pop on my
dressing-gown, go down to the
hall, and find the book. It will be
something to do anyway."
She put on her dressinggown and slippers. She crept out
everyone was sound asleep, and
went downstairs to the hall. On
the platform was a table, and in
the drawer of the table the big
book was kept.
Elizabeth had a torch with
her, for she dared not switch on
the light. She opened the drawer
and took out the book. It was
filled with writing different
writing, for three or four headboys and head-girls had kept the
book throughout the time that
Whyteleafe School had been
Elizabeth dipped here and
there. She was in the book
too-here it was,


" The Bold Bad Girl "that was what Harry had called her
two terms ago, when she was the Naughtiest Girl in the School.
And here she was again, made a monitor because of fine
behaviourand oh dear, oh dear, here she was again, disgraced
because of bad behaviour !
" Elizabeth Allen lost her position as monitor because she
accused one of her form wrongly of stealing, and because her
behaviour in class showed that she was un-suited to be a
monitor," she read, in William's neat, small handwriting.
" I seem to appear in this book rather a lot," said Elizabeth.
She turned to the beginning pages of the book and read with
interest of other children who had been good or bad, difficult or
admirablechildren who had left the school long ago. Then the
story of a girl began to interest her. It seemed very much like
Martin's story.
She read it through, then shut the book and thought hard. "
What a queer story ! " she thought. " Very like Martin's really.
That girlTessieshe took money toobut she didn't spend
any of it on herselfshe gave it away as fast as she stole it. And
she took flowers from the school garden, pretended she had
bought them, and gave them to the teachers. And it was all
because nobody ever liked her, so she tried to buy their liking
and their friendship by giving them things. She stole so that she
might appear kind and generous. I do wonder if Martin does the
She went back to bed, thinking. " How awful to be so
friendless that you've got to do something like that to get
friends," she thought. " I wonder if I'd better say something to
Martin to-morrow. He did look pretty miserable to-day.
Anyway, I've had enough of interfering with other people. I'll
just ask him a few questions, and then leave it. He can do what
he likes about himself. I don't care."
She went to sleep after that, and was so tired in the
morning that she could hardly wake up. She went

yawning down to breakfast, grinned at Julian, and sat down

to eat her porridge. What had she been worrying about the night
before ? Her French ? Noshe knew that all right, thank
goodness. Julian ? Nothat worry was gone now.
Of courseit was Martin she had been thinking about. She
took a look at his pale face, and thought that he looked rather
small and thin.
" He's a horrid boy," she thought. " Really horrid. Nobody
really likes him, not even Rosemary, though they ?ay he's kind
and all that. It's funny he hasn't a single real friend. Horrid as I
have sometimes been, I've always had real friendssomebody
has always liked me."
A chance came for Elizabeth to speak to Martin soon


after breakfast. Elizabeth had rabbits to feed, and Martin

had a guinea-pig. The cages were side by side and the two
children were soon busy.
" Martin," said Elizabeth, going straight to the point, as she
always did. " Martin, why do you give away the sweets and
money and things you steal, instead of keeping them for
yourself ? Why steal them if you don't want them ? " "
" Only because I want people to like me, and you can't
make people like you unless you're kind and generous," said
Martin in a low voice. " My mother has always told me that. It's
not really stealing, Elizabeth don't say that'I give the things
away at once. It's it's the same sort of thing that Robin Hood
"No, it isn't," said Elizabeth. "Not a bit. It's stealing, and
you know it is. How can you bear to know that you are so
dishonest and mean, Martin ? I should die of shame ! "
" Well, I feel as if I'm dying of shame too, ever since you
called me all those awful names yesterday," said Martin in a
trembling voice. " I simply don't know what to do ! "
" There's only one thing to doand a little coward like you
would never do it," said Elizabeth. ' You ought to own up at the
next Meeting that you took the things, and say that you put the
blame on Julian ! That's what you ought to do ! "


A School Matchand Other Things
SCHOOL went happily on. A lacrosse match was played,
and Elizabeth was in it.
It was a home match, not an away
match, so the whole school turned out to watch. Elizabeth felt
most excited.
Julian was playing in the match too, and so was Robert.
Julian was good at all games. He could run swiftly and catch
' We ought to put up a good show to-day," said Eileen,
when she took the team out on to the field. ' We've got some
strong first-form players this term. Now, Elizabeth, keep your
head, pass when you can, and for goodness' sake don't go up in
smoke if one of your enemies kicks you on the ankle! Julian,
keep by Elizabeth if you can, and let her pass to you. You catch
better than anyone else."
It was an exciting match. The other school had brought a
strong team, and the two schools were very evenly matched.
Elizabeth got a whack on the hand from someone else's lacrosse
stick, that gave her so much pain she thought she would have to
go off the field.
Julian saw her screwed-up face. " Bad luck ! " he called. '
You're doing well, Elizabeth. Keep it up I We'll shoot a goal
soon, see if we don't! "
Elizabeth grinned. The pain got better and she played well.
The other school shot three goals, and Whyteleafe also shot
three. The children who were looking on anxiously consulted
their watchesonly one minute more to go !
Then Elizabeth got the ball and tore for the goal. " Pass,
pass ! " yelled Julian. " There's someone behind you ! "


Elizabeth threw the ball deftly to him, and he caught it. But
another enemy was on him at once, trying to knock the ball out of
his net. He passed it back quickly to Elizabeth. She saw yet
another enemy coming to tackle her, and in despair she flung the
ball hard at the goal.
It was a wild shotbut somehow or other it got there ! It
bounced on a tuft of grass, and just avoided the waiting lacrosse
net of the goal-keeper. It rolled into the corner of the goal-net and
lay still.
Whyteleafe School went quite mad. The whistle blew for
Time, and the two teams trooped off the field. Julian gave
Elizabeth such a thump on the back that she choked.


" Good for you, Elizabeth ! " said Julian, beaming. " Just in
the nick of time. Jolly good ! "
" Wellit was really a fluke," said Elizabeth honestly. " I
couldn't see where I was throwing. I just threw wildly, and by a
fluke it went into the goal! "
The first-formers crowded round her, cheering her and
patting her- on the back. It was very pleasant. Then the two teams
went in and had a most enormous tea. It was all great fun.
' I think you ought to be a monitor all over again ! " said
Rosemary. " I never felt so thrilled and proud in my life as when
you shot that last goal, Elizabeth, just as the whistle blew. I almost
forgot to breathe ! "
Elizabeth laughed. " Gollyif people were made monitors
just for shooting goals, how easy it would be ! "
Nobody felt like doing prep, that night. Julian longed to
make a few noises. The others looked at him, trying to make him
start something. Mr. Leslie was taking prep, and it would be fun
to have a bit of excitement.
Julian wanted to please the others. He wondered what to do.
Should he make a noise like a sewing-machine ? Or what about a
noise like bees humming ?
He looked down at his book. He hadn't begun to learn his
French yet. He remembered his promise, made so solemnly in the
little country church a few days back. He was never going to
forget that.
Julian put his hands over his ears and began to work. Maybe
if there were a few minutes left at the end of prep, he would do
something funnybut he was going to do his work first !
Work was easy to Julian. He had a quick mind, and an
unusual memory. He had already read a great deal, and knew a
tremendous lot. He could easily beat the others if he tried. But it
was not so easy to try at first, when he had let his mind be lazy for
so long.
But at the end of the first week of trying, Julian was top of
the form! He was one mark ahead of Elizabeth,

who was also trying hard. Everyone was amazed,

especially Miss Ranger.
" Julian, it seems that you must either be top or bottom," she
said, when she read out the marks. " Last week you were so far at
the bottom that I am surprised there were any marks to read out at
all. This week you are a mark ahead of Elizabeth, who has been
working extremely well. I am proud of you both."
Elizabeth flushed with pleasure.
Julian looked as if he
didn't care a rap, but Miss Ranger knew that was only a pose.
Something had changed him, and he cared now he wanted to
use his brains for the right things, not only for silly jokes and
" I think perhaps his mother's illness must have had
something to do with it," thought Miss Ranger. " I do hope this
great change lasts ! Julian is a joy to teach when he really works. I
hope he won't be bottom again next week."
But Julian would never be bottom again. He was going to
keep that promise all his life. He was not going to waste his brains
any more.
Only Martin did badly that weekeven worse than Arabella
usually did ! He was right at the bottom and Miss Ranger spoke
sharply to him.
' You can do better than this, Martin. You have not been
bottom before. You seem very dreamy this week."
Martin was not really dreamy. He was worried. He wished
he had not told Elizabeth his secret now. She had said such hard
things to him, things he couldn't forget. And she hadn't helped him
at all!
Miss Ranger had a few words to say to Arabella also. "
Arabella, I am getting tired of seeing you so low in form. You are
one of the oldestthe very oldest in fact. I think if you gave a
little more attention to your work and a little less to whether your
hair is looking nice, or whether your collar is straight or your nails
perfect, we might see a little better work."

Arabella went red. She thought Miss Ranger was very

unkind. " She speaks more sharply to me than to anyone else in
the form," she complained to Rosemary.
This was quite truebut Miss Ranger knew that she could
only get at thick-skinned Arabella by plain speaking. The vain
little girl hated to feel small, hated to be scolded or put to shame
in front of anyone. Whyteleafe School was very good for her.
There was plenty of plain speaking there.
Arabella decided not to be bottom the next week. She
stopped fussing about her hair and her dressat least she stopped
fussing in class.
" You'll soon be quite passably nice, Arabella," said Robert,
who hadn't much time for the vain girl. " I haven't heard you ask
Rosemary once to-day if your hair is tidy. It's simply marvellous !
And, for once in a way, Arabella laughed at the joke against
herself, instead of sulking. Yes, she really was getting " passably
nice " in some ways !
The next School Meeting came. " It won't last long," said
Elizabeth to Julian. " There won't be much business done at it,
Julian. Let's slip out quickly afterwards and bag the little table in
the common-room. I've got a big new jigsaw we can do."
" Right," said Julian.


But there was more " business " to be done at that Meeting
than Elizabeth thought, and there was no time for a jigsaw
puzzle that night. It was all quite unexpected, and nobody was
more surprised than Elizabeth when it happened.
The Meeting opened as usual. There was very little money
to be put into the Box, though a few children had postal orders.
Then the money was given out.
" Any requests ? "
" Please, William," said one small boy, Quentin, " the cage
I keep my guinea-pig in fell over yesterday, and one side of it
broke in. Could I have the money for another cage ? "
" Well, that's rather expensive," said William. " There isn't
a great deal of money in the Box at the moment. Can't you mend
the cage ? "
" I have triedbut I'm not very good at it," said Quentin. "
I thought I'd done it all right, but I hadn't, and my guinea-pig got
out. I was late for school because I had to catch it. It's in with
Martin's guinea-pig now, but they fight."
" I'll mend it for Quentin," said Julian, actually
remembering to stand up and take his hands out of his pockets. "
It won't take me long."


" Thank you, Julian," said William. " There really isn't a
great deal of money in the Box at the moment. But I believe
there are quite a lot of birthdays next week, so maybe we shall
have a full box again soon. Any more requests ? "
Nobody quite liked to ask for any more money as there
wasn't much to spare.
" Any complaints ? " said William. There was a dead
silence. It was clear there were none.
" Well, there's nothing much to say this week except that
I am sure the whole school well like to know that Julian is top of
his form, instead of bottom, this week," said William with a
sudden smile. " Keep it up, Julian!"
That was the nice part about Whyteleafe school, though
Elizabeth. " You get blamedbut you do get praised too, and
that's lovely ! "
*' You may go," said William, and the children got up to
go. But, in the middle of the noise of feet, there came a voice.
" Please, William ! I've got something to say ! "
" Sit down again," ordered William, and everyone sat in
surprise. Who had spoken ? Only one boy was on his feetand
that was Martin Follett, looking very green and shaky. " What
do you want to say, Martin ? " asked William. " Speak up ! "


Martin Gets a Chance
ELIZABETH looked in astonishment at Martin. Surely he
could not be going to tell his own secretthat it was he who
had stolen the money and tried to put the blame on to Julian !
"He's such a mean, deceitful, horrid boy," she thought, "
and a real coward. Whatever is he going to say ? "
Martin swallowed once or twice. He seemed to find it
difficult to say a word now. William saw that he was dreadfully
nervous and he spoke more kindly to him.
" What is it you want to say, Martin ? Don't be afraid of
saying it. We are always ready to hear anything at the School
Meeting, as you know."
" Yes. I know," said Martin in rather a loud voice, as if he
was trying to get all his courage together at once. " I know. Well
I took that moneyand all the other thingsand I put that

shilling into Julian's pocket, and the sweet too, so that nobody
would think it was me they would think it was Julian."
He stopped speaking, but he didn't sit down. Nobody said a
word. Martin suddenly spoke again. " I know it's awful. I dare
say I'd never have owned up except for two things. I couldn't
bear it when Julian's mother was illI mean, it was awful to
think I'd done a mean trick to someone who was miserable. And
the other thing that made me speak wassomeone said I was a
coward, and I'm not."
"You certainly are not," said Rita, "It is a courageous thing
to doto stand up and confess to something mean. But why did
you steal, Martin ? "
" I don't really know," said Martin. " I know there's no
Elizabeth had sat and listened to all this in the greatest
surprise. Fancy Martin being brave enough to say all that in
front of everyone 1 Now Julian was completely cleared of any
blame. She looked at Martin and felt suddenly sorry for him.
"He so badly wanted people to like him, and they don't,"
she thought, " and now he has had to own up to something that
will make them dislike him all the more 1 Wellthat was a
brave thing to do."
William and Rita were talking to one another. So were the
monitors. What was to be done with Martin ? How was this to
be tackled ? Elizabeth suddenly remembered what she had read
in the big Book the night before. She stood up.
" William ! Rita ! I understand about Martin ! He hasn't got
any excuse for what he did, but there's a real reason, it wasn't
just badness. It wasn't the usual sort of stealing."
" What do you mean, Elizabeth ? " asked William, in
surprise, " Stealing is always stealing."


" Yes, I know," said Elizabeth, " but Martin's sort was
queer. He only took things from other people so that he might
give them away ! He never kept them himself."
" Yes, that's quite true," said Rosemary, most surprisingly
forgetting her timidity, and standing up beside Elizabeth. " He
gave me money whenever I lost mine, and he is always giving
away sweets. He never keeps any for himself."
" William, there's a bit about the same sort of thing in our
big Bookthe one on the table in front of you," said Elizabeth
eagerly. " I couldn't help wondering why Martin seemed such a
funny personyou know, kind and unkind, mean and generous
it seemed so odd to be opposite things at onceand there's a
bit about a girl in our Book who was just the same."

" Where ?" asked William, opening the book. Elizabeth

walked up to the platform, bent over the book, turned the pages,
and found the place. " There you are! " she said, pointing.
" How did you know it was here ? " asked Rita.
" WellMartin told me all he'd done, and I was
disgusted," said Elizabeth, " but all the same I was puzzled
about himand I wondered if there was anything about that
kind of thing in our Bookso I looked, and there was."
William read the piece and passed it to Rita. They spoke
together. Elizabeth went back to her place. Martin was looking
very miserable, wishing heartily that


he had never said a word now. He felt that everyone's eyes

were on him, and it was not at all a nice feeling.
William spoke again, and everyone listened intently. "
Stealing is always wrong," said William, in his clear, pleasant
voice. " Always. People do it for many reasonsgreedenvy
dishonesty. All bad reasons. But Martin did it for a different
reason. He did it because he wanted to buy friendship. He did it
because he wanted to buy people's liking and admiration."
William paused. " He took things in order to give them
away to someone else. He may have thought to himself that
because it is good to give to others, it was therefore not bad to


take them away from someone else. But they were not his to
give. It was stealing just the same."
A tear trickled down Martin's cheek and fell on the floor. "
I want to go away from Whyteleafe," he said in a low voice,
without standing up. " I shall never do any good here now. I've
never done any good anywhere."
" You can't run away like that," said William. " What's the
good of trying to run away from yourself ? You've got courage
or you wouldn't have stood up and said what you did. We all
make silly mistakes, we all have bad faultsbut what really
matters isare we decent enough to try and put them right ?
You did have, a reason for what you did, a silly reason. Now
you see it was silly, and you see that what you did was bad. All
rightthat's the end of it."
" What do you meanthat's the end of it! " said Martin in
" The end of your silly habit of taking what doesn't belong
to you in order to buy friendship ! " said William. " You know
quite well you can't buy it. People like you for what you are, not
for what you give them. Well if the reason for that bad habit
is gone, the habit goes too, doesn't it ? You'll never steal any
" WellI don't think I shall," said Martin, and he sat up a
little straighter. " I've felt so guilty and so ashamed. I'll take
another chance."
" Good," said William. " Come and see me this evening
and we'll get things a bit straighter. But I think you must pay
back each week any money you have taken from different
children, and you must also buy sweets to give back to those
you took them from. That's only fair."
" Yes, I will," said Martin.
" And we'll give him a chance and be friendly," suddenly
said Elizabeth, eager to do her bit to help. How she had disliked
Martin ! Now she wanted to help him! What was there about

Whyteleafe School that made you see things so differently all of

a sudden ? It was queer.
" It seems to me," said Rita, in her slow distinct voice, " it
seems to me as if Elizabeth is a much better monitor when she
isn't one than when she is I"
The children laughed loudly at this. Elizabeth smiled too. "
Rita is right," she thought, surprised. "I do seem to be wiser
when I'm not a monitor than when I am ! Oh, how topsy-turvy I
am I "
The Meeting broke up at last. Martin went to Julian. " I'm
sorry, Julian," he muttered, not looking at the boy at all.
" Look at me," commanded Julian. " Don't get into the
habit of not looking at people when you speak to them, Martin.
Look at me, and say you're sorry properly."
Martin raised his eyes and looked rather fearfully into
Julian's green ones, expecting to see scorn and anger. But he
saw only friendliness there. And, he said he was sorry properly.
" I am sorry. I was a beast. I've learnt my lesson and I'll
never be double-faced again," he said, looking straight into
Julian's eyes.
" That's all right," said Julian. " I like you better


now than I did before, if that's any comfort to you. Look,

William is wanting you."
Martin went off with William. What William said to him
nobody ever heard, but Rosemary, who saw him coming from
the study later, said that Martin looked much happier.
" I'm going to be really friendly to him," she said. " He'll
want a friend. I never thought he was bad, I always thought he
was nice. So I shall go on thinking it."
Elizabeth looked in surprise at the timid Rosemary. Good
graciousthat was another person changing! Who would have
thought that Rosemary, who agreed


with everyone, would say straight out that she was going to
be friends with someone like Martin !
" You simply never know about people," thought
Elizabeth. " You think because they're timid they'll always be
timid, or because they're mean they'll always be mean. But they
can change awfully quickly if they are treated right. Golly,
Arabella will be changing and forget to be vain and boastful! No
that could never happen! "
There was no time to do the jigsawonly just time to clear
away the things left out, and have some supper and go to bed.
" Things do happen here, don't they ? " said Julian, with a
grin. " Come on down to supper."
At supper Miss Ranger was continually annoyed by the
buzzing of a bluebottle. She looked all down the table for it, but
could see it nowhere.
" Where -is that fly ? " she said. " It's very early in the year
for a bluebottle, surely ! Kill it somebody. We can't have it
laying eggs in our meat."
The bluebottle buzzed violently, and Mr. Leslie, at the next
table, looked all round for it. It really was becoming a nuisance.
Elizabeth looked suddenly at Julian. He grinned at her and
nodded. " Ohit's one of Julian's noises 1 " she thought, and
exploded into a giggle. Then everyone knewand how they
laughed, even Miss Ranger.
" I thought it was a good time to play a joke," said Julian
when he said good-night to Elizabeth. " We had all had such a
very serious evening. Good-night, Elizzzzzzzzzzzzzabeth ! "


An Adventure for Elizabeth
THE days went swiftly by, days of work and play, riding
and gardening, looking after pets, going for nature ramblesit
was extraordinary the way the weeks flew by.
" Once the beginning of the term is past, the end seems to
appear so quickly ! " said Elizabeth. " There doesn't seem to be
much middle to a term ! "
" Let's go for a nature walk this afternoon," said Julian.
"We've got an hour and a half quite free. Don't garden with John
he's got plenty of helpers at the moment with that tribe of
youngsterswe'll go over the hills and down to the lake."
" All right," said Elizabeth, looking out of the window at
the brilliant April sunshine. " It will be lovely on the hillswe
might find primroses on our way."
So, that afternoon, the two set off together. They carried
nature-tins on their backs, for they meant to bring back many
things for the nature class. " We'll find frog-spawn in the lake,"
said Julian. " I bet there's plenty there, and tadpoles too."
They went over the hills together. " We must be back by
tea-time," said Elizabeth. " That's the rule, unless we have
permission to stay out later. My watch is right. I don't want to
get into trouble again for anything just at present. I've not been
too bad this last week or two ! "
Julian grinned. He thought that of all the children in the
form Elizabeth probably tried hardest to be good, and yet
walked into trouble more often than anyone else. You never
knew what was going to happen to Elizabeth.


" She seems to make things happen, somehow," thought

Julian. " She's such a fierce little person, so downright and
sincere. Wellwe've both had our ups and downs this term.
Let's hope we'll have a little peace till the end of term."
They went over the hills, picking primroses in the more
sheltered corners. The sun shone down quite fiercely, and
Elizabeth took off her blazer and carried it.
" This is lovely," she said. " Julian, look, there's the lake.
Isn't it beautiful ? "
It was. It lay smooth and blue in the April sunshine. There
seemed to be nobody there at all. The children were pleased to
think they would have it all to themselves.
They began to look for frog-spawn. There was none to be
foundbut there were plenty of tadpoles. They caught some
and put them into their jars.
" I feel a bit tired now," said Elizabeth. " Let's sit down."
" I'm going up the hill a bit," said Julian. " I want to find
some special sort of moss. You sit here and wait for me."
Julian disappeared. After a while Elizabeth thought she
heard him coming backbut it was someone else. It was a child
of about six, nicely dressed, with big blue eyes and very red
cheeks. He was panting as if he had been running.
Elizabeth was surprised to see him all alone. He seemed
rather small to be allowed near the lake by himself. She lay back
and shut her eyes, letting the sun soak into her.
She heard the little boy playing aboutand then she heard
a loud splash. At the same moment she heard a terrified scream,
and she sat up suddenly.
The little boy had disappeared. But a little way out on the
lake some ripples showed, and then a small hand was flung up.
" Golly !
That boy has fallen in ! " said Elizabeth in
dismay. He must have crawled out on that low tree branch, and
tumbled off. I thought he oughtnt to be here by himself."


Then a woman appeared,

running. '' Where's Michael ?
Did I hear him scream ?" she
called anxiously. " He ran
away from me. Have you seen
a little boy anywhere ? "
" He has fallen into the
water," said Elizabeth. " Can
he swim ?"
" No, oh no! Oh, he'll be
drowned." cried the woman. "
Oh, let's get help quickly."
There was no help to be
got. Elizabeth quickly undid
her shoes. " I'll wade in and
get him," she said. " If the
water is too deep, I'll have to
She waded out, feeling
the sand of the lake-bottom
just under her stockinged feet.
Suddenly the sandy bottom
fell away, and Elizabeth was
out of her depth. She had to
swimmer, and she struck out at
once but it was not easy to
swim in clothes. They weighed
her down dreadfully. Still, she
managed somehow, and it was
only a few strokes that she had


to swim. Her quck mind remembered all she had learnt

about life-saving.
She caught hold of the sinking child and pulled him
towards her. At once he clung to her, almost pulling her under
" Leave go J " ordered Elizabeth. " Leave go ! I will hold
you, not you me."
But the child was too frightened to leave go. He pulled
poor Elizabeth right under, and she gasped and spluttered.
Somehow she undid his arms from round her neck, turned him
over on his back, put her hands under his armpits, and swam on
her back to the shore, pulling the kicking child along.
Soon she felt the sandy bottom under her feet and she
struggled to stand. The child slipped from her hands and went
under again. He got caught in some weeds and did not float up
to the top. Elizabeth was in despair. She went under the water
herself to look for him, and caught sight of a leg. She got hold
of it and pulled hard.
The child came out of the weeds. He was no longer
struggling. " Oh dearI believe he is drowned," thought
Elizabeth in horror. She dragged him to the shore. He was quite
limp, and lay still.
The nurse bent over him, moaning, and quite terrified.
Elizabeth thought she was silly. " Look, we must work his arms
up and down, up and down, like this," she said. " That will bring
air into his lungs and make him breathe again. Lookwork his
arms well."
The girl was tired, and she let the nurse do the life-saving
work, then she took her turnand suddenly the child gave a big
sigh and opened his eyes.
" Oh, he's alivehe alive ! " cried the nurse. " Oh,
Michael, Michaelwhy did you run away from me ? "
" You'd better get him home as soon as he can walk," said
Elizabeth. " He's wet through. He'll catch an awful chill."

The nurse took the child off in her arms, weeping over him,
forgetting even to say thank you to the little girl who had saved
him. Elizabeth took off her dress and squeezed it dry. She began
to shiver.
Suddenly Julian appeared down the hill. He stared in the
greatest astonishment at Elizabeth. " Whatever have you been
doing ? " he asked. " You're wet through."
" I had to pull a kid out of the water," said Elizabeth. " I
couldn't help getting wet. I hope Matron won't be angry with
me. Good thing I took my blazer offI've got one dry thing to
put on at any rate."
" Come on home, quick," said Julian, helping her on with
her blazer. " We're late anywayand now you'll have to change
all your clothes. Oh, Elizabeth you can't even go out for a
walk without doing something like this ! "
" Well, I couldn't leave the child to drown, could I ? " said
Elizabeth. " He ran away from his nurse."
They went home as quickly as they could. The tea-bell
went as they reached the school. " I'll slip in to tea and say you
are coming in a minute," said Julian. " Hurry up."
Elizabeth hurried up-but she was cold and shivery, and
wet clothes are not easy to take off. She put them in the hot-air
cupboard tc dry, hoping that Matron would not see them there
before she herself had time to take them out.
" I don't see how I could help it, all the same," said
Elizabeth, drying herself on a towel. " I just had to pull that
child out of the water. I bet he would have drowned if I hadn't."
Matron didn't notice the wet clothes. Elizabeth was able to
take them out of the cupboard before she saw them. She had a
sharp word from Miss Ranger for being late for tea, but
otherwise it seemed as if things were all right.
" Oh, JulianI left my jar of tadpoles by the lake," said
Elizabeth in dismay, after tea. " Aren't I an idiot ? "


" Wellyou must share mine," said Julian. " I've got plenty.
I suppose if you go about dashing into lakes rescuing silly kids,
you are bound to forget something or other."
Elizabeth laughed. " Don't tell anyone, please," she said. "
Matron doesn't know my clothes were wet, and the others would
only tease me if they knew I'd dashed into the lake like that."
So Julian said nothing. He hadn't seen Elizabeth swim to the
child's rescue, he hadn't known what a hard task it had been to
get him safely to shore, or how Elizabeth had brought him back
from death by showing the nurse how to work his arms up and
down to make him breathe again. He just thought she had waded
into the water, slipped and got wet, and pulled the child out.
So nobody knew, and Elizabeth forgot about it. She was
working very hard indeed, trying to keep pace with Julian, who,
now that he was using his brains properly, seemed likely to beat
her easily every single week.


" It's most annoying! " said Elizabeth, giving him a friendly
punch. " I do my best to make you use your brains and work
hardand what happens ? I lose my place at the top of the form
! I shall complain about yon at the Meeting to-night, Julian. I
shall say that you are robbing me of my rightful place at the top
of the form. So be careful! "
" There'll be no excitement at the Meeting to-night, old
thing," said Julian. " We've all been as good as gold lately."
But he was wrong. There was plenty of excitement!


Happy Ending
THE children always enjoyed the weekly School Meetings,
even if there was not much business to be done. It was good to
meet all together, good to share their money, good to see their
head boy and girl on the platform, with the serious monitors
near by.
" You feel how much you belong to the school then," said
Jenny. " You really feel part of it, and you know that what you
are and do really matters to the whole school. It's a nice feeling."
There were only two weeks to go till the end of the term.
No one had any money at all to put into the Box. But there had
been several birthdays two or three weeks before, so there was
still plenty of money to share.
It was given out as usual, and then William allowed ten
shillings to go to John to buy two big new watering-cans.
" One of ours has two holes in it and they can't be
mended," said John. " The water drips out on to our feet and
wets them all the time. And the other can is so small. Last
summer we lost a lot of plants because we didn't do enought
watering, and this time I want plenty of water if the weather's
dry. So I'd be awfully glad to have two new cans."
The garden had looked lovely that early spring. Crocuses
had blazed on the school bank, daffodils were out everywhere,
wallflowers were filling the air with their delicious scent, and
polyanthus had flowered along the edges of the beds. John and
his helpers had done really well. The whole school was willing
to buy him cans, barrows, spadesanything he wanted. They
were very proud of John and his hard work.


Nobody else wanted any money. There were no complaints

either. It looked as if it was going to be a short and rather dull
Meeting. But nowhat was this ? Miss Belle and Miss Best
were actually walking up from .the back of the big hall! They
had something to say, they had business to discuss ! Mr. Johns
came with them.
In surprise William and Rita gave them chairs, wondering
what was happening. The school looked up to the platform,
wondering too. It couldn't be anything awful, because Miss
Belle and Miss Best were smiling.
The headmistresses sat down. Mr. Johns sat beside them.
They spoke a little, and then Miss Belle got up.
" Children," she said, " it is not often that Miss Best, Mr.
Johns, and I come up here to speak to you at a School Meeting
unless, of course, you ask us. But this time


we have something to saysomething very pleasantand

I want to say it in front of the whole school."
Everyone listened eagerly. Whatever could it be? Nobody
had the least idea.
Miss Belle took a letter from her bag and opened it. " I
have had a letter," she said. " It is from a Colonel Halston, who
lives not far from here. This is what he says."
Miss Belle read the letter and everyone listened with
interest and excitement.
" DEAR MADAM,Four days ago my little son, Michael, ran
away from his nurse. He-fell into the lake near your school, and
would have been drowned if it had not been for a girl from
Whyte-leafe. This girl waded into the water, then swam to
Michael. Michael struggled hard and pulled her under the water.
She got him on his back, and swam towards the shore with him.
He slipped from her hands and became entangled in some weeds.
He was without any doubt drowning at that moment. The girl
dived into the weeds and pulled him out. When she got him to
shore she showed the nurse how to bring him back to life again,
and herself helped to do this, with the result that he lived, and is
now safe and well with me at home.
" I was away at the time, and only came back to-day, to hear
this amazing story. I do not know which girl it was. All I know is
that the nurse saw she had a Whyteleafe school blazer on the
ground near by, and I would like you, please, to tell me the name
of the child so that I may thank her myself, and give her some
reward for her very plucky action. She saved the life of my little
boy he is my only childand I can never be grateful enough to
the little girl from Whyteleafe School, whoever she may be.
Yours sincerely,



The children listened in amazement. Who could it be ?

Nobody knew. But then, whoever it was must have come home
with wet clothessurely they would have been seen. The
children looked from one to the other. Julian nudged Elizabeth.
His green eyes shone with pride in his friend. Elizabeth was as
red as a beetroot. " What a fuss about nothing ! " she thought.
" Well," said Miss Belle, folding up the letter, " this
surprising letter gave me and Miss Best very great pride and
pleasure. We do not know who this girl is. We asked Matron if
anyone had given her wet clothes to dry, but no one had. So it is
a complete mystery."
There was a silence. Elizabeth said nothing at all. Everyone
" I should like to know who it is," said Miss Belle. " I
should like to give her my heartiest congratulations on a brave
deed that she said nothing about. The whole school should be
proud of her."
Elizabeth sat quite still. She simply could not stand up and
say anything. For the first time in her life she really felt shy. She
hadn't done anything muchonly just pulled that child out of
the wateroh dear, what a fuss about it all!
Julian got to his feet. " It was Elizabeth ! " he said, so
loudly that it sounded almost like a shout. " Of course it was
Elizabeth! Who else could it be ? It's exactly like her, isn't it ? It
was our Elizabeth ! "
The children craned their necks to look at Elizabeth. She
sat on-the form, still very red, with Julian patting her on the
Then the clapping and cheering began! It nearly brought
the roof down. Elizabeth might be naughty and hot-tempered
and often do silly, wrong thingsbut she was as sound and
sweet as an apple in her character, and all the children knew it.


Clap, clap, clap, hurrah, hurrah, bang, bang, clap, clap! The
noise went on for ages, until Miss Belle held up her hand. The
sounds died down.
" Wellso it was Elizabeth ! " she said. " I might have
guessed it. Things always happen to Elizabeth, don't they ?
Come up here on the platform, please, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth went up, flaming red again. Miss Belle, Miss
Best, and Mr. Johns actually shook hands with her solemnly and
said they were very proud of her.
" You are bringing honour to the name of Whyteleafe,"
said Miss Belle, her eyes very bright. " And you bring honour to
yourself at the same time. We would like to give you a reward
ourselves, Elizabeth, for your brave deed. Is there anything you
would like ? "
" Well..." said Elizabeth, and paused. " Well..." she said
again. Julian wondered what she was going to say. Was she
going to ask if she might be a made monitor again ?
"I'd like you to give the school a whole holiday, please,"
said Elizabeth, in a rush, thinking that she was asking rather a
big thing. " You seethere's a big fair on at the next town soon
and it would be such fun if you would give us a whole
holiday, so that we could go to it. We've all been talking about
it, and I know everyone would like to go. Do you think we
could? "
There was another outburst of cheering and clapping. "
Good old Elizabeth ! " shouted somebody. " Trust her to ask
something for the school, and not for herself ! "
Miss Belle smiled and nodded. " I think we might say yes
to what Elizabeth wants, don't you ? " she said, and Miss Best
nodded too. Elizabeth smiled, very pleased. She might have
been in great disgrace, and made the children think bad things of
her that term but anyway she had made up for it now by
getting them a whole holiday to go to the fair.


She turned to go down into the hall again. But somebody

was standing up, waiting to speak. It was Julian.
" What is it, Julian ? " asked Miss Belle.
" I am speaking for the whole of the first form," said
Julian. " We want to know if Elizabeth can be made a monitor
again, now, this very night ? We think she ought to have some
reward. And we want her for our monitor. We all trust her and
like her."
" Yes, we do, we do !" cried Jenny, and a few others.
Elizabeth's eyes shone like stars. How marvellous! To be made
a monitor because the whole form wanted it, and wanted it so
badly ! Oh, things were wonderful!
" Wait, Elizabeth," said Miss Belle, stretching out her hand
and pulling the little girl to her. " Do you want to be made a
monitor again ? "
" Oh yes, please," said Elizabeth happily. " I can do better
now. I know I can. Let me try. I won't let anyone down again.
I'll be sensible and wise, really I will."


" Yes, I think you will," said Miss Belle. " We won t pass
round bits of paper and vote for you, Elizabeth, as we usually do
you shall be monitor from this very minute. Susan shall still
be monitor too. For once in a way we must have an extra one !
A very special extra one! "
So Elizabeth went to sit at the monitor's table, proud and
pleased. Everyone was glad, even Arabella. How could anyone
not be glad, when Elizabeth had so generously asked for
something for the whole school, instead of asking something for
herself alone, as she might so easily have done ?
" Well, that was a good Meeting, wasn't it ? " said Julian,
when the children at last filed out of the hall, chattering and
laughing in excitement. " This has been a thrilling term, I must
say. I'm glad I came to Whyteleafe School. It's the best school in
the world ! "
" Yes, it is," said Elizabeth. " Oh, I do feel so happy,
' You've a right to," said Julian. " Funny person, aren't you?
Naughtiest Girl in the Schooland Best Girl in the School!
Worst enemyand best friend! Well, whichever you are, you're
always Our Elizabeth, and we're proud of you ! "



Enid Blyton


Enid Blyton