A Popular Schoolgirl | Page 8

a brisk, up-to-date, go-ahead girl, full of fun and
high spirits. She was a capital mimic, and had a turn for repartee that,
quite good-naturedly, laid any adversary flat in the dust. If Nora and Fil
were like rose and lily, she was decidedly the robin of the party. Her
fair complexion seemed to add force to the brightness of her twinkling
brown eyes, and her general restlessness and quick alert ways made one
think of a bird always hopping about. Though not quite such a romp as
Nora, she was ready for any fun that was going, and intended to get as
much enjoyment as possible out of the coming term. She linked herself
now on to Fil's disengaged arm, taking the latter's pile of books with
her own and began towing her two friends in the direction of the hostel.
"I've hardly had time even for a squint at our dormitory yet," she

announced. "Mrs. Best said I was late, and made me pop down my bag
and fly; but she told me we were all four together, so I went off with an
easy mind. I'd been worrying for fear I'd be boxed up with some kids,
or sandwiched in among the Sixth. I told you Ingred was to be with us,
didn't I? Let's go and hunt her out; she'll have wiped her eyes and got
over her jim-jams by now. We'll have time to do some unpacking
before tea, if they've carried up our boxes."
The hostel was a separate house, built at the opposite side of the school
playground. It could accommodate thirty girls, and twenty-six were
already entered on its register. After a brief peep into the attractive
dining-hall, and an equally pleasant-looking boarders' sitting-room, the
three girls went upstairs to a dormitory marked 2. They found Ingred
already at work on her task of unpacking, putting clothes away in
drawers, and spreading the shelf that served as a dressing-table with an
assortment of photos, books, and toilet requisites. She looked rather in
the dumps, but it was impossible for anybody to remain gloomy when
in the presence of such lively spirits as Nora and Verity, and by the
time the gong sounded for tea she had cheered up, and was sitting on
her bed discussing school news.
[Illustration: "LET'S CALL OURSELVES THE FOURSOME
LEAGUE."]
"Look here!" said Verity. "If we want to have a jolly term we four must
stick together. Let's make a compact that, both in school and in the
hostel, we'll support each other through thick and thin. We'll be a sort
of society of Freemasons. I haven't made up any secrets yet, but
whoever betrays them will be outlawed! Let's call ourselves 'The
Foursome League.' Now then, put your right hands all together on mine,
and say after me: 'I hereby promise and vow on my honor as a
gentlewoman that I'll stand by my chums in No. 2 Dormitory at any
cost.' That's a good beginning. When we've time, we'll draw up the
rules. Subscriptions? Oh, bother! You can each give sixpence if you
like, and we'll spend the money on a chocolate feast. Remember, Fil,
not a word to anybody! It's to be kept absolutely quiet. There's the gong.
If the tea's up to the standard of the rest of the hostel, I shan't object.

Glad we're not rationed now, for I'm as hungry as a hunter."
CHAPTER III
Wynch-on-the-Wold
Though the College only opened on Tuesday afternoon, the short
remainder of the week seemed enormously long to Ingred. Her form
mates were the same, but everything else was absolutely changed; she
might have been at a new school. She appreciated the convenient
arrangements of the handsome building: the lecture-hall, with its
stained-glass window and polished floor, the airy class-rooms, the
studio with its facilities for every kind of art work, the three
music-rooms, the laboratory, the gymnasium, and, last but not least, the
hostel. Ingred had never before been a boarder, and she had not
expected to like the experience, but there is a subtle charm in
community life that infects everybody with "the spirit of the hive," and
in spite of herself she began to be interested in the particular set of
faces that met round the table for meals. The greater part of the girls
were in the middle and lower school, but there were a few members of
the Sixth, who sat next to Mrs. Best, the matron, and Nurse Warner,
and looked with superior eyes on the crowd of intermediates and
juniors. To have secured such congenial room-mates was an asset for
which she could not be sufficiently thankful. Whatever troubles might
await her downstairs, it was a comfort to know that she had three allies
ready to flock to her support. She