buns, and we
can get any extra cakes we like ourselves." And so it was happily
arranged.

Nancy proved herself a born organizer, and on Friday evening each Five A
girl shared in the duty of being hostess. Even Florence, who remained
persistently quiet and difficult to know, was given her share of work
to do. Sally May and her committee were responsible for decorating the
supper-room, Peggy Forrest was to look after the coloured lanterns,
Judith was to see that the smiling Italian and his wife, who took turns
at the hurdy-gurdy, each had a rest in the warm kitchen and some supper,
"and be sure," cautioned wise Nancy, "that the maids keep back enough
for our own supper afterwards."

Friday afternoon saw Form Five A hard at work getting ready for their
guests. Nancy flew hither and thither; she worked out on the rink
helping with the lanterns, and down in the supper-room with the
decorations, and then she was off to the housekeeper's room with a list
of special requests. She was making a splendid Form President, every one
agreed, and that was very high praise, for the post was by no means an
easy one to fill.

So far Nancy's chief difficulty had been in keeping silence when the
form was lined up ready to lead into morning prayers, but later on in
the year she was to tackle the problem of how to deal with persistent
petty cheating which remained undiscovered by the authorities. The Form
Mistress may be a wise counsellor and a constant friend, but the Form
President is often--as Nancy was later on--kept from seeking advice by
the schoolgirl's horror of "telling tales."

By six o'clock everything was ready for the skating party, and Five A
went in to supper with a good appetite and the happy consciousness that
they were going to have a good time.

"Glistening snow, tingling air, glittering stars, shining moon," said
Judith gleefully, as she and Sally May waltzed on the ice, while Peggy
was turning on the coloured lights. "It's going to be a perfectly
blissful party."

And it was. The night was perfect to begin with, and the Chinese
lanterns and the music of the hurdy-gurdy all combined to form a scene
of magic enchantment that fairly entranced beauty-loving Judith.

The snow lay about the rink in a great glistening white bank, splashed
here and there by a pool of coloured light, far away glittered the stars
in a dark blue winter sky, and over all the moon shed a pure, cold,
white light.

Form Five didn't stop to t