agerness to
make his escape.

"I'll say good-bye to you now, Pixie," he said, "for your bag is there,
I see, and you would be much the better for a wash and brush. It's no
use coming downstairs again. Be a good girl, now, and Jack shall come
often to see you! I'm happy to leave you in such good hands, and it's a
lucky child you are to have such a school to come to! It will be your
own fault if you are not happy."

"I've no doubt I'll be very comfortable, thank you," Pixie said
pleasantly, lifting her cheek to receive her father's kiss, with little
sign of the emotion dreaded by the two onlookers, for her mind was too
full of the new excitements to allow her to realise his departure. He
hurried out of the room, followed by Miss Phipps, and Pixie withdrew
into her cubicle, pulled the curtains closely around her, and felt
monarch of all she surveyed. A dear little white bed, so narrow that if
you turned, you turned at your peril and in instant dread of landing on
the floor; a wonderful piece of furniture which did duty as dressing-
table, washstand, and chest of drawers combined; a single chair and a
hanging cupboard. Everything fresh, spotlessly clean, and in perfect
order; absolutely, if you can believe it, not a single broken thing to
be seen! Pixie drew a quick breath of admiration, and wondered how long
it could possibly be before she succeeded in cracking that lovely blue
and white china, and exactly what would happen if she spilt the water
over the floor! She was so much occupied in building castles in the air
that ten minutes passed by and she had not moved from her seat, when
suddenly there came the sound of footsteps running up the stairs, the
door was pushed open, and tramp, tramp, in came her future companions,
hidden from sight, but talking volubly to each other as they took off
hats and jackets after the afternoon walk.

"The new girl has arrived!" cried number one, in a tone of breathless
excitement. "I saw her box as I came through the hall. I peeped at the
label, but hadn't time to read it properly."

"I did, though!" cried another. "A funny name--O something or other.
`Shog-nessie,' or something like that. Such a shabby old trunk! Looked
as if it came out of the Ark."

"It will be rather fun having an Irish girl, don't you think?" number
two suggested. "They are untidy and quarrelsome, of course, but it is
funny to hear them talk, and they make such droll mistakes. I shouldn't
like t