s a complete mystery."

"Why, Flossie!" exclaimed Maisie Talbot suddenly, "didn't I hear you
get up last night, after Vivian had gone downstairs and we had marched
off to bed again? I remember I called out to you, but I was too sleepy
to wake up properly. I verily believe it must have been you who
frightened Evelyn. Honestly now, was it?"

Flossie turned very red. She would have continued to shield herself at
Honor's expense if it had been any longer possible, but she was not
prepared to tell a direct falsehood. There was no way out of it but to
confess.

"What a storm in a teacup!" she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "It's
absurd if one can't play the least joke without a monitress interfering
and making a ridiculous fuss. It was only meant for fun; I should have
laughed if anybody had done it to me."

"It's no laughing matter," said Maisie gravely. "In the first place,
though Evelyn may be silly, you had no right to frighten her; and in
the second place, you deliberately let the blame rest on Honor's
shoulders."

"Vivian ought to be told of this," declared Dorothy.

"Yes, she must know at once," added Ruth.

"Oh, please don't go sneaking to the monitress on my account!"
interposed Honor. "If Meta wants the affair to drop, it shall. Both she
and Vivian took it for granted last night that I had acted the ghost in
No. 4; they never asked me, or gave me a chance of denying it, so I
shan't trouble to undeceive them. If Vivian has such a poor opinion of
me already, she shan't think me a tell-tale in addition. As for
Flossie, she's not worth noticing."

"But telling a monitress isn't like telling a teacher," objected Ruth.

"It savours of sneaking, and I prefer to leave it alone. What does it
matter? I don't care about anybody's opinion!"

Honor was on her high horse. She had been much hurt by Vivian's
injustice, and all the Fitzgerald pride was roused within her.
Notwithstanding the girls' remonstrances, she would not allow herself
to be cleared of the false charge.

"The whole thing is altogether beneath me," she remarked, as she
stalked haughtily away.

"It's no good trying to persuade her," said Lettice. "When she puts
that set look on her face, arguments are absolutely useless."

"On the whole, I think I rather admire her for saying nothing,"
commented Maisie. "It's more dignified than making a fuss. I can't
tolerate tale-bearing myself. It would have got Flossie into a terrific
scrape with Vivian, an