h it may appear,
Irene's flaxen locks and regular features were for the time being so
many offences in the eyes of her companions. They were accustomed to
Tom; Tom had been the Head Girl of their heart, and they resented the
"finicking" ways of her successor as an insult to the dear departed.

Irene strove by a gentle mildness of demeanour to soften the prejudice
against her, and the girls but abused her the more.

"Catch Tom saying `_It didn't matter_'! Imagine Tom pretending she
didn't hear! A nice Head Girl _she_ is! We might as well have Hilary
Jervis!" Irene assumed a pretence of firmness; the girls rolled their
eyes at each other and tittered audibly. The idea of Irene Grey
ordering others about! Plainly, it was time, and time only, which could
give any authority to Tom Bolderston's supplanter!

How keenly Rhoda felt her friend's absence no one guessed but herself.
Tom's attitude towards the result of the late examinations would have
given the keynote to that of her companions, and have shielded the poor,
smarting victim from much which she now had to endure. The girls were
unaffectedly sorry for her, but pity is an offering which a proud spirit
finds it hard to accept. It seemed strange to realise that girls cast
in such graceful moulds as Dorothy and Irene should be so deficient in
tact as to gush over the humiliation of another, and check the
rhapsodies of successful candidates by such significant coughings and
frownings as must have been obvious to the dullest faculties. Oh, for
Tom's downright acceptance of a situation--her calm taking-for-granted
that the sufferer was neither selfish nor cowardly enough to grudge
success to others! Rhoda felt, as we have all felt in our time, that
she had never thoroughly appreciated her friend until she had departed,
and she was one of the most enthusiastic members of the committee
organised to arrange about the tablet to be composed in Tom's honour.

Of course, Tom must have a place on the Record Wall! Blues, Reds,
Greens, and Yellows were unanimously decided on the point; contributions
poured in, and on Sunday afternoon the Blues sat in consultation over
the wording of the inscription.

"The simpler the better. Tom hated gush!" was the general opinion; but
it was astonishing how difficult it was to hit on something simple yet
telling. A high-flown rhapsody seemed far easier to accomplish, and at
last, in despair, each girl was directed to compose an insc