. A SCHOOL ELECTION 9

II. WHAT DOROTHY OVERHEARD 24

III. A RETROSPECT 39

IV. DOROTHY MAKES A FRIEND 55

V. A LITERATURE EXERCISE 68

VI. A PROMISE 84

VII. ALISON'S HOME 101

VIII. A SHORT CUT 120

IX. DOROTHY SCORES 132

X. MARTHA REMEMBERS 151

XI. ALISON'S UNCLE 169

XII. THE SUBTERRANEAN CAVERN 181

XIII. A SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY 199

XIV. WATER PLANTAIN 216

XV. A CONFESSION 229

XVI. THE WILLIAM SCOTT PRIZE 244

Illustrations

PAGE

"'YOU'RE THE ABSOLUTE IMAGE!' DECLARED ALISON" 110
_Frontispiece_

THE NEW GIRL 56

IN DISCREET HIDING 124

A LESSON IN GOLF 178

A NURSING EXPERIENCE 212

A PAIR OF SCHOOLGIRLS

CHAPTER I

A School Election

It was precisely five minutes past eleven on the first day of the autumn
term, and Avondale College, which for seven whole weeks had been lonely
and deserted, and given over to the tender mercies of paperhangers,
painters, and charwomen, once more presented its wonted aspect of life
and bustle. The reopening was a very important event in the opinion of
everybody concerned, partly because it marked the beginning of a fresh
school year, and partly because the building had been altered and
enlarged, many changes made in the curriculum, and many new names added
to the already long list in the register. Three hundred and eighty-seven
pupils had assembled that morning in the great lecture hall, the largest
number on record at the College; five additional classes had been
formed, and there were six extra mistresses. At the eleven o'clock
interval the place seemed swarming with girls; they thronged the
staircase and passages, filled th