Sir Francis to face her; it was Dona's
roguish-looking eyes which twinkled at her from the other side of the
pane.

"Open the window!" ordered that damsel.

Marjorie obeyed in much amazement. Dona was standing at the top of a
ladder which just reached to the window-sill.

"Old Williams has been clipping the ivy," she explained, "so I've
commandeered his ladder. I haven't broken any rules. I've never been
told that I mustn't get up a ladder."

The girls' sitting-room at St. Elgiva's was on the upper floor, and
members of other houses were strictly forbidden to mount the stairs.
Marjorie laughed at Dona's evasion of the edict.

"Give me a hand and I'll toddle in," continued the latter. "Steady oh!
Don't pull too hard. Here I am!"

"Glad to see you, but you'll get into a jinky little row if the Acid
Drop catches you!"

"Right oh, chucky! The Acid Drop is at this moment watching the team for
all she's worth. She's awfully keen on hockey."

"I know. And so am I," said Marjorie aggrievedly. "It's the limit to
miss this match."

"You're not going to miss it altogether. I've come to help you. Here,
give me a pen, and I'll copy some of the stuff out for you. Our
writing's so alike no one will guess--and you'll get out at half-time."

"You mascot! But you're missing the match yourself!"

"I don't care twopence. I'm not keen on hockey like you are. Give me a
pen, I tell you!"

"But how are we to manage?" objected Marjorie. "If we do alternate pages
we shan't each know where to begin, and we can't leave spaces, or the
Acid Drop would twig."

"Marjorie Anderson, I always thought you'd more brains than I have, but
you're not clever to-day! You must write small, so as to get each line
of print exactly into a line of exercise paper. There are twenty blue
lines on each sheet--very well then, you copy the first twenty of old
Bacon, and I'll copy the second twenty, and there we are, alternate
pages, as neat as you please!"

"Dona, you've a touch of genius about you!" purred Marjorie.

The plan answered admirably. By writing small, it was quite possible to
bring each line of print into correspondence with the manuscript. There
were a hundred and twenty lines altogether in the essay, which worked
out at six pages of exercise paper. Each counted out her own portion,
then scribbled away as fast as was consistent with keeping the size of
her caligraphy within due bounds. Thirty-five minutes' hard work brought
them to the l