cricket,
and that's saying something!"

The idea of each form constituting a club appealed to the school. It was
far more interesting to be "Amazons" or "Cuckoos" than merely
VB. or IIIB., and as awards were to be according to averages, it was
thrilling to feel that girls of twelve could wrest away the silver cup
from the hands of the very prefects themselves.

"It makes it just like playing a game!" declared Ida Brooke.

"Yes, a sort of tug-of-war when everybody's got to pull, and mustn't let
go!" added Cissie Barnes, "Do you remember playing 'Oranges and Lemons'
once with the Sixth? _We_ all held on to each others' waists like grim
death, and Janie Potter gave way and broke their chain, so we won!"

"We'll beat them again, too! I'd like to see that cup on our
mantelpiece!"

"The Pioneers," otherwise VA., were as anxious as any of the other forms
to carry off laurels. Even Fil, much under protest, really made quite an
effort to work.

"You ought to help me with my exercises, though, Ingred," she wheedled.
"Remember, it's for the benefit of the form. If you let me make
mistakes, well--it's the form that will suffer. You can't call it _my_
fault, it's on your own head. You know as well as I do that I simply
can't spell, and it takes me hours to hunt up words in the dictionary.
I'm looking for 'phenomenon' now."

"You certainly won't find it in the F's," laughed Ingred. "What an
infant in arms you are! Here, then, go ahead, and I'll act as
dictionary. You've only written half a page yet. You'll be a week of
Sundays at this rate."

"And I haven't touched my Latin or French!" sighed Fil dismally. "I wish
I could go to a school where there isn't any homework, and that somebody
would invent a typewriter that would just spell the words ready-made
when you press a button."

"There's a fortune waiting for the man who does!" agreed Ingred. "'The
Royal-Road-to-Learning Typewriter: spells of itself.' It would sell by
the million, I should think."

Ingred washed her hands, plaited her hair, and put on her best brooch
and her new bangle to attend the first meeting of the School Parliament.
The function was held in the Sixth Form room, which she thought slightly
unfair, for the prefects, being on their own ground, felt a distinct
advantage, and acted as hostesses. There were four of them, so with the
games captain they made a party of five from the Sixth, as opposed to
six representatives of lower forms, a quite undue pro