rm mates hinted that she might receive a present of Debrett's
_Peerage_ on her next birthday. If she missed a ball at tennis, or
slacked a little at cricket, somebody was sure to enquire: "Thinking
of him?" She found a picture of two turtle-doves attached to the
pin-cushion on her dressing-table, and drawings of hearts and darts
were scrawled by unknown hands inside her textbooks. Moreover, she
lived in constant dread lest somebody should have really found the
card inside the strawberry basket, and should send an answer by post,
which would fall into the hands of Miss Beasley. The prospect of
expulsion from the school haunted her.

Fortunately for her, nobody troubled to notice her request for
correspondence, the basket of strawberries having probably found its
way to some snuffy individual at a greengrocer's stall, who took no
interest in the loneliness of blue-eyed, fair-haired damsels. As for
her volume of _Poems of Love_, Hermie confiscated it until the end of
the term, and recommended a _Manual of Cricket_ instead.

CHAPTER XV

On the River

Miss Gibbs was fast arriving at the disappointing conclusion that
patriotism costs dearly: in other words, that if you take away
eighteen girls to do strawberry picking, you cannot expect them,
immediately on their return, to settle down again into ordinary
routine and everyday habits. An atmosphere of camp life seemed to
pervade the place, a free-and-easy, rollicking spirit that was not at
all in accordance with Miss Beasley's ideas of propriety. The
Principal, who had never altogether approved of the week on the land,
considered that the school was demoralized, and made a firm effort to
restore discipline. The monitresses, several of whom had been guilty
of whistling in the passages, were summoned separately for private
interviews in the study, whence they issued somewhat subdued and
abashed; and the rank and file, by means of punishment lessons and
fines, were made to feel a wholesome respect for the iron hand of the
law.

Miss Beasley and Miss Gibbs agreed that the Fifth Form gave the
largest amount of trouble. It was here that most of the mischief
fermented and fizzed out on unexpected occasions. At present the
Mystic Seven, who beforetime had offered a united front to the world,
were suffering from a series of internal quarrels. The four who had
been to camp assumed an air of superiority over the three who had not,
which led to unpleasantness. Naturally it