spent itself by now.
With a white face she walked across the schoolroom and took up the
position Miss Burton indicated. And there she stood in silent
humiliation with her face to the wall, while the rest of the form,
sulky and rebellious, dragged through the remainder of the lesson.

Miss Burton did not try any more drastic measures. Perhaps she
realised that she had already gone too far. Or perhaps, having vented
some of her anger upon Gerry, she felt more amiably disposed towards
the rest of her girls. At all events, the lesson ended without another
contretemps; and Gerry was permitted to come out of her ignominious
corner and was seated again in her desk before Miss Latham entered to
take her usual class in history.

The Lower Fifth managed to conceal their indignation during the history
lesson, but when at last the morning's work had ended and the new
mistress had finally departed from the classroom, the storm of anger
burst. For the first time since she had come to Wakehurst Priory,
Gerry found herself the centre of popular sympathy.

"What a beastly shame, Gerry!" said Jack Pym, coming over to Gerry's
desk. "She's a beastly, mean pig--and she hadn't any right to treat
you like that." And she put her hand caressingly on Gerry's arm, a
proceeding which filled Gerry's heart with a sudden thrill of
happiness. It was almost the first time Jack had spoken to her since
that first unlucky day at school. Even her late humiliation seemed
worth while if it was going to bring her Jack's friendship again.

The other members of the form, too, gave vent to many expressions of
sympathy, and schemes of vengeance upon the new mistress were discussed.

"Tell you what--we'll strike!" said Dorothy Pemberton, always ready to
take the side of lawlessness and disorder.

"How?" said Phyllis, eager to support her chum, yet not quite seeing
how a successful strike could be engineered.

"Why, we won't do a stroke of prep for her!" said Dorothy. "We'll work
for all the other mistresses doubly hard to make up, but when it comes
to Miss Burton's work we won't do a thing. We'll all promise not to,
and then if the whole lot of us are in it she can't do anything."

"She can give us conduct marks," said Hilda Burns.

"Yes, but she'll have to give them to the whole lot, so they won't mean
very much. And although we shan't get any marks for her lessons, yet
it won't really count, because we shall all be in the same boat."

"Sh