ver, that she was unable to
detect exactly the nature of the strange odour that assailed her
nostrils, although she was well aware that it was something that should
not have been in evidence in any well-conducted school. However, there
appeared to be nothing that she could pounce upon, and she was obliged
to confine her energies to strictures upon the unconventional attitudes
in which she had surprised the three girls.

"Really, the way you girls behave in this school is atrocious! Fancy
three big girls of fifteen sitting on the floor in that ugly attitude.
And why are you sitting in the dark? Why are you here at all for that
matter? Is there not an organ recital you ought to be attending?"

"The organ recital was optional, Miss Burton," said Jack respectfully.
Respect seemed to her the easiest way of getting rid of this very
unwelcome visitor. "And Nita and Gerry and I thought we would rather
stay in here in the warm, and have a cosy talk over the fire."

"But why turn the lights out?" demanded the mistress, suspicious of the
extreme innocence of the three faces before her. The innocence of two
of them, rather! Gerry was not good at disguising her expression at
any time, and at the moment she was looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"We like sitting in the firelight best," said Jack glibly. "It makes
it seem so much more cosy and mysterious. Don't you think so yourself,
Miss Burton?" From the keen interest of her tone an uninitiated
observer might have thought that it was really a matter of importance
to her to discover the mistress's private opinion on this engrossing
topic.

Miss Burton, however, was not to be thus beguiled.

"No, I cannot say that I do," she said stiffly. She gave another
suspicious look around, but although she was not by any means convinced
of the innocency of her three pupils' proceedings, there seemed to be
nothing that she could lay hold of, and she turned reluctantly towards
the door.

And then at that inauspicious moment, Gerry's pocket--stuffed far
beyond its ordinary capacity with chestnuts--must suddenly give way!

There was a sound of ripping material, and the next moment a cascade of
chestnuts poured out upon the floor. In a moment Miss Burton was upon
them, and the mystery of the strange smell became apparent to her.

"I _thought_ so!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew you were up to
some sort of mischief! Attendance at Chapel may be optional, as you
say, but I a