magical
lotion eased the pain of her swollen nose and considerably improved her
appearance. A strong dose of sal volatile brought back a little colour
to her pale cheeks and a feeling of strength to her sadly wobbling
legs. Then she was established upon a comfortable sofa in front of the
sick-room fire and left to the enjoyment of a first-class sick-room
tea--the sort kept for special convalescents, Sister informed her. As
it consisted of hot buttered toast, superfinely thin bread and butter,
apricot jam, shortbread biscuits, and sponge-cakes, Gerry agreed with
her that it was certainly a great improvement upon ordinary schoolroom
fare.

Downstairs in the dining-hall little else was discussed that tea-time
but the subject of Gerry's pluck. A great change of feeling towards
the Lower Fifth girl was taking place. Everybody realised that if it
had not been for Gerry's presence of mind and extraordinary courage,
many of the girls might have been bitten by poor Bruno. Whether the
dog was really suffering from madness or only from some minor distemper
remained to be proved. But those who had seen him that afternoon had
little doubt upon the subject. He had been unaccountably moody and
irritable for some days past--his surly behaviour in the gymnasium a
couple of days previously had only been one incident out of many--and
the way he had suddenly run amok when the headmistress was about to
take him for a walk that afternoon pointed to the supposition that he
was really suffering from rabies.

"Mad? In course he was mad! Think I don't know a mad dog when I see
one?" said Bennett, when questioned upon the subject by Dorothy and
Phyllis, as he was taking away the muddy boots from the lobby just
before tea. "If it hadn't been for that there young lady, there'd have
been some humans mad as well--and serve some of them right!" he added,
with a sour glance. For although the servants did not know the full
ins and outs of Gerry's ostracism, yet they were well aware that
"little Miss Wilmott" had been having anything but a happy time during
her first term at Wakehurst Priory.

But Wakehurst Priory had thoroughly repented of its ways now! Gerry
was the heroine of the hour, and there was considerable danger of the
school losing its head in the other direction and making a popular idol
of her. Even Dorothy and Phyllis were penitent, and openly
acknowledged their remorse in the Lower Fifth sitting-room after tea
that eveni