he study. Miss Trent had been beforehand; so when she entered Miss
Roscoe was already aware of the nature and extent of her crime. The
headmistress was not disposed to make light of the affair; like Miss
Trent, she considered that the reputation of the school might be
seriously compromised by Gwen's behaviour, and she did not spare the
culprit. Gwen did not often cry at school, but on this occasion she
left the Principal's room weeping like Niobe, and poor Winnie, who had
been called in to hear the tail end of the lecture, followed blinking
a little on her own account.

"You do such lunatic things, Gwen," said Winnie on the way home.

"I meant no harm," protested the still tearful Niobe.

"I dare say you don't, but they're stupid things all the same. You
might have known you'd get into trouble. I shall scold Dick about it."

"It wasn't his fault."

"Well, it's been a silly business all round, and why Miss Roscoe
should send for me and talk as if I were partly responsible I can't
imagine," said the aggrieved Winnie. "It's bad enough to have to teach
in class without being blamed for what no person in her senses could
consider my fault."

"That's Miss Roscoe all over," gulped Gwen. "If she's angry she must
fizz whether there's justice in it or not. I'm fearfully sorry, Win!
It's too bad you were dragged in."

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped now," said Winnie, somewhat
mollified. "Miss Roscoe's storms are soon over, that's one blessing. I
expect by to-morrow she'll have calmed down. You'll be in disgrace for
a while, but she'll forget about it."

"What became of the sweets?" asked Lesbia.

"Left them on the chimneypiece and I expect the housemaid will
commandeer them. I daren't ask for them, I can tell you."

Next morning the lower sashes of the Fifth Form room windows were
found firmly screwed down, and the glass had received a coat of white
paint put on the outside, so that not even a peephole could be
scratched from within. The girls whose desks had formerly commanded a
view were savage; even Miss Douglas wore an air of plaintive
resignation.

"Might have known it would be Gwen Gascoyne who would bring herself
into such a mess!" said Charlotte Perry.

"Um--I've a notion Netta set the ball rolling," returned Elspeth
Frazer.

CHAPTER XV

Storm Clouds

It was only a few days after this that a letter arrived for Mr.
Gascoyne which almost turned the little Parsonage upside down. Gwen
could te