eld was theirs! A perfect storm of applause came
from the crowd. The Rodenhurst girls were beside themselves with joy,
and clapped and waved and hurrahed till they were hoarse.

"Well done! This is indeed a triumph!" said Miss Roscoe, who hurried
up to congratulate her victorious pair, looking as pleased as any of
her pupils. This afternoon's success would wipe away the former
reproach of the school, and lift it to a point of importance in the
tennis league.

"The shield will hang in the lecture hall!" rejoiced Bessie Manners.
"It will be sent to us as soon as our name is engraved upon it."

"I wish we could erase Radcaster!" said Gwen.

"Oh! I like to see the names of the other schools upon it. It gives me
all the more joy of present possession."

"Gwen, you were just splendid!" declared Olga. "How you managed it I
can't imagine, but you seemed to jump at the balls and catch them."

"I'm a spread-eagle player, I know; not nearly so graceful as you,"
laughed Gwen. "Well, I've 'done my possible', as the French say. Now I
shall have to drop tennis and grind, for Miss Douglas has been
grumbling most horribly, and declares she'd have stopped my being
champion if she'd known how my prep. was going to suffer. It's been
Latin and maths. versus tennis this last week."

"She'll forgive you when she sees the shield!" chuckled Bessie
Manners.

CHAPTER XXIII

Gwen to the Rescue

It was now the middle of June, and the weather, even at Skelwick, was
hot and enervating. There was thunder about, and frequent rain. It was
trying for everybody. The constant heavy showers necessitated carrying
mackintoshes to school, as if it were winter; the lawn was too wet and
sopping for tennis, and most outdoor plans had to be abandoned. The
boys, overflowing with high spirits, chafed at confinement to the
house, and their noise was a serious impediment to Gwen, whose evening
preparation was a matter of vital importance at present. It was
impossible to get out of earshot in the little Parsonage, and though
she retired to her bedroom and stuffed her fingers in her ears, Latin
translation and mathematical problems were sadly disturbed by the din
below. Gwen was working tremendously hard just now. Miss Roscoe had
not yet announced the names of those who were to take the Senior
Oxford. It was rather a curious notion of hers to preserve silence on
the subject, for she was obliged to send in the entry forms for her
candidates early in