and Winnie had clubbed together to give
her, and which she had brought with her to the exam. room.

At her first paper, however, she cheered up a little. It was easier
than she had expected, and though one or two questions were beyond
her, the rest were well within her capacity. Her new pen flew over the
sheets of foolscap, and if she was too nervous to do herself full
justice she at least acquitted herself with credit. The time-table
only allowed an hour between one and two o'clock for lunch, which was
provided for the candidates in a room at the Town Hall. Gwen anxiously
compared notes with Elspeth, Edith, Louise, and Betty, as they hastily
demolished plates of beef sandwiches and drank tumblers of lemonade.
On the whole she had done as well or even better than they, and she
began to cherish hopes.

As the week went on, Gwen, though not daring to be too sanguine,
could not help feeling that her papers had reached a fair standard
even in her weakest subjects. She had grown so accustomed to the
examination room that she was no longer nervous and was able to
express the facts she knew at their best advantage.

"There!" she said, when she had at last handed in her final sheets.
"It's a toss-up whether I'm through or not. I expect it depends on the
temper of the examiner who reads my papers. I'll hope he'll get his
dinner before he tackles them!"

"Your writing's clear at any rate," said Elspeth. "Mine's such a
scrawl I'm afraid that will be against me. Aren't you thankful the
thing's over?"

"Thankful hardly expresses my state of bliss."

"It's rather sickening to have school exams, next week, after all
this!" said Louise.

"They'll seem a mere trifle compared with the Oxford!" declared Gwen.

After the ordeal they had passed through in common the candidates were
on terms of good comradeship, and with Elspeth Frazer Gwen felt there
was a prospect of permanent friendship.

The last days of the term passed rapidly away. To Gwen the great event
of the school year was over. Though she did her best at them,
Rodenhurst examinations were a matter of quite minor importance. She
welcomed the breaking-up with intense relief. After the strain of the
past few weeks the holidays seemed an imperative necessity. It was
delightful to have a complete rest, to idle about in the garden or on
the shore, or take long invigorating walks on the moors. It would be
five or six weeks before she could hear the result of the Senior
Oxfor