rget-me-not". She exchanged it for Vivien's epistle and scudded off
through the damp mist back to the gymnasium. If any eyes were watching
as she passed the study window and came in by the side door, it was much
too foggy for her to see clearly. As she handed the letter to her
waiting cousin she noticed that the envelope was not gummed down
securely.

"Hallo, 'Jack's' been in a hurry with this," she commented. "It isn't
properly stuck."

"Perhaps it's the damp that's melted the gum," said Vivien, pulling out
the contents impatiently.

Jack's correspondence, though addressed to her, was common property.
Several heads bent over the closely-written sheet, eager for what might
be termed "the next episode" of the romance. The letter was dated "The
Grand Hotel" and began:

"MY OWN DARLINGEST FORGET-ME-NOT,

"It is twenty-four hours since I last wrote to you, and the time
has seemed an eternity. How I manage to live without your
presence I cannot imagine. Life apart from you is a blank
wilderness. I wander by the sad sea waves, and were it not for
the fond hope of meeting you again I should cast myself into
them and perish. Forget-me-not, my ownest own, I can stand this
misery no longer. Surely the clouds that have separated us may
now be blown apart, and again I can bask in the sunshine of your
smile? If you can forgive me, meet me alone at twilight in the
old familiar spot on the beach, that hallowed place where we
first gazed into each other's eyes and vowed fidelity. I have a
plan to propose, but I dare not write it: I must tell it to you
in words and beg for your favour on my knees. I shall be there,
awaiting your approach with burning anxiety, and longing to
clasp you in these fond arms.

"With all the love in the wide world,
"Your most devoted slave,
"JACK."

The girls giggled.

"He's worse than ever this time," said Audrey.

"Got it badly," agreed Nellie.

"I wonder what his plan is," grinned Claire. "I say, Patsie, what's
'Jack' going to do next?"

"Wait and see," remarked Patsie calmly. "I'm not going to give away his
secrets beforehand. It will all unfold itself in due time."

"History essays, please!" said Claudia, who was working monitress for
the week, and whose duty it was to collect the exercise-books and give
them to Miss Kingsley. "Don't be all day about it