s
Janet.

"So equal that I shan't take the results of the exams into
consideration. It must be a question of which girl will make the most
efficient head. Each has her points and her drawbacks. Take Vivien, now:
she's smart and capable, and would revel in exercising authority."

"Too much so. I should be sorry for the school with anyone so
domineering as Vivien Forrester at the head of affairs. She's too
forward altogether, and inclined to argue and pit her opinion against
that of the mistresses. If she were singled out for special office, I
believe she'd grow insufferable. Dorothy Skipton, with all her faults,
would be preferable to Vivien."

"And Dorothy _has_ faults--very big ones too!" sighed Miss Kingsley. "I
never can consider Dorothy to be absolutely straight and square. I've
several times caught her cheating or copying, and she's not above
telling a fib if she's in a tight place. She's clever, undoubtedly, and
decidedly popular, and in that lies the greatest danger, for a popular
head girl whose moral attitude is not of the very highest might ruin the
tone of the school in a single term. I'm afraid Dorothy is too risky an
experiment."

"Then that leaves only Lorraine Forrester?"

"Yes--Lorraine."

Both the sisters paused, with the same look of puzzled doubt on their
faces.

"She's a child I never seem to have got to know thoroughly," said Miss
Janet. "I must say I've always found her perfectly square and a plodding
worker. She has given very little trouble in class."

"Not so brilliant, perhaps, as Vivien, but, on the whole, more
satisfactory," commented Miss Kingsley. "I agree with you that we have
never really got to know Lorraine. She's a very reserved girl, and
hasn't pushed herself forward, but there's great strength of character
in her, in my opinion. Those big brown eyes look in earnest over
anything she's doing. She's never made a bid for popularity, like
Dorothy Skipton, but I've seen her coaching the younger ones at hockey
and cricket. She's inclined to go about in a dream, but I believe if she
were placed in a post of authority she'd wake up. I really think we
could depend on Lorraine. The first quality in a head girl is that she
must be conscientious, and she certainly comes out top in that respect."

"If it were put to the general vote----" began Miss Janet, but her
sister snapped her up.

"I don't believe in allowing the girls a choice! The popular idol of the
school isn't always the