"Yes, if it were mentioned at head-quarters, of course; but I didn't think of telling Miss Drummond."
"What were you going to do?"
"Only ask the other girls. It surely must have been Dora!"
"If we begin to talk about it, perhaps someone may mention it outside the Form, and it would get to Miss Drummond's ears. She would be very angry."
"She certainly would, because it really was dangerous. If the string had broken through while any of us were underneath, we might have been burnt to death in our light, flimsy clothes."
"It's all ended safely now, though. Isn't it rather mean to try to ferret it out? You don't want to get someone into a scrape."
"I don't indeed!" agreed Mabel. "Perhaps, as you say, it's as well to let things be. Ursula and Dora are always quarrelling, and if Ursula turned spiteful and gave a hint to Miss Bardsley, she'd feel bound to make enquiries."
"And we should probably never be allowed to use Chinese lanterns again."
"Oh! That would be dreadful! Phœbe says her sister told her we could keep these at school, and I thought we might act 'Catskin' at Easter, and carry them in procession."
"Then, mum's the word!"