This proved a favourite, for poor Herr Frühl, the German master, was famous for his bronchitis and his bad temper, and the general opinion ascribed the authorship to Dorothy, though she would not acknowledge her laurels.
'The next,' said Lilian, 'is on Kathleen.'
'There once lived a maid named Kathleen,
Who never a boat-race had seen;
When they brought her a bow
Of bright red, she said "No,
My national colour is green!"'
The lines referred to a joke which was never forgotten against Kathleen. When she first came to Warford High School, fresh from her native Erin, she had been taken with the rest of her class to witness a grand boat-race between the Grammar School and a rival college from Oswestry. Many of the girls had brothers in the contest, and the Warford favours were freely distributed on the bank. A little boy had come up to Kathleen and politely begged her to accept the scarlet bow of the Grammar School, and sport it as a token of goodwill towards the heroes of the town.
'Is it a red riband, then, ye'll be after askin' me to wear?' inquired the indignant young Irishwoman. 'It's the shade of the tyrant, bad cess to it! and don't suit me complexion neither. Sure it's nothing but green favours ye'll see on Kathleen O'Riley.'
'Miss James' was the subject of the sixth poem.
'A teacher there was called Miss James,
The most domineering of dames:
When she passed by their places,
All the girls made bad faces;
But she never found out, all the same!'
'Same doesn't quite rhyme with James,' remarked Evelyn.
'Well, I told you I was no good at poetry,' began poor Lucy, then stopped in much embarrassment at having betrayed herself.
'I think it's very nice,' said Lilian hurriedly; 'I like it one of the best. Don't you want to hear this one about "Dorothy Gower"?