"And doing it quickly too," agreed Bess. "I'm as astonished as you are. I didn't think Mildred had it in her. I believe she'll make one of the best monitresses St. Cyprian's has ever had."
Professor Hoffmann's joy at the return of his favourite pupil was Teutonic in its warmth and fervour.
"Mein Freundchen, you have come again!" he cried, shaking hands with a vigour that almost made her cry out. "You remember what I tell you? Yes? Nothing in this world can compare with music. You did not wish to live at the rich and great house? So! Zou have chosen well. Now you shall study. Ach! we shall see what you will do! You have played at my Students' Concert. What if one day you have a concert of your own? But you must give people something to which it is worth their while to listen! You can do it, yes! It is in you, if you will let it come out. The power is there, but it needs training, patience, care, and again training. It knows not yet how to express itself aright. Himmel! You have a great aptitude for your instrument. Some day we shall see you an artiste, if you will only continue to work."
Hard work Mildred certainly found to be her present destiny at St. Cyprian's. The curriculum of the Sixth Form demanded extra brain exertion in addition to her increased violin study. Fortunately for her, the particular arrangements of the school, as divided into Collegiate and Musical sides, made allowance for the large amount of practising which was now daily expected from her; and Miss Cartwright, regarding her as a special case, made further concessions, and adapted her time-table so as to give the first place to her violin.
Most of the other girls in the Form were also putting their powers to the proof. Laura Kirby was working for a Girton scholarship, and several others were to take the matriculation examination. They were being carefully coached, and extra teachers came to the College to give them lessons in special subjects. For one or two chemistry classes they were sent to the women's department of the Kirkton University, where some of them hoped afterwards to continue their studies and obtain degrees. Even Kitty Fletcher, who was not at all clever, was preparing for the Senior Oxford and Cambridge Combined Board, an examination which it was necessary for her to pass if she were to take up the Kindergarten teaching upon which her heart was set.
There were naturally a few drones in the hive. Sheila Moore kept up a well-deserved reputation for idleness, and Eve Mitchell and Nora Whitehead were prepared to rival her, in spite of Miss Cartwright's protestations. On the whole, however, the average was high, and the girls seemed disposed to live up to the past traditions of the Form, and set an example in strenuousness to the rest of the school.
One delightful privilege was accorded to the Sixth. They had a little sitting-room to themselves, where those who stayed for dinner could spend their spare time, or where preparation might be done in quiet at certain hours. This sitting-room was always considered the private property, for the year, of the Sixth, and the girls took a pride in making it pretty. It was the custom for every member to bring one article, which she could take away with her when leaving the school, so that the room should be free for its next occupants. Chairs and a table were provided, but the girls contributed pictures, framed photographs, cushions, a table-cover, some books, and a variety of knick-knacks, which gave the place a very homely and cosy air.
This term, by special permission from Miss Cartwright, a tea-service was added to the other possessions. The girls intended to hold committee meetings at four o'clock, and afterwards to make tea in their sanctum, taking it in turns to provide the comestibles. It had always been rather a rush to have meetings during the midday interval, as some members returned home for dinner, and could not be back until after two o'clock, so that the bell for second school was apt to ring just in the midst of the most animated discussions. Mildred's contribution to the sitting-room consisted of a tea-cloth which she had worked while at The Towers. Kitty Fletcher brought a framed photograph of last term's cricket eleven, taken just after their triumph over Templeton. Freda Kingston had some of her own water-colours framed, and these were so pretty that they were awarded the place of honour by general vote. Laura Kirby lent a well-stocked book-shelf, and Lottie Lowman placed a clock on the mantel-piece, so that by the united efforts of the whole Form the room looked quite as nice as it had done under the headship of Phillis Garnet and her set.
To Mildred this sanctum was a delightful retreat. She was a day-boarder, and she had always found that the schoolroom or the playground afforded rather cold comfort during the interval. With others of the "Needlework Guild" she could retire here to make the charity garments which the Alliance had promised for the Children's Hospital, or construct little presents for the "Santa Claus Club" that was to aid in stocking the Christmas-tree at the Central Ragged Schools of the city. At Kitty Fletcher's instigation a Christmas Card Association was formed. The girls brought to school a large selection of their last year's cards, and set to work with paste-brush and blank paper to cover over the names which were on them, writing instead some suitable greeting. These were to be sent to the workhouse for distribution on Christmas Day, and it was hoped to prepare enough for each inmate to receive one. It was an occupation which most of the girls enjoyed, and proved more popular than needlework, so a large amount of snipping and pasting went on, and the pile of finished cards grew steadily.
The autumn term was only about a fortnight old when a new pupil arrived, who, in Mildred's opinion at least, was a most welcome addition to the College. Mr. Somerville had been so much interested in the descriptions he had heard of St. Cyprian's that he had decided to send Rhoda there without further delay. She was to live at the Principal's private house, for Miss Cartwright had decided to try the experiment of taking a few boarders, and had provided accommodation for six. Rhoda was particularly anxious to come to St. Cyprian's, partly because Mildred was there, and had given her such entrancing accounts of it, and also because Rodney was commencing his engineering work at Kirkton, and was already installed in rooms on his own account. With Mildred to act as her school godmother, Rhoda very soon made friends, and began to settle down happily into her new life. Her former lessons with her father, though in some subjects she was well advanced, had left her behindhand in other respects, so she had been placed in Vb, the Form to which Miss Cartwright generally relegated backward girls who were too old for the Fourth, and not capable of doing the work of Va. Here she soon began to pick up the points in which she was deficient, and made excellent progress. She found several congenial friends of her own age, and became an active supporter of all the special institutions of her Form.