| CHAP. | Page | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | Packing | [9] |
| II. | The Priory | [20] |
| III. | First Impressions | [36] |
| IV. | A Maiden all Forlorn | [50] |
| V. | The Arithmetic Examination | [69] |
| VI. | Albums | [88] |
| VII. | Patty's Pledge | [106] |
| VIII. | A Great Disappointment | [125] |
| IX. | An Afternoon with Jean | [145] |
| X. | The Cæsar Translation | [159] |
| XI. | The Summer Term | [176] |
| XII. | Playing with Fire | [198] |
| XIII. | The School Picnic | [212] |
| XIV. | On the Rocks | [225] |
| XV. | Speech Day | [243] |
Illustrations
| Page | |
|---|---|
| "She started guiltily at her cousin's entrance" | Frontis. [166] |
| "Everybody seemed to be friends and to be occupiedwith some game or amusement except herself" | [56] |
| "You'll all three have to promise never to light thegas again after Miss Rowe's turned it out" | [122] |
| "Girls," she cried, "surely you can't suspect me ofowning that wretched 'crib'?" | [173] |
| "They were cut off on every side" | [232] |
CHAPTER I
Packing
"Only one day more," cried Patty Hirst, surveying with deep interest the large new box which stood by the side of the chest of drawers in her bedroom; "just one day! How dreadfully quickly the time has come! I feel quite queer when I think about it. I can scarcely believe that before the end of the week both I and my luggage will be a whole hundred miles away, and settled at Morton Priory. I do wonder how I shall like it?"
"Very much, I hope," replied her mother, pausing for a moment in her task of packing the neat piles of linen and underclothing into as small a compass as possible. "I'm sure it seems a delightful school, and you are an extremely lucky girl to be going there."
"Yes," said Patty, with a rather doubtful tone in her voice, sitting down on the edge of the bed, and beginning to turn over the pocket handkerchiefs, the new blouses, the ties, hair ribbons, and other articles which made up her schoolgirl outfit; "I suppose I am lucky. Perhaps it may be nicer than I think. I wanted to go dreadfully when Uncle Sidney first wrote about it, but somehow now that it's got almost to starting off, do you know I feel as if I'd changed my mind, and I'm not at all sure that I wouldn't rather stay at home. It seems too horrible to have to go amongst so many new girls."
Mrs. Hirst laughed.