Contents
| Chap. | Page | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | A Wet-day Party | [9] |
| II. | An Important Decision | [23] |
| III. | The Third Class | [36] |
| IV. | A First Day at School | [49] |
| V. | Rivals | [62] |
| VI. | Squabbles | [75] |
| VII. | The Story of Mercy Ingledew | [88] |
| VIII. | All-Hallows Eve and Guy Fawkes | [104] |
| IX. | What Miss Kaye Thought of It | [117] |
| X. | Sylvia's Birthday | [129] |
| XI. | The Christmas Holidays | [142] |
| XII. | The Secret Society | [153] |
| XIII. | A Spring Picnic | [167] |
| XIV. | Whitweek with Linda | [181] |
| XV. | An Excursion with a Donkey | [194] |
| XVI. | The Chinese Charm | [206] |
| XVII. | The Sketching Class | [220] |
| XVIII. | Dr. Severn Explains | [231] |
| XIX. | The Prize Giving | [244] |
Illustrations
| Page | |
|---|---|
| "The wheelbarrow suddenly seemed to plungeinto the ground" | Frontispiece [54] |
| "Sylvia wrote her first letter home that evening" | [60] |
| "In a few minutes a grand blaze was flaring up" | [126] |
| "He entangled both her hat and hair in a wild-rose bush" | [196] |
CHAPTER I
A Wet-day Party
Drip, drip, drip! The rain came pouring down on a certain September afternoon, turning the tennis lawn to a swamp, dashing the bloom off the roses, spoiling the geraniums, and driving even the blackbirds and thrushes to seek shelter inside the summer house. It was that steady, settled, hopeless rain that does not hold out the slightest promise of ever stopping; there was not a patch of blue to be seen in the sky sufficient to make the traditional seaman's jacket; several large black snails were crawling along the garden walk as if enjoying the bath; and the barometer in the hall, which started the day at "Set Fair", had now sunk below "Change", and showed no signs of intending to rise again.
Curled up in a large armchair placed in the bow window of a well-furnished morning-room, a little girl of about eleven years old sat peering out anxiously at the weather.
"It's far too wet!" she remarked cheerfully. "It never means to clear to-day, and it's four o'clock now. They can't possibly come, so I shall just settle down and enjoy myself thoroughly."