"Netta won't conduct!"
"She told us to go and dance by ourselves, while she practised her own jumping."
"And she wanted to make Ida and Peggie hold the rope for her."
"How can we do our morris dance without Ida and Peggie? It spoils the figures."
"Netta!" gasped Gwen. "Did you actually mean to practise jumping instead of taking this rehearsal?"
Netta shrugged her shoulders easily.
"The kids know their steps so well, they can do the thing perfectly," she replied. "What was the good of wasting my time drilling them? I thought I'd make them of some use, and let them hold a rope for me. They're an ungrateful little set of sneaks—won't do a thing for their seniors!"
"Why, I should think not, in this case, when you'd been specially told off by the Committee to superintend their dance. I sympathize with the kids. They've right on their side. It's you who are the sneak."
"Oh! Am I indeed, Miss Gwen Gascoyne? Thank you for nothing. It's a pretty name to have called me, and I shan't forget it."
"But it's true!" returned Gwen with warmth. "It's simply abominable behaviour to pretend to act dancing mistress and use the time for your own purposes. Why should these kids hold a rope for you?"