"What did she say?" she inquired. Monica seized hold of her prep books and, dropping them on the table, sat down.
"Oh, not much after all," she replied briefly. "Now don't talk, there's a good fellow. I want to do an extra French exercise, besides prep."
Nat sighed. "Oh dear, I wish you wouldn't swot so much! You make me feel so lazy," she said.
CHAPTER VI
NAT GETS HER CHANCE
St. Etheldreda's played their first match for the shield on their own ground a couple of weeks later. As there were quite a number of schools competing and the county was rather a straggling one, the competitors had been divided into two groups, North and South. A defeated team dropped out of the competition, and the two surviving teams—one from each group—met in the Final. It was hoped to finish the tournament before the Christmas vacation, so the matches were hurried on as fast as possible.
St. Etheldreda's had had a good practice the day before the match and Deirdre Samways, having put another player into her place, was watching the team critically and felt really satisfied at the progress the first eleven had made in so short a time. She was still watching the play with close attention when a voice at her elbow remarked in calm, critical tones:
"Your wing player—Irene—isn't bad, but she isn't nearly as good as one of the other Fifth-formers."
Deirdre glanced round. The voice came from a slightly-built girl clad in a brown coat, wearing no hat and with the look of some stray elf or fay, who was standing by her side apparently taking the greatest interest in the play. For a moment Deirdre could not think who she was, then she remembered the queer new girl whose disturbing ways had caused so much talk in the Fifth.
"Whom do you mean?" she asked curiously.