"Don't talk rot," said the artist again. "You know it isn't any of those things."
"But seriously, France," argued Hilary, "it's like nothing on earth that I've seen, anyway."
"Of course it isn't," said France, impatiently. "You see, it's upside-down. It's a new idea; to paint a picture upside-down so that you can visualize upside-down. Don't you understand?"
"Well, who on earth wants to visualize upside-down?"
"Turn it up," said Duane, "so that we can see what it's meant to be."
France did so. They all gazed at it in silence, till at last Margaret said hesitatingly:
"Don't—don't you think you've got it a bit mixed up, France, and the—the other way was the right way up after all? That looked more as if it might be something than—than this does."
The artist's face was a study of mingled feelings. Everybody burst into a roar of laughter, so that in the noise nobody heard the sound of a knock, or became aware of Paddy's entry until they heard her voice behind them.
"I say, is this France's upside-down picture? Why couldn't you stand on your heads and look at it, instead of turning it round? 'Twould seem more worth-while painting it, if you did that."
Kitty could no longer hold herself modestly in the background, as became a new girl.