"That will do, thank you. You may go to your places."
"Begorrah!" murmured Paddy under her breath to the next girl, "didn't she look right through them! I wonder they didn't sink through the floor."
The Principal had turned to the girls and was addressing the school again.
"If any girl here thinks she can throw any light on this affair, can tell us anything that we do not at present know, will she please come forward now."
There was silence. The girls looked from one to another, but no one spoke or moved out of her place.
"Someone in this room this evening is the culprit," continued the Principal, in her most impressive tones. "I will make my appeal to that girl, whoever she is. If she is sorry for an impulsive, unconsidered act, the finest way to show her repentance, and the way that calls for most moral courage, would be to come forward now in front of the whole school and confess her guilty intentions."
Again the Principal paused and swept the rows of upturned faces with earnest gaze. Many paled and looked uncomfortable and apprehensive, but no one stirred or spoke and the silence became so intense that one could have heard a pin drop.
Then the Principal turned with a brisk movement and the tension relaxed.
"I will not keep you any longer to-night, girls. I shall let the matter rest for a few days, so that the culprit may have a second chance. If she has not the courage to come forward and confess in front of the school, it is my earnest hope that she will come to me in private, remembering what I said a minute ago. In the meantime I will ask you all to behave quietly and sensibly and not start jumping to any rash or foolish conclusions."
The assembly then broke up, the girls returning to their own houses. The Principal and the mistresses lingered behind on the dais for a few minutes.