“That’s it,” Bunty said, with a groan. “Oh, but that’s not half of it yet, Poppet. I almost wish I was dead.”
Something like a tear forced itself beneath his [27] ]eyelids and trickled down his cheeks. Poppet’s heart expanded and grew pitiful again instantly. His face was close to her knee, and wore so miserable an expression that in a sudden little burst of love she put down her lips and kissed him half-a-dozen times.
He sat up instantly and looked ashamed.
“How often am I to tell you I hate mugging?” he said gruffly. “If you go on like this, I won’t tell you.”
“I beg your pardon,” Poppet said very humbly; “really, I won’t again, Bunty. Do go on.”
“Well, after that, I went round the side of the school—you know that path, near the master’s windows. Well, I’d nothing much to do, and the bell hadn’t gone, and I was just chucking my cricket ball up and down; there was a tree, and I tried to make it go up in a straight line just as high, and the next minute I heard a crash, and it had gone through Mr. Hollington’s window.”
“Good gracious!” Poppet said, with widening eyes; then she gave a little joyful jump. “I’ve got thirteen shillings, Bunty, from the pound Mr. Hassal gave me; I’ll give it to you to get it mended with. Oh, it won’t be such a very bad row; you can ’splain it all to Mr. Hollington.”
“That’s not all,” Bunty said. “Thirteen shillings! [28] ]You might as well say ha’pennies. I stood there for a bit and no one came, and at last I went in and looked about, and what do you think?—no one had heard!”
“Oh!” breathed Poppet. She scented the old trouble again.
“But you see it was such an awful crash. I knew it was more than the window. And every one was out in the playground,—even Mr. Burnham had just gone out again for something, and Mr. Hollington had gone home early. So I first went quietly upstairs, and no one was about, so I went into his room to get the ball, because my name was on it. And there were two glass cases on top of one another under the window with eggs and specimens and things in, and they were all smashed.”