Miss Finlayson took her hand and held it between her own, and then turned to Barbara.
‘Was that your reason too, Babs?’ she asked.
‘No, it wasn’t,’ answered Babs, without hesitation. ‘I did remember about going out of bounds directly we climbed over the gate; but I saw the other two had forgotten, so I didn’t say anything.’
The thermometer nearly fell out of Angela’s mouth from surprise at this amazing admission; and Jean felt compelled to say something in Barbara’s defence.
‘You see, the boy was crying so,’ she interrupted anxiously; ‘and I suppose Babs thought––’
‘Hush!’ said the head-mistress, softly; ‘I want Babs to tell me what she thought.’
Barbara was almost as red as Jean by this time. ‘I didn’t think about the boy, or the poor, or anything,’ she confessed; ‘but I wanted to see whether the lane did lead to the enchanted grotto, where the beautiful princess––’
She paused, because she remembered just in time that nobody ever understood about those things. Miss Finlayson was watching her carefully.
‘And did it?’ she asked quietly.
‘Oh no,’ said Barbara; ‘it was horrible when it got round the corner.’