The girls were all clapping and stamping vigorously. Their "hip, hip, hurrrah!" echoed through the large hall where the examinations had just been held.
Raising her eyes suddenly, Janet perceived that Bridget O'Hara stood motionless. She was in front of a group of smaller girls; her lips were shut; neither hands nor feet responded to the volume of applause which was echoing on all sides for Janet May.
"Now we'll cheer our head girl," said Mrs. Freeman. "We are thankful for her restoration to health, and we wish her long to remain an inmate of Mulberry Court. Now, girls, with all your might, three cheers for Evelyn Percival, the school favorite!"
The burst of applause was deafening; the old roof rang with the exultant young voices. Evelyn, in her turn, proposed some cheers for the head mistress and the other teachers, after which the school broke up.
"Why didn't you cheer Janet May, Biddy?" asked Violet, when the girls were streaming out of the hall. "I noticed that you didn't say a word, and that you neither clapped your hands nor stamped your feet. I was surprised, for I thought you were so fond of her."
"I'm not fond of her at all," said Bridget. "Don't bother me, Vi; I must run down now to the marquee to see about my stall."
Violet's little face looked mystified. She turned to say something to her chum Alice, and Bridget ran down the lawn to the marquee.
The school was broken up by twelve o'clock, but the Fancy Fair was not to be opened until three.
Evelyn Percival's stall had been fully dressed the night before. It looked very lovely and inviting, and although Janet's and Bridget's stall also looked pretty, the stall of the head girl took the shine out of all the others.
When Bridget found herself standing by the marquee she looked around, to find no one present but Janet.