CHAPTER III
THE COMING OF MISS PRINCE
“Listen!” whispered David, “I hear the wheels of the carriage at the front door. Three groans for Miss Prince!”
The front door was opened, and Miss Prince came into the hall. She was just a little disappointed not to see the three boys waiting to welcome her, as she had expected.
“She’s not like the Ugly Sisters!” said Nipper in a voice full of disappointment. He was peeping through the balusters, the twins peering over his shoulders.
“I expect that way of smiling and pretending to look nice is just camouflage. She’s sure to be a perfect beast inside,” said David.
The booby trap unfortunately came down on the housekeeper’s head as she showed Miss Prince to her room. The boys distinctly heard Miss Prince laugh, and then pretend she had only coughed and try and comfort Mrs. Biggs. Then they heard her discover the mice in her chest of drawers.
“Mice!” she said. “Dear little things! I love mice. But oh, how cruel! Someone has tied them by their tails!” They heard her freeing the mice. “How untidy my bed looks!” came Miss Prince’s voice presently. They heard her open it, then she laughed.
“No go,” said Bill dejectedly. “It’s going to be harder work giving Miss Prince frightfulness than I thought. But we’ll stick to it, won’t we, boys?”
“We will!” said the other two.
And they did. Not one civil or friendly word could Miss Prince get from them, try as she would. They were rude to her; they disobeyed her every order; they pretended they could not read at all when she started lessons with them, and added up every sum wrong on purpose. They told her lies, and hid when she wanted them.