d only say, 'How foreign' if you got excited. And it wouldn't be an
atom of use either."

"They've taken the best place in the program for their stunt."

"Trust the prefects to do that."

"What's to be done about it?"

"It will need some thinking over."

Peachy's agile brains were rarely to be beaten. She slept upon the
problem, and informed her friends afterwards that inspiration came to
her at exactly 3 a.m.

"I know, because I heard the convent clock strike. I sat up in bed and
laughed. I wonder I didn't wake the dormitory, but nobody stirred a
finger. Listen, and I'll explain. The situation at present is this:
Bertha and her Starry Circle have cribbaged our idea and forestalled us
on the program, and are going to act their wretched waxworks first, and
are congratulating themselves that their piece will take the shine out
of ours."

"So it will, I'm afraid. The audience will have sat through the juniors'
play, the seniors' stunt, and the waxworks. They'll be bored stiff to
see our toy-shop straight away afterwards."

"Well, they _shan't_ see it. That's my idea. Let's drop the toy-shop and
do something quite different."

"Drop our toy-shop! O-o-h!"

"We'll do it some other time. But you see we've one advantage on the
program at any rate. We come last."

"That's what we're raving against."

"I know! But if you think of it, it's a great opportunity. Suppose we
do a splendid finishing tableau instead of animated toys? It would make
a magnificent wind-up, and would be a surprise for everybody. Think of
the amazement of the Starry Circle, when they're expecting us to do a
pale copy of their own stunt, to see us posed as a tableau, and
everybody clapping the roof off."

"It would be rather sporty."

"Only I did so want to dress up as a kangaroo," mourned Joan dolefully.

"You shall be Australia instead, and you'll look far nicer. I'll
guarantee to make you ever so pretty. It's to be an Anglo-American
pageant, to symbolize the school. We'll have Columbia and Britannia and
all her colonies, in a sort of _entente cordiale_. You'll see it will
please Miss Morley and Miss Rodgers no end. That Starry Circle will be
just _aching_ with envy. They'll wish they'd been in it. It will
absolutely take the wind out of their sails and lay them flat."

"Peachy Proctor, there's a spice of genius in your composition," said
Jess admiringly. "I could never have thought of that myself."

"Oh, fiddlesticks! Glad you approve