lege, a splendid, level tract of ground,
commanding a glorious prospect of low, undulating hills, cliffs
bordering a shingly beach, and the long, blue stretch of the Channel
beyond. All the healthy moorland and sea breezes seemed to blow there,
filling the lungs with pure, fresh air, and well justifying Miss
Cavendish's boast that Chessington was the most bracing place in the
kingdom for growing girls. Even Janie's pale cheeks would take a tinge
of pink as she ran, unwillingly enough, in chase of a ball; and the
majority of the school would come in at four o'clock flushed and rosy,
and very ready indeed for the piles of thick bread and butter that
awaited them in the various dining-halls.

Honor took to the games with enthusiasm. Having served an
apprenticeship in the Beginners' Division at cricket, and having shown
Miss Young her capacity in the way of batting and bowling, she was
allowed a place in the St. Chad's team.

It happened that on the very day of her promotion her house played St.
Hilary's, and there was great excitement about the match, because the
latter was generally considered the crack team of the College. That
afternoon, however, the Hilaryites did not quite justify their
reputation. Perhaps the St. Chad's bowling had been extra good; at all
events, the St. Hilary side was dismissed for sixty-seven.

Honor's heart was beating fast when at length her innings arrived, and,
taking her bat, she walked to the wicket. Every eye, she knew, would be
fixed upon her play. A new girl, she was standing her trial before the
school, and on the result of this match would largely depend her
position during the term. She had played cricket during the holidays
with her brothers, and all Derrick's rules came crowding into her mind
as she tried to imagine that she was on the dear, rough old field at
home, with Brian to bowl, and Fergus for long-stop, and Dermot and
Osmond to field, and criticize her strokes afterwards.

She held her bat well, keeping her left shoulder to the bowler and her
eye on the ball. The bat was a light, new one, which the boys had given
her as a parting present, and she felt she could wield it easily.
During the first over she played steadily, but did not attempt to
score. It was one of Derrick's pet maxims that it was folly to try to
do so until you had taken the measure of your opponent, and she wished
to gain confidence.

In the next over her partner, Chatty Burns, made a single, which
brou