she has displayed in that subject; but she
has made wonderful progress in algebra; she is a very clever girl. One
has the beauty, and the other the brains--not that Vava is not
good-looking, by the way,' said the head-mistress, correcting herself.

'Nor is the beauty stupid, by any means, though she is so reserved that
it is difficult to get to know her or her abilities,' said Mr. Jones,
who began to think that he had come on a fool's errand, and had better
have trusted the head-mistress to manage her school without his
interference. He was just getting up to say good-bye when there came a
knock at the door, and Miss Briggs entered, looking very perturbed at
sight of Montague Jones.

'My letter was strictly private, Mr. Jones,' she said.

'And so it has been treated, Miss Briggs,' replied Mr. Jones.

'Miss Briggs, excuse me, but did you write to Mr. Jones upon the matter
we discussed yesterday?' inquired the head-mistress, looking very much
annoyed.

Poor Miss Briggs looked very much ashamed of herself as she answered,
'Yes.' She saw that she had betrayed herself, whereas Mr. Jones had not
done so.

'Since you have told Miss Upjohn so much, I think you may allow me to
suggest that you should give us your grounds for suspecting my young
friend Miss Wharton of dishonest practices, and let us try and convince
you that you are mistaken,' observed Mr. Jones.

'Oh I did not say they were dishonest,' she protested.

'But I do,' he replied.

Thus put into a corner, Miss Briggs had to go through the whole thing
again, and a very bad time she had of it. Mr. Jones had not been a
magistrate for nothing. He questioned and cross-questioned and argued
till he had proved even to Miss Briggs's satisfaction that the very
remarks she had overheard only proved Vava's innocence, as no girl in
her senses would boast openly of knowing the questions beforehand if she
had looked at them secretly, far less impart one to a friend, and that
one a girl whom the girls had nicknamed 'Old Honesty.' At last Miss
Upjohn and her visitor had the satisfaction of having brought Miss
Briggs round to their opinion.

'I see now that I was mistaken, and I am very sorry about it, and I
ought not to have written to you,' she said frankly to Mr. Jones.

'No, you ought not. Miss Upjohn is quite able to manage her own affairs;
but I hope she will overlook your fault this time,' he replied with
equal frankness; and then he got up and left the two ladies