't she champion now?"

"We don't play tennis this term; it's all hockey. I think Mabel Morgan
is better at that. You'll both be in the lower school team, of course.
Do you know what classes you're in?"

"Not yet," said Patty. "There's to be an exam. to-morrow morning. I'm
afraid I shan't be very high up."

"Oh, you may do better than you expect. Exams. are such a chance. It's
just whether you happen to get a nice set of questions or not. I wonder
if you'll be in my class. I'm in the upper fourth, Miss Harper's."

"Is she nice?"

"Well, some adore her, and some don't care for her at all. It depends a
good deal on yourself. She likes the ones who work, but she can be
dreadfully sarcastic if she thinks you're stupid or lazy. She's
fearfully clever, and says such witty things sometimes. Half-a-dozen of
the girls absolutely worship her, but she's very fair, and won't have
favourites. I like her better than Miss Rowe."

"Who is she?"

"The second mistress in our class. You see, the fourth is in two
divisions, an upper and a lower; we do a few lessons together and some
separately. Miss Harper takes history and literature, and what I call
the more interesting things, and Miss Rowe takes arithmetic and
analysis, and looks after our preparation. There are twenty girls
altogether, counting both divisions. It's the largest class in the
school. There are only ten in the fifth."

"Which is the nicest teacher of all?" asked Jean.

"I think most of us like Miss Latimer best, the games mistress. She's
very popular with everybody. You see, we always have such fun at
gymnastics, and of course we love hockey and cricket. She teaches us
swimming too, but that's only during the summer term. There's the bell!
We must go in to supper. Do you know your way to the refectory? We all
settle places on the first evening, so it's rather exciting. Perhaps
you'd like to come with me?"

Patty would have replied in the affirmative, but at that moment she
happened to notice Muriel crossing the quadrangle, as she thought, in
search of her, and saying she had better wait, she allowed Jean and Avis
to go indoors without her. She was perfectly certain that Muriel must
have seen her, but, greatly to her surprise, her cousin turned aside and
claimed acquaintance with a chestnut-haired girl, with whom she hastened
into the house without bestowing a look in Patty's direction. The great
clanging bell was still ringing in the tower over the gymnasium, a