our neighbour's paper."

"I wanted to show her something," explained Patty.

"Indeed!" said Miss Rowe incredulously. "You know perfectly well that
all communication is strictly forbidden. Muriel, did you ask Patty
anything?"

"I didn't speak at all, Miss Rowe," replied Muriel hastily.

"I am glad to hear it. Patty, take your papers at once and come to this
table by the window. One of our first principles at The Priory is the
strictest honesty in our work."

"But indeed I never intended----" began Patty.

"Do as you are told, or leave the room!" commanded Miss Rowe in her most
decisive tone. "I cannot have the examination interrupted."

Patty gathered up her papers and obeyed in silence. She saw that she had
been suspected of trying to cheat, and the injustice of the accusation
was hard to bear. It was impossible to clear herself without involving
Muriel, and she hated to tell tales. She felt it was too bad of her
cousin thus to let her bear all the blame, for Muriel, even if she had
not spoken, had put the question in writing, so that she had practically
told an untruth to Miss Rowe when she denied any knowledge of the
affair. Would the other girls in the class, Patty asked herself, also
think she was trying to copy her neighbour's sums and gain an unfair
advantage? To such an honourable nature the idea was terrible, and she
longed to protest her innocence. Perhaps nobody would be friends with
her any more if they believed her capable of such conduct, and she
would be lonely again, as she had been at first. The little occurrence,
though it only occupied a few minutes, completely disturbed the
examination as far as she was concerned. She found it no longer possible
to concentrate her mind on her sums. In the midst of adding up a column
her thoughts were busy trying to imagine some explanation which might
perhaps be given without betraying Muriel, and as no solution of the
difficulty occurred to her, she found herself going over the same
figures again and again without in the least realizing what she was
doing. Matters, however, were not quite so desperate as she supposed.

Enid's sharp eyes had taken in the whole situation. From her seat behind
she had seen Muriel hand the note to Patty, and had also noticed that
the little piece of paper had fallen on to the floor underneath the
desk. Putting out her foot, she managed to draw it nearer to her, then,
dropping her pocket handkerchief, she stooped and picked up the