id not stay
indoors for an ordinary drizzle, but this was a downpour of so hopeless
a character that even the most enthusiastic athletes felt that the
house-parlour was preferable to the soaking, wind-swept grounds. They
gathered together, stoked up the fire, and prepared to spend the two
hours' leisure as fancy should dictate, some girls reading, some sewing,
and some making themselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit,
and doing nothing at all with every appearance of enjoyment.

"If we had only some chestnuts," said one of the lazy ones, "how happy
we might be! I have a wild craving for chestnuts. It came over me
suddenly just now, sitting looking at that fire."

"I think," said Irene Grey solemnly, "it's very sad, but I do think a
school like this makes one horribly greedy. You get so tired of the
food, and have such a longing for something that _isn't_ wholesome. I
assure you, my dears, there have been occasions when the centre table
has had beef, while we have had mutton, when I could have wept--simply
wept! I should like to order a meal regardless of everything but what I
like--lobster mayonnaise, and salmon, and veal cutlets, and ice pudding,
and strawberries and cream, and fizzy lemonade. That would be something
like a dinner--better than old joints and milk puddings!"

The girls groaned in sympathy, and Rhoda took advantage of their
absorption to cross to Tom's desk and consult her quietly on the knotty
points. The solutions were remarkably simple--when you knew them!--and
Tom delivered herself solemnly on the subject.

"You don't think, my dear; you don't reflect. Your brain would help you
out, but you don't give it a chance. It's what I am always saying to
this room--it's not cram you need, it's intelligence! Use your reason!
Cultivate your faculties! Now, then, I'll tell you what I'll do!"--she
raised her voice suddenly, and swung round in her seat. "I'll give you
girls an examination myself. You need some practice before the real
business begins, and it will be just the thing for this wet afternoon.
Get out your books and pencils and I'll dictate the questions. It's to
be a `General Intelligence' paper, and the examiner's instructions are--
use your wits! They will not be the ordinary blunt, straightforward
questions manufactured by the masculine mind, and intended mainly for
the coarse, masculine ability, but full of depth and subtlety, so that
they will require careful consi