X. "IT'S DICKIE!" 246
XX. A TIME OF DANGER 254
XXI. A RAY OF HOPE 266
XXII. FARMER MILES TO THE RESCUE 282
XXIII. RESTORATION 290

BETTY VIVIAN

CHAPTER I

YES OR NO

Haddo Court had been a great school for girls for many generations. In
fact, for considerably over a century the Court had descended from
mother to daughter, who invariably, whatever her husband's name, took
the name of Haddo when she became mistress of the school. The reigning
mistress might sometimes be unmarried, sometimes the reverse; but she
was always, in the true sense of the word, a noble, upright, generous
sort of woman, and one slightly in advance of her generation. There had
never been anything low or mean known about the various head mistresses
of Haddo Court. The school had grown with the times. From being in the
latter days of the eighteenth century a rambling, low old-fashioned
house with mullioned windows and a castellated roof, it had gradually
increased in size and magnificence; until now, when this story opens, it
was one of the most imposing mansions in the county.

The locality in which Haddo Court was situated was not very far from
London; but for various reasons its name will be withheld from the
reader, although doubtless the intelligent girl who likes to peruse
these pages will be easily able to discover its whereabouts. Haddo
Court, although within a measurable distance of the great metropolis,
had such large grounds, and such a considerable area of meadow and
forest land surrounding it, that it truly seemed to the girls who lived
there that they were in the heart of the country itself. This was indeed
the case; for from the Court you could see no other house whatsoever,
unless it were the picturesque abode of the head gardener or that of the
lodge-keeper.

The school belonged to no company; it was the sole and undivided
possession of the head mistress. It combined the advantages of a
first-class high school with the advantages that the best type of
private school affords. Its rooms were lofty and abundantly supplied
with bright sunshine and fresh air. So popular was the school, and such
a tone of distinction did it confer upon the girls who were educated
there, that, although Mrs. Haddo did not scr