oolish and most
undiplomatic to lose her temper so utterly, but the words had rushed out
before she could stop them.

"They wouldn't have voted for me in any case," she said to herself, "so
it really doesn't matter, after all, they're only a minority. I expect
it will prove a very even affair, perhaps a draw, and that no one will
have a complete walk-over."

CHAPTER II

What Dorothy Overheard

At half-past three, exactly in the middle of the French reading-lesson,
Miss James, the school secretary, entered the Upper Fourth room with a
sheaf of voting papers in her hand. These were dealt round to all the
girls, with the exception of the candidates, and Miss James gave a brief
explanation of what was required.

"On each paper you will find six names. You must put a cross to the one
you wish to choose for your warden. Do not write anything at all, but
fold the paper and hand it in to Miss Pitman, who will place it in this
box, which I shall call for in five minutes."

So saying, she bustled away in a great hurry to perform a similar errand
in the next classroom. The six candidates tried to sit looking
disinterested and unconscious while their fates were being decided. Hope
Lawson hunted out words in the dictionary, Valentine Barnett made a
parade of arranging the contents of her pencil box, and the others
opened books and began preparation. Not a word was allowed to be
spoken. In dead silence the girls recorded their crosses and handed in
their papers, and the last was hardly dropped into the ballot box before
Miss James reappeared. The result of the election was to be announced at
four o'clock, therefore there were still twenty minutes of suspense.
Miss Pitman went on with the French reading as if nothing had happened,
and Dorothy made a gallant effort to fix her attention on _Le Jeune
Patriote_, and to forget that Miss Tempest and Miss James were hard at
work in the library counting votes. Nobody's translation was
particularly brilliant that afternoon; everyone was watching the clock
and longing for the end of the lesson. When the bell rang there was a
general scuffle; books were seized and desk lids banged, and though Miss
Pitman called the Form to order and insisted upon a decorous exit from
the room, the girls simply pelted down the stairs to the lecture hall.
In a few moments the whole school had assembled. There was not long to
wait, for exactly at the stroke of four Miss Tempest walked on to the
plat