excellent."

"Almost too good," agreed Miss Gibbs, who was perhaps beginning to
find out that Maudie's exercises took twice as long to correct as
anybody else's, and thus sensibly curtailed her teacher's leisure.
"The child is so conscientious. In my opinion she needs to concentrate
more on physical exercise. I should like to see her in the tennis
courts instead of copying out reams of poetry."

"Yes," said Miss Beasley, looking thoughtful. "Her activities perhaps
need a little adjustment. We mustn't allow her to neglect her health.
She looks over-anxious sometimes for a girl of fifteen."

"She is always such a calm, self-controlled, well-regulated child,"
remarked Miss Gibbs appreciatively.

At that moment there was a hurried rap-tap-tap; the door opened, and
Maudie burst in unannounced. Her calm self-control had yielded to an
agitated condition of excitement and indignation. Her earnest eyes
were flashing angry sparks, and her cheeks were crimson.

"Oh, Miss Beasley!" she began, "those girls have actually gone and
stuck up my desk, so that I can't get out my books. They say I work
overtime, and it's not fair, for if I like to work, why shouldn't I? I
just detest the whole lot of them! I hate this place!"

"I think you're forgetting yourself, Maudie," returned the Principal.
"It is hardly good manners to enter my study so abruptly and to speak
in this way to me. If you wish to please me, I should much prefer you
to spend your leisure time at games instead of lessons. To-morrow
evening I hope to see you playing tennis. If you ask the cook for a
screw-driver you'll probably be able to wedge open your desk easily.
But in future you'll be wiser to confine your work to the preparation
hours. The bow must be unstrung sometimes, or your health will suffer.
If you join with the other girls at their games you'll soon get to
know them, and feel more at home here. Try to be sociable and make
yourself liked. Part of the training of school life is to learn to
accommodate yourself to a community."

The crestfallen Maudie retired, murmuring apologies. Miss Beasley
picked up her copy of _The Graphic_ and laughed.

"As a rule, we may trust the girls themselves to do any necessary
pruning. They're the strictest Socialists that could be imagined. They
instinctively have all the principles of a trade union about them. On
the whole, it's good for Maudie to be restrained. A little innocent
practical joke will do her no harm for o