ndow, looked on with approval,
and congratulated herself on the wisdom of her new rule, and the great
improvement which she was making during her reign. She knew nothing of
Miss Tatham's letter to Lesbia, nor suspected it was the latter's
influence which had worked the miracle. Loyalty might indeed be very
helpful to the school, but on this occasion virtue had to be its own
reward, and did not meet with any acknowledgment from head-quarters.

CHAPTER XVIII

An Adventure

Please do not think, because the girls of Kingfield High School resented
being obliged to play rounders during eleven o'clock break, that they
therefore were not enthusiastic on the subject of games. They were keen
on hockey, and their team had won three matches during the season.
Unfortunately they had no field near the school, and they were obliged
to go two miles by tram to a pitch which they rented in the suburbs. The
journey, however, made a pleasant Wednesday afternoon's excursion, and
really added to the excitement of the practice. Miss Ormerod often went
herself to watch, and on one occasion played in a match "School versus
Mistresses", and astonished everybody by her agility. She made a great
point of the due training of second and third teams, a matter which had
been rather neglected.

"You have to educate your best players," she told the Games Committee,
"I always say the strength of a school lies in its reserve teams. Every
girl in the first team ought to have an understudy, then there'll be no
panic if she has suddenly to drop out for any reason. I've known
matches ruined because schools hadn't the sense to train their reserves
properly."

But the most zealous advocate of hockey cannot fight with the British
climate, and Wednesday after Wednesday during the latter part of the
Easter term were hopelessly wet. The girls drilled in the gymnasium
instead, grousing at the disappointment of missing their fixtures, and
resigning themselves to a lower record than they had at first ventured
to hope. Miss Ormerod, who thought games of paramount importance in a
school, at last in desperation commandeered Friday afternoon, hitherto
devoted to the various outlets of "Self Expression", and turned it into
an extra hockey practice.

Before this change there had been a succession of fine Fridays, then the
weather seemed to take a spite against the school, and instead of
keeping up its good character treated them on alternate weeks to a
delug