swing and a pull up in front,
and she managed it more neatly than either of her supporters. Then came
the swing and turn, and here Angela's temporary courage deserted her.
Perhaps she was flurried by the little attempt made by the gallery to
applaud her the second time she came forward; in any case, the glimpse
she had of Kit, who caught her eye and nodded cheerfully just as she
was beginning, did not help to compose her. She turned too soon and too
vigorously, and spun round helplessly in the air, until Hurly-Burly
came to her aid and helped her to drop ignominiously to the ground.
After that, it was evident that the issue of the competition rested
with Jean and Barbara, for they soon showed that they were much more
finished and thorough in their work than any one else in their section;
and everybody was prepared for the statement made by Miss Finlayson
in the next interval. She announced that Charlotte Bigley, Jean Murray,
and Barbara Berkeley were exactly even up to that point, and that the
result would have to be determined by the rope-climbing.

The rope-climbing, however, left the result still undetermined. Both Jean
and Babs reached the top in six seconds, blew the trumpet they found there
with a vigour that sent the spectators into a peal of merriment, and slid
down again, much pleased with themselves and the interest they were
exciting. Charlotte Bigley on the third rope excelled them in speed and
reached the top in five seconds, but forgot to blow the trumpet, and so
made things even once more. The junior division filed out again, while
Miss Finlayson and the expert and Hurly-Burly put their heads together
on the platform, and Herr Scales thought the moment an appropriate one for
a performance in his best manner of his favourite composition, which
was called _Sonnenschein_ and had been thumped out in the holidays to
half the parents in the room.

Miss Finlayson rose to her feet again. As the three competitors she
had already mentioned were still equal, she must call upon each of
them to do one of the advanced exercises, Charlotte on the ladder and the
other two on the rings; they were to choose their own exercises, and if
they again proved themselves equally good, the prize would be divided.
The spectators were in a pleasant state of interest by this time, and
the three little rivals were greeted with enthusiasm when they stepped
out of the anteroom for the last time and took up their positions in front
of th