made
white trickles down her dirty cheeks like little rivers on a map; "I
fell in somewhere, and it was all mud, and it's cold, and please may I
go in and change my things?"

"Come with me to the bathroom this minute," said Miss Coleman,
abandoning her search for Dolly Camden, and hustling Sylvia before her
with much indignation. "Linda, go and tidy yourself! Miss Kaye will
have to hear of this. It is a very bad beginning, Sylvia, for your
first day."

Sylvia was soaked to the skin, and was obliged to take a hot bath and
put on a whole fresh set of clothes, while Miss Coleman stood grimly
by and asked questions till she had drawn all the facts of the story.
They were so late for dinner that they only arrived in the dining-room
at the pudding course, and Miss Coleman, after a few quiet words of
explanation to Miss Kaye, made Sylvia sit with her at a small side
table instead of going to their proper places. Miss Kaye glanced at
Sylvia but made no remark, and one of the servants brought their
plates of meat and vegetables. They were half-cold, and Sylvia could
not enjoy anything when she thought of the scolding that was to
follow. She caught Linda's eye from the other side of the room, but
did not dare to turn again in that direction, because Miss Coleman was
looking at her. She knew so little of school life that she had no idea
what punishment would be inflicted for such crimes as borrowing a
barrow without leave and tumbling into a tub full of muddy water. In
none of the books she had read did the girls do any such things.

"They generally cheat at lessons, or read the examination questions
beforehand, or copy each other's essays," thought Sylvia. "And this is
quite different. Even Sara Crewe never fell into a tub, nor any of the
girls in _Gertrude's Schooldays_. I wonder what Miss Kaye will say!"

Miss Kaye lingered over pudding, evidently with the intention of
allowing the latecomers a few extra minutes, then, rising and saying
grace, she announced:

"Linda Marshall and Sylvia Lindsay will come to my study at a quarter
to two," and left the room.

"We're in for it now," said Linda, clasping Sylvia by the hand as they
met in the passage. "Oh, why did we ever get those wretched stones?
And we've left the barrow at the bottom of the pool! We shall have to
tell about that. Was Miss Coleman very cross?"

"She was rather. She kept hurrying me on, and saying 'Be quick!' all
the time. You can't think how terribly the