ed, the
special one, which ran, "_Members occupying the front benches are
requested not to darn stockings during Political_" being a constant
source of delight to parents and friends.

Darsie was a Liberal. Members of the Opposition accused her openly of
Socialism. _What! shall we sacrifice our brother man for the sake of
the demon gold_? she would declaim with waving hands and cheeks aflame,
whereat the Liberals would cheer as one girl, and even the Conservatives
themselves be moved to admiration.

Debates relating to Education, Suffrage, and the House of Lords were
held during the winter months, but the crowning excitement followed a
daring Bill introduced by the Liberal party for the abolishment of the
Unionists _in toto_, on the ground that, being neither fish, flesh, nor
good red herring, they acted but as a drag on the wheels of progress.
The benches were crowded to their fullest capacity on the occasion of
this historic debate; even the Dons themselves came in to listen, and
the whips flew round the corridors, giving no quarter to the few
skulkers discovered at work in their studies, until they also were
forced into the breach. As a result, the Unionist party, supported by
Moderates on both sides, achieved a brilliant and decisive victory.

So much for Political, but the Prime Minister occupied another proud
position, for Margaret France's prophecy had been fulfilled, and Darsie
was now captain of the Clough Fire Brigade. Beneath her were two
lieutenants, and two companies, each seven girls strong, and the duty of
choosing times of the utmost inconvenience and unpreparedness for drill
alarms rested entirely at her discretion. When the fire-bell rang,
every member of the brigade must leave whatever she happened to be
about, and dash pell-mell to the assembling-ground on an upper story.
There the force ranked up in order, the captain explained the locality
and nature of the supposed conflagration, and each "man" received "his"
own instruction--one to shut windows and ventilators, and so diminish
draughts, another to uncoil the hose, a third to affix the nozzle, and
so on. The work was accomplished, examined by the authorities, and the
"men" were back on the top landing, ranked up in their original order,
in an incredibly short space of time, when the captain gave a sharp
criticism of the performance, followed by a few questions to test the
general knowledge of the staff: Where was Mary Murray's study? What