d to her," returned Charlotte
thoughtfully.

"It was mostly her own fault for putting on airs when she first came
up, and then making such friends with Netta. She couldn't expect any
of us to have anything to say to her after that."

"Probably she didn't know Netta."

"I dare say not; but it shows she's a bad judge of character. All the
same I've got Gwen a little on my conscience, and I'm going to try
what I can do. She may improve now."

Elspeth spoke the truth when she said that she had Gwen on her
conscience. It had occurred to her several times lately that perhaps
she had misunderstood her schoolfellow, and that she might have done
more to help her. "Am I my brother's keeper?" rose uneasily to her
mind. She had an uncomfortable feeling that in happier circumstances
Gwen might have made a better impression on the Form, and that she and
Hilda and Edith and Louise were partly responsible for her ill
reception.

"I'm very sorry if we've been Pharisees!" she thought. "Of course one
wanted to keep to one's own set, and not have anything to do with the
tag-end of the Form--but--Well, I mean to give Gwen Gascoyne a chance
now, anyhow."

The geological excursion was rather an event of the term. The Form had
been learning geology with Miss Roberts, who promised to take the
girls for an afternoon to Riggness, a place a few miles away on the
coast, greatly noted for its fossils, where they could have a
practical demonstration to supplement the information in their
textbooks. On the Friday afternoon chosen for the ramble everybody
started armed with hammers of all varieties, from Miss Roberts's
beautiful geological pick to stout tack hammers and even toffee
hammers.

"One never knows--one might find an ichthyosaurus embedded in the
cliffs!" declared Charlotte Perry, brandishing a wooden mallet and an
iron wedge, as if she were prepared to clear away tons of rock in the
pursuit of her researches.

"Don't I wish we could!" said Miss Roberts. "But I'm afraid a few
ammonites and belemnites will have to content us; those are quite
difficult enough to get out intact. We shall do very well if we can
only bring back some really perfect specimens for the school museum."

Riggness was on the other side of Stedburgh from Skelwick, and Gwen
had never been there before, so the excursion was new to her. It was
great fun going with the whole Form; the girls had come well prepared
to enjoy themselves, and Miss Roberts also was in