and had had the advantage of the monitresses, I might
have been different."

"I expect you would," said Helen freezingly. "And you'll please to
remember that now you're here, you'll have to conform to our standards."

"I know I'm a heathen. I'll be only too grateful to be taught better,"
murmured the subdued voice that was so strangely unlike Gipsy's usual
sprightly tones.

Lena Morris turned away to hide a smile. She was possessed of a strong
sense of humour, and moreover had a sneaking liking for Gipsy.

"Mind you do as you're told next time, then," commanded Helen. "I'll
excuse you this once, but if it happens again, I warn you that I shall
send you straight to Miss Poppleton. You may think yourself very lucky
to be let off so easily. You can go now."

Gipsy's big brown eyes looked like two wells absolutely overflowing with
gratitude and humility.

"Thanks so very immensely much! It's far more than I deserve!" she
sighed, and, flaunting the clean handkerchief, beat a hasty retreat.

The monitresses would have been edified if they could have seen the war
dance she executed in the passage as soon as the door was shut.

"Couldn't have kept my face a moment longer!" she choked to one or two
friends who were waiting for her. "Oh, you should have seen me as the
penitent! I think I did the thing rather neatly."

"You mad hatter! I wonder Helen didn't see you were shamming," said
Hetty.

"No, no! She's been improving my mind and showing me the path I ought to
walk in. How would you like me if I turned out a first-class prig?"

"It couldn't be done. Come along, you wild gipsy thing! Do you want the
monitresses to come out and catch you? You'll get into a really big
scrape some day if you're not careful."

"Some people are born wise and proper, and some are born otherwise. I'm
one of the otherwise! It's my misfortune, not my fault," laughed Gipsy,
as Lennie and Hetty dragged her forcibly away.

Gipsy's wild spirits were undoubtedly liable to lead her beyond the
bounds of propriety, and both mistresses and monitresses were inclined,
justly or unjustly, to suspect that she was at the bottom of any
mischief that cropped up in the school. One incident, though shrouded in
mystery, was generally laid by Miss Poppleton as a sin to her charge. In
the upper corridor, not very far from Gipsy's dormitory, hung a long
chain which sounded a fire bell. The boarders at Briarcroft were
instructed in fire drill, though a night s