each to
take charge of a separate Form. It was decided to ask permission for
the excursion to be regarded as the annual treat of the Guild, and
particularly to request that all officers should be present and wear
their badges.

"Done Poppie for once, I believe!" triumphed Dilys. "She can't have the
cheek to keep our Secretary at home. The Guild would mutiny."

"She's made such a fuss of the Guild, she's bound to allow us some
latitude," agreed Hetty.

"Then on Saturday week Gipsy shall get one treat, if she doesn't get
another all this term."

But before Saturday week something happened.

Among the various rules of Briarcroft, one of the strictest was that
which forbade any boarders to go outside the grounds without first
obtaining special permission from Miss Poppleton. The day girls at the
school wore the regulation sailor hat with a plain band of navy-blue
ribbon, but the boarders, to distinguish them from the others, had a
navy band with a white stripe in it. They were extremely proud of these
stripes, which they regarded as a badge of superiority, similar to the
gold tassels which, many years ago, were worn by the sons of the
nobility on their college caps at Oxford. The hats were of course very
well known in the neighbourhood, and nobody who lived anywhere near the
school could possibly mistake the Briarcroft "sailor".

Now it came to Miss Poppleton's ears, through the medium of one of those
malicious little birds who have a reputation for carrying inconvenient
pieces of information, that on several evenings, just at dusk, a girl
who wore a boarder's hat had been seen to leave the garden and hurry up
the road, returning about five minutes later to dodge with great caution
inside the gate. Such a proceeding was manifestly irregular and highly
improper. Miss Poppleton, at first indignant at the very idea that one
of her pupils could be guilty of so great an indiscretion, nevertheless
felt it her solemn duty to investigate the matter thoroughly, and either
expose the offender or deny the imputation. She was the more
particularly annoyed because the hint came from a quarter which, if not
absolutely hostile, was inclined to regard her establishment as
old-fashioned, and to air the notion that there was room for another
high-class ladies' school in Greyfield. In the face of such reports, the
scandal must be instantly suppressed. She arranged, therefore, that a
careful watch should be kept on the school, and if a