on.

The Annual Meeting of the Guilds was to take place on Friday, 15
October, at three o'clock, in the lecture hall. It was held every year
on the Friday nearest to the middle of October, and by old-established
custom the last hour of the afternoon was allowed to be devoted to it.
The mistresses were never present, and the girls, under the
superintendence of the monitresses, were permitted to make any
arrangements they thought fit, so long as they did not interfere with
the ordinary school rules. Though the meetings had begun in good faith,
as representative assemblies for all alike, they had degenerated into a
merely formal statement of accounts by the Committee, which the general
rank and file were expected to pass without comment, and an election of
officers chosen almost entirely from the monitresses. There were
favourites, of course, among the candidates, but their number was so
limited that they did not even take the trouble to canvass for votes,
each one feeling nearly sure of being elected to fill one, if not more,
of the numerous posts in the many Guilds. The Fifth, having secured
certain privileges denied to Juniors, were content if a few of their
number were chosen to supply minor vacancies, and rarely interfered with
the main direction of affairs.

On the Friday afternoon, therefore, the Upper School strolled carelessly
into the lecture hall, and took their seats with the air of having a
perfunctory business to perform which they would be glad to get over.
The Juniors, on the other hand, were in a ferment of excitement: their
opportunity had arrived, and they intended to make the most of it; even
the youngsters of the First Form were grim in their determination to
resist. The proceedings began in the ordinary time-honoured fashion.
Helen Roper read a report for the previous year, and a statement of
accounts. The latter, having been audited by Miss Poppleton and found
correct, was passed without demur, and the head girl then went on to
announce the list of candidates for the various offices. She rattled off
the whole in a rather supercilious, casual manner, and she finished with
the usual formula: "If any member of the Society has an objection to
raise or a suggestion to make, kindly put it before the meeting now,
that it may be discussed before the voting begins."

She paused for a moment with a bored air, expecting to hear the old
grievances, and to squash them in the old summary fashion. The thing, to