“Oh, it’s you, is it?” said Harry, hauling her out. “It’s the Bold Bad Girl! Well, I’ll just stuff this wet sponge down your neck, see!” But he didn’t have time to, because the bell rang and he had to run. “I’ll pay you out for that!” he yelled. But Elizabeth only laughed mockingly.
“I hate boys!” she shouted. “They’re silly! Ha ha! I tricked you properly. Harry!” But Harry soon paid Elizabeth back for her trick. He waited until the painting class, and then, when Elizabeth was quite lost in her work, bending over her painting, he stole up behind her. In his hand was a large sheet of paper.
He neatly pinned it to Elizabeth’s back. The little girl felt something and shook herself-but the paper was safely on, and she didn’t know it. She went on with her painting.
Harry went back to his place. giggling. The class was nearly over, and if Miss Chester, the art mistress, did not notice what he had done, there was a good chance of Elizabeth going about with the paper on her back.
Everyone saw the paper and giggled. On it was print~ ed in big letters: “I’M THE BOLD BAD GIRL! BEWARE! I BARK! I BITE! I HATE EVERYBODY!” Joan was not in that painting class or she would have told Elizabeth what Harry had done. All the others thought it was very funny, especially as Elizabeth was known as the Bold Bad Girl.
The bell rang. Everyone cleared up their things. Miss Chester began to prepare for the next class, and did not notice Elizabeth’s paper. The children went out of the art-room, and went to their own classrooms.
Once in her classroom all the others there saw the paper; they nudged one another and giggled. Joan was holding the door for Miss Ranger to come in, and did not see what everyone was laughing at. Soon Elizabeth noticed that the class was giggling at her, and she grew red “What are you all laughing at?” she demanded angrily. “Is my hair untidy? Have I a smudge on my nose?” “No, Elizabeth,” answered everyone in a chorus.
Then Miss Ranger came in, and the class settled down to work. They worked hard until Break, when the school had fifteen minutes play out-of-doors, and could have biscuits and milk if they wished.
Harry looked to see if the paper was still on Elizabeth’s back. It was! He ran round to all his friends, pointing it out. All the boys kept behind Elizabeth, reading the paper and giggling.
“She’s the Bold Bad Girl,” they whispered. “Look at the notice!” Every time that poor Elizabeth turned round she found somebody behind her, giggling. She grew so furious that she called out she would slap anyone who giggled behind her again.
Joan came out at that moment, and Elizabeth called to her. “Joan! What’s the matter with everyone to-day? They keep going behind my back and giggling. I hate it!” Joan knew more of the ways of children than Elizabeth did. She guessed at once that someone had pinned a notice to Elizabeth’s back.
“Turn round,” she said. Elizabeth turned round, and Joan saw the notice: “I’M THE BOLD BAD GIRL! BEWARE! I BARK! I BITE! I HATE EVERYBODY!” Joan couldn’t help giggling herself. “Oh, Elizabeth!” she said. “Do look what you’ve been going round with all morning! It’s too funny! No wonder everyone laughed.” She unpinned the paper and showed it to Elizabeth. The little girl, who was not used to being teased, went red with rage. She tore the paper into half and faced the laughing children.
“Who pinned that on me?” she asked, “1 didn’t, Bold Bad Girl !” shouted someone. Everybody laughed. Elizabeth stamped her foot.
“Look out!” cried John. “She barks! She bites! She’ll show her teeth next!” “I suppose the person who pinned that on me doesn’t dare to own up!” shouted Elizabeth.
“Oh yes, I dare!” grinned Harry, nearby. “I pinned it on you, my dear girl-in return for the wet sponge!” “Don’t call me your dear girl!” cried Elizabeth in a rage. “You’re a hateful boy, and a cheat, cheat, cheat! How dare you pin a notice on me like that! Take that!” The furious little girl slapped Harry hard in the face. The boy stepped back in surprise.
“Stop that,” commanded Nora, coming up at that minute. “Elizabeth! That sort of behaviour won’t do. Apologise to Harry. He’s too much of a gentleman to slap you back, as you deserve.” “I won’t apologise,” cried Elizabeth. “Nora, I want you to report Harry at the next Meeting-and if you don’t I shall!” “Come with me,” said Nora to Elizabeth. She saw that Elizabeth was really upset, and needed to be quietened. “You can tell me about it in the playroom. There’s nobody there.” Holding the torn bits of paper in her hand Elizabeth followed Nora, trembling with anger. Nora made her sit down and tell her what had happened.
Elizabeth pieced the bits of paper together and Nora read what Harry had written. She stopped herself smiling, but she really thought it was very funny.
“And why did Harry play this trick on you?” asked Nora, “Just because I played a trick on him!” said Elizabeth. “I put a wet sponge on the music-room door and it fell down on his head!” “And why shouldn’t Harry play a trick on you, then, if you play tricks on him?” asked Nora. “You know, you wet his coat, and he was late for his class because he had to change it. If you weren’t quite so silly, Elizabeth, you would see that the joke he played on you was quite as funny as the one you played on him. After all, you know that we call you the Bold Bad Girl!” “You’re not to,” said Elizabeth.
“Well, we certainly shall if you go on behaving so fiercely,” said Nora.
“Will you report Harry at the Meeting?” said Elizabeth.
“Certainly not,” said Nora. “We don’t report jokes!” “Then I shall report him!” said Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth, that would be telling tales, not reporting,” said Nora firmly. “You mustn’t do that, Don’t spoil this good week of yours by being silly. And, you know, I really should report you!” “Why?” asked Elizabeth defiantly.
“Because I heard you call Harry a cheat, and you slapped him hard,” said Nora. “It is very mean to call him a cheat when you know he isn’t now. We try to help one another at Whyteleafe, and it was hateful of you to remind Harry and everyone else of something he’s ashamed of.” Elizabeth went red. “Yes,” she said. “That was hateful of me. I wish I hadn’t. And I wish I hadn’t slapped Harry now. I knew he wouldn’t slap me back. Oh, Nora-I really have tried to behave decently, and now I’ve spoilt it all!” “No, you haven’t,” said Nora, getting up, pleased that Elizabeth’s temper had gone. “Little things like this can always be put right. Harry is a good-tempered boy. Go and say you’re sorry and he won’t think any more about it.” “I don’t like saying I’m sorry,” said Elizabeth.
“Nobody does,” said Nora. “But it’s a little thing that makes a big difference. Go and try it, and see if I’m not right!” CHAPTER 16.
An Apology–and another Meeting.
ELTZABETH went to find Harry, She noticed that everyone turned away as she came, and she was sad.
“They were all so friendly to me,” she thought. “And now I’ve been silly again, and they don’t like me any more. I do wish I didn’t lost my temper.” She didn’t want to say she was sorry. She felt sure Harry would say something horrid, or would laugh at her. All the same, Elizabeth was truly sorry that she had called Harry a cheat. It was most unfair when the boy was doing his best to make up for his cheating.
And Elizabeth was just a little girl, although she did such funny things when she was in a rage.
Ha7ry was playing with about eight other boys and girls in a corner of the garden. Elizabeth stopped and looked at them. They turned their backs on her. It was horrid.
“Harry!” she called.
“I don’t want to speak to you,” said Harry.
“But Harry, I want to say something to you in private,” said Elizabeth, almost in tears.
“Say it in public, then, in front of everyone,” said Harry. “It can’t be anything important.” “All right, then,” said Elizabeth, going up to the group of children. “I’ve come to say I’m sorry for calling you a cheat, when I know you’re not now-and- and I’m sorry for slapping you, Harry. Nora has explained things to me, and I feel different now.” The children stared at her. They all knew how hard it was to apologise, especially in front of others, and they admired the little girl.
Harry went up to her. “That’s decent of you,” he said warmly, “You’ve got an awful temper, Elizabeth, but you’re a good sort all the same.” Everybody smiled. Everybody was friendly again What a difference a little apology made! Elizabeth could hardly believe it. She suddenly felt that everything was perfectly all right, and she wanted to skip for joy.