He knew that only one person would be chosen from their form, for only one was lacking in the numbers that made up the team. What sport it would be if he could play better than Elizabeth! So that was another thing for him to do-practise catching the ball whenever he could get someone to throw to him. But he wouldn’t let Elizabeth guess that he was trying to he better than she was-no, he would let her think he wasn’t trying very hard, else she would begin to practise as well, In the meantime, school life went on much as usual, Elizabeth began to work very hard with John in the school garden. They cut down all the old summer flowers, and piled them in heaps on the place where they had their bonfires. They dug over the beds, and made themselves very hot and tired but very happy. They each made out plans for the spring and gave them to each other, and John actually said that Elizabeth’s plan was better than his, “It’s not very much better,” said John, looking at the two plans carefully, “but I do like one or two of your ideas very much, Elizabeth. For instance, your idea of having crocuses growing in the grass on that bank over there is lovely.” “Well, your idea of having rambler roses over that ugly old shed is lovely too,” said Elizabeth. “I say, John, won’t it look marvellous!” “I wonder if the School Meeting will allow us extra money this week for the crocus corms,” said John. “We should want about five hundred crocuses to make any sort of a show, Let’s ask, shall we?” “Well, you’d better ask, not me,” said Elizabeth, her face going sulky. “You know what happened at the last Meeting, John, It was horrid to me.” “No, it wasn’t, Elizabeth,” said John, leaning on his spade and looking at Elizabeth across the trench he was digging. “I think the Meeting was quite fair. Don’t be silly. You can be such a sensible girl, and yet you’re such an idiot sometimes.” “I shan’t help you in the garden if you call me an idiot,” said Elizabeth.
“All right,” said John. “I’ll get Jenny. She’s jolly good.” But Elizabeth did not walk away in a rage as she felt inclined to do. She took up her spade and began to dig so hard that the earth simply flew into the air. She wasn’t going to let Jennifer take her place! John burst out laughing “Elizabeth! You’ll dig down to Australia if you’re not careful! And really I’d rather you didn’t cover me with earth whilst you’re doing it,” Elizabeth looked up and laughed too, “That’s better!” said John. “You’ll get a face like Kathleen Peters if you aren’t careful!” “I hope not!” said Elizabeth. “That’s another person I don’t like, John, She’s so quarrelsome, and she seems to think we are always saying or thinking nasty things about her-and honestly, we just don’t bother about her half the time.” “Well, don’t start making an enemy of her too,” said John, beginning to dig again. “Friends are better than enemies, Elizabeth, old thing, so make those instead.” “Well, nobody could make a friend of Kathleen!” said Elizabeth. “Honestly they couldn’t, John. You’re not in her form, so you don’t know what a tiresome person she is.” It was quite true that Kathleen was tiresome. She was always grumbling about something, and she spent the whole of her two shillings each week on sweets, which she never shared with anyone else, “No wonder she’s spotty!” giggled Belinda unkindly. “She’s eating sweets all the time-and her mother sends her heaps too, only sac never tells us, in case we might expect her to share them. Let her keep them! I don’t want any!” Kathleen was not only tiresome with the boys and girls, always trying to quarrel, and accusing them of saying nasty things about her, but she was always in trouble with the mistresses and masters too. If anyone found fault with her, she would argue back and try to make out that she was right.
Mam’zelle was not so patient with her as were the others, When Kathleen dared to say that Mam’zel1e hadn’t told her what home-work to do the day before, the hot-tempered French mistress flared up at once.
“And now, this Kathleen again!” she cried, wagging her hands at the ceiling. “She thinks I am a goose, a cuckoo, a donkey! She thinks I do not know how to give homework! She thinks I am not fit to teach French to her!” This was really rather funny, and the class sat up, enjoying the fun, When Mam’zelle got cross it was marvellous! “But, Mam’zelle,” said foolish Kathleen, who simply would not stop arguing with anyone, “you did say . .
“Ah! I did say something then!” cried Mam’zelle. “Truly, you think I did say something? Ah, my Kathleen, that is so, so kind of you! Perhaps if you think a little harder you will remember that I did give you some homework to do-though, of course, that is no reason why you should do it,” “But you didn’t give me any,” said Kathleen.
Belinda nudged her, “Shut up, Kathleen,” she said, “You were given some-but you didn’t write down want you had to do.” “Belinda! It is not necessary that you should interfere,” said Mam’zelle, “Ah, this class! It will turn my hair white as snow!” Mam’zelle had hair as dark as a raven’s wing, and the class did not feel that anything would turn it white. They sat staring from Mam’zelle to Kathleen, wondering what was going to happen next. It ended in Kathleen being sent by herself to the common-room to do the home-work she had not done, “That girl will drive me mad,” thought Mam’zelle to herself, “with her spots and her greasy hair and her pale face. How she whines!” The other mistresses were not quite so impatient, and Miss Ranger was really rather worried about Kathleen. The girl always looked so miserable-which, of course, was no wonder, because she was always arguing or quarrelling with someone.
Jennifer Harris enjoyed the scene with Mam’zelle very much. She watched all Mam’zelle’s actions, listened carefully to the rise and fall of her excited voice, and then practised the whole scene by herself. First she was the whining Kathleen, then she was impatient Mam’zelle, and so on. It really made a very funny scene.
Jenny was most anxious to try it on the others to make them laugh. So the next evening, when most of her form were in the common-room, playing the gramophone, reading books, and writing letters, she began to mimic Mam’zelle, The boys and girls looked up, interested. Belinda switched off the gramophone. Kathleen was not there.
In a moment or two the clever girl had the whole room roaring with laughter. She wagged her hands like Mam’zelle, and when she came out with “I am a goose, a cuckoo, a donkey!” exactly as Mam’zelle had said it.
the children giggled in delight.
Jenny mimicked Kathleen’s rather whining voice marvellously. It really might have been Kathleen speaking! But then Jenny went a bit too far. She said things that Mam’zelle had not said.
“Ah, truly, Jenny, I do not like your spots, I do not like your greasy hair, I do not like your manners!” said Jenny, with a funny accent just like Mam’zelle’s And at that moment Elizabeth noticed something-Kathleen was in the room! No one had seen her come in, How long had she been there?
Elizabeth nudged Jenny, but Jenny took no notice. She was enjoying herself far too much. Everyone was listening to her, amused and admiring.
“Jenny! Shut up!” hissed Elizabeth. “Kathleen’s come in.” Jenny stopped at once. All the children looked round, and felt rather uncomfortable when they saw Kathleen. Belinda started up the gramophone, Somebody began to whistle the tune. Nobody liked to look at Kathleen, Elizabeth sat down in a corner, wishing that Jenny hadn’t said quite such awful things in Mam’zelle’s voice. Suppose Kathleen really thought that Mam’zelle had said them after she had been sent to the common-room to do her forgotten home-work? She stole a quick look at Kathleen.
At first it seemed as if Kathleen was going to turn off the gramophone and say something. But she thought better of it, and sat down with a jerk in a chair. She got out her notepaper, and sat chewing the end of her pen. Her pale face was as white as usual, and her eyes were small and angry. She looked spiteful and mean.
“I guess she won’t easily forgive Jenny for that,” thought Elizabeth. “We ought to have stopped Jenny, because she went too far-but really, she’s so awfully funny. I wonder if Kathleen will complain about it at the next Meeting. I shouldn’t be surprised.” Kathleen didn’t say a word about the affair to anyone. She spoke to no one at all that evening. Her bed was next to Elizabeth’s in the dormitory, and when Kathleen did not reply when everyone called good-night as usual, Elizabeth poked her head between the white curtains to speak to her, for she was sorry about the whole thing.