The Leader of the Lower School: A Tale of School Life

  CHAPTER XV

  A School Mystery

  AFTER the delightful three weeks spent with the Gordons, Gipsy felt thatso pleasant an experience of English home life made it doubly difficultto return to Briarcroft. No news of her father had arrived during herabsence, and she was received with black looks by Miss Poppleton. Shehad begun to dread, with a shrinking, nervous horror, those futileinterviews with the Principal--interviews in which she could only stateagain how little she knew, and listen to fresh reproaches. She tried tobrace herself for the ordeal when ordered to the study, but her heartfailed her as she tapped at the door, and she entered with something ofthe apprehension of a victim of the Inquisition facing the torturechamber. She advanced hesitatingly towards the Principal's desk, andstood without speaking, a forlorn enough little figure to have excitedcompassion in the most mercenary heart. Miss Poppleton glanced at herfurtively, and looked away again. She had made up her mind not to allowherself to be worked upon by her feelings, and meant to speak plainly.

  AN INTERVIEW WITH MISS POPPLETON]

  "It's no use mincing matters, Gipsy!" she began, blustering a little tohide her own sense of uneasiness. "Here we are at the beginning ofanother term, and things are exactly the same as they were at Christmas.Not a word from your father, or from your New Zealand relations either.It's plain enough they mean to abandon you! Now, I want you tounderstand that I can't be responsible for you. You must think again.Are there absolutely no relations or friends to whom you can apply?"

  Gipsy sighed as she gave the same old answer. Had she been possessed ofany information, how gladly would she have supplied it!

  "I can't keep a school for philanthropy," frowned Miss Poppleton. "I'mafraid your father is an adventurer pure and simple. He's left you on myhands, and gone off, who knows where? I'll let you have one more termhere, just on the chance of his turning up; but if we've heard nothingby the summer holidays, then I shall be obliged to apply to theEmigration Society, and send you out to New Zealand. Your relativesthere would be forced, at least, to support you, though I suppose Ishall have to write down your fees here as bad debts. In the meantimeyou must make yourself as useful as you can, out of school hours. Youmight help Miss Edith with the mending, and look after No. 1 dormitory.I can't afford to keep you here on the same footing as an ordinarypupil. It's an unpleasant business from beginning to end."

  Very unpleasant, thought poor Gipsy, as she availed herself ofpermission to go. Her proud spirit could not bear her position ofsufferance in the school, and she would almost have preferred to behanded over to the Emigration Society, and deported to New Zealand. Thather father should be called an adventurer seemed the cruellest cut ofall. The reason for his long silence she could not fathom, but she waspositive he would never abandon her, and her faith in him did not waver.Some day, if he were still alive, she knew he would come to claim her;and in the meantime, though life was dark, for the sake of her ownself-respect she must show a brave front. Gipsy certainly needed all thecourage and fortitude of which she was possessed.

  If last term had been hard, the present term was harder still. MissPoppleton's hint about making her useful was no idle remark, as she soonfound to her cost. Instead of joining the other girls at tennis andcroquet in her play hours, she was expected to sit in the linen room,darning stockings and hemming dusters, or mending damaged garments. Shewas made into a kind of attendant for the little ones who slept in No. 1dormitory, and was responsible for brushing their hair, seeing that theyhad their baths, putting away their clothes, and keeping their room inorder. It was a recognized thing that she was to be at the beck and callof all the mistresses, to run errands, take messages, fetch articleswanted, and do innumerable little "odd jobs" about the house.

  She was willing enough thus to help to earn her salt, but theunfortunate part was that the extra work made serious inroads upon hertime. Her new dormitory duties took a large slice out of each evening,and no allowances were made in class for the fact that her hours ofpreparation were curtailed She resented the injustice of beingreproached for badly learnt lessons, when she had been busy the nightbefore washing the hair of her little charges, copying some notes forMiss Lindsay, sorting music, filling inkpots, and stitching fresh braidon Miss Poppleton's skirt. The mistresses did not really mean to imposeupon Gipsy, but having been told to make the girl of use, it was so easyto hand over all the tiresome extra things for her to do, and completelyto forget that an accumulation of trifles may make a large sum. It neverstruck anybody that Gipsy's legs could grow weary with constantlyrunning up and down stairs, or that she preferred tennis to darning andcroquet to brushing children's coats; all were supremely busy with theirown concerns; and though Miss Edith sometimes noticed that she lookedtired, loyalty to Miss Poppleton forbade the least interference. SoGipsy plodded away, with a grim determination to do her best, and not togive in under any circumstances whatsoever. She was much too proud tomake complaints to her friends, even if they could have helped her, andmet their compassion for her non-appearance at the tennis courts with anassumption of indifference.

  "I can't get at Gipsy nowadays!" said Hetty Hancock to Dilys Fenton."She seems quite changed this term, since Poppie's made her into a kindof pupil teacher. It's as if there were a barrier suddenly set upbetween us."

  "So there is--a barrier of her own making," sighed Dilys. "I've tried toget across it myself, and I can't. The fact is, Gipsy's about theproudest girl in the school, and she's eating her heart out at findingherself in this queer position. She's neither exactly a pupil, nor ateacher, nor a monitress, nor anything: indeed, Poppie treats her moreas a servant; sometimes she absolutely wipes her boots on her! Gipsy'slike a princess sold into slavery! She's taking it hardly, but she won'tlet it crush her spirit. I think she feels so sore, she can't even bearour sympathy."

  "I wish we could do something," groaned Hetty.

  "Nothing would be of any use, unless you could find her father. I'mafraid, myself, he must be dead."

  "She's fighting a battle against fearful odds," said Hetty, shaking herhead. "She's keeping her self-respect when most girls would have givenway utterly. I suppose there's nothing to be done but just look on andadmire her pluck. I should like to speak my mind to Poppie sometimes!"

  "You'd do Gipsy no good, I'm afraid."

  "I wonder Miss Edith doesn't stand up more for her."

  "Miss Edith! She's a jellyfish--a crushed worm--a mere serf and vassal!She's frightened to death of her sister, in my opinion, and hardly darecall her soul her own. She'd be nice enough to Gipsy if Poppie'd lether."

  "Look here! I hope Gipsy's going to the Fourth Form picnic next week."

  "Gracious! So do I. I hadn't thought of it. She never does go toanything now that needs paying for. Oh, but she must! We can't have herleft out of it. Let's beard Poppie boldly in her den, offer to payGipsy's share in private, and beg for her to come."

  "I'm game if you are, and ready to go halves."

  The Upper and Lower Fourth Forms always joined in an excursion, whichwas invariably held on the first Saturday in June. They went, under thecare of Miss White, to visit some place of interest in theneighbourhood, and the journey was made either by train or in hiredwagonettes. Tea was provided at a farmhouse or hotel, and counting theprice of admission to ruins and tips to guides, the little jauntgenerally worked out at about three or four shillings per head. All theother Forms in the school had similar picnics: the Fifth and Sixthinvariably combined, as did the First and Second; and the Third, whichlike the Fourth consisted of Upper and Lower divisions, was large enoughto have its own outing. To miss the annual excursion would be felt byany girl as a terrible omission, almost as bad as missing theprize-giving or the Christmas soiree.

  Hetty and Dilys hastened therefore to Miss Poppleton's study, to makequite sure that on such an important occasion Gipsy should not be leftbehind. They stated their case with considerable eagerness andenthusiasm.

  "We'd pay all Gipsy's share between us, only, please, we'd rather shedidn't know
anything about that part of it," ended Dilys, who did themost of the talking.

  Miss Poppleton received the suggestion with a coldness that wasparticularly damping.

  "I can't decide anything at present," she said briefly. "I doubt ifGipsy can be spared. Her new duties keep her occupied in looking afterthe little ones, and Saturday is a busy day. No, Dilys, I can'tpromise. Gipsy must remember it is impossible for her to haveeverything the same as other girls, and she must not expect it."

  "Oh, she didn't ask us to ask you! She doesn't know anything about it.It was our idea entirely," put in Hetty hastily.

  "I'm glad to hear it," returned Miss Poppleton dryly, and dismissed thegirls without further ceremony.

  "I don't believe she means to let her go," declared Dilys indignantly,as they walked down the passage. "Poppie's taken an absolute spiteagainst Gipsy lately. But I'll be even with her! I've got an idea. Let'smake the picnic a Guild affair, and persuade all the Lower School tojoin together and do the same excursion on the same day. Then Gipsy'd bebound to go, to help to look after those kids! Besides, she's theSecretary."

  "Stunning! I believe we shall compass it. Only don't say what's ourobject, or Maude Helm or somebody will be putting a spoke in our wheelperhaps. We'll call a meeting of the Guild and propose it. You bring itup, and I'll second it."

  Dilys's and Hetty's suggestion was very well received by the Guild. Theidea of a big united picnic sounded attractive, so the motion wascarried unanimously. It was of course necessary to refer the matter toMiss Poppleton and the mistresses, but they were not likely to offerobjections to a scheme favoured by the whole of the Lower School. Itwould indeed be easier for the mistresses to co-operate than for each totake charge of a separate Form. It was decided to ask permission forthe excursion to be regarded as the annual treat of the Guild, andparticularly to request that all officers should be present and weartheir badges.

  "Done Poppie for once, I believe!" triumphed Dilys. "She can't have thecheek 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 somelatitude," agreed Hetty.

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

  But before Saturday week something happened.

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

  Now it came to Miss Poppleton's ears, through the medium of one of thosemalicious little birds who have a reputation for carrying inconvenientpieces of information, that on several evenings, just at dusk, a girlwho wore a boarder's hat had been seen to leave the garden and hurry upthe road, returning about five minutes later to dodge with great cautioninside the gate. Such a proceeding was manifestly irregular and highlyimproper. Miss Poppleton, at first indignant at the very idea that oneof her pupils could be guilty of so great an indiscretion, neverthelessfelt it her solemn duty to investigate the matter thoroughly, and eitherexpose the offender or deny the imputation. She was the moreparticularly annoyed because the hint came from a quarter which, if notabsolutely hostile, was inclined to regard her establishment asold-fashioned, and to air the notion that there was room for anotherhigh-class ladies' school in Greyfield. In the face of such reports, thescandal must be instantly suppressed. She arranged, therefore, that acareful watch should be kept on the school, and if anyone were seengoing out or returning in a surreptitious and unorthodox fashion, theoccurrence must be immediately reported, so that she could act promptlyand catch the delinquent. She said nothing about the affair to thegirls, as she did not wish to put them on their guard, but Miss Edithand the mistresses were instructed to use extreme vigilance.

  One of the manifold duties that had lately been heaped upon Gipsy'sshoulders was the task of sorting the stockings that came from the wash,and putting in a pile those that required darning. She had been verybusy one evening with this rather uncongenial occupation, and had barelyfinished the necessary counting and arranging, when the bell rang forpreparation. During the last few days Miss Lindsay had insisted uponGipsy joining the others and learning her lessons as usual, and hadscolded her if she were absent, even on an errand for another mistress.It was most unreasonable to reproach her for what was seldom her ownfault; but knowing that Miss Lindsay would expect her to be in herplace, she hastily put the stockings away, and fled to fetch her books.

  Preparation was being held in the Juniors' room, and the girls weresitting on forms round the long table. Gipsy, scuttling in just in timeto avoid the mistress's censure, took a seat between Hetty Hancock andLennie Chapman, and, opening her French grammar, began to write anexercise. All the Junior boarders were at work with the exception ofDilys Fenton, Leonora Parker, and Barbara Kendrick, who were practising,for the girls had to take turns to use the pianos, according to acarefully arranged monthly music list. Gipsy plodded on with herexercise, and had arrived at sentence No. 9 when suddenly a horriblethought struck her. It had been rather dark in the linen room, and inorder to examine the stockings better, she had switched on the electriclight. She was almost certain that in her hurry she had forgotten toturn it off again. Leaving on the electric light unnecessarily was oneof Gipsy's worst crimes, a negligence for which Miss Poppleton had oftenrebuked her severely. If the Principal were to walk past the linen roomshe would certainly enquire who had been there last, and wouldadminister a scolding, at the prospect of which Gipsy shivered.

  She wondered if she dared ask Miss Lindsay to allow her to go andascertain. It was a mild, wet evening, much darker than usual, and themistress sat reading close by the window, so as to catch the advantageof the fading light. Her profile, rather stern in its outline, did notlook particularly encouraging, and Gipsy sighed, knowing that herrequest would probably be met by a prompt refusal. What was she to do?It was a question of braving either Miss Lindsay's or Miss Poppleton'swrath--perhaps both. 'Twixt two fires she hesitated, then an ideaoccurred to her. If she could get out of the room and return to herplace without the governess discovering her absence, all would be well.Miss Lindsay seemed absorbed in her book, and as long as her pupils keptquietly at work she took no particular notice of them. As before stated,she was seated close to the window, while the girls were placed round along table, the end of which, nearest to the open door, was unoccupied.Gipsy hastily scribbled on a scrap of paper: "I'm going to do abolt--don't give me away!" and, with her finger on her lips for silence,showed it to her two neighbours, Lennie and Hetty. Then very quietly andcautiously she dropped from the form, and began to creep underneath thetable in the direction of the open door. Lennie and Hetty, after aglance at the paper, comprehended her scheme, and moved nearer together,lest her absence should be betrayed by a telltale gap. Some of the othergirls of course noticed the occurrence, but, being loyal to Gipsy, theyheld their tongues and made no sign. As gently as a mouse she creptunder the whole length of the table, chuckling inwardly at the fun ofthe adventure.

  I do not believe anyone in the school except Gipsy would have thoughtof such a rash and risky experiment; but she had not yet entirelyforgotten her old Colonial habits, and every now and then, despite MissPoppleton's discipline, her wild spirits would crop up and assertthemselves in very questionable ways. Miss Lindsay read calmly on, quiteoblivious of the fact that one of her pupils was crawling through thedoorway on all-fours, and that the greater proportion of the rest wereconsciously aiding and abetting such a scandalous proce
eding. Once shehad gained the passage in safety, Gipsy sprang to her feet and ran withall speed to the linen room. As she expected, the light was still on, soshe switched it off with supreme satisfaction, congratulating herselfheartily that Miss Poppleton had not been before her. It was only thework of a minute, and she hoped she could regain her place at the tablein the same way as she had left it, without being missed by MissLindsay. She was hurrying back along the passage when Leonora, comingfrom practising, entered from the opposite direction, and without seeingGipsy or noticing her frantic signs, went into the Juniors' room andclosed the door behind her.

  The Peri shut out of Paradise was as nothing to the disconcerted girlwho stood blankly in the corridor. Poor Gipsy was indeed in a dilemma.It was utterly impossible to open the door and walk in, but in themeantime every minute increased the probability of her absence beingdetected. There seemed nothing for it but to hang about on the chancethat Dilys or Barbara might also return from practising, and that shecould persuade one of them to leave the door open, so as to give herthe opportunity of entering. But the corridor was not a safe place towait in. Mistresses or Seniors might very possibly be passing, and wouldask awkward questions. It seemed more discreet to retire downstairs,where she might catch Dilys as she came from the library. There was alarge cupboard in the hall where the boarders kept some of their outdoorclothes, and here Gipsy took refuge, listening to the five difficultbars of a sonata with which Dilys was wrestling, and wishing herfriend's half-hour at the piano might soon expire. As she stood amongthe coats and waterproofs, peeping out through a small chink of thedoor, she noticed Miss Poppleton come from the drawing-room, and crossthe hall in the direction of the library. Gipsy was in a panic offright. What account should she give of herself if her retreat were tobe discovered? Alarm made her draw her breath sharply, and the action,combined perhaps with some dust or a slight cold--alack! alack!--broughton a terrific and utterly uncontrollable fit of sneezing.

  "Ha-chaw! Ha-chaw! Ha-chaw!" issued from the cupboard with horribledistinctness. Miss Poppleton paused for a second, then made an instantdart, and seized the culprit in the very midst of her fourth convulsivegasp.

  "Oh, indeed! So it's you, Gipsy Latimer, is it?" said the Principalgrimly. "What are you doing here, I should like to know?"

  Too much taken aback even to sneeze again, poor Gipsy stood looking thepicture of guilt, without volunteering any explanation of her presencein the cupboard. She felt that to do so would only involve her infurther difficulties. Miss Poppleton's keen, suspicious eyes seemed tonote every detail of her embarrassment.

  "You've been out, Gipsy Latimer; it's easy enough to tell that! Soyou're the one who's been seen every evening in Mansfield Road!"

  "Out!" gasped Gipsy, galvanized into speech by the utter falsity of theaccusation. "No, indeed! I haven't been out of the house at all."

  "It isn't the slightest use denying it," returned Miss Poppletonharshly. "I might have known it would be you. Besides--" (here she beganto examine the waterproofs and hats that were hanging upon the hooks),"Oh, you wicked, wicked girl! Here's proof conclusive that you aretelling a deliberate untruth! Why, your 'sailor' and your mackintosh arequite wet! Look at them, marked with your name, and try to deceive me ifyou dare!"

  "But, Miss Poppleton, indeed, indeed, you're mistaken!" protested Gipsywith warmth. "If you want proof, look at my shoes--they're not wet."

  "You may think you're very clever, but you're not able to blind me!Whose galoshes are these, I should like to know, all muddy and coveredwith gravel? I suppose you'll pretend your initials are not 'G. L.' Goalong immediately to your bedroom. I intend to sift the matter to thebottom. So this is how you repay me for my kindness in keeping youhere!"

  From Miss Poppleton's point of view the case against poor Gipsycertainly looked extremely black. Apparently she had been caught in thevery act of returning from some clandestine excursion, and was leavingher incriminatingly moist garments in the cupboard when she wassurprised.

  The more the affair was investigated, the more everything seemed toindicate her guilt. The girls who had been present with her atpreparation were obliged, much against their will, to confess how shehad left the room without Miss Lindsay's knowledge by crawling under thetable, and what had been merely a piece of mischief assumed a far graveraspect when coupled with other circumstances. It was really a veryserious fault of which poor Gipsy was accused. She was supposed not onlyto have set the school rules deliberately at defiance by taking asurreptitious walk alone in the evening, but to have shielded herself bythe most brazen falsehoods. Remembering how, when she had first come toBriarcroft, she had begged to be permitted to go out, had chafed againstthe confinement of her life, and had constantly quoted the largerliberty allowed in American schools, Miss Poppleton could easily believethat she would be ready to break bounds if she found a suitableopportunity; and though hitherto Gipsy had been strictly truthful, herprevious reputation for honour could not do away with the circumstantialevidence of the damp waterproof and galoshes.

  The neighbours who had reported noticing one of the Briarcroft boardersin Mansfield Road on several successive evenings could give no accountof the truant's personal appearance. It had been dusk at the time, andthey had only seen a girl in a sailor hat with a blue-and-white stripedband hurrying rapidly past, as if anxious to escape observation. Theythought she had dark hair, and that she must be about fourteen orfifteen years of age, but otherwise could not identify her in the least.The description might or might not fit Gipsy, but Miss Poppleton, misledby her own prejudice, jumped immediately to the conclusion that she andno other was the miscreant. If she had been harsh with the girl before,she was terribly stern with her now. She considered it an act of thevery basest ingratitude and the most double-dyed deceit, and was themore particularly angry because the episode had brought the school intodiscredit. She had always prided herself upon the immaculate behaviourof her boarders, and it was extremely galling to have such an occurrencetalked about in the neighbourhood. The reputation of Briarcroft,hitherto above reproach, had sustained a serious blow, from which itmight take some time to recover.

  "This is what comes of fostering the children of adventurers!" she saidbitterly. "I feel as if I had warmed a serpent, and it had turned andstung me for my pains."

  "I couldn't have believed it of Gipsy!" sobbed Miss Edith, who, ifanything, was even more concerned than her sister, owing to herpredilection for the offender.

  "You were always much too generously disposed towards her," sniffed MissPoppleton. "She certainly has not proved worthy of your kindness."

  The affair made the most immense sensation in the school. Nothing elsewas talked of next morning, and the day girls questioned the boardersclosely upon every detail.

  "Isn't it awful?" sighed Lennie Chapman. "And to think that we had totell about her!"

  "We don't believe she's really done it, though," protested HettyHancock.

  "It looks bad, I'm afraid," said Mary Parsons, shaking her head gravely."It's so queer!"

  "Very queer for a girl who set herself up to teach other people, likeGipsy," sneered Maude Helm. "What do you think of your precious leadernow?"

  "Where is Gipsy?" asked Meg Gordon.

  "Locked up in the dressing-room next Poppie's bedroom till sheconfesses, and that she declares she won't do, if she stays there tillshe dies! We've none of us seen her, of course. We're forbidden to goanywhere near."

  "Oh, poor Gipsy! I'm so sorry for her! Whatever did she go and do itfor?" wailed Daisy Scatcherd.

  "You don't for a second suppose Gipsy's guilty?" said Meg Gordonindignantly. "If you do--well then, you just don't know Gipsy Latimer,that's all!"