The Nicest Girl in the School: A Story of School Life

  CHAPTER XIII

  The School Picnic

  Towards the middle of July the girls at The Priory began to look forwardwith eager anticipation to the annual picnic. In the minds of most itwas the great event of the summer term, and eclipsed even Speech Day.Patty, who had not yet experienced the joys of such an excursion, wasanxious to learn something about it, and made many enquiries of herfriends.

  "It's the loveliest fun," said Avis. "We have special saloon carriagesengaged on the train, and lovely baskets of lunch, and Miss Lincoln letsus buy toffee and chocolates if there are any shops. I wonder where weshall go this year, and if it will be to the country or the seaside. Hasanyone heard?"

  "Phyllis Chambers said she believed it was to be Moorcliffe," saidWinnie.

  "Where's that?"

  "It's a dear little seaside place near Chelstone. There's a nice sandyshore, and Phyllis says she shouldn't be surprised if we were allowedto take our costumes with us and bathe."

  "Oh, how glorious! I do hope we shall."

  "I believe it depends on the tide," said Winnie.

  "Why on the tide? How absurd!"

  "No, it's not absurd. The sea goes out very far at Moorcliffe, andleaves a large sandy bay. You don't want to walk half a mile to thewater. If the tide's up in the morning, and we can get our dip then, itwill be quite right, because there will be time for our costumes to dryafterwards in the sun; but if it's not high water till afternoon, weshall have to do without our swim. It would be impossible to carry backmore than seventy dripping bathing-dresses."

  "Unless we chartered a tank for them and put them in the luggage van,"laughed Enid. "I hope the tide will be nice and accommodating. Hasn'tanybody got an almanac?"

  "Miss Lincoln is planning it all out, and is to tell us on Saturday."

  "I don't think it depends entirely on the tide," said Beatrice Wynne. "Iwas talking to Miss Latimer, and she says she knows of a splendid poolunder the cliff, which is always quite deep enough to swim in at lowwater. She's going to tell Miss Lincoln about it."

  "If we don't arrange for Moorcliffe, we shall probably go to Bradley,and look over the Castle," said Maggie Woodhall.

  "I hope not," said Cissie Gardiner. "I've seen several castles, andthey're all alike. You walk on the battlements, and peep down the well,which is half filled with rubbish and ferns, and an old woman unlocksthe dungeon, and shows you a rusty chain, and then you eat sandwiches inthe courtyard. I'd far rather go to the sea."

  Cissie's wish was gratified, for on Saturday morning Miss Lincoln gavethe welcome announcement that she had decided the picnic should be atMoorcliffe on the following Thursday, provided that the weather wasfavourable, and that no unforeseen event occurred in the meantime.

  "Miss Lincoln always puts in a warning note of that kind," said Enid. "Iwonder what she expects to happen. Does she imagine we shall all catchscarlet fever, or break our legs, before Thursday?"

  "I should hope not, but of course it might be wet. If it's a pouringday, we're to go on Friday instead," said Avis.

  "To-day, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to get through," saidJean. "It's a frightfully long time. I feel as if Thursday would nevercome."

  "So do I. I should like to go to bed, and sleep straight through tillThursday."

  "You lazy girl! Suppose you didn't wake, and we left you behind?"

  "You wouldn't do that," declared Avis. "I shall be up first of all,you'll see."

  In spite of the girls' impatience, the longed-for Thursday came at last,and proved such a fine, clear, beautiful day, that there was not theslightest hesitation as to whether they should start or not. Avisfulfilled her promise of early rising by getting up to watch the dawn,and tried to make her sleepy room mates share her enthusiasm, anattention which they scarcely appreciated when they discovered that shehad roused them three hours too soon. Long before the usual bell rangeverybody was up and dressed, which did not bring breakfast any thequicker, though it allowed the girls time to work off some of theirspirits by a run round the garden. Punctually at a quarter to nineo'clock a row of omnibuses arrived to convey the seventy-three pupilsand their ten teachers to the station. Each girl carried her bathingcostume and towel in a neat parcel, and large hampers of lunch were inreadiness.

  "Miss Lincoln's taking the cricket tent," announced Cissie Gardiner."There it is, all wrapped up with its poles and pegs. Miss Latimer andMiss Rowe are going to put it up on the beach, and then we can undressand dress there again when we bathe. It's not very big. I'm sure itcan't possibly hold more than six of us at a time, so we shall have togo in relays, and be very quick."

  Patty felt at the high-water mark of bliss when she found herself seatedon the top of an omnibus between Enid and Jean, with Avis and Winnieclose by. She could have wished the drive longer, but when they reachedthe station, and found the saloon carriages ready for them, labelled"Special Excursion--Reserved", she was as anxious to get into the trainas she had been to remain on the omnibus. There were, of course, manylittle excitements. Winnie nearly left the parcel containing herbathing-dress on the seat near the booking office, only remembering itjust in time; Maggie Woodhall's hat blew away over the line, and had tobe recovered by the guard; and one of the luncheon baskets fell off thetruck as the porter was wheeling it along the platform, much to MissLincoln's dismay, till she discovered it was luckily not the one whichheld the breakables. Each mistress was to be personally responsible forher own class, and for the day the six prefects were given as fullpowers of authority as the teachers; so Miss Lincoln hoped that with somany people to look after them, her lively pupils might find noopportunity of getting into mischief, or running into danger. All wereable to take their places at once in the carriages which had beenwaiting for them in a siding at the station, and were shunted on to theChelstone train when it arrived. The porters banged the doors with theirusual vigour, the guard waved his green flag, and at last they were offfor their delightful excursion. It was less than an hour's journey toMoorcliffe, so by half-past ten the entire school was walking in aprocession through the small village, across the cliff, and down on tothe beach. The tide unfortunately was low, so Miss Lincoln was glad toavail herself of Miss Latimer's knowledge of the place to find the covewhere there was a convenient bathing pool. It was some little distancealong the shore, and the girls were much tempted to linger to pick upshells or sea urchins; but the prefects urged them sternly on, assuringthem that they would find plenty more of such treasures, and that timewas passing quickly by.

  "When you consider how small the tent is, and how many of us have totake it in turns to use it, you'll understand we need the whole morningfor our bathe," said Phyllis Chambers.

  They at last reached the sheltered nook among the rocks which MissLatimer had chosen. The sea, retreating far into the distance, had hereleft a wide and fairly deep pool, through which flowed one of the manychannels that intersected the bay. It was a pleasant spot, far enoughfrom the village to promise retirement, and the sparkling water lappinggently in the sunshine looked inviting. Aided by a band of willingworkers, Miss Latimer and Miss Rowe soon erected the tent; the girlseffected their changes of costume with lightning speed, and in half anhour a passing stranger might have imagined the coast to be invaded byan army of mermaids. Jean, who had brought her camera, took severalsnapshots of the lively scene.

  "It reminds me of pictures I've seen of colonies of seals basking abouton the rocks," she declared. "Now, Patty, put yourself in a picturesqueattitude. I wish I dare ask Miss Rowe to let down her lovely hair, I'msure it would look so nice."

  "Violet Chambers is swimming on her back," said Enid. "I'm so glad tohave the opportunity of watching her. I heard she could do it, but wenever get a chance to see the Second Class girls in the bath."

  "And Mabel Morgan is trying to make a wheel," said Winnie. "Oh, look ather! Isn't she clever? There! She's come to grief over it. I expectedshe would."

  "I haven't any accomplishments," said Avis. "I can only paddle round andround the pool and flo
at. I wish I were in the channel over there, andcould swim for a couple of miles."

  "I heard Miss Lincoln tell Miss Latimer she was very glad the tide waslow, because it was absolutely safe here, and if we were in the realsea, she should not know a moment's freedom from anxiety until she sawus all out again."

  "Miss Lincoln is quite ridiculous! What harm could happen to us? Ofcourse the pool is better fun than the swimming bath at The Priory, butit's nothing to feeling yourself on big waves."

  "We're going to Devonshire for our summer holiday, and I shall be ableto have some glorious swimming there, I expect," said May Firth.

  "You'll have to mind not to get into a current," said Ella Johnson. "Wewere staying in Cornwall last year, and my brother was nearly carriedout to sea by one. He declared it must have been the Gulf Stream; it wasso tremendously strong, it whirled him along, and he felt quitehelpless. All he could do was to float and to call, hoping somebodymight hear him. No one did for a long time, and he had drifted ever sofar from land, when at last a boat was passing, and some fishermenpicked him up. They told him it was very dangerous to swim there, whenhe didn't know the coast."

  "It's all right if you don't get cramp," said Avis. "That must bedreadful. Once when we spent our holidays at Whitby we had such anadventure. We were walking along the shore, and we saw a young ladyswimming a little distance out. Suddenly she flung up her arms andshrieked, and went down into the water. My father threw off his coat andhis boots, and swam to the spot where she came up. He managed to catchhold of her by her hair, and get her back to land. She was quiteinsensible, and I thought she must be dead; but my uncle, who's adoctor, was with us, and he immediately began the treatment for thedrowned, just like Miss Latimer teaches us in the swimming lessons. Ihelped to work her arms up and down and to rub her, and at last sheopened her eyes. We were so relieved. She called at our lodgingsafterwards to thank us, and said she had gone for a little afternoon dipalone; and she supposed the water must have been colder than usual,because all at once she felt a terrible pain in her leg, and could notmove. She said it was the most awful sensation to feel she was sinking,and not to be able to save herself."

  "It was lucky for her that your father was close by to rescue her!"

  "Yes, and Uncle Arthur too, to bring her round afterwards. I don't thinkit's very safe for girls to go swimming alone."

  No mermaids could have had a pleasanter time idling about in the poolthan Patty and her friends. They tried various performances in fancyswimming, which, however, were quite unsuccessful, though they allassisted to hold each other up during the experiments. They were in themidst of a frantic effort to dance the Lancers in two feet of water,when Miss Latimer called to them to come at once; and as the limitedaccommodation of the bathing tent necessitated that the girls must maketheir toilets in relays, they were obliged reluctantly to tearthemselves away, and in due course join the others, who were sitting onthe sand letting their loose hair dry in the sun and wind. Everybody wasvery ready to open the luncheon baskets at half-past twelve. The sea airhad given fine appetites, and the provisions vanished steadily. Eachclass had brought its own special hamper, and there was a great deal oflaughter when those of the Third and Fifth Classes got changed bymistake, the thirteen indignant members of the former only receiving theamount which had been intended for ten. The upper and lower divisions ofthe Fourth feasted separately, the one under the auspices of MissHarper, and the other with Miss Rowe, as it would have been impossibleto pack lunch for twenty-two girls in one hamper, unless, as Enidsuggested, they had used a clothes basket for the purpose. After lunch,Miss Lincoln insisted that everybody should take half an hour's quietrest lying on the beach.

  "Many of you were awake at daylight," she said, "and you have beenracing about and exciting yourselves since before breakfast-time. I amafraid you will all be thoroughly tired out by evening, so I forbidanyone to speak; and if you can go to sleep, so much the better."

  I hardly think Miss Lincoln expected her injunctions to be absolutelyobeyed; at any rate, a certain amount of whispering went on among thegirls, who collected in little groups to take the required repose, whilea low laugh every now and then did not indicate sound slumber. Avispiled up a pillow of sand, and closed her eyes complacently, until shefound Winnie was tickling the end of her nose with a piece of seaweed;Enid lay curled up under the shadow of a rock, looking at her watchevery few minutes; and Jean and Patty played a silent game of noughtsand crosses on slabs of smooth stone. The moment the half-hour wasfinished the girls sprang up, and commenced to chatter with renewedavidity, showing in their own lively fashion that they were not yettired, however they might feel by the end of the day. The classesseparated during the afternoon, some going for walks on the headland,and others strolling farther along the beach, searching for cockles onthe sandbank, or throwing stones at a mark. They all met at four o'clockfor tea at the small hotel on the edge of the cliff, where tables andforms had been set out in the garden, and the innkeeper and his wife andtwo daughters were busily bustling about, carrying plates of cakes andbuns, jugs of milk, and trays full of cups and saucers, to meet therequirements of their army of young guests. It was a merry meal, foreverybody was full of jokes and fun. Miss Harper told amusing stories,and Miss Lincoln asked riddles, and Miss Rowe forgot she was keepingorder, and chatted almost like one of the girls themselves.

  "I could sit here all afternoon," said Enid, "just watching the sea andthe boats and the people down on the shore below. If I could only get upa second appetite, I should like to begin tea over again."

  "You can have some more if you like. Miss Lincoln doesn't limit you,"laughed Avis.

  "No, thank you. The copybooks say: 'Never attempt impossibilities'. Ishall go and sit on the edge of the cliff."

  "Come with me," said Winnie, "and we'll have a game of golf just toourselves, with two sticks and an indiarubber ball. You can't think whatfun it is. I was trying on the common a little while ago. Will you cometoo, Patty?"

  "No, thanks," said Patty. "I should only spoil sport. I mean to go downon to the sands again. You can call to me when you've finished, andperhaps I'll come up; but I won't promise, because I like the shore thevery best of all."