8 darrell—and gwendoline

the girls left in the pool discussed the sudden happenings with interest and much surprise.

'who would have thought quiet old darrell would have lashed out like that!'

'she can't be allowed to cheek katherine. that was jolly rude of her.'

'katherine, are you going to do anything about it?'

katherine was now out of the pool, her usually calm face red and disturbed. she had liked darrell somuch—and now in one minute she had quite a different idea of her! alicia was puzzled too. sheshook her head from side to side, trying to get the water out of her ears. who would have thoughtdarrell had such a temper?

'come into the common room, north tower girls, as soon as you are dressed,' said katherine at last,in her usual cool voice. the girls looked at one another. a first-form meeting! about gwendoline anddarrell, they supposed. they tore off up the cliff, and poured into the changing-room, chatteringloudly. neither gwendoline nor darrell was there.

gwendoline had gone up to her dormy, to get some cold cream for her red-streaked legs. they didn'tneed cold cream, of course—but she meant to make as much fuss as she could! she had alw ays beenjealous of darrell, and she was jolly glad she had got something against her. coming up andapologizing like that—she didn't mean a word of it, gwendoline was sure!

the rest of the first-form north tower girls, eight of them, met in the common room. katherine satherself on a desk

and looked round.

'i am sure you are all agreed that, much as we like darrell, we can't pass behaviour of that sort,' shebegan.

'oh, katherine—don't row her!' begged mary-lou's small voice. 'she saved me from drowning, shereally did.'

'she didn't,' said katherine. 'gwendoline isn't such an idiot as to drown anyone. i suppose she justsuddenly felt spiteful being teased by the others for not trying to swim properly.'

mary-lou was firmly convinced that darrell was a heroine. she had suffered such agonies under thewater, and had really and truly thought she was drowning—and then along had come strong, angrydarrell. how could katherine judge her anyhow but kindly? mary-lou didn't dare to say any more,but she sat with a worried, anxious look on her face, wishing she could speak up for darrell bravelyand fearlessly. but she couldn't.

'i think,' said irene, 'that darrell should certainly apologize to katherine for being cheeky to her. andif she won't, we'll send her to coventry. we won't speak to her for a week. i must say i'm surprised atdarrell.'

'well, /think she must apologize to gwendoline too,' said katherine. 'i heard those slaps right at theother end of the pool! that's much more important than apologizing to me.'

'but how much more unpleasant!' murmured alicia. 'how i should hate to have to say i was sorry foranything to darling gwendoline mary !'

'aren't you going to address a few words to gwendoline too?' asked jean.

'yes,' said katherine. 'of course. now, i wonder where darrell is. oh, dear, i do hope she won't kickup a fuss about apologizing to gwendoline. if she's still in a flaming temper she won't be easy to dealwith. i don't want to report her, or to send her to coventry. i never imagined she couldbe such a little spitfire.'

just as she finished this speech, the door opened and darrell herself walked in. she looked surprisedto see the girls sitting about, silent and serious. katherine opened her mouth to speak to her,astonished to see darrell looking so calm.

but before she could say a word, darrell walked right up to her. 'katherine, i'm most awfully sorry ispoke to you like that. i can't think how i could. i was in such a temper, i suppose.'

the wind was completely taken out of katherine's sails. instead of glaring at darrell, she smiled.

'that's all right,' she said, rather awkwardly. t saw you were in a rage. but, darrell...'

'that's an awful fault of mine,' said darrell, rubbing her nose as she always did when she feltashamed of herself. 'my temper, i mean. i've always had it. i get it from daddy, but he keeps histemper for something worth while—i mean he only loses it when there's some really big reason. idon't. i go and lose it for silly little things. i'm awful, katherine ! but honestly i had made up mymind when i came to malory towers that i wouldn't lose it any more.'

the girls, who had looked coldly at darrell when she had marched into the room, now regarded herwith warm liking. here was a person who had a fault, and who said so, and was sorry about it, anddidn't attempt to excuse herself. who could help warming to a person like that ?

'well,' said katherine, 'you managed to lose it all right this evening! i think gwendoline deserved allshe got, darrell—but you shouldn't have been the one to give it to her. i'm the one to tick her off, orpamela, or even miss potts. not you. just imagine what the school would be like if we could all loseour tempers and go about slapping people when we felt like it!'

t know,' said darrell. 'i've thought all that out myself. i'm much more ashamed of myself, katherine,than you are of me. i wish you'd believe me.'

'i do,' said katherine. 'but i'm afraid, darrell, you'll have to do something unpleasant, that you'll hatedoing, before we can regard this matter as finished.'

'oh—what's that ?' asked darrell, looking really alarmed.

'well, you'll have to apologize to gwendoline,' said katherine, expecting an outburst from darrell atonce.

'apologize to gwendoline ? oh, i've done that,' said darrell, with relief. 'i thought you meant i had todo something really awful. i'm always sorry very soon after i've lost my temper. i told you that. andthat means i have to go and say i'm sorry!'

the girls stared at darrell, who shook back her black curls and gazed with clear eyes at katherine.

why, they hadn't needed to have a meeting at all! they hadn't needed to judge darrell and set her tomake amends. she had judged herself and made amends herself. the girls looked at her withadmiration and mary-lou could hardly keep still. what a wonderful person darrell was, she thought!

'of course,' went on darrell, t still think that gwendoline did a beastly thing to mary-lou—and ithink it's a pity too that mary- lou doesn't pull herself together so that spiteful people likegwendoline can't tease her.'

mary-lou crumpled up. oh! darrell thought her feeble and weak and frightened. and she was too.

she knew she was. she knew that a strong person like darrell could never really like a stupid personlike mary-lou. but how she wished she would!

gwendoline opened the door and came in, looking like a martyr. she had undone her hair so that itlay in a golden sheet over her shoulders again. she evidently fancied herself as an ill-used angel orsomething of the kind.

she heard the last few words darrell spoke, and flushed red. 'spiteful people like gwendoline can'ttease her!' that was what she heard.

'oh—gwendoline. the next time you want to give anyone a nasty fright, choose someone able tostand up to you,' said katherine, her voice sounding rather hard. 'and please tell mary-lou you'resorry you were such a beast. you gave her an awful fright. darrell has apologized to you, and youcan jolly well do your bit, now!'

'oh—so darrell said she apologized to me, did she?' said gwendoline. 'well,/don't call it an apology!'

'you fibber!' said darrell, in amazement. she swung round to the girls. 'i didv she said. 'you canbelieve which you like, me or gwendoline. but 1 did apologize—straightaway too.'

katherine glanced from darrell's hot face to gwendoline's sneering one. 'we believe vow,' she said,quietly. her voice hardened again. 'and now, gwendoline, in front of us all, please, so that we canhear—what have you got to say to mary-lou?'

gwendoline was forced to say she was sorry. she stammered and stuttered, so little did she want tosay the words, but, with everyone's eyes on her, she had to. she had never said she was sorry foranything before in her life, and she didn't like it. she hated darrell at that moment—yes, and shehated that silly mary-lou too!

she went out of the room almost in tears. there was a sigh of relief as she left. 'well, it's a good thingthat's over!' said irene, who hated scenes. 'i'm off to one of the practice rooms. i feel a little musicwill be good after this upset!'

she went off to play the piano to herself in one of the many practice rooms. she would soon forgetabout everything but the melody she was playing. but the others didn't forget so easily. it hadn't beennice to see darrell lose control of herself, but everyone agreed that it served gwendoline right to geta slapping.

the girls compared the natural, generous way in which darrell had said she was sorry with thegrudging, stammering words that gwendoline had spoken to the embarrassed mary-lou. gwendolinecertainly hadn't come out of the affair at all well. and she knew it too. she felt humiliated. what afuss to make over a joke! why, the girls often ducked one another! anyway, she would write to hermother about being slapped by that beast of a darrell! that would make all the girls sit up.

she went back to the common room, and opened her locker. her writing-paper was in there. she tookout a pad and sat down. she did not usually enjoy writing to her mother. she thought it a bore! shehad not written to miss winter at all since she had come to malory towers, though the governess hadwritten to her three times a week. gwendoline rather despised the people who liked her, and wasspiteful towards those that didn't.

'i'm writing to my mother,' she announced to the girls around. some were sewing, some were reading.

it was a free hour for them before supper-time. nobody took any notice of gwendoline's remarkexcept jean.

'not the day for writing home, is it now?' she said. "what's come over you, gwendoline, to besending home in the middle of the week, when you sigh and groan over your sunday letter fit tomake us all hold our hands over our ears!'

'i'm writing to tell mother how darrell slapped me,' said gwendoline, clearly, so that everyone couldhear. 'i'm not going to stand that sort of thing. mother won't, either.'

katherine got up. 'i'm glad you told me what you were going to do,' she said. 'i'll go and get mywriting-pad too. 1 am sure you won't tell your mother what led up to your slapping! but/will!'

gwendoline flung down her pen in a fury. she tore the sheet she had begun, right off the pad andcrumpled it up. 'all right,' she said. 'i won't write. i'm not going to have you telling tales of me to mypeople. what a beastly school this is! no wonder mother didn't want to send me away from home.'

'poor darling gwendoline,' said alicia, as the angry girl flung out of the room. 'she just can't doanything she wants! i must say 1 think malory towers is going to be jolly good for her!' she shookher head violently again, and darrell looked at her in surprise.

'why do you keep doing that?' she asked.

'i told you. i can't seem to get the water out of my ears,' said alicia. 'they feel blocked. i say—i dohope i shan't be deaf tommorrow! 1 did go deaf once before when i swam under water for ages!'

'oh, alicia! how funny it would be if you really did go deaf tommorrow in mam'zelle's class!' saiddarrell, heartlessly. 'oh, dear. 1 can't imagine what would happen!'

'well, / can!' said alicia. 'let's hope my ears get right before the morning!'