9 alicia in trouble

the affair at the pool had a good many results. first, it made mary-lou follow darrell about like adog that has found its master and doesn't mean to leave it! she was always there to fetch and carry fordarrell. she tidied her desk for her. she even tidied the drawers in her dressing-table, and offered tomake her bed each day.

but darrell didn't like that sort of thing. 'don't,' she said to mary-lou. 'i can do things for myself.

why should you make my bed? you know we're all supposed to make our own, mary-lou. don't bedaft.'

'i'm not,' said mary-lou gazing at darrell out of her big, wide eyes. 'i'm only just trying to make a—alittle return to you, darrell—for—for saving me from drowning.'

'don't be silly,' said darrell. 'you wouldn't have drowned, really. i know that now. and anyway ionly slapped gwendoline hard! that was nothing.'

but it didn't in the least matter what darrell said, mary- lou persisted in adoring her, and being onthe watch for anything she could do. darrell found chocolates put inside her desk. she found a littlevase of flowers always on her dressing-table. but it irritated her and made her cross. she could notsee mary-lou's mind reaching-out for a friendship that might help her. mary-lou was so weak. sheneeded someone strong, and to her darrell was the finest girl she had ever met.

the others teased darrell about mary-lou's attentions. 'has the little dog wagged its tail for youtoday?' asked alicia.

'i wish i had some one to put bee-yoo-tiful flowers on my dressing-table!' said irene.

'just like darrell to encourage silly nonsense like that!' said gwendoline, who was jealous of allmary-lou's friendly little attentions to darrell.

'she doesn't encourage it,' said katherine. 'you can see she doesn't.'

another result of the pool affair was that gwendoline really did feel bitter towards darrell now. shehad never in her life been slapped by anyone, and she couldn't forget it. not even her mother hadslapped her! it would have been very much better for spoilt, selfish gwendoline if a few smacks hadcome her way when she was small. but they hadn't and now the four or five slaps she had receivedfrom darrell seemed to her, not a sudden flash of temper, soon to be forgotten, but a great insultsomehow to be avenged.

'and one day i'll pay her back, see if i don't!' thought gwendoline to herself. 'i don't care how long iwait.'

the third result of the pool affair was that alicia really did go deaf through swimming under water solong. it was not a deafness that would last very long, alicia knew. suddenly her ears would go 'pop'

inside, and she would be able to hear as well as ever. but in the meantime it was really very annoyingto think that just after she had pretended to be deaf, she really had become deaf. whatever wouldmam'zelle say this time?

it was unfortunate for alicia that she sat at the back of the room, in the last row but one. anyone withnormal hearing could hear perfectly well, even in the back row, but alicia with both ears 'blocked,' asshe called it, found it extremely difficult to catch every word that was said.

to make matters worse, it was not mam'zelle dupont who took french that day, but mam'zellerougier, thin, tall and bony. she was rarely in a good humour, as her thin lips, always tightly pressedtogether, showed. it was funny, alicia thought, how bad-tempered people nearly always had thin lips.

mam'zelle rougier had a soft voice, which, however could become extremely loud when she wasangry. then it became raucous, like a rook's, and the girls hated it.

today she was taking the beginnings of a french play with the girls. they nearly always had to learnone each term, taking different parts. sometimes they performed it at school concerts, but often theydidn't perform it at all, merely taking it in class,'now.' said mam'zelle rougier, 'today we will discuss the play, and perhaps give out the parts. maybeone or two of the new girls are good at french, and can take the leading parts. that would be so nice!

i cannot think any of the old girls would mind that!'

they wouldn't! the less learning they had to do, the better! the new girls smiled in a sickly fashion.

they thought mam'zelle rougier's little jokes were feeble.

'now, first we will see who took the chief parts in last term's play,' said mam'zelle. 'you, alicia, whatpart did you play?'

alicia didn't hear, so she didn't answer. betty nudged her. 'what part did you take in last term's play?'

she said, loudly.

'oh! sorry, mam'zelle, i didn't catch what you said,' said alicia. 'i took the part of the shep herd.'

'1 thought that was in the term before," said mam'zelle. alicia again couldn't catch what she said.

betty repeated it loudly. 'mam'zelle said she thought that was in the termbefore,'said betty.

mam'zelle was astonished. why should betty repeat everything she said like that? then suddenly sheremembered something mam'zelle dupont had told her about alicia— ah, yes, the bad naughty girl!

she had pretended to be deaf, hadn't she — and here she was again, playing the same trick onmam'zelle rougier.

"ah non, non!' said mam'zelle rougier to herself angrily. 'it is too much! i will not have it.'

'alicia,' she said, patting the little bun at the back of her head, 'you are a funny girl and you do funnythings, nestce pas? but 1 also, i am funny and i do funny things. i would like you to w rite out for mein french, fifty times in your best handwriting, "1 must not be deaf in mam'zelle rougier's class.'"'what did you say, mam'zelle?' asked alicia, having caught her own name at the beginning, but verylittle else. 'i

couldn't quite hear.'

'ah, cette mechante fillev cried mam'zelle, losing her temper as suddenly as she always did. 'aliciaecoutez bienl listen well! you shall write me out "i must not be deaf in mam'zelle rougier's class"one hundred times!'

'but you said fifty just now,' said betty, indignantly.

'and you too, you shall write out "i must not interrupt," one hundred times!' stormed mam'zelle. theclass was silent. they knew mam'zelle rougier in this mood. she would be handing out a thousandlines soon to somebody. she was the most irritable teacher in the whole school.

betty whispered to alicia as soon as mam'zelle was writing something on the board, but, seeing thatpoor alicia couldn't hear her whisper, she scribbled a message on a bit of paper.

'you've got to write out a hundred lines for m. for goodness' sake don't say you can't hear anythingelse, or you'll get a thousand! she's in a real paddy!'

alicia nodded. and whenever mam'zelle asked her if she had heard what was said, she answeredpolitely, 'yes, thank you, mam'zelle,' hoping she would be forgiven for the story!

miss potts came for the next lesson. mam'zelle stopped and spoke to her, with a gleam in her eye.

'alas, miss potts, one of your girls, alicia, has again got a deafness in her ear. it is sad, is it not?

such a young and healthy girl!'

with this parting shot mam'zelle rougier disappeared. miss potts looked at alicia coldly.

'i shouldn't have thought that even you were foolish enough to try the same trick twice, alicia,' shesaid. poor alicia! she didn't hear what miss potts said, but gazed at her enquiringly.

'you can leave your desk and come to one of the front ones,' said miss potts. 'jean, change placeswith alicia,

please. you can change over the contents of your desk later.'

jean stood up, very pleased to think that she would leave the front row, which was always under misspott's eye, and go to one of the much-sought-after back rows. it was easy to whisper in the back rowl,and easy to play tricks or pass notes there. alicia didn't move because she really hadn't heard. therewas suddenly a curious buzzing noise in her ears.

'you've got to move, idiot!' said betty in a loud whisper. 'go on—go to jean's place.'

alicia realised what was happening. she was full of dismay! what, leave the back seat she liked somuch, leave her seat beside betty — and go to the front row, under every teacher's eagle eye.

everyone knew that the front row had no fun at all!

'oh, miss potts,' she began, in dismay. 'honestly. i am deaf! it's all that under-water swimming!'

'you thought—or pretended you were deaf the other day,' said miss potts, unfeelingly. 'how in theworld am i supposed to know when you are and when you aren't, alicia?'

'well, i really am this time,' said alicia, wishing her ears wouldn't buzz so. 'please, miss potts, let mestay here!'

'now, alica,' said miss potts, speaking in loud, clear tones so that, deaf or not, alicia would be sureto hear, 'listen to me, and tell me if you agree with me or not. if you are not deaf, but playing a trick,it would be best to have you out here under my eye. if you are deaf and can't hear in the back row,then it is only common sense that you should be placed out here where you can. what do you thinkabout it?'

alicia, of course, could not do anything but agree. she sat rather sulkily down in jean's place. shecould, of course, hear much better there. then a funny thing happened. first one of her ears went'pop' and then the other. she shook her head. goody, goody! her ears had gone pop and were all rightagain. she could hear as well as ever.

she was so pleased that she whispered to mary-lou, next to her. 'my ears have gone pop. i can hear!'

miss potts had extremely sharp hearing. she caught the whisper and turned round from the board.

'will you kindly repeat what you said, alicia?' she said.

'1 said "my ears have gone pop. i can hear!'" said alicia.

'good,' said miss potts. 'i thought you would probably find you could hear all right in the front there.'

'but miss potts, i...' began alicia.

'that's enough,' said miss potts. 'let us begin this lesson please without wasting any more time onyour ears, deaf or not.'

alicia was cross because jean and she had to change over the contents of their desks in break. shehated being out in the front. jean was very cheerful about the change.

'i wished hard enough i could be at the back,' she said. 'and now i am.'

'it's not fair,' grumbled alicia. 'i really was deaf this morning—and then my ears suddenly got right.

miss potts ought to have believed me.'

darrell, who was helping, couldn't help laughing. alicia was not in a mood to be teased, and shescowled.

'oh, alicia, i know it's unkind of me to laugh,' said darrell, 'but honestly it's funny! first you pretendto be deaf, and pull mam'zelle's leg well. then you really do get deaf, and nobody believes it! it's justlike that fable of the shepherd boy who called "wolf wolf!" when there wasn't a wolf, and then whenthere really was, and he called for help, nobody came because nobody believed him!'

'i thought you were my friend,' said alicia, stiffly. 'i don't like being preached at.'

'oh, i'm not preaching, really i'm not!' said darrell.

"listen, alicia, i'll write out half your lines for you, i will really! it would take you ages to write outa hundred, and i know you hate writing. 1 love it.'

'ah right. thanks very much,' said alicia, cheering up. so mam'zelle rougier was presented withone hundred lines that evening, half of them rather badly written and the other half quite nicelywritten. 'strange that a child should write so badly on one side of the paper and so well on the other!'

said mam'zelle wonderingly. but fortunately for alicia mam'zelle got no further than wonderingabout it!