11 the spider affair

the first lesson that afternoon was mental arithmetic. the girls groaned over this, except the quickones, like irene, who delighted in it. but it meant that there was no need for anyone to open a desk,because it was all oral work.

miss potts was lenient with the girls, for it was a very hot afternoon. darrell was glad that miss pottswas not as exacting as usual, for arithmetic was not her strong point, especially mental arithmetic.

the next leson was to be taken by mam'zelle dupont. it was to be a french conversation lesson, inwhich the girls would endeavour to answer all mam'zelle's simple questions in french. miss pottsleft, and mam'zelle arrived, not quite so beaming as usual, because of the heat. she was too plump toenjoy the hot weather, and little beads of perspiration shone on her forehead as she sat down at thebig desk, opposite the rows of girls.

'assevez-vous,' she said, and the girls sat down thankfully, feeling that the only lesson they wouldreally enjoy that weather would be a swimming lesson.

the lesson proceeded slowly and haltingly. the flow of french conversation was not at all brisk onthe girls' part, and the constant pauses began to irritate mam'zelle.

'ah!' she cried at last, 'it is too hot to make conversation with such stupid ones as you are thisafternoon! get out your grammar books and i w ill explain a few things to you that will help yourconversation if you can get them into your so-stupid heads!'

the girls opened their desks to get out their grammar books. gwendoline watched eagerly to seewhat would happen when mary-lou opened hers. but nothing did happen. mary lou had neitherseen the spider nor disturbed it. she shut her desk.

all the girls opened their grammar books at the page mam'zelle commanded. then mary-lou foundthat she had her english grammar instead of her french one. so she re?opened her desk to get theright book.

que /aires vous, mary-lou?" demanded mam'zelle, who hated desks being opened and shut toooften. 'what are you doing?'

mary-lou stuffed her english grammar into the back of her desk and pulled out the french one. thespider, feeling itself dislodged by the book, ran out in a fright. it ran almost up to mary-lou beforeshe saw it. she let the desk-lid drop with a terrific bang and gave a heart-rending scream.

everyone jumped in alarm. mam'zelle leapt to her feet, sending a pile of books clattering from herdesk to the floor. she glared at mary-lou.

'tiensl what is this noise! mary-lou, have you gone mad?'

mary-lou couldn't speak. the sight of the enormous spider apparently running straight at her hadcompletely undone her. she scraped her chair away from her desk, and stared at it as if she expectedthe spider to jump through the lid.

'mary-lou!' thundered mam'zelle. 'tell me what is the matter with you? 1 demand it!"'oh, mam'zelle—there's a—there's a simply enormous—giant—spider in my desk!' stammered mary-lou, quite pale.

'a spider?' said mam'zelle. 'and you make this fuss, and call out so loudly that we all jump in fear!

mary-lou, be ashamed of yourself! i am angry with you. sit down.'

'oh—i—i daren't,' said mary-lou, trembling. 'it might come out. mam'zelle, it's enormous.'

mam'zelle wasn't quite sure whether she really believed in this spider or not. what with alicia'sdeafness last week and one thing and another...

irene giggled. mam'zelle fixed her with a glare. 'we will see if this spider exists or not,' she said,firmly. 'and i warn you, mary-lou, if this is again a trick, and there is no spider, you will go to misspotts for punishment. i wash my hands of you.'

she advanced to the desk. she threw open the lid dramatically. mary-lou drew in her breath and gotaway as far as she could, looking at the inside of the desk with scared eyes.

there was no spider to be seen. it had, of course, retreated to the darkest corner it could find again.

mam'zelle swept the desk with a searching glance and then turned on poor mary-lou.

'bad girl,' she said, and stamped her foot. 'you, so quiet and good, you too deceive me, the poormam'zelle! i will not have it.'

'mam'zelle, do believe me,' begged mary-lou, in despair, for she could not bear to be scolded likethat. 'it was there— an enormous one."

mam'zelle rummaged violently among the books in the desk. 'no spider! not one!' she said. 'tell me,where has it gone, if it is still in there?'

...

the spider was alarmed by the violent rummaging. itsuddenly hurried out from its hiding-place, and ran on to mam'zelle's hand and up her arm.

mam'zelle stared at the enormous thing as if she really could not believe her eyes. she gave a shriekeven louder than mary-lou had given! she too was scared of spiders, and here was a giant specimenrunning over her person!

irene exploded. that was the signal for the class to enter into the fun, and one and all scrambled overto mam'zelle.

'ah, where is it, the monster? girls, girls, can you see it?' wailed mam'zelle.

'it's here,' said wicked alicia and ran a light finger down mam'zelle's spine. she gave a scream,thinking that it was the spider running there. 'take it off! i beg you, alicia, remove it from me!'

t think it must have gone down your neck, mam'zelle,' said betty, which nearly made mam'zellehave a fit. she immediately felt sure that it was well all over her, and began to shiver and tremble.

alicia tickled the back of her neck and she leapt in the air. 'oh, la la! oh, la la! what a miserablewoman i am! where is this monster? girls, girls, tell me it is gone!'

there was now a complete uproar in the first-form room. miss potts, again in the second-form room,was amazed and exasperated. what could her form be doing now? had mam'zelle left them alone,and had they all gone mad?

'go on with your maps for a minute,' she said to the second form, who were glancing at one anotherin astonishment, as they heard the noise from the first-form room. she left the room and went rapidlyto the door of the first form.

she opened it and the noise hit her like something solid. worse than break, she thought grimly. atfirst she could not see any mistress there at all, and thought that the girls were alone. then she caughtsight of mam'zelle's head in the

middle of a crowd of girls. what vim happening!

'girls!' she said, but her voice went unheard. 'girls!' irene suddenly saw her and started to nudgeeveryone. 'look out here's potty,' she hissed.

the girls flowed back from mam'zelle as if they were water! in a trice every one was by her desk.

mam'zelle stood alone, trembling, wondering what was happening. where had that monster of aspider gone?

'mam'zelle, really!' said miss potts, almost forgetting the rule the staff had of never finding fault withone another before the girls. ' i simply cannot think what happens to this class when you take it!'

mam'zelle blinked at miss potts. 'it was a spider,' she explained, looking up and down herself. 'ah,miss potts, but a monster of a spider. it ran up my arm and disappeared. ah-h-h-h-h! i seem tofeel it everywhere.'

'a spider won't hurt you,' said miss potts, coldly and unfeelingly. 'would you like to go and recoveryourself, mam'zelle, and let me deal with the first form?'

'ah non!' said mam'zelle, indignantly. 'the class, it is good—the girls, they came to help me to getthis monster of a spider. so big it was, miss potts!'

miss potts looked so disbelieving that mam'zelle exaggerated the size of the spider, and held out herhands to show miss potts that it was at least as big as fair-sized frog.

the girls had enjoyed everything immensely. what a french lesson! gwendoline had enjoyed it too,especially as she was the cause of it, though nobody knew that, of course. she sat demurely in herdesk, watching the two mistresses closely.

and then suddenly she felt something running up her leg! she looked down. it was the spider! it hadleft mam'zelle a long time ago, and had secreted itself under a desk, afraid of all the trampling feetaround. now, when peace seemed

restored, the spider wanted to seek a better hiding-place. it ran over gwendoline's shoe, up herstocking and above her knee. she gave a piercing scream. everyone jumped again. miss potts turnedfiercely.

'gwendoline! go out of the room! how dare you squeal like that! no, don't tell me you've seen thespider. i'm tired of the spider. i'm ashamed of you all!'

gwendoline shook herself violently, not daring to scream again, but filled with the utmost horror atthe thought of the spider creeping over her.

'it was the spider!' she began. 'it...'

'gwendoline! what did i tell you! i will not hear another word of the wretched spider!' saidmiss potts, raising her voice angrily. 'go out of the room. the whole class can go to bed one hourearlier tonight as a punishment for this shameful behaviour, and you, gwendoline, can go two hoursearlier!'

weeping, gwendoline ran from the room. as soon as she got outside she examined herself carefullyand tremblingly to see if the spider was still anywhere about her. to her enormous relief she suddenlysaw it running down the passage.

she leant against the wall. how tiresome of that spider to come to her, when it might have gone toanyone else! now she had got to have double punishment. still, she would soon put it about thatalicia and darrell had planted the spider in mary-lou's desk! how sickening of miss potts to pounceon her like that. she couldn't help it if the spider came to her.

but perhaps after all it was a good thing that miss potts had come into the room and heard it all.

perhaps gwendoline might even drop a hint to miss potts about alicia and darrell putting the spiderin the desk.

miss potts came out of the room at this moment. sheeyed gwendoline with dislike.

'miss potts, the spider ran away down there,' said gwendoline, pointing, anxious to get back intomiss potts's good books.

miss potts took not the slightest notice but swept into the second-form classroom, and the door shut.

gwendoline felt very small. now what was she to do? stay out here—or go back into the classroom?'

she didn't want to be found out there if by any chance miss grayling, the head, came by. shedecided to risk going back. she opened the door and sidled in.

'ha! you are back again! and who told you to come?' demanded mam'zelle, now ashamed of her partin the affair, and ready to vent her humiliated feelings on anyone she could. "you screamed and mademiss potts white and angry!'

'well, mam'zelle, you screamed too,' protested gwendoline, in an injured tone. 'louder than 1 did, ishould think.'

mam'zelle rose in her seat, and for all her smallness she seemed enormous to gwendol ine j ust then.

her beady black eyes flashed.

'you would be rude to me, mam'zelle dupont! you would argue with me, who have taught here fortwenty years! you—you...'

gwendoline turned and fled. she would rather stand outside the door all day long than facemam'zelle when she looked like that!