'It is a very foolish thing to say,' remarked Mrs Macintyre—'so silly and impossible that if I were you, Leucha, I would not give it a second thought. The child must have said it in pure fun. You are doubtless alluding to Hollyhock, a splendid little girl.'

'Well,' said Leucha, tossing her head, 'I don't care for girls who tell untruths; and it is not only for that reason that I dislike her, it is also because she has been so terribly rude to my cousins the Frasers, and to my dear friend Daisy Watson. I can see that she intends to rule the school, or at least to take a very leading position in it. Now this I, for one, do not wish, and I do not intend to put up with it. I think that I, as Earl Crossways' daughter, and the Frasers, who are daughters of the Marquis of Killin'——

'And therefore Scots of the Scots,' interrupted Mrs Macintyre.

'Well, at least their mother is English of the English, and they have been brought up in English ways. They are my relatives, and I do not choose them to be treated rudely. There is also my very great friend Daisy Watson. We are most anxious, dear Mrs Macintyre, for you to allow us English girls, who at present are in a majority in the school, the entire use of the Summer Parlour, giving it out as your desire that no Scotch girl is to come into the parlour without our express permission.'

'I do not quite see how I can do that, Leucha. The Summer Parlour is for the use of all, and why should my Scots lassies be excluded? I am sure, notwithstanding your remarks, Leucha, the children you speak of are both good and well-bred.'

'That horrid creature they call Hollyhock isn't well-bred,' said Leucha.

'She is a magnificent child,' said Mrs Macintyre. 'You don't know her story or you wouldn't speak of her like that.'

'I don't want to hear her story,' said Barbara Fraser. 'I dislike her appearance too much.'

'Barbara, my dear, I am the last to encourage vanity, but Hollyhock is quite the handsomest girl in the school.'

'Oh, Mrs Macintyre, I do wish we had never come here!' said Leucha, who looked extremely mournful and inclined to cry. 'Of course, I suppose, mother must give you a term's notice, but there are really refined schools in England without wild Scotch girls in their midst.'

'You must not speak against Scotland to me,' said Mrs Macintyre. 'Remember it is my native land—the land of the heather, and the lochs, and the glorious mountains. It is the land of brave men and brave women, and I will not have it run down by any impudent English girl. I've got so many other English girls coming to the school that the loss of you four won't affect me much, Leucha Villiers.'

This was taking matters with a very high hand, and Leucha, who had no great moral strength, was thoroughly subdued.

'I didn't mean to be rude to you, of course, dear Mrs Macintyre,' she said, nudging her cousins as she spoke. 'I only said I did not like that black-eyed girl. She's frightfully wild and rude, and I'm accustomed to girls of a different type. Naturally indeed, being born as I am. However, I ask now for permission to use the Summer Parlour. Do you refuse it?'

'If you don't want it for hatching plots or anything of that kind,' said Mrs Macintyre, 'you English girls can have it till Saturday—no longer, remember; and as the weather is turning very cold, you must pay for your own fire, and, what's more, light it. For all my maids have plenty of work to do in the house. Now, then, are you satisfied? The Summer Parlour will be yours, beginning from to-day.'

'Thank you, Mrs Macintyre; we are quite satisfied,' said Leucha, who knew well how furious her mother would be were she removed from Ardshiel, which, as the former home of kings, was considered most distinguished.

The girls went off quite mildly and gently. The day was drawing toward evening. Their idea was to light a great fire in the Parlour, and then go into the house for tea; after which they would prepare their lessons, and then go back in a body to the Parlour to discuss the enormities of that wicked girl who called herself Hollyhock. But, alack and alas! the daughter of the Earl of Crossways and the daughters of the Marquis of Killin had never lit a fire in their lives, and did not know in the least how to set about it. They were not particularly strong girls, and did not wish to sit in the Summer Parlour hatching mischief against their schoolfellow without the comfort of a glowing fire.

'How queer and cross Mrs Mac. is!' said Leucha, turning to her companions as they rushed off to the Parlour, knowing that they would have at least half-an-hour in which to make it ready for their evening talk.

'No, no; she's all right,' said Barbara Fraser; 'and mother thinks the world of her. If we left, girls, I don't know what father and mother would say. They've always been wild to get us into a proper Scottish school.'

'How are we to light the fire?' whispered Leucha. 'Do you know how it's done, Dorothy?'

'Not I. Who 's that singing?'

There was a wonderfully sweet contralto voice sounding from the cosy depths of the Summer Parlour. The words the girl sang were as follows:

'The great Ardshiel, he gaed before, He gart the cannons and guns to roar.

'Whisper now, lassies. Do you not know that "the oak shall go over the myrtle yet"? We will settle some of the poor English girls yet. All the same, I like the really nice English girls ever so well. They are so bonnie and so gentle, like my own sweet sister Jasmine. Where could you see her like anywhere? And there is my own kinsman, the Duke of Ardshiel! Ah! but I love him well!'

The voice was undoubtedly the voice of Hollyhock, who, without rhyme or reason, had lit a great fire in the old grate, and was comfortably established there, with her four sisters and a number of Scots and English girls scattered round.

These young people were seated round the roaring fire, and Holly, with her black locks and great glowing black eyes, was the centre of an animated group. She was about to expand her views on the nice and not-nice English girls, when in rushed Leucha and her friends.

'You clear out of this,' she said.

'Clear?' said Hollyhock. 'What is clear?'

'There's the door,' said Leucha. 'Go!'

'Not I,' said Holly. 'I find this little chair very comfortable.'

She established herself with much grace and dignity, and the others clustered round her.

'You have got to go,' said Leucha, who was now in a towering passion. 'We have got Mrs Macintyre's permission to consecrate the Summer Parlour to the English girls until Saturday.'

'That seems a pity,' said Holly, 'for, you see, we must put out the fire. We built it, we lassies of Scotland, and we do not leave it except to those English girls who are on our side. I rather think you are up to a conspiracy, and you sha'n't hatch your plot by our fire.—Come, girls, she wants the Parlour and the fire, but she does not want us. So, quick is the word. Stir yourself, Delphy; stir yourself, Augusta; stir yourselves, all the rest. It is mighty damp outside, so the faggots can cool themselves there. My word! I do not think much of some English maids. They have no manners at all. And I telling such a fine tale about Ardshiel and his bonnie men. Well, the Camerons are down now, but they will soon be up again. "The Camerons are coming," say I. Never mind, girls; we 'll find another place for our wee conspiracy.'

In less than two minutes the fire no longer glowed and roared. The coal smouldered feebly under the grate; the faggots were put in the dripping rain, for the evening happened to be a wet one; and, in order to make all secure, Hollyhock poured a jug of water over the rapidly expiring fire.

'There they lie,' she cried; 'but if any of you wants a proper fire lit, not in anger, but in the spirit of love, I can and will undertake the job. Ay! not a word!—Come away, girls. I know a little hut where we can light a fire for our own conspiracy—a sort of a "cubby hole," but loved by poor ghostie, and fit for our work. Come at once, girls. Come at once.'



CHAPTER XIV.

THE FIRE THAT WILL NOT LIGHT.

The Lady Leucha Villiers and her cousins, the daughters of the Marquis of Killin, assisted by their chosen companions, tried in vain to relight the fire in the Summer Parlour; but, alas! although even the kitchen cat might have understood so simple a job, being at least acquainted with something of the system, it was quite outside the powers of these ladies of high degree.

Naughty Hollyhock's last effort before she left the Parlour had been to pour a small jug of water over the fast-expiring coals.

'I 'm thinking this will settle matters,' she said to her adoring companions. 'Let them try their hardest now if they like, but we 'll find our own cubby hole and light our fire somewhere else.'

No sooner said than done, for Hollyhock was an adept at small manual jobs. She had observed in her rambles over the Palace of the Kings a small neglected hut, said to be haunted by the ghost from the neighbouring loch. As Hollyhock had not a scrap of fear of the ghost, knowing only too well that he did not appear, and knowing also that she could use him as a valuable weapon, she entered the hut, sent Gentian flying for some fresh faggots, and with the aid of Margaret Drummond and her own sisters, Mary Barton, Nancy Greenfield, Isabella Macneale, and Jane Calvert, she soon had a glowing fire. They put by in one corner a pile of faggots to place on the fire when tea was over, after which they would have quite an hour to work out their conspiracy. At tea, which was served on long tables in a beautiful old room, Hollyhock looked more brilliant and more beautiful than ever. Leucha, on the contrary, had a pale face and seemed chilled to the bone.

'Did you leave your fire burning well, Leucha, my hearty?' inquired Hollyhock.

Leucha, of course, refused to reply. She sat looking down at her plate, hardly eating the good things before her, but making up her mind to punish that horrible Jack, even if she herself died in the effort.

'Couldn't you find a small hut by the burnside; couldn't you now?' continued Hollyhock in a coaxing tone. 'The Summer Parlour's grate is hard to light up—it has an artful way with it—but a small hut now, with you sitting by the fire, could be easily managed. I 'd bring you some faggots, if you said the word.'

'No, thank you. I don't choose you to help me in any way.'

'All right! I 'm not wanting to,' said Hollyhock. 'I'm very happy without you, my Lady Leucha.'

'Girls,' said one of the English mistresses, who felt quite certain there was mischief ahead, 'I think you ought to take your tea, and be quick about it. You will lose your recreation afterwards if you stop to wrangle.'

'What's wrangle, Miss Kent, dear?' asked Hollyhock in her sweetest tones. 'I like well to hear your pure English words. We Scots talk very differently, no doubt, but we are always willing to learn. So, please, what's wrangle? And will you pass me a fresh scone, Miss Kent, dear, for my appetite is far more than ordinary?'

'Vulgar little glutton,' muttered Leucha to Dorothy Fraser.

'She really is attractive, all the same,' answered Dorothy.

'Oh Dolly, you are not going round to her? That would be the final straw.'

'No, I 'm not, of course; but I can't help admiring her funny ways and her beautiful, noble sort of face.'

'Noble!' cried Lady Leucha.

'Yes, it is noble, although it is full of mischief too. You could have had her as a great friend, Leucha, and that girl is worth making a friend of. I never saw her like before. She really haunts me.'

'What haunts you, lassie?' cried Hollyhock. 'Is it my eyes so black, or my cheeks so rosy-red, or my hair so curly, and black as the blackest night? I 'm at your service. I'm willing to forgive and forget this blessed minute if you'll all hold out the paws of forgiveness.'

Both Dorothy and Barbara longed to do so, but Lady Leucha put the final extinguisher on their hopes by saying, 'No, never! Why, you are not even a lady!'

'Let's eat,' said Hollyhock. 'I waved the flag of peace, as the great Ardshiel did once; but never again—don't you fear, lassies. No lady, indeed! We 'll see who's the lady!'

In vain Miss Kent tried to stop the angry torrent of words, but this was the hour when the girls were allowed to talk freely. Mrs Macintyre was not present, and all eyes in the room were fixed with admiration on Hollyhock.

'First, we 'd like to know—just for a diversion—what makes a lady,' continued the obstreperous lass. ''Tisn't birth—my certie! no. It must be a sort of civilisation. It must be, to my way of thinking, a give and a take. It must belong to the sort of person who has the courage of her race, and will even wipe the hair of a ghost when he comes to you in his trouble. That's what I call a lady. Others may differ from me.'

'They do,' said Leucha. 'Liars are not ladies!'

'You 'd better not call me that.'

'But I do. You never wiped the hair of a ghost.'

'Let's drop the subject,' said Hollyhock. 'My sisters and I, and Mrs Constable, and my father, and my five cousins, the Precious Stones, have views that differ from yours entirely. I know your sort of lady. I have read of her in books, but I never came across her till I met you, Leucha.'

'I 'd thank you to call me Lady Leucha.'

'I won't, then. You are only Leucha to me in this school. I have described what I call a lady. She's bountiful to the poor, and kindness sits in her bonnie eyes, and love shimmers round her lips, and her heart—why, it's pure gold; and she's all-forgiving, and all for making up. There 's never a quarrel that a real lady would nurse; but mayhap there's a different sort in England. They walk what you might call mincingly, and they drop their words slow, and there's no flash in their eyes, and no courage in them, and no daring in them. No doubt they are very respectable, and they are very proud of their family. Then they make their little curtsy, when their education is quite finished, to the Sovereign on the throne; and they go to many a party, and they dress like all the other girls—no individuality anywhere. That would not be thought right for such an English lady. She marries when she can get a man to have her. Many a time he's as old as her father; but that doesn't count with her, she being what she is, looking out for respectability. Ah, well! I 'm all for the Scots lady. I don't care for grand parties or grand dresses; but I want my bit of adventure, and I'll have it, too. Good-bye, Leuchy. I think I have explained myself.—Come along, girls; we have our work cut out for us. It would not do for that poor Leuchy to be cold this night. She must have a living, warming thing to comfort her, poor Leuchy! Come along; there's no time to spare.'

The girls, headed by Hollyhock, left the room in a group, but for some reason Jasmine remained behind. She was very much distressed by her sister's manner of going on, and what followed would not have taken place had she gone to the ghost's hut and joined in the 'conspiracy;' but the other girls were now fairly mad with excitement, and Margaret Drummond, a Scots girl, was so much in love with Hollyhock that she would have done anything on earth for her.



'You are splendid, lassie!' she cried.

The fire was quite out in the Summer Parlour, but it glowed warmly in the ghost's hut.

'It's here I dry his hair, poor fellow,' said Hollyhock, who was now nearly beside herself with delight. 'Listen to me, girls. You are a goodly group, and true to the heart's core, true to the soul of the thing; but I 'm not going to be ruled over by Leuchy, though I don't mind Barbara, or Dorothy, or that weak little Daisy looking on. It's Leuchy who 'll get a fright this very night. Now, then, we haven't long to lose, for the hours for pure enjoyment are few in number. I am much deceived if we don't find many impediments in our path. Now, lassies, I 'll show you on the spot what we have got to do. One of us must go to The Garden, my home, to fetch wee Jean, the kitchen cat; and another has to beg, borrow, or steal a saucer of cream for the little beastie. That's about all. I 'll start off at once for the cat; and you, Gentian, had best get the cream. I have been looking round the house—don't I know every stone of it?—and you have got to get into the larder. You know your way to the larder, don't you, Gentian?'

'Yes,' said Gentian, who looked rather frightened.

'Well, never mind, my lass. You have got to do it, and one of these girls will help you. You were always nimble-witted, and you won't fail your own sister-born in a conspiracy so innocent and so amusing. While I 'm off alone for the cat, you other girls will find out the number of Leuchy's room, and have the nice rich cream ready for poor Jean. She can sleep with me afterwards. Well, then, off I go! Good-bye, lassies; good-bye! Oh, I can tell you bogy stories that 'll make your hair stand up straight; but this is the night for wee Jean.'

Hollyhock, her head in the air, rushed quickly down the avenue. There was plenty of time still, for the gates would not be locked before nine o'clock. She went out, therefore, boldly, and reached the dear old Garden. She wrapped her cloak well about her, so as to disguise herself as much as possible, and went straight to the kitchen regions, where the housekeeper, having very little to do now that all the girls were out and the master was dining with Lord Ian Douglas, was sound asleep by the kitchen fire.

On her lap reposed Jean, also in profound slumber. Hollyhock whisked her up in a hurry, petting and cuddling her all the time. A row of baskets hung just outside the kitchen door. Hollyhock chose one, placed a warm bit of felt at the bottom, put in a lump of butter for Jean to lick, fastened her down securely in the basket, and was off and away, back to Ardshiel.

By that time the other girls had fully carried out the commands of their liege lady. The cream had been secured by Gentian, who had scraped her shins a little in climbing in at the window. She had put the cream into a small jug, and had further procured a saucer.

'That'll do fine,' said Hollyhock. 'Poor Jean, poor beastie, we mustn't frighten her, or she 'll be off like a flash. Have you got the number of the English lady's room?'

Yes, Leucha Villiers's room had been discovered. Hollyhock went boldly upstairs. The little room looked most luxurious. There were eider-down quilts on every bed in the house, and a particularly pretty silk one was on the bed of Leucha. Under the eiderdown was a snowy light counterpane. The room had been already arranged for the night, and would not be touched again by any one. Although the weather was beginning to get cold, Mrs Macintyre did not consider it necessary to have fires in the bedrooms just yet; but wee Jean, cuddled up in Hollyhock's arms, purred into Hollyhock's face, and presently lay contentedly down just under the eider-down.

It did not take her long to fall into a deep sleep, and, this done, Hollyhock placed the saucer brimfull of cream also under the eider-down, but she slightly raised the latter by means of a little pile of Lady Leucha's favourite books. When the cat awoke she would drink her cream, and then sleep on until she was disturbed.

Hollyhock was rejoiced to find that Lady Leucha's room was close to her own; in fact, it was next door. She could, therefore, be on the qui vive, and meant to be.

The 'conspiracy' had begun, and she had no idea of shifting any blame from her own shoulders. She wished to punish Leucha, and punish her she would. Yes, the 'conspiracy' had begun.

She went softly downstairs, followed by a trail of tittering girls, who hardly knew how to restrain themselves.

'Whist, can't you? Whist!' said Hollyhock. 'Do you want to spoil the whole thing by unseemly mirth? Now, then, mum's the word. Wee Jeanie shall sleep in my room to-night; but I somehow fancy that I have shown Leuchy who means to be head of the school.'



CHAPTER XV.

CREAM.

The kitchen cat was a very gentle beastie, except in the matter of killing birds and mice. She had the usual fascination of her species where these small victims were concerned; and she enjoyed life in the way cats do, eating when hungry, and sleeping the rest of her days. She slept now with the greatest comfort under the silken eider-down quilt. She rejoiced in the welcome warmth and purred softly to herself, not even troubling to regard the saucer of cream until she had had her snooze. By-and-by she would attack her cream, being partial to that beverage; but for the present she would slumber on, a creature without care, without fear; a gentle, admirable kitchen cat. She brought up her families when they arrived with all a mother's rectitude and propriety, and when they were old enough to leave her, got rid of them as quickly as possible—which means that she took no further notice of them. She regarded them no longer as hers; they were cats, and she preferred them out of the way. At the present time she had just reared and got rid of a large family, and was in that luxurious state of bliss when the good things of life appealed to her. Her purring went on for some time, then ceased, being followed by deep slumber.

Meanwhile Hollyhock and her chosen companions were amusing themselves in various ways downstairs. Supper would be to the minute at a quarter to nine. Supper was a very simple meal, a stand-up affair, consisting in winter of hot bread-and-milk, in summer of cold milk and biscuits.

The Lady Leucha thought her supper a very poor affair, but she was too cold, after her vain attempts to light the fire in the Summer Parlour, to resist the steaming-hot, delicious milk. She took it standing up not far from Hollyhock. She resolved in her own mind to take no notice whatever of Hollyhock. Jacko was to the Lady Leucha as one who did not exist, but in her busy, vain little brain she was forming schemes for the undoing of this impertinent Scots lass.

Lady Leucha was not specially clever, but she was what might be called 'cute,' and although during her first week at school she had had no special desire to push herself forward in any way whatsoever, yet now that Hollyhock—or, rather, Jack—had come, she was fully determined to crush her, if not by guile, then by other means. She, a young lady of distinction, could not stand such impudence; she, the daughter of the Earl of Crossways, would not be bullied by a mere nobody like Jacko. But, unfortunately for herself, Leucha was not nearly so clever in forming plans for the destruction of her enemy as was the dark-eyed, flashing Hollyhock, who would dare and dare again until she showed by her ways and devices that she was invincible.

'Come, girls, it is time for you to take your supper and be off to bed,' said Miss Kent, who observed that Leucha was seated close to the fire in the great sitting-room, shivering not a little, and that Hollyhock, with glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes, had established herself at the far end of the large room, and was relating bogy tales with great rapidity to her ever-increasing host of adorers. One by one fresh girls crept up to join this group, and one by one, whatever their nationality, they were heartily welcomed by Hollyhock, who called out in her clear, sweet voice—for very clear and sweet it could be—'Lassies, make room for the stranger. Be you English or Scots, my lady dear, you are welcome to join my circle.'

Thus the circle began to grow very large, and the hushed, dramatic voice of the narrator caused her listeners to hold their breath, until occasionally they burst into fits of hearty laughter. But the hour had come. The bowls of bread-and-milk smoked on the sideboard, and all the girls hurried to begin and finish their food. After supper they went to say good-night to Mrs Macintyre, who prayed God to bless them and give them all 'a good and peaceful night.' Then, accompanied by Miss Kent, whose office it was to see them to their rooms, they went upstairs.

Leucha had slightly recovered her spirits, but not absolutely. As a matter of fact, she was wild with jealousy. She had sat by the fire with Dorothy and Barbara Fraser and Daisy Watson, but all the other girls had gone over to the large circle, where the voice was so mysterious and the eyes of the speaker so bright. In their heart of hearts, the daughters of the Marquis of Killin were keenly anxious to leave their dull friend Leucha, and join the merry, excited group at the other end of the room. This, however, they dared not do, for their mother would not have wished them to desert Leucha.

'Well, I'm glad this day is over,' exclaimed that young lady, as she reached her bedroom. 'I shall be glad to get between the sheets and forget that horrid, noisy Jack.'

'Ah, will you just?' thought Hollyhock, who overheard the word as she turned into her own snug apartment. Her heart was beating hard and fast. She was waiting for the denouement.

Lady Barbara and Lady Dorothy Fraser bade Leucha good-night, and went much farther along the corridor.

Leucha entered her room and turned on the light. The moment she did this she began to sniff. What queer noise was this in the room? Was there a clock anywhere, and had it gone wrong? She looked around her and sniffed again.

Hollyhock, prepared for all events, kept her door a little ajar, and wee Jean, being slightly, very slightly, disturbed by the noise in the room and the light which penetrated faintly under her eider-down quilt, purred in a louder and more satisfied manner than ever. She thought she might rise a trifle and begin to lap her cream.

'What can be the matter?' said Lady Leucha. This sharp and angry tone slightly startled the kitchen cat, who raised herself slowly, making a great heave as she did so of her own body and of the eiderdown. The cream was close to her. The cream was sweet and luscious; the cream would suit her to perfection.

Lap, lap, lap, went her little tongue. In a fury—a blind fury—Leucha rushed to her bed, tore aside the eider-down, and tried to catch the wicked cat in order to fling her out of the window; but Hollyhock stood in the room.

'Don't,' she said. 'Poor beastie! I put her there for fun—for a bit of a lark. I'll take her now. Don't you touch my cat, or I 'll be at you. I 'm sorry she has spilt the cream, but it hasn't had time to get through to the blankets.—Here, come along, my pretty dear; come, my angel Jean; you shall sleep along with your own mistress.—See, Leuchy, the cream hasn't had time to get to the blankets, and it hasn't touched the eider-down. I'll just whip off this white covering. Now you see for yourself that you mustn't meddle with me. Best not. I 'm all fire, I am; I 'm all glow, I am; I 'm all spirit, I am. There 's no harm done, but would you like to hold the little cat while I remove the sheet? Then you 'll be as tidy as possible, and you 'd best get to bed, Leuchy. I 'll undress you after I have settled my cat. Here, hold the small thing for a minute while I straighten things up.'

But Leucha, who at first was speechless with horror, now raised her voice to a mighty roar of indignation.

'How dare you? How dare you? You wicked, ugly little girl! I can't abide the sight of you! And to put a cat in my bed—a cat and cream, forsooth! You don't get out of this scrape so easily as you think, Miss Jack. I 'm going down this minute to speak to Mrs Macintyre.'

'All right,' said Holly. 'I think you might do worse. I was willing to be friends with you, but you wouldn't have it, so now I 'm t' other way round, and I 'm thinking that I 'll carry most of the lassies with me. But go, Leuchy. I meant to vex you, and I 'm not denying it. I would have been different, but your haughty spirit forbade it; so now I 'm your chosen enemy, and you 'll have to fight me along with those in the school who like me better than you.'

But Leucha's fury had risen to its height. She dashed up to Hollyhock and gave her a resounding smack on her right cheek. Hollyhock was holding the cat, who, in the struggle, gave Leucha a savage scratch on the hand, that lily-white hand of which she was so proud. It was a great scratch going right across the back of the hand. In a moment Leucha had fled from the room to seek Mrs Macintyre. Hollyhock flew into her own chamber, put wee Jean carefully and tenderly into the basket in which she had brought her from The Garden, stroked her for a minute to cause her to purr again, cut a hole or two in the lid of the basket to give the poor beast air, and then shoved cat and basket under her bed.

Instantly she returned to Leucha's room, took off the injured white covering, shoved it into the soiled clothes-basket, turned down the sheets, made the room look perfectly nice and tidy, removed the saucer, which she carried into her own room and hid, also under the bed.

She then sat and waited for events. They were not long in coming. Leucha's anger was something prodigious. She forgot all about the really frightful smack she had given Hollyhock on her rosy cheek. She thought of nothing but her own indignities—the indignities committed against an earl's daughter by a common Scots girl.

She found Mrs Macintyre in her study. The good lady looked up in amazement when the girl burst in.

'My dear Leucha, whatever is the matter? Why are you not in bed?'

'In bed, Mrs Macintyre! Is it likely that I should be in bed when a nasty, mean Scotch girl puts a horrid, common cat into it, and also a great saucer of cream, which the cat spilt, injuring my favourite edition of the works of Charles Dickens, which was given me by my father on my last birthday? Will you kindly, Mrs Macintyre, expel that girl in the morning?'

'Oh, my dear, I suppose you are alluding to Hollyhock?'

'I 'm not; I 'm alluding to ugly Jack Lennox, beneath me in station, beneath me in manners, beneath me in everything!'

'Well, as to that,' said Mrs Macintyre, 'I'm sorry you are annoyed, Leucha, but another girl would take the matter as a good joke, and win the friendship of Hollyhock by overlooking the whole affair.'

'I'm not that sort. I'm the daughter of the Earl of Crossways, and she—she is nothing but a mischievous cad. She 'll ruin your school, of course, Mrs Macintyre.'

'I don't think so, my dear. I'm delighted to have her. As she has annoyed you, and you wish it, I must punish her, of course; but whatever I do, I shall destroy neither her beauty nor her high rank.'

'Her high rank, forsooth! What next?'

'Yes; her father is the Honourable George Lennox, whose wife was a Cameron, a near relative of the Duke of Ardshiel. I don't think there is much difference between you in blood, Leucha, except the other way round. We think a great deal indeed of the Duke in our region.'

Leucha felt slightly stunned and more angry than ever. She knew well, too well, that the Earl of Crossways was only the second earl of his house, and that she had better not talk quite so loudly about her grand lineage.

'Do you wish me to punish Hollyhock?' said Mrs Macintyre, fixing her grave, gentle eyes on the angry girl's face.

'Yes, of course I do—of course I do. Look at my hand!'

'Oh, the poor cat has scratched it. I 'm sorry. I shall send Miss Kent to you presently with a little cold cream to rub on it. You had better keep it bandaged to-night, and it will be quite well to-morrow. You must have frightened the cat or she would not have treated you like that.'

Leucha said nothing. She did not mention the fact that she had smacked the cat's mistress.

'I wish that young person, whatever her rank, to be punished,' she said.

'Very well, my dear Leucha, come with me at once. I have now got to hear her side of the story.'

'But surely you believe me?'

'In a school like this, Leucha, I like to hear both sides. Whatever happens among my girls, I must be impartial. Now come, for it is getting late, and I myself must retire.'

They went first of all into Leucha's room, which looked perfectly snug and comfortable, all trace of the cat having been removed.

'I see nothing wrong here,' said Mrs Macintyre.

'She is too cute; she has hidden everything,' said Leucha.

'Well, we 'll go to her room. Her room is next to yours. I thought, being contrasts, you would be such friends.'

Leucha shrugged her shoulders contemptuously, then waited with a furiously beating heart while Mrs Macintyre knocked at Holly's door.

'May I come in, my dear child?' she said gently.

'Yes.' Hollyhock flew to the door and flung it open. 'Yes, please do, dear Mrs Macintyre. I know I am a bold, bad girl.—Come in, Leuchy; I don't mind you a bit.'

'But how swollen your cheek is, my child!' said the head-mistress.

'Oh, that's less than nothing. Poor little Jean is sleeping under my bed, and if we talk too loud we may disturb her. I did it for mischief. I 'm not going to deny it. I wanted to be friends with Leuchy, but she would not have it; so then the soul of mischief got into me, and I ran home to The Garden and fetched the cat, and put her into Leuchy's bed. Oh! I know it was wrong of me. I 'm a bad Scots lassie. But I love you, and I love the school, if only Leuchy there would be friendly.'

'Which I have no intention of being,' said Leucha. 'You see for yourself, Mrs Macintyre, she denies nothing. She ran away without leave to fetch that odious cat and put it in my bed.'

'How did her cheek get so swollen?' said Mrs Macintyre.

'Ah, well, we won't talk of that,' said Hollyhock. 'Girls that dare must also endure. I 'm sorry Leuchy was so vexed and wouldn't make it up.'

'You are going to punish her, Mrs Macintyre,' said Leucha, 'are you not?'

'Yes, Leucha; but I 'm going to punish you too.— Hollyhock, my darling, you did wrong, and this your first day at school, too. The punishment I am going to give you I 'm afraid you will feel. You may take the kitchen cat back yourself to The Garden in the morning. You had better start early, so as to be here again in time for breakfast, and then you can tell your father that you will not return with your sisters to The Garden on Saturday. I am sorry, my love; but order must be maintained in the school. As to Leucha here, the story of the cat will, I am sure, be known all over the school immediately; and Leucha, when she shows her wounded hand, will have to explain how she got it—by slapping you so violently on the cheek, thus rousing the temper of the faithful cat. I shall insist on her publicly telling what I know she did. Now, both girls, take your punishments like gentlewomen and don't make a fuss. Good-night, good-night! I 'll send Miss Kent to put a lotion on your cheek, Hollyhock, and to bind up your hand, Leucha. Good-night! After prayers to-morrow the story of the cat will be told, with, alas! Leucha's sad lack of forgiveness.'



CHAPTER XVI.

THE GIRL WITH THE WAYWARD HEART.

Hollyhock was a child who, with all her wildness, her insubordination, her many faults, bore no malice. She did not know the meaning of malice. The open look on her bonnie face alone proclaimed this fact. She was really sorry for Leucha, and did not give her own swollen cheek a serious thought. Of course it pained her, for Leucha had very hard, bony little hands, and she struck, in her fury, with great violence. But Hollyhock, as she termed it, would be but a poor thing if she couldn't bear a scrap of pain. Nothing would induce her to grumble, and although she bitterly regretted the punishment which lay before her of not going home on Saturday, she would take it, as she expressed it, 'like a woman of sense.'

Accordingly she got up early on the following morning, released poor Jean, and carried her back to The Garden. There she put her into the astonished arms of the old housekeeper, who said, 'Whatever ails ye, lassie; and where did you find the cat?'

'Here she is, and don't ask me any questions about her. Here she is, safe and sound. She has been feeding on the richest cream, and if you put her cosy by the fire, she 'll sleep off the effects. Is my Daddy Dumps in, Mrs Duncan?'

'Yes, my lassie; he 's at his breakfast.'

'Well, I'm glad of that,' said Hollyhock. 'I have got to speak to him for a minute, but I won't keep him long.'

'Richt ye are, my dear; but whatever swelled your bonnie cheek like that?'

'Well,' said Hollyhock, 'it wasn't me, and it wasn't the cat; so don't ask questions, for they won't be answered. I can't stop here. I must go at once to Daddy Dumps. I have been a bad, wicked girl, and my swollen cheek has been sent to me as a punishment.'

'Whoever dare'—— began the old retainer, who in her heart of hearts adored Hollyhock as the most precious of all the Garden Flowers. But Hollyhock had left her.

The cat was already asleep in her basket by the fire. George Lennox was enjoying his excellent breakfast, and was busily planning out his day. Lord Ian's work was remarkably heavy, and he missed his dear Flowers. He was startled, therefore, when Hollyhock dashed into the room.

'Daddy Dumps,' she exclaimed, 'do not be frightened now, and don't pass remarks on my swollen cheek. It was sent me as a punishment, and I 'm not going to say to any one how I got it; but I 've come here, my own Dumpy Dad, to tell you, darling, that your Hollyhock will not return on Saturday with the four other Flower Girls. It's right, and I 'm content. Good-bye, daddy; good-bye. I 'm struggling at that school, and in a fight you often get a scar. When didn't the Camerons get a scar, and weren't they proud of it, the bonnie men?'

Before Mr Lennox could utter a word Hollyhock had rushed out of the room, scarcely daring to speak any further or even to kiss her father, for, with all her bravery, tears were very near her black eyes.

She reached the big school in time for breakfast, where her swollen cheek caused her adorers to look at her with amazed distress and compassion, and Leucha and Daisy Watson to chuckle inwardly, whereas the Fraser girls were as sorry for Hollyhock as they could be.

Prayers followed breakfast; and then Leucha, by Mrs Macintyre's command, had to discharge her painful task. She loathed the thing unspeakably; but Mrs Macintyre had no idea of letting her off.

'Come, Leucha,' she said, 'you have got something to say to your companions. You are wearing a rag on your hand. Take it off.'

'It hurts,' said Leucha, meaning her hand, for she clung to the rag as a sort of flag of protection.

'Take the rag off, and we 'll see for ourselves how much it hurts,' said Mrs Macintyre.

The girls and teachers all stood wondering by. The only one who felt sorry was Hollyhock. The rag was removed, and Mrs Macintyre, gazing keenly at the scratch, said in a disdainful voice, 'I never heard such a fuss about nothing at all. Now, then, you will have the goodness to tell the school in as few words as possible how you got that scratch on your hand, and how Hollyhock got her poor face so swollen.'

'It was the cat,' muttered Leucha.

'The cat! What cat?' echoed from end to end of the long room.

'Leucha, hold your head up and tell your story. If you don't tell it at once, without any more shirking, I shall have you locked up for the day in your room.'

So Leucha, dreading this beyond anything—for a day in her room at the present moment might mean anything—was forced to tell the story of the previous night's adventure. She did tell it with all the venom of which she was capable. She told it with her pale-blue eyes gleaming spitefully. She was forced to go to the very bottom of the affair.

'It was a silly trick, girls,' said Mrs Macintyre when the tale had come to an end, 'and Hollyhock suffered, because the daughter of the Earl of Crossways very nearly broke her jaw. Well, I 'm here to do my duty. Leucha has had to explain. Another girl would have taken what occurred simply as a joke and made nothing of it; but I grieve to say that such is not Leucha Villiers's way; and as Hollyhock did do wrong, and as Leucha particularly wishes it, I am forced to punish her by not allowing her to go home on Saturday. It seems a pity; but justice is justice, and Hollyhock is the first to think that herself.'

'I am,' replied Hollyhock.

'That's a dear child; and now you will try not to get into further mischief.'

But to this speech of kind Mrs Macintyre's Hollyhock made no answer, for mischief was the breath of life to her, and to live without it was practically to live without air, without food, without consolation. She looked round the large and wondering school, and observed that all eyes, with the exception of one pair, were fixed on her with great compassion.

'Hollyhock,' said Mrs Macintyre, 'is your cheek very painful?'

'It hurts a bit,' said Hollyhock.

'Then I think I must ask Dr Maguire to call round and look at it.'

'Oh, don't, Mrs Macintyre! I deserved it—I did, truly.'

But Mrs Macintyre had her way, and although she set the other girls to their tasks, she provided Hollyhock with an amusing book, and placed her near a great fire until Dr Maguire arrived and examined the much-swollen cheek.

'Why, you have got a nasty blow, Miss Hollyhock,' he said. 'Did you strike yourself against a tree, or something of that sort?'

'No; 'tis nothing,' replied Hollyhock.

'Well, however it happened is your secret; but I can only say that your jaw was very nearly broken. It isn't broken, however, and I 'll get a soothing liniment, which you are to keep on constantly during the day. I suppose I mustn't inquire how this occurred?'

'Best not,' said Mrs Macintyre; 'only get the dear child well.'

'I won't be long over that job, with one like Miss Hollyhock.'

So Hollyhock was petted very much all day; excused, by the doctor's express orders, from all lessons; and sat cosily by the fire, enjoying her new and very exciting story. By evening, however, the swelling had gone down a great deal, and her mischievous spirit awoke again. The girls, even the daughters of the Marquis of Killin, were positively furious with Leucha, and more than ever took the part of the brilliant, fascinating child, who had already won their hearts.

It was the final straw to Lady Leucha when Barbara and Dorothy Fraser declared boldly that they could not stand such a cruel fuss about nothing.

'If I were to tell our father, the Marquis, I really do not know what he 'd say,' remarked Lady Dorothy.

'Almost to break a girl's jaw just for a mere joke,' added Lady Barbara. 'Well, we intend to be friends with Hollyhock, whether you wish it or not, Leucha.'

So Lady Leucha felt herself to be the most desolate girl in the whole school, the one person who clung to her side being little Daisy Watson, whom she did not like and only put up with.

The next morning Hollyhock was as well as ever, and told her sisters that if Leuchy would make up with her, she was willing to extend the hand of forgiveness.

'You really are noble in your own funny way, Hollyhock,' said Jasmine. She repeated Hollyhock's words to Leucha, taking care to do so when a number of the girls were present. But Lady Leucha, whatever she was, was obstinate. On her father's side she was well-born; but her mother was a cross-grained lady, extremely ambitious and proud of nothing at all, and Lady Leucha took after her mother. She wondered if it was possible for her to get out of this odious school.

She turned her white face, with her small, pale eyes, and fixed them on Jasmine. 'I presume your silly sister wants an answer.'

'She 's not silly,' replied Jasmine; 'but she would like an answer.'

'Well, tell her from me that as far as the North Pole is from the South, so am I from her, and ever will be. There now, what do you think of that? I don't care who hears me. I 'm accustomed to ladies, not to common little Scotch girls who tell lies.'

Jasmine was too gentle, too firm, too really noble to make any response; but as she went out of the room she was followed by a crowd of girls, a few of whom turned round and hissed at Leucha. The hisses were very soft, but, at the same time, very distinct; and this was the final straw in the wretched girl's misery.

As to Hollyhock, she was, greatly owing to Leucha's conduct, now the ruling spirit in the school, not by any means as regards lessons, but as regards what schoolgirls treasure so much, popularity and good-fellowship. Even Barbara and Dorothy Fraser went boldly to her side, and congratulated her on her self-restraint, and even apologised for their cousin's unseemly conduct.

Hollyhock's fine eyes lit up with a great glow. 'I do not care,' she said. 'Poor lassie! I pity her; I do, truly!'

'You are a wonderful girl, Hollyhock,' said Dorothy; 'and may my sister and I join your circle to-night? And will you tell us some bogy tales?'

'I will that,' said Hollyhock.

'And here's a hand, my trusty frien's, And gie's a hand o' thine.'

She sang the words, and they were taken up immediately by every girl in the school, with the exception of Leucha and the miserable, depressed Daisy. But Hollyhock knew that she had her punishment to undergo. Was not her own mother a Cameron of the great race, and would she disgrace herself by crying out and making a fuss? 'The de'il is in me all the same,' she whispered under her breath; 'but he 'll not show his little horns until the Flower Girls are back at The Garden.'

She was a passionate little poet, and she now sang softly under her breath:

The height of my disdain shall be To laugh at him, to blush for thee; To love thee still, but go no more A-begging at a beggar's door.'

Then she burst forth in her really glorious voice with such fervour that every girl within reach heard her:

The meteor flag of England Shall yet terrific burn, Till danger's troubled night depart, And the star of peace return. Then, then, ye ocean-warriors! Our song and feast shall flow To the fame of your name, When the storm has ceased to blow, When the fiery fight is heard no more, And the storm has ceased to blow!'

In spite of every effort, Hollyhock could not help putting a touch of her beloved Scots accent into the great and glorious words of Thomas Campbell.

'Hollyhock, you 'll promise not to do any mischief while we are away?' said Jasmine in her most coaxing voice when the hour for departure had arrived. She hated beyond words leaving her sister at this crisis.

'Ah, well,' replied Hollyhock, 'I'll make no promises. I 'll tell no stories, and if things happen, why, then, I am not to blame.'

'Oh, Holly darling, you frighten me!'

'Don't be frightened, Jasmine; I 'm learning to be such a good little girl.'

There was no help for it. The four Flower Girls departed, leaving the fifth, and the naughty one, behind.

Now it was as impossible for Hollyhock to keep out of mischief as it was for the kitchen cat at The Garden to refuse to drink cream, but Hollyhock meant at the same time to go warily to work. Some more fresh girls were coming on this special Saturday, which made it all the easier for her to carry out her little plan. The Fraser girls were now devoted to her, but her slave—the one who would do anything on earth for her—was Margaret Drummond.

Hollyhock arranged, therefore, that Margaret should be her accomplice on the present occasion. Her tales of bogies and ghosties—all of them with a slight soupcon of truth in them—had excited the wonder and fearful admiration of the schoolgirls, and when she suggested, as she did suggest, that 'poor little Leuchy might wipe the ghostie's hair for her,' there was a perfect chorus of delighted applause.

'But he won't come; he won't dare to come,' said Margaret Drummond.

'Meg, hist, dear; let's whisper. Keep it to yourself. There's no ghost; only they think, poor things, that there is, and that I dry his dripping locks. Well, I want you to impersonate the ghost to-night. I 'll dress you up, and you shall cross the path of Leuchy. Why, she'll turn deadly white when she sees you at it.'

'But, oh! I 'm frightened. I 'll get into trouble,' said Margaret.

'And you won't do that for me? I thought for sure you loved me.'

'I'd give my life for you,' said Margaret; 'but this is different.'

'It's easy to talk about giving the life, for that's not asked; but what I want is the love, and the proof of the love is that you shall dress as poor ghostie, and beg in a mighty mournful voice of Leuchy to dry your dripping hair. I have got an old cloak and a peaked hat that belonged to my grandmother's family, and I 'll alter your face a wee bit, and nobody'll recognise you like that. Now come, Meg, you won't refuse? I 'd do it myself, and do it well; only I might be discovered, but you wouldn't. Who'll think of Meg Drummond turning into the ghost? You must clasp your skeleton hands and say very mournfully, "Dry my locks, sweet maid of England!" That's all. She'll be sure to go out into the grounds, and the rest of us will be close by, ready to catch her up if she swoons; and she 'll never guess to her dying day but that she has seen a ghost.'

The plot was prepared with immense care. It was the most tremendously exciting thing that the girls had ever heard of, and even the Frasers were drawn in, more particularly as the worst it could possibly do was to give that naughty, proud Leucha a fright. They were very sick of their cousin, and very angry with her; and it was finally decided that the girl who was to come to her rescue in the moment of her terrible extremity was to be Hollyhock herself. The others were all to fly out of sight. Hollyhock was to desire ghostie to go, and was to support Leucha into the house. After that—well, no one quite knew what would come!



CHAPTER XVII.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.

There was suppressed excitement in the school, that sort which cannot be described, but which most assuredly must be felt. Mrs Macintyre put it down to the advent of the fifteen girls who had just arrived from Edinburgh.

Leucha stirred herself and made a vain endeavour to become friends with them; but they were Scots to the backbone, and went over instantly in a body to Hollyhock's circle. This was so immense now that it actually comprised the entire school, except the poor miserable Daisy and the naughty Leucha, whose anger against Hollyhock, combined with a kind of undefined admiration, which she would not for the life of her admit, grew fiercer and stronger hour by hour. It was like a great flame burning in her breast. She would do for Hollyhock yet, but how and in what fashion?

Hollyhock, meanwhile, collected her forces round her. The days were getting very short. The nights were long and cold. Winter was on the English girls—a Scottish winter, which caused them to shiver, notwithstanding their comforts. Leucha was, however, far too proud to confess that she did not like the weather. She spoke of the school in tones of rapture to the new girls, who barely looked at her and scarcely listened. Then they wont, some of them silently, some of them with a rush, to Hollyhock.

Leucha forced herself to praise the place, and nudged Daisy to do likewise; but her praise was feigned, and the Scots girls did not pay this uninteresting Leucha much attention. The fact that she had now been a fortnight at the school did not affect them at all. The further fact that she was the daughter of the Earl of Crossways had not the least influence on them. They were jolly, merry, everyday sort of girls; there was nothing specially remarkable about them, but as they themselves said, 'Did not they belong to Old Scotia, and was not that fact sufficient for any lassie?' Hollyhock entertained them in her swift, bright way. She was not specially impressed by them, but they were Scots of the Scots, as she was herself.

So Leucha and the miserable Daisy spent their time alone, Leucha arguing and wrangling with Daisy, and saying to her once or twice, 'What earthly good are you, Daisy Watson? Can you not think of any plan by which to defeat that mischievous Scotch brat?'

'I know of nothing,' replied Daisy. 'How can two English girls fight against sixty and more? It isn't to be done, Leucha dear.'

'It shall be done; it must be done!' retorted Leucha.

'Well, I can't see my way,' replied Daisy. 'The best plan of all would be for you to sink your silly pride, Leucha, and to join the others.'

'And have her queen it over me,' said Leucha.

'Well, I don't see how you can help it,' answered Daisy. 'She does queen it over you, for it isn't only the Scots girls who turn to her, but the English and the French. I don't see for myself what possible hope you have. Never yet since the world was made could two overcome sixty-eight. And, for that matter,' continued Daisy, 'I 'm feeling so dull that although I am fond of you, Leucha, I really am strongly tempted to join that merry group, who are always singing and laughing and making the hours go by on wings. It is very dull indeed for me to have no one but you to talk to, and you grumbling all the time.'

'Oh, I saw it would come to this,' said Leucha, rising in her rage. 'My last friend—my very last! I 'll write to mother and get her to remove me from this school.'

'Oh, I won't desert you, Leucha; only I do wish you were a little more cheerful, and that we might join the others in their sport. You made such a fuss just on the day Hollyhock came'——

'Don't mention her name; she makes me shudder!'

'Well, I needn't; but you made such a fuss about securing the Summer Parlour, and having a fire there, and concocting plans, and having a lot of the girls with you—a great deal more than half the school; but you never go near the Summer Parlour, and after to-night you won't have any further right to it. Do come out, Leucha dear, and make another effort to build up the fire. If the girls see us with a glowing fire, a good many of them will come in for certain sure. I have been asking the servants on the quiet how the thing is done, and it really seems to be quite easy. You collect faggots, which I know I can get for you, and small bits of coal; and I tell you what—whisper, Leucha—I have been saving up a few candle-ends, and they are grand for making a fire burn. Let's come along and try.'

'No lady ought to know how to light a fire,' said Lady Leucha.

'Oh, nonsense,' replied Daisy. 'It is a very good thing to learn; and, anyhow, you needn't spoil your dainty fingers if I undertake the job. Nothing will collect the girls round us—the English girls, I mean—like seeing us seated by the glowing fire.'

'Well, anything is better than this,' said Leucha. 'And if you have really collected the candle-ends and the faggots and the morsels of coal, why, perhaps we 'll succeed.'

'Yes, yes, of course we'll succeed,' said Daisy. 'What in the world is there to hinder us? We have got our wits, I presume; and when we sit in the Summer Parlour with a great blazing fire lighting up the place, I shouldn't be a scrap surprised if Mary Barton, Agnes Featherstonhaugh, and others joined us.'

'I wouldn't have those Frasers now if they went on their bended knees,' remarked Leucha; 'but if you will light the fire, Daisy, I don't mind sitting by and watching you. I really, as the daughter of the Earl of Crossways, cannot undertake so dirty a task.'

'All right,' replied Daisy, 'if you do think so—and I'm quite as good as you, remember—I 'll do my best. I 'll just run along now to the Summer Parlour and see that the materials for lighting the fire are there, Then I 'll come back and fetch you.'

'Yes,' replied Leucha; 'I may as well see you at the job. You are certain sure to fail, but conceit will have its way.'

'Dear, dear,' thought Daisy Watson, 'what a very unpleasant girl Leucha is becoming! I 'd leave her this blessed minute and go over to Hollyhock, only perhaps Lady Crossways might be angry. Leucha gets more like her mother each day—a kind of sneering look about her face, which really gives her a most disagreeable expression. But friendship is friendship, and I won't forsake her if I can help it.'

So Daisy flew to the Summer Parlour, which was just perceptible in the twilight. No place could look more cold and comfortless; but Daisy was so madly anxious to do something that she set about her task with a will. She had secretly purloined some faggots, bits of coal, and candle-ends; but she had quite forgotten to ascertain whether the faggots were dry or not; and she was equally ignorant of the fact that as a rule even dry faggots require a small supply of paper to enable them to 'catch' and attack the nice little black lumps of coal, which, with the aid of the candle-ends, might yield a glowing, gleaming, beautiful fire. She had made friends with one of the servants, and had therefore an idea how to lay her fire. She had also secured a candle, one solitary whole candle, which she placed in a brass candlestick.

To all appearance everything was now ready. She felt certain that her fire could not fail, and went back in high spirits to Leucha.

'Come,' she said, 'come. I 'm ready to set fire to the pile.'

A good many girls saw these two go out. They had wrapped themselves up in warm cloaks, which were quite suited to the frosty weather.

Leucha shivered as she walked in the direction of the Summer Parlour. The new girls were now busily engaged at a private and luxurious tea with Mrs Macintyre, which was the invariable tribute paid to each new pupil. They were, therefore, out of the way.

'The hour strikes,' said Hollyhock. 'Come along, Meg.'

Meg shrank and shivered. 'Oh, but, Holly, I'd much rather not.'

'It is too late to change now, dear Meg. You must just think of the ghost, and the ghost only. Come at once to the ghostie's hut, and I 'll dress you up.— Lassies, the rest of you had best keep out of sight, although you are welcome to linger in the shrubbery to see the fun. But now listen. When I give the words, "Go, ghostie! Run, ghostie, run! I cannot dry your wet hair this night, for I have a lassie lying in a swoon across my arms," then you must scatter, scatter with all the speed you have in you, or the sport will be spoiled.'

So, while Leucha and Daisy were struggling in vain with the fire in the Summer Parlour, which flared up occasionally with a woeful gleam, and then expired, and while Leucha felt crosser and crosser each moment, and the night fell over the land, in the ghost's hut Margaret Drummond was being dressed up to impersonate the hapless youth who had suffered death by drowning on the night before his wedding.

Hollyhock was in the wildest excitement as she arranged Margaret Drummond for her part. Margaret was fortunately extremely tall and thin. Her hands were made to represent those of a skeleton by means of a quantity of white chalk and black charcoal. Her face was likewise covered with this ghastly mixture. She was then wrapped from head to foot in an old Cameron cloak, which Hollyhock had secured from The Garden during the week. On her head she wore an old-fashioned peaked hat and a wig with long, dripping locks. Her own hair had been tied tightly out of sight.

'You are wonderful,' sighed Hollyhock. 'There isn't a boy in the land that could beat you. Now, then, stay where you are until I come to fetch you. Then, when I say, "Fly, ghostie! away, ghostie!" you can go back to the hut and take off the disguise which turns you into so fearsome an object. I have brought a jug of hot water, and here is a basin, and you can wash your face and hands. Leuchy will certainly not recognise you. And now I must be off, for the conspiracy—the best of all—has begun.'

Hollyhock, beside herself with mirth, had, however, not forgotten to give the poor ghostie an old-fashioned lantern, which she was to hold in such a position as to show off her skeleton hands and ghastly face. This was left lighted in the hut. There was little time to lose, for soon the girls would be expected to return to the house for their excellent Saturday supper, a special treat which was given to all those girls who could not go home.

Hollyhock rushed up to the Summer Parlour. The night was clear and cold, but there was not a breath of wind blowing. All in vain the two girls were bending over the fire, which refused to catch. Heaps of girls were peeping in and watching the efforts of the two who were trying to light the fire.

'I never did such dirty work in my life before,' said Lady Leucha. 'Come back to the house, Daisy. I shall be sick if I sit and shiver here any longer.'

'There 's one more bit of candle,' replied Daisy. 'Perhaps that will do the job. I never heard of a fire being so difficult to set glowing.'

'And I never heard of a girl being so vain and silly,' remarked Leucha.

Hollyhock whispered to her companions, who immediately dispersed into different parts of the grounds. The night was perfect for her purpose. She felt half-mad with delight. She was only sorry for Daisy, who meant no harm, but was in leading-strings to that proud Lady Leucha. Leucha deserved her fate richly. Daisy did not.

Hollyhock whispered certain directions to her followers to try to get Daisy out of the way. This they promised, feeling quite sure that they could easily manage it.

Just as Daisy's last morsel of candle expired a voice sounded from afar: 'Daisy Watson, you are wanted in the house. Go in as fast as you can!'

Two or three girls boldly entered the Summer Parlour, clasped Daisy by both arms, and dragged her toward the house. Leucha was now alone. She was wild with rage at this final desertion.

Wrapping her cloak round her, she prepared to step out of the Parlour. The Scots, the English, and the French girls all hid behind trees. Hollyhock was near, but not too near. Leucha wrapped her cloak tightly round her. It was cold! She would be glad to get in out of the bitter air. She made up her mind to write that very night to her mother to remove her at any cost from this horrible school; but although she made up her mind, she knew quite well that the said mother would pay no attention to her. Was it not the aim of her life to have her only girl educated in the Palace of the Kings? And she was the last person to be influenced by mere girlish sadness and loneliness.

All these thoughts flashed through Leucha's mind as she stepped into the still, frosty night. She went a few yards; then she stood motionless, transfixed, turned for the time being into stone. What—what was this horror coming to meet her? A tall figure with skeleton hands and face, wearing a very mournful expression in the eyes—a figure that walked slowly, solemnly, such as she had certainly never seen before. She felt herself alone and a long way from home, for the Summer Parlour was quite a distance from the house. The figure held a lantern in its skeleton hands, which was so cleverly arranged that it lit up the worn features and revealed the dripping locks.

'Dry my hair, my wet hair!' cried the ghost in a deep sepulchral voice. 'Kind English maid, be so kind as to dry my hair!'

Leucha gave vent to an irrepressible shriek of horror. She had always hitherto laughed at the bare idea of the ghost; but now most truly she believed it. The ghost—the ghost in very truth—was there. He was facing her; he stood before her; he stood in her very path. How mournful, how horrible, was his voice! How more than fearful was his appearance! Her blood ran cold; her hair seemed to stand upright on her head. Indescribable was her horror.

'Go, ghostie!' suddenly cried a familiar voice, 'You have no right to torment an English maid. I 'll come out presently and dry your locks; but be off with you now, be off! Get away, or I'll never dry your dripping locks again!'

The ghost gave a hollow moan. There was the sound of many feet running in different directions, and Leucha would certainly have fainted had not Hollyhock put her firm young arm round her.

Oh, how she hated Hollyhock! And yet how she loved her at that moment! The warm feeling of human flesh and blood was delicious. Lady Leucha clung to Hollyhock and laid her head on her shoulder.

'Come, girlie; come,' said Hollyhock in her most seductive tones. 'My Lord Alasdair had no right to ask you to dry his locks. Lean on me, lassie; lean on me. You did get an awful shock.'

'Oh, oh,' sobbed Leucha, 'then I did see a ghost!'

'You saw what you saw. Come along home now. I 'll see to you.'

'You are—Hollyhock,' said Leucha.

'Yes; and whyever not?'

'Then there is a ghost, and you are going to dry his hair! How can you—how can you?'

'Poor ghost! I must do my little bit to comfort him,' said Hollyhock. 'Eh, but you are a real brave lass, that you are, Leuchy, my pet. Now lean on me, and I 'll bring you in to the cosy house, and the warm fire, and the good supper. There's no malice in Hollyhock. She's only a bit wild. Oh, but won't I give it to that ghost; he had no right to ask those services of an English girl!'

Firmer and firmer did Hollyhock support her trembling companion, and the girl who hated her, but who clung to her so tightly at that moment, entered the house with Hollyhock's arms about her.

There were a number of girls in the great hall—the most magnificent hall in the country.

'Poor thing!' said Hollyhock, 'the ghostie walks this night, and I must run to dry his wet locks; but get something hot for Leuchy to drink, and comfort her all you can, lassies. A Scots ghost—my word! he had no right to beg for the services of a maid from England. I of Caledonia will go out and dry his wet locks!'



CHAPTER XVIII.

LEUCHA'S TERROR.

While Leucha was undergoing her heavy punishment, and while the supposed ghostie was walking in the grounds of the Palace of the Kings, a very different group had assembled at the dear old Garden. Mrs Constable's school, her Annex, was filling fast with the bonniest boys that England and Scotland could produce.

Mr Lennox kept a holiday for the great occasion, and on Saturday night there were high jinks at The Garden. The only one of that happy party who felt, in spite of herself, a little anxious, a little nervous, was Jasmine, for she could not help being concerned about the defiant expression in the bright eyes of Hollyhock. She thought of Holly notwithstanding all the fun and the merriment, but the delight of talking again to her dear brother-cousin Jasper dispelled her fears. She had little time for serious thought. This was surely a right good day, and she was soon enjoying it as fully as the rest. Of course, Mrs Constable brought her strange laddies with her, as well as her own dear boys, and many and gay were the songs they sang and the games they played. Two of the songs they sang were the following, from the beloved lips of Robert Burns:

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae fareweel, and then for ever! Deep in heart-wrung tears I 'll pledge thee, Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

Had we never loved sae kindly! Had we never loved sae blindly! Never met—or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest! Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest! Thine be ilka joy and treasure, Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure.

This pathetic song was immediately followed by the well-known strains of 'Bonie Lesley:'

O saw ye bonie Lesley, As she gaed o'er the Border! She's gane, like Alexander, To spread her conquests farther!

To see her is to love her, And love but her for ever; For Nature made her what she is, And never made anither!

Return again, fair Lesley, Return to Caledonie! That we may brag we hae a lass There's nane again sae bonie!

'Come, children,' said Mrs Constable, 'we 'll not have any more Scots songs at present. Some of us are not Scots, remember. I now propose a really good game of charades. Who is agreed?'

All went well, and better than well, and even Jasmine forgot her undefined fears, until a little past ten o'clock, when a wild-looking, half-scared girl rushed in and said, 'Oh, the poor thing—the poor thing—and I meant no harm—I did not, really!'

'What is the matter?' said Mr Lennox.

'I am called Margaret Drummond, and there's such an awful to-do at the Palace of the Kings that I 'm afraid to go back there!'

'But what have you to do with it? What can be wrong?' said Lennox.

'Oh, I had a great deal to do with it; but, please, I 'd rather not say, for the one I speak of bade me not to say. Oh, but there is a fuss! It's poor Leucha. She's screaming and crying, and nothing will help her. The doctor has been there, but he can't quiet her a bit. She clings to Hollyhock and says, "Save me from the ghost; save me from the ghost!" And the doctor says that if she is not quieted, she may get really bad before the morning.'

'Father,' said Jasmine suddenly, 'I know Margaret Drummond well, and she's a fine girl; and if you'll allow me, I 'll go straight back with her to the Palace of the Kings.'

'But why should you, my love? Our Hollyhock has had nothing to do with this!'

'Nothing; less than nothing,' muttered Margaret Drummond.

'She could not have had, for this girl, Leucha, or some such name, is clinging to her. But still, if you wish to go, Jasmine, and think that you can do any good, start away at once, my lass. You can come back to-morrow morning.'

So Jasmine went with Margaret, who looked really sick with terror, and clung to her companion as Leucha had clung to Hollyhock.

'There now, there now, we'll soon put things right,' said Jasmine. 'It's an awful pity that you don't tell the truth, Meg!'

'I do tell the truth—I do. I cannot go back on my word.'

'Well, then, you must leave the matter to me. The only thing I can do is to soothe Leucha as best I can; while you must walk boldly into the house. It's your bed-hour and past it, isn't it?'

'Yes, yes; but I have no heart to eat or to sleep.'

'Well, you go straight up to your room, Meg, and get into bed as fast as you can, and I 'll bring you up something. If you have sworn secrecy you must keep it; but whatever happens, don't be frightened. Leucha is very weak of nerve, and has been feeling our desertion most cruelly, I 'm thinking.'

'Not a bit of it,' said Meg. 'She's a perfectly horrid girl. Even Daisy has left her now!'

'Dear, dear, poor thing!' said Jasmine. 'Then she must be lonely!'

'She is, I have no doubt; but she has got our Hollyhock with her now.'

'That is altogether too remarkable,' said Jasmine. 'I fear I shall have to look into the mystery. But get you to bed, Meg. Don't appear at all. I 'll see that some supper reaches you soon. In the meantime I must attend to Leuchy and her new nurse, Hollyhock! My word! Hollyhock turned into a nurse!'

Accordingly, the two girls entered the great hall, which was empty except for one or two teachers, who were still sitting up with anxious expressions on their faces.

Meg took the opportunity to fly to her room, where presently a great bowl of Scots gruel was brought to her. She had long ere now carefully removed the last traces of the ghostie. There was no sign of the ghost about this commonplace girl any longer. She was glad to get her gruel, and tumbled into bed, trusting that Jasmine, who was so wise and clever, would put wrong right. But, alas for Margaret Drummond! wrong is seldom put right in this world of ours without pain, and although she slept soundly that night, her task of confession lay before her on the following morning.

Jasmine, entering the house, went boldly up to her sister's room, which she found empty. She then, without knocking, opened the door of Leucha's bedroom. Leucha was supported in bed by Hollyhock, who was feeding her with morsels of choice and nourishing food, and was talking to her in the gentlest and most soothing way.

'Who is that?' said Leucha in an angry tone.

Hollyhock looked annoyed for a moment, but then the irrepressible fun in her nature sparkled in her bold, black eyes. She sat in such a position that the pale-eyed Leucha was resting against her shoulder. Her soft hands were gently soothing Leucha's long, thin hair, and she kept on saying, 'Whist, lassie; whist! He did a daring thing, but he 'll never do it again to you, my bonnie bit of London town.'

'Are you sure, Hollyhock? Are you certain he won't come back?'

'Haven't I dried his hair and sent him to his rest in the bottom of the lake, and didn't I tell him not to dare to speak to a lady again who was not Scottish born and bred? He was frightened, was the poor ghost, and he went away so humble. He would not go without my drying his hair. No, no, you have nothing to fear!'

'Oh Hollyhock, I hated you so much; but I love you now. I do really. Couldn't you sleep in the bed with me?'

'To be sure, my lassie; and whyever not? You got a nasty stroke of a fright; but he 'll come no more. I wish with all my heart I could put a bit of flesh on his skeleton hands and skeleton face. I do pity him so much, so lonesome he is and so sad. But he won't trouble you any more, my little lass, and I 'll sleep beside you this night.'

'Who is that coming into the room?' said Leucha, as Jasmine appeared on the scene.

'I've heard a great talk about a ghost,' said Jasmine.

'Well,' cried Hollyhock, 'we had better drop the subject. The poor thing is so frightened, she doesn't know what she's doing. I feel, somehow, my whole heart drawn out to her. Leave her to me, for goodness' sake, Jasmine. I'm just quieting her off. She's too excited to talk about the ghost any more to-night.'

'I 've seen the ghost—the real ghost,' said Leucha, looking with hollow eyes at Jasmine. 'He does walk, and he's very tall, and has skeleton hands and a skeleton face; and he asked me—me—to dry his wet hair!'

'Oh, do leave us alone now!' said Hollyhock. 'Am I not trying to quieten her down, and you disturb everything?'

'I must speak to you, Hollyhock; I really must.'

'No, no; you mustn't leave me for a minute!' cried Leucha. 'You are the only one with courage in the school. I 'd go mad if you were to leave me now.'

'I'll talk to you in the morning,' said Hollyhock. 'I cannot leave her; see for yourself how excited she is.'

Jasmine certainly saw that Leucha was terribly excited, that she had got a fearful shock; and although she could put Leucha's mind at rest, on the other hand, Hollyhock, for the time, had won her round. Hollyhock, the soul of mischief, whom Leucha had so openly defied, was now her one support, her sole comfort. Jasmine made up her mind with some reluctance to let the matter lie over until the morning; then, of course, it must be told, and by Hollyhock herself. She felt sorry; for this mischievous little sister had won the coldest heart of the coldest girl in the school, and if justice was not done, she would cling to Hollyhock for ever. Was it necessary that justice should be done?

Jasmine went slowly away to her own room, determined to think matters over very gravely, wondering if she would do a wise thing, after all, in declaring Hollyhock's guilt.

'What a girlie she is!' thought the sister. 'There never was her equal. She really has achieved a marvellous victory; but, oh, it was naughty; it was wrong! I do wonder what I ought to do!'



CHAPTER XIX.

JASMINE'S RESOLVE.

The whole circumstances of the case kept Jasmine wide awake during the greater part of the night. She slept and woke again, and each time she slept she saw a picture of her naughty sister Hollyhock and of that unpleasant girl, Leucha Villiers, clinging together as though they were, and always would be, the very greatest of friends.

Now Leucha, in her way, was quite as troublesome an inmate of the school as was Hollyhock; but whereas Hollyhock was the life and darling of the school, Leucha, the uninteresting, the lonely, the proud, the defiant, the cold, cold English girl, chose to be alone with the single exception of a friend, who was as uninteresting as herself.

Hollyhock, in the most extraordinary—yes, there is no doubt of it—in the most naughty way, had brought Leucha round to her side. But if Leucha were told the truth that a hoax had been played upon her, that there was no real ghost, then indeed her wrath would burn fiercely; and, in fact, to put it briefly, there would start in the school a profound feud. Several of the girls, more especially the English girls, would go over to Leucha's side. Yes, without the slightest doubt, a great deal of mischief would be done if she were told. Poor little Jasmine had never before been confronted by so great a problem. Hitherto in her sweet, pure life right had been right and wrong wrong; but now what was right?—what was wrong?

She turned restlessly and feverishly on her pillow, and got up very early in the morning, hoping to have a quiet talk first with Hollyhock, then with Margaret Drummond. She was not particularly concerned about Margaret, who naturally followed the lead of a strong character like Hollyhock's. Nevertheless, she had left her the night before in such stress of mind that whatever happened, whatever course they pursued, she must be soothed and comforted.

Jasmine was relieved to find Hollyhock standing outside Leucha's door. Hollyhock looked quite wild and anxious.

'Oh, but it's I that have had an awful night, Jasmine!' she exclaimed. 'She has gone off into a sleep now, poor thing; but I never, never did think that she would take this matter so to heart. We mustn't tell her, Jasmine. It would kill her if she knew.'

'But, Holly, you really are incorrigible. How am I to go on in the school if you play these terrible pranks?'

'It's the mischief in me joined to a bit o' the de'il,' retorted Hollyhock. 'But she must never know—never. I have been up with her the whole night, and she has just dropped off into slumber. I must go back to her immediately. You won't tell, Jasmine darling? It would do her a cruel wrong. I have brought her round to me at last, the poor, ugly thing; but if she was to learn—to learn! Oh Jasmine, it would be just too awful!'

'Well,' said Jasmine, 'I do not see how we are to keep it from her; but you have certainly won her in a most remarkable way. You must promise me, Holly darling, that you 'll never play such a wicked prank again.'

'Never—never to her, poor Leuchy! I can make no further promises, being chock-full of mischief as an egg is full of meat.'

'Well, I 'll allow it to remain as it is at present. I doubt if I 'm doing right; and I doubt if it can be kept from her, for so many girls in the school know.'

'Oh, I 'll manage the girls. You leave them to me, Jasmine, and go back to The Garden.'

'It father knew what you had done he would not allow you back to The Garden until the end of term,' replied Jasmine.

'What! when I have won the bit speck of a heart of the coldest girl in the school?'

'Well, at any rate, we will let things be at present; but I must go up and speak to Margaret Drummond. She is fretting like anything about the whole affair.'

'Meg,' said Hollyhock in a tone of contempt—'let her fret; only tell her from me to keep her tongue from wagging. Why, she was cut out for a ghostie, so thin and tall she is. I had only to use a wee bit of chalk and a trifle of charcoal, and the deed was done. A more beautiful live ghost could not be seen than Meg Drummond. She did look a fearsome thing. I have put the old cloak and the Cameron's cocked hat in a wee oak trunk in the ghost's hut. Here is the key of the trunk, Jasmine. You run along and lock it. Now run, run, for I hear Leucha twisting and turning in her sleep. I must get back to her. You manage Meg, and lock the trunk, and we are all right—that we are.'

Jasmine felt, on the contrary, that they were all wrong; but, overcome by Hollyhock's superior strength, she obeyed her young, wild sister to the letter. She found, however, that her task with Meg Drummond was no easy one. Meg had a very sensitive conscience, and now that the fun was over, and she was no longer acting as poor ghost with his dripping locks, she felt truly horrified at what she had done. The only road to peace was by confession. Of course she would confess and put things all right; there was nothing else to be done. Nevertheless, after a vast amount of arguing on the part of Jasmine, who assured her that if she told the simple truth now, Leucha might and probably would become most alarmingly ill, and that she would certainly hate poor Hollyhock to her dying day—for Jasmine well grasped the true character of the English girl—Meg began to waver.

'Still, I ought to confess,' said Margaret Drummond. 'I 'm willing to accept any punishment Mrs Macintyre chooses to put upon me.'

'Oh, dear Meg,' exclaimed Jasmine, 'I've been thinking the matter over all night—backwards and forwards have I been twisting it in my mind—and though I do think you did wrong, and Holly did worse than wrong, yet she has achieved a wonderful victory. She has secured for herself the passionate love of the coldest and most uninteresting girl in the school.'

'I do not care for that,' said Margaret. 'She's just nothing at all to me; and I did wrong, and I ought to confess, for the good of my soul.'

'Oh, nonsense, Meg; don't be such a little Puritan. Leucha is far from well now, and the only person who can calm and control her is Holly. If you take Holly away from her, which you will do by confession, you may possibly have to answer for Leucha's very life. Be sensible, Meg dear, and wait at any rate until I come back on Monday morning.'

'I 'll wait till then,' said Meg; 'but it's a mighty heavy burden, and Holly had no right to put it on to me, and then to act the part of comforter herself. My word! she is a queer lassie.'

'Well, let things bide as they are till to-morrow at least,' said Jasmine. 'And now I must go home or father will wonder what is the matter.'

Jasmine, having made up her mind that Leucha was not to be told, went with her usual Scots determination to work. She visited poor ghostie's trunk in the hut, and having secured from her favourite Magsie a large sheet of brown paper and some string, she not only locked the trunk, but took away all signs of the adventure of the night before. The bits of chalk, the sticks of black charcoal, the cloak, the pointed hat, the wig, were all removed. The hut looked as neglected as ever, and the trunk, empty of all tell-tale contents, had its key hung on a little hook on the wall.

Then Jasmine returned to The Garden, bearing ghostie's belongings with her. All this happened at so early an hour that Jasmine had time to put away the cloak of the Camerons, the peaked hat, the wet wig, into a certain cupboard where they were usually kept in one of the attics. She then went downstairs, had a hot bath, put on her prettiest Sunday frock, and joined the others at breakfast. Of course, there were innumerable questions asked her with regard to her sudden departure the night before, and also with regard to the distracted-looking girl who had burst into their midst in the great hall in The Garden. But Jasmine, having made up her mind, made it up thoroughly.

'I did not expect it of a Scots girl,' she remarked, 'but I 'm thinking that all is right now, and we can enjoy our Sabbath rest without let or hindrance.'

Sunday was a day when Cecilia Constable and her brother brought up their children with a strictness unknown in England. Games and fairy tales were forbidden; but when kirk was over, they were all allowed to enjoy themselves in pleasant and friendly intercourse.

Meanwhile matters were not going well at the Palace of the Kings; for Leucha, never strong mentally, had got so serious a fright that she was now highly feverish, and neither the doctor nor Mrs Macintyre could make out what was the matter with her. The girls were requested to walk softly and whisper low. The house, by Dr Maguire's order, was kept very still, and Hollyhock took possession of the sickroom. There she nursed Leucha as only she could, soothing her, petting her, holding her hand, and acting, according to Dr Maguire, in the most marvellous manner.

'Never did I see such a lassie,' was his remark. 'She has the gift of the real nurse in her.—But, Miss Hollyhock,' he continued, 'you must not be tied to this sickroom all day. I must 'phone to Edinburgh and get a nurse to attend to the young lady.'

'I 'll have no one but Hollyhock,' almost shrieked the distracted Leucha.

'Yes, doctor dear, I think you had best leave her to me. I 'm not a bit tired, and we understand one another.'

'I do believe this poor child has been up with her all night,' said Mrs Macintyre.

'And what if I have?' cried Holly. 'Is a friend worth anything it she can't give up her night's rest? I 'll stay with my friend. We understand one another.'

So Hollyhock had her way; and although the girls whispered mysteriously downstairs, and Meg Drummond looked ghastly and miserable, neither Mrs Macintyre nor any of the teachers had the slightest suspicion of what had really occurred.

Daisy Watson, it is true, ventured to peep into Leucha's room; but the excited girl told her, with a wild shriek, to go away and never come near her again, and Hollyhock and Magsie managed Leucha between them.

Hollyhock was now the soul of calm. She coaxed the sick girl to sleep, and when she awoke she told her funny stories, which made her laugh; and she herself sat during the greater part of that day with her hand locked in the hot hand of Leucha. It was she who applied the soothing eau de Cologne and water to Leucha's brow. It was she who swore to Leucha that their friendship was to be henceforth great and eternal. On one of these occasions, when Hollyhock had to go downstairs to one of her meals, Leucha welcomed her back with beaming eyes.

'Oh Hollyhock, I used to hate you!'

'Don't trouble, lassie. You have taken another twist round the other way, I 'm thinking.'

'I have—I have. Oh Hollyhock, there never was anybody like you in the world!'

'I 'm bad enough when I like,' said Holly. 'Shall I sing you a bit of a tune now? Would that comfort you?'