CHAPTER XII
The New Teacher
It was very naughty of the girls thus to take advantage of poor MissWebb, who was doing her utmost, according to her lights, to fill the gapoccasioned by Miss Bardsley's enforced absence. She had no natural gifteither for imparting knowledge or for keeping control over unruly wills,and had, indeed, quite mistaken her vocation. Teaching was to her, not apleasure, but a weary grind to which she must continually brace hernerves; she could not help showing how distasteful it was, and her lackof enthusiasm was reflected in her pupils. Her classes were chaotic. Thegirls whispered, laughed, and played tricks upon one another withimpunity; her faint remonstrances had not the slightest effect, and themore nervous she grew, the more out of hand they became.
Ursula Bramley, who prided herself on her wit, would delight in askingquestions calculated to expose the mistress's ignorance, or to trip herup in some obscure branch of knowledge. She would come into school wellprimed with educational posers, and keenly enjoyed Miss Webb'sdiscomfiture. She would meet all the unfortunate governess's attempts atevasion with firm determination, nailing her to the point until poorMiss Webb seemed more in the position of a candidate undergoingexamination than a teacher conducting her own class.
"Baiting the cobweb," as Ursula called it, was the grand amusement ofthe Form, and it was very seldom that the victim emerged triumphant fromthe ordeal. Schoolgirls are thoughtless creatures, often very heartless,and it never struck the Form what pain they were inflicting upon a proudand sensitive lady, whose misfortunes obliged her to gain her living atan uncongenial occupation. To them she was simply a tiresome old bore,an object of mirth or contempt; and the agony that she endured inprivate did not enter into their calculations.
Mabel alone took no part in this unseemly state of disorder. Soon afterthe advent of Miss Webb she had developed a slight attack of influenza,and was laid up in the "hospital", a large room at the top of the housereserved for purposes of isolation. She was not seriously ill, but MissDrummond was so afraid of infection being spread through the school thatshe kept Mabel away from the others for a longer period than was reallynecessary.
The latter certainly would not have countenanced any rudeness ordiscourtesy in class, but, her good influence being removed, Aldred wasonly too ready to follow the example of the others, and, as a cheap andready means to win popularity, became one of the ring-leaders in thedaily mutiny, vying with Ursula as to which could be the more clever attheir teacher's expense. All kinds of petty annoyances were resorted to.If Miss Webb wished to write on the blackboard, the chalk would bemissing, or the duster mislaid. The desk lids were banged, booksdropped feet scraped noisily, or the door was slammed on purpose. Thegirls would wilfully misunderstand the plainest directions, makeridiculous mistakes in their essays or exercises, and altogether try howfar they could put the patience and good temper of the long-sufferingmistress to the test.
One morning Miss Webb, in a feeble effort towards reform, announced thatshe intended next day to give the Form a viva voce examination upon thework taken since her arrival, and that she would submit the results toMiss Drummond.
This was a blow, for the girls had learnt their lessons so badly latelythat not one of them was prepared, and they knew that the low standardof their marks would mean trouble with the head mistress.
"It's absurd to give us an exam, when it's not even the middle of theterm!" exclaimed Dora, in much indignation.
"And a viva voce, too! We always have written ones at Birkwood," saidAgnes, "with properly typed questions."
"Suppose none of us pass? Miss Drummond will be absolutely savage!" saidPhoebe uneasily.
"Yes; she was not at all pleased with our reports last week," agreedLorna.
"She asked how it was I had so many mistakes in my German exercises, andwhy my problems were all wrong."
"And she looked at the writing in my book, and said it was a scribble,"added Myfanwy.
"What are we going to take for the viva voce?" asked Aldred.
"Everything. It's to be from nine to eleven--a regular catechism inRoman history, and physical geography, and English literature, withgrammar and parsing thrown in."
"Miss Webb said she would even ask us French verbs, and weights andmeasures," wailed Dora. "I know I shall fail! I'm no good at viva voces.I can remember the past preterite of _s'en aller_, or how many squareyards there are in a square pole, when I'm writing an exercise, or doinga sum; but I never can think quickly enough when I'm asked point-blank.It all goes straight out of my head, and it's just coming back to me bythe time the next girl is answering."
"Viva voces really are not fair," grumbled Myfanwy. "The nervous onesalways do badly, however much they know."
"And when you don't know, it's still worse!" continued Lorna. "MissBardsley never gives them, at any rate, and that's quite sufficientreason why Miss Webb shouldn't."
"I call it quite impertinent for a temporary teacher to make such aninnovation!" said Ursula loftily.
"Especially when Miss Bardsley is a B.A., and Miss Webb hasn't been tocollege."
"Yes. She has no business to alter any of our Form arrangements. We toldher what we were accustomed to do, and she ought to stick to that,instead of introducing her own ways."
However much the girls might murmur in private, they could not openlyrebel, or refuse to submit to the examination. It never struck any ofthem to take their books and set to work during recreation time, to tryto make up arrears. They much preferred to grumble, and bewail theirhard luck.
"I hope she'll begin with literature and physical geography," saidPhoebe. "I can manage fairly well with those, because it's easy enoughto give examples of a dactyl and hexameters, or to describe a volcano;but when it comes to Roman chronology, I shall be done for! I can'tremember the dates in the least, or the right order of the battles, orthe names of the generals."
"We must try to spin out the first part," suggested Aldred. "We'llanswer as slowly as we possibly can, and then there won't be so muchtime left for the Roman history. We can't go on again after eleven,because of the singing class and science."
"That's a good idea! Will everyone please remember not to hurry? Iwonder if I could manage to drawl like Lorna?" chuckled Phoebe. "Shealways takes twice as long as anyone else to bring out her remarks!"
"I don't!" protested Lorna.
"Yes, you do. You needn't be so indignant; it's an accomplishment thatwe're all envying just at present, and longing to acquire!"
Preparation that evening, which ought to have been devoted to a steadyrecapitulation of forgotten dates and events, was conducted with thehalf-heartedness into which, under Miss Webb's slack rule, the attentionof the class had unfortunately degenerated. The girls learnt with oneeye on their books and the other on their neighbours; they made signs,talked on their fingers, and passed notes under the desks. Occasionally,when matters were really too bad to be ignored, Miss Webb would pluckup courage to venture a remonstrance, when there would be a briefinterval of work; but within five minutes Aldred would be drawingcaricatures on the fly-leaf of her grammar, Ursula uttering a vamped-upsneeze, and Dora signalling to Myfanwy behind Agnes's back. It was afarce of study, and at the end of two hours nobody had really made anyheadway or gained any fresh items of knowledge to use in the forthcomingordeal.
Miss Webb gave a sigh of relief when the clock struck and her unpleasanttask was over, and the girls popped their books untidily into theirdesks, and bolted from the room with a noise and hustling at the doorsuch as they would not have dared to indulge in if Miss Bardsley hadbeen there.
Next morning at nine o'clock the examination began. All took theirseats, not at their own desks, but on a couple of forms placed in frontof the blackboard, an arrangement insisted upon by Miss Webb, andcarried out rather sulkily by the girls, who objected to be so directlyunder the teacher's eye. For once, Miss Webb really managed to enforceher authority. She separated Dora and Phoebe, the worst whisperers,peremptorily ordered Aldred not to loll, and told Ursula,
who made anattempt at "baiting", to confine herself to answering questions, insteadof asking them.
"Anyone who does not behave properly will take a forfeit, and thismorning I shall subtract the forfeits from the general totals of theexamination," she announced, looking quite stern and determined.
Rather impressed by this unexpected burst of spirit on her part, thegirls sat up straight, and gave their minds to the subject in hand. Itwas certainly very necessary for them to concentrate their attention,for both facts and figures proved coy, and apt to refuse to come at thecall of memory. Miss Webb was methodical: she held the register in herhand, and recorded every girl's answer immediately it was given,entering it as right or wrong. The roll that resulted was hardly one ofhonour. Nobody covered herself with credit, or made even a tolerableshow of information. Often a question would pass round the whole Form,and the number of misses to each name began greatly to outbalance themarks. The girls looked solemn. It was one thing to neglect Miss Webb'slessons, but quite another affair to have their deficiencies thusrelentlessly written down and submitted to Miss Drummond, who would besure to institute a close enquiry into the reason for such a universalfailure. Everything seemed to go wrong, even English literature, uponwhich Phoebe had counted. Instead of taking examples of metre, MissWebb asked for the chronological lives of authors, and lists of theirworks; or for the plots and principal characters of Shakespeare's plays.Physical geography fared no better, for she demanded an exact definitionof terms, and very precise explanations of various phenomena, and wouldtake no half-replies. She had evidently prepared carefully for theexamination, and (when she was not continually interrupted by irrelevantquestions) had a far better grasp of her subjects than her pupils hadsupposed.
The time dragged on slowly. No morning had ever seemed so long, in theopinion of the girls. The weary rounds of literature and physicalgeography were succeeded by English grammar, with a discomfitinginterval of French verbs. Aldred, surreptitiously consulting her watch,found it was just after half-past ten. Nearly half an hour, therefore,must elapse before lunch, and Miss Webb was already opening the Romanhistory primer. A look of horror passed along the Form. If their othersubjects had been weak, this was decidedly weaker. Not one couldremember a quarter of what she had learned. They had hoped that, as thissubject was the last on the list, it would have been left so late thatonly a few pages could be covered; they certainly had not calculated onspending twenty-five minutes at it.
"I shall miss every turn!" thought Aldred. "It's dreadful! I've done sofearfully badly already. I believe I've only got about thirty per cent.,and this will put me lower still. Miss Drummond never passes anyone onless than half marks. What can we do?"
She caught her breath, for an idea had suddenly flashed into hermind--an idea so daring, although so feasible, that its boldness almostfrightened her. The small clock on the chimney-piece was not going, andMiss Webb generally kept time by the striking of the great clock thatstood on the landing outside. If this clock could be put forward, theForm might be dismissed almost at once, instead of enduring thepurgatory of any more horrible questions. Of course, there would be thedanger of discovery, and consequently of getting into a serious scrape,but Aldred decided that something must be risked. A cold from which shewas suffering gave her the necessary excuse.
"Please, Miss Webb, may I go for a clean pocket-handkerchief?" sheasked.
Miss Bardsley would not have allowed any girl to leave the room duringan examination, but her substitute was more lenient.
"You must be very quick, then, Aldred," she replied. "If you lose yourturn I shall count it as a miss."
Aldred was up and out of the door in a minute. Once on the landing sheglanced cautiously round, to make certain that nobody was in sight;then, boldly opening the glass front of the clock, she moved the handstill they pointed to three minutes to eleven. She returned to her place,ostentatiously displaying the clean handkerchief, just as the Form werewrestling with the Punic Wars, and by a lucky chance got the date of thebattle of Cannae, which was the only one she knew.
"What was the policy of Rome after this defeat?" asked Miss Webb.
Lorna could not remember, and the question passed on to Phoebe, whomade a bad shot and answered wrong. Dora, Agnes and Myfanwy missedentirely, and Miss Webb was in the act of turning to Aldred, when theclock outside began to chime.
The teacher looked surprised, and glanced at her watch.
"I must surely be late!" she remarked. "I make it only twenty minutes toeleven."
"The landing clock is always right," volunteered Ursula, who, beingdoubtful herself as to the policy of Rome in that particular emergency,was as relieved as Aldred.
Miss Webb did not dispute the matter, but closed her book. Perhaps shealso was not sorry to find it was lunch-time sooner than she hadexpected. The girls did not need telling to go; they rose in a body, andfled downstairs in hot haste.
"It isn't really eleven yet!" panted Aldred, when they had reached thecomparative safety of the hall. "Oh, don't make such a noise! MissDrummond will hear us, and come out and send us back. Let us rushoutside, into the carving-shed!"
"We knew it wasn't!" exclaimed Dora. "We all had our watches. How cleverof you to put on the clock! I guessed in a second what you'd done."
"I wonder how soon Miss Webb will find out the mistake?" said Myfanwy."The bell hasn't rung yet; she didn't think of that!"
"Well, I never was so glad to finish any exam in my life," avowedPhoebe. "Wasn't it detestable?"
"As bad as the Inquisition. It was a regular torture chamber. Myunfortunate brains have been on the rack for two hours."
"Not quite two hours!" chuckled Aldred.
"No, thanks to you! but for an hour and forty minutes, at any rate."
"We must all have failed hopelessly; not a single one of us can possiblyhave scraped through."
"Yes; but it would have been worse still if we had gone on missing forother twenty minutes."
"Rather! Miss Drummond will be quite cross enough as it is, when shelooks at the register."
The girls judged it discreet not to go indoors too soon for lunch,waiting until the pantry was likely to be full, lest their earlyappearance might excite comment.
Singing was from ten minutes past eleven to twelve, and after that camescience, with Miss Drummond, until one, both classes being held in thelecture-hall, so that there was no further lesson with Miss Webb thatmorning. A hockey match was played in the afternoon, which caused suchexcitement that the affair of the clock was forgotten for the timebeing; but it returned only too forcibly to the girls' minds, as theywalked in to evening preparation. Would Miss Webb have found out thetrick played upon her? And what steps would she take? They could notsuppose that she would submit tamely, and ignore the whole circumstance.The most poor-spirited governess expects to keep her pupils in theirclassroom during school hours, even though she may not be able toexercise control over them while they are there. Would she show herselfto be angry? or, worse still, would she report the matter to MissDrummond? If so, trouble was in store for them.
Miss Webb, to their surprise, did neither. Her line of conduct wastotally unexpected. She announced, quite calmly and briefly:
"I find that a mistake was made this morning in the time, and that youlost twenty minutes of your examination. By noting your marks during theten minutes we spent on Roman history, I have been able to calculate thegeneral average that you would have received during the entirehalf-hour, and, as a result, I have added one right answer and eightmisses to each of your names on the register, and ten extra misses toAldred Laurence, in lieu of forfeits."
The girls groaned inwardly, but they knew they were checkmated. If theydared to remonstrate, Miss Webb would probably expose the entire episodeto Miss Drummond, so they wisely said nothing.
They certainly well deserved all they had received, particularly Aldred,who for once had been a little too clever. Her additional bad marksplaced her at the bottom of the list, a position she had never occupiedsince
she entered the school. She was very irate in consequence.
"I detest Miss Webb!" she declared. "It was a disgustingly mean way ofher to take revenge on us. How could she tell I had altered the clock?"
"Any idiot could have guessed that!" returned Dora. "It was perfectlysimple to put two and two together; we all knew."
"Well, I think it was nasty of her, all the same, and I mean to pay herout."
"If you can."
"Oh, I'll manage it somehow!"
"Better not boast too soon."
"All right! Just wait and see!"
It was perfectly unreasonable of Aldred to feel aggrieved because MissWebb had asserted her authority; but she chose to consider that she hadbeen unfairly treated, and that she was justified in nursing her wrath.She cast about for some means of turning the tables and annoying themistress, but it was rather difficult to hit upon anything safe; she hadno wish to get herself into serious trouble, and knew that any opendefiance would be reported at head-quarters.
"It must be something she can't fix specially upon me," reflectedAldred; "something that any of us might have done. The whole classdislikes her, so I shall really be acting champion for the rest; only,I think I won't tell them anything about it beforehand; it shall come asa surprise."
After serious cogitation, she decided to chalk Miss Webb's chair, sothat her black dress should show a white impression of the cane seat andback.
"She won't know," thought the girl, "and of course we shall none of ustell her, and she'll be going about the school looking such a guy!She'll wonder why everybody is smiling."
By nine o'clock next morning Aldred had her unpleasant surprise alreadyprepared. She had managed to slip into the classroom before breakfast,and to chalk the chair thoroughly; and she now sat in her place,laughing in anticipation. Miss Webb was punctual. She entered in herusual rather flurried, undignified manner, and was about to close thedoor after her, when she suddenly opened it wide again to admit--MissDrummond and Mabel! This was a totally unlooked-for event. Aldred hadnot known that Mabel was returning to class that day, as it had beenreported that she was to remain in hospital for the rest of the week;and she certainly did not expect the head mistress. Mabel walked quietlyto her own desk, and Miss Drummond (alas for Aldred!) sank straight downon the chair that Miss Webb at once politely offered her.
"I have come this morning, girls, to say a few words to you," began thePrincipal. "I have examined your marks for the last three weeks, andalso the list of the viva voce examination that you had yesterday. Iwish to tell you that I am extremely dissatisfied. I have never seensuch a low average from the Fourth Form, and I am sure that you arenone of you doing your best. I cannot possibly allow such a state ofaffairs to continue; it is a disgrace to the school! I am greatlydisappointed, as I had hoped for better things from you. It has been avery hard task for Miss Webb, who kindly came to help us in anemergency, to take up another teacher's work at so short a notice, and Ibelieved that you would have realized her difficulties, and have made aneffort to help her in every way in your power. Instead of this, youappear to have taken advantage of Miss Bardsley's absence to neglectyour work. As I cannot trust you to do your preparation adequately andthoroughly in your own classroom, I am going to make a new arrangement,and you will bring your books each evening into the lecture-hall, andsit with the Sixth Form, when I can myself see that you are not wastingyour time. I have also asked Miss Webb to bring me the register at theend of each morning. I shall check your marks, and any girl who, as Iconsider, has fallen below her usual standard, will stay indoors duringthe afternoon, to learn the lessons in which she has failed."
If Miss Drummond looked grave, the Form looked utterly crestfallen andashamed. The girls sat perfectly still, gazing at their desks, fornobody dared to meet the Principal's eyes. As for Aldred, she was filledwith blank dismay. It was bad enough to be scolded for ill-preparedwork, but what was going to happen when Miss Drummond got up from herchair? That she hardly dared to guess, and she would have giveneverything she possessed if she could have recalled her silly act. Shewas kept for some time in suspense, as the head mistress called fortheir exercise-books, and insisted upon examining them all minutely,and asking various searching and awkward questions as to the reason forso many mistakes and misspelt words, and such bad writing. The FourthForm had never endured such an unpleasant quarter of an hour, andAldred, between her present discomfiture and her apprehension of whatwas to come, felt as if she were passing out of the frying-pan into thefire.
The dreadful moment arrived at last. Miss Drummond handed theexercise-books back to the monitress, and rose up. Aldred's trick hadanswered only too well: the pattern of the cane seat was imprinted mostplainly upon the head mistress's handsome dress. As she turned for aninstant to consult the time-table, everybody noticed it, and a universalgasp of horror passed round the room. Miss Webb blushed hotly, andhesitated as if in doubt what to do; then, apparently plucking up hercourage, she nervously informed the unconscious Principal of the stateof affairs. Miss Drummond looked keenly first at the chair and then atthe girls.
"Who is responsible for this?" she asked, in a constrained voice.
There was no reply.
"I will give whoever has done it one more chance to confess."
Still Aldred held her peace.
"Very well! I am exceedingly sorry for the girl who is wilfullyconcealing this; her own conscience will tell her how mean anddespicable is her conduct. I consider this an act of such sillychildishness and utter folly that in itself it is hardly worthy of mynotice; the worst fault by far is the moral cowardice of the girl whohas not the courage to own up, and offer an apology. It adds, I amsorry to say, to the bad opinion of the class that I have already beenobliged to form. No, thank you, Miss Webb, there is no need to fetch aclothes-brush; I will ask one of the servants to attend to my dress, andto bring a wet cloth to wipe the chair before you use it yourself."
Aldred managed to avoid the other girls both at lunch-time and atafternoon recreation, making Mabel's return an excuse for devotingherself exclusively to her friend. She was most anxious not to bequestioned on the subject of the chair. She was afraid she might besuspected of having played the trick, and did not see how she was toshield herself without a point-blank denial. Greatly to her relief, abad cold from which she was suffering was pronounced influenza by MissDrummond, who promptly packed her off to the hospital. She was not veryill, so it was a luxury to be an invalid for a few days, to missclasses, preparation, and practising, and to sit by the fire with aninteresting book, and be fed up with beef-tea and jelly.
Mabel, who had completely recovered, was the only visitor allowed, amatter for which Aldred was devoutly thankful.
"It's perfectly horrid in school just at present," said Mabel, who ranup every afternoon to bring her news. "We have to do prep, with theSixth Form, and Miss Drummond sits there herself, as well as MissForster, and keeps looking at us, to make sure that we're working. Wehardly dare to lift our eyes from our books even for a second, and theroom is so still that if anyone drops a pencil it makes quite asensation. Before we go, each girl has to tell what marks she has gainedor lost during the day. It's a regular confession! I can tell you, wehave to be fearfully careful, and not make any more mistakes than we canhelp. It won't last long, though, because I hear Miss Bardsley is quiteable to walk now with a stick, and she's to come back to class in a weekfrom to-day."
"How blissful!" sighed Aldred. "Will Miss Webb be going, then?"
"Yes, on Saturday. I'm very sorry for her. Of course, she's notinteresting, but she really did her best, poor thing, and I think thegirls have behaved abominably. I wonder who chalked her chair?"
"Haven't they found out?"
Aldred's voice was very quiet, and she did not look at Mabel as shespoke.
"No. Everybody denies it flatly. I believe it lies between Phoebe andDora. Ursula actually had the cheek to suggest that you must have doneit! I was so angry with her!"
"You always stand up for me
."
"I should think so!--I know you so well, dear. But Ursula is alwaysjealous of you, and is inclined to be rather spiteful. I was obliged totake a very high hand with her. I said I should refuse to speak toanyone who connected your name again with the affair, and whoever spokea word against you in future would quarrel also with me. That soon putthem down. They're rather anxious to keep friends with me just now,because my aunt is staying at Chetbourne, and has sent me a box forWednesday's _matinee_ of _Julius Caesar_. She asked Miss Drummond toallow me to go with one of the teachers and any friends I liked. I onlywish you were well enough! I invited Miss Webb promptly. She and MissForster are to take us."
"Oh, I'm so glad Miss Webb is going!"
"Yes, I think she's pleased; but I'm sure the girls don't deserve atreat, and I believe I'll ask the prefects instead of them. It wouldreally serve the Form right to be left out. The way they treated poorMiss Webb was most unchivalrous."
"Unchivalrous? Is that the right word?" queried Aldred, rather puzzled."I thought chivalry was only for men, and that it meant fighting intournaments, with your lady's favour fastened to your helmet, like theydid in the Middle Ages."
"That was part of it, but Mother says real chivalry is for everybody,for girls as well as boys, and we can practise it nowadays, because itsimply means refusing to profit by anyone else's weakness. The knightsin olden times were bound by their vows of knighthood to defend all whocouldn't protect themselves, and--oh, dear! I can't explain myselfproperly, but don't you see that, when poor Miss Webb was so stupid andhelpless, we were bound to behave well and learn our lessons, simplybecause she wasn't strong enough to make us on her own account, and itwas so cowardly to take advantage of her? That would have beenchivalry."
"I think I understand," said Aldred, staring hard at the fire.
"Yes, I knew you would, though the others don't in the least, I'mafraid. I'm glad to say they're a little ashamed of themselves, though,and they're quite nice to Miss Webb now. By the by, we've started asubscription in the Form, to make her a present before she goes. You'dlike to give something, wouldn't you?"
"Very much indeed. Please put my name down for ten shillings."
"A whole half-sovereign! How generous you are! Most of us have onlygiven half-crowns. We shall have twenty-five shillings now, and thatought to buy something really nice. Miss Drummond has promised to get itfor us in Chetbourne. We don't know whether to choose a russia leatherwriting-case or a silver-topped, cut-glass scent bottle. I think youought to have the casting vote, as you're giving so much more thananyone else."
"No; you settle it with the rest of the Form. I don't mind which, but itmust be what the others like best."
"Well, I'll tell the girls what you say. I must go now, because MissDrummond said I mustn't stay more than half an hour."
"Here are my keys," said Aldred. "If you'll unlock the workbox on mydressing-table, you'll find the half-sovereign in the lid. I can't godownstairs myself to fetch it."
"All right. I shall put your name first on the list."
"Oh, please don't! I'd rather have it last of all, if you don't mind."
"'I THINK I UNDERSTAND,' SAID ALDRED"]
The half-sovereign was conscience money, Aldred reflected sadly, as shereturned to the fireside after bidding her friend good-bye. There wasneither real pleasure nor merit in her gift, only a wish to makeexpiation for a fault that she dared not openly confess. She was likethe Norman barons of old who gave large sums to the Church, to try toatone for the sins they still went on committing. She had no intentionof explaining or setting the matter of the chair right, and her mostearnest hope was that Mabel had succeeded in turning away the suspicionsof the other girls from her, or, at least, in closing their mouths.
"They won't like to mention it any more, from fear of offending Mabel,"she thought. "There's not one of them who would risk a quarrel. I expectI'm safe enough, and needn't worry about it: but oh, dear! Mabel thinksI'm so generous, and everything that's noble and splendid and good; Iwonder what she would say, if she knew me as I really am!"