Hollyhock: A Spirit of Mischief

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?'

'I 'm thinking of that awful ghost,' said Leucha.

'Do not be silly, Leucha, my pet. Didn't I tell you he will not try his hand again on an English girl? Now, then, I 'm going to sing something so soothing, so soft, that you cannot, for a moment, but love to listen.'

The rich contralto voice rose and fell. The girl in the bed lay motionless, absorbed, listening. This was sweet music indeed. Could she have believed it possible that Hollyhock could put such marvellous tenderness into her wonderful voice?

'Ye Hielands and ye Lowlands,
Oh! where hae ye been!
They hae slain the Earl o' Murray,
And hae laid him on the green.

'Now wae be to thee, Huntley,
And whairfore did ye say
I bade ye bring him wi' you,
But forbid you him to slay!

'He was a braw gallant,
And he rid at the ring,
And the bonnie Earl o' Murray,
Oh, he might hae been a king!

He was a braw gallant,
And he played at the ba';
And the bonnie Earl o' Murray
Was the flower amang them a'!

'He was a braw gallant,
And he played at the gluve;
And the bonnie Earl o' Murray,
Oh, he was the Queen's luve!

'Oh, lang will his lady
Look owre the Castle downe,
Ere she see the Earl o' Murray
Come sounding thro' the town!'