Bertha and Mabel wouldn't have told the truth, and things would only have been in a worse muddle.

We'll catch those two sometime if we can only think of how to do it." "Ah! That's just the question." Even the Stars had been rather alarmed by Miss Bickford's firm attitude, and for the present they did not dare to cheat openly or to play any more tricks upon the form.

Stopped in this direction their ringleaders turned their attention to other matters.

What was the nature of these it was Irene's lot one day to discover.

She happened to be walking in a rather quiet part of the garden, a portion reserved mostly for vegetables, which adjoined the great wall that separated the estate from the highroad.