There was a titter from Alice Jallow, in which Kittie Rossmore joined.
Poor Amy looked distressed. Tears came into her eyes.

There shot across the black heavens a vivid flash of lightning, and a
bursting crash so promptly came echoing that nearly every one of the
girls started from her desk, and a number screamed, while even the boys
were startled.

Then, with a low moan, Amy swayed, and fell backward into the arms of
Betty.

"She's fainted!" exclaimed Miss Greene. "Girls, keep quiet! Some one get
me a glass of water!"

There was a stir among the boys who occupied one side of the big room,
and Frank Haley hastened out.




CHAPTER IV

A TAUNT


With a great crash, a deluge of rain, a wind that swept the spray across
the school room, and the rumbling of thunder, punctuated by vivid,
hissing flashes of lightning, the storm broke. At once the tension--that
of nature as well as that of the nerves of the girls--was relieved. A
sound, like a great sigh, was heard in the room. There were one or two