down the steps. The dignified white-haired Personage now on the bottom
step must have seen every move she made as she darted around the room
trying the chairs in turn.

The faint gleam of suppressed amusement on Madam Chartley's face as she
entered, confirmed the girl's fears. It was unthinkable that such a
mortifying situation should go unexplained, yet for a moment after
Madam's courteous greeting Mary stood tongue-tied. Then she burst out,
her face fairly purple:

"Oh, I _wish_ you could change places with me for just five minutes!
Then you'd know how it feels to always put your worst foot first and
make a mess of everything!"

Madam Chartley had welcomed many types of girls to her school and was
familiar with every shade of embarrassment, but she had never been
greeted with quite such an outburst as this. Desperate to make herself
understood, Mary began in the middle of her carefully planned speech and
breathlessly explained backward, as to why she had arrived at this
inopportune time. The explanation was so characteristic of her, so
heart-felt and utterly honest, that it revealed far more than she
intended and opened a wide door into Madam's sympathies. As she stood
looking down at the girl with grave kind eyes, Mary suddenly became
aware of a strangely comforting thing. This was not an awesome
personage, but a dear adorable being who could _understand_. The
discovery made the second part of her explanation easier. She plunged
into it headlong as soon as they were seated.

"You see, I've heard so much about Hawkins and the way he sometimes
confuses the new girls with his grand London airs till they're too