control who have the strength for an emergency. She longed for the
opportunity of helping the school, and to stand aside voluntarily and
give the work up to another seemed a big sacrifice.

"It's got to be, though!" sighed Mavis. "I'll go down and see Miss Fanny
about it at once. I expect I can make her understand."

Dodging Merle, who was disconsolately doing some gardening, she walked
back to 'The Moorings' and went to the hostel. Miss Fanny, busy among the
new boarders, received her with astonishment.

"What is it, Mavis? I can only spare you five minutes. You want to speak
to me about the monitress-ship? My dear child, Miss Mitchell will explain
everything to you to-morrow, and tell you exactly what you have to do.
There's no need to trouble about it now."

"It isn't that, please, Miss Fanny!" blushed Mavis. "The fact of the
matter is that I think Merle ought to have been chosen instead of me. I
was only one mark ahead of her. She'd make a far better monitress than I
should. May I resign and let her have the post instead?"

This was coming to the point with a vengeance. Miss Fanny knitted her
eyebrows and pursed up her mouth into a button.

"I rather expected Merle to be elected," she admitted cautiously.

"She'd be splendid!" urged Mavis, pursuing her advantage. "She's a born
leader. She's able to organise things and to keep order, and she's good
at games. She'd throw herself heart and soul into it, and work
tremendously at all the new schemes. She'd start clubs among the juniors