the Vernons of Renshaw Court, and that Sir Richard Vernon was her second
cousin. She expected a great deal more attention than the school was
willing to accord to her, and was invariably offended or aggrieved or
annoyed about something. The girls did not take her very seriously, and
laughed at what they called her 'jim-jams,' which had the effect of
making her first very indignant and finally reducing her to floods of
tears.

Though Sybil might be annoying there was really not much harm in her, and
her criticisms were very easily combated. A different girl altogether,
however, was Kitty Trefyre. She also had been at another school, and set
forth standards of conduct which were dissimilar from those at 'The
Moorings.' She was cautious in airing these, and wisely so, for most of
them caused the monitresses to lift their eyebrows in amazement,
whereupon she would instantly retract her remarks and declare she was
only 'ragging.' How much she really meant Merle never knew, but the
latter did not trust her.

"There's a sneaky look about her eyes," she commented to Mavis. "Sybil
lunges out and finds open fault, but Kitty hits in the dark. I hope she's
not going to spoil Iva!"

"Oh, don't say that!"

"They're chums already, and Iva is rather a chameleon! She takes the
colour of her character from her friends."