"Electra suppose you return to _this_ world of facts,--you seem to be in dreamland at present--and tell me who brought a rather unpleasant notoriety upon himself at this period." Electra returned to England and English affairs at a bound. But to which period was Miss Baylis referring? Electra had not the ghost of an idea but would make a stab at it any way. "Why-er-oh, it was-er-the man who made extensive use of bricks in the House of Commons," she ventured at random. "What?" demanded Miss Baylis, utterly bewildered. "Yes, ma'am. I mean yes, Miss Baylis. I can't remember his name but he did. I learned that by heart last night at study period," staunchly asserted Electra, sure for once in her life of her point, for hadn't she _read_ those very words? "Of 'bricks'?" repeated Miss Baylis. "Yes m--, Miss Baylis." Miss Baylis' eyes snapped as much as any pair of colorless blue eyes set too close together can snap. One of the many hopeless tasks which she had undertaken with Electra had been to banish from her vocabulary that impossible "ma'am", yet like Banquo's ghost it refused to be laid. "Open your book at that page and read the sentence," commanded the history teacher. Electra obediently did as bidden and read glibly. "'He made extensive use of----'" and just there came to an embarrassed halt as a titter went around the schoolroom. "Silence!" Miss Baylis' tone of voice did not encourage levity. "Well?" she interrogated crisply. "It's _bribes_, Miss Baylis," said poor Electra, covered with confusion and blushes. "Exactly. The greatest simpleton would understand that. Are you more familiar with bricks than bribes?" It was a cruel thrust under the circumstances, and Miss Baylis had the grace to blush at the look of scorn which darted from Beverly's eyes straight into her own and the curl which Aileen's lips held. But even a worm may turn, and for once Miss Baylis was taken off her feet by having Electra reply: "I guess it's more honest to be." "Good!" came from someone, but Miss Baylis thought it wiser to ignore it. "You may stand and read that sentence five times. Perhaps it may percolate after so doing." Electra, still smarting under the sting of Miss Baylis' sarcasm rose hastily, and with her as hastily rose Petty's foot to a horizontal position, encountering in its ascent the rung of Electra's chair and toppling it over with a crash. CHAPTER XIII CULINARY EXPERIMENTS