"Oh, I say, what gorgeous fun!" exclaimed Marjorie. "So he's sent to the Denley Camp after all. It's just on the other side of Whitecliffe. How absolutely topping to go out to tea with Larry! I hope he'll get leave." The girls confided their exciting news to their room-mates and their most intimate friends, with the result that on Saturday afternoon at least sixteen heads were peeping out of windows on the qui vive to see the interesting visitor arrive. When a figure in khaki strode up the drive and rang the front-door bell the event was signalled from one hostel to another. Now Mrs. Morrison was very faithful to her duties as Principal, and during term-time rarely allowed herself a holiday; but it happened on this particular Saturday that she went for the day to visit friends, and appointed Miss Norton deputy in her absence. Larry Anderson was shown by the parlour-maid into the drawing-room where parents were generally received, and left there to wait while his presence was announced. After an interval of about ten minutes, during which he studied the photographs of the school teams that ornamented the mantelpiece, the door opened, and a tall fair lady with light-grey eyes and pince-nez entered. "Mrs. Morrison, I presume?" he enquired courteously. "I am Miss Norton," was the reply. "Mrs. Morrison is away to-day, and has left me in charge. Can I do anything for you?" "I've come to see my sisters, Marjorie and Dona Anderson, and to ask if I may take them in to Whitecliffe for an hour or so." "I'm sorry," freezingly, "but that is quite impossible. It is against the rules of the school." "Yes, of course I know they're not usually allowed out, but the Mater--I mean my mother--wrote to Mrs. Morrison to ask her to let the girls go." "Mrs. Morrison left me no instructions on the subject." "But didn't she give you my mother's letter?" "She did not." "Or leave it on her desk or something? Can't you find out?" "I certainly cannot search my Principal's correspondence," returned Miss Norton very stiffly. "It is one of the rules of Brackenfield that no pupil is allowed out without a special exeat, and in the circumstances I have no power to grant this." "But--oh, I say! The girls will be so awfully disappointed!" "I am sorry, but it cannot be helped." "Well, I suppose I may see them here for half an hour?" "That also is out of the question. Our rule is: 'No visitors except parents, unless by special permission'." "But the permission is in my mother's letter." "Neither letter nor permission was handed to me by Mrs. Morrison." "Excuse me, when I've come all this way, surely I may see my sisters?" "I have said already that it is impossible," replied Miss Norton, rising. "I am in charge of the school to-day, and must do my duty. Your sisters will be returning home next Tuesday, after which you can make your own arrangements for meeting them. While they are under my care I do not allow visitors."