"I soft-hearted!" Duane exclaimed indignantly. "Whatever next! But anyway," with a mischievous gleam in her grey eyes, "I did realize my limitations, Miss St. Leger. I was reduced to sending in my resignation at one time, and you know you refused to accept it." "We were a lot of idiots," Kitty interposed with much vigour. "I was a new girl, it is true, but the others ought to have known you were far and away above doing a petty, spiteful thing like that." Needless to say, Kitty was referring to the Richoter trouble. Miss St. Leger rose. "Well, I'm not going to keep you here any longer. The girls will be dying to see you again and hear about your adventures. Besides, Nurse is going to pack you off to bed early. Duane, I think Miss Carslake is anxious to see you for a few minutes, so you had better go there first and then come along to the hall." As Duane disappeared the Principal turned to Kitty. "You can come along with me, Kitty. I gave orders for the girls to assemble in hall after tea. We shall find them there now." Kitty understood without being told that she meant to make a public announcement concerning the Richoter examination. When they arrived they found the girls waiting. The Principal motioned Kitty to follow her upon the dais, turned to the sea of expectant, upturned faces, and addressed them briefly. "I want a misunderstanding cleared up this evening, girls, a misunderstanding that has been amongst us too long. You have for a long time been treating one amongst you with grave injustice. I am, of course, referring to Duane. May I state most emphatically that the two girls upon whom suspicion appeared to rest for attempting to spoil Constance's chances in the Richoter examination are both quite innocent. We have just discovered the whole truth of the matter." There was a stir among the crowd of girls, a quick intake of breath. They had naturally guessed that there was something more than met the eye in this last mysterious affair in which, it was whispered, Bertha's little sister Erica had tried to run away from school, and Duane and Kitty had gone after her. Now, at last, they were going to know everything. The Principal's face had been softened by a smile. "You'll be rather surprised to hear that I'm not going into any long explanations myself. I'm going to leave Kitty, here, to do that. She's an authority on the subject, having had first hand information, and I fancy she'll plead Duane's cause better than I could. I'll give you till prep time, girls, and when prep bell rings the prefects will see you all go quietly to your classrooms as usual. Is that understood?" There was a prompt and eager chorus of "Yes, Miss St. Leger," and the Principal took her departure, still with that half-smile about her lips.