Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: GWEN IS CAUGHT BY THE STORM] The Youngest Girl in the Fifth A School Story BY ANGELA BRAZIL Author of "The Leader of the Lower School" "A Pair of Schoolgirls" "The New Girl at St. Chad's" "A Fourth Form Friendship" &c. _ILLUSTRATED BY STANLEY DAVIS_ BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY * * * * * Contents CHAP. I. AN UNEXPECTED REMOVE II. THE GASCOYNE GIRLS III. A FALSE STEP IV. A DELICATE TRANSACTION V. TROUBLE IN THE FIFTH VI. A CASTING VOTE VII. DICK CHAMBERS VIII. GWEN RECEIVES A LETTER IX. KEEPING CHRISTMAS X. A PRODIGAL XI. A PRIZE ESSAY XII. GWEN TURNS HENWIFE XIII. THE SHOE PINCHES XIV. GWEN MEETS TROUBLE XV. STORM CLOUDS XVI. FIRST AID XVII. A PRESSING ACCOUNT XVIII. GWEN'S BRIGHT IDEA XIX. A SCHOOL GYMKHANA XX. A DAY OF RECKONING XXI. RETRIBUTION XXII. THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT XXIII. GWEN TO THE RESCUE XXIV. THE SENIOR OXFORD * * * * * Illustrations GWEN IS CAUGHT BY THE STORM _Frontispiece_ GWEN MEETS DICK "THINGS GO SO HARDLY WITH ME SOMEHOW, DAD" "OH, I SAY, WELL CAUGHT!" "YES, YOU CAN EASILY GO MILES OUT OF YOUR WAY" "IT WAS BASIL WHO SPIED HIM FIRST" * * * * * THE YOUNGEST GIRL IN THE FIFTH CHAPTER I An Unexpected Remove "Gwen! Gwen Gascoyne! Gwen! Anybody seen her? I say, have you all gone deaf? Don't you hear me? Where's Gwen? I--want--Gwen--Gascoyne!" The speaker--Ida Bridge--a small, perky, spindle-legged Junior, jumped on to the nearest seat, and raising her shrill voice to its topmost pitch, twice shouted the "Gwen Gascoyne", with an aggressive energy calculated to make herself heard above the babel of general chatter that pervaded the schoolroom. Her effort, though far from musical, at any rate secured her the notice she desired. "Hello, there! Stop that noise! It's like a dog howling!" irately commanded a girl in spectacles who was cleaning the blackboard. "And get down from my desk this minute! Who said you might climb up there?" "Look here, you kid, what are you doing in our classroom?" "Take yourself off at once! Fly! Scoot!" The "kid", however, stood her ground. "Shan't move till you've answered my question," she replied with aggravating impudence. "I want Gwen Gascoyne." "Why, there she is all the time!" "Where?" "Under your very nose, you stupid baby! Get down from my desk, I tell you!"