Hollyhock Part 22

'Well, tell her from me that as far as the North Pole is from the South, so am I from her, and ever will be. There now, what do you think of that? I don't care who hears me. I 'm accustomed to ladies, not to common little Scotch girls who tell lies.'

Jasmine was too gentle, too firm, too really n.o.ble to make any response; but as she went out of the room she was followed by a crowd of girls, a few of whom turned round and hissed at Leucha. The hisses were very soft, but, at the same time, very distinct; and this was the final straw in the wretched girl's misery.

As to Hollyhock, she was, greatly owing to Leucha's conduct, now the ruling spirit in the school, not by any means as regards lessons, but as regards what schoolgirls treasure so much, popularity and good-fellows.h.i.+p. Even Barbara and Dorothy Fraser went boldly to her side, and congratulated her on her self-restraint, and even apologised for their cousin's unseemly conduct.

Hollyhock's fine eyes lit up with a great glow. 'I do not care,' she said. 'Poor la.s.sie! I pity her; I do, truly!'

'You are a wonderful girl, Hollyhock,' said Dorothy; 'and may my sister and I join your circle to-night? And will you tell us some bogy tales?'

'I will that,' said Hollyhock.

'And here's a hand, my trusty frien's, And gie's a hand o' thine.'

She sang the words, and they were taken up immediately by every girl in the school, with the exception of Leucha and the miserable, depressed Daisy. But Hollyhock knew that she had her punishment to undergo. Was not her own mother a Cameron of the great race, and would she disgrace herself by crying out and making a fuss? 'The de'il is in me all the same,' she whispered under her breath; 'but he 'll not show his little horns until the Flower Girls are back at The Garden.'

She was a pa.s.sionate little poet, and she now sang softly under her breath:

The height of my disdain shall be To laugh at him, to blush for thee; To love thee still, but go no more A-begging at a beggar's door.'

Then she burst forth in her really glorious voice with such fervour that every girl within reach heard her:

The meteor flag of England Shall yet terrific burn, Till danger's troubled night depart, And the star of peace return.

Then, then, ye ocean-warriors!

Our song and feast shall flow To the fame of your name, When the storm has ceased to blow, When the fiery fight is heard no more, And the storm has ceased to blow!'

In spite of every effort, Hollyhock could not help putting a touch of her beloved Scots accent into the great and glorious words of Thomas Campbell.

'Hollyhock, you 'll promise not to do any mischief while we are away?'

said Jasmine in her most coaxing voice when the hour for departure had arrived. She hated beyond words leaving her sister at this crisis.

'Ah, well,' replied Hollyhock, 'I'll make no promises. I 'll tell no stories, and if things happen, why, then, I am not to blame.'

'Oh, Holly darling, you frighten me!'

'Don't be frightened, Jasmine; I 'm learning to be _such_ a good little girl.'

There was no help for it. The four Flower Girls departed, leaving the fifth, and the naughty one, behind.

Now it was as impossible for Hollyhock to keep out of mischief as it was for the kitchen cat at The Garden to refuse to drink cream, but Hollyhock meant at the same time to go warily to work. Some more fresh girls were coming on this special Sat.u.r.day, which made it all the easier for her to carry out her little plan. The Fraser girls were now devoted to her, but her slave--the one who would do anything on earth for her--was Margaret Drummond.

Hollyhock arranged, therefore, that Margaret should be her accomplice on the present occasion. Her tales of bogies and ghosties--all of them with a slight soupcon of truth in them--had excited the wonder and fearful admiration of the schoolgirls, and when she suggested, as she _did_ suggest, that 'poor little Leuchy might wipe the ghostie's hair for her,' there was a perfect chorus of delighted applause.

'But he won't come; he won't dare to come,' said Margaret Drummond.

'Meg, hist, dear; let's whisper. Keep it to yourself. There's no ghost; only they think, poor things, that there is, and that I dry his dripping locks. Well, I want you to impersonate the ghost to-night. I 'll dress you up, and you shall cross the path of Leuchy. Why, she'll turn deadly white when she sees you at it.'

'But, oh! I 'm frightened. I 'll get into trouble,' said Margaret.

'And you won't do that for me? I thought for sure you loved me.'

'I'd give my life for you,' said Margaret; 'but this is different.'

'It's easy to talk about giving the life, for that's not asked; but what I want is the love, and the proof of the love is that you shall dress as poor ghostie, and beg in a _mighty_ mournful voice of Leuchy to dry your dripping hair. I have got an old cloak and a peaked hat that belonged to my grandmother's family, and I 'll alter your face a wee bit, and n.o.body'll recognise you like that. Now come, Meg, you won't refuse? I 'd do it myself, and do it well; only I _might_ be discovered, but you wouldn't. Who'll think of Meg Drummond turning into the ghost? You must clasp your skeleton hands and say _very_ mournfully, "Dry my locks, sweet maid of England!" That's all. She'll be sure to go out into the grounds, and the rest of us will be close by, ready to catch her up if she swoons; and she 'll never guess to her dying day but that she has seen a ghost.'

The plot was prepared with immense care. It was the most tremendously exciting thing that the girls had ever heard of, and even the Frasers were drawn in, more particularly as the worst it could possibly do was to give that naughty, proud Leucha a fright. They were very sick of their cousin, and very angry with her; and it was finally decided that the girl who was to come to her rescue in the moment of her terrible extremity was to be Hollyhock herself. The others were all to fly out of sight. Hollyhock was to desire ghostie to go, and was to support Leucha into the house. After that--well, no one quite knew what would come!

CHAPTER XVII.

THE GREAT CONSPIRACY.

There was suppressed excitement in the school, that sort which cannot be described, but which most a.s.suredly must be felt. Mrs Macintyre put it down to the advent of the fifteen girls who had just arrived from Edinburgh.

Leucha stirred herself and made a vain endeavour to become friends with them; but they were Scots to the backbone, and went over instantly in a body to Hollyhock's circle. This was so immense now that it actually comprised the entire school, except the poor miserable Daisy and the naughty Leucha, whose anger against Hollyhock, combined with a kind of undefined admiration, which she would not for the life of her admit, grew fiercer and stronger hour by hour. It was like a great flame burning in her breast. She would _do_ for Hollyhock yet, but how and in what fas.h.i.+on?

Hollyhock, meanwhile, collected her forces round her. The days were getting very short. The nights were long and cold. Winter was on the English girls--a Scottish winter, which caused them to s.h.i.+ver, notwithstanding their comforts. Leucha was, however, far too proud to confess that she did not like the weather. She spoke of the school in tones of rapture to the new girls, who barely looked at her and scarcely listened. Then they wont, some of them silently, some of them with a rush, to Hollyhock.

Leucha forced herself to praise the place, and nudged Daisy to do likewise; but her praise was feigned, and the Scots girls did not pay this uninteresting Leucha much attention. The fact that she had now been a fortnight at the school did not affect them at all. The further fact that she was the daughter of the Earl of Crossways had not the least influence on them. They were jolly, merry, everyday sort of girls; there was nothing specially remarkable about them, but as they themselves said, 'Did not they belong to Old Scotia, and was not that fact sufficient for any la.s.sie?' Hollyhock entertained them in her swift, bright way. She was not specially impressed by them, but they were Scots of the Scots, as she was herself.

So Leucha and the miserable Daisy spent their time alone, Leucha arguing and wrangling with Daisy, and saying to her once or twice, 'What earthly good are you, Daisy Watson? Can you not think of any plan by which to defeat that mischievous Scotch brat?'

'I know of nothing,' replied Daisy. 'How can two English girls fight against sixty and more? It isn't to be done, Leucha dear.'

'It shall be done; it must be done!' retorted Leucha.

'Well, I can't see my way,' replied Daisy. 'The best plan of all would be for you to sink your silly pride, Leucha, and to join the others.'

'And have _her_ queen it over me,' said Leucha.

'Well, I don't see how you can help it,' answered Daisy. 'She _does_ queen it over you, for it isn't only the Scots girls who turn to her, but the English and the French. I don't see for myself what possible hope you have. Never yet since the world was made could two overcome sixty-eight. And, for that matter,' continued Daisy, 'I 'm feeling so dull that although I _am_ fond of you, Leucha, I really am strongly tempted to join that merry group, who are always singing and laughing and making the hours go by on wings. It is very dull indeed for me to have no one but you to talk to, and you grumbling all the time.'

'Oh, I saw it would come to this,' said Leucha, rising in her rage.

'My last friend--my very last! I 'll write to mother and get her to remove me from this school.'

'Oh, I won't desert you, Leucha; only I do wish you were a little more cheerful, and that we might join the others in their sport. You made such a fuss just on the day Hollyhock came'----

'Don't mention her name; she makes me shudder!'

'Well, I needn't; but you made such a fuss about securing the Summer Parlour, and having a fire there, and concocting plans, and having a lot of the girls with you--a great deal more than half the school; but you never go near the Summer Parlour, and after to-night you won't have any further right to it. Do come out, Leucha dear, and make another effort to build up the fire. If the girls see us with a glowing fire, a good many of them will come in for certain sure. I have been asking the servants on the quiet how the thing is done, and it really seems to be quite easy. You collect f.a.ggots, which I know I can get for you, and small bits of coal; and I tell you what--whisper, Leucha--I have been saving up a few candle-ends, and they are grand for making a fire burn. Let's come along and try.'

'No lady ought to know how to light a fire,' said Lady Leucha.

'Oh, nonsense,' replied Daisy. 'It is a very good thing to learn; and, anyhow, you needn't spoil your dainty fingers if _I_ undertake the job.