Upper Fourth at Malory Towers Read Online Free PDF Page A

Felicity as the girls filed into the big dining room, all the North Tower girls together. South Tower girls fed in the South Tower, East in the East and so on. Each tower was like a separate boarding house, with its own common rooms, dining rooms and dormies. The classrooms were in the long buildings that joined tower to tower, and so were such special rooms as the lab, the art-room and the sewing-room. The magnificent gym was there, too.
    Felicity came in, looking neat and tidy. Miss Potts, seeing her come in, thought how very Like she was to Darrell four years ago, when she also had come timidly into the dining-room for her first breakfast.
    In front of Felicity was June, looking as if she was at least a third-termer, instead of a new girl on her first morning. She looked about chirpily, nodded at Alicia, who did her best not to see, grinned at Darrell, who stared stonily back, and spoke amiably to Mam’zelle Dupont, who was at the head of the first-form table. The second form were also there, and Darrell and Alicia had the satisfaction of seeing two second-formers push June roughly back when she attempted to sit somewhere near the head of the table.
    But nothing daunted June. She merely sat down somewhere else, and said something to Felicity, who grinned uneasily. “Something cheeky, I bet,” thought Darrell to herself. “Well, her form will put her in her place pretty soon—and she'll come up against the second form, too. There are some tough kids in the second—they won't stand much nonsense from a pest like June!”
    Felicity smiled at Darrell, who smiled back warmly, forgetting for the moment that Felicity had probably gone to see the swimming pool before breakfast without her. She hoped her little sister would do well in the class tests that day and prove that she was up to standard.
    Sally suddenly remembered the empty bed in her dormy, and she spoke to Miss Potts.
    “Miss Potts! There's an extra bed in our dormy. Do you know whose it is? We're all back.”
    “Oh, yes,” said Miss Potts. “Let me see—there's one more new girl coming today—what's her name now—Clarissa something—yes, Clarissa Carter. That reminds me—there's a letter for her already. Here it is, Sally—put it up on her dressing table for her, will you? “
    Gwendoline took the letter to pass it down the table. She glanced at it, and then looked again. The letter was addressed to “The Honour able Clarissa Carter”.
    “The Honourable Clarissa Carter!” thought Gwendoline, delighted. “If only she'd be my friend! I'll look after her when she comes. I'll do all I can!”
    Gwendoline was a little snob, always hanging round those who were rich, beautiful or gifted. Alicia grinned as she saw the girl's face. “Gwendoline's going all out for the Honourable Clarissa,” she thought. “Now we shall see some fun!”

An interesting morning
    The Upper Fourth were taken by Miss Williams, a scholarly, prim mistress, whose gentleness did not mean any lack of discipline. As a rule the Upper Fourth were a good lot, responsible and hard working—but this year Miss Williams had sometimes had trouble with her form. There were such a lot of scatterbrains in it!
    “Still, I think they will all get through the School Cert.,” thought Miss Williams. “They are none of them really stupid, except Gwendoline. Daphne is much better since she has had regular coaching in the holidays. Mavis has picked up wonderfully. So has Bill. And though little Mary-Lou is quite sure she will fail, she is quite certain to pass!”
    Her form did not only consist of the North Tower girls, but of the fourth-formers from the other towers. Betty Hill, Alicia's friend, was one of these. She was as quick-tongued as Alicia, but not as quick-brained. She came from West Tower, and Alicia and she had often groaned because the authorities were so hard-hearted that they would not let Betty join Alicia in North Tower!
    Miss Grayling, the Headmistress, had once asked Miss Potts,