16 A BAD TIME FOR DARRELL
THE girls poured into the common room after their supper. They had half an hour before bedtime.
They were tired after their exciting day, and some of them were sleepy already.
Alicia looked at Darrell in surprise. 'Why so gloomy?' she said.
'Well—1 was just wondering about Sally,' said Darrell. 'Hoping she wasn't very ill.'
'Why ever should she be?' said Alicia. "Lots of people can't eat strawberries without getting a pain ora rash. One of my brothers is like that.'
Alicia plunged¹ into one of her bits of family history and Darrell listened gratefully. Alicia did notrelate stories that glorified² herself, as Gwendoline always did—she simply poured out amusing talesof the life she and her brothers led in the holidays at home—and, if Alicia was to be believed, thepranks they got up to were enough to turn any mother's hair completely grey! However, Alicia'smother had not seemed to Darrell to have any grey hairs at all, when she had seen her that day.
The bed-time bell went for the first-and second-formers. They put away their things at once. Matrondid not show much patience with laggards³ at bed-time. There were too many girls to hustle⁴ into bedfor that!
Miss Potts had not come back. Darrell felt her anxiety creeping over her again. Perhaps Matronwould know. She would ask her about Sally as soon as she saw her hovering⁵ around the bathrooms.
But Matron wasn't there. Mam'zelle was there instead, beaming placidly⁶ at everyone, still in a goodtemper because of the lovely day they had all had.
'Hallo, Mam'zelle! Where's Matron?' asked Alicia in surprise.
'Looking after Sally Hope,' said Mam'zelle. 'Ah, the poor child—she is in great pain.'
Darrell's heart sank, is she—is she in the San. then?' she asked. Girls who were ill were always put inthe San., which consisted of a good many nice rooms above the Head Mistress's own suite⁷ of rooms.
There was also a special matron for the San itself, a smiling, but strict hospital nurse, who wasextremely efficient not only at

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