15 Mavis has an Idea
Bill would not be comforted by Darrell or anyone else. She hadn’t gone to the common-room as Miss Peters had told her to. She had gone to the dormy and wept by herself. Bill boasted that she never cried, but this time she did. Her seven brothers had taught her to be tough and boyish, and, like a boy, she had scorned ever to shed a tear.
But she couldn’t help it now. When she appeared for afternoon school the third-formers saw her red eyes and came round her to comfort her. But she pushed them away. Darrell was pushed away too, though Bill spoke¹ a few words to her, very gratefully.
“Thank you for coming to warn me. It was decent of you, Darrell.”
“Bill—it’s a shame,” began Darrell. But Bill turned away.
“I can’t talk about it,” she said. “Please don’t.”
So the third-formers gave it up, and looked at one another helplessly. You simply couldn’t do anything with Bill if she didn’t want you to. Darrell took her place in class that afternoon with much trepidation³. She knew she would sooner or later be called to Miss Peters’ room, and she wondered what would happen to her. Oh dear—and everything had been so lovely up till then. Now she had got herself into trouble, and she had only wanted to help poor Bill.
Miss Peters was in a grim mood that afternoon. She was looking out for anyone or anything that would feed her anger. But nobody, not even Mavis, Gwendoline or Zerelda, did anything to provoke her. Miss Peters was terrifying when she was like this. Her big, heavy face was red, her eyes flashed as they looked round the class, and her short hair seemed to cling more tightly to her head than usual!
All the third-formers felt miserable⁴ that evening, with Bill sitting like a figure of stone in a corner. It was Mavis who suddenly livened them up.
“I say,” she said, in a whisper, as if somebody was listening who shouldn’t be there. “I say! Look here!”
She held up a paper. On it was printed these words:
TALENT SPOTTING!
Have you a gift? Can you play the piano well? Can you draw? Do you sing?
Then bring your talent to the Grand Hall, Billington, on Saturday night, and let us SPOT your TALENT.
Big prizes—and a CHANCE to make your NAME!
TALENT SPOTTING!
The girls read it. “Well, what about it?” said Alicia. “Surely you are not thinking of being

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