13 A Shock—and a Nice Little Plot
Alicia remembered to ask June about the magnet. June grinned at her, put her hand into the pocket of her navy-blue knickers and pulled out the neat, powerful little magnet.
Alicia took it. It was very heavy. She slid it along the desk. A large pencil-sharpener appeared almost to leap through the air and fasten itself on the magnet. Then a compass came, and two or three pen-nibs.
“We played the trick on Mam’zelle Rougier again,” said June. “Harriet did it that time. We did it a bit differently, and it was just as funny.”
“What happened?” asked Alicia.
“Well, the hair-pins came out again, of course,” said June, smiling broadly. “And Harriet quickly took them off the magnet, and dropped them by the door when she went back to her place. Mam’zelle Rougier felt her hair going down her back and put up her hand to see, of course. She couldn’t find a single pin and looked absolutely horrified¹.
“Then Felicity put up her hand and said she had seen some hair-pins down by the door, and were they Mam’zelle’s by any chance?
“Mam’zelle simply couldn’t understand how they had got there. We offered all kinds of explanation. I said Mam’zelle must have dropped them coming in. Harriet said she didn’t think they could be Mam’zelle’s, and how lucky it was that somebody else had dropped hair-pins in our classroom, and . . .”
“Mam’zelle Rougier will be smelling rats if you offer too many explanations,” said Alicia, with a laugh.
“I think she does smell a rat, actually,” said June. “She keeps on and on putting up her hand to her hair to see if it’s still up, and she fingers her hair-pins all day long to make sure they’re still there! And she looks frightfully suspiciously at us now!”
“I wish I could see it played on Mam’zelle Dupont,” sighed Alicia. “She’s the one that would be the funniest.”
“Yes. It’s a pity sixth-formers are too high and mighty² to play a little joke,” said June. “I hope I’m not like that if ever I get into the sixth.”
“You won’t be much good if you aren’t,” said Alicia. “Well—it’s a good trick. I’d like to have had it when I was in the second form. I think I’d have used it to more effect than you appear to have, though!”
She went off. June looked after her. Now how would Alicia have used it to better effect? It couldn’t be done! June put the magnet back slowly into her pocket, her quick mind going over all that Alicia had said.

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