Third Year at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online Page B

got an order-mark because of you, idiot! What did you do with Irene's things? Mam'zelle found them on the stairs!”
    “Golly!” said Belinda, dismayed. “Yes, I remember. I was going up the stairs with them, and I dropped my pencil. I chucked the things down to find it—and must have forgotten all about them. I am sorry, Irene.”
    “It's all right,” said Irene, solemnly putting on her hat and cloak. “I'll take them up myself now—and I'll jolly well wear them so that I can't leave them lying about either!”
    She disappeared for a long time. The bell rang for supper. There was a general clearing-up, and the girls got ready to go to the dining room.
    “Where's Irene now?” said Jean, exasperated. “Honestly she ought to be kept in a cage then we'd always know where she was!”
    “Here she is!” said Darrell, with a shout of laughter. “Irene! You've still got your hat and cloak on! Oh, You'll make us die of laughing. Quick, Alicia, take them off her and rush upstairs with them. She'll get another order-mark if we don't look out.”

A bad time for Zerelda
    DURING the first two or three weeks of term poor Zerelda had a very bad time. Although she was older even than the fourth-formers, and should therefore have found the work easy, she found, to her dismay, that she was far behind them in their standard of work!
    It was a blow to Zerelda. After all her posing, and grownup ways, and her manner of appearing to look down on the others as young and silly, it was very humiliating to find that her maths, for instance, were nowhere near the standard of maths in the fourth form!
    “Have you never done these sums before?” asked Miss Williams, in astonishment. “And what about algebra and geometry? You don't appear to understand the first thing about them, Zerelda.”
    “We—we don't seem to do our lessons in America the same way as you do them here,” said Zerelda. “We don't bother so much. I never liked algebra or geometry, so I didn't worry about them.”
    Miss Williams looked most disapproving. Was America really so slack in its teaching of children, or was it just that Zerelda was stupid?
    “It isn't only your maths,” she said at last. “It's almost everything, Zerelda. Didn't you ever study grammar in your school?”
    Zerelda thought hard. “Maybe we did,” she said at last, “But I guess we didn't pay much attention to the teacher who taught grammar. I guess we played about in her lessons.
    “And didn't you do any history?” said Miss Williams, I realize, of course, that the history you would take would not be quite the same as ours- but Miss Carton, the history mistress, tells me that you don't know a single thing even about the history of your own country. America is a great country. It seems a pity to know nothing of its wonderful history.”
    Zerelda looked troubled. She tried to think of something her school had really worked at. What had she taken real interest in? Ah—there was the dramatic class!
    “We did a lot of Shakespeare, Miss Williams,” she said. “Gee! I just loved your Shakespeare. He's wunnerful. I did Lady Macbeth. You should have seen me trying to wash the guilt off my hands.”
    “Yes. I can quite imagine it,” said Miss Williams, dryly. “But there's a little more to education than being able to act Lady Macbeth. Zerelda, you will have to work very very hard to catch up the work of your form. I am willing to give vow extra coaching, if you would like it, and Mam'zelle, who is very distressed at your French, says she also will give you some of her free time.”
    Zerelda was really alarmed. Gee, wasn't it enough to have all these classes and games, and be expected to attend each one and be serious over the work, without having to do a whole lot of extra study? She looked so very alarmed that Miss Williams laughed.
    “Well, Zerelda, I won't burden you with extra work just yet, if You'll really make an effort and try to give your attention to your school work and