Just Gerry   By: Christine Chaundler (1887-1972)

[Frontispiece: "MURIEL! I CAN'T GET RIGHT WAY UP"]

JUST GERRY

BY

CHRISTINE CHAUNDLER

LONDON

NISBET & CO. LTD.

22 BERNERS STREET, W.1

1920

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

The Fourth Form Detectives A Fourth Form Rebel The Reputation of the Upper Fourth The Reformation of Dormitory Five Jan of the Fourth The Thirteenth Orphan Snuffles for Short

CONTENTS

CHAP.

I. CUBICLE THIRTEEN II. AN INTRODUCTION III. THE WAYS OF WAKEHURST PRIORY IV. AN INCIDENT IN THE DARK V. A CARICATURE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES VI. THE GERMAN LESSON VII. GERALDINE MAKES A FRIEND VIII. MAINLY CONCERNING A MOUSE IX. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD GIRL X. THE DORMITORY MATCH XI. A LESSON IN HOCKEY XII. THE NEW FORM MISTRESS XIII. A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS XIV. CHESTNUTS XV. THE LOWER FIFTH IS MUTE XVI. A GREAT DECISION XVII. INTO THE LION'S MOUTH XVIII. THE END OF THE STRIKE XIX. THE LITTLE BLACK DOG XX. AN AFTERNOON AT GYM XXI. HECTOR OR PARIS? XXII. THE DORMITORY FINAL XXIII. THE PLUCK OF GERMAN GERRY XXIV. THE LOWER FIFTH MAKES AMENDS XXV. CLOUDS ARE ROLLED AWAY

JUST GERRY

CHAPTER I

CUBICLE THIRTEEN

The new girl sat on the edge of her bed, and gazed round at the small domain which for the next three months would be the one spot in this strange new world of school that she could call her own.

It was really quite a nice cubicle, some eight feet wide by ten feet long just large enough to contain a small white counterpaned bed, a dressing table and chest of drawers combined, a small washhand stand, a big wooden locker, and one chintz covered arm chair drawn up below the broad sill of the opened window. The cubicle walls were white, the furniture white enamelled; while the curtain which cut the small compartment off from the rest of the dormitory, the toilet cover on the dressing table, and the covering of the arm chair were all of a dainty cream coloured chintz with a pretty pink rosebud pattern stencilled upon it. Everything was certainly very nice much nicer than the new girl had expected and she looked around with a certain amount of satisfaction. Perhaps after all school would not be the dreadful place she had imagined it would be. Here, at least, would be a place of refuge if the world outside should prove too hard and unfriendly.

Number Thirteen the numbers were painted outside on the doorposts was the only cubicle in the Pink Dormitory across which the shielding curtain was drawn. In all the other cubicles unpacking was taking place in full publicity. Rules were in abeyance on this the first day of term, and the dormitory hummed with the shrill chatter that was going on all around. The school was reassembling for the autumn term, and there were many accounts of holiday doings to be retailed, and much conjecturing going on respecting new girls, new mistresses, new prefects, and new rules. The school year at Wakehurst Priory began with the autumn term, and any changes in the staff or the school routine were usually made then.

Cubicle Number Twelve was as yet unoccupied, but when the bustle of unpacking was at its height, a newcomer burst into the dormitory and rushed helter skelter down the long corridor, calling out cheerful greetings to various occupants of the cubicles as she passed. Reaching Number Twelve, she tumbled her coat and hat and handbag unceremoniously on to the bed, and flung back the curtain of the next door cubicle with a gay call of greeting.

"What on earth do you want to go pulling your curtains for, you old curmudgeon?" she cried impetuously, then stopped short in sudden surprise at the sight of the strange girl who was sitting on the bed.

"Who the dickens are you?" she ejaculated. "And what in the world are you doing in Dorothy Pemberton's cubicle?"