"Here they are!" "Not really!" "It is, I tell you!" "Jubilate! You're right, old sport! Scooterons-nous this very sec! Quick! Hurry! Stir your old bones, can't you?" The two girls, who had been standing in the ruined watch-tower that spanned the gateway, tore down the broken corkscrew staircase at a speed calculated to imperil their necks seriously, and reached the bottom at the identical moment that a motor char-a-banc rounded the corner and drew up in front of the entrance. Sixteen jolly faces were grinning under sixteen school hats, and at least a dozen excited voices were pouring forth a perfect babel of exclamations. "How ripping!" "Oh, I say!" "This is top-hole!" "What a chubby place!" "I'd no idea it would be like this!" "Oh, hold me up! This child's knocked me over entirely!" The opening day of a fresh term is always more or less of an event, but this particular reunion was a thrillingly important occasion, for during the Easter holidays the school had removed, and the girls were now having their first peep at their new quarters.
