The Princess of the School

The Princess of the School, by Angela Brazil

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Title: The Princess of the School
Author: Angela Brazil
Illustrator: Frank Wiles
Release Date: June 1, 2007 [EBook #21656]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: "I'VE COME TO SAY GOOD-BY TO YOU, SIS"]
THE PRINCESS OF THE SCHOOL ================================== By ANGELA BRAZIL ----------------------------------
AUTHOR OF
"The Luckiest Girl in the School," "The Harum-Scarum Schoolgirl," "A Popular Schoolgirl," "The Head Girl at the Gables."
Illustrated by Frank Wiles. ================================== A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers New York
Published by arrangement with Frederick A. Stokes Company
Printed in U. S. A.
Copyright, 1920, by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
All rights reserved
First published in the United States of America, 1921

Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE INGLETON FAMILY 1
II A STOLEN JOY-RIDE 15
III A VALENTINE PARTY 33
IV DISINHERITED 50
V THE NEW OWNER 61
VI PRINCESS CARMEL 73
VII AN OLD GREEK IDYLL 88
VIII WOOD NYMPHS 100
IX THE OPEN ROAD 114
X A MEETING 129
XI A SECRET SOCIETY 145
XII WHITE MAGIC 157
XIII THE MONEY-MAKERS 171
XIV ALL IN A MIST 190
XV ON THE HIGH SEAS 201
XVI THE CASA BIANCA 215
XVII SICILIAN COUSINS 229
XVIII A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE 242
XIX AT PALERMO 261
XX OLD ENGLAND 271
XXI CARMEL'S KINGDOM 283

THE PRINCESS OF THE SCHOOL
CHAPTER I
The Ingleton Family
On a certain morning, just a week before Christmas, the little world of school at Chilcombe Hall was awake and stirring at an unusually early hour. Long before the slightest hint of dawn showed in the sky the lamps were lighted in the corridors, maids were scuttling about, bringing in breakfast, and Jones, the gardener, assisted by his eldest boy, a sturdy grinning urchin of twelve, was beginning the process of carrying down piles of hand-bags and hold-alls, and stacking them on a cart which was waiting in the drive outside.
Miss Walters, dreading the Christmas rush on the railway, had determined to take time by the forelock, and meant to pack off her pupils by the first available trains, trusting they would most of them reach their destinations before the overcrowding became a serious problem in the traffic. The pupils themselves offered no objections to this early start. The sooner they reached home and began the holidays, so much the better from their point of view. It was fun to get up by lamp-light, when the stars were still shining in the sky; fun to find that rules were relaxed, and for once they might chatter and talk as they pleased; fun to run unreproved along the passages, sing on the stairs, and twirl one another round in an impromptu dance in the hall.
The particular occupants of the Blue Bedroom had been astir even before the big bell clanged for rising, so they stole a march over rival dormitories, performed their toilets, packed their hand-bags, strapped their wraps, and proceeded downstairs to the dining-hall, where cups and plates were just being laid upon the breakfast-table. It was quite superfluous energy on the part of Lilias, Dulcie, Gowan, and Bertha, for as a matter of fact not one of them was on the list of earliest departures, but the excitement of the general exodus had awakened them as absolutely as the advent of Santa Claus on Christmas mornings. They stood round the newly-lighted fire, warming their hands, chatting, and hailing fresh arrivals who hurried into the hall.
"You going by the 6.30, Edith? You lucker! My train doesn't start till ten! I begged and implored Miss Walters to let me leave by the early one, and wait at the junction, but she would not hear of it, so I've got to stop here kicking my heels, and watch you others whisked away. Isn't it a grisly shame?"
Gowan's round rosy face was drawn into a decided pout, and her blue eyes were full of self-pity. She had to be sorry for her own grievance, because nobody else had either time or much inclination to sympathize; they were all far too much excited about their own concerns.
"Well, you'll get off sometime, I suppose," returned Edith airily. "There are twelve of us, all going together as far as Colminster. We mean to cram into one carriage if we can. Don't suppose the train will be full, as it's so early. I thought you were coming with us, Bertha, but Miss Hardy says you're not!"
"Dad changed his mind at the last minute, and promised to send the car to fetch me. It's only forty miles by road, you know, though it