afterwards.
So Darrell's temper was not too good those days. And there was someone else whose temper was not good either. And that was Ellen's.
She had been quite even-tempered, though rather worried-looking for the first few weeks. And then suddenly she became really irritable. She snapped at the girls, and the little deft in her forehead deepened until it seemed as if she was always frowning.
Jean tried to find out if anything was the matter. Sally had tried, but Ellen seemed to think that Sally was just being a good head-girl, saying to set her right and stop her being so irritable. So she snapped at Sally, and the head-girl, surprised and hurt, said no more.
“Funny girl!” she said to Darrell. “I don't understand her. She's won a scholarship to Malory Towers which must mean she's terribly clever—and she works as hard or harder than any of us do—and yet she's never top, or even in the first three or four! I suppose she's cross about that and gets bad-tempered. I don't like her.”
“Neither do I.” said Darrell. “She's not worth bothering about, Sally. Leave her alone.”
“Oh, I think she's worth bothering about,” said Sally. “Everybody is. I'll ask Jean to have a word with her. She sits next to her in class.”
Jean was a very forthright girl, with little imagination, and usually went at things in the way a tank might, crushing all resistance, insisting on knowing what she wanted to know. But for some reason she did not tackle Ellen quite in this way. She sat next to her in class and she slept next to her in the dormy—so she had had plenty of opportunity of hearing Ellen's unconscious sighs and little groans when she was hard at work—or when she was trying to go to sleep.
She knew that Ellen often lay awake at night, and she guessed that Ellen was worrying about something. It couldn't be her work, surely—no scholarship girl needed to worry about work! As far as she had seen, all scholarship girls found work very easy indeed.
Jean was a kindly girl, though sometimes much too blunt in her speech and ways. She tried to think bow to get at Ellen. There didn't seem any way except by asking her straight out what was the matter, and couldn't it be put right?
But that just wouldn't do. Ellen would snap at once, as she did to Sally. So, for once, Jean gave the matter some thought, and did not act as clumsily as she usually did.
Ellen had no friend. She did not encourage anyone at an. not even the quiet Emily. Jean set herself out to be friendly in unobtrusive ways. She would never be able to force out of Ellen what was the matter—but perhaps she could persuade the girl to trust her enough to want to tell her! This was really a very praiseworthy idea on Jean's part, for it was seldom that the blunt Scots girl bothered herself to go to a lot of trouble in her dealings with people.
But she was rather proud that Sally had asked her to try her hand at Ellen, as she herself had failed. So, although Ellen did not realize it at the time, Jean set herself out to be kind and helpful in all kinds of little ways.
She helped Ellen to hunt for ages for her gym shoes, which were lost. She sympathized when the photograph of Ellen's parents got broken, and offered to get some glass cat for the frame, when next she went to the shops. She helped her to dry her hair when she washed it. Just little things that nobody, not even Ellen at first, noticed very much.
But gradually Ellen grew to trust this shrewd Scots girl She told her when she had a very bad headache, although she refused to go to Matron and tell her too. She stopped snapping at Jean, though she still snapped at everyone else—except Mary-Lou. It would need a very hard-hearted, bad-tempered person to snap at little Mary-Lou!
There were some evenings when Ellen was quite unbearable. “Really, anyone would think she suffered from what my mother calls “nerves”,” said Alicia, one evening. “Jumps at any little thing, takes things the wrong way,
So Darrell's temper was not too good those days. And there was someone else whose temper was not good either. And that was Ellen's.
She had been quite even-tempered, though rather worried-looking for the first few weeks. And then suddenly she became really irritable. She snapped at the girls, and the little deft in her forehead deepened until it seemed as if she was always frowning.
Jean tried to find out if anything was the matter. Sally had tried, but Ellen seemed to think that Sally was just being a good head-girl, saying to set her right and stop her being so irritable. So she snapped at Sally, and the head-girl, surprised and hurt, said no more.
“Funny girl!” she said to Darrell. “I don't understand her. She's won a scholarship to Malory Towers which must mean she's terribly clever—and she works as hard or harder than any of us do—and yet she's never top, or even in the first three or four! I suppose she's cross about that and gets bad-tempered. I don't like her.”
“Neither do I.” said Darrell. “She's not worth bothering about, Sally. Leave her alone.”
“Oh, I think she's worth bothering about,” said Sally. “Everybody is. I'll ask Jean to have a word with her. She sits next to her in class.”
Jean was a very forthright girl, with little imagination, and usually went at things in the way a tank might, crushing all resistance, insisting on knowing what she wanted to know. But for some reason she did not tackle Ellen quite in this way. She sat next to her in class and she slept next to her in the dormy—so she had had plenty of opportunity of hearing Ellen's unconscious sighs and little groans when she was hard at work—or when she was trying to go to sleep.
She knew that Ellen often lay awake at night, and she guessed that Ellen was worrying about something. It couldn't be her work, surely—no scholarship girl needed to worry about work! As far as she had seen, all scholarship girls found work very easy indeed.
Jean was a kindly girl, though sometimes much too blunt in her speech and ways. She tried to think bow to get at Ellen. There didn't seem any way except by asking her straight out what was the matter, and couldn't it be put right?
But that just wouldn't do. Ellen would snap at once, as she did to Sally. So, for once, Jean gave the matter some thought, and did not act as clumsily as she usually did.
Ellen had no friend. She did not encourage anyone at an. not even the quiet Emily. Jean set herself out to be friendly in unobtrusive ways. She would never be able to force out of Ellen what was the matter—but perhaps she could persuade the girl to trust her enough to want to tell her! This was really a very praiseworthy idea on Jean's part, for it was seldom that the blunt Scots girl bothered herself to go to a lot of trouble in her dealings with people.
But she was rather proud that Sally had asked her to try her hand at Ellen, as she herself had failed. So, although Ellen did not realize it at the time, Jean set herself out to be kind and helpful in all kinds of little ways.
She helped Ellen to hunt for ages for her gym shoes, which were lost. She sympathized when the photograph of Ellen's parents got broken, and offered to get some glass cat for the frame, when next she went to the shops. She helped her to dry her hair when she washed it. Just little things that nobody, not even Ellen at first, noticed very much.
But gradually Ellen grew to trust this shrewd Scots girl She told her when she had a very bad headache, although she refused to go to Matron and tell her too. She stopped snapping at Jean, though she still snapped at everyone else—except Mary-Lou. It would need a very hard-hearted, bad-tempered person to snap at little Mary-Lou!
There were some evenings when Ellen was quite unbearable. “Really, anyone would think she suffered from what my mother calls “nerves”,” said Alicia, one evening. “Jumps at any little thing, takes things the wrong way,
Similar Books
