&lsquo;Hello, everyone! Had good holidays?&rsquo;<br />&lsquo;Splendid, thank you. And you?&rsquo;<br />&lsquo;Rather! My family greeted me with open arms, and I was quite the pet of the house. Pity it lasts such a short while!&rsquo; And Miss Edwards, youngest member of the Chalet School Staff, sank into her chair at the far end of the big Staff table, and beamed round on everyone. &lsquo;Why this solemn conclave?&rsquo; she continued. &lsquo;Is anything wrong?&rsquo;<br />Miss Wilson, science and geography mistress, shook her head. &lsquo;No; at least not so far as I am aware. But I came up only this morning, and haven&rsquo;t had much chance to discuss anything with anyone yet.&rsquo;<br />&lsquo;Well, we shall all know soon,&rsquo; said her great chum, Miss Stewart, who, as she was wont to say plaintively, spent her life trying to drive some history home to the brains of the Chalet School girls. &lsquo;Here comes Hilda at last! Come in, my child. What an age you have been!&rsquo;