"Blyton, Enid - St Clare's 06 - Fifth Formers at St Clare's" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

Doris, however, was not in Mam'zelle's good books the next day. Her French exercise was nothing but mistakes and was slashed right across with Mam'zelle's thick blue pencil. Mam'zelle never spared her blue pencil when she was annoyed, and a page disapproved of by her was always a terrible sight.
' Ah, you Doris ! ' began Mam'zelle, when she was going through the work with her class. ' You ! Have I had you on my thumb . . .'
' Under my thumb,' said Bobby, with a grin. Mam'zelle glared at her and resumed,
' Have I had you on my thumb for all these terms and
still you do not know that a table is she not he. Why are you not in the kindergarten ? Why can you still not pronounce the French R ? All the others can. You are a great big stupid girl.'
' Yes, Mam'zelle,' said poor Doris, meekly. When Mam'zelle flew into a rage, it was best to be meek. But for some reason Doris's meekness irritated Mam'zelle even more.
'Ah—you mock at me now! " Yes, Mam'zelle " you say, with your tongue in your mouth and butter melting in your cheek !' cried Mam'zelle, getting things mixed up
as usual.
The girls giggled. 'You mean, with your tongue in your cheek, and butter that won't melt in your mouth,' suggested Bobby again.
' Do not tell me what I mean, Bobbee,' said Mam'zelle, exasperated. ' Always you interrupt. Doris, stand up.'
Doris stood up, her humorous mouth twitching. She would act this scene afterwards for the benefit of the girls. How they would laugh I
' Your written work is very bad. Now let me hear your oral work,' demanded Mam'zelle. ' You have learnt the French poem ? Yes—then let me hear it. Begin!'
Doris couldn't think of a single word. She stared into the distance, racking her brains. She knew there were all kinds of animals in it—but how did the words go ?
'She did learn it, Mam'zelle,' said Pam's voice, earnestly. 'I heard her say it all through without looking at the book once.'
' Then I too will hear it now,' said Mam'zelle. ' Begin, Doris.'
Pam sat just behind Doris. She whispered the first line to her. Doris began—and then she suddenly knew that if only she could act the poem, she could say every word—but not one line would come unless she acted it! Oh dear—she couldn't possibly act it in front of Mam'zelle, who loved French poetry, and would think she was making fun of it.
' Well, Doris, I wait. I wait patiently,' said Mam'zelle, who was anything but patient at that moment. ' Can you or can you not say the poem to me ?'
' Yes. I can,' said Doris. ' But—but only if I act
it.'
' Then act it,' said Mam'zelle, losing the last of her patience. ' But if you are not telling me the truth, ma chere Doris, I complain to Miss Theobald. Act it—but say the poem through without mistake.'
So, in despair, Doris acted the French poem in her usual exaggerated, ridiculous manner, waggling herself, chewing the cud, waddling, frisking—and, of course, as soon as she acted the poem, she knew it all the way through without a single mistake. She certainly had a queer
memory.
The girls were thrilled and amused at Doris's rendering of the solemn poem, but they felt certain that Mam'zelle would be exceedingly angry. It was Claudine that saved the situation.
She clapped her hands in delight. She threw back her head and laughed her infectious laugh. She held her sides and almost doubled herself up.
' Oh ma tante, ma tante !' she cried to her aunt. ' The clever Doris, the marvellous Doris! Such a poem she makes of it—and not one single mistake. Ah, never never shall I forget this poem now !'
Mam'zelle pushed her glasses on to her nose more firmly. Her face changed. She let out a roar of delighted laughter, and the class breathed loudly in relief. So long as Mam'zelle saw the joke it was all right.
Mam'zelle took off her glasses and wiped her streaming eyes. ' It is clever, very clever, Doris,' she said. ' It is not the right way to recite such a poem, no. But it is very clever and very amusing. I will forgive you this time for your bad work. It is true that you know the poem, and you have made it very funny. Is it not so,
Claudine ?' Claudine agreed. 'We too will say the poem like
that,' she suggested, her eyes gleaming with fun. But Mam'zelle was not going so far as that.
' Ah non!' she said. ' Doris has a gift that way. One girl is funny, but fourteen, fifteen girls would not be funny. Tiens! Look at the clock. We have wasted half the lesson on this bad, clever Doris. Get out your books, please.'
Doris found that she could learn anything if only she said it out loud and put ridiculous actions to the words. But so often she could not repeat what she had learnt unless she accompanied it with the absurd actions. Miss Willcox did not think this was funny. She called it ' playing the fool' and said it was very bad taste.
As for doing such a thing in Miss Cornwallis's class or Miss Theobald's, it was quite unthinkable. However much the girls begged Doris to recite the latest maths. rules with appropriate—or inappropriate—actions she would not.
' I'm not going to get expelled just to make you laugh,' she said. ' I must go on plodding away, and get Pam's help as much as I can. I'll never be any good at lessons.' ' But you'll always be able to make people laugh !' said Isabel. ' I'd almost rather do that than anything, but I'm not much good at it.'
' I'd rather write a book or paint a beautiful picture,' said Alison.
'So would I,' said Anne-Marie. 'Much rather. To leave something of oneself behind, something one has made or created—now that's really worth-while.' ' Deirdre fans !' said Carlotta, mockingly. Alison had found out that Miss Willcox's first Initial was D. and had asked her what it stood for.
' Deirdre,' said Miss Willcox, and Alison had thought it a most beautiful name, almost picturesque enough for her darling Miss Willcox. Deirdre Willcox—a lovely name for a poet!
She had told Angela and Angela had told every one else. Both Anne-Marie and Alison were always round
Miss Willcox, and the girls now called them 'Deirdre fans'. It annoyed them very much. Alison was sorry now that she had told any one Miss Willcox's name—she would have liked to be the only one that knew it.
She and Anne-Marie both vied with each other for Miss Willcox's attentions. Alison was jealous of Anne-Marie because she could write poetry, and Miss Willcox encouraged her to bring her her poems. Anne-Marie was jealous of Alison because she felt sure that Miss Willcox liked Alison the better of the two, which was quite true. A little of Anne-Marie and her intenseness went a very
long way.
' You're both silly,' said Bobby, who never could understand what she called 'sloppiness'. ' Can't you see that any one who encourages a couple of idiots like you can't be worth sucking up to ?'
But this kind of remark only made Alison and Anne-Marie more devoted. It even brought them together a little in their common indignation, which amused the girls very much. The ' Deirdre fans' were the cause of a lot of fun that half-term !


6 ANGELA AND THE YOUNGER GIRLS

LITTLE Jane Teal turned up on the lacrosse field and practised zealously, much to Mirabel's satisfaction.
'There you are,' she said to Gladys, triumphantly. ' You see, a little plain talking has done Jane Teal a lot of good. I shall make her a very good player in no
time.
Gladys had noticed that Jane had done exactly what Mirabel had told her, but she had also noticed too that Jane looked rather miserable.