Laurels Are Poison

meant that she was in search of somebody with intent to put that person out of action. Laura’s first conception was that Mrs Bradley could not be the intended victim, since they had left her over at Athelstan. A second horrified thought informed her that there was no reason whatever why the head of the house should not have left it and come over to College.

It soon became apparent that Mrs Bradley was the quarry, for Miss Cornflake turned to the right at the top of the first flight of stairs and went towards the First-Year’s Education Room.

Laura crept nearer. Miss Cornflake listened at the door, then turned the handle with her left hand, keeping the revolver in her right. The corridor was almost pitch-dark, and by the time Miss Cornflake had proved that the room was empty, Laura had slipped into the Students’ Common Room opposite to seek assistance, but nobody was there.

The other Education Room was on the ground floor. If Mrs Bradley were lecturing, that was the only other place in which she was likely to be found. It was next-door to a passage which opened on to the grounds, and had large windows slightly open at the top.

Miss Cornflake halted at the door and listened. Laura, drawing as close as ever she dared, listened, too. Her hearing was remarkably acute, more so, it seemed, than Miss Cornflake’s, for she detected Mrs Bradley’s dulcet tones almost on the instant.

‘Probably know the voice better,’ thought Laura, referring to herself. A plan presented itself. She withdrew, or, rather, passed on, as Miss Cornflake laid a hand on the door, until she was at the entrance to the Staff Cloakroom. Then she suddenly gave vent to a loud, successful imitation of Mrs Bradley’s already famous cackle, and switched on the cloakroom lights. Like a flash, Miss Cornflake leapt away from the door and began to stalk Laura down the corridor.

Laura, now on unfamiliar ground, seized a towel from one of the hooks, and then put it down and picked up a good-sized cake of soap. Then she got behind the door and listened.

Miss Cornflake made not a sound, but the end, when it came, came quickly. Laura had switched on the light to obtain warning of the approaching shadow. As soon as she saw it, out she leapt, knocked up the revolver, which went off with a noise like a bomb, dashed the soap as hard as she could in Miss Cornflake’s face, and then dived at her legs to bring her down.

Unfortunately, as she did this, and Miss Cornflake fell heavily forward, Laura hit her own head against the edge of the door. Half-stunned, she scrambled up again, however, and, with a last effort, leapt upon Miss Cornflake and proceeded to choke her with the towel.

‘Warden wants to know if you feel equal to speaking to the Principal, Dog,’ said Kitty in sepulchral tones. ‘Says don’t say yes if you mean no. What shall I tell her?’

‘Oh, Lord! I suppose that means the Deb. did report me. I wouldn’t have believed she was such a tick,’ groaned Laura, whose head ached almost unendurably, in spite of Mrs Bradley’s ministrations. To the amazement of both lecturers and students, Mrs Bradley, leaving Miss Cornflake, who was completely hors de combat, to be apprehended by others, had picked up the hefty Laura in her arms and had carried her over to Athelstan (a feat, observed Laura, to make strong men quail), and had put her to bed as though she had been a small child.

‘No, the Deb. didn’t report you. She just grinned at us when you’d gone and said she was sorry for the interruptions, but she thought you liked to show off what you knew. What shall I say about the Prin.?’

‘What does the Lord High Everything Else want, anyway? Dope about Cornflake?’

‘Yes, I expect so.’

‘Righto. Bung her in. We will give her five minutes,’ said Laura, contriving to return to her usual manner. The Principal came in ‘as one approaching a deathbed’, said Laura, recounting the incident later, and seated herself on the hat-box.

‘Now don’t disturb yourself, Miss Menzies,’ she said. ‘I shall stay not more than one minute. Miss Cornflake is in the College Infirmary, well guarded, and the police are going to question her as soon as possible. Now, that’s a weight off our minds, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, Miss du Mugne,’ replied the patient.

‘That’s all I’ve come to say, then, except…’ She looked almost wistfully at the girl… ‘except that I feel we owe you a very great debt, Miss Menzies, which we shall do our best to repay. It would never have done to have a — revolver accident actually on the College premises, would it?’

‘No, Miss du Mugne,’ replied Laura. The Principal gave her a smile of acid sweetness, told her to ‘hurry up and get well’, and left, much to Laura’s relief.

‘And now, Kitty,’ she said, when her friend came in again, ‘what am I having for dinner?’

‘Good Lord! Are you hungry, Dog?’ said Kitty, amazed. ‘We never thought to save you anything.’

‘Quite right, too,’ said Mrs Bradley’s voice outside the door. ‘The heroine and I are going to have dinner together. Now, patient, what shall we have?’

‘I suppose you can’t manage a cocktail, to start with, Warden?’ said the sufferer. ‘It would just about save my life.’

Chapter 15

RAG

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‘I say,’ said Laura with surprising diffidence, ‘sorry I chipped in and all that, you know, but the fact is, I was expecting her.’

‘Whom do you mean? Not Miss Cornflake?’ asked Deborah, accepting the apology in the spirit in which it was rendered.