The four who were to go on the walking tour together were in the Latin class.  Amy was standing up, translating—­or trying to translate—­a passage from Caesar.  She halted and stammered, though usually she got perfect marks in this study.

“Take it a bit slower, Miss Stonington,” suggested Miss Greene, the teacher.  “That is very good.  You should know that word—­nequaquam—­take your time.”

“Nequaquam" said Amy faintly, “not ever—­”

There was a titter from Alice Jallow, in which Kittie Rossmore joined.  Poor Amy looked distressed.  Tears came into her eyes.

There shot across the black heavens a vivid flash of lightning, and a bursting crash so promptly came echoing that nearly every one of the girls started from her desk, and a number screamed, while even the boys were startled.

Then, with a low moan, Amy swayed, and fell backward into the arms of Betty.

“She’s fainted!” exclaimed Miss Greene.  “Girls, keep quiet!  Some one get me a glass of water!”

There was a stir among the boys who occupied one side of the big room, and Frank Haley hastened out.

CHAPTER IV

A TAUNT

With a great crash, a deluge of rain, a wind that swept the spray across the school room, and the rumbling of thunder, punctuated by vivid, hissing flashes of lightning, the storm broke.  At once the tension—­that of nature as well as that of the nerves of the girls—­was relieved.  A sound, like a great sigh, was heard in the room.  There were one or two faint cries, some laughter, and the members of the class were themselves again.  The balance had been restored.

“She will be all right presently,” said Miss Greene, quietly, as she helped place Amy on a couch in her own private room.  “Close some of the windows, girls, the rain is coming in.”

Her firm and cheering words, and her calm manner, aided in the work of restoration that had begun when the nerve-tension was lessened.  The girls were themselves again, most of them going quietly to their seats, while Betty and Grace helped Miss Greene restore Amy to consciousness.  They had loosed her collar, and some ammonia had been procured from the physics laboratory by Frank, who also brought water.

“I can’t imagine what made her faint,” whispered Grace.  “She never did such a thing before.”

“Probably it was the storm,” said the teacher.  “I have often noticed that just before a severe electrical disturbance I felt ’like flying to pieces,’ to put it crudely.  Then when the rain came I would get calm again.  I remarked that Amy did not seem quite herself while reciting, and perhaps I should have excused her, but I hoped, by letting her fix her attention on the lesson, that the little spell might pass over.”

“It was that horrid Alice Jallow giggling at her!” declared Mollie, who had come softly into the room.  “I could—­” she clenched her hands, and her dark eyes gleamed.