"Blyton, Enid - St Clare's 01 - The Twins At St Clare's" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

Every one admired the little gold brooch and read the name inscribed on the back. Kathleen glowed with pleasure at the attention that her gift produced, and when Janet thanked her again, and slipped her arm through hers, she was red with delight.
"It was very generous of Kathleen," said Janet to the twins, as they went to the classroom. "But I can't understand why she went such a splash on me! Usually she's awfully mean with her gifts - either gives nothing at all, or something that costs half a farthing! It isn't as if she likes me such a lot, either. I've gone for her heaps of times because she's such a goof!"
Janet had a marvellous tuck hamper sent to her for her birthday, and she and Hilary and the twins unpacked it with glee. "All the things I love!" said Janet. "A big chocolate cake! Shortbread biscuits! Sardines in tomato sauce! Nestle's milk. And look at these peppermint creams! They'll melt in our mouths!"
"Let's have a midnight feast!" said Pat, suddenly.
"We once had one at Redroofs, before we were head girls. I don't know why food tastes so much nicer in the middle of the night than in the daytime, but it does!
Oh, Janet - don't you think it would be fun?"
"It might be rather sport" said Janet. "But there's not enough food here for us all. The rest of you will have to bring something as well. Each girl had better bring one thing - a cake or ginger-beer or chocolate. When shall we have the feast?"
"Tomorrow night," said Isabel, with a giggle. "Miss Roberts is going to a concert. I heard her say so. She's going to stay the night with a friend and get a train that brings her back in time for prayers."
"Oh, good! Tomorrow's the night then!" said Janet. "Let's tell every one."
So the whole form was told about the Great feast, and every one promised to bring something. Pat bought a jam sponge sandwich. Isabel, who again had to borrow from Pat, bought a bar of chocolate. Joan brought candles, because the girls were not allowed to put on the electric light once it was turned out except for urgent reasons, such as illness.
The most lavish contribution was Kathleen's! She brought a really marvellous cake, with almond icing all over it, and pink and yellow sugar roses on the top. Every one exclaimed over it!
"Golly. Kathleen! Have you come into a fortune or something!" cried Janet. "That cake must have cost you all your pocket-money for the rest of the term! It's marvellous."
"The prettiest cake I've ever seen," said Hilary. "Jolly decent of you, Kathleen."
Kathleen was red with pleasure. She beamed round at every one, and enjoyed the smiles that she and her cake received.
"I wish I could have got something better than my silly little bar of chocolate," said Isabel. "But I even had to borrow from Pat to get that."
"And I can only bring a few biscuits I had left from a tin that Mother sent me a fortnight ago," said Hilary.
"I'm quite broke since I lost my ten shilling note."
"Anyway, we've got heaps of things," said Janet, who was busy biding everything at the bottom of a cupboard just outside the dormitory. "Golly, I hope Matron doesn't suddenly take it into her head to spring-clean this cupboard! She would be surprised to see what's in it. Goodness -- who brought this pork-pie? How marvellous!"
The whole form was in a state of excitement that day.
It was simply gorgeous to have a secret and not to let any of the other forms know. Hilary knew that the upper third had had a midnight feast already that term, and it had been a great success. She meant to make theirs even more of a success!
Miss Roberts couldn't think why the first-form girls were so restless. As for Mam'zelle, she sensed the underlying excitement at once, and grew excited too.
"Ah, now, mes petites, what is the matter with you today!" she cried, when one girl after another made a mistake in the French translation. "What is in your thoughts? You are planning something - is it not so?
Tell me what it is."
"Oh, Mam'zelle, whatever makes you think such a thing!" cried Janet. "What should we be planning?"
"How should I know?" said Mam'zelle. "All I know is that you are not paying attention. "Now, one more mistake and I send you to bed an hour earlier than usual!"
Mam'zelle did not mean this, of course - but it tickled the girls, who were all longing for bedtime that night, and would have been quite pleased to go early. Janet giggled and was nearly sent out of the room.
At last bedtime came, and every one undressed.
"Who's going to get the stuff out of the cupboard?" said Pat.
"You and land Hilary and Isabel," said Janet. "And for goodness' sake don't drop anything. If you drop the pork-pie on the linoleum there will be a mess."
Every one laughed. They snuggled down into bed. They all wanted to keep awake, but it was arranged that some of them should take it in turns to sit up and keep awake for half an hour, waking the next girl when it was her turn. Then, at midnight, they should all be awakened and the Feast would begin!
First Janet sat up in bed for half an hour, hugging her knees, and thinking of all the things in the cupboard outside. She was not a bit sleepy. She switched on her torch to look at the time. The half-hour was just up. She leaned across to the next bed and awoke Hilary.
At midnight every one was fast asleep except for the girl on watch, who was Pat. As she heard the big clock striking from the west tower of the school, Pat crept out of bed. She went from girl to girl, whispering in her ear and shaking her.
"Hilary! It's time! Wake up! Isabel! It's midnight! Joan! The Feast is about to begin. Kathleen! Kathleen! Do wakeup! It's twelve o'clock!"
At last every girl was awake, and with many smothered giggles, they put on their dressing-gowns and slippers.
The whole school was in darkness. Pat lighted two candles, and placed them on a dressing-table in the middle of the dormitory She had sent Isabel to waken the rest of the form in the next dormitory, and with scuffles and giggles all the girls crept in. They sat on the beds nearest to the candles, and waited whilst Pat and the others went to get the things out of the cupboard.
Pat took her torch and shone it into the cupboard whilst the others took out the things. A tin of sweetened milk dropped to the floor with a crash. Every one jumped and stood stock-still. They listened, but there was no sound to be heard - no door opened, no one switched on a light.
"Idiot!" whispered Janet to Isabel. "For goodness' sake don't drop that chocolate cake. Where did that tin roll to? Oh, here it is."
At last all the eatables were safely in the dormitory, and the door was shut softly. The girls looked at everything, and felt terribly hungry.
"Golly! Pork-pie and chocolate cake, sardines and Nestlщ's milk, chocolate and peppermint creams, tinned pineapple and ginger-beer!" said Janet. "Talk about a feast! I bet this beats the upper third's feast hollow! Come on-let's begin. I'll cut the cake."
Soon every girl was munching hard and thinking that food had never tasted quite so nice before. Janet took an opener and opened a ginger-beer bottle. The first one was quite all right and Janet filled two tooth-glasses. But the next ginger-beer bottle fizzed out tremendously and soaked the bed that Janet was sitting on. Everyone giggled. It went off with a real pop, and sounded quite loud in the silence of the night.
"Don't worry! No one will hear that," said Janet.
"Here, Pat -- open the sardines. I've gOt some bread and butter somewhere, and we'll make sandwiches."
The bread and butter was unwrapped from its paper. Janet had brought it up from the tea-table! Every girl had taken a piece from the plate at tea-time, and hidden it to give to Janet.
"Look -- take a bite of a sardine sandwich, and then a bite of pork-pie, and then a spoonful of Nestlщ's milk," said Pat. "It tastes gorgeous."
The chocolate was saved till last. By that time the girls were all unable to eat any more and could only suck the sweets and the chocolate. They sat about and giggled at the silliest jokes.
"Of course, the nicest thing of the whole feast was Kathleen's marvellous cake," said Hilary. "The almond icing was gorgeous."
"Yes -- and I had one of the sugar roses," said Joan. "Lovely! However much did you pay for that cake, Kath? It was jolly decent of you."
"Oh, that's nothing," said Kathleen. "Fm most awfully glad you liked it."
She looked very happy. There had not been quite enough cake to go round and Kathleen hadn't even tasted the marvellous cake. But she didn't mind at all.
She sat quite happily watching the others feast on it.