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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: A World of Girls
+       The Story of a School
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: June 22, 2008 [eBook #25870]
+[Most recently updated: March 14, 2023]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "'SHAKE HANDS, NOW, AND LET US MAKE FRIENDS.'" (Page 27.)]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A WORLD OF GIRLS:
+
+THE STORY OF A SCHOOL.
+
+By L. T. MEADE.
+
+Author of "The Palace Beautiful," "A Sweet Girl Graduate,"
+"Polly: A New Fashioned Girl," Etc.
+
+ILLUSTRATED.
+
+NEW YORK:
+A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I.
+"Good-Bye" to the Old Life.                1
+
+CHAPTER II.
+Traveling Companions.                      6
+
+CHAPTER III.
+At Lavender House.                        13
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+Little Drawing-Rooms and Little Tiffs.    19
+
+CHAPTER V.
+The Head-Mistress.                        28
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+"I am Unhappy."                           32
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+A Day at School.                          35
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+"You have Waked me too Soon."             47
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+Work and Play.                            54
+
+CHAPTER X.
+Varieties.                                62
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+What was Found in the School-Desk.        74
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+In the Chapel.                            88
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+Talking over the Mystery.                 95
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+"Sent to Coventry."                      102
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+About Some People who Thought no Evil.   107
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+"An Enemy Hath Done This."               114
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+"The Sweets are Poisoned."               123
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+In the Hammock.                          129
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+Cup and Ball.                            136
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+In the South Parlor.                     143
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+Stealing Hearts.                         151
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+In Burn Castle Wood.                     155
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+"Humpty-Dumpty had a Great Fall."        168
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+Annie to the Rescue.                     173
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+A Spoiled Baby.                          180
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+Under the Laurel Bush.                   188
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+Truants.                                 193
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+In the Fairies' Field.                   198
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+Hester's Forgotten Book.                 204
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+"A Muddy Stream."                        212
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+Good and Bad Angels.                     218
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+Fresh Suspicions.                        221
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+Untrustworthy.                           227
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+Betty Falls Ill at an Awkward Time.      233
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+"You are Welcome to Tell."               241
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+How Moses Moore Kept His Appointment.    247
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+A Broken Trust.                          252
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+Is She Still Guilty?                     259
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+Hester's Hour of Trial.                  265
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+A Gypsy Maid.                            272
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+Disguised.                               278
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+Hester.                                  284
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+Susan.                                   289
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+Under the Hedge.                         293
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+Tiger.                                   297
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+For Love of Nan.                         303
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+Rescued.                                 310
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+Dark Days.                               313
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+Two Confessions.                         318
+
+CHAPTER L.
+The Heart of Little Nan.                 326
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+The Prize Essay.                         334
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                           A WORLD OF GIRLS.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+"GOOD-BYE" TO THE OLD LIFE.
+
+
+"Me want to see Hetty," said an imperious baby voice.
+
+"No, no; not this morning, Miss Nan, dear."
+
+"Me do want to see Hetty," was the quick, impatient reply. And a sturdy
+indignant little face looked up at Nurse, to watch the effect of the last
+decisive words.
+
+Finding no affirmative reply on Nurse's placid face, the small lips
+closed firmly--two dimples came and went on two very round cheeks--the
+mischievous brown eyes grew full of laughter, and the next moment the
+little questioner had squeezed her way through a slightly open door, and
+was toddling down the broad stone stairs and across a landing to Hetty's
+room. The room-door was open, so the truant went in. A bed with the
+bed-clothes all tossed about, a half worn-out slipper on the floor, a
+very untidy dressing-table met her eyes, but no Hetty.
+
+"Me want Hetty, me do," piped the treble voice, and then the little feet
+commenced a careful and watchful pilgrimage, the lips still firmly shut,
+the dimples coming and going, and the eyes throwing many upward glances
+in the direction of Nurse and the nursery.
+
+No pursuit as yet, and great, great hope of finding Hetty somewhere in
+the down-stair regions. Ah, now, how good! those dangerous stairs had
+been descended, and the little voice calling in shrill tones for Hetty
+rang out in the wide hall.
+
+"Let her come to me," suddenly said an answering voice, and a girl of
+about twelve, dressed in deep mourning, suddenly opened the door of a
+small study and clasped the little one in her arms.
+
+"So you have found me, my precious, my dearest! Brave, plucky little Nan,
+you have got away from Nurse and found me out! Come into the study now,
+darling, and you shall have some breakfast."
+
+"Me want a bicky, Hetty," said the baby voice; the round arms clasped
+Hester's neck, but the brown eyes were already traveling eagerly over the
+breakfast table in quest of spoil for those rosy little lips.
+
+"Here are two biscuits, Nan. Nan, look me in the face--here, sit steady
+on my knee; you love me, don't you, Nan?"
+
+"Course me do," said the child.
+
+"And I'm going away from you, Nan, darling. For months and months I won't
+see anything of you. My heart will be always with you, and I shall think
+of you morning, noon and night. I love no one as I love you, Nan. You
+will think of me and love me too; won't you, Nan?"
+
+"Me will," said Nan; "me want more bicky, Hetty."
+
+"Yes, yes," answered Hester; "put your arms tight round my neck, and you
+shall have sugar, too. Tighter than that, Nan, and you shall have two
+lumps of sugar--oh, yes, you shall--I don't care if it makes you
+sick--you shall have just what you want the last moment we are together."
+
+Baby Nan was only too pleased to crumple up a crape frill and to smear a
+black dress with sticky little fingers for the sake of the sugar which
+Hetty plied her with.
+
+"More, Hetty," she said; "me'll skeeze 'oo vedy tight for more."
+
+On this scene Nurse unexpectedly entered.
+
+"Well, I never! and so you found your way all downstairs by yourself, you
+little toddle. Now, Miss Hetty, I hope you haven't been giving the
+precious lamb sugar; you know it never does suit the little dear. Oh,
+fie! baby; and what sticky hands! Miss Hetty, she has crumpled all your
+crape frills."
+
+"What matter?" said Hester. "I wanted a good hug, and I gave her three or
+four lumps. Babies won't squeeze you tight for nothing. There, my Nancy,
+go back to Nurse. Nurse, take her away; I'll break down in a minute if I
+see her looking at me with that little pout."
+
+Nurse took the child into her arms.
+
+"Good-bye, Miss Hester, dear. Try to be a good girl at school. Take my
+word, missy--things won't be as dark as they seem."
+
+"Good-bye, Nurse," said Hester, hastily. "Is that you, father? are you
+calling me?"
+
+She gathered up her muff and gloves, and ran out of the little study
+where she had been making believe to eat breakfast. A tall, stern-looking
+man was in the hall, buttoning on an overcoat; a brougham waited at the
+door. The next moment Hester and her father were bowling away in the
+direction of the nearest railway station. Nan's little chubby face had
+faded from view. The old square, gray house, sacred to Hester because of
+Nan, had also disappeared; the avenue even was passed, and Hester closed
+her bright brown eyes. She felt that she was being pushed out into a cold
+world, and was no longer in the same snug nest with Nan. An intolerable
+pain was at her heart; she did not glance at her father, who during their
+entire drive occupied himself over his morning paper. At last they
+reached the railway station, and just as Sir John Thornton was handing
+his daughter into a comfortable first-class carriage, marked "For Ladies
+only," and was presenting her with her railway ticket and a copy of the
+last week's illustrated newspaper, he spoke:
+
+"The guard will take care of you, Hester. I am giving him full
+directions, and he will come to you at every station, and bring you tea
+or any refreshment you may require. This train takes you straight to
+Sefton, and Mrs. Willis will meet you, or send for you there. Good-bye,
+my love; try to be a good girl, and curb your wild spirits. I hope to see
+you very much improved when you come home at midsummer. Good-bye, dear,
+good-bye. Ah, you want to kiss me--well, just one kiss. There--oh, my
+dear! you know I have a great dislike to emotion in public."
+
+Sir John Thornton said this because a pair of arms had been flung
+suddenly round his neck, and two kisses imprinted passionately on his
+sallow cheek. A tear also rested on his cheek, but that he wiped away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TRAVELING COMPANIONS.
+
+
+The train moved rapidly on its way, and the girl in one corner of the
+railway carriage cried silently behind her crape veil. Her tears were
+very subdued, but her heart felt sore, bruised, indignant; she hated the
+idea of school-life before her; she hated the expected restraints and the
+probable punishments; she fancied herself going from a free life into a
+prison, and detested it accordingly.
+
+Three months before, Hester Thornton had been one of the happiest,
+brightest and merriest of little girls in ----shire; but the mother who
+was her guardian angel, who had kept the frank and spirited child in
+check without appearing to do so, who had guided her by the magical power
+of love and not in the least by that of fear, had met her death suddenly
+by means of a carriage accident, and Hester and baby Nan were left
+motherless. Several little brothers and sisters had come between Hester
+and Nan, but from various causes they had all died in their infancy, and
+only the eldest and youngest of Sir John Thornton's family remained.
+
+Hester's father was stern, uncompromising. He was a very just and upright
+man, but he knew nothing of the ways of children, and when Hester in her
+usual tom-boyish fashion climbed trees and tore her dresses, and rode
+bare-backed on one or two of his most dangerous horses, he not only tried
+a little sharp, and therefore useless, correction, but determined to take
+immediate steps to have his wild and rather unmanageable little daughter
+sent to a first-class school. Hester was on her way there now, and very
+sore was her heart and indignant her impulses. Father's "good-bye" seemed
+to her to be the crowning touch to her unhappiness, and she made up her
+mind not to be good, not to learn her lessons, not to come home at
+midsummer crowned with honors and reduced to an every-day and pattern
+little girl. No, she would be the same wild Hetty as of yore; and when
+father saw that school could do nothing for her, that it could never make
+her into a good and ordinary little girl, he would allow her to remain at
+home. At home there was at least Nan to love, and there was mother to
+remember.
+
+Hetty was a child of the strongest feelings. Since her mother's death she
+had scarcely mentioned her name. When her father alluded to his wife,
+Hester ran out of the room; when the servants spoke of their late
+mistress, Hester turned pale, stamped her feet, and told them to be
+quiet.
+
+"You are not worthy to speak of my mother," she electrified them all one
+day by exclaiming: "My mother is an angel now, and you--oh, you are not
+fit to breathe her name!"
+
+Only to one person would Hetty ever voluntarily say a word about the
+beloved dead mother, and that was to little Nan. Nan said her prayers, as
+she expressed it, to Hetty now; and Hetty taught her a little phrase to
+use instead of the familiar "God bless mother." She taught the child to
+say, "Thank God for making mother into a beautiful angel;" and when Nan
+asked what an angel was, and how the cozy mother she remembered could be
+turned into one, Hester was beguiled into a soft and tearful talk, and
+she drew several lovely pictures of white-robed angels, until the little
+child was satisfied and said:
+
+"Me like that, Hetty--me'll be an angel too, Hetty, same as mamma."
+
+These talks with Nan, however, did not come very often, and of late they
+had almost ceased, for Nan was only two and a half, and the strange, sad
+fact remained that in three months she had almost forgotten her mother.
+
+Hester on her way to school this morning cried for some time, then she
+sat silent, her crape veil still down, and her eyes watching furtively
+her fellow-passengers. They consisted of two rather fidgety old ladies,
+who wrapped themselves in rugs, were very particular on the question of
+hot bottles, and watched Hester in their turn with considerable curiosity
+and interest. Presently one of them offered the little girl a sandwich,
+which she was too proud or too shy to accept, although by this time she
+was feeling extremely hungry.
+
+"You will, perhaps, prefer a cake, my dear?" said the good-natured little
+old lady. "My sister Agnes has got some delicious queen-cakes in her
+basket--will you eat one?"
+
+Hester murmured a feeble assent, and the queen-cake did her so much good
+that she ventured to raise her crape veil and to look around her.
+
+"Ah, that is much better," said the first little old lady. "Come to this
+side of the carriage, my love; we are just going to pass through a lovely
+bit of country, and you will like to watch the view. See; if you place
+yourself here, my sister Agnes' basket will be just at your feet, and you
+can help yourself to a queen-cake whenever you are so disposed."
+
+"Thank you," responded Hester, in a much more cheerful tone, for it was
+really quite impossible to keep up reserve with such a bright-looking
+little old lady; "your queen-cakes are very nice, and I liked that one,
+but one is quite enough, thank you. It is Nan who is so particularly fond
+of queen-cakes."
+
+"And who is Nan, my dear?" asked the sister to whom the queen-cakes
+specially belonged.
+
+"She is my dear little baby sister," said Hester in a sorrowful tone.
+
+"Ah, and it was about her you were crying just now," said the first lady,
+laying her hand on Hester's arm. "Never mind us, dear, we have seen a
+great many tears--a great many. They are the way of the world. Women are
+born to them. As Kingsley says--'women must weep.' It was quite natural
+that you should cry about your sweet little Nan, and I wish we could send
+her some of these queen-cakes that you say she is so fond of. Are you
+going to be long away from her, love?"
+
+"Oh, yes, for months and months," said Hester. "I did not know," she
+added, "that it was such a common thing to cry. I never used to."
+
+"Ah, you have had other trouble, poor child," glancing at her deep
+mourning frock.
+
+"Yes, it is since then I have cried so often. Please, I would rather not
+speak about it."
+
+"Quite right, my love, quite right," said Miss Agnes in a much brisker
+tone than her sister. "We will turn the conversation now to something
+inspiriting. Jane is quite right, there are plenty of tears in the world;
+but there is also a great deal of sunshine and heaps of laughter, merry
+laughter--the laughter of youth, my child. Now, I dare say, though you
+have begun your journey so sadly, that you are really bound on quite a
+pleasant little expedition. For instance, you are going to visit a kind
+aunt, or some one else who will give you a delightful welcome."
+
+"No," said Hester, "I am not. I am going to a dreadful place, and the
+thought of that, and parting from little Nan, are the reasons why I
+cried. I am going to prison--I am, indeed."
+
+"Oh, my dear love!" exclaimed both the little old ladies in a breath.
+Then Miss Agnes continued: "You have really taken Jane's breath
+away--quite. Yes, Jane, I see that you are in for an attack of
+palpitation. Never mind her, dear, she palpitates very easily; but I
+think you must be mistaken, my love, in mentioning such an appalling word
+as 'prison.' Yes, now I come to think of it, it is absolutely certain
+that you must be mistaken; for if you were going to such a terrible place
+of punishment you would be under the charge of a policeman. You are given
+to strong language, dear, like other young folk."
+
+"Well, I call it prison," continued Hester, who was rather flattered by
+all this bustle and Miss Jane's agitation; "it has a dreadful sound,
+hasn't it? I call it prison, but father says I am going to school--you
+can't wonder that I am crying, can you? Oh! what is the matter?"
+
+For the two little old ladies jumped up at this juncture, and gave Hetty
+a kiss apiece on her soft, young lips.
+
+"My darling," they both exclaimed, "we are so relieved and delighted!
+Your strong language startled us, and school is anything but what you
+imagine, dear. Ah, Jane! can you ever forget our happy days at school?"
+
+Miss Jane sighed and rolled up her eyes, and then the two commenced a
+vigorous catechizing of the little girl. Really Hester could not help
+feeling almost sunshiny before that long journey came to an end, for she
+and the Misses Bruce made some delightful discoveries. The little old
+ladies very quickly found out that they lived close to the school where
+Hetty was to spend the next few months. They knew Mrs. Willis well--they
+knew the delightful, rambling, old-fashioned house where Hester was to
+live--they even knew two or three of the scholars; and they said so often
+to the little girl that she was going into a life of clover--positive
+clover--that she began to smile, and even partly to believe them.
+
+"I am glad I shall be near you, at least," she said at last, with a frank
+sweet smile, for she had greatly taken to her kind fellow-travelers.
+
+"Yes, my dear," exclaimed Miss Jane. "We attend the same church, and I
+shall look out for you on Sunday, and," she continued, glancing first at
+her sister and then addressing Hester, "perhaps Mrs. Willis will allow
+you to visit us occasionally."
+
+"I'll come to-morrow, if you like," said Hester.
+
+"Well, dear, well--that must be as Mrs. Willis thinks best. Ah, here we
+are at Sefton at last. We shall look out for you in church on Sunday, my
+love."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AT LAVENDER HOUSE.
+
+
+Hester's journey had really proved wonderfully agreeable. She had taken a
+great fancy to the little old ladies who had fussed over her and made
+themselves pleasant in her behalf. She felt herself something like a
+heroine as she poured out a little, just a little, of her troubles into
+their sympathizing ears; and their cheerful remarks with regard to school
+and school-life had caused her to see clearly that there might be another
+and a brighter side to the gloomy picture she had drawn with regard to
+her future.
+
+But during the drive of two and a half miles from Sefton to Lavender
+House, Hester once more began to feel anxious and troubled. The Misses
+Bruce had gone off with some other passengers in a little omnibus to
+their small villa in the town, but Lavender House was some distance off,
+and the little omnibus never went so far.
+
+An old-fashioned carriage, which the ladies told Hester belonged to Mrs.
+Willis, had been sent to meet her, and a man whom the Misses Bruce
+addressed as "Thomas" helped to place her trunk and a small portmanteau
+on the roof of the vehicle. The little girl had to take her drive alone,
+and the rather ancient horse which drew the old carriage climbed up and
+down the steep roads in a most leisurely fashion. It was a cold winter's
+day, and by the time Thomas had executed some commissions in Sefton, and
+had reached the gates of the avenue which led to Lavender House, it was
+very nearly dark. Hester trembled at the darkness, and when the gates
+were shut behind them by a rosy-faced urchin of ten, she once more began
+to feel the cruel and desolate idea that she was going to prison.
+
+They drove slowly down a long and winding avenue, and, although Hester
+could not see, she knew they must be passing under trees, for several
+times their branches made a noise against the roof of the carriage. At
+last they came to a standstill. The old servant scrambled slowly down
+from his seat on the box, and, opening the carriage-door, held out his
+hand to help the little stranger to alight.
+
+"Come now, missy," he said in cheering tones, "come out, and you'll be
+warm and snug in a minute. Dear, dear! I expect you're nearly froze up,
+poor little miss, and it _is_ a most bitter cold night."
+
+He rang a bell which hung by the entrance of a deep porch, and the next
+moment the wide hall-door was flung open by a neat maid-servant, and
+Hester stepped within.
+
+"She's come," exclaimed several voices in different keys, and proceeding
+apparently from different quarters. Hester looked around her in a
+half-startled way, but she could see no one, except the maid, who smiled
+at her and said:
+
+"Welcome to Lavender House, miss. If you'll step into the porter's room
+for one moment, there is a good fire there, and I'll acquaint Miss
+Danesbury that you have arrived."
+
+The little room in question was at the right hand side of a very wide and
+cheerful hall, which was decorated in pale tints of green, and had a
+handsome encaustic-tiled floor. A blazing fire and two lamps made the
+hall look cheerful, but Hester was very glad to take refuge from the
+unknown voices in the porter's small room. She found herself quite
+trembling with shyness and cold, and an indescribable longing to get back
+to Nan; and as she waited for Miss Danesbury and wondered fearfully who
+or what Miss Danesbury was, she scarcely derived any comfort from the
+blazing fire near which she stood.
+
+"Rather tall for her age, but I fear, I greatly fear, a little sulky,"
+said a voice behind her; and when she turned round in an agony of
+trepidation and terror, she suddenly found herself face to face with a
+tall, kind-looking, middle-aged lady, and also with a bright,
+gypsy-looking girl.
+
+"Annie Forest, how very naughty of you to hide behind the door! You are
+guilty of disobedience in coming into this room without leave. I must
+report you, my dear; yes, I really must. You lose two good conduct marks
+for this, and will probably have thirty lines in addition to your usual
+quantity of French poetry."
+
+"But she won't tell on me, she won't, dear old Danesbury," said the girl;
+"she couldn't be so hard-hearted, the precious love, particularly as
+curiosity happens to be one of her own special little virtues! Take a
+kiss, Danesbury, and now, as you love me you'll be merciful!" The girl
+flitted away, and Miss Danesbury turned to Hester, whose face had changed
+from red to pale during this little scene.
+
+"What a horrid, vulgar, low-bred girl!" she exclaimed with passion, for
+in all the experiences of her short life Hester had never even imagined
+that personal remarks could be made of any one in their very presence. "I
+hope she'll get a lot of punishment--I hope you are not going to forgive
+her," she continued, for her anger had for the time quite overcome her
+shyness.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear! we should all be forgiving," exclaimed Miss
+Danesbury in her gentle voice. "Welcome to Lavender House, love; I am
+sorry I was not in the hall to receive you. Had I been, this little
+_rencontre_ would not have occurred. Annie Forest meant no harm,
+however--she's a wild little sprite, but affectionate. You and she will
+be the best friends possible by-and-by. Now, let me take you to your
+room; the gong for tea will sound in exactly five minutes, and I am sure
+you will be glad of something to eat."
+
+Miss Danesbury then led Hester across the hall and up some broad, low,
+thickly-carpeted stairs. When they had ascended two flights, and were
+standing on a handsome landing, she paused.
+
+"Do you see this baize door, dear?" she said. "This is the entrance to
+the school part of the house. This part that we are now in belongs
+exclusively to Mrs. Willis, and the girls are never allowed to come here
+without leave. All the school life is lived at the other side of this
+baize door, and a very happy life I assure you it is for those little
+girls who make up their minds to be brave and good. Now kiss me, my dear,
+and let me bid you welcome once again to Lavender House."
+
+"Are you our principal teacher, then?" asked Hester.
+
+"I? oh, dear, no, my love. I teach the younger children English, and I
+look after the interests and comforts of all. I am a very useful sort of
+person, I believe, and I have a motherly heart, dear, and it is a way
+with little girls to come to me when they are in trouble. Now, my love,
+we must not chatter any longer. Take my hand, and let us get to your room
+as fast as possible."
+
+Miss Danesbury pushed open the baize door, and instantly Hester found
+herself in a different region. Mrs. Willis' part of the house gave the
+impression of warmth, luxuriance, and even elegance of arrangement. At
+the other side of the door were long, narrow corridors, with snow-white
+but carpetless floors, and rather cold, distempered walls. Miss
+Danesbury, holding the new pupil's hand, led her down two corridors, and
+past a great number of shut doors, behind which Hester could hear
+suppressed laughter and eager, chattering voices. At last, however, they
+stopped at a door which had the number "32" written over it.
+
+"This is your bedroom, dear," said the English teacher, "and to-night you
+will not be sorry to have it alone. Mrs. Willis received a telegram from
+Susan Drummond, your room-mate, this afternoon, and she will not arrive
+until to-morrow."
+
+However bare and even cold the corridors looked, the bedroom into which
+Hester was ushered by no means corresponded with this appearance. It was
+a small, but daintily-furnished little room. The floor was carpeted with
+green felt, the one window was hung with pretty draperies and two little,
+narrow, white beds were arranged gracefully with French canopies. All the
+furniture in the room was of a minute description, but good of its kind.
+Beside each bed stood a mahogany chest of drawers. At two corresponding
+corners were marble wash handstands, and even two pretty toilet tables
+stood side by side in the recess of the window. But the sight that
+perhaps pleased Hester most was a small bright fire which burned in the
+grate.
+
+"Now, dear, this is your room. As you have arrived first you can choose
+your own bed and your own chest of drawers. Ah, that is right, Ellen has
+unfastened your portmanteau; she will unpack your trunk to-night, and
+take it to the box-room. Now, dear, smooth your hair and wash your hands.
+The gong will sound instantly. I will come for you when it does."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+LITTLE DRAWING-ROOMS AND LITTLE TIFFS.
+
+
+Miss Danesbury, true to her word, came to fetch Hester down to tea. They
+went down some broad, carpetless stairs, along a wide stone hall, and
+then paused for an instant at a half-open door from which a stream of
+eager voices issued.
+
+"I will introduce you to your schoolfellows, and I hope your future
+friends," said Miss Danesbury. "After tea you will come with me to see
+Mrs. Willis--she is never in the school-room at tea-time. Mdlle. Perier
+or Miss Good usually superintends. Now, my dear, come along--why, surely
+you are not frightened!"
+
+"Oh, please, may I sit near you?" asked Hester.
+
+"No, my love; I take care of the little ones, and they are at a table by
+themselves. Now, come in at once--the moment you dread will soon be over,
+and it is nothing, my love--really nothing."
+
+Nothing! never, as long as Hester lived, did she forget the supreme agony
+of terror and shyness which came over her as she entered that long, low,
+brightly-lighted room. The forty pairs of curious eyes which were raised
+inquisitively to her face became as torturing as forty burning suns. She
+felt an almost uncontrollable desire to run away and hide--she wondered
+if she could possibly keep from screaming aloud. In the end she found
+herself, she scarcely knew how, seated beside a gentle, sweet-mannered
+girl, and munching bread and butter which tasted drier than sawdust, and
+occasionally trying to sip something very hot and scalding which she
+vaguely understood went by the name of tea. The buzzing voices all
+chattering eagerly in French, and the occasional sharp, high-pitched
+reprimands coming in peremptory tones from the thin lips of Mdlle.
+Perier, sounded far off and distant--her head was dizzy, her eyes
+swam--the tired and shy child endured tortures.
+
+In after-days, in long after-years when the memory of Lavender House was
+to come back to Hetty Thornton as one of the sweetest, brightest episodes
+in her existence--in the days when she was to know almost every blade of
+grass in the gardens, and to be familiar with each corner of the old
+house, with each face which now appeared so strange, she might wonder at
+her feelings to-night, but never even then could she forget them.
+
+She sat at the table in a dream, trying to eat the tasteless bread and
+butter. Suddenly and swiftly the thick and somewhat stale piece of bread
+on her plate was exchanged for a thin, fresh, and delicately-cut slice.
+
+"Eat that," whispered a voice--"I know the other is horrid. It's a shame
+of Perier to give such stuff to a stranger."
+
+"Mdlle. Cécile, you are transgressing: you are talking English," came in
+a torrent of rapid French from the head of the table. "You lose a conduct
+mark, ma'amselle."
+
+The young girl who sat next Hester inclined her head gently and
+submissively, and Hester, venturing to glance at her, saw that a delicate
+pink had spread itself over her pale face. She was a plain girl; but even
+Hester, in this first moment of terror, could scarcely have been afraid
+of her, so benign was her expression, so sweet the glance from her soft,
+full brown eyes. Hester now further observed that the thin bread and
+butter had been removed from Cecil's own plate. She began to wonder why
+this girl was indulged with better food than the rest of her comrades.
+
+Hester was beginning to feel a little less shy, and was taking one or two
+furtive glances at her companions, when she suddenly felt herself turning
+crimson, and all her agony of shyness and dislike to her school-life
+returning. She encountered the full, bright, quizzical gaze of the girl
+who had made personal remarks about her in the porter's room. The merry
+black eyes of this gypsy maiden fairly twinkled with suppressed fun when
+they met hers, and the bright head even nodded audaciously across the
+table to her.
+
+Not for worlds would Hester return this friendly greeting--she still held
+to her opinion that Miss Forest was one of the most ill-bred people she
+had ever met, and, in addition to feeling a considerable amount of fear
+of her, she quite made up her mind that she would never be on friendly
+terms with so under-bred a girl.
+
+At this moment grace was repeated in sonorous tones by a stern-looking
+person who sat at the foot of the long table, and whom Hester had not
+before noticed. Instantly the girls rose from their seats, and began to
+file in orderly procession out of the tea-room. Hester looked round in
+terror for the friendly Miss Danesbury, but she could not catch sight of
+her anywhere. At this moment, however, her companion of the tea-table
+touched her arm.
+
+"We may speak English now for half an hour," she said, "and most of us
+are going to the play-room. We generally tell stories round the fire upon
+these dark winter's nights. Would you like to come with me to-night?
+Shall we be chums for this evening?"
+
+"I don't know what 'chums' are," said Hester; "but," she added, with the
+dawning of a faint smile on her poor, sad little face, "I shall be very
+glad to go with you."
+
+"Come then," said Cecil Temple, and she pulled Hester's hand within her
+arm, and walked with her across the wide stone hall, and into the largest
+room Hester had ever seen.
+
+Never, anywhere, could there have been a more delightful play-room than
+this. It was so large that two great fires which burned at either end
+were not at all too much to emit even tolerable warmth. The room was
+bright with three or four lamps which were suspended from the ceiling,
+the floor was covered with matting, and the walls were divided into
+curious partitions, which gave the room a peculiar but very cosy effect.
+These partitions consisted of large panels, and were divided by slender
+rails the one from the other.
+
+"This is my cosy corner," said Cecil, "and you shall sit with me in it
+to-night. You see," she added, "each of us girls has her own partition,
+and we can do exactly what we like in it. We can put our own photographs,
+our own drawings, our own treasures on our panels. Under each division is
+our own little work-table, and, in fact, our own individual treasures lie
+round us in the enclosure of this dear little rail. The center of the
+room is common property, and you see what a great space there is round
+each fire-place where we can chatter and talk, and be on common ground.
+The fire-place at the end of the room near the door is reserved
+especially for the little ones, but we elder girls sit at the top. Of
+course you will belong to us. How old are you?"
+
+"Twelve," said Hester.
+
+"Oh, well, you are so tall that you cannot possibly be put with the
+little ones, so you must come in with us."
+
+"And shall I have a railed-in division and a panel of my own?" asked
+Hester. "It sounds a very nice arrangement. I hope my department will be
+close to yours, Miss ----."
+
+"Temple is my name," said Cecil, "but you need not call me that. I am
+Cecil to all my friends, and you are my friend this evening, for you are
+my chum, you know. Oh, you were asking me about our departments--you
+won't have any at first, for you have got to earn it, but I will invite
+you to mine pretty often. Come, now, let us go inside. Is not it just
+like the darlingest little drawing-room? I am so sorry that I have only
+one easy chair, but you shall have it to-night, and I will sit on this
+three-legged stool. I am saving up my money to buy another arm-chair, and
+Annie has promised to upholster it for me."
+
+"Is Annie one of the maids?"
+
+"Oh, dear, no! she's dear old Annie Forest, the liveliest girl in the
+school. Poor darling, she's seldom out of hot water; but we all love her,
+we can't help it. Poor Annie, she hardly ever has the luxury of a
+department to herself, so she is useful all round. She's the most amusing
+and good-natured dear pet in Christendom."
+
+"I don't like her at all," said Hester; "I did not know you were talking
+of her--she is a most rude, uncouth girl."
+
+Cecil Temple, who had been arranging a small dark green table-cloth with
+daffodils worked artistically in each corner on her little table, stood
+up as the newcomer uttered these words, and regarded her fixedly.
+
+"It is a pity to draw hasty conclusions," she said. "There is no girl
+more loved in the school than Annie Forest. Even the teachers, although
+they are always punishing her, cannot help having a soft corner in their
+hearts for her. What can she possibly have done to offend you? but oh!
+hush--don't speak--she is coming into the room."
+
+As Cecil finished her rather eager defense of her friend, and prevented
+the indignant words which were bubbling to Hester's lips, a gay voice was
+heard singing a comic song in the passage, the play-room door was flung
+open with a bang, and Miss Forest entered the room with a small girl
+seated on each of her shoulders.
+
+"Hold on, Janny, love; keep your arms well round me, Mabel. Now, then,
+here we go--twice up the room and down again. No more, as I'm alive. I've
+got to attend to other matters than you."
+
+She placed the little girls on the floor amid peals of laughter, and
+shouts from several little ones to give them a ride too. The children
+began to cling to her skirts and to drag her in all directions, and she
+finally escaped from them with one dexterous bound which placed her in
+that portion of the play-room where the little ones knew they were not
+allowed to enter.
+
+Until her arrival the different girls scattered about the large room had
+been more or less orderly, chattering and laughing together, it is true,
+but in a quiet manner. Now the whole place appeared suddenly in an
+uproar.
+
+"Annie, come here--Annie, darling, give me your opinion about
+this--Annie, my precious, naughty creature, come and tell me about your
+last scrape."
+
+Annie Forest blew several kisses to her adorers, but did not attach
+herself to any of them.
+
+"The Temple requires me," she said, in her sauciest tones; "my beloved
+friends, the Temple as usual is vouchsafing its sacred shelter to the
+stranger."
+
+In an instant Annie was kneeling inside the enclosure of Miss Temple's
+rail and laughing immoderately.
+
+"You dear stranger!" she exclaimed, turning round and gazing full into
+Hester's shy face, "I do declare I have been punished for the intense
+ardor with which I longed to embrace you. Has she told you, Cecil,
+darling, what I did in her behalf? How I ventured beyond the sacred
+precincts of the baize door and hid inside the porter's room? Poor dear,
+she jumped when she heard my friendly voice, and as I spoke Miss
+Danesbury caught me in the very act. Poor old dear, she cried when she
+complained of me, but duty is Danesbury's motto; she would go to the
+stake for it, and I respect her immensely. I have got my twenty lines of
+that horrible French poetry to learn--the very thought almost strangles
+me, and I foresee plainly that I shall do something terribly naughty
+within the next few hours; I must, my love--I really must. I have just
+come here to shake hands with Miss Thornton, and then I must away to my
+penance. Ah, how little I shall learn, and how hard I shall think!
+Welcome to Lavender House, Miss Thornton; look upon me as your devoted
+ally, and if you have a spark of pity in your breast, feel for the girl
+whom you got into a scrape the very moment you entered these sacred
+walls."
+
+"I don't understand you," said Hester, who would not hold out her hand,
+and who was standing up in a very stiff, shy, and angular position. "I
+think you were very rude to startle me, and make personal remarks the
+very moment I came into the house."
+
+"Oh, dear! I only said you were tall, and looked rather sulky, love--you
+did, you know, really."
+
+"It was very rude of you," repeated Hester, turning crimson, and trying
+to keep back her tears.
+
+"Well, my dear, I meant no harm; shake hands, now, and let us make
+friends."
+
+But Hester felt either too shy or too miserable to yield to this
+request--she half turned her back, and leaned against Miss Temple's
+panel.
+
+"Never mind her," whispered gentle Cecil Temple; but Annie Forest's
+bright face had darkened ominously--the school favorite was not
+accustomed to having her advances flung back in her face. She left the
+room singing a defiant, naughty song, and several of the girls who had
+overheard this scene whispered one to the other:
+
+"She can't be at all nice--she would not even shake hands with Annie.
+Fancy her turning against our Annie in that way!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HEAD-MISTRESS.
+
+
+Annie Forest had scarcely left the room before Miss Danesbury appeared
+with a message for Hester, who was to come with her directly to see Mrs.
+Willis. The poor shy girl felt only too glad to leave behind her the
+cruel, staring, and now by no means approving eyes of her schoolmates.
+She had overheard several of their whispers, and felt rather alarmed at
+her own act. But Hester, shy as she was, could be very tenacious of an
+idea. She had taken a dislike to Annie Forest, and she was quite
+determined to be true to what she considered her convictions--namely,
+that Annie was under-bred and common, and not at all the kind of girl
+whom her mother would have cared for her to know. The little girl
+followed Miss Danesbury in silence. They crossed the stone hall together,
+and now passing through another baize door, found themselves once more in
+the handsome entrance-hall. They walked across this hall to a door
+carefully protected from all draughts by rich plush curtains, and Miss
+Danesbury, turning the handle, and going a step or two into the room,
+said in her gentle voice:
+
+"I have brought Hester Thornton to see you, Mrs. Willis, according to
+your wish."
+
+Miss Danesbury then withdrew, and Hester ventured to raise her eyes and
+to look timidly at the head-mistress.
+
+A tall woman, with a beautiful face and silvery white hair, came
+instantly to meet her, laid her two hands on the girl's shoulders, and
+then, raising her shy little face, imprinted a kiss on her forehead.
+
+"Your mother was one of my earliest pupils, Hester," she said, "and you
+are--no"--after a pause, "you are not very like her. You are her child,
+however, my dear, and as such you have a warm welcome from me. Now, come
+and sit by the fire, and let us talk."
+
+Hester did not feel nearly so constrained with this graceful and gracious
+lady as she had done with her schoolmates. The atmosphere of the room
+recalled her beloved mother's boudoir at home. The rich dove-colored satin
+dress, the cap made of Mechlin lace which softened and shaded Mrs. Willis'
+silvery hair, appeared homelike to the little girl, who had grown up
+accustomed to all the luxuries of wealth. Above all, the head-mistress'
+mention of her mother drew her heart toward the beautiful face, and
+attracted her toward the rich, full tones of a voice which could be
+powerful and commanding at will. Mrs. Willis, notwithstanding her white
+hair, had a youthful face, and Hester made the comment which came first to
+her lips:
+
+"I did not think you were old enough to have taught my mother."
+
+"I am sixty, dear, and I have kept this school for thirty years. Your
+mother was not the only pupil who sent her children to be taught by me
+when the time came. Now, you can sit on this stool by the fire and tell
+me about your home. Your mother--ah, poor child, you would rather not
+talk about her just yet. Helen's daughter must have strong feelings--ah,
+yes; I see, I see. Another time, darling, when you know me better. Now
+tell me about your little sister, and your father. You do not know,
+perhaps, that I am Nan's godmother?"
+
+After this the head-mistress and the new pupil had a long conversation.
+Hester forgot her shyness; her whole heart had gone out instantly to this
+beautiful woman who had known, and loved, and taught her mother.
+
+"I will try to be good at school," she said at last; "but, oh, please,
+Mrs. Willis, it does not seem to me to-night as if school-life could be
+happy."
+
+"It has its trials, Hester; but the brave and the noble girls often find
+this time of discipline one of the best in their lives--good at the time,
+very good to look back on by-and-by. You will find a miniature world
+around you; you will be surrounded by temptations; and you will have rare
+chances of proving whether your character can be strong and great and
+true. I think, as a rule, my girls are happy, and as a rule they turn out
+well. The great motto of life here, Hester, is earnestness. We are
+earnest in our work, we are earnest in our play. A half-hearted girl has
+no chance at Lavender House. In play-time, laugh with the merriest, my
+child; in school-hours, study with the most studious. Do you understand
+me?"
+
+"I try to, a little," said Hester, "but it seems all very strange just
+now."
+
+"No doubt it does, and at first you will have to encounter many
+perplexities and to fight many battles. Never mind, if you have the right
+spirit within you, you will come out on the winning side. Now, tell me,
+have you made any acquaintances as yet among the girls?"
+
+"Yes--Cecil Temple has been kind to me."
+
+"Cecil is one of my dearest pupils; cultivate her friendship, Hester--she
+is honorable, she is sympathizing. I am not afraid to say that Cecil has
+a great heart."
+
+"There is another girl," continued Hester, "who has spoken to me. I need
+not make her my friend, need I?"
+
+"Who is she, dear?"
+
+"Miss Forest--I don't like her."
+
+"What! our school favorite. You will change your mind, I expect--but that
+is the gong for prayers. You shall come with me to chapel, to-night, and
+I will introduce you to Mr. Everard."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"I AM UNHAPPY."
+
+
+Between forty and fifty young girls assembled night and morning for
+prayers in the pretty chapel which adjoined Lavender House. This chapel
+had been reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient priory, on the site
+of which the house was built. The walls, and even the beautiful eastern
+window, belonged to a far-off date. The roof had been carefully reared in
+accordance with the style of the east window, and the whole effect was
+beautiful and impressive. Mrs. Willis was particularly fond of her own
+chapel. Here she hoped the girls' best lessons might be learned, and here
+she had even once or twice brought a refractory pupil, and tried what a
+gentle word or two spoken in these old and sacred walls might effect.
+Here, on wet Sundays the girls assembled for service; and here, every
+evening at nine o'clock, came the vicar of the large parish to which
+Lavender House belonged, to conduct evening prayers. He was an old man,
+and a great friend of Mrs. Willis', and he often told her that he
+considered these young girls some of the most important members of his
+flock.
+
+Here Hester knelt to-night. It is to be doubted whether in her confusion,
+and in the strange loneliness which even Mrs. Willis had scarcely
+removed, she prayed much. It is certain she did not join in the evening
+hymn, which, with the aid of an organ and some sweet girl-voices, was
+beautifully and almost pathetically rendered. After evening prayers had
+come to an end, Mrs. Willis took Hester's hand and led her up to the old,
+white-headed vicar.
+
+"This is my new pupil, Mr. Everard, or rather I should say, our new
+pupil. Her education depends as much on you as on me."
+
+The vicar held out his hands, and took Hester's within them, and then
+drew her forward to the light.
+
+"This little face does not seem quite strange to me," he said. "Have I
+ever seen you before, my dear?"
+
+"No, sir," replied Hester.
+
+"You have seen her mother," said Mrs. Willis--"Do you remember your
+favorite pupil, Helen Anstey, of long ago?"
+
+"Ah! indeed--indeed! I shall never forget Helen. And are you her child,
+little one?"
+
+But Hester's face had grown white. The solemn service in the chapel,
+joined to all the excitement and anxieties of the day, had strung up her
+sensitive nerves to a pitch higher than she could endure. Suddenly, as
+the vicar spoke to her, and Mrs. Willis looked kindly down at her new
+pupil, the chapel seemed to reel round, the pupils one by one
+disappeared, and the tired girl only saved herself from fainting by a
+sudden burst of tears.
+
+"Oh, I am unhappy," she sobbed, "without my mother! Please, please, don't
+talk to me about my mother."
+
+She could scarcely take in the gentle words which her two friends said to
+her, and she hardly noticed when Mrs. Willis did such a wonderful thing
+as to stoop down and kiss a second time the lips of a new pupil.
+
+Finally she found herself consigned to Miss Danesbury's care, who hurried
+her off to her room, and helped her to undress and tucked her into her
+little bed.
+
+"Now, love, you shall have some hot gruel. No, not a word. You ate little
+or no tea to-night--I watched you from my distant table. Half your
+loneliness is caused by want of food--I know it, my love; I am a very
+practical person. Now, eat your gruel, and then shut your eyes and go to
+sleep."
+
+"You are very kind to me," said Hester, "and so is Mrs. Willis, and so is
+Mr. Everard, and I like Cecil Temple--but, oh, I wish Annie Forest was
+not in the school!"
+
+"Hush, my dear, I implore of you. You pain me by these words. I am quite
+confident that Annie will be your best friend yet."
+
+Hester's lips said nothing, but her eyes answered "Never" as plainly as
+eyes could speak.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A DAY AT SCHOOL.
+
+
+If Hester Thornton went to sleep that night under a sort of dreamy, hazy
+impression that school was a place without a great deal of order, with
+many kind and sympathizing faces, and with some not so agreeable; if she
+went to sleep under the impression that she had dropped into a sort of
+medley, that she had found herself in a vast new world where certain
+personages exercised undoubtedly a strong moral influence, but where on
+the whole a number of other people did pretty much what they pleased--she
+awoke in the morning to find her preconceived ideas scattered to the four
+winds.
+
+There was nothing of apparent liberty about the Lavender House
+arrangements in the early morning hours. In the first place, it seemed
+quite the middle of the night when Hester was awakened by a loud gong,
+which clanged through the house and caused her to sit up in bed in a
+considerable state of fright and perplexity. A moment or two later a
+neatly-dressed maid-servant came into the room with a can of hot water;
+she lit a pair of candles on the mantel-piece, and, with the remark that
+the second gong would sound in half an hour, and that all the young
+ladies would be expected to assemble in the chapel at seven o'clock
+precisely, she left the room.
+
+Hester pulled her pretty little gold watch from under her pillow, and saw
+with a sigh that it was now half-past six.
+
+"What odious hours they keep in this horrid place!" she said to herself.
+"Well, well, I always did know that school would be unendurable."
+
+She waited for five minutes before she got up, and then she dressed
+herself languidly, and, if the truth must be told, in a very untidy
+fashion. She managed to be dressed by the time the second gong sounded,
+but she had only one moment to give to her private prayers. She
+reflected, however, that this did not greatly matter as she was going
+down to prayers immediately in the chapel.
+
+The service in the chapel the night before had impressed her more deeply
+than she cared to own, and she followed her companions down stairs with a
+certain feeling of pleasure at the thought of again seeing Mr. Everard
+and Mrs. Willis. She wondered if they would take much notice of her this
+morning, and she thought it just possible that Mr. Everard, who had
+looked at her so compassionately the night before, might be induced, for
+the sake of his old friendship with her mother, to take her home with him
+to spend the day. She thought she would rather like to spend a day with
+Mr. Everard, and she fancied he was the sort of person who would
+influence her and help her to be good. Hester fancied that if some very
+interesting and quite out of the common person took her in hand, she
+might be formed into something extremely noble--noble enough even to
+forgive Annie Forest.
+
+The girls all filed into the chapel, which was lighted as brightly and
+cheerily as the night before; but Hester found herself placed on a bench
+far down in the building. She was no longer in the place of honor by Mrs.
+Willis' side. She was one of a number, and no one looked particularly at
+her or noticed her in any way. A shy young curate read the morning
+prayers; Mr. Everard was not present, and Mrs. Willis, who was, walked
+out of the chapel when prayers were over without even glancing in
+Hester's direction. This was bad enough for the poor little dreamer of
+dreams, but worse was to follow.
+
+Mrs. Willis did not speak to Hester, but she did stop for an instant
+beside Annie Forest. Hester saw her lay her white hand on the young
+girl's shoulder and whisper for an instant in her ear. Annie's lovely
+gypsy face flushed a vivid crimson.
+
+"For your sake, darling," she whispered back; but Hester caught the
+words, and was consumed by a fierce jealousy.
+
+The girls went into the school-room, where Mdlle. Perier gave a French
+lesson to the upper class. Hester belonged to no class at present, and
+could look around her, and have plenty of time to reflect on her own
+miseries, and particularly on what she now considered the favoritism
+shown by Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Mr. Everard at least will read through that girl," she said to herself;
+"he could not possibly endure any one so loud. Yes, I am sure that my
+only friend at home, Cecilia Day, would call Annie very loud. I wonder
+Mrs. Willis can endure her. Mrs. Willis seems so ladylike herself,
+but--Oh, I beg your pardon, what's the matter?"
+
+A very sharp voice had addressed itself to the idle Hester.
+
+"But, mademoiselle, you are doing nothing! This cannot for a moment be
+permitted. Pardonnez-moi, you know not the French? Here is a little easy
+lesson. Study it, mademoiselle, and do not let your eyes wander a moment
+from the page."
+
+Hester favored Mdlle. Perier with a look of lofty contempt, but she
+received the well-thumbed lesson-book in absolute silence.
+
+At eight o'clock came breakfast, which was nicely served, and was very
+good and abundant. Hester was thoroughly hungry this morning, and did not
+feel so shy as the night before. She found herself seated between two
+strange girls, who talked to her a little and would have made themselves
+friendly had she at all encouraged them to do so. After breakfast came
+half an hour's recreation, when, the weather being very bad, the girls
+again assembled in the cozy play-room. Hester looked round eagerly for
+Cecil Temple, who greeted her with a kind smile, but did not ask her into
+her enclosure. Annie Forest was not present, and Hester breathed a sigh
+of relief at her absence. The half-hour devoted to recreation proved
+rather dull to the newcomer. Hester could not understand her present
+world. To the girl who had been brought up practically as an only child
+in the warm shelter of a home, the ways and doings of school-girl life
+were an absolute enigma.
+
+Hester had no idea of unbending or of making herself agreeable. The girls
+voted her to one another stiff and tiresome, and quickly left her to her
+own devices. She looked longingly at Cecil Temple; but Cecil, who could
+never be knowingly unkind to any one, was seizing the precious moments to
+write a letter to her father, and Hester presently wandered down the room
+and tried to take an interest in the little ones. From twelve to fifteen
+quite little children were in the school, and Hester wondered with a sort
+of vague half-pain if she might see any child among the group the least
+like Nan.
+
+"They will like to have me with them," she said to herself. "Poor little
+dots, they always like big girls to notice them, and didn't they make a
+fuss about Miss Forest last night! Well, Nan is fond enough of me, and
+little children find out so quickly what one is really like."
+
+Hester walked boldly into the group. The little dots were all as busy as
+bees, were not the least lonely, or the least shy, and very plainly gave
+the intruder to understand that they would prefer her room to her
+company. Hester was not proud with little children--she loved them
+dearly. Some of the smaller ones in question were beautiful little
+creatures, and her heart warmed to them for Nan's sake. She could not
+stoop to conciliate the older girls, but she could make an effort with
+the babies. She knelt on the floor and took up a headless doll.
+
+"I know a little girl who had a doll like that," she said. Here she
+paused and several pairs of eyes were fixed on her.
+
+"Poor dolly's b'oke," said the owner of the headless one in a tone of
+deep commiseration.
+
+"You _are_ such a breaker, you know, Annie," said Annie's little
+five-year-old sister.
+
+"Please tell us about the little girl what had the doll wifout the head,"
+she proceeded, glancing at Hester.
+
+"Oh, it was taken to a hospital, and got back its head," said Hester
+quite cheerfully; "it became quite well again, and was a more beautiful
+doll than ever."
+
+This announcement caused intense wonder and was certainly carrying the
+interest of all the little ones. Hester was deciding that the child who
+possessed the headless doll _had_ a look of Nan about her dark brown
+eyes, when suddenly there was a diversion--the play-room door was opened
+noisily, banged-to with a very loud report, and a gay voice sang out:
+
+"The fairy queen has just paid me a visit. Who wants sweeties from the
+fairy queen?"
+
+Instantly all the little feet had scrambled to the perpendicular, each
+pair of hands was clapped noisily, each little throat shouted a joyful:
+
+"Here comes Annie!"
+
+Annie Forest was surrounded, and Hester knelt alone on the hearth-rug.
+
+She felt herself coloring painfully--she did not fail to observe that two
+laughing eyes had fixed themselves with a momentary triumph on her face;
+then, snatching up a book, which happened to lie close, she seated
+herself with her back to all the girls, and her head bent over the page.
+It is quite doubtful whether she saw any of the words, but she was at
+least determined not to cry.
+
+The half-hour so wearisome to poor Hester came to an end, and the girls,
+conducted by Miss Danesbury, filed into the school-room and took their
+places in the different classes.
+
+Work had now begun in serious earnest. The school-room presented an
+animated and busy scene. The young faces with their varying expressions
+betokened on the whole the preponderance of an earnest spirit.
+Discipline, not too severe, reigned triumphant.
+
+Hester was not yet appointed to any place among these busy workers, but
+while she stood wondering, a little confused, and half intending to drop
+into an empty seat which happened to be close, Miss Danesbury came up to
+her.
+
+"Follow me, Miss Thornton," she said, and she conducted the young girl up
+the whole length of the great school-room, and pushed aside some baize
+curtains which concealed a second smaller room, where Mrs. Willis sat
+before a desk.
+
+The head-mistress was no longer dressed in soft pearl-gray and Mechlin
+lace. She wore a black silk dress, and her white cap seemed to Hester to
+add a severe tone to her features. She neither shook hands with the new
+pupil nor kissed her, but said instantly in a bright though authoritative
+tone:
+
+"I must now find out as quickly as possible what you know, Hester, in
+order to place you in the most suitable class."
+
+Hester was a clever girl, and passed through the ordeal of a rather stiff
+examination with considerable ability. Mrs. Willis pronounced her English
+and general information quite up to the usual standard for girls of her
+age--her French was deficient, but she showed some talent for German.
+
+"On the whole I am pleased with your general intelligence, and I think
+you have good capacities, Hester," she said in conclusion. "I shall ask
+Miss Good, our very accomplished English teacher, to place you in the
+third class. You will have to work very hard, however, at your French, to
+maintain your place there. But Mdlle. Perier is kind and painstaking, and
+it rests with yourself to quickly acquire a conversational acquaintance
+with the language. You are aware that, except during recreation, you are
+never allowed to speak in any other tongue. Now, go back to the
+school-room, my dear."
+
+As Mrs. Willis spoke she laid her finger on a little silver gong which
+stood by her side.
+
+"One moment, please," said Hester, coloring crimson; "I want to ask you a
+question, please."
+
+"Is it about your lessons?"
+
+"No--oh, no; it is----"
+
+"Then pardon me, my dear," uttered the governess; "I sit in my room every
+evening from eight to half-past, and I am then at liberty to see a pupil
+on any subject which is not trifling. Nothing but lessons are spoken of
+in lesson hours, Hester. Ah, here comes Miss Good. Miss Good, I should
+wish you to place Hester Thornton in the third class. Her English is up
+to the average. I will see Mdlle. Perier about her at twelve o'clock."
+
+Hester followed the English teacher into the great school-room, took her
+place in the third class, at the desk which was pointed out to her, was
+given a pile of new books, and was asked to attend to the history lesson
+which was then going on.
+
+Notwithstanding her confusion, a certain sense of soreness, and some
+indignation at what she considered Mrs. Willis' altered manner, she
+acquitted herself with considerable spirit, and was pleased to see that
+her class companions regarded her with some respect.
+
+An English literature lecture followed the history, and here again Hester
+acquitted herself with _éclat_. The subject to-day was "Julius Cæsar,"
+and Hester had read Shakespeare's play over many times with her mother.
+
+But when the hour came for foreign languages, her brief triumph ceased.
+Lower and lower did she fall in her schoolfellows' estimation as she
+stumbled through her truly English-French. Mdlle. Perier, who was a very
+fiery little woman, almost screamed at her--the girls colored and nearly
+tittered. Hester hoped to recover her lost laurels in German, but by this
+time her head ached and she did very little better in the German which
+she loved than in the French which she detested. At twelve o'clock she
+was relieved to find that school was over for the present, and she heard
+the English teacher's voice desiring the girls to go quickly to their
+rooms, and to assemble in five minutes' time in the great stone hall,
+equipped for their walk.
+
+The walk lasted for a little over an hour, and was a very dreary penance
+to poor Hester, as she was neither allowed to run, race, nor talk a word
+of English. She sighed heavily once or twice, and several of the girls
+who looked at her curiously agreed with Annie Forest that she was
+decidedly sulky. The walk was followed by dinner; then came half an hour
+of recreation in the delightful play-room, and eager chattering in the
+English tongue.
+
+At three o'clock the school assembled once more; but now the studies were
+of a less severe character, and Hester spent one of her first happy
+half-hours over a drawing lesson. She had a great love for drawing, and
+felt some pride in the really beautiful copy which she was making of the
+stump of an old gnarled oak-tree. Her dismay, however, was proportionately
+great when the drawing-master drew his pencil right across her copy.
+
+"I particularly requested you not to sketch in any of the shadows, Miss
+Thornton. Did you not hear me say that my lesson to-day was in outline? I
+gave you a shaded piece to copy in outline--did you not understand?"
+
+"This is my first day at school," whispered back poor Hester, speaking in
+English in her distress. Whereupon the master smiled, and even forgot to
+report her for her transgression of the French tongue.
+
+Hester spent the rest of that afternoon over her music lesson. The
+music-master was an irascible little German, but Hester played with some
+taste, and was therefore not too severely rapped over the knuckles.
+
+Then came tea and another half-hour of recreation, which was followed by
+two silent hours in the school-room, each girl bent busily over her books
+in preparation for the next day's work. Hester studied hard, for she had
+made up her mind to be the intellectual prodigy of the school. Even on
+this first day, miserable as it was, she had won a few plaudits for her
+quickness and powers of observation. How much better could she work when
+she had really fallen into the tone of the school, and understood the
+lessons which she was now so carefully preparing! During her busy day she
+had failed to notice one thing: namely, the absence of Annie Forest.
+Annie had not been in the school-room, had not been in the play-room; but
+now, as the clock struck eight, she entered the school-room with a
+listless expression, and took her place in the same class with Hester.
+Her eyes were heavy, as if she had been crying, and when a companion
+touched her, and gave her a sympathizing glance, she shook her head with
+a sorrowful gesture, but did not speak. Glasses of milk and slices of
+bread and butter were now handed round to the girls, and Miss Danesbury
+asked if any one would like to see Mrs. Willis before prayers. Hester
+half sprang to her feet, but then sat down again. Mrs. Willis had annoyed
+her by refusing to break her rules and answer her question during lesson
+hours. No, the silly child resolved that she would not trouble Mrs.
+Willis now.
+
+"No one to-night, then?" said Miss Danesbury, who had noticed Hester's
+movement.
+
+Suddenly Annie Forest sprang to her feet.
+
+"I'm going, Miss Danesbury," she said. "You need not show me the way; I
+can find it alone."
+
+With her short, curly hair falling about her face, she ran out of the
+room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"YOU HAVE WAKED ME TOO SOON."
+
+
+When Hester reached her bedroom after prayers on that second evening, she
+was dismayed to find that she no longer could consider the pretty little
+bedroom her own. It had not only an occupant, but an occupant who had
+left untidy traces of her presence on the floor, for a stocking lay in
+one direction and a muddy boot sprawled in another. The newcomer had
+herself got into bed, where she lay with a quantity of red hair tossed
+about on the pillow, and a heavy freckled face turned upward, with the
+eyes shut and the mouth slightly open.
+
+As Hester entered the room, from these parted lips came unmistakable and
+loud snores. She stood still dismayed.
+
+"How terrible!" she said to herself; "oh, what a girl! I cannot sleep in
+the room with any one who snores--I really cannot!"
+
+She stood perfectly still, with her hands clasped before her, and her
+eyes fixed with almost ludicrous dismay on this unexpected trial. As she
+gazed, a fresh discovery caused her to utter an exclamation of horror
+aloud.
+
+The newcomer had curled herself up comfortably in _her_ bed. Suddenly, to
+her surprise, a voice said very quietly, without a flicker of expression
+coming over the calm face, or the eyes even making an effort to open:
+
+"Are you my new schoolmate?"
+
+"Yes," said Hester, "I am sorry to say I am."
+
+"Oh, don't be sorry, there's a good creature; there's nothing to be sorry
+about. I'll stop snoring when I turn on my side--it's all right. I always
+snore for half an hour to rest my back, and the time is nearly up. Don't
+trouble me to open my eyes, I am not the least curious to see you. You
+have a cross voice, but you'll get used to me after a bit."
+
+"But you're in my bed," said Hester. "Will you please to get into your
+own?"
+
+"Oh, no, don't ask me; I like your bed best. I slept in it the whole of
+last term. I changed the sheets myself, so it does not matter. Do you
+mind putting my muddy boots outside the door, and folding up my
+stockings? I forgot them, and I shall have a bad mark if Danesbury comes
+in. Good-night--I'm turning on my side--I won't snore any more."
+
+The heavy face was now only seen in profile, and Hester, knowing that
+Miss Danesbury would soon appear to put out the candle, had to hurry into
+the other bed as fast as she could; something impelled her, however, to
+take up the muddy boots with two very gingerly fingers, and place them
+outside the door.
+
+She slept better this second night, and was not quite so startled the
+next morning when the remorseless gong aroused her from slumber. The
+maid-servant came in as usual to light the candles, and to place two cans
+of hot water by the two wash-hand stands.
+
+"You are awake, miss?" she said to Hester.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Hester almost cheerfully.
+
+"Well, that's all right," said the servant. "Now I must try and rouse
+Miss Drummond, and she always takes a deal of waking; and if you don't
+mind, miss, it will be an act of kindness to call out to her in the
+middle of your own dressing--that is, if I don't wake her effectual."
+
+With these words, the housemaid approached the bed where the red-haired
+girl lay again on her back, and again snoring loudly.
+
+"Miss Drummond, wake, miss; it's half-past six. Wake up, miss--I have
+brought your hot water."
+
+"Eh?--what?" said the voice in the bed, sleepily; "don't bother me,
+Hannah--I--I've determined not to ride this morning; go away"--then more
+sleepily, and in a lower key, "Tell Percy he can't bring the dogs in
+here."
+
+"I ain't neither your Hannah, nor your Percy, nor one of the dogs,"
+replied the rather irate Alice. "There, get up, miss, do. I never see
+such a young lady for sleeping--never."
+
+"I won't be bothered," said the occupant of the bed, and now she turned
+deliberately on her side and snored more loudly than ever.
+
+"There's no help for it," said Alice: "I have to do it nearly every
+morning, so don't you be startled, miss. Poor thing, she would never have
+a good conduct mark but for me. Now then, here goes. You needn't be
+frightened, miss--she don't mind it the least bit in the world."
+
+Here Alice seized a rough Turkish towel, placed it under the sleepy head
+with its shock of red hair, and, dipping a sponge in a basin of icy cold
+water, dashed it on the white face.
+
+This remedy proved effectual: two large pale blue eyes opened wide, a
+voice said in a tranquil and unmoved tone:
+
+"Oh, thank you, Alice. So I'm back at this horrid, detestable school
+again!"
+
+"Get your feet well on the carpet, Miss Drummond, before you falls off
+again," said the servant. "Now then, you'd better get dressed as fast as
+possible, miss--you have lost five minutes already."
+
+Hester, who had laughed immoderately during this little scene, was
+already up and going through the processes of her toilet. Miss Drummond,
+seated on the edge of her bed, regarded her with sleepy eyes.
+
+"So you are my new room-mate?" she said. "What's your name?"
+
+"Hester Thornton," replied Hetty with dignity.
+
+"Oh--I'm Susy Drummond--you may call me Susy if you like."
+
+Hester made no response to this gracious invitation.
+
+Miss Drummond sat motionless, gazing down at her toes.
+
+"Had not you better get dressed?" said Hester after a long pause, for she
+really feared the young lady would fall asleep where she was sitting.
+
+Miss Drummond started.
+
+"Dressed! So I will, dear creature. Have the sweet goodness to hand me my
+clothes."
+
+"Where are they?" asked Hester rather crossly, for she did not care to
+act as lady's-maid.
+
+"They are over there, on a chair, in that lovely heap with a shawl flung
+over them. There, toss them this way--I'll get into them somehow."
+
+Miss Drummond did manage to get into her garments; but her whole
+appearance was so heavy and untidy when she was dressed, that Hester by
+the very force of contrast felt obliged to take extra pains with her own
+toilet.
+
+"Now, that's a comfort," said Susan, "I'm in my clothes. How bitter it
+is! There's one comfort, the chapel will be warm. I often catch forty
+winks in chapel--that is, if I'm lucky enough to get behind one of the
+tall girls, where Mrs. Willis won't see me. It does seem to me,"
+continued Susan in a meditative tone, "the strangest thing why girls are
+not allowed sleep enough."
+
+Hester was pinning a clean collar round her neck when Miss Drummond came
+up close, leaned over the dressing-table, and regarded her with languid
+curiosity.
+
+"A penny for your thoughts, Miss Prunes and Prism."
+
+"Why do you call me that?" said Hester angrily.
+
+"Because you look like it, sweet. Now, don't be cross, little pet--no one
+ever yet was cross with sleepy Susy Drummond. Now, tell me, love, what
+had you for breakfast yesterday?"
+
+"I'm sure I forget," said Hester.
+
+"You _forget_?--how extraordinary! You're sure that it was not buttered
+scones? We have them sometimes, and I tell you they are enough even to
+keep a girl awake. Well, at least you can let me know if the eggs were
+very stale, and the coffee very weak, and whether the butter was
+second-rate Dorset, or good and fresh. Come now--my breakfast is of
+immense importance to me, I assure you."
+
+"I dare say," answered Hester. "You can see for yourself this morning
+what is on the table--I can only inform you that it was good enough for
+me, and that I don't remember what it was."
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Susan Drummond, "I'm afraid she has a little temper
+of her own--poor little room-mate. I wonder if chocolate-creams would
+sweeten that little temper."
+
+"Please don't talk--I'm going to say my prayers," said Hester.
+
+She did kneel down, and made a slight effort to ask God to help her
+through the day's work and the day's play. In consequence, she rose from
+her knees with a feeling of strength and sweetness which even the
+feeblest prayer when uttered in earnest can always give.
+
+The prayer-gong now sounded, and all the girls assembled in the chapel.
+Miss Drummond was greeted by many appreciative nods, and more than one
+pair of longing eyes gazed in the direction of her pockets, which stuck
+out in the most ungainly fashion.
+
+Hester was relieved to find that her room-mate did not share her class in
+school, nor sit anywhere near her at table.
+
+When the half-hour's recreation after breakfast arrived, Hester,
+determined to be beholden to none of her schoolmates for companionship,
+seated herself comfortably in an easy chair with a new book. Presently
+she was startled by a little stream of lollipops falling in a shower over
+her head, down her neck, and into her lap. She started up with an
+expression of disgust. Instantly Miss Drummond sank into the vacated
+chair.
+
+"Thank you, love," she said, in a cozy, purring voice. "Eat your
+lollipops, and look at me; I'm going to sleep. Please pull my toe when
+Danesbury comes in. Oh, fie! Prunes and Prisms--not so cross--eat your
+lollipops; they will sweeten the expression of that--little--face."
+
+The last words came out drowsily. As she said "face," Miss Drummond's
+languid eyes were closed--she was fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+WORK AND PLAY.
+
+
+In a few days Hester was accustomed to her new life. She fell into its
+routine, and in a certain measure won the respect of her fellow-pupils.
+She worked hard, and kept her place in class, and her French became a
+little more like the French tongue and a little less like the English. She
+showed marked ability in many of her other studies, and the mistresses and
+masters spoke well of her. After a fortnight spent at Lavender House,
+Hester had to acknowledge that the little Misses Bruce were right, and
+that school might be a really enjoyable place for some girls. She would
+not yet admit that it could be enjoyable for her. Hester was too shy, too
+proud, too exacting to be popular with her schoolfellows. She knew nothing
+of school-girl life--she had never learned the great secret of success in
+all life's perplexities, the power to give and take. It never occurred to
+Hester to look over a hasty word, to take no notice of an envious or
+insolent look. As far as her lessons were concerned, she was doing well;
+but the hardest lesson of all, the training of mind and character, which
+the daily companionship of her schoolfellows alone could give her, in this
+lesson she was making no way. Each day she was shutting herself up more
+and more from all kindly advances, and the only one in the school whom she
+sincerely and cordially liked was gentle Cecil Temple.
+
+Mrs. Willis had some ideas with regard to the training of her young
+people which were peculiarly her own. She had found them successful, and,
+during her thirty years' experience, had never seen reason to alter them.
+She was determined to give her girls a great deal more liberty than was
+accorded in most of the boarding-schools of her day. She never made what
+she called impossible rules; she allowed the girls full liberty to
+chatter in their bedrooms; she did not watch them during play-hours; she
+never read the letters they received, and only superintended the specimen
+home letter which each girl was required to write once a month. Other
+head-mistresses wondered at the latitude she allowed her girls, but she
+invariably replied:
+
+"I always find it works best to trust them. If a girl is found to be
+utterly untrustworthy, I don't expel her, but I request her parents to
+remove her to a more strict school."
+
+Mrs. Willis also believed much in that quiet half-hour each evening, when
+the girls who cared to come could talk to her alone. On these occasions
+she always dropped the school-mistress and adopted the _rôle_ of the
+mother. With a very refractory pupil she spoke in the tenderest tones of
+remonstrance and affection at these times. If her words failed--if the
+discipline of the day and the gentle sympathy of these moments at night
+did not effect their purpose, she had yet another expedient--the vicar
+was asked to see the girl who would not yield to this motherly influence.
+
+Mr. Everard had very seldom taken Mrs. Willis' place. As he said to her:
+"Your influence must be the mainspring. At supreme moments I will help
+you with personal influence, but otherwise, except for my nightly prayers
+with your girls, and my weekly class, and the teachings which they with
+others hear from my lips Sunday after Sunday, they had better look to
+you."
+
+The girls knew this rule well, and the one or two rare instances in the
+school history where the vicar had stepped in to interfere, were spoken
+of with bated breath and with intense awe.
+
+Mrs. Willis had a great idea of bringing as much happiness as possible
+into young lives. It was with this idea that she had the quaint little
+compartments railed off in the play-room.
+
+"For the elder girls," she would say, "there is no pleasure so great as
+having, however small the spot, a little liberty hall of their own. In
+her compartment each girl is absolute monarch. No one can enter inside
+the little curtained rail without her permission. Here she can show her
+individual taste, her individual ideas. Here she can keep her most prized
+possessions. In short, her compartment in the play-room is a little home
+to her."
+
+The play-room, large as it was, admitted of only twenty compartments;
+these compartments were not easily won. No amount of cleverness attained
+them; they were altogether dependent on conduct. No girl could be the
+honorable owner of her own little drawing-room until she had
+distinguished herself by some special act of kindness and self-denial.
+Mrs. Willis had no fixed rule on this subject. She alone gave away the
+compartments, and she often made choice of girls on whom she conferred
+this honor in a way which rather puzzled and surprised their fellows.
+
+When the compartment was won it was not a secure possession. To retain it
+depended also on conduct; and here again Mrs. Willis was absolute in her
+sway. More than once the girls had entered the room in the morning to
+find some favorite's furniture removed and her little possessions taken
+carefully down from the walls, the girl herself alone knowing the reason
+for this sudden change. Annie Forest, who had been at Lavender House for
+four years, had once, for a solitary month of her existence, owned her
+own special drawing-room. She had obtained it as a reward for an act of
+heroism. One of the little pupils had set her pinafore on fire. There was
+no teacher present at the moment, the other girls had screamed and run
+for help, but Annie, very pale, had caught the little one in her arms and
+had crushed out the flames with her own hands. The child's life was
+spared, the child was not even hurt, but Annie was in the hospital for a
+week. At the end of a week she returned to the school-room and play-room
+as the heroine of the hour. Mrs. Willis herself kissed her brow, and
+presented her in the midst of the approving smiles of her companions with
+the prettiest drawing-room of the sets. Annie retained her honorable post
+for one month.
+
+Never did the girls of Lavender House forget the delights of that month.
+The fantastic arrangements of the little drawing room filled them with
+ecstacies. Annie was truly Japanese in her style--she was also intensely
+liberal in all her arrangements. In the tiny space of this little
+enclosure wild pranks were perpetrated, ceaseless jokes made up. From
+Annie's drawing-room issued peals of exquisite mirth. She gave afternoon
+tea from a Japanese set of tea-things. Outside her drawing-room always
+collected a crowd of girls, who tried to peep over the rail or to draw
+aside the curtains. Inside the sacred spot certainly reigned chaos, and
+one day Miss Danesbury had to fly to the rescue, for in a fit of mad
+mirth Annie herself had knocked down the little Japanese tea-table, the
+tea-pot and tea-things were in fragments on the floor, and the tea and
+milk poured in streams outside the curtains. Mrs. Willis sent for Annie
+that evening, and Miss Forest retired from her interview with red eyes
+and a meek expression.
+
+"Girls," she said, in confidence that night, "good-bye to Japan. I gave
+her leave to do it--the care of an empire is more than I can manage."
+
+The next day the Japanese drawing-room had been handed over to another
+possessor, and Annie reigned as queen over her empire no more.
+
+Mrs. Willis, anxious at all times that her girls should be happy, made
+special arrangements for their benefit on Sunday. Sunday was by no means
+dull at Lavender House--Sunday was totally unlike the six days which
+followed it. Even the stupidest girl could scarcely complain of the
+severity of Sunday lessons--even the merriest girl could scarcely speak
+of the day as dull. Mrs. Willis made an invariable rule of spending all
+Sunday with her pupils. On this day she really unbent--on this day she
+was all during the long hours what she was during the short half-hour on
+each evening in the week. On Sunday she neither reproved nor corrected.
+If punishment or correction were necessary, she deputed Miss Good or Miss
+Danesbury to take her place. On Sunday she sat with the little children
+round her knee, and the older girls clustering about her. Her gracious
+and motherly face was like a sun shining in the midst of these young
+girls. In short, she was like the personified form of Goodness in their
+midst. It was necessary, therefore, that all those who wished to do right
+should be happy on Sunday, and only those few who deliberately preferred
+evil should shrink from the brightness of this day.
+
+It is astonishing how much a sympathizing and guiding spirit can effect.
+The girls at Lavender House thought Sunday the shortest day in the week.
+There were no unoccupied or dull moments--school toil was forgotten--school
+punishment ceased, to be resumed again if necessary on Monday morning. The
+girls in their best dresses could chatter freely in English--they could
+read their favorite books--they could wander about the house as they
+pleased; for on Sunday the two baize doors were always wide open, and Mrs.
+Willis' own private suite of rooms was ready to receive them. If the day
+was fine they walked to church, each choosing her own companion for the
+pleasant walk; if the day was wet there was service in the chapel, Mr.
+Everard always conducting either morning or evening prayers. In the
+afternoon the girls were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased, but
+after tea there always came a delightful hour, when the elder girls retired
+with their mistress into her own special boudoir, and she either told them
+stories or sang to them as only she could sing. At sixty years of age Mrs.
+Willis still possessed the most sympathetic and touching voice those girls
+had ever listened to. Hester Thornton broke down completely on her first
+Sunday at Lavender House when she heard her school-mistress sing "The
+Better Land." No one remarked on her tears, but two people saw them; for
+her mistress kissed her tenderly that night, and said a few strong words of
+help and encouragement, and Annie Forest, who made no comment, had also
+seen them, and wondered vaguely if this new and disagreeable pupil had a
+heart after all.
+
+On Sunday night Mrs. Willis herself went round to each little bed and
+gave a mother-kiss to each of her pupils--a mother-kiss and a murmured
+blessing; and in many breasts resolves were then formed which were to
+help the girls through the coming week. Some of these resolves, made not
+in their own strength, bore fruit in long after-years. There is no doubt
+that very few girls who lived long enough at Lavender House, ever in
+after-days found their Sundays dull.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+VARIETIES.
+
+
+Without any doubt, wild, naughty, impulsive Annie Forest was the most
+popular girl in the school. She was always in scrapes--she was scarcely
+ever out of hot water--her promises of amendment were truly like the
+proverbial pie-crust; but she was so lovable, so kind-hearted, so saucy
+and piquante and pretty, that very few could resist the nameless charm
+which she possessed. The little ones adored Annie, who was kindness
+itself to them; the bigger girls could not help admiring her fearlessness
+and courage; the best and noblest girls in the school tried to influence
+her for good. She was more or less an object of interest to every one;
+her courage was of just the sort to captivate schoolgirls, and her moral
+weakness was not observed by these inexperienced young eyes.
+
+Hester alone, of all the girls who for a long time had come to Lavender
+House, failed to see any charm in Annie. She began by considering her
+ill-bred, and when she found she was the school favorite, she tossed her
+proud little head and determined that she for one would never be
+subjugated by such a naughty girl. Hester could read character with
+tolerable clearness; she was an observant child--very observant, and very
+thoughtful for her twelve years; and as the little witch Annie had failed
+to throw any spell over her, she saw her faults far more clearly than did
+her companions. There is no doubt that this brilliant, charming, and
+naughty Annie had heaps of faults; she had no perseverance; she was all
+passion and impulse; she could be the kindest of the kind, but from sheer
+thoughtlessness and wildness she often inflicted severe pain, even on
+those she loved best. Annie very nearly worshiped Mrs. Willis; she had
+the most intense adoration for her, she respected her beyond any other
+human being. There were moments when the impulsive and hot-headed child
+felt that she could gladly lay down her life for her school-mistress.
+Once the mistress was ill, and Annie curled herself up all night outside
+her door, thereby breaking rules, and giving herself a severe cold; but
+her passion and agony were so great that she could only be soothed by at
+last stealing into the darkened room and kissing the face she loved.
+
+"Prove your love to me, Annie, by going downstairs and keeping the school
+rules as perfectly as possible," whispered the teacher.
+
+"I will--I will never break a rule again as long as I live, if you get
+better, Mrs. Willis," responded the child.
+
+She ran downstairs with her resolves strong within her, and yet in half
+an hour she was reprimanded for willful and desperate disobedience.
+
+One day Cecil Temple had invited a select number of friends to afternoon
+tea in her little drawing-room. It was the Wednesday half-holiday, and
+Cecil's tea, poured into the tiniest cups and accompanied by thin wafer
+biscuits, was of the most _recherché_ quality. Cecil had invited Hester
+Thornton, and a tall girl who belonged to the first class and whose name
+was Dora Russell, to partake of this dainty beverage. They were sitting
+round the tiny tea-table, on little red stools with groups of flowers
+artistically painted on them, and were all three conducting themselves in
+a most ladylike and refined manner, when Annie Forest's curly head and
+saucy face popped over the enclosure, and her voice said eagerly:
+
+"Oh, may I be permitted to enter the shrine?"
+
+"Certainly, Annie," said Cecil, in her most cordial tones. "I have got
+another cup and saucer, and there is a little tea left in the tea-pot."
+
+Annie came in, and ensconced herself cozily on the floor. It did not
+matter in the least to her that Hester Thornton's brow grew dark, and
+that Miss Russell suddenly froze into complete indifference to all her
+surroundings. Annie was full of a subject which excited her very much:
+she had suddenly discovered that she wanted to give Mrs. Willis a
+present, and she wished to know if any of the girls would like to join
+her.
+
+"I will give her the present this day week," said excitable Annie. "I
+have quite made up my mind. Will any one join me?"
+
+"But there is nothing special about this day week, Annie," said Miss
+Temple. "It will neither be Mrs. Willis' birthday, nor Christmas Day, nor
+New Year's Day, nor Easter Day. Next Wednesday will be just like any
+other Wednesday. Why should we make Mrs. Willis a present?"
+
+"Oh, because she looks as if she wanted one, poor dear. I thought she
+looked sad this morning; her eyes drooped and her mouth was down at the
+corners. I am sure she's wanting something from us all by now, just to
+show that we love her, you know."
+
+"Pshaw!" here burst from Hester's lips.
+
+"Why do you say that?" said Annie, turning round with her bright eyes
+flashing. "You've no right to be so contemptuous when I speak about
+our--our head-mistress. Oh, Cecil," she continued, "do let us give her a
+little surprise--some spring flowers, or something just to show her that
+we love her."
+
+"But _you_ don't love her," said Hester, stoutly.
+
+Here was throwing down the gauntlet with a vengeance! Annie sprang to her
+feet and confronted Hester with a whole torrent of angry words. Hester
+firmly maintained her position. She said over and over again that love
+proved itself by deeds, not by words; that if Annie learned her lessons,
+and obeyed the school rules, she would prove her affection for Mrs.
+Willis far more than by empty protestations. Hester's words were true,
+but they were uttered in an unkind spirit, and the very flavor of truth
+which they possessed caused them to enter Annie's heart and to wound her
+deeply. She turned, not red, but very white, and her large and lovely
+eyes grew misty with unshed tears.
+
+"You are cruel," she gasped, rather than spoke, and then she pushed aside
+the curtains of Cecil's compartment and walked out of the play-room.
+
+There was a dead silence among the three girls when she left them.
+Hester's heart was still hot, and she was still inclined to maintain her
+own position, and to believe she had done right in speaking in so severe
+a tone to Annie. But even she had been made a little uneasy by the look
+of deep suffering which had suddenly transformed Annie's charming
+childish face into that of a troubled and pained woman. She sat down
+meekly on her little three-legged stool and, taking up her tiny cup and
+saucer, sipped some of the cold tea.
+
+Cecil Temple was the first to speak.
+
+"How could you?" she said, in an indignant voice for her. "Annie is not
+the girl to be driven, and in any case, it is not for you to correct her.
+Oh, Mrs. Willis would have been so pained had she heard you--you were not
+_kind_, Miss Thornton. There, I don't wish to be rude, but I fear I must
+leave you and Miss Russell--I must try and find Annie."
+
+"I'm going back to my own drawing-room," said Miss Russell, rising to her
+feet. "Perhaps," she added, turning round with a very gracious smile to
+Hester, "you will come and see me there, after tea, this evening."
+
+Miss Russell drew aside the curtains of Cecil Temple's little room, and
+disappeared. Hester, with her eyes full of tears, now turned eagerly to
+Cecil.
+
+"Forgive me, Cecil," she exclaimed. "I did not mean to be unkind, but it
+is really quite ridiculous the way you all spoil that girl--you know as
+well as I do that she is a very naughty girl. I suppose it is because of
+her pretty face," continued Hester, "that you are all so unjust, and so
+blind to her faults."
+
+"You are prejudiced the other way, Hester," said Cecil in a more gentle
+tone. "You have disliked Annie from the first. There, don't keep me--I
+must go to her now. There is no knowing what harm your words may have
+done. Annie is not like other girls. If you knew her story, you would,
+perhaps be kinder to her."
+
+Cecil then ran out of her drawing-room, leaving Hester in sole possession
+of the little tea-things and the three-legged stools. She sat and thought
+for some time; she was a girl with a great deal of obstinacy in her
+nature, and she was not disposed to yield her own point, even to Cecil
+Temple; but Cecil's words had, nevertheless, made some impression on her.
+
+At tea-time that night, Annie and Cecil entered the room together.
+Annie's eyes were as bright as stars, and her usually pale cheeks glowed
+with a deep color. She had never looked prettier--she had never looked so
+defiant, so mischievous, so utterly reckless. Mdlle. Perier fired
+indignant French at her across the table. Annie answered respectfully,
+and became demure in a moment; but even in the short instant in which the
+governess was obliged to lower her eyes to her plate, she had thrown a
+look so irresistibly comic at her companions that several of them had
+tittered aloud. Not once did she glance at Hester, although she
+occasionally looked boldly in her direction; but when she did so, her
+versatile face assumed a blank expression, as if she were seeing nothing.
+When tea was over, Dora Russell surprised the members of her own class by
+walking straight up to Hester, putting her hand inside her arm, and
+leading her off to her own very refined-looking little drawing-room.
+
+"I want to tell you," she said, when the two girls found themselves
+inside the small enclosure, "that I quite agree with you in your opinion
+of Miss Forest. I think you were very brave to speak to her as you did
+to-day. As a rule, I never trouble myself with what the little girls in
+the third class do, and of course Annie seldom comes under my notice; but
+I think she is a decidedly spoiled child, and your rebuff will doubtless
+do her a great deal of good."
+
+These words of commendation, coming from tall and dignified Miss Russell
+completely turned poor Hester's head.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you think so!" she stammered, coloring high with
+pleasure. "You see," she added, assuming a little tone of extra
+refinement, "at home I always associated with girls who were perfect
+ladies."
+
+"Yes, any one can see that," remarked Miss Russell approvingly.
+
+"And I do think Annie under-bred," continued Hester. "I cannot
+understand," she added, "why Miss Temple likes her so much."
+
+"Oh, Cecil is so amiable; she sees good in every one," answered Miss
+Russell. "Annie is evidently not a lady, and I am glad at last to find
+some one of the girls who belong to the middle school capable of
+discerning this fact. Of course, we of the first class have nothing
+whatever to say to Miss Forest, but I really think Mrs. Willis is not
+acting quite fairly by the other girls when she allows a young person of
+that description into the school. I wish to assure you, Miss Thornton,
+that you have at least my sympathy, and I shall be very pleased to see
+you in my drawing-room now and then."
+
+As these last words were uttered, both girls were conscious of a little
+rustling sound not far away. Miss Russell drew back her curtain, and
+asked very sharply, "Who is there?" but no one replied, nor was there any
+one in sight, for the girls who did not possess compartments were
+congregated at the other end of the long play-room, listening to stories
+which Emma Marshall, a clever elder girl, was relating for their benefit.
+
+Miss Russell talked on indifferent subjects to Hester, and at the end of
+the half-hour the two entered the class-room side by side, Hester's
+little head a good deal turned by this notice from one of the oldest
+girls in the school.
+
+As the two walked together into the school-room, Susan Drummond, who,
+tall as she was, was only in the fourth class, rushed up to Miss Forest,
+and whispered something in her ear.
+
+"It is just as I told you," she said, and her sleepy voice was quite wide
+awake and animated. Annie Forest rewarded her by a playful pinch on her
+cheek; then she returned to her own class, with a severe reprimand from
+the class teacher, and silence reigned in the long room, as the girls
+began to prepare their lessons as usual for the next day.
+
+Miss Russell took her place at her desk in her usual dignified manner.
+She was a clever girl, and was going to leave school at the end of next
+term. Hers was a particularly fastidious, but by no means great nature.
+She was the child of wealthy parents; she was also well-born, and because
+of her money, and a certain dignity and style which had come to her as
+nature's gifts, she held an influence, though by no means a large one, in
+the school. No one particularly disliked her, but no one, again, ardently
+loved her. The girls in her own class thought it well to be friendly with
+Dora Russell, and Dora accepted their homage with more or less
+indifference. She did not greatly care for either their praise or blame.
+Dora possessed in a strong degree that baneful quality, which more than
+anything else precludes the love of others--she was essentially selfish.
+
+She sat now before her desk, little guessing how she had caused Hester's
+small heart to beat by her patronage, and little suspecting the mischief
+she had done to the girl by her injudicious words. Had she known, it is
+to be doubted whether she would have greatly cared. She looked through
+the books which contained her tasks for the next day's work, and, finding
+they did not require a great deal of preparation, put them aside, and
+amused herself during the rest of preparation time with a storybook,
+which she artfully concealed behind the leaves of some exercises. She
+knew she was breaking the rules, but this fact did not trouble her, for
+her moral nature was, after all, no better than poor Annie's, and she had
+not a tenth of her lovable qualities.
+
+Dora Russell was the soul of neatness and order. To look inside her
+school desk was a positive pleasure; to glance at her own neat and trim
+figure was more or less of a delight. Hers were the whitest hands in the
+school, and hers the most perfectly kept and glossy hair. As the
+preparation hour drew to a close, she replaced her exercises and books in
+exquisite order in her school desk and shut down the lid.
+
+Hester's eyes followed her as she walked out of the school-room, for the
+head class never had supper with the younger girls. Hester wondered if
+she would glance in her direction; but Miss Russell had gratified a very
+passing whim when she condescended to notice and praise Hester, and she
+had already almost forgotten her existence.
+
+At bed-time that night Susan Drummond's behavior was at the least
+extraordinary. In the first place, instead of being almost overpoweringly
+friendly with Hester, she scarcely noticed her; in the next place, she
+made some very peculiar preparations.
+
+"What _are_ you doing on the floor, Susan?" inquired Hetty in an innocent
+tone.
+
+"That's nothing to you," replied Miss Drummond, turning a dusky red, and
+looking annoyed at being discovered. "I do wish," she added, "that you
+would go round to your side of the room and leave me alone; I sha'n't
+have done what I want to do before Danesbury comes in to put out the
+candle."
+
+Hester was not going to put herself out with any of Susan Drummond's
+vagaries; she looked upon sleepy Susan as a girl quite beneath her
+notice, but even she could not help observing her, when she saw her sit
+up in bed a quarter of an hour after the candles had been put out, and in
+the flickering firelight which shone conveniently bright for her purpose,
+fasten a piece of string first round one of her toes, and then to the end
+of the bed-post.
+
+"What _are_ you doing?" said Hester again, half laughing.
+
+"Oh, what a spy you are!" said Susan. "I want to wake, that's all; and
+whenever I turn in bed, that string will tug at my toe, and, of course,
+I'll rouse up. If you were more good-natured, I'd give the other end of
+the string to you; but, of course, that plan would never answer."
+
+"No, indeed," replied Hester; "I am not going to trouble myself to wake
+you. You must trust to your sponge of cold water in the morning, unless
+your own admirable device succeeds."
+
+"I'm going to sleep now, at any rate," answered Susan; "I'm on my back,
+and I'm beginning to snore; good night."
+
+Once or twice during the night Hester heard groans from the
+self-sacrificing Susan, who, doubtless, found the string attached to her
+foot very inconvenient.
+
+Hester, however, slept on when it might have been better for the peace of
+many in the school that she should have awakened. She heard no sound
+when, long before day, sleepy Susan stepped softly out of bed, and
+wrapping a thick shawl about her, glided out of the room. She was away
+for over half an hour, but she returned to her chamber and got into bed
+without in the least disturbing Hester. In the morning she was found so
+soundly asleep that even the sponge of cold water could not arouse her.
+
+"Pull the string at the foot of the bed, Alice," said Hester; "she
+fastened a string to her toe, and twisted the other end round the
+bed-post, last night; pull it, Alice, it may effect its purpose."
+
+But there was no string now round Susan Drummond's foot, nor was it found
+hanging to the bed-post.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE SCHOOL-DESK.
+
+
+The next morning, when the whole school were assembled, and all the
+classes were getting ready for the real work of the day, Miss Good, the
+English teacher, stepped to the head of the room, and, holding a neatly
+bound volume of "Jane Eyre" in her hand, begged to know to whom it
+belonged. There was a hush of astonishment when she held up the little
+book, for all the girls knew well that this special volume was not
+allowed for school literature.
+
+"The housemaid who dusts the school-room found this book on the floor,"
+continued the teacher. "It lay beside a desk near the top of the room. I
+see the name has been torn out, so I cannot tell who is the owner. I must
+request her, however, to step forward and take possession of her
+property. If there is the slightest attempt at concealment, the whole
+matter will be laid before Mrs. Willis at noon to-day."
+
+When Miss Good had finished her little speech, she held up the book in
+its green binding and looked down the room.
+
+Hester did not know why her heart beat--no one glanced at her, no one
+regarded her; all eyes were fixed on Miss Good, who stood with a severe,
+unsmiling, but expectant face.
+
+"Come, young ladies," she said, "the owner has surely no difficulty in
+recognizing her own property. I give you exactly thirty seconds more;
+then if no one claims the book, I place the affair in Mrs. Willis'
+hands."
+
+Just then there was a stir among the girls in the head class. A tall girl
+in dove-colored cashmere, with a smooth head of golden hair, and a fair
+face which was a good deal flushed at this moment, stepped to the front,
+and said in a clear and perfectly modulated voice:
+
+"I had no idea of concealing the fact that 'Jane Eyre' belongs to me. I
+was only puzzled for a moment to know how it got on the floor. I placed
+it carefully in my desk last night. I think this circumstance ought to be
+inquired into."
+
+"Oh! Oh!" came from several suppressed voices here and there through the
+room; "whoever would have supposed that Dora Russell would be obliged to
+humble herself in this way?"
+
+"Attention, young ladies!" said Miss Good; "no talking, if you please. Do
+I understand, Miss Russell, that 'Jane Eyre' is yours?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Good."
+
+"Why did you keep it in your desk--were you reading it during
+preparation?"
+
+"Oh, yes, certainly."
+
+"You are, of course, aware that you were breaking two very stringent
+rules of the school. In the first place, no story-books are allowed to be
+concealed in a school-desk, or to be read during preparation. In the
+second place, this special book is not allowed to be read at any time in
+Lavender House. You know these rules, Miss Russell?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Good."
+
+"I must retain the book--you can return now to your place in class."
+
+Miss Russell bowed sedately, and with an apparently unmoved face, except
+for the slightly deepened glow on her smooth cheek, resumed her
+interrupted work.
+
+Lessons went on as usual, but during recreation the mystery of the
+discovered book was largely discussed by the girls. As is the custom of
+schoolgirls, they took violent sides in the matter--some rejoicing in
+Dora's downfall, some pitying her intensely. Hester was, of course, one
+of Miss Russell's champions, and she looked at her with tender sympathy
+when she came with her haughty and graceful manner into the school-room,
+and her little heart beat with vague hope that Dora might turn to her for
+sympathy.
+
+Dora, however, did nothing of the kind. She refused to discuss the affair
+with her companions, and none of them quite knew what Mrs. Willis said to
+her, or what special punishment was inflicted on the proud girl. Several
+of her schoolfellows expected that Dora's drawing-room would be taken
+away from her, but she still retained it; and after a few days the affair
+of the book was almost forgotten.
+
+There was, however, an uncomfortable and an uneasy spirit abroad in the
+school. Susan Drummond, who was certainly one of the most uninteresting
+girls in Lavender House, was often seen walking with and talking to Miss
+Forest. Sometimes Annie shook her pretty head over Susan's remarks;
+sometimes she listened to her; sometimes she laughed and spoke eagerly
+for a moment or two, and appeared to acquiesce in suggestions which her
+companion urged.
+
+Annie had always been the soul of disorder--of wild pranks, of naughty
+and disobedient deeds--but, hitherto, in all her wildness she had never
+intentionally hurt any one but herself. Hers was a giddy and thoughtless,
+but by no means a bitter tongue--she thought well of all her
+schoolfellows--and on occasions she could be self-sacrificing and
+good-natured to a remarkable extent. The girls of the head class took
+very little notice of Annie, but her other school companions, as a rule,
+succumbed to her sunny, bright, and witty ways. She offended them a
+hundred times a day, and a hundred times a day was forgiven. Hester was
+the first girl in the third class who had ever persistently disliked
+Annie, and Annie, after making one or two overtures of friendship, began
+to return Miss Thornton's aversion; but she had never cordially hated her
+until the day they met in Cecil Temple's drawing-room, and Hester had
+wounded Annie in her tenderest part by doubting her affection for Mrs.
+Willis.
+
+Since that day there was a change very noticeable in Annie Forest--she was
+not so gay as formerly, but she was a great deal more mischievous--she was
+not nearly so daring, but she was capable now of little actions, slight in
+themselves, which yet were calculated to cause mischief and real
+unhappiness. Her sudden friendship with Susan Drummond did her no good,
+and she persistently avoided all intercourse with Cecil Temple, who
+hitherto had influenced her in the right direction.
+
+The incident of the green book had passed with no apparent result of
+grave importance, but the spirit of mischief which had caused this book
+to be found was by no means asleep in the school. Pranks were played in a
+most mysterious fashion with the girls' properties.
+
+Hester herself was the very next victim. She, too, was a neat and orderly
+child--she was clever and thoroughly enjoyed her school work. She was
+annoyed, therefore, and dreadfully puzzled, by discovering one morning
+that her neat French exercise book was disgracefully blotted, and one
+page torn across. She was severely reprimanded by Mdlle. Perier for such
+gross untidiness and carelessness, and when she assured the governess
+that she knew nothing whatever of the circumstance, that she was never
+guilty of blots, and had left the book in perfect order the night before,
+the French lady only shrugged her shoulders, made an expressive gesture
+with her eyebrows, and plainly showed Hester that she thought the less
+she said on that subject the better.
+
+Hester was required to write out her exercise again, and she fancied she
+saw a triumphant look in Annie Forest's eyes as she left the school-room,
+where poor Hester was obliged to remain to undergo her unmerited
+punishment.
+
+"Cecil," called Hester, in a passionate and eager voice, as Miss Temple
+was passing her place.
+
+Cecil paused for a moment.
+
+"What is it, Hetty?--oh, I am so sorry you must stay in this lovely
+bright day."
+
+"I have done nothing wrong," said Hester; "I never blotted this
+exercise-book; I never tore this page. It is most unjust not to believe
+my word; it is most unjust to punish me for what I have not done."
+
+Miss Temple's face looked puzzled and sad.
+
+"I must not stay to talk to you now, Hester," she whispered; "I am
+breaking the rules. You can come to my drawing-room by-and-by, and we
+will discuss this matter."
+
+But Hester and Cecil, talk as they would, could find no solution to the
+mystery. Cecil absolutely refused to believe that Annie Forest had
+anything to do with the matter.
+
+"No," she said, "such deceit is not in Annie's nature. I would do
+anything to help you, Hester; but I can't, and I won't, believe that
+Annie tried deliberately to do you any harm."
+
+"I am quite certain she did," retorted Hester, "and from this moment I
+refuse to speak to her until she confesses what she has done and
+apologizes to me. Indeed, I have a great mind to go and tell everything
+to Mrs. Willis."
+
+"Oh, I would not do that," said Cecil; "none of your schoolfellows would
+forgive you if you charged such a favorite as Annie with a crime which
+you cannot in the least prove against her. You must be patient, Hester,
+and if you are, I will take your part, and try to get at the bottom of
+the mystery."
+
+Cecil, however, failed to do so. Annie laughed when the affair was
+discussed in her presence, but her clear eyes looked as innocent as the
+day, and nothing would induce Cecil to doubt Miss Forest's honor.
+
+The mischievous sprite, however, who was sowing such seeds of unhappiness
+in the hitherto peaceful school was not satisfied with two deeds of
+daring; for a week afterward Cecil Temple found a book of Mrs.
+Browning's, out of which she was learning a piece for recitation, with
+its cover half torn off, and, still worse, a caricature of Mrs. Willis
+sketched with some cleverness and a great deal of malice on the
+title-page. On the very same morning, Dora Russell, on opening her desk,
+was seen to throw up her hands with a gesture of dismay. The neat
+composition she had finished the night before was not to be seen in its
+accustomed place, but in a corner of the desk were two bulky and
+mysterious parcels, one of which contained a great junk of rich
+plum-cake, and the other some very sticky and messy "Turkish delight;"
+while the paper which enveloped these luxuries was found to be that on
+which the missing composition was written. Dora's face grew very white,
+she forgot the ordinary rules of the school, and, leaving her class,
+walked down the room, and interrupted Miss Good, who was beginning to
+instruct the third class in English grammar.
+
+"Will you please come and see something in my desk, Miss Good?" she said
+in a voice which trembled with excitement.
+
+It was while she was speaking that Cecil found the copy of Mrs. Browning
+mutilated, and with the disgraceful caricature on its title-page.
+Startled as she was by this discovery, and also by Miss Russell's
+extraordinary behavior, she had presence of mind enough to hide the sight
+which pained her from her companions. Unobserved, in the strong interest
+of the moment, for all the girls were watching Dora Russell and Miss
+Good, she managed to squeeze the little volume into her pocket. She had
+indeed received a great shock, for she knew well that the only girl who
+could caricature in the school was Annie Forest. For a moment her
+troubled eyes sought the ground, but then she raised them and looked at
+Annie; Annie, however, with a particularly cheerful face, and her bright
+dark eyes full of merriment, was gazing in astonishment at the scene
+which was taking place in front of Miss Russell's desk.
+
+Dora, whose enunciation was very clear, seemed to have absolutely
+forgotten herself; she disregarded Miss Good's admonitions, and declared
+stoutly that at such a moment she did not care what rules she broke. She
+was quite determined that the culprit who had dared to desecrate her
+composition, and put plum-cake and "Turkish delight" into her desk,
+should be publicly exposed and punished.
+
+"The thing cannot go on any longer, Miss Good," she said; "there is a
+girl in this school who ought to be expelled from it, and I for one
+declare openly that I will not submit to associate with a girl who is
+worse than unladylike. If you will permit me, Miss Good, I will carry
+these things at once to Mrs. Willis, and beg of her to investigate the
+whole affair, and bring the culprit to justice, and to turn her out of
+the school."
+
+"Stay, Miss Russell," exclaimed the English teacher, "you strangely and
+completely forget yourself. You are provoked, I own, but you have no
+right to stand up and absolutely hoist the flag of rebellion in the faces
+of the other girls. I cannot excuse your conduct. I will myself take away
+these parcels which were found in your desk, and will report the affair
+to Mrs. Willis. She will take what steps she thinks right in bringing you
+to order, and in discovering the author of this mischief. Return
+instantly to your desk, Miss Russell; you strangely forget yourself."
+
+Miss Good left the room, having removed the plum-cake and "Turkish
+delight" from Dora Russell's desk, and lessons continued as best they
+could under such exciting circumstances.
+
+At twelve o'clock that day, just as the girls were preparing to go up to
+their rooms to get ready for their usual walk, Mrs. Willis came into the
+school-room.
+
+"Stay one moment, young ladies," said the head-mistress in that slightly
+vibrating and authoritative voice of hers. "I have a word or two to say
+to you all. Miss Good has just brought me a painful story of wanton and
+cruel mischief. There are fifty girls in this school, who, until lately,
+lived happily together. There is now one girl among the fifty whose
+object it is to sow seeds of discord and misery among her companions.
+Miss Good has told me of three different occasions on which mischief has
+been done to different girls in the school. Twice Miss Russell's desk has
+been disturbed, once Miss Thornton's. It is possible that other girls may
+also have suffered who have been noble enough not to complain. There is,
+however, a grave mischief, in short a moral disease in our midst. Such a
+thing is worse than bodily illness--it must be stamped out instantly and
+completely at the risk of any personal suffering. I am now going to ask
+you, girls, a simple question, and I demand instant truth without any
+reservation. Miss Russell's desk has been tampered with--Miss Thornton's
+desk has been tampered with. Has any other girl suffered injury--has any
+other girl's desk been touched?"
+
+Mrs. Willis looked down the long room--her voice had reached every
+corner, and the quiet, dignified, and deeply-pained expression in her
+fine eyes was plainly visible to each girl in the school. Even the little
+ones were startled and subdued by the tone of Mrs. Willis' voice, and one
+or two of them suddenly burst into tears. Mrs. Willis paused for a full
+moment, then she repeated her question.
+
+"I insist upon knowing the exact truth, my dear children," she said
+gently, but with great decision.
+
+"My desk has also been tampered with," said Miss Temple, in a low voice.
+
+Every one started when Cecil spoke, and even Annie Forest glanced at her
+with a half-frightened and curious expression. Cecil's voice indeed was
+so low, so shaken with doubt and pain, that her companions scarcely
+recognized it.
+
+"Come here, Miss Temple," said Mrs. Willis.
+
+Cecil instantly left her desk and walked up the room.
+
+"Your desk has also been tampered with, you say?" repeated the
+head-mistress.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"When did you discover this?"
+
+"To-day, Mrs. Willis."
+
+"You kept it to yourself?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Will you now repeat in the presence of the school, and in a loud enough
+voice to be heard by all here, exactly what was done?"
+
+"Pardon me," answered Cecil, and now her voice was a little less agitated
+and broken, and she looked full into the face of her teacher, "I cannot
+do that."
+
+"You deliberately disobey me, Cecil?" said Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+Mrs. Willis' face flushed--she did not, however, look angry; she laid her
+hand on Cecil's shoulder and looked full into her eyes.
+
+"You are one of my best pupils, Cecil," she said tenderly. "At such a
+moment as this, honor requires you to stand by your mistress. I must
+insist on your telling me here and now exactly what has occurred."
+
+Cecil's face grew whiter and whiter.
+
+"I cannot tell you," she murmured; "it breaks my heart, but I cannot tell
+you."
+
+"You have defied me, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis in a tone of deep pain. "I
+must, my dear, insist on your obedience, but not now. Miss Good, will you
+take Miss Temple to the chapel? I will come to you, Cecil, in an hour's
+time."
+
+Cecil walked down the room crying silently. Her deep distress and her
+very firm refusal to disclose what she knew had made a great impression
+on her schoolfellows. They all felt troubled and uneasy, and Annie
+Forest's face was very pale.
+
+"This thing, this wicked, mischievous thing has gone deeper than I
+feared," said Mrs. Willis, when Cecil had left the room. "Only some very
+strong motive would make Cecil Temple behave as she is now doing. She is
+influenced by a mistaken idea of what is right; she wishes to shield the
+guilty person. I may as well tell you all, young ladies, that, dear as
+Cecil is to me, she is now under the ban of my severe displeasure. Until
+she confesses the truth and humbles herself before me, I cannot be
+reconciled to her. I cannot permit her to associate with you. She has
+done very wrong, and her punishment must be proportionately severe. There
+is one chance for her, however. Will the girl whom she is mistakenly,
+though generously, trying to shield, come forward and confess her guilt,
+and so release poor Cecil from the terrible position in which she has
+placed herself? By doing so, the girl who has caused all this misery will
+at least show me that she is trying to repent?"
+
+Mrs. Willis paused again, and now she looked down the room with a face of
+almost entreaty. Several pairs of eyes were fixed anxiously on her,
+several looked away, and many girls glanced in the direction of Annie
+Forest, who, feeling herself suspected, returned their glances with bold
+defiance, and instantly assumed her most reckless manner.
+
+Mrs. Willis waited for a full minute.
+
+"The culprit is not noble enough," she said then. "Now, girls, I must ask
+each of you to come up one by one and deny or confess this charge. As you
+do so, you are silently to leave the school-room and go up to your rooms,
+and prepare for the walk which has been so painfully delayed. Miss
+Conway, you are at the head of the school, will you set the example?"
+
+One by one the girls of the head class stepped up to their teacher, and
+of each one she asked the same question:
+
+"Are you guilty?"
+
+Each girl replied in the negative and walked out of the school-room. The
+second class followed the example of the first, and then the third class
+came up to their teacher. Several ears were strained to hear Annie
+Forest's answer, but her eyes were lifted fearlessly to Mrs. Willis'
+face, and her "No!" was heard all over the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+IN THE CHAPEL.
+
+
+The bright light from a full noontide sun was shining in colored bars
+through the richly-painted windows of the little chapel when Mrs. Willis
+sought Cecil Temple there.
+
+Cecil's face was in many ways a remarkable one.
+
+Her soft brown eyes were generally filled with a steadfast and kindly
+ray. Gentleness was her special prerogative, but there was nothing weak
+about her--hers was the gentleness of a strong, and pure, and noble soul.
+To know Cecil was to love her. She was a motherless girl, and the only
+child of a most indulgent father. Colonel Temple was now in India, and
+Cecil was to finish her education under Mrs. Willis' care, and then, if
+necessary, to join her father.
+
+Mrs. Willis had always taken a special interest in this girl. She admired
+her for her great moral worth. Cecil was not particularly clever, but she
+was so studious, so painstaking, that she always kept a high place in
+class. She was without doubt a religious girl, but there was nothing of
+the prig about her. She was not, however, ashamed of her religion, and,
+if the fitting occasion arose, she was fearless in expressing her
+opinion.
+
+Mrs. Willis used to call Cecil her "little standard-bearer," and she
+relied greatly on her influence over the third-class girls. Mrs. Willis
+considered the third class, perhaps, the most important in the school.
+She was often heard to say:
+
+"The girls who fill this class have come to a turning point--they have
+come to the age when resolves may be made for life, and kept. The good
+third-class girl is very unlikely to degenerate as she passes through the
+second and first classes. On the other hand, there is very little hope
+that the idle or mischievous third-class girl will mend her ways as she
+goes higher in the school."
+
+Mrs. Willis' steps were very slow, and her thoughts extremely painful, as
+she entered the chapel to-day. Had any one else offered her defiance she
+would have known how to deal with the culprit, but Cecil would never have
+acted as she did without the strongest motive, and Mrs. Willis felt more
+sorrowful than angry as she sat down by the side of her favorite pupil.
+
+"I have kept you waiting longer than I intended, my dear," she said. "I
+was unexpectedly interrupted, and I am sorry; but you have had more time
+to think, Cecil."
+
+"Yes, I have thought," answered Cecil, in a very low tone.
+
+"And, perhaps," continued her governess, "in this quiet and beautiful and
+sacred place, my dear pupil has also prayed?"
+
+"I have prayed," said Cecil.
+
+"Then you have been guided, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis, in a tone of
+relief. "We do not come to God in our distress without being shown the
+right way. Your doubts have been removed, Cecil; you can now speak fully
+to me: can you not, dear?"
+
+"I have asked God to tell me what is right," said Cecil. "I don't pretend
+to know. I am very much puzzled. It seems to me that more good would be
+done if I concealed what you asked me to confess in the school-room. My
+own feeling is that I ought not to tell you. I know this is great
+disobedience, and I am quite willing to receive any punishment you think
+right to give me. Yes, I think I am quite willing to receive _any_
+punishment."
+
+Mrs. Willis put her hand on Cecil's shoulder.
+
+"Ordinary punishments are not likely to affect you, Cecil," she said; "on
+you I have no idea of inflicting extra lessons, or depriving you of
+half-holidays, or even taking away your drawing-room. But there is
+something else you must lose, and that I know will touch you deeply--I
+must remove from you my confidence."
+
+Cecil's face grew very pale.
+
+"And your love, too?" she said, looking up with imploring eyes; "oh,
+surely not your love as well?"
+
+"I ask you frankly, Cecil," replied Mrs. Willis, "can perfect love exist
+without perfect confidence? I would not willingly deprive you of my love,
+but of necessity the love I have hitherto felt for you must be
+altered--in short, the old love, which enabled me to rest on you and
+trust you, will cease."
+
+Cecil covered her face with her hands.
+
+"This punishment is very cruel," she said. "You are right; it reaches
+down to my very heart. But," she added, looking up with a strong and
+sweet light in her face, "I will try and bear it, and some day you will
+understand."
+
+"Listen, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis; "you have just told me you have prayed
+to God, and have asked Him to show you the right path. Now, my dear,
+suppose we kneel together, and both of us ask Him to show us the way out
+of this difficult matter. I want to be guided to use the right words with
+you, Cecil. You want to be guided to receive the instruction which I, as
+your teacher and mother-friend, would give you."
+
+Cecil and Mrs. Willis both knelt down, and the head-mistress said a few
+words in a voice of great earnestness and entreaty; then they resumed
+their seats.
+
+"Now, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis, "you must remember in listening to me
+that I am speaking to you as I believe God wishes me to. If I can
+convince you that you are doing wrong in concealing what you know from
+me, will you act as I wish in the matter?"
+
+"I long to be convinced," said Cecil, in a low tone.
+
+"That is right, my dear; I can now speak to you with perfect freedom. My
+words you will remember, Cecil, are now, I firmly believe, directed by
+God; they are also the result of a large experience. I have trained many
+girls. I have watched the phases of thought in many young minds. Cecil,
+look at me. I can read you like a book."
+
+Cecil looked up expectantly.
+
+"Your motive for this concealment is as clear as the daylight, Cecil. You
+are keeping back what you know because you want to shield some one. Am I
+not right, my dear?"
+
+The color flooded Cecil's pale face. She bent her head in silent assent,
+but her eyes were too full of tears, and her lips trembled too much to
+allow her to speak.
+
+"The girl you want to defend," continued Mrs. Willis, in that clear,
+patient voice of hers, "is one whom you and I both love--is one for whom
+we both have prayed--is one for whom we would both gladly sacrifice
+ourselves if necessary. Her name is----"
+
+"Oh, don't," said Cecil imploringly--"don't say her name; you have no
+right to suspect her."
+
+"I must say her name, Cecil, dear. If you suspect Annie Forest, why
+should not I? You do suspect her, do you not, Cecil?"
+
+Cecil began to cry.
+
+"I know it," continued Mrs. Willis. "Now, Cecil, we will suppose,
+terrible as this suspicion is, fearfully as it pains us both, that Annie
+Forest _is_ guilty. We must suppose for the sake of my argument that this
+is the case. Do you not know, my dear Cecil, that you are doing the
+falsest, cruelest thing by dear Annie in trying to hide her sin from me?
+Suppose, just for the sake of our argument, that this cowardly conduct on
+Annie's part was never found out by me; what effect would it have on
+Annie herself?"
+
+"It would save her in the eyes of the school," said Cecil.
+
+"Just so; but God would know the truth. Her next downfall would be
+deeper. In short, Cecil, under the idea of friendship you would have done
+the cruelest thing in all the world for your friend."
+
+Cecil was quite silent.
+
+"This is one way to look at it," continued Mrs. Willis; "but there are
+many other points from which this case ought to be viewed. You owe much
+to Annie, but not all--you have a duty to perform to your other
+schoolfellows. You have a duty to perform to me. If you possess a clue
+which will enable me to convict Annie Forest of her sin, in common
+justice you have no right to withhold it. Remember, that while she goes
+about free and unsuspected, some other girl is under the ban--some other
+girl is watched and feared. You fail in your duty to your schoolfellows
+when you keep back your knowledge, Cecil. When you refuse to trust me,
+you fail in your duty to your mistress; for I cannot stamp out this evil
+and wicked thing from our midst unless I know all. When you conceal your
+knowledge, you ruin the character of the girl you seek to shield. When
+you conceal your knowledge, you go against God's express wish. There--I
+have spoken to you as He directed me to speak."
+
+Cecil suddenly sprang to her feet.
+
+"I never thought of all these things," she said. "You are right, but it
+is very hard, and mine is only a suspicion. Oh, do be tender to her,
+and--forgive me--may I go away now?"
+
+As she spoke, she pulled out the torn copy of Mrs. Browning, laid it on
+her teacher's lap, and ran swiftly out of the chapel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+TALKING OVER THE MYSTERY.
+
+
+Annie Forest, sitting in the midst of a group of eager admirers, was
+chatting volubly. Never had she been in higher spirits, never had her
+pretty face looked more bright and daring.
+
+Cecil Temple coming into the play-room, started when she saw her. Annie,
+however, instantly rose from the low hassock on which she had perched
+herself and, running up to Cecil, put her hand through her arm.
+
+"We are all discussing the mystery, darling," she said; "we have
+discussed it, and literally torn it to shreds, and yet never got at the
+kernel. We have guessed and guessed what your motive can be in concealing
+the truth from Mrs. Willis, and we all unanimously vote that you are a
+dear old martyr, and that you have some admirable reason for keeping back
+the truth. You cannot think what an excitement we are in--even Susy
+Drummond has stayed awake to listen to our chatter. Now, Cecil, do come
+and sit here in this most inviting little arm-chair, and tell us what our
+dear head-mistress said to you in the chapel. It did seem so awful to
+send you to the chapel, poor dear Cecil."
+
+Cecil stood perfectly still and quiet while Annie was pouring out her
+torrent of eager words; her eyes, indeed, did not quite meet her
+companion's, but she allowed Annie to retain her clasp of her arm, and
+she evidently listened with attention to her words. Now, however, when
+Miss Forest tried to draw her into the midst of the eager and animated
+group who sat round the play-room fire, she hesitated and looked
+longingly in the direction of her peaceful little drawing-room. Her
+hesitation, however, was but momentary. Quite silently she walked with
+Annie down the large play-room and entered the group of girls.
+
+"Here's your throne, Queen Cecil," said Annie, trying to push her into
+the little arm-chair; but Cecil would not seat herself.
+
+"How nice that you have come, Cecil!" said Mary Pierce, a second-class
+girl. "I really think--we all think--that you were very brave to stand
+out against Mrs. Willis as you did. Of course we are devoured with
+curiosity to know what it means; arn't we, Flo?"
+
+"Yes, we're in agonies," answered Flo Dunstan, another second-class girl.
+
+"You will tell exactly what Mrs. Willis said, darling heroine?" proceeded
+Annie in her most dulcet tones. "You concealed your knowledge, didn't
+you? you were very firm, weren't you? dear, brave love!"
+
+"For my part, I think Cecil Temple the soul of brave firmness," here
+interrupted Susan Drummond. "I fancy she's as hard and firm in herself
+when she wants to conceal a thing as that rocky sweetmeat which always
+hurts our teeth to get through. Yes, I do fancy that."
+
+"Oh, Susy, what a horrid metaphor!" here interrupted several girls.
+
+One, however, of the eager group of schoolgirls had not opened her lips
+or said a word; that girl was Hester Thornton. She had been drawn into
+the circle by an intense curiosity; but she had made no comment with
+regard to Cecil's conduct. If she knew anything of the mystery she had
+thrown no light on it. She had simply sat motionless, with watchful and
+alert eyes and silent tongue. Now, for the first time, she spoke.
+
+"I think, if you will allow her, that Cecil has got something to say,"
+she remarked.
+
+Cecil glanced down at her with a very brief look of gratitude.
+
+"Thank you, Hester," she said. "I won't keep you a moment, girls. I
+cannot offer to throw any light on the mystery which makes us all so
+miserable to-day; but I think it right to undeceive you with regard to
+myself. I have not concealed what I know from Mrs. Willis. She is in
+possession of all the facts, and what I found in my desk this morning is
+now in her keeping. She has made me see that in concealing my knowledge I
+was acting wrongly, and whatever pain has come to me in the matter, she
+now knows all."
+
+When Cecil had finished her sad little speech she walked straight out of
+the group of girls, and, without glancing at one of them, went across the
+play-room to her own compartment. She had failed to observe a quick and
+startled glance from Susan Drummond's sleepy blue eyes, nor had she heard
+her mutter--half to her companions, half to herself:
+
+"Cecil is not like the rocky sweetmeat; I was mistaken in her."
+
+Neither had Cecil seen the flash of almost triumph in Hester's eyes, nor
+the defiant glance she threw at Miss Forest. Annie stood with her hands
+clasped, and a little frown of perplexity between her brows, for a
+moment; then she ran fearlessly down the play-room, and said in a low
+voice at the other side of Cecil's curtains:
+
+"May I come in?"
+
+Cecil said "Yes," and Annie, entering the pretty little drawing-room,
+flung her arms round Miss Temple's neck.
+
+"Cecil," she exclaimed impulsively, "you're in great trouble. I am a
+giddy, reckless thing, I know, but I don't laugh at people when they are
+in real trouble. Won't you tell me all about it, Cecil?"
+
+"I will, Annie. Sit down there and I will tell you everything. I think
+you have a right to know, and I am glad you have come to me. I thought
+perhaps--but no matter. Annie, can't you guess what I am going to say?"
+
+"No, I'm sure I can't," said Annie. "I saw for a moment or two to-day
+that some of those absurd girls suspected me of being the author of all
+this mischief. Now, you know, Cecil, I love a bit of fun beyond words. If
+there's any going on I feel nearly mad until I am in it; but what was
+done to-day was not at all in accordance with my ideas of fun. To tear up
+Miss Russell's essay and fill her desk with stupid plum-cake and Turkish
+delight seems to me but a sorry kind of jest. Now, if I had been guilty
+of that sort of thing, I'd have managed something far cleverer than that.
+If _I_ had tampered with Dora Russell's desk, I'd have done the thing in
+style. The dear, sweet, dignified creature should have shrieked in real
+terror. You don't know, perhaps, Cecil, that our admirable Dora is no end
+of a coward. I wonder what she would have said if I had put a little nest
+of field-mice in her desk! I saw that the poor thing suspected me, as she
+gave way to her usual little sneer about the 'under-bred girl;' but, of
+course, _you_ know me, Cecil. Why, my dear Cecil, what is the matter? How
+white you are, and you are actually crying! What is it, Cecil? what is
+it, Cecil, darling?"
+
+Cecil dried her eyes quickly.
+
+"You know my pet copy of Mrs. Browning's poems, don't you, Annie?"
+
+"Oh, yes, of course. You lent it to me one day. Don't you remember how
+you made me cry over that picture of little Alice, the over-worked
+factory girl? What about the book, Cecil?"
+
+"I found the book in my desk," said Cecil, in a steady tone, and now
+fixing her eyes on Annie, who knelt by her side--"I found the book in my
+desk, although I never keep it there; for it is quite against the rules
+to keep our recreation books in our school-desks, and you know, Annie, I
+always think it is so much easier to keep these little rules. They are
+matters of duty and conscience, after all. I found my copy of Mrs.
+Browning in my desk this morning with the cover torn off, and with a very
+painful and ludicrous caricature of our dear Mrs. Willis sketched on the
+title-page."
+
+"What?" said Annie. "No, no; impossible!"
+
+"You know nothing about it, do you, Annie?"
+
+"I never put it there, if that's what you mean," said Annie. But her face
+had undergone a curious change. Her light and easy and laughing manner
+had altered. When Cecil mentioned the caricature she flushed a vivid
+crimson. Her flush had quickly died away, leaving her olive-tinted face
+paler than its wont.
+
+"I see," she said, after a long pause, "you, too, suspected me, Cecil,
+and that is why you tried to conceal the thing. You know that I am the
+only girl in the school who can draw caricatures, but did you suppose
+that I would show _her_ dishonor? Of course things look ugly for me, if
+this is what you found in your book; but I did not think that _you_ would
+suspect me, Cecil."
+
+"I will believe you, Annie," said Cecil, eagerly. "I long beyond words to
+believe you. With all your faults, no one has ever yet found you out in a
+lie. If you look at me, Annie, and tell me honestly that you know nothing
+whatever about that caricature, I will believe you. Yes, I will believe
+you fully, and I will go with you to Mrs. Willis and tell her that,
+whoever did the wrong, you are innocent in this matter. Say you know
+nothing about it, dear, dear Annie, and take a load off my heart."
+
+"I never put the caricature into your book, Cecil."
+
+"And you know nothing about it?"
+
+"I cannot say that; I never--never put it in your book."
+
+"Oh, Annie," exclaimed poor Cecil, "you are trying to deceive me. Why
+won't you be brave? Oh, Annie, I never thought you would stoop to a lie."
+
+"I'm telling no lie," answered Annie with sudden passion. "I do know
+something about the caricature, but I never put it into that book. There!
+you doubt me, you have ceased to believe me, and I won't waste any more
+words on the matter."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+"SENT TO COVENTRY."
+
+
+There were many girls in the school who remembered that dismal
+half-holiday--they remembered its forced mirth and its hidden anxiety;
+and as the hours flew by the suspicion that Annie Forest was the author
+of all the mischief grew and deepened. A school is like a little world,
+and popular opinion is apt to change with great rapidity. Annie was
+undoubtedly the favorite of the school; but favorites are certain to have
+enemies, and there were several girls unworthy enough and mean enough to
+be jealous of poor Annie's popularity. She was the kind of girl whom only
+very small natures could really dislike. Her popularity arose from the
+simple fact that hers was a peculiarly joyous and unselfish nature. She
+was a girl with scarcely any self-consciousness; those she loved, she
+loved devotedly; she threw herself with a certain feverish impetuosity
+into their lives, and made their interest her own. To get into mischief
+and trouble for the sake of a friend was an every-day occurrence with
+Annie. She was not the least studious; she had no one particular talent,
+unless it was an untrained and birdlike voice; she was always more or
+less in hot water about her lessons, always behindhand in her tasks,
+always leaving undone what she should do, and doing what she should not
+do. She was a contradictory, erratic creature--jealous of no one, envious
+of no one--dearly loving a joke, and many times inflicting pain from
+sheer thoughtlessness, but always ready to say she was sorry, always
+ready to make friends again.
+
+It is strange that such a girl as Annie should have enemies, but she had,
+and in the last few weeks the feeling of jealousy and envy which had
+always been smoldering in some breasts took more active form. Two reasons
+accounted for this: Hester's openly avowed and persistent dislike to
+Annie, and Miss Russell's declared conviction that she was under-bred and
+not a lady.
+
+Miss Russell was the only girl in the first class who had hitherto given
+wild little Annie a thought.
+
+In the first class, to-day, Annie had to act the unpleasing part of the
+wicked little heroine. Miss Russell was quite certain of Annie's guilt;
+she and her companions condescended to discuss poor Annie and to pull all
+her little virtues to pieces, and to magnify her sins to an alarming
+extent.
+
+After two or three hours of judicious conversation, Dora Russell and most
+of the other first-class girls decided that Annie ought to be expelled,
+and unanimously resolved that they, at least, would do what they could to
+"send her to Coventry."
+
+In the lower part of the school Annie also had a few enemies, and these
+girls, having carefully observed Hester's attitude toward her, now came
+up close to this dignified little lady, and asked her boldly to declare
+her opinion with regard to Annie's guilt.
+
+Hester, without the least hesitation, assured them that "of course Annie
+had done it."
+
+"There is not room for a single doubt on the subject," she said;
+"there--look at her now."
+
+At this instant Annie was leaving Cecil's compartment, and with red eyes,
+and hair, as usual, falling about her face, was running out of the
+play-room. She seemed in great distress; but, nevertheless, before she
+reached the door, she stopped to pick up a little girl of five, who was
+fretting about some small annoyance. Annie took the little one in her
+arms, kissed her tenderly, whispered some words in her ear, which caused
+the little face to light up with some smiles and the round arms to clasp
+Annie with an ecstatic hug. She dropped the child, who ran back to play
+merrily with her companions, and left the room.
+
+The group of middle-class girls still sat on by the fire, but Hester
+Thornton now, not Annie, was the center of attraction. It was the first
+time in all her young life that Hester had found herself in the enviable
+position of a favorite; and without at all knowing what mischief she was
+doing, she could not resist improving the occasion, and making the most
+of her dislike for Annie.
+
+Several of those who even were fond of Miss Forest came round to the
+conviction that she was really guilty, and one by one, as is the fashion
+not only among school girls but in the greater world outside, they began
+to pick holes in their former favorite. These girls, too, resolved that,
+if Annie were really so mean as maliciously to injure other girls'
+property and get them into trouble, she must be "sent to Coventry."
+
+"What's Coventry?" asked one of the little ones, the child whom Annie had
+kissed and comforted, now sidling up to the group.
+
+"Oh, a nasty place, Phena," said Mary Bell, putting her arm round the
+pretty child and drawing her to her side.
+
+"And who is going there?"
+
+"Why, I am afraid it is naughty Annie Forest."
+
+"She's not naughty! Annie sha'n't go to any nasty place. I hate you, Mary
+Bell." The little one looked round the group with flashing eyes of
+defiance, then wrenched herself away to return to her younger companions.
+
+"It was stupid of you to say that, Mary," remarked one of the girls.
+"Well," she continued, "I suppose it is all settled, and poor Annie, to
+say the least of it, is not a lady. For my own part, I always thought her
+great fun, but if she is proved guilty of this offense I wash my hands of
+her."
+
+"We all wash our hands of her," echoed the girls, with the exception of
+Susan Drummond, who, as usual, was nodding in her chair.
+
+"What do you say, Susy?" asked one or two; "you have not opened your lips
+all this time."
+
+"I--eh?--what?" asked Susan, stretching herself and yawning, "oh, about
+Annie Forest--I suppose you are right, girls. Is not that the tea-gong?
+I'm awfully hungry."
+
+Hester Thornton went into the tea-room that evening feeling particularly
+virtuous, and with an idea that she had distinguished herself in some
+way.
+
+Poor foolish, thoughtless Hester, she little guessed what seed she had
+sown, and what a harvest she was preparing for her own reaping by-and-by.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ABOUT SOME PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT NO EVIL.
+
+
+A few days after this Hester was much delighted to receive an invitation
+from her little friends, the Misses Bruce. These good ladies had not
+forgotten the lonely and miserable child whom they had comforted not a
+little during her journey to school six weeks ago. They invited Hester to
+spend the next half-holiday with them, and as this happened to fall on a
+Saturday, Mrs. Willis gave Hester permission to remain with her friends
+until eight o'clock, when she would send the carriage to fetch her home.
+
+The trouble about Annie had taken place the Wednesday before, and all the
+girls' heads were full of the uncleared-up mystery when Hester started on
+her little expedition.
+
+Nothing was known; no fresh light had been thrown on the subject.
+Everything went on as usual within the school, and a casual observer
+would never have noticed the cloud which rested over that usually happy
+dwelling. A casual observer would have noticed little or no change in
+Annie Forest; her merry laugh was still heard, her light step still
+danced across the play-room floor, she was in her place in class, and
+was, if anything, a little more attentive and a little more successful
+over her lessons. Her pretty piquant face, her arch expression, the
+bright, quick and droll glance which she alone could give, were still to
+be seen; but those who knew her well and those who loved her best saw a
+change in Annie.
+
+In the play-room she devoted herself exclusively to the little ones; she
+never went near Cecil Temple's drawing-room; she never mingled with the
+girls of the middle school as they clustered round the cheerful fire. At
+meal-times she ate little, and her room-fellow was heard to declare that
+she was awakened more than once in the middle of the night by the sound
+of Annie's sobs. In chapel, too, when she fancied herself quite
+unobserved, her face wore an expression of great pain; but if Mrs. Willis
+happened to glance in her direction, instantly the little mouth became
+demure and almost hard, the dark eyelashes were lowered over the bright
+eyes, the whole expression of the face showed the extreme of
+indifference. Hester felt more sure than ever of Annie's guilt; but one
+or two of the other girls in the school wavered in this opinion, and
+would have taken Annie out of "Coventry" had she herself made the
+smallest advance toward them.
+
+Annie and Hester had not spoken to each other now for several days; but
+on this afternoon, which was a bright one in early spring, as Hester was
+changing her school-dress for her Sunday one, and preparing for her visit
+to the Misses Bruce, there came a light knock at her door. She said,
+"Come in!" rather impatiently, for she was in a hurry, and dreaded being
+kept.
+
+To her surprise Annie Forest put in her curly head, and then, dancing
+with her usual light movement across the room, she laid a little bunch of
+dainty spring flowers on the dressing-table beside Hester.
+
+Hester stared, first at the intruder, and then at the early primroses.
+She passionately loved flowers, and would have exclaimed with ecstasy at
+these had any one brought them in except Annie.
+
+"I want you," said Annie, rather timidly for her, "to take these flowers
+from me to Miss Agnes and Miss Jane Bruce. It will be very kind of you if
+you will take them. I am sorry to have interrupted you--thank you very
+much."
+
+She was turning away when Hester compelled herself to remark:
+
+"Is there any message with the flowers?"
+
+"Oh, no--only Annie Forest's love. They'll understand----" she turned
+half round as she spoke, and Hester saw that her eyes had filled with
+tears. She felt touched in spite of herself. There was something in
+Annie's face now which reminded her of her darling little Nan at home.
+She had seen the same beseeching, sorrowful look in Nan's brown eyes when
+she had wanted her friends to kiss her and take her to their hearts and
+love her.
+
+Hester would not allow herself, however, to feel any tenderness toward
+Annie. Of course she was not really a bit like sweet little Nan, and it
+was absurd to suppose that a great girl like Annie could want caressing
+and petting and soothing; still, in spite of herself, Annie's look
+haunted her, and she took great care of the little flower-offering, and
+presented it with Annie's message instantly on her arrival to the little
+old ladies.
+
+Miss Jane and Miss Agnes were very much pleased with the early primroses.
+They looked at one another and said:
+
+"Poor dear little girl," in tender voices, and then they put the flowers
+into one of their daintiest vases, and made much of them, and showed them
+to any visitors who happened to call that afternoon.
+
+Their little house looked something like a doll's house to Hester, who
+had been accustomed all her life to large rooms and spacious passages;
+but it was the sweetest, daintiest, and most charming little abode in the
+world. It was not unlike a nest, and the Misses Bruce in certain ways
+resembled bright little robin redbreasts, so small, so neat, so chirrupy
+they were.
+
+Hester enjoyed her afternoon immensely; the little ladies were right in
+their prophesy, and she was no longer lonely at school. She enjoyed
+talking about her schoolfellows, about her new life, about her studies.
+The Misses Bruce were decidedly fond of a gossip, but something which she
+could not at all define in their manner prevented Hester from retailing
+for their benefit any unkind news. They told her frankly at last that
+they were only interested in the good things which went on in the school,
+and that they found no pursuit so altogether delightful as finding out
+the best points in all the people they came across. They would not even
+laugh at sleepy, tiresome Susan Drummond; on the contrary, they pitied
+her, and Miss Jane wondered if the girl could be quite well, whereupon
+Miss Agnes shook her head, and said emphatically that it was Hester's
+duty to rouse poor Susy, and to make her waking life so interesting to
+her that she should no longer care to spend so many hours in the world of
+dreams.
+
+There is such a thing as being so kind-hearted, so gentle, so charitable
+as to make the people who have not encouraged these virtues feel quite
+uncomfortable. By the mere force of contrast they begin to see themselves
+something as they really are. Since Hester had come to Lavender House she
+had taken very little pains to please others rather than herself, and she
+was now almost startled to see how she had allowed selfishness to get the
+better of her. While the Misses Bruce were speaking, old longings, which
+had slept since her mother's death, came back to the young girl, and she
+began to wish that she could be kinder to Susan Drummond, and that she
+could overcome her dislike to Annie Forest. She longed to say something
+about Annie to the little ladies, but they evidently did not wish to
+allude to the subject. When she was going away, they gave her a small
+parcel.
+
+"You will kindly give this to your schoolfellow, Miss Forest, Hester,
+dear," they both said, and then they kissed her, and said they hoped they
+should see her again; and Hester got into the old-fashioned school
+brougham, and held the brown paper parcel in her hand.
+
+As she was going into the chapel that night, Mary Bell came up to her and
+whispered:
+
+"We have not got to the bottom of that mystery about Annie Forest yet.
+Mrs. Willis can evidently make nothing of her, and I believe Mr. Everard
+is going to talk to her after prayers to-night."
+
+As she was speaking, Annie herself pushed rather rudely past the two
+girls; her face was flushed, and her hair was even more untidy than was
+its wont.
+
+"Here is a parcel for you, Miss Forest," said Hester, in a much more
+gentle tone than she was wont to use when she addressed this
+objectionable schoolmate.
+
+All the girls were now filing into the chapel, and Hester should
+certainly not have presented the little parcel at that moment.
+
+"Breaking the rules, Miss Thornton," said Annie; "all right, toss it
+here." Then, as Hester failed to comply, she ran back, knocking her
+schoolfellows out of place, and, snatching the parcel from Hester's hand,
+threw it high in the air. This was a piece of not only willful audacity
+and disobedience, but it even savored of the profane, for Annie's step
+was on the threshold of the chapel, and the parcel fell with a noisy bang
+on the floor some feet inside the little building.
+
+"Bring me that parcel, Annie Forest," whispered the stern voice of the
+head-mistress.
+
+Annie sullenly complied; but when she came up to Mrs. Willis, her
+governess took her hand, and pushed her down into a low seat a little
+behind her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS."
+
+
+The short evening service was over, and one by one, in orderly
+procession, the girls left the chapel. Annie was about to rise to her
+feet to follow her school-companions, when Mrs. Willis stooped down, and
+whispered something in her ear. Her face became instantly suffused with a
+dull red; she resumed her seat, and buried her face in both her hands.
+One or two of the girls noticed her despondent attitude as they left the
+chapel, and Cecil Temple looked back with a glance of such unutterable
+sympathy that Annie's proud, suffering little heart would have been
+touched could she but have seen the look.
+
+Presently the young steps died away, and Annie, raising her head, saw
+that she was alone with Mr. Everard, who seated himself in the place
+which Mrs. Willis had occupied by her side.
+
+"Your governess has asked me to speak to you, my dear," he said, in his
+kind and fatherly tones; "she wants us to discuss this thing which is
+making you so unhappy quite fully together." Here the clergyman paused,
+and noticing a sudden wistful and soft look in the girl's brown eyes, he
+continued: "Perhaps, however, you have something to say to me which will
+throw light on this mystery?"
+
+"No, sir, I have nothing to say," replied Annie, and now again the sullen
+expression passed like a wave over her face.
+
+"Poor child," said Mr. Everard. "Perhaps, Annie," he continued, "you do
+not quite understand me--you do not quite read my motive in talking to
+you to-night. I am not here in any sense to reprove you. You are either
+guilty of this sin, or you are not guilty. In either case I pity you; it
+is very hard, very bitter, to be falsely accused--I pity you much if this
+is the case; but it is still harder, Annie, still more bitter, still more
+absolutely crushing to be accused of a sin which we are trying to
+conceal. In that terrible case God Himself hides His face. Poor child,
+poor child, I pity you most of all if you are guilty."
+
+Annie had again covered her face, and bowed her head over her hands. She
+did not speak for a moment, but presently Mr. Everard heard a low sob,
+and then another, and another, until at last her whole frame was shaken
+with a perfect tempest of weeping.
+
+The old clergyman, who had seen many strange phases of human nature, who
+had in his day comforted and guided more than one young school-girl, was
+far too wise to do anything to check this flow of grief. He knew Annie
+would speak more fully and more frankly when her tears were over. He was
+right. She presently raised a very tear-stained face to the clergyman.
+
+"I felt very bitter at your coming to speak to me," she began. "Mrs.
+Willis has always sent for you when everything else has failed with us
+girls, and I did not think she would treat me so. I was determined not to
+say anything to you. Now, however, you have spoken good words to me, and
+I can't turn away from you. I will tell you all that is in my heart. I
+will promise before God to conceal nothing, if only you will do one thing
+for me."
+
+"What is that, my child?"
+
+"Will you believe me?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Ah, but you have not been tried yet. I thought Mrs. Willis would
+certainly believe; but she said the circumstantial evidence was too
+strong--perhaps it will be too strong for you."
+
+"I promise to believe you, Annie Forest; if, before God, you can assure
+me that you are speaking the whole truth, I will fully believe you."
+
+Annie paused again, then she rose from her seat and stood a pace away
+from the old minister.
+
+"This is the truth before God," she said, as she locked her two hands
+together and raised her eyes freely and unshrinkingly to Mr. Everard's
+face.
+
+"I have always loved Mrs. Willis. I have reasons for loving her which the
+girls don't know about. The girls don't know that when my mother was
+dying she gave me into Mrs. Willis' charge, and she said, 'You must keep
+Annie until her father comes back.' Mother did not know where father was;
+but she said he would be sure to come back some day, and look for mother
+and me; and Mrs. Willis said she would keep me faithfully until father
+came to claim me. That is four years ago, and my father has never come,
+nor have I heard of him, and I think, I am almost sure, that the little
+money which mother left must be all used up. Mrs. Willis never says
+anything about money, and she did not wish me to tell my story to the
+girls. None of them know except Cecil Temple. I am sure some day father
+will come home, and he will give Mrs. Willis back the money she has spent
+on me; but never, never, never can he repay her for her goodness to me.
+You see I cannot help loving Mrs. Willis. It is quite impossible for any
+girl to have such a friend and not to love her. I know I am very wild,
+and that I do all sorts of mad things. It seems to me that I cannot help
+myself sometimes; but I would not willingly, indeed, I would not
+willingly hurt anybody. Last Wednesday, as you know, there was a great
+disturbance in the school. Dora Russell's desk was tampered with, and so
+was Cecil Temple's. You know, of course, what was found in both the
+desks. Mrs. Willis sent for me, and asked me about the caricature which
+was drawn in Cecil's book. I looked at it and I told her the truth. I did
+not conceal one thing. I told her the whole truth as far as I knew it.
+She did not believe me. She said so. What more could I do then?"
+
+Here Annie paused; she began to unclasp and clasp her hands, and she
+looked full at Mr. Everard with a most pleading expression.
+
+"Do you mind repeating to me exactly what you said to your governess?" he
+questioned.
+
+"I said this, sir. I said, 'Yes, Mrs. Willis, I did draw that caricature.
+You will scarcely understand how I, who love you so much, could have been
+so mad and ungrateful as to do anything to turn you into ridicule. I
+would cut off my right hand now not to have done it; but I did do it, and
+I must tell you the truth.' 'Tell me, dear,' she said, quite gently then.
+'It was one wet afternoon about a fortnight ago,' I said to her; 'a lot
+of us middle-school girls were sitting together, and I had a pencil and
+some bits of paper, and I was making up funny little groups of a lot of
+us, and the girls were screaming with laughter, for somehow I managed to
+make the likeness that I wanted in each case. It was very wrong of me, I
+know. It was against the rules, but I was in one of my maddest humors,
+and I really did not care what the consequences were. At last one of the
+girls said: 'You won't dare to make a picture like that of Mrs. Willis,
+Annie--you know you won't dare.' The minute she said that name I began to
+feel ashamed. I remembered I was breaking one of the rules, and I
+suddenly tore up all my bits of paper and flung them into the fire, and I
+said: 'No, I would not dare to show her dishonor.' Well, afterward, as I
+was washing my hands for tea up in my room, the temptation came over me
+so strongly that I felt I could not resist it, to make a funny little
+sketch of Mrs. Willis. I had a little scrap of thin paper, and I took out
+my pencil and did it all in a minute. It seemed to me very funny, and I
+could not help laughing at it; and then I thrust it into my private
+writing-case, which I always keep locked, and I put the key in my pocket
+and ran downstairs. I forgot all about the caricature. I had never shown
+it to any one. How it got into Cecil's book is more than I can say. When
+I had finished speaking Mrs. Willis looked very hard at the book. 'You
+are right,' she said; 'this caricature is drawn on a very thin piece of
+paper, which has been cleverly pasted on the title-page.' Then, Mr.
+Everard, she asked me a lot of questions. Had I ever parted with my keys?
+Had I ever left my desk unlocked? 'No,' I said, 'my desk is always
+locked, and my keys are always in my pocket. Indeed,' I added, 'my keys
+were absolutely safe for the last week, for they went in a white
+petticoat to the wash, and came back as rusty as possible.' I could not
+open my desk for a whole week, which was a great nuisance. I told all
+this story to Mrs. Willis, and she said to me: 'You are positively
+certain that this caricature has been taken out of your desk by somebody
+else, and pasted in here? You are sure that the caricature you drew is
+not to be found in your desk?' 'Yes,' I said; 'how can I be anything but
+sure; these are my pencil marks, and that is the funny little turn I gave
+to your neck which made me laugh when I drew it. Yes; I am certainly
+sure.'
+
+"'I have always been told, Annie,' Mrs. Willis said, 'that you are the
+only girl in the school who can draw these caricatures. You have never
+seen an attempt at this kind of drawing among your schoolfellows, or
+among any of the teachers?'
+
+"'I have never seen any of them try this special kind of drawing,' I
+said. 'I wish I was like them. I wish I had never, never done it.'
+
+"'You have got your keys now?' Mrs. Willis said.
+
+"'Yes,' I answered, pulling them all covered with rust out of my pocket.
+
+"Then she told me to leave the keys on the table, and to go upstairs and
+fetch down my little private desk.
+
+"I did so, and she made me put the rusty key in the lock and open the
+desk, and together we searched through its contents. We pulled out
+everything, or rather I did, and I scattered all my possessions about on
+the table, and then I looked up almost triumphantly at Mrs. Willis.
+
+"'You see the caricature is not here,' I said; 'somebody picked the lock
+and took it away.'
+
+"'This lock has not been picked,' Mrs. Willis said; 'and what is that
+little piece of white paper sticking out of the private drawer?'
+
+"'Oh, I forgot my private drawer,' I said; 'but there is nothing in
+it--nothing whatever,' and then I touched the spring, and pulled it open,
+and there lay the little caricature which I had drawn in the bottom of
+the drawer. There it lay, not as I had left it, for I had never put it
+into the private drawer. I saw Mrs. Willis' face turn very white, and I
+noticed that her hands trembled. I was all red myself, and very hot, and
+there was a choking lump in my throat, and I could not have got a single
+word out even if I had wished to. So I began scrambling the things back
+into my desk, as hard as ever I could, and then I locked it, and put the
+rusty keys back in my pocket.
+
+"'What am I to believe now, Annie?' Mrs. Willis said.
+
+"'Believe anything you like now,' I managed to say; and then I took my
+desk and walked out of the room, and would not wait even though she
+called me back.
+
+"That is the whole story, Mr. Everard," continued Annie. "I have no
+explanation whatever to give. I did make the one caricature of my dear
+governess. I did not make the other. The second caricature is certainly a
+copy of the first, but I did not make it. I don't know who made it. I
+have no light whatever to throw on the subject. You see after all," added
+Annie Forest, raising her eyes to the clergyman's face, "it is impossible
+for you to believe me. Mrs. Willis does not believe me, and you cannot be
+expected to. I don't suppose you are to be blamed. I don't see how you
+can help yourself."
+
+"The circumstantial evidence is very strong against you, Annie," replied
+the clergyman; "still, I promised to believe, and I have no intention of
+going back from my word. If, in the presence of God in this little
+church, you would willingly and deliberately tell me a lie I should never
+trust human being again. No, Annie Forest, you have many faults, but you
+are not a liar. I see the impress of truth on your brow, in your eyes, on
+your lips. This is a very painful mystery, my child; but I believe you. I
+am going to see Mrs. Willis now. God bless you, Annie. Be brave, be
+courageous, don't foster malice in your heart to any unknown enemy. An
+enemy has truly done this thing, poor child; but God Himself will bring
+this mystery to light. Trust Him, my dear; and now I am going to see Mrs.
+Willis."
+
+While Mr. Everard was speaking, Annie's whole expressive face had
+changed; the sullen look had left it; the eyes were bright with renewed
+hope; the lips had parted in smiles. There was a struggle for speech, but
+no words came: the young girl stooped down and raised the old clergyman's
+withered hands to her lips.
+
+"Let me stay here a little longer," she managed to say at last; and then
+he left her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+"THE SWEETS ARE POISONED."
+
+
+"I think, my dear madam," said Mr. Everard to Mrs. Willis, "that you must
+believe your pupil. She has not refused to confess to you from any
+stubbornness, but from the simple reason that she has nothing to confess.
+I am firmly convinced that things are as she stated them, Mrs. Willis.
+There is a mystery here which we neither of us can explain, but which we
+must unravel."
+
+Then Mrs. Willis and the clergyman had a long and anxious talk together.
+It lasted for a long time, and some of its results at least were manifest
+the next morning, for, just before the morning's work began, Mrs. Willis
+came to the large school-room, and, calling Annie Forest to her side,
+laid her hand on the young girl's shoulder.
+
+"I wish to tell you all, young ladies," she said, "that I completely and
+absolutely exonerate Annie Forest from having any part in the disgraceful
+occurrence which took place in this school-room a short time ago. I
+allude, of course, as you all know, to the book which was found tampered
+with in Cecil Temple's desk. Some one else in this room is guilty, and
+the mystery has still to be unraveled, and the guilty girl has still to
+come forward and declare herself. If she is willing at this moment to
+come to me here, and fully and freely confess her sin, I will quite
+forgive her."
+
+The head mistress paused, and, still with her hand on Annie's shoulder,
+looked anxiously down the long room. The love and forgiveness which she
+felt shone in her eyes at this moment. No girl need have feared aught but
+tenderness from her just then.
+
+No one stirred; the moment passed, and a look of sternness returned to
+the mistress' fine face.
+
+"No," she said, in her emphatic and clear tones, "the guilty girl prefers
+waiting until God discovers her sin for her. My dear, whoever you are,
+that hour is coming, and you cannot escape from it. In the meantime,
+girls, I wish you all to receive Annie Forest as quite innocent. I
+believe in her, so does Mr. Everard, and so must you. Any one who treats
+Miss Forest except as a perfectly innocent and truthful girl incurs my
+severe displeasure. My dear, you may return to your seat."
+
+Annie, whose face was partly hidden by her curly hair during the greater
+part of this speech, now tossed it back, and raised her brown eyes with a
+look of adoration in them to her teacher. Mrs. Willis' face, however,
+still looked harassed. Her eyes met Annie's, but no corresponding glow
+was kindled in them; their glance was just, calm, but cold.
+
+The childish heart was conscious of a keen pang of agony, and Annie went
+back to her lessons without any sense of exultation.
+
+The fact was this: Mrs. Willis' judgment and reason had been brought
+round by Mr. Everard's words, but in her heart of hearts, almost unknown
+to herself, there still lingered a doubt of the innocence of her wayward
+and pretty pupil. She said over and over to herself that she really now
+quite believed in Annie Forest, but then would come those whisperings
+from her pained and sore heart.
+
+"Why did she ever make a caricature of one who has been as a mother to
+her? If she made one caricature, could she not make another? Above all
+things, if _she_ did not do it, who did?"
+
+Mrs. Willis turned away from these unpleasant whispers--she would not let
+them stay with her, and turned a deaf ear to their ugly words. She had
+publicly declared in the school her belief in Annie's absolute innocence,
+but at the moment when her pupil looked up at her with a world of love
+and adoration in her gaze, she found to her own infinite distress that
+she could not give her the old love.
+
+Annie went back to her companions, and bent her head over her lessons,
+and tried to believe that she was very thankful and very happy, and Cecil
+Temple managed to whisper a gentle word of congratulation to her, and at
+the twelve o'clock walk Annie perceived that a few of her schoolfellows
+looked at her with friendly eyes again. She perceived now that when she
+went into the play-room she was not absolutely tabooed, and that, if she
+chose, she might speedily resume her old reign of popularity. Annie had,
+to a remarkable extent, the gift of inspiring love, and her old favorites
+would quickly have flocked back to their sovereign had she so willed it.
+It is certainly true that the girls to whom the whole story was known in
+all its bearings found it difficult to understand how Annie could be
+innocent; but Mr. Everard's and Mrs. Willis' assertions were too potent
+to be disregarded, and most of the girls were only too willing to let the
+whole affair slide from their minds, and to take back their favorite
+Annie to their hearts again.
+
+Annie, however, herself did not so will it. In the play-room she
+fraternized with the little ones who were alike her friends in adversity
+and sunshine; she rejected almost coldly the overtures of her old
+favorites, but played, and romped, and was merry with the children of the
+sixth class. She even declined Cecil's invitation to come and sit with
+her in her drawing-room.
+
+"Oh, no," she said. "I hate being still; I am in no humor for talk.
+Another time, Cecil, another time. Now then, Sybil, my beauty, get well
+on my back, and I'll be the willing dog carrying you round and round the
+room."
+
+Annie's face had not a trace of care or anxiety on it, but her eyes would
+not quite meet Cecil's, and Cecil sighed as she turned away, and her
+heart, too, began to whisper little, mocking, ugly doubts of poor Annie.
+
+During the half-hour before tea that evening Annie was sitting on the
+floor with a small child in her lap, and two other little ones tumbling
+about her, when she was startled by a shower of lollipops being poured
+over her head, down her neck, and into her lap. She started up and met
+the sleepy gaze of Susan Drummond.
+
+"That's to congratulate you, miss," said Susan; "you're a very lucky girl
+to have escaped as you did."
+
+The little ones began putting Susan's lollipops vigorously into their
+mouths. Annie sprang to her feet shaking the sticky sweetmeats out of her
+dress on to the floor.
+
+"What have I escaped from?" she asked, turning round and facing her
+companion haughtily.
+
+"Oh, dear me!" said Susan, stepping back a pace or two. "I--ah--"
+stifling a yawn--"I only meant you were very near getting into an ugly
+scrape. It's no affair of mine, I'm sure; only I thought you'd like the
+lollipops."
+
+"No, I don't like them at all," said Annie, "nor you, either. Go back to
+your own companions, please."
+
+Susan sulkily walked away, and Annie stooped down on the floor.
+
+"Now, little darlings," she said, "you mustn't eat those. No, no, they
+are not good at all; and they have come from one of Annie's enemies. Most
+likely they are full of poison. Let us collect them all, every one, and
+we will throw them into the fire before we go to tea."
+
+"But I don't think there's any poison in them," said little Janie West in
+a regretful tone, as she gobbled down a particularly luscious chocolate
+cream; "they are all big, and fat, and bursty, and _so_ sweet, Annie,
+dear."
+
+"Never mind, Janie, they are dangerous sweeties all the same. Come, come,
+throw them into my apron, and I will run over and toss them into the
+fire, and we'll have time for a game of leap-frog before tea; oh, fie,
+Judy," as a very small fat baby began to whimper, "you would not eat the
+sweeties of one of Annie's enemies."
+
+This last appeal was successful. The children made a valiant effort, and
+dashed the tempting goodies into Annie's alapaca apron. When they were
+all collected, she marched up the play-room and in the presence of Susan
+Drummond, Hester Thornton, Cecil Temple, and several more of her school
+companions, threw them into the fire.
+
+"So much for _that_ overture, Miss Drummond," she said, making a mock
+courtesy, and returning once more to the children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+IN THE HAMMOCK.
+
+
+Just at this time the weather suddenly changed. After the cold and
+dreariness of winter came soft spring days--came longer evenings and
+brighter mornings.
+
+Hester Thornton found that she could dress by daylight, then that she was
+no longer cold and shivering when she reached the chapel, then that she
+began intensely to enjoy her mid-day walk, then that she found her winter
+things a little too hot, until at last, almost suddenly it seemed to the
+expectant and anxious girls, glorious spring weather broke upon the
+world, the winds were soft and westerly, the buds swelled and swelled
+into leaf on the trees, and the flowers bloomed in the delightful
+old-fashioned gardens of Lavender House. Instantly, it seemed to the
+girls, their whole lives had altered. The play-room was deserted or only
+put up with on wet days. At twelve o'clock, instead of taking a
+monotonous walk on the roads, they ran races, played tennis, croquet, or
+any other game they liked best in the gardens. Later on in the day, when
+the sun was not so powerful, they took their walk; but even then they had
+time to rush back to their beloved shady garden for a little time before
+tea and preparation for their next day's work. Easter came this year
+about the middle of April, and Easter found these girls almost enjoying
+summer weather. How they looked forward to their few Easter holidays!
+what plans they made, what tennis matches were arranged, what games and
+amusements of all sorts were in anticipation! Mrs. Willis herself
+generally went away for a few days at Easter; so did the French
+governess, and the school was nominally placed under the charge of Miss
+Good and Miss Danesbury. Mrs. Willis did not approve of long Easter
+holidays; she never gave more than a week, and in consequence only the
+girls who lived quite near went home. Out of the fifty girls who resided
+at Lavender House about ten went away at Easter; the remaining forty
+stayed behind, and were often heard to declare that holidays at Lavender
+House were the most delightful things in the world.
+
+At this particular Easter time the girls were rather surprised to hear
+that Mrs. Willis had made up her mind not to go away as usual; Miss Good
+was to have a holiday, and Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury were to look
+after the school. This was felt to be an unusual, indeed unheard of,
+proceeding, and the girls commented about it a good deal, and somehow,
+without absolutely intending to do so, they began to settle in their own
+minds that Mrs. Willis was staying in the school on account of Annie
+Forest, and that in her heart of hearts she did not absolutely believe in
+her innocence. Mrs. Willis certainly gave the girls no reason to come to
+this conclusion; she was consistently kind to Annie, and had apparently
+quite restored her to her old place in her favor. Annie was more gentle
+than of old, and less inclined to get into scrapes; but the girls loved
+her far less in her present unnatural condition of reserve and good
+behavior than they did in her old daring and hoydenish days. Cecil Temple
+always spent Easter with an old aunt who lived in a neighboring town; she
+openly said this year that she did not wish to go away, but her governess
+would not allow her to change her usual plans, and she left Lavender
+House with a curious feeling of depression and coming trouble. As she was
+getting into the cab which was to take her to the station Annie flew to
+her side, threw a great bouquet of flowers which she had gathered into
+her lap, and, flinging her arms tightly round her neck, whispered
+suddenly and passionately:
+
+"Oh, Cecil, believe in me."
+
+"I--I--I don't know that I don't," said Cecil, rather lamely.
+
+"No, Cecil, you don't--not in your heart of hearts. Neither you nor Mrs.
+Willis--you neither of you believe in me from the very bottom of your
+hearts; oh, it is hard!"
+
+Annie gave vent to a little sob, sprang away from Cecil's arms, and
+disappeared into a shrubbery close by.
+
+She stayed there until the sound of the retreating cab died away in the
+avenue, then, tossing back her hair, rearranging her rather tattered
+garden hat, and hastily wiping some tears from her eyes, she came out
+from her retreat, and began to look around her for some amusement. What
+should she do? Where should she go? How should she occupy herself? Sounds
+of laughter and merriment filled the air; the garden was all alive with
+gay young figures running here and there. Girls stood in groups under the
+horse-chestnut tree--girls walked two and two up the shady walk at the
+end of the garden--little ones gamboled and rolled on the grass--a tennis
+match was going on vigorously, and the croquet ground was occupied by
+eight girls of the middle school. Annie was one of the most successful
+tennis players in the school; she had indeed a gift for all games of
+skill, and seldom missed her mark. Now she looked with a certain wistful
+longing toward the tennis-court; but, after a brief hesitation, she
+turned away from it and entered the shady walk at the farther end of the
+garden. As she walked along, slowly, meditatively, and sadly, her eyes
+suddenly lighted up. Glancing to one of the tall trees she saw a hammock
+suspended there which had evidently been forgotten during the winter. The
+tree was not yet quite in leaf, and it was very easy for Annie to climb
+up its branches to re-adjust the hammock, and to get into it. After its
+winter residence in the tree this soft couch was found full of withered
+leaves, and otherwise rather damp and uncomfortable. Annie tossed the
+leaves on to the ground, and laughed as she swung herself gently backward
+and forward. Early as the season still was the sun was so bright and the
+air so soft that she could not but enjoy herself, and she laughed with
+pleasure, and only wished that she had a fairy tale by her side to help
+to soothe her off to sleep.
+
+In the distance she heard some children calling "Annie," "Annie Forest;"
+but she was far too comfortable and too lazy to answer them, and
+presently she closed her eyes and really did fall asleep.
+
+She was awakened by a very slight sound--by nothing more nor less than
+the gentle and very refined conversation of two girls, who sat under the
+oak tree in which Annie's hammock swung. Hearing the voices, she bent a
+little forward, and saw that the speakers were Dora Russell and Hester
+Thornton. Her first inclination was to laugh, toss down some leaves, and
+instantly reveal herself; the next she drew back hastily, and began to
+listen with all her ears.
+
+"I never liked her," said Hester--"I never even from the very first
+pretended to like her. I think she is under-bred, and not fit to
+associate with the other girls in the school-room."
+
+"She is treated with most unfair partiality," retorted Miss Russell in
+her thin and rather bitter voice. "I have not the smallest doubt, not the
+smallest, that she was guilty of putting those messes into my desk, of
+destroying my composition, and of caricaturing Mrs. Willis in Cecil
+Temple's book. I wonder after that Mrs. Willis did not see through her,
+but it is astonishing to what lengths favoritism will carry one. Mrs.
+Willis and Mr. Everard are behaving in a very unfair way to the rest of
+us in upholding this commonplace, disagreeable girl; but it will be to
+Mrs. Willis' own disadvantage. Hester, I am, as you know, leaving school
+at midsummer, and I shall certainly use all my influence to induce my
+father and mother not to send the younger girls here; they could not
+associate with a person like Miss Forest."
+
+"I never take much notice of her," said Hester; "but of course what you
+say is quite right, Dora. You have great discrimination, and your sisters
+might possibly be taken in by her."
+
+"Oh, not at all, I assure you; they know a true lady when they see her.
+However, they must not be imperilled. I will ask my parents to send them
+to Mdlle. Lablanché. I hear that her establishment is most _recherché_."
+
+"Mrs. Willis is very nice herself, and so are most of the girls," said
+Hester, after a pause. Then they were both silent, for Hester had stooped
+down to examine some little fronds and moss which grew at the foot of the
+tree. After a pause, Hester said:
+
+"I don't think Annie is the favorite she was with the girls."
+
+"Oh, of course not; they all, in their heart of hearts, know she is
+guilty. Will you come indoors, and have tea with me in my drawing-room,
+Hester?"
+
+The two girls walked slowly away, and presently Annie let herself gently
+out of her hammock and dropped to the ground.
+
+She had heard every word; she had not revealed herself, and a new and
+terrible--and, truth to say, absolutely foreign--sensation from her true
+nature now filled her mind. She felt that she almost hated these two who
+had spoken so cruelly, so unjustly of her. She began to trace her
+misfortunes and her unhappiness to the date of Hester's entrance into the
+school. Even more than Dora Russell did she dislike Hester; she made up
+her mind to revenge herself on both these girls. Her heart was very, very
+sore; she missed the old words, the old love, the old brightness, the old
+popularity; she missed the mother-tones in Mrs. Willis' voice--her heart
+cried out for them, at night she often wept for them. She became more and
+more sure that she owed all her misfortunes to Hester, and in a smaller
+degree to Dora. Dora believed that she had deliberately insulted her, and
+injured her composition, when she knew herself that she was quite
+innocent of even harboring such a thought, far less carrying it into
+effect. Well, now, she would really do something to injure both these
+girls, and perhaps the carrying out of her revenge would satisfy her sore
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+CUP AND BALL.
+
+
+Just toward the end of the Easter holidays, Hester Thornton was thrown
+into a great tumult of excitement, of wonder, of half regret and half
+joy, by a letter which she received from her father. In this letter he
+informed her that he had made up his mind to break up his establishment
+for several years, to go abroad, and to leave Hester altogether under
+Mrs. Willis' care.
+
+When Hester had read so far, she flung her letter on the table, put her
+head into her hands, and burst into tears.
+
+"Oh, how cruel of father!" she exclaimed; "how am I to live without ever
+going home--how am I to endure life without seeing my little Nan?"
+
+Hester cried bitterly; the strongest love of her nature was now given to
+this pretty and sweet little sister, and dismal pictures rose rapidly
+before her of Nan growing up without in the least remembering
+her--perhaps, still worse, of Nan being unkindly treated and neglected by
+strangers. After a long pause, she raised her head, wiped her eyes, and
+resumed her letter. Now, indeed, she started with astonishment, and gave
+an exclamation of delight--Sir John Thornton had arranged that Mrs.
+Willis was also to receive little Nan, although she was younger than any
+other child present in the school. Hester scarcely waited to finish her
+letter. She crammed it into her pocket, rushed up to Susan Drummond, and
+astonished that placid young lady by suddenly kissing her.
+
+"Nan is coming, Susy!" she exclaimed; "dear, darling, lovely little Nan
+is coming--oh, I am so happy!"
+
+She was far too impatient to explain matters to stolid Susan, and danced
+down stairs, her eyes sparkling and smiles on her lips. It was nothing to
+her now how long she stayed at school--her heart's treasure would be with
+her there, and she could not but feel happy.
+
+After breakfast Mrs. Willis sent for her, and told her what arrangements
+were being made; she said that she was going to remove Susan Drummond out
+of Hester's bedroom, in order that Hester might enjoy her little sister's
+company at night. She spoke very gently, and entered with full sympathy
+into the girl's delight over the little motherless sister, and Hester
+felt more drawn to her governess than she had ever been.
+
+Nan was to arrive at Lavender House on the following evening, and for the
+first week her nurse was to remain with her until she got accustomed to
+her new life.
+
+The morning of the day of Nan's arrival was also the last of the Easter
+holidays, and Hester, awakening earlier than her wont, lay in bed, and
+planned what she would do to welcome the little one.
+
+The idea of having Nan with her continually had softened Hester. She was
+not unhappy in her school-life--indeed, there was much in its monotonous,
+busy, and healthy occupation to stimulate and rouse the good in her. Her
+intellect was being vigorously exercised, and, by contact with her
+schoolfellows, her character was being molded; but the perfect harmony
+and brightness of the school had been much interrupted since Hester's
+arrival; her dislike to Annie Forest had been unfortunate in more ways
+than one, and that dislike, which was increasing each day, was hardening
+Hester's heart.
+
+But it was not hard this morning--all that was sweetest, and softest, and
+best in her had come to the surface--the little sister, whom her mother
+had left in her charge, was now to be her daily and hourly companion. For
+Nan's sake, then, she must be very good; her deeds must be gentle and
+kind, and her thoughts charitable. Hester had an instinctive feeling that
+baby eyes saw deep below the surface; Hester felt if Nan were to lose
+even a shadow of her faith in her she could almost die of shame.
+
+Hester had been very proud of Dora Russell's friendship. Never before had
+it been known in the school that a first-class girl took a third into
+such close companionship, and Hester's little head had been slightly
+turned by the fact. Her better judgment and her better nature had been
+rather blinded by the fascinations of this tall, graceful, satirical
+Dora. She had been weak enough to agree with Dora with her lips when in
+her heart of hearts she knew she was all wrong. By nature Hester was an
+honorable girl, with many fine traits in her character--by nature Dora
+was small and mean and poor of soul.
+
+This morning Hester ran up to her favorite.
+
+"Little Nan is coming to-night," she said.
+
+Dora was talking at the moment to Miss Maitland, another first-class
+girl, and the two stared rather superciliously at Hester, and, after a
+pause, Dora said in her finest drawl:
+
+"Who _is_ little Nan?"
+
+It was Hester's turn to stare, for she had often spoken of Nan to this
+beloved friend, who had listened to her narrative and had appeared to
+sympathize.
+
+"My little sister, of course," she exclaimed. "I have often talked to you
+about her, Dora. Are you not glad she is coming?"
+
+"No, my dear child, I can't say that I am. If you wish to retain my
+friendship, Hester, you must be careful to keep the little mite away from
+me; I can't bear small children."
+
+Hester walked away with her heart swelling, and she fancied she heard the
+two elder girls laughing as she left the play-room.
+
+Many other girls, however, in the school thoroughly sympathized with
+Hester, and among them no one was more delighted than Susan Drummond.
+
+"I am awfully good-natured not to be as cross as two sticks, Hetty," she
+exclaimed, "for I am being turned out of my comfortable room; and whose
+room do you suppose I am now to share? why, that little imp Annie
+Forest's." But Hester felt charitable, even toward Annie, on this happy
+day.
+
+In the evening little Nan arrived. She was a very pretty, dimpled,
+brown-eyed creature, of just three years of age. She had all the
+imperious ways of a spoilt baby, and, evidently, fear was a word not to
+be found in her vocabulary. She clung to Hester, but smiled and nodded to
+the other girls, who made advances to her, and petted her, and thought
+her a very charming baby. Beside Nan, all the other little girls in the
+school looked old. She was quite two years the youngest, and it was soon
+very evident that she would establish that most imperious of all
+reigns--a baby reign--in the school.
+
+Hester fondled her and talked to her, and the little thing sat on her
+knee and stroked her face.
+
+"Me like 'oo, Hetty," she said several times, and she added many other
+endearing and pretty words which caused Hester's heart to swell with
+delight.
+
+In the midst of their happy little talk together Annie Forest, in her
+usual careless fashion, entered the play-room. She alone, of all the
+girls, had taken no notice of the new plaything. She walked to her usual
+corner, sat down on the floor, and began to play cup and ball for the
+benefit of two or three of the smallest children. Hester did not regard
+her in the least; she sat with Nan on her knee, stroking back her sunny
+curls, and remarking on her various charms to several of the girls who
+sat round her.
+
+"See, how pretty that dimple in her chin is," she said, "and oh, my pet,
+your eyes look wiser, and bigger, and saucier than ever. Look at me, Nan;
+look at your own Hetty."
+
+Nan's attention, however, was diverted by the gaily-painted cup and ball
+which Annie was using with her wonted dexterity.
+
+"Dat a pitty toy," she said, giving one quick and rather solemn glance at
+her sister, and again fixing her admiring gaze on the cup and ball.
+
+Annie Forest had heard the words, and she darted a sudden, laughing look
+at the little one. Annie's power over children was well known. Nan began
+to wriggle on Hester's knee.
+
+"Dat a pitty lady," she said again, "and that a pitty, tibby [little]
+toy; Nan go see."
+
+In an instant, before Hester could prevent her, she had trotted across
+the room, and was kneeling with the other children and shouting with
+delight over Annie's play.
+
+"She'll get her, you'll see, Hester," said one of the girls maliciously;
+"she'll soon be much fonder of Annie Forest than of you. Annie wins the
+heart of every little child in the school."
+
+"She won't win my Nan's from me," said Hester in a confident tone; but in
+spite of her words a great pang of jealousy had gone through her. She
+rose to her seat and followed her little sister.
+
+"Nan, you are sleepy, you must go to bed."
+
+"No, no, Hetty; me not s'eepy, me kite awake; go 'way, Hetty, Nan want to
+see the pitty tibby toy."
+
+Annie raised her eyes to Hester's. She did not really want to be unkind,
+and at that moment it had certainty never entered into her head to steal
+Hester's treasure from her, but she could not help a look of suppressed
+delight and triumph filling her eyes.
+
+Hester could scarcely bear the look; she stooped down, and taking one of
+Nan's little dimpled hands tried to drag her away.
+
+Instantly Annie threw the cup and ball on the floor.
+
+"The play is all over to-night, little darling," she said; "give Annie
+Forest one kiss, and run to bed with sister Hester."
+
+Nan, who had been puckering up her face to cry, smiled instantly; then
+she scrambled to her feet, and flung her little fat arms round Annie's
+neck.
+
+"Dat a vedy pitty p'ay," she said in a patronizing tone, "and me like
+'oo, me do."
+
+Then she gave her hand willingly to Hester, and trotted out of the
+play-room by her side.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN THE SOUTH PARLOR.
+
+
+Immediately after Easter the real excitement of the school-year began.
+All the girls who had ambition, who had industry, and who had a desire to
+please distant fathers, mothers, or guardians, worked hard for that great
+day at midsummer when Mrs. Willis distributed her valuable prizes.
+
+From the moment of Hester's entrance into the school she had heard this
+day spoken of. It was, without doubt, the greatest day of the year at
+Lavender House. Smaller prizes were given at Christmas, but the great
+honors were always reserved for this long sunshiny June day, when Mrs.
+Willis herself presented her marks of approbation to her successful
+pupils.
+
+The girls who had lived in the school for two or three years gave Hester
+vivid descriptions of the excitements, the pleasures, the delights of
+this day of days. In the first place it was the first of the holidays, in
+the second it was spent almost from morning to night in the open air--for
+a great tent was erected on the lawn; and visitors thronged to Lavender
+House, and fathers and mothers, and aunts and uncles, arrived from a
+distance to witness the triumphs of the favored children who had won the
+prizes. The giving away of the prizes was, of course, _the_ event of the
+day; but there were many other minor joys. Always in the evenings there
+was some special entertainment. These entertainments differed from year
+to year, Mrs. Willis allowing the girls to choose them for themselves,
+and only making one proviso, that they must take all the trouble, and all
+the pains--in short, that they themselves must be the entertainers. One
+year they had tableaux vivants; another a fancy ball, every pretty dress
+of which had been designed by themselves, and many even made by their own
+industrious little fingers. Mrs. Willis delighted in the interest and
+occupation that this yearly entertainment gave to her pupils, and she not
+only encouraged them in their efforts to produce something very unique
+and charming, but took care that they should have sufficient time to work
+up their ideas properly. Always after Easter she gave the girls of the
+three first classes two evenings absolutely to themselves; and these they
+spent in a pretty room called the south parlor, which belonged to Mrs.
+Willis' part of the house, and was rarely used, except for these great
+preparations.
+
+Hester, therefore, after Easter found her days very full indeed. Every
+spare moment she devoted to little Nan, but she was quite determined to
+win a substantial prize, and she was also deeply interested in various
+schemes proposed in the south parlor.
+
+With regard to prizes, Mrs. Willis also went on a plan of her own. Each
+girl was expected to come up to a certain standard of excellence in all
+her studies, and if she fell very much below this standard she was not
+allowed to try for any prize; if she came up to it, she could select one
+subject, but only one, for competition.
+
+On the Monday after the Easter holidays the special subjects for the
+midsummer prizes were given out, and the girls were expected to send in
+their answers as to the special prize they meant to compete for by the
+following Friday.
+
+When this day arrived Hester Thornton and Dora Russell both discovered
+that they had made the same choice--they were going to try for the
+English composition prize. This subject always obtained one of the most
+costly prizes, and several of the girls shook their heads over Hester's
+choice.
+
+"You are very silly to try for that, Hetty," they exclaimed, "for Mrs.
+Willis has such queer ideas with regard to English composition. Of
+course, we go in for it in a general way, and learn the rules of grammar
+and punctuation, and so forth, but Mrs. Willis says that schoolgirls'
+themes are so bad and affected, as a rule, and she says she does not
+think any one will go in for her pet prize who has not natural ability.
+In consequence, she gives only one prize for composition between the
+three first classes. You had better change your mind, Hetty, before it is
+too late, for much older girls will compete with you, and there are
+several who are going to try."
+
+Hester, however, only smiled, and assured her eager friend that she would
+stick to her pet subject, and try to do the best she could.
+
+On the morning when the girls signified their choice of subject, Mrs.
+Willis came into the school-room and made one of her little yearly
+speeches with regard to the right spirit in which her girls should try
+for these honors. The few and well-chosen words of the head mistress
+generally roused those girls who loved her best to a fever of enthusiasm,
+and even Hester, who was comparatively a newcomer, felt a great wish, as
+she listened to that clear and vibrating voice and watched the many
+expressions which passed over the noble face, that she might find
+something beyond the mere earthly honor and glory of success in this
+coming trial. Having finished her little speech, Mrs. Willis made several
+remarks with regard to the choice of subjects. She spoke of the English
+composition prize last, and here she heightened the interest and
+excitement which always hung around this special prize. Contrary to her
+usual rule, she would this year give no subject for an English theme.
+Each girl might choose what pleased her best.
+
+On hearing these words Annie Forest, who had been sitting by her desk
+looking rather dull and dejected, suddenly sprang to her feet, her face
+aglow, her eyes sparkling, and began whispering vigorously to Miss Good.
+
+Miss Good nodded, and, going up to Mrs. Willis, said aloud that Annie had
+changed her mind, and that from not wishing to try for any of the prizes,
+she now intended to compete for the English composition.
+
+Mrs. Willis looked a little surprised, but without any comment she
+immediately entered Annie's name in the list of competitors, and Annie
+sat down again, not even glancing at her astonished schoolfellows, who
+could not conceal their amazement, for she had never hitherto shown the
+slightest desire to excel in this department.
+
+On the evening of this Friday the girls of the three first classes
+assembled for the first time in the south parlor. Hitherto these meetings
+had been carried on in a systematic and business-like fashion. It was
+impossible for all the girls who belonged to these three large classes to
+assemble on each occasion. Careful selections, therefore, were, as a
+rule, made from their numbers. These girls formed a committee to
+superintend and carry on the real preparations for the coming treat, and
+the others only met when specially summoned by the committee to appear.
+
+As usual now the three classes found themselves in the south parlor--as
+usual they chattered volubly, and started schemes, to reject them again
+with peals of laughter. Many ideas were put forward, to be cast aside as
+utterly worthless. No one seemed to have any very brilliant thought, and
+as the first step on these occasions was to select what the entertainment
+should be, proceedings seemed to come to a standstill.
+
+The fact was the most daring originator, the one whose ideas were always
+flavored with a spice of novelty, was absolutely silent.
+
+Cecil Temple, who had taken a seat near Annie, suddenly bent forward and
+spoke to her aloud.
+
+"We have all said what we would like, and we none of us appear to have
+thought of anything at all worth having," she said; "but you have not
+spoken at all, Annie. Give us an idea, dear--you know you originated the
+fancy ball last year."
+
+Thus publicly appealed to, Annie raised her full brown eyes, glanced at
+her companions, not one of whom, with the exception of Cecil, returned
+her gaze fully; then, rising to her feet, she spoke in a slightly
+contemptuous tone.
+
+"These preparations seem to me to be much ado about nothing; they take up
+a lot of our time, and the results aren't worth the trouble--I have
+nothing particular to say. Oh, well, yes, if you like--let's have blind
+man's buff and a magic lantern;" and then, dropping a mock curtsey to her
+companions, she dropped out of the south parlor.
+
+"Insufferable girl!" said Dora Russell; "I wonder you try to draw her
+out, Cecil. You know perfectly that we none of us care to have anything
+to do with her."
+
+"I know perfectly that you are all doing your best to make her life
+miserable," said Cecil, suddenly and boldly. "No one in this school has
+obeyed Mrs. Willis' command to treat Annie as innocent--you are
+practically sending her to Coventry, and I think it is unjust and unfair.
+You don't know, girls, that you are ruining poor Annie's happiness."
+
+"Oh, dear! she doesn't seem at all dull," said Miss West, a second-class
+girl. "I do think she's a hardened little wretch."
+
+"Little you know about her," said Cecil, the color fading out of her pale
+face. Then after a pause, she added; "The injustice of the whole thing is
+that in this treatment of Annie you break the spirit of Mrs. Willis'
+command--you, none of you, certainly tell her that she is guilty, but you
+treat her as such."
+
+Here Hester Thornton said a daring thing.
+
+"I don't believe Mrs. Willis in her heart of hearts considers Annie
+guiltless."
+
+These words of Hester's were laughed at by most of the girls, but Dora
+Russell gave her an approving nod, and Cecil, looking paler than ever,
+dropped suddenly into her seat, and no longer tried to defend her absent
+friend.
+
+"At any rate," said Miss Conway, who as the head girl of the whole school
+was always listened to with great respect, "it is unfortunate for the
+success of our entertainment that there should be all this discussion and
+bad feeling with regard to Miss Forest. For my own part, I cannot make
+out why the poor little creature should be hunted down, or what affair it
+is of ours whether she is innocent or not. If Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis
+say she is innocent, is not that enough? The fact of her guilt or
+innocence can't hurt us one way or another. It is a great pity, however,
+for our own sakes, that we should be out with her now, for, whatever her
+faults, she is the only one of us who is ever gifted with an original
+thought. But, as we can't have her, let us set to work without her--we
+really can't waste the whole evening over this sort of talk."
+
+Discussions as to the coming pleasure were now again resumed with vigor,
+and after a great deal of animated arguing it was resolved that two short
+plays should be acted; that a committee should be immediately formed, who
+should select the plays, and apportion their various parts to the
+different actors.
+
+The committee selected included Miss Russell, Miss Conway, Hester
+Thornton, Cecil Temple, and two other girls of the second class. The
+conference then broke up, but there was a certain sense of flatness over
+everything, and Cecil was not the only girl who sighed for the merry
+meetings of last year--when Annie had been the life and soul of all the
+proceedings, and when one brilliant idea after another with regard to the
+costumes for the fancy ball had dropped from her merry tongue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+STEALING HEARTS.
+
+
+When Annie ran out of the south parlor she found herself suddenly face to
+face with Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Well, my dear child," said the head mistress in her kindest voice,
+"where are you running to? But I suppose I must not ask; you are, of
+course, one of the busy and secret conclave in the south parlor?"
+
+"No. I have left them," said Annie, bending her head, and after her usual
+habit when agitated, shaking her hair about her face.
+
+"Left them?" repeated Mrs. Willis, "you mean, dear, that they have sent
+you for some message."
+
+"No. I am not one of them. May I go into the garden, Mrs. Willis?"
+
+"Certainly, my dear."
+
+Annie did not even glance at her governess. She pushed aside the baize
+door, and found herself in the great stone hall which led to the
+play-room and school-room. Her garden hat hung on a peg in the hall, and
+she tossed it off its place, and holding it in her hand ran toward the
+side door which opened directly into the garden. She had a wild wish to
+get to the shelter of the forsaken hammock and there cry out her whole
+heart. The moment she got into the open air, however, she was met by a
+whole troop of the little children, who were coming in after their usual
+short exercise before going to bed. Miss Danesbury was with them, and
+when Annie ran out by the open door, she entered holding two little ones
+by the hands. Last in this group toddled Hester's little sister Nan. The
+moment she saw Annie, her little face broke into smiles, she held out two
+hands eagerly, and fled to the young girl's side.
+
+"Where dat pitty toy?" she said, raising her round face to Annie's; "some
+one did buy dat toy, and it's vedy pitty, and me wants it--where's dat
+toy?"
+
+Annie stooped down, and spoke suddenly and impulsively to the little
+child.
+
+"You shall have the toy for your very own, Nan if you will do something
+for me?"
+
+Nan's baby eyes looked straight into Annie's.
+
+"Me will," she said emphatically; "me want dat toy."
+
+"Put your arms, round me, little darling, and give me a great tight hug."
+
+This request was great fun to Nan, who squeezed her little arms round
+Annie's neck, and pressed her dimpled cheek to her lips.
+
+"Dere," she said triumphantly, "will dat do?"
+
+"Yes, you little treasure, and you'll try to love me, won't you?"
+
+"Me do," said Nan, in a solemn voice; but then Miss Danesbury called her,
+and she ran into the house.
+
+As Nan trotted into the house she put up her dimpled hand to wipe
+something from her round cheek--it was a tear which Annie Forest had left
+there.
+
+Annie herself, when all the little ones had disappeared, walked slowly
+and sadly down toward the shady walk. The sun had just set, and though it
+was now nearly May, and the evenings long, the wind was sufficiently cold
+to cause Annie to shiver in her thin house frock. At all times utterly
+fearless with regard to her health, she gave it no thought now, but
+entering the walk where she knew she should not be disturbed, she looked
+up at the hammock, and wondered whether she should climb into it. She
+decided, however, not to do so--the great and terrible weight of tears
+which had pressed close to her heart were relieved by Nan's embrace; she
+no longer cared to cry until she could cry no longer--the worst of her
+pain had been soothed by the sweet baby graciousness of the little one.
+
+Then there darted into poor Annie's sore heart and perplexed brain that
+dangerous thought and temptation which was to work so much future pain
+and trouble. She already loved little Nan, and Nan, as most children did,
+had taken a fancy to her. Annie stood still, and clasped her hands as the
+dark idea came to her to steal the heart of little Nan from Hester, and
+so revenge herself on her. By doing this she would touch Hester in her
+most vulnerable point--she would take from her what she valued most. The
+temptation came swiftly, and Annie listened to it, and thought how easy
+it would be to carry it into effect. She knew well that no little child
+could resist her when she chose to exercise her charms--it would be easy,
+easy work to make that part of Nan which was most precious all her own.
+Annie became fascinated by the idea; how completely then she would have
+revenged all her wrongs on Hester! Some day Hester would bitterly repent
+of her unjust prejudice toward her; some day Hester would come to her,
+and beg of her in agony to give her back her darling's love; ah! when
+that day came it would be her turn to triumph.
+
+She felt more than satisfied as the temptation grew upon her; she shut
+out persistently from her view all the other side of the picture; she
+would not let herself think that the work she was about to undertake was
+cruel and mean. Hester had been more than unjust, and she was going to
+punish her.
+
+Annie paced faster and faster up and down the shady walk, and whenever
+her resolution wavered, the memory of Hester's face as she had seen it
+the same night in the south parlor came visibly back and strengthened it.
+Yes, her turn had come at last Hester had contrived since her entrance
+into the school to make Annie's life thoroughly miserable. Well, never
+mind, it was Annie's turn now to make her wretched.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+IN BURN CASTLE WOOD.
+
+
+In concentrating her thoughts of revenge on Hester, Annie ceased to
+trouble her head about Dora Russell. She considered Hester a crueler
+enemy than Dora. Hester belonged to her own set, worked in her own class,
+and would naturally, had things not turned out so unjustly, so unfairly,
+have been her friend, and not her enemy. Dora had nothing to say to
+Annie, and before Hester's advent into the school had scarcely noticed
+her existence. Annie therefore concentrated all her powers on punishing
+Hester. This gave her an aim and an occupation, and at first she felt
+that her revenge might give her real pleasure.
+
+Susan Drummond now shared Annie's bedroom, and Annie was rather startled
+one evening to hear this phlegmatic young person burst out into a strong
+tirade against Hester and Dora. Dora had managed, for some inexplicable
+reason, to offend Susan, and Susan now looked to Annie for sympathy, and
+boldly suggested that they should get up what she was pleased to called
+"a lark" between them for the punishment of this very dignified young
+lady.
+
+Annie had never liked Susan, and she now stared at her, and said, in her
+quick way:
+
+"You won't catch me helping you in any of your larks. I've had trouble
+enough on that score as it is."
+
+Susan gazed at her stupidly, and a dull red spread over her face.
+
+"But I thought you hated Dora and Hester," she said--"I'm sure they hate
+you."
+
+Annie was silent.
+
+"You do hate them, don't you?" persisted Miss Drummond.
+
+"It's nothing to you what I feel toward them, Susy," said Annie. "Please
+don't disturb me with any more of your chatter; I am very sleepy, and you
+are keeping me awake."
+
+Thus silenced, Susan had to content herself by turning on her back, and
+going into the land of dreams; but she was evidently a good deal
+surprised and disappointed, and began to entertain a certain respect, and
+even fear, of Annie which had been hitherto unknown to her.
+
+Meanwhile Hester was very busy, very happy, and more satisfied--brighter
+and better employed than she had ever been in her life before. Nan's love
+satisfied the affectionate side of her nature, and all her intellect was
+strained to the utmost to win honors in the coming struggle.
+
+She had stuck firmly to her resolve to work for the English composition
+prize, and she firmly made up her own mind to leave no stone unturned to
+win it. What affection she possessed for Miss Russell was not at all of a
+character to prevent her from thoroughly enjoying taking the prize out of
+her hands. Her love for Dora had been fed by vanity, and was not at all
+of a deep or noble character. She was some time carefully choosing the
+subject of her theme, and at last she resolved to write a brief
+historical description of the last days of Marie Antoinette. To write
+properly on this subject she had to read up a great deal, and had to find
+references in books which were not usually allowed as school-room
+property. Mrs. Willis, however, always allowed the girls who were working
+for the English composition prize to have access to her rather extensive
+library, and here Hester was often to be found during play-hours. Two
+evenings in the week were also taken up in preparation for the coming
+plays, and as Hester was to take rather an important part in one, and a
+small character in another, she was obliged to devote herself to getting
+up her parts during the weekly half-holidays. Thus every moment was busy,
+and, except at night, she had little time to devote herself to Nan.
+
+Nan slept in a pretty crib in Hester's room, and each evening the young
+girl knelt down by her sister's side, and gazed at her with love, which
+was almost motherly, swelling in her breast.
+
+All that was best of Hester was drawn out at these moments; something
+greater than ambition--something far and away above school triumphs and
+school jealousies spoke then in her heart of hearts. These moments found
+her capable of being both sympathizing and forgiving; these moments
+followed out in her daily life might have made Hester almost great. Now
+was the time, with her eyes full of tears and her lips trembling with
+emotion, for Annie Forest to have caught a glimpse of the divine in
+Hester; the hardness, the pride, the haughty spirit were all laid aside,
+and hers was the true child-heart as she knelt by the sleeping baby.
+Hester prayed earnestly at these moments, and, in in truth, Nan did
+better for her than any sermon; better for her than even Mrs. Willis'
+best influences. Nan was as the voice of God to her sister.
+
+Hester, in her very busy life, had no time to notice, however, a very
+slight and almost imperceptible change in bright little Nan. In the
+mornings she was in too great a hurry to pay much heed to the little
+one's chatter; in the afternoons she had scarcely an instant to devote to
+her, and when she saw her playing happily with the other children she was
+quite content, and always supposed that when a spare half-hour did come
+in her busy life, Nan would rush to her with the old ecstasy, and give
+her the old devotion.
+
+One day, toward the end of a very fine May, the girls were all to go for
+a picnic to some woods about four miles away. They had looked forward for
+several days to this relaxation, and were in the highest state of delight
+and the wildest spirits. After an early dinner they were to drive in
+several large wagonettes to the place of rendezvous, where they were to
+be regaled with gypsy-tea, and were to have a few hours in the lovely
+woods of Burn Castle, one of the show places of the neighborhood. Mrs.
+Willis had invited the Misses Bruce to accompany them, and they were all
+to leave the house punctually at two o'clock. The weather was wonderfully
+fine and warm, and it was decided that all the children, even Nan, should
+go.
+
+Perhaps none of the girls looked forward to this day's pleasure with
+greater joy than did Hester; she determined to make it a real holiday,
+and a real time of relaxation. She would forget her English theme; she
+would cease to worry herself about Marie Antoinette; she would cease to
+repeat her part in the coming play; and she would devote herself
+exclusively and determinately to Nan's pleasure. She pictured the little
+one's raptures; she heard her gay shouts of joy, her ceaseless little
+rippling chatter, her baby glee, and, above all things, her intense
+happiness at being with her own Hetty for the greater part of a whole
+day. Hester would ride her on her shoulder, would race with her; all her
+usual companions would be as nothing to her on this occasion, she would
+give herself up solely to Nan.
+
+As she was dressing that morning she said a word or two to the child
+about the coming treat.
+
+"We'll light a fire in the wood, Nan, and hang a kettle over it, and make
+tea--such good tea; won't it be nice?"
+
+Nan clapped her hands. "And may I take out my little ummabella
+(umbrella), case it might wain?" she asked anxiously.
+
+Hester flew to her and kissed her.
+
+"You funny darling!" she said. "Oh, we shall have such a day! You'll be
+with your own Hetty all day long--your own Hetty; won't you be glad?"
+
+"Me am," said Nan; "own Hetty, and own Annie; me am glad."
+
+Hester scarcely heard the last words, for the prayer-gong sounded, and
+she had to fly down stairs.
+
+At dinner time the girls were discussing who would go with each, and all
+were very merry and full of fun.
+
+"Miss Danesbury will take the little children," said Miss Good. "Mrs.
+Willis says that all the little ones are to be in Miss Danesbury's
+charge."
+
+"Oh, please," said Hester, suddenly, "may Nan come with me, Miss Good?
+She'll be so disappointed if she doesn't, and I'll take such care of
+her."
+
+Miss Good nodded a careless acquiescence, and Hester proceeded with her
+dinner, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
+
+Immediately after dinner the girls flew to their rooms to prepare for
+their expedition. Hastily opening a drawer, Hester pulled out a white
+frock, white piqué pelisse, and washing hat for Nan--she meant her
+darling to look as charming as possible.
+
+"Oh, dear, Miss Danesbury should have brought her here by now," she said
+to herself impatiently, and then, hearing the crunching of carriage
+wheels on the drive, she flew to the bell and rang it.
+
+In a few moments one of the maids appeared.
+
+"Do you know where Miss Nan is, Alice? She is to go to Burn Castle with
+me, and I want to dress her, for it is nearly time to go."
+
+Alice looked a little surprised.
+
+"If you please, miss," she said, "I think Miss Nan has just gone."
+
+"What do you mean, Alice? Miss Good said especially she was to go with
+me."
+
+"I know nothing about that, miss; I only know that I saw Miss Forest
+carrying her down stairs in her arms about three minutes ago, and they
+went off in the wagonette with all the other little children and Miss
+Danesbury."
+
+Hester stood perfectly still, her color changed from red to white; for
+full half a minute she was silent. Then, hearing voices from below
+calling to her, she said in a cold, quiet tone:
+
+"That will do, Alice; thank you for letting me know."
+
+She turned to her drawer and put back Nan's white and pretty things, and
+also replaced a new and very becoming shady hat which she had meant to
+wear herself. In her old winter hat, and looking almost untidy for her,
+she walked slowly down stairs and took her place in the wagonette which
+was drawn up at the door.
+
+Cecil Temple and one or two other girls whom Hester liked very much were
+in the same wagonette, but she scarcely cared to talk to them, and only
+joined in their laughter by a strong effort. She was deeply wounded, but
+her keenest present desire was to hide any feelings of jealousy she had
+toward Annie from the quick eyes of her schoolfellows.
+
+"Why," suddenly exclaimed Julia Morris, a particularly unobservant girl,
+"I thought you were going to bring that dear baby sister with you,
+Hester. Oh, I do hope there is nothing the matter with her."
+
+"Nan has gone on in the first wagonette with the little children," said
+Hester as cheerfully as she could speak, but she colored slightly, and
+saw that Cecil was regarding her attentively.
+
+Susan Drummond exclaimed suddenly:
+
+"I saw Annie Forest rushing down the stairs with little Nan, and Nan had
+her arms round her neck, and was laughing merrily. You need not be
+anxious about Nan, Hester; she was quite content to go with Annie."
+
+"I did not say I was anxious," replied Hester in a cold voice. "How very
+beautiful that avenue of beech trees is, Cecil!"
+
+"But Annie heard Miss Good say that you were to take Nan," persisted
+Julia Morris. "She could not but have noticed it, for you did flush up
+so, Hester, and looked so eager. I never saw any one more in earnest
+about a trifle in my life; it was impossible for Annie not to have
+heard."
+
+"The great thing is that Nan is happy," said Hester in a fretted voice.
+"Do let us change the subject, girls."
+
+Cecil instantly began talking about the coming plays, and soon the
+conversation became of an absorbing character, and Hester's voice was
+heard oftener than the others, and she laughed more frequently than her
+companions.
+
+For all this forced merriment, however, Cecil did not fail to observe
+that when Hester got to the place of meeting at Burn Castle she looked
+around her with a quick and eager glance. Then the color faded from her
+face, and her eyes grew dim.
+
+That look of pain on Hester's face was quite enough for kind-hearted
+Cecil. She had thrown herself on the grass with an exclamation of
+delight, but in an instant she was on her feet.
+
+"Now, of course, the first thing is to find little Nan," she said;
+"she'll be missing you dreadfully, Hetty."
+
+Cecil held out her hand to Hester to run with her through the wood, but,
+to her surprise, Hester drew back.
+
+"I'm tired," she said; "I daresay we shall find Nan presently. She is
+sure to be safe, as she is under Miss Danesbury's care."
+
+Cecil made no remark, but set off by herself to find the little children.
+Presently, standing on a little knoll, and putting her two hands round
+her lips, so as to form a speaking trumpet, she shouted to Hester. Hester
+came slowly and apparently unwillingly toward her, but when she got to
+the foot of the knoll, Cecil flew down, and, taking her by the hand, ran
+with her to the top.
+
+"Oh, do come quick!" she exclaimed; "it is such a pretty sight."
+
+Down in the valley about fifty yards away were the ten or twelve little
+children who formed the infant portion of the school. Miss Danesbury was
+sitting at some distance off quietly reading, and the children, decked
+with flowers, and carrying tall grasses and reeds in their hands, were
+flying round and round in a merry circle, while in their midst, and the
+center attraction, stood Annie, whose hat was tossed aside, and whose
+bright, curling hair was literally crowned with wild flowers. On Annie's
+shoulder stood little Nan, carefully and beautifully poised, and round
+Nan's wavy curls was a starry wreath of wood-anemones. Nan was shouting
+gleefully and clapping her hands, while Annie balanced her slightest
+movement with the greatest agility, and kept her little feet steady on
+her shoulders with scarcely an effort. As the children ran round and
+round Annie she waltzed gracefully backward and forward to meet them, and
+they all sang snatches of nursery rhymes. When Cecil and Hester appeared
+they had reached in their varied collection:
+
+                    "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
+                    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."
+
+Here Nan exclaimed, in her clear, high-pitched voice:
+
+"Me no fall, Annie," and the small children on the ground clapped their
+hands and blew kisses to her.
+
+"Isn't it pretty? Isn't Annie sweet with children?" said Cecil, looking
+round to Hester with all the admiration she felt for her friend shining
+in her face. The expression, however, which Hester wore at that moment
+really startled Cecil; she was absolutely colorless, and presently she
+called aloud in a harsh, strained voice:
+
+"Be careful of her! How wicked of you to put her like that on your
+shoulder! She will fall--yes, I know she will fall; oh, do be careful!"
+
+Hester's voice startled the children, who ceased singing and dancing;
+Annie made a hasty step forward, and one little voice alone kept singing
+out the words:
+
+                  "Humpty-Dumpty got a great fall!"--
+
+when there was a crash and a cry, and Nan, in some inexplicable way, had
+fallen backward from Annie's shoulders.
+
+In one instant Hester was in the midst of the group.
+
+"Don't touch her," she said, as Annie flew to pick up the child, who,
+falling with some force on her head, had been stunned; "don't touch
+her--don't dare! It was your doing; you did it on purpose--you wished to
+do it!"
+
+"You are unjust," said Annie, in a low tone. "Nan was perfectly safe
+until you startled her. Like all the rest you are unjust. Nan would have
+come to no harm if you had not spoken."
+
+Hester did not vouchsafe another word. She sat on the ground with the
+unconscious and pretty little flower-crowned figure laid across her lap;
+she was terrified, and thought in her inexperience that Nan must be dead.
+
+At the first mention of the accident Cecil had flown to fetch some water,
+and when she and Miss Danesbury applied it to little Nan's temples, she
+presently sighed, and opened her brown eyes wide.
+
+"I hope--I trust she is not much hurt," said Miss Danesbury; "but I think
+it safest to take her home at once. Cecil, dear, can you do anything
+about fetching a wagonette round to the stile at the entrance of the
+wood? Now the puzzle is, who is to take care of the rest of the little
+children? If only they were under Miss Good's care, I should breathe more
+easily."
+
+"I am going home with Nan," said Hester in a hard voice.
+
+"Of course, my love; no one would think of parting you from your little
+sister," said the governess, soothingly.
+
+"If you please, Miss Danesbury," said Annie, whose face was quite as pale
+as Hester's, and her eyes heavy as though she longed to cry, "will you
+trust me with the little ones? If you do, I will promise to take them
+straight to Miss Good, and to be most careful of them."
+
+Miss Danesbury's gentle and kind face looked relieved.
+
+"Thank you, Annie--of course I trust you, dear. Take the children at once
+to the meeting-place under the great oak, and wait there until Miss Good
+appears." Annie suddenly sprang forward, and threw her arms round Miss
+Danesbury's neck.
+
+"Miss Danesbury, you comfort me," she said, in a kind of stifled voice,
+and then she ran off with the children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"HUMPTY-DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL."
+
+
+All the stupor and languor which immediately followed Nan's fall passed
+off during her drive home; she chatted and laughed, her cheeks were
+flushed, her eyes bright. Hester turned with a relieved face to Miss
+Danesbury.
+
+"My little darling is all right, is she not?" she said. "Oh, I was so
+terrified--oh, how thankful I am no harm has been done!"
+
+Miss Danesbury did not return Hester's full gaze; she attempted to take
+little Nan on her knee, but Nan clung to Hetty. Then she said:
+
+"You must be careful to keep the sun off her, dear--hold your parasol
+well down--just so. That is better. When we get home, I will put her to
+bed at once. Please God, there _is_ nothing wrong; but one cannot be too
+careful."
+
+Something in Miss Danesbury's manner affected Hester strangely; she
+clasped Nan's slight baby form closer and closer to her heart, and no
+longer joined in the little one's mirth. As the drive drew to a close,
+Nan again ceased talking, and fell into a heavy sleep.
+
+Miss Danesbury's face grew graver and graver, and, when the wagonette
+drew up at Lavender House, she insisted on lifting the sleeping child out
+of Hester's arms, and carrying her up to her little crib. When Nan's
+little head was laid on the cool pillow, she again opened her eyes, and
+instantly asked for a drink. Miss Danesbury gave her some milk and water,
+but the moment she drank it she was sick.
+
+"Just as I feared," said the governess; "there is some little
+mischief--not much, I hope--but we must instantly send for the doctor."
+
+As Miss Danesbury walked across the room to ring the bell, Hester
+followed her.
+
+"She's not in danger?" she whispered in a hoarse voice. "If she is, Annie
+is guilty of murder."
+
+"Don't, my dear," said the governess; "you must keep quiet for Nan's
+sake. Please God, she will soon be better. All I really apprehend is a
+little excitement and feverishness, which will pass off in a few days
+with care. Hester, my dear, I suddenly remember that the house is nearly
+empty, for all the servants are also enjoying a holiday. I think I must
+send you for Dr. Mayflower. The wagonette is still at the door. Drive at
+once to town, my dear, and ask the coachman to take you to No. 10, The
+Parade. If you are very quick, you will catch Dr. Mayflower before he
+goes out on his afternoon rounds."
+
+Hester glanced for half an instant at Nan, but her eyes were again
+closed.
+
+"I will take the best care of her," said the governess in a kind voice;
+"don't lose an instant, dear."
+
+Hester snatched up her hat and flew down stairs. In a moment she was in
+the wagonette, and the driver was speedily urging his horses in the
+direction of the small town of Sefton, two miles and a half away. Hester
+was terrified now--so terrified, in such an agony, that she even forgot
+Annie; her hatred toward Annie became of secondary importance to her. All
+her ideas, all her thoughts, were swallowed up in the one great
+hope--Should she be in time to reach Dr. Mayflower's house before he set
+off on his afternoon rounds? As the wagonette approached Sefton she
+buried her face in her hands and uttered a sharp inward cry of agony.
+
+"Please God, let me find the doctor!" It was a real prayer from her heart
+of hearts. The wagonette drew up at the doctor's residence, to discover
+him stepping into his brougham. Hester was a shy child, and had never
+seen him before; but she instantly raised her voice, and almost shouted
+to him:
+
+"You are to come with me; please, you are to come at once. Little Nan is
+ill--she is hurt. Please, you are to come at once."
+
+"Eh! young lady?" said the round-faced doctor "Oh! I see; you are one of
+the little girls from Lavender House. Is anything wrong there, dear?"
+
+Hester managed to relate what had occurred; whereupon the doctor
+instantly opened the door of the wagonette.
+
+"Jump out, young lady," he said; "I will drive you back in my brougham.
+Masters," addressing his coachman, "to Lavender House."
+
+Hester sat back in the soft-cushioned carriage, which bowled smoothly
+along the road. It seemed to her impatience that the pace at which they
+went was not half quick enough--she longed to put her head out of the
+window to shout to the coachman to go faster. She felt intensely provoked
+with the doctor, who sat placidly by her side reading a newspaper.
+
+Presently she saw that his eyes were fixed on her. He spoke in his
+quietest tones.
+
+"We always take precisely twenty minutes to drive from the Parade to
+Lavender House--twenty minutes, neither more or less. We shall be there
+now in exactly ten minutes."
+
+Hester tried to smile, but failed; her agony of apprehension grew and
+grew. She breathed more freely when they turned into the avenue. When
+they stopped at the wide stone porch, and the doctor got out, she uttered
+a sigh of relief. She took Dr. Mayflower herself up to Nan's room. Miss
+Danesbury opened the door, the doctor went inside, and Hester crouched
+down on the landing and waited. It seemed to her that the good physician
+would never come out. When he did she raised a perfectly blanched face to
+his, she opened her lips, tried to speak, but no words would come. Her
+agitation was so intense that the kind-hearted doctor took instant pity
+on her.
+
+"Come into this room, my child," he said. "My dear, you will be ill
+yourself if you give way like this. Pooh! pooh! this agitation is
+extreme--is uncalled for. You have got a shock. I shall prescribe a glass
+of sherry at once. Come down stairs with me, and I will see that you get
+one."
+
+"But how is she, sir--how is she?" poor Hester managed to articulate.
+
+"Oh! the little one--sweet, pretty, little darling. I did not know she
+was your sister--a dear little child. She got an ugly fall, though--came
+on a nasty place."
+
+"But, please, sir, how is she? She--she--she is not in danger?"
+
+"Danger? by no means, unless you put her into it. She must be kept very
+quiet, and, above all things, not excited. I will come to see her again
+to-morrow morning. With proper care she ought to be quite herself in a
+few days. Ah! now you've got a little color in your cheek, come down with
+me and have that glass of sherry, and you will feel all right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ANNIE TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The picnic-party arrived home late. The accident to little Nan had not
+shortened the day's pleasure, although Mrs. Willis, the moment she heard
+of it, had come back; for she entered the hall just as the doctor was
+stepping into his carriage. He gave her his opinion, and said that he
+trusted no further mischief, beyond a little temporary excitement, had
+been caused. He again, however, spoke of the great necessity of keeping
+Nan quiet, and said that her schoolfellows must not come to her, and that
+she must not be excited in any way. Mrs. Willis came into the great hall
+where Hester was standing. Instantly she went up to the young girl, and
+put her arm around and drew her to her side.
+
+"Darling," she said, "this is a grievous anxiety for you; no words can
+express my sorrow and my sympathy; but the doctor is quite hopeful,
+Hester, and, please God, we shall soon have the little one as well as
+ever."
+
+"You are really sorry for me?" said Hester, raising her eyes to the
+head-mistress' face.
+
+"Of course, dear; need you ask?"
+
+"Then you will have that wicked Annie Forest punished--well punished--well
+punished."
+
+"Sometimes, Hester," said Mrs. Willis, very gravely, "God takes the
+punishment of our wrongdoings into His own hands. Annie came home with
+me. Had you seen her face as we drove together you would not have asked
+_me_ to punish her."
+
+"Unjust, always unjust," muttered Hester, but in so low a voice that Mrs.
+Willis did not hear the words. "Please may I go to little Nan?" she said.
+
+"Certainly, Hester--some tea shall be sent up to you presently."
+
+Miss Danesbury arranged to spend that night in Nan's room. A sofa bed was
+brought in for her to lie on, for Mrs. Willis had yielded to Hester's
+almost feverish entreaties that she might not be banished from her little
+sister. Not a sound reached the room where Nan was lying--even the girls
+took off their shoes as they passed the door--not a whisper came to
+disturb the sick child. Little Nan slept most of the evening, only
+sometimes opening her eyes and looking up drowsily when Miss Danesbury
+changed the cold application to her head. At nine o'clock there came a
+low tap at the room door. Hester went to open it; one of her
+schoolfellows stood without.
+
+"The prayer-gong is not to be sounded to-night. Will you come to the
+chapel now? Mrs. Willis sent me to ask."
+
+Hester shook her head.
+
+"I cannot," she whispered; "tell her I cannot come."
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry!" replied the girl; "is Nan very bad?"
+
+"I don't know; I hope not. Good-night."
+
+Hester closed the room door, took off her dress, and began very softly to
+prepare to get into bed. She put on her dressing-gown, and knelt down as
+usual to her private prayers. When she got on her knees, however, she
+found it impossible to pray: her brain felt in a whirl, her feelings were
+unprayer-like; and with the temporary relief of believing Nan in no
+immediate danger came such a flood of hatred toward Annie as almost
+frightened her. She tried to ask God to make Nan better--quite well; but
+even this petition seemed to go no way--to reach no one--to fall flat on
+the empty air. She rose from her knees, and got quietly into bed.
+
+Nan lay in that half-drowsy and languid state until midnight. Hester,
+with all her very slight experience of illness, thought that as long as
+Nan was quiet she must be getting better; but Miss Danesbury was by no
+means so sure, and, notwithstanding the doctor's verdict, she felt
+anxious about the child. Hester had said that she could not sleep; but at
+Miss Danesbury's special request she got into bed, and before she knew
+anything about it was in a sound slumber. At midnight, when all the house
+was quiet, and Miss Danesbury kept a lonely watch by the sick child's
+pillow, there came a marked change for the worse in the little one. She
+opened her feverish eyes wide and began to call out piteously; but her
+cry now was, not for Hester, but for Annie.
+
+"Me want my Annie," she said over and over, "me do, me do. No, no; go
+'way, naughty Day-bury, me want my Annie; me do want her."
+
+Miss Danesbury felt puzzled and distressed. Hester, however, was awakened
+by the piteous cry, and sat up in bed.
+
+"What is it, Miss Danesbury?" she asked.
+
+"She is very much excited, Hester; she is calling for Annie Forest."
+
+"Oh, that is quite impossible," said Hester, a shudder passing through
+her. "Annie can't come here. The doctor specially said that none of the
+girls were to come near Nan."
+
+"Me want Annie; me want my own Annie," wailed the sick child.
+
+"Give me my dressing-gown, please, Miss Danesbury, and I will go to her,"
+said Hester.
+
+She sprang out of bed, and approached the little crib. The brightness of
+Nan's feverish eyes was distinctly seen. She looked up at Hester, who
+bent over her; then she uttered a sharp cry and covered her little face.
+
+"Go 'way, go 'way, naughty Hetty--Nan want Annie; Annie sing, Annie p'ay
+with Nan--go 'way, go 'way, Hetty."
+
+Hester's heart was too full to allow her to speak; but she knelt by the
+crib and tried to take one of the little hot hands in hers. Nan, however,
+pushed her hands away, and now began to cry loudly.
+
+"Annie!--Annie!--Annie! me want 'oo; Nan want 'oo--poor tibby Nan want
+'oo, Annie!"
+
+Miss Danesbury touched Hester on her shoulder.
+
+"My dear," she said, "the child's wish must be gratified. Annie has an
+extraordinary power over children, and under the circumstances I shall
+take it upon me to disobey the doctor's directions. The child must be
+quieted at all hazards. Run for Annie, dear--you know her room. I had
+better stay with little Nan, for, though she loves you best, you don't
+sooth her at present--that is often so with a fever case."
+
+"One moment," said Hester. She turned again to the little crib.
+
+"Hetty is going to fetch Annie for Nan. Will Nan give her own Hetty one
+kiss?"
+
+Instantly the little arms were flung round Hester's neck.
+
+"Me like 'oo now, dood Hetty. Go for Annie, dood Hetty."
+
+Instantly Hester ran out of the room. She flew quickly down the long
+passage, and did not know what a strange little figure she made as the
+moon from a large window at one end fell full upon her. So eerie, so
+ghost-like was her appearance as she flew noiselessly with her bare feet
+along the passage that some one--Hester did not know whom--gave a stifled
+cry. The cry seemed to come from a good way off, and Hester was too
+preoccupied to notice it. She darted into the room where Susan Drummond
+and Annie Forest slept.
+
+"Annie, you are to come to Nan," she said in a sharp high-pitched voice
+which she scarcely recognized as her own.
+
+"Coming," said Annie, and she walked instantly to the door with her dress
+on and stood in the moonlight.
+
+"You are dressed!" said Hester in astonishment.
+
+"I could not undress--I lay down as I was. I fancied I heard Nan's voice
+calling me. I guessed I should be sent for."
+
+"Well, come now," said Hester in her hardest tones. "You were only sent
+for because Nan must be quieted at any risk. Come and see if you can
+quiet her. I don't suppose," with a bitter laugh "that you will succeed."
+
+"I think so," replied Annie, in a very soft and gentle tone.
+
+She walked back by Hester's side and entered the sick-room. She walked
+straight up to the little cot and knelt down by Nan, and said, in that
+strangely melodious voice of hers:
+
+"Little darling, Annie has come."
+
+"Me like 'oo," said Nan with a satisfied coo in her voice, and she turned
+round on her side with her back to Miss Danesbury and Hester and her eyes
+fixed on Annie.
+
+"Sing 'Four-and-twenty,' Annie; sing 'Four-and-twenty,'" she said
+presently.
+
+"Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie," sang Annie in a low clear
+voice, without a moment's hesitation. She went through the old nursery
+rhyme once--twice. Then Nan interrupted her fretfully:
+
+"Me don't want dat 'dain; sing 'Boy Blue,' Annie."
+
+Annie sang.
+
+"'Tree Little Kittens,' Annie," interrupted the little voice presently.
+
+For more than two hours Annie knelt by the child, singing nursery rhyme
+after nursery rhyme, while the bright beautiful eyes were fixed on her
+face, and the little voice said incessantly:
+
+"Sing, Annie--sing."
+
+"Baby Bun, now," said Nan, when Annie had come almost to the end of her
+selection.
+
+                   "Bye baby bunting,
+                   Daddy's gone a hunting--
+                   He's gone to fetch a rabbit-skin,
+                   To place the baby bunting in."
+
+Over and over and over did Annie sing the words. Whenever, even for a
+brief moment she paused, Nan said:
+
+"Sing, Annie--sing 'Baby Bun.'"
+
+And all the time the eyes remained wide open, and the little hands were
+burning hot; but, gradually, after more than two hours of constant
+singing, Annie began to fancy that the burning skin was cooler.
+Then--could she believe it?--she saw the lids droop over the wide-open
+eyes. Five minutes later, to the tune of "Baby Bunting," Nan had fallen
+into a deep and sound sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A SPOILED BABY.
+
+
+In the morning Nan was better, and although for days she was in a very
+precarious state, and had to be kept as quiet as possible, yet Miss
+Danesbury's great dread that fever would set in had passed away. The
+doctor said, however, that Nan had barely escaped real injury to her
+brain, and that it would be many a day before she would romp again, and
+play freely and noisily with the other children. Nan had chosen her own
+nurse, and, with the imperiousness of all babies--to say nothing of sick
+babies--she had her way. From morning till night Annie remained with her,
+and when the doctor saw how Annie alone could soothe and satisfy the
+child he would not allow it to be otherwise. At first Nan would lie with
+her hand in Annie's, and her little cry of "sing, Annie," going on from
+time to time; but as she grew better Annie would sit with her by the open
+window, with her head pillowed on her breast, and her arm round the
+little slender form, and Nan would smile and look adoringly at Annie, who
+would often return her gaze with intense sadness, and an indescribable
+something in her face which caused the little one to stroke her cheek
+tenderly, and say in her sweet baby voice:
+
+"Poor Annie; poor tibby Annie!"
+
+They made a pretty picture as they sat there. Annie, with her charming
+gypsy face, her wild luxuriant, curly hair, all the sauciness and unrest
+in her soothed by the magic of the little child's presence; and the
+little child herself, with her faint, wild-rose color, her dark, deep
+eyes, clear as summer pools, and her sunshiny golden hair. But pretty as
+the picture was Hester loathed it, for Hester thought during these
+wretched days that her heart would break.
+
+Not that Nan turned away from Hetty; she petted her and kissed her, and
+sometimes put an arm round Hetty and and an arm round Annie, as though,
+if she could, she would draw them together; but any one could see that
+her heart of hearts was given to Annie, and that Hester ranked second in
+her love. Hester would not for worlds express any of her bitter feelings
+before Annie; nay, as the doctor and Miss Danesbury both declared that,
+however culpable Annie might have been in causing the accident, she had
+saved little Nan's life by her wonderful skill in soothing her to sleep
+on the first night of her illness, Hester had felt obliged to grumble
+something which might have been taken for "thanks."
+
+Annie, in reply to this grumble, had bestowed upon Hester one of her
+quickest, brightest glances, for she fathomed the true state of Hester's
+heart toward her well enough.
+
+These were very bad days for poor Hester, and but for the avidity with
+which she threw herself into her studies she could scarcely have borne
+them.
+
+By slow degrees Nan got better; she was allowed to come down stairs and
+to sit in Annie's arms in the garden, and then Mrs. Willis interfered,
+and said that Annie must go back to her studies, and only devote her
+usual play hours and half-holidays to Nan's service.
+
+This mandate, however, produced woe and tribulation. The spoiled child
+screamed and beat her little hands, and worked herself up into such a
+pitch of excitement that that night she found her way in her sleep to
+Annie's room, and Annie had to quiet her by taking her into her bed. In
+the morning the doctor had to be sent for, and he instantly prescribed a
+day or two more of Annie's company for the child.
+
+Mrs. Willis felt dreadfully puzzled. She had undertaken the charge of the
+little one; her father was already far away, so it was impossible now to
+make any change of plans; the child was ill--had been injured by an
+accident caused by Annie's carelessness and by Hester's want of
+self-control. But weak and ill as Nan still was, Mrs. Willis felt that an
+undue amount of spoiling was good for no one. She thought it highly
+unjust to Annie to keep her from her school employments at this most
+important period of the year. If Annie did not reach a certain degree of
+excellence in her school marks she could not be promoted in her class.
+Mrs. Willis did not expect the wild and heedless girl to carry off any
+special prizes; but her abilities were quite up to the average, and she
+always hoped to rouse sufficient ambition in her to enable her to acquire
+a good and sound education. Mrs. Willis knew how necessary this was for
+poor Annie's future, and, after giving the doctor an assurance that Nan's
+whims and pleasures should be attended to for the next two or three days,
+she determined at the end of that time to assert her own authority with
+the child, and to insist on Annie working hard at her lessons, and
+returning to her usual school-room life.
+
+On the morning of the third day Mrs. Willis made inquiries, heard that
+Nan had spent an excellent night, eaten a hearty breakfast, and was
+altogether looking blooming. When the girls assembled in the school-room
+for their lessons, Annie brought her little charge down to the large
+play-room, where they established themselves cozily, and Annie began to
+instruct little Nan in the mysteries of
+
+                  "Tic, tac, too,
+                  The little horse has lost his shoe."
+
+Nan was entering into the spirit of the game, was imagining herself a
+little horse, and was holding out her small foot to be shod, when Mrs.
+Willis entered the room.
+
+"Come with me, Nan," she said; "I have got something to show you."
+
+Nan got up instantly, held out one hand to Mrs. Willis and the other to
+Annie, and said, in her confident baby tones:
+
+"Me tum; Annie tumming too."
+
+Mrs. Willis said nothing, but holding the little hand, and accompanied by
+Annie, she went out of the play-room, across the stone hall, and through
+the baize doors until she reached her own delightful private
+sitting-room.
+
+There were heaps of pretty things about, and Nan gazed round her with the
+appreciative glance of a pleased connoisseur.
+
+"Pitty 'oom," she said approvingly. "Nan likes this 'oom. Me'll stay
+here, and so will Annie."
+
+Here she uttered a sudden cry of rapture--on the floor, with its leaves
+temptingly open, lay a gaily-painted picture-book, and curled up in a
+soft fluffy ball by its side was a white Persian kitten asleep.
+
+Mrs. Willis whispered something to Annie, who ran out of the room, and
+Nan knelt down in a perfect rapture of worship by the kitten's side.
+
+"Pitty tibby pussy!" she exclaimed several times, and she rubbed it so
+persistently the wrong way that the kitten shivered and stood up, arched
+its back very high, yawned, turned round three times, and lay down again,
+Alas! "tibby pussy" was not allowed to have any continuous slumber. Nan
+dragged the Persian by its tail into her lap, and when it resisted this
+indignity, and with two or three light bounds disappeared out of the
+room, she stretched out her little hands and began to cry for it.
+
+"Tum back, puss, puss--tum back, poor tibby puss--Nan loves 'oo. Annie,
+go fetch puss for Nan." Then for the first time she discovered that Annie
+was absent, and that she was alone, with the exception of Mrs. Willis,
+who sat busily writing at a distant table.
+
+Mrs. Willis counted for nothing at all with Nan--she did not consider her
+of the smallest importance and after giving her a quick glance of some
+disdain she began to trot round the room on a voyage of discovery. Any
+moment Annie would come back--Annie had, indeed, probably gone to fetch
+the kitten, and would quickly return with it. She walked slowly round and
+round, keeping well away from that part of the room where Mrs. Willis
+sat. Presently she found a very choice little china jug, which she
+carefully abstracted with her small fingers from a cabinet, which
+contained many valuable treasures. She sat down on the floor exactly
+beneath the cabinet, and began to play with her jug. She went through in
+eager pantomime a little game which Annie had invented for her, and
+imagined that she was a little milkmaid, and that the jug was full of
+sweet new milk; she called out to an imaginary set of purchasers, "Want
+any milk?" and then she poured some by way of drops of milk into the palm
+of her little hand, which she drank up in the name of her customers with
+considerable gusto. Presently knocking the little jug with some vehemence
+on the floor she deprived it with one neat blow of its handle and spout.
+Mrs. Willis was busily writing, and did not look up. Nan was not in the
+least disconcerted; she said aloud:
+
+"Poor tibby zug b'oke," and then she left the fragments on the floor, and
+started off on a fresh voyage of discovery. This time she dragged down a
+large photographic album on to a cushion, and, kneeling by it, began to
+look through the pictures, flapping the pages together with a loud noise,
+and laughing merrily as she did so. She was now much nearer to Mrs.
+Willis, who was attracted by the sound, and looking up hastened to the
+rescue of one of her most precious collections of photographs.
+
+"Nan, dear," she said, "shut up that book at once. Nan mustn't touch.
+Shut the book, darling, and go and sit on the floor, and look at your
+nice-colored pictures."
+
+Nan, still holding a chubby hand between the leaves of the album, gave
+Mrs. Willis a full defiant glance, and said:
+
+"Me won't."
+
+"Come, Nan," said the head-mistress.
+
+"Me want Annie," said Nan, still kneeling by the album, and, bending her
+head over the photographs, she turned the page and burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+
+"Pitty bow vow," she said, pointing to a photograph of a retriever; "oh,
+pitty bow woo, Nan loves 'oo."
+
+Mrs. Willis stooped down and lifted the little girl into her arms.
+
+"Nan, dear," she said, "it is naughty to disobey. Sit down by your
+picture-book, and be a good girl."
+
+"Me won't," said Nan again, and here she raised her small dimpled hand
+and gave Mrs. Willis a smart slap on her cheek.
+
+"Naughty lady, me don't like 'oo; go 'way. Nan want Annie--Nan do want
+Annie. Me don't love 'oo, naughty lady; go 'way."
+
+Mrs. Willis took Nan on her knee. She felt that the little will must be
+bent to hers, but the task was no easy one. The child scarcely knew her,
+she was still weak and excitable, and she presently burst into storms of
+tears, and sobbed and sobbed as though her little heart would break, her
+one cry being for "Annie, Annie, Annie." When Annie did join her in the
+play hour, the little cheeks were flushed, the white brow ached, and the
+child's small hands were hot and feverish. Mrs. Willis felt terribly
+puzzled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+UNDER THE LAUREL BUSH.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis owned to herself that she was non-plussed; it was quite
+impossible to allow Annie to neglect her studies, and yet little Nan's
+health was still too precarious to allow her to run the risk of having
+the child constantly fretted.
+
+Suddenly a welcome idea occurred to her; she would write at once to Nan's
+old nurse, and see if she could come to Lavender House for the remainder
+of the present term. Mrs. Willis dispatched her letter that very day, and
+by the following evening the nurse was once more in possession of her
+much-loved little charge. The habits of her babyhood were too strong for
+Nan; she returned to them gladly enough, and though in her heart of
+hearts she was still intensely loyal to Annie, she no longer fretted when
+she was not with her.
+
+Annie resumed her ordinary work, and though Hester was very cold to her,
+several of the other girls in the school frankly confided to their
+favorite how much they had missed her, and how glad they were to have her
+back with them once more.
+
+Annie found herself at this time in an ever-shifting mood--one moment she
+longed intensely for a kiss, and a fervent pardon from Mrs. Willis' lips;
+another, she said to herself defiantly she could and would live without
+it; one moment the hungry and sorrowful look in Hester's eyes went
+straight to Annie's heart, and she wished she might restore her little
+treasure whom she had stolen; the next she rejoiced in her strange power
+over Nan, and resolved to keep all the love she could get.
+
+In short, Annie was in that condition when she could be easily influenced
+for good or evil--she was in that state of weakness when temptation is
+least easily resisted.
+
+A few days after the arrival of Nan's nurse Mrs. Willis was obliged
+unexpectedly to leave home; a near relative was dangerously ill in
+London, and the school-mistress went away in much trouble and anxiety.
+Some of her favorite pupils flocked to the front entrance to see their
+beloved mistress off. Among the group Cecil stood, and several girls of
+the first class; many of the little girls were also present, but Annie
+was not among them. Just at the last moment she rushed up breathlessly;
+she was tying some starry jasmine and some blue forget-me-nots together,
+and as the carriage was moving off she flung the charming bouquet into
+her mistress' lap.
+
+Mrs. Willis rewarded her with one of her old looks of confidence and
+love; she raised the flowers to her lips and kissed them, and her eyes
+smiled on Annie.
+
+"Good-by, dear," she called out; "good-by, all my dear girls; I will try
+and be back to-morrow night. Remember, my children, during my absence I
+trust you."
+
+The carriage disappeared down the avenue, and the group of girls melted
+away. Cecil looked round for Annie, but Annie had been the first to
+disappear.
+
+When her mistress had kissed the flowers and smiled at her, Annie darted
+into the shrubbery and stood there wiping the fast-falling tears from her
+eyes. She was interrupted in this occupation by the sudden cries of two
+glad and eager voices, and instantly her hands were taken, and some girls
+rather younger than herself began to drag her in the opposite direction
+through the shrubbery.
+
+"Come; Annie--come at once, Annie, darling," exclaimed Phyllis and Nora
+Raymond. "The basket has come; it's under the thick laurel-tree in the
+back avenue. We are all waiting for you; we none of us will open it till
+you arrive."
+
+Annie's face, a truly April one, changed as if by magic. The tears dried
+on her cheeks; her eyes filled with sunlight; she was all eager for the
+coming fun.
+
+"Then we won't lose a moment, Phyllis," she said: "we'll see what that
+duck of a Betty has done for us."
+
+The three girls scampered down the back avenue, where they found five of
+their companions, among them Susan Drummond, standing in different
+attitudes of expectation near a very large and low-growing laurel-tree.
+Every one raised a shout when Annie appeared; she was undoubtedly
+recognized as queen and leader of the proceedings. She took her post
+without an instant's hesitation, and began ordering her willing subjects
+about.
+
+"Now, is the coast clear? yes, I think so. Come, Susie, greedy as you
+are, you must take your part. You alone of all of us can cackle with the
+exact imitation of an old hen: get behind that tree at once and watch the
+yard. Don't forget to cackle for your life if you even see the shadow of
+a footfall. Nora, my pretty birdie, you must be the thrush for the nonce;
+here, take your post, watch the lawn and the front avenue. Now then,
+girls, the rest of us can see what spoils Betty has provided for us."
+
+The basket was dragged from its hiding-place, and longing faces peered
+eagerly and greedily into its contents.
+
+"Oh, oh! I say, cherries! and what a lot! Good Betty! dear, darling Betty!
+you gathered those from your own trees, and they are as ripe as your
+apple-blossom cheeks! Now then, what next? I do declare, meringues! Betty
+knew my weakness. Twelve meringues--that is one and a half apiece; Susan
+Drummond sha'n't have more than her share. Meringues and cheesecakes
+and--tartlets--oh! oh! what a duck Betty is! A plum-cake--good, excellent
+Betty, she deserves to be canonized! What have we here? Roast
+chickens--better and better! What is in this parcel? Slices of ham; Betty
+knew she dare not show her face again if she forgot the ham. Knives and
+forks, spoons--fresh rolls--salt and pepper, and a dozen bottles of
+ginger-beer, and a little corkscrew in case we want it."
+
+These various exclamations came from many lips. The contents of the
+basket were carefully and tenderly replaced, the lid was fastened down,
+and it was once more consigned to its hiding place under the thick boughs
+of the laurel.
+
+Not a moment too soon, for just at this instant Susan cackled fiercely,
+and the little group withdrew, Annie first whispering:
+
+"At twelve to-night, then, girls--oh, yes, I have managed the key."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+TRUANTS.
+
+
+It was a proverbial saying in the school that Annie Forest was always in
+hot water; she was exceedingly daring, and loved what she called a spice
+of danger. This was not the first stolen picnic at which Annie reigned as
+queen, but this was the largest she had yet organized, and this was the
+first time she had dared to go out of doors with her satellites.
+
+Hitherto these naughty sprites had been content to carry their baskets
+full of artfully-concealed provisions to a disused attic which was
+exactly over the box-room, and consequently out of reach of the inhabited
+part of the house. Here, making a table of a great chest which stood in
+the attic, they feasted gloriously, undisturbed by the musty smell or by
+the innumerable spiders and beetles which disappeared rapidly in all
+directions at their approach; but when Annie one day incautiously
+suggested that on summer nights the outside world was all at their
+disposal, they began to discover flaws in their banqueting hall. Mary
+Price said the musty smell made her half sick; Phyllis declared that at
+the sight of a spider she invariably turned faint; and Susan Drummond was
+heard to murmur that in a dusty, fusty attic even meringues scarcely kept
+her awake. The girls were all wild to try a midnight picnic out of doors,
+and Annie in her present mood, was only too eager for the fun.
+
+With her usual skill she organized the whole undertaking, and eight
+agitated, slightly frightened, but much excited girls retired to their
+rooms that night. Annie, in her heart of hearts, felt rather sorry that
+Mrs. Willis should happen to be away; dim ideas of honor and
+trustworthiness were still stirring in her breast, but she dared not
+think now.
+
+The night was in every respect propitious; the moon would not rise until
+after twelve, so the little party could get away under the friendly
+shelter of the darkness, and soon afterward have plenty of light to enjoy
+their stolen feast. They had arranged to make no movement until close on
+midnight, and then they were all to meet in a passage which belonged to
+the kitchen regions, and where there was a side door which opened
+directly into the shrubbery. This door was not very often unlocked, and
+Annie had taken the key from its place in the lock some days before. She
+went to bed with her companions at nine o'clock as usual, and presently
+fell into an uneasy doze. She awoke to hear the great clock in the hall
+strike eleven, and a few minutes afterward she heard Miss Danesbury's
+footsteps retiring to her room at the other end of the passage.
+
+"Danesbury is always the last to go to bed," whispered Annie to herself;
+"I can get up presently."
+
+She lay for another twenty minutes, then, softly rising, began to put on
+her clothes in the dark. Over her dress she fastened her waterproof, and
+placed a close-fitting brown velvet cap on her curly head. Having dressed
+herself, she approached Susan's bed, with the intention of rousing her.
+
+"I shall have fine work now," she said, "and shall probably have to
+resort to cold water. Really, if Susy proves too hard to wake, I shall
+let her sleep on--her drowsiness is past bearing."
+
+Annie, however, was considerably startled when she discovered that Miss
+Drummond's bed was without an occupant.
+
+At this moment the room door was very softly opened, and Susan, fully
+dressed and in her waterproof, came in.
+
+"Why, Susy, where have you been?" exclaimed Annie. "Fancy you being awake
+a moment before it is necessary!"
+
+"For once in a way I was restless," replied Miss Drummond, "so I thought
+I would get up, and take a turn in the passage outside. The house is
+perfectly quiet, and we can come now; most of the girls are already
+waiting at the side door."
+
+Holding their shoes in their hands, Annie and Susan went noiselessly down
+the carpetless stairs, and found the remaining six girls waiting for them
+by the side door.
+
+"Rover is our one last danger now," said Annie, as she fitted the
+well-oiled key into the lock. "Put on your shoes, girls, and let me out
+first; I think I can manage him."
+
+She was alluding to a great mastiff which was usually kept chained up by
+day. Phyllis and Nora laid their hands on her arm.
+
+"Oh, Annie, oh love, suppose he seizes on you, and knocks you down--oh,
+dare you venture?"
+
+"Let me go," said Annie a little contemptuously; "you don't suppose I am
+afraid?"
+
+Her fingers trembled, for her nerves were highly strung; but she managed
+to unlock the door and draw back the bolts, and, opening it softly, she
+went out into the silent night.
+
+Very slight as the noise she made was, it had aroused the watchful Rover,
+who trotted around swiftly to know what was the matter. But Annie had
+made friends with Rover long ago, by stealing to his kennel door and
+feeding him, and she had now but to say "Rover" in her melodious voice,
+and throw her arms around his neck, to completely subvert his morals.
+
+"He is one of us, girls," she called in a whisper to her companions;
+"come out. Rover will be as naughty as the rest of us, and go with us as
+our body-guard to the fairies' field. Now, I will lock the door on the
+outside, and we can be off. Ah, the moon is getting up splendidly, and
+when we have secured Betty's basket, we shall be quite out of reach of
+danger."
+
+At Annie's words of encouragement the seven girls ventured out. She
+locked the door, put the key into her pocket, and, holding Rover by his
+collar, led the way in the direction of the laurel-bush. The basket was
+secured, and Susan, to her disgust, and Mary Morris were elected for the
+first part of the way to carry it. The young truants then walked quickly
+down the avenue until they came to a turnstile which led into a wood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+IN THE FAIRIES' FIELD.
+
+
+The moon had now come up brilliantly, and the little party were in the
+highest possible spirits. They had got safely away from the house, and
+there was now, comparatively speaking, little fear of discovery. The more
+timid ones, who ventured to confess that their hearts were in their
+mouths while Annie was unlocking the side door, now became the most
+excited, and perhaps the boldest, under the reaction which set in. Even
+the wood, which was comparatively dark, with only patches of moonlight
+here and there, and queer weird shadows where the trees were thinnest,
+could not affect their spirits.
+
+The poor sleepy rabbits must have been astonished that night at the
+shouts of the revelers, as they hurried past them, and the birds must
+have taken their sleepy heads from under their downy wings, and wondered
+if the morning had come some hours before its usual time.
+
+More than one solemn old owl blinked at them, and hooted as they passed,
+and told them in owl language what silly, naughty young things they were,
+and how they would repent of this dissipation by-and-by. But if the girls
+were to have an hour of remorse, it did not visit them then; their hearts
+were like feathers, and by the time they reached the fields where the
+fairies were supposed to play, their spirits had become almost
+uncontrollable.
+
+Luckily for them this small green field lay in a secluded hollow, and
+more luckily for them no tramps were about to hear their merriment.
+Rover, who constituted himself Annie's protector, now lay down by her
+side, and as she was the real ringleader and queen of the occasion, she
+ordered her subjects about pretty sharply.
+
+"Now, girls, quick; open the basket. Yes, I'm going to rest. I have
+organized the whole thing, and I'm fairly tired; so I'll just sit quietly
+here, and Rover will take care of me while you set things straight. Ah!
+good Betty; she did not even forget the white table-cloth."
+
+Here one of the girls remarked casually that the grass was wet with dew,
+and that it was well they had all put on their waterproofs.
+
+Annie interrupted again in a petulant voice:
+
+"Don't croak, Mary Morris. Out with the chickens, lay the ham in this
+corner, and the cherries will make a picturesque pile in the middle.
+Twelve meringues in all; that means a meringue and a half each. We shall
+have some difficulty in dividing. Oh, dear! oh, dear! how hungry I am! I
+was far too excited to eat anything at supper-time."
+
+"So was I," said Phyllis, coming up and pressing close to Annie. "I do
+think Miss Danesbury cuts the bread and butter too thick--don't you,
+Annie? I could not eat mine at all to-night, and Cecil Temple asked me if
+I was not well."
+
+"Those who don't want chicken hold up their hands," here interrupted
+Annie, who had tossed her brown cap on the grass, and between whose brows
+a faint frown had passed for an instant at the mention of Cecil's name.
+
+The feast now began in earnest and silence reigned for a short time,
+broken only by the clatter of plates and such an occasional remark as
+"Pass the salt, please," "Pepper this way, if you've no objection," "How
+good chicken tastes in fairy-land," etc. At last the ginger-beer bottles
+began to pop--the girls' first hunger was appeased. Rover gladly crunched
+up all the bones, and conversation flowed once more, accompanied by the
+delicate diversion of taking alternate bites at meringues and
+cheesecakes.
+
+"I wish the fairies would come out," said Annie.
+
+"Oh, don't!" shivered Phyllis, looking round her nervously.
+
+"Annie darling, do tell us a ghost story," cried several voices.
+
+Annie laughed and commenced a series of nonsense tales, all of a slightly
+eerie character, which she made up on the spot.
+
+The moon riding high in the heavens looked down on the young giddy heads,
+and their laughter, naughty as they were, sounded sweet in the night air.
+
+Time flew quickly and the girls suddenly discovered that they must pack
+up their table-cloth and remove all traces of the feast unless they
+wished the bright light of morning to discover them. They rose hastily,
+sighing and slightly depressed now that their fun was over. The white
+table-cloth, no longer very white, was packed into the basket, the
+ginger-beer bottles placed on top of it and the lid fastened down. Not a
+crumb of the feast remained; Rover had demolished the bones and the eight
+girls had made short work of everything else, with the exception of the
+cherry-stones, which Phyllis carefully collected and popped into a little
+hole in the ground.
+
+The party then progressed slowly homeward and once more entered the dark
+wood. They were much more silent now; the wood was darker, and the chill
+which foretells the dawn was making itself felt in the air. Either the
+sense of cold or a certain effect produced by Annie's ridiculous stories,
+made many of the little party unduly nervous.
+
+They had only taken a few steps through the wood when Phyllis suddenly
+uttered a piercing shriek. This shriek was echoed by Nora and by Mary
+Morris, and all their hearts seemed to leap into their mouths when they
+saw something move among the trees. Rover uttered a growl, and, but for
+Annie's detaining hand, would have sprung forward. The high-spirited girl
+was not to be easily daunted.
+
+"Behold, girls, the goblin of the woods," she exclaimed. "Quiet, Rover;
+stand still."
+
+The next instant the fears of the little party reached their culmination
+when a tall, dark figure stood directly in their paths.
+
+"If you don't let us pass at once," said Annie's voice, "I'll set Rover
+at you."
+
+The dog began to bark loudly and quivered from head to foot.
+
+The figure moved a little to one side, and a rather deep and slightly
+dramatic voice said:
+
+"I mean you no harm, young ladies; I'm only a gypsy-mother from the tents
+yonder. You are welcome to get back to Lavender House. I have then one
+course plain before me."
+
+"Come on, girls," said Annie, now considerably frightened, while Phyllis,
+and Nora, and one or two more began to sob.
+
+"Look here, young ladies," said the gypsy in a whining voice, "I don't
+mean you no harm, my pretties, and it's no affair of mine telling the
+good ladies at Lavender House what I've seen. You cross my hand, dears,
+each of you, with a bit of silver, and all I'll do is to tell your pretty
+fortunes, and mum is the word with the gypsy-mother as far as this
+night's prank is concerned."
+
+"We had better do it, Annie--we had better do it," here sobbed Phyllis.
+"If this was found out by Mrs. Willis we might be expelled--we might,
+indeed; and that horrid woman is sure to tell of us--I know she is."
+
+"Quite sure to tell, dear," said the tall gypsy, dropping a courtesy in a
+manner which looked frightfully sarcastic in the long shadows made by the
+trees. "Quite sure to tell, and to be expelled is the very least that
+could happen to such naughty little ladies. Here's a nice little bit of
+clearing in the wood, and we'll all come over, and Mother Rachel will
+tell your fortunes in a twinkling, and no one will be the wiser. Sixpence
+apiece, my dears--only sixpence apiece."
+
+"Oh, come; do, do come," said Nora, and the next moment they were all
+standing in a circle round Mother Rachel, who pocketed her blackmail
+eagerly, and repeated some gibberish over each little hand. Over Annie's
+palm she lingered for a brief moment, and looked with her penetrating
+eyes into the girl's face.
+
+"You'll have suffering before you, miss; some suspicion, and danger even
+to life itself. But you'll triumph, my dear, you'll triumph. You're a
+plucky one, and you'll do a brave deed. There--good-night, young ladies;
+you have nothing more to fear from Mother Rachel."
+
+The tall dark figure disappeared into the blackest shadows of the wood,
+and the girls, now like so many frightened hares, flew home. They
+deposited their basket where Betty would find it, under the shadow of the
+great laurel in the back avenue. They all bade Rover an affectionate
+"good-night." Annie softly unlocked the side-door, and one by one, with
+their shoes in their hands, they regained their bedrooms. They were all
+very tired, and very cold, and a dull fear and sense of insecurity rested
+over each little heart. Suppose Mother Rachel proved unfaithful,
+notwithstanding the sixpences?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+HESTER'S FORGOTTEN BOOK.
+
+
+It wanted scarcely three weeks to the holidays, and therefore scarcely
+three weeks to that auspicious day when Lavender House was to be the
+scene of one long triumph, and was to be the happy spot selected for a
+midsummer holiday, accompanied by all that could make a holiday
+perfect--for youth and health would be there, and even the unsuccessful
+competitors for the great prizes would not have too sore hearts, for they
+would know that on the next day they were going home. Each girl who had
+done her best would have a word of commendation, and only those who were
+very naughty, or very stubborn, could resist the all-potent elixir of
+happiness which would be poured out so abundantly for Mrs. Willis' pupils
+on this day.
+
+Now that the time was drawing so near, those girls who were working for
+prizes found themselves fully occupied from morning to night. In
+play-hours even, girls would be seen with their heads bent over their
+books, and, between the prizes and the acting, no little bees in any hive
+could be more constantly employed than were these young girls just now.
+
+No happiness is, after all, to be compared to the happiness of healthful
+occupation. Busy people have no time to fret and no time to grumble.
+According to our old friend, Dr. Watts, people who are healthily busy
+have also no time to be naughty, for the old doctor says that it is for
+idle hands that mischief is prepared.
+
+Be that as it may, and there is great truth in it, some naughty sprites,
+some bad fairies, were flitting around and about that apparently peaceful
+atmosphere. That sunny home, governed by all that was sweet and good, was
+not without its serpent.
+
+Of all the prizes which attracted interest and aroused competition, the
+prize for English composition was this year the most popular. In the
+first place, this was known to be Mrs. Willis' own favorite subject. She
+had a great wish that her girls should write intelligibly--she had a
+greater wish that, if possible, they should think.
+
+"Never was there so much written and printed," she was often heard to
+say; "but can any one show me a book with thoughts in it? Can any one
+show me, unless as a rare exception, a book which will live? Oh, yes,
+these books which issue from the press in thousands are, many of them,
+very smart, a great many of them clever, but they are thrown off too
+quickly. All great things, great books among them, must be evolved
+slowly."
+
+Then she would tell her pupils what she considered the reason of this.
+
+"In these days," she would say, "all girls are what is called highly
+educated. Girls and boys alike must go in for competitive examinations,
+must take out diplomas, and must pass certain standards of excellence.
+The system is cramming from beginning to end. There is no time for
+reflection. In short, my dear girls, you swallow a great deal, but you do
+not digest your intellectual food."
+
+Mrs. Willis hailed with pleasure any little dawnings of real thought in
+her girls' prize essays. More than once she bestowed the prize upon the
+essay which seemed to the girls the most crude and unfinished.
+
+"Never mind," she would say, "here is an idea--or at least half an idea.
+This little bit of composition is original, and not, at best, a poor
+imitation of Sir. Walter Scott or Lord Macaulay."
+
+Thus the girls found a strong stimulus to be their real selves in these
+little essays, and the best of them chose their subject and let it
+ferment in their brains without the aid of books, except for the more
+technical parts.
+
+More than one girl in the school was surprised at Dora Russell exerting
+herself to try for the prize essay. She was just about to close her
+school career, and they could not make out why she roused herself to work
+for the most difficult prize, for which she would have to compete with
+any girl in the school who chose to make a similar attempt.
+
+Dora, however, had her own, not very high motive for making the attempt.
+She was a thoroughly accomplished girl, graceful in her appearance and
+manner; in short, just the sort of girl who would be supposed to do
+credit to a school. She played with finish, and even delicacy of touch.
+There was certainly no soul in her music, but neither were there any
+wrong notes. Her drawings were equally correct, her perspective good, her
+trees were real trees, and the coloring of her water-color sketches was
+pure. She spoke French extremely well, and with a correct accent, and her
+German also was above the average. Nevertheless, Dora was commonplace,
+and those girls who knew her best spoke sarcastically, and smiled at one
+another when she alluded to her prize essay, and seemed confident of
+being the successful competitor.
+
+"You won't like to be beaten, Dora, say, by Annie Forest," they would
+laughingly remark; whereupon Dora's calm face, would slightly flush and
+her lips would assume a very proud curve. If there was one thing she
+could not bear it was to be beaten.
+
+"Why do you try for it, Dora?" her class-fellows would ask; but here Dora
+made no reply: she kept her reason to herself.
+
+The fact was, Dora, who must be a copyist to the end of the chapter, and
+who could never to her latest day do anything original, had determined to
+try for the composition prize because she happened accidentally to hear a
+conversation between Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury, in which something
+was said about a gold locket with Mrs. Willis' portrait inside.
+
+Dora instantly jumped at the conclusion that this was to be the great
+prize bestowed upon the successful essayist. Delightful idea; how well
+the trinket would look round her smooth white throat! Instantly she
+determined to try for this prize, and of course as instantly the bare
+idea of defeat became intolerable to her. She went steadily and
+methodically to work. With extreme care she chose her subject. Knowing
+something of Mrs. Willis' peculiarities, she determined that her theme
+should not be historical; she believed that she could express herself
+freely and with power if only she could secure an unhackneyed subject.
+Suddenly an idea which she considered brilliant occurred to her. She
+would call her composition "The River." This should not bear reference to
+Father Thames, or any other special river of England, but it should trace
+the windings of some fabled stream of Dora's imagination, which, as it
+flowed along, should tell something of the story of the many places by
+which it passed. Dora was charmed with her own thought, and worked hard,
+evening after evening, at her subject, covering sheets of manuscript
+paper with penciled jottings, and arranging and rearranging her somewhat
+confused thoughts. She greatly admired a perfectly rounded period, and
+she was most particular as to the style in which she wrote. For the
+purpose of improving her style she even studied old volumes of Addison's
+_Spectator_; but after a time she gave up this course of study, for she
+found it so difficult to mold her English to Addison's that she came to
+the comfortable conclusion that Addison was decidedly obsolete, and that
+if she wished to do full justice to "The River" she must trust to her own
+unaided genius.
+
+At last the first ten pages were written. The subject was entered upon
+with considerable flourishes, and some rather apt poetical quotations
+from a book containing a collection of poems; the river itself had
+already left its home in the mountain, and was careering merrily past
+sunny meadows and little rural, impossible cottages, where the
+golden-haired children played.
+
+Dora made a very neat copy of her essay so far. She now began to see her
+way clearly--there would be a very powerful passage as the river
+approached the murky town. Here, indeed, would be room for powerful and
+pathetic writing. She wondered if she might venture so far as to hide a
+suicide in her rushing waters; and then at last the brawling river would
+lose itself in the sea; and, of course, there would not be the smallest
+connection between her river, and Kingsley's well-known song,
+
+                           "Clear and cool."
+
+She finished writing her ten pages, and being now positively certain of
+her gold locket, went to bed in a happy state of mind.
+
+This was the very night when Annie was to lead her revelers through the
+dark wood, but Dora, who never troubled herself about the younger
+classes, would have been certainly the last to notice the fact that a few
+of the girls in Lavender House seemed little disposed to eat their
+suppers of thick bread and butter and milk. She went to bed and dreamed
+happy dreams about her golden locket, and had little idea that any
+mischief was about to be performed.
+
+Hester Thornton also, but in a very different spirit, was working hard at
+her essay. Hester worked conscientiously; she had chosen "Marie
+Antoinette" as her theme, and she read the sorrowful story of the
+beautiful queen with intense interest, and tried hard to get herself into
+the spirit of the times about which she must write. She had scarcely
+begun her essay yet, but she had already collected most of the historical
+facts.
+
+Hester was a very careful little student, and as she prepared herself for
+the great work, she thought little or nothing about the prize--she only
+wanted to do justice to the unfortunate queen of France. She was in bed
+that night, and just dropping off to sleep, when she suddenly remembered
+that she had left a volume of French poetry on her school desk. This was
+against the rules, and she knew that Miss Danesbury would confiscate the
+book in the morning, and would not let her have it back for a week.
+Hester particularly wanted this special book just now, as some of the
+verses bore reference to her subject, and she could scarcely get on with
+her essay without having it to refer to. She must lose no time in
+instantly beginning to write her essay, and to do without her book of
+poetry for a week would be a serious injury to her.
+
+She resolved, therefore, to break through one of the rules, and, after
+lying awake until the whole house was quiet, to slip down stairs, enter
+the school-room and secure her poems. She heard the clock strike eleven,
+and she knew that in a very few moments Miss Danesbury and Miss Good
+would have retired to their rooms. Ah, yes, that was Miss Danesbury's
+step passing her door. Ten minutes later she glided out of bed, slipped
+on her dressing-gown, and opening her door ran swiftly down the
+carpetless stairs, and found herself in the great stone hall which led to
+the school-room.
+
+She was surprised to find the school-room door a little ajar, but she
+entered the room without hesitation, and, dark as it was, soon found her
+desk, and the book of poems lying on the top. Hester was about to return
+when she was startled by a little noise in that portion of the room where
+the first class girls sat. The next moment somebody came heavily and
+rather clumsily down the room, and the moon, which was just beginning to
+rise, fell for an instant on a girl's face. Hester recognized the face of
+Susan Drummond. What could she be doing here? She did not dare to speak,
+for she herself had broken a rule in visiting the school-room. She
+remained, therefore, perfectly still until Susan's steps died away, and
+then, thankful to have secured her own property, returned to her bedroom,
+and a moment or two later was sound asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+"A MUDDY STREAM."
+
+
+In the morning Dora Russell sat down as usual before her orderly and
+neatly-kept desk. She raised the lid to find everything in its place--her
+books and exercises all as they should be, and her pet essay in a neat
+brown paper cover, lying just as she had left it the night before. She
+was really getting quite excited about her river, and as this was a
+half-holiday, she determined to have a good work at it in the afternoon.
+She was beginning also to experience that longing for an auditor which
+occasionally is known to trouble the breasts of genius. She felt that
+those graceful ideas, that elegant language, those measured periods,
+might strike happily on some other ears before they were read aloud as
+the great work of the midsummer holidays.
+
+She knew that Hester Thornton was making what she was pleased to term a
+poor little attempt at trying for the same prize. Hester would scarcely
+venture to copy anything from Dora's essay; she would probably be
+discouraged, poor girl, in working any longer at her own composition; but
+Dora felt that the temptation to read "The River," as far as it had gone,
+to Hester was really too great to be resisted. Accordingly, after dinner
+she graciously invited Hester to accompany her to a bower in the garden,
+where the two friends might revel over the results of Dora's
+extraordinary talents.
+
+Hester was still, to a certain extent, under Dora's influence, and had
+not the courage to tell her that she intended to be very busy over her
+own essay this afternoon.
+
+"Now, Hester, dear," said Dora, when they found themselves both seated in
+the bower, "you are the only girl in the school to whom I could confide
+the subject of my great essay. I really believe that I have hit on
+something absolutely original. My dear child, I hope you won't allow
+yourself to be discouraged. I fear that you won't have much heart to go
+on with your theme after you have read my words; but, never mind, dear,
+it will be good practice for you, and you know it _was_ rather silly to
+go in for a prize which I intended to compete for."
+
+"May I read your essay, please, Dora?" asked Hester. "I am very much
+interested in my own study, and, whether I win the prize or not, I shall
+always remember the pleasure I took in writing it."
+
+"What subject did you select, dear?" inquired Miss Russell.
+
+"Well, I am attempting a little sketch of Marie Antoinette."
+
+"Ah, hackneyed, my dear girl--terribly hackneyed; but, of course, I don't
+mean to discourage you. _Now I_--I draw a life-picture, and I call it
+'The River.' See how it begins--why, I declare I know the words by heart,
+'_As our eyes rest on this clear and limpid stream, as we see the sun
+sparkle_----' My dear Hester, you shall read me my essay aloud. I shall
+like to hear my own words from your lips, and you have really a pretty
+accent, dear."
+
+Hester folded back the brown paper cover, and wanting to have her task
+over began to read hastily. But, as her eyes rested on the first lines,
+she turned to her companion, and said:
+
+"Did you not tell me that your essay was called 'The River'?"
+
+"Yes, dear; the full title is 'The Windings of a Noble River.'"
+
+"That's very odd," replied Hester. "What I see here is 'The Meanderings
+of a Muddy Stream.' '_As our dull orbs rest on this turbid water on which
+the sun cannot possibly shine._' Why, Dora, this cannot be your essay,
+and yet, surely, it is your handwriting."
+
+Dora, with her face suddenly flushing a vivid crimson, snatched the
+manuscript from Hester's hand, and looked over it eagerly. Alas! there
+was no doubt. The title of this essay was "The Meanderings of a Muddy
+Stream," and the words which immediately followed were a smart and
+ridiculous parody on her own high flown sentences. The resemblance to her
+handwriting was perfect. The brown paper cover, neatly sewn on to protect
+the white manuscript, was undoubtedly her cover; the very paper on which
+the words were written seemed in all particulars the same. Dora turned
+the sheets eagerly, and here for the first time she saw a difference.
+Only four or five pages of the nonsense essay had been attempted, and the
+night before, when finishing her toil, she had proudly numbered her tenth
+page. She looked through the whole thing, turning leaf after leaf, while
+her cheeks were crimson, and her hands trembled. In the first moment of
+horrible humiliation and dismay she literally could not speak.
+
+At last, springing to her feet, and confronting the astonished and almost
+frightened Hester, she found her voice.
+
+"Hester, you must help me in this. The most dreadful, the most atrocious
+fraud has been committed. Some one has been base enough, audacious
+enough, wicked enough, to go to my desk privately, and take away my real
+essay--my work over which I have labored and toiled. The expressions of
+my--my--yes, I will say it--my genius, have been ruthlessly burned, or
+otherwise made away with, and _this_ thing has been put in their place.
+Hester, why don't you speak--why do you stare at me like this?"
+
+"I am puzzled by the writing," said Hester; "the writing is yours."
+
+"The writing is mine!--oh, you wicked girl! The writing is an imitation
+of mine--a feeble and poor imitation. I thought, Hester, that by this
+time you knew your friend's handwriting. I thought that one in whom I
+have confided--one whom I have stooped to notice because, I fancied we
+had a community of soul, would not be so ridiculous and so silly as to
+mistake this writing for mine. Look again, please, Hester Thornton, and
+tell me if I am ever so vulgar as to cross my _t's_. You know I _always_
+loop them; and do I make a capital B in this fashion? And do I indulge in
+flourishes? I grant you that the general effect to a casual observer
+would be something the same, but you, Hester--I thought you knew me
+better."
+
+Here Hester, examining the false essay, had to confess that the crossed
+_t's_ and the flourishes were unlike Miss Russell's calligraphy.
+
+"It is a forgery, most cleverly done," said Dora. "There is such a thing,
+Hester, as being wickedly clever. This spiteful, cruel attempt to injure
+another can have but proceeded from one very low order of mind. Hester,
+there has been plenty of favoritism in this school, but do you suppose I
+shall allow such a thing as this to pass over unsearched into? If
+necessary, I shall ask my father to interfere. This is a slight--an
+outrage; but the whole mystery shall at last be cleared up. Miss Good and
+Miss Danesbury shall be informed at once, and the very instant Mrs.
+Willis returns she shall be told what a serpent she has been nursing in
+this false, wicked girl, Annie Forest."
+
+"Stop, Dora," said Hester suddenly. She sprang to her feet, clasping her
+hands, and her color varied rapidly from white to red. A sudden light
+poured in upon her, and she was about to speak when something--quite a
+small, trivial thing--occurred. She only saw little Nan in the distance
+flying swiftly, with outstretched arms, to meet a girl, whose knees she
+clasped in baby ecstasy. The girl stooped down and kissed the little
+face, and the round arms were flung around her neck. The next instant
+Annie Forest continued her walk alone, and Nan, looking wistfully back
+after her, went in another direction with her nurse. The whole scene took
+but a moment to enact, but as she watched, Hester's face grew hard and
+white. She sat down again, with her lips firmly pressed together.
+
+"What is it, Hester?" exclaimed Dora. "What were you going to say? You
+surely know nothing about this?"
+
+"Well, Dora, I am not the guilty person. I was only going to remark that
+you cannot be _sure_ it is Annie Forest."
+
+"Oh, so you are going to take that horrid girl's part now? I wonder at
+you! She all but killed your little sister, and then stole her love away
+from you. Did you see the little thing now, how she flew to her? Why, she
+never kisses you like that."
+
+"I know--I know," said Hester, and she turned away her face with a groan,
+and leaned forward against the rustic bench, pressing her hot forehead
+down on her hands.
+
+"You'll have your triumph, Hester, when Miss Forest is publicly
+expelled," said Dora, tapping her lightly on the shoulder, and then,
+taking up the forged essay, she went slowly out of the garden.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+GOOD AND BAD ANGELS.
+
+
+Hester stayed behind in the shady little arbor, and then, on that soft
+spring day, while the birds sang overhead, and the warm light breezes
+came in and fanned her hot cheeks, good angels and bad drew near to fight
+for a victory. Which would conquer? Hester had many faults, but hitherto
+she had been honorable and truthful; her sins had been those of pride and
+jealousy, but she had never told a falsehood in her life. She knew
+perfectly--she trembled as the full knowledge overpowered her--that she
+had it in her power to exonerate Annie. She could not in the least
+imagine how stupid Susan Drummond could contrive and carry out such a
+clever and deep-laid plot; but she knew also that if she related what she
+had seen with her own eyes the night before, she would probably give such
+a clue to the apparent mystery that the truth would come to light.
+
+If Annie was cleared from this accusation, doubtless the old story of her
+supposed guilt with regard to Mrs. Willis' caricature would also be read
+with its right key. Hester was a clever and sharp girl; and the fact of
+seeing Susan Drummond in the school-room in the dead of night opened her
+eyes also to one or two other apparent little mysteries. While Susan was
+her own room-mate she had often given a passing wonder to the fact of her
+extraordinary desire to overcome her sleepiness, and had laughed over the
+expedients Susan had used to wake at all moments.
+
+These things, at the time, had scarcely given her a moment's serious
+reflection; but now she pondered them carefully, and became more and more
+certain, that, for some inexplicable and unfathomable reason sleepy, and
+apparently innocent, Susan Drummond wished to sow the seeds of mischief
+and discord in the school. Hester was sure that if she chose to speak now
+she could clear poor Annie, and restore her to her lost place in Mrs.
+Willis' favor.
+
+Should she do so? ah! should she? Her lips trembled, her color came and
+went as the angels, good and bad, fought hard for victory within her. How
+she had longed to revenge herself on Annie! How cordially she had hated
+her! Now was the moment of her revenge. She had but to remain silent now,
+and to let matters take their course; she had but to hold her tongue
+about the little incident of last night, and, without any doubt,
+circumstantial evidence would point at Annie Forest, and she would be
+expelled from the school. Mrs. Willis must condemn her now. Mr. Everard
+must pronounce her guilty now. She would go, and when the coast was again
+clear the love which she had taken from Hester--the precious love of
+Hester's only little sister--would return.
+
+"You will be miserable; you will be miserable," whispered the good angels
+sorrowfully in her ear; but she did not listen to them.
+
+"I said I would revenge myself, and this is my opportunity," she
+murmured. "Silence--just simply silence--will be my revenge."
+
+Then the good angels went sorrowfully back to their Father in heaven, and
+the wicked angels rejoiced. Hester had fallen very low.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+FRESH SUSPICIONS.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis was not at home many hours before Dora Russell begged for an
+interview with her. Annie had not as yet heard anything of the changed
+essay; for Dora had resolved to keep the thing a secret until Mrs. Willis
+herself took the matter in hand.
+
+Annie was feeling not a little anxious and depressed. She was sorry now
+that she had led the girls that wild escapade through the wood. Phyllis
+and Nora were both suffering from heavy colds in consequence, and Susan
+Drummond was looking more pasty about her complexion, and was more
+dismally sleepy than usual. Annie was going through her usual season of
+intense remorse after one of her wild pranks. No one repented with more
+apparent fervor than she did, and yet no one so easily succumbed to the
+next temptation. Had Annie been alone in the matter she would have gone
+straight to Mrs. Willis and confessed all; but she could not do this
+without implicating her companions, who would have screamed with horror
+at the very suggestion.
+
+All the girls were more or less depressed by the knowledge that the gypsy
+woman, Mother Rachel, shared their secret; and they often whispered
+together as to the chances of her betraying them. Old Betty they could
+trust; for Betty, the cake-woman, had been an arch-conspirator with the
+naughty girls of Lavender House from time immemorial. Betty had always
+managed to provide their stolen suppers for them, and had been most
+accommodating in the matter of pay. Yes, with Betty they felt they were
+safe; but Mother Rachel was a different person. She might like to be paid
+a few more sixpences for her silence; she might hover about the grounds;
+she might be noticed. At any moment she might boldly demand an interview
+with Mrs. Willis.
+
+"I'm awfully afraid of Mother Rachel," Phyllis moaned, as she shivered
+under the influence of her bad cold.
+
+Nora said "I should faint if I saw her again, I know I should;" while the
+other girls always went out provided with stray sixpences, in case the
+gypsy mother should start up from some unexpected quarter and demand
+blackmail.
+
+On the day of Mrs. Willis' return, Annie was pacing up and down the shady
+walk, and indulging in some rather melancholy and regretful thoughts,
+when Susan Drummond and Mary Morris rushed up to her, white with terror.
+
+"She's down there by the copse, and she's beckoning to us! Oh, do come
+with us--do, darling, dear Annie."
+
+"There's no use in it," replied Annie; "Mother Rachel wants money, and I
+am not going to give her any. Don't be afraid of her, girls, and don't
+give her money. After all, why should she tell on us? she would gain
+nothing by doing so."
+
+"Oh, yes, she would, Annie--she would, Annie," said Mary Morris,
+beginning to sob; "oh, do come with us, do! We must pacify her, we really
+must."
+
+"I can't come now," said Annie; "hark! some one is calling me. Yes, Miss
+Danesbury--what is it?"
+
+"Mrs. Willis wishes to see you at once, Annie, in her private
+sitting-room," replied Miss Danesbury; and Annie, wondering not a little,
+but quite unsuspicious, ran off.
+
+The fact, however, of her having deliberately disobeyed Mrs. Willis, and
+done something which she knew would greatly pain her, brought a shade of
+embarrassment to her usually candid face. She had also to confess to
+herself that she did not feel quite so comfortable about Mother Rachel as
+she had given Mary Morris and Susan Drummond to understand. Her steps
+lagged more and more as she approached the house, and she wished, oh, how
+longingly! oh, how regretfully! that she had not been naughty and wild
+and disobedient in her beloved teacher's absence.
+
+"But where is the use of regretting what is done?" she said, half aloud.
+"I know I can never be good--never, never!"
+
+She pushed aside the heavy velvet curtains which shaded the door of the
+private sitting-room, and went in, to find Mrs. Willis seated by her
+desk, very pale and tired and unhappy looking, while Dora Russell, with
+crimson spots on her cheeks and a very angry glitter in her eyes, stood
+by the mantel-piece.
+
+"Come here, Annie dear," said Mrs. Willis in her usual gentle and
+affectionate tone.
+
+Annie's first wild impulse was to rush to her governess' side, to fling
+her arms round her neck, and, as a child would confess to her mother, to
+tell her all that story of the walk through the wood, and the stolen
+picnic in the fairies' field. Three things, however, restrained her--she
+must not relieve her own troubles at the expense of betraying others; she
+could not, even if she were willing, say a word in the presence of this
+cold and angry-looking Dora; in the third place, Mrs. Willis looked very
+tired and very sad. Not for worlds would she add to her troubles at this
+instant. She came into the room, however, with a slight hesitation of
+manner and a clouded brow, which caused Mrs. Willis to watch her with
+anxiety and Dora with triumph.
+
+"Come here, Annie," repeated the governess. "I want to speak to you.
+Something very dishonorable and disgraceful has been done in my absence."
+
+Annie's face suddenly became as white as a sheet. Could the gypsy mother
+have already betrayed them all?
+
+Mrs. Willis, noticing her too evident confusion, continued in a voice
+which, in spite of herself, became stern and severe.
+
+"I shall expect the truth at any cost, my dear. Look at this
+manuscript-book. Do you know anything of the handwriting?"
+
+"Why, it is yours, of course, Dora," said Annie, who was now absolutely
+bewildered.
+
+"It is _not_ mine," began Dora, but Mrs. Willis held up her hand.
+
+"Allow me to speak, Miss Russell. I can best explain matters. Annie,
+during my absence some one has been guilty of a very base and wicked act.
+One of the girls in this school has gone secretly to Dora Russell's desk
+and taken away ten pages of an essay which she had called 'The River,'
+and which she was preparing for the prize competition next month. Instead
+of Dora's essay this that you now see was put in its place. Examine it,
+my dear. Can you tell me anything about it?"
+
+Annie took the manuscript-book and turned the leaves.
+
+"Is it meant for a parody?" she asked, after a pause; "it sounds
+ridiculous. No, Mrs. Willis, I know nothing whatever about it; some one
+has imitated Dora's handwriting. I cannot imagine who is the culprit."
+
+She threw the manuscript-book with a certain easy carelessness on the
+table by her side, and glanced up with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes at
+Dora.
+
+"I suppose it is meant for a clever parody," she repeated; "at least it
+is amusing."
+
+Her manner displeased Mrs. Willis, and very nearly maddened poor Dora.
+
+"We have not sent for you, Annie," said her teacher, "to ask you your
+opinion of the parody, but to try and get you to throw light on the
+subject. We must find out, and at once, who has been so wicked as to
+deliberately injure another girl."
+
+"But why have you sent for _me_?" asked Annie, drawing herself up, and
+speaking with a little shade of haughtiness.
+
+"Because," said Dora Russell, who could no longer contain her outraged
+feelings, "because you alone can throw light on it--because you alone in
+the school are base enough to do anything so mean--because you alone can
+caricature."
+
+"Oh, that is it," said Annie; "you suspect me, then. Do _you_ suspect me,
+Mrs. Willis?"
+
+"My dear--what can I say?"
+
+"Nothing, if you do. In this school my word has long gone for nothing. I
+am a naughty, headstrong, willful girl, but in this matter I am perfectly
+innocent. I never saw that essay before: I never in all my life went to
+Dora Russell's desk. I am headstrong and wild, but I don't do spiteful
+things. I have no object in injuring Dora; she is nothing to me--nothing.
+She is trying for the essay prize, but she has no chance of winning it.
+Why should I trouble myself to injure her? Why should I even take the
+pains to parody her words and copy her handwriting? Mrs. Willis, you need
+not believe me--I see you do not believe me--but I am quite innocent."
+
+Here Annie burst into sudden tears, and ran out of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+UNTRUSTWORTHY.
+
+
+Dora Russell had declared, in Hester's presence, and with intense energy
+in her manner, that the author of the insult to which she had been
+exposed should be publicly punished and, if possible, expelled. On the
+evening of her interview with the head teacher, she had so far forgotten
+herself as to reiterate this desire with extreme vehemence. She had
+boldly declared her firm conviction of Annie's guilt, and had broadly
+hinted at Mrs. Willis' favoritism toward her. The great dignity, however,
+of her teacher's manner, and the half-sorrowful, half-indignant look she
+bestowed on the excited girl, calmed her down after a time. Mrs. Willis
+felt full sympathy for Dora, and could well understand how trying and
+aggravating this practical joke must be to so proud a girl; but although
+her faith was undoubtedly shaken in Annie, she would not allow this
+sentiment to appear.
+
+"I will do all I can for you, Dora," she said, when the weeping Annie had
+left the room; "I will do everything in my power to find out who has
+injured you. Annie has absolutely denied the accusation you bring against
+her, and unless her guilt can be proved it is but right to believe her
+innocent. There are many other girls in Lavender House, and to-morrow
+morning I will sift this unpleasant affair to the very bottom. Go, now,
+my dear, and if you have sufficient self-command and self-control, try to
+have courage to write your essay over again. I have no doubt that your
+second rendering of your subject will be more attractive than the first.
+Beginners cannot too often re-write their themes."
+
+Dora gave her head a proud little toss, but she was sufficiently in awe
+of Mrs. Willis to keep back any retort, and she went out of the room
+feeling unsatisfied and wretched, and inclined for a sympathizing chat
+with her little friend Hester Thornton.
+
+Hester, however when she reached her, seemed not at all disposed to talk
+to any one.
+
+"I've had it all out with Mrs. Willis, and there is no doubt she will be
+exposed to-morrow morning," said Dora half aloud.
+
+Hester, whose head was bent over her French history, looked up with an
+annoyed expression.
+
+"Who will be exposed?" she asked, in a petulant voice.
+
+"Oh, how stupid you are growing, Hester Thornton!" exclaimed Dora; "why,
+that horrid Annie Forest, of course--but really I have no patience to
+talk to you; you have lost all your spirit. I was very foolish to demean
+myself by taking so much notice of one of the little girls."
+
+Dora sailed down the play-room to her own drawing-room, fully expecting
+Hester to rise and rush after her; but to her surprise Hester did not
+stir, but sat with her head bent over her book, and her cheeks slightly
+flushed.
+
+The next morning Mrs. Willis kept her word to Dora, and made the very
+strictest inquiries with regard to the practical joke to which Dora had
+been subjected. She first of all fully explained what had taken place in
+the presence of the whole school, and then each girl was called up in
+rotation, and asked two questions: first, had she done this mischievous
+thing herself? second, could she throw any light on the subject.
+
+One by one each girl appeared before her teacher, replied in the negative
+to both queries, and returned to her seat.
+
+"Now, girls," said Mrs. Willis, "you have each of you denied this charge.
+Such a thing as has happened to Dora could not have been done without
+hands. The teachers in the school are above suspicion; the servants are
+none of them clever enough to perform this base trick. I suspect one of
+you, and I am quite determined to get at the truth. During the whole of
+this half-year there has been a spirit of unhappiness, of mischief, and
+of suspicion in our midst. Under these circumstances love cannot thrive;
+under these circumstances the true and ennobling sense of brotherly
+kindness, and all those feelings which real religion prompt must
+languish. I tell you all now plainly that I will not have this thing in
+Lavender House. It is simply disgraceful for one girl to play such tricks
+on her fellows. This is not the first time nor the second time that the
+school desks have been tampered with. I will find out--I am determined to
+find out, who this dishonest person is; and as she has not chosen to
+confess to me, as she has preferred falsehood to truth, I will visit her,
+when I do discover her, with my very gravest displeasure. In this school
+I have always endeavored to inculcate the true principles of honor and of
+trust. I have laid down certain broad rules, and expect them to be
+obeyed; but I have never hampered you with petty and humiliating
+restraints. I have given you a certain freedom, which I believed to be
+for your best good, and I have never suspected one of you until you have
+given me due cause.
+
+"Now, however, I tell you plainly that I alter all my tactics. One girl
+sitting in this room is guilty. For her sake I shall treat you all as
+guilty, and punish you accordingly. For the remainder of this term, or
+until the hour when the guilty girl chooses to release her companions,
+you are all, with the exception of the little children and Miss Russell,
+who can scarcely have played this trick on herself, under punishment. I
+withdraw your half-holidays, I take from you the use of the south parlor
+for your acting, and every drawing-room in the play-room is confiscated.
+But this is not all that I do. In taking from you my trust, I must treat
+you as untrustworthy--you will no longer enjoy the liberty you used to
+delight in--everywhere you will be watched. A teacher will sit in your
+play-room with you, a teacher will accompany you into the grounds, and I
+tell you plainly, girls, that chance words and phrases which drop from
+your lips shall be taken up, and used, if necessary, to the elucidation
+of this disgraceful mystery."
+
+Here Mrs. Willis left the room, and the teachers desired the several
+girls in their classes to attend to their morning studies.
+
+Nothing could exceed the dismay which her words had produced. The
+innocent girls were fairly stunned, and from that hour for many a day all
+sunshine and happiness seemed really to have left Lavender House.
+
+The two, however, who felt the change most acutely, and on whose altered
+faces their companions began to fix suspicious eyes, were Annie Forest
+and Hester Thornton. Hester was burdened with an intolerable sense of the
+shameful falsehood she had told; Annie, guilty in another matter,
+succumbed at last utterly to a sense of misery and injustice. Her
+orphaned and lonely position for the first time began to tell on her; she
+ate little and slept little, her face grew very pale and thin, and her
+health really suffered.
+
+All the routine of happy life at Lavender House was changed. In the large
+play-room the drawing-rooms were unused; there were no pleasant little
+knots of girls whispering happily and confidentially together, for
+whenever two or three girls sat down to have a chat they found that one
+or another of the teachers was within hearing. The acting for the coming
+play progressed so languidly that no one expected it would really take
+place, and the one relief and relaxation to the unhappy girls lay in the
+fact that the holidays were not far off, and that in the meantime they
+might work hard for the prizes.
+
+The days passed in a truly melancholy fashion, and, perhaps, for the
+first time the girls fully appreciated the old privileges of freedom and
+trust which were now forfeited. There was a feeble little attempt at a
+joke and a laugh in the school at Dora's expense. The most frivolous of
+the girls whispered of her as she passed as "the muddy stream;" but no
+one took up the fun with avidity--the shadow of somebody's sin had fallen
+too heavily upon all the bright young lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+BETTY FALLS ILL AT AN AWKWARD TIME.
+
+
+The eight girls who had gone out on their midnight picnic were much
+startled one day by an unpleasant discovery. Betty had never come for her
+basket. Susan Drummond, who had a good deal of curiosity, and always
+poked her nose into unexpected corners, had been walking with a Miss
+Allison in that part of the grounds where the laurel-bush stood. She had
+caught a peep of the white handle of the basket, and had instantly turned
+her companion's attention to something else. Miss Allison had not
+observed Susan's start of dismay; but Susan had taken the first
+opportunity of getting rid of her, and had run off in search of one of
+the girls who had shared in the picnic. She came across Annie Forest, who
+was walking, as usual, by herself, with her head slightly bent, and her
+curling hair in sad confusion. Susan whispered the direful intelligence
+that old Betty had forsaken them, and that the basket, with its
+ginger-beer bottles and its stained table-cloth, might be discovered at
+any moment.
+
+Annie's pale face flushed slightly at Susan's words.
+
+"Why should we try to conceal the thing?" she said, speaking with sudden
+energy, and a look of hope and animation coming back to her face. "Susy,
+let's go, all of us, and tell the miserable truth to Mrs. Willis; it will
+be much the best way. We did not do the other thing, and when we have
+confessed about this, our hearts will be at rest."
+
+"No, we did not do the other thing," said Susan, a queer, gray color
+coming over her face; "but confess about this, Annie Forest!--I think you
+are mad. You dare not tell."
+
+"All right," said Annie, "I won't, unless you all agree to it," and then
+she continued her walk, leaving Susan standing on the graveled path with
+her hands clasped together, and a look of most genuine alarm and dismay
+on her usually phlegmatic face.
+
+Susan quickly found Phyllis and Nora, and it was only too easy to arouse
+the fears of these timid little people. Their poor little faces became
+almost pallid, and they were not a little startled at the fact of Annie
+Forest, their own arch-conspirator, wishing to betray their secret.
+
+"Oh," said Susan Drummond, "she's not out and out shabby; she says she
+won't tell unless we all wish it. But what is to become of the basket?"
+
+"Come, come, young ladies; no whispering, if you please," said Miss Good,
+who came up at this moment. "Susan, you are looking pale and cold, walk
+up and down that path half-a-dozen times, and then go into the house.
+Phyllis and Nora, you can come with me as far as the lodge. I want to
+take a message from Mrs. Willis to Mary Martin about the fowl for
+to-morrow's dinner."
+
+Phyllis and Nora, with dismayed faces, walked solemnly away with the
+English teacher, and Susan was left to her solitary meditations.
+
+Things had come to such a pass that her slow wits were brought into play,
+and she neither felt sleepy, nor did she indulge in her usual habit of
+eating lollipops.
+
+That basket might be discovered any day, and then--then disgrace was
+imminent. Susan could not make out what had become of old Betty; never
+before had she so utterly failed them.
+
+Betty lived in a little cottage about half a mile from Lavender House.
+She was a sturdy, apple-cheeked, little old woman, and had for many a day
+added to her income--indeed, almost supported herself--by means of the
+girls at Lavender House. The large cherry-trees in her little garden bore
+their rich crop of fruit year after year for Mrs. Willis' girls, and
+every day at an early hour Betty would tramp into Sefton and return with
+a temptingly-laden basket of the most approved cakes and tarts. There was
+a certain paling at one end of the grounds to which Betty used to come.
+Here on the grass she would sit contentedly, with the contents of her
+baskets arranged in the most tempting order before her, and to this
+seductive spot she knew well that those little misses who loved goodies,
+cakes and tartlets would be sure to find their way. Betty charged high
+for her wares; but, as she was always obliging in the matter of credit,
+the thoughtless girls cared very little that they paid double the shop
+prices for Betty's cakes. The best girls in the school, certainly, never
+went to Betty; but Annie Forest, Susan Drummond, and several others had
+regular accounts with her, and few days passed that their young faces
+would not peep over the paling and their voices ask:
+
+"What have you got to tempt me with to-day, Betty?"
+
+It was, however, in the matter of stolen picnics, of grand feasts in the
+old attic, etc., etc., that Betty was truly great. No one so clever as
+she in concealing a basket of delicious eatables, no one knew better what
+schoolgirls liked. She undoubtedly charged her own prices, but what she
+gave was of the best, and Betty was truly in her element when she had an
+order from the young ladies of Lavender House for a grand secret feast.
+
+"You shall have it, my pretties--you shall have it," she would say,
+wrinkling up her bright blue eyes, and smiling broadly. "You leave it to
+Betty, my little loves; you leave it to Betty."
+
+On the occasion of the picnic to the fairies' field Betty had, indeed,
+surpassed herself in the delicious eatables she had provided; all had
+gone smoothly, the basket had been placed in a secure hiding-place under
+the thick laurel. It was to be fetched away by Betty herself at an early
+hour on the following morning.
+
+No wonder Susan was perplexed as she paced about and pretended to warm
+herself. It was a June evening, but the weather was still a little cold.
+Susan remembered now that Betty had not come to her favorite station at
+the stile for several days. Was it possible that the old woman was ill?
+As this idea occurred to her, Susan became more alarmed. She knew that
+there was very little chance of the basket remaining long in concealment.
+Rover might any day remember his pleasant picnic with affection, and drag
+the white basket from under the laurel-bush. Michael the gardener would
+be certain to see it when next he cleaned up the back avenue. Oh, it was
+more than dangerous to leave it there, and yet Susan knew of no better
+hiding-place. A sudden idea came to her; she pulled out her pretty little
+watch, and saw that she need not return to the house for another
+half-hour. "Suppose she ran as fast as possible to Betty's little cottage
+and begged of the old woman to come by the first light in the morning and
+fetch away the basket?"
+
+The moment Susan conceived this idea she resolved to put it into
+execution. She looked around her hastily: no teacher was in sight, Miss
+Good was away at the lodge, Miss Danesbury was playing with the little
+children. Mademoiselle, she knew, had gone indoors with a bad headache.
+She left the broad walk where she had been desired to stay, and plunging
+into the shrubbery, soon reached Betty's paling. In a moment she had
+climbed the bars, had jumped lightly into the field, and was running as
+fast as possible in the direction of Betty's cottage. She reached the
+high road, and started and trembled violently as a carriage with some
+ladies and gentlemen passed her. She thought she recognized the faces of
+the two little Misses Bruce, but did not dare to look at them, and
+hurried panting along the road, and hoping she might be mistaken.
+
+In less than a quarter of an hour she had reached Betty's little cottage,
+and was standing trying to recover her breath by the shut door. The place
+had a deserted look, and several overripe cherries had fallen from the
+trees and were lying neglected on the ground. Susan knocked impatiently.
+There was no discernible answer. She had no time to wait, she lifted the
+latch, which yielded to her pressure, and went in.
+
+Poor old Betty, crippled, and in severe pain with rheumatism, was lying
+on her little bed.
+
+"Eh, dear--and is that you, my pretty missy?" she asked, as Susan, hot
+and tired, came up to her side.
+
+"Oh, Betty, are you ill?" asked Miss Drummond "I came to tell you you
+have forgotten the basket."
+
+"No, my dear, no--not forgot. By no means that, lovey; but I has been
+took with the rheumatism this past week, and can't move hand or foot. I
+was wondering how you'd do without your cakes and tartlets, dear, and to
+think of them cherries lying there good for nothing on the ground is
+enough to break one's 'eart."
+
+"So it is," said Susan, giving an appreciative glance toward the open
+door. "They are beautiful cherries, and full of juice, I am sure. I'll
+take a few, Betty, as I am going out, and pay you for them another day.
+But what I have come about now is the basket. You must get the basket
+away, however ill you are. If the basket is discovered we are all lost,
+and then good-by to your gains."
+
+"Well, missy, dear, if I could crawl on my hands and knees I'd go and
+fetch it, rather than you should be worried; but I can't set foot to the
+ground at all. The doctor says as 'tis somethink like rheumatic fever as
+I has."
+
+"Oh, dear, oh, dear," said Susan, not wasting any of her precious moments
+in pitying the poor suffering old woman. "What _is_ to be done? I tell
+you, Betty, if that basket is found we are all lost."
+
+"But the laurel is very thick, lovey: it ain't likely to be found--it
+ain't, indeed."
+
+"I tell you it _is_ likely to be found, you tiresome old woman, and you
+really must go for it or send for it. You really must."
+
+Old Betty began to ponder.
+
+"There's Moses," she said, after a pause of anxious thought; "he's a
+'cute little chap, and he might go. He lives in the fourth cottage along
+the lane. Moses is his name--Moses Moore. I'd give him a pint of cherries
+for the job. If you wouldn't mind sending Moses to me, Miss Susan, why,
+I'll do my best; only it seems a pity to let anybody into your secrets,
+young ladies, but old Betty herself."
+
+"It is a pity," said Susan, "but, under the circumstances, it can't be
+helped. What cottage did you say this Moses lived in?"
+
+"The fourth from here, down the lane, lovey--Moses is the lad's name;
+he's a freckled boy, with a cast in one eye. You send him up to me,
+dearie; but don't mention the cherries, or he'll be after stealing them.
+He's a sad rogue, is Moses; but I think I can tempt him with the
+cherries."
+
+Susan did not wait to bid poor old Betty "good-bye," but ran out of the
+cottage, shutting the door after her, and snatching up two or three ripe
+cherries to eat on her way. She was so far fortunate as to find the
+redoubtable Moses at home, and to convey him bodily to old Betty's
+presence. The queer boy grinned horribly, and looked as wicked as boy
+could look; but on the subject of cherries he was undoubtedly
+susceptible, and after a good deal of haggling and insisting that the
+pint should be a quart, he expressed his willingness to start off at four
+o'clock on the following morning, and bring away the basket from under
+the laurel-tree.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"YOU ARE WELCOME TO TELL."
+
+
+Annie continued her walk. The circumstances of the last two months had
+combined to do for her what nothing had hitherto effected. When a little
+child she had known hardship and privation, she had passed through that
+experience which is metaphorically spoken of as "going down hill." As a
+baby little Annie had been surrounded by comforts and luxuries, and her
+father and mother had lived in a large house, and kept a carriage, and
+Annie had two nurses to wait on herself alone. These were in the days
+before she could remember anything. With her first early memories came
+the recollection of a much smaller house, of much fewer servants, of her
+mother often in tears, and her father often away. Then there was no house
+at all that the Forests could call their own, only rooms of a tolerably
+cheerful character--and Annie's nurse went away, and she took her daily
+walks by her mother's side and slept in a little cot in her mother's
+room. Then came a very, very sad day, when her mother lay cold and still
+and fainting on her bed, and her tall and handsome father caught Annie in
+his arms and pressed her to his heart, and told her to be a good child
+and to keep up her spirits, and, above all things, to take care of
+mother. Then her father had gone away; and though Annie expected him
+back, he did not come, and she and her mother went into poorer and
+shabbier lodgings, and her mother began to try her tear-dimmed eyes by
+working at church embroidery, and Annie used to notice that she coughed a
+good deal as she worked. Then there was another move, and this time Mrs.
+Forest and her little daughter found themselves in one bedroom, and
+things began to grow very gloomy, and food even was scarce. At last there
+was a change. One day a lady came into the dingy little room, and all on
+a sudden it seemed as if the sun had come out again. This lady brought
+comforts with her--toys and books for the child, good, brave words of
+cheer for the mother. At last Annie's mother died, and she went away to
+Lavender House to live with this good friend who had made her mother's
+dying hours easy.
+
+"Annie, Annie," said the dying mother, "I owe everything to Mrs. Willis;
+we knew each other long ago when we were girls, and she has come to me
+now and made everything easy. When I am gone she will take care of you.
+Oh, my child, I cannot repay her; but will you try?"
+
+"Yes, mother," said little Annie, gazing full into her mother's face with
+her sweet bright eyes, "I'll--I'll love her, mother; I'll give her lots
+and lots of love."
+
+Annie had gone to Lavender House, and kept her word, for she had almost
+worshiped the good mistress who was so true and kind to her, and who had
+so befriended her mother. Through all the vicissitudes of her short
+existence Annie had, however, never lost one precious gift. Hers was an
+affectionate, but also a wonderfully bright, nature. It was as impossible
+for Annie to turn away from laughter and merriment as it would be for a
+flower to keep its head determinately turned from the sun. In their
+darkest days Annie had managed to make her mother laugh; her little face
+was a sunbeam, her very naughtinesses were of a laughable character.
+
+Her mother died--her father was still away, but Annie retained her brave
+and cheerful spirit, for she gave and received love. Mrs. Willis loved
+her--she bestowed upon her among all her girls the tenderest glances, the
+most motherly caresses. The teachers undoubtedly corrected and even
+scolded her, but they could not help liking her, and even her worst
+scrapes made them smile. Annie's companions adored her; the little
+children would do anything for their own Annie, and even the servants in
+the school said that there was no young lady in Lavender House fit to
+hold a candle to Miss Forest.
+
+During the last half-year, however, things had been different. Suspicion
+and mistrust began to dog the footsteps of the bright young girl; she was
+no longer a universal favorite--some of the girls even openly expressed
+their dislike of her.
+
+All this Annie could have borne, but for the fact that Mrs. Willis joined
+in the universal suspicion. The old glance now never came to her eyes,
+nor the old tone to her voice. For the first time Annie's spirits utterly
+flagged; she could not bear this universal coldness, this universal
+chill. She began to droop physically as well as mentally.
+
+She was pacing up and down the walk, thinking very sadly, wondering
+vaguely, if her father would ever return, and conscious of a feeling of
+more or less indifference to everything and every one, when she was
+suddenly roused from her meditation by the patter of small feet and by a
+very eager little exclamation:
+
+"Me tumming--me tumming, Annie!" and then Nan raised her charming face
+and placed her cool baby hand in Annie's.
+
+There was delicious comfort in the clasp of the little hand, and in the
+look of love and pleasure which lit up the small face.
+
+"Me yiding from naughty nurse--me 'tay with you, Annie--me love 'oo,
+Annie."
+
+Annie stooped down, kissed the little one, and lifted her into her arms.
+
+"Why ky?" said Nan, who saw with consternation two big tears in Annie's
+eyes; "dere, poor ickle Annie--me love 'oo--me buy 'oo a new doll."
+
+"Dearest little darling," said Annie in a voice of almost passionate
+pain; then, with that wonderful instinct which made her in touch with all
+little children, she cheered up, wiped away her tears, and allowed
+laughter once more to wreathe her lips and fill her eyes. "Come, Nan,"
+she said, "you and I will have such a race."
+
+She placed the child on her shoulder, clasped the little hands securely
+round her neck, and ran to the sound of Nan's shouts down the shady walk.
+
+At the farther end Nan suddenly tightened her clasp, drew herself up,
+ceased to laugh, and said with some fright in her voice:
+
+"Who dat?"
+
+Annie, too, stood still with a sudden start, for the gypsy woman, Mother
+Rachel, was standing directly in their path.
+
+"Go 'way, naughty woman," said Nan, shaking her small hand imperiously.
+
+The gypsy dropped a low courtesy, and spoke in a slightly mocking tone.
+
+"A pretty little dear," she said. "Yes, truly now, a pretty little
+winsome dear; and oh, what shoes! and little open-work socks! and I don't
+doubt real lace trimming on all her little garments--I don't doubt it a
+bit."
+
+"Go 'way--me don't like 'oo," said Nan. "Let's wun back--gee, gee," she
+said, addressing Annie, whom she had constituted into a horse for the
+time being.
+
+"Yes, Nan; in one minute," said Annie. "Please, Mother Rachel, what are
+you doing here?"
+
+"Only waiting to see you, pretty missie," replied the tall gypsy. "You
+are the dear little lady who crossed my hand with silver that night in
+the wood. Eh, but it was a bonny night, with a bonny bright moon, and
+none of the dear little ladies meant any harm--no, no, Mother Rachel
+knows that."
+
+"Look here," said Annie, "I'm not going to be afraid of you. I have no
+more silver to give you. If you like, you may go up to the house and tell
+what you have seen. I am very unhappy, and whether you tell or not can
+make very little difference to me now. Good-night; I am not the least
+afraid of you--you can do just as you please about telling Mrs. Willis."
+
+"Eh, my dear?" said the gypsy; "do you think I'd work you any harm--you,
+and the seven other dear little ladies? No, not for the world, my
+dear--not for the world. You don't know Mother Rachel when you think
+she'd be that mean."
+
+"Well, don't come here again," said Annie. "Good-night."
+
+She turned on her heel, and Nan shouted back:
+
+"Go way, naughty woman--Nan don't love 'oo, 'tall, 'tall."
+
+The gypsy stood still for a moment with a frown knitting her brows; then
+she slowly turned, and, creeping on all-fours through the underwood,
+climbed the hedge into the field beyond.
+
+"Oh, no," she laughed, after a moment; "the little missy thinks she ain't
+afraid of me; but she be. Trust Mother Rachel for knowing that much. I
+make no doubt," she added after a pause, "that the little one's clothes
+are trimmed with real lace. Well, little Missie Annie Forest, I can see
+with half an eye that you set store by that baby-girl. You had better not
+cross Mother Rachel's whims, or she can punish you in a way you don't
+think of."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+HOW MOSES MOORE KEPT HIS APPOINTMENT.
+
+
+Susan Drummond got back to Lavender House without apparent discovery. She
+was certainly late when she took her place in the class-room for her next
+day's preparation; but, beyond a very sharp reprimand from mademoiselle,
+no notice was taken of this fact. She managed to whisper to Nora and
+Phyllis that the basket would be moved by the first dawn the next
+morning, and the little girls went to bed happier in consequence. Nothing
+ever could disturb Susan's slumbers, and that night she certainly slept
+without rocking. As she was getting into bed she ventured to tell Annie
+how successfully she had manoeuvered; but Annie received her news with
+the most absolute indifference, looking at her for a moment with a queer
+smile, and then saying:
+
+"My own wish is that this should be found out. As a matter of course, I
+sha'n't betray you, girls; but as things now stand I am anxious that Mrs.
+Willis should know the very worst of me."
+
+After a remark which Susan considered so simply idiotic, there was, of
+course, no further conversation between the two girls.
+
+Moses Moore had certainly promised Betty to rise soon after dawn on the
+following morning, and go to Lavender House to carry off the basket from
+under the laurel-tree. Moses, a remarkably indolent lad, had been
+stimulated by the thought of the delicious cherries which would be his as
+soon as he brought the basket to Betty. He had cleverly stipulated that a
+quart--not a pint--of cherries was to be his reward, and he looked
+forward with considerable pleasure to picking them himself, and putting a
+few extra ones into his mouth on the sly.
+
+Moses was not at all the kind of a boy who would have scrupled to steal a
+few cherries; but in this particular old Betty, ill as she was, was too
+sharp for him or for any of the other village lads. Her bed was drawn up
+close to her little window, and her window looked directly on to the two
+cherry trees. Never, to all appearance, did Betty close her eyes. However
+early the hour might be in which a village boy peeped over the wall of
+her garden, he always saw her white night-cap moving, and he knew that
+her bright blue eyes would be on him, and he would be proclaimed a thief
+all over the place before many minutes were over.
+
+Moses, therefore, was very glad to secure his cherries by fair means, as
+he could not obtain them by foul; and he went to bed and to sleep,
+determined to be off on his errand with the dawn.
+
+A very natural thing, however, happened. Moses, unaccustomed to getting
+up at half-past three in the morning, never opened his eyes until the
+church clock struck five. Then he started upright, rubbed and rubbed at
+his sleepy orbs, tumbled into his clothes, and, softly opening the
+cottage door, set off on his errand.
+
+The fact of his being nearly an hour and a half late did not trouble him
+in the least. In any case, he would get to Lavender House before six
+o'clock, and would have consumed his cherries in less than an hour from
+that date.
+
+Moses sauntered gaily along the roads, whistling as he went, and
+occasionally tossing his battered cap in the air. He often lingered on
+his way, now to cut down a particularly tempting switch from the hedge,
+now to hunt for a possible bird's nest. It was very nearly six o'clock
+when he reached the back avenue, swung himself over the gate, which was
+locked, and ran softly on the dewy grass in the direction of the laurel
+bush. Old Betty had given him most careful instructions, and he was far
+too sharp a lad to forget what was necessary for the obtaining of a quart
+of cherries. He found his tree, and lay flat down on the ground in order
+to pull out the basket. His fingers had just clasped the handle when
+there came a sudden interruption--a rush, a growl, and some very sharp
+teeth had inserted themselves into the back of his ragged jacket. Poor
+Moses found himself, to his horror, in the clutches of a great mastiff.
+The creature held him tight, and laid one heavy paw on him to prevent him
+rising.
+
+Under these circumstances, Moses thought it quite unnecessary to retain
+any self-control. He shrieked, he screamed, he wriggled; his piercing
+yells filled the air, and, fortunately for him, his being two hours too
+late brought assistance to his aid. Michael, the gardener, and a strong
+boy who helped him, rushed to the spot, and liberated the terrified lad,
+who, after all, was only frightened, for Rover had satisfied himself with
+tearing his jacket to pieces, not himself.
+
+"Give me the b-basket," sobbed Moses, "and let me g-g-go."
+
+"You may certainly go, you little tramp," said Michael, "but Jim and me
+will keep the basket. I much misdoubt me if there isn't mischief here.
+What's the basket put hiding here for, and who does it belong to?"
+
+"Old B-B-Betty," gasped forth the agitated Moses.
+
+"Well, let old Betty fetch it herself. Mrs. Willis will keep it for her,"
+said Michael. "Come along, Jim, get to your weeding, do. There, little
+scamp, you had better make yourself scarce."
+
+Moses certainly took his advice, for he scuttled off like a hare. Whether
+he ever got his cherries or not, history does not disclose.
+
+Michael, looking gravely at Jim, opened the basket, examined its
+contents, and, shaking his head solemnly, carried it into the house.
+
+"There's been deep work going on, Jim, and my missis ought to know," said
+Michael, who was an exceedingly strict disciplinarian. Jim, however, had
+a soft corner in his heart for the young ladies, and he commenced his
+weeding with a profound sigh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+A BROKEN TRUST.
+
+
+The next morning Annie Forest opened her eyes with that strange feeling
+of indifference and want of vivacity which come so seldom to youth. She
+saw the sun shining through the closed blinds; she heard the birds
+twittering and singing in the large elm-tree which nearly touched the
+windows; she knew well how the world looked at this moment, for often and
+often in her old light-hearted days she had risen before the maid came to
+call her, and, kneeling by the deep window-ledge, had looked out at the
+bright, fresh, sparkling day. A new day, with all its hours before it,
+its light vivid but not too glaring, its dress all manner of tender
+shades and harmonious colorings! Annie had a poetical nature, and she
+gloried in these glimpses which she got all by herself of the fresh, glad
+world.
+
+To-day, however, she lay still, sorry to know that the brief night was at
+an end, and that the day, with its coldness and suspicion, its terrible
+absence of love and harmony, was about to begin.
+
+Annie's nature was very emotional; she was intensely sensitive to her
+surroundings; the grayness of her present life was absolute destruction
+to such a nature as hers.
+
+The dressing-bell rang; the maid came in to draw up the blinds, and call
+the girls. Annie rose languidly and began to dress herself.
+
+She first finished her toilet, and then approached her little bed, and
+stood by its side for a moment hesitating. She did not want to pray, and
+yet she felt impelled to go down on her knees. As she knelt with her
+curls falling about her face, and her hands pressed to her eyes, one line
+of one of her favorite poems came flashing with swiftness and power
+across her memory:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+The words filled her whole heart with a sudden sense of peace and of
+great longing.
+
+The prayer-bell rang: she rose, and, turning to Susan Drummond, said
+earnestly:
+
+"Oh, Susy, I do wish Mrs. Willis could know about our going to the
+fairy-field; I do so want God to forgive me."
+
+Susan stared in her usual dull, uncomprehending way; then she flushed a
+little, and said brusquely:
+
+"I think you have quite taken leave of your senses, Annie Forest."
+
+Annie said no more, but at prayers in the chapel she was glad to find
+herself near gentle Cecil Temple, and the words kept repeating themselves
+to her all during the morning lessons:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+Just before morning school several of the girls started and looked
+distressed when they found that Mrs. Willis lingered in the room. She
+stood for a moment by the English teacher's desk, said something to her
+in a low voice, and then, walking slowly to her own post at the head of
+the great school-room, she said suddenly:
+
+"I want to ask you a question, Miss Drummond. Will you please just stand
+up in your place in class and answer me without a moment's hesitation."
+
+Phyllis and Nora found themselves turning very pale; Mary Price and one
+or two more of the rebels also began to tremble, but Susan looked dogged
+and indifferent enough as she turned her eyes toward her teacher.
+
+"Yes, madam," she said, rising and dropping a courtesy.
+
+"My friends, the Misses Bruce, came to call on me yesterday evening,
+Susan, and told me that they saw you running very quickly on the high
+road in the direction of the village. You, of course, know that you broke
+a very distinct rule when you left the grounds without leave. Tell me at
+once where you were going."
+
+Susan hesitated, colored to her dullest red, and looked down. Then,
+because she had no ready excuse to offer, she blurted out the truth:
+
+"I was going to see old Betty."
+
+"The cake-woman?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"I--I heard she was ill."
+
+"Indeed--you may sit down, Miss Drummond. Miss Good, will you ask Michael
+to step for a moment into the school-room?"
+
+Several of the girls now indeed held their breath, and more than one
+heart beat with heavy, frightened bumps as a moment later Michael
+followed Miss Good into the room, carrying the redoubtable picnic-basket
+on his arm.
+
+"Michael," said Mrs. Willis, "I wish you to tell the young ladies exactly
+how you found the basket this morning. Stand by my side, please, and
+speak loud enough for them to hear."
+
+After a moment's pause Michael related somewhat diffusely and with an
+occasional break in his narrative the scene which had occurred between
+him and Moses that morning.
+
+"That will do, Michael; you can now go," said the head mistress.
+
+She waited until the old servant had closed the door, and then she turned
+to her girls:
+
+"It is not quite a fortnight since I stood where I now stand, and asked
+one girl to be honorable and to save her companions. One girl was guilty
+of sin and would not confess, and for her sake all her companions are now
+suffering. I am tired of this sort of thing--I am tired of standing in
+this place and appealing to your honor, which is dead, to your truth
+which is nowhere. Girls, you puzzle me--you half break my heart. In this
+case more than one is guilty. How many of the girls in Lavender House are
+going to tell me a lie this morning?"
+
+There was a brief pause; then a slight cry, and a girl rose from her seat
+and walked up the long school-room.
+
+"I am the most guilty of all," said Annie Forest.
+
+"Annie!" said Mrs. Willis, in a tone half of pain, half of relief, "have
+you come to your senses at last?"
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad to be able to speak the truth," said Annie. "Please
+punish me very, very hard; I am the most guilty of all."
+
+"What did you do with this basket?"
+
+"We took it for a picnic--it was my plan, I led the others."
+
+"Where was your picnic?"
+
+"In the fairies' field."
+
+"Ah! At what time?"
+
+"At night--in the middle of the night--the night you went to London."
+
+Mrs. Willis put her hand to her brow; her face was very white and the
+girls could see that she trembled.
+
+"I trusted my girls----" she said; then she broke off abruptly.
+
+"You had companions in this wickedness--name them."
+
+"Yes, I had companions; I led them on."
+
+"Name them, Miss Forest."
+
+For the first time Annie raised her eyes to Mrs. Willis' face; then she
+turned and looked down the long school-room.
+
+"Oh, won't they tell themselves?" she said.
+
+Nothing could be more appealing than her glance. It melted the hearts of
+Phyllis and Nora, who began to sob, and to declare brokenly that they had
+gone too, and that they were very, very sorry.
+
+Spurred by their example Mary Price also confessed, and one by one all
+the little conspirators revealed the truth, with the exception of Susan,
+who kept her eyes steadily fixed on the floor.
+
+"Susan Drummond," said Mrs. Willis, "come here."
+
+There was something in her tone which startled every girl in the school.
+Never had they heard this ring in their teacher's voice before.
+
+"Susan," said Mrs. Willis, "I don't ask you if you are guilty; I fear,
+poor miserable girl, that if I did you would load your conscience with a
+fresh lie. I don't ask you if you are guilty because I know you are. The
+fact of your running without leave to see old Betty is circumstantial
+evidence. I judge you by that and pronounce you guilty. Now, young
+ladies, you who have treated me so badly, who have betrayed my trust, who
+have been wanting in honor, I must think, I must ask God to teach me how
+to deal with you. In the meantime, you cannot associate with your
+companions. Miss Good, will you take each of these eight girls to their
+bedrooms."
+
+As Annie was leaving the room she looked full into Mrs. Willis' face.
+Strange to say, at this moment of her great disgrace the cloud which had
+so long brooded over her was lifted. The sweet eyes never looked sweeter.
+The old Annie, and yet a better and a braver Annie than had ever existed
+before, followed her companions out of the school-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+IS SHE STILL GUILTY?
+
+
+On the evening of that day Cecil Temple knocked at the door of Mrs.
+Willis' private sitting-room.
+
+"Ah, Cecil! is that you?" said her governess. "I am always glad to see
+you, dear; but I happen to be particularly busy to-night. Have you
+anything in particular to say to me?"
+
+"I only wanted to talk about Annie, Mrs. Willis. You believe in her at
+last, don't you?"
+
+"Believe in her at last!" said the head-mistress in a tone of
+astonishment and deep pain. "No, Cecil, my dear; you ask too much of my
+faith. I do not believe in Annie."
+
+Cecil paused; she hesitated, and seemed half afraid to proceed.
+
+"Perhaps," she said at last in a slightly timid tone, "you have not seen
+her since this morning?"
+
+"No; I have been particularly busy. Besides, the eight culprits are under
+punishment; part of their punishment is that I will not see them."
+
+"Don't you think, Mrs. Willis," said Cecil, "that Annie made rather a
+brave confession this morning?"
+
+"I admit, my dear, that Annie spoke in somewhat of her old impulsive way;
+she blamed herself, and did not try to screen her misdemeanors behind her
+companions. In this one particular she reminded me of the old Annie who,
+notwithstanding all her faults, I used to trust and love. But as to her
+confession being very brave, my dear Cecil, you must remember that she
+did not _confess_ until she was obliged; she knew, and so did all the
+other girls, that I could have got the truth out of old Betty had they
+chosen to keep their lips sealed. Then, my dear, consider what she did.
+On the very night that I was away she violated the trust I had in
+her--she bade me 'good-bye' with smiles and sweet glances, and then she
+did this in my absence. No, Cecil, I fear poor Annie is not what we
+thought her. She has done untold mischief during the half-year, and has
+willfully lied and deceived me. I find, on comparing dates, that it was
+on the very night of the girls' picnic that Dora's theme was changed.
+There is no doubt whatever that Annie was the guilty person. I did my
+best to believe in her, and to depend on Mr. Everard's judgment of her
+character, but I confess I can do so no longer. Cecil, dear. I am not
+surprised that you look pale and sad. No, we will not give up this poor
+Annie: we will try to love her even through her sin. Ah! poor child, poor
+child! how much I have prayed for her! She was to me as a child of my
+own. Now, dear Cecil, I must ask you to leave me."
+
+Cecil went slowly out of her governess' presence, and, wandering across
+the wide stone hall, she entered the play-room. It happened to be a wet
+night, and the room was full of girls, who hung together in groups and
+whispered softly. There were no loud voices, and, except from the little
+ones, there was no laughter. A great depression hung over the place, and
+few could have recognized the happy girls of Lavender House in these sad
+young faces. Cecil walked slowly into the room, and presently finding
+Hester Thornton, she sat down by her side.
+
+"I can't get Mrs. Willis to see it," she said very sadly.
+
+"What?" asked Hester.
+
+"Why, that we have got our old Annie back again; that she did take the
+girls out to that picnic, and was as wild, and reckless, and naughty as
+possible about it; and then, just like the old Annie I have always known,
+the moment the fun was over she began to repent, and that she has gone on
+repenting ever since, which has accounted for her poor sad little face
+and white cheeks. Of course she longed to tell--Nora and Phyllis have
+told me so--but she would not betray them. Now at last there is a load
+off her heart, and, though she is in great disgrace and punishment, she
+is not very unhappy. I went to see her an hour ago, and I saw in her face
+that my own darling Annie has returned. But what do you think Mrs. Willis
+does, Hester? She is so hurt and disappointed, that she believes Annie is
+guilty of the other thing--she believes that Annie stole Dora's theme,
+and that she caricatured her in my book some time ago. She believes
+it--she is sure of it. Now, do you think, Hester, that Annie's face would
+look quite peaceful and happy to-night if she had only confessed half her
+faults--if she had this meanness, this sin, these lies still resting on
+her soul? Oh! I wish Mrs. Willis would see her! I wish--I wish! but I can
+do nothing. You agree with me, don't you, Hester? Just put yourself in
+Annie's place, and tell me if _you_ would feel happy, and if your heart
+would be at rest, if you had only confessed half your sin, and if through
+you all your schoolfellows were under disgrace and suspicion? You could
+not, could you, Hester? Why, Hester, how white you are!"
+
+"You are so metaphysical," said Hester, rising; "you quite puzzle me. How
+can I put myself in your friend Annie's place? I never understood her--I
+never wanted to. Put myself in her place?--no, certainly that I'm never
+likely to. I hope that I shall never be in such a predicament."
+
+Hester walked away, and Cecil sat still in great perplexity.
+
+Cecil was a girl with a true sense of religion. The love of God guided
+every action of her simple and straightforward life. She was neither
+beautiful nor clever; but no one in the school was more respected and
+honored, no one more sincerely loved. Cecil knew what the peace of God
+meant, and when she saw even a shadowy reflection of that peace on
+Annie's little face, she was right in believing that she must be innocent
+of the guilt which was attributed to her.
+
+The whole school assembled for prayers that night in the little chapel,
+and Mr. Everard, who had heard the story of that day's confession from
+Mrs. Willis, said a few words appropriate to the occasion to the unhappy
+young girls.
+
+Whatever effect his words had on the others, and they were very simple
+and straightforward, Annie's face grew quiet and peaceful as she listened
+to them. The old clergyman assured the girls that God was waiting to
+forgive those who truly repented, and that the way to repent was to rise
+up and sin no more.
+
+"The present fun is not worth the after-pain," he said, in conclusion.
+"It is an old saying that stolen waters are sweet, but only at the time;
+afterward only those who drink of them know the full extent of their
+bitterness."
+
+This little address from Mr. Everard strengthened poor Annie for an
+ordeal which was immediately before her, for Mrs. Willis asked all the
+school to follow her to the play-room, and there she told them that she
+was about to restore to them their lost privileges; that circumstances,
+in her opinion, now so strongly pointed the guilt of the stolen essay in
+the direction of one girl, that she could no longer ask the school to
+suffer for her sake.
+
+"She still refuses to confess her sin," said Mrs. Willis, "but, unless
+another girl proclaims herself guilty, and proves to me beyond doubt that
+she drew the caricature which was found in Cecil Temple's book, and that
+she changed Dora Russell's essay, and, imitating her hand, put another in
+its place, I proclaim the guilty person to be Annie Forest, and on her
+alone I visit my displeasure. You can retire to your rooms, young ladies.
+Tomorrow morning Lavender House resumes its old cheerfulness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+HESTER'S HOUR OF TRIAL.
+
+
+However calmly or however peacefully Annie slept that night, poor Hester
+did not close her eyes. The white face of the girl she had wronged and
+injured kept rising before her. Why had she so deceived Annie? Why from
+the very first had she turned from her, and misjudged her, and
+misrepresented her? Was Annie, indeed, all bad? Hester had to own to
+herself that to-night Annie was better than she--was greater than she.
+Could she now have undone the past, she would not have acted as she had
+done; she would not for the sake of a little paltry revenge have defiled
+her conscience with a lie, have told her governess that she could throw
+no light on the circumstance of the stolen essay. This was the first lie
+Hester had ever told; she was naturally both straightforward and
+honorable, but her sin of sins, that which made her hard and almost
+unlovable, was an intensely proud and haughty spirit. She was very sorry
+she had told that lie; she was very sorry she had yielded to that
+temptation; but not for worlds would she now humble herself to
+confess--not for worlds would she let the school know of her cowardice
+and shame. No, if there was no other means of clearing Annie except
+through her confession, she must remain with the shadow of this sin over
+her to her dying day.
+
+Hester, however, was now really unhappy, and also truly sorry for poor
+Annie. Could she have got off without disgrace or punishment, she would
+have been truly glad to see Annie exonerated. She was quite certain that
+Susan Drummond was at the bottom of all the mischief which had been done
+lately at Lavender House. She could not make out how stupid Susan was
+clever enough to caricature and to imitate peoples' hands. Still she was
+convinced that she was the guilty person, and she wondered and wondered
+if she could induce Susan to come forward and confess the truth, and so
+save Annie without bringing her, Hester, into any trouble.
+
+She resolved to speak to Susan, and without confessing that she had been
+in the school-room on the night the essay was changed, to let her know
+plainly that she suspected her.
+
+She became much calmer when she determined to carry out this resolve, and
+toward morning she fell asleep.
+
+She was awakened at a very early hour by little Nan clambering over the
+side of her crib, and cuddling down cozily in a way she loved by Hester's
+side.
+
+"Me so 'nug, 'nug," said little Nan. "Oh, Hetty, Hetty, there's a wy on
+the teiling!"
+
+Hester had then to rouse herself, and enter into an animated conversation
+on the subject of flies generally, and in especial she had to talk of
+that particular fly which would perambulate on the ceiling over Nan's
+head.
+
+"Me like wies," said Nan, "and me like 'oo, Hetty, and me love--me love
+Annie."
+
+Hester kissed her little sister passionately; but this last observation,
+accompanied by the expression of almost angelic devotion which filled
+little Nan's brown eyes, as she repeated that she liked flies and Hetty,
+but that she loved Annie, had the effect of again hardening her heart.
+
+Hester's hour of trial, however, was at hand, and before that day was
+over she was to experience that awful emptiness and desolation which
+those know whom God is punishing.
+
+Lessons went on as usual at Lavender House that morning, and, to the
+surprise of several, Annie was seen in her old place in class. She worked
+with a steadiness quite new to her; no longer interlarding her hours of
+study with those indescribable glances of fun and mischief, first at one
+school-companion and then at another, which used to worry her teachers so
+much.
+
+There were no merry glances from Annie that morning; but she worked
+steadily and rapidly, and went through that trying ordeal, her French
+verbs, with such satisfaction that mademoiselle was on the point of
+praising her, until she remembered that Annie was in disgrace.
+
+After school, however, Annie did not join her companions in the grounds,
+but went up to her bedroom, where, by Mrs. Willis' orders, she was to
+remain until the girls went in. She was to take her own exercise later in
+the day.
+
+It was now the tenth of June--an intensely sultry day; a misty heat
+brooded over everything, and not a breath of air stirred the leaves in
+the trees. The girls wandered about languidly, too enervated by the heat
+to care to join in any noisy games. They were now restored to their full
+freedom, and there is no doubt they enjoyed the privileges of having
+little confabs, and whispering secrets to each other without having Miss
+Good and Miss Danesbury forever at their elbows. They talked of many
+things--of the near approach of the holidays, of the prize day which was
+now so close at hand, of Annie's disgrace, and so on.
+
+They wondered, many of them, if Annie would ever be brought to confess
+her sin, and, if not, how Mrs. Willis would act toward her. Dora Russell
+said in her most contemptuous tones:
+
+"She is nothing, after all, but a charity child, and Mrs. Willis has
+supported her for years for nothing."
+
+"Yes, and she's too clever by half; eh, poor old Muddy Stream?" remarked
+a saucy little girl. "By the way, Dora, dear, how goes the river now? Has
+it lost itself in the arms of mother ocean yet?"
+
+Dora turned red and walked away, and her young tormentor exclaimed with
+considerable gusto:
+
+"There, I have silenced her for a bit; I do hate the way she talks about
+charity children. Whatever her faults, Annie is the sweetest and
+prettiest girl in the school, in my opinion."
+
+In the meantime Hester was looking in all directions for Susan Drummond.
+She thought the present a very fitting opportunity to open her attack on
+her, and she was the more anxious to bring her to reason as a certain
+look in Annie's face--a pallid and very weary look--had gone to her
+heart, and touched her in spite of herself. Now, even though little Nan
+loved her, Hester would save Annie could she do so not at her own
+expense.
+
+Look, however, as she would, nowhere could she find Miss Drummond. She
+called and called, but no sleepy voice replied. Susan, indeed, knew
+better; she had curled herself up in a hammock which hung between the
+boughs of a shady tree, and though Hester passed under her very head, she
+was sucking lollipops and going off comfortably into the land of dreams,
+and had no intention of replying. Hester wandered down the shady walk,
+and at its farther end she was gratified by the sight of little Nan, who,
+under her nurse's charge, was trying to string daisies on the grass.
+Hester sat down by her side, and Nan climbed over and made fine havoc of
+her neat print dress, and laughed, and was at her merriest and best.
+
+"I hear say that that naughty Miss Forest has done something out-and-out
+disgraceful," whispered the nurse.
+
+"Oh, don't!" said Hester impatiently. "Why should every one throw mud at
+a girl when she is down? If poor Annie is naughty and guilty, she is
+suffering now."
+
+"Annie _not_ naughty," said little Nan. "Me love my own Annie; me do, me
+do."
+
+"And you love your own poor old nurse, too?" responded the somewhat
+jealous nurse.
+
+Hester left the two playing happily together, the little one caressing
+her nurse, and blowing one or two kisses after her sister's retreating
+form. Hester returned to the house, and went up to her room to prepare
+for dinner. She had washed her hands, and was standing before the
+looking-glass re-plaiting her long hair, when Susan Drummond, looking
+extremely wild and excited, and with her eyes almost starting out of her
+head, rushed into the room.
+
+"Oh, Hester, Hester!" she gasped, and she flung herself on Hester's bed,
+with her face downward; she seemed absolutely deprived for the moment of
+the power of any further speech.
+
+"What is the matter, Susan?" inquired Hester half impatiently. "What have
+you come into my room for? Are you going into a fit of hysterics? You had
+better control yourself, for the dinner gong will sound directly."
+
+Susan gasped two or three times, made a rush to Hester's wash-hand stand,
+and, taking up a glass, poured some cold water into it, and gulped it
+down.
+
+"Now I can speak," she said. "I ran so fast that my breath quite left me.
+Hester, put on your walking things or go without them, just as you
+please--only go at once if you would save her."
+
+"Save whom?" asked Hester.
+
+"Your little sister--little Nan. I--I saw it all. I was in the hammock,
+and nobody knew I was there, and somehow I wasn't so sleepy as usual, and
+I heard Nan's voice, and I looked over the side of the hammock, and she
+was sitting on the grass picking daisies, and her nurse was with her, and
+presently you came up. I heard you calling me, but I wasn't going to
+answer. I felt too comfortable. You stayed with Nan and her nurse for a
+little, and then went away; and I heard Nan's nurse say to her: 'Sit
+here, missy, till I come back to you; I am going to fetch another reel of
+sewing cotton from the house. Sit still, missy; I'll be back directly.'
+She went away, and Nan went on picking her daisies. All on a sudden I
+heard Nan give a sharp little cry, and I looked over the hammock, and
+there was a tall, dark woman, with such a wicked face, and she snatched
+up Nan in her arms, and put a thick shawl over her face, and ran off with
+her. It was all done in an instant. I shouted and I scrambled out of the
+hammock, and I rushed down the path; but there wasn't a sign of anybody
+there. I don't know where the woman went--it seemed as if the earth
+swallowed up both her and little Nan. Why, Hester, are you going to
+faint?"
+
+"Water!" gasped Hester--"one sip--now let me go."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+A GYPSY MAID.
+
+
+In a few moments every one in Lavender House was made acquainted with
+Susan's story. At such a time ceremony was laid aside, dinner forgotten,
+teachers, pupils, servants all congregated in the grounds, all rushed to
+the spot where Nan's withered daisies still lay, all peered through the
+underwood, and all, alas! looked in vain for the tall dark woman and the
+little child. Little Nan, the baby of the school, had been stolen--there
+were loud and terrified lamentations. Nan's nurse was almost tearing her
+hair, was rushing frantically here, there, and everywhere. No one blamed
+the nurse for leaving her little charge in apparent safety for a few
+moments, but the poor woman's own distress was pitiable to see. Mrs.
+Willis took Hester's hand, and told the poor stunned girl that she was
+sending to Sefton immediately for two or three policemen, and that in the
+meantime every man on the place should commence the search for the woman
+and child.
+
+"Without any doubt," Mrs. Willis added, "we shall soon have our little
+Nan back again; it is quite impossible that the woman, whoever she is,
+can have taken her so far away in so short a time."
+
+In the meantime, Annie in her bedroom heard the fuss and the noise. She
+leaned out of her window and saw Phyllis in the distance; she called to
+her. Phyllis ran up, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
+
+"Oh, something so dreadful!" she gasped; "a wicked, wicked woman has
+stolen little Nan Thornton. She ran off with her just where the
+undergrowth is so thick at the end of the shady walk. It happened to her
+half an hour ago, and they are all looking, but they cannot find the
+woman or little Nan anywhere. Oh, it is so dreadful! Is that you, Mary?"
+
+Phyllis ran off to join her sister, and Annie put her head in again, and
+looked round her pretty room.
+
+"The gypsy," she murmured, "the tall, dark gypsy has taken little Nan!"
+
+Her face was very white, her eyes shone, her lips expressed a firm and
+almost obstinate determination. With all her usual impulsiveness, she
+decided on a course of action--she snatched up a piece of paper and
+scribbled a hasty line:
+
+  "DEAR MOTHER-FRIEND:--However badly you think of Annie, Annie loves
+  you with all her heart. Forgive me, I must go myself to look for
+  little Nan. That tall, dark woman is a gypsy--I have seen her
+  before; her name is Mother Rachel. Tell Hetty I won't return until
+  I bring her little sister back.--Your repentant and sorrowful
+
+                                                             ANNIE."
+
+Annie twisted up the note, directed it to Mrs. Willis, and left it on her
+dressing-table.
+
+Then, with a wonderful amount of forethought for her, she emptied the
+contents of a little purse into a tiny gingham bag, which she fastened
+inside the front of her dress. She put on her shady hat, and threw a
+shawl across her arm, and then, slipping softly downstairs, she went out
+through the deserted kitchens, down the back avenue, and past the laurel
+bush, until she came to the stile which led into the wood--she was going
+straight to the gypsies' encampment.
+
+Annie, with some of the gypsy's characteristics in her own blood, had
+always taken an extraordinary interest in these queer wandering people.
+Gypsies had a fascination for her, she loved stories about them; if a
+gypsy encampment was near, she always begged the teachers to walk in that
+direction. Annie had a very vivid imagination, and in the days when she
+reigned as favorite in the school she used to make up stories for the
+express benefit of her companions. These stories, as a rule, always
+turned upon the gypsies. Many and many a time had the girls of Lavender
+House almost gasped with horror as Annie described the queer ways of
+these people. For her, personally, their wildness and their freedom had a
+certain fascination, and she was heard in her gayest moments to remark
+that she would rather like to be stolen and adopted by a gypsy tribe.
+
+Whenever Annie had an opportunity, she chatted with the gypsy wives, and
+allowed them to tell her fortune, and listened eagerly to their
+narratives. When a little child she had once for several months been
+under the care of a nurse who was a reclaimed gypsy, and this girl had
+given her all kinds of information about them. Annie often felt that she
+quite loved these wild people, and Mother Rachel was the first gypsy she
+cordially shrank from and disliked.
+
+When the little girl started now on her wild-goose chase after Nan, she
+was by no means devoid of a plan of action. The knowledge she had taken
+so many years to acquire came to her aid, and she determined to use it
+for Nan's benefit. She knew that the gypsies, with all their wandering
+and erratic habits, had a certain attachment, if not for homes, at least
+for sites; she knew that as a rule they encamped over and over again in
+the same place; she knew that their wanderings were conducted with
+method, and their apparently lawless lives governed by strict self-made
+rules.
+
+Annie made straight now for the encampment, which stood in a little dell
+at the other side of the fairies' field. Here for weeks past the gypsies'
+tents had been seen; here the gypsy children had played, and the men and
+women smoked and lain about in the sun.
+
+Annie entered the small field now, but uttered no exclamation of surprise
+when she found that all the tents, with the exception of one, had been
+removed, and that this tent also was being rapidly taken down by a man
+and a girl, while a tall boy stood by, holding a donkey by the bridle.
+
+Annie wasted no time in looking for Nan here. Before the girl and the man
+could see her, she darted behind a bush, and removing her little bag of
+money, hid it carefully under some long grass; then she pulled a very
+bright yellow sash out of her pocket, tied it round her blue cotton
+dress, and leaving her little shawl also on the ground, tripped gaily up
+to the tent.
+
+She saw with pleasure that the girl who was helping the man was about her
+own size. She went up and touched her on the shoulder.
+
+"Look here," she said, "I want to make such a pretty play by-and-by--I
+want to play that I'm a gypsy girl. Will you give me your clothes, if I
+give you mine? See, mine are neat, and this sash is very handsome. Will
+you have them? Do. I am so anxious to play at being a gypsy."
+
+The girl turned and stared. Annie's pretty blue print and gay sash were
+certainly tempting bait. She glanced at her father.
+
+"The little lady wants to change," she said in an eager voice.
+
+The man nodded acquiescence, and the girl taking Annie's hand, ran
+quickly with her to the bottom of the field.
+
+"You don't mean it, surely?" she said. "Eh, but I'm uncommon willing."
+
+"Yes, I certainly mean it," said Annie. "You are a dear, good, obliging
+girl, and how nice you will look in my pretty blue cotton! I like that
+striped petticoat of yours, too, and that gay handkerchief you wear round
+your shoulders. Thank you so very much. Now, do I look like a real, real
+gypsy?"
+
+"Your hair ain't ragged enough, miss."
+
+"Oh, clip it, then; clip it away. I want to be quite the real thing. Have
+you got a pair of scissors?"
+
+The girl ran back to the tent, and presently returned to shear poor
+Annie's beautiful hair in truly rough fashion.
+
+"Now, miss, you look much more like, only your arms are a bit too white.
+Stay, we has got some walnut-juice; we was just a-using of it. I'll touch
+you up fine, miss."
+
+So she did, darkening Annie's brown skin to a real gypsy tone.
+
+"You're a dear, good girl," said Annie, in conclusion; and as the girl's
+father called her roughly at this moment, she was obliged to go away,
+looking ungainly enough in the English child's neat clothes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+DISGUISED.
+
+
+Annie ran out of the field, mounted the stile which led into the wood,
+and stood there until the gypsy man and girl, and the boy with the
+donkey, had finally disappeared. Then she left her hiding-place, and
+taking her little gingham bag out of the long grass, secured it once more
+in the front of her dress. She felt queer and uncomfortable in her new
+dress, and the gypsy girl's heavy shoes tired her feet; but she was not
+to be turned from her purpose by any manner of discomforts, and she
+started bravely on her long trudge over the dusty roads, for her object
+was to follow the gypsies to their next encampment, about ten miles away.
+She had managed, with some tact, to obtain a certain amount of
+information from the delighted gypsy girl. The girl told Annie that she
+was very glad they were going from here; that this was a very dull place,
+and that they would not have stayed so long but for Mother Rachel, who,
+for some reasons of her own, had refused to stir.
+
+Here the girl drew herself up short, and colored under her dark skin. But
+Annie's tact never failed. She even yawned a little, and seemed scarcely
+to hear the girl's words.
+
+Now, in the distance, she followed these people.
+
+In her disguise, uncomfortable as it was, she felt tolerably safe. Should
+any of the people in Lavender House happen to pass her on the way, they
+would never recognize Annie Forest in this small gypsy maiden. When she
+did approach the gypsies' dwelling she might have some hope of passing as
+one of themselves. The only one whom she had really to fear was the girl
+with whom she had changed clothes, and she trusted to her wits to keep
+out of this young person's way.
+
+When Zillah, her old gypsy nurse, had charmed her long ago with gypsy
+legends and stories, Annie had always begged to hear about the fair
+English children whom the gypsies stole, and Zillah had let her into some
+secrets which partly accounted for the fact that so few of these children
+are ever recovered.
+
+She walked very fast now; her depression was gone, a great excitement, a
+great longing, a great hope, keeping her up. She forgot that she had
+eaten nothing since breakfast; she forgot everything in all the world now
+but her great love for little Nan, and her desire to lay down her very
+life, if necessary, to rescue Nan from the terrible fate which awaited
+her if she was brought up as a gypsy's child.
+
+Annie, however, was unaccustomed to such long walks, and besides, recent
+events had weakened her, and by the time she reached Sefton--for her road
+lay straight through this little town--she was so hot and thirsty that
+she looked around her anxiously to find some place of refreshment.
+
+In an unconscious manner she paused before a restaurant, where she and
+several other girls of Lavender House had more than once been regaled
+with buns and milk.
+
+The remembrance of the fresh milk and the nice buns came gratefully
+before the memory of the tired child now. Forgetting her queer attire,
+she went into the shop, and walked boldly up to the counter.
+
+Annie's disguise, however, was good, and the young woman who was serving,
+instead of bending forward with the usual gracious "What can I get for
+you, miss?" said very sharply:
+
+"Go away at once, little girl; we don't allow beggars here; leave the
+shop instantly. No, I have nothing for you."
+
+Annie was about to reply rather hotly, for she had an idea that even a
+gypsy's money might purchase buns and milk, when she was suddenly
+startled, and almost terrified into betraying herself, by encountering
+the gentle and fixed stare of Miss Jane Bruce, who had been leaning over
+the counter and talking to one of the shop-women when Annie entered.
+
+"Here is a penny for you, little girl," she said. "You can get a nice
+hunch of stale bread for a penny in the shop at the corner of the High
+street."
+
+Annie's eyes flashed back at the little lady, her lips quivered, and,
+clasping the penny, she rushed out of the shop.
+
+"My dear," said Miss Jane, turning to her sister, "did you notice the
+extraordinary likeness that little gypsy girl bore to Annie Forest?"
+
+Miss Agnes sighed. "Not particularly, love," she answered; "but I
+scarcely looked at her. I wonder if our dear little Annie is any happier
+than she was. Ah, I think we have done here. Good-afternoon, Mrs.
+Tremlett."
+
+The little old ladies trotted off, giving no more thoughts to the gypsy
+child.
+
+Poor Annie almost ran down the street, and never paused till she reached
+a shop of much humbler appearance, where she was served with some cold
+slices of German sausage, some indifferent bread and butter, and milk by
+no means over-good. The coarse fare, and the rough people who surrounded
+her, made the poor child feel both sick and frightened. She found she
+could only keep up her character by remaining almost silent, for the
+moment she opened her lips people turned round and stared at her.
+
+She paid for her meal, however, and presently found herself at the other
+side of Sefton, and in a part of the country which was comparatively
+strange to her. The gypsies' present encampment was about a mile away
+from the town of Oakley, a much larger place than Sefton. Sefton and
+Oakley lay about six miles apart. Annie trudged bravely on, her head
+aching; for, of course, as a gypsy girl, she could use no parasol to
+shade her from the sun. At last the comparative cool of the evening
+arrived, and the little girl gave a sigh of relief, and looked forward to
+her bed and supper at Oakley. She had made up her mind to sleep there,
+and to go to the gypsies' encampment very early in the morning. It was
+quite dark by the time she reached Oakley, and she was now so tired, and
+her feet so blistered from walking in the gypsy girl's rough shoes, that
+she could scarcely proceed another step. The noise and the size of
+Oakley, too, bewildered and frightened her. She had learned a lesson in
+Sefton, and dared not venture into the more respectable streets. How
+could she sleep in those hot, common, close houses? Surely it would be
+better for her to lie down under a cool hedgerow--there could be no real
+cold on this lovely summer's night, and the hours would quickly pass, and
+the time soon arrive when she must go boldly in search of Nan. She
+resolved to sleep in a hayfield which took her fancy just outside the
+town, and she only went into Oakley for the purpose of buying some bread
+and milk.
+
+Annie was so far fortunate as to get a refreshing draught of really good
+milk from a woman who stood by a cottage door, and who gave her a piece
+of girdle-cake to eat with it.
+
+"You're one of the gypsies, my dear?" said the woman. "I saw them passing
+in their caravans an hour back. No doubt you are for taking up your old
+quarters in the copse, just alongside of Squire Thompson's long acre
+field. How is it you are not with the rest of them, child?"
+
+"I was late in starting," said Annie. "Can you tell me the best way to
+get from here to the long acre field?"
+
+"Oh, you take that turnstile, child, and keep in the narrow path by the
+cornfields; it's two miles and a half from here as the crow flies. No,
+no, my dear, I don't want your pennies; but you might humor my little
+girl here by telling her fortune--she's wonderful taken by the gypsy
+folk."
+
+Annie colored painfully. The child came forward, and she crossed her hand
+with a piece of silver. She looked at the little palm and muttered
+something about being rich and fortunate, and marrying a prince in
+disguise, and having no trouble whatever.
+
+"Eh! but that's a fine lot, is yours, Peggy," said the gratified mother.
+
+Peggy, however, aged nine, had a wiser head on her young shoulders.
+
+"She didn't tell no proper fortune," she said disparagingly, when Annie
+left the cottage. "She didn't speak about no crosses, and no biting
+disappointments, and no bleeding wounds. I don't believe in her, I don't.
+I like fortunes mixed, not all one way; them fortunes ain't natural, and
+I don't believe she's no proper gypsy girl."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+HESTER.
+
+
+At Lavender House the confusion, the terror, and the dismay were great.
+For several hours the girls seemed quite to lose their heads, and just
+when, under Mrs. Willis' and the other teachers' calmness and
+determination, they were being restored to discipline and order, the
+excitement and alarm broke out afresh when some one brought Annie's
+little note to Mrs. Willis, and the school discovered that she also was
+missing.
+
+On this occasion no one did doubt her motive; disobedient as her act was
+no one wasted words of blame on her. All, from the head-mistress to the
+smallest child in the school, knew that it was love for little Nan that
+had taken Annie off; and the tears started to Mrs. Willis' eyes when she
+first read the tiny note, and then placed it tenderly in her desk.
+Hester's face became almost ashen in its hue when she heard what Annie
+had done.
+
+"Annie has gone herself to bring back Nan to you, Hester," said Phyllis.
+"It was I told her, and I know now by her face that she must have made up
+her mind at once."
+
+"Very disobedient of her to go," said Dora Russell; but no one took up
+Dora's tone, and Mary Price said, after a pause:
+
+"Disobedient or not, it was brave--it was really very plucky."
+
+"It is my opinion," said Nora, "that if any one in the world can find
+little Nan it will be Annie. You remember, Phyllis, how often she has
+talked to us about gypsies, and what a lot she knows about them?"
+
+"Oh, yes; she'll be better than fifty policemen," echoed several girls;
+and then two or three young faces were turned toward Hester, and some
+voice said almost scornfully:
+
+"You'll have to love Annie now; you'll have to admit that there is
+something good in our Annie when she brings your little Nan home again."
+
+Hester's lip quivered; she tried to speak, but a sudden burst of tears
+came from her instead. She walked slowly out of the astonished little
+group, who none of them believed that proud Hester Thornton could weep.
+
+The wretched girl rushed up to her room, where she threw herself on her
+bed and gave way to some of the bitterest tears she had ever shed. All her
+indifference to Annie, all her real unkindness, all her ever-increasing
+dislike came back now to torture and harass her. She began to believe with
+the girls that Annie would be successful; she began dimly to acknowledge
+in her heart the strange power which this child possessed; she guessed
+that Annie would heap coals of fire on her head by bringing back her
+little sister. She hoped, she longed, she could almost have found it in
+her heart to pray that some one else, not Annie, might save little Nan.
+
+For not yet had Hester made up her mind to confess the truth about Annie
+Forest. To confess the truth now meant humiliation in the eyes of the
+whole school. Even for Nan's sake she could not, she would not be great
+enough for this.
+
+Sobbing on her bed, trembling from head to foot, in an agony of almost
+uncontrollable grief, she could not bring her proud and stubborn little
+heart to accept God's only way of peace. No, she hoped she might be able
+to influence Susan Drummond and induce her to confess, and if Annie was
+not cleared in that way, if she really saved little Nan, she would
+doubtless be restored to much of her lost favor in the school.
+
+Hester had never been a favorite at Lavender House; but now her great
+trouble caused all the girls to speak to her kindly and considerately,
+and as she lay on her bed she presently heard a gentle step on the floor
+of her room--a cool little hand was laid tenderly on her forehead, and
+opening her swollen eyes, she met Cecil's loving gaze.
+
+"There is no news yet, Hester," said Cecil; "but Mrs. Willis has just
+gone herself into Sefton, and will not lose an hour in getting further
+help. Mrs. Willis looks quite haggard. Of course she is very anxious both
+about Annie and Nan."
+
+"Oh, Annie is safe enough," murmured Hester, burying her head in the
+bed-clothes.
+
+"I don't know; Annie is very impulsive and very pretty; the gypsies may
+like to steal her too--of course she has gone straight to one of their
+encampments. Naturally Mrs. Willis is most anxious."
+
+Hester pressed her hand to her throbbing head.
+
+"We are all so sorry for you, dear," said Cecil gently.
+
+"Thank you--being sorry for one does not do a great deal of good, does
+it?"
+
+"I thought sympathy always did good," replied Cecil, looking puzzled.
+
+"Thank you," said Hester again. She lay quite still for several minutes
+with her eyes closed. Her face looked intensely unhappy. Cecil was not
+easily repelled and she guessed only too surely that Hester's proud heart
+was suffering much. She was puzzled, however, how to approach her, and
+had almost made up her mind to go away and beg of kind-hearted Miss
+Danesbury to see if she could come and do something, when through the
+open window there came the shrill sweet laughter and the eager,
+high-pitched tones of some of the youngest children in the school. A
+strange quiver passed over Hester's face at the sound; she sat up in bed,
+and gasped out in a half-strangled voice:
+
+"Oh! I can't bear it--little Nan, little Nan! Cecil, I am very, very
+unhappy."
+
+"I know it, darling," said Cecil, and she put her arms round the excited
+girl. "Oh, Hester! don't turn away from me; do let us be unhappy
+together."
+
+"But you did not care for Nan."
+
+"I did--we all loved the pretty darling."
+
+"Suppose I never see her again?" said Hester half wildly. "Oh, Cecil! and
+mother left her to me! mother gave her to me to take care of, and to
+bring to her some day in heaven. Oh, little Nan, my pretty, my love, my
+sweet! I think I could better bear her being dead than this."
+
+"You could, Hester," said Cecil, "if she was never to be found; but I
+don't think God will give you such a terrible punishment. I think little
+Nan will be restored to you. Let us ask God to do it, Hetty--let us kneel
+down now, we two little girls, and pray to Him with all our might."
+
+"I can't pray; don't ask me," said Hester, turning her face away.
+
+"Then I will."
+
+"But not here, Cecil. Cecil, I am not good--I am not good enough to
+pray."
+
+"We don't want to be good to pray," said Cecil. "We want perhaps to be
+unhappy--perhaps sorry; but if God waited just for goodness, I don't
+think He would get many prayers."
+
+"Well, I am unhappy, but not sorry. No, no; don't ask me, I cannot pray."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+SUSAN.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis came back at a very late hour from Sefton. The police were
+confident that they must soon discover both children, but no tidings had
+yet been heard of either of them. Mrs. Willis ordered her girls to bed,
+and went herself to kiss Hester and give her a special "good-night." She
+was struck by the peculiarly unhappy, and even hardened, expression on
+the poor child's face, and felt that she did not half understand her.
+
+In the middle of the night Hester awoke from a troubled dream. She awoke
+with a sharp cry, so sharp and intense in its sound that had any girl
+been awake in the next room she must have heard it. She felt that she
+could no longer remain close to that little empty cot. She suddenly
+remembered that Susan Drummond would be alone to-night: what time so good
+as the present for having a long talk with Susan and getting her to clear
+Annie? She slipped out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and softly
+opening the door, ran down the passage to Susan's room.
+
+Susan was in bed, and fast asleep. Hester could see her face quite
+plainly in the moonlight, for Susan slept facing the window, and the
+blind was not drawn down.
+
+Hester had some difficulty in awakening Miss Drummond, who, however, at
+last sat up in bed yawning prodigiously.
+
+"What is the matter? Is that you, Hester Thornton? Have you got any news
+of little Nan? Has Annie come back?"
+
+"No, they are both still away. Susy, I want to speak to you."
+
+"Dear me! what for? must you speak in the middle of the night?"
+
+"Yes, for I don't want any one else to know. Oh, Susan, please don't go
+to sleep."
+
+"My dear, I won't, if I can help it. Do you mind throwing a little cold
+water over my face and head? There is a can by the bedside. I always keep
+one handy. Ah, thanks--now I am wide awake. I shall probably remain so
+for about two minutes. Can you get your say over in that time?"
+
+"I wonder, Susan," said Hester, "if you have got any heart--but heart or
+not, I have just come here to-night to tell you that I have found you
+out. You are at the bottom of all this mischief about Annie Forest."
+
+Susan had a most phlegmatic face, an utterly unemotional voice, and she
+now stared calmly at Hester and demanded to know what in the world she
+meant.
+
+Hester felt her temper going, her self-control deserting her. Susan's
+apparent innocence and indifference drove her half frantic.
+
+"Oh, you are mean," she said. "You pretend to be innocent, but you are
+the deepest and wickedest girl in the school. I tell you, Susan, I have
+found you out--you put that caricature of Mrs. Willis into Cecil's book;
+you changed Dora's theme. I don't know why you did it, nor how you did
+it, but you are the guilty person, and you have allowed the sin of it to
+remain on Annie's shoulders all this time. Oh, you are the very meanest
+girl I ever heard of!"
+
+"Dear, dear!" said Susan, "I wish I had not asked you to throw cold water
+over my head and face, and allow myself to be made very wet and
+uncomfortable, just to be told I am the meanest girl you ever met. And
+pray what affair is this of yours? You certainly don't love Annie
+Forest."
+
+"I don't, but I want justice to be done to her. Annie is very, very
+unhappy. Oh, Susy, won't you go and tell Mrs. Willis the truth?"
+
+"Really, my dear Hester, I think you are a little mad. How long have you
+known all this about me, pray?"
+
+"Oh, for some time; since--since the night the essay was changed."
+
+"Ah, then, if what you state is true, you told Mrs. Willis a lie, for she
+distinctly asked you if you knew anything about the 'Muddy Stream,' and
+you said you didn't. I saw you--I remarked how very red you got when you
+plumped out that great lie! My dear, if I am the meanest and wickedest
+girl in the school, prove it--go, tell Mrs. Willis what you know. Now, if
+you will allow me, I will get back into the land of dreams."
+
+Susan curled herself up once more in her bed, wrapped the bed-clothes
+tightly round her and was, to all appearance, oblivious of Hester's
+presence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+UNDER THE HEDGE.
+
+
+It is one thing to talk of the delights of sleeping under a hedgerow, and
+another to realize them. A hayfield is a very charming place, but in the
+middle of the night, with the dew clinging to everything, it is apt to
+prove but a chilly bed; the most familiar objects put on strange and
+unreal forms, the most familiar sounds become loud and alarming. Annie
+slept for about an hour soundly; then she awoke, trembling with cold in
+every limb, startled, and almost terrified by the oppressive loneliness
+of the night, sure that the insect life which surrounded her, and which
+would keep up successions of chirps, and croaks, and buzzes, was
+something mysterious and terrifying. Annie was a brave child, but even
+brave little girls may be allowed to possess nerves under her present
+conditions, and when a spider ran across her face she started up with a
+scream of terror. At this moment she almost regretted the close and dirty
+lodgings which she might have obtained for a few pence at Oakley. The hay
+in the field which she had selected was partly cut and partly standing.
+The cut portion had been piled up into little cocks and hillocks, and
+these, with the night shadows round them, appeared to the frightened
+child to assume large and half-human proportions. She found she could not
+sleep any longer. She wrapped her shawl tightly round her, and, crouching
+into the hedgerow, waited for the dawn.
+
+That watched-for dawn seemed to the tired child as if it would never
+come; but at last her solitary vigil came to an end, the cold grew
+greater, a little gentle breeze stirred the uncut grass, and up in the
+sky overhead the stars became fainter and the atmosphere clearer. Then
+came a little faint flush of pink, then a brighter light, and then all in
+a moment the birds burst into a perfect jubilee of song, the insects
+talked and chirped and buzzed in new tones, the hay-cocks became simply
+hay-cocks, the dew sparkled on the wet grass, the sun had risen, and the
+new day had begun.
+
+Annie sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. With the sunshine and brightness
+her versatile spirits revived; she buckled on her courage like an armor,
+and almost laughed at the miseries of the past few hours. Once more she
+believed that success and victory would be hers, once more in her small
+way she was ready to do or die. She believed absolutely in the holiness
+of her mission. Love--love alone, simple and pure, was guiding her. She
+gave no thought to after-consequences, she gave no memory to past events:
+her object now was to rescue Nan, and she herself was nothing.
+
+Annie had a fellow-feeling, a rare sympathy with every little child; but
+no child had ever come to take Nan's place with her. The child she had
+first begun to notice simply out of a naughty spirit of revenge, had
+twined herself round her heart, and Annie loved Nan all the more dearly
+because she had long ago repented of stealing her affections from Hester,
+and would gladly have restored her to her old place next to Hetty's
+heart. Her love for Nan, therefore, had the purity and greatness which
+all love that calls forth self-sacrifice must possess. Annie had denied
+herself, and kept away from Nan of late. Now, indeed, she was going to
+rescue her; but if she thought of herself at all, it was with the
+certainty that for this present act of disobedience Mrs. Willis would
+dismiss her from the school, and she would not see little Nan again.
+
+Never mind that, if Nan herself was saved. Annie was disobedient, but on
+this occasion she was not unhappy; she had none of that remorse which
+troubled her so much after her wild picnic in the fairies' field. On the
+contrary, she had a strange sense of peace and even guidance; she had
+confessed this sin to Mrs. Willis, and, though she was suspected of far
+worse, her own innocence kept her heart untroubled. The verse which had
+occurred to her two mornings before still rang in her ears:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+The impulsive, eager child was possessed just now of something which men
+call True Courage; it was founded on the knowledge that God would help
+her, and was accordingly calm and strengthening.
+
+Annie rose from her damp bed, and looked around her for a little stream
+where she might wash her face and hands; suddenly she remembered that
+face and hands were dyed, and that she would do best to leave them alone.
+She smoothed out as best she could the ragged elf-locks which the gypsy
+maid had left on her curly head, and then covering her face with her
+hands, said simply and earnestly:
+
+"Please, my Father in heaven, help me to find little Nan;" then she set
+off through the cornfields in the direction of the gypsies' encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+TIGER.
+
+
+It was still very, very early in the morning, and the gypsy folk, tired
+from their march on the preceding day, slept. There stood the conical,
+queer-shaped tents, four in number; at a little distance off grazed the
+donkeys and a couple of rough mules; at the door of the tents lay
+stretched out in profound repose two or three dogs.
+
+Annie dreaded the barking of the dogs, although she guessed that if they
+set up a noise, and a gypsy wife or man put out their heads in
+consequence, they would only desire the gypsy child to lie down and keep
+quiet.
+
+She stood still for a moment--she was very anxious to prowl around the
+place and examine the ground while the gypsies still slept, but the
+watchful dogs deterred her. She stood perfectly quiet behind the
+hedgerow, thinking hard. Should she trust to a charm she knew she
+possessed, and venture into the encampment? Annie had almost as great a
+fascination over dogs and cats as she had over children. As a little
+child going to visit with her mother at strange houses, the watch-dogs
+never barked at her; on the contrary, they yielded to the charm which
+seemed to come from her little fingers as she patted their great heads.
+Slowly their tails would move backward and forward as she patted them,
+and even the most ferocious would look at her with affection.
+
+Annie wondered if the gypsy dogs would now allow her to approach without
+barking. She felt that the chances were in her favor; she was dressed in
+gypsy garments, there would be nothing strange in her appearance, and if
+she could get near one of the dogs she knew that she could exercise the
+magic of her touch.
+
+Her object, then, was to approach one of the tents very, very quietly--so
+softly that even the dog's ears should not detect the light footfall. If
+she could approach close enough to put her hand on the dog's neck all
+would be well. She pulled off the gypsy maid's rough shoes, hid them in
+the grass where she could find them again, and came gingerly step by
+step, nearer and nearer the principal tent. At its entrance lay a
+ferocious-looking half-bred bull-dog. Annie possessed that necessary
+accompaniment to courage--great outward calm; the greater the danger, the
+more cool and self-possessed did she become. She was within a step or two
+of the tent when she trod accidentally on a small twig; it cracked,
+giving her foot a sharp pain, and very slight as the sound was, causing
+the bull-dog to awake. He raised his wicked face, saw the figure like his
+own people, and yet unlike, but a step or two away, and, uttering a low
+growl, sprang forward.
+
+In the ordinary course of things this growl would have risen in volume
+and would have terminated in a volley of barking; but Annie was prepared:
+she went down on her knees, held out her arms, said, "Poor fellow!" in
+her own seductive voice, and the bull-dog fawned at her feet. He licked
+one of her hands while she patted him gently with the other.
+
+"Come, poor fellow," she said then in a gentle tone, and Annie and the
+dog began to perambulate round the tents.
+
+The other dogs raised sleepy eyes, but seeing Tiger and the girl
+together, took no notice whatever, except by a thwack or two of their
+stumpy tails. Annie was now looking not only at the tents, but for
+something else which Zillah, her nurse, had told her might be found near
+to many gypsy encampments. This was a small subterranean passage, which
+generally led into a long-disused underground Danish fort. Zillah had
+told her what uses the gypsies liked to make of these underground
+passages, and how they often chose those which had two entrances. She
+told her that in this way they eluded the police, and were enabled
+successfully to hide the goods which they stole. She had also described
+to her their great ingenuity in hiding the entrances to these underground
+retreats.
+
+Annie's idea now was that little Nan was hidden in one of these vaults,
+and she determined first to make sure of its existence, and then to
+venture herself into this underground region in search of the lost child.
+
+She had made a decided conquest in the person of Tiger, who followed her
+round and round the tents, and when the gypsies at last began to stir,
+and Annie crept into the hedgerow, the dog crouched by her side. Tiger
+was the favorite dog of the camp, and presently one of the men called to
+him; he rose unwillingly, looked back with longing eyes at Annie, and
+trotted off, to return in the space of about five minutes with a great
+hunch of broken bread in his mouth. This was his breakfast, and he meant
+to share it with his new friend. Annie was too hungry to be fastidious,
+and she also knew the necessity of keeping up her strength. She crept
+still farther under the hedge, and the dog and girl shared the broken
+bread between them.
+
+Presently the tents were all astir; the gypsy children began to swarm
+about, the women lit fires in the open air, and the smell of very
+appetizing breakfasts filled the atmosphere. The men also lounged into
+view, standing lazily at the doors of their tents, and smoking great
+pipes of tobacco. Annie lay quiet. She could see from her hiding-place
+without being seen. Suddenly--and her eyes began to dilate, and she found
+her heart beating strangely--she laid her hand on Tiger, who was
+quivering all over.
+
+"Stay with me, dear dog," she said.
+
+There was a great commotion and excitement in the gypsy camp; the
+children screamed and ran into the tents, the women paused in their
+preparation for breakfast, the men took their short pipes out of their
+mouths; every dog, with the exception of Tiger, barked ferociously. Tiger
+and Annie alone were motionless.
+
+The cause of all this uproar was a body of police, about six in number,
+who came boldly into the field, and demanded instantly to search the
+tents.
+
+"We want a woman who calls herself Mother Rachel," they said. "She
+belongs to this encampment. We know her; let her come forward at once; we
+wish to question her."
+
+The men stood about; the women came near; the children crept out of their
+tents, placing their fingers to their frightened lips, and staring at the
+men who represented those horrors to their unsophisticated minds called
+Law and Order.
+
+"We must search the tents. We won't stir from the spot until we have had
+an interview with Mother Rachel," said the principal member of the police
+force.
+
+The men answered respectfully that the gypsy mother was not yet up; but
+if the gentlemen would wait a moment she would soon come and speak to
+them.
+
+The officers expressed their willingness to wait, and collected round the
+tents.
+
+Just at this instant, under the hedgerow, Tiger raised his head. Annie's
+watchful eyes accompanied the dog's. He was gazing after a tiny gypsy
+maid who was skulking along the hedge, and who presently disappeared
+through a very small opening into the neighboring field.
+
+Quick as thought Annie, holding Tiger's collar, darted after her. The
+little maid heard the footsteps; but seeing another gypsy girl, and their
+own dog, Tiger, she took no further notice, but ran openly and very
+swiftly across the field until she came to a broken wall. Here she tugged
+and tugged at some loose stones, managed to push one away, and then
+called down into the ground:
+
+"Mother Rachel!"
+
+"Come, Tiger," said Annie. She flew to a hedge not far off, and once more
+the dog and she hid themselves. The small girl was too excited to notice
+either their coming or going; she went on calling anxiously into the
+ground:
+
+"Mother Rachel! Mother Rachel!"
+
+Presently a black head and a pair of brawny shoulders appeared, and the
+tall woman whose face and figure Annie knew so well stepped up out of the
+ground, pushed back the stones into their place, and, taking the gypsy
+child into her arms, ran swiftly across the field in the direction of the
+tents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+FOR LOVE OF NAN.
+
+
+Now was Annie's time. "Tiger," she said, for she had heard the men
+calling the dog's name, "I want to go right down into that hole in the
+ground, and you are to come with me. Don't let us lose a moment, good
+dog."
+
+The dog wagged his tail, capered about in front of Annie, and then with a
+wonderful shrewdness ran before her to the broken wall, where he stood
+with his head bent downward and his eyes fixed on the ground.
+
+Annie pulled and tugged at the loose stones; they were so heavy and
+cunningly arranged that she wondered how the little maid, who was smaller
+than herself, had managed to remove them. She saw quickly, however, that
+they were arranged with a certain leverage, and that the largest stone,
+that which formed the real entrance to the underground passage, was
+balanced in its place in such a fashion that when she leaned on a certain
+portion of it, it moved aside, and allowed plenty of room for her to go
+down into the earth.
+
+Very dark and dismal and uninviting did the rude steps, which led nobody
+knew where, appear. For one moment Annie hesitated; but the thought of
+Nan hidden somewhere in this awful wretchedness nerved her courage.
+
+"Go first, Tiger, please," she said, and the dog scampered down, sniffing
+the earth as he went. Annie followed him, but she had scarcely got her
+head below the level of the ground before she found herself in total and
+absolute darkness; she had unwittingly touched the heavy stone, which had
+swung back into its place. She heard Tiger sniffing below, and, calling
+him to keep by her side, she went very carefully down and down and down,
+until at last she knew by the increase of air that she must have come to
+the end of the narrow entrance passage.
+
+She was now able to stand upright, and raising her hand, she tried in
+vain to find a roof. The room where she stood, then, must be lofty. She
+went forward in the utter darkness very, very slowly; suddenly her head
+again came in contact with the roof; she made a few steps farther on, and
+then found that to proceed at all she must go on her hands and knees. She
+bent down and peered through the darkness.
+
+"We'll go on, Tiger," she said, and, holding the dog's collar and
+clinging to him for protection, she crept along the narrow passage.
+
+Suddenly she gave an exclamation of joy--at the other end of this gloomy
+passage was light--faint twilight surely, but still undoubted light,
+which came down from some chink in the outer world. Annie came to the end
+of the passage, and, standing upright, found herself suddenly in a room;
+a very small and miserable room certainly, but with the twilight shining
+through it, which revealed not only that it was a room, but a room which
+contained a heap of straw, a three-legged stool, and two or three cracked
+cups and saucers. Here, then, was Mother Rachel's lair, and here she must
+look for Nan.
+
+The darkness had been so intense that even the faint twilight of this
+little chamber had dazzled Annie's eyes for a moment; the next, however,
+her vision became clear. She saw that the straw bed contained a bundle;
+she went near--out of the wrapped-up bundle of shawls appeared the head
+of a child. The child slept, and moaned in its slumbers.
+
+Annie bent over it and said, "Thank God!" in a tone of rapture, and then,
+stooping down, she passionately kissed the lips of little Nan.
+
+Nan's skin had been dyed with the walnut-juice, her pretty, soft hair had
+been cut short, her dainty clothes had been changed for the most ragged
+gipsy garments, but still she was undoubtedly Nan, the child whom Annie
+had come to save.
+
+From her uneasy slumbers the poor little one awoke with a cry of terror.
+She could not recognize Annie's changed face, and clasped her hands
+before her eyes, and said piteously:
+
+"Me want to go home--go 'way, naughty woman, me want my Annie."
+
+"Little darling!" said Annie, in her sweetest tones. The changed face had
+not appealed to Nan, but the old voice went straight to her baby heart;
+she stopped crying and looked anxiously toward the entrance of the room.
+
+"Tum in, Annie--me here, Annie--little Nan want 'oo."
+
+Annie glanced around her in despair. Suddenly her quick eyes lighted on a
+jug of water; she flew to it, and washed and laved her face.
+
+"Coming, darling," she said, as she tried to remove the hateful dye. She
+succeeded partly, and when she came back, to her great joy, the child
+recognized her.
+
+"Now, little precious, we will get out of this as fast as we can," said
+Annie, and, clasping Nan tightly in her arms, she prepared to return by
+the way she had come. Then and there, for the first time, there flashed
+across her memory the horrible fact that the stone door had swung back
+into its place, and that by no possible means could she open it. She and
+Nan and Tiger were buried in a living tomb, and must either stay there
+and perish, or await the tender mercies of the cruel Mother Rachel.
+
+Nan, with her arms tightly clasped round Annie's neck, began to cry
+fretfully. She was impatient to get out of this dismal place; she was no
+longer oppressed by fears, for with the Annie whom she loved she felt
+absolutely safe; but she was hungry and cold and uncomfortable, and it
+seemed but a step, to little inexperienced Nan, from Annie's arms to her
+snug, cheerful nursery at Lavender House.
+
+"Tum, Annie--tum home, Annie," she begged and, when Annie did not stir,
+she began to weep.
+
+In truth, the poor, brave little girl was sadly puzzled, and her first
+gleam of returning hope lay in the remembrance of Zillah's words, that
+there were generally two entrances to these old underground forts. Tiger,
+who seemed thoroughly at home in this little room, and had curled himself
+up comfortably on the heap of straw, had probably often been here before.
+Perhaps Tiger knew the way to the second entrance. Annie called him to
+her side.
+
+"Tiger," she said, going down on her knees, and looking full into his
+ugly but intelligent face, "Nan and I want to go out of this."
+
+Tiger wagged his stumpy tail.
+
+"We are hungry, Tiger, and we want something to eat, and you'd like a
+bone, wouldn't you?"
+
+Tiger's tail went with ferocious speed, and he licked Annie's hand.
+
+"There's no use going back that way, dear dog," continued the girl,
+pointing with her arm in the direction they had come. "The door is
+fastened, Tiger, and we can't get out. We can't get out because the door
+is shut."
+
+The dog's tail had ceased to wag; he took in the situation, for his whole
+expression showed dejection, and he drooped his head.
+
+It was now quite evident to Annie that Tiger had been here before, and
+that on some other occasion in his life he had wanted to get out and
+could not because the door was shut.
+
+"Now, Tiger," said Annie, speaking cheerfully, and rising to her feet,
+"we must get out. Nan and I are hungry, and you want your bone. Take us
+out the other way, good Tiger--the other way, dear dog."
+
+She moved instantly toward the little passage; the dog followed her.
+
+"The other way," she said, and she turned her back on the long narrow
+passage, and took a step or two into complete darkness. The dog began to
+whine, caught hold of her dress, and tried to pull her back.
+
+"Quite right, Tiger, we won't go that way," said Annie, instantly. She
+returned into the dimly-lighted room.
+
+"Find a way--find a way out, Tiger," she said.
+
+The dog evidently understood her; he moved restlessly about the room.
+Finally he got up on the bed, pulled and scratched and tore away the
+straw at the upper end, then, wagging his tail, flew to Annie's side. She
+came back with him. Beneath the straw was a tiny, tiny trap-door.
+
+"Oh, Tiger!" said the girl; she went down on her knees, and, finding she
+could not stir it, wondered if this also was kept in its place by a
+system of balancing. She was right; after a very little pressing the door
+moved aside, and Annie saw four or five rudely carved steps.
+
+"Come, Nan," she said joyfully, "Tiger has saved us; these steps must
+lead us out."
+
+The dog, with a joyful whine, went down first, and Annie, clasping Nan
+tightly in her arms, followed him. Four, five, six steps they went down;
+then, to Annie's great joy, she found that the next step began to ascend.
+Up and up she went, cheered by a welcome shaft of light. Finally she,
+Nan, and the dog found themselves emerging into the open air, through a
+hole which might have been taken for a large rabbit burrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+RESCUED.
+
+
+The girl, the child, and the dog found themselves in a comparatively
+strange country--Annie had completely lost her bearings. She looked
+around her for some sign of the gypsies' encampment; but whether she had
+really gone a greater distance than she imagined in those underground
+vaults, or whether the tents were hidden in some hollow of the ground,
+she did not know; she was only conscious that she was in a strange
+country, that Nan was clinging to her and crying for her breakfast, and
+that Tiger was sniffing the air anxiously. Annie guessed that Tiger could
+take them back to the camp, but this was by no means her wish. When she
+emerged out of the underground passage she was conscious for the first
+time of a strange and unknown experience. Absolute terror seized the
+brave child; she trembled from head to foot, her head ached violently,
+and the ground on which she stood seemed to reel, and the sky to turn
+round. She sat down for a moment on the green grass. What ailed her?
+where was she? how could she get home? Nan's little piteous wail, "Me
+want my bekfas', me want my nursie, me want Hetty," almost irritated her.
+
+"Oh, Nan," she said at last piteously, "have you not got your own Annie?
+Oh, Nan, dear little Nan, Annie feels so ill!"
+
+Nan had the biggest and softest of baby hearts--breakfast, nurse, Hetty,
+were all forgotten in the crowning desire to comfort Annie. She climbed
+on her knee and stroked her face and kissed her lips.
+
+"'Oo better now?" she said in a tone of baby inquiry.
+
+Annie roused herself with a great effort.
+
+"Yes, darling," she said; "we will try and get home. Come, Tiger. Tiger,
+dear, I don't want to go back to the gypsies; take me the other way--take
+me to Oakley."
+
+Tiger again sniffed the air, looked anxiously at Annie, and trotted on in
+front. Little Nan in her ragged gypsy clothes walked sedately by Annie's
+side.
+
+"Where 'oo s'oes?" she said, pointing to the girl's bare feet.
+
+"Gone, Nan--gone. Never mind, I've got you. My little treasure, my little
+love, you're safe at last."
+
+As Annie tottered, rather than walked, down a narrow path which led
+directly through a field of standing corn, she was startled by the sudden
+apparition of a bright-eyed girl, who appeared so suddenly in her path
+that she might have been supposed to have risen out of the very ground.
+
+The girl stared hard at Annie, fixed her eyes inquiringly on Nan and
+Tiger, and then turning on her heel, dashed up the path, went through a
+turnstile, across the road, and into a cottage.
+
+"Mother," she exclaimed, "I said she warn't a real gypsy; she's a-coming
+back, and her face is all streaked like, and she has a little'un along
+with her, and a dawg, and the only one as is gypsy is the dawg. Come and
+look at her, mother; oh, she is a fine take-in!"
+
+The round-faced, good-humored looking mother, whose name was Mrs.
+Williams, had been washing and putting away the breakfast things when her
+daughter entered. She now wiped her hands hastily and came to the cottage
+door.
+
+"Cross the road, and come to the stile, mother," said the energetic
+Peggy--"oh, there she be a-creeping along--oh, ain't she a take-in?"
+
+"'Sakes alive!" ejaculated Mrs. Williams, "the girl is ill! why, she
+can't keep herself steady! There! I knew she'd fall; ah! poor little
+thing--poor little thing."
+
+It did not take Mrs. Williams an instant to reach Annie's side; and in
+another moment she had lifted her in her strong arms and carried her into
+the cottage, Peggy lifting Nan and following in the rear, while Tiger
+walked by their sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+
+A whole week had passed, and there were no tidings whatever of little Nan
+or of Annie Forest. No one at Lavender House had heard a word about them;
+the police came and went, detectives even arrived from London, but there
+were no traces whatever of the missing children.
+
+The midsummer holiday was now close at hand, but no one spoke of it or
+thought of it. Mrs. Willis told the teachers that the prizes should be
+distributed, but she said she could invite no guests and could allow of
+no special festivities. Miss Danesbury and Miss Good repeated her words
+to the schoolgirls, who answered without hesitation that they did not
+wish for feasting and merriment; they would rather the day passed
+unnoticed. In truth, the fact that their baby was gone, that their
+favorite and prettiest and brightest schoolmate had also disappeared,
+caused such gloom, such distress, such apprehension that even the most
+thoughtless of those girls could scarcely have laughed or been merry.
+School-hours were still kept after a fashion, but there was no life in
+the lessons. In truth, it seemed as if the sun would never shine again at
+Lavender House.
+
+Hester was ill; not very ill--she had no fever, she had no cold; she had,
+as the good doctor explained it, nothing at all wrong, except that her
+nervous system had got a shock.
+
+"When the little one is found, Miss Hetty will be quite well again," said
+the good doctor; but the little one had not been found yet, and Hester
+had completely broken down. She lay on her bed, saying little or nothing,
+eating scarcely anything, sleeping not at all. All the girls were kind to
+her and each one in the school took turns in trying to comfort her; but
+no one could win a smile from Hester, and even Mrs. Willis failed utterly
+to reach or touch her heart.
+
+Mr. Everard came once to see her, but he had scarcely spoken many words
+when Hester broke into an agony of weeping and begged him to go away. He
+shook his head when he left her and said sadly to himself:
+
+"That girl has got something on her mind; she is grieving for more than
+the loss of her little sister."
+
+The twentieth of June came at last, and the girls sat about in groups in
+the pleasant shady garden, and talked of the very sad breaking-up day
+they were to have on the morrow, and wondered if, when they returned to
+school again, Annie and little Nan would have been found. Cecil Temple,
+Dora Russell, and one or two others were sitting together and whispering
+in low voices. Mary Price joined them, and said anxiously:
+
+"I don't think the doctor is satisfied about Hester, Perhaps I ought not
+to have listened, but I heard him talking to Miss Danesbury just now; he
+said she must be got to sleep somehow, and she is to have a composing
+draught to-night."
+
+"I wish poor Hetty would not turn away from us all," said Cecil; "I wish
+she would not quite give up hope; I do feel sure that Nan and Annie will
+be found yet."
+
+"Have you been praying about it, Cecil?" asked Mary, kneeling on the
+grass, laying her elbows on Cecil's knees and looking into her face. "Do
+you say this because you have faith?"
+
+"I have prayed and I have faith," replied Cecil in her simple, earnest
+way. "Why, Dora, what is the matter?"
+
+"Only that it's horrid to leave like this," said Dora; "I--I thought my
+last day at school would have been so different and somehow I am sorry I
+spoke so much against that poor little Annie."
+
+Here Cecil suddenly rose from her seat, and going up to Dora, clasped her
+arms round her neck.
+
+"Thank you, Dora," she said with fervor; "I love you for those words."
+
+"Here comes Susy," remarked Mary Price. "I really don't think _anything_
+would move Susy; she's just as stolid and indifferent as ever. Ah, Susy,
+here's a place for you--oh, what _is_ the matter with Phyllis? see how
+she's rushing toward us! Phyllis, my dear, don't break your neck."
+
+Susan, with her usual nonchalance, seated herself by Dora Russell's side.
+Phyllis burst excitedly into the group.
+
+"I think," she exclaimed, "I really, really do think that news has come
+of Annie's father. Nora said that Janet told her that a foreign letter
+came this morning to Mrs. Willis, and somebody saw Mrs. Willis talking to
+Miss Danesbury--oh, I forgot, only I know that the girls of the school
+are whispering the news that Mrs. Willis cried, and Miss Danesbury said,
+'After waiting for him four years, and now, when he comes back, he won't
+find her!' Oh dear, oh dear! there is Danesbury. Cecil, darling love, go
+to her, and find out the truth."
+
+Cecil rose at once, went across the lawn, said a few words to Miss
+Danesbury, and came back to the other girls.
+
+"It is true," she said sadly, "there came a letter this morning from
+Captain Forest; he will be at Lavender House in a week. Miss Danesbury
+says it is a wonderful letter, and he has been shipwrecked, and on an
+island by himself for ever so long; but he is safe now, and will soon be
+in England. Miss Danesbury says Mrs. Willis can scarcely speak about that
+letter; she is in great, great trouble, and Miss Danesbury confesses that
+they are all more anxious than they dare to admit about Annie and little
+Nan."
+
+At this moment the sound of carriage wheels was heard on the drive, and
+Susan, peering forward to see who was arriving, remarked in her usual
+nonchalant manner:
+
+"Only the little Misses Bruce in their basket-carriage--what dull-looking
+women they are?"
+
+Nobody commented, however, on her observation, and gradually the little
+group of girls sank into absolute silence.
+
+From where they sat they could see the basket-carriage waiting at the
+front entrance--the little ladies had gone inside, all was perfect
+silence and stillness.
+
+Suddenly on the stillness a sound broke--the sound of a girl running
+quickly; nearer and nearer came the steps, and the four or five who sat
+together under the oak-tree noticed the quick panting breath, and felt
+even before a word was uttered that evil tidings were coming to them.
+They all started to their feet, however; they all uttered a cry of horror
+and distress when Hester herself broke into their midst. She was supposed
+to be lying down in a darkened room, she was supposed to be very
+ill--what was she doing here?
+
+"Hetty!" exclaimed Cecil.
+
+Hester pushed past her; she rushed up to Susan Drummond, and seized her
+arm.
+
+"News has come!" she panted; "news--news at last! Nan is found!--and
+Annie--they are both found--but Annie is dying. Come, Susan, come this
+moment; we must both tell what we know now."
+
+By her impetuosity, by the intense fire of her passion and agony, even
+Susan was electrified into leaving her seat and going with her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+TWO CONFESSIONS.
+
+
+Hester dragged her startled and rather unwilling companion in through the
+front entrance, past some agitated-looking servants who stood about in
+the hall, and through the velvet curtains into Mrs. Willis' boudoir.
+
+The Misses Bruce were there, and Mrs. Willis in her bonnet and cloak was
+hastily packing some things into a basket.
+
+"I--I must speak to you," said Hester, going up to her governess. "Susan
+and I have got something to say, and we must say it here, now at once."
+
+"No, not now, Hester," replied Mrs. Willis, looking for a moment into her
+pupil's agitated face. "Whatever you and Susan Drummond have to tell
+cannot be listened to by me at this moment. I have not an instant to
+lose."
+
+"You are going to Annie?" asked Hester.
+
+"Yes; don't keep me. Good-bye, my dears; good-bye."
+
+Mrs. Willis moved toward the door. Hester, who felt almost beside
+herself, rushed after her, and caught her arm.
+
+"Take us with you, take Susy and me with you--we must, we must see Annie
+before she dies."
+
+"Hush, my child," said Mrs. Willis very quietly; "try to calm yourself.
+Whatever you have got to say shall be listened to later on--now moments
+are precious, and I cannot attend to you. Calm yourself, Hester, and
+thank God for your dear little sister's safety. Prepare yourself to
+receive her, for the carriage which takes me to Annie will bring little
+Nan home."
+
+Mrs. Willis left the room, and Hester threw herself on her knees and
+covered her face with her trembling hands. Presently she was aroused by a
+light touch on her arm; it was Susan Drummond.
+
+"I may go now I suppose, Hester? You are not quite determined to make a
+fool of me, are you?"
+
+"I have determined to expose you, you coward; you mean, mean girl!"
+answered Hester, springing to her feet. "Come, I have no idea of letting
+you go. Mrs. Willis won't listen--we will find Mr. Everard."
+
+Whether Susan would really have gone with Heater remains to be proved,
+but just at that moment all possibility of retreat was cut away from her
+by Miss Agnes Bruce, who quietly entered Mrs. Willis' private
+sitting-room, followed by the very man Hester was about to seek.
+
+"I thought it best, my dear," she said, turning apologetically to Hester,
+"to go at once for our good clergyman; you can tell him all that is in
+your heart, and I will leave you. Before I go, however, I should like to
+tell you how I found Annie and little Nan."
+
+Hester made no answer; just for a brief moment she raised her eyes to
+Miss Agnes' kind face, then they sought the floor.
+
+"The story can be told in a few words, dear," said the little lady. "A
+workwoman of the name of Williams, whom my sister and I have employed for
+years, and who lives near Oakley, called on us this morning to apologize
+for not being able to finish some needlework. She told us that she had a
+sick child, and also a little girl of three, in her house. She said she
+had found the child, in ragged gypsy garments, fainting in a field. She
+took her into her house, and on undressing her, found that she was no
+true gypsy, but that her face and hands and arms had been dyed; she said
+the little one had been treated in a similar manner. Jane's suspicions
+and mine were instantly roused, and we went back with the woman to
+Oakley, and found, as we had anticipated, that the children were little
+Nan and Annie. The sad thing is that Annie is in high fever, and knows no
+one. We waited there until the doctor arrived, who spoke very, very
+seriously of her case. Little Nan is well, and asked for you."
+
+With these last words Miss Agnes Bruce softly left the room closing the
+door after her.
+
+"Now, Susan," said Hester, without an instant's pause; "come, let us tell
+Mr. Everard of our wickedness. Oh, sir," she added, raising her eyes to
+the clergyman's face, "if Annie dies I shall go mad. Oh, I cannot, cannot
+bear life if Annie dies!"
+
+"Tell me what is wrong, my poor child," said Mr. Everard. He laid his
+hand on her shoulder, and gradually and skillfully drew from the agitated
+and miserable girl the story of her sin, of her cowardice, and of her
+deep, though until now unavailing repentance. How from the first she had
+hated and disliked Annie; how unjustly she had felt toward her; how she
+had longed and hoped Annie was guilty; and how, when at last the clue was
+put into her hands to prove Annie's absolute innocence, she had
+determined not to use it.
+
+"From the day Nan was lost," continued Hester, "it has been all agony and
+all repentance; but, oh, I was too proud to tell! I was too proud to
+humble myself to the very dust!"
+
+"But not now," said the clergyman, very gently.
+
+"No, no; not now. I care for nothing now in all the world except that
+Annie may live."
+
+"You don't mind the fact that Mrs. Willis and all your schoolfellows must
+know of this, and must--must judge you accordingly?"
+
+"They can't think worse of me than I think of myself. I only want Annie
+to live."
+
+"No, Hester," answered Mr. Everard, "you want more than that--you want
+far more than that. It may be that God will take Annie Forest away. We
+cannot tell. With Him alone are the issues of life or death. What you
+really want, my child, is the forgiveness of the little girl you have
+wronged, and the forgiveness of your Father in heaven."
+
+Hester began to sob wildly.
+
+"If--if she dies--may I see her first?" she gasped.
+
+"Yes; I will try and promise you that. Now, will you go to your room? I
+must speak to Miss Drummond alone; she is a far worse culprit than you."
+
+Mr. Everard opened the door for Hester, who went silently out.
+
+"Meet me in the chapel to-night," he whispered low in her ear, "I will
+talk with you and pray with you there."
+
+He closed the door, and came back to Susan.
+
+All throughout this interview his manner had been very gentle to Hester:
+but the clergyman could be stern, and there was a gleam of very righteous
+anger in his eyes as he turned to the sullen girl who leaned heavily
+against the table.
+
+"This narrative of Hester Thornton's is, of course, quite true, Miss
+Drummond?"
+
+"Oh, yes; there seems to be no use in denying that," said Susan.
+
+"I must insist on your telling me the exact story of your sin. There is
+no use in your attempting to deny anything; only the utmost candor on
+your part can now save you from being publicly expelled."
+
+"I am willing to tell," answered Susan. "I meant no harm; it was done as
+a bit of fun. I had a cousin at home who was very clever at drawing
+caricatures, and I happened to have nothing to do one day, and I was
+alone in Annie's bedroom, and I thought I'd like to see what she kept in
+her desk. I always had a fancy for collecting odd keys, and I found one
+on my bunch which fitted her desk exactly. I opened it, and I found such
+a smart little caricature of Mrs. Willis. I sent the caricature to my
+cousin, and begged of her to make an exact copy of it. She did so, and I
+put Annie's back in her desk, and pasted the other into Cecil's book. I
+didn't like Dora Russell, and I wrapped up the sweeties in her theme; but
+I did the other for pure fun, for I knew Cecil would be so shocked; but I
+never guessed the blame would fall on Annie. When I found it did, I felt
+inclined to tell once or twice, but it seemed too much trouble and,
+besides, I knew Mrs. Willis would punish me, and, of course, I didn't
+wish that.
+
+"Dora Russell was always very nasty to me, and when I found she was
+putting on such airs, and pretending she could write such a grand essay
+for the prize, I thought I'd take down her pride a bit. I went to her
+desk, and I got some of the rough copy of the thing she was calling 'The
+River,' and I sent it off to my cousin, and my cousin made up such a
+ridiculous paper, and she hit off Dora's writing to the life, and, of
+course, I had to put it into Dora's desk and tear up her real copy. It
+was very unlucky Hester being in the room. Of course I never guessed
+that, or I wouldn't have gone. That was the night we all went with Annie
+to the fairies' field. I never meant to get Hester into a scrape, nor
+Annie either, for that matter; but, of course, I couldn't be expected to
+tell on myself."
+
+Susan related her story in her usual monotonous and sing-song voice.
+There was no trace of apparent emotion on her face, or of regret in her
+tones. When she had finished speaking Mr. Everard was absolutely silent.
+
+"I took a great deal of trouble," continued Susan, after a pause, in a
+slightly fretful key. "It was really nothing but a joke, and I don't see
+why such a fuss should have been made. I know I lost a great deal of
+sleep trying to manage that twine business round my foot. I don't think I
+shall trouble myself playing any more tricks upon schoolgirls--they are
+not worth it."
+
+"You'll never play any more tricks on these girls," said Mr. Everard,
+rising to his feet, and suddenly filling the room and reducing Susan to
+an abject silence by the ring of his stern, deep voice. "I take it upon
+me, in the absence of your mistress, to pronounce your punishment. You
+leave Lavender House in disgrace this evening. Miss Good will take you
+home, and explain to your parents the cause of your dismissal. You are
+not to see _any_ of your schoolfellows again. Your meanness, your
+cowardice, your sin require no words on my part to deepen their vileness.
+Through pure wantonness you have cast a cruel shadow on an innocent young
+life. If that girl dies, you indeed are not blameless in the cause of her
+early removal, for through you her heart and spirit were broken. Miss
+Drummond, I pray God you may at least repent and be sorry. There are some
+people mentioned in the Bible who are spoken of as past feeling. Wretched
+girl, while there is yet time, pray that you may not belong to them. Now
+I must leave you, but I shall lock you in. Miss Good will come for you in
+about an hour to take you away."
+
+Susan Drummond sank down on the nearest seat, and began to cry softly;
+one or two pin-pricks from Mr. Everard's stern words may possibly have
+reached her shallow heart--no one can tell. She left Lavender House that
+evening, and none of the girls who had lived with her as their schoolmate
+heard of her again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+THE HEART OF LITTLE NAN.
+
+
+For several days now Annie had lain unconscious in Mrs. Williams' little
+bedroom; the kind-hearted woman could not find it in her heart to send
+the sick child away. Her husband and the neighbors expostulated with her,
+and said that Annie was only a poor little waif.
+
+"She has no call on you," said Jane Allen, a hard-featured woman who
+lived next door. "Why should you put yourself out just for a sick lass?
+and she'll be much better off in the workhouse infirmary."
+
+But Mrs. Williams shook her head at her hard-featured and hard-hearted
+neighbor, and resisted her husband's entreaties.
+
+"Eh!" she said, "but the poor lamb needs a good bit of mothering, and I
+misdoubt me she wouldn't get much of that in the infirmary."
+
+So Annie stayed, and tossed from side to side of her little bed, and
+murmured unintelligible words, and grew daily a little weaker and a
+little more delirious. The parish doctor called, and shook his head over
+her; he was not a particularly clever man, but he was the best the
+Williamses could afford. While Annie suffered and went deeper into that
+valley of humiliation and weakness which leads to the gate of the Valley
+of the Shadow of Death, little Nan played with Peggy Williams, and
+accustomed herself after the fashion of little children to all the ways
+of her new and humble home.
+
+It was on the eighth day of Annie's fever that the Misses Bruce
+discovered her, and on the evening of that day Mrs. Willis knelt by her
+little favorite's bed. A better doctor had been called in, and all that
+money could procure had been got now for poor Annie; but the second
+doctor considered her case even more critical, and said that the close
+air of the cottage was much against her recovery.
+
+"I didn't make that caricature; I took the girls into the fairies' field,
+but I never pasted that caricature into Cecil's book. I know you don't
+believe me, Cecil; but do you think I would really do anything so mean
+about one whom love? No, No! I am innocent! God knows it. Yes, I am glad
+of that--God knows it."
+
+Over and over in Mrs. Willis' presence these piteous words would come
+from the fever-stricken child, but always when she came to the little
+sentence "God knows I am innocent," her voice would grow tranquil, and a
+faint and sweet smile would play round her lips.
+
+Late that night a carriage drew up at a little distance from the cottage,
+and a moment or two afterward Mrs. Willis was called out of the room to
+speak to Cecil Temple.
+
+"I have found out the truth about Annie; I have come at once to tell
+you," she said; and then she repeated the substance of Hester's and
+Susan's story.
+
+"God help me for having misjudged her," murmured the head-mistress; then
+she bade Cecil "good-night" and returned to the sick-room.
+
+The next time Annie broke out with her piteous wail, "They believe me
+guilty--Mrs. Willis does--they all do," the mistress laid her hand with a
+firm and gentle pressure on the child's arm.
+
+"Not now, my dear," she said, in a slow, clear, and emphatic voice. "God
+has shown your governess the truth, and she believes in you."
+
+The very carefully-uttered words pierced through the clouded brain; for a
+moment Annie lay quite still, with her bright and lovely eyes fixed on
+her teacher.
+
+"Is that really you?" she asked.
+
+"I am here, my darling."
+
+"And you believe in me?"
+
+"I do, most absolutely."
+
+"God does, too, you know," answered Annie--bringing out the words
+quickly, and turning her head to the other side. The fever had once more
+gained supremacy, and she rambled on unceasingly through the dreary
+night.
+
+Now, however, when the passionate words broke out, "They believe me
+guilty," Mrs. Willis always managed to quiet her by saying, "I know you
+are innocent."
+
+The next day at noon those girls who had not gone home--for many had
+started by the morning train--were wandering aimlessly about the grounds.
+
+Mr. Everard had gone to see Annie, and had promised to bring back the
+latest tidings about her.
+
+Hester, holding little Nan's hand--for she could scarcely bear to have
+her recovered treasure out of sight--had wandered away from the rest of
+her companions, and had seated herself with Nan under a large oak-tree
+which grew close to the entrance of the avenue. She had come here in
+order to be the very first to see Mr. Everard on his return. Nan had
+climbed into Hester's lap, and Hester had buried her aching head in
+little Nan's bright curls, when she started suddenly to her feet and ran
+forward. Her quick ears had detected the sound of wheels.
+
+How soon Mr. Everard had returned; surely the news was bad! She flew to
+the gate, and held it open in order to avoid the short delay which the
+lodge-keeper might cause in coming to unfasten it. She flushed, however,
+vividly, and felt half inclined to retreat into the shade, when she saw
+that the gentleman who was approaching was not Mr. Everard, but a tall,
+handsome, and foreign-looking man, who drove a light dog-cart himself.
+The moment he saw Hester with little Nan clinging to her skirts he
+stopped short.
+
+"Is this Lavender House, little girl?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Hester.
+
+"And can you tell me--but of course you know--you are one of the young
+ladies who live here, eh?"
+
+Hester nodded.
+
+"Then you can tell me if Mrs. Willis is at home--but of course she is."
+
+"No, sir," answered Hester; "I am sorry to tell you that Mrs. Willis is
+away. She has been called away on very, very sad business; she won't come
+back to-night."
+
+Something in Hester's tone caused the stranger to look at her
+attentively; he jumped off the dog-cart and came to her side.
+
+"See here, Miss----"
+
+"Thornton," put in Hester.
+
+"Yes, Miss--Miss Thornton, perhaps you can manage for me as well as Mrs.
+Willis; after all I don't particularly want to see her. If you belong to
+Lavender House, you, of course, know my--I mean you have a schoolmate
+here, a little, pretty gypsy rogue called Forest--little Annie Forest. I
+want to see her--can you take me to her?"
+
+"You are her father?" gasped Hester.
+
+"Yes, my dear child, I am her father. Now you can take me to her at
+once."
+
+Hester covered her face.
+
+"Oh, I cannot," she said--"I cannot take you to Annie. Oh, sir, if you
+knew all, you would feel inclined to kill me. Don't ask me about
+Annie--don't, don't."
+
+The stranger looked fairly non-plussed and not a little alarmed. Just at
+this moment Nan's tiny fingers touched his hand.
+
+"Me'll take 'oo to my Annie," she said--"mine poor Annie. Annie's vedy
+sick, but me'll take 'oo."
+
+The tall, foreign-looking man lifted Nan into his arms.
+
+"Sick, is she?" he answered. "Look here young lady," he added, turning to
+Hester, "whatever you have got to say, I am sure you will try and say it;
+you will pity a father's anxiety and master your own feelings. Where _is_
+my little girl?"
+
+Hester hastily dried her tears.
+
+"She is in a cottage near Oakley, sir."
+
+"Indeed! Oakley is some miles from here?"
+
+"And she is very ill."
+
+"What of?"
+
+"Fever; they--they fear she may die."
+
+"Take me to her," said the stranger. "If she is ill and dying she wants
+me. Take me to her at once. Here, jump on the dog-cart; and, little one,
+you shall come too."
+
+So furiously did Captain Forest drive that in a very little over an
+hour's time his panting horse stopped at a few steps from the cottage. He
+called to a boy to hold him, and, accompanied by Hester, and carrying Nan
+in his arms, he stood on the threshold of Mrs. Williams' humble little
+abode. Mr. Everard was coming out.
+
+"Hester," he said, "you here? I was coming for you."
+
+"Oh, then she is worse?"
+
+"She is conscious, and has asked for you. Yes, she is very, very ill."
+
+"Mr. Everard, this gentleman is Annie's father."
+
+Mr. Everard looked pityingly at Captain Forest.
+
+"You have come back at a sad hour, sir," he said. "But no, it cannot harm
+her to see you. Come with me."
+
+Captain Forest went first into the sick-room; Hester waited outside. She
+had the little kitchen to herself, for all the Williamses, with the
+exception of the good mother, had moved for the time being to other
+quarters. Surely Mr. Everard would come for her in a moment? Surely
+Captain Forest, who had gone into the sick-room with Nan in his arms,
+would quickly return? There was no sound. All was absolute quiet. How
+soon would Hester be summoned? Could she--could she bear to look at
+Annie's dying face? Her agony drove her down on her knees.
+
+"Oh, if you would only spare Annie!" she prayed to God. Then she wiped
+her eyes. This terrible suspense seemed more than she could bear.
+Suddenly the bedroom door was softly and silently opened, and Mr. Everard
+came out.
+
+"She sleeps," he said; "there is a shadow of hope. Little Nan has done
+it. Nan asked to lie down beside her, and she said, 'Poor Annie! poor
+Annie!' and stroked her cheek; and in some way, I don't know how, the two
+have gone to sleep together. Annie did not even glance at her father; she
+was quite taken up with Nan. You can come to the door and look at her,
+Hester."
+
+Hester did so. A time had been when she could scarcely have borne that
+sight without a pang of jealousy; now she turned to Mr. Everard:
+
+"I--I could even give her the heart of little Nan to keep her here," she
+murmured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+THE PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+
+Annie did not die. The fever passed away in that long and refreshing
+sleep, while Nan's cool hand lay against her cheek. She came slowly,
+slowly back to life--to a fresh, a new, and a glad life. Hester, from
+being her enemy, was now her dearest and warmest friend. Her father was
+at home again, and she could no longer think or speak of herself as
+lonely or sad. She recovered, and in future days reigned as a greater
+favorite than ever at Lavender House. It is only fair to say that Tiger
+never went back to the gypsies, but devoted himself first and foremost to
+Annie, and then to the captain, who pronounced him a capital dog, and
+when he heard his story vowed he never would part with him.
+
+Owing to Annie's illness, and to all the trouble and confusion which
+immediately ensued, Mrs. Willis did not give away her prizes at the usual
+time; but when her scholars once more assembled at Lavender House she
+astonished several of them by a few words.
+
+"My dears," she said, standing in her accustomed place at the head of the
+long school-room, "I intend now before our first day of lessons begins,
+to distribute those prizes which would have been yours, under ordinary
+circumstances, on the twenty-first of June. The prizes will be
+distributed during the afternoon recess; but here, and now, I wish to say
+something about--and also to give away--the prize for English
+composition. Six essays, all written with more or less care, have been
+given to me to inspect. There are reasons which we need not now go into
+which made it impossible to me to say anything in favor of a theme called
+'The River,' written by my late pupil, Miss Russell; but I can cordially
+praise a very nice historical sketch of Marie Antoinette, the work of
+Hester Thornton. Mary Price has also written a study which pleases me
+much, as it shows thought and even a little originality. The remainder of
+the six essays simply reach an ordinary average. You will be surprised
+therefore, my dears, to learn that I do not award the prize to any of
+these themes, but rather to a seventh composition, which was put into my
+hands yesterday by Miss Danesbury. It is crude and unfinished, and
+doubtless but for her recent illness would have received many
+corrections; but these few pages, which are called 'A Lonely Child,' drew
+tears from my eyes; crude as they are, they have the merit of real
+originality. They are too morbid to read to you, girls, and I sincerely
+trust and pray the young writer may never pen anything so sad again. Such
+as they are, however, they rank first in the order of merit and the prize
+is hers. Annie, my dear, come forward."
+
+Annie left her seat, and, amid the cheers of her companions, went up to
+Mrs. Willis, who placed a locket, attached to a slender gold chain, round
+her neck; the locket contained a miniature of the head-mistress'
+much-loved face.
+
+"After all, think of our Annie Forest turning out clever as well as being
+the prettiest and dearest girl in the school!" exclaimed several of her
+companions.
+
+"Only I do wish," added one, "that Mrs. Willis had let us see the essay.
+Annie, treasure, come here; tell us what the 'Lonely Child' was about."
+
+"I don't remember," answered Annie. "I don't know what loneliness means
+now, so how can I describe it?"
+
+THE END
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS
+For Young People
+BY POPULAR WRITERS,
+97-99-101 Reade Street, New York.
+
+Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By G. A. HENTY.
+With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service. The boy,
+brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a Jacobite agent,
+escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches Paris, and serves with
+the French army at Dettingen. He kills his father's foe in a duel, and
+escaping to the coast, shares the adventures of Prince Charlie, but
+finally settles happily in Scotland.
+
+"Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of 'Quentin Durward.' The lad's
+journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a
+narrative of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treatment
+and variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself."--_Spectator._
+
+With Clive in India; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By G. A. HENTY.
+With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in India and
+the close of his career was critical and eventful in the extreme. At its
+commencement the English were traders existing on sufferance of the
+native princes. At its close they were masters of Bengal and of the
+greater part of Southern India. The author has given a full and accurate
+account of the events of that stirring time, and battles and sieges
+follow each other in rapid succession, while he combines with his
+narrative a tale of daring and adventure, which gives a lifelike interest
+to the volume.
+
+"He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance,
+and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is
+deeply interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the
+volume."--_Scotsman._
+
+The Lion of the North: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of
+Religion. By G. A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by JOHN
+SCHöNBERG. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the Thirty
+Years' War. The issue had its importance, which has extended to the
+present day, as it established religious freedom in Germany. The army of
+the chivalrous king of Sweden was largely composed of Scotchmen, and
+among these was the hero of the story.
+
+"The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys may
+be trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be
+profited."--_Times._
+
+The Dragon and the Raven; or, The Days of King Alfred. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle between
+Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents a vivid picture of
+the misery and ruin to which the country was reduced by the ravages of
+the sea-wolves. The hero, a young Saxon thane, takes part in all the
+battles fought by King Alfred. He is driven from his home, takes to the
+sea and resists the Danes on their own element, and being pursued by them
+up the Seine, is present at the long and desperate siege of Paris.
+
+"Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader."--_Athenæum._
+
+The Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen
+appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first a
+struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of Carthage,
+that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he defeated the
+Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannæ, and all but took Rome,
+represents pretty nearly the sum total of their knowledge. To let them
+know more about this momentous struggle for the empire of the world Mr.
+Henty has written this story, which not only gives in graphic style a
+brilliant description of a most interesting period of history, but is a
+tale of exciting adventure sure to secure the interest of the reader.
+
+"Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays the
+interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose current
+varies in direction, but never loses its force."--_Saturday Review._
+
+In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish War of
+Independence. The extraordinary valor and personal prowess of Wallace and
+Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical heroes of chivalry, and indeed at
+one time Wallace was ranked with these legendary personages. The
+researches of modern historians have shown, however, that he was a
+living, breathing man--and a valiant champion. The hero of the tale
+fought under both Wallace and Bruce, and while the strictest historical
+accuracy has been maintained with respect to public events, the work is
+full of "hairbreadth 'scapes" and wild adventure.
+
+"It is written in the author's best style. Full of the wildest and most
+remarkable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy,
+once he has begun it, will not willingly put on one side."--_The
+Schoolmaster._
+
+With Lee in Virginia: A Story of the American Civil War. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely proving his
+sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves with no less courage
+and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson through the most exciting events of
+the struggle. He has many hairbreadth escapes, is several times wounded
+and twice taken prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in two
+cases, the devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom he had
+assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties.
+
+"One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. The
+picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic
+incidents are skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of
+the story."--_Standard._
+
+By England's Aid; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604). By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE, and Maps. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in the service
+of one of "the fighting Veres." After many adventures by sea and land,
+one of the lads finds himself on board a Spanish ship at the time of the
+defeat of the Armada, and escapes only to fall into the hands of the
+Corsairs. He is successful in getting back to Spain under the protection
+of a wealthy merchant, and regains his native country after the capture
+of Cadiz.
+
+"It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring
+incident and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the
+scene are finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its
+attractiveness."--_Boston Gazette._
+
+By Right of Conquest; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by W. S. STACEY, and Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.50.
+
+The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under the
+magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked among the most
+romantic and daring exploits in history. With this as the groundwork of
+his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the adventures of an English youth,
+Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor of the good ship Swan, which had sailed
+from a Devon port to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards
+in the New World. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but is
+saved by his own judgment and strength, and by the devotion of an Aztec
+princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the protection of the Spaniards,
+and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining his native shore,
+with a fortune and a charming Aztec bride.
+
+"'By Right of Conquest' is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful
+Historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published."--_Academy._
+
+In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by J. SCHöNBERG. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the chateau of a
+French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies the family to
+Paris at the crisis of the Revolution. Imprisonment and death reduce
+their number, and the hero finds himself beset by perils with the three
+young daughters of the house in his charge. After hairbreadth escapes
+they reach Nantes. There the girls are condemned to death in the
+coffin-ships, but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy
+protector.
+
+"Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr.
+Henty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and
+peril they depict.... The story is one of Mr. Henty's best."--_Saturday
+Review._
+
+With Wolfe in Canada; or, The Winning of a Continent. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle between
+Britain and France for supremacy in the North American continent. On the
+issue of this war depended not only the destinies of North America, but
+to a large extent those of the mother countries themselves. The fall of
+Quebec decided that the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New
+World; that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the
+nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the English
+language, and English literature, should spread right round the globe.
+
+"It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically
+told, but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure
+and peril by flood and field."--_Illustrated London News._
+
+True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence. By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth,
+price $1.00.
+
+In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who took
+part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which American
+and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave with greater
+courage and good conduct. The historical portion of the book being
+accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures with the redskins on the
+shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting interest is interwoven with the
+general narrative and carried through the book.
+
+"Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers
+during the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son of
+an American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the
+hostile redskins in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us
+by the exploits of Hawkeye and Chingachgook."--_The Times._
+
+The Lion of St. Mark: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth Century. By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth,
+price $1.00.
+
+A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor were put to
+the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and manliness which
+carry him safely through an atmosphere of intrigue, crime, and bloodshed.
+He contributes largely to the victories of the Venetians at Porto d'Anzo
+and Chioggia, and finally wins the hand of the daughter of one of the
+chief men of Venice.
+
+"Every boy should read 'The Lion of St. Mark.' Mr. Henty has never produced
+a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious."--_Saturday
+Review._
+
+A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by W. B. WOLLEN. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood, emigrates
+to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the mounted police. A
+few years of active work on the frontier, where he has many a brush with
+both natives and bushrangers, gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he
+eventually settles down to the peaceful life of a squatter.
+
+"Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully
+constructed, or a better written story than this."--_Spectator._
+
+Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the supremacy of
+the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the Pacific expedition,
+and in his great voyage of circumnavigation. The historical portion of
+the story is absolutely to be relied upon, but this will perhaps be less
+attractive than the great variety of exciting adventure through which the
+young heroes pass in the course of their voyages.
+
+"A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one
+would think, to turn his hair gray."--_Harper's Monthly Magazine._
+
+By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By G. A. HENTY. With full-page
+Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details of
+the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness. His hero, after
+many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained a prisoner by the
+king just before the outbreak of the war, but escapes, and accompanies
+the English expedition on their march to Coomassie.
+
+"Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories. 'By
+Sheer Pluck' will be eagerly read."--_Athenæum._
+
+By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by MAYNARD BROWN, and 4 Maps. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds of an
+English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age--William the
+Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea captain, enters the
+service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed by him in many
+dangerous and responsible missions, in the discharge of which he passes
+through the great sieges of the time. He ultimately settles down as Sir
+Edward Martin.
+
+"Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the
+book, while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in
+spite of themselves."--_St. James' Gazette._
+
+St. George for England: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+No portion of English history is more crowded with great events than that
+of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; the destruction of the
+Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death; the Jacquerie rising; these
+are treated by the author in "St. George for England." The hero of the
+story, although of good family, begins life as a London apprentice, but
+after countless adventures and perils becomes by valor and good conduct
+the squire, and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince.
+
+"Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys
+which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of
+Sir Walter Scott in the land of fiction."--_The Standard._
+
+Captain's Kidd's Gold: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor Boy. By
+JAMES FRANKLIN FITTS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very idea of
+buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy Portuguese and
+Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming eyes--sinister-looking
+fellows who once on a time haunted the Spanish Main, sneaking out from
+some hidden creek in their long, low schooner, of picaroonish rake and
+sheer, to attack an unsuspecting trading craft. There were many famous sea
+rovers in their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps the
+most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts' true story of an adventurous
+American boy, who receives from his dying father an ancient bit of vellum,
+which the latter obtained in a curious way. The document bears obscure
+directions purporting to locate a certain island in the Bahama group, and
+a considerable treasure buried there by two of Kidd's crew. The hero of
+this book, Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of
+salt-water New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and
+secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our youth that
+has come from the press.
+
+Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a
+considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the latter,
+and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves England for
+America. He works his passage before the mast, joins a small band of
+hunters, crosses a tract of country infested with Indians to the
+Californian gold diggings, and is successful both as digger and trader.
+
+"Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the
+humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John Holl, the Westminster
+dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled."--_Christian
+Leader._
+
+For Name and Fame; or, Through Afghan Passes. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero, after
+being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures among the
+Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment proceeding to
+join the army at the Afghan passes. He accompanies the force under
+General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, is wounded, taken prisoner, carried
+to Cabul, whence he is transferred to Candahar, and takes part in the
+final defeat of the army of Ayoub Khan.
+
+"The best feature of the book--apart from the interest of its scenes of
+adventure--is its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the
+Afghan people."--_Daily News._
+
+Captured by Apes: The Wonderful Adventures of a Young Animal Trainer. By
+HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
+
+The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archipelago.
+Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of New York, sets
+sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of living curiosities. The
+vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo and young Garland, the sole
+survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore on a small island, and captured
+by the apes that overrun the place. The lad discovers that the ruling
+spirit of the monkey tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, whom he
+identifies as Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession and with
+whose instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute recognizes
+him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his former master
+through the same course of training he had himself experienced with a
+faithfulness of detail which shows how astonishing is monkey
+recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by which the young man escapes
+death. Mr. Prentice has certainly worked a new vein on juvenile fiction,
+and the ability with which he handles a difficult subject stamps him as a
+writer of undoubted skill.
+
+The Bravest of the Brave; or, With Peterborough in Spain. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so completely
+fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. This is
+largely due to the fact that they were overshadowed by the glory and
+successes of Marlborough. His career as general extended over little more
+than a year, and yet, in that time, he showed a genius for warfare which
+has never been surpassed.
+
+"Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work--to enforce
+the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read 'The Bravest of the
+Brave' with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure."--_Daily
+Telegraph._
+
+The Cat of Bubastes: A Story of Ancient Egypt. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight into the
+customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the Rebu nation, is
+carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery. They become inmates of
+the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest, and are happy in his
+service until the priest's son accidentally kills the sacred cat of
+Bubastes. In an outburst of popular fury Ameres is killed, and it rests
+with Jethro and Amuba to secure the escape of the high-priest's son and
+daughter.
+
+"The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat to
+the perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully
+constructed and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably
+illustrated."--_Saturday Review._
+
+With Washington at Monmouth: A Story of Three Philadelphia Boys. By JAMES
+OTIS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon "whose mother conducted a
+boarding-house which was patronized by the British officers;" Enoch Ball,
+"son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing school was situated on Letitia
+Street," and little Jacob, son of "Chris, the Baker," serve as the
+principal characters. The story is laid during the winter when Lord Howe
+held possession of the city, and the lads aid the cause by assisting the
+American spies who make regular and frequent visits from Valley Forge.
+One reads here of home-life in the captive city when bread was scarce
+among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless prodigality shown
+by the British officers, who passed the winter in feasting and
+merry-making while the members of the patriot army but a few miles away
+were suffering from both cold and hunger. The story abounds with pictures
+of Colonial life skillfully drawn, and the glimpses of Washington's
+soldiers which are given show that the work has not been hastily done, or
+without considerable study.
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade.
+</title>
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+
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
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+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A World of Girls
+       The Story of a School</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: L. T. Meade</div>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 22, 2008 [eBook #25870]<br />
+[Most recently updated: March 14, 2023]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by:
+  Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='text-align:center;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;SHAKE HANDS, NOW, AND LET US MAKE FRIENDS.&#8217;&#8221; (Page 27.)
+<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-bottom:1em;'>A WORLD OF GIRLS:</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>THE STORY OF A SCHOOL.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:1em; margin-bottom:1em;'>By L. T. MEADE.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-style:italic;'>Author of &#8220;The Palace Beautiful,&#8221; &#8220;A Sweet Girl Graduate,&#8221;<br />&#8220;Polly: A New Fashioned Girl,&#8221; Etc.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>ILLUSTRATED.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>NEW YORK:</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.0em;'>A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>CONTENTS</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;' />
+
+<table border='0' width='400' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER I.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;Good-Bye&#8221; to the Old Life.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I__GOODBYE__TO_THE_OLD_LIFE'>1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Traveling Companions.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II_TRAVELING_COMPANIONS'>6</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>At Lavender House.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III_AT_LAVENDER_HOUSE'>13</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Little Drawing-Rooms and Little Tiffs.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV_LITTLE_DRAWINGROOMS_AND_LITTLE_TIFFS'>19</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>The Head-Mistress.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V_THE_HEADMISTRESS'>28</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;I am Unhappy.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI__I_AM_UNHAPPY'>32</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Day at School.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII_A_DAY_AT_SCHOOL'>35</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;You have Waked me too Soon.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII__YOU_HAVE_WAKED_ME_TOO_SOON'>47</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER IX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Work and Play.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX_WORK_AND_PLAY'>54</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER X.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Varieties.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X_VARIETIES'>62</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>What was Found in the School-Desk.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI_WHAT_WAS_FOUND_IN_THE_SCHOOLDESK'>74</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the Chapel.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII_IN_THE_CHAPEL'>88</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Talking over the Mystery.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII_TALKING_OVER_THE_MYSTERY'>95</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;Sent to Coventry.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV__SENT_TO_COVENTRY'>102</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>About Some People who Thought no Evil.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV_ABOUT_SOME_PEOPLE_WHO_THOUGHT_NO_EVIL'>107</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;An Enemy Hath Done This.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI__AN_ENEMY_HATH_DONE_THIS'>114</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;The Sweets are Poisoned.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII__THE_SWEETS_ARE_POISONED'>123</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the Hammock.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII_IN_THE_HAMMOCK'>129</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Cup and Ball.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX_CUP_AND_BALL'>136</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the South Parlor.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX_IN_THE_SOUTH_PARLOR'>143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Stealing Hearts.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI_STEALING_HEARTS'>151</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In Burn Castle Wood.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXII_IN_BURN_CASTLE_WOOD'>155</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;Humpty-Dumpty had a Great Fall.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII__HUMPTYDUMPTY_HAD_A_GREAT_FALL'>168</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Annie to the Rescue.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV_ANNIE_TO_THE_RESCUE'>173</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Spoiled Baby.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXV_A_SPOILED_BABY'>180</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Under the Laurel Bush.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI_UNDER_THE_LAUREL_BUSH'>188</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXVII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Truants.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII_TRUANTS'>193</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the Fairies&#8217; Field.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII_IN_THE_FAIRIES__FIELD'>198</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Hester&#8217;s Forgotten Book.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX_HESTER_S_FORGOTTEN_BOOK'>204</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;A Muddy Stream.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXX__A_MUDDY_STREAM'>212</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Good and Bad Angels.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI_GOOD_AND_BAD_ANGELS'>218</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Fresh Suspicions.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII_FRESH_SUSPICIONS'>221</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Untrustworthy.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII_UNTRUSTWORTHY'>227</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Betty Falls Ill at an Awkward Time.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV_BETTY_FALLS_ILL_AT_AN_AWKWARD_TIME'>233</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;You are Welcome to Tell.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV__YOU_ARE_WELCOME_TO_TELL'>241</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>How Moses Moore Kept His Appointment.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI_HOW_MOSES_MOORE_KEPT_HIS_APPOINTMENT'>247</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXVII</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Broken Trust.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVII_A_BROKEN_TRUST'>252</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Is She Still Guilty?</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVIII_IS_SHE_STILL_GUILTY'>259</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Hester&#8217;s Hour of Trial.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIX_HESTER_S_HOUR_OF_TRIAL'>265</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XL.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Gypsy Maid.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XL_A_GYPSY_MAID'>272</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Disguised.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLI_DISGUISED'>278</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Hester.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLII_HESTER'>284</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Susan.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLIII_SUSAN'>289</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Under the Hedge.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLIV_UNDER_THE_HEDGE'>293</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Tiger.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLV_TIGER'>297</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>For Love of Nan.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLVI_FOR_LOVE_OF_NAN'>303</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLVII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Rescued.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLVII_RESCUED'>310</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Dark Days.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLVIII_DARK_DAYS'>313</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Two Confessions.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLIX_TWO_CONFESSIONS'>318</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER L.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>The Heart of Little Nan.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_L_THE_HEART_OF_LITTLE_NAN'>326</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER LI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>The Prize Essay.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_LI_THE_PRIZE_ESSAY'>334</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-top:2em;'>A WORLD OF GIRLS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 0em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_I__GOODBYE__TO_THE_OLD_LIFE' id='CHAPTER_I__GOODBYE__TO_THE_OLD_LIFE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;GOOD-BYE&#8221; TO THE OLD LIFE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Me want to see Hetty,&#8221; said an imperious baby
+voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; not this morning, Miss Nan, dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me do want to see Hetty,&#8221; was the quick, impatient
+reply. And a sturdy indignant little face
+looked up at Nurse, to watch the effect of the last
+decisive words.
+</p>
+<p>Finding no affirmative reply on Nurse&#8217;s placid
+face, the small lips closed firmly&mdash;two dimples came
+and went on two very round cheeks&mdash;the mischievous
+brown eyes grew full of laughter, and the next
+moment the little questioner had squeezed her way
+through a slightly open door, and was toddling
+down the broad stone stairs and across a landing to
+Hetty&#8217;s room. The room-door was open, so the
+truant went in. A bed with the bed-clothes all
+tossed about, a half worn-out slipper on the floor, a
+very untidy dressing-table met her eyes, but no
+Hetty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want Hetty, me do,&#8221; piped the treble voice,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+and then the little feet commenced a careful and
+watchful pilgrimage, the lips still firmly shut, the
+dimples coming and going, and the eyes throwing
+many upward glances in the direction of Nurse and
+the nursery.
+</p>
+<p>No pursuit as yet, and great, great hope of finding
+Hetty somewhere in the down-stair regions.
+Ah, now, how good! those dangerous stairs had
+been descended, and the little voice calling in shrill
+tones for Hetty rang out in the wide hall.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let her come to me,&#8221; suddenly said an answering
+voice, and a girl of about twelve, dressed in
+deep mourning, suddenly opened the door of a
+small study and clasped the little one in her arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you have found me, my precious, my dearest!
+Brave, plucky little Nan, you have got away
+from Nurse and found me out! Come into the
+study now, darling, and you shall have some breakfast.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want a bicky, Hetty,&#8221; said the baby voice;
+the round arms clasped Hester&#8217;s neck, but the brown
+eyes were already traveling eagerly over the breakfast
+table in quest of spoil for those rosy little lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here are two biscuits, Nan. Nan, look me in
+the face&mdash;here, sit steady on my knee; you love me,
+don&#8217;t you, Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Course me do,&#8221; said the child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I&#8217;m going away from you, Nan, darling.
+For months and months I won&#8217;t see anything of
+you. My heart will be always with you, and I shall
+think of you morning, noon and night. I love no
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+one as I love you, Nan. You will think of me and
+love me too; won&#8217;t you, Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me will,&#8221; said Nan; &#8220;me want more bicky,
+Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; answered Hester; &#8220;put your arms
+tight round my neck, and you shall have sugar, too.
+Tighter than that, Nan, and you shall have two
+lumps of sugar&mdash;oh, yes, you shall&mdash;I don&#8217;t care if
+it makes you sick&mdash;you shall have just what you
+want the last moment we are together.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Baby Nan was only too pleased to crumple up a
+crape frill and to smear a black dress with sticky
+little fingers for the sake of the sugar which Hetty
+plied her with.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;More, Hetty,&#8221; she said; &#8220;me&#8217;ll skeeze &#8217;oo vedy
+tight for more.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>On this scene Nurse unexpectedly entered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I never! and so you found your way all
+downstairs by yourself, you little toddle. Now,
+Miss Hetty, I hope you haven&#8217;t been giving the
+precious lamb sugar; you know it never does suit
+the little dear. Oh, fie! baby; and what sticky
+hands! Miss Hetty, she has crumpled all your
+crape frills.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What matter?&#8221; said Hester. &#8220;I wanted a good
+hug, and I gave her three or four lumps. Babies
+won&#8217;t squeeze you tight for nothing. There, my
+Nancy, go back to Nurse. Nurse, take her away;
+I&#8217;ll break down in a minute if I see her looking at
+me with that little pout.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nurse took the child into her arms.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, Miss Hester, dear. Try to be a good
+girl at school. Take my word, missy&mdash;things won&#8217;t
+be as dark as they seem.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, Nurse,&#8221; said Hester, hastily. &#8220;Is
+that you, father? are you calling me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She gathered up her muff and gloves, and ran
+out of the little study where she had been making
+believe to eat breakfast. A tall, stern-looking man
+was in the hall, buttoning on an overcoat; a
+brougham waited at the door. The next moment
+Hester and her father were bowling away in the
+direction of the nearest railway station. Nan&#8217;s little
+chubby face had faded from view. The old square,
+gray house, sacred to Hester because of Nan, had
+also disappeared; the avenue even was passed, and
+Hester closed her bright brown eyes. She felt that
+she was being pushed out into a cold world, and
+was no longer in the same snug nest with Nan. An intolerable
+pain was at her heart; she did not glance
+at her father, who during their entire drive occupied
+himself over his morning paper. At last they
+reached the railway station, and just as Sir John
+Thornton was handing his daughter into a comfortable
+first-class carriage, marked &#8220;For Ladies only,&#8221;
+and was presenting her with her railway ticket and
+a copy of the last week&#8217;s illustrated newspaper, he
+spoke:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The guard will take care of you, Hester. I am
+giving him full directions, and he will come to you
+at every station, and bring you tea or any refreshment
+you may require. This train takes you straight
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
+to Sefton, and Mrs. Willis will meet you, or send
+for you there. Good-bye, my love; try to be a
+good girl, and curb your wild spirits. I hope to see
+you very much improved when you come home at
+midsummer. Good-bye, dear, good-bye. Ah, you
+want to kiss me&mdash;well, just one kiss. There&mdash;oh,
+my dear! you know I have a great dislike to emotion
+in public.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Sir John Thornton said this because a pair of
+arms had been flung suddenly round his neck, and
+two kisses imprinted passionately on his sallow
+cheek. A tear also rested on his cheek, but that he
+wiped away.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_II_TRAVELING_COMPANIONS' id='CHAPTER_II_TRAVELING_COMPANIONS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<h3>TRAVELING COMPANIONS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The train moved rapidly on its way, and the girl
+in one corner of the railway carriage cried silently
+behind her crape veil. Her tears were very subdued,
+but her heart felt sore, bruised, indignant;
+she hated the idea of school-life before her; she
+hated the expected restraints and the probable punishments;
+she fancied herself going from a free life
+into a prison, and detested it accordingly.
+</p>
+<p>Three months before, Hester Thornton had been
+one of the happiest, brightest and merriest of little
+girls in &mdash;&mdash;shire; but the mother who was her
+guardian angel, who had kept the frank and spirited
+child in check without appearing to do so, who had
+guided her by the magical power of love and not in
+the least by that of fear, had met her death suddenly
+by means of a carriage accident, and Hester
+and baby Nan were left motherless. Several little
+brothers and sisters had come between Hester and
+Nan, but from various causes they had all died in
+their infancy, and only the eldest and youngest of
+Sir John Thornton&#8217;s family remained.
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s father was stern, uncompromising. He
+was a very just and upright man, but he knew
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+nothing of the ways of children, and when Hester
+in her usual tom-boyish fashion climbed trees and
+tore her dresses, and rode bare-backed on one or two
+of his most dangerous horses, he not only tried a
+little sharp, and therefore useless, correction, but
+determined to take immediate steps to have his wild
+and rather unmanageable little daughter sent to a
+first-class school. Hester was on her way there
+now, and very sore was her heart and indignant
+her impulses. Father&#8217;s &#8220;good-bye&#8221; seemed to her
+to be the crowning touch to her unhappiness, and
+she made up her mind not to be good, not to learn
+her lessons, not to come home at midsummer crowned
+with honors and reduced to an every-day and pattern
+little girl. No, she would be the same wild
+Hetty as of yore; and when father saw that school
+could do nothing for her, that it could never make
+her into a good and ordinary little girl, he would
+allow her to remain at home. At home there was
+at least Nan to love, and there was mother to remember.
+</p>
+<p>Hetty was a child of the strongest feelings.
+Since her mother&#8217;s death she had scarcely mentioned
+her name. When her father alluded to his wife,
+Hester ran out of the room; when the servants
+spoke of their late mistress, Hester turned pale,
+stamped her feet, and told them to be quiet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are not worthy to speak of my mother,&#8221;
+she electrified them all one day by exclaiming:
+&#8220;My mother is an angel now, and you&mdash;oh, you are
+not fit to breathe her name!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span></p>
+<p>Only to one person would Hetty ever voluntarily
+say a word about the beloved dead mother, and that
+was to little Nan. Nan said her prayers, as she expressed
+it, to Hetty now; and Hetty taught her a
+little phrase to use instead of the familiar &#8220;God
+bless mother.&#8221; She taught the child to say, &#8220;Thank
+God for making mother into a beautiful angel;&#8221;
+and when Nan asked what an angel was, and how
+the cozy mother she remembered could be turned
+into one, Hester was beguiled into a soft and tearful
+talk, and she drew several lovely pictures of
+white-robed angels, until the little child was satisfied
+and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like that, Hetty&mdash;me&#8217;ll be an angel too,
+Hetty, same as mamma.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These talks with Nan, however, did not come very
+often, and of late they had almost ceased, for Nan
+was only two and a half, and the strange, sad fact
+remained that in three months she had almost forgotten
+her mother.
+</p>
+<p>Hester on her way to school this morning cried
+for some time, then she sat silent, her crape veil still
+down, and her eyes watching furtively her fellow-passengers.
+They consisted of two rather fidgety
+old ladies, who wrapped themselves in rugs, were
+very particular on the question of hot bottles, and
+watched Hester in their turn with considerable
+curiosity and interest. Presently one of them
+offered the little girl a sandwich, which she was too
+proud or too shy to accept, although by this time
+she was feeling extremely hungry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You will, perhaps, prefer a cake, my dear?&#8221;
+said the good-natured little old lady. &#8220;My sister
+Agnes has got some delicious queen-cakes in her
+basket&mdash;will you eat one?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester murmured a feeble assent, and the queen-cake
+did her so much good that she ventured to
+raise her crape veil and to look around her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, that is much better,&#8221; said the first little old
+lady. &#8220;Come to this side of the carriage, my love;
+we are just going to pass through a lovely bit of
+country, and you will like to watch the view. See;
+if you place yourself here, my sister Agnes&#8217; basket
+will be just at your feet, and you can help yourself
+to a queen-cake whenever you are so disposed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; responded Hester, in a much more
+cheerful tone, for it was really quite impossible to
+keep up reserve with such a bright-looking little old
+lady; &#8220;your queen-cakes are very nice, and I liked
+that one, but one is quite enough, thank you. It is
+Nan who is so particularly fond of queen-cakes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And who is Nan, my dear?&#8221; asked the sister to
+whom the queen-cakes specially belonged.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is my dear little baby sister,&#8221; said Hester
+in a sorrowful tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, and it was about her you were crying just
+now,&#8221; said the first lady, laying her hand on Hester&#8217;s
+arm. &#8220;Never mind us, dear, we have seen a great
+many tears&mdash;a great many. They are the way of
+the world. Women are born to them. As Kingsley
+says&mdash;&#8216;women must weep.&#8217; It was quite natural
+that you should cry about your sweet little Nan,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span>
+and I wish we could send her some of these queen-cakes
+that you say she is so fond of. Are you going
+to be long away from her, love?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, for months and months,&#8221; said Hester.
+&#8220;I did not know,&#8221; she added, &#8220;that it was such a
+common thing to cry. I never used to.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, you have had other trouble, poor child,&#8221;
+glancing at her deep mourning frock.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is since then I have cried so often.
+Please, I would rather not speak about it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite right, my love, quite right,&#8221; said Miss
+Agnes in a much brisker tone than her sister.
+&#8220;We will turn the conversation now to something
+inspiriting. Jane is quite right, there are plenty of
+tears in the world; but there is also a great deal of
+sunshine and heaps of laughter, merry laughter&mdash;the
+laughter of youth, my child. Now, I dare say,
+though you have begun your journey so sadly, that
+you are really bound on quite a pleasant little expedition.
+For instance, you are going to visit a
+kind aunt, or some one else who will give you a
+delightful welcome.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;I am not. I am going to a
+dreadful place, and the thought of that, and parting
+from little Nan, are the reasons why I cried. I am
+going to prison&mdash;I am, indeed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear love!&#8221; exclaimed both the little
+old ladies in a breath. Then Miss Agnes continued:
+&#8220;You have really taken Jane&#8217;s breath away&mdash;quite.
+Yes, Jane, I see that you are in for an attack
+of palpitation. Never mind her, dear, she palpitates
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+very easily; but I think you must be mistaken,
+my love, in mentioning such an appalling
+word as &#8216;prison.&#8217; Yes, now I come to think of it,
+it is absolutely certain that you must be mistaken;
+for if you were going to such a terrible place of
+punishment you would be under the charge of a
+policeman. You are given to strong language, dear,
+like other young folk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I call it prison,&#8221; continued Hester, who
+was rather flattered by all this bustle and Miss
+Jane&#8217;s agitation; &#8220;it has a dreadful sound, hasn&#8217;t it?
+I call it prison, but father says I am going to school&mdash;you
+can&#8217;t wonder that I am crying, can you?
+Oh! what is the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For the two little old ladies jumped up at this
+juncture, and gave Hetty a kiss apiece on her soft,
+young lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My darling,&#8221; they both exclaimed, &#8220;we are so
+relieved and delighted! Your strong language startled
+us, and school is anything but what you imagine,
+dear. Ah, Jane! can you ever forget our happy
+days at school?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Jane sighed and rolled up her eyes, and then
+the two commenced a vigorous catechizing of the
+little girl. Really Hester could not help feeling
+almost sunshiny before that long journey came to
+an end, for she and the Misses Bruce made some delightful
+discoveries. The little old ladies very
+quickly found out that they lived close to the school
+where Hetty was to spend the next few months.
+They knew Mrs. Willis well&mdash;they knew the delightful,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+rambling, old-fashioned house where Hester
+was to live&mdash;they even knew two or three of the
+scholars; and they said so often to the little girl that
+she was going into a life of clover&mdash;positive clover&mdash;that
+she began to smile, and even partly to believe
+them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad I shall be near you, at least,&#8221; she said
+at last, with a frank sweet smile, for she had greatly
+taken to her kind fellow-travelers.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my dear,&#8221; exclaimed Miss Jane. &#8220;We attend
+the same church, and I shall look out for you
+on Sunday, and,&#8221; she continued, glancing first at her
+sister and then addressing Hester, &#8220;perhaps Mrs.
+Willis will allow you to visit us occasionally.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll come to-morrow, if you like,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, dear, well&mdash;that must be as Mrs. Willis
+thinks best. Ah, here we are at Sefton at last. We
+shall look out for you in church on Sunday, my
+love.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_III_AT_LAVENDER_HOUSE' id='CHAPTER_III_AT_LAVENDER_HOUSE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<h3>AT LAVENDER HOUSE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hester&#8217;s journey had really proved wonderfully
+agreeable. She had taken a great fancy to the little old
+ladies who had fussed over her and made themselves
+pleasant in her behalf. She felt herself something
+like a heroine as she poured out a little, just a little,
+of her troubles into their sympathizing ears; and
+their cheerful remarks with regard to school and
+school-life had caused her to see clearly that there
+might be another and a brighter side to the gloomy
+picture she had drawn with regard to her future.
+</p>
+<p>But during the drive of two and a half miles from
+Sefton to Lavender House, Hester once more began
+to feel anxious and troubled. The Misses Bruce had
+gone off with some other passengers in a little omnibus
+to their small villa in the town, but Lavender
+House was some distance off, and the little omnibus
+never went so far.
+</p>
+<p>An old-fashioned carriage, which the ladies told
+Hester belonged to Mrs. Willis, had been sent to
+meet her, and a man whom the Misses Bruce addressed
+as &#8220;Thomas&#8221; helped to place her trunk and
+a small portmanteau on the roof of the vehicle. The
+little girl had to take her drive alone, and the rather
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+ancient horse which drew the old carriage climbed
+up and down the steep roads in a most leisurely
+fashion. It was a cold winter&#8217;s day, and by the
+time Thomas had executed some commissions in
+Sefton, and had reached the gates of the avenue
+which led to Lavender House, it was very nearly
+dark. Hester trembled at the darkness, and when
+the gates were shut behind them by a rosy-faced
+urchin of ten, she once more began to feel the cruel
+and desolate idea that she was going to prison.
+</p>
+<p>They drove slowly down a long and winding
+avenue, and, although Hester could not see, she knew
+they must be passing under trees, for several times
+their branches made a noise against the roof of the
+carriage. At last they came to a standstill. The
+old servant scrambled slowly down from his seat on
+the box, and, opening the carriage-door, held out his
+hand to help the little stranger to alight.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come now, missy,&#8221; he said in cheering tones,
+&#8220;come out, and you&#8217;ll be warm and snug in a minute.
+Dear, dear! I expect you&#8217;re nearly froze up,
+poor little miss, and it <i>is</i> a most bitter cold night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He rang a bell which hung by the entrance of a
+deep porch, and the next moment the wide hall-door
+was flung open by a neat maid-servant, and Hester
+stepped within.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s come,&#8221; exclaimed several voices in different
+keys, and proceeding apparently from different
+quarters. Hester looked around her in a half-startled
+way, but she could see no one, except the maid, who
+smiled at her and said:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Welcome to Lavender House, miss. If you&#8217;ll
+step into the porter&#8217;s room for one moment, there is
+a good fire there, and I&#8217;ll acquaint Miss Danesbury
+that you have arrived.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The little room in question was at the right hand
+side of a very wide and cheerful hall, which was
+decorated in pale tints of green, and had a handsome
+encaustic-tiled floor. A blazing fire and two lamps
+made the hall look cheerful, but Hester was very
+glad to take refuge from the unknown voices in the
+porter&#8217;s small room. She found herself quite trembling
+with shyness and cold, and an indescribable
+longing to get back to Nan; and as she waited for
+Miss Danesbury and wondered fearfully who or
+what Miss Danesbury was, she scarcely derived any
+comfort from the blazing fire near which she stood.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rather tall for her age, but I fear, I greatly
+fear, a little sulky,&#8221; said a voice behind her; and
+when she turned round in an agony of trepidation
+and terror, she suddenly found herself face to face
+with a tall, kind-looking, middle-aged lady, and also
+with a bright, gypsy-looking girl.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie Forest, how very naughty of you to hide
+behind the door! You are guilty of disobedience
+in coming into this room without leave. I must report
+you, my dear; yes, I really must. You lose
+two good conduct marks for this, and will probably
+have thirty lines in addition to your usual quantity
+of French poetry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But she won&#8217;t tell on me, she won&#8217;t, dear old
+Danesbury,&#8221; said the girl; &#8220;she couldn&#8217;t be so
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+hard-hearted, the precious love, particularly as curiosity
+happens to be one of her own special little
+virtues! Take a kiss, Danesbury, and now, as you love
+me you&#8217;ll be merciful!&#8221; The girl flitted away, and
+Miss Danesbury turned to Hester, whose face had
+changed from red to pale during this little scene.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a horrid, vulgar, low-bred girl!&#8221; she exclaimed
+with passion, for in all the experiences of
+her short life Hester had never even imagined that
+personal remarks could be made of any one in their
+very presence. &#8220;I hope she&#8217;ll get a lot of punishment&mdash;I
+hope you are not going to forgive her,&#8221;
+she continued, for her anger had for the time quite
+overcome her shyness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear, my dear! we should all be forgiving,&#8221;
+exclaimed Miss Danesbury in her gentle voice.
+&#8220;Welcome to Lavender House, love; I am sorry I
+was not in the hall to receive you. Had I been,
+this little <i>rencontre</i> would not have occurred. Annie
+Forest meant no harm, however&mdash;she&#8217;s a wild little
+sprite, but affectionate. You and she will be the
+best friends possible by-and-by. Now, let me take
+you to your room; the gong for tea will sound in
+exactly five minutes, and I am sure you will be glad
+of something to eat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury then led Hester across the hall
+and up some broad, low, thickly-carpeted stairs.
+When they had ascended two flights, and were
+standing on a handsome landing, she paused.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you see this baize door, dear?&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;This is the entrance to the school part of the house.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+This part that we are now in belongs exclusively to
+Mrs. Willis, and the girls are never allowed to come
+here without leave. All the school life is lived at
+the other side of this baize door, and a very happy
+life I assure you it is for those little girls who make
+up their minds to be brave and good. Now kiss me,
+my dear, and let me bid you welcome once again to
+Lavender House.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you our principal teacher, then?&#8221; asked
+Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I? oh, dear, no, my love. I teach the younger
+children English, and I look after the interests and
+comforts of all. I am a very useful sort of person,
+I believe, and I have a motherly heart, dear, and it
+is a way with little girls to come to me when they are
+in trouble. Now, my love, we must not chatter any
+longer. Take my hand, and let us get to your room
+as fast as possible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury pushed open the baize door, and
+instantly Hester found herself in a different region.
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; part of the house gave the impression
+of warmth, luxuriance, and even elegance of arrangement.
+At the other side of the door were long,
+narrow corridors, with snow-white but carpetless
+floors, and rather cold, distempered walls. Miss
+Danesbury, holding the new pupil&#8217;s hand, led her
+down two corridors, and past a great number of
+shut doors, behind which Hester could hear suppressed
+laughter and eager, chattering voices. At
+last, however, they stopped at a door which had the
+number &#8220;32&#8221; written over it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;This is your bedroom, dear,&#8221; said the English
+teacher, &#8220;and to-night you will not be sorry to have
+it alone. Mrs. Willis received a telegram from
+Susan Drummond, your room-mate, this afternoon,
+and she will not arrive until to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>However bare and even cold the corridors looked,
+the bedroom into which Hester was ushered by no
+means corresponded with this appearance. It was a
+small, but daintily-furnished little room. The floor
+was carpeted with green felt, the one window was
+hung with pretty draperies and two little, narrow,
+white beds were arranged gracefully with French
+canopies. All the furniture in the room was of a
+minute description, but good of its kind. Beside
+each bed stood a mahogany chest of drawers. At
+two corresponding corners were marble wash handstands,
+and even two pretty toilet tables stood side
+by side in the recess of the window. But the sight
+that perhaps pleased Hester most was a small bright
+fire which burned in the grate.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, dear, this is your room. As you have
+arrived first you can choose your own bed and your
+own chest of drawers. Ah, that is right, Ellen has
+unfastened your portmanteau; she will unpack your
+trunk to-night, and take it to the box-room. Now,
+dear, smooth your hair and wash your hands. The
+gong will sound instantly. I will come for you
+when it does.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV_LITTLE_DRAWINGROOMS_AND_LITTLE_TIFFS' id='CHAPTER_IV_LITTLE_DRAWINGROOMS_AND_LITTLE_TIFFS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<h3>LITTLE DRAWING-ROOMS AND LITTLE TIFFS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Miss Danesbury, true to her word, came to fetch
+Hester down to tea. They went down some broad,
+carpetless stairs, along a wide stone hall, and then
+paused for an instant at a half-open door from
+which a stream of eager voices issued.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will introduce you to your schoolfellows, and
+I hope your future friends,&#8221; said Miss Danesbury.
+&#8220;After tea you will come with me to see Mrs.
+Willis&mdash;she is never in the school-room at tea-time.
+Mdlle. Perier or Miss Good usually superintends.
+Now, my dear, come along&mdash;why, surely you are
+not frightened!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please, may I sit near you?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my love; I take care of the little ones, and
+they are at a table by themselves. Now, come in
+at once&mdash;the moment you dread will soon be over,
+and it is nothing, my love&mdash;really nothing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nothing! never, as long as Hester lived, did she
+forget the supreme agony of terror and shyness
+which came over her as she entered that long, low,
+brightly-lighted room. The forty pairs of curious
+eyes which were raised inquisitively to her face
+became as torturing as forty burning suns. She
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+felt an almost uncontrollable desire to run away and
+hide&mdash;she wondered if she could possibly keep from
+screaming aloud. In the end she found herself, she
+scarcely knew how, seated beside a gentle, sweet-mannered
+girl, and munching bread and butter
+which tasted drier than sawdust, and occasionally
+trying to sip something very hot and scalding which
+she vaguely understood went by the name of tea.
+The buzzing voices all chattering eagerly in French,
+and the occasional sharp, high-pitched reprimands
+coming in peremptory tones from the thin lips of
+Mdlle. Perier, sounded far off and distant&mdash;her head
+was dizzy, her eyes swam&mdash;the tired and shy child
+endured tortures.
+</p>
+<p>In after-days, in long after-years when the memory
+of Lavender House was to come back to
+Hetty Thornton as one of the sweetest, brightest
+episodes in her existence&mdash;in the days when she was
+to know almost every blade of grass in the gardens,
+and to be familiar with each corner of the old house,
+with each face which now appeared so strange, she
+might wonder at her feelings to-night, but never
+even then could she forget them.
+</p>
+<p>She sat at the table in a dream, trying to eat the
+tasteless bread and butter. Suddenly and swiftly
+the thick and somewhat stale piece of bread on her
+plate was exchanged for a thin, fresh, and delicately-cut
+slice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eat that,&#8221; whispered a voice&mdash;&#8220;I know the
+other is horrid. It&#8217;s a shame of Perier to give such
+stuff to a stranger.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Mdlle. Cécile, you are transgressing: you are
+talking English,&#8221; came in a torrent of rapid French
+from the head of the table. &#8220;You lose a conduct
+mark, ma&#8217;amselle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The young girl who sat next Hester inclined her
+head gently and submissively, and Hester, venturing
+to glance at her, saw that a delicate pink had spread
+itself over her pale face. She was a plain girl; but
+even Hester, in this first moment of terror, could
+scarcely have been afraid of her, so benign was her
+expression, so sweet the glance from her soft, full
+brown eyes. Hester now further observed that the
+thin bread and butter had been removed from
+Cecil&#8217;s own plate. She began to wonder why this
+girl was indulged with better food than the rest of
+her comrades.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was beginning to feel a little less shy, and
+was taking one or two furtive glances at her companions,
+when she suddenly felt herself turning
+crimson, and all her agony of shyness and dislike to
+her school-life returning. She encountered the full,
+bright, quizzical gaze of the girl who had made
+personal remarks about her in the porter&#8217;s room.
+The merry black eyes of this gypsy maiden fairly
+twinkled with suppressed fun when they met hers,
+and the bright head even nodded audaciously across
+the table to her.
+</p>
+<p>Not for worlds would Hester return this friendly
+greeting&mdash;she still held to her opinion that Miss
+Forest was one of the most ill-bred people she had
+ever met, and, in addition to feeling a considerable
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+amount of fear of her, she quite made up her mind
+that she would never be on friendly terms with so
+under-bred a girl.
+</p>
+<p>At this moment grace was repeated in sonorous
+tones by a stern-looking person who sat at the foot
+of the long table, and whom Hester had not before
+noticed. Instantly the girls rose from their seats,
+and began to file in orderly procession out of the
+tea-room. Hester looked round in terror for the
+friendly Miss Danesbury, but she could not catch
+sight of her anywhere. At this moment, however,
+her companion of the tea-table touched her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We may speak English now for half an hour,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;and most of us are going to the play-room.
+We generally tell stories round the fire upon
+these dark winter&#8217;s nights. Would you like to come
+with me to-night? Shall we be chums for this
+evening?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what &#8216;chums&#8217; are,&#8221; said Hester;
+&#8220;but,&#8221; she added, with the dawning of a faint smile
+on her poor, sad little face, &#8220;I shall be very glad to
+go with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come then,&#8221; said Cecil Temple, and she pulled
+Hester&#8217;s hand within her arm, and walked with her
+across the wide stone hall, and into the largest room
+Hester had ever seen.
+</p>
+<p>Never, anywhere, could there have been a more
+delightful play-room than this. It was so large that
+two great fires which burned at either end were not
+at all too much to emit even tolerable warmth.
+The room was bright with three or four lamps
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+which were suspended from the ceiling, the floor
+was covered with matting, and the walls were divided
+into curious partitions, which gave the room a
+peculiar but very cosy effect. These partitions consisted
+of large panels, and were divided by slender
+rails the one from the other.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my cosy corner,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;and you
+shall sit with me in it to-night. You see,&#8221; she
+added, &#8220;each of us girls has her own partition, and
+we can do exactly what we like in it. We can put
+our own photographs, our own drawings, our own
+treasures on our panels. Under each division is our
+own little work-table, and, in fact, our own individual
+treasures lie round us in the enclosure of this
+dear little rail. The center of the room is common
+property, and you see what a great space there is
+round each fire-place where we can chatter and talk,
+and be on common ground. The fire-place at the
+end of the room near the door is reserved especially
+for the little ones, but we elder girls sit at the top.
+Of course you will belong to us. How old are
+you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Twelve,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, you are so tall that you cannot possibly
+be put with the little ones, so you must come in
+with us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And shall I have a railed-in division and a panel
+of my own?&#8221; asked Hester. &#8220;It sounds a very nice
+arrangement. I hope my department will be close
+to yours, Miss &mdash;&mdash;.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Temple is my name,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;but you need
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+not call me that. I am Cecil to all my friends, and
+you are my friend this evening, for you are my chum,
+you know. Oh, you were asking me about our
+departments&mdash;you won&#8217;t have any at first, for you
+have got to earn it, but I will invite you to mine
+pretty often. Come, now, let us go inside. Is not
+it just like the darlingest little drawing-room? I am
+so sorry that I have only one easy chair, but
+you shall have it to-night, and I will sit on this
+three-legged stool. I am saving up my money to
+buy another arm-chair, and Annie has promised to
+upholster it for me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is Annie one of the maids?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, no! she&#8217;s dear old Annie Forest, the
+liveliest girl in the school. Poor darling, she&#8217;s seldom
+out of hot water; but we all love her, we can&#8217;t
+help it. Poor Annie, she hardly ever has the luxury
+of a department to herself, so she is useful all round.
+She&#8217;s the most amusing and good-natured dear pet
+in Christendom.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like her at all,&#8221; said Hester; &#8220;I did not
+know you were talking of her&mdash;she is a most rude,
+uncouth girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple, who had been arranging a small
+dark green table-cloth with daffodils worked artistically
+in each corner on her little table, stood up as
+the newcomer uttered these words, and regarded
+her fixedly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a pity to draw hasty conclusions,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;There is no girl more loved in the school than
+Annie Forest. Even the teachers, although they
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+are always punishing her, cannot help having a soft
+corner in their hearts for her. What can she possibly
+have done to offend you? but oh! hush&mdash;don&#8217;t
+speak&mdash;she is coming into the room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Cecil finished her rather eager defense of her
+friend, and prevented the indignant words which
+were bubbling to Hester&#8217;s lips, a gay voice was heard
+singing a comic song in the passage, the play-room
+door was flung open with a bang, and Miss Forest
+entered the room with a small girl seated on each
+of her shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hold on, Janny, love; keep your arms well
+round me, Mabel. Now, then, here we go&mdash;twice
+up the room and down again. No more, as I&#8217;m
+alive. I&#8217;ve got to attend to other matters than
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She placed the little girls on the floor amid peals
+of laughter, and shouts from several little ones to
+give them a ride too. The children began to cling
+to her skirts and to drag her in all directions, and she
+finally escaped from them with one dexterous bound
+which placed her in that portion of the play-room
+where the little ones knew they were not allowed to
+enter.
+</p>
+<p>Until her arrival the different girls scattered about
+the large room had been more or less orderly, chattering
+and laughing together, it is true, but in a quiet
+manner. Now the whole place appeared suddenly
+in an uproar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie, come here&mdash;Annie, darling, give me your
+opinion about this&mdash;Annie, my precious, naughty
+creature, come and tell me about your last scrape.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span></p>
+<p>Annie Forest blew several kisses to her adorers,
+but did not attach herself to any of them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Temple requires me,&#8221; she said, in her sauciest
+tones; &#8220;my beloved friends, the Temple as
+usual is vouchsafing its sacred shelter to the
+stranger.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In an instant Annie was kneeling inside the enclosure
+of Miss Temple&#8217;s rail and laughing immoderately.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You dear stranger!&#8221; she exclaimed, turning
+round and gazing full into Hester&#8217;s shy face, &#8220;I do
+declare I have been punished for the intense ardor
+with which I longed to embrace you. Has she told
+you, Cecil, darling, what I did in her behalf? How
+I ventured beyond the sacred precincts of the baize
+door and hid inside the porter&#8217;s room? Poor dear,
+she jumped when she heard my friendly voice, and
+as I spoke Miss Danesbury caught me in the very
+act. Poor old dear, she cried when she complained
+of me, but duty is Danesbury&#8217;s motto; she would
+go to the stake for it, and I respect her immensely.
+I have got my twenty lines of that horrible French
+poetry to learn&mdash;the very thought almost strangles
+me, and I foresee plainly that I shall do something
+terribly naughty within the next few hours; I must,
+my love&mdash;I really must. I have just come here to
+shake hands with Miss Thornton, and then I must
+away to my penance. Ah, how little I shall learn,
+and how hard I shall think! Welcome to Lavender
+House, Miss Thornton; look upon me as your devoted
+ally, and if you have a spark of pity in your
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+breast, feel for the girl whom you got into a scrape
+the very moment you entered these sacred walls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand you,&#8221; said Hester, who would
+not hold out her hand, and who was standing up in
+a very stiff, shy, and angular position. &#8220;I think
+you were very rude to startle me, and make personal
+remarks the very moment I came into the house.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear! I only said you were tall, and looked
+rather sulky, love&mdash;you did, you know, really.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was very rude of you,&#8221; repeated Hester, turning
+crimson, and trying to keep back her tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, my dear, I meant no harm; shake hands,
+now, and let us make friends.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Hester felt either too shy or too miserable to
+yield to this request&mdash;she half turned her back, and
+leaned against Miss Temple&#8217;s panel.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind her,&#8221; whispered gentle Cecil Temple;
+but Annie Forest&#8217;s bright face had darkened
+ominously&mdash;the school favorite was not accustomed
+to having her advances flung back in her face. She
+left the room singing a defiant, naughty song, and
+several of the girls who had overheard this scene
+whispered one to the other:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She can&#8217;t be at all nice&mdash;she would not even
+shake hands with Annie. Fancy her turning against
+our Annie in that way!&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_V_THE_HEADMISTRESS' id='CHAPTER_V_THE_HEADMISTRESS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<h3>THE HEAD-MISTRESS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie Forest had scarcely left the room before
+Miss Danesbury appeared with a message for Hester,
+who was to come with her directly to see Mrs.
+Willis. The poor shy girl felt only too glad to leave
+behind her the cruel, staring, and now by no means
+approving eyes of her schoolmates. She had overheard
+several of their whispers, and felt rather
+alarmed at her own act. But Hester, shy as she
+was, could be very tenacious of an idea. She
+had taken a dislike to Annie Forest, and she was
+quite determined to be true to what she considered
+her convictions&mdash;namely, that Annie was under-bred
+and common, and not at all the kind of girl whom
+her mother would have cared for her to know. The
+little girl followed Miss Danesbury in silence. They
+crossed the stone hall together, and now passing
+through another baize door, found themselves once
+more in the handsome entrance-hall. They walked
+across this hall to a door carefully protected from
+all draughts by rich plush curtains, and Miss Danesbury,
+turning the handle, and going a step or two
+into the room, said in her gentle voice:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I have brought Hester Thornton to see you,
+Mrs. Willis, according to your wish.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury then withdrew, and Hester ventured
+to raise her eyes and to look timidly at the
+head-mistress.
+</p>
+<p>A tall woman, with a beautiful face and silvery
+white hair, came instantly to meet her, laid her two
+hands on the girl&#8217;s shoulders, and then, raising her
+shy little face, imprinted a kiss on her forehead.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your mother was one of my earliest pupils,
+Hester,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and you are&mdash;no&#8221;&mdash;after a
+pause, &#8220;you are not very like her. You are her
+child, however, my dear, and as such you have a
+warm welcome from me. Now, come and sit by the
+fire, and let us talk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester did not feel nearly so constrained with
+this graceful and gracious lady as she had done with
+her schoolmates. The atmosphere of the room
+recalled her beloved mother&#8217;s boudoir at home.
+The rich dove-colored satin dress, the cap made of
+Mechlin lace which softened and shaded Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; silvery hair, appeared homelike to the little
+girl, who had grown up accustomed to all the
+luxuries of wealth. Above all, the head-mistress&#8217;
+mention of her mother drew her heart toward the
+beautiful face, and attracted her toward the rich,
+full tones of a voice which could be powerful and
+commanding at will. Mrs. Willis, notwithstanding
+her white hair, had a youthful face, and Hester
+made the comment which came first to her lips:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not think you were old enough to have
+taught my mother.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sixty, dear, and I have kept this school for
+thirty years. Your mother was not the only pupil
+who sent her children to be taught by me when the
+time came. Now, you can sit on this stool by the
+fire and tell me about your home. Your mother&mdash;ah,
+poor child, you would rather not talk about her
+just yet. Helen&#8217;s daughter must have strong feelings&mdash;ah,
+yes; I see, I see. Another time, darling,
+when you know me better. Now tell me about
+your little sister, and your father. You do not
+know, perhaps, that I am Nan&#8217;s godmother?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After this the head-mistress and the new pupil
+had a long conversation. Hester forgot her shyness;
+her whole heart had gone out instantly to this
+beautiful woman who had known, and loved, and
+taught her mother.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will try to be good at school,&#8221; she said at last;
+&#8220;but, oh, please, Mrs. Willis, it does not seem to me
+to-night as if school-life could be happy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It has its trials, Hester; but the brave and the
+noble girls often find this time of discipline one of
+the best in their lives&mdash;good at the time, very good
+to look back on by-and-by. You will find a miniature
+world around you; you will be surrounded by
+temptations; and you will have rare chances of
+proving whether your character can be strong and
+great and true. I think, as a rule, my girls are
+happy, and as a rule they turn out well. The great
+motto of life here, Hester, is earnestness. We are
+earnest in our work, we are earnest in our play. A
+half-hearted girl has no chance at Lavender House.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+In play-time, laugh with the merriest, my child; in
+school-hours, study with the most studious. Do you
+understand me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I try to, a little,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;but it seems all
+very strange just now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No doubt it does, and at first you will have to
+encounter many perplexities and to fight many
+battles. Never mind, if you have the right spirit
+within you, you will come out on the winning side.
+Now, tell me, have you made any acquaintances as
+yet among the girls?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;Cecil Temple has been kind to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil is one of my dearest pupils; cultivate her
+friendship, Hester&mdash;she is honorable, she is sympathizing.
+I am not afraid to say that Cecil has a
+great heart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is another girl,&#8221; continued Hester, &#8220;who
+has spoken to me. I need not make her my friend,
+need I?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is she, dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Forest&mdash;I don&#8217;t like her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What! our school favorite. You will change
+your mind, I expect&mdash;but that is the gong for
+prayers. You shall come with me to chapel, to-night,
+and I will introduce you to Mr. Everard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI__I_AM_UNHAPPY' id='CHAPTER_VI__I_AM_UNHAPPY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;I AM UNHAPPY.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Between forty and fifty young girls assembled
+night and morning for prayers in the pretty chapel
+which adjoined Lavender House. This chapel had
+been reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient
+priory, on the site of which the house was built.
+The walls, and even the beautiful eastern window,
+belonged to a far-off date. The roof had been carefully
+reared in accordance with the style of the east
+window, and the whole effect was beautiful and impressive.
+Mrs. Willis was particularly fond of her
+own chapel. Here she hoped the girls&#8217; best lessons
+might be learned, and here she had even once or twice
+brought a refractory pupil, and tried what a gentle
+word or two spoken in these old and sacred walls
+might effect. Here, on wet Sundays the girls
+assembled for service; and here, every evening at
+nine o&#8217;clock, came the vicar of the large parish to
+which Lavender House belonged, to conduct evening
+prayers. He was an old man, and a great friend
+of Mrs. Willis&#8217;, and he often told her that he considered
+these young girls some of the most important
+members of his flock.
+</p>
+<p>Here Hester knelt to-night. It is to be doubted
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+whether in her confusion, and in the strange loneliness
+which even Mrs. Willis had scarcely removed,
+she prayed much. It is certain she did not join in
+the evening hymn, which, with the aid of an organ
+and some sweet girl-voices, was beautifully and
+almost pathetically rendered. After evening
+prayers had come to an end, Mrs. Willis took
+Hester&#8217;s hand and led her up to the old, white-headed
+vicar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my new pupil, Mr. Everard, or rather I
+should say, our new pupil. Her education depends
+as much on you as on me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The vicar held out his hands, and took Hester&#8217;s
+within them, and then drew her forward to the
+light.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This little face does not seem quite strange to
+me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Have I ever seen you before, my
+dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; replied Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have seen her mother,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis&mdash;&#8220;Do
+you remember your favorite pupil, Helen
+Anstey, of long ago?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! indeed&mdash;indeed! I shall never forget Helen.
+And are you her child, little one?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Hester&#8217;s face had grown white. The solemn
+service in the chapel, joined to all the excitement
+and anxieties of the day, had strung up her sensitive
+nerves to a pitch higher than she could endure.
+Suddenly, as the vicar spoke to her, and Mrs. Willis
+looked kindly down at her new pupil, the chapel
+seemed to reel round, the pupils one by one disappeared,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+and the tired girl only saved herself from
+fainting by a sudden burst of tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am unhappy,&#8221; she sobbed, &#8220;without my
+mother! Please, please, don&#8217;t talk to me about my
+mother.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She could scarcely take in the gentle words which
+her two friends said to her, and she hardly noticed
+when Mrs. Willis did such a wonderful thing as to
+stoop down and kiss a second time the lips of a new
+pupil.
+</p>
+<p>Finally she found herself consigned to Miss
+Danesbury&#8217;s care, who hurried her off to her room,
+and helped her to undress and tucked her into her
+little bed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, love, you shall have some hot gruel. No,
+not a word. You ate little or no tea to-night&mdash;I
+watched you from my distant table. Half your
+loneliness is caused by want of food&mdash;I know it, my
+love; I am a very practical person. Now, eat your
+gruel, and then shut your eyes and go to sleep.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very kind to me,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;and so
+is Mrs. Willis, and so is Mr. Everard, and I like Cecil
+Temple&mdash;but, oh, I wish Annie Forest was not in
+the school!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush, my dear, I implore of you. You pain me
+by these words. I am quite confident that Annie
+will be your best friend yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s lips said nothing, but her eyes answered
+&#8220;Never&#8221; as plainly as eyes could speak.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII_A_DAY_AT_SCHOOL' id='CHAPTER_VII_A_DAY_AT_SCHOOL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<h3>A DAY AT SCHOOL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>If Hester Thornton went to sleep that night
+under a sort of dreamy, hazy impression that school
+was a place without a great deal of order, with
+many kind and sympathizing faces, and with some
+not so agreeable; if she went to sleep under the impression
+that she had dropped into a sort of medley,
+that she had found herself in a vast new world
+where certain personages exercised undoubtedly a
+strong moral influence, but where on the whole a
+number of other people did pretty much what they
+pleased&mdash;she awoke in the morning to find her preconceived
+ideas scattered to the four winds.
+</p>
+<p>There was nothing of apparent liberty about the
+Lavender House arrangements in the early morning
+hours. In the first place, it seemed quite the middle
+of the night when Hester was awakened by a loud
+gong, which clanged through the house and caused
+her to sit up in bed in a considerable state of fright
+and perplexity. A moment or two later a neatly-dressed
+maid-servant came into the room with a
+can of hot water; she lit a pair of candles on the
+mantel-piece, and, with the remark that the second
+gong would sound in half an hour, and that all the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+young ladies would be expected to assemble in the
+chapel at seven o&#8217;clock precisely, she left the room.
+</p>
+<p>Hester pulled her pretty little gold watch from
+under her pillow, and saw with a sigh that it was
+now half-past six.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What odious hours they keep in this horrid
+place!&#8221; she said to herself. &#8220;Well, well, I always
+did know that school would be unendurable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She waited for five minutes before she got up, and
+then she dressed herself languidly, and, if the truth
+must be told, in a very untidy fashion. She managed
+to be dressed by the time the second gong
+sounded, but she had only one moment to give to
+her private prayers. She reflected, however, that this
+did not greatly matter as she was going down to
+prayers immediately in the chapel.
+</p>
+<p>The service in the chapel the night before had
+impressed her more deeply than she cared to own,
+and she followed her companions down stairs with a
+certain feeling of pleasure at the thought of again
+seeing Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis. She wondered
+if they would take much notice of her this morning,
+and she thought it just possible that Mr. Everard,
+who had looked at her so compassionately the night
+before, might be induced, for the sake of his old
+friendship with her mother, to take her home with
+him to spend the day. She thought she would rather
+like to spend a day with Mr. Everard, and she fancied
+he was the sort of person who would influence
+her and help her to be good. Hester fancied that if
+some very interesting and quite out of the common
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+person took her in hand, she might be formed into
+something extremely noble&mdash;noble enough even to
+forgive Annie Forest.
+</p>
+<p>The girls all filed into the chapel, which was
+lighted as brightly and cheerily as the night before;
+but Hester found herself placed on a bench far down
+in the building. She was no longer in the place of
+honor by Mrs. Willis&#8217; side. She was one of a
+number, and no one looked particularly at her or
+noticed her in any way. A shy young curate read
+the morning prayers; Mr. Everard was not present,
+and Mrs. Willis, who was, walked out of the chapel
+when prayers were over without even glancing in
+Hester&#8217;s direction. This was bad enough for the
+poor little dreamer of dreams, but worse was to
+follow.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis did not speak to Hester, but she did
+stop for an instant beside Annie Forest. Hester saw
+her lay her white hand on the young girl&#8217;s shoulder
+and whisper for an instant in her ear. Annie&#8217;s
+lovely gypsy face flushed a vivid crimson.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For your sake, darling,&#8221; she whispered back; but
+Hester caught the words, and was consumed by a
+fierce jealousy.
+</p>
+<p>The girls went into the school-room, where Mdlle.
+Perier gave a French lesson to the upper class.
+Hester belonged to no class at present, and could
+look around her, and have plenty of time to reflect
+on her own miseries, and particularly on what she
+now considered the favoritism shown by Mrs.
+Willis.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Everard at least will read through that girl,&#8221;
+she said to herself; &#8220;he could not possibly endure
+any one so loud. Yes, I am sure that my only friend
+at home, Cecilia Day, would call Annie very loud.
+I wonder Mrs. Willis can endure her. Mrs. Willis
+seems so ladylike herself, but&mdash;Oh, I beg your pardon,
+what&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>A very sharp voice had addressed itself to the
+idle Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, mademoiselle, you are doing nothing!
+This cannot for a moment be permitted. Pardonnez-moi,
+you know not the French? Here is a little
+easy lesson. Study it, mademoiselle, and do not let
+your eyes wander a moment from the page.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester favored Mdlle. Perier with a look of lofty
+contempt, but she received the well-thumbed lesson-book
+in absolute silence.
+</p>
+<p>At eight o&#8217;clock came breakfast, which was
+nicely served, and was very good and abundant.
+Hester was thoroughly hungry this morning, and
+did not feel so shy as the night before. She found
+herself seated between two strange girls, who talked
+to her a little and would have made themselves
+friendly had she at all encouraged them to do so.
+After breakfast came half an hour&#8217;s recreation, when,
+the weather being very bad, the girls again assembled
+in the cozy play-room. Hester looked round
+eagerly for Cecil Temple, who greeted her with a
+kind smile, but did not ask her into her enclosure.
+Annie Forest was not present, and Hester breathed
+a sigh of relief at her absence. The half-hour
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+devoted to recreation proved rather dull to the newcomer.
+Hester could not understand her present
+world. To the girl who had been brought up
+practically as an only child in the warm shelter of
+a home, the ways and doings of school-girl life were
+an absolute enigma.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had no idea of unbending or of making
+herself agreeable. The girls voted her to one
+another stiff and tiresome, and quickly left her to
+her own devices. She looked longingly at Cecil
+Temple; but Cecil, who could never be knowingly
+unkind to any one, was seizing the precious moments
+to write a letter to her father, and Hester presently
+wandered down the room and tried to take an interest
+in the little ones. From twelve to fifteen quite
+little children were in the school, and Hester wondered
+with a sort of vague half-pain if she might
+see any child among the group the least like Nan.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They will like to have me with them,&#8221; she said
+to herself. &#8220;Poor little dots, they always like big
+girls to notice them, and didn&#8217;t they make a fuss
+about Miss Forest last night! Well, Nan is fond
+enough of me, and little children find out so quickly
+what one is really like.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester walked boldly into the group. The little
+dots were all as busy as bees, were not the least
+lonely, or the least shy, and very plainly gave the
+intruder to understand that they would prefer her
+room to her company. Hester was not proud with
+little children&mdash;she loved them dearly. Some of
+the smaller ones in question were beautiful little
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+creatures, and her heart warmed to them for Nan&#8217;s
+sake. She could not stoop to conciliate the older
+girls, but she could make an effort with the babies.
+She knelt on the floor and took up a headless doll.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know a little girl who had a doll like that,&#8221;
+she said. Here she paused and several pairs of eyes
+were fixed on her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor dolly&#8217;s b&#8217;oke,&#8221; said the owner of the headless
+one in a tone of deep commiseration.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You <i>are</i> such a breaker, you know, Annie,&#8221; said
+Annie&#8217;s little five-year-old sister.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please tell us about the little girl what had the
+doll wifout the head,&#8221; she proceeded, glancing at
+Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it was taken to a hospital, and got back its
+head,&#8221; said Hester quite cheerfully; &#8220;it became
+quite well again, and was a more beautiful doll than
+ever.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This announcement caused intense wonder and
+was certainly carrying the interest of all the little
+ones. Hester was deciding that the child who possessed
+the headless doll <i>had</i> a look of Nan about her
+dark brown eyes, when suddenly there was a diversion&mdash;the
+play-room door was opened noisily, banged-to
+with a very loud report, and a gay voice sang
+out:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fairy queen has just paid me a visit. Who
+wants sweeties from the fairy queen?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Instantly all the little feet had scrambled to the
+perpendicular, each pair of hands was clapped noisily,
+each little throat shouted a joyful:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Here comes Annie!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie Forest was surrounded, and Hester knelt
+alone on the hearth-rug.
+</p>
+<p>She felt herself coloring painfully&mdash;she did not
+fail to observe that two laughing eyes had fixed
+themselves with a momentary triumph on her face;
+then, snatching up a book, which happened to lie
+close, she seated herself with her back to all the
+girls, and her head bent over the page. It is quite
+doubtful whether she saw any of the words, but she
+was at least determined not to cry.
+</p>
+<p>The half-hour so wearisome to poor Hester came
+to an end, and the girls, conducted by Miss Danesbury,
+filed into the school-room and took their places
+in the different classes.
+</p>
+<p>Work had now begun in serious earnest. The
+school-room presented an animated and busy scene.
+The young faces with their varying expressions betokened
+on the whole the preponderance of an
+earnest spirit. Discipline, not too severe, reigned
+triumphant.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was not yet appointed to any place
+among these busy workers, but while she stood
+wondering, a little confused, and half intending to
+drop into an empty seat which happened to be close,
+Miss Danesbury came up to her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Follow me, Miss Thornton,&#8221; she said, and she
+conducted the young girl up the whole length of the
+great school-room, and pushed aside some baize curtains
+which concealed a second smaller room, where
+Mrs. Willis sat before a desk.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></p>
+<p>The head-mistress was no longer dressed in soft
+pearl-gray and Mechlin lace. She wore a black silk
+dress, and her white cap seemed to Hester to add a
+severe tone to her features. She neither shook hands
+with the new pupil nor kissed her, but said instantly
+in a bright though authoritative tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must now find out as quickly as possible what
+you know, Hester, in order to place you in the most
+suitable class.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester was a clever girl, and passed through the
+ordeal of a rather stiff examination with considerable
+ability. Mrs. Willis pronounced her English and
+general information quite up to the usual standard
+for girls of her age&mdash;her French was deficient, but
+she showed some talent for German.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the whole I am pleased with your general
+intelligence, and I think you have good capacities,
+Hester,&#8221; she said in conclusion. &#8220;I shall ask Miss
+Good, our very accomplished English teacher, to
+place you in the third class. You will have to work
+very hard, however, at your French, to maintain
+your place there. But Mdlle. Perier is kind and
+painstaking, and it rests with yourself to quickly
+acquire a conversational acquaintance with the language.
+You are aware that, except during recreation,
+you are never allowed to speak in any other
+tongue. Now, go back to the school-room, my
+dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Mrs. Willis spoke she laid her finger on a little
+silver gong which stood by her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One moment, please,&#8221; said Hester, coloring
+crimson; &#8220;I want to ask you a question, please.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it about your lessons?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No&mdash;oh, no; it is&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then pardon me, my dear,&#8221; uttered the governess;
+&#8220;I sit in my room every evening from eight to
+half-past, and I am then at liberty to see a pupil on
+any subject which is not trifling. Nothing but
+lessons are spoken of in lesson hours, Hester. Ah,
+here comes Miss Good. Miss Good, I should wish
+you to place Hester Thornton in the third class.
+Her English is up to the average. I will see Mdlle.
+Perier about her at twelve o&#8217;clock.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester followed the English teacher into the great
+school-room, took her place in the third class, at the
+desk which was pointed out to her, was given a pile
+of new books, and was asked to attend to the history
+lesson which was then going on.
+</p>
+<p>Notwithstanding her confusion, a certain sense of
+soreness, and some indignation at what she considered
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; altered manner, she acquitted
+herself with considerable spirit, and was pleased to
+see that her class companions regarded her with some
+respect.
+</p>
+<p>An English literature lecture followed the history,
+and here again Hester acquitted herself with <i>éclat</i>.
+The subject to-day was &#8220;Julius Cæsar,&#8221; and Hester
+had read Shakespeare&#8217;s play over many times with
+her mother.
+</p>
+<p>But when the hour came for foreign languages,
+her brief triumph ceased. Lower and lower did she
+fall in her schoolfellows&#8217; estimation as she stumbled
+through her truly English-French. Mdlle. Perier,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+who was a very fiery little woman, almost screamed
+at her&mdash;the girls colored and nearly tittered.
+Hester hoped to recover her lost laurels in German,
+but by this time her head ached and she did very
+little better in the German which she loved than in
+the French which she detested. At twelve o&#8217;clock
+she was relieved to find that school was over for the
+present, and she heard the English teacher&#8217;s voice
+desiring the girls to go quickly to their rooms, and
+to assemble in five minutes&#8217; time in the great stone
+hall, equipped for their walk.
+</p>
+<p>The walk lasted for a little over an hour, and was
+a very dreary penance to poor Hester, as she was
+neither allowed to run, race, nor talk a word of
+English. She sighed heavily once or twice, and
+several of the girls who looked at her curiously
+agreed with Annie Forest that she was decidedly
+sulky. The walk was followed by dinner; then
+came half an hour of recreation in the delightful
+play-room, and eager chattering in the English
+tongue.
+</p>
+<p>At three o&#8217;clock the school assembled once more;
+but now the studies were of a less severe character,
+and Hester spent one of her first happy half-hours
+over a drawing lesson. She had a great love for
+drawing, and felt some pride in the really beautiful
+copy which she was making of the stump of an old
+gnarled oak-tree. Her dismay, however, was proportionately
+great when the drawing-master drew
+his pencil right across her copy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I particularly requested you not to sketch in any
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+of the shadows, Miss Thornton. Did you not hear
+me say that my lesson to-day was in outline? I gave
+you a shaded piece to copy in outline&mdash;did you not
+understand?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my first day at school,&#8221; whispered back
+poor Hester, speaking in English in her distress.
+Whereupon the master smiled, and even forgot to
+report her for her transgression of the French
+tongue.
+</p>
+<p>Hester spent the rest of that afternoon over her
+music lesson. The music-master was an irascible
+little German, but Hester played with some taste,
+and was therefore not too severely rapped over the
+knuckles.
+</p>
+<p>Then came tea and another half-hour of recreation,
+which was followed by two silent hours in the
+school-room, each girl bent busily over her books in
+preparation for the next day&#8217;s work. Hester studied
+hard, for she had made up her mind to be the intellectual
+prodigy of the school. Even on this first
+day, miserable as it was, she had won a few plaudits
+for her quickness and powers of observation. How
+much better could she work when she had really
+fallen into the tone of the school, and understood
+the lessons which she was now so carefully preparing!
+During her busy day she had failed to notice
+one thing: namely, the absence of Annie Forest.
+Annie had not been in the school-room, had not
+been in the play-room; but now, as the clock struck
+eight, she entered the school-room with a listless
+expression, and took her place in the same class
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+with Hester. Her eyes were heavy, as if she had
+been crying, and when a companion touched her,
+and gave her a sympathizing glance, she shook her
+head with a sorrowful gesture, but did not speak.
+Glasses of milk and slices of bread and butter were
+now handed round to the girls, and Miss Danesbury
+asked if any one would like to see Mrs. Willis before
+prayers. Hester half sprang to her feet, but then
+sat down again. Mrs. Willis had annoyed her by
+refusing to break her rules and answer her question
+during lesson hours. No, the silly child resolved
+that she would not trouble Mrs. Willis now.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No one to-night, then?&#8221; said Miss Danesbury,
+who had noticed Hester&#8217;s movement.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly Annie Forest sprang to her feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going, Miss Danesbury,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You
+need not show me the way; I can find it alone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With her short, curly hair falling about her face,
+she ran out of the room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII__YOU_HAVE_WAKED_ME_TOO_SOON' id='CHAPTER_VIII__YOU_HAVE_WAKED_ME_TOO_SOON'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;YOU HAVE WAKED ME TOO SOON.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Hester reached her bedroom after prayers
+on that second evening, she was dismayed to find
+that she no longer could consider the pretty little
+bedroom her own. It had not only an occupant,
+but an occupant who had left untidy traces of her
+presence on the floor, for a stocking lay in one direction
+and a muddy boot sprawled in another. The
+newcomer had herself got into bed, where she lay
+with a quantity of red hair tossed about on the pillow,
+and a heavy freckled face turned upward, with
+the eyes shut and the mouth slightly open.
+</p>
+<p>As Hester entered the room, from these parted
+lips came unmistakable and loud snores. She stood
+still dismayed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How terrible!&#8221; she said to herself; &#8220;oh, what
+a girl! I cannot sleep in the room with any one who
+snores&mdash;I really cannot!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She stood perfectly still, with her hands clasped
+before her, and her eyes fixed with almost ludicrous
+dismay on this unexpected trial. As she gazed, a
+fresh discovery caused her to utter an exclamation
+of horror aloud.
+</p>
+<p>The newcomer had curled herself up comfortably
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+in <i>her</i> bed. Suddenly, to her surprise, a voice said
+very quietly, without a flicker of expression coming
+over the calm face, or the eyes even making an
+effort to open:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you my new schoolmate?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;I am sorry to say I am.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t be sorry, there&#8217;s a good creature;
+there&#8217;s nothing to be sorry about. I&#8217;ll stop snoring
+when I turn on my side&mdash;it&#8217;s all right. I always
+snore for half an hour to rest my back, and the
+time is nearly up. Don&#8217;t trouble me to open my
+eyes, I am not the least curious to see you. You
+have a cross voice, but you&#8217;ll get used to me after a
+bit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;re in my bed,&#8221; said Hester. &#8220;Will you
+please to get into your own?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, don&#8217;t ask me; I like your bed best. I
+slept in it the whole of last term. I changed the
+sheets myself, so it does not matter. Do you mind
+putting my muddy boots outside the door, and
+folding up my stockings? I forgot them, and I
+shall have a bad mark if Danesbury comes in.
+Good-night&mdash;I&#8217;m turning on my side&mdash;I won&#8217;t snore
+any more.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The heavy face was now only seen in profile, and
+Hester, knowing that Miss Danesbury would soon
+appear to put out the candle, had to hurry into the
+other bed as fast as she could; something impelled
+her, however, to take up the muddy boots with two
+very gingerly fingers, and place them outside the
+door.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></p>
+<p>She slept better this second night, and was not
+quite so startled the next morning when the remorseless
+gong aroused her from slumber. The maid-servant
+came in as usual to light the candles, and to
+place two cans of hot water by the two wash-hand
+stands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are awake, miss?&#8221; she said to Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes,&#8221; replied Hester almost cheerfully.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, that&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said the servant. &#8220;Now
+I must try and rouse Miss Drummond, and she
+always takes a deal of waking; and if you don&#8217;t
+mind, miss, it will be an act of kindness to call out
+to her in the middle of your own dressing&mdash;that is,
+if I don&#8217;t wake her effectual.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With these words, the housemaid approached
+the bed where the red-haired girl lay again on her
+back, and again snoring loudly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Drummond, wake, miss; it&#8217;s half-past six.
+Wake up, miss&mdash;I have brought your hot water.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh?&mdash;what?&#8221; said the voice in the bed, sleepily;
+&#8220;don&#8217;t bother me, Hannah&mdash;I&mdash;I&#8217;ve determined not
+to ride this morning; go away&#8221;&mdash;then more
+sleepily, and in a lower key, &#8220;Tell Percy he can&#8217;t
+bring the dogs in here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ain&#8217;t neither your Hannah, nor your Percy,
+nor one of the dogs,&#8221; replied the rather irate Alice.
+&#8220;There, get up, miss, do. I never see such a
+young lady for sleeping&mdash;never.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t be bothered,&#8221; said the occupant of the
+bed, and now she turned deliberately on her side
+and snored more loudly than ever.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no help for it,&#8221; said Alice: &#8220;I have to
+do it nearly every morning, so don&#8217;t you be startled,
+miss. Poor thing, she would never have a good
+conduct mark but for me. Now then, here goes.
+You needn&#8217;t be frightened, miss&mdash;she don&#8217;t mind it
+the least bit in the world.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Alice seized a rough Turkish towel, placed
+it under the sleepy head with its shock of red hair,
+and, dipping a sponge in a basin of icy cold water,
+dashed it on the white face.
+</p>
+<p>This remedy proved effectual: two large pale blue
+eyes opened wide, a voice said in a tranquil and unmoved
+tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, thank you, Alice. So I&#8217;m back at this
+horrid, detestable school again!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get your feet well on the carpet, Miss Drummond,
+before you falls off again,&#8221; said the servant.
+&#8220;Now then, you&#8217;d better get dressed as fast as
+possible, miss&mdash;you have lost five minutes already.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester, who had laughed immoderately during
+this little scene, was already up and going through
+the processes of her toilet. Miss Drummond, seated
+on the edge of her bed, regarded her with sleepy
+eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you are my new room-mate?&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s your name?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hester Thornton,&#8221; replied Hetty with dignity.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh&mdash;I&#8217;m Susy Drummond&mdash;you may call me
+Susy if you like.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester made no response to this gracious invitation.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span></p>
+<p>Miss Drummond sat motionless, gazing down at
+her toes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Had not you better get dressed?&#8221; said Hester
+after a long pause, for she really feared the young
+lady would fall asleep where she was sitting.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Drummond started.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dressed! So I will, dear creature. Have the
+sweet goodness to hand me my clothes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are they?&#8221; asked Hester rather crossly,
+for she did not care to act as lady&#8217;s-maid.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They are over there, on a chair, in that lovely
+heap with a shawl flung over them. There, toss
+them this way&mdash;I&#8217;ll get into them somehow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Drummond did manage to get into her garments;
+but her whole appearance was so heavy and
+untidy when she was dressed, that Hester by the
+very force of contrast felt obliged to take extra
+pains with her own toilet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, that&#8217;s a comfort,&#8221; said Susan, &#8220;I&#8217;m in my
+clothes. How bitter it is! There&#8217;s one comfort,
+the chapel will be warm. I often catch forty winks
+in chapel&mdash;that is, if I&#8217;m lucky enough to get behind
+one of the tall girls, where Mrs. Willis won&#8217;t see
+me. It does seem to me,&#8221; continued Susan in a
+meditative tone, &#8220;the strangest thing why girls are
+not allowed sleep enough.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester was pinning a clean collar round her neck
+when Miss Drummond came up close, leaned over
+the dressing-table, and regarded her with languid
+curiosity.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A penny for your thoughts, Miss Prunes and
+Prism.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you call me that?&#8221; said Hester
+angrily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because you look like it, sweet. Now, don&#8217;t be
+cross, little pet&mdash;no one ever yet was cross with
+sleepy Susy Drummond. Now, tell me, love, what
+had you for breakfast yesterday?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure I forget,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You <i>forget</i>?&mdash;how extraordinary! You&#8217;re sure
+that it was not buttered scones? We have them
+sometimes, and I tell you they are enough even to
+keep a girl awake. Well, at least you can let me
+know if the eggs were very stale, and the coffee very
+weak, and whether the butter was second-rate Dorset,
+or good and fresh. Come now&mdash;my breakfast
+is of immense importance to me, I assure you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dare say,&#8221; answered Hester. &#8220;You can see
+for yourself this morning what is on the table&mdash;I
+can only inform you that it was good enough for
+me, and that I don&#8217;t remember what it was.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear!&#8221; exclaimed Susan Drummond, &#8220;I&#8217;m
+afraid she has a little temper of her own&mdash;poor little
+room-mate. I wonder if chocolate-creams would
+sweeten that little temper.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please don&#8217;t talk&mdash;I&#8217;m going to say my prayers,&#8221;
+said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>She did kneel down, and made a slight effort to
+ask God to help her through the day&#8217;s work and the
+day&#8217;s play. In consequence, she rose from her
+knees with a feeling of strength and sweetness
+which even the feeblest prayer when uttered in
+earnest can always give.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></p>
+<p>The prayer-gong now sounded, and all the girls
+assembled in the chapel. Miss Drummond was
+greeted by many appreciative nods, and more than
+one pair of longing eyes gazed in the direction of
+her pockets, which stuck out in the most ungainly
+fashion.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was relieved to find that her room-mate
+did not share her class in school, nor sit anywhere
+near her at table.
+</p>
+<p>When the half-hour&#8217;s recreation after breakfast
+arrived, Hester, determined to be beholden to none
+of her schoolmates for companionship, seated herself
+comfortably in an easy chair with a new book.
+Presently she was startled by a little stream of lollipops
+falling in a shower over her head, down her
+neck, and into her lap. She started up with an
+expression of disgust. Instantly Miss Drummond
+sank into the vacated chair.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, love,&#8221; she said, in a cozy, purring
+voice. &#8220;Eat your lollipops, and look at me; I&#8217;m
+going to sleep. Please pull my toe when Danesbury
+comes in. Oh, fie! Prunes and Prisms&mdash;not
+so cross&mdash;eat your lollipops; they will sweeten the
+expression of that&mdash;little&mdash;face.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The last words came out drowsily. As she said
+&#8220;face,&#8221; Miss Drummond&#8217;s languid eyes were closed&mdash;she
+was fast asleep.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX_WORK_AND_PLAY' id='CHAPTER_IX_WORK_AND_PLAY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<h3>WORK AND PLAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In a few days Hester was accustomed to her new
+life. She fell into its routine, and in a certain
+measure won the respect of her fellow-pupils. She
+worked hard, and kept her place in class, and her
+French became a little more like the French tongue
+and a little less like the English. She showed
+marked ability in many of her other studies, and the
+mistresses and masters spoke well of her. After a
+fortnight spent at Lavender House, Hester had to
+acknowledge that the little Misses Bruce were right,
+and that school might be a really enjoyable place
+for some girls. She would not yet admit that it
+could be enjoyable for her. Hester was too shy,
+too proud, too exacting to be popular with her
+schoolfellows. She knew nothing of school-girl
+life&mdash;she had never learned the great secret of success
+in all life&#8217;s perplexities, the power to give and
+take. It never occurred to Hester to look over a
+hasty word, to take no notice of an envious or
+insolent look. As far as her lessons were concerned,
+she was doing well; but the hardest lesson of all,
+the training of mind and character, which the daily
+companionship of her schoolfellows alone could
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+give her, in this lesson she was making no way.
+Each day she was shutting herself up more and more
+from all kindly advances, and the only one in the
+school whom she sincerely and cordially liked was
+gentle Cecil Temple.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis had some ideas with regard to the
+training of her young people which were peculiarly
+her own. She had found them successful, and, during
+her thirty years&#8217; experience, had never seen reason
+to alter them. She was determined to give her
+girls a great deal more liberty than was accorded
+in most of the boarding-schools of her day.
+She never made what she called impossible rules;
+she allowed the girls full liberty to chatter in their
+bedrooms; she did not watch them during play-hours;
+she never read the letters they received, and
+only superintended the specimen home letter which
+each girl was required to write once a month. Other
+head-mistresses wondered at the latitude she allowed
+her girls, but she invariably replied:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I always find it works best to trust them. If a
+girl is found to be utterly untrustworthy, I don&#8217;t
+expel her, but I request her parents to remove her
+to a more strict school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis also believed much in that quiet half-hour
+each evening, when the girls who cared to
+come could talk to her alone. On these occasions
+she always dropped the school-mistress and adopted
+the <i>rôle</i> of the mother. With a very refractory
+pupil she spoke in the tenderest tones of remonstrance
+and affection at these times. If her words
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+failed&mdash;if the discipline of the day and the gentle
+sympathy of these moments at night did not effect
+their purpose, she had yet another expedient&mdash;the
+vicar was asked to see the girl who would not yield
+to this motherly influence.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard had very seldom taken Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+place. As he said to her: &#8220;Your influence must be
+the mainspring. At supreme moments I will help
+you with personal influence, but otherwise, except
+for my nightly prayers with your girls, and my
+weekly class, and the teachings which they with
+others hear from my lips Sunday after Sunday, they
+had better look to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girls knew this rule well, and the one or two
+rare instances in the school history where the vicar
+had stepped in to interfere, were spoken of with
+bated breath and with intense awe.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis had a great idea of bringing as much
+happiness as possible into young lives. It was with
+this idea that she had the quaint little compartments
+railed off in the play-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For the elder girls,&#8221; she would say, &#8220;there is no
+pleasure so great as having, however small the spot,
+a little liberty hall of their own. In her compartment
+each girl is absolute monarch. No one can
+enter inside the little curtained rail without her permission.
+Here she can show her individual taste,
+her individual ideas. Here she can keep her most
+prized possessions. In short, her compartment in
+the play-room is a little home to her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The play-room, large as it was, admitted of only
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+twenty compartments; these compartments were
+not easily won. No amount of cleverness attained
+them; they were altogether dependent on conduct.
+No girl could be the honorable owner of her own
+little drawing-room until she had distinguished herself
+by some special act of kindness and self-denial.
+Mrs. Willis had no fixed rule on this subject. She
+alone gave away the compartments, and she often
+made choice of girls on whom she conferred this
+honor in a way which rather puzzled and surprised
+their fellows.
+</p>
+<p>When the compartment was won it was not a
+secure possession. To retain it depended also on
+conduct; and here again Mrs. Willis was absolute
+in her sway. More than once the girls had entered
+the room in the morning to find some favorite&#8217;s furniture
+removed and her little possessions taken carefully
+down from the walls, the girl herself alone
+knowing the reason for this sudden change. Annie
+Forest, who had been at Lavender House for four
+years, had once, for a solitary month of her existence,
+owned her own special drawing-room. She
+had obtained it as a reward for an act of heroism.
+One of the little pupils had set her pinafore on fire.
+There was no teacher present at the moment, the
+other girls had screamed and run for help, but
+Annie, very pale, had caught the little one in her
+arms and had crushed out the flames with her own
+hands. The child&#8217;s life was spared, the child was
+not even hurt, but Annie was in the hospital for a
+week. At the end of a week she returned to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+school-room and play-room as the heroine of the
+hour. Mrs. Willis herself kissed her brow, and presented
+her in the midst of the approving smiles of
+her companions with the prettiest drawing-room of
+the sets. Annie retained her honorable post for
+one month.
+</p>
+<p>Never did the girls of Lavender House forget the
+delights of that month. The fantastic arrangements
+of the little drawing room filled them with ecstacies.
+Annie was truly Japanese in her style&mdash;she
+was also intensely liberal in all her arrangements.
+In the tiny space of this little enclosure wild pranks
+were perpetrated, ceaseless jokes made up. From
+Annie&#8217;s drawing-room issued peals of exquisite
+mirth. She gave afternoon tea from a Japanese set
+of tea-things. Outside her drawing-room always
+collected a crowd of girls, who tried to peep over
+the rail or to draw aside the curtains. Inside the
+sacred spot certainly reigned chaos, and one day
+Miss Danesbury had to fly to the rescue, for in a fit
+of mad mirth Annie herself had knocked down the
+little Japanese tea-table, the tea-pot and tea-things
+were in fragments on the floor, and the tea and
+milk poured in streams outside the curtains. Mrs.
+Willis sent for Annie that evening, and Miss Forest
+retired from her interview with red eyes and a
+meek expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Girls,&#8221; she said, in confidence that night, &#8220;good-bye
+to Japan. I gave her leave to do it&mdash;the care
+of an empire is more than I can manage.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The next day the Japanese drawing-room had
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+been handed over to another possessor, and Annie
+reigned as queen over her empire no more.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis, anxious at all times that her girls
+should be happy, made special arrangements for
+their benefit on Sunday. Sunday was by no means
+dull at Lavender House&mdash;Sunday was totally unlike
+the six days which followed it. Even the stupidest
+girl could scarcely complain of the severity of Sunday
+lessons&mdash;even the merriest girl could scarcely
+speak of the day as dull. Mrs. Willis made an
+invariable rule of spending all Sunday with her
+pupils. On this day she really unbent&mdash;on this day
+she was all during the long hours what she was
+during the short half-hour on each evening in the
+week. On Sunday she neither reproved nor
+corrected. If punishment or correction were necessary,
+she deputed Miss Good or Miss Danesbury to
+take her place. On Sunday she sat with the little
+children round her knee, and the older girls clustering
+about her. Her gracious and motherly face was
+like a sun shining in the midst of these young girls.
+In short, she was like the personified form of Goodness
+in their midst. It was necessary, therefore,
+that all those who wished to do right should be
+happy on Sunday, and only those few who deliberately
+preferred evil should shrink from the brightness
+of this day.
+</p>
+<p>It is astonishing how much a sympathizing and
+guiding spirit can effect. The girls at Lavender
+House thought Sunday the shortest day in the week.
+There were no unoccupied or dull moments&mdash;school
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+toil was forgotten&mdash;school punishment ceased, to be
+resumed again if necessary on Monday morning.
+The girls in their best dresses could chatter freely
+in English&mdash;they could read their favorite books&mdash;they
+could wander about the house as they
+pleased; for on Sunday the two baize doors were
+always wide open, and Mrs. Willis&#8217; own private
+suite of rooms was ready to receive them. If the
+day was fine they walked to church, each choosing
+her own companion for the pleasant walk; if the
+day was wet there was service in the chapel, Mr.
+Everard always conducting either morning or evening
+prayers. In the afternoon the girls were allowed
+to do pretty much as they pleased, but after tea
+there always came a delightful hour, when the elder
+girls retired with their mistress into her own special
+boudoir, and she either told them stories or sang to
+them as only she could sing. At sixty years of age
+Mrs. Willis still possessed the most sympathetic and
+touching voice those girls had ever listened to.
+Hester Thornton broke down completely on her first
+Sunday at Lavender House when she heard her
+school-mistress sing &#8220;The Better Land.&#8221; No one remarked
+on her tears, but two people saw them; for
+her mistress kissed her tenderly that night, and
+said a few strong words of help and encouragement,
+and Annie Forest, who made no comment, had also
+seen them, and wondered vaguely if this new and disagreeable
+pupil had a heart after all.
+</p>
+<p>On Sunday night Mrs. Willis herself went round
+to each little bed and gave a mother-kiss to each of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+her pupils&mdash;a mother-kiss and a murmured blessing;
+and in many breasts resolves were then formed
+which were to help the girls through the coming
+week. Some of these resolves, made not in their
+own strength, bore fruit in long after-years. There
+is no doubt that very few girls who lived long
+enough at Lavender House, ever in after-days found
+their Sundays dull.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_X_VARIETIES' id='CHAPTER_X_VARIETIES'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<h3>VARIETIES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Without any doubt, wild, naughty, impulsive
+Annie Forest was the most popular girl in the
+school. She was always in scrapes&mdash;she was scarcely
+ever out of hot water&mdash;her promises of amendment
+were truly like the proverbial pie-crust; but she
+was so lovable, so kind-hearted, so saucy and piquante
+and pretty, that very few could resist the
+nameless charm which she possessed. The little
+ones adored Annie, who was kindness itself to them;
+the bigger girls could not help admiring her fearlessness
+and courage; the best and noblest girls in the
+school tried to influence her for good. She was
+more or less an object of interest to every one; her
+courage was of just the sort to captivate schoolgirls,
+and her moral weakness was not observed by
+these inexperienced young eyes.
+</p>
+<p>Hester alone, of all the girls who for a long time
+had come to Lavender House, failed to see any
+charm in Annie. She began by considering her
+ill-bred, and when she found she was the school
+favorite, she tossed her proud little head and determined
+that she for one would never be subjugated
+by such a naughty girl. Hester could read character
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+with tolerable clearness; she was an observant
+child&mdash;very observant, and very thoughtful for her
+twelve years; and as the little witch Annie had
+failed to throw any spell over her, she saw her
+faults far more clearly than did her companions.
+There is no doubt that this brilliant, charming, and
+naughty Annie had heaps of faults; she had no
+perseverance; she was all passion and impulse;
+she could be the kindest of the kind, but from sheer
+thoughtlessness and wildness she often inflicted
+severe pain, even on those she loved best. Annie
+very nearly worshiped Mrs. Willis; she had the most
+intense adoration for her, she respected her beyond
+any other human being. There were moments when
+the impulsive and hot-headed child felt that she
+could gladly lay down her life for her school-mistress.
+Once the mistress was ill, and Annie curled
+herself up all night outside her door, thereby breaking
+rules, and giving herself a severe cold; but
+her passion and agony were so great that she could
+only be soothed by at last stealing into the darkened
+room and kissing the face she loved.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Prove your love to me, Annie, by going downstairs
+and keeping the school rules as perfectly as
+possible,&#8221; whispered the teacher.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will&mdash;I will never break a rule again as long as
+I live, if you get better, Mrs. Willis,&#8221; responded the
+child.
+</p>
+<p>She ran downstairs with her resolves strong within
+her, and yet in half an hour she was reprimanded
+for willful and desperate disobedience.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span></p>
+<p>One day Cecil Temple had invited a select number
+of friends to afternoon tea in her little drawing-room.
+It was the Wednesday half-holiday, and Cecil&#8217;s tea,
+poured into the tiniest cups and accompanied by
+thin wafer biscuits, was of the most <i>recherché</i> quality.
+Cecil had invited Hester Thornton, and a tall girl
+who belonged to the first class and whose name was
+Dora Russell, to partake of this dainty beverage.
+They were sitting round the tiny tea-table, on little
+red stools with groups of flowers artistically painted
+on them, and were all three conducting themselves
+in a most ladylike and refined manner, when Annie
+Forest&#8217;s curly head and saucy face popped over the
+enclosure, and her voice said eagerly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, may I be permitted to enter the shrine?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, Annie,&#8221; said Cecil, in her most cordial
+tones. &#8220;I have got another cup and saucer, and
+there is a little tea left in the tea-pot.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie came in, and ensconced herself cozily on the
+floor. It did not matter in the least to her that
+Hester Thornton&#8217;s brow grew dark, and that Miss
+Russell suddenly froze into complete indifference to
+all her surroundings. Annie was full of a subject
+which excited her very much: she had suddenly
+discovered that she wanted to give Mrs. Willis a
+present, and she wished to know if any of the girls
+would like to join her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will give her the present this day week,&#8221; said
+excitable Annie. &#8220;I have quite made up my
+mind. Will any one join me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But there is nothing special about this day
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+week, Annie,&#8221; said Miss Temple. &#8220;It will neither
+be Mrs. Willis&#8217; birthday, nor Christmas Day, nor
+New Year&#8217;s Day, nor Easter Day. Next Wednesday
+will be just like any other Wednesday. Why
+should we make Mrs. Willis a present?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, because she looks as if she wanted one,
+poor dear. I thought she looked sad this morning;
+her eyes drooped and her mouth was down at the
+corners. I am sure she&#8217;s wanting something from
+us all by now, just to show that we love her, you
+know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pshaw!&#8221; here burst from Hester&#8217;s lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you say that?&#8221; said Annie, turning
+round with her bright eyes flashing. &#8220;You&#8217;ve no
+right to be so contemptuous when I speak about
+our&mdash;our head-mistress. Oh, Cecil,&#8221; she continued,
+&#8220;do let us give her a little surprise&mdash;some spring
+flowers, or something just to show her that we love
+her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But <i>you</i> don&#8217;t love her,&#8221; said Hester, stoutly.
+</p>
+<p>Here was throwing down the gauntlet with a
+vengeance! Annie sprang to her feet and confronted
+Hester with a whole torrent of angry words.
+Hester firmly maintained her position. She said
+over and over again that love proved itself by deeds,
+not by words; that if Annie learned her lessons, and
+obeyed the school rules, she would prove her affection
+for Mrs. Willis far more than by empty protestations.
+Hester&#8217;s words were true, but they were
+uttered in an unkind spirit, and the very flavor of
+truth which they possessed caused them to enter
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+Annie&#8217;s heart and to wound her deeply. She
+turned, not red, but very white, and her large and
+lovely eyes grew misty with unshed tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are cruel,&#8221; she gasped, rather than spoke,
+and then she pushed aside the curtains of Cecil&#8217;s
+compartment and walked out of the play-room.
+</p>
+<p>There was a dead silence among the three girls
+when she left them. Hester&#8217;s heart was still hot,
+and she was still inclined to maintain her own position,
+and to believe she had done right in speaking
+in so severe a tone to Annie. But even she had
+been made a little uneasy by the look of deep suffering
+which had suddenly transformed Annie&#8217;s charming
+childish face into that of a troubled and pained
+woman. She sat down meekly on her little three-legged
+stool and, taking up her tiny cup and saucer,
+sipped some of the cold tea.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple was the first to speak.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How could you?&#8221; she said, in an indignant
+voice for her. &#8220;Annie is not the girl to be driven,
+and in any case, it is not for you to correct her. Oh,
+Mrs. Willis would have been so pained had she heard
+you&mdash;you were not <i>kind</i>, Miss Thornton. There, I
+don&#8217;t wish to be rude, but I fear I must leave you
+and Miss Russell&mdash;I must try and find Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going back to my own drawing-room,&#8221; said
+Miss Russell, rising to her feet. &#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; she
+added, turning round with a very gracious smile to
+Hester, &#8220;you will come and see me there, after tea,
+this evening.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell drew aside the curtains of Cecil
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+Temple&#8217;s little room, and disappeared. Hester,
+with her eyes full of tears, now turned eagerly to
+Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Forgive me, Cecil,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I did not
+mean to be unkind, but it is really quite ridiculous
+the way you all spoil that girl&mdash;you know as well as
+I do that she is a very naughty girl. I suppose it
+is because of her pretty face,&#8221; continued Hester,
+&#8220;that you are all so unjust, and so blind to her
+faults.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are prejudiced the other way, Hester,&#8221; said
+Cecil in a more gentle tone. &#8220;You have disliked
+Annie from the first. There, don&#8217;t keep me&mdash;I must
+go to her now. There is no knowing what harm
+your words may have done. Annie is not like other
+girls. If you knew her story, you would, perhaps be
+kinder to her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil then ran out of her drawing-room, leaving
+Hester in sole possession of the little tea-things and
+the three-legged stools. She sat and thought for
+some time; she was a girl with a great deal of obstinacy
+in her nature, and she was not disposed to
+yield her own point, even to Cecil Temple; but Cecil&#8217;s
+words had, nevertheless, made some impression on
+her.
+</p>
+<p>At tea-time that night, Annie and Cecil entered
+the room together. Annie&#8217;s eyes were as bright as
+stars, and her usually pale cheeks glowed with a
+deep color. She had never looked prettier&mdash;she had
+never looked so defiant, so mischievous, so utterly
+reckless. Mdlle. Perier fired indignant French at
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span>
+her across the table. Annie answered respectfully,
+and became demure in a moment; but even in the
+short instant in which the governess was obliged to
+lower her eyes to her plate, she had thrown a look
+so irresistibly comic at her companions that several
+of them had tittered aloud. Not once did she glance
+at Hester, although she occasionally looked boldly
+in her direction; but when she did so, her versatile
+face assumed a blank expression, as if she were seeing
+nothing. When tea was over, Dora Russell surprised
+the members of her own class by walking
+straight up to Hester, putting her hand inside her
+arm, and leading her off to her own very refined-looking
+little drawing-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to tell you,&#8221; she said, when the two girls
+found themselves inside the small enclosure, &#8220;that I
+quite agree with you in your opinion of Miss Forest.
+I think you were very brave to speak to her as you
+did to-day. As a rule, I never trouble myself with
+what the little girls in the third class do, and of
+course Annie seldom comes under my notice; but I
+think she is a decidedly spoiled child, and your rebuff
+will doubtless do her a great deal of good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These words of commendation, coming from tall
+and dignified Miss Russell completely turned poor
+Hester&#8217;s head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so glad you think so!&#8221; she stammered,
+coloring high with pleasure. &#8220;You see,&#8221; she added,
+assuming a little tone of extra refinement, &#8220;at home
+I always associated with girls who were perfect
+ladies.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, any one can see that,&#8221; remarked Miss Russell
+approvingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I do think Annie under-bred,&#8221; continued
+Hester. &#8220;I cannot understand,&#8221; she added, &#8220;why
+Miss Temple likes her so much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Cecil is so amiable; she sees good in every
+one,&#8221; answered Miss Russell. &#8220;Annie is evidently
+not a lady, and I am glad at last to find some one
+of the girls who belong to the middle school capable
+of discerning this fact. Of course, we of the first
+class have nothing whatever to say to Miss Forest,
+but I really think Mrs. Willis is not acting quite
+fairly by the other girls when she allows a young
+person of that description into the school. I wish
+to assure you, Miss Thornton, that you have at least
+my sympathy, and I shall be very pleased to see
+you in my drawing-room now and then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As these last words were uttered, both girls were
+conscious of a little rustling sound not far away.
+Miss Russell drew back her curtain, and asked very
+sharply, &#8220;Who is there?&#8221; but no one replied, nor
+was there any one in sight, for the girls who did
+not possess compartments were congregated at the
+other end of the long play-room, listening to stories
+which Emma Marshall, a clever elder girl, was
+relating for their benefit.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell talked on indifferent subjects to
+Hester, and at the end of the half-hour the two
+entered the class-room side by side, Hester&#8217;s little
+head a good deal turned by this notice from one of
+the oldest girls in the school.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span></p>
+<p>As the two walked together into the school-room,
+Susan Drummond, who, tall as she was, was only in
+the fourth class, rushed up to Miss Forest, and
+whispered something in her ear.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is just as I told you,&#8221; she said, and her sleepy
+voice was quite wide awake and animated. Annie
+Forest rewarded her by a playful pinch on her
+cheek; then she returned to her own class, with a
+severe reprimand from the class teacher, and silence
+reigned in the long room, as the girls began to prepare
+their lessons as usual for the next day.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell took her place at her desk in her
+usual dignified manner. She was a clever girl, and
+was going to leave school at the end of next term.
+Hers was a particularly fastidious, but by no means
+great nature. She was the child of wealthy parents;
+she was also well-born, and because of her money,
+and a certain dignity and style which had come to
+her as nature&#8217;s gifts, she held an influence, though
+by no means a large one, in the school. No one
+particularly disliked her, but no one, again, ardently
+loved her. The girls in her own class thought it
+well to be friendly with Dora Russell, and Dora
+accepted their homage with more or less indifference.
+She did not greatly care for either their praise or
+blame. Dora possessed in a strong degree that
+baneful quality, which more than anything else
+precludes the love of others&mdash;she was essentially
+selfish.
+</p>
+<p>She sat now before her desk, little guessing how
+she had caused Hester&#8217;s small heart to beat by her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+patronage, and little suspecting the mischief she had
+done to the girl by her injudicious words. Had
+she known, it is to be doubted whether she would
+have greatly cared. She looked through the books
+which contained her tasks for the next day&#8217;s work,
+and, finding they did not require a great deal of
+preparation, put them aside, and amused herself
+during the rest of preparation time with a storybook,
+which she artfully concealed behind the
+leaves of some exercises. She knew she was breaking
+the rules, but this fact did not trouble her, for
+her moral nature was, after all, no better than poor
+Annie&#8217;s, and she had not a tenth of her lovable
+qualities.
+</p>
+<p>Dora Russell was the soul of neatness and order.
+To look inside her school desk was a positive pleasure;
+to glance at her own neat and trim figure was
+more or less of a delight. Hers were the whitest
+hands in the school, and hers the most perfectly
+kept and glossy hair. As the preparation hour drew
+to a close, she replaced her exercises and books in
+exquisite order in her school desk and shut down the
+lid.
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s eyes followed her as she walked out of
+the school-room, for the head class never had supper
+with the younger girls. Hester wondered if she
+would glance in her direction; but Miss Russell had
+gratified a very passing whim when she condescended
+to notice and praise Hester, and she had already
+almost forgotten her existence.
+</p>
+<p>At bed-time that night Susan Drummond&#8217;s behavior
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+was at the least extraordinary. In the first
+place, instead of being almost overpoweringly
+friendly with Hester, she scarcely noticed her; in
+the next place, she made some very peculiar preparations.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What <i>are</i> you doing on the floor, Susan?&#8221; inquired
+Hetty in an innocent tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s nothing to you,&#8221; replied Miss Drummond,
+turning a dusky red, and looking annoyed at being
+discovered. &#8220;I do wish,&#8221; she added, &#8220;that you
+would go round to your side of the room and leave
+me alone; I sha&#8216;n&#8217;t have done what I want to do before
+Danesbury comes in to put out the candle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester was not going to put herself out with any
+of Susan Drummond&#8217;s vagaries; she looked upon
+sleepy Susan as a girl quite beneath her notice, but
+even she could not help observing her, when she
+saw her sit up in bed a quarter of an hour after the
+candles had been put out, and in the flickering firelight
+which shone conveniently bright for her
+purpose, fasten a piece of string first round one of
+her toes, and then to the end of the bed-post.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What <i>are</i> you doing?&#8221; said Hester again, half
+laughing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what a spy you are!&#8221; said Susan. &#8220;I want
+to wake, that&#8217;s all; and whenever I turn in bed,
+that string will tug at my toe, and, of course, I&#8217;ll
+rouse up. If you were more good-natured, I&#8217;d give
+the other end of the string to you; but, of course,
+that plan would never answer.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; replied Hester; &#8220;I am not going
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+to trouble myself to wake you. You must trust to
+your sponge of cold water in the morning, unless
+your own admirable device succeeds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to sleep now, at any rate,&#8221; answered
+Susan; &#8220;I&#8217;m on my back, and I&#8217;m beginning to
+snore; good night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Once or twice during the night Hester heard
+groans from the self-sacrificing Susan, who, doubtless,
+found the string attached to her foot very inconvenient.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however, slept on when it might have been
+better for the peace of many in the school that she
+should have awakened. She heard no sound when,
+long before day, sleepy Susan stepped softly out of
+bed, and wrapping a thick shawl about her, glided
+out of the room. She was away for over half an
+hour, but she returned to her chamber and got into
+bed without in the least disturbing Hester. In the
+morning she was found so soundly asleep that even
+the sponge of cold water could not arouse her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pull the string at the foot of the bed, Alice,&#8221;
+said Hester; &#8220;she fastened a string to her toe, and
+twisted the other end round the bed-post, last night;
+pull it, Alice, it may effect its purpose.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But there was no string now round Susan Drummond&#8217;s
+foot, nor was it found hanging to the bed-post.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI_WHAT_WAS_FOUND_IN_THE_SCHOOLDESK' id='CHAPTER_XI_WHAT_WAS_FOUND_IN_THE_SCHOOLDESK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<h3>WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE SCHOOL-DESK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The next morning, when the whole school were
+assembled, and all the classes were getting ready for
+the real work of the day, Miss Good, the English
+teacher, stepped to the head of the room, and, holding
+a neatly bound volume of &#8220;Jane Eyre&#8221; in her
+hand, begged to know to whom it belonged. There
+was a hush of astonishment when she held up the
+little book, for all the girls knew well that this
+special volume was not allowed for school literature.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The housemaid who dusts the school-room found
+this book on the floor,&#8221; continued the teacher. &#8220;It
+lay beside a desk near the top of the room. I see
+the name has been torn out, so I cannot tell who is
+the owner. I must request her, however, to step
+forward and take possession of her property. If
+there is the slightest attempt at concealment, the
+whole matter will be laid before Mrs. Willis at noon
+to-day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>When Miss Good had finished her little speech,
+she held up the book in its green binding and looked
+down the room.
+</p>
+<p>Hester did not know why her heart beat&mdash;no one
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+glanced at her, no one regarded her; all eyes were
+fixed on Miss Good, who stood with a severe, unsmiling,
+but expectant face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, young ladies,&#8221; she said, &#8220;the owner has
+surely no difficulty in recognizing her own property.
+I give you exactly thirty seconds more; then if
+no one claims the book, I place the affair in Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; hands.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Just then there was a stir among the girls in the
+head class. A tall girl in dove-colored cashmere,
+with a smooth head of golden hair, and a fair face
+which was a good deal flushed at this moment,
+stepped to the front, and said in a clear and perfectly
+modulated voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I had no idea of concealing the fact that &#8216;Jane
+Eyre&#8217; belongs to me. I was only puzzled for a
+moment to know how it got on the floor. I placed
+it carefully in my desk last night. I think this
+circumstance ought to be inquired into.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! Oh!&#8221; came from several suppressed voices
+here and there through the room; &#8220;whoever would
+have supposed that Dora Russell would be obliged to
+humble herself in this way?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Attention, young ladies!&#8221; said Miss Good; &#8220;no
+talking, if you please. Do I understand, Miss Russell,
+that &#8216;Jane Eyre&#8217; is yours?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss Good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why did you keep it in your desk&mdash;were you
+reading it during preparation?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, certainly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are, of course, aware that you were breaking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
+two very stringent rules of the school. In the
+first place, no story-books are allowed to be concealed
+in a school-desk, or to be read during preparation.
+In the second place, this special book is not
+allowed to be read at any time in Lavender House.
+You know these rules, Miss Russell?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss Good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must retain the book&mdash;you can return now to
+your place in class.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell bowed sedately, and with an apparently
+unmoved face, except for the slightly deepened
+glow on her smooth cheek, resumed her interrupted
+work.
+</p>
+<p>Lessons went on as usual, but during recreation
+the mystery of the discovered book was largely discussed
+by the girls. As is the custom of schoolgirls,
+they took violent sides in the matter&mdash;some
+rejoicing in Dora&#8217;s downfall, some pitying her
+intensely. Hester was, of course, one of Miss Russell&#8217;s
+champions, and she looked at her with tender
+sympathy when she came with her haughty and
+graceful manner into the school-room, and her little
+heart beat with vague hope that Dora might turn
+to her for sympathy.
+</p>
+<p>Dora, however, did nothing of the kind. She
+refused to discuss the affair with her companions,
+and none of them quite knew what Mrs. Willis said
+to her, or what special punishment was inflicted on
+the proud girl. Several of her schoolfellows expected
+that Dora&#8217;s drawing-room would be taken
+away from her, but she still retained it; and after
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+a few days the affair of the book was almost
+forgotten.
+</p>
+<p>There was, however, an uncomfortable and an
+uneasy spirit abroad in the school. Susan Drummond,
+who was certainly one of the most uninteresting
+girls in Lavender House, was often seen walking
+with and talking to Miss Forest. Sometimes Annie
+shook her pretty head over Susan&#8217;s remarks; sometimes
+she listened to her; sometimes she laughed
+and spoke eagerly for a moment or two, and
+appeared to acquiesce in suggestions which her
+companion urged.
+</p>
+<p>Annie had always been the soul of disorder&mdash;of
+wild pranks, of naughty and disobedient deeds&mdash;but,
+hitherto, in all her wildness she had never
+intentionally hurt any one but herself. Hers was a
+giddy and thoughtless, but by no means a bitter
+tongue&mdash;she thought well of all her schoolfellows&mdash;and
+on occasions she could be self-sacrificing and
+good-natured to a remarkable extent. The girls of
+the head class took very little notice of Annie, but
+her other school companions, as a rule, succumbed to
+her sunny, bright, and witty ways. She offended
+them a hundred times a day, and a hundred times a
+day was forgiven. Hester was the first girl in the
+third class who had ever persistently disliked Annie,
+and Annie, after making one or two overtures of
+friendship, began to return Miss Thornton&#8217;s aversion;
+but she had never cordially hated her until the day
+they met in Cecil Temple&#8217;s drawing-room, and
+Hester had wounded Annie in her tenderest part by
+doubting her affection for Mrs. Willis.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span></p>
+<p>Since that day there was a change very noticeable
+in Annie Forest&mdash;she was not so gay as formerly,
+but she was a great deal more mischievous&mdash;she
+was not nearly so daring, but she was capable
+now of little actions, slight in themselves, which yet
+were calculated to cause mischief and real unhappiness.
+Her sudden friendship with Susan Drummond
+did her no good, and she persistently avoided all
+intercourse with Cecil Temple, who hitherto had influenced
+her in the right direction.
+</p>
+<p>The incident of the green book had passed with
+no apparent result of grave importance, but the
+spirit of mischief which had caused this book to be
+found was by no means asleep in the school. Pranks
+were played in a most mysterious fashion with the
+girls&#8217; properties.
+</p>
+<p>Hester herself was the very next victim. She, too,
+was a neat and orderly child&mdash;she was clever and
+thoroughly enjoyed her school work. She was
+annoyed, therefore, and dreadfully puzzled, by discovering
+one morning that her neat French exercise
+book was disgracefully blotted, and one page torn
+across. She was severely reprimanded by Mdlle.
+Perier for such gross untidiness and carelessness, and
+when she assured the governess that she knew
+nothing whatever of the circumstance, that she was
+never guilty of blots, and had left the book in perfect
+order the night before, the French lady only
+shrugged her shoulders, made an expressive gesture
+with her eyebrows, and plainly showed Hester that
+she thought the less she said on that subject the
+better.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span></p>
+<p>Hester was required to write out her exercise
+again, and she fancied she saw a triumphant look in
+Annie Forest&#8217;s eyes as she left the school-room,
+where poor Hester was obliged to remain to undergo
+her unmerited punishment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil,&#8221; called Hester, in a passionate and eager
+voice, as Miss Temple was passing her place.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil paused for a moment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Hetty?&mdash;oh, I am so sorry you must
+stay in this lovely bright day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have done nothing wrong,&#8221; said Hester; &#8220;I
+never blotted this exercise-book; I never tore this
+page. It is most unjust not to believe my word; it
+is most unjust to punish me for what I have not
+done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Temple&#8217;s face looked puzzled and sad.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must not stay to talk to you now, Hester,&#8221; she
+whispered; &#8220;I am breaking the rules. You can
+come to my drawing-room by-and-by, and we will
+discuss this matter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Hester and Cecil, talk as they would, could
+find no solution to the mystery. Cecil absolutely
+refused to believe that Annie Forest had anything
+to do with the matter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said, &#8220;such deceit is not in Annie&#8217;s
+nature. I would do anything to help you, Hester;
+but I can&#8217;t, and I won&#8217;t, believe that Annie tried
+deliberately to do you any harm.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am quite certain she did,&#8221; retorted Hester,
+&#8220;and from this moment I refuse to speak to her
+until she confesses what she has done and apologizes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+to me. Indeed, I have a great mind to go and tell
+everything to Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I would not do that,&#8221; said Cecil; &#8220;none of
+your schoolfellows would forgive you if you
+charged such a favorite as Annie with a crime which
+you cannot in the least prove against her. You
+must be patient, Hester, and if you are, I will take
+your part, and try to get at the bottom of the
+mystery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil, however, failed to do so. Annie laughed
+when the affair was discussed in her presence, but
+her clear eyes looked as innocent as the day, and
+nothing would induce Cecil to doubt Miss Forest&#8217;s
+honor.
+</p>
+<p>The mischievous sprite, however, who was sowing
+such seeds of unhappiness in the hitherto peaceful
+school was not satisfied with two deeds of daring;
+for a week afterward Cecil Temple found a book of
+Mrs. Browning&#8217;s, out of which she was learning a
+piece for recitation, with its cover half torn off, and,
+still worse, a caricature of Mrs. Willis sketched with
+some cleverness and a great deal of malice on the
+title-page. On the very same morning, Dora Russell,
+on opening her desk, was seen to throw up her
+hands with a gesture of dismay. The neat composition
+she had finished the night before was not to
+be seen in its accustomed place, but in a corner of
+the desk were two bulky and mysterious parcels,
+one of which contained a great junk of rich plum-cake,
+and the other some very sticky and messy
+&#8220;Turkish delight;&#8221; while the paper which enveloped
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+these luxuries was found to be that on which the
+missing composition was written. Dora&#8217;s face grew
+very white, she forgot the ordinary rules of the
+school, and, leaving her class, walked down the
+room, and interrupted Miss Good, who was beginning
+to instruct the third class in English grammar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you please come and see something in my
+desk, Miss Good?&#8221; she said in a voice which trembled
+with excitement.
+</p>
+<p>It was while she was speaking that Cecil found
+the copy of Mrs. Browning mutilated, and with the
+disgraceful caricature on its title-page. Startled as
+she was by this discovery, and also by Miss Russell&#8217;s
+extraordinary behavior, she had presence of mind
+enough to hide the sight which pained her from her
+companions. Unobserved, in the strong interest of
+the moment, for all the girls were watching Dora
+Russell and Miss Good, she managed to squeeze the
+little volume into her pocket. She had indeed received
+a great shock, for she knew well that the only
+girl who could caricature in the school was Annie
+Forest. For a moment her troubled eyes sought the
+ground, but then she raised them and looked at
+Annie; Annie, however, with a particularly cheerful
+face, and her bright dark eyes full of merriment, was
+gazing in astonishment at the scene which was taking
+place in front of Miss Russell&#8217;s desk.
+</p>
+<p>Dora, whose enunciation was very clear, seemed
+to have absolutely forgotten herself; she disregarded
+Miss Good&#8217;s admonitions, and declared stoutly that
+at such a moment she did not care what rules she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+broke. She was quite determined that the culprit
+who had dared to desecrate her composition, and
+put plum-cake and &#8220;Turkish delight&#8221; into her desk,
+should be publicly exposed and punished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The thing cannot go on any longer, Miss Good,&#8221;
+she said; &#8220;there is a girl in this school who ought
+to be expelled from it, and I for one declare openly
+that I will not submit to associate with a girl who
+is worse than unladylike. If you will permit me, Miss
+Good, I will carry these things at once to Mrs. Willis,
+and beg of her to investigate the whole affair,
+and bring the culprit to justice, and to turn her out
+of the school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay, Miss Russell,&#8221; exclaimed the English
+teacher, &#8220;you strangely and completely forget yourself.
+You are provoked, I own, but you have no
+right to stand up and absolutely hoist the flag of
+rebellion in the faces of the other girls. I cannot
+excuse your conduct. I will myself take away these
+parcels which were found in your desk, and will report
+the affair to Mrs. Willis. She will take what
+steps she thinks right in bringing you to order, and
+in discovering the author of this mischief. Return
+instantly to your desk, Miss Russell; you strangely
+forget yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Good left the room, having removed the plum-cake
+and &#8220;Turkish delight&#8221; from Dora Russell&#8217;s
+desk, and lessons continued as best they could under
+such exciting circumstances.
+</p>
+<p>At twelve o&#8217;clock that day, just as the girls were
+preparing to go up to their rooms to get ready for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+their usual walk, Mrs. Willis came into the school-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay one moment, young ladies,&#8221; said the head-mistress
+in that slightly vibrating and authoritative
+voice of hers. &#8220;I have a word or two to say to you
+all. Miss Good has just brought me a painful story
+of wanton and cruel mischief. There are fifty girls
+in this school, who, until lately, lived happily together.
+There is now one girl among the fifty
+whose object it is to sow seeds of discord and misery
+among her companions. Miss Good has told me of
+three different occasions on which mischief has been
+done to different girls in the school. Twice Miss
+Russell&#8217;s desk has been disturbed, once Miss Thornton&#8217;s.
+It is possible that other girls may also have
+suffered who have been noble enough not to complain.
+There is, however, a grave mischief, in short
+a moral disease in our midst. Such a thing is worse
+than bodily illness&mdash;it must be stamped out instantly
+and completely at the risk of any personal suffering.
+I am now going to ask you, girls, a simple
+question, and I demand instant truth without any
+reservation. Miss Russell&#8217;s desk has been tampered
+with&mdash;Miss Thornton&#8217;s desk has been tampered
+with. Has any other girl suffered injury&mdash;has any
+other girl&#8217;s desk been touched?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis looked down the long room&mdash;her
+voice had reached every corner, and the quiet, dignified,
+and deeply-pained expression in her fine eyes
+was plainly visible to each girl in the school. Even
+the little ones were startled and subdued by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+tone of Mrs. Willis&#8217; voice, and one or two of them
+suddenly burst into tears. Mrs. Willis paused for a
+full moment, then she repeated her question.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I insist upon knowing the exact truth, my dear
+children,&#8221; she said gently, but with great decision.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My desk has also been tampered with,&#8221; said
+Miss Temple, in a low voice.
+</p>
+<p>Every one started when Cecil spoke, and even
+Annie Forest glanced at her with a half-frightened
+and curious expression. Cecil&#8217;s voice indeed was so
+low, so shaken with doubt and pain, that her companions
+scarcely recognized it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Miss Temple,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil instantly left her desk and walked up the
+room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your desk has also been tampered with, you
+say?&#8221; repeated the head-mistress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When did you discover this?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-day, Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You kept it to yourself?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you now repeat in the presence of the
+school, and in a loud enough voice to be heard by
+all here, exactly what was done?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pardon me,&#8221; answered Cecil, and now her voice
+was a little less agitated and broken, and she looked
+full into the face of her teacher, &#8220;I cannot do
+that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You deliberately disobey me, Cecil?&#8221; said Mrs.
+Willis.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis&#8217; face flushed&mdash;she did not, however,
+look angry; she laid her hand on Cecil&#8217;s shoulder
+and looked full into her eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are one of my best pupils, Cecil,&#8221; she said
+tenderly. &#8220;At such a moment as this, honor
+requires you to stand by your mistress. I must
+insist on your telling me here and now exactly what
+has occurred.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil&#8217;s face grew whiter and whiter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot tell you,&#8221; she murmured; &#8220;it breaks
+my heart, but I cannot tell you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have defied me, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis in
+a tone of deep pain. &#8220;I must, my dear, insist on
+your obedience, but not now. Miss Good, will you
+take Miss Temple to the chapel? I will come to
+you, Cecil, in an hour&#8217;s time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil walked down the room crying silently. Her
+deep distress and her very firm refusal to disclose
+what she knew had made a great impression on her
+schoolfellows. They all felt troubled and uneasy,
+and Annie Forest&#8217;s face was very pale.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This thing, this wicked, mischievous thing has
+gone deeper than I feared,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, when
+Cecil had left the room. &#8220;Only some very strong
+motive would make Cecil Temple behave as she is
+now doing. She is influenced by a mistaken idea of
+what is right; she wishes to shield the guilty person.
+I may as well tell you all, young ladies, that, dear
+as Cecil is to me, she is now under the ban of my
+severe displeasure. Until she confesses the truth
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+and humbles herself before me, I cannot be reconciled
+to her. I cannot permit her to associate with
+you. She has done very wrong, and her punishment
+must be proportionately severe. There is one
+chance for her, however. Will the girl whom she
+is mistakenly, though generously, trying to shield,
+come forward and confess her guilt, and so release
+poor Cecil from the terrible position in which she
+has placed herself? By doing so, the girl who has
+caused all this misery will at least show me that
+she is trying to repent?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis paused again, and now she looked
+down the room with a face of almost entreaty.
+Several pairs of eyes were fixed anxiously on her,
+several looked away, and many girls glanced in the
+direction of Annie Forest, who, feeling herself suspected,
+returned their glances with bold defiance,
+and instantly assumed her most reckless manner.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis waited for a full minute.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The culprit is not noble enough,&#8221; she said then.
+&#8220;Now, girls, I must ask each of you to come up one
+by one and deny or confess this charge. As you
+do so, you are silently to leave the school-room and
+go up to your rooms, and prepare for the walk
+which has been so painfully delayed. Miss Conway,
+you are at the head of the school, will you set the
+example?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>One by one the girls of the head class stepped up
+to their teacher, and of each one she asked the same
+question:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you guilty?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span></p>
+<p>Each girl replied in the negative and walked out
+of the school-room. The second class followed the
+example of the first, and then the third class came
+up to their teacher. Several ears were strained to
+hear Annie Forest&#8217;s answer, but her eyes were lifted
+fearlessly to Mrs. Willis&#8217; face, and her &#8220;No!&#8221; was
+heard all over the room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII_IN_THE_CHAPEL' id='CHAPTER_XII_IN_THE_CHAPEL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE CHAPEL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The bright light from a full noontide sun was
+shining in colored bars through the richly-painted
+windows of the little chapel when Mrs. Willis
+sought Cecil Temple there.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil&#8217;s face was in many ways a remarkable one.
+</p>
+<p>Her soft brown eyes were generally filled with a
+steadfast and kindly ray. Gentleness was her
+special prerogative, but there was nothing weak
+about her&mdash;hers was the gentleness of a strong, and
+pure, and noble soul. To know Cecil was to love
+her. She was a motherless girl, and the only child
+of a most indulgent father. Colonel Temple was
+now in India, and Cecil was to finish her education
+under Mrs. Willis&#8217; care, and then, if necessary, to
+join her father.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis had always taken a special interest in
+this girl. She admired her for her great moral
+worth. Cecil was not particularly clever, but she
+was so studious, so painstaking, that she always kept
+a high place in class. She was without doubt a religious
+girl, but there was nothing of the prig about
+her. She was not, however, ashamed of her religion,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+and, if the fitting occasion arose, she was fearless in
+expressing her opinion.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis used to call Cecil her &#8220;little standard-bearer,&#8221;
+and she relied greatly on her influence over
+the third-class girls. Mrs. Willis considered the
+third class, perhaps, the most important in the
+school. She was often heard to say:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girls who fill this class have come to a
+turning point&mdash;they have come to the age when
+resolves may be made for life, and kept. The good
+third-class girl is very unlikely to degenerate as she
+passes through the second and first classes. On the
+other hand, there is very little hope that the idle or
+mischievous third-class girl will mend her ways as
+she goes higher in the school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis&#8217; steps were very slow, and her
+thoughts extremely painful, as she entered the chapel
+to-day. Had any one else offered her defiance she
+would have known how to deal with the culprit, but
+Cecil would never have acted as she did without the
+strongest motive, and Mrs. Willis felt more sorrowful
+than angry as she sat down by the side of her
+favorite pupil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have kept you waiting longer than I intended,
+my dear,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I was unexpectedly interrupted,
+and I am sorry; but you have had more time
+to think, Cecil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I have thought,&#8221; answered Cecil, in a very
+low tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, perhaps,&#8221; continued her governess, &#8220;in this
+quiet and beautiful and sacred place, my dear pupil
+has also prayed?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I have prayed,&#8221; said Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you have been guided, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Willis, in a tone of relief. &#8220;We do not come to
+God in our distress without being shown the right
+way. Your doubts have been removed, Cecil; you
+can now speak fully to me: can you not, dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have asked God to tell me what is right,&#8221; said
+Cecil. &#8220;I don&#8217;t pretend to know. I am very much
+puzzled. It seems to me that more good would be
+done if I concealed what you asked me to confess
+in the school-room. My own feeling is that I
+ought not to tell you. I know this is great disobedience,
+and I am quite willing to receive any
+punishment you think right to give me. Yes, I
+think I am quite willing to receive <i>any</i> punishment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis put her hand on Cecil&#8217;s shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ordinary punishments are not likely to affect
+you, Cecil,&#8221; she said; &#8220;on you I have no idea of
+inflicting extra lessons, or depriving you of half-holidays,
+or even taking away your drawing-room.
+But there is something else you must lose, and that
+I know will touch you deeply&mdash;I must remove from
+you my confidence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil&#8217;s face grew very pale.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And your love, too?&#8221; she said, looking up with
+imploring eyes; &#8220;oh, surely not your love as well?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ask you frankly, Cecil,&#8221; replied Mrs. Willis,
+&#8220;can perfect love exist without perfect confidence?
+I would not willingly deprive you of my love, but
+of necessity the love I have hitherto felt for you
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+must be altered&mdash;in short, the old love, which enabled
+me to rest on you and trust you, will cease.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil covered her face with her hands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This punishment is very cruel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You
+are right; it reaches down to my very heart. But,&#8221;
+she added, looking up with a strong and sweet light
+in her face, &#8220;I will try and bear it, and some day
+you will understand.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Listen, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis; &#8220;you have just
+told me you have prayed to God, and have asked
+Him to show you the right path. Now, my dear,
+suppose we kneel together, and both of us ask Him
+to show us the way out of this difficult matter. I
+want to be guided to use the right words with you,
+Cecil. You want to be guided to receive the instruction
+which I, as your teacher and mother-friend,
+would give you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil and Mrs. Willis both knelt down, and the
+head-mistress said a few words in a voice of great
+earnestness and entreaty; then they resumed their
+seats.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;you must remember
+in listening to me that I am speaking to
+you as I believe God wishes me to. If I can convince
+you that you are doing wrong in concealing
+what you know from me, will you act as I wish in
+the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I long to be convinced,&#8221; said Cecil, in a low
+tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is right, my dear; I can now speak to you
+with perfect freedom. My words you will remember,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+Cecil, are now, I firmly believe, directed by
+God; they are also the result of a large experience.
+I have trained many girls. I have watched the
+phases of thought in many young minds. Cecil,
+look at me. I can read you like a book.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil looked up expectantly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your motive for this concealment is as clear as
+the daylight, Cecil. You are keeping back what
+you know because you want to shield some one.
+Am I not right, my dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The color flooded Cecil&#8217;s pale face. She bent her
+head in silent assent, but her eyes were too full of
+tears, and her lips trembled too much to allow her
+to speak.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girl you want to defend,&#8221; continued Mrs.
+Willis, in that clear, patient voice of hers, &#8220;is one
+whom you and I both love&mdash;is one for whom we both
+have prayed&mdash;is one for whom we would both
+gladly sacrifice ourselves if necessary. Her name
+is&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Cecil imploringly&mdash;&#8220;don&#8217;t say
+her name; you have no right to suspect her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must say her name, Cecil, dear. If you suspect
+Annie Forest, why should not I? You do suspect
+her, do you not, Cecil?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil began to cry.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it,&#8221; continued Mrs. Willis. &#8220;Now, Cecil,
+we will suppose, terrible as this suspicion is, fearfully
+as it pains us both, that Annie Forest <i>is</i> guilty. We
+must suppose for the sake of my argument that this
+is the case. Do you not know, my dear Cecil, that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+you are doing the falsest, cruelest thing by dear
+Annie in trying to hide her sin from me? Suppose,
+just for the sake of our argument, that this cowardly
+conduct on Annie&#8217;s part was never found out by me;
+what effect would it have on Annie herself?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would save her in the eyes of the school,&#8221;
+said Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just so; but God would know the truth. Her
+next downfall would be deeper. In short, Cecil,
+under the idea of friendship you would have done
+the cruelest thing in all the world for your friend.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil was quite silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is one way to look at it,&#8221; continued Mrs.
+Willis; &#8220;but there are many other points from which
+this case ought to be viewed. You owe much to
+Annie, but not all&mdash;you have a duty to perform to
+your other schoolfellows. You have a duty to perform
+to me. If you possess a clue which will enable me
+to convict Annie Forest of her sin, in common justice
+you have no right to withhold it. Remember,
+that while she goes about free and unsuspected, some
+other girl is under the ban&mdash;some other girl is
+watched and feared. You fail in your duty to your
+schoolfellows when you keep back your knowledge,
+Cecil. When you refuse to trust me, you fail in
+your duty to your mistress; for I cannot stamp out
+this evil and wicked thing from our midst unless I
+know all. When you conceal your knowledge, you
+ruin the character of the girl you seek to shield.
+When you conceal your knowledge, you go against
+God&#8217;s express wish. There&mdash;I have spoken to you
+as He directed me to speak.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span></p>
+<p>Cecil suddenly sprang to her feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never thought of all these things,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;You are right, but it is very hard, and mine is
+only a suspicion. Oh, do be tender to her, and&mdash;forgive
+me&mdash;may I go away now?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As she spoke, she pulled out the torn copy of Mrs.
+Browning, laid it on her teacher&#8217;s lap, and ran
+swiftly out of the chapel.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII_TALKING_OVER_THE_MYSTERY' id='CHAPTER_XIII_TALKING_OVER_THE_MYSTERY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<h3>TALKING OVER THE MYSTERY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie Forest, sitting in the midst of a group of
+eager admirers, was chatting volubly. Never had
+she been in higher spirits, never had her pretty face
+looked more bright and daring.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple coming into the play-room, started
+when she saw her. Annie, however, instantly rose
+from the low hassock on which she had perched
+herself and, running up to Cecil, put her hand
+through her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are all discussing the mystery, darling,&#8221; she
+said; &#8220;we have discussed it, and literally torn it to
+shreds, and yet never got at the kernel. We have
+guessed and guessed what your motive can be in
+concealing the truth from Mrs. Willis, and we all
+unanimously vote that you are a dear old martyr,
+and that you have some admirable reason for keeping
+back the truth. You cannot think what an excitement
+we are in&mdash;even Susy Drummond has
+stayed awake to listen to our chatter. Now, Cecil,
+do come and sit here in this most inviting little arm-chair,
+and tell us what our dear head-mistress said
+to you in the chapel. It did seem so awful to send
+you to the chapel, poor dear Cecil.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span></p>
+<p>Cecil stood perfectly still and quiet while Annie
+was pouring out her torrent of eager words; her
+eyes, indeed, did not quite meet her companion&#8217;s,
+but she allowed Annie to retain her clasp of her arm,
+and she evidently listened with attention to her
+words. Now, however, when Miss Forest tried to
+draw her into the midst of the eager and animated
+group who sat round the play-room fire, she hesitated
+and looked longingly in the direction of her
+peaceful little drawing-room. Her hesitation, however,
+was but momentary. Quite silently she walked
+with Annie down the large play-room and entered
+the group of girls.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s your throne, Queen Cecil,&#8221; said Annie,
+trying to push her into the little arm-chair; but
+Cecil would not seat herself.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How nice that you have come, Cecil!&#8221; said
+Mary Pierce, a second-class girl. &#8220;I really think&mdash;we
+all think&mdash;that you were very brave to stand out
+against Mrs. Willis as you did. Of course we are
+devoured with curiosity to know what it means;
+arn&#8217;t we, Flo?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, we&#8217;re in agonies,&#8221; answered Flo Dunstan,
+another second-class girl.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will tell exactly what Mrs. Willis said, darling
+heroine?&#8221; proceeded Annie in her most dulcet
+tones. &#8220;You concealed your knowledge, didn&#8217;t
+you? you were very firm, weren&#8217;t you? dear, brave
+love!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For my part, I think Cecil Temple the soul of
+brave firmness,&#8221; here interrupted Susan Drummond.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+&#8220;I fancy she&#8217;s as hard and firm in herself when she
+wants to conceal a thing as that rocky sweetmeat
+which always hurts our teeth to get through. Yes,
+I do fancy that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Susy, what a horrid metaphor!&#8221; here interrupted
+several girls.
+</p>
+<p>One, however, of the eager group of schoolgirls
+had not opened her lips or said a word; that girl
+was Hester Thornton. She had been drawn into
+the circle by an intense curiosity; but she had made
+no comment with regard to Cecil&#8217;s conduct. If she
+knew anything of the mystery she had thrown no
+light on it. She had simply sat motionless, with
+watchful and alert eyes and silent tongue. Now, for
+the first time, she spoke.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think, if you will allow her, that Cecil has got
+something to say,&#8221; she remarked.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil glanced down at her with a very brief look
+of gratitude.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Hester,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I won&#8217;t keep
+you a moment, girls. I cannot offer to throw any
+light on the mystery which makes us all so miserable
+to-day; but I think it right to undeceive you with
+regard to myself. I have not concealed what I
+know from Mrs. Willis. She is in possession of all
+the facts, and what I found in my desk this morning
+is now in her keeping. She has made me see that
+in concealing my knowledge I was acting wrongly,
+and whatever pain has come to me in the matter, she
+now knows all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>When Cecil had finished her sad little speech she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+walked straight out of the group of girls, and, without
+glancing at one of them, went across the play-room
+to her own compartment. She had failed to
+observe a quick and startled glance from Susan
+Drummond&#8217;s sleepy blue eyes, nor had she heard
+her mutter&mdash;half to her companions, half to herself:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil is not like the rocky sweetmeat; I was
+mistaken in her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Neither had Cecil seen the flash of almost triumph
+in Hester&#8217;s eyes, nor the defiant glance she threw at
+Miss Forest. Annie stood with her hands clasped,
+and a little frown of perplexity between her brows,
+for a moment; then she ran fearlessly down the
+play-room, and said in a low voice at the other side
+of Cecil&#8217;s curtains:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I come in?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil said &#8220;Yes,&#8221; and Annie, entering the pretty
+little drawing-room, flung her arms round Miss
+Temple&#8217;s neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil,&#8221; she exclaimed impulsively, &#8220;you&#8217;re in
+great trouble. I am a giddy, reckless thing, I
+know, but I don&#8217;t laugh at people when they are in
+real trouble. Won&#8217;t you tell me all about it,
+Cecil?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will, Annie. Sit down there and I will tell
+you everything. I think you have a right to know,
+and I am glad you have come to me. I thought
+perhaps&mdash;but no matter. Annie, can&#8217;t you guess
+what I am going to say?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I&#8217;m sure I can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;I saw for a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+moment or two to-day that some of those absurd
+girls suspected me of being the author of all this
+mischief. Now, you know, Cecil, I love a bit of fun
+beyond words. If there&#8217;s any going on I feel
+nearly mad until I am in it; but what was done to-day
+was not at all in accordance with my ideas of
+fun. To tear up Miss Russell&#8217;s essay and fill her
+desk with stupid plum-cake and Turkish delight
+seems to me but a sorry kind of jest. Now, if I had
+been guilty of that sort of thing, I&#8217;d have managed
+something far cleverer than that. If <i>I</i> had tampered
+with Dora Russell&#8217;s desk, I&#8217;d have done the thing in
+style. The dear, sweet, dignified creature should
+have shrieked in real terror. You don&#8217;t know, perhaps,
+Cecil, that our admirable Dora is no end of a
+coward. I wonder what she would have said if I
+had put a little nest of field-mice in her desk! I saw
+that the poor thing suspected me, as she gave way
+to her usual little sneer about the &#8216;under-bred girl;&#8217;
+but, of course, <i>you</i> know me, Cecil. Why, my dear
+Cecil, what is the matter? How white you are, and
+you are actually crying! What is it, Cecil? what is
+it, Cecil, darling?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil dried her eyes quickly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know my pet copy of Mrs. Browning&#8217;s
+poems, don&#8217;t you, Annie?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, of course. You lent it to me one day.
+Don&#8217;t you remember how you made me cry over
+that picture of little Alice, the over-worked factory
+girl? What about the book, Cecil?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I found the book in my desk,&#8221; said Cecil, in a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+steady tone, and now fixing her eyes on Annie, who
+knelt by her side&mdash;&#8220;I found the book in my desk,
+although I never keep it there; for it is quite
+against the rules to keep our recreation books in
+our school-desks, and you know, Annie, I always
+think it is so much easier to keep these little rules.
+They are matters of duty and conscience, after all.
+I found my copy of Mrs. Browning in my desk this
+morning with the cover torn off, and with a very
+painful and ludicrous caricature of our dear Mrs.
+Willis sketched on the title-page.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;No, no; impossible!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know nothing about it, do you, Annie?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never put it there, if that&#8217;s what you mean,&#8221;
+said Annie. But her face had undergone a curious
+change. Her light and easy and laughing manner
+had altered. When Cecil mentioned the caricature
+she flushed a vivid crimson. Her flush had quickly
+died away, leaving her olive-tinted face paler than
+its wont.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see,&#8221; she said, after a long pause, &#8220;you, too,
+suspected me, Cecil, and that is why you tried to
+conceal the thing. You know that I am the only
+girl in the school who can draw caricatures, but did
+you suppose that I would show <i>her</i> dishonor? Of
+course things look ugly for me, if this is what you
+found in your book; but I did not think that <i>you</i>
+would suspect me, Cecil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will believe you, Annie,&#8221; said Cecil, eagerly.
+&#8220;I long beyond words to believe you. With all
+your faults, no one has ever yet found you out in a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+lie. If you look at me, Annie, and tell me honestly
+that you know nothing whatever about that caricature,
+I will believe you. Yes, I will believe you
+fully, and I will go with you to Mrs. Willis and
+tell her that, whoever did the wrong, you are innocent
+in this matter. Say you know nothing about
+it, dear, dear Annie, and take a load off my heart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never put the caricature into your book,
+Cecil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you know nothing about it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot say that; I never&mdash;never put it in your
+book.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Annie,&#8221; exclaimed poor Cecil, &#8220;you are
+trying to deceive me. Why won&#8217;t you be brave?
+Oh, Annie, I never thought you would stoop to a
+lie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m telling no lie,&#8221; answered Annie with sudden
+passion. &#8220;I do know something about the caricature,
+but I never put it into that book. There! you
+doubt me, you have ceased to believe me, and I
+won&#8217;t waste any more words on the matter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV__SENT_TO_COVENTRY' id='CHAPTER_XIV__SENT_TO_COVENTRY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;SENT TO COVENTRY.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There were many girls in the school who remembered
+that dismal half-holiday&mdash;they remembered
+its forced mirth and its hidden anxiety; and as the
+hours flew by the suspicion that Annie Forest was
+the author of all the mischief grew and deepened.
+A school is like a little world, and popular opinion
+is apt to change with great rapidity. Annie was
+undoubtedly the favorite of the school; but favorites
+are certain to have enemies, and there were
+several girls unworthy enough and mean enough to
+be jealous of poor Annie&#8217;s popularity. She was the
+kind of girl whom only very small natures could
+really dislike. Her popularity arose from the simple
+fact that hers was a peculiarly joyous and unselfish
+nature. She was a girl with scarcely any self-consciousness;
+those she loved, she loved devotedly;
+she threw herself with a certain feverish impetuosity
+into their lives, and made their interest her
+own. To get into mischief and trouble for the sake
+of a friend was an every-day occurrence with Annie.
+She was not the least studious; she had no one
+particular talent, unless it was an untrained and
+birdlike voice; she was always more or less in hot
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span>
+water about her lessons, always behindhand in her
+tasks, always leaving undone what she should do,
+and doing what she should not do. She was a contradictory,
+erratic creature&mdash;jealous of no one,
+envious of no one&mdash;dearly loving a joke, and many
+times inflicting pain from sheer thoughtlessness, but
+always ready to say she was sorry, always ready to
+make friends again.
+</p>
+<p>It is strange that such a girl as Annie should have
+enemies, but she had, and in the last few weeks the
+feeling of jealousy and envy which had always been
+smoldering in some breasts took more active form.
+Two reasons accounted for this: Hester&#8217;s openly
+avowed and persistent dislike to Annie, and Miss
+Russell&#8217;s declared conviction that she was under-bred
+and not a lady.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell was the only girl in the first class
+who had hitherto given wild little Annie a thought.
+</p>
+<p>In the first class, to-day, Annie had to act the unpleasing
+part of the wicked little heroine. Miss
+Russell was quite certain of Annie&#8217;s guilt; she and
+her companions condescended to discuss poor Annie
+and to pull all her little virtues to pieces, and to
+magnify her sins to an alarming extent.
+</p>
+<p>After two or three hours of judicious conversation,
+Dora Russell and most of the other first-class
+girls decided that Annie ought to be expelled, and
+unanimously resolved that they, at least, would do
+what they could to &#8220;send her to Coventry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In the lower part of the school Annie also had
+a few enemies, and these girls, having carefully
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+observed Hester&#8217;s attitude toward her, now came
+up close to this dignified little lady, and asked her
+boldly to declare her opinion with regard to Annie&#8217;s
+guilt.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, without the least hesitation, assured them
+that &#8220;of course Annie had done it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is not room for a single doubt on the subject,&#8221;
+she said; &#8220;there&mdash;look at her now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At this instant Annie was leaving Cecil&#8217;s compartment,
+and with red eyes, and hair, as usual,
+falling about her face, was running out of the play-room.
+She seemed in great distress; but, nevertheless,
+before she reached the door, she stopped to
+pick up a little girl of five, who was fretting about
+some small annoyance. Annie took the little one
+in her arms, kissed her tenderly, whispered some
+words in her ear, which caused the little face to
+light up with some smiles and the round arms to
+clasp Annie with an ecstatic hug. She dropped
+the child, who ran back to play merrily with her
+companions, and left the room.
+</p>
+<p>The group of middle-class girls still sat on by the
+fire, but Hester Thornton now, not Annie, was the
+center of attraction. It was the first time in all
+her young life that Hester had found herself in the
+enviable position of a favorite; and without at all
+knowing what mischief she was doing, she could
+not resist improving the occasion, and making the
+most of her dislike for Annie.
+</p>
+<p>Several of those who even were fond of Miss
+Forest came round to the conviction that she was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+really guilty, and one by one, as is the fashion not
+only among school girls but in the greater world
+outside, they began to pick holes in their former
+favorite. These girls, too, resolved that, if Annie
+were really so mean as maliciously to injure other
+girls&#8217; property and get them into trouble, she must
+be &#8220;sent to Coventry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s Coventry?&#8221; asked one of the little ones,
+the child whom Annie had kissed and comforted,
+now sidling up to the group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, a nasty place, Phena,&#8221; said Mary Bell,
+putting her arm round the pretty child and drawing
+her to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And who is going there?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, I am afraid it is naughty Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s not naughty! Annie sha&#8216;n&#8217;t go to any
+nasty place. I hate you, Mary Bell.&#8221; The little
+one looked round the group with flashing eyes of
+defiance, then wrenched herself away to return to
+her younger companions.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was stupid of you to say that, Mary,&#8221; remarked
+one of the girls. &#8220;Well,&#8221; she continued,
+&#8220;I suppose it is all settled, and poor Annie, to say
+the least of it, is not a lady. For my own part, I
+always thought her great fun, but if she is proved
+guilty of this offense I wash my hands of her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We all wash our hands of her,&#8221; echoed the girls,
+with the exception of Susan Drummond, who, as
+usual, was nodding in her chair.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you say, Susy?&#8221; asked one or two;
+&#8220;you have not opened your lips all this time.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;eh?&mdash;what?&#8221; asked Susan, stretching herself
+and yawning, &#8220;oh, about Annie Forest&mdash;I
+suppose you are right, girls. Is not that the tea-gong?
+I&#8217;m awfully hungry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester Thornton went into the tea-room that
+evening feeling particularly virtuous, and with an
+idea that she had distinguished herself in some
+way.
+</p>
+<p>Poor foolish, thoughtless Hester, she little guessed
+what seed she had sown, and what a harvest she
+was preparing for her own reaping by-and-by.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV_ABOUT_SOME_PEOPLE_WHO_THOUGHT_NO_EVIL' id='CHAPTER_XV_ABOUT_SOME_PEOPLE_WHO_THOUGHT_NO_EVIL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<h3>ABOUT SOME PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT NO EVIL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A few days after this Hester was much delighted
+to receive an invitation from her little friends, the
+Misses Bruce. These good ladies had not forgotten
+the lonely and miserable child whom they had comforted
+not a little during her journey to school six
+weeks ago. They invited Hester to spend the next
+half-holiday with them, and as this happened to fall
+on a Saturday, Mrs. Willis gave Hester permission
+to remain with her friends until eight o&#8217;clock, when
+she would send the carriage to fetch her home.
+</p>
+<p>The trouble about Annie had taken place the
+Wednesday before, and all the girls&#8217; heads were full
+of the uncleared-up mystery when Hester started on
+her little expedition.
+</p>
+<p>Nothing was known; no fresh light had been
+thrown on the subject. Everything went on as usual
+within the school, and a casual observer would never
+have noticed the cloud which rested over that usually
+happy dwelling. A casual observer would have
+noticed little or no change in Annie Forest; her
+merry laugh was still heard, her light step still
+danced across the play-room floor, she was in her
+place in class, and was, if anything, a little more attentive
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+and a little more successful over her lessons.
+Her pretty piquant face, her arch expression, the
+bright, quick and droll glance which she alone could
+give, were still to be seen; but those who knew her
+well and those who loved her best saw a change in
+Annie.
+</p>
+<p>In the play-room she devoted herself exclusively
+to the little ones; she never went near Cecil Temple&#8217;s
+drawing-room; she never mingled with the girls of
+the middle school as they clustered round the cheerful
+fire. At meal-times she ate little, and her room-fellow
+was heard to declare that she was awakened
+more than once in the middle of the night by the
+sound of Annie&#8217;s sobs. In chapel, too, when she
+fancied herself quite unobserved, her face wore an
+expression of great pain; but if Mrs. Willis happened
+to glance in her direction, instantly the little mouth
+became demure and almost hard, the dark eyelashes
+were lowered over the bright eyes, the whole expression
+of the face showed the extreme of indifference.
+Hester felt more sure than ever of Annie&#8217;s
+guilt; but one or two of the other girls in the school
+wavered in this opinion, and would have taken Annie
+out of &#8220;Coventry&#8221; had she herself made the smallest
+advance toward them.
+</p>
+<p>Annie and Hester had not spoken to each other
+now for several days; but on this afternoon, which
+was a bright one in early spring, as Hester was
+changing her school-dress for her Sunday one, and
+preparing for her visit to the Misses Bruce, there
+came a light knock at her door. She said, &#8220;Come
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+in!&#8221; rather impatiently, for she was in a hurry, and
+dreaded being kept.
+</p>
+<p>To her surprise Annie Forest put in her curly
+head, and then, dancing with her usual light movement
+across the room, she laid a little bunch of
+dainty spring flowers on the dressing-table beside
+Hester.
+</p>
+<p>Hester stared, first at the intruder, and then at
+the early primroses. She passionately loved flowers,
+and would have exclaimed with ecstasy at these
+had any one brought them in except Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you,&#8221; said Annie, rather timidly for her,
+&#8220;to take these flowers from me to Miss Agnes and
+Miss Jane Bruce. It will be very kind of you if you
+will take them. I am sorry to have interrupted
+you&mdash;thank you very much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She was turning away when Hester compelled
+herself to remark:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is there any message with the flowers?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no&mdash;only Annie Forest&#8217;s love. They&#8217;ll understand&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+she turned half round as she spoke,
+and Hester saw that her eyes had filled with tears.
+She felt touched in spite of herself. There was
+something in Annie&#8217;s face now which reminded her
+of her darling little Nan at home. She had seen
+the same beseeching, sorrowful look in Nan&#8217;s brown
+eyes when she had wanted her friends to kiss her
+and take her to their hearts and love her.
+</p>
+<p>Hester would not allow herself, however, to feel
+any tenderness toward Annie. Of course she was
+not really a bit like sweet little Nan, and it was absurd
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+to suppose that a great girl like Annie could
+want caressing and petting and soothing; still, in
+spite of herself, Annie&#8217;s look haunted her, and she
+took great care of the little flower-offering, and presented
+it with Annie&#8217;s message instantly on her arrival
+to the little old ladies.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Jane and Miss Agnes were very much pleased
+with the early primroses. They looked at one another
+and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor dear little girl,&#8221; in tender voices, and then
+they put the flowers into one of their daintiest vases,
+and made much of them, and showed them to any
+visitors who happened to call that afternoon.
+</p>
+<p>Their little house looked something like a doll&#8217;s
+house to Hester, who had been accustomed all her
+life to large rooms and spacious passages; but it was
+the sweetest, daintiest, and most charming little
+abode in the world. It was not unlike a nest, and
+the Misses Bruce in certain ways resembled bright
+little robin redbreasts, so small, so neat, so chirrupy
+they were.
+</p>
+<p>Hester enjoyed her afternoon immensely; the little
+ladies were right in their prophesy, and she was
+no longer lonely at school. She enjoyed talking
+about her schoolfellows, about her new life, about
+her studies. The Misses Bruce were decidedly fond
+of a gossip, but something which she could not at all
+define in their manner prevented Hester from retailing
+for their benefit any unkind news. They told
+her frankly at last that they were only interested in
+the good things which went on in the school, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+that they found no pursuit so altogether delightful
+as finding out the best points in all the people they
+came across. They would not even laugh at sleepy,
+tiresome Susan Drummond; on the contrary, they
+pitied her, and Miss Jane wondered if the girl could
+be quite well, whereupon Miss Agnes shook her
+head, and said emphatically that it was Hester&#8217;s duty
+to rouse poor Susy, and to make her waking life so
+interesting to her that she should no longer care to
+spend so many hours in the world of dreams.
+</p>
+<p>There is such a thing as being so kind-hearted,
+so gentle, so charitable as to make the people who
+have not encouraged these virtues feel quite uncomfortable.
+By the mere force of contrast they begin
+to see themselves something as they really are.
+Since Hester had come to Lavender House she had
+taken very little pains to please others rather than
+herself, and she was now almost startled to see how
+she had allowed selfishness to get the better of her.
+While the Misses Bruce were speaking, old longings,
+which had slept since her mother&#8217;s death, came
+back to the young girl, and she began to wish that
+she could be kinder to Susan Drummond, and that
+she could overcome her dislike to Annie Forest.
+She longed to say something about Annie to the
+little ladies, but they evidently did not wish to
+allude to the subject. When she was going away,
+they gave her a small parcel.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will kindly give this to your schoolfellow,
+Miss Forest, Hester, dear,&#8221; they both said, and then
+they kissed her, and said they hoped they should
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+see her again; and Hester got into the old-fashioned
+school brougham, and held the brown paper parcel
+in her hand.
+</p>
+<p>As she was going into the chapel that night,
+Mary Bell came up to her and whispered:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have not got to the bottom of that mystery
+about Annie Forest yet. Mrs. Willis can evidently
+make nothing of her, and I believe Mr. Everard is
+going to talk to her after prayers to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As she was speaking, Annie herself pushed rather
+rudely past the two girls; her face was flushed, and
+her hair was even more untidy than was its wont.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here is a parcel for you, Miss Forest,&#8221; said
+Hester, in a much more gentle tone than she was
+wont to use when she addressed this objectionable
+schoolmate.
+</p>
+<p>All the girls were now filing into the chapel,
+and Hester should certainly not have presented the
+little parcel at that moment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Breaking the rules, Miss Thornton,&#8221; said Annie;
+&#8220;all right, toss it here.&#8221; Then, as Hester failed to
+comply, she ran back, knocking her schoolfellows
+out of place, and, snatching the parcel from Hester&#8217;s
+hand, threw it high in the air. This was a piece of not
+only willful audacity and disobedience, but it even
+savored of the profane, for Annie&#8217;s step was on the
+threshold of the chapel, and the parcel fell with a
+noisy bang on the floor some feet inside the little
+building.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bring me that parcel, Annie Forest,&#8221; whispered
+the stern voice of the head-mistress.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></p>
+<p>Annie sullenly complied; but when she came up
+to Mrs. Willis, her governess took her hand, and
+pushed her down into a low seat a little behind
+her.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI__AN_ENEMY_HATH_DONE_THIS' id='CHAPTER_XVI__AN_ENEMY_HATH_DONE_THIS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The short evening service was over, and one by
+one, in orderly procession, the girls left the chapel.
+Annie was about to rise to her feet to follow her
+school-companions, when Mrs. Willis stooped down,
+and whispered something in her ear. Her face became
+instantly suffused with a dull red; she resumed
+her seat, and buried her face in both her hands.
+One or two of the girls noticed her despondent
+attitude as they left the chapel, and Cecil Temple
+looked back with a glance of such unutterable
+sympathy that Annie&#8217;s proud, suffering little heart
+would have been touched could she but have seen
+the look.
+</p>
+<p>Presently the young steps died away, and Annie,
+raising her head, saw that she was alone with Mr.
+Everard, who seated himself in the place which Mrs.
+Willis had occupied by her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your governess has asked me to speak to you,
+my dear,&#8221; he said, in his kind and fatherly tones;
+&#8220;she wants us to discuss this thing which is making
+you so unhappy quite fully together.&#8221; Here the
+clergyman paused, and noticing a sudden wistful
+and soft look in the girl&#8217;s brown eyes, he continued:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+&#8220;Perhaps, however, you have something to say to
+me which will throw light on this mystery?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir, I have nothing to say,&#8221; replied Annie,
+and now again the sullen expression passed like a
+wave over her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor child,&#8221; said Mr. Everard. &#8220;Perhaps,
+Annie,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;you do not quite understand
+me&mdash;you do not quite read my motive in talking to
+you to-night. I am not here in any sense to reprove
+you. You are either guilty of this sin, or you are
+not guilty. In either case I pity you; it is very
+hard, very bitter, to be falsely accused&mdash;I pity you
+much if this is the case; but it is still harder, Annie,
+still more bitter, still more absolutely crushing to
+be accused of a sin which we are trying to conceal.
+In that terrible case God Himself hides His face.
+Poor child, poor child, I pity you most of all if you
+are guilty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie had again covered her face, and bowed her
+head over her hands. She did not speak for a
+moment, but presently Mr. Everard heard a low sob,
+and then another, and another, until at last her
+whole frame was shaken with a perfect tempest of
+weeping.
+</p>
+<p>The old clergyman, who had seen many strange
+phases of human nature, who had in his day comforted
+and guided more than one young school-girl,
+was far too wise to do anything to check this flow
+of grief. He knew Annie would speak more fully
+and more frankly when her tears were over. He
+was right. She presently raised a very tear-stained
+face to the clergyman.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I felt very bitter at your coming to speak to
+me,&#8221; she began. &#8220;Mrs. Willis has always sent for
+you when everything else has failed with us girls,
+and I did not think she would treat me so. I was
+determined not to say anything to you. Now, however,
+you have spoken good words to me, and I can&#8217;t
+turn away from you. I will tell you all that is in
+my heart. I will promise before God to conceal
+nothing, if only you will do one thing for me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is that, my child?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you believe me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Undoubtedly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, but you have not been tried yet. I thought
+Mrs. Willis would certainly believe; but she said
+the circumstantial evidence was too strong&mdash;perhaps
+it will be too strong for you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I promise to believe you, Annie Forest; if, before
+God, you can assure me that you are speaking
+the whole truth, I will fully believe you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie paused again, then she rose from her seat
+and stood a pace away from the old minister.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is the truth before God,&#8221; she said, as she
+locked her two hands together and raised her eyes
+freely and unshrinkingly to Mr. Everard&#8217;s face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have always loved Mrs. Willis. I have reasons
+for loving her which the girls don&#8217;t know
+about. The girls don&#8217;t know that when my mother
+was dying she gave me into Mrs. Willis&#8217; charge,
+and she said, &#8216;You must keep Annie until her
+father comes back.&#8217; Mother did not know where
+father was; but she said he would be sure to come
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+back some day, and look for mother and me; and
+Mrs. Willis said she would keep me faithfully until
+father came to claim me. That is four years ago, and
+my father has never come, nor have I heard of him,
+and I think, I am almost sure, that the little
+money which mother left must be all used up. Mrs.
+Willis never says anything about money, and she
+did not wish me to tell my story to the girls.
+None of them know except Cecil Temple. I am
+sure some day father will come home, and he will
+give Mrs. Willis back the money she has spent on
+me; but never, never, never can he repay her for her
+goodness to me. You see I cannot help loving Mrs.
+Willis. It is quite impossible for any girl to have
+such a friend and not to love her. I know I am
+very wild, and that I do all sorts of mad things. It
+seems to me that I cannot help myself sometimes;
+but I would not willingly, indeed, I would not
+willingly hurt anybody. Last Wednesday, as you
+know, there was a great disturbance in the school.
+Dora Russell&#8217;s desk was tampered with, and so was
+Cecil Temple&#8217;s. You know, of course, what was
+found in both the desks. Mrs. Willis sent for me,
+and asked me about the caricature which was drawn
+in Cecil&#8217;s book. I looked at it and I told her
+the truth. I did not conceal one thing. I told her
+the whole truth as far as I knew it. She did not
+believe me. She said so. What more could I do
+then?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Annie paused; she began to unclasp and clasp
+her hands, and she looked full at Mr. Everard with
+a most pleading expression.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mind repeating to me exactly what you
+said to your governess?&#8221; he questioned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I said this, sir. I said, &#8216;Yes, Mrs. Willis, I did
+draw that caricature. You will scarcely understand
+how I, who love you so much, could have been so
+mad and ungrateful as to do anything to turn you
+into ridicule. I would cut off my right hand now
+not to have done it; but I did do it, and I must tell
+you the truth.&#8217; &#8216;Tell me, dear,&#8217; she said, quite
+gently then. &#8216;It was one wet afternoon about a
+fortnight ago,&#8217; I said to her; &#8216;a lot of us middle-school
+girls were sitting together, and I had a pencil
+and some bits of paper, and I was making up funny
+little groups of a lot of us, and the girls were screaming
+with laughter, for somehow I managed to make
+the likeness that I wanted in each case. It was
+very wrong of me, I know. It was against the
+rules, but I was in one of my maddest humors, and I
+really did not care what the consequences were. At
+last one of the girls said: &#8216;You won&#8217;t dare to make
+a picture like that of Mrs. Willis, Annie&mdash;you know
+you won&#8217;t dare.&#8217; The minute she said that name I began
+to feel ashamed. I remembered I was breaking
+one of the rules, and I suddenly tore up all my bits
+of paper and flung them into the fire, and I said:
+&#8216;No, I would not dare to show her dishonor.&#8217; Well,
+afterward, as I was washing my hands for tea up
+in my room, the temptation came over me so strongly
+that I felt I could not resist it, to make a funny
+little sketch of Mrs. Willis. I had a little scrap of
+thin paper, and I took out my pencil and did it all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+in a minute. It seemed to me very funny, and I
+could not help laughing at it; and then I thrust it
+into my private writing-case, which I always keep
+locked, and I put the key in my pocket and ran
+downstairs. I forgot all about the caricature. I
+had never shown it to any one. How it got into
+Cecil&#8217;s book is more than I can say. When I had
+finished speaking Mrs. Willis looked very hard at
+the book. &#8216;You are right,&#8217; she said; &#8216;this caricature
+is drawn on a very thin piece of paper, which has
+been cleverly pasted on the title-page.&#8217; Then, Mr.
+Everard, she asked me a lot of questions. Had I
+ever parted with my keys? Had I ever left my desk
+unlocked? &#8216;No,&#8217; I said, &#8216;my desk is always locked,
+and my keys are always in my pocket. Indeed,&#8217; I
+added, &#8216;my keys were absolutely safe for the last
+week, for they went in a white petticoat to the wash,
+and came back as rusty as possible.&#8217; I could not
+open my desk for a whole week, which was a great
+nuisance. I told all this story to Mrs. Willis, and
+she said to me: &#8216;You are positively certain that this
+caricature has been taken out of your desk by somebody
+else, and pasted in here? You are sure that the
+caricature you drew is not to be found in your desk?&#8217;
+&#8216;Yes,&#8217; I said; &#8216;how can I be anything but sure; these
+are my pencil marks, and that is the funny little turn
+I gave to your neck which made me laugh when I
+drew it. Yes; I am certainly sure.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have always been told, Annie,&#8217; Mrs. Willis
+said, &#8216;that you are the only girl in the school who
+can draw these caricatures. You have never seen an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+attempt at this kind of drawing among your schoolfellows,
+or among any of the teachers?&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have never seen any of them try this special
+kind of drawing,&#8217; I said. &#8216;I wish I was like them.
+I wish I had never, never done it.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You have got your keys now?&#8217; Mrs. Willis
+said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes,&#8217; I answered, pulling them all covered with
+rust out of my pocket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then she told me to leave the keys on the table,
+and to go upstairs and fetch down my little private
+desk.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did so, and she made me put the rusty key in the
+lock and open the desk, and together we searched
+through its contents. We pulled out everything, or
+rather I did, and I scattered all my possessions about
+on the table, and then I looked up almost triumphantly
+at Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You see the caricature is not here,&#8217; I said;
+&#8216;somebody picked the lock and took it away.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;This lock has not been picked,&#8217; Mrs. Willis said;
+&#8216;and what is that little piece of white paper sticking
+out of the private drawer?&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, I forgot my private drawer,&#8217; I said; &#8216;but
+there is nothing in it&mdash;nothing whatever,&#8217; and then I
+touched the spring, and pulled it open, and there lay
+the little caricature which I had drawn in the bottom
+of the drawer. There it lay, not as I had left it, for I
+had never put it into the private drawer. I saw Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; face turn very white, and I noticed that her
+hands trembled. I was all red myself, and very hot,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+and there was a choking lump in my throat, and I
+could not have got a single word out even if I had
+wished to. So I began scrambling the things back
+into my desk, as hard as ever I could, and then I
+locked it, and put the rusty keys back in my pocket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What am I to believe now, Annie?&#8217; Mrs. Willis
+said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Believe anything you like now,&#8217; I managed to
+say; and then I took my desk and walked out of the
+room, and would not wait even though she called me
+back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is the whole story, Mr. Everard,&#8221; continued
+Annie. &#8220;I have no explanation whatever to give.
+I did make the one caricature of my dear governess.
+I did not make the other. The second
+caricature is certainly a copy of the first, but I did
+not make it. I don&#8217;t know who made it. I have
+no light whatever to throw on the subject. You
+see after all,&#8221; added Annie Forest, raising her eyes
+to the clergyman&#8217;s face, &#8220;it is impossible for you to
+believe me. Mrs. Willis does not believe me, and
+you cannot be expected to. I don&#8217;t suppose you are
+to be blamed. I don&#8217;t see how you can help yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The circumstantial evidence is very strong against
+you, Annie,&#8221; replied the clergyman; &#8220;still, I
+promised to believe, and I have no intention of going
+back from my word. If, in the presence of God
+in this little church, you would willingly and deliberately
+tell me a lie I should never trust human
+being again. No, Annie Forest, you have many
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+faults, but you are not a liar. I see the impress of
+truth on your brow, in your eyes, on your lips.
+This is a very painful mystery, my child; but I
+believe you. I am going to see Mrs. Willis now.
+God bless you, Annie. Be brave, be courageous,
+don&#8217;t foster malice in your heart to any unknown
+enemy. An enemy has truly done this thing, poor
+child; but God Himself will bring this mystery to
+light. Trust Him, my dear; and now I am going
+to see Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>While Mr. Everard was speaking, Annie&#8217;s whole
+expressive face had changed; the sullen look had
+left it; the eyes were bright with renewed hope;
+the lips had parted in smiles. There was a struggle
+for speech, but no words came: the young girl
+stooped down and raised the old clergyman&#8217;s
+withered hands to her lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me stay here a little longer,&#8221; she managed
+to say at last; and then he left her.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII__THE_SWEETS_ARE_POISONED' id='CHAPTER_XVII__THE_SWEETS_ARE_POISONED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;THE SWEETS ARE POISONED.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think, my dear madam,&#8221; said Mr. Everard to
+Mrs. Willis, &#8220;that you must believe your pupil.
+She has not refused to confess to you from any
+stubbornness, but from the simple reason that she
+has nothing to confess. I am firmly convinced that
+things are as she stated them, Mrs. Willis. There is
+a mystery here which we neither of us can explain,
+but which we must unravel.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then Mrs. Willis and the clergyman had a long
+and anxious talk together. It lasted for a long
+time, and some of its results at least were manifest
+the next morning, for, just before the morning&#8217;s
+work began, Mrs. Willis came to the large school-room,
+and, calling Annie Forest to her side, laid
+her hand on the young girl&#8217;s shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish to tell you all, young ladies,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;that I completely and absolutely exonerate Annie
+Forest from having any part in the disgraceful
+occurrence which took place in this school-room a
+short time ago. I allude, of course, as you all know,
+to the book which was found tampered with in Cecil
+Temple&#8217;s desk. Some one else in this room is
+guilty, and the mystery has still to be unraveled,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+and the guilty girl has still to come forward and
+declare herself. If she is willing at this moment to
+come to me here, and fully and freely confess her
+sin, I will quite forgive her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The head mistress paused, and, still with her hand
+on Annie&#8217;s shoulder, looked anxiously down the
+long room. The love and forgiveness which she
+felt shone in her eyes at this moment. No girl need
+have feared aught but tenderness from her just
+then.
+</p>
+<p>No one stirred; the moment passed, and a look of
+sternness returned to the mistress&#8217; fine face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said, in her emphatic and clear tones,
+&#8220;the guilty girl prefers waiting until God discovers
+her sin for her. My dear, whoever you are, that
+hour is coming, and you cannot escape from it. In
+the meantime, girls, I wish you all to receive Annie
+Forest as quite innocent. I believe in her, so does
+Mr. Everard, and so must you. Any one who treats
+Miss Forest except as a perfectly innocent and
+truthful girl incurs my severe displeasure. My
+dear, you may return to your seat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, whose face was partly hidden by her curly
+hair during the greater part of this speech, now
+tossed it back, and raised her brown eyes with a
+look of adoration in them to her teacher. Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; face, however, still looked harassed. Her
+eyes met Annie&#8217;s, but no corresponding glow was
+kindled in them; their glance was just, calm, but
+cold.
+</p>
+<p>The childish heart was conscious of a keen pang
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+of agony, and Annie went back to her lessons without
+any sense of exultation.
+</p>
+<p>The fact was this: Mrs. Willis&#8217; judgment and
+reason had been brought round by Mr. Everard&#8217;s
+words, but in her heart of hearts, almost unknown
+to herself, there still lingered a doubt of the innocence
+of her wayward and pretty pupil. She said
+over and over to herself that she really now quite
+believed in Annie Forest, but then would come
+those whisperings from her pained and sore heart.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why did she ever make a caricature of one who
+has been as a mother to her? If she made one caricature,
+could she not make another? Above all
+things, if <i>she</i> did not do it, who did?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis turned away from these unpleasant
+whispers&mdash;she would not let them stay with her,
+and turned a deaf ear to their ugly words. She
+had publicly declared in the school her belief in
+Annie&#8217;s absolute innocence, but at the moment when
+her pupil looked up at her with a world of love and
+adoration in her gaze, she found to her own infinite
+distress that she could not give her the old love.
+</p>
+<p>Annie went back to her companions, and bent
+her head over her lessons, and tried to believe that
+she was very thankful and very happy, and Cecil
+Temple managed to whisper a gentle word of congratulation
+to her, and at the twelve o&#8217;clock walk
+Annie perceived that a few of her schoolfellows
+looked at her with friendly eyes again. She perceived
+now that when she went into the play-room
+she was not absolutely tabooed, and that, if she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+chose, she might speedily resume her old reign of
+popularity. Annie had, to a remarkable extent, the
+gift of inspiring love, and her old favorites would
+quickly have flocked back to their sovereign had
+she so willed it. It is certainly true that the girls
+to whom the whole story was known in all its bearings
+found it difficult to understand how Annie
+could be innocent; but Mr. Everard&#8217;s and Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; assertions were too potent to be disregarded,
+and most of the girls were only too willing to let
+the whole affair slide from their minds, and to take
+back their favorite Annie to their hearts again.
+</p>
+<p>Annie, however, herself did not so will it. In the
+play-room she fraternized with the little ones who
+were alike her friends in adversity and sunshine;
+she rejected almost coldly the overtures of her old
+favorites, but played, and romped, and was merry
+with the children of the sixth class. She even declined
+Cecil&#8217;s invitation to come and sit with her in
+her drawing-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I hate being still; I am in
+no humor for talk. Another time, Cecil, another
+time. Now then, Sybil, my beauty, get well on my
+back, and I&#8217;ll be the willing dog carrying you round
+and round the room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s face had not a trace of care or anxiety on
+it, but her eyes would not quite meet Cecil&#8217;s, and
+Cecil sighed as she turned away, and her heart,
+too, began to whisper little, mocking, ugly doubts of
+poor Annie.
+</p>
+<p>During the half-hour before tea that evening
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+Annie was sitting on the floor with a small child
+in her lap, and two other little ones tumbling about
+her, when she was startled by a shower of lollipops
+being poured over her head, down her neck, and
+into her lap. She started up and met the sleepy
+gaze of Susan Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s to congratulate you, miss,&#8221; said Susan;
+&#8220;you&#8217;re a very lucky girl to have escaped as you
+did.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The little ones began putting Susan&#8217;s lollipops
+vigorously into their mouths. Annie sprang to her
+feet shaking the sticky sweetmeats out of her dress
+on to the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have I escaped from?&#8221; she asked, turning
+round and facing her companion haughtily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear me!&#8221; said Susan, stepping back a pace
+or two. &#8220;I&mdash;ah&mdash;&#8221; stifling a yawn&mdash;&#8220;I only meant
+you were very near getting into an ugly scrape. It&#8217;s
+no affair of mine, I&#8217;m sure; only I thought you&#8217;d
+like the lollipops.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t like them at all,&#8221; said Annie, &#8220;nor
+you, either. Go back to your own companions,
+please.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan sulkily walked away, and Annie stooped
+down on the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, little darlings,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you mustn&#8217;t
+eat those. No, no, they are not good at all; and
+they have come from one of Annie&#8217;s enemies. Most
+likely they are full of poison. Let us collect them
+all, every one, and we will throw them into the fire
+before we go to tea.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any poison in them,&#8221;
+said little Janie West in a regretful tone, as she
+gobbled down a particularly luscious chocolate cream;
+&#8220;they are all big, and fat, and bursty, and <i>so</i> sweet,
+Annie, dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, Janie, they are dangerous sweeties
+all the same. Come, come, throw them into my
+apron, and I will run over and toss them into the
+fire, and we&#8217;ll have time for a game of leap-frog before
+tea; oh, fie, Judy,&#8221; as a very small fat baby
+began to whimper, &#8220;you would not eat the sweeties
+of one of Annie&#8217;s enemies.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This last appeal was successful. The children
+made a valiant effort, and dashed the tempting goodies
+into Annie&#8217;s alapaca apron. When they were
+all collected, she marched up the play-room and in
+the presence of Susan Drummond, Hester Thornton,
+Cecil Temple, and several more of her school companions,
+threw them into the fire.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much for <i>that</i> overture, Miss Drummond,&#8221;
+she said, making a mock courtesy, and returning once
+more to the children.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII_IN_THE_HAMMOCK' id='CHAPTER_XVIII_IN_THE_HAMMOCK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE HAMMOCK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Just at this time the weather suddenly changed.
+After the cold and dreariness of winter came soft
+spring days&mdash;came longer evenings and brighter
+mornings.
+</p>
+<p>Hester Thornton found that she could dress by
+daylight, then that she was no longer cold and shivering
+when she reached the chapel, then that she
+began intensely to enjoy her mid-day walk, then that
+she found her winter things a little too hot, until at
+last, almost suddenly it seemed to the expectant and
+anxious girls, glorious spring weather broke upon the
+world, the winds were soft and westerly, the buds
+swelled and swelled into leaf on the trees, and the
+flowers bloomed in the delightful old-fashioned
+gardens of Lavender House. Instantly, it seemed
+to the girls, their whole lives had altered. The play-room
+was deserted or only put up with on wet days.
+At twelve o&#8217;clock, instead of taking a monotonous
+walk on the roads, they ran races, played tennis,
+croquet, or any other game they liked best in the
+gardens. Later on in the day, when the sun was
+not so powerful, they took their walk; but even
+then they had time to rush back to their beloved
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+shady garden for a little time before tea and preparation
+for their next day&#8217;s work. Easter came this
+year about the middle of April, and Easter found
+these girls almost enjoying summer weather. How
+they looked forward to their few Easter holidays!
+what plans they made, what tennis matches were arranged,
+what games and amusements of all sorts were
+in anticipation! Mrs. Willis herself generally went
+away for a few days at Easter; so did the French
+governess, and the school was nominally placed under
+the charge of Miss Good and Miss Danesbury. Mrs.
+Willis did not approve of long Easter holidays; she
+never gave more than a week, and in consequence
+only the girls who lived quite near went home. Out
+of the fifty girls who resided at Lavender House
+about ten went away at Easter; the remaining forty
+stayed behind, and were often heard to declare that
+holidays at Lavender House were the most delightful
+things in the world.
+</p>
+<p>At this particular Easter time the girls were rather
+surprised to hear that Mrs. Willis had made up her
+mind not to go away as usual; Miss Good was to
+have a holiday, and Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury
+were to look after the school. This was felt to be an
+unusual, indeed unheard of, proceeding, and the girls
+commented about it a good deal, and somehow,
+without absolutely intending to do so, they began to
+settle in their own minds that Mrs. Willis was staying
+in the school on account of Annie Forest, and that in
+her heart of hearts she did not absolutely believe in
+her innocence. Mrs. Willis certainly gave the girls no
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+reason to come to this conclusion; she was consistently
+kind to Annie, and had apparently quite
+restored her to her old place in her favor. Annie
+was more gentle than of old, and less inclined to
+get into scrapes; but the girls loved her far less in
+her present unnatural condition of reserve and good
+behavior than they did in her old daring and hoydenish
+days. Cecil Temple always spent Easter
+with an old aunt who lived in a neighboring
+town; she openly said this year that she did not
+wish to go away, but her governess would not allow
+her to change her usual plans, and she left Lavender
+House with a curious feeling of depression and coming
+trouble. As she was getting into the cab which
+was to take her to the station Annie flew to her side,
+threw a great bouquet of flowers which she had
+gathered into her lap, and, flinging her arms tightly
+round her neck, whispered suddenly and passionately:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Cecil, believe in me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I&mdash;I don&#8217;t know that I don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Cecil,
+rather lamely.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Cecil, you don&#8217;t&mdash;not in your heart of hearts.
+Neither you nor Mrs. Willis&mdash;you neither of you
+believe in me from the very bottom of your hearts;
+oh, it is hard!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie gave vent to a little sob, sprang away
+from Cecil&#8217;s arms, and disappeared into a shrubbery
+close by.
+</p>
+<p>She stayed there until the sound of the retreating
+cab died away in the avenue, then, tossing back her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+hair, rearranging her rather tattered garden hat,
+and hastily wiping some tears from her eyes, she
+came out from her retreat, and began to look
+around her for some amusement. What should she
+do? Where should she go? How should she
+occupy herself? Sounds of laughter and merriment
+filled the air; the garden was all alive with gay
+young figures running here and there. Girls stood
+in groups under the horse-chestnut tree&mdash;girls
+walked two and two up the shady walk at the end
+of the garden&mdash;little ones gamboled and rolled on
+the grass&mdash;a tennis match was going on vigorously,
+and the croquet ground was occupied by eight girls
+of the middle school. Annie was one of the most
+successful tennis players in the school; she had
+indeed a gift for all games of skill, and seldom
+missed her mark. Now she looked with a certain
+wistful longing toward the tennis-court; but, after
+a brief hesitation, she turned away from it and
+entered the shady walk at the farther end of the
+garden. As she walked along, slowly, meditatively,
+and sadly, her eyes suddenly lighted up. Glancing
+to one of the tall trees she saw a hammock suspended
+there which had evidently been forgotten
+during the winter. The tree was not yet quite in
+leaf, and it was very easy for Annie to climb up its
+branches to re-adjust the hammock, and to get into it.
+After its winter residence in the tree this soft couch
+was found full of withered leaves, and otherwise
+rather damp and uncomfortable. Annie tossed the
+leaves on to the ground, and laughed as she swung
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+herself gently backward and forward. Early as the
+season still was the sun was so bright and the air so
+soft that she could not but enjoy herself, and she
+laughed with pleasure, and only wished that she
+had a fairy tale by her side to help to soothe her off
+to sleep.
+</p>
+<p>In the distance she heard some children calling
+&#8220;Annie,&#8221; &#8220;Annie Forest;&#8221; but she was far too
+comfortable and too lazy to answer them, and
+presently she closed her eyes and really did fall
+asleep.
+</p>
+<p>She was awakened by a very slight sound&mdash;by
+nothing more nor less than the gentle and very refined
+conversation of two girls, who sat under the
+oak tree in which Annie&#8217;s hammock swung. Hearing
+the voices, she bent a little forward, and saw
+that the speakers were Dora Russell and Hester
+Thornton. Her first inclination was to laugh, toss
+down some leaves, and instantly reveal herself; the
+next she drew back hastily, and began to listen with
+all her ears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never liked her,&#8221; said Hester&mdash;&#8220;I never even
+from the very first pretended to like her. I think
+she is under-bred, and not fit to associate with the
+other girls in the school-room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is treated with most unfair partiality,&#8221;
+retorted Miss Russell in her thin and rather bitter
+voice. &#8220;I have not the smallest doubt, not the
+smallest, that she was guilty of putting those messes
+into my desk, of destroying my composition, and of
+caricaturing Mrs. Willis in Cecil Temple&#8217;s book. I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+wonder after that Mrs. Willis did not see through
+her, but it is astonishing to what lengths favoritism
+will carry one. Mrs. Willis and Mr. Everard are
+behaving in a very unfair way to the rest of us in
+upholding this commonplace, disagreeable girl; but
+it will be to Mrs. Willis&#8217; own disadvantage. Hester,
+I am, as you know, leaving school at midsummer,
+and I shall certainly use all my influence to induce
+my father and mother not to send the younger girls
+here; they could not associate with a person like
+Miss Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never take much notice of her,&#8221; said Hester;
+&#8220;but of course what you say is quite right, Dora.
+You have great discrimination, and your sisters
+might possibly be taken in by her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, not at all, I assure you; they know a true
+lady when they see her. However, they must not
+be imperilled. I will ask my parents to send them
+to Mdlle. Lablanché. I hear that her establishment
+is most <i>recherché</i>.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Willis is very nice herself, and so are most
+of the girls,&#8221; said Hester, after a pause. Then they
+were both silent, for Hester had stooped down to
+examine some little fronds and moss which grew
+at the foot of the tree. After a pause, Hester
+said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think Annie is the favorite she was with
+the girls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, of course not; they all, in their heart of
+hearts, know she is guilty. Will you come indoors,
+and have tea with me in my drawing-room,
+Hester?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></p>
+<p>The two girls walked slowly away, and presently
+Annie let herself gently out of her hammock and
+dropped to the ground.
+</p>
+<p>She had heard every word; she had not revealed
+herself, and a new and terrible&mdash;and, truth to say,
+absolutely foreign&mdash;sensation from her true nature
+now filled her mind. She felt that she almost hated
+these two who had spoken so cruelly, so unjustly
+of her. She began to trace her misfortunes and
+her unhappiness to the date of Hester&#8217;s entrance
+into the school. Even more than Dora Russell did
+she dislike Hester; she made up her mind to revenge
+herself on both these girls. Her heart was
+very, very sore; she missed the old words, the
+old love, the old brightness, the old popularity;
+she missed the mother-tones in Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+voice&mdash;her heart cried out for them, at night she
+often wept for them. She became more and
+more sure that she owed all her misfortunes to
+Hester, and in a smaller degree to Dora. Dora believed
+that she had deliberately insulted her, and injured
+her composition, when she knew herself that
+she was quite innocent of even harboring such a
+thought, far less carrying it into effect. Well, now,
+she would really do something to injure both these
+girls, and perhaps the carrying out of her revenge
+would satisfy her sore heart.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_CUP_AND_BALL' id='CHAPTER_XIX_CUP_AND_BALL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+<h3>CUP AND BALL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Just toward the end of the Easter holidays, Hester
+Thornton was thrown into a great tumult of excitement,
+of wonder, of half regret and half joy, by a
+letter which she received from her father. In this
+letter he informed her that he had made up his mind
+to break up his establishment for several years, to
+go abroad, and to leave Hester altogether under
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; care.
+</p>
+<p>When Hester had read so far, she flung her letter
+on the table, put her head into her hands, and burst
+into tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how cruel of father!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;how
+am I to live without ever going home&mdash;how am I to
+endure life without seeing my little Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester cried bitterly; the strongest love of her
+nature was now given to this pretty and sweet little
+sister, and dismal pictures rose rapidly before her
+of Nan growing up without in the least remembering
+her&mdash;perhaps, still worse, of Nan being unkindly
+treated and neglected by strangers. After a long
+pause, she raised her head, wiped her eyes, and resumed
+her letter. Now, indeed, she started with
+astonishment, and gave an exclamation of delight&mdash;Sir
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+John Thornton had arranged that Mrs. Willis
+was also to receive little Nan, although she was
+younger than any other child present in the school.
+Hester scarcely waited to finish her letter. She
+crammed it into her pocket, rushed up to Susan
+Drummond, and astonished that placid young lady
+by suddenly kissing her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan is coming, Susy!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;dear,
+darling, lovely little Nan is coming&mdash;oh, I am so
+happy!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She was far too impatient to explain matters to
+stolid Susan, and danced down stairs, her eyes sparkling
+and smiles on her lips. It was nothing to her
+now how long she stayed at school&mdash;her heart&#8217;s
+treasure would be with her there, and she could not
+but feel happy.
+</p>
+<p>After breakfast Mrs. Willis sent for her, and told
+her what arrangements were being made; she said
+that she was going to remove Susan Drummond out
+of Hester&#8217;s bedroom, in order that Hester might enjoy
+her little sister&#8217;s company at night. She spoke
+very gently, and entered with full sympathy into the
+girl&#8217;s delight over the little motherless sister, and
+Hester felt more drawn to her governess than she
+had ever been.
+</p>
+<p>Nan was to arrive at Lavender House on the following
+evening, and for the first week her nurse
+was to remain with her until she got accustomed to
+her new life.
+</p>
+<p>The morning of the day of Nan&#8217;s arrival was also
+the last of the Easter holidays, and Hester, awakening
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+earlier than her wont, lay in bed, and planned
+what she would do to welcome the little one.
+</p>
+<p>The idea of having Nan with her continually had
+softened Hester. She was not unhappy in her
+school-life&mdash;indeed, there was much in its monotonous,
+busy, and healthy occupation to stimulate and
+rouse the good in her. Her intellect was being vigorously
+exercised, and, by contact with her schoolfellows,
+her character was being molded; but the
+perfect harmony and brightness of the school had
+been much interrupted since Hester&#8217;s arrival; her
+dislike to Annie Forest had been unfortunate in more
+ways than one, and that dislike, which was increasing
+each day, was hardening Hester&#8217;s heart.
+</p>
+<p>But it was not hard this morning&mdash;all that was
+sweetest, and softest, and best in her had come to
+the surface&mdash;the little sister, whom her mother had
+left in her charge, was now to be her daily and hourly
+companion. For Nan&#8217;s sake, then, she must be very
+good; her deeds must be gentle and kind, and her
+thoughts charitable. Hester had an instinctive feeling
+that baby eyes saw deep below the surface;
+Hester felt if Nan were to lose even a shadow of
+her faith in her she could almost die of shame.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had been very proud of Dora Russell&#8217;s
+friendship. Never before had it been known in the
+school that a first-class girl took a third into such
+close companionship, and Hester&#8217;s little head had
+been slightly turned by the fact. Her better judgment
+and her better nature had been rather blinded
+by the fascinations of this tall, graceful, satirical
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+Dora. She had been weak enough to agree with
+Dora with her lips when in her heart of hearts
+she knew she was all wrong. By nature Hester
+was an honorable girl, with many fine traits in her
+character&mdash;by nature Dora was small and mean and
+poor of soul.
+</p>
+<p>This morning Hester ran up to her favorite.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little Nan is coming to-night,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>Dora was talking at the moment to Miss Maitland,
+another first-class girl, and the two stared
+rather superciliously at Hester, and, after a pause,
+Dora said in her finest drawl:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who <i>is</i> little Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was Hester&#8217;s turn to stare, for she had often
+spoken of Nan to this beloved friend, who had
+listened to her narrative and had appeared to sympathize.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My little sister, of course,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I
+have often talked to you about her, Dora. Are you
+not glad she is coming?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my dear child, I can&#8217;t say that I am. If
+you wish to retain my friendship, Hester, you must
+be careful to keep the little mite away from me; I
+can&#8217;t bear small children.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester walked away with her heart swelling, and
+she fancied she heard the two elder girls laughing as
+she left the play-room.
+</p>
+<p>Many other girls, however, in the school thoroughly
+sympathized with Hester, and among them
+no one was more delighted than Susan Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am awfully good-natured not to be as cross
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+as two sticks, Hetty,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;for I am being
+turned out of my comfortable room; and whose
+room do you suppose I am now to share? why, that
+little imp Annie Forest&#8217;s.&#8221; But Hester felt charitable,
+even toward Annie, on this happy day.
+</p>
+<p>In the evening little Nan arrived. She was a
+very pretty, dimpled, brown-eyed creature, of just
+three years of age. She had all the imperious
+ways of a spoilt baby, and, evidently, fear was a
+word not to be found in her vocabulary. She clung
+to Hester, but smiled and nodded to the other girls,
+who made advances to her, and petted her, and
+thought her a very charming baby. Beside Nan,
+all the other little girls in the school looked old.
+She was quite two years the youngest, and it was
+soon very evident that she would establish that
+most imperious of all reigns&mdash;a baby reign&mdash;in the
+school.
+</p>
+<p>Hester fondled her and talked to her, and the
+little thing sat on her knee and stroked her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like &#8217;oo, Hetty,&#8221; she said several times, and
+she added many other endearing and pretty words
+which caused Hester&#8217;s heart to swell with delight.
+</p>
+<p>In the midst of their happy little talk together
+Annie Forest, in her usual careless fashion, entered
+the play-room. She alone, of all the girls, had
+taken no notice of the new plaything. She walked
+to her usual corner, sat down on the floor, and
+began to play cup and ball for the benefit of two or
+three of the smallest children. Hester did not
+regard her in the least; she sat with Nan on her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+knee, stroking back her sunny curls, and remarking
+on her various charms to several of the girls who
+sat round her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;See, how pretty that dimple in her chin is,&#8221; she
+said, &#8220;and oh, my pet, your eyes look wiser, and
+bigger, and saucier than ever. Look at me, Nan;
+look at your own Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan&#8217;s attention, however, was diverted by the
+gaily-painted cup and ball which Annie was using
+with her wonted dexterity.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dat a pitty toy,&#8221; she said, giving one quick and
+rather solemn glance at her sister, and again fixing
+her admiring gaze on the cup and ball.
+</p>
+<p>Annie Forest had heard the words, and she
+darted a sudden, laughing look at the little one.
+Annie&#8217;s power over children was well known. Nan
+began to wriggle on Hester&#8217;s knee.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dat a pitty lady,&#8221; she said again, &#8220;and that a
+pitty, tibby [little] toy; Nan go see.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In an instant, before Hester could prevent her,
+she had trotted across the room, and was kneeling
+with the other children and shouting with delight
+over Annie&#8217;s play.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;ll get her, you&#8217;ll see, Hester,&#8221; said one of
+the girls maliciously; &#8220;she&#8217;ll soon be much fonder
+of Annie Forest than of you. Annie wins the
+heart of every little child in the school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She won&#8217;t win my Nan&#8217;s from me,&#8221; said Hester
+in a confident tone; but in spite of her words a
+great pang of jealousy had gone through her. She
+rose to her seat and followed her little sister.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan, you are sleepy, you must go to bed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no, Hetty; me not s&#8217;eepy, me kite awake;
+go &#8217;way, Hetty, Nan want to see the pitty tibby
+toy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie raised her eyes to Hester&#8217;s. She did not
+really want to be unkind, and at that moment it had
+certainty never entered into her head to steal
+Hester&#8217;s treasure from her, but she could not help a
+look of suppressed delight and triumph filling her
+eyes.
+</p>
+<p>Hester could scarcely bear the look; she stooped
+down, and taking one of Nan&#8217;s little dimpled hands
+tried to drag her away.
+</p>
+<p>Instantly Annie threw the cup and ball on the
+floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The play is all over to-night, little darling,&#8221; she
+said; &#8220;give Annie Forest one kiss, and run to bed
+with sister Hester.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan, who had been puckering up her face to cry,
+smiled instantly; then she scrambled to her feet, and
+flung her little fat arms round Annie&#8217;s neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dat a vedy pitty p&#8217;ay,&#8221; she said in a patronizing
+tone, &#8220;and me like &#8217;oo, me do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then she gave her hand willingly to Hester, and
+trotted out of the play-room by her side.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX_IN_THE_SOUTH_PARLOR' id='CHAPTER_XX_IN_THE_SOUTH_PARLOR'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE SOUTH PARLOR.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Immediately after Easter the real excitement of
+the school-year began. All the girls who had ambition,
+who had industry, and who had a desire to
+please distant fathers, mothers, or guardians, worked
+hard for that great day at midsummer when Mrs.
+Willis distributed her valuable prizes.
+</p>
+<p>From the moment of Hester&#8217;s entrance into the
+school she had heard this day spoken of. It was,
+without doubt, the greatest day of the year at Lavender
+House. Smaller prizes were given at Christmas,
+but the great honors were always reserved for
+this long sunshiny June day, when Mrs. Willis herself
+presented her marks of approbation to her successful
+pupils.
+</p>
+<p>The girls who had lived in the school for two or
+three years gave Hester vivid descriptions of the excitements,
+the pleasures, the delights of this day of
+days. In the first place it was the first of the holidays,
+in the second it was spent almost from morning
+to night in the open air&mdash;for a great tent was erected
+on the lawn; and visitors thronged to Lavender
+House, and fathers and mothers, and aunts and
+uncles, arrived from a distance to witness the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+triumphs of the favored children who had won the
+prizes. The giving away of the prizes was, of course,
+<i>the</i> event of the day; but there were many other
+minor joys. Always in the evenings there was some
+special entertainment. These entertainments differed
+from year to year, Mrs. Willis allowing the
+girls to choose them for themselves, and only making
+one proviso, that they must take all the trouble, and
+all the pains&mdash;in short, that they themselves must
+be the entertainers. One year they had tableaux
+vivants; another a fancy ball, every pretty dress of
+which had been designed by themselves, and many
+even made by their own industrious little fingers.
+Mrs. Willis delighted in the interest and occupation
+that this yearly entertainment gave to her pupils,
+and she not only encouraged them in their efforts to
+produce something very unique and charming, but
+took care that they should have sufficient time to
+work up their ideas properly. Always after Easter
+she gave the girls of the three first classes two evenings
+absolutely to themselves; and these they spent
+in a pretty room called the south parlor, which belonged
+to Mrs. Willis&#8217; part of the house, and was
+rarely used, except for these great preparations.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, therefore, after Easter found her days
+very full indeed. Every spare moment she devoted
+to little Nan, but she was quite determined to win a
+substantial prize, and she was also deeply interested
+in various schemes proposed in the south parlor.
+</p>
+<p>With regard to prizes, Mrs. Willis also went on a
+plan of her own. Each girl was expected to come
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+up to a certain standard of excellence in all her
+studies, and if she fell very much below this standard
+she was not allowed to try for any prize; if she came
+up to it, she could select one subject, but only one,
+for competition.
+</p>
+<p>On the Monday after the Easter holidays the
+special subjects for the midsummer prizes were
+given out, and the girls were expected to send in
+their answers as to the special prize they meant to
+compete for by the following Friday.
+</p>
+<p>When this day arrived Hester Thornton and Dora
+Russell both discovered that they had made the
+same choice&mdash;they were going to try for the English
+composition prize. This subject always obtained
+one of the most costly prizes, and several of the
+girls shook their heads over Hester&#8217;s choice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very silly to try for that, Hetty,&#8221; they
+exclaimed, &#8220;for Mrs. Willis has such queer ideas
+with regard to English composition. Of course, we
+go in for it in a general way, and learn the rules of
+grammar and punctuation, and so forth, but Mrs.
+Willis says that schoolgirls&#8217; themes are so bad
+and affected, as a rule, and she says she does not
+think any one will go in for her pet prize who has
+not natural ability. In consequence, she gives only
+one prize for composition between the three first
+classes. You had better change your mind, Hetty,
+before it is too late, for much older girls will compete
+with you, and there are several who are going
+to try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however, only smiled, and assured her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+eager friend that she would stick to her pet subject,
+and try to do the best she could.
+</p>
+<p>On the morning when the girls signified their
+choice of subject, Mrs. Willis came into the school-room
+and made one of her little yearly speeches
+with regard to the right spirit in which her girls
+should try for these honors. The few and well-chosen
+words of the head mistress generally roused
+those girls who loved her best to a fever of enthusiasm,
+and even Hester, who was comparatively a
+newcomer, felt a great wish, as she listened to that
+clear and vibrating voice and watched the many
+expressions which passed over the noble face, that
+she might find something beyond the mere earthly
+honor and glory of success in this coming trial.
+Having finished her little speech, Mrs. Willis made
+several remarks with regard to the choice of subjects.
+She spoke of the English composition prize
+last, and here she heightened the interest and excitement
+which always hung around this special
+prize. Contrary to her usual rule, she would this
+year give no subject for an English theme. Each
+girl might choose what pleased her best.
+</p>
+<p>On hearing these words Annie Forest, who had
+been sitting by her desk looking rather dull and
+dejected, suddenly sprang to her feet, her face
+aglow, her eyes sparkling, and began whispering
+vigorously to Miss Good.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Good nodded, and, going up to Mrs. Willis,
+said aloud that Annie had changed her mind, and
+that from not wishing to try for any of the prizes,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+she now intended to compete for the English composition.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis looked a little surprised, but without
+any comment she immediately entered Annie&#8217;s name
+in the list of competitors, and Annie sat down again,
+not even glancing at her astonished schoolfellows,
+who could not conceal their amazement, for she had
+never hitherto shown the slightest desire to excel in
+this department.
+</p>
+<p>On the evening of this Friday the girls of the
+three first classes assembled for the first time in the
+south parlor. Hitherto these meetings had been
+carried on in a systematic and business-like fashion.
+It was impossible for all the girls who belonged to
+these three large classes to assemble on each
+occasion. Careful selections, therefore, were, as a
+rule, made from their numbers. These girls formed
+a committee to superintend and carry on the real
+preparations for the coming treat, and the others
+only met when specially summoned by the committee
+to appear.
+</p>
+<p>As usual now the three classes found themselves
+in the south parlor&mdash;as usual they chattered volubly,
+and started schemes, to reject them again with
+peals of laughter. Many ideas were put forward,
+to be cast aside as utterly worthless. No one
+seemed to have any very brilliant thought, and as
+the first step on these occasions was to select what
+the entertainment should be, proceedings seemed to
+come to a standstill.
+</p>
+<p>The fact was the most daring originator, the one
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+whose ideas were always flavored with a spice of
+novelty, was absolutely silent.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple, who had taken a seat near Annie,
+suddenly bent forward and spoke to her aloud.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have all said what we would like, and we
+none of us appear to have thought of anything at
+all worth having,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but you have not
+spoken at all, Annie. Give us an idea, dear&mdash;you
+know you originated the fancy ball last year.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus publicly appealed to, Annie raised her full
+brown eyes, glanced at her companions, not one of
+whom, with the exception of Cecil, returned her
+gaze fully; then, rising to her feet, she spoke in a
+slightly contemptuous tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;These preparations seem to me to be much ado
+about nothing; they take up a lot of our time, and
+the results aren&#8217;t worth the trouble&mdash;I have nothing
+particular to say. Oh, well, yes, if you like&mdash;let&#8217;s
+have blind man&#8217;s buff and a magic lantern;&#8221; and
+then, dropping a mock curtsey to her companions,
+she dropped out of the south parlor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Insufferable girl!&#8221; said Dora Russell; &#8220;I
+wonder you try to draw her out, Cecil. You know
+perfectly that we none of us care to have anything
+to do with her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know perfectly that you are all doing your
+best to make her life miserable,&#8221; said Cecil, suddenly
+and boldly. &#8220;No one in this school has obeyed
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; command to treat Annie as innocent&mdash;you
+are practically sending her to Coventry, and I
+think it is unjust and unfair. You don&#8217;t know,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+girls, that you are ruining poor Annie&#8217;s happiness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear! she doesn&#8217;t seem at all dull,&#8221; said
+Miss West, a second-class girl. &#8220;I do think she&#8217;s a
+hardened little wretch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little you know about her,&#8221; said Cecil, the
+color fading out of her pale face. Then after a
+pause, she added; &#8220;The injustice of the whole thing
+is that in this treatment of Annie you break the
+spirit of Mrs. Willis&#8217; command&mdash;you, none of you,
+certainly tell her that she is guilty, but you treat
+her as such.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Hester Thornton said a daring thing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe Mrs. Willis in her heart of hearts
+considers Annie guiltless.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These words of Hester&#8217;s were laughed at by most
+of the girls, but Dora Russell gave her an approving
+nod, and Cecil, looking paler than ever, dropped
+suddenly into her seat, and no longer tried to defend
+her absent friend.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At any rate,&#8221; said Miss Conway, who as the
+head girl of the whole school was always listened to
+with great respect, &#8220;it is unfortunate for the success
+of our entertainment that there should be all
+this discussion and bad feeling with regard to Miss
+Forest. For my own part, I cannot make out why
+the poor little creature should be hunted down, or
+what affair it is of ours whether she is innocent or
+not. If Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis say she is innocent,
+is not that enough? The fact of her guilt
+or innocence can&#8217;t hurt us one way or another. It
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span>
+is a great pity, however, for our own sakes, that we
+should be out with her now, for, whatever her
+faults, she is the only one of us who is ever gifted
+with an original thought. But, as we can&#8217;t have
+her, let us set to work without her&mdash;we really can&#8217;t
+waste the whole evening over this sort of talk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Discussions as to the coming pleasure were now
+again resumed with vigor, and after a great deal of
+animated arguing it was resolved that two short
+plays should be acted; that a committee should be
+immediately formed, who should select the plays,
+and apportion their various parts to the different
+actors.
+</p>
+<p>The committee selected included Miss Russell,
+Miss Conway, Hester Thornton, Cecil Temple, and
+two other girls of the second class. The conference
+then broke up, but there was a certain sense of
+flatness over everything, and Cecil was not the only
+girl who sighed for the merry meetings of last year&mdash;when
+Annie had been the life and soul of all the
+proceedings, and when one brilliant idea after another
+with regard to the costumes for the fancy ball
+had dropped from her merry tongue.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI_STEALING_HEARTS' id='CHAPTER_XXI_STEALING_HEARTS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+<h3>STEALING HEARTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Annie ran out of the south parlor she
+found herself suddenly face to face with Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, my dear child,&#8221; said the head mistress in
+her kindest voice, &#8220;where are you running to? But I
+suppose I must not ask; you are, of course, one of
+the busy and secret conclave in the south parlor?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. I have left them,&#8221; said Annie, bending her
+head, and after her usual habit when agitated, shaking
+her hair about her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Left them?&#8221; repeated Mrs. Willis, &#8220;you mean,
+dear, that they have sent you for some message.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. I am not one of them. May I go into the
+garden, Mrs. Willis?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, my dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie did not even glance at her governess.
+She pushed aside the baize door, and found herself
+in the great stone hall which led to the play-room
+and school-room. Her garden hat hung on a peg in
+the hall, and she tossed it off its place, and holding
+it in her hand ran toward the side door which
+opened directly into the garden. She had a wild
+wish to get to the shelter of the forsaken hammock
+and there cry out her whole heart. The moment
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
+she got into the open air, however, she was met by
+a whole troop of the little children, who were coming
+in after their usual short exercise before going
+to bed. Miss Danesbury was with them, and when
+Annie ran out by the open door, she entered holding
+two little ones by the hands. Last in this group
+toddled Hester&#8217;s little sister Nan. The moment she
+saw Annie, her little face broke into smiles, she
+held out two hands eagerly, and fled to the young
+girl&#8217;s side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where dat pitty toy?&#8221; she said, raising her
+round face to Annie&#8217;s; &#8220;some one did buy dat toy,
+and it&#8217;s vedy pitty, and me wants it&mdash;where&#8217;s dat
+toy?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie stooped down, and spoke suddenly and impulsively
+to the little child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall have the toy for your very own, Nan
+if you will do something for me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan&#8217;s baby eyes looked straight into Annie&#8217;s.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me will,&#8221; she said emphatically; &#8220;me want dat
+toy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Put your arms, round me, little darling, and give
+me a great tight hug.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This request was great fun to Nan, who squeezed
+her little arms round Annie&#8217;s neck, and pressed her
+dimpled cheek to her lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dere,&#8221; she said triumphantly, &#8220;will dat do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, you little treasure, and you&#8217;ll try to love
+me, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me do,&#8221; said Nan, in a solemn voice; but then
+Miss Danesbury called her, and she ran into the
+house.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span></p>
+<p>As Nan trotted into the house she put up her
+dimpled hand to wipe something from her round
+cheek&mdash;it was a tear which Annie Forest had left
+there.
+</p>
+<p>Annie herself, when all the little ones had disappeared,
+walked slowly and sadly down toward
+the shady walk. The sun had just set, and though
+it was now nearly May, and the evenings long, the
+wind was sufficiently cold to cause Annie to shiver
+in her thin house frock. At all times utterly fearless
+with regard to her health, she gave it no thought
+now, but entering the walk where she knew she
+should not be disturbed, she looked up at the hammock,
+and wondered whether she should climb into
+it. She decided, however, not to do so&mdash;the great
+and terrible weight of tears which had pressed close
+to her heart were relieved by Nan&#8217;s embrace; she
+no longer cared to cry until she could cry no longer&mdash;the
+worst of her pain had been soothed by the
+sweet baby graciousness of the little one.
+</p>
+<p>Then there darted into poor Annie&#8217;s sore heart
+and perplexed brain that dangerous thought and
+temptation which was to work so much future pain
+and trouble. She already loved little Nan, and Nan,
+as most children did, had taken a fancy to her.
+Annie stood still, and clasped her hands as the dark
+idea came to her to steal the heart of little Nan from
+Hester, and so revenge herself on her. By doing
+this she would touch Hester in her most vulnerable
+point&mdash;she would take from her what she valued
+most. The temptation came swiftly, and Annie
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+listened to it, and thought how easy it would be to
+carry it into effect. She knew well that no little
+child could resist her when she chose to exercise her
+charms&mdash;it would be easy, easy work to make that
+part of Nan which was most precious all her own.
+Annie became fascinated by the idea; how completely
+then she would have revenged all her wrongs
+on Hester! Some day Hester would bitterly repent
+of her unjust prejudice toward her; some day Hester
+would come to her, and beg of her in agony to
+give her back her darling&#8217;s love; ah! when that
+day came it would be her turn to triumph.
+</p>
+<p>She felt more than satisfied as the temptation
+grew upon her; she shut out persistently from her
+view all the other side of the picture; she would not
+let herself think that the work she was about to
+undertake was cruel and mean. Hester had been
+more than unjust, and she was going to punish her.
+</p>
+<p>Annie paced faster and faster up and down the
+shady walk, and whenever her resolution wavered,
+the memory of Hester&#8217;s face as she had seen it the
+same night in the south parlor came visibly back and
+strengthened it. Yes, her turn had come at last
+Hester had contrived since her entrance into the
+school to make Annie&#8217;s life thoroughly miserable.
+Well, never mind, it was Annie&#8217;s turn now to make
+her wretched.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII_IN_BURN_CASTLE_WOOD' id='CHAPTER_XXII_IN_BURN_CASTLE_WOOD'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+<h3>IN BURN CASTLE WOOD.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In concentrating her thoughts of revenge on
+Hester, Annie ceased to trouble her head about Dora
+Russell. She considered Hester a crueler enemy than
+Dora. Hester belonged to her own set, worked in
+her own class, and would naturally, had things not
+turned out so unjustly, so unfairly, have been her
+friend, and not her enemy. Dora had nothing to
+say to Annie, and before Hester&#8217;s advent into the
+school had scarcely noticed her existence. Annie
+therefore concentrated all her powers on punishing
+Hester. This gave her an aim and an occupation,
+and at first she felt that her revenge might give her
+real pleasure.
+</p>
+<p>Susan Drummond now shared Annie&#8217;s bedroom,
+and Annie was rather startled one evening to hear
+this phlegmatic young person burst out into a strong
+tirade against Hester and Dora. Dora had managed,
+for some inexplicable reason, to offend Susan,
+and Susan now looked to Annie for sympathy, and
+boldly suggested that they should get up what she
+was pleased to called &#8220;a lark&#8221; between them for
+the punishment of this very dignified young lady.
+</p>
+<p>Annie had never liked Susan, and she now stared
+at her, and said, in her quick way:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t catch me helping you in any of your
+larks. I&#8217;ve had trouble enough on that score as it
+is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan gazed at her stupidly, and a dull red spread
+over her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I thought you hated Dora and Hester,&#8221; she
+said&mdash;&#8220;I&#8217;m sure they hate you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie was silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You do hate them, don&#8217;t you?&#8221; persisted Miss
+Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s nothing to you what I feel toward them,
+Susy,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;Please don&#8217;t disturb me with
+any more of your chatter; I am very sleepy, and
+you are keeping me awake.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus silenced, Susan had to content herself by
+turning on her back, and going into the land of
+dreams; but she was evidently a good deal surprised
+and disappointed, and began to entertain a certain
+respect, and even fear, of Annie which had been
+hitherto unknown to her.
+</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Hester was very busy, very happy,
+and more satisfied&mdash;brighter and better employed
+than she had ever been in her life before. Nan&#8217;s
+love satisfied the affectionate side of her nature, and
+all her intellect was strained to the utmost to win
+honors in the coming struggle.
+</p>
+<p>She had stuck firmly to her resolve to work for
+the English composition prize, and she firmly made
+up her own mind to leave no stone unturned to win
+it. What affection she possessed for Miss Russell
+was not at all of a character to prevent her from
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+thoroughly enjoying taking the prize out of her
+hands. Her love for Dora had been fed by vanity,
+and was not at all of a deep or noble character.
+She was some time carefully choosing the subject
+of her theme, and at last she resolved to write a
+brief historical description of the last days of Marie
+Antoinette. To write properly on this subject she
+had to read up a great deal, and had to find references
+in books which were not usually allowed as
+school-room property. Mrs. Willis, however, always
+allowed the girls who were working for the
+English composition prize to have access to her
+rather extensive library, and here Hester was often
+to be found during play-hours. Two evenings in
+the week were also taken up in preparation for the
+coming plays, and as Hester was to take rather an
+important part in one, and a small character in another,
+she was obliged to devote herself to getting
+up her parts during the weekly half-holidays. Thus
+every moment was busy, and, except at night, she
+had little time to devote herself to Nan.
+</p>
+<p>Nan slept in a pretty crib in Hester&#8217;s room, and
+each evening the young girl knelt down by her
+sister&#8217;s side, and gazed at her with love, which was
+almost motherly, swelling in her breast.
+</p>
+<p>All that was best of Hester was drawn out at
+these moments; something greater than ambition&mdash;something
+far and away above school triumphs and
+school jealousies spoke then in her heart of hearts.
+These moments found her capable of being both
+sympathizing and forgiving; these moments followed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+out in her daily life might have made Hester
+almost great. Now was the time, with her eyes full
+of tears and her lips trembling with emotion, for
+Annie Forest to have caught a glimpse of the divine
+in Hester; the hardness, the pride, the haughty
+spirit were all laid aside, and hers was the true
+child-heart as she knelt by the sleeping baby. Hester
+prayed earnestly at these moments, and, in
+in truth, Nan did better for her than any sermon;
+better for her than even Mrs. Willis&#8217; best influences.
+Nan was as the voice of God to her sister.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, in her very busy life, had no time to notice,
+however, a very slight and almost imperceptible
+change in bright little Nan. In the mornings
+she was in too great a hurry to pay much heed to
+the little one&#8217;s chatter; in the afternoons she had
+scarcely an instant to devote to her, and when she
+saw her playing happily with the other children
+she was quite content, and always supposed that
+when a spare half-hour did come in her busy life,
+Nan would rush to her with the old ecstasy, and
+give her the old devotion.
+</p>
+<p>One day, toward the end of a very fine May, the
+girls were all to go for a picnic to some woods
+about four miles away. They had looked forward
+for several days to this relaxation, and were in the
+highest state of delight and the wildest spirits.
+After an early dinner they were to drive in several
+large wagonettes to the place of rendezvous, where
+they were to be regaled with gypsy-tea, and were
+to have a few hours in the lovely woods of Burn
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+Castle, one of the show places of the neighborhood.
+Mrs. Willis had invited the Misses Bruce to accompany
+them, and they were all to leave the house
+punctually at two o&#8217;clock. The weather was wonderfully
+fine and warm, and it was decided that all
+the children, even Nan, should go.
+</p>
+<p>Perhaps none of the girls looked forward to this
+day&#8217;s pleasure with greater joy than did Hester;
+she determined to make it a real holiday, and a real
+time of relaxation. She would forget her English
+theme; she would cease to worry herself about
+Marie Antoinette; she would cease to repeat her
+part in the coming play; and she would devote herself
+exclusively and determinately to Nan&#8217;s pleasure.
+She pictured the little one&#8217;s raptures; she heard her
+gay shouts of joy, her ceaseless little rippling chatter,
+her baby glee, and, above all things, her intense
+happiness at being with her own Hetty for the
+greater part of a whole day. Hester would ride
+her on her shoulder, would race with her; all her
+usual companions would be as nothing to her on
+this occasion, she would give herself up solely to
+Nan.
+</p>
+<p>As she was dressing that morning she said a word
+or two to the child about the coming treat.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll light a fire in the wood, Nan, and hang a
+kettle over it, and make tea&mdash;such good tea; won&#8217;t
+it be nice?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan clapped her hands. &#8220;And may I take out
+my little ummabella (umbrella), case it might
+wain?&#8221; she asked anxiously.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span></p>
+<p>Hester flew to her and kissed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You funny darling!&#8221; she said. &#8220;Oh, we shall
+have such a day! You&#8217;ll be with your own Hetty
+all day long&mdash;your own Hetty; won&#8217;t you be
+glad?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me am,&#8221; said Nan; &#8220;own Hetty, and own
+Annie; me am glad.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester scarcely heard the last words, for the
+prayer-gong sounded, and she had to fly down
+stairs.
+</p>
+<p>At dinner time the girls were discussing who
+would go with each, and all were very merry and
+full of fun.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Danesbury will take the little children,&#8221;
+said Miss Good. &#8220;Mrs. Willis says that all the
+little ones are to be in Miss Danesbury&#8217;s charge.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please,&#8221; said Hester, suddenly, &#8220;may Nan
+come with me, Miss Good? She&#8217;ll be so disappointed
+if she doesn&#8217;t, and I&#8217;ll take such care of
+her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Good nodded a careless acquiescence, and
+Hester proceeded with her dinner, feeling thoroughly
+satisfied.
+</p>
+<p>Immediately after dinner the girls flew to their
+rooms to prepare for their expedition. Hastily
+opening a drawer, Hester pulled out a white frock,
+white piqué pelisse, and washing hat for Nan&mdash;she
+meant her darling to look as charming as possible.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, Miss Danesbury should have brought
+her here by now,&#8221; she said to herself impatiently,
+and then, hearing the crunching of carriage wheels
+on the drive, she flew to the bell and rang it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span></p>
+<p>In a few moments one of the maids appeared.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know where Miss Nan is, Alice? She
+is to go to Burn Castle with me, and I want to
+dress her, for it is nearly time to go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Alice looked a little surprised.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you please, miss,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I think Miss
+Nan has just gone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, Alice? Miss Good said
+especially she was to go with me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know nothing about that, miss; I only know
+that I saw Miss Forest carrying her down stairs in
+her arms about three minutes ago, and they went off
+in the wagonette with all the other little children
+and Miss Danesbury.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester stood perfectly still, her color changed
+from red to white; for full half a minute she was
+silent. Then, hearing voices from below calling to
+her, she said in a cold, quiet tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will do, Alice; thank you for letting me
+know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She turned to her drawer and put back Nan&#8217;s
+white and pretty things, and also replaced a new and
+very becoming shady hat which she had meant to
+wear herself. In her old winter hat, and looking
+almost untidy for her, she walked slowly down stairs
+and took her place in the wagonette which was
+drawn up at the door.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple and one or two other girls whom
+Hester liked very much were in the same wagonette,
+but she scarcely cared to talk to them, and
+only joined in their laughter by a strong effort. She
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
+was deeply wounded, but her keenest present desire
+was to hide any feelings of jealousy she had toward
+Annie from the quick eyes of her schoolfellows.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; suddenly exclaimed Julia Morris, a particularly
+unobservant girl, &#8220;I thought you were
+going to bring that dear baby sister with you, Hester.
+Oh, I do hope there is nothing the matter with her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan has gone on in the first wagonette with
+the little children,&#8221; said Hester as cheerfully as she
+could speak, but she colored slightly, and saw that
+Cecil was regarding her attentively.
+</p>
+<p>Susan Drummond exclaimed suddenly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I saw Annie Forest rushing down the stairs
+with little Nan, and Nan had her arms round her
+neck, and was laughing merrily. You need not be
+anxious about Nan, Hester; she was quite content
+to go with Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not say I was anxious,&#8221; replied Hester in a
+cold voice. &#8220;How very beautiful that avenue of
+beech trees is, Cecil!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But Annie heard Miss Good say that you were
+to take Nan,&#8221; persisted Julia Morris. &#8220;She could
+not but have noticed it, for you did flush up so,
+Hester, and looked so eager. I never saw any one
+more in earnest about a trifle in my life; it was impossible
+for Annie not to have heard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The great thing is that Nan is happy,&#8221; said
+Hester in a fretted voice. &#8220;Do let us change the
+subject, girls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil instantly began talking about the coming
+plays, and soon the conversation became of an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+absorbing character, and Hester&#8217;s voice was heard
+oftener than the others, and she laughed more frequently
+than her companions.
+</p>
+<p>For all this forced merriment, however, Cecil did
+not fail to observe that when Hester got to the place
+of meeting at Burn Castle she looked around her
+with a quick and eager glance. Then the color
+faded from her face, and her eyes grew dim.
+</p>
+<p>That look of pain on Hester&#8217;s face was quite
+enough for kind-hearted Cecil. She had thrown
+herself on the grass with an exclamation of delight,
+but in an instant she was on her feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, of course, the first thing is to find little
+Nan,&#8221; she said; &#8220;she&#8217;ll be missing you dreadfully,
+Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil held out her hand to Hester to run with
+her through the wood, but, to her surprise, Hester
+drew back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m tired,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I daresay we shall find
+Nan presently. She is sure to be safe, as she is
+under Miss Danesbury&#8217;s care.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil made no remark, but set off by herself to
+find the little children. Presently, standing on a
+little knoll, and putting her two hands round her
+lips, so as to form a speaking trumpet, she shouted
+to Hester. Hester came slowly and apparently unwillingly
+toward her, but when she got to the foot of
+the knoll, Cecil flew down, and, taking her by the
+hand, ran with her to the top.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, do come quick!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;it is such
+a pretty sight.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></p>
+<p>Down in the valley about fifty yards away were
+the ten or twelve little children who formed the
+infant portion of the school. Miss Danesbury was
+sitting at some distance off quietly reading, and the
+children, decked with flowers, and carrying tall
+grasses and reeds in their hands, were flying round
+and round in a merry circle, while in their midst,
+and the center attraction, stood Annie, whose hat was
+tossed aside, and whose bright, curling hair was
+literally crowned with wild flowers. On Annie&#8217;s
+shoulder stood little Nan, carefully and beautifully
+poised, and round Nan&#8217;s wavy curls was a starry
+wreath of wood-anemones. Nan was shouting gleefully
+and clapping her hands, while Annie balanced
+her slightest movement with the greatest agility,
+and kept her little feet steady on her shoulders with
+scarcely an effort. As the children ran round and
+round Annie she waltzed gracefully backward and
+forward to meet them, and they all sang snatches of
+nursery rhymes. When Cecil and Hester appeared
+they had reached in their varied collection:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Here Nan exclaimed, in her clear, high-pitched
+voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me no fall, Annie,&#8221; and the small children on the
+ground clapped their hands and blew kisses to her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t it pretty? Isn&#8217;t Annie sweet with children?&#8221;
+said Cecil, looking round to Hester with all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+the admiration she felt for her friend shining in her
+face. The expression, however, which Hester wore
+at that moment really startled Cecil; she was absolutely
+colorless, and presently she called aloud in a
+harsh, strained voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be careful of her! How wicked of you to put
+her like that on your shoulder! She will fall&mdash;yes,
+I know she will fall; oh, do be careful!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s voice startled the children, who ceased
+singing and dancing; Annie made a hasty step forward,
+and one little voice alone kept singing out the
+words:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Humpty-Dumpty got a great fall!&#8221;&mdash;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>when there was a crash and a cry, and Nan, in some
+inexplicable way, had fallen backward from Annie&#8217;s
+shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>In one instant Hester was in the midst of the
+group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t touch her,&#8221; she said, as Annie flew to pick
+up the child, who, falling with some force on her
+head, had been stunned; &#8220;don&#8217;t touch her&mdash;don&#8217;t
+dare! It was your doing; you did it on purpose&mdash;you
+wished to do it!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are unjust,&#8221; said Annie, in a low tone.
+&#8220;Nan was perfectly safe until you startled her.
+Like all the rest you are unjust. Nan would have
+come to no harm if you had not spoken.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester did not vouchsafe another word. She sat
+on the ground with the unconscious and pretty little
+flower-crowned figure laid across her lap; she was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+terrified, and thought in her inexperience that Nan
+must be dead.
+</p>
+<p>At the first mention of the accident Cecil had
+flown to fetch some water, and when she and Miss
+Danesbury applied it to little Nan&#8217;s temples, she
+presently sighed, and opened her brown eyes wide.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope&mdash;I trust she is not much hurt,&#8221; said Miss
+Danesbury; &#8220;but I think it safest to take her home
+at once. Cecil, dear, can you do anything about
+fetching a wagonette round to the stile at the
+entrance of the wood? Now the puzzle is, who is
+to take care of the rest of the little children? If
+only they were under Miss Good&#8217;s care, I should
+breathe more easily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going home with Nan,&#8221; said Hester in a
+hard voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, my love; no one would think of
+parting you from your little sister,&#8221; said the governess,
+soothingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you please, Miss Danesbury,&#8221; said Annie,
+whose face was quite as pale as Hester&#8217;s, and her
+eyes heavy as though she longed to cry, &#8220;will you
+trust me with the little ones? If you do, I will
+promise to take them straight to Miss Good, and to
+be most careful of them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury&#8217;s gentle and kind face looked
+relieved.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Annie&mdash;of course I trust you, dear.
+Take the children at once to the meeting-place
+under the great oak, and wait there until Miss Good
+appears.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+Annie suddenly sprang forward, and threw her
+arms round Miss Danesbury&#8217;s neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Danesbury, you comfort me,&#8221; she said, in
+a kind of stifled voice, and then she ran off with the
+children.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII__HUMPTYDUMPTY_HAD_A_GREAT_FALL' id='CHAPTER_XXIII__HUMPTYDUMPTY_HAD_A_GREAT_FALL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;HUMPTY-DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>All the stupor and languor which immediately
+followed Nan&#8217;s fall passed off during her drive
+home; she chatted and laughed, her cheeks were
+flushed, her eyes bright. Hester turned with a
+relieved face to Miss Danesbury.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My little darling is all right, is she not?&#8221; she
+said. &#8220;Oh, I was so terrified&mdash;oh, how thankful I
+am no harm has been done!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury did not return Hester&#8217;s full gaze;
+she attempted to take little Nan on her knee, but
+Nan clung to Hetty. Then she said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must be careful to keep the sun off her,
+dear&mdash;hold your parasol well down&mdash;just so. That
+is better. When we get home, I will put her to
+bed at once. Please God, there <i>is</i> nothing wrong;
+but one cannot be too careful.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Something in Miss Danesbury&#8217;s manner affected
+Hester strangely; she clasped Nan&#8217;s slight baby
+form closer and closer to her heart, and no longer
+joined in the little one&#8217;s mirth. As the drive drew to
+a close, Nan again ceased talking, and fell into a
+heavy sleep.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury&#8217;s face grew graver and graver,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+and, when the wagonette drew up at Lavender
+House, she insisted on lifting the sleeping child out
+of Hester&#8217;s arms, and carrying her up to her little
+crib. When Nan&#8217;s little head was laid on the cool
+pillow, she again opened her eyes, and instantly
+asked for a drink. Miss Danesbury gave her some
+milk and water, but the moment she drank it she
+was sick.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just as I feared,&#8221; said the governess; &#8220;there is
+some little mischief&mdash;not much, I hope&mdash;but we must
+instantly send for the doctor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Miss Danesbury walked across the room to
+ring the bell, Hester followed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s not in danger?&#8221; she whispered in a
+hoarse voice. &#8220;If she is, Annie is guilty of murder.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t, my dear,&#8221; said the governess; &#8220;you must
+keep quiet for Nan&#8217;s sake. Please God, she will soon
+be better. All I really apprehend is a little excitement
+and feverishness, which will pass off in a few
+days with care. Hester, my dear, I suddenly remember
+that the house is nearly empty, for all the servants
+are also enjoying a holiday. I think I must send
+you for Dr. Mayflower. The wagonette is still at
+the door. Drive at once to town, my dear, and ask
+the coachman to take you to No. 10, The Parade.
+If you are very quick, you will catch Dr.
+Mayflower before he goes out on his afternoon
+rounds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester glanced for half an instant at Nan, but
+her eyes were again closed.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I will take the best care of her,&#8221; said the
+governess in a kind voice; &#8220;don&#8217;t lose an instant,
+dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester snatched up her hat and flew down stairs.
+In a moment she was in the wagonette, and the
+driver was speedily urging his horses in the direction
+of the small town of Sefton, two miles and a half
+away. Hester was terrified now&mdash;so terrified, in
+such an agony, that she even forgot Annie; her
+hatred toward Annie became of secondary importance
+to her. All her ideas, all her thoughts, were
+swallowed up in the one great hope&mdash;Should she
+be in time to reach Dr. Mayflower&#8217;s house before
+he set off on his afternoon rounds? As the wagonette
+approached Sefton she buried her face
+in her hands and uttered a sharp inward cry of
+agony.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please God, let me find the doctor!&#8221; It was a
+real prayer from her heart of hearts. The wagonette
+drew up at the doctor&#8217;s residence, to discover
+him stepping into his brougham. Hester was
+a shy child, and had never seen him before; but
+she instantly raised her voice, and almost shouted to
+him:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are to come with me; please, you are to come
+at once. Little Nan is ill&mdash;she is hurt. Please, you
+are to come at once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh! young lady?&#8221; said the round-faced doctor
+&#8220;Oh! I see; you are one of the little girls from
+Lavender House. Is anything wrong there,
+dear?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span></p>
+<p>Hester managed to relate what had occurred;
+whereupon the doctor instantly opened the door of
+the wagonette.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jump out, young lady,&#8221; he said; &#8220;I will drive
+you back in my brougham. Masters,&#8221; addressing
+his coachman, &#8220;to Lavender House.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester sat back in the soft-cushioned carriage,
+which bowled smoothly along the road. It seemed
+to her impatience that the pace at which they went
+was not half quick enough&mdash;she longed to put her
+head out of the window to shout to the coachman to
+go faster. She felt intensely provoked with the
+doctor, who sat placidly by her side reading a newspaper.
+</p>
+<p>Presently she saw that his eyes were fixed on her.
+He spoke in his quietest tones.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We always take precisely twenty minutes to
+drive from the Parade to Lavender House&mdash;twenty
+minutes, neither more or less. We shall be there
+now in exactly ten minutes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester tried to smile, but failed; her agony of
+apprehension grew and grew. She breathed more
+freely when they turned into the avenue. When
+they stopped at the wide stone porch, and the doctor
+got out, she uttered a sigh of relief. She took Dr.
+Mayflower herself up to Nan&#8217;s room. Miss Danesbury
+opened the door, the doctor went inside, and
+Hester crouched down on the landing and waited.
+It seemed to her that the good physician would
+never come out. When he did she raised a perfectly
+blanched face to his, she opened her lips, tried to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+speak, but no words would come. Her agitation
+was so intense that the kind-hearted doctor took
+instant pity on her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come into this room, my child,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My
+dear, you will be ill yourself if you give way like
+this. Pooh! pooh! this agitation is extreme&mdash;is
+uncalled for. You have got a shock. I shall prescribe
+a glass of sherry at once. Come down stairs
+with me, and I will see that you get one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how is she, sir&mdash;how is she?&#8221; poor Hester
+managed to articulate.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! the little one&mdash;sweet, pretty, little darling.
+I did not know she was your sister&mdash;a dear little
+child. She got an ugly fall, though&mdash;came on a
+nasty place.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, please, sir, how is she? She&mdash;she&mdash;she is
+not in danger?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Danger? by no means, unless you put her into
+it. She must be kept very quiet, and, above all
+things, not excited. I will come to see her again
+to-morrow morning. With proper care she ought
+to be quite herself in a few days. Ah! now you&#8217;ve
+got a little color in your cheek, come down with me
+and have that glass of sherry, and you will feel all
+right.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV_ANNIE_TO_THE_RESCUE' id='CHAPTER_XXIV_ANNIE_TO_THE_RESCUE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+<h3>ANNIE TO THE RESCUE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The picnic-party arrived home late. The accident
+to little Nan had not shortened the day&#8217;s pleasure,
+although Mrs. Willis, the moment she heard of
+it, had come back; for she entered the hall just as
+the doctor was stepping into his carriage. He gave
+her his opinion, and said that he trusted no
+further mischief, beyond a little temporary excitement,
+had been caused. He again, however, spoke
+of the great necessity of keeping Nan quiet, and
+said that her schoolfellows must not come to her,
+and that she must not be excited in any way. Mrs.
+Willis came into the great hall where Hester was
+standing. Instantly she went up to the young girl,
+and put her arm around and drew her to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Darling,&#8221; she said, &#8220;this is a grievous anxiety
+for you; no words can express my sorrow and my
+sympathy; but the doctor is quite hopeful, Hester,
+and, please God, we shall soon have the little one
+as well as ever.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are really sorry for me?&#8221; said Hester,
+raising her eyes to the head-mistress&#8217; face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, dear; need you ask?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you will have that wicked Annie Forest
+punished&mdash;well punished&mdash;well punished.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sometimes, Hester,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, very
+gravely, &#8220;God takes the punishment of our wrongdoings
+into His own hands. Annie came home
+with me. Had you seen her face as we drove together
+you would not have asked <i>me</i> to punish
+her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unjust, always unjust,&#8221; muttered Hester, but in
+so low a voice that Mrs. Willis did not hear the
+words. &#8220;Please may I go to little Nan?&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, Hester&mdash;some tea shall be sent up to
+you presently.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury arranged to spend that night in
+Nan&#8217;s room. A sofa bed was brought in for her to
+lie on, for Mrs. Willis had yielded to Hester&#8217;s almost
+feverish entreaties that she might not be banished
+from her little sister. Not a sound reached
+the room where Nan was lying&mdash;even the girls
+took off their shoes as they passed the door&mdash;not a
+whisper came to disturb the sick child. Little Nan
+slept most of the evening, only sometimes opening
+her eyes and looking up drowsily when Miss Danesbury
+changed the cold application to her head. At
+nine o&#8217;clock there came a low tap at the room
+door. Hester went to open it; one of her schoolfellows
+stood without.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The prayer-gong is not to be sounded to-night.
+Will you come to the chapel now? Mrs. Willis
+sent me to ask.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester shook her head.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot,&#8221; she whispered; &#8220;tell her I cannot
+come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so sorry!&#8221; replied the girl; &#8220;is Nan
+very bad?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; I hope not. Good-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester closed the room door, took off her dress,
+and began very softly to prepare to get into bed.
+She put on her dressing-gown, and knelt down as
+usual to her private prayers. When she got on her
+knees, however, she found it impossible to pray:
+her brain felt in a whirl, her feelings were unprayer-like;
+and with the temporary relief of believing
+Nan in no immediate danger came such a
+flood of hatred toward Annie as almost frightened
+her. She tried to ask God to make Nan better&mdash;quite
+well; but even this petition seemed to go no
+way&mdash;to reach no one&mdash;to fall flat on the empty
+air. She rose from her knees, and got quietly into
+bed.
+</p>
+<p>Nan lay in that half-drowsy and languid state
+until midnight. Hester, with all her very slight
+experience of illness, thought that as long as Nan
+was quiet she must be getting better; but Miss
+Danesbury was by no means so sure, and, notwithstanding
+the doctor&#8217;s verdict, she felt anxious about
+the child. Hester had said that she could not
+sleep; but at Miss Danesbury&#8217;s special request she
+got into bed, and before she knew anything about
+it was in a sound slumber. At midnight, when all
+the house was quiet, and Miss Danesbury kept a
+lonely watch by the sick child&#8217;s pillow, there came
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+a marked change for the worse in the little one.
+She opened her feverish eyes wide and began to
+call out piteously; but her cry now was, not for
+Hester, but for Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want my Annie,&#8221; she said over and over,
+&#8220;me do, me do. No, no; go &#8217;way, naughty Day-bury,
+me want my Annie; me do want her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury felt puzzled and distressed. Hester,
+however, was awakened by the piteous cry, and
+sat up in bed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Miss Danesbury?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is very much excited, Hester; she is calling
+for Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that is quite impossible,&#8221; said Hester, a
+shudder passing through her. &#8220;Annie can&#8217;t come
+here. The doctor specially said that none of the
+girls were to come near Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want Annie; me want my own Annie,&#8221;
+wailed the sick child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me my dressing-gown, please, Miss Danesbury,
+and I will go to her,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>She sprang out of bed, and approached the little
+crib. The brightness of Nan&#8217;s feverish eyes was
+distinctly seen. She looked up at Hester, who bent
+over her; then she uttered a sharp cry and covered
+her little face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go &#8217;way, go &#8217;way, naughty Hetty&mdash;Nan want
+Annie; Annie sing, Annie p&#8217;ay with Nan&mdash;go &#8217;way,
+go &#8217;way, Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s heart was too full to allow her to speak;
+but she knelt by the crib and tried to take one of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+little hot hands in hers. Nan, however, pushed her
+hands away, and now began to cry loudly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie!&mdash;Annie!&mdash;Annie! me want &#8217;oo; Nan
+want &#8217;oo&mdash;poor tibby Nan want &#8217;oo, Annie!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury touched Hester on her shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;the child&#8217;s wish must be
+gratified. Annie has an extraordinary power over
+children, and under the circumstances I shall take it
+upon me to disobey the doctor&#8217;s directions. The
+child must be quieted at all hazards. Run for Annie,
+dear&mdash;you know her room. I had better stay with
+little Nan, for, though she loves you best, you don&#8217;t
+sooth her at present&mdash;that is often so with a fever
+case.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One moment,&#8221; said Hester. She turned again
+to the little crib.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hetty is going to fetch Annie for Nan. Will
+Nan give her own Hetty one kiss?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Instantly the little arms were flung round Hester&#8217;s
+neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like &#8217;oo now, dood Hetty. Go for Annie,
+dood Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Instantly Hester ran out of the room. She flew
+quickly down the long passage, and did not know
+what a strange little figure she made as the moon
+from a large window at one end fell full upon her.
+So eerie, so ghost-like was her appearance as she flew
+noiselessly with her bare feet along the passage that
+some one&mdash;Hester did not know whom&mdash;gave a
+stifled cry. The cry seemed to come from a good
+way off, and Hester was too preoccupied to notice it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+She darted into the room where Susan Drummond
+and Annie Forest slept.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie, you are to come to Nan,&#8221; she said in a
+sharp high-pitched voice which she scarcely recognized
+as her own.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Coming,&#8221; said Annie, and she walked instantly
+to the door with her dress on and stood in the moonlight.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are dressed!&#8221; said Hester in astonishment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I could not undress&mdash;I lay down as I was. I
+fancied I heard Nan&#8217;s voice calling me. I guessed I
+should be sent for.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, come now,&#8221; said Hester in her hardest
+tones. &#8220;You were only sent for because Nan must
+be quieted at any risk. Come and see if you can
+quiet her. I don&#8217;t suppose,&#8221; with a bitter laugh
+&#8220;that you will succeed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so,&#8221; replied Annie, in a very soft and
+gentle tone.
+</p>
+<p>She walked back by Hester&#8217;s side and entered the
+sick-room. She walked straight up to the little cot
+and knelt down by Nan, and said, in that strangely
+melodious voice of hers:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little darling, Annie has come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like &#8217;oo,&#8221; said Nan with a satisfied coo in
+her voice, and she turned round on her side with
+her back to Miss Danesbury and Hester and her
+eyes fixed on Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sing &#8216;Four-and-twenty,&#8217; Annie; sing &#8216;Four-and-twenty,&#8217;&#8221;
+she said presently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+sang Annie in a low clear voice, without a moment&#8217;s
+hesitation. She went through the old nursery rhyme
+once&mdash;twice. Then Nan interrupted her fretfully:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me don&#8217;t want dat &#8217;dain; sing &#8216;Boy Blue,&#8217;
+Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie sang.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Tree Little Kittens,&#8217; Annie,&#8221; interrupted the
+little voice presently.
+</p>
+<p>For more than two hours Annie knelt by the
+child, singing nursery rhyme after nursery rhyme,
+while the bright beautiful eyes were fixed on her
+face, and the little voice said incessantly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sing, Annie&mdash;sing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Baby Bun, now,&#8221; said Nan, when Annie had
+come almost to the end of her selection.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Bye baby bunting,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Daddy&#8217;s gone a hunting&mdash;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>He&#8217;s gone to fetch a rabbit-skin,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>To place the baby bunting in.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Over and over and over did Annie sing the words.
+Whenever, even for a brief moment she paused, Nan
+said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sing, Annie&mdash;sing &#8216;Baby Bun.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And all the time the eyes remained wide open,
+and the little hands were burning hot; but, gradually,
+after more than two hours of constant singing,
+Annie began to fancy that the burning skin was
+cooler. Then&mdash;could she believe it?&mdash;she saw the
+lids droop over the wide-open eyes. Five minutes
+later, to the tune of &#8220;Baby Bunting,&#8221; Nan had fallen
+into a deep and sound sleep.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXV_A_SPOILED_BABY' id='CHAPTER_XXV_A_SPOILED_BABY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+<h3>A SPOILED BABY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the morning Nan was better, and although
+for days she was in a very precarious state, and had
+to be kept as quiet as possible, yet Miss Danesbury&#8217;s
+great dread that fever would set in had passed
+away. The doctor said, however, that Nan had
+barely escaped real injury to her brain, and that it
+would be many a day before she would romp again,
+and play freely and noisily with the other children.
+Nan had chosen her own nurse, and, with the imperiousness
+of all babies&mdash;to say nothing of sick babies&mdash;she
+had her way. From morning till night Annie
+remained with her, and when the doctor saw how
+Annie alone could soothe and satisfy the child he
+would not allow it to be otherwise. At first Nan
+would lie with her hand in Annie&#8217;s, and her little cry
+of &#8220;sing, Annie,&#8221; going on from time to time; but as
+she grew better Annie would sit with her by the
+open window, with her head pillowed on her breast,
+and her arm round the little slender form, and Nan
+would smile and look adoringly at Annie, who would
+often return her gaze with intense sadness, and an
+indescribable something in her face which caused
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+the little one to stroke her cheek tenderly, and say
+in her sweet baby voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor Annie; poor tibby Annie!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They made a pretty picture as they sat there.
+Annie, with her charming gypsy face, her wild luxuriant,
+curly hair, all the sauciness and unrest in her
+soothed by the magic of the little child&#8217;s presence;
+and the little child herself, with her faint, wild-rose
+color, her dark, deep eyes, clear as summer pools, and
+her sunshiny golden hair. But pretty as the picture
+was Hester loathed it, for Hester thought during
+these wretched days that her heart would break.
+</p>
+<p>Not that Nan turned away from Hetty; she
+petted her and kissed her, and sometimes put an
+arm round Hetty and and an arm round Annie, as
+though, if she could, she would draw them together;
+but any one could see that her heart of hearts was
+given to Annie, and that Hester ranked second in
+her love. Hester would not for worlds express any
+of her bitter feelings before Annie; nay, as the doctor
+and Miss Danesbury both declared that, however
+culpable Annie might have been in causing the accident,
+she had saved little Nan&#8217;s life by her wonderful
+skill in soothing her to sleep on the first night of
+her illness, Hester had felt obliged to grumble something
+which might have been taken for &#8220;thanks.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, in reply to this grumble, had bestowed
+upon Hester one of her quickest, brightest glances,
+for she fathomed the true state of Hester&#8217;s heart
+toward her well enough.
+</p>
+<p>These were very bad days for poor Hester, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+but for the avidity with which she threw herself
+into her studies she could scarcely have borne them.
+</p>
+<p>By slow degrees Nan got better; she was allowed
+to come down stairs and to sit in Annie&#8217;s arms in the
+garden, and then Mrs. Willis interfered, and said
+that Annie must go back to her studies, and only
+devote her usual play hours and half-holidays to
+Nan&#8217;s service.
+</p>
+<p>This mandate, however, produced woe and tribulation.
+The spoiled child screamed and beat her
+little hands, and worked herself up into such a pitch
+of excitement that that night she found her way in her
+sleep to Annie&#8217;s room, and Annie had to quiet her
+by taking her into her bed. In the morning the
+doctor had to be sent for, and he instantly prescribed
+a day or two more of Annie&#8217;s company for the child.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis felt dreadfully puzzled. She had undertaken
+the charge of the little one; her father
+was already far away, so it was impossible now to
+make any change of plans; the child was ill&mdash;had
+been injured by an accident caused by Annie&#8217;s carelessness
+and by Hester&#8217;s want of self-control. But
+weak and ill as Nan still was, Mrs. Willis felt that
+an undue amount of spoiling was good for no one.
+She thought it highly unjust to Annie to keep her
+from her school employments at this most important
+period of the year. If Annie did not reach a certain
+degree of excellence in her school marks she
+could not be promoted in her class. Mrs. Willis
+did not expect the wild and heedless girl to carry off
+any special prizes; but her abilities were quite up
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+to the average, and she always hoped to rouse sufficient
+ambition in her to enable her to acquire a
+good and sound education. Mrs. Willis knew how
+necessary this was for poor Annie&#8217;s future, and,
+after giving the doctor an assurance that Nan&#8217;s
+whims and pleasures should be attended to for the
+next two or three days, she determined at the end
+of that time to assert her own authority with the
+child, and to insist on Annie working hard at
+her lessons, and returning to her usual school-room
+life.
+</p>
+<p>On the morning of the third day Mrs. Willis
+made inquiries, heard that Nan had spent an excellent
+night, eaten a hearty breakfast, and was
+altogether looking blooming. When the girls assembled
+in the school-room for their lessons, Annie
+brought her little charge down to the large play-room,
+where they established themselves cozily, and
+Annie began to instruct little Nan in the mysteries
+of
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Tic, tac, too,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>The little horse has lost his shoe.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Nan was entering into the spirit of the game, was
+imagining herself a little horse, and was holding out
+her small foot to be shod, when Mrs. Willis entered
+the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come with me, Nan,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I have got
+something to show you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan got up instantly, held out one hand to Mrs.
+Willis and the other to Annie, and said, in her confident
+baby tones:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Me tum; Annie tumming too.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis said nothing, but holding the little
+hand, and accompanied by Annie, she went out of
+the play-room, across the stone hall, and through the
+baize doors until she reached her own delightful
+private sitting-room.
+</p>
+<p>There were heaps of pretty things about, and Nan
+gazed round her with the appreciative glance of a
+pleased connoisseur.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pitty &#8217;oom,&#8221; she said approvingly. &#8220;Nan
+likes this &#8217;oom. Me&#8217;ll stay here, and so will
+Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here she uttered a sudden cry of rapture&mdash;on
+the floor, with its leaves temptingly open, lay a
+gaily-painted picture-book, and curled up in a soft
+fluffy ball by its side was a white Persian kitten
+asleep.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis whispered something to Annie, who
+ran out of the room, and Nan knelt down in a perfect
+rapture of worship by the kitten&#8217;s side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pitty tibby pussy!&#8221; she exclaimed several
+times, and she rubbed it so persistently the wrong
+way that the kitten shivered and stood up, arched
+its back very high, yawned, turned round three
+times, and lay down again, Alas! &#8220;tibby pussy&#8221;
+was not allowed to have any continuous slumber.
+Nan dragged the Persian by its tail into her lap,
+and when it resisted this indignity, and with two
+or three light bounds disappeared out of the room,
+she stretched out her little hands and began to cry
+for it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Tum back, puss, puss&mdash;tum back, poor tibby
+puss&mdash;Nan loves &#8217;oo. Annie, go fetch puss for Nan.&#8221;
+Then for the first time she discovered that Annie
+was absent, and that she was alone, with the exception
+of Mrs. Willis, who sat busily writing at a
+distant table.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis counted for nothing at all with Nan&mdash;she
+did not consider her of the smallest importance
+and after giving her a quick glance of some disdain
+she began to trot round the room on a voyage of
+discovery. Any moment Annie would come back&mdash;Annie
+had, indeed, probably gone to fetch the kitten,
+and would quickly return with it. She walked
+slowly round and round, keeping well away from
+that part of the room where Mrs. Willis sat. Presently
+she found a very choice little china jug, which
+she carefully abstracted with her small fingers from
+a cabinet, which contained many valuable treasures.
+She sat down on the floor exactly beneath the cabinet,
+and began to play with her jug. She went
+through in eager pantomime a little game which
+Annie had invented for her, and imagined that she
+was a little milkmaid, and that the jug was full of
+sweet new milk; she called out to an imaginary set
+of purchasers, &#8220;Want any milk?&#8221; and then she
+poured some by way of drops of milk into the palm
+of her little hand, which she drank up in the name
+of her customers with considerable gusto. Presently
+knocking the little jug with some vehemence on the
+floor she deprived it with one neat blow of its handle
+and spout. Mrs. Willis was busily writing, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+did not look up. Nan was not in the least disconcerted;
+she said aloud:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor tibby zug b&#8217;oke,&#8221; and then she left the fragments
+on the floor, and started off on a fresh voyage
+of discovery. This time she dragged down a
+large photographic album on to a cushion, and, kneeling
+by it, began to look through the pictures, flapping
+the pages together with a loud noise, and laughing
+merrily as she did so. She was now much
+nearer to Mrs. Willis, who was attracted by the
+sound, and looking up hastened to the rescue of one
+of her most precious collections of photographs.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan, dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;shut up that book at once.
+Nan mustn&#8217;t touch. Shut the book, darling, and go
+and sit on the floor, and look at your nice-colored
+pictures.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan, still holding a chubby hand between the
+leaves of the album, gave Mrs. Willis a full defiant
+glance, and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me won&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Nan,&#8221; said the head-mistress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want Annie,&#8221; said Nan, still kneeling by
+the album, and, bending her head over the photographs,
+she turned the page and burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pitty bow vow,&#8221; she said, pointing to a photograph
+of a retriever; &#8220;oh, pitty bow woo, Nan
+loves &#8217;oo.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis stooped down and lifted the little girl
+into her arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan, dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it is naughty to disobey.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+Sit down by your picture-book, and be a good
+girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me won&#8217;t,&#8221; said Nan again, and here she raised
+her small dimpled hand and gave Mrs. Willis a
+smart slap on her cheek.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Naughty lady, me don&#8217;t like &#8217;oo; go &#8217;way. Nan
+want Annie&mdash;Nan do want Annie. Me don&#8217;t love
+&#8217;oo, naughty lady; go &#8217;way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis took Nan on her knee. She felt that
+the little will must be bent to hers, but the task was
+no easy one. The child scarcely knew her, she was
+still weak and excitable, and she presently burst into
+storms of tears, and sobbed and sobbed as though
+her little heart would break, her one cry being for
+&#8220;Annie, Annie, Annie.&#8221; When Annie did join her
+in the play hour, the little cheeks were flushed, the
+white brow ached, and the child&#8217;s small hands were
+hot and feverish. Mrs. Willis felt terribly puzzled.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVI_UNDER_THE_LAUREL_BUSH' id='CHAPTER_XXVI_UNDER_THE_LAUREL_BUSH'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+<h3>UNDER THE LAUREL BUSH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Willis owned to herself that she was non-plussed;
+it was quite impossible to allow Annie to
+neglect her studies, and yet little Nan&#8217;s health was
+still too precarious to allow her to run the risk of
+having the child constantly fretted.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly a welcome idea occurred to her; she
+would write at once to Nan&#8217;s old nurse, and see if
+she could come to Lavender House for the remainder
+of the present term. Mrs. Willis dispatched her letter
+that very day, and by the following evening
+the nurse was once more in possession of her much-loved
+little charge. The habits of her babyhood
+were too strong for Nan; she returned to them
+gladly enough, and though in her heart of hearts
+she was still intensely loyal to Annie, she no longer
+fretted when she was not with her.
+</p>
+<p>Annie resumed her ordinary work, and though
+Hester was very cold to her, several of the other
+girls in the school frankly confided to their favorite
+how much they had missed her, and how glad they
+were to have her back with them once more.
+</p>
+<p>Annie found herself at this time in an ever-shifting
+mood&mdash;one moment she longed intensely for a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+kiss, and a fervent pardon from Mrs. Willis&#8217; lips;
+another, she said to herself defiantly she could and
+would live without it; one moment the hungry and
+sorrowful look in Hester&#8217;s eyes went straight to
+Annie&#8217;s heart, and she wished she might restore
+her little treasure whom she had stolen; the next
+she rejoiced in her strange power over Nan, and
+resolved to keep all the love she could get.
+</p>
+<p>In short, Annie was in that condition when she
+could be easily influenced for good or evil&mdash;she was
+in that state of weakness when temptation is least
+easily resisted.
+</p>
+<p>A few days after the arrival of Nan&#8217;s nurse Mrs.
+Willis was obliged unexpectedly to leave home; a
+near relative was dangerously ill in London, and the
+school-mistress went away in much trouble and
+anxiety. Some of her favorite pupils flocked to the
+front entrance to see their beloved mistress off.
+Among the group Cecil stood, and several girls of
+the first class; many of the little girls were also
+present, but Annie was not among them. Just at
+the last moment she rushed up breathlessly; she
+was tying some starry jasmine and some blue forget-me-nots
+together, and as the carriage was
+moving off she flung the charming bouquet into her
+mistress&#8217; lap.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis rewarded her with one of her old
+looks of confidence and love; she raised the flowers
+to her lips and kissed them, and her eyes smiled on
+Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-by, dear,&#8221; she called out; &#8220;good-by, all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+my dear girls; I will try and be back to-morrow
+night. Remember, my children, during my absence
+I trust you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The carriage disappeared down the avenue, and
+the group of girls melted away. Cecil looked round
+for Annie, but Annie had been the first to disappear.
+</p>
+<p>When her mistress had kissed the flowers and
+smiled at her, Annie darted into the shrubbery and
+stood there wiping the fast-falling tears from her
+eyes. She was interrupted in this occupation by the
+sudden cries of two glad and eager voices, and instantly
+her hands were taken, and some girls rather
+younger than herself began to drag her in the
+opposite direction through the shrubbery.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come; Annie&mdash;come at once, Annie, darling,&#8221;
+exclaimed Phyllis and Nora Raymond. &#8220;The basket
+has come; it&#8217;s under the thick laurel-tree in the
+back avenue. We are all waiting for you; we none
+of us will open it till you arrive.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s face, a truly April one, changed as if by
+magic. The tears dried on her cheeks; her eyes
+filled with sunlight; she was all eager for the coming
+fun.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we won&#8217;t lose a moment, Phyllis,&#8221; she
+said: &#8220;we&#8217;ll see what that duck of a Betty has done
+for us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The three girls scampered down the back avenue,
+where they found five of their companions, among
+them Susan Drummond, standing in different attitudes
+of expectation near a very large and low-growing
+laurel-tree. Every one raised a shout when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+Annie appeared; she was undoubtedly recognized
+as queen and leader of the proceedings. She took
+her post without an instant&#8217;s hesitation, and began
+ordering her willing subjects about.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, is the coast clear? yes, I think so. Come,
+Susie, greedy as you are, you must take your part.
+You alone of all of us can cackle with the exact imitation
+of an old hen: get behind that tree at once and
+watch the yard. Don&#8217;t forget to cackle for your
+life if you even see the shadow of a footfall.
+Nora, my pretty birdie, you must be the thrush
+for the nonce; here, take your post, watch the lawn
+and the front avenue. Now then, girls, the rest of
+us can see what spoils Betty has provided for us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The basket was dragged from its hiding-place,
+and longing faces peered eagerly and greedily into
+its contents.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, oh! I say, cherries! and what a lot! Good
+Betty! dear, darling Betty! you gathered those
+from your own trees, and they are as ripe as your
+apple-blossom cheeks! Now then, what next? I do
+declare, meringues! Betty knew my weakness.
+Twelve meringues&mdash;that is one and a half apiece;
+Susan Drummond sha&#8216;n&#8217;t have more than her share.
+Meringues and cheesecakes and&mdash;tartlets&mdash;oh! oh!
+what a duck Betty is! A plum-cake&mdash;good, excellent
+Betty, she deserves to be canonized! What have we
+here? Roast chickens&mdash;better and better! What is
+in this parcel? Slices of ham; Betty knew she dare
+not show her face again if she forgot the ham.
+Knives and forks, spoons&mdash;fresh rolls&mdash;salt and pepper,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+and a dozen bottles of ginger-beer, and a little
+corkscrew in case we want it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These various exclamations came from many lips.
+The contents of the basket were carefully and tenderly
+replaced, the lid was fastened down, and it
+was once more consigned to its hiding place under
+the thick boughs of the laurel.
+</p>
+<p>Not a moment too soon, for just at this instant
+Susan cackled fiercely, and the little group withdrew,
+Annie first whispering:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At twelve to-night, then, girls&mdash;oh, yes, I have
+managed the key.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVII_TRUANTS' id='CHAPTER_XXVII_TRUANTS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+<h3>TRUANTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was a proverbial saying in the school that Annie
+Forest was always in hot water; she was exceedingly
+daring, and loved what she called a spice of
+danger. This was not the first stolen picnic at
+which Annie reigned as queen, but this was the
+largest she had yet organized, and this was the first
+time she had dared to go out of doors with her
+satellites.
+</p>
+<p>Hitherto these naughty sprites had been content
+to carry their baskets full of artfully-concealed provisions
+to a disused attic which was exactly over
+the box-room, and consequently out of reach of
+the inhabited part of the house. Here, making a
+table of a great chest which stood in the attic,
+they feasted gloriously, undisturbed by the musty
+smell or by the innumerable spiders and beetles
+which disappeared rapidly in all directions at their
+approach; but when Annie one day incautiously
+suggested that on summer nights the outside
+world was all at their disposal, they began to discover
+flaws in their banqueting hall. Mary Price
+said the musty smell made her half sick; Phyllis declared
+that at the sight of a spider she invariably
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+turned faint; and Susan Drummond was heard to
+murmur that in a dusty, fusty attic even meringues
+scarcely kept her awake. The girls were all wild to
+try a midnight picnic out of doors, and Annie in her
+present mood, was only too eager for the fun.
+</p>
+<p>With her usual skill she organized the whole undertaking,
+and eight agitated, slightly frightened,
+but much excited girls retired to their rooms that
+night. Annie, in her heart of hearts, felt rather sorry
+that Mrs. Willis should happen to be away; dim
+ideas of honor and trustworthiness were still stirring
+in her breast, but she dared not think now.
+</p>
+<p>The night was in every respect propitious; the
+moon would not rise until after twelve, so the little
+party could get away under the friendly shelter of
+the darkness, and soon afterward have plenty of
+light to enjoy their stolen feast. They had arranged
+to make no movement until close on midnight, and
+then they were all to meet in a passage which belonged
+to the kitchen regions, and where there was
+a side door which opened directly into the shrubbery.
+This door was not very often unlocked, and Annie
+had taken the key from its place in the lock some
+days before. She went to bed with her companions
+at nine o&#8217;clock as usual, and presently fell into an
+uneasy doze. She awoke to hear the great clock in
+the hall strike eleven, and a few minutes afterward
+she heard Miss Danesbury&#8217;s footsteps retiring to her
+room at the other end of the passage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Danesbury is always the last to go to bed,&#8221;
+whispered Annie to herself; &#8220;I can get up presently.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></p>
+<p>She lay for another twenty minutes, then, softly
+rising, began to put on her clothes in the dark. Over
+her dress she fastened her waterproof, and placed
+a close-fitting brown velvet cap on her curly head.
+Having dressed herself, she approached Susan&#8217;s bed,
+with the intention of rousing her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall have fine work now,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and
+shall probably have to resort to cold water. Really,
+if Susy proves too hard to wake, I shall let her
+sleep on&mdash;her drowsiness is past bearing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, however, was considerably startled when
+she discovered that Miss Drummond&#8217;s bed was without
+an occupant.
+</p>
+<p>At this moment the room door was very softly
+opened, and Susan, fully dressed and in her waterproof,
+came in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Susy, where have you been?&#8221; exclaimed
+Annie. &#8220;Fancy you being awake a moment before
+it is necessary!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For once in a way I was restless,&#8221; replied Miss
+Drummond, &#8220;so I thought I would get up, and take
+a turn in the passage outside. The house is perfectly
+quiet, and we can come now; most of the girls are
+already waiting at the side door.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Holding their shoes in their hands, Annie and
+Susan went noiselessly down the carpetless stairs,
+and found the remaining six girls waiting for them
+by the side door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rover is our one last danger now,&#8221; said Annie,
+as she fitted the well-oiled key into the lock. &#8220;Put on
+your shoes, girls, and let me out first; I think I can
+manage him.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></p>
+<p>She was alluding to a great mastiff which was
+usually kept chained up by day. Phyllis and Nora
+laid their hands on her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Annie, oh love, suppose he seizes on you,
+and knocks you down&mdash;oh, dare you venture?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me go,&#8221; said Annie a little contemptuously;
+&#8220;you don&#8217;t suppose I am afraid?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her fingers trembled, for her nerves were highly
+strung; but she managed to unlock the door and
+draw back the bolts, and, opening it softly, she went
+out into the silent night.
+</p>
+<p>Very slight as the noise she made was, it had
+aroused the watchful Rover, who trotted around
+swiftly to know what was the matter. But Annie
+had made friends with Rover long ago, by stealing
+to his kennel door and feeding him, and she had
+now but to say &#8220;Rover&#8221; in her melodious voice, and
+throw her arms around his neck, to completely subvert
+his morals.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is one of us, girls,&#8221; she called in a whisper to
+her companions; &#8220;come out. Rover will be as
+naughty as the rest of us, and go with us as our
+body-guard to the fairies&#8217; field. Now, I will lock
+the door on the outside, and we can be off. Ah, the
+moon is getting up splendidly, and when we have
+secured Betty&#8217;s basket, we shall be quite out of
+reach of danger.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At Annie&#8217;s words of encouragement the seven
+girls ventured out. She locked the door, put the
+key into her pocket, and, holding Rover by his
+collar, led the way in the direction of the laurel-bush.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span>
+The basket was secured, and Susan, to her
+disgust, and Mary Morris were elected for the first
+part of the way to carry it. The young truants
+then walked quickly down the avenue until they
+came to a turnstile which led into a wood.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVIII_IN_THE_FAIRIES__FIELD' id='CHAPTER_XXVIII_IN_THE_FAIRIES__FIELD'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE FAIRIES&#8217; FIELD.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The moon had now come up brilliantly, and the
+little party were in the highest possible spirits.
+They had got safely away from the house, and
+there was now, comparatively speaking, little fear
+of discovery. The more timid ones, who ventured
+to confess that their hearts were in their mouths
+while Annie was unlocking the side door, now became
+the most excited, and perhaps the boldest,
+under the reaction which set in. Even the wood,
+which was comparatively dark, with only patches
+of moonlight here and there, and queer weird shadows
+where the trees were thinnest, could not affect
+their spirits.
+</p>
+<p>The poor sleepy rabbits must have been astonished
+that night at the shouts of the revelers, as
+they hurried past them, and the birds must have
+taken their sleepy heads from under their downy
+wings, and wondered if the morning had come some
+hours before its usual time.
+</p>
+<p>More than one solemn old owl blinked at them,
+and hooted as they passed, and told them in owl
+language what silly, naughty young things they
+were, and how they would repent of this dissipation
+by-and-by. But if the girls were to have an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+hour of remorse, it did not visit them then; their
+hearts were like feathers, and by the time they
+reached the fields where the fairies were supposed
+to play, their spirits had become almost uncontrollable.
+</p>
+<p>Luckily for them this small green field lay in a
+secluded hollow, and more luckily for them no
+tramps were about to hear their merriment. Rover,
+who constituted himself Annie&#8217;s protector, now
+lay down by her side, and as she was the real ringleader
+and queen of the occasion, she ordered her
+subjects about pretty sharply.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, girls, quick; open the basket. Yes, I&#8217;m
+going to rest. I have organized the whole thing,
+and I&#8217;m fairly tired; so I&#8217;ll just sit quietly here, and
+Rover will take care of me while you set things
+straight. Ah! good Betty; she did not even forget
+the white table-cloth.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here one of the girls remarked casually that the
+grass was wet with dew, and that it was well they
+had all put on their waterproofs.
+</p>
+<p>Annie interrupted again in a petulant voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t croak, Mary Morris. Out with the chickens,
+lay the ham in this corner, and the cherries
+will make a picturesque pile in the middle. Twelve
+meringues in all; that means a meringue and a half
+each. We shall have some difficulty in dividing.
+Oh, dear! oh, dear! how hungry I am! I was far
+too excited to eat anything at supper-time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So was I,&#8221; said Phyllis, coming up and pressing
+close to Annie. &#8220;I do think Miss Danesbury cuts
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+the bread and butter too thick&mdash;don&#8217;t you, Annie?
+I could not eat mine at all to-night, and Cecil Temple
+asked me if I was not well.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those who don&#8217;t want chicken hold up their
+hands,&#8221; here interrupted Annie, who had tossed her
+brown cap on the grass, and between whose brows
+a faint frown had passed for an instant at the mention
+of Cecil&#8217;s name.
+</p>
+<p>The feast now began in earnest and silence
+reigned for a short time, broken only by the clatter
+of plates and such an occasional remark as &#8220;Pass
+the salt, please,&#8221; &#8220;Pepper this way, if you&#8217;ve no
+objection,&#8221; &#8220;How good chicken tastes in fairy-land,&#8221;
+etc. At last the ginger-beer bottles began to pop&mdash;the
+girls&#8217; first hunger was appeased. Rover gladly
+crunched up all the bones, and conversation flowed
+once more, accompanied by the delicate diversion of
+taking alternate bites at meringues and cheesecakes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish the fairies would come out,&#8221; said Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t!&#8221; shivered Phyllis, looking round her
+nervously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie darling, do tell us a ghost story,&#8221; cried
+several voices.
+</p>
+<p>Annie laughed and commenced a series of nonsense
+tales, all of a slightly eerie character, which
+she made up on the spot.
+</p>
+<p>The moon riding high in the heavens looked
+down on the young giddy heads, and their laughter,
+naughty as they were, sounded sweet in the night
+air.
+</p>
+<p>Time flew quickly and the girls suddenly discovered
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+that they must pack up their table-cloth and
+remove all traces of the feast unless they wished
+the bright light of morning to discover them. They
+rose hastily, sighing and slightly depressed now
+that their fun was over. The white table-cloth, no
+longer very white, was packed into the basket, the
+ginger-beer bottles placed on top of it and the lid
+fastened down. Not a crumb of the feast remained;
+Rover had demolished the bones and the eight girls
+had made short work of everything else, with the
+exception of the cherry-stones, which Phyllis carefully
+collected and popped into a little hole in the
+ground.
+</p>
+<p>The party then progressed slowly homeward and
+once more entered the dark wood. They were much
+more silent now; the wood was darker, and the
+chill which foretells the dawn was making itself felt
+in the air. Either the sense of cold or a certain
+effect produced by Annie&#8217;s ridiculous stories, made
+many of the little party unduly nervous.
+</p>
+<p>They had only taken a few steps through the
+wood when Phyllis suddenly uttered a piercing
+shriek. This shriek was echoed by Nora and by
+Mary Morris, and all their hearts seemed to leap
+into their mouths when they saw something move
+among the trees. Rover uttered a growl, and, but
+for Annie&#8217;s detaining hand, would have sprung forward.
+The high-spirited girl was not to be easily
+daunted.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Behold, girls, the goblin of the woods,&#8221; she exclaimed.
+&#8220;Quiet, Rover; stand still.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The next instant the fears of the little party
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span>
+reached their culmination when a tall, dark figure
+stood directly in their paths.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t let us pass at once,&#8221; said Annie&#8217;s
+voice, &#8220;I&#8217;ll set Rover at you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog began to bark loudly and quivered from
+head to foot.
+</p>
+<p>The figure moved a little to one side, and a rather
+deep and slightly dramatic voice said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean you no harm, young ladies; I&#8217;m only a
+gypsy-mother from the tents yonder. You are
+welcome to get back to Lavender House. I have
+then one course plain before me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on, girls,&#8221; said Annie, now considerably
+frightened, while Phyllis, and Nora, and one or two
+more began to sob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here, young ladies,&#8221; said the gypsy in a
+whining voice, &#8220;I don&#8217;t mean you no harm, my
+pretties, and it&#8217;s no affair of mine telling the good
+ladies at Lavender House what I&#8217;ve seen. You
+cross my hand, dears, each of you, with a bit of
+silver, and all I&#8217;ll do is to tell your pretty fortunes,
+and mum is the word with the gypsy-mother as far
+as this night&#8217;s prank is concerned.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We had better do it, Annie&mdash;we had better do
+it,&#8221; here sobbed Phyllis. &#8220;If this was found out by
+Mrs. Willis we might be expelled&mdash;we might,
+indeed; and that horrid woman is sure to tell of
+us&mdash;I know she is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite sure to tell, dear,&#8221; said the tall gypsy,
+dropping a courtesy in a manner which looked frightfully
+sarcastic in the long shadows made by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+trees. &#8220;Quite sure to tell, and to be expelled is the
+very least that could happen to such naughty little
+ladies. Here&#8217;s a nice little bit of clearing in the
+wood, and we&#8217;ll all come over, and Mother Rachel
+will tell your fortunes in a twinkling, and no one
+will be the wiser. Sixpence apiece, my dears&mdash;only
+sixpence apiece.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come; do, do come,&#8221; said Nora, and the
+next moment they were all standing in a circle
+round Mother Rachel, who pocketed her blackmail
+eagerly, and repeated some gibberish over each
+little hand. Over Annie&#8217;s palm she lingered for a
+brief moment, and looked with her penetrating eyes
+into the girl&#8217;s face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have suffering before you, miss; some
+suspicion, and danger even to life itself. But you&#8217;ll
+triumph, my dear, you&#8217;ll triumph. You&#8217;re a plucky
+one, and you&#8217;ll do a brave deed. There&mdash;good-night,
+young ladies; you have nothing more to fear
+from Mother Rachel.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The tall dark figure disappeared into the blackest
+shadows of the wood, and the girls, now like so
+many frightened hares, flew home. They deposited
+their basket where Betty would find it, under the
+shadow of the great laurel in the back avenue.
+They all bade Rover an affectionate &#8220;good-night.&#8221;
+Annie softly unlocked the side-door, and one by one,
+with their shoes in their hands, they regained their
+bedrooms. They were all very tired, and very cold,
+and a dull fear and sense of insecurity rested over
+each little heart. Suppose Mother Rachel proved
+unfaithful, notwithstanding the sixpences?
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIX_HESTER_S_FORGOTTEN_BOOK' id='CHAPTER_XXIX_HESTER_S_FORGOTTEN_BOOK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+<h3>HESTER&#8217;S FORGOTTEN BOOK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It wanted scarcely three weeks to the holidays,
+and therefore scarcely three weeks to that auspicious
+day when Lavender House was to be the scene
+of one long triumph, and was to be the happy spot
+selected for a midsummer holiday, accompanied by
+all that could make a holiday perfect&mdash;for youth
+and health would be there, and even the unsuccessful
+competitors for the great prizes would not have
+too sore hearts, for they would know that on the
+next day they were going home. Each girl who had
+done her best would have a word of commendation,
+and only those who were very naughty, or very
+stubborn, could resist the all-potent elixir of happiness
+which would be poured out so abundantly for
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; pupils on this day.
+</p>
+<p>Now that the time was drawing so near, those
+girls who were working for prizes found themselves
+fully occupied from morning to night. In
+play-hours even, girls would be seen with their
+heads bent over their books, and, between the prizes
+and the acting, no little bees in any hive could be
+more constantly employed than were these young
+girls just now.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span></p>
+<p>No happiness is, after all, to be compared to the
+happiness of healthful occupation. Busy people have
+no time to fret and no time to grumble. According
+to our old friend, Dr. Watts, people who are healthily
+busy have also no time to be naughty, for the old
+doctor says that it is for idle hands that mischief is
+prepared.
+</p>
+<p>Be that as it may, and there is great truth in it,
+some naughty sprites, some bad fairies, were flitting
+around and about that apparently peaceful atmosphere.
+That sunny home, governed by all that was
+sweet and good, was not without its serpent.
+</p>
+<p>Of all the prizes which attracted interest and
+aroused competition, the prize for English composition
+was this year the most popular. In the first
+place, this was known to be Mrs. Willis&#8217; own favorite
+subject. She had a great wish that her girls should
+write intelligibly&mdash;she had a greater wish that, if
+possible, they should think.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never was there so much written and printed,&#8221;
+she was often heard to say; &#8220;but can any one show
+me a book with thoughts in it? Can any one show
+me, unless as a rare exception, a book which will live?
+Oh, yes, these books which issue from the press in
+thousands are, many of them, very smart, a great
+many of them clever, but they are thrown off too
+quickly. All great things, great books among them,
+must be evolved slowly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then she would tell her pupils what she considered
+the reason of this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In these days,&#8221; she would say, &#8220;all girls are
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
+what is called highly educated. Girls and boys
+alike must go in for competitive examinations, must
+take out diplomas, and must pass certain standards of
+excellence. The system is cramming from beginning
+to end. There is no time for reflection. In short,
+my dear girls, you swallow a great deal, but you do
+not digest your intellectual food.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis hailed with pleasure any little dawnings
+of real thought in her girls&#8217; prize essays. More
+than once she bestowed the prize upon the essay
+which seemed to the girls the most crude and
+unfinished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind,&#8221; she would say, &#8220;here is an idea&mdash;or
+at least half an idea. This little bit of composition
+is original, and not, at best, a poor imitation of Sir.
+Walter Scott or Lord Macaulay.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus the girls found a strong stimulus to be
+their real selves in these little essays, and the best
+of them chose their subject and let it ferment in
+their brains without the aid of books, except for the
+more technical parts.
+</p>
+<p>More than one girl in the school was surprised at
+Dora Russell exerting herself to try for the prize
+essay. She was just about to close her school career,
+and they could not make out why she roused herself
+to work for the most difficult prize, for which she
+would have to compete with any girl in the school
+who chose to make a similar attempt.
+</p>
+<p>Dora, however, had her own, not very high
+motive for making the attempt. She was a
+thoroughly accomplished girl, graceful in her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+appearance and manner; in short, just the sort of
+girl who would be supposed to do credit to a school.
+She played with finish, and even delicacy of touch.
+There was certainly no soul in her music, but neither
+were there any wrong notes. Her drawings were
+equally correct, her perspective good, her trees were
+real trees, and the coloring of her water-color
+sketches was pure. She spoke French extremely
+well, and with a correct accent, and her German
+also was above the average. Nevertheless, Dora
+was commonplace, and those girls who knew her
+best spoke sarcastically, and smiled at one another
+when she alluded to her prize essay, and seemed
+confident of being the successful competitor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t like to be beaten, Dora, say, by
+Annie Forest,&#8221; they would laughingly remark;
+whereupon Dora&#8217;s calm face, would slightly flush
+and her lips would assume a very proud curve. If
+there was one thing she could not bear it was to be
+beaten.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you try for it, Dora?&#8221; her class-fellows
+would ask; but here Dora made no reply: she kept
+her reason to herself.
+</p>
+<p>The fact was, Dora, who must be a copyist to the
+end of the chapter, and who could never to her latest
+day do anything original, had determined to try
+for the composition prize because she happened
+accidentally to hear a conversation between Mrs.
+Willis and Miss Danesbury, in which something
+was said about a gold locket with Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+portrait inside.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></p>
+<p>Dora instantly jumped at the conclusion that this
+was to be the great prize bestowed upon the successful
+essayist. Delightful idea; how well the trinket
+would look round her smooth white throat! Instantly
+she determined to try for this prize, and of
+course as instantly the bare idea of defeat became
+intolerable to her. She went steadily and methodically
+to work. With extreme care she chose her
+subject. Knowing something of Mrs. Willis&#8217; peculiarities,
+she determined that her theme should not
+be historical; she believed that she could express
+herself freely and with power if only she could
+secure an unhackneyed subject. Suddenly an idea
+which she considered brilliant occurred to her. She
+would call her composition &#8220;The River.&#8221; This
+should not bear reference to Father Thames, or any
+other special river of England, but it should trace
+the windings of some fabled stream of Dora&#8217;s
+imagination, which, as it flowed along, should tell
+something of the story of the many places by which
+it passed. Dora was charmed with her own
+thought, and worked hard, evening after evening, at
+her subject, covering sheets of manuscript paper
+with penciled jottings, and arranging and rearranging
+her somewhat confused thoughts. She greatly
+admired a perfectly rounded period, and she was
+most particular as to the style in which she wrote.
+For the purpose of improving her style she even
+studied old volumes of Addison&#8217;s <i>Spectator</i>; but
+after a time she gave up this course of study, for she
+found it so difficult to mold her English to Addison&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+that she came to the comfortable conclusion
+that Addison was decidedly obsolete, and that if she
+wished to do full justice to &#8220;The River&#8221; she must
+trust to her own unaided genius.
+</p>
+<p>At last the first ten pages were written. The
+subject was entered upon with considerable flourishes,
+and some rather apt poetical quotations from a book
+containing a collection of poems; the river itself had
+already left its home in the mountain, and was
+careering merrily past sunny meadows and little
+rural, impossible cottages, where the golden-haired
+children played.
+</p>
+<p>Dora made a very neat copy of her essay so far.
+She now began to see her way clearly&mdash;there would
+be a very powerful passage as the river approached
+the murky town. Here, indeed, would be room for
+powerful and pathetic writing. She wondered if
+she might venture so far as to hide a suicide in her
+rushing waters; and then at last the brawling river
+would lose itself in the sea; and, of course, there
+would not be the smallest connection between her
+river, and Kingsley&#8217;s well-known song,
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Clear and cool.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>She finished writing her ten pages, and being now
+positively certain of her gold locket, went to bed in
+a happy state of mind.
+</p>
+<p>This was the very night when Annie was to lead
+her revelers through the dark wood, but Dora, who
+never troubled herself about the younger classes,
+would have been certainly the last to notice the fact
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+that a few of the girls in Lavender House seemed
+little disposed to eat their suppers of thick bread
+and butter and milk. She went to bed and dreamed
+happy dreams about her golden locket, and had
+little idea that any mischief was about to be performed.
+</p>
+<p>Hester Thornton also, but in a very different
+spirit, was working hard at her essay. Hester worked
+conscientiously; she had chosen &#8220;Marie Antoinette&#8221;
+as her theme, and she read the sorrowful
+story of the beautiful queen with intense interest,
+and tried hard to get herself into the spirit of the
+times about which she must write. She had scarcely
+begun her essay yet, but she had already collected
+most of the historical facts.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was a very careful little student, and as
+she prepared herself for the great work, she thought
+little or nothing about the prize&mdash;she only wanted to
+do justice to the unfortunate queen of France. She
+was in bed that night, and just dropping off to sleep,
+when she suddenly remembered that she had left a
+volume of French poetry on her school desk. This
+was against the rules, and she knew that Miss Danesbury
+would confiscate the book in the morning, and
+would not let her have it back for a week. Hester
+particularly wanted this special book just now, as
+some of the verses bore reference to her subject, and
+she could scarcely get on with her essay without
+having it to refer to. She must lose no time in
+instantly beginning to write her essay, and to do
+without her book of poetry for a week would be a
+serious injury to her.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></p>
+<p>She resolved, therefore, to break through one of
+the rules, and, after lying awake until the whole
+house was quiet, to slip down stairs, enter the school-room
+and secure her poems. She heard the clock
+strike eleven, and she knew that in a very few
+moments Miss Danesbury and Miss Good would
+have retired to their rooms. Ah, yes, that was
+Miss Danesbury&#8217;s step passing her door. Ten minutes
+later she glided out of bed, slipped on her dressing-gown,
+and opening her door ran swiftly down
+the carpetless stairs, and found herself in the great
+stone hall which led to the school-room.
+</p>
+<p>She was surprised to find the school-room door a
+little ajar, but she entered the room without hesitation,
+and, dark as it was, soon found her desk, and
+the book of poems lying on the top. Hester was
+about to return when she was startled by a little
+noise in that portion of the room where the first
+class girls sat. The next moment somebody came
+heavily and rather clumsily down the room, and the
+moon, which was just beginning to rise, fell for an
+instant on a girl&#8217;s face. Hester recognized the face
+of Susan Drummond. What could she be doing
+here? She did not dare to speak, for she herself
+had broken a rule in visiting the school-room. She
+remained, therefore, perfectly still until Susan&#8217;s steps
+died away, and then, thankful to have secured her
+own property, returned to her bedroom, and a moment
+or two later was sound asleep.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXX__A_MUDDY_STREAM' id='CHAPTER_XXX__A_MUDDY_STREAM'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;A MUDDY STREAM.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the morning Dora Russell sat down as usual
+before her orderly and neatly-kept desk. She
+raised the lid to find everything in its place&mdash;her
+books and exercises all as they should be, and her
+pet essay in a neat brown paper cover, lying just as
+she had left it the night before. She was really getting
+quite excited about her river, and as this was a
+half-holiday, she determined to have a good work at
+it in the afternoon. She was beginning also to experience
+that longing for an auditor which occasionally
+is known to trouble the breasts of genius. She
+felt that those graceful ideas, that elegant language,
+those measured periods, might strike happily on
+some other ears before they were read aloud as the
+great work of the midsummer holidays.
+</p>
+<p>She knew that Hester Thornton was making what
+she was pleased to term a poor little attempt at trying
+for the same prize. Hester would scarcely venture
+to copy anything from Dora&#8217;s essay; she would
+probably be discouraged, poor girl, in working any
+longer at her own composition; but Dora felt that
+the temptation to read &#8220;The River,&#8221; as far as it had
+gone, to Hester was really too great to be resisted.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+Accordingly, after dinner she graciously invited
+Hester to accompany her to a bower in the garden,
+where the two friends might revel over the results
+of Dora&#8217;s extraordinary talents.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was still, to a certain extent, under Dora&#8217;s
+influence, and had not the courage to tell her that
+she intended to be very busy over her own essay
+this afternoon.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Hester, dear,&#8221; said Dora, when they found
+themselves both seated in the bower, &#8220;you are the
+only girl in the school to whom I could confide the
+subject of my great essay. I really believe that I
+have hit on something absolutely original. My dear
+child, I hope you won&#8217;t allow yourself to be discouraged.
+I fear that you won&#8217;t have much heart
+to go on with your theme after you have read my
+words; but, never mind, dear, it will be good practice
+for you, and you know it <i>was</i> rather silly to go
+in for a prize which I intended to compete for.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I read your essay, please, Dora?&#8221; asked
+Hester. &#8220;I am very much interested in my own
+study, and, whether I win the prize or not, I shall
+always remember the pleasure I took in writing it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What subject did you select, dear?&#8221; inquired
+Miss Russell.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am attempting a little sketch of Marie
+Antoinette.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, hackneyed, my dear girl&mdash;terribly hackneyed;
+but, of course, I don&#8217;t mean to discourage
+you. <i>Now I</i>&mdash;I draw a life-picture, and I call it
+&#8216;The River.&#8217; See how it begins&mdash;why, I declare I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+know the words by heart, &#8216;<i>As our eyes rest on this
+clear and limpid stream, as we see the sun sparkle</i>&mdash;&mdash;&#8217; My
+dear Hester, you shall read me my essay
+aloud. I shall like to hear my own words from
+your lips, and you have really a pretty accent,
+dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester folded back the brown paper cover, and
+wanting to have her task over began to read hastily.
+But, as her eyes rested on the first lines, she turned
+to her companion, and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you not tell me that your essay was called
+&#8216;The River&#8217;?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear; the full title is &#8216;The Windings of a
+Noble River.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s very odd,&#8221; replied Hester. &#8220;What I see
+here is &#8216;The Meanderings of a Muddy Stream.&#8217; &#8216;<i>As
+our dull orbs rest on this turbid water on which
+the sun cannot possibly shine.</i>&#8217; Why, Dora, this cannot
+be your essay, and yet, surely, it is your handwriting.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Dora, with her face suddenly flushing a vivid
+crimson, snatched the manuscript from Hester&#8217;s
+hand, and looked over it eagerly. Alas! there was
+no doubt. The title of this essay was &#8220;The Meanderings
+of a Muddy Stream,&#8221; and the words which
+immediately followed were a smart and ridiculous
+parody on her own high flown sentences. The resemblance
+to her handwriting was perfect. The
+brown paper cover, neatly sewn on to protect the
+white manuscript, was undoubtedly her cover; the
+very paper on which the words were written seemed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+in all particulars the same. Dora turned the sheets
+eagerly, and here for the first time she saw a difference.
+Only four or five pages of the nonsense
+essay had been attempted, and the night before,
+when finishing her toil, she had proudly numbered
+her tenth page. She looked through the whole
+thing, turning leaf after leaf, while her cheeks were
+crimson, and her hands trembled. In the first moment
+of horrible humiliation and dismay she literally
+could not speak.
+</p>
+<p>At last, springing to her feet, and confronting
+the astonished and almost frightened Hester, she
+found her voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hester, you must help me in this. The most
+dreadful, the most atrocious fraud has been committed.
+Some one has been base enough, audacious
+enough, wicked enough, to go to my desk privately,
+and take away my real essay&mdash;my work over which
+I have labored and toiled. The expressions of my&mdash;my&mdash;yes,
+I will say it&mdash;my genius, have been ruthlessly
+burned, or otherwise made away with, and
+<i>this</i> thing has been put in their place. Hester,
+why don&#8217;t you speak&mdash;why do you stare at me like
+this?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am puzzled by the writing,&#8221; said Hester; &#8220;the
+writing is yours.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The writing is mine!&mdash;oh, you wicked girl!
+The writing is an imitation of mine&mdash;a feeble and
+poor imitation. I thought, Hester, that by this time
+you knew your friend&#8217;s handwriting. I thought
+that one in whom I have confided&mdash;one whom I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+have stooped to notice because, I fancied we had a
+community of soul, would not be so ridiculous and
+so silly as to mistake this writing for mine. Look
+again, please, Hester Thornton, and tell me if I am
+ever so vulgar as to cross my <i>t&#8217;s</i>. You know I
+<i>always</i> loop them; and do I make a capital B in
+this fashion? And do I indulge in flourishes? I
+grant you that the general effect to a casual observer
+would be something the same, but you, Hester&mdash;I
+thought you knew me better.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Hester, examining the false essay, had to
+confess that the crossed <i>t&#8217;s</i> and the flourishes were
+unlike Miss Russell&#8217;s calligraphy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a forgery, most cleverly done,&#8221; said Dora.
+&#8220;There is such a thing, Hester, as being wickedly
+clever. This spiteful, cruel attempt to injure another
+can have but proceeded from one very low
+order of mind. Hester, there has been plenty of
+favoritism in this school, but do you suppose I shall
+allow such a thing as this to pass over unsearched
+into? If necessary, I shall ask my father to interfere.
+This is a slight&mdash;an outrage; but the whole
+mystery shall at last be cleared up. Miss Good and
+Miss Danesbury shall be informed at once, and the
+very instant Mrs. Willis returns she shall be told
+what a serpent she has been nursing in this false,
+wicked girl, Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop, Dora,&#8221; said Hester suddenly. She sprang
+to her feet, clasping her hands, and her color varied
+rapidly from white to red. A sudden light poured
+in upon her, and she was about to speak when something&mdash;quite
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+a small, trivial thing&mdash;occurred. She
+only saw little Nan in the distance flying swiftly,
+with outstretched arms, to meet a girl, whose knees
+she clasped in baby ecstasy. The girl stooped down
+and kissed the little face, and the round arms were
+flung around her neck. The next instant Annie
+Forest continued her walk alone, and Nan, looking
+wistfully back after her, went in another direction
+with her nurse. The whole scene took but a
+moment to enact, but as she watched, Hester&#8217;s face
+grew hard and white. She sat down again, with
+her lips firmly pressed together.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Hester?&#8221; exclaimed Dora. &#8220;What
+were you going to say? You surely know nothing
+about this?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Dora, I am not the guilty person. I was
+only going to remark that you cannot be <i>sure</i> it is
+Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, so you are going to take that horrid girl&#8217;s
+part now? I wonder at you! She all but killed
+your little sister, and then stole her love away from
+you. Did you see the little thing now, how she
+flew to her? Why, she never kisses you like that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know&mdash;I know,&#8221; said Hester, and she turned
+away her face with a groan, and leaned forward
+against the rustic bench, pressing her hot forehead
+down on her hands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have your triumph, Hester, when Miss
+Forest is publicly expelled,&#8221; said Dora, tapping her
+lightly on the shoulder, and then, taking up the
+forged essay, she went slowly out of the garden.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXI_GOOD_AND_BAD_ANGELS' id='CHAPTER_XXXI_GOOD_AND_BAD_ANGELS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+<h3>GOOD AND BAD ANGELS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hester stayed behind in the shady little arbor, and
+then, on that soft spring day, while the birds sang
+overhead, and the warm light breezes came in and
+fanned her hot cheeks, good angels and bad drew
+near to fight for a victory. Which would conquer?
+Hester had many faults, but hitherto she had been
+honorable and truthful; her sins had been those of
+pride and jealousy, but she had never told a falsehood
+in her life. She knew perfectly&mdash;she trembled
+as the full knowledge overpowered her&mdash;that she
+had it in her power to exonerate Annie. She could
+not in the least imagine how stupid Susan Drummond
+could contrive and carry out such a clever
+and deep-laid plot; but she knew also that if she
+related what she had seen with her own eyes the
+night before, she would probably give such a clue to
+the apparent mystery that the truth would come to
+light.
+</p>
+<p>If Annie was cleared from this accusation, doubtless
+the old story of her supposed guilt with regard
+to Mrs. Willis&#8217; caricature would also be read with
+its right key. Hester was a clever and sharp girl;
+and the fact of seeing Susan Drummond in the
+school-room in the dead of night opened her eyes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span>
+also to one or two other apparent little mysteries.
+While Susan was her own room-mate she had often
+given a passing wonder to the fact of her extraordinary
+desire to overcome her sleepiness, and had
+laughed over the expedients Susan had used to wake
+at all moments.
+</p>
+<p>These things, at the time, had scarcely given her
+a moment&#8217;s serious reflection; but now she pondered
+them carefully, and became more and more certain,
+that, for some inexplicable and unfathomable reason
+sleepy, and apparently innocent, Susan Drummond
+wished to sow the seeds of mischief and discord in
+the school. Hester was sure that if she chose to
+speak now she could clear poor Annie, and restore
+her to her lost place in Mrs. Willis&#8217; favor.
+</p>
+<p>Should she do so? ah! should she? Her lips
+trembled, her color came and went as the angels,
+good and bad, fought hard for victory within her.
+How she had longed to revenge herself on Annie!
+How cordially she had hated her! Now was the
+moment of her revenge. She had but to remain
+silent now, and to let matters take their course; she
+had but to hold her tongue about the little incident
+of last night, and, without any doubt, circumstantial
+evidence would point at Annie Forest, and she
+would be expelled from the school. Mrs. Willis
+must condemn her now. Mr. Everard must pronounce
+her guilty now. She would go, and when
+the coast was again clear the love which she had
+taken from Hester&mdash;the precious love of Hester&#8217;s
+only little sister&mdash;would return.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You will be miserable; you will be miserable,&#8221;
+whispered the good angels sorrowfully in her ear;
+but she did not listen to them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I said I would revenge myself, and this is my
+opportunity,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;Silence&mdash;just simply
+silence&mdash;will be my revenge.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then the good angels went sorrowfully back to
+their Father in heaven, and the wicked angels rejoiced.
+Hester had fallen very low.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXII_FRESH_SUSPICIONS' id='CHAPTER_XXXII_FRESH_SUSPICIONS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+<h3>FRESH SUSPICIONS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Willis was not at home many hours before
+Dora Russell begged for an interview with her.
+Annie had not as yet heard anything of the changed
+essay; for Dora had resolved to keep the thing a
+secret until Mrs. Willis herself took the matter in
+hand.
+</p>
+<p>Annie was feeling not a little anxious and depressed.
+She was sorry now that she had led the
+girls that wild escapade through the wood. Phyllis
+and Nora were both suffering from heavy colds in
+consequence, and Susan Drummond was looking more
+pasty about her complexion, and was more dismally
+sleepy than usual. Annie was going through her
+usual season of intense remorse after one of her wild
+pranks. No one repented with more apparent fervor
+than she did, and yet no one so easily succumbed to
+the next temptation. Had Annie been alone in the
+matter she would have gone straight to Mrs. Willis
+and confessed all; but she could not do this without
+implicating her companions, who would have
+screamed with horror at the very suggestion.
+</p>
+<p>All the girls were more or less depressed by the
+knowledge that the gypsy woman, Mother Rachel,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+shared their secret; and they often whispered together
+as to the chances of her betraying them. Old
+Betty they could trust; for Betty, the cake-woman,
+had been an arch-conspirator with the naughty girls
+of Lavender House from time immemorial. Betty
+had always managed to provide their stolen suppers
+for them, and had been most accommodating in the
+matter of pay. Yes, with Betty they felt they were
+safe; but Mother Rachel was a different person.
+She might like to be paid a few more sixpences for
+her silence; she might hover about the grounds;
+she might be noticed. At any moment she might
+boldly demand an interview with Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m awfully afraid of Mother Rachel,&#8221; Phyllis
+moaned, as she shivered under the influence of her
+bad cold.
+</p>
+<p>Nora said &#8220;I should faint if I saw her again, I
+know I should;&#8221; while the other girls always went
+out provided with stray sixpences, in case the gypsy
+mother should start up from some unexpected quarter
+and demand blackmail.
+</p>
+<p>On the day of Mrs. Willis&#8217; return, Annie was
+pacing up and down the shady walk, and indulging
+in some rather melancholy and regretful thoughts,
+when Susan Drummond and Mary Morris rushed up
+to her, white with terror.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s down there by the copse, and she&#8217;s beckoning
+to us! Oh, do come with us&mdash;do, darling, dear
+Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no use in it,&#8221; replied Annie; &#8220;Mother
+Rachel wants money, and I am not going to give
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
+her any. Don&#8217;t be afraid of her, girls, and don&#8217;t
+give her money. After all, why should she tell on
+us? she would gain nothing by doing so.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, she would, Annie&mdash;she would, Annie,&#8221;
+said Mary Morris, beginning to sob; &#8220;oh, do come
+with us, do! We must pacify her, we really must.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t come now,&#8221; said Annie; &#8220;hark! some
+one is calling me. Yes, Miss Danesbury&mdash;what is
+it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Willis wishes to see you at once, Annie, in
+her private sitting-room,&#8221; replied Miss Danesbury;
+and Annie, wondering not a little, but quite unsuspicious,
+ran off.
+</p>
+<p>The fact, however, of her having deliberately disobeyed
+Mrs. Willis, and done something which she
+knew would greatly pain her, brought a shade of
+embarrassment to her usually candid face. She had
+also to confess to herself that she did not feel quite
+so comfortable about Mother Rachel as she had
+given Mary Morris and Susan Drummond to understand.
+Her steps lagged more and more as she
+approached the house, and she wished, oh, how
+longingly! oh, how regretfully! that she had not
+been naughty and wild and disobedient in her beloved
+teacher&#8217;s absence.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But where is the use of regretting what is
+done?&#8221; she said, half aloud. &#8220;I know I can never
+be good&mdash;never, never!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She pushed aside the heavy velvet curtains which
+shaded the door of the private sitting-room, and
+went in, to find Mrs. Willis seated by her desk, very
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span>
+pale and tired and unhappy looking, while Dora
+Russell, with crimson spots on her cheeks and a very
+angry glitter in her eyes, stood by the mantel-piece.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Annie dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis in her
+usual gentle and affectionate tone.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s first wild impulse was to rush to her
+governess&#8217; side, to fling her arms round her neck,
+and, as a child would confess to her mother, to tell
+her all that story of the walk through the wood, and
+the stolen picnic in the fairies&#8217; field. Three things,
+however, restrained her&mdash;she must not relieve her
+own troubles at the expense of betraying others;
+she could not, even if she were willing, say a word
+in the presence of this cold and angry-looking Dora;
+in the third place, Mrs. Willis looked very tired and
+very sad. Not for worlds would she add to her
+troubles at this instant. She came into the room,
+however, with a slight hesitation of manner and a
+clouded brow, which caused Mrs. Willis to watch
+her with anxiety and Dora with triumph.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Annie,&#8221; repeated the governess. &#8220;I
+want to speak to you. Something very dishonorable
+and disgraceful has been done in my absence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s face suddenly became as white as a sheet.
+Could the gypsy mother have already betrayed them
+all?
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis, noticing her too evident confusion,
+continued in a voice which, in spite of herself, became
+stern and severe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall expect the truth at any cost, my dear.
+Look at this manuscript-book. Do you know anything
+of the handwriting?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, it is yours, of course, Dora,&#8221; said Annie,
+who was now absolutely bewildered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is <i>not</i> mine,&#8221; began Dora, but Mrs. Willis
+held up her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Allow me to speak, Miss Russell. I can best
+explain matters. Annie, during my absence some
+one has been guilty of a very base and wicked act.
+One of the girls in this school has gone secretly to
+Dora Russell&#8217;s desk and taken away ten pages of an
+essay which she had called &#8216;The River,&#8217; and which
+she was preparing for the prize competition next
+month. Instead of Dora&#8217;s essay this that you now
+see was put in its place. Examine it, my dear.
+Can you tell me anything about it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie took the manuscript-book and turned the
+leaves.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it meant for a parody?&#8221; she asked, after a
+pause; &#8220;it sounds ridiculous. No, Mrs. Willis, I
+know nothing whatever about it; some one has
+imitated Dora&#8217;s handwriting. I cannot imagine
+who is the culprit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She threw the manuscript-book with a certain
+easy carelessness on the table by her side, and
+glanced up with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes at
+Dora.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose it is meant for a clever parody,&#8221; she
+repeated; &#8220;at least it is amusing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her manner displeased Mrs. Willis, and very
+nearly maddened poor Dora.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have not sent for you, Annie,&#8221; said her
+teacher, &#8220;to ask you your opinion of the parody,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+but to try and get you to throw light on the subject.
+We must find out, and at once, who has been
+so wicked as to deliberately injure another girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But why have you sent for <i>me</i>?&#8221; asked Annie,
+drawing herself up, and speaking with a little shade
+of haughtiness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because,&#8221; said Dora Russell, who could no
+longer contain her outraged feelings, &#8220;because you
+alone can throw light on it&mdash;because you alone in
+the school are base enough to do anything so mean&mdash;because
+you alone can caricature.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that is it,&#8221; said Annie; &#8220;you suspect me,
+then. Do <i>you</i> suspect me, Mrs. Willis?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear&mdash;what can I say?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing, if you do. In this school my word
+has long gone for nothing. I am a naughty, headstrong,
+willful girl, but in this matter I am perfectly
+innocent. I never saw that essay before: I never
+in all my life went to Dora Russell&#8217;s desk. I am
+headstrong and wild, but I don&#8217;t do spiteful things.
+I have no object in injuring Dora; she is nothing to
+me&mdash;nothing. She is trying for the essay prize,
+but she has no chance of winning it. Why should
+I trouble myself to injure her? Why should I even
+take the pains to parody her words and copy her
+handwriting? Mrs. Willis, you need not believe
+me&mdash;I see you do not believe me&mdash;but I am quite
+innocent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Annie burst into sudden tears, and ran out
+of the room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIII_UNTRUSTWORTHY' id='CHAPTER_XXXIII_UNTRUSTWORTHY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+<h3>UNTRUSTWORTHY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Dora Russell had declared, in Hester&#8217;s presence,
+and with intense energy in her manner, that the
+author of the insult to which she had been exposed
+should be publicly punished and, if possible, expelled.
+On the evening of her interview with the
+head teacher, she had so far forgotten herself as to
+reiterate this desire with extreme vehemence. She
+had boldly declared her firm conviction of Annie&#8217;s
+guilt, and had broadly hinted at Mrs. Willis&#8217; favoritism
+toward her. The great dignity, however, of
+her teacher&#8217;s manner, and the half-sorrowful, half-indignant
+look she bestowed on the excited girl,
+calmed her down after a time. Mrs. Willis felt full
+sympathy for Dora, and could well understand how
+trying and aggravating this practical joke must be
+to so proud a girl; but although her faith was undoubtedly
+shaken in Annie, she would not allow this
+sentiment to appear.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will do all I can for you, Dora,&#8221; she said,
+when the weeping Annie had left the room; &#8220;I
+will do everything in my power to find out who
+has injured you. Annie has absolutely denied the
+accusation you bring against her, and unless her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
+guilt can be proved it is but right to believe her
+innocent. There are many other girls in Lavender
+House, and to-morrow morning I will sift this unpleasant
+affair to the very bottom. Go, now, my
+dear, and if you have sufficient self-command and
+self-control, try to have courage to write your essay
+over again. I have no doubt that your second rendering
+of your subject will be more attractive than
+the first. Beginners cannot too often re-write their
+themes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Dora gave her head a proud little toss, but she
+was sufficiently in awe of Mrs. Willis to keep back
+any retort, and she went out of the room feeling
+unsatisfied and wretched, and inclined for a sympathizing
+chat with her little friend Hester Thornton.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however when she reached her, seemed
+not at all disposed to talk to any one.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had it all out with Mrs. Willis, and there
+is no doubt she will be exposed to-morrow morning,&#8221;
+said Dora half aloud.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, whose head was bent over her French
+history, looked up with an annoyed expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who will be exposed?&#8221; she asked, in a petulant
+voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how stupid you are growing, Hester Thornton!&#8221;
+exclaimed Dora; &#8220;why, that horrid Annie
+Forest, of course&mdash;but really I have no patience to
+talk to you; you have lost all your spirit. I was
+very foolish to demean myself by taking so much
+notice of one of the little girls.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span></p>
+<p>Dora sailed down the play-room to her own drawing-room,
+fully expecting Hester to rise and rush
+after her; but to her surprise Hester did not stir,
+but sat with her head bent over her book, and her
+cheeks slightly flushed.
+</p>
+<p>The next morning Mrs. Willis kept her word to
+Dora, and made the very strictest inquiries with
+regard to the practical joke to which Dora had been
+subjected. She first of all fully explained what had
+taken place in the presence of the whole school, and
+then each girl was called up in rotation, and asked
+two questions: first, had she done this mischievous
+thing herself? second, could she throw any light on
+the subject.
+</p>
+<p>One by one each girl appeared before her teacher,
+replied in the negative to both queries, and returned
+to her seat.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, girls,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;you have each
+of you denied this charge. Such a thing as has
+happened to Dora could not have been done without
+hands. The teachers in the school are above
+suspicion; the servants are none of them clever
+enough to perform this base trick. I suspect one
+of you, and I am quite determined to get at the
+truth. During the whole of this half-year there
+has been a spirit of unhappiness, of mischief, and
+of suspicion in our midst. Under these circumstances
+love cannot thrive; under these circumstances
+the true and ennobling sense of brotherly
+kindness, and all those feelings which real religion
+prompt must languish. I tell you all now plainly
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+that I will not have this thing in Lavender House.
+It is simply disgraceful for one girl to play such
+tricks on her fellows. This is not the first time
+nor the second time that the school desks have been
+tampered with. I will find out&mdash;I am determined
+to find out, who this dishonest person is; and as she
+has not chosen to confess to me, as she has preferred
+falsehood to truth, I will visit her, when I do discover
+her, with my very gravest displeasure. In
+this school I have always endeavored to inculcate
+the true principles of honor and of trust. I have
+laid down certain broad rules, and expect them to
+be obeyed; but I have never hampered you with
+petty and humiliating restraints. I have given you
+a certain freedom, which I believed to be for your
+best good, and I have never suspected one of you
+until you have given me due cause.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, however, I tell you plainly that I alter all
+my tactics. One girl sitting in this room is guilty.
+For her sake I shall treat you all as guilty, and
+punish you accordingly. For the remainder of this
+term, or until the hour when the guilty girl chooses
+to release her companions, you are all, with the
+exception of the little children and Miss Russell,
+who can scarcely have played this trick on herself,
+under punishment. I withdraw your half-holidays,
+I take from you the use of the south parlor for your
+acting, and every drawing-room in the play-room is
+confiscated. But this is not all that I do. In taking
+from you my trust, I must treat you as untrustworthy&mdash;you
+will no longer enjoy the liberty you
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+used to delight in&mdash;everywhere you will be watched.
+A teacher will sit in your play-room with you, a
+teacher will accompany you into the grounds, and I
+tell you plainly, girls, that chance words and
+phrases which drop from your lips shall be taken
+up, and used, if necessary, to the elucidation of this
+disgraceful mystery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Mrs. Willis left the room, and the teachers
+desired the several girls in their classes to attend to
+their morning studies.
+</p>
+<p>Nothing could exceed the dismay which her
+words had produced. The innocent girls were
+fairly stunned, and from that hour for many a day
+all sunshine and happiness seemed really to have
+left Lavender House.
+</p>
+<p>The two, however, who felt the change most
+acutely, and on whose altered faces their companions
+began to fix suspicious eyes, were Annie Forest
+and Hester Thornton. Hester was burdened with
+an intolerable sense of the shameful falsehood she
+had told; Annie, guilty in another matter, succumbed
+at last utterly to a sense of misery and
+injustice. Her orphaned and lonely position for the
+first time began to tell on her; she ate little and
+slept little, her face grew very pale and thin, and
+her health really suffered.
+</p>
+<p>All the routine of happy life at Lavender House
+was changed. In the large play-room the drawing-rooms
+were unused; there were no pleasant little
+knots of girls whispering happily and confidentially
+together, for whenever two or three girls sat down
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+to have a chat they found that one or another of
+the teachers was within hearing. The acting for
+the coming play progressed so languidly that no one
+expected it would really take place, and the one
+relief and relaxation to the unhappy girls lay in the
+fact that the holidays were not far off, and that in
+the meantime they might work hard for the
+prizes.
+</p>
+<p>The days passed in a truly melancholy fashion,
+and, perhaps, for the first time the girls fully appreciated
+the old privileges of freedom and trust which
+were now forfeited. There was a feeble little attempt
+at a joke and a laugh in the school at Dora&#8217;s
+expense. The most frivolous of the girls whispered
+of her as she passed as &#8220;the muddy stream;&#8221; but no
+one took up the fun with avidity&mdash;the shadow of
+somebody&#8217;s sin had fallen too heavily upon all the
+bright young lives.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIV_BETTY_FALLS_ILL_AT_AN_AWKWARD_TIME' id='CHAPTER_XXXIV_BETTY_FALLS_ILL_AT_AN_AWKWARD_TIME'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+<h3>BETTY FALLS ILL AT AN AWKWARD TIME.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The eight girls who had gone out on their midnight
+picnic were much startled one day by an unpleasant
+discovery. Betty had never come for her
+basket. Susan Drummond, who had a good deal of
+curiosity, and always poked her nose into unexpected
+corners, had been walking with a Miss Allison
+in that part of the grounds where the laurel-bush
+stood. She had caught a peep of the white handle
+of the basket, and had instantly turned her companion&#8217;s
+attention to something else. Miss Allison had
+not observed Susan&#8217;s start of dismay; but Susan had
+taken the first opportunity of getting rid of her, and
+had run off in search of one of the girls who had
+shared in the picnic. She came across Annie Forest,
+who was walking, as usual, by herself, with her head
+slightly bent, and her curling hair in sad confusion.
+Susan whispered the direful intelligence that old
+Betty had forsaken them, and that the basket, with
+its ginger-beer bottles and its stained table-cloth,
+might be discovered at any moment.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s pale face flushed slightly at Susan&#8217;s
+words.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why should we try to conceal the thing?&#8221; she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
+said, speaking with sudden energy, and a look of
+hope and animation coming back to her face. &#8220;Susy,
+let&#8217;s go, all of us, and tell the miserable truth to
+Mrs. Willis; it will be much the best way. We did
+not do the other thing, and when we have confessed
+about this, our hearts will be at rest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, we did not do the other thing,&#8221; said Susan,
+a queer, gray color coming over her face; &#8220;but confess
+about this, Annie Forest!&mdash;I think you are
+mad. You dare not tell.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Annie, &#8220;I won&#8217;t, unless you all
+agree to it,&#8221; and then she continued her walk, leaving
+Susan standing on the graveled path with her
+hands clasped together, and a look of most genuine
+alarm and dismay on her usually phlegmatic face.
+</p>
+<p>Susan quickly found Phyllis and Nora, and it was
+only too easy to arouse the fears of these timid
+little people. Their poor little faces became almost
+pallid, and they were not a little startled at the fact
+of Annie Forest, their own arch-conspirator, wishing
+to betray their secret.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Susan Drummond, &#8220;she&#8217;s not out and
+out shabby; she says she won&#8217;t tell unless we all
+wish it. But what is to become of the basket?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, come, young ladies; no whispering, if
+you please,&#8221; said Miss Good, who came up at this
+moment. &#8220;Susan, you are looking pale and cold,
+walk up and down that path half-a-dozen times, and
+then go into the house. Phyllis and Nora, you can
+come with me as far as the lodge. I want to take a
+message from Mrs. Willis to Mary Martin about the
+fowl for to-morrow&#8217;s dinner.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span></p>
+<p>Phyllis and Nora, with dismayed faces, walked
+solemnly away with the English teacher, and Susan
+was left to her solitary meditations.
+</p>
+<p>Things had come to such a pass that her slow wits
+were brought into play, and she neither felt sleepy,
+nor did she indulge in her usual habit of eating
+lollipops.
+</p>
+<p>That basket might be discovered any day, and
+then&mdash;then disgrace was imminent. Susan could
+not make out what had become of old Betty; never
+before had she so utterly failed them.
+</p>
+<p>Betty lived in a little cottage about half a mile
+from Lavender House. She was a sturdy, apple-cheeked,
+little old woman, and had for many a day
+added to her income&mdash;indeed, almost supported herself&mdash;by
+means of the girls at Lavender House. The
+large cherry-trees in her little garden bore their rich
+crop of fruit year after year for Mrs. Willis&#8217; girls,
+and every day at an early hour Betty would tramp
+into Sefton and return with a temptingly-laden
+basket of the most approved cakes and tarts. There
+was a certain paling at one end of the grounds to
+which Betty used to come. Here on the grass she
+would sit contentedly, with the contents of her
+baskets arranged in the most tempting order before
+her, and to this seductive spot she knew well that
+those little misses who loved goodies, cakes and tartlets
+would be sure to find their way. Betty charged
+high for her wares; but, as she was always obliging
+in the matter of credit, the thoughtless girls cared
+very little that they paid double the shop prices for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span>
+Betty&#8217;s cakes. The best girls in the school, certainly,
+never went to Betty; but Annie Forest,
+Susan Drummond, and several others had regular
+accounts with her, and few days passed that their
+young faces would not peep over the paling and
+their voices ask:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have you got to tempt me with to-day,
+Betty?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was, however, in the matter of stolen picnics, of
+grand feasts in the old attic, etc., etc., that Betty
+was truly great. No one so clever as she in concealing
+a basket of delicious eatables, no one knew
+better what schoolgirls liked. She undoubtedly
+charged her own prices, but what she gave was of
+the best, and Betty was truly in her element when
+she had an order from the young ladies of Lavender
+House for a grand secret feast.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall have it, my pretties&mdash;you shall have
+it,&#8221; she would say, wrinkling up her bright blue
+eyes, and smiling broadly. &#8220;You leave it to
+Betty, my little loves; you leave it to Betty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>On the occasion of the picnic to the fairies&#8217; field
+Betty had, indeed, surpassed herself in the delicious
+eatables she had provided; all had gone smoothly,
+the basket had been placed in a secure hiding-place
+under the thick laurel. It was to be fetched away
+by Betty herself at an early hour on the following
+morning.
+</p>
+<p>No wonder Susan was perplexed as she paced
+about and pretended to warm herself. It was a June
+evening, but the weather was still a little cold. Susan
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span>
+remembered now that Betty had not come to her
+favorite station at the stile for several days. Was it
+possible that the old woman was ill? As this idea
+occurred to her, Susan became more alarmed. She
+knew that there was very little chance of the basket
+remaining long in concealment. Rover might any
+day remember his pleasant picnic with affection, and
+drag the white basket from under the laurel-bush.
+Michael the gardener would be certain to see it when
+next he cleaned up the back avenue. Oh, it was
+more than dangerous to leave it there, and yet
+Susan knew of no better hiding-place. A sudden
+idea came to her; she pulled out her pretty little
+watch, and saw that she need not return to the
+house for another half-hour. &#8220;Suppose she ran as
+fast as possible to Betty&#8217;s little cottage and begged
+of the old woman to come by the first light in the
+morning and fetch away the basket?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The moment Susan conceived this idea she resolved
+to put it into execution. She looked around
+her hastily: no teacher was in sight, Miss Good
+was away at the lodge, Miss Danesbury was playing
+with the little children. Mademoiselle, she
+knew, had gone indoors with a bad headache. She
+left the broad walk where she had been desired to
+stay, and plunging into the shrubbery, soon reached
+Betty&#8217;s paling. In a moment she had climbed the
+bars, had jumped lightly into the field, and was
+running as fast as possible in the direction of Betty&#8217;s
+cottage. She reached the high road, and started
+and trembled violently as a carriage with some
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+ladies and gentlemen passed her. She thought she
+recognized the faces of the two little Misses Bruce,
+but did not dare to look at them, and hurried panting
+along the road, and hoping she might be mistaken.
+</p>
+<p>In less than a quarter of an hour she had reached
+Betty&#8217;s little cottage, and was standing trying to
+recover her breath by the shut door. The place
+had a deserted look, and several overripe cherries
+had fallen from the trees and were lying neglected
+on the ground. Susan knocked impatiently. There
+was no discernible answer. She had no time to
+wait, she lifted the latch, which yielded to her
+pressure, and went in.
+</p>
+<p>Poor old Betty, crippled, and in severe pain with
+rheumatism, was lying on her little bed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, dear&mdash;and is that you, my pretty missy?&#8221;
+she asked, as Susan, hot and tired, came up to her
+side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Betty, are you ill?&#8221; asked Miss Drummond
+&#8220;I came to tell you you have forgotten the basket.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my dear, no&mdash;not forgot. By no means
+that, lovey; but I has been took with the rheumatism
+this past week, and can&#8217;t move hand or foot. I
+was wondering how you&#8217;d do without your cakes
+and tartlets, dear, and to think of them cherries lying
+there good for nothing on the ground is enough
+to break one&#8217;s &#8217;eart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So it is,&#8221; said Susan, giving an appreciative
+glance toward the open door. &#8220;They are beautiful
+cherries, and full of juice, I am sure. I&#8217;ll take a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
+few, Betty, as I am going out, and pay you for them
+another day. But what I have come about now is
+the basket. You must get the basket away, however
+ill you are. If the basket is discovered we are
+all lost, and then good-by to your gains.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, missy, dear, if I could crawl on my hands
+and knees I&#8217;d go and fetch it, rather than you
+should be worried; but I can&#8217;t set foot to the ground
+at all. The doctor says as &#8217;tis somethink like rheumatic
+fever as I has.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, oh, dear,&#8221; said Susan, not wasting any
+of her precious moments in pitying the poor suffering
+old woman. &#8220;What <i>is</i> to be done? I tell you,
+Betty, if that basket is found we are all lost.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the laurel is very thick, lovey: it ain&#8217;t likely
+to be found&mdash;it ain&#8217;t, indeed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you it <i>is</i> likely to be found, you tiresome
+old woman, and you really must go for it or send
+for it. You really must.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Old Betty began to ponder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s Moses,&#8221; she said, after a pause of anxious
+thought; &#8220;he&#8217;s a &#8217;cute little chap, and he might
+go. He lives in the fourth cottage along the lane.
+Moses is his name&mdash;Moses Moore. I&#8217;d give him a
+pint of cherries for the job. If you wouldn&#8217;t mind
+sending Moses to me, Miss Susan, why, I&#8217;ll do my
+best; only it seems a pity to let anybody into your
+secrets, young ladies, but old Betty herself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a pity,&#8221; said Susan, &#8220;but, under the circumstances,
+it can&#8217;t be helped. What cottage did you
+say this Moses lived in?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;The fourth from here, down the lane, lovey&mdash;Moses
+is the lad&#8217;s name; he&#8217;s a freckled boy, with
+a cast in one eye. You send him up to me, dearie;
+but don&#8217;t mention the cherries, or he&#8217;ll be after
+stealing them. He&#8217;s a sad rogue, is Moses; but I
+think I can tempt him with the cherries.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan did not wait to bid poor old Betty &#8220;good-bye,&#8221;
+but ran out of the cottage, shutting the door
+after her, and snatching up two or three ripe cherries
+to eat on her way. She was so far fortunate as
+to find the redoubtable Moses at home, and to convey
+him bodily to old Betty&#8217;s presence. The queer
+boy grinned horribly, and looked as wicked as boy
+could look; but on the subject of cherries he was
+undoubtedly susceptible, and after a good deal of
+haggling and insisting that the pint should be a
+quart, he expressed his willingness to start off at four
+o&#8217;clock on the following morning, and bring away
+the basket from under the laurel-tree.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXV__YOU_ARE_WELCOME_TO_TELL' id='CHAPTER_XXXV__YOU_ARE_WELCOME_TO_TELL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;YOU ARE WELCOME TO TELL.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie continued her walk. The circumstances of
+the last two months had combined to do for her what
+nothing had hitherto effected. When a little child
+she had known hardship and privation, she had passed
+through that experience which is metaphorically
+spoken of as &#8220;going down hill.&#8221; As a baby little
+Annie had been surrounded by comforts and luxuries,
+and her father and mother had lived in a large house,
+and kept a carriage, and Annie had two nurses to
+wait on herself alone. These were in the days before
+she could remember anything. With her first early
+memories came the recollection of a much smaller
+house, of much fewer servants, of her mother often
+in tears, and her father often away. Then there
+was no house at all that the Forests could call their
+own, only rooms of a tolerably cheerful character&mdash;and
+Annie&#8217;s nurse went away, and she took her
+daily walks by her mother&#8217;s side and slept in a little
+cot in her mother&#8217;s room. Then came a very, very
+sad day, when her mother lay cold and still and
+fainting on her bed, and her tall and handsome
+father caught Annie in his arms and pressed her to
+his heart, and told her to be a good child and to keep
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span>
+up her spirits, and, above all things, to take care
+of mother. Then her father had gone away; and
+though Annie expected him back, he did not come,
+and she and her mother went into poorer and shabbier
+lodgings, and her mother began to try her tear-dimmed
+eyes by working at church embroidery, and
+Annie used to notice that she coughed a good deal as
+she worked. Then there was another move, and
+this time Mrs. Forest and her little daughter found
+themselves in one bedroom, and things began to
+grow very gloomy, and food even was scarce.
+At last there was a change. One day a lady
+came into the dingy little room, and all on
+a sudden it seemed as if the sun had come out
+again. This lady brought comforts with her&mdash;toys
+and books for the child, good, brave words of cheer
+for the mother. At last Annie&#8217;s mother died, and
+she went away to Lavender House to live with this
+good friend who had made her mother&#8217;s dying
+hours easy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie, Annie,&#8221; said the dying mother, &#8220;I owe
+everything to Mrs. Willis; we knew each other long
+ago when we were girls, and she has come to me now
+and made everything easy. When I am gone she
+will take care of you. Oh, my child, I cannot repay
+her; but will you try?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, mother,&#8221; said little Annie, gazing full into
+her mother&#8217;s face with her sweet bright eyes, &#8220;I&#8217;ll&mdash;I&#8217;ll
+love her, mother; I&#8217;ll give her lots and lots of
+love.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie had gone to Lavender House, and kept her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+word, for she had almost worshiped the good mistress
+who was so true and kind to her, and who had
+so befriended her mother. Through all the vicissitudes
+of her short existence Annie had, however,
+never lost one precious gift. Hers was an affectionate,
+but also a wonderfully bright, nature. It was
+as impossible for Annie to turn away from laughter
+and merriment as it would be for a flower to keep
+its head determinately turned from the sun. In their
+darkest days Annie had managed to make her
+mother laugh; her little face was a sunbeam, her
+very naughtinesses were of a laughable character.
+</p>
+<p>Her mother died&mdash;her father was still away, but
+Annie retained her brave and cheerful spirit, for she
+gave and received love. Mrs. Willis loved her&mdash;she
+bestowed upon her among all her girls the tenderest
+glances, the most motherly caresses. The teachers
+undoubtedly corrected and even scolded her, but
+they could not help liking her, and even her worst
+scrapes made them smile. Annie&#8217;s companions
+adored her; the little children would do anything
+for their own Annie, and even the servants in the
+school said that there was no young lady in Lavender
+House fit to hold a candle to Miss Forest.
+</p>
+<p>During the last half-year, however, things had
+been different. Suspicion and mistrust began to dog
+the footsteps of the bright young girl; she was no
+longer a universal favorite&mdash;some of the girls even
+openly expressed their dislike of her.
+</p>
+<p>All this Annie could have borne, but for the fact
+that Mrs. Willis joined in the universal suspicion.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+The old glance now never came to her eyes, nor the
+old tone to her voice. For the first time Annie&#8217;s
+spirits utterly flagged; she could not bear this
+universal coldness, this universal chill. She began
+to droop physically as well as mentally.
+</p>
+<p>She was pacing up and down the walk, thinking
+very sadly, wondering vaguely, if her father would
+ever return, and conscious of a feeling of more or
+less indifference to everything and every one, when
+she was suddenly roused from her meditation by
+the patter of small feet and by a very eager little
+exclamation:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me tumming&mdash;me tumming, Annie!&#8221; and then
+Nan raised her charming face and placed her cool
+baby hand in Annie&#8217;s.
+</p>
+<p>There was delicious comfort in the clasp of the
+little hand, and in the look of love and pleasure
+which lit up the small face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me yiding from naughty nurse&mdash;me &#8217;tay with
+you, Annie&mdash;me love &#8217;oo, Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie stooped down, kissed the little one, and
+lifted her into her arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why ky?&#8221; said Nan, who saw with consternation
+two big tears in Annie&#8217;s eyes; &#8220;dere, poor
+ickle Annie&mdash;me love &#8217;oo&mdash;me buy &#8217;oo a new doll.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dearest little darling,&#8221; said Annie in a voice of
+almost passionate pain; then, with that wonderful
+instinct which made her in touch with all little
+children, she cheered up, wiped away her tears, and
+allowed laughter once more to wreathe her lips and
+fill her eyes. &#8220;Come, Nan,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you and I
+will have such a race.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></p>
+<p>She placed the child on her shoulder, clasped the
+little hands securely round her neck, and ran to the
+sound of Nan&#8217;s shouts down the shady walk.
+</p>
+<p>At the farther end Nan suddenly tightened her
+clasp, drew herself up, ceased to laugh, and said
+with some fright in her voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who dat?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, too, stood still with a sudden start, for the
+gypsy woman, Mother Rachel, was standing directly
+in their path.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go &#8217;way, naughty woman,&#8221; said Nan, shaking
+her small hand imperiously.
+</p>
+<p>The gypsy dropped a low courtesy, and spoke in a
+slightly mocking tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A pretty little dear,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Yes, truly
+now, a pretty little winsome dear; and oh, what
+shoes! and little open-work socks! and I don&#8217;t
+doubt real lace trimming on all her little garments&mdash;I
+don&#8217;t doubt it a bit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go &#8217;way&mdash;me don&#8217;t like &#8217;oo,&#8221; said Nan. &#8220;Let&#8217;s
+wun back&mdash;gee, gee,&#8221; she said, addressing Annie,
+whom she had constituted into a horse for the time
+being.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Nan; in one minute,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;Please,
+Mother Rachel, what are you doing here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only waiting to see you, pretty missie,&#8221; replied
+the tall gypsy. &#8220;You are the dear little lady who
+crossed my hand with silver that night in the wood.
+Eh, but it was a bonny night, with a bonny bright
+moon, and none of the dear little ladies meant any
+harm&mdash;no, no, Mother Rachel knows that.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; said Annie, &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to be
+afraid of you. I have no more silver to give you.
+If you like, you may go up to the house and tell
+what you have seen. I am very unhappy, and
+whether you tell or not can make very little difference
+to me now. Good-night; I am not the least
+afraid of you&mdash;you can do just as you please about
+telling Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, my dear?&#8221; said the gypsy; &#8220;do you think
+I&#8217;d work you any harm&mdash;you, and the seven other
+dear little ladies? No, not for the world, my
+dear&mdash;not for the world. You don&#8217;t know Mother
+Rachel when you think she&#8217;d be that mean.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, don&#8217;t come here again,&#8221; said Annie.
+&#8220;Good-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She turned on her heel, and Nan shouted back:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go way, naughty woman&mdash;Nan don&#8217;t love &#8217;oo,
+&#8217;tall, &#8217;tall.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The gypsy stood still for a moment with a frown
+knitting her brows; then she slowly turned, and,
+creeping on all-fours through the underwood,
+climbed the hedge into the field beyond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; she laughed, after a moment; &#8220;the
+little missy thinks she ain&#8217;t afraid of me; but she
+be. Trust Mother Rachel for knowing that much.
+I make no doubt,&#8221; she added after a pause, &#8220;that
+the little one&#8217;s clothes are trimmed with real lace.
+Well, little Missie Annie Forest, I can see with half
+an eye that you set store by that baby-girl. You
+had better not cross Mother Rachel&#8217;s whims, or she
+can punish you in a way you don&#8217;t think of.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVI_HOW_MOSES_MOORE_KEPT_HIS_APPOINTMENT' id='CHAPTER_XXXVI_HOW_MOSES_MOORE_KEPT_HIS_APPOINTMENT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2>
+<h3>HOW MOSES MOORE KEPT HIS APPOINTMENT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Susan Drummond got back to Lavender House
+without apparent discovery. She was certainly late
+when she took her place in the class-room for her
+next day&#8217;s preparation; but, beyond a very sharp
+reprimand from mademoiselle, no notice was taken
+of this fact. She managed to whisper to Nora and
+Phyllis that the basket would be moved by the first
+dawn the next morning, and the little girls went to
+bed happier in consequence. Nothing ever could
+disturb Susan&#8217;s slumbers, and that night she certainly
+slept without rocking. As she was getting into bed
+she ventured to tell Annie how successfully she had
+man&oelig;uvered; but Annie received her news with the
+most absolute indifference, looking at her for a moment
+with a queer smile, and then saying:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My own wish is that this should be found out.
+As a matter of course, I sha&#8216;n&#8217;t betray you, girls;
+but as things now stand I am anxious that Mrs. Willis
+should know the very worst of me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After a remark which Susan considered so simply
+idiotic, there was, of course, no further conversation
+between the two girls.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span></p>
+<p>Moses Moore had certainly promised Betty to
+rise soon after dawn on the following morning,
+and go to Lavender House to carry off the basket
+from under the laurel-tree. Moses, a remarkably
+indolent lad, had been stimulated by the thought of
+the delicious cherries which would be his as soon
+as he brought the basket to Betty. He had cleverly
+stipulated that a quart&mdash;not a pint&mdash;of cherries
+was to be his reward, and he looked forward
+with considerable pleasure to picking them himself,
+and putting a few extra ones into his mouth on
+the sly.
+</p>
+<p>Moses was not at all the kind of a boy who
+would have scrupled to steal a few cherries; but in
+this particular old Betty, ill as she was, was too
+sharp for him or for any of the other village lads. Her
+bed was drawn up close to her little window, and
+her window looked directly on to the two cherry
+trees. Never, to all appearance, did Betty close her
+eyes. However early the hour might be in which a
+village boy peeped over the wall of her garden,
+he always saw her white night-cap moving, and he
+knew that her bright blue eyes would be on him,
+and he would be proclaimed a thief all over the
+place before many minutes were over.
+</p>
+<p>Moses, therefore, was very glad to secure his
+cherries by fair means, as he could not obtain them
+by foul; and he went to bed and to sleep, determined
+to be off on his errand with the dawn.
+</p>
+<p>A very natural thing, however, happened. Moses,
+unaccustomed to getting up at half-past three in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span>
+morning, never opened his eyes until the church
+clock struck five. Then he started upright, rubbed
+and rubbed at his sleepy orbs, tumbled into his
+clothes, and, softly opening the cottage door, set off
+on his errand.
+</p>
+<p>The fact of his being nearly an hour and a half
+late did not trouble him in the least. In any case,
+he would get to Lavender House before six o&#8217;clock,
+and would have consumed his cherries in less than
+an hour from that date.
+</p>
+<p>Moses sauntered gaily along the roads, whistling
+as he went, and occasionally tossing his battered cap
+in the air. He often lingered on his way, now to
+cut down a particularly tempting switch from the
+hedge, now to hunt for a possible bird&#8217;s nest. It
+was very nearly six o&#8217;clock when he reached the
+back avenue, swung himself over the gate, which
+was locked, and ran softly on the dewy grass in the
+direction of the laurel bush. Old Betty had given
+him most careful instructions, and he was far too
+sharp a lad to forget what was necessary for the
+obtaining of a quart of cherries. He found his tree,
+and lay flat down on the ground in order to pull out
+the basket. His fingers had just clasped the handle
+when there came a sudden interruption&mdash;a rush, a
+growl, and some very sharp teeth had inserted
+themselves into the back of his ragged jacket.
+Poor Moses found himself, to his horror, in the
+clutches of a great mastiff. The creature held him
+tight, and laid one heavy paw on him to prevent
+him rising.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span></p>
+<p>Under these circumstances, Moses thought it quite
+unnecessary to retain any self-control. He shrieked,
+he screamed, he wriggled; his piercing yells filled
+the air, and, fortunately for him, his being two
+hours too late brought assistance to his aid.
+Michael, the gardener, and a strong boy who
+helped him, rushed to the spot, and liberated the
+terrified lad, who, after all, was only frightened, for
+Rover had satisfied himself with tearing his jacket
+to pieces, not himself.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me the b-basket,&#8221; sobbed Moses, &#8220;and let
+me g-g-go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You may certainly go, you little tramp,&#8221; said
+Michael, &#8220;but Jim and me will keep the basket. I
+much misdoubt me if there isn&#8217;t mischief here.
+What&#8217;s the basket put hiding here for, and who
+does it belong to?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Old B-B-Betty,&#8221; gasped forth the agitated
+Moses.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, let old Betty fetch it herself. Mrs. Willis
+will keep it for her,&#8221; said Michael. &#8220;Come along,
+Jim, get to your weeding, do. There, little scamp,
+you had better make yourself scarce.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Moses certainly took his advice, for he scuttled
+off like a hare. Whether he ever got his cherries
+or not, history does not disclose.
+</p>
+<p>Michael, looking gravely at Jim, opened the
+basket, examined its contents, and, shaking his head
+solemnly, carried it into the house.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s been deep work going on, Jim, and my
+missis ought to know,&#8221; said Michael, who was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+an exceedingly strict disciplinarian. Jim, however,
+had a soft corner in his heart for the young
+ladies, and he commenced his weeding with a profound
+sigh.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVII_A_BROKEN_TRUST' id='CHAPTER_XXXVII_A_BROKEN_TRUST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2>
+<h3>A BROKEN TRUST.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The next morning Annie Forest opened her eyes
+with that strange feeling of indifference and want of
+vivacity which come so seldom to youth. She saw
+the sun shining through the closed blinds; she heard
+the birds twittering and singing in the large elm-tree
+which nearly touched the windows; she knew well
+how the world looked at this moment, for often and
+often in her old light-hearted days she had risen before
+the maid came to call her, and, kneeling by the
+deep window-ledge, had looked out at the bright,
+fresh, sparkling day. A new day, with all its hours
+before it, its light vivid but not too glaring, its dress
+all manner of tender shades and harmonious colorings!
+Annie had a poetical nature, and she gloried in these
+glimpses which she got all by herself of the fresh, glad
+world.
+</p>
+<p>To-day, however, she lay still, sorry to know that
+the brief night was at an end, and that the day, with
+its coldness and suspicion, its terrible absence of love
+and harmony, was about to begin.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s nature was very emotional; she was intensely
+sensitive to her surroundings; the grayness of
+her present life was absolute destruction to such a
+nature as hers.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span></p>
+<p>The dressing-bell rang; the maid came in to draw
+up the blinds, and call the girls. Annie rose languidly
+and began to dress herself.
+</p>
+<p>She first finished her toilet, and then approached
+her little bed, and stood by its side for a moment
+hesitating. She did not want to pray, and yet she
+felt impelled to go down on her knees. As she knelt
+with her curls falling about her face, and her hands
+pressed to her eyes, one line of one of her favorite
+poems came flashing with swiftness and power across
+her memory:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The words filled her whole heart with a sudden
+sense of peace and of great longing.
+</p>
+<p>The prayer-bell rang: she rose, and, turning to
+Susan Drummond, said earnestly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Susy, I do wish Mrs. Willis could know
+about our going to the fairy-field; I do so want God
+to forgive me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan stared in her usual dull, uncomprehending
+way; then she flushed a little, and said
+brusquely:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you have quite taken leave of your senses,
+Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie said no more, but at prayers in the chapel
+she was glad to find herself near gentle Cecil Temple,
+and the words kept repeating themselves to her all
+during the morning lessons:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Just before morning school several of the girls
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span>
+started and looked distressed when they found that
+Mrs. Willis lingered in the room. She stood for a
+moment by the English teacher&#8217;s desk, said something
+to her in a low voice, and then, walking slowly to her
+own post at the head of the great school-room, she
+said suddenly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to ask you a question, Miss Drummond.
+Will you please just stand up in your place in
+class and answer me without a moment&#8217;s hesitation.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Phyllis and Nora found themselves turning very
+pale; Mary Price and one or two more of the rebels
+also began to tremble, but Susan looked dogged and
+indifferent enough as she turned her eyes toward
+her teacher.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam,&#8221; she said, rising and dropping a
+courtesy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My friends, the Misses Bruce, came to call on
+me yesterday evening, Susan, and told me that they
+saw you running very quickly on the high road in
+the direction of the village. You, of course, know
+that you broke a very distinct rule when you left
+the grounds without leave. Tell me at once where
+you were going.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan hesitated, colored to her dullest red, and
+looked down. Then, because she had no ready
+excuse to offer, she blurted out the truth:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was going to see old Betty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The cake-woman?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What for?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I heard she was ill.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed&mdash;you may sit down, Miss Drummond.
+Miss Good, will you ask Michael to step for a moment
+into the school-room?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Several of the girls now indeed held their breath,
+and more than one heart beat with heavy, frightened
+bumps as a moment later Michael followed Miss
+Good into the room, carrying the redoubtable picnic-basket
+on his arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Michael,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;I wish you to tell
+the young ladies exactly how you found the basket
+this morning. Stand by my side, please, and speak
+loud enough for them to hear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After a moment&#8217;s pause Michael related somewhat
+diffusely and with an occasional break in his
+narrative the scene which had occurred between him
+and Moses that morning.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will do, Michael; you can now go,&#8221; said
+the head mistress.
+</p>
+<p>She waited until the old servant had closed the
+door, and then she turned to her girls:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is not quite a fortnight since I stood where I
+now stand, and asked one girl to be honorable and
+to save her companions. One girl was guilty of sin
+and would not confess, and for her sake all her companions
+are now suffering. I am tired of this sort
+of thing&mdash;I am tired of standing in this place and
+appealing to your honor, which is dead, to your
+truth which is nowhere. Girls, you puzzle me&mdash;you
+half break my heart. In this case more
+than one is guilty. How many of the girls in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span>
+Lavender House are going to tell me a lie this
+morning?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a brief pause; then a slight cry, and a
+girl rose from her seat and walked up the long
+school-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am the most guilty of all,&#8221; said Annie
+Forest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie!&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, in a tone half of pain,
+half of relief, &#8220;have you come to your senses at
+last?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;m so glad to be able to speak the truth,&#8221;
+said Annie. &#8220;Please punish me very, very hard; I
+am the most guilty of all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you do with this basket?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We took it for a picnic&mdash;it was my plan, I led
+the others.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where was your picnic?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the fairies&#8217; field.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! At what time?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At night&mdash;in the middle of the night&mdash;the night
+you went to London.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis put her hand to her brow; her face
+was very white and the girls could see that she
+trembled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I trusted my girls&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; she said; then she broke
+off abruptly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had companions in this wickedness&mdash;name
+them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I had companions; I led them on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Name them, Miss Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For the first time Annie raised her eyes to Mrs.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span>
+Willis&#8217; face; then she turned and looked down the
+long school-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, won&#8217;t they tell themselves?&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>Nothing could be more appealing than her glance.
+It melted the hearts of Phyllis and Nora, who began
+to sob, and to declare brokenly that they had gone
+too, and that they were very, very sorry.
+</p>
+<p>Spurred by their example Mary Price also confessed,
+and one by one all the little conspirators revealed
+the truth, with the exception of Susan, who
+kept her eyes steadily fixed on the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Susan Drummond,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;come
+here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was something in her tone which startled
+every girl in the school. Never had they heard
+this ring in their teacher&#8217;s voice before.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Susan,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;I don&#8217;t ask you if
+you are guilty; I fear, poor miserable girl, that if I
+did you would load your conscience with a fresh
+lie. I don&#8217;t ask you if you are guilty because I
+know you are. The fact of your running without
+leave to see old Betty is circumstantial evidence. I
+judge you by that and pronounce you guilty. Now,
+young ladies, you who have treated me so badly,
+who have betrayed my trust, who have been wanting
+in honor, I must think, I must ask God to teach
+me how to deal with you. In the meantime, you
+cannot associate with your companions. Miss
+Good, will you take each of these eight girls to their
+bedrooms.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Annie was leaving the room she looked full
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span>
+into Mrs. Willis&#8217; face. Strange to say, at this
+moment of her great disgrace the cloud which had
+so long brooded over her was lifted. The sweet
+eyes never looked sweeter. The old Annie, and yet
+a better and a braver Annie than had ever existed
+before, followed her companions out of the school-room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVIII_IS_SHE_STILL_GUILTY' id='CHAPTER_XXXVIII_IS_SHE_STILL_GUILTY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2>
+<h3>IS SHE STILL GUILTY?</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the evening of that day Cecil Temple knocked
+at the door of Mrs. Willis&#8217; private sitting-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, Cecil! is that you?&#8221; said her governess.
+&#8220;I am always glad to see you, dear; but I happen
+to be particularly busy to-night. Have you anything
+in particular to say to me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only wanted to talk about Annie, Mrs. Willis.
+You believe in her at last, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Believe in her at last!&#8221; said the head-mistress in
+a tone of astonishment and deep pain. &#8220;No, Cecil,
+my dear; you ask too much of my faith. I do not
+believe in Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil paused; she hesitated, and seemed half
+afraid to proceed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; she said at last in a slightly timid
+tone, &#8220;you have not seen her since this morning?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I have been particularly busy. Besides,
+the eight culprits are under punishment; part of
+their punishment is that I will not see them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think, Mrs. Willis,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;that
+Annie made rather a brave confession this morning?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I admit, my dear, that Annie spoke in somewhat
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span>
+of her old impulsive way; she blamed herself,
+and did not try to screen her misdemeanors behind
+her companions. In this one particular she
+reminded me of the old Annie who, notwithstanding
+all her faults, I used to trust and love. But as
+to her confession being very brave, my dear Cecil,
+you must remember that she did not <i>confess</i> until
+she was obliged; she knew, and so did all the other
+girls, that I could have got the truth out of old
+Betty had they chosen to keep their lips sealed.
+Then, my dear, consider what she did. On the
+very night that I was away she violated the trust
+I had in her&mdash;she bade me &#8216;good-bye&#8217; with smiles
+and sweet glances, and then she did this in my
+absence. No, Cecil, I fear poor Annie is not what
+we thought her. She has done untold mischief
+during the half-year, and has willfully lied and deceived
+me. I find, on comparing dates, that it was
+on the very night of the girls&#8217; picnic that Dora&#8217;s
+theme was changed. There is no doubt whatever
+that Annie was the guilty person. I did my best
+to believe in her, and to depend on Mr. Everard&#8217;s
+judgment of her character, but I confess I can do so
+no longer. Cecil, dear. I am not surprised that you
+look pale and sad. No, we will not give up this
+poor Annie: we will try to love her even through
+her sin. Ah! poor child, poor child! how much
+I have prayed for her! She was to me as a child
+of my own. Now, dear Cecil, I must ask you to
+leave me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil went slowly out of her governess&#8217; presence,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span>
+and, wandering across the wide stone hall,
+she entered the play-room. It happened to be a wet
+night, and the room was full of girls, who hung
+together in groups and whispered softly. There
+were no loud voices, and, except from the little
+ones, there was no laughter. A great depression
+hung over the place, and few could have recognized
+the happy girls of Lavender House in these sad
+young faces. Cecil walked slowly into the room,
+and presently finding Hester Thornton, she sat
+down by her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t get Mrs. Willis to see it,&#8221; she said very
+sadly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, that we have got our old Annie back
+again; that she did take the girls out to that picnic,
+and was as wild, and reckless, and naughty as
+possible about it; and then, just like the old Annie
+I have always known, the moment the fun was over
+she began to repent, and that she has gone on repenting
+ever since, which has accounted for her
+poor sad little face and white cheeks. Of course
+she longed to tell&mdash;Nora and Phyllis have told me so&mdash;but
+she would not betray them. Now at last
+there is a load off her heart, and, though she is in
+great disgrace and punishment, she is not very unhappy.
+I went to see her an hour ago, and I saw in
+her face that my own darling Annie has returned.
+But what do you think Mrs. Willis does, Hester?
+She is so hurt and disappointed, that she believes
+Annie is guilty of the other thing&mdash;she believes that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span>
+Annie stole Dora&#8217;s theme, and that she caricatured
+her in my book some time ago. She believes it&mdash;she
+is sure of it. Now, do you think, Hester, that
+Annie&#8217;s face would look quite peaceful and happy
+to-night if she had only confessed half her faults&mdash;if
+she had this meanness, this sin, these lies still
+resting on her soul? Oh! I wish Mrs. Willis would
+see her! I wish&mdash;I wish! but I can do nothing.
+You agree with me, don&#8217;t you, Hester? Just put
+yourself in Annie&#8217;s place, and tell me if <i>you</i> would
+feel happy, and if your heart would be at rest, if
+you had only confessed half your sin, and if
+through you all your schoolfellows were under
+disgrace and suspicion? You could not, could you,
+Hester? Why, Hester, how white you are!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are so metaphysical,&#8221; said Hester, rising;
+&#8220;you quite puzzle me. How can I put myself in
+your friend Annie&#8217;s place? I never understood her&mdash;I
+never wanted to. Put myself in her place?&mdash;no,
+certainly that I&#8217;m never likely to. I hope that I
+shall never be in such a predicament.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester walked away, and Cecil sat still in great
+perplexity.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil was a girl with a true sense of religion. The
+love of God guided every action of her simple and
+straightforward life. She was neither beautiful nor
+clever; but no one in the school was more respected
+and honored, no one more sincerely loved. Cecil
+knew what the peace of God meant, and when she
+saw even a shadowy reflection of that peace on Annie&#8217;s
+little face, she was right in believing that she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span>
+must be innocent of the guilt which was attributed
+to her.
+</p>
+<p>The whole school assembled for prayers that
+night in the little chapel, and Mr. Everard, who had
+heard the story of that day&#8217;s confession from Mrs.
+Willis, said a few words appropriate to the occasion
+to the unhappy young girls.
+</p>
+<p>Whatever effect his words had on the others, and
+they were very simple and straightforward, Annie&#8217;s
+face grew quiet and peaceful as she listened to them.
+The old clergyman assured the girls that God was
+waiting to forgive those who truly repented, and
+that the way to repent was to rise up and sin no
+more.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The present fun is not worth the after-pain,&#8221; he
+said, in conclusion. &#8220;It is an old saying that stolen
+waters are sweet, but only at the time; afterward
+only those who drink of them know the full extent
+of their bitterness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This little address from Mr. Everard strengthened
+poor Annie for an ordeal which was immediately
+before her, for Mrs. Willis asked all the school to
+follow her to the play-room, and there she told them
+that she was about to restore to them their lost
+privileges; that circumstances, in her opinion, now
+so strongly pointed the guilt of the stolen essay in
+the direction of one girl, that she could no longer
+ask the school to suffer for her sake.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She still refuses to confess her sin,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Willis, &#8220;but, unless another girl proclaims herself
+guilty, and proves to me beyond doubt that she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span>
+drew the caricature which was found in Cecil Temple&#8217;s
+book, and that she changed Dora Russell&#8217;s
+essay, and, imitating her hand, put another in its
+place, I proclaim the guilty person to be Annie
+Forest, and on her alone I visit my displeasure.
+You can retire to your rooms, young ladies. Tomorrow
+morning Lavender House resumes its old
+cheerfulness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIX_HESTER_S_HOUR_OF_TRIAL' id='CHAPTER_XXXIX_HESTER_S_HOUR_OF_TRIAL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2>
+<h3>HESTER&#8217;S HOUR OF TRIAL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>However calmly or however peacefully Annie
+slept that night, poor Hester did not close her eyes.
+The white face of the girl she had wronged and
+injured kept rising before her. Why had she so
+deceived Annie? Why from the very first had she
+turned from her, and misjudged her, and misrepresented
+her? Was Annie, indeed, all bad? Hester
+had to own to herself that to-night Annie was better
+than she&mdash;was greater than she. Could she now
+have undone the past, she would not have acted as
+she had done; she would not for the sake of a little
+paltry revenge have defiled her conscience with a
+lie, have told her governess that she could throw no
+light on the circumstance of the stolen essay. This
+was the first lie Hester had ever told; she was naturally
+both straightforward and honorable, but her
+sin of sins, that which made her hard and almost unlovable,
+was an intensely proud and haughty spirit.
+She was very sorry she had told that lie; she was very
+sorry she had yielded to that temptation; but not
+for worlds would she now humble herself to confess&mdash;not
+for worlds would she let the school know of
+her cowardice and shame. No, if there was no other
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span>
+means of clearing Annie except through her confession,
+she must remain with the shadow of this sin
+over her to her dying day.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however, was now really unhappy, and
+also truly sorry for poor Annie. Could she have
+got off without disgrace or punishment, she would
+have been truly glad to see Annie exonerated. She
+was quite certain that Susan Drummond was at the
+bottom of all the mischief which had been done
+lately at Lavender House. She could not make out
+how stupid Susan was clever enough to caricature
+and to imitate peoples&#8217; hands. Still she was convinced
+that she was the guilty person, and she wondered
+and wondered if she could induce Susan to
+come forward and confess the truth, and so save
+Annie without bringing her, Hester, into any
+trouble.
+</p>
+<p>She resolved to speak to Susan, and without confessing
+that she had been in the school-room on the
+night the essay was changed, to let her know plainly
+that she suspected her.
+</p>
+<p>She became much calmer when she determined to
+carry out this resolve, and toward morning she fell
+asleep.
+</p>
+<p>She was awakened at a very early hour by little
+Nan clambering over the side of her crib, and cuddling
+down cozily in a way she loved by Hester&#8217;s
+side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me so &#8217;nug, &#8217;nug,&#8221; said little Nan. &#8220;Oh, Hetty,
+Hetty, there&#8217;s a wy on the teiling!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester had then to rouse herself, and enter into
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span>
+an animated conversation on the subject of flies generally,
+and in especial she had to talk of that particular
+fly which would perambulate on the ceiling
+over Nan&#8217;s head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like wies,&#8221; said Nan, &#8220;and me like &#8217;oo,
+Hetty, and me love&mdash;me love Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester kissed her little sister passionately; but
+this last observation, accompanied by the expression
+of almost angelic devotion which filled little Nan&#8217;s
+brown eyes, as she repeated that she liked flies and
+Hetty, but that she loved Annie, had the effect of
+again hardening her heart.
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s hour of trial, however, was at hand, and
+before that day was over she was to experience that
+awful emptiness and desolation which those know
+whom God is punishing.
+</p>
+<p>Lessons went on as usual at Lavender House that
+morning, and, to the surprise of several, Annie was
+seen in her old place in class. She worked with a
+steadiness quite new to her; no longer interlarding
+her hours of study with those indescribable glances
+of fun and mischief, first at one school-companion
+and then at another, which used to worry her
+teachers so much.
+</p>
+<p>There were no merry glances from Annie that
+morning; but she worked steadily and rapidly, and
+went through that trying ordeal, her French verbs,
+with such satisfaction that mademoiselle was on the
+point of praising her, until she remembered that
+Annie was in disgrace.
+</p>
+<p>After school, however, Annie did not join her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span>
+companions in the grounds, but went up to her bedroom,
+where, by Mrs. Willis&#8217; orders, she was to
+remain until the girls went in. She was to take her
+own exercise later in the day.
+</p>
+<p>It was now the tenth of June&mdash;an intensely sultry
+day; a misty heat brooded over everything, and not
+a breath of air stirred the leaves in the trees. The
+girls wandered about languidly, too enervated by
+the heat to care to join in any noisy games. They
+were now restored to their full freedom, and there
+is no doubt they enjoyed the privileges of having
+little confabs, and whispering secrets to each other
+without having Miss Good and Miss Danesbury forever
+at their elbows. They talked of many things&mdash;of
+the near approach of the holidays, of the prize
+day which was now so close at hand, of Annie&#8217;s disgrace,
+and so on.
+</p>
+<p>They wondered, many of them, if Annie would
+ever be brought to confess her sin, and, if not, how
+Mrs. Willis would act toward her. Dora Russell
+said in her most contemptuous tones:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is nothing, after all, but a charity child,
+and Mrs. Willis has supported her for years for
+nothing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and she&#8217;s too clever by half; eh, poor old
+Muddy Stream?&#8221; remarked a saucy little girl.
+&#8220;By the way, Dora, dear, how goes the river
+now? Has it lost itself in the arms of mother ocean
+yet?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Dora turned red and walked away, and her young
+tormentor exclaimed with considerable gusto:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There, I have silenced her for a bit; I do hate
+the way she talks about charity children. Whatever
+her faults, Annie is the sweetest and prettiest
+girl in the school, in my opinion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In the meantime Hester was looking in all directions
+for Susan Drummond. She thought the present
+a very fitting opportunity to open her attack on
+her, and she was the more anxious to bring her to
+reason as a certain look in Annie&#8217;s face&mdash;a pallid
+and very weary look&mdash;had gone to her heart, and
+touched her in spite of herself. Now, even though
+little Nan loved her, Hester would save Annie
+could she do so not at her own expense.
+</p>
+<p>Look, however, as she would, nowhere could she
+find Miss Drummond. She called and called, but
+no sleepy voice replied. Susan, indeed, knew better;
+she had curled herself up in a hammock which
+hung between the boughs of a shady tree, and
+though Hester passed under her very head, she was
+sucking lollipops and going off comfortably into the
+land of dreams, and had no intention of replying.
+Hester wandered down the shady walk, and at its
+farther end she was gratified by the sight of little
+Nan, who, under her nurse&#8217;s charge, was trying to
+string daisies on the grass. Hester sat down by her
+side, and Nan climbed over and made fine havoc of
+her neat print dress, and laughed, and was at her
+merriest and best.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hear say that that naughty Miss Forest has
+done something out-and-out disgraceful,&#8221; whispered
+the nurse.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t!&#8221; said Hester impatiently. &#8220;Why
+should every one throw mud at a girl when she is
+down? If poor Annie is naughty and guilty, she is
+suffering now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie <i>not</i> naughty,&#8221; said little Nan. &#8220;Me love
+my own Annie; me do, me do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you love your own poor old nurse, too?&#8221;
+responded the somewhat jealous nurse.
+</p>
+<p>Hester left the two playing happily together, the
+little one caressing her nurse, and blowing one or
+two kisses after her sister&#8217;s retreating form. Hester
+returned to the house, and went up to her room to
+prepare for dinner. She had washed her hands, and
+was standing before the looking-glass re-plaiting her
+long hair, when Susan Drummond, looking extremely
+wild and excited, and with her eyes almost starting
+out of her head, rushed into the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Hester, Hester!&#8221; she gasped, and she flung
+herself on Hester&#8217;s bed, with her face downward;
+she seemed absolutely deprived for the moment of
+the power of any further speech.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter, Susan?&#8221; inquired Hester
+half impatiently. &#8220;What have you come into my
+room for? Are you going into a fit of hysterics?
+You had better control yourself, for the dinner gong
+will sound directly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan gasped two or three times, made a rush to
+Hester&#8217;s wash-hand stand, and, taking up a glass,
+poured some cold water into it, and gulped it down.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now I can speak,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I ran so fast that
+my breath quite left me. Hester, put on your walking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span>
+things or go without them, just as you please&mdash;only
+go at once if you would save her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Save whom?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your little sister&mdash;little Nan. I&mdash;I saw it all.
+I was in the hammock, and nobody knew I was
+there, and somehow I wasn&#8217;t so sleepy as usual, and
+I heard Nan&#8217;s voice, and I looked over the side of
+the hammock, and she was sitting on the grass picking
+daisies, and her nurse was with her, and presently
+you came up. I heard you calling me, but I
+wasn&#8217;t going to answer. I felt too comfortable.
+You stayed with Nan and her nurse for a little, and
+then went away; and I heard Nan&#8217;s nurse say to
+her: &#8216;Sit here, missy, till I come back to you; I
+am going to fetch another reel of sewing cotton
+from the house. Sit still, missy; I&#8217;ll be back directly.&#8217;
+She went away, and Nan went on picking
+her daisies. All on a sudden I heard Nan give a
+sharp little cry, and I looked over the hammock,
+and there was a tall, dark woman, with such a
+wicked face, and she snatched up Nan in her arms,
+and put a thick shawl over her face, and ran off
+with her. It was all done in an instant. I shouted
+and I scrambled out of the hammock, and I rushed
+down the path; but there wasn&#8217;t a sign of anybody
+there. I don&#8217;t know where the woman went&mdash;it
+seemed as if the earth swallowed up both her and
+little Nan. Why, Hester, are you going to faint?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Water!&#8221; gasped Hester&mdash;&#8220;one sip&mdash;now let me
+go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XL_A_GYPSY_MAID' id='CHAPTER_XL_A_GYPSY_MAID'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XL.</h2>
+<h3>A GYPSY MAID.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In a few moments every one in Lavender House
+was made acquainted with Susan&#8217;s story. At such a
+time ceremony was laid aside, dinner forgotten,
+teachers, pupils, servants all congregated in the
+grounds, all rushed to the spot where Nan&#8217;s withered
+daisies still lay, all peered through the underwood,
+and all, alas! looked in vain for the tall dark woman
+and the little child. Little Nan, the baby of the
+school, had been stolen&mdash;there were loud and
+terrified lamentations. Nan&#8217;s nurse was almost
+tearing her hair, was rushing frantically here, there,
+and everywhere. No one blamed the nurse for leaving
+her little charge in apparent safety for a few
+moments, but the poor woman&#8217;s own distress was
+pitiable to see. Mrs. Willis took Hester&#8217;s hand, and
+told the poor stunned girl that she was sending to
+Sefton immediately for two or three policemen, and
+that in the meantime every man on the place should
+commence the search for the woman and child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Without any doubt,&#8221; Mrs. Willis added, &#8220;we
+shall soon have our little Nan back again; it is quite
+impossible that the woman, whoever she is, can have
+taken her so far away in so short a time.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></p>
+<p>In the meantime, Annie in her bedroom heard
+the fuss and the noise. She leaned out of her window
+and saw Phyllis in the distance; she called to
+her. Phyllis ran up, the tears streaming down her
+cheeks.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, something so dreadful!&#8221; she gasped; &#8220;a
+wicked, wicked woman has stolen little Nan Thornton.
+She ran off with her just where the undergrowth
+is so thick at the end of the shady walk. It
+happened to her half an hour ago, and they are all
+looking, but they cannot find the woman or little
+Nan anywhere. Oh, it is so dreadful! Is that you,
+Mary?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Phyllis ran off to join her sister, and Annie put
+her head in again, and looked round her pretty
+room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The gypsy,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;the tall, dark
+gypsy has taken little Nan!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her face was very white, her eyes shone, her lips
+expressed a firm and almost obstinate determination.
+With all her usual impulsiveness, she decided
+on a course of action&mdash;she snatched up a piece of
+paper and scribbled a hasty line:
+</p>
+<div class='blockquot'>
+<p>&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Dear Mother-friend</span>:&mdash;However badly you
+think of Annie, Annie loves you with all her heart.
+Forgive me, I must go myself to look for little Nan.
+That tall, dark woman is a gypsy&mdash;I have seen her
+before; her name is Mother Rachel. Tell Hetty I
+won&#8217;t return until I bring her little sister back.&mdash;Your
+repentant and sorrowful
+</p>
+<p style='text-align:right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps;'>Annie</span>.&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span></div>
+<p>Annie twisted up the note, directed it to Mrs.
+Willis, and left it on her dressing-table.
+</p>
+<p>Then, with a wonderful amount of forethought
+for her, she emptied the contents of a little purse
+into a tiny gingham bag, which she fastened inside
+the front of her dress. She put on her shady hat,
+and threw a shawl across her arm, and then, slipping
+softly downstairs, she went out through the deserted
+kitchens, down the back avenue, and past the laurel
+bush, until she came to the stile which led into the
+wood&mdash;she was going straight to the gypsies&#8217; encampment.
+</p>
+<p>Annie, with some of the gypsy&#8217;s characteristics in
+her own blood, had always taken an extraordinary
+interest in these queer wandering people. Gypsies
+had a fascination for her, she loved stories about
+them; if a gypsy encampment was near, she always
+begged the teachers to walk in that direction.
+Annie had a very vivid imagination, and in the days
+when she reigned as favorite in the school she used
+to make up stories for the express benefit of her
+companions. These stories, as a rule, always turned
+upon the gypsies. Many and many a time had the
+girls of Lavender House almost gasped with horror
+as Annie described the queer ways of these people.
+For her, personally, their wildness and their freedom
+had a certain fascination, and she was heard in her
+gayest moments to remark that she would rather
+like to be stolen and adopted by a gypsy tribe.
+</p>
+<p>Whenever Annie had an opportunity, she chatted
+with the gypsy wives, and allowed them to tell her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span>
+fortune, and listened eagerly to their narratives.
+When a little child she had once for several months
+been under the care of a nurse who was a reclaimed
+gypsy, and this girl had given her all kinds of information
+about them. Annie often felt that she quite
+loved these wild people, and Mother Rachel was
+the first gypsy she cordially shrank from and disliked.
+</p>
+<p>When the little girl started now on her wild-goose
+chase after Nan, she was by no means devoid of a
+plan of action. The knowledge she had taken so
+many years to acquire came to her aid, and she determined
+to use it for Nan&#8217;s benefit. She knew
+that the gypsies, with all their wandering and erratic
+habits, had a certain attachment, if not for homes,
+at least for sites; she knew that as a rule they encamped
+over and over again in the same place; she
+knew that their wanderings were conducted with
+method, and their apparently lawless lives governed
+by strict self-made rules.
+</p>
+<p>Annie made straight now for the encampment,
+which stood in a little dell at the other side of the
+fairies&#8217; field. Here for weeks past the gypsies&#8217; tents
+had been seen; here the gypsy children had played,
+and the men and women smoked and lain about in
+the sun.
+</p>
+<p>Annie entered the small field now, but uttered no
+exclamation of surprise when she found that all the
+tents, with the exception of one, had been removed,
+and that this tent also was being rapidly taken down
+by a man and a girl, while a tall boy stood by,
+holding a donkey by the bridle.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span></p>
+<p>Annie wasted no time in looking for Nan here.
+Before the girl and the man could see her, she darted
+behind a bush, and removing her little bag of
+money, hid it carefully under some long grass; then
+she pulled a very bright yellow sash out of her
+pocket, tied it round her blue cotton dress, and leaving
+her little shawl also on the ground, tripped gaily
+up to the tent.
+</p>
+<p>She saw with pleasure that the girl who was helping
+the man was about her own size. She went up
+and touched her on the shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I want to make such a
+pretty play by-and-by&mdash;I want to play that I&#8217;m a
+gypsy girl. Will you give me your clothes, if I give
+you mine? See, mine are neat, and this sash is very
+handsome. Will you have them? Do. I am so
+anxious to play at being a gypsy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl turned and stared. Annie&#8217;s pretty blue
+print and gay sash were certainly tempting bait.
+She glanced at her father.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The little lady wants to change,&#8221; she said in an
+eager voice.
+</p>
+<p>The man nodded acquiescence, and the girl taking
+Annie&#8217;s hand, ran quickly with her to the bottom of
+the field.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean it, surely?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Eh,
+but I&#8217;m uncommon willing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I certainly mean it,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;You
+are a dear, good, obliging girl, and how nice you
+will look in my pretty blue cotton! I like that
+striped petticoat of yours, too, and that gay handkerchief
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span>
+you wear round your shoulders. Thank
+you so very much. Now, do I look like a real,
+real gypsy?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your hair ain&#8217;t ragged enough, miss.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, clip it, then; clip it away. I want to be
+quite the real thing. Have you got a pair of scissors?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl ran back to the tent, and presently returned
+to shear poor Annie&#8217;s beautiful hair in truly
+rough fashion.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, miss, you look much more like, only your
+arms are a bit too white. Stay, we has got some
+walnut-juice; we was just a-using of it. I&#8217;ll touch
+you up fine, miss.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So she did, darkening Annie&#8217;s brown skin to a
+real gypsy tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a dear, good girl,&#8221; said Annie, in conclusion;
+and as the girl&#8217;s father called her roughly at
+this moment, she was obliged to go away, looking
+ungainly enough in the English child&#8217;s neat clothes.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLI_DISGUISED' id='CHAPTER_XLI_DISGUISED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLI.</h2>
+<h3>DISGUISED.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie ran out of the field, mounted the stile
+which led into the wood, and stood there until the
+gypsy man and girl, and the boy with the donkey,
+had finally disappeared. Then she left her
+hiding-place, and taking her little gingham bag out
+of the long grass, secured it once more in the front
+of her dress. She felt queer and uncomfortable in
+her new dress, and the gypsy girl&#8217;s heavy shoes tired
+her feet; but she was not to be turned from her
+purpose by any manner of discomforts, and she
+started bravely on her long trudge over the dusty
+roads, for her object was to follow the gypsies to
+their next encampment, about ten miles away.
+She had managed, with some tact, to obtain a certain
+amount of information from the delighted gypsy
+girl. The girl told Annie that she was very glad
+they were going from here; that this was a very
+dull place, and that they would not have stayed so
+long but for Mother Rachel, who, for some reasons
+of her own, had refused to stir.
+</p>
+<p>Here the girl drew herself up short, and colored
+under her dark skin. But Annie&#8217;s tact never failed.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span>
+She even yawned a little, and seemed scarcely to
+hear the girl&#8217;s words.
+</p>
+<p>Now, in the distance, she followed these people.
+</p>
+<p>In her disguise, uncomfortable as it was, she felt
+tolerably safe. Should any of the people in Lavender
+House happen to pass her on the way, they
+would never recognize Annie Forest in this small
+gypsy maiden. When she did approach the gypsies&#8217;
+dwelling she might have some hope of passing
+as one of themselves. The only one whom she had
+really to fear was the girl with whom she had
+changed clothes, and she trusted to her wits to keep
+out of this young person&#8217;s way.
+</p>
+<p>When Zillah, her old gypsy nurse, had charmed
+her long ago with gypsy legends and stories,
+Annie had always begged to hear about the fair
+English children whom the gypsies stole, and Zillah
+had let her into some secrets which partly accounted
+for the fact that so few of these children are ever
+recovered.
+</p>
+<p>She walked very fast now; her depression was
+gone, a great excitement, a great longing, a great
+hope, keeping her up. She forgot that she had
+eaten nothing since breakfast; she forgot everything
+in all the world now but her great love for little Nan,
+and her desire to lay down her very life, if necessary,
+to rescue Nan from the terrible fate which
+awaited her if she was brought up as a gypsy&#8217;s
+child.
+</p>
+<p>Annie, however, was unaccustomed to such long
+walks, and besides, recent events had weakened
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span>
+her, and by the time she reached Sefton&mdash;for her
+road lay straight through this little town&mdash;she was
+so hot and thirsty that she looked around her
+anxiously to find some place of refreshment.
+</p>
+<p>In an unconscious manner she paused before a
+restaurant, where she and several other girls of Lavender
+House had more than once been regaled with
+buns and milk.
+</p>
+<p>The remembrance of the fresh milk and the nice
+buns came gratefully before the memory of the
+tired child now. Forgetting her queer attire, she
+went into the shop, and walked boldly up to the
+counter.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s disguise, however, was good, and the
+young woman who was serving, instead of bending
+forward with the usual gracious &#8220;What can I get
+for you, miss?&#8221; said very sharply:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go away at once, little girl; we don&#8217;t allow
+beggars here; leave the shop instantly. No, I have
+nothing for you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie was about to reply rather hotly, for she
+had an idea that even a gypsy&#8217;s money might purchase
+buns and milk, when she was suddenly startled,
+and almost terrified into betraying herself, by
+encountering the gentle and fixed stare of Miss
+Jane Bruce, who had been leaning over the counter
+and talking to one of the shop-women when Annie
+entered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here is a penny for you, little girl,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;You can get a nice hunch of stale bread for a
+penny in the shop at the corner of the High
+street.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s eyes flashed back at the little lady, her
+lips quivered, and, clasping the penny, she rushed
+out of the shop.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; said Miss Jane, turning to her sister,
+&#8220;did you notice the extraordinary likeness that
+little gypsy girl bore to Annie Forest?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Agnes sighed. &#8220;Not particularly, love,&#8221;
+she answered; &#8220;but I scarcely looked at her. I
+wonder if our dear little Annie is any happier than
+she was. Ah, I think we have done here. Good-afternoon,
+Mrs. Tremlett.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The little old ladies trotted off, giving no more
+thoughts to the gypsy child.
+</p>
+<p>Poor Annie almost ran down the street, and never
+paused till she reached a shop of much humbler appearance,
+where she was served with some cold
+slices of German sausage, some indifferent bread
+and butter, and milk by no means over-good. The
+coarse fare, and the rough people who surrounded
+her, made the poor child feel both sick and frightened.
+She found she could only keep up her character
+by remaining almost silent, for the moment she
+opened her lips people turned round and stared at
+her.
+</p>
+<p>She paid for her meal, however, and presently found
+herself at the other side of Sefton, and in a part of
+the country which was comparatively strange to
+her. The gypsies&#8217; present encampment was about a
+mile away from the town of Oakley, a much larger
+place than Sefton. Sefton and Oakley lay about six
+miles apart. Annie trudged bravely on, her head
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span>
+aching; for, of course, as a gypsy girl, she could use
+no parasol to shade her from the sun. At last the
+comparative cool of the evening arrived, and the little
+girl gave a sigh of relief, and looked forward to
+her bed and supper at Oakley. She had made up
+her mind to sleep there, and to go to the gypsies&#8217; encampment
+very early in the morning. It was quite
+dark by the time she reached Oakley, and she was
+now so tired, and her feet so blistered from walking
+in the gypsy girl&#8217;s rough shoes, that she could
+scarcely proceed another step. The noise and the
+size of Oakley, too, bewildered and frightened her.
+She had learned a lesson in Sefton, and dared not
+venture into the more respectable streets. How
+could she sleep in those hot, common, close houses?
+Surely it would be better for her to lie down under
+a cool hedgerow&mdash;there could be no real cold on
+this lovely summer&#8217;s night, and the hours would
+quickly pass, and the time soon arrive when she
+must go boldly in search of Nan. She resolved to
+sleep in a hayfield which took her fancy just
+outside the town, and she only went into
+Oakley for the purpose of buying some bread and
+milk.
+</p>
+<p>Annie was so far fortunate as to get a refreshing
+draught of really good milk from a woman who
+stood by a cottage door, and who gave her a piece of
+girdle-cake to eat with it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re one of the gypsies, my dear?&#8221; said the
+woman. &#8220;I saw them passing in their caravans an
+hour back. No doubt you are for taking up your
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span>
+old quarters in the copse, just alongside of Squire
+Thompson&#8217;s long acre field. How is it you are not
+with the rest of them, child?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was late in starting,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;Can you
+tell me the best way to get from here to the long
+acre field?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you take that turnstile, child, and keep in
+the narrow path by the cornfields; it&#8217;s two miles and
+a half from here as the crow flies. No, no, my dear,
+I don&#8217;t want your pennies; but you might humor
+my little girl here by telling her fortune&mdash;she&#8217;s
+wonderful taken by the gypsy folk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie colored painfully. The child came forward,
+and she crossed her hand with a piece of silver.
+She looked at the little palm and muttered something
+about being rich and fortunate, and marrying
+a prince in disguise, and having no trouble whatever.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh! but that&#8217;s a fine lot, is yours, Peggy,&#8221; said
+the gratified mother.
+</p>
+<p>Peggy, however, aged nine, had a wiser head on
+her young shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She didn&#8217;t tell no proper fortune,&#8221; she said disparagingly,
+when Annie left the cottage. &#8220;She
+didn&#8217;t speak about no crosses, and no biting disappointments,
+and no bleeding wounds. I don&#8217;t believe
+in her, I don&#8217;t. I like fortunes mixed, not all
+one way; them fortunes ain&#8217;t natural, and I don&#8217;t
+believe she&#8217;s no proper gypsy girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLII_HESTER' id='CHAPTER_XLII_HESTER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLII.</h2>
+<h3>HESTER.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>At Lavender House the confusion, the terror, and
+the dismay were great. For several hours the girls
+seemed quite to lose their heads, and just when,
+under Mrs. Willis&#8217; and the other teachers&#8217; calmness
+and determination, they were being restored to discipline
+and order, the excitement and alarm broke
+out afresh when some one brought Annie&#8217;s little note
+to Mrs. Willis, and the school discovered that she
+also was missing.
+</p>
+<p>On this occasion no one did doubt her motive;
+disobedient as her act was no one wasted words of
+blame on her. All, from the head-mistress to the
+smallest child in the school, knew that it was love
+for little Nan that had taken Annie off; and the
+tears started to Mrs. Willis&#8217; eyes when she first read
+the tiny note, and then placed it tenderly in her
+desk. Hester&#8217;s face became almost ashen in its hue
+when she heard what Annie had done.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie has gone herself to bring back Nan to
+you, Hester,&#8221; said Phyllis. &#8220;It was I told her, and
+I know now by her face that she must have made
+up her mind at once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very disobedient of her to go,&#8221; said Dora
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span>
+Russell; but no one took up Dora&#8217;s tone, and Mary
+Price said, after a pause:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Disobedient or not, it was brave&mdash;it was really
+very plucky.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is my opinion,&#8221; said Nora, &#8220;that if any one
+in the world can find little Nan it will be Annie.
+You remember, Phyllis, how often she has talked to
+us about gypsies, and what a lot she knows about
+them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes; she&#8217;ll be better than fifty policemen,&#8221;
+echoed several girls; and then two or three young
+faces were turned toward Hester, and some voice
+said almost scornfully:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have to love Annie now; you&#8217;ll have to
+admit that there is something good in our Annie
+when she brings your little Nan home again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s lip quivered; she tried to speak, but a
+sudden burst of tears came from her instead. She
+walked slowly out of the astonished little group,
+who none of them believed that proud Hester
+Thornton could weep.
+</p>
+<p>The wretched girl rushed up to her room, where
+she threw herself on her bed and gave way to some of
+the bitterest tears she had ever shed. All her indifference
+to Annie, all her real unkindness, all her ever-increasing
+dislike came back now to torture and
+harass her. She began to believe with the girls
+that Annie would be successful; she began dimly to
+acknowledge in her heart the strange power which
+this child possessed; she guessed that Annie would
+heap coals of fire on her head by bringing back her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span>
+little sister. She hoped, she longed, she could almost
+have found it in her heart to pray that some one
+else, not Annie, might save little Nan.
+</p>
+<p>For not yet had Hester made up her mind to confess
+the truth about Annie Forest. To confess the
+truth now meant humiliation in the eyes of the
+whole school. Even for Nan&#8217;s sake she could not,
+she would not be great enough for this.
+</p>
+<p>Sobbing on her bed, trembling from head to foot,
+in an agony of almost uncontrollable grief, she could
+not bring her proud and stubborn little heart to
+accept God&#8217;s only way of peace. No, she hoped she
+might be able to influence Susan Drummond and
+induce her to confess, and if Annie was not cleared
+in that way, if she really saved little Nan, she would
+doubtless be restored to much of her lost favor in
+the school.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had never been a favorite at Lavender
+House; but now her great trouble caused all the
+girls to speak to her kindly and considerately, and
+as she lay on her bed she presently heard a gentle
+step on the floor of her room&mdash;a cool little hand
+was laid tenderly on her forehead, and opening her
+swollen eyes, she met Cecil&#8217;s loving gaze.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no news yet, Hester,&#8221; said Cecil; &#8220;but
+Mrs. Willis has just gone herself into Sefton, and
+will not lose an hour in getting further help. Mrs.
+Willis looks quite haggard. Of course she is very
+anxious both about Annie and Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Annie is safe enough,&#8221; murmured Hester,
+burying her head in the bed-clothes.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; Annie is very impulsive and very
+pretty; the gypsies may like to steal her too&mdash;of
+course she has gone straight to one of their encampments.
+Naturally Mrs. Willis is most anxious.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester pressed her hand to her throbbing head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are all so sorry for you, dear,&#8221; said Cecil
+gently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you&mdash;being sorry for one does not do a
+great deal of good, does it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought sympathy always did good,&#8221; replied
+Cecil, looking puzzled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Hester again. She lay quite
+still for several minutes with her eyes closed. Her
+face looked intensely unhappy. Cecil was not easily
+repelled and she guessed only too surely that
+Hester&#8217;s proud heart was suffering much. She was
+puzzled, however, how to approach her, and had
+almost made up her mind to go away and beg of
+kind-hearted Miss Danesbury to see if she could
+come and do something, when through the open
+window there came the shrill sweet laughter and the
+eager, high-pitched tones of some of the youngest
+children in the school. A strange quiver passed
+over Hester&#8217;s face at the sound; she sat up in bed,
+and gasped out in a half-strangled voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I can&#8217;t bear it&mdash;little Nan, little Nan!
+Cecil, I am very, very unhappy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it, darling,&#8221; said Cecil, and she put her
+arms round the excited girl. &#8220;Oh, Hester! don&#8217;t
+turn away from me; do let us be unhappy together.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But you did not care for Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did&mdash;we all loved the pretty darling.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose I never see her again?&#8221; said Hester
+half wildly. &#8220;Oh, Cecil! and mother left her to
+me! mother gave her to me to take care of, and to
+bring to her some day in heaven. Oh, little Nan,
+my pretty, my love, my sweet! I think I could
+better bear her being dead than this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could, Hester,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;if she was
+never to be found; but I don&#8217;t think God will give
+you such a terrible punishment. I think little Nan
+will be restored to you. Let us ask God to do it,
+Hetty&mdash;let us kneel down now, we two little girls,
+and pray to Him with all our might.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t pray; don&#8217;t ask me,&#8221; said Hester, turning
+her face away.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I will.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But not here, Cecil. Cecil, I am not good&mdash;I
+am not good enough to pray.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to be good to pray,&#8221; said Cecil.
+&#8220;We want perhaps to be unhappy&mdash;perhaps sorry;
+but if God waited just for goodness, I don&#8217;t think He
+would get many prayers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am unhappy, but not sorry. No, no;
+don&#8217;t ask me, I cannot pray.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLIII_SUSAN' id='CHAPTER_XLIII_SUSAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLIII.</h2>
+<h3>SUSAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Willis came back at a very late hour from
+Sefton. The police were confident that they must
+soon discover both children, but no tidings had yet
+been heard of either of them. Mrs. Willis ordered
+her girls to bed, and went herself to kiss Hester and
+give her a special &#8220;good-night.&#8221; She was struck by
+the peculiarly unhappy, and even hardened, expression
+on the poor child&#8217;s face, and felt that she did
+not half understand her.
+</p>
+<p>In the middle of the night Hester awoke from a
+troubled dream. She awoke with a sharp cry, so
+sharp and intense in its sound that had any girl been
+awake in the next room she must have heard it. She
+felt that she could no longer remain close to that
+little empty cot. She suddenly remembered that
+Susan Drummond would be alone to-night: what
+time so good as the present for having a long talk
+with Susan and getting her to clear Annie? She
+slipped out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and
+softly opening the door, ran down the passage to
+Susan&#8217;s room.
+</p>
+<p>Susan was in bed, and fast asleep. Hester could
+see her face quite plainly in the moonlight, for Susan
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span>
+slept facing the window, and the blind was not drawn
+down.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had some difficulty in awakening Miss
+Drummond, who, however, at last sat up in bed
+yawning prodigiously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter? Is that you, Hester
+Thornton? Have you got any news of little Nan?
+Has Annie come back?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, they are both still away. Susy, I want to
+speak to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me! what for? must you speak in the
+middle of the night?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, for I don&#8217;t want any one else to know. Oh,
+Susan, please don&#8217;t go to sleep.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear, I won&#8217;t, if I can help it. Do you mind
+throwing a little cold water over my face and head?
+There is a can by the bedside. I always keep one
+handy. Ah, thanks&mdash;now I am wide awake. I shall
+probably remain so for about two minutes. Can you
+get your say over in that time?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder, Susan,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;if you have got
+any heart&mdash;but heart or not, I have just come here
+to-night to tell you that I have found you out. You
+are at the bottom of all this mischief about Annie
+Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan had a most phlegmatic face, an utterly
+unemotional voice, and she now stared calmly at
+Hester and demanded to know what in the world
+she meant.
+</p>
+<p>Hester felt her temper going, her self-control deserting
+her. Susan&#8217;s apparent innocence and indifference
+drove her half frantic.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you are mean,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You pretend to
+be innocent, but you are the deepest and wickedest
+girl in the school. I tell you, Susan, I have found
+you out&mdash;you put that caricature of Mrs. Willis into
+Cecil&#8217;s book; you changed Dora&#8217;s theme. I don&#8217;t
+know why you did it, nor how you did it, but you
+are the guilty person, and you have allowed the sin
+of it to remain on Annie&#8217;s shoulders all this time.
+Oh, you are the very meanest girl I ever heard
+of!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear, dear!&#8221; said Susan, &#8220;I wish I had not asked
+you to throw cold water over my head and face, and
+allow myself to be made very wet and uncomfortable,
+just to be told I am the meanest girl you ever
+met. And pray what affair is this of yours? You
+certainly don&#8217;t love Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t, but I want justice to be done to her.
+Annie is very, very unhappy. Oh, Susy, won&#8217;t you
+go and tell Mrs. Willis the truth?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really, my dear Hester, I think you are a little
+mad. How long have you known all this about me,
+pray?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, for some time; since&mdash;since the night the
+essay was changed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, then, if what you state is true, you told Mrs.
+Willis a lie, for she distinctly asked you if you knew
+anything about the &#8216;Muddy Stream,&#8217; and you said
+you didn&#8217;t. I saw you&mdash;I remarked how very red
+you got when you plumped out that great lie! My
+dear, if I am the meanest and wickedest girl in the
+school, prove it&mdash;go, tell Mrs. Willis what you know.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span>
+Now, if you will allow me, I will get back into the
+land of dreams.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan curled herself up once more in her bed,
+wrapped the bed-clothes tightly round her and
+was, to all appearance, oblivious of Hester&#8217;s presence.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLIV_UNDER_THE_HEDGE' id='CHAPTER_XLIV_UNDER_THE_HEDGE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLIV.</h2>
+<h3>UNDER THE HEDGE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is one thing to talk of the delights of sleeping
+under a hedgerow, and another to realize them. A
+hayfield is a very charming place, but in the middle
+of the night, with the dew clinging to everything, it
+is apt to prove but a chilly bed; the most familiar
+objects put on strange and unreal forms, the most
+familiar sounds become loud and alarming. Annie
+slept for about an hour soundly; then she
+awoke, trembling with cold in every limb, startled,
+and almost terrified by the oppressive loneliness
+of the night, sure that the insect life which surrounded
+her, and which would keep up successions of
+chirps, and croaks, and buzzes, was something mysterious
+and terrifying. Annie was a brave child,
+but even brave little girls may be allowed to
+possess nerves under her present conditions, and
+when a spider ran across her face she started up
+with a scream of terror. At this moment she
+almost regretted the close and dirty lodgings which
+she might have obtained for a few pence at Oakley.
+The hay in the field which she had selected was
+partly cut and partly standing. The cut portion
+had been piled up into little cocks and hillocks, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span>
+these, with the night shadows round them, appeared
+to the frightened child to assume large and
+half-human proportions. She found she could not
+sleep any longer. She wrapped her shawl tightly
+round her, and, crouching into the hedgerow, waited
+for the dawn.
+</p>
+<p>That watched-for dawn seemed to the tired child
+as if it would never come; but at last her solitary
+vigil came to an end, the cold grew greater, a little
+gentle breeze stirred the uncut grass, and up in the
+sky overhead the stars became fainter and the
+atmosphere clearer. Then came a little faint flush
+of pink, then a brighter light, and then all in a
+moment the birds burst into a perfect jubilee of
+song, the insects talked and chirped and buzzed in
+new tones, the hay-cocks became simply hay-cocks,
+the dew sparkled on the wet grass, the sun had
+risen, and the new day had begun.
+</p>
+<p>Annie sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. With
+the sunshine and brightness her versatile spirits revived;
+she buckled on her courage like an armor,
+and almost laughed at the miseries of the past few
+hours. Once more she believed that success and
+victory would be hers, once more in her small way
+she was ready to do or die. She believed absolutely
+in the holiness of her mission. Love&mdash;love alone,
+simple and pure, was guiding her. She gave no
+thought to after-consequences, she gave no memory
+to past events: her object now was to rescue Nan,
+and she herself was nothing.
+</p>
+<p>Annie had a fellow-feeling, a rare sympathy with
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span>
+every little child; but no child had ever come to
+take Nan&#8217;s place with her. The child she had first
+begun to notice simply out of a naughty spirit of
+revenge, had twined herself round her heart, and
+Annie loved Nan all the more dearly because she
+had long ago repented of stealing her affections
+from Hester, and would gladly have restored her
+to her old place next to Hetty&#8217;s heart. Her love
+for Nan, therefore, had the purity and greatness
+which all love that calls forth self-sacrifice must
+possess. Annie had denied herself, and kept away
+from Nan of late. Now, indeed, she was going to
+rescue her; but if she thought of herself at all, it
+was with the certainty that for this present act of
+disobedience Mrs. Willis would dismiss her from
+the school, and she would not see little Nan
+again.
+</p>
+<p>Never mind that, if Nan herself was saved. Annie
+was disobedient, but on this occasion she was not
+unhappy; she had none of that remorse which
+troubled her so much after her wild picnic in the
+fairies&#8217; field. On the contrary, she had a strange
+sense of peace and even guidance; she had confessed
+this sin to Mrs. Willis, and, though she was
+suspected of far worse, her own innocence kept her
+heart untroubled. The verse which had occurred
+to her two mornings before still rang in her ears:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The impulsive, eager child was possessed just now
+of something which men call True Courage; it was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span>
+founded on the knowledge that God would help her,
+and was accordingly calm and strengthening.
+</p>
+<p>Annie rose from her damp bed, and looked
+around her for a little stream where she might wash
+her face and hands; suddenly she remembered
+that face and hands were dyed, and that she would
+do best to leave them alone. She smoothed out
+as best she could the ragged elf-locks which the
+gypsy maid had left on her curly head, and then
+covering her face with her hands, said simply and
+earnestly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, my Father in heaven, help me to find
+little Nan;&#8221; then she set off through the cornfields
+in the direction of the gypsies&#8217; encampment.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLV_TIGER' id='CHAPTER_XLV_TIGER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLV.</h2>
+<h3>TIGER.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was still very, very early in the morning, and
+the gypsy folk, tired from their march on the preceding
+day, slept. There stood the conical, queer-shaped
+tents, four in number; at a little distance off grazed
+the donkeys and a couple of rough mules; at the door
+of the tents lay stretched out in profound repose two
+or three dogs.
+</p>
+<p>Annie dreaded the barking of the dogs, although
+she guessed that if they set up a noise, and a gypsy
+wife or man put out their heads in consequence, they
+would only desire the gypsy child to lie down and
+keep quiet.
+</p>
+<p>She stood still for a moment&mdash;she was very
+anxious to prowl around the place and examine the
+ground while the gypsies still slept, but the watchful
+dogs deterred her. She stood perfectly quiet behind
+the hedgerow, thinking hard. Should she trust to a
+charm she knew she possessed, and venture into the
+encampment? Annie had almost as great a fascination
+over dogs and cats as she had over children.
+As a little child going to visit with her mother at
+strange houses, the watch-dogs never barked at her;
+on the contrary, they yielded to the charm which
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span>
+seemed to come from her little fingers as she patted
+their great heads. Slowly their tails would move
+backward and forward as she patted them, and
+even the most ferocious would look at her with
+affection.
+</p>
+<p>Annie wondered if the gypsy dogs would now
+allow her to approach without barking. She felt
+that the chances were in her favor; she was dressed
+in gypsy garments, there would be nothing strange
+in her appearance, and if she could get near one of
+the dogs she knew that she could exercise the magic
+of her touch.
+</p>
+<p>Her object, then, was to approach one of the
+tents very, very quietly&mdash;so softly that even the
+dog&#8217;s ears should not detect the light footfall. If
+she could approach close enough to put her hand
+on the dog&#8217;s neck all would be well. She pulled off
+the gypsy maid&#8217;s rough shoes, hid them in the grass
+where she could find them again, and came gingerly
+step by step, nearer and nearer the principal tent.
+At its entrance lay a ferocious-looking half-bred
+bull-dog. Annie possessed that necessary accompaniment
+to courage&mdash;great outward calm; the
+greater the danger, the more cool and self-possessed
+did she become. She was within a step or two of
+the tent when she trod accidentally on a small twig;
+it cracked, giving her foot a sharp pain, and very
+slight as the sound was, causing the bull-dog to
+awake. He raised his wicked face, saw the figure
+like his own people, and yet unlike, but a step
+or two away, and, uttering a low growl, sprang
+forward.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span></p>
+<p>In the ordinary course of things this growl would
+have risen in volume and would have terminated in
+a volley of barking; but Annie was prepared: she
+went down on her knees, held out her arms, said,
+&#8220;Poor fellow!&#8221; in her own seductive voice, and
+the bull-dog fawned at her feet. He licked one
+of her hands while she patted him gently with the
+other.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, poor fellow,&#8221; she said then in a gentle
+tone, and Annie and the dog began to perambulate
+round the tents.
+</p>
+<p>The other dogs raised sleepy eyes, but seeing
+Tiger and the girl together, took no notice whatever,
+except by a thwack or two of their stumpy
+tails. Annie was now looking not only at the tents,
+but for something else which Zillah, her nurse, had
+told her might be found near to many gypsy
+encampments. This was a small subterranean passage,
+which generally led into a long-disused underground
+Danish fort. Zillah had told her what uses
+the gypsies liked to make of these underground passages,
+and how they often chose those which had
+two entrances. She told her that in this way they
+eluded the police, and were enabled successfully to
+hide the goods which they stole. She had also
+described to her their great ingenuity in hiding the
+entrances to these underground retreats.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s idea now was that little Nan was hidden
+in one of these vaults, and she determined first to
+make sure of its existence, and then to venture herself
+into this underground region in search of the
+lost child.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span></p>
+<p>She had made a decided conquest in the person of
+Tiger, who followed her round and round the tents,
+and when the gypsies at last began to stir, and
+Annie crept into the hedgerow, the dog crouched
+by her side. Tiger was the favorite dog of the
+camp, and presently one of the men called to him;
+he rose unwillingly, looked back with longing eyes
+at Annie, and trotted off, to return in the space of
+about five minutes with a great hunch of broken
+bread in his mouth. This was his breakfast, and he
+meant to share it with his new friend. Annie was
+too hungry to be fastidious, and she also knew the
+necessity of keeping up her strength. She crept
+still farther under the hedge, and the dog and girl
+shared the broken bread between them.
+</p>
+<p>Presently the tents were all astir; the gypsy
+children began to swarm about, the women lit fires
+in the open air, and the smell of very appetizing
+breakfasts filled the atmosphere. The men also
+lounged into view, standing lazily at the doors of
+their tents, and smoking great pipes of tobacco.
+Annie lay quiet. She could see from her hiding-place
+without being seen. Suddenly&mdash;and her eyes
+began to dilate, and she found her heart beating
+strangely&mdash;she laid her hand on Tiger, who was
+quivering all over.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay with me, dear dog,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>There was a great commotion and excitement in
+the gypsy camp; the children screamed and ran
+into the tents, the women paused in their preparation
+for breakfast, the men took their short pipes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span>
+out of their mouths; every dog, with the exception
+of Tiger, barked ferociously. Tiger and Annie
+alone were motionless.
+</p>
+<p>The cause of all this uproar was a body of police,
+about six in number, who came boldly into the field,
+and demanded instantly to search the tents.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We want a woman who calls herself Mother
+Rachel,&#8221; they said. &#8220;She belongs to this encampment.
+We know her; let her come forward at
+once; we wish to question her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The men stood about; the women came near;
+the children crept out of their tents, placing their
+fingers to their frightened lips, and staring at the
+men who represented those horrors to their unsophisticated
+minds called Law and Order.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must search the tents. We won&#8217;t stir from
+the spot until we have had an interview with Mother
+Rachel,&#8221; said the principal member of the police
+force.
+</p>
+<p>The men answered respectfully that the gypsy
+mother was not yet up; but if the gentlemen would
+wait a moment she would soon come and speak to
+them.
+</p>
+<p>The officers expressed their willingness to wait,
+and collected round the tents.
+</p>
+<p>Just at this instant, under the hedgerow, Tiger
+raised his head. Annie&#8217;s watchful eyes accompanied
+the dog&#8217;s. He was gazing after a tiny gypsy maid
+who was skulking along the hedge, and who presently
+disappeared through a very small opening into the
+neighboring field.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span></p>
+<p>Quick as thought Annie, holding Tiger&#8217;s collar,
+darted after her. The little maid heard the footsteps;
+but seeing another gypsy girl, and their own
+dog, Tiger, she took no further notice, but ran openly
+and very swiftly across the field until she came to a
+broken wall. Here she tugged and tugged at some
+loose stones, managed to push one away, and then
+called down into the ground:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother Rachel!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Tiger,&#8221; said Annie. She flew to a hedge
+not far off, and once more the dog and she hid themselves.
+The small girl was too excited to notice
+either their coming or going; she went on calling
+anxiously into the ground:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother Rachel! Mother Rachel!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Presently a black head and a pair of brawny
+shoulders appeared, and the tall woman whose face
+and figure Annie knew so well stepped up out of the
+ground, pushed back the stones into their place, and,
+taking the gypsy child into her arms, ran swiftly
+across the field in the direction of the tents.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLVI_FOR_LOVE_OF_NAN' id='CHAPTER_XLVI_FOR_LOVE_OF_NAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLVI.</h2>
+<h3>FOR LOVE OF NAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Now was Annie&#8217;s time. &#8220;Tiger,&#8221; she said, for
+she had heard the men calling the dog&#8217;s name, &#8220;I
+want to go right down into that hole in the ground,
+and you are to come with me. Don&#8217;t let us lose a
+moment, good dog.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog wagged his tail, capered about in front
+of Annie, and then with a wonderful shrewdness ran
+before her to the broken wall, where he stood with
+his head bent downward and his eyes fixed on the
+ground.
+</p>
+<p>Annie pulled and tugged at the loose stones;
+they were so heavy and cunningly arranged that she
+wondered how the little maid, who was smaller than
+herself, had managed to remove them. She saw
+quickly, however, that they were arranged with a
+certain leverage, and that the largest stone, that
+which formed the real entrance to the underground
+passage, was balanced in its place in such a fashion
+that when she leaned on a certain portion of it, it
+moved aside, and allowed plenty of room for her to
+go down into the earth.
+</p>
+<p>Very dark and dismal and uninviting did the rude
+steps, which led nobody knew where, appear. For
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span>
+one moment Annie hesitated; but the thought of
+Nan hidden somewhere in this awful wretchedness
+nerved her courage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go first, Tiger, please,&#8221; she said, and the dog
+scampered down, sniffing the earth as he went.
+Annie followed him, but she had scarcely got her
+head below the level of the ground before she found
+herself in total and absolute darkness; she had unwittingly
+touched the heavy stone, which had swung
+back into its place. She heard Tiger sniffing below,
+and, calling him to keep by her side, she went
+very carefully down and down and down, until at
+last she knew by the increase of air that she must
+have come to the end of the narrow entrance
+passage.
+</p>
+<p>She was now able to stand upright, and raising
+her hand, she tried in vain to find a roof. The room
+where she stood, then, must be lofty. She went
+forward in the utter darkness very, very slowly;
+suddenly her head again came in contact with the
+roof; she made a few steps farther on, and then
+found that to proceed at all she must go on her hands
+and knees. She bent down and peered through the
+darkness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll go on, Tiger,&#8221; she said, and, holding the
+dog&#8217;s collar and clinging to him for protection, she
+crept along the narrow passage.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly she gave an exclamation of joy&mdash;at the
+other end of this gloomy passage was light&mdash;faint
+twilight surely, but still undoubted light, which came
+down from some chink in the outer world. Annie
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span>
+came to the end of the passage, and, standing upright,
+found herself suddenly in a room; a very
+small and miserable room certainly, but with the
+twilight shining through it, which revealed not only
+that it was a room, but a room which contained a
+heap of straw, a three-legged stool, and two or three
+cracked cups and saucers. Here, then, was Mother
+Rachel&#8217;s lair, and here she must look for Nan.
+</p>
+<p>The darkness had been so intense that even the
+faint twilight of this little chamber had dazzled
+Annie&#8217;s eyes for a moment; the next, however, her
+vision became clear. She saw that the straw bed
+contained a bundle; she went near&mdash;out of the
+wrapped-up bundle of shawls appeared the head of a
+child. The child slept, and moaned in its slumbers.
+</p>
+<p>Annie bent over it and said, &#8220;Thank God!&#8221; in a
+tone of rapture, and then, stooping down, she passionately
+kissed the lips of little Nan.
+</p>
+<p>Nan&#8217;s skin had been dyed with the walnut-juice,
+her pretty, soft hair had been cut short, her dainty
+clothes had been changed for the most ragged gipsy
+garments, but still she was undoubtedly Nan, the
+child whom Annie had come to save.
+</p>
+<p>From her uneasy slumbers the poor little one
+awoke with a cry of terror. She could not recognize
+Annie&#8217;s changed face, and clasped her hands before
+her eyes, and said piteously:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want to go home&mdash;go &#8217;way, naughty woman,
+me want my Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little darling!&#8221; said Annie, in her sweetest
+tones. The changed face had not appealed to Nan,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span>
+but the old voice went straight to her baby heart;
+she stopped crying and looked anxiously toward the
+entrance of the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tum in, Annie&mdash;me here, Annie&mdash;little Nan
+want &#8217;oo.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie glanced around her in despair. Suddenly
+her quick eyes lighted on a jug of water; she flew
+to it, and washed and laved her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Coming, darling,&#8221; she said, as she tried to remove
+the hateful dye. She succeeded partly, and
+when she came back, to her great joy, the child recognized
+her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, little precious, we will get out of this as
+fast as we can,&#8221; said Annie, and, clasping Nan
+tightly in her arms, she prepared to return by the
+way she had come. Then and there, for the first
+time, there flashed across her memory the horrible
+fact that the stone door had swung back into its
+place, and that by no possible means could she open
+it. She and Nan and Tiger were buried in a living
+tomb, and must either stay there and perish, or
+await the tender mercies of the cruel Mother Rachel.
+</p>
+<p>Nan, with her arms tightly clasped round Annie&#8217;s
+neck, began to cry fretfully. She was impatient to
+get out of this dismal place; she was no longer oppressed
+by fears, for with the Annie whom she
+loved she felt absolutely safe; but she was hungry
+and cold and uncomfortable, and it seemed but a step,
+to little inexperienced Nan, from Annie&#8217;s arms to her
+snug, cheerful nursery at Lavender House.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tum, Annie&mdash;tum home, Annie,&#8221; she begged
+and, when Annie did not stir, she began to weep.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span></p>
+<p>In truth, the poor, brave little girl was sadly puzzled,
+and her first gleam of returning hope lay in
+the remembrance of Zillah&#8217;s words, that there were
+generally two entrances to these old underground
+forts. Tiger, who seemed thoroughly at home in
+this little room, and had curled himself up comfortably
+on the heap of straw, had probably often been
+here before. Perhaps Tiger knew the way to the
+second entrance. Annie called him to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tiger,&#8221; she said, going down on her knees, and
+looking full into his ugly but intelligent face, &#8220;Nan
+and I want to go out of this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Tiger wagged his stumpy tail.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are hungry, Tiger, and we want something
+to eat, and you&#8217;d like a bone, wouldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Tiger&#8217;s tail went with ferocious speed, and he
+licked Annie&#8217;s hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no use going back that way, dear dog,&#8221;
+continued the girl, pointing with her arm in the
+direction they had come. &#8220;The door is fastened,
+Tiger, and we can&#8217;t get out. We can&#8217;t get out because
+the door is shut.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog&#8217;s tail had ceased to wag; he took in the
+situation, for his whole expression showed dejection,
+and he drooped his head.
+</p>
+<p>It was now quite evident to Annie that Tiger had
+been here before, and that on some other occasion
+in his life he had wanted to get out and could not
+because the door was shut.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Tiger,&#8221; said Annie, speaking cheerfully,
+and rising to her feet, &#8220;we must get out. Nan and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span>
+I are hungry, and you want your bone. Take us
+out the other way, good Tiger&mdash;the other way, dear
+dog.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She moved instantly toward the little passage;
+the dog followed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The other way,&#8221; she said, and she turned her
+back on the long narrow passage, and took a step
+or two into complete darkness. The dog began to
+whine, caught hold of her dress, and tried to pull
+her back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite right, Tiger, we won&#8217;t go that way,&#8221; said
+Annie, instantly. She returned into the dimly-lighted
+room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Find a way&mdash;find a way out, Tiger,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>The dog evidently understood her; he moved
+restlessly about the room. Finally he got up on
+the bed, pulled and scratched and tore away the
+straw at the upper end, then, wagging his tail, flew
+to Annie&#8217;s side. She came back with him. Beneath
+the straw was a tiny, tiny trap-door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Tiger!&#8221; said the girl; she went down on
+her knees, and, finding she could not stir it, wondered
+if this also was kept in its place by a system
+of balancing. She was right; after a very little
+pressing the door moved aside, and Annie saw four
+or five rudely carved steps.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Nan,&#8221; she said joyfully, &#8220;Tiger has saved
+us; these steps must lead us out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog, with a joyful whine, went down first,
+and Annie, clasping Nan tightly in her arms, followed
+him. Four, five, six steps they went down;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span>
+then, to Annie&#8217;s great joy, she found that the next
+step began to ascend. Up and up she went, cheered
+by a welcome shaft of light. Finally she, Nan, and
+the dog found themselves emerging into the open
+air, through a hole which might have been taken for
+a large rabbit burrow.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLVII_RESCUED' id='CHAPTER_XLVII_RESCUED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLVII.</h2>
+<h3>RESCUED.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The girl, the child, and the dog found themselves
+in a comparatively strange country&mdash;Annie had
+completely lost her bearings. She looked around
+her for some sign of the gypsies&#8217; encampment; but
+whether she had really gone a greater distance
+than she imagined in those underground vaults, or
+whether the tents were hidden in some hollow of
+the ground, she did not know; she was only conscious
+that she was in a strange country, that Nan
+was clinging to her and crying for her breakfast,
+and that Tiger was sniffing the air anxiously.
+Annie guessed that Tiger could take them back to
+the camp, but this was by no means her wish.
+When she emerged out of the underground passage
+she was conscious for the first time of a strange and
+unknown experience. Absolute terror seized the
+brave child; she trembled from head to foot, her
+head ached violently, and the ground on which she
+stood seemed to reel, and the sky to turn round.
+She sat down for a moment on the green grass.
+What ailed her? where was she? how could she get
+home? Nan&#8217;s little piteous wail, &#8220;Me want my
+bekfas&#8217;, me want my nursie, me want Hetty,&#8221; almost
+irritated her.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Nan,&#8221; she said at last piteously, &#8220;have you
+not got your own Annie? Oh, Nan, dear little
+Nan, Annie feels so ill!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan had the biggest and softest of baby hearts&mdash;breakfast,
+nurse, Hetty, were all forgotten in the
+crowning desire to comfort Annie. She climbed on
+her knee and stroked her face and kissed her lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Oo better now?&#8221; she said in a tone of baby
+inquiry.
+</p>
+<p>Annie roused herself with a great effort.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, darling,&#8221; she said; &#8220;we will try and get
+home. Come, Tiger. Tiger, dear, I don&#8217;t want to
+go back to the gypsies; take me the other way&mdash;take
+me to Oakley.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Tiger again sniffed the air, looked anxiously at
+Annie, and trotted on in front. Little Nan in her
+ragged gypsy clothes walked sedately by Annie&#8217;s
+side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where &#8217;oo s&#8217;oes?&#8221; she said, pointing to the
+girl&#8217;s bare feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gone, Nan&mdash;gone. Never mind, I&#8217;ve got you.
+My little treasure, my little love, you&#8217;re safe at
+last.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Annie tottered, rather than walked, down a
+narrow path which led directly through a field of
+standing corn, she was startled by the sudden apparition
+of a bright-eyed girl, who appeared so
+suddenly in her path that she might have been supposed
+to have risen out of the very ground.
+</p>
+<p>The girl stared hard at Annie, fixed her eyes
+inquiringly on Nan and Tiger, and then turning on
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span>
+her heel, dashed up the path, went through a turnstile,
+across the road, and into a cottage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;I said she warn&#8217;t a
+real gypsy; she&#8217;s a-coming back, and her face is all
+streaked like, and she has a little&#8217;un along with her,
+and a dawg, and the only one as is gypsy is the
+dawg. Come and look at her, mother; oh, she is a
+fine take-in!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The round-faced, good-humored looking mother,
+whose name was Mrs. Williams, had been washing
+and putting away the breakfast things when her
+daughter entered. She now wiped her hands
+hastily and came to the cottage door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cross the road, and come to the stile, mother,&#8221;
+said the energetic Peggy&mdash;&#8220;oh, there she be a-creeping
+along&mdash;oh, ain&#8217;t she a take-in?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Sakes alive!&#8221; ejaculated Mrs. Williams, &#8220;the
+girl is ill! why, she can&#8217;t keep herself steady! There!
+I knew she&#8217;d fall; ah! poor little thing&mdash;poor little
+thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It did not take Mrs. Williams an instant to reach
+Annie&#8217;s side; and in another moment she had lifted
+her in her strong arms and carried her into the
+cottage, Peggy lifting Nan and following in the
+rear, while Tiger walked by their sides.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLVIII_DARK_DAYS' id='CHAPTER_XLVIII_DARK_DAYS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h2>
+<h3>DARK DAYS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A whole week had passed, and there were no
+tidings whatever of little Nan or of Annie Forest.
+No one at Lavender House had heard a word about
+them; the police came and went, detectives even
+arrived from London, but there were no traces
+whatever of the missing children.
+</p>
+<p>The midsummer holiday was now close at hand,
+but no one spoke of it or thought of it. Mrs. Willis
+told the teachers that the prizes should be distributed,
+but she said she could invite no guests and
+could allow of no special festivities. Miss Danesbury
+and Miss Good repeated her words to the
+schoolgirls, who answered without hesitation that
+they did not wish for feasting and merriment; they
+would rather the day passed unnoticed. In truth,
+the fact that their baby was gone, that their favorite
+and prettiest and brightest schoolmate had also disappeared,
+caused such gloom, such distress, such
+apprehension that even the most thoughtless of
+those girls could scarcely have laughed or been
+merry. School-hours were still kept after a fashion,
+but there was no life in the lessons. In truth, it
+seemed as if the sun would never shine again at
+Lavender House.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span></p>
+<p>Hester was ill; not very ill&mdash;she had no fever,
+she had no cold; she had, as the good doctor explained
+it, nothing at all wrong, except that her
+nervous system had got a shock.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When the little one is found, Miss Hetty will be
+quite well again,&#8221; said the good doctor; but the
+little one had not been found yet, and Hester had
+completely broken down. She lay on her bed, saying
+little or nothing, eating scarcely anything,
+sleeping not at all. All the girls were kind to her
+and each one in the school took turns in trying to
+comfort her; but no one could win a smile from
+Hester, and even Mrs. Willis failed utterly to reach
+or touch her heart.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard came once to see her, but he had
+scarcely spoken many words when Hester broke into
+an agony of weeping and begged him to go away.
+He shook his head when he left her and said sadly
+to himself:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That girl has got something on her mind; she is
+grieving for more than the loss of her little sister.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The twentieth of June came at last, and the girls
+sat about in groups in the pleasant shady garden,
+and talked of the very sad breaking-up day they
+were to have on the morrow, and wondered if, when
+they returned to school again, Annie and little Nan
+would have been found. Cecil Temple, Dora
+Russell, and one or two others were sitting together
+and whispering in low voices. Mary Price joined
+them, and said anxiously:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the doctor is satisfied about Hester,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span>
+Perhaps I ought not to have listened, but I heard
+him talking to Miss Danesbury just now; he said
+she must be got to sleep somehow, and she is to have
+a composing draught to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish poor Hetty would not turn away from us
+all,&#8221; said Cecil; &#8220;I wish she would not quite give
+up hope; I do feel sure that Nan and Annie will be
+found yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you been praying about it, Cecil?&#8221; asked
+Mary, kneeling on the grass, laying her elbows on
+Cecil&#8217;s knees and looking into her face. &#8220;Do you
+say this because you have faith?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have prayed and I have faith,&#8221; replied Cecil in
+her simple, earnest way. &#8220;Why, Dora, what is the
+matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only that it&#8217;s horrid to leave like this,&#8221; said
+Dora; &#8220;I&mdash;I thought my last day at school would
+have been so different and somehow I am sorry I
+spoke so much against that poor little Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Cecil suddenly rose from her seat, and
+going up to Dora, clasped her arms round her
+neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Dora,&#8221; she said with fervor; &#8220;I love
+you for those words.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here comes Susy,&#8221; remarked Mary Price. &#8220;I
+really don&#8217;t think <i>anything</i> would move Susy; she&#8217;s
+just as stolid and indifferent as ever. Ah, Susy,
+here&#8217;s a place for you&mdash;oh, what <i>is</i> the matter with
+Phyllis? see how she&#8217;s rushing toward us! Phyllis,
+my dear, don&#8217;t break your neck.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan, with her usual nonchalance, seated herself
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span>
+by Dora Russell&#8217;s side. Phyllis burst excitedly into
+the group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;I really, really do think
+that news has come of Annie&#8217;s father. Nora said
+that Janet told her that a foreign letter came this
+morning to Mrs. Willis, and somebody saw Mrs.
+Willis talking to Miss Danesbury&mdash;oh, I forgot,
+only I know that the girls of the school are whispering
+the news that Mrs. Willis cried, and Miss
+Danesbury said, &#8216;After waiting for him four years,
+and now, when he comes back, he won&#8217;t find her!&#8217;
+Oh dear, oh dear! there is Danesbury. Cecil, darling
+love, go to her, and find out the truth.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil rose at once, went across the lawn, said a
+few words to Miss Danesbury, and came back to the
+other girls.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is true,&#8221; she said sadly, &#8220;there came a letter
+this morning from Captain Forest; he will be at
+Lavender House in a week. Miss Danesbury says
+it is a wonderful letter, and he has been shipwrecked,
+and on an island by himself for ever so long; but
+he is safe now, and will soon be in England. Miss
+Danesbury says Mrs. Willis can scarcely speak about
+that letter; she is in great, great trouble, and Miss
+Danesbury confesses that they are all more anxious
+than they dare to admit about Annie and little
+Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At this moment the sound of carriage wheels was
+heard on the drive, and Susan, peering forward to
+see who was arriving, remarked in her usual nonchalant
+manner:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Only the little Misses Bruce in their basket-carriage&mdash;what
+dull-looking women they are?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nobody commented, however, on her observation,
+and gradually the little group of girls sank into absolute
+silence.
+</p>
+<p>From where they sat they could see the basket-carriage
+waiting at the front entrance&mdash;the little
+ladies had gone inside, all was perfect silence and
+stillness.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly on the stillness a sound broke&mdash;the
+sound of a girl running quickly; nearer and nearer
+came the steps, and the four or five who sat together
+under the oak-tree noticed the quick panting breath,
+and felt even before a word was uttered that evil
+tidings were coming to them. They all started to
+their feet, however; they all uttered a cry of horror
+and distress when Hester herself broke into their
+midst. She was supposed to be lying down in a
+darkened room, she was supposed to be very ill&mdash;what
+was she doing here?
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hetty!&#8221; exclaimed Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>Hester pushed past her; she rushed up to Susan
+Drummond, and seized her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;News has come!&#8221; she panted; &#8220;news&mdash;news at
+last! Nan is found!&mdash;and Annie&mdash;they are both
+found&mdash;but Annie is dying. Come, Susan, come
+this moment; we must both tell what we know
+now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>By her impetuosity, by the intense fire of her passion
+and agony, even Susan was electrified into leaving
+her seat and going with her.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLIX_TWO_CONFESSIONS' id='CHAPTER_XLIX_TWO_CONFESSIONS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLIX.</h2>
+<h3>TWO CONFESSIONS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hester dragged her startled and rather unwilling
+companion in through the front entrance, past some
+agitated-looking servants who stood about in the
+hall, and through the velvet curtains into Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+boudoir.
+</p>
+<p>The Misses Bruce were there, and Mrs. Willis in
+her bonnet and cloak was hastily packing some
+things into a basket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I must speak to you,&#8221; said Hester, going up
+to her governess. &#8220;Susan and I have got something
+to say, and we must say it here, now at
+once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not now, Hester,&#8221; replied Mrs. Willis, looking
+for a moment into her pupil&#8217;s agitated face.
+&#8220;Whatever you and Susan Drummond have to tell
+cannot be listened to by me at this moment. I have
+not an instant to lose.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are going to Annie?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; don&#8217;t keep me. Good-bye, my dears;
+good-bye.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis moved toward the door. Hester, who
+felt almost beside herself, rushed after her, and
+caught her arm.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Take us with you, take Susy and me with you&mdash;we
+must, we must see Annie before she dies.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush, my child,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis very quietly;
+&#8220;try to calm yourself. Whatever you have got to
+say shall be listened to later on&mdash;now moments are
+precious, and I cannot attend to you. Calm yourself,
+Hester, and thank God for your dear little sister&#8217;s
+safety. Prepare yourself to receive her, for
+the carriage which takes me to Annie will bring
+little Nan home.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis left the room, and Hester threw herself
+on her knees and covered her face with her
+trembling hands. Presently she was aroused
+by a light touch on her arm; it was Susan Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I may go now I suppose, Hester? You are not
+quite determined to make a fool of me, are you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have determined to expose you, you coward;
+you mean, mean girl!&#8221; answered Hester, springing
+to her feet. &#8220;Come, I have no idea of letting you
+go. Mrs. Willis won&#8217;t listen&mdash;we will find Mr.
+Everard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Whether Susan would really have gone with Heater
+remains to be proved, but just at that moment
+all possibility of retreat was cut away from her by
+Miss Agnes Bruce, who quietly entered Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+private sitting-room, followed by the very man
+Hester was about to seek.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought it best, my dear,&#8221; she said, turning
+apologetically to Hester, &#8220;to go at once for our good
+clergyman; you can tell him all that is in your
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span>
+heart, and I will leave you. Before I go, however,
+I should like to tell you how I found Annie and
+little Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester made no answer; just for a brief moment
+she raised her eyes to Miss Agnes&#8217; kind face, then
+they sought the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The story can be told in a few words, dear,&#8221; said
+the little lady. &#8220;A workwoman of the name of
+Williams, whom my sister and I have employed
+for years, and who lives near Oakley, called on us
+this morning to apologize for not being able to
+finish some needlework. She told us that she had
+a sick child, and also a little girl of three, in her
+house. She said she had found the child, in ragged
+gypsy garments, fainting in a field. She took her
+into her house, and on undressing her, found that
+she was no true gypsy, but that her face and hands
+and arms had been dyed; she said the little one had
+been treated in a similar manner. Jane&#8217;s suspicions
+and mine were instantly roused, and we went back
+with the woman to Oakley, and found, as we had
+anticipated, that the children were little Nan and
+Annie. The sad thing is that Annie is in high
+fever, and knows no one. We waited there until
+the doctor arrived, who spoke very, very seriously
+of her case. Little Nan is well, and asked for
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With these last words Miss Agnes Bruce softly
+left the room closing the door after her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Susan,&#8221; said Hester, without an instant&#8217;s
+pause; &#8220;come, let us tell Mr. Everard of our
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span>
+wickedness. Oh, sir,&#8221; she added, raising her
+eyes to the clergyman&#8217;s face, &#8220;if Annie dies I
+shall go mad. Oh, I cannot, cannot bear life if
+Annie dies!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me what is wrong, my poor child,&#8221; said
+Mr. Everard. He laid his hand on her shoulder,
+and gradually and skillfully drew from the
+agitated and miserable girl the story of her sin, of
+her cowardice, and of her deep, though until now
+unavailing repentance. How from the first she had
+hated and disliked Annie; how unjustly she had
+felt toward her; how she had longed and hoped
+Annie was guilty; and how, when at last the clue
+was put into her hands to prove Annie&#8217;s absolute
+innocence, she had determined not to use it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;From the day Nan was lost,&#8221; continued Hester,
+&#8220;it has been all agony and all repentance; but, oh,
+I was too proud to tell! I was too proud to humble
+myself to the very dust!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But not now,&#8221; said the clergyman, very gently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; not now. I care for nothing now in all
+the world except that Annie may live.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mind the fact that Mrs. Willis and all
+your schoolfellows must know of this, and must&mdash;must
+judge you accordingly?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They can&#8217;t think worse of me than I think of
+myself. I only want Annie to live.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Hester,&#8221; answered Mr. Everard, &#8220;you want
+more than that&mdash;you want far more than that. It
+may be that God will take Annie Forest away.
+We cannot tell. With Him alone are the issues of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span>
+life or death. What you really want, my child, is
+the forgiveness of the little girl you have wronged,
+and the forgiveness of your Father in heaven.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester began to sob wildly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If&mdash;if she dies&mdash;may I see her first?&#8221; she
+gasped.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I will try and promise you that. Now,
+will you go to your room? I must speak to
+Miss Drummond alone; she is a far worse culprit
+than you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard opened the door for Hester, who
+went silently out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Meet me in the chapel to-night,&#8221; he whispered
+low in her ear, &#8220;I will talk with you and pray with
+you there.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He closed the door, and came back to Susan.
+</p>
+<p>All throughout this interview his manner had
+been very gentle to Hester: but the clergyman
+could be stern, and there was a gleam of very righteous
+anger in his eyes as he turned to the sullen
+girl who leaned heavily against the table.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This narrative of Hester Thornton&#8217;s is, of
+course, quite true, Miss Drummond?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes; there seems to be no use in denying
+that,&#8221; said Susan.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must insist on your telling me the exact story
+of your sin. There is no use in your attempting to
+deny anything; only the utmost candor on your
+part can now save you from being publicly
+expelled.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am willing to tell,&#8221; answered Susan. &#8220;I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span>
+meant no harm; it was done as a bit of fun. I had
+a cousin at home who was very clever at drawing
+caricatures, and I happened to have nothing to do
+one day, and I was alone in Annie&#8217;s bedroom, and I
+thought I&#8217;d like to see what she kept in her desk.
+I always had a fancy for collecting odd keys, and I
+found one on my bunch which fitted her desk
+exactly. I opened it, and I found such a smart
+little caricature of Mrs. Willis. I sent the caricature
+to my cousin, and begged of her to make an exact
+copy of it. She did so, and I put Annie&#8217;s back in
+her desk, and pasted the other into Cecil&#8217;s book. I
+didn&#8217;t like Dora Russell, and I wrapped up the
+sweeties in her theme; but I did the other for pure
+fun, for I knew Cecil would be so shocked; but I never
+guessed the blame would fall on Annie. When I
+found it did, I felt inclined to tell once or twice, but
+it seemed too much trouble and, besides, I knew
+Mrs. Willis would punish me, and, of course, I didn&#8217;t
+wish that.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dora Russell was always very nasty to me, and
+when I found she was putting on such airs, and pretending
+she could write such a grand essay for the
+prize, I thought I&#8217;d take down her pride a bit. I
+went to her desk, and I got some of the rough copy
+of the thing she was calling &#8216;The River,&#8217; and I sent
+it off to my cousin, and my cousin made up such a
+ridiculous paper, and she hit off Dora&#8217;s writing to
+the life, and, of course, I had to put it into Dora&#8217;s
+desk and tear up her real copy. It was very
+unlucky Hester being in the room. Of course I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span>
+never guessed that, or I wouldn&#8217;t have gone. That
+was the night we all went with Annie to the fairies&#8217;
+field. I never meant to get Hester into a scrape,
+nor Annie either, for that matter; but, of course, I
+couldn&#8217;t be expected to tell on myself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan related her story in her usual monotonous
+and sing-song voice. There was no trace of apparent
+emotion on her face, or of regret in her tones.
+When she had finished speaking Mr. Everard was
+absolutely silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I took a great deal of trouble,&#8221; continued Susan,
+after a pause, in a slightly fretful key. &#8220;It was
+really nothing but a joke, and I don&#8217;t see why such a
+fuss should have been made. I know I lost a great
+deal of sleep trying to manage that twine business
+round my foot. I don&#8217;t think I shall trouble
+myself playing any more tricks upon schoolgirls&mdash;they
+are not worth it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll never play any more tricks on these girls,&#8221;
+said Mr. Everard, rising to his feet, and suddenly filling
+the room and reducing Susan to an abject silence
+by the ring of his stern, deep voice. &#8220;I take it upon
+me, in the absence of your mistress, to pronounce your
+punishment. You leave Lavender House in disgrace
+this evening. Miss Good will take you home, and
+explain to your parents the cause of your dismissal.
+You are not to see <i>any</i> of your schoolfellows again.
+Your meanness, your cowardice, your sin require no
+words on my part to deepen their vileness. Through
+pure wantonness you have cast a cruel shadow on an
+innocent young life. If that girl dies, you indeed are
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_325' name='page_325'></a>325</span>
+not blameless in the cause of her early removal, for
+through you her heart and spirit were broken. Miss
+Drummond, I pray God you may at least repent and
+be sorry. There are some people mentioned in the
+Bible who are spoken of as past feeling. Wretched
+girl, while there is yet time, pray that you may not
+belong to them. Now I must leave you, but I shall
+lock you in. Miss Good will come for you in about
+an hour to take you away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan Drummond sank down on the nearest seat,
+and began to cry softly; one or two pin-pricks from
+Mr. Everard&#8217;s stern words may possibly have reached
+her shallow heart&mdash;no one can tell. She left Lavender
+House that evening, and none of the girls who
+had lived with her as their schoolmate heard of her
+again.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_L_THE_HEART_OF_LITTLE_NAN' id='CHAPTER_L_THE_HEART_OF_LITTLE_NAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_326' name='page_326'></a>326</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER L.</h2>
+<h3>THE HEART OF LITTLE NAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>For several days now Annie had lain unconscious
+in Mrs. Williams&#8217; little bedroom; the kind-hearted
+woman could not find it in her heart to send the sick
+child away. Her husband and the neighbors expostulated
+with her, and said that Annie was only a
+poor little waif.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has no call on you,&#8221; said Jane Allen, a hard-featured
+woman who lived next door. &#8220;Why should
+you put yourself out just for a sick lass? and she&#8217;ll
+be much better off in the workhouse infirmary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Mrs. Williams shook her head at her hard-featured
+and hard-hearted neighbor, and resisted her
+husband&#8217;s entreaties.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh!&#8221; she said, &#8220;but the poor lamb needs a good
+bit of mothering, and I misdoubt me she wouldn&#8217;t
+get much of that in the infirmary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So Annie stayed, and tossed from side to side of
+her little bed, and murmured unintelligible words,
+and grew daily a little weaker and a little more delirious.
+The parish doctor called, and shook his
+head over her; he was not a particularly clever man,
+but he was the best the Williamses could afford.
+While Annie suffered and went deeper into that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_327' name='page_327'></a>327</span>
+valley of humiliation and weakness which leads to
+the gate of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, little
+Nan played with Peggy Williams, and accustomed
+herself after the fashion of little children to all the
+ways of her new and humble home.
+</p>
+<p>It was on the eighth day of Annie&#8217;s fever that the
+Misses Bruce discovered her, and on the evening of
+that day Mrs. Willis knelt by her little favorite&#8217;s
+bed. A better doctor had been called in, and all
+that money could procure had been got now for poor
+Annie; but the second doctor considered her case
+even more critical, and said that the close air of the
+cottage was much against her recovery.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t make that caricature; I took the girls
+into the fairies&#8217; field, but I never pasted that caricature
+into Cecil&#8217;s book. I know you don&#8217;t believe
+me, Cecil; but do you think I would really do anything
+so mean about one whom love? No, No! I
+am innocent! God knows it. Yes, I am glad of
+that&mdash;God knows it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Over and over in Mrs. Willis&#8217; presence these
+piteous words would come from the fever-stricken
+child, but always when she came to the little sentence
+&#8220;God knows I am innocent,&#8221; her voice would grow
+tranquil, and a faint and sweet smile would play
+round her lips.
+</p>
+<p>Late that night a carriage drew up at a little
+distance from the cottage, and a moment or two
+afterward Mrs. Willis was called out of the room
+to speak to Cecil Temple.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have found out the truth about Annie; I have
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_328' name='page_328'></a>328</span>
+come at once to tell you,&#8221; she said; and then she
+repeated the substance of Hester&#8217;s and Susan&#8217;s
+story.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;God help me for having misjudged her,&#8221; murmured
+the head-mistress; then she bade Cecil &#8220;good-night&#8221;
+and returned to the sick-room.
+</p>
+<p>The next time Annie broke out with her piteous
+wail, &#8220;They believe me guilty&mdash;Mrs. Willis does&mdash;they
+all do,&#8221; the mistress laid her hand with a firm
+and gentle pressure on the child&#8217;s arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not now, my dear,&#8221; she said, in a slow, clear,
+and emphatic voice. &#8220;God has shown your governess
+the truth, and she believes in you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The very carefully-uttered words pierced through
+the clouded brain; for a moment Annie lay quite
+still, with her bright and lovely eyes fixed on her
+teacher.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that really you?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am here, my darling.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you believe in me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do, most absolutely.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;God does, too, you know,&#8221; answered Annie&mdash;bringing
+out the words quickly, and turning her head
+to the other side. The fever had once more gained
+supremacy, and she rambled on unceasingly through
+the dreary night.
+</p>
+<p>Now, however, when the passionate words broke
+out, &#8220;They believe me guilty,&#8221; Mrs. Willis always
+managed to quiet her by saying, &#8220;I know you are
+innocent.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span></p>
+<p>The next day at noon those girls who had not
+gone home&mdash;for many had started by the morning
+train&mdash;were wandering aimlessly about the grounds.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard had gone to see Annie, and had
+promised to bring back the latest tidings about
+her.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, holding little Nan&#8217;s hand&mdash;for she could
+scarcely bear to have her recovered treasure out of
+sight&mdash;had wandered away from the rest of her
+companions, and had seated herself with Nan under
+a large oak-tree which grew close to the entrance
+of the avenue. She had come here in order to be
+the very first to see Mr. Everard on his return.
+Nan had climbed into Hester&#8217;s lap, and Hester had
+buried her aching head in little Nan&#8217;s bright curls,
+when she started suddenly to her feet and ran
+forward. Her quick ears had detected the sound of
+wheels.
+</p>
+<p>How soon Mr. Everard had returned; surely the
+news was bad! She flew to the gate, and held it
+open in order to avoid the short delay which the
+lodge-keeper might cause in coming to unfasten it.
+She flushed, however, vividly, and felt half inclined
+to retreat into the shade, when she saw that the
+gentleman who was approaching was not Mr. Everard,
+but a tall, handsome, and foreign-looking man,
+who drove a light dog-cart himself. The moment
+he saw Hester with little Nan clinging to her skirts
+he stopped short.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is this Lavender House, little girl?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; replied Hester.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_330' name='page_330'></a>330</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;And can you tell me&mdash;but of course you know&mdash;you
+are one of the young ladies who live here, eh?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you can tell me if Mrs. Willis is at home&mdash;but
+of course she is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; answered Hester; &#8220;I am sorry to tell
+you that Mrs. Willis is away. She has been called
+away on very, very sad business; she won&#8217;t come
+back to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Something in Hester&#8217;s tone caused the stranger to
+look at her attentively; he jumped off the dog-cart
+and came to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;See here, Miss&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thornton,&#8221; put in Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss&mdash;Miss Thornton, perhaps you can
+manage for me as well as Mrs. Willis; after all I
+don&#8217;t particularly want to see her. If you belong
+to Lavender House, you, of course, know my&mdash;I
+mean you have a schoolmate here, a little, pretty
+gypsy rogue called Forest&mdash;little Annie Forest. I
+want to see her&mdash;can you take me to her?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are her father?&#8221; gasped Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my dear child, I am her father. Now you
+can take me to her at once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester covered her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I cannot,&#8221; she said&mdash;&#8220;I cannot take you to
+Annie. Oh, sir, if you knew all, you would feel
+inclined to kill me. Don&#8217;t ask me about Annie&mdash;don&#8217;t,
+don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The stranger looked fairly non-plussed and not a
+little alarmed. Just at this moment Nan&#8217;s tiny fingers
+touched his hand.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Me&#8217;ll take &#8217;oo to my Annie,&#8221; she said&mdash;&#8220;mine
+poor Annie. Annie&#8217;s vedy sick, but me&#8217;ll
+take &#8217;oo.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The tall, foreign-looking man lifted Nan into his
+arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sick, is she?&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Look here young
+lady,&#8221; he added, turning to Hester, &#8220;whatever you
+have got to say, I am sure you will try and say it;
+you will pity a father&#8217;s anxiety and master your own
+feelings. Where <i>is</i> my little girl?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester hastily dried her tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is in a cottage near Oakley, sir.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed! Oakley is some miles from here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And she is very ill.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What of?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fever; they&mdash;they fear she may die.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take me to her,&#8221; said the stranger. &#8220;If she is
+ill and dying she wants me. Take me to her at
+once. Here, jump on the dog-cart; and, little one,
+you shall come too.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So furiously did Captain Forest drive that in a
+very little over an hour&#8217;s time his panting horse
+stopped at a few steps from the cottage. He called
+to a boy to hold him, and, accompanied by Hester,
+and carrying Nan in his arms, he stood on the
+threshold of Mrs. Williams&#8217; humble little abode. Mr.
+Everard was coming out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hester,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you here? I was coming for
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, then she is worse?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is conscious, and has asked for you. Yes,
+she is very, very ill.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_332' name='page_332'></a>332</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Everard, this gentleman is Annie&#8217;s father.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard looked pityingly at Captain Forest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have come back at a sad hour, sir,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;But no, it cannot harm her to see you. Come
+with me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Captain Forest went first into the sick-room;
+Hester waited outside. She had the little kitchen to
+herself, for all the Williamses, with the exception of
+the good mother, had moved for the time being to
+other quarters. Surely Mr. Everard would come
+for her in a moment? Surely Captain Forest, who
+had gone into the sick-room with Nan in his arms,
+would quickly return? There was no sound. All
+was absolute quiet. How soon would Hester be
+summoned? Could she&mdash;could she bear to look at
+Annie&#8217;s dying face? Her agony drove her down on
+her knees.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if you would only spare Annie!&#8221; she prayed
+to God. Then she wiped her eyes. This terrible
+suspense seemed more than she could bear. Suddenly
+the bedroom door was softly and silently
+opened, and Mr. Everard came out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She sleeps,&#8221; he said; &#8220;there is a shadow of hope.
+Little Nan has done it. Nan asked to lie down beside
+her, and she said, &#8216;Poor Annie! poor Annie!&#8217;
+and stroked her cheek; and in some way, I don&#8217;t
+know how, the two have gone to sleep together.
+Annie did not even glance at her father; she was
+quite taken up with Nan. You can come to the
+door and look at her, Hester.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester did so. A time had been when she could
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_333' name='page_333'></a>333</span>
+scarcely have borne that sight without a pang of
+jealousy; now she turned to Mr. Everard:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I could even give her the heart of little Nan
+to keep her here,&#8221; she murmured.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_LI_THE_PRIZE_ESSAY' id='CHAPTER_LI_THE_PRIZE_ESSAY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_334' name='page_334'></a>334</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER LI.</h2>
+<h3>THE PRIZE ESSAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie did not die. The fever passed away
+in that long and refreshing sleep, while Nan&#8217;s
+cool hand lay against her cheek. She came slowly,
+slowly back to life&mdash;to a fresh, a new, and a glad
+life. Hester, from being her enemy, was now her
+dearest and warmest friend. Her father was at
+home again, and she could no longer think or speak
+of herself as lonely or sad. She recovered, and in
+future days reigned as a greater favorite than ever
+at Lavender House. It is only fair to say that
+Tiger never went back to the gypsies, but devoted
+himself first and foremost to Annie, and then to the
+captain, who pronounced him a capital dog, and
+when he heard his story vowed he never would part
+with him.
+</p>
+<p>Owing to Annie&#8217;s illness, and to all the trouble
+and confusion which immediately ensued, Mrs. Willis
+did not give away her prizes at the usual time; but
+when her scholars once more assembled at Lavender
+House she astonished several of them by a few
+words.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dears,&#8221; she said, standing in her accustomed
+place at the head of the long school-room, &#8220;I intend
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_335' name='page_335'></a>335</span>
+now before our first day of lessons begins, to distribute
+those prizes which would have been yours, under
+ordinary circumstances, on the twenty-first of June.
+The prizes will be distributed during the afternoon
+recess; but here, and now, I wish to say something
+about&mdash;and also to give away&mdash;the prize for English
+composition. Six essays, all written with more or
+less care, have been given to me to inspect. There
+are reasons which we need not now go into which
+made it impossible to me to say anything in favor of
+a theme called &#8216;The River,&#8217; written by my late
+pupil, Miss Russell; but I can cordially praise a very
+nice historical sketch of Marie Antoinette, the work
+of Hester Thornton. Mary Price has also written a
+study which pleases me much, as it shows thought
+and even a little originality. The remainder of the
+six essays simply reach an ordinary average. You
+will be surprised therefore, my dears, to learn that I
+do not award the prize to any of these themes, but
+rather to a seventh composition, which was put into
+my hands yesterday by Miss Danesbury. It is crude
+and unfinished, and doubtless but for her recent illness
+would have received many corrections; but
+these few pages, which are called &#8216;A Lonely Child,&#8217;
+drew tears from my eyes; crude as they are, they
+have the merit of real originality. They are too
+morbid to read to you, girls, and I sincerely trust
+and pray the young writer may never pen anything
+so sad again. Such as they are, however, they rank
+first in the order of merit and the prize is hers.
+Annie, my dear, come forward.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_336' name='page_336'></a>336</span></p>
+<p>Annie left her seat, and, amid the cheers of her
+companions, went up to Mrs. Willis, who placed a
+locket, attached to a slender gold chain, round her
+neck; the locket contained a miniature of the head-mistress&#8217;
+much-loved face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all, think of our Annie Forest turning out
+clever as well as being the prettiest and dearest girl
+in the school!&#8221; exclaimed several of her companions.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only I do wish,&#8221; added one, &#8220;that Mrs. Willis
+had let us see the essay. Annie, treasure, come
+here; tell us what the &#8216;Lonely Child&#8217; was about.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t remember,&#8221; answered Annie. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know what loneliness means now, so how can I describe
+it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em;'>THE END</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-weight:bold;'>A. L. BURT&#8217;S PUBLICATIONS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-weight:bold;'>For Young People</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em;'>BY POPULAR WRITERS,</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-weight:bold;'>97-99-101 Reade Street, New York.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p><b>Bonnie Prince Charlie</b>: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service.
+The boy, brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a
+Jacobite agent, escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches
+Paris, and serves with the French army at Dettingen. He kills
+his father&#8217;s foe in a duel, and escaping to the coast, shares the
+adventures of Prince Charlie, but finally settles happily in Scotland.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller;'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of &#8216;Quentin Durward.&#8217; The lad&#8217;s
+journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a narrative
+of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treatment and
+variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Spectator.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Clive in India</b>; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in
+India and the close of his career was critical and eventful in the
+extreme. At its commencement the English were traders existing
+on sufferance of the native princes. At its close they were masters
+of Bengal and of the greater part of Southern India. The author
+has given a full and accurate account of the events of that stirring
+time, and battles and sieges follow each other in rapid succession,
+while he combines with his narrative a tale of daring and adventure,
+which gives a lifelike interest to the volume.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller;'>
+
+<p>&#8220;He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance,
+and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is deeply
+interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the volume.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Scotsman.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Lion of the North</b>: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the
+Wars of Religion. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations
+by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>John Schönberg</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the
+Thirty Years&#8217; War. The issue had its importance, which has extended
+to the present day, as it established religious freedom
+in Germany. The army of the chivalrous king of Sweden was
+largely composed of Scotchmen, and among these was the hero of
+the story.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys may be
+trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be profited.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Times.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Dragon and the Raven</b>; or, The Days of King Alfred. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>C. J. Staniland</span>,
+R.I. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle
+between Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents
+a vivid picture of the misery and ruin to which the country was
+reduced by the ravages of the sea-wolves. The hero, a young
+Saxon thane, takes part in all the battles fought by King Alfred.
+He is driven from his home, takes to the sea and resists the Danes
+on their own element, and being pursued by them up the Seine,
+is present at the long and desperate siege of Paris.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Athenæum.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Young Carthaginian</b>: A Story of the Times of Hannibal.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>C. J. Staniland</span>,
+R.I. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen
+appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first a
+struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of
+Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he
+defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannæ,
+and all but took Rome, represents pretty nearly the sum total of
+their knowledge. To let them know more about this momentous
+struggle for the empire of the world Mr. Henty has written this
+story, which not only gives in graphic style a brilliant description
+of a most interesting period of history, but is a tale of exciting
+adventure sure to secure the interest of the reader.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays the
+interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose current
+varies in direction, but never loses its force.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>In Freedom&#8217;s Cause</b>: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish
+War of Independence. The extraordinary valor and personal
+prowess of Wallace and Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical
+heroes of chivalry, and indeed at one time Wallace was ranked
+with these legendary personages. The researches of modern
+historians have shown, however, that he was a living, breathing
+man&mdash;and a valiant champion. The hero of the tale fought under
+both Wallace and Bruce, and while the strictest historical accuracy
+has been maintained with respect to public events, the work is
+full of &#8220;hairbreadth &#8217;scapes&#8221; and wild adventure.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is written in the author&#8217;s best style. Full of the wildest and most remarkable
+achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy, once he has
+begun it, will not willingly put on one side.&#8221;&mdash;<i>The Schoolmaster.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Lee in Virginia</b>: A Story of the American Civil War. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely
+proving his sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves
+with no less courage and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson
+through the most exciting events of the struggle. He has many
+hairbreadth escapes, is several times wounded and twice taken
+prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in two cases, the
+devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom he had
+assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. The
+picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic incidents are
+skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of the story.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Standard.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By England&#8217;s Aid</b>; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604).
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Alfred Pearse</span>, and Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in
+the service of one of &#8220;the fighting Veres.&#8221; After many adventures
+by sea and land, one of the lads finds himself on board a
+Spanish ship at the time of the defeat of the Armada, and escapes
+only to fall into the hands of the Corsairs. He is successful in
+getting back to Spain under the protection of a wealthy merchant,
+and regains his native country after the capture of Cadiz.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring incident
+and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the scene are
+finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its attractiveness.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Boston
+Gazette.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By Right of Conquest</b>; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. S. Stacey</span>, and
+Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.50.
+</p>
+<p>The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under
+the magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked
+among the most romantic and daring exploits in history. With
+this as the groundwork of his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the
+adventures of an English youth, Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor
+of the good ship Swan, which had sailed from a Devon port
+to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards in the
+New World. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but
+is saved by his own judgment and strength, and by the devotion
+of an Aztec princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the protection
+of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining
+his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec
+bride.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;By Right of Conquest&#8217; is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful
+Historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Academy.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>In the Reign of Terror</b>: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>J. Schönberg</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the
+chateau of a French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies
+the family to Paris at the crisis of the Revolution. Imprisonment
+and death reduce their number, and the hero finds
+himself beset by perils with the three young daughters of the
+house in his charge. After hairbreadth escapes they reach Nantes.
+There the girls are condemned to death in the coffin-ships,
+but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy protector.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr.
+Henty&#8217;s record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and peril
+they depict.... The story is one of Mr. Henty&#8217;s best.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday
+Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Wolfe in Canada</b>; or, The Winning of a Continent. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle
+between Britain and France for supremacy in the North
+American continent. On the issue of this war depended not only
+the destinies of North America, but to a large extent those of the
+mother countries themselves. The fall of Quebec decided that
+the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New World;
+that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the
+nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the
+English language, and English literature, should spread right
+round the globe.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically told,
+but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure and peril by
+flood and field.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Illustrated London News.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>True to the Old Flag</b>: A Tale of the American War of Independence.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who
+took part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which
+American and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave
+with greater courage and good conduct. The historical portion of
+the book being accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures
+with the redskins on the shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting
+interest is interwoven with the general narrative and carried
+through the book.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers during
+the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son of an
+American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the hostile redskins
+in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us by the exploits
+of Hawkeye and Chingachgook.&#8221;&mdash;<i>The Times.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Lion of St. Mark</b>: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth
+Century. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor
+were put to the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and
+manliness which carry him safely through an atmosphere of intrigue,
+crime, and bloodshed. He contributes largely to the victories
+of the Venetians at Porto d&#8217;Anzo and Chioggia, and finally
+wins the hand of the daughter of one of the chief men of Venice.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Every boy should read &#8216;The Lion of St. Mark.&#8217; Mr. Henty has never produced
+a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday
+Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>A Final Reckoning</b>: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. B. Wollen</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood,
+emigrates to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the
+mounted police. A few years of active work on the frontier,
+where he has many a brush with both natives and bushrangers,
+gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he eventually settles
+down to the peaceful life of a squatter.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully constructed,
+or a better written story than this.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Spectator.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>Under Drake&#8217;s Flag</b>: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the
+supremacy of the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the
+Pacific expedition, and in his great voyage of circumnavigation.
+The historical portion of the story is absolutely to be relied upon,
+but this will perhaps be less attractive than the great variety of
+exciting adventure through which the young heroes pass in the
+course of their voyages.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one
+would think, to turn his hair gray.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Harper&#8217;s Monthly Magazine.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By Sheer Pluck</b>: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>.
+With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details
+of the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness.
+His hero, after many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained
+a prisoner by the king just before the outbreak of the war,
+but escapes, and accompanies the English expedition on their
+march to Coomassie.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys&#8217; stories. &#8216;By Sheer
+Pluck&#8217; will be eagerly read.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Athenæum.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By Pike and Dyke</b>: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Maynard Brown</span>, and 4 Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds
+of an English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age&mdash;William
+the Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea
+captain, enters the service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed
+by him in many dangerous and responsible missions, in the
+discharge of which he passes through the great sieges of the time.
+He ultimately settles down as Sir Edward Martin.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the book,
+while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in spite of themselves.&#8221;&mdash;<i>St.
+James&#8217; Gazette.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>St. George for England</b>: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>No portion of English history is more crowded with great events
+than that of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; the
+destruction of the Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death;
+the Jacquerie rising; these are treated by the author in &#8220;St.
+George for England.&#8221; The hero of the story, although of good
+family, begins life as a London apprentice, but after countless adventures
+and perils becomes by valor and good conduct the squire,
+and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys
+which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of Sir
+Walter Scott in the land of fiction.&#8221;&mdash;<i>The Standard.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>Captain&#8217;s Kidd&#8217;s Gold</b>: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor
+Boy. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>James Franklin Fitts</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very
+idea of buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy
+Portuguese and Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming
+eyes&mdash;sinister-looking fellows who once on a time haunted the
+Spanish Main, sneaking out from some hidden creek in their long,
+low schooner, of picaroonish rake and sheer, to attack an unsuspecting
+trading craft. There were many famous sea rovers in
+their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps
+the most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts&#8217; true story of an adventurous
+American boy, who receives from his dying father an
+ancient bit of vellum, which the latter obtained in a curious way.
+The document bears obscure directions purporting to locate a certain
+island in the Bahama group, and a considerable treasure
+buried there by two of Kidd&#8217;s crew. The hero of this book,
+Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of salt-water
+New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and
+secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our
+youth that has come from the press.
+</p>
+<p><b>Captain Bayley&#8217;s Heir</b>: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>H. M. Paget</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a
+considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the
+latter, and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves
+England for America. He works his passage before the mast,
+joins a small band of hunters, crosses a tract of country infested
+with Indians to the Californian gold diggings, and is successful
+both as digger and trader.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the
+humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John Holl, the Westminster
+dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Christian Leader.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>For Name and Fame</b>; or, Through Afghan Passes. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero,
+after being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures
+among the Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment
+proceeding to join the army at the Afghan passes. He accompanies
+the force under General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal,
+is wounded, taken prisoner, carried to Cabul, whence he is transferred
+to Candahar, and takes part in the final defeat of the army
+of Ayoub Khan.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;The best feature of the book&mdash;apart from the interest of its scenes of adventure&mdash;is
+its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the Afghan
+people.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Daily News.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>Captured by Apes</b>: The Wonderful Adventures of a Young
+Animal Trainer. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Harry Prentice</span>. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archipelago.
+Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of
+New York, sets sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of
+living curiosities. The vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo
+and young Garland, the sole survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore
+on a small island, and captured by the apes that overrun the
+place. The lad discovers that the ruling spirit of the monkey
+tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, whom he identifies as
+Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession and with whose
+instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute recognizes
+him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his former
+master through the same course of training he had himself experienced
+with a faithfulness of detail which shows how astonishing
+is monkey recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by
+which the young man escapes death. Mr. Prentice has certainly
+worked a new vein on juvenile fiction, and the ability with which
+he handles a difficult subject stamps him as a writer of undoubted
+skill.
+</p>
+<p><b>The Bravest of the Brave</b>; or, With Peterborough in Spain.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>H. M. Paget</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so
+completely fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough.
+This is largely due to the fact that they were overshadowed
+by the glory and successes of Marlborough. His career
+as general extended over little more than a year, and yet, in that
+time, he showed a genius for warfare which has never been surpassed.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work&mdash;to enforce
+the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read &#8216;The Bravest of the Brave&#8217;
+with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Daily Telegraph.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Cat of Bubastes</b>: A Story of Ancient Egypt. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight
+into the customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the
+Rebu nation, is carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery.
+They become inmates of the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest,
+and are happy in his service until the priest&#8217;s son accidentally
+kills the sacred cat of Bubastes. In an outburst of popular
+fury Ameres is killed, and it rests with Jethro and Amuba to
+secure the escape of the high-priest&#8217;s son and daughter.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat to the
+perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully constructed
+and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably illustrated.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday
+Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Washington at Monmouth</b>: A Story of Three Philadelphia
+Boys. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>James Otis</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon &#8220;whose mother conducted
+a boarding-house which was patronized by the British
+officers;&#8221; Enoch Ball, &#8220;son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing
+school was situated on Letitia Street,&#8221; and little Jacob, son of
+&#8220;Chris, the Baker,&#8221; serve as the principal characters. The
+story is laid during the winter when Lord Howe held possession
+of the city, and the lads aid the cause by assisting the American
+spies who make regular and frequent visits from Valley Forge.
+One reads here of home-life in the captive city when bread was
+scarce among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless prodigality
+shown by the British officers, who passed the winter in
+feasting and merry-making while the members of the patriot army
+but a few miles away were suffering from both cold and hunger.
+The story abounds with pictures of Colonial life skillfully
+drawn, and the glimpses of Washington&#8217;s soldiers which are given
+show that the work has not been hastily done, or without considerable
+study.
+</p>
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.07 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Sat Jun 21 05:46:26 -0600 2008 -->
+
+
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #25870 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25870)
diff --git a/old/25870-8.txt b/old/25870-8.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A World of Girls
+       The Story of a School
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: June 22, 2008 [EBook #25870]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "'SHAKE HANDS, NOW, AND LET US MAKE FRIENDS.'" (Page 27.)]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A WORLD OF GIRLS:
+
+THE STORY OF A SCHOOL.
+
+By L. T. MEADE.
+
+Author of "The Palace Beautiful," "A Sweet Girl Graduate,"
+"Polly: A New Fashioned Girl," Etc.
+
+ILLUSTRATED.
+
+NEW YORK:
+A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I.
+"Good-Bye" to the Old Life.                1
+
+CHAPTER II.
+Traveling Companions.                      6
+
+CHAPTER III.
+At Lavender House.                        13
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+Little Drawing-Rooms and Little Tiffs.    19
+
+CHAPTER V.
+The Head-Mistress.                        28
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+"I am Unhappy."                           32
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+A Day at School.                          35
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+"You have Waked me too Soon."             47
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+Work and Play.                            54
+
+CHAPTER X.
+Varieties.                                62
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+What was Found in the School-Desk.        74
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+In the Chapel.                            88
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+Talking over the Mystery.                 95
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+"Sent to Coventry."                      102
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+About Some People who Thought no Evil.   107
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+"An Enemy Hath Done This."               114
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+"The Sweets are Poisoned."               123
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+In the Hammock.                          129
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+Cup and Ball.                            136
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+In the South Parlor.                     143
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+Stealing Hearts.                         151
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+In Burn Castle Wood.                     155
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+"Humpty-Dumpty had a Great Fall."        168
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+Annie to the Rescue.                     173
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+A Spoiled Baby.                          180
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+Under the Laurel Bush.                   188
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+Truants.                                 193
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+In the Fairies' Field.                   198
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+Hester's Forgotten Book.                 204
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+"A Muddy Stream."                        212
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+Good and Bad Angels.                     218
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+Fresh Suspicions.                        221
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+Untrustworthy.                           227
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+Betty Falls Ill at an Awkward Time.      233
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+"You are Welcome to Tell."               241
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+How Moses Moore Kept His Appointment.    247
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+A Broken Trust.                          252
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+Is She Still Guilty?                     259
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+Hester's Hour of Trial.                  265
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+A Gypsy Maid.                            272
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+Disguised.                               278
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+Hester.                                  284
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+Susan.                                   289
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+Under the Hedge.                         293
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+Tiger.                                   297
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+For Love of Nan.                         303
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+Rescued.                                 310
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+Dark Days.                               313
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+Two Confessions.                         318
+
+CHAPTER L.
+The Heart of Little Nan.                 326
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+The Prize Essay.                         334
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                           A WORLD OF GIRLS.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+"GOOD-BYE" TO THE OLD LIFE.
+
+
+"Me want to see Hetty," said an imperious baby voice.
+
+"No, no; not this morning, Miss Nan, dear."
+
+"Me do want to see Hetty," was the quick, impatient reply. And a sturdy
+indignant little face looked up at Nurse, to watch the effect of the last
+decisive words.
+
+Finding no affirmative reply on Nurse's placid face, the small lips
+closed firmly--two dimples came and went on two very round cheeks--the
+mischievous brown eyes grew full of laughter, and the next moment the
+little questioner had squeezed her way through a slightly open door, and
+was toddling down the broad stone stairs and across a landing to Hetty's
+room. The room-door was open, so the truant went in. A bed with the
+bed-clothes all tossed about, a half worn-out slipper on the floor, a
+very untidy dressing-table met her eyes, but no Hetty.
+
+"Me want Hetty, me do," piped the treble voice, and then the little feet
+commenced a careful and watchful pilgrimage, the lips still firmly shut,
+the dimples coming and going, and the eyes throwing many upward glances
+in the direction of Nurse and the nursery.
+
+No pursuit as yet, and great, great hope of finding Hetty somewhere in
+the down-stair regions. Ah, now, how good! those dangerous stairs had
+been descended, and the little voice calling in shrill tones for Hetty
+rang out in the wide hall.
+
+"Let her come to me," suddenly said an answering voice, and a girl of
+about twelve, dressed in deep mourning, suddenly opened the door of a
+small study and clasped the little one in her arms.
+
+"So you have found me, my precious, my dearest! Brave, plucky little Nan,
+you have got away from Nurse and found me out! Come into the study now,
+darling, and you shall have some breakfast."
+
+"Me want a bicky, Hetty," said the baby voice; the round arms clasped
+Hester's neck, but the brown eyes were already traveling eagerly over the
+breakfast table in quest of spoil for those rosy little lips.
+
+"Here are two biscuits, Nan. Nan, look me in the face--here, sit steady
+on my knee; you love me, don't you, Nan?"
+
+"Course me do," said the child.
+
+"And I'm going away from you, Nan, darling. For months and months I won't
+see anything of you. My heart will be always with you, and I shall think
+of you morning, noon and night. I love no one as I love you, Nan. You
+will think of me and love me too; won't you, Nan?"
+
+"Me will," said Nan; "me want more bicky, Hetty."
+
+"Yes, yes," answered Hester; "put your arms tight round my neck, and you
+shall have sugar, too. Tighter than that, Nan, and you shall have two
+lumps of sugar--oh, yes, you shall--I don't care if it makes you
+sick--you shall have just what you want the last moment we are together."
+
+Baby Nan was only too pleased to crumple up a crape frill and to smear a
+black dress with sticky little fingers for the sake of the sugar which
+Hetty plied her with.
+
+"More, Hetty," she said; "me'll skeeze 'oo vedy tight for more."
+
+On this scene Nurse unexpectedly entered.
+
+"Well, I never! and so you found your way all downstairs by yourself, you
+little toddle. Now, Miss Hetty, I hope you haven't been giving the
+precious lamb sugar; you know it never does suit the little dear. Oh,
+fie! baby; and what sticky hands! Miss Hetty, she has crumpled all your
+crape frills."
+
+"What matter?" said Hester. "I wanted a good hug, and I gave her three or
+four lumps. Babies won't squeeze you tight for nothing. There, my Nancy,
+go back to Nurse. Nurse, take her away; I'll break down in a minute if I
+see her looking at me with that little pout."
+
+Nurse took the child into her arms.
+
+"Good-bye, Miss Hester, dear. Try to be a good girl at school. Take my
+word, missy--things won't be as dark as they seem."
+
+"Good-bye, Nurse," said Hester, hastily. "Is that you, father? are you
+calling me?"
+
+She gathered up her muff and gloves, and ran out of the little study
+where she had been making believe to eat breakfast. A tall, stern-looking
+man was in the hall, buttoning on an overcoat; a brougham waited at the
+door. The next moment Hester and her father were bowling away in the
+direction of the nearest railway station. Nan's little chubby face had
+faded from view. The old square, gray house, sacred to Hester because of
+Nan, had also disappeared; the avenue even was passed, and Hester closed
+her bright brown eyes. She felt that she was being pushed out into a cold
+world, and was no longer in the same snug nest with Nan. An intolerable
+pain was at her heart; she did not glance at her father, who during their
+entire drive occupied himself over his morning paper. At last they
+reached the railway station, and just as Sir John Thornton was handing
+his daughter into a comfortable first-class carriage, marked "For Ladies
+only," and was presenting her with her railway ticket and a copy of the
+last week's illustrated newspaper, he spoke:
+
+"The guard will take care of you, Hester. I am giving him full
+directions, and he will come to you at every station, and bring you tea
+or any refreshment you may require. This train takes you straight to
+Sefton, and Mrs. Willis will meet you, or send for you there. Good-bye,
+my love; try to be a good girl, and curb your wild spirits. I hope to see
+you very much improved when you come home at midsummer. Good-bye, dear,
+good-bye. Ah, you want to kiss me--well, just one kiss. There--oh, my
+dear! you know I have a great dislike to emotion in public."
+
+Sir John Thornton said this because a pair of arms had been flung
+suddenly round his neck, and two kisses imprinted passionately on his
+sallow cheek. A tear also rested on his cheek, but that he wiped away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TRAVELING COMPANIONS.
+
+
+The train moved rapidly on its way, and the girl in one corner of the
+railway carriage cried silently behind her crape veil. Her tears were
+very subdued, but her heart felt sore, bruised, indignant; she hated the
+idea of school-life before her; she hated the expected restraints and the
+probable punishments; she fancied herself going from a free life into a
+prison, and detested it accordingly.
+
+Three months before, Hester Thornton had been one of the happiest,
+brightest and merriest of little girls in ----shire; but the mother who
+was her guardian angel, who had kept the frank and spirited child in
+check without appearing to do so, who had guided her by the magical power
+of love and not in the least by that of fear, had met her death suddenly
+by means of a carriage accident, and Hester and baby Nan were left
+motherless. Several little brothers and sisters had come between Hester
+and Nan, but from various causes they had all died in their infancy, and
+only the eldest and youngest of Sir John Thornton's family remained.
+
+Hester's father was stern, uncompromising. He was a very just and upright
+man, but he knew nothing of the ways of children, and when Hester in her
+usual tom-boyish fashion climbed trees and tore her dresses, and rode
+bare-backed on one or two of his most dangerous horses, he not only tried
+a little sharp, and therefore useless, correction, but determined to take
+immediate steps to have his wild and rather unmanageable little daughter
+sent to a first-class school. Hester was on her way there now, and very
+sore was her heart and indignant her impulses. Father's "good-bye" seemed
+to her to be the crowning touch to her unhappiness, and she made up her
+mind not to be good, not to learn her lessons, not to come home at
+midsummer crowned with honors and reduced to an every-day and pattern
+little girl. No, she would be the same wild Hetty as of yore; and when
+father saw that school could do nothing for her, that it could never make
+her into a good and ordinary little girl, he would allow her to remain at
+home. At home there was at least Nan to love, and there was mother to
+remember.
+
+Hetty was a child of the strongest feelings. Since her mother's death she
+had scarcely mentioned her name. When her father alluded to his wife,
+Hester ran out of the room; when the servants spoke of their late
+mistress, Hester turned pale, stamped her feet, and told them to be
+quiet.
+
+"You are not worthy to speak of my mother," she electrified them all one
+day by exclaiming: "My mother is an angel now, and you--oh, you are not
+fit to breathe her name!"
+
+Only to one person would Hetty ever voluntarily say a word about the
+beloved dead mother, and that was to little Nan. Nan said her prayers, as
+she expressed it, to Hetty now; and Hetty taught her a little phrase to
+use instead of the familiar "God bless mother." She taught the child to
+say, "Thank God for making mother into a beautiful angel;" and when Nan
+asked what an angel was, and how the cozy mother she remembered could be
+turned into one, Hester was beguiled into a soft and tearful talk, and
+she drew several lovely pictures of white-robed angels, until the little
+child was satisfied and said:
+
+"Me like that, Hetty--me'll be an angel too, Hetty, same as mamma."
+
+These talks with Nan, however, did not come very often, and of late they
+had almost ceased, for Nan was only two and a half, and the strange, sad
+fact remained that in three months she had almost forgotten her mother.
+
+Hester on her way to school this morning cried for some time, then she
+sat silent, her crape veil still down, and her eyes watching furtively
+her fellow-passengers. They consisted of two rather fidgety old ladies,
+who wrapped themselves in rugs, were very particular on the question of
+hot bottles, and watched Hester in their turn with considerable curiosity
+and interest. Presently one of them offered the little girl a sandwich,
+which she was too proud or too shy to accept, although by this time she
+was feeling extremely hungry.
+
+"You will, perhaps, prefer a cake, my dear?" said the good-natured little
+old lady. "My sister Agnes has got some delicious queen-cakes in her
+basket--will you eat one?"
+
+Hester murmured a feeble assent, and the queen-cake did her so much good
+that she ventured to raise her crape veil and to look around her.
+
+"Ah, that is much better," said the first little old lady. "Come to this
+side of the carriage, my love; we are just going to pass through a lovely
+bit of country, and you will like to watch the view. See; if you place
+yourself here, my sister Agnes' basket will be just at your feet, and you
+can help yourself to a queen-cake whenever you are so disposed."
+
+"Thank you," responded Hester, in a much more cheerful tone, for it was
+really quite impossible to keep up reserve with such a bright-looking
+little old lady; "your queen-cakes are very nice, and I liked that one,
+but one is quite enough, thank you. It is Nan who is so particularly fond
+of queen-cakes."
+
+"And who is Nan, my dear?" asked the sister to whom the queen-cakes
+specially belonged.
+
+"She is my dear little baby sister," said Hester in a sorrowful tone.
+
+"Ah, and it was about her you were crying just now," said the first lady,
+laying her hand on Hester's arm. "Never mind us, dear, we have seen a
+great many tears--a great many. They are the way of the world. Women are
+born to them. As Kingsley says--'women must weep.' It was quite natural
+that you should cry about your sweet little Nan, and I wish we could send
+her some of these queen-cakes that you say she is so fond of. Are you
+going to be long away from her, love?"
+
+"Oh, yes, for months and months," said Hester. "I did not know," she
+added, "that it was such a common thing to cry. I never used to."
+
+"Ah, you have had other trouble, poor child," glancing at her deep
+mourning frock.
+
+"Yes, it is since then I have cried so often. Please, I would rather not
+speak about it."
+
+"Quite right, my love, quite right," said Miss Agnes in a much brisker
+tone than her sister. "We will turn the conversation now to something
+inspiriting. Jane is quite right, there are plenty of tears in the world;
+but there is also a great deal of sunshine and heaps of laughter, merry
+laughter--the laughter of youth, my child. Now, I dare say, though you
+have begun your journey so sadly, that you are really bound on quite a
+pleasant little expedition. For instance, you are going to visit a kind
+aunt, or some one else who will give you a delightful welcome."
+
+"No," said Hester, "I am not. I am going to a dreadful place, and the
+thought of that, and parting from little Nan, are the reasons why I
+cried. I am going to prison--I am, indeed."
+
+"Oh, my dear love!" exclaimed both the little old ladies in a breath.
+Then Miss Agnes continued: "You have really taken Jane's breath
+away--quite. Yes, Jane, I see that you are in for an attack of
+palpitation. Never mind her, dear, she palpitates very easily; but I
+think you must be mistaken, my love, in mentioning such an appalling word
+as 'prison.' Yes, now I come to think of it, it is absolutely certain
+that you must be mistaken; for if you were going to such a terrible place
+of punishment you would be under the charge of a policeman. You are given
+to strong language, dear, like other young folk."
+
+"Well, I call it prison," continued Hester, who was rather flattered by
+all this bustle and Miss Jane's agitation; "it has a dreadful sound,
+hasn't it? I call it prison, but father says I am going to school--you
+can't wonder that I am crying, can you? Oh! what is the matter?"
+
+For the two little old ladies jumped up at this juncture, and gave Hetty
+a kiss apiece on her soft, young lips.
+
+"My darling," they both exclaimed, "we are so relieved and delighted!
+Your strong language startled us, and school is anything but what you
+imagine, dear. Ah, Jane! can you ever forget our happy days at school?"
+
+Miss Jane sighed and rolled up her eyes, and then the two commenced a
+vigorous catechizing of the little girl. Really Hester could not help
+feeling almost sunshiny before that long journey came to an end, for she
+and the Misses Bruce made some delightful discoveries. The little old
+ladies very quickly found out that they lived close to the school where
+Hetty was to spend the next few months. They knew Mrs. Willis well--they
+knew the delightful, rambling, old-fashioned house where Hester was to
+live--they even knew two or three of the scholars; and they said so often
+to the little girl that she was going into a life of clover--positive
+clover--that she began to smile, and even partly to believe them.
+
+"I am glad I shall be near you, at least," she said at last, with a frank
+sweet smile, for she had greatly taken to her kind fellow-travelers.
+
+"Yes, my dear," exclaimed Miss Jane. "We attend the same church, and I
+shall look out for you on Sunday, and," she continued, glancing first at
+her sister and then addressing Hester, "perhaps Mrs. Willis will allow
+you to visit us occasionally."
+
+"I'll come to-morrow, if you like," said Hester.
+
+"Well, dear, well--that must be as Mrs. Willis thinks best. Ah, here we
+are at Sefton at last. We shall look out for you in church on Sunday, my
+love."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AT LAVENDER HOUSE.
+
+
+Hester's journey had really proved wonderfully agreeable. She had taken a
+great fancy to the little old ladies who had fussed over her and made
+themselves pleasant in her behalf. She felt herself something like a
+heroine as she poured out a little, just a little, of her troubles into
+their sympathizing ears; and their cheerful remarks with regard to school
+and school-life had caused her to see clearly that there might be another
+and a brighter side to the gloomy picture she had drawn with regard to
+her future.
+
+But during the drive of two and a half miles from Sefton to Lavender
+House, Hester once more began to feel anxious and troubled. The Misses
+Bruce had gone off with some other passengers in a little omnibus to
+their small villa in the town, but Lavender House was some distance off,
+and the little omnibus never went so far.
+
+An old-fashioned carriage, which the ladies told Hester belonged to Mrs.
+Willis, had been sent to meet her, and a man whom the Misses Bruce
+addressed as "Thomas" helped to place her trunk and a small portmanteau
+on the roof of the vehicle. The little girl had to take her drive alone,
+and the rather ancient horse which drew the old carriage climbed up and
+down the steep roads in a most leisurely fashion. It was a cold winter's
+day, and by the time Thomas had executed some commissions in Sefton, and
+had reached the gates of the avenue which led to Lavender House, it was
+very nearly dark. Hester trembled at the darkness, and when the gates
+were shut behind them by a rosy-faced urchin of ten, she once more began
+to feel the cruel and desolate idea that she was going to prison.
+
+They drove slowly down a long and winding avenue, and, although Hester
+could not see, she knew they must be passing under trees, for several
+times their branches made a noise against the roof of the carriage. At
+last they came to a standstill. The old servant scrambled slowly down
+from his seat on the box, and, opening the carriage-door, held out his
+hand to help the little stranger to alight.
+
+"Come now, missy," he said in cheering tones, "come out, and you'll be
+warm and snug in a minute. Dear, dear! I expect you're nearly froze up,
+poor little miss, and it _is_ a most bitter cold night."
+
+He rang a bell which hung by the entrance of a deep porch, and the next
+moment the wide hall-door was flung open by a neat maid-servant, and
+Hester stepped within.
+
+"She's come," exclaimed several voices in different keys, and proceeding
+apparently from different quarters. Hester looked around her in a
+half-startled way, but she could see no one, except the maid, who smiled
+at her and said:
+
+"Welcome to Lavender House, miss. If you'll step into the porter's room
+for one moment, there is a good fire there, and I'll acquaint Miss
+Danesbury that you have arrived."
+
+The little room in question was at the right hand side of a very wide and
+cheerful hall, which was decorated in pale tints of green, and had a
+handsome encaustic-tiled floor. A blazing fire and two lamps made the
+hall look cheerful, but Hester was very glad to take refuge from the
+unknown voices in the porter's small room. She found herself quite
+trembling with shyness and cold, and an indescribable longing to get back
+to Nan; and as she waited for Miss Danesbury and wondered fearfully who
+or what Miss Danesbury was, she scarcely derived any comfort from the
+blazing fire near which she stood.
+
+"Rather tall for her age, but I fear, I greatly fear, a little sulky,"
+said a voice behind her; and when she turned round in an agony of
+trepidation and terror, she suddenly found herself face to face with a
+tall, kind-looking, middle-aged lady, and also with a bright,
+gypsy-looking girl.
+
+"Annie Forest, how very naughty of you to hide behind the door! You are
+guilty of disobedience in coming into this room without leave. I must
+report you, my dear; yes, I really must. You lose two good conduct marks
+for this, and will probably have thirty lines in addition to your usual
+quantity of French poetry."
+
+"But she won't tell on me, she won't, dear old Danesbury," said the girl;
+"she couldn't be so hard-hearted, the precious love, particularly as
+curiosity happens to be one of her own special little virtues! Take a
+kiss, Danesbury, and now, as you love me you'll be merciful!" The girl
+flitted away, and Miss Danesbury turned to Hester, whose face had changed
+from red to pale during this little scene.
+
+"What a horrid, vulgar, low-bred girl!" she exclaimed with passion, for
+in all the experiences of her short life Hester had never even imagined
+that personal remarks could be made of any one in their very presence. "I
+hope she'll get a lot of punishment--I hope you are not going to forgive
+her," she continued, for her anger had for the time quite overcome her
+shyness.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear! we should all be forgiving," exclaimed Miss
+Danesbury in her gentle voice. "Welcome to Lavender House, love; I am
+sorry I was not in the hall to receive you. Had I been, this little
+_rencontre_ would not have occurred. Annie Forest meant no harm,
+however--she's a wild little sprite, but affectionate. You and she will
+be the best friends possible by-and-by. Now, let me take you to your
+room; the gong for tea will sound in exactly five minutes, and I am sure
+you will be glad of something to eat."
+
+Miss Danesbury then led Hester across the hall and up some broad, low,
+thickly-carpeted stairs. When they had ascended two flights, and were
+standing on a handsome landing, she paused.
+
+"Do you see this baize door, dear?" she said. "This is the entrance to
+the school part of the house. This part that we are now in belongs
+exclusively to Mrs. Willis, and the girls are never allowed to come here
+without leave. All the school life is lived at the other side of this
+baize door, and a very happy life I assure you it is for those little
+girls who make up their minds to be brave and good. Now kiss me, my dear,
+and let me bid you welcome once again to Lavender House."
+
+"Are you our principal teacher, then?" asked Hester.
+
+"I? oh, dear, no, my love. I teach the younger children English, and I
+look after the interests and comforts of all. I am a very useful sort of
+person, I believe, and I have a motherly heart, dear, and it is a way
+with little girls to come to me when they are in trouble. Now, my love,
+we must not chatter any longer. Take my hand, and let us get to your room
+as fast as possible."
+
+Miss Danesbury pushed open the baize door, and instantly Hester found
+herself in a different region. Mrs. Willis' part of the house gave the
+impression of warmth, luxuriance, and even elegance of arrangement. At
+the other side of the door were long, narrow corridors, with snow-white
+but carpetless floors, and rather cold, distempered walls. Miss
+Danesbury, holding the new pupil's hand, led her down two corridors, and
+past a great number of shut doors, behind which Hester could hear
+suppressed laughter and eager, chattering voices. At last, however, they
+stopped at a door which had the number "32" written over it.
+
+"This is your bedroom, dear," said the English teacher, "and to-night you
+will not be sorry to have it alone. Mrs. Willis received a telegram from
+Susan Drummond, your room-mate, this afternoon, and she will not arrive
+until to-morrow."
+
+However bare and even cold the corridors looked, the bedroom into which
+Hester was ushered by no means corresponded with this appearance. It was
+a small, but daintily-furnished little room. The floor was carpeted with
+green felt, the one window was hung with pretty draperies and two little,
+narrow, white beds were arranged gracefully with French canopies. All the
+furniture in the room was of a minute description, but good of its kind.
+Beside each bed stood a mahogany chest of drawers. At two corresponding
+corners were marble wash handstands, and even two pretty toilet tables
+stood side by side in the recess of the window. But the sight that
+perhaps pleased Hester most was a small bright fire which burned in the
+grate.
+
+"Now, dear, this is your room. As you have arrived first you can choose
+your own bed and your own chest of drawers. Ah, that is right, Ellen has
+unfastened your portmanteau; she will unpack your trunk to-night, and
+take it to the box-room. Now, dear, smooth your hair and wash your hands.
+The gong will sound instantly. I will come for you when it does."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+LITTLE DRAWING-ROOMS AND LITTLE TIFFS.
+
+
+Miss Danesbury, true to her word, came to fetch Hester down to tea. They
+went down some broad, carpetless stairs, along a wide stone hall, and
+then paused for an instant at a half-open door from which a stream of
+eager voices issued.
+
+"I will introduce you to your schoolfellows, and I hope your future
+friends," said Miss Danesbury. "After tea you will come with me to see
+Mrs. Willis--she is never in the school-room at tea-time. Mdlle. Perier
+or Miss Good usually superintends. Now, my dear, come along--why, surely
+you are not frightened!"
+
+"Oh, please, may I sit near you?" asked Hester.
+
+"No, my love; I take care of the little ones, and they are at a table by
+themselves. Now, come in at once--the moment you dread will soon be over,
+and it is nothing, my love--really nothing."
+
+Nothing! never, as long as Hester lived, did she forget the supreme agony
+of terror and shyness which came over her as she entered that long, low,
+brightly-lighted room. The forty pairs of curious eyes which were raised
+inquisitively to her face became as torturing as forty burning suns. She
+felt an almost uncontrollable desire to run away and hide--she wondered
+if she could possibly keep from screaming aloud. In the end she found
+herself, she scarcely knew how, seated beside a gentle, sweet-mannered
+girl, and munching bread and butter which tasted drier than sawdust, and
+occasionally trying to sip something very hot and scalding which she
+vaguely understood went by the name of tea. The buzzing voices all
+chattering eagerly in French, and the occasional sharp, high-pitched
+reprimands coming in peremptory tones from the thin lips of Mdlle.
+Perier, sounded far off and distant--her head was dizzy, her eyes
+swam--the tired and shy child endured tortures.
+
+In after-days, in long after-years when the memory of Lavender House was
+to come back to Hetty Thornton as one of the sweetest, brightest episodes
+in her existence--in the days when she was to know almost every blade of
+grass in the gardens, and to be familiar with each corner of the old
+house, with each face which now appeared so strange, she might wonder at
+her feelings to-night, but never even then could she forget them.
+
+She sat at the table in a dream, trying to eat the tasteless bread and
+butter. Suddenly and swiftly the thick and somewhat stale piece of bread
+on her plate was exchanged for a thin, fresh, and delicately-cut slice.
+
+"Eat that," whispered a voice--"I know the other is horrid. It's a shame
+of Perier to give such stuff to a stranger."
+
+"Mdlle. Cécile, you are transgressing: you are talking English," came in
+a torrent of rapid French from the head of the table. "You lose a conduct
+mark, ma'amselle."
+
+The young girl who sat next Hester inclined her head gently and
+submissively, and Hester, venturing to glance at her, saw that a delicate
+pink had spread itself over her pale face. She was a plain girl; but even
+Hester, in this first moment of terror, could scarcely have been afraid
+of her, so benign was her expression, so sweet the glance from her soft,
+full brown eyes. Hester now further observed that the thin bread and
+butter had been removed from Cecil's own plate. She began to wonder why
+this girl was indulged with better food than the rest of her comrades.
+
+Hester was beginning to feel a little less shy, and was taking one or two
+furtive glances at her companions, when she suddenly felt herself turning
+crimson, and all her agony of shyness and dislike to her school-life
+returning. She encountered the full, bright, quizzical gaze of the girl
+who had made personal remarks about her in the porter's room. The merry
+black eyes of this gypsy maiden fairly twinkled with suppressed fun when
+they met hers, and the bright head even nodded audaciously across the
+table to her.
+
+Not for worlds would Hester return this friendly greeting--she still held
+to her opinion that Miss Forest was one of the most ill-bred people she
+had ever met, and, in addition to feeling a considerable amount of fear
+of her, she quite made up her mind that she would never be on friendly
+terms with so under-bred a girl.
+
+At this moment grace was repeated in sonorous tones by a stern-looking
+person who sat at the foot of the long table, and whom Hester had not
+before noticed. Instantly the girls rose from their seats, and began to
+file in orderly procession out of the tea-room. Hester looked round in
+terror for the friendly Miss Danesbury, but she could not catch sight of
+her anywhere. At this moment, however, her companion of the tea-table
+touched her arm.
+
+"We may speak English now for half an hour," she said, "and most of us
+are going to the play-room. We generally tell stories round the fire upon
+these dark winter's nights. Would you like to come with me to-night?
+Shall we be chums for this evening?"
+
+"I don't know what 'chums' are," said Hester; "but," she added, with the
+dawning of a faint smile on her poor, sad little face, "I shall be very
+glad to go with you."
+
+"Come then," said Cecil Temple, and she pulled Hester's hand within her
+arm, and walked with her across the wide stone hall, and into the largest
+room Hester had ever seen.
+
+Never, anywhere, could there have been a more delightful play-room than
+this. It was so large that two great fires which burned at either end
+were not at all too much to emit even tolerable warmth. The room was
+bright with three or four lamps which were suspended from the ceiling,
+the floor was covered with matting, and the walls were divided into
+curious partitions, which gave the room a peculiar but very cosy effect.
+These partitions consisted of large panels, and were divided by slender
+rails the one from the other.
+
+"This is my cosy corner," said Cecil, "and you shall sit with me in it
+to-night. You see," she added, "each of us girls has her own partition,
+and we can do exactly what we like in it. We can put our own photographs,
+our own drawings, our own treasures on our panels. Under each division is
+our own little work-table, and, in fact, our own individual treasures lie
+round us in the enclosure of this dear little rail. The center of the
+room is common property, and you see what a great space there is round
+each fire-place where we can chatter and talk, and be on common ground.
+The fire-place at the end of the room near the door is reserved
+especially for the little ones, but we elder girls sit at the top. Of
+course you will belong to us. How old are you?"
+
+"Twelve," said Hester.
+
+"Oh, well, you are so tall that you cannot possibly be put with the
+little ones, so you must come in with us."
+
+"And shall I have a railed-in division and a panel of my own?" asked
+Hester. "It sounds a very nice arrangement. I hope my department will be
+close to yours, Miss ----."
+
+"Temple is my name," said Cecil, "but you need not call me that. I am
+Cecil to all my friends, and you are my friend this evening, for you are
+my chum, you know. Oh, you were asking me about our departments--you
+won't have any at first, for you have got to earn it, but I will invite
+you to mine pretty often. Come, now, let us go inside. Is not it just
+like the darlingest little drawing-room? I am so sorry that I have only
+one easy chair, but you shall have it to-night, and I will sit on this
+three-legged stool. I am saving up my money to buy another arm-chair, and
+Annie has promised to upholster it for me."
+
+"Is Annie one of the maids?"
+
+"Oh, dear, no! she's dear old Annie Forest, the liveliest girl in the
+school. Poor darling, she's seldom out of hot water; but we all love her,
+we can't help it. Poor Annie, she hardly ever has the luxury of a
+department to herself, so she is useful all round. She's the most amusing
+and good-natured dear pet in Christendom."
+
+"I don't like her at all," said Hester; "I did not know you were talking
+of her--she is a most rude, uncouth girl."
+
+Cecil Temple, who had been arranging a small dark green table-cloth with
+daffodils worked artistically in each corner on her little table, stood
+up as the newcomer uttered these words, and regarded her fixedly.
+
+"It is a pity to draw hasty conclusions," she said. "There is no girl
+more loved in the school than Annie Forest. Even the teachers, although
+they are always punishing her, cannot help having a soft corner in their
+hearts for her. What can she possibly have done to offend you? but oh!
+hush--don't speak--she is coming into the room."
+
+As Cecil finished her rather eager defense of her friend, and prevented
+the indignant words which were bubbling to Hester's lips, a gay voice was
+heard singing a comic song in the passage, the play-room door was flung
+open with a bang, and Miss Forest entered the room with a small girl
+seated on each of her shoulders.
+
+"Hold on, Janny, love; keep your arms well round me, Mabel. Now, then,
+here we go--twice up the room and down again. No more, as I'm alive. I've
+got to attend to other matters than you."
+
+She placed the little girls on the floor amid peals of laughter, and
+shouts from several little ones to give them a ride too. The children
+began to cling to her skirts and to drag her in all directions, and she
+finally escaped from them with one dexterous bound which placed her in
+that portion of the play-room where the little ones knew they were not
+allowed to enter.
+
+Until her arrival the different girls scattered about the large room had
+been more or less orderly, chattering and laughing together, it is true,
+but in a quiet manner. Now the whole place appeared suddenly in an
+uproar.
+
+"Annie, come here--Annie, darling, give me your opinion about
+this--Annie, my precious, naughty creature, come and tell me about your
+last scrape."
+
+Annie Forest blew several kisses to her adorers, but did not attach
+herself to any of them.
+
+"The Temple requires me," she said, in her sauciest tones; "my beloved
+friends, the Temple as usual is vouchsafing its sacred shelter to the
+stranger."
+
+In an instant Annie was kneeling inside the enclosure of Miss Temple's
+rail and laughing immoderately.
+
+"You dear stranger!" she exclaimed, turning round and gazing full into
+Hester's shy face, "I do declare I have been punished for the intense
+ardor with which I longed to embrace you. Has she told you, Cecil,
+darling, what I did in her behalf? How I ventured beyond the sacred
+precincts of the baize door and hid inside the porter's room? Poor dear,
+she jumped when she heard my friendly voice, and as I spoke Miss
+Danesbury caught me in the very act. Poor old dear, she cried when she
+complained of me, but duty is Danesbury's motto; she would go to the
+stake for it, and I respect her immensely. I have got my twenty lines of
+that horrible French poetry to learn--the very thought almost strangles
+me, and I foresee plainly that I shall do something terribly naughty
+within the next few hours; I must, my love--I really must. I have just
+come here to shake hands with Miss Thornton, and then I must away to my
+penance. Ah, how little I shall learn, and how hard I shall think!
+Welcome to Lavender House, Miss Thornton; look upon me as your devoted
+ally, and if you have a spark of pity in your breast, feel for the girl
+whom you got into a scrape the very moment you entered these sacred
+walls."
+
+"I don't understand you," said Hester, who would not hold out her hand,
+and who was standing up in a very stiff, shy, and angular position. "I
+think you were very rude to startle me, and make personal remarks the
+very moment I came into the house."
+
+"Oh, dear! I only said you were tall, and looked rather sulky, love--you
+did, you know, really."
+
+"It was very rude of you," repeated Hester, turning crimson, and trying
+to keep back her tears.
+
+"Well, my dear, I meant no harm; shake hands, now, and let us make
+friends."
+
+But Hester felt either too shy or too miserable to yield to this
+request--she half turned her back, and leaned against Miss Temple's
+panel.
+
+"Never mind her," whispered gentle Cecil Temple; but Annie Forest's
+bright face had darkened ominously--the school favorite was not
+accustomed to having her advances flung back in her face. She left the
+room singing a defiant, naughty song, and several of the girls who had
+overheard this scene whispered one to the other:
+
+"She can't be at all nice--she would not even shake hands with Annie.
+Fancy her turning against our Annie in that way!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HEAD-MISTRESS.
+
+
+Annie Forest had scarcely left the room before Miss Danesbury appeared
+with a message for Hester, who was to come with her directly to see Mrs.
+Willis. The poor shy girl felt only too glad to leave behind her the
+cruel, staring, and now by no means approving eyes of her schoolmates.
+She had overheard several of their whispers, and felt rather alarmed at
+her own act. But Hester, shy as she was, could be very tenacious of an
+idea. She had taken a dislike to Annie Forest, and she was quite
+determined to be true to what she considered her convictions--namely,
+that Annie was under-bred and common, and not at all the kind of girl
+whom her mother would have cared for her to know. The little girl
+followed Miss Danesbury in silence. They crossed the stone hall together,
+and now passing through another baize door, found themselves once more in
+the handsome entrance-hall. They walked across this hall to a door
+carefully protected from all draughts by rich plush curtains, and Miss
+Danesbury, turning the handle, and going a step or two into the room,
+said in her gentle voice:
+
+"I have brought Hester Thornton to see you, Mrs. Willis, according to
+your wish."
+
+Miss Danesbury then withdrew, and Hester ventured to raise her eyes and
+to look timidly at the head-mistress.
+
+A tall woman, with a beautiful face and silvery white hair, came
+instantly to meet her, laid her two hands on the girl's shoulders, and
+then, raising her shy little face, imprinted a kiss on her forehead.
+
+"Your mother was one of my earliest pupils, Hester," she said, "and you
+are--no"--after a pause, "you are not very like her. You are her child,
+however, my dear, and as such you have a warm welcome from me. Now, come
+and sit by the fire, and let us talk."
+
+Hester did not feel nearly so constrained with this graceful and gracious
+lady as she had done with her schoolmates. The atmosphere of the room
+recalled her beloved mother's boudoir at home. The rich dove-colored satin
+dress, the cap made of Mechlin lace which softened and shaded Mrs. Willis'
+silvery hair, appeared homelike to the little girl, who had grown up
+accustomed to all the luxuries of wealth. Above all, the head-mistress'
+mention of her mother drew her heart toward the beautiful face, and
+attracted her toward the rich, full tones of a voice which could be
+powerful and commanding at will. Mrs. Willis, notwithstanding her white
+hair, had a youthful face, and Hester made the comment which came first to
+her lips:
+
+"I did not think you were old enough to have taught my mother."
+
+"I am sixty, dear, and I have kept this school for thirty years. Your
+mother was not the only pupil who sent her children to be taught by me
+when the time came. Now, you can sit on this stool by the fire and tell
+me about your home. Your mother--ah, poor child, you would rather not
+talk about her just yet. Helen's daughter must have strong feelings--ah,
+yes; I see, I see. Another time, darling, when you know me better. Now
+tell me about your little sister, and your father. You do not know,
+perhaps, that I am Nan's godmother?"
+
+After this the head-mistress and the new pupil had a long conversation.
+Hester forgot her shyness; her whole heart had gone out instantly to this
+beautiful woman who had known, and loved, and taught her mother.
+
+"I will try to be good at school," she said at last; "but, oh, please,
+Mrs. Willis, it does not seem to me to-night as if school-life could be
+happy."
+
+"It has its trials, Hester; but the brave and the noble girls often find
+this time of discipline one of the best in their lives--good at the time,
+very good to look back on by-and-by. You will find a miniature world
+around you; you will be surrounded by temptations; and you will have rare
+chances of proving whether your character can be strong and great and
+true. I think, as a rule, my girls are happy, and as a rule they turn out
+well. The great motto of life here, Hester, is earnestness. We are
+earnest in our work, we are earnest in our play. A half-hearted girl has
+no chance at Lavender House. In play-time, laugh with the merriest, my
+child; in school-hours, study with the most studious. Do you understand
+me?"
+
+"I try to, a little," said Hester, "but it seems all very strange just
+now."
+
+"No doubt it does, and at first you will have to encounter many
+perplexities and to fight many battles. Never mind, if you have the right
+spirit within you, you will come out on the winning side. Now, tell me,
+have you made any acquaintances as yet among the girls?"
+
+"Yes--Cecil Temple has been kind to me."
+
+"Cecil is one of my dearest pupils; cultivate her friendship, Hester--she
+is honorable, she is sympathizing. I am not afraid to say that Cecil has
+a great heart."
+
+"There is another girl," continued Hester, "who has spoken to me. I need
+not make her my friend, need I?"
+
+"Who is she, dear?"
+
+"Miss Forest--I don't like her."
+
+"What! our school favorite. You will change your mind, I expect--but that
+is the gong for prayers. You shall come with me to chapel, to-night, and
+I will introduce you to Mr. Everard."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"I AM UNHAPPY."
+
+
+Between forty and fifty young girls assembled night and morning for
+prayers in the pretty chapel which adjoined Lavender House. This chapel
+had been reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient priory, on the site
+of which the house was built. The walls, and even the beautiful eastern
+window, belonged to a far-off date. The roof had been carefully reared in
+accordance with the style of the east window, and the whole effect was
+beautiful and impressive. Mrs. Willis was particularly fond of her own
+chapel. Here she hoped the girls' best lessons might be learned, and here
+she had even once or twice brought a refractory pupil, and tried what a
+gentle word or two spoken in these old and sacred walls might effect.
+Here, on wet Sundays the girls assembled for service; and here, every
+evening at nine o'clock, came the vicar of the large parish to which
+Lavender House belonged, to conduct evening prayers. He was an old man,
+and a great friend of Mrs. Willis', and he often told her that he
+considered these young girls some of the most important members of his
+flock.
+
+Here Hester knelt to-night. It is to be doubted whether in her confusion,
+and in the strange loneliness which even Mrs. Willis had scarcely
+removed, she prayed much. It is certain she did not join in the evening
+hymn, which, with the aid of an organ and some sweet girl-voices, was
+beautifully and almost pathetically rendered. After evening prayers had
+come to an end, Mrs. Willis took Hester's hand and led her up to the old,
+white-headed vicar.
+
+"This is my new pupil, Mr. Everard, or rather I should say, our new
+pupil. Her education depends as much on you as on me."
+
+The vicar held out his hands, and took Hester's within them, and then
+drew her forward to the light.
+
+"This little face does not seem quite strange to me," he said. "Have I
+ever seen you before, my dear?"
+
+"No, sir," replied Hester.
+
+"You have seen her mother," said Mrs. Willis--"Do you remember your
+favorite pupil, Helen Anstey, of long ago?"
+
+"Ah! indeed--indeed! I shall never forget Helen. And are you her child,
+little one?"
+
+But Hester's face had grown white. The solemn service in the chapel,
+joined to all the excitement and anxieties of the day, had strung up her
+sensitive nerves to a pitch higher than she could endure. Suddenly, as
+the vicar spoke to her, and Mrs. Willis looked kindly down at her new
+pupil, the chapel seemed to reel round, the pupils one by one
+disappeared, and the tired girl only saved herself from fainting by a
+sudden burst of tears.
+
+"Oh, I am unhappy," she sobbed, "without my mother! Please, please, don't
+talk to me about my mother."
+
+She could scarcely take in the gentle words which her two friends said to
+her, and she hardly noticed when Mrs. Willis did such a wonderful thing
+as to stoop down and kiss a second time the lips of a new pupil.
+
+Finally she found herself consigned to Miss Danesbury's care, who hurried
+her off to her room, and helped her to undress and tucked her into her
+little bed.
+
+"Now, love, you shall have some hot gruel. No, not a word. You ate little
+or no tea to-night--I watched you from my distant table. Half your
+loneliness is caused by want of food--I know it, my love; I am a very
+practical person. Now, eat your gruel, and then shut your eyes and go to
+sleep."
+
+"You are very kind to me," said Hester, "and so is Mrs. Willis, and so is
+Mr. Everard, and I like Cecil Temple--but, oh, I wish Annie Forest was
+not in the school!"
+
+"Hush, my dear, I implore of you. You pain me by these words. I am quite
+confident that Annie will be your best friend yet."
+
+Hester's lips said nothing, but her eyes answered "Never" as plainly as
+eyes could speak.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A DAY AT SCHOOL.
+
+
+If Hester Thornton went to sleep that night under a sort of dreamy, hazy
+impression that school was a place without a great deal of order, with
+many kind and sympathizing faces, and with some not so agreeable; if she
+went to sleep under the impression that she had dropped into a sort of
+medley, that she had found herself in a vast new world where certain
+personages exercised undoubtedly a strong moral influence, but where on
+the whole a number of other people did pretty much what they pleased--she
+awoke in the morning to find her preconceived ideas scattered to the four
+winds.
+
+There was nothing of apparent liberty about the Lavender House
+arrangements in the early morning hours. In the first place, it seemed
+quite the middle of the night when Hester was awakened by a loud gong,
+which clanged through the house and caused her to sit up in bed in a
+considerable state of fright and perplexity. A moment or two later a
+neatly-dressed maid-servant came into the room with a can of hot water;
+she lit a pair of candles on the mantel-piece, and, with the remark that
+the second gong would sound in half an hour, and that all the young
+ladies would be expected to assemble in the chapel at seven o'clock
+precisely, she left the room.
+
+Hester pulled her pretty little gold watch from under her pillow, and saw
+with a sigh that it was now half-past six.
+
+"What odious hours they keep in this horrid place!" she said to herself.
+"Well, well, I always did know that school would be unendurable."
+
+She waited for five minutes before she got up, and then she dressed
+herself languidly, and, if the truth must be told, in a very untidy
+fashion. She managed to be dressed by the time the second gong sounded,
+but she had only one moment to give to her private prayers. She
+reflected, however, that this did not greatly matter as she was going
+down to prayers immediately in the chapel.
+
+The service in the chapel the night before had impressed her more deeply
+than she cared to own, and she followed her companions down stairs with a
+certain feeling of pleasure at the thought of again seeing Mr. Everard
+and Mrs. Willis. She wondered if they would take much notice of her this
+morning, and she thought it just possible that Mr. Everard, who had
+looked at her so compassionately the night before, might be induced, for
+the sake of his old friendship with her mother, to take her home with him
+to spend the day. She thought she would rather like to spend a day with
+Mr. Everard, and she fancied he was the sort of person who would
+influence her and help her to be good. Hester fancied that if some very
+interesting and quite out of the common person took her in hand, she
+might be formed into something extremely noble--noble enough even to
+forgive Annie Forest.
+
+The girls all filed into the chapel, which was lighted as brightly and
+cheerily as the night before; but Hester found herself placed on a bench
+far down in the building. She was no longer in the place of honor by Mrs.
+Willis' side. She was one of a number, and no one looked particularly at
+her or noticed her in any way. A shy young curate read the morning
+prayers; Mr. Everard was not present, and Mrs. Willis, who was, walked
+out of the chapel when prayers were over without even glancing in
+Hester's direction. This was bad enough for the poor little dreamer of
+dreams, but worse was to follow.
+
+Mrs. Willis did not speak to Hester, but she did stop for an instant
+beside Annie Forest. Hester saw her lay her white hand on the young
+girl's shoulder and whisper for an instant in her ear. Annie's lovely
+gypsy face flushed a vivid crimson.
+
+"For your sake, darling," she whispered back; but Hester caught the
+words, and was consumed by a fierce jealousy.
+
+The girls went into the school-room, where Mdlle. Perier gave a French
+lesson to the upper class. Hester belonged to no class at present, and
+could look around her, and have plenty of time to reflect on her own
+miseries, and particularly on what she now considered the favoritism
+shown by Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Mr. Everard at least will read through that girl," she said to herself;
+"he could not possibly endure any one so loud. Yes, I am sure that my
+only friend at home, Cecilia Day, would call Annie very loud. I wonder
+Mrs. Willis can endure her. Mrs. Willis seems so ladylike herself,
+but--Oh, I beg your pardon, what's the matter?"
+
+A very sharp voice had addressed itself to the idle Hester.
+
+"But, mademoiselle, you are doing nothing! This cannot for a moment be
+permitted. Pardonnez-moi, you know not the French? Here is a little easy
+lesson. Study it, mademoiselle, and do not let your eyes wander a moment
+from the page."
+
+Hester favored Mdlle. Perier with a look of lofty contempt, but she
+received the well-thumbed lesson-book in absolute silence.
+
+At eight o'clock came breakfast, which was nicely served, and was very
+good and abundant. Hester was thoroughly hungry this morning, and did not
+feel so shy as the night before. She found herself seated between two
+strange girls, who talked to her a little and would have made themselves
+friendly had she at all encouraged them to do so. After breakfast came
+half an hour's recreation, when, the weather being very bad, the girls
+again assembled in the cozy play-room. Hester looked round eagerly for
+Cecil Temple, who greeted her with a kind smile, but did not ask her into
+her enclosure. Annie Forest was not present, and Hester breathed a sigh
+of relief at her absence. The half-hour devoted to recreation proved
+rather dull to the newcomer. Hester could not understand her present
+world. To the girl who had been brought up practically as an only child
+in the warm shelter of a home, the ways and doings of school-girl life
+were an absolute enigma.
+
+Hester had no idea of unbending or of making herself agreeable. The girls
+voted her to one another stiff and tiresome, and quickly left her to her
+own devices. She looked longingly at Cecil Temple; but Cecil, who could
+never be knowingly unkind to any one, was seizing the precious moments to
+write a letter to her father, and Hester presently wandered down the room
+and tried to take an interest in the little ones. From twelve to fifteen
+quite little children were in the school, and Hester wondered with a sort
+of vague half-pain if she might see any child among the group the least
+like Nan.
+
+"They will like to have me with them," she said to herself. "Poor little
+dots, they always like big girls to notice them, and didn't they make a
+fuss about Miss Forest last night! Well, Nan is fond enough of me, and
+little children find out so quickly what one is really like."
+
+Hester walked boldly into the group. The little dots were all as busy as
+bees, were not the least lonely, or the least shy, and very plainly gave
+the intruder to understand that they would prefer her room to her
+company. Hester was not proud with little children--she loved them
+dearly. Some of the smaller ones in question were beautiful little
+creatures, and her heart warmed to them for Nan's sake. She could not
+stoop to conciliate the older girls, but she could make an effort with
+the babies. She knelt on the floor and took up a headless doll.
+
+"I know a little girl who had a doll like that," she said. Here she
+paused and several pairs of eyes were fixed on her.
+
+"Poor dolly's b'oke," said the owner of the headless one in a tone of
+deep commiseration.
+
+"You _are_ such a breaker, you know, Annie," said Annie's little
+five-year-old sister.
+
+"Please tell us about the little girl what had the doll wifout the head,"
+she proceeded, glancing at Hester.
+
+"Oh, it was taken to a hospital, and got back its head," said Hester
+quite cheerfully; "it became quite well again, and was a more beautiful
+doll than ever."
+
+This announcement caused intense wonder and was certainly carrying the
+interest of all the little ones. Hester was deciding that the child who
+possessed the headless doll _had_ a look of Nan about her dark brown
+eyes, when suddenly there was a diversion--the play-room door was opened
+noisily, banged-to with a very loud report, and a gay voice sang out:
+
+"The fairy queen has just paid me a visit. Who wants sweeties from the
+fairy queen?"
+
+Instantly all the little feet had scrambled to the perpendicular, each
+pair of hands was clapped noisily, each little throat shouted a joyful:
+
+"Here comes Annie!"
+
+Annie Forest was surrounded, and Hester knelt alone on the hearth-rug.
+
+She felt herself coloring painfully--she did not fail to observe that two
+laughing eyes had fixed themselves with a momentary triumph on her face;
+then, snatching up a book, which happened to lie close, she seated
+herself with her back to all the girls, and her head bent over the page.
+It is quite doubtful whether she saw any of the words, but she was at
+least determined not to cry.
+
+The half-hour so wearisome to poor Hester came to an end, and the girls,
+conducted by Miss Danesbury, filed into the school-room and took their
+places in the different classes.
+
+Work had now begun in serious earnest. The school-room presented an
+animated and busy scene. The young faces with their varying expressions
+betokened on the whole the preponderance of an earnest spirit.
+Discipline, not too severe, reigned triumphant.
+
+Hester was not yet appointed to any place among these busy workers, but
+while she stood wondering, a little confused, and half intending to drop
+into an empty seat which happened to be close, Miss Danesbury came up to
+her.
+
+"Follow me, Miss Thornton," she said, and she conducted the young girl up
+the whole length of the great school-room, and pushed aside some baize
+curtains which concealed a second smaller room, where Mrs. Willis sat
+before a desk.
+
+The head-mistress was no longer dressed in soft pearl-gray and Mechlin
+lace. She wore a black silk dress, and her white cap seemed to Hester to
+add a severe tone to her features. She neither shook hands with the new
+pupil nor kissed her, but said instantly in a bright though authoritative
+tone:
+
+"I must now find out as quickly as possible what you know, Hester, in
+order to place you in the most suitable class."
+
+Hester was a clever girl, and passed through the ordeal of a rather stiff
+examination with considerable ability. Mrs. Willis pronounced her English
+and general information quite up to the usual standard for girls of her
+age--her French was deficient, but she showed some talent for German.
+
+"On the whole I am pleased with your general intelligence, and I think
+you have good capacities, Hester," she said in conclusion. "I shall ask
+Miss Good, our very accomplished English teacher, to place you in the
+third class. You will have to work very hard, however, at your French, to
+maintain your place there. But Mdlle. Perier is kind and painstaking, and
+it rests with yourself to quickly acquire a conversational acquaintance
+with the language. You are aware that, except during recreation, you are
+never allowed to speak in any other tongue. Now, go back to the
+school-room, my dear."
+
+As Mrs. Willis spoke she laid her finger on a little silver gong which
+stood by her side.
+
+"One moment, please," said Hester, coloring crimson; "I want to ask you a
+question, please."
+
+"Is it about your lessons?"
+
+"No--oh, no; it is----"
+
+"Then pardon me, my dear," uttered the governess; "I sit in my room every
+evening from eight to half-past, and I am then at liberty to see a pupil
+on any subject which is not trifling. Nothing but lessons are spoken of
+in lesson hours, Hester. Ah, here comes Miss Good. Miss Good, I should
+wish you to place Hester Thornton in the third class. Her English is up
+to the average. I will see Mdlle. Perier about her at twelve o'clock."
+
+Hester followed the English teacher into the great school-room, took her
+place in the third class, at the desk which was pointed out to her, was
+given a pile of new books, and was asked to attend to the history lesson
+which was then going on.
+
+Notwithstanding her confusion, a certain sense of soreness, and some
+indignation at what she considered Mrs. Willis' altered manner, she
+acquitted herself with considerable spirit, and was pleased to see that
+her class companions regarded her with some respect.
+
+An English literature lecture followed the history, and here again Hester
+acquitted herself with _éclat_. The subject to-day was "Julius Cæsar,"
+and Hester had read Shakespeare's play over many times with her mother.
+
+But when the hour came for foreign languages, her brief triumph ceased.
+Lower and lower did she fall in her schoolfellows' estimation as she
+stumbled through her truly English-French. Mdlle. Perier, who was a very
+fiery little woman, almost screamed at her--the girls colored and nearly
+tittered. Hester hoped to recover her lost laurels in German, but by this
+time her head ached and she did very little better in the German which
+she loved than in the French which she detested. At twelve o'clock she
+was relieved to find that school was over for the present, and she heard
+the English teacher's voice desiring the girls to go quickly to their
+rooms, and to assemble in five minutes' time in the great stone hall,
+equipped for their walk.
+
+The walk lasted for a little over an hour, and was a very dreary penance
+to poor Hester, as she was neither allowed to run, race, nor talk a word
+of English. She sighed heavily once or twice, and several of the girls
+who looked at her curiously agreed with Annie Forest that she was
+decidedly sulky. The walk was followed by dinner; then came half an hour
+of recreation in the delightful play-room, and eager chattering in the
+English tongue.
+
+At three o'clock the school assembled once more; but now the studies were
+of a less severe character, and Hester spent one of her first happy
+half-hours over a drawing lesson. She had a great love for drawing, and
+felt some pride in the really beautiful copy which she was making of the
+stump of an old gnarled oak-tree. Her dismay, however, was proportionately
+great when the drawing-master drew his pencil right across her copy.
+
+"I particularly requested you not to sketch in any of the shadows, Miss
+Thornton. Did you not hear me say that my lesson to-day was in outline? I
+gave you a shaded piece to copy in outline--did you not understand?"
+
+"This is my first day at school," whispered back poor Hester, speaking in
+English in her distress. Whereupon the master smiled, and even forgot to
+report her for her transgression of the French tongue.
+
+Hester spent the rest of that afternoon over her music lesson. The
+music-master was an irascible little German, but Hester played with some
+taste, and was therefore not too severely rapped over the knuckles.
+
+Then came tea and another half-hour of recreation, which was followed by
+two silent hours in the school-room, each girl bent busily over her books
+in preparation for the next day's work. Hester studied hard, for she had
+made up her mind to be the intellectual prodigy of the school. Even on
+this first day, miserable as it was, she had won a few plaudits for her
+quickness and powers of observation. How much better could she work when
+she had really fallen into the tone of the school, and understood the
+lessons which she was now so carefully preparing! During her busy day she
+had failed to notice one thing: namely, the absence of Annie Forest.
+Annie had not been in the school-room, had not been in the play-room; but
+now, as the clock struck eight, she entered the school-room with a
+listless expression, and took her place in the same class with Hester.
+Her eyes were heavy, as if she had been crying, and when a companion
+touched her, and gave her a sympathizing glance, she shook her head with
+a sorrowful gesture, but did not speak. Glasses of milk and slices of
+bread and butter were now handed round to the girls, and Miss Danesbury
+asked if any one would like to see Mrs. Willis before prayers. Hester
+half sprang to her feet, but then sat down again. Mrs. Willis had annoyed
+her by refusing to break her rules and answer her question during lesson
+hours. No, the silly child resolved that she would not trouble Mrs.
+Willis now.
+
+"No one to-night, then?" said Miss Danesbury, who had noticed Hester's
+movement.
+
+Suddenly Annie Forest sprang to her feet.
+
+"I'm going, Miss Danesbury," she said. "You need not show me the way; I
+can find it alone."
+
+With her short, curly hair falling about her face, she ran out of the
+room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"YOU HAVE WAKED ME TOO SOON."
+
+
+When Hester reached her bedroom after prayers on that second evening, she
+was dismayed to find that she no longer could consider the pretty little
+bedroom her own. It had not only an occupant, but an occupant who had
+left untidy traces of her presence on the floor, for a stocking lay in
+one direction and a muddy boot sprawled in another. The newcomer had
+herself got into bed, where she lay with a quantity of red hair tossed
+about on the pillow, and a heavy freckled face turned upward, with the
+eyes shut and the mouth slightly open.
+
+As Hester entered the room, from these parted lips came unmistakable and
+loud snores. She stood still dismayed.
+
+"How terrible!" she said to herself; "oh, what a girl! I cannot sleep in
+the room with any one who snores--I really cannot!"
+
+She stood perfectly still, with her hands clasped before her, and her
+eyes fixed with almost ludicrous dismay on this unexpected trial. As she
+gazed, a fresh discovery caused her to utter an exclamation of horror
+aloud.
+
+The newcomer had curled herself up comfortably in _her_ bed. Suddenly, to
+her surprise, a voice said very quietly, without a flicker of expression
+coming over the calm face, or the eyes even making an effort to open:
+
+"Are you my new schoolmate?"
+
+"Yes," said Hester, "I am sorry to say I am."
+
+"Oh, don't be sorry, there's a good creature; there's nothing to be sorry
+about. I'll stop snoring when I turn on my side--it's all right. I always
+snore for half an hour to rest my back, and the time is nearly up. Don't
+trouble me to open my eyes, I am not the least curious to see you. You
+have a cross voice, but you'll get used to me after a bit."
+
+"But you're in my bed," said Hester. "Will you please to get into your
+own?"
+
+"Oh, no, don't ask me; I like your bed best. I slept in it the whole of
+last term. I changed the sheets myself, so it does not matter. Do you
+mind putting my muddy boots outside the door, and folding up my
+stockings? I forgot them, and I shall have a bad mark if Danesbury comes
+in. Good-night--I'm turning on my side--I won't snore any more."
+
+The heavy face was now only seen in profile, and Hester, knowing that
+Miss Danesbury would soon appear to put out the candle, had to hurry into
+the other bed as fast as she could; something impelled her, however, to
+take up the muddy boots with two very gingerly fingers, and place them
+outside the door.
+
+She slept better this second night, and was not quite so startled the
+next morning when the remorseless gong aroused her from slumber. The
+maid-servant came in as usual to light the candles, and to place two cans
+of hot water by the two wash-hand stands.
+
+"You are awake, miss?" she said to Hester.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Hester almost cheerfully.
+
+"Well, that's all right," said the servant. "Now I must try and rouse
+Miss Drummond, and she always takes a deal of waking; and if you don't
+mind, miss, it will be an act of kindness to call out to her in the
+middle of your own dressing--that is, if I don't wake her effectual."
+
+With these words, the housemaid approached the bed where the red-haired
+girl lay again on her back, and again snoring loudly.
+
+"Miss Drummond, wake, miss; it's half-past six. Wake up, miss--I have
+brought your hot water."
+
+"Eh?--what?" said the voice in the bed, sleepily; "don't bother me,
+Hannah--I--I've determined not to ride this morning; go away"--then more
+sleepily, and in a lower key, "Tell Percy he can't bring the dogs in
+here."
+
+"I ain't neither your Hannah, nor your Percy, nor one of the dogs,"
+replied the rather irate Alice. "There, get up, miss, do. I never see
+such a young lady for sleeping--never."
+
+"I won't be bothered," said the occupant of the bed, and now she turned
+deliberately on her side and snored more loudly than ever.
+
+"There's no help for it," said Alice: "I have to do it nearly every
+morning, so don't you be startled, miss. Poor thing, she would never have
+a good conduct mark but for me. Now then, here goes. You needn't be
+frightened, miss--she don't mind it the least bit in the world."
+
+Here Alice seized a rough Turkish towel, placed it under the sleepy head
+with its shock of red hair, and, dipping a sponge in a basin of icy cold
+water, dashed it on the white face.
+
+This remedy proved effectual: two large pale blue eyes opened wide, a
+voice said in a tranquil and unmoved tone:
+
+"Oh, thank you, Alice. So I'm back at this horrid, detestable school
+again!"
+
+"Get your feet well on the carpet, Miss Drummond, before you falls off
+again," said the servant. "Now then, you'd better get dressed as fast as
+possible, miss--you have lost five minutes already."
+
+Hester, who had laughed immoderately during this little scene, was
+already up and going through the processes of her toilet. Miss Drummond,
+seated on the edge of her bed, regarded her with sleepy eyes.
+
+"So you are my new room-mate?" she said. "What's your name?"
+
+"Hester Thornton," replied Hetty with dignity.
+
+"Oh--I'm Susy Drummond--you may call me Susy if you like."
+
+Hester made no response to this gracious invitation.
+
+Miss Drummond sat motionless, gazing down at her toes.
+
+"Had not you better get dressed?" said Hester after a long pause, for she
+really feared the young lady would fall asleep where she was sitting.
+
+Miss Drummond started.
+
+"Dressed! So I will, dear creature. Have the sweet goodness to hand me my
+clothes."
+
+"Where are they?" asked Hester rather crossly, for she did not care to
+act as lady's-maid.
+
+"They are over there, on a chair, in that lovely heap with a shawl flung
+over them. There, toss them this way--I'll get into them somehow."
+
+Miss Drummond did manage to get into her garments; but her whole
+appearance was so heavy and untidy when she was dressed, that Hester by
+the very force of contrast felt obliged to take extra pains with her own
+toilet.
+
+"Now, that's a comfort," said Susan, "I'm in my clothes. How bitter it
+is! There's one comfort, the chapel will be warm. I often catch forty
+winks in chapel--that is, if I'm lucky enough to get behind one of the
+tall girls, where Mrs. Willis won't see me. It does seem to me,"
+continued Susan in a meditative tone, "the strangest thing why girls are
+not allowed sleep enough."
+
+Hester was pinning a clean collar round her neck when Miss Drummond came
+up close, leaned over the dressing-table, and regarded her with languid
+curiosity.
+
+"A penny for your thoughts, Miss Prunes and Prism."
+
+"Why do you call me that?" said Hester angrily.
+
+"Because you look like it, sweet. Now, don't be cross, little pet--no one
+ever yet was cross with sleepy Susy Drummond. Now, tell me, love, what
+had you for breakfast yesterday?"
+
+"I'm sure I forget," said Hester.
+
+"You _forget_?--how extraordinary! You're sure that it was not buttered
+scones? We have them sometimes, and I tell you they are enough even to
+keep a girl awake. Well, at least you can let me know if the eggs were
+very stale, and the coffee very weak, and whether the butter was
+second-rate Dorset, or good and fresh. Come now--my breakfast is of
+immense importance to me, I assure you."
+
+"I dare say," answered Hester. "You can see for yourself this morning
+what is on the table--I can only inform you that it was good enough for
+me, and that I don't remember what it was."
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Susan Drummond, "I'm afraid she has a little temper
+of her own--poor little room-mate. I wonder if chocolate-creams would
+sweeten that little temper."
+
+"Please don't talk--I'm going to say my prayers," said Hester.
+
+She did kneel down, and made a slight effort to ask God to help her
+through the day's work and the day's play. In consequence, she rose from
+her knees with a feeling of strength and sweetness which even the
+feeblest prayer when uttered in earnest can always give.
+
+The prayer-gong now sounded, and all the girls assembled in the chapel.
+Miss Drummond was greeted by many appreciative nods, and more than one
+pair of longing eyes gazed in the direction of her pockets, which stuck
+out in the most ungainly fashion.
+
+Hester was relieved to find that her room-mate did not share her class in
+school, nor sit anywhere near her at table.
+
+When the half-hour's recreation after breakfast arrived, Hester,
+determined to be beholden to none of her schoolmates for companionship,
+seated herself comfortably in an easy chair with a new book. Presently
+she was startled by a little stream of lollipops falling in a shower over
+her head, down her neck, and into her lap. She started up with an
+expression of disgust. Instantly Miss Drummond sank into the vacated
+chair.
+
+"Thank you, love," she said, in a cozy, purring voice. "Eat your
+lollipops, and look at me; I'm going to sleep. Please pull my toe when
+Danesbury comes in. Oh, fie! Prunes and Prisms--not so cross--eat your
+lollipops; they will sweeten the expression of that--little--face."
+
+The last words came out drowsily. As she said "face," Miss Drummond's
+languid eyes were closed--she was fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+WORK AND PLAY.
+
+
+In a few days Hester was accustomed to her new life. She fell into its
+routine, and in a certain measure won the respect of her fellow-pupils.
+She worked hard, and kept her place in class, and her French became a
+little more like the French tongue and a little less like the English. She
+showed marked ability in many of her other studies, and the mistresses and
+masters spoke well of her. After a fortnight spent at Lavender House,
+Hester had to acknowledge that the little Misses Bruce were right, and
+that school might be a really enjoyable place for some girls. She would
+not yet admit that it could be enjoyable for her. Hester was too shy, too
+proud, too exacting to be popular with her schoolfellows. She knew nothing
+of school-girl life--she had never learned the great secret of success in
+all life's perplexities, the power to give and take. It never occurred to
+Hester to look over a hasty word, to take no notice of an envious or
+insolent look. As far as her lessons were concerned, she was doing well;
+but the hardest lesson of all, the training of mind and character, which
+the daily companionship of her schoolfellows alone could give her, in this
+lesson she was making no way. Each day she was shutting herself up more
+and more from all kindly advances, and the only one in the school whom she
+sincerely and cordially liked was gentle Cecil Temple.
+
+Mrs. Willis had some ideas with regard to the training of her young
+people which were peculiarly her own. She had found them successful, and,
+during her thirty years' experience, had never seen reason to alter them.
+She was determined to give her girls a great deal more liberty than was
+accorded in most of the boarding-schools of her day. She never made what
+she called impossible rules; she allowed the girls full liberty to
+chatter in their bedrooms; she did not watch them during play-hours; she
+never read the letters they received, and only superintended the specimen
+home letter which each girl was required to write once a month. Other
+head-mistresses wondered at the latitude she allowed her girls, but she
+invariably replied:
+
+"I always find it works best to trust them. If a girl is found to be
+utterly untrustworthy, I don't expel her, but I request her parents to
+remove her to a more strict school."
+
+Mrs. Willis also believed much in that quiet half-hour each evening, when
+the girls who cared to come could talk to her alone. On these occasions
+she always dropped the school-mistress and adopted the _rôle_ of the
+mother. With a very refractory pupil she spoke in the tenderest tones of
+remonstrance and affection at these times. If her words failed--if the
+discipline of the day and the gentle sympathy of these moments at night
+did not effect their purpose, she had yet another expedient--the vicar
+was asked to see the girl who would not yield to this motherly influence.
+
+Mr. Everard had very seldom taken Mrs. Willis' place. As he said to her:
+"Your influence must be the mainspring. At supreme moments I will help
+you with personal influence, but otherwise, except for my nightly prayers
+with your girls, and my weekly class, and the teachings which they with
+others hear from my lips Sunday after Sunday, they had better look to
+you."
+
+The girls knew this rule well, and the one or two rare instances in the
+school history where the vicar had stepped in to interfere, were spoken
+of with bated breath and with intense awe.
+
+Mrs. Willis had a great idea of bringing as much happiness as possible
+into young lives. It was with this idea that she had the quaint little
+compartments railed off in the play-room.
+
+"For the elder girls," she would say, "there is no pleasure so great as
+having, however small the spot, a little liberty hall of their own. In
+her compartment each girl is absolute monarch. No one can enter inside
+the little curtained rail without her permission. Here she can show her
+individual taste, her individual ideas. Here she can keep her most prized
+possessions. In short, her compartment in the play-room is a little home
+to her."
+
+The play-room, large as it was, admitted of only twenty compartments;
+these compartments were not easily won. No amount of cleverness attained
+them; they were altogether dependent on conduct. No girl could be the
+honorable owner of her own little drawing-room until she had
+distinguished herself by some special act of kindness and self-denial.
+Mrs. Willis had no fixed rule on this subject. She alone gave away the
+compartments, and she often made choice of girls on whom she conferred
+this honor in a way which rather puzzled and surprised their fellows.
+
+When the compartment was won it was not a secure possession. To retain it
+depended also on conduct; and here again Mrs. Willis was absolute in her
+sway. More than once the girls had entered the room in the morning to
+find some favorite's furniture removed and her little possessions taken
+carefully down from the walls, the girl herself alone knowing the reason
+for this sudden change. Annie Forest, who had been at Lavender House for
+four years, had once, for a solitary month of her existence, owned her
+own special drawing-room. She had obtained it as a reward for an act of
+heroism. One of the little pupils had set her pinafore on fire. There was
+no teacher present at the moment, the other girls had screamed and run
+for help, but Annie, very pale, had caught the little one in her arms and
+had crushed out the flames with her own hands. The child's life was
+spared, the child was not even hurt, but Annie was in the hospital for a
+week. At the end of a week she returned to the school-room and play-room
+as the heroine of the hour. Mrs. Willis herself kissed her brow, and
+presented her in the midst of the approving smiles of her companions with
+the prettiest drawing-room of the sets. Annie retained her honorable post
+for one month.
+
+Never did the girls of Lavender House forget the delights of that month.
+The fantastic arrangements of the little drawing room filled them with
+ecstacies. Annie was truly Japanese in her style--she was also intensely
+liberal in all her arrangements. In the tiny space of this little
+enclosure wild pranks were perpetrated, ceaseless jokes made up. From
+Annie's drawing-room issued peals of exquisite mirth. She gave afternoon
+tea from a Japanese set of tea-things. Outside her drawing-room always
+collected a crowd of girls, who tried to peep over the rail or to draw
+aside the curtains. Inside the sacred spot certainly reigned chaos, and
+one day Miss Danesbury had to fly to the rescue, for in a fit of mad
+mirth Annie herself had knocked down the little Japanese tea-table, the
+tea-pot and tea-things were in fragments on the floor, and the tea and
+milk poured in streams outside the curtains. Mrs. Willis sent for Annie
+that evening, and Miss Forest retired from her interview with red eyes
+and a meek expression.
+
+"Girls," she said, in confidence that night, "good-bye to Japan. I gave
+her leave to do it--the care of an empire is more than I can manage."
+
+The next day the Japanese drawing-room had been handed over to another
+possessor, and Annie reigned as queen over her empire no more.
+
+Mrs. Willis, anxious at all times that her girls should be happy, made
+special arrangements for their benefit on Sunday. Sunday was by no means
+dull at Lavender House--Sunday was totally unlike the six days which
+followed it. Even the stupidest girl could scarcely complain of the
+severity of Sunday lessons--even the merriest girl could scarcely speak
+of the day as dull. Mrs. Willis made an invariable rule of spending all
+Sunday with her pupils. On this day she really unbent--on this day she
+was all during the long hours what she was during the short half-hour on
+each evening in the week. On Sunday she neither reproved nor corrected.
+If punishment or correction were necessary, she deputed Miss Good or Miss
+Danesbury to take her place. On Sunday she sat with the little children
+round her knee, and the older girls clustering about her. Her gracious
+and motherly face was like a sun shining in the midst of these young
+girls. In short, she was like the personified form of Goodness in their
+midst. It was necessary, therefore, that all those who wished to do right
+should be happy on Sunday, and only those few who deliberately preferred
+evil should shrink from the brightness of this day.
+
+It is astonishing how much a sympathizing and guiding spirit can effect.
+The girls at Lavender House thought Sunday the shortest day in the week.
+There were no unoccupied or dull moments--school toil was forgotten--school
+punishment ceased, to be resumed again if necessary on Monday morning. The
+girls in their best dresses could chatter freely in English--they could
+read their favorite books--they could wander about the house as they
+pleased; for on Sunday the two baize doors were always wide open, and Mrs.
+Willis' own private suite of rooms was ready to receive them. If the day
+was fine they walked to church, each choosing her own companion for the
+pleasant walk; if the day was wet there was service in the chapel, Mr.
+Everard always conducting either morning or evening prayers. In the
+afternoon the girls were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased, but
+after tea there always came a delightful hour, when the elder girls retired
+with their mistress into her own special boudoir, and she either told them
+stories or sang to them as only she could sing. At sixty years of age Mrs.
+Willis still possessed the most sympathetic and touching voice those girls
+had ever listened to. Hester Thornton broke down completely on her first
+Sunday at Lavender House when she heard her school-mistress sing "The
+Better Land." No one remarked on her tears, but two people saw them; for
+her mistress kissed her tenderly that night, and said a few strong words of
+help and encouragement, and Annie Forest, who made no comment, had also
+seen them, and wondered vaguely if this new and disagreeable pupil had a
+heart after all.
+
+On Sunday night Mrs. Willis herself went round to each little bed and
+gave a mother-kiss to each of her pupils--a mother-kiss and a murmured
+blessing; and in many breasts resolves were then formed which were to
+help the girls through the coming week. Some of these resolves, made not
+in their own strength, bore fruit in long after-years. There is no doubt
+that very few girls who lived long enough at Lavender House, ever in
+after-days found their Sundays dull.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+VARIETIES.
+
+
+Without any doubt, wild, naughty, impulsive Annie Forest was the most
+popular girl in the school. She was always in scrapes--she was scarcely
+ever out of hot water--her promises of amendment were truly like the
+proverbial pie-crust; but she was so lovable, so kind-hearted, so saucy
+and piquante and pretty, that very few could resist the nameless charm
+which she possessed. The little ones adored Annie, who was kindness
+itself to them; the bigger girls could not help admiring her fearlessness
+and courage; the best and noblest girls in the school tried to influence
+her for good. She was more or less an object of interest to every one;
+her courage was of just the sort to captivate schoolgirls, and her moral
+weakness was not observed by these inexperienced young eyes.
+
+Hester alone, of all the girls who for a long time had come to Lavender
+House, failed to see any charm in Annie. She began by considering her
+ill-bred, and when she found she was the school favorite, she tossed her
+proud little head and determined that she for one would never be
+subjugated by such a naughty girl. Hester could read character with
+tolerable clearness; she was an observant child--very observant, and very
+thoughtful for her twelve years; and as the little witch Annie had failed
+to throw any spell over her, she saw her faults far more clearly than did
+her companions. There is no doubt that this brilliant, charming, and
+naughty Annie had heaps of faults; she had no perseverance; she was all
+passion and impulse; she could be the kindest of the kind, but from sheer
+thoughtlessness and wildness she often inflicted severe pain, even on
+those she loved best. Annie very nearly worshiped Mrs. Willis; she had
+the most intense adoration for her, she respected her beyond any other
+human being. There were moments when the impulsive and hot-headed child
+felt that she could gladly lay down her life for her school-mistress.
+Once the mistress was ill, and Annie curled herself up all night outside
+her door, thereby breaking rules, and giving herself a severe cold; but
+her passion and agony were so great that she could only be soothed by at
+last stealing into the darkened room and kissing the face she loved.
+
+"Prove your love to me, Annie, by going downstairs and keeping the school
+rules as perfectly as possible," whispered the teacher.
+
+"I will--I will never break a rule again as long as I live, if you get
+better, Mrs. Willis," responded the child.
+
+She ran downstairs with her resolves strong within her, and yet in half
+an hour she was reprimanded for willful and desperate disobedience.
+
+One day Cecil Temple had invited a select number of friends to afternoon
+tea in her little drawing-room. It was the Wednesday half-holiday, and
+Cecil's tea, poured into the tiniest cups and accompanied by thin wafer
+biscuits, was of the most _recherché_ quality. Cecil had invited Hester
+Thornton, and a tall girl who belonged to the first class and whose name
+was Dora Russell, to partake of this dainty beverage. They were sitting
+round the tiny tea-table, on little red stools with groups of flowers
+artistically painted on them, and were all three conducting themselves in
+a most ladylike and refined manner, when Annie Forest's curly head and
+saucy face popped over the enclosure, and her voice said eagerly:
+
+"Oh, may I be permitted to enter the shrine?"
+
+"Certainly, Annie," said Cecil, in her most cordial tones. "I have got
+another cup and saucer, and there is a little tea left in the tea-pot."
+
+Annie came in, and ensconced herself cozily on the floor. It did not
+matter in the least to her that Hester Thornton's brow grew dark, and
+that Miss Russell suddenly froze into complete indifference to all her
+surroundings. Annie was full of a subject which excited her very much:
+she had suddenly discovered that she wanted to give Mrs. Willis a
+present, and she wished to know if any of the girls would like to join
+her.
+
+"I will give her the present this day week," said excitable Annie. "I
+have quite made up my mind. Will any one join me?"
+
+"But there is nothing special about this day week, Annie," said Miss
+Temple. "It will neither be Mrs. Willis' birthday, nor Christmas Day, nor
+New Year's Day, nor Easter Day. Next Wednesday will be just like any
+other Wednesday. Why should we make Mrs. Willis a present?"
+
+"Oh, because she looks as if she wanted one, poor dear. I thought she
+looked sad this morning; her eyes drooped and her mouth was down at the
+corners. I am sure she's wanting something from us all by now, just to
+show that we love her, you know."
+
+"Pshaw!" here burst from Hester's lips.
+
+"Why do you say that?" said Annie, turning round with her bright eyes
+flashing. "You've no right to be so contemptuous when I speak about
+our--our head-mistress. Oh, Cecil," she continued, "do let us give her a
+little surprise--some spring flowers, or something just to show her that
+we love her."
+
+"But _you_ don't love her," said Hester, stoutly.
+
+Here was throwing down the gauntlet with a vengeance! Annie sprang to her
+feet and confronted Hester with a whole torrent of angry words. Hester
+firmly maintained her position. She said over and over again that love
+proved itself by deeds, not by words; that if Annie learned her lessons,
+and obeyed the school rules, she would prove her affection for Mrs.
+Willis far more than by empty protestations. Hester's words were true,
+but they were uttered in an unkind spirit, and the very flavor of truth
+which they possessed caused them to enter Annie's heart and to wound her
+deeply. She turned, not red, but very white, and her large and lovely
+eyes grew misty with unshed tears.
+
+"You are cruel," she gasped, rather than spoke, and then she pushed aside
+the curtains of Cecil's compartment and walked out of the play-room.
+
+There was a dead silence among the three girls when she left them.
+Hester's heart was still hot, and she was still inclined to maintain her
+own position, and to believe she had done right in speaking in so severe
+a tone to Annie. But even she had been made a little uneasy by the look
+of deep suffering which had suddenly transformed Annie's charming
+childish face into that of a troubled and pained woman. She sat down
+meekly on her little three-legged stool and, taking up her tiny cup and
+saucer, sipped some of the cold tea.
+
+Cecil Temple was the first to speak.
+
+"How could you?" she said, in an indignant voice for her. "Annie is not
+the girl to be driven, and in any case, it is not for you to correct her.
+Oh, Mrs. Willis would have been so pained had she heard you--you were not
+_kind_, Miss Thornton. There, I don't wish to be rude, but I fear I must
+leave you and Miss Russell--I must try and find Annie."
+
+"I'm going back to my own drawing-room," said Miss Russell, rising to her
+feet. "Perhaps," she added, turning round with a very gracious smile to
+Hester, "you will come and see me there, after tea, this evening."
+
+Miss Russell drew aside the curtains of Cecil Temple's little room, and
+disappeared. Hester, with her eyes full of tears, now turned eagerly to
+Cecil.
+
+"Forgive me, Cecil," she exclaimed. "I did not mean to be unkind, but it
+is really quite ridiculous the way you all spoil that girl--you know as
+well as I do that she is a very naughty girl. I suppose it is because of
+her pretty face," continued Hester, "that you are all so unjust, and so
+blind to her faults."
+
+"You are prejudiced the other way, Hester," said Cecil in a more gentle
+tone. "You have disliked Annie from the first. There, don't keep me--I
+must go to her now. There is no knowing what harm your words may have
+done. Annie is not like other girls. If you knew her story, you would,
+perhaps be kinder to her."
+
+Cecil then ran out of her drawing-room, leaving Hester in sole possession
+of the little tea-things and the three-legged stools. She sat and thought
+for some time; she was a girl with a great deal of obstinacy in her
+nature, and she was not disposed to yield her own point, even to Cecil
+Temple; but Cecil's words had, nevertheless, made some impression on her.
+
+At tea-time that night, Annie and Cecil entered the room together.
+Annie's eyes were as bright as stars, and her usually pale cheeks glowed
+with a deep color. She had never looked prettier--she had never looked so
+defiant, so mischievous, so utterly reckless. Mdlle. Perier fired
+indignant French at her across the table. Annie answered respectfully,
+and became demure in a moment; but even in the short instant in which the
+governess was obliged to lower her eyes to her plate, she had thrown a
+look so irresistibly comic at her companions that several of them had
+tittered aloud. Not once did she glance at Hester, although she
+occasionally looked boldly in her direction; but when she did so, her
+versatile face assumed a blank expression, as if she were seeing nothing.
+When tea was over, Dora Russell surprised the members of her own class by
+walking straight up to Hester, putting her hand inside her arm, and
+leading her off to her own very refined-looking little drawing-room.
+
+"I want to tell you," she said, when the two girls found themselves
+inside the small enclosure, "that I quite agree with you in your opinion
+of Miss Forest. I think you were very brave to speak to her as you did
+to-day. As a rule, I never trouble myself with what the little girls in
+the third class do, and of course Annie seldom comes under my notice; but
+I think she is a decidedly spoiled child, and your rebuff will doubtless
+do her a great deal of good."
+
+These words of commendation, coming from tall and dignified Miss Russell
+completely turned poor Hester's head.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you think so!" she stammered, coloring high with
+pleasure. "You see," she added, assuming a little tone of extra
+refinement, "at home I always associated with girls who were perfect
+ladies."
+
+"Yes, any one can see that," remarked Miss Russell approvingly.
+
+"And I do think Annie under-bred," continued Hester. "I cannot
+understand," she added, "why Miss Temple likes her so much."
+
+"Oh, Cecil is so amiable; she sees good in every one," answered Miss
+Russell. "Annie is evidently not a lady, and I am glad at last to find
+some one of the girls who belong to the middle school capable of
+discerning this fact. Of course, we of the first class have nothing
+whatever to say to Miss Forest, but I really think Mrs. Willis is not
+acting quite fairly by the other girls when she allows a young person of
+that description into the school. I wish to assure you, Miss Thornton,
+that you have at least my sympathy, and I shall be very pleased to see
+you in my drawing-room now and then."
+
+As these last words were uttered, both girls were conscious of a little
+rustling sound not far away. Miss Russell drew back her curtain, and
+asked very sharply, "Who is there?" but no one replied, nor was there any
+one in sight, for the girls who did not possess compartments were
+congregated at the other end of the long play-room, listening to stories
+which Emma Marshall, a clever elder girl, was relating for their benefit.
+
+Miss Russell talked on indifferent subjects to Hester, and at the end of
+the half-hour the two entered the class-room side by side, Hester's
+little head a good deal turned by this notice from one of the oldest
+girls in the school.
+
+As the two walked together into the school-room, Susan Drummond, who,
+tall as she was, was only in the fourth class, rushed up to Miss Forest,
+and whispered something in her ear.
+
+"It is just as I told you," she said, and her sleepy voice was quite wide
+awake and animated. Annie Forest rewarded her by a playful pinch on her
+cheek; then she returned to her own class, with a severe reprimand from
+the class teacher, and silence reigned in the long room, as the girls
+began to prepare their lessons as usual for the next day.
+
+Miss Russell took her place at her desk in her usual dignified manner.
+She was a clever girl, and was going to leave school at the end of next
+term. Hers was a particularly fastidious, but by no means great nature.
+She was the child of wealthy parents; she was also well-born, and because
+of her money, and a certain dignity and style which had come to her as
+nature's gifts, she held an influence, though by no means a large one, in
+the school. No one particularly disliked her, but no one, again, ardently
+loved her. The girls in her own class thought it well to be friendly with
+Dora Russell, and Dora accepted their homage with more or less
+indifference. She did not greatly care for either their praise or blame.
+Dora possessed in a strong degree that baneful quality, which more than
+anything else precludes the love of others--she was essentially selfish.
+
+She sat now before her desk, little guessing how she had caused Hester's
+small heart to beat by her patronage, and little suspecting the mischief
+she had done to the girl by her injudicious words. Had she known, it is
+to be doubted whether she would have greatly cared. She looked through
+the books which contained her tasks for the next day's work, and, finding
+they did not require a great deal of preparation, put them aside, and
+amused herself during the rest of preparation time with a storybook,
+which she artfully concealed behind the leaves of some exercises. She
+knew she was breaking the rules, but this fact did not trouble her, for
+her moral nature was, after all, no better than poor Annie's, and she had
+not a tenth of her lovable qualities.
+
+Dora Russell was the soul of neatness and order. To look inside her
+school desk was a positive pleasure; to glance at her own neat and trim
+figure was more or less of a delight. Hers were the whitest hands in the
+school, and hers the most perfectly kept and glossy hair. As the
+preparation hour drew to a close, she replaced her exercises and books in
+exquisite order in her school desk and shut down the lid.
+
+Hester's eyes followed her as she walked out of the school-room, for the
+head class never had supper with the younger girls. Hester wondered if
+she would glance in her direction; but Miss Russell had gratified a very
+passing whim when she condescended to notice and praise Hester, and she
+had already almost forgotten her existence.
+
+At bed-time that night Susan Drummond's behavior was at the least
+extraordinary. In the first place, instead of being almost overpoweringly
+friendly with Hester, she scarcely noticed her; in the next place, she
+made some very peculiar preparations.
+
+"What _are_ you doing on the floor, Susan?" inquired Hetty in an innocent
+tone.
+
+"That's nothing to you," replied Miss Drummond, turning a dusky red, and
+looking annoyed at being discovered. "I do wish," she added, "that you
+would go round to your side of the room and leave me alone; I sha'n't
+have done what I want to do before Danesbury comes in to put out the
+candle."
+
+Hester was not going to put herself out with any of Susan Drummond's
+vagaries; she looked upon sleepy Susan as a girl quite beneath her
+notice, but even she could not help observing her, when she saw her sit
+up in bed a quarter of an hour after the candles had been put out, and in
+the flickering firelight which shone conveniently bright for her purpose,
+fasten a piece of string first round one of her toes, and then to the end
+of the bed-post.
+
+"What _are_ you doing?" said Hester again, half laughing.
+
+"Oh, what a spy you are!" said Susan. "I want to wake, that's all; and
+whenever I turn in bed, that string will tug at my toe, and, of course,
+I'll rouse up. If you were more good-natured, I'd give the other end of
+the string to you; but, of course, that plan would never answer."
+
+"No, indeed," replied Hester; "I am not going to trouble myself to wake
+you. You must trust to your sponge of cold water in the morning, unless
+your own admirable device succeeds."
+
+"I'm going to sleep now, at any rate," answered Susan; "I'm on my back,
+and I'm beginning to snore; good night."
+
+Once or twice during the night Hester heard groans from the
+self-sacrificing Susan, who, doubtless, found the string attached to her
+foot very inconvenient.
+
+Hester, however, slept on when it might have been better for the peace of
+many in the school that she should have awakened. She heard no sound
+when, long before day, sleepy Susan stepped softly out of bed, and
+wrapping a thick shawl about her, glided out of the room. She was away
+for over half an hour, but she returned to her chamber and got into bed
+without in the least disturbing Hester. In the morning she was found so
+soundly asleep that even the sponge of cold water could not arouse her.
+
+"Pull the string at the foot of the bed, Alice," said Hester; "she
+fastened a string to her toe, and twisted the other end round the
+bed-post, last night; pull it, Alice, it may effect its purpose."
+
+But there was no string now round Susan Drummond's foot, nor was it found
+hanging to the bed-post.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE SCHOOL-DESK.
+
+
+The next morning, when the whole school were assembled, and all the
+classes were getting ready for the real work of the day, Miss Good, the
+English teacher, stepped to the head of the room, and, holding a neatly
+bound volume of "Jane Eyre" in her hand, begged to know to whom it
+belonged. There was a hush of astonishment when she held up the little
+book, for all the girls knew well that this special volume was not
+allowed for school literature.
+
+"The housemaid who dusts the school-room found this book on the floor,"
+continued the teacher. "It lay beside a desk near the top of the room. I
+see the name has been torn out, so I cannot tell who is the owner. I must
+request her, however, to step forward and take possession of her
+property. If there is the slightest attempt at concealment, the whole
+matter will be laid before Mrs. Willis at noon to-day."
+
+When Miss Good had finished her little speech, she held up the book in
+its green binding and looked down the room.
+
+Hester did not know why her heart beat--no one glanced at her, no one
+regarded her; all eyes were fixed on Miss Good, who stood with a severe,
+unsmiling, but expectant face.
+
+"Come, young ladies," she said, "the owner has surely no difficulty in
+recognizing her own property. I give you exactly thirty seconds more;
+then if no one claims the book, I place the affair in Mrs. Willis'
+hands."
+
+Just then there was a stir among the girls in the head class. A tall girl
+in dove-colored cashmere, with a smooth head of golden hair, and a fair
+face which was a good deal flushed at this moment, stepped to the front,
+and said in a clear and perfectly modulated voice:
+
+"I had no idea of concealing the fact that 'Jane Eyre' belongs to me. I
+was only puzzled for a moment to know how it got on the floor. I placed
+it carefully in my desk last night. I think this circumstance ought to be
+inquired into."
+
+"Oh! Oh!" came from several suppressed voices here and there through the
+room; "whoever would have supposed that Dora Russell would be obliged to
+humble herself in this way?"
+
+"Attention, young ladies!" said Miss Good; "no talking, if you please. Do
+I understand, Miss Russell, that 'Jane Eyre' is yours?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Good."
+
+"Why did you keep it in your desk--were you reading it during
+preparation?"
+
+"Oh, yes, certainly."
+
+"You are, of course, aware that you were breaking two very stringent
+rules of the school. In the first place, no story-books are allowed to be
+concealed in a school-desk, or to be read during preparation. In the
+second place, this special book is not allowed to be read at any time in
+Lavender House. You know these rules, Miss Russell?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Good."
+
+"I must retain the book--you can return now to your place in class."
+
+Miss Russell bowed sedately, and with an apparently unmoved face, except
+for the slightly deepened glow on her smooth cheek, resumed her
+interrupted work.
+
+Lessons went on as usual, but during recreation the mystery of the
+discovered book was largely discussed by the girls. As is the custom of
+schoolgirls, they took violent sides in the matter--some rejoicing in
+Dora's downfall, some pitying her intensely. Hester was, of course, one
+of Miss Russell's champions, and she looked at her with tender sympathy
+when she came with her haughty and graceful manner into the school-room,
+and her little heart beat with vague hope that Dora might turn to her for
+sympathy.
+
+Dora, however, did nothing of the kind. She refused to discuss the affair
+with her companions, and none of them quite knew what Mrs. Willis said to
+her, or what special punishment was inflicted on the proud girl. Several
+of her schoolfellows expected that Dora's drawing-room would be taken
+away from her, but she still retained it; and after a few days the affair
+of the book was almost forgotten.
+
+There was, however, an uncomfortable and an uneasy spirit abroad in the
+school. Susan Drummond, who was certainly one of the most uninteresting
+girls in Lavender House, was often seen walking with and talking to Miss
+Forest. Sometimes Annie shook her pretty head over Susan's remarks;
+sometimes she listened to her; sometimes she laughed and spoke eagerly
+for a moment or two, and appeared to acquiesce in suggestions which her
+companion urged.
+
+Annie had always been the soul of disorder--of wild pranks, of naughty
+and disobedient deeds--but, hitherto, in all her wildness she had never
+intentionally hurt any one but herself. Hers was a giddy and thoughtless,
+but by no means a bitter tongue--she thought well of all her
+schoolfellows--and on occasions she could be self-sacrificing and
+good-natured to a remarkable extent. The girls of the head class took
+very little notice of Annie, but her other school companions, as a rule,
+succumbed to her sunny, bright, and witty ways. She offended them a
+hundred times a day, and a hundred times a day was forgiven. Hester was
+the first girl in the third class who had ever persistently disliked
+Annie, and Annie, after making one or two overtures of friendship, began
+to return Miss Thornton's aversion; but she had never cordially hated her
+until the day they met in Cecil Temple's drawing-room, and Hester had
+wounded Annie in her tenderest part by doubting her affection for Mrs.
+Willis.
+
+Since that day there was a change very noticeable in Annie Forest--she was
+not so gay as formerly, but she was a great deal more mischievous--she was
+not nearly so daring, but she was capable now of little actions, slight in
+themselves, which yet were calculated to cause mischief and real
+unhappiness. Her sudden friendship with Susan Drummond did her no good,
+and she persistently avoided all intercourse with Cecil Temple, who
+hitherto had influenced her in the right direction.
+
+The incident of the green book had passed with no apparent result of
+grave importance, but the spirit of mischief which had caused this book
+to be found was by no means asleep in the school. Pranks were played in a
+most mysterious fashion with the girls' properties.
+
+Hester herself was the very next victim. She, too, was a neat and orderly
+child--she was clever and thoroughly enjoyed her school work. She was
+annoyed, therefore, and dreadfully puzzled, by discovering one morning
+that her neat French exercise book was disgracefully blotted, and one
+page torn across. She was severely reprimanded by Mdlle. Perier for such
+gross untidiness and carelessness, and when she assured the governess
+that she knew nothing whatever of the circumstance, that she was never
+guilty of blots, and had left the book in perfect order the night before,
+the French lady only shrugged her shoulders, made an expressive gesture
+with her eyebrows, and plainly showed Hester that she thought the less
+she said on that subject the better.
+
+Hester was required to write out her exercise again, and she fancied she
+saw a triumphant look in Annie Forest's eyes as she left the school-room,
+where poor Hester was obliged to remain to undergo her unmerited
+punishment.
+
+"Cecil," called Hester, in a passionate and eager voice, as Miss Temple
+was passing her place.
+
+Cecil paused for a moment.
+
+"What is it, Hetty?--oh, I am so sorry you must stay in this lovely
+bright day."
+
+"I have done nothing wrong," said Hester; "I never blotted this
+exercise-book; I never tore this page. It is most unjust not to believe
+my word; it is most unjust to punish me for what I have not done."
+
+Miss Temple's face looked puzzled and sad.
+
+"I must not stay to talk to you now, Hester," she whispered; "I am
+breaking the rules. You can come to my drawing-room by-and-by, and we
+will discuss this matter."
+
+But Hester and Cecil, talk as they would, could find no solution to the
+mystery. Cecil absolutely refused to believe that Annie Forest had
+anything to do with the matter.
+
+"No," she said, "such deceit is not in Annie's nature. I would do
+anything to help you, Hester; but I can't, and I won't, believe that
+Annie tried deliberately to do you any harm."
+
+"I am quite certain she did," retorted Hester, "and from this moment I
+refuse to speak to her until she confesses what she has done and
+apologizes to me. Indeed, I have a great mind to go and tell everything
+to Mrs. Willis."
+
+"Oh, I would not do that," said Cecil; "none of your schoolfellows would
+forgive you if you charged such a favorite as Annie with a crime which
+you cannot in the least prove against her. You must be patient, Hester,
+and if you are, I will take your part, and try to get at the bottom of
+the mystery."
+
+Cecil, however, failed to do so. Annie laughed when the affair was
+discussed in her presence, but her clear eyes looked as innocent as the
+day, and nothing would induce Cecil to doubt Miss Forest's honor.
+
+The mischievous sprite, however, who was sowing such seeds of unhappiness
+in the hitherto peaceful school was not satisfied with two deeds of
+daring; for a week afterward Cecil Temple found a book of Mrs.
+Browning's, out of which she was learning a piece for recitation, with
+its cover half torn off, and, still worse, a caricature of Mrs. Willis
+sketched with some cleverness and a great deal of malice on the
+title-page. On the very same morning, Dora Russell, on opening her desk,
+was seen to throw up her hands with a gesture of dismay. The neat
+composition she had finished the night before was not to be seen in its
+accustomed place, but in a corner of the desk were two bulky and
+mysterious parcels, one of which contained a great junk of rich
+plum-cake, and the other some very sticky and messy "Turkish delight;"
+while the paper which enveloped these luxuries was found to be that on
+which the missing composition was written. Dora's face grew very white,
+she forgot the ordinary rules of the school, and, leaving her class,
+walked down the room, and interrupted Miss Good, who was beginning to
+instruct the third class in English grammar.
+
+"Will you please come and see something in my desk, Miss Good?" she said
+in a voice which trembled with excitement.
+
+It was while she was speaking that Cecil found the copy of Mrs. Browning
+mutilated, and with the disgraceful caricature on its title-page.
+Startled as she was by this discovery, and also by Miss Russell's
+extraordinary behavior, she had presence of mind enough to hide the sight
+which pained her from her companions. Unobserved, in the strong interest
+of the moment, for all the girls were watching Dora Russell and Miss
+Good, she managed to squeeze the little volume into her pocket. She had
+indeed received a great shock, for she knew well that the only girl who
+could caricature in the school was Annie Forest. For a moment her
+troubled eyes sought the ground, but then she raised them and looked at
+Annie; Annie, however, with a particularly cheerful face, and her bright
+dark eyes full of merriment, was gazing in astonishment at the scene
+which was taking place in front of Miss Russell's desk.
+
+Dora, whose enunciation was very clear, seemed to have absolutely
+forgotten herself; she disregarded Miss Good's admonitions, and declared
+stoutly that at such a moment she did not care what rules she broke. She
+was quite determined that the culprit who had dared to desecrate her
+composition, and put plum-cake and "Turkish delight" into her desk,
+should be publicly exposed and punished.
+
+"The thing cannot go on any longer, Miss Good," she said; "there is a
+girl in this school who ought to be expelled from it, and I for one
+declare openly that I will not submit to associate with a girl who is
+worse than unladylike. If you will permit me, Miss Good, I will carry
+these things at once to Mrs. Willis, and beg of her to investigate the
+whole affair, and bring the culprit to justice, and to turn her out of
+the school."
+
+"Stay, Miss Russell," exclaimed the English teacher, "you strangely and
+completely forget yourself. You are provoked, I own, but you have no
+right to stand up and absolutely hoist the flag of rebellion in the faces
+of the other girls. I cannot excuse your conduct. I will myself take away
+these parcels which were found in your desk, and will report the affair
+to Mrs. Willis. She will take what steps she thinks right in bringing you
+to order, and in discovering the author of this mischief. Return
+instantly to your desk, Miss Russell; you strangely forget yourself."
+
+Miss Good left the room, having removed the plum-cake and "Turkish
+delight" from Dora Russell's desk, and lessons continued as best they
+could under such exciting circumstances.
+
+At twelve o'clock that day, just as the girls were preparing to go up to
+their rooms to get ready for their usual walk, Mrs. Willis came into the
+school-room.
+
+"Stay one moment, young ladies," said the head-mistress in that slightly
+vibrating and authoritative voice of hers. "I have a word or two to say
+to you all. Miss Good has just brought me a painful story of wanton and
+cruel mischief. There are fifty girls in this school, who, until lately,
+lived happily together. There is now one girl among the fifty whose
+object it is to sow seeds of discord and misery among her companions.
+Miss Good has told me of three different occasions on which mischief has
+been done to different girls in the school. Twice Miss Russell's desk has
+been disturbed, once Miss Thornton's. It is possible that other girls may
+also have suffered who have been noble enough not to complain. There is,
+however, a grave mischief, in short a moral disease in our midst. Such a
+thing is worse than bodily illness--it must be stamped out instantly and
+completely at the risk of any personal suffering. I am now going to ask
+you, girls, a simple question, and I demand instant truth without any
+reservation. Miss Russell's desk has been tampered with--Miss Thornton's
+desk has been tampered with. Has any other girl suffered injury--has any
+other girl's desk been touched?"
+
+Mrs. Willis looked down the long room--her voice had reached every
+corner, and the quiet, dignified, and deeply-pained expression in her
+fine eyes was plainly visible to each girl in the school. Even the little
+ones were startled and subdued by the tone of Mrs. Willis' voice, and one
+or two of them suddenly burst into tears. Mrs. Willis paused for a full
+moment, then she repeated her question.
+
+"I insist upon knowing the exact truth, my dear children," she said
+gently, but with great decision.
+
+"My desk has also been tampered with," said Miss Temple, in a low voice.
+
+Every one started when Cecil spoke, and even Annie Forest glanced at her
+with a half-frightened and curious expression. Cecil's voice indeed was
+so low, so shaken with doubt and pain, that her companions scarcely
+recognized it.
+
+"Come here, Miss Temple," said Mrs. Willis.
+
+Cecil instantly left her desk and walked up the room.
+
+"Your desk has also been tampered with, you say?" repeated the
+head-mistress.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"When did you discover this?"
+
+"To-day, Mrs. Willis."
+
+"You kept it to yourself?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Will you now repeat in the presence of the school, and in a loud enough
+voice to be heard by all here, exactly what was done?"
+
+"Pardon me," answered Cecil, and now her voice was a little less agitated
+and broken, and she looked full into the face of her teacher, "I cannot
+do that."
+
+"You deliberately disobey me, Cecil?" said Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+Mrs. Willis' face flushed--she did not, however, look angry; she laid her
+hand on Cecil's shoulder and looked full into her eyes.
+
+"You are one of my best pupils, Cecil," she said tenderly. "At such a
+moment as this, honor requires you to stand by your mistress. I must
+insist on your telling me here and now exactly what has occurred."
+
+Cecil's face grew whiter and whiter.
+
+"I cannot tell you," she murmured; "it breaks my heart, but I cannot tell
+you."
+
+"You have defied me, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis in a tone of deep pain. "I
+must, my dear, insist on your obedience, but not now. Miss Good, will you
+take Miss Temple to the chapel? I will come to you, Cecil, in an hour's
+time."
+
+Cecil walked down the room crying silently. Her deep distress and her
+very firm refusal to disclose what she knew had made a great impression
+on her schoolfellows. They all felt troubled and uneasy, and Annie
+Forest's face was very pale.
+
+"This thing, this wicked, mischievous thing has gone deeper than I
+feared," said Mrs. Willis, when Cecil had left the room. "Only some very
+strong motive would make Cecil Temple behave as she is now doing. She is
+influenced by a mistaken idea of what is right; she wishes to shield the
+guilty person. I may as well tell you all, young ladies, that, dear as
+Cecil is to me, she is now under the ban of my severe displeasure. Until
+she confesses the truth and humbles herself before me, I cannot be
+reconciled to her. I cannot permit her to associate with you. She has
+done very wrong, and her punishment must be proportionately severe. There
+is one chance for her, however. Will the girl whom she is mistakenly,
+though generously, trying to shield, come forward and confess her guilt,
+and so release poor Cecil from the terrible position in which she has
+placed herself? By doing so, the girl who has caused all this misery will
+at least show me that she is trying to repent?"
+
+Mrs. Willis paused again, and now she looked down the room with a face of
+almost entreaty. Several pairs of eyes were fixed anxiously on her,
+several looked away, and many girls glanced in the direction of Annie
+Forest, who, feeling herself suspected, returned their glances with bold
+defiance, and instantly assumed her most reckless manner.
+
+Mrs. Willis waited for a full minute.
+
+"The culprit is not noble enough," she said then. "Now, girls, I must ask
+each of you to come up one by one and deny or confess this charge. As you
+do so, you are silently to leave the school-room and go up to your rooms,
+and prepare for the walk which has been so painfully delayed. Miss
+Conway, you are at the head of the school, will you set the example?"
+
+One by one the girls of the head class stepped up to their teacher, and
+of each one she asked the same question:
+
+"Are you guilty?"
+
+Each girl replied in the negative and walked out of the school-room. The
+second class followed the example of the first, and then the third class
+came up to their teacher. Several ears were strained to hear Annie
+Forest's answer, but her eyes were lifted fearlessly to Mrs. Willis'
+face, and her "No!" was heard all over the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+IN THE CHAPEL.
+
+
+The bright light from a full noontide sun was shining in colored bars
+through the richly-painted windows of the little chapel when Mrs. Willis
+sought Cecil Temple there.
+
+Cecil's face was in many ways a remarkable one.
+
+Her soft brown eyes were generally filled with a steadfast and kindly
+ray. Gentleness was her special prerogative, but there was nothing weak
+about her--hers was the gentleness of a strong, and pure, and noble soul.
+To know Cecil was to love her. She was a motherless girl, and the only
+child of a most indulgent father. Colonel Temple was now in India, and
+Cecil was to finish her education under Mrs. Willis' care, and then, if
+necessary, to join her father.
+
+Mrs. Willis had always taken a special interest in this girl. She admired
+her for her great moral worth. Cecil was not particularly clever, but she
+was so studious, so painstaking, that she always kept a high place in
+class. She was without doubt a religious girl, but there was nothing of
+the prig about her. She was not, however, ashamed of her religion, and,
+if the fitting occasion arose, she was fearless in expressing her
+opinion.
+
+Mrs. Willis used to call Cecil her "little standard-bearer," and she
+relied greatly on her influence over the third-class girls. Mrs. Willis
+considered the third class, perhaps, the most important in the school.
+She was often heard to say:
+
+"The girls who fill this class have come to a turning point--they have
+come to the age when resolves may be made for life, and kept. The good
+third-class girl is very unlikely to degenerate as she passes through the
+second and first classes. On the other hand, there is very little hope
+that the idle or mischievous third-class girl will mend her ways as she
+goes higher in the school."
+
+Mrs. Willis' steps were very slow, and her thoughts extremely painful, as
+she entered the chapel to-day. Had any one else offered her defiance she
+would have known how to deal with the culprit, but Cecil would never have
+acted as she did without the strongest motive, and Mrs. Willis felt more
+sorrowful than angry as she sat down by the side of her favorite pupil.
+
+"I have kept you waiting longer than I intended, my dear," she said. "I
+was unexpectedly interrupted, and I am sorry; but you have had more time
+to think, Cecil."
+
+"Yes, I have thought," answered Cecil, in a very low tone.
+
+"And, perhaps," continued her governess, "in this quiet and beautiful and
+sacred place, my dear pupil has also prayed?"
+
+"I have prayed," said Cecil.
+
+"Then you have been guided, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis, in a tone of
+relief. "We do not come to God in our distress without being shown the
+right way. Your doubts have been removed, Cecil; you can now speak fully
+to me: can you not, dear?"
+
+"I have asked God to tell me what is right," said Cecil. "I don't pretend
+to know. I am very much puzzled. It seems to me that more good would be
+done if I concealed what you asked me to confess in the school-room. My
+own feeling is that I ought not to tell you. I know this is great
+disobedience, and I am quite willing to receive any punishment you think
+right to give me. Yes, I think I am quite willing to receive _any_
+punishment."
+
+Mrs. Willis put her hand on Cecil's shoulder.
+
+"Ordinary punishments are not likely to affect you, Cecil," she said; "on
+you I have no idea of inflicting extra lessons, or depriving you of
+half-holidays, or even taking away your drawing-room. But there is
+something else you must lose, and that I know will touch you deeply--I
+must remove from you my confidence."
+
+Cecil's face grew very pale.
+
+"And your love, too?" she said, looking up with imploring eyes; "oh,
+surely not your love as well?"
+
+"I ask you frankly, Cecil," replied Mrs. Willis, "can perfect love exist
+without perfect confidence? I would not willingly deprive you of my love,
+but of necessity the love I have hitherto felt for you must be
+altered--in short, the old love, which enabled me to rest on you and
+trust you, will cease."
+
+Cecil covered her face with her hands.
+
+"This punishment is very cruel," she said. "You are right; it reaches
+down to my very heart. But," she added, looking up with a strong and
+sweet light in her face, "I will try and bear it, and some day you will
+understand."
+
+"Listen, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis; "you have just told me you have prayed
+to God, and have asked Him to show you the right path. Now, my dear,
+suppose we kneel together, and both of us ask Him to show us the way out
+of this difficult matter. I want to be guided to use the right words with
+you, Cecil. You want to be guided to receive the instruction which I, as
+your teacher and mother-friend, would give you."
+
+Cecil and Mrs. Willis both knelt down, and the head-mistress said a few
+words in a voice of great earnestness and entreaty; then they resumed
+their seats.
+
+"Now, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis, "you must remember in listening to me
+that I am speaking to you as I believe God wishes me to. If I can
+convince you that you are doing wrong in concealing what you know from
+me, will you act as I wish in the matter?"
+
+"I long to be convinced," said Cecil, in a low tone.
+
+"That is right, my dear; I can now speak to you with perfect freedom. My
+words you will remember, Cecil, are now, I firmly believe, directed by
+God; they are also the result of a large experience. I have trained many
+girls. I have watched the phases of thought in many young minds. Cecil,
+look at me. I can read you like a book."
+
+Cecil looked up expectantly.
+
+"Your motive for this concealment is as clear as the daylight, Cecil. You
+are keeping back what you know because you want to shield some one. Am I
+not right, my dear?"
+
+The color flooded Cecil's pale face. She bent her head in silent assent,
+but her eyes were too full of tears, and her lips trembled too much to
+allow her to speak.
+
+"The girl you want to defend," continued Mrs. Willis, in that clear,
+patient voice of hers, "is one whom you and I both love--is one for whom
+we both have prayed--is one for whom we would both gladly sacrifice
+ourselves if necessary. Her name is----"
+
+"Oh, don't," said Cecil imploringly--"don't say her name; you have no
+right to suspect her."
+
+"I must say her name, Cecil, dear. If you suspect Annie Forest, why
+should not I? You do suspect her, do you not, Cecil?"
+
+Cecil began to cry.
+
+"I know it," continued Mrs. Willis. "Now, Cecil, we will suppose,
+terrible as this suspicion is, fearfully as it pains us both, that Annie
+Forest _is_ guilty. We must suppose for the sake of my argument that this
+is the case. Do you not know, my dear Cecil, that you are doing the
+falsest, cruelest thing by dear Annie in trying to hide her sin from me?
+Suppose, just for the sake of our argument, that this cowardly conduct on
+Annie's part was never found out by me; what effect would it have on
+Annie herself?"
+
+"It would save her in the eyes of the school," said Cecil.
+
+"Just so; but God would know the truth. Her next downfall would be
+deeper. In short, Cecil, under the idea of friendship you would have done
+the cruelest thing in all the world for your friend."
+
+Cecil was quite silent.
+
+"This is one way to look at it," continued Mrs. Willis; "but there are
+many other points from which this case ought to be viewed. You owe much
+to Annie, but not all--you have a duty to perform to your other
+schoolfellows. You have a duty to perform to me. If you possess a clue
+which will enable me to convict Annie Forest of her sin, in common
+justice you have no right to withhold it. Remember, that while she goes
+about free and unsuspected, some other girl is under the ban--some other
+girl is watched and feared. You fail in your duty to your schoolfellows
+when you keep back your knowledge, Cecil. When you refuse to trust me,
+you fail in your duty to your mistress; for I cannot stamp out this evil
+and wicked thing from our midst unless I know all. When you conceal your
+knowledge, you ruin the character of the girl you seek to shield. When
+you conceal your knowledge, you go against God's express wish. There--I
+have spoken to you as He directed me to speak."
+
+Cecil suddenly sprang to her feet.
+
+"I never thought of all these things," she said. "You are right, but it
+is very hard, and mine is only a suspicion. Oh, do be tender to her,
+and--forgive me--may I go away now?"
+
+As she spoke, she pulled out the torn copy of Mrs. Browning, laid it on
+her teacher's lap, and ran swiftly out of the chapel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+TALKING OVER THE MYSTERY.
+
+
+Annie Forest, sitting in the midst of a group of eager admirers, was
+chatting volubly. Never had she been in higher spirits, never had her
+pretty face looked more bright and daring.
+
+Cecil Temple coming into the play-room, started when she saw her. Annie,
+however, instantly rose from the low hassock on which she had perched
+herself and, running up to Cecil, put her hand through her arm.
+
+"We are all discussing the mystery, darling," she said; "we have
+discussed it, and literally torn it to shreds, and yet never got at the
+kernel. We have guessed and guessed what your motive can be in concealing
+the truth from Mrs. Willis, and we all unanimously vote that you are a
+dear old martyr, and that you have some admirable reason for keeping back
+the truth. You cannot think what an excitement we are in--even Susy
+Drummond has stayed awake to listen to our chatter. Now, Cecil, do come
+and sit here in this most inviting little arm-chair, and tell us what our
+dear head-mistress said to you in the chapel. It did seem so awful to
+send you to the chapel, poor dear Cecil."
+
+Cecil stood perfectly still and quiet while Annie was pouring out her
+torrent of eager words; her eyes, indeed, did not quite meet her
+companion's, but she allowed Annie to retain her clasp of her arm, and
+she evidently listened with attention to her words. Now, however, when
+Miss Forest tried to draw her into the midst of the eager and animated
+group who sat round the play-room fire, she hesitated and looked
+longingly in the direction of her peaceful little drawing-room. Her
+hesitation, however, was but momentary. Quite silently she walked with
+Annie down the large play-room and entered the group of girls.
+
+"Here's your throne, Queen Cecil," said Annie, trying to push her into
+the little arm-chair; but Cecil would not seat herself.
+
+"How nice that you have come, Cecil!" said Mary Pierce, a second-class
+girl. "I really think--we all think--that you were very brave to stand
+out against Mrs. Willis as you did. Of course we are devoured with
+curiosity to know what it means; arn't we, Flo?"
+
+"Yes, we're in agonies," answered Flo Dunstan, another second-class girl.
+
+"You will tell exactly what Mrs. Willis said, darling heroine?" proceeded
+Annie in her most dulcet tones. "You concealed your knowledge, didn't
+you? you were very firm, weren't you? dear, brave love!"
+
+"For my part, I think Cecil Temple the soul of brave firmness," here
+interrupted Susan Drummond. "I fancy she's as hard and firm in herself
+when she wants to conceal a thing as that rocky sweetmeat which always
+hurts our teeth to get through. Yes, I do fancy that."
+
+"Oh, Susy, what a horrid metaphor!" here interrupted several girls.
+
+One, however, of the eager group of schoolgirls had not opened her lips
+or said a word; that girl was Hester Thornton. She had been drawn into
+the circle by an intense curiosity; but she had made no comment with
+regard to Cecil's conduct. If she knew anything of the mystery she had
+thrown no light on it. She had simply sat motionless, with watchful and
+alert eyes and silent tongue. Now, for the first time, she spoke.
+
+"I think, if you will allow her, that Cecil has got something to say,"
+she remarked.
+
+Cecil glanced down at her with a very brief look of gratitude.
+
+"Thank you, Hester," she said. "I won't keep you a moment, girls. I
+cannot offer to throw any light on the mystery which makes us all so
+miserable to-day; but I think it right to undeceive you with regard to
+myself. I have not concealed what I know from Mrs. Willis. She is in
+possession of all the facts, and what I found in my desk this morning is
+now in her keeping. She has made me see that in concealing my knowledge I
+was acting wrongly, and whatever pain has come to me in the matter, she
+now knows all."
+
+When Cecil had finished her sad little speech she walked straight out of
+the group of girls, and, without glancing at one of them, went across the
+play-room to her own compartment. She had failed to observe a quick and
+startled glance from Susan Drummond's sleepy blue eyes, nor had she heard
+her mutter--half to her companions, half to herself:
+
+"Cecil is not like the rocky sweetmeat; I was mistaken in her."
+
+Neither had Cecil seen the flash of almost triumph in Hester's eyes, nor
+the defiant glance she threw at Miss Forest. Annie stood with her hands
+clasped, and a little frown of perplexity between her brows, for a
+moment; then she ran fearlessly down the play-room, and said in a low
+voice at the other side of Cecil's curtains:
+
+"May I come in?"
+
+Cecil said "Yes," and Annie, entering the pretty little drawing-room,
+flung her arms round Miss Temple's neck.
+
+"Cecil," she exclaimed impulsively, "you're in great trouble. I am a
+giddy, reckless thing, I know, but I don't laugh at people when they are
+in real trouble. Won't you tell me all about it, Cecil?"
+
+"I will, Annie. Sit down there and I will tell you everything. I think
+you have a right to know, and I am glad you have come to me. I thought
+perhaps--but no matter. Annie, can't you guess what I am going to say?"
+
+"No, I'm sure I can't," said Annie. "I saw for a moment or two to-day
+that some of those absurd girls suspected me of being the author of all
+this mischief. Now, you know, Cecil, I love a bit of fun beyond words. If
+there's any going on I feel nearly mad until I am in it; but what was
+done to-day was not at all in accordance with my ideas of fun. To tear up
+Miss Russell's essay and fill her desk with stupid plum-cake and Turkish
+delight seems to me but a sorry kind of jest. Now, if I had been guilty
+of that sort of thing, I'd have managed something far cleverer than that.
+If _I_ had tampered with Dora Russell's desk, I'd have done the thing in
+style. The dear, sweet, dignified creature should have shrieked in real
+terror. You don't know, perhaps, Cecil, that our admirable Dora is no end
+of a coward. I wonder what she would have said if I had put a little nest
+of field-mice in her desk! I saw that the poor thing suspected me, as she
+gave way to her usual little sneer about the 'under-bred girl;' but, of
+course, _you_ know me, Cecil. Why, my dear Cecil, what is the matter? How
+white you are, and you are actually crying! What is it, Cecil? what is
+it, Cecil, darling?"
+
+Cecil dried her eyes quickly.
+
+"You know my pet copy of Mrs. Browning's poems, don't you, Annie?"
+
+"Oh, yes, of course. You lent it to me one day. Don't you remember how
+you made me cry over that picture of little Alice, the over-worked
+factory girl? What about the book, Cecil?"
+
+"I found the book in my desk," said Cecil, in a steady tone, and now
+fixing her eyes on Annie, who knelt by her side--"I found the book in my
+desk, although I never keep it there; for it is quite against the rules
+to keep our recreation books in our school-desks, and you know, Annie, I
+always think it is so much easier to keep these little rules. They are
+matters of duty and conscience, after all. I found my copy of Mrs.
+Browning in my desk this morning with the cover torn off, and with a very
+painful and ludicrous caricature of our dear Mrs. Willis sketched on the
+title-page."
+
+"What?" said Annie. "No, no; impossible!"
+
+"You know nothing about it, do you, Annie?"
+
+"I never put it there, if that's what you mean," said Annie. But her face
+had undergone a curious change. Her light and easy and laughing manner
+had altered. When Cecil mentioned the caricature she flushed a vivid
+crimson. Her flush had quickly died away, leaving her olive-tinted face
+paler than its wont.
+
+"I see," she said, after a long pause, "you, too, suspected me, Cecil,
+and that is why you tried to conceal the thing. You know that I am the
+only girl in the school who can draw caricatures, but did you suppose
+that I would show _her_ dishonor? Of course things look ugly for me, if
+this is what you found in your book; but I did not think that _you_ would
+suspect me, Cecil."
+
+"I will believe you, Annie," said Cecil, eagerly. "I long beyond words to
+believe you. With all your faults, no one has ever yet found you out in a
+lie. If you look at me, Annie, and tell me honestly that you know nothing
+whatever about that caricature, I will believe you. Yes, I will believe
+you fully, and I will go with you to Mrs. Willis and tell her that,
+whoever did the wrong, you are innocent in this matter. Say you know
+nothing about it, dear, dear Annie, and take a load off my heart."
+
+"I never put the caricature into your book, Cecil."
+
+"And you know nothing about it?"
+
+"I cannot say that; I never--never put it in your book."
+
+"Oh, Annie," exclaimed poor Cecil, "you are trying to deceive me. Why
+won't you be brave? Oh, Annie, I never thought you would stoop to a lie."
+
+"I'm telling no lie," answered Annie with sudden passion. "I do know
+something about the caricature, but I never put it into that book. There!
+you doubt me, you have ceased to believe me, and I won't waste any more
+words on the matter."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+"SENT TO COVENTRY."
+
+
+There were many girls in the school who remembered that dismal
+half-holiday--they remembered its forced mirth and its hidden anxiety;
+and as the hours flew by the suspicion that Annie Forest was the author
+of all the mischief grew and deepened. A school is like a little world,
+and popular opinion is apt to change with great rapidity. Annie was
+undoubtedly the favorite of the school; but favorites are certain to have
+enemies, and there were several girls unworthy enough and mean enough to
+be jealous of poor Annie's popularity. She was the kind of girl whom only
+very small natures could really dislike. Her popularity arose from the
+simple fact that hers was a peculiarly joyous and unselfish nature. She
+was a girl with scarcely any self-consciousness; those she loved, she
+loved devotedly; she threw herself with a certain feverish impetuosity
+into their lives, and made their interest her own. To get into mischief
+and trouble for the sake of a friend was an every-day occurrence with
+Annie. She was not the least studious; she had no one particular talent,
+unless it was an untrained and birdlike voice; she was always more or
+less in hot water about her lessons, always behindhand in her tasks,
+always leaving undone what she should do, and doing what she should not
+do. She was a contradictory, erratic creature--jealous of no one, envious
+of no one--dearly loving a joke, and many times inflicting pain from
+sheer thoughtlessness, but always ready to say she was sorry, always
+ready to make friends again.
+
+It is strange that such a girl as Annie should have enemies, but she had,
+and in the last few weeks the feeling of jealousy and envy which had
+always been smoldering in some breasts took more active form. Two reasons
+accounted for this: Hester's openly avowed and persistent dislike to
+Annie, and Miss Russell's declared conviction that she was under-bred and
+not a lady.
+
+Miss Russell was the only girl in the first class who had hitherto given
+wild little Annie a thought.
+
+In the first class, to-day, Annie had to act the unpleasing part of the
+wicked little heroine. Miss Russell was quite certain of Annie's guilt;
+she and her companions condescended to discuss poor Annie and to pull all
+her little virtues to pieces, and to magnify her sins to an alarming
+extent.
+
+After two or three hours of judicious conversation, Dora Russell and most
+of the other first-class girls decided that Annie ought to be expelled,
+and unanimously resolved that they, at least, would do what they could to
+"send her to Coventry."
+
+In the lower part of the school Annie also had a few enemies, and these
+girls, having carefully observed Hester's attitude toward her, now came
+up close to this dignified little lady, and asked her boldly to declare
+her opinion with regard to Annie's guilt.
+
+Hester, without the least hesitation, assured them that "of course Annie
+had done it."
+
+"There is not room for a single doubt on the subject," she said;
+"there--look at her now."
+
+At this instant Annie was leaving Cecil's compartment, and with red eyes,
+and hair, as usual, falling about her face, was running out of the
+play-room. She seemed in great distress; but, nevertheless, before she
+reached the door, she stopped to pick up a little girl of five, who was
+fretting about some small annoyance. Annie took the little one in her
+arms, kissed her tenderly, whispered some words in her ear, which caused
+the little face to light up with some smiles and the round arms to clasp
+Annie with an ecstatic hug. She dropped the child, who ran back to play
+merrily with her companions, and left the room.
+
+The group of middle-class girls still sat on by the fire, but Hester
+Thornton now, not Annie, was the center of attraction. It was the first
+time in all her young life that Hester had found herself in the enviable
+position of a favorite; and without at all knowing what mischief she was
+doing, she could not resist improving the occasion, and making the most
+of her dislike for Annie.
+
+Several of those who even were fond of Miss Forest came round to the
+conviction that she was really guilty, and one by one, as is the fashion
+not only among school girls but in the greater world outside, they began
+to pick holes in their former favorite. These girls, too, resolved that,
+if Annie were really so mean as maliciously to injure other girls'
+property and get them into trouble, she must be "sent to Coventry."
+
+"What's Coventry?" asked one of the little ones, the child whom Annie had
+kissed and comforted, now sidling up to the group.
+
+"Oh, a nasty place, Phena," said Mary Bell, putting her arm round the
+pretty child and drawing her to her side.
+
+"And who is going there?"
+
+"Why, I am afraid it is naughty Annie Forest."
+
+"She's not naughty! Annie sha'n't go to any nasty place. I hate you, Mary
+Bell." The little one looked round the group with flashing eyes of
+defiance, then wrenched herself away to return to her younger companions.
+
+"It was stupid of you to say that, Mary," remarked one of the girls.
+"Well," she continued, "I suppose it is all settled, and poor Annie, to
+say the least of it, is not a lady. For my own part, I always thought her
+great fun, but if she is proved guilty of this offense I wash my hands of
+her."
+
+"We all wash our hands of her," echoed the girls, with the exception of
+Susan Drummond, who, as usual, was nodding in her chair.
+
+"What do you say, Susy?" asked one or two; "you have not opened your lips
+all this time."
+
+"I--eh?--what?" asked Susan, stretching herself and yawning, "oh, about
+Annie Forest--I suppose you are right, girls. Is not that the tea-gong?
+I'm awfully hungry."
+
+Hester Thornton went into the tea-room that evening feeling particularly
+virtuous, and with an idea that she had distinguished herself in some
+way.
+
+Poor foolish, thoughtless Hester, she little guessed what seed she had
+sown, and what a harvest she was preparing for her own reaping by-and-by.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ABOUT SOME PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT NO EVIL.
+
+
+A few days after this Hester was much delighted to receive an invitation
+from her little friends, the Misses Bruce. These good ladies had not
+forgotten the lonely and miserable child whom they had comforted not a
+little during her journey to school six weeks ago. They invited Hester to
+spend the next half-holiday with them, and as this happened to fall on a
+Saturday, Mrs. Willis gave Hester permission to remain with her friends
+until eight o'clock, when she would send the carriage to fetch her home.
+
+The trouble about Annie had taken place the Wednesday before, and all the
+girls' heads were full of the uncleared-up mystery when Hester started on
+her little expedition.
+
+Nothing was known; no fresh light had been thrown on the subject.
+Everything went on as usual within the school, and a casual observer
+would never have noticed the cloud which rested over that usually happy
+dwelling. A casual observer would have noticed little or no change in
+Annie Forest; her merry laugh was still heard, her light step still
+danced across the play-room floor, she was in her place in class, and
+was, if anything, a little more attentive and a little more successful
+over her lessons. Her pretty piquant face, her arch expression, the
+bright, quick and droll glance which she alone could give, were still to
+be seen; but those who knew her well and those who loved her best saw a
+change in Annie.
+
+In the play-room she devoted herself exclusively to the little ones; she
+never went near Cecil Temple's drawing-room; she never mingled with the
+girls of the middle school as they clustered round the cheerful fire. At
+meal-times she ate little, and her room-fellow was heard to declare that
+she was awakened more than once in the middle of the night by the sound
+of Annie's sobs. In chapel, too, when she fancied herself quite
+unobserved, her face wore an expression of great pain; but if Mrs. Willis
+happened to glance in her direction, instantly the little mouth became
+demure and almost hard, the dark eyelashes were lowered over the bright
+eyes, the whole expression of the face showed the extreme of
+indifference. Hester felt more sure than ever of Annie's guilt; but one
+or two of the other girls in the school wavered in this opinion, and
+would have taken Annie out of "Coventry" had she herself made the
+smallest advance toward them.
+
+Annie and Hester had not spoken to each other now for several days; but
+on this afternoon, which was a bright one in early spring, as Hester was
+changing her school-dress for her Sunday one, and preparing for her visit
+to the Misses Bruce, there came a light knock at her door. She said,
+"Come in!" rather impatiently, for she was in a hurry, and dreaded being
+kept.
+
+To her surprise Annie Forest put in her curly head, and then, dancing
+with her usual light movement across the room, she laid a little bunch of
+dainty spring flowers on the dressing-table beside Hester.
+
+Hester stared, first at the intruder, and then at the early primroses.
+She passionately loved flowers, and would have exclaimed with ecstasy at
+these had any one brought them in except Annie.
+
+"I want you," said Annie, rather timidly for her, "to take these flowers
+from me to Miss Agnes and Miss Jane Bruce. It will be very kind of you if
+you will take them. I am sorry to have interrupted you--thank you very
+much."
+
+She was turning away when Hester compelled herself to remark:
+
+"Is there any message with the flowers?"
+
+"Oh, no--only Annie Forest's love. They'll understand----" she turned
+half round as she spoke, and Hester saw that her eyes had filled with
+tears. She felt touched in spite of herself. There was something in
+Annie's face now which reminded her of her darling little Nan at home.
+She had seen the same beseeching, sorrowful look in Nan's brown eyes when
+she had wanted her friends to kiss her and take her to their hearts and
+love her.
+
+Hester would not allow herself, however, to feel any tenderness toward
+Annie. Of course she was not really a bit like sweet little Nan, and it
+was absurd to suppose that a great girl like Annie could want caressing
+and petting and soothing; still, in spite of herself, Annie's look
+haunted her, and she took great care of the little flower-offering, and
+presented it with Annie's message instantly on her arrival to the little
+old ladies.
+
+Miss Jane and Miss Agnes were very much pleased with the early primroses.
+They looked at one another and said:
+
+"Poor dear little girl," in tender voices, and then they put the flowers
+into one of their daintiest vases, and made much of them, and showed them
+to any visitors who happened to call that afternoon.
+
+Their little house looked something like a doll's house to Hester, who
+had been accustomed all her life to large rooms and spacious passages;
+but it was the sweetest, daintiest, and most charming little abode in the
+world. It was not unlike a nest, and the Misses Bruce in certain ways
+resembled bright little robin redbreasts, so small, so neat, so chirrupy
+they were.
+
+Hester enjoyed her afternoon immensely; the little ladies were right in
+their prophesy, and she was no longer lonely at school. She enjoyed
+talking about her schoolfellows, about her new life, about her studies.
+The Misses Bruce were decidedly fond of a gossip, but something which she
+could not at all define in their manner prevented Hester from retailing
+for their benefit any unkind news. They told her frankly at last that
+they were only interested in the good things which went on in the school,
+and that they found no pursuit so altogether delightful as finding out
+the best points in all the people they came across. They would not even
+laugh at sleepy, tiresome Susan Drummond; on the contrary, they pitied
+her, and Miss Jane wondered if the girl could be quite well, whereupon
+Miss Agnes shook her head, and said emphatically that it was Hester's
+duty to rouse poor Susy, and to make her waking life so interesting to
+her that she should no longer care to spend so many hours in the world of
+dreams.
+
+There is such a thing as being so kind-hearted, so gentle, so charitable
+as to make the people who have not encouraged these virtues feel quite
+uncomfortable. By the mere force of contrast they begin to see themselves
+something as they really are. Since Hester had come to Lavender House she
+had taken very little pains to please others rather than herself, and she
+was now almost startled to see how she had allowed selfishness to get the
+better of her. While the Misses Bruce were speaking, old longings, which
+had slept since her mother's death, came back to the young girl, and she
+began to wish that she could be kinder to Susan Drummond, and that she
+could overcome her dislike to Annie Forest. She longed to say something
+about Annie to the little ladies, but they evidently did not wish to
+allude to the subject. When she was going away, they gave her a small
+parcel.
+
+"You will kindly give this to your schoolfellow, Miss Forest, Hester,
+dear," they both said, and then they kissed her, and said they hoped they
+should see her again; and Hester got into the old-fashioned school
+brougham, and held the brown paper parcel in her hand.
+
+As she was going into the chapel that night, Mary Bell came up to her and
+whispered:
+
+"We have not got to the bottom of that mystery about Annie Forest yet.
+Mrs. Willis can evidently make nothing of her, and I believe Mr. Everard
+is going to talk to her after prayers to-night."
+
+As she was speaking, Annie herself pushed rather rudely past the two
+girls; her face was flushed, and her hair was even more untidy than was
+its wont.
+
+"Here is a parcel for you, Miss Forest," said Hester, in a much more
+gentle tone than she was wont to use when she addressed this
+objectionable schoolmate.
+
+All the girls were now filing into the chapel, and Hester should
+certainly not have presented the little parcel at that moment.
+
+"Breaking the rules, Miss Thornton," said Annie; "all right, toss it
+here." Then, as Hester failed to comply, she ran back, knocking her
+schoolfellows out of place, and, snatching the parcel from Hester's hand,
+threw it high in the air. This was a piece of not only willful audacity
+and disobedience, but it even savored of the profane, for Annie's step
+was on the threshold of the chapel, and the parcel fell with a noisy bang
+on the floor some feet inside the little building.
+
+"Bring me that parcel, Annie Forest," whispered the stern voice of the
+head-mistress.
+
+Annie sullenly complied; but when she came up to Mrs. Willis, her
+governess took her hand, and pushed her down into a low seat a little
+behind her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS."
+
+
+The short evening service was over, and one by one, in orderly
+procession, the girls left the chapel. Annie was about to rise to her
+feet to follow her school-companions, when Mrs. Willis stooped down, and
+whispered something in her ear. Her face became instantly suffused with a
+dull red; she resumed her seat, and buried her face in both her hands.
+One or two of the girls noticed her despondent attitude as they left the
+chapel, and Cecil Temple looked back with a glance of such unutterable
+sympathy that Annie's proud, suffering little heart would have been
+touched could she but have seen the look.
+
+Presently the young steps died away, and Annie, raising her head, saw
+that she was alone with Mr. Everard, who seated himself in the place
+which Mrs. Willis had occupied by her side.
+
+"Your governess has asked me to speak to you, my dear," he said, in his
+kind and fatherly tones; "she wants us to discuss this thing which is
+making you so unhappy quite fully together." Here the clergyman paused,
+and noticing a sudden wistful and soft look in the girl's brown eyes, he
+continued: "Perhaps, however, you have something to say to me which will
+throw light on this mystery?"
+
+"No, sir, I have nothing to say," replied Annie, and now again the sullen
+expression passed like a wave over her face.
+
+"Poor child," said Mr. Everard. "Perhaps, Annie," he continued, "you do
+not quite understand me--you do not quite read my motive in talking to
+you to-night. I am not here in any sense to reprove you. You are either
+guilty of this sin, or you are not guilty. In either case I pity you; it
+is very hard, very bitter, to be falsely accused--I pity you much if this
+is the case; but it is still harder, Annie, still more bitter, still more
+absolutely crushing to be accused of a sin which we are trying to
+conceal. In that terrible case God Himself hides His face. Poor child,
+poor child, I pity you most of all if you are guilty."
+
+Annie had again covered her face, and bowed her head over her hands. She
+did not speak for a moment, but presently Mr. Everard heard a low sob,
+and then another, and another, until at last her whole frame was shaken
+with a perfect tempest of weeping.
+
+The old clergyman, who had seen many strange phases of human nature, who
+had in his day comforted and guided more than one young school-girl, was
+far too wise to do anything to check this flow of grief. He knew Annie
+would speak more fully and more frankly when her tears were over. He was
+right. She presently raised a very tear-stained face to the clergyman.
+
+"I felt very bitter at your coming to speak to me," she began. "Mrs.
+Willis has always sent for you when everything else has failed with us
+girls, and I did not think she would treat me so. I was determined not to
+say anything to you. Now, however, you have spoken good words to me, and
+I can't turn away from you. I will tell you all that is in my heart. I
+will promise before God to conceal nothing, if only you will do one thing
+for me."
+
+"What is that, my child?"
+
+"Will you believe me?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Ah, but you have not been tried yet. I thought Mrs. Willis would
+certainly believe; but she said the circumstantial evidence was too
+strong--perhaps it will be too strong for you."
+
+"I promise to believe you, Annie Forest; if, before God, you can assure
+me that you are speaking the whole truth, I will fully believe you."
+
+Annie paused again, then she rose from her seat and stood a pace away
+from the old minister.
+
+"This is the truth before God," she said, as she locked her two hands
+together and raised her eyes freely and unshrinkingly to Mr. Everard's
+face.
+
+"I have always loved Mrs. Willis. I have reasons for loving her which the
+girls don't know about. The girls don't know that when my mother was
+dying she gave me into Mrs. Willis' charge, and she said, 'You must keep
+Annie until her father comes back.' Mother did not know where father was;
+but she said he would be sure to come back some day, and look for mother
+and me; and Mrs. Willis said she would keep me faithfully until father
+came to claim me. That is four years ago, and my father has never come,
+nor have I heard of him, and I think, I am almost sure, that the little
+money which mother left must be all used up. Mrs. Willis never says
+anything about money, and she did not wish me to tell my story to the
+girls. None of them know except Cecil Temple. I am sure some day father
+will come home, and he will give Mrs. Willis back the money she has spent
+on me; but never, never, never can he repay her for her goodness to me.
+You see I cannot help loving Mrs. Willis. It is quite impossible for any
+girl to have such a friend and not to love her. I know I am very wild,
+and that I do all sorts of mad things. It seems to me that I cannot help
+myself sometimes; but I would not willingly, indeed, I would not
+willingly hurt anybody. Last Wednesday, as you know, there was a great
+disturbance in the school. Dora Russell's desk was tampered with, and so
+was Cecil Temple's. You know, of course, what was found in both the
+desks. Mrs. Willis sent for me, and asked me about the caricature which
+was drawn in Cecil's book. I looked at it and I told her the truth. I did
+not conceal one thing. I told her the whole truth as far as I knew it.
+She did not believe me. She said so. What more could I do then?"
+
+Here Annie paused; she began to unclasp and clasp her hands, and she
+looked full at Mr. Everard with a most pleading expression.
+
+"Do you mind repeating to me exactly what you said to your governess?" he
+questioned.
+
+"I said this, sir. I said, 'Yes, Mrs. Willis, I did draw that caricature.
+You will scarcely understand how I, who love you so much, could have been
+so mad and ungrateful as to do anything to turn you into ridicule. I
+would cut off my right hand now not to have done it; but I did do it, and
+I must tell you the truth.' 'Tell me, dear,' she said, quite gently then.
+'It was one wet afternoon about a fortnight ago,' I said to her; 'a lot
+of us middle-school girls were sitting together, and I had a pencil and
+some bits of paper, and I was making up funny little groups of a lot of
+us, and the girls were screaming with laughter, for somehow I managed to
+make the likeness that I wanted in each case. It was very wrong of me, I
+know. It was against the rules, but I was in one of my maddest humors,
+and I really did not care what the consequences were. At last one of the
+girls said: 'You won't dare to make a picture like that of Mrs. Willis,
+Annie--you know you won't dare.' The minute she said that name I began to
+feel ashamed. I remembered I was breaking one of the rules, and I
+suddenly tore up all my bits of paper and flung them into the fire, and I
+said: 'No, I would not dare to show her dishonor.' Well, afterward, as I
+was washing my hands for tea up in my room, the temptation came over me
+so strongly that I felt I could not resist it, to make a funny little
+sketch of Mrs. Willis. I had a little scrap of thin paper, and I took out
+my pencil and did it all in a minute. It seemed to me very funny, and I
+could not help laughing at it; and then I thrust it into my private
+writing-case, which I always keep locked, and I put the key in my pocket
+and ran downstairs. I forgot all about the caricature. I had never shown
+it to any one. How it got into Cecil's book is more than I can say. When
+I had finished speaking Mrs. Willis looked very hard at the book. 'You
+are right,' she said; 'this caricature is drawn on a very thin piece of
+paper, which has been cleverly pasted on the title-page.' Then, Mr.
+Everard, she asked me a lot of questions. Had I ever parted with my keys?
+Had I ever left my desk unlocked? 'No,' I said, 'my desk is always
+locked, and my keys are always in my pocket. Indeed,' I added, 'my keys
+were absolutely safe for the last week, for they went in a white
+petticoat to the wash, and came back as rusty as possible.' I could not
+open my desk for a whole week, which was a great nuisance. I told all
+this story to Mrs. Willis, and she said to me: 'You are positively
+certain that this caricature has been taken out of your desk by somebody
+else, and pasted in here? You are sure that the caricature you drew is
+not to be found in your desk?' 'Yes,' I said; 'how can I be anything but
+sure; these are my pencil marks, and that is the funny little turn I gave
+to your neck which made me laugh when I drew it. Yes; I am certainly
+sure.'
+
+"'I have always been told, Annie,' Mrs. Willis said, 'that you are the
+only girl in the school who can draw these caricatures. You have never
+seen an attempt at this kind of drawing among your schoolfellows, or
+among any of the teachers?'
+
+"'I have never seen any of them try this special kind of drawing,' I
+said. 'I wish I was like them. I wish I had never, never done it.'
+
+"'You have got your keys now?' Mrs. Willis said.
+
+"'Yes,' I answered, pulling them all covered with rust out of my pocket.
+
+"Then she told me to leave the keys on the table, and to go upstairs and
+fetch down my little private desk.
+
+"I did so, and she made me put the rusty key in the lock and open the
+desk, and together we searched through its contents. We pulled out
+everything, or rather I did, and I scattered all my possessions about on
+the table, and then I looked up almost triumphantly at Mrs. Willis.
+
+"'You see the caricature is not here,' I said; 'somebody picked the lock
+and took it away.'
+
+"'This lock has not been picked,' Mrs. Willis said; 'and what is that
+little piece of white paper sticking out of the private drawer?'
+
+"'Oh, I forgot my private drawer,' I said; 'but there is nothing in
+it--nothing whatever,' and then I touched the spring, and pulled it open,
+and there lay the little caricature which I had drawn in the bottom of
+the drawer. There it lay, not as I had left it, for I had never put it
+into the private drawer. I saw Mrs. Willis' face turn very white, and I
+noticed that her hands trembled. I was all red myself, and very hot, and
+there was a choking lump in my throat, and I could not have got a single
+word out even if I had wished to. So I began scrambling the things back
+into my desk, as hard as ever I could, and then I locked it, and put the
+rusty keys back in my pocket.
+
+"'What am I to believe now, Annie?' Mrs. Willis said.
+
+"'Believe anything you like now,' I managed to say; and then I took my
+desk and walked out of the room, and would not wait even though she
+called me back.
+
+"That is the whole story, Mr. Everard," continued Annie. "I have no
+explanation whatever to give. I did make the one caricature of my dear
+governess. I did not make the other. The second caricature is certainly a
+copy of the first, but I did not make it. I don't know who made it. I
+have no light whatever to throw on the subject. You see after all," added
+Annie Forest, raising her eyes to the clergyman's face, "it is impossible
+for you to believe me. Mrs. Willis does not believe me, and you cannot be
+expected to. I don't suppose you are to be blamed. I don't see how you
+can help yourself."
+
+"The circumstantial evidence is very strong against you, Annie," replied
+the clergyman; "still, I promised to believe, and I have no intention of
+going back from my word. If, in the presence of God in this little
+church, you would willingly and deliberately tell me a lie I should never
+trust human being again. No, Annie Forest, you have many faults, but you
+are not a liar. I see the impress of truth on your brow, in your eyes, on
+your lips. This is a very painful mystery, my child; but I believe you. I
+am going to see Mrs. Willis now. God bless you, Annie. Be brave, be
+courageous, don't foster malice in your heart to any unknown enemy. An
+enemy has truly done this thing, poor child; but God Himself will bring
+this mystery to light. Trust Him, my dear; and now I am going to see Mrs.
+Willis."
+
+While Mr. Everard was speaking, Annie's whole expressive face had
+changed; the sullen look had left it; the eyes were bright with renewed
+hope; the lips had parted in smiles. There was a struggle for speech, but
+no words came: the young girl stooped down and raised the old clergyman's
+withered hands to her lips.
+
+"Let me stay here a little longer," she managed to say at last; and then
+he left her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+"THE SWEETS ARE POISONED."
+
+
+"I think, my dear madam," said Mr. Everard to Mrs. Willis, "that you must
+believe your pupil. She has not refused to confess to you from any
+stubbornness, but from the simple reason that she has nothing to confess.
+I am firmly convinced that things are as she stated them, Mrs. Willis.
+There is a mystery here which we neither of us can explain, but which we
+must unravel."
+
+Then Mrs. Willis and the clergyman had a long and anxious talk together.
+It lasted for a long time, and some of its results at least were manifest
+the next morning, for, just before the morning's work began, Mrs. Willis
+came to the large school-room, and, calling Annie Forest to her side,
+laid her hand on the young girl's shoulder.
+
+"I wish to tell you all, young ladies," she said, "that I completely and
+absolutely exonerate Annie Forest from having any part in the disgraceful
+occurrence which took place in this school-room a short time ago. I
+allude, of course, as you all know, to the book which was found tampered
+with in Cecil Temple's desk. Some one else in this room is guilty, and
+the mystery has still to be unraveled, and the guilty girl has still to
+come forward and declare herself. If she is willing at this moment to
+come to me here, and fully and freely confess her sin, I will quite
+forgive her."
+
+The head mistress paused, and, still with her hand on Annie's shoulder,
+looked anxiously down the long room. The love and forgiveness which she
+felt shone in her eyes at this moment. No girl need have feared aught but
+tenderness from her just then.
+
+No one stirred; the moment passed, and a look of sternness returned to
+the mistress' fine face.
+
+"No," she said, in her emphatic and clear tones, "the guilty girl prefers
+waiting until God discovers her sin for her. My dear, whoever you are,
+that hour is coming, and you cannot escape from it. In the meantime,
+girls, I wish you all to receive Annie Forest as quite innocent. I
+believe in her, so does Mr. Everard, and so must you. Any one who treats
+Miss Forest except as a perfectly innocent and truthful girl incurs my
+severe displeasure. My dear, you may return to your seat."
+
+Annie, whose face was partly hidden by her curly hair during the greater
+part of this speech, now tossed it back, and raised her brown eyes with a
+look of adoration in them to her teacher. Mrs. Willis' face, however,
+still looked harassed. Her eyes met Annie's, but no corresponding glow
+was kindled in them; their glance was just, calm, but cold.
+
+The childish heart was conscious of a keen pang of agony, and Annie went
+back to her lessons without any sense of exultation.
+
+The fact was this: Mrs. Willis' judgment and reason had been brought
+round by Mr. Everard's words, but in her heart of hearts, almost unknown
+to herself, there still lingered a doubt of the innocence of her wayward
+and pretty pupil. She said over and over to herself that she really now
+quite believed in Annie Forest, but then would come those whisperings
+from her pained and sore heart.
+
+"Why did she ever make a caricature of one who has been as a mother to
+her? If she made one caricature, could she not make another? Above all
+things, if _she_ did not do it, who did?"
+
+Mrs. Willis turned away from these unpleasant whispers--she would not let
+them stay with her, and turned a deaf ear to their ugly words. She had
+publicly declared in the school her belief in Annie's absolute innocence,
+but at the moment when her pupil looked up at her with a world of love
+and adoration in her gaze, she found to her own infinite distress that
+she could not give her the old love.
+
+Annie went back to her companions, and bent her head over her lessons,
+and tried to believe that she was very thankful and very happy, and Cecil
+Temple managed to whisper a gentle word of congratulation to her, and at
+the twelve o'clock walk Annie perceived that a few of her schoolfellows
+looked at her with friendly eyes again. She perceived now that when she
+went into the play-room she was not absolutely tabooed, and that, if she
+chose, she might speedily resume her old reign of popularity. Annie had,
+to a remarkable extent, the gift of inspiring love, and her old favorites
+would quickly have flocked back to their sovereign had she so willed it.
+It is certainly true that the girls to whom the whole story was known in
+all its bearings found it difficult to understand how Annie could be
+innocent; but Mr. Everard's and Mrs. Willis' assertions were too potent
+to be disregarded, and most of the girls were only too willing to let the
+whole affair slide from their minds, and to take back their favorite
+Annie to their hearts again.
+
+Annie, however, herself did not so will it. In the play-room she
+fraternized with the little ones who were alike her friends in adversity
+and sunshine; she rejected almost coldly the overtures of her old
+favorites, but played, and romped, and was merry with the children of the
+sixth class. She even declined Cecil's invitation to come and sit with
+her in her drawing-room.
+
+"Oh, no," she said. "I hate being still; I am in no humor for talk.
+Another time, Cecil, another time. Now then, Sybil, my beauty, get well
+on my back, and I'll be the willing dog carrying you round and round the
+room."
+
+Annie's face had not a trace of care or anxiety on it, but her eyes would
+not quite meet Cecil's, and Cecil sighed as she turned away, and her
+heart, too, began to whisper little, mocking, ugly doubts of poor Annie.
+
+During the half-hour before tea that evening Annie was sitting on the
+floor with a small child in her lap, and two other little ones tumbling
+about her, when she was startled by a shower of lollipops being poured
+over her head, down her neck, and into her lap. She started up and met
+the sleepy gaze of Susan Drummond.
+
+"That's to congratulate you, miss," said Susan; "you're a very lucky girl
+to have escaped as you did."
+
+The little ones began putting Susan's lollipops vigorously into their
+mouths. Annie sprang to her feet shaking the sticky sweetmeats out of her
+dress on to the floor.
+
+"What have I escaped from?" she asked, turning round and facing her
+companion haughtily.
+
+"Oh, dear me!" said Susan, stepping back a pace or two. "I--ah--"
+stifling a yawn--"I only meant you were very near getting into an ugly
+scrape. It's no affair of mine, I'm sure; only I thought you'd like the
+lollipops."
+
+"No, I don't like them at all," said Annie, "nor you, either. Go back to
+your own companions, please."
+
+Susan sulkily walked away, and Annie stooped down on the floor.
+
+"Now, little darlings," she said, "you mustn't eat those. No, no, they
+are not good at all; and they have come from one of Annie's enemies. Most
+likely they are full of poison. Let us collect them all, every one, and
+we will throw them into the fire before we go to tea."
+
+"But I don't think there's any poison in them," said little Janie West in
+a regretful tone, as she gobbled down a particularly luscious chocolate
+cream; "they are all big, and fat, and bursty, and _so_ sweet, Annie,
+dear."
+
+"Never mind, Janie, they are dangerous sweeties all the same. Come, come,
+throw them into my apron, and I will run over and toss them into the
+fire, and we'll have time for a game of leap-frog before tea; oh, fie,
+Judy," as a very small fat baby began to whimper, "you would not eat the
+sweeties of one of Annie's enemies."
+
+This last appeal was successful. The children made a valiant effort, and
+dashed the tempting goodies into Annie's alapaca apron. When they were
+all collected, she marched up the play-room and in the presence of Susan
+Drummond, Hester Thornton, Cecil Temple, and several more of her school
+companions, threw them into the fire.
+
+"So much for _that_ overture, Miss Drummond," she said, making a mock
+courtesy, and returning once more to the children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+IN THE HAMMOCK.
+
+
+Just at this time the weather suddenly changed. After the cold and
+dreariness of winter came soft spring days--came longer evenings and
+brighter mornings.
+
+Hester Thornton found that she could dress by daylight, then that she was
+no longer cold and shivering when she reached the chapel, then that she
+began intensely to enjoy her mid-day walk, then that she found her winter
+things a little too hot, until at last, almost suddenly it seemed to the
+expectant and anxious girls, glorious spring weather broke upon the
+world, the winds were soft and westerly, the buds swelled and swelled
+into leaf on the trees, and the flowers bloomed in the delightful
+old-fashioned gardens of Lavender House. Instantly, it seemed to the
+girls, their whole lives had altered. The play-room was deserted or only
+put up with on wet days. At twelve o'clock, instead of taking a
+monotonous walk on the roads, they ran races, played tennis, croquet, or
+any other game they liked best in the gardens. Later on in the day, when
+the sun was not so powerful, they took their walk; but even then they had
+time to rush back to their beloved shady garden for a little time before
+tea and preparation for their next day's work. Easter came this year
+about the middle of April, and Easter found these girls almost enjoying
+summer weather. How they looked forward to their few Easter holidays!
+what plans they made, what tennis matches were arranged, what games and
+amusements of all sorts were in anticipation! Mrs. Willis herself
+generally went away for a few days at Easter; so did the French
+governess, and the school was nominally placed under the charge of Miss
+Good and Miss Danesbury. Mrs. Willis did not approve of long Easter
+holidays; she never gave more than a week, and in consequence only the
+girls who lived quite near went home. Out of the fifty girls who resided
+at Lavender House about ten went away at Easter; the remaining forty
+stayed behind, and were often heard to declare that holidays at Lavender
+House were the most delightful things in the world.
+
+At this particular Easter time the girls were rather surprised to hear
+that Mrs. Willis had made up her mind not to go away as usual; Miss Good
+was to have a holiday, and Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury were to look
+after the school. This was felt to be an unusual, indeed unheard of,
+proceeding, and the girls commented about it a good deal, and somehow,
+without absolutely intending to do so, they began to settle in their own
+minds that Mrs. Willis was staying in the school on account of Annie
+Forest, and that in her heart of hearts she did not absolutely believe in
+her innocence. Mrs. Willis certainly gave the girls no reason to come to
+this conclusion; she was consistently kind to Annie, and had apparently
+quite restored her to her old place in her favor. Annie was more gentle
+than of old, and less inclined to get into scrapes; but the girls loved
+her far less in her present unnatural condition of reserve and good
+behavior than they did in her old daring and hoydenish days. Cecil Temple
+always spent Easter with an old aunt who lived in a neighboring town; she
+openly said this year that she did not wish to go away, but her governess
+would not allow her to change her usual plans, and she left Lavender
+House with a curious feeling of depression and coming trouble. As she was
+getting into the cab which was to take her to the station Annie flew to
+her side, threw a great bouquet of flowers which she had gathered into
+her lap, and, flinging her arms tightly round her neck, whispered
+suddenly and passionately:
+
+"Oh, Cecil, believe in me."
+
+"I--I--I don't know that I don't," said Cecil, rather lamely.
+
+"No, Cecil, you don't--not in your heart of hearts. Neither you nor Mrs.
+Willis--you neither of you believe in me from the very bottom of your
+hearts; oh, it is hard!"
+
+Annie gave vent to a little sob, sprang away from Cecil's arms, and
+disappeared into a shrubbery close by.
+
+She stayed there until the sound of the retreating cab died away in the
+avenue, then, tossing back her hair, rearranging her rather tattered
+garden hat, and hastily wiping some tears from her eyes, she came out
+from her retreat, and began to look around her for some amusement. What
+should she do? Where should she go? How should she occupy herself? Sounds
+of laughter and merriment filled the air; the garden was all alive with
+gay young figures running here and there. Girls stood in groups under the
+horse-chestnut tree--girls walked two and two up the shady walk at the
+end of the garden--little ones gamboled and rolled on the grass--a tennis
+match was going on vigorously, and the croquet ground was occupied by
+eight girls of the middle school. Annie was one of the most successful
+tennis players in the school; she had indeed a gift for all games of
+skill, and seldom missed her mark. Now she looked with a certain wistful
+longing toward the tennis-court; but, after a brief hesitation, she
+turned away from it and entered the shady walk at the farther end of the
+garden. As she walked along, slowly, meditatively, and sadly, her eyes
+suddenly lighted up. Glancing to one of the tall trees she saw a hammock
+suspended there which had evidently been forgotten during the winter. The
+tree was not yet quite in leaf, and it was very easy for Annie to climb
+up its branches to re-adjust the hammock, and to get into it. After its
+winter residence in the tree this soft couch was found full of withered
+leaves, and otherwise rather damp and uncomfortable. Annie tossed the
+leaves on to the ground, and laughed as she swung herself gently backward
+and forward. Early as the season still was the sun was so bright and the
+air so soft that she could not but enjoy herself, and she laughed with
+pleasure, and only wished that she had a fairy tale by her side to help
+to soothe her off to sleep.
+
+In the distance she heard some children calling "Annie," "Annie Forest;"
+but she was far too comfortable and too lazy to answer them, and
+presently she closed her eyes and really did fall asleep.
+
+She was awakened by a very slight sound--by nothing more nor less than
+the gentle and very refined conversation of two girls, who sat under the
+oak tree in which Annie's hammock swung. Hearing the voices, she bent a
+little forward, and saw that the speakers were Dora Russell and Hester
+Thornton. Her first inclination was to laugh, toss down some leaves, and
+instantly reveal herself; the next she drew back hastily, and began to
+listen with all her ears.
+
+"I never liked her," said Hester--"I never even from the very first
+pretended to like her. I think she is under-bred, and not fit to
+associate with the other girls in the school-room."
+
+"She is treated with most unfair partiality," retorted Miss Russell in
+her thin and rather bitter voice. "I have not the smallest doubt, not the
+smallest, that she was guilty of putting those messes into my desk, of
+destroying my composition, and of caricaturing Mrs. Willis in Cecil
+Temple's book. I wonder after that Mrs. Willis did not see through her,
+but it is astonishing to what lengths favoritism will carry one. Mrs.
+Willis and Mr. Everard are behaving in a very unfair way to the rest of
+us in upholding this commonplace, disagreeable girl; but it will be to
+Mrs. Willis' own disadvantage. Hester, I am, as you know, leaving school
+at midsummer, and I shall certainly use all my influence to induce my
+father and mother not to send the younger girls here; they could not
+associate with a person like Miss Forest."
+
+"I never take much notice of her," said Hester; "but of course what you
+say is quite right, Dora. You have great discrimination, and your sisters
+might possibly be taken in by her."
+
+"Oh, not at all, I assure you; they know a true lady when they see her.
+However, they must not be imperilled. I will ask my parents to send them
+to Mdlle. Lablanché. I hear that her establishment is most _recherché_."
+
+"Mrs. Willis is very nice herself, and so are most of the girls," said
+Hester, after a pause. Then they were both silent, for Hester had stooped
+down to examine some little fronds and moss which grew at the foot of the
+tree. After a pause, Hester said:
+
+"I don't think Annie is the favorite she was with the girls."
+
+"Oh, of course not; they all, in their heart of hearts, know she is
+guilty. Will you come indoors, and have tea with me in my drawing-room,
+Hester?"
+
+The two girls walked slowly away, and presently Annie let herself gently
+out of her hammock and dropped to the ground.
+
+She had heard every word; she had not revealed herself, and a new and
+terrible--and, truth to say, absolutely foreign--sensation from her true
+nature now filled her mind. She felt that she almost hated these two who
+had spoken so cruelly, so unjustly of her. She began to trace her
+misfortunes and her unhappiness to the date of Hester's entrance into the
+school. Even more than Dora Russell did she dislike Hester; she made up
+her mind to revenge herself on both these girls. Her heart was very, very
+sore; she missed the old words, the old love, the old brightness, the old
+popularity; she missed the mother-tones in Mrs. Willis' voice--her heart
+cried out for them, at night she often wept for them. She became more and
+more sure that she owed all her misfortunes to Hester, and in a smaller
+degree to Dora. Dora believed that she had deliberately insulted her, and
+injured her composition, when she knew herself that she was quite
+innocent of even harboring such a thought, far less carrying it into
+effect. Well, now, she would really do something to injure both these
+girls, and perhaps the carrying out of her revenge would satisfy her sore
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+CUP AND BALL.
+
+
+Just toward the end of the Easter holidays, Hester Thornton was thrown
+into a great tumult of excitement, of wonder, of half regret and half
+joy, by a letter which she received from her father. In this letter he
+informed her that he had made up his mind to break up his establishment
+for several years, to go abroad, and to leave Hester altogether under
+Mrs. Willis' care.
+
+When Hester had read so far, she flung her letter on the table, put her
+head into her hands, and burst into tears.
+
+"Oh, how cruel of father!" she exclaimed; "how am I to live without ever
+going home--how am I to endure life without seeing my little Nan?"
+
+Hester cried bitterly; the strongest love of her nature was now given to
+this pretty and sweet little sister, and dismal pictures rose rapidly
+before her of Nan growing up without in the least remembering
+her--perhaps, still worse, of Nan being unkindly treated and neglected by
+strangers. After a long pause, she raised her head, wiped her eyes, and
+resumed her letter. Now, indeed, she started with astonishment, and gave
+an exclamation of delight--Sir John Thornton had arranged that Mrs.
+Willis was also to receive little Nan, although she was younger than any
+other child present in the school. Hester scarcely waited to finish her
+letter. She crammed it into her pocket, rushed up to Susan Drummond, and
+astonished that placid young lady by suddenly kissing her.
+
+"Nan is coming, Susy!" she exclaimed; "dear, darling, lovely little Nan
+is coming--oh, I am so happy!"
+
+She was far too impatient to explain matters to stolid Susan, and danced
+down stairs, her eyes sparkling and smiles on her lips. It was nothing to
+her now how long she stayed at school--her heart's treasure would be with
+her there, and she could not but feel happy.
+
+After breakfast Mrs. Willis sent for her, and told her what arrangements
+were being made; she said that she was going to remove Susan Drummond out
+of Hester's bedroom, in order that Hester might enjoy her little sister's
+company at night. She spoke very gently, and entered with full sympathy
+into the girl's delight over the little motherless sister, and Hester
+felt more drawn to her governess than she had ever been.
+
+Nan was to arrive at Lavender House on the following evening, and for the
+first week her nurse was to remain with her until she got accustomed to
+her new life.
+
+The morning of the day of Nan's arrival was also the last of the Easter
+holidays, and Hester, awakening earlier than her wont, lay in bed, and
+planned what she would do to welcome the little one.
+
+The idea of having Nan with her continually had softened Hester. She was
+not unhappy in her school-life--indeed, there was much in its monotonous,
+busy, and healthy occupation to stimulate and rouse the good in her. Her
+intellect was being vigorously exercised, and, by contact with her
+schoolfellows, her character was being molded; but the perfect harmony
+and brightness of the school had been much interrupted since Hester's
+arrival; her dislike to Annie Forest had been unfortunate in more ways
+than one, and that dislike, which was increasing each day, was hardening
+Hester's heart.
+
+But it was not hard this morning--all that was sweetest, and softest, and
+best in her had come to the surface--the little sister, whom her mother
+had left in her charge, was now to be her daily and hourly companion. For
+Nan's sake, then, she must be very good; her deeds must be gentle and
+kind, and her thoughts charitable. Hester had an instinctive feeling that
+baby eyes saw deep below the surface; Hester felt if Nan were to lose
+even a shadow of her faith in her she could almost die of shame.
+
+Hester had been very proud of Dora Russell's friendship. Never before had
+it been known in the school that a first-class girl took a third into
+such close companionship, and Hester's little head had been slightly
+turned by the fact. Her better judgment and her better nature had been
+rather blinded by the fascinations of this tall, graceful, satirical
+Dora. She had been weak enough to agree with Dora with her lips when in
+her heart of hearts she knew she was all wrong. By nature Hester was an
+honorable girl, with many fine traits in her character--by nature Dora
+was small and mean and poor of soul.
+
+This morning Hester ran up to her favorite.
+
+"Little Nan is coming to-night," she said.
+
+Dora was talking at the moment to Miss Maitland, another first-class
+girl, and the two stared rather superciliously at Hester, and, after a
+pause, Dora said in her finest drawl:
+
+"Who _is_ little Nan?"
+
+It was Hester's turn to stare, for she had often spoken of Nan to this
+beloved friend, who had listened to her narrative and had appeared to
+sympathize.
+
+"My little sister, of course," she exclaimed. "I have often talked to you
+about her, Dora. Are you not glad she is coming?"
+
+"No, my dear child, I can't say that I am. If you wish to retain my
+friendship, Hester, you must be careful to keep the little mite away from
+me; I can't bear small children."
+
+Hester walked away with her heart swelling, and she fancied she heard the
+two elder girls laughing as she left the play-room.
+
+Many other girls, however, in the school thoroughly sympathized with
+Hester, and among them no one was more delighted than Susan Drummond.
+
+"I am awfully good-natured not to be as cross as two sticks, Hetty," she
+exclaimed, "for I am being turned out of my comfortable room; and whose
+room do you suppose I am now to share? why, that little imp Annie
+Forest's." But Hester felt charitable, even toward Annie, on this happy
+day.
+
+In the evening little Nan arrived. She was a very pretty, dimpled,
+brown-eyed creature, of just three years of age. She had all the
+imperious ways of a spoilt baby, and, evidently, fear was a word not to
+be found in her vocabulary. She clung to Hester, but smiled and nodded to
+the other girls, who made advances to her, and petted her, and thought
+her a very charming baby. Beside Nan, all the other little girls in the
+school looked old. She was quite two years the youngest, and it was soon
+very evident that she would establish that most imperious of all
+reigns--a baby reign--in the school.
+
+Hester fondled her and talked to her, and the little thing sat on her
+knee and stroked her face.
+
+"Me like 'oo, Hetty," she said several times, and she added many other
+endearing and pretty words which caused Hester's heart to swell with
+delight.
+
+In the midst of their happy little talk together Annie Forest, in her
+usual careless fashion, entered the play-room. She alone, of all the
+girls, had taken no notice of the new plaything. She walked to her usual
+corner, sat down on the floor, and began to play cup and ball for the
+benefit of two or three of the smallest children. Hester did not regard
+her in the least; she sat with Nan on her knee, stroking back her sunny
+curls, and remarking on her various charms to several of the girls who
+sat round her.
+
+"See, how pretty that dimple in her chin is," she said, "and oh, my pet,
+your eyes look wiser, and bigger, and saucier than ever. Look at me, Nan;
+look at your own Hetty."
+
+Nan's attention, however, was diverted by the gaily-painted cup and ball
+which Annie was using with her wonted dexterity.
+
+"Dat a pitty toy," she said, giving one quick and rather solemn glance at
+her sister, and again fixing her admiring gaze on the cup and ball.
+
+Annie Forest had heard the words, and she darted a sudden, laughing look
+at the little one. Annie's power over children was well known. Nan began
+to wriggle on Hester's knee.
+
+"Dat a pitty lady," she said again, "and that a pitty, tibby [little]
+toy; Nan go see."
+
+In an instant, before Hester could prevent her, she had trotted across
+the room, and was kneeling with the other children and shouting with
+delight over Annie's play.
+
+"She'll get her, you'll see, Hester," said one of the girls maliciously;
+"she'll soon be much fonder of Annie Forest than of you. Annie wins the
+heart of every little child in the school."
+
+"She won't win my Nan's from me," said Hester in a confident tone; but in
+spite of her words a great pang of jealousy had gone through her. She
+rose to her seat and followed her little sister.
+
+"Nan, you are sleepy, you must go to bed."
+
+"No, no, Hetty; me not s'eepy, me kite awake; go 'way, Hetty, Nan want to
+see the pitty tibby toy."
+
+Annie raised her eyes to Hester's. She did not really want to be unkind,
+and at that moment it had certainty never entered into her head to steal
+Hester's treasure from her, but she could not help a look of suppressed
+delight and triumph filling her eyes.
+
+Hester could scarcely bear the look; she stooped down, and taking one of
+Nan's little dimpled hands tried to drag her away.
+
+Instantly Annie threw the cup and ball on the floor.
+
+"The play is all over to-night, little darling," she said; "give Annie
+Forest one kiss, and run to bed with sister Hester."
+
+Nan, who had been puckering up her face to cry, smiled instantly; then
+she scrambled to her feet, and flung her little fat arms round Annie's
+neck.
+
+"Dat a vedy pitty p'ay," she said in a patronizing tone, "and me like
+'oo, me do."
+
+Then she gave her hand willingly to Hester, and trotted out of the
+play-room by her side.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN THE SOUTH PARLOR.
+
+
+Immediately after Easter the real excitement of the school-year began.
+All the girls who had ambition, who had industry, and who had a desire to
+please distant fathers, mothers, or guardians, worked hard for that great
+day at midsummer when Mrs. Willis distributed her valuable prizes.
+
+From the moment of Hester's entrance into the school she had heard this
+day spoken of. It was, without doubt, the greatest day of the year at
+Lavender House. Smaller prizes were given at Christmas, but the great
+honors were always reserved for this long sunshiny June day, when Mrs.
+Willis herself presented her marks of approbation to her successful
+pupils.
+
+The girls who had lived in the school for two or three years gave Hester
+vivid descriptions of the excitements, the pleasures, the delights of
+this day of days. In the first place it was the first of the holidays, in
+the second it was spent almost from morning to night in the open air--for
+a great tent was erected on the lawn; and visitors thronged to Lavender
+House, and fathers and mothers, and aunts and uncles, arrived from a
+distance to witness the triumphs of the favored children who had won the
+prizes. The giving away of the prizes was, of course, _the_ event of the
+day; but there were many other minor joys. Always in the evenings there
+was some special entertainment. These entertainments differed from year
+to year, Mrs. Willis allowing the girls to choose them for themselves,
+and only making one proviso, that they must take all the trouble, and all
+the pains--in short, that they themselves must be the entertainers. One
+year they had tableaux vivants; another a fancy ball, every pretty dress
+of which had been designed by themselves, and many even made by their own
+industrious little fingers. Mrs. Willis delighted in the interest and
+occupation that this yearly entertainment gave to her pupils, and she not
+only encouraged them in their efforts to produce something very unique
+and charming, but took care that they should have sufficient time to work
+up their ideas properly. Always after Easter she gave the girls of the
+three first classes two evenings absolutely to themselves; and these they
+spent in a pretty room called the south parlor, which belonged to Mrs.
+Willis' part of the house, and was rarely used, except for these great
+preparations.
+
+Hester, therefore, after Easter found her days very full indeed. Every
+spare moment she devoted to little Nan, but she was quite determined to
+win a substantial prize, and she was also deeply interested in various
+schemes proposed in the south parlor.
+
+With regard to prizes, Mrs. Willis also went on a plan of her own. Each
+girl was expected to come up to a certain standard of excellence in all
+her studies, and if she fell very much below this standard she was not
+allowed to try for any prize; if she came up to it, she could select one
+subject, but only one, for competition.
+
+On the Monday after the Easter holidays the special subjects for the
+midsummer prizes were given out, and the girls were expected to send in
+their answers as to the special prize they meant to compete for by the
+following Friday.
+
+When this day arrived Hester Thornton and Dora Russell both discovered
+that they had made the same choice--they were going to try for the
+English composition prize. This subject always obtained one of the most
+costly prizes, and several of the girls shook their heads over Hester's
+choice.
+
+"You are very silly to try for that, Hetty," they exclaimed, "for Mrs.
+Willis has such queer ideas with regard to English composition. Of
+course, we go in for it in a general way, and learn the rules of grammar
+and punctuation, and so forth, but Mrs. Willis says that schoolgirls'
+themes are so bad and affected, as a rule, and she says she does not
+think any one will go in for her pet prize who has not natural ability.
+In consequence, she gives only one prize for composition between the
+three first classes. You had better change your mind, Hetty, before it is
+too late, for much older girls will compete with you, and there are
+several who are going to try."
+
+Hester, however, only smiled, and assured her eager friend that she would
+stick to her pet subject, and try to do the best she could.
+
+On the morning when the girls signified their choice of subject, Mrs.
+Willis came into the school-room and made one of her little yearly
+speeches with regard to the right spirit in which her girls should try
+for these honors. The few and well-chosen words of the head mistress
+generally roused those girls who loved her best to a fever of enthusiasm,
+and even Hester, who was comparatively a newcomer, felt a great wish, as
+she listened to that clear and vibrating voice and watched the many
+expressions which passed over the noble face, that she might find
+something beyond the mere earthly honor and glory of success in this
+coming trial. Having finished her little speech, Mrs. Willis made several
+remarks with regard to the choice of subjects. She spoke of the English
+composition prize last, and here she heightened the interest and
+excitement which always hung around this special prize. Contrary to her
+usual rule, she would this year give no subject for an English theme.
+Each girl might choose what pleased her best.
+
+On hearing these words Annie Forest, who had been sitting by her desk
+looking rather dull and dejected, suddenly sprang to her feet, her face
+aglow, her eyes sparkling, and began whispering vigorously to Miss Good.
+
+Miss Good nodded, and, going up to Mrs. Willis, said aloud that Annie had
+changed her mind, and that from not wishing to try for any of the prizes,
+she now intended to compete for the English composition.
+
+Mrs. Willis looked a little surprised, but without any comment she
+immediately entered Annie's name in the list of competitors, and Annie
+sat down again, not even glancing at her astonished schoolfellows, who
+could not conceal their amazement, for she had never hitherto shown the
+slightest desire to excel in this department.
+
+On the evening of this Friday the girls of the three first classes
+assembled for the first time in the south parlor. Hitherto these meetings
+had been carried on in a systematic and business-like fashion. It was
+impossible for all the girls who belonged to these three large classes to
+assemble on each occasion. Careful selections, therefore, were, as a
+rule, made from their numbers. These girls formed a committee to
+superintend and carry on the real preparations for the coming treat, and
+the others only met when specially summoned by the committee to appear.
+
+As usual now the three classes found themselves in the south parlor--as
+usual they chattered volubly, and started schemes, to reject them again
+with peals of laughter. Many ideas were put forward, to be cast aside as
+utterly worthless. No one seemed to have any very brilliant thought, and
+as the first step on these occasions was to select what the entertainment
+should be, proceedings seemed to come to a standstill.
+
+The fact was the most daring originator, the one whose ideas were always
+flavored with a spice of novelty, was absolutely silent.
+
+Cecil Temple, who had taken a seat near Annie, suddenly bent forward and
+spoke to her aloud.
+
+"We have all said what we would like, and we none of us appear to have
+thought of anything at all worth having," she said; "but you have not
+spoken at all, Annie. Give us an idea, dear--you know you originated the
+fancy ball last year."
+
+Thus publicly appealed to, Annie raised her full brown eyes, glanced at
+her companions, not one of whom, with the exception of Cecil, returned
+her gaze fully; then, rising to her feet, she spoke in a slightly
+contemptuous tone.
+
+"These preparations seem to me to be much ado about nothing; they take up
+a lot of our time, and the results aren't worth the trouble--I have
+nothing particular to say. Oh, well, yes, if you like--let's have blind
+man's buff and a magic lantern;" and then, dropping a mock curtsey to her
+companions, she dropped out of the south parlor.
+
+"Insufferable girl!" said Dora Russell; "I wonder you try to draw her
+out, Cecil. You know perfectly that we none of us care to have anything
+to do with her."
+
+"I know perfectly that you are all doing your best to make her life
+miserable," said Cecil, suddenly and boldly. "No one in this school has
+obeyed Mrs. Willis' command to treat Annie as innocent--you are
+practically sending her to Coventry, and I think it is unjust and unfair.
+You don't know, girls, that you are ruining poor Annie's happiness."
+
+"Oh, dear! she doesn't seem at all dull," said Miss West, a second-class
+girl. "I do think she's a hardened little wretch."
+
+"Little you know about her," said Cecil, the color fading out of her pale
+face. Then after a pause, she added; "The injustice of the whole thing is
+that in this treatment of Annie you break the spirit of Mrs. Willis'
+command--you, none of you, certainly tell her that she is guilty, but you
+treat her as such."
+
+Here Hester Thornton said a daring thing.
+
+"I don't believe Mrs. Willis in her heart of hearts considers Annie
+guiltless."
+
+These words of Hester's were laughed at by most of the girls, but Dora
+Russell gave her an approving nod, and Cecil, looking paler than ever,
+dropped suddenly into her seat, and no longer tried to defend her absent
+friend.
+
+"At any rate," said Miss Conway, who as the head girl of the whole school
+was always listened to with great respect, "it is unfortunate for the
+success of our entertainment that there should be all this discussion and
+bad feeling with regard to Miss Forest. For my own part, I cannot make
+out why the poor little creature should be hunted down, or what affair it
+is of ours whether she is innocent or not. If Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis
+say she is innocent, is not that enough? The fact of her guilt or
+innocence can't hurt us one way or another. It is a great pity, however,
+for our own sakes, that we should be out with her now, for, whatever her
+faults, she is the only one of us who is ever gifted with an original
+thought. But, as we can't have her, let us set to work without her--we
+really can't waste the whole evening over this sort of talk."
+
+Discussions as to the coming pleasure were now again resumed with vigor,
+and after a great deal of animated arguing it was resolved that two short
+plays should be acted; that a committee should be immediately formed, who
+should select the plays, and apportion their various parts to the
+different actors.
+
+The committee selected included Miss Russell, Miss Conway, Hester
+Thornton, Cecil Temple, and two other girls of the second class. The
+conference then broke up, but there was a certain sense of flatness over
+everything, and Cecil was not the only girl who sighed for the merry
+meetings of last year--when Annie had been the life and soul of all the
+proceedings, and when one brilliant idea after another with regard to the
+costumes for the fancy ball had dropped from her merry tongue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+STEALING HEARTS.
+
+
+When Annie ran out of the south parlor she found herself suddenly face to
+face with Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Well, my dear child," said the head mistress in her kindest voice,
+"where are you running to? But I suppose I must not ask; you are, of
+course, one of the busy and secret conclave in the south parlor?"
+
+"No. I have left them," said Annie, bending her head, and after her usual
+habit when agitated, shaking her hair about her face.
+
+"Left them?" repeated Mrs. Willis, "you mean, dear, that they have sent
+you for some message."
+
+"No. I am not one of them. May I go into the garden, Mrs. Willis?"
+
+"Certainly, my dear."
+
+Annie did not even glance at her governess. She pushed aside the baize
+door, and found herself in the great stone hall which led to the
+play-room and school-room. Her garden hat hung on a peg in the hall, and
+she tossed it off its place, and holding it in her hand ran toward the
+side door which opened directly into the garden. She had a wild wish to
+get to the shelter of the forsaken hammock and there cry out her whole
+heart. The moment she got into the open air, however, she was met by a
+whole troop of the little children, who were coming in after their usual
+short exercise before going to bed. Miss Danesbury was with them, and
+when Annie ran out by the open door, she entered holding two little ones
+by the hands. Last in this group toddled Hester's little sister Nan. The
+moment she saw Annie, her little face broke into smiles, she held out two
+hands eagerly, and fled to the young girl's side.
+
+"Where dat pitty toy?" she said, raising her round face to Annie's; "some
+one did buy dat toy, and it's vedy pitty, and me wants it--where's dat
+toy?"
+
+Annie stooped down, and spoke suddenly and impulsively to the little
+child.
+
+"You shall have the toy for your very own, Nan if you will do something
+for me?"
+
+Nan's baby eyes looked straight into Annie's.
+
+"Me will," she said emphatically; "me want dat toy."
+
+"Put your arms, round me, little darling, and give me a great tight hug."
+
+This request was great fun to Nan, who squeezed her little arms round
+Annie's neck, and pressed her dimpled cheek to her lips.
+
+"Dere," she said triumphantly, "will dat do?"
+
+"Yes, you little treasure, and you'll try to love me, won't you?"
+
+"Me do," said Nan, in a solemn voice; but then Miss Danesbury called her,
+and she ran into the house.
+
+As Nan trotted into the house she put up her dimpled hand to wipe
+something from her round cheek--it was a tear which Annie Forest had left
+there.
+
+Annie herself, when all the little ones had disappeared, walked slowly
+and sadly down toward the shady walk. The sun had just set, and though it
+was now nearly May, and the evenings long, the wind was sufficiently cold
+to cause Annie to shiver in her thin house frock. At all times utterly
+fearless with regard to her health, she gave it no thought now, but
+entering the walk where she knew she should not be disturbed, she looked
+up at the hammock, and wondered whether she should climb into it. She
+decided, however, not to do so--the great and terrible weight of tears
+which had pressed close to her heart were relieved by Nan's embrace; she
+no longer cared to cry until she could cry no longer--the worst of her
+pain had been soothed by the sweet baby graciousness of the little one.
+
+Then there darted into poor Annie's sore heart and perplexed brain that
+dangerous thought and temptation which was to work so much future pain
+and trouble. She already loved little Nan, and Nan, as most children did,
+had taken a fancy to her. Annie stood still, and clasped her hands as the
+dark idea came to her to steal the heart of little Nan from Hester, and
+so revenge herself on her. By doing this she would touch Hester in her
+most vulnerable point--she would take from her what she valued most. The
+temptation came swiftly, and Annie listened to it, and thought how easy
+it would be to carry it into effect. She knew well that no little child
+could resist her when she chose to exercise her charms--it would be easy,
+easy work to make that part of Nan which was most precious all her own.
+Annie became fascinated by the idea; how completely then she would have
+revenged all her wrongs on Hester! Some day Hester would bitterly repent
+of her unjust prejudice toward her; some day Hester would come to her,
+and beg of her in agony to give her back her darling's love; ah! when
+that day came it would be her turn to triumph.
+
+She felt more than satisfied as the temptation grew upon her; she shut
+out persistently from her view all the other side of the picture; she
+would not let herself think that the work she was about to undertake was
+cruel and mean. Hester had been more than unjust, and she was going to
+punish her.
+
+Annie paced faster and faster up and down the shady walk, and whenever
+her resolution wavered, the memory of Hester's face as she had seen it
+the same night in the south parlor came visibly back and strengthened it.
+Yes, her turn had come at last Hester had contrived since her entrance
+into the school to make Annie's life thoroughly miserable. Well, never
+mind, it was Annie's turn now to make her wretched.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+IN BURN CASTLE WOOD.
+
+
+In concentrating her thoughts of revenge on Hester, Annie ceased to
+trouble her head about Dora Russell. She considered Hester a crueler
+enemy than Dora. Hester belonged to her own set, worked in her own class,
+and would naturally, had things not turned out so unjustly, so unfairly,
+have been her friend, and not her enemy. Dora had nothing to say to
+Annie, and before Hester's advent into the school had scarcely noticed
+her existence. Annie therefore concentrated all her powers on punishing
+Hester. This gave her an aim and an occupation, and at first she felt
+that her revenge might give her real pleasure.
+
+Susan Drummond now shared Annie's bedroom, and Annie was rather startled
+one evening to hear this phlegmatic young person burst out into a strong
+tirade against Hester and Dora. Dora had managed, for some inexplicable
+reason, to offend Susan, and Susan now looked to Annie for sympathy, and
+boldly suggested that they should get up what she was pleased to called
+"a lark" between them for the punishment of this very dignified young
+lady.
+
+Annie had never liked Susan, and she now stared at her, and said, in her
+quick way:
+
+"You won't catch me helping you in any of your larks. I've had trouble
+enough on that score as it is."
+
+Susan gazed at her stupidly, and a dull red spread over her face.
+
+"But I thought you hated Dora and Hester," she said--"I'm sure they hate
+you."
+
+Annie was silent.
+
+"You do hate them, don't you?" persisted Miss Drummond.
+
+"It's nothing to you what I feel toward them, Susy," said Annie. "Please
+don't disturb me with any more of your chatter; I am very sleepy, and you
+are keeping me awake."
+
+Thus silenced, Susan had to content herself by turning on her back, and
+going into the land of dreams; but she was evidently a good deal
+surprised and disappointed, and began to entertain a certain respect, and
+even fear, of Annie which had been hitherto unknown to her.
+
+Meanwhile Hester was very busy, very happy, and more satisfied--brighter
+and better employed than she had ever been in her life before. Nan's love
+satisfied the affectionate side of her nature, and all her intellect was
+strained to the utmost to win honors in the coming struggle.
+
+She had stuck firmly to her resolve to work for the English composition
+prize, and she firmly made up her own mind to leave no stone unturned to
+win it. What affection she possessed for Miss Russell was not at all of a
+character to prevent her from thoroughly enjoying taking the prize out of
+her hands. Her love for Dora had been fed by vanity, and was not at all
+of a deep or noble character. She was some time carefully choosing the
+subject of her theme, and at last she resolved to write a brief
+historical description of the last days of Marie Antoinette. To write
+properly on this subject she had to read up a great deal, and had to find
+references in books which were not usually allowed as school-room
+property. Mrs. Willis, however, always allowed the girls who were working
+for the English composition prize to have access to her rather extensive
+library, and here Hester was often to be found during play-hours. Two
+evenings in the week were also taken up in preparation for the coming
+plays, and as Hester was to take rather an important part in one, and a
+small character in another, she was obliged to devote herself to getting
+up her parts during the weekly half-holidays. Thus every moment was busy,
+and, except at night, she had little time to devote herself to Nan.
+
+Nan slept in a pretty crib in Hester's room, and each evening the young
+girl knelt down by her sister's side, and gazed at her with love, which
+was almost motherly, swelling in her breast.
+
+All that was best of Hester was drawn out at these moments; something
+greater than ambition--something far and away above school triumphs and
+school jealousies spoke then in her heart of hearts. These moments found
+her capable of being both sympathizing and forgiving; these moments
+followed out in her daily life might have made Hester almost great. Now
+was the time, with her eyes full of tears and her lips trembling with
+emotion, for Annie Forest to have caught a glimpse of the divine in
+Hester; the hardness, the pride, the haughty spirit were all laid aside,
+and hers was the true child-heart as she knelt by the sleeping baby.
+Hester prayed earnestly at these moments, and, in in truth, Nan did
+better for her than any sermon; better for her than even Mrs. Willis'
+best influences. Nan was as the voice of God to her sister.
+
+Hester, in her very busy life, had no time to notice, however, a very
+slight and almost imperceptible change in bright little Nan. In the
+mornings she was in too great a hurry to pay much heed to the little
+one's chatter; in the afternoons she had scarcely an instant to devote to
+her, and when she saw her playing happily with the other children she was
+quite content, and always supposed that when a spare half-hour did come
+in her busy life, Nan would rush to her with the old ecstasy, and give
+her the old devotion.
+
+One day, toward the end of a very fine May, the girls were all to go for
+a picnic to some woods about four miles away. They had looked forward for
+several days to this relaxation, and were in the highest state of delight
+and the wildest spirits. After an early dinner they were to drive in
+several large wagonettes to the place of rendezvous, where they were to
+be regaled with gypsy-tea, and were to have a few hours in the lovely
+woods of Burn Castle, one of the show places of the neighborhood. Mrs.
+Willis had invited the Misses Bruce to accompany them, and they were all
+to leave the house punctually at two o'clock. The weather was wonderfully
+fine and warm, and it was decided that all the children, even Nan, should
+go.
+
+Perhaps none of the girls looked forward to this day's pleasure with
+greater joy than did Hester; she determined to make it a real holiday,
+and a real time of relaxation. She would forget her English theme; she
+would cease to worry herself about Marie Antoinette; she would cease to
+repeat her part in the coming play; and she would devote herself
+exclusively and determinately to Nan's pleasure. She pictured the little
+one's raptures; she heard her gay shouts of joy, her ceaseless little
+rippling chatter, her baby glee, and, above all things, her intense
+happiness at being with her own Hetty for the greater part of a whole
+day. Hester would ride her on her shoulder, would race with her; all her
+usual companions would be as nothing to her on this occasion, she would
+give herself up solely to Nan.
+
+As she was dressing that morning she said a word or two to the child
+about the coming treat.
+
+"We'll light a fire in the wood, Nan, and hang a kettle over it, and make
+tea--such good tea; won't it be nice?"
+
+Nan clapped her hands. "And may I take out my little ummabella
+(umbrella), case it might wain?" she asked anxiously.
+
+Hester flew to her and kissed her.
+
+"You funny darling!" she said. "Oh, we shall have such a day! You'll be
+with your own Hetty all day long--your own Hetty; won't you be glad?"
+
+"Me am," said Nan; "own Hetty, and own Annie; me am glad."
+
+Hester scarcely heard the last words, for the prayer-gong sounded, and
+she had to fly down stairs.
+
+At dinner time the girls were discussing who would go with each, and all
+were very merry and full of fun.
+
+"Miss Danesbury will take the little children," said Miss Good. "Mrs.
+Willis says that all the little ones are to be in Miss Danesbury's
+charge."
+
+"Oh, please," said Hester, suddenly, "may Nan come with me, Miss Good?
+She'll be so disappointed if she doesn't, and I'll take such care of
+her."
+
+Miss Good nodded a careless acquiescence, and Hester proceeded with her
+dinner, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
+
+Immediately after dinner the girls flew to their rooms to prepare for
+their expedition. Hastily opening a drawer, Hester pulled out a white
+frock, white piqué pelisse, and washing hat for Nan--she meant her
+darling to look as charming as possible.
+
+"Oh, dear, Miss Danesbury should have brought her here by now," she said
+to herself impatiently, and then, hearing the crunching of carriage
+wheels on the drive, she flew to the bell and rang it.
+
+In a few moments one of the maids appeared.
+
+"Do you know where Miss Nan is, Alice? She is to go to Burn Castle with
+me, and I want to dress her, for it is nearly time to go."
+
+Alice looked a little surprised.
+
+"If you please, miss," she said, "I think Miss Nan has just gone."
+
+"What do you mean, Alice? Miss Good said especially she was to go with
+me."
+
+"I know nothing about that, miss; I only know that I saw Miss Forest
+carrying her down stairs in her arms about three minutes ago, and they
+went off in the wagonette with all the other little children and Miss
+Danesbury."
+
+Hester stood perfectly still, her color changed from red to white; for
+full half a minute she was silent. Then, hearing voices from below
+calling to her, she said in a cold, quiet tone:
+
+"That will do, Alice; thank you for letting me know."
+
+She turned to her drawer and put back Nan's white and pretty things, and
+also replaced a new and very becoming shady hat which she had meant to
+wear herself. In her old winter hat, and looking almost untidy for her,
+she walked slowly down stairs and took her place in the wagonette which
+was drawn up at the door.
+
+Cecil Temple and one or two other girls whom Hester liked very much were
+in the same wagonette, but she scarcely cared to talk to them, and only
+joined in their laughter by a strong effort. She was deeply wounded, but
+her keenest present desire was to hide any feelings of jealousy she had
+toward Annie from the quick eyes of her schoolfellows.
+
+"Why," suddenly exclaimed Julia Morris, a particularly unobservant girl,
+"I thought you were going to bring that dear baby sister with you,
+Hester. Oh, I do hope there is nothing the matter with her."
+
+"Nan has gone on in the first wagonette with the little children," said
+Hester as cheerfully as she could speak, but she colored slightly, and
+saw that Cecil was regarding her attentively.
+
+Susan Drummond exclaimed suddenly:
+
+"I saw Annie Forest rushing down the stairs with little Nan, and Nan had
+her arms round her neck, and was laughing merrily. You need not be
+anxious about Nan, Hester; she was quite content to go with Annie."
+
+"I did not say I was anxious," replied Hester in a cold voice. "How very
+beautiful that avenue of beech trees is, Cecil!"
+
+"But Annie heard Miss Good say that you were to take Nan," persisted
+Julia Morris. "She could not but have noticed it, for you did flush up
+so, Hester, and looked so eager. I never saw any one more in earnest
+about a trifle in my life; it was impossible for Annie not to have
+heard."
+
+"The great thing is that Nan is happy," said Hester in a fretted voice.
+"Do let us change the subject, girls."
+
+Cecil instantly began talking about the coming plays, and soon the
+conversation became of an absorbing character, and Hester's voice was
+heard oftener than the others, and she laughed more frequently than her
+companions.
+
+For all this forced merriment, however, Cecil did not fail to observe
+that when Hester got to the place of meeting at Burn Castle she looked
+around her with a quick and eager glance. Then the color faded from her
+face, and her eyes grew dim.
+
+That look of pain on Hester's face was quite enough for kind-hearted
+Cecil. She had thrown herself on the grass with an exclamation of
+delight, but in an instant she was on her feet.
+
+"Now, of course, the first thing is to find little Nan," she said;
+"she'll be missing you dreadfully, Hetty."
+
+Cecil held out her hand to Hester to run with her through the wood, but,
+to her surprise, Hester drew back.
+
+"I'm tired," she said; "I daresay we shall find Nan presently. She is
+sure to be safe, as she is under Miss Danesbury's care."
+
+Cecil made no remark, but set off by herself to find the little children.
+Presently, standing on a little knoll, and putting her two hands round
+her lips, so as to form a speaking trumpet, she shouted to Hester. Hester
+came slowly and apparently unwillingly toward her, but when she got to
+the foot of the knoll, Cecil flew down, and, taking her by the hand, ran
+with her to the top.
+
+"Oh, do come quick!" she exclaimed; "it is such a pretty sight."
+
+Down in the valley about fifty yards away were the ten or twelve little
+children who formed the infant portion of the school. Miss Danesbury was
+sitting at some distance off quietly reading, and the children, decked
+with flowers, and carrying tall grasses and reeds in their hands, were
+flying round and round in a merry circle, while in their midst, and the
+center attraction, stood Annie, whose hat was tossed aside, and whose
+bright, curling hair was literally crowned with wild flowers. On Annie's
+shoulder stood little Nan, carefully and beautifully poised, and round
+Nan's wavy curls was a starry wreath of wood-anemones. Nan was shouting
+gleefully and clapping her hands, while Annie balanced her slightest
+movement with the greatest agility, and kept her little feet steady on
+her shoulders with scarcely an effort. As the children ran round and
+round Annie she waltzed gracefully backward and forward to meet them, and
+they all sang snatches of nursery rhymes. When Cecil and Hester appeared
+they had reached in their varied collection:
+
+                    "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
+                    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."
+
+Here Nan exclaimed, in her clear, high-pitched voice:
+
+"Me no fall, Annie," and the small children on the ground clapped their
+hands and blew kisses to her.
+
+"Isn't it pretty? Isn't Annie sweet with children?" said Cecil, looking
+round to Hester with all the admiration she felt for her friend shining
+in her face. The expression, however, which Hester wore at that moment
+really startled Cecil; she was absolutely colorless, and presently she
+called aloud in a harsh, strained voice:
+
+"Be careful of her! How wicked of you to put her like that on your
+shoulder! She will fall--yes, I know she will fall; oh, do be careful!"
+
+Hester's voice startled the children, who ceased singing and dancing;
+Annie made a hasty step forward, and one little voice alone kept singing
+out the words:
+
+                  "Humpty-Dumpty got a great fall!"--
+
+when there was a crash and a cry, and Nan, in some inexplicable way, had
+fallen backward from Annie's shoulders.
+
+In one instant Hester was in the midst of the group.
+
+"Don't touch her," she said, as Annie flew to pick up the child, who,
+falling with some force on her head, had been stunned; "don't touch
+her--don't dare! It was your doing; you did it on purpose--you wished to
+do it!"
+
+"You are unjust," said Annie, in a low tone. "Nan was perfectly safe
+until you startled her. Like all the rest you are unjust. Nan would have
+come to no harm if you had not spoken."
+
+Hester did not vouchsafe another word. She sat on the ground with the
+unconscious and pretty little flower-crowned figure laid across her lap;
+she was terrified, and thought in her inexperience that Nan must be dead.
+
+At the first mention of the accident Cecil had flown to fetch some water,
+and when she and Miss Danesbury applied it to little Nan's temples, she
+presently sighed, and opened her brown eyes wide.
+
+"I hope--I trust she is not much hurt," said Miss Danesbury; "but I think
+it safest to take her home at once. Cecil, dear, can you do anything
+about fetching a wagonette round to the stile at the entrance of the
+wood? Now the puzzle is, who is to take care of the rest of the little
+children? If only they were under Miss Good's care, I should breathe more
+easily."
+
+"I am going home with Nan," said Hester in a hard voice.
+
+"Of course, my love; no one would think of parting you from your little
+sister," said the governess, soothingly.
+
+"If you please, Miss Danesbury," said Annie, whose face was quite as pale
+as Hester's, and her eyes heavy as though she longed to cry, "will you
+trust me with the little ones? If you do, I will promise to take them
+straight to Miss Good, and to be most careful of them."
+
+Miss Danesbury's gentle and kind face looked relieved.
+
+"Thank you, Annie--of course I trust you, dear. Take the children at once
+to the meeting-place under the great oak, and wait there until Miss Good
+appears." Annie suddenly sprang forward, and threw her arms round Miss
+Danesbury's neck.
+
+"Miss Danesbury, you comfort me," she said, in a kind of stifled voice,
+and then she ran off with the children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"HUMPTY-DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL."
+
+
+All the stupor and languor which immediately followed Nan's fall passed
+off during her drive home; she chatted and laughed, her cheeks were
+flushed, her eyes bright. Hester turned with a relieved face to Miss
+Danesbury.
+
+"My little darling is all right, is she not?" she said. "Oh, I was so
+terrified--oh, how thankful I am no harm has been done!"
+
+Miss Danesbury did not return Hester's full gaze; she attempted to take
+little Nan on her knee, but Nan clung to Hetty. Then she said:
+
+"You must be careful to keep the sun off her, dear--hold your parasol
+well down--just so. That is better. When we get home, I will put her to
+bed at once. Please God, there _is_ nothing wrong; but one cannot be too
+careful."
+
+Something in Miss Danesbury's manner affected Hester strangely; she
+clasped Nan's slight baby form closer and closer to her heart, and no
+longer joined in the little one's mirth. As the drive drew to a close,
+Nan again ceased talking, and fell into a heavy sleep.
+
+Miss Danesbury's face grew graver and graver, and, when the wagonette
+drew up at Lavender House, she insisted on lifting the sleeping child out
+of Hester's arms, and carrying her up to her little crib. When Nan's
+little head was laid on the cool pillow, she again opened her eyes, and
+instantly asked for a drink. Miss Danesbury gave her some milk and water,
+but the moment she drank it she was sick.
+
+"Just as I feared," said the governess; "there is some little
+mischief--not much, I hope--but we must instantly send for the doctor."
+
+As Miss Danesbury walked across the room to ring the bell, Hester
+followed her.
+
+"She's not in danger?" she whispered in a hoarse voice. "If she is, Annie
+is guilty of murder."
+
+"Don't, my dear," said the governess; "you must keep quiet for Nan's
+sake. Please God, she will soon be better. All I really apprehend is a
+little excitement and feverishness, which will pass off in a few days
+with care. Hester, my dear, I suddenly remember that the house is nearly
+empty, for all the servants are also enjoying a holiday. I think I must
+send you for Dr. Mayflower. The wagonette is still at the door. Drive at
+once to town, my dear, and ask the coachman to take you to No. 10, The
+Parade. If you are very quick, you will catch Dr. Mayflower before he
+goes out on his afternoon rounds."
+
+Hester glanced for half an instant at Nan, but her eyes were again
+closed.
+
+"I will take the best care of her," said the governess in a kind voice;
+"don't lose an instant, dear."
+
+Hester snatched up her hat and flew down stairs. In a moment she was in
+the wagonette, and the driver was speedily urging his horses in the
+direction of the small town of Sefton, two miles and a half away. Hester
+was terrified now--so terrified, in such an agony, that she even forgot
+Annie; her hatred toward Annie became of secondary importance to her. All
+her ideas, all her thoughts, were swallowed up in the one great
+hope--Should she be in time to reach Dr. Mayflower's house before he set
+off on his afternoon rounds? As the wagonette approached Sefton she
+buried her face in her hands and uttered a sharp inward cry of agony.
+
+"Please God, let me find the doctor!" It was a real prayer from her heart
+of hearts. The wagonette drew up at the doctor's residence, to discover
+him stepping into his brougham. Hester was a shy child, and had never
+seen him before; but she instantly raised her voice, and almost shouted
+to him:
+
+"You are to come with me; please, you are to come at once. Little Nan is
+ill--she is hurt. Please, you are to come at once."
+
+"Eh! young lady?" said the round-faced doctor "Oh! I see; you are one of
+the little girls from Lavender House. Is anything wrong there, dear?"
+
+Hester managed to relate what had occurred; whereupon the doctor
+instantly opened the door of the wagonette.
+
+"Jump out, young lady," he said; "I will drive you back in my brougham.
+Masters," addressing his coachman, "to Lavender House."
+
+Hester sat back in the soft-cushioned carriage, which bowled smoothly
+along the road. It seemed to her impatience that the pace at which they
+went was not half quick enough--she longed to put her head out of the
+window to shout to the coachman to go faster. She felt intensely provoked
+with the doctor, who sat placidly by her side reading a newspaper.
+
+Presently she saw that his eyes were fixed on her. He spoke in his
+quietest tones.
+
+"We always take precisely twenty minutes to drive from the Parade to
+Lavender House--twenty minutes, neither more or less. We shall be there
+now in exactly ten minutes."
+
+Hester tried to smile, but failed; her agony of apprehension grew and
+grew. She breathed more freely when they turned into the avenue. When
+they stopped at the wide stone porch, and the doctor got out, she uttered
+a sigh of relief. She took Dr. Mayflower herself up to Nan's room. Miss
+Danesbury opened the door, the doctor went inside, and Hester crouched
+down on the landing and waited. It seemed to her that the good physician
+would never come out. When he did she raised a perfectly blanched face to
+his, she opened her lips, tried to speak, but no words would come. Her
+agitation was so intense that the kind-hearted doctor took instant pity
+on her.
+
+"Come into this room, my child," he said. "My dear, you will be ill
+yourself if you give way like this. Pooh! pooh! this agitation is
+extreme--is uncalled for. You have got a shock. I shall prescribe a glass
+of sherry at once. Come down stairs with me, and I will see that you get
+one."
+
+"But how is she, sir--how is she?" poor Hester managed to articulate.
+
+"Oh! the little one--sweet, pretty, little darling. I did not know she
+was your sister--a dear little child. She got an ugly fall, though--came
+on a nasty place."
+
+"But, please, sir, how is she? She--she--she is not in danger?"
+
+"Danger? by no means, unless you put her into it. She must be kept very
+quiet, and, above all things, not excited. I will come to see her again
+to-morrow morning. With proper care she ought to be quite herself in a
+few days. Ah! now you've got a little color in your cheek, come down with
+me and have that glass of sherry, and you will feel all right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ANNIE TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The picnic-party arrived home late. The accident to little Nan had not
+shortened the day's pleasure, although Mrs. Willis, the moment she heard
+of it, had come back; for she entered the hall just as the doctor was
+stepping into his carriage. He gave her his opinion, and said that he
+trusted no further mischief, beyond a little temporary excitement, had
+been caused. He again, however, spoke of the great necessity of keeping
+Nan quiet, and said that her schoolfellows must not come to her, and that
+she must not be excited in any way. Mrs. Willis came into the great hall
+where Hester was standing. Instantly she went up to the young girl, and
+put her arm around and drew her to her side.
+
+"Darling," she said, "this is a grievous anxiety for you; no words can
+express my sorrow and my sympathy; but the doctor is quite hopeful,
+Hester, and, please God, we shall soon have the little one as well as
+ever."
+
+"You are really sorry for me?" said Hester, raising her eyes to the
+head-mistress' face.
+
+"Of course, dear; need you ask?"
+
+"Then you will have that wicked Annie Forest punished--well punished--well
+punished."
+
+"Sometimes, Hester," said Mrs. Willis, very gravely, "God takes the
+punishment of our wrongdoings into His own hands. Annie came home with
+me. Had you seen her face as we drove together you would not have asked
+_me_ to punish her."
+
+"Unjust, always unjust," muttered Hester, but in so low a voice that Mrs.
+Willis did not hear the words. "Please may I go to little Nan?" she said.
+
+"Certainly, Hester--some tea shall be sent up to you presently."
+
+Miss Danesbury arranged to spend that night in Nan's room. A sofa bed was
+brought in for her to lie on, for Mrs. Willis had yielded to Hester's
+almost feverish entreaties that she might not be banished from her little
+sister. Not a sound reached the room where Nan was lying--even the girls
+took off their shoes as they passed the door--not a whisper came to
+disturb the sick child. Little Nan slept most of the evening, only
+sometimes opening her eyes and looking up drowsily when Miss Danesbury
+changed the cold application to her head. At nine o'clock there came a
+low tap at the room door. Hester went to open it; one of her
+schoolfellows stood without.
+
+"The prayer-gong is not to be sounded to-night. Will you come to the
+chapel now? Mrs. Willis sent me to ask."
+
+Hester shook her head.
+
+"I cannot," she whispered; "tell her I cannot come."
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry!" replied the girl; "is Nan very bad?"
+
+"I don't know; I hope not. Good-night."
+
+Hester closed the room door, took off her dress, and began very softly to
+prepare to get into bed. She put on her dressing-gown, and knelt down as
+usual to her private prayers. When she got on her knees, however, she
+found it impossible to pray: her brain felt in a whirl, her feelings were
+unprayer-like; and with the temporary relief of believing Nan in no
+immediate danger came such a flood of hatred toward Annie as almost
+frightened her. She tried to ask God to make Nan better--quite well; but
+even this petition seemed to go no way--to reach no one--to fall flat on
+the empty air. She rose from her knees, and got quietly into bed.
+
+Nan lay in that half-drowsy and languid state until midnight. Hester,
+with all her very slight experience of illness, thought that as long as
+Nan was quiet she must be getting better; but Miss Danesbury was by no
+means so sure, and, notwithstanding the doctor's verdict, she felt
+anxious about the child. Hester had said that she could not sleep; but at
+Miss Danesbury's special request she got into bed, and before she knew
+anything about it was in a sound slumber. At midnight, when all the house
+was quiet, and Miss Danesbury kept a lonely watch by the sick child's
+pillow, there came a marked change for the worse in the little one. She
+opened her feverish eyes wide and began to call out piteously; but her
+cry now was, not for Hester, but for Annie.
+
+"Me want my Annie," she said over and over, "me do, me do. No, no; go
+'way, naughty Day-bury, me want my Annie; me do want her."
+
+Miss Danesbury felt puzzled and distressed. Hester, however, was awakened
+by the piteous cry, and sat up in bed.
+
+"What is it, Miss Danesbury?" she asked.
+
+"She is very much excited, Hester; she is calling for Annie Forest."
+
+"Oh, that is quite impossible," said Hester, a shudder passing through
+her. "Annie can't come here. The doctor specially said that none of the
+girls were to come near Nan."
+
+"Me want Annie; me want my own Annie," wailed the sick child.
+
+"Give me my dressing-gown, please, Miss Danesbury, and I will go to her,"
+said Hester.
+
+She sprang out of bed, and approached the little crib. The brightness of
+Nan's feverish eyes was distinctly seen. She looked up at Hester, who
+bent over her; then she uttered a sharp cry and covered her little face.
+
+"Go 'way, go 'way, naughty Hetty--Nan want Annie; Annie sing, Annie p'ay
+with Nan--go 'way, go 'way, Hetty."
+
+Hester's heart was too full to allow her to speak; but she knelt by the
+crib and tried to take one of the little hot hands in hers. Nan, however,
+pushed her hands away, and now began to cry loudly.
+
+"Annie!--Annie!--Annie! me want 'oo; Nan want 'oo--poor tibby Nan want
+'oo, Annie!"
+
+Miss Danesbury touched Hester on her shoulder.
+
+"My dear," she said, "the child's wish must be gratified. Annie has an
+extraordinary power over children, and under the circumstances I shall
+take it upon me to disobey the doctor's directions. The child must be
+quieted at all hazards. Run for Annie, dear--you know her room. I had
+better stay with little Nan, for, though she loves you best, you don't
+sooth her at present--that is often so with a fever case."
+
+"One moment," said Hester. She turned again to the little crib.
+
+"Hetty is going to fetch Annie for Nan. Will Nan give her own Hetty one
+kiss?"
+
+Instantly the little arms were flung round Hester's neck.
+
+"Me like 'oo now, dood Hetty. Go for Annie, dood Hetty."
+
+Instantly Hester ran out of the room. She flew quickly down the long
+passage, and did not know what a strange little figure she made as the
+moon from a large window at one end fell full upon her. So eerie, so
+ghost-like was her appearance as she flew noiselessly with her bare feet
+along the passage that some one--Hester did not know whom--gave a stifled
+cry. The cry seemed to come from a good way off, and Hester was too
+preoccupied to notice it. She darted into the room where Susan Drummond
+and Annie Forest slept.
+
+"Annie, you are to come to Nan," she said in a sharp high-pitched voice
+which she scarcely recognized as her own.
+
+"Coming," said Annie, and she walked instantly to the door with her dress
+on and stood in the moonlight.
+
+"You are dressed!" said Hester in astonishment.
+
+"I could not undress--I lay down as I was. I fancied I heard Nan's voice
+calling me. I guessed I should be sent for."
+
+"Well, come now," said Hester in her hardest tones. "You were only sent
+for because Nan must be quieted at any risk. Come and see if you can
+quiet her. I don't suppose," with a bitter laugh "that you will succeed."
+
+"I think so," replied Annie, in a very soft and gentle tone.
+
+She walked back by Hester's side and entered the sick-room. She walked
+straight up to the little cot and knelt down by Nan, and said, in that
+strangely melodious voice of hers:
+
+"Little darling, Annie has come."
+
+"Me like 'oo," said Nan with a satisfied coo in her voice, and she turned
+round on her side with her back to Miss Danesbury and Hester and her eyes
+fixed on Annie.
+
+"Sing 'Four-and-twenty,' Annie; sing 'Four-and-twenty,'" she said
+presently.
+
+"Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie," sang Annie in a low clear
+voice, without a moment's hesitation. She went through the old nursery
+rhyme once--twice. Then Nan interrupted her fretfully:
+
+"Me don't want dat 'dain; sing 'Boy Blue,' Annie."
+
+Annie sang.
+
+"'Tree Little Kittens,' Annie," interrupted the little voice presently.
+
+For more than two hours Annie knelt by the child, singing nursery rhyme
+after nursery rhyme, while the bright beautiful eyes were fixed on her
+face, and the little voice said incessantly:
+
+"Sing, Annie--sing."
+
+"Baby Bun, now," said Nan, when Annie had come almost to the end of her
+selection.
+
+                   "Bye baby bunting,
+                   Daddy's gone a hunting--
+                   He's gone to fetch a rabbit-skin,
+                   To place the baby bunting in."
+
+Over and over and over did Annie sing the words. Whenever, even for a
+brief moment she paused, Nan said:
+
+"Sing, Annie--sing 'Baby Bun.'"
+
+And all the time the eyes remained wide open, and the little hands were
+burning hot; but, gradually, after more than two hours of constant
+singing, Annie began to fancy that the burning skin was cooler.
+Then--could she believe it?--she saw the lids droop over the wide-open
+eyes. Five minutes later, to the tune of "Baby Bunting," Nan had fallen
+into a deep and sound sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A SPOILED BABY.
+
+
+In the morning Nan was better, and although for days she was in a very
+precarious state, and had to be kept as quiet as possible, yet Miss
+Danesbury's great dread that fever would set in had passed away. The
+doctor said, however, that Nan had barely escaped real injury to her
+brain, and that it would be many a day before she would romp again, and
+play freely and noisily with the other children. Nan had chosen her own
+nurse, and, with the imperiousness of all babies--to say nothing of sick
+babies--she had her way. From morning till night Annie remained with her,
+and when the doctor saw how Annie alone could soothe and satisfy the
+child he would not allow it to be otherwise. At first Nan would lie with
+her hand in Annie's, and her little cry of "sing, Annie," going on from
+time to time; but as she grew better Annie would sit with her by the open
+window, with her head pillowed on her breast, and her arm round the
+little slender form, and Nan would smile and look adoringly at Annie, who
+would often return her gaze with intense sadness, and an indescribable
+something in her face which caused the little one to stroke her cheek
+tenderly, and say in her sweet baby voice:
+
+"Poor Annie; poor tibby Annie!"
+
+They made a pretty picture as they sat there. Annie, with her charming
+gypsy face, her wild luxuriant, curly hair, all the sauciness and unrest
+in her soothed by the magic of the little child's presence; and the
+little child herself, with her faint, wild-rose color, her dark, deep
+eyes, clear as summer pools, and her sunshiny golden hair. But pretty as
+the picture was Hester loathed it, for Hester thought during these
+wretched days that her heart would break.
+
+Not that Nan turned away from Hetty; she petted her and kissed her, and
+sometimes put an arm round Hetty and and an arm round Annie, as though,
+if she could, she would draw them together; but any one could see that
+her heart of hearts was given to Annie, and that Hester ranked second in
+her love. Hester would not for worlds express any of her bitter feelings
+before Annie; nay, as the doctor and Miss Danesbury both declared that,
+however culpable Annie might have been in causing the accident, she had
+saved little Nan's life by her wonderful skill in soothing her to sleep
+on the first night of her illness, Hester had felt obliged to grumble
+something which might have been taken for "thanks."
+
+Annie, in reply to this grumble, had bestowed upon Hester one of her
+quickest, brightest glances, for she fathomed the true state of Hester's
+heart toward her well enough.
+
+These were very bad days for poor Hester, and but for the avidity with
+which she threw herself into her studies she could scarcely have borne
+them.
+
+By slow degrees Nan got better; she was allowed to come down stairs and
+to sit in Annie's arms in the garden, and then Mrs. Willis interfered,
+and said that Annie must go back to her studies, and only devote her
+usual play hours and half-holidays to Nan's service.
+
+This mandate, however, produced woe and tribulation. The spoiled child
+screamed and beat her little hands, and worked herself up into such a
+pitch of excitement that that night she found her way in her sleep to
+Annie's room, and Annie had to quiet her by taking her into her bed. In
+the morning the doctor had to be sent for, and he instantly prescribed a
+day or two more of Annie's company for the child.
+
+Mrs. Willis felt dreadfully puzzled. She had undertaken the charge of the
+little one; her father was already far away, so it was impossible now to
+make any change of plans; the child was ill--had been injured by an
+accident caused by Annie's carelessness and by Hester's want of
+self-control. But weak and ill as Nan still was, Mrs. Willis felt that an
+undue amount of spoiling was good for no one. She thought it highly
+unjust to Annie to keep her from her school employments at this most
+important period of the year. If Annie did not reach a certain degree of
+excellence in her school marks she could not be promoted in her class.
+Mrs. Willis did not expect the wild and heedless girl to carry off any
+special prizes; but her abilities were quite up to the average, and she
+always hoped to rouse sufficient ambition in her to enable her to acquire
+a good and sound education. Mrs. Willis knew how necessary this was for
+poor Annie's future, and, after giving the doctor an assurance that Nan's
+whims and pleasures should be attended to for the next two or three days,
+she determined at the end of that time to assert her own authority with
+the child, and to insist on Annie working hard at her lessons, and
+returning to her usual school-room life.
+
+On the morning of the third day Mrs. Willis made inquiries, heard that
+Nan had spent an excellent night, eaten a hearty breakfast, and was
+altogether looking blooming. When the girls assembled in the school-room
+for their lessons, Annie brought her little charge down to the large
+play-room, where they established themselves cozily, and Annie began to
+instruct little Nan in the mysteries of
+
+                  "Tic, tac, too,
+                  The little horse has lost his shoe."
+
+Nan was entering into the spirit of the game, was imagining herself a
+little horse, and was holding out her small foot to be shod, when Mrs.
+Willis entered the room.
+
+"Come with me, Nan," she said; "I have got something to show you."
+
+Nan got up instantly, held out one hand to Mrs. Willis and the other to
+Annie, and said, in her confident baby tones:
+
+"Me tum; Annie tumming too."
+
+Mrs. Willis said nothing, but holding the little hand, and accompanied by
+Annie, she went out of the play-room, across the stone hall, and through
+the baize doors until she reached her own delightful private
+sitting-room.
+
+There were heaps of pretty things about, and Nan gazed round her with the
+appreciative glance of a pleased connoisseur.
+
+"Pitty 'oom," she said approvingly. "Nan likes this 'oom. Me'll stay
+here, and so will Annie."
+
+Here she uttered a sudden cry of rapture--on the floor, with its leaves
+temptingly open, lay a gaily-painted picture-book, and curled up in a
+soft fluffy ball by its side was a white Persian kitten asleep.
+
+Mrs. Willis whispered something to Annie, who ran out of the room, and
+Nan knelt down in a perfect rapture of worship by the kitten's side.
+
+"Pitty tibby pussy!" she exclaimed several times, and she rubbed it so
+persistently the wrong way that the kitten shivered and stood up, arched
+its back very high, yawned, turned round three times, and lay down again,
+Alas! "tibby pussy" was not allowed to have any continuous slumber. Nan
+dragged the Persian by its tail into her lap, and when it resisted this
+indignity, and with two or three light bounds disappeared out of the
+room, she stretched out her little hands and began to cry for it.
+
+"Tum back, puss, puss--tum back, poor tibby puss--Nan loves 'oo. Annie,
+go fetch puss for Nan." Then for the first time she discovered that Annie
+was absent, and that she was alone, with the exception of Mrs. Willis,
+who sat busily writing at a distant table.
+
+Mrs. Willis counted for nothing at all with Nan--she did not consider her
+of the smallest importance and after giving her a quick glance of some
+disdain she began to trot round the room on a voyage of discovery. Any
+moment Annie would come back--Annie had, indeed, probably gone to fetch
+the kitten, and would quickly return with it. She walked slowly round and
+round, keeping well away from that part of the room where Mrs. Willis
+sat. Presently she found a very choice little china jug, which she
+carefully abstracted with her small fingers from a cabinet, which
+contained many valuable treasures. She sat down on the floor exactly
+beneath the cabinet, and began to play with her jug. She went through in
+eager pantomime a little game which Annie had invented for her, and
+imagined that she was a little milkmaid, and that the jug was full of
+sweet new milk; she called out to an imaginary set of purchasers, "Want
+any milk?" and then she poured some by way of drops of milk into the palm
+of her little hand, which she drank up in the name of her customers with
+considerable gusto. Presently knocking the little jug with some vehemence
+on the floor she deprived it with one neat blow of its handle and spout.
+Mrs. Willis was busily writing, and did not look up. Nan was not in the
+least disconcerted; she said aloud:
+
+"Poor tibby zug b'oke," and then she left the fragments on the floor, and
+started off on a fresh voyage of discovery. This time she dragged down a
+large photographic album on to a cushion, and, kneeling by it, began to
+look through the pictures, flapping the pages together with a loud noise,
+and laughing merrily as she did so. She was now much nearer to Mrs.
+Willis, who was attracted by the sound, and looking up hastened to the
+rescue of one of her most precious collections of photographs.
+
+"Nan, dear," she said, "shut up that book at once. Nan mustn't touch.
+Shut the book, darling, and go and sit on the floor, and look at your
+nice-colored pictures."
+
+Nan, still holding a chubby hand between the leaves of the album, gave
+Mrs. Willis a full defiant glance, and said:
+
+"Me won't."
+
+"Come, Nan," said the head-mistress.
+
+"Me want Annie," said Nan, still kneeling by the album, and, bending her
+head over the photographs, she turned the page and burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+
+"Pitty bow vow," she said, pointing to a photograph of a retriever; "oh,
+pitty bow woo, Nan loves 'oo."
+
+Mrs. Willis stooped down and lifted the little girl into her arms.
+
+"Nan, dear," she said, "it is naughty to disobey. Sit down by your
+picture-book, and be a good girl."
+
+"Me won't," said Nan again, and here she raised her small dimpled hand
+and gave Mrs. Willis a smart slap on her cheek.
+
+"Naughty lady, me don't like 'oo; go 'way. Nan want Annie--Nan do want
+Annie. Me don't love 'oo, naughty lady; go 'way."
+
+Mrs. Willis took Nan on her knee. She felt that the little will must be
+bent to hers, but the task was no easy one. The child scarcely knew her,
+she was still weak and excitable, and she presently burst into storms of
+tears, and sobbed and sobbed as though her little heart would break, her
+one cry being for "Annie, Annie, Annie." When Annie did join her in the
+play hour, the little cheeks were flushed, the white brow ached, and the
+child's small hands were hot and feverish. Mrs. Willis felt terribly
+puzzled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+UNDER THE LAUREL BUSH.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis owned to herself that she was non-plussed; it was quite
+impossible to allow Annie to neglect her studies, and yet little Nan's
+health was still too precarious to allow her to run the risk of having
+the child constantly fretted.
+
+Suddenly a welcome idea occurred to her; she would write at once to Nan's
+old nurse, and see if she could come to Lavender House for the remainder
+of the present term. Mrs. Willis dispatched her letter that very day, and
+by the following evening the nurse was once more in possession of her
+much-loved little charge. The habits of her babyhood were too strong for
+Nan; she returned to them gladly enough, and though in her heart of
+hearts she was still intensely loyal to Annie, she no longer fretted when
+she was not with her.
+
+Annie resumed her ordinary work, and though Hester was very cold to her,
+several of the other girls in the school frankly confided to their
+favorite how much they had missed her, and how glad they were to have her
+back with them once more.
+
+Annie found herself at this time in an ever-shifting mood--one moment she
+longed intensely for a kiss, and a fervent pardon from Mrs. Willis' lips;
+another, she said to herself defiantly she could and would live without
+it; one moment the hungry and sorrowful look in Hester's eyes went
+straight to Annie's heart, and she wished she might restore her little
+treasure whom she had stolen; the next she rejoiced in her strange power
+over Nan, and resolved to keep all the love she could get.
+
+In short, Annie was in that condition when she could be easily influenced
+for good or evil--she was in that state of weakness when temptation is
+least easily resisted.
+
+A few days after the arrival of Nan's nurse Mrs. Willis was obliged
+unexpectedly to leave home; a near relative was dangerously ill in
+London, and the school-mistress went away in much trouble and anxiety.
+Some of her favorite pupils flocked to the front entrance to see their
+beloved mistress off. Among the group Cecil stood, and several girls of
+the first class; many of the little girls were also present, but Annie
+was not among them. Just at the last moment she rushed up breathlessly;
+she was tying some starry jasmine and some blue forget-me-nots together,
+and as the carriage was moving off she flung the charming bouquet into
+her mistress' lap.
+
+Mrs. Willis rewarded her with one of her old looks of confidence and
+love; she raised the flowers to her lips and kissed them, and her eyes
+smiled on Annie.
+
+"Good-by, dear," she called out; "good-by, all my dear girls; I will try
+and be back to-morrow night. Remember, my children, during my absence I
+trust you."
+
+The carriage disappeared down the avenue, and the group of girls melted
+away. Cecil looked round for Annie, but Annie had been the first to
+disappear.
+
+When her mistress had kissed the flowers and smiled at her, Annie darted
+into the shrubbery and stood there wiping the fast-falling tears from her
+eyes. She was interrupted in this occupation by the sudden cries of two
+glad and eager voices, and instantly her hands were taken, and some girls
+rather younger than herself began to drag her in the opposite direction
+through the shrubbery.
+
+"Come; Annie--come at once, Annie, darling," exclaimed Phyllis and Nora
+Raymond. "The basket has come; it's under the thick laurel-tree in the
+back avenue. We are all waiting for you; we none of us will open it till
+you arrive."
+
+Annie's face, a truly April one, changed as if by magic. The tears dried
+on her cheeks; her eyes filled with sunlight; she was all eager for the
+coming fun.
+
+"Then we won't lose a moment, Phyllis," she said: "we'll see what that
+duck of a Betty has done for us."
+
+The three girls scampered down the back avenue, where they found five of
+their companions, among them Susan Drummond, standing in different
+attitudes of expectation near a very large and low-growing laurel-tree.
+Every one raised a shout when Annie appeared; she was undoubtedly
+recognized as queen and leader of the proceedings. She took her post
+without an instant's hesitation, and began ordering her willing subjects
+about.
+
+"Now, is the coast clear? yes, I think so. Come, Susie, greedy as you
+are, you must take your part. You alone of all of us can cackle with the
+exact imitation of an old hen: get behind that tree at once and watch the
+yard. Don't forget to cackle for your life if you even see the shadow of
+a footfall. Nora, my pretty birdie, you must be the thrush for the nonce;
+here, take your post, watch the lawn and the front avenue. Now then,
+girls, the rest of us can see what spoils Betty has provided for us."
+
+The basket was dragged from its hiding-place, and longing faces peered
+eagerly and greedily into its contents.
+
+"Oh, oh! I say, cherries! and what a lot! Good Betty! dear, darling Betty!
+you gathered those from your own trees, and they are as ripe as your
+apple-blossom cheeks! Now then, what next? I do declare, meringues! Betty
+knew my weakness. Twelve meringues--that is one and a half apiece; Susan
+Drummond sha'n't have more than her share. Meringues and cheesecakes
+and--tartlets--oh! oh! what a duck Betty is! A plum-cake--good, excellent
+Betty, she deserves to be canonized! What have we here? Roast
+chickens--better and better! What is in this parcel? Slices of ham; Betty
+knew she dare not show her face again if she forgot the ham. Knives and
+forks, spoons--fresh rolls--salt and pepper, and a dozen bottles of
+ginger-beer, and a little corkscrew in case we want it."
+
+These various exclamations came from many lips. The contents of the
+basket were carefully and tenderly replaced, the lid was fastened down,
+and it was once more consigned to its hiding place under the thick boughs
+of the laurel.
+
+Not a moment too soon, for just at this instant Susan cackled fiercely,
+and the little group withdrew, Annie first whispering:
+
+"At twelve to-night, then, girls--oh, yes, I have managed the key."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+TRUANTS.
+
+
+It was a proverbial saying in the school that Annie Forest was always in
+hot water; she was exceedingly daring, and loved what she called a spice
+of danger. This was not the first stolen picnic at which Annie reigned as
+queen, but this was the largest she had yet organized, and this was the
+first time she had dared to go out of doors with her satellites.
+
+Hitherto these naughty sprites had been content to carry their baskets
+full of artfully-concealed provisions to a disused attic which was
+exactly over the box-room, and consequently out of reach of the inhabited
+part of the house. Here, making a table of a great chest which stood in
+the attic, they feasted gloriously, undisturbed by the musty smell or by
+the innumerable spiders and beetles which disappeared rapidly in all
+directions at their approach; but when Annie one day incautiously
+suggested that on summer nights the outside world was all at their
+disposal, they began to discover flaws in their banqueting hall. Mary
+Price said the musty smell made her half sick; Phyllis declared that at
+the sight of a spider she invariably turned faint; and Susan Drummond was
+heard to murmur that in a dusty, fusty attic even meringues scarcely kept
+her awake. The girls were all wild to try a midnight picnic out of doors,
+and Annie in her present mood, was only too eager for the fun.
+
+With her usual skill she organized the whole undertaking, and eight
+agitated, slightly frightened, but much excited girls retired to their
+rooms that night. Annie, in her heart of hearts, felt rather sorry that
+Mrs. Willis should happen to be away; dim ideas of honor and
+trustworthiness were still stirring in her breast, but she dared not
+think now.
+
+The night was in every respect propitious; the moon would not rise until
+after twelve, so the little party could get away under the friendly
+shelter of the darkness, and soon afterward have plenty of light to enjoy
+their stolen feast. They had arranged to make no movement until close on
+midnight, and then they were all to meet in a passage which belonged to
+the kitchen regions, and where there was a side door which opened
+directly into the shrubbery. This door was not very often unlocked, and
+Annie had taken the key from its place in the lock some days before. She
+went to bed with her companions at nine o'clock as usual, and presently
+fell into an uneasy doze. She awoke to hear the great clock in the hall
+strike eleven, and a few minutes afterward she heard Miss Danesbury's
+footsteps retiring to her room at the other end of the passage.
+
+"Danesbury is always the last to go to bed," whispered Annie to herself;
+"I can get up presently."
+
+She lay for another twenty minutes, then, softly rising, began to put on
+her clothes in the dark. Over her dress she fastened her waterproof, and
+placed a close-fitting brown velvet cap on her curly head. Having dressed
+herself, she approached Susan's bed, with the intention of rousing her.
+
+"I shall have fine work now," she said, "and shall probably have to
+resort to cold water. Really, if Susy proves too hard to wake, I shall
+let her sleep on--her drowsiness is past bearing."
+
+Annie, however, was considerably startled when she discovered that Miss
+Drummond's bed was without an occupant.
+
+At this moment the room door was very softly opened, and Susan, fully
+dressed and in her waterproof, came in.
+
+"Why, Susy, where have you been?" exclaimed Annie. "Fancy you being awake
+a moment before it is necessary!"
+
+"For once in a way I was restless," replied Miss Drummond, "so I thought
+I would get up, and take a turn in the passage outside. The house is
+perfectly quiet, and we can come now; most of the girls are already
+waiting at the side door."
+
+Holding their shoes in their hands, Annie and Susan went noiselessly down
+the carpetless stairs, and found the remaining six girls waiting for them
+by the side door.
+
+"Rover is our one last danger now," said Annie, as she fitted the
+well-oiled key into the lock. "Put on your shoes, girls, and let me out
+first; I think I can manage him."
+
+She was alluding to a great mastiff which was usually kept chained up by
+day. Phyllis and Nora laid their hands on her arm.
+
+"Oh, Annie, oh love, suppose he seizes on you, and knocks you down--oh,
+dare you venture?"
+
+"Let me go," said Annie a little contemptuously; "you don't suppose I am
+afraid?"
+
+Her fingers trembled, for her nerves were highly strung; but she managed
+to unlock the door and draw back the bolts, and, opening it softly, she
+went out into the silent night.
+
+Very slight as the noise she made was, it had aroused the watchful Rover,
+who trotted around swiftly to know what was the matter. But Annie had
+made friends with Rover long ago, by stealing to his kennel door and
+feeding him, and she had now but to say "Rover" in her melodious voice,
+and throw her arms around his neck, to completely subvert his morals.
+
+"He is one of us, girls," she called in a whisper to her companions;
+"come out. Rover will be as naughty as the rest of us, and go with us as
+our body-guard to the fairies' field. Now, I will lock the door on the
+outside, and we can be off. Ah, the moon is getting up splendidly, and
+when we have secured Betty's basket, we shall be quite out of reach of
+danger."
+
+At Annie's words of encouragement the seven girls ventured out. She
+locked the door, put the key into her pocket, and, holding Rover by his
+collar, led the way in the direction of the laurel-bush. The basket was
+secured, and Susan, to her disgust, and Mary Morris were elected for the
+first part of the way to carry it. The young truants then walked quickly
+down the avenue until they came to a turnstile which led into a wood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+IN THE FAIRIES' FIELD.
+
+
+The moon had now come up brilliantly, and the little party were in the
+highest possible spirits. They had got safely away from the house, and
+there was now, comparatively speaking, little fear of discovery. The more
+timid ones, who ventured to confess that their hearts were in their
+mouths while Annie was unlocking the side door, now became the most
+excited, and perhaps the boldest, under the reaction which set in. Even
+the wood, which was comparatively dark, with only patches of moonlight
+here and there, and queer weird shadows where the trees were thinnest,
+could not affect their spirits.
+
+The poor sleepy rabbits must have been astonished that night at the
+shouts of the revelers, as they hurried past them, and the birds must
+have taken their sleepy heads from under their downy wings, and wondered
+if the morning had come some hours before its usual time.
+
+More than one solemn old owl blinked at them, and hooted as they passed,
+and told them in owl language what silly, naughty young things they were,
+and how they would repent of this dissipation by-and-by. But if the girls
+were to have an hour of remorse, it did not visit them then; their hearts
+were like feathers, and by the time they reached the fields where the
+fairies were supposed to play, their spirits had become almost
+uncontrollable.
+
+Luckily for them this small green field lay in a secluded hollow, and
+more luckily for them no tramps were about to hear their merriment.
+Rover, who constituted himself Annie's protector, now lay down by her
+side, and as she was the real ringleader and queen of the occasion, she
+ordered her subjects about pretty sharply.
+
+"Now, girls, quick; open the basket. Yes, I'm going to rest. I have
+organized the whole thing, and I'm fairly tired; so I'll just sit quietly
+here, and Rover will take care of me while you set things straight. Ah!
+good Betty; she did not even forget the white table-cloth."
+
+Here one of the girls remarked casually that the grass was wet with dew,
+and that it was well they had all put on their waterproofs.
+
+Annie interrupted again in a petulant voice:
+
+"Don't croak, Mary Morris. Out with the chickens, lay the ham in this
+corner, and the cherries will make a picturesque pile in the middle.
+Twelve meringues in all; that means a meringue and a half each. We shall
+have some difficulty in dividing. Oh, dear! oh, dear! how hungry I am! I
+was far too excited to eat anything at supper-time."
+
+"So was I," said Phyllis, coming up and pressing close to Annie. "I do
+think Miss Danesbury cuts the bread and butter too thick--don't you,
+Annie? I could not eat mine at all to-night, and Cecil Temple asked me if
+I was not well."
+
+"Those who don't want chicken hold up their hands," here interrupted
+Annie, who had tossed her brown cap on the grass, and between whose brows
+a faint frown had passed for an instant at the mention of Cecil's name.
+
+The feast now began in earnest and silence reigned for a short time,
+broken only by the clatter of plates and such an occasional remark as
+"Pass the salt, please," "Pepper this way, if you've no objection," "How
+good chicken tastes in fairy-land," etc. At last the ginger-beer bottles
+began to pop--the girls' first hunger was appeased. Rover gladly crunched
+up all the bones, and conversation flowed once more, accompanied by the
+delicate diversion of taking alternate bites at meringues and
+cheesecakes.
+
+"I wish the fairies would come out," said Annie.
+
+"Oh, don't!" shivered Phyllis, looking round her nervously.
+
+"Annie darling, do tell us a ghost story," cried several voices.
+
+Annie laughed and commenced a series of nonsense tales, all of a slightly
+eerie character, which she made up on the spot.
+
+The moon riding high in the heavens looked down on the young giddy heads,
+and their laughter, naughty as they were, sounded sweet in the night air.
+
+Time flew quickly and the girls suddenly discovered that they must pack
+up their table-cloth and remove all traces of the feast unless they
+wished the bright light of morning to discover them. They rose hastily,
+sighing and slightly depressed now that their fun was over. The white
+table-cloth, no longer very white, was packed into the basket, the
+ginger-beer bottles placed on top of it and the lid fastened down. Not a
+crumb of the feast remained; Rover had demolished the bones and the eight
+girls had made short work of everything else, with the exception of the
+cherry-stones, which Phyllis carefully collected and popped into a little
+hole in the ground.
+
+The party then progressed slowly homeward and once more entered the dark
+wood. They were much more silent now; the wood was darker, and the chill
+which foretells the dawn was making itself felt in the air. Either the
+sense of cold or a certain effect produced by Annie's ridiculous stories,
+made many of the little party unduly nervous.
+
+They had only taken a few steps through the wood when Phyllis suddenly
+uttered a piercing shriek. This shriek was echoed by Nora and by Mary
+Morris, and all their hearts seemed to leap into their mouths when they
+saw something move among the trees. Rover uttered a growl, and, but for
+Annie's detaining hand, would have sprung forward. The high-spirited girl
+was not to be easily daunted.
+
+"Behold, girls, the goblin of the woods," she exclaimed. "Quiet, Rover;
+stand still."
+
+The next instant the fears of the little party reached their culmination
+when a tall, dark figure stood directly in their paths.
+
+"If you don't let us pass at once," said Annie's voice, "I'll set Rover
+at you."
+
+The dog began to bark loudly and quivered from head to foot.
+
+The figure moved a little to one side, and a rather deep and slightly
+dramatic voice said:
+
+"I mean you no harm, young ladies; I'm only a gypsy-mother from the tents
+yonder. You are welcome to get back to Lavender House. I have then one
+course plain before me."
+
+"Come on, girls," said Annie, now considerably frightened, while Phyllis,
+and Nora, and one or two more began to sob.
+
+"Look here, young ladies," said the gypsy in a whining voice, "I don't
+mean you no harm, my pretties, and it's no affair of mine telling the
+good ladies at Lavender House what I've seen. You cross my hand, dears,
+each of you, with a bit of silver, and all I'll do is to tell your pretty
+fortunes, and mum is the word with the gypsy-mother as far as this
+night's prank is concerned."
+
+"We had better do it, Annie--we had better do it," here sobbed Phyllis.
+"If this was found out by Mrs. Willis we might be expelled--we might,
+indeed; and that horrid woman is sure to tell of us--I know she is."
+
+"Quite sure to tell, dear," said the tall gypsy, dropping a courtesy in a
+manner which looked frightfully sarcastic in the long shadows made by the
+trees. "Quite sure to tell, and to be expelled is the very least that
+could happen to such naughty little ladies. Here's a nice little bit of
+clearing in the wood, and we'll all come over, and Mother Rachel will
+tell your fortunes in a twinkling, and no one will be the wiser. Sixpence
+apiece, my dears--only sixpence apiece."
+
+"Oh, come; do, do come," said Nora, and the next moment they were all
+standing in a circle round Mother Rachel, who pocketed her blackmail
+eagerly, and repeated some gibberish over each little hand. Over Annie's
+palm she lingered for a brief moment, and looked with her penetrating
+eyes into the girl's face.
+
+"You'll have suffering before you, miss; some suspicion, and danger even
+to life itself. But you'll triumph, my dear, you'll triumph. You're a
+plucky one, and you'll do a brave deed. There--good-night, young ladies;
+you have nothing more to fear from Mother Rachel."
+
+The tall dark figure disappeared into the blackest shadows of the wood,
+and the girls, now like so many frightened hares, flew home. They
+deposited their basket where Betty would find it, under the shadow of the
+great laurel in the back avenue. They all bade Rover an affectionate
+"good-night." Annie softly unlocked the side-door, and one by one, with
+their shoes in their hands, they regained their bedrooms. They were all
+very tired, and very cold, and a dull fear and sense of insecurity rested
+over each little heart. Suppose Mother Rachel proved unfaithful,
+notwithstanding the sixpences?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+HESTER'S FORGOTTEN BOOK.
+
+
+It wanted scarcely three weeks to the holidays, and therefore scarcely
+three weeks to that auspicious day when Lavender House was to be the
+scene of one long triumph, and was to be the happy spot selected for a
+midsummer holiday, accompanied by all that could make a holiday
+perfect--for youth and health would be there, and even the unsuccessful
+competitors for the great prizes would not have too sore hearts, for they
+would know that on the next day they were going home. Each girl who had
+done her best would have a word of commendation, and only those who were
+very naughty, or very stubborn, could resist the all-potent elixir of
+happiness which would be poured out so abundantly for Mrs. Willis' pupils
+on this day.
+
+Now that the time was drawing so near, those girls who were working for
+prizes found themselves fully occupied from morning to night. In
+play-hours even, girls would be seen with their heads bent over their
+books, and, between the prizes and the acting, no little bees in any hive
+could be more constantly employed than were these young girls just now.
+
+No happiness is, after all, to be compared to the happiness of healthful
+occupation. Busy people have no time to fret and no time to grumble.
+According to our old friend, Dr. Watts, people who are healthily busy
+have also no time to be naughty, for the old doctor says that it is for
+idle hands that mischief is prepared.
+
+Be that as it may, and there is great truth in it, some naughty sprites,
+some bad fairies, were flitting around and about that apparently peaceful
+atmosphere. That sunny home, governed by all that was sweet and good, was
+not without its serpent.
+
+Of all the prizes which attracted interest and aroused competition, the
+prize for English composition was this year the most popular. In the
+first place, this was known to be Mrs. Willis' own favorite subject. She
+had a great wish that her girls should write intelligibly--she had a
+greater wish that, if possible, they should think.
+
+"Never was there so much written and printed," she was often heard to
+say; "but can any one show me a book with thoughts in it? Can any one
+show me, unless as a rare exception, a book which will live? Oh, yes,
+these books which issue from the press in thousands are, many of them,
+very smart, a great many of them clever, but they are thrown off too
+quickly. All great things, great books among them, must be evolved
+slowly."
+
+Then she would tell her pupils what she considered the reason of this.
+
+"In these days," she would say, "all girls are what is called highly
+educated. Girls and boys alike must go in for competitive examinations,
+must take out diplomas, and must pass certain standards of excellence.
+The system is cramming from beginning to end. There is no time for
+reflection. In short, my dear girls, you swallow a great deal, but you do
+not digest your intellectual food."
+
+Mrs. Willis hailed with pleasure any little dawnings of real thought in
+her girls' prize essays. More than once she bestowed the prize upon the
+essay which seemed to the girls the most crude and unfinished.
+
+"Never mind," she would say, "here is an idea--or at least half an idea.
+This little bit of composition is original, and not, at best, a poor
+imitation of Sir. Walter Scott or Lord Macaulay."
+
+Thus the girls found a strong stimulus to be their real selves in these
+little essays, and the best of them chose their subject and let it
+ferment in their brains without the aid of books, except for the more
+technical parts.
+
+More than one girl in the school was surprised at Dora Russell exerting
+herself to try for the prize essay. She was just about to close her
+school career, and they could not make out why she roused herself to work
+for the most difficult prize, for which she would have to compete with
+any girl in the school who chose to make a similar attempt.
+
+Dora, however, had her own, not very high motive for making the attempt.
+She was a thoroughly accomplished girl, graceful in her appearance and
+manner; in short, just the sort of girl who would be supposed to do
+credit to a school. She played with finish, and even delicacy of touch.
+There was certainly no soul in her music, but neither were there any
+wrong notes. Her drawings were equally correct, her perspective good, her
+trees were real trees, and the coloring of her water-color sketches was
+pure. She spoke French extremely well, and with a correct accent, and her
+German also was above the average. Nevertheless, Dora was commonplace,
+and those girls who knew her best spoke sarcastically, and smiled at one
+another when she alluded to her prize essay, and seemed confident of
+being the successful competitor.
+
+"You won't like to be beaten, Dora, say, by Annie Forest," they would
+laughingly remark; whereupon Dora's calm face, would slightly flush and
+her lips would assume a very proud curve. If there was one thing she
+could not bear it was to be beaten.
+
+"Why do you try for it, Dora?" her class-fellows would ask; but here Dora
+made no reply: she kept her reason to herself.
+
+The fact was, Dora, who must be a copyist to the end of the chapter, and
+who could never to her latest day do anything original, had determined to
+try for the composition prize because she happened accidentally to hear a
+conversation between Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury, in which something
+was said about a gold locket with Mrs. Willis' portrait inside.
+
+Dora instantly jumped at the conclusion that this was to be the great
+prize bestowed upon the successful essayist. Delightful idea; how well
+the trinket would look round her smooth white throat! Instantly she
+determined to try for this prize, and of course as instantly the bare
+idea of defeat became intolerable to her. She went steadily and
+methodically to work. With extreme care she chose her subject. Knowing
+something of Mrs. Willis' peculiarities, she determined that her theme
+should not be historical; she believed that she could express herself
+freely and with power if only she could secure an unhackneyed subject.
+Suddenly an idea which she considered brilliant occurred to her. She
+would call her composition "The River." This should not bear reference to
+Father Thames, or any other special river of England, but it should trace
+the windings of some fabled stream of Dora's imagination, which, as it
+flowed along, should tell something of the story of the many places by
+which it passed. Dora was charmed with her own thought, and worked hard,
+evening after evening, at her subject, covering sheets of manuscript
+paper with penciled jottings, and arranging and rearranging her somewhat
+confused thoughts. She greatly admired a perfectly rounded period, and
+she was most particular as to the style in which she wrote. For the
+purpose of improving her style she even studied old volumes of Addison's
+_Spectator_; but after a time she gave up this course of study, for she
+found it so difficult to mold her English to Addison's that she came to
+the comfortable conclusion that Addison was decidedly obsolete, and that
+if she wished to do full justice to "The River" she must trust to her own
+unaided genius.
+
+At last the first ten pages were written. The subject was entered upon
+with considerable flourishes, and some rather apt poetical quotations
+from a book containing a collection of poems; the river itself had
+already left its home in the mountain, and was careering merrily past
+sunny meadows and little rural, impossible cottages, where the
+golden-haired children played.
+
+Dora made a very neat copy of her essay so far. She now began to see her
+way clearly--there would be a very powerful passage as the river
+approached the murky town. Here, indeed, would be room for powerful and
+pathetic writing. She wondered if she might venture so far as to hide a
+suicide in her rushing waters; and then at last the brawling river would
+lose itself in the sea; and, of course, there would not be the smallest
+connection between her river, and Kingsley's well-known song,
+
+                           "Clear and cool."
+
+She finished writing her ten pages, and being now positively certain of
+her gold locket, went to bed in a happy state of mind.
+
+This was the very night when Annie was to lead her revelers through the
+dark wood, but Dora, who never troubled herself about the younger
+classes, would have been certainly the last to notice the fact that a few
+of the girls in Lavender House seemed little disposed to eat their
+suppers of thick bread and butter and milk. She went to bed and dreamed
+happy dreams about her golden locket, and had little idea that any
+mischief was about to be performed.
+
+Hester Thornton also, but in a very different spirit, was working hard at
+her essay. Hester worked conscientiously; she had chosen "Marie
+Antoinette" as her theme, and she read the sorrowful story of the
+beautiful queen with intense interest, and tried hard to get herself into
+the spirit of the times about which she must write. She had scarcely
+begun her essay yet, but she had already collected most of the historical
+facts.
+
+Hester was a very careful little student, and as she prepared herself for
+the great work, she thought little or nothing about the prize--she only
+wanted to do justice to the unfortunate queen of France. She was in bed
+that night, and just dropping off to sleep, when she suddenly remembered
+that she had left a volume of French poetry on her school desk. This was
+against the rules, and she knew that Miss Danesbury would confiscate the
+book in the morning, and would not let her have it back for a week.
+Hester particularly wanted this special book just now, as some of the
+verses bore reference to her subject, and she could scarcely get on with
+her essay without having it to refer to. She must lose no time in
+instantly beginning to write her essay, and to do without her book of
+poetry for a week would be a serious injury to her.
+
+She resolved, therefore, to break through one of the rules, and, after
+lying awake until the whole house was quiet, to slip down stairs, enter
+the school-room and secure her poems. She heard the clock strike eleven,
+and she knew that in a very few moments Miss Danesbury and Miss Good
+would have retired to their rooms. Ah, yes, that was Miss Danesbury's
+step passing her door. Ten minutes later she glided out of bed, slipped
+on her dressing-gown, and opening her door ran swiftly down the
+carpetless stairs, and found herself in the great stone hall which led to
+the school-room.
+
+She was surprised to find the school-room door a little ajar, but she
+entered the room without hesitation, and, dark as it was, soon found her
+desk, and the book of poems lying on the top. Hester was about to return
+when she was startled by a little noise in that portion of the room where
+the first class girls sat. The next moment somebody came heavily and
+rather clumsily down the room, and the moon, which was just beginning to
+rise, fell for an instant on a girl's face. Hester recognized the face of
+Susan Drummond. What could she be doing here? She did not dare to speak,
+for she herself had broken a rule in visiting the school-room. She
+remained, therefore, perfectly still until Susan's steps died away, and
+then, thankful to have secured her own property, returned to her bedroom,
+and a moment or two later was sound asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+"A MUDDY STREAM."
+
+
+In the morning Dora Russell sat down as usual before her orderly and
+neatly-kept desk. She raised the lid to find everything in its place--her
+books and exercises all as they should be, and her pet essay in a neat
+brown paper cover, lying just as she had left it the night before. She
+was really getting quite excited about her river, and as this was a
+half-holiday, she determined to have a good work at it in the afternoon.
+She was beginning also to experience that longing for an auditor which
+occasionally is known to trouble the breasts of genius. She felt that
+those graceful ideas, that elegant language, those measured periods,
+might strike happily on some other ears before they were read aloud as
+the great work of the midsummer holidays.
+
+She knew that Hester Thornton was making what she was pleased to term a
+poor little attempt at trying for the same prize. Hester would scarcely
+venture to copy anything from Dora's essay; she would probably be
+discouraged, poor girl, in working any longer at her own composition; but
+Dora felt that the temptation to read "The River," as far as it had gone,
+to Hester was really too great to be resisted. Accordingly, after dinner
+she graciously invited Hester to accompany her to a bower in the garden,
+where the two friends might revel over the results of Dora's
+extraordinary talents.
+
+Hester was still, to a certain extent, under Dora's influence, and had
+not the courage to tell her that she intended to be very busy over her
+own essay this afternoon.
+
+"Now, Hester, dear," said Dora, when they found themselves both seated in
+the bower, "you are the only girl in the school to whom I could confide
+the subject of my great essay. I really believe that I have hit on
+something absolutely original. My dear child, I hope you won't allow
+yourself to be discouraged. I fear that you won't have much heart to go
+on with your theme after you have read my words; but, never mind, dear,
+it will be good practice for you, and you know it _was_ rather silly to
+go in for a prize which I intended to compete for."
+
+"May I read your essay, please, Dora?" asked Hester. "I am very much
+interested in my own study, and, whether I win the prize or not, I shall
+always remember the pleasure I took in writing it."
+
+"What subject did you select, dear?" inquired Miss Russell.
+
+"Well, I am attempting a little sketch of Marie Antoinette."
+
+"Ah, hackneyed, my dear girl--terribly hackneyed; but, of course, I don't
+mean to discourage you. _Now I_--I draw a life-picture, and I call it
+'The River.' See how it begins--why, I declare I know the words by heart,
+'_As our eyes rest on this clear and limpid stream, as we see the sun
+sparkle_----' My dear Hester, you shall read me my essay aloud. I shall
+like to hear my own words from your lips, and you have really a pretty
+accent, dear."
+
+Hester folded back the brown paper cover, and wanting to have her task
+over began to read hastily. But, as her eyes rested on the first lines,
+she turned to her companion, and said:
+
+"Did you not tell me that your essay was called 'The River'?"
+
+"Yes, dear; the full title is 'The Windings of a Noble River.'"
+
+"That's very odd," replied Hester. "What I see here is 'The Meanderings
+of a Muddy Stream.' '_As our dull orbs rest on this turbid water on which
+the sun cannot possibly shine._' Why, Dora, this cannot be your essay,
+and yet, surely, it is your handwriting."
+
+Dora, with her face suddenly flushing a vivid crimson, snatched the
+manuscript from Hester's hand, and looked over it eagerly. Alas! there
+was no doubt. The title of this essay was "The Meanderings of a Muddy
+Stream," and the words which immediately followed were a smart and
+ridiculous parody on her own high flown sentences. The resemblance to her
+handwriting was perfect. The brown paper cover, neatly sewn on to protect
+the white manuscript, was undoubtedly her cover; the very paper on which
+the words were written seemed in all particulars the same. Dora turned
+the sheets eagerly, and here for the first time she saw a difference.
+Only four or five pages of the nonsense essay had been attempted, and the
+night before, when finishing her toil, she had proudly numbered her tenth
+page. She looked through the whole thing, turning leaf after leaf, while
+her cheeks were crimson, and her hands trembled. In the first moment of
+horrible humiliation and dismay she literally could not speak.
+
+At last, springing to her feet, and confronting the astonished and almost
+frightened Hester, she found her voice.
+
+"Hester, you must help me in this. The most dreadful, the most atrocious
+fraud has been committed. Some one has been base enough, audacious
+enough, wicked enough, to go to my desk privately, and take away my real
+essay--my work over which I have labored and toiled. The expressions of
+my--my--yes, I will say it--my genius, have been ruthlessly burned, or
+otherwise made away with, and _this_ thing has been put in their place.
+Hester, why don't you speak--why do you stare at me like this?"
+
+"I am puzzled by the writing," said Hester; "the writing is yours."
+
+"The writing is mine!--oh, you wicked girl! The writing is an imitation
+of mine--a feeble and poor imitation. I thought, Hester, that by this
+time you knew your friend's handwriting. I thought that one in whom I
+have confided--one whom I have stooped to notice because, I fancied we
+had a community of soul, would not be so ridiculous and so silly as to
+mistake this writing for mine. Look again, please, Hester Thornton, and
+tell me if I am ever so vulgar as to cross my _t's_. You know I _always_
+loop them; and do I make a capital B in this fashion? And do I indulge in
+flourishes? I grant you that the general effect to a casual observer
+would be something the same, but you, Hester--I thought you knew me
+better."
+
+Here Hester, examining the false essay, had to confess that the crossed
+_t's_ and the flourishes were unlike Miss Russell's calligraphy.
+
+"It is a forgery, most cleverly done," said Dora. "There is such a thing,
+Hester, as being wickedly clever. This spiteful, cruel attempt to injure
+another can have but proceeded from one very low order of mind. Hester,
+there has been plenty of favoritism in this school, but do you suppose I
+shall allow such a thing as this to pass over unsearched into? If
+necessary, I shall ask my father to interfere. This is a slight--an
+outrage; but the whole mystery shall at last be cleared up. Miss Good and
+Miss Danesbury shall be informed at once, and the very instant Mrs.
+Willis returns she shall be told what a serpent she has been nursing in
+this false, wicked girl, Annie Forest."
+
+"Stop, Dora," said Hester suddenly. She sprang to her feet, clasping her
+hands, and her color varied rapidly from white to red. A sudden light
+poured in upon her, and she was about to speak when something--quite a
+small, trivial thing--occurred. She only saw little Nan in the distance
+flying swiftly, with outstretched arms, to meet a girl, whose knees she
+clasped in baby ecstasy. The girl stooped down and kissed the little
+face, and the round arms were flung around her neck. The next instant
+Annie Forest continued her walk alone, and Nan, looking wistfully back
+after her, went in another direction with her nurse. The whole scene took
+but a moment to enact, but as she watched, Hester's face grew hard and
+white. She sat down again, with her lips firmly pressed together.
+
+"What is it, Hester?" exclaimed Dora. "What were you going to say? You
+surely know nothing about this?"
+
+"Well, Dora, I am not the guilty person. I was only going to remark that
+you cannot be _sure_ it is Annie Forest."
+
+"Oh, so you are going to take that horrid girl's part now? I wonder at
+you! She all but killed your little sister, and then stole her love away
+from you. Did you see the little thing now, how she flew to her? Why, she
+never kisses you like that."
+
+"I know--I know," said Hester, and she turned away her face with a groan,
+and leaned forward against the rustic bench, pressing her hot forehead
+down on her hands.
+
+"You'll have your triumph, Hester, when Miss Forest is publicly
+expelled," said Dora, tapping her lightly on the shoulder, and then,
+taking up the forged essay, she went slowly out of the garden.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+GOOD AND BAD ANGELS.
+
+
+Hester stayed behind in the shady little arbor, and then, on that soft
+spring day, while the birds sang overhead, and the warm light breezes
+came in and fanned her hot cheeks, good angels and bad drew near to fight
+for a victory. Which would conquer? Hester had many faults, but hitherto
+she had been honorable and truthful; her sins had been those of pride and
+jealousy, but she had never told a falsehood in her life. She knew
+perfectly--she trembled as the full knowledge overpowered her--that she
+had it in her power to exonerate Annie. She could not in the least
+imagine how stupid Susan Drummond could contrive and carry out such a
+clever and deep-laid plot; but she knew also that if she related what she
+had seen with her own eyes the night before, she would probably give such
+a clue to the apparent mystery that the truth would come to light.
+
+If Annie was cleared from this accusation, doubtless the old story of her
+supposed guilt with regard to Mrs. Willis' caricature would also be read
+with its right key. Hester was a clever and sharp girl; and the fact of
+seeing Susan Drummond in the school-room in the dead of night opened her
+eyes also to one or two other apparent little mysteries. While Susan was
+her own room-mate she had often given a passing wonder to the fact of her
+extraordinary desire to overcome her sleepiness, and had laughed over the
+expedients Susan had used to wake at all moments.
+
+These things, at the time, had scarcely given her a moment's serious
+reflection; but now she pondered them carefully, and became more and more
+certain, that, for some inexplicable and unfathomable reason sleepy, and
+apparently innocent, Susan Drummond wished to sow the seeds of mischief
+and discord in the school. Hester was sure that if she chose to speak now
+she could clear poor Annie, and restore her to her lost place in Mrs.
+Willis' favor.
+
+Should she do so? ah! should she? Her lips trembled, her color came and
+went as the angels, good and bad, fought hard for victory within her. How
+she had longed to revenge herself on Annie! How cordially she had hated
+her! Now was the moment of her revenge. She had but to remain silent now,
+and to let matters take their course; she had but to hold her tongue
+about the little incident of last night, and, without any doubt,
+circumstantial evidence would point at Annie Forest, and she would be
+expelled from the school. Mrs. Willis must condemn her now. Mr. Everard
+must pronounce her guilty now. She would go, and when the coast was again
+clear the love which she had taken from Hester--the precious love of
+Hester's only little sister--would return.
+
+"You will be miserable; you will be miserable," whispered the good angels
+sorrowfully in her ear; but she did not listen to them.
+
+"I said I would revenge myself, and this is my opportunity," she
+murmured. "Silence--just simply silence--will be my revenge."
+
+Then the good angels went sorrowfully back to their Father in heaven, and
+the wicked angels rejoiced. Hester had fallen very low.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+FRESH SUSPICIONS.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis was not at home many hours before Dora Russell begged for an
+interview with her. Annie had not as yet heard anything of the changed
+essay; for Dora had resolved to keep the thing a secret until Mrs. Willis
+herself took the matter in hand.
+
+Annie was feeling not a little anxious and depressed. She was sorry now
+that she had led the girls that wild escapade through the wood. Phyllis
+and Nora were both suffering from heavy colds in consequence, and Susan
+Drummond was looking more pasty about her complexion, and was more
+dismally sleepy than usual. Annie was going through her usual season of
+intense remorse after one of her wild pranks. No one repented with more
+apparent fervor than she did, and yet no one so easily succumbed to the
+next temptation. Had Annie been alone in the matter she would have gone
+straight to Mrs. Willis and confessed all; but she could not do this
+without implicating her companions, who would have screamed with horror
+at the very suggestion.
+
+All the girls were more or less depressed by the knowledge that the gypsy
+woman, Mother Rachel, shared their secret; and they often whispered
+together as to the chances of her betraying them. Old Betty they could
+trust; for Betty, the cake-woman, had been an arch-conspirator with the
+naughty girls of Lavender House from time immemorial. Betty had always
+managed to provide their stolen suppers for them, and had been most
+accommodating in the matter of pay. Yes, with Betty they felt they were
+safe; but Mother Rachel was a different person. She might like to be paid
+a few more sixpences for her silence; she might hover about the grounds;
+she might be noticed. At any moment she might boldly demand an interview
+with Mrs. Willis.
+
+"I'm awfully afraid of Mother Rachel," Phyllis moaned, as she shivered
+under the influence of her bad cold.
+
+Nora said "I should faint if I saw her again, I know I should;" while the
+other girls always went out provided with stray sixpences, in case the
+gypsy mother should start up from some unexpected quarter and demand
+blackmail.
+
+On the day of Mrs. Willis' return, Annie was pacing up and down the shady
+walk, and indulging in some rather melancholy and regretful thoughts,
+when Susan Drummond and Mary Morris rushed up to her, white with terror.
+
+"She's down there by the copse, and she's beckoning to us! Oh, do come
+with us--do, darling, dear Annie."
+
+"There's no use in it," replied Annie; "Mother Rachel wants money, and I
+am not going to give her any. Don't be afraid of her, girls, and don't
+give her money. After all, why should she tell on us? she would gain
+nothing by doing so."
+
+"Oh, yes, she would, Annie--she would, Annie," said Mary Morris,
+beginning to sob; "oh, do come with us, do! We must pacify her, we really
+must."
+
+"I can't come now," said Annie; "hark! some one is calling me. Yes, Miss
+Danesbury--what is it?"
+
+"Mrs. Willis wishes to see you at once, Annie, in her private
+sitting-room," replied Miss Danesbury; and Annie, wondering not a little,
+but quite unsuspicious, ran off.
+
+The fact, however, of her having deliberately disobeyed Mrs. Willis, and
+done something which she knew would greatly pain her, brought a shade of
+embarrassment to her usually candid face. She had also to confess to
+herself that she did not feel quite so comfortable about Mother Rachel as
+she had given Mary Morris and Susan Drummond to understand. Her steps
+lagged more and more as she approached the house, and she wished, oh, how
+longingly! oh, how regretfully! that she had not been naughty and wild
+and disobedient in her beloved teacher's absence.
+
+"But where is the use of regretting what is done?" she said, half aloud.
+"I know I can never be good--never, never!"
+
+She pushed aside the heavy velvet curtains which shaded the door of the
+private sitting-room, and went in, to find Mrs. Willis seated by her
+desk, very pale and tired and unhappy looking, while Dora Russell, with
+crimson spots on her cheeks and a very angry glitter in her eyes, stood
+by the mantel-piece.
+
+"Come here, Annie dear," said Mrs. Willis in her usual gentle and
+affectionate tone.
+
+Annie's first wild impulse was to rush to her governess' side, to fling
+her arms round her neck, and, as a child would confess to her mother, to
+tell her all that story of the walk through the wood, and the stolen
+picnic in the fairies' field. Three things, however, restrained her--she
+must not relieve her own troubles at the expense of betraying others; she
+could not, even if she were willing, say a word in the presence of this
+cold and angry-looking Dora; in the third place, Mrs. Willis looked very
+tired and very sad. Not for worlds would she add to her troubles at this
+instant. She came into the room, however, with a slight hesitation of
+manner and a clouded brow, which caused Mrs. Willis to watch her with
+anxiety and Dora with triumph.
+
+"Come here, Annie," repeated the governess. "I want to speak to you.
+Something very dishonorable and disgraceful has been done in my absence."
+
+Annie's face suddenly became as white as a sheet. Could the gypsy mother
+have already betrayed them all?
+
+Mrs. Willis, noticing her too evident confusion, continued in a voice
+which, in spite of herself, became stern and severe.
+
+"I shall expect the truth at any cost, my dear. Look at this
+manuscript-book. Do you know anything of the handwriting?"
+
+"Why, it is yours, of course, Dora," said Annie, who was now absolutely
+bewildered.
+
+"It is _not_ mine," began Dora, but Mrs. Willis held up her hand.
+
+"Allow me to speak, Miss Russell. I can best explain matters. Annie,
+during my absence some one has been guilty of a very base and wicked act.
+One of the girls in this school has gone secretly to Dora Russell's desk
+and taken away ten pages of an essay which she had called 'The River,'
+and which she was preparing for the prize competition next month. Instead
+of Dora's essay this that you now see was put in its place. Examine it,
+my dear. Can you tell me anything about it?"
+
+Annie took the manuscript-book and turned the leaves.
+
+"Is it meant for a parody?" she asked, after a pause; "it sounds
+ridiculous. No, Mrs. Willis, I know nothing whatever about it; some one
+has imitated Dora's handwriting. I cannot imagine who is the culprit."
+
+She threw the manuscript-book with a certain easy carelessness on the
+table by her side, and glanced up with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes at
+Dora.
+
+"I suppose it is meant for a clever parody," she repeated; "at least it
+is amusing."
+
+Her manner displeased Mrs. Willis, and very nearly maddened poor Dora.
+
+"We have not sent for you, Annie," said her teacher, "to ask you your
+opinion of the parody, but to try and get you to throw light on the
+subject. We must find out, and at once, who has been so wicked as to
+deliberately injure another girl."
+
+"But why have you sent for _me_?" asked Annie, drawing herself up, and
+speaking with a little shade of haughtiness.
+
+"Because," said Dora Russell, who could no longer contain her outraged
+feelings, "because you alone can throw light on it--because you alone in
+the school are base enough to do anything so mean--because you alone can
+caricature."
+
+"Oh, that is it," said Annie; "you suspect me, then. Do _you_ suspect me,
+Mrs. Willis?"
+
+"My dear--what can I say?"
+
+"Nothing, if you do. In this school my word has long gone for nothing. I
+am a naughty, headstrong, willful girl, but in this matter I am perfectly
+innocent. I never saw that essay before: I never in all my life went to
+Dora Russell's desk. I am headstrong and wild, but I don't do spiteful
+things. I have no object in injuring Dora; she is nothing to me--nothing.
+She is trying for the essay prize, but she has no chance of winning it.
+Why should I trouble myself to injure her? Why should I even take the
+pains to parody her words and copy her handwriting? Mrs. Willis, you need
+not believe me--I see you do not believe me--but I am quite innocent."
+
+Here Annie burst into sudden tears, and ran out of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+UNTRUSTWORTHY.
+
+
+Dora Russell had declared, in Hester's presence, and with intense energy
+in her manner, that the author of the insult to which she had been
+exposed should be publicly punished and, if possible, expelled. On the
+evening of her interview with the head teacher, she had so far forgotten
+herself as to reiterate this desire with extreme vehemence. She had
+boldly declared her firm conviction of Annie's guilt, and had broadly
+hinted at Mrs. Willis' favoritism toward her. The great dignity, however,
+of her teacher's manner, and the half-sorrowful, half-indignant look she
+bestowed on the excited girl, calmed her down after a time. Mrs. Willis
+felt full sympathy for Dora, and could well understand how trying and
+aggravating this practical joke must be to so proud a girl; but although
+her faith was undoubtedly shaken in Annie, she would not allow this
+sentiment to appear.
+
+"I will do all I can for you, Dora," she said, when the weeping Annie had
+left the room; "I will do everything in my power to find out who has
+injured you. Annie has absolutely denied the accusation you bring against
+her, and unless her guilt can be proved it is but right to believe her
+innocent. There are many other girls in Lavender House, and to-morrow
+morning I will sift this unpleasant affair to the very bottom. Go, now,
+my dear, and if you have sufficient self-command and self-control, try to
+have courage to write your essay over again. I have no doubt that your
+second rendering of your subject will be more attractive than the first.
+Beginners cannot too often re-write their themes."
+
+Dora gave her head a proud little toss, but she was sufficiently in awe
+of Mrs. Willis to keep back any retort, and she went out of the room
+feeling unsatisfied and wretched, and inclined for a sympathizing chat
+with her little friend Hester Thornton.
+
+Hester, however when she reached her, seemed not at all disposed to talk
+to any one.
+
+"I've had it all out with Mrs. Willis, and there is no doubt she will be
+exposed to-morrow morning," said Dora half aloud.
+
+Hester, whose head was bent over her French history, looked up with an
+annoyed expression.
+
+"Who will be exposed?" she asked, in a petulant voice.
+
+"Oh, how stupid you are growing, Hester Thornton!" exclaimed Dora; "why,
+that horrid Annie Forest, of course--but really I have no patience to
+talk to you; you have lost all your spirit. I was very foolish to demean
+myself by taking so much notice of one of the little girls."
+
+Dora sailed down the play-room to her own drawing-room, fully expecting
+Hester to rise and rush after her; but to her surprise Hester did not
+stir, but sat with her head bent over her book, and her cheeks slightly
+flushed.
+
+The next morning Mrs. Willis kept her word to Dora, and made the very
+strictest inquiries with regard to the practical joke to which Dora had
+been subjected. She first of all fully explained what had taken place in
+the presence of the whole school, and then each girl was called up in
+rotation, and asked two questions: first, had she done this mischievous
+thing herself? second, could she throw any light on the subject.
+
+One by one each girl appeared before her teacher, replied in the negative
+to both queries, and returned to her seat.
+
+"Now, girls," said Mrs. Willis, "you have each of you denied this charge.
+Such a thing as has happened to Dora could not have been done without
+hands. The teachers in the school are above suspicion; the servants are
+none of them clever enough to perform this base trick. I suspect one of
+you, and I am quite determined to get at the truth. During the whole of
+this half-year there has been a spirit of unhappiness, of mischief, and
+of suspicion in our midst. Under these circumstances love cannot thrive;
+under these circumstances the true and ennobling sense of brotherly
+kindness, and all those feelings which real religion prompt must
+languish. I tell you all now plainly that I will not have this thing in
+Lavender House. It is simply disgraceful for one girl to play such tricks
+on her fellows. This is not the first time nor the second time that the
+school desks have been tampered with. I will find out--I am determined to
+find out, who this dishonest person is; and as she has not chosen to
+confess to me, as she has preferred falsehood to truth, I will visit her,
+when I do discover her, with my very gravest displeasure. In this school
+I have always endeavored to inculcate the true principles of honor and of
+trust. I have laid down certain broad rules, and expect them to be
+obeyed; but I have never hampered you with petty and humiliating
+restraints. I have given you a certain freedom, which I believed to be
+for your best good, and I have never suspected one of you until you have
+given me due cause.
+
+"Now, however, I tell you plainly that I alter all my tactics. One girl
+sitting in this room is guilty. For her sake I shall treat you all as
+guilty, and punish you accordingly. For the remainder of this term, or
+until the hour when the guilty girl chooses to release her companions,
+you are all, with the exception of the little children and Miss Russell,
+who can scarcely have played this trick on herself, under punishment. I
+withdraw your half-holidays, I take from you the use of the south parlor
+for your acting, and every drawing-room in the play-room is confiscated.
+But this is not all that I do. In taking from you my trust, I must treat
+you as untrustworthy--you will no longer enjoy the liberty you used to
+delight in--everywhere you will be watched. A teacher will sit in your
+play-room with you, a teacher will accompany you into the grounds, and I
+tell you plainly, girls, that chance words and phrases which drop from
+your lips shall be taken up, and used, if necessary, to the elucidation
+of this disgraceful mystery."
+
+Here Mrs. Willis left the room, and the teachers desired the several
+girls in their classes to attend to their morning studies.
+
+Nothing could exceed the dismay which her words had produced. The
+innocent girls were fairly stunned, and from that hour for many a day all
+sunshine and happiness seemed really to have left Lavender House.
+
+The two, however, who felt the change most acutely, and on whose altered
+faces their companions began to fix suspicious eyes, were Annie Forest
+and Hester Thornton. Hester was burdened with an intolerable sense of the
+shameful falsehood she had told; Annie, guilty in another matter,
+succumbed at last utterly to a sense of misery and injustice. Her
+orphaned and lonely position for the first time began to tell on her; she
+ate little and slept little, her face grew very pale and thin, and her
+health really suffered.
+
+All the routine of happy life at Lavender House was changed. In the large
+play-room the drawing-rooms were unused; there were no pleasant little
+knots of girls whispering happily and confidentially together, for
+whenever two or three girls sat down to have a chat they found that one
+or another of the teachers was within hearing. The acting for the coming
+play progressed so languidly that no one expected it would really take
+place, and the one relief and relaxation to the unhappy girls lay in the
+fact that the holidays were not far off, and that in the meantime they
+might work hard for the prizes.
+
+The days passed in a truly melancholy fashion, and, perhaps, for the
+first time the girls fully appreciated the old privileges of freedom and
+trust which were now forfeited. There was a feeble little attempt at a
+joke and a laugh in the school at Dora's expense. The most frivolous of
+the girls whispered of her as she passed as "the muddy stream;" but no
+one took up the fun with avidity--the shadow of somebody's sin had fallen
+too heavily upon all the bright young lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+BETTY FALLS ILL AT AN AWKWARD TIME.
+
+
+The eight girls who had gone out on their midnight picnic were much
+startled one day by an unpleasant discovery. Betty had never come for her
+basket. Susan Drummond, who had a good deal of curiosity, and always
+poked her nose into unexpected corners, had been walking with a Miss
+Allison in that part of the grounds where the laurel-bush stood. She had
+caught a peep of the white handle of the basket, and had instantly turned
+her companion's attention to something else. Miss Allison had not
+observed Susan's start of dismay; but Susan had taken the first
+opportunity of getting rid of her, and had run off in search of one of
+the girls who had shared in the picnic. She came across Annie Forest, who
+was walking, as usual, by herself, with her head slightly bent, and her
+curling hair in sad confusion. Susan whispered the direful intelligence
+that old Betty had forsaken them, and that the basket, with its
+ginger-beer bottles and its stained table-cloth, might be discovered at
+any moment.
+
+Annie's pale face flushed slightly at Susan's words.
+
+"Why should we try to conceal the thing?" she said, speaking with sudden
+energy, and a look of hope and animation coming back to her face. "Susy,
+let's go, all of us, and tell the miserable truth to Mrs. Willis; it will
+be much the best way. We did not do the other thing, and when we have
+confessed about this, our hearts will be at rest."
+
+"No, we did not do the other thing," said Susan, a queer, gray color
+coming over her face; "but confess about this, Annie Forest!--I think you
+are mad. You dare not tell."
+
+"All right," said Annie, "I won't, unless you all agree to it," and then
+she continued her walk, leaving Susan standing on the graveled path with
+her hands clasped together, and a look of most genuine alarm and dismay
+on her usually phlegmatic face.
+
+Susan quickly found Phyllis and Nora, and it was only too easy to arouse
+the fears of these timid little people. Their poor little faces became
+almost pallid, and they were not a little startled at the fact of Annie
+Forest, their own arch-conspirator, wishing to betray their secret.
+
+"Oh," said Susan Drummond, "she's not out and out shabby; she says she
+won't tell unless we all wish it. But what is to become of the basket?"
+
+"Come, come, young ladies; no whispering, if you please," said Miss Good,
+who came up at this moment. "Susan, you are looking pale and cold, walk
+up and down that path half-a-dozen times, and then go into the house.
+Phyllis and Nora, you can come with me as far as the lodge. I want to
+take a message from Mrs. Willis to Mary Martin about the fowl for
+to-morrow's dinner."
+
+Phyllis and Nora, with dismayed faces, walked solemnly away with the
+English teacher, and Susan was left to her solitary meditations.
+
+Things had come to such a pass that her slow wits were brought into play,
+and she neither felt sleepy, nor did she indulge in her usual habit of
+eating lollipops.
+
+That basket might be discovered any day, and then--then disgrace was
+imminent. Susan could not make out what had become of old Betty; never
+before had she so utterly failed them.
+
+Betty lived in a little cottage about half a mile from Lavender House.
+She was a sturdy, apple-cheeked, little old woman, and had for many a day
+added to her income--indeed, almost supported herself--by means of the
+girls at Lavender House. The large cherry-trees in her little garden bore
+their rich crop of fruit year after year for Mrs. Willis' girls, and
+every day at an early hour Betty would tramp into Sefton and return with
+a temptingly-laden basket of the most approved cakes and tarts. There was
+a certain paling at one end of the grounds to which Betty used to come.
+Here on the grass she would sit contentedly, with the contents of her
+baskets arranged in the most tempting order before her, and to this
+seductive spot she knew well that those little misses who loved goodies,
+cakes and tartlets would be sure to find their way. Betty charged high
+for her wares; but, as she was always obliging in the matter of credit,
+the thoughtless girls cared very little that they paid double the shop
+prices for Betty's cakes. The best girls in the school, certainly, never
+went to Betty; but Annie Forest, Susan Drummond, and several others had
+regular accounts with her, and few days passed that their young faces
+would not peep over the paling and their voices ask:
+
+"What have you got to tempt me with to-day, Betty?"
+
+It was, however, in the matter of stolen picnics, of grand feasts in the
+old attic, etc., etc., that Betty was truly great. No one so clever as
+she in concealing a basket of delicious eatables, no one knew better what
+schoolgirls liked. She undoubtedly charged her own prices, but what she
+gave was of the best, and Betty was truly in her element when she had an
+order from the young ladies of Lavender House for a grand secret feast.
+
+"You shall have it, my pretties--you shall have it," she would say,
+wrinkling up her bright blue eyes, and smiling broadly. "You leave it to
+Betty, my little loves; you leave it to Betty."
+
+On the occasion of the picnic to the fairies' field Betty had, indeed,
+surpassed herself in the delicious eatables she had provided; all had
+gone smoothly, the basket had been placed in a secure hiding-place under
+the thick laurel. It was to be fetched away by Betty herself at an early
+hour on the following morning.
+
+No wonder Susan was perplexed as she paced about and pretended to warm
+herself. It was a June evening, but the weather was still a little cold.
+Susan remembered now that Betty had not come to her favorite station at
+the stile for several days. Was it possible that the old woman was ill?
+As this idea occurred to her, Susan became more alarmed. She knew that
+there was very little chance of the basket remaining long in concealment.
+Rover might any day remember his pleasant picnic with affection, and drag
+the white basket from under the laurel-bush. Michael the gardener would
+be certain to see it when next he cleaned up the back avenue. Oh, it was
+more than dangerous to leave it there, and yet Susan knew of no better
+hiding-place. A sudden idea came to her; she pulled out her pretty little
+watch, and saw that she need not return to the house for another
+half-hour. "Suppose she ran as fast as possible to Betty's little cottage
+and begged of the old woman to come by the first light in the morning and
+fetch away the basket?"
+
+The moment Susan conceived this idea she resolved to put it into
+execution. She looked around her hastily: no teacher was in sight, Miss
+Good was away at the lodge, Miss Danesbury was playing with the little
+children. Mademoiselle, she knew, had gone indoors with a bad headache.
+She left the broad walk where she had been desired to stay, and plunging
+into the shrubbery, soon reached Betty's paling. In a moment she had
+climbed the bars, had jumped lightly into the field, and was running as
+fast as possible in the direction of Betty's cottage. She reached the
+high road, and started and trembled violently as a carriage with some
+ladies and gentlemen passed her. She thought she recognized the faces of
+the two little Misses Bruce, but did not dare to look at them, and
+hurried panting along the road, and hoping she might be mistaken.
+
+In less than a quarter of an hour she had reached Betty's little cottage,
+and was standing trying to recover her breath by the shut door. The place
+had a deserted look, and several overripe cherries had fallen from the
+trees and were lying neglected on the ground. Susan knocked impatiently.
+There was no discernible answer. She had no time to wait, she lifted the
+latch, which yielded to her pressure, and went in.
+
+Poor old Betty, crippled, and in severe pain with rheumatism, was lying
+on her little bed.
+
+"Eh, dear--and is that you, my pretty missy?" she asked, as Susan, hot
+and tired, came up to her side.
+
+"Oh, Betty, are you ill?" asked Miss Drummond "I came to tell you you
+have forgotten the basket."
+
+"No, my dear, no--not forgot. By no means that, lovey; but I has been
+took with the rheumatism this past week, and can't move hand or foot. I
+was wondering how you'd do without your cakes and tartlets, dear, and to
+think of them cherries lying there good for nothing on the ground is
+enough to break one's 'eart."
+
+"So it is," said Susan, giving an appreciative glance toward the open
+door. "They are beautiful cherries, and full of juice, I am sure. I'll
+take a few, Betty, as I am going out, and pay you for them another day.
+But what I have come about now is the basket. You must get the basket
+away, however ill you are. If the basket is discovered we are all lost,
+and then good-by to your gains."
+
+"Well, missy, dear, if I could crawl on my hands and knees I'd go and
+fetch it, rather than you should be worried; but I can't set foot to the
+ground at all. The doctor says as 'tis somethink like rheumatic fever as
+I has."
+
+"Oh, dear, oh, dear," said Susan, not wasting any of her precious moments
+in pitying the poor suffering old woman. "What _is_ to be done? I tell
+you, Betty, if that basket is found we are all lost."
+
+"But the laurel is very thick, lovey: it ain't likely to be found--it
+ain't, indeed."
+
+"I tell you it _is_ likely to be found, you tiresome old woman, and you
+really must go for it or send for it. You really must."
+
+Old Betty began to ponder.
+
+"There's Moses," she said, after a pause of anxious thought; "he's a
+'cute little chap, and he might go. He lives in the fourth cottage along
+the lane. Moses is his name--Moses Moore. I'd give him a pint of cherries
+for the job. If you wouldn't mind sending Moses to me, Miss Susan, why,
+I'll do my best; only it seems a pity to let anybody into your secrets,
+young ladies, but old Betty herself."
+
+"It is a pity," said Susan, "but, under the circumstances, it can't be
+helped. What cottage did you say this Moses lived in?"
+
+"The fourth from here, down the lane, lovey--Moses is the lad's name;
+he's a freckled boy, with a cast in one eye. You send him up to me,
+dearie; but don't mention the cherries, or he'll be after stealing them.
+He's a sad rogue, is Moses; but I think I can tempt him with the
+cherries."
+
+Susan did not wait to bid poor old Betty "good-bye," but ran out of the
+cottage, shutting the door after her, and snatching up two or three ripe
+cherries to eat on her way. She was so far fortunate as to find the
+redoubtable Moses at home, and to convey him bodily to old Betty's
+presence. The queer boy grinned horribly, and looked as wicked as boy
+could look; but on the subject of cherries he was undoubtedly
+susceptible, and after a good deal of haggling and insisting that the
+pint should be a quart, he expressed his willingness to start off at four
+o'clock on the following morning, and bring away the basket from under
+the laurel-tree.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"YOU ARE WELCOME TO TELL."
+
+
+Annie continued her walk. The circumstances of the last two months had
+combined to do for her what nothing had hitherto effected. When a little
+child she had known hardship and privation, she had passed through that
+experience which is metaphorically spoken of as "going down hill." As a
+baby little Annie had been surrounded by comforts and luxuries, and her
+father and mother had lived in a large house, and kept a carriage, and
+Annie had two nurses to wait on herself alone. These were in the days
+before she could remember anything. With her first early memories came
+the recollection of a much smaller house, of much fewer servants, of her
+mother often in tears, and her father often away. Then there was no house
+at all that the Forests could call their own, only rooms of a tolerably
+cheerful character--and Annie's nurse went away, and she took her daily
+walks by her mother's side and slept in a little cot in her mother's
+room. Then came a very, very sad day, when her mother lay cold and still
+and fainting on her bed, and her tall and handsome father caught Annie in
+his arms and pressed her to his heart, and told her to be a good child
+and to keep up her spirits, and, above all things, to take care of
+mother. Then her father had gone away; and though Annie expected him
+back, he did not come, and she and her mother went into poorer and
+shabbier lodgings, and her mother began to try her tear-dimmed eyes by
+working at church embroidery, and Annie used to notice that she coughed a
+good deal as she worked. Then there was another move, and this time Mrs.
+Forest and her little daughter found themselves in one bedroom, and
+things began to grow very gloomy, and food even was scarce. At last there
+was a change. One day a lady came into the dingy little room, and all on
+a sudden it seemed as if the sun had come out again. This lady brought
+comforts with her--toys and books for the child, good, brave words of
+cheer for the mother. At last Annie's mother died, and she went away to
+Lavender House to live with this good friend who had made her mother's
+dying hours easy.
+
+"Annie, Annie," said the dying mother, "I owe everything to Mrs. Willis;
+we knew each other long ago when we were girls, and she has come to me
+now and made everything easy. When I am gone she will take care of you.
+Oh, my child, I cannot repay her; but will you try?"
+
+"Yes, mother," said little Annie, gazing full into her mother's face with
+her sweet bright eyes, "I'll--I'll love her, mother; I'll give her lots
+and lots of love."
+
+Annie had gone to Lavender House, and kept her word, for she had almost
+worshiped the good mistress who was so true and kind to her, and who had
+so befriended her mother. Through all the vicissitudes of her short
+existence Annie had, however, never lost one precious gift. Hers was an
+affectionate, but also a wonderfully bright, nature. It was as impossible
+for Annie to turn away from laughter and merriment as it would be for a
+flower to keep its head determinately turned from the sun. In their
+darkest days Annie had managed to make her mother laugh; her little face
+was a sunbeam, her very naughtinesses were of a laughable character.
+
+Her mother died--her father was still away, but Annie retained her brave
+and cheerful spirit, for she gave and received love. Mrs. Willis loved
+her--she bestowed upon her among all her girls the tenderest glances, the
+most motherly caresses. The teachers undoubtedly corrected and even
+scolded her, but they could not help liking her, and even her worst
+scrapes made them smile. Annie's companions adored her; the little
+children would do anything for their own Annie, and even the servants in
+the school said that there was no young lady in Lavender House fit to
+hold a candle to Miss Forest.
+
+During the last half-year, however, things had been different. Suspicion
+and mistrust began to dog the footsteps of the bright young girl; she was
+no longer a universal favorite--some of the girls even openly expressed
+their dislike of her.
+
+All this Annie could have borne, but for the fact that Mrs. Willis joined
+in the universal suspicion. The old glance now never came to her eyes,
+nor the old tone to her voice. For the first time Annie's spirits utterly
+flagged; she could not bear this universal coldness, this universal
+chill. She began to droop physically as well as mentally.
+
+She was pacing up and down the walk, thinking very sadly, wondering
+vaguely, if her father would ever return, and conscious of a feeling of
+more or less indifference to everything and every one, when she was
+suddenly roused from her meditation by the patter of small feet and by a
+very eager little exclamation:
+
+"Me tumming--me tumming, Annie!" and then Nan raised her charming face
+and placed her cool baby hand in Annie's.
+
+There was delicious comfort in the clasp of the little hand, and in the
+look of love and pleasure which lit up the small face.
+
+"Me yiding from naughty nurse--me 'tay with you, Annie--me love 'oo,
+Annie."
+
+Annie stooped down, kissed the little one, and lifted her into her arms.
+
+"Why ky?" said Nan, who saw with consternation two big tears in Annie's
+eyes; "dere, poor ickle Annie--me love 'oo--me buy 'oo a new doll."
+
+"Dearest little darling," said Annie in a voice of almost passionate
+pain; then, with that wonderful instinct which made her in touch with all
+little children, she cheered up, wiped away her tears, and allowed
+laughter once more to wreathe her lips and fill her eyes. "Come, Nan,"
+she said, "you and I will have such a race."
+
+She placed the child on her shoulder, clasped the little hands securely
+round her neck, and ran to the sound of Nan's shouts down the shady walk.
+
+At the farther end Nan suddenly tightened her clasp, drew herself up,
+ceased to laugh, and said with some fright in her voice:
+
+"Who dat?"
+
+Annie, too, stood still with a sudden start, for the gypsy woman, Mother
+Rachel, was standing directly in their path.
+
+"Go 'way, naughty woman," said Nan, shaking her small hand imperiously.
+
+The gypsy dropped a low courtesy, and spoke in a slightly mocking tone.
+
+"A pretty little dear," she said. "Yes, truly now, a pretty little
+winsome dear; and oh, what shoes! and little open-work socks! and I don't
+doubt real lace trimming on all her little garments--I don't doubt it a
+bit."
+
+"Go 'way--me don't like 'oo," said Nan. "Let's wun back--gee, gee," she
+said, addressing Annie, whom she had constituted into a horse for the
+time being.
+
+"Yes, Nan; in one minute," said Annie. "Please, Mother Rachel, what are
+you doing here?"
+
+"Only waiting to see you, pretty missie," replied the tall gypsy. "You
+are the dear little lady who crossed my hand with silver that night in
+the wood. Eh, but it was a bonny night, with a bonny bright moon, and
+none of the dear little ladies meant any harm--no, no, Mother Rachel
+knows that."
+
+"Look here," said Annie, "I'm not going to be afraid of you. I have no
+more silver to give you. If you like, you may go up to the house and tell
+what you have seen. I am very unhappy, and whether you tell or not can
+make very little difference to me now. Good-night; I am not the least
+afraid of you--you can do just as you please about telling Mrs. Willis."
+
+"Eh, my dear?" said the gypsy; "do you think I'd work you any harm--you,
+and the seven other dear little ladies? No, not for the world, my
+dear--not for the world. You don't know Mother Rachel when you think
+she'd be that mean."
+
+"Well, don't come here again," said Annie. "Good-night."
+
+She turned on her heel, and Nan shouted back:
+
+"Go way, naughty woman--Nan don't love 'oo, 'tall, 'tall."
+
+The gypsy stood still for a moment with a frown knitting her brows; then
+she slowly turned, and, creeping on all-fours through the underwood,
+climbed the hedge into the field beyond.
+
+"Oh, no," she laughed, after a moment; "the little missy thinks she ain't
+afraid of me; but she be. Trust Mother Rachel for knowing that much. I
+make no doubt," she added after a pause, "that the little one's clothes
+are trimmed with real lace. Well, little Missie Annie Forest, I can see
+with half an eye that you set store by that baby-girl. You had better not
+cross Mother Rachel's whims, or she can punish you in a way you don't
+think of."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+HOW MOSES MOORE KEPT HIS APPOINTMENT.
+
+
+Susan Drummond got back to Lavender House without apparent discovery. She
+was certainly late when she took her place in the class-room for her next
+day's preparation; but, beyond a very sharp reprimand from mademoiselle,
+no notice was taken of this fact. She managed to whisper to Nora and
+Phyllis that the basket would be moved by the first dawn the next
+morning, and the little girls went to bed happier in consequence. Nothing
+ever could disturb Susan's slumbers, and that night she certainly slept
+without rocking. As she was getting into bed she ventured to tell Annie
+how successfully she had manoeuvered; but Annie received her news with
+the most absolute indifference, looking at her for a moment with a queer
+smile, and then saying:
+
+"My own wish is that this should be found out. As a matter of course, I
+sha'n't betray you, girls; but as things now stand I am anxious that Mrs.
+Willis should know the very worst of me."
+
+After a remark which Susan considered so simply idiotic, there was, of
+course, no further conversation between the two girls.
+
+Moses Moore had certainly promised Betty to rise soon after dawn on the
+following morning, and go to Lavender House to carry off the basket from
+under the laurel-tree. Moses, a remarkably indolent lad, had been
+stimulated by the thought of the delicious cherries which would be his as
+soon as he brought the basket to Betty. He had cleverly stipulated that a
+quart--not a pint--of cherries was to be his reward, and he looked
+forward with considerable pleasure to picking them himself, and putting a
+few extra ones into his mouth on the sly.
+
+Moses was not at all the kind of a boy who would have scrupled to steal a
+few cherries; but in this particular old Betty, ill as she was, was too
+sharp for him or for any of the other village lads. Her bed was drawn up
+close to her little window, and her window looked directly on to the two
+cherry trees. Never, to all appearance, did Betty close her eyes. However
+early the hour might be in which a village boy peeped over the wall of
+her garden, he always saw her white night-cap moving, and he knew that
+her bright blue eyes would be on him, and he would be proclaimed a thief
+all over the place before many minutes were over.
+
+Moses, therefore, was very glad to secure his cherries by fair means, as
+he could not obtain them by foul; and he went to bed and to sleep,
+determined to be off on his errand with the dawn.
+
+A very natural thing, however, happened. Moses, unaccustomed to getting
+up at half-past three in the morning, never opened his eyes until the
+church clock struck five. Then he started upright, rubbed and rubbed at
+his sleepy orbs, tumbled into his clothes, and, softly opening the
+cottage door, set off on his errand.
+
+The fact of his being nearly an hour and a half late did not trouble him
+in the least. In any case, he would get to Lavender House before six
+o'clock, and would have consumed his cherries in less than an hour from
+that date.
+
+Moses sauntered gaily along the roads, whistling as he went, and
+occasionally tossing his battered cap in the air. He often lingered on
+his way, now to cut down a particularly tempting switch from the hedge,
+now to hunt for a possible bird's nest. It was very nearly six o'clock
+when he reached the back avenue, swung himself over the gate, which was
+locked, and ran softly on the dewy grass in the direction of the laurel
+bush. Old Betty had given him most careful instructions, and he was far
+too sharp a lad to forget what was necessary for the obtaining of a quart
+of cherries. He found his tree, and lay flat down on the ground in order
+to pull out the basket. His fingers had just clasped the handle when
+there came a sudden interruption--a rush, a growl, and some very sharp
+teeth had inserted themselves into the back of his ragged jacket. Poor
+Moses found himself, to his horror, in the clutches of a great mastiff.
+The creature held him tight, and laid one heavy paw on him to prevent him
+rising.
+
+Under these circumstances, Moses thought it quite unnecessary to retain
+any self-control. He shrieked, he screamed, he wriggled; his piercing
+yells filled the air, and, fortunately for him, his being two hours too
+late brought assistance to his aid. Michael, the gardener, and a strong
+boy who helped him, rushed to the spot, and liberated the terrified lad,
+who, after all, was only frightened, for Rover had satisfied himself with
+tearing his jacket to pieces, not himself.
+
+"Give me the b-basket," sobbed Moses, "and let me g-g-go."
+
+"You may certainly go, you little tramp," said Michael, "but Jim and me
+will keep the basket. I much misdoubt me if there isn't mischief here.
+What's the basket put hiding here for, and who does it belong to?"
+
+"Old B-B-Betty," gasped forth the agitated Moses.
+
+"Well, let old Betty fetch it herself. Mrs. Willis will keep it for her,"
+said Michael. "Come along, Jim, get to your weeding, do. There, little
+scamp, you had better make yourself scarce."
+
+Moses certainly took his advice, for he scuttled off like a hare. Whether
+he ever got his cherries or not, history does not disclose.
+
+Michael, looking gravely at Jim, opened the basket, examined its
+contents, and, shaking his head solemnly, carried it into the house.
+
+"There's been deep work going on, Jim, and my missis ought to know," said
+Michael, who was an exceedingly strict disciplinarian. Jim, however, had
+a soft corner in his heart for the young ladies, and he commenced his
+weeding with a profound sigh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+A BROKEN TRUST.
+
+
+The next morning Annie Forest opened her eyes with that strange feeling
+of indifference and want of vivacity which come so seldom to youth. She
+saw the sun shining through the closed blinds; she heard the birds
+twittering and singing in the large elm-tree which nearly touched the
+windows; she knew well how the world looked at this moment, for often and
+often in her old light-hearted days she had risen before the maid came to
+call her, and, kneeling by the deep window-ledge, had looked out at the
+bright, fresh, sparkling day. A new day, with all its hours before it,
+its light vivid but not too glaring, its dress all manner of tender
+shades and harmonious colorings! Annie had a poetical nature, and she
+gloried in these glimpses which she got all by herself of the fresh, glad
+world.
+
+To-day, however, she lay still, sorry to know that the brief night was at
+an end, and that the day, with its coldness and suspicion, its terrible
+absence of love and harmony, was about to begin.
+
+Annie's nature was very emotional; she was intensely sensitive to her
+surroundings; the grayness of her present life was absolute destruction
+to such a nature as hers.
+
+The dressing-bell rang; the maid came in to draw up the blinds, and call
+the girls. Annie rose languidly and began to dress herself.
+
+She first finished her toilet, and then approached her little bed, and
+stood by its side for a moment hesitating. She did not want to pray, and
+yet she felt impelled to go down on her knees. As she knelt with her
+curls falling about her face, and her hands pressed to her eyes, one line
+of one of her favorite poems came flashing with swiftness and power
+across her memory:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+The words filled her whole heart with a sudden sense of peace and of
+great longing.
+
+The prayer-bell rang: she rose, and, turning to Susan Drummond, said
+earnestly:
+
+"Oh, Susy, I do wish Mrs. Willis could know about our going to the
+fairy-field; I do so want God to forgive me."
+
+Susan stared in her usual dull, uncomprehending way; then she flushed a
+little, and said brusquely:
+
+"I think you have quite taken leave of your senses, Annie Forest."
+
+Annie said no more, but at prayers in the chapel she was glad to find
+herself near gentle Cecil Temple, and the words kept repeating themselves
+to her all during the morning lessons:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+Just before morning school several of the girls started and looked
+distressed when they found that Mrs. Willis lingered in the room. She
+stood for a moment by the English teacher's desk, said something to her
+in a low voice, and then, walking slowly to her own post at the head of
+the great school-room, she said suddenly:
+
+"I want to ask you a question, Miss Drummond. Will you please just stand
+up in your place in class and answer me without a moment's hesitation."
+
+Phyllis and Nora found themselves turning very pale; Mary Price and one
+or two more of the rebels also began to tremble, but Susan looked dogged
+and indifferent enough as she turned her eyes toward her teacher.
+
+"Yes, madam," she said, rising and dropping a courtesy.
+
+"My friends, the Misses Bruce, came to call on me yesterday evening,
+Susan, and told me that they saw you running very quickly on the high
+road in the direction of the village. You, of course, know that you broke
+a very distinct rule when you left the grounds without leave. Tell me at
+once where you were going."
+
+Susan hesitated, colored to her dullest red, and looked down. Then,
+because she had no ready excuse to offer, she blurted out the truth:
+
+"I was going to see old Betty."
+
+"The cake-woman?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"I--I heard she was ill."
+
+"Indeed--you may sit down, Miss Drummond. Miss Good, will you ask Michael
+to step for a moment into the school-room?"
+
+Several of the girls now indeed held their breath, and more than one
+heart beat with heavy, frightened bumps as a moment later Michael
+followed Miss Good into the room, carrying the redoubtable picnic-basket
+on his arm.
+
+"Michael," said Mrs. Willis, "I wish you to tell the young ladies exactly
+how you found the basket this morning. Stand by my side, please, and
+speak loud enough for them to hear."
+
+After a moment's pause Michael related somewhat diffusely and with an
+occasional break in his narrative the scene which had occurred between
+him and Moses that morning.
+
+"That will do, Michael; you can now go," said the head mistress.
+
+She waited until the old servant had closed the door, and then she turned
+to her girls:
+
+"It is not quite a fortnight since I stood where I now stand, and asked
+one girl to be honorable and to save her companions. One girl was guilty
+of sin and would not confess, and for her sake all her companions are now
+suffering. I am tired of this sort of thing--I am tired of standing in
+this place and appealing to your honor, which is dead, to your truth
+which is nowhere. Girls, you puzzle me--you half break my heart. In this
+case more than one is guilty. How many of the girls in Lavender House are
+going to tell me a lie this morning?"
+
+There was a brief pause; then a slight cry, and a girl rose from her seat
+and walked up the long school-room.
+
+"I am the most guilty of all," said Annie Forest.
+
+"Annie!" said Mrs. Willis, in a tone half of pain, half of relief, "have
+you come to your senses at last?"
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad to be able to speak the truth," said Annie. "Please
+punish me very, very hard; I am the most guilty of all."
+
+"What did you do with this basket?"
+
+"We took it for a picnic--it was my plan, I led the others."
+
+"Where was your picnic?"
+
+"In the fairies' field."
+
+"Ah! At what time?"
+
+"At night--in the middle of the night--the night you went to London."
+
+Mrs. Willis put her hand to her brow; her face was very white and the
+girls could see that she trembled.
+
+"I trusted my girls----" she said; then she broke off abruptly.
+
+"You had companions in this wickedness--name them."
+
+"Yes, I had companions; I led them on."
+
+"Name them, Miss Forest."
+
+For the first time Annie raised her eyes to Mrs. Willis' face; then she
+turned and looked down the long school-room.
+
+"Oh, won't they tell themselves?" she said.
+
+Nothing could be more appealing than her glance. It melted the hearts of
+Phyllis and Nora, who began to sob, and to declare brokenly that they had
+gone too, and that they were very, very sorry.
+
+Spurred by their example Mary Price also confessed, and one by one all
+the little conspirators revealed the truth, with the exception of Susan,
+who kept her eyes steadily fixed on the floor.
+
+"Susan Drummond," said Mrs. Willis, "come here."
+
+There was something in her tone which startled every girl in the school.
+Never had they heard this ring in their teacher's voice before.
+
+"Susan," said Mrs. Willis, "I don't ask you if you are guilty; I fear,
+poor miserable girl, that if I did you would load your conscience with a
+fresh lie. I don't ask you if you are guilty because I know you are. The
+fact of your running without leave to see old Betty is circumstantial
+evidence. I judge you by that and pronounce you guilty. Now, young
+ladies, you who have treated me so badly, who have betrayed my trust, who
+have been wanting in honor, I must think, I must ask God to teach me how
+to deal with you. In the meantime, you cannot associate with your
+companions. Miss Good, will you take each of these eight girls to their
+bedrooms."
+
+As Annie was leaving the room she looked full into Mrs. Willis' face.
+Strange to say, at this moment of her great disgrace the cloud which had
+so long brooded over her was lifted. The sweet eyes never looked sweeter.
+The old Annie, and yet a better and a braver Annie than had ever existed
+before, followed her companions out of the school-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+IS SHE STILL GUILTY?
+
+
+On the evening of that day Cecil Temple knocked at the door of Mrs.
+Willis' private sitting-room.
+
+"Ah, Cecil! is that you?" said her governess. "I am always glad to see
+you, dear; but I happen to be particularly busy to-night. Have you
+anything in particular to say to me?"
+
+"I only wanted to talk about Annie, Mrs. Willis. You believe in her at
+last, don't you?"
+
+"Believe in her at last!" said the head-mistress in a tone of
+astonishment and deep pain. "No, Cecil, my dear; you ask too much of my
+faith. I do not believe in Annie."
+
+Cecil paused; she hesitated, and seemed half afraid to proceed.
+
+"Perhaps," she said at last in a slightly timid tone, "you have not seen
+her since this morning?"
+
+"No; I have been particularly busy. Besides, the eight culprits are under
+punishment; part of their punishment is that I will not see them."
+
+"Don't you think, Mrs. Willis," said Cecil, "that Annie made rather a
+brave confession this morning?"
+
+"I admit, my dear, that Annie spoke in somewhat of her old impulsive way;
+she blamed herself, and did not try to screen her misdemeanors behind her
+companions. In this one particular she reminded me of the old Annie who,
+notwithstanding all her faults, I used to trust and love. But as to her
+confession being very brave, my dear Cecil, you must remember that she
+did not _confess_ until she was obliged; she knew, and so did all the
+other girls, that I could have got the truth out of old Betty had they
+chosen to keep their lips sealed. Then, my dear, consider what she did.
+On the very night that I was away she violated the trust I had in
+her--she bade me 'good-bye' with smiles and sweet glances, and then she
+did this in my absence. No, Cecil, I fear poor Annie is not what we
+thought her. She has done untold mischief during the half-year, and has
+willfully lied and deceived me. I find, on comparing dates, that it was
+on the very night of the girls' picnic that Dora's theme was changed.
+There is no doubt whatever that Annie was the guilty person. I did my
+best to believe in her, and to depend on Mr. Everard's judgment of her
+character, but I confess I can do so no longer. Cecil, dear. I am not
+surprised that you look pale and sad. No, we will not give up this poor
+Annie: we will try to love her even through her sin. Ah! poor child, poor
+child! how much I have prayed for her! She was to me as a child of my
+own. Now, dear Cecil, I must ask you to leave me."
+
+Cecil went slowly out of her governess' presence, and, wandering across
+the wide stone hall, she entered the play-room. It happened to be a wet
+night, and the room was full of girls, who hung together in groups and
+whispered softly. There were no loud voices, and, except from the little
+ones, there was no laughter. A great depression hung over the place, and
+few could have recognized the happy girls of Lavender House in these sad
+young faces. Cecil walked slowly into the room, and presently finding
+Hester Thornton, she sat down by her side.
+
+"I can't get Mrs. Willis to see it," she said very sadly.
+
+"What?" asked Hester.
+
+"Why, that we have got our old Annie back again; that she did take the
+girls out to that picnic, and was as wild, and reckless, and naughty as
+possible about it; and then, just like the old Annie I have always known,
+the moment the fun was over she began to repent, and that she has gone on
+repenting ever since, which has accounted for her poor sad little face
+and white cheeks. Of course she longed to tell--Nora and Phyllis have
+told me so--but she would not betray them. Now at last there is a load
+off her heart, and, though she is in great disgrace and punishment, she
+is not very unhappy. I went to see her an hour ago, and I saw in her face
+that my own darling Annie has returned. But what do you think Mrs. Willis
+does, Hester? She is so hurt and disappointed, that she believes Annie is
+guilty of the other thing--she believes that Annie stole Dora's theme,
+and that she caricatured her in my book some time ago. She believes
+it--she is sure of it. Now, do you think, Hester, that Annie's face would
+look quite peaceful and happy to-night if she had only confessed half her
+faults--if she had this meanness, this sin, these lies still resting on
+her soul? Oh! I wish Mrs. Willis would see her! I wish--I wish! but I can
+do nothing. You agree with me, don't you, Hester? Just put yourself in
+Annie's place, and tell me if _you_ would feel happy, and if your heart
+would be at rest, if you had only confessed half your sin, and if through
+you all your schoolfellows were under disgrace and suspicion? You could
+not, could you, Hester? Why, Hester, how white you are!"
+
+"You are so metaphysical," said Hester, rising; "you quite puzzle me. How
+can I put myself in your friend Annie's place? I never understood her--I
+never wanted to. Put myself in her place?--no, certainly that I'm never
+likely to. I hope that I shall never be in such a predicament."
+
+Hester walked away, and Cecil sat still in great perplexity.
+
+Cecil was a girl with a true sense of religion. The love of God guided
+every action of her simple and straightforward life. She was neither
+beautiful nor clever; but no one in the school was more respected and
+honored, no one more sincerely loved. Cecil knew what the peace of God
+meant, and when she saw even a shadowy reflection of that peace on
+Annie's little face, she was right in believing that she must be innocent
+of the guilt which was attributed to her.
+
+The whole school assembled for prayers that night in the little chapel,
+and Mr. Everard, who had heard the story of that day's confession from
+Mrs. Willis, said a few words appropriate to the occasion to the unhappy
+young girls.
+
+Whatever effect his words had on the others, and they were very simple
+and straightforward, Annie's face grew quiet and peaceful as she listened
+to them. The old clergyman assured the girls that God was waiting to
+forgive those who truly repented, and that the way to repent was to rise
+up and sin no more.
+
+"The present fun is not worth the after-pain," he said, in conclusion.
+"It is an old saying that stolen waters are sweet, but only at the time;
+afterward only those who drink of them know the full extent of their
+bitterness."
+
+This little address from Mr. Everard strengthened poor Annie for an
+ordeal which was immediately before her, for Mrs. Willis asked all the
+school to follow her to the play-room, and there she told them that she
+was about to restore to them their lost privileges; that circumstances,
+in her opinion, now so strongly pointed the guilt of the stolen essay in
+the direction of one girl, that she could no longer ask the school to
+suffer for her sake.
+
+"She still refuses to confess her sin," said Mrs. Willis, "but, unless
+another girl proclaims herself guilty, and proves to me beyond doubt that
+she drew the caricature which was found in Cecil Temple's book, and that
+she changed Dora Russell's essay, and, imitating her hand, put another in
+its place, I proclaim the guilty person to be Annie Forest, and on her
+alone I visit my displeasure. You can retire to your rooms, young ladies.
+Tomorrow morning Lavender House resumes its old cheerfulness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+HESTER'S HOUR OF TRIAL.
+
+
+However calmly or however peacefully Annie slept that night, poor Hester
+did not close her eyes. The white face of the girl she had wronged and
+injured kept rising before her. Why had she so deceived Annie? Why from
+the very first had she turned from her, and misjudged her, and
+misrepresented her? Was Annie, indeed, all bad? Hester had to own to
+herself that to-night Annie was better than she--was greater than she.
+Could she now have undone the past, she would not have acted as she had
+done; she would not for the sake of a little paltry revenge have defiled
+her conscience with a lie, have told her governess that she could throw
+no light on the circumstance of the stolen essay. This was the first lie
+Hester had ever told; she was naturally both straightforward and
+honorable, but her sin of sins, that which made her hard and almost
+unlovable, was an intensely proud and haughty spirit. She was very sorry
+she had told that lie; she was very sorry she had yielded to that
+temptation; but not for worlds would she now humble herself to
+confess--not for worlds would she let the school know of her cowardice
+and shame. No, if there was no other means of clearing Annie except
+through her confession, she must remain with the shadow of this sin over
+her to her dying day.
+
+Hester, however, was now really unhappy, and also truly sorry for poor
+Annie. Could she have got off without disgrace or punishment, she would
+have been truly glad to see Annie exonerated. She was quite certain that
+Susan Drummond was at the bottom of all the mischief which had been done
+lately at Lavender House. She could not make out how stupid Susan was
+clever enough to caricature and to imitate peoples' hands. Still she was
+convinced that she was the guilty person, and she wondered and wondered
+if she could induce Susan to come forward and confess the truth, and so
+save Annie without bringing her, Hester, into any trouble.
+
+She resolved to speak to Susan, and without confessing that she had been
+in the school-room on the night the essay was changed, to let her know
+plainly that she suspected her.
+
+She became much calmer when she determined to carry out this resolve, and
+toward morning she fell asleep.
+
+She was awakened at a very early hour by little Nan clambering over the
+side of her crib, and cuddling down cozily in a way she loved by Hester's
+side.
+
+"Me so 'nug, 'nug," said little Nan. "Oh, Hetty, Hetty, there's a wy on
+the teiling!"
+
+Hester had then to rouse herself, and enter into an animated conversation
+on the subject of flies generally, and in especial she had to talk of
+that particular fly which would perambulate on the ceiling over Nan's
+head.
+
+"Me like wies," said Nan, "and me like 'oo, Hetty, and me love--me love
+Annie."
+
+Hester kissed her little sister passionately; but this last observation,
+accompanied by the expression of almost angelic devotion which filled
+little Nan's brown eyes, as she repeated that she liked flies and Hetty,
+but that she loved Annie, had the effect of again hardening her heart.
+
+Hester's hour of trial, however, was at hand, and before that day was
+over she was to experience that awful emptiness and desolation which
+those know whom God is punishing.
+
+Lessons went on as usual at Lavender House that morning, and, to the
+surprise of several, Annie was seen in her old place in class. She worked
+with a steadiness quite new to her; no longer interlarding her hours of
+study with those indescribable glances of fun and mischief, first at one
+school-companion and then at another, which used to worry her teachers so
+much.
+
+There were no merry glances from Annie that morning; but she worked
+steadily and rapidly, and went through that trying ordeal, her French
+verbs, with such satisfaction that mademoiselle was on the point of
+praising her, until she remembered that Annie was in disgrace.
+
+After school, however, Annie did not join her companions in the grounds,
+but went up to her bedroom, where, by Mrs. Willis' orders, she was to
+remain until the girls went in. She was to take her own exercise later in
+the day.
+
+It was now the tenth of June--an intensely sultry day; a misty heat
+brooded over everything, and not a breath of air stirred the leaves in
+the trees. The girls wandered about languidly, too enervated by the heat
+to care to join in any noisy games. They were now restored to their full
+freedom, and there is no doubt they enjoyed the privileges of having
+little confabs, and whispering secrets to each other without having Miss
+Good and Miss Danesbury forever at their elbows. They talked of many
+things--of the near approach of the holidays, of the prize day which was
+now so close at hand, of Annie's disgrace, and so on.
+
+They wondered, many of them, if Annie would ever be brought to confess
+her sin, and, if not, how Mrs. Willis would act toward her. Dora Russell
+said in her most contemptuous tones:
+
+"She is nothing, after all, but a charity child, and Mrs. Willis has
+supported her for years for nothing."
+
+"Yes, and she's too clever by half; eh, poor old Muddy Stream?" remarked
+a saucy little girl. "By the way, Dora, dear, how goes the river now? Has
+it lost itself in the arms of mother ocean yet?"
+
+Dora turned red and walked away, and her young tormentor exclaimed with
+considerable gusto:
+
+"There, I have silenced her for a bit; I do hate the way she talks about
+charity children. Whatever her faults, Annie is the sweetest and
+prettiest girl in the school, in my opinion."
+
+In the meantime Hester was looking in all directions for Susan Drummond.
+She thought the present a very fitting opportunity to open her attack on
+her, and she was the more anxious to bring her to reason as a certain
+look in Annie's face--a pallid and very weary look--had gone to her
+heart, and touched her in spite of herself. Now, even though little Nan
+loved her, Hester would save Annie could she do so not at her own
+expense.
+
+Look, however, as she would, nowhere could she find Miss Drummond. She
+called and called, but no sleepy voice replied. Susan, indeed, knew
+better; she had curled herself up in a hammock which hung between the
+boughs of a shady tree, and though Hester passed under her very head, she
+was sucking lollipops and going off comfortably into the land of dreams,
+and had no intention of replying. Hester wandered down the shady walk,
+and at its farther end she was gratified by the sight of little Nan, who,
+under her nurse's charge, was trying to string daisies on the grass.
+Hester sat down by her side, and Nan climbed over and made fine havoc of
+her neat print dress, and laughed, and was at her merriest and best.
+
+"I hear say that that naughty Miss Forest has done something out-and-out
+disgraceful," whispered the nurse.
+
+"Oh, don't!" said Hester impatiently. "Why should every one throw mud at
+a girl when she is down? If poor Annie is naughty and guilty, she is
+suffering now."
+
+"Annie _not_ naughty," said little Nan. "Me love my own Annie; me do, me
+do."
+
+"And you love your own poor old nurse, too?" responded the somewhat
+jealous nurse.
+
+Hester left the two playing happily together, the little one caressing
+her nurse, and blowing one or two kisses after her sister's retreating
+form. Hester returned to the house, and went up to her room to prepare
+for dinner. She had washed her hands, and was standing before the
+looking-glass re-plaiting her long hair, when Susan Drummond, looking
+extremely wild and excited, and with her eyes almost starting out of her
+head, rushed into the room.
+
+"Oh, Hester, Hester!" she gasped, and she flung herself on Hester's bed,
+with her face downward; she seemed absolutely deprived for the moment of
+the power of any further speech.
+
+"What is the matter, Susan?" inquired Hester half impatiently. "What have
+you come into my room for? Are you going into a fit of hysterics? You had
+better control yourself, for the dinner gong will sound directly."
+
+Susan gasped two or three times, made a rush to Hester's wash-hand stand,
+and, taking up a glass, poured some cold water into it, and gulped it
+down.
+
+"Now I can speak," she said. "I ran so fast that my breath quite left me.
+Hester, put on your walking things or go without them, just as you
+please--only go at once if you would save her."
+
+"Save whom?" asked Hester.
+
+"Your little sister--little Nan. I--I saw it all. I was in the hammock,
+and nobody knew I was there, and somehow I wasn't so sleepy as usual, and
+I heard Nan's voice, and I looked over the side of the hammock, and she
+was sitting on the grass picking daisies, and her nurse was with her, and
+presently you came up. I heard you calling me, but I wasn't going to
+answer. I felt too comfortable. You stayed with Nan and her nurse for a
+little, and then went away; and I heard Nan's nurse say to her: 'Sit
+here, missy, till I come back to you; I am going to fetch another reel of
+sewing cotton from the house. Sit still, missy; I'll be back directly.'
+She went away, and Nan went on picking her daisies. All on a sudden I
+heard Nan give a sharp little cry, and I looked over the hammock, and
+there was a tall, dark woman, with such a wicked face, and she snatched
+up Nan in her arms, and put a thick shawl over her face, and ran off with
+her. It was all done in an instant. I shouted and I scrambled out of the
+hammock, and I rushed down the path; but there wasn't a sign of anybody
+there. I don't know where the woman went--it seemed as if the earth
+swallowed up both her and little Nan. Why, Hester, are you going to
+faint?"
+
+"Water!" gasped Hester--"one sip--now let me go."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+A GYPSY MAID.
+
+
+In a few moments every one in Lavender House was made acquainted with
+Susan's story. At such a time ceremony was laid aside, dinner forgotten,
+teachers, pupils, servants all congregated in the grounds, all rushed to
+the spot where Nan's withered daisies still lay, all peered through the
+underwood, and all, alas! looked in vain for the tall dark woman and the
+little child. Little Nan, the baby of the school, had been stolen--there
+were loud and terrified lamentations. Nan's nurse was almost tearing her
+hair, was rushing frantically here, there, and everywhere. No one blamed
+the nurse for leaving her little charge in apparent safety for a few
+moments, but the poor woman's own distress was pitiable to see. Mrs.
+Willis took Hester's hand, and told the poor stunned girl that she was
+sending to Sefton immediately for two or three policemen, and that in the
+meantime every man on the place should commence the search for the woman
+and child.
+
+"Without any doubt," Mrs. Willis added, "we shall soon have our little
+Nan back again; it is quite impossible that the woman, whoever she is,
+can have taken her so far away in so short a time."
+
+In the meantime, Annie in her bedroom heard the fuss and the noise. She
+leaned out of her window and saw Phyllis in the distance; she called to
+her. Phyllis ran up, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
+
+"Oh, something so dreadful!" she gasped; "a wicked, wicked woman has
+stolen little Nan Thornton. She ran off with her just where the
+undergrowth is so thick at the end of the shady walk. It happened to her
+half an hour ago, and they are all looking, but they cannot find the
+woman or little Nan anywhere. Oh, it is so dreadful! Is that you, Mary?"
+
+Phyllis ran off to join her sister, and Annie put her head in again, and
+looked round her pretty room.
+
+"The gypsy," she murmured, "the tall, dark gypsy has taken little Nan!"
+
+Her face was very white, her eyes shone, her lips expressed a firm and
+almost obstinate determination. With all her usual impulsiveness, she
+decided on a course of action--she snatched up a piece of paper and
+scribbled a hasty line:
+
+  "DEAR MOTHER-FRIEND:--However badly you think of Annie, Annie loves
+  you with all her heart. Forgive me, I must go myself to look for
+  little Nan. That tall, dark woman is a gypsy--I have seen her
+  before; her name is Mother Rachel. Tell Hetty I won't return until
+  I bring her little sister back.--Your repentant and sorrowful
+
+                                                             ANNIE."
+
+Annie twisted up the note, directed it to Mrs. Willis, and left it on her
+dressing-table.
+
+Then, with a wonderful amount of forethought for her, she emptied the
+contents of a little purse into a tiny gingham bag, which she fastened
+inside the front of her dress. She put on her shady hat, and threw a
+shawl across her arm, and then, slipping softly downstairs, she went out
+through the deserted kitchens, down the back avenue, and past the laurel
+bush, until she came to the stile which led into the wood--she was going
+straight to the gypsies' encampment.
+
+Annie, with some of the gypsy's characteristics in her own blood, had
+always taken an extraordinary interest in these queer wandering people.
+Gypsies had a fascination for her, she loved stories about them; if a
+gypsy encampment was near, she always begged the teachers to walk in that
+direction. Annie had a very vivid imagination, and in the days when she
+reigned as favorite in the school she used to make up stories for the
+express benefit of her companions. These stories, as a rule, always
+turned upon the gypsies. Many and many a time had the girls of Lavender
+House almost gasped with horror as Annie described the queer ways of
+these people. For her, personally, their wildness and their freedom had a
+certain fascination, and she was heard in her gayest moments to remark
+that she would rather like to be stolen and adopted by a gypsy tribe.
+
+Whenever Annie had an opportunity, she chatted with the gypsy wives, and
+allowed them to tell her fortune, and listened eagerly to their
+narratives. When a little child she had once for several months been
+under the care of a nurse who was a reclaimed gypsy, and this girl had
+given her all kinds of information about them. Annie often felt that she
+quite loved these wild people, and Mother Rachel was the first gypsy she
+cordially shrank from and disliked.
+
+When the little girl started now on her wild-goose chase after Nan, she
+was by no means devoid of a plan of action. The knowledge she had taken
+so many years to acquire came to her aid, and she determined to use it
+for Nan's benefit. She knew that the gypsies, with all their wandering
+and erratic habits, had a certain attachment, if not for homes, at least
+for sites; she knew that as a rule they encamped over and over again in
+the same place; she knew that their wanderings were conducted with
+method, and their apparently lawless lives governed by strict self-made
+rules.
+
+Annie made straight now for the encampment, which stood in a little dell
+at the other side of the fairies' field. Here for weeks past the gypsies'
+tents had been seen; here the gypsy children had played, and the men and
+women smoked and lain about in the sun.
+
+Annie entered the small field now, but uttered no exclamation of surprise
+when she found that all the tents, with the exception of one, had been
+removed, and that this tent also was being rapidly taken down by a man
+and a girl, while a tall boy stood by, holding a donkey by the bridle.
+
+Annie wasted no time in looking for Nan here. Before the girl and the man
+could see her, she darted behind a bush, and removing her little bag of
+money, hid it carefully under some long grass; then she pulled a very
+bright yellow sash out of her pocket, tied it round her blue cotton
+dress, and leaving her little shawl also on the ground, tripped gaily up
+to the tent.
+
+She saw with pleasure that the girl who was helping the man was about her
+own size. She went up and touched her on the shoulder.
+
+"Look here," she said, "I want to make such a pretty play by-and-by--I
+want to play that I'm a gypsy girl. Will you give me your clothes, if I
+give you mine? See, mine are neat, and this sash is very handsome. Will
+you have them? Do. I am so anxious to play at being a gypsy."
+
+The girl turned and stared. Annie's pretty blue print and gay sash were
+certainly tempting bait. She glanced at her father.
+
+"The little lady wants to change," she said in an eager voice.
+
+The man nodded acquiescence, and the girl taking Annie's hand, ran
+quickly with her to the bottom of the field.
+
+"You don't mean it, surely?" she said. "Eh, but I'm uncommon willing."
+
+"Yes, I certainly mean it," said Annie. "You are a dear, good, obliging
+girl, and how nice you will look in my pretty blue cotton! I like that
+striped petticoat of yours, too, and that gay handkerchief you wear round
+your shoulders. Thank you so very much. Now, do I look like a real, real
+gypsy?"
+
+"Your hair ain't ragged enough, miss."
+
+"Oh, clip it, then; clip it away. I want to be quite the real thing. Have
+you got a pair of scissors?"
+
+The girl ran back to the tent, and presently returned to shear poor
+Annie's beautiful hair in truly rough fashion.
+
+"Now, miss, you look much more like, only your arms are a bit too white.
+Stay, we has got some walnut-juice; we was just a-using of it. I'll touch
+you up fine, miss."
+
+So she did, darkening Annie's brown skin to a real gypsy tone.
+
+"You're a dear, good girl," said Annie, in conclusion; and as the girl's
+father called her roughly at this moment, she was obliged to go away,
+looking ungainly enough in the English child's neat clothes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+DISGUISED.
+
+
+Annie ran out of the field, mounted the stile which led into the wood,
+and stood there until the gypsy man and girl, and the boy with the
+donkey, had finally disappeared. Then she left her hiding-place, and
+taking her little gingham bag out of the long grass, secured it once more
+in the front of her dress. She felt queer and uncomfortable in her new
+dress, and the gypsy girl's heavy shoes tired her feet; but she was not
+to be turned from her purpose by any manner of discomforts, and she
+started bravely on her long trudge over the dusty roads, for her object
+was to follow the gypsies to their next encampment, about ten miles away.
+She had managed, with some tact, to obtain a certain amount of
+information from the delighted gypsy girl. The girl told Annie that she
+was very glad they were going from here; that this was a very dull place,
+and that they would not have stayed so long but for Mother Rachel, who,
+for some reasons of her own, had refused to stir.
+
+Here the girl drew herself up short, and colored under her dark skin. But
+Annie's tact never failed. She even yawned a little, and seemed scarcely
+to hear the girl's words.
+
+Now, in the distance, she followed these people.
+
+In her disguise, uncomfortable as it was, she felt tolerably safe. Should
+any of the people in Lavender House happen to pass her on the way, they
+would never recognize Annie Forest in this small gypsy maiden. When she
+did approach the gypsies' dwelling she might have some hope of passing as
+one of themselves. The only one whom she had really to fear was the girl
+with whom she had changed clothes, and she trusted to her wits to keep
+out of this young person's way.
+
+When Zillah, her old gypsy nurse, had charmed her long ago with gypsy
+legends and stories, Annie had always begged to hear about the fair
+English children whom the gypsies stole, and Zillah had let her into some
+secrets which partly accounted for the fact that so few of these children
+are ever recovered.
+
+She walked very fast now; her depression was gone, a great excitement, a
+great longing, a great hope, keeping her up. She forgot that she had
+eaten nothing since breakfast; she forgot everything in all the world now
+but her great love for little Nan, and her desire to lay down her very
+life, if necessary, to rescue Nan from the terrible fate which awaited
+her if she was brought up as a gypsy's child.
+
+Annie, however, was unaccustomed to such long walks, and besides, recent
+events had weakened her, and by the time she reached Sefton--for her road
+lay straight through this little town--she was so hot and thirsty that
+she looked around her anxiously to find some place of refreshment.
+
+In an unconscious manner she paused before a restaurant, where she and
+several other girls of Lavender House had more than once been regaled
+with buns and milk.
+
+The remembrance of the fresh milk and the nice buns came gratefully
+before the memory of the tired child now. Forgetting her queer attire,
+she went into the shop, and walked boldly up to the counter.
+
+Annie's disguise, however, was good, and the young woman who was serving,
+instead of bending forward with the usual gracious "What can I get for
+you, miss?" said very sharply:
+
+"Go away at once, little girl; we don't allow beggars here; leave the
+shop instantly. No, I have nothing for you."
+
+Annie was about to reply rather hotly, for she had an idea that even a
+gypsy's money might purchase buns and milk, when she was suddenly
+startled, and almost terrified into betraying herself, by encountering
+the gentle and fixed stare of Miss Jane Bruce, who had been leaning over
+the counter and talking to one of the shop-women when Annie entered.
+
+"Here is a penny for you, little girl," she said. "You can get a nice
+hunch of stale bread for a penny in the shop at the corner of the High
+street."
+
+Annie's eyes flashed back at the little lady, her lips quivered, and,
+clasping the penny, she rushed out of the shop.
+
+"My dear," said Miss Jane, turning to her sister, "did you notice the
+extraordinary likeness that little gypsy girl bore to Annie Forest?"
+
+Miss Agnes sighed. "Not particularly, love," she answered; "but I
+scarcely looked at her. I wonder if our dear little Annie is any happier
+than she was. Ah, I think we have done here. Good-afternoon, Mrs.
+Tremlett."
+
+The little old ladies trotted off, giving no more thoughts to the gypsy
+child.
+
+Poor Annie almost ran down the street, and never paused till she reached
+a shop of much humbler appearance, where she was served with some cold
+slices of German sausage, some indifferent bread and butter, and milk by
+no means over-good. The coarse fare, and the rough people who surrounded
+her, made the poor child feel both sick and frightened. She found she
+could only keep up her character by remaining almost silent, for the
+moment she opened her lips people turned round and stared at her.
+
+She paid for her meal, however, and presently found herself at the other
+side of Sefton, and in a part of the country which was comparatively
+strange to her. The gypsies' present encampment was about a mile away
+from the town of Oakley, a much larger place than Sefton. Sefton and
+Oakley lay about six miles apart. Annie trudged bravely on, her head
+aching; for, of course, as a gypsy girl, she could use no parasol to
+shade her from the sun. At last the comparative cool of the evening
+arrived, and the little girl gave a sigh of relief, and looked forward to
+her bed and supper at Oakley. She had made up her mind to sleep there,
+and to go to the gypsies' encampment very early in the morning. It was
+quite dark by the time she reached Oakley, and she was now so tired, and
+her feet so blistered from walking in the gypsy girl's rough shoes, that
+she could scarcely proceed another step. The noise and the size of
+Oakley, too, bewildered and frightened her. She had learned a lesson in
+Sefton, and dared not venture into the more respectable streets. How
+could she sleep in those hot, common, close houses? Surely it would be
+better for her to lie down under a cool hedgerow--there could be no real
+cold on this lovely summer's night, and the hours would quickly pass, and
+the time soon arrive when she must go boldly in search of Nan. She
+resolved to sleep in a hayfield which took her fancy just outside the
+town, and she only went into Oakley for the purpose of buying some bread
+and milk.
+
+Annie was so far fortunate as to get a refreshing draught of really good
+milk from a woman who stood by a cottage door, and who gave her a piece
+of girdle-cake to eat with it.
+
+"You're one of the gypsies, my dear?" said the woman. "I saw them passing
+in their caravans an hour back. No doubt you are for taking up your old
+quarters in the copse, just alongside of Squire Thompson's long acre
+field. How is it you are not with the rest of them, child?"
+
+"I was late in starting," said Annie. "Can you tell me the best way to
+get from here to the long acre field?"
+
+"Oh, you take that turnstile, child, and keep in the narrow path by the
+cornfields; it's two miles and a half from here as the crow flies. No,
+no, my dear, I don't want your pennies; but you might humor my little
+girl here by telling her fortune--she's wonderful taken by the gypsy
+folk."
+
+Annie colored painfully. The child came forward, and she crossed her hand
+with a piece of silver. She looked at the little palm and muttered
+something about being rich and fortunate, and marrying a prince in
+disguise, and having no trouble whatever.
+
+"Eh! but that's a fine lot, is yours, Peggy," said the gratified mother.
+
+Peggy, however, aged nine, had a wiser head on her young shoulders.
+
+"She didn't tell no proper fortune," she said disparagingly, when Annie
+left the cottage. "She didn't speak about no crosses, and no biting
+disappointments, and no bleeding wounds. I don't believe in her, I don't.
+I like fortunes mixed, not all one way; them fortunes ain't natural, and
+I don't believe she's no proper gypsy girl."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+HESTER.
+
+
+At Lavender House the confusion, the terror, and the dismay were great.
+For several hours the girls seemed quite to lose their heads, and just
+when, under Mrs. Willis' and the other teachers' calmness and
+determination, they were being restored to discipline and order, the
+excitement and alarm broke out afresh when some one brought Annie's
+little note to Mrs. Willis, and the school discovered that she also was
+missing.
+
+On this occasion no one did doubt her motive; disobedient as her act was
+no one wasted words of blame on her. All, from the head-mistress to the
+smallest child in the school, knew that it was love for little Nan that
+had taken Annie off; and the tears started to Mrs. Willis' eyes when she
+first read the tiny note, and then placed it tenderly in her desk.
+Hester's face became almost ashen in its hue when she heard what Annie
+had done.
+
+"Annie has gone herself to bring back Nan to you, Hester," said Phyllis.
+"It was I told her, and I know now by her face that she must have made up
+her mind at once."
+
+"Very disobedient of her to go," said Dora Russell; but no one took up
+Dora's tone, and Mary Price said, after a pause:
+
+"Disobedient or not, it was brave--it was really very plucky."
+
+"It is my opinion," said Nora, "that if any one in the world can find
+little Nan it will be Annie. You remember, Phyllis, how often she has
+talked to us about gypsies, and what a lot she knows about them?"
+
+"Oh, yes; she'll be better than fifty policemen," echoed several girls;
+and then two or three young faces were turned toward Hester, and some
+voice said almost scornfully:
+
+"You'll have to love Annie now; you'll have to admit that there is
+something good in our Annie when she brings your little Nan home again."
+
+Hester's lip quivered; she tried to speak, but a sudden burst of tears
+came from her instead. She walked slowly out of the astonished little
+group, who none of them believed that proud Hester Thornton could weep.
+
+The wretched girl rushed up to her room, where she threw herself on her
+bed and gave way to some of the bitterest tears she had ever shed. All her
+indifference to Annie, all her real unkindness, all her ever-increasing
+dislike came back now to torture and harass her. She began to believe with
+the girls that Annie would be successful; she began dimly to acknowledge
+in her heart the strange power which this child possessed; she guessed
+that Annie would heap coals of fire on her head by bringing back her
+little sister. She hoped, she longed, she could almost have found it in
+her heart to pray that some one else, not Annie, might save little Nan.
+
+For not yet had Hester made up her mind to confess the truth about Annie
+Forest. To confess the truth now meant humiliation in the eyes of the
+whole school. Even for Nan's sake she could not, she would not be great
+enough for this.
+
+Sobbing on her bed, trembling from head to foot, in an agony of almost
+uncontrollable grief, she could not bring her proud and stubborn little
+heart to accept God's only way of peace. No, she hoped she might be able
+to influence Susan Drummond and induce her to confess, and if Annie was
+not cleared in that way, if she really saved little Nan, she would
+doubtless be restored to much of her lost favor in the school.
+
+Hester had never been a favorite at Lavender House; but now her great
+trouble caused all the girls to speak to her kindly and considerately,
+and as she lay on her bed she presently heard a gentle step on the floor
+of her room--a cool little hand was laid tenderly on her forehead, and
+opening her swollen eyes, she met Cecil's loving gaze.
+
+"There is no news yet, Hester," said Cecil; "but Mrs. Willis has just
+gone herself into Sefton, and will not lose an hour in getting further
+help. Mrs. Willis looks quite haggard. Of course she is very anxious both
+about Annie and Nan."
+
+"Oh, Annie is safe enough," murmured Hester, burying her head in the
+bed-clothes.
+
+"I don't know; Annie is very impulsive and very pretty; the gypsies may
+like to steal her too--of course she has gone straight to one of their
+encampments. Naturally Mrs. Willis is most anxious."
+
+Hester pressed her hand to her throbbing head.
+
+"We are all so sorry for you, dear," said Cecil gently.
+
+"Thank you--being sorry for one does not do a great deal of good, does
+it?"
+
+"I thought sympathy always did good," replied Cecil, looking puzzled.
+
+"Thank you," said Hester again. She lay quite still for several minutes
+with her eyes closed. Her face looked intensely unhappy. Cecil was not
+easily repelled and she guessed only too surely that Hester's proud heart
+was suffering much. She was puzzled, however, how to approach her, and
+had almost made up her mind to go away and beg of kind-hearted Miss
+Danesbury to see if she could come and do something, when through the
+open window there came the shrill sweet laughter and the eager,
+high-pitched tones of some of the youngest children in the school. A
+strange quiver passed over Hester's face at the sound; she sat up in bed,
+and gasped out in a half-strangled voice:
+
+"Oh! I can't bear it--little Nan, little Nan! Cecil, I am very, very
+unhappy."
+
+"I know it, darling," said Cecil, and she put her arms round the excited
+girl. "Oh, Hester! don't turn away from me; do let us be unhappy
+together."
+
+"But you did not care for Nan."
+
+"I did--we all loved the pretty darling."
+
+"Suppose I never see her again?" said Hester half wildly. "Oh, Cecil! and
+mother left her to me! mother gave her to me to take care of, and to
+bring to her some day in heaven. Oh, little Nan, my pretty, my love, my
+sweet! I think I could better bear her being dead than this."
+
+"You could, Hester," said Cecil, "if she was never to be found; but I
+don't think God will give you such a terrible punishment. I think little
+Nan will be restored to you. Let us ask God to do it, Hetty--let us kneel
+down now, we two little girls, and pray to Him with all our might."
+
+"I can't pray; don't ask me," said Hester, turning her face away.
+
+"Then I will."
+
+"But not here, Cecil. Cecil, I am not good--I am not good enough to
+pray."
+
+"We don't want to be good to pray," said Cecil. "We want perhaps to be
+unhappy--perhaps sorry; but if God waited just for goodness, I don't
+think He would get many prayers."
+
+"Well, I am unhappy, but not sorry. No, no; don't ask me, I cannot pray."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+SUSAN.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis came back at a very late hour from Sefton. The police were
+confident that they must soon discover both children, but no tidings had
+yet been heard of either of them. Mrs. Willis ordered her girls to bed,
+and went herself to kiss Hester and give her a special "good-night." She
+was struck by the peculiarly unhappy, and even hardened, expression on
+the poor child's face, and felt that she did not half understand her.
+
+In the middle of the night Hester awoke from a troubled dream. She awoke
+with a sharp cry, so sharp and intense in its sound that had any girl
+been awake in the next room she must have heard it. She felt that she
+could no longer remain close to that little empty cot. She suddenly
+remembered that Susan Drummond would be alone to-night: what time so good
+as the present for having a long talk with Susan and getting her to clear
+Annie? She slipped out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and softly
+opening the door, ran down the passage to Susan's room.
+
+Susan was in bed, and fast asleep. Hester could see her face quite
+plainly in the moonlight, for Susan slept facing the window, and the
+blind was not drawn down.
+
+Hester had some difficulty in awakening Miss Drummond, who, however, at
+last sat up in bed yawning prodigiously.
+
+"What is the matter? Is that you, Hester Thornton? Have you got any news
+of little Nan? Has Annie come back?"
+
+"No, they are both still away. Susy, I want to speak to you."
+
+"Dear me! what for? must you speak in the middle of the night?"
+
+"Yes, for I don't want any one else to know. Oh, Susan, please don't go
+to sleep."
+
+"My dear, I won't, if I can help it. Do you mind throwing a little cold
+water over my face and head? There is a can by the bedside. I always keep
+one handy. Ah, thanks--now I am wide awake. I shall probably remain so
+for about two minutes. Can you get your say over in that time?"
+
+"I wonder, Susan," said Hester, "if you have got any heart--but heart or
+not, I have just come here to-night to tell you that I have found you
+out. You are at the bottom of all this mischief about Annie Forest."
+
+Susan had a most phlegmatic face, an utterly unemotional voice, and she
+now stared calmly at Hester and demanded to know what in the world she
+meant.
+
+Hester felt her temper going, her self-control deserting her. Susan's
+apparent innocence and indifference drove her half frantic.
+
+"Oh, you are mean," she said. "You pretend to be innocent, but you are
+the deepest and wickedest girl in the school. I tell you, Susan, I have
+found you out--you put that caricature of Mrs. Willis into Cecil's book;
+you changed Dora's theme. I don't know why you did it, nor how you did
+it, but you are the guilty person, and you have allowed the sin of it to
+remain on Annie's shoulders all this time. Oh, you are the very meanest
+girl I ever heard of!"
+
+"Dear, dear!" said Susan, "I wish I had not asked you to throw cold water
+over my head and face, and allow myself to be made very wet and
+uncomfortable, just to be told I am the meanest girl you ever met. And
+pray what affair is this of yours? You certainly don't love Annie
+Forest."
+
+"I don't, but I want justice to be done to her. Annie is very, very
+unhappy. Oh, Susy, won't you go and tell Mrs. Willis the truth?"
+
+"Really, my dear Hester, I think you are a little mad. How long have you
+known all this about me, pray?"
+
+"Oh, for some time; since--since the night the essay was changed."
+
+"Ah, then, if what you state is true, you told Mrs. Willis a lie, for she
+distinctly asked you if you knew anything about the 'Muddy Stream,' and
+you said you didn't. I saw you--I remarked how very red you got when you
+plumped out that great lie! My dear, if I am the meanest and wickedest
+girl in the school, prove it--go, tell Mrs. Willis what you know. Now, if
+you will allow me, I will get back into the land of dreams."
+
+Susan curled herself up once more in her bed, wrapped the bed-clothes
+tightly round her and was, to all appearance, oblivious of Hester's
+presence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+UNDER THE HEDGE.
+
+
+It is one thing to talk of the delights of sleeping under a hedgerow, and
+another to realize them. A hayfield is a very charming place, but in the
+middle of the night, with the dew clinging to everything, it is apt to
+prove but a chilly bed; the most familiar objects put on strange and
+unreal forms, the most familiar sounds become loud and alarming. Annie
+slept for about an hour soundly; then she awoke, trembling with cold in
+every limb, startled, and almost terrified by the oppressive loneliness
+of the night, sure that the insect life which surrounded her, and which
+would keep up successions of chirps, and croaks, and buzzes, was
+something mysterious and terrifying. Annie was a brave child, but even
+brave little girls may be allowed to possess nerves under her present
+conditions, and when a spider ran across her face she started up with a
+scream of terror. At this moment she almost regretted the close and dirty
+lodgings which she might have obtained for a few pence at Oakley. The hay
+in the field which she had selected was partly cut and partly standing.
+The cut portion had been piled up into little cocks and hillocks, and
+these, with the night shadows round them, appeared to the frightened
+child to assume large and half-human proportions. She found she could not
+sleep any longer. She wrapped her shawl tightly round her, and, crouching
+into the hedgerow, waited for the dawn.
+
+That watched-for dawn seemed to the tired child as if it would never
+come; but at last her solitary vigil came to an end, the cold grew
+greater, a little gentle breeze stirred the uncut grass, and up in the
+sky overhead the stars became fainter and the atmosphere clearer. Then
+came a little faint flush of pink, then a brighter light, and then all in
+a moment the birds burst into a perfect jubilee of song, the insects
+talked and chirped and buzzed in new tones, the hay-cocks became simply
+hay-cocks, the dew sparkled on the wet grass, the sun had risen, and the
+new day had begun.
+
+Annie sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. With the sunshine and brightness
+her versatile spirits revived; she buckled on her courage like an armor,
+and almost laughed at the miseries of the past few hours. Once more she
+believed that success and victory would be hers, once more in her small
+way she was ready to do or die. She believed absolutely in the holiness
+of her mission. Love--love alone, simple and pure, was guiding her. She
+gave no thought to after-consequences, she gave no memory to past events:
+her object now was to rescue Nan, and she herself was nothing.
+
+Annie had a fellow-feeling, a rare sympathy with every little child; but
+no child had ever come to take Nan's place with her. The child she had
+first begun to notice simply out of a naughty spirit of revenge, had
+twined herself round her heart, and Annie loved Nan all the more dearly
+because she had long ago repented of stealing her affections from Hester,
+and would gladly have restored her to her old place next to Hetty's
+heart. Her love for Nan, therefore, had the purity and greatness which
+all love that calls forth self-sacrifice must possess. Annie had denied
+herself, and kept away from Nan of late. Now, indeed, she was going to
+rescue her; but if she thought of herself at all, it was with the
+certainty that for this present act of disobedience Mrs. Willis would
+dismiss her from the school, and she would not see little Nan again.
+
+Never mind that, if Nan herself was saved. Annie was disobedient, but on
+this occasion she was not unhappy; she had none of that remorse which
+troubled her so much after her wild picnic in the fairies' field. On the
+contrary, she had a strange sense of peace and even guidance; she had
+confessed this sin to Mrs. Willis, and, though she was suspected of far
+worse, her own innocence kept her heart untroubled. The verse which had
+occurred to her two mornings before still rang in her ears:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+The impulsive, eager child was possessed just now of something which men
+call True Courage; it was founded on the knowledge that God would help
+her, and was accordingly calm and strengthening.
+
+Annie rose from her damp bed, and looked around her for a little stream
+where she might wash her face and hands; suddenly she remembered that
+face and hands were dyed, and that she would do best to leave them alone.
+She smoothed out as best she could the ragged elf-locks which the gypsy
+maid had left on her curly head, and then covering her face with her
+hands, said simply and earnestly:
+
+"Please, my Father in heaven, help me to find little Nan;" then she set
+off through the cornfields in the direction of the gypsies' encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+TIGER.
+
+
+It was still very, very early in the morning, and the gypsy folk, tired
+from their march on the preceding day, slept. There stood the conical,
+queer-shaped tents, four in number; at a little distance off grazed the
+donkeys and a couple of rough mules; at the door of the tents lay
+stretched out in profound repose two or three dogs.
+
+Annie dreaded the barking of the dogs, although she guessed that if they
+set up a noise, and a gypsy wife or man put out their heads in
+consequence, they would only desire the gypsy child to lie down and keep
+quiet.
+
+She stood still for a moment--she was very anxious to prowl around the
+place and examine the ground while the gypsies still slept, but the
+watchful dogs deterred her. She stood perfectly quiet behind the
+hedgerow, thinking hard. Should she trust to a charm she knew she
+possessed, and venture into the encampment? Annie had almost as great a
+fascination over dogs and cats as she had over children. As a little
+child going to visit with her mother at strange houses, the watch-dogs
+never barked at her; on the contrary, they yielded to the charm which
+seemed to come from her little fingers as she patted their great heads.
+Slowly their tails would move backward and forward as she patted them,
+and even the most ferocious would look at her with affection.
+
+Annie wondered if the gypsy dogs would now allow her to approach without
+barking. She felt that the chances were in her favor; she was dressed in
+gypsy garments, there would be nothing strange in her appearance, and if
+she could get near one of the dogs she knew that she could exercise the
+magic of her touch.
+
+Her object, then, was to approach one of the tents very, very quietly--so
+softly that even the dog's ears should not detect the light footfall. If
+she could approach close enough to put her hand on the dog's neck all
+would be well. She pulled off the gypsy maid's rough shoes, hid them in
+the grass where she could find them again, and came gingerly step by
+step, nearer and nearer the principal tent. At its entrance lay a
+ferocious-looking half-bred bull-dog. Annie possessed that necessary
+accompaniment to courage--great outward calm; the greater the danger, the
+more cool and self-possessed did she become. She was within a step or two
+of the tent when she trod accidentally on a small twig; it cracked,
+giving her foot a sharp pain, and very slight as the sound was, causing
+the bull-dog to awake. He raised his wicked face, saw the figure like his
+own people, and yet unlike, but a step or two away, and, uttering a low
+growl, sprang forward.
+
+In the ordinary course of things this growl would have risen in volume
+and would have terminated in a volley of barking; but Annie was prepared:
+she went down on her knees, held out her arms, said, "Poor fellow!" in
+her own seductive voice, and the bull-dog fawned at her feet. He licked
+one of her hands while she patted him gently with the other.
+
+"Come, poor fellow," she said then in a gentle tone, and Annie and the
+dog began to perambulate round the tents.
+
+The other dogs raised sleepy eyes, but seeing Tiger and the girl
+together, took no notice whatever, except by a thwack or two of their
+stumpy tails. Annie was now looking not only at the tents, but for
+something else which Zillah, her nurse, had told her might be found near
+to many gypsy encampments. This was a small subterranean passage, which
+generally led into a long-disused underground Danish fort. Zillah had
+told her what uses the gypsies liked to make of these underground
+passages, and how they often chose those which had two entrances. She
+told her that in this way they eluded the police, and were enabled
+successfully to hide the goods which they stole. She had also described
+to her their great ingenuity in hiding the entrances to these underground
+retreats.
+
+Annie's idea now was that little Nan was hidden in one of these vaults,
+and she determined first to make sure of its existence, and then to
+venture herself into this underground region in search of the lost child.
+
+She had made a decided conquest in the person of Tiger, who followed her
+round and round the tents, and when the gypsies at last began to stir,
+and Annie crept into the hedgerow, the dog crouched by her side. Tiger
+was the favorite dog of the camp, and presently one of the men called to
+him; he rose unwillingly, looked back with longing eyes at Annie, and
+trotted off, to return in the space of about five minutes with a great
+hunch of broken bread in his mouth. This was his breakfast, and he meant
+to share it with his new friend. Annie was too hungry to be fastidious,
+and she also knew the necessity of keeping up her strength. She crept
+still farther under the hedge, and the dog and girl shared the broken
+bread between them.
+
+Presently the tents were all astir; the gypsy children began to swarm
+about, the women lit fires in the open air, and the smell of very
+appetizing breakfasts filled the atmosphere. The men also lounged into
+view, standing lazily at the doors of their tents, and smoking great
+pipes of tobacco. Annie lay quiet. She could see from her hiding-place
+without being seen. Suddenly--and her eyes began to dilate, and she found
+her heart beating strangely--she laid her hand on Tiger, who was
+quivering all over.
+
+"Stay with me, dear dog," she said.
+
+There was a great commotion and excitement in the gypsy camp; the
+children screamed and ran into the tents, the women paused in their
+preparation for breakfast, the men took their short pipes out of their
+mouths; every dog, with the exception of Tiger, barked ferociously. Tiger
+and Annie alone were motionless.
+
+The cause of all this uproar was a body of police, about six in number,
+who came boldly into the field, and demanded instantly to search the
+tents.
+
+"We want a woman who calls herself Mother Rachel," they said. "She
+belongs to this encampment. We know her; let her come forward at once; we
+wish to question her."
+
+The men stood about; the women came near; the children crept out of their
+tents, placing their fingers to their frightened lips, and staring at the
+men who represented those horrors to their unsophisticated minds called
+Law and Order.
+
+"We must search the tents. We won't stir from the spot until we have had
+an interview with Mother Rachel," said the principal member of the police
+force.
+
+The men answered respectfully that the gypsy mother was not yet up; but
+if the gentlemen would wait a moment she would soon come and speak to
+them.
+
+The officers expressed their willingness to wait, and collected round the
+tents.
+
+Just at this instant, under the hedgerow, Tiger raised his head. Annie's
+watchful eyes accompanied the dog's. He was gazing after a tiny gypsy
+maid who was skulking along the hedge, and who presently disappeared
+through a very small opening into the neighboring field.
+
+Quick as thought Annie, holding Tiger's collar, darted after her. The
+little maid heard the footsteps; but seeing another gypsy girl, and their
+own dog, Tiger, she took no further notice, but ran openly and very
+swiftly across the field until she came to a broken wall. Here she tugged
+and tugged at some loose stones, managed to push one away, and then
+called down into the ground:
+
+"Mother Rachel!"
+
+"Come, Tiger," said Annie. She flew to a hedge not far off, and once more
+the dog and she hid themselves. The small girl was too excited to notice
+either their coming or going; she went on calling anxiously into the
+ground:
+
+"Mother Rachel! Mother Rachel!"
+
+Presently a black head and a pair of brawny shoulders appeared, and the
+tall woman whose face and figure Annie knew so well stepped up out of the
+ground, pushed back the stones into their place, and, taking the gypsy
+child into her arms, ran swiftly across the field in the direction of the
+tents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+FOR LOVE OF NAN.
+
+
+Now was Annie's time. "Tiger," she said, for she had heard the men
+calling the dog's name, "I want to go right down into that hole in the
+ground, and you are to come with me. Don't let us lose a moment, good
+dog."
+
+The dog wagged his tail, capered about in front of Annie, and then with a
+wonderful shrewdness ran before her to the broken wall, where he stood
+with his head bent downward and his eyes fixed on the ground.
+
+Annie pulled and tugged at the loose stones; they were so heavy and
+cunningly arranged that she wondered how the little maid, who was smaller
+than herself, had managed to remove them. She saw quickly, however, that
+they were arranged with a certain leverage, and that the largest stone,
+that which formed the real entrance to the underground passage, was
+balanced in its place in such a fashion that when she leaned on a certain
+portion of it, it moved aside, and allowed plenty of room for her to go
+down into the earth.
+
+Very dark and dismal and uninviting did the rude steps, which led nobody
+knew where, appear. For one moment Annie hesitated; but the thought of
+Nan hidden somewhere in this awful wretchedness nerved her courage.
+
+"Go first, Tiger, please," she said, and the dog scampered down, sniffing
+the earth as he went. Annie followed him, but she had scarcely got her
+head below the level of the ground before she found herself in total and
+absolute darkness; she had unwittingly touched the heavy stone, which had
+swung back into its place. She heard Tiger sniffing below, and, calling
+him to keep by her side, she went very carefully down and down and down,
+until at last she knew by the increase of air that she must have come to
+the end of the narrow entrance passage.
+
+She was now able to stand upright, and raising her hand, she tried in
+vain to find a roof. The room where she stood, then, must be lofty. She
+went forward in the utter darkness very, very slowly; suddenly her head
+again came in contact with the roof; she made a few steps farther on, and
+then found that to proceed at all she must go on her hands and knees. She
+bent down and peered through the darkness.
+
+"We'll go on, Tiger," she said, and, holding the dog's collar and
+clinging to him for protection, she crept along the narrow passage.
+
+Suddenly she gave an exclamation of joy--at the other end of this gloomy
+passage was light--faint twilight surely, but still undoubted light,
+which came down from some chink in the outer world. Annie came to the end
+of the passage, and, standing upright, found herself suddenly in a room;
+a very small and miserable room certainly, but with the twilight shining
+through it, which revealed not only that it was a room, but a room which
+contained a heap of straw, a three-legged stool, and two or three cracked
+cups and saucers. Here, then, was Mother Rachel's lair, and here she must
+look for Nan.
+
+The darkness had been so intense that even the faint twilight of this
+little chamber had dazzled Annie's eyes for a moment; the next, however,
+her vision became clear. She saw that the straw bed contained a bundle;
+she went near--out of the wrapped-up bundle of shawls appeared the head
+of a child. The child slept, and moaned in its slumbers.
+
+Annie bent over it and said, "Thank God!" in a tone of rapture, and then,
+stooping down, she passionately kissed the lips of little Nan.
+
+Nan's skin had been dyed with the walnut-juice, her pretty, soft hair had
+been cut short, her dainty clothes had been changed for the most ragged
+gipsy garments, but still she was undoubtedly Nan, the child whom Annie
+had come to save.
+
+From her uneasy slumbers the poor little one awoke with a cry of terror.
+She could not recognize Annie's changed face, and clasped her hands
+before her eyes, and said piteously:
+
+"Me want to go home--go 'way, naughty woman, me want my Annie."
+
+"Little darling!" said Annie, in her sweetest tones. The changed face had
+not appealed to Nan, but the old voice went straight to her baby heart;
+she stopped crying and looked anxiously toward the entrance of the room.
+
+"Tum in, Annie--me here, Annie--little Nan want 'oo."
+
+Annie glanced around her in despair. Suddenly her quick eyes lighted on a
+jug of water; she flew to it, and washed and laved her face.
+
+"Coming, darling," she said, as she tried to remove the hateful dye. She
+succeeded partly, and when she came back, to her great joy, the child
+recognized her.
+
+"Now, little precious, we will get out of this as fast as we can," said
+Annie, and, clasping Nan tightly in her arms, she prepared to return by
+the way she had come. Then and there, for the first time, there flashed
+across her memory the horrible fact that the stone door had swung back
+into its place, and that by no possible means could she open it. She and
+Nan and Tiger were buried in a living tomb, and must either stay there
+and perish, or await the tender mercies of the cruel Mother Rachel.
+
+Nan, with her arms tightly clasped round Annie's neck, began to cry
+fretfully. She was impatient to get out of this dismal place; she was no
+longer oppressed by fears, for with the Annie whom she loved she felt
+absolutely safe; but she was hungry and cold and uncomfortable, and it
+seemed but a step, to little inexperienced Nan, from Annie's arms to her
+snug, cheerful nursery at Lavender House.
+
+"Tum, Annie--tum home, Annie," she begged and, when Annie did not stir,
+she began to weep.
+
+In truth, the poor, brave little girl was sadly puzzled, and her first
+gleam of returning hope lay in the remembrance of Zillah's words, that
+there were generally two entrances to these old underground forts. Tiger,
+who seemed thoroughly at home in this little room, and had curled himself
+up comfortably on the heap of straw, had probably often been here before.
+Perhaps Tiger knew the way to the second entrance. Annie called him to
+her side.
+
+"Tiger," she said, going down on her knees, and looking full into his
+ugly but intelligent face, "Nan and I want to go out of this."
+
+Tiger wagged his stumpy tail.
+
+"We are hungry, Tiger, and we want something to eat, and you'd like a
+bone, wouldn't you?"
+
+Tiger's tail went with ferocious speed, and he licked Annie's hand.
+
+"There's no use going back that way, dear dog," continued the girl,
+pointing with her arm in the direction they had come. "The door is
+fastened, Tiger, and we can't get out. We can't get out because the door
+is shut."
+
+The dog's tail had ceased to wag; he took in the situation, for his whole
+expression showed dejection, and he drooped his head.
+
+It was now quite evident to Annie that Tiger had been here before, and
+that on some other occasion in his life he had wanted to get out and
+could not because the door was shut.
+
+"Now, Tiger," said Annie, speaking cheerfully, and rising to her feet,
+"we must get out. Nan and I are hungry, and you want your bone. Take us
+out the other way, good Tiger--the other way, dear dog."
+
+She moved instantly toward the little passage; the dog followed her.
+
+"The other way," she said, and she turned her back on the long narrow
+passage, and took a step or two into complete darkness. The dog began to
+whine, caught hold of her dress, and tried to pull her back.
+
+"Quite right, Tiger, we won't go that way," said Annie, instantly. She
+returned into the dimly-lighted room.
+
+"Find a way--find a way out, Tiger," she said.
+
+The dog evidently understood her; he moved restlessly about the room.
+Finally he got up on the bed, pulled and scratched and tore away the
+straw at the upper end, then, wagging his tail, flew to Annie's side. She
+came back with him. Beneath the straw was a tiny, tiny trap-door.
+
+"Oh, Tiger!" said the girl; she went down on her knees, and, finding she
+could not stir it, wondered if this also was kept in its place by a
+system of balancing. She was right; after a very little pressing the door
+moved aside, and Annie saw four or five rudely carved steps.
+
+"Come, Nan," she said joyfully, "Tiger has saved us; these steps must
+lead us out."
+
+The dog, with a joyful whine, went down first, and Annie, clasping Nan
+tightly in her arms, followed him. Four, five, six steps they went down;
+then, to Annie's great joy, she found that the next step began to ascend.
+Up and up she went, cheered by a welcome shaft of light. Finally she,
+Nan, and the dog found themselves emerging into the open air, through a
+hole which might have been taken for a large rabbit burrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+RESCUED.
+
+
+The girl, the child, and the dog found themselves in a comparatively
+strange country--Annie had completely lost her bearings. She looked
+around her for some sign of the gypsies' encampment; but whether she had
+really gone a greater distance than she imagined in those underground
+vaults, or whether the tents were hidden in some hollow of the ground,
+she did not know; she was only conscious that she was in a strange
+country, that Nan was clinging to her and crying for her breakfast, and
+that Tiger was sniffing the air anxiously. Annie guessed that Tiger could
+take them back to the camp, but this was by no means her wish. When she
+emerged out of the underground passage she was conscious for the first
+time of a strange and unknown experience. Absolute terror seized the
+brave child; she trembled from head to foot, her head ached violently,
+and the ground on which she stood seemed to reel, and the sky to turn
+round. She sat down for a moment on the green grass. What ailed her?
+where was she? how could she get home? Nan's little piteous wail, "Me
+want my bekfas', me want my nursie, me want Hetty," almost irritated her.
+
+"Oh, Nan," she said at last piteously, "have you not got your own Annie?
+Oh, Nan, dear little Nan, Annie feels so ill!"
+
+Nan had the biggest and softest of baby hearts--breakfast, nurse, Hetty,
+were all forgotten in the crowning desire to comfort Annie. She climbed
+on her knee and stroked her face and kissed her lips.
+
+"'Oo better now?" she said in a tone of baby inquiry.
+
+Annie roused herself with a great effort.
+
+"Yes, darling," she said; "we will try and get home. Come, Tiger. Tiger,
+dear, I don't want to go back to the gypsies; take me the other way--take
+me to Oakley."
+
+Tiger again sniffed the air, looked anxiously at Annie, and trotted on in
+front. Little Nan in her ragged gypsy clothes walked sedately by Annie's
+side.
+
+"Where 'oo s'oes?" she said, pointing to the girl's bare feet.
+
+"Gone, Nan--gone. Never mind, I've got you. My little treasure, my little
+love, you're safe at last."
+
+As Annie tottered, rather than walked, down a narrow path which led
+directly through a field of standing corn, she was startled by the sudden
+apparition of a bright-eyed girl, who appeared so suddenly in her path
+that she might have been supposed to have risen out of the very ground.
+
+The girl stared hard at Annie, fixed her eyes inquiringly on Nan and
+Tiger, and then turning on her heel, dashed up the path, went through a
+turnstile, across the road, and into a cottage.
+
+"Mother," she exclaimed, "I said she warn't a real gypsy; she's a-coming
+back, and her face is all streaked like, and she has a little'un along
+with her, and a dawg, and the only one as is gypsy is the dawg. Come and
+look at her, mother; oh, she is a fine take-in!"
+
+The round-faced, good-humored looking mother, whose name was Mrs.
+Williams, had been washing and putting away the breakfast things when her
+daughter entered. She now wiped her hands hastily and came to the cottage
+door.
+
+"Cross the road, and come to the stile, mother," said the energetic
+Peggy--"oh, there she be a-creeping along--oh, ain't she a take-in?"
+
+"'Sakes alive!" ejaculated Mrs. Williams, "the girl is ill! why, she
+can't keep herself steady! There! I knew she'd fall; ah! poor little
+thing--poor little thing."
+
+It did not take Mrs. Williams an instant to reach Annie's side; and in
+another moment she had lifted her in her strong arms and carried her into
+the cottage, Peggy lifting Nan and following in the rear, while Tiger
+walked by their sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+
+A whole week had passed, and there were no tidings whatever of little Nan
+or of Annie Forest. No one at Lavender House had heard a word about them;
+the police came and went, detectives even arrived from London, but there
+were no traces whatever of the missing children.
+
+The midsummer holiday was now close at hand, but no one spoke of it or
+thought of it. Mrs. Willis told the teachers that the prizes should be
+distributed, but she said she could invite no guests and could allow of
+no special festivities. Miss Danesbury and Miss Good repeated her words
+to the schoolgirls, who answered without hesitation that they did not
+wish for feasting and merriment; they would rather the day passed
+unnoticed. In truth, the fact that their baby was gone, that their
+favorite and prettiest and brightest schoolmate had also disappeared,
+caused such gloom, such distress, such apprehension that even the most
+thoughtless of those girls could scarcely have laughed or been merry.
+School-hours were still kept after a fashion, but there was no life in
+the lessons. In truth, it seemed as if the sun would never shine again at
+Lavender House.
+
+Hester was ill; not very ill--she had no fever, she had no cold; she had,
+as the good doctor explained it, nothing at all wrong, except that her
+nervous system had got a shock.
+
+"When the little one is found, Miss Hetty will be quite well again," said
+the good doctor; but the little one had not been found yet, and Hester
+had completely broken down. She lay on her bed, saying little or nothing,
+eating scarcely anything, sleeping not at all. All the girls were kind to
+her and each one in the school took turns in trying to comfort her; but
+no one could win a smile from Hester, and even Mrs. Willis failed utterly
+to reach or touch her heart.
+
+Mr. Everard came once to see her, but he had scarcely spoken many words
+when Hester broke into an agony of weeping and begged him to go away. He
+shook his head when he left her and said sadly to himself:
+
+"That girl has got something on her mind; she is grieving for more than
+the loss of her little sister."
+
+The twentieth of June came at last, and the girls sat about in groups in
+the pleasant shady garden, and talked of the very sad breaking-up day
+they were to have on the morrow, and wondered if, when they returned to
+school again, Annie and little Nan would have been found. Cecil Temple,
+Dora Russell, and one or two others were sitting together and whispering
+in low voices. Mary Price joined them, and said anxiously:
+
+"I don't think the doctor is satisfied about Hester, Perhaps I ought not
+to have listened, but I heard him talking to Miss Danesbury just now; he
+said she must be got to sleep somehow, and she is to have a composing
+draught to-night."
+
+"I wish poor Hetty would not turn away from us all," said Cecil; "I wish
+she would not quite give up hope; I do feel sure that Nan and Annie will
+be found yet."
+
+"Have you been praying about it, Cecil?" asked Mary, kneeling on the
+grass, laying her elbows on Cecil's knees and looking into her face. "Do
+you say this because you have faith?"
+
+"I have prayed and I have faith," replied Cecil in her simple, earnest
+way. "Why, Dora, what is the matter?"
+
+"Only that it's horrid to leave like this," said Dora; "I--I thought my
+last day at school would have been so different and somehow I am sorry I
+spoke so much against that poor little Annie."
+
+Here Cecil suddenly rose from her seat, and going up to Dora, clasped her
+arms round her neck.
+
+"Thank you, Dora," she said with fervor; "I love you for those words."
+
+"Here comes Susy," remarked Mary Price. "I really don't think _anything_
+would move Susy; she's just as stolid and indifferent as ever. Ah, Susy,
+here's a place for you--oh, what _is_ the matter with Phyllis? see how
+she's rushing toward us! Phyllis, my dear, don't break your neck."
+
+Susan, with her usual nonchalance, seated herself by Dora Russell's side.
+Phyllis burst excitedly into the group.
+
+"I think," she exclaimed, "I really, really do think that news has come
+of Annie's father. Nora said that Janet told her that a foreign letter
+came this morning to Mrs. Willis, and somebody saw Mrs. Willis talking to
+Miss Danesbury--oh, I forgot, only I know that the girls of the school
+are whispering the news that Mrs. Willis cried, and Miss Danesbury said,
+'After waiting for him four years, and now, when he comes back, he won't
+find her!' Oh dear, oh dear! there is Danesbury. Cecil, darling love, go
+to her, and find out the truth."
+
+Cecil rose at once, went across the lawn, said a few words to Miss
+Danesbury, and came back to the other girls.
+
+"It is true," she said sadly, "there came a letter this morning from
+Captain Forest; he will be at Lavender House in a week. Miss Danesbury
+says it is a wonderful letter, and he has been shipwrecked, and on an
+island by himself for ever so long; but he is safe now, and will soon be
+in England. Miss Danesbury says Mrs. Willis can scarcely speak about that
+letter; she is in great, great trouble, and Miss Danesbury confesses that
+they are all more anxious than they dare to admit about Annie and little
+Nan."
+
+At this moment the sound of carriage wheels was heard on the drive, and
+Susan, peering forward to see who was arriving, remarked in her usual
+nonchalant manner:
+
+"Only the little Misses Bruce in their basket-carriage--what dull-looking
+women they are?"
+
+Nobody commented, however, on her observation, and gradually the little
+group of girls sank into absolute silence.
+
+From where they sat they could see the basket-carriage waiting at the
+front entrance--the little ladies had gone inside, all was perfect
+silence and stillness.
+
+Suddenly on the stillness a sound broke--the sound of a girl running
+quickly; nearer and nearer came the steps, and the four or five who sat
+together under the oak-tree noticed the quick panting breath, and felt
+even before a word was uttered that evil tidings were coming to them.
+They all started to their feet, however; they all uttered a cry of horror
+and distress when Hester herself broke into their midst. She was supposed
+to be lying down in a darkened room, she was supposed to be very
+ill--what was she doing here?
+
+"Hetty!" exclaimed Cecil.
+
+Hester pushed past her; she rushed up to Susan Drummond, and seized her
+arm.
+
+"News has come!" she panted; "news--news at last! Nan is found!--and
+Annie--they are both found--but Annie is dying. Come, Susan, come this
+moment; we must both tell what we know now."
+
+By her impetuosity, by the intense fire of her passion and agony, even
+Susan was electrified into leaving her seat and going with her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+TWO CONFESSIONS.
+
+
+Hester dragged her startled and rather unwilling companion in through the
+front entrance, past some agitated-looking servants who stood about in
+the hall, and through the velvet curtains into Mrs. Willis' boudoir.
+
+The Misses Bruce were there, and Mrs. Willis in her bonnet and cloak was
+hastily packing some things into a basket.
+
+"I--I must speak to you," said Hester, going up to her governess. "Susan
+and I have got something to say, and we must say it here, now at once."
+
+"No, not now, Hester," replied Mrs. Willis, looking for a moment into her
+pupil's agitated face. "Whatever you and Susan Drummond have to tell
+cannot be listened to by me at this moment. I have not an instant to
+lose."
+
+"You are going to Annie?" asked Hester.
+
+"Yes; don't keep me. Good-bye, my dears; good-bye."
+
+Mrs. Willis moved toward the door. Hester, who felt almost beside
+herself, rushed after her, and caught her arm.
+
+"Take us with you, take Susy and me with you--we must, we must see Annie
+before she dies."
+
+"Hush, my child," said Mrs. Willis very quietly; "try to calm yourself.
+Whatever you have got to say shall be listened to later on--now moments
+are precious, and I cannot attend to you. Calm yourself, Hester, and
+thank God for your dear little sister's safety. Prepare yourself to
+receive her, for the carriage which takes me to Annie will bring little
+Nan home."
+
+Mrs. Willis left the room, and Hester threw herself on her knees and
+covered her face with her trembling hands. Presently she was aroused by a
+light touch on her arm; it was Susan Drummond.
+
+"I may go now I suppose, Hester? You are not quite determined to make a
+fool of me, are you?"
+
+"I have determined to expose you, you coward; you mean, mean girl!"
+answered Hester, springing to her feet. "Come, I have no idea of letting
+you go. Mrs. Willis won't listen--we will find Mr. Everard."
+
+Whether Susan would really have gone with Heater remains to be proved,
+but just at that moment all possibility of retreat was cut away from her
+by Miss Agnes Bruce, who quietly entered Mrs. Willis' private
+sitting-room, followed by the very man Hester was about to seek.
+
+"I thought it best, my dear," she said, turning apologetically to Hester,
+"to go at once for our good clergyman; you can tell him all that is in
+your heart, and I will leave you. Before I go, however, I should like to
+tell you how I found Annie and little Nan."
+
+Hester made no answer; just for a brief moment she raised her eyes to
+Miss Agnes' kind face, then they sought the floor.
+
+"The story can be told in a few words, dear," said the little lady. "A
+workwoman of the name of Williams, whom my sister and I have employed for
+years, and who lives near Oakley, called on us this morning to apologize
+for not being able to finish some needlework. She told us that she had a
+sick child, and also a little girl of three, in her house. She said she
+had found the child, in ragged gypsy garments, fainting in a field. She
+took her into her house, and on undressing her, found that she was no
+true gypsy, but that her face and hands and arms had been dyed; she said
+the little one had been treated in a similar manner. Jane's suspicions
+and mine were instantly roused, and we went back with the woman to
+Oakley, and found, as we had anticipated, that the children were little
+Nan and Annie. The sad thing is that Annie is in high fever, and knows no
+one. We waited there until the doctor arrived, who spoke very, very
+seriously of her case. Little Nan is well, and asked for you."
+
+With these last words Miss Agnes Bruce softly left the room closing the
+door after her.
+
+"Now, Susan," said Hester, without an instant's pause; "come, let us tell
+Mr. Everard of our wickedness. Oh, sir," she added, raising her eyes to
+the clergyman's face, "if Annie dies I shall go mad. Oh, I cannot, cannot
+bear life if Annie dies!"
+
+"Tell me what is wrong, my poor child," said Mr. Everard. He laid his
+hand on her shoulder, and gradually and skillfully drew from the agitated
+and miserable girl the story of her sin, of her cowardice, and of her
+deep, though until now unavailing repentance. How from the first she had
+hated and disliked Annie; how unjustly she had felt toward her; how she
+had longed and hoped Annie was guilty; and how, when at last the clue was
+put into her hands to prove Annie's absolute innocence, she had
+determined not to use it.
+
+"From the day Nan was lost," continued Hester, "it has been all agony and
+all repentance; but, oh, I was too proud to tell! I was too proud to
+humble myself to the very dust!"
+
+"But not now," said the clergyman, very gently.
+
+"No, no; not now. I care for nothing now in all the world except that
+Annie may live."
+
+"You don't mind the fact that Mrs. Willis and all your schoolfellows must
+know of this, and must--must judge you accordingly?"
+
+"They can't think worse of me than I think of myself. I only want Annie
+to live."
+
+"No, Hester," answered Mr. Everard, "you want more than that--you want
+far more than that. It may be that God will take Annie Forest away. We
+cannot tell. With Him alone are the issues of life or death. What you
+really want, my child, is the forgiveness of the little girl you have
+wronged, and the forgiveness of your Father in heaven."
+
+Hester began to sob wildly.
+
+"If--if she dies--may I see her first?" she gasped.
+
+"Yes; I will try and promise you that. Now, will you go to your room? I
+must speak to Miss Drummond alone; she is a far worse culprit than you."
+
+Mr. Everard opened the door for Hester, who went silently out.
+
+"Meet me in the chapel to-night," he whispered low in her ear, "I will
+talk with you and pray with you there."
+
+He closed the door, and came back to Susan.
+
+All throughout this interview his manner had been very gentle to Hester:
+but the clergyman could be stern, and there was a gleam of very righteous
+anger in his eyes as he turned to the sullen girl who leaned heavily
+against the table.
+
+"This narrative of Hester Thornton's is, of course, quite true, Miss
+Drummond?"
+
+"Oh, yes; there seems to be no use in denying that," said Susan.
+
+"I must insist on your telling me the exact story of your sin. There is
+no use in your attempting to deny anything; only the utmost candor on
+your part can now save you from being publicly expelled."
+
+"I am willing to tell," answered Susan. "I meant no harm; it was done as
+a bit of fun. I had a cousin at home who was very clever at drawing
+caricatures, and I happened to have nothing to do one day, and I was
+alone in Annie's bedroom, and I thought I'd like to see what she kept in
+her desk. I always had a fancy for collecting odd keys, and I found one
+on my bunch which fitted her desk exactly. I opened it, and I found such
+a smart little caricature of Mrs. Willis. I sent the caricature to my
+cousin, and begged of her to make an exact copy of it. She did so, and I
+put Annie's back in her desk, and pasted the other into Cecil's book. I
+didn't like Dora Russell, and I wrapped up the sweeties in her theme; but
+I did the other for pure fun, for I knew Cecil would be so shocked; but I
+never guessed the blame would fall on Annie. When I found it did, I felt
+inclined to tell once or twice, but it seemed too much trouble and,
+besides, I knew Mrs. Willis would punish me, and, of course, I didn't
+wish that.
+
+"Dora Russell was always very nasty to me, and when I found she was
+putting on such airs, and pretending she could write such a grand essay
+for the prize, I thought I'd take down her pride a bit. I went to her
+desk, and I got some of the rough copy of the thing she was calling 'The
+River,' and I sent it off to my cousin, and my cousin made up such a
+ridiculous paper, and she hit off Dora's writing to the life, and, of
+course, I had to put it into Dora's desk and tear up her real copy. It
+was very unlucky Hester being in the room. Of course I never guessed
+that, or I wouldn't have gone. That was the night we all went with Annie
+to the fairies' field. I never meant to get Hester into a scrape, nor
+Annie either, for that matter; but, of course, I couldn't be expected to
+tell on myself."
+
+Susan related her story in her usual monotonous and sing-song voice.
+There was no trace of apparent emotion on her face, or of regret in her
+tones. When she had finished speaking Mr. Everard was absolutely silent.
+
+"I took a great deal of trouble," continued Susan, after a pause, in a
+slightly fretful key. "It was really nothing but a joke, and I don't see
+why such a fuss should have been made. I know I lost a great deal of
+sleep trying to manage that twine business round my foot. I don't think I
+shall trouble myself playing any more tricks upon schoolgirls--they are
+not worth it."
+
+"You'll never play any more tricks on these girls," said Mr. Everard,
+rising to his feet, and suddenly filling the room and reducing Susan to
+an abject silence by the ring of his stern, deep voice. "I take it upon
+me, in the absence of your mistress, to pronounce your punishment. You
+leave Lavender House in disgrace this evening. Miss Good will take you
+home, and explain to your parents the cause of your dismissal. You are
+not to see _any_ of your schoolfellows again. Your meanness, your
+cowardice, your sin require no words on my part to deepen their vileness.
+Through pure wantonness you have cast a cruel shadow on an innocent young
+life. If that girl dies, you indeed are not blameless in the cause of her
+early removal, for through you her heart and spirit were broken. Miss
+Drummond, I pray God you may at least repent and be sorry. There are some
+people mentioned in the Bible who are spoken of as past feeling. Wretched
+girl, while there is yet time, pray that you may not belong to them. Now
+I must leave you, but I shall lock you in. Miss Good will come for you in
+about an hour to take you away."
+
+Susan Drummond sank down on the nearest seat, and began to cry softly;
+one or two pin-pricks from Mr. Everard's stern words may possibly have
+reached her shallow heart--no one can tell. She left Lavender House that
+evening, and none of the girls who had lived with her as their schoolmate
+heard of her again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+THE HEART OF LITTLE NAN.
+
+
+For several days now Annie had lain unconscious in Mrs. Williams' little
+bedroom; the kind-hearted woman could not find it in her heart to send
+the sick child away. Her husband and the neighbors expostulated with her,
+and said that Annie was only a poor little waif.
+
+"She has no call on you," said Jane Allen, a hard-featured woman who
+lived next door. "Why should you put yourself out just for a sick lass?
+and she'll be much better off in the workhouse infirmary."
+
+But Mrs. Williams shook her head at her hard-featured and hard-hearted
+neighbor, and resisted her husband's entreaties.
+
+"Eh!" she said, "but the poor lamb needs a good bit of mothering, and I
+misdoubt me she wouldn't get much of that in the infirmary."
+
+So Annie stayed, and tossed from side to side of her little bed, and
+murmured unintelligible words, and grew daily a little weaker and a
+little more delirious. The parish doctor called, and shook his head over
+her; he was not a particularly clever man, but he was the best the
+Williamses could afford. While Annie suffered and went deeper into that
+valley of humiliation and weakness which leads to the gate of the Valley
+of the Shadow of Death, little Nan played with Peggy Williams, and
+accustomed herself after the fashion of little children to all the ways
+of her new and humble home.
+
+It was on the eighth day of Annie's fever that the Misses Bruce
+discovered her, and on the evening of that day Mrs. Willis knelt by her
+little favorite's bed. A better doctor had been called in, and all that
+money could procure had been got now for poor Annie; but the second
+doctor considered her case even more critical, and said that the close
+air of the cottage was much against her recovery.
+
+"I didn't make that caricature; I took the girls into the fairies' field,
+but I never pasted that caricature into Cecil's book. I know you don't
+believe me, Cecil; but do you think I would really do anything so mean
+about one whom love? No, No! I am innocent! God knows it. Yes, I am glad
+of that--God knows it."
+
+Over and over in Mrs. Willis' presence these piteous words would come
+from the fever-stricken child, but always when she came to the little
+sentence "God knows I am innocent," her voice would grow tranquil, and a
+faint and sweet smile would play round her lips.
+
+Late that night a carriage drew up at a little distance from the cottage,
+and a moment or two afterward Mrs. Willis was called out of the room to
+speak to Cecil Temple.
+
+"I have found out the truth about Annie; I have come at once to tell
+you," she said; and then she repeated the substance of Hester's and
+Susan's story.
+
+"God help me for having misjudged her," murmured the head-mistress; then
+she bade Cecil "good-night" and returned to the sick-room.
+
+The next time Annie broke out with her piteous wail, "They believe me
+guilty--Mrs. Willis does--they all do," the mistress laid her hand with a
+firm and gentle pressure on the child's arm.
+
+"Not now, my dear," she said, in a slow, clear, and emphatic voice. "God
+has shown your governess the truth, and she believes in you."
+
+The very carefully-uttered words pierced through the clouded brain; for a
+moment Annie lay quite still, with her bright and lovely eyes fixed on
+her teacher.
+
+"Is that really you?" she asked.
+
+"I am here, my darling."
+
+"And you believe in me?"
+
+"I do, most absolutely."
+
+"God does, too, you know," answered Annie--bringing out the words
+quickly, and turning her head to the other side. The fever had once more
+gained supremacy, and she rambled on unceasingly through the dreary
+night.
+
+Now, however, when the passionate words broke out, "They believe me
+guilty," Mrs. Willis always managed to quiet her by saying, "I know you
+are innocent."
+
+The next day at noon those girls who had not gone home--for many had
+started by the morning train--were wandering aimlessly about the grounds.
+
+Mr. Everard had gone to see Annie, and had promised to bring back the
+latest tidings about her.
+
+Hester, holding little Nan's hand--for she could scarcely bear to have
+her recovered treasure out of sight--had wandered away from the rest of
+her companions, and had seated herself with Nan under a large oak-tree
+which grew close to the entrance of the avenue. She had come here in
+order to be the very first to see Mr. Everard on his return. Nan had
+climbed into Hester's lap, and Hester had buried her aching head in
+little Nan's bright curls, when she started suddenly to her feet and ran
+forward. Her quick ears had detected the sound of wheels.
+
+How soon Mr. Everard had returned; surely the news was bad! She flew to
+the gate, and held it open in order to avoid the short delay which the
+lodge-keeper might cause in coming to unfasten it. She flushed, however,
+vividly, and felt half inclined to retreat into the shade, when she saw
+that the gentleman who was approaching was not Mr. Everard, but a tall,
+handsome, and foreign-looking man, who drove a light dog-cart himself.
+The moment he saw Hester with little Nan clinging to her skirts he
+stopped short.
+
+"Is this Lavender House, little girl?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Hester.
+
+"And can you tell me--but of course you know--you are one of the young
+ladies who live here, eh?"
+
+Hester nodded.
+
+"Then you can tell me if Mrs. Willis is at home--but of course she is."
+
+"No, sir," answered Hester; "I am sorry to tell you that Mrs. Willis is
+away. She has been called away on very, very sad business; she won't come
+back to-night."
+
+Something in Hester's tone caused the stranger to look at her
+attentively; he jumped off the dog-cart and came to her side.
+
+"See here, Miss----"
+
+"Thornton," put in Hester.
+
+"Yes, Miss--Miss Thornton, perhaps you can manage for me as well as Mrs.
+Willis; after all I don't particularly want to see her. If you belong to
+Lavender House, you, of course, know my--I mean you have a schoolmate
+here, a little, pretty gypsy rogue called Forest--little Annie Forest. I
+want to see her--can you take me to her?"
+
+"You are her father?" gasped Hester.
+
+"Yes, my dear child, I am her father. Now you can take me to her at
+once."
+
+Hester covered her face.
+
+"Oh, I cannot," she said--"I cannot take you to Annie. Oh, sir, if you
+knew all, you would feel inclined to kill me. Don't ask me about
+Annie--don't, don't."
+
+The stranger looked fairly non-plussed and not a little alarmed. Just at
+this moment Nan's tiny fingers touched his hand.
+
+"Me'll take 'oo to my Annie," she said--"mine poor Annie. Annie's vedy
+sick, but me'll take 'oo."
+
+The tall, foreign-looking man lifted Nan into his arms.
+
+"Sick, is she?" he answered. "Look here young lady," he added, turning to
+Hester, "whatever you have got to say, I am sure you will try and say it;
+you will pity a father's anxiety and master your own feelings. Where _is_
+my little girl?"
+
+Hester hastily dried her tears.
+
+"She is in a cottage near Oakley, sir."
+
+"Indeed! Oakley is some miles from here?"
+
+"And she is very ill."
+
+"What of?"
+
+"Fever; they--they fear she may die."
+
+"Take me to her," said the stranger. "If she is ill and dying she wants
+me. Take me to her at once. Here, jump on the dog-cart; and, little one,
+you shall come too."
+
+So furiously did Captain Forest drive that in a very little over an
+hour's time his panting horse stopped at a few steps from the cottage. He
+called to a boy to hold him, and, accompanied by Hester, and carrying Nan
+in his arms, he stood on the threshold of Mrs. Williams' humble little
+abode. Mr. Everard was coming out.
+
+"Hester," he said, "you here? I was coming for you."
+
+"Oh, then she is worse?"
+
+"She is conscious, and has asked for you. Yes, she is very, very ill."
+
+"Mr. Everard, this gentleman is Annie's father."
+
+Mr. Everard looked pityingly at Captain Forest.
+
+"You have come back at a sad hour, sir," he said. "But no, it cannot harm
+her to see you. Come with me."
+
+Captain Forest went first into the sick-room; Hester waited outside. She
+had the little kitchen to herself, for all the Williamses, with the
+exception of the good mother, had moved for the time being to other
+quarters. Surely Mr. Everard would come for her in a moment? Surely
+Captain Forest, who had gone into the sick-room with Nan in his arms,
+would quickly return? There was no sound. All was absolute quiet. How
+soon would Hester be summoned? Could she--could she bear to look at
+Annie's dying face? Her agony drove her down on her knees.
+
+"Oh, if you would only spare Annie!" she prayed to God. Then she wiped
+her eyes. This terrible suspense seemed more than she could bear.
+Suddenly the bedroom door was softly and silently opened, and Mr. Everard
+came out.
+
+"She sleeps," he said; "there is a shadow of hope. Little Nan has done
+it. Nan asked to lie down beside her, and she said, 'Poor Annie! poor
+Annie!' and stroked her cheek; and in some way, I don't know how, the two
+have gone to sleep together. Annie did not even glance at her father; she
+was quite taken up with Nan. You can come to the door and look at her,
+Hester."
+
+Hester did so. A time had been when she could scarcely have borne that
+sight without a pang of jealousy; now she turned to Mr. Everard:
+
+"I--I could even give her the heart of little Nan to keep her here," she
+murmured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+THE PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+
+Annie did not die. The fever passed away in that long and refreshing
+sleep, while Nan's cool hand lay against her cheek. She came slowly,
+slowly back to life--to a fresh, a new, and a glad life. Hester, from
+being her enemy, was now her dearest and warmest friend. Her father was
+at home again, and she could no longer think or speak of herself as
+lonely or sad. She recovered, and in future days reigned as a greater
+favorite than ever at Lavender House. It is only fair to say that Tiger
+never went back to the gypsies, but devoted himself first and foremost to
+Annie, and then to the captain, who pronounced him a capital dog, and
+when he heard his story vowed he never would part with him.
+
+Owing to Annie's illness, and to all the trouble and confusion which
+immediately ensued, Mrs. Willis did not give away her prizes at the usual
+time; but when her scholars once more assembled at Lavender House she
+astonished several of them by a few words.
+
+"My dears," she said, standing in her accustomed place at the head of the
+long school-room, "I intend now before our first day of lessons begins,
+to distribute those prizes which would have been yours, under ordinary
+circumstances, on the twenty-first of June. The prizes will be
+distributed during the afternoon recess; but here, and now, I wish to say
+something about--and also to give away--the prize for English
+composition. Six essays, all written with more or less care, have been
+given to me to inspect. There are reasons which we need not now go into
+which made it impossible to me to say anything in favor of a theme called
+'The River,' written by my late pupil, Miss Russell; but I can cordially
+praise a very nice historical sketch of Marie Antoinette, the work of
+Hester Thornton. Mary Price has also written a study which pleases me
+much, as it shows thought and even a little originality. The remainder of
+the six essays simply reach an ordinary average. You will be surprised
+therefore, my dears, to learn that I do not award the prize to any of
+these themes, but rather to a seventh composition, which was put into my
+hands yesterday by Miss Danesbury. It is crude and unfinished, and
+doubtless but for her recent illness would have received many
+corrections; but these few pages, which are called 'A Lonely Child,' drew
+tears from my eyes; crude as they are, they have the merit of real
+originality. They are too morbid to read to you, girls, and I sincerely
+trust and pray the young writer may never pen anything so sad again. Such
+as they are, however, they rank first in the order of merit and the prize
+is hers. Annie, my dear, come forward."
+
+Annie left her seat, and, amid the cheers of her companions, went up to
+Mrs. Willis, who placed a locket, attached to a slender gold chain, round
+her neck; the locket contained a miniature of the head-mistress'
+much-loved face.
+
+"After all, think of our Annie Forest turning out clever as well as being
+the prettiest and dearest girl in the school!" exclaimed several of her
+companions.
+
+"Only I do wish," added one, "that Mrs. Willis had let us see the essay.
+Annie, treasure, come here; tell us what the 'Lonely Child' was about."
+
+"I don't remember," answered Annie. "I don't know what loneliness means
+now, so how can I describe it?"
+
+THE END
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS
+For Young People
+BY POPULAR WRITERS,
+97-99-101 Reade Street, New York.
+
+Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By G. A. HENTY.
+With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service. The boy,
+brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a Jacobite agent,
+escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches Paris, and serves with
+the French army at Dettingen. He kills his father's foe in a duel, and
+escaping to the coast, shares the adventures of Prince Charlie, but
+finally settles happily in Scotland.
+
+"Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of 'Quentin Durward.' The lad's
+journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a
+narrative of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treatment
+and variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself."--_Spectator._
+
+With Clive in India; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By G. A. HENTY.
+With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in India and
+the close of his career was critical and eventful in the extreme. At its
+commencement the English were traders existing on sufferance of the
+native princes. At its close they were masters of Bengal and of the
+greater part of Southern India. The author has given a full and accurate
+account of the events of that stirring time, and battles and sieges
+follow each other in rapid succession, while he combines with his
+narrative a tale of daring and adventure, which gives a lifelike interest
+to the volume.
+
+"He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance,
+and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is
+deeply interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the
+volume."--_Scotsman._
+
+The Lion of the North: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of
+Religion. By G. A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by JOHN
+SCHöNBERG. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the Thirty
+Years' War. The issue had its importance, which has extended to the
+present day, as it established religious freedom in Germany. The army of
+the chivalrous king of Sweden was largely composed of Scotchmen, and
+among these was the hero of the story.
+
+"The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys may
+be trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be
+profited."--_Times._
+
+The Dragon and the Raven; or, The Days of King Alfred. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle between
+Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents a vivid picture of
+the misery and ruin to which the country was reduced by the ravages of
+the sea-wolves. The hero, a young Saxon thane, takes part in all the
+battles fought by King Alfred. He is driven from his home, takes to the
+sea and resists the Danes on their own element, and being pursued by them
+up the Seine, is present at the long and desperate siege of Paris.
+
+"Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader."--_Athenæum._
+
+The Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen
+appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first a
+struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of Carthage,
+that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he defeated the
+Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannæ, and all but took Rome,
+represents pretty nearly the sum total of their knowledge. To let them
+know more about this momentous struggle for the empire of the world Mr.
+Henty has written this story, which not only gives in graphic style a
+brilliant description of a most interesting period of history, but is a
+tale of exciting adventure sure to secure the interest of the reader.
+
+"Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays the
+interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose current
+varies in direction, but never loses its force."--_Saturday Review._
+
+In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish War of
+Independence. The extraordinary valor and personal prowess of Wallace and
+Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical heroes of chivalry, and indeed at
+one time Wallace was ranked with these legendary personages. The
+researches of modern historians have shown, however, that he was a
+living, breathing man--and a valiant champion. The hero of the tale
+fought under both Wallace and Bruce, and while the strictest historical
+accuracy has been maintained with respect to public events, the work is
+full of "hairbreadth 'scapes" and wild adventure.
+
+"It is written in the author's best style. Full of the wildest and most
+remarkable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy,
+once he has begun it, will not willingly put on one side."--_The
+Schoolmaster._
+
+With Lee in Virginia: A Story of the American Civil War. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely proving his
+sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves with no less courage
+and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson through the most exciting events of
+the struggle. He has many hairbreadth escapes, is several times wounded
+and twice taken prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in two
+cases, the devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom he had
+assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties.
+
+"One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. The
+picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic
+incidents are skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of
+the story."--_Standard._
+
+By England's Aid; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604). By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE, and Maps. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in the service
+of one of "the fighting Veres." After many adventures by sea and land,
+one of the lads finds himself on board a Spanish ship at the time of the
+defeat of the Armada, and escapes only to fall into the hands of the
+Corsairs. He is successful in getting back to Spain under the protection
+of a wealthy merchant, and regains his native country after the capture
+of Cadiz.
+
+"It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring
+incident and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the
+scene are finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its
+attractiveness."--_Boston Gazette._
+
+By Right of Conquest; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by W. S. STACEY, and Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.50.
+
+The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under the
+magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked among the most
+romantic and daring exploits in history. With this as the groundwork of
+his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the adventures of an English youth,
+Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor of the good ship Swan, which had sailed
+from a Devon port to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards
+in the New World. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but is
+saved by his own judgment and strength, and by the devotion of an Aztec
+princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the protection of the Spaniards,
+and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining his native shore,
+with a fortune and a charming Aztec bride.
+
+"'By Right of Conquest' is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful
+Historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published."--_Academy._
+
+In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by J. SCHöNBERG. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the chateau of a
+French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies the family to
+Paris at the crisis of the Revolution. Imprisonment and death reduce
+their number, and the hero finds himself beset by perils with the three
+young daughters of the house in his charge. After hairbreadth escapes
+they reach Nantes. There the girls are condemned to death in the
+coffin-ships, but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy
+protector.
+
+"Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr.
+Henty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and
+peril they depict.... The story is one of Mr. Henty's best."--_Saturday
+Review._
+
+With Wolfe in Canada; or, The Winning of a Continent. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle between
+Britain and France for supremacy in the North American continent. On the
+issue of this war depended not only the destinies of North America, but
+to a large extent those of the mother countries themselves. The fall of
+Quebec decided that the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New
+World; that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the
+nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the English
+language, and English literature, should spread right round the globe.
+
+"It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically
+told, but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure
+and peril by flood and field."--_Illustrated London News._
+
+True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence. By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth,
+price $1.00.
+
+In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who took
+part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which American
+and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave with greater
+courage and good conduct. The historical portion of the book being
+accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures with the redskins on the
+shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting interest is interwoven with the
+general narrative and carried through the book.
+
+"Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers
+during the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son of
+an American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the
+hostile redskins in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us
+by the exploits of Hawkeye and Chingachgook."--_The Times._
+
+The Lion of St. Mark: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth Century. By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth,
+price $1.00.
+
+A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor were put to
+the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and manliness which
+carry him safely through an atmosphere of intrigue, crime, and bloodshed.
+He contributes largely to the victories of the Venetians at Porto d'Anzo
+and Chioggia, and finally wins the hand of the daughter of one of the
+chief men of Venice.
+
+"Every boy should read 'The Lion of St. Mark.' Mr. Henty has never produced
+a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious."--_Saturday
+Review._
+
+A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by W. B. WOLLEN. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood, emigrates
+to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the mounted police. A
+few years of active work on the frontier, where he has many a brush with
+both natives and bushrangers, gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he
+eventually settles down to the peaceful life of a squatter.
+
+"Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully
+constructed, or a better written story than this."--_Spectator._
+
+Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the supremacy of
+the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the Pacific expedition,
+and in his great voyage of circumnavigation. The historical portion of
+the story is absolutely to be relied upon, but this will perhaps be less
+attractive than the great variety of exciting adventure through which the
+young heroes pass in the course of their voyages.
+
+"A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one
+would think, to turn his hair gray."--_Harper's Monthly Magazine._
+
+By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By G. A. HENTY. With full-page
+Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details of
+the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness. His hero, after
+many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained a prisoner by the
+king just before the outbreak of the war, but escapes, and accompanies
+the English expedition on their march to Coomassie.
+
+"Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories. 'By
+Sheer Pluck' will be eagerly read."--_Athenæum._
+
+By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by MAYNARD BROWN, and 4 Maps. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds of an
+English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age--William the
+Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea captain, enters the
+service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed by him in many
+dangerous and responsible missions, in the discharge of which he passes
+through the great sieges of the time. He ultimately settles down as Sir
+Edward Martin.
+
+"Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the
+book, while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in
+spite of themselves."--_St. James' Gazette._
+
+St. George for England: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+No portion of English history is more crowded with great events than that
+of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; the destruction of the
+Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death; the Jacquerie rising; these
+are treated by the author in "St. George for England." The hero of the
+story, although of good family, begins life as a London apprentice, but
+after countless adventures and perils becomes by valor and good conduct
+the squire, and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince.
+
+"Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys
+which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of
+Sir Walter Scott in the land of fiction."--_The Standard._
+
+Captain's Kidd's Gold: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor Boy. By
+JAMES FRANKLIN FITTS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very idea of
+buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy Portuguese and
+Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming eyes--sinister-looking
+fellows who once on a time haunted the Spanish Main, sneaking out from
+some hidden creek in their long, low schooner, of picaroonish rake and
+sheer, to attack an unsuspecting trading craft. There were many famous sea
+rovers in their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps the
+most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts' true story of an adventurous
+American boy, who receives from his dying father an ancient bit of vellum,
+which the latter obtained in a curious way. The document bears obscure
+directions purporting to locate a certain island in the Bahama group, and
+a considerable treasure buried there by two of Kidd's crew. The hero of
+this book, Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of
+salt-water New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and
+secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our youth that
+has come from the press.
+
+Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a
+considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the latter,
+and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves England for
+America. He works his passage before the mast, joins a small band of
+hunters, crosses a tract of country infested with Indians to the
+Californian gold diggings, and is successful both as digger and trader.
+
+"Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the
+humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John Holl, the Westminster
+dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled."--_Christian
+Leader._
+
+For Name and Fame; or, Through Afghan Passes. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero, after
+being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures among the
+Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment proceeding to
+join the army at the Afghan passes. He accompanies the force under
+General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, is wounded, taken prisoner, carried
+to Cabul, whence he is transferred to Candahar, and takes part in the
+final defeat of the army of Ayoub Khan.
+
+"The best feature of the book--apart from the interest of its scenes of
+adventure--is its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the
+Afghan people."--_Daily News._
+
+Captured by Apes: The Wonderful Adventures of a Young Animal Trainer. By
+HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
+
+The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archipelago.
+Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of New York, sets
+sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of living curiosities. The
+vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo and young Garland, the sole
+survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore on a small island, and captured
+by the apes that overrun the place. The lad discovers that the ruling
+spirit of the monkey tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, whom he
+identifies as Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession and with
+whose instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute recognizes
+him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his former master
+through the same course of training he had himself experienced with a
+faithfulness of detail which shows how astonishing is monkey
+recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by which the young man escapes
+death. Mr. Prentice has certainly worked a new vein on juvenile fiction,
+and the ability with which he handles a difficult subject stamps him as a
+writer of undoubted skill.
+
+The Bravest of the Brave; or, With Peterborough in Spain. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so completely
+fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. This is
+largely due to the fact that they were overshadowed by the glory and
+successes of Marlborough. His career as general extended over little more
+than a year, and yet, in that time, he showed a genius for warfare which
+has never been surpassed.
+
+"Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work--to enforce
+the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read 'The Bravest of the
+Brave' with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure."--_Daily
+Telegraph._
+
+The Cat of Bubastes: A Story of Ancient Egypt. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight into the
+customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the Rebu nation, is
+carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery. They become inmates of
+the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest, and are happy in his
+service until the priest's son accidentally kills the sacred cat of
+Bubastes. In an outburst of popular fury Ameres is killed, and it rests
+with Jethro and Amuba to secure the escape of the high-priest's son and
+daughter.
+
+"The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat to
+the perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully
+constructed and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably
+illustrated."--_Saturday Review._
+
+With Washington at Monmouth: A Story of Three Philadelphia Boys. By JAMES
+OTIS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon "whose mother conducted a
+boarding-house which was patronized by the British officers;" Enoch Ball,
+"son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing school was situated on Letitia
+Street," and little Jacob, son of "Chris, the Baker," serve as the
+principal characters. The story is laid during the winter when Lord Howe
+held possession of the city, and the lads aid the cause by assisting the
+American spies who make regular and frequent visits from Valley Forge.
+One reads here of home-life in the captive city when bread was scarce
+among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless prodigality shown
+by the British officers, who passed the winter in feasting and
+merry-making while the members of the patriot army but a few miles away
+were suffering from both cold and hunger. The story abounds with pictures
+of Colonial life skillfully drawn, and the glimpses of Washington's
+soldiers which are given show that the work has not been hastily done, or
+without considerable study.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25870-8.txt or 25870-8.zip *****
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade.
+</title>
+
+<style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
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+    h3                {text-align:center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em}
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+    .figcenter        {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center;}
+    .caption          {font-size:.8em}
+    table             {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;}
+    .blockquot        {margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%;}
+    .pagenum          {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; color: silver; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;}
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+    hr.silver         {width: 100%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;}
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+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A World of Girls
+       The Story of a School
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: June 22, 2008 [EBook #25870]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='text-align:center;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;SHAKE HANDS, NOW, AND LET US MAKE FRIENDS.&#8217;&#8221; (Page 27.)
+<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-bottom:1em;'>A WORLD OF GIRLS:</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>THE STORY OF A SCHOOL.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:1em; margin-bottom:1em;'>By L. T. MEADE.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-style:italic;'>Author of &#8220;The Palace Beautiful,&#8221; &#8220;A Sweet Girl Graduate,&#8221;<br />&#8220;Polly: A New Fashioned Girl,&#8221; Etc.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>ILLUSTRATED.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>NEW YORK:</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.0em;'>A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>CONTENTS</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr style='width: 10%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;' />
+
+<table border='0' width='400' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER I.</td>
+</tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;Good-Bye&#8221; to the Old Life.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I__GOODBYE__TO_THE_OLD_LIFE'>1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Traveling Companions.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II_TRAVELING_COMPANIONS'>6</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>At Lavender House.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III_AT_LAVENDER_HOUSE'>13</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Little Drawing-Rooms and Little Tiffs.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV_LITTLE_DRAWINGROOMS_AND_LITTLE_TIFFS'>19</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>The Head-Mistress.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V_THE_HEADMISTRESS'>28</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;I am Unhappy.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI__I_AM_UNHAPPY'>32</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Day at School.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII_A_DAY_AT_SCHOOL'>35</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;You have Waked me too Soon.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII__YOU_HAVE_WAKED_ME_TOO_SOON'>47</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER IX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Work and Play.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX_WORK_AND_PLAY'>54</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER X.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Varieties.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X_VARIETIES'>62</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>What was Found in the School-Desk.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI_WHAT_WAS_FOUND_IN_THE_SCHOOLDESK'>74</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the Chapel.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII_IN_THE_CHAPEL'>88</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Talking over the Mystery.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII_TALKING_OVER_THE_MYSTERY'>95</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;Sent to Coventry.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV__SENT_TO_COVENTRY'>102</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>About Some People who Thought no Evil.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV_ABOUT_SOME_PEOPLE_WHO_THOUGHT_NO_EVIL'>107</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;An Enemy Hath Done This.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI__AN_ENEMY_HATH_DONE_THIS'>114</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;The Sweets are Poisoned.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII__THE_SWEETS_ARE_POISONED'>123</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the Hammock.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII_IN_THE_HAMMOCK'>129</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Cup and Ball.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX_CUP_AND_BALL'>136</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the South Parlor.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX_IN_THE_SOUTH_PARLOR'>143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Stealing Hearts.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI_STEALING_HEARTS'>151</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In Burn Castle Wood.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXII_IN_BURN_CASTLE_WOOD'>155</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;Humpty-Dumpty had a Great Fall.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII__HUMPTYDUMPTY_HAD_A_GREAT_FALL'>168</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Annie to the Rescue.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV_ANNIE_TO_THE_RESCUE'>173</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Spoiled Baby.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXV_A_SPOILED_BABY'>180</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Under the Laurel Bush.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI_UNDER_THE_LAUREL_BUSH'>188</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXVII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Truants.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII_TRUANTS'>193</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>In the Fairies&#8217; Field.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII_IN_THE_FAIRIES__FIELD'>198</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Hester&#8217;s Forgotten Book.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX_HESTER_S_FORGOTTEN_BOOK'>204</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;A Muddy Stream.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXX__A_MUDDY_STREAM'>212</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Good and Bad Angels.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI_GOOD_AND_BAD_ANGELS'>218</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Fresh Suspicions.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII_FRESH_SUSPICIONS'>221</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Untrustworthy.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII_UNTRUSTWORTHY'>227</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Betty Falls Ill at an Awkward Time.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV_BETTY_FALLS_ILL_AT_AN_AWKWARD_TIME'>233</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>&#8220;You are Welcome to Tell.&#8221;</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV__YOU_ARE_WELCOME_TO_TELL'>241</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>How Moses Moore Kept His Appointment.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI_HOW_MOSES_MOORE_KEPT_HIS_APPOINTMENT'>247</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXVII</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Broken Trust.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVII_A_BROKEN_TRUST'>252</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Is She Still Guilty?</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVIII_IS_SHE_STILL_GUILTY'>259</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XXXIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Hester&#8217;s Hour of Trial.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIX_HESTER_S_HOUR_OF_TRIAL'>265</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XL.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>A Gypsy Maid.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XL_A_GYPSY_MAID'>272</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Disguised.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLI_DISGUISED'>278</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Hester.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLII_HESTER'>284</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Susan.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLIII_SUSAN'>289</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLIV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Under the Hedge.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLIV_UNDER_THE_HEDGE'>293</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLV.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Tiger.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLV_TIGER'>297</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLVI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>For Love of Nan.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLVI_FOR_LOVE_OF_NAN'>303</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLVII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Rescued.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLVII_RESCUED'>310</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLVIII.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Dark Days.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLVIII_DARK_DAYS'>313</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER XLIX.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>Two Confessions.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XLIX_TWO_CONFESSIONS'>318</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER L.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>The Heart of Little Nan.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_L_THE_HEART_OF_LITTLE_NAN'>326</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"  align='center'>CHAPTER LI.</td></tr><tr>
+  <td  align='left'>The Prize Essay.</td>
+  <td style='border-bottom:20px solid white' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_LI_THE_PRIZE_ESSAY'>334</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-top:2em;'>A WORLD OF GIRLS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 0em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_I__GOODBYE__TO_THE_OLD_LIFE' id='CHAPTER_I__GOODBYE__TO_THE_OLD_LIFE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;GOOD-BYE&#8221; TO THE OLD LIFE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Me want to see Hetty,&#8221; said an imperious baby
+voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; not this morning, Miss Nan, dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me do want to see Hetty,&#8221; was the quick, impatient
+reply. And a sturdy indignant little face
+looked up at Nurse, to watch the effect of the last
+decisive words.
+</p>
+<p>Finding no affirmative reply on Nurse&#8217;s placid
+face, the small lips closed firmly&mdash;two dimples came
+and went on two very round cheeks&mdash;the mischievous
+brown eyes grew full of laughter, and the next
+moment the little questioner had squeezed her way
+through a slightly open door, and was toddling
+down the broad stone stairs and across a landing to
+Hetty&#8217;s room. The room-door was open, so the
+truant went in. A bed with the bed-clothes all
+tossed about, a half worn-out slipper on the floor, a
+very untidy dressing-table met her eyes, but no
+Hetty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want Hetty, me do,&#8221; piped the treble voice,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+and then the little feet commenced a careful and
+watchful pilgrimage, the lips still firmly shut, the
+dimples coming and going, and the eyes throwing
+many upward glances in the direction of Nurse and
+the nursery.
+</p>
+<p>No pursuit as yet, and great, great hope of finding
+Hetty somewhere in the down-stair regions.
+Ah, now, how good! those dangerous stairs had
+been descended, and the little voice calling in shrill
+tones for Hetty rang out in the wide hall.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let her come to me,&#8221; suddenly said an answering
+voice, and a girl of about twelve, dressed in
+deep mourning, suddenly opened the door of a
+small study and clasped the little one in her arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you have found me, my precious, my dearest!
+Brave, plucky little Nan, you have got away
+from Nurse and found me out! Come into the
+study now, darling, and you shall have some breakfast.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want a bicky, Hetty,&#8221; said the baby voice;
+the round arms clasped Hester&#8217;s neck, but the brown
+eyes were already traveling eagerly over the breakfast
+table in quest of spoil for those rosy little lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here are two biscuits, Nan. Nan, look me in
+the face&mdash;here, sit steady on my knee; you love me,
+don&#8217;t you, Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Course me do,&#8221; said the child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I&#8217;m going away from you, Nan, darling.
+For months and months I won&#8217;t see anything of
+you. My heart will be always with you, and I shall
+think of you morning, noon and night. I love no
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+one as I love you, Nan. You will think of me and
+love me too; won&#8217;t you, Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me will,&#8221; said Nan; &#8220;me want more bicky,
+Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes,&#8221; answered Hester; &#8220;put your arms
+tight round my neck, and you shall have sugar, too.
+Tighter than that, Nan, and you shall have two
+lumps of sugar&mdash;oh, yes, you shall&mdash;I don&#8217;t care if
+it makes you sick&mdash;you shall have just what you
+want the last moment we are together.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Baby Nan was only too pleased to crumple up a
+crape frill and to smear a black dress with sticky
+little fingers for the sake of the sugar which Hetty
+plied her with.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;More, Hetty,&#8221; she said; &#8220;me&#8217;ll skeeze &#8217;oo vedy
+tight for more.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>On this scene Nurse unexpectedly entered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I never! and so you found your way all
+downstairs by yourself, you little toddle. Now,
+Miss Hetty, I hope you haven&#8217;t been giving the
+precious lamb sugar; you know it never does suit
+the little dear. Oh, fie! baby; and what sticky
+hands! Miss Hetty, she has crumpled all your
+crape frills.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What matter?&#8221; said Hester. &#8220;I wanted a good
+hug, and I gave her three or four lumps. Babies
+won&#8217;t squeeze you tight for nothing. There, my
+Nancy, go back to Nurse. Nurse, take her away;
+I&#8217;ll break down in a minute if I see her looking at
+me with that little pout.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nurse took the child into her arms.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, Miss Hester, dear. Try to be a good
+girl at school. Take my word, missy&mdash;things won&#8217;t
+be as dark as they seem.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, Nurse,&#8221; said Hester, hastily. &#8220;Is
+that you, father? are you calling me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She gathered up her muff and gloves, and ran
+out of the little study where she had been making
+believe to eat breakfast. A tall, stern-looking man
+was in the hall, buttoning on an overcoat; a
+brougham waited at the door. The next moment
+Hester and her father were bowling away in the
+direction of the nearest railway station. Nan&#8217;s little
+chubby face had faded from view. The old square,
+gray house, sacred to Hester because of Nan, had
+also disappeared; the avenue even was passed, and
+Hester closed her bright brown eyes. She felt that
+she was being pushed out into a cold world, and
+was no longer in the same snug nest with Nan. An intolerable
+pain was at her heart; she did not glance
+at her father, who during their entire drive occupied
+himself over his morning paper. At last they
+reached the railway station, and just as Sir John
+Thornton was handing his daughter into a comfortable
+first-class carriage, marked &#8220;For Ladies only,&#8221;
+and was presenting her with her railway ticket and
+a copy of the last week&#8217;s illustrated newspaper, he
+spoke:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The guard will take care of you, Hester. I am
+giving him full directions, and he will come to you
+at every station, and bring you tea or any refreshment
+you may require. This train takes you straight
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
+to Sefton, and Mrs. Willis will meet you, or send
+for you there. Good-bye, my love; try to be a
+good girl, and curb your wild spirits. I hope to see
+you very much improved when you come home at
+midsummer. Good-bye, dear, good-bye. Ah, you
+want to kiss me&mdash;well, just one kiss. There&mdash;oh,
+my dear! you know I have a great dislike to emotion
+in public.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Sir John Thornton said this because a pair of
+arms had been flung suddenly round his neck, and
+two kisses imprinted passionately on his sallow
+cheek. A tear also rested on his cheek, but that he
+wiped away.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_II_TRAVELING_COMPANIONS' id='CHAPTER_II_TRAVELING_COMPANIONS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<h3>TRAVELING COMPANIONS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The train moved rapidly on its way, and the girl
+in one corner of the railway carriage cried silently
+behind her crape veil. Her tears were very subdued,
+but her heart felt sore, bruised, indignant;
+she hated the idea of school-life before her; she
+hated the expected restraints and the probable punishments;
+she fancied herself going from a free life
+into a prison, and detested it accordingly.
+</p>
+<p>Three months before, Hester Thornton had been
+one of the happiest, brightest and merriest of little
+girls in &mdash;&mdash;shire; but the mother who was her
+guardian angel, who had kept the frank and spirited
+child in check without appearing to do so, who had
+guided her by the magical power of love and not in
+the least by that of fear, had met her death suddenly
+by means of a carriage accident, and Hester
+and baby Nan were left motherless. Several little
+brothers and sisters had come between Hester and
+Nan, but from various causes they had all died in
+their infancy, and only the eldest and youngest of
+Sir John Thornton&#8217;s family remained.
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s father was stern, uncompromising. He
+was a very just and upright man, but he knew
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+nothing of the ways of children, and when Hester
+in her usual tom-boyish fashion climbed trees and
+tore her dresses, and rode bare-backed on one or two
+of his most dangerous horses, he not only tried a
+little sharp, and therefore useless, correction, but
+determined to take immediate steps to have his wild
+and rather unmanageable little daughter sent to a
+first-class school. Hester was on her way there
+now, and very sore was her heart and indignant
+her impulses. Father&#8217;s &#8220;good-bye&#8221; seemed to her
+to be the crowning touch to her unhappiness, and
+she made up her mind not to be good, not to learn
+her lessons, not to come home at midsummer crowned
+with honors and reduced to an every-day and pattern
+little girl. No, she would be the same wild
+Hetty as of yore; and when father saw that school
+could do nothing for her, that it could never make
+her into a good and ordinary little girl, he would
+allow her to remain at home. At home there was
+at least Nan to love, and there was mother to remember.
+</p>
+<p>Hetty was a child of the strongest feelings.
+Since her mother&#8217;s death she had scarcely mentioned
+her name. When her father alluded to his wife,
+Hester ran out of the room; when the servants
+spoke of their late mistress, Hester turned pale,
+stamped her feet, and told them to be quiet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are not worthy to speak of my mother,&#8221;
+she electrified them all one day by exclaiming:
+&#8220;My mother is an angel now, and you&mdash;oh, you are
+not fit to breathe her name!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span></p>
+<p>Only to one person would Hetty ever voluntarily
+say a word about the beloved dead mother, and that
+was to little Nan. Nan said her prayers, as she expressed
+it, to Hetty now; and Hetty taught her a
+little phrase to use instead of the familiar &#8220;God
+bless mother.&#8221; She taught the child to say, &#8220;Thank
+God for making mother into a beautiful angel;&#8221;
+and when Nan asked what an angel was, and how
+the cozy mother she remembered could be turned
+into one, Hester was beguiled into a soft and tearful
+talk, and she drew several lovely pictures of
+white-robed angels, until the little child was satisfied
+and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like that, Hetty&mdash;me&#8217;ll be an angel too,
+Hetty, same as mamma.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These talks with Nan, however, did not come very
+often, and of late they had almost ceased, for Nan
+was only two and a half, and the strange, sad fact
+remained that in three months she had almost forgotten
+her mother.
+</p>
+<p>Hester on her way to school this morning cried
+for some time, then she sat silent, her crape veil still
+down, and her eyes watching furtively her fellow-passengers.
+They consisted of two rather fidgety
+old ladies, who wrapped themselves in rugs, were
+very particular on the question of hot bottles, and
+watched Hester in their turn with considerable
+curiosity and interest. Presently one of them
+offered the little girl a sandwich, which she was too
+proud or too shy to accept, although by this time
+she was feeling extremely hungry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You will, perhaps, prefer a cake, my dear?&#8221;
+said the good-natured little old lady. &#8220;My sister
+Agnes has got some delicious queen-cakes in her
+basket&mdash;will you eat one?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester murmured a feeble assent, and the queen-cake
+did her so much good that she ventured to
+raise her crape veil and to look around her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, that is much better,&#8221; said the first little old
+lady. &#8220;Come to this side of the carriage, my love;
+we are just going to pass through a lovely bit of
+country, and you will like to watch the view. See;
+if you place yourself here, my sister Agnes&#8217; basket
+will be just at your feet, and you can help yourself
+to a queen-cake whenever you are so disposed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; responded Hester, in a much more
+cheerful tone, for it was really quite impossible to
+keep up reserve with such a bright-looking little old
+lady; &#8220;your queen-cakes are very nice, and I liked
+that one, but one is quite enough, thank you. It is
+Nan who is so particularly fond of queen-cakes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And who is Nan, my dear?&#8221; asked the sister to
+whom the queen-cakes specially belonged.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is my dear little baby sister,&#8221; said Hester
+in a sorrowful tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, and it was about her you were crying just
+now,&#8221; said the first lady, laying her hand on Hester&#8217;s
+arm. &#8220;Never mind us, dear, we have seen a great
+many tears&mdash;a great many. They are the way of
+the world. Women are born to them. As Kingsley
+says&mdash;&#8216;women must weep.&#8217; It was quite natural
+that you should cry about your sweet little Nan,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span>
+and I wish we could send her some of these queen-cakes
+that you say she is so fond of. Are you going
+to be long away from her, love?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, for months and months,&#8221; said Hester.
+&#8220;I did not know,&#8221; she added, &#8220;that it was such a
+common thing to cry. I never used to.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, you have had other trouble, poor child,&#8221;
+glancing at her deep mourning frock.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is since then I have cried so often.
+Please, I would rather not speak about it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite right, my love, quite right,&#8221; said Miss
+Agnes in a much brisker tone than her sister.
+&#8220;We will turn the conversation now to something
+inspiriting. Jane is quite right, there are plenty of
+tears in the world; but there is also a great deal of
+sunshine and heaps of laughter, merry laughter&mdash;the
+laughter of youth, my child. Now, I dare say,
+though you have begun your journey so sadly, that
+you are really bound on quite a pleasant little expedition.
+For instance, you are going to visit a
+kind aunt, or some one else who will give you a
+delightful welcome.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;I am not. I am going to a
+dreadful place, and the thought of that, and parting
+from little Nan, are the reasons why I cried. I am
+going to prison&mdash;I am, indeed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear love!&#8221; exclaimed both the little
+old ladies in a breath. Then Miss Agnes continued:
+&#8220;You have really taken Jane&#8217;s breath away&mdash;quite.
+Yes, Jane, I see that you are in for an attack
+of palpitation. Never mind her, dear, she palpitates
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+very easily; but I think you must be mistaken,
+my love, in mentioning such an appalling
+word as &#8216;prison.&#8217; Yes, now I come to think of it,
+it is absolutely certain that you must be mistaken;
+for if you were going to such a terrible place of
+punishment you would be under the charge of a
+policeman. You are given to strong language, dear,
+like other young folk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I call it prison,&#8221; continued Hester, who
+was rather flattered by all this bustle and Miss
+Jane&#8217;s agitation; &#8220;it has a dreadful sound, hasn&#8217;t it?
+I call it prison, but father says I am going to school&mdash;you
+can&#8217;t wonder that I am crying, can you?
+Oh! what is the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For the two little old ladies jumped up at this
+juncture, and gave Hetty a kiss apiece on her soft,
+young lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My darling,&#8221; they both exclaimed, &#8220;we are so
+relieved and delighted! Your strong language startled
+us, and school is anything but what you imagine,
+dear. Ah, Jane! can you ever forget our happy
+days at school?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Jane sighed and rolled up her eyes, and then
+the two commenced a vigorous catechizing of the
+little girl. Really Hester could not help feeling
+almost sunshiny before that long journey came to
+an end, for she and the Misses Bruce made some delightful
+discoveries. The little old ladies very
+quickly found out that they lived close to the school
+where Hetty was to spend the next few months.
+They knew Mrs. Willis well&mdash;they knew the delightful,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+rambling, old-fashioned house where Hester
+was to live&mdash;they even knew two or three of the
+scholars; and they said so often to the little girl that
+she was going into a life of clover&mdash;positive clover&mdash;that
+she began to smile, and even partly to believe
+them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad I shall be near you, at least,&#8221; she said
+at last, with a frank sweet smile, for she had greatly
+taken to her kind fellow-travelers.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my dear,&#8221; exclaimed Miss Jane. &#8220;We attend
+the same church, and I shall look out for you
+on Sunday, and,&#8221; she continued, glancing first at her
+sister and then addressing Hester, &#8220;perhaps Mrs.
+Willis will allow you to visit us occasionally.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll come to-morrow, if you like,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, dear, well&mdash;that must be as Mrs. Willis
+thinks best. Ah, here we are at Sefton at last. We
+shall look out for you in church on Sunday, my
+love.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_III_AT_LAVENDER_HOUSE' id='CHAPTER_III_AT_LAVENDER_HOUSE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<h3>AT LAVENDER HOUSE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hester&#8217;s journey had really proved wonderfully
+agreeable. She had taken a great fancy to the little old
+ladies who had fussed over her and made themselves
+pleasant in her behalf. She felt herself something
+like a heroine as she poured out a little, just a little,
+of her troubles into their sympathizing ears; and
+their cheerful remarks with regard to school and
+school-life had caused her to see clearly that there
+might be another and a brighter side to the gloomy
+picture she had drawn with regard to her future.
+</p>
+<p>But during the drive of two and a half miles from
+Sefton to Lavender House, Hester once more began
+to feel anxious and troubled. The Misses Bruce had
+gone off with some other passengers in a little omnibus
+to their small villa in the town, but Lavender
+House was some distance off, and the little omnibus
+never went so far.
+</p>
+<p>An old-fashioned carriage, which the ladies told
+Hester belonged to Mrs. Willis, had been sent to
+meet her, and a man whom the Misses Bruce addressed
+as &#8220;Thomas&#8221; helped to place her trunk and
+a small portmanteau on the roof of the vehicle. The
+little girl had to take her drive alone, and the rather
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+ancient horse which drew the old carriage climbed
+up and down the steep roads in a most leisurely
+fashion. It was a cold winter&#8217;s day, and by the
+time Thomas had executed some commissions in
+Sefton, and had reached the gates of the avenue
+which led to Lavender House, it was very nearly
+dark. Hester trembled at the darkness, and when
+the gates were shut behind them by a rosy-faced
+urchin of ten, she once more began to feel the cruel
+and desolate idea that she was going to prison.
+</p>
+<p>They drove slowly down a long and winding
+avenue, and, although Hester could not see, she knew
+they must be passing under trees, for several times
+their branches made a noise against the roof of the
+carriage. At last they came to a standstill. The
+old servant scrambled slowly down from his seat on
+the box, and, opening the carriage-door, held out his
+hand to help the little stranger to alight.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come now, missy,&#8221; he said in cheering tones,
+&#8220;come out, and you&#8217;ll be warm and snug in a minute.
+Dear, dear! I expect you&#8217;re nearly froze up,
+poor little miss, and it <i>is</i> a most bitter cold night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He rang a bell which hung by the entrance of a
+deep porch, and the next moment the wide hall-door
+was flung open by a neat maid-servant, and Hester
+stepped within.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s come,&#8221; exclaimed several voices in different
+keys, and proceeding apparently from different
+quarters. Hester looked around her in a half-startled
+way, but she could see no one, except the maid, who
+smiled at her and said:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Welcome to Lavender House, miss. If you&#8217;ll
+step into the porter&#8217;s room for one moment, there is
+a good fire there, and I&#8217;ll acquaint Miss Danesbury
+that you have arrived.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The little room in question was at the right hand
+side of a very wide and cheerful hall, which was
+decorated in pale tints of green, and had a handsome
+encaustic-tiled floor. A blazing fire and two lamps
+made the hall look cheerful, but Hester was very
+glad to take refuge from the unknown voices in the
+porter&#8217;s small room. She found herself quite trembling
+with shyness and cold, and an indescribable
+longing to get back to Nan; and as she waited for
+Miss Danesbury and wondered fearfully who or
+what Miss Danesbury was, she scarcely derived any
+comfort from the blazing fire near which she stood.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rather tall for her age, but I fear, I greatly
+fear, a little sulky,&#8221; said a voice behind her; and
+when she turned round in an agony of trepidation
+and terror, she suddenly found herself face to face
+with a tall, kind-looking, middle-aged lady, and also
+with a bright, gypsy-looking girl.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie Forest, how very naughty of you to hide
+behind the door! You are guilty of disobedience
+in coming into this room without leave. I must report
+you, my dear; yes, I really must. You lose
+two good conduct marks for this, and will probably
+have thirty lines in addition to your usual quantity
+of French poetry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But she won&#8217;t tell on me, she won&#8217;t, dear old
+Danesbury,&#8221; said the girl; &#8220;she couldn&#8217;t be so
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+hard-hearted, the precious love, particularly as curiosity
+happens to be one of her own special little
+virtues! Take a kiss, Danesbury, and now, as you love
+me you&#8217;ll be merciful!&#8221; The girl flitted away, and
+Miss Danesbury turned to Hester, whose face had
+changed from red to pale during this little scene.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What a horrid, vulgar, low-bred girl!&#8221; she exclaimed
+with passion, for in all the experiences of
+her short life Hester had never even imagined that
+personal remarks could be made of any one in their
+very presence. &#8220;I hope she&#8217;ll get a lot of punishment&mdash;I
+hope you are not going to forgive her,&#8221;
+she continued, for her anger had for the time quite
+overcome her shyness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear, my dear! we should all be forgiving,&#8221;
+exclaimed Miss Danesbury in her gentle voice.
+&#8220;Welcome to Lavender House, love; I am sorry I
+was not in the hall to receive you. Had I been,
+this little <i>rencontre</i> would not have occurred. Annie
+Forest meant no harm, however&mdash;she&#8217;s a wild little
+sprite, but affectionate. You and she will be the
+best friends possible by-and-by. Now, let me take
+you to your room; the gong for tea will sound in
+exactly five minutes, and I am sure you will be glad
+of something to eat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury then led Hester across the hall
+and up some broad, low, thickly-carpeted stairs.
+When they had ascended two flights, and were
+standing on a handsome landing, she paused.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you see this baize door, dear?&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;This is the entrance to the school part of the house.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+This part that we are now in belongs exclusively to
+Mrs. Willis, and the girls are never allowed to come
+here without leave. All the school life is lived at
+the other side of this baize door, and a very happy
+life I assure you it is for those little girls who make
+up their minds to be brave and good. Now kiss me,
+my dear, and let me bid you welcome once again to
+Lavender House.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you our principal teacher, then?&#8221; asked
+Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I? oh, dear, no, my love. I teach the younger
+children English, and I look after the interests and
+comforts of all. I am a very useful sort of person,
+I believe, and I have a motherly heart, dear, and it
+is a way with little girls to come to me when they are
+in trouble. Now, my love, we must not chatter any
+longer. Take my hand, and let us get to your room
+as fast as possible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury pushed open the baize door, and
+instantly Hester found herself in a different region.
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; part of the house gave the impression
+of warmth, luxuriance, and even elegance of arrangement.
+At the other side of the door were long,
+narrow corridors, with snow-white but carpetless
+floors, and rather cold, distempered walls. Miss
+Danesbury, holding the new pupil&#8217;s hand, led her
+down two corridors, and past a great number of
+shut doors, behind which Hester could hear suppressed
+laughter and eager, chattering voices. At
+last, however, they stopped at a door which had the
+number &#8220;32&#8221; written over it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;This is your bedroom, dear,&#8221; said the English
+teacher, &#8220;and to-night you will not be sorry to have
+it alone. Mrs. Willis received a telegram from
+Susan Drummond, your room-mate, this afternoon,
+and she will not arrive until to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>However bare and even cold the corridors looked,
+the bedroom into which Hester was ushered by no
+means corresponded with this appearance. It was a
+small, but daintily-furnished little room. The floor
+was carpeted with green felt, the one window was
+hung with pretty draperies and two little, narrow,
+white beds were arranged gracefully with French
+canopies. All the furniture in the room was of a
+minute description, but good of its kind. Beside
+each bed stood a mahogany chest of drawers. At
+two corresponding corners were marble wash handstands,
+and even two pretty toilet tables stood side
+by side in the recess of the window. But the sight
+that perhaps pleased Hester most was a small bright
+fire which burned in the grate.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, dear, this is your room. As you have
+arrived first you can choose your own bed and your
+own chest of drawers. Ah, that is right, Ellen has
+unfastened your portmanteau; she will unpack your
+trunk to-night, and take it to the box-room. Now,
+dear, smooth your hair and wash your hands. The
+gong will sound instantly. I will come for you
+when it does.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV_LITTLE_DRAWINGROOMS_AND_LITTLE_TIFFS' id='CHAPTER_IV_LITTLE_DRAWINGROOMS_AND_LITTLE_TIFFS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<h3>LITTLE DRAWING-ROOMS AND LITTLE TIFFS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Miss Danesbury, true to her word, came to fetch
+Hester down to tea. They went down some broad,
+carpetless stairs, along a wide stone hall, and then
+paused for an instant at a half-open door from
+which a stream of eager voices issued.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will introduce you to your schoolfellows, and
+I hope your future friends,&#8221; said Miss Danesbury.
+&#8220;After tea you will come with me to see Mrs.
+Willis&mdash;she is never in the school-room at tea-time.
+Mdlle. Perier or Miss Good usually superintends.
+Now, my dear, come along&mdash;why, surely you are
+not frightened!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please, may I sit near you?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my love; I take care of the little ones, and
+they are at a table by themselves. Now, come in
+at once&mdash;the moment you dread will soon be over,
+and it is nothing, my love&mdash;really nothing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nothing! never, as long as Hester lived, did she
+forget the supreme agony of terror and shyness
+which came over her as she entered that long, low,
+brightly-lighted room. The forty pairs of curious
+eyes which were raised inquisitively to her face
+became as torturing as forty burning suns. She
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+felt an almost uncontrollable desire to run away and
+hide&mdash;she wondered if she could possibly keep from
+screaming aloud. In the end she found herself, she
+scarcely knew how, seated beside a gentle, sweet-mannered
+girl, and munching bread and butter
+which tasted drier than sawdust, and occasionally
+trying to sip something very hot and scalding which
+she vaguely understood went by the name of tea.
+The buzzing voices all chattering eagerly in French,
+and the occasional sharp, high-pitched reprimands
+coming in peremptory tones from the thin lips of
+Mdlle. Perier, sounded far off and distant&mdash;her head
+was dizzy, her eyes swam&mdash;the tired and shy child
+endured tortures.
+</p>
+<p>In after-days, in long after-years when the memory
+of Lavender House was to come back to
+Hetty Thornton as one of the sweetest, brightest
+episodes in her existence&mdash;in the days when she was
+to know almost every blade of grass in the gardens,
+and to be familiar with each corner of the old house,
+with each face which now appeared so strange, she
+might wonder at her feelings to-night, but never
+even then could she forget them.
+</p>
+<p>She sat at the table in a dream, trying to eat the
+tasteless bread and butter. Suddenly and swiftly
+the thick and somewhat stale piece of bread on her
+plate was exchanged for a thin, fresh, and delicately-cut
+slice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eat that,&#8221; whispered a voice&mdash;&#8220;I know the
+other is horrid. It&#8217;s a shame of Perier to give such
+stuff to a stranger.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Mdlle. Cécile, you are transgressing: you are
+talking English,&#8221; came in a torrent of rapid French
+from the head of the table. &#8220;You lose a conduct
+mark, ma&#8217;amselle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The young girl who sat next Hester inclined her
+head gently and submissively, and Hester, venturing
+to glance at her, saw that a delicate pink had spread
+itself over her pale face. She was a plain girl; but
+even Hester, in this first moment of terror, could
+scarcely have been afraid of her, so benign was her
+expression, so sweet the glance from her soft, full
+brown eyes. Hester now further observed that the
+thin bread and butter had been removed from
+Cecil&#8217;s own plate. She began to wonder why this
+girl was indulged with better food than the rest of
+her comrades.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was beginning to feel a little less shy, and
+was taking one or two furtive glances at her companions,
+when she suddenly felt herself turning
+crimson, and all her agony of shyness and dislike to
+her school-life returning. She encountered the full,
+bright, quizzical gaze of the girl who had made
+personal remarks about her in the porter&#8217;s room.
+The merry black eyes of this gypsy maiden fairly
+twinkled with suppressed fun when they met hers,
+and the bright head even nodded audaciously across
+the table to her.
+</p>
+<p>Not for worlds would Hester return this friendly
+greeting&mdash;she still held to her opinion that Miss
+Forest was one of the most ill-bred people she had
+ever met, and, in addition to feeling a considerable
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+amount of fear of her, she quite made up her mind
+that she would never be on friendly terms with so
+under-bred a girl.
+</p>
+<p>At this moment grace was repeated in sonorous
+tones by a stern-looking person who sat at the foot
+of the long table, and whom Hester had not before
+noticed. Instantly the girls rose from their seats,
+and began to file in orderly procession out of the
+tea-room. Hester looked round in terror for the
+friendly Miss Danesbury, but she could not catch
+sight of her anywhere. At this moment, however,
+her companion of the tea-table touched her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We may speak English now for half an hour,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;and most of us are going to the play-room.
+We generally tell stories round the fire upon
+these dark winter&#8217;s nights. Would you like to come
+with me to-night? Shall we be chums for this
+evening?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what &#8216;chums&#8217; are,&#8221; said Hester;
+&#8220;but,&#8221; she added, with the dawning of a faint smile
+on her poor, sad little face, &#8220;I shall be very glad to
+go with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come then,&#8221; said Cecil Temple, and she pulled
+Hester&#8217;s hand within her arm, and walked with her
+across the wide stone hall, and into the largest room
+Hester had ever seen.
+</p>
+<p>Never, anywhere, could there have been a more
+delightful play-room than this. It was so large that
+two great fires which burned at either end were not
+at all too much to emit even tolerable warmth.
+The room was bright with three or four lamps
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+which were suspended from the ceiling, the floor
+was covered with matting, and the walls were divided
+into curious partitions, which gave the room a
+peculiar but very cosy effect. These partitions consisted
+of large panels, and were divided by slender
+rails the one from the other.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my cosy corner,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;and you
+shall sit with me in it to-night. You see,&#8221; she
+added, &#8220;each of us girls has her own partition, and
+we can do exactly what we like in it. We can put
+our own photographs, our own drawings, our own
+treasures on our panels. Under each division is our
+own little work-table, and, in fact, our own individual
+treasures lie round us in the enclosure of this
+dear little rail. The center of the room is common
+property, and you see what a great space there is
+round each fire-place where we can chatter and talk,
+and be on common ground. The fire-place at the
+end of the room near the door is reserved especially
+for the little ones, but we elder girls sit at the top.
+Of course you will belong to us. How old are
+you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Twelve,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, you are so tall that you cannot possibly
+be put with the little ones, so you must come in
+with us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And shall I have a railed-in division and a panel
+of my own?&#8221; asked Hester. &#8220;It sounds a very nice
+arrangement. I hope my department will be close
+to yours, Miss &mdash;&mdash;.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Temple is my name,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;but you need
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+not call me that. I am Cecil to all my friends, and
+you are my friend this evening, for you are my chum,
+you know. Oh, you were asking me about our
+departments&mdash;you won&#8217;t have any at first, for you
+have got to earn it, but I will invite you to mine
+pretty often. Come, now, let us go inside. Is not
+it just like the darlingest little drawing-room? I am
+so sorry that I have only one easy chair, but
+you shall have it to-night, and I will sit on this
+three-legged stool. I am saving up my money to
+buy another arm-chair, and Annie has promised to
+upholster it for me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is Annie one of the maids?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, no! she&#8217;s dear old Annie Forest, the
+liveliest girl in the school. Poor darling, she&#8217;s seldom
+out of hot water; but we all love her, we can&#8217;t
+help it. Poor Annie, she hardly ever has the luxury
+of a department to herself, so she is useful all round.
+She&#8217;s the most amusing and good-natured dear pet
+in Christendom.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like her at all,&#8221; said Hester; &#8220;I did not
+know you were talking of her&mdash;she is a most rude,
+uncouth girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple, who had been arranging a small
+dark green table-cloth with daffodils worked artistically
+in each corner on her little table, stood up as
+the newcomer uttered these words, and regarded
+her fixedly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a pity to draw hasty conclusions,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;There is no girl more loved in the school than
+Annie Forest. Even the teachers, although they
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+are always punishing her, cannot help having a soft
+corner in their hearts for her. What can she possibly
+have done to offend you? but oh! hush&mdash;don&#8217;t
+speak&mdash;she is coming into the room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Cecil finished her rather eager defense of her
+friend, and prevented the indignant words which
+were bubbling to Hester&#8217;s lips, a gay voice was heard
+singing a comic song in the passage, the play-room
+door was flung open with a bang, and Miss Forest
+entered the room with a small girl seated on each
+of her shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hold on, Janny, love; keep your arms well
+round me, Mabel. Now, then, here we go&mdash;twice
+up the room and down again. No more, as I&#8217;m
+alive. I&#8217;ve got to attend to other matters than
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She placed the little girls on the floor amid peals
+of laughter, and shouts from several little ones to
+give them a ride too. The children began to cling
+to her skirts and to drag her in all directions, and she
+finally escaped from them with one dexterous bound
+which placed her in that portion of the play-room
+where the little ones knew they were not allowed to
+enter.
+</p>
+<p>Until her arrival the different girls scattered about
+the large room had been more or less orderly, chattering
+and laughing together, it is true, but in a quiet
+manner. Now the whole place appeared suddenly
+in an uproar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie, come here&mdash;Annie, darling, give me your
+opinion about this&mdash;Annie, my precious, naughty
+creature, come and tell me about your last scrape.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span></p>
+<p>Annie Forest blew several kisses to her adorers,
+but did not attach herself to any of them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Temple requires me,&#8221; she said, in her sauciest
+tones; &#8220;my beloved friends, the Temple as
+usual is vouchsafing its sacred shelter to the
+stranger.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In an instant Annie was kneeling inside the enclosure
+of Miss Temple&#8217;s rail and laughing immoderately.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You dear stranger!&#8221; she exclaimed, turning
+round and gazing full into Hester&#8217;s shy face, &#8220;I do
+declare I have been punished for the intense ardor
+with which I longed to embrace you. Has she told
+you, Cecil, darling, what I did in her behalf? How
+I ventured beyond the sacred precincts of the baize
+door and hid inside the porter&#8217;s room? Poor dear,
+she jumped when she heard my friendly voice, and
+as I spoke Miss Danesbury caught me in the very
+act. Poor old dear, she cried when she complained
+of me, but duty is Danesbury&#8217;s motto; she would
+go to the stake for it, and I respect her immensely.
+I have got my twenty lines of that horrible French
+poetry to learn&mdash;the very thought almost strangles
+me, and I foresee plainly that I shall do something
+terribly naughty within the next few hours; I must,
+my love&mdash;I really must. I have just come here to
+shake hands with Miss Thornton, and then I must
+away to my penance. Ah, how little I shall learn,
+and how hard I shall think! Welcome to Lavender
+House, Miss Thornton; look upon me as your devoted
+ally, and if you have a spark of pity in your
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+breast, feel for the girl whom you got into a scrape
+the very moment you entered these sacred walls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand you,&#8221; said Hester, who would
+not hold out her hand, and who was standing up in
+a very stiff, shy, and angular position. &#8220;I think
+you were very rude to startle me, and make personal
+remarks the very moment I came into the house.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear! I only said you were tall, and looked
+rather sulky, love&mdash;you did, you know, really.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was very rude of you,&#8221; repeated Hester, turning
+crimson, and trying to keep back her tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, my dear, I meant no harm; shake hands,
+now, and let us make friends.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Hester felt either too shy or too miserable to
+yield to this request&mdash;she half turned her back, and
+leaned against Miss Temple&#8217;s panel.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind her,&#8221; whispered gentle Cecil Temple;
+but Annie Forest&#8217;s bright face had darkened
+ominously&mdash;the school favorite was not accustomed
+to having her advances flung back in her face. She
+left the room singing a defiant, naughty song, and
+several of the girls who had overheard this scene
+whispered one to the other:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She can&#8217;t be at all nice&mdash;she would not even
+shake hands with Annie. Fancy her turning against
+our Annie in that way!&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_V_THE_HEADMISTRESS' id='CHAPTER_V_THE_HEADMISTRESS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<h3>THE HEAD-MISTRESS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie Forest had scarcely left the room before
+Miss Danesbury appeared with a message for Hester,
+who was to come with her directly to see Mrs.
+Willis. The poor shy girl felt only too glad to leave
+behind her the cruel, staring, and now by no means
+approving eyes of her schoolmates. She had overheard
+several of their whispers, and felt rather
+alarmed at her own act. But Hester, shy as she
+was, could be very tenacious of an idea. She
+had taken a dislike to Annie Forest, and she was
+quite determined to be true to what she considered
+her convictions&mdash;namely, that Annie was under-bred
+and common, and not at all the kind of girl whom
+her mother would have cared for her to know. The
+little girl followed Miss Danesbury in silence. They
+crossed the stone hall together, and now passing
+through another baize door, found themselves once
+more in the handsome entrance-hall. They walked
+across this hall to a door carefully protected from
+all draughts by rich plush curtains, and Miss Danesbury,
+turning the handle, and going a step or two
+into the room, said in her gentle voice:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I have brought Hester Thornton to see you,
+Mrs. Willis, according to your wish.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury then withdrew, and Hester ventured
+to raise her eyes and to look timidly at the
+head-mistress.
+</p>
+<p>A tall woman, with a beautiful face and silvery
+white hair, came instantly to meet her, laid her two
+hands on the girl&#8217;s shoulders, and then, raising her
+shy little face, imprinted a kiss on her forehead.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your mother was one of my earliest pupils,
+Hester,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and you are&mdash;no&#8221;&mdash;after a
+pause, &#8220;you are not very like her. You are her
+child, however, my dear, and as such you have a
+warm welcome from me. Now, come and sit by the
+fire, and let us talk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester did not feel nearly so constrained with
+this graceful and gracious lady as she had done with
+her schoolmates. The atmosphere of the room
+recalled her beloved mother&#8217;s boudoir at home.
+The rich dove-colored satin dress, the cap made of
+Mechlin lace which softened and shaded Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; silvery hair, appeared homelike to the little
+girl, who had grown up accustomed to all the
+luxuries of wealth. Above all, the head-mistress&#8217;
+mention of her mother drew her heart toward the
+beautiful face, and attracted her toward the rich,
+full tones of a voice which could be powerful and
+commanding at will. Mrs. Willis, notwithstanding
+her white hair, had a youthful face, and Hester
+made the comment which came first to her lips:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not think you were old enough to have
+taught my mother.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sixty, dear, and I have kept this school for
+thirty years. Your mother was not the only pupil
+who sent her children to be taught by me when the
+time came. Now, you can sit on this stool by the
+fire and tell me about your home. Your mother&mdash;ah,
+poor child, you would rather not talk about her
+just yet. Helen&#8217;s daughter must have strong feelings&mdash;ah,
+yes; I see, I see. Another time, darling,
+when you know me better. Now tell me about
+your little sister, and your father. You do not
+know, perhaps, that I am Nan&#8217;s godmother?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After this the head-mistress and the new pupil
+had a long conversation. Hester forgot her shyness;
+her whole heart had gone out instantly to this
+beautiful woman who had known, and loved, and
+taught her mother.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will try to be good at school,&#8221; she said at last;
+&#8220;but, oh, please, Mrs. Willis, it does not seem to me
+to-night as if school-life could be happy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It has its trials, Hester; but the brave and the
+noble girls often find this time of discipline one of
+the best in their lives&mdash;good at the time, very good
+to look back on by-and-by. You will find a miniature
+world around you; you will be surrounded by
+temptations; and you will have rare chances of
+proving whether your character can be strong and
+great and true. I think, as a rule, my girls are
+happy, and as a rule they turn out well. The great
+motto of life here, Hester, is earnestness. We are
+earnest in our work, we are earnest in our play. A
+half-hearted girl has no chance at Lavender House.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+In play-time, laugh with the merriest, my child; in
+school-hours, study with the most studious. Do you
+understand me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I try to, a little,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;but it seems all
+very strange just now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No doubt it does, and at first you will have to
+encounter many perplexities and to fight many
+battles. Never mind, if you have the right spirit
+within you, you will come out on the winning side.
+Now, tell me, have you made any acquaintances as
+yet among the girls?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;Cecil Temple has been kind to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil is one of my dearest pupils; cultivate her
+friendship, Hester&mdash;she is honorable, she is sympathizing.
+I am not afraid to say that Cecil has a
+great heart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is another girl,&#8221; continued Hester, &#8220;who
+has spoken to me. I need not make her my friend,
+need I?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is she, dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Forest&mdash;I don&#8217;t like her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What! our school favorite. You will change
+your mind, I expect&mdash;but that is the gong for
+prayers. You shall come with me to chapel, to-night,
+and I will introduce you to Mr. Everard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI__I_AM_UNHAPPY' id='CHAPTER_VI__I_AM_UNHAPPY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;I AM UNHAPPY.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Between forty and fifty young girls assembled
+night and morning for prayers in the pretty chapel
+which adjoined Lavender House. This chapel had
+been reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient
+priory, on the site of which the house was built.
+The walls, and even the beautiful eastern window,
+belonged to a far-off date. The roof had been carefully
+reared in accordance with the style of the east
+window, and the whole effect was beautiful and impressive.
+Mrs. Willis was particularly fond of her
+own chapel. Here she hoped the girls&#8217; best lessons
+might be learned, and here she had even once or twice
+brought a refractory pupil, and tried what a gentle
+word or two spoken in these old and sacred walls
+might effect. Here, on wet Sundays the girls
+assembled for service; and here, every evening at
+nine o&#8217;clock, came the vicar of the large parish to
+which Lavender House belonged, to conduct evening
+prayers. He was an old man, and a great friend
+of Mrs. Willis&#8217;, and he often told her that he considered
+these young girls some of the most important
+members of his flock.
+</p>
+<p>Here Hester knelt to-night. It is to be doubted
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+whether in her confusion, and in the strange loneliness
+which even Mrs. Willis had scarcely removed,
+she prayed much. It is certain she did not join in
+the evening hymn, which, with the aid of an organ
+and some sweet girl-voices, was beautifully and
+almost pathetically rendered. After evening
+prayers had come to an end, Mrs. Willis took
+Hester&#8217;s hand and led her up to the old, white-headed
+vicar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my new pupil, Mr. Everard, or rather I
+should say, our new pupil. Her education depends
+as much on you as on me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The vicar held out his hands, and took Hester&#8217;s
+within them, and then drew her forward to the
+light.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This little face does not seem quite strange to
+me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Have I ever seen you before, my
+dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; replied Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have seen her mother,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis&mdash;&#8220;Do
+you remember your favorite pupil, Helen
+Anstey, of long ago?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! indeed&mdash;indeed! I shall never forget Helen.
+And are you her child, little one?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Hester&#8217;s face had grown white. The solemn
+service in the chapel, joined to all the excitement
+and anxieties of the day, had strung up her sensitive
+nerves to a pitch higher than she could endure.
+Suddenly, as the vicar spoke to her, and Mrs. Willis
+looked kindly down at her new pupil, the chapel
+seemed to reel round, the pupils one by one disappeared,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+and the tired girl only saved herself from
+fainting by a sudden burst of tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am unhappy,&#8221; she sobbed, &#8220;without my
+mother! Please, please, don&#8217;t talk to me about my
+mother.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She could scarcely take in the gentle words which
+her two friends said to her, and she hardly noticed
+when Mrs. Willis did such a wonderful thing as to
+stoop down and kiss a second time the lips of a new
+pupil.
+</p>
+<p>Finally she found herself consigned to Miss
+Danesbury&#8217;s care, who hurried her off to her room,
+and helped her to undress and tucked her into her
+little bed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, love, you shall have some hot gruel. No,
+not a word. You ate little or no tea to-night&mdash;I
+watched you from my distant table. Half your
+loneliness is caused by want of food&mdash;I know it, my
+love; I am a very practical person. Now, eat your
+gruel, and then shut your eyes and go to sleep.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very kind to me,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;and so
+is Mrs. Willis, and so is Mr. Everard, and I like Cecil
+Temple&mdash;but, oh, I wish Annie Forest was not in
+the school!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush, my dear, I implore of you. You pain me
+by these words. I am quite confident that Annie
+will be your best friend yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s lips said nothing, but her eyes answered
+&#8220;Never&#8221; as plainly as eyes could speak.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII_A_DAY_AT_SCHOOL' id='CHAPTER_VII_A_DAY_AT_SCHOOL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<h3>A DAY AT SCHOOL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>If Hester Thornton went to sleep that night
+under a sort of dreamy, hazy impression that school
+was a place without a great deal of order, with
+many kind and sympathizing faces, and with some
+not so agreeable; if she went to sleep under the impression
+that she had dropped into a sort of medley,
+that she had found herself in a vast new world
+where certain personages exercised undoubtedly a
+strong moral influence, but where on the whole a
+number of other people did pretty much what they
+pleased&mdash;she awoke in the morning to find her preconceived
+ideas scattered to the four winds.
+</p>
+<p>There was nothing of apparent liberty about the
+Lavender House arrangements in the early morning
+hours. In the first place, it seemed quite the middle
+of the night when Hester was awakened by a loud
+gong, which clanged through the house and caused
+her to sit up in bed in a considerable state of fright
+and perplexity. A moment or two later a neatly-dressed
+maid-servant came into the room with a
+can of hot water; she lit a pair of candles on the
+mantel-piece, and, with the remark that the second
+gong would sound in half an hour, and that all the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+young ladies would be expected to assemble in the
+chapel at seven o&#8217;clock precisely, she left the room.
+</p>
+<p>Hester pulled her pretty little gold watch from
+under her pillow, and saw with a sigh that it was
+now half-past six.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What odious hours they keep in this horrid
+place!&#8221; she said to herself. &#8220;Well, well, I always
+did know that school would be unendurable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She waited for five minutes before she got up, and
+then she dressed herself languidly, and, if the truth
+must be told, in a very untidy fashion. She managed
+to be dressed by the time the second gong
+sounded, but she had only one moment to give to
+her private prayers. She reflected, however, that this
+did not greatly matter as she was going down to
+prayers immediately in the chapel.
+</p>
+<p>The service in the chapel the night before had
+impressed her more deeply than she cared to own,
+and she followed her companions down stairs with a
+certain feeling of pleasure at the thought of again
+seeing Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis. She wondered
+if they would take much notice of her this morning,
+and she thought it just possible that Mr. Everard,
+who had looked at her so compassionately the night
+before, might be induced, for the sake of his old
+friendship with her mother, to take her home with
+him to spend the day. She thought she would rather
+like to spend a day with Mr. Everard, and she fancied
+he was the sort of person who would influence
+her and help her to be good. Hester fancied that if
+some very interesting and quite out of the common
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+person took her in hand, she might be formed into
+something extremely noble&mdash;noble enough even to
+forgive Annie Forest.
+</p>
+<p>The girls all filed into the chapel, which was
+lighted as brightly and cheerily as the night before;
+but Hester found herself placed on a bench far down
+in the building. She was no longer in the place of
+honor by Mrs. Willis&#8217; side. She was one of a
+number, and no one looked particularly at her or
+noticed her in any way. A shy young curate read
+the morning prayers; Mr. Everard was not present,
+and Mrs. Willis, who was, walked out of the chapel
+when prayers were over without even glancing in
+Hester&#8217;s direction. This was bad enough for the
+poor little dreamer of dreams, but worse was to
+follow.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis did not speak to Hester, but she did
+stop for an instant beside Annie Forest. Hester saw
+her lay her white hand on the young girl&#8217;s shoulder
+and whisper for an instant in her ear. Annie&#8217;s
+lovely gypsy face flushed a vivid crimson.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For your sake, darling,&#8221; she whispered back; but
+Hester caught the words, and was consumed by a
+fierce jealousy.
+</p>
+<p>The girls went into the school-room, where Mdlle.
+Perier gave a French lesson to the upper class.
+Hester belonged to no class at present, and could
+look around her, and have plenty of time to reflect
+on her own miseries, and particularly on what she
+now considered the favoritism shown by Mrs.
+Willis.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Everard at least will read through that girl,&#8221;
+she said to herself; &#8220;he could not possibly endure
+any one so loud. Yes, I am sure that my only friend
+at home, Cecilia Day, would call Annie very loud.
+I wonder Mrs. Willis can endure her. Mrs. Willis
+seems so ladylike herself, but&mdash;Oh, I beg your pardon,
+what&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>A very sharp voice had addressed itself to the
+idle Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, mademoiselle, you are doing nothing!
+This cannot for a moment be permitted. Pardonnez-moi,
+you know not the French? Here is a little
+easy lesson. Study it, mademoiselle, and do not let
+your eyes wander a moment from the page.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester favored Mdlle. Perier with a look of lofty
+contempt, but she received the well-thumbed lesson-book
+in absolute silence.
+</p>
+<p>At eight o&#8217;clock came breakfast, which was
+nicely served, and was very good and abundant.
+Hester was thoroughly hungry this morning, and
+did not feel so shy as the night before. She found
+herself seated between two strange girls, who talked
+to her a little and would have made themselves
+friendly had she at all encouraged them to do so.
+After breakfast came half an hour&#8217;s recreation, when,
+the weather being very bad, the girls again assembled
+in the cozy play-room. Hester looked round
+eagerly for Cecil Temple, who greeted her with a
+kind smile, but did not ask her into her enclosure.
+Annie Forest was not present, and Hester breathed
+a sigh of relief at her absence. The half-hour
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+devoted to recreation proved rather dull to the newcomer.
+Hester could not understand her present
+world. To the girl who had been brought up
+practically as an only child in the warm shelter of
+a home, the ways and doings of school-girl life were
+an absolute enigma.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had no idea of unbending or of making
+herself agreeable. The girls voted her to one
+another stiff and tiresome, and quickly left her to
+her own devices. She looked longingly at Cecil
+Temple; but Cecil, who could never be knowingly
+unkind to any one, was seizing the precious moments
+to write a letter to her father, and Hester presently
+wandered down the room and tried to take an interest
+in the little ones. From twelve to fifteen quite
+little children were in the school, and Hester wondered
+with a sort of vague half-pain if she might
+see any child among the group the least like Nan.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They will like to have me with them,&#8221; she said
+to herself. &#8220;Poor little dots, they always like big
+girls to notice them, and didn&#8217;t they make a fuss
+about Miss Forest last night! Well, Nan is fond
+enough of me, and little children find out so quickly
+what one is really like.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester walked boldly into the group. The little
+dots were all as busy as bees, were not the least
+lonely, or the least shy, and very plainly gave the
+intruder to understand that they would prefer her
+room to her company. Hester was not proud with
+little children&mdash;she loved them dearly. Some of
+the smaller ones in question were beautiful little
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+creatures, and her heart warmed to them for Nan&#8217;s
+sake. She could not stoop to conciliate the older
+girls, but she could make an effort with the babies.
+She knelt on the floor and took up a headless doll.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know a little girl who had a doll like that,&#8221;
+she said. Here she paused and several pairs of eyes
+were fixed on her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor dolly&#8217;s b&#8217;oke,&#8221; said the owner of the headless
+one in a tone of deep commiseration.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You <i>are</i> such a breaker, you know, Annie,&#8221; said
+Annie&#8217;s little five-year-old sister.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please tell us about the little girl what had the
+doll wifout the head,&#8221; she proceeded, glancing at
+Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it was taken to a hospital, and got back its
+head,&#8221; said Hester quite cheerfully; &#8220;it became
+quite well again, and was a more beautiful doll than
+ever.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This announcement caused intense wonder and
+was certainly carrying the interest of all the little
+ones. Hester was deciding that the child who possessed
+the headless doll <i>had</i> a look of Nan about her
+dark brown eyes, when suddenly there was a diversion&mdash;the
+play-room door was opened noisily, banged-to
+with a very loud report, and a gay voice sang
+out:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fairy queen has just paid me a visit. Who
+wants sweeties from the fairy queen?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Instantly all the little feet had scrambled to the
+perpendicular, each pair of hands was clapped noisily,
+each little throat shouted a joyful:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Here comes Annie!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie Forest was surrounded, and Hester knelt
+alone on the hearth-rug.
+</p>
+<p>She felt herself coloring painfully&mdash;she did not
+fail to observe that two laughing eyes had fixed
+themselves with a momentary triumph on her face;
+then, snatching up a book, which happened to lie
+close, she seated herself with her back to all the
+girls, and her head bent over the page. It is quite
+doubtful whether she saw any of the words, but she
+was at least determined not to cry.
+</p>
+<p>The half-hour so wearisome to poor Hester came
+to an end, and the girls, conducted by Miss Danesbury,
+filed into the school-room and took their places
+in the different classes.
+</p>
+<p>Work had now begun in serious earnest. The
+school-room presented an animated and busy scene.
+The young faces with their varying expressions betokened
+on the whole the preponderance of an
+earnest spirit. Discipline, not too severe, reigned
+triumphant.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was not yet appointed to any place
+among these busy workers, but while she stood
+wondering, a little confused, and half intending to
+drop into an empty seat which happened to be close,
+Miss Danesbury came up to her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Follow me, Miss Thornton,&#8221; she said, and she
+conducted the young girl up the whole length of the
+great school-room, and pushed aside some baize curtains
+which concealed a second smaller room, where
+Mrs. Willis sat before a desk.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></p>
+<p>The head-mistress was no longer dressed in soft
+pearl-gray and Mechlin lace. She wore a black silk
+dress, and her white cap seemed to Hester to add a
+severe tone to her features. She neither shook hands
+with the new pupil nor kissed her, but said instantly
+in a bright though authoritative tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must now find out as quickly as possible what
+you know, Hester, in order to place you in the most
+suitable class.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester was a clever girl, and passed through the
+ordeal of a rather stiff examination with considerable
+ability. Mrs. Willis pronounced her English and
+general information quite up to the usual standard
+for girls of her age&mdash;her French was deficient, but
+she showed some talent for German.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the whole I am pleased with your general
+intelligence, and I think you have good capacities,
+Hester,&#8221; she said in conclusion. &#8220;I shall ask Miss
+Good, our very accomplished English teacher, to
+place you in the third class. You will have to work
+very hard, however, at your French, to maintain
+your place there. But Mdlle. Perier is kind and
+painstaking, and it rests with yourself to quickly
+acquire a conversational acquaintance with the language.
+You are aware that, except during recreation,
+you are never allowed to speak in any other
+tongue. Now, go back to the school-room, my
+dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Mrs. Willis spoke she laid her finger on a little
+silver gong which stood by her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One moment, please,&#8221; said Hester, coloring
+crimson; &#8220;I want to ask you a question, please.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it about your lessons?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No&mdash;oh, no; it is&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then pardon me, my dear,&#8221; uttered the governess;
+&#8220;I sit in my room every evening from eight to
+half-past, and I am then at liberty to see a pupil on
+any subject which is not trifling. Nothing but
+lessons are spoken of in lesson hours, Hester. Ah,
+here comes Miss Good. Miss Good, I should wish
+you to place Hester Thornton in the third class.
+Her English is up to the average. I will see Mdlle.
+Perier about her at twelve o&#8217;clock.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester followed the English teacher into the great
+school-room, took her place in the third class, at the
+desk which was pointed out to her, was given a pile
+of new books, and was asked to attend to the history
+lesson which was then going on.
+</p>
+<p>Notwithstanding her confusion, a certain sense of
+soreness, and some indignation at what she considered
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; altered manner, she acquitted
+herself with considerable spirit, and was pleased to
+see that her class companions regarded her with some
+respect.
+</p>
+<p>An English literature lecture followed the history,
+and here again Hester acquitted herself with <i>éclat</i>.
+The subject to-day was &#8220;Julius Cæsar,&#8221; and Hester
+had read Shakespeare&#8217;s play over many times with
+her mother.
+</p>
+<p>But when the hour came for foreign languages,
+her brief triumph ceased. Lower and lower did she
+fall in her schoolfellows&#8217; estimation as she stumbled
+through her truly English-French. Mdlle. Perier,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+who was a very fiery little woman, almost screamed
+at her&mdash;the girls colored and nearly tittered.
+Hester hoped to recover her lost laurels in German,
+but by this time her head ached and she did very
+little better in the German which she loved than in
+the French which she detested. At twelve o&#8217;clock
+she was relieved to find that school was over for the
+present, and she heard the English teacher&#8217;s voice
+desiring the girls to go quickly to their rooms, and
+to assemble in five minutes&#8217; time in the great stone
+hall, equipped for their walk.
+</p>
+<p>The walk lasted for a little over an hour, and was
+a very dreary penance to poor Hester, as she was
+neither allowed to run, race, nor talk a word of
+English. She sighed heavily once or twice, and
+several of the girls who looked at her curiously
+agreed with Annie Forest that she was decidedly
+sulky. The walk was followed by dinner; then
+came half an hour of recreation in the delightful
+play-room, and eager chattering in the English
+tongue.
+</p>
+<p>At three o&#8217;clock the school assembled once more;
+but now the studies were of a less severe character,
+and Hester spent one of her first happy half-hours
+over a drawing lesson. She had a great love for
+drawing, and felt some pride in the really beautiful
+copy which she was making of the stump of an old
+gnarled oak-tree. Her dismay, however, was proportionately
+great when the drawing-master drew
+his pencil right across her copy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I particularly requested you not to sketch in any
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+of the shadows, Miss Thornton. Did you not hear
+me say that my lesson to-day was in outline? I gave
+you a shaded piece to copy in outline&mdash;did you not
+understand?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my first day at school,&#8221; whispered back
+poor Hester, speaking in English in her distress.
+Whereupon the master smiled, and even forgot to
+report her for her transgression of the French
+tongue.
+</p>
+<p>Hester spent the rest of that afternoon over her
+music lesson. The music-master was an irascible
+little German, but Hester played with some taste,
+and was therefore not too severely rapped over the
+knuckles.
+</p>
+<p>Then came tea and another half-hour of recreation,
+which was followed by two silent hours in the
+school-room, each girl bent busily over her books in
+preparation for the next day&#8217;s work. Hester studied
+hard, for she had made up her mind to be the intellectual
+prodigy of the school. Even on this first
+day, miserable as it was, she had won a few plaudits
+for her quickness and powers of observation. How
+much better could she work when she had really
+fallen into the tone of the school, and understood
+the lessons which she was now so carefully preparing!
+During her busy day she had failed to notice
+one thing: namely, the absence of Annie Forest.
+Annie had not been in the school-room, had not
+been in the play-room; but now, as the clock struck
+eight, she entered the school-room with a listless
+expression, and took her place in the same class
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+with Hester. Her eyes were heavy, as if she had
+been crying, and when a companion touched her,
+and gave her a sympathizing glance, she shook her
+head with a sorrowful gesture, but did not speak.
+Glasses of milk and slices of bread and butter were
+now handed round to the girls, and Miss Danesbury
+asked if any one would like to see Mrs. Willis before
+prayers. Hester half sprang to her feet, but then
+sat down again. Mrs. Willis had annoyed her by
+refusing to break her rules and answer her question
+during lesson hours. No, the silly child resolved
+that she would not trouble Mrs. Willis now.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No one to-night, then?&#8221; said Miss Danesbury,
+who had noticed Hester&#8217;s movement.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly Annie Forest sprang to her feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going, Miss Danesbury,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You
+need not show me the way; I can find it alone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With her short, curly hair falling about her face,
+she ran out of the room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII__YOU_HAVE_WAKED_ME_TOO_SOON' id='CHAPTER_VIII__YOU_HAVE_WAKED_ME_TOO_SOON'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;YOU HAVE WAKED ME TOO SOON.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Hester reached her bedroom after prayers
+on that second evening, she was dismayed to find
+that she no longer could consider the pretty little
+bedroom her own. It had not only an occupant,
+but an occupant who had left untidy traces of her
+presence on the floor, for a stocking lay in one direction
+and a muddy boot sprawled in another. The
+newcomer had herself got into bed, where she lay
+with a quantity of red hair tossed about on the pillow,
+and a heavy freckled face turned upward, with
+the eyes shut and the mouth slightly open.
+</p>
+<p>As Hester entered the room, from these parted
+lips came unmistakable and loud snores. She stood
+still dismayed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How terrible!&#8221; she said to herself; &#8220;oh, what
+a girl! I cannot sleep in the room with any one who
+snores&mdash;I really cannot!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She stood perfectly still, with her hands clasped
+before her, and her eyes fixed with almost ludicrous
+dismay on this unexpected trial. As she gazed, a
+fresh discovery caused her to utter an exclamation
+of horror aloud.
+</p>
+<p>The newcomer had curled herself up comfortably
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+in <i>her</i> bed. Suddenly, to her surprise, a voice said
+very quietly, without a flicker of expression coming
+over the calm face, or the eyes even making an
+effort to open:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you my new schoolmate?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;I am sorry to say I am.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t be sorry, there&#8217;s a good creature;
+there&#8217;s nothing to be sorry about. I&#8217;ll stop snoring
+when I turn on my side&mdash;it&#8217;s all right. I always
+snore for half an hour to rest my back, and the
+time is nearly up. Don&#8217;t trouble me to open my
+eyes, I am not the least curious to see you. You
+have a cross voice, but you&#8217;ll get used to me after a
+bit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;re in my bed,&#8221; said Hester. &#8220;Will you
+please to get into your own?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, don&#8217;t ask me; I like your bed best. I
+slept in it the whole of last term. I changed the
+sheets myself, so it does not matter. Do you mind
+putting my muddy boots outside the door, and
+folding up my stockings? I forgot them, and I
+shall have a bad mark if Danesbury comes in.
+Good-night&mdash;I&#8217;m turning on my side&mdash;I won&#8217;t snore
+any more.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The heavy face was now only seen in profile, and
+Hester, knowing that Miss Danesbury would soon
+appear to put out the candle, had to hurry into the
+other bed as fast as she could; something impelled
+her, however, to take up the muddy boots with two
+very gingerly fingers, and place them outside the
+door.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></p>
+<p>She slept better this second night, and was not
+quite so startled the next morning when the remorseless
+gong aroused her from slumber. The maid-servant
+came in as usual to light the candles, and to
+place two cans of hot water by the two wash-hand
+stands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are awake, miss?&#8221; she said to Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes,&#8221; replied Hester almost cheerfully.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, that&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said the servant. &#8220;Now
+I must try and rouse Miss Drummond, and she
+always takes a deal of waking; and if you don&#8217;t
+mind, miss, it will be an act of kindness to call out
+to her in the middle of your own dressing&mdash;that is,
+if I don&#8217;t wake her effectual.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With these words, the housemaid approached
+the bed where the red-haired girl lay again on her
+back, and again snoring loudly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Drummond, wake, miss; it&#8217;s half-past six.
+Wake up, miss&mdash;I have brought your hot water.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh?&mdash;what?&#8221; said the voice in the bed, sleepily;
+&#8220;don&#8217;t bother me, Hannah&mdash;I&mdash;I&#8217;ve determined not
+to ride this morning; go away&#8221;&mdash;then more
+sleepily, and in a lower key, &#8220;Tell Percy he can&#8217;t
+bring the dogs in here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ain&#8217;t neither your Hannah, nor your Percy,
+nor one of the dogs,&#8221; replied the rather irate Alice.
+&#8220;There, get up, miss, do. I never see such a
+young lady for sleeping&mdash;never.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t be bothered,&#8221; said the occupant of the
+bed, and now she turned deliberately on her side
+and snored more loudly than ever.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no help for it,&#8221; said Alice: &#8220;I have to
+do it nearly every morning, so don&#8217;t you be startled,
+miss. Poor thing, she would never have a good
+conduct mark but for me. Now then, here goes.
+You needn&#8217;t be frightened, miss&mdash;she don&#8217;t mind it
+the least bit in the world.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Alice seized a rough Turkish towel, placed
+it under the sleepy head with its shock of red hair,
+and, dipping a sponge in a basin of icy cold water,
+dashed it on the white face.
+</p>
+<p>This remedy proved effectual: two large pale blue
+eyes opened wide, a voice said in a tranquil and unmoved
+tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, thank you, Alice. So I&#8217;m back at this
+horrid, detestable school again!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get your feet well on the carpet, Miss Drummond,
+before you falls off again,&#8221; said the servant.
+&#8220;Now then, you&#8217;d better get dressed as fast as
+possible, miss&mdash;you have lost five minutes already.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester, who had laughed immoderately during
+this little scene, was already up and going through
+the processes of her toilet. Miss Drummond, seated
+on the edge of her bed, regarded her with sleepy
+eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you are my new room-mate?&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s your name?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hester Thornton,&#8221; replied Hetty with dignity.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh&mdash;I&#8217;m Susy Drummond&mdash;you may call me
+Susy if you like.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester made no response to this gracious invitation.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span></p>
+<p>Miss Drummond sat motionless, gazing down at
+her toes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Had not you better get dressed?&#8221; said Hester
+after a long pause, for she really feared the young
+lady would fall asleep where she was sitting.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Drummond started.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dressed! So I will, dear creature. Have the
+sweet goodness to hand me my clothes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are they?&#8221; asked Hester rather crossly,
+for she did not care to act as lady&#8217;s-maid.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They are over there, on a chair, in that lovely
+heap with a shawl flung over them. There, toss
+them this way&mdash;I&#8217;ll get into them somehow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Drummond did manage to get into her garments;
+but her whole appearance was so heavy and
+untidy when she was dressed, that Hester by the
+very force of contrast felt obliged to take extra
+pains with her own toilet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, that&#8217;s a comfort,&#8221; said Susan, &#8220;I&#8217;m in my
+clothes. How bitter it is! There&#8217;s one comfort,
+the chapel will be warm. I often catch forty winks
+in chapel&mdash;that is, if I&#8217;m lucky enough to get behind
+one of the tall girls, where Mrs. Willis won&#8217;t see
+me. It does seem to me,&#8221; continued Susan in a
+meditative tone, &#8220;the strangest thing why girls are
+not allowed sleep enough.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester was pinning a clean collar round her neck
+when Miss Drummond came up close, leaned over
+the dressing-table, and regarded her with languid
+curiosity.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A penny for your thoughts, Miss Prunes and
+Prism.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you call me that?&#8221; said Hester
+angrily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because you look like it, sweet. Now, don&#8217;t be
+cross, little pet&mdash;no one ever yet was cross with
+sleepy Susy Drummond. Now, tell me, love, what
+had you for breakfast yesterday?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure I forget,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You <i>forget</i>?&mdash;how extraordinary! You&#8217;re sure
+that it was not buttered scones? We have them
+sometimes, and I tell you they are enough even to
+keep a girl awake. Well, at least you can let me
+know if the eggs were very stale, and the coffee very
+weak, and whether the butter was second-rate Dorset,
+or good and fresh. Come now&mdash;my breakfast
+is of immense importance to me, I assure you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dare say,&#8221; answered Hester. &#8220;You can see
+for yourself this morning what is on the table&mdash;I
+can only inform you that it was good enough for
+me, and that I don&#8217;t remember what it was.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear!&#8221; exclaimed Susan Drummond, &#8220;I&#8217;m
+afraid she has a little temper of her own&mdash;poor little
+room-mate. I wonder if chocolate-creams would
+sweeten that little temper.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please don&#8217;t talk&mdash;I&#8217;m going to say my prayers,&#8221;
+said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>She did kneel down, and made a slight effort to
+ask God to help her through the day&#8217;s work and the
+day&#8217;s play. In consequence, she rose from her
+knees with a feeling of strength and sweetness
+which even the feeblest prayer when uttered in
+earnest can always give.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></p>
+<p>The prayer-gong now sounded, and all the girls
+assembled in the chapel. Miss Drummond was
+greeted by many appreciative nods, and more than
+one pair of longing eyes gazed in the direction of
+her pockets, which stuck out in the most ungainly
+fashion.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was relieved to find that her room-mate
+did not share her class in school, nor sit anywhere
+near her at table.
+</p>
+<p>When the half-hour&#8217;s recreation after breakfast
+arrived, Hester, determined to be beholden to none
+of her schoolmates for companionship, seated herself
+comfortably in an easy chair with a new book.
+Presently she was startled by a little stream of lollipops
+falling in a shower over her head, down her
+neck, and into her lap. She started up with an
+expression of disgust. Instantly Miss Drummond
+sank into the vacated chair.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, love,&#8221; she said, in a cozy, purring
+voice. &#8220;Eat your lollipops, and look at me; I&#8217;m
+going to sleep. Please pull my toe when Danesbury
+comes in. Oh, fie! Prunes and Prisms&mdash;not
+so cross&mdash;eat your lollipops; they will sweeten the
+expression of that&mdash;little&mdash;face.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The last words came out drowsily. As she said
+&#8220;face,&#8221; Miss Drummond&#8217;s languid eyes were closed&mdash;she
+was fast asleep.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX_WORK_AND_PLAY' id='CHAPTER_IX_WORK_AND_PLAY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<h3>WORK AND PLAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In a few days Hester was accustomed to her new
+life. She fell into its routine, and in a certain
+measure won the respect of her fellow-pupils. She
+worked hard, and kept her place in class, and her
+French became a little more like the French tongue
+and a little less like the English. She showed
+marked ability in many of her other studies, and the
+mistresses and masters spoke well of her. After a
+fortnight spent at Lavender House, Hester had to
+acknowledge that the little Misses Bruce were right,
+and that school might be a really enjoyable place
+for some girls. She would not yet admit that it
+could be enjoyable for her. Hester was too shy,
+too proud, too exacting to be popular with her
+schoolfellows. She knew nothing of school-girl
+life&mdash;she had never learned the great secret of success
+in all life&#8217;s perplexities, the power to give and
+take. It never occurred to Hester to look over a
+hasty word, to take no notice of an envious or
+insolent look. As far as her lessons were concerned,
+she was doing well; but the hardest lesson of all,
+the training of mind and character, which the daily
+companionship of her schoolfellows alone could
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+give her, in this lesson she was making no way.
+Each day she was shutting herself up more and more
+from all kindly advances, and the only one in the
+school whom she sincerely and cordially liked was
+gentle Cecil Temple.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis had some ideas with regard to the
+training of her young people which were peculiarly
+her own. She had found them successful, and, during
+her thirty years&#8217; experience, had never seen reason
+to alter them. She was determined to give her
+girls a great deal more liberty than was accorded
+in most of the boarding-schools of her day.
+She never made what she called impossible rules;
+she allowed the girls full liberty to chatter in their
+bedrooms; she did not watch them during play-hours;
+she never read the letters they received, and
+only superintended the specimen home letter which
+each girl was required to write once a month. Other
+head-mistresses wondered at the latitude she allowed
+her girls, but she invariably replied:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I always find it works best to trust them. If a
+girl is found to be utterly untrustworthy, I don&#8217;t
+expel her, but I request her parents to remove her
+to a more strict school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis also believed much in that quiet half-hour
+each evening, when the girls who cared to
+come could talk to her alone. On these occasions
+she always dropped the school-mistress and adopted
+the <i>rôle</i> of the mother. With a very refractory
+pupil she spoke in the tenderest tones of remonstrance
+and affection at these times. If her words
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+failed&mdash;if the discipline of the day and the gentle
+sympathy of these moments at night did not effect
+their purpose, she had yet another expedient&mdash;the
+vicar was asked to see the girl who would not yield
+to this motherly influence.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard had very seldom taken Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+place. As he said to her: &#8220;Your influence must be
+the mainspring. At supreme moments I will help
+you with personal influence, but otherwise, except
+for my nightly prayers with your girls, and my
+weekly class, and the teachings which they with
+others hear from my lips Sunday after Sunday, they
+had better look to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girls knew this rule well, and the one or two
+rare instances in the school history where the vicar
+had stepped in to interfere, were spoken of with
+bated breath and with intense awe.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis had a great idea of bringing as much
+happiness as possible into young lives. It was with
+this idea that she had the quaint little compartments
+railed off in the play-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For the elder girls,&#8221; she would say, &#8220;there is no
+pleasure so great as having, however small the spot,
+a little liberty hall of their own. In her compartment
+each girl is absolute monarch. No one can
+enter inside the little curtained rail without her permission.
+Here she can show her individual taste,
+her individual ideas. Here she can keep her most
+prized possessions. In short, her compartment in
+the play-room is a little home to her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The play-room, large as it was, admitted of only
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+twenty compartments; these compartments were
+not easily won. No amount of cleverness attained
+them; they were altogether dependent on conduct.
+No girl could be the honorable owner of her own
+little drawing-room until she had distinguished herself
+by some special act of kindness and self-denial.
+Mrs. Willis had no fixed rule on this subject. She
+alone gave away the compartments, and she often
+made choice of girls on whom she conferred this
+honor in a way which rather puzzled and surprised
+their fellows.
+</p>
+<p>When the compartment was won it was not a
+secure possession. To retain it depended also on
+conduct; and here again Mrs. Willis was absolute
+in her sway. More than once the girls had entered
+the room in the morning to find some favorite&#8217;s furniture
+removed and her little possessions taken carefully
+down from the walls, the girl herself alone
+knowing the reason for this sudden change. Annie
+Forest, who had been at Lavender House for four
+years, had once, for a solitary month of her existence,
+owned her own special drawing-room. She
+had obtained it as a reward for an act of heroism.
+One of the little pupils had set her pinafore on fire.
+There was no teacher present at the moment, the
+other girls had screamed and run for help, but
+Annie, very pale, had caught the little one in her
+arms and had crushed out the flames with her own
+hands. The child&#8217;s life was spared, the child was
+not even hurt, but Annie was in the hospital for a
+week. At the end of a week she returned to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+school-room and play-room as the heroine of the
+hour. Mrs. Willis herself kissed her brow, and presented
+her in the midst of the approving smiles of
+her companions with the prettiest drawing-room of
+the sets. Annie retained her honorable post for
+one month.
+</p>
+<p>Never did the girls of Lavender House forget the
+delights of that month. The fantastic arrangements
+of the little drawing room filled them with ecstacies.
+Annie was truly Japanese in her style&mdash;she
+was also intensely liberal in all her arrangements.
+In the tiny space of this little enclosure wild pranks
+were perpetrated, ceaseless jokes made up. From
+Annie&#8217;s drawing-room issued peals of exquisite
+mirth. She gave afternoon tea from a Japanese set
+of tea-things. Outside her drawing-room always
+collected a crowd of girls, who tried to peep over
+the rail or to draw aside the curtains. Inside the
+sacred spot certainly reigned chaos, and one day
+Miss Danesbury had to fly to the rescue, for in a fit
+of mad mirth Annie herself had knocked down the
+little Japanese tea-table, the tea-pot and tea-things
+were in fragments on the floor, and the tea and
+milk poured in streams outside the curtains. Mrs.
+Willis sent for Annie that evening, and Miss Forest
+retired from her interview with red eyes and a
+meek expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Girls,&#8221; she said, in confidence that night, &#8220;good-bye
+to Japan. I gave her leave to do it&mdash;the care
+of an empire is more than I can manage.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The next day the Japanese drawing-room had
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+been handed over to another possessor, and Annie
+reigned as queen over her empire no more.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis, anxious at all times that her girls
+should be happy, made special arrangements for
+their benefit on Sunday. Sunday was by no means
+dull at Lavender House&mdash;Sunday was totally unlike
+the six days which followed it. Even the stupidest
+girl could scarcely complain of the severity of Sunday
+lessons&mdash;even the merriest girl could scarcely
+speak of the day as dull. Mrs. Willis made an
+invariable rule of spending all Sunday with her
+pupils. On this day she really unbent&mdash;on this day
+she was all during the long hours what she was
+during the short half-hour on each evening in the
+week. On Sunday she neither reproved nor
+corrected. If punishment or correction were necessary,
+she deputed Miss Good or Miss Danesbury to
+take her place. On Sunday she sat with the little
+children round her knee, and the older girls clustering
+about her. Her gracious and motherly face was
+like a sun shining in the midst of these young girls.
+In short, she was like the personified form of Goodness
+in their midst. It was necessary, therefore,
+that all those who wished to do right should be
+happy on Sunday, and only those few who deliberately
+preferred evil should shrink from the brightness
+of this day.
+</p>
+<p>It is astonishing how much a sympathizing and
+guiding spirit can effect. The girls at Lavender
+House thought Sunday the shortest day in the week.
+There were no unoccupied or dull moments&mdash;school
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+toil was forgotten&mdash;school punishment ceased, to be
+resumed again if necessary on Monday morning.
+The girls in their best dresses could chatter freely
+in English&mdash;they could read their favorite books&mdash;they
+could wander about the house as they
+pleased; for on Sunday the two baize doors were
+always wide open, and Mrs. Willis&#8217; own private
+suite of rooms was ready to receive them. If the
+day was fine they walked to church, each choosing
+her own companion for the pleasant walk; if the
+day was wet there was service in the chapel, Mr.
+Everard always conducting either morning or evening
+prayers. In the afternoon the girls were allowed
+to do pretty much as they pleased, but after tea
+there always came a delightful hour, when the elder
+girls retired with their mistress into her own special
+boudoir, and she either told them stories or sang to
+them as only she could sing. At sixty years of age
+Mrs. Willis still possessed the most sympathetic and
+touching voice those girls had ever listened to.
+Hester Thornton broke down completely on her first
+Sunday at Lavender House when she heard her
+school-mistress sing &#8220;The Better Land.&#8221; No one remarked
+on her tears, but two people saw them; for
+her mistress kissed her tenderly that night, and
+said a few strong words of help and encouragement,
+and Annie Forest, who made no comment, had also
+seen them, and wondered vaguely if this new and disagreeable
+pupil had a heart after all.
+</p>
+<p>On Sunday night Mrs. Willis herself went round
+to each little bed and gave a mother-kiss to each of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+her pupils&mdash;a mother-kiss and a murmured blessing;
+and in many breasts resolves were then formed
+which were to help the girls through the coming
+week. Some of these resolves, made not in their
+own strength, bore fruit in long after-years. There
+is no doubt that very few girls who lived long
+enough at Lavender House, ever in after-days found
+their Sundays dull.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_X_VARIETIES' id='CHAPTER_X_VARIETIES'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<h3>VARIETIES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Without any doubt, wild, naughty, impulsive
+Annie Forest was the most popular girl in the
+school. She was always in scrapes&mdash;she was scarcely
+ever out of hot water&mdash;her promises of amendment
+were truly like the proverbial pie-crust; but she
+was so lovable, so kind-hearted, so saucy and piquante
+and pretty, that very few could resist the
+nameless charm which she possessed. The little
+ones adored Annie, who was kindness itself to them;
+the bigger girls could not help admiring her fearlessness
+and courage; the best and noblest girls in the
+school tried to influence her for good. She was
+more or less an object of interest to every one; her
+courage was of just the sort to captivate schoolgirls,
+and her moral weakness was not observed by
+these inexperienced young eyes.
+</p>
+<p>Hester alone, of all the girls who for a long time
+had come to Lavender House, failed to see any
+charm in Annie. She began by considering her
+ill-bred, and when she found she was the school
+favorite, she tossed her proud little head and determined
+that she for one would never be subjugated
+by such a naughty girl. Hester could read character
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+with tolerable clearness; she was an observant
+child&mdash;very observant, and very thoughtful for her
+twelve years; and as the little witch Annie had
+failed to throw any spell over her, she saw her
+faults far more clearly than did her companions.
+There is no doubt that this brilliant, charming, and
+naughty Annie had heaps of faults; she had no
+perseverance; she was all passion and impulse;
+she could be the kindest of the kind, but from sheer
+thoughtlessness and wildness she often inflicted
+severe pain, even on those she loved best. Annie
+very nearly worshiped Mrs. Willis; she had the most
+intense adoration for her, she respected her beyond
+any other human being. There were moments when
+the impulsive and hot-headed child felt that she
+could gladly lay down her life for her school-mistress.
+Once the mistress was ill, and Annie curled
+herself up all night outside her door, thereby breaking
+rules, and giving herself a severe cold; but
+her passion and agony were so great that she could
+only be soothed by at last stealing into the darkened
+room and kissing the face she loved.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Prove your love to me, Annie, by going downstairs
+and keeping the school rules as perfectly as
+possible,&#8221; whispered the teacher.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will&mdash;I will never break a rule again as long as
+I live, if you get better, Mrs. Willis,&#8221; responded the
+child.
+</p>
+<p>She ran downstairs with her resolves strong within
+her, and yet in half an hour she was reprimanded
+for willful and desperate disobedience.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span></p>
+<p>One day Cecil Temple had invited a select number
+of friends to afternoon tea in her little drawing-room.
+It was the Wednesday half-holiday, and Cecil&#8217;s tea,
+poured into the tiniest cups and accompanied by
+thin wafer biscuits, was of the most <i>recherché</i> quality.
+Cecil had invited Hester Thornton, and a tall girl
+who belonged to the first class and whose name was
+Dora Russell, to partake of this dainty beverage.
+They were sitting round the tiny tea-table, on little
+red stools with groups of flowers artistically painted
+on them, and were all three conducting themselves
+in a most ladylike and refined manner, when Annie
+Forest&#8217;s curly head and saucy face popped over the
+enclosure, and her voice said eagerly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, may I be permitted to enter the shrine?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, Annie,&#8221; said Cecil, in her most cordial
+tones. &#8220;I have got another cup and saucer, and
+there is a little tea left in the tea-pot.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie came in, and ensconced herself cozily on the
+floor. It did not matter in the least to her that
+Hester Thornton&#8217;s brow grew dark, and that Miss
+Russell suddenly froze into complete indifference to
+all her surroundings. Annie was full of a subject
+which excited her very much: she had suddenly
+discovered that she wanted to give Mrs. Willis a
+present, and she wished to know if any of the girls
+would like to join her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will give her the present this day week,&#8221; said
+excitable Annie. &#8220;I have quite made up my
+mind. Will any one join me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But there is nothing special about this day
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+week, Annie,&#8221; said Miss Temple. &#8220;It will neither
+be Mrs. Willis&#8217; birthday, nor Christmas Day, nor
+New Year&#8217;s Day, nor Easter Day. Next Wednesday
+will be just like any other Wednesday. Why
+should we make Mrs. Willis a present?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, because she looks as if she wanted one,
+poor dear. I thought she looked sad this morning;
+her eyes drooped and her mouth was down at the
+corners. I am sure she&#8217;s wanting something from
+us all by now, just to show that we love her, you
+know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pshaw!&#8221; here burst from Hester&#8217;s lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you say that?&#8221; said Annie, turning
+round with her bright eyes flashing. &#8220;You&#8217;ve no
+right to be so contemptuous when I speak about
+our&mdash;our head-mistress. Oh, Cecil,&#8221; she continued,
+&#8220;do let us give her a little surprise&mdash;some spring
+flowers, or something just to show her that we love
+her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But <i>you</i> don&#8217;t love her,&#8221; said Hester, stoutly.
+</p>
+<p>Here was throwing down the gauntlet with a
+vengeance! Annie sprang to her feet and confronted
+Hester with a whole torrent of angry words.
+Hester firmly maintained her position. She said
+over and over again that love proved itself by deeds,
+not by words; that if Annie learned her lessons, and
+obeyed the school rules, she would prove her affection
+for Mrs. Willis far more than by empty protestations.
+Hester&#8217;s words were true, but they were
+uttered in an unkind spirit, and the very flavor of
+truth which they possessed caused them to enter
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+Annie&#8217;s heart and to wound her deeply. She
+turned, not red, but very white, and her large and
+lovely eyes grew misty with unshed tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are cruel,&#8221; she gasped, rather than spoke,
+and then she pushed aside the curtains of Cecil&#8217;s
+compartment and walked out of the play-room.
+</p>
+<p>There was a dead silence among the three girls
+when she left them. Hester&#8217;s heart was still hot,
+and she was still inclined to maintain her own position,
+and to believe she had done right in speaking
+in so severe a tone to Annie. But even she had
+been made a little uneasy by the look of deep suffering
+which had suddenly transformed Annie&#8217;s charming
+childish face into that of a troubled and pained
+woman. She sat down meekly on her little three-legged
+stool and, taking up her tiny cup and saucer,
+sipped some of the cold tea.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple was the first to speak.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How could you?&#8221; she said, in an indignant
+voice for her. &#8220;Annie is not the girl to be driven,
+and in any case, it is not for you to correct her. Oh,
+Mrs. Willis would have been so pained had she heard
+you&mdash;you were not <i>kind</i>, Miss Thornton. There, I
+don&#8217;t wish to be rude, but I fear I must leave you
+and Miss Russell&mdash;I must try and find Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going back to my own drawing-room,&#8221; said
+Miss Russell, rising to her feet. &#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; she
+added, turning round with a very gracious smile to
+Hester, &#8220;you will come and see me there, after tea,
+this evening.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell drew aside the curtains of Cecil
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+Temple&#8217;s little room, and disappeared. Hester,
+with her eyes full of tears, now turned eagerly to
+Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Forgive me, Cecil,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I did not
+mean to be unkind, but it is really quite ridiculous
+the way you all spoil that girl&mdash;you know as well as
+I do that she is a very naughty girl. I suppose it
+is because of her pretty face,&#8221; continued Hester,
+&#8220;that you are all so unjust, and so blind to her
+faults.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are prejudiced the other way, Hester,&#8221; said
+Cecil in a more gentle tone. &#8220;You have disliked
+Annie from the first. There, don&#8217;t keep me&mdash;I must
+go to her now. There is no knowing what harm
+your words may have done. Annie is not like other
+girls. If you knew her story, you would, perhaps be
+kinder to her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil then ran out of her drawing-room, leaving
+Hester in sole possession of the little tea-things and
+the three-legged stools. She sat and thought for
+some time; she was a girl with a great deal of obstinacy
+in her nature, and she was not disposed to
+yield her own point, even to Cecil Temple; but Cecil&#8217;s
+words had, nevertheless, made some impression on
+her.
+</p>
+<p>At tea-time that night, Annie and Cecil entered
+the room together. Annie&#8217;s eyes were as bright as
+stars, and her usually pale cheeks glowed with a
+deep color. She had never looked prettier&mdash;she had
+never looked so defiant, so mischievous, so utterly
+reckless. Mdlle. Perier fired indignant French at
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span>
+her across the table. Annie answered respectfully,
+and became demure in a moment; but even in the
+short instant in which the governess was obliged to
+lower her eyes to her plate, she had thrown a look
+so irresistibly comic at her companions that several
+of them had tittered aloud. Not once did she glance
+at Hester, although she occasionally looked boldly
+in her direction; but when she did so, her versatile
+face assumed a blank expression, as if she were seeing
+nothing. When tea was over, Dora Russell surprised
+the members of her own class by walking
+straight up to Hester, putting her hand inside her
+arm, and leading her off to her own very refined-looking
+little drawing-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to tell you,&#8221; she said, when the two girls
+found themselves inside the small enclosure, &#8220;that I
+quite agree with you in your opinion of Miss Forest.
+I think you were very brave to speak to her as you
+did to-day. As a rule, I never trouble myself with
+what the little girls in the third class do, and of
+course Annie seldom comes under my notice; but I
+think she is a decidedly spoiled child, and your rebuff
+will doubtless do her a great deal of good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These words of commendation, coming from tall
+and dignified Miss Russell completely turned poor
+Hester&#8217;s head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so glad you think so!&#8221; she stammered,
+coloring high with pleasure. &#8220;You see,&#8221; she added,
+assuming a little tone of extra refinement, &#8220;at home
+I always associated with girls who were perfect
+ladies.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, any one can see that,&#8221; remarked Miss Russell
+approvingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I do think Annie under-bred,&#8221; continued
+Hester. &#8220;I cannot understand,&#8221; she added, &#8220;why
+Miss Temple likes her so much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Cecil is so amiable; she sees good in every
+one,&#8221; answered Miss Russell. &#8220;Annie is evidently
+not a lady, and I am glad at last to find some one
+of the girls who belong to the middle school capable
+of discerning this fact. Of course, we of the first
+class have nothing whatever to say to Miss Forest,
+but I really think Mrs. Willis is not acting quite
+fairly by the other girls when she allows a young
+person of that description into the school. I wish
+to assure you, Miss Thornton, that you have at least
+my sympathy, and I shall be very pleased to see
+you in my drawing-room now and then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As these last words were uttered, both girls were
+conscious of a little rustling sound not far away.
+Miss Russell drew back her curtain, and asked very
+sharply, &#8220;Who is there?&#8221; but no one replied, nor
+was there any one in sight, for the girls who did
+not possess compartments were congregated at the
+other end of the long play-room, listening to stories
+which Emma Marshall, a clever elder girl, was
+relating for their benefit.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell talked on indifferent subjects to
+Hester, and at the end of the half-hour the two
+entered the class-room side by side, Hester&#8217;s little
+head a good deal turned by this notice from one of
+the oldest girls in the school.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span></p>
+<p>As the two walked together into the school-room,
+Susan Drummond, who, tall as she was, was only in
+the fourth class, rushed up to Miss Forest, and
+whispered something in her ear.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is just as I told you,&#8221; she said, and her sleepy
+voice was quite wide awake and animated. Annie
+Forest rewarded her by a playful pinch on her
+cheek; then she returned to her own class, with a
+severe reprimand from the class teacher, and silence
+reigned in the long room, as the girls began to prepare
+their lessons as usual for the next day.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell took her place at her desk in her
+usual dignified manner. She was a clever girl, and
+was going to leave school at the end of next term.
+Hers was a particularly fastidious, but by no means
+great nature. She was the child of wealthy parents;
+she was also well-born, and because of her money,
+and a certain dignity and style which had come to
+her as nature&#8217;s gifts, she held an influence, though
+by no means a large one, in the school. No one
+particularly disliked her, but no one, again, ardently
+loved her. The girls in her own class thought it
+well to be friendly with Dora Russell, and Dora
+accepted their homage with more or less indifference.
+She did not greatly care for either their praise or
+blame. Dora possessed in a strong degree that
+baneful quality, which more than anything else
+precludes the love of others&mdash;she was essentially
+selfish.
+</p>
+<p>She sat now before her desk, little guessing how
+she had caused Hester&#8217;s small heart to beat by her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+patronage, and little suspecting the mischief she had
+done to the girl by her injudicious words. Had
+she known, it is to be doubted whether she would
+have greatly cared. She looked through the books
+which contained her tasks for the next day&#8217;s work,
+and, finding they did not require a great deal of
+preparation, put them aside, and amused herself
+during the rest of preparation time with a storybook,
+which she artfully concealed behind the
+leaves of some exercises. She knew she was breaking
+the rules, but this fact did not trouble her, for
+her moral nature was, after all, no better than poor
+Annie&#8217;s, and she had not a tenth of her lovable
+qualities.
+</p>
+<p>Dora Russell was the soul of neatness and order.
+To look inside her school desk was a positive pleasure;
+to glance at her own neat and trim figure was
+more or less of a delight. Hers were the whitest
+hands in the school, and hers the most perfectly
+kept and glossy hair. As the preparation hour drew
+to a close, she replaced her exercises and books in
+exquisite order in her school desk and shut down the
+lid.
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s eyes followed her as she walked out of
+the school-room, for the head class never had supper
+with the younger girls. Hester wondered if she
+would glance in her direction; but Miss Russell had
+gratified a very passing whim when she condescended
+to notice and praise Hester, and she had already
+almost forgotten her existence.
+</p>
+<p>At bed-time that night Susan Drummond&#8217;s behavior
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+was at the least extraordinary. In the first
+place, instead of being almost overpoweringly
+friendly with Hester, she scarcely noticed her; in
+the next place, she made some very peculiar preparations.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What <i>are</i> you doing on the floor, Susan?&#8221; inquired
+Hetty in an innocent tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s nothing to you,&#8221; replied Miss Drummond,
+turning a dusky red, and looking annoyed at being
+discovered. &#8220;I do wish,&#8221; she added, &#8220;that you
+would go round to your side of the room and leave
+me alone; I sha&#8216;n&#8217;t have done what I want to do before
+Danesbury comes in to put out the candle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester was not going to put herself out with any
+of Susan Drummond&#8217;s vagaries; she looked upon
+sleepy Susan as a girl quite beneath her notice, but
+even she could not help observing her, when she
+saw her sit up in bed a quarter of an hour after the
+candles had been put out, and in the flickering firelight
+which shone conveniently bright for her
+purpose, fasten a piece of string first round one of
+her toes, and then to the end of the bed-post.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What <i>are</i> you doing?&#8221; said Hester again, half
+laughing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, what a spy you are!&#8221; said Susan. &#8220;I want
+to wake, that&#8217;s all; and whenever I turn in bed,
+that string will tug at my toe, and, of course, I&#8217;ll
+rouse up. If you were more good-natured, I&#8217;d give
+the other end of the string to you; but, of course,
+that plan would never answer.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; replied Hester; &#8220;I am not going
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+to trouble myself to wake you. You must trust to
+your sponge of cold water in the morning, unless
+your own admirable device succeeds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to sleep now, at any rate,&#8221; answered
+Susan; &#8220;I&#8217;m on my back, and I&#8217;m beginning to
+snore; good night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Once or twice during the night Hester heard
+groans from the self-sacrificing Susan, who, doubtless,
+found the string attached to her foot very inconvenient.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however, slept on when it might have been
+better for the peace of many in the school that she
+should have awakened. She heard no sound when,
+long before day, sleepy Susan stepped softly out of
+bed, and wrapping a thick shawl about her, glided
+out of the room. She was away for over half an
+hour, but she returned to her chamber and got into
+bed without in the least disturbing Hester. In the
+morning she was found so soundly asleep that even
+the sponge of cold water could not arouse her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pull the string at the foot of the bed, Alice,&#8221;
+said Hester; &#8220;she fastened a string to her toe, and
+twisted the other end round the bed-post, last night;
+pull it, Alice, it may effect its purpose.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But there was no string now round Susan Drummond&#8217;s
+foot, nor was it found hanging to the bed-post.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI_WHAT_WAS_FOUND_IN_THE_SCHOOLDESK' id='CHAPTER_XI_WHAT_WAS_FOUND_IN_THE_SCHOOLDESK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<h3>WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE SCHOOL-DESK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The next morning, when the whole school were
+assembled, and all the classes were getting ready for
+the real work of the day, Miss Good, the English
+teacher, stepped to the head of the room, and, holding
+a neatly bound volume of &#8220;Jane Eyre&#8221; in her
+hand, begged to know to whom it belonged. There
+was a hush of astonishment when she held up the
+little book, for all the girls knew well that this
+special volume was not allowed for school literature.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The housemaid who dusts the school-room found
+this book on the floor,&#8221; continued the teacher. &#8220;It
+lay beside a desk near the top of the room. I see
+the name has been torn out, so I cannot tell who is
+the owner. I must request her, however, to step
+forward and take possession of her property. If
+there is the slightest attempt at concealment, the
+whole matter will be laid before Mrs. Willis at noon
+to-day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>When Miss Good had finished her little speech,
+she held up the book in its green binding and looked
+down the room.
+</p>
+<p>Hester did not know why her heart beat&mdash;no one
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+glanced at her, no one regarded her; all eyes were
+fixed on Miss Good, who stood with a severe, unsmiling,
+but expectant face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, young ladies,&#8221; she said, &#8220;the owner has
+surely no difficulty in recognizing her own property.
+I give you exactly thirty seconds more; then if
+no one claims the book, I place the affair in Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; hands.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Just then there was a stir among the girls in the
+head class. A tall girl in dove-colored cashmere,
+with a smooth head of golden hair, and a fair face
+which was a good deal flushed at this moment,
+stepped to the front, and said in a clear and perfectly
+modulated voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I had no idea of concealing the fact that &#8216;Jane
+Eyre&#8217; belongs to me. I was only puzzled for a
+moment to know how it got on the floor. I placed
+it carefully in my desk last night. I think this
+circumstance ought to be inquired into.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! Oh!&#8221; came from several suppressed voices
+here and there through the room; &#8220;whoever would
+have supposed that Dora Russell would be obliged to
+humble herself in this way?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Attention, young ladies!&#8221; said Miss Good; &#8220;no
+talking, if you please. Do I understand, Miss Russell,
+that &#8216;Jane Eyre&#8217; is yours?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss Good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why did you keep it in your desk&mdash;were you
+reading it during preparation?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, certainly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are, of course, aware that you were breaking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
+two very stringent rules of the school. In the
+first place, no story-books are allowed to be concealed
+in a school-desk, or to be read during preparation.
+In the second place, this special book is not
+allowed to be read at any time in Lavender House.
+You know these rules, Miss Russell?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss Good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must retain the book&mdash;you can return now to
+your place in class.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell bowed sedately, and with an apparently
+unmoved face, except for the slightly deepened
+glow on her smooth cheek, resumed her interrupted
+work.
+</p>
+<p>Lessons went on as usual, but during recreation
+the mystery of the discovered book was largely discussed
+by the girls. As is the custom of schoolgirls,
+they took violent sides in the matter&mdash;some
+rejoicing in Dora&#8217;s downfall, some pitying her
+intensely. Hester was, of course, one of Miss Russell&#8217;s
+champions, and she looked at her with tender
+sympathy when she came with her haughty and
+graceful manner into the school-room, and her little
+heart beat with vague hope that Dora might turn
+to her for sympathy.
+</p>
+<p>Dora, however, did nothing of the kind. She
+refused to discuss the affair with her companions,
+and none of them quite knew what Mrs. Willis said
+to her, or what special punishment was inflicted on
+the proud girl. Several of her schoolfellows expected
+that Dora&#8217;s drawing-room would be taken
+away from her, but she still retained it; and after
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+a few days the affair of the book was almost
+forgotten.
+</p>
+<p>There was, however, an uncomfortable and an
+uneasy spirit abroad in the school. Susan Drummond,
+who was certainly one of the most uninteresting
+girls in Lavender House, was often seen walking
+with and talking to Miss Forest. Sometimes Annie
+shook her pretty head over Susan&#8217;s remarks; sometimes
+she listened to her; sometimes she laughed
+and spoke eagerly for a moment or two, and
+appeared to acquiesce in suggestions which her
+companion urged.
+</p>
+<p>Annie had always been the soul of disorder&mdash;of
+wild pranks, of naughty and disobedient deeds&mdash;but,
+hitherto, in all her wildness she had never
+intentionally hurt any one but herself. Hers was a
+giddy and thoughtless, but by no means a bitter
+tongue&mdash;she thought well of all her schoolfellows&mdash;and
+on occasions she could be self-sacrificing and
+good-natured to a remarkable extent. The girls of
+the head class took very little notice of Annie, but
+her other school companions, as a rule, succumbed to
+her sunny, bright, and witty ways. She offended
+them a hundred times a day, and a hundred times a
+day was forgiven. Hester was the first girl in the
+third class who had ever persistently disliked Annie,
+and Annie, after making one or two overtures of
+friendship, began to return Miss Thornton&#8217;s aversion;
+but she had never cordially hated her until the day
+they met in Cecil Temple&#8217;s drawing-room, and
+Hester had wounded Annie in her tenderest part by
+doubting her affection for Mrs. Willis.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span></p>
+<p>Since that day there was a change very noticeable
+in Annie Forest&mdash;she was not so gay as formerly,
+but she was a great deal more mischievous&mdash;she
+was not nearly so daring, but she was capable
+now of little actions, slight in themselves, which yet
+were calculated to cause mischief and real unhappiness.
+Her sudden friendship with Susan Drummond
+did her no good, and she persistently avoided all
+intercourse with Cecil Temple, who hitherto had influenced
+her in the right direction.
+</p>
+<p>The incident of the green book had passed with
+no apparent result of grave importance, but the
+spirit of mischief which had caused this book to be
+found was by no means asleep in the school. Pranks
+were played in a most mysterious fashion with the
+girls&#8217; properties.
+</p>
+<p>Hester herself was the very next victim. She, too,
+was a neat and orderly child&mdash;she was clever and
+thoroughly enjoyed her school work. She was
+annoyed, therefore, and dreadfully puzzled, by discovering
+one morning that her neat French exercise
+book was disgracefully blotted, and one page torn
+across. She was severely reprimanded by Mdlle.
+Perier for such gross untidiness and carelessness, and
+when she assured the governess that she knew
+nothing whatever of the circumstance, that she was
+never guilty of blots, and had left the book in perfect
+order the night before, the French lady only
+shrugged her shoulders, made an expressive gesture
+with her eyebrows, and plainly showed Hester that
+she thought the less she said on that subject the
+better.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span></p>
+<p>Hester was required to write out her exercise
+again, and she fancied she saw a triumphant look in
+Annie Forest&#8217;s eyes as she left the school-room,
+where poor Hester was obliged to remain to undergo
+her unmerited punishment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil,&#8221; called Hester, in a passionate and eager
+voice, as Miss Temple was passing her place.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil paused for a moment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Hetty?&mdash;oh, I am so sorry you must
+stay in this lovely bright day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have done nothing wrong,&#8221; said Hester; &#8220;I
+never blotted this exercise-book; I never tore this
+page. It is most unjust not to believe my word; it
+is most unjust to punish me for what I have not
+done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Temple&#8217;s face looked puzzled and sad.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must not stay to talk to you now, Hester,&#8221; she
+whispered; &#8220;I am breaking the rules. You can
+come to my drawing-room by-and-by, and we will
+discuss this matter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Hester and Cecil, talk as they would, could
+find no solution to the mystery. Cecil absolutely
+refused to believe that Annie Forest had anything
+to do with the matter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said, &#8220;such deceit is not in Annie&#8217;s
+nature. I would do anything to help you, Hester;
+but I can&#8217;t, and I won&#8217;t, believe that Annie tried
+deliberately to do you any harm.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am quite certain she did,&#8221; retorted Hester,
+&#8220;and from this moment I refuse to speak to her
+until she confesses what she has done and apologizes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+to me. Indeed, I have a great mind to go and tell
+everything to Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I would not do that,&#8221; said Cecil; &#8220;none of
+your schoolfellows would forgive you if you
+charged such a favorite as Annie with a crime which
+you cannot in the least prove against her. You
+must be patient, Hester, and if you are, I will take
+your part, and try to get at the bottom of the
+mystery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil, however, failed to do so. Annie laughed
+when the affair was discussed in her presence, but
+her clear eyes looked as innocent as the day, and
+nothing would induce Cecil to doubt Miss Forest&#8217;s
+honor.
+</p>
+<p>The mischievous sprite, however, who was sowing
+such seeds of unhappiness in the hitherto peaceful
+school was not satisfied with two deeds of daring;
+for a week afterward Cecil Temple found a book of
+Mrs. Browning&#8217;s, out of which she was learning a
+piece for recitation, with its cover half torn off, and,
+still worse, a caricature of Mrs. Willis sketched with
+some cleverness and a great deal of malice on the
+title-page. On the very same morning, Dora Russell,
+on opening her desk, was seen to throw up her
+hands with a gesture of dismay. The neat composition
+she had finished the night before was not to
+be seen in its accustomed place, but in a corner of
+the desk were two bulky and mysterious parcels,
+one of which contained a great junk of rich plum-cake,
+and the other some very sticky and messy
+&#8220;Turkish delight;&#8221; while the paper which enveloped
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+these luxuries was found to be that on which the
+missing composition was written. Dora&#8217;s face grew
+very white, she forgot the ordinary rules of the
+school, and, leaving her class, walked down the
+room, and interrupted Miss Good, who was beginning
+to instruct the third class in English grammar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you please come and see something in my
+desk, Miss Good?&#8221; she said in a voice which trembled
+with excitement.
+</p>
+<p>It was while she was speaking that Cecil found
+the copy of Mrs. Browning mutilated, and with the
+disgraceful caricature on its title-page. Startled as
+she was by this discovery, and also by Miss Russell&#8217;s
+extraordinary behavior, she had presence of mind
+enough to hide the sight which pained her from her
+companions. Unobserved, in the strong interest of
+the moment, for all the girls were watching Dora
+Russell and Miss Good, she managed to squeeze the
+little volume into her pocket. She had indeed received
+a great shock, for she knew well that the only
+girl who could caricature in the school was Annie
+Forest. For a moment her troubled eyes sought the
+ground, but then she raised them and looked at
+Annie; Annie, however, with a particularly cheerful
+face, and her bright dark eyes full of merriment, was
+gazing in astonishment at the scene which was taking
+place in front of Miss Russell&#8217;s desk.
+</p>
+<p>Dora, whose enunciation was very clear, seemed
+to have absolutely forgotten herself; she disregarded
+Miss Good&#8217;s admonitions, and declared stoutly that
+at such a moment she did not care what rules she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+broke. She was quite determined that the culprit
+who had dared to desecrate her composition, and
+put plum-cake and &#8220;Turkish delight&#8221; into her desk,
+should be publicly exposed and punished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The thing cannot go on any longer, Miss Good,&#8221;
+she said; &#8220;there is a girl in this school who ought
+to be expelled from it, and I for one declare openly
+that I will not submit to associate with a girl who
+is worse than unladylike. If you will permit me, Miss
+Good, I will carry these things at once to Mrs. Willis,
+and beg of her to investigate the whole affair,
+and bring the culprit to justice, and to turn her out
+of the school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay, Miss Russell,&#8221; exclaimed the English
+teacher, &#8220;you strangely and completely forget yourself.
+You are provoked, I own, but you have no
+right to stand up and absolutely hoist the flag of
+rebellion in the faces of the other girls. I cannot
+excuse your conduct. I will myself take away these
+parcels which were found in your desk, and will report
+the affair to Mrs. Willis. She will take what
+steps she thinks right in bringing you to order, and
+in discovering the author of this mischief. Return
+instantly to your desk, Miss Russell; you strangely
+forget yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Good left the room, having removed the plum-cake
+and &#8220;Turkish delight&#8221; from Dora Russell&#8217;s
+desk, and lessons continued as best they could under
+such exciting circumstances.
+</p>
+<p>At twelve o&#8217;clock that day, just as the girls were
+preparing to go up to their rooms to get ready for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+their usual walk, Mrs. Willis came into the school-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay one moment, young ladies,&#8221; said the head-mistress
+in that slightly vibrating and authoritative
+voice of hers. &#8220;I have a word or two to say to you
+all. Miss Good has just brought me a painful story
+of wanton and cruel mischief. There are fifty girls
+in this school, who, until lately, lived happily together.
+There is now one girl among the fifty
+whose object it is to sow seeds of discord and misery
+among her companions. Miss Good has told me of
+three different occasions on which mischief has been
+done to different girls in the school. Twice Miss
+Russell&#8217;s desk has been disturbed, once Miss Thornton&#8217;s.
+It is possible that other girls may also have
+suffered who have been noble enough not to complain.
+There is, however, a grave mischief, in short
+a moral disease in our midst. Such a thing is worse
+than bodily illness&mdash;it must be stamped out instantly
+and completely at the risk of any personal suffering.
+I am now going to ask you, girls, a simple
+question, and I demand instant truth without any
+reservation. Miss Russell&#8217;s desk has been tampered
+with&mdash;Miss Thornton&#8217;s desk has been tampered
+with. Has any other girl suffered injury&mdash;has any
+other girl&#8217;s desk been touched?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis looked down the long room&mdash;her
+voice had reached every corner, and the quiet, dignified,
+and deeply-pained expression in her fine eyes
+was plainly visible to each girl in the school. Even
+the little ones were startled and subdued by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+tone of Mrs. Willis&#8217; voice, and one or two of them
+suddenly burst into tears. Mrs. Willis paused for a
+full moment, then she repeated her question.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I insist upon knowing the exact truth, my dear
+children,&#8221; she said gently, but with great decision.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My desk has also been tampered with,&#8221; said
+Miss Temple, in a low voice.
+</p>
+<p>Every one started when Cecil spoke, and even
+Annie Forest glanced at her with a half-frightened
+and curious expression. Cecil&#8217;s voice indeed was so
+low, so shaken with doubt and pain, that her companions
+scarcely recognized it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Miss Temple,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil instantly left her desk and walked up the
+room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your desk has also been tampered with, you
+say?&#8221; repeated the head-mistress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When did you discover this?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-day, Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You kept it to yourself?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you now repeat in the presence of the
+school, and in a loud enough voice to be heard by
+all here, exactly what was done?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pardon me,&#8221; answered Cecil, and now her voice
+was a little less agitated and broken, and she looked
+full into the face of her teacher, &#8220;I cannot do
+that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You deliberately disobey me, Cecil?&#8221; said Mrs.
+Willis.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis&#8217; face flushed&mdash;she did not, however,
+look angry; she laid her hand on Cecil&#8217;s shoulder
+and looked full into her eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are one of my best pupils, Cecil,&#8221; she said
+tenderly. &#8220;At such a moment as this, honor
+requires you to stand by your mistress. I must
+insist on your telling me here and now exactly what
+has occurred.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil&#8217;s face grew whiter and whiter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot tell you,&#8221; she murmured; &#8220;it breaks
+my heart, but I cannot tell you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have defied me, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis in
+a tone of deep pain. &#8220;I must, my dear, insist on
+your obedience, but not now. Miss Good, will you
+take Miss Temple to the chapel? I will come to
+you, Cecil, in an hour&#8217;s time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil walked down the room crying silently. Her
+deep distress and her very firm refusal to disclose
+what she knew had made a great impression on her
+schoolfellows. They all felt troubled and uneasy,
+and Annie Forest&#8217;s face was very pale.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This thing, this wicked, mischievous thing has
+gone deeper than I feared,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, when
+Cecil had left the room. &#8220;Only some very strong
+motive would make Cecil Temple behave as she is
+now doing. She is influenced by a mistaken idea of
+what is right; she wishes to shield the guilty person.
+I may as well tell you all, young ladies, that, dear
+as Cecil is to me, she is now under the ban of my
+severe displeasure. Until she confesses the truth
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+and humbles herself before me, I cannot be reconciled
+to her. I cannot permit her to associate with
+you. She has done very wrong, and her punishment
+must be proportionately severe. There is one
+chance for her, however. Will the girl whom she
+is mistakenly, though generously, trying to shield,
+come forward and confess her guilt, and so release
+poor Cecil from the terrible position in which she
+has placed herself? By doing so, the girl who has
+caused all this misery will at least show me that
+she is trying to repent?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis paused again, and now she looked
+down the room with a face of almost entreaty.
+Several pairs of eyes were fixed anxiously on her,
+several looked away, and many girls glanced in the
+direction of Annie Forest, who, feeling herself suspected,
+returned their glances with bold defiance,
+and instantly assumed her most reckless manner.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis waited for a full minute.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The culprit is not noble enough,&#8221; she said then.
+&#8220;Now, girls, I must ask each of you to come up one
+by one and deny or confess this charge. As you
+do so, you are silently to leave the school-room and
+go up to your rooms, and prepare for the walk
+which has been so painfully delayed. Miss Conway,
+you are at the head of the school, will you set the
+example?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>One by one the girls of the head class stepped up
+to their teacher, and of each one she asked the same
+question:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you guilty?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span></p>
+<p>Each girl replied in the negative and walked out
+of the school-room. The second class followed the
+example of the first, and then the third class came
+up to their teacher. Several ears were strained to
+hear Annie Forest&#8217;s answer, but her eyes were lifted
+fearlessly to Mrs. Willis&#8217; face, and her &#8220;No!&#8221; was
+heard all over the room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII_IN_THE_CHAPEL' id='CHAPTER_XII_IN_THE_CHAPEL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE CHAPEL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The bright light from a full noontide sun was
+shining in colored bars through the richly-painted
+windows of the little chapel when Mrs. Willis
+sought Cecil Temple there.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil&#8217;s face was in many ways a remarkable one.
+</p>
+<p>Her soft brown eyes were generally filled with a
+steadfast and kindly ray. Gentleness was her
+special prerogative, but there was nothing weak
+about her&mdash;hers was the gentleness of a strong, and
+pure, and noble soul. To know Cecil was to love
+her. She was a motherless girl, and the only child
+of a most indulgent father. Colonel Temple was
+now in India, and Cecil was to finish her education
+under Mrs. Willis&#8217; care, and then, if necessary, to
+join her father.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis had always taken a special interest in
+this girl. She admired her for her great moral
+worth. Cecil was not particularly clever, but she
+was so studious, so painstaking, that she always kept
+a high place in class. She was without doubt a religious
+girl, but there was nothing of the prig about
+her. She was not, however, ashamed of her religion,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+and, if the fitting occasion arose, she was fearless in
+expressing her opinion.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis used to call Cecil her &#8220;little standard-bearer,&#8221;
+and she relied greatly on her influence over
+the third-class girls. Mrs. Willis considered the
+third class, perhaps, the most important in the
+school. She was often heard to say:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girls who fill this class have come to a
+turning point&mdash;they have come to the age when
+resolves may be made for life, and kept. The good
+third-class girl is very unlikely to degenerate as she
+passes through the second and first classes. On the
+other hand, there is very little hope that the idle or
+mischievous third-class girl will mend her ways as
+she goes higher in the school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis&#8217; steps were very slow, and her
+thoughts extremely painful, as she entered the chapel
+to-day. Had any one else offered her defiance she
+would have known how to deal with the culprit, but
+Cecil would never have acted as she did without the
+strongest motive, and Mrs. Willis felt more sorrowful
+than angry as she sat down by the side of her
+favorite pupil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have kept you waiting longer than I intended,
+my dear,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I was unexpectedly interrupted,
+and I am sorry; but you have had more time
+to think, Cecil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I have thought,&#8221; answered Cecil, in a very
+low tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, perhaps,&#8221; continued her governess, &#8220;in this
+quiet and beautiful and sacred place, my dear pupil
+has also prayed?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I have prayed,&#8221; said Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you have been guided, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Willis, in a tone of relief. &#8220;We do not come to
+God in our distress without being shown the right
+way. Your doubts have been removed, Cecil; you
+can now speak fully to me: can you not, dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have asked God to tell me what is right,&#8221; said
+Cecil. &#8220;I don&#8217;t pretend to know. I am very much
+puzzled. It seems to me that more good would be
+done if I concealed what you asked me to confess
+in the school-room. My own feeling is that I
+ought not to tell you. I know this is great disobedience,
+and I am quite willing to receive any
+punishment you think right to give me. Yes, I
+think I am quite willing to receive <i>any</i> punishment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis put her hand on Cecil&#8217;s shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ordinary punishments are not likely to affect
+you, Cecil,&#8221; she said; &#8220;on you I have no idea of
+inflicting extra lessons, or depriving you of half-holidays,
+or even taking away your drawing-room.
+But there is something else you must lose, and that
+I know will touch you deeply&mdash;I must remove from
+you my confidence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil&#8217;s face grew very pale.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And your love, too?&#8221; she said, looking up with
+imploring eyes; &#8220;oh, surely not your love as well?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ask you frankly, Cecil,&#8221; replied Mrs. Willis,
+&#8220;can perfect love exist without perfect confidence?
+I would not willingly deprive you of my love, but
+of necessity the love I have hitherto felt for you
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+must be altered&mdash;in short, the old love, which enabled
+me to rest on you and trust you, will cease.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil covered her face with her hands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This punishment is very cruel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You
+are right; it reaches down to my very heart. But,&#8221;
+she added, looking up with a strong and sweet light
+in her face, &#8220;I will try and bear it, and some day
+you will understand.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Listen, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis; &#8220;you have just
+told me you have prayed to God, and have asked
+Him to show you the right path. Now, my dear,
+suppose we kneel together, and both of us ask Him
+to show us the way out of this difficult matter. I
+want to be guided to use the right words with you,
+Cecil. You want to be guided to receive the instruction
+which I, as your teacher and mother-friend,
+would give you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil and Mrs. Willis both knelt down, and the
+head-mistress said a few words in a voice of great
+earnestness and entreaty; then they resumed their
+seats.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Cecil,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;you must remember
+in listening to me that I am speaking to
+you as I believe God wishes me to. If I can convince
+you that you are doing wrong in concealing
+what you know from me, will you act as I wish in
+the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I long to be convinced,&#8221; said Cecil, in a low
+tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is right, my dear; I can now speak to you
+with perfect freedom. My words you will remember,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+Cecil, are now, I firmly believe, directed by
+God; they are also the result of a large experience.
+I have trained many girls. I have watched the
+phases of thought in many young minds. Cecil,
+look at me. I can read you like a book.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil looked up expectantly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your motive for this concealment is as clear as
+the daylight, Cecil. You are keeping back what
+you know because you want to shield some one.
+Am I not right, my dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The color flooded Cecil&#8217;s pale face. She bent her
+head in silent assent, but her eyes were too full of
+tears, and her lips trembled too much to allow her
+to speak.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girl you want to defend,&#8221; continued Mrs.
+Willis, in that clear, patient voice of hers, &#8220;is one
+whom you and I both love&mdash;is one for whom we both
+have prayed&mdash;is one for whom we would both
+gladly sacrifice ourselves if necessary. Her name
+is&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Cecil imploringly&mdash;&#8220;don&#8217;t say
+her name; you have no right to suspect her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must say her name, Cecil, dear. If you suspect
+Annie Forest, why should not I? You do suspect
+her, do you not, Cecil?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil began to cry.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it,&#8221; continued Mrs. Willis. &#8220;Now, Cecil,
+we will suppose, terrible as this suspicion is, fearfully
+as it pains us both, that Annie Forest <i>is</i> guilty. We
+must suppose for the sake of my argument that this
+is the case. Do you not know, my dear Cecil, that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+you are doing the falsest, cruelest thing by dear
+Annie in trying to hide her sin from me? Suppose,
+just for the sake of our argument, that this cowardly
+conduct on Annie&#8217;s part was never found out by me;
+what effect would it have on Annie herself?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would save her in the eyes of the school,&#8221;
+said Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just so; but God would know the truth. Her
+next downfall would be deeper. In short, Cecil,
+under the idea of friendship you would have done
+the cruelest thing in all the world for your friend.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil was quite silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is one way to look at it,&#8221; continued Mrs.
+Willis; &#8220;but there are many other points from which
+this case ought to be viewed. You owe much to
+Annie, but not all&mdash;you have a duty to perform to
+your other schoolfellows. You have a duty to perform
+to me. If you possess a clue which will enable me
+to convict Annie Forest of her sin, in common justice
+you have no right to withhold it. Remember,
+that while she goes about free and unsuspected, some
+other girl is under the ban&mdash;some other girl is
+watched and feared. You fail in your duty to your
+schoolfellows when you keep back your knowledge,
+Cecil. When you refuse to trust me, you fail in
+your duty to your mistress; for I cannot stamp out
+this evil and wicked thing from our midst unless I
+know all. When you conceal your knowledge, you
+ruin the character of the girl you seek to shield.
+When you conceal your knowledge, you go against
+God&#8217;s express wish. There&mdash;I have spoken to you
+as He directed me to speak.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span></p>
+<p>Cecil suddenly sprang to her feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never thought of all these things,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;You are right, but it is very hard, and mine is
+only a suspicion. Oh, do be tender to her, and&mdash;forgive
+me&mdash;may I go away now?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As she spoke, she pulled out the torn copy of Mrs.
+Browning, laid it on her teacher&#8217;s lap, and ran
+swiftly out of the chapel.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII_TALKING_OVER_THE_MYSTERY' id='CHAPTER_XIII_TALKING_OVER_THE_MYSTERY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<h3>TALKING OVER THE MYSTERY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie Forest, sitting in the midst of a group of
+eager admirers, was chatting volubly. Never had
+she been in higher spirits, never had her pretty face
+looked more bright and daring.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple coming into the play-room, started
+when she saw her. Annie, however, instantly rose
+from the low hassock on which she had perched
+herself and, running up to Cecil, put her hand
+through her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are all discussing the mystery, darling,&#8221; she
+said; &#8220;we have discussed it, and literally torn it to
+shreds, and yet never got at the kernel. We have
+guessed and guessed what your motive can be in
+concealing the truth from Mrs. Willis, and we all
+unanimously vote that you are a dear old martyr,
+and that you have some admirable reason for keeping
+back the truth. You cannot think what an excitement
+we are in&mdash;even Susy Drummond has
+stayed awake to listen to our chatter. Now, Cecil,
+do come and sit here in this most inviting little arm-chair,
+and tell us what our dear head-mistress said
+to you in the chapel. It did seem so awful to send
+you to the chapel, poor dear Cecil.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span></p>
+<p>Cecil stood perfectly still and quiet while Annie
+was pouring out her torrent of eager words; her
+eyes, indeed, did not quite meet her companion&#8217;s,
+but she allowed Annie to retain her clasp of her arm,
+and she evidently listened with attention to her
+words. Now, however, when Miss Forest tried to
+draw her into the midst of the eager and animated
+group who sat round the play-room fire, she hesitated
+and looked longingly in the direction of her
+peaceful little drawing-room. Her hesitation, however,
+was but momentary. Quite silently she walked
+with Annie down the large play-room and entered
+the group of girls.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s your throne, Queen Cecil,&#8221; said Annie,
+trying to push her into the little arm-chair; but
+Cecil would not seat herself.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How nice that you have come, Cecil!&#8221; said
+Mary Pierce, a second-class girl. &#8220;I really think&mdash;we
+all think&mdash;that you were very brave to stand out
+against Mrs. Willis as you did. Of course we are
+devoured with curiosity to know what it means;
+arn&#8217;t we, Flo?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, we&#8217;re in agonies,&#8221; answered Flo Dunstan,
+another second-class girl.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will tell exactly what Mrs. Willis said, darling
+heroine?&#8221; proceeded Annie in her most dulcet
+tones. &#8220;You concealed your knowledge, didn&#8217;t
+you? you were very firm, weren&#8217;t you? dear, brave
+love!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For my part, I think Cecil Temple the soul of
+brave firmness,&#8221; here interrupted Susan Drummond.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+&#8220;I fancy she&#8217;s as hard and firm in herself when she
+wants to conceal a thing as that rocky sweetmeat
+which always hurts our teeth to get through. Yes,
+I do fancy that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Susy, what a horrid metaphor!&#8221; here interrupted
+several girls.
+</p>
+<p>One, however, of the eager group of schoolgirls
+had not opened her lips or said a word; that girl
+was Hester Thornton. She had been drawn into
+the circle by an intense curiosity; but she had made
+no comment with regard to Cecil&#8217;s conduct. If she
+knew anything of the mystery she had thrown no
+light on it. She had simply sat motionless, with
+watchful and alert eyes and silent tongue. Now, for
+the first time, she spoke.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think, if you will allow her, that Cecil has got
+something to say,&#8221; she remarked.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil glanced down at her with a very brief look
+of gratitude.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Hester,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I won&#8217;t keep
+you a moment, girls. I cannot offer to throw any
+light on the mystery which makes us all so miserable
+to-day; but I think it right to undeceive you with
+regard to myself. I have not concealed what I
+know from Mrs. Willis. She is in possession of all
+the facts, and what I found in my desk this morning
+is now in her keeping. She has made me see that
+in concealing my knowledge I was acting wrongly,
+and whatever pain has come to me in the matter, she
+now knows all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>When Cecil had finished her sad little speech she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+walked straight out of the group of girls, and, without
+glancing at one of them, went across the play-room
+to her own compartment. She had failed to
+observe a quick and startled glance from Susan
+Drummond&#8217;s sleepy blue eyes, nor had she heard
+her mutter&mdash;half to her companions, half to herself:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil is not like the rocky sweetmeat; I was
+mistaken in her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Neither had Cecil seen the flash of almost triumph
+in Hester&#8217;s eyes, nor the defiant glance she threw at
+Miss Forest. Annie stood with her hands clasped,
+and a little frown of perplexity between her brows,
+for a moment; then she ran fearlessly down the
+play-room, and said in a low voice at the other side
+of Cecil&#8217;s curtains:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I come in?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil said &#8220;Yes,&#8221; and Annie, entering the pretty
+little drawing-room, flung her arms round Miss
+Temple&#8217;s neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cecil,&#8221; she exclaimed impulsively, &#8220;you&#8217;re in
+great trouble. I am a giddy, reckless thing, I
+know, but I don&#8217;t laugh at people when they are in
+real trouble. Won&#8217;t you tell me all about it,
+Cecil?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will, Annie. Sit down there and I will tell
+you everything. I think you have a right to know,
+and I am glad you have come to me. I thought
+perhaps&mdash;but no matter. Annie, can&#8217;t you guess
+what I am going to say?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I&#8217;m sure I can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;I saw for a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+moment or two to-day that some of those absurd
+girls suspected me of being the author of all this
+mischief. Now, you know, Cecil, I love a bit of fun
+beyond words. If there&#8217;s any going on I feel
+nearly mad until I am in it; but what was done to-day
+was not at all in accordance with my ideas of
+fun. To tear up Miss Russell&#8217;s essay and fill her
+desk with stupid plum-cake and Turkish delight
+seems to me but a sorry kind of jest. Now, if I had
+been guilty of that sort of thing, I&#8217;d have managed
+something far cleverer than that. If <i>I</i> had tampered
+with Dora Russell&#8217;s desk, I&#8217;d have done the thing in
+style. The dear, sweet, dignified creature should
+have shrieked in real terror. You don&#8217;t know, perhaps,
+Cecil, that our admirable Dora is no end of a
+coward. I wonder what she would have said if I
+had put a little nest of field-mice in her desk! I saw
+that the poor thing suspected me, as she gave way
+to her usual little sneer about the &#8216;under-bred girl;&#8217;
+but, of course, <i>you</i> know me, Cecil. Why, my dear
+Cecil, what is the matter? How white you are, and
+you are actually crying! What is it, Cecil? what is
+it, Cecil, darling?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil dried her eyes quickly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know my pet copy of Mrs. Browning&#8217;s
+poems, don&#8217;t you, Annie?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, of course. You lent it to me one day.
+Don&#8217;t you remember how you made me cry over
+that picture of little Alice, the over-worked factory
+girl? What about the book, Cecil?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I found the book in my desk,&#8221; said Cecil, in a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+steady tone, and now fixing her eyes on Annie, who
+knelt by her side&mdash;&#8220;I found the book in my desk,
+although I never keep it there; for it is quite
+against the rules to keep our recreation books in
+our school-desks, and you know, Annie, I always
+think it is so much easier to keep these little rules.
+They are matters of duty and conscience, after all.
+I found my copy of Mrs. Browning in my desk this
+morning with the cover torn off, and with a very
+painful and ludicrous caricature of our dear Mrs.
+Willis sketched on the title-page.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;No, no; impossible!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know nothing about it, do you, Annie?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never put it there, if that&#8217;s what you mean,&#8221;
+said Annie. But her face had undergone a curious
+change. Her light and easy and laughing manner
+had altered. When Cecil mentioned the caricature
+she flushed a vivid crimson. Her flush had quickly
+died away, leaving her olive-tinted face paler than
+its wont.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see,&#8221; she said, after a long pause, &#8220;you, too,
+suspected me, Cecil, and that is why you tried to
+conceal the thing. You know that I am the only
+girl in the school who can draw caricatures, but did
+you suppose that I would show <i>her</i> dishonor? Of
+course things look ugly for me, if this is what you
+found in your book; but I did not think that <i>you</i>
+would suspect me, Cecil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will believe you, Annie,&#8221; said Cecil, eagerly.
+&#8220;I long beyond words to believe you. With all
+your faults, no one has ever yet found you out in a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+lie. If you look at me, Annie, and tell me honestly
+that you know nothing whatever about that caricature,
+I will believe you. Yes, I will believe you
+fully, and I will go with you to Mrs. Willis and
+tell her that, whoever did the wrong, you are innocent
+in this matter. Say you know nothing about
+it, dear, dear Annie, and take a load off my heart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never put the caricature into your book,
+Cecil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you know nothing about it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot say that; I never&mdash;never put it in your
+book.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Annie,&#8221; exclaimed poor Cecil, &#8220;you are
+trying to deceive me. Why won&#8217;t you be brave?
+Oh, Annie, I never thought you would stoop to a
+lie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m telling no lie,&#8221; answered Annie with sudden
+passion. &#8220;I do know something about the caricature,
+but I never put it into that book. There! you
+doubt me, you have ceased to believe me, and I
+won&#8217;t waste any more words on the matter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV__SENT_TO_COVENTRY' id='CHAPTER_XIV__SENT_TO_COVENTRY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;SENT TO COVENTRY.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There were many girls in the school who remembered
+that dismal half-holiday&mdash;they remembered
+its forced mirth and its hidden anxiety; and as the
+hours flew by the suspicion that Annie Forest was
+the author of all the mischief grew and deepened.
+A school is like a little world, and popular opinion
+is apt to change with great rapidity. Annie was
+undoubtedly the favorite of the school; but favorites
+are certain to have enemies, and there were
+several girls unworthy enough and mean enough to
+be jealous of poor Annie&#8217;s popularity. She was the
+kind of girl whom only very small natures could
+really dislike. Her popularity arose from the simple
+fact that hers was a peculiarly joyous and unselfish
+nature. She was a girl with scarcely any self-consciousness;
+those she loved, she loved devotedly;
+she threw herself with a certain feverish impetuosity
+into their lives, and made their interest her
+own. To get into mischief and trouble for the sake
+of a friend was an every-day occurrence with Annie.
+She was not the least studious; she had no one
+particular talent, unless it was an untrained and
+birdlike voice; she was always more or less in hot
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span>
+water about her lessons, always behindhand in her
+tasks, always leaving undone what she should do,
+and doing what she should not do. She was a contradictory,
+erratic creature&mdash;jealous of no one,
+envious of no one&mdash;dearly loving a joke, and many
+times inflicting pain from sheer thoughtlessness, but
+always ready to say she was sorry, always ready to
+make friends again.
+</p>
+<p>It is strange that such a girl as Annie should have
+enemies, but she had, and in the last few weeks the
+feeling of jealousy and envy which had always been
+smoldering in some breasts took more active form.
+Two reasons accounted for this: Hester&#8217;s openly
+avowed and persistent dislike to Annie, and Miss
+Russell&#8217;s declared conviction that she was under-bred
+and not a lady.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Russell was the only girl in the first class
+who had hitherto given wild little Annie a thought.
+</p>
+<p>In the first class, to-day, Annie had to act the unpleasing
+part of the wicked little heroine. Miss
+Russell was quite certain of Annie&#8217;s guilt; she and
+her companions condescended to discuss poor Annie
+and to pull all her little virtues to pieces, and to
+magnify her sins to an alarming extent.
+</p>
+<p>After two or three hours of judicious conversation,
+Dora Russell and most of the other first-class
+girls decided that Annie ought to be expelled, and
+unanimously resolved that they, at least, would do
+what they could to &#8220;send her to Coventry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In the lower part of the school Annie also had
+a few enemies, and these girls, having carefully
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+observed Hester&#8217;s attitude toward her, now came
+up close to this dignified little lady, and asked her
+boldly to declare her opinion with regard to Annie&#8217;s
+guilt.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, without the least hesitation, assured them
+that &#8220;of course Annie had done it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is not room for a single doubt on the subject,&#8221;
+she said; &#8220;there&mdash;look at her now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At this instant Annie was leaving Cecil&#8217;s compartment,
+and with red eyes, and hair, as usual,
+falling about her face, was running out of the play-room.
+She seemed in great distress; but, nevertheless,
+before she reached the door, she stopped to
+pick up a little girl of five, who was fretting about
+some small annoyance. Annie took the little one
+in her arms, kissed her tenderly, whispered some
+words in her ear, which caused the little face to
+light up with some smiles and the round arms to
+clasp Annie with an ecstatic hug. She dropped
+the child, who ran back to play merrily with her
+companions, and left the room.
+</p>
+<p>The group of middle-class girls still sat on by the
+fire, but Hester Thornton now, not Annie, was the
+center of attraction. It was the first time in all
+her young life that Hester had found herself in the
+enviable position of a favorite; and without at all
+knowing what mischief she was doing, she could
+not resist improving the occasion, and making the
+most of her dislike for Annie.
+</p>
+<p>Several of those who even were fond of Miss
+Forest came round to the conviction that she was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+really guilty, and one by one, as is the fashion not
+only among school girls but in the greater world
+outside, they began to pick holes in their former
+favorite. These girls, too, resolved that, if Annie
+were really so mean as maliciously to injure other
+girls&#8217; property and get them into trouble, she must
+be &#8220;sent to Coventry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s Coventry?&#8221; asked one of the little ones,
+the child whom Annie had kissed and comforted,
+now sidling up to the group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, a nasty place, Phena,&#8221; said Mary Bell,
+putting her arm round the pretty child and drawing
+her to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And who is going there?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, I am afraid it is naughty Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s not naughty! Annie sha&#8216;n&#8217;t go to any
+nasty place. I hate you, Mary Bell.&#8221; The little
+one looked round the group with flashing eyes of
+defiance, then wrenched herself away to return to
+her younger companions.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was stupid of you to say that, Mary,&#8221; remarked
+one of the girls. &#8220;Well,&#8221; she continued,
+&#8220;I suppose it is all settled, and poor Annie, to say
+the least of it, is not a lady. For my own part, I
+always thought her great fun, but if she is proved
+guilty of this offense I wash my hands of her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We all wash our hands of her,&#8221; echoed the girls,
+with the exception of Susan Drummond, who, as
+usual, was nodding in her chair.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you say, Susy?&#8221; asked one or two;
+&#8220;you have not opened your lips all this time.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;eh?&mdash;what?&#8221; asked Susan, stretching herself
+and yawning, &#8220;oh, about Annie Forest&mdash;I
+suppose you are right, girls. Is not that the tea-gong?
+I&#8217;m awfully hungry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester Thornton went into the tea-room that
+evening feeling particularly virtuous, and with an
+idea that she had distinguished herself in some
+way.
+</p>
+<p>Poor foolish, thoughtless Hester, she little guessed
+what seed she had sown, and what a harvest she
+was preparing for her own reaping by-and-by.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV_ABOUT_SOME_PEOPLE_WHO_THOUGHT_NO_EVIL' id='CHAPTER_XV_ABOUT_SOME_PEOPLE_WHO_THOUGHT_NO_EVIL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<h3>ABOUT SOME PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT NO EVIL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A few days after this Hester was much delighted
+to receive an invitation from her little friends, the
+Misses Bruce. These good ladies had not forgotten
+the lonely and miserable child whom they had comforted
+not a little during her journey to school six
+weeks ago. They invited Hester to spend the next
+half-holiday with them, and as this happened to fall
+on a Saturday, Mrs. Willis gave Hester permission
+to remain with her friends until eight o&#8217;clock, when
+she would send the carriage to fetch her home.
+</p>
+<p>The trouble about Annie had taken place the
+Wednesday before, and all the girls&#8217; heads were full
+of the uncleared-up mystery when Hester started on
+her little expedition.
+</p>
+<p>Nothing was known; no fresh light had been
+thrown on the subject. Everything went on as usual
+within the school, and a casual observer would never
+have noticed the cloud which rested over that usually
+happy dwelling. A casual observer would have
+noticed little or no change in Annie Forest; her
+merry laugh was still heard, her light step still
+danced across the play-room floor, she was in her
+place in class, and was, if anything, a little more attentive
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+and a little more successful over her lessons.
+Her pretty piquant face, her arch expression, the
+bright, quick and droll glance which she alone could
+give, were still to be seen; but those who knew her
+well and those who loved her best saw a change in
+Annie.
+</p>
+<p>In the play-room she devoted herself exclusively
+to the little ones; she never went near Cecil Temple&#8217;s
+drawing-room; she never mingled with the girls of
+the middle school as they clustered round the cheerful
+fire. At meal-times she ate little, and her room-fellow
+was heard to declare that she was awakened
+more than once in the middle of the night by the
+sound of Annie&#8217;s sobs. In chapel, too, when she
+fancied herself quite unobserved, her face wore an
+expression of great pain; but if Mrs. Willis happened
+to glance in her direction, instantly the little mouth
+became demure and almost hard, the dark eyelashes
+were lowered over the bright eyes, the whole expression
+of the face showed the extreme of indifference.
+Hester felt more sure than ever of Annie&#8217;s
+guilt; but one or two of the other girls in the school
+wavered in this opinion, and would have taken Annie
+out of &#8220;Coventry&#8221; had she herself made the smallest
+advance toward them.
+</p>
+<p>Annie and Hester had not spoken to each other
+now for several days; but on this afternoon, which
+was a bright one in early spring, as Hester was
+changing her school-dress for her Sunday one, and
+preparing for her visit to the Misses Bruce, there
+came a light knock at her door. She said, &#8220;Come
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+in!&#8221; rather impatiently, for she was in a hurry, and
+dreaded being kept.
+</p>
+<p>To her surprise Annie Forest put in her curly
+head, and then, dancing with her usual light movement
+across the room, she laid a little bunch of
+dainty spring flowers on the dressing-table beside
+Hester.
+</p>
+<p>Hester stared, first at the intruder, and then at
+the early primroses. She passionately loved flowers,
+and would have exclaimed with ecstasy at these
+had any one brought them in except Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you,&#8221; said Annie, rather timidly for her,
+&#8220;to take these flowers from me to Miss Agnes and
+Miss Jane Bruce. It will be very kind of you if you
+will take them. I am sorry to have interrupted
+you&mdash;thank you very much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She was turning away when Hester compelled
+herself to remark:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is there any message with the flowers?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no&mdash;only Annie Forest&#8217;s love. They&#8217;ll understand&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+she turned half round as she spoke,
+and Hester saw that her eyes had filled with tears.
+She felt touched in spite of herself. There was
+something in Annie&#8217;s face now which reminded her
+of her darling little Nan at home. She had seen
+the same beseeching, sorrowful look in Nan&#8217;s brown
+eyes when she had wanted her friends to kiss her
+and take her to their hearts and love her.
+</p>
+<p>Hester would not allow herself, however, to feel
+any tenderness toward Annie. Of course she was
+not really a bit like sweet little Nan, and it was absurd
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+to suppose that a great girl like Annie could
+want caressing and petting and soothing; still, in
+spite of herself, Annie&#8217;s look haunted her, and she
+took great care of the little flower-offering, and presented
+it with Annie&#8217;s message instantly on her arrival
+to the little old ladies.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Jane and Miss Agnes were very much pleased
+with the early primroses. They looked at one another
+and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor dear little girl,&#8221; in tender voices, and then
+they put the flowers into one of their daintiest vases,
+and made much of them, and showed them to any
+visitors who happened to call that afternoon.
+</p>
+<p>Their little house looked something like a doll&#8217;s
+house to Hester, who had been accustomed all her
+life to large rooms and spacious passages; but it was
+the sweetest, daintiest, and most charming little
+abode in the world. It was not unlike a nest, and
+the Misses Bruce in certain ways resembled bright
+little robin redbreasts, so small, so neat, so chirrupy
+they were.
+</p>
+<p>Hester enjoyed her afternoon immensely; the little
+ladies were right in their prophesy, and she was
+no longer lonely at school. She enjoyed talking
+about her schoolfellows, about her new life, about
+her studies. The Misses Bruce were decidedly fond
+of a gossip, but something which she could not at all
+define in their manner prevented Hester from retailing
+for their benefit any unkind news. They told
+her frankly at last that they were only interested in
+the good things which went on in the school, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+that they found no pursuit so altogether delightful
+as finding out the best points in all the people they
+came across. They would not even laugh at sleepy,
+tiresome Susan Drummond; on the contrary, they
+pitied her, and Miss Jane wondered if the girl could
+be quite well, whereupon Miss Agnes shook her
+head, and said emphatically that it was Hester&#8217;s duty
+to rouse poor Susy, and to make her waking life so
+interesting to her that she should no longer care to
+spend so many hours in the world of dreams.
+</p>
+<p>There is such a thing as being so kind-hearted,
+so gentle, so charitable as to make the people who
+have not encouraged these virtues feel quite uncomfortable.
+By the mere force of contrast they begin
+to see themselves something as they really are.
+Since Hester had come to Lavender House she had
+taken very little pains to please others rather than
+herself, and she was now almost startled to see how
+she had allowed selfishness to get the better of her.
+While the Misses Bruce were speaking, old longings,
+which had slept since her mother&#8217;s death, came
+back to the young girl, and she began to wish that
+she could be kinder to Susan Drummond, and that
+she could overcome her dislike to Annie Forest.
+She longed to say something about Annie to the
+little ladies, but they evidently did not wish to
+allude to the subject. When she was going away,
+they gave her a small parcel.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will kindly give this to your schoolfellow,
+Miss Forest, Hester, dear,&#8221; they both said, and then
+they kissed her, and said they hoped they should
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+see her again; and Hester got into the old-fashioned
+school brougham, and held the brown paper parcel
+in her hand.
+</p>
+<p>As she was going into the chapel that night,
+Mary Bell came up to her and whispered:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have not got to the bottom of that mystery
+about Annie Forest yet. Mrs. Willis can evidently
+make nothing of her, and I believe Mr. Everard is
+going to talk to her after prayers to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As she was speaking, Annie herself pushed rather
+rudely past the two girls; her face was flushed, and
+her hair was even more untidy than was its wont.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here is a parcel for you, Miss Forest,&#8221; said
+Hester, in a much more gentle tone than she was
+wont to use when she addressed this objectionable
+schoolmate.
+</p>
+<p>All the girls were now filing into the chapel,
+and Hester should certainly not have presented the
+little parcel at that moment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Breaking the rules, Miss Thornton,&#8221; said Annie;
+&#8220;all right, toss it here.&#8221; Then, as Hester failed to
+comply, she ran back, knocking her schoolfellows
+out of place, and, snatching the parcel from Hester&#8217;s
+hand, threw it high in the air. This was a piece of not
+only willful audacity and disobedience, but it even
+savored of the profane, for Annie&#8217;s step was on the
+threshold of the chapel, and the parcel fell with a
+noisy bang on the floor some feet inside the little
+building.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bring me that parcel, Annie Forest,&#8221; whispered
+the stern voice of the head-mistress.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></p>
+<p>Annie sullenly complied; but when she came up
+to Mrs. Willis, her governess took her hand, and
+pushed her down into a low seat a little behind
+her.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI__AN_ENEMY_HATH_DONE_THIS' id='CHAPTER_XVI__AN_ENEMY_HATH_DONE_THIS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The short evening service was over, and one by
+one, in orderly procession, the girls left the chapel.
+Annie was about to rise to her feet to follow her
+school-companions, when Mrs. Willis stooped down,
+and whispered something in her ear. Her face became
+instantly suffused with a dull red; she resumed
+her seat, and buried her face in both her hands.
+One or two of the girls noticed her despondent
+attitude as they left the chapel, and Cecil Temple
+looked back with a glance of such unutterable
+sympathy that Annie&#8217;s proud, suffering little heart
+would have been touched could she but have seen
+the look.
+</p>
+<p>Presently the young steps died away, and Annie,
+raising her head, saw that she was alone with Mr.
+Everard, who seated himself in the place which Mrs.
+Willis had occupied by her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your governess has asked me to speak to you,
+my dear,&#8221; he said, in his kind and fatherly tones;
+&#8220;she wants us to discuss this thing which is making
+you so unhappy quite fully together.&#8221; Here the
+clergyman paused, and noticing a sudden wistful
+and soft look in the girl&#8217;s brown eyes, he continued:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+&#8220;Perhaps, however, you have something to say to
+me which will throw light on this mystery?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir, I have nothing to say,&#8221; replied Annie,
+and now again the sullen expression passed like a
+wave over her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor child,&#8221; said Mr. Everard. &#8220;Perhaps,
+Annie,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;you do not quite understand
+me&mdash;you do not quite read my motive in talking to
+you to-night. I am not here in any sense to reprove
+you. You are either guilty of this sin, or you are
+not guilty. In either case I pity you; it is very
+hard, very bitter, to be falsely accused&mdash;I pity you
+much if this is the case; but it is still harder, Annie,
+still more bitter, still more absolutely crushing to
+be accused of a sin which we are trying to conceal.
+In that terrible case God Himself hides His face.
+Poor child, poor child, I pity you most of all if you
+are guilty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie had again covered her face, and bowed her
+head over her hands. She did not speak for a
+moment, but presently Mr. Everard heard a low sob,
+and then another, and another, until at last her
+whole frame was shaken with a perfect tempest of
+weeping.
+</p>
+<p>The old clergyman, who had seen many strange
+phases of human nature, who had in his day comforted
+and guided more than one young school-girl,
+was far too wise to do anything to check this flow
+of grief. He knew Annie would speak more fully
+and more frankly when her tears were over. He
+was right. She presently raised a very tear-stained
+face to the clergyman.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I felt very bitter at your coming to speak to
+me,&#8221; she began. &#8220;Mrs. Willis has always sent for
+you when everything else has failed with us girls,
+and I did not think she would treat me so. I was
+determined not to say anything to you. Now, however,
+you have spoken good words to me, and I can&#8217;t
+turn away from you. I will tell you all that is in
+my heart. I will promise before God to conceal
+nothing, if only you will do one thing for me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is that, my child?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you believe me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Undoubtedly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, but you have not been tried yet. I thought
+Mrs. Willis would certainly believe; but she said
+the circumstantial evidence was too strong&mdash;perhaps
+it will be too strong for you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I promise to believe you, Annie Forest; if, before
+God, you can assure me that you are speaking
+the whole truth, I will fully believe you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie paused again, then she rose from her seat
+and stood a pace away from the old minister.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is the truth before God,&#8221; she said, as she
+locked her two hands together and raised her eyes
+freely and unshrinkingly to Mr. Everard&#8217;s face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have always loved Mrs. Willis. I have reasons
+for loving her which the girls don&#8217;t know
+about. The girls don&#8217;t know that when my mother
+was dying she gave me into Mrs. Willis&#8217; charge,
+and she said, &#8216;You must keep Annie until her
+father comes back.&#8217; Mother did not know where
+father was; but she said he would be sure to come
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+back some day, and look for mother and me; and
+Mrs. Willis said she would keep me faithfully until
+father came to claim me. That is four years ago, and
+my father has never come, nor have I heard of him,
+and I think, I am almost sure, that the little
+money which mother left must be all used up. Mrs.
+Willis never says anything about money, and she
+did not wish me to tell my story to the girls.
+None of them know except Cecil Temple. I am
+sure some day father will come home, and he will
+give Mrs. Willis back the money she has spent on
+me; but never, never, never can he repay her for her
+goodness to me. You see I cannot help loving Mrs.
+Willis. It is quite impossible for any girl to have
+such a friend and not to love her. I know I am
+very wild, and that I do all sorts of mad things. It
+seems to me that I cannot help myself sometimes;
+but I would not willingly, indeed, I would not
+willingly hurt anybody. Last Wednesday, as you
+know, there was a great disturbance in the school.
+Dora Russell&#8217;s desk was tampered with, and so was
+Cecil Temple&#8217;s. You know, of course, what was
+found in both the desks. Mrs. Willis sent for me,
+and asked me about the caricature which was drawn
+in Cecil&#8217;s book. I looked at it and I told her
+the truth. I did not conceal one thing. I told her
+the whole truth as far as I knew it. She did not
+believe me. She said so. What more could I do
+then?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Annie paused; she began to unclasp and clasp
+her hands, and she looked full at Mr. Everard with
+a most pleading expression.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mind repeating to me exactly what you
+said to your governess?&#8221; he questioned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I said this, sir. I said, &#8216;Yes, Mrs. Willis, I did
+draw that caricature. You will scarcely understand
+how I, who love you so much, could have been so
+mad and ungrateful as to do anything to turn you
+into ridicule. I would cut off my right hand now
+not to have done it; but I did do it, and I must tell
+you the truth.&#8217; &#8216;Tell me, dear,&#8217; she said, quite
+gently then. &#8216;It was one wet afternoon about a
+fortnight ago,&#8217; I said to her; &#8216;a lot of us middle-school
+girls were sitting together, and I had a pencil
+and some bits of paper, and I was making up funny
+little groups of a lot of us, and the girls were screaming
+with laughter, for somehow I managed to make
+the likeness that I wanted in each case. It was
+very wrong of me, I know. It was against the
+rules, but I was in one of my maddest humors, and I
+really did not care what the consequences were. At
+last one of the girls said: &#8216;You won&#8217;t dare to make
+a picture like that of Mrs. Willis, Annie&mdash;you know
+you won&#8217;t dare.&#8217; The minute she said that name I began
+to feel ashamed. I remembered I was breaking
+one of the rules, and I suddenly tore up all my bits
+of paper and flung them into the fire, and I said:
+&#8216;No, I would not dare to show her dishonor.&#8217; Well,
+afterward, as I was washing my hands for tea up
+in my room, the temptation came over me so strongly
+that I felt I could not resist it, to make a funny
+little sketch of Mrs. Willis. I had a little scrap of
+thin paper, and I took out my pencil and did it all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+in a minute. It seemed to me very funny, and I
+could not help laughing at it; and then I thrust it
+into my private writing-case, which I always keep
+locked, and I put the key in my pocket and ran
+downstairs. I forgot all about the caricature. I
+had never shown it to any one. How it got into
+Cecil&#8217;s book is more than I can say. When I had
+finished speaking Mrs. Willis looked very hard at
+the book. &#8216;You are right,&#8217; she said; &#8216;this caricature
+is drawn on a very thin piece of paper, which has
+been cleverly pasted on the title-page.&#8217; Then, Mr.
+Everard, she asked me a lot of questions. Had I
+ever parted with my keys? Had I ever left my desk
+unlocked? &#8216;No,&#8217; I said, &#8216;my desk is always locked,
+and my keys are always in my pocket. Indeed,&#8217; I
+added, &#8216;my keys were absolutely safe for the last
+week, for they went in a white petticoat to the wash,
+and came back as rusty as possible.&#8217; I could not
+open my desk for a whole week, which was a great
+nuisance. I told all this story to Mrs. Willis, and
+she said to me: &#8216;You are positively certain that this
+caricature has been taken out of your desk by somebody
+else, and pasted in here? You are sure that the
+caricature you drew is not to be found in your desk?&#8217;
+&#8216;Yes,&#8217; I said; &#8216;how can I be anything but sure; these
+are my pencil marks, and that is the funny little turn
+I gave to your neck which made me laugh when I
+drew it. Yes; I am certainly sure.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have always been told, Annie,&#8217; Mrs. Willis
+said, &#8216;that you are the only girl in the school who
+can draw these caricatures. You have never seen an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+attempt at this kind of drawing among your schoolfellows,
+or among any of the teachers?&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I have never seen any of them try this special
+kind of drawing,&#8217; I said. &#8216;I wish I was like them.
+I wish I had never, never done it.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You have got your keys now?&#8217; Mrs. Willis
+said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Yes,&#8217; I answered, pulling them all covered with
+rust out of my pocket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then she told me to leave the keys on the table,
+and to go upstairs and fetch down my little private
+desk.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did so, and she made me put the rusty key in the
+lock and open the desk, and together we searched
+through its contents. We pulled out everything, or
+rather I did, and I scattered all my possessions about
+on the table, and then I looked up almost triumphantly
+at Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;You see the caricature is not here,&#8217; I said;
+&#8216;somebody picked the lock and took it away.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;This lock has not been picked,&#8217; Mrs. Willis said;
+&#8216;and what is that little piece of white paper sticking
+out of the private drawer?&#8217;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Oh, I forgot my private drawer,&#8217; I said; &#8216;but
+there is nothing in it&mdash;nothing whatever,&#8217; and then I
+touched the spring, and pulled it open, and there lay
+the little caricature which I had drawn in the bottom
+of the drawer. There it lay, not as I had left it, for I
+had never put it into the private drawer. I saw Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; face turn very white, and I noticed that her
+hands trembled. I was all red myself, and very hot,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+and there was a choking lump in my throat, and I
+could not have got a single word out even if I had
+wished to. So I began scrambling the things back
+into my desk, as hard as ever I could, and then I
+locked it, and put the rusty keys back in my pocket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;What am I to believe now, Annie?&#8217; Mrs. Willis
+said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Believe anything you like now,&#8217; I managed to
+say; and then I took my desk and walked out of the
+room, and would not wait even though she called me
+back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is the whole story, Mr. Everard,&#8221; continued
+Annie. &#8220;I have no explanation whatever to give.
+I did make the one caricature of my dear governess.
+I did not make the other. The second
+caricature is certainly a copy of the first, but I did
+not make it. I don&#8217;t know who made it. I have
+no light whatever to throw on the subject. You
+see after all,&#8221; added Annie Forest, raising her eyes
+to the clergyman&#8217;s face, &#8220;it is impossible for you to
+believe me. Mrs. Willis does not believe me, and
+you cannot be expected to. I don&#8217;t suppose you are
+to be blamed. I don&#8217;t see how you can help yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The circumstantial evidence is very strong against
+you, Annie,&#8221; replied the clergyman; &#8220;still, I
+promised to believe, and I have no intention of going
+back from my word. If, in the presence of God
+in this little church, you would willingly and deliberately
+tell me a lie I should never trust human
+being again. No, Annie Forest, you have many
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+faults, but you are not a liar. I see the impress of
+truth on your brow, in your eyes, on your lips.
+This is a very painful mystery, my child; but I
+believe you. I am going to see Mrs. Willis now.
+God bless you, Annie. Be brave, be courageous,
+don&#8217;t foster malice in your heart to any unknown
+enemy. An enemy has truly done this thing, poor
+child; but God Himself will bring this mystery to
+light. Trust Him, my dear; and now I am going
+to see Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>While Mr. Everard was speaking, Annie&#8217;s whole
+expressive face had changed; the sullen look had
+left it; the eyes were bright with renewed hope;
+the lips had parted in smiles. There was a struggle
+for speech, but no words came: the young girl
+stooped down and raised the old clergyman&#8217;s
+withered hands to her lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me stay here a little longer,&#8221; she managed
+to say at last; and then he left her.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII__THE_SWEETS_ARE_POISONED' id='CHAPTER_XVII__THE_SWEETS_ARE_POISONED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;THE SWEETS ARE POISONED.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think, my dear madam,&#8221; said Mr. Everard to
+Mrs. Willis, &#8220;that you must believe your pupil.
+She has not refused to confess to you from any
+stubbornness, but from the simple reason that she
+has nothing to confess. I am firmly convinced that
+things are as she stated them, Mrs. Willis. There is
+a mystery here which we neither of us can explain,
+but which we must unravel.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then Mrs. Willis and the clergyman had a long
+and anxious talk together. It lasted for a long
+time, and some of its results at least were manifest
+the next morning, for, just before the morning&#8217;s
+work began, Mrs. Willis came to the large school-room,
+and, calling Annie Forest to her side, laid
+her hand on the young girl&#8217;s shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish to tell you all, young ladies,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;that I completely and absolutely exonerate Annie
+Forest from having any part in the disgraceful
+occurrence which took place in this school-room a
+short time ago. I allude, of course, as you all know,
+to the book which was found tampered with in Cecil
+Temple&#8217;s desk. Some one else in this room is
+guilty, and the mystery has still to be unraveled,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+and the guilty girl has still to come forward and
+declare herself. If she is willing at this moment to
+come to me here, and fully and freely confess her
+sin, I will quite forgive her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The head mistress paused, and, still with her hand
+on Annie&#8217;s shoulder, looked anxiously down the
+long room. The love and forgiveness which she
+felt shone in her eyes at this moment. No girl need
+have feared aught but tenderness from her just
+then.
+</p>
+<p>No one stirred; the moment passed, and a look of
+sternness returned to the mistress&#8217; fine face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said, in her emphatic and clear tones,
+&#8220;the guilty girl prefers waiting until God discovers
+her sin for her. My dear, whoever you are, that
+hour is coming, and you cannot escape from it. In
+the meantime, girls, I wish you all to receive Annie
+Forest as quite innocent. I believe in her, so does
+Mr. Everard, and so must you. Any one who treats
+Miss Forest except as a perfectly innocent and
+truthful girl incurs my severe displeasure. My
+dear, you may return to your seat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, whose face was partly hidden by her curly
+hair during the greater part of this speech, now
+tossed it back, and raised her brown eyes with a
+look of adoration in them to her teacher. Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; face, however, still looked harassed. Her
+eyes met Annie&#8217;s, but no corresponding glow was
+kindled in them; their glance was just, calm, but
+cold.
+</p>
+<p>The childish heart was conscious of a keen pang
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+of agony, and Annie went back to her lessons without
+any sense of exultation.
+</p>
+<p>The fact was this: Mrs. Willis&#8217; judgment and
+reason had been brought round by Mr. Everard&#8217;s
+words, but in her heart of hearts, almost unknown
+to herself, there still lingered a doubt of the innocence
+of her wayward and pretty pupil. She said
+over and over to herself that she really now quite
+believed in Annie Forest, but then would come
+those whisperings from her pained and sore heart.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why did she ever make a caricature of one who
+has been as a mother to her? If she made one caricature,
+could she not make another? Above all
+things, if <i>she</i> did not do it, who did?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis turned away from these unpleasant
+whispers&mdash;she would not let them stay with her,
+and turned a deaf ear to their ugly words. She
+had publicly declared in the school her belief in
+Annie&#8217;s absolute innocence, but at the moment when
+her pupil looked up at her with a world of love and
+adoration in her gaze, she found to her own infinite
+distress that she could not give her the old love.
+</p>
+<p>Annie went back to her companions, and bent
+her head over her lessons, and tried to believe that
+she was very thankful and very happy, and Cecil
+Temple managed to whisper a gentle word of congratulation
+to her, and at the twelve o&#8217;clock walk
+Annie perceived that a few of her schoolfellows
+looked at her with friendly eyes again. She perceived
+now that when she went into the play-room
+she was not absolutely tabooed, and that, if she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+chose, she might speedily resume her old reign of
+popularity. Annie had, to a remarkable extent, the
+gift of inspiring love, and her old favorites would
+quickly have flocked back to their sovereign had
+she so willed it. It is certainly true that the girls
+to whom the whole story was known in all its bearings
+found it difficult to understand how Annie
+could be innocent; but Mr. Everard&#8217;s and Mrs.
+Willis&#8217; assertions were too potent to be disregarded,
+and most of the girls were only too willing to let
+the whole affair slide from their minds, and to take
+back their favorite Annie to their hearts again.
+</p>
+<p>Annie, however, herself did not so will it. In the
+play-room she fraternized with the little ones who
+were alike her friends in adversity and sunshine;
+she rejected almost coldly the overtures of her old
+favorites, but played, and romped, and was merry
+with the children of the sixth class. She even declined
+Cecil&#8217;s invitation to come and sit with her in
+her drawing-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I hate being still; I am in
+no humor for talk. Another time, Cecil, another
+time. Now then, Sybil, my beauty, get well on my
+back, and I&#8217;ll be the willing dog carrying you round
+and round the room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s face had not a trace of care or anxiety on
+it, but her eyes would not quite meet Cecil&#8217;s, and
+Cecil sighed as she turned away, and her heart,
+too, began to whisper little, mocking, ugly doubts of
+poor Annie.
+</p>
+<p>During the half-hour before tea that evening
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+Annie was sitting on the floor with a small child
+in her lap, and two other little ones tumbling about
+her, when she was startled by a shower of lollipops
+being poured over her head, down her neck, and
+into her lap. She started up and met the sleepy
+gaze of Susan Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s to congratulate you, miss,&#8221; said Susan;
+&#8220;you&#8217;re a very lucky girl to have escaped as you
+did.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The little ones began putting Susan&#8217;s lollipops
+vigorously into their mouths. Annie sprang to her
+feet shaking the sticky sweetmeats out of her dress
+on to the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have I escaped from?&#8221; she asked, turning
+round and facing her companion haughtily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear me!&#8221; said Susan, stepping back a pace
+or two. &#8220;I&mdash;ah&mdash;&#8221; stifling a yawn&mdash;&#8220;I only meant
+you were very near getting into an ugly scrape. It&#8217;s
+no affair of mine, I&#8217;m sure; only I thought you&#8217;d
+like the lollipops.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t like them at all,&#8221; said Annie, &#8220;nor
+you, either. Go back to your own companions,
+please.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan sulkily walked away, and Annie stooped
+down on the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, little darlings,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you mustn&#8217;t
+eat those. No, no, they are not good at all; and
+they have come from one of Annie&#8217;s enemies. Most
+likely they are full of poison. Let us collect them
+all, every one, and we will throw them into the fire
+before we go to tea.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any poison in them,&#8221;
+said little Janie West in a regretful tone, as she
+gobbled down a particularly luscious chocolate cream;
+&#8220;they are all big, and fat, and bursty, and <i>so</i> sweet,
+Annie, dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, Janie, they are dangerous sweeties
+all the same. Come, come, throw them into my
+apron, and I will run over and toss them into the
+fire, and we&#8217;ll have time for a game of leap-frog before
+tea; oh, fie, Judy,&#8221; as a very small fat baby
+began to whimper, &#8220;you would not eat the sweeties
+of one of Annie&#8217;s enemies.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This last appeal was successful. The children
+made a valiant effort, and dashed the tempting goodies
+into Annie&#8217;s alapaca apron. When they were
+all collected, she marched up the play-room and in
+the presence of Susan Drummond, Hester Thornton,
+Cecil Temple, and several more of her school companions,
+threw them into the fire.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much for <i>that</i> overture, Miss Drummond,&#8221;
+she said, making a mock courtesy, and returning once
+more to the children.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII_IN_THE_HAMMOCK' id='CHAPTER_XVIII_IN_THE_HAMMOCK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE HAMMOCK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Just at this time the weather suddenly changed.
+After the cold and dreariness of winter came soft
+spring days&mdash;came longer evenings and brighter
+mornings.
+</p>
+<p>Hester Thornton found that she could dress by
+daylight, then that she was no longer cold and shivering
+when she reached the chapel, then that she
+began intensely to enjoy her mid-day walk, then that
+she found her winter things a little too hot, until at
+last, almost suddenly it seemed to the expectant and
+anxious girls, glorious spring weather broke upon the
+world, the winds were soft and westerly, the buds
+swelled and swelled into leaf on the trees, and the
+flowers bloomed in the delightful old-fashioned
+gardens of Lavender House. Instantly, it seemed
+to the girls, their whole lives had altered. The play-room
+was deserted or only put up with on wet days.
+At twelve o&#8217;clock, instead of taking a monotonous
+walk on the roads, they ran races, played tennis,
+croquet, or any other game they liked best in the
+gardens. Later on in the day, when the sun was
+not so powerful, they took their walk; but even
+then they had time to rush back to their beloved
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+shady garden for a little time before tea and preparation
+for their next day&#8217;s work. Easter came this
+year about the middle of April, and Easter found
+these girls almost enjoying summer weather. How
+they looked forward to their few Easter holidays!
+what plans they made, what tennis matches were arranged,
+what games and amusements of all sorts were
+in anticipation! Mrs. Willis herself generally went
+away for a few days at Easter; so did the French
+governess, and the school was nominally placed under
+the charge of Miss Good and Miss Danesbury. Mrs.
+Willis did not approve of long Easter holidays; she
+never gave more than a week, and in consequence
+only the girls who lived quite near went home. Out
+of the fifty girls who resided at Lavender House
+about ten went away at Easter; the remaining forty
+stayed behind, and were often heard to declare that
+holidays at Lavender House were the most delightful
+things in the world.
+</p>
+<p>At this particular Easter time the girls were rather
+surprised to hear that Mrs. Willis had made up her
+mind not to go away as usual; Miss Good was to
+have a holiday, and Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury
+were to look after the school. This was felt to be an
+unusual, indeed unheard of, proceeding, and the girls
+commented about it a good deal, and somehow,
+without absolutely intending to do so, they began to
+settle in their own minds that Mrs. Willis was staying
+in the school on account of Annie Forest, and that in
+her heart of hearts she did not absolutely believe in
+her innocence. Mrs. Willis certainly gave the girls no
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+reason to come to this conclusion; she was consistently
+kind to Annie, and had apparently quite
+restored her to her old place in her favor. Annie
+was more gentle than of old, and less inclined to
+get into scrapes; but the girls loved her far less in
+her present unnatural condition of reserve and good
+behavior than they did in her old daring and hoydenish
+days. Cecil Temple always spent Easter
+with an old aunt who lived in a neighboring
+town; she openly said this year that she did not
+wish to go away, but her governess would not allow
+her to change her usual plans, and she left Lavender
+House with a curious feeling of depression and coming
+trouble. As she was getting into the cab which
+was to take her to the station Annie flew to her side,
+threw a great bouquet of flowers which she had
+gathered into her lap, and, flinging her arms tightly
+round her neck, whispered suddenly and passionately:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Cecil, believe in me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I&mdash;I don&#8217;t know that I don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Cecil,
+rather lamely.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Cecil, you don&#8217;t&mdash;not in your heart of hearts.
+Neither you nor Mrs. Willis&mdash;you neither of you
+believe in me from the very bottom of your hearts;
+oh, it is hard!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie gave vent to a little sob, sprang away
+from Cecil&#8217;s arms, and disappeared into a shrubbery
+close by.
+</p>
+<p>She stayed there until the sound of the retreating
+cab died away in the avenue, then, tossing back her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+hair, rearranging her rather tattered garden hat,
+and hastily wiping some tears from her eyes, she
+came out from her retreat, and began to look
+around her for some amusement. What should she
+do? Where should she go? How should she
+occupy herself? Sounds of laughter and merriment
+filled the air; the garden was all alive with gay
+young figures running here and there. Girls stood
+in groups under the horse-chestnut tree&mdash;girls
+walked two and two up the shady walk at the end
+of the garden&mdash;little ones gamboled and rolled on
+the grass&mdash;a tennis match was going on vigorously,
+and the croquet ground was occupied by eight girls
+of the middle school. Annie was one of the most
+successful tennis players in the school; she had
+indeed a gift for all games of skill, and seldom
+missed her mark. Now she looked with a certain
+wistful longing toward the tennis-court; but, after
+a brief hesitation, she turned away from it and
+entered the shady walk at the farther end of the
+garden. As she walked along, slowly, meditatively,
+and sadly, her eyes suddenly lighted up. Glancing
+to one of the tall trees she saw a hammock suspended
+there which had evidently been forgotten
+during the winter. The tree was not yet quite in
+leaf, and it was very easy for Annie to climb up its
+branches to re-adjust the hammock, and to get into it.
+After its winter residence in the tree this soft couch
+was found full of withered leaves, and otherwise
+rather damp and uncomfortable. Annie tossed the
+leaves on to the ground, and laughed as she swung
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+herself gently backward and forward. Early as the
+season still was the sun was so bright and the air so
+soft that she could not but enjoy herself, and she
+laughed with pleasure, and only wished that she
+had a fairy tale by her side to help to soothe her off
+to sleep.
+</p>
+<p>In the distance she heard some children calling
+&#8220;Annie,&#8221; &#8220;Annie Forest;&#8221; but she was far too
+comfortable and too lazy to answer them, and
+presently she closed her eyes and really did fall
+asleep.
+</p>
+<p>She was awakened by a very slight sound&mdash;by
+nothing more nor less than the gentle and very refined
+conversation of two girls, who sat under the
+oak tree in which Annie&#8217;s hammock swung. Hearing
+the voices, she bent a little forward, and saw
+that the speakers were Dora Russell and Hester
+Thornton. Her first inclination was to laugh, toss
+down some leaves, and instantly reveal herself; the
+next she drew back hastily, and began to listen with
+all her ears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never liked her,&#8221; said Hester&mdash;&#8220;I never even
+from the very first pretended to like her. I think
+she is under-bred, and not fit to associate with the
+other girls in the school-room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is treated with most unfair partiality,&#8221;
+retorted Miss Russell in her thin and rather bitter
+voice. &#8220;I have not the smallest doubt, not the
+smallest, that she was guilty of putting those messes
+into my desk, of destroying my composition, and of
+caricaturing Mrs. Willis in Cecil Temple&#8217;s book. I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+wonder after that Mrs. Willis did not see through
+her, but it is astonishing to what lengths favoritism
+will carry one. Mrs. Willis and Mr. Everard are
+behaving in a very unfair way to the rest of us in
+upholding this commonplace, disagreeable girl; but
+it will be to Mrs. Willis&#8217; own disadvantage. Hester,
+I am, as you know, leaving school at midsummer,
+and I shall certainly use all my influence to induce
+my father and mother not to send the younger girls
+here; they could not associate with a person like
+Miss Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never take much notice of her,&#8221; said Hester;
+&#8220;but of course what you say is quite right, Dora.
+You have great discrimination, and your sisters
+might possibly be taken in by her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, not at all, I assure you; they know a true
+lady when they see her. However, they must not
+be imperilled. I will ask my parents to send them
+to Mdlle. Lablanché. I hear that her establishment
+is most <i>recherché</i>.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Willis is very nice herself, and so are most
+of the girls,&#8221; said Hester, after a pause. Then they
+were both silent, for Hester had stooped down to
+examine some little fronds and moss which grew
+at the foot of the tree. After a pause, Hester
+said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think Annie is the favorite she was with
+the girls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, of course not; they all, in their heart of
+hearts, know she is guilty. Will you come indoors,
+and have tea with me in my drawing-room,
+Hester?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></p>
+<p>The two girls walked slowly away, and presently
+Annie let herself gently out of her hammock and
+dropped to the ground.
+</p>
+<p>She had heard every word; she had not revealed
+herself, and a new and terrible&mdash;and, truth to say,
+absolutely foreign&mdash;sensation from her true nature
+now filled her mind. She felt that she almost hated
+these two who had spoken so cruelly, so unjustly
+of her. She began to trace her misfortunes and
+her unhappiness to the date of Hester&#8217;s entrance
+into the school. Even more than Dora Russell did
+she dislike Hester; she made up her mind to revenge
+herself on both these girls. Her heart was
+very, very sore; she missed the old words, the
+old love, the old brightness, the old popularity;
+she missed the mother-tones in Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+voice&mdash;her heart cried out for them, at night she
+often wept for them. She became more and
+more sure that she owed all her misfortunes to
+Hester, and in a smaller degree to Dora. Dora believed
+that she had deliberately insulted her, and injured
+her composition, when she knew herself that
+she was quite innocent of even harboring such a
+thought, far less carrying it into effect. Well, now,
+she would really do something to injure both these
+girls, and perhaps the carrying out of her revenge
+would satisfy her sore heart.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_CUP_AND_BALL' id='CHAPTER_XIX_CUP_AND_BALL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+<h3>CUP AND BALL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Just toward the end of the Easter holidays, Hester
+Thornton was thrown into a great tumult of excitement,
+of wonder, of half regret and half joy, by a
+letter which she received from her father. In this
+letter he informed her that he had made up his mind
+to break up his establishment for several years, to
+go abroad, and to leave Hester altogether under
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; care.
+</p>
+<p>When Hester had read so far, she flung her letter
+on the table, put her head into her hands, and burst
+into tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how cruel of father!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;how
+am I to live without ever going home&mdash;how am I to
+endure life without seeing my little Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester cried bitterly; the strongest love of her
+nature was now given to this pretty and sweet little
+sister, and dismal pictures rose rapidly before her
+of Nan growing up without in the least remembering
+her&mdash;perhaps, still worse, of Nan being unkindly
+treated and neglected by strangers. After a long
+pause, she raised her head, wiped her eyes, and resumed
+her letter. Now, indeed, she started with
+astonishment, and gave an exclamation of delight&mdash;Sir
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+John Thornton had arranged that Mrs. Willis
+was also to receive little Nan, although she was
+younger than any other child present in the school.
+Hester scarcely waited to finish her letter. She
+crammed it into her pocket, rushed up to Susan
+Drummond, and astonished that placid young lady
+by suddenly kissing her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan is coming, Susy!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;dear,
+darling, lovely little Nan is coming&mdash;oh, I am so
+happy!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She was far too impatient to explain matters to
+stolid Susan, and danced down stairs, her eyes sparkling
+and smiles on her lips. It was nothing to her
+now how long she stayed at school&mdash;her heart&#8217;s
+treasure would be with her there, and she could not
+but feel happy.
+</p>
+<p>After breakfast Mrs. Willis sent for her, and told
+her what arrangements were being made; she said
+that she was going to remove Susan Drummond out
+of Hester&#8217;s bedroom, in order that Hester might enjoy
+her little sister&#8217;s company at night. She spoke
+very gently, and entered with full sympathy into the
+girl&#8217;s delight over the little motherless sister, and
+Hester felt more drawn to her governess than she
+had ever been.
+</p>
+<p>Nan was to arrive at Lavender House on the following
+evening, and for the first week her nurse
+was to remain with her until she got accustomed to
+her new life.
+</p>
+<p>The morning of the day of Nan&#8217;s arrival was also
+the last of the Easter holidays, and Hester, awakening
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+earlier than her wont, lay in bed, and planned
+what she would do to welcome the little one.
+</p>
+<p>The idea of having Nan with her continually had
+softened Hester. She was not unhappy in her
+school-life&mdash;indeed, there was much in its monotonous,
+busy, and healthy occupation to stimulate and
+rouse the good in her. Her intellect was being vigorously
+exercised, and, by contact with her schoolfellows,
+her character was being molded; but the
+perfect harmony and brightness of the school had
+been much interrupted since Hester&#8217;s arrival; her
+dislike to Annie Forest had been unfortunate in more
+ways than one, and that dislike, which was increasing
+each day, was hardening Hester&#8217;s heart.
+</p>
+<p>But it was not hard this morning&mdash;all that was
+sweetest, and softest, and best in her had come to
+the surface&mdash;the little sister, whom her mother had
+left in her charge, was now to be her daily and hourly
+companion. For Nan&#8217;s sake, then, she must be very
+good; her deeds must be gentle and kind, and her
+thoughts charitable. Hester had an instinctive feeling
+that baby eyes saw deep below the surface;
+Hester felt if Nan were to lose even a shadow of
+her faith in her she could almost die of shame.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had been very proud of Dora Russell&#8217;s
+friendship. Never before had it been known in the
+school that a first-class girl took a third into such
+close companionship, and Hester&#8217;s little head had
+been slightly turned by the fact. Her better judgment
+and her better nature had been rather blinded
+by the fascinations of this tall, graceful, satirical
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+Dora. She had been weak enough to agree with
+Dora with her lips when in her heart of hearts
+she knew she was all wrong. By nature Hester
+was an honorable girl, with many fine traits in her
+character&mdash;by nature Dora was small and mean and
+poor of soul.
+</p>
+<p>This morning Hester ran up to her favorite.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little Nan is coming to-night,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>Dora was talking at the moment to Miss Maitland,
+another first-class girl, and the two stared
+rather superciliously at Hester, and, after a pause,
+Dora said in her finest drawl:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who <i>is</i> little Nan?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was Hester&#8217;s turn to stare, for she had often
+spoken of Nan to this beloved friend, who had
+listened to her narrative and had appeared to sympathize.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My little sister, of course,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I
+have often talked to you about her, Dora. Are you
+not glad she is coming?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my dear child, I can&#8217;t say that I am. If
+you wish to retain my friendship, Hester, you must
+be careful to keep the little mite away from me; I
+can&#8217;t bear small children.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester walked away with her heart swelling, and
+she fancied she heard the two elder girls laughing as
+she left the play-room.
+</p>
+<p>Many other girls, however, in the school thoroughly
+sympathized with Hester, and among them
+no one was more delighted than Susan Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am awfully good-natured not to be as cross
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+as two sticks, Hetty,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;for I am being
+turned out of my comfortable room; and whose
+room do you suppose I am now to share? why, that
+little imp Annie Forest&#8217;s.&#8221; But Hester felt charitable,
+even toward Annie, on this happy day.
+</p>
+<p>In the evening little Nan arrived. She was a
+very pretty, dimpled, brown-eyed creature, of just
+three years of age. She had all the imperious
+ways of a spoilt baby, and, evidently, fear was a
+word not to be found in her vocabulary. She clung
+to Hester, but smiled and nodded to the other girls,
+who made advances to her, and petted her, and
+thought her a very charming baby. Beside Nan,
+all the other little girls in the school looked old.
+She was quite two years the youngest, and it was
+soon very evident that she would establish that
+most imperious of all reigns&mdash;a baby reign&mdash;in the
+school.
+</p>
+<p>Hester fondled her and talked to her, and the
+little thing sat on her knee and stroked her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like &#8217;oo, Hetty,&#8221; she said several times, and
+she added many other endearing and pretty words
+which caused Hester&#8217;s heart to swell with delight.
+</p>
+<p>In the midst of their happy little talk together
+Annie Forest, in her usual careless fashion, entered
+the play-room. She alone, of all the girls, had
+taken no notice of the new plaything. She walked
+to her usual corner, sat down on the floor, and
+began to play cup and ball for the benefit of two or
+three of the smallest children. Hester did not
+regard her in the least; she sat with Nan on her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+knee, stroking back her sunny curls, and remarking
+on her various charms to several of the girls who
+sat round her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;See, how pretty that dimple in her chin is,&#8221; she
+said, &#8220;and oh, my pet, your eyes look wiser, and
+bigger, and saucier than ever. Look at me, Nan;
+look at your own Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan&#8217;s attention, however, was diverted by the
+gaily-painted cup and ball which Annie was using
+with her wonted dexterity.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dat a pitty toy,&#8221; she said, giving one quick and
+rather solemn glance at her sister, and again fixing
+her admiring gaze on the cup and ball.
+</p>
+<p>Annie Forest had heard the words, and she
+darted a sudden, laughing look at the little one.
+Annie&#8217;s power over children was well known. Nan
+began to wriggle on Hester&#8217;s knee.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dat a pitty lady,&#8221; she said again, &#8220;and that a
+pitty, tibby [little] toy; Nan go see.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In an instant, before Hester could prevent her,
+she had trotted across the room, and was kneeling
+with the other children and shouting with delight
+over Annie&#8217;s play.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;ll get her, you&#8217;ll see, Hester,&#8221; said one of
+the girls maliciously; &#8220;she&#8217;ll soon be much fonder
+of Annie Forest than of you. Annie wins the
+heart of every little child in the school.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She won&#8217;t win my Nan&#8217;s from me,&#8221; said Hester
+in a confident tone; but in spite of her words a
+great pang of jealousy had gone through her. She
+rose to her seat and followed her little sister.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan, you are sleepy, you must go to bed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no, Hetty; me not s&#8217;eepy, me kite awake;
+go &#8217;way, Hetty, Nan want to see the pitty tibby
+toy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie raised her eyes to Hester&#8217;s. She did not
+really want to be unkind, and at that moment it had
+certainty never entered into her head to steal
+Hester&#8217;s treasure from her, but she could not help a
+look of suppressed delight and triumph filling her
+eyes.
+</p>
+<p>Hester could scarcely bear the look; she stooped
+down, and taking one of Nan&#8217;s little dimpled hands
+tried to drag her away.
+</p>
+<p>Instantly Annie threw the cup and ball on the
+floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The play is all over to-night, little darling,&#8221; she
+said; &#8220;give Annie Forest one kiss, and run to bed
+with sister Hester.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan, who had been puckering up her face to cry,
+smiled instantly; then she scrambled to her feet, and
+flung her little fat arms round Annie&#8217;s neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dat a vedy pitty p&#8217;ay,&#8221; she said in a patronizing
+tone, &#8220;and me like &#8217;oo, me do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then she gave her hand willingly to Hester, and
+trotted out of the play-room by her side.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX_IN_THE_SOUTH_PARLOR' id='CHAPTER_XX_IN_THE_SOUTH_PARLOR'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE SOUTH PARLOR.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Immediately after Easter the real excitement of
+the school-year began. All the girls who had ambition,
+who had industry, and who had a desire to
+please distant fathers, mothers, or guardians, worked
+hard for that great day at midsummer when Mrs.
+Willis distributed her valuable prizes.
+</p>
+<p>From the moment of Hester&#8217;s entrance into the
+school she had heard this day spoken of. It was,
+without doubt, the greatest day of the year at Lavender
+House. Smaller prizes were given at Christmas,
+but the great honors were always reserved for
+this long sunshiny June day, when Mrs. Willis herself
+presented her marks of approbation to her successful
+pupils.
+</p>
+<p>The girls who had lived in the school for two or
+three years gave Hester vivid descriptions of the excitements,
+the pleasures, the delights of this day of
+days. In the first place it was the first of the holidays,
+in the second it was spent almost from morning
+to night in the open air&mdash;for a great tent was erected
+on the lawn; and visitors thronged to Lavender
+House, and fathers and mothers, and aunts and
+uncles, arrived from a distance to witness the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+triumphs of the favored children who had won the
+prizes. The giving away of the prizes was, of course,
+<i>the</i> event of the day; but there were many other
+minor joys. Always in the evenings there was some
+special entertainment. These entertainments differed
+from year to year, Mrs. Willis allowing the
+girls to choose them for themselves, and only making
+one proviso, that they must take all the trouble, and
+all the pains&mdash;in short, that they themselves must
+be the entertainers. One year they had tableaux
+vivants; another a fancy ball, every pretty dress of
+which had been designed by themselves, and many
+even made by their own industrious little fingers.
+Mrs. Willis delighted in the interest and occupation
+that this yearly entertainment gave to her pupils,
+and she not only encouraged them in their efforts to
+produce something very unique and charming, but
+took care that they should have sufficient time to
+work up their ideas properly. Always after Easter
+she gave the girls of the three first classes two evenings
+absolutely to themselves; and these they spent
+in a pretty room called the south parlor, which belonged
+to Mrs. Willis&#8217; part of the house, and was
+rarely used, except for these great preparations.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, therefore, after Easter found her days
+very full indeed. Every spare moment she devoted
+to little Nan, but she was quite determined to win a
+substantial prize, and she was also deeply interested
+in various schemes proposed in the south parlor.
+</p>
+<p>With regard to prizes, Mrs. Willis also went on a
+plan of her own. Each girl was expected to come
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+up to a certain standard of excellence in all her
+studies, and if she fell very much below this standard
+she was not allowed to try for any prize; if she came
+up to it, she could select one subject, but only one,
+for competition.
+</p>
+<p>On the Monday after the Easter holidays the
+special subjects for the midsummer prizes were
+given out, and the girls were expected to send in
+their answers as to the special prize they meant to
+compete for by the following Friday.
+</p>
+<p>When this day arrived Hester Thornton and Dora
+Russell both discovered that they had made the
+same choice&mdash;they were going to try for the English
+composition prize. This subject always obtained
+one of the most costly prizes, and several of the
+girls shook their heads over Hester&#8217;s choice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very silly to try for that, Hetty,&#8221; they
+exclaimed, &#8220;for Mrs. Willis has such queer ideas
+with regard to English composition. Of course, we
+go in for it in a general way, and learn the rules of
+grammar and punctuation, and so forth, but Mrs.
+Willis says that schoolgirls&#8217; themes are so bad
+and affected, as a rule, and she says she does not
+think any one will go in for her pet prize who has
+not natural ability. In consequence, she gives only
+one prize for composition between the three first
+classes. You had better change your mind, Hetty,
+before it is too late, for much older girls will compete
+with you, and there are several who are going
+to try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however, only smiled, and assured her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+eager friend that she would stick to her pet subject,
+and try to do the best she could.
+</p>
+<p>On the morning when the girls signified their
+choice of subject, Mrs. Willis came into the school-room
+and made one of her little yearly speeches
+with regard to the right spirit in which her girls
+should try for these honors. The few and well-chosen
+words of the head mistress generally roused
+those girls who loved her best to a fever of enthusiasm,
+and even Hester, who was comparatively a
+newcomer, felt a great wish, as she listened to that
+clear and vibrating voice and watched the many
+expressions which passed over the noble face, that
+she might find something beyond the mere earthly
+honor and glory of success in this coming trial.
+Having finished her little speech, Mrs. Willis made
+several remarks with regard to the choice of subjects.
+She spoke of the English composition prize
+last, and here she heightened the interest and excitement
+which always hung around this special
+prize. Contrary to her usual rule, she would this
+year give no subject for an English theme. Each
+girl might choose what pleased her best.
+</p>
+<p>On hearing these words Annie Forest, who had
+been sitting by her desk looking rather dull and
+dejected, suddenly sprang to her feet, her face
+aglow, her eyes sparkling, and began whispering
+vigorously to Miss Good.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Good nodded, and, going up to Mrs. Willis,
+said aloud that Annie had changed her mind, and
+that from not wishing to try for any of the prizes,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+she now intended to compete for the English composition.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis looked a little surprised, but without
+any comment she immediately entered Annie&#8217;s name
+in the list of competitors, and Annie sat down again,
+not even glancing at her astonished schoolfellows,
+who could not conceal their amazement, for she had
+never hitherto shown the slightest desire to excel in
+this department.
+</p>
+<p>On the evening of this Friday the girls of the
+three first classes assembled for the first time in the
+south parlor. Hitherto these meetings had been
+carried on in a systematic and business-like fashion.
+It was impossible for all the girls who belonged to
+these three large classes to assemble on each
+occasion. Careful selections, therefore, were, as a
+rule, made from their numbers. These girls formed
+a committee to superintend and carry on the real
+preparations for the coming treat, and the others
+only met when specially summoned by the committee
+to appear.
+</p>
+<p>As usual now the three classes found themselves
+in the south parlor&mdash;as usual they chattered volubly,
+and started schemes, to reject them again with
+peals of laughter. Many ideas were put forward,
+to be cast aside as utterly worthless. No one
+seemed to have any very brilliant thought, and as
+the first step on these occasions was to select what
+the entertainment should be, proceedings seemed to
+come to a standstill.
+</p>
+<p>The fact was the most daring originator, the one
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+whose ideas were always flavored with a spice of
+novelty, was absolutely silent.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple, who had taken a seat near Annie,
+suddenly bent forward and spoke to her aloud.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have all said what we would like, and we
+none of us appear to have thought of anything at
+all worth having,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but you have not
+spoken at all, Annie. Give us an idea, dear&mdash;you
+know you originated the fancy ball last year.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus publicly appealed to, Annie raised her full
+brown eyes, glanced at her companions, not one of
+whom, with the exception of Cecil, returned her
+gaze fully; then, rising to her feet, she spoke in a
+slightly contemptuous tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;These preparations seem to me to be much ado
+about nothing; they take up a lot of our time, and
+the results aren&#8217;t worth the trouble&mdash;I have nothing
+particular to say. Oh, well, yes, if you like&mdash;let&#8217;s
+have blind man&#8217;s buff and a magic lantern;&#8221; and
+then, dropping a mock curtsey to her companions,
+she dropped out of the south parlor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Insufferable girl!&#8221; said Dora Russell; &#8220;I
+wonder you try to draw her out, Cecil. You know
+perfectly that we none of us care to have anything
+to do with her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know perfectly that you are all doing your
+best to make her life miserable,&#8221; said Cecil, suddenly
+and boldly. &#8220;No one in this school has obeyed
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; command to treat Annie as innocent&mdash;you
+are practically sending her to Coventry, and I
+think it is unjust and unfair. You don&#8217;t know,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+girls, that you are ruining poor Annie&#8217;s happiness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear! she doesn&#8217;t seem at all dull,&#8221; said
+Miss West, a second-class girl. &#8220;I do think she&#8217;s a
+hardened little wretch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little you know about her,&#8221; said Cecil, the
+color fading out of her pale face. Then after a
+pause, she added; &#8220;The injustice of the whole thing
+is that in this treatment of Annie you break the
+spirit of Mrs. Willis&#8217; command&mdash;you, none of you,
+certainly tell her that she is guilty, but you treat
+her as such.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Hester Thornton said a daring thing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe Mrs. Willis in her heart of hearts
+considers Annie guiltless.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These words of Hester&#8217;s were laughed at by most
+of the girls, but Dora Russell gave her an approving
+nod, and Cecil, looking paler than ever, dropped
+suddenly into her seat, and no longer tried to defend
+her absent friend.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At any rate,&#8221; said Miss Conway, who as the
+head girl of the whole school was always listened to
+with great respect, &#8220;it is unfortunate for the success
+of our entertainment that there should be all
+this discussion and bad feeling with regard to Miss
+Forest. For my own part, I cannot make out why
+the poor little creature should be hunted down, or
+what affair it is of ours whether she is innocent or
+not. If Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis say she is innocent,
+is not that enough? The fact of her guilt
+or innocence can&#8217;t hurt us one way or another. It
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span>
+is a great pity, however, for our own sakes, that we
+should be out with her now, for, whatever her
+faults, she is the only one of us who is ever gifted
+with an original thought. But, as we can&#8217;t have
+her, let us set to work without her&mdash;we really can&#8217;t
+waste the whole evening over this sort of talk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Discussions as to the coming pleasure were now
+again resumed with vigor, and after a great deal of
+animated arguing it was resolved that two short
+plays should be acted; that a committee should be
+immediately formed, who should select the plays,
+and apportion their various parts to the different
+actors.
+</p>
+<p>The committee selected included Miss Russell,
+Miss Conway, Hester Thornton, Cecil Temple, and
+two other girls of the second class. The conference
+then broke up, but there was a certain sense of
+flatness over everything, and Cecil was not the only
+girl who sighed for the merry meetings of last year&mdash;when
+Annie had been the life and soul of all the
+proceedings, and when one brilliant idea after another
+with regard to the costumes for the fancy ball
+had dropped from her merry tongue.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI_STEALING_HEARTS' id='CHAPTER_XXI_STEALING_HEARTS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+<h3>STEALING HEARTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Annie ran out of the south parlor she
+found herself suddenly face to face with Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, my dear child,&#8221; said the head mistress in
+her kindest voice, &#8220;where are you running to? But I
+suppose I must not ask; you are, of course, one of
+the busy and secret conclave in the south parlor?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. I have left them,&#8221; said Annie, bending her
+head, and after her usual habit when agitated, shaking
+her hair about her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Left them?&#8221; repeated Mrs. Willis, &#8220;you mean,
+dear, that they have sent you for some message.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. I am not one of them. May I go into the
+garden, Mrs. Willis?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, my dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie did not even glance at her governess.
+She pushed aside the baize door, and found herself
+in the great stone hall which led to the play-room
+and school-room. Her garden hat hung on a peg in
+the hall, and she tossed it off its place, and holding
+it in her hand ran toward the side door which
+opened directly into the garden. She had a wild
+wish to get to the shelter of the forsaken hammock
+and there cry out her whole heart. The moment
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
+she got into the open air, however, she was met by
+a whole troop of the little children, who were coming
+in after their usual short exercise before going
+to bed. Miss Danesbury was with them, and when
+Annie ran out by the open door, she entered holding
+two little ones by the hands. Last in this group
+toddled Hester&#8217;s little sister Nan. The moment she
+saw Annie, her little face broke into smiles, she
+held out two hands eagerly, and fled to the young
+girl&#8217;s side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where dat pitty toy?&#8221; she said, raising her
+round face to Annie&#8217;s; &#8220;some one did buy dat toy,
+and it&#8217;s vedy pitty, and me wants it&mdash;where&#8217;s dat
+toy?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie stooped down, and spoke suddenly and impulsively
+to the little child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall have the toy for your very own, Nan
+if you will do something for me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan&#8217;s baby eyes looked straight into Annie&#8217;s.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me will,&#8221; she said emphatically; &#8220;me want dat
+toy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Put your arms, round me, little darling, and give
+me a great tight hug.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This request was great fun to Nan, who squeezed
+her little arms round Annie&#8217;s neck, and pressed her
+dimpled cheek to her lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dere,&#8221; she said triumphantly, &#8220;will dat do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, you little treasure, and you&#8217;ll try to love
+me, won&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me do,&#8221; said Nan, in a solemn voice; but then
+Miss Danesbury called her, and she ran into the
+house.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span></p>
+<p>As Nan trotted into the house she put up her
+dimpled hand to wipe something from her round
+cheek&mdash;it was a tear which Annie Forest had left
+there.
+</p>
+<p>Annie herself, when all the little ones had disappeared,
+walked slowly and sadly down toward
+the shady walk. The sun had just set, and though
+it was now nearly May, and the evenings long, the
+wind was sufficiently cold to cause Annie to shiver
+in her thin house frock. At all times utterly fearless
+with regard to her health, she gave it no thought
+now, but entering the walk where she knew she
+should not be disturbed, she looked up at the hammock,
+and wondered whether she should climb into
+it. She decided, however, not to do so&mdash;the great
+and terrible weight of tears which had pressed close
+to her heart were relieved by Nan&#8217;s embrace; she
+no longer cared to cry until she could cry no longer&mdash;the
+worst of her pain had been soothed by the
+sweet baby graciousness of the little one.
+</p>
+<p>Then there darted into poor Annie&#8217;s sore heart
+and perplexed brain that dangerous thought and
+temptation which was to work so much future pain
+and trouble. She already loved little Nan, and Nan,
+as most children did, had taken a fancy to her.
+Annie stood still, and clasped her hands as the dark
+idea came to her to steal the heart of little Nan from
+Hester, and so revenge herself on her. By doing
+this she would touch Hester in her most vulnerable
+point&mdash;she would take from her what she valued
+most. The temptation came swiftly, and Annie
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+listened to it, and thought how easy it would be to
+carry it into effect. She knew well that no little
+child could resist her when she chose to exercise her
+charms&mdash;it would be easy, easy work to make that
+part of Nan which was most precious all her own.
+Annie became fascinated by the idea; how completely
+then she would have revenged all her wrongs
+on Hester! Some day Hester would bitterly repent
+of her unjust prejudice toward her; some day Hester
+would come to her, and beg of her in agony to
+give her back her darling&#8217;s love; ah! when that
+day came it would be her turn to triumph.
+</p>
+<p>She felt more than satisfied as the temptation
+grew upon her; she shut out persistently from her
+view all the other side of the picture; she would not
+let herself think that the work she was about to
+undertake was cruel and mean. Hester had been
+more than unjust, and she was going to punish her.
+</p>
+<p>Annie paced faster and faster up and down the
+shady walk, and whenever her resolution wavered,
+the memory of Hester&#8217;s face as she had seen it the
+same night in the south parlor came visibly back and
+strengthened it. Yes, her turn had come at last
+Hester had contrived since her entrance into the
+school to make Annie&#8217;s life thoroughly miserable.
+Well, never mind, it was Annie&#8217;s turn now to make
+her wretched.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII_IN_BURN_CASTLE_WOOD' id='CHAPTER_XXII_IN_BURN_CASTLE_WOOD'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+<h3>IN BURN CASTLE WOOD.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In concentrating her thoughts of revenge on
+Hester, Annie ceased to trouble her head about Dora
+Russell. She considered Hester a crueler enemy than
+Dora. Hester belonged to her own set, worked in
+her own class, and would naturally, had things not
+turned out so unjustly, so unfairly, have been her
+friend, and not her enemy. Dora had nothing to
+say to Annie, and before Hester&#8217;s advent into the
+school had scarcely noticed her existence. Annie
+therefore concentrated all her powers on punishing
+Hester. This gave her an aim and an occupation,
+and at first she felt that her revenge might give her
+real pleasure.
+</p>
+<p>Susan Drummond now shared Annie&#8217;s bedroom,
+and Annie was rather startled one evening to hear
+this phlegmatic young person burst out into a strong
+tirade against Hester and Dora. Dora had managed,
+for some inexplicable reason, to offend Susan,
+and Susan now looked to Annie for sympathy, and
+boldly suggested that they should get up what she
+was pleased to called &#8220;a lark&#8221; between them for
+the punishment of this very dignified young lady.
+</p>
+<p>Annie had never liked Susan, and she now stared
+at her, and said, in her quick way:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t catch me helping you in any of your
+larks. I&#8217;ve had trouble enough on that score as it
+is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan gazed at her stupidly, and a dull red spread
+over her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I thought you hated Dora and Hester,&#8221; she
+said&mdash;&#8220;I&#8217;m sure they hate you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie was silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You do hate them, don&#8217;t you?&#8221; persisted Miss
+Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s nothing to you what I feel toward them,
+Susy,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;Please don&#8217;t disturb me with
+any more of your chatter; I am very sleepy, and
+you are keeping me awake.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus silenced, Susan had to content herself by
+turning on her back, and going into the land of
+dreams; but she was evidently a good deal surprised
+and disappointed, and began to entertain a certain
+respect, and even fear, of Annie which had been
+hitherto unknown to her.
+</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Hester was very busy, very happy,
+and more satisfied&mdash;brighter and better employed
+than she had ever been in her life before. Nan&#8217;s
+love satisfied the affectionate side of her nature, and
+all her intellect was strained to the utmost to win
+honors in the coming struggle.
+</p>
+<p>She had stuck firmly to her resolve to work for
+the English composition prize, and she firmly made
+up her own mind to leave no stone unturned to win
+it. What affection she possessed for Miss Russell
+was not at all of a character to prevent her from
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+thoroughly enjoying taking the prize out of her
+hands. Her love for Dora had been fed by vanity,
+and was not at all of a deep or noble character.
+She was some time carefully choosing the subject
+of her theme, and at last she resolved to write a
+brief historical description of the last days of Marie
+Antoinette. To write properly on this subject she
+had to read up a great deal, and had to find references
+in books which were not usually allowed as
+school-room property. Mrs. Willis, however, always
+allowed the girls who were working for the
+English composition prize to have access to her
+rather extensive library, and here Hester was often
+to be found during play-hours. Two evenings in
+the week were also taken up in preparation for the
+coming plays, and as Hester was to take rather an
+important part in one, and a small character in another,
+she was obliged to devote herself to getting
+up her parts during the weekly half-holidays. Thus
+every moment was busy, and, except at night, she
+had little time to devote herself to Nan.
+</p>
+<p>Nan slept in a pretty crib in Hester&#8217;s room, and
+each evening the young girl knelt down by her
+sister&#8217;s side, and gazed at her with love, which was
+almost motherly, swelling in her breast.
+</p>
+<p>All that was best of Hester was drawn out at
+these moments; something greater than ambition&mdash;something
+far and away above school triumphs and
+school jealousies spoke then in her heart of hearts.
+These moments found her capable of being both
+sympathizing and forgiving; these moments followed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+out in her daily life might have made Hester
+almost great. Now was the time, with her eyes full
+of tears and her lips trembling with emotion, for
+Annie Forest to have caught a glimpse of the divine
+in Hester; the hardness, the pride, the haughty
+spirit were all laid aside, and hers was the true
+child-heart as she knelt by the sleeping baby. Hester
+prayed earnestly at these moments, and, in
+in truth, Nan did better for her than any sermon;
+better for her than even Mrs. Willis&#8217; best influences.
+Nan was as the voice of God to her sister.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, in her very busy life, had no time to notice,
+however, a very slight and almost imperceptible
+change in bright little Nan. In the mornings
+she was in too great a hurry to pay much heed to
+the little one&#8217;s chatter; in the afternoons she had
+scarcely an instant to devote to her, and when she
+saw her playing happily with the other children
+she was quite content, and always supposed that
+when a spare half-hour did come in her busy life,
+Nan would rush to her with the old ecstasy, and
+give her the old devotion.
+</p>
+<p>One day, toward the end of a very fine May, the
+girls were all to go for a picnic to some woods
+about four miles away. They had looked forward
+for several days to this relaxation, and were in the
+highest state of delight and the wildest spirits.
+After an early dinner they were to drive in several
+large wagonettes to the place of rendezvous, where
+they were to be regaled with gypsy-tea, and were
+to have a few hours in the lovely woods of Burn
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+Castle, one of the show places of the neighborhood.
+Mrs. Willis had invited the Misses Bruce to accompany
+them, and they were all to leave the house
+punctually at two o&#8217;clock. The weather was wonderfully
+fine and warm, and it was decided that all
+the children, even Nan, should go.
+</p>
+<p>Perhaps none of the girls looked forward to this
+day&#8217;s pleasure with greater joy than did Hester;
+she determined to make it a real holiday, and a real
+time of relaxation. She would forget her English
+theme; she would cease to worry herself about
+Marie Antoinette; she would cease to repeat her
+part in the coming play; and she would devote herself
+exclusively and determinately to Nan&#8217;s pleasure.
+She pictured the little one&#8217;s raptures; she heard her
+gay shouts of joy, her ceaseless little rippling chatter,
+her baby glee, and, above all things, her intense
+happiness at being with her own Hetty for the
+greater part of a whole day. Hester would ride
+her on her shoulder, would race with her; all her
+usual companions would be as nothing to her on
+this occasion, she would give herself up solely to
+Nan.
+</p>
+<p>As she was dressing that morning she said a word
+or two to the child about the coming treat.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll light a fire in the wood, Nan, and hang a
+kettle over it, and make tea&mdash;such good tea; won&#8217;t
+it be nice?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan clapped her hands. &#8220;And may I take out
+my little ummabella (umbrella), case it might
+wain?&#8221; she asked anxiously.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span></p>
+<p>Hester flew to her and kissed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You funny darling!&#8221; she said. &#8220;Oh, we shall
+have such a day! You&#8217;ll be with your own Hetty
+all day long&mdash;your own Hetty; won&#8217;t you be
+glad?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me am,&#8221; said Nan; &#8220;own Hetty, and own
+Annie; me am glad.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester scarcely heard the last words, for the
+prayer-gong sounded, and she had to fly down
+stairs.
+</p>
+<p>At dinner time the girls were discussing who
+would go with each, and all were very merry and
+full of fun.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Danesbury will take the little children,&#8221;
+said Miss Good. &#8220;Mrs. Willis says that all the
+little ones are to be in Miss Danesbury&#8217;s charge.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please,&#8221; said Hester, suddenly, &#8220;may Nan
+come with me, Miss Good? She&#8217;ll be so disappointed
+if she doesn&#8217;t, and I&#8217;ll take such care of
+her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Good nodded a careless acquiescence, and
+Hester proceeded with her dinner, feeling thoroughly
+satisfied.
+</p>
+<p>Immediately after dinner the girls flew to their
+rooms to prepare for their expedition. Hastily
+opening a drawer, Hester pulled out a white frock,
+white piqué pelisse, and washing hat for Nan&mdash;she
+meant her darling to look as charming as possible.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, Miss Danesbury should have brought
+her here by now,&#8221; she said to herself impatiently,
+and then, hearing the crunching of carriage wheels
+on the drive, she flew to the bell and rang it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span></p>
+<p>In a few moments one of the maids appeared.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know where Miss Nan is, Alice? She
+is to go to Burn Castle with me, and I want to
+dress her, for it is nearly time to go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Alice looked a little surprised.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you please, miss,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I think Miss
+Nan has just gone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, Alice? Miss Good said
+especially she was to go with me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know nothing about that, miss; I only know
+that I saw Miss Forest carrying her down stairs in
+her arms about three minutes ago, and they went off
+in the wagonette with all the other little children
+and Miss Danesbury.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester stood perfectly still, her color changed
+from red to white; for full half a minute she was
+silent. Then, hearing voices from below calling to
+her, she said in a cold, quiet tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will do, Alice; thank you for letting me
+know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She turned to her drawer and put back Nan&#8217;s
+white and pretty things, and also replaced a new and
+very becoming shady hat which she had meant to
+wear herself. In her old winter hat, and looking
+almost untidy for her, she walked slowly down stairs
+and took her place in the wagonette which was
+drawn up at the door.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil Temple and one or two other girls whom
+Hester liked very much were in the same wagonette,
+but she scarcely cared to talk to them, and
+only joined in their laughter by a strong effort. She
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
+was deeply wounded, but her keenest present desire
+was to hide any feelings of jealousy she had toward
+Annie from the quick eyes of her schoolfellows.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; suddenly exclaimed Julia Morris, a particularly
+unobservant girl, &#8220;I thought you were
+going to bring that dear baby sister with you, Hester.
+Oh, I do hope there is nothing the matter with her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan has gone on in the first wagonette with
+the little children,&#8221; said Hester as cheerfully as she
+could speak, but she colored slightly, and saw that
+Cecil was regarding her attentively.
+</p>
+<p>Susan Drummond exclaimed suddenly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I saw Annie Forest rushing down the stairs
+with little Nan, and Nan had her arms round her
+neck, and was laughing merrily. You need not be
+anxious about Nan, Hester; she was quite content
+to go with Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not say I was anxious,&#8221; replied Hester in a
+cold voice. &#8220;How very beautiful that avenue of
+beech trees is, Cecil!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But Annie heard Miss Good say that you were
+to take Nan,&#8221; persisted Julia Morris. &#8220;She could
+not but have noticed it, for you did flush up so,
+Hester, and looked so eager. I never saw any one
+more in earnest about a trifle in my life; it was impossible
+for Annie not to have heard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The great thing is that Nan is happy,&#8221; said
+Hester in a fretted voice. &#8220;Do let us change the
+subject, girls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil instantly began talking about the coming
+plays, and soon the conversation became of an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+absorbing character, and Hester&#8217;s voice was heard
+oftener than the others, and she laughed more frequently
+than her companions.
+</p>
+<p>For all this forced merriment, however, Cecil did
+not fail to observe that when Hester got to the place
+of meeting at Burn Castle she looked around her
+with a quick and eager glance. Then the color
+faded from her face, and her eyes grew dim.
+</p>
+<p>That look of pain on Hester&#8217;s face was quite
+enough for kind-hearted Cecil. She had thrown
+herself on the grass with an exclamation of delight,
+but in an instant she was on her feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, of course, the first thing is to find little
+Nan,&#8221; she said; &#8220;she&#8217;ll be missing you dreadfully,
+Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil held out her hand to Hester to run with
+her through the wood, but, to her surprise, Hester
+drew back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m tired,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I daresay we shall find
+Nan presently. She is sure to be safe, as she is
+under Miss Danesbury&#8217;s care.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil made no remark, but set off by herself to
+find the little children. Presently, standing on a
+little knoll, and putting her two hands round her
+lips, so as to form a speaking trumpet, she shouted
+to Hester. Hester came slowly and apparently unwillingly
+toward her, but when she got to the foot of
+the knoll, Cecil flew down, and, taking her by the
+hand, ran with her to the top.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, do come quick!&#8221; she exclaimed; &#8220;it is such
+a pretty sight.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></p>
+<p>Down in the valley about fifty yards away were
+the ten or twelve little children who formed the
+infant portion of the school. Miss Danesbury was
+sitting at some distance off quietly reading, and the
+children, decked with flowers, and carrying tall
+grasses and reeds in their hands, were flying round
+and round in a merry circle, while in their midst,
+and the center attraction, stood Annie, whose hat was
+tossed aside, and whose bright, curling hair was
+literally crowned with wild flowers. On Annie&#8217;s
+shoulder stood little Nan, carefully and beautifully
+poised, and round Nan&#8217;s wavy curls was a starry
+wreath of wood-anemones. Nan was shouting gleefully
+and clapping her hands, while Annie balanced
+her slightest movement with the greatest agility,
+and kept her little feet steady on her shoulders with
+scarcely an effort. As the children ran round and
+round Annie she waltzed gracefully backward and
+forward to meet them, and they all sang snatches of
+nursery rhymes. When Cecil and Hester appeared
+they had reached in their varied collection:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Here Nan exclaimed, in her clear, high-pitched
+voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me no fall, Annie,&#8221; and the small children on the
+ground clapped their hands and blew kisses to her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t it pretty? Isn&#8217;t Annie sweet with children?&#8221;
+said Cecil, looking round to Hester with all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+the admiration she felt for her friend shining in her
+face. The expression, however, which Hester wore
+at that moment really startled Cecil; she was absolutely
+colorless, and presently she called aloud in a
+harsh, strained voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be careful of her! How wicked of you to put
+her like that on your shoulder! She will fall&mdash;yes,
+I know she will fall; oh, do be careful!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s voice startled the children, who ceased
+singing and dancing; Annie made a hasty step forward,
+and one little voice alone kept singing out the
+words:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Humpty-Dumpty got a great fall!&#8221;&mdash;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>when there was a crash and a cry, and Nan, in some
+inexplicable way, had fallen backward from Annie&#8217;s
+shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>In one instant Hester was in the midst of the
+group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t touch her,&#8221; she said, as Annie flew to pick
+up the child, who, falling with some force on her
+head, had been stunned; &#8220;don&#8217;t touch her&mdash;don&#8217;t
+dare! It was your doing; you did it on purpose&mdash;you
+wished to do it!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are unjust,&#8221; said Annie, in a low tone.
+&#8220;Nan was perfectly safe until you startled her.
+Like all the rest you are unjust. Nan would have
+come to no harm if you had not spoken.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester did not vouchsafe another word. She sat
+on the ground with the unconscious and pretty little
+flower-crowned figure laid across her lap; she was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+terrified, and thought in her inexperience that Nan
+must be dead.
+</p>
+<p>At the first mention of the accident Cecil had
+flown to fetch some water, and when she and Miss
+Danesbury applied it to little Nan&#8217;s temples, she
+presently sighed, and opened her brown eyes wide.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope&mdash;I trust she is not much hurt,&#8221; said Miss
+Danesbury; &#8220;but I think it safest to take her home
+at once. Cecil, dear, can you do anything about
+fetching a wagonette round to the stile at the
+entrance of the wood? Now the puzzle is, who is
+to take care of the rest of the little children? If
+only they were under Miss Good&#8217;s care, I should
+breathe more easily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going home with Nan,&#8221; said Hester in a
+hard voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, my love; no one would think of
+parting you from your little sister,&#8221; said the governess,
+soothingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you please, Miss Danesbury,&#8221; said Annie,
+whose face was quite as pale as Hester&#8217;s, and her
+eyes heavy as though she longed to cry, &#8220;will you
+trust me with the little ones? If you do, I will
+promise to take them straight to Miss Good, and to
+be most careful of them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury&#8217;s gentle and kind face looked
+relieved.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Annie&mdash;of course I trust you, dear.
+Take the children at once to the meeting-place
+under the great oak, and wait there until Miss Good
+appears.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+Annie suddenly sprang forward, and threw her
+arms round Miss Danesbury&#8217;s neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Danesbury, you comfort me,&#8221; she said, in
+a kind of stifled voice, and then she ran off with the
+children.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII__HUMPTYDUMPTY_HAD_A_GREAT_FALL' id='CHAPTER_XXIII__HUMPTYDUMPTY_HAD_A_GREAT_FALL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;HUMPTY-DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>All the stupor and languor which immediately
+followed Nan&#8217;s fall passed off during her drive
+home; she chatted and laughed, her cheeks were
+flushed, her eyes bright. Hester turned with a
+relieved face to Miss Danesbury.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My little darling is all right, is she not?&#8221; she
+said. &#8220;Oh, I was so terrified&mdash;oh, how thankful I
+am no harm has been done!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury did not return Hester&#8217;s full gaze;
+she attempted to take little Nan on her knee, but
+Nan clung to Hetty. Then she said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must be careful to keep the sun off her,
+dear&mdash;hold your parasol well down&mdash;just so. That
+is better. When we get home, I will put her to
+bed at once. Please God, there <i>is</i> nothing wrong;
+but one cannot be too careful.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Something in Miss Danesbury&#8217;s manner affected
+Hester strangely; she clasped Nan&#8217;s slight baby
+form closer and closer to her heart, and no longer
+joined in the little one&#8217;s mirth. As the drive drew to
+a close, Nan again ceased talking, and fell into a
+heavy sleep.
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury&#8217;s face grew graver and graver,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+and, when the wagonette drew up at Lavender
+House, she insisted on lifting the sleeping child out
+of Hester&#8217;s arms, and carrying her up to her little
+crib. When Nan&#8217;s little head was laid on the cool
+pillow, she again opened her eyes, and instantly
+asked for a drink. Miss Danesbury gave her some
+milk and water, but the moment she drank it she
+was sick.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just as I feared,&#8221; said the governess; &#8220;there is
+some little mischief&mdash;not much, I hope&mdash;but we must
+instantly send for the doctor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Miss Danesbury walked across the room to
+ring the bell, Hester followed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s not in danger?&#8221; she whispered in a
+hoarse voice. &#8220;If she is, Annie is guilty of murder.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t, my dear,&#8221; said the governess; &#8220;you must
+keep quiet for Nan&#8217;s sake. Please God, she will soon
+be better. All I really apprehend is a little excitement
+and feverishness, which will pass off in a few
+days with care. Hester, my dear, I suddenly remember
+that the house is nearly empty, for all the servants
+are also enjoying a holiday. I think I must send
+you for Dr. Mayflower. The wagonette is still at
+the door. Drive at once to town, my dear, and ask
+the coachman to take you to No. 10, The Parade.
+If you are very quick, you will catch Dr.
+Mayflower before he goes out on his afternoon
+rounds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester glanced for half an instant at Nan, but
+her eyes were again closed.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I will take the best care of her,&#8221; said the
+governess in a kind voice; &#8220;don&#8217;t lose an instant,
+dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester snatched up her hat and flew down stairs.
+In a moment she was in the wagonette, and the
+driver was speedily urging his horses in the direction
+of the small town of Sefton, two miles and a half
+away. Hester was terrified now&mdash;so terrified, in
+such an agony, that she even forgot Annie; her
+hatred toward Annie became of secondary importance
+to her. All her ideas, all her thoughts, were
+swallowed up in the one great hope&mdash;Should she
+be in time to reach Dr. Mayflower&#8217;s house before
+he set off on his afternoon rounds? As the wagonette
+approached Sefton she buried her face
+in her hands and uttered a sharp inward cry of
+agony.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please God, let me find the doctor!&#8221; It was a
+real prayer from her heart of hearts. The wagonette
+drew up at the doctor&#8217;s residence, to discover
+him stepping into his brougham. Hester was
+a shy child, and had never seen him before; but
+she instantly raised her voice, and almost shouted to
+him:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are to come with me; please, you are to come
+at once. Little Nan is ill&mdash;she is hurt. Please, you
+are to come at once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh! young lady?&#8221; said the round-faced doctor
+&#8220;Oh! I see; you are one of the little girls from
+Lavender House. Is anything wrong there,
+dear?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span></p>
+<p>Hester managed to relate what had occurred;
+whereupon the doctor instantly opened the door of
+the wagonette.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jump out, young lady,&#8221; he said; &#8220;I will drive
+you back in my brougham. Masters,&#8221; addressing
+his coachman, &#8220;to Lavender House.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester sat back in the soft-cushioned carriage,
+which bowled smoothly along the road. It seemed
+to her impatience that the pace at which they went
+was not half quick enough&mdash;she longed to put her
+head out of the window to shout to the coachman to
+go faster. She felt intensely provoked with the
+doctor, who sat placidly by her side reading a newspaper.
+</p>
+<p>Presently she saw that his eyes were fixed on her.
+He spoke in his quietest tones.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We always take precisely twenty minutes to
+drive from the Parade to Lavender House&mdash;twenty
+minutes, neither more or less. We shall be there
+now in exactly ten minutes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester tried to smile, but failed; her agony of
+apprehension grew and grew. She breathed more
+freely when they turned into the avenue. When
+they stopped at the wide stone porch, and the doctor
+got out, she uttered a sigh of relief. She took Dr.
+Mayflower herself up to Nan&#8217;s room. Miss Danesbury
+opened the door, the doctor went inside, and
+Hester crouched down on the landing and waited.
+It seemed to her that the good physician would
+never come out. When he did she raised a perfectly
+blanched face to his, she opened her lips, tried to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+speak, but no words would come. Her agitation
+was so intense that the kind-hearted doctor took
+instant pity on her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come into this room, my child,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My
+dear, you will be ill yourself if you give way like
+this. Pooh! pooh! this agitation is extreme&mdash;is
+uncalled for. You have got a shock. I shall prescribe
+a glass of sherry at once. Come down stairs
+with me, and I will see that you get one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how is she, sir&mdash;how is she?&#8221; poor Hester
+managed to articulate.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! the little one&mdash;sweet, pretty, little darling.
+I did not know she was your sister&mdash;a dear little
+child. She got an ugly fall, though&mdash;came on a
+nasty place.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, please, sir, how is she? She&mdash;she&mdash;she is
+not in danger?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Danger? by no means, unless you put her into
+it. She must be kept very quiet, and, above all
+things, not excited. I will come to see her again
+to-morrow morning. With proper care she ought
+to be quite herself in a few days. Ah! now you&#8217;ve
+got a little color in your cheek, come down with me
+and have that glass of sherry, and you will feel all
+right.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV_ANNIE_TO_THE_RESCUE' id='CHAPTER_XXIV_ANNIE_TO_THE_RESCUE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+<h3>ANNIE TO THE RESCUE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The picnic-party arrived home late. The accident
+to little Nan had not shortened the day&#8217;s pleasure,
+although Mrs. Willis, the moment she heard of
+it, had come back; for she entered the hall just as
+the doctor was stepping into his carriage. He gave
+her his opinion, and said that he trusted no
+further mischief, beyond a little temporary excitement,
+had been caused. He again, however, spoke
+of the great necessity of keeping Nan quiet, and
+said that her schoolfellows must not come to her,
+and that she must not be excited in any way. Mrs.
+Willis came into the great hall where Hester was
+standing. Instantly she went up to the young girl,
+and put her arm around and drew her to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Darling,&#8221; she said, &#8220;this is a grievous anxiety
+for you; no words can express my sorrow and my
+sympathy; but the doctor is quite hopeful, Hester,
+and, please God, we shall soon have the little one
+as well as ever.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are really sorry for me?&#8221; said Hester,
+raising her eyes to the head-mistress&#8217; face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, dear; need you ask?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you will have that wicked Annie Forest
+punished&mdash;well punished&mdash;well punished.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sometimes, Hester,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, very
+gravely, &#8220;God takes the punishment of our wrongdoings
+into His own hands. Annie came home
+with me. Had you seen her face as we drove together
+you would not have asked <i>me</i> to punish
+her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unjust, always unjust,&#8221; muttered Hester, but in
+so low a voice that Mrs. Willis did not hear the
+words. &#8220;Please may I go to little Nan?&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, Hester&mdash;some tea shall be sent up to
+you presently.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury arranged to spend that night in
+Nan&#8217;s room. A sofa bed was brought in for her to
+lie on, for Mrs. Willis had yielded to Hester&#8217;s almost
+feverish entreaties that she might not be banished
+from her little sister. Not a sound reached
+the room where Nan was lying&mdash;even the girls
+took off their shoes as they passed the door&mdash;not a
+whisper came to disturb the sick child. Little Nan
+slept most of the evening, only sometimes opening
+her eyes and looking up drowsily when Miss Danesbury
+changed the cold application to her head. At
+nine o&#8217;clock there came a low tap at the room
+door. Hester went to open it; one of her schoolfellows
+stood without.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The prayer-gong is not to be sounded to-night.
+Will you come to the chapel now? Mrs. Willis
+sent me to ask.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester shook her head.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I cannot,&#8221; she whispered; &#8220;tell her I cannot
+come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am so sorry!&#8221; replied the girl; &#8220;is Nan
+very bad?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; I hope not. Good-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester closed the room door, took off her dress,
+and began very softly to prepare to get into bed.
+She put on her dressing-gown, and knelt down as
+usual to her private prayers. When she got on her
+knees, however, she found it impossible to pray:
+her brain felt in a whirl, her feelings were unprayer-like;
+and with the temporary relief of believing
+Nan in no immediate danger came such a
+flood of hatred toward Annie as almost frightened
+her. She tried to ask God to make Nan better&mdash;quite
+well; but even this petition seemed to go no
+way&mdash;to reach no one&mdash;to fall flat on the empty
+air. She rose from her knees, and got quietly into
+bed.
+</p>
+<p>Nan lay in that half-drowsy and languid state
+until midnight. Hester, with all her very slight
+experience of illness, thought that as long as Nan
+was quiet she must be getting better; but Miss
+Danesbury was by no means so sure, and, notwithstanding
+the doctor&#8217;s verdict, she felt anxious about
+the child. Hester had said that she could not
+sleep; but at Miss Danesbury&#8217;s special request she
+got into bed, and before she knew anything about
+it was in a sound slumber. At midnight, when all
+the house was quiet, and Miss Danesbury kept a
+lonely watch by the sick child&#8217;s pillow, there came
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+a marked change for the worse in the little one.
+She opened her feverish eyes wide and began to
+call out piteously; but her cry now was, not for
+Hester, but for Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want my Annie,&#8221; she said over and over,
+&#8220;me do, me do. No, no; go &#8217;way, naughty Day-bury,
+me want my Annie; me do want her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury felt puzzled and distressed. Hester,
+however, was awakened by the piteous cry, and
+sat up in bed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Miss Danesbury?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is very much excited, Hester; she is calling
+for Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that is quite impossible,&#8221; said Hester, a
+shudder passing through her. &#8220;Annie can&#8217;t come
+here. The doctor specially said that none of the
+girls were to come near Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want Annie; me want my own Annie,&#8221;
+wailed the sick child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me my dressing-gown, please, Miss Danesbury,
+and I will go to her,&#8221; said Hester.
+</p>
+<p>She sprang out of bed, and approached the little
+crib. The brightness of Nan&#8217;s feverish eyes was
+distinctly seen. She looked up at Hester, who bent
+over her; then she uttered a sharp cry and covered
+her little face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go &#8217;way, go &#8217;way, naughty Hetty&mdash;Nan want
+Annie; Annie sing, Annie p&#8217;ay with Nan&mdash;go &#8217;way,
+go &#8217;way, Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s heart was too full to allow her to speak;
+but she knelt by the crib and tried to take one of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+little hot hands in hers. Nan, however, pushed her
+hands away, and now began to cry loudly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie!&mdash;Annie!&mdash;Annie! me want &#8217;oo; Nan
+want &#8217;oo&mdash;poor tibby Nan want &#8217;oo, Annie!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Danesbury touched Hester on her shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;the child&#8217;s wish must be
+gratified. Annie has an extraordinary power over
+children, and under the circumstances I shall take it
+upon me to disobey the doctor&#8217;s directions. The
+child must be quieted at all hazards. Run for Annie,
+dear&mdash;you know her room. I had better stay with
+little Nan, for, though she loves you best, you don&#8217;t
+sooth her at present&mdash;that is often so with a fever
+case.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One moment,&#8221; said Hester. She turned again
+to the little crib.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hetty is going to fetch Annie for Nan. Will
+Nan give her own Hetty one kiss?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Instantly the little arms were flung round Hester&#8217;s
+neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like &#8217;oo now, dood Hetty. Go for Annie,
+dood Hetty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Instantly Hester ran out of the room. She flew
+quickly down the long passage, and did not know
+what a strange little figure she made as the moon
+from a large window at one end fell full upon her.
+So eerie, so ghost-like was her appearance as she flew
+noiselessly with her bare feet along the passage that
+some one&mdash;Hester did not know whom&mdash;gave a
+stifled cry. The cry seemed to come from a good
+way off, and Hester was too preoccupied to notice it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+She darted into the room where Susan Drummond
+and Annie Forest slept.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie, you are to come to Nan,&#8221; she said in a
+sharp high-pitched voice which she scarcely recognized
+as her own.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Coming,&#8221; said Annie, and she walked instantly
+to the door with her dress on and stood in the moonlight.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are dressed!&#8221; said Hester in astonishment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I could not undress&mdash;I lay down as I was. I
+fancied I heard Nan&#8217;s voice calling me. I guessed I
+should be sent for.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, come now,&#8221; said Hester in her hardest
+tones. &#8220;You were only sent for because Nan must
+be quieted at any risk. Come and see if you can
+quiet her. I don&#8217;t suppose,&#8221; with a bitter laugh
+&#8220;that you will succeed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so,&#8221; replied Annie, in a very soft and
+gentle tone.
+</p>
+<p>She walked back by Hester&#8217;s side and entered the
+sick-room. She walked straight up to the little cot
+and knelt down by Nan, and said, in that strangely
+melodious voice of hers:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little darling, Annie has come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like &#8217;oo,&#8221; said Nan with a satisfied coo in
+her voice, and she turned round on her side with
+her back to Miss Danesbury and Hester and her
+eyes fixed on Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sing &#8216;Four-and-twenty,&#8217; Annie; sing &#8216;Four-and-twenty,&#8217;&#8221;
+she said presently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+sang Annie in a low clear voice, without a moment&#8217;s
+hesitation. She went through the old nursery rhyme
+once&mdash;twice. Then Nan interrupted her fretfully:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me don&#8217;t want dat &#8217;dain; sing &#8216;Boy Blue,&#8217;
+Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie sang.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Tree Little Kittens,&#8217; Annie,&#8221; interrupted the
+little voice presently.
+</p>
+<p>For more than two hours Annie knelt by the
+child, singing nursery rhyme after nursery rhyme,
+while the bright beautiful eyes were fixed on her
+face, and the little voice said incessantly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sing, Annie&mdash;sing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Baby Bun, now,&#8221; said Nan, when Annie had
+come almost to the end of her selection.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Bye baby bunting,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Daddy&#8217;s gone a hunting&mdash;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>He&#8217;s gone to fetch a rabbit-skin,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>To place the baby bunting in.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Over and over and over did Annie sing the words.
+Whenever, even for a brief moment she paused, Nan
+said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sing, Annie&mdash;sing &#8216;Baby Bun.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And all the time the eyes remained wide open,
+and the little hands were burning hot; but, gradually,
+after more than two hours of constant singing,
+Annie began to fancy that the burning skin was
+cooler. Then&mdash;could she believe it?&mdash;she saw the
+lids droop over the wide-open eyes. Five minutes
+later, to the tune of &#8220;Baby Bunting,&#8221; Nan had fallen
+into a deep and sound sleep.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXV_A_SPOILED_BABY' id='CHAPTER_XXV_A_SPOILED_BABY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+<h3>A SPOILED BABY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the morning Nan was better, and although
+for days she was in a very precarious state, and had
+to be kept as quiet as possible, yet Miss Danesbury&#8217;s
+great dread that fever would set in had passed
+away. The doctor said, however, that Nan had
+barely escaped real injury to her brain, and that it
+would be many a day before she would romp again,
+and play freely and noisily with the other children.
+Nan had chosen her own nurse, and, with the imperiousness
+of all babies&mdash;to say nothing of sick babies&mdash;she
+had her way. From morning till night Annie
+remained with her, and when the doctor saw how
+Annie alone could soothe and satisfy the child he
+would not allow it to be otherwise. At first Nan
+would lie with her hand in Annie&#8217;s, and her little cry
+of &#8220;sing, Annie,&#8221; going on from time to time; but as
+she grew better Annie would sit with her by the
+open window, with her head pillowed on her breast,
+and her arm round the little slender form, and Nan
+would smile and look adoringly at Annie, who would
+often return her gaze with intense sadness, and an
+indescribable something in her face which caused
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+the little one to stroke her cheek tenderly, and say
+in her sweet baby voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor Annie; poor tibby Annie!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They made a pretty picture as they sat there.
+Annie, with her charming gypsy face, her wild luxuriant,
+curly hair, all the sauciness and unrest in her
+soothed by the magic of the little child&#8217;s presence;
+and the little child herself, with her faint, wild-rose
+color, her dark, deep eyes, clear as summer pools, and
+her sunshiny golden hair. But pretty as the picture
+was Hester loathed it, for Hester thought during
+these wretched days that her heart would break.
+</p>
+<p>Not that Nan turned away from Hetty; she
+petted her and kissed her, and sometimes put an
+arm round Hetty and and an arm round Annie, as
+though, if she could, she would draw them together;
+but any one could see that her heart of hearts was
+given to Annie, and that Hester ranked second in
+her love. Hester would not for worlds express any
+of her bitter feelings before Annie; nay, as the doctor
+and Miss Danesbury both declared that, however
+culpable Annie might have been in causing the accident,
+she had saved little Nan&#8217;s life by her wonderful
+skill in soothing her to sleep on the first night of
+her illness, Hester had felt obliged to grumble something
+which might have been taken for &#8220;thanks.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, in reply to this grumble, had bestowed
+upon Hester one of her quickest, brightest glances,
+for she fathomed the true state of Hester&#8217;s heart
+toward her well enough.
+</p>
+<p>These were very bad days for poor Hester, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+but for the avidity with which she threw herself
+into her studies she could scarcely have borne them.
+</p>
+<p>By slow degrees Nan got better; she was allowed
+to come down stairs and to sit in Annie&#8217;s arms in the
+garden, and then Mrs. Willis interfered, and said
+that Annie must go back to her studies, and only
+devote her usual play hours and half-holidays to
+Nan&#8217;s service.
+</p>
+<p>This mandate, however, produced woe and tribulation.
+The spoiled child screamed and beat her
+little hands, and worked herself up into such a pitch
+of excitement that that night she found her way in her
+sleep to Annie&#8217;s room, and Annie had to quiet her
+by taking her into her bed. In the morning the
+doctor had to be sent for, and he instantly prescribed
+a day or two more of Annie&#8217;s company for the child.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis felt dreadfully puzzled. She had undertaken
+the charge of the little one; her father
+was already far away, so it was impossible now to
+make any change of plans; the child was ill&mdash;had
+been injured by an accident caused by Annie&#8217;s carelessness
+and by Hester&#8217;s want of self-control. But
+weak and ill as Nan still was, Mrs. Willis felt that
+an undue amount of spoiling was good for no one.
+She thought it highly unjust to Annie to keep her
+from her school employments at this most important
+period of the year. If Annie did not reach a certain
+degree of excellence in her school marks she
+could not be promoted in her class. Mrs. Willis
+did not expect the wild and heedless girl to carry off
+any special prizes; but her abilities were quite up
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+to the average, and she always hoped to rouse sufficient
+ambition in her to enable her to acquire a
+good and sound education. Mrs. Willis knew how
+necessary this was for poor Annie&#8217;s future, and,
+after giving the doctor an assurance that Nan&#8217;s
+whims and pleasures should be attended to for the
+next two or three days, she determined at the end
+of that time to assert her own authority with the
+child, and to insist on Annie working hard at
+her lessons, and returning to her usual school-room
+life.
+</p>
+<p>On the morning of the third day Mrs. Willis
+made inquiries, heard that Nan had spent an excellent
+night, eaten a hearty breakfast, and was
+altogether looking blooming. When the girls assembled
+in the school-room for their lessons, Annie
+brought her little charge down to the large play-room,
+where they established themselves cozily, and
+Annie began to instruct little Nan in the mysteries
+of
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Tic, tac, too,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>The little horse has lost his shoe.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Nan was entering into the spirit of the game, was
+imagining herself a little horse, and was holding out
+her small foot to be shod, when Mrs. Willis entered
+the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come with me, Nan,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I have got
+something to show you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan got up instantly, held out one hand to Mrs.
+Willis and the other to Annie, and said, in her confident
+baby tones:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Me tum; Annie tumming too.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis said nothing, but holding the little
+hand, and accompanied by Annie, she went out of
+the play-room, across the stone hall, and through the
+baize doors until she reached her own delightful
+private sitting-room.
+</p>
+<p>There were heaps of pretty things about, and Nan
+gazed round her with the appreciative glance of a
+pleased connoisseur.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pitty &#8217;oom,&#8221; she said approvingly. &#8220;Nan
+likes this &#8217;oom. Me&#8217;ll stay here, and so will
+Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here she uttered a sudden cry of rapture&mdash;on
+the floor, with its leaves temptingly open, lay a
+gaily-painted picture-book, and curled up in a soft
+fluffy ball by its side was a white Persian kitten
+asleep.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis whispered something to Annie, who
+ran out of the room, and Nan knelt down in a perfect
+rapture of worship by the kitten&#8217;s side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pitty tibby pussy!&#8221; she exclaimed several
+times, and she rubbed it so persistently the wrong
+way that the kitten shivered and stood up, arched
+its back very high, yawned, turned round three
+times, and lay down again, Alas! &#8220;tibby pussy&#8221;
+was not allowed to have any continuous slumber.
+Nan dragged the Persian by its tail into her lap,
+and when it resisted this indignity, and with two
+or three light bounds disappeared out of the room,
+she stretched out her little hands and began to cry
+for it.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Tum back, puss, puss&mdash;tum back, poor tibby
+puss&mdash;Nan loves &#8217;oo. Annie, go fetch puss for Nan.&#8221;
+Then for the first time she discovered that Annie
+was absent, and that she was alone, with the exception
+of Mrs. Willis, who sat busily writing at a
+distant table.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis counted for nothing at all with Nan&mdash;she
+did not consider her of the smallest importance
+and after giving her a quick glance of some disdain
+she began to trot round the room on a voyage of
+discovery. Any moment Annie would come back&mdash;Annie
+had, indeed, probably gone to fetch the kitten,
+and would quickly return with it. She walked
+slowly round and round, keeping well away from
+that part of the room where Mrs. Willis sat. Presently
+she found a very choice little china jug, which
+she carefully abstracted with her small fingers from
+a cabinet, which contained many valuable treasures.
+She sat down on the floor exactly beneath the cabinet,
+and began to play with her jug. She went
+through in eager pantomime a little game which
+Annie had invented for her, and imagined that she
+was a little milkmaid, and that the jug was full of
+sweet new milk; she called out to an imaginary set
+of purchasers, &#8220;Want any milk?&#8221; and then she
+poured some by way of drops of milk into the palm
+of her little hand, which she drank up in the name
+of her customers with considerable gusto. Presently
+knocking the little jug with some vehemence on the
+floor she deprived it with one neat blow of its handle
+and spout. Mrs. Willis was busily writing, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+did not look up. Nan was not in the least disconcerted;
+she said aloud:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor tibby zug b&#8217;oke,&#8221; and then she left the fragments
+on the floor, and started off on a fresh voyage
+of discovery. This time she dragged down a
+large photographic album on to a cushion, and, kneeling
+by it, began to look through the pictures, flapping
+the pages together with a loud noise, and laughing
+merrily as she did so. She was now much
+nearer to Mrs. Willis, who was attracted by the
+sound, and looking up hastened to the rescue of one
+of her most precious collections of photographs.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan, dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;shut up that book at once.
+Nan mustn&#8217;t touch. Shut the book, darling, and go
+and sit on the floor, and look at your nice-colored
+pictures.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan, still holding a chubby hand between the
+leaves of the album, gave Mrs. Willis a full defiant
+glance, and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me won&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Nan,&#8221; said the head-mistress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want Annie,&#8221; said Nan, still kneeling by
+the album, and, bending her head over the photographs,
+she turned the page and burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pitty bow vow,&#8221; she said, pointing to a photograph
+of a retriever; &#8220;oh, pitty bow woo, Nan
+loves &#8217;oo.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis stooped down and lifted the little girl
+into her arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nan, dear,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it is naughty to disobey.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+Sit down by your picture-book, and be a good
+girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me won&#8217;t,&#8221; said Nan again, and here she raised
+her small dimpled hand and gave Mrs. Willis a
+smart slap on her cheek.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Naughty lady, me don&#8217;t like &#8217;oo; go &#8217;way. Nan
+want Annie&mdash;Nan do want Annie. Me don&#8217;t love
+&#8217;oo, naughty lady; go &#8217;way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis took Nan on her knee. She felt that
+the little will must be bent to hers, but the task was
+no easy one. The child scarcely knew her, she was
+still weak and excitable, and she presently burst into
+storms of tears, and sobbed and sobbed as though
+her little heart would break, her one cry being for
+&#8220;Annie, Annie, Annie.&#8221; When Annie did join her
+in the play hour, the little cheeks were flushed, the
+white brow ached, and the child&#8217;s small hands were
+hot and feverish. Mrs. Willis felt terribly puzzled.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVI_UNDER_THE_LAUREL_BUSH' id='CHAPTER_XXVI_UNDER_THE_LAUREL_BUSH'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>
+<h3>UNDER THE LAUREL BUSH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Willis owned to herself that she was non-plussed;
+it was quite impossible to allow Annie to
+neglect her studies, and yet little Nan&#8217;s health was
+still too precarious to allow her to run the risk of
+having the child constantly fretted.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly a welcome idea occurred to her; she
+would write at once to Nan&#8217;s old nurse, and see if
+she could come to Lavender House for the remainder
+of the present term. Mrs. Willis dispatched her letter
+that very day, and by the following evening
+the nurse was once more in possession of her much-loved
+little charge. The habits of her babyhood
+were too strong for Nan; she returned to them
+gladly enough, and though in her heart of hearts
+she was still intensely loyal to Annie, she no longer
+fretted when she was not with her.
+</p>
+<p>Annie resumed her ordinary work, and though
+Hester was very cold to her, several of the other
+girls in the school frankly confided to their favorite
+how much they had missed her, and how glad they
+were to have her back with them once more.
+</p>
+<p>Annie found herself at this time in an ever-shifting
+mood&mdash;one moment she longed intensely for a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+kiss, and a fervent pardon from Mrs. Willis&#8217; lips;
+another, she said to herself defiantly she could and
+would live without it; one moment the hungry and
+sorrowful look in Hester&#8217;s eyes went straight to
+Annie&#8217;s heart, and she wished she might restore
+her little treasure whom she had stolen; the next
+she rejoiced in her strange power over Nan, and
+resolved to keep all the love she could get.
+</p>
+<p>In short, Annie was in that condition when she
+could be easily influenced for good or evil&mdash;she was
+in that state of weakness when temptation is least
+easily resisted.
+</p>
+<p>A few days after the arrival of Nan&#8217;s nurse Mrs.
+Willis was obliged unexpectedly to leave home; a
+near relative was dangerously ill in London, and the
+school-mistress went away in much trouble and
+anxiety. Some of her favorite pupils flocked to the
+front entrance to see their beloved mistress off.
+Among the group Cecil stood, and several girls of
+the first class; many of the little girls were also
+present, but Annie was not among them. Just at
+the last moment she rushed up breathlessly; she
+was tying some starry jasmine and some blue forget-me-nots
+together, and as the carriage was
+moving off she flung the charming bouquet into her
+mistress&#8217; lap.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis rewarded her with one of her old
+looks of confidence and love; she raised the flowers
+to her lips and kissed them, and her eyes smiled on
+Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-by, dear,&#8221; she called out; &#8220;good-by, all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+my dear girls; I will try and be back to-morrow
+night. Remember, my children, during my absence
+I trust you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The carriage disappeared down the avenue, and
+the group of girls melted away. Cecil looked round
+for Annie, but Annie had been the first to disappear.
+</p>
+<p>When her mistress had kissed the flowers and
+smiled at her, Annie darted into the shrubbery and
+stood there wiping the fast-falling tears from her
+eyes. She was interrupted in this occupation by the
+sudden cries of two glad and eager voices, and instantly
+her hands were taken, and some girls rather
+younger than herself began to drag her in the
+opposite direction through the shrubbery.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come; Annie&mdash;come at once, Annie, darling,&#8221;
+exclaimed Phyllis and Nora Raymond. &#8220;The basket
+has come; it&#8217;s under the thick laurel-tree in the
+back avenue. We are all waiting for you; we none
+of us will open it till you arrive.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s face, a truly April one, changed as if by
+magic. The tears dried on her cheeks; her eyes
+filled with sunlight; she was all eager for the coming
+fun.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we won&#8217;t lose a moment, Phyllis,&#8221; she
+said: &#8220;we&#8217;ll see what that duck of a Betty has done
+for us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The three girls scampered down the back avenue,
+where they found five of their companions, among
+them Susan Drummond, standing in different attitudes
+of expectation near a very large and low-growing
+laurel-tree. Every one raised a shout when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+Annie appeared; she was undoubtedly recognized
+as queen and leader of the proceedings. She took
+her post without an instant&#8217;s hesitation, and began
+ordering her willing subjects about.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, is the coast clear? yes, I think so. Come,
+Susie, greedy as you are, you must take your part.
+You alone of all of us can cackle with the exact imitation
+of an old hen: get behind that tree at once and
+watch the yard. Don&#8217;t forget to cackle for your
+life if you even see the shadow of a footfall.
+Nora, my pretty birdie, you must be the thrush
+for the nonce; here, take your post, watch the lawn
+and the front avenue. Now then, girls, the rest of
+us can see what spoils Betty has provided for us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The basket was dragged from its hiding-place,
+and longing faces peered eagerly and greedily into
+its contents.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, oh! I say, cherries! and what a lot! Good
+Betty! dear, darling Betty! you gathered those
+from your own trees, and they are as ripe as your
+apple-blossom cheeks! Now then, what next? I do
+declare, meringues! Betty knew my weakness.
+Twelve meringues&mdash;that is one and a half apiece;
+Susan Drummond sha&#8216;n&#8217;t have more than her share.
+Meringues and cheesecakes and&mdash;tartlets&mdash;oh! oh!
+what a duck Betty is! A plum-cake&mdash;good, excellent
+Betty, she deserves to be canonized! What have we
+here? Roast chickens&mdash;better and better! What is
+in this parcel? Slices of ham; Betty knew she dare
+not show her face again if she forgot the ham.
+Knives and forks, spoons&mdash;fresh rolls&mdash;salt and pepper,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+and a dozen bottles of ginger-beer, and a little
+corkscrew in case we want it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>These various exclamations came from many lips.
+The contents of the basket were carefully and tenderly
+replaced, the lid was fastened down, and it
+was once more consigned to its hiding place under
+the thick boughs of the laurel.
+</p>
+<p>Not a moment too soon, for just at this instant
+Susan cackled fiercely, and the little group withdrew,
+Annie first whispering:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At twelve to-night, then, girls&mdash;oh, yes, I have
+managed the key.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVII_TRUANTS' id='CHAPTER_XXVII_TRUANTS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+<h3>TRUANTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was a proverbial saying in the school that Annie
+Forest was always in hot water; she was exceedingly
+daring, and loved what she called a spice of
+danger. This was not the first stolen picnic at
+which Annie reigned as queen, but this was the
+largest she had yet organized, and this was the first
+time she had dared to go out of doors with her
+satellites.
+</p>
+<p>Hitherto these naughty sprites had been content
+to carry their baskets full of artfully-concealed provisions
+to a disused attic which was exactly over
+the box-room, and consequently out of reach of
+the inhabited part of the house. Here, making a
+table of a great chest which stood in the attic,
+they feasted gloriously, undisturbed by the musty
+smell or by the innumerable spiders and beetles
+which disappeared rapidly in all directions at their
+approach; but when Annie one day incautiously
+suggested that on summer nights the outside
+world was all at their disposal, they began to discover
+flaws in their banqueting hall. Mary Price
+said the musty smell made her half sick; Phyllis declared
+that at the sight of a spider she invariably
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+turned faint; and Susan Drummond was heard to
+murmur that in a dusty, fusty attic even meringues
+scarcely kept her awake. The girls were all wild to
+try a midnight picnic out of doors, and Annie in her
+present mood, was only too eager for the fun.
+</p>
+<p>With her usual skill she organized the whole undertaking,
+and eight agitated, slightly frightened,
+but much excited girls retired to their rooms that
+night. Annie, in her heart of hearts, felt rather sorry
+that Mrs. Willis should happen to be away; dim
+ideas of honor and trustworthiness were still stirring
+in her breast, but she dared not think now.
+</p>
+<p>The night was in every respect propitious; the
+moon would not rise until after twelve, so the little
+party could get away under the friendly shelter of
+the darkness, and soon afterward have plenty of
+light to enjoy their stolen feast. They had arranged
+to make no movement until close on midnight, and
+then they were all to meet in a passage which belonged
+to the kitchen regions, and where there was
+a side door which opened directly into the shrubbery.
+This door was not very often unlocked, and Annie
+had taken the key from its place in the lock some
+days before. She went to bed with her companions
+at nine o&#8217;clock as usual, and presently fell into an
+uneasy doze. She awoke to hear the great clock in
+the hall strike eleven, and a few minutes afterward
+she heard Miss Danesbury&#8217;s footsteps retiring to her
+room at the other end of the passage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Danesbury is always the last to go to bed,&#8221;
+whispered Annie to herself; &#8220;I can get up presently.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></p>
+<p>She lay for another twenty minutes, then, softly
+rising, began to put on her clothes in the dark. Over
+her dress she fastened her waterproof, and placed
+a close-fitting brown velvet cap on her curly head.
+Having dressed herself, she approached Susan&#8217;s bed,
+with the intention of rousing her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall have fine work now,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and
+shall probably have to resort to cold water. Really,
+if Susy proves too hard to wake, I shall let her
+sleep on&mdash;her drowsiness is past bearing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, however, was considerably startled when
+she discovered that Miss Drummond&#8217;s bed was without
+an occupant.
+</p>
+<p>At this moment the room door was very softly
+opened, and Susan, fully dressed and in her waterproof,
+came in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Susy, where have you been?&#8221; exclaimed
+Annie. &#8220;Fancy you being awake a moment before
+it is necessary!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For once in a way I was restless,&#8221; replied Miss
+Drummond, &#8220;so I thought I would get up, and take
+a turn in the passage outside. The house is perfectly
+quiet, and we can come now; most of the girls are
+already waiting at the side door.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Holding their shoes in their hands, Annie and
+Susan went noiselessly down the carpetless stairs,
+and found the remaining six girls waiting for them
+by the side door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rover is our one last danger now,&#8221; said Annie,
+as she fitted the well-oiled key into the lock. &#8220;Put on
+your shoes, girls, and let me out first; I think I can
+manage him.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></p>
+<p>She was alluding to a great mastiff which was
+usually kept chained up by day. Phyllis and Nora
+laid their hands on her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Annie, oh love, suppose he seizes on you,
+and knocks you down&mdash;oh, dare you venture?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me go,&#8221; said Annie a little contemptuously;
+&#8220;you don&#8217;t suppose I am afraid?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her fingers trembled, for her nerves were highly
+strung; but she managed to unlock the door and
+draw back the bolts, and, opening it softly, she went
+out into the silent night.
+</p>
+<p>Very slight as the noise she made was, it had
+aroused the watchful Rover, who trotted around
+swiftly to know what was the matter. But Annie
+had made friends with Rover long ago, by stealing
+to his kennel door and feeding him, and she had
+now but to say &#8220;Rover&#8221; in her melodious voice, and
+throw her arms around his neck, to completely subvert
+his morals.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is one of us, girls,&#8221; she called in a whisper to
+her companions; &#8220;come out. Rover will be as
+naughty as the rest of us, and go with us as our
+body-guard to the fairies&#8217; field. Now, I will lock
+the door on the outside, and we can be off. Ah, the
+moon is getting up splendidly, and when we have
+secured Betty&#8217;s basket, we shall be quite out of
+reach of danger.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At Annie&#8217;s words of encouragement the seven
+girls ventured out. She locked the door, put the
+key into her pocket, and, holding Rover by his
+collar, led the way in the direction of the laurel-bush.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span>
+The basket was secured, and Susan, to her
+disgust, and Mary Morris were elected for the first
+part of the way to carry it. The young truants
+then walked quickly down the avenue until they
+came to a turnstile which led into a wood.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVIII_IN_THE_FAIRIES__FIELD' id='CHAPTER_XXVIII_IN_THE_FAIRIES__FIELD'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2>
+<h3>IN THE FAIRIES&#8217; FIELD.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The moon had now come up brilliantly, and the
+little party were in the highest possible spirits.
+They had got safely away from the house, and
+there was now, comparatively speaking, little fear
+of discovery. The more timid ones, who ventured
+to confess that their hearts were in their mouths
+while Annie was unlocking the side door, now became
+the most excited, and perhaps the boldest,
+under the reaction which set in. Even the wood,
+which was comparatively dark, with only patches
+of moonlight here and there, and queer weird shadows
+where the trees were thinnest, could not affect
+their spirits.
+</p>
+<p>The poor sleepy rabbits must have been astonished
+that night at the shouts of the revelers, as
+they hurried past them, and the birds must have
+taken their sleepy heads from under their downy
+wings, and wondered if the morning had come some
+hours before its usual time.
+</p>
+<p>More than one solemn old owl blinked at them,
+and hooted as they passed, and told them in owl
+language what silly, naughty young things they
+were, and how they would repent of this dissipation
+by-and-by. But if the girls were to have an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+hour of remorse, it did not visit them then; their
+hearts were like feathers, and by the time they
+reached the fields where the fairies were supposed
+to play, their spirits had become almost uncontrollable.
+</p>
+<p>Luckily for them this small green field lay in a
+secluded hollow, and more luckily for them no
+tramps were about to hear their merriment. Rover,
+who constituted himself Annie&#8217;s protector, now
+lay down by her side, and as she was the real ringleader
+and queen of the occasion, she ordered her
+subjects about pretty sharply.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, girls, quick; open the basket. Yes, I&#8217;m
+going to rest. I have organized the whole thing,
+and I&#8217;m fairly tired; so I&#8217;ll just sit quietly here, and
+Rover will take care of me while you set things
+straight. Ah! good Betty; she did not even forget
+the white table-cloth.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here one of the girls remarked casually that the
+grass was wet with dew, and that it was well they
+had all put on their waterproofs.
+</p>
+<p>Annie interrupted again in a petulant voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t croak, Mary Morris. Out with the chickens,
+lay the ham in this corner, and the cherries
+will make a picturesque pile in the middle. Twelve
+meringues in all; that means a meringue and a half
+each. We shall have some difficulty in dividing.
+Oh, dear! oh, dear! how hungry I am! I was far
+too excited to eat anything at supper-time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So was I,&#8221; said Phyllis, coming up and pressing
+close to Annie. &#8220;I do think Miss Danesbury cuts
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+the bread and butter too thick&mdash;don&#8217;t you, Annie?
+I could not eat mine at all to-night, and Cecil Temple
+asked me if I was not well.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those who don&#8217;t want chicken hold up their
+hands,&#8221; here interrupted Annie, who had tossed her
+brown cap on the grass, and between whose brows
+a faint frown had passed for an instant at the mention
+of Cecil&#8217;s name.
+</p>
+<p>The feast now began in earnest and silence
+reigned for a short time, broken only by the clatter
+of plates and such an occasional remark as &#8220;Pass
+the salt, please,&#8221; &#8220;Pepper this way, if you&#8217;ve no
+objection,&#8221; &#8220;How good chicken tastes in fairy-land,&#8221;
+etc. At last the ginger-beer bottles began to pop&mdash;the
+girls&#8217; first hunger was appeased. Rover gladly
+crunched up all the bones, and conversation flowed
+once more, accompanied by the delicate diversion of
+taking alternate bites at meringues and cheesecakes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish the fairies would come out,&#8221; said Annie.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t!&#8221; shivered Phyllis, looking round her
+nervously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie darling, do tell us a ghost story,&#8221; cried
+several voices.
+</p>
+<p>Annie laughed and commenced a series of nonsense
+tales, all of a slightly eerie character, which
+she made up on the spot.
+</p>
+<p>The moon riding high in the heavens looked
+down on the young giddy heads, and their laughter,
+naughty as they were, sounded sweet in the night
+air.
+</p>
+<p>Time flew quickly and the girls suddenly discovered
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+that they must pack up their table-cloth and
+remove all traces of the feast unless they wished
+the bright light of morning to discover them. They
+rose hastily, sighing and slightly depressed now
+that their fun was over. The white table-cloth, no
+longer very white, was packed into the basket, the
+ginger-beer bottles placed on top of it and the lid
+fastened down. Not a crumb of the feast remained;
+Rover had demolished the bones and the eight girls
+had made short work of everything else, with the
+exception of the cherry-stones, which Phyllis carefully
+collected and popped into a little hole in the
+ground.
+</p>
+<p>The party then progressed slowly homeward and
+once more entered the dark wood. They were much
+more silent now; the wood was darker, and the
+chill which foretells the dawn was making itself felt
+in the air. Either the sense of cold or a certain
+effect produced by Annie&#8217;s ridiculous stories, made
+many of the little party unduly nervous.
+</p>
+<p>They had only taken a few steps through the
+wood when Phyllis suddenly uttered a piercing
+shriek. This shriek was echoed by Nora and by
+Mary Morris, and all their hearts seemed to leap
+into their mouths when they saw something move
+among the trees. Rover uttered a growl, and, but
+for Annie&#8217;s detaining hand, would have sprung forward.
+The high-spirited girl was not to be easily
+daunted.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Behold, girls, the goblin of the woods,&#8221; she exclaimed.
+&#8220;Quiet, Rover; stand still.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The next instant the fears of the little party
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span>
+reached their culmination when a tall, dark figure
+stood directly in their paths.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t let us pass at once,&#8221; said Annie&#8217;s
+voice, &#8220;I&#8217;ll set Rover at you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog began to bark loudly and quivered from
+head to foot.
+</p>
+<p>The figure moved a little to one side, and a rather
+deep and slightly dramatic voice said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean you no harm, young ladies; I&#8217;m only a
+gypsy-mother from the tents yonder. You are
+welcome to get back to Lavender House. I have
+then one course plain before me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on, girls,&#8221; said Annie, now considerably
+frightened, while Phyllis, and Nora, and one or two
+more began to sob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here, young ladies,&#8221; said the gypsy in a
+whining voice, &#8220;I don&#8217;t mean you no harm, my
+pretties, and it&#8217;s no affair of mine telling the good
+ladies at Lavender House what I&#8217;ve seen. You
+cross my hand, dears, each of you, with a bit of
+silver, and all I&#8217;ll do is to tell your pretty fortunes,
+and mum is the word with the gypsy-mother as far
+as this night&#8217;s prank is concerned.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We had better do it, Annie&mdash;we had better do
+it,&#8221; here sobbed Phyllis. &#8220;If this was found out by
+Mrs. Willis we might be expelled&mdash;we might,
+indeed; and that horrid woman is sure to tell of
+us&mdash;I know she is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite sure to tell, dear,&#8221; said the tall gypsy,
+dropping a courtesy in a manner which looked frightfully
+sarcastic in the long shadows made by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+trees. &#8220;Quite sure to tell, and to be expelled is the
+very least that could happen to such naughty little
+ladies. Here&#8217;s a nice little bit of clearing in the
+wood, and we&#8217;ll all come over, and Mother Rachel
+will tell your fortunes in a twinkling, and no one
+will be the wiser. Sixpence apiece, my dears&mdash;only
+sixpence apiece.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, come; do, do come,&#8221; said Nora, and the
+next moment they were all standing in a circle
+round Mother Rachel, who pocketed her blackmail
+eagerly, and repeated some gibberish over each
+little hand. Over Annie&#8217;s palm she lingered for a
+brief moment, and looked with her penetrating eyes
+into the girl&#8217;s face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have suffering before you, miss; some
+suspicion, and danger even to life itself. But you&#8217;ll
+triumph, my dear, you&#8217;ll triumph. You&#8217;re a plucky
+one, and you&#8217;ll do a brave deed. There&mdash;good-night,
+young ladies; you have nothing more to fear
+from Mother Rachel.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The tall dark figure disappeared into the blackest
+shadows of the wood, and the girls, now like so
+many frightened hares, flew home. They deposited
+their basket where Betty would find it, under the
+shadow of the great laurel in the back avenue.
+They all bade Rover an affectionate &#8220;good-night.&#8221;
+Annie softly unlocked the side-door, and one by one,
+with their shoes in their hands, they regained their
+bedrooms. They were all very tired, and very cold,
+and a dull fear and sense of insecurity rested over
+each little heart. Suppose Mother Rachel proved
+unfaithful, notwithstanding the sixpences?
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIX_HESTER_S_FORGOTTEN_BOOK' id='CHAPTER_XXIX_HESTER_S_FORGOTTEN_BOOK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+<h3>HESTER&#8217;S FORGOTTEN BOOK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It wanted scarcely three weeks to the holidays,
+and therefore scarcely three weeks to that auspicious
+day when Lavender House was to be the scene
+of one long triumph, and was to be the happy spot
+selected for a midsummer holiday, accompanied by
+all that could make a holiday perfect&mdash;for youth
+and health would be there, and even the unsuccessful
+competitors for the great prizes would not have
+too sore hearts, for they would know that on the
+next day they were going home. Each girl who had
+done her best would have a word of commendation,
+and only those who were very naughty, or very
+stubborn, could resist the all-potent elixir of happiness
+which would be poured out so abundantly for
+Mrs. Willis&#8217; pupils on this day.
+</p>
+<p>Now that the time was drawing so near, those
+girls who were working for prizes found themselves
+fully occupied from morning to night. In
+play-hours even, girls would be seen with their
+heads bent over their books, and, between the prizes
+and the acting, no little bees in any hive could be
+more constantly employed than were these young
+girls just now.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span></p>
+<p>No happiness is, after all, to be compared to the
+happiness of healthful occupation. Busy people have
+no time to fret and no time to grumble. According
+to our old friend, Dr. Watts, people who are healthily
+busy have also no time to be naughty, for the old
+doctor says that it is for idle hands that mischief is
+prepared.
+</p>
+<p>Be that as it may, and there is great truth in it,
+some naughty sprites, some bad fairies, were flitting
+around and about that apparently peaceful atmosphere.
+That sunny home, governed by all that was
+sweet and good, was not without its serpent.
+</p>
+<p>Of all the prizes which attracted interest and
+aroused competition, the prize for English composition
+was this year the most popular. In the first
+place, this was known to be Mrs. Willis&#8217; own favorite
+subject. She had a great wish that her girls should
+write intelligibly&mdash;she had a greater wish that, if
+possible, they should think.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never was there so much written and printed,&#8221;
+she was often heard to say; &#8220;but can any one show
+me a book with thoughts in it? Can any one show
+me, unless as a rare exception, a book which will live?
+Oh, yes, these books which issue from the press in
+thousands are, many of them, very smart, a great
+many of them clever, but they are thrown off too
+quickly. All great things, great books among them,
+must be evolved slowly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then she would tell her pupils what she considered
+the reason of this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In these days,&#8221; she would say, &#8220;all girls are
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
+what is called highly educated. Girls and boys
+alike must go in for competitive examinations, must
+take out diplomas, and must pass certain standards of
+excellence. The system is cramming from beginning
+to end. There is no time for reflection. In short,
+my dear girls, you swallow a great deal, but you do
+not digest your intellectual food.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis hailed with pleasure any little dawnings
+of real thought in her girls&#8217; prize essays. More
+than once she bestowed the prize upon the essay
+which seemed to the girls the most crude and
+unfinished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind,&#8221; she would say, &#8220;here is an idea&mdash;or
+at least half an idea. This little bit of composition
+is original, and not, at best, a poor imitation of Sir.
+Walter Scott or Lord Macaulay.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus the girls found a strong stimulus to be
+their real selves in these little essays, and the best
+of them chose their subject and let it ferment in
+their brains without the aid of books, except for the
+more technical parts.
+</p>
+<p>More than one girl in the school was surprised at
+Dora Russell exerting herself to try for the prize
+essay. She was just about to close her school career,
+and they could not make out why she roused herself
+to work for the most difficult prize, for which she
+would have to compete with any girl in the school
+who chose to make a similar attempt.
+</p>
+<p>Dora, however, had her own, not very high
+motive for making the attempt. She was a
+thoroughly accomplished girl, graceful in her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+appearance and manner; in short, just the sort of
+girl who would be supposed to do credit to a school.
+She played with finish, and even delicacy of touch.
+There was certainly no soul in her music, but neither
+were there any wrong notes. Her drawings were
+equally correct, her perspective good, her trees were
+real trees, and the coloring of her water-color
+sketches was pure. She spoke French extremely
+well, and with a correct accent, and her German
+also was above the average. Nevertheless, Dora
+was commonplace, and those girls who knew her
+best spoke sarcastically, and smiled at one another
+when she alluded to her prize essay, and seemed
+confident of being the successful competitor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t like to be beaten, Dora, say, by
+Annie Forest,&#8221; they would laughingly remark;
+whereupon Dora&#8217;s calm face, would slightly flush
+and her lips would assume a very proud curve. If
+there was one thing she could not bear it was to be
+beaten.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you try for it, Dora?&#8221; her class-fellows
+would ask; but here Dora made no reply: she kept
+her reason to herself.
+</p>
+<p>The fact was, Dora, who must be a copyist to the
+end of the chapter, and who could never to her latest
+day do anything original, had determined to try
+for the composition prize because she happened
+accidentally to hear a conversation between Mrs.
+Willis and Miss Danesbury, in which something
+was said about a gold locket with Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+portrait inside.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></p>
+<p>Dora instantly jumped at the conclusion that this
+was to be the great prize bestowed upon the successful
+essayist. Delightful idea; how well the trinket
+would look round her smooth white throat! Instantly
+she determined to try for this prize, and of
+course as instantly the bare idea of defeat became
+intolerable to her. She went steadily and methodically
+to work. With extreme care she chose her
+subject. Knowing something of Mrs. Willis&#8217; peculiarities,
+she determined that her theme should not
+be historical; she believed that she could express
+herself freely and with power if only she could
+secure an unhackneyed subject. Suddenly an idea
+which she considered brilliant occurred to her. She
+would call her composition &#8220;The River.&#8221; This
+should not bear reference to Father Thames, or any
+other special river of England, but it should trace
+the windings of some fabled stream of Dora&#8217;s
+imagination, which, as it flowed along, should tell
+something of the story of the many places by which
+it passed. Dora was charmed with her own
+thought, and worked hard, evening after evening, at
+her subject, covering sheets of manuscript paper
+with penciled jottings, and arranging and rearranging
+her somewhat confused thoughts. She greatly
+admired a perfectly rounded period, and she was
+most particular as to the style in which she wrote.
+For the purpose of improving her style she even
+studied old volumes of Addison&#8217;s <i>Spectator</i>; but
+after a time she gave up this course of study, for she
+found it so difficult to mold her English to Addison&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+that she came to the comfortable conclusion
+that Addison was decidedly obsolete, and that if she
+wished to do full justice to &#8220;The River&#8221; she must
+trust to her own unaided genius.
+</p>
+<p>At last the first ten pages were written. The
+subject was entered upon with considerable flourishes,
+and some rather apt poetical quotations from a book
+containing a collection of poems; the river itself had
+already left its home in the mountain, and was
+careering merrily past sunny meadows and little
+rural, impossible cottages, where the golden-haired
+children played.
+</p>
+<p>Dora made a very neat copy of her essay so far.
+She now began to see her way clearly&mdash;there would
+be a very powerful passage as the river approached
+the murky town. Here, indeed, would be room for
+powerful and pathetic writing. She wondered if
+she might venture so far as to hide a suicide in her
+rushing waters; and then at last the brawling river
+would lose itself in the sea; and, of course, there
+would not be the smallest connection between her
+river, and Kingsley&#8217;s well-known song,
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;Clear and cool.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>She finished writing her ten pages, and being now
+positively certain of her gold locket, went to bed in
+a happy state of mind.
+</p>
+<p>This was the very night when Annie was to lead
+her revelers through the dark wood, but Dora, who
+never troubled herself about the younger classes,
+would have been certainly the last to notice the fact
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+that a few of the girls in Lavender House seemed
+little disposed to eat their suppers of thick bread
+and butter and milk. She went to bed and dreamed
+happy dreams about her golden locket, and had
+little idea that any mischief was about to be performed.
+</p>
+<p>Hester Thornton also, but in a very different
+spirit, was working hard at her essay. Hester worked
+conscientiously; she had chosen &#8220;Marie Antoinette&#8221;
+as her theme, and she read the sorrowful
+story of the beautiful queen with intense interest,
+and tried hard to get herself into the spirit of the
+times about which she must write. She had scarcely
+begun her essay yet, but she had already collected
+most of the historical facts.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was a very careful little student, and as
+she prepared herself for the great work, she thought
+little or nothing about the prize&mdash;she only wanted to
+do justice to the unfortunate queen of France. She
+was in bed that night, and just dropping off to sleep,
+when she suddenly remembered that she had left a
+volume of French poetry on her school desk. This
+was against the rules, and she knew that Miss Danesbury
+would confiscate the book in the morning, and
+would not let her have it back for a week. Hester
+particularly wanted this special book just now, as
+some of the verses bore reference to her subject, and
+she could scarcely get on with her essay without
+having it to refer to. She must lose no time in
+instantly beginning to write her essay, and to do
+without her book of poetry for a week would be a
+serious injury to her.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></p>
+<p>She resolved, therefore, to break through one of
+the rules, and, after lying awake until the whole
+house was quiet, to slip down stairs, enter the school-room
+and secure her poems. She heard the clock
+strike eleven, and she knew that in a very few
+moments Miss Danesbury and Miss Good would
+have retired to their rooms. Ah, yes, that was
+Miss Danesbury&#8217;s step passing her door. Ten minutes
+later she glided out of bed, slipped on her dressing-gown,
+and opening her door ran swiftly down
+the carpetless stairs, and found herself in the great
+stone hall which led to the school-room.
+</p>
+<p>She was surprised to find the school-room door a
+little ajar, but she entered the room without hesitation,
+and, dark as it was, soon found her desk, and
+the book of poems lying on the top. Hester was
+about to return when she was startled by a little
+noise in that portion of the room where the first
+class girls sat. The next moment somebody came
+heavily and rather clumsily down the room, and the
+moon, which was just beginning to rise, fell for an
+instant on a girl&#8217;s face. Hester recognized the face
+of Susan Drummond. What could she be doing
+here? She did not dare to speak, for she herself
+had broken a rule in visiting the school-room. She
+remained, therefore, perfectly still until Susan&#8217;s steps
+died away, and then, thankful to have secured her
+own property, returned to her bedroom, and a moment
+or two later was sound asleep.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXX__A_MUDDY_STREAM' id='CHAPTER_XXX__A_MUDDY_STREAM'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;A MUDDY STREAM.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the morning Dora Russell sat down as usual
+before her orderly and neatly-kept desk. She
+raised the lid to find everything in its place&mdash;her
+books and exercises all as they should be, and her
+pet essay in a neat brown paper cover, lying just as
+she had left it the night before. She was really getting
+quite excited about her river, and as this was a
+half-holiday, she determined to have a good work at
+it in the afternoon. She was beginning also to experience
+that longing for an auditor which occasionally
+is known to trouble the breasts of genius. She
+felt that those graceful ideas, that elegant language,
+those measured periods, might strike happily on
+some other ears before they were read aloud as the
+great work of the midsummer holidays.
+</p>
+<p>She knew that Hester Thornton was making what
+she was pleased to term a poor little attempt at trying
+for the same prize. Hester would scarcely venture
+to copy anything from Dora&#8217;s essay; she would
+probably be discouraged, poor girl, in working any
+longer at her own composition; but Dora felt that
+the temptation to read &#8220;The River,&#8221; as far as it had
+gone, to Hester was really too great to be resisted.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+Accordingly, after dinner she graciously invited
+Hester to accompany her to a bower in the garden,
+where the two friends might revel over the results
+of Dora&#8217;s extraordinary talents.
+</p>
+<p>Hester was still, to a certain extent, under Dora&#8217;s
+influence, and had not the courage to tell her that
+she intended to be very busy over her own essay
+this afternoon.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Hester, dear,&#8221; said Dora, when they found
+themselves both seated in the bower, &#8220;you are the
+only girl in the school to whom I could confide the
+subject of my great essay. I really believe that I
+have hit on something absolutely original. My dear
+child, I hope you won&#8217;t allow yourself to be discouraged.
+I fear that you won&#8217;t have much heart
+to go on with your theme after you have read my
+words; but, never mind, dear, it will be good practice
+for you, and you know it <i>was</i> rather silly to go
+in for a prize which I intended to compete for.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I read your essay, please, Dora?&#8221; asked
+Hester. &#8220;I am very much interested in my own
+study, and, whether I win the prize or not, I shall
+always remember the pleasure I took in writing it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What subject did you select, dear?&#8221; inquired
+Miss Russell.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am attempting a little sketch of Marie
+Antoinette.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, hackneyed, my dear girl&mdash;terribly hackneyed;
+but, of course, I don&#8217;t mean to discourage
+you. <i>Now I</i>&mdash;I draw a life-picture, and I call it
+&#8216;The River.&#8217; See how it begins&mdash;why, I declare I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+know the words by heart, &#8216;<i>As our eyes rest on this
+clear and limpid stream, as we see the sun sparkle</i>&mdash;&mdash;&#8217; My
+dear Hester, you shall read me my essay
+aloud. I shall like to hear my own words from
+your lips, and you have really a pretty accent,
+dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester folded back the brown paper cover, and
+wanting to have her task over began to read hastily.
+But, as her eyes rested on the first lines, she turned
+to her companion, and said:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you not tell me that your essay was called
+&#8216;The River&#8217;?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear; the full title is &#8216;The Windings of a
+Noble River.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s very odd,&#8221; replied Hester. &#8220;What I see
+here is &#8216;The Meanderings of a Muddy Stream.&#8217; &#8216;<i>As
+our dull orbs rest on this turbid water on which
+the sun cannot possibly shine.</i>&#8217; Why, Dora, this cannot
+be your essay, and yet, surely, it is your handwriting.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Dora, with her face suddenly flushing a vivid
+crimson, snatched the manuscript from Hester&#8217;s
+hand, and looked over it eagerly. Alas! there was
+no doubt. The title of this essay was &#8220;The Meanderings
+of a Muddy Stream,&#8221; and the words which
+immediately followed were a smart and ridiculous
+parody on her own high flown sentences. The resemblance
+to her handwriting was perfect. The
+brown paper cover, neatly sewn on to protect the
+white manuscript, was undoubtedly her cover; the
+very paper on which the words were written seemed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+in all particulars the same. Dora turned the sheets
+eagerly, and here for the first time she saw a difference.
+Only four or five pages of the nonsense
+essay had been attempted, and the night before,
+when finishing her toil, she had proudly numbered
+her tenth page. She looked through the whole
+thing, turning leaf after leaf, while her cheeks were
+crimson, and her hands trembled. In the first moment
+of horrible humiliation and dismay she literally
+could not speak.
+</p>
+<p>At last, springing to her feet, and confronting
+the astonished and almost frightened Hester, she
+found her voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hester, you must help me in this. The most
+dreadful, the most atrocious fraud has been committed.
+Some one has been base enough, audacious
+enough, wicked enough, to go to my desk privately,
+and take away my real essay&mdash;my work over which
+I have labored and toiled. The expressions of my&mdash;my&mdash;yes,
+I will say it&mdash;my genius, have been ruthlessly
+burned, or otherwise made away with, and
+<i>this</i> thing has been put in their place. Hester,
+why don&#8217;t you speak&mdash;why do you stare at me like
+this?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am puzzled by the writing,&#8221; said Hester; &#8220;the
+writing is yours.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The writing is mine!&mdash;oh, you wicked girl!
+The writing is an imitation of mine&mdash;a feeble and
+poor imitation. I thought, Hester, that by this time
+you knew your friend&#8217;s handwriting. I thought
+that one in whom I have confided&mdash;one whom I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+have stooped to notice because, I fancied we had a
+community of soul, would not be so ridiculous and
+so silly as to mistake this writing for mine. Look
+again, please, Hester Thornton, and tell me if I am
+ever so vulgar as to cross my <i>t&#8217;s</i>. You know I
+<i>always</i> loop them; and do I make a capital B in
+this fashion? And do I indulge in flourishes? I
+grant you that the general effect to a casual observer
+would be something the same, but you, Hester&mdash;I
+thought you knew me better.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Hester, examining the false essay, had to
+confess that the crossed <i>t&#8217;s</i> and the flourishes were
+unlike Miss Russell&#8217;s calligraphy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a forgery, most cleverly done,&#8221; said Dora.
+&#8220;There is such a thing, Hester, as being wickedly
+clever. This spiteful, cruel attempt to injure another
+can have but proceeded from one very low
+order of mind. Hester, there has been plenty of
+favoritism in this school, but do you suppose I shall
+allow such a thing as this to pass over unsearched
+into? If necessary, I shall ask my father to interfere.
+This is a slight&mdash;an outrage; but the whole
+mystery shall at last be cleared up. Miss Good and
+Miss Danesbury shall be informed at once, and the
+very instant Mrs. Willis returns she shall be told
+what a serpent she has been nursing in this false,
+wicked girl, Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop, Dora,&#8221; said Hester suddenly. She sprang
+to her feet, clasping her hands, and her color varied
+rapidly from white to red. A sudden light poured
+in upon her, and she was about to speak when something&mdash;quite
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+a small, trivial thing&mdash;occurred. She
+only saw little Nan in the distance flying swiftly,
+with outstretched arms, to meet a girl, whose knees
+she clasped in baby ecstasy. The girl stooped down
+and kissed the little face, and the round arms were
+flung around her neck. The next instant Annie
+Forest continued her walk alone, and Nan, looking
+wistfully back after her, went in another direction
+with her nurse. The whole scene took but a
+moment to enact, but as she watched, Hester&#8217;s face
+grew hard and white. She sat down again, with
+her lips firmly pressed together.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Hester?&#8221; exclaimed Dora. &#8220;What
+were you going to say? You surely know nothing
+about this?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Dora, I am not the guilty person. I was
+only going to remark that you cannot be <i>sure</i> it is
+Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, so you are going to take that horrid girl&#8217;s
+part now? I wonder at you! She all but killed
+your little sister, and then stole her love away from
+you. Did you see the little thing now, how she
+flew to her? Why, she never kisses you like that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know&mdash;I know,&#8221; said Hester, and she turned
+away her face with a groan, and leaned forward
+against the rustic bench, pressing her hot forehead
+down on her hands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have your triumph, Hester, when Miss
+Forest is publicly expelled,&#8221; said Dora, tapping her
+lightly on the shoulder, and then, taking up the
+forged essay, she went slowly out of the garden.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXI_GOOD_AND_BAD_ANGELS' id='CHAPTER_XXXI_GOOD_AND_BAD_ANGELS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+<h3>GOOD AND BAD ANGELS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hester stayed behind in the shady little arbor, and
+then, on that soft spring day, while the birds sang
+overhead, and the warm light breezes came in and
+fanned her hot cheeks, good angels and bad drew
+near to fight for a victory. Which would conquer?
+Hester had many faults, but hitherto she had been
+honorable and truthful; her sins had been those of
+pride and jealousy, but she had never told a falsehood
+in her life. She knew perfectly&mdash;she trembled
+as the full knowledge overpowered her&mdash;that she
+had it in her power to exonerate Annie. She could
+not in the least imagine how stupid Susan Drummond
+could contrive and carry out such a clever
+and deep-laid plot; but she knew also that if she
+related what she had seen with her own eyes the
+night before, she would probably give such a clue to
+the apparent mystery that the truth would come to
+light.
+</p>
+<p>If Annie was cleared from this accusation, doubtless
+the old story of her supposed guilt with regard
+to Mrs. Willis&#8217; caricature would also be read with
+its right key. Hester was a clever and sharp girl;
+and the fact of seeing Susan Drummond in the
+school-room in the dead of night opened her eyes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span>
+also to one or two other apparent little mysteries.
+While Susan was her own room-mate she had often
+given a passing wonder to the fact of her extraordinary
+desire to overcome her sleepiness, and had
+laughed over the expedients Susan had used to wake
+at all moments.
+</p>
+<p>These things, at the time, had scarcely given her
+a moment&#8217;s serious reflection; but now she pondered
+them carefully, and became more and more certain,
+that, for some inexplicable and unfathomable reason
+sleepy, and apparently innocent, Susan Drummond
+wished to sow the seeds of mischief and discord in
+the school. Hester was sure that if she chose to
+speak now she could clear poor Annie, and restore
+her to her lost place in Mrs. Willis&#8217; favor.
+</p>
+<p>Should she do so? ah! should she? Her lips
+trembled, her color came and went as the angels,
+good and bad, fought hard for victory within her.
+How she had longed to revenge herself on Annie!
+How cordially she had hated her! Now was the
+moment of her revenge. She had but to remain
+silent now, and to let matters take their course; she
+had but to hold her tongue about the little incident
+of last night, and, without any doubt, circumstantial
+evidence would point at Annie Forest, and she
+would be expelled from the school. Mrs. Willis
+must condemn her now. Mr. Everard must pronounce
+her guilty now. She would go, and when
+the coast was again clear the love which she had
+taken from Hester&mdash;the precious love of Hester&#8217;s
+only little sister&mdash;would return.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You will be miserable; you will be miserable,&#8221;
+whispered the good angels sorrowfully in her ear;
+but she did not listen to them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I said I would revenge myself, and this is my
+opportunity,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;Silence&mdash;just simply
+silence&mdash;will be my revenge.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then the good angels went sorrowfully back to
+their Father in heaven, and the wicked angels rejoiced.
+Hester had fallen very low.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXII_FRESH_SUSPICIONS' id='CHAPTER_XXXII_FRESH_SUSPICIONS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+<h3>FRESH SUSPICIONS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Willis was not at home many hours before
+Dora Russell begged for an interview with her.
+Annie had not as yet heard anything of the changed
+essay; for Dora had resolved to keep the thing a
+secret until Mrs. Willis herself took the matter in
+hand.
+</p>
+<p>Annie was feeling not a little anxious and depressed.
+She was sorry now that she had led the
+girls that wild escapade through the wood. Phyllis
+and Nora were both suffering from heavy colds in
+consequence, and Susan Drummond was looking more
+pasty about her complexion, and was more dismally
+sleepy than usual. Annie was going through her
+usual season of intense remorse after one of her wild
+pranks. No one repented with more apparent fervor
+than she did, and yet no one so easily succumbed to
+the next temptation. Had Annie been alone in the
+matter she would have gone straight to Mrs. Willis
+and confessed all; but she could not do this without
+implicating her companions, who would have
+screamed with horror at the very suggestion.
+</p>
+<p>All the girls were more or less depressed by the
+knowledge that the gypsy woman, Mother Rachel,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+shared their secret; and they often whispered together
+as to the chances of her betraying them. Old
+Betty they could trust; for Betty, the cake-woman,
+had been an arch-conspirator with the naughty girls
+of Lavender House from time immemorial. Betty
+had always managed to provide their stolen suppers
+for them, and had been most accommodating in the
+matter of pay. Yes, with Betty they felt they were
+safe; but Mother Rachel was a different person.
+She might like to be paid a few more sixpences for
+her silence; she might hover about the grounds;
+she might be noticed. At any moment she might
+boldly demand an interview with Mrs. Willis.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m awfully afraid of Mother Rachel,&#8221; Phyllis
+moaned, as she shivered under the influence of her
+bad cold.
+</p>
+<p>Nora said &#8220;I should faint if I saw her again, I
+know I should;&#8221; while the other girls always went
+out provided with stray sixpences, in case the gypsy
+mother should start up from some unexpected quarter
+and demand blackmail.
+</p>
+<p>On the day of Mrs. Willis&#8217; return, Annie was
+pacing up and down the shady walk, and indulging
+in some rather melancholy and regretful thoughts,
+when Susan Drummond and Mary Morris rushed up
+to her, white with terror.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s down there by the copse, and she&#8217;s beckoning
+to us! Oh, do come with us&mdash;do, darling, dear
+Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no use in it,&#8221; replied Annie; &#8220;Mother
+Rachel wants money, and I am not going to give
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
+her any. Don&#8217;t be afraid of her, girls, and don&#8217;t
+give her money. After all, why should she tell on
+us? she would gain nothing by doing so.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, she would, Annie&mdash;she would, Annie,&#8221;
+said Mary Morris, beginning to sob; &#8220;oh, do come
+with us, do! We must pacify her, we really must.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t come now,&#8221; said Annie; &#8220;hark! some
+one is calling me. Yes, Miss Danesbury&mdash;what is
+it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Willis wishes to see you at once, Annie, in
+her private sitting-room,&#8221; replied Miss Danesbury;
+and Annie, wondering not a little, but quite unsuspicious,
+ran off.
+</p>
+<p>The fact, however, of her having deliberately disobeyed
+Mrs. Willis, and done something which she
+knew would greatly pain her, brought a shade of
+embarrassment to her usually candid face. She had
+also to confess to herself that she did not feel quite
+so comfortable about Mother Rachel as she had
+given Mary Morris and Susan Drummond to understand.
+Her steps lagged more and more as she
+approached the house, and she wished, oh, how
+longingly! oh, how regretfully! that she had not
+been naughty and wild and disobedient in her beloved
+teacher&#8217;s absence.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But where is the use of regretting what is
+done?&#8221; she said, half aloud. &#8220;I know I can never
+be good&mdash;never, never!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She pushed aside the heavy velvet curtains which
+shaded the door of the private sitting-room, and
+went in, to find Mrs. Willis seated by her desk, very
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span>
+pale and tired and unhappy looking, while Dora
+Russell, with crimson spots on her cheeks and a very
+angry glitter in her eyes, stood by the mantel-piece.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Annie dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis in her
+usual gentle and affectionate tone.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s first wild impulse was to rush to her
+governess&#8217; side, to fling her arms round her neck,
+and, as a child would confess to her mother, to tell
+her all that story of the walk through the wood, and
+the stolen picnic in the fairies&#8217; field. Three things,
+however, restrained her&mdash;she must not relieve her
+own troubles at the expense of betraying others;
+she could not, even if she were willing, say a word
+in the presence of this cold and angry-looking Dora;
+in the third place, Mrs. Willis looked very tired and
+very sad. Not for worlds would she add to her
+troubles at this instant. She came into the room,
+however, with a slight hesitation of manner and a
+clouded brow, which caused Mrs. Willis to watch
+her with anxiety and Dora with triumph.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, Annie,&#8221; repeated the governess. &#8220;I
+want to speak to you. Something very dishonorable
+and disgraceful has been done in my absence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s face suddenly became as white as a sheet.
+Could the gypsy mother have already betrayed them
+all?
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis, noticing her too evident confusion,
+continued in a voice which, in spite of herself, became
+stern and severe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall expect the truth at any cost, my dear.
+Look at this manuscript-book. Do you know anything
+of the handwriting?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, it is yours, of course, Dora,&#8221; said Annie,
+who was now absolutely bewildered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is <i>not</i> mine,&#8221; began Dora, but Mrs. Willis
+held up her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Allow me to speak, Miss Russell. I can best
+explain matters. Annie, during my absence some
+one has been guilty of a very base and wicked act.
+One of the girls in this school has gone secretly to
+Dora Russell&#8217;s desk and taken away ten pages of an
+essay which she had called &#8216;The River,&#8217; and which
+she was preparing for the prize competition next
+month. Instead of Dora&#8217;s essay this that you now
+see was put in its place. Examine it, my dear.
+Can you tell me anything about it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie took the manuscript-book and turned the
+leaves.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it meant for a parody?&#8221; she asked, after a
+pause; &#8220;it sounds ridiculous. No, Mrs. Willis, I
+know nothing whatever about it; some one has
+imitated Dora&#8217;s handwriting. I cannot imagine
+who is the culprit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She threw the manuscript-book with a certain
+easy carelessness on the table by her side, and
+glanced up with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes at
+Dora.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose it is meant for a clever parody,&#8221; she
+repeated; &#8220;at least it is amusing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her manner displeased Mrs. Willis, and very
+nearly maddened poor Dora.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have not sent for you, Annie,&#8221; said her
+teacher, &#8220;to ask you your opinion of the parody,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+but to try and get you to throw light on the subject.
+We must find out, and at once, who has been
+so wicked as to deliberately injure another girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But why have you sent for <i>me</i>?&#8221; asked Annie,
+drawing herself up, and speaking with a little shade
+of haughtiness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because,&#8221; said Dora Russell, who could no
+longer contain her outraged feelings, &#8220;because you
+alone can throw light on it&mdash;because you alone in
+the school are base enough to do anything so mean&mdash;because
+you alone can caricature.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that is it,&#8221; said Annie; &#8220;you suspect me,
+then. Do <i>you</i> suspect me, Mrs. Willis?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear&mdash;what can I say?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing, if you do. In this school my word
+has long gone for nothing. I am a naughty, headstrong,
+willful girl, but in this matter I am perfectly
+innocent. I never saw that essay before: I never
+in all my life went to Dora Russell&#8217;s desk. I am
+headstrong and wild, but I don&#8217;t do spiteful things.
+I have no object in injuring Dora; she is nothing to
+me&mdash;nothing. She is trying for the essay prize,
+but she has no chance of winning it. Why should
+I trouble myself to injure her? Why should I even
+take the pains to parody her words and copy her
+handwriting? Mrs. Willis, you need not believe
+me&mdash;I see you do not believe me&mdash;but I am quite
+innocent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Annie burst into sudden tears, and ran out
+of the room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIII_UNTRUSTWORTHY' id='CHAPTER_XXXIII_UNTRUSTWORTHY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+<h3>UNTRUSTWORTHY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Dora Russell had declared, in Hester&#8217;s presence,
+and with intense energy in her manner, that the
+author of the insult to which she had been exposed
+should be publicly punished and, if possible, expelled.
+On the evening of her interview with the
+head teacher, she had so far forgotten herself as to
+reiterate this desire with extreme vehemence. She
+had boldly declared her firm conviction of Annie&#8217;s
+guilt, and had broadly hinted at Mrs. Willis&#8217; favoritism
+toward her. The great dignity, however, of
+her teacher&#8217;s manner, and the half-sorrowful, half-indignant
+look she bestowed on the excited girl,
+calmed her down after a time. Mrs. Willis felt full
+sympathy for Dora, and could well understand how
+trying and aggravating this practical joke must be
+to so proud a girl; but although her faith was undoubtedly
+shaken in Annie, she would not allow this
+sentiment to appear.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will do all I can for you, Dora,&#8221; she said,
+when the weeping Annie had left the room; &#8220;I
+will do everything in my power to find out who
+has injured you. Annie has absolutely denied the
+accusation you bring against her, and unless her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
+guilt can be proved it is but right to believe her
+innocent. There are many other girls in Lavender
+House, and to-morrow morning I will sift this unpleasant
+affair to the very bottom. Go, now, my
+dear, and if you have sufficient self-command and
+self-control, try to have courage to write your essay
+over again. I have no doubt that your second rendering
+of your subject will be more attractive than
+the first. Beginners cannot too often re-write their
+themes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Dora gave her head a proud little toss, but she
+was sufficiently in awe of Mrs. Willis to keep back
+any retort, and she went out of the room feeling
+unsatisfied and wretched, and inclined for a sympathizing
+chat with her little friend Hester Thornton.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however when she reached her, seemed
+not at all disposed to talk to any one.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had it all out with Mrs. Willis, and there
+is no doubt she will be exposed to-morrow morning,&#8221;
+said Dora half aloud.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, whose head was bent over her French
+history, looked up with an annoyed expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who will be exposed?&#8221; she asked, in a petulant
+voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how stupid you are growing, Hester Thornton!&#8221;
+exclaimed Dora; &#8220;why, that horrid Annie
+Forest, of course&mdash;but really I have no patience to
+talk to you; you have lost all your spirit. I was
+very foolish to demean myself by taking so much
+notice of one of the little girls.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span></p>
+<p>Dora sailed down the play-room to her own drawing-room,
+fully expecting Hester to rise and rush
+after her; but to her surprise Hester did not stir,
+but sat with her head bent over her book, and her
+cheeks slightly flushed.
+</p>
+<p>The next morning Mrs. Willis kept her word to
+Dora, and made the very strictest inquiries with
+regard to the practical joke to which Dora had been
+subjected. She first of all fully explained what had
+taken place in the presence of the whole school, and
+then each girl was called up in rotation, and asked
+two questions: first, had she done this mischievous
+thing herself? second, could she throw any light on
+the subject.
+</p>
+<p>One by one each girl appeared before her teacher,
+replied in the negative to both queries, and returned
+to her seat.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, girls,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;you have each
+of you denied this charge. Such a thing as has
+happened to Dora could not have been done without
+hands. The teachers in the school are above
+suspicion; the servants are none of them clever
+enough to perform this base trick. I suspect one
+of you, and I am quite determined to get at the
+truth. During the whole of this half-year there
+has been a spirit of unhappiness, of mischief, and
+of suspicion in our midst. Under these circumstances
+love cannot thrive; under these circumstances
+the true and ennobling sense of brotherly
+kindness, and all those feelings which real religion
+prompt must languish. I tell you all now plainly
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+that I will not have this thing in Lavender House.
+It is simply disgraceful for one girl to play such
+tricks on her fellows. This is not the first time
+nor the second time that the school desks have been
+tampered with. I will find out&mdash;I am determined
+to find out, who this dishonest person is; and as she
+has not chosen to confess to me, as she has preferred
+falsehood to truth, I will visit her, when I do discover
+her, with my very gravest displeasure. In
+this school I have always endeavored to inculcate
+the true principles of honor and of trust. I have
+laid down certain broad rules, and expect them to
+be obeyed; but I have never hampered you with
+petty and humiliating restraints. I have given you
+a certain freedom, which I believed to be for your
+best good, and I have never suspected one of you
+until you have given me due cause.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, however, I tell you plainly that I alter all
+my tactics. One girl sitting in this room is guilty.
+For her sake I shall treat you all as guilty, and
+punish you accordingly. For the remainder of this
+term, or until the hour when the guilty girl chooses
+to release her companions, you are all, with the
+exception of the little children and Miss Russell,
+who can scarcely have played this trick on herself,
+under punishment. I withdraw your half-holidays,
+I take from you the use of the south parlor for your
+acting, and every drawing-room in the play-room is
+confiscated. But this is not all that I do. In taking
+from you my trust, I must treat you as untrustworthy&mdash;you
+will no longer enjoy the liberty you
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+used to delight in&mdash;everywhere you will be watched.
+A teacher will sit in your play-room with you, a
+teacher will accompany you into the grounds, and I
+tell you plainly, girls, that chance words and
+phrases which drop from your lips shall be taken
+up, and used, if necessary, to the elucidation of this
+disgraceful mystery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Mrs. Willis left the room, and the teachers
+desired the several girls in their classes to attend to
+their morning studies.
+</p>
+<p>Nothing could exceed the dismay which her
+words had produced. The innocent girls were
+fairly stunned, and from that hour for many a day
+all sunshine and happiness seemed really to have
+left Lavender House.
+</p>
+<p>The two, however, who felt the change most
+acutely, and on whose altered faces their companions
+began to fix suspicious eyes, were Annie Forest
+and Hester Thornton. Hester was burdened with
+an intolerable sense of the shameful falsehood she
+had told; Annie, guilty in another matter, succumbed
+at last utterly to a sense of misery and
+injustice. Her orphaned and lonely position for the
+first time began to tell on her; she ate little and
+slept little, her face grew very pale and thin, and
+her health really suffered.
+</p>
+<p>All the routine of happy life at Lavender House
+was changed. In the large play-room the drawing-rooms
+were unused; there were no pleasant little
+knots of girls whispering happily and confidentially
+together, for whenever two or three girls sat down
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+to have a chat they found that one or another of
+the teachers was within hearing. The acting for
+the coming play progressed so languidly that no one
+expected it would really take place, and the one
+relief and relaxation to the unhappy girls lay in the
+fact that the holidays were not far off, and that in
+the meantime they might work hard for the
+prizes.
+</p>
+<p>The days passed in a truly melancholy fashion,
+and, perhaps, for the first time the girls fully appreciated
+the old privileges of freedom and trust which
+were now forfeited. There was a feeble little attempt
+at a joke and a laugh in the school at Dora&#8217;s
+expense. The most frivolous of the girls whispered
+of her as she passed as &#8220;the muddy stream;&#8221; but no
+one took up the fun with avidity&mdash;the shadow of
+somebody&#8217;s sin had fallen too heavily upon all the
+bright young lives.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIV_BETTY_FALLS_ILL_AT_AN_AWKWARD_TIME' id='CHAPTER_XXXIV_BETTY_FALLS_ILL_AT_AN_AWKWARD_TIME'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+<h3>BETTY FALLS ILL AT AN AWKWARD TIME.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The eight girls who had gone out on their midnight
+picnic were much startled one day by an unpleasant
+discovery. Betty had never come for her
+basket. Susan Drummond, who had a good deal of
+curiosity, and always poked her nose into unexpected
+corners, had been walking with a Miss Allison
+in that part of the grounds where the laurel-bush
+stood. She had caught a peep of the white handle
+of the basket, and had instantly turned her companion&#8217;s
+attention to something else. Miss Allison had
+not observed Susan&#8217;s start of dismay; but Susan had
+taken the first opportunity of getting rid of her, and
+had run off in search of one of the girls who had
+shared in the picnic. She came across Annie Forest,
+who was walking, as usual, by herself, with her head
+slightly bent, and her curling hair in sad confusion.
+Susan whispered the direful intelligence that old
+Betty had forsaken them, and that the basket, with
+its ginger-beer bottles and its stained table-cloth,
+might be discovered at any moment.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s pale face flushed slightly at Susan&#8217;s
+words.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why should we try to conceal the thing?&#8221; she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
+said, speaking with sudden energy, and a look of
+hope and animation coming back to her face. &#8220;Susy,
+let&#8217;s go, all of us, and tell the miserable truth to
+Mrs. Willis; it will be much the best way. We did
+not do the other thing, and when we have confessed
+about this, our hearts will be at rest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, we did not do the other thing,&#8221; said Susan,
+a queer, gray color coming over her face; &#8220;but confess
+about this, Annie Forest!&mdash;I think you are
+mad. You dare not tell.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Annie, &#8220;I won&#8217;t, unless you all
+agree to it,&#8221; and then she continued her walk, leaving
+Susan standing on the graveled path with her
+hands clasped together, and a look of most genuine
+alarm and dismay on her usually phlegmatic face.
+</p>
+<p>Susan quickly found Phyllis and Nora, and it was
+only too easy to arouse the fears of these timid
+little people. Their poor little faces became almost
+pallid, and they were not a little startled at the fact
+of Annie Forest, their own arch-conspirator, wishing
+to betray their secret.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said Susan Drummond, &#8220;she&#8217;s not out and
+out shabby; she says she won&#8217;t tell unless we all
+wish it. But what is to become of the basket?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, come, young ladies; no whispering, if
+you please,&#8221; said Miss Good, who came up at this
+moment. &#8220;Susan, you are looking pale and cold,
+walk up and down that path half-a-dozen times, and
+then go into the house. Phyllis and Nora, you can
+come with me as far as the lodge. I want to take a
+message from Mrs. Willis to Mary Martin about the
+fowl for to-morrow&#8217;s dinner.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span></p>
+<p>Phyllis and Nora, with dismayed faces, walked
+solemnly away with the English teacher, and Susan
+was left to her solitary meditations.
+</p>
+<p>Things had come to such a pass that her slow wits
+were brought into play, and she neither felt sleepy,
+nor did she indulge in her usual habit of eating
+lollipops.
+</p>
+<p>That basket might be discovered any day, and
+then&mdash;then disgrace was imminent. Susan could
+not make out what had become of old Betty; never
+before had she so utterly failed them.
+</p>
+<p>Betty lived in a little cottage about half a mile
+from Lavender House. She was a sturdy, apple-cheeked,
+little old woman, and had for many a day
+added to her income&mdash;indeed, almost supported herself&mdash;by
+means of the girls at Lavender House. The
+large cherry-trees in her little garden bore their rich
+crop of fruit year after year for Mrs. Willis&#8217; girls,
+and every day at an early hour Betty would tramp
+into Sefton and return with a temptingly-laden
+basket of the most approved cakes and tarts. There
+was a certain paling at one end of the grounds to
+which Betty used to come. Here on the grass she
+would sit contentedly, with the contents of her
+baskets arranged in the most tempting order before
+her, and to this seductive spot she knew well that
+those little misses who loved goodies, cakes and tartlets
+would be sure to find their way. Betty charged
+high for her wares; but, as she was always obliging
+in the matter of credit, the thoughtless girls cared
+very little that they paid double the shop prices for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span>
+Betty&#8217;s cakes. The best girls in the school, certainly,
+never went to Betty; but Annie Forest,
+Susan Drummond, and several others had regular
+accounts with her, and few days passed that their
+young faces would not peep over the paling and
+their voices ask:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have you got to tempt me with to-day,
+Betty?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was, however, in the matter of stolen picnics, of
+grand feasts in the old attic, etc., etc., that Betty
+was truly great. No one so clever as she in concealing
+a basket of delicious eatables, no one knew
+better what schoolgirls liked. She undoubtedly
+charged her own prices, but what she gave was of
+the best, and Betty was truly in her element when
+she had an order from the young ladies of Lavender
+House for a grand secret feast.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall have it, my pretties&mdash;you shall have
+it,&#8221; she would say, wrinkling up her bright blue
+eyes, and smiling broadly. &#8220;You leave it to
+Betty, my little loves; you leave it to Betty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>On the occasion of the picnic to the fairies&#8217; field
+Betty had, indeed, surpassed herself in the delicious
+eatables she had provided; all had gone smoothly,
+the basket had been placed in a secure hiding-place
+under the thick laurel. It was to be fetched away
+by Betty herself at an early hour on the following
+morning.
+</p>
+<p>No wonder Susan was perplexed as she paced
+about and pretended to warm herself. It was a June
+evening, but the weather was still a little cold. Susan
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span>
+remembered now that Betty had not come to her
+favorite station at the stile for several days. Was it
+possible that the old woman was ill? As this idea
+occurred to her, Susan became more alarmed. She
+knew that there was very little chance of the basket
+remaining long in concealment. Rover might any
+day remember his pleasant picnic with affection, and
+drag the white basket from under the laurel-bush.
+Michael the gardener would be certain to see it when
+next he cleaned up the back avenue. Oh, it was
+more than dangerous to leave it there, and yet
+Susan knew of no better hiding-place. A sudden
+idea came to her; she pulled out her pretty little
+watch, and saw that she need not return to the
+house for another half-hour. &#8220;Suppose she ran as
+fast as possible to Betty&#8217;s little cottage and begged
+of the old woman to come by the first light in the
+morning and fetch away the basket?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The moment Susan conceived this idea she resolved
+to put it into execution. She looked around
+her hastily: no teacher was in sight, Miss Good
+was away at the lodge, Miss Danesbury was playing
+with the little children. Mademoiselle, she
+knew, had gone indoors with a bad headache. She
+left the broad walk where she had been desired to
+stay, and plunging into the shrubbery, soon reached
+Betty&#8217;s paling. In a moment she had climbed the
+bars, had jumped lightly into the field, and was
+running as fast as possible in the direction of Betty&#8217;s
+cottage. She reached the high road, and started
+and trembled violently as a carriage with some
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+ladies and gentlemen passed her. She thought she
+recognized the faces of the two little Misses Bruce,
+but did not dare to look at them, and hurried panting
+along the road, and hoping she might be mistaken.
+</p>
+<p>In less than a quarter of an hour she had reached
+Betty&#8217;s little cottage, and was standing trying to
+recover her breath by the shut door. The place
+had a deserted look, and several overripe cherries
+had fallen from the trees and were lying neglected
+on the ground. Susan knocked impatiently. There
+was no discernible answer. She had no time to
+wait, she lifted the latch, which yielded to her
+pressure, and went in.
+</p>
+<p>Poor old Betty, crippled, and in severe pain with
+rheumatism, was lying on her little bed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, dear&mdash;and is that you, my pretty missy?&#8221;
+she asked, as Susan, hot and tired, came up to her
+side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Betty, are you ill?&#8221; asked Miss Drummond
+&#8220;I came to tell you you have forgotten the basket.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my dear, no&mdash;not forgot. By no means
+that, lovey; but I has been took with the rheumatism
+this past week, and can&#8217;t move hand or foot. I
+was wondering how you&#8217;d do without your cakes
+and tartlets, dear, and to think of them cherries lying
+there good for nothing on the ground is enough
+to break one&#8217;s &#8217;eart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So it is,&#8221; said Susan, giving an appreciative
+glance toward the open door. &#8220;They are beautiful
+cherries, and full of juice, I am sure. I&#8217;ll take a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
+few, Betty, as I am going out, and pay you for them
+another day. But what I have come about now is
+the basket. You must get the basket away, however
+ill you are. If the basket is discovered we are
+all lost, and then good-by to your gains.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, missy, dear, if I could crawl on my hands
+and knees I&#8217;d go and fetch it, rather than you
+should be worried; but I can&#8217;t set foot to the ground
+at all. The doctor says as &#8217;tis somethink like rheumatic
+fever as I has.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, oh, dear,&#8221; said Susan, not wasting any
+of her precious moments in pitying the poor suffering
+old woman. &#8220;What <i>is</i> to be done? I tell you,
+Betty, if that basket is found we are all lost.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the laurel is very thick, lovey: it ain&#8217;t likely
+to be found&mdash;it ain&#8217;t, indeed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you it <i>is</i> likely to be found, you tiresome
+old woman, and you really must go for it or send
+for it. You really must.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Old Betty began to ponder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s Moses,&#8221; she said, after a pause of anxious
+thought; &#8220;he&#8217;s a &#8217;cute little chap, and he might
+go. He lives in the fourth cottage along the lane.
+Moses is his name&mdash;Moses Moore. I&#8217;d give him a
+pint of cherries for the job. If you wouldn&#8217;t mind
+sending Moses to me, Miss Susan, why, I&#8217;ll do my
+best; only it seems a pity to let anybody into your
+secrets, young ladies, but old Betty herself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a pity,&#8221; said Susan, &#8220;but, under the circumstances,
+it can&#8217;t be helped. What cottage did you
+say this Moses lived in?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;The fourth from here, down the lane, lovey&mdash;Moses
+is the lad&#8217;s name; he&#8217;s a freckled boy, with
+a cast in one eye. You send him up to me, dearie;
+but don&#8217;t mention the cherries, or he&#8217;ll be after
+stealing them. He&#8217;s a sad rogue, is Moses; but I
+think I can tempt him with the cherries.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan did not wait to bid poor old Betty &#8220;good-bye,&#8221;
+but ran out of the cottage, shutting the door
+after her, and snatching up two or three ripe cherries
+to eat on her way. She was so far fortunate as
+to find the redoubtable Moses at home, and to convey
+him bodily to old Betty&#8217;s presence. The queer
+boy grinned horribly, and looked as wicked as boy
+could look; but on the subject of cherries he was
+undoubtedly susceptible, and after a good deal of
+haggling and insisting that the pint should be a
+quart, he expressed his willingness to start off at four
+o&#8217;clock on the following morning, and bring away
+the basket from under the laurel-tree.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXV__YOU_ARE_WELCOME_TO_TELL' id='CHAPTER_XXXV__YOU_ARE_WELCOME_TO_TELL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;YOU ARE WELCOME TO TELL.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie continued her walk. The circumstances of
+the last two months had combined to do for her what
+nothing had hitherto effected. When a little child
+she had known hardship and privation, she had passed
+through that experience which is metaphorically
+spoken of as &#8220;going down hill.&#8221; As a baby little
+Annie had been surrounded by comforts and luxuries,
+and her father and mother had lived in a large house,
+and kept a carriage, and Annie had two nurses to
+wait on herself alone. These were in the days before
+she could remember anything. With her first early
+memories came the recollection of a much smaller
+house, of much fewer servants, of her mother often
+in tears, and her father often away. Then there
+was no house at all that the Forests could call their
+own, only rooms of a tolerably cheerful character&mdash;and
+Annie&#8217;s nurse went away, and she took her
+daily walks by her mother&#8217;s side and slept in a little
+cot in her mother&#8217;s room. Then came a very, very
+sad day, when her mother lay cold and still and
+fainting on her bed, and her tall and handsome
+father caught Annie in his arms and pressed her to
+his heart, and told her to be a good child and to keep
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span>
+up her spirits, and, above all things, to take care
+of mother. Then her father had gone away; and
+though Annie expected him back, he did not come,
+and she and her mother went into poorer and shabbier
+lodgings, and her mother began to try her tear-dimmed
+eyes by working at church embroidery, and
+Annie used to notice that she coughed a good deal as
+she worked. Then there was another move, and
+this time Mrs. Forest and her little daughter found
+themselves in one bedroom, and things began to
+grow very gloomy, and food even was scarce.
+At last there was a change. One day a lady
+came into the dingy little room, and all on
+a sudden it seemed as if the sun had come out
+again. This lady brought comforts with her&mdash;toys
+and books for the child, good, brave words of cheer
+for the mother. At last Annie&#8217;s mother died, and
+she went away to Lavender House to live with this
+good friend who had made her mother&#8217;s dying
+hours easy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie, Annie,&#8221; said the dying mother, &#8220;I owe
+everything to Mrs. Willis; we knew each other long
+ago when we were girls, and she has come to me now
+and made everything easy. When I am gone she
+will take care of you. Oh, my child, I cannot repay
+her; but will you try?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, mother,&#8221; said little Annie, gazing full into
+her mother&#8217;s face with her sweet bright eyes, &#8220;I&#8217;ll&mdash;I&#8217;ll
+love her, mother; I&#8217;ll give her lots and lots of
+love.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie had gone to Lavender House, and kept her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+word, for she had almost worshiped the good mistress
+who was so true and kind to her, and who had
+so befriended her mother. Through all the vicissitudes
+of her short existence Annie had, however,
+never lost one precious gift. Hers was an affectionate,
+but also a wonderfully bright, nature. It was
+as impossible for Annie to turn away from laughter
+and merriment as it would be for a flower to keep
+its head determinately turned from the sun. In their
+darkest days Annie had managed to make her
+mother laugh; her little face was a sunbeam, her
+very naughtinesses were of a laughable character.
+</p>
+<p>Her mother died&mdash;her father was still away, but
+Annie retained her brave and cheerful spirit, for she
+gave and received love. Mrs. Willis loved her&mdash;she
+bestowed upon her among all her girls the tenderest
+glances, the most motherly caresses. The teachers
+undoubtedly corrected and even scolded her, but
+they could not help liking her, and even her worst
+scrapes made them smile. Annie&#8217;s companions
+adored her; the little children would do anything
+for their own Annie, and even the servants in the
+school said that there was no young lady in Lavender
+House fit to hold a candle to Miss Forest.
+</p>
+<p>During the last half-year, however, things had
+been different. Suspicion and mistrust began to dog
+the footsteps of the bright young girl; she was no
+longer a universal favorite&mdash;some of the girls even
+openly expressed their dislike of her.
+</p>
+<p>All this Annie could have borne, but for the fact
+that Mrs. Willis joined in the universal suspicion.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+The old glance now never came to her eyes, nor the
+old tone to her voice. For the first time Annie&#8217;s
+spirits utterly flagged; she could not bear this
+universal coldness, this universal chill. She began
+to droop physically as well as mentally.
+</p>
+<p>She was pacing up and down the walk, thinking
+very sadly, wondering vaguely, if her father would
+ever return, and conscious of a feeling of more or
+less indifference to everything and every one, when
+she was suddenly roused from her meditation by
+the patter of small feet and by a very eager little
+exclamation:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me tumming&mdash;me tumming, Annie!&#8221; and then
+Nan raised her charming face and placed her cool
+baby hand in Annie&#8217;s.
+</p>
+<p>There was delicious comfort in the clasp of the
+little hand, and in the look of love and pleasure
+which lit up the small face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me yiding from naughty nurse&mdash;me &#8217;tay with
+you, Annie&mdash;me love &#8217;oo, Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie stooped down, kissed the little one, and
+lifted her into her arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why ky?&#8221; said Nan, who saw with consternation
+two big tears in Annie&#8217;s eyes; &#8220;dere, poor
+ickle Annie&mdash;me love &#8217;oo&mdash;me buy &#8217;oo a new doll.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dearest little darling,&#8221; said Annie in a voice of
+almost passionate pain; then, with that wonderful
+instinct which made her in touch with all little
+children, she cheered up, wiped away her tears, and
+allowed laughter once more to wreathe her lips and
+fill her eyes. &#8220;Come, Nan,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you and I
+will have such a race.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></p>
+<p>She placed the child on her shoulder, clasped the
+little hands securely round her neck, and ran to the
+sound of Nan&#8217;s shouts down the shady walk.
+</p>
+<p>At the farther end Nan suddenly tightened her
+clasp, drew herself up, ceased to laugh, and said
+with some fright in her voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who dat?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie, too, stood still with a sudden start, for the
+gypsy woman, Mother Rachel, was standing directly
+in their path.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go &#8217;way, naughty woman,&#8221; said Nan, shaking
+her small hand imperiously.
+</p>
+<p>The gypsy dropped a low courtesy, and spoke in a
+slightly mocking tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A pretty little dear,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Yes, truly
+now, a pretty little winsome dear; and oh, what
+shoes! and little open-work socks! and I don&#8217;t
+doubt real lace trimming on all her little garments&mdash;I
+don&#8217;t doubt it a bit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go &#8217;way&mdash;me don&#8217;t like &#8217;oo,&#8221; said Nan. &#8220;Let&#8217;s
+wun back&mdash;gee, gee,&#8221; she said, addressing Annie,
+whom she had constituted into a horse for the time
+being.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Nan; in one minute,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;Please,
+Mother Rachel, what are you doing here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only waiting to see you, pretty missie,&#8221; replied
+the tall gypsy. &#8220;You are the dear little lady who
+crossed my hand with silver that night in the wood.
+Eh, but it was a bonny night, with a bonny bright
+moon, and none of the dear little ladies meant any
+harm&mdash;no, no, Mother Rachel knows that.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; said Annie, &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to be
+afraid of you. I have no more silver to give you.
+If you like, you may go up to the house and tell
+what you have seen. I am very unhappy, and
+whether you tell or not can make very little difference
+to me now. Good-night; I am not the least
+afraid of you&mdash;you can do just as you please about
+telling Mrs. Willis.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh, my dear?&#8221; said the gypsy; &#8220;do you think
+I&#8217;d work you any harm&mdash;you, and the seven other
+dear little ladies? No, not for the world, my
+dear&mdash;not for the world. You don&#8217;t know Mother
+Rachel when you think she&#8217;d be that mean.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, don&#8217;t come here again,&#8221; said Annie.
+&#8220;Good-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She turned on her heel, and Nan shouted back:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go way, naughty woman&mdash;Nan don&#8217;t love &#8217;oo,
+&#8217;tall, &#8217;tall.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The gypsy stood still for a moment with a frown
+knitting her brows; then she slowly turned, and,
+creeping on all-fours through the underwood,
+climbed the hedge into the field beyond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; she laughed, after a moment; &#8220;the
+little missy thinks she ain&#8217;t afraid of me; but she
+be. Trust Mother Rachel for knowing that much.
+I make no doubt,&#8221; she added after a pause, &#8220;that
+the little one&#8217;s clothes are trimmed with real lace.
+Well, little Missie Annie Forest, I can see with half
+an eye that you set store by that baby-girl. You
+had better not cross Mother Rachel&#8217;s whims, or she
+can punish you in a way you don&#8217;t think of.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVI_HOW_MOSES_MOORE_KEPT_HIS_APPOINTMENT' id='CHAPTER_XXXVI_HOW_MOSES_MOORE_KEPT_HIS_APPOINTMENT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2>
+<h3>HOW MOSES MOORE KEPT HIS APPOINTMENT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Susan Drummond got back to Lavender House
+without apparent discovery. She was certainly late
+when she took her place in the class-room for her
+next day&#8217;s preparation; but, beyond a very sharp
+reprimand from mademoiselle, no notice was taken
+of this fact. She managed to whisper to Nora and
+Phyllis that the basket would be moved by the first
+dawn the next morning, and the little girls went to
+bed happier in consequence. Nothing ever could
+disturb Susan&#8217;s slumbers, and that night she certainly
+slept without rocking. As she was getting into bed
+she ventured to tell Annie how successfully she had
+man&oelig;uvered; but Annie received her news with the
+most absolute indifference, looking at her for a moment
+with a queer smile, and then saying:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My own wish is that this should be found out.
+As a matter of course, I sha&#8216;n&#8217;t betray you, girls;
+but as things now stand I am anxious that Mrs. Willis
+should know the very worst of me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After a remark which Susan considered so simply
+idiotic, there was, of course, no further conversation
+between the two girls.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span></p>
+<p>Moses Moore had certainly promised Betty to
+rise soon after dawn on the following morning,
+and go to Lavender House to carry off the basket
+from under the laurel-tree. Moses, a remarkably
+indolent lad, had been stimulated by the thought of
+the delicious cherries which would be his as soon
+as he brought the basket to Betty. He had cleverly
+stipulated that a quart&mdash;not a pint&mdash;of cherries
+was to be his reward, and he looked forward
+with considerable pleasure to picking them himself,
+and putting a few extra ones into his mouth on
+the sly.
+</p>
+<p>Moses was not at all the kind of a boy who
+would have scrupled to steal a few cherries; but in
+this particular old Betty, ill as she was, was too
+sharp for him or for any of the other village lads. Her
+bed was drawn up close to her little window, and
+her window looked directly on to the two cherry
+trees. Never, to all appearance, did Betty close her
+eyes. However early the hour might be in which a
+village boy peeped over the wall of her garden,
+he always saw her white night-cap moving, and he
+knew that her bright blue eyes would be on him,
+and he would be proclaimed a thief all over the
+place before many minutes were over.
+</p>
+<p>Moses, therefore, was very glad to secure his
+cherries by fair means, as he could not obtain them
+by foul; and he went to bed and to sleep, determined
+to be off on his errand with the dawn.
+</p>
+<p>A very natural thing, however, happened. Moses,
+unaccustomed to getting up at half-past three in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span>
+morning, never opened his eyes until the church
+clock struck five. Then he started upright, rubbed
+and rubbed at his sleepy orbs, tumbled into his
+clothes, and, softly opening the cottage door, set off
+on his errand.
+</p>
+<p>The fact of his being nearly an hour and a half
+late did not trouble him in the least. In any case,
+he would get to Lavender House before six o&#8217;clock,
+and would have consumed his cherries in less than
+an hour from that date.
+</p>
+<p>Moses sauntered gaily along the roads, whistling
+as he went, and occasionally tossing his battered cap
+in the air. He often lingered on his way, now to
+cut down a particularly tempting switch from the
+hedge, now to hunt for a possible bird&#8217;s nest. It
+was very nearly six o&#8217;clock when he reached the
+back avenue, swung himself over the gate, which
+was locked, and ran softly on the dewy grass in the
+direction of the laurel bush. Old Betty had given
+him most careful instructions, and he was far too
+sharp a lad to forget what was necessary for the
+obtaining of a quart of cherries. He found his tree,
+and lay flat down on the ground in order to pull out
+the basket. His fingers had just clasped the handle
+when there came a sudden interruption&mdash;a rush, a
+growl, and some very sharp teeth had inserted
+themselves into the back of his ragged jacket.
+Poor Moses found himself, to his horror, in the
+clutches of a great mastiff. The creature held him
+tight, and laid one heavy paw on him to prevent
+him rising.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span></p>
+<p>Under these circumstances, Moses thought it quite
+unnecessary to retain any self-control. He shrieked,
+he screamed, he wriggled; his piercing yells filled
+the air, and, fortunately for him, his being two
+hours too late brought assistance to his aid.
+Michael, the gardener, and a strong boy who
+helped him, rushed to the spot, and liberated the
+terrified lad, who, after all, was only frightened, for
+Rover had satisfied himself with tearing his jacket
+to pieces, not himself.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me the b-basket,&#8221; sobbed Moses, &#8220;and let
+me g-g-go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You may certainly go, you little tramp,&#8221; said
+Michael, &#8220;but Jim and me will keep the basket. I
+much misdoubt me if there isn&#8217;t mischief here.
+What&#8217;s the basket put hiding here for, and who
+does it belong to?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Old B-B-Betty,&#8221; gasped forth the agitated
+Moses.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, let old Betty fetch it herself. Mrs. Willis
+will keep it for her,&#8221; said Michael. &#8220;Come along,
+Jim, get to your weeding, do. There, little scamp,
+you had better make yourself scarce.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Moses certainly took his advice, for he scuttled
+off like a hare. Whether he ever got his cherries
+or not, history does not disclose.
+</p>
+<p>Michael, looking gravely at Jim, opened the
+basket, examined its contents, and, shaking his head
+solemnly, carried it into the house.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s been deep work going on, Jim, and my
+missis ought to know,&#8221; said Michael, who was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+an exceedingly strict disciplinarian. Jim, however,
+had a soft corner in his heart for the young
+ladies, and he commenced his weeding with a profound
+sigh.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVII_A_BROKEN_TRUST' id='CHAPTER_XXXVII_A_BROKEN_TRUST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2>
+<h3>A BROKEN TRUST.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The next morning Annie Forest opened her eyes
+with that strange feeling of indifference and want of
+vivacity which come so seldom to youth. She saw
+the sun shining through the closed blinds; she heard
+the birds twittering and singing in the large elm-tree
+which nearly touched the windows; she knew well
+how the world looked at this moment, for often and
+often in her old light-hearted days she had risen before
+the maid came to call her, and, kneeling by the
+deep window-ledge, had looked out at the bright,
+fresh, sparkling day. A new day, with all its hours
+before it, its light vivid but not too glaring, its dress
+all manner of tender shades and harmonious colorings!
+Annie had a poetical nature, and she gloried in these
+glimpses which she got all by herself of the fresh, glad
+world.
+</p>
+<p>To-day, however, she lay still, sorry to know that
+the brief night was at an end, and that the day, with
+its coldness and suspicion, its terrible absence of love
+and harmony, was about to begin.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s nature was very emotional; she was intensely
+sensitive to her surroundings; the grayness of
+her present life was absolute destruction to such a
+nature as hers.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span></p>
+<p>The dressing-bell rang; the maid came in to draw
+up the blinds, and call the girls. Annie rose languidly
+and began to dress herself.
+</p>
+<p>She first finished her toilet, and then approached
+her little bed, and stood by its side for a moment
+hesitating. She did not want to pray, and yet she
+felt impelled to go down on her knees. As she knelt
+with her curls falling about her face, and her hands
+pressed to her eyes, one line of one of her favorite
+poems came flashing with swiftness and power across
+her memory:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The words filled her whole heart with a sudden
+sense of peace and of great longing.
+</p>
+<p>The prayer-bell rang: she rose, and, turning to
+Susan Drummond, said earnestly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Susy, I do wish Mrs. Willis could know
+about our going to the fairy-field; I do so want God
+to forgive me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan stared in her usual dull, uncomprehending
+way; then she flushed a little, and said
+brusquely:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you have quite taken leave of your senses,
+Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie said no more, but at prayers in the chapel
+she was glad to find herself near gentle Cecil Temple,
+and the words kept repeating themselves to her all
+during the morning lessons:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Just before morning school several of the girls
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span>
+started and looked distressed when they found that
+Mrs. Willis lingered in the room. She stood for a
+moment by the English teacher&#8217;s desk, said something
+to her in a low voice, and then, walking slowly to her
+own post at the head of the great school-room, she
+said suddenly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to ask you a question, Miss Drummond.
+Will you please just stand up in your place in
+class and answer me without a moment&#8217;s hesitation.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Phyllis and Nora found themselves turning very
+pale; Mary Price and one or two more of the rebels
+also began to tremble, but Susan looked dogged and
+indifferent enough as she turned her eyes toward
+her teacher.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, madam,&#8221; she said, rising and dropping a
+courtesy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My friends, the Misses Bruce, came to call on
+me yesterday evening, Susan, and told me that they
+saw you running very quickly on the high road in
+the direction of the village. You, of course, know
+that you broke a very distinct rule when you left
+the grounds without leave. Tell me at once where
+you were going.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan hesitated, colored to her dullest red, and
+looked down. Then, because she had no ready
+excuse to offer, she blurted out the truth:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was going to see old Betty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The cake-woman?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What for?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I heard she was ill.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed&mdash;you may sit down, Miss Drummond.
+Miss Good, will you ask Michael to step for a moment
+into the school-room?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Several of the girls now indeed held their breath,
+and more than one heart beat with heavy, frightened
+bumps as a moment later Michael followed Miss
+Good into the room, carrying the redoubtable picnic-basket
+on his arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Michael,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;I wish you to tell
+the young ladies exactly how you found the basket
+this morning. Stand by my side, please, and speak
+loud enough for them to hear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After a moment&#8217;s pause Michael related somewhat
+diffusely and with an occasional break in his
+narrative the scene which had occurred between him
+and Moses that morning.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will do, Michael; you can now go,&#8221; said
+the head mistress.
+</p>
+<p>She waited until the old servant had closed the
+door, and then she turned to her girls:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is not quite a fortnight since I stood where I
+now stand, and asked one girl to be honorable and
+to save her companions. One girl was guilty of sin
+and would not confess, and for her sake all her companions
+are now suffering. I am tired of this sort
+of thing&mdash;I am tired of standing in this place and
+appealing to your honor, which is dead, to your
+truth which is nowhere. Girls, you puzzle me&mdash;you
+half break my heart. In this case more
+than one is guilty. How many of the girls in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span>
+Lavender House are going to tell me a lie this
+morning?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a brief pause; then a slight cry, and a
+girl rose from her seat and walked up the long
+school-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am the most guilty of all,&#8221; said Annie
+Forest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie!&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, in a tone half of pain,
+half of relief, &#8220;have you come to your senses at
+last?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;m so glad to be able to speak the truth,&#8221;
+said Annie. &#8220;Please punish me very, very hard; I
+am the most guilty of all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you do with this basket?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We took it for a picnic&mdash;it was my plan, I led
+the others.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where was your picnic?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the fairies&#8217; field.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! At what time?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At night&mdash;in the middle of the night&mdash;the night
+you went to London.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis put her hand to her brow; her face
+was very white and the girls could see that she
+trembled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I trusted my girls&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; she said; then she broke
+off abruptly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had companions in this wickedness&mdash;name
+them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I had companions; I led them on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Name them, Miss Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For the first time Annie raised her eyes to Mrs.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span>
+Willis&#8217; face; then she turned and looked down the
+long school-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, won&#8217;t they tell themselves?&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>Nothing could be more appealing than her glance.
+It melted the hearts of Phyllis and Nora, who began
+to sob, and to declare brokenly that they had gone
+too, and that they were very, very sorry.
+</p>
+<p>Spurred by their example Mary Price also confessed,
+and one by one all the little conspirators revealed
+the truth, with the exception of Susan, who
+kept her eyes steadily fixed on the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Susan Drummond,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;come
+here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was something in her tone which startled
+every girl in the school. Never had they heard
+this ring in their teacher&#8217;s voice before.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Susan,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis, &#8220;I don&#8217;t ask you if
+you are guilty; I fear, poor miserable girl, that if I
+did you would load your conscience with a fresh
+lie. I don&#8217;t ask you if you are guilty because I
+know you are. The fact of your running without
+leave to see old Betty is circumstantial evidence. I
+judge you by that and pronounce you guilty. Now,
+young ladies, you who have treated me so badly,
+who have betrayed my trust, who have been wanting
+in honor, I must think, I must ask God to teach
+me how to deal with you. In the meantime, you
+cannot associate with your companions. Miss
+Good, will you take each of these eight girls to their
+bedrooms.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Annie was leaving the room she looked full
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span>
+into Mrs. Willis&#8217; face. Strange to say, at this
+moment of her great disgrace the cloud which had
+so long brooded over her was lifted. The sweet
+eyes never looked sweeter. The old Annie, and yet
+a better and a braver Annie than had ever existed
+before, followed her companions out of the school-room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVIII_IS_SHE_STILL_GUILTY' id='CHAPTER_XXXVIII_IS_SHE_STILL_GUILTY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2>
+<h3>IS SHE STILL GUILTY?</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the evening of that day Cecil Temple knocked
+at the door of Mrs. Willis&#8217; private sitting-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, Cecil! is that you?&#8221; said her governess.
+&#8220;I am always glad to see you, dear; but I happen
+to be particularly busy to-night. Have you anything
+in particular to say to me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only wanted to talk about Annie, Mrs. Willis.
+You believe in her at last, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Believe in her at last!&#8221; said the head-mistress in
+a tone of astonishment and deep pain. &#8220;No, Cecil,
+my dear; you ask too much of my faith. I do not
+believe in Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil paused; she hesitated, and seemed half
+afraid to proceed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; she said at last in a slightly timid
+tone, &#8220;you have not seen her since this morning?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I have been particularly busy. Besides,
+the eight culprits are under punishment; part of
+their punishment is that I will not see them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think, Mrs. Willis,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;that
+Annie made rather a brave confession this morning?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I admit, my dear, that Annie spoke in somewhat
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span>
+of her old impulsive way; she blamed herself,
+and did not try to screen her misdemeanors behind
+her companions. In this one particular she
+reminded me of the old Annie who, notwithstanding
+all her faults, I used to trust and love. But as
+to her confession being very brave, my dear Cecil,
+you must remember that she did not <i>confess</i> until
+she was obliged; she knew, and so did all the other
+girls, that I could have got the truth out of old
+Betty had they chosen to keep their lips sealed.
+Then, my dear, consider what she did. On the
+very night that I was away she violated the trust
+I had in her&mdash;she bade me &#8216;good-bye&#8217; with smiles
+and sweet glances, and then she did this in my
+absence. No, Cecil, I fear poor Annie is not what
+we thought her. She has done untold mischief
+during the half-year, and has willfully lied and deceived
+me. I find, on comparing dates, that it was
+on the very night of the girls&#8217; picnic that Dora&#8217;s
+theme was changed. There is no doubt whatever
+that Annie was the guilty person. I did my best
+to believe in her, and to depend on Mr. Everard&#8217;s
+judgment of her character, but I confess I can do so
+no longer. Cecil, dear. I am not surprised that you
+look pale and sad. No, we will not give up this
+poor Annie: we will try to love her even through
+her sin. Ah! poor child, poor child! how much
+I have prayed for her! She was to me as a child
+of my own. Now, dear Cecil, I must ask you to
+leave me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil went slowly out of her governess&#8217; presence,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span>
+and, wandering across the wide stone hall,
+she entered the play-room. It happened to be a wet
+night, and the room was full of girls, who hung
+together in groups and whispered softly. There
+were no loud voices, and, except from the little
+ones, there was no laughter. A great depression
+hung over the place, and few could have recognized
+the happy girls of Lavender House in these sad
+young faces. Cecil walked slowly into the room,
+and presently finding Hester Thornton, she sat
+down by her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t get Mrs. Willis to see it,&#8221; she said very
+sadly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, that we have got our old Annie back
+again; that she did take the girls out to that picnic,
+and was as wild, and reckless, and naughty as
+possible about it; and then, just like the old Annie
+I have always known, the moment the fun was over
+she began to repent, and that she has gone on repenting
+ever since, which has accounted for her
+poor sad little face and white cheeks. Of course
+she longed to tell&mdash;Nora and Phyllis have told me so&mdash;but
+she would not betray them. Now at last
+there is a load off her heart, and, though she is in
+great disgrace and punishment, she is not very unhappy.
+I went to see her an hour ago, and I saw in
+her face that my own darling Annie has returned.
+But what do you think Mrs. Willis does, Hester?
+She is so hurt and disappointed, that she believes
+Annie is guilty of the other thing&mdash;she believes that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span>
+Annie stole Dora&#8217;s theme, and that she caricatured
+her in my book some time ago. She believes it&mdash;she
+is sure of it. Now, do you think, Hester, that
+Annie&#8217;s face would look quite peaceful and happy
+to-night if she had only confessed half her faults&mdash;if
+she had this meanness, this sin, these lies still
+resting on her soul? Oh! I wish Mrs. Willis would
+see her! I wish&mdash;I wish! but I can do nothing.
+You agree with me, don&#8217;t you, Hester? Just put
+yourself in Annie&#8217;s place, and tell me if <i>you</i> would
+feel happy, and if your heart would be at rest, if
+you had only confessed half your sin, and if
+through you all your schoolfellows were under
+disgrace and suspicion? You could not, could you,
+Hester? Why, Hester, how white you are!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are so metaphysical,&#8221; said Hester, rising;
+&#8220;you quite puzzle me. How can I put myself in
+your friend Annie&#8217;s place? I never understood her&mdash;I
+never wanted to. Put myself in her place?&mdash;no,
+certainly that I&#8217;m never likely to. I hope that I
+shall never be in such a predicament.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester walked away, and Cecil sat still in great
+perplexity.
+</p>
+<p>Cecil was a girl with a true sense of religion. The
+love of God guided every action of her simple and
+straightforward life. She was neither beautiful nor
+clever; but no one in the school was more respected
+and honored, no one more sincerely loved. Cecil
+knew what the peace of God meant, and when she
+saw even a shadowy reflection of that peace on Annie&#8217;s
+little face, she was right in believing that she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span>
+must be innocent of the guilt which was attributed
+to her.
+</p>
+<p>The whole school assembled for prayers that
+night in the little chapel, and Mr. Everard, who had
+heard the story of that day&#8217;s confession from Mrs.
+Willis, said a few words appropriate to the occasion
+to the unhappy young girls.
+</p>
+<p>Whatever effect his words had on the others, and
+they were very simple and straightforward, Annie&#8217;s
+face grew quiet and peaceful as she listened to them.
+The old clergyman assured the girls that God was
+waiting to forgive those who truly repented, and
+that the way to repent was to rise up and sin no
+more.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The present fun is not worth the after-pain,&#8221; he
+said, in conclusion. &#8220;It is an old saying that stolen
+waters are sweet, but only at the time; afterward
+only those who drink of them know the full extent
+of their bitterness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This little address from Mr. Everard strengthened
+poor Annie for an ordeal which was immediately
+before her, for Mrs. Willis asked all the school to
+follow her to the play-room, and there she told them
+that she was about to restore to them their lost
+privileges; that circumstances, in her opinion, now
+so strongly pointed the guilt of the stolen essay in
+the direction of one girl, that she could no longer
+ask the school to suffer for her sake.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She still refuses to confess her sin,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Willis, &#8220;but, unless another girl proclaims herself
+guilty, and proves to me beyond doubt that she
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span>
+drew the caricature which was found in Cecil Temple&#8217;s
+book, and that she changed Dora Russell&#8217;s
+essay, and, imitating her hand, put another in its
+place, I proclaim the guilty person to be Annie
+Forest, and on her alone I visit my displeasure.
+You can retire to your rooms, young ladies. Tomorrow
+morning Lavender House resumes its old
+cheerfulness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIX_HESTER_S_HOUR_OF_TRIAL' id='CHAPTER_XXXIX_HESTER_S_HOUR_OF_TRIAL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2>
+<h3>HESTER&#8217;S HOUR OF TRIAL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>However calmly or however peacefully Annie
+slept that night, poor Hester did not close her eyes.
+The white face of the girl she had wronged and
+injured kept rising before her. Why had she so
+deceived Annie? Why from the very first had she
+turned from her, and misjudged her, and misrepresented
+her? Was Annie, indeed, all bad? Hester
+had to own to herself that to-night Annie was better
+than she&mdash;was greater than she. Could she now
+have undone the past, she would not have acted as
+she had done; she would not for the sake of a little
+paltry revenge have defiled her conscience with a
+lie, have told her governess that she could throw no
+light on the circumstance of the stolen essay. This
+was the first lie Hester had ever told; she was naturally
+both straightforward and honorable, but her
+sin of sins, that which made her hard and almost unlovable,
+was an intensely proud and haughty spirit.
+She was very sorry she had told that lie; she was very
+sorry she had yielded to that temptation; but not
+for worlds would she now humble herself to confess&mdash;not
+for worlds would she let the school know of
+her cowardice and shame. No, if there was no other
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span>
+means of clearing Annie except through her confession,
+she must remain with the shadow of this sin
+over her to her dying day.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, however, was now really unhappy, and
+also truly sorry for poor Annie. Could she have
+got off without disgrace or punishment, she would
+have been truly glad to see Annie exonerated. She
+was quite certain that Susan Drummond was at the
+bottom of all the mischief which had been done
+lately at Lavender House. She could not make out
+how stupid Susan was clever enough to caricature
+and to imitate peoples&#8217; hands. Still she was convinced
+that she was the guilty person, and she wondered
+and wondered if she could induce Susan to
+come forward and confess the truth, and so save
+Annie without bringing her, Hester, into any
+trouble.
+</p>
+<p>She resolved to speak to Susan, and without confessing
+that she had been in the school-room on the
+night the essay was changed, to let her know plainly
+that she suspected her.
+</p>
+<p>She became much calmer when she determined to
+carry out this resolve, and toward morning she fell
+asleep.
+</p>
+<p>She was awakened at a very early hour by little
+Nan clambering over the side of her crib, and cuddling
+down cozily in a way she loved by Hester&#8217;s
+side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me so &#8217;nug, &#8217;nug,&#8221; said little Nan. &#8220;Oh, Hetty,
+Hetty, there&#8217;s a wy on the teiling!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester had then to rouse herself, and enter into
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span>
+an animated conversation on the subject of flies generally,
+and in especial she had to talk of that particular
+fly which would perambulate on the ceiling
+over Nan&#8217;s head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me like wies,&#8221; said Nan, &#8220;and me like &#8217;oo,
+Hetty, and me love&mdash;me love Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester kissed her little sister passionately; but
+this last observation, accompanied by the expression
+of almost angelic devotion which filled little Nan&#8217;s
+brown eyes, as she repeated that she liked flies and
+Hetty, but that she loved Annie, had the effect of
+again hardening her heart.
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s hour of trial, however, was at hand, and
+before that day was over she was to experience that
+awful emptiness and desolation which those know
+whom God is punishing.
+</p>
+<p>Lessons went on as usual at Lavender House that
+morning, and, to the surprise of several, Annie was
+seen in her old place in class. She worked with a
+steadiness quite new to her; no longer interlarding
+her hours of study with those indescribable glances
+of fun and mischief, first at one school-companion
+and then at another, which used to worry her
+teachers so much.
+</p>
+<p>There were no merry glances from Annie that
+morning; but she worked steadily and rapidly, and
+went through that trying ordeal, her French verbs,
+with such satisfaction that mademoiselle was on the
+point of praising her, until she remembered that
+Annie was in disgrace.
+</p>
+<p>After school, however, Annie did not join her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span>
+companions in the grounds, but went up to her bedroom,
+where, by Mrs. Willis&#8217; orders, she was to
+remain until the girls went in. She was to take her
+own exercise later in the day.
+</p>
+<p>It was now the tenth of June&mdash;an intensely sultry
+day; a misty heat brooded over everything, and not
+a breath of air stirred the leaves in the trees. The
+girls wandered about languidly, too enervated by
+the heat to care to join in any noisy games. They
+were now restored to their full freedom, and there
+is no doubt they enjoyed the privileges of having
+little confabs, and whispering secrets to each other
+without having Miss Good and Miss Danesbury forever
+at their elbows. They talked of many things&mdash;of
+the near approach of the holidays, of the prize
+day which was now so close at hand, of Annie&#8217;s disgrace,
+and so on.
+</p>
+<p>They wondered, many of them, if Annie would
+ever be brought to confess her sin, and, if not, how
+Mrs. Willis would act toward her. Dora Russell
+said in her most contemptuous tones:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is nothing, after all, but a charity child,
+and Mrs. Willis has supported her for years for
+nothing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and she&#8217;s too clever by half; eh, poor old
+Muddy Stream?&#8221; remarked a saucy little girl.
+&#8220;By the way, Dora, dear, how goes the river
+now? Has it lost itself in the arms of mother ocean
+yet?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Dora turned red and walked away, and her young
+tormentor exclaimed with considerable gusto:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There, I have silenced her for a bit; I do hate
+the way she talks about charity children. Whatever
+her faults, Annie is the sweetest and prettiest
+girl in the school, in my opinion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In the meantime Hester was looking in all directions
+for Susan Drummond. She thought the present
+a very fitting opportunity to open her attack on
+her, and she was the more anxious to bring her to
+reason as a certain look in Annie&#8217;s face&mdash;a pallid
+and very weary look&mdash;had gone to her heart, and
+touched her in spite of herself. Now, even though
+little Nan loved her, Hester would save Annie
+could she do so not at her own expense.
+</p>
+<p>Look, however, as she would, nowhere could she
+find Miss Drummond. She called and called, but
+no sleepy voice replied. Susan, indeed, knew better;
+she had curled herself up in a hammock which
+hung between the boughs of a shady tree, and
+though Hester passed under her very head, she was
+sucking lollipops and going off comfortably into the
+land of dreams, and had no intention of replying.
+Hester wandered down the shady walk, and at its
+farther end she was gratified by the sight of little
+Nan, who, under her nurse&#8217;s charge, was trying to
+string daisies on the grass. Hester sat down by her
+side, and Nan climbed over and made fine havoc of
+her neat print dress, and laughed, and was at her
+merriest and best.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hear say that that naughty Miss Forest has
+done something out-and-out disgraceful,&#8221; whispered
+the nurse.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t!&#8221; said Hester impatiently. &#8220;Why
+should every one throw mud at a girl when she is
+down? If poor Annie is naughty and guilty, she is
+suffering now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie <i>not</i> naughty,&#8221; said little Nan. &#8220;Me love
+my own Annie; me do, me do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you love your own poor old nurse, too?&#8221;
+responded the somewhat jealous nurse.
+</p>
+<p>Hester left the two playing happily together, the
+little one caressing her nurse, and blowing one or
+two kisses after her sister&#8217;s retreating form. Hester
+returned to the house, and went up to her room to
+prepare for dinner. She had washed her hands, and
+was standing before the looking-glass re-plaiting her
+long hair, when Susan Drummond, looking extremely
+wild and excited, and with her eyes almost starting
+out of her head, rushed into the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Hester, Hester!&#8221; she gasped, and she flung
+herself on Hester&#8217;s bed, with her face downward;
+she seemed absolutely deprived for the moment of
+the power of any further speech.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter, Susan?&#8221; inquired Hester
+half impatiently. &#8220;What have you come into my
+room for? Are you going into a fit of hysterics?
+You had better control yourself, for the dinner gong
+will sound directly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan gasped two or three times, made a rush to
+Hester&#8217;s wash-hand stand, and, taking up a glass,
+poured some cold water into it, and gulped it down.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now I can speak,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I ran so fast that
+my breath quite left me. Hester, put on your walking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span>
+things or go without them, just as you please&mdash;only
+go at once if you would save her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Save whom?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your little sister&mdash;little Nan. I&mdash;I saw it all.
+I was in the hammock, and nobody knew I was
+there, and somehow I wasn&#8217;t so sleepy as usual, and
+I heard Nan&#8217;s voice, and I looked over the side of
+the hammock, and she was sitting on the grass picking
+daisies, and her nurse was with her, and presently
+you came up. I heard you calling me, but I
+wasn&#8217;t going to answer. I felt too comfortable.
+You stayed with Nan and her nurse for a little, and
+then went away; and I heard Nan&#8217;s nurse say to
+her: &#8216;Sit here, missy, till I come back to you; I
+am going to fetch another reel of sewing cotton
+from the house. Sit still, missy; I&#8217;ll be back directly.&#8217;
+She went away, and Nan went on picking
+her daisies. All on a sudden I heard Nan give a
+sharp little cry, and I looked over the hammock,
+and there was a tall, dark woman, with such a
+wicked face, and she snatched up Nan in her arms,
+and put a thick shawl over her face, and ran off
+with her. It was all done in an instant. I shouted
+and I scrambled out of the hammock, and I rushed
+down the path; but there wasn&#8217;t a sign of anybody
+there. I don&#8217;t know where the woman went&mdash;it
+seemed as if the earth swallowed up both her and
+little Nan. Why, Hester, are you going to faint?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Water!&#8221; gasped Hester&mdash;&#8220;one sip&mdash;now let me
+go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XL_A_GYPSY_MAID' id='CHAPTER_XL_A_GYPSY_MAID'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XL.</h2>
+<h3>A GYPSY MAID.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>In a few moments every one in Lavender House
+was made acquainted with Susan&#8217;s story. At such a
+time ceremony was laid aside, dinner forgotten,
+teachers, pupils, servants all congregated in the
+grounds, all rushed to the spot where Nan&#8217;s withered
+daisies still lay, all peered through the underwood,
+and all, alas! looked in vain for the tall dark woman
+and the little child. Little Nan, the baby of the
+school, had been stolen&mdash;there were loud and
+terrified lamentations. Nan&#8217;s nurse was almost
+tearing her hair, was rushing frantically here, there,
+and everywhere. No one blamed the nurse for leaving
+her little charge in apparent safety for a few
+moments, but the poor woman&#8217;s own distress was
+pitiable to see. Mrs. Willis took Hester&#8217;s hand, and
+told the poor stunned girl that she was sending to
+Sefton immediately for two or three policemen, and
+that in the meantime every man on the place should
+commence the search for the woman and child.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Without any doubt,&#8221; Mrs. Willis added, &#8220;we
+shall soon have our little Nan back again; it is quite
+impossible that the woman, whoever she is, can have
+taken her so far away in so short a time.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></p>
+<p>In the meantime, Annie in her bedroom heard
+the fuss and the noise. She leaned out of her window
+and saw Phyllis in the distance; she called to
+her. Phyllis ran up, the tears streaming down her
+cheeks.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, something so dreadful!&#8221; she gasped; &#8220;a
+wicked, wicked woman has stolen little Nan Thornton.
+She ran off with her just where the undergrowth
+is so thick at the end of the shady walk. It
+happened to her half an hour ago, and they are all
+looking, but they cannot find the woman or little
+Nan anywhere. Oh, it is so dreadful! Is that you,
+Mary?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Phyllis ran off to join her sister, and Annie put
+her head in again, and looked round her pretty
+room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The gypsy,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;the tall, dark
+gypsy has taken little Nan!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her face was very white, her eyes shone, her lips
+expressed a firm and almost obstinate determination.
+With all her usual impulsiveness, she decided
+on a course of action&mdash;she snatched up a piece of
+paper and scribbled a hasty line:
+</p>
+<div class='blockquot'>
+<p>&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Dear Mother-friend</span>:&mdash;However badly you
+think of Annie, Annie loves you with all her heart.
+Forgive me, I must go myself to look for little Nan.
+That tall, dark woman is a gypsy&mdash;I have seen her
+before; her name is Mother Rachel. Tell Hetty I
+won&#8217;t return until I bring her little sister back.&mdash;Your
+repentant and sorrowful
+</p>
+<p style='text-align:right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps;'>Annie</span>.&#8221;
+</p>
+</div>
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span></div>
+<p>Annie twisted up the note, directed it to Mrs.
+Willis, and left it on her dressing-table.
+</p>
+<p>Then, with a wonderful amount of forethought
+for her, she emptied the contents of a little purse
+into a tiny gingham bag, which she fastened inside
+the front of her dress. She put on her shady hat,
+and threw a shawl across her arm, and then, slipping
+softly downstairs, she went out through the deserted
+kitchens, down the back avenue, and past the laurel
+bush, until she came to the stile which led into the
+wood&mdash;she was going straight to the gypsies&#8217; encampment.
+</p>
+<p>Annie, with some of the gypsy&#8217;s characteristics in
+her own blood, had always taken an extraordinary
+interest in these queer wandering people. Gypsies
+had a fascination for her, she loved stories about
+them; if a gypsy encampment was near, she always
+begged the teachers to walk in that direction.
+Annie had a very vivid imagination, and in the days
+when she reigned as favorite in the school she used
+to make up stories for the express benefit of her
+companions. These stories, as a rule, always turned
+upon the gypsies. Many and many a time had the
+girls of Lavender House almost gasped with horror
+as Annie described the queer ways of these people.
+For her, personally, their wildness and their freedom
+had a certain fascination, and she was heard in her
+gayest moments to remark that she would rather
+like to be stolen and adopted by a gypsy tribe.
+</p>
+<p>Whenever Annie had an opportunity, she chatted
+with the gypsy wives, and allowed them to tell her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span>
+fortune, and listened eagerly to their narratives.
+When a little child she had once for several months
+been under the care of a nurse who was a reclaimed
+gypsy, and this girl had given her all kinds of information
+about them. Annie often felt that she quite
+loved these wild people, and Mother Rachel was
+the first gypsy she cordially shrank from and disliked.
+</p>
+<p>When the little girl started now on her wild-goose
+chase after Nan, she was by no means devoid of a
+plan of action. The knowledge she had taken so
+many years to acquire came to her aid, and she determined
+to use it for Nan&#8217;s benefit. She knew
+that the gypsies, with all their wandering and erratic
+habits, had a certain attachment, if not for homes,
+at least for sites; she knew that as a rule they encamped
+over and over again in the same place; she
+knew that their wanderings were conducted with
+method, and their apparently lawless lives governed
+by strict self-made rules.
+</p>
+<p>Annie made straight now for the encampment,
+which stood in a little dell at the other side of the
+fairies&#8217; field. Here for weeks past the gypsies&#8217; tents
+had been seen; here the gypsy children had played,
+and the men and women smoked and lain about in
+the sun.
+</p>
+<p>Annie entered the small field now, but uttered no
+exclamation of surprise when she found that all the
+tents, with the exception of one, had been removed,
+and that this tent also was being rapidly taken down
+by a man and a girl, while a tall boy stood by,
+holding a donkey by the bridle.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span></p>
+<p>Annie wasted no time in looking for Nan here.
+Before the girl and the man could see her, she darted
+behind a bush, and removing her little bag of
+money, hid it carefully under some long grass; then
+she pulled a very bright yellow sash out of her
+pocket, tied it round her blue cotton dress, and leaving
+her little shawl also on the ground, tripped gaily
+up to the tent.
+</p>
+<p>She saw with pleasure that the girl who was helping
+the man was about her own size. She went up
+and touched her on the shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I want to make such a
+pretty play by-and-by&mdash;I want to play that I&#8217;m a
+gypsy girl. Will you give me your clothes, if I give
+you mine? See, mine are neat, and this sash is very
+handsome. Will you have them? Do. I am so
+anxious to play at being a gypsy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl turned and stared. Annie&#8217;s pretty blue
+print and gay sash were certainly tempting bait.
+She glanced at her father.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The little lady wants to change,&#8221; she said in an
+eager voice.
+</p>
+<p>The man nodded acquiescence, and the girl taking
+Annie&#8217;s hand, ran quickly with her to the bottom of
+the field.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean it, surely?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Eh,
+but I&#8217;m uncommon willing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I certainly mean it,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;You
+are a dear, good, obliging girl, and how nice you
+will look in my pretty blue cotton! I like that
+striped petticoat of yours, too, and that gay handkerchief
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span>
+you wear round your shoulders. Thank
+you so very much. Now, do I look like a real,
+real gypsy?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your hair ain&#8217;t ragged enough, miss.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, clip it, then; clip it away. I want to be
+quite the real thing. Have you got a pair of scissors?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl ran back to the tent, and presently returned
+to shear poor Annie&#8217;s beautiful hair in truly
+rough fashion.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, miss, you look much more like, only your
+arms are a bit too white. Stay, we has got some
+walnut-juice; we was just a-using of it. I&#8217;ll touch
+you up fine, miss.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So she did, darkening Annie&#8217;s brown skin to a
+real gypsy tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a dear, good girl,&#8221; said Annie, in conclusion;
+and as the girl&#8217;s father called her roughly at
+this moment, she was obliged to go away, looking
+ungainly enough in the English child&#8217;s neat clothes.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLI_DISGUISED' id='CHAPTER_XLI_DISGUISED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLI.</h2>
+<h3>DISGUISED.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie ran out of the field, mounted the stile
+which led into the wood, and stood there until the
+gypsy man and girl, and the boy with the donkey,
+had finally disappeared. Then she left her
+hiding-place, and taking her little gingham bag out
+of the long grass, secured it once more in the front
+of her dress. She felt queer and uncomfortable in
+her new dress, and the gypsy girl&#8217;s heavy shoes tired
+her feet; but she was not to be turned from her
+purpose by any manner of discomforts, and she
+started bravely on her long trudge over the dusty
+roads, for her object was to follow the gypsies to
+their next encampment, about ten miles away.
+She had managed, with some tact, to obtain a certain
+amount of information from the delighted gypsy
+girl. The girl told Annie that she was very glad
+they were going from here; that this was a very
+dull place, and that they would not have stayed so
+long but for Mother Rachel, who, for some reasons
+of her own, had refused to stir.
+</p>
+<p>Here the girl drew herself up short, and colored
+under her dark skin. But Annie&#8217;s tact never failed.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span>
+She even yawned a little, and seemed scarcely to
+hear the girl&#8217;s words.
+</p>
+<p>Now, in the distance, she followed these people.
+</p>
+<p>In her disguise, uncomfortable as it was, she felt
+tolerably safe. Should any of the people in Lavender
+House happen to pass her on the way, they
+would never recognize Annie Forest in this small
+gypsy maiden. When she did approach the gypsies&#8217;
+dwelling she might have some hope of passing
+as one of themselves. The only one whom she had
+really to fear was the girl with whom she had
+changed clothes, and she trusted to her wits to keep
+out of this young person&#8217;s way.
+</p>
+<p>When Zillah, her old gypsy nurse, had charmed
+her long ago with gypsy legends and stories,
+Annie had always begged to hear about the fair
+English children whom the gypsies stole, and Zillah
+had let her into some secrets which partly accounted
+for the fact that so few of these children are ever
+recovered.
+</p>
+<p>She walked very fast now; her depression was
+gone, a great excitement, a great longing, a great
+hope, keeping her up. She forgot that she had
+eaten nothing since breakfast; she forgot everything
+in all the world now but her great love for little Nan,
+and her desire to lay down her very life, if necessary,
+to rescue Nan from the terrible fate which
+awaited her if she was brought up as a gypsy&#8217;s
+child.
+</p>
+<p>Annie, however, was unaccustomed to such long
+walks, and besides, recent events had weakened
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span>
+her, and by the time she reached Sefton&mdash;for her
+road lay straight through this little town&mdash;she was
+so hot and thirsty that she looked around her
+anxiously to find some place of refreshment.
+</p>
+<p>In an unconscious manner she paused before a
+restaurant, where she and several other girls of Lavender
+House had more than once been regaled with
+buns and milk.
+</p>
+<p>The remembrance of the fresh milk and the nice
+buns came gratefully before the memory of the
+tired child now. Forgetting her queer attire, she
+went into the shop, and walked boldly up to the
+counter.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s disguise, however, was good, and the
+young woman who was serving, instead of bending
+forward with the usual gracious &#8220;What can I get
+for you, miss?&#8221; said very sharply:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go away at once, little girl; we don&#8217;t allow
+beggars here; leave the shop instantly. No, I have
+nothing for you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie was about to reply rather hotly, for she
+had an idea that even a gypsy&#8217;s money might purchase
+buns and milk, when she was suddenly startled,
+and almost terrified into betraying herself, by
+encountering the gentle and fixed stare of Miss
+Jane Bruce, who had been leaning over the counter
+and talking to one of the shop-women when Annie
+entered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here is a penny for you, little girl,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;You can get a nice hunch of stale bread for a
+penny in the shop at the corner of the High
+street.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s eyes flashed back at the little lady, her
+lips quivered, and, clasping the penny, she rushed
+out of the shop.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; said Miss Jane, turning to her sister,
+&#8220;did you notice the extraordinary likeness that
+little gypsy girl bore to Annie Forest?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Agnes sighed. &#8220;Not particularly, love,&#8221;
+she answered; &#8220;but I scarcely looked at her. I
+wonder if our dear little Annie is any happier than
+she was. Ah, I think we have done here. Good-afternoon,
+Mrs. Tremlett.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The little old ladies trotted off, giving no more
+thoughts to the gypsy child.
+</p>
+<p>Poor Annie almost ran down the street, and never
+paused till she reached a shop of much humbler appearance,
+where she was served with some cold
+slices of German sausage, some indifferent bread
+and butter, and milk by no means over-good. The
+coarse fare, and the rough people who surrounded
+her, made the poor child feel both sick and frightened.
+She found she could only keep up her character
+by remaining almost silent, for the moment she
+opened her lips people turned round and stared at
+her.
+</p>
+<p>She paid for her meal, however, and presently found
+herself at the other side of Sefton, and in a part of
+the country which was comparatively strange to
+her. The gypsies&#8217; present encampment was about a
+mile away from the town of Oakley, a much larger
+place than Sefton. Sefton and Oakley lay about six
+miles apart. Annie trudged bravely on, her head
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span>
+aching; for, of course, as a gypsy girl, she could use
+no parasol to shade her from the sun. At last the
+comparative cool of the evening arrived, and the little
+girl gave a sigh of relief, and looked forward to
+her bed and supper at Oakley. She had made up
+her mind to sleep there, and to go to the gypsies&#8217; encampment
+very early in the morning. It was quite
+dark by the time she reached Oakley, and she was
+now so tired, and her feet so blistered from walking
+in the gypsy girl&#8217;s rough shoes, that she could
+scarcely proceed another step. The noise and the
+size of Oakley, too, bewildered and frightened her.
+She had learned a lesson in Sefton, and dared not
+venture into the more respectable streets. How
+could she sleep in those hot, common, close houses?
+Surely it would be better for her to lie down under
+a cool hedgerow&mdash;there could be no real cold on
+this lovely summer&#8217;s night, and the hours would
+quickly pass, and the time soon arrive when she
+must go boldly in search of Nan. She resolved to
+sleep in a hayfield which took her fancy just
+outside the town, and she only went into
+Oakley for the purpose of buying some bread and
+milk.
+</p>
+<p>Annie was so far fortunate as to get a refreshing
+draught of really good milk from a woman who
+stood by a cottage door, and who gave her a piece of
+girdle-cake to eat with it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re one of the gypsies, my dear?&#8221; said the
+woman. &#8220;I saw them passing in their caravans an
+hour back. No doubt you are for taking up your
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span>
+old quarters in the copse, just alongside of Squire
+Thompson&#8217;s long acre field. How is it you are not
+with the rest of them, child?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was late in starting,&#8221; said Annie. &#8220;Can you
+tell me the best way to get from here to the long
+acre field?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you take that turnstile, child, and keep in
+the narrow path by the cornfields; it&#8217;s two miles and
+a half from here as the crow flies. No, no, my dear,
+I don&#8217;t want your pennies; but you might humor
+my little girl here by telling her fortune&mdash;she&#8217;s
+wonderful taken by the gypsy folk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie colored painfully. The child came forward,
+and she crossed her hand with a piece of silver.
+She looked at the little palm and muttered something
+about being rich and fortunate, and marrying
+a prince in disguise, and having no trouble whatever.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh! but that&#8217;s a fine lot, is yours, Peggy,&#8221; said
+the gratified mother.
+</p>
+<p>Peggy, however, aged nine, had a wiser head on
+her young shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She didn&#8217;t tell no proper fortune,&#8221; she said disparagingly,
+when Annie left the cottage. &#8220;She
+didn&#8217;t speak about no crosses, and no biting disappointments,
+and no bleeding wounds. I don&#8217;t believe
+in her, I don&#8217;t. I like fortunes mixed, not all
+one way; them fortunes ain&#8217;t natural, and I don&#8217;t
+believe she&#8217;s no proper gypsy girl.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLII_HESTER' id='CHAPTER_XLII_HESTER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLII.</h2>
+<h3>HESTER.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>At Lavender House the confusion, the terror, and
+the dismay were great. For several hours the girls
+seemed quite to lose their heads, and just when,
+under Mrs. Willis&#8217; and the other teachers&#8217; calmness
+and determination, they were being restored to discipline
+and order, the excitement and alarm broke
+out afresh when some one brought Annie&#8217;s little note
+to Mrs. Willis, and the school discovered that she
+also was missing.
+</p>
+<p>On this occasion no one did doubt her motive;
+disobedient as her act was no one wasted words of
+blame on her. All, from the head-mistress to the
+smallest child in the school, knew that it was love
+for little Nan that had taken Annie off; and the
+tears started to Mrs. Willis&#8217; eyes when she first read
+the tiny note, and then placed it tenderly in her
+desk. Hester&#8217;s face became almost ashen in its hue
+when she heard what Annie had done.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Annie has gone herself to bring back Nan to
+you, Hester,&#8221; said Phyllis. &#8220;It was I told her, and
+I know now by her face that she must have made
+up her mind at once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very disobedient of her to go,&#8221; said Dora
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span>
+Russell; but no one took up Dora&#8217;s tone, and Mary
+Price said, after a pause:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Disobedient or not, it was brave&mdash;it was really
+very plucky.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is my opinion,&#8221; said Nora, &#8220;that if any one
+in the world can find little Nan it will be Annie.
+You remember, Phyllis, how often she has talked to
+us about gypsies, and what a lot she knows about
+them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes; she&#8217;ll be better than fifty policemen,&#8221;
+echoed several girls; and then two or three young
+faces were turned toward Hester, and some voice
+said almost scornfully:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have to love Annie now; you&#8217;ll have to
+admit that there is something good in our Annie
+when she brings your little Nan home again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester&#8217;s lip quivered; she tried to speak, but a
+sudden burst of tears came from her instead. She
+walked slowly out of the astonished little group,
+who none of them believed that proud Hester
+Thornton could weep.
+</p>
+<p>The wretched girl rushed up to her room, where
+she threw herself on her bed and gave way to some of
+the bitterest tears she had ever shed. All her indifference
+to Annie, all her real unkindness, all her ever-increasing
+dislike came back now to torture and
+harass her. She began to believe with the girls
+that Annie would be successful; she began dimly to
+acknowledge in her heart the strange power which
+this child possessed; she guessed that Annie would
+heap coals of fire on her head by bringing back her
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span>
+little sister. She hoped, she longed, she could almost
+have found it in her heart to pray that some one
+else, not Annie, might save little Nan.
+</p>
+<p>For not yet had Hester made up her mind to confess
+the truth about Annie Forest. To confess the
+truth now meant humiliation in the eyes of the
+whole school. Even for Nan&#8217;s sake she could not,
+she would not be great enough for this.
+</p>
+<p>Sobbing on her bed, trembling from head to foot,
+in an agony of almost uncontrollable grief, she could
+not bring her proud and stubborn little heart to
+accept God&#8217;s only way of peace. No, she hoped she
+might be able to influence Susan Drummond and
+induce her to confess, and if Annie was not cleared
+in that way, if she really saved little Nan, she would
+doubtless be restored to much of her lost favor in
+the school.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had never been a favorite at Lavender
+House; but now her great trouble caused all the
+girls to speak to her kindly and considerately, and
+as she lay on her bed she presently heard a gentle
+step on the floor of her room&mdash;a cool little hand
+was laid tenderly on her forehead, and opening her
+swollen eyes, she met Cecil&#8217;s loving gaze.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no news yet, Hester,&#8221; said Cecil; &#8220;but
+Mrs. Willis has just gone herself into Sefton, and
+will not lose an hour in getting further help. Mrs.
+Willis looks quite haggard. Of course she is very
+anxious both about Annie and Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Annie is safe enough,&#8221; murmured Hester,
+burying her head in the bed-clothes.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; Annie is very impulsive and very
+pretty; the gypsies may like to steal her too&mdash;of
+course she has gone straight to one of their encampments.
+Naturally Mrs. Willis is most anxious.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester pressed her hand to her throbbing head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are all so sorry for you, dear,&#8221; said Cecil
+gently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you&mdash;being sorry for one does not do a
+great deal of good, does it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought sympathy always did good,&#8221; replied
+Cecil, looking puzzled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Hester again. She lay quite
+still for several minutes with her eyes closed. Her
+face looked intensely unhappy. Cecil was not easily
+repelled and she guessed only too surely that
+Hester&#8217;s proud heart was suffering much. She was
+puzzled, however, how to approach her, and had
+almost made up her mind to go away and beg of
+kind-hearted Miss Danesbury to see if she could
+come and do something, when through the open
+window there came the shrill sweet laughter and the
+eager, high-pitched tones of some of the youngest
+children in the school. A strange quiver passed
+over Hester&#8217;s face at the sound; she sat up in bed,
+and gasped out in a half-strangled voice:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! I can&#8217;t bear it&mdash;little Nan, little Nan!
+Cecil, I am very, very unhappy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it, darling,&#8221; said Cecil, and she put her
+arms round the excited girl. &#8220;Oh, Hester! don&#8217;t
+turn away from me; do let us be unhappy together.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But you did not care for Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did&mdash;we all loved the pretty darling.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose I never see her again?&#8221; said Hester
+half wildly. &#8220;Oh, Cecil! and mother left her to
+me! mother gave her to me to take care of, and to
+bring to her some day in heaven. Oh, little Nan,
+my pretty, my love, my sweet! I think I could
+better bear her being dead than this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could, Hester,&#8221; said Cecil, &#8220;if she was
+never to be found; but I don&#8217;t think God will give
+you such a terrible punishment. I think little Nan
+will be restored to you. Let us ask God to do it,
+Hetty&mdash;let us kneel down now, we two little girls,
+and pray to Him with all our might.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t pray; don&#8217;t ask me,&#8221; said Hester, turning
+her face away.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I will.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But not here, Cecil. Cecil, I am not good&mdash;I
+am not good enough to pray.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to be good to pray,&#8221; said Cecil.
+&#8220;We want perhaps to be unhappy&mdash;perhaps sorry;
+but if God waited just for goodness, I don&#8217;t think He
+would get many prayers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I am unhappy, but not sorry. No, no;
+don&#8217;t ask me, I cannot pray.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLIII_SUSAN' id='CHAPTER_XLIII_SUSAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLIII.</h2>
+<h3>SUSAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Willis came back at a very late hour from
+Sefton. The police were confident that they must
+soon discover both children, but no tidings had yet
+been heard of either of them. Mrs. Willis ordered
+her girls to bed, and went herself to kiss Hester and
+give her a special &#8220;good-night.&#8221; She was struck by
+the peculiarly unhappy, and even hardened, expression
+on the poor child&#8217;s face, and felt that she did
+not half understand her.
+</p>
+<p>In the middle of the night Hester awoke from a
+troubled dream. She awoke with a sharp cry, so
+sharp and intense in its sound that had any girl been
+awake in the next room she must have heard it. She
+felt that she could no longer remain close to that
+little empty cot. She suddenly remembered that
+Susan Drummond would be alone to-night: what
+time so good as the present for having a long talk
+with Susan and getting her to clear Annie? She
+slipped out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and
+softly opening the door, ran down the passage to
+Susan&#8217;s room.
+</p>
+<p>Susan was in bed, and fast asleep. Hester could
+see her face quite plainly in the moonlight, for Susan
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span>
+slept facing the window, and the blind was not drawn
+down.
+</p>
+<p>Hester had some difficulty in awakening Miss
+Drummond, who, however, at last sat up in bed
+yawning prodigiously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter? Is that you, Hester
+Thornton? Have you got any news of little Nan?
+Has Annie come back?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, they are both still away. Susy, I want to
+speak to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me! what for? must you speak in the
+middle of the night?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, for I don&#8217;t want any one else to know. Oh,
+Susan, please don&#8217;t go to sleep.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear, I won&#8217;t, if I can help it. Do you mind
+throwing a little cold water over my face and head?
+There is a can by the bedside. I always keep one
+handy. Ah, thanks&mdash;now I am wide awake. I shall
+probably remain so for about two minutes. Can you
+get your say over in that time?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder, Susan,&#8221; said Hester, &#8220;if you have got
+any heart&mdash;but heart or not, I have just come here
+to-night to tell you that I have found you out. You
+are at the bottom of all this mischief about Annie
+Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan had a most phlegmatic face, an utterly
+unemotional voice, and she now stared calmly at
+Hester and demanded to know what in the world
+she meant.
+</p>
+<p>Hester felt her temper going, her self-control deserting
+her. Susan&#8217;s apparent innocence and indifference
+drove her half frantic.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you are mean,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You pretend to
+be innocent, but you are the deepest and wickedest
+girl in the school. I tell you, Susan, I have found
+you out&mdash;you put that caricature of Mrs. Willis into
+Cecil&#8217;s book; you changed Dora&#8217;s theme. I don&#8217;t
+know why you did it, nor how you did it, but you
+are the guilty person, and you have allowed the sin
+of it to remain on Annie&#8217;s shoulders all this time.
+Oh, you are the very meanest girl I ever heard
+of!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear, dear!&#8221; said Susan, &#8220;I wish I had not asked
+you to throw cold water over my head and face, and
+allow myself to be made very wet and uncomfortable,
+just to be told I am the meanest girl you ever
+met. And pray what affair is this of yours? You
+certainly don&#8217;t love Annie Forest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t, but I want justice to be done to her.
+Annie is very, very unhappy. Oh, Susy, won&#8217;t you
+go and tell Mrs. Willis the truth?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really, my dear Hester, I think you are a little
+mad. How long have you known all this about me,
+pray?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, for some time; since&mdash;since the night the
+essay was changed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, then, if what you state is true, you told Mrs.
+Willis a lie, for she distinctly asked you if you knew
+anything about the &#8216;Muddy Stream,&#8217; and you said
+you didn&#8217;t. I saw you&mdash;I remarked how very red
+you got when you plumped out that great lie! My
+dear, if I am the meanest and wickedest girl in the
+school, prove it&mdash;go, tell Mrs. Willis what you know.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span>
+Now, if you will allow me, I will get back into the
+land of dreams.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan curled herself up once more in her bed,
+wrapped the bed-clothes tightly round her and
+was, to all appearance, oblivious of Hester&#8217;s presence.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLIV_UNDER_THE_HEDGE' id='CHAPTER_XLIV_UNDER_THE_HEDGE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLIV.</h2>
+<h3>UNDER THE HEDGE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is one thing to talk of the delights of sleeping
+under a hedgerow, and another to realize them. A
+hayfield is a very charming place, but in the middle
+of the night, with the dew clinging to everything, it
+is apt to prove but a chilly bed; the most familiar
+objects put on strange and unreal forms, the most
+familiar sounds become loud and alarming. Annie
+slept for about an hour soundly; then she
+awoke, trembling with cold in every limb, startled,
+and almost terrified by the oppressive loneliness
+of the night, sure that the insect life which surrounded
+her, and which would keep up successions of
+chirps, and croaks, and buzzes, was something mysterious
+and terrifying. Annie was a brave child,
+but even brave little girls may be allowed to
+possess nerves under her present conditions, and
+when a spider ran across her face she started up
+with a scream of terror. At this moment she
+almost regretted the close and dirty lodgings which
+she might have obtained for a few pence at Oakley.
+The hay in the field which she had selected was
+partly cut and partly standing. The cut portion
+had been piled up into little cocks and hillocks, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span>
+these, with the night shadows round them, appeared
+to the frightened child to assume large and
+half-human proportions. She found she could not
+sleep any longer. She wrapped her shawl tightly
+round her, and, crouching into the hedgerow, waited
+for the dawn.
+</p>
+<p>That watched-for dawn seemed to the tired child
+as if it would never come; but at last her solitary
+vigil came to an end, the cold grew greater, a little
+gentle breeze stirred the uncut grass, and up in the
+sky overhead the stars became fainter and the
+atmosphere clearer. Then came a little faint flush
+of pink, then a brighter light, and then all in a
+moment the birds burst into a perfect jubilee of
+song, the insects talked and chirped and buzzed in
+new tones, the hay-cocks became simply hay-cocks,
+the dew sparkled on the wet grass, the sun had
+risen, and the new day had begun.
+</p>
+<p>Annie sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. With
+the sunshine and brightness her versatile spirits revived;
+she buckled on her courage like an armor,
+and almost laughed at the miseries of the past few
+hours. Once more she believed that success and
+victory would be hers, once more in her small way
+she was ready to do or die. She believed absolutely
+in the holiness of her mission. Love&mdash;love alone,
+simple and pure, was guiding her. She gave no
+thought to after-consequences, she gave no memory
+to past events: her object now was to rescue Nan,
+and she herself was nothing.
+</p>
+<p>Annie had a fellow-feeling, a rare sympathy with
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span>
+every little child; but no child had ever come to
+take Nan&#8217;s place with her. The child she had first
+begun to notice simply out of a naughty spirit of
+revenge, had twined herself round her heart, and
+Annie loved Nan all the more dearly because she
+had long ago repented of stealing her affections
+from Hester, and would gladly have restored her
+to her old place next to Hetty&#8217;s heart. Her love
+for Nan, therefore, had the purity and greatness
+which all love that calls forth self-sacrifice must
+possess. Annie had denied herself, and kept away
+from Nan of late. Now, indeed, she was going to
+rescue her; but if she thought of herself at all, it
+was with the certainty that for this present act of
+disobedience Mrs. Willis would dismiss her from
+the school, and she would not see little Nan
+again.
+</p>
+<p>Never mind that, if Nan herself was saved. Annie
+was disobedient, but on this occasion she was not
+unhappy; she had none of that remorse which
+troubled her so much after her wild picnic in the
+fairies&#8217; field. On the contrary, she had a strange
+sense of peace and even guidance; she had confessed
+this sin to Mrs. Willis, and, though she was
+suspected of far worse, her own innocence kept her
+heart untroubled. The verse which had occurred
+to her two mornings before still rang in her ears:
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style=' margin-left:10%;'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>&#8220;A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again.&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The impulsive, eager child was possessed just now
+of something which men call True Courage; it was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span>
+founded on the knowledge that God would help her,
+and was accordingly calm and strengthening.
+</p>
+<p>Annie rose from her damp bed, and looked
+around her for a little stream where she might wash
+her face and hands; suddenly she remembered
+that face and hands were dyed, and that she would
+do best to leave them alone. She smoothed out
+as best she could the ragged elf-locks which the
+gypsy maid had left on her curly head, and then
+covering her face with her hands, said simply and
+earnestly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, my Father in heaven, help me to find
+little Nan;&#8221; then she set off through the cornfields
+in the direction of the gypsies&#8217; encampment.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLV_TIGER' id='CHAPTER_XLV_TIGER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLV.</h2>
+<h3>TIGER.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was still very, very early in the morning, and
+the gypsy folk, tired from their march on the preceding
+day, slept. There stood the conical, queer-shaped
+tents, four in number; at a little distance off grazed
+the donkeys and a couple of rough mules; at the door
+of the tents lay stretched out in profound repose two
+or three dogs.
+</p>
+<p>Annie dreaded the barking of the dogs, although
+she guessed that if they set up a noise, and a gypsy
+wife or man put out their heads in consequence, they
+would only desire the gypsy child to lie down and
+keep quiet.
+</p>
+<p>She stood still for a moment&mdash;she was very
+anxious to prowl around the place and examine the
+ground while the gypsies still slept, but the watchful
+dogs deterred her. She stood perfectly quiet behind
+the hedgerow, thinking hard. Should she trust to a
+charm she knew she possessed, and venture into the
+encampment? Annie had almost as great a fascination
+over dogs and cats as she had over children.
+As a little child going to visit with her mother at
+strange houses, the watch-dogs never barked at her;
+on the contrary, they yielded to the charm which
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span>
+seemed to come from her little fingers as she patted
+their great heads. Slowly their tails would move
+backward and forward as she patted them, and
+even the most ferocious would look at her with
+affection.
+</p>
+<p>Annie wondered if the gypsy dogs would now
+allow her to approach without barking. She felt
+that the chances were in her favor; she was dressed
+in gypsy garments, there would be nothing strange
+in her appearance, and if she could get near one of
+the dogs she knew that she could exercise the magic
+of her touch.
+</p>
+<p>Her object, then, was to approach one of the
+tents very, very quietly&mdash;so softly that even the
+dog&#8217;s ears should not detect the light footfall. If
+she could approach close enough to put her hand
+on the dog&#8217;s neck all would be well. She pulled off
+the gypsy maid&#8217;s rough shoes, hid them in the grass
+where she could find them again, and came gingerly
+step by step, nearer and nearer the principal tent.
+At its entrance lay a ferocious-looking half-bred
+bull-dog. Annie possessed that necessary accompaniment
+to courage&mdash;great outward calm; the
+greater the danger, the more cool and self-possessed
+did she become. She was within a step or two of
+the tent when she trod accidentally on a small twig;
+it cracked, giving her foot a sharp pain, and very
+slight as the sound was, causing the bull-dog to
+awake. He raised his wicked face, saw the figure
+like his own people, and yet unlike, but a step
+or two away, and, uttering a low growl, sprang
+forward.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span></p>
+<p>In the ordinary course of things this growl would
+have risen in volume and would have terminated in
+a volley of barking; but Annie was prepared: she
+went down on her knees, held out her arms, said,
+&#8220;Poor fellow!&#8221; in her own seductive voice, and
+the bull-dog fawned at her feet. He licked one
+of her hands while she patted him gently with the
+other.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, poor fellow,&#8221; she said then in a gentle
+tone, and Annie and the dog began to perambulate
+round the tents.
+</p>
+<p>The other dogs raised sleepy eyes, but seeing
+Tiger and the girl together, took no notice whatever,
+except by a thwack or two of their stumpy
+tails. Annie was now looking not only at the tents,
+but for something else which Zillah, her nurse, had
+told her might be found near to many gypsy
+encampments. This was a small subterranean passage,
+which generally led into a long-disused underground
+Danish fort. Zillah had told her what uses
+the gypsies liked to make of these underground passages,
+and how they often chose those which had
+two entrances. She told her that in this way they
+eluded the police, and were enabled successfully to
+hide the goods which they stole. She had also
+described to her their great ingenuity in hiding the
+entrances to these underground retreats.
+</p>
+<p>Annie&#8217;s idea now was that little Nan was hidden
+in one of these vaults, and she determined first to
+make sure of its existence, and then to venture herself
+into this underground region in search of the
+lost child.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span></p>
+<p>She had made a decided conquest in the person of
+Tiger, who followed her round and round the tents,
+and when the gypsies at last began to stir, and
+Annie crept into the hedgerow, the dog crouched
+by her side. Tiger was the favorite dog of the
+camp, and presently one of the men called to him;
+he rose unwillingly, looked back with longing eyes
+at Annie, and trotted off, to return in the space of
+about five minutes with a great hunch of broken
+bread in his mouth. This was his breakfast, and he
+meant to share it with his new friend. Annie was
+too hungry to be fastidious, and she also knew the
+necessity of keeping up her strength. She crept
+still farther under the hedge, and the dog and girl
+shared the broken bread between them.
+</p>
+<p>Presently the tents were all astir; the gypsy
+children began to swarm about, the women lit fires
+in the open air, and the smell of very appetizing
+breakfasts filled the atmosphere. The men also
+lounged into view, standing lazily at the doors of
+their tents, and smoking great pipes of tobacco.
+Annie lay quiet. She could see from her hiding-place
+without being seen. Suddenly&mdash;and her eyes
+began to dilate, and she found her heart beating
+strangely&mdash;she laid her hand on Tiger, who was
+quivering all over.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay with me, dear dog,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>There was a great commotion and excitement in
+the gypsy camp; the children screamed and ran
+into the tents, the women paused in their preparation
+for breakfast, the men took their short pipes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span>
+out of their mouths; every dog, with the exception
+of Tiger, barked ferociously. Tiger and Annie
+alone were motionless.
+</p>
+<p>The cause of all this uproar was a body of police,
+about six in number, who came boldly into the field,
+and demanded instantly to search the tents.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We want a woman who calls herself Mother
+Rachel,&#8221; they said. &#8220;She belongs to this encampment.
+We know her; let her come forward at
+once; we wish to question her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The men stood about; the women came near;
+the children crept out of their tents, placing their
+fingers to their frightened lips, and staring at the
+men who represented those horrors to their unsophisticated
+minds called Law and Order.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must search the tents. We won&#8217;t stir from
+the spot until we have had an interview with Mother
+Rachel,&#8221; said the principal member of the police
+force.
+</p>
+<p>The men answered respectfully that the gypsy
+mother was not yet up; but if the gentlemen would
+wait a moment she would soon come and speak to
+them.
+</p>
+<p>The officers expressed their willingness to wait,
+and collected round the tents.
+</p>
+<p>Just at this instant, under the hedgerow, Tiger
+raised his head. Annie&#8217;s watchful eyes accompanied
+the dog&#8217;s. He was gazing after a tiny gypsy maid
+who was skulking along the hedge, and who presently
+disappeared through a very small opening into the
+neighboring field.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span></p>
+<p>Quick as thought Annie, holding Tiger&#8217;s collar,
+darted after her. The little maid heard the footsteps;
+but seeing another gypsy girl, and their own
+dog, Tiger, she took no further notice, but ran openly
+and very swiftly across the field until she came to a
+broken wall. Here she tugged and tugged at some
+loose stones, managed to push one away, and then
+called down into the ground:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother Rachel!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Tiger,&#8221; said Annie. She flew to a hedge
+not far off, and once more the dog and she hid themselves.
+The small girl was too excited to notice
+either their coming or going; she went on calling
+anxiously into the ground:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother Rachel! Mother Rachel!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Presently a black head and a pair of brawny
+shoulders appeared, and the tall woman whose face
+and figure Annie knew so well stepped up out of the
+ground, pushed back the stones into their place, and,
+taking the gypsy child into her arms, ran swiftly
+across the field in the direction of the tents.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLVI_FOR_LOVE_OF_NAN' id='CHAPTER_XLVI_FOR_LOVE_OF_NAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLVI.</h2>
+<h3>FOR LOVE OF NAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Now was Annie&#8217;s time. &#8220;Tiger,&#8221; she said, for
+she had heard the men calling the dog&#8217;s name, &#8220;I
+want to go right down into that hole in the ground,
+and you are to come with me. Don&#8217;t let us lose a
+moment, good dog.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog wagged his tail, capered about in front
+of Annie, and then with a wonderful shrewdness ran
+before her to the broken wall, where he stood with
+his head bent downward and his eyes fixed on the
+ground.
+</p>
+<p>Annie pulled and tugged at the loose stones;
+they were so heavy and cunningly arranged that she
+wondered how the little maid, who was smaller than
+herself, had managed to remove them. She saw
+quickly, however, that they were arranged with a
+certain leverage, and that the largest stone, that
+which formed the real entrance to the underground
+passage, was balanced in its place in such a fashion
+that when she leaned on a certain portion of it, it
+moved aside, and allowed plenty of room for her to
+go down into the earth.
+</p>
+<p>Very dark and dismal and uninviting did the rude
+steps, which led nobody knew where, appear. For
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span>
+one moment Annie hesitated; but the thought of
+Nan hidden somewhere in this awful wretchedness
+nerved her courage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go first, Tiger, please,&#8221; she said, and the dog
+scampered down, sniffing the earth as he went.
+Annie followed him, but she had scarcely got her
+head below the level of the ground before she found
+herself in total and absolute darkness; she had unwittingly
+touched the heavy stone, which had swung
+back into its place. She heard Tiger sniffing below,
+and, calling him to keep by her side, she went
+very carefully down and down and down, until at
+last she knew by the increase of air that she must
+have come to the end of the narrow entrance
+passage.
+</p>
+<p>She was now able to stand upright, and raising
+her hand, she tried in vain to find a roof. The room
+where she stood, then, must be lofty. She went
+forward in the utter darkness very, very slowly;
+suddenly her head again came in contact with the
+roof; she made a few steps farther on, and then
+found that to proceed at all she must go on her hands
+and knees. She bent down and peered through the
+darkness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll go on, Tiger,&#8221; she said, and, holding the
+dog&#8217;s collar and clinging to him for protection, she
+crept along the narrow passage.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly she gave an exclamation of joy&mdash;at the
+other end of this gloomy passage was light&mdash;faint
+twilight surely, but still undoubted light, which came
+down from some chink in the outer world. Annie
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span>
+came to the end of the passage, and, standing upright,
+found herself suddenly in a room; a very
+small and miserable room certainly, but with the
+twilight shining through it, which revealed not only
+that it was a room, but a room which contained a
+heap of straw, a three-legged stool, and two or three
+cracked cups and saucers. Here, then, was Mother
+Rachel&#8217;s lair, and here she must look for Nan.
+</p>
+<p>The darkness had been so intense that even the
+faint twilight of this little chamber had dazzled
+Annie&#8217;s eyes for a moment; the next, however, her
+vision became clear. She saw that the straw bed
+contained a bundle; she went near&mdash;out of the
+wrapped-up bundle of shawls appeared the head of a
+child. The child slept, and moaned in its slumbers.
+</p>
+<p>Annie bent over it and said, &#8220;Thank God!&#8221; in a
+tone of rapture, and then, stooping down, she passionately
+kissed the lips of little Nan.
+</p>
+<p>Nan&#8217;s skin had been dyed with the walnut-juice,
+her pretty, soft hair had been cut short, her dainty
+clothes had been changed for the most ragged gipsy
+garments, but still she was undoubtedly Nan, the
+child whom Annie had come to save.
+</p>
+<p>From her uneasy slumbers the poor little one
+awoke with a cry of terror. She could not recognize
+Annie&#8217;s changed face, and clasped her hands before
+her eyes, and said piteously:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me want to go home&mdash;go &#8217;way, naughty woman,
+me want my Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little darling!&#8221; said Annie, in her sweetest
+tones. The changed face had not appealed to Nan,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span>
+but the old voice went straight to her baby heart;
+she stopped crying and looked anxiously toward the
+entrance of the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tum in, Annie&mdash;me here, Annie&mdash;little Nan
+want &#8217;oo.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Annie glanced around her in despair. Suddenly
+her quick eyes lighted on a jug of water; she flew
+to it, and washed and laved her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Coming, darling,&#8221; she said, as she tried to remove
+the hateful dye. She succeeded partly, and
+when she came back, to her great joy, the child recognized
+her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, little precious, we will get out of this as
+fast as we can,&#8221; said Annie, and, clasping Nan
+tightly in her arms, she prepared to return by the
+way she had come. Then and there, for the first
+time, there flashed across her memory the horrible
+fact that the stone door had swung back into its
+place, and that by no possible means could she open
+it. She and Nan and Tiger were buried in a living
+tomb, and must either stay there and perish, or
+await the tender mercies of the cruel Mother Rachel.
+</p>
+<p>Nan, with her arms tightly clasped round Annie&#8217;s
+neck, began to cry fretfully. She was impatient to
+get out of this dismal place; she was no longer oppressed
+by fears, for with the Annie whom she
+loved she felt absolutely safe; but she was hungry
+and cold and uncomfortable, and it seemed but a step,
+to little inexperienced Nan, from Annie&#8217;s arms to her
+snug, cheerful nursery at Lavender House.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tum, Annie&mdash;tum home, Annie,&#8221; she begged
+and, when Annie did not stir, she began to weep.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span></p>
+<p>In truth, the poor, brave little girl was sadly puzzled,
+and her first gleam of returning hope lay in
+the remembrance of Zillah&#8217;s words, that there were
+generally two entrances to these old underground
+forts. Tiger, who seemed thoroughly at home in
+this little room, and had curled himself up comfortably
+on the heap of straw, had probably often been
+here before. Perhaps Tiger knew the way to the
+second entrance. Annie called him to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tiger,&#8221; she said, going down on her knees, and
+looking full into his ugly but intelligent face, &#8220;Nan
+and I want to go out of this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Tiger wagged his stumpy tail.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are hungry, Tiger, and we want something
+to eat, and you&#8217;d like a bone, wouldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Tiger&#8217;s tail went with ferocious speed, and he
+licked Annie&#8217;s hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no use going back that way, dear dog,&#8221;
+continued the girl, pointing with her arm in the
+direction they had come. &#8220;The door is fastened,
+Tiger, and we can&#8217;t get out. We can&#8217;t get out because
+the door is shut.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog&#8217;s tail had ceased to wag; he took in the
+situation, for his whole expression showed dejection,
+and he drooped his head.
+</p>
+<p>It was now quite evident to Annie that Tiger had
+been here before, and that on some other occasion
+in his life he had wanted to get out and could not
+because the door was shut.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Tiger,&#8221; said Annie, speaking cheerfully,
+and rising to her feet, &#8220;we must get out. Nan and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span>
+I are hungry, and you want your bone. Take us
+out the other way, good Tiger&mdash;the other way, dear
+dog.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She moved instantly toward the little passage;
+the dog followed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The other way,&#8221; she said, and she turned her
+back on the long narrow passage, and took a step
+or two into complete darkness. The dog began to
+whine, caught hold of her dress, and tried to pull
+her back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite right, Tiger, we won&#8217;t go that way,&#8221; said
+Annie, instantly. She returned into the dimly-lighted
+room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Find a way&mdash;find a way out, Tiger,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>The dog evidently understood her; he moved
+restlessly about the room. Finally he got up on
+the bed, pulled and scratched and tore away the
+straw at the upper end, then, wagging his tail, flew
+to Annie&#8217;s side. She came back with him. Beneath
+the straw was a tiny, tiny trap-door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Tiger!&#8221; said the girl; she went down on
+her knees, and, finding she could not stir it, wondered
+if this also was kept in its place by a system
+of balancing. She was right; after a very little
+pressing the door moved aside, and Annie saw four
+or five rudely carved steps.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, Nan,&#8221; she said joyfully, &#8220;Tiger has saved
+us; these steps must lead us out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The dog, with a joyful whine, went down first,
+and Annie, clasping Nan tightly in her arms, followed
+him. Four, five, six steps they went down;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span>
+then, to Annie&#8217;s great joy, she found that the next
+step began to ascend. Up and up she went, cheered
+by a welcome shaft of light. Finally she, Nan, and
+the dog found themselves emerging into the open
+air, through a hole which might have been taken for
+a large rabbit burrow.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLVII_RESCUED' id='CHAPTER_XLVII_RESCUED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLVII.</h2>
+<h3>RESCUED.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The girl, the child, and the dog found themselves
+in a comparatively strange country&mdash;Annie had
+completely lost her bearings. She looked around
+her for some sign of the gypsies&#8217; encampment; but
+whether she had really gone a greater distance
+than she imagined in those underground vaults, or
+whether the tents were hidden in some hollow of
+the ground, she did not know; she was only conscious
+that she was in a strange country, that Nan
+was clinging to her and crying for her breakfast,
+and that Tiger was sniffing the air anxiously.
+Annie guessed that Tiger could take them back to
+the camp, but this was by no means her wish.
+When she emerged out of the underground passage
+she was conscious for the first time of a strange and
+unknown experience. Absolute terror seized the
+brave child; she trembled from head to foot, her
+head ached violently, and the ground on which she
+stood seemed to reel, and the sky to turn round.
+She sat down for a moment on the green grass.
+What ailed her? where was she? how could she get
+home? Nan&#8217;s little piteous wail, &#8220;Me want my
+bekfas&#8217;, me want my nursie, me want Hetty,&#8221; almost
+irritated her.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Nan,&#8221; she said at last piteously, &#8220;have you
+not got your own Annie? Oh, Nan, dear little
+Nan, Annie feels so ill!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nan had the biggest and softest of baby hearts&mdash;breakfast,
+nurse, Hetty, were all forgotten in the
+crowning desire to comfort Annie. She climbed on
+her knee and stroked her face and kissed her lips.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Oo better now?&#8221; she said in a tone of baby
+inquiry.
+</p>
+<p>Annie roused herself with a great effort.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, darling,&#8221; she said; &#8220;we will try and get
+home. Come, Tiger. Tiger, dear, I don&#8217;t want to
+go back to the gypsies; take me the other way&mdash;take
+me to Oakley.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Tiger again sniffed the air, looked anxiously at
+Annie, and trotted on in front. Little Nan in her
+ragged gypsy clothes walked sedately by Annie&#8217;s
+side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where &#8217;oo s&#8217;oes?&#8221; she said, pointing to the
+girl&#8217;s bare feet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gone, Nan&mdash;gone. Never mind, I&#8217;ve got you.
+My little treasure, my little love, you&#8217;re safe at
+last.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As Annie tottered, rather than walked, down a
+narrow path which led directly through a field of
+standing corn, she was startled by the sudden apparition
+of a bright-eyed girl, who appeared so
+suddenly in her path that she might have been supposed
+to have risen out of the very ground.
+</p>
+<p>The girl stared hard at Annie, fixed her eyes
+inquiringly on Nan and Tiger, and then turning on
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span>
+her heel, dashed up the path, went through a turnstile,
+across the road, and into a cottage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mother,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;I said she warn&#8217;t a
+real gypsy; she&#8217;s a-coming back, and her face is all
+streaked like, and she has a little&#8217;un along with her,
+and a dawg, and the only one as is gypsy is the
+dawg. Come and look at her, mother; oh, she is a
+fine take-in!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The round-faced, good-humored looking mother,
+whose name was Mrs. Williams, had been washing
+and putting away the breakfast things when her
+daughter entered. She now wiped her hands
+hastily and came to the cottage door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cross the road, and come to the stile, mother,&#8221;
+said the energetic Peggy&mdash;&#8220;oh, there she be a-creeping
+along&mdash;oh, ain&#8217;t she a take-in?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Sakes alive!&#8221; ejaculated Mrs. Williams, &#8220;the
+girl is ill! why, she can&#8217;t keep herself steady! There!
+I knew she&#8217;d fall; ah! poor little thing&mdash;poor little
+thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It did not take Mrs. Williams an instant to reach
+Annie&#8217;s side; and in another moment she had lifted
+her in her strong arms and carried her into the
+cottage, Peggy lifting Nan and following in the
+rear, while Tiger walked by their sides.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLVIII_DARK_DAYS' id='CHAPTER_XLVIII_DARK_DAYS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h2>
+<h3>DARK DAYS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A whole week had passed, and there were no
+tidings whatever of little Nan or of Annie Forest.
+No one at Lavender House had heard a word about
+them; the police came and went, detectives even
+arrived from London, but there were no traces
+whatever of the missing children.
+</p>
+<p>The midsummer holiday was now close at hand,
+but no one spoke of it or thought of it. Mrs. Willis
+told the teachers that the prizes should be distributed,
+but she said she could invite no guests and
+could allow of no special festivities. Miss Danesbury
+and Miss Good repeated her words to the
+schoolgirls, who answered without hesitation that
+they did not wish for feasting and merriment; they
+would rather the day passed unnoticed. In truth,
+the fact that their baby was gone, that their favorite
+and prettiest and brightest schoolmate had also disappeared,
+caused such gloom, such distress, such
+apprehension that even the most thoughtless of
+those girls could scarcely have laughed or been
+merry. School-hours were still kept after a fashion,
+but there was no life in the lessons. In truth, it
+seemed as if the sun would never shine again at
+Lavender House.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span></p>
+<p>Hester was ill; not very ill&mdash;she had no fever,
+she had no cold; she had, as the good doctor explained
+it, nothing at all wrong, except that her
+nervous system had got a shock.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When the little one is found, Miss Hetty will be
+quite well again,&#8221; said the good doctor; but the
+little one had not been found yet, and Hester had
+completely broken down. She lay on her bed, saying
+little or nothing, eating scarcely anything,
+sleeping not at all. All the girls were kind to her
+and each one in the school took turns in trying to
+comfort her; but no one could win a smile from
+Hester, and even Mrs. Willis failed utterly to reach
+or touch her heart.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard came once to see her, but he had
+scarcely spoken many words when Hester broke into
+an agony of weeping and begged him to go away.
+He shook his head when he left her and said sadly
+to himself:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That girl has got something on her mind; she is
+grieving for more than the loss of her little sister.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The twentieth of June came at last, and the girls
+sat about in groups in the pleasant shady garden,
+and talked of the very sad breaking-up day they
+were to have on the morrow, and wondered if, when
+they returned to school again, Annie and little Nan
+would have been found. Cecil Temple, Dora
+Russell, and one or two others were sitting together
+and whispering in low voices. Mary Price joined
+them, and said anxiously:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the doctor is satisfied about Hester,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span>
+Perhaps I ought not to have listened, but I heard
+him talking to Miss Danesbury just now; he said
+she must be got to sleep somehow, and she is to have
+a composing draught to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish poor Hetty would not turn away from us
+all,&#8221; said Cecil; &#8220;I wish she would not quite give
+up hope; I do feel sure that Nan and Annie will be
+found yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you been praying about it, Cecil?&#8221; asked
+Mary, kneeling on the grass, laying her elbows on
+Cecil&#8217;s knees and looking into her face. &#8220;Do you
+say this because you have faith?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have prayed and I have faith,&#8221; replied Cecil in
+her simple, earnest way. &#8220;Why, Dora, what is the
+matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only that it&#8217;s horrid to leave like this,&#8221; said
+Dora; &#8220;I&mdash;I thought my last day at school would
+have been so different and somehow I am sorry I
+spoke so much against that poor little Annie.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Here Cecil suddenly rose from her seat, and
+going up to Dora, clasped her arms round her
+neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Dora,&#8221; she said with fervor; &#8220;I love
+you for those words.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here comes Susy,&#8221; remarked Mary Price. &#8220;I
+really don&#8217;t think <i>anything</i> would move Susy; she&#8217;s
+just as stolid and indifferent as ever. Ah, Susy,
+here&#8217;s a place for you&mdash;oh, what <i>is</i> the matter with
+Phyllis? see how she&#8217;s rushing toward us! Phyllis,
+my dear, don&#8217;t break your neck.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan, with her usual nonchalance, seated herself
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span>
+by Dora Russell&#8217;s side. Phyllis burst excitedly into
+the group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;I really, really do think
+that news has come of Annie&#8217;s father. Nora said
+that Janet told her that a foreign letter came this
+morning to Mrs. Willis, and somebody saw Mrs.
+Willis talking to Miss Danesbury&mdash;oh, I forgot,
+only I know that the girls of the school are whispering
+the news that Mrs. Willis cried, and Miss
+Danesbury said, &#8216;After waiting for him four years,
+and now, when he comes back, he won&#8217;t find her!&#8217;
+Oh dear, oh dear! there is Danesbury. Cecil, darling
+love, go to her, and find out the truth.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Cecil rose at once, went across the lawn, said a
+few words to Miss Danesbury, and came back to the
+other girls.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is true,&#8221; she said sadly, &#8220;there came a letter
+this morning from Captain Forest; he will be at
+Lavender House in a week. Miss Danesbury says
+it is a wonderful letter, and he has been shipwrecked,
+and on an island by himself for ever so long; but
+he is safe now, and will soon be in England. Miss
+Danesbury says Mrs. Willis can scarcely speak about
+that letter; she is in great, great trouble, and Miss
+Danesbury confesses that they are all more anxious
+than they dare to admit about Annie and little
+Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At this moment the sound of carriage wheels was
+heard on the drive, and Susan, peering forward to
+see who was arriving, remarked in her usual nonchalant
+manner:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Only the little Misses Bruce in their basket-carriage&mdash;what
+dull-looking women they are?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nobody commented, however, on her observation,
+and gradually the little group of girls sank into absolute
+silence.
+</p>
+<p>From where they sat they could see the basket-carriage
+waiting at the front entrance&mdash;the little
+ladies had gone inside, all was perfect silence and
+stillness.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly on the stillness a sound broke&mdash;the
+sound of a girl running quickly; nearer and nearer
+came the steps, and the four or five who sat together
+under the oak-tree noticed the quick panting breath,
+and felt even before a word was uttered that evil
+tidings were coming to them. They all started to
+their feet, however; they all uttered a cry of horror
+and distress when Hester herself broke into their
+midst. She was supposed to be lying down in a
+darkened room, she was supposed to be very ill&mdash;what
+was she doing here?
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hetty!&#8221; exclaimed Cecil.
+</p>
+<p>Hester pushed past her; she rushed up to Susan
+Drummond, and seized her arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;News has come!&#8221; she panted; &#8220;news&mdash;news at
+last! Nan is found!&mdash;and Annie&mdash;they are both
+found&mdash;but Annie is dying. Come, Susan, come
+this moment; we must both tell what we know
+now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>By her impetuosity, by the intense fire of her passion
+and agony, even Susan was electrified into leaving
+her seat and going with her.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XLIX_TWO_CONFESSIONS' id='CHAPTER_XLIX_TWO_CONFESSIONS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XLIX.</h2>
+<h3>TWO CONFESSIONS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hester dragged her startled and rather unwilling
+companion in through the front entrance, past some
+agitated-looking servants who stood about in the
+hall, and through the velvet curtains into Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+boudoir.
+</p>
+<p>The Misses Bruce were there, and Mrs. Willis in
+her bonnet and cloak was hastily packing some
+things into a basket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I must speak to you,&#8221; said Hester, going up
+to her governess. &#8220;Susan and I have got something
+to say, and we must say it here, now at
+once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not now, Hester,&#8221; replied Mrs. Willis, looking
+for a moment into her pupil&#8217;s agitated face.
+&#8220;Whatever you and Susan Drummond have to tell
+cannot be listened to by me at this moment. I have
+not an instant to lose.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are going to Annie?&#8221; asked Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; don&#8217;t keep me. Good-bye, my dears;
+good-bye.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis moved toward the door. Hester, who
+felt almost beside herself, rushed after her, and
+caught her arm.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Take us with you, take Susy and me with you&mdash;we
+must, we must see Annie before she dies.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hush, my child,&#8221; said Mrs. Willis very quietly;
+&#8220;try to calm yourself. Whatever you have got to
+say shall be listened to later on&mdash;now moments are
+precious, and I cannot attend to you. Calm yourself,
+Hester, and thank God for your dear little sister&#8217;s
+safety. Prepare yourself to receive her, for
+the carriage which takes me to Annie will bring
+little Nan home.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Willis left the room, and Hester threw herself
+on her knees and covered her face with her
+trembling hands. Presently she was aroused
+by a light touch on her arm; it was Susan Drummond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I may go now I suppose, Hester? You are not
+quite determined to make a fool of me, are you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have determined to expose you, you coward;
+you mean, mean girl!&#8221; answered Hester, springing
+to her feet. &#8220;Come, I have no idea of letting you
+go. Mrs. Willis won&#8217;t listen&mdash;we will find Mr.
+Everard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Whether Susan would really have gone with Heater
+remains to be proved, but just at that moment
+all possibility of retreat was cut away from her by
+Miss Agnes Bruce, who quietly entered Mrs. Willis&#8217;
+private sitting-room, followed by the very man
+Hester was about to seek.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought it best, my dear,&#8221; she said, turning
+apologetically to Hester, &#8220;to go at once for our good
+clergyman; you can tell him all that is in your
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span>
+heart, and I will leave you. Before I go, however,
+I should like to tell you how I found Annie and
+little Nan.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester made no answer; just for a brief moment
+she raised her eyes to Miss Agnes&#8217; kind face, then
+they sought the floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The story can be told in a few words, dear,&#8221; said
+the little lady. &#8220;A workwoman of the name of
+Williams, whom my sister and I have employed
+for years, and who lives near Oakley, called on us
+this morning to apologize for not being able to
+finish some needlework. She told us that she had
+a sick child, and also a little girl of three, in her
+house. She said she had found the child, in ragged
+gypsy garments, fainting in a field. She took her
+into her house, and on undressing her, found that
+she was no true gypsy, but that her face and hands
+and arms had been dyed; she said the little one had
+been treated in a similar manner. Jane&#8217;s suspicions
+and mine were instantly roused, and we went back
+with the woman to Oakley, and found, as we had
+anticipated, that the children were little Nan and
+Annie. The sad thing is that Annie is in high
+fever, and knows no one. We waited there until
+the doctor arrived, who spoke very, very seriously
+of her case. Little Nan is well, and asked for
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With these last words Miss Agnes Bruce softly
+left the room closing the door after her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Susan,&#8221; said Hester, without an instant&#8217;s
+pause; &#8220;come, let us tell Mr. Everard of our
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span>
+wickedness. Oh, sir,&#8221; she added, raising her
+eyes to the clergyman&#8217;s face, &#8220;if Annie dies I
+shall go mad. Oh, I cannot, cannot bear life if
+Annie dies!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me what is wrong, my poor child,&#8221; said
+Mr. Everard. He laid his hand on her shoulder,
+and gradually and skillfully drew from the
+agitated and miserable girl the story of her sin, of
+her cowardice, and of her deep, though until now
+unavailing repentance. How from the first she had
+hated and disliked Annie; how unjustly she had
+felt toward her; how she had longed and hoped
+Annie was guilty; and how, when at last the clue
+was put into her hands to prove Annie&#8217;s absolute
+innocence, she had determined not to use it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;From the day Nan was lost,&#8221; continued Hester,
+&#8220;it has been all agony and all repentance; but, oh,
+I was too proud to tell! I was too proud to humble
+myself to the very dust!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But not now,&#8221; said the clergyman, very gently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; not now. I care for nothing now in all
+the world except that Annie may live.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mind the fact that Mrs. Willis and all
+your schoolfellows must know of this, and must&mdash;must
+judge you accordingly?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They can&#8217;t think worse of me than I think of
+myself. I only want Annie to live.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Hester,&#8221; answered Mr. Everard, &#8220;you want
+more than that&mdash;you want far more than that. It
+may be that God will take Annie Forest away.
+We cannot tell. With Him alone are the issues of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span>
+life or death. What you really want, my child, is
+the forgiveness of the little girl you have wronged,
+and the forgiveness of your Father in heaven.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester began to sob wildly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If&mdash;if she dies&mdash;may I see her first?&#8221; she
+gasped.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I will try and promise you that. Now,
+will you go to your room? I must speak to
+Miss Drummond alone; she is a far worse culprit
+than you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard opened the door for Hester, who
+went silently out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Meet me in the chapel to-night,&#8221; he whispered
+low in her ear, &#8220;I will talk with you and pray with
+you there.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He closed the door, and came back to Susan.
+</p>
+<p>All throughout this interview his manner had
+been very gentle to Hester: but the clergyman
+could be stern, and there was a gleam of very righteous
+anger in his eyes as he turned to the sullen
+girl who leaned heavily against the table.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This narrative of Hester Thornton&#8217;s is, of
+course, quite true, Miss Drummond?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes; there seems to be no use in denying
+that,&#8221; said Susan.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must insist on your telling me the exact story
+of your sin. There is no use in your attempting to
+deny anything; only the utmost candor on your
+part can now save you from being publicly
+expelled.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am willing to tell,&#8221; answered Susan. &#8220;I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span>
+meant no harm; it was done as a bit of fun. I had
+a cousin at home who was very clever at drawing
+caricatures, and I happened to have nothing to do
+one day, and I was alone in Annie&#8217;s bedroom, and I
+thought I&#8217;d like to see what she kept in her desk.
+I always had a fancy for collecting odd keys, and I
+found one on my bunch which fitted her desk
+exactly. I opened it, and I found such a smart
+little caricature of Mrs. Willis. I sent the caricature
+to my cousin, and begged of her to make an exact
+copy of it. She did so, and I put Annie&#8217;s back in
+her desk, and pasted the other into Cecil&#8217;s book. I
+didn&#8217;t like Dora Russell, and I wrapped up the
+sweeties in her theme; but I did the other for pure
+fun, for I knew Cecil would be so shocked; but I never
+guessed the blame would fall on Annie. When I
+found it did, I felt inclined to tell once or twice, but
+it seemed too much trouble and, besides, I knew
+Mrs. Willis would punish me, and, of course, I didn&#8217;t
+wish that.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dora Russell was always very nasty to me, and
+when I found she was putting on such airs, and pretending
+she could write such a grand essay for the
+prize, I thought I&#8217;d take down her pride a bit. I
+went to her desk, and I got some of the rough copy
+of the thing she was calling &#8216;The River,&#8217; and I sent
+it off to my cousin, and my cousin made up such a
+ridiculous paper, and she hit off Dora&#8217;s writing to
+the life, and, of course, I had to put it into Dora&#8217;s
+desk and tear up her real copy. It was very
+unlucky Hester being in the room. Of course I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span>
+never guessed that, or I wouldn&#8217;t have gone. That
+was the night we all went with Annie to the fairies&#8217;
+field. I never meant to get Hester into a scrape,
+nor Annie either, for that matter; but, of course, I
+couldn&#8217;t be expected to tell on myself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan related her story in her usual monotonous
+and sing-song voice. There was no trace of apparent
+emotion on her face, or of regret in her tones.
+When she had finished speaking Mr. Everard was
+absolutely silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I took a great deal of trouble,&#8221; continued Susan,
+after a pause, in a slightly fretful key. &#8220;It was
+really nothing but a joke, and I don&#8217;t see why such a
+fuss should have been made. I know I lost a great
+deal of sleep trying to manage that twine business
+round my foot. I don&#8217;t think I shall trouble
+myself playing any more tricks upon schoolgirls&mdash;they
+are not worth it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll never play any more tricks on these girls,&#8221;
+said Mr. Everard, rising to his feet, and suddenly filling
+the room and reducing Susan to an abject silence
+by the ring of his stern, deep voice. &#8220;I take it upon
+me, in the absence of your mistress, to pronounce your
+punishment. You leave Lavender House in disgrace
+this evening. Miss Good will take you home, and
+explain to your parents the cause of your dismissal.
+You are not to see <i>any</i> of your schoolfellows again.
+Your meanness, your cowardice, your sin require no
+words on my part to deepen their vileness. Through
+pure wantonness you have cast a cruel shadow on an
+innocent young life. If that girl dies, you indeed are
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_325' name='page_325'></a>325</span>
+not blameless in the cause of her early removal, for
+through you her heart and spirit were broken. Miss
+Drummond, I pray God you may at least repent and
+be sorry. There are some people mentioned in the
+Bible who are spoken of as past feeling. Wretched
+girl, while there is yet time, pray that you may not
+belong to them. Now I must leave you, but I shall
+lock you in. Miss Good will come for you in about
+an hour to take you away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Susan Drummond sank down on the nearest seat,
+and began to cry softly; one or two pin-pricks from
+Mr. Everard&#8217;s stern words may possibly have reached
+her shallow heart&mdash;no one can tell. She left Lavender
+House that evening, and none of the girls who
+had lived with her as their schoolmate heard of her
+again.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_L_THE_HEART_OF_LITTLE_NAN' id='CHAPTER_L_THE_HEART_OF_LITTLE_NAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_326' name='page_326'></a>326</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER L.</h2>
+<h3>THE HEART OF LITTLE NAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>For several days now Annie had lain unconscious
+in Mrs. Williams&#8217; little bedroom; the kind-hearted
+woman could not find it in her heart to send the sick
+child away. Her husband and the neighbors expostulated
+with her, and said that Annie was only a
+poor little waif.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has no call on you,&#8221; said Jane Allen, a hard-featured
+woman who lived next door. &#8220;Why should
+you put yourself out just for a sick lass? and she&#8217;ll
+be much better off in the workhouse infirmary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Mrs. Williams shook her head at her hard-featured
+and hard-hearted neighbor, and resisted her
+husband&#8217;s entreaties.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eh!&#8221; she said, &#8220;but the poor lamb needs a good
+bit of mothering, and I misdoubt me she wouldn&#8217;t
+get much of that in the infirmary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So Annie stayed, and tossed from side to side of
+her little bed, and murmured unintelligible words,
+and grew daily a little weaker and a little more delirious.
+The parish doctor called, and shook his
+head over her; he was not a particularly clever man,
+but he was the best the Williamses could afford.
+While Annie suffered and went deeper into that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_327' name='page_327'></a>327</span>
+valley of humiliation and weakness which leads to
+the gate of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, little
+Nan played with Peggy Williams, and accustomed
+herself after the fashion of little children to all the
+ways of her new and humble home.
+</p>
+<p>It was on the eighth day of Annie&#8217;s fever that the
+Misses Bruce discovered her, and on the evening of
+that day Mrs. Willis knelt by her little favorite&#8217;s
+bed. A better doctor had been called in, and all
+that money could procure had been got now for poor
+Annie; but the second doctor considered her case
+even more critical, and said that the close air of the
+cottage was much against her recovery.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t make that caricature; I took the girls
+into the fairies&#8217; field, but I never pasted that caricature
+into Cecil&#8217;s book. I know you don&#8217;t believe
+me, Cecil; but do you think I would really do anything
+so mean about one whom love? No, No! I
+am innocent! God knows it. Yes, I am glad of
+that&mdash;God knows it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Over and over in Mrs. Willis&#8217; presence these
+piteous words would come from the fever-stricken
+child, but always when she came to the little sentence
+&#8220;God knows I am innocent,&#8221; her voice would grow
+tranquil, and a faint and sweet smile would play
+round her lips.
+</p>
+<p>Late that night a carriage drew up at a little
+distance from the cottage, and a moment or two
+afterward Mrs. Willis was called out of the room
+to speak to Cecil Temple.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have found out the truth about Annie; I have
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_328' name='page_328'></a>328</span>
+come at once to tell you,&#8221; she said; and then she
+repeated the substance of Hester&#8217;s and Susan&#8217;s
+story.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;God help me for having misjudged her,&#8221; murmured
+the head-mistress; then she bade Cecil &#8220;good-night&#8221;
+and returned to the sick-room.
+</p>
+<p>The next time Annie broke out with her piteous
+wail, &#8220;They believe me guilty&mdash;Mrs. Willis does&mdash;they
+all do,&#8221; the mistress laid her hand with a firm
+and gentle pressure on the child&#8217;s arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not now, my dear,&#8221; she said, in a slow, clear,
+and emphatic voice. &#8220;God has shown your governess
+the truth, and she believes in you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The very carefully-uttered words pierced through
+the clouded brain; for a moment Annie lay quite
+still, with her bright and lovely eyes fixed on her
+teacher.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that really you?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am here, my darling.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you believe in me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do, most absolutely.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;God does, too, you know,&#8221; answered Annie&mdash;bringing
+out the words quickly, and turning her head
+to the other side. The fever had once more gained
+supremacy, and she rambled on unceasingly through
+the dreary night.
+</p>
+<p>Now, however, when the passionate words broke
+out, &#8220;They believe me guilty,&#8221; Mrs. Willis always
+managed to quiet her by saying, &#8220;I know you are
+innocent.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span></p>
+<p>The next day at noon those girls who had not
+gone home&mdash;for many had started by the morning
+train&mdash;were wandering aimlessly about the grounds.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard had gone to see Annie, and had
+promised to bring back the latest tidings about
+her.
+</p>
+<p>Hester, holding little Nan&#8217;s hand&mdash;for she could
+scarcely bear to have her recovered treasure out of
+sight&mdash;had wandered away from the rest of her
+companions, and had seated herself with Nan under
+a large oak-tree which grew close to the entrance
+of the avenue. She had come here in order to be
+the very first to see Mr. Everard on his return.
+Nan had climbed into Hester&#8217;s lap, and Hester had
+buried her aching head in little Nan&#8217;s bright curls,
+when she started suddenly to her feet and ran
+forward. Her quick ears had detected the sound of
+wheels.
+</p>
+<p>How soon Mr. Everard had returned; surely the
+news was bad! She flew to the gate, and held it
+open in order to avoid the short delay which the
+lodge-keeper might cause in coming to unfasten it.
+She flushed, however, vividly, and felt half inclined
+to retreat into the shade, when she saw that the
+gentleman who was approaching was not Mr. Everard,
+but a tall, handsome, and foreign-looking man,
+who drove a light dog-cart himself. The moment
+he saw Hester with little Nan clinging to her skirts
+he stopped short.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is this Lavender House, little girl?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; replied Hester.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_330' name='page_330'></a>330</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;And can you tell me&mdash;but of course you know&mdash;you
+are one of the young ladies who live here, eh?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you can tell me if Mrs. Willis is at home&mdash;but
+of course she is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; answered Hester; &#8220;I am sorry to tell
+you that Mrs. Willis is away. She has been called
+away on very, very sad business; she won&#8217;t come
+back to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Something in Hester&#8217;s tone caused the stranger to
+look at her attentively; he jumped off the dog-cart
+and came to her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;See here, Miss&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thornton,&#8221; put in Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Miss&mdash;Miss Thornton, perhaps you can
+manage for me as well as Mrs. Willis; after all I
+don&#8217;t particularly want to see her. If you belong
+to Lavender House, you, of course, know my&mdash;I
+mean you have a schoolmate here, a little, pretty
+gypsy rogue called Forest&mdash;little Annie Forest. I
+want to see her&mdash;can you take me to her?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are her father?&#8221; gasped Hester.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, my dear child, I am her father. Now you
+can take me to her at once.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester covered her face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I cannot,&#8221; she said&mdash;&#8220;I cannot take you to
+Annie. Oh, sir, if you knew all, you would feel
+inclined to kill me. Don&#8217;t ask me about Annie&mdash;don&#8217;t,
+don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The stranger looked fairly non-plussed and not a
+little alarmed. Just at this moment Nan&#8217;s tiny fingers
+touched his hand.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Me&#8217;ll take &#8217;oo to my Annie,&#8221; she said&mdash;&#8220;mine
+poor Annie. Annie&#8217;s vedy sick, but me&#8217;ll
+take &#8217;oo.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The tall, foreign-looking man lifted Nan into his
+arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sick, is she?&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Look here young
+lady,&#8221; he added, turning to Hester, &#8220;whatever you
+have got to say, I am sure you will try and say it;
+you will pity a father&#8217;s anxiety and master your own
+feelings. Where <i>is</i> my little girl?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester hastily dried her tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is in a cottage near Oakley, sir.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed! Oakley is some miles from here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And she is very ill.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What of?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fever; they&mdash;they fear she may die.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take me to her,&#8221; said the stranger. &#8220;If she is
+ill and dying she wants me. Take me to her at
+once. Here, jump on the dog-cart; and, little one,
+you shall come too.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So furiously did Captain Forest drive that in a
+very little over an hour&#8217;s time his panting horse
+stopped at a few steps from the cottage. He called
+to a boy to hold him, and, accompanied by Hester,
+and carrying Nan in his arms, he stood on the
+threshold of Mrs. Williams&#8217; humble little abode. Mr.
+Everard was coming out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hester,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you here? I was coming for
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, then she is worse?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is conscious, and has asked for you. Yes,
+she is very, very ill.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_332' name='page_332'></a>332</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Everard, this gentleman is Annie&#8217;s father.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Everard looked pityingly at Captain Forest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have come back at a sad hour, sir,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;But no, it cannot harm her to see you. Come
+with me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Captain Forest went first into the sick-room;
+Hester waited outside. She had the little kitchen to
+herself, for all the Williamses, with the exception of
+the good mother, had moved for the time being to
+other quarters. Surely Mr. Everard would come
+for her in a moment? Surely Captain Forest, who
+had gone into the sick-room with Nan in his arms,
+would quickly return? There was no sound. All
+was absolute quiet. How soon would Hester be
+summoned? Could she&mdash;could she bear to look at
+Annie&#8217;s dying face? Her agony drove her down on
+her knees.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if you would only spare Annie!&#8221; she prayed
+to God. Then she wiped her eyes. This terrible
+suspense seemed more than she could bear. Suddenly
+the bedroom door was softly and silently
+opened, and Mr. Everard came out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She sleeps,&#8221; he said; &#8220;there is a shadow of hope.
+Little Nan has done it. Nan asked to lie down beside
+her, and she said, &#8216;Poor Annie! poor Annie!&#8217;
+and stroked her cheek; and in some way, I don&#8217;t
+know how, the two have gone to sleep together.
+Annie did not even glance at her father; she was
+quite taken up with Nan. You can come to the
+door and look at her, Hester.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hester did so. A time had been when she could
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_333' name='page_333'></a>333</span>
+scarcely have borne that sight without a pang of
+jealousy; now she turned to Mr. Everard:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;I could even give her the heart of little Nan
+to keep her here,&#8221; she murmured.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_LI_THE_PRIZE_ESSAY' id='CHAPTER_LI_THE_PRIZE_ESSAY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_334' name='page_334'></a>334</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER LI.</h2>
+<h3>THE PRIZE ESSAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Annie did not die. The fever passed away
+in that long and refreshing sleep, while Nan&#8217;s
+cool hand lay against her cheek. She came slowly,
+slowly back to life&mdash;to a fresh, a new, and a glad
+life. Hester, from being her enemy, was now her
+dearest and warmest friend. Her father was at
+home again, and she could no longer think or speak
+of herself as lonely or sad. She recovered, and in
+future days reigned as a greater favorite than ever
+at Lavender House. It is only fair to say that
+Tiger never went back to the gypsies, but devoted
+himself first and foremost to Annie, and then to the
+captain, who pronounced him a capital dog, and
+when he heard his story vowed he never would part
+with him.
+</p>
+<p>Owing to Annie&#8217;s illness, and to all the trouble
+and confusion which immediately ensued, Mrs. Willis
+did not give away her prizes at the usual time; but
+when her scholars once more assembled at Lavender
+House she astonished several of them by a few
+words.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dears,&#8221; she said, standing in her accustomed
+place at the head of the long school-room, &#8220;I intend
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_335' name='page_335'></a>335</span>
+now before our first day of lessons begins, to distribute
+those prizes which would have been yours, under
+ordinary circumstances, on the twenty-first of June.
+The prizes will be distributed during the afternoon
+recess; but here, and now, I wish to say something
+about&mdash;and also to give away&mdash;the prize for English
+composition. Six essays, all written with more or
+less care, have been given to me to inspect. There
+are reasons which we need not now go into which
+made it impossible to me to say anything in favor of
+a theme called &#8216;The River,&#8217; written by my late
+pupil, Miss Russell; but I can cordially praise a very
+nice historical sketch of Marie Antoinette, the work
+of Hester Thornton. Mary Price has also written a
+study which pleases me much, as it shows thought
+and even a little originality. The remainder of the
+six essays simply reach an ordinary average. You
+will be surprised therefore, my dears, to learn that I
+do not award the prize to any of these themes, but
+rather to a seventh composition, which was put into
+my hands yesterday by Miss Danesbury. It is crude
+and unfinished, and doubtless but for her recent illness
+would have received many corrections; but
+these few pages, which are called &#8216;A Lonely Child,&#8217;
+drew tears from my eyes; crude as they are, they
+have the merit of real originality. They are too
+morbid to read to you, girls, and I sincerely trust
+and pray the young writer may never pen anything
+so sad again. Such as they are, however, they rank
+first in the order of merit and the prize is hers.
+Annie, my dear, come forward.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_336' name='page_336'></a>336</span></p>
+<p>Annie left her seat, and, amid the cheers of her
+companions, went up to Mrs. Willis, who placed a
+locket, attached to a slender gold chain, round her
+neck; the locket contained a miniature of the head-mistress&#8217;
+much-loved face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all, think of our Annie Forest turning out
+clever as well as being the prettiest and dearest girl
+in the school!&#8221; exclaimed several of her companions.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only I do wish,&#8221; added one, &#8220;that Mrs. Willis
+had let us see the essay. Annie, treasure, come
+here; tell us what the &#8216;Lonely Child&#8217; was about.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t remember,&#8221; answered Annie. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know what loneliness means now, so how can I describe
+it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em;'>THE END</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-weight:bold;'>A. L. BURT&#8217;S PUBLICATIONS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-weight:bold;'>For Young People</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em;'>BY POPULAR WRITERS,</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-weight:bold;'>97-99-101 Reade Street, New York.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<p><b>Bonnie Prince Charlie</b>: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service.
+The boy, brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a
+Jacobite agent, escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches
+Paris, and serves with the French army at Dettingen. He kills
+his father&#8217;s foe in a duel, and escaping to the coast, shares the
+adventures of Prince Charlie, but finally settles happily in Scotland.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller;'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of &#8216;Quentin Durward.&#8217; The lad&#8217;s
+journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a narrative
+of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treatment and
+variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Spectator.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Clive in India</b>; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With 12 full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in
+India and the close of his career was critical and eventful in the
+extreme. At its commencement the English were traders existing
+on sufferance of the native princes. At its close they were masters
+of Bengal and of the greater part of Southern India. The author
+has given a full and accurate account of the events of that stirring
+time, and battles and sieges follow each other in rapid succession,
+while he combines with his narrative a tale of daring and adventure,
+which gives a lifelike interest to the volume.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller;'>
+
+<p>&#8220;He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance,
+and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is deeply
+interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the volume.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Scotsman.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Lion of the North</b>: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the
+Wars of Religion. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations
+by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>John Schönberg</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the
+Thirty Years&#8217; War. The issue had its importance, which has extended
+to the present day, as it established religious freedom
+in Germany. The army of the chivalrous king of Sweden was
+largely composed of Scotchmen, and among these was the hero of
+the story.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys may be
+trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be profited.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Times.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Dragon and the Raven</b>; or, The Days of King Alfred. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>C. J. Staniland</span>,
+R.I. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle
+between Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents
+a vivid picture of the misery and ruin to which the country was
+reduced by the ravages of the sea-wolves. The hero, a young
+Saxon thane, takes part in all the battles fought by King Alfred.
+He is driven from his home, takes to the sea and resists the Danes
+on their own element, and being pursued by them up the Seine,
+is present at the long and desperate siege of Paris.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Athenæum.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Young Carthaginian</b>: A Story of the Times of Hannibal.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>C. J. Staniland</span>,
+R.I. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen
+appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first a
+struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of
+Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he
+defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannæ,
+and all but took Rome, represents pretty nearly the sum total of
+their knowledge. To let them know more about this momentous
+struggle for the empire of the world Mr. Henty has written this
+story, which not only gives in graphic style a brilliant description
+of a most interesting period of history, but is a tale of exciting
+adventure sure to secure the interest of the reader.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays the
+interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose current
+varies in direction, but never loses its force.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>In Freedom&#8217;s Cause</b>: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish
+War of Independence. The extraordinary valor and personal
+prowess of Wallace and Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical
+heroes of chivalry, and indeed at one time Wallace was ranked
+with these legendary personages. The researches of modern
+historians have shown, however, that he was a living, breathing
+man&mdash;and a valiant champion. The hero of the tale fought under
+both Wallace and Bruce, and while the strictest historical accuracy
+has been maintained with respect to public events, the work is
+full of &#8220;hairbreadth &#8217;scapes&#8221; and wild adventure.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is written in the author&#8217;s best style. Full of the wildest and most remarkable
+achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy, once he has
+begun it, will not willingly put on one side.&#8221;&mdash;<i>The Schoolmaster.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Lee in Virginia</b>: A Story of the American Civil War. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely
+proving his sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves
+with no less courage and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson
+through the most exciting events of the struggle. He has many
+hairbreadth escapes, is several times wounded and twice taken
+prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in two cases, the
+devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom he had
+assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. The
+picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic incidents are
+skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of the story.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Standard.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By England&#8217;s Aid</b>; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604).
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Alfred Pearse</span>, and Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in
+the service of one of &#8220;the fighting Veres.&#8221; After many adventures
+by sea and land, one of the lads finds himself on board a
+Spanish ship at the time of the defeat of the Armada, and escapes
+only to fall into the hands of the Corsairs. He is successful in
+getting back to Spain under the protection of a wealthy merchant,
+and regains his native country after the capture of Cadiz.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring incident
+and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the scene are
+finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its attractiveness.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Boston
+Gazette.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By Right of Conquest</b>; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. S. Stacey</span>, and
+Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.50.
+</p>
+<p>The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under
+the magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked
+among the most romantic and daring exploits in history. With
+this as the groundwork of his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the
+adventures of an English youth, Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor
+of the good ship Swan, which had sailed from a Devon port
+to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards in the
+New World. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but
+is saved by his own judgment and strength, and by the devotion
+of an Aztec princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the protection
+of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining
+his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec
+bride.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;By Right of Conquest&#8217; is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful
+Historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Academy.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>In the Reign of Terror</b>: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>J. Schönberg</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the
+chateau of a French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies
+the family to Paris at the crisis of the Revolution. Imprisonment
+and death reduce their number, and the hero finds
+himself beset by perils with the three young daughters of the
+house in his charge. After hairbreadth escapes they reach Nantes.
+There the girls are condemned to death in the coffin-ships,
+but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy protector.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr.
+Henty&#8217;s record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and peril
+they depict.... The story is one of Mr. Henty&#8217;s best.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday
+Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Wolfe in Canada</b>; or, The Winning of a Continent. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle
+between Britain and France for supremacy in the North
+American continent. On the issue of this war depended not only
+the destinies of North America, but to a large extent those of the
+mother countries themselves. The fall of Quebec decided that
+the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New World;
+that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the
+nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the
+English language, and English literature, should spread right
+round the globe.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically told,
+but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure and peril by
+flood and field.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Illustrated London News.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>True to the Old Flag</b>: A Tale of the American War of Independence.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who
+took part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which
+American and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave
+with greater courage and good conduct. The historical portion of
+the book being accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures
+with the redskins on the shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting
+interest is interwoven with the general narrative and carried
+through the book.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers during
+the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son of an
+American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the hostile redskins
+in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us by the exploits
+of Hawkeye and Chingachgook.&#8221;&mdash;<i>The Times.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Lion of St. Mark</b>: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth
+Century. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor
+were put to the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and
+manliness which carry him safely through an atmosphere of intrigue,
+crime, and bloodshed. He contributes largely to the victories
+of the Venetians at Porto d&#8217;Anzo and Chioggia, and finally
+wins the hand of the daughter of one of the chief men of Venice.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Every boy should read &#8216;The Lion of St. Mark.&#8217; Mr. Henty has never produced
+a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday
+Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>A Final Reckoning</b>: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. B. Wollen</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood,
+emigrates to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the
+mounted police. A few years of active work on the frontier,
+where he has many a brush with both natives and bushrangers,
+gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he eventually settles
+down to the peaceful life of a squatter.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully constructed,
+or a better written story than this.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Spectator.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>Under Drake&#8217;s Flag</b>: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the
+supremacy of the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the
+Pacific expedition, and in his great voyage of circumnavigation.
+The historical portion of the story is absolutely to be relied upon,
+but this will perhaps be less attractive than the great variety of
+exciting adventure through which the young heroes pass in the
+course of their voyages.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one
+would think, to turn his hair gray.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Harper&#8217;s Monthly Magazine.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By Sheer Pluck</b>: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>.
+With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details
+of the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness.
+His hero, after many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained
+a prisoner by the king just before the outbreak of the war,
+but escapes, and accompanies the English expedition on their
+march to Coomassie.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys&#8217; stories. &#8216;By Sheer
+Pluck&#8217; will be eagerly read.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Athenæum.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>By Pike and Dyke</b>: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Maynard Brown</span>, and 4 Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds
+of an English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age&mdash;William
+the Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea
+captain, enters the service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed
+by him in many dangerous and responsible missions, in the
+discharge of which he passes through the great sieges of the time.
+He ultimately settles down as Sir Edward Martin.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the book,
+while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in spite of themselves.&#8221;&mdash;<i>St.
+James&#8217; Gazette.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>St. George for England</b>: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By
+<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>No portion of English history is more crowded with great events
+than that of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; the
+destruction of the Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death;
+the Jacquerie rising; these are treated by the author in &#8220;St.
+George for England.&#8221; The hero of the story, although of good
+family, begins life as a London apprentice, but after countless adventures
+and perils becomes by valor and good conduct the squire,
+and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys
+which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of Sir
+Walter Scott in the land of fiction.&#8221;&mdash;<i>The Standard.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>Captain&#8217;s Kidd&#8217;s Gold</b>: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor
+Boy. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>James Franklin Fitts</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very
+idea of buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy
+Portuguese and Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming
+eyes&mdash;sinister-looking fellows who once on a time haunted the
+Spanish Main, sneaking out from some hidden creek in their long,
+low schooner, of picaroonish rake and sheer, to attack an unsuspecting
+trading craft. There were many famous sea rovers in
+their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps
+the most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts&#8217; true story of an adventurous
+American boy, who receives from his dying father an
+ancient bit of vellum, which the latter obtained in a curious way.
+The document bears obscure directions purporting to locate a certain
+island in the Bahama group, and a considerable treasure
+buried there by two of Kidd&#8217;s crew. The hero of this book,
+Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of salt-water
+New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and
+secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our
+youth that has come from the press.
+</p>
+<p><b>Captain Bayley&#8217;s Heir</b>: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>H. M. Paget</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a
+considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the
+latter, and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves
+England for America. He works his passage before the mast,
+joins a small band of hunters, crosses a tract of country infested
+with Indians to the Californian gold diggings, and is successful
+both as digger and trader.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the
+humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John Holl, the Westminster
+dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Christian Leader.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>For Name and Fame</b>; or, Through Afghan Passes. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gordon Browne</span>.
+12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero,
+after being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures
+among the Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment
+proceeding to join the army at the Afghan passes. He accompanies
+the force under General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal,
+is wounded, taken prisoner, carried to Cabul, whence he is transferred
+to Candahar, and takes part in the final defeat of the army
+of Ayoub Khan.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;The best feature of the book&mdash;apart from the interest of its scenes of adventure&mdash;is
+its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the Afghan
+people.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Daily News.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>Captured by Apes</b>: The Wonderful Adventures of a Young
+Animal Trainer. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Harry Prentice</span>. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archipelago.
+Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of
+New York, sets sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of
+living curiosities. The vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo
+and young Garland, the sole survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore
+on a small island, and captured by the apes that overrun the
+place. The lad discovers that the ruling spirit of the monkey
+tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, whom he identifies as
+Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession and with whose
+instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute recognizes
+him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his former
+master through the same course of training he had himself experienced
+with a faithfulness of detail which shows how astonishing
+is monkey recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by
+which the young man escapes death. Mr. Prentice has certainly
+worked a new vein on juvenile fiction, and the ability with which
+he handles a difficult subject stamps him as a writer of undoubted
+skill.
+</p>
+<p><b>The Bravest of the Brave</b>; or, With Peterborough in Spain.
+By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>H. M. Paget</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so
+completely fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough.
+This is largely due to the fact that they were overshadowed
+by the glory and successes of Marlborough. His career
+as general extended over little more than a year, and yet, in that
+time, he showed a genius for warfare which has never been surpassed.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work&mdash;to enforce
+the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read &#8216;The Bravest of the Brave&#8217;
+with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Daily Telegraph.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>The Cat of Bubastes</b>: A Story of Ancient Egypt. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>G. A. Henty</span>. With full-page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight
+into the customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the
+Rebu nation, is carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery.
+They become inmates of the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest,
+and are happy in his service until the priest&#8217;s son accidentally
+kills the sacred cat of Bubastes. In an outburst of popular
+fury Ameres is killed, and it rests with Jethro and Amuba to
+secure the escape of the high-priest&#8217;s son and daughter.
+</p>
+<div style='font-size:smaller'>
+
+<p>&#8220;The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat to the
+perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully constructed
+and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably illustrated.&#8221;&mdash;<i>Saturday
+Review.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><b>With Washington at Monmouth</b>: A Story of Three Philadelphia
+Boys. By <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>James Otis</span>. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+</p>
+<p>Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon &#8220;whose mother conducted
+a boarding-house which was patronized by the British
+officers;&#8221; Enoch Ball, &#8220;son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing
+school was situated on Letitia Street,&#8221; and little Jacob, son of
+&#8220;Chris, the Baker,&#8221; serve as the principal characters. The
+story is laid during the winter when Lord Howe held possession
+of the city, and the lads aid the cause by assisting the American
+spies who make regular and frequent visits from Valley Forge.
+One reads here of home-life in the captive city when bread was
+scarce among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless prodigality
+shown by the British officers, who passed the winter in
+feasting and merry-making while the members of the patriot army
+but a few miles away were suffering from both cold and hunger.
+The story abounds with pictures of Colonial life skillfully
+drawn, and the glimpses of Washington&#8217;s soldiers which are given
+show that the work has not been hastily done, or without considerable
+study.
+</p>
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.07 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Sat Jun 21 05:46:26 -0600 2008 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25870-h.htm or 25870-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/8/7/25870/
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A World of Girls
+       The Story of a School
+
+Author: L. T. Meade
+
+Release Date: June 22, 2008 [EBook #25870]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "'SHAKE HANDS, NOW, AND LET US MAKE FRIENDS.'" (Page 27.)]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A WORLD OF GIRLS:
+
+THE STORY OF A SCHOOL.
+
+By L. T. MEADE.
+
+Author of "The Palace Beautiful," "A Sweet Girl Graduate,"
+"Polly: A New Fashioned Girl," Etc.
+
+ILLUSTRATED.
+
+NEW YORK:
+A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER I.
+"Good-Bye" to the Old Life.                1
+
+CHAPTER II.
+Traveling Companions.                      6
+
+CHAPTER III.
+At Lavender House.                        13
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+Little Drawing-Rooms and Little Tiffs.    19
+
+CHAPTER V.
+The Head-Mistress.                        28
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+"I am Unhappy."                           32
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+A Day at School.                          35
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+"You have Waked me too Soon."             47
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+Work and Play.                            54
+
+CHAPTER X.
+Varieties.                                62
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+What was Found in the School-Desk.        74
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+In the Chapel.                            88
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+Talking over the Mystery.                 95
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+"Sent to Coventry."                      102
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+About Some People who Thought no Evil.   107
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+"An Enemy Hath Done This."               114
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+"The Sweets are Poisoned."               123
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+In the Hammock.                          129
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+Cup and Ball.                            136
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+In the South Parlor.                     143
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+Stealing Hearts.                         151
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+In Burn Castle Wood.                     155
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+"Humpty-Dumpty had a Great Fall."        168
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+Annie to the Rescue.                     173
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+A Spoiled Baby.                          180
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+Under the Laurel Bush.                   188
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+Truants.                                 193
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+In the Fairies' Field.                   198
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+Hester's Forgotten Book.                 204
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+"A Muddy Stream."                        212
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+Good and Bad Angels.                     218
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+Fresh Suspicions.                        221
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+Untrustworthy.                           227
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+Betty Falls Ill at an Awkward Time.      233
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+"You are Welcome to Tell."               241
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+How Moses Moore Kept His Appointment.    247
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+A Broken Trust.                          252
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+Is She Still Guilty?                     259
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+Hester's Hour of Trial.                  265
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+A Gypsy Maid.                            272
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+Disguised.                               278
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+Hester.                                  284
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+Susan.                                   289
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+Under the Hedge.                         293
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+Tiger.                                   297
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+For Love of Nan.                         303
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+Rescued.                                 310
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+Dark Days.                               313
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+Two Confessions.                         318
+
+CHAPTER L.
+The Heart of Little Nan.                 326
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+The Prize Essay.                         334
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                           A WORLD OF GIRLS.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+"GOOD-BYE" TO THE OLD LIFE.
+
+
+"Me want to see Hetty," said an imperious baby voice.
+
+"No, no; not this morning, Miss Nan, dear."
+
+"Me do want to see Hetty," was the quick, impatient reply. And a sturdy
+indignant little face looked up at Nurse, to watch the effect of the last
+decisive words.
+
+Finding no affirmative reply on Nurse's placid face, the small lips
+closed firmly--two dimples came and went on two very round cheeks--the
+mischievous brown eyes grew full of laughter, and the next moment the
+little questioner had squeezed her way through a slightly open door, and
+was toddling down the broad stone stairs and across a landing to Hetty's
+room. The room-door was open, so the truant went in. A bed with the
+bed-clothes all tossed about, a half worn-out slipper on the floor, a
+very untidy dressing-table met her eyes, but no Hetty.
+
+"Me want Hetty, me do," piped the treble voice, and then the little feet
+commenced a careful and watchful pilgrimage, the lips still firmly shut,
+the dimples coming and going, and the eyes throwing many upward glances
+in the direction of Nurse and the nursery.
+
+No pursuit as yet, and great, great hope of finding Hetty somewhere in
+the down-stair regions. Ah, now, how good! those dangerous stairs had
+been descended, and the little voice calling in shrill tones for Hetty
+rang out in the wide hall.
+
+"Let her come to me," suddenly said an answering voice, and a girl of
+about twelve, dressed in deep mourning, suddenly opened the door of a
+small study and clasped the little one in her arms.
+
+"So you have found me, my precious, my dearest! Brave, plucky little Nan,
+you have got away from Nurse and found me out! Come into the study now,
+darling, and you shall have some breakfast."
+
+"Me want a bicky, Hetty," said the baby voice; the round arms clasped
+Hester's neck, but the brown eyes were already traveling eagerly over the
+breakfast table in quest of spoil for those rosy little lips.
+
+"Here are two biscuits, Nan. Nan, look me in the face--here, sit steady
+on my knee; you love me, don't you, Nan?"
+
+"Course me do," said the child.
+
+"And I'm going away from you, Nan, darling. For months and months I won't
+see anything of you. My heart will be always with you, and I shall think
+of you morning, noon and night. I love no one as I love you, Nan. You
+will think of me and love me too; won't you, Nan?"
+
+"Me will," said Nan; "me want more bicky, Hetty."
+
+"Yes, yes," answered Hester; "put your arms tight round my neck, and you
+shall have sugar, too. Tighter than that, Nan, and you shall have two
+lumps of sugar--oh, yes, you shall--I don't care if it makes you
+sick--you shall have just what you want the last moment we are together."
+
+Baby Nan was only too pleased to crumple up a crape frill and to smear a
+black dress with sticky little fingers for the sake of the sugar which
+Hetty plied her with.
+
+"More, Hetty," she said; "me'll skeeze 'oo vedy tight for more."
+
+On this scene Nurse unexpectedly entered.
+
+"Well, I never! and so you found your way all downstairs by yourself, you
+little toddle. Now, Miss Hetty, I hope you haven't been giving the
+precious lamb sugar; you know it never does suit the little dear. Oh,
+fie! baby; and what sticky hands! Miss Hetty, she has crumpled all your
+crape frills."
+
+"What matter?" said Hester. "I wanted a good hug, and I gave her three or
+four lumps. Babies won't squeeze you tight for nothing. There, my Nancy,
+go back to Nurse. Nurse, take her away; I'll break down in a minute if I
+see her looking at me with that little pout."
+
+Nurse took the child into her arms.
+
+"Good-bye, Miss Hester, dear. Try to be a good girl at school. Take my
+word, missy--things won't be as dark as they seem."
+
+"Good-bye, Nurse," said Hester, hastily. "Is that you, father? are you
+calling me?"
+
+She gathered up her muff and gloves, and ran out of the little study
+where she had been making believe to eat breakfast. A tall, stern-looking
+man was in the hall, buttoning on an overcoat; a brougham waited at the
+door. The next moment Hester and her father were bowling away in the
+direction of the nearest railway station. Nan's little chubby face had
+faded from view. The old square, gray house, sacred to Hester because of
+Nan, had also disappeared; the avenue even was passed, and Hester closed
+her bright brown eyes. She felt that she was being pushed out into a cold
+world, and was no longer in the same snug nest with Nan. An intolerable
+pain was at her heart; she did not glance at her father, who during their
+entire drive occupied himself over his morning paper. At last they
+reached the railway station, and just as Sir John Thornton was handing
+his daughter into a comfortable first-class carriage, marked "For Ladies
+only," and was presenting her with her railway ticket and a copy of the
+last week's illustrated newspaper, he spoke:
+
+"The guard will take care of you, Hester. I am giving him full
+directions, and he will come to you at every station, and bring you tea
+or any refreshment you may require. This train takes you straight to
+Sefton, and Mrs. Willis will meet you, or send for you there. Good-bye,
+my love; try to be a good girl, and curb your wild spirits. I hope to see
+you very much improved when you come home at midsummer. Good-bye, dear,
+good-bye. Ah, you want to kiss me--well, just one kiss. There--oh, my
+dear! you know I have a great dislike to emotion in public."
+
+Sir John Thornton said this because a pair of arms had been flung
+suddenly round his neck, and two kisses imprinted passionately on his
+sallow cheek. A tear also rested on his cheek, but that he wiped away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TRAVELING COMPANIONS.
+
+
+The train moved rapidly on its way, and the girl in one corner of the
+railway carriage cried silently behind her crape veil. Her tears were
+very subdued, but her heart felt sore, bruised, indignant; she hated the
+idea of school-life before her; she hated the expected restraints and the
+probable punishments; she fancied herself going from a free life into a
+prison, and detested it accordingly.
+
+Three months before, Hester Thornton had been one of the happiest,
+brightest and merriest of little girls in ----shire; but the mother who
+was her guardian angel, who had kept the frank and spirited child in
+check without appearing to do so, who had guided her by the magical power
+of love and not in the least by that of fear, had met her death suddenly
+by means of a carriage accident, and Hester and baby Nan were left
+motherless. Several little brothers and sisters had come between Hester
+and Nan, but from various causes they had all died in their infancy, and
+only the eldest and youngest of Sir John Thornton's family remained.
+
+Hester's father was stern, uncompromising. He was a very just and upright
+man, but he knew nothing of the ways of children, and when Hester in her
+usual tom-boyish fashion climbed trees and tore her dresses, and rode
+bare-backed on one or two of his most dangerous horses, he not only tried
+a little sharp, and therefore useless, correction, but determined to take
+immediate steps to have his wild and rather unmanageable little daughter
+sent to a first-class school. Hester was on her way there now, and very
+sore was her heart and indignant her impulses. Father's "good-bye" seemed
+to her to be the crowning touch to her unhappiness, and she made up her
+mind not to be good, not to learn her lessons, not to come home at
+midsummer crowned with honors and reduced to an every-day and pattern
+little girl. No, she would be the same wild Hetty as of yore; and when
+father saw that school could do nothing for her, that it could never make
+her into a good and ordinary little girl, he would allow her to remain at
+home. At home there was at least Nan to love, and there was mother to
+remember.
+
+Hetty was a child of the strongest feelings. Since her mother's death she
+had scarcely mentioned her name. When her father alluded to his wife,
+Hester ran out of the room; when the servants spoke of their late
+mistress, Hester turned pale, stamped her feet, and told them to be
+quiet.
+
+"You are not worthy to speak of my mother," she electrified them all one
+day by exclaiming: "My mother is an angel now, and you--oh, you are not
+fit to breathe her name!"
+
+Only to one person would Hetty ever voluntarily say a word about the
+beloved dead mother, and that was to little Nan. Nan said her prayers, as
+she expressed it, to Hetty now; and Hetty taught her a little phrase to
+use instead of the familiar "God bless mother." She taught the child to
+say, "Thank God for making mother into a beautiful angel;" and when Nan
+asked what an angel was, and how the cozy mother she remembered could be
+turned into one, Hester was beguiled into a soft and tearful talk, and
+she drew several lovely pictures of white-robed angels, until the little
+child was satisfied and said:
+
+"Me like that, Hetty--me'll be an angel too, Hetty, same as mamma."
+
+These talks with Nan, however, did not come very often, and of late they
+had almost ceased, for Nan was only two and a half, and the strange, sad
+fact remained that in three months she had almost forgotten her mother.
+
+Hester on her way to school this morning cried for some time, then she
+sat silent, her crape veil still down, and her eyes watching furtively
+her fellow-passengers. They consisted of two rather fidgety old ladies,
+who wrapped themselves in rugs, were very particular on the question of
+hot bottles, and watched Hester in their turn with considerable curiosity
+and interest. Presently one of them offered the little girl a sandwich,
+which she was too proud or too shy to accept, although by this time she
+was feeling extremely hungry.
+
+"You will, perhaps, prefer a cake, my dear?" said the good-natured little
+old lady. "My sister Agnes has got some delicious queen-cakes in her
+basket--will you eat one?"
+
+Hester murmured a feeble assent, and the queen-cake did her so much good
+that she ventured to raise her crape veil and to look around her.
+
+"Ah, that is much better," said the first little old lady. "Come to this
+side of the carriage, my love; we are just going to pass through a lovely
+bit of country, and you will like to watch the view. See; if you place
+yourself here, my sister Agnes' basket will be just at your feet, and you
+can help yourself to a queen-cake whenever you are so disposed."
+
+"Thank you," responded Hester, in a much more cheerful tone, for it was
+really quite impossible to keep up reserve with such a bright-looking
+little old lady; "your queen-cakes are very nice, and I liked that one,
+but one is quite enough, thank you. It is Nan who is so particularly fond
+of queen-cakes."
+
+"And who is Nan, my dear?" asked the sister to whom the queen-cakes
+specially belonged.
+
+"She is my dear little baby sister," said Hester in a sorrowful tone.
+
+"Ah, and it was about her you were crying just now," said the first lady,
+laying her hand on Hester's arm. "Never mind us, dear, we have seen a
+great many tears--a great many. They are the way of the world. Women are
+born to them. As Kingsley says--'women must weep.' It was quite natural
+that you should cry about your sweet little Nan, and I wish we could send
+her some of these queen-cakes that you say she is so fond of. Are you
+going to be long away from her, love?"
+
+"Oh, yes, for months and months," said Hester. "I did not know," she
+added, "that it was such a common thing to cry. I never used to."
+
+"Ah, you have had other trouble, poor child," glancing at her deep
+mourning frock.
+
+"Yes, it is since then I have cried so often. Please, I would rather not
+speak about it."
+
+"Quite right, my love, quite right," said Miss Agnes in a much brisker
+tone than her sister. "We will turn the conversation now to something
+inspiriting. Jane is quite right, there are plenty of tears in the world;
+but there is also a great deal of sunshine and heaps of laughter, merry
+laughter--the laughter of youth, my child. Now, I dare say, though you
+have begun your journey so sadly, that you are really bound on quite a
+pleasant little expedition. For instance, you are going to visit a kind
+aunt, or some one else who will give you a delightful welcome."
+
+"No," said Hester, "I am not. I am going to a dreadful place, and the
+thought of that, and parting from little Nan, are the reasons why I
+cried. I am going to prison--I am, indeed."
+
+"Oh, my dear love!" exclaimed both the little old ladies in a breath.
+Then Miss Agnes continued: "You have really taken Jane's breath
+away--quite. Yes, Jane, I see that you are in for an attack of
+palpitation. Never mind her, dear, she palpitates very easily; but I
+think you must be mistaken, my love, in mentioning such an appalling word
+as 'prison.' Yes, now I come to think of it, it is absolutely certain
+that you must be mistaken; for if you were going to such a terrible place
+of punishment you would be under the charge of a policeman. You are given
+to strong language, dear, like other young folk."
+
+"Well, I call it prison," continued Hester, who was rather flattered by
+all this bustle and Miss Jane's agitation; "it has a dreadful sound,
+hasn't it? I call it prison, but father says I am going to school--you
+can't wonder that I am crying, can you? Oh! what is the matter?"
+
+For the two little old ladies jumped up at this juncture, and gave Hetty
+a kiss apiece on her soft, young lips.
+
+"My darling," they both exclaimed, "we are so relieved and delighted!
+Your strong language startled us, and school is anything but what you
+imagine, dear. Ah, Jane! can you ever forget our happy days at school?"
+
+Miss Jane sighed and rolled up her eyes, and then the two commenced a
+vigorous catechizing of the little girl. Really Hester could not help
+feeling almost sunshiny before that long journey came to an end, for she
+and the Misses Bruce made some delightful discoveries. The little old
+ladies very quickly found out that they lived close to the school where
+Hetty was to spend the next few months. They knew Mrs. Willis well--they
+knew the delightful, rambling, old-fashioned house where Hester was to
+live--they even knew two or three of the scholars; and they said so often
+to the little girl that she was going into a life of clover--positive
+clover--that she began to smile, and even partly to believe them.
+
+"I am glad I shall be near you, at least," she said at last, with a frank
+sweet smile, for she had greatly taken to her kind fellow-travelers.
+
+"Yes, my dear," exclaimed Miss Jane. "We attend the same church, and I
+shall look out for you on Sunday, and," she continued, glancing first at
+her sister and then addressing Hester, "perhaps Mrs. Willis will allow
+you to visit us occasionally."
+
+"I'll come to-morrow, if you like," said Hester.
+
+"Well, dear, well--that must be as Mrs. Willis thinks best. Ah, here we
+are at Sefton at last. We shall look out for you in church on Sunday, my
+love."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AT LAVENDER HOUSE.
+
+
+Hester's journey had really proved wonderfully agreeable. She had taken a
+great fancy to the little old ladies who had fussed over her and made
+themselves pleasant in her behalf. She felt herself something like a
+heroine as she poured out a little, just a little, of her troubles into
+their sympathizing ears; and their cheerful remarks with regard to school
+and school-life had caused her to see clearly that there might be another
+and a brighter side to the gloomy picture she had drawn with regard to
+her future.
+
+But during the drive of two and a half miles from Sefton to Lavender
+House, Hester once more began to feel anxious and troubled. The Misses
+Bruce had gone off with some other passengers in a little omnibus to
+their small villa in the town, but Lavender House was some distance off,
+and the little omnibus never went so far.
+
+An old-fashioned carriage, which the ladies told Hester belonged to Mrs.
+Willis, had been sent to meet her, and a man whom the Misses Bruce
+addressed as "Thomas" helped to place her trunk and a small portmanteau
+on the roof of the vehicle. The little girl had to take her drive alone,
+and the rather ancient horse which drew the old carriage climbed up and
+down the steep roads in a most leisurely fashion. It was a cold winter's
+day, and by the time Thomas had executed some commissions in Sefton, and
+had reached the gates of the avenue which led to Lavender House, it was
+very nearly dark. Hester trembled at the darkness, and when the gates
+were shut behind them by a rosy-faced urchin of ten, she once more began
+to feel the cruel and desolate idea that she was going to prison.
+
+They drove slowly down a long and winding avenue, and, although Hester
+could not see, she knew they must be passing under trees, for several
+times their branches made a noise against the roof of the carriage. At
+last they came to a standstill. The old servant scrambled slowly down
+from his seat on the box, and, opening the carriage-door, held out his
+hand to help the little stranger to alight.
+
+"Come now, missy," he said in cheering tones, "come out, and you'll be
+warm and snug in a minute. Dear, dear! I expect you're nearly froze up,
+poor little miss, and it _is_ a most bitter cold night."
+
+He rang a bell which hung by the entrance of a deep porch, and the next
+moment the wide hall-door was flung open by a neat maid-servant, and
+Hester stepped within.
+
+"She's come," exclaimed several voices in different keys, and proceeding
+apparently from different quarters. Hester looked around her in a
+half-startled way, but she could see no one, except the maid, who smiled
+at her and said:
+
+"Welcome to Lavender House, miss. If you'll step into the porter's room
+for one moment, there is a good fire there, and I'll acquaint Miss
+Danesbury that you have arrived."
+
+The little room in question was at the right hand side of a very wide and
+cheerful hall, which was decorated in pale tints of green, and had a
+handsome encaustic-tiled floor. A blazing fire and two lamps made the
+hall look cheerful, but Hester was very glad to take refuge from the
+unknown voices in the porter's small room. She found herself quite
+trembling with shyness and cold, and an indescribable longing to get back
+to Nan; and as she waited for Miss Danesbury and wondered fearfully who
+or what Miss Danesbury was, she scarcely derived any comfort from the
+blazing fire near which she stood.
+
+"Rather tall for her age, but I fear, I greatly fear, a little sulky,"
+said a voice behind her; and when she turned round in an agony of
+trepidation and terror, she suddenly found herself face to face with a
+tall, kind-looking, middle-aged lady, and also with a bright,
+gypsy-looking girl.
+
+"Annie Forest, how very naughty of you to hide behind the door! You are
+guilty of disobedience in coming into this room without leave. I must
+report you, my dear; yes, I really must. You lose two good conduct marks
+for this, and will probably have thirty lines in addition to your usual
+quantity of French poetry."
+
+"But she won't tell on me, she won't, dear old Danesbury," said the girl;
+"she couldn't be so hard-hearted, the precious love, particularly as
+curiosity happens to be one of her own special little virtues! Take a
+kiss, Danesbury, and now, as you love me you'll be merciful!" The girl
+flitted away, and Miss Danesbury turned to Hester, whose face had changed
+from red to pale during this little scene.
+
+"What a horrid, vulgar, low-bred girl!" she exclaimed with passion, for
+in all the experiences of her short life Hester had never even imagined
+that personal remarks could be made of any one in their very presence. "I
+hope she'll get a lot of punishment--I hope you are not going to forgive
+her," she continued, for her anger had for the time quite overcome her
+shyness.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear! we should all be forgiving," exclaimed Miss
+Danesbury in her gentle voice. "Welcome to Lavender House, love; I am
+sorry I was not in the hall to receive you. Had I been, this little
+_rencontre_ would not have occurred. Annie Forest meant no harm,
+however--she's a wild little sprite, but affectionate. You and she will
+be the best friends possible by-and-by. Now, let me take you to your
+room; the gong for tea will sound in exactly five minutes, and I am sure
+you will be glad of something to eat."
+
+Miss Danesbury then led Hester across the hall and up some broad, low,
+thickly-carpeted stairs. When they had ascended two flights, and were
+standing on a handsome landing, she paused.
+
+"Do you see this baize door, dear?" she said. "This is the entrance to
+the school part of the house. This part that we are now in belongs
+exclusively to Mrs. Willis, and the girls are never allowed to come here
+without leave. All the school life is lived at the other side of this
+baize door, and a very happy life I assure you it is for those little
+girls who make up their minds to be brave and good. Now kiss me, my dear,
+and let me bid you welcome once again to Lavender House."
+
+"Are you our principal teacher, then?" asked Hester.
+
+"I? oh, dear, no, my love. I teach the younger children English, and I
+look after the interests and comforts of all. I am a very useful sort of
+person, I believe, and I have a motherly heart, dear, and it is a way
+with little girls to come to me when they are in trouble. Now, my love,
+we must not chatter any longer. Take my hand, and let us get to your room
+as fast as possible."
+
+Miss Danesbury pushed open the baize door, and instantly Hester found
+herself in a different region. Mrs. Willis' part of the house gave the
+impression of warmth, luxuriance, and even elegance of arrangement. At
+the other side of the door were long, narrow corridors, with snow-white
+but carpetless floors, and rather cold, distempered walls. Miss
+Danesbury, holding the new pupil's hand, led her down two corridors, and
+past a great number of shut doors, behind which Hester could hear
+suppressed laughter and eager, chattering voices. At last, however, they
+stopped at a door which had the number "32" written over it.
+
+"This is your bedroom, dear," said the English teacher, "and to-night you
+will not be sorry to have it alone. Mrs. Willis received a telegram from
+Susan Drummond, your room-mate, this afternoon, and she will not arrive
+until to-morrow."
+
+However bare and even cold the corridors looked, the bedroom into which
+Hester was ushered by no means corresponded with this appearance. It was
+a small, but daintily-furnished little room. The floor was carpeted with
+green felt, the one window was hung with pretty draperies and two little,
+narrow, white beds were arranged gracefully with French canopies. All the
+furniture in the room was of a minute description, but good of its kind.
+Beside each bed stood a mahogany chest of drawers. At two corresponding
+corners were marble wash handstands, and even two pretty toilet tables
+stood side by side in the recess of the window. But the sight that
+perhaps pleased Hester most was a small bright fire which burned in the
+grate.
+
+"Now, dear, this is your room. As you have arrived first you can choose
+your own bed and your own chest of drawers. Ah, that is right, Ellen has
+unfastened your portmanteau; she will unpack your trunk to-night, and
+take it to the box-room. Now, dear, smooth your hair and wash your hands.
+The gong will sound instantly. I will come for you when it does."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+LITTLE DRAWING-ROOMS AND LITTLE TIFFS.
+
+
+Miss Danesbury, true to her word, came to fetch Hester down to tea. They
+went down some broad, carpetless stairs, along a wide stone hall, and
+then paused for an instant at a half-open door from which a stream of
+eager voices issued.
+
+"I will introduce you to your schoolfellows, and I hope your future
+friends," said Miss Danesbury. "After tea you will come with me to see
+Mrs. Willis--she is never in the school-room at tea-time. Mdlle. Perier
+or Miss Good usually superintends. Now, my dear, come along--why, surely
+you are not frightened!"
+
+"Oh, please, may I sit near you?" asked Hester.
+
+"No, my love; I take care of the little ones, and they are at a table by
+themselves. Now, come in at once--the moment you dread will soon be over,
+and it is nothing, my love--really nothing."
+
+Nothing! never, as long as Hester lived, did she forget the supreme agony
+of terror and shyness which came over her as she entered that long, low,
+brightly-lighted room. The forty pairs of curious eyes which were raised
+inquisitively to her face became as torturing as forty burning suns. She
+felt an almost uncontrollable desire to run away and hide--she wondered
+if she could possibly keep from screaming aloud. In the end she found
+herself, she scarcely knew how, seated beside a gentle, sweet-mannered
+girl, and munching bread and butter which tasted drier than sawdust, and
+occasionally trying to sip something very hot and scalding which she
+vaguely understood went by the name of tea. The buzzing voices all
+chattering eagerly in French, and the occasional sharp, high-pitched
+reprimands coming in peremptory tones from the thin lips of Mdlle.
+Perier, sounded far off and distant--her head was dizzy, her eyes
+swam--the tired and shy child endured tortures.
+
+In after-days, in long after-years when the memory of Lavender House was
+to come back to Hetty Thornton as one of the sweetest, brightest episodes
+in her existence--in the days when she was to know almost every blade of
+grass in the gardens, and to be familiar with each corner of the old
+house, with each face which now appeared so strange, she might wonder at
+her feelings to-night, but never even then could she forget them.
+
+She sat at the table in a dream, trying to eat the tasteless bread and
+butter. Suddenly and swiftly the thick and somewhat stale piece of bread
+on her plate was exchanged for a thin, fresh, and delicately-cut slice.
+
+"Eat that," whispered a voice--"I know the other is horrid. It's a shame
+of Perier to give such stuff to a stranger."
+
+"Mdlle. Cecile, you are transgressing: you are talking English," came in
+a torrent of rapid French from the head of the table. "You lose a conduct
+mark, ma'amselle."
+
+The young girl who sat next Hester inclined her head gently and
+submissively, and Hester, venturing to glance at her, saw that a delicate
+pink had spread itself over her pale face. She was a plain girl; but even
+Hester, in this first moment of terror, could scarcely have been afraid
+of her, so benign was her expression, so sweet the glance from her soft,
+full brown eyes. Hester now further observed that the thin bread and
+butter had been removed from Cecil's own plate. She began to wonder why
+this girl was indulged with better food than the rest of her comrades.
+
+Hester was beginning to feel a little less shy, and was taking one or two
+furtive glances at her companions, when she suddenly felt herself turning
+crimson, and all her agony of shyness and dislike to her school-life
+returning. She encountered the full, bright, quizzical gaze of the girl
+who had made personal remarks about her in the porter's room. The merry
+black eyes of this gypsy maiden fairly twinkled with suppressed fun when
+they met hers, and the bright head even nodded audaciously across the
+table to her.
+
+Not for worlds would Hester return this friendly greeting--she still held
+to her opinion that Miss Forest was one of the most ill-bred people she
+had ever met, and, in addition to feeling a considerable amount of fear
+of her, she quite made up her mind that she would never be on friendly
+terms with so under-bred a girl.
+
+At this moment grace was repeated in sonorous tones by a stern-looking
+person who sat at the foot of the long table, and whom Hester had not
+before noticed. Instantly the girls rose from their seats, and began to
+file in orderly procession out of the tea-room. Hester looked round in
+terror for the friendly Miss Danesbury, but she could not catch sight of
+her anywhere. At this moment, however, her companion of the tea-table
+touched her arm.
+
+"We may speak English now for half an hour," she said, "and most of us
+are going to the play-room. We generally tell stories round the fire upon
+these dark winter's nights. Would you like to come with me to-night?
+Shall we be chums for this evening?"
+
+"I don't know what 'chums' are," said Hester; "but," she added, with the
+dawning of a faint smile on her poor, sad little face, "I shall be very
+glad to go with you."
+
+"Come then," said Cecil Temple, and she pulled Hester's hand within her
+arm, and walked with her across the wide stone hall, and into the largest
+room Hester had ever seen.
+
+Never, anywhere, could there have been a more delightful play-room than
+this. It was so large that two great fires which burned at either end
+were not at all too much to emit even tolerable warmth. The room was
+bright with three or four lamps which were suspended from the ceiling,
+the floor was covered with matting, and the walls were divided into
+curious partitions, which gave the room a peculiar but very cosy effect.
+These partitions consisted of large panels, and were divided by slender
+rails the one from the other.
+
+"This is my cosy corner," said Cecil, "and you shall sit with me in it
+to-night. You see," she added, "each of us girls has her own partition,
+and we can do exactly what we like in it. We can put our own photographs,
+our own drawings, our own treasures on our panels. Under each division is
+our own little work-table, and, in fact, our own individual treasures lie
+round us in the enclosure of this dear little rail. The center of the
+room is common property, and you see what a great space there is round
+each fire-place where we can chatter and talk, and be on common ground.
+The fire-place at the end of the room near the door is reserved
+especially for the little ones, but we elder girls sit at the top. Of
+course you will belong to us. How old are you?"
+
+"Twelve," said Hester.
+
+"Oh, well, you are so tall that you cannot possibly be put with the
+little ones, so you must come in with us."
+
+"And shall I have a railed-in division and a panel of my own?" asked
+Hester. "It sounds a very nice arrangement. I hope my department will be
+close to yours, Miss ----."
+
+"Temple is my name," said Cecil, "but you need not call me that. I am
+Cecil to all my friends, and you are my friend this evening, for you are
+my chum, you know. Oh, you were asking me about our departments--you
+won't have any at first, for you have got to earn it, but I will invite
+you to mine pretty often. Come, now, let us go inside. Is not it just
+like the darlingest little drawing-room? I am so sorry that I have only
+one easy chair, but you shall have it to-night, and I will sit on this
+three-legged stool. I am saving up my money to buy another arm-chair, and
+Annie has promised to upholster it for me."
+
+"Is Annie one of the maids?"
+
+"Oh, dear, no! she's dear old Annie Forest, the liveliest girl in the
+school. Poor darling, she's seldom out of hot water; but we all love her,
+we can't help it. Poor Annie, she hardly ever has the luxury of a
+department to herself, so she is useful all round. She's the most amusing
+and good-natured dear pet in Christendom."
+
+"I don't like her at all," said Hester; "I did not know you were talking
+of her--she is a most rude, uncouth girl."
+
+Cecil Temple, who had been arranging a small dark green table-cloth with
+daffodils worked artistically in each corner on her little table, stood
+up as the newcomer uttered these words, and regarded her fixedly.
+
+"It is a pity to draw hasty conclusions," she said. "There is no girl
+more loved in the school than Annie Forest. Even the teachers, although
+they are always punishing her, cannot help having a soft corner in their
+hearts for her. What can she possibly have done to offend you? but oh!
+hush--don't speak--she is coming into the room."
+
+As Cecil finished her rather eager defense of her friend, and prevented
+the indignant words which were bubbling to Hester's lips, a gay voice was
+heard singing a comic song in the passage, the play-room door was flung
+open with a bang, and Miss Forest entered the room with a small girl
+seated on each of her shoulders.
+
+"Hold on, Janny, love; keep your arms well round me, Mabel. Now, then,
+here we go--twice up the room and down again. No more, as I'm alive. I've
+got to attend to other matters than you."
+
+She placed the little girls on the floor amid peals of laughter, and
+shouts from several little ones to give them a ride too. The children
+began to cling to her skirts and to drag her in all directions, and she
+finally escaped from them with one dexterous bound which placed her in
+that portion of the play-room where the little ones knew they were not
+allowed to enter.
+
+Until her arrival the different girls scattered about the large room had
+been more or less orderly, chattering and laughing together, it is true,
+but in a quiet manner. Now the whole place appeared suddenly in an
+uproar.
+
+"Annie, come here--Annie, darling, give me your opinion about
+this--Annie, my precious, naughty creature, come and tell me about your
+last scrape."
+
+Annie Forest blew several kisses to her adorers, but did not attach
+herself to any of them.
+
+"The Temple requires me," she said, in her sauciest tones; "my beloved
+friends, the Temple as usual is vouchsafing its sacred shelter to the
+stranger."
+
+In an instant Annie was kneeling inside the enclosure of Miss Temple's
+rail and laughing immoderately.
+
+"You dear stranger!" she exclaimed, turning round and gazing full into
+Hester's shy face, "I do declare I have been punished for the intense
+ardor with which I longed to embrace you. Has she told you, Cecil,
+darling, what I did in her behalf? How I ventured beyond the sacred
+precincts of the baize door and hid inside the porter's room? Poor dear,
+she jumped when she heard my friendly voice, and as I spoke Miss
+Danesbury caught me in the very act. Poor old dear, she cried when she
+complained of me, but duty is Danesbury's motto; she would go to the
+stake for it, and I respect her immensely. I have got my twenty lines of
+that horrible French poetry to learn--the very thought almost strangles
+me, and I foresee plainly that I shall do something terribly naughty
+within the next few hours; I must, my love--I really must. I have just
+come here to shake hands with Miss Thornton, and then I must away to my
+penance. Ah, how little I shall learn, and how hard I shall think!
+Welcome to Lavender House, Miss Thornton; look upon me as your devoted
+ally, and if you have a spark of pity in your breast, feel for the girl
+whom you got into a scrape the very moment you entered these sacred
+walls."
+
+"I don't understand you," said Hester, who would not hold out her hand,
+and who was standing up in a very stiff, shy, and angular position. "I
+think you were very rude to startle me, and make personal remarks the
+very moment I came into the house."
+
+"Oh, dear! I only said you were tall, and looked rather sulky, love--you
+did, you know, really."
+
+"It was very rude of you," repeated Hester, turning crimson, and trying
+to keep back her tears.
+
+"Well, my dear, I meant no harm; shake hands, now, and let us make
+friends."
+
+But Hester felt either too shy or too miserable to yield to this
+request--she half turned her back, and leaned against Miss Temple's
+panel.
+
+"Never mind her," whispered gentle Cecil Temple; but Annie Forest's
+bright face had darkened ominously--the school favorite was not
+accustomed to having her advances flung back in her face. She left the
+room singing a defiant, naughty song, and several of the girls who had
+overheard this scene whispered one to the other:
+
+"She can't be at all nice--she would not even shake hands with Annie.
+Fancy her turning against our Annie in that way!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HEAD-MISTRESS.
+
+
+Annie Forest had scarcely left the room before Miss Danesbury appeared
+with a message for Hester, who was to come with her directly to see Mrs.
+Willis. The poor shy girl felt only too glad to leave behind her the
+cruel, staring, and now by no means approving eyes of her schoolmates.
+She had overheard several of their whispers, and felt rather alarmed at
+her own act. But Hester, shy as she was, could be very tenacious of an
+idea. She had taken a dislike to Annie Forest, and she was quite
+determined to be true to what she considered her convictions--namely,
+that Annie was under-bred and common, and not at all the kind of girl
+whom her mother would have cared for her to know. The little girl
+followed Miss Danesbury in silence. They crossed the stone hall together,
+and now passing through another baize door, found themselves once more in
+the handsome entrance-hall. They walked across this hall to a door
+carefully protected from all draughts by rich plush curtains, and Miss
+Danesbury, turning the handle, and going a step or two into the room,
+said in her gentle voice:
+
+"I have brought Hester Thornton to see you, Mrs. Willis, according to
+your wish."
+
+Miss Danesbury then withdrew, and Hester ventured to raise her eyes and
+to look timidly at the head-mistress.
+
+A tall woman, with a beautiful face and silvery white hair, came
+instantly to meet her, laid her two hands on the girl's shoulders, and
+then, raising her shy little face, imprinted a kiss on her forehead.
+
+"Your mother was one of my earliest pupils, Hester," she said, "and you
+are--no"--after a pause, "you are not very like her. You are her child,
+however, my dear, and as such you have a warm welcome from me. Now, come
+and sit by the fire, and let us talk."
+
+Hester did not feel nearly so constrained with this graceful and gracious
+lady as she had done with her schoolmates. The atmosphere of the room
+recalled her beloved mother's boudoir at home. The rich dove-colored satin
+dress, the cap made of Mechlin lace which softened and shaded Mrs. Willis'
+silvery hair, appeared homelike to the little girl, who had grown up
+accustomed to all the luxuries of wealth. Above all, the head-mistress'
+mention of her mother drew her heart toward the beautiful face, and
+attracted her toward the rich, full tones of a voice which could be
+powerful and commanding at will. Mrs. Willis, notwithstanding her white
+hair, had a youthful face, and Hester made the comment which came first to
+her lips:
+
+"I did not think you were old enough to have taught my mother."
+
+"I am sixty, dear, and I have kept this school for thirty years. Your
+mother was not the only pupil who sent her children to be taught by me
+when the time came. Now, you can sit on this stool by the fire and tell
+me about your home. Your mother--ah, poor child, you would rather not
+talk about her just yet. Helen's daughter must have strong feelings--ah,
+yes; I see, I see. Another time, darling, when you know me better. Now
+tell me about your little sister, and your father. You do not know,
+perhaps, that I am Nan's godmother?"
+
+After this the head-mistress and the new pupil had a long conversation.
+Hester forgot her shyness; her whole heart had gone out instantly to this
+beautiful woman who had known, and loved, and taught her mother.
+
+"I will try to be good at school," she said at last; "but, oh, please,
+Mrs. Willis, it does not seem to me to-night as if school-life could be
+happy."
+
+"It has its trials, Hester; but the brave and the noble girls often find
+this time of discipline one of the best in their lives--good at the time,
+very good to look back on by-and-by. You will find a miniature world
+around you; you will be surrounded by temptations; and you will have rare
+chances of proving whether your character can be strong and great and
+true. I think, as a rule, my girls are happy, and as a rule they turn out
+well. The great motto of life here, Hester, is earnestness. We are
+earnest in our work, we are earnest in our play. A half-hearted girl has
+no chance at Lavender House. In play-time, laugh with the merriest, my
+child; in school-hours, study with the most studious. Do you understand
+me?"
+
+"I try to, a little," said Hester, "but it seems all very strange just
+now."
+
+"No doubt it does, and at first you will have to encounter many
+perplexities and to fight many battles. Never mind, if you have the right
+spirit within you, you will come out on the winning side. Now, tell me,
+have you made any acquaintances as yet among the girls?"
+
+"Yes--Cecil Temple has been kind to me."
+
+"Cecil is one of my dearest pupils; cultivate her friendship, Hester--she
+is honorable, she is sympathizing. I am not afraid to say that Cecil has
+a great heart."
+
+"There is another girl," continued Hester, "who has spoken to me. I need
+not make her my friend, need I?"
+
+"Who is she, dear?"
+
+"Miss Forest--I don't like her."
+
+"What! our school favorite. You will change your mind, I expect--but that
+is the gong for prayers. You shall come with me to chapel, to-night, and
+I will introduce you to Mr. Everard."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"I AM UNHAPPY."
+
+
+Between forty and fifty young girls assembled night and morning for
+prayers in the pretty chapel which adjoined Lavender House. This chapel
+had been reconstructed from the ruins of an ancient priory, on the site
+of which the house was built. The walls, and even the beautiful eastern
+window, belonged to a far-off date. The roof had been carefully reared in
+accordance with the style of the east window, and the whole effect was
+beautiful and impressive. Mrs. Willis was particularly fond of her own
+chapel. Here she hoped the girls' best lessons might be learned, and here
+she had even once or twice brought a refractory pupil, and tried what a
+gentle word or two spoken in these old and sacred walls might effect.
+Here, on wet Sundays the girls assembled for service; and here, every
+evening at nine o'clock, came the vicar of the large parish to which
+Lavender House belonged, to conduct evening prayers. He was an old man,
+and a great friend of Mrs. Willis', and he often told her that he
+considered these young girls some of the most important members of his
+flock.
+
+Here Hester knelt to-night. It is to be doubted whether in her confusion,
+and in the strange loneliness which even Mrs. Willis had scarcely
+removed, she prayed much. It is certain she did not join in the evening
+hymn, which, with the aid of an organ and some sweet girl-voices, was
+beautifully and almost pathetically rendered. After evening prayers had
+come to an end, Mrs. Willis took Hester's hand and led her up to the old,
+white-headed vicar.
+
+"This is my new pupil, Mr. Everard, or rather I should say, our new
+pupil. Her education depends as much on you as on me."
+
+The vicar held out his hands, and took Hester's within them, and then
+drew her forward to the light.
+
+"This little face does not seem quite strange to me," he said. "Have I
+ever seen you before, my dear?"
+
+"No, sir," replied Hester.
+
+"You have seen her mother," said Mrs. Willis--"Do you remember your
+favorite pupil, Helen Anstey, of long ago?"
+
+"Ah! indeed--indeed! I shall never forget Helen. And are you her child,
+little one?"
+
+But Hester's face had grown white. The solemn service in the chapel,
+joined to all the excitement and anxieties of the day, had strung up her
+sensitive nerves to a pitch higher than she could endure. Suddenly, as
+the vicar spoke to her, and Mrs. Willis looked kindly down at her new
+pupil, the chapel seemed to reel round, the pupils one by one
+disappeared, and the tired girl only saved herself from fainting by a
+sudden burst of tears.
+
+"Oh, I am unhappy," she sobbed, "without my mother! Please, please, don't
+talk to me about my mother."
+
+She could scarcely take in the gentle words which her two friends said to
+her, and she hardly noticed when Mrs. Willis did such a wonderful thing
+as to stoop down and kiss a second time the lips of a new pupil.
+
+Finally she found herself consigned to Miss Danesbury's care, who hurried
+her off to her room, and helped her to undress and tucked her into her
+little bed.
+
+"Now, love, you shall have some hot gruel. No, not a word. You ate little
+or no tea to-night--I watched you from my distant table. Half your
+loneliness is caused by want of food--I know it, my love; I am a very
+practical person. Now, eat your gruel, and then shut your eyes and go to
+sleep."
+
+"You are very kind to me," said Hester, "and so is Mrs. Willis, and so is
+Mr. Everard, and I like Cecil Temple--but, oh, I wish Annie Forest was
+not in the school!"
+
+"Hush, my dear, I implore of you. You pain me by these words. I am quite
+confident that Annie will be your best friend yet."
+
+Hester's lips said nothing, but her eyes answered "Never" as plainly as
+eyes could speak.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A DAY AT SCHOOL.
+
+
+If Hester Thornton went to sleep that night under a sort of dreamy, hazy
+impression that school was a place without a great deal of order, with
+many kind and sympathizing faces, and with some not so agreeable; if she
+went to sleep under the impression that she had dropped into a sort of
+medley, that she had found herself in a vast new world where certain
+personages exercised undoubtedly a strong moral influence, but where on
+the whole a number of other people did pretty much what they pleased--she
+awoke in the morning to find her preconceived ideas scattered to the four
+winds.
+
+There was nothing of apparent liberty about the Lavender House
+arrangements in the early morning hours. In the first place, it seemed
+quite the middle of the night when Hester was awakened by a loud gong,
+which clanged through the house and caused her to sit up in bed in a
+considerable state of fright and perplexity. A moment or two later a
+neatly-dressed maid-servant came into the room with a can of hot water;
+she lit a pair of candles on the mantel-piece, and, with the remark that
+the second gong would sound in half an hour, and that all the young
+ladies would be expected to assemble in the chapel at seven o'clock
+precisely, she left the room.
+
+Hester pulled her pretty little gold watch from under her pillow, and saw
+with a sigh that it was now half-past six.
+
+"What odious hours they keep in this horrid place!" she said to herself.
+"Well, well, I always did know that school would be unendurable."
+
+She waited for five minutes before she got up, and then she dressed
+herself languidly, and, if the truth must be told, in a very untidy
+fashion. She managed to be dressed by the time the second gong sounded,
+but she had only one moment to give to her private prayers. She
+reflected, however, that this did not greatly matter as she was going
+down to prayers immediately in the chapel.
+
+The service in the chapel the night before had impressed her more deeply
+than she cared to own, and she followed her companions down stairs with a
+certain feeling of pleasure at the thought of again seeing Mr. Everard
+and Mrs. Willis. She wondered if they would take much notice of her this
+morning, and she thought it just possible that Mr. Everard, who had
+looked at her so compassionately the night before, might be induced, for
+the sake of his old friendship with her mother, to take her home with him
+to spend the day. She thought she would rather like to spend a day with
+Mr. Everard, and she fancied he was the sort of person who would
+influence her and help her to be good. Hester fancied that if some very
+interesting and quite out of the common person took her in hand, she
+might be formed into something extremely noble--noble enough even to
+forgive Annie Forest.
+
+The girls all filed into the chapel, which was lighted as brightly and
+cheerily as the night before; but Hester found herself placed on a bench
+far down in the building. She was no longer in the place of honor by Mrs.
+Willis' side. She was one of a number, and no one looked particularly at
+her or noticed her in any way. A shy young curate read the morning
+prayers; Mr. Everard was not present, and Mrs. Willis, who was, walked
+out of the chapel when prayers were over without even glancing in
+Hester's direction. This was bad enough for the poor little dreamer of
+dreams, but worse was to follow.
+
+Mrs. Willis did not speak to Hester, but she did stop for an instant
+beside Annie Forest. Hester saw her lay her white hand on the young
+girl's shoulder and whisper for an instant in her ear. Annie's lovely
+gypsy face flushed a vivid crimson.
+
+"For your sake, darling," she whispered back; but Hester caught the
+words, and was consumed by a fierce jealousy.
+
+The girls went into the school-room, where Mdlle. Perier gave a French
+lesson to the upper class. Hester belonged to no class at present, and
+could look around her, and have plenty of time to reflect on her own
+miseries, and particularly on what she now considered the favoritism
+shown by Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Mr. Everard at least will read through that girl," she said to herself;
+"he could not possibly endure any one so loud. Yes, I am sure that my
+only friend at home, Cecilia Day, would call Annie very loud. I wonder
+Mrs. Willis can endure her. Mrs. Willis seems so ladylike herself,
+but--Oh, I beg your pardon, what's the matter?"
+
+A very sharp voice had addressed itself to the idle Hester.
+
+"But, mademoiselle, you are doing nothing! This cannot for a moment be
+permitted. Pardonnez-moi, you know not the French? Here is a little easy
+lesson. Study it, mademoiselle, and do not let your eyes wander a moment
+from the page."
+
+Hester favored Mdlle. Perier with a look of lofty contempt, but she
+received the well-thumbed lesson-book in absolute silence.
+
+At eight o'clock came breakfast, which was nicely served, and was very
+good and abundant. Hester was thoroughly hungry this morning, and did not
+feel so shy as the night before. She found herself seated between two
+strange girls, who talked to her a little and would have made themselves
+friendly had she at all encouraged them to do so. After breakfast came
+half an hour's recreation, when, the weather being very bad, the girls
+again assembled in the cozy play-room. Hester looked round eagerly for
+Cecil Temple, who greeted her with a kind smile, but did not ask her into
+her enclosure. Annie Forest was not present, and Hester breathed a sigh
+of relief at her absence. The half-hour devoted to recreation proved
+rather dull to the newcomer. Hester could not understand her present
+world. To the girl who had been brought up practically as an only child
+in the warm shelter of a home, the ways and doings of school-girl life
+were an absolute enigma.
+
+Hester had no idea of unbending or of making herself agreeable. The girls
+voted her to one another stiff and tiresome, and quickly left her to her
+own devices. She looked longingly at Cecil Temple; but Cecil, who could
+never be knowingly unkind to any one, was seizing the precious moments to
+write a letter to her father, and Hester presently wandered down the room
+and tried to take an interest in the little ones. From twelve to fifteen
+quite little children were in the school, and Hester wondered with a sort
+of vague half-pain if she might see any child among the group the least
+like Nan.
+
+"They will like to have me with them," she said to herself. "Poor little
+dots, they always like big girls to notice them, and didn't they make a
+fuss about Miss Forest last night! Well, Nan is fond enough of me, and
+little children find out so quickly what one is really like."
+
+Hester walked boldly into the group. The little dots were all as busy as
+bees, were not the least lonely, or the least shy, and very plainly gave
+the intruder to understand that they would prefer her room to her
+company. Hester was not proud with little children--she loved them
+dearly. Some of the smaller ones in question were beautiful little
+creatures, and her heart warmed to them for Nan's sake. She could not
+stoop to conciliate the older girls, but she could make an effort with
+the babies. She knelt on the floor and took up a headless doll.
+
+"I know a little girl who had a doll like that," she said. Here she
+paused and several pairs of eyes were fixed on her.
+
+"Poor dolly's b'oke," said the owner of the headless one in a tone of
+deep commiseration.
+
+"You _are_ such a breaker, you know, Annie," said Annie's little
+five-year-old sister.
+
+"Please tell us about the little girl what had the doll wifout the head,"
+she proceeded, glancing at Hester.
+
+"Oh, it was taken to a hospital, and got back its head," said Hester
+quite cheerfully; "it became quite well again, and was a more beautiful
+doll than ever."
+
+This announcement caused intense wonder and was certainly carrying the
+interest of all the little ones. Hester was deciding that the child who
+possessed the headless doll _had_ a look of Nan about her dark brown
+eyes, when suddenly there was a diversion--the play-room door was opened
+noisily, banged-to with a very loud report, and a gay voice sang out:
+
+"The fairy queen has just paid me a visit. Who wants sweeties from the
+fairy queen?"
+
+Instantly all the little feet had scrambled to the perpendicular, each
+pair of hands was clapped noisily, each little throat shouted a joyful:
+
+"Here comes Annie!"
+
+Annie Forest was surrounded, and Hester knelt alone on the hearth-rug.
+
+She felt herself coloring painfully--she did not fail to observe that two
+laughing eyes had fixed themselves with a momentary triumph on her face;
+then, snatching up a book, which happened to lie close, she seated
+herself with her back to all the girls, and her head bent over the page.
+It is quite doubtful whether she saw any of the words, but she was at
+least determined not to cry.
+
+The half-hour so wearisome to poor Hester came to an end, and the girls,
+conducted by Miss Danesbury, filed into the school-room and took their
+places in the different classes.
+
+Work had now begun in serious earnest. The school-room presented an
+animated and busy scene. The young faces with their varying expressions
+betokened on the whole the preponderance of an earnest spirit.
+Discipline, not too severe, reigned triumphant.
+
+Hester was not yet appointed to any place among these busy workers, but
+while she stood wondering, a little confused, and half intending to drop
+into an empty seat which happened to be close, Miss Danesbury came up to
+her.
+
+"Follow me, Miss Thornton," she said, and she conducted the young girl up
+the whole length of the great school-room, and pushed aside some baize
+curtains which concealed a second smaller room, where Mrs. Willis sat
+before a desk.
+
+The head-mistress was no longer dressed in soft pearl-gray and Mechlin
+lace. She wore a black silk dress, and her white cap seemed to Hester to
+add a severe tone to her features. She neither shook hands with the new
+pupil nor kissed her, but said instantly in a bright though authoritative
+tone:
+
+"I must now find out as quickly as possible what you know, Hester, in
+order to place you in the most suitable class."
+
+Hester was a clever girl, and passed through the ordeal of a rather stiff
+examination with considerable ability. Mrs. Willis pronounced her English
+and general information quite up to the usual standard for girls of her
+age--her French was deficient, but she showed some talent for German.
+
+"On the whole I am pleased with your general intelligence, and I think
+you have good capacities, Hester," she said in conclusion. "I shall ask
+Miss Good, our very accomplished English teacher, to place you in the
+third class. You will have to work very hard, however, at your French, to
+maintain your place there. But Mdlle. Perier is kind and painstaking, and
+it rests with yourself to quickly acquire a conversational acquaintance
+with the language. You are aware that, except during recreation, you are
+never allowed to speak in any other tongue. Now, go back to the
+school-room, my dear."
+
+As Mrs. Willis spoke she laid her finger on a little silver gong which
+stood by her side.
+
+"One moment, please," said Hester, coloring crimson; "I want to ask you a
+question, please."
+
+"Is it about your lessons?"
+
+"No--oh, no; it is----"
+
+"Then pardon me, my dear," uttered the governess; "I sit in my room every
+evening from eight to half-past, and I am then at liberty to see a pupil
+on any subject which is not trifling. Nothing but lessons are spoken of
+in lesson hours, Hester. Ah, here comes Miss Good. Miss Good, I should
+wish you to place Hester Thornton in the third class. Her English is up
+to the average. I will see Mdlle. Perier about her at twelve o'clock."
+
+Hester followed the English teacher into the great school-room, took her
+place in the third class, at the desk which was pointed out to her, was
+given a pile of new books, and was asked to attend to the history lesson
+which was then going on.
+
+Notwithstanding her confusion, a certain sense of soreness, and some
+indignation at what she considered Mrs. Willis' altered manner, she
+acquitted herself with considerable spirit, and was pleased to see that
+her class companions regarded her with some respect.
+
+An English literature lecture followed the history, and here again Hester
+acquitted herself with _eclat_. The subject to-day was "Julius Caesar,"
+and Hester had read Shakespeare's play over many times with her mother.
+
+But when the hour came for foreign languages, her brief triumph ceased.
+Lower and lower did she fall in her schoolfellows' estimation as she
+stumbled through her truly English-French. Mdlle. Perier, who was a very
+fiery little woman, almost screamed at her--the girls colored and nearly
+tittered. Hester hoped to recover her lost laurels in German, but by this
+time her head ached and she did very little better in the German which
+she loved than in the French which she detested. At twelve o'clock she
+was relieved to find that school was over for the present, and she heard
+the English teacher's voice desiring the girls to go quickly to their
+rooms, and to assemble in five minutes' time in the great stone hall,
+equipped for their walk.
+
+The walk lasted for a little over an hour, and was a very dreary penance
+to poor Hester, as she was neither allowed to run, race, nor talk a word
+of English. She sighed heavily once or twice, and several of the girls
+who looked at her curiously agreed with Annie Forest that she was
+decidedly sulky. The walk was followed by dinner; then came half an hour
+of recreation in the delightful play-room, and eager chattering in the
+English tongue.
+
+At three o'clock the school assembled once more; but now the studies were
+of a less severe character, and Hester spent one of her first happy
+half-hours over a drawing lesson. She had a great love for drawing, and
+felt some pride in the really beautiful copy which she was making of the
+stump of an old gnarled oak-tree. Her dismay, however, was proportionately
+great when the drawing-master drew his pencil right across her copy.
+
+"I particularly requested you not to sketch in any of the shadows, Miss
+Thornton. Did you not hear me say that my lesson to-day was in outline? I
+gave you a shaded piece to copy in outline--did you not understand?"
+
+"This is my first day at school," whispered back poor Hester, speaking in
+English in her distress. Whereupon the master smiled, and even forgot to
+report her for her transgression of the French tongue.
+
+Hester spent the rest of that afternoon over her music lesson. The
+music-master was an irascible little German, but Hester played with some
+taste, and was therefore not too severely rapped over the knuckles.
+
+Then came tea and another half-hour of recreation, which was followed by
+two silent hours in the school-room, each girl bent busily over her books
+in preparation for the next day's work. Hester studied hard, for she had
+made up her mind to be the intellectual prodigy of the school. Even on
+this first day, miserable as it was, she had won a few plaudits for her
+quickness and powers of observation. How much better could she work when
+she had really fallen into the tone of the school, and understood the
+lessons which she was now so carefully preparing! During her busy day she
+had failed to notice one thing: namely, the absence of Annie Forest.
+Annie had not been in the school-room, had not been in the play-room; but
+now, as the clock struck eight, she entered the school-room with a
+listless expression, and took her place in the same class with Hester.
+Her eyes were heavy, as if she had been crying, and when a companion
+touched her, and gave her a sympathizing glance, she shook her head with
+a sorrowful gesture, but did not speak. Glasses of milk and slices of
+bread and butter were now handed round to the girls, and Miss Danesbury
+asked if any one would like to see Mrs. Willis before prayers. Hester
+half sprang to her feet, but then sat down again. Mrs. Willis had annoyed
+her by refusing to break her rules and answer her question during lesson
+hours. No, the silly child resolved that she would not trouble Mrs.
+Willis now.
+
+"No one to-night, then?" said Miss Danesbury, who had noticed Hester's
+movement.
+
+Suddenly Annie Forest sprang to her feet.
+
+"I'm going, Miss Danesbury," she said. "You need not show me the way; I
+can find it alone."
+
+With her short, curly hair falling about her face, she ran out of the
+room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"YOU HAVE WAKED ME TOO SOON."
+
+
+When Hester reached her bedroom after prayers on that second evening, she
+was dismayed to find that she no longer could consider the pretty little
+bedroom her own. It had not only an occupant, but an occupant who had
+left untidy traces of her presence on the floor, for a stocking lay in
+one direction and a muddy boot sprawled in another. The newcomer had
+herself got into bed, where she lay with a quantity of red hair tossed
+about on the pillow, and a heavy freckled face turned upward, with the
+eyes shut and the mouth slightly open.
+
+As Hester entered the room, from these parted lips came unmistakable and
+loud snores. She stood still dismayed.
+
+"How terrible!" she said to herself; "oh, what a girl! I cannot sleep in
+the room with any one who snores--I really cannot!"
+
+She stood perfectly still, with her hands clasped before her, and her
+eyes fixed with almost ludicrous dismay on this unexpected trial. As she
+gazed, a fresh discovery caused her to utter an exclamation of horror
+aloud.
+
+The newcomer had curled herself up comfortably in _her_ bed. Suddenly, to
+her surprise, a voice said very quietly, without a flicker of expression
+coming over the calm face, or the eyes even making an effort to open:
+
+"Are you my new schoolmate?"
+
+"Yes," said Hester, "I am sorry to say I am."
+
+"Oh, don't be sorry, there's a good creature; there's nothing to be sorry
+about. I'll stop snoring when I turn on my side--it's all right. I always
+snore for half an hour to rest my back, and the time is nearly up. Don't
+trouble me to open my eyes, I am not the least curious to see you. You
+have a cross voice, but you'll get used to me after a bit."
+
+"But you're in my bed," said Hester. "Will you please to get into your
+own?"
+
+"Oh, no, don't ask me; I like your bed best. I slept in it the whole of
+last term. I changed the sheets myself, so it does not matter. Do you
+mind putting my muddy boots outside the door, and folding up my
+stockings? I forgot them, and I shall have a bad mark if Danesbury comes
+in. Good-night--I'm turning on my side--I won't snore any more."
+
+The heavy face was now only seen in profile, and Hester, knowing that
+Miss Danesbury would soon appear to put out the candle, had to hurry into
+the other bed as fast as she could; something impelled her, however, to
+take up the muddy boots with two very gingerly fingers, and place them
+outside the door.
+
+She slept better this second night, and was not quite so startled the
+next morning when the remorseless gong aroused her from slumber. The
+maid-servant came in as usual to light the candles, and to place two cans
+of hot water by the two wash-hand stands.
+
+"You are awake, miss?" she said to Hester.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Hester almost cheerfully.
+
+"Well, that's all right," said the servant. "Now I must try and rouse
+Miss Drummond, and she always takes a deal of waking; and if you don't
+mind, miss, it will be an act of kindness to call out to her in the
+middle of your own dressing--that is, if I don't wake her effectual."
+
+With these words, the housemaid approached the bed where the red-haired
+girl lay again on her back, and again snoring loudly.
+
+"Miss Drummond, wake, miss; it's half-past six. Wake up, miss--I have
+brought your hot water."
+
+"Eh?--what?" said the voice in the bed, sleepily; "don't bother me,
+Hannah--I--I've determined not to ride this morning; go away"--then more
+sleepily, and in a lower key, "Tell Percy he can't bring the dogs in
+here."
+
+"I ain't neither your Hannah, nor your Percy, nor one of the dogs,"
+replied the rather irate Alice. "There, get up, miss, do. I never see
+such a young lady for sleeping--never."
+
+"I won't be bothered," said the occupant of the bed, and now she turned
+deliberately on her side and snored more loudly than ever.
+
+"There's no help for it," said Alice: "I have to do it nearly every
+morning, so don't you be startled, miss. Poor thing, she would never have
+a good conduct mark but for me. Now then, here goes. You needn't be
+frightened, miss--she don't mind it the least bit in the world."
+
+Here Alice seized a rough Turkish towel, placed it under the sleepy head
+with its shock of red hair, and, dipping a sponge in a basin of icy cold
+water, dashed it on the white face.
+
+This remedy proved effectual: two large pale blue eyes opened wide, a
+voice said in a tranquil and unmoved tone:
+
+"Oh, thank you, Alice. So I'm back at this horrid, detestable school
+again!"
+
+"Get your feet well on the carpet, Miss Drummond, before you falls off
+again," said the servant. "Now then, you'd better get dressed as fast as
+possible, miss--you have lost five minutes already."
+
+Hester, who had laughed immoderately during this little scene, was
+already up and going through the processes of her toilet. Miss Drummond,
+seated on the edge of her bed, regarded her with sleepy eyes.
+
+"So you are my new room-mate?" she said. "What's your name?"
+
+"Hester Thornton," replied Hetty with dignity.
+
+"Oh--I'm Susy Drummond--you may call me Susy if you like."
+
+Hester made no response to this gracious invitation.
+
+Miss Drummond sat motionless, gazing down at her toes.
+
+"Had not you better get dressed?" said Hester after a long pause, for she
+really feared the young lady would fall asleep where she was sitting.
+
+Miss Drummond started.
+
+"Dressed! So I will, dear creature. Have the sweet goodness to hand me my
+clothes."
+
+"Where are they?" asked Hester rather crossly, for she did not care to
+act as lady's-maid.
+
+"They are over there, on a chair, in that lovely heap with a shawl flung
+over them. There, toss them this way--I'll get into them somehow."
+
+Miss Drummond did manage to get into her garments; but her whole
+appearance was so heavy and untidy when she was dressed, that Hester by
+the very force of contrast felt obliged to take extra pains with her own
+toilet.
+
+"Now, that's a comfort," said Susan, "I'm in my clothes. How bitter it
+is! There's one comfort, the chapel will be warm. I often catch forty
+winks in chapel--that is, if I'm lucky enough to get behind one of the
+tall girls, where Mrs. Willis won't see me. It does seem to me,"
+continued Susan in a meditative tone, "the strangest thing why girls are
+not allowed sleep enough."
+
+Hester was pinning a clean collar round her neck when Miss Drummond came
+up close, leaned over the dressing-table, and regarded her with languid
+curiosity.
+
+"A penny for your thoughts, Miss Prunes and Prism."
+
+"Why do you call me that?" said Hester angrily.
+
+"Because you look like it, sweet. Now, don't be cross, little pet--no one
+ever yet was cross with sleepy Susy Drummond. Now, tell me, love, what
+had you for breakfast yesterday?"
+
+"I'm sure I forget," said Hester.
+
+"You _forget_?--how extraordinary! You're sure that it was not buttered
+scones? We have them sometimes, and I tell you they are enough even to
+keep a girl awake. Well, at least you can let me know if the eggs were
+very stale, and the coffee very weak, and whether the butter was
+second-rate Dorset, or good and fresh. Come now--my breakfast is of
+immense importance to me, I assure you."
+
+"I dare say," answered Hester. "You can see for yourself this morning
+what is on the table--I can only inform you that it was good enough for
+me, and that I don't remember what it was."
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Susan Drummond, "I'm afraid she has a little temper
+of her own--poor little room-mate. I wonder if chocolate-creams would
+sweeten that little temper."
+
+"Please don't talk--I'm going to say my prayers," said Hester.
+
+She did kneel down, and made a slight effort to ask God to help her
+through the day's work and the day's play. In consequence, she rose from
+her knees with a feeling of strength and sweetness which even the
+feeblest prayer when uttered in earnest can always give.
+
+The prayer-gong now sounded, and all the girls assembled in the chapel.
+Miss Drummond was greeted by many appreciative nods, and more than one
+pair of longing eyes gazed in the direction of her pockets, which stuck
+out in the most ungainly fashion.
+
+Hester was relieved to find that her room-mate did not share her class in
+school, nor sit anywhere near her at table.
+
+When the half-hour's recreation after breakfast arrived, Hester,
+determined to be beholden to none of her schoolmates for companionship,
+seated herself comfortably in an easy chair with a new book. Presently
+she was startled by a little stream of lollipops falling in a shower over
+her head, down her neck, and into her lap. She started up with an
+expression of disgust. Instantly Miss Drummond sank into the vacated
+chair.
+
+"Thank you, love," she said, in a cozy, purring voice. "Eat your
+lollipops, and look at me; I'm going to sleep. Please pull my toe when
+Danesbury comes in. Oh, fie! Prunes and Prisms--not so cross--eat your
+lollipops; they will sweeten the expression of that--little--face."
+
+The last words came out drowsily. As she said "face," Miss Drummond's
+languid eyes were closed--she was fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+WORK AND PLAY.
+
+
+In a few days Hester was accustomed to her new life. She fell into its
+routine, and in a certain measure won the respect of her fellow-pupils.
+She worked hard, and kept her place in class, and her French became a
+little more like the French tongue and a little less like the English. She
+showed marked ability in many of her other studies, and the mistresses and
+masters spoke well of her. After a fortnight spent at Lavender House,
+Hester had to acknowledge that the little Misses Bruce were right, and
+that school might be a really enjoyable place for some girls. She would
+not yet admit that it could be enjoyable for her. Hester was too shy, too
+proud, too exacting to be popular with her schoolfellows. She knew nothing
+of school-girl life--she had never learned the great secret of success in
+all life's perplexities, the power to give and take. It never occurred to
+Hester to look over a hasty word, to take no notice of an envious or
+insolent look. As far as her lessons were concerned, she was doing well;
+but the hardest lesson of all, the training of mind and character, which
+the daily companionship of her schoolfellows alone could give her, in this
+lesson she was making no way. Each day she was shutting herself up more
+and more from all kindly advances, and the only one in the school whom she
+sincerely and cordially liked was gentle Cecil Temple.
+
+Mrs. Willis had some ideas with regard to the training of her young
+people which were peculiarly her own. She had found them successful, and,
+during her thirty years' experience, had never seen reason to alter them.
+She was determined to give her girls a great deal more liberty than was
+accorded in most of the boarding-schools of her day. She never made what
+she called impossible rules; she allowed the girls full liberty to
+chatter in their bedrooms; she did not watch them during play-hours; she
+never read the letters they received, and only superintended the specimen
+home letter which each girl was required to write once a month. Other
+head-mistresses wondered at the latitude she allowed her girls, but she
+invariably replied:
+
+"I always find it works best to trust them. If a girl is found to be
+utterly untrustworthy, I don't expel her, but I request her parents to
+remove her to a more strict school."
+
+Mrs. Willis also believed much in that quiet half-hour each evening, when
+the girls who cared to come could talk to her alone. On these occasions
+she always dropped the school-mistress and adopted the _role_ of the
+mother. With a very refractory pupil she spoke in the tenderest tones of
+remonstrance and affection at these times. If her words failed--if the
+discipline of the day and the gentle sympathy of these moments at night
+did not effect their purpose, she had yet another expedient--the vicar
+was asked to see the girl who would not yield to this motherly influence.
+
+Mr. Everard had very seldom taken Mrs. Willis' place. As he said to her:
+"Your influence must be the mainspring. At supreme moments I will help
+you with personal influence, but otherwise, except for my nightly prayers
+with your girls, and my weekly class, and the teachings which they with
+others hear from my lips Sunday after Sunday, they had better look to
+you."
+
+The girls knew this rule well, and the one or two rare instances in the
+school history where the vicar had stepped in to interfere, were spoken
+of with bated breath and with intense awe.
+
+Mrs. Willis had a great idea of bringing as much happiness as possible
+into young lives. It was with this idea that she had the quaint little
+compartments railed off in the play-room.
+
+"For the elder girls," she would say, "there is no pleasure so great as
+having, however small the spot, a little liberty hall of their own. In
+her compartment each girl is absolute monarch. No one can enter inside
+the little curtained rail without her permission. Here she can show her
+individual taste, her individual ideas. Here she can keep her most prized
+possessions. In short, her compartment in the play-room is a little home
+to her."
+
+The play-room, large as it was, admitted of only twenty compartments;
+these compartments were not easily won. No amount of cleverness attained
+them; they were altogether dependent on conduct. No girl could be the
+honorable owner of her own little drawing-room until she had
+distinguished herself by some special act of kindness and self-denial.
+Mrs. Willis had no fixed rule on this subject. She alone gave away the
+compartments, and she often made choice of girls on whom she conferred
+this honor in a way which rather puzzled and surprised their fellows.
+
+When the compartment was won it was not a secure possession. To retain it
+depended also on conduct; and here again Mrs. Willis was absolute in her
+sway. More than once the girls had entered the room in the morning to
+find some favorite's furniture removed and her little possessions taken
+carefully down from the walls, the girl herself alone knowing the reason
+for this sudden change. Annie Forest, who had been at Lavender House for
+four years, had once, for a solitary month of her existence, owned her
+own special drawing-room. She had obtained it as a reward for an act of
+heroism. One of the little pupils had set her pinafore on fire. There was
+no teacher present at the moment, the other girls had screamed and run
+for help, but Annie, very pale, had caught the little one in her arms and
+had crushed out the flames with her own hands. The child's life was
+spared, the child was not even hurt, but Annie was in the hospital for a
+week. At the end of a week she returned to the school-room and play-room
+as the heroine of the hour. Mrs. Willis herself kissed her brow, and
+presented her in the midst of the approving smiles of her companions with
+the prettiest drawing-room of the sets. Annie retained her honorable post
+for one month.
+
+Never did the girls of Lavender House forget the delights of that month.
+The fantastic arrangements of the little drawing room filled them with
+ecstacies. Annie was truly Japanese in her style--she was also intensely
+liberal in all her arrangements. In the tiny space of this little
+enclosure wild pranks were perpetrated, ceaseless jokes made up. From
+Annie's drawing-room issued peals of exquisite mirth. She gave afternoon
+tea from a Japanese set of tea-things. Outside her drawing-room always
+collected a crowd of girls, who tried to peep over the rail or to draw
+aside the curtains. Inside the sacred spot certainly reigned chaos, and
+one day Miss Danesbury had to fly to the rescue, for in a fit of mad
+mirth Annie herself had knocked down the little Japanese tea-table, the
+tea-pot and tea-things were in fragments on the floor, and the tea and
+milk poured in streams outside the curtains. Mrs. Willis sent for Annie
+that evening, and Miss Forest retired from her interview with red eyes
+and a meek expression.
+
+"Girls," she said, in confidence that night, "good-bye to Japan. I gave
+her leave to do it--the care of an empire is more than I can manage."
+
+The next day the Japanese drawing-room had been handed over to another
+possessor, and Annie reigned as queen over her empire no more.
+
+Mrs. Willis, anxious at all times that her girls should be happy, made
+special arrangements for their benefit on Sunday. Sunday was by no means
+dull at Lavender House--Sunday was totally unlike the six days which
+followed it. Even the stupidest girl could scarcely complain of the
+severity of Sunday lessons--even the merriest girl could scarcely speak
+of the day as dull. Mrs. Willis made an invariable rule of spending all
+Sunday with her pupils. On this day she really unbent--on this day she
+was all during the long hours what she was during the short half-hour on
+each evening in the week. On Sunday she neither reproved nor corrected.
+If punishment or correction were necessary, she deputed Miss Good or Miss
+Danesbury to take her place. On Sunday she sat with the little children
+round her knee, and the older girls clustering about her. Her gracious
+and motherly face was like a sun shining in the midst of these young
+girls. In short, she was like the personified form of Goodness in their
+midst. It was necessary, therefore, that all those who wished to do right
+should be happy on Sunday, and only those few who deliberately preferred
+evil should shrink from the brightness of this day.
+
+It is astonishing how much a sympathizing and guiding spirit can effect.
+The girls at Lavender House thought Sunday the shortest day in the week.
+There were no unoccupied or dull moments--school toil was forgotten--school
+punishment ceased, to be resumed again if necessary on Monday morning. The
+girls in their best dresses could chatter freely in English--they could
+read their favorite books--they could wander about the house as they
+pleased; for on Sunday the two baize doors were always wide open, and Mrs.
+Willis' own private suite of rooms was ready to receive them. If the day
+was fine they walked to church, each choosing her own companion for the
+pleasant walk; if the day was wet there was service in the chapel, Mr.
+Everard always conducting either morning or evening prayers. In the
+afternoon the girls were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased, but
+after tea there always came a delightful hour, when the elder girls retired
+with their mistress into her own special boudoir, and she either told them
+stories or sang to them as only she could sing. At sixty years of age Mrs.
+Willis still possessed the most sympathetic and touching voice those girls
+had ever listened to. Hester Thornton broke down completely on her first
+Sunday at Lavender House when she heard her school-mistress sing "The
+Better Land." No one remarked on her tears, but two people saw them; for
+her mistress kissed her tenderly that night, and said a few strong words of
+help and encouragement, and Annie Forest, who made no comment, had also
+seen them, and wondered vaguely if this new and disagreeable pupil had a
+heart after all.
+
+On Sunday night Mrs. Willis herself went round to each little bed and
+gave a mother-kiss to each of her pupils--a mother-kiss and a murmured
+blessing; and in many breasts resolves were then formed which were to
+help the girls through the coming week. Some of these resolves, made not
+in their own strength, bore fruit in long after-years. There is no doubt
+that very few girls who lived long enough at Lavender House, ever in
+after-days found their Sundays dull.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+VARIETIES.
+
+
+Without any doubt, wild, naughty, impulsive Annie Forest was the most
+popular girl in the school. She was always in scrapes--she was scarcely
+ever out of hot water--her promises of amendment were truly like the
+proverbial pie-crust; but she was so lovable, so kind-hearted, so saucy
+and piquante and pretty, that very few could resist the nameless charm
+which she possessed. The little ones adored Annie, who was kindness
+itself to them; the bigger girls could not help admiring her fearlessness
+and courage; the best and noblest girls in the school tried to influence
+her for good. She was more or less an object of interest to every one;
+her courage was of just the sort to captivate schoolgirls, and her moral
+weakness was not observed by these inexperienced young eyes.
+
+Hester alone, of all the girls who for a long time had come to Lavender
+House, failed to see any charm in Annie. She began by considering her
+ill-bred, and when she found she was the school favorite, she tossed her
+proud little head and determined that she for one would never be
+subjugated by such a naughty girl. Hester could read character with
+tolerable clearness; she was an observant child--very observant, and very
+thoughtful for her twelve years; and as the little witch Annie had failed
+to throw any spell over her, she saw her faults far more clearly than did
+her companions. There is no doubt that this brilliant, charming, and
+naughty Annie had heaps of faults; she had no perseverance; she was all
+passion and impulse; she could be the kindest of the kind, but from sheer
+thoughtlessness and wildness she often inflicted severe pain, even on
+those she loved best. Annie very nearly worshiped Mrs. Willis; she had
+the most intense adoration for her, she respected her beyond any other
+human being. There were moments when the impulsive and hot-headed child
+felt that she could gladly lay down her life for her school-mistress.
+Once the mistress was ill, and Annie curled herself up all night outside
+her door, thereby breaking rules, and giving herself a severe cold; but
+her passion and agony were so great that she could only be soothed by at
+last stealing into the darkened room and kissing the face she loved.
+
+"Prove your love to me, Annie, by going downstairs and keeping the school
+rules as perfectly as possible," whispered the teacher.
+
+"I will--I will never break a rule again as long as I live, if you get
+better, Mrs. Willis," responded the child.
+
+She ran downstairs with her resolves strong within her, and yet in half
+an hour she was reprimanded for willful and desperate disobedience.
+
+One day Cecil Temple had invited a select number of friends to afternoon
+tea in her little drawing-room. It was the Wednesday half-holiday, and
+Cecil's tea, poured into the tiniest cups and accompanied by thin wafer
+biscuits, was of the most _recherche_ quality. Cecil had invited Hester
+Thornton, and a tall girl who belonged to the first class and whose name
+was Dora Russell, to partake of this dainty beverage. They were sitting
+round the tiny tea-table, on little red stools with groups of flowers
+artistically painted on them, and were all three conducting themselves in
+a most ladylike and refined manner, when Annie Forest's curly head and
+saucy face popped over the enclosure, and her voice said eagerly:
+
+"Oh, may I be permitted to enter the shrine?"
+
+"Certainly, Annie," said Cecil, in her most cordial tones. "I have got
+another cup and saucer, and there is a little tea left in the tea-pot."
+
+Annie came in, and ensconced herself cozily on the floor. It did not
+matter in the least to her that Hester Thornton's brow grew dark, and
+that Miss Russell suddenly froze into complete indifference to all her
+surroundings. Annie was full of a subject which excited her very much:
+she had suddenly discovered that she wanted to give Mrs. Willis a
+present, and she wished to know if any of the girls would like to join
+her.
+
+"I will give her the present this day week," said excitable Annie. "I
+have quite made up my mind. Will any one join me?"
+
+"But there is nothing special about this day week, Annie," said Miss
+Temple. "It will neither be Mrs. Willis' birthday, nor Christmas Day, nor
+New Year's Day, nor Easter Day. Next Wednesday will be just like any
+other Wednesday. Why should we make Mrs. Willis a present?"
+
+"Oh, because she looks as if she wanted one, poor dear. I thought she
+looked sad this morning; her eyes drooped and her mouth was down at the
+corners. I am sure she's wanting something from us all by now, just to
+show that we love her, you know."
+
+"Pshaw!" here burst from Hester's lips.
+
+"Why do you say that?" said Annie, turning round with her bright eyes
+flashing. "You've no right to be so contemptuous when I speak about
+our--our head-mistress. Oh, Cecil," she continued, "do let us give her a
+little surprise--some spring flowers, or something just to show her that
+we love her."
+
+"But _you_ don't love her," said Hester, stoutly.
+
+Here was throwing down the gauntlet with a vengeance! Annie sprang to her
+feet and confronted Hester with a whole torrent of angry words. Hester
+firmly maintained her position. She said over and over again that love
+proved itself by deeds, not by words; that if Annie learned her lessons,
+and obeyed the school rules, she would prove her affection for Mrs.
+Willis far more than by empty protestations. Hester's words were true,
+but they were uttered in an unkind spirit, and the very flavor of truth
+which they possessed caused them to enter Annie's heart and to wound her
+deeply. She turned, not red, but very white, and her large and lovely
+eyes grew misty with unshed tears.
+
+"You are cruel," she gasped, rather than spoke, and then she pushed aside
+the curtains of Cecil's compartment and walked out of the play-room.
+
+There was a dead silence among the three girls when she left them.
+Hester's heart was still hot, and she was still inclined to maintain her
+own position, and to believe she had done right in speaking in so severe
+a tone to Annie. But even she had been made a little uneasy by the look
+of deep suffering which had suddenly transformed Annie's charming
+childish face into that of a troubled and pained woman. She sat down
+meekly on her little three-legged stool and, taking up her tiny cup and
+saucer, sipped some of the cold tea.
+
+Cecil Temple was the first to speak.
+
+"How could you?" she said, in an indignant voice for her. "Annie is not
+the girl to be driven, and in any case, it is not for you to correct her.
+Oh, Mrs. Willis would have been so pained had she heard you--you were not
+_kind_, Miss Thornton. There, I don't wish to be rude, but I fear I must
+leave you and Miss Russell--I must try and find Annie."
+
+"I'm going back to my own drawing-room," said Miss Russell, rising to her
+feet. "Perhaps," she added, turning round with a very gracious smile to
+Hester, "you will come and see me there, after tea, this evening."
+
+Miss Russell drew aside the curtains of Cecil Temple's little room, and
+disappeared. Hester, with her eyes full of tears, now turned eagerly to
+Cecil.
+
+"Forgive me, Cecil," she exclaimed. "I did not mean to be unkind, but it
+is really quite ridiculous the way you all spoil that girl--you know as
+well as I do that she is a very naughty girl. I suppose it is because of
+her pretty face," continued Hester, "that you are all so unjust, and so
+blind to her faults."
+
+"You are prejudiced the other way, Hester," said Cecil in a more gentle
+tone. "You have disliked Annie from the first. There, don't keep me--I
+must go to her now. There is no knowing what harm your words may have
+done. Annie is not like other girls. If you knew her story, you would,
+perhaps be kinder to her."
+
+Cecil then ran out of her drawing-room, leaving Hester in sole possession
+of the little tea-things and the three-legged stools. She sat and thought
+for some time; she was a girl with a great deal of obstinacy in her
+nature, and she was not disposed to yield her own point, even to Cecil
+Temple; but Cecil's words had, nevertheless, made some impression on her.
+
+At tea-time that night, Annie and Cecil entered the room together.
+Annie's eyes were as bright as stars, and her usually pale cheeks glowed
+with a deep color. She had never looked prettier--she had never looked so
+defiant, so mischievous, so utterly reckless. Mdlle. Perier fired
+indignant French at her across the table. Annie answered respectfully,
+and became demure in a moment; but even in the short instant in which the
+governess was obliged to lower her eyes to her plate, she had thrown a
+look so irresistibly comic at her companions that several of them had
+tittered aloud. Not once did she glance at Hester, although she
+occasionally looked boldly in her direction; but when she did so, her
+versatile face assumed a blank expression, as if she were seeing nothing.
+When tea was over, Dora Russell surprised the members of her own class by
+walking straight up to Hester, putting her hand inside her arm, and
+leading her off to her own very refined-looking little drawing-room.
+
+"I want to tell you," she said, when the two girls found themselves
+inside the small enclosure, "that I quite agree with you in your opinion
+of Miss Forest. I think you were very brave to speak to her as you did
+to-day. As a rule, I never trouble myself with what the little girls in
+the third class do, and of course Annie seldom comes under my notice; but
+I think she is a decidedly spoiled child, and your rebuff will doubtless
+do her a great deal of good."
+
+These words of commendation, coming from tall and dignified Miss Russell
+completely turned poor Hester's head.
+
+"Oh, I am so glad you think so!" she stammered, coloring high with
+pleasure. "You see," she added, assuming a little tone of extra
+refinement, "at home I always associated with girls who were perfect
+ladies."
+
+"Yes, any one can see that," remarked Miss Russell approvingly.
+
+"And I do think Annie under-bred," continued Hester. "I cannot
+understand," she added, "why Miss Temple likes her so much."
+
+"Oh, Cecil is so amiable; she sees good in every one," answered Miss
+Russell. "Annie is evidently not a lady, and I am glad at last to find
+some one of the girls who belong to the middle school capable of
+discerning this fact. Of course, we of the first class have nothing
+whatever to say to Miss Forest, but I really think Mrs. Willis is not
+acting quite fairly by the other girls when she allows a young person of
+that description into the school. I wish to assure you, Miss Thornton,
+that you have at least my sympathy, and I shall be very pleased to see
+you in my drawing-room now and then."
+
+As these last words were uttered, both girls were conscious of a little
+rustling sound not far away. Miss Russell drew back her curtain, and
+asked very sharply, "Who is there?" but no one replied, nor was there any
+one in sight, for the girls who did not possess compartments were
+congregated at the other end of the long play-room, listening to stories
+which Emma Marshall, a clever elder girl, was relating for their benefit.
+
+Miss Russell talked on indifferent subjects to Hester, and at the end of
+the half-hour the two entered the class-room side by side, Hester's
+little head a good deal turned by this notice from one of the oldest
+girls in the school.
+
+As the two walked together into the school-room, Susan Drummond, who,
+tall as she was, was only in the fourth class, rushed up to Miss Forest,
+and whispered something in her ear.
+
+"It is just as I told you," she said, and her sleepy voice was quite wide
+awake and animated. Annie Forest rewarded her by a playful pinch on her
+cheek; then she returned to her own class, with a severe reprimand from
+the class teacher, and silence reigned in the long room, as the girls
+began to prepare their lessons as usual for the next day.
+
+Miss Russell took her place at her desk in her usual dignified manner.
+She was a clever girl, and was going to leave school at the end of next
+term. Hers was a particularly fastidious, but by no means great nature.
+She was the child of wealthy parents; she was also well-born, and because
+of her money, and a certain dignity and style which had come to her as
+nature's gifts, she held an influence, though by no means a large one, in
+the school. No one particularly disliked her, but no one, again, ardently
+loved her. The girls in her own class thought it well to be friendly with
+Dora Russell, and Dora accepted their homage with more or less
+indifference. She did not greatly care for either their praise or blame.
+Dora possessed in a strong degree that baneful quality, which more than
+anything else precludes the love of others--she was essentially selfish.
+
+She sat now before her desk, little guessing how she had caused Hester's
+small heart to beat by her patronage, and little suspecting the mischief
+she had done to the girl by her injudicious words. Had she known, it is
+to be doubted whether she would have greatly cared. She looked through
+the books which contained her tasks for the next day's work, and, finding
+they did not require a great deal of preparation, put them aside, and
+amused herself during the rest of preparation time with a storybook,
+which she artfully concealed behind the leaves of some exercises. She
+knew she was breaking the rules, but this fact did not trouble her, for
+her moral nature was, after all, no better than poor Annie's, and she had
+not a tenth of her lovable qualities.
+
+Dora Russell was the soul of neatness and order. To look inside her
+school desk was a positive pleasure; to glance at her own neat and trim
+figure was more or less of a delight. Hers were the whitest hands in the
+school, and hers the most perfectly kept and glossy hair. As the
+preparation hour drew to a close, she replaced her exercises and books in
+exquisite order in her school desk and shut down the lid.
+
+Hester's eyes followed her as she walked out of the school-room, for the
+head class never had supper with the younger girls. Hester wondered if
+she would glance in her direction; but Miss Russell had gratified a very
+passing whim when she condescended to notice and praise Hester, and she
+had already almost forgotten her existence.
+
+At bed-time that night Susan Drummond's behavior was at the least
+extraordinary. In the first place, instead of being almost overpoweringly
+friendly with Hester, she scarcely noticed her; in the next place, she
+made some very peculiar preparations.
+
+"What _are_ you doing on the floor, Susan?" inquired Hetty in an innocent
+tone.
+
+"That's nothing to you," replied Miss Drummond, turning a dusky red, and
+looking annoyed at being discovered. "I do wish," she added, "that you
+would go round to your side of the room and leave me alone; I sha'n't
+have done what I want to do before Danesbury comes in to put out the
+candle."
+
+Hester was not going to put herself out with any of Susan Drummond's
+vagaries; she looked upon sleepy Susan as a girl quite beneath her
+notice, but even she could not help observing her, when she saw her sit
+up in bed a quarter of an hour after the candles had been put out, and in
+the flickering firelight which shone conveniently bright for her purpose,
+fasten a piece of string first round one of her toes, and then to the end
+of the bed-post.
+
+"What _are_ you doing?" said Hester again, half laughing.
+
+"Oh, what a spy you are!" said Susan. "I want to wake, that's all; and
+whenever I turn in bed, that string will tug at my toe, and, of course,
+I'll rouse up. If you were more good-natured, I'd give the other end of
+the string to you; but, of course, that plan would never answer."
+
+"No, indeed," replied Hester; "I am not going to trouble myself to wake
+you. You must trust to your sponge of cold water in the morning, unless
+your own admirable device succeeds."
+
+"I'm going to sleep now, at any rate," answered Susan; "I'm on my back,
+and I'm beginning to snore; good night."
+
+Once or twice during the night Hester heard groans from the
+self-sacrificing Susan, who, doubtless, found the string attached to her
+foot very inconvenient.
+
+Hester, however, slept on when it might have been better for the peace of
+many in the school that she should have awakened. She heard no sound
+when, long before day, sleepy Susan stepped softly out of bed, and
+wrapping a thick shawl about her, glided out of the room. She was away
+for over half an hour, but she returned to her chamber and got into bed
+without in the least disturbing Hester. In the morning she was found so
+soundly asleep that even the sponge of cold water could not arouse her.
+
+"Pull the string at the foot of the bed, Alice," said Hester; "she
+fastened a string to her toe, and twisted the other end round the
+bed-post, last night; pull it, Alice, it may effect its purpose."
+
+But there was no string now round Susan Drummond's foot, nor was it found
+hanging to the bed-post.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+WHAT WAS FOUND IN THE SCHOOL-DESK.
+
+
+The next morning, when the whole school were assembled, and all the
+classes were getting ready for the real work of the day, Miss Good, the
+English teacher, stepped to the head of the room, and, holding a neatly
+bound volume of "Jane Eyre" in her hand, begged to know to whom it
+belonged. There was a hush of astonishment when she held up the little
+book, for all the girls knew well that this special volume was not
+allowed for school literature.
+
+"The housemaid who dusts the school-room found this book on the floor,"
+continued the teacher. "It lay beside a desk near the top of the room. I
+see the name has been torn out, so I cannot tell who is the owner. I must
+request her, however, to step forward and take possession of her
+property. If there is the slightest attempt at concealment, the whole
+matter will be laid before Mrs. Willis at noon to-day."
+
+When Miss Good had finished her little speech, she held up the book in
+its green binding and looked down the room.
+
+Hester did not know why her heart beat--no one glanced at her, no one
+regarded her; all eyes were fixed on Miss Good, who stood with a severe,
+unsmiling, but expectant face.
+
+"Come, young ladies," she said, "the owner has surely no difficulty in
+recognizing her own property. I give you exactly thirty seconds more;
+then if no one claims the book, I place the affair in Mrs. Willis'
+hands."
+
+Just then there was a stir among the girls in the head class. A tall girl
+in dove-colored cashmere, with a smooth head of golden hair, and a fair
+face which was a good deal flushed at this moment, stepped to the front,
+and said in a clear and perfectly modulated voice:
+
+"I had no idea of concealing the fact that 'Jane Eyre' belongs to me. I
+was only puzzled for a moment to know how it got on the floor. I placed
+it carefully in my desk last night. I think this circumstance ought to be
+inquired into."
+
+"Oh! Oh!" came from several suppressed voices here and there through the
+room; "whoever would have supposed that Dora Russell would be obliged to
+humble herself in this way?"
+
+"Attention, young ladies!" said Miss Good; "no talking, if you please. Do
+I understand, Miss Russell, that 'Jane Eyre' is yours?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Good."
+
+"Why did you keep it in your desk--were you reading it during
+preparation?"
+
+"Oh, yes, certainly."
+
+"You are, of course, aware that you were breaking two very stringent
+rules of the school. In the first place, no story-books are allowed to be
+concealed in a school-desk, or to be read during preparation. In the
+second place, this special book is not allowed to be read at any time in
+Lavender House. You know these rules, Miss Russell?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Good."
+
+"I must retain the book--you can return now to your place in class."
+
+Miss Russell bowed sedately, and with an apparently unmoved face, except
+for the slightly deepened glow on her smooth cheek, resumed her
+interrupted work.
+
+Lessons went on as usual, but during recreation the mystery of the
+discovered book was largely discussed by the girls. As is the custom of
+schoolgirls, they took violent sides in the matter--some rejoicing in
+Dora's downfall, some pitying her intensely. Hester was, of course, one
+of Miss Russell's champions, and she looked at her with tender sympathy
+when she came with her haughty and graceful manner into the school-room,
+and her little heart beat with vague hope that Dora might turn to her for
+sympathy.
+
+Dora, however, did nothing of the kind. She refused to discuss the affair
+with her companions, and none of them quite knew what Mrs. Willis said to
+her, or what special punishment was inflicted on the proud girl. Several
+of her schoolfellows expected that Dora's drawing-room would be taken
+away from her, but she still retained it; and after a few days the affair
+of the book was almost forgotten.
+
+There was, however, an uncomfortable and an uneasy spirit abroad in the
+school. Susan Drummond, who was certainly one of the most uninteresting
+girls in Lavender House, was often seen walking with and talking to Miss
+Forest. Sometimes Annie shook her pretty head over Susan's remarks;
+sometimes she listened to her; sometimes she laughed and spoke eagerly
+for a moment or two, and appeared to acquiesce in suggestions which her
+companion urged.
+
+Annie had always been the soul of disorder--of wild pranks, of naughty
+and disobedient deeds--but, hitherto, in all her wildness she had never
+intentionally hurt any one but herself. Hers was a giddy and thoughtless,
+but by no means a bitter tongue--she thought well of all her
+schoolfellows--and on occasions she could be self-sacrificing and
+good-natured to a remarkable extent. The girls of the head class took
+very little notice of Annie, but her other school companions, as a rule,
+succumbed to her sunny, bright, and witty ways. She offended them a
+hundred times a day, and a hundred times a day was forgiven. Hester was
+the first girl in the third class who had ever persistently disliked
+Annie, and Annie, after making one or two overtures of friendship, began
+to return Miss Thornton's aversion; but she had never cordially hated her
+until the day they met in Cecil Temple's drawing-room, and Hester had
+wounded Annie in her tenderest part by doubting her affection for Mrs.
+Willis.
+
+Since that day there was a change very noticeable in Annie Forest--she was
+not so gay as formerly, but she was a great deal more mischievous--she was
+not nearly so daring, but she was capable now of little actions, slight in
+themselves, which yet were calculated to cause mischief and real
+unhappiness. Her sudden friendship with Susan Drummond did her no good,
+and she persistently avoided all intercourse with Cecil Temple, who
+hitherto had influenced her in the right direction.
+
+The incident of the green book had passed with no apparent result of
+grave importance, but the spirit of mischief which had caused this book
+to be found was by no means asleep in the school. Pranks were played in a
+most mysterious fashion with the girls' properties.
+
+Hester herself was the very next victim. She, too, was a neat and orderly
+child--she was clever and thoroughly enjoyed her school work. She was
+annoyed, therefore, and dreadfully puzzled, by discovering one morning
+that her neat French exercise book was disgracefully blotted, and one
+page torn across. She was severely reprimanded by Mdlle. Perier for such
+gross untidiness and carelessness, and when she assured the governess
+that she knew nothing whatever of the circumstance, that she was never
+guilty of blots, and had left the book in perfect order the night before,
+the French lady only shrugged her shoulders, made an expressive gesture
+with her eyebrows, and plainly showed Hester that she thought the less
+she said on that subject the better.
+
+Hester was required to write out her exercise again, and she fancied she
+saw a triumphant look in Annie Forest's eyes as she left the school-room,
+where poor Hester was obliged to remain to undergo her unmerited
+punishment.
+
+"Cecil," called Hester, in a passionate and eager voice, as Miss Temple
+was passing her place.
+
+Cecil paused for a moment.
+
+"What is it, Hetty?--oh, I am so sorry you must stay in this lovely
+bright day."
+
+"I have done nothing wrong," said Hester; "I never blotted this
+exercise-book; I never tore this page. It is most unjust not to believe
+my word; it is most unjust to punish me for what I have not done."
+
+Miss Temple's face looked puzzled and sad.
+
+"I must not stay to talk to you now, Hester," she whispered; "I am
+breaking the rules. You can come to my drawing-room by-and-by, and we
+will discuss this matter."
+
+But Hester and Cecil, talk as they would, could find no solution to the
+mystery. Cecil absolutely refused to believe that Annie Forest had
+anything to do with the matter.
+
+"No," she said, "such deceit is not in Annie's nature. I would do
+anything to help you, Hester; but I can't, and I won't, believe that
+Annie tried deliberately to do you any harm."
+
+"I am quite certain she did," retorted Hester, "and from this moment I
+refuse to speak to her until she confesses what she has done and
+apologizes to me. Indeed, I have a great mind to go and tell everything
+to Mrs. Willis."
+
+"Oh, I would not do that," said Cecil; "none of your schoolfellows would
+forgive you if you charged such a favorite as Annie with a crime which
+you cannot in the least prove against her. You must be patient, Hester,
+and if you are, I will take your part, and try to get at the bottom of
+the mystery."
+
+Cecil, however, failed to do so. Annie laughed when the affair was
+discussed in her presence, but her clear eyes looked as innocent as the
+day, and nothing would induce Cecil to doubt Miss Forest's honor.
+
+The mischievous sprite, however, who was sowing such seeds of unhappiness
+in the hitherto peaceful school was not satisfied with two deeds of
+daring; for a week afterward Cecil Temple found a book of Mrs.
+Browning's, out of which she was learning a piece for recitation, with
+its cover half torn off, and, still worse, a caricature of Mrs. Willis
+sketched with some cleverness and a great deal of malice on the
+title-page. On the very same morning, Dora Russell, on opening her desk,
+was seen to throw up her hands with a gesture of dismay. The neat
+composition she had finished the night before was not to be seen in its
+accustomed place, but in a corner of the desk were two bulky and
+mysterious parcels, one of which contained a great junk of rich
+plum-cake, and the other some very sticky and messy "Turkish delight;"
+while the paper which enveloped these luxuries was found to be that on
+which the missing composition was written. Dora's face grew very white,
+she forgot the ordinary rules of the school, and, leaving her class,
+walked down the room, and interrupted Miss Good, who was beginning to
+instruct the third class in English grammar.
+
+"Will you please come and see something in my desk, Miss Good?" she said
+in a voice which trembled with excitement.
+
+It was while she was speaking that Cecil found the copy of Mrs. Browning
+mutilated, and with the disgraceful caricature on its title-page.
+Startled as she was by this discovery, and also by Miss Russell's
+extraordinary behavior, she had presence of mind enough to hide the sight
+which pained her from her companions. Unobserved, in the strong interest
+of the moment, for all the girls were watching Dora Russell and Miss
+Good, she managed to squeeze the little volume into her pocket. She had
+indeed received a great shock, for she knew well that the only girl who
+could caricature in the school was Annie Forest. For a moment her
+troubled eyes sought the ground, but then she raised them and looked at
+Annie; Annie, however, with a particularly cheerful face, and her bright
+dark eyes full of merriment, was gazing in astonishment at the scene
+which was taking place in front of Miss Russell's desk.
+
+Dora, whose enunciation was very clear, seemed to have absolutely
+forgotten herself; she disregarded Miss Good's admonitions, and declared
+stoutly that at such a moment she did not care what rules she broke. She
+was quite determined that the culprit who had dared to desecrate her
+composition, and put plum-cake and "Turkish delight" into her desk,
+should be publicly exposed and punished.
+
+"The thing cannot go on any longer, Miss Good," she said; "there is a
+girl in this school who ought to be expelled from it, and I for one
+declare openly that I will not submit to associate with a girl who is
+worse than unladylike. If you will permit me, Miss Good, I will carry
+these things at once to Mrs. Willis, and beg of her to investigate the
+whole affair, and bring the culprit to justice, and to turn her out of
+the school."
+
+"Stay, Miss Russell," exclaimed the English teacher, "you strangely and
+completely forget yourself. You are provoked, I own, but you have no
+right to stand up and absolutely hoist the flag of rebellion in the faces
+of the other girls. I cannot excuse your conduct. I will myself take away
+these parcels which were found in your desk, and will report the affair
+to Mrs. Willis. She will take what steps she thinks right in bringing you
+to order, and in discovering the author of this mischief. Return
+instantly to your desk, Miss Russell; you strangely forget yourself."
+
+Miss Good left the room, having removed the plum-cake and "Turkish
+delight" from Dora Russell's desk, and lessons continued as best they
+could under such exciting circumstances.
+
+At twelve o'clock that day, just as the girls were preparing to go up to
+their rooms to get ready for their usual walk, Mrs. Willis came into the
+school-room.
+
+"Stay one moment, young ladies," said the head-mistress in that slightly
+vibrating and authoritative voice of hers. "I have a word or two to say
+to you all. Miss Good has just brought me a painful story of wanton and
+cruel mischief. There are fifty girls in this school, who, until lately,
+lived happily together. There is now one girl among the fifty whose
+object it is to sow seeds of discord and misery among her companions.
+Miss Good has told me of three different occasions on which mischief has
+been done to different girls in the school. Twice Miss Russell's desk has
+been disturbed, once Miss Thornton's. It is possible that other girls may
+also have suffered who have been noble enough not to complain. There is,
+however, a grave mischief, in short a moral disease in our midst. Such a
+thing is worse than bodily illness--it must be stamped out instantly and
+completely at the risk of any personal suffering. I am now going to ask
+you, girls, a simple question, and I demand instant truth without any
+reservation. Miss Russell's desk has been tampered with--Miss Thornton's
+desk has been tampered with. Has any other girl suffered injury--has any
+other girl's desk been touched?"
+
+Mrs. Willis looked down the long room--her voice had reached every
+corner, and the quiet, dignified, and deeply-pained expression in her
+fine eyes was plainly visible to each girl in the school. Even the little
+ones were startled and subdued by the tone of Mrs. Willis' voice, and one
+or two of them suddenly burst into tears. Mrs. Willis paused for a full
+moment, then she repeated her question.
+
+"I insist upon knowing the exact truth, my dear children," she said
+gently, but with great decision.
+
+"My desk has also been tampered with," said Miss Temple, in a low voice.
+
+Every one started when Cecil spoke, and even Annie Forest glanced at her
+with a half-frightened and curious expression. Cecil's voice indeed was
+so low, so shaken with doubt and pain, that her companions scarcely
+recognized it.
+
+"Come here, Miss Temple," said Mrs. Willis.
+
+Cecil instantly left her desk and walked up the room.
+
+"Your desk has also been tampered with, you say?" repeated the
+head-mistress.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"When did you discover this?"
+
+"To-day, Mrs. Willis."
+
+"You kept it to yourself?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Will you now repeat in the presence of the school, and in a loud enough
+voice to be heard by all here, exactly what was done?"
+
+"Pardon me," answered Cecil, and now her voice was a little less agitated
+and broken, and she looked full into the face of her teacher, "I cannot
+do that."
+
+"You deliberately disobey me, Cecil?" said Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+Mrs. Willis' face flushed--she did not, however, look angry; she laid her
+hand on Cecil's shoulder and looked full into her eyes.
+
+"You are one of my best pupils, Cecil," she said tenderly. "At such a
+moment as this, honor requires you to stand by your mistress. I must
+insist on your telling me here and now exactly what has occurred."
+
+Cecil's face grew whiter and whiter.
+
+"I cannot tell you," she murmured; "it breaks my heart, but I cannot tell
+you."
+
+"You have defied me, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis in a tone of deep pain. "I
+must, my dear, insist on your obedience, but not now. Miss Good, will you
+take Miss Temple to the chapel? I will come to you, Cecil, in an hour's
+time."
+
+Cecil walked down the room crying silently. Her deep distress and her
+very firm refusal to disclose what she knew had made a great impression
+on her schoolfellows. They all felt troubled and uneasy, and Annie
+Forest's face was very pale.
+
+"This thing, this wicked, mischievous thing has gone deeper than I
+feared," said Mrs. Willis, when Cecil had left the room. "Only some very
+strong motive would make Cecil Temple behave as she is now doing. She is
+influenced by a mistaken idea of what is right; she wishes to shield the
+guilty person. I may as well tell you all, young ladies, that, dear as
+Cecil is to me, she is now under the ban of my severe displeasure. Until
+she confesses the truth and humbles herself before me, I cannot be
+reconciled to her. I cannot permit her to associate with you. She has
+done very wrong, and her punishment must be proportionately severe. There
+is one chance for her, however. Will the girl whom she is mistakenly,
+though generously, trying to shield, come forward and confess her guilt,
+and so release poor Cecil from the terrible position in which she has
+placed herself? By doing so, the girl who has caused all this misery will
+at least show me that she is trying to repent?"
+
+Mrs. Willis paused again, and now she looked down the room with a face of
+almost entreaty. Several pairs of eyes were fixed anxiously on her,
+several looked away, and many girls glanced in the direction of Annie
+Forest, who, feeling herself suspected, returned their glances with bold
+defiance, and instantly assumed her most reckless manner.
+
+Mrs. Willis waited for a full minute.
+
+"The culprit is not noble enough," she said then. "Now, girls, I must ask
+each of you to come up one by one and deny or confess this charge. As you
+do so, you are silently to leave the school-room and go up to your rooms,
+and prepare for the walk which has been so painfully delayed. Miss
+Conway, you are at the head of the school, will you set the example?"
+
+One by one the girls of the head class stepped up to their teacher, and
+of each one she asked the same question:
+
+"Are you guilty?"
+
+Each girl replied in the negative and walked out of the school-room. The
+second class followed the example of the first, and then the third class
+came up to their teacher. Several ears were strained to hear Annie
+Forest's answer, but her eyes were lifted fearlessly to Mrs. Willis'
+face, and her "No!" was heard all over the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+IN THE CHAPEL.
+
+
+The bright light from a full noontide sun was shining in colored bars
+through the richly-painted windows of the little chapel when Mrs. Willis
+sought Cecil Temple there.
+
+Cecil's face was in many ways a remarkable one.
+
+Her soft brown eyes were generally filled with a steadfast and kindly
+ray. Gentleness was her special prerogative, but there was nothing weak
+about her--hers was the gentleness of a strong, and pure, and noble soul.
+To know Cecil was to love her. She was a motherless girl, and the only
+child of a most indulgent father. Colonel Temple was now in India, and
+Cecil was to finish her education under Mrs. Willis' care, and then, if
+necessary, to join her father.
+
+Mrs. Willis had always taken a special interest in this girl. She admired
+her for her great moral worth. Cecil was not particularly clever, but she
+was so studious, so painstaking, that she always kept a high place in
+class. She was without doubt a religious girl, but there was nothing of
+the prig about her. She was not, however, ashamed of her religion, and,
+if the fitting occasion arose, she was fearless in expressing her
+opinion.
+
+Mrs. Willis used to call Cecil her "little standard-bearer," and she
+relied greatly on her influence over the third-class girls. Mrs. Willis
+considered the third class, perhaps, the most important in the school.
+She was often heard to say:
+
+"The girls who fill this class have come to a turning point--they have
+come to the age when resolves may be made for life, and kept. The good
+third-class girl is very unlikely to degenerate as she passes through the
+second and first classes. On the other hand, there is very little hope
+that the idle or mischievous third-class girl will mend her ways as she
+goes higher in the school."
+
+Mrs. Willis' steps were very slow, and her thoughts extremely painful, as
+she entered the chapel to-day. Had any one else offered her defiance she
+would have known how to deal with the culprit, but Cecil would never have
+acted as she did without the strongest motive, and Mrs. Willis felt more
+sorrowful than angry as she sat down by the side of her favorite pupil.
+
+"I have kept you waiting longer than I intended, my dear," she said. "I
+was unexpectedly interrupted, and I am sorry; but you have had more time
+to think, Cecil."
+
+"Yes, I have thought," answered Cecil, in a very low tone.
+
+"And, perhaps," continued her governess, "in this quiet and beautiful and
+sacred place, my dear pupil has also prayed?"
+
+"I have prayed," said Cecil.
+
+"Then you have been guided, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis, in a tone of
+relief. "We do not come to God in our distress without being shown the
+right way. Your doubts have been removed, Cecil; you can now speak fully
+to me: can you not, dear?"
+
+"I have asked God to tell me what is right," said Cecil. "I don't pretend
+to know. I am very much puzzled. It seems to me that more good would be
+done if I concealed what you asked me to confess in the school-room. My
+own feeling is that I ought not to tell you. I know this is great
+disobedience, and I am quite willing to receive any punishment you think
+right to give me. Yes, I think I am quite willing to receive _any_
+punishment."
+
+Mrs. Willis put her hand on Cecil's shoulder.
+
+"Ordinary punishments are not likely to affect you, Cecil," she said; "on
+you I have no idea of inflicting extra lessons, or depriving you of
+half-holidays, or even taking away your drawing-room. But there is
+something else you must lose, and that I know will touch you deeply--I
+must remove from you my confidence."
+
+Cecil's face grew very pale.
+
+"And your love, too?" she said, looking up with imploring eyes; "oh,
+surely not your love as well?"
+
+"I ask you frankly, Cecil," replied Mrs. Willis, "can perfect love exist
+without perfect confidence? I would not willingly deprive you of my love,
+but of necessity the love I have hitherto felt for you must be
+altered--in short, the old love, which enabled me to rest on you and
+trust you, will cease."
+
+Cecil covered her face with her hands.
+
+"This punishment is very cruel," she said. "You are right; it reaches
+down to my very heart. But," she added, looking up with a strong and
+sweet light in her face, "I will try and bear it, and some day you will
+understand."
+
+"Listen, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis; "you have just told me you have prayed
+to God, and have asked Him to show you the right path. Now, my dear,
+suppose we kneel together, and both of us ask Him to show us the way out
+of this difficult matter. I want to be guided to use the right words with
+you, Cecil. You want to be guided to receive the instruction which I, as
+your teacher and mother-friend, would give you."
+
+Cecil and Mrs. Willis both knelt down, and the head-mistress said a few
+words in a voice of great earnestness and entreaty; then they resumed
+their seats.
+
+"Now, Cecil," said Mrs. Willis, "you must remember in listening to me
+that I am speaking to you as I believe God wishes me to. If I can
+convince you that you are doing wrong in concealing what you know from
+me, will you act as I wish in the matter?"
+
+"I long to be convinced," said Cecil, in a low tone.
+
+"That is right, my dear; I can now speak to you with perfect freedom. My
+words you will remember, Cecil, are now, I firmly believe, directed by
+God; they are also the result of a large experience. I have trained many
+girls. I have watched the phases of thought in many young minds. Cecil,
+look at me. I can read you like a book."
+
+Cecil looked up expectantly.
+
+"Your motive for this concealment is as clear as the daylight, Cecil. You
+are keeping back what you know because you want to shield some one. Am I
+not right, my dear?"
+
+The color flooded Cecil's pale face. She bent her head in silent assent,
+but her eyes were too full of tears, and her lips trembled too much to
+allow her to speak.
+
+"The girl you want to defend," continued Mrs. Willis, in that clear,
+patient voice of hers, "is one whom you and I both love--is one for whom
+we both have prayed--is one for whom we would both gladly sacrifice
+ourselves if necessary. Her name is----"
+
+"Oh, don't," said Cecil imploringly--"don't say her name; you have no
+right to suspect her."
+
+"I must say her name, Cecil, dear. If you suspect Annie Forest, why
+should not I? You do suspect her, do you not, Cecil?"
+
+Cecil began to cry.
+
+"I know it," continued Mrs. Willis. "Now, Cecil, we will suppose,
+terrible as this suspicion is, fearfully as it pains us both, that Annie
+Forest _is_ guilty. We must suppose for the sake of my argument that this
+is the case. Do you not know, my dear Cecil, that you are doing the
+falsest, cruelest thing by dear Annie in trying to hide her sin from me?
+Suppose, just for the sake of our argument, that this cowardly conduct on
+Annie's part was never found out by me; what effect would it have on
+Annie herself?"
+
+"It would save her in the eyes of the school," said Cecil.
+
+"Just so; but God would know the truth. Her next downfall would be
+deeper. In short, Cecil, under the idea of friendship you would have done
+the cruelest thing in all the world for your friend."
+
+Cecil was quite silent.
+
+"This is one way to look at it," continued Mrs. Willis; "but there are
+many other points from which this case ought to be viewed. You owe much
+to Annie, but not all--you have a duty to perform to your other
+schoolfellows. You have a duty to perform to me. If you possess a clue
+which will enable me to convict Annie Forest of her sin, in common
+justice you have no right to withhold it. Remember, that while she goes
+about free and unsuspected, some other girl is under the ban--some other
+girl is watched and feared. You fail in your duty to your schoolfellows
+when you keep back your knowledge, Cecil. When you refuse to trust me,
+you fail in your duty to your mistress; for I cannot stamp out this evil
+and wicked thing from our midst unless I know all. When you conceal your
+knowledge, you ruin the character of the girl you seek to shield. When
+you conceal your knowledge, you go against God's express wish. There--I
+have spoken to you as He directed me to speak."
+
+Cecil suddenly sprang to her feet.
+
+"I never thought of all these things," she said. "You are right, but it
+is very hard, and mine is only a suspicion. Oh, do be tender to her,
+and--forgive me--may I go away now?"
+
+As she spoke, she pulled out the torn copy of Mrs. Browning, laid it on
+her teacher's lap, and ran swiftly out of the chapel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+TALKING OVER THE MYSTERY.
+
+
+Annie Forest, sitting in the midst of a group of eager admirers, was
+chatting volubly. Never had she been in higher spirits, never had her
+pretty face looked more bright and daring.
+
+Cecil Temple coming into the play-room, started when she saw her. Annie,
+however, instantly rose from the low hassock on which she had perched
+herself and, running up to Cecil, put her hand through her arm.
+
+"We are all discussing the mystery, darling," she said; "we have
+discussed it, and literally torn it to shreds, and yet never got at the
+kernel. We have guessed and guessed what your motive can be in concealing
+the truth from Mrs. Willis, and we all unanimously vote that you are a
+dear old martyr, and that you have some admirable reason for keeping back
+the truth. You cannot think what an excitement we are in--even Susy
+Drummond has stayed awake to listen to our chatter. Now, Cecil, do come
+and sit here in this most inviting little arm-chair, and tell us what our
+dear head-mistress said to you in the chapel. It did seem so awful to
+send you to the chapel, poor dear Cecil."
+
+Cecil stood perfectly still and quiet while Annie was pouring out her
+torrent of eager words; her eyes, indeed, did not quite meet her
+companion's, but she allowed Annie to retain her clasp of her arm, and
+she evidently listened with attention to her words. Now, however, when
+Miss Forest tried to draw her into the midst of the eager and animated
+group who sat round the play-room fire, she hesitated and looked
+longingly in the direction of her peaceful little drawing-room. Her
+hesitation, however, was but momentary. Quite silently she walked with
+Annie down the large play-room and entered the group of girls.
+
+"Here's your throne, Queen Cecil," said Annie, trying to push her into
+the little arm-chair; but Cecil would not seat herself.
+
+"How nice that you have come, Cecil!" said Mary Pierce, a second-class
+girl. "I really think--we all think--that you were very brave to stand
+out against Mrs. Willis as you did. Of course we are devoured with
+curiosity to know what it means; arn't we, Flo?"
+
+"Yes, we're in agonies," answered Flo Dunstan, another second-class girl.
+
+"You will tell exactly what Mrs. Willis said, darling heroine?" proceeded
+Annie in her most dulcet tones. "You concealed your knowledge, didn't
+you? you were very firm, weren't you? dear, brave love!"
+
+"For my part, I think Cecil Temple the soul of brave firmness," here
+interrupted Susan Drummond. "I fancy she's as hard and firm in herself
+when she wants to conceal a thing as that rocky sweetmeat which always
+hurts our teeth to get through. Yes, I do fancy that."
+
+"Oh, Susy, what a horrid metaphor!" here interrupted several girls.
+
+One, however, of the eager group of schoolgirls had not opened her lips
+or said a word; that girl was Hester Thornton. She had been drawn into
+the circle by an intense curiosity; but she had made no comment with
+regard to Cecil's conduct. If she knew anything of the mystery she had
+thrown no light on it. She had simply sat motionless, with watchful and
+alert eyes and silent tongue. Now, for the first time, she spoke.
+
+"I think, if you will allow her, that Cecil has got something to say,"
+she remarked.
+
+Cecil glanced down at her with a very brief look of gratitude.
+
+"Thank you, Hester," she said. "I won't keep you a moment, girls. I
+cannot offer to throw any light on the mystery which makes us all so
+miserable to-day; but I think it right to undeceive you with regard to
+myself. I have not concealed what I know from Mrs. Willis. She is in
+possession of all the facts, and what I found in my desk this morning is
+now in her keeping. She has made me see that in concealing my knowledge I
+was acting wrongly, and whatever pain has come to me in the matter, she
+now knows all."
+
+When Cecil had finished her sad little speech she walked straight out of
+the group of girls, and, without glancing at one of them, went across the
+play-room to her own compartment. She had failed to observe a quick and
+startled glance from Susan Drummond's sleepy blue eyes, nor had she heard
+her mutter--half to her companions, half to herself:
+
+"Cecil is not like the rocky sweetmeat; I was mistaken in her."
+
+Neither had Cecil seen the flash of almost triumph in Hester's eyes, nor
+the defiant glance she threw at Miss Forest. Annie stood with her hands
+clasped, and a little frown of perplexity between her brows, for a
+moment; then she ran fearlessly down the play-room, and said in a low
+voice at the other side of Cecil's curtains:
+
+"May I come in?"
+
+Cecil said "Yes," and Annie, entering the pretty little drawing-room,
+flung her arms round Miss Temple's neck.
+
+"Cecil," she exclaimed impulsively, "you're in great trouble. I am a
+giddy, reckless thing, I know, but I don't laugh at people when they are
+in real trouble. Won't you tell me all about it, Cecil?"
+
+"I will, Annie. Sit down there and I will tell you everything. I think
+you have a right to know, and I am glad you have come to me. I thought
+perhaps--but no matter. Annie, can't you guess what I am going to say?"
+
+"No, I'm sure I can't," said Annie. "I saw for a moment or two to-day
+that some of those absurd girls suspected me of being the author of all
+this mischief. Now, you know, Cecil, I love a bit of fun beyond words. If
+there's any going on I feel nearly mad until I am in it; but what was
+done to-day was not at all in accordance with my ideas of fun. To tear up
+Miss Russell's essay and fill her desk with stupid plum-cake and Turkish
+delight seems to me but a sorry kind of jest. Now, if I had been guilty
+of that sort of thing, I'd have managed something far cleverer than that.
+If _I_ had tampered with Dora Russell's desk, I'd have done the thing in
+style. The dear, sweet, dignified creature should have shrieked in real
+terror. You don't know, perhaps, Cecil, that our admirable Dora is no end
+of a coward. I wonder what she would have said if I had put a little nest
+of field-mice in her desk! I saw that the poor thing suspected me, as she
+gave way to her usual little sneer about the 'under-bred girl;' but, of
+course, _you_ know me, Cecil. Why, my dear Cecil, what is the matter? How
+white you are, and you are actually crying! What is it, Cecil? what is
+it, Cecil, darling?"
+
+Cecil dried her eyes quickly.
+
+"You know my pet copy of Mrs. Browning's poems, don't you, Annie?"
+
+"Oh, yes, of course. You lent it to me one day. Don't you remember how
+you made me cry over that picture of little Alice, the over-worked
+factory girl? What about the book, Cecil?"
+
+"I found the book in my desk," said Cecil, in a steady tone, and now
+fixing her eyes on Annie, who knelt by her side--"I found the book in my
+desk, although I never keep it there; for it is quite against the rules
+to keep our recreation books in our school-desks, and you know, Annie, I
+always think it is so much easier to keep these little rules. They are
+matters of duty and conscience, after all. I found my copy of Mrs.
+Browning in my desk this morning with the cover torn off, and with a very
+painful and ludicrous caricature of our dear Mrs. Willis sketched on the
+title-page."
+
+"What?" said Annie. "No, no; impossible!"
+
+"You know nothing about it, do you, Annie?"
+
+"I never put it there, if that's what you mean," said Annie. But her face
+had undergone a curious change. Her light and easy and laughing manner
+had altered. When Cecil mentioned the caricature she flushed a vivid
+crimson. Her flush had quickly died away, leaving her olive-tinted face
+paler than its wont.
+
+"I see," she said, after a long pause, "you, too, suspected me, Cecil,
+and that is why you tried to conceal the thing. You know that I am the
+only girl in the school who can draw caricatures, but did you suppose
+that I would show _her_ dishonor? Of course things look ugly for me, if
+this is what you found in your book; but I did not think that _you_ would
+suspect me, Cecil."
+
+"I will believe you, Annie," said Cecil, eagerly. "I long beyond words to
+believe you. With all your faults, no one has ever yet found you out in a
+lie. If you look at me, Annie, and tell me honestly that you know nothing
+whatever about that caricature, I will believe you. Yes, I will believe
+you fully, and I will go with you to Mrs. Willis and tell her that,
+whoever did the wrong, you are innocent in this matter. Say you know
+nothing about it, dear, dear Annie, and take a load off my heart."
+
+"I never put the caricature into your book, Cecil."
+
+"And you know nothing about it?"
+
+"I cannot say that; I never--never put it in your book."
+
+"Oh, Annie," exclaimed poor Cecil, "you are trying to deceive me. Why
+won't you be brave? Oh, Annie, I never thought you would stoop to a lie."
+
+"I'm telling no lie," answered Annie with sudden passion. "I do know
+something about the caricature, but I never put it into that book. There!
+you doubt me, you have ceased to believe me, and I won't waste any more
+words on the matter."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+"SENT TO COVENTRY."
+
+
+There were many girls in the school who remembered that dismal
+half-holiday--they remembered its forced mirth and its hidden anxiety;
+and as the hours flew by the suspicion that Annie Forest was the author
+of all the mischief grew and deepened. A school is like a little world,
+and popular opinion is apt to change with great rapidity. Annie was
+undoubtedly the favorite of the school; but favorites are certain to have
+enemies, and there were several girls unworthy enough and mean enough to
+be jealous of poor Annie's popularity. She was the kind of girl whom only
+very small natures could really dislike. Her popularity arose from the
+simple fact that hers was a peculiarly joyous and unselfish nature. She
+was a girl with scarcely any self-consciousness; those she loved, she
+loved devotedly; she threw herself with a certain feverish impetuosity
+into their lives, and made their interest her own. To get into mischief
+and trouble for the sake of a friend was an every-day occurrence with
+Annie. She was not the least studious; she had no one particular talent,
+unless it was an untrained and birdlike voice; she was always more or
+less in hot water about her lessons, always behindhand in her tasks,
+always leaving undone what she should do, and doing what she should not
+do. She was a contradictory, erratic creature--jealous of no one, envious
+of no one--dearly loving a joke, and many times inflicting pain from
+sheer thoughtlessness, but always ready to say she was sorry, always
+ready to make friends again.
+
+It is strange that such a girl as Annie should have enemies, but she had,
+and in the last few weeks the feeling of jealousy and envy which had
+always been smoldering in some breasts took more active form. Two reasons
+accounted for this: Hester's openly avowed and persistent dislike to
+Annie, and Miss Russell's declared conviction that she was under-bred and
+not a lady.
+
+Miss Russell was the only girl in the first class who had hitherto given
+wild little Annie a thought.
+
+In the first class, to-day, Annie had to act the unpleasing part of the
+wicked little heroine. Miss Russell was quite certain of Annie's guilt;
+she and her companions condescended to discuss poor Annie and to pull all
+her little virtues to pieces, and to magnify her sins to an alarming
+extent.
+
+After two or three hours of judicious conversation, Dora Russell and most
+of the other first-class girls decided that Annie ought to be expelled,
+and unanimously resolved that they, at least, would do what they could to
+"send her to Coventry."
+
+In the lower part of the school Annie also had a few enemies, and these
+girls, having carefully observed Hester's attitude toward her, now came
+up close to this dignified little lady, and asked her boldly to declare
+her opinion with regard to Annie's guilt.
+
+Hester, without the least hesitation, assured them that "of course Annie
+had done it."
+
+"There is not room for a single doubt on the subject," she said;
+"there--look at her now."
+
+At this instant Annie was leaving Cecil's compartment, and with red eyes,
+and hair, as usual, falling about her face, was running out of the
+play-room. She seemed in great distress; but, nevertheless, before she
+reached the door, she stopped to pick up a little girl of five, who was
+fretting about some small annoyance. Annie took the little one in her
+arms, kissed her tenderly, whispered some words in her ear, which caused
+the little face to light up with some smiles and the round arms to clasp
+Annie with an ecstatic hug. She dropped the child, who ran back to play
+merrily with her companions, and left the room.
+
+The group of middle-class girls still sat on by the fire, but Hester
+Thornton now, not Annie, was the center of attraction. It was the first
+time in all her young life that Hester had found herself in the enviable
+position of a favorite; and without at all knowing what mischief she was
+doing, she could not resist improving the occasion, and making the most
+of her dislike for Annie.
+
+Several of those who even were fond of Miss Forest came round to the
+conviction that she was really guilty, and one by one, as is the fashion
+not only among school girls but in the greater world outside, they began
+to pick holes in their former favorite. These girls, too, resolved that,
+if Annie were really so mean as maliciously to injure other girls'
+property and get them into trouble, she must be "sent to Coventry."
+
+"What's Coventry?" asked one of the little ones, the child whom Annie had
+kissed and comforted, now sidling up to the group.
+
+"Oh, a nasty place, Phena," said Mary Bell, putting her arm round the
+pretty child and drawing her to her side.
+
+"And who is going there?"
+
+"Why, I am afraid it is naughty Annie Forest."
+
+"She's not naughty! Annie sha'n't go to any nasty place. I hate you, Mary
+Bell." The little one looked round the group with flashing eyes of
+defiance, then wrenched herself away to return to her younger companions.
+
+"It was stupid of you to say that, Mary," remarked one of the girls.
+"Well," she continued, "I suppose it is all settled, and poor Annie, to
+say the least of it, is not a lady. For my own part, I always thought her
+great fun, but if she is proved guilty of this offense I wash my hands of
+her."
+
+"We all wash our hands of her," echoed the girls, with the exception of
+Susan Drummond, who, as usual, was nodding in her chair.
+
+"What do you say, Susy?" asked one or two; "you have not opened your lips
+all this time."
+
+"I--eh?--what?" asked Susan, stretching herself and yawning, "oh, about
+Annie Forest--I suppose you are right, girls. Is not that the tea-gong?
+I'm awfully hungry."
+
+Hester Thornton went into the tea-room that evening feeling particularly
+virtuous, and with an idea that she had distinguished herself in some
+way.
+
+Poor foolish, thoughtless Hester, she little guessed what seed she had
+sown, and what a harvest she was preparing for her own reaping by-and-by.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ABOUT SOME PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT NO EVIL.
+
+
+A few days after this Hester was much delighted to receive an invitation
+from her little friends, the Misses Bruce. These good ladies had not
+forgotten the lonely and miserable child whom they had comforted not a
+little during her journey to school six weeks ago. They invited Hester to
+spend the next half-holiday with them, and as this happened to fall on a
+Saturday, Mrs. Willis gave Hester permission to remain with her friends
+until eight o'clock, when she would send the carriage to fetch her home.
+
+The trouble about Annie had taken place the Wednesday before, and all the
+girls' heads were full of the uncleared-up mystery when Hester started on
+her little expedition.
+
+Nothing was known; no fresh light had been thrown on the subject.
+Everything went on as usual within the school, and a casual observer
+would never have noticed the cloud which rested over that usually happy
+dwelling. A casual observer would have noticed little or no change in
+Annie Forest; her merry laugh was still heard, her light step still
+danced across the play-room floor, she was in her place in class, and
+was, if anything, a little more attentive and a little more successful
+over her lessons. Her pretty piquant face, her arch expression, the
+bright, quick and droll glance which she alone could give, were still to
+be seen; but those who knew her well and those who loved her best saw a
+change in Annie.
+
+In the play-room she devoted herself exclusively to the little ones; she
+never went near Cecil Temple's drawing-room; she never mingled with the
+girls of the middle school as they clustered round the cheerful fire. At
+meal-times she ate little, and her room-fellow was heard to declare that
+she was awakened more than once in the middle of the night by the sound
+of Annie's sobs. In chapel, too, when she fancied herself quite
+unobserved, her face wore an expression of great pain; but if Mrs. Willis
+happened to glance in her direction, instantly the little mouth became
+demure and almost hard, the dark eyelashes were lowered over the bright
+eyes, the whole expression of the face showed the extreme of
+indifference. Hester felt more sure than ever of Annie's guilt; but one
+or two of the other girls in the school wavered in this opinion, and
+would have taken Annie out of "Coventry" had she herself made the
+smallest advance toward them.
+
+Annie and Hester had not spoken to each other now for several days; but
+on this afternoon, which was a bright one in early spring, as Hester was
+changing her school-dress for her Sunday one, and preparing for her visit
+to the Misses Bruce, there came a light knock at her door. She said,
+"Come in!" rather impatiently, for she was in a hurry, and dreaded being
+kept.
+
+To her surprise Annie Forest put in her curly head, and then, dancing
+with her usual light movement across the room, she laid a little bunch of
+dainty spring flowers on the dressing-table beside Hester.
+
+Hester stared, first at the intruder, and then at the early primroses.
+She passionately loved flowers, and would have exclaimed with ecstasy at
+these had any one brought them in except Annie.
+
+"I want you," said Annie, rather timidly for her, "to take these flowers
+from me to Miss Agnes and Miss Jane Bruce. It will be very kind of you if
+you will take them. I am sorry to have interrupted you--thank you very
+much."
+
+She was turning away when Hester compelled herself to remark:
+
+"Is there any message with the flowers?"
+
+"Oh, no--only Annie Forest's love. They'll understand----" she turned
+half round as she spoke, and Hester saw that her eyes had filled with
+tears. She felt touched in spite of herself. There was something in
+Annie's face now which reminded her of her darling little Nan at home.
+She had seen the same beseeching, sorrowful look in Nan's brown eyes when
+she had wanted her friends to kiss her and take her to their hearts and
+love her.
+
+Hester would not allow herself, however, to feel any tenderness toward
+Annie. Of course she was not really a bit like sweet little Nan, and it
+was absurd to suppose that a great girl like Annie could want caressing
+and petting and soothing; still, in spite of herself, Annie's look
+haunted her, and she took great care of the little flower-offering, and
+presented it with Annie's message instantly on her arrival to the little
+old ladies.
+
+Miss Jane and Miss Agnes were very much pleased with the early primroses.
+They looked at one another and said:
+
+"Poor dear little girl," in tender voices, and then they put the flowers
+into one of their daintiest vases, and made much of them, and showed them
+to any visitors who happened to call that afternoon.
+
+Their little house looked something like a doll's house to Hester, who
+had been accustomed all her life to large rooms and spacious passages;
+but it was the sweetest, daintiest, and most charming little abode in the
+world. It was not unlike a nest, and the Misses Bruce in certain ways
+resembled bright little robin redbreasts, so small, so neat, so chirrupy
+they were.
+
+Hester enjoyed her afternoon immensely; the little ladies were right in
+their prophesy, and she was no longer lonely at school. She enjoyed
+talking about her schoolfellows, about her new life, about her studies.
+The Misses Bruce were decidedly fond of a gossip, but something which she
+could not at all define in their manner prevented Hester from retailing
+for their benefit any unkind news. They told her frankly at last that
+they were only interested in the good things which went on in the school,
+and that they found no pursuit so altogether delightful as finding out
+the best points in all the people they came across. They would not even
+laugh at sleepy, tiresome Susan Drummond; on the contrary, they pitied
+her, and Miss Jane wondered if the girl could be quite well, whereupon
+Miss Agnes shook her head, and said emphatically that it was Hester's
+duty to rouse poor Susy, and to make her waking life so interesting to
+her that she should no longer care to spend so many hours in the world of
+dreams.
+
+There is such a thing as being so kind-hearted, so gentle, so charitable
+as to make the people who have not encouraged these virtues feel quite
+uncomfortable. By the mere force of contrast they begin to see themselves
+something as they really are. Since Hester had come to Lavender House she
+had taken very little pains to please others rather than herself, and she
+was now almost startled to see how she had allowed selfishness to get the
+better of her. While the Misses Bruce were speaking, old longings, which
+had slept since her mother's death, came back to the young girl, and she
+began to wish that she could be kinder to Susan Drummond, and that she
+could overcome her dislike to Annie Forest. She longed to say something
+about Annie to the little ladies, but they evidently did not wish to
+allude to the subject. When she was going away, they gave her a small
+parcel.
+
+"You will kindly give this to your schoolfellow, Miss Forest, Hester,
+dear," they both said, and then they kissed her, and said they hoped they
+should see her again; and Hester got into the old-fashioned school
+brougham, and held the brown paper parcel in her hand.
+
+As she was going into the chapel that night, Mary Bell came up to her and
+whispered:
+
+"We have not got to the bottom of that mystery about Annie Forest yet.
+Mrs. Willis can evidently make nothing of her, and I believe Mr. Everard
+is going to talk to her after prayers to-night."
+
+As she was speaking, Annie herself pushed rather rudely past the two
+girls; her face was flushed, and her hair was even more untidy than was
+its wont.
+
+"Here is a parcel for you, Miss Forest," said Hester, in a much more
+gentle tone than she was wont to use when she addressed this
+objectionable schoolmate.
+
+All the girls were now filing into the chapel, and Hester should
+certainly not have presented the little parcel at that moment.
+
+"Breaking the rules, Miss Thornton," said Annie; "all right, toss it
+here." Then, as Hester failed to comply, she ran back, knocking her
+schoolfellows out of place, and, snatching the parcel from Hester's hand,
+threw it high in the air. This was a piece of not only willful audacity
+and disobedience, but it even savored of the profane, for Annie's step
+was on the threshold of the chapel, and the parcel fell with a noisy bang
+on the floor some feet inside the little building.
+
+"Bring me that parcel, Annie Forest," whispered the stern voice of the
+head-mistress.
+
+Annie sullenly complied; but when she came up to Mrs. Willis, her
+governess took her hand, and pushed her down into a low seat a little
+behind her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS."
+
+
+The short evening service was over, and one by one, in orderly
+procession, the girls left the chapel. Annie was about to rise to her
+feet to follow her school-companions, when Mrs. Willis stooped down, and
+whispered something in her ear. Her face became instantly suffused with a
+dull red; she resumed her seat, and buried her face in both her hands.
+One or two of the girls noticed her despondent attitude as they left the
+chapel, and Cecil Temple looked back with a glance of such unutterable
+sympathy that Annie's proud, suffering little heart would have been
+touched could she but have seen the look.
+
+Presently the young steps died away, and Annie, raising her head, saw
+that she was alone with Mr. Everard, who seated himself in the place
+which Mrs. Willis had occupied by her side.
+
+"Your governess has asked me to speak to you, my dear," he said, in his
+kind and fatherly tones; "she wants us to discuss this thing which is
+making you so unhappy quite fully together." Here the clergyman paused,
+and noticing a sudden wistful and soft look in the girl's brown eyes, he
+continued: "Perhaps, however, you have something to say to me which will
+throw light on this mystery?"
+
+"No, sir, I have nothing to say," replied Annie, and now again the sullen
+expression passed like a wave over her face.
+
+"Poor child," said Mr. Everard. "Perhaps, Annie," he continued, "you do
+not quite understand me--you do not quite read my motive in talking to
+you to-night. I am not here in any sense to reprove you. You are either
+guilty of this sin, or you are not guilty. In either case I pity you; it
+is very hard, very bitter, to be falsely accused--I pity you much if this
+is the case; but it is still harder, Annie, still more bitter, still more
+absolutely crushing to be accused of a sin which we are trying to
+conceal. In that terrible case God Himself hides His face. Poor child,
+poor child, I pity you most of all if you are guilty."
+
+Annie had again covered her face, and bowed her head over her hands. She
+did not speak for a moment, but presently Mr. Everard heard a low sob,
+and then another, and another, until at last her whole frame was shaken
+with a perfect tempest of weeping.
+
+The old clergyman, who had seen many strange phases of human nature, who
+had in his day comforted and guided more than one young school-girl, was
+far too wise to do anything to check this flow of grief. He knew Annie
+would speak more fully and more frankly when her tears were over. He was
+right. She presently raised a very tear-stained face to the clergyman.
+
+"I felt very bitter at your coming to speak to me," she began. "Mrs.
+Willis has always sent for you when everything else has failed with us
+girls, and I did not think she would treat me so. I was determined not to
+say anything to you. Now, however, you have spoken good words to me, and
+I can't turn away from you. I will tell you all that is in my heart. I
+will promise before God to conceal nothing, if only you will do one thing
+for me."
+
+"What is that, my child?"
+
+"Will you believe me?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Ah, but you have not been tried yet. I thought Mrs. Willis would
+certainly believe; but she said the circumstantial evidence was too
+strong--perhaps it will be too strong for you."
+
+"I promise to believe you, Annie Forest; if, before God, you can assure
+me that you are speaking the whole truth, I will fully believe you."
+
+Annie paused again, then she rose from her seat and stood a pace away
+from the old minister.
+
+"This is the truth before God," she said, as she locked her two hands
+together and raised her eyes freely and unshrinkingly to Mr. Everard's
+face.
+
+"I have always loved Mrs. Willis. I have reasons for loving her which the
+girls don't know about. The girls don't know that when my mother was
+dying she gave me into Mrs. Willis' charge, and she said, 'You must keep
+Annie until her father comes back.' Mother did not know where father was;
+but she said he would be sure to come back some day, and look for mother
+and me; and Mrs. Willis said she would keep me faithfully until father
+came to claim me. That is four years ago, and my father has never come,
+nor have I heard of him, and I think, I am almost sure, that the little
+money which mother left must be all used up. Mrs. Willis never says
+anything about money, and she did not wish me to tell my story to the
+girls. None of them know except Cecil Temple. I am sure some day father
+will come home, and he will give Mrs. Willis back the money she has spent
+on me; but never, never, never can he repay her for her goodness to me.
+You see I cannot help loving Mrs. Willis. It is quite impossible for any
+girl to have such a friend and not to love her. I know I am very wild,
+and that I do all sorts of mad things. It seems to me that I cannot help
+myself sometimes; but I would not willingly, indeed, I would not
+willingly hurt anybody. Last Wednesday, as you know, there was a great
+disturbance in the school. Dora Russell's desk was tampered with, and so
+was Cecil Temple's. You know, of course, what was found in both the
+desks. Mrs. Willis sent for me, and asked me about the caricature which
+was drawn in Cecil's book. I looked at it and I told her the truth. I did
+not conceal one thing. I told her the whole truth as far as I knew it.
+She did not believe me. She said so. What more could I do then?"
+
+Here Annie paused; she began to unclasp and clasp her hands, and she
+looked full at Mr. Everard with a most pleading expression.
+
+"Do you mind repeating to me exactly what you said to your governess?" he
+questioned.
+
+"I said this, sir. I said, 'Yes, Mrs. Willis, I did draw that caricature.
+You will scarcely understand how I, who love you so much, could have been
+so mad and ungrateful as to do anything to turn you into ridicule. I
+would cut off my right hand now not to have done it; but I did do it, and
+I must tell you the truth.' 'Tell me, dear,' she said, quite gently then.
+'It was one wet afternoon about a fortnight ago,' I said to her; 'a lot
+of us middle-school girls were sitting together, and I had a pencil and
+some bits of paper, and I was making up funny little groups of a lot of
+us, and the girls were screaming with laughter, for somehow I managed to
+make the likeness that I wanted in each case. It was very wrong of me, I
+know. It was against the rules, but I was in one of my maddest humors,
+and I really did not care what the consequences were. At last one of the
+girls said: 'You won't dare to make a picture like that of Mrs. Willis,
+Annie--you know you won't dare.' The minute she said that name I began to
+feel ashamed. I remembered I was breaking one of the rules, and I
+suddenly tore up all my bits of paper and flung them into the fire, and I
+said: 'No, I would not dare to show her dishonor.' Well, afterward, as I
+was washing my hands for tea up in my room, the temptation came over me
+so strongly that I felt I could not resist it, to make a funny little
+sketch of Mrs. Willis. I had a little scrap of thin paper, and I took out
+my pencil and did it all in a minute. It seemed to me very funny, and I
+could not help laughing at it; and then I thrust it into my private
+writing-case, which I always keep locked, and I put the key in my pocket
+and ran downstairs. I forgot all about the caricature. I had never shown
+it to any one. How it got into Cecil's book is more than I can say. When
+I had finished speaking Mrs. Willis looked very hard at the book. 'You
+are right,' she said; 'this caricature is drawn on a very thin piece of
+paper, which has been cleverly pasted on the title-page.' Then, Mr.
+Everard, she asked me a lot of questions. Had I ever parted with my keys?
+Had I ever left my desk unlocked? 'No,' I said, 'my desk is always
+locked, and my keys are always in my pocket. Indeed,' I added, 'my keys
+were absolutely safe for the last week, for they went in a white
+petticoat to the wash, and came back as rusty as possible.' I could not
+open my desk for a whole week, which was a great nuisance. I told all
+this story to Mrs. Willis, and she said to me: 'You are positively
+certain that this caricature has been taken out of your desk by somebody
+else, and pasted in here? You are sure that the caricature you drew is
+not to be found in your desk?' 'Yes,' I said; 'how can I be anything but
+sure; these are my pencil marks, and that is the funny little turn I gave
+to your neck which made me laugh when I drew it. Yes; I am certainly
+sure.'
+
+"'I have always been told, Annie,' Mrs. Willis said, 'that you are the
+only girl in the school who can draw these caricatures. You have never
+seen an attempt at this kind of drawing among your schoolfellows, or
+among any of the teachers?'
+
+"'I have never seen any of them try this special kind of drawing,' I
+said. 'I wish I was like them. I wish I had never, never done it.'
+
+"'You have got your keys now?' Mrs. Willis said.
+
+"'Yes,' I answered, pulling them all covered with rust out of my pocket.
+
+"Then she told me to leave the keys on the table, and to go upstairs and
+fetch down my little private desk.
+
+"I did so, and she made me put the rusty key in the lock and open the
+desk, and together we searched through its contents. We pulled out
+everything, or rather I did, and I scattered all my possessions about on
+the table, and then I looked up almost triumphantly at Mrs. Willis.
+
+"'You see the caricature is not here,' I said; 'somebody picked the lock
+and took it away.'
+
+"'This lock has not been picked,' Mrs. Willis said; 'and what is that
+little piece of white paper sticking out of the private drawer?'
+
+"'Oh, I forgot my private drawer,' I said; 'but there is nothing in
+it--nothing whatever,' and then I touched the spring, and pulled it open,
+and there lay the little caricature which I had drawn in the bottom of
+the drawer. There it lay, not as I had left it, for I had never put it
+into the private drawer. I saw Mrs. Willis' face turn very white, and I
+noticed that her hands trembled. I was all red myself, and very hot, and
+there was a choking lump in my throat, and I could not have got a single
+word out even if I had wished to. So I began scrambling the things back
+into my desk, as hard as ever I could, and then I locked it, and put the
+rusty keys back in my pocket.
+
+"'What am I to believe now, Annie?' Mrs. Willis said.
+
+"'Believe anything you like now,' I managed to say; and then I took my
+desk and walked out of the room, and would not wait even though she
+called me back.
+
+"That is the whole story, Mr. Everard," continued Annie. "I have no
+explanation whatever to give. I did make the one caricature of my dear
+governess. I did not make the other. The second caricature is certainly a
+copy of the first, but I did not make it. I don't know who made it. I
+have no light whatever to throw on the subject. You see after all," added
+Annie Forest, raising her eyes to the clergyman's face, "it is impossible
+for you to believe me. Mrs. Willis does not believe me, and you cannot be
+expected to. I don't suppose you are to be blamed. I don't see how you
+can help yourself."
+
+"The circumstantial evidence is very strong against you, Annie," replied
+the clergyman; "still, I promised to believe, and I have no intention of
+going back from my word. If, in the presence of God in this little
+church, you would willingly and deliberately tell me a lie I should never
+trust human being again. No, Annie Forest, you have many faults, but you
+are not a liar. I see the impress of truth on your brow, in your eyes, on
+your lips. This is a very painful mystery, my child; but I believe you. I
+am going to see Mrs. Willis now. God bless you, Annie. Be brave, be
+courageous, don't foster malice in your heart to any unknown enemy. An
+enemy has truly done this thing, poor child; but God Himself will bring
+this mystery to light. Trust Him, my dear; and now I am going to see Mrs.
+Willis."
+
+While Mr. Everard was speaking, Annie's whole expressive face had
+changed; the sullen look had left it; the eyes were bright with renewed
+hope; the lips had parted in smiles. There was a struggle for speech, but
+no words came: the young girl stooped down and raised the old clergyman's
+withered hands to her lips.
+
+"Let me stay here a little longer," she managed to say at last; and then
+he left her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+"THE SWEETS ARE POISONED."
+
+
+"I think, my dear madam," said Mr. Everard to Mrs. Willis, "that you must
+believe your pupil. She has not refused to confess to you from any
+stubbornness, but from the simple reason that she has nothing to confess.
+I am firmly convinced that things are as she stated them, Mrs. Willis.
+There is a mystery here which we neither of us can explain, but which we
+must unravel."
+
+Then Mrs. Willis and the clergyman had a long and anxious talk together.
+It lasted for a long time, and some of its results at least were manifest
+the next morning, for, just before the morning's work began, Mrs. Willis
+came to the large school-room, and, calling Annie Forest to her side,
+laid her hand on the young girl's shoulder.
+
+"I wish to tell you all, young ladies," she said, "that I completely and
+absolutely exonerate Annie Forest from having any part in the disgraceful
+occurrence which took place in this school-room a short time ago. I
+allude, of course, as you all know, to the book which was found tampered
+with in Cecil Temple's desk. Some one else in this room is guilty, and
+the mystery has still to be unraveled, and the guilty girl has still to
+come forward and declare herself. If she is willing at this moment to
+come to me here, and fully and freely confess her sin, I will quite
+forgive her."
+
+The head mistress paused, and, still with her hand on Annie's shoulder,
+looked anxiously down the long room. The love and forgiveness which she
+felt shone in her eyes at this moment. No girl need have feared aught but
+tenderness from her just then.
+
+No one stirred; the moment passed, and a look of sternness returned to
+the mistress' fine face.
+
+"No," she said, in her emphatic and clear tones, "the guilty girl prefers
+waiting until God discovers her sin for her. My dear, whoever you are,
+that hour is coming, and you cannot escape from it. In the meantime,
+girls, I wish you all to receive Annie Forest as quite innocent. I
+believe in her, so does Mr. Everard, and so must you. Any one who treats
+Miss Forest except as a perfectly innocent and truthful girl incurs my
+severe displeasure. My dear, you may return to your seat."
+
+Annie, whose face was partly hidden by her curly hair during the greater
+part of this speech, now tossed it back, and raised her brown eyes with a
+look of adoration in them to her teacher. Mrs. Willis' face, however,
+still looked harassed. Her eyes met Annie's, but no corresponding glow
+was kindled in them; their glance was just, calm, but cold.
+
+The childish heart was conscious of a keen pang of agony, and Annie went
+back to her lessons without any sense of exultation.
+
+The fact was this: Mrs. Willis' judgment and reason had been brought
+round by Mr. Everard's words, but in her heart of hearts, almost unknown
+to herself, there still lingered a doubt of the innocence of her wayward
+and pretty pupil. She said over and over to herself that she really now
+quite believed in Annie Forest, but then would come those whisperings
+from her pained and sore heart.
+
+"Why did she ever make a caricature of one who has been as a mother to
+her? If she made one caricature, could she not make another? Above all
+things, if _she_ did not do it, who did?"
+
+Mrs. Willis turned away from these unpleasant whispers--she would not let
+them stay with her, and turned a deaf ear to their ugly words. She had
+publicly declared in the school her belief in Annie's absolute innocence,
+but at the moment when her pupil looked up at her with a world of love
+and adoration in her gaze, she found to her own infinite distress that
+she could not give her the old love.
+
+Annie went back to her companions, and bent her head over her lessons,
+and tried to believe that she was very thankful and very happy, and Cecil
+Temple managed to whisper a gentle word of congratulation to her, and at
+the twelve o'clock walk Annie perceived that a few of her schoolfellows
+looked at her with friendly eyes again. She perceived now that when she
+went into the play-room she was not absolutely tabooed, and that, if she
+chose, she might speedily resume her old reign of popularity. Annie had,
+to a remarkable extent, the gift of inspiring love, and her old favorites
+would quickly have flocked back to their sovereign had she so willed it.
+It is certainly true that the girls to whom the whole story was known in
+all its bearings found it difficult to understand how Annie could be
+innocent; but Mr. Everard's and Mrs. Willis' assertions were too potent
+to be disregarded, and most of the girls were only too willing to let the
+whole affair slide from their minds, and to take back their favorite
+Annie to their hearts again.
+
+Annie, however, herself did not so will it. In the play-room she
+fraternized with the little ones who were alike her friends in adversity
+and sunshine; she rejected almost coldly the overtures of her old
+favorites, but played, and romped, and was merry with the children of the
+sixth class. She even declined Cecil's invitation to come and sit with
+her in her drawing-room.
+
+"Oh, no," she said. "I hate being still; I am in no humor for talk.
+Another time, Cecil, another time. Now then, Sybil, my beauty, get well
+on my back, and I'll be the willing dog carrying you round and round the
+room."
+
+Annie's face had not a trace of care or anxiety on it, but her eyes would
+not quite meet Cecil's, and Cecil sighed as she turned away, and her
+heart, too, began to whisper little, mocking, ugly doubts of poor Annie.
+
+During the half-hour before tea that evening Annie was sitting on the
+floor with a small child in her lap, and two other little ones tumbling
+about her, when she was startled by a shower of lollipops being poured
+over her head, down her neck, and into her lap. She started up and met
+the sleepy gaze of Susan Drummond.
+
+"That's to congratulate you, miss," said Susan; "you're a very lucky girl
+to have escaped as you did."
+
+The little ones began putting Susan's lollipops vigorously into their
+mouths. Annie sprang to her feet shaking the sticky sweetmeats out of her
+dress on to the floor.
+
+"What have I escaped from?" she asked, turning round and facing her
+companion haughtily.
+
+"Oh, dear me!" said Susan, stepping back a pace or two. "I--ah--"
+stifling a yawn--"I only meant you were very near getting into an ugly
+scrape. It's no affair of mine, I'm sure; only I thought you'd like the
+lollipops."
+
+"No, I don't like them at all," said Annie, "nor you, either. Go back to
+your own companions, please."
+
+Susan sulkily walked away, and Annie stooped down on the floor.
+
+"Now, little darlings," she said, "you mustn't eat those. No, no, they
+are not good at all; and they have come from one of Annie's enemies. Most
+likely they are full of poison. Let us collect them all, every one, and
+we will throw them into the fire before we go to tea."
+
+"But I don't think there's any poison in them," said little Janie West in
+a regretful tone, as she gobbled down a particularly luscious chocolate
+cream; "they are all big, and fat, and bursty, and _so_ sweet, Annie,
+dear."
+
+"Never mind, Janie, they are dangerous sweeties all the same. Come, come,
+throw them into my apron, and I will run over and toss them into the
+fire, and we'll have time for a game of leap-frog before tea; oh, fie,
+Judy," as a very small fat baby began to whimper, "you would not eat the
+sweeties of one of Annie's enemies."
+
+This last appeal was successful. The children made a valiant effort, and
+dashed the tempting goodies into Annie's alapaca apron. When they were
+all collected, she marched up the play-room and in the presence of Susan
+Drummond, Hester Thornton, Cecil Temple, and several more of her school
+companions, threw them into the fire.
+
+"So much for _that_ overture, Miss Drummond," she said, making a mock
+courtesy, and returning once more to the children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+IN THE HAMMOCK.
+
+
+Just at this time the weather suddenly changed. After the cold and
+dreariness of winter came soft spring days--came longer evenings and
+brighter mornings.
+
+Hester Thornton found that she could dress by daylight, then that she was
+no longer cold and shivering when she reached the chapel, then that she
+began intensely to enjoy her mid-day walk, then that she found her winter
+things a little too hot, until at last, almost suddenly it seemed to the
+expectant and anxious girls, glorious spring weather broke upon the
+world, the winds were soft and westerly, the buds swelled and swelled
+into leaf on the trees, and the flowers bloomed in the delightful
+old-fashioned gardens of Lavender House. Instantly, it seemed to the
+girls, their whole lives had altered. The play-room was deserted or only
+put up with on wet days. At twelve o'clock, instead of taking a
+monotonous walk on the roads, they ran races, played tennis, croquet, or
+any other game they liked best in the gardens. Later on in the day, when
+the sun was not so powerful, they took their walk; but even then they had
+time to rush back to their beloved shady garden for a little time before
+tea and preparation for their next day's work. Easter came this year
+about the middle of April, and Easter found these girls almost enjoying
+summer weather. How they looked forward to their few Easter holidays!
+what plans they made, what tennis matches were arranged, what games and
+amusements of all sorts were in anticipation! Mrs. Willis herself
+generally went away for a few days at Easter; so did the French
+governess, and the school was nominally placed under the charge of Miss
+Good and Miss Danesbury. Mrs. Willis did not approve of long Easter
+holidays; she never gave more than a week, and in consequence only the
+girls who lived quite near went home. Out of the fifty girls who resided
+at Lavender House about ten went away at Easter; the remaining forty
+stayed behind, and were often heard to declare that holidays at Lavender
+House were the most delightful things in the world.
+
+At this particular Easter time the girls were rather surprised to hear
+that Mrs. Willis had made up her mind not to go away as usual; Miss Good
+was to have a holiday, and Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury were to look
+after the school. This was felt to be an unusual, indeed unheard of,
+proceeding, and the girls commented about it a good deal, and somehow,
+without absolutely intending to do so, they began to settle in their own
+minds that Mrs. Willis was staying in the school on account of Annie
+Forest, and that in her heart of hearts she did not absolutely believe in
+her innocence. Mrs. Willis certainly gave the girls no reason to come to
+this conclusion; she was consistently kind to Annie, and had apparently
+quite restored her to her old place in her favor. Annie was more gentle
+than of old, and less inclined to get into scrapes; but the girls loved
+her far less in her present unnatural condition of reserve and good
+behavior than they did in her old daring and hoydenish days. Cecil Temple
+always spent Easter with an old aunt who lived in a neighboring town; she
+openly said this year that she did not wish to go away, but her governess
+would not allow her to change her usual plans, and she left Lavender
+House with a curious feeling of depression and coming trouble. As she was
+getting into the cab which was to take her to the station Annie flew to
+her side, threw a great bouquet of flowers which she had gathered into
+her lap, and, flinging her arms tightly round her neck, whispered
+suddenly and passionately:
+
+"Oh, Cecil, believe in me."
+
+"I--I--I don't know that I don't," said Cecil, rather lamely.
+
+"No, Cecil, you don't--not in your heart of hearts. Neither you nor Mrs.
+Willis--you neither of you believe in me from the very bottom of your
+hearts; oh, it is hard!"
+
+Annie gave vent to a little sob, sprang away from Cecil's arms, and
+disappeared into a shrubbery close by.
+
+She stayed there until the sound of the retreating cab died away in the
+avenue, then, tossing back her hair, rearranging her rather tattered
+garden hat, and hastily wiping some tears from her eyes, she came out
+from her retreat, and began to look around her for some amusement. What
+should she do? Where should she go? How should she occupy herself? Sounds
+of laughter and merriment filled the air; the garden was all alive with
+gay young figures running here and there. Girls stood in groups under the
+horse-chestnut tree--girls walked two and two up the shady walk at the
+end of the garden--little ones gamboled and rolled on the grass--a tennis
+match was going on vigorously, and the croquet ground was occupied by
+eight girls of the middle school. Annie was one of the most successful
+tennis players in the school; she had indeed a gift for all games of
+skill, and seldom missed her mark. Now she looked with a certain wistful
+longing toward the tennis-court; but, after a brief hesitation, she
+turned away from it and entered the shady walk at the farther end of the
+garden. As she walked along, slowly, meditatively, and sadly, her eyes
+suddenly lighted up. Glancing to one of the tall trees she saw a hammock
+suspended there which had evidently been forgotten during the winter. The
+tree was not yet quite in leaf, and it was very easy for Annie to climb
+up its branches to re-adjust the hammock, and to get into it. After its
+winter residence in the tree this soft couch was found full of withered
+leaves, and otherwise rather damp and uncomfortable. Annie tossed the
+leaves on to the ground, and laughed as she swung herself gently backward
+and forward. Early as the season still was the sun was so bright and the
+air so soft that she could not but enjoy herself, and she laughed with
+pleasure, and only wished that she had a fairy tale by her side to help
+to soothe her off to sleep.
+
+In the distance she heard some children calling "Annie," "Annie Forest;"
+but she was far too comfortable and too lazy to answer them, and
+presently she closed her eyes and really did fall asleep.
+
+She was awakened by a very slight sound--by nothing more nor less than
+the gentle and very refined conversation of two girls, who sat under the
+oak tree in which Annie's hammock swung. Hearing the voices, she bent a
+little forward, and saw that the speakers were Dora Russell and Hester
+Thornton. Her first inclination was to laugh, toss down some leaves, and
+instantly reveal herself; the next she drew back hastily, and began to
+listen with all her ears.
+
+"I never liked her," said Hester--"I never even from the very first
+pretended to like her. I think she is under-bred, and not fit to
+associate with the other girls in the school-room."
+
+"She is treated with most unfair partiality," retorted Miss Russell in
+her thin and rather bitter voice. "I have not the smallest doubt, not the
+smallest, that she was guilty of putting those messes into my desk, of
+destroying my composition, and of caricaturing Mrs. Willis in Cecil
+Temple's book. I wonder after that Mrs. Willis did not see through her,
+but it is astonishing to what lengths favoritism will carry one. Mrs.
+Willis and Mr. Everard are behaving in a very unfair way to the rest of
+us in upholding this commonplace, disagreeable girl; but it will be to
+Mrs. Willis' own disadvantage. Hester, I am, as you know, leaving school
+at midsummer, and I shall certainly use all my influence to induce my
+father and mother not to send the younger girls here; they could not
+associate with a person like Miss Forest."
+
+"I never take much notice of her," said Hester; "but of course what you
+say is quite right, Dora. You have great discrimination, and your sisters
+might possibly be taken in by her."
+
+"Oh, not at all, I assure you; they know a true lady when they see her.
+However, they must not be imperilled. I will ask my parents to send them
+to Mdlle. Lablanche. I hear that her establishment is most _recherche_."
+
+"Mrs. Willis is very nice herself, and so are most of the girls," said
+Hester, after a pause. Then they were both silent, for Hester had stooped
+down to examine some little fronds and moss which grew at the foot of the
+tree. After a pause, Hester said:
+
+"I don't think Annie is the favorite she was with the girls."
+
+"Oh, of course not; they all, in their heart of hearts, know she is
+guilty. Will you come indoors, and have tea with me in my drawing-room,
+Hester?"
+
+The two girls walked slowly away, and presently Annie let herself gently
+out of her hammock and dropped to the ground.
+
+She had heard every word; she had not revealed herself, and a new and
+terrible--and, truth to say, absolutely foreign--sensation from her true
+nature now filled her mind. She felt that she almost hated these two who
+had spoken so cruelly, so unjustly of her. She began to trace her
+misfortunes and her unhappiness to the date of Hester's entrance into the
+school. Even more than Dora Russell did she dislike Hester; she made up
+her mind to revenge herself on both these girls. Her heart was very, very
+sore; she missed the old words, the old love, the old brightness, the old
+popularity; she missed the mother-tones in Mrs. Willis' voice--her heart
+cried out for them, at night she often wept for them. She became more and
+more sure that she owed all her misfortunes to Hester, and in a smaller
+degree to Dora. Dora believed that she had deliberately insulted her, and
+injured her composition, when she knew herself that she was quite
+innocent of even harboring such a thought, far less carrying it into
+effect. Well, now, she would really do something to injure both these
+girls, and perhaps the carrying out of her revenge would satisfy her sore
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+CUP AND BALL.
+
+
+Just toward the end of the Easter holidays, Hester Thornton was thrown
+into a great tumult of excitement, of wonder, of half regret and half
+joy, by a letter which she received from her father. In this letter he
+informed her that he had made up his mind to break up his establishment
+for several years, to go abroad, and to leave Hester altogether under
+Mrs. Willis' care.
+
+When Hester had read so far, she flung her letter on the table, put her
+head into her hands, and burst into tears.
+
+"Oh, how cruel of father!" she exclaimed; "how am I to live without ever
+going home--how am I to endure life without seeing my little Nan?"
+
+Hester cried bitterly; the strongest love of her nature was now given to
+this pretty and sweet little sister, and dismal pictures rose rapidly
+before her of Nan growing up without in the least remembering
+her--perhaps, still worse, of Nan being unkindly treated and neglected by
+strangers. After a long pause, she raised her head, wiped her eyes, and
+resumed her letter. Now, indeed, she started with astonishment, and gave
+an exclamation of delight--Sir John Thornton had arranged that Mrs.
+Willis was also to receive little Nan, although she was younger than any
+other child present in the school. Hester scarcely waited to finish her
+letter. She crammed it into her pocket, rushed up to Susan Drummond, and
+astonished that placid young lady by suddenly kissing her.
+
+"Nan is coming, Susy!" she exclaimed; "dear, darling, lovely little Nan
+is coming--oh, I am so happy!"
+
+She was far too impatient to explain matters to stolid Susan, and danced
+down stairs, her eyes sparkling and smiles on her lips. It was nothing to
+her now how long she stayed at school--her heart's treasure would be with
+her there, and she could not but feel happy.
+
+After breakfast Mrs. Willis sent for her, and told her what arrangements
+were being made; she said that she was going to remove Susan Drummond out
+of Hester's bedroom, in order that Hester might enjoy her little sister's
+company at night. She spoke very gently, and entered with full sympathy
+into the girl's delight over the little motherless sister, and Hester
+felt more drawn to her governess than she had ever been.
+
+Nan was to arrive at Lavender House on the following evening, and for the
+first week her nurse was to remain with her until she got accustomed to
+her new life.
+
+The morning of the day of Nan's arrival was also the last of the Easter
+holidays, and Hester, awakening earlier than her wont, lay in bed, and
+planned what she would do to welcome the little one.
+
+The idea of having Nan with her continually had softened Hester. She was
+not unhappy in her school-life--indeed, there was much in its monotonous,
+busy, and healthy occupation to stimulate and rouse the good in her. Her
+intellect was being vigorously exercised, and, by contact with her
+schoolfellows, her character was being molded; but the perfect harmony
+and brightness of the school had been much interrupted since Hester's
+arrival; her dislike to Annie Forest had been unfortunate in more ways
+than one, and that dislike, which was increasing each day, was hardening
+Hester's heart.
+
+But it was not hard this morning--all that was sweetest, and softest, and
+best in her had come to the surface--the little sister, whom her mother
+had left in her charge, was now to be her daily and hourly companion. For
+Nan's sake, then, she must be very good; her deeds must be gentle and
+kind, and her thoughts charitable. Hester had an instinctive feeling that
+baby eyes saw deep below the surface; Hester felt if Nan were to lose
+even a shadow of her faith in her she could almost die of shame.
+
+Hester had been very proud of Dora Russell's friendship. Never before had
+it been known in the school that a first-class girl took a third into
+such close companionship, and Hester's little head had been slightly
+turned by the fact. Her better judgment and her better nature had been
+rather blinded by the fascinations of this tall, graceful, satirical
+Dora. She had been weak enough to agree with Dora with her lips when in
+her heart of hearts she knew she was all wrong. By nature Hester was an
+honorable girl, with many fine traits in her character--by nature Dora
+was small and mean and poor of soul.
+
+This morning Hester ran up to her favorite.
+
+"Little Nan is coming to-night," she said.
+
+Dora was talking at the moment to Miss Maitland, another first-class
+girl, and the two stared rather superciliously at Hester, and, after a
+pause, Dora said in her finest drawl:
+
+"Who _is_ little Nan?"
+
+It was Hester's turn to stare, for she had often spoken of Nan to this
+beloved friend, who had listened to her narrative and had appeared to
+sympathize.
+
+"My little sister, of course," she exclaimed. "I have often talked to you
+about her, Dora. Are you not glad she is coming?"
+
+"No, my dear child, I can't say that I am. If you wish to retain my
+friendship, Hester, you must be careful to keep the little mite away from
+me; I can't bear small children."
+
+Hester walked away with her heart swelling, and she fancied she heard the
+two elder girls laughing as she left the play-room.
+
+Many other girls, however, in the school thoroughly sympathized with
+Hester, and among them no one was more delighted than Susan Drummond.
+
+"I am awfully good-natured not to be as cross as two sticks, Hetty," she
+exclaimed, "for I am being turned out of my comfortable room; and whose
+room do you suppose I am now to share? why, that little imp Annie
+Forest's." But Hester felt charitable, even toward Annie, on this happy
+day.
+
+In the evening little Nan arrived. She was a very pretty, dimpled,
+brown-eyed creature, of just three years of age. She had all the
+imperious ways of a spoilt baby, and, evidently, fear was a word not to
+be found in her vocabulary. She clung to Hester, but smiled and nodded to
+the other girls, who made advances to her, and petted her, and thought
+her a very charming baby. Beside Nan, all the other little girls in the
+school looked old. She was quite two years the youngest, and it was soon
+very evident that she would establish that most imperious of all
+reigns--a baby reign--in the school.
+
+Hester fondled her and talked to her, and the little thing sat on her
+knee and stroked her face.
+
+"Me like 'oo, Hetty," she said several times, and she added many other
+endearing and pretty words which caused Hester's heart to swell with
+delight.
+
+In the midst of their happy little talk together Annie Forest, in her
+usual careless fashion, entered the play-room. She alone, of all the
+girls, had taken no notice of the new plaything. She walked to her usual
+corner, sat down on the floor, and began to play cup and ball for the
+benefit of two or three of the smallest children. Hester did not regard
+her in the least; she sat with Nan on her knee, stroking back her sunny
+curls, and remarking on her various charms to several of the girls who
+sat round her.
+
+"See, how pretty that dimple in her chin is," she said, "and oh, my pet,
+your eyes look wiser, and bigger, and saucier than ever. Look at me, Nan;
+look at your own Hetty."
+
+Nan's attention, however, was diverted by the gaily-painted cup and ball
+which Annie was using with her wonted dexterity.
+
+"Dat a pitty toy," she said, giving one quick and rather solemn glance at
+her sister, and again fixing her admiring gaze on the cup and ball.
+
+Annie Forest had heard the words, and she darted a sudden, laughing look
+at the little one. Annie's power over children was well known. Nan began
+to wriggle on Hester's knee.
+
+"Dat a pitty lady," she said again, "and that a pitty, tibby [little]
+toy; Nan go see."
+
+In an instant, before Hester could prevent her, she had trotted across
+the room, and was kneeling with the other children and shouting with
+delight over Annie's play.
+
+"She'll get her, you'll see, Hester," said one of the girls maliciously;
+"she'll soon be much fonder of Annie Forest than of you. Annie wins the
+heart of every little child in the school."
+
+"She won't win my Nan's from me," said Hester in a confident tone; but in
+spite of her words a great pang of jealousy had gone through her. She
+rose to her seat and followed her little sister.
+
+"Nan, you are sleepy, you must go to bed."
+
+"No, no, Hetty; me not s'eepy, me kite awake; go 'way, Hetty, Nan want to
+see the pitty tibby toy."
+
+Annie raised her eyes to Hester's. She did not really want to be unkind,
+and at that moment it had certainty never entered into her head to steal
+Hester's treasure from her, but she could not help a look of suppressed
+delight and triumph filling her eyes.
+
+Hester could scarcely bear the look; she stooped down, and taking one of
+Nan's little dimpled hands tried to drag her away.
+
+Instantly Annie threw the cup and ball on the floor.
+
+"The play is all over to-night, little darling," she said; "give Annie
+Forest one kiss, and run to bed with sister Hester."
+
+Nan, who had been puckering up her face to cry, smiled instantly; then
+she scrambled to her feet, and flung her little fat arms round Annie's
+neck.
+
+"Dat a vedy pitty p'ay," she said in a patronizing tone, "and me like
+'oo, me do."
+
+Then she gave her hand willingly to Hester, and trotted out of the
+play-room by her side.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN THE SOUTH PARLOR.
+
+
+Immediately after Easter the real excitement of the school-year began.
+All the girls who had ambition, who had industry, and who had a desire to
+please distant fathers, mothers, or guardians, worked hard for that great
+day at midsummer when Mrs. Willis distributed her valuable prizes.
+
+From the moment of Hester's entrance into the school she had heard this
+day spoken of. It was, without doubt, the greatest day of the year at
+Lavender House. Smaller prizes were given at Christmas, but the great
+honors were always reserved for this long sunshiny June day, when Mrs.
+Willis herself presented her marks of approbation to her successful
+pupils.
+
+The girls who had lived in the school for two or three years gave Hester
+vivid descriptions of the excitements, the pleasures, the delights of
+this day of days. In the first place it was the first of the holidays, in
+the second it was spent almost from morning to night in the open air--for
+a great tent was erected on the lawn; and visitors thronged to Lavender
+House, and fathers and mothers, and aunts and uncles, arrived from a
+distance to witness the triumphs of the favored children who had won the
+prizes. The giving away of the prizes was, of course, _the_ event of the
+day; but there were many other minor joys. Always in the evenings there
+was some special entertainment. These entertainments differed from year
+to year, Mrs. Willis allowing the girls to choose them for themselves,
+and only making one proviso, that they must take all the trouble, and all
+the pains--in short, that they themselves must be the entertainers. One
+year they had tableaux vivants; another a fancy ball, every pretty dress
+of which had been designed by themselves, and many even made by their own
+industrious little fingers. Mrs. Willis delighted in the interest and
+occupation that this yearly entertainment gave to her pupils, and she not
+only encouraged them in their efforts to produce something very unique
+and charming, but took care that they should have sufficient time to work
+up their ideas properly. Always after Easter she gave the girls of the
+three first classes two evenings absolutely to themselves; and these they
+spent in a pretty room called the south parlor, which belonged to Mrs.
+Willis' part of the house, and was rarely used, except for these great
+preparations.
+
+Hester, therefore, after Easter found her days very full indeed. Every
+spare moment she devoted to little Nan, but she was quite determined to
+win a substantial prize, and she was also deeply interested in various
+schemes proposed in the south parlor.
+
+With regard to prizes, Mrs. Willis also went on a plan of her own. Each
+girl was expected to come up to a certain standard of excellence in all
+her studies, and if she fell very much below this standard she was not
+allowed to try for any prize; if she came up to it, she could select one
+subject, but only one, for competition.
+
+On the Monday after the Easter holidays the special subjects for the
+midsummer prizes were given out, and the girls were expected to send in
+their answers as to the special prize they meant to compete for by the
+following Friday.
+
+When this day arrived Hester Thornton and Dora Russell both discovered
+that they had made the same choice--they were going to try for the
+English composition prize. This subject always obtained one of the most
+costly prizes, and several of the girls shook their heads over Hester's
+choice.
+
+"You are very silly to try for that, Hetty," they exclaimed, "for Mrs.
+Willis has such queer ideas with regard to English composition. Of
+course, we go in for it in a general way, and learn the rules of grammar
+and punctuation, and so forth, but Mrs. Willis says that schoolgirls'
+themes are so bad and affected, as a rule, and she says she does not
+think any one will go in for her pet prize who has not natural ability.
+In consequence, she gives only one prize for composition between the
+three first classes. You had better change your mind, Hetty, before it is
+too late, for much older girls will compete with you, and there are
+several who are going to try."
+
+Hester, however, only smiled, and assured her eager friend that she would
+stick to her pet subject, and try to do the best she could.
+
+On the morning when the girls signified their choice of subject, Mrs.
+Willis came into the school-room and made one of her little yearly
+speeches with regard to the right spirit in which her girls should try
+for these honors. The few and well-chosen words of the head mistress
+generally roused those girls who loved her best to a fever of enthusiasm,
+and even Hester, who was comparatively a newcomer, felt a great wish, as
+she listened to that clear and vibrating voice and watched the many
+expressions which passed over the noble face, that she might find
+something beyond the mere earthly honor and glory of success in this
+coming trial. Having finished her little speech, Mrs. Willis made several
+remarks with regard to the choice of subjects. She spoke of the English
+composition prize last, and here she heightened the interest and
+excitement which always hung around this special prize. Contrary to her
+usual rule, she would this year give no subject for an English theme.
+Each girl might choose what pleased her best.
+
+On hearing these words Annie Forest, who had been sitting by her desk
+looking rather dull and dejected, suddenly sprang to her feet, her face
+aglow, her eyes sparkling, and began whispering vigorously to Miss Good.
+
+Miss Good nodded, and, going up to Mrs. Willis, said aloud that Annie had
+changed her mind, and that from not wishing to try for any of the prizes,
+she now intended to compete for the English composition.
+
+Mrs. Willis looked a little surprised, but without any comment she
+immediately entered Annie's name in the list of competitors, and Annie
+sat down again, not even glancing at her astonished schoolfellows, who
+could not conceal their amazement, for she had never hitherto shown the
+slightest desire to excel in this department.
+
+On the evening of this Friday the girls of the three first classes
+assembled for the first time in the south parlor. Hitherto these meetings
+had been carried on in a systematic and business-like fashion. It was
+impossible for all the girls who belonged to these three large classes to
+assemble on each occasion. Careful selections, therefore, were, as a
+rule, made from their numbers. These girls formed a committee to
+superintend and carry on the real preparations for the coming treat, and
+the others only met when specially summoned by the committee to appear.
+
+As usual now the three classes found themselves in the south parlor--as
+usual they chattered volubly, and started schemes, to reject them again
+with peals of laughter. Many ideas were put forward, to be cast aside as
+utterly worthless. No one seemed to have any very brilliant thought, and
+as the first step on these occasions was to select what the entertainment
+should be, proceedings seemed to come to a standstill.
+
+The fact was the most daring originator, the one whose ideas were always
+flavored with a spice of novelty, was absolutely silent.
+
+Cecil Temple, who had taken a seat near Annie, suddenly bent forward and
+spoke to her aloud.
+
+"We have all said what we would like, and we none of us appear to have
+thought of anything at all worth having," she said; "but you have not
+spoken at all, Annie. Give us an idea, dear--you know you originated the
+fancy ball last year."
+
+Thus publicly appealed to, Annie raised her full brown eyes, glanced at
+her companions, not one of whom, with the exception of Cecil, returned
+her gaze fully; then, rising to her feet, she spoke in a slightly
+contemptuous tone.
+
+"These preparations seem to me to be much ado about nothing; they take up
+a lot of our time, and the results aren't worth the trouble--I have
+nothing particular to say. Oh, well, yes, if you like--let's have blind
+man's buff and a magic lantern;" and then, dropping a mock curtsey to her
+companions, she dropped out of the south parlor.
+
+"Insufferable girl!" said Dora Russell; "I wonder you try to draw her
+out, Cecil. You know perfectly that we none of us care to have anything
+to do with her."
+
+"I know perfectly that you are all doing your best to make her life
+miserable," said Cecil, suddenly and boldly. "No one in this school has
+obeyed Mrs. Willis' command to treat Annie as innocent--you are
+practically sending her to Coventry, and I think it is unjust and unfair.
+You don't know, girls, that you are ruining poor Annie's happiness."
+
+"Oh, dear! she doesn't seem at all dull," said Miss West, a second-class
+girl. "I do think she's a hardened little wretch."
+
+"Little you know about her," said Cecil, the color fading out of her pale
+face. Then after a pause, she added; "The injustice of the whole thing is
+that in this treatment of Annie you break the spirit of Mrs. Willis'
+command--you, none of you, certainly tell her that she is guilty, but you
+treat her as such."
+
+Here Hester Thornton said a daring thing.
+
+"I don't believe Mrs. Willis in her heart of hearts considers Annie
+guiltless."
+
+These words of Hester's were laughed at by most of the girls, but Dora
+Russell gave her an approving nod, and Cecil, looking paler than ever,
+dropped suddenly into her seat, and no longer tried to defend her absent
+friend.
+
+"At any rate," said Miss Conway, who as the head girl of the whole school
+was always listened to with great respect, "it is unfortunate for the
+success of our entertainment that there should be all this discussion and
+bad feeling with regard to Miss Forest. For my own part, I cannot make
+out why the poor little creature should be hunted down, or what affair it
+is of ours whether she is innocent or not. If Mr. Everard and Mrs. Willis
+say she is innocent, is not that enough? The fact of her guilt or
+innocence can't hurt us one way or another. It is a great pity, however,
+for our own sakes, that we should be out with her now, for, whatever her
+faults, she is the only one of us who is ever gifted with an original
+thought. But, as we can't have her, let us set to work without her--we
+really can't waste the whole evening over this sort of talk."
+
+Discussions as to the coming pleasure were now again resumed with vigor,
+and after a great deal of animated arguing it was resolved that two short
+plays should be acted; that a committee should be immediately formed, who
+should select the plays, and apportion their various parts to the
+different actors.
+
+The committee selected included Miss Russell, Miss Conway, Hester
+Thornton, Cecil Temple, and two other girls of the second class. The
+conference then broke up, but there was a certain sense of flatness over
+everything, and Cecil was not the only girl who sighed for the merry
+meetings of last year--when Annie had been the life and soul of all the
+proceedings, and when one brilliant idea after another with regard to the
+costumes for the fancy ball had dropped from her merry tongue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+STEALING HEARTS.
+
+
+When Annie ran out of the south parlor she found herself suddenly face to
+face with Mrs. Willis.
+
+"Well, my dear child," said the head mistress in her kindest voice,
+"where are you running to? But I suppose I must not ask; you are, of
+course, one of the busy and secret conclave in the south parlor?"
+
+"No. I have left them," said Annie, bending her head, and after her usual
+habit when agitated, shaking her hair about her face.
+
+"Left them?" repeated Mrs. Willis, "you mean, dear, that they have sent
+you for some message."
+
+"No. I am not one of them. May I go into the garden, Mrs. Willis?"
+
+"Certainly, my dear."
+
+Annie did not even glance at her governess. She pushed aside the baize
+door, and found herself in the great stone hall which led to the
+play-room and school-room. Her garden hat hung on a peg in the hall, and
+she tossed it off its place, and holding it in her hand ran toward the
+side door which opened directly into the garden. She had a wild wish to
+get to the shelter of the forsaken hammock and there cry out her whole
+heart. The moment she got into the open air, however, she was met by a
+whole troop of the little children, who were coming in after their usual
+short exercise before going to bed. Miss Danesbury was with them, and
+when Annie ran out by the open door, she entered holding two little ones
+by the hands. Last in this group toddled Hester's little sister Nan. The
+moment she saw Annie, her little face broke into smiles, she held out two
+hands eagerly, and fled to the young girl's side.
+
+"Where dat pitty toy?" she said, raising her round face to Annie's; "some
+one did buy dat toy, and it's vedy pitty, and me wants it--where's dat
+toy?"
+
+Annie stooped down, and spoke suddenly and impulsively to the little
+child.
+
+"You shall have the toy for your very own, Nan if you will do something
+for me?"
+
+Nan's baby eyes looked straight into Annie's.
+
+"Me will," she said emphatically; "me want dat toy."
+
+"Put your arms, round me, little darling, and give me a great tight hug."
+
+This request was great fun to Nan, who squeezed her little arms round
+Annie's neck, and pressed her dimpled cheek to her lips.
+
+"Dere," she said triumphantly, "will dat do?"
+
+"Yes, you little treasure, and you'll try to love me, won't you?"
+
+"Me do," said Nan, in a solemn voice; but then Miss Danesbury called her,
+and she ran into the house.
+
+As Nan trotted into the house she put up her dimpled hand to wipe
+something from her round cheek--it was a tear which Annie Forest had left
+there.
+
+Annie herself, when all the little ones had disappeared, walked slowly
+and sadly down toward the shady walk. The sun had just set, and though it
+was now nearly May, and the evenings long, the wind was sufficiently cold
+to cause Annie to shiver in her thin house frock. At all times utterly
+fearless with regard to her health, she gave it no thought now, but
+entering the walk where she knew she should not be disturbed, she looked
+up at the hammock, and wondered whether she should climb into it. She
+decided, however, not to do so--the great and terrible weight of tears
+which had pressed close to her heart were relieved by Nan's embrace; she
+no longer cared to cry until she could cry no longer--the worst of her
+pain had been soothed by the sweet baby graciousness of the little one.
+
+Then there darted into poor Annie's sore heart and perplexed brain that
+dangerous thought and temptation which was to work so much future pain
+and trouble. She already loved little Nan, and Nan, as most children did,
+had taken a fancy to her. Annie stood still, and clasped her hands as the
+dark idea came to her to steal the heart of little Nan from Hester, and
+so revenge herself on her. By doing this she would touch Hester in her
+most vulnerable point--she would take from her what she valued most. The
+temptation came swiftly, and Annie listened to it, and thought how easy
+it would be to carry it into effect. She knew well that no little child
+could resist her when she chose to exercise her charms--it would be easy,
+easy work to make that part of Nan which was most precious all her own.
+Annie became fascinated by the idea; how completely then she would have
+revenged all her wrongs on Hester! Some day Hester would bitterly repent
+of her unjust prejudice toward her; some day Hester would come to her,
+and beg of her in agony to give her back her darling's love; ah! when
+that day came it would be her turn to triumph.
+
+She felt more than satisfied as the temptation grew upon her; she shut
+out persistently from her view all the other side of the picture; she
+would not let herself think that the work she was about to undertake was
+cruel and mean. Hester had been more than unjust, and she was going to
+punish her.
+
+Annie paced faster and faster up and down the shady walk, and whenever
+her resolution wavered, the memory of Hester's face as she had seen it
+the same night in the south parlor came visibly back and strengthened it.
+Yes, her turn had come at last Hester had contrived since her entrance
+into the school to make Annie's life thoroughly miserable. Well, never
+mind, it was Annie's turn now to make her wretched.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+IN BURN CASTLE WOOD.
+
+
+In concentrating her thoughts of revenge on Hester, Annie ceased to
+trouble her head about Dora Russell. She considered Hester a crueler
+enemy than Dora. Hester belonged to her own set, worked in her own class,
+and would naturally, had things not turned out so unjustly, so unfairly,
+have been her friend, and not her enemy. Dora had nothing to say to
+Annie, and before Hester's advent into the school had scarcely noticed
+her existence. Annie therefore concentrated all her powers on punishing
+Hester. This gave her an aim and an occupation, and at first she felt
+that her revenge might give her real pleasure.
+
+Susan Drummond now shared Annie's bedroom, and Annie was rather startled
+one evening to hear this phlegmatic young person burst out into a strong
+tirade against Hester and Dora. Dora had managed, for some inexplicable
+reason, to offend Susan, and Susan now looked to Annie for sympathy, and
+boldly suggested that they should get up what she was pleased to called
+"a lark" between them for the punishment of this very dignified young
+lady.
+
+Annie had never liked Susan, and she now stared at her, and said, in her
+quick way:
+
+"You won't catch me helping you in any of your larks. I've had trouble
+enough on that score as it is."
+
+Susan gazed at her stupidly, and a dull red spread over her face.
+
+"But I thought you hated Dora and Hester," she said--"I'm sure they hate
+you."
+
+Annie was silent.
+
+"You do hate them, don't you?" persisted Miss Drummond.
+
+"It's nothing to you what I feel toward them, Susy," said Annie. "Please
+don't disturb me with any more of your chatter; I am very sleepy, and you
+are keeping me awake."
+
+Thus silenced, Susan had to content herself by turning on her back, and
+going into the land of dreams; but she was evidently a good deal
+surprised and disappointed, and began to entertain a certain respect, and
+even fear, of Annie which had been hitherto unknown to her.
+
+Meanwhile Hester was very busy, very happy, and more satisfied--brighter
+and better employed than she had ever been in her life before. Nan's love
+satisfied the affectionate side of her nature, and all her intellect was
+strained to the utmost to win honors in the coming struggle.
+
+She had stuck firmly to her resolve to work for the English composition
+prize, and she firmly made up her own mind to leave no stone unturned to
+win it. What affection she possessed for Miss Russell was not at all of a
+character to prevent her from thoroughly enjoying taking the prize out of
+her hands. Her love for Dora had been fed by vanity, and was not at all
+of a deep or noble character. She was some time carefully choosing the
+subject of her theme, and at last she resolved to write a brief
+historical description of the last days of Marie Antoinette. To write
+properly on this subject she had to read up a great deal, and had to find
+references in books which were not usually allowed as school-room
+property. Mrs. Willis, however, always allowed the girls who were working
+for the English composition prize to have access to her rather extensive
+library, and here Hester was often to be found during play-hours. Two
+evenings in the week were also taken up in preparation for the coming
+plays, and as Hester was to take rather an important part in one, and a
+small character in another, she was obliged to devote herself to getting
+up her parts during the weekly half-holidays. Thus every moment was busy,
+and, except at night, she had little time to devote herself to Nan.
+
+Nan slept in a pretty crib in Hester's room, and each evening the young
+girl knelt down by her sister's side, and gazed at her with love, which
+was almost motherly, swelling in her breast.
+
+All that was best of Hester was drawn out at these moments; something
+greater than ambition--something far and away above school triumphs and
+school jealousies spoke then in her heart of hearts. These moments found
+her capable of being both sympathizing and forgiving; these moments
+followed out in her daily life might have made Hester almost great. Now
+was the time, with her eyes full of tears and her lips trembling with
+emotion, for Annie Forest to have caught a glimpse of the divine in
+Hester; the hardness, the pride, the haughty spirit were all laid aside,
+and hers was the true child-heart as she knelt by the sleeping baby.
+Hester prayed earnestly at these moments, and, in in truth, Nan did
+better for her than any sermon; better for her than even Mrs. Willis'
+best influences. Nan was as the voice of God to her sister.
+
+Hester, in her very busy life, had no time to notice, however, a very
+slight and almost imperceptible change in bright little Nan. In the
+mornings she was in too great a hurry to pay much heed to the little
+one's chatter; in the afternoons she had scarcely an instant to devote to
+her, and when she saw her playing happily with the other children she was
+quite content, and always supposed that when a spare half-hour did come
+in her busy life, Nan would rush to her with the old ecstasy, and give
+her the old devotion.
+
+One day, toward the end of a very fine May, the girls were all to go for
+a picnic to some woods about four miles away. They had looked forward for
+several days to this relaxation, and were in the highest state of delight
+and the wildest spirits. After an early dinner they were to drive in
+several large wagonettes to the place of rendezvous, where they were to
+be regaled with gypsy-tea, and were to have a few hours in the lovely
+woods of Burn Castle, one of the show places of the neighborhood. Mrs.
+Willis had invited the Misses Bruce to accompany them, and they were all
+to leave the house punctually at two o'clock. The weather was wonderfully
+fine and warm, and it was decided that all the children, even Nan, should
+go.
+
+Perhaps none of the girls looked forward to this day's pleasure with
+greater joy than did Hester; she determined to make it a real holiday,
+and a real time of relaxation. She would forget her English theme; she
+would cease to worry herself about Marie Antoinette; she would cease to
+repeat her part in the coming play; and she would devote herself
+exclusively and determinately to Nan's pleasure. She pictured the little
+one's raptures; she heard her gay shouts of joy, her ceaseless little
+rippling chatter, her baby glee, and, above all things, her intense
+happiness at being with her own Hetty for the greater part of a whole
+day. Hester would ride her on her shoulder, would race with her; all her
+usual companions would be as nothing to her on this occasion, she would
+give herself up solely to Nan.
+
+As she was dressing that morning she said a word or two to the child
+about the coming treat.
+
+"We'll light a fire in the wood, Nan, and hang a kettle over it, and make
+tea--such good tea; won't it be nice?"
+
+Nan clapped her hands. "And may I take out my little ummabella
+(umbrella), case it might wain?" she asked anxiously.
+
+Hester flew to her and kissed her.
+
+"You funny darling!" she said. "Oh, we shall have such a day! You'll be
+with your own Hetty all day long--your own Hetty; won't you be glad?"
+
+"Me am," said Nan; "own Hetty, and own Annie; me am glad."
+
+Hester scarcely heard the last words, for the prayer-gong sounded, and
+she had to fly down stairs.
+
+At dinner time the girls were discussing who would go with each, and all
+were very merry and full of fun.
+
+"Miss Danesbury will take the little children," said Miss Good. "Mrs.
+Willis says that all the little ones are to be in Miss Danesbury's
+charge."
+
+"Oh, please," said Hester, suddenly, "may Nan come with me, Miss Good?
+She'll be so disappointed if she doesn't, and I'll take such care of
+her."
+
+Miss Good nodded a careless acquiescence, and Hester proceeded with her
+dinner, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
+
+Immediately after dinner the girls flew to their rooms to prepare for
+their expedition. Hastily opening a drawer, Hester pulled out a white
+frock, white pique pelisse, and washing hat for Nan--she meant her
+darling to look as charming as possible.
+
+"Oh, dear, Miss Danesbury should have brought her here by now," she said
+to herself impatiently, and then, hearing the crunching of carriage
+wheels on the drive, she flew to the bell and rang it.
+
+In a few moments one of the maids appeared.
+
+"Do you know where Miss Nan is, Alice? She is to go to Burn Castle with
+me, and I want to dress her, for it is nearly time to go."
+
+Alice looked a little surprised.
+
+"If you please, miss," she said, "I think Miss Nan has just gone."
+
+"What do you mean, Alice? Miss Good said especially she was to go with
+me."
+
+"I know nothing about that, miss; I only know that I saw Miss Forest
+carrying her down stairs in her arms about three minutes ago, and they
+went off in the wagonette with all the other little children and Miss
+Danesbury."
+
+Hester stood perfectly still, her color changed from red to white; for
+full half a minute she was silent. Then, hearing voices from below
+calling to her, she said in a cold, quiet tone:
+
+"That will do, Alice; thank you for letting me know."
+
+She turned to her drawer and put back Nan's white and pretty things, and
+also replaced a new and very becoming shady hat which she had meant to
+wear herself. In her old winter hat, and looking almost untidy for her,
+she walked slowly down stairs and took her place in the wagonette which
+was drawn up at the door.
+
+Cecil Temple and one or two other girls whom Hester liked very much were
+in the same wagonette, but she scarcely cared to talk to them, and only
+joined in their laughter by a strong effort. She was deeply wounded, but
+her keenest present desire was to hide any feelings of jealousy she had
+toward Annie from the quick eyes of her schoolfellows.
+
+"Why," suddenly exclaimed Julia Morris, a particularly unobservant girl,
+"I thought you were going to bring that dear baby sister with you,
+Hester. Oh, I do hope there is nothing the matter with her."
+
+"Nan has gone on in the first wagonette with the little children," said
+Hester as cheerfully as she could speak, but she colored slightly, and
+saw that Cecil was regarding her attentively.
+
+Susan Drummond exclaimed suddenly:
+
+"I saw Annie Forest rushing down the stairs with little Nan, and Nan had
+her arms round her neck, and was laughing merrily. You need not be
+anxious about Nan, Hester; she was quite content to go with Annie."
+
+"I did not say I was anxious," replied Hester in a cold voice. "How very
+beautiful that avenue of beech trees is, Cecil!"
+
+"But Annie heard Miss Good say that you were to take Nan," persisted
+Julia Morris. "She could not but have noticed it, for you did flush up
+so, Hester, and looked so eager. I never saw any one more in earnest
+about a trifle in my life; it was impossible for Annie not to have
+heard."
+
+"The great thing is that Nan is happy," said Hester in a fretted voice.
+"Do let us change the subject, girls."
+
+Cecil instantly began talking about the coming plays, and soon the
+conversation became of an absorbing character, and Hester's voice was
+heard oftener than the others, and she laughed more frequently than her
+companions.
+
+For all this forced merriment, however, Cecil did not fail to observe
+that when Hester got to the place of meeting at Burn Castle she looked
+around her with a quick and eager glance. Then the color faded from her
+face, and her eyes grew dim.
+
+That look of pain on Hester's face was quite enough for kind-hearted
+Cecil. She had thrown herself on the grass with an exclamation of
+delight, but in an instant she was on her feet.
+
+"Now, of course, the first thing is to find little Nan," she said;
+"she'll be missing you dreadfully, Hetty."
+
+Cecil held out her hand to Hester to run with her through the wood, but,
+to her surprise, Hester drew back.
+
+"I'm tired," she said; "I daresay we shall find Nan presently. She is
+sure to be safe, as she is under Miss Danesbury's care."
+
+Cecil made no remark, but set off by herself to find the little children.
+Presently, standing on a little knoll, and putting her two hands round
+her lips, so as to form a speaking trumpet, she shouted to Hester. Hester
+came slowly and apparently unwillingly toward her, but when she got to
+the foot of the knoll, Cecil flew down, and, taking her by the hand, ran
+with her to the top.
+
+"Oh, do come quick!" she exclaimed; "it is such a pretty sight."
+
+Down in the valley about fifty yards away were the ten or twelve little
+children who formed the infant portion of the school. Miss Danesbury was
+sitting at some distance off quietly reading, and the children, decked
+with flowers, and carrying tall grasses and reeds in their hands, were
+flying round and round in a merry circle, while in their midst, and the
+center attraction, stood Annie, whose hat was tossed aside, and whose
+bright, curling hair was literally crowned with wild flowers. On Annie's
+shoulder stood little Nan, carefully and beautifully poised, and round
+Nan's wavy curls was a starry wreath of wood-anemones. Nan was shouting
+gleefully and clapping her hands, while Annie balanced her slightest
+movement with the greatest agility, and kept her little feet steady on
+her shoulders with scarcely an effort. As the children ran round and
+round Annie she waltzed gracefully backward and forward to meet them, and
+they all sang snatches of nursery rhymes. When Cecil and Hester appeared
+they had reached in their varied collection:
+
+                    "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
+                    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."
+
+Here Nan exclaimed, in her clear, high-pitched voice:
+
+"Me no fall, Annie," and the small children on the ground clapped their
+hands and blew kisses to her.
+
+"Isn't it pretty? Isn't Annie sweet with children?" said Cecil, looking
+round to Hester with all the admiration she felt for her friend shining
+in her face. The expression, however, which Hester wore at that moment
+really startled Cecil; she was absolutely colorless, and presently she
+called aloud in a harsh, strained voice:
+
+"Be careful of her! How wicked of you to put her like that on your
+shoulder! She will fall--yes, I know she will fall; oh, do be careful!"
+
+Hester's voice startled the children, who ceased singing and dancing;
+Annie made a hasty step forward, and one little voice alone kept singing
+out the words:
+
+                  "Humpty-Dumpty got a great fall!"--
+
+when there was a crash and a cry, and Nan, in some inexplicable way, had
+fallen backward from Annie's shoulders.
+
+In one instant Hester was in the midst of the group.
+
+"Don't touch her," she said, as Annie flew to pick up the child, who,
+falling with some force on her head, had been stunned; "don't touch
+her--don't dare! It was your doing; you did it on purpose--you wished to
+do it!"
+
+"You are unjust," said Annie, in a low tone. "Nan was perfectly safe
+until you startled her. Like all the rest you are unjust. Nan would have
+come to no harm if you had not spoken."
+
+Hester did not vouchsafe another word. She sat on the ground with the
+unconscious and pretty little flower-crowned figure laid across her lap;
+she was terrified, and thought in her inexperience that Nan must be dead.
+
+At the first mention of the accident Cecil had flown to fetch some water,
+and when she and Miss Danesbury applied it to little Nan's temples, she
+presently sighed, and opened her brown eyes wide.
+
+"I hope--I trust she is not much hurt," said Miss Danesbury; "but I think
+it safest to take her home at once. Cecil, dear, can you do anything
+about fetching a wagonette round to the stile at the entrance of the
+wood? Now the puzzle is, who is to take care of the rest of the little
+children? If only they were under Miss Good's care, I should breathe more
+easily."
+
+"I am going home with Nan," said Hester in a hard voice.
+
+"Of course, my love; no one would think of parting you from your little
+sister," said the governess, soothingly.
+
+"If you please, Miss Danesbury," said Annie, whose face was quite as pale
+as Hester's, and her eyes heavy as though she longed to cry, "will you
+trust me with the little ones? If you do, I will promise to take them
+straight to Miss Good, and to be most careful of them."
+
+Miss Danesbury's gentle and kind face looked relieved.
+
+"Thank you, Annie--of course I trust you, dear. Take the children at once
+to the meeting-place under the great oak, and wait there until Miss Good
+appears." Annie suddenly sprang forward, and threw her arms round Miss
+Danesbury's neck.
+
+"Miss Danesbury, you comfort me," she said, in a kind of stifled voice,
+and then she ran off with the children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"HUMPTY-DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL."
+
+
+All the stupor and languor which immediately followed Nan's fall passed
+off during her drive home; she chatted and laughed, her cheeks were
+flushed, her eyes bright. Hester turned with a relieved face to Miss
+Danesbury.
+
+"My little darling is all right, is she not?" she said. "Oh, I was so
+terrified--oh, how thankful I am no harm has been done!"
+
+Miss Danesbury did not return Hester's full gaze; she attempted to take
+little Nan on her knee, but Nan clung to Hetty. Then she said:
+
+"You must be careful to keep the sun off her, dear--hold your parasol
+well down--just so. That is better. When we get home, I will put her to
+bed at once. Please God, there _is_ nothing wrong; but one cannot be too
+careful."
+
+Something in Miss Danesbury's manner affected Hester strangely; she
+clasped Nan's slight baby form closer and closer to her heart, and no
+longer joined in the little one's mirth. As the drive drew to a close,
+Nan again ceased talking, and fell into a heavy sleep.
+
+Miss Danesbury's face grew graver and graver, and, when the wagonette
+drew up at Lavender House, she insisted on lifting the sleeping child out
+of Hester's arms, and carrying her up to her little crib. When Nan's
+little head was laid on the cool pillow, she again opened her eyes, and
+instantly asked for a drink. Miss Danesbury gave her some milk and water,
+but the moment she drank it she was sick.
+
+"Just as I feared," said the governess; "there is some little
+mischief--not much, I hope--but we must instantly send for the doctor."
+
+As Miss Danesbury walked across the room to ring the bell, Hester
+followed her.
+
+"She's not in danger?" she whispered in a hoarse voice. "If she is, Annie
+is guilty of murder."
+
+"Don't, my dear," said the governess; "you must keep quiet for Nan's
+sake. Please God, she will soon be better. All I really apprehend is a
+little excitement and feverishness, which will pass off in a few days
+with care. Hester, my dear, I suddenly remember that the house is nearly
+empty, for all the servants are also enjoying a holiday. I think I must
+send you for Dr. Mayflower. The wagonette is still at the door. Drive at
+once to town, my dear, and ask the coachman to take you to No. 10, The
+Parade. If you are very quick, you will catch Dr. Mayflower before he
+goes out on his afternoon rounds."
+
+Hester glanced for half an instant at Nan, but her eyes were again
+closed.
+
+"I will take the best care of her," said the governess in a kind voice;
+"don't lose an instant, dear."
+
+Hester snatched up her hat and flew down stairs. In a moment she was in
+the wagonette, and the driver was speedily urging his horses in the
+direction of the small town of Sefton, two miles and a half away. Hester
+was terrified now--so terrified, in such an agony, that she even forgot
+Annie; her hatred toward Annie became of secondary importance to her. All
+her ideas, all her thoughts, were swallowed up in the one great
+hope--Should she be in time to reach Dr. Mayflower's house before he set
+off on his afternoon rounds? As the wagonette approached Sefton she
+buried her face in her hands and uttered a sharp inward cry of agony.
+
+"Please God, let me find the doctor!" It was a real prayer from her heart
+of hearts. The wagonette drew up at the doctor's residence, to discover
+him stepping into his brougham. Hester was a shy child, and had never
+seen him before; but she instantly raised her voice, and almost shouted
+to him:
+
+"You are to come with me; please, you are to come at once. Little Nan is
+ill--she is hurt. Please, you are to come at once."
+
+"Eh! young lady?" said the round-faced doctor "Oh! I see; you are one of
+the little girls from Lavender House. Is anything wrong there, dear?"
+
+Hester managed to relate what had occurred; whereupon the doctor
+instantly opened the door of the wagonette.
+
+"Jump out, young lady," he said; "I will drive you back in my brougham.
+Masters," addressing his coachman, "to Lavender House."
+
+Hester sat back in the soft-cushioned carriage, which bowled smoothly
+along the road. It seemed to her impatience that the pace at which they
+went was not half quick enough--she longed to put her head out of the
+window to shout to the coachman to go faster. She felt intensely provoked
+with the doctor, who sat placidly by her side reading a newspaper.
+
+Presently she saw that his eyes were fixed on her. He spoke in his
+quietest tones.
+
+"We always take precisely twenty minutes to drive from the Parade to
+Lavender House--twenty minutes, neither more or less. We shall be there
+now in exactly ten minutes."
+
+Hester tried to smile, but failed; her agony of apprehension grew and
+grew. She breathed more freely when they turned into the avenue. When
+they stopped at the wide stone porch, and the doctor got out, she uttered
+a sigh of relief. She took Dr. Mayflower herself up to Nan's room. Miss
+Danesbury opened the door, the doctor went inside, and Hester crouched
+down on the landing and waited. It seemed to her that the good physician
+would never come out. When he did she raised a perfectly blanched face to
+his, she opened her lips, tried to speak, but no words would come. Her
+agitation was so intense that the kind-hearted doctor took instant pity
+on her.
+
+"Come into this room, my child," he said. "My dear, you will be ill
+yourself if you give way like this. Pooh! pooh! this agitation is
+extreme--is uncalled for. You have got a shock. I shall prescribe a glass
+of sherry at once. Come down stairs with me, and I will see that you get
+one."
+
+"But how is she, sir--how is she?" poor Hester managed to articulate.
+
+"Oh! the little one--sweet, pretty, little darling. I did not know she
+was your sister--a dear little child. She got an ugly fall, though--came
+on a nasty place."
+
+"But, please, sir, how is she? She--she--she is not in danger?"
+
+"Danger? by no means, unless you put her into it. She must be kept very
+quiet, and, above all things, not excited. I will come to see her again
+to-morrow morning. With proper care she ought to be quite herself in a
+few days. Ah! now you've got a little color in your cheek, come down with
+me and have that glass of sherry, and you will feel all right."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ANNIE TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The picnic-party arrived home late. The accident to little Nan had not
+shortened the day's pleasure, although Mrs. Willis, the moment she heard
+of it, had come back; for she entered the hall just as the doctor was
+stepping into his carriage. He gave her his opinion, and said that he
+trusted no further mischief, beyond a little temporary excitement, had
+been caused. He again, however, spoke of the great necessity of keeping
+Nan quiet, and said that her schoolfellows must not come to her, and that
+she must not be excited in any way. Mrs. Willis came into the great hall
+where Hester was standing. Instantly she went up to the young girl, and
+put her arm around and drew her to her side.
+
+"Darling," she said, "this is a grievous anxiety for you; no words can
+express my sorrow and my sympathy; but the doctor is quite hopeful,
+Hester, and, please God, we shall soon have the little one as well as
+ever."
+
+"You are really sorry for me?" said Hester, raising her eyes to the
+head-mistress' face.
+
+"Of course, dear; need you ask?"
+
+"Then you will have that wicked Annie Forest punished--well punished--well
+punished."
+
+"Sometimes, Hester," said Mrs. Willis, very gravely, "God takes the
+punishment of our wrongdoings into His own hands. Annie came home with
+me. Had you seen her face as we drove together you would not have asked
+_me_ to punish her."
+
+"Unjust, always unjust," muttered Hester, but in so low a voice that Mrs.
+Willis did not hear the words. "Please may I go to little Nan?" she said.
+
+"Certainly, Hester--some tea shall be sent up to you presently."
+
+Miss Danesbury arranged to spend that night in Nan's room. A sofa bed was
+brought in for her to lie on, for Mrs. Willis had yielded to Hester's
+almost feverish entreaties that she might not be banished from her little
+sister. Not a sound reached the room where Nan was lying--even the girls
+took off their shoes as they passed the door--not a whisper came to
+disturb the sick child. Little Nan slept most of the evening, only
+sometimes opening her eyes and looking up drowsily when Miss Danesbury
+changed the cold application to her head. At nine o'clock there came a
+low tap at the room door. Hester went to open it; one of her
+schoolfellows stood without.
+
+"The prayer-gong is not to be sounded to-night. Will you come to the
+chapel now? Mrs. Willis sent me to ask."
+
+Hester shook her head.
+
+"I cannot," she whispered; "tell her I cannot come."
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry!" replied the girl; "is Nan very bad?"
+
+"I don't know; I hope not. Good-night."
+
+Hester closed the room door, took off her dress, and began very softly to
+prepare to get into bed. She put on her dressing-gown, and knelt down as
+usual to her private prayers. When she got on her knees, however, she
+found it impossible to pray: her brain felt in a whirl, her feelings were
+unprayer-like; and with the temporary relief of believing Nan in no
+immediate danger came such a flood of hatred toward Annie as almost
+frightened her. She tried to ask God to make Nan better--quite well; but
+even this petition seemed to go no way--to reach no one--to fall flat on
+the empty air. She rose from her knees, and got quietly into bed.
+
+Nan lay in that half-drowsy and languid state until midnight. Hester,
+with all her very slight experience of illness, thought that as long as
+Nan was quiet she must be getting better; but Miss Danesbury was by no
+means so sure, and, notwithstanding the doctor's verdict, she felt
+anxious about the child. Hester had said that she could not sleep; but at
+Miss Danesbury's special request she got into bed, and before she knew
+anything about it was in a sound slumber. At midnight, when all the house
+was quiet, and Miss Danesbury kept a lonely watch by the sick child's
+pillow, there came a marked change for the worse in the little one. She
+opened her feverish eyes wide and began to call out piteously; but her
+cry now was, not for Hester, but for Annie.
+
+"Me want my Annie," she said over and over, "me do, me do. No, no; go
+'way, naughty Day-bury, me want my Annie; me do want her."
+
+Miss Danesbury felt puzzled and distressed. Hester, however, was awakened
+by the piteous cry, and sat up in bed.
+
+"What is it, Miss Danesbury?" she asked.
+
+"She is very much excited, Hester; she is calling for Annie Forest."
+
+"Oh, that is quite impossible," said Hester, a shudder passing through
+her. "Annie can't come here. The doctor specially said that none of the
+girls were to come near Nan."
+
+"Me want Annie; me want my own Annie," wailed the sick child.
+
+"Give me my dressing-gown, please, Miss Danesbury, and I will go to her,"
+said Hester.
+
+She sprang out of bed, and approached the little crib. The brightness of
+Nan's feverish eyes was distinctly seen. She looked up at Hester, who
+bent over her; then she uttered a sharp cry and covered her little face.
+
+"Go 'way, go 'way, naughty Hetty--Nan want Annie; Annie sing, Annie p'ay
+with Nan--go 'way, go 'way, Hetty."
+
+Hester's heart was too full to allow her to speak; but she knelt by the
+crib and tried to take one of the little hot hands in hers. Nan, however,
+pushed her hands away, and now began to cry loudly.
+
+"Annie!--Annie!--Annie! me want 'oo; Nan want 'oo--poor tibby Nan want
+'oo, Annie!"
+
+Miss Danesbury touched Hester on her shoulder.
+
+"My dear," she said, "the child's wish must be gratified. Annie has an
+extraordinary power over children, and under the circumstances I shall
+take it upon me to disobey the doctor's directions. The child must be
+quieted at all hazards. Run for Annie, dear--you know her room. I had
+better stay with little Nan, for, though she loves you best, you don't
+sooth her at present--that is often so with a fever case."
+
+"One moment," said Hester. She turned again to the little crib.
+
+"Hetty is going to fetch Annie for Nan. Will Nan give her own Hetty one
+kiss?"
+
+Instantly the little arms were flung round Hester's neck.
+
+"Me like 'oo now, dood Hetty. Go for Annie, dood Hetty."
+
+Instantly Hester ran out of the room. She flew quickly down the long
+passage, and did not know what a strange little figure she made as the
+moon from a large window at one end fell full upon her. So eerie, so
+ghost-like was her appearance as she flew noiselessly with her bare feet
+along the passage that some one--Hester did not know whom--gave a stifled
+cry. The cry seemed to come from a good way off, and Hester was too
+preoccupied to notice it. She darted into the room where Susan Drummond
+and Annie Forest slept.
+
+"Annie, you are to come to Nan," she said in a sharp high-pitched voice
+which she scarcely recognized as her own.
+
+"Coming," said Annie, and she walked instantly to the door with her dress
+on and stood in the moonlight.
+
+"You are dressed!" said Hester in astonishment.
+
+"I could not undress--I lay down as I was. I fancied I heard Nan's voice
+calling me. I guessed I should be sent for."
+
+"Well, come now," said Hester in her hardest tones. "You were only sent
+for because Nan must be quieted at any risk. Come and see if you can
+quiet her. I don't suppose," with a bitter laugh "that you will succeed."
+
+"I think so," replied Annie, in a very soft and gentle tone.
+
+She walked back by Hester's side and entered the sick-room. She walked
+straight up to the little cot and knelt down by Nan, and said, in that
+strangely melodious voice of hers:
+
+"Little darling, Annie has come."
+
+"Me like 'oo," said Nan with a satisfied coo in her voice, and she turned
+round on her side with her back to Miss Danesbury and Hester and her eyes
+fixed on Annie.
+
+"Sing 'Four-and-twenty,' Annie; sing 'Four-and-twenty,'" she said
+presently.
+
+"Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie," sang Annie in a low clear
+voice, without a moment's hesitation. She went through the old nursery
+rhyme once--twice. Then Nan interrupted her fretfully:
+
+"Me don't want dat 'dain; sing 'Boy Blue,' Annie."
+
+Annie sang.
+
+"'Tree Little Kittens,' Annie," interrupted the little voice presently.
+
+For more than two hours Annie knelt by the child, singing nursery rhyme
+after nursery rhyme, while the bright beautiful eyes were fixed on her
+face, and the little voice said incessantly:
+
+"Sing, Annie--sing."
+
+"Baby Bun, now," said Nan, when Annie had come almost to the end of her
+selection.
+
+                   "Bye baby bunting,
+                   Daddy's gone a hunting--
+                   He's gone to fetch a rabbit-skin,
+                   To place the baby bunting in."
+
+Over and over and over did Annie sing the words. Whenever, even for a
+brief moment she paused, Nan said:
+
+"Sing, Annie--sing 'Baby Bun.'"
+
+And all the time the eyes remained wide open, and the little hands were
+burning hot; but, gradually, after more than two hours of constant
+singing, Annie began to fancy that the burning skin was cooler.
+Then--could she believe it?--she saw the lids droop over the wide-open
+eyes. Five minutes later, to the tune of "Baby Bunting," Nan had fallen
+into a deep and sound sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+A SPOILED BABY.
+
+
+In the morning Nan was better, and although for days she was in a very
+precarious state, and had to be kept as quiet as possible, yet Miss
+Danesbury's great dread that fever would set in had passed away. The
+doctor said, however, that Nan had barely escaped real injury to her
+brain, and that it would be many a day before she would romp again, and
+play freely and noisily with the other children. Nan had chosen her own
+nurse, and, with the imperiousness of all babies--to say nothing of sick
+babies--she had her way. From morning till night Annie remained with her,
+and when the doctor saw how Annie alone could soothe and satisfy the
+child he would not allow it to be otherwise. At first Nan would lie with
+her hand in Annie's, and her little cry of "sing, Annie," going on from
+time to time; but as she grew better Annie would sit with her by the open
+window, with her head pillowed on her breast, and her arm round the
+little slender form, and Nan would smile and look adoringly at Annie, who
+would often return her gaze with intense sadness, and an indescribable
+something in her face which caused the little one to stroke her cheek
+tenderly, and say in her sweet baby voice:
+
+"Poor Annie; poor tibby Annie!"
+
+They made a pretty picture as they sat there. Annie, with her charming
+gypsy face, her wild luxuriant, curly hair, all the sauciness and unrest
+in her soothed by the magic of the little child's presence; and the
+little child herself, with her faint, wild-rose color, her dark, deep
+eyes, clear as summer pools, and her sunshiny golden hair. But pretty as
+the picture was Hester loathed it, for Hester thought during these
+wretched days that her heart would break.
+
+Not that Nan turned away from Hetty; she petted her and kissed her, and
+sometimes put an arm round Hetty and and an arm round Annie, as though,
+if she could, she would draw them together; but any one could see that
+her heart of hearts was given to Annie, and that Hester ranked second in
+her love. Hester would not for worlds express any of her bitter feelings
+before Annie; nay, as the doctor and Miss Danesbury both declared that,
+however culpable Annie might have been in causing the accident, she had
+saved little Nan's life by her wonderful skill in soothing her to sleep
+on the first night of her illness, Hester had felt obliged to grumble
+something which might have been taken for "thanks."
+
+Annie, in reply to this grumble, had bestowed upon Hester one of her
+quickest, brightest glances, for she fathomed the true state of Hester's
+heart toward her well enough.
+
+These were very bad days for poor Hester, and but for the avidity with
+which she threw herself into her studies she could scarcely have borne
+them.
+
+By slow degrees Nan got better; she was allowed to come down stairs and
+to sit in Annie's arms in the garden, and then Mrs. Willis interfered,
+and said that Annie must go back to her studies, and only devote her
+usual play hours and half-holidays to Nan's service.
+
+This mandate, however, produced woe and tribulation. The spoiled child
+screamed and beat her little hands, and worked herself up into such a
+pitch of excitement that that night she found her way in her sleep to
+Annie's room, and Annie had to quiet her by taking her into her bed. In
+the morning the doctor had to be sent for, and he instantly prescribed a
+day or two more of Annie's company for the child.
+
+Mrs. Willis felt dreadfully puzzled. She had undertaken the charge of the
+little one; her father was already far away, so it was impossible now to
+make any change of plans; the child was ill--had been injured by an
+accident caused by Annie's carelessness and by Hester's want of
+self-control. But weak and ill as Nan still was, Mrs. Willis felt that an
+undue amount of spoiling was good for no one. She thought it highly
+unjust to Annie to keep her from her school employments at this most
+important period of the year. If Annie did not reach a certain degree of
+excellence in her school marks she could not be promoted in her class.
+Mrs. Willis did not expect the wild and heedless girl to carry off any
+special prizes; but her abilities were quite up to the average, and she
+always hoped to rouse sufficient ambition in her to enable her to acquire
+a good and sound education. Mrs. Willis knew how necessary this was for
+poor Annie's future, and, after giving the doctor an assurance that Nan's
+whims and pleasures should be attended to for the next two or three days,
+she determined at the end of that time to assert her own authority with
+the child, and to insist on Annie working hard at her lessons, and
+returning to her usual school-room life.
+
+On the morning of the third day Mrs. Willis made inquiries, heard that
+Nan had spent an excellent night, eaten a hearty breakfast, and was
+altogether looking blooming. When the girls assembled in the school-room
+for their lessons, Annie brought her little charge down to the large
+play-room, where they established themselves cozily, and Annie began to
+instruct little Nan in the mysteries of
+
+                  "Tic, tac, too,
+                  The little horse has lost his shoe."
+
+Nan was entering into the spirit of the game, was imagining herself a
+little horse, and was holding out her small foot to be shod, when Mrs.
+Willis entered the room.
+
+"Come with me, Nan," she said; "I have got something to show you."
+
+Nan got up instantly, held out one hand to Mrs. Willis and the other to
+Annie, and said, in her confident baby tones:
+
+"Me tum; Annie tumming too."
+
+Mrs. Willis said nothing, but holding the little hand, and accompanied by
+Annie, she went out of the play-room, across the stone hall, and through
+the baize doors until she reached her own delightful private
+sitting-room.
+
+There were heaps of pretty things about, and Nan gazed round her with the
+appreciative glance of a pleased connoisseur.
+
+"Pitty 'oom," she said approvingly. "Nan likes this 'oom. Me'll stay
+here, and so will Annie."
+
+Here she uttered a sudden cry of rapture--on the floor, with its leaves
+temptingly open, lay a gaily-painted picture-book, and curled up in a
+soft fluffy ball by its side was a white Persian kitten asleep.
+
+Mrs. Willis whispered something to Annie, who ran out of the room, and
+Nan knelt down in a perfect rapture of worship by the kitten's side.
+
+"Pitty tibby pussy!" she exclaimed several times, and she rubbed it so
+persistently the wrong way that the kitten shivered and stood up, arched
+its back very high, yawned, turned round three times, and lay down again,
+Alas! "tibby pussy" was not allowed to have any continuous slumber. Nan
+dragged the Persian by its tail into her lap, and when it resisted this
+indignity, and with two or three light bounds disappeared out of the
+room, she stretched out her little hands and began to cry for it.
+
+"Tum back, puss, puss--tum back, poor tibby puss--Nan loves 'oo. Annie,
+go fetch puss for Nan." Then for the first time she discovered that Annie
+was absent, and that she was alone, with the exception of Mrs. Willis,
+who sat busily writing at a distant table.
+
+Mrs. Willis counted for nothing at all with Nan--she did not consider her
+of the smallest importance and after giving her a quick glance of some
+disdain she began to trot round the room on a voyage of discovery. Any
+moment Annie would come back--Annie had, indeed, probably gone to fetch
+the kitten, and would quickly return with it. She walked slowly round and
+round, keeping well away from that part of the room where Mrs. Willis
+sat. Presently she found a very choice little china jug, which she
+carefully abstracted with her small fingers from a cabinet, which
+contained many valuable treasures. She sat down on the floor exactly
+beneath the cabinet, and began to play with her jug. She went through in
+eager pantomime a little game which Annie had invented for her, and
+imagined that she was a little milkmaid, and that the jug was full of
+sweet new milk; she called out to an imaginary set of purchasers, "Want
+any milk?" and then she poured some by way of drops of milk into the palm
+of her little hand, which she drank up in the name of her customers with
+considerable gusto. Presently knocking the little jug with some vehemence
+on the floor she deprived it with one neat blow of its handle and spout.
+Mrs. Willis was busily writing, and did not look up. Nan was not in the
+least disconcerted; she said aloud:
+
+"Poor tibby zug b'oke," and then she left the fragments on the floor, and
+started off on a fresh voyage of discovery. This time she dragged down a
+large photographic album on to a cushion, and, kneeling by it, began to
+look through the pictures, flapping the pages together with a loud noise,
+and laughing merrily as she did so. She was now much nearer to Mrs.
+Willis, who was attracted by the sound, and looking up hastened to the
+rescue of one of her most precious collections of photographs.
+
+"Nan, dear," she said, "shut up that book at once. Nan mustn't touch.
+Shut the book, darling, and go and sit on the floor, and look at your
+nice-colored pictures."
+
+Nan, still holding a chubby hand between the leaves of the album, gave
+Mrs. Willis a full defiant glance, and said:
+
+"Me won't."
+
+"Come, Nan," said the head-mistress.
+
+"Me want Annie," said Nan, still kneeling by the album, and, bending her
+head over the photographs, she turned the page and burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+
+"Pitty bow vow," she said, pointing to a photograph of a retriever; "oh,
+pitty bow woo, Nan loves 'oo."
+
+Mrs. Willis stooped down and lifted the little girl into her arms.
+
+"Nan, dear," she said, "it is naughty to disobey. Sit down by your
+picture-book, and be a good girl."
+
+"Me won't," said Nan again, and here she raised her small dimpled hand
+and gave Mrs. Willis a smart slap on her cheek.
+
+"Naughty lady, me don't like 'oo; go 'way. Nan want Annie--Nan do want
+Annie. Me don't love 'oo, naughty lady; go 'way."
+
+Mrs. Willis took Nan on her knee. She felt that the little will must be
+bent to hers, but the task was no easy one. The child scarcely knew her,
+she was still weak and excitable, and she presently burst into storms of
+tears, and sobbed and sobbed as though her little heart would break, her
+one cry being for "Annie, Annie, Annie." When Annie did join her in the
+play hour, the little cheeks were flushed, the white brow ached, and the
+child's small hands were hot and feverish. Mrs. Willis felt terribly
+puzzled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+UNDER THE LAUREL BUSH.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis owned to herself that she was non-plussed; it was quite
+impossible to allow Annie to neglect her studies, and yet little Nan's
+health was still too precarious to allow her to run the risk of having
+the child constantly fretted.
+
+Suddenly a welcome idea occurred to her; she would write at once to Nan's
+old nurse, and see if she could come to Lavender House for the remainder
+of the present term. Mrs. Willis dispatched her letter that very day, and
+by the following evening the nurse was once more in possession of her
+much-loved little charge. The habits of her babyhood were too strong for
+Nan; she returned to them gladly enough, and though in her heart of
+hearts she was still intensely loyal to Annie, she no longer fretted when
+she was not with her.
+
+Annie resumed her ordinary work, and though Hester was very cold to her,
+several of the other girls in the school frankly confided to their
+favorite how much they had missed her, and how glad they were to have her
+back with them once more.
+
+Annie found herself at this time in an ever-shifting mood--one moment she
+longed intensely for a kiss, and a fervent pardon from Mrs. Willis' lips;
+another, she said to herself defiantly she could and would live without
+it; one moment the hungry and sorrowful look in Hester's eyes went
+straight to Annie's heart, and she wished she might restore her little
+treasure whom she had stolen; the next she rejoiced in her strange power
+over Nan, and resolved to keep all the love she could get.
+
+In short, Annie was in that condition when she could be easily influenced
+for good or evil--she was in that state of weakness when temptation is
+least easily resisted.
+
+A few days after the arrival of Nan's nurse Mrs. Willis was obliged
+unexpectedly to leave home; a near relative was dangerously ill in
+London, and the school-mistress went away in much trouble and anxiety.
+Some of her favorite pupils flocked to the front entrance to see their
+beloved mistress off. Among the group Cecil stood, and several girls of
+the first class; many of the little girls were also present, but Annie
+was not among them. Just at the last moment she rushed up breathlessly;
+she was tying some starry jasmine and some blue forget-me-nots together,
+and as the carriage was moving off she flung the charming bouquet into
+her mistress' lap.
+
+Mrs. Willis rewarded her with one of her old looks of confidence and
+love; she raised the flowers to her lips and kissed them, and her eyes
+smiled on Annie.
+
+"Good-by, dear," she called out; "good-by, all my dear girls; I will try
+and be back to-morrow night. Remember, my children, during my absence I
+trust you."
+
+The carriage disappeared down the avenue, and the group of girls melted
+away. Cecil looked round for Annie, but Annie had been the first to
+disappear.
+
+When her mistress had kissed the flowers and smiled at her, Annie darted
+into the shrubbery and stood there wiping the fast-falling tears from her
+eyes. She was interrupted in this occupation by the sudden cries of two
+glad and eager voices, and instantly her hands were taken, and some girls
+rather younger than herself began to drag her in the opposite direction
+through the shrubbery.
+
+"Come; Annie--come at once, Annie, darling," exclaimed Phyllis and Nora
+Raymond. "The basket has come; it's under the thick laurel-tree in the
+back avenue. We are all waiting for you; we none of us will open it till
+you arrive."
+
+Annie's face, a truly April one, changed as if by magic. The tears dried
+on her cheeks; her eyes filled with sunlight; she was all eager for the
+coming fun.
+
+"Then we won't lose a moment, Phyllis," she said: "we'll see what that
+duck of a Betty has done for us."
+
+The three girls scampered down the back avenue, where they found five of
+their companions, among them Susan Drummond, standing in different
+attitudes of expectation near a very large and low-growing laurel-tree.
+Every one raised a shout when Annie appeared; she was undoubtedly
+recognized as queen and leader of the proceedings. She took her post
+without an instant's hesitation, and began ordering her willing subjects
+about.
+
+"Now, is the coast clear? yes, I think so. Come, Susie, greedy as you
+are, you must take your part. You alone of all of us can cackle with the
+exact imitation of an old hen: get behind that tree at once and watch the
+yard. Don't forget to cackle for your life if you even see the shadow of
+a footfall. Nora, my pretty birdie, you must be the thrush for the nonce;
+here, take your post, watch the lawn and the front avenue. Now then,
+girls, the rest of us can see what spoils Betty has provided for us."
+
+The basket was dragged from its hiding-place, and longing faces peered
+eagerly and greedily into its contents.
+
+"Oh, oh! I say, cherries! and what a lot! Good Betty! dear, darling Betty!
+you gathered those from your own trees, and they are as ripe as your
+apple-blossom cheeks! Now then, what next? I do declare, meringues! Betty
+knew my weakness. Twelve meringues--that is one and a half apiece; Susan
+Drummond sha'n't have more than her share. Meringues and cheesecakes
+and--tartlets--oh! oh! what a duck Betty is! A plum-cake--good, excellent
+Betty, she deserves to be canonized! What have we here? Roast
+chickens--better and better! What is in this parcel? Slices of ham; Betty
+knew she dare not show her face again if she forgot the ham. Knives and
+forks, spoons--fresh rolls--salt and pepper, and a dozen bottles of
+ginger-beer, and a little corkscrew in case we want it."
+
+These various exclamations came from many lips. The contents of the
+basket were carefully and tenderly replaced, the lid was fastened down,
+and it was once more consigned to its hiding place under the thick boughs
+of the laurel.
+
+Not a moment too soon, for just at this instant Susan cackled fiercely,
+and the little group withdrew, Annie first whispering:
+
+"At twelve to-night, then, girls--oh, yes, I have managed the key."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+TRUANTS.
+
+
+It was a proverbial saying in the school that Annie Forest was always in
+hot water; she was exceedingly daring, and loved what she called a spice
+of danger. This was not the first stolen picnic at which Annie reigned as
+queen, but this was the largest she had yet organized, and this was the
+first time she had dared to go out of doors with her satellites.
+
+Hitherto these naughty sprites had been content to carry their baskets
+full of artfully-concealed provisions to a disused attic which was
+exactly over the box-room, and consequently out of reach of the inhabited
+part of the house. Here, making a table of a great chest which stood in
+the attic, they feasted gloriously, undisturbed by the musty smell or by
+the innumerable spiders and beetles which disappeared rapidly in all
+directions at their approach; but when Annie one day incautiously
+suggested that on summer nights the outside world was all at their
+disposal, they began to discover flaws in their banqueting hall. Mary
+Price said the musty smell made her half sick; Phyllis declared that at
+the sight of a spider she invariably turned faint; and Susan Drummond was
+heard to murmur that in a dusty, fusty attic even meringues scarcely kept
+her awake. The girls were all wild to try a midnight picnic out of doors,
+and Annie in her present mood, was only too eager for the fun.
+
+With her usual skill she organized the whole undertaking, and eight
+agitated, slightly frightened, but much excited girls retired to their
+rooms that night. Annie, in her heart of hearts, felt rather sorry that
+Mrs. Willis should happen to be away; dim ideas of honor and
+trustworthiness were still stirring in her breast, but she dared not
+think now.
+
+The night was in every respect propitious; the moon would not rise until
+after twelve, so the little party could get away under the friendly
+shelter of the darkness, and soon afterward have plenty of light to enjoy
+their stolen feast. They had arranged to make no movement until close on
+midnight, and then they were all to meet in a passage which belonged to
+the kitchen regions, and where there was a side door which opened
+directly into the shrubbery. This door was not very often unlocked, and
+Annie had taken the key from its place in the lock some days before. She
+went to bed with her companions at nine o'clock as usual, and presently
+fell into an uneasy doze. She awoke to hear the great clock in the hall
+strike eleven, and a few minutes afterward she heard Miss Danesbury's
+footsteps retiring to her room at the other end of the passage.
+
+"Danesbury is always the last to go to bed," whispered Annie to herself;
+"I can get up presently."
+
+She lay for another twenty minutes, then, softly rising, began to put on
+her clothes in the dark. Over her dress she fastened her waterproof, and
+placed a close-fitting brown velvet cap on her curly head. Having dressed
+herself, she approached Susan's bed, with the intention of rousing her.
+
+"I shall have fine work now," she said, "and shall probably have to
+resort to cold water. Really, if Susy proves too hard to wake, I shall
+let her sleep on--her drowsiness is past bearing."
+
+Annie, however, was considerably startled when she discovered that Miss
+Drummond's bed was without an occupant.
+
+At this moment the room door was very softly opened, and Susan, fully
+dressed and in her waterproof, came in.
+
+"Why, Susy, where have you been?" exclaimed Annie. "Fancy you being awake
+a moment before it is necessary!"
+
+"For once in a way I was restless," replied Miss Drummond, "so I thought
+I would get up, and take a turn in the passage outside. The house is
+perfectly quiet, and we can come now; most of the girls are already
+waiting at the side door."
+
+Holding their shoes in their hands, Annie and Susan went noiselessly down
+the carpetless stairs, and found the remaining six girls waiting for them
+by the side door.
+
+"Rover is our one last danger now," said Annie, as she fitted the
+well-oiled key into the lock. "Put on your shoes, girls, and let me out
+first; I think I can manage him."
+
+She was alluding to a great mastiff which was usually kept chained up by
+day. Phyllis and Nora laid their hands on her arm.
+
+"Oh, Annie, oh love, suppose he seizes on you, and knocks you down--oh,
+dare you venture?"
+
+"Let me go," said Annie a little contemptuously; "you don't suppose I am
+afraid?"
+
+Her fingers trembled, for her nerves were highly strung; but she managed
+to unlock the door and draw back the bolts, and, opening it softly, she
+went out into the silent night.
+
+Very slight as the noise she made was, it had aroused the watchful Rover,
+who trotted around swiftly to know what was the matter. But Annie had
+made friends with Rover long ago, by stealing to his kennel door and
+feeding him, and she had now but to say "Rover" in her melodious voice,
+and throw her arms around his neck, to completely subvert his morals.
+
+"He is one of us, girls," she called in a whisper to her companions;
+"come out. Rover will be as naughty as the rest of us, and go with us as
+our body-guard to the fairies' field. Now, I will lock the door on the
+outside, and we can be off. Ah, the moon is getting up splendidly, and
+when we have secured Betty's basket, we shall be quite out of reach of
+danger."
+
+At Annie's words of encouragement the seven girls ventured out. She
+locked the door, put the key into her pocket, and, holding Rover by his
+collar, led the way in the direction of the laurel-bush. The basket was
+secured, and Susan, to her disgust, and Mary Morris were elected for the
+first part of the way to carry it. The young truants then walked quickly
+down the avenue until they came to a turnstile which led into a wood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+IN THE FAIRIES' FIELD.
+
+
+The moon had now come up brilliantly, and the little party were in the
+highest possible spirits. They had got safely away from the house, and
+there was now, comparatively speaking, little fear of discovery. The more
+timid ones, who ventured to confess that their hearts were in their
+mouths while Annie was unlocking the side door, now became the most
+excited, and perhaps the boldest, under the reaction which set in. Even
+the wood, which was comparatively dark, with only patches of moonlight
+here and there, and queer weird shadows where the trees were thinnest,
+could not affect their spirits.
+
+The poor sleepy rabbits must have been astonished that night at the
+shouts of the revelers, as they hurried past them, and the birds must
+have taken their sleepy heads from under their downy wings, and wondered
+if the morning had come some hours before its usual time.
+
+More than one solemn old owl blinked at them, and hooted as they passed,
+and told them in owl language what silly, naughty young things they were,
+and how they would repent of this dissipation by-and-by. But if the girls
+were to have an hour of remorse, it did not visit them then; their hearts
+were like feathers, and by the time they reached the fields where the
+fairies were supposed to play, their spirits had become almost
+uncontrollable.
+
+Luckily for them this small green field lay in a secluded hollow, and
+more luckily for them no tramps were about to hear their merriment.
+Rover, who constituted himself Annie's protector, now lay down by her
+side, and as she was the real ringleader and queen of the occasion, she
+ordered her subjects about pretty sharply.
+
+"Now, girls, quick; open the basket. Yes, I'm going to rest. I have
+organized the whole thing, and I'm fairly tired; so I'll just sit quietly
+here, and Rover will take care of me while you set things straight. Ah!
+good Betty; she did not even forget the white table-cloth."
+
+Here one of the girls remarked casually that the grass was wet with dew,
+and that it was well they had all put on their waterproofs.
+
+Annie interrupted again in a petulant voice:
+
+"Don't croak, Mary Morris. Out with the chickens, lay the ham in this
+corner, and the cherries will make a picturesque pile in the middle.
+Twelve meringues in all; that means a meringue and a half each. We shall
+have some difficulty in dividing. Oh, dear! oh, dear! how hungry I am! I
+was far too excited to eat anything at supper-time."
+
+"So was I," said Phyllis, coming up and pressing close to Annie. "I do
+think Miss Danesbury cuts the bread and butter too thick--don't you,
+Annie? I could not eat mine at all to-night, and Cecil Temple asked me if
+I was not well."
+
+"Those who don't want chicken hold up their hands," here interrupted
+Annie, who had tossed her brown cap on the grass, and between whose brows
+a faint frown had passed for an instant at the mention of Cecil's name.
+
+The feast now began in earnest and silence reigned for a short time,
+broken only by the clatter of plates and such an occasional remark as
+"Pass the salt, please," "Pepper this way, if you've no objection," "How
+good chicken tastes in fairy-land," etc. At last the ginger-beer bottles
+began to pop--the girls' first hunger was appeased. Rover gladly crunched
+up all the bones, and conversation flowed once more, accompanied by the
+delicate diversion of taking alternate bites at meringues and
+cheesecakes.
+
+"I wish the fairies would come out," said Annie.
+
+"Oh, don't!" shivered Phyllis, looking round her nervously.
+
+"Annie darling, do tell us a ghost story," cried several voices.
+
+Annie laughed and commenced a series of nonsense tales, all of a slightly
+eerie character, which she made up on the spot.
+
+The moon riding high in the heavens looked down on the young giddy heads,
+and their laughter, naughty as they were, sounded sweet in the night air.
+
+Time flew quickly and the girls suddenly discovered that they must pack
+up their table-cloth and remove all traces of the feast unless they
+wished the bright light of morning to discover them. They rose hastily,
+sighing and slightly depressed now that their fun was over. The white
+table-cloth, no longer very white, was packed into the basket, the
+ginger-beer bottles placed on top of it and the lid fastened down. Not a
+crumb of the feast remained; Rover had demolished the bones and the eight
+girls had made short work of everything else, with the exception of the
+cherry-stones, which Phyllis carefully collected and popped into a little
+hole in the ground.
+
+The party then progressed slowly homeward and once more entered the dark
+wood. They were much more silent now; the wood was darker, and the chill
+which foretells the dawn was making itself felt in the air. Either the
+sense of cold or a certain effect produced by Annie's ridiculous stories,
+made many of the little party unduly nervous.
+
+They had only taken a few steps through the wood when Phyllis suddenly
+uttered a piercing shriek. This shriek was echoed by Nora and by Mary
+Morris, and all their hearts seemed to leap into their mouths when they
+saw something move among the trees. Rover uttered a growl, and, but for
+Annie's detaining hand, would have sprung forward. The high-spirited girl
+was not to be easily daunted.
+
+"Behold, girls, the goblin of the woods," she exclaimed. "Quiet, Rover;
+stand still."
+
+The next instant the fears of the little party reached their culmination
+when a tall, dark figure stood directly in their paths.
+
+"If you don't let us pass at once," said Annie's voice, "I'll set Rover
+at you."
+
+The dog began to bark loudly and quivered from head to foot.
+
+The figure moved a little to one side, and a rather deep and slightly
+dramatic voice said:
+
+"I mean you no harm, young ladies; I'm only a gypsy-mother from the tents
+yonder. You are welcome to get back to Lavender House. I have then one
+course plain before me."
+
+"Come on, girls," said Annie, now considerably frightened, while Phyllis,
+and Nora, and one or two more began to sob.
+
+"Look here, young ladies," said the gypsy in a whining voice, "I don't
+mean you no harm, my pretties, and it's no affair of mine telling the
+good ladies at Lavender House what I've seen. You cross my hand, dears,
+each of you, with a bit of silver, and all I'll do is to tell your pretty
+fortunes, and mum is the word with the gypsy-mother as far as this
+night's prank is concerned."
+
+"We had better do it, Annie--we had better do it," here sobbed Phyllis.
+"If this was found out by Mrs. Willis we might be expelled--we might,
+indeed; and that horrid woman is sure to tell of us--I know she is."
+
+"Quite sure to tell, dear," said the tall gypsy, dropping a courtesy in a
+manner which looked frightfully sarcastic in the long shadows made by the
+trees. "Quite sure to tell, and to be expelled is the very least that
+could happen to such naughty little ladies. Here's a nice little bit of
+clearing in the wood, and we'll all come over, and Mother Rachel will
+tell your fortunes in a twinkling, and no one will be the wiser. Sixpence
+apiece, my dears--only sixpence apiece."
+
+"Oh, come; do, do come," said Nora, and the next moment they were all
+standing in a circle round Mother Rachel, who pocketed her blackmail
+eagerly, and repeated some gibberish over each little hand. Over Annie's
+palm she lingered for a brief moment, and looked with her penetrating
+eyes into the girl's face.
+
+"You'll have suffering before you, miss; some suspicion, and danger even
+to life itself. But you'll triumph, my dear, you'll triumph. You're a
+plucky one, and you'll do a brave deed. There--good-night, young ladies;
+you have nothing more to fear from Mother Rachel."
+
+The tall dark figure disappeared into the blackest shadows of the wood,
+and the girls, now like so many frightened hares, flew home. They
+deposited their basket where Betty would find it, under the shadow of the
+great laurel in the back avenue. They all bade Rover an affectionate
+"good-night." Annie softly unlocked the side-door, and one by one, with
+their shoes in their hands, they regained their bedrooms. They were all
+very tired, and very cold, and a dull fear and sense of insecurity rested
+over each little heart. Suppose Mother Rachel proved unfaithful,
+notwithstanding the sixpences?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+HESTER'S FORGOTTEN BOOK.
+
+
+It wanted scarcely three weeks to the holidays, and therefore scarcely
+three weeks to that auspicious day when Lavender House was to be the
+scene of one long triumph, and was to be the happy spot selected for a
+midsummer holiday, accompanied by all that could make a holiday
+perfect--for youth and health would be there, and even the unsuccessful
+competitors for the great prizes would not have too sore hearts, for they
+would know that on the next day they were going home. Each girl who had
+done her best would have a word of commendation, and only those who were
+very naughty, or very stubborn, could resist the all-potent elixir of
+happiness which would be poured out so abundantly for Mrs. Willis' pupils
+on this day.
+
+Now that the time was drawing so near, those girls who were working for
+prizes found themselves fully occupied from morning to night. In
+play-hours even, girls would be seen with their heads bent over their
+books, and, between the prizes and the acting, no little bees in any hive
+could be more constantly employed than were these young girls just now.
+
+No happiness is, after all, to be compared to the happiness of healthful
+occupation. Busy people have no time to fret and no time to grumble.
+According to our old friend, Dr. Watts, people who are healthily busy
+have also no time to be naughty, for the old doctor says that it is for
+idle hands that mischief is prepared.
+
+Be that as it may, and there is great truth in it, some naughty sprites,
+some bad fairies, were flitting around and about that apparently peaceful
+atmosphere. That sunny home, governed by all that was sweet and good, was
+not without its serpent.
+
+Of all the prizes which attracted interest and aroused competition, the
+prize for English composition was this year the most popular. In the
+first place, this was known to be Mrs. Willis' own favorite subject. She
+had a great wish that her girls should write intelligibly--she had a
+greater wish that, if possible, they should think.
+
+"Never was there so much written and printed," she was often heard to
+say; "but can any one show me a book with thoughts in it? Can any one
+show me, unless as a rare exception, a book which will live? Oh, yes,
+these books which issue from the press in thousands are, many of them,
+very smart, a great many of them clever, but they are thrown off too
+quickly. All great things, great books among them, must be evolved
+slowly."
+
+Then she would tell her pupils what she considered the reason of this.
+
+"In these days," she would say, "all girls are what is called highly
+educated. Girls and boys alike must go in for competitive examinations,
+must take out diplomas, and must pass certain standards of excellence.
+The system is cramming from beginning to end. There is no time for
+reflection. In short, my dear girls, you swallow a great deal, but you do
+not digest your intellectual food."
+
+Mrs. Willis hailed with pleasure any little dawnings of real thought in
+her girls' prize essays. More than once she bestowed the prize upon the
+essay which seemed to the girls the most crude and unfinished.
+
+"Never mind," she would say, "here is an idea--or at least half an idea.
+This little bit of composition is original, and not, at best, a poor
+imitation of Sir. Walter Scott or Lord Macaulay."
+
+Thus the girls found a strong stimulus to be their real selves in these
+little essays, and the best of them chose their subject and let it
+ferment in their brains without the aid of books, except for the more
+technical parts.
+
+More than one girl in the school was surprised at Dora Russell exerting
+herself to try for the prize essay. She was just about to close her
+school career, and they could not make out why she roused herself to work
+for the most difficult prize, for which she would have to compete with
+any girl in the school who chose to make a similar attempt.
+
+Dora, however, had her own, not very high motive for making the attempt.
+She was a thoroughly accomplished girl, graceful in her appearance and
+manner; in short, just the sort of girl who would be supposed to do
+credit to a school. She played with finish, and even delicacy of touch.
+There was certainly no soul in her music, but neither were there any
+wrong notes. Her drawings were equally correct, her perspective good, her
+trees were real trees, and the coloring of her water-color sketches was
+pure. She spoke French extremely well, and with a correct accent, and her
+German also was above the average. Nevertheless, Dora was commonplace,
+and those girls who knew her best spoke sarcastically, and smiled at one
+another when she alluded to her prize essay, and seemed confident of
+being the successful competitor.
+
+"You won't like to be beaten, Dora, say, by Annie Forest," they would
+laughingly remark; whereupon Dora's calm face, would slightly flush and
+her lips would assume a very proud curve. If there was one thing she
+could not bear it was to be beaten.
+
+"Why do you try for it, Dora?" her class-fellows would ask; but here Dora
+made no reply: she kept her reason to herself.
+
+The fact was, Dora, who must be a copyist to the end of the chapter, and
+who could never to her latest day do anything original, had determined to
+try for the composition prize because she happened accidentally to hear a
+conversation between Mrs. Willis and Miss Danesbury, in which something
+was said about a gold locket with Mrs. Willis' portrait inside.
+
+Dora instantly jumped at the conclusion that this was to be the great
+prize bestowed upon the successful essayist. Delightful idea; how well
+the trinket would look round her smooth white throat! Instantly she
+determined to try for this prize, and of course as instantly the bare
+idea of defeat became intolerable to her. She went steadily and
+methodically to work. With extreme care she chose her subject. Knowing
+something of Mrs. Willis' peculiarities, she determined that her theme
+should not be historical; she believed that she could express herself
+freely and with power if only she could secure an unhackneyed subject.
+Suddenly an idea which she considered brilliant occurred to her. She
+would call her composition "The River." This should not bear reference to
+Father Thames, or any other special river of England, but it should trace
+the windings of some fabled stream of Dora's imagination, which, as it
+flowed along, should tell something of the story of the many places by
+which it passed. Dora was charmed with her own thought, and worked hard,
+evening after evening, at her subject, covering sheets of manuscript
+paper with penciled jottings, and arranging and rearranging her somewhat
+confused thoughts. She greatly admired a perfectly rounded period, and
+she was most particular as to the style in which she wrote. For the
+purpose of improving her style she even studied old volumes of Addison's
+_Spectator_; but after a time she gave up this course of study, for she
+found it so difficult to mold her English to Addison's that she came to
+the comfortable conclusion that Addison was decidedly obsolete, and that
+if she wished to do full justice to "The River" she must trust to her own
+unaided genius.
+
+At last the first ten pages were written. The subject was entered upon
+with considerable flourishes, and some rather apt poetical quotations
+from a book containing a collection of poems; the river itself had
+already left its home in the mountain, and was careering merrily past
+sunny meadows and little rural, impossible cottages, where the
+golden-haired children played.
+
+Dora made a very neat copy of her essay so far. She now began to see her
+way clearly--there would be a very powerful passage as the river
+approached the murky town. Here, indeed, would be room for powerful and
+pathetic writing. She wondered if she might venture so far as to hide a
+suicide in her rushing waters; and then at last the brawling river would
+lose itself in the sea; and, of course, there would not be the smallest
+connection between her river, and Kingsley's well-known song,
+
+                           "Clear and cool."
+
+She finished writing her ten pages, and being now positively certain of
+her gold locket, went to bed in a happy state of mind.
+
+This was the very night when Annie was to lead her revelers through the
+dark wood, but Dora, who never troubled herself about the younger
+classes, would have been certainly the last to notice the fact that a few
+of the girls in Lavender House seemed little disposed to eat their
+suppers of thick bread and butter and milk. She went to bed and dreamed
+happy dreams about her golden locket, and had little idea that any
+mischief was about to be performed.
+
+Hester Thornton also, but in a very different spirit, was working hard at
+her essay. Hester worked conscientiously; she had chosen "Marie
+Antoinette" as her theme, and she read the sorrowful story of the
+beautiful queen with intense interest, and tried hard to get herself into
+the spirit of the times about which she must write. She had scarcely
+begun her essay yet, but she had already collected most of the historical
+facts.
+
+Hester was a very careful little student, and as she prepared herself for
+the great work, she thought little or nothing about the prize--she only
+wanted to do justice to the unfortunate queen of France. She was in bed
+that night, and just dropping off to sleep, when she suddenly remembered
+that she had left a volume of French poetry on her school desk. This was
+against the rules, and she knew that Miss Danesbury would confiscate the
+book in the morning, and would not let her have it back for a week.
+Hester particularly wanted this special book just now, as some of the
+verses bore reference to her subject, and she could scarcely get on with
+her essay without having it to refer to. She must lose no time in
+instantly beginning to write her essay, and to do without her book of
+poetry for a week would be a serious injury to her.
+
+She resolved, therefore, to break through one of the rules, and, after
+lying awake until the whole house was quiet, to slip down stairs, enter
+the school-room and secure her poems. She heard the clock strike eleven,
+and she knew that in a very few moments Miss Danesbury and Miss Good
+would have retired to their rooms. Ah, yes, that was Miss Danesbury's
+step passing her door. Ten minutes later she glided out of bed, slipped
+on her dressing-gown, and opening her door ran swiftly down the
+carpetless stairs, and found herself in the great stone hall which led to
+the school-room.
+
+She was surprised to find the school-room door a little ajar, but she
+entered the room without hesitation, and, dark as it was, soon found her
+desk, and the book of poems lying on the top. Hester was about to return
+when she was startled by a little noise in that portion of the room where
+the first class girls sat. The next moment somebody came heavily and
+rather clumsily down the room, and the moon, which was just beginning to
+rise, fell for an instant on a girl's face. Hester recognized the face of
+Susan Drummond. What could she be doing here? She did not dare to speak,
+for she herself had broken a rule in visiting the school-room. She
+remained, therefore, perfectly still until Susan's steps died away, and
+then, thankful to have secured her own property, returned to her bedroom,
+and a moment or two later was sound asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+"A MUDDY STREAM."
+
+
+In the morning Dora Russell sat down as usual before her orderly and
+neatly-kept desk. She raised the lid to find everything in its place--her
+books and exercises all as they should be, and her pet essay in a neat
+brown paper cover, lying just as she had left it the night before. She
+was really getting quite excited about her river, and as this was a
+half-holiday, she determined to have a good work at it in the afternoon.
+She was beginning also to experience that longing for an auditor which
+occasionally is known to trouble the breasts of genius. She felt that
+those graceful ideas, that elegant language, those measured periods,
+might strike happily on some other ears before they were read aloud as
+the great work of the midsummer holidays.
+
+She knew that Hester Thornton was making what she was pleased to term a
+poor little attempt at trying for the same prize. Hester would scarcely
+venture to copy anything from Dora's essay; she would probably be
+discouraged, poor girl, in working any longer at her own composition; but
+Dora felt that the temptation to read "The River," as far as it had gone,
+to Hester was really too great to be resisted. Accordingly, after dinner
+she graciously invited Hester to accompany her to a bower in the garden,
+where the two friends might revel over the results of Dora's
+extraordinary talents.
+
+Hester was still, to a certain extent, under Dora's influence, and had
+not the courage to tell her that she intended to be very busy over her
+own essay this afternoon.
+
+"Now, Hester, dear," said Dora, when they found themselves both seated in
+the bower, "you are the only girl in the school to whom I could confide
+the subject of my great essay. I really believe that I have hit on
+something absolutely original. My dear child, I hope you won't allow
+yourself to be discouraged. I fear that you won't have much heart to go
+on with your theme after you have read my words; but, never mind, dear,
+it will be good practice for you, and you know it _was_ rather silly to
+go in for a prize which I intended to compete for."
+
+"May I read your essay, please, Dora?" asked Hester. "I am very much
+interested in my own study, and, whether I win the prize or not, I shall
+always remember the pleasure I took in writing it."
+
+"What subject did you select, dear?" inquired Miss Russell.
+
+"Well, I am attempting a little sketch of Marie Antoinette."
+
+"Ah, hackneyed, my dear girl--terribly hackneyed; but, of course, I don't
+mean to discourage you. _Now I_--I draw a life-picture, and I call it
+'The River.' See how it begins--why, I declare I know the words by heart,
+'_As our eyes rest on this clear and limpid stream, as we see the sun
+sparkle_----' My dear Hester, you shall read me my essay aloud. I shall
+like to hear my own words from your lips, and you have really a pretty
+accent, dear."
+
+Hester folded back the brown paper cover, and wanting to have her task
+over began to read hastily. But, as her eyes rested on the first lines,
+she turned to her companion, and said:
+
+"Did you not tell me that your essay was called 'The River'?"
+
+"Yes, dear; the full title is 'The Windings of a Noble River.'"
+
+"That's very odd," replied Hester. "What I see here is 'The Meanderings
+of a Muddy Stream.' '_As our dull orbs rest on this turbid water on which
+the sun cannot possibly shine._' Why, Dora, this cannot be your essay,
+and yet, surely, it is your handwriting."
+
+Dora, with her face suddenly flushing a vivid crimson, snatched the
+manuscript from Hester's hand, and looked over it eagerly. Alas! there
+was no doubt. The title of this essay was "The Meanderings of a Muddy
+Stream," and the words which immediately followed were a smart and
+ridiculous parody on her own high flown sentences. The resemblance to her
+handwriting was perfect. The brown paper cover, neatly sewn on to protect
+the white manuscript, was undoubtedly her cover; the very paper on which
+the words were written seemed in all particulars the same. Dora turned
+the sheets eagerly, and here for the first time she saw a difference.
+Only four or five pages of the nonsense essay had been attempted, and the
+night before, when finishing her toil, she had proudly numbered her tenth
+page. She looked through the whole thing, turning leaf after leaf, while
+her cheeks were crimson, and her hands trembled. In the first moment of
+horrible humiliation and dismay she literally could not speak.
+
+At last, springing to her feet, and confronting the astonished and almost
+frightened Hester, she found her voice.
+
+"Hester, you must help me in this. The most dreadful, the most atrocious
+fraud has been committed. Some one has been base enough, audacious
+enough, wicked enough, to go to my desk privately, and take away my real
+essay--my work over which I have labored and toiled. The expressions of
+my--my--yes, I will say it--my genius, have been ruthlessly burned, or
+otherwise made away with, and _this_ thing has been put in their place.
+Hester, why don't you speak--why do you stare at me like this?"
+
+"I am puzzled by the writing," said Hester; "the writing is yours."
+
+"The writing is mine!--oh, you wicked girl! The writing is an imitation
+of mine--a feeble and poor imitation. I thought, Hester, that by this
+time you knew your friend's handwriting. I thought that one in whom I
+have confided--one whom I have stooped to notice because, I fancied we
+had a community of soul, would not be so ridiculous and so silly as to
+mistake this writing for mine. Look again, please, Hester Thornton, and
+tell me if I am ever so vulgar as to cross my _t's_. You know I _always_
+loop them; and do I make a capital B in this fashion? And do I indulge in
+flourishes? I grant you that the general effect to a casual observer
+would be something the same, but you, Hester--I thought you knew me
+better."
+
+Here Hester, examining the false essay, had to confess that the crossed
+_t's_ and the flourishes were unlike Miss Russell's calligraphy.
+
+"It is a forgery, most cleverly done," said Dora. "There is such a thing,
+Hester, as being wickedly clever. This spiteful, cruel attempt to injure
+another can have but proceeded from one very low order of mind. Hester,
+there has been plenty of favoritism in this school, but do you suppose I
+shall allow such a thing as this to pass over unsearched into? If
+necessary, I shall ask my father to interfere. This is a slight--an
+outrage; but the whole mystery shall at last be cleared up. Miss Good and
+Miss Danesbury shall be informed at once, and the very instant Mrs.
+Willis returns she shall be told what a serpent she has been nursing in
+this false, wicked girl, Annie Forest."
+
+"Stop, Dora," said Hester suddenly. She sprang to her feet, clasping her
+hands, and her color varied rapidly from white to red. A sudden light
+poured in upon her, and she was about to speak when something--quite a
+small, trivial thing--occurred. She only saw little Nan in the distance
+flying swiftly, with outstretched arms, to meet a girl, whose knees she
+clasped in baby ecstasy. The girl stooped down and kissed the little
+face, and the round arms were flung around her neck. The next instant
+Annie Forest continued her walk alone, and Nan, looking wistfully back
+after her, went in another direction with her nurse. The whole scene took
+but a moment to enact, but as she watched, Hester's face grew hard and
+white. She sat down again, with her lips firmly pressed together.
+
+"What is it, Hester?" exclaimed Dora. "What were you going to say? You
+surely know nothing about this?"
+
+"Well, Dora, I am not the guilty person. I was only going to remark that
+you cannot be _sure_ it is Annie Forest."
+
+"Oh, so you are going to take that horrid girl's part now? I wonder at
+you! She all but killed your little sister, and then stole her love away
+from you. Did you see the little thing now, how she flew to her? Why, she
+never kisses you like that."
+
+"I know--I know," said Hester, and she turned away her face with a groan,
+and leaned forward against the rustic bench, pressing her hot forehead
+down on her hands.
+
+"You'll have your triumph, Hester, when Miss Forest is publicly
+expelled," said Dora, tapping her lightly on the shoulder, and then,
+taking up the forged essay, she went slowly out of the garden.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+GOOD AND BAD ANGELS.
+
+
+Hester stayed behind in the shady little arbor, and then, on that soft
+spring day, while the birds sang overhead, and the warm light breezes
+came in and fanned her hot cheeks, good angels and bad drew near to fight
+for a victory. Which would conquer? Hester had many faults, but hitherto
+she had been honorable and truthful; her sins had been those of pride and
+jealousy, but she had never told a falsehood in her life. She knew
+perfectly--she trembled as the full knowledge overpowered her--that she
+had it in her power to exonerate Annie. She could not in the least
+imagine how stupid Susan Drummond could contrive and carry out such a
+clever and deep-laid plot; but she knew also that if she related what she
+had seen with her own eyes the night before, she would probably give such
+a clue to the apparent mystery that the truth would come to light.
+
+If Annie was cleared from this accusation, doubtless the old story of her
+supposed guilt with regard to Mrs. Willis' caricature would also be read
+with its right key. Hester was a clever and sharp girl; and the fact of
+seeing Susan Drummond in the school-room in the dead of night opened her
+eyes also to one or two other apparent little mysteries. While Susan was
+her own room-mate she had often given a passing wonder to the fact of her
+extraordinary desire to overcome her sleepiness, and had laughed over the
+expedients Susan had used to wake at all moments.
+
+These things, at the time, had scarcely given her a moment's serious
+reflection; but now she pondered them carefully, and became more and more
+certain, that, for some inexplicable and unfathomable reason sleepy, and
+apparently innocent, Susan Drummond wished to sow the seeds of mischief
+and discord in the school. Hester was sure that if she chose to speak now
+she could clear poor Annie, and restore her to her lost place in Mrs.
+Willis' favor.
+
+Should she do so? ah! should she? Her lips trembled, her color came and
+went as the angels, good and bad, fought hard for victory within her. How
+she had longed to revenge herself on Annie! How cordially she had hated
+her! Now was the moment of her revenge. She had but to remain silent now,
+and to let matters take their course; she had but to hold her tongue
+about the little incident of last night, and, without any doubt,
+circumstantial evidence would point at Annie Forest, and she would be
+expelled from the school. Mrs. Willis must condemn her now. Mr. Everard
+must pronounce her guilty now. She would go, and when the coast was again
+clear the love which she had taken from Hester--the precious love of
+Hester's only little sister--would return.
+
+"You will be miserable; you will be miserable," whispered the good angels
+sorrowfully in her ear; but she did not listen to them.
+
+"I said I would revenge myself, and this is my opportunity," she
+murmured. "Silence--just simply silence--will be my revenge."
+
+Then the good angels went sorrowfully back to their Father in heaven, and
+the wicked angels rejoiced. Hester had fallen very low.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+FRESH SUSPICIONS.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis was not at home many hours before Dora Russell begged for an
+interview with her. Annie had not as yet heard anything of the changed
+essay; for Dora had resolved to keep the thing a secret until Mrs. Willis
+herself took the matter in hand.
+
+Annie was feeling not a little anxious and depressed. She was sorry now
+that she had led the girls that wild escapade through the wood. Phyllis
+and Nora were both suffering from heavy colds in consequence, and Susan
+Drummond was looking more pasty about her complexion, and was more
+dismally sleepy than usual. Annie was going through her usual season of
+intense remorse after one of her wild pranks. No one repented with more
+apparent fervor than she did, and yet no one so easily succumbed to the
+next temptation. Had Annie been alone in the matter she would have gone
+straight to Mrs. Willis and confessed all; but she could not do this
+without implicating her companions, who would have screamed with horror
+at the very suggestion.
+
+All the girls were more or less depressed by the knowledge that the gypsy
+woman, Mother Rachel, shared their secret; and they often whispered
+together as to the chances of her betraying them. Old Betty they could
+trust; for Betty, the cake-woman, had been an arch-conspirator with the
+naughty girls of Lavender House from time immemorial. Betty had always
+managed to provide their stolen suppers for them, and had been most
+accommodating in the matter of pay. Yes, with Betty they felt they were
+safe; but Mother Rachel was a different person. She might like to be paid
+a few more sixpences for her silence; she might hover about the grounds;
+she might be noticed. At any moment she might boldly demand an interview
+with Mrs. Willis.
+
+"I'm awfully afraid of Mother Rachel," Phyllis moaned, as she shivered
+under the influence of her bad cold.
+
+Nora said "I should faint if I saw her again, I know I should;" while the
+other girls always went out provided with stray sixpences, in case the
+gypsy mother should start up from some unexpected quarter and demand
+blackmail.
+
+On the day of Mrs. Willis' return, Annie was pacing up and down the shady
+walk, and indulging in some rather melancholy and regretful thoughts,
+when Susan Drummond and Mary Morris rushed up to her, white with terror.
+
+"She's down there by the copse, and she's beckoning to us! Oh, do come
+with us--do, darling, dear Annie."
+
+"There's no use in it," replied Annie; "Mother Rachel wants money, and I
+am not going to give her any. Don't be afraid of her, girls, and don't
+give her money. After all, why should she tell on us? she would gain
+nothing by doing so."
+
+"Oh, yes, she would, Annie--she would, Annie," said Mary Morris,
+beginning to sob; "oh, do come with us, do! We must pacify her, we really
+must."
+
+"I can't come now," said Annie; "hark! some one is calling me. Yes, Miss
+Danesbury--what is it?"
+
+"Mrs. Willis wishes to see you at once, Annie, in her private
+sitting-room," replied Miss Danesbury; and Annie, wondering not a little,
+but quite unsuspicious, ran off.
+
+The fact, however, of her having deliberately disobeyed Mrs. Willis, and
+done something which she knew would greatly pain her, brought a shade of
+embarrassment to her usually candid face. She had also to confess to
+herself that she did not feel quite so comfortable about Mother Rachel as
+she had given Mary Morris and Susan Drummond to understand. Her steps
+lagged more and more as she approached the house, and she wished, oh, how
+longingly! oh, how regretfully! that she had not been naughty and wild
+and disobedient in her beloved teacher's absence.
+
+"But where is the use of regretting what is done?" she said, half aloud.
+"I know I can never be good--never, never!"
+
+She pushed aside the heavy velvet curtains which shaded the door of the
+private sitting-room, and went in, to find Mrs. Willis seated by her
+desk, very pale and tired and unhappy looking, while Dora Russell, with
+crimson spots on her cheeks and a very angry glitter in her eyes, stood
+by the mantel-piece.
+
+"Come here, Annie dear," said Mrs. Willis in her usual gentle and
+affectionate tone.
+
+Annie's first wild impulse was to rush to her governess' side, to fling
+her arms round her neck, and, as a child would confess to her mother, to
+tell her all that story of the walk through the wood, and the stolen
+picnic in the fairies' field. Three things, however, restrained her--she
+must not relieve her own troubles at the expense of betraying others; she
+could not, even if she were willing, say a word in the presence of this
+cold and angry-looking Dora; in the third place, Mrs. Willis looked very
+tired and very sad. Not for worlds would she add to her troubles at this
+instant. She came into the room, however, with a slight hesitation of
+manner and a clouded brow, which caused Mrs. Willis to watch her with
+anxiety and Dora with triumph.
+
+"Come here, Annie," repeated the governess. "I want to speak to you.
+Something very dishonorable and disgraceful has been done in my absence."
+
+Annie's face suddenly became as white as a sheet. Could the gypsy mother
+have already betrayed them all?
+
+Mrs. Willis, noticing her too evident confusion, continued in a voice
+which, in spite of herself, became stern and severe.
+
+"I shall expect the truth at any cost, my dear. Look at this
+manuscript-book. Do you know anything of the handwriting?"
+
+"Why, it is yours, of course, Dora," said Annie, who was now absolutely
+bewildered.
+
+"It is _not_ mine," began Dora, but Mrs. Willis held up her hand.
+
+"Allow me to speak, Miss Russell. I can best explain matters. Annie,
+during my absence some one has been guilty of a very base and wicked act.
+One of the girls in this school has gone secretly to Dora Russell's desk
+and taken away ten pages of an essay which she had called 'The River,'
+and which she was preparing for the prize competition next month. Instead
+of Dora's essay this that you now see was put in its place. Examine it,
+my dear. Can you tell me anything about it?"
+
+Annie took the manuscript-book and turned the leaves.
+
+"Is it meant for a parody?" she asked, after a pause; "it sounds
+ridiculous. No, Mrs. Willis, I know nothing whatever about it; some one
+has imitated Dora's handwriting. I cannot imagine who is the culprit."
+
+She threw the manuscript-book with a certain easy carelessness on the
+table by her side, and glanced up with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes at
+Dora.
+
+"I suppose it is meant for a clever parody," she repeated; "at least it
+is amusing."
+
+Her manner displeased Mrs. Willis, and very nearly maddened poor Dora.
+
+"We have not sent for you, Annie," said her teacher, "to ask you your
+opinion of the parody, but to try and get you to throw light on the
+subject. We must find out, and at once, who has been so wicked as to
+deliberately injure another girl."
+
+"But why have you sent for _me_?" asked Annie, drawing herself up, and
+speaking with a little shade of haughtiness.
+
+"Because," said Dora Russell, who could no longer contain her outraged
+feelings, "because you alone can throw light on it--because you alone in
+the school are base enough to do anything so mean--because you alone can
+caricature."
+
+"Oh, that is it," said Annie; "you suspect me, then. Do _you_ suspect me,
+Mrs. Willis?"
+
+"My dear--what can I say?"
+
+"Nothing, if you do. In this school my word has long gone for nothing. I
+am a naughty, headstrong, willful girl, but in this matter I am perfectly
+innocent. I never saw that essay before: I never in all my life went to
+Dora Russell's desk. I am headstrong and wild, but I don't do spiteful
+things. I have no object in injuring Dora; she is nothing to me--nothing.
+She is trying for the essay prize, but she has no chance of winning it.
+Why should I trouble myself to injure her? Why should I even take the
+pains to parody her words and copy her handwriting? Mrs. Willis, you need
+not believe me--I see you do not believe me--but I am quite innocent."
+
+Here Annie burst into sudden tears, and ran out of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+UNTRUSTWORTHY.
+
+
+Dora Russell had declared, in Hester's presence, and with intense energy
+in her manner, that the author of the insult to which she had been
+exposed should be publicly punished and, if possible, expelled. On the
+evening of her interview with the head teacher, she had so far forgotten
+herself as to reiterate this desire with extreme vehemence. She had
+boldly declared her firm conviction of Annie's guilt, and had broadly
+hinted at Mrs. Willis' favoritism toward her. The great dignity, however,
+of her teacher's manner, and the half-sorrowful, half-indignant look she
+bestowed on the excited girl, calmed her down after a time. Mrs. Willis
+felt full sympathy for Dora, and could well understand how trying and
+aggravating this practical joke must be to so proud a girl; but although
+her faith was undoubtedly shaken in Annie, she would not allow this
+sentiment to appear.
+
+"I will do all I can for you, Dora," she said, when the weeping Annie had
+left the room; "I will do everything in my power to find out who has
+injured you. Annie has absolutely denied the accusation you bring against
+her, and unless her guilt can be proved it is but right to believe her
+innocent. There are many other girls in Lavender House, and to-morrow
+morning I will sift this unpleasant affair to the very bottom. Go, now,
+my dear, and if you have sufficient self-command and self-control, try to
+have courage to write your essay over again. I have no doubt that your
+second rendering of your subject will be more attractive than the first.
+Beginners cannot too often re-write their themes."
+
+Dora gave her head a proud little toss, but she was sufficiently in awe
+of Mrs. Willis to keep back any retort, and she went out of the room
+feeling unsatisfied and wretched, and inclined for a sympathizing chat
+with her little friend Hester Thornton.
+
+Hester, however when she reached her, seemed not at all disposed to talk
+to any one.
+
+"I've had it all out with Mrs. Willis, and there is no doubt she will be
+exposed to-morrow morning," said Dora half aloud.
+
+Hester, whose head was bent over her French history, looked up with an
+annoyed expression.
+
+"Who will be exposed?" she asked, in a petulant voice.
+
+"Oh, how stupid you are growing, Hester Thornton!" exclaimed Dora; "why,
+that horrid Annie Forest, of course--but really I have no patience to
+talk to you; you have lost all your spirit. I was very foolish to demean
+myself by taking so much notice of one of the little girls."
+
+Dora sailed down the play-room to her own drawing-room, fully expecting
+Hester to rise and rush after her; but to her surprise Hester did not
+stir, but sat with her head bent over her book, and her cheeks slightly
+flushed.
+
+The next morning Mrs. Willis kept her word to Dora, and made the very
+strictest inquiries with regard to the practical joke to which Dora had
+been subjected. She first of all fully explained what had taken place in
+the presence of the whole school, and then each girl was called up in
+rotation, and asked two questions: first, had she done this mischievous
+thing herself? second, could she throw any light on the subject.
+
+One by one each girl appeared before her teacher, replied in the negative
+to both queries, and returned to her seat.
+
+"Now, girls," said Mrs. Willis, "you have each of you denied this charge.
+Such a thing as has happened to Dora could not have been done without
+hands. The teachers in the school are above suspicion; the servants are
+none of them clever enough to perform this base trick. I suspect one of
+you, and I am quite determined to get at the truth. During the whole of
+this half-year there has been a spirit of unhappiness, of mischief, and
+of suspicion in our midst. Under these circumstances love cannot thrive;
+under these circumstances the true and ennobling sense of brotherly
+kindness, and all those feelings which real religion prompt must
+languish. I tell you all now plainly that I will not have this thing in
+Lavender House. It is simply disgraceful for one girl to play such tricks
+on her fellows. This is not the first time nor the second time that the
+school desks have been tampered with. I will find out--I am determined to
+find out, who this dishonest person is; and as she has not chosen to
+confess to me, as she has preferred falsehood to truth, I will visit her,
+when I do discover her, with my very gravest displeasure. In this school
+I have always endeavored to inculcate the true principles of honor and of
+trust. I have laid down certain broad rules, and expect them to be
+obeyed; but I have never hampered you with petty and humiliating
+restraints. I have given you a certain freedom, which I believed to be
+for your best good, and I have never suspected one of you until you have
+given me due cause.
+
+"Now, however, I tell you plainly that I alter all my tactics. One girl
+sitting in this room is guilty. For her sake I shall treat you all as
+guilty, and punish you accordingly. For the remainder of this term, or
+until the hour when the guilty girl chooses to release her companions,
+you are all, with the exception of the little children and Miss Russell,
+who can scarcely have played this trick on herself, under punishment. I
+withdraw your half-holidays, I take from you the use of the south parlor
+for your acting, and every drawing-room in the play-room is confiscated.
+But this is not all that I do. In taking from you my trust, I must treat
+you as untrustworthy--you will no longer enjoy the liberty you used to
+delight in--everywhere you will be watched. A teacher will sit in your
+play-room with you, a teacher will accompany you into the grounds, and I
+tell you plainly, girls, that chance words and phrases which drop from
+your lips shall be taken up, and used, if necessary, to the elucidation
+of this disgraceful mystery."
+
+Here Mrs. Willis left the room, and the teachers desired the several
+girls in their classes to attend to their morning studies.
+
+Nothing could exceed the dismay which her words had produced. The
+innocent girls were fairly stunned, and from that hour for many a day all
+sunshine and happiness seemed really to have left Lavender House.
+
+The two, however, who felt the change most acutely, and on whose altered
+faces their companions began to fix suspicious eyes, were Annie Forest
+and Hester Thornton. Hester was burdened with an intolerable sense of the
+shameful falsehood she had told; Annie, guilty in another matter,
+succumbed at last utterly to a sense of misery and injustice. Her
+orphaned and lonely position for the first time began to tell on her; she
+ate little and slept little, her face grew very pale and thin, and her
+health really suffered.
+
+All the routine of happy life at Lavender House was changed. In the large
+play-room the drawing-rooms were unused; there were no pleasant little
+knots of girls whispering happily and confidentially together, for
+whenever two or three girls sat down to have a chat they found that one
+or another of the teachers was within hearing. The acting for the coming
+play progressed so languidly that no one expected it would really take
+place, and the one relief and relaxation to the unhappy girls lay in the
+fact that the holidays were not far off, and that in the meantime they
+might work hard for the prizes.
+
+The days passed in a truly melancholy fashion, and, perhaps, for the
+first time the girls fully appreciated the old privileges of freedom and
+trust which were now forfeited. There was a feeble little attempt at a
+joke and a laugh in the school at Dora's expense. The most frivolous of
+the girls whispered of her as she passed as "the muddy stream;" but no
+one took up the fun with avidity--the shadow of somebody's sin had fallen
+too heavily upon all the bright young lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+BETTY FALLS ILL AT AN AWKWARD TIME.
+
+
+The eight girls who had gone out on their midnight picnic were much
+startled one day by an unpleasant discovery. Betty had never come for her
+basket. Susan Drummond, who had a good deal of curiosity, and always
+poked her nose into unexpected corners, had been walking with a Miss
+Allison in that part of the grounds where the laurel-bush stood. She had
+caught a peep of the white handle of the basket, and had instantly turned
+her companion's attention to something else. Miss Allison had not
+observed Susan's start of dismay; but Susan had taken the first
+opportunity of getting rid of her, and had run off in search of one of
+the girls who had shared in the picnic. She came across Annie Forest, who
+was walking, as usual, by herself, with her head slightly bent, and her
+curling hair in sad confusion. Susan whispered the direful intelligence
+that old Betty had forsaken them, and that the basket, with its
+ginger-beer bottles and its stained table-cloth, might be discovered at
+any moment.
+
+Annie's pale face flushed slightly at Susan's words.
+
+"Why should we try to conceal the thing?" she said, speaking with sudden
+energy, and a look of hope and animation coming back to her face. "Susy,
+let's go, all of us, and tell the miserable truth to Mrs. Willis; it will
+be much the best way. We did not do the other thing, and when we have
+confessed about this, our hearts will be at rest."
+
+"No, we did not do the other thing," said Susan, a queer, gray color
+coming over her face; "but confess about this, Annie Forest!--I think you
+are mad. You dare not tell."
+
+"All right," said Annie, "I won't, unless you all agree to it," and then
+she continued her walk, leaving Susan standing on the graveled path with
+her hands clasped together, and a look of most genuine alarm and dismay
+on her usually phlegmatic face.
+
+Susan quickly found Phyllis and Nora, and it was only too easy to arouse
+the fears of these timid little people. Their poor little faces became
+almost pallid, and they were not a little startled at the fact of Annie
+Forest, their own arch-conspirator, wishing to betray their secret.
+
+"Oh," said Susan Drummond, "she's not out and out shabby; she says she
+won't tell unless we all wish it. But what is to become of the basket?"
+
+"Come, come, young ladies; no whispering, if you please," said Miss Good,
+who came up at this moment. "Susan, you are looking pale and cold, walk
+up and down that path half-a-dozen times, and then go into the house.
+Phyllis and Nora, you can come with me as far as the lodge. I want to
+take a message from Mrs. Willis to Mary Martin about the fowl for
+to-morrow's dinner."
+
+Phyllis and Nora, with dismayed faces, walked solemnly away with the
+English teacher, and Susan was left to her solitary meditations.
+
+Things had come to such a pass that her slow wits were brought into play,
+and she neither felt sleepy, nor did she indulge in her usual habit of
+eating lollipops.
+
+That basket might be discovered any day, and then--then disgrace was
+imminent. Susan could not make out what had become of old Betty; never
+before had she so utterly failed them.
+
+Betty lived in a little cottage about half a mile from Lavender House.
+She was a sturdy, apple-cheeked, little old woman, and had for many a day
+added to her income--indeed, almost supported herself--by means of the
+girls at Lavender House. The large cherry-trees in her little garden bore
+their rich crop of fruit year after year for Mrs. Willis' girls, and
+every day at an early hour Betty would tramp into Sefton and return with
+a temptingly-laden basket of the most approved cakes and tarts. There was
+a certain paling at one end of the grounds to which Betty used to come.
+Here on the grass she would sit contentedly, with the contents of her
+baskets arranged in the most tempting order before her, and to this
+seductive spot she knew well that those little misses who loved goodies,
+cakes and tartlets would be sure to find their way. Betty charged high
+for her wares; but, as she was always obliging in the matter of credit,
+the thoughtless girls cared very little that they paid double the shop
+prices for Betty's cakes. The best girls in the school, certainly, never
+went to Betty; but Annie Forest, Susan Drummond, and several others had
+regular accounts with her, and few days passed that their young faces
+would not peep over the paling and their voices ask:
+
+"What have you got to tempt me with to-day, Betty?"
+
+It was, however, in the matter of stolen picnics, of grand feasts in the
+old attic, etc., etc., that Betty was truly great. No one so clever as
+she in concealing a basket of delicious eatables, no one knew better what
+schoolgirls liked. She undoubtedly charged her own prices, but what she
+gave was of the best, and Betty was truly in her element when she had an
+order from the young ladies of Lavender House for a grand secret feast.
+
+"You shall have it, my pretties--you shall have it," she would say,
+wrinkling up her bright blue eyes, and smiling broadly. "You leave it to
+Betty, my little loves; you leave it to Betty."
+
+On the occasion of the picnic to the fairies' field Betty had, indeed,
+surpassed herself in the delicious eatables she had provided; all had
+gone smoothly, the basket had been placed in a secure hiding-place under
+the thick laurel. It was to be fetched away by Betty herself at an early
+hour on the following morning.
+
+No wonder Susan was perplexed as she paced about and pretended to warm
+herself. It was a June evening, but the weather was still a little cold.
+Susan remembered now that Betty had not come to her favorite station at
+the stile for several days. Was it possible that the old woman was ill?
+As this idea occurred to her, Susan became more alarmed. She knew that
+there was very little chance of the basket remaining long in concealment.
+Rover might any day remember his pleasant picnic with affection, and drag
+the white basket from under the laurel-bush. Michael the gardener would
+be certain to see it when next he cleaned up the back avenue. Oh, it was
+more than dangerous to leave it there, and yet Susan knew of no better
+hiding-place. A sudden idea came to her; she pulled out her pretty little
+watch, and saw that she need not return to the house for another
+half-hour. "Suppose she ran as fast as possible to Betty's little cottage
+and begged of the old woman to come by the first light in the morning and
+fetch away the basket?"
+
+The moment Susan conceived this idea she resolved to put it into
+execution. She looked around her hastily: no teacher was in sight, Miss
+Good was away at the lodge, Miss Danesbury was playing with the little
+children. Mademoiselle, she knew, had gone indoors with a bad headache.
+She left the broad walk where she had been desired to stay, and plunging
+into the shrubbery, soon reached Betty's paling. In a moment she had
+climbed the bars, had jumped lightly into the field, and was running as
+fast as possible in the direction of Betty's cottage. She reached the
+high road, and started and trembled violently as a carriage with some
+ladies and gentlemen passed her. She thought she recognized the faces of
+the two little Misses Bruce, but did not dare to look at them, and
+hurried panting along the road, and hoping she might be mistaken.
+
+In less than a quarter of an hour she had reached Betty's little cottage,
+and was standing trying to recover her breath by the shut door. The place
+had a deserted look, and several overripe cherries had fallen from the
+trees and were lying neglected on the ground. Susan knocked impatiently.
+There was no discernible answer. She had no time to wait, she lifted the
+latch, which yielded to her pressure, and went in.
+
+Poor old Betty, crippled, and in severe pain with rheumatism, was lying
+on her little bed.
+
+"Eh, dear--and is that you, my pretty missy?" she asked, as Susan, hot
+and tired, came up to her side.
+
+"Oh, Betty, are you ill?" asked Miss Drummond "I came to tell you you
+have forgotten the basket."
+
+"No, my dear, no--not forgot. By no means that, lovey; but I has been
+took with the rheumatism this past week, and can't move hand or foot. I
+was wondering how you'd do without your cakes and tartlets, dear, and to
+think of them cherries lying there good for nothing on the ground is
+enough to break one's 'eart."
+
+"So it is," said Susan, giving an appreciative glance toward the open
+door. "They are beautiful cherries, and full of juice, I am sure. I'll
+take a few, Betty, as I am going out, and pay you for them another day.
+But what I have come about now is the basket. You must get the basket
+away, however ill you are. If the basket is discovered we are all lost,
+and then good-by to your gains."
+
+"Well, missy, dear, if I could crawl on my hands and knees I'd go and
+fetch it, rather than you should be worried; but I can't set foot to the
+ground at all. The doctor says as 'tis somethink like rheumatic fever as
+I has."
+
+"Oh, dear, oh, dear," said Susan, not wasting any of her precious moments
+in pitying the poor suffering old woman. "What _is_ to be done? I tell
+you, Betty, if that basket is found we are all lost."
+
+"But the laurel is very thick, lovey: it ain't likely to be found--it
+ain't, indeed."
+
+"I tell you it _is_ likely to be found, you tiresome old woman, and you
+really must go for it or send for it. You really must."
+
+Old Betty began to ponder.
+
+"There's Moses," she said, after a pause of anxious thought; "he's a
+'cute little chap, and he might go. He lives in the fourth cottage along
+the lane. Moses is his name--Moses Moore. I'd give him a pint of cherries
+for the job. If you wouldn't mind sending Moses to me, Miss Susan, why,
+I'll do my best; only it seems a pity to let anybody into your secrets,
+young ladies, but old Betty herself."
+
+"It is a pity," said Susan, "but, under the circumstances, it can't be
+helped. What cottage did you say this Moses lived in?"
+
+"The fourth from here, down the lane, lovey--Moses is the lad's name;
+he's a freckled boy, with a cast in one eye. You send him up to me,
+dearie; but don't mention the cherries, or he'll be after stealing them.
+He's a sad rogue, is Moses; but I think I can tempt him with the
+cherries."
+
+Susan did not wait to bid poor old Betty "good-bye," but ran out of the
+cottage, shutting the door after her, and snatching up two or three ripe
+cherries to eat on her way. She was so far fortunate as to find the
+redoubtable Moses at home, and to convey him bodily to old Betty's
+presence. The queer boy grinned horribly, and looked as wicked as boy
+could look; but on the subject of cherries he was undoubtedly
+susceptible, and after a good deal of haggling and insisting that the
+pint should be a quart, he expressed his willingness to start off at four
+o'clock on the following morning, and bring away the basket from under
+the laurel-tree.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"YOU ARE WELCOME TO TELL."
+
+
+Annie continued her walk. The circumstances of the last two months had
+combined to do for her what nothing had hitherto effected. When a little
+child she had known hardship and privation, she had passed through that
+experience which is metaphorically spoken of as "going down hill." As a
+baby little Annie had been surrounded by comforts and luxuries, and her
+father and mother had lived in a large house, and kept a carriage, and
+Annie had two nurses to wait on herself alone. These were in the days
+before she could remember anything. With her first early memories came
+the recollection of a much smaller house, of much fewer servants, of her
+mother often in tears, and her father often away. Then there was no house
+at all that the Forests could call their own, only rooms of a tolerably
+cheerful character--and Annie's nurse went away, and she took her daily
+walks by her mother's side and slept in a little cot in her mother's
+room. Then came a very, very sad day, when her mother lay cold and still
+and fainting on her bed, and her tall and handsome father caught Annie in
+his arms and pressed her to his heart, and told her to be a good child
+and to keep up her spirits, and, above all things, to take care of
+mother. Then her father had gone away; and though Annie expected him
+back, he did not come, and she and her mother went into poorer and
+shabbier lodgings, and her mother began to try her tear-dimmed eyes by
+working at church embroidery, and Annie used to notice that she coughed a
+good deal as she worked. Then there was another move, and this time Mrs.
+Forest and her little daughter found themselves in one bedroom, and
+things began to grow very gloomy, and food even was scarce. At last there
+was a change. One day a lady came into the dingy little room, and all on
+a sudden it seemed as if the sun had come out again. This lady brought
+comforts with her--toys and books for the child, good, brave words of
+cheer for the mother. At last Annie's mother died, and she went away to
+Lavender House to live with this good friend who had made her mother's
+dying hours easy.
+
+"Annie, Annie," said the dying mother, "I owe everything to Mrs. Willis;
+we knew each other long ago when we were girls, and she has come to me
+now and made everything easy. When I am gone she will take care of you.
+Oh, my child, I cannot repay her; but will you try?"
+
+"Yes, mother," said little Annie, gazing full into her mother's face with
+her sweet bright eyes, "I'll--I'll love her, mother; I'll give her lots
+and lots of love."
+
+Annie had gone to Lavender House, and kept her word, for she had almost
+worshiped the good mistress who was so true and kind to her, and who had
+so befriended her mother. Through all the vicissitudes of her short
+existence Annie had, however, never lost one precious gift. Hers was an
+affectionate, but also a wonderfully bright, nature. It was as impossible
+for Annie to turn away from laughter and merriment as it would be for a
+flower to keep its head determinately turned from the sun. In their
+darkest days Annie had managed to make her mother laugh; her little face
+was a sunbeam, her very naughtinesses were of a laughable character.
+
+Her mother died--her father was still away, but Annie retained her brave
+and cheerful spirit, for she gave and received love. Mrs. Willis loved
+her--she bestowed upon her among all her girls the tenderest glances, the
+most motherly caresses. The teachers undoubtedly corrected and even
+scolded her, but they could not help liking her, and even her worst
+scrapes made them smile. Annie's companions adored her; the little
+children would do anything for their own Annie, and even the servants in
+the school said that there was no young lady in Lavender House fit to
+hold a candle to Miss Forest.
+
+During the last half-year, however, things had been different. Suspicion
+and mistrust began to dog the footsteps of the bright young girl; she was
+no longer a universal favorite--some of the girls even openly expressed
+their dislike of her.
+
+All this Annie could have borne, but for the fact that Mrs. Willis joined
+in the universal suspicion. The old glance now never came to her eyes,
+nor the old tone to her voice. For the first time Annie's spirits utterly
+flagged; she could not bear this universal coldness, this universal
+chill. She began to droop physically as well as mentally.
+
+She was pacing up and down the walk, thinking very sadly, wondering
+vaguely, if her father would ever return, and conscious of a feeling of
+more or less indifference to everything and every one, when she was
+suddenly roused from her meditation by the patter of small feet and by a
+very eager little exclamation:
+
+"Me tumming--me tumming, Annie!" and then Nan raised her charming face
+and placed her cool baby hand in Annie's.
+
+There was delicious comfort in the clasp of the little hand, and in the
+look of love and pleasure which lit up the small face.
+
+"Me yiding from naughty nurse--me 'tay with you, Annie--me love 'oo,
+Annie."
+
+Annie stooped down, kissed the little one, and lifted her into her arms.
+
+"Why ky?" said Nan, who saw with consternation two big tears in Annie's
+eyes; "dere, poor ickle Annie--me love 'oo--me buy 'oo a new doll."
+
+"Dearest little darling," said Annie in a voice of almost passionate
+pain; then, with that wonderful instinct which made her in touch with all
+little children, she cheered up, wiped away her tears, and allowed
+laughter once more to wreathe her lips and fill her eyes. "Come, Nan,"
+she said, "you and I will have such a race."
+
+She placed the child on her shoulder, clasped the little hands securely
+round her neck, and ran to the sound of Nan's shouts down the shady walk.
+
+At the farther end Nan suddenly tightened her clasp, drew herself up,
+ceased to laugh, and said with some fright in her voice:
+
+"Who dat?"
+
+Annie, too, stood still with a sudden start, for the gypsy woman, Mother
+Rachel, was standing directly in their path.
+
+"Go 'way, naughty woman," said Nan, shaking her small hand imperiously.
+
+The gypsy dropped a low courtesy, and spoke in a slightly mocking tone.
+
+"A pretty little dear," she said. "Yes, truly now, a pretty little
+winsome dear; and oh, what shoes! and little open-work socks! and I don't
+doubt real lace trimming on all her little garments--I don't doubt it a
+bit."
+
+"Go 'way--me don't like 'oo," said Nan. "Let's wun back--gee, gee," she
+said, addressing Annie, whom she had constituted into a horse for the
+time being.
+
+"Yes, Nan; in one minute," said Annie. "Please, Mother Rachel, what are
+you doing here?"
+
+"Only waiting to see you, pretty missie," replied the tall gypsy. "You
+are the dear little lady who crossed my hand with silver that night in
+the wood. Eh, but it was a bonny night, with a bonny bright moon, and
+none of the dear little ladies meant any harm--no, no, Mother Rachel
+knows that."
+
+"Look here," said Annie, "I'm not going to be afraid of you. I have no
+more silver to give you. If you like, you may go up to the house and tell
+what you have seen. I am very unhappy, and whether you tell or not can
+make very little difference to me now. Good-night; I am not the least
+afraid of you--you can do just as you please about telling Mrs. Willis."
+
+"Eh, my dear?" said the gypsy; "do you think I'd work you any harm--you,
+and the seven other dear little ladies? No, not for the world, my
+dear--not for the world. You don't know Mother Rachel when you think
+she'd be that mean."
+
+"Well, don't come here again," said Annie. "Good-night."
+
+She turned on her heel, and Nan shouted back:
+
+"Go way, naughty woman--Nan don't love 'oo, 'tall, 'tall."
+
+The gypsy stood still for a moment with a frown knitting her brows; then
+she slowly turned, and, creeping on all-fours through the underwood,
+climbed the hedge into the field beyond.
+
+"Oh, no," she laughed, after a moment; "the little missy thinks she ain't
+afraid of me; but she be. Trust Mother Rachel for knowing that much. I
+make no doubt," she added after a pause, "that the little one's clothes
+are trimmed with real lace. Well, little Missie Annie Forest, I can see
+with half an eye that you set store by that baby-girl. You had better not
+cross Mother Rachel's whims, or she can punish you in a way you don't
+think of."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+HOW MOSES MOORE KEPT HIS APPOINTMENT.
+
+
+Susan Drummond got back to Lavender House without apparent discovery. She
+was certainly late when she took her place in the class-room for her next
+day's preparation; but, beyond a very sharp reprimand from mademoiselle,
+no notice was taken of this fact. She managed to whisper to Nora and
+Phyllis that the basket would be moved by the first dawn the next
+morning, and the little girls went to bed happier in consequence. Nothing
+ever could disturb Susan's slumbers, and that night she certainly slept
+without rocking. As she was getting into bed she ventured to tell Annie
+how successfully she had manoeuvered; but Annie received her news with
+the most absolute indifference, looking at her for a moment with a queer
+smile, and then saying:
+
+"My own wish is that this should be found out. As a matter of course, I
+sha'n't betray you, girls; but as things now stand I am anxious that Mrs.
+Willis should know the very worst of me."
+
+After a remark which Susan considered so simply idiotic, there was, of
+course, no further conversation between the two girls.
+
+Moses Moore had certainly promised Betty to rise soon after dawn on the
+following morning, and go to Lavender House to carry off the basket from
+under the laurel-tree. Moses, a remarkably indolent lad, had been
+stimulated by the thought of the delicious cherries which would be his as
+soon as he brought the basket to Betty. He had cleverly stipulated that a
+quart--not a pint--of cherries was to be his reward, and he looked
+forward with considerable pleasure to picking them himself, and putting a
+few extra ones into his mouth on the sly.
+
+Moses was not at all the kind of a boy who would have scrupled to steal a
+few cherries; but in this particular old Betty, ill as she was, was too
+sharp for him or for any of the other village lads. Her bed was drawn up
+close to her little window, and her window looked directly on to the two
+cherry trees. Never, to all appearance, did Betty close her eyes. However
+early the hour might be in which a village boy peeped over the wall of
+her garden, he always saw her white night-cap moving, and he knew that
+her bright blue eyes would be on him, and he would be proclaimed a thief
+all over the place before many minutes were over.
+
+Moses, therefore, was very glad to secure his cherries by fair means, as
+he could not obtain them by foul; and he went to bed and to sleep,
+determined to be off on his errand with the dawn.
+
+A very natural thing, however, happened. Moses, unaccustomed to getting
+up at half-past three in the morning, never opened his eyes until the
+church clock struck five. Then he started upright, rubbed and rubbed at
+his sleepy orbs, tumbled into his clothes, and, softly opening the
+cottage door, set off on his errand.
+
+The fact of his being nearly an hour and a half late did not trouble him
+in the least. In any case, he would get to Lavender House before six
+o'clock, and would have consumed his cherries in less than an hour from
+that date.
+
+Moses sauntered gaily along the roads, whistling as he went, and
+occasionally tossing his battered cap in the air. He often lingered on
+his way, now to cut down a particularly tempting switch from the hedge,
+now to hunt for a possible bird's nest. It was very nearly six o'clock
+when he reached the back avenue, swung himself over the gate, which was
+locked, and ran softly on the dewy grass in the direction of the laurel
+bush. Old Betty had given him most careful instructions, and he was far
+too sharp a lad to forget what was necessary for the obtaining of a quart
+of cherries. He found his tree, and lay flat down on the ground in order
+to pull out the basket. His fingers had just clasped the handle when
+there came a sudden interruption--a rush, a growl, and some very sharp
+teeth had inserted themselves into the back of his ragged jacket. Poor
+Moses found himself, to his horror, in the clutches of a great mastiff.
+The creature held him tight, and laid one heavy paw on him to prevent him
+rising.
+
+Under these circumstances, Moses thought it quite unnecessary to retain
+any self-control. He shrieked, he screamed, he wriggled; his piercing
+yells filled the air, and, fortunately for him, his being two hours too
+late brought assistance to his aid. Michael, the gardener, and a strong
+boy who helped him, rushed to the spot, and liberated the terrified lad,
+who, after all, was only frightened, for Rover had satisfied himself with
+tearing his jacket to pieces, not himself.
+
+"Give me the b-basket," sobbed Moses, "and let me g-g-go."
+
+"You may certainly go, you little tramp," said Michael, "but Jim and me
+will keep the basket. I much misdoubt me if there isn't mischief here.
+What's the basket put hiding here for, and who does it belong to?"
+
+"Old B-B-Betty," gasped forth the agitated Moses.
+
+"Well, let old Betty fetch it herself. Mrs. Willis will keep it for her,"
+said Michael. "Come along, Jim, get to your weeding, do. There, little
+scamp, you had better make yourself scarce."
+
+Moses certainly took his advice, for he scuttled off like a hare. Whether
+he ever got his cherries or not, history does not disclose.
+
+Michael, looking gravely at Jim, opened the basket, examined its
+contents, and, shaking his head solemnly, carried it into the house.
+
+"There's been deep work going on, Jim, and my missis ought to know," said
+Michael, who was an exceedingly strict disciplinarian. Jim, however, had
+a soft corner in his heart for the young ladies, and he commenced his
+weeding with a profound sigh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+A BROKEN TRUST.
+
+
+The next morning Annie Forest opened her eyes with that strange feeling
+of indifference and want of vivacity which come so seldom to youth. She
+saw the sun shining through the closed blinds; she heard the birds
+twittering and singing in the large elm-tree which nearly touched the
+windows; she knew well how the world looked at this moment, for often and
+often in her old light-hearted days she had risen before the maid came to
+call her, and, kneeling by the deep window-ledge, had looked out at the
+bright, fresh, sparkling day. A new day, with all its hours before it,
+its light vivid but not too glaring, its dress all manner of tender
+shades and harmonious colorings! Annie had a poetical nature, and she
+gloried in these glimpses which she got all by herself of the fresh, glad
+world.
+
+To-day, however, she lay still, sorry to know that the brief night was at
+an end, and that the day, with its coldness and suspicion, its terrible
+absence of love and harmony, was about to begin.
+
+Annie's nature was very emotional; she was intensely sensitive to her
+surroundings; the grayness of her present life was absolute destruction
+to such a nature as hers.
+
+The dressing-bell rang; the maid came in to draw up the blinds, and call
+the girls. Annie rose languidly and began to dress herself.
+
+She first finished her toilet, and then approached her little bed, and
+stood by its side for a moment hesitating. She did not want to pray, and
+yet she felt impelled to go down on her knees. As she knelt with her
+curls falling about her face, and her hands pressed to her eyes, one line
+of one of her favorite poems came flashing with swiftness and power
+across her memory:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+The words filled her whole heart with a sudden sense of peace and of
+great longing.
+
+The prayer-bell rang: she rose, and, turning to Susan Drummond, said
+earnestly:
+
+"Oh, Susy, I do wish Mrs. Willis could know about our going to the
+fairy-field; I do so want God to forgive me."
+
+Susan stared in her usual dull, uncomprehending way; then she flushed a
+little, and said brusquely:
+
+"I think you have quite taken leave of your senses, Annie Forest."
+
+Annie said no more, but at prayers in the chapel she was glad to find
+herself near gentle Cecil Temple, and the words kept repeating themselves
+to her all during the morning lessons:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+Just before morning school several of the girls started and looked
+distressed when they found that Mrs. Willis lingered in the room. She
+stood for a moment by the English teacher's desk, said something to her
+in a low voice, and then, walking slowly to her own post at the head of
+the great school-room, she said suddenly:
+
+"I want to ask you a question, Miss Drummond. Will you please just stand
+up in your place in class and answer me without a moment's hesitation."
+
+Phyllis and Nora found themselves turning very pale; Mary Price and one
+or two more of the rebels also began to tremble, but Susan looked dogged
+and indifferent enough as she turned her eyes toward her teacher.
+
+"Yes, madam," she said, rising and dropping a courtesy.
+
+"My friends, the Misses Bruce, came to call on me yesterday evening,
+Susan, and told me that they saw you running very quickly on the high
+road in the direction of the village. You, of course, know that you broke
+a very distinct rule when you left the grounds without leave. Tell me at
+once where you were going."
+
+Susan hesitated, colored to her dullest red, and looked down. Then,
+because she had no ready excuse to offer, she blurted out the truth:
+
+"I was going to see old Betty."
+
+"The cake-woman?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"I--I heard she was ill."
+
+"Indeed--you may sit down, Miss Drummond. Miss Good, will you ask Michael
+to step for a moment into the school-room?"
+
+Several of the girls now indeed held their breath, and more than one
+heart beat with heavy, frightened bumps as a moment later Michael
+followed Miss Good into the room, carrying the redoubtable picnic-basket
+on his arm.
+
+"Michael," said Mrs. Willis, "I wish you to tell the young ladies exactly
+how you found the basket this morning. Stand by my side, please, and
+speak loud enough for them to hear."
+
+After a moment's pause Michael related somewhat diffusely and with an
+occasional break in his narrative the scene which had occurred between
+him and Moses that morning.
+
+"That will do, Michael; you can now go," said the head mistress.
+
+She waited until the old servant had closed the door, and then she turned
+to her girls:
+
+"It is not quite a fortnight since I stood where I now stand, and asked
+one girl to be honorable and to save her companions. One girl was guilty
+of sin and would not confess, and for her sake all her companions are now
+suffering. I am tired of this sort of thing--I am tired of standing in
+this place and appealing to your honor, which is dead, to your truth
+which is nowhere. Girls, you puzzle me--you half break my heart. In this
+case more than one is guilty. How many of the girls in Lavender House are
+going to tell me a lie this morning?"
+
+There was a brief pause; then a slight cry, and a girl rose from her seat
+and walked up the long school-room.
+
+"I am the most guilty of all," said Annie Forest.
+
+"Annie!" said Mrs. Willis, in a tone half of pain, half of relief, "have
+you come to your senses at last?"
+
+"Oh, I'm so glad to be able to speak the truth," said Annie. "Please
+punish me very, very hard; I am the most guilty of all."
+
+"What did you do with this basket?"
+
+"We took it for a picnic--it was my plan, I led the others."
+
+"Where was your picnic?"
+
+"In the fairies' field."
+
+"Ah! At what time?"
+
+"At night--in the middle of the night--the night you went to London."
+
+Mrs. Willis put her hand to her brow; her face was very white and the
+girls could see that she trembled.
+
+"I trusted my girls----" she said; then she broke off abruptly.
+
+"You had companions in this wickedness--name them."
+
+"Yes, I had companions; I led them on."
+
+"Name them, Miss Forest."
+
+For the first time Annie raised her eyes to Mrs. Willis' face; then she
+turned and looked down the long school-room.
+
+"Oh, won't they tell themselves?" she said.
+
+Nothing could be more appealing than her glance. It melted the hearts of
+Phyllis and Nora, who began to sob, and to declare brokenly that they had
+gone too, and that they were very, very sorry.
+
+Spurred by their example Mary Price also confessed, and one by one all
+the little conspirators revealed the truth, with the exception of Susan,
+who kept her eyes steadily fixed on the floor.
+
+"Susan Drummond," said Mrs. Willis, "come here."
+
+There was something in her tone which startled every girl in the school.
+Never had they heard this ring in their teacher's voice before.
+
+"Susan," said Mrs. Willis, "I don't ask you if you are guilty; I fear,
+poor miserable girl, that if I did you would load your conscience with a
+fresh lie. I don't ask you if you are guilty because I know you are. The
+fact of your running without leave to see old Betty is circumstantial
+evidence. I judge you by that and pronounce you guilty. Now, young
+ladies, you who have treated me so badly, who have betrayed my trust, who
+have been wanting in honor, I must think, I must ask God to teach me how
+to deal with you. In the meantime, you cannot associate with your
+companions. Miss Good, will you take each of these eight girls to their
+bedrooms."
+
+As Annie was leaving the room she looked full into Mrs. Willis' face.
+Strange to say, at this moment of her great disgrace the cloud which had
+so long brooded over her was lifted. The sweet eyes never looked sweeter.
+The old Annie, and yet a better and a braver Annie than had ever existed
+before, followed her companions out of the school-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+IS SHE STILL GUILTY?
+
+
+On the evening of that day Cecil Temple knocked at the door of Mrs.
+Willis' private sitting-room.
+
+"Ah, Cecil! is that you?" said her governess. "I am always glad to see
+you, dear; but I happen to be particularly busy to-night. Have you
+anything in particular to say to me?"
+
+"I only wanted to talk about Annie, Mrs. Willis. You believe in her at
+last, don't you?"
+
+"Believe in her at last!" said the head-mistress in a tone of
+astonishment and deep pain. "No, Cecil, my dear; you ask too much of my
+faith. I do not believe in Annie."
+
+Cecil paused; she hesitated, and seemed half afraid to proceed.
+
+"Perhaps," she said at last in a slightly timid tone, "you have not seen
+her since this morning?"
+
+"No; I have been particularly busy. Besides, the eight culprits are under
+punishment; part of their punishment is that I will not see them."
+
+"Don't you think, Mrs. Willis," said Cecil, "that Annie made rather a
+brave confession this morning?"
+
+"I admit, my dear, that Annie spoke in somewhat of her old impulsive way;
+she blamed herself, and did not try to screen her misdemeanors behind her
+companions. In this one particular she reminded me of the old Annie who,
+notwithstanding all her faults, I used to trust and love. But as to her
+confession being very brave, my dear Cecil, you must remember that she
+did not _confess_ until she was obliged; she knew, and so did all the
+other girls, that I could have got the truth out of old Betty had they
+chosen to keep their lips sealed. Then, my dear, consider what she did.
+On the very night that I was away she violated the trust I had in
+her--she bade me 'good-bye' with smiles and sweet glances, and then she
+did this in my absence. No, Cecil, I fear poor Annie is not what we
+thought her. She has done untold mischief during the half-year, and has
+willfully lied and deceived me. I find, on comparing dates, that it was
+on the very night of the girls' picnic that Dora's theme was changed.
+There is no doubt whatever that Annie was the guilty person. I did my
+best to believe in her, and to depend on Mr. Everard's judgment of her
+character, but I confess I can do so no longer. Cecil, dear. I am not
+surprised that you look pale and sad. No, we will not give up this poor
+Annie: we will try to love her even through her sin. Ah! poor child, poor
+child! how much I have prayed for her! She was to me as a child of my
+own. Now, dear Cecil, I must ask you to leave me."
+
+Cecil went slowly out of her governess' presence, and, wandering across
+the wide stone hall, she entered the play-room. It happened to be a wet
+night, and the room was full of girls, who hung together in groups and
+whispered softly. There were no loud voices, and, except from the little
+ones, there was no laughter. A great depression hung over the place, and
+few could have recognized the happy girls of Lavender House in these sad
+young faces. Cecil walked slowly into the room, and presently finding
+Hester Thornton, she sat down by her side.
+
+"I can't get Mrs. Willis to see it," she said very sadly.
+
+"What?" asked Hester.
+
+"Why, that we have got our old Annie back again; that she did take the
+girls out to that picnic, and was as wild, and reckless, and naughty as
+possible about it; and then, just like the old Annie I have always known,
+the moment the fun was over she began to repent, and that she has gone on
+repenting ever since, which has accounted for her poor sad little face
+and white cheeks. Of course she longed to tell--Nora and Phyllis have
+told me so--but she would not betray them. Now at last there is a load
+off her heart, and, though she is in great disgrace and punishment, she
+is not very unhappy. I went to see her an hour ago, and I saw in her face
+that my own darling Annie has returned. But what do you think Mrs. Willis
+does, Hester? She is so hurt and disappointed, that she believes Annie is
+guilty of the other thing--she believes that Annie stole Dora's theme,
+and that she caricatured her in my book some time ago. She believes
+it--she is sure of it. Now, do you think, Hester, that Annie's face would
+look quite peaceful and happy to-night if she had only confessed half her
+faults--if she had this meanness, this sin, these lies still resting on
+her soul? Oh! I wish Mrs. Willis would see her! I wish--I wish! but I can
+do nothing. You agree with me, don't you, Hester? Just put yourself in
+Annie's place, and tell me if _you_ would feel happy, and if your heart
+would be at rest, if you had only confessed half your sin, and if through
+you all your schoolfellows were under disgrace and suspicion? You could
+not, could you, Hester? Why, Hester, how white you are!"
+
+"You are so metaphysical," said Hester, rising; "you quite puzzle me. How
+can I put myself in your friend Annie's place? I never understood her--I
+never wanted to. Put myself in her place?--no, certainly that I'm never
+likely to. I hope that I shall never be in such a predicament."
+
+Hester walked away, and Cecil sat still in great perplexity.
+
+Cecil was a girl with a true sense of religion. The love of God guided
+every action of her simple and straightforward life. She was neither
+beautiful nor clever; but no one in the school was more respected and
+honored, no one more sincerely loved. Cecil knew what the peace of God
+meant, and when she saw even a shadowy reflection of that peace on
+Annie's little face, she was right in believing that she must be innocent
+of the guilt which was attributed to her.
+
+The whole school assembled for prayers that night in the little chapel,
+and Mr. Everard, who had heard the story of that day's confession from
+Mrs. Willis, said a few words appropriate to the occasion to the unhappy
+young girls.
+
+Whatever effect his words had on the others, and they were very simple
+and straightforward, Annie's face grew quiet and peaceful as she listened
+to them. The old clergyman assured the girls that God was waiting to
+forgive those who truly repented, and that the way to repent was to rise
+up and sin no more.
+
+"The present fun is not worth the after-pain," he said, in conclusion.
+"It is an old saying that stolen waters are sweet, but only at the time;
+afterward only those who drink of them know the full extent of their
+bitterness."
+
+This little address from Mr. Everard strengthened poor Annie for an
+ordeal which was immediately before her, for Mrs. Willis asked all the
+school to follow her to the play-room, and there she told them that she
+was about to restore to them their lost privileges; that circumstances,
+in her opinion, now so strongly pointed the guilt of the stolen essay in
+the direction of one girl, that she could no longer ask the school to
+suffer for her sake.
+
+"She still refuses to confess her sin," said Mrs. Willis, "but, unless
+another girl proclaims herself guilty, and proves to me beyond doubt that
+she drew the caricature which was found in Cecil Temple's book, and that
+she changed Dora Russell's essay, and, imitating her hand, put another in
+its place, I proclaim the guilty person to be Annie Forest, and on her
+alone I visit my displeasure. You can retire to your rooms, young ladies.
+Tomorrow morning Lavender House resumes its old cheerfulness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+HESTER'S HOUR OF TRIAL.
+
+
+However calmly or however peacefully Annie slept that night, poor Hester
+did not close her eyes. The white face of the girl she had wronged and
+injured kept rising before her. Why had she so deceived Annie? Why from
+the very first had she turned from her, and misjudged her, and
+misrepresented her? Was Annie, indeed, all bad? Hester had to own to
+herself that to-night Annie was better than she--was greater than she.
+Could she now have undone the past, she would not have acted as she had
+done; she would not for the sake of a little paltry revenge have defiled
+her conscience with a lie, have told her governess that she could throw
+no light on the circumstance of the stolen essay. This was the first lie
+Hester had ever told; she was naturally both straightforward and
+honorable, but her sin of sins, that which made her hard and almost
+unlovable, was an intensely proud and haughty spirit. She was very sorry
+she had told that lie; she was very sorry she had yielded to that
+temptation; but not for worlds would she now humble herself to
+confess--not for worlds would she let the school know of her cowardice
+and shame. No, if there was no other means of clearing Annie except
+through her confession, she must remain with the shadow of this sin over
+her to her dying day.
+
+Hester, however, was now really unhappy, and also truly sorry for poor
+Annie. Could she have got off without disgrace or punishment, she would
+have been truly glad to see Annie exonerated. She was quite certain that
+Susan Drummond was at the bottom of all the mischief which had been done
+lately at Lavender House. She could not make out how stupid Susan was
+clever enough to caricature and to imitate peoples' hands. Still she was
+convinced that she was the guilty person, and she wondered and wondered
+if she could induce Susan to come forward and confess the truth, and so
+save Annie without bringing her, Hester, into any trouble.
+
+She resolved to speak to Susan, and without confessing that she had been
+in the school-room on the night the essay was changed, to let her know
+plainly that she suspected her.
+
+She became much calmer when she determined to carry out this resolve, and
+toward morning she fell asleep.
+
+She was awakened at a very early hour by little Nan clambering over the
+side of her crib, and cuddling down cozily in a way she loved by Hester's
+side.
+
+"Me so 'nug, 'nug," said little Nan. "Oh, Hetty, Hetty, there's a wy on
+the teiling!"
+
+Hester had then to rouse herself, and enter into an animated conversation
+on the subject of flies generally, and in especial she had to talk of
+that particular fly which would perambulate on the ceiling over Nan's
+head.
+
+"Me like wies," said Nan, "and me like 'oo, Hetty, and me love--me love
+Annie."
+
+Hester kissed her little sister passionately; but this last observation,
+accompanied by the expression of almost angelic devotion which filled
+little Nan's brown eyes, as she repeated that she liked flies and Hetty,
+but that she loved Annie, had the effect of again hardening her heart.
+
+Hester's hour of trial, however, was at hand, and before that day was
+over she was to experience that awful emptiness and desolation which
+those know whom God is punishing.
+
+Lessons went on as usual at Lavender House that morning, and, to the
+surprise of several, Annie was seen in her old place in class. She worked
+with a steadiness quite new to her; no longer interlarding her hours of
+study with those indescribable glances of fun and mischief, first at one
+school-companion and then at another, which used to worry her teachers so
+much.
+
+There were no merry glances from Annie that morning; but she worked
+steadily and rapidly, and went through that trying ordeal, her French
+verbs, with such satisfaction that mademoiselle was on the point of
+praising her, until she remembered that Annie was in disgrace.
+
+After school, however, Annie did not join her companions in the grounds,
+but went up to her bedroom, where, by Mrs. Willis' orders, she was to
+remain until the girls went in. She was to take her own exercise later in
+the day.
+
+It was now the tenth of June--an intensely sultry day; a misty heat
+brooded over everything, and not a breath of air stirred the leaves in
+the trees. The girls wandered about languidly, too enervated by the heat
+to care to join in any noisy games. They were now restored to their full
+freedom, and there is no doubt they enjoyed the privileges of having
+little confabs, and whispering secrets to each other without having Miss
+Good and Miss Danesbury forever at their elbows. They talked of many
+things--of the near approach of the holidays, of the prize day which was
+now so close at hand, of Annie's disgrace, and so on.
+
+They wondered, many of them, if Annie would ever be brought to confess
+her sin, and, if not, how Mrs. Willis would act toward her. Dora Russell
+said in her most contemptuous tones:
+
+"She is nothing, after all, but a charity child, and Mrs. Willis has
+supported her for years for nothing."
+
+"Yes, and she's too clever by half; eh, poor old Muddy Stream?" remarked
+a saucy little girl. "By the way, Dora, dear, how goes the river now? Has
+it lost itself in the arms of mother ocean yet?"
+
+Dora turned red and walked away, and her young tormentor exclaimed with
+considerable gusto:
+
+"There, I have silenced her for a bit; I do hate the way she talks about
+charity children. Whatever her faults, Annie is the sweetest and
+prettiest girl in the school, in my opinion."
+
+In the meantime Hester was looking in all directions for Susan Drummond.
+She thought the present a very fitting opportunity to open her attack on
+her, and she was the more anxious to bring her to reason as a certain
+look in Annie's face--a pallid and very weary look--had gone to her
+heart, and touched her in spite of herself. Now, even though little Nan
+loved her, Hester would save Annie could she do so not at her own
+expense.
+
+Look, however, as she would, nowhere could she find Miss Drummond. She
+called and called, but no sleepy voice replied. Susan, indeed, knew
+better; she had curled herself up in a hammock which hung between the
+boughs of a shady tree, and though Hester passed under her very head, she
+was sucking lollipops and going off comfortably into the land of dreams,
+and had no intention of replying. Hester wandered down the shady walk,
+and at its farther end she was gratified by the sight of little Nan, who,
+under her nurse's charge, was trying to string daisies on the grass.
+Hester sat down by her side, and Nan climbed over and made fine havoc of
+her neat print dress, and laughed, and was at her merriest and best.
+
+"I hear say that that naughty Miss Forest has done something out-and-out
+disgraceful," whispered the nurse.
+
+"Oh, don't!" said Hester impatiently. "Why should every one throw mud at
+a girl when she is down? If poor Annie is naughty and guilty, she is
+suffering now."
+
+"Annie _not_ naughty," said little Nan. "Me love my own Annie; me do, me
+do."
+
+"And you love your own poor old nurse, too?" responded the somewhat
+jealous nurse.
+
+Hester left the two playing happily together, the little one caressing
+her nurse, and blowing one or two kisses after her sister's retreating
+form. Hester returned to the house, and went up to her room to prepare
+for dinner. She had washed her hands, and was standing before the
+looking-glass re-plaiting her long hair, when Susan Drummond, looking
+extremely wild and excited, and with her eyes almost starting out of her
+head, rushed into the room.
+
+"Oh, Hester, Hester!" she gasped, and she flung herself on Hester's bed,
+with her face downward; she seemed absolutely deprived for the moment of
+the power of any further speech.
+
+"What is the matter, Susan?" inquired Hester half impatiently. "What have
+you come into my room for? Are you going into a fit of hysterics? You had
+better control yourself, for the dinner gong will sound directly."
+
+Susan gasped two or three times, made a rush to Hester's wash-hand stand,
+and, taking up a glass, poured some cold water into it, and gulped it
+down.
+
+"Now I can speak," she said. "I ran so fast that my breath quite left me.
+Hester, put on your walking things or go without them, just as you
+please--only go at once if you would save her."
+
+"Save whom?" asked Hester.
+
+"Your little sister--little Nan. I--I saw it all. I was in the hammock,
+and nobody knew I was there, and somehow I wasn't so sleepy as usual, and
+I heard Nan's voice, and I looked over the side of the hammock, and she
+was sitting on the grass picking daisies, and her nurse was with her, and
+presently you came up. I heard you calling me, but I wasn't going to
+answer. I felt too comfortable. You stayed with Nan and her nurse for a
+little, and then went away; and I heard Nan's nurse say to her: 'Sit
+here, missy, till I come back to you; I am going to fetch another reel of
+sewing cotton from the house. Sit still, missy; I'll be back directly.'
+She went away, and Nan went on picking her daisies. All on a sudden I
+heard Nan give a sharp little cry, and I looked over the hammock, and
+there was a tall, dark woman, with such a wicked face, and she snatched
+up Nan in her arms, and put a thick shawl over her face, and ran off with
+her. It was all done in an instant. I shouted and I scrambled out of the
+hammock, and I rushed down the path; but there wasn't a sign of anybody
+there. I don't know where the woman went--it seemed as if the earth
+swallowed up both her and little Nan. Why, Hester, are you going to
+faint?"
+
+"Water!" gasped Hester--"one sip--now let me go."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+A GYPSY MAID.
+
+
+In a few moments every one in Lavender House was made acquainted with
+Susan's story. At such a time ceremony was laid aside, dinner forgotten,
+teachers, pupils, servants all congregated in the grounds, all rushed to
+the spot where Nan's withered daisies still lay, all peered through the
+underwood, and all, alas! looked in vain for the tall dark woman and the
+little child. Little Nan, the baby of the school, had been stolen--there
+were loud and terrified lamentations. Nan's nurse was almost tearing her
+hair, was rushing frantically here, there, and everywhere. No one blamed
+the nurse for leaving her little charge in apparent safety for a few
+moments, but the poor woman's own distress was pitiable to see. Mrs.
+Willis took Hester's hand, and told the poor stunned girl that she was
+sending to Sefton immediately for two or three policemen, and that in the
+meantime every man on the place should commence the search for the woman
+and child.
+
+"Without any doubt," Mrs. Willis added, "we shall soon have our little
+Nan back again; it is quite impossible that the woman, whoever she is,
+can have taken her so far away in so short a time."
+
+In the meantime, Annie in her bedroom heard the fuss and the noise. She
+leaned out of her window and saw Phyllis in the distance; she called to
+her. Phyllis ran up, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
+
+"Oh, something so dreadful!" she gasped; "a wicked, wicked woman has
+stolen little Nan Thornton. She ran off with her just where the
+undergrowth is so thick at the end of the shady walk. It happened to her
+half an hour ago, and they are all looking, but they cannot find the
+woman or little Nan anywhere. Oh, it is so dreadful! Is that you, Mary?"
+
+Phyllis ran off to join her sister, and Annie put her head in again, and
+looked round her pretty room.
+
+"The gypsy," she murmured, "the tall, dark gypsy has taken little Nan!"
+
+Her face was very white, her eyes shone, her lips expressed a firm and
+almost obstinate determination. With all her usual impulsiveness, she
+decided on a course of action--she snatched up a piece of paper and
+scribbled a hasty line:
+
+  "DEAR MOTHER-FRIEND:--However badly you think of Annie, Annie loves
+  you with all her heart. Forgive me, I must go myself to look for
+  little Nan. That tall, dark woman is a gypsy--I have seen her
+  before; her name is Mother Rachel. Tell Hetty I won't return until
+  I bring her little sister back.--Your repentant and sorrowful
+
+                                                             ANNIE."
+
+Annie twisted up the note, directed it to Mrs. Willis, and left it on her
+dressing-table.
+
+Then, with a wonderful amount of forethought for her, she emptied the
+contents of a little purse into a tiny gingham bag, which she fastened
+inside the front of her dress. She put on her shady hat, and threw a
+shawl across her arm, and then, slipping softly downstairs, she went out
+through the deserted kitchens, down the back avenue, and past the laurel
+bush, until she came to the stile which led into the wood--she was going
+straight to the gypsies' encampment.
+
+Annie, with some of the gypsy's characteristics in her own blood, had
+always taken an extraordinary interest in these queer wandering people.
+Gypsies had a fascination for her, she loved stories about them; if a
+gypsy encampment was near, she always begged the teachers to walk in that
+direction. Annie had a very vivid imagination, and in the days when she
+reigned as favorite in the school she used to make up stories for the
+express benefit of her companions. These stories, as a rule, always
+turned upon the gypsies. Many and many a time had the girls of Lavender
+House almost gasped with horror as Annie described the queer ways of
+these people. For her, personally, their wildness and their freedom had a
+certain fascination, and she was heard in her gayest moments to remark
+that she would rather like to be stolen and adopted by a gypsy tribe.
+
+Whenever Annie had an opportunity, she chatted with the gypsy wives, and
+allowed them to tell her fortune, and listened eagerly to their
+narratives. When a little child she had once for several months been
+under the care of a nurse who was a reclaimed gypsy, and this girl had
+given her all kinds of information about them. Annie often felt that she
+quite loved these wild people, and Mother Rachel was the first gypsy she
+cordially shrank from and disliked.
+
+When the little girl started now on her wild-goose chase after Nan, she
+was by no means devoid of a plan of action. The knowledge she had taken
+so many years to acquire came to her aid, and she determined to use it
+for Nan's benefit. She knew that the gypsies, with all their wandering
+and erratic habits, had a certain attachment, if not for homes, at least
+for sites; she knew that as a rule they encamped over and over again in
+the same place; she knew that their wanderings were conducted with
+method, and their apparently lawless lives governed by strict self-made
+rules.
+
+Annie made straight now for the encampment, which stood in a little dell
+at the other side of the fairies' field. Here for weeks past the gypsies'
+tents had been seen; here the gypsy children had played, and the men and
+women smoked and lain about in the sun.
+
+Annie entered the small field now, but uttered no exclamation of surprise
+when she found that all the tents, with the exception of one, had been
+removed, and that this tent also was being rapidly taken down by a man
+and a girl, while a tall boy stood by, holding a donkey by the bridle.
+
+Annie wasted no time in looking for Nan here. Before the girl and the man
+could see her, she darted behind a bush, and removing her little bag of
+money, hid it carefully under some long grass; then she pulled a very
+bright yellow sash out of her pocket, tied it round her blue cotton
+dress, and leaving her little shawl also on the ground, tripped gaily up
+to the tent.
+
+She saw with pleasure that the girl who was helping the man was about her
+own size. She went up and touched her on the shoulder.
+
+"Look here," she said, "I want to make such a pretty play by-and-by--I
+want to play that I'm a gypsy girl. Will you give me your clothes, if I
+give you mine? See, mine are neat, and this sash is very handsome. Will
+you have them? Do. I am so anxious to play at being a gypsy."
+
+The girl turned and stared. Annie's pretty blue print and gay sash were
+certainly tempting bait. She glanced at her father.
+
+"The little lady wants to change," she said in an eager voice.
+
+The man nodded acquiescence, and the girl taking Annie's hand, ran
+quickly with her to the bottom of the field.
+
+"You don't mean it, surely?" she said. "Eh, but I'm uncommon willing."
+
+"Yes, I certainly mean it," said Annie. "You are a dear, good, obliging
+girl, and how nice you will look in my pretty blue cotton! I like that
+striped petticoat of yours, too, and that gay handkerchief you wear round
+your shoulders. Thank you so very much. Now, do I look like a real, real
+gypsy?"
+
+"Your hair ain't ragged enough, miss."
+
+"Oh, clip it, then; clip it away. I want to be quite the real thing. Have
+you got a pair of scissors?"
+
+The girl ran back to the tent, and presently returned to shear poor
+Annie's beautiful hair in truly rough fashion.
+
+"Now, miss, you look much more like, only your arms are a bit too white.
+Stay, we has got some walnut-juice; we was just a-using of it. I'll touch
+you up fine, miss."
+
+So she did, darkening Annie's brown skin to a real gypsy tone.
+
+"You're a dear, good girl," said Annie, in conclusion; and as the girl's
+father called her roughly at this moment, she was obliged to go away,
+looking ungainly enough in the English child's neat clothes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+DISGUISED.
+
+
+Annie ran out of the field, mounted the stile which led into the wood,
+and stood there until the gypsy man and girl, and the boy with the
+donkey, had finally disappeared. Then she left her hiding-place, and
+taking her little gingham bag out of the long grass, secured it once more
+in the front of her dress. She felt queer and uncomfortable in her new
+dress, and the gypsy girl's heavy shoes tired her feet; but she was not
+to be turned from her purpose by any manner of discomforts, and she
+started bravely on her long trudge over the dusty roads, for her object
+was to follow the gypsies to their next encampment, about ten miles away.
+She had managed, with some tact, to obtain a certain amount of
+information from the delighted gypsy girl. The girl told Annie that she
+was very glad they were going from here; that this was a very dull place,
+and that they would not have stayed so long but for Mother Rachel, who,
+for some reasons of her own, had refused to stir.
+
+Here the girl drew herself up short, and colored under her dark skin. But
+Annie's tact never failed. She even yawned a little, and seemed scarcely
+to hear the girl's words.
+
+Now, in the distance, she followed these people.
+
+In her disguise, uncomfortable as it was, she felt tolerably safe. Should
+any of the people in Lavender House happen to pass her on the way, they
+would never recognize Annie Forest in this small gypsy maiden. When she
+did approach the gypsies' dwelling she might have some hope of passing as
+one of themselves. The only one whom she had really to fear was the girl
+with whom she had changed clothes, and she trusted to her wits to keep
+out of this young person's way.
+
+When Zillah, her old gypsy nurse, had charmed her long ago with gypsy
+legends and stories, Annie had always begged to hear about the fair
+English children whom the gypsies stole, and Zillah had let her into some
+secrets which partly accounted for the fact that so few of these children
+are ever recovered.
+
+She walked very fast now; her depression was gone, a great excitement, a
+great longing, a great hope, keeping her up. She forgot that she had
+eaten nothing since breakfast; she forgot everything in all the world now
+but her great love for little Nan, and her desire to lay down her very
+life, if necessary, to rescue Nan from the terrible fate which awaited
+her if she was brought up as a gypsy's child.
+
+Annie, however, was unaccustomed to such long walks, and besides, recent
+events had weakened her, and by the time she reached Sefton--for her road
+lay straight through this little town--she was so hot and thirsty that
+she looked around her anxiously to find some place of refreshment.
+
+In an unconscious manner she paused before a restaurant, where she and
+several other girls of Lavender House had more than once been regaled
+with buns and milk.
+
+The remembrance of the fresh milk and the nice buns came gratefully
+before the memory of the tired child now. Forgetting her queer attire,
+she went into the shop, and walked boldly up to the counter.
+
+Annie's disguise, however, was good, and the young woman who was serving,
+instead of bending forward with the usual gracious "What can I get for
+you, miss?" said very sharply:
+
+"Go away at once, little girl; we don't allow beggars here; leave the
+shop instantly. No, I have nothing for you."
+
+Annie was about to reply rather hotly, for she had an idea that even a
+gypsy's money might purchase buns and milk, when she was suddenly
+startled, and almost terrified into betraying herself, by encountering
+the gentle and fixed stare of Miss Jane Bruce, who had been leaning over
+the counter and talking to one of the shop-women when Annie entered.
+
+"Here is a penny for you, little girl," she said. "You can get a nice
+hunch of stale bread for a penny in the shop at the corner of the High
+street."
+
+Annie's eyes flashed back at the little lady, her lips quivered, and,
+clasping the penny, she rushed out of the shop.
+
+"My dear," said Miss Jane, turning to her sister, "did you notice the
+extraordinary likeness that little gypsy girl bore to Annie Forest?"
+
+Miss Agnes sighed. "Not particularly, love," she answered; "but I
+scarcely looked at her. I wonder if our dear little Annie is any happier
+than she was. Ah, I think we have done here. Good-afternoon, Mrs.
+Tremlett."
+
+The little old ladies trotted off, giving no more thoughts to the gypsy
+child.
+
+Poor Annie almost ran down the street, and never paused till she reached
+a shop of much humbler appearance, where she was served with some cold
+slices of German sausage, some indifferent bread and butter, and milk by
+no means over-good. The coarse fare, and the rough people who surrounded
+her, made the poor child feel both sick and frightened. She found she
+could only keep up her character by remaining almost silent, for the
+moment she opened her lips people turned round and stared at her.
+
+She paid for her meal, however, and presently found herself at the other
+side of Sefton, and in a part of the country which was comparatively
+strange to her. The gypsies' present encampment was about a mile away
+from the town of Oakley, a much larger place than Sefton. Sefton and
+Oakley lay about six miles apart. Annie trudged bravely on, her head
+aching; for, of course, as a gypsy girl, she could use no parasol to
+shade her from the sun. At last the comparative cool of the evening
+arrived, and the little girl gave a sigh of relief, and looked forward to
+her bed and supper at Oakley. She had made up her mind to sleep there,
+and to go to the gypsies' encampment very early in the morning. It was
+quite dark by the time she reached Oakley, and she was now so tired, and
+her feet so blistered from walking in the gypsy girl's rough shoes, that
+she could scarcely proceed another step. The noise and the size of
+Oakley, too, bewildered and frightened her. She had learned a lesson in
+Sefton, and dared not venture into the more respectable streets. How
+could she sleep in those hot, common, close houses? Surely it would be
+better for her to lie down under a cool hedgerow--there could be no real
+cold on this lovely summer's night, and the hours would quickly pass, and
+the time soon arrive when she must go boldly in search of Nan. She
+resolved to sleep in a hayfield which took her fancy just outside the
+town, and she only went into Oakley for the purpose of buying some bread
+and milk.
+
+Annie was so far fortunate as to get a refreshing draught of really good
+milk from a woman who stood by a cottage door, and who gave her a piece
+of girdle-cake to eat with it.
+
+"You're one of the gypsies, my dear?" said the woman. "I saw them passing
+in their caravans an hour back. No doubt you are for taking up your old
+quarters in the copse, just alongside of Squire Thompson's long acre
+field. How is it you are not with the rest of them, child?"
+
+"I was late in starting," said Annie. "Can you tell me the best way to
+get from here to the long acre field?"
+
+"Oh, you take that turnstile, child, and keep in the narrow path by the
+cornfields; it's two miles and a half from here as the crow flies. No,
+no, my dear, I don't want your pennies; but you might humor my little
+girl here by telling her fortune--she's wonderful taken by the gypsy
+folk."
+
+Annie colored painfully. The child came forward, and she crossed her hand
+with a piece of silver. She looked at the little palm and muttered
+something about being rich and fortunate, and marrying a prince in
+disguise, and having no trouble whatever.
+
+"Eh! but that's a fine lot, is yours, Peggy," said the gratified mother.
+
+Peggy, however, aged nine, had a wiser head on her young shoulders.
+
+"She didn't tell no proper fortune," she said disparagingly, when Annie
+left the cottage. "She didn't speak about no crosses, and no biting
+disappointments, and no bleeding wounds. I don't believe in her, I don't.
+I like fortunes mixed, not all one way; them fortunes ain't natural, and
+I don't believe she's no proper gypsy girl."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+HESTER.
+
+
+At Lavender House the confusion, the terror, and the dismay were great.
+For several hours the girls seemed quite to lose their heads, and just
+when, under Mrs. Willis' and the other teachers' calmness and
+determination, they were being restored to discipline and order, the
+excitement and alarm broke out afresh when some one brought Annie's
+little note to Mrs. Willis, and the school discovered that she also was
+missing.
+
+On this occasion no one did doubt her motive; disobedient as her act was
+no one wasted words of blame on her. All, from the head-mistress to the
+smallest child in the school, knew that it was love for little Nan that
+had taken Annie off; and the tears started to Mrs. Willis' eyes when she
+first read the tiny note, and then placed it tenderly in her desk.
+Hester's face became almost ashen in its hue when she heard what Annie
+had done.
+
+"Annie has gone herself to bring back Nan to you, Hester," said Phyllis.
+"It was I told her, and I know now by her face that she must have made up
+her mind at once."
+
+"Very disobedient of her to go," said Dora Russell; but no one took up
+Dora's tone, and Mary Price said, after a pause:
+
+"Disobedient or not, it was brave--it was really very plucky."
+
+"It is my opinion," said Nora, "that if any one in the world can find
+little Nan it will be Annie. You remember, Phyllis, how often she has
+talked to us about gypsies, and what a lot she knows about them?"
+
+"Oh, yes; she'll be better than fifty policemen," echoed several girls;
+and then two or three young faces were turned toward Hester, and some
+voice said almost scornfully:
+
+"You'll have to love Annie now; you'll have to admit that there is
+something good in our Annie when she brings your little Nan home again."
+
+Hester's lip quivered; she tried to speak, but a sudden burst of tears
+came from her instead. She walked slowly out of the astonished little
+group, who none of them believed that proud Hester Thornton could weep.
+
+The wretched girl rushed up to her room, where she threw herself on her
+bed and gave way to some of the bitterest tears she had ever shed. All her
+indifference to Annie, all her real unkindness, all her ever-increasing
+dislike came back now to torture and harass her. She began to believe with
+the girls that Annie would be successful; she began dimly to acknowledge
+in her heart the strange power which this child possessed; she guessed
+that Annie would heap coals of fire on her head by bringing back her
+little sister. She hoped, she longed, she could almost have found it in
+her heart to pray that some one else, not Annie, might save little Nan.
+
+For not yet had Hester made up her mind to confess the truth about Annie
+Forest. To confess the truth now meant humiliation in the eyes of the
+whole school. Even for Nan's sake she could not, she would not be great
+enough for this.
+
+Sobbing on her bed, trembling from head to foot, in an agony of almost
+uncontrollable grief, she could not bring her proud and stubborn little
+heart to accept God's only way of peace. No, she hoped she might be able
+to influence Susan Drummond and induce her to confess, and if Annie was
+not cleared in that way, if she really saved little Nan, she would
+doubtless be restored to much of her lost favor in the school.
+
+Hester had never been a favorite at Lavender House; but now her great
+trouble caused all the girls to speak to her kindly and considerately,
+and as she lay on her bed she presently heard a gentle step on the floor
+of her room--a cool little hand was laid tenderly on her forehead, and
+opening her swollen eyes, she met Cecil's loving gaze.
+
+"There is no news yet, Hester," said Cecil; "but Mrs. Willis has just
+gone herself into Sefton, and will not lose an hour in getting further
+help. Mrs. Willis looks quite haggard. Of course she is very anxious both
+about Annie and Nan."
+
+"Oh, Annie is safe enough," murmured Hester, burying her head in the
+bed-clothes.
+
+"I don't know; Annie is very impulsive and very pretty; the gypsies may
+like to steal her too--of course she has gone straight to one of their
+encampments. Naturally Mrs. Willis is most anxious."
+
+Hester pressed her hand to her throbbing head.
+
+"We are all so sorry for you, dear," said Cecil gently.
+
+"Thank you--being sorry for one does not do a great deal of good, does
+it?"
+
+"I thought sympathy always did good," replied Cecil, looking puzzled.
+
+"Thank you," said Hester again. She lay quite still for several minutes
+with her eyes closed. Her face looked intensely unhappy. Cecil was not
+easily repelled and she guessed only too surely that Hester's proud heart
+was suffering much. She was puzzled, however, how to approach her, and
+had almost made up her mind to go away and beg of kind-hearted Miss
+Danesbury to see if she could come and do something, when through the
+open window there came the shrill sweet laughter and the eager,
+high-pitched tones of some of the youngest children in the school. A
+strange quiver passed over Hester's face at the sound; she sat up in bed,
+and gasped out in a half-strangled voice:
+
+"Oh! I can't bear it--little Nan, little Nan! Cecil, I am very, very
+unhappy."
+
+"I know it, darling," said Cecil, and she put her arms round the excited
+girl. "Oh, Hester! don't turn away from me; do let us be unhappy
+together."
+
+"But you did not care for Nan."
+
+"I did--we all loved the pretty darling."
+
+"Suppose I never see her again?" said Hester half wildly. "Oh, Cecil! and
+mother left her to me! mother gave her to me to take care of, and to
+bring to her some day in heaven. Oh, little Nan, my pretty, my love, my
+sweet! I think I could better bear her being dead than this."
+
+"You could, Hester," said Cecil, "if she was never to be found; but I
+don't think God will give you such a terrible punishment. I think little
+Nan will be restored to you. Let us ask God to do it, Hetty--let us kneel
+down now, we two little girls, and pray to Him with all our might."
+
+"I can't pray; don't ask me," said Hester, turning her face away.
+
+"Then I will."
+
+"But not here, Cecil. Cecil, I am not good--I am not good enough to
+pray."
+
+"We don't want to be good to pray," said Cecil. "We want perhaps to be
+unhappy--perhaps sorry; but if God waited just for goodness, I don't
+think He would get many prayers."
+
+"Well, I am unhappy, but not sorry. No, no; don't ask me, I cannot pray."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+SUSAN.
+
+
+Mrs. Willis came back at a very late hour from Sefton. The police were
+confident that they must soon discover both children, but no tidings had
+yet been heard of either of them. Mrs. Willis ordered her girls to bed,
+and went herself to kiss Hester and give her a special "good-night." She
+was struck by the peculiarly unhappy, and even hardened, expression on
+the poor child's face, and felt that she did not half understand her.
+
+In the middle of the night Hester awoke from a troubled dream. She awoke
+with a sharp cry, so sharp and intense in its sound that had any girl
+been awake in the next room she must have heard it. She felt that she
+could no longer remain close to that little empty cot. She suddenly
+remembered that Susan Drummond would be alone to-night: what time so good
+as the present for having a long talk with Susan and getting her to clear
+Annie? She slipped out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and softly
+opening the door, ran down the passage to Susan's room.
+
+Susan was in bed, and fast asleep. Hester could see her face quite
+plainly in the moonlight, for Susan slept facing the window, and the
+blind was not drawn down.
+
+Hester had some difficulty in awakening Miss Drummond, who, however, at
+last sat up in bed yawning prodigiously.
+
+"What is the matter? Is that you, Hester Thornton? Have you got any news
+of little Nan? Has Annie come back?"
+
+"No, they are both still away. Susy, I want to speak to you."
+
+"Dear me! what for? must you speak in the middle of the night?"
+
+"Yes, for I don't want any one else to know. Oh, Susan, please don't go
+to sleep."
+
+"My dear, I won't, if I can help it. Do you mind throwing a little cold
+water over my face and head? There is a can by the bedside. I always keep
+one handy. Ah, thanks--now I am wide awake. I shall probably remain so
+for about two minutes. Can you get your say over in that time?"
+
+"I wonder, Susan," said Hester, "if you have got any heart--but heart or
+not, I have just come here to-night to tell you that I have found you
+out. You are at the bottom of all this mischief about Annie Forest."
+
+Susan had a most phlegmatic face, an utterly unemotional voice, and she
+now stared calmly at Hester and demanded to know what in the world she
+meant.
+
+Hester felt her temper going, her self-control deserting her. Susan's
+apparent innocence and indifference drove her half frantic.
+
+"Oh, you are mean," she said. "You pretend to be innocent, but you are
+the deepest and wickedest girl in the school. I tell you, Susan, I have
+found you out--you put that caricature of Mrs. Willis into Cecil's book;
+you changed Dora's theme. I don't know why you did it, nor how you did
+it, but you are the guilty person, and you have allowed the sin of it to
+remain on Annie's shoulders all this time. Oh, you are the very meanest
+girl I ever heard of!"
+
+"Dear, dear!" said Susan, "I wish I had not asked you to throw cold water
+over my head and face, and allow myself to be made very wet and
+uncomfortable, just to be told I am the meanest girl you ever met. And
+pray what affair is this of yours? You certainly don't love Annie
+Forest."
+
+"I don't, but I want justice to be done to her. Annie is very, very
+unhappy. Oh, Susy, won't you go and tell Mrs. Willis the truth?"
+
+"Really, my dear Hester, I think you are a little mad. How long have you
+known all this about me, pray?"
+
+"Oh, for some time; since--since the night the essay was changed."
+
+"Ah, then, if what you state is true, you told Mrs. Willis a lie, for she
+distinctly asked you if you knew anything about the 'Muddy Stream,' and
+you said you didn't. I saw you--I remarked how very red you got when you
+plumped out that great lie! My dear, if I am the meanest and wickedest
+girl in the school, prove it--go, tell Mrs. Willis what you know. Now, if
+you will allow me, I will get back into the land of dreams."
+
+Susan curled herself up once more in her bed, wrapped the bed-clothes
+tightly round her and was, to all appearance, oblivious of Hester's
+presence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+UNDER THE HEDGE.
+
+
+It is one thing to talk of the delights of sleeping under a hedgerow, and
+another to realize them. A hayfield is a very charming place, but in the
+middle of the night, with the dew clinging to everything, it is apt to
+prove but a chilly bed; the most familiar objects put on strange and
+unreal forms, the most familiar sounds become loud and alarming. Annie
+slept for about an hour soundly; then she awoke, trembling with cold in
+every limb, startled, and almost terrified by the oppressive loneliness
+of the night, sure that the insect life which surrounded her, and which
+would keep up successions of chirps, and croaks, and buzzes, was
+something mysterious and terrifying. Annie was a brave child, but even
+brave little girls may be allowed to possess nerves under her present
+conditions, and when a spider ran across her face she started up with a
+scream of terror. At this moment she almost regretted the close and dirty
+lodgings which she might have obtained for a few pence at Oakley. The hay
+in the field which she had selected was partly cut and partly standing.
+The cut portion had been piled up into little cocks and hillocks, and
+these, with the night shadows round them, appeared to the frightened
+child to assume large and half-human proportions. She found she could not
+sleep any longer. She wrapped her shawl tightly round her, and, crouching
+into the hedgerow, waited for the dawn.
+
+That watched-for dawn seemed to the tired child as if it would never
+come; but at last her solitary vigil came to an end, the cold grew
+greater, a little gentle breeze stirred the uncut grass, and up in the
+sky overhead the stars became fainter and the atmosphere clearer. Then
+came a little faint flush of pink, then a brighter light, and then all in
+a moment the birds burst into a perfect jubilee of song, the insects
+talked and chirped and buzzed in new tones, the hay-cocks became simply
+hay-cocks, the dew sparkled on the wet grass, the sun had risen, and the
+new day had begun.
+
+Annie sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. With the sunshine and brightness
+her versatile spirits revived; she buckled on her courage like an armor,
+and almost laughed at the miseries of the past few hours. Once more she
+believed that success and victory would be hers, once more in her small
+way she was ready to do or die. She believed absolutely in the holiness
+of her mission. Love--love alone, simple and pure, was guiding her. She
+gave no thought to after-consequences, she gave no memory to past events:
+her object now was to rescue Nan, and she herself was nothing.
+
+Annie had a fellow-feeling, a rare sympathy with every little child; but
+no child had ever come to take Nan's place with her. The child she had
+first begun to notice simply out of a naughty spirit of revenge, had
+twined herself round her heart, and Annie loved Nan all the more dearly
+because she had long ago repented of stealing her affections from Hester,
+and would gladly have restored her to her old place next to Hetty's
+heart. Her love for Nan, therefore, had the purity and greatness which
+all love that calls forth self-sacrifice must possess. Annie had denied
+herself, and kept away from Nan of late. Now, indeed, she was going to
+rescue her; but if she thought of herself at all, it was with the
+certainty that for this present act of disobedience Mrs. Willis would
+dismiss her from the school, and she would not see little Nan again.
+
+Never mind that, if Nan herself was saved. Annie was disobedient, but on
+this occasion she was not unhappy; she had none of that remorse which
+troubled her so much after her wild picnic in the fairies' field. On the
+contrary, she had a strange sense of peace and even guidance; she had
+confessed this sin to Mrs. Willis, and, though she was suspected of far
+worse, her own innocence kept her heart untroubled. The verse which had
+occurred to her two mornings before still rang in her ears:
+
+            "A soul which has sinned and is pardoned again."
+
+The impulsive, eager child was possessed just now of something which men
+call True Courage; it was founded on the knowledge that God would help
+her, and was accordingly calm and strengthening.
+
+Annie rose from her damp bed, and looked around her for a little stream
+where she might wash her face and hands; suddenly she remembered that
+face and hands were dyed, and that she would do best to leave them alone.
+She smoothed out as best she could the ragged elf-locks which the gypsy
+maid had left on her curly head, and then covering her face with her
+hands, said simply and earnestly:
+
+"Please, my Father in heaven, help me to find little Nan;" then she set
+off through the cornfields in the direction of the gypsies' encampment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+TIGER.
+
+
+It was still very, very early in the morning, and the gypsy folk, tired
+from their march on the preceding day, slept. There stood the conical,
+queer-shaped tents, four in number; at a little distance off grazed the
+donkeys and a couple of rough mules; at the door of the tents lay
+stretched out in profound repose two or three dogs.
+
+Annie dreaded the barking of the dogs, although she guessed that if they
+set up a noise, and a gypsy wife or man put out their heads in
+consequence, they would only desire the gypsy child to lie down and keep
+quiet.
+
+She stood still for a moment--she was very anxious to prowl around the
+place and examine the ground while the gypsies still slept, but the
+watchful dogs deterred her. She stood perfectly quiet behind the
+hedgerow, thinking hard. Should she trust to a charm she knew she
+possessed, and venture into the encampment? Annie had almost as great a
+fascination over dogs and cats as she had over children. As a little
+child going to visit with her mother at strange houses, the watch-dogs
+never barked at her; on the contrary, they yielded to the charm which
+seemed to come from her little fingers as she patted their great heads.
+Slowly their tails would move backward and forward as she patted them,
+and even the most ferocious would look at her with affection.
+
+Annie wondered if the gypsy dogs would now allow her to approach without
+barking. She felt that the chances were in her favor; she was dressed in
+gypsy garments, there would be nothing strange in her appearance, and if
+she could get near one of the dogs she knew that she could exercise the
+magic of her touch.
+
+Her object, then, was to approach one of the tents very, very quietly--so
+softly that even the dog's ears should not detect the light footfall. If
+she could approach close enough to put her hand on the dog's neck all
+would be well. She pulled off the gypsy maid's rough shoes, hid them in
+the grass where she could find them again, and came gingerly step by
+step, nearer and nearer the principal tent. At its entrance lay a
+ferocious-looking half-bred bull-dog. Annie possessed that necessary
+accompaniment to courage--great outward calm; the greater the danger, the
+more cool and self-possessed did she become. She was within a step or two
+of the tent when she trod accidentally on a small twig; it cracked,
+giving her foot a sharp pain, and very slight as the sound was, causing
+the bull-dog to awake. He raised his wicked face, saw the figure like his
+own people, and yet unlike, but a step or two away, and, uttering a low
+growl, sprang forward.
+
+In the ordinary course of things this growl would have risen in volume
+and would have terminated in a volley of barking; but Annie was prepared:
+she went down on her knees, held out her arms, said, "Poor fellow!" in
+her own seductive voice, and the bull-dog fawned at her feet. He licked
+one of her hands while she patted him gently with the other.
+
+"Come, poor fellow," she said then in a gentle tone, and Annie and the
+dog began to perambulate round the tents.
+
+The other dogs raised sleepy eyes, but seeing Tiger and the girl
+together, took no notice whatever, except by a thwack or two of their
+stumpy tails. Annie was now looking not only at the tents, but for
+something else which Zillah, her nurse, had told her might be found near
+to many gypsy encampments. This was a small subterranean passage, which
+generally led into a long-disused underground Danish fort. Zillah had
+told her what uses the gypsies liked to make of these underground
+passages, and how they often chose those which had two entrances. She
+told her that in this way they eluded the police, and were enabled
+successfully to hide the goods which they stole. She had also described
+to her their great ingenuity in hiding the entrances to these underground
+retreats.
+
+Annie's idea now was that little Nan was hidden in one of these vaults,
+and she determined first to make sure of its existence, and then to
+venture herself into this underground region in search of the lost child.
+
+She had made a decided conquest in the person of Tiger, who followed her
+round and round the tents, and when the gypsies at last began to stir,
+and Annie crept into the hedgerow, the dog crouched by her side. Tiger
+was the favorite dog of the camp, and presently one of the men called to
+him; he rose unwillingly, looked back with longing eyes at Annie, and
+trotted off, to return in the space of about five minutes with a great
+hunch of broken bread in his mouth. This was his breakfast, and he meant
+to share it with his new friend. Annie was too hungry to be fastidious,
+and she also knew the necessity of keeping up her strength. She crept
+still farther under the hedge, and the dog and girl shared the broken
+bread between them.
+
+Presently the tents were all astir; the gypsy children began to swarm
+about, the women lit fires in the open air, and the smell of very
+appetizing breakfasts filled the atmosphere. The men also lounged into
+view, standing lazily at the doors of their tents, and smoking great
+pipes of tobacco. Annie lay quiet. She could see from her hiding-place
+without being seen. Suddenly--and her eyes began to dilate, and she found
+her heart beating strangely--she laid her hand on Tiger, who was
+quivering all over.
+
+"Stay with me, dear dog," she said.
+
+There was a great commotion and excitement in the gypsy camp; the
+children screamed and ran into the tents, the women paused in their
+preparation for breakfast, the men took their short pipes out of their
+mouths; every dog, with the exception of Tiger, barked ferociously. Tiger
+and Annie alone were motionless.
+
+The cause of all this uproar was a body of police, about six in number,
+who came boldly into the field, and demanded instantly to search the
+tents.
+
+"We want a woman who calls herself Mother Rachel," they said. "She
+belongs to this encampment. We know her; let her come forward at once; we
+wish to question her."
+
+The men stood about; the women came near; the children crept out of their
+tents, placing their fingers to their frightened lips, and staring at the
+men who represented those horrors to their unsophisticated minds called
+Law and Order.
+
+"We must search the tents. We won't stir from the spot until we have had
+an interview with Mother Rachel," said the principal member of the police
+force.
+
+The men answered respectfully that the gypsy mother was not yet up; but
+if the gentlemen would wait a moment she would soon come and speak to
+them.
+
+The officers expressed their willingness to wait, and collected round the
+tents.
+
+Just at this instant, under the hedgerow, Tiger raised his head. Annie's
+watchful eyes accompanied the dog's. He was gazing after a tiny gypsy
+maid who was skulking along the hedge, and who presently disappeared
+through a very small opening into the neighboring field.
+
+Quick as thought Annie, holding Tiger's collar, darted after her. The
+little maid heard the footsteps; but seeing another gypsy girl, and their
+own dog, Tiger, she took no further notice, but ran openly and very
+swiftly across the field until she came to a broken wall. Here she tugged
+and tugged at some loose stones, managed to push one away, and then
+called down into the ground:
+
+"Mother Rachel!"
+
+"Come, Tiger," said Annie. She flew to a hedge not far off, and once more
+the dog and she hid themselves. The small girl was too excited to notice
+either their coming or going; she went on calling anxiously into the
+ground:
+
+"Mother Rachel! Mother Rachel!"
+
+Presently a black head and a pair of brawny shoulders appeared, and the
+tall woman whose face and figure Annie knew so well stepped up out of the
+ground, pushed back the stones into their place, and, taking the gypsy
+child into her arms, ran swiftly across the field in the direction of the
+tents.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+FOR LOVE OF NAN.
+
+
+Now was Annie's time. "Tiger," she said, for she had heard the men
+calling the dog's name, "I want to go right down into that hole in the
+ground, and you are to come with me. Don't let us lose a moment, good
+dog."
+
+The dog wagged his tail, capered about in front of Annie, and then with a
+wonderful shrewdness ran before her to the broken wall, where he stood
+with his head bent downward and his eyes fixed on the ground.
+
+Annie pulled and tugged at the loose stones; they were so heavy and
+cunningly arranged that she wondered how the little maid, who was smaller
+than herself, had managed to remove them. She saw quickly, however, that
+they were arranged with a certain leverage, and that the largest stone,
+that which formed the real entrance to the underground passage, was
+balanced in its place in such a fashion that when she leaned on a certain
+portion of it, it moved aside, and allowed plenty of room for her to go
+down into the earth.
+
+Very dark and dismal and uninviting did the rude steps, which led nobody
+knew where, appear. For one moment Annie hesitated; but the thought of
+Nan hidden somewhere in this awful wretchedness nerved her courage.
+
+"Go first, Tiger, please," she said, and the dog scampered down, sniffing
+the earth as he went. Annie followed him, but she had scarcely got her
+head below the level of the ground before she found herself in total and
+absolute darkness; she had unwittingly touched the heavy stone, which had
+swung back into its place. She heard Tiger sniffing below, and, calling
+him to keep by her side, she went very carefully down and down and down,
+until at last she knew by the increase of air that she must have come to
+the end of the narrow entrance passage.
+
+She was now able to stand upright, and raising her hand, she tried in
+vain to find a roof. The room where she stood, then, must be lofty. She
+went forward in the utter darkness very, very slowly; suddenly her head
+again came in contact with the roof; she made a few steps farther on, and
+then found that to proceed at all she must go on her hands and knees. She
+bent down and peered through the darkness.
+
+"We'll go on, Tiger," she said, and, holding the dog's collar and
+clinging to him for protection, she crept along the narrow passage.
+
+Suddenly she gave an exclamation of joy--at the other end of this gloomy
+passage was light--faint twilight surely, but still undoubted light,
+which came down from some chink in the outer world. Annie came to the end
+of the passage, and, standing upright, found herself suddenly in a room;
+a very small and miserable room certainly, but with the twilight shining
+through it, which revealed not only that it was a room, but a room which
+contained a heap of straw, a three-legged stool, and two or three cracked
+cups and saucers. Here, then, was Mother Rachel's lair, and here she must
+look for Nan.
+
+The darkness had been so intense that even the faint twilight of this
+little chamber had dazzled Annie's eyes for a moment; the next, however,
+her vision became clear. She saw that the straw bed contained a bundle;
+she went near--out of the wrapped-up bundle of shawls appeared the head
+of a child. The child slept, and moaned in its slumbers.
+
+Annie bent over it and said, "Thank God!" in a tone of rapture, and then,
+stooping down, she passionately kissed the lips of little Nan.
+
+Nan's skin had been dyed with the walnut-juice, her pretty, soft hair had
+been cut short, her dainty clothes had been changed for the most ragged
+gipsy garments, but still she was undoubtedly Nan, the child whom Annie
+had come to save.
+
+From her uneasy slumbers the poor little one awoke with a cry of terror.
+She could not recognize Annie's changed face, and clasped her hands
+before her eyes, and said piteously:
+
+"Me want to go home--go 'way, naughty woman, me want my Annie."
+
+"Little darling!" said Annie, in her sweetest tones. The changed face had
+not appealed to Nan, but the old voice went straight to her baby heart;
+she stopped crying and looked anxiously toward the entrance of the room.
+
+"Tum in, Annie--me here, Annie--little Nan want 'oo."
+
+Annie glanced around her in despair. Suddenly her quick eyes lighted on a
+jug of water; she flew to it, and washed and laved her face.
+
+"Coming, darling," she said, as she tried to remove the hateful dye. She
+succeeded partly, and when she came back, to her great joy, the child
+recognized her.
+
+"Now, little precious, we will get out of this as fast as we can," said
+Annie, and, clasping Nan tightly in her arms, she prepared to return by
+the way she had come. Then and there, for the first time, there flashed
+across her memory the horrible fact that the stone door had swung back
+into its place, and that by no possible means could she open it. She and
+Nan and Tiger were buried in a living tomb, and must either stay there
+and perish, or await the tender mercies of the cruel Mother Rachel.
+
+Nan, with her arms tightly clasped round Annie's neck, began to cry
+fretfully. She was impatient to get out of this dismal place; she was no
+longer oppressed by fears, for with the Annie whom she loved she felt
+absolutely safe; but she was hungry and cold and uncomfortable, and it
+seemed but a step, to little inexperienced Nan, from Annie's arms to her
+snug, cheerful nursery at Lavender House.
+
+"Tum, Annie--tum home, Annie," she begged and, when Annie did not stir,
+she began to weep.
+
+In truth, the poor, brave little girl was sadly puzzled, and her first
+gleam of returning hope lay in the remembrance of Zillah's words, that
+there were generally two entrances to these old underground forts. Tiger,
+who seemed thoroughly at home in this little room, and had curled himself
+up comfortably on the heap of straw, had probably often been here before.
+Perhaps Tiger knew the way to the second entrance. Annie called him to
+her side.
+
+"Tiger," she said, going down on her knees, and looking full into his
+ugly but intelligent face, "Nan and I want to go out of this."
+
+Tiger wagged his stumpy tail.
+
+"We are hungry, Tiger, and we want something to eat, and you'd like a
+bone, wouldn't you?"
+
+Tiger's tail went with ferocious speed, and he licked Annie's hand.
+
+"There's no use going back that way, dear dog," continued the girl,
+pointing with her arm in the direction they had come. "The door is
+fastened, Tiger, and we can't get out. We can't get out because the door
+is shut."
+
+The dog's tail had ceased to wag; he took in the situation, for his whole
+expression showed dejection, and he drooped his head.
+
+It was now quite evident to Annie that Tiger had been here before, and
+that on some other occasion in his life he had wanted to get out and
+could not because the door was shut.
+
+"Now, Tiger," said Annie, speaking cheerfully, and rising to her feet,
+"we must get out. Nan and I are hungry, and you want your bone. Take us
+out the other way, good Tiger--the other way, dear dog."
+
+She moved instantly toward the little passage; the dog followed her.
+
+"The other way," she said, and she turned her back on the long narrow
+passage, and took a step or two into complete darkness. The dog began to
+whine, caught hold of her dress, and tried to pull her back.
+
+"Quite right, Tiger, we won't go that way," said Annie, instantly. She
+returned into the dimly-lighted room.
+
+"Find a way--find a way out, Tiger," she said.
+
+The dog evidently understood her; he moved restlessly about the room.
+Finally he got up on the bed, pulled and scratched and tore away the
+straw at the upper end, then, wagging his tail, flew to Annie's side. She
+came back with him. Beneath the straw was a tiny, tiny trap-door.
+
+"Oh, Tiger!" said the girl; she went down on her knees, and, finding she
+could not stir it, wondered if this also was kept in its place by a
+system of balancing. She was right; after a very little pressing the door
+moved aside, and Annie saw four or five rudely carved steps.
+
+"Come, Nan," she said joyfully, "Tiger has saved us; these steps must
+lead us out."
+
+The dog, with a joyful whine, went down first, and Annie, clasping Nan
+tightly in her arms, followed him. Four, five, six steps they went down;
+then, to Annie's great joy, she found that the next step began to ascend.
+Up and up she went, cheered by a welcome shaft of light. Finally she,
+Nan, and the dog found themselves emerging into the open air, through a
+hole which might have been taken for a large rabbit burrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+RESCUED.
+
+
+The girl, the child, and the dog found themselves in a comparatively
+strange country--Annie had completely lost her bearings. She looked
+around her for some sign of the gypsies' encampment; but whether she had
+really gone a greater distance than she imagined in those underground
+vaults, or whether the tents were hidden in some hollow of the ground,
+she did not know; she was only conscious that she was in a strange
+country, that Nan was clinging to her and crying for her breakfast, and
+that Tiger was sniffing the air anxiously. Annie guessed that Tiger could
+take them back to the camp, but this was by no means her wish. When she
+emerged out of the underground passage she was conscious for the first
+time of a strange and unknown experience. Absolute terror seized the
+brave child; she trembled from head to foot, her head ached violently,
+and the ground on which she stood seemed to reel, and the sky to turn
+round. She sat down for a moment on the green grass. What ailed her?
+where was she? how could she get home? Nan's little piteous wail, "Me
+want my bekfas', me want my nursie, me want Hetty," almost irritated her.
+
+"Oh, Nan," she said at last piteously, "have you not got your own Annie?
+Oh, Nan, dear little Nan, Annie feels so ill!"
+
+Nan had the biggest and softest of baby hearts--breakfast, nurse, Hetty,
+were all forgotten in the crowning desire to comfort Annie. She climbed
+on her knee and stroked her face and kissed her lips.
+
+"'Oo better now?" she said in a tone of baby inquiry.
+
+Annie roused herself with a great effort.
+
+"Yes, darling," she said; "we will try and get home. Come, Tiger. Tiger,
+dear, I don't want to go back to the gypsies; take me the other way--take
+me to Oakley."
+
+Tiger again sniffed the air, looked anxiously at Annie, and trotted on in
+front. Little Nan in her ragged gypsy clothes walked sedately by Annie's
+side.
+
+"Where 'oo s'oes?" she said, pointing to the girl's bare feet.
+
+"Gone, Nan--gone. Never mind, I've got you. My little treasure, my little
+love, you're safe at last."
+
+As Annie tottered, rather than walked, down a narrow path which led
+directly through a field of standing corn, she was startled by the sudden
+apparition of a bright-eyed girl, who appeared so suddenly in her path
+that she might have been supposed to have risen out of the very ground.
+
+The girl stared hard at Annie, fixed her eyes inquiringly on Nan and
+Tiger, and then turning on her heel, dashed up the path, went through a
+turnstile, across the road, and into a cottage.
+
+"Mother," she exclaimed, "I said she warn't a real gypsy; she's a-coming
+back, and her face is all streaked like, and she has a little'un along
+with her, and a dawg, and the only one as is gypsy is the dawg. Come and
+look at her, mother; oh, she is a fine take-in!"
+
+The round-faced, good-humored looking mother, whose name was Mrs.
+Williams, had been washing and putting away the breakfast things when her
+daughter entered. She now wiped her hands hastily and came to the cottage
+door.
+
+"Cross the road, and come to the stile, mother," said the energetic
+Peggy--"oh, there she be a-creeping along--oh, ain't she a take-in?"
+
+"'Sakes alive!" ejaculated Mrs. Williams, "the girl is ill! why, she
+can't keep herself steady! There! I knew she'd fall; ah! poor little
+thing--poor little thing."
+
+It did not take Mrs. Williams an instant to reach Annie's side; and in
+another moment she had lifted her in her strong arms and carried her into
+the cottage, Peggy lifting Nan and following in the rear, while Tiger
+walked by their sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+
+A whole week had passed, and there were no tidings whatever of little Nan
+or of Annie Forest. No one at Lavender House had heard a word about them;
+the police came and went, detectives even arrived from London, but there
+were no traces whatever of the missing children.
+
+The midsummer holiday was now close at hand, but no one spoke of it or
+thought of it. Mrs. Willis told the teachers that the prizes should be
+distributed, but she said she could invite no guests and could allow of
+no special festivities. Miss Danesbury and Miss Good repeated her words
+to the schoolgirls, who answered without hesitation that they did not
+wish for feasting and merriment; they would rather the day passed
+unnoticed. In truth, the fact that their baby was gone, that their
+favorite and prettiest and brightest schoolmate had also disappeared,
+caused such gloom, such distress, such apprehension that even the most
+thoughtless of those girls could scarcely have laughed or been merry.
+School-hours were still kept after a fashion, but there was no life in
+the lessons. In truth, it seemed as if the sun would never shine again at
+Lavender House.
+
+Hester was ill; not very ill--she had no fever, she had no cold; she had,
+as the good doctor explained it, nothing at all wrong, except that her
+nervous system had got a shock.
+
+"When the little one is found, Miss Hetty will be quite well again," said
+the good doctor; but the little one had not been found yet, and Hester
+had completely broken down. She lay on her bed, saying little or nothing,
+eating scarcely anything, sleeping not at all. All the girls were kind to
+her and each one in the school took turns in trying to comfort her; but
+no one could win a smile from Hester, and even Mrs. Willis failed utterly
+to reach or touch her heart.
+
+Mr. Everard came once to see her, but he had scarcely spoken many words
+when Hester broke into an agony of weeping and begged him to go away. He
+shook his head when he left her and said sadly to himself:
+
+"That girl has got something on her mind; she is grieving for more than
+the loss of her little sister."
+
+The twentieth of June came at last, and the girls sat about in groups in
+the pleasant shady garden, and talked of the very sad breaking-up day
+they were to have on the morrow, and wondered if, when they returned to
+school again, Annie and little Nan would have been found. Cecil Temple,
+Dora Russell, and one or two others were sitting together and whispering
+in low voices. Mary Price joined them, and said anxiously:
+
+"I don't think the doctor is satisfied about Hester, Perhaps I ought not
+to have listened, but I heard him talking to Miss Danesbury just now; he
+said she must be got to sleep somehow, and she is to have a composing
+draught to-night."
+
+"I wish poor Hetty would not turn away from us all," said Cecil; "I wish
+she would not quite give up hope; I do feel sure that Nan and Annie will
+be found yet."
+
+"Have you been praying about it, Cecil?" asked Mary, kneeling on the
+grass, laying her elbows on Cecil's knees and looking into her face. "Do
+you say this because you have faith?"
+
+"I have prayed and I have faith," replied Cecil in her simple, earnest
+way. "Why, Dora, what is the matter?"
+
+"Only that it's horrid to leave like this," said Dora; "I--I thought my
+last day at school would have been so different and somehow I am sorry I
+spoke so much against that poor little Annie."
+
+Here Cecil suddenly rose from her seat, and going up to Dora, clasped her
+arms round her neck.
+
+"Thank you, Dora," she said with fervor; "I love you for those words."
+
+"Here comes Susy," remarked Mary Price. "I really don't think _anything_
+would move Susy; she's just as stolid and indifferent as ever. Ah, Susy,
+here's a place for you--oh, what _is_ the matter with Phyllis? see how
+she's rushing toward us! Phyllis, my dear, don't break your neck."
+
+Susan, with her usual nonchalance, seated herself by Dora Russell's side.
+Phyllis burst excitedly into the group.
+
+"I think," she exclaimed, "I really, really do think that news has come
+of Annie's father. Nora said that Janet told her that a foreign letter
+came this morning to Mrs. Willis, and somebody saw Mrs. Willis talking to
+Miss Danesbury--oh, I forgot, only I know that the girls of the school
+are whispering the news that Mrs. Willis cried, and Miss Danesbury said,
+'After waiting for him four years, and now, when he comes back, he won't
+find her!' Oh dear, oh dear! there is Danesbury. Cecil, darling love, go
+to her, and find out the truth."
+
+Cecil rose at once, went across the lawn, said a few words to Miss
+Danesbury, and came back to the other girls.
+
+"It is true," she said sadly, "there came a letter this morning from
+Captain Forest; he will be at Lavender House in a week. Miss Danesbury
+says it is a wonderful letter, and he has been shipwrecked, and on an
+island by himself for ever so long; but he is safe now, and will soon be
+in England. Miss Danesbury says Mrs. Willis can scarcely speak about that
+letter; she is in great, great trouble, and Miss Danesbury confesses that
+they are all more anxious than they dare to admit about Annie and little
+Nan."
+
+At this moment the sound of carriage wheels was heard on the drive, and
+Susan, peering forward to see who was arriving, remarked in her usual
+nonchalant manner:
+
+"Only the little Misses Bruce in their basket-carriage--what dull-looking
+women they are?"
+
+Nobody commented, however, on her observation, and gradually the little
+group of girls sank into absolute silence.
+
+From where they sat they could see the basket-carriage waiting at the
+front entrance--the little ladies had gone inside, all was perfect
+silence and stillness.
+
+Suddenly on the stillness a sound broke--the sound of a girl running
+quickly; nearer and nearer came the steps, and the four or five who sat
+together under the oak-tree noticed the quick panting breath, and felt
+even before a word was uttered that evil tidings were coming to them.
+They all started to their feet, however; they all uttered a cry of horror
+and distress when Hester herself broke into their midst. She was supposed
+to be lying down in a darkened room, she was supposed to be very
+ill--what was she doing here?
+
+"Hetty!" exclaimed Cecil.
+
+Hester pushed past her; she rushed up to Susan Drummond, and seized her
+arm.
+
+"News has come!" she panted; "news--news at last! Nan is found!--and
+Annie--they are both found--but Annie is dying. Come, Susan, come this
+moment; we must both tell what we know now."
+
+By her impetuosity, by the intense fire of her passion and agony, even
+Susan was electrified into leaving her seat and going with her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+TWO CONFESSIONS.
+
+
+Hester dragged her startled and rather unwilling companion in through the
+front entrance, past some agitated-looking servants who stood about in
+the hall, and through the velvet curtains into Mrs. Willis' boudoir.
+
+The Misses Bruce were there, and Mrs. Willis in her bonnet and cloak was
+hastily packing some things into a basket.
+
+"I--I must speak to you," said Hester, going up to her governess. "Susan
+and I have got something to say, and we must say it here, now at once."
+
+"No, not now, Hester," replied Mrs. Willis, looking for a moment into her
+pupil's agitated face. "Whatever you and Susan Drummond have to tell
+cannot be listened to by me at this moment. I have not an instant to
+lose."
+
+"You are going to Annie?" asked Hester.
+
+"Yes; don't keep me. Good-bye, my dears; good-bye."
+
+Mrs. Willis moved toward the door. Hester, who felt almost beside
+herself, rushed after her, and caught her arm.
+
+"Take us with you, take Susy and me with you--we must, we must see Annie
+before she dies."
+
+"Hush, my child," said Mrs. Willis very quietly; "try to calm yourself.
+Whatever you have got to say shall be listened to later on--now moments
+are precious, and I cannot attend to you. Calm yourself, Hester, and
+thank God for your dear little sister's safety. Prepare yourself to
+receive her, for the carriage which takes me to Annie will bring little
+Nan home."
+
+Mrs. Willis left the room, and Hester threw herself on her knees and
+covered her face with her trembling hands. Presently she was aroused by a
+light touch on her arm; it was Susan Drummond.
+
+"I may go now I suppose, Hester? You are not quite determined to make a
+fool of me, are you?"
+
+"I have determined to expose you, you coward; you mean, mean girl!"
+answered Hester, springing to her feet. "Come, I have no idea of letting
+you go. Mrs. Willis won't listen--we will find Mr. Everard."
+
+Whether Susan would really have gone with Heater remains to be proved,
+but just at that moment all possibility of retreat was cut away from her
+by Miss Agnes Bruce, who quietly entered Mrs. Willis' private
+sitting-room, followed by the very man Hester was about to seek.
+
+"I thought it best, my dear," she said, turning apologetically to Hester,
+"to go at once for our good clergyman; you can tell him all that is in
+your heart, and I will leave you. Before I go, however, I should like to
+tell you how I found Annie and little Nan."
+
+Hester made no answer; just for a brief moment she raised her eyes to
+Miss Agnes' kind face, then they sought the floor.
+
+"The story can be told in a few words, dear," said the little lady. "A
+workwoman of the name of Williams, whom my sister and I have employed for
+years, and who lives near Oakley, called on us this morning to apologize
+for not being able to finish some needlework. She told us that she had a
+sick child, and also a little girl of three, in her house. She said she
+had found the child, in ragged gypsy garments, fainting in a field. She
+took her into her house, and on undressing her, found that she was no
+true gypsy, but that her face and hands and arms had been dyed; she said
+the little one had been treated in a similar manner. Jane's suspicions
+and mine were instantly roused, and we went back with the woman to
+Oakley, and found, as we had anticipated, that the children were little
+Nan and Annie. The sad thing is that Annie is in high fever, and knows no
+one. We waited there until the doctor arrived, who spoke very, very
+seriously of her case. Little Nan is well, and asked for you."
+
+With these last words Miss Agnes Bruce softly left the room closing the
+door after her.
+
+"Now, Susan," said Hester, without an instant's pause; "come, let us tell
+Mr. Everard of our wickedness. Oh, sir," she added, raising her eyes to
+the clergyman's face, "if Annie dies I shall go mad. Oh, I cannot, cannot
+bear life if Annie dies!"
+
+"Tell me what is wrong, my poor child," said Mr. Everard. He laid his
+hand on her shoulder, and gradually and skillfully drew from the agitated
+and miserable girl the story of her sin, of her cowardice, and of her
+deep, though until now unavailing repentance. How from the first she had
+hated and disliked Annie; how unjustly she had felt toward her; how she
+had longed and hoped Annie was guilty; and how, when at last the clue was
+put into her hands to prove Annie's absolute innocence, she had
+determined not to use it.
+
+"From the day Nan was lost," continued Hester, "it has been all agony and
+all repentance; but, oh, I was too proud to tell! I was too proud to
+humble myself to the very dust!"
+
+"But not now," said the clergyman, very gently.
+
+"No, no; not now. I care for nothing now in all the world except that
+Annie may live."
+
+"You don't mind the fact that Mrs. Willis and all your schoolfellows must
+know of this, and must--must judge you accordingly?"
+
+"They can't think worse of me than I think of myself. I only want Annie
+to live."
+
+"No, Hester," answered Mr. Everard, "you want more than that--you want
+far more than that. It may be that God will take Annie Forest away. We
+cannot tell. With Him alone are the issues of life or death. What you
+really want, my child, is the forgiveness of the little girl you have
+wronged, and the forgiveness of your Father in heaven."
+
+Hester began to sob wildly.
+
+"If--if she dies--may I see her first?" she gasped.
+
+"Yes; I will try and promise you that. Now, will you go to your room? I
+must speak to Miss Drummond alone; she is a far worse culprit than you."
+
+Mr. Everard opened the door for Hester, who went silently out.
+
+"Meet me in the chapel to-night," he whispered low in her ear, "I will
+talk with you and pray with you there."
+
+He closed the door, and came back to Susan.
+
+All throughout this interview his manner had been very gentle to Hester:
+but the clergyman could be stern, and there was a gleam of very righteous
+anger in his eyes as he turned to the sullen girl who leaned heavily
+against the table.
+
+"This narrative of Hester Thornton's is, of course, quite true, Miss
+Drummond?"
+
+"Oh, yes; there seems to be no use in denying that," said Susan.
+
+"I must insist on your telling me the exact story of your sin. There is
+no use in your attempting to deny anything; only the utmost candor on
+your part can now save you from being publicly expelled."
+
+"I am willing to tell," answered Susan. "I meant no harm; it was done as
+a bit of fun. I had a cousin at home who was very clever at drawing
+caricatures, and I happened to have nothing to do one day, and I was
+alone in Annie's bedroom, and I thought I'd like to see what she kept in
+her desk. I always had a fancy for collecting odd keys, and I found one
+on my bunch which fitted her desk exactly. I opened it, and I found such
+a smart little caricature of Mrs. Willis. I sent the caricature to my
+cousin, and begged of her to make an exact copy of it. She did so, and I
+put Annie's back in her desk, and pasted the other into Cecil's book. I
+didn't like Dora Russell, and I wrapped up the sweeties in her theme; but
+I did the other for pure fun, for I knew Cecil would be so shocked; but I
+never guessed the blame would fall on Annie. When I found it did, I felt
+inclined to tell once or twice, but it seemed too much trouble and,
+besides, I knew Mrs. Willis would punish me, and, of course, I didn't
+wish that.
+
+"Dora Russell was always very nasty to me, and when I found she was
+putting on such airs, and pretending she could write such a grand essay
+for the prize, I thought I'd take down her pride a bit. I went to her
+desk, and I got some of the rough copy of the thing she was calling 'The
+River,' and I sent it off to my cousin, and my cousin made up such a
+ridiculous paper, and she hit off Dora's writing to the life, and, of
+course, I had to put it into Dora's desk and tear up her real copy. It
+was very unlucky Hester being in the room. Of course I never guessed
+that, or I wouldn't have gone. That was the night we all went with Annie
+to the fairies' field. I never meant to get Hester into a scrape, nor
+Annie either, for that matter; but, of course, I couldn't be expected to
+tell on myself."
+
+Susan related her story in her usual monotonous and sing-song voice.
+There was no trace of apparent emotion on her face, or of regret in her
+tones. When she had finished speaking Mr. Everard was absolutely silent.
+
+"I took a great deal of trouble," continued Susan, after a pause, in a
+slightly fretful key. "It was really nothing but a joke, and I don't see
+why such a fuss should have been made. I know I lost a great deal of
+sleep trying to manage that twine business round my foot. I don't think I
+shall trouble myself playing any more tricks upon schoolgirls--they are
+not worth it."
+
+"You'll never play any more tricks on these girls," said Mr. Everard,
+rising to his feet, and suddenly filling the room and reducing Susan to
+an abject silence by the ring of his stern, deep voice. "I take it upon
+me, in the absence of your mistress, to pronounce your punishment. You
+leave Lavender House in disgrace this evening. Miss Good will take you
+home, and explain to your parents the cause of your dismissal. You are
+not to see _any_ of your schoolfellows again. Your meanness, your
+cowardice, your sin require no words on my part to deepen their vileness.
+Through pure wantonness you have cast a cruel shadow on an innocent young
+life. If that girl dies, you indeed are not blameless in the cause of her
+early removal, for through you her heart and spirit were broken. Miss
+Drummond, I pray God you may at least repent and be sorry. There are some
+people mentioned in the Bible who are spoken of as past feeling. Wretched
+girl, while there is yet time, pray that you may not belong to them. Now
+I must leave you, but I shall lock you in. Miss Good will come for you in
+about an hour to take you away."
+
+Susan Drummond sank down on the nearest seat, and began to cry softly;
+one or two pin-pricks from Mr. Everard's stern words may possibly have
+reached her shallow heart--no one can tell. She left Lavender House that
+evening, and none of the girls who had lived with her as their schoolmate
+heard of her again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+THE HEART OF LITTLE NAN.
+
+
+For several days now Annie had lain unconscious in Mrs. Williams' little
+bedroom; the kind-hearted woman could not find it in her heart to send
+the sick child away. Her husband and the neighbors expostulated with her,
+and said that Annie was only a poor little waif.
+
+"She has no call on you," said Jane Allen, a hard-featured woman who
+lived next door. "Why should you put yourself out just for a sick lass?
+and she'll be much better off in the workhouse infirmary."
+
+But Mrs. Williams shook her head at her hard-featured and hard-hearted
+neighbor, and resisted her husband's entreaties.
+
+"Eh!" she said, "but the poor lamb needs a good bit of mothering, and I
+misdoubt me she wouldn't get much of that in the infirmary."
+
+So Annie stayed, and tossed from side to side of her little bed, and
+murmured unintelligible words, and grew daily a little weaker and a
+little more delirious. The parish doctor called, and shook his head over
+her; he was not a particularly clever man, but he was the best the
+Williamses could afford. While Annie suffered and went deeper into that
+valley of humiliation and weakness which leads to the gate of the Valley
+of the Shadow of Death, little Nan played with Peggy Williams, and
+accustomed herself after the fashion of little children to all the ways
+of her new and humble home.
+
+It was on the eighth day of Annie's fever that the Misses Bruce
+discovered her, and on the evening of that day Mrs. Willis knelt by her
+little favorite's bed. A better doctor had been called in, and all that
+money could procure had been got now for poor Annie; but the second
+doctor considered her case even more critical, and said that the close
+air of the cottage was much against her recovery.
+
+"I didn't make that caricature; I took the girls into the fairies' field,
+but I never pasted that caricature into Cecil's book. I know you don't
+believe me, Cecil; but do you think I would really do anything so mean
+about one whom love? No, No! I am innocent! God knows it. Yes, I am glad
+of that--God knows it."
+
+Over and over in Mrs. Willis' presence these piteous words would come
+from the fever-stricken child, but always when she came to the little
+sentence "God knows I am innocent," her voice would grow tranquil, and a
+faint and sweet smile would play round her lips.
+
+Late that night a carriage drew up at a little distance from the cottage,
+and a moment or two afterward Mrs. Willis was called out of the room to
+speak to Cecil Temple.
+
+"I have found out the truth about Annie; I have come at once to tell
+you," she said; and then she repeated the substance of Hester's and
+Susan's story.
+
+"God help me for having misjudged her," murmured the head-mistress; then
+she bade Cecil "good-night" and returned to the sick-room.
+
+The next time Annie broke out with her piteous wail, "They believe me
+guilty--Mrs. Willis does--they all do," the mistress laid her hand with a
+firm and gentle pressure on the child's arm.
+
+"Not now, my dear," she said, in a slow, clear, and emphatic voice. "God
+has shown your governess the truth, and she believes in you."
+
+The very carefully-uttered words pierced through the clouded brain; for a
+moment Annie lay quite still, with her bright and lovely eyes fixed on
+her teacher.
+
+"Is that really you?" she asked.
+
+"I am here, my darling."
+
+"And you believe in me?"
+
+"I do, most absolutely."
+
+"God does, too, you know," answered Annie--bringing out the words
+quickly, and turning her head to the other side. The fever had once more
+gained supremacy, and she rambled on unceasingly through the dreary
+night.
+
+Now, however, when the passionate words broke out, "They believe me
+guilty," Mrs. Willis always managed to quiet her by saying, "I know you
+are innocent."
+
+The next day at noon those girls who had not gone home--for many had
+started by the morning train--were wandering aimlessly about the grounds.
+
+Mr. Everard had gone to see Annie, and had promised to bring back the
+latest tidings about her.
+
+Hester, holding little Nan's hand--for she could scarcely bear to have
+her recovered treasure out of sight--had wandered away from the rest of
+her companions, and had seated herself with Nan under a large oak-tree
+which grew close to the entrance of the avenue. She had come here in
+order to be the very first to see Mr. Everard on his return. Nan had
+climbed into Hester's lap, and Hester had buried her aching head in
+little Nan's bright curls, when she started suddenly to her feet and ran
+forward. Her quick ears had detected the sound of wheels.
+
+How soon Mr. Everard had returned; surely the news was bad! She flew to
+the gate, and held it open in order to avoid the short delay which the
+lodge-keeper might cause in coming to unfasten it. She flushed, however,
+vividly, and felt half inclined to retreat into the shade, when she saw
+that the gentleman who was approaching was not Mr. Everard, but a tall,
+handsome, and foreign-looking man, who drove a light dog-cart himself.
+The moment he saw Hester with little Nan clinging to her skirts he
+stopped short.
+
+"Is this Lavender House, little girl?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Hester.
+
+"And can you tell me--but of course you know--you are one of the young
+ladies who live here, eh?"
+
+Hester nodded.
+
+"Then you can tell me if Mrs. Willis is at home--but of course she is."
+
+"No, sir," answered Hester; "I am sorry to tell you that Mrs. Willis is
+away. She has been called away on very, very sad business; she won't come
+back to-night."
+
+Something in Hester's tone caused the stranger to look at her
+attentively; he jumped off the dog-cart and came to her side.
+
+"See here, Miss----"
+
+"Thornton," put in Hester.
+
+"Yes, Miss--Miss Thornton, perhaps you can manage for me as well as Mrs.
+Willis; after all I don't particularly want to see her. If you belong to
+Lavender House, you, of course, know my--I mean you have a schoolmate
+here, a little, pretty gypsy rogue called Forest--little Annie Forest. I
+want to see her--can you take me to her?"
+
+"You are her father?" gasped Hester.
+
+"Yes, my dear child, I am her father. Now you can take me to her at
+once."
+
+Hester covered her face.
+
+"Oh, I cannot," she said--"I cannot take you to Annie. Oh, sir, if you
+knew all, you would feel inclined to kill me. Don't ask me about
+Annie--don't, don't."
+
+The stranger looked fairly non-plussed and not a little alarmed. Just at
+this moment Nan's tiny fingers touched his hand.
+
+"Me'll take 'oo to my Annie," she said--"mine poor Annie. Annie's vedy
+sick, but me'll take 'oo."
+
+The tall, foreign-looking man lifted Nan into his arms.
+
+"Sick, is she?" he answered. "Look here young lady," he added, turning to
+Hester, "whatever you have got to say, I am sure you will try and say it;
+you will pity a father's anxiety and master your own feelings. Where _is_
+my little girl?"
+
+Hester hastily dried her tears.
+
+"She is in a cottage near Oakley, sir."
+
+"Indeed! Oakley is some miles from here?"
+
+"And she is very ill."
+
+"What of?"
+
+"Fever; they--they fear she may die."
+
+"Take me to her," said the stranger. "If she is ill and dying she wants
+me. Take me to her at once. Here, jump on the dog-cart; and, little one,
+you shall come too."
+
+So furiously did Captain Forest drive that in a very little over an
+hour's time his panting horse stopped at a few steps from the cottage. He
+called to a boy to hold him, and, accompanied by Hester, and carrying Nan
+in his arms, he stood on the threshold of Mrs. Williams' humble little
+abode. Mr. Everard was coming out.
+
+"Hester," he said, "you here? I was coming for you."
+
+"Oh, then she is worse?"
+
+"She is conscious, and has asked for you. Yes, she is very, very ill."
+
+"Mr. Everard, this gentleman is Annie's father."
+
+Mr. Everard looked pityingly at Captain Forest.
+
+"You have come back at a sad hour, sir," he said. "But no, it cannot harm
+her to see you. Come with me."
+
+Captain Forest went first into the sick-room; Hester waited outside. She
+had the little kitchen to herself, for all the Williamses, with the
+exception of the good mother, had moved for the time being to other
+quarters. Surely Mr. Everard would come for her in a moment? Surely
+Captain Forest, who had gone into the sick-room with Nan in his arms,
+would quickly return? There was no sound. All was absolute quiet. How
+soon would Hester be summoned? Could she--could she bear to look at
+Annie's dying face? Her agony drove her down on her knees.
+
+"Oh, if you would only spare Annie!" she prayed to God. Then she wiped
+her eyes. This terrible suspense seemed more than she could bear.
+Suddenly the bedroom door was softly and silently opened, and Mr. Everard
+came out.
+
+"She sleeps," he said; "there is a shadow of hope. Little Nan has done
+it. Nan asked to lie down beside her, and she said, 'Poor Annie! poor
+Annie!' and stroked her cheek; and in some way, I don't know how, the two
+have gone to sleep together. Annie did not even glance at her father; she
+was quite taken up with Nan. You can come to the door and look at her,
+Hester."
+
+Hester did so. A time had been when she could scarcely have borne that
+sight without a pang of jealousy; now she turned to Mr. Everard:
+
+"I--I could even give her the heart of little Nan to keep her here," she
+murmured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+THE PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+
+Annie did not die. The fever passed away in that long and refreshing
+sleep, while Nan's cool hand lay against her cheek. She came slowly,
+slowly back to life--to a fresh, a new, and a glad life. Hester, from
+being her enemy, was now her dearest and warmest friend. Her father was
+at home again, and she could no longer think or speak of herself as
+lonely or sad. She recovered, and in future days reigned as a greater
+favorite than ever at Lavender House. It is only fair to say that Tiger
+never went back to the gypsies, but devoted himself first and foremost to
+Annie, and then to the captain, who pronounced him a capital dog, and
+when he heard his story vowed he never would part with him.
+
+Owing to Annie's illness, and to all the trouble and confusion which
+immediately ensued, Mrs. Willis did not give away her prizes at the usual
+time; but when her scholars once more assembled at Lavender House she
+astonished several of them by a few words.
+
+"My dears," she said, standing in her accustomed place at the head of the
+long school-room, "I intend now before our first day of lessons begins,
+to distribute those prizes which would have been yours, under ordinary
+circumstances, on the twenty-first of June. The prizes will be
+distributed during the afternoon recess; but here, and now, I wish to say
+something about--and also to give away--the prize for English
+composition. Six essays, all written with more or less care, have been
+given to me to inspect. There are reasons which we need not now go into
+which made it impossible to me to say anything in favor of a theme called
+'The River,' written by my late pupil, Miss Russell; but I can cordially
+praise a very nice historical sketch of Marie Antoinette, the work of
+Hester Thornton. Mary Price has also written a study which pleases me
+much, as it shows thought and even a little originality. The remainder of
+the six essays simply reach an ordinary average. You will be surprised
+therefore, my dears, to learn that I do not award the prize to any of
+these themes, but rather to a seventh composition, which was put into my
+hands yesterday by Miss Danesbury. It is crude and unfinished, and
+doubtless but for her recent illness would have received many
+corrections; but these few pages, which are called 'A Lonely Child,' drew
+tears from my eyes; crude as they are, they have the merit of real
+originality. They are too morbid to read to you, girls, and I sincerely
+trust and pray the young writer may never pen anything so sad again. Such
+as they are, however, they rank first in the order of merit and the prize
+is hers. Annie, my dear, come forward."
+
+Annie left her seat, and, amid the cheers of her companions, went up to
+Mrs. Willis, who placed a locket, attached to a slender gold chain, round
+her neck; the locket contained a miniature of the head-mistress'
+much-loved face.
+
+"After all, think of our Annie Forest turning out clever as well as being
+the prettiest and dearest girl in the school!" exclaimed several of her
+companions.
+
+"Only I do wish," added one, "that Mrs. Willis had let us see the essay.
+Annie, treasure, come here; tell us what the 'Lonely Child' was about."
+
+"I don't remember," answered Annie. "I don't know what loneliness means
+now, so how can I describe it?"
+
+THE END
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS
+For Young People
+BY POPULAR WRITERS,
+97-99-101 Reade Street, New York.
+
+Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By G. A. HENTY.
+With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service. The boy,
+brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a Jacobite agent,
+escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches Paris, and serves with
+the French army at Dettingen. He kills his father's foe in a duel, and
+escaping to the coast, shares the adventures of Prince Charlie, but
+finally settles happily in Scotland.
+
+"Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of 'Quentin Durward.' The lad's
+journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a
+narrative of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treatment
+and variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself."--_Spectator._
+
+With Clive in India; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By G. A. HENTY.
+With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in India and
+the close of his career was critical and eventful in the extreme. At its
+commencement the English were traders existing on sufferance of the
+native princes. At its close they were masters of Bengal and of the
+greater part of Southern India. The author has given a full and accurate
+account of the events of that stirring time, and battles and sieges
+follow each other in rapid succession, while he combines with his
+narrative a tale of daring and adventure, which gives a lifelike interest
+to the volume.
+
+"He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance,
+and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is
+deeply interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the
+volume."--_Scotsman._
+
+The Lion of the North: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of
+Religion. By G. A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by JOHN
+SCHoeNBERG. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the Thirty
+Years' War. The issue had its importance, which has extended to the
+present day, as it established religious freedom in Germany. The army of
+the chivalrous king of Sweden was largely composed of Scotchmen, and
+among these was the hero of the story.
+
+"The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys may
+be trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be
+profited."--_Times._
+
+The Dragon and the Raven; or, The Days of King Alfred. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle between
+Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents a vivid picture of
+the misery and ruin to which the country was reduced by the ravages of
+the sea-wolves. The hero, a young Saxon thane, takes part in all the
+battles fought by King Alfred. He is driven from his home, takes to the
+sea and resists the Danes on their own element, and being pursued by them
+up the Seine, is present at the long and desperate siege of Paris.
+
+"Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader."--_Athenaeum._
+
+The Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen
+appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first a
+struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of Carthage,
+that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he defeated the
+Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but took Rome,
+represents pretty nearly the sum total of their knowledge. To let them
+know more about this momentous struggle for the empire of the world Mr.
+Henty has written this story, which not only gives in graphic style a
+brilliant description of a most interesting period of history, but is a
+tale of exciting adventure sure to secure the interest of the reader.
+
+"Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays the
+interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose current
+varies in direction, but never loses its force."--_Saturday Review._
+
+In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish War of
+Independence. The extraordinary valor and personal prowess of Wallace and
+Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical heroes of chivalry, and indeed at
+one time Wallace was ranked with these legendary personages. The
+researches of modern historians have shown, however, that he was a
+living, breathing man--and a valiant champion. The hero of the tale
+fought under both Wallace and Bruce, and while the strictest historical
+accuracy has been maintained with respect to public events, the work is
+full of "hairbreadth 'scapes" and wild adventure.
+
+"It is written in the author's best style. Full of the wildest and most
+remarkable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy,
+once he has begun it, will not willingly put on one side."--_The
+Schoolmaster._
+
+With Lee in Virginia: A Story of the American Civil War. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely proving his
+sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves with no less courage
+and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson through the most exciting events of
+the struggle. He has many hairbreadth escapes, is several times wounded
+and twice taken prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in two
+cases, the devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom he had
+assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties.
+
+"One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. The
+picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic
+incidents are skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of
+the story."--_Standard._
+
+By England's Aid; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604). By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE, and Maps. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in the service
+of one of "the fighting Veres." After many adventures by sea and land,
+one of the lads finds himself on board a Spanish ship at the time of the
+defeat of the Armada, and escapes only to fall into the hands of the
+Corsairs. He is successful in getting back to Spain under the protection
+of a wealthy merchant, and regains his native country after the capture
+of Cadiz.
+
+"It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring
+incident and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the
+scene are finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its
+attractiveness."--_Boston Gazette._
+
+By Right of Conquest; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by W. S. STACEY, and Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.50.
+
+The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under the
+magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked among the most
+romantic and daring exploits in history. With this as the groundwork of
+his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the adventures of an English youth,
+Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor of the good ship Swan, which had sailed
+from a Devon port to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards
+in the New World. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but is
+saved by his own judgment and strength, and by the devotion of an Aztec
+princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the protection of the Spaniards,
+and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining his native shore,
+with a fortune and a charming Aztec bride.
+
+"'By Right of Conquest' is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful
+Historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published."--_Academy._
+
+In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by J. SCHoeNBERG. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the chateau of a
+French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies the family to
+Paris at the crisis of the Revolution. Imprisonment and death reduce
+their number, and the hero finds himself beset by perils with the three
+young daughters of the house in his charge. After hairbreadth escapes
+they reach Nantes. There the girls are condemned to death in the
+coffin-ships, but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy
+protector.
+
+"Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr.
+Henty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and
+peril they depict.... The story is one of Mr. Henty's best."--_Saturday
+Review._
+
+With Wolfe in Canada; or, The Winning of a Continent. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle between
+Britain and France for supremacy in the North American continent. On the
+issue of this war depended not only the destinies of North America, but
+to a large extent those of the mother countries themselves. The fall of
+Quebec decided that the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New
+World; that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the
+nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the English
+language, and English literature, should spread right round the globe.
+
+"It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically
+told, but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure
+and peril by flood and field."--_Illustrated London News._
+
+True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence. By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth,
+price $1.00.
+
+In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who took
+part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which American
+and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave with greater
+courage and good conduct. The historical portion of the book being
+accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures with the redskins on the
+shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting interest is interwoven with the
+general narrative and carried through the book.
+
+"Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers
+during the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son of
+an American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the
+hostile redskins in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us
+by the exploits of Hawkeye and Chingachgook."--_The Times._
+
+The Lion of St. Mark: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth Century. By G.
+A. HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth,
+price $1.00.
+
+A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor were put to
+the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and manliness which
+carry him safely through an atmosphere of intrigue, crime, and bloodshed.
+He contributes largely to the victories of the Venetians at Porto d'Anzo
+and Chioggia, and finally wins the hand of the daughter of one of the
+chief men of Venice.
+
+"Every boy should read 'The Lion of St. Mark.' Mr. Henty has never produced
+a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious."--_Saturday
+Review._
+
+A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by W. B. WOLLEN. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood, emigrates
+to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the mounted police. A
+few years of active work on the frontier, where he has many a brush with
+both natives and bushrangers, gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he
+eventually settles down to the peaceful life of a squatter.
+
+"Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully
+constructed, or a better written story than this."--_Spectator._
+
+Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the supremacy of
+the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the Pacific expedition,
+and in his great voyage of circumnavigation. The historical portion of
+the story is absolutely to be relied upon, but this will perhaps be less
+attractive than the great variety of exciting adventure through which the
+young heroes pass in the course of their voyages.
+
+"A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one
+would think, to turn his hair gray."--_Harper's Monthly Magazine._
+
+By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By G. A. HENTY. With full-page
+Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details of
+the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness. His hero, after
+many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained a prisoner by the
+king just before the outbreak of the war, but escapes, and accompanies
+the English expedition on their march to Coomassie.
+
+"Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories. 'By
+Sheer Pluck' will be eagerly read."--_Athenaeum._
+
+By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by MAYNARD BROWN, and 4 Maps. 12mo,
+cloth, price $1.00.
+
+In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds of an
+English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age--William the
+Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea captain, enters the
+service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed by him in many
+dangerous and responsible missions, in the discharge of which he passes
+through the great sieges of the time. He ultimately settles down as Sir
+Edward Martin.
+
+"Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the
+book, while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in
+spite of themselves."--_St. James' Gazette._
+
+St. George for England: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+No portion of English history is more crowded with great events than that
+of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; the destruction of the
+Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death; the Jacquerie rising; these
+are treated by the author in "St. George for England." The hero of the
+story, although of good family, begins life as a London apprentice, but
+after countless adventures and perils becomes by valor and good conduct
+the squire, and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince.
+
+"Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys
+which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of
+Sir Walter Scott in the land of fiction."--_The Standard._
+
+Captain's Kidd's Gold: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor Boy. By
+JAMES FRANKLIN FITTS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very idea of
+buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy Portuguese and
+Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming eyes--sinister-looking
+fellows who once on a time haunted the Spanish Main, sneaking out from
+some hidden creek in their long, low schooner, of picaroonish rake and
+sheer, to attack an unsuspecting trading craft. There were many famous sea
+rovers in their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps the
+most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts' true story of an adventurous
+American boy, who receives from his dying father an ancient bit of vellum,
+which the latter obtained in a curious way. The document bears obscure
+directions purporting to locate a certain island in the Bahama group, and
+a considerable treasure buried there by two of Kidd's crew. The hero of
+this book, Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of
+salt-water New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and
+secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our youth that
+has come from the press.
+
+Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. By G. A.
+HENTY. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo, cloth, price
+$1.00.
+
+A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a
+considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the latter,
+and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves England for
+America. He works his passage before the mast, joins a small band of
+hunters, crosses a tract of country infested with Indians to the
+Californian gold diggings, and is successful both as digger and trader.
+
+"Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the
+humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John Holl, the Westminster
+dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled."--_Christian
+Leader._
+
+For Name and Fame; or, Through Afghan Passes. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero, after
+being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures among the
+Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment proceeding to
+join the army at the Afghan passes. He accompanies the force under
+General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, is wounded, taken prisoner, carried
+to Cabul, whence he is transferred to Candahar, and takes part in the
+final defeat of the army of Ayoub Khan.
+
+"The best feature of the book--apart from the interest of its scenes of
+adventure--is its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the
+Afghan people."--_Daily News._
+
+Captured by Apes: The Wonderful Adventures of a Young Animal Trainer. By
+HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
+
+The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archipelago.
+Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of New York, sets
+sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of living curiosities. The
+vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo and young Garland, the sole
+survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore on a small island, and captured
+by the apes that overrun the place. The lad discovers that the ruling
+spirit of the monkey tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, whom he
+identifies as Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession and with
+whose instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute recognizes
+him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his former master
+through the same course of training he had himself experienced with a
+faithfulness of detail which shows how astonishing is monkey
+recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by which the young man escapes
+death. Mr. Prentice has certainly worked a new vein on juvenile fiction,
+and the ability with which he handles a difficult subject stamps him as a
+writer of undoubted skill.
+
+The Bravest of the Brave; or, With Peterborough in Spain. By G. A. HENTY.
+With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so completely
+fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. This is
+largely due to the fact that they were overshadowed by the glory and
+successes of Marlborough. His career as general extended over little more
+than a year, and yet, in that time, he showed a genius for warfare which
+has never been surpassed.
+
+"Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work--to enforce
+the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read 'The Bravest of the
+Brave' with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure."--_Daily
+Telegraph._
+
+The Cat of Bubastes: A Story of Ancient Egypt. By G. A. HENTY. With
+full-page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight into the
+customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the Rebu nation, is
+carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery. They become inmates of
+the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest, and are happy in his
+service until the priest's son accidentally kills the sacred cat of
+Bubastes. In an outburst of popular fury Ameres is killed, and it rests
+with Jethro and Amuba to secure the escape of the high-priest's son and
+daughter.
+
+"The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat to
+the perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully
+constructed and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably
+illustrated."--_Saturday Review._
+
+With Washington at Monmouth: A Story of Three Philadelphia Boys. By JAMES
+OTIS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
+
+Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon "whose mother conducted a
+boarding-house which was patronized by the British officers;" Enoch Ball,
+"son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing school was situated on Letitia
+Street," and little Jacob, son of "Chris, the Baker," serve as the
+principal characters. The story is laid during the winter when Lord Howe
+held possession of the city, and the lads aid the cause by assisting the
+American spies who make regular and frequent visits from Valley Forge.
+One reads here of home-life in the captive city when bread was scarce
+among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless prodigality shown
+by the British officers, who passed the winter in feasting and
+merry-making while the members of the patriot army but a few miles away
+were suffering from both cold and hunger. The story abounds with pictures
+of Colonial life skillfully drawn, and the glimpses of Washington's
+soldiers which are given show that the work has not been hastily done, or
+without considerable study.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A World of Girls, by L. T. Meade
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD OF GIRLS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25870.txt or 25870.zip *****
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+
+
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+
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