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diff --git a/old/25870.txt b/old/25870.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e20c0b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/25870.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9748 @@ +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 ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/8/7/25870/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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