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+Project Gutenberg's Tom and Some Other Girls, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
+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: Tom and Some Other Girls
+       A Public School Story
+
+Author: Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
+Illustrator: Percy Tarrant
+
+Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21102]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM AND SOME OTHER GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+
+Tom and some other Girls
+A Public School Story
+
+By Mrs George de Horne Vaizey
+________________________________________________________________________
+You would be mistaken if you thought this was going to be a book about
+a girl called Thomasina, for it is actually about a girl call Rhoda
+Chester.  Rhoda has been brought up as the child of rich parents. Her
+brothers have done well, but she has been kept at home, and has been
+taught by governesses and other visiting tutors.  The German fraulein
+goes to her own home in Germany for a holiday, where she gets married
+and never comes back.
+
+This prompts Mr Chester to consider sending Rhoda away to a boarding
+school.  There is a discussion, Rhoda's mother not being at all in
+favour of the idea, but Rhoda is keen to go.
+
+They settle on a school.  Rhoda goes there, and enjoys herself, doing
+well.  Tom and the other girls are of course her schoolmates.  But there
+is to be an important exam, for which Rhoda overworks, to the point
+where her brain  no longer works when she is in the examination hall.
+So life is downward, instead of upward, she realises.  We will leave
+you to read the rest of the story.  Vaizey is at her best again.  N.H.
+________________________________________________________________________
+TOM AND SOME OTHER GIRLS
+A PUBLIC SCHOOL STORY
+
+BY MRS. GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+A CHANGE.
+
+"Yes, she must go to school!" repeated Mr Chester.
+
+A plaintive sob greeted his words from the neighbourhood of the sofa.
+For once in her life Mrs Chester's kindly, good-tempered face had lost
+its smiles, and was puckered up into lines of distress.  She let one
+fat, be-ringed hand drop to her side and wander restlessly over the
+satin skirt in search of a pocket.  Presently out came a handkerchief,
+which was applied to each eye in turn, and came away bedewed with tears.
+
+"It will break my heart to part from her!" she faltered.  Her husband
+laughed with masculine scepticism.
+
+"Oh, nonsense, dear," he said; "hearts are not so easily broken.  You
+are too sensible to grieve over what is for the child's good, and will
+get used to the separation, as other mothers have done before you.  It
+will be the making of Rhoda to leave home for a few years, to mix with
+other girls, and find her level.  She is getting an altogether
+exaggerated idea of her own importance!"
+
+"Her level, indeed!  Find her level!  I should like to know the school
+where you could find another girl like her!" cried the mother, in a tone
+which showed plainly enough who was responsible for Miss Rhoda's
+conceit.  The tears dried on her face for very indignation, and she sat
+upright in her seat, staring across the room.
+
+It was a gorgeous apartment, this drawing-room of Erley Chase, the
+residence of Henry Chester, Esquire, and Marianne his wife; a gorgeous
+room in the literal acceptance of the term, for each separate article of
+furniture looked as if it had been chosen more from the fact of its
+intrinsic value than for its usefulness or beauty.
+
+Mr Chester, the son of a country clergyman, had considered himself
+passing rich when a manufacturer uncle took him into his employ, at a
+salary of L400 a year.  The first thing he did after this position was
+assured was to marry his old love, the daughter of the village doctor,
+with whom he had played since childhood; and the young couple spent the
+first dozen years of their married lives very happily and contentedly in
+a little house in a smoky manufacturing town.  The bachelor uncle was
+proud of his clever nephew and fond of the cheery little wife, who was
+always kind and thoughtful even when gout and a naturally irritable
+temper goaded him into conduct the reverse of amiable.  When Harold was
+born, and christened after himself, he presented the child with a silver
+mug, and remarked that he hoped he would turn out better than most young
+men, and not break his parents' hearts as a return for their goodness.
+When Jim followed, the mug was not forthcoming; but when little Rhoda
+made her appearance six years later he gave her a rattle, and trusted
+that she would improve in looks as she grew older, since he never
+remembered seeing an uglier baby.  He was certainly neither a gracious
+nor a liberal old gentleman, but the young couple were blessed with
+contented minds and moderate ambitions, so they laughed good-naturedly
+at his crusty speeches, and considered themselves rich, inasmuch as they
+were able to pay their way and were spared anxiety for the future.  And
+then an extraordinary thing happened!  The old man died suddenly, and
+left to his beloved nephew a fortune which, even in these days of
+millionaires, might truthfully be called enormous.  Henry Chester could
+not believe the lawyers when the amount of his new wealth was broken to
+him, for his uncle had lived so unostentatiously that he had had no idea
+of the magnitude of his savings.  The little wife, who had never known
+what it was to spend sixpence carelessly in all her thirty-five years,
+grew quite hysterical with excitement when an arithmetical calculation
+proved to her the daily riches at her disposal; but she recovered her
+composure with wonderful celerity, and expressed her intention of
+enjoying the goods which the gods had sent her.  No poking in gloomy
+town houses after this!  No hoarding of riches as the poor old uncle had
+done, while denying himself the common comforts of life!  She herself
+had been economical from a sense of duty only, for her instincts were
+all for lavishness and generosity--and now, now!  Did not Henry feel it
+a provision of Providence that Erley Chase was empty, and, as it were,
+waiting for their occupation?
+
+Her husband gasped at the audacity of the idea.  Erley Chase! the finest
+place around, one of the largest properties in the county, and Marianne
+suggested that he should take it! that he should remove from his fifty-
+pound house into that stately old pile!  The suggestion appalled him,
+and yet why not?  His lawyer assured him that he could afford it; his
+children were growing up, and he had their future to consider.  He
+thought of his handsome boys, his curly-headed girl, and decided proudly
+that nothing was too good for them; he looked into the future, and saw
+his children's children reigning in his stead, and the name of Chester
+honoured in the land.  So Erley Chase was bought, and little Mrs
+Chester furnished it, as we have seen, to her own great contentment and
+that of the tradespeople with whom she dealt; and in the course of a few
+months the family moved into their new abode.
+
+At first the country people were inclined to look coldly on the new-
+comers, but it was impossible to keep up an unfriendly attitude towards
+Mr and Mrs Chester.  They were utterly free from affectation, and, so
+far from apeing that indifference to wealth adopted by most _nouveaux
+riches_, were so frankly, transparently enchanted with their new
+possessions that they were more like a couple of children with a new toy
+than a steady-going, middle-aged couple.  They won first respect, and
+then affection, and were felt to be a decided acquisition to the well-
+being of the neighbourhood, since they were never appealed to in vain in
+the cause of charity.
+
+In the days of her own short means, when she had been obliged to look
+helplessly at the trials of her neighbours, Mrs Chester had solaced
+herself by dreaming of what she would do if she had money and to spare,
+and to her credit be it said, she did not forget to put those dreams
+into execution when the opportunity arose.  The days are past when fairy
+godmothers flash suddenly before our raptured eyes, clad in spangled
+robes, with real, true wings growing out of their shoulders, but the
+race is not dead; they appear sometimes as stout little women, in satin
+gowns and be-feathered bonnets, and with the most prosaic of red,
+beaming faces.  The Chester barouche was not manufactured out of a
+pumpkin, nor drawn by rats, but none the less had it spirited away many
+a Cinderella to the longed-for ball, and, when the Prince was found, the
+fairy godmother saw to it that there was no lack of satin gowns, or
+glassy slippers.  Dick Whittingtons, too, sitting friendless by the
+roadside, were helped on to fortune; and the Sleeping Beauty was rescued
+from her dull little home, and taken about to see the world.  It is
+wonderful what fairy deeds can be accomplished by a kind heart and a
+full purse, and the recipients of Mrs Chester's bounty were relieved
+from undue weight of obligation by the transparent evidence that her
+enjoyment was even greater than their own!
+
+Harold went to Eton and Oxford, and Jim to Sandhurst; but Rhoda stayed
+at home and ruled supreme over her mother, her governesses, and the
+servants of the establishment.  Her great-uncle's wish had been
+fulfilled, inasmuch as she grew up tall and straight, with a mane of
+reddish-gold hair and more than an average share of good looks.  She was
+clever, too, and generous enough to have acknowledged her faults if it
+had for one moment occurred to her that she possessed any; which it had
+not.  It was one of Mrs Chester's articles of faith that her daughter
+was the most beautiful, the most gifted, and the most perfect of created
+beings, and Rhoda agreeably acquiesced in the decision, and was pitiful
+of other girls who were not as herself.  Every morning when she had not
+a headache, and did not feel "floppy" or "nervey," she did lessons with
+Fraulein, who adored her, and shed tears behind her spectacles when
+obliged to point out a fault.  Then the two would repair together to the
+tennis courts and play a set, the pupil winning by six games to love; or
+go a bicycle ride, when Rhoda would practise fancy figures, while her
+good, but cumbersome, companion picked herself up from recumbent
+positions on the sidewalk, and shook the dust from her garments.  At
+other times Rhoda would put on her riding habit and go a ride round the
+estate, taking care to emerge from the west gate at the moment when the
+village children were returning from school.  The little girls would
+"bob" in old-fashioned style, and the boys would pull off their caps,
+and Rhoda would toss her flaxen mane and acknowledge their salutations
+with a gracious smile and a wave of the little gloved hand.  The
+children thought she looked like a fairy princess, and no more dreamt
+that she was of the same flesh and blood as themselves than did Miss
+Rhoda herself.  Then came lunch, and more often than not some excuse for
+getting off the hour's lessons with Fraulein before the "visiting
+professors" arrived.  Music master, drawing master, French master--they
+each came in their turn, and Rhoda exerted herself to do her best, as
+she invariably did, given the stimulus of an audience, and was praised
+and flattered to her heart's desire.  It was a happy life, and most
+satisfactory from the girl's point of view; so that it seemed most
+annoying that it should be interrupted, and by Fraulein too, who had
+always been so meek and tractable!  Who could have imagined when she
+went home for the summer holidays that an old love would appear and
+insist upon marrying her out of hand?
+
+"But what am _I_ to do?" cried Rhoda, when the news was first received;
+and then, in stern disapproval, "I'm _surprised_ at Fraulein!  At her
+age she should know better.  She always professed to be so devoted.  I
+can't understand how she could make up her mind to leave me."
+
+"It must have been a terrible trial to her, dearest," said Mrs Chester
+soothingly, and she meant what she said.  How could any one prefer a
+fat, long-haired, spectacled lover (all Germans were fat, long-haired,
+and spectacled!) to her beautiful, clever daughter?  She sighed, once
+for Rhoda's disappointment, and once again, and with an added stab, for
+herself.
+
+Several times lately Mr Chester had hinted that Rhoda was getting too
+much for Fraulein, and should be sent to school, while Harold had
+treacherously seconded his father with remarks of such brotherly candour
+as made his mother hot with indignation.  Jim was mercifully away from
+home, but even so it was two against one, and she instinctively felt
+that Fraulein's defection would be seized upon by the enemy and the
+attack pressed home upon the first opportunity.  And now it had come,
+and there sat the poor, dear soul, shedding tears of anguish on her
+lace-edged handkerchief, as she vainly tried to oppose the inevitable.
+
+"I cannot, and will not, part from my child!"
+
+"Nonsense, mother, you parted from me, and I shall take it as a personal
+insult if you insinuate that you would feel Rhoda's absence more than
+you did mine.  Remember how delighted you were when I came back!
+Remember the holidays, how happy you were, how interested in all I had
+to tell!"
+
+Harold Chester crossed the room, and laid his hand on his mother's
+shoulder with a kindly gesture.  He looked as if he were made on the
+same principle as the other objects of _vertu_ in the room, and if Mrs
+Chester had desired to possess "the most superfine specimen of sons and
+heirs," she had certainly got her wish, so far as appearances were
+concerned.  Harold was tall and fair, with aquiline features and a manly
+carriage.  His hair would have curled if it had not been cropped so
+close to his head; his clothes were of immaculate cut.  At twenty-five
+he was known as one of the most daring sportsmen in the county, and if
+he had not distinguished himself at college, he had, at least, scrambled
+through with the crowd.  His mother declared with pride that he had
+never given her an hour's anxiety since he had had the measles, and
+thanked Heaven for her mercies every time she saw him ride off to the
+hunt in his beautiful pink coat.  Harold was her first-born darling, but
+Rhoda was the baby, and she could not bring herself to believe that her
+baby was growing up.
+
+"The child will fret and break her heart.  I don't care about myself,
+but I will not have her made unhappy.  She has such a sensitive heart!"
+She sobbed as she spoke, and Harold laughed.
+
+"You trust me, mater; Rhoda is as well able to take care of herself as
+any girl can be.  You will regret it all your life long if you keep her
+at home now.  School is what she needs, and school she must have, if she
+is to make a woman worth having.  She is a jolly little soul, and I'm
+proud of her; but her eyes are so taken up admiring Miss Rhoda Chester
+that she has no attention left for anything else.  Let her go, mother,
+and find out that there are other girls in the world beside herself!"
+
+"But the other girls will b-b-bully her.  They will make fun of her and
+laugh at her little ways--"
+
+"And a good--" Harold checked himself and said cheerily: "Rhoda won't
+let herself be bullied without knowing the reason why, mother.  Whatever
+faults she may have, no one can accuse her of lack of spirit.  I believe
+she would like to go.  She has very few girl friends, and would enjoy
+the new experience."
+
+"We will tell her about it, and see what she says," said Mr Chester;
+and at that very moment the door opened and Rhoda walked into the room.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+WHAT RHODA THOUGHT.
+
+Father, mother, and brother looked at Rhoda, and felt a pardonable pride
+in her appearance.  Her white evening frock showed off the fair
+complexion and golden locks, and she carried herself with an erect,
+fearless mien which made a pleasant contrast to the stooping backs and
+shambling gait of most growing girls.  If she were not regularly pretty,
+her air of assurance forced onlookers to think her so, despite their
+better judgment, and there was about her a breezy atmosphere of health
+and youth.  She looked from one to the other of the watching faces, and
+smiled in a good-humoured, tolerant manner, which showed a dimple in the
+round cheek.
+
+"Hatching mischief!" she cried, nodding her head sagely.  "The way in
+which your voices ceased as I entered the room was highly suspicious.
+Never mind--I'll go to bed soon, and then you can talk at your ease.  It
+_is_ awkward when birthdays are drawing near! ...  Chain bracelets are
+very nice, with turquoises set here and there, and I rather like that
+new edition of Shakespeare with a lot of dear little books fitted into a
+case.  I don't object to brooches either, or ornaments for my room--"
+
+"But, strange to say, we were not thinking of giving you anything!  We
+were talking of a much more serious consideration than a birthday.  We
+were talking of your Future Education," said Mr Chester, solemnly.  He
+spoke so impressively, and with such very large capitals to the last two
+words, that Rhoda was startled into attention, and turned her eyes upon
+him in wonder.
+
+"My--future--education?  Why, what do you--what am I going to do?"
+
+"We have been considering the advisability of sending you to school.
+You are nearly sixteen, and have been educated at home all your life,
+and now that Fraulein cannot return I feel strongly that it would be for
+your good to spend a couple of years at school among girls of your own
+age.  Your mother naturally dreads the parting, and fears that you would
+be unhappy, but Harold thinks that you would enjoy the experience.  What
+is your own impression?  Do you dislike the idea, or feel inclined
+towards it?"
+
+Rhoda meditated, and her mother watched her with wistful eyes.  At the
+first mention of the word "school" the girl had started with surprise,
+and her eyes had looked wide and puzzled, but now as she stood
+deliberating, it was not dismay, but rather pleasure and excitement,
+that showed in her face.  The eyes gleamed complacently, the dimple
+dipped, the fair head tilted itself, and Rhoda said slowly--
+
+"I think I should--_like_ it!  It would be a--change!"
+
+Alas for Mrs Chester, and alas for every mother in that sharp moment
+when she realises that the nestling which she has been keeping so safe
+and warm is already beginning to find the nest too narrow for its
+ambitions, and is longing to fly away into the big, wide world!  Two
+salt tears splashed on to the satin gown, but no one saw them, for the
+girl was engrossed in her own feelings, while Mr Chester was saying
+brightly--
+
+"That's my brave girl!  I knew you would be no coward."
+
+Harold watched his sister with mingled pity and amusement.
+
+"They'll take it out of her!  They'll take it out of her!  Poor little
+Ro!  Won't she hate it, and won't it do her good!" he said to himself,
+shrewdly.  "And, after the first, I shouldn't wonder if she became a
+prime favourite!"
+
+Rhoda seated herself on a crimson plush chair, and folded her hands on
+her knees, in an attitude of expectation.  She was an impetuous young
+person, and could brook no delay when once her interest was aroused.
+School having been mentioned as a possibility of the future, it became
+imperative to settle the matter off-hand.
+
+Which school?  When?  Who would take her?  What would she have to buy?
+What were the rules?  When were the holidays?  How long would they be?
+Where would she spend them?--One question succeeded another in
+breathless succession, making Mr Chester smile with indulgent
+amusement.
+
+"My dear child, how can I tell?  So far it is only a suggestion.
+Nothing is settled.  We have not even thought of one school before
+another--"
+
+"If she goes at all, I should like her to go to Miss Moorby's, at
+Bournemouth," said Mrs Chester quickly.  "She only takes ten girls, and
+I'm told it is just like a home--hot bottles in all the beds, and beef-
+tea at eleven--"
+
+"Mother!" cried Rhoda, in a tone of deep reproach.  Her eyes flashed,
+and she drew herself up proudly.  "No, indeed!  If I go at all, I will
+do the thing properly, and go to a real school, and not a hot-house.  I
+don't want their old beef-tea and bottles.  I want to go to a nice, big,
+sporty school, where they treat you like boys, and not young ladies, and
+put you on your honour, and don't bind you down by a hundred sickening
+little rules.  I want to go to,"--she drew a long breath, and glanced at
+her mother, as if bracing herself to meet opposition--"to Hurst Manor!
+There!  I've read about it in magazines, and Ella Mason had a cousin who
+had been there, and she said it was--simply mag.!  She was Head Girl,
+and ruled the house, and came out first in the games, and she said she
+never had such sport in her life, and found the holidays quite fearfully
+flat and stale in comparison."
+
+"You don't become Head Girl all at once," interposed Harold, drily;
+while Mrs Chester gave another sob at the idea that home could ever be
+looked upon in so sad a light.
+
+"Hurst Manor?" she repeated vaguely.  "That's a strange name.  I never
+heard of the place before.  What do you know about it that makes you
+want to go, darling?  Are you quite sure it is nice, and what is the
+Head Mistress like, and how many young la-- girls does she take?  Not
+too many, I hope, for I can't see how they can be properly looked after
+when there are more than twenty or thirty.  I've heard terrible stories
+of delicacy for life arising from neglect.  You remember poor, dear Evie
+Vane!  Her glands swelled, and nobody noticed, and--"
+
+"My glands never swell.  They know better.  Over two hundred girls,
+mother; but they are divided into different houses, with a staff of
+teachers in charge of each, so there's no fear of being neglected; and
+it's much more fun living in a crowd.  I'm tired of talking to the same
+people over and over again, and should love a variety.  Among the
+hundred girls, one would be sure to find one or two whom one could
+really like."
+
+Harold laughed again, a sleepy laugh, which brought a flash into his
+sister's eyes.  That was the worst of Harold; he was so superior!  He
+never argued, nor contradicted, but he had a way of smiling to himself,
+of throwing back his head and half shutting his eyes, which made Rhoda
+feel as if throwing cushions at him would be the only adequate relief to
+her feelings.  She glared at him for a moment, and then turned her back
+on him in a marked manner and addressed herself to her father.
+
+"You will write to Miss Bruce at once, won't you, father, and arrange
+for me to go at the beginning of the term?"
+
+"I will write for particulars, or, better still, your mother and I will
+go down to see the place for ourselves.  I should like you to go to the
+school you fancy, if it can be arranged, and I suppose this is as good
+as any."
+
+"Better!"  Rhoda declared rapturously, "a thousand times better!  Ella
+Mason said so; and she knows, because her cousin's sisters have all been
+at different schools--one at Cheltenham, one at Saint Andrew's, one at
+Wycombe, and she declares that Hurst beats them all.  It must be so,
+since it has adopted all the good ideas and abandoned the bad."  She
+went on with a rambling statement which seemed to imply that Miss Bruce
+had been in turn sole proprietor of each of these well-known schools
+before abandoning them in favour of her new establishment; that Hurst
+Manor buildings had been recently erected, at vast expense, to provide
+every possible convenience for the pupils, and at the same time was a
+nobleman's seat of venerable interest; that sports and games formed the
+chief interest of the pupils, lessons being relegated to an appropriate
+secondary position; while, astonishing to relate, the honours in all
+University examinations fell to "Hurst girls," and every woman who had
+made a name for herself had graduated from its ranks!  She detailed
+these interesting items of information with sublime assurance; and, when
+Harold mildly pointed out inconsistencies, retorted scornfully that she
+supposed she might be allowed to know, since Ella's cousin had _said_
+so, and she had been there, and seen for herself!  Mrs Chester
+supported her by murmurs of assent, and little warning frowns to her
+son, which in dumb language signified that he was to be a good boy, and
+not aggravate his sister; and Mr Chester put his arm round her waist,
+and looked down at her, half smiling, half pitiful.  The pitiful
+expression grew, and became so marked that the girl gazed at him in
+surprise.  Why did he look so sorry?  Was he already feeling the blank
+which her absence would leave?  Did he fear that she would be home-sick,
+and regret her hasty decision?  She stared into his face with her bright
+blue eyes, and her father gazed back, noting the firm chin, the arched
+brows, the characteristic tilt of the head.  This overweening confidence
+of youth--he was asking himself earnestly--was it altogether a
+misfortune, or but raw material out of which great things were to be
+made in the future?  Was it not better to go forth to meet life's battle
+with a light heart and fearless tread than trembling and full of doubt?
+Surely it was better, and yet his heart was sore for the girl, as the
+heart of a leader must be sore when he sends his soldiers to the front,
+knowing that no victory is won without a cost, no fight without a scar.
+Something very like a tear glittered in the father's eye, and at the
+sight Rhoda's face softened into a charming tenderness.  She snuggled
+her head into his neck, and rubbed her soft cheeks against his,
+murmuring absurd little sentences of endearment, as to a child of two
+years old.
+
+"Whose pet is it, then?  Whose own precious?  The nicest old sweet in
+the world."
+
+Mr Chester pushed the girl aside, and put on a frown of portentous
+ferocity to conceal the delight with which her demonstration had, in
+reality, filled him.  He loved to feel the sweep of the crisp locks, the
+touch of the soft cheek; he even appreciated, if the truth must be told,
+being addressed as a "precious," but wild horses would not have induced
+him to confess as much, and he made haste to leave the room with Harold
+lest perchance any sign of his real feelings might betray themselves to
+the sharp feminine eye.
+
+Left alone with her mother, Rhoda clasped her hands behind her back, and
+paced slowly up and down.  It was a relief, after all, to be rid of the
+men, and be able to talk things over with a feminine hearer who never
+brought forward inconvenient quibbles, who accepted statements as facts,
+as of course they were, and agreed to propositions in a quiet,
+reasonable manner.  Rhoda thought out several important matters in that
+march to and fro, and announced the result in a decisive manner.
+
+"I must have a complete new outfit!  I don't believe in taking half-worn
+things.  You can send them away to that poor clergyman in Ireland, with
+the five daughters.  Geraldine, isn't it, who `fits' my clothes?  Well,
+Geraldine shall have my blue silk, and the fawn jacket, and the blouses,
+and the grey dress.  If the arm-holes stick into her as much as they do
+into me, she will wish I had never been invented.  She can have my best
+hat, too, if she wants it.  I hate it, and at `Hurst' you never wear
+anything but sailors', with the school colours.  There is a blue house,
+and a pink, and a green, and a yellow, and a red; that's the way they
+arrange in all big schools, and I only hope and pray it won't be my fate
+to be yellow, or _what_ an image I'll look!  Other things being equal,
+Mum dear, kindly say you think the blue house would be best for my
+health and morals.  I want to live _in_, you understand, not _out_--
+that's one point I have quite decided."
+
+"In what, dearest?  Out of what?  I don't understand what you mean."
+
+"In school itself.  There are three houses in the school building and
+three in the grounds, and, of course, if you live `out' you have ten
+minutes' walk over to classes, whatever the weather may be.  I should
+object to shivering across the first thing in the morning in rain and
+snow and getting all splashed and blown.  No one can call me a coddle,
+but I _do_ like comfort, and it would be a dreadful fag--"
+
+"I should think so, indeed; most risky!  I wouldn't hear of it for you.
+If you go at all you must live in, and have a comfortable room, with a
+fire in cold weather."
+
+"Oh, well; I don't know if you can expect that.  We mustn't be too
+exacting.  You will look after my clothes at once, mother, won't you?
+for there will be so much to get.  I want things nice, you know!  I
+should like the girls to see that I had decent belongings.  I love
+having all the _little_ things complete and dainty.  I think girls ought
+to be particular about them.  It's a sign of refinement.  I can't endure
+shabby things round me."
+
+"Of course not, darling; and there's no reason why you should.  Write
+down a list of what you want, so that we shan't forget anything when we
+are in town.  You shall have all you need; but, oh! dear me, I don't
+know how shall I live when you have gone.  I shall break my heart
+without you!"  And Mrs Chester's tears once more rolled down her
+cheeks.  It seemed to her at this moment that the greatest trouble which
+her happy life had known was this projected parting from her beloved
+daughter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+ANTICIPATIONS.
+
+Two days later Mr and Mrs Chester started on their tour of inspection,
+and Rhoda reflected that she could not employ herself better during
+their absence than by preparing, so far as might be, for the life ahead.
+She went upstairs to her own sitting-room, and made a sweeping survey
+of her treasures.  The books in the hanging cases must, of course, be
+left behind, since they were too numerous to carry.  She looked lovingly
+at their bright gold and leather backs, and took down a special
+favourite here and there, to dip into its contents.  The Waverley novels
+ran in a long, yellow line across one shelf; Dickens, clad in red, came
+immediately beneath; and a whole row of poets on the bottom shelf.
+Wordsworth was a prize from Fraulein, but his pages were still stiff and
+unread; Longfellow opened of himself at "Hiawatha"; while Tennyson, most
+beloved of all, held half a dozen markers at favourite passages.  His
+portrait hung close at hand, a copy of that wonderful portrait by Watts,
+which seems to have immortalised all the power and beauty of the
+strange, sad face.  Rhoda nicked a grain of dust from the glass surface,
+and carefully straightened the frame against the wall, for this picture
+was one of her greatest treasures, and respected accordingly.  Another
+case held books of stories, ranging from the fairy tales of childhood to
+the publications of last year; a third was devoted to bound volumes of
+magazines, and a fourth to the less showy and interesting school-books.
+
+"It's no use taking _you_!" said Rhoda scornfully.  "I expect you are
+quite out of date.  You can stay here and rest, and when I come back
+I'll point out your errors, and send you into the lumber-room to make
+room for the new ones!"  Then she turned her attention to the
+mantelpiece, on which reposed a quite extraordinary number of miniature
+jugs.  Jugs, jugs everywhere, and nothing but jugs; blue jugs, yellow
+jugs, brown jugs, red jugs; Worcester jugs with delicate white figures
+against a background of blue; jugs worth a penny sterling at the village
+emporium; plain jugs, iridescent jugs; jugs with one handle, with two,
+with three, with none at all.  Their variety was as puzzling as their
+number, but Rhoda gazed at them with all the pride of the collector.
+"Jugs"--unrivalled by postcards, stamps, or crests--had been her mania
+for a year on end, and the result was dear to her heart.  To find a new
+jug to add to the collection had appeared one of the chief objects in
+travelling; an expedition to town had been a failure or success,
+according as it discovered jugs or no jugs.
+
+In her anxiety for their safety she had even volunteered to dust her own
+mantelpiece, and now, alas! she must leave them to the tender mercies of
+Mary and her assistants!  It was a painful reflection, and after a
+moment's consideration she determined not to risk it, but to store the
+darlings away in some safe hiding-place until her return.
+
+No sooner said than done.  Each little jug was wrapped in a separate
+roll of tissue paper, fitted into a drawer of the writing-table, and
+securely locked against invasion.  The process of "putting away" thus
+begun extended itself indefinitely.  The photographs in their various
+frames must be arranged and divided; nice relations and very dearest
+friends, to be taken to school, disagreeable or "middling" relations,
+and merely "dearest friends," to be laid aside in another drawer;
+fragile ornaments to be hidden, in case they were broken; silver and
+brass in case they tarnished; letters to be destroyed, to be tied up in
+packets, to be answered before leaving home; pieces of fancy work to be
+folded away, in case sacrilegious hands should dare to put them to any
+other use than that for which they were intended.
+
+Rhoda set to work with the energy of ten women, and worked away until
+the once tidy room had become a scene of wildest confusion; until sofa,
+table, and chairs were alike piled high with bundles.  Then of a sudden
+her energy flagged, she grew tired and discouraged, and wished she had
+left the stupid old things where she had found them.  It occurred to her
+as a brilliant inspiration that there was no possible hurry, and that
+sitting under the trees reading a book, and drinking lemon squash, was a
+much more agreeable method of spending a hot summer's day than working
+like a charwoman.  She carried her latest book into the garden
+forthwith, ordered the "squash," and spent an hour of contented idleness
+before lunch.
+
+The story, however, was not interesting enough to tempt a second reading
+during the afternoon, for the heroine was a girl of unimpeachable
+character, who pursued her studies at home under the charge of a daily
+governess, and such a poor-spirited creature could hardly be expected to
+commend herself to a girl who had decided for two whole days to go to
+the newest of all new schools, and already felt herself far removed from
+such narrow experiences.  Rhoda cast about in her mind for the next
+diversion, and decided to bicycle across the park to call upon the
+Vicar's daughter the self-same Ella Mason who had been her informant on
+so many important points.  Ella would be indeed overcome to hear that
+Rhoda herself was to be a "Hurst" girl, and there would be an increased
+interest in hearing afresh those odd pieces of information which had
+fallen from the cousin's lips.
+
+She felt a thrill of relief on hearing that her friend was at home, and
+in finding her alone in the morning-room, which looked so bare and
+colourless to eyes accustomed to the splendours of the Chase.  Something
+of the same contrast existed between the two girls themselves, for while
+Rhoda sat glowing pink and white after her ride, Ella's cheeks were as
+pale as her dress, and her eyes almost as colourless as the washed-out
+ribbon round her waist.  She was not a beauty by any means, but
+unaffectedly loving and unselfish, rejoicing in her friend's news,
+though it would deprive her of a favourite companion, and she was all
+anxiety to help and encourage.  She knitted her brow to remember all
+that the cousin had said of Hurst Manor, wishing only that she had
+listened with more attention to those pearls of wisdom.
+
+"Yes, she said that they did a great deal of Latin.  All the girls learn
+it, and it seems to be looked on as one of the most important subjects.
+They translate Horace and Livy and all kinds of learned books."
+
+"Humph!  I shan't!" declared Rhoda coolly.  "I don't approve of Latin
+for girls.  It's silly.  Of course, if you intend to teach, or be a
+doctor, or anything like that, it may be useful, but for ordinary stop-
+at-home girls it's nonsense.  What use would Latin be to _me_, I should
+like to know?  I shall take modern languages instead.  I can read and
+write French fluently, though it doesn't come quite so easy to speak it,
+and German, of course, is second nature after jabbering with Fraulein
+all these years.  I should _think_ in German if I would allow myself,
+but I won't.  I don't think it is patriotic.  There is not very much
+that any one can teach me of French or German!"
+
+"Then what is the use of studying them any more?" inquired Ella, aptly
+enough; but Rhoda was not a whit discomposed.
+
+"My dear, it is ever so much pleasanter doing things that you
+understand!  The first stages are such a grind.  Well, what next?  What
+other subjects are important?"
+
+"Mathematics.  Some of the girls are awfully clever, and are ever so far
+on in Euclid.  I did one book with father; but it worried me so, and I
+cried so much one day when he altered the letters and put the whole
+thing out, that he grew tired, and said I could give it up.  You didn't
+do any with Fraulein, I think?"
+
+"No; it's a nuisance.  I wish I did now; but I'll have to begin at once,
+that's all!  I'll get Harold's old books and cram up before I go, so
+that I can just bring in an expression now and then, as if I knew all
+about it.  Girls are so patronising if they think you are a beginner...
+I'm pretty well up in history, and can say reams of poetry, and play,
+and draw, and paint in water colours--"
+
+"Ye-es!" assented Ella feebly.  She was afraid to say so much in words,
+but her conviction was that her friend's methods of work would seem
+strangely antiquated when contrasted with the vivid strength of the new
+_regime_.  She recalled Rhoda's mild copies of village scenes, with
+cottages in the foreground, trees to the rear, and a well-regulated
+flight of swallows on the sky line, and mentally placed them beside her
+cousin's vigorous sketches on the Slade system, where two or three lines
+seemed to do the work of a dozen, and prettiness was a thing abhorred!
+She remembered the lessons in theory and harmony, and trembled for her
+friend's awakening.  "Yes," she repeated.  "Oh, of course; and then
+there are other things besides lessons--a girl can make herself popular
+by being pleasant and obliging, and the outdoor life is so fascinating.
+Games every day, just as if you were boys, and each one trying to get
+into a higher team, and as keen and enthusiastic as she can be.  You
+_will_ enjoy the games, Rhoda!"
+
+"Now that's just one thing I wanted to talk to you about!" cried Rhoda
+earnestly.  "I'm glad you reminded me.  Of course, tennis and croquet
+are all right.  I can play a _very_ good set, and beat most ladies at
+croquet.  One time this summer I made five hoops in one turn, and took
+my partner with me, but of course I don't do that _every_ day of the
+week.  I'm all right for summer games, but winter is coming on, and I
+shall have to play that horrid old hockey, and I haven't the remotest
+idea how it is done.  I've never seen a match, but you have, and I want
+you to tell me all about it, so that I may know what to do, and not make
+an idiot of myself.  You went to the Betham ground when you were staying
+there, and saw the girls' team play.  Go on!  Describe it!  Tell me all
+about it, and everything they did!"
+
+Ella drew a deep breath, and looked awed and important.
+
+"Well! it was a county match, and one team wore white blouses and the
+other pink.  They had on blue skirts, very short, and awful feet!  Some
+had great pads on each ankle, and some had leggings, and some had
+nothing at all.  I should have swathings of cotton wool a foot wide, for
+it made my ankles ache just to see the sticks swinging about!  It was an
+icy day; the wind went through us like knives and scissors, and we stood
+on little planks of wood and shuddered, with furs up to our ears, but
+they wore no hats or jackets, and their sleeves went flap, flap, as thin
+as possible.  There was only one pretty one among them, all the rest
+looked--hideous!  There was a goal at one end, _here_, and another,
+_here_."  Ella drew a rough map of the ground on the back of an
+envelope, and Rhoda looked on with breathless interest.  "This team
+wanted to make a goal _here_, and the other side tried to prevent them.
+They whacked with their sticks, and off went the ball, and each side
+flew after it, trying to send it the way they wanted, and one poor,
+wretched girl stood before each goal to prevent the enemy's ball from
+entering.  I expected they would both die of consumption the next day,
+but I met them out at tea, quite spry and lively, and they said they
+didn't feel cold a bit.  I didn't believe them, but that's nothing.  An
+umpire marched about in leggings, and blew a whistle, and called out
+`Off side!  Off side!'"
+
+"And what did he mean by that?"
+
+Ella hesitated, uncertainly.  Her knowledge of the game was of the
+slightest, but she was anxious to help her friend, and gallantly tried
+to recall odd explanations.
+
+"Oh, well, I think one of the wrong side hit, you know, and there is a
+rule that you may not send the ball straight forward to one of your own
+side, but must hit it back to some one behind you."
+
+"But that's silly!  If you want to get on as fast as you can, why on
+earth must you go _back_?  If they never hit forward, how can they win.
+Do you mean to say they _never_ send it forwards towards the goal?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes!  One girl was splendid.  She hit magnificently.  She ran
+like a man, and sent it flying before her, and made three goals
+herself."
+
+"Then how--why--what--what in the world did you mean by saying that you
+_mustn't_ do it?" demanded Rhoda sternly, and Ella made a gesture as of
+tearing her hair in confusion.
+
+"I don't know!  It isn't easy to understand a game when you see only one
+match.  I was confused myself, but I know each side tries for a
+different goal, and there are `backs' and `half-backs' and `forwards,'
+just as at football, and, whatever you do, you must not raise your stick
+above your waist.  It's a murderous-looking game, anyhow.  I wondered
+that they weren't all killed; and one girl's hand was bleeding horribly.
+I asked her if it was very painful, and she stared and said, `Oh, I
+hadn't noticed it!' and mopped it up with her handkerchief.  Awfully
+callous, I call it."
+
+"Oh, I don't know!" replied Rhoda, airily.  "Those flesh wounds don't
+hurt.  I should never think of taking any notice of a little thing like
+that.  Well, I can't say I am very much wiser for your instructions, my
+dear, but I will pump Harold and see what I can get out of him.  I have
+no doubt I could hit all right, for I have a quick eye, and if you can
+play one or two games it helps you with the rest.  But I should be
+pretty mad if I made a hit and they whistled at me and made me come
+back.  I like to know what I am about."
+
+"You had better be a goal-keeper," advised Ella, wisely; "you have no
+running to do until the ball comes your way, and then at it you go,
+tooth and nail!  Stop it somehow--anyhow--with your hands, your feet,
+your skirt, your stick.  I believe there is an etiquette about it, don't
+you know, as there is about all those things, and that it's more swagger
+to stop it one way than another, but the main thing is to stop it
+_somehow_, and that you simply must do!"
+
+"Humph!  If you can!  What happens if you can't?"
+
+"Emigrate to Australia by the first boat!  I should think so, at least,
+to judge by the faces of the other girls when one poor creature _did_
+let a ball in.  Feerocious, my dear! there was no other word for it.  My
+heart ached for her.  But it was a stupid miss, for it looked so easy.
+I felt sure I could have stopped it."
+
+"It's all a matter of nerve.  If you lose your head you are sure to play
+the fool at a critical moment.  Fraulein was like that.  The moment the
+game went against her she began to hop about, and puff and pant, and
+work herself into such a fever that she couldn't even see a ball, much
+less hit it.  I kept calm, and so of course I always won."
+
+It did strike Ella that victory under such circumstances would be easily
+gained, but she was too loyal to say so, and Rhoda leant back against
+the cushions of the sofa, and continued to discourse on games in
+general, and school games in particular, with an air of such intimacy
+and knowledge that no one would have suspected that the object of her
+visit had been to listen, rather than to teach.
+
+Ella listened meekly to a recital of what her friend intended to do, and
+be; of the examinations she would pass, the honours she would gain; the
+influence she would exercise over her fellows; and sighed to think of
+her own limitations, and the impossibility of such a career ever falling
+to her lot.  And then Rhoda rose, and put on her gloves preparatory to
+saying good-bye.
+
+"I shall come down to see you again, of course, but I shall be very
+busy.  I am going to have a complete new outfit, and everything as nice
+as possible."
+
+"Ye-es," said the Vicar's daughter.
+
+"I shall have all my best skirts lined with silk."
+
+"Ah!" sighed Ella, and felt a pang of keenest envy.  She had never
+possessed a silk lining in her life.  It seemed to her at times that if
+she could only hear herself rustle as she walked, there would be nothing
+left to wish for in life!
+
+"They will think you are a Princess!" she said, and Rhoda smiled, and
+did not attempt to deny the impeachment.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+DEPARTURE.
+
+Mr and Mrs Chester returned from their visit to Hurst Manor with
+somewhat different accounts of the establishment.  The father was
+delighted with all he had seen, thought the arrangements excellent, and
+Miss Bruce a charming and lovable woman.  The mother did not see how
+draughts were to be avoided in those long, bare passages, considered the
+hours of work cruelly long, and was convinced that Miss Bruce could be
+very stern if she chose.  Her husband laughed, and declared that a
+school of two hundred girls would fare badly indeed if she could not,
+and the maternal fears were silenced at once by his banter, and by
+Rhoda's fearless confidence.
+
+It was finally decided that the girl should join at the beginning of the
+term, and preparations were set on foot without delay.  It was almost
+like buying a trousseau, Rhoda declared; and certainly no bride-elect
+could have taken a keener interest in her purchases.  The big, new box
+with her initials on the side; the dressing-bag with its dainty
+fittings; the writing-case and workbox; the miniature medicine chest
+stocked with domestic remedies, in case she should feel feverish or
+chilled, have earache, toothache, or headache; be threatened with sore
+throat or swollen glands--they were all new possessions, and as such
+afforded acute satisfaction, for though the wardrobe list was
+disappointingly short, there were at least no restrictions as to
+quality.
+
+When the key was turned in her box Rhoda heaved a sigh of satisfaction
+in the confidence that not one of the two hundred girls could possess a
+better equipment than her own.  Then she looked round her dismantled
+room, and felt a pang of depression.  It looked so _dead_--as if its
+owner had already departed, and left it to its fate.  The wardrobe door
+swung apart and revealed the empty pegs; the drawers were pulled open
+and showed piles of torn-up letters; the carpet was strewn with pins.
+All the treasured ornaments had been stored away, and the ugly ones
+looked uglier than ever, as if infected by the general dejection.  In
+story-books girls were wont to bid a sentimental adieu to their maiden
+bowers before leaving for a new sphere, but Rhoda did not feel in the
+least inclined to be sentimental; she took to her heels instead and ran
+downstairs, only too glad to escape from her dreary surroundings, and
+presently she and her mother _were_ driving towards the station on the
+first stage of the eventful journey.
+
+The village women stood at the doors of their cottages to put their
+aprons to their eyes, and murmur, "Ay, poor dear!" as she drove past;
+little Tommy Banks threw a nosegay of marigolds through the carriage
+window, and waddled away, scarlet with confusion; and there was quite a
+gathering of friends on the platform.
+
+Ella had brought a box of home-made Fuller's sweets from herself and a
+dainty copy of _The Christian Year_ as the Vicar's farewell offering;
+Mrs Ross had a stack of magazines for reading on the journey, and
+little Miss Jones, who owed all the comforts of life to Mrs Chester's
+friendship, presented the most elaborate "housewife," stocked with every
+necessary which it seemed probable that a girl at school would _not_
+require.  It was all most touching and gratifying.  Even the station-
+master came up to express his good wishes, and the one-eyed porter
+blurted out, "Glad to see you back, Miss!" as if it were impossible to
+suppress his feelings a moment longer.
+
+Rhoda felt an insight into the feelings of Royalty as she stood at the
+window of the carriage, graciously smiling and bowing so long as she
+remained in sight, and when this excitement was over, another appeared
+to take its place.  Mrs Chester was discovered to be crying in quite
+uncontrolled fashion, and at the sight of her tears Rhoda put on her
+severest air.
+
+"Mother!  What are you doing?  You must _not_ cry!  Please remember that
+in half an hour we shall be at Euston, and meet the school.  I should
+never get over it if the girls saw my mother with a red face!"
+
+Mrs Chester mopped her eyes obediently, and made a valiant effort to
+regain her composure.  For herself, poor dear, she cared little about
+appearances, but Rhoda had already exhibited an intense anxiety that she
+should make a good impression on the minds of her future school-fellows.
+Each separate article of clothing had been passed in review, while the
+bonnet had been changed three times over before the critic was
+satisfied.  It would never do to spoil an effect which had been achieved
+with so much trouble; so the unselfish creature gulped down her tears,
+and tried to talk cheerfully on impersonal topics, keeping her eyes
+fixed on the landscape the while, lest the sight of her child might
+prove too much for her resolution.
+
+Rhoda was immaculate in blue serge coat and skirt, and sailor hat with a
+band of school colours.  Nothing could have been simpler; but there are
+ranks in even the simplest garments, and she was agreeably conscious
+that her coat was not as other coats, neither was her skirt as other
+skirts.  The hand of the Regent Street tailor was seen in both, and
+there was a new arrangement of pleats at the back which ought in itself
+to secure the admiration of the school!  She was all complacency until
+Euston was reached, when the first glimpse at a group of "Hurst" girls
+smote her to earth.  She had sewn the band on her hat upside down,
+putting the wide stripe next the brim, which should by rights have been
+the place of the narrow!  To the cold, adult mind such a discovery might
+seem of trifling importance, but to the embryo school-girl it was
+fraught with agonising humiliation.  It looked so ignorant, so stupid;
+it marked one so hopelessly as a recruit; Rhoda's cheeks burned crimson;
+she looked searchingly round to see if by chance any other strangeling
+had fallen into the same error, but, so far as bands were concerned, she
+was solitary among the throng.
+
+A governess, seeing the two figures standing apart from the rest, came
+forward and welcomed Rhoda with a few kindly words, but she was too busy
+to spare time for more than a greeting.  Fresh girls kept arriving with
+every moment--a crowd of brisk, alert, bustling young creatures,
+skurrying along bags in hand, and bright eyes glancing to right and
+left.  At every step forward there would come a fresh recognition, a nod
+of the head, a wave of the hand, a quick "Halloa!" more eloquent than
+elegant.  Rhoda felt a spasm of loneliness at the realisation that no
+greeting waited for herself, and at the strangeness of the many faces.
+She looked critically around and came to the most unfavourable
+conclusions.
+
+"I don't like that one--she's a fright!  I hate that one--she's so
+affected.  Those two look common; I won't have anything to do with
+_them_.  The big one with spectacles looks horribly learned.  The one
+with the violin has a most unmusical face.  _She_ looks fit for
+stratagems if you like!  The little one in brown is a cunning fox, I can
+see it in her eyes.  Of all the plain, uninteresting, stodgy set of
+girls--"
+
+There was a movement inside the saloon carriage opposite, and a large
+mamma clad in black, with a profusion of bugles, stepped on to the
+platform and marched stolidly away.  She steered a course clear of the
+crowd of girls, the ends of her mantle floating behind her, like a brig
+in full sail before the breeze, while her poor little daughter hung out
+of the doorway gazing after her, sobbing bitterly, and mouthing in
+pathetic, helpless misery.
+
+Mrs Chester began to cry at once in sympathy, and even Rhoda felt a
+smarting of the eyes.  It was coming!  The crucial moment was at hand;
+the bell was ringing, the girls were crowding into the carriages, the
+governess stepped forward and spoke a warning word.
+
+"You had better come now, dear!  Please take your seat."
+
+Rhoda turned and bent her tall young head to her little mother, but
+neither spoke--the tension was too great.  Mrs Chester's face was
+tremulous with agitation, the girl's white and defiant.  Then she
+stepped into the carriage and seated herself among the crowd of
+strangers.  The girls were all silent now, pale of face and red of eye,
+a few crying openly, the majority fighting against emotion.  The mothers
+came to the edge of the platform, and stared in through the windows.
+
+"It is like looking at animals in a cage," said Rhoda to herself, and
+then the wheels began to move, she saw her mother's quivering face--saw
+it from a distance--saw it no more--and realised for the first time,
+with a great, bitter pang of anguish, the meaning of farewell!
+
+She had not intended to cry, she had never believed it possible that she
+_would_ cry, but it was hard work to resist it during the next half-
+hour, when every second bore her further from home, and the strangeness
+of her surroundings pressed more heavily upon her.  Other girls were
+beginning to cheer up and exchange confidences with their companions,
+but she had no one with whom to talk.  Two girls opposite--the foxey one
+and the affected one--were chatting quite merrily together.  The
+affected one, whose name appeared to be Hilda, had spent part of her
+holiday at Boulogne, and was discoursing on the delights of Continental
+bathing, while Foxey, not to be outdone, would have her know that
+Scarborough kept pace with all the Continental methods.
+
+Another girl made the harrowing discovery that she had left her
+spectacles at home, and announced the same to a chum, who remarked that
+it was "a ripping joke!"  The violin girl had had a bicycling accident,
+and exhibited her scars with pride.  The shock of parting over, they all
+seemed very happy together, very friendly, very absorbed; far too much
+absorbed to notice a new-comer, or trouble themselves on her behalf.
+The governess stood by Rhoda's side for a few minutes and made remarks
+in an aggressively cheerful manner, but her reception was not
+encouraging, and presently she went away, and did not return.
+
+Rhoda looked at the pictures in her magazines, or pretended to look, for
+her brain was so much occupied with other matters that she could not
+grasp their meaning, and after five minutes' inspection would hardly
+have been able to say whether she had been studying the features of a
+country landscape or those of a society beauty.  Then she turned and
+cautiously examined her neighbours.  The girl to the right was a square,
+stolid-looking creature, square-faced, square-shouldered, with square
+toes to her boots, and elbows thrust out on each side in square,
+aggressive fashion.  Her eyes were small and light, and her nose a
+defiance of classic traditions; the corners of her mouth turned down,
+and she had at once the solemnest and the most mischievous expression it
+is possible to imagine.  After a critical survey of her charms, Rhoda
+felt that she was not the person with whom to force a conversation, and
+turned her attention to the neighbour on her left.
+
+A recruit, surely; for, though her hat-band was in order, there was in
+her mien an absence of that brisk, independent air which seemed to
+characterise the old Hurst girl.  A pretty damsel, too, with curling
+hair and soft dark eyes, which at the present moment were bent in
+elaborate scrutiny on the paper before her.  Rhoda noticed that it was
+the advertisement page at which she was looking, and suspected a pre-
+occupation kindred to her own.  She coughed slightly and ventured a
+gentle question--
+
+"Is this your first term at school?"
+
+The dark-eyed girl turned a fleeting glance upon her, so fleeting that
+it seemed as if she had never altered her position, and replied
+monosyllabically:
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You are going up, like me, for the first time?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you have never been to school before?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I mean a boarding school.  A big school like this, on all the new
+lines?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+This was disconcerting!  What _did_ she mean?  It was her first term,
+she was a new girl, and yet she had been up before!  What was the girl
+thinking about!  She might really trouble herself to say more than one
+single word.
+
+"But you said--I understood you to say--"
+
+Brown Eyes turned fiercely upon her, and fairly snapped in indignation.
+
+"I don't care what I said, or what you understood.  Can't you _see_ I
+want to be quiet?  Can't you leave me alone?  If I am a new girl, I
+don't want to howl before all the others, do I!  Very well, then! don't
+make me talk!  Read your book, and let me read mine."
+
+"I _beg_ your pardon!" said Rhoda, in her most stately manner.  She took
+up her magazine obediently, but now it was more impossible than ever to
+read it, for she was tingling with mortification.  Such a snub from a
+stranger, and when she was trying to be friendly too!  It would be a
+long time before she troubled Brown Eyes again.  Her thoughts went back
+regretfully to Ella, the loyal, the sympathetic, the faithfully
+admiring.  If Ella were only here now, how different it would be!  Why
+had she not thought of it before, and asked her parents to pay Ella's
+fees, so that she might have the solace of her presence?  They would
+have done it gladly, but, alas!  Ella could not have been spared from
+home.  She had to help her mother; to be governess as well as pupil,
+teaching the younger children for part of every day.  No!  Ella was
+impossible; but the craving for companionship grew so intense that it
+even conquered the dread inspired by her other companion, and
+strengthened her to make yet another effort.
+
+The train had just left a station whose name was familiar in her ears,
+and she realised that they had crossed the boundary between two
+counties, and were now in Blankshire, in which Hurst Manor itself was
+situated.  To remark on this fact seemed an innocent and natural manner
+of opening a conversation, so she turned towards Square Face, and said
+brightly, "Now we are in Blankshire, I see!  I have never been here
+before.  The country looks very pretty and undulating."
+
+The girl turned and stared at her with a wooden stolidity of feature.
+Seen at close quarters she appeared to Rhoda as at once the most
+extraordinarily ugly and comical-looking creature she had ever beheld.
+Her little eyes blinked, and the thin lips flapped up and down in an
+uncanny fashion that refused to be likened to any ordinary thing.  There
+was a moment's silence, then she repeated in a tone of the utmost
+solemnity--
+
+"The country is very pretty and undulating--you are quite right.  Your
+remark is most apt!  May I ask if you would object to my repeating it to
+my friend over here?  She would be so very much interested."
+
+She was so preternaturally grave, that for a moment Rhoda was taken in
+by the pretence, the next she flushed angrily, and tilted her head in
+the air, but it was of no avail, for already the next girl was tittering
+over the quotation, and turning to repeat it in her turn.  The simple
+words must surely contain some hidden joke, for on hearing it each
+listener was seized with a paroxysm of laughter, and face after face
+peered forward to stare at the originator, and chuckle with renewed
+mirth.  It was a good ten minutes before it had travelled round the
+carriage and been digested by each separate traveller, and then, so far
+from dying out, it acquired fresh life from being adapted to passing
+circumstances, as when the train having stopped at a junction and moved
+on again with a jerk, Square Face fell prone into her companion's arms,
+and excused herself with a bland--
+
+"Excuse me, dear.  It's my little way.  I _am_ so pretty and
+undulating," and instantly the titters burst out afresh.
+
+Rhoda's face was a study, but even as she sat fuming with passion, a
+voice spoke in her ear from the side where Brown Eyes still studied her
+advertisements.
+
+"Laugh, can't you?" said the voice.  "Laugh, too, as if you enjoyed the
+joke.  It's the only way.  They will go on all the more if they see you
+are angry."
+
+"I hate them all!" hissed Rhoda savagely, and the other heaved a sigh.
+
+"Ah, so do I, but they shan't hate me if I know it!  I'm sorry I
+snapped, but I'll talk now, and for pity's sake don't look so dismal.
+Let us look over this paper together, and make remarks, and smile as if
+we were enjoying ourselves too."
+
+"I don't feel as if I should ever enjoy myself again.  It's hateful
+going to school.  If I had known it was as bad as this I would never
+have come."
+
+"There's a lake in the grounds.  We will drown ourselves together after
+tea, but in the meantime do please keep up appearances.  Don't give
+yourself away before all these girls!"
+
+Rhoda looked at her curiously, and felt a thrill of comfort at finding a
+friend in the midst of her desolation.  "What is your name?" she queried
+eagerly, and the dark eyes met hers in a solemn stare.
+
+"Marah, for bitterness.  That's how I feel to-day, anyhow.  My
+godmothers and godfather christened me Dorothy, and in festive moments I
+have even answered to `Doll,' but I'd murder any one who called me that
+to-day.  Now, I'll show you something interesting...  I've travelled on
+this line before, and if you look out of the window you can catch a
+glimpse of Hurst Manor as we pass the next station.  It stands in its
+own grounds with nothing between it and the line.  Over there to the
+right--you can't miss it if you keep your eyes open.  Now!  There!  That
+gaunt, grey building."
+
+Rhoda looked, and there it lay--a gaunt building, indeed, with row upon
+row of tall, bare windows staring like so many eyes, and out-standing
+wings flanked like sentinels on either side.  The poor recruit's face
+lengthened with horror.
+
+"It looks," she said dismally, "like a prison!  It looks as if when you
+once got in, you would never never get out any more!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
+
+Ten minutes later the journey came to an end, and the girls surged out
+on to the platform of the country station.  A line of waggonettes,
+cheerfully denominated "Black Marias" by the pupils, was in waiting, and
+with less confusion than might have been expected the girls divided into
+different parties, and seated themselves in the carriages marked with
+their own house colours.  Rhoda and her travelling companions, being all
+"blue," were among the first to drive off, each girl clutching the
+handbag which contained the immediate necessities of her toilet, and
+chattering away at the pitch of her voice.  "Square Face" was evidently
+the wag of the party, and was treated with an admiring deference which
+seemed to bespeak a position of importance.  She was professionally
+addressed as "Tom," and Rhoda from her seat opposite, read the words,
+"Thomasina Bolderston," upon the label of the bag, and reflected that
+she had never heard a name more entirely appropriate to its owner.  It
+was at once so ugly, so uncommon, and so arresting to the memory, while
+Tom herself, once seen, could never be forgotten, nor confounded with
+another girl.  There she sat, the keen autumn air blanching her cheeks
+and reddening her eyes, her arms crossed squarely over her bag, her lips
+twitching with mischievous enjoyment.  She had but to roll her eyes, and
+the girls went into fresh convulsions of laughter; and when, at the
+entrance to "Hurst" grounds, she took out her handkerchief and affected
+to sob, the merriment reached an almost hysterical pitch.  Rhoda,
+however, failed to appreciate the humour of the joke, being inclined to
+cry in good truth as the grim doorway yawned before her, and she caught
+a glimpse of the chill, grey hall, so different from the glowing warmth
+of her own dear home.
+
+Dorothy gripped her arm in sympathetic fashion as they alighted and fell
+into position in the long line of girls, who had suddenly thrown off
+their hoyden airs, and assumed a demeanour of severe propriety.  The
+queue wended its serpentine course down the hall itself, and across a
+smaller corridor to the head of the great staircase, where stood a lady
+in a black silk dress, and a cap with lavender ribbons, crowning bands
+of iron-grey hair.  She was in reality small of stature, but she held
+herself with an air which gave her the appearance of being six feet high
+at least, and as she shook hands with each girl she addressed to her a
+word of greeting.
+
+"How do you do, Mary?  Glad to see you, Kathleen.  Hope you are better,
+Ella.  Welcome back, Carrie!" and so on, and so on.  Occasionally there
+came a hesitation, and the greeting terminated without a name being
+added, but whenever this was the case there was a knitting of the brows
+which showed distinct annoyance.  Miss Bruce evidently took a pride in
+remembering her pupils, and was hard on herself for any forgetfulness.
+When it came to the turn of the new girls, she detained them a moment to
+hope they would be happy, before waving them forward with an encouraging
+smile.
+
+"That's what we call being `presented.'  She is the Queen, and on the
+next landing are `the Lords,' and on the second `the Commons,'"
+whispered a girl, who being herself only in her second term was not
+averse from posing as preceptor.  Rhoda lifted her eyes and beheld an
+array of governesses standing before her, shaking hands and welcoming
+the pupils in their turn.  Some looked formidable and learned, some did
+not.  Some had the orthodox braided locks and spectacles, some even
+condescended to the frivolity of a `fringe,' but one and all bore
+themselves with a dignity worthy of a foremost position in the newest of
+all new schools.
+
+Rhoda passed by as in a dream, and felt far more interest in "the
+Commons," who were for the most part young women removed from girlhood
+by so slight a barrier that there was a tone of comradeship in their
+voices, a sympathetic understanding in their glance.  The sweetest
+looking of all was evidently in special charge of the Blues, and, walked
+by the side of the two new girls as the detachment filed along the
+endless corridor towards its own apartments.
+
+"You two are sisters?  No!  Ah, well, you must pretend you are, for a
+day or two at least, until you get over the first loneliness.  Every one
+feels lonely at first among such a crowd of strangers, but it soon
+passes, and we are very happy together.  You must come and sit with me
+in my little den sometimes.  I'll ask you to tea on Sunday, and you must
+always come to me if you are in any difficulty.  In the meantime do as
+the other girls do, and you will get along quite easily.  You are in the
+same room.  Wash and get ready for tea at once.  The gong will ring in
+half an hour, and after that your boxes will have arrived and you will
+be able to unpack."
+
+They reached the door of the dormitory as she finished speaking, and the
+girls entered, trying not to feel as if they were being introduced to a
+prison cell, or to be unduly cast down because they were separated by
+half the length of the room.
+
+"If we could have been next each other and just wobbled the curtain
+occasionally it would have been friendly!" sighed Rhoda, sinking down on
+the solitary chair and gazing forlornly round her new abode.  A bed, a
+wash-stand, a chest of drawers with a glass on top, a small fixture
+wardrobe, and about three yards of space on which to disport her own
+fair self--different quarters, indeed, from her room at home, with its
+spacious floor, its deep bay windows, its adjoining dressing-room and
+bathroom!  When the curtains were drawn there was a feeling of cramped
+confinement which was most depressing to the spirits; yet, as her eye
+took in one detail after the other, Rhoda realised that there were
+redeeming points in the situation.  Small as it was, the cubicle was
+decidedly pretty, and blue enough to satisfy the blondest of mistresses.
+Blue was the paint on the walls, blue the mat on the floor, blue and
+white the coverlet on the bed, blue the quaintly shaped china on the
+wash-stand.  She remembered with a thrill of satisfaction that her own
+bags and cases were of the same hue, and took off her hat feeling that
+she had found an oasis in the desert of life.
+
+Half-an-hour seemed a long time to prepare for tea, when no change of
+garment was possible, but it passed so quickly that the sound of the
+gong came as a surprise, and she emerged from her retreat to find her
+room-mates already filing towards the door.  Thomasina led the way,
+staring at Rhoda's locks with an amusement which the girl found it hard
+to fathom.  She had brushed out the curling mane with even greater care
+than usual, and was conscious that it was as tidy as nature had intended
+it should be.  Then why stare and smile?  She could not understand, but
+Thomasina only said enigmatically--
+
+"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may!  Come on, Fuzzy!" and led the way out
+into the corridor.
+
+Lines of girls were appearing on every side--along this corridor, along
+that, down narrow nights of stairs, around unexpected corners, all
+converging steadily on the central staircase.  It was like a game of
+"Follow my leader," and Rhoda could not but admire the ease and skill
+with which "Tom" avoided collision, and marshalled her party to its own
+table in the great dining-hall.  When every one was seated, and grace
+said, the clatter of cups and saucers began, and Rhoda had her first
+experience of a school meal.
+
+Well! the tea was very welcome, and it certainly was hot, but somehow or
+other it did not taste like the tea at home.  There was so much "cup"
+about it--perhaps that was the explanation.  It was quite an effort to
+get one's lips over the rim.  Thickness seemed to be the order of the
+day when one looked from the china to the slices of bread and butter
+piled in the many plates.  One such chunk would make a meal in itself,
+thought Rhoda, nibbling fastidiously at the first slice, but whether
+from the fatigue of the long journey or the stimulating effect of
+companionship, her appetite seemed to be unusually keen, and when it was
+finished she put out her hand to take a second slice.
+
+Instantly Thomasina's voice rang out in warning.  "Stop that, Fuzzy!
+That's forbidden!"  Rhoda stared at her in dignified displeasure.  "My
+name happens to be Rhoda Chester!"
+
+"Congratulate you, I'm sure.  Couldn't be sweeter; but you mustn't break
+rules, Rhoda Chester, all the same.  The rule in this school is that no
+girl helps herself at meals, or asks for more, or pays any attention to
+her own plate."
+
+"But if I am hungry?  If I _want_ more?  How am I to get it?"
+
+"You must rely on the thoughtfulness and attention of your neighbours.
+Each girl is supposed to look after those beside her, but if she forgets
+you must starve in silence, knowing that you suffer in a good cause.  I
+find myself that a slight nudge applied to the elbow just as the cup is
+being carried to the mouth is a useful and judicious reminder...  Let me
+press a piece of plum-cake upon you, Miss Chester!"
+
+She held out the plate of bread with her squarest smile, and Rhoda
+smiled back with a curious sense of elation.  She questioned herself
+curiously as to its cause, and made the surprising discovery that it was
+because Thomasina had spoken to her, and showed some faint signs of
+friendliness!
+
+Tea over, there was another game of "Follow my leader," to the top story
+of the building this time, where all the length of a corridor was lined
+by baggage, with the mysterious addition of a flat wicker clothes-basket
+beside each trunk.  The house-mistress, Miss Everett, was flitting to
+and fro, and explained to the bewildered new girls that as the cubicles
+afforded no room for the accommodation boxes they must unpack upstairs,
+and carry down their possessions to store in drawers and wardrobes.
+
+For the next hour and a half, therefore, the curious scene was witnessed
+of sixty pupils staggering downstairs in turns under the weight of heavy
+baskets of clothes, and meeting with sundry adventures by the way.  Lazy
+girls gave themselves the usual additional share of trouble by
+overweighting their load and toppling it over on the floor; hasty girls
+tripped on the stairs and collapsed in a heap, with a rain of boots
+falling on their head and pins showering broadcast through the
+banisters; careless girls took a rest to ease aching backs, then nipped
+up the wrong basket and bore it away, to reappear ten minutes later,
+puffing and injured, and receive indignant reproaches from the rightful
+owners.
+
+Rhoda worked with a will, undisturbed by any such interruptions.  It was
+with the unconsciousness of habit that she shook out her silk-lined
+skirts, on lifting them from the box, but the rustling sound could not
+be mistaken, and instantly she was aware that the girls on either side
+were mincing round in affected fashion, shaking out their own skirts,
+and simpering meaningly in her direction.
+
+At the first glance from her eyes they became statues of propriety, but
+she felt their ridicule, and catching the giggles of laughter which
+followed her retreat blushed over cheek and neck in an agony of
+mortification.
+
+After all, was it appropriate to bring fine clothes to school?  Where
+the rules of the house were plain living and high thinking, was it not
+better to dress accordingly?  Might not display savour of ignorance, of
+lack of perception, of--oh, horrors!--of snobbishness itself?
+
+The new dresses hung neglected on their pegs, and Rhoda put on a silk
+blouse with her serge skirt, and walked down to supper in mental
+sackcloth and ashes.
+
+But here was a pleasant surprise!  The room was not grey any longer, but
+flooded with rosy light from the pink-hued shades which covered the
+electric burners.  The girls, too, were no longer clad in dark blue as
+in a uniform, but shone forth in blouses of brilliant hues, pink, blue,
+red, and white alternating gaily, with an occasional green or yellow to
+add to the variety.  There was in the atmosphere an indefinable air of
+relaxation, of rest after labour, which added tenfold to the brightness
+of the scene.  What if on each plate there was only a morsel of fish,
+not half enough to satisfy clamourous appetites, there was unlimited
+bread and jam to follow, and if cocoa was not the drink of all others
+which one would have chosen, it was at least wholesome and satisfying.
+Rhoda ate and was thankful, and felt ready for bed even before the
+summons came.  Several times during the day, when her feelings had
+threatened to become too keen for endurance, but pride had forbidden
+outward demonstration, she had cherished a determination to cry
+comfortably in bed; but when the time came she was so sleepy, so
+exhausted with excitement, the bed was so unexpectedly sympathetic, that
+she forgot her resolution, and, snoodling down on the pillow, fell
+swiftly and happily asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+TOM'S RULE.
+
+The next moment, as it seemed, there came the roll of a distant gong,
+and instantly there burst into life a score of jangling bells, clanging
+and tinkling over one's very head in a manner calculated to destroy the
+strongest nerves.  Rhoda felt an agonised certainty that the Chase was
+on fire, and springing up was confronted by the blue walls of her little
+cubicle.  Memory came back then, and with a pang of regret she lay back
+in bed, listening to the succession of groans, yawns, and sighs which
+arose from every corner of the room.
+
+They were so eloquent that one could almost _see_ the sleepers
+stretching themselves in turn, blinking heavy lids, and rubbing
+dishevelled locks like so many sleek, lazy kittens.  For a moment no one
+spoke, then began a chorus of lamentations.
+
+"Seven o'clock!  It can't be true.  I haven't slept a wink all night!"
+
+"I've been getting up at half-past eight all the holidays, and having a
+cup of tea in bed before that.  It's killing going back to this!"
+
+"Wait till the mornings are dark, and the water is frozen in the jugs;
+that's the time it is really fun.  This is a mere trifle."
+
+"It's not a trifle at all.  I'm a growing girl, and need sleep.  If Miss
+Bruce had any heart she would see it, and give me an excuse."
+
+"She'll give you a mark instead, if you are not quick.  Hurry up now!
+No laggards!" cried Thomasina's voice, in answer to which there came
+still louder groans, and the creaking of bedsteads as one girl after
+another rose to her feet.
+
+Rhoda rose with the rest, and for ten minutes there was silence, broken
+only by the splashing of water.  Then suddenly the air was filled with a
+deep, melodious roll, at which, as at a signal, Thomasina appeared from
+her lair--beautiful in a magenta dressing-jacket, and hair coiled in a
+tight little knot at the top of her head--and opened wide the door of
+the dormitory.  Rhoda, peering from between her curtains could see other
+doors opening all the way down the corridor, and bare arms hastily
+withdrawn from view, while all the time the music swelled into fuller
+force, and pealed over the great, silent house like some majestic
+wakening voice.
+
+"What is it?" she queried breathlessly, and Thomasina answered from
+behind her curtain:
+
+"The organ, of course.  The organ in the hall.  One of the music
+mistresses plays a voluntary every morning ten minutes after we get up,
+and the choir sings a hymn.  You will hear them presently.  Each house
+takes it in turn to do choir duty.  It's the Greens this week."
+
+As she spoke the first note of the hymn sounded, and the words rose
+clearly on the air:--
+
+  "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
+  Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.
+  Holy, holy, holy, Merciful and Mighty,
+  God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity!"
+
+The clear voices were softened by distance into almost angelic
+sweetness, the treble rang true and sweet against the harmonious
+background of alto; the organ sank to a flute-like softness.  It was an
+unexpected and beautiful beginning to the day's work, and the tears
+started to Rhoda's eyes as she listened, for she was of an emotional
+nature, quick to respond to any outside influence.  She followed each
+line of the hymn with devout attention, and when it was finished knelt
+down beside her bed to offer a prayer, which was much longer and more
+fervent than it would have been ten minutes before.  She prayed for
+strength, for guidance, and--with a remembrance of yesterday's trials--
+for patience too, that she might be able to take a joke in good part,
+and not value too highly her own dignity, and finally rose from her
+knees in a glow of virtuous resolution.
+
+No sooner was she out of her cubicle than the blow descended.  With the
+glow of good resolution still upon her, she was tried--and fell!
+
+Thomasina regarded her critically, and said, with a cool assurance more
+maddening than downright rudeness:
+
+"That coiffure is very becoming, Fuzzy, but it won't do here.  Go back
+to your den, and plait it in a pigtail like mine!"
+
+The glare of indignation, of scorn, of outraged dignity in Rhoda's eyes
+was beyond description.  She straightened her back into a poker of
+obstinacy, and replied--
+
+"I shall do no such thing!  I shall wear my hair as I choose, and as I
+have always worn it."
+
+"No you won't, my dear.  Pigtails are the rule in this establishment,
+and pigtails you must wear so long as you are within its walls."
+
+"If a teacher tells me to wear one, I shall obey.  If it is a rule, some
+one in authority will tell me.  I won't be ordered by you."
+
+There was a gasp of astonishment throughout the room, and one head after
+another peered out to stare at the rebellious spirit who dared to defy
+that important personage, the Head Girl.
+
+Thomasina closed her eyes and smiled in maddening fashion.
+
+"That's where you make your mistake, sweet love, for it's just exactly
+what you've got to do!  I'm Head Girl, and don't you forget it.  The
+Queen on her throne is not more absolute than I am in this room.  If you
+don't do what I tell you, it will be my painful duty to report you for
+insubordination, and it is a sad thing for a girl to get a mark on her
+first day.  I must trouble you for that pigtail, if you please."
+
+She was speaking the truth, that was evident!  Confirmation was written
+on every watching face, in every warning frown.  Rhoda's pride battled
+with a sense of helplessness so acute that she had much ado not to burst
+into tears on the spot.  The two girls stood confronting each other, the
+new-comer flushed and quivering, like a beautiful young fury, with her
+flaxen hair streaming over her shoulders, and her blue eyes sending out
+sparks of fire; Thomasina composed and square, with her lips pursed up
+in a good-humoured, tolerant smile.
+
+"Hurry up!" she said, and Rhoda whisked round and dashed behind her
+curtain, which flew out behind in an aggrieved fashion, as if unused to
+be treated with such scant courtesy.  The next few moments seemed to
+have concentrated in them a lifetime of bitterness.  The comb tugged
+remorselessly through the curling locks, but the physical pain passed
+unnoticed; it was the blow to pride which hurt--the sharp, sharp stab of
+finding herself worsted, and obliged to give in to the will of another.
+It was nothing at that moment that the pigtail was ugly and unbecoming;
+Rhoda would have shaved her head and gone bald for ever if by this means
+she could have escaped that verdict; but to appear again before all the
+girls with that hateful, hateful wisp hanging down her back--she felt as
+if she would die rather than do it; yet would it not be even more
+degrading to wait for a summons?  She stalked forth, straight and
+defiant, and was received with a bland smile.
+
+"Pretty fair for a first attempt.  Plait it down further next time.  I
+must have my girls neat and tidy.  Now then, forward please--Right,
+left! right, left!"
+
+The order was accompanied by a tap on the shoulder, which put the
+finishing touch to Rhoda's exasperation.  She stepped into her place in
+the queue, trembling from head to foot, and with a painful throbbing in
+her head which was something new in her healthy experience.  Immediately
+in front marched a tall, straight form, whom at first she failed to
+recognise, but at the head of the staircase there came a temporary wait,
+and then the head was turned towards her, and, behold, it was Dorothy
+herself, pigtailed like the rest, and looking curiously reduced without
+the background of hair.
+
+"Morning!" she cried cheerily, and Rhoda gasped a breathless question.
+
+"You too!  Did she tell you?  I never heard--"
+
+"Didn't give her a chance!  Heard her ordering you, and nipped mine up
+in a trice.  Treat it as a matter of course, and don't seem to mind--
+that's the tip!  Only get yourself disliked by making a fuss."
+
+"I know, but I _can't_ help it," sighed Rhoda dismally.
+
+"I'm not used to bullying, and it makes me wild.  My head's splitting.
+I feel all churned up."
+
+"Worse troubles at sea!" said Dorothy shortly, and after that there was
+no more chance of conversation, for the queue moved on again, and they
+were separated at breakfast as at dinner the night before.  Thomasina
+sat opposite to Rhoda, and pressed the various dishes upon her good-
+temperedly, ignoring all causes of discord, an attitude which, if she
+had only known it, but added to the score against her, for pride forced
+a haughty "No, thanks," whilst appetite prompted "Yes, please."  To sit
+with empty plate, and see others feast on bread and marmalade is no
+slight trial when one is fifteen and a-hungred, but no one urged Rhoda
+to change her mind, or thought it possible to succeed where the Head
+Girl failed.
+
+There were no regular lessons during the morning, but a great deal of
+confusing moving to and fro from one class-room to another, to go over
+preliminary arrangements, and receive instructions from the mistresses.
+Sometimes the new girls were ignored altogether, and then they felt
+worms, and ready to sink through the earth; sometimes they were
+questioned as to their attainments, and then the very walls seemed to
+have ears, and their replies echoed through a deadly silence.  Dorothy
+attained a fair level throughout, and reaped neither praise nor blame,
+but Rhoda knew alternate rapture and despair, as Mademoiselle and
+Fraulein beamed approval, and the "class-mistress" put up her eye-
+glasses and regarded her as one might regard a wild animal at the Zoo,
+upon hearing that she had "done" no Latin or mathematics.
+
+"You will not do much good at this school without them," she said,
+severely.  "They are the most important subjects.  I advise you to give
+all the time you can spare to working them up, and to get, if possible,
+some coaching during the holidays.  That is, of course, if you wish to
+excel."
+
+If she wished to excel!  _If_, indeed!  Did any one suppose for a moment
+that Rhoda Chester would be content to remain among the rank and file?
+Did they think that she could continue to be ignored, and live!  Ten
+thousand times no!  "A day would come!" as Disraeli had said.  They
+thought just now that she was nobody, but in time to come the school
+would know her name, would be proud of it, would boast of it to other
+schools.  Rhoda reared her head and smiled complacently, and the class-
+mistress noted the action, and made a mental note that the new pupil
+must be "kept down."
+
+The morning seemed very long, but it came to an end at last with a
+blessed ten minutes "off" before preparing for dinner.  The other girls
+hurried to their cubicles, but Rhoda waylaid Miss Everett in the
+corridor, and appealed to her in breathless eagerness.
+
+"You said I was to come to you in any difficulty...  I want to know if
+it is necessary for me to wear my hair like this?  I never do it at
+home, and I'm sure my mother wouldn't like it.  Is it really the rule?"
+
+"I'm afraid it is," said Miss Everett kindly.  "You don't like it, eh?
+Well, I don't wonder!  I shouldn't myself, in your place; but you see,
+dear, bending over desks, and running about at games, loose hair gets in
+the way, and cannot possibly be kept tidy.  It seems an arbitrary rule,
+but there's reason in it, as there is in all the rules if you think them
+out, and it doesn't apply to every day.  On Thursday evening we have
+`Frolics,' and then you can wear it loose, and put on your prettiest
+things.  There is always something going on--concerts, dances, or
+theatricals--and Miss Bruce likes the girls to look bonnie and festive.
+On Sundays, too, you can go back to your mop if you choose.  I hope you
+will, for I like to see it.  I have a little sister with hair just like
+yours."
+
+She laid her hand affectionately on the curly head, and the touch of
+kindliness acted as balm to Rhoda's sore heart.  Her eyes glistened with
+unshed tears, and she said huskily:
+
+"I'll do anything _you_ tell me.  I won't mind; but that Thomasina--
+she's hateful!  I can't stand being ordered about by a girl of my own
+age."
+
+"Ah-h!" cried Miss Everett, and sighed as at the recurrence of a well-
+known trouble.  "Well, you know, Rhoda, you must get over that feeling,
+and conform to the rules of the school.  Thomasina is a great help to
+me, and makes a capital `head girl.'  You see, dear, I have no time to
+look after these details.  The girls think that they are busy, but long
+after they are asleep at night I am slaving away correcting exercises.
+Oh such piles of books! it makes me tired even to see them.  I'll do
+what I can for you, but you mustn't expect too much; and after all, in a
+week or ten days you will have mastered the rules, and the difficulty
+will be over.  You wouldn't make a fuss for one week, would you?  Stay!
+There is one thing I _can_ tell you now, and that is that you won't be
+allowed to wear those slippers any longer.  I'll give you an order, and
+you can go downstairs to the bureau and get a pair of school shoes like
+the other girls wear."
+
+Rhoda gasped with dismay.
+
+"What!  Those frightful things with square toes and no heels!  Those
+awful tubs that Thomasina waddles about in!"
+
+Miss Everett laughed gaily.  She was only a girl herself, and she cast a
+quick glance up and down the corridor to see if any one were coming
+before she drew aside her skirt to exhibit her own flat feet.
+
+"They _are_ awful!  I love pretty shoes, too; and the first time I wore
+these I--I _cried_!  I was very home-sick, you see, and nervous and
+anxious about my work, and it seemed the last straw.  Never mind! it's
+only a little thing, and on Thursday you shall wear your very best pair
+and I'll wear mine, and we'll compare notes and see which is the
+prettier."
+
+To say that Rhoda adored her is to state the matter feebly.  She could
+have knelt down in the passage and kissed the ugly little feet; she
+could have done homage before this young mistress as before a saint;
+when the light streamed out of a window and rested on her head, it
+seemed to take the form of a halo!
+
+She went meekly downstairs, procured the shoes, and carried them into
+Dorothy's cubicle, to display before the eyes of that horrified young
+woman.
+
+"There!  We've got to wear those, too!  It's the rule.  Miss Everett
+told me, and gave me an order to get them.  You had better ask her for
+one before Thomasina gets a chance."
+
+Dorothy looked at her solemnly, and measured the slipper against her own
+neat shoe; then she took off the latter and held the two side by side.
+One was arched and slim, the other flat and square; one had French heels
+and little sparkling buckles, the other was of dull leather, unrelieved
+by any trace of ornament.
+
+"Here's deggeradation!" she sighed hopelessly.  "Here's deggeradation!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+THE RECORD WALL.
+
+There was no end to the surprises of that wonderful school!  When Rhoda
+returned to her cubicle to get "tidy" for dinner, she washed, brushed
+her hair, put an extra pin in her tie to make sure that it was straight,
+wriggled round before the glass to see that belt and bodice were
+immaculately connected, put a clean handkerchief in her pocket, nicked
+the clothes-brush over her skirt, and, what could one do more?  It
+seemed on the face of it that one could do nothing, but the other girls
+had accomplished a great deal more than this.  Rhoda never forgot the
+shock of dismay which she experienced on first stepping forth, and
+beholding them.  It was surely a room full of boys, not girls, for
+skirts had disappeared, and knickerbockers reigned in their stead.  The
+girls wore gym. costumes, composed of the aforesaid knickers, and a
+short tunic, girt round the waist with a blue sash, to represent the
+inevitable house colour.  Thomasina's aspect was astounding, as she
+strode to and fro awaiting the gathering of her forces, and the new
+girls stared at her with distended eyeballs.  Rhoda had registered a vow
+never to volunteer a remark to the hateful creature; but Dorothy
+stammered out a breathless--
+
+"You never said--We never knew--Is it a _rule_?"
+
+"Not compulsory, or I would have told you; you may do as you please.
+They wear gyms, at Wycombe in the afternoon, and we have adopted the
+idea to a certain extent.  Most of the girls prefer it for the sake of
+the games, for it is so much easier to run about like this.  For myself,
+I affect it for the sake of appearances.  It is so becoming to my
+youthful charms."
+
+She simpered as she spoke, with an affectation of coyness that was
+irresistibly amusing.  Dorothy laughed merrily, and Rhoda resisted doing
+the same only by an enormous effort of self-will.  She succeeded,
+however, in looking sulky and bad-tempered, and went downstairs feeling
+quite pleased with herself for resisting an unworthy impulse.
+
+All the old girls were in gym. costume, and a quaint sight it was to
+watch them descending the great central staircase.  Lanky girls, looking
+lankier than ever; fat girls, looking fatter than ever; tall girls
+magnified into giantesses; poor little stumpies looking as if viewed
+through a bad piece of window glass.  Plump legs, scraggy legs, and legs
+of one width all the way down, and at the end of each the sad,
+inevitable shoe, and down each back the sad, inevitable pigtail!  Now
+and again would come a figure, light and graceful as a fawn, the
+embodiment of charming youth; but as a rule the effect was far from
+becoming.
+
+Rhoda's criticisms, however, were less scathing than usual, for she
+herself was suffering from an unusual attack of humility!  If any reader
+of this veracious history has to do with the management of a self-
+confident, high-spirited girl, who needs humbling and bringing to her
+senses, let the author confidently recommend the pigtail and flat-heeled
+system!  To fasten back a mane of hair is at once to deprive the culprit
+of one of her most formidable means of defence.
+
+She has no shelter behind which to retire, as an ambush from the enemy;
+she has nothing to toss and whisk from side to side, expressing defiance
+without a word being uttered.  The very weight of the pigtail is a
+sobering influence; its solemn, pendulum movement is incompatible with
+revolt.  As for the slippers--well, try heel-less shoes yourself, and
+test their effect!  They bring one to earth, indeed, in the deepest
+sense of the word.  All very well to mince about in French shoes, and
+think "What a fine girl am I," but once try mincing in flat, square
+soles, and you will realise that the days are over for that kind of
+thing, and that nothing remains but humility and assent!
+
+Dinner over, the girls adjourned into the grounds; but as games, like
+lessons, could not be begun without some preliminary arrangement, most
+of the pupils contented themselves with strolling about, in twos and
+threes, exchanging confidences about the holidays and hatching plans for
+the weeks to come.  Rhoda and Dorothy were standing disconsolately
+together, when Miss Everett flitted past, and stopped for a moment to
+take pity on their loneliness.
+
+"What are you two going to do?  You mustn't stand here looking like
+pelicans in the wilderness.  You must walk about and get some exercise.
+I'm too busy to go with you myself, but--er--Kathleen!"  She held up her
+hand in summons to the second-term girl who had volunteered information
+about the Lords and Commons--"Here, Kathleen, you remember what it is to
+be a new girl; take Rhoda and Dorothy round the grounds, and show them
+everything that is interesting.  Have a brisk walk, all of you, and come
+back with some colour in your cheeks!"
+
+She was off again, smiling and waving her hand, and the three girls
+stood gazing at each other in shy, uncertain fashion.
+
+"Well," said Kathleen, "where shall we go first?  The Beech Walk, I
+suppose; it's half-a-mile long, so if we go to the end and back we shall
+have a constitutional before looking at the sights.  The grounds are
+very fine here, and there is lots of room for all we want to do.  You
+can find a sunny bit, or a shady bit, according to the weather, but it's
+only on really scorching days that we are allowed to lounge.  Then
+there's a scramble for hammocks, and the lucky girls tie them on to the
+branches of trees, and swing about, while the others sit on the grass.
+Once or twice we had tea under the trees, and that was fine, but as a
+rule they keep you moving.  Games are nearly as hard work as lessons!"
+
+"But you needn't play unless you like?"
+
+"Oh, yes, you must; unless you are ill or tired.  You can get off any
+day if you don't feel well, but not altogether.  And you would not wish
+to either.  It would be so horribly flat!  Once you are into a team, you
+are all anxiety to get into another, and I can tell you when you see
+your remove posted up on the board, it is b-liss!--perfect bliss!"
+
+The recruits laughed, and looked at their new friend with approving
+glances.  She was, so far, the only one of the girls who had treated
+them on an equality, and gave herself no air of patronage, and they were
+correspondingly appreciative.  They asked eagerly in which games she had
+won her remove, and Rhoda, at least, was disappointed at the answer.
+
+"Cricket!  That's the great summer game.  I've three brothers at home,
+and used to practise with them sometimes to make an extra one.  They
+snubbed me, of course: but I'm not a bad bat, though I say it myself."
+
+"And what about tennis?"
+
+"Um-m!"  Kathleen pursed up her lips.  "We have courts, of course, but
+its rather--_Missy_, don't you think?  The sports captains look down on
+it, and so, of course, it's unpopular.  The little girls play
+occasionally.  It keeps them happy."
+
+This was a nice way to speak of a game which had been for years the
+popular amusement of young England!  Rhoda was so shocked and
+disappointed that she hardly dared mention croquet, and it seemed,
+indeed, as if it would have been better if she had refrained, for
+Kathleen fairly shouted at the name.
+
+"My dear, how can you!  _Nobody_ plays croquet except old tab-- I mean
+ladies who are too old to do anything else.  Miss Bruce plays sometimes
+when she has the vicar's wife to tea.  We hide behind the bushes and
+watch them and shake with laughter.  _Croquet_, indeed!  I should like
+to see Tom's face if you mentioned croquet to her!"
+
+"It's a matter of perfect indifference to me what Miss Bolderston
+thinks," said Rhoda, loftily; but she veered away from the subject of
+games all the same and tackled lessons instead.
+
+"Are you working for any special examination, or just taking it easily?"
+
+"I'm going in for the Oxford Senior in summer.  My birthday is so
+horribly arranged that it comes just one week before the limit.  A few
+days later would give me a year to the good, but as it is it's my last
+chance.  If I can only scrape through in preliminaries I am not afraid
+of the rest, but I am hopelessly bad in arithmetic.  I add up with all
+my fingers, and even then the result comes wrong; and when so much
+depends upon it I know I shall get flurried and be worse than ever."
+
+"The great thing is to keep cool.  If you don't lose your head, I
+shouldn't wonder if the excitement helped you.  Say to yourself, `_Don't
+be a fool_!' and _make_ yourself keep quiet," quoth Miss Rhoda, with an
+air of wisdom which evidently impressed her hearers.  They glanced first
+at her and then at each other, and the glance said plainly as words
+could speak that here was a girl who had strength of mind--a girl who
+would make her mark in the school!
+
+"I'll try!" said Kathleen, meekly.  "I am terribly anxious about this
+exam., for if I do well and pass better than any one else in the school
+I shall get a scholarship of L40 towards next year's fees.  That would
+be a great help to my parents, for they are poor, and have only sent me
+here that I may have a chance of getting on and being able to teach some
+day.  I should be so thankful if I could help, for it's horrid to know
+the people at home are stinting themselves for your sake.  I lie awake
+at nights imagining that the report is in, and I am first, and then I
+write a long letter home and tell them about it.  Each time I invent a
+fresh letter, and they are so touching, you can't think!  I cried over
+one, one night, and Tom came round to see what was the matter.  At other
+times I imagine I'm plucked, and I go cold all over; I think I should
+_die_!  Never mind, nine months yet!  I'll work like a slave, and if I
+_do_ fail no one can say it's my own fault."
+
+"You won't fail.  Don't imagine anything so horrible!  You will get over
+your nervousness and do splendidly, and write your letter in real
+earnest," cried Dorothy cheerily.  "I am going in for the Oxford too,
+but you need fear no rival in me.  I am one of those deadly,
+uninteresting creatures, who never reach anything but a fair medium.
+There isn't a `distinction' in me, and one could never be first at that
+rate.  A scrape-through pass is all _I'm_ good for!"
+
+"I could get two distinctions at once!  I know more German and French
+than ninety girls out of a hundred.  Two distinctions!  It's a big
+start.  I wonder--I wonder if I could possibly be first!" said Rhoda to
+herself, and her breath came fast, and her cheeks grew suddenly hot.
+"Nine months!  Nine months!"  If she studied hard, and worked up the
+subjects on which she was behind, might she not have a chance with the
+rest?  The first girl!  Oh, if only it could be possible, what joy, what
+rapture!  What a demonstration of power before the school.  She went off
+into a blissful dream in which she stood apart, receiving the
+congratulations of Miss Bruce and her staff, and saw Thomasina's face
+regarding her with a new expression of awe.  Then she came back to real
+life, to look remorsefully at her new friend, and notice for the first
+time her pinched and anxious air.
+
+"But I would give Kathleen the money.  I want nothing but the honour,"
+she assured herself, shutting her mind obstinately against the
+conviction that such a division might not be altogether easy to arrange.
+"And Dorothy is going in, too; lots of girls are going in, so why
+should not I?  And if I enter I must do my best; nobody could object to
+that!"
+
+Nevertheless there was an unaccountable weight on her heart, which made
+it a relief when the subject dropped, and Kathleen began to point out
+the various out-buildings scattered over the grounds.
+
+"That's the pavilion.  We keep all the games there, and it's so nicely
+furnished.  There is quite a pretty sitting-room, and a stove, and all
+the materials for making tea.  On Saturday afternoons the winning teams
+may stay behind and have tea there by themselves, and buy cakes from the
+housekeeper.  It's ripping!  We look forward to it as the Saturday
+treat, and aren't you just mad if your side loses!  That's the joiner's
+shop.  You can have lessons if you like, and learn to make all sorts of
+things; but I've no ambition to be a carpenter, so I don't go...  That's
+a summer-house, but it's so earwiggy that we leave it alone...  That was
+meant to be a swimming-bath, but the water comes straight from a well,
+and it is so deadly cold that the girls got cramp, and Miss Bruce
+forbade them to use it any more.  It looks wretchedly deserted now.  If
+you want to be miserable all by yourself you couldn't have a better
+place.  It's so still and dark, and the birds have built their nests in
+the corners, and come suddenly flying past, and frighten you out of your
+wits...  Those little patches are the girls' own gardens.  You can have
+lessons in gardening, and get a prize if you are clever.  I don't go in
+for that either, for it's an extra expense."
+
+"Oh, I must have a garden!" cried Rhoda quickly.  "I adore flowers, and
+they could send me cuttings from home.  I always had my own garden, but
+I didn't do the work, of course.  I just said how it was to be arranged,
+and what plants I wanted, and every one admired it, and said how
+successful it was.  I had big clumps of things, you know; not one
+straggling plant here and another there, but all banked up together.
+You should have seen my lily bed!  I made the men collect all the odd
+bulbs and plant them together, and they were a perfect show.  The scent
+met you half-way down the path; it was almost overpowering.  And then I
+had a lot of the new cactus dahlias, and left only about two branches on
+each, so that they came up like one huge bush with all the lovely
+contrasting colours.  Many people say they don't like dahlias, but that
+is only because they haven't seen them properly grown."
+
+"Oh well, I loathe them myself, and I always shall do.  You never get
+any satisfaction out of them, however pretty they may be, for as soon as
+people see them, they begin groaning and saying, `Oh, dear, dear, autumn
+flowers already!  How sad it is.  Winter will soon be upon us.'"
+Dorothy sniffed derisively.  It was evident that no support was to be
+expected from her on the dahlia question, and Rhoda felt that only time
+and experience could prove to her the folly of her position.
+
+When all the out-buildings had been explained, Kathleen led the way down
+a winding path which seemed to lead to nowhere in particular, but rather
+to come to an abrupt _cul-de-sac_ in the shape of a high grey wall.  Her
+companions wondered at her choice, but she went forward with an air of
+determination, so that there was nothing left but to follow, and hope
+soon to return to more interesting scenes.  When she came to the end of
+the path, however, she stood still and began to smile with a most
+baffling air of mystery.  What did it mean?  What were they expected to
+see?  The girls wheeled to and fro, looked at the paths, the beds, the
+flowers, frowned in bewilderment, and then suddenly lifted their eyes to
+the wall, and uttered simultaneous exclamations of surprise.
+
+The wall was dotted over with little tablets of stone, on each of which
+was a neatly engraved inscription, and each inscription bore the name of
+a girl at its head.  Rhoda craned forward and read first one and then
+another:
+
+"...Winifred Barton, joined Hurst Manor, September, 189--, left
+Christmas, 189--.  The youngest pupil who ever obtained honours in
+Mathematics in the Oxford Local Examinations."
+
+"Elizabeth Charrington, an old pupil of the school, obtained First Class
+in the Honours School of Modern History at Oxford."
+
+"Eleanor Newman, joined Hurst Manor, September, 189--, left Mid., 189--.
+Beloved by her fellow-students as the kindest and most loyal of
+friends, the most unselfish of competitors.  Held in grateful
+remembrance for the power of her influence and example."
+
+"Fanny Elder.  For two years Games President of the school.  Winner of
+the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Tournament, 189--.  Holder of Edinburgh Golf
+Cup, 189--.  A just and fearless sportswoman..."
+
+The list of names went on indefinitely, but Rhoda had read enough to
+inflame curiosity, and wheeled eagerly round to confront Kathleen.
+
+"What is it?  What does it mean?  Who puts them up?  Is it just the
+cleverest girls?--"
+
+"It's the Record Wall!" said Kathleen.  "We are very proud of our Record
+Wall at Hurst.  The cost of these tablets is paid by the pupils
+themselves, and they are put up entirely at their discretion.  The
+teachers have nothing to do with it.  If a girl has distinguished
+herself at work, but is conceited and overbearing, and makes herself
+disliked, no one wants to put up a tablet to _her_; so it is really a
+testimony to character, as well as to cleverness.  Eleanor Newman was
+quite stupid, they say.  I never knew her.  She never passed a single
+examination, nor took a prize nor anything, yet every one loved her.
+She was a little, fair thing, with curly hair too short to tie back, and
+soft, grey eyes.  She wasn't a bit goody, but she always seemed waiting
+to do kind things, and make peace, and cheer the girls when they were
+home-sick.  And no one ever heard her say a cross word, or make an
+uncharitable remark."
+
+"And did she die?" croaked Rhoda solemnly.  A long experience of girls'
+stories had taught her that when girls were sweet and fair, and never
+said an unkind word, they invariably caught a chill, and died of rapid
+consumption.  She expected to hear the same report of Eleanor Newman,
+but Kathleen replied briskly:
+
+"Die!  Not a bit of it.  She married, at nineteen, a doctor down in
+Hampshire, and brought him to see the school on their honeymoon.  The
+Greens escorted her in a body to the Record Wall, and when she saw her
+own name she covered her face with her hands, and flew for her life.
+And her husband looked quite weepy.  The girls said he could hardly
+speak!"
+
+"Ah-h!" sighed Rhoda, and was silent.  She felt "weepy" too, filled with
+a sudden yearning, a sudden realisation of want.  Eleanor Newman had
+risen to heights to which she could never attain.  "A little, fair
+thing, and almost stupid," yet her school-fellows loved her, and
+immortalised her name in words of grateful loyalty.  She sighed again,
+and yet again, and heard Kathleen's voice cry sharply--
+
+"Oh, I look at that empty space, and wonder if this time next year I
+shall read there that I have passed first, and won the Scholarship.  I
+wonder if ever, ever there will be a tablet with my name upon it!"
+
+"I expect there will be," said Dorothy.  "It's a lovely idea, and I can
+imagine every girl longing to see her name on the scroll of honour; but
+for my own part I never shall.  Not for this child!  There is no hope
+for me, unless they put me up as `a good little tortoise who never fell
+asleep.'  The worst of it is that in real life the hare keeps awake too,
+and spoils one's chance.  I must be content to bloom, in obscurity--`A
+violet by a mossy dell, half hidden from the eye'--"
+
+But Rhoda already saw a new tablet twinkling on the empty space, a
+tablet recording phenomenal success and distinction, and the name at the
+head of the inscription was not "Kathleen Murray," but one much more
+familiar in her ears!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+AN ENCOUNTER.
+
+Sunday afternoon was hopelessly wet; but the fact was less regretted
+than usual, as from three to four was the time put aside for writing
+home.  So far a postcard to announce safe arrival had been the only word
+written, and each girl was eager to pour forth her feelings at length,
+to tell the latest news, and report changes of class.  The two new-
+comers had a score of complaints and lamentations to record, and Rhoda,
+at least, entered unhesitatingly into the recital.
+
+She had never been so miserable in her life.  The girls were hateful,
+domineering, and unfriendly--Miss Bruce had spoken to her three times
+only--the food was good enough in its way, but so plain that she simply
+longed for something _nice_; the lessons were difficult, the hours
+unbearably long.--It took three whole sheets to complete the list of
+grievances, by which time her hand was so tired that she read it over by
+way of a rest, with the result that she was quite astonished to discover
+how miserable she had been!  Everything she had said was true, and yet
+somehow the impression given was of a depth of woe which she could not
+honestly say she had experienced.  Perhaps it was that she had omitted
+to mention the alleviating circumstances--Miss Everett's sweetness,
+Fraulein's praise, hours of relaxation in the grounds, signs of
+softening on the part of the girls, early hours and regular exercises,
+which sent her to the simple meals with an appetite she had never known
+at home.  Five days at school, and on the whole there had been as much
+pleasure as suffering.  Then, was it quite fair to send home such a
+misleading account?
+
+Rhoda drew from her pocket the latest of the five loving letters penned
+by the maternal hand, and read it through for the dozenth time.  Sunday
+was a lonely day for new-comers, and the period occupied by the sermon
+in church had been principally occupied by Rhoda in pressing back the
+tears which showed a presumptuous desire to roll down her cheeks and
+splash upon her gloves.  It had been a sweet consolation to read over
+and over again the words which showed that though she might be one of a
+crowd at "Hurst," she was still the treasured darling of her home.
+There was nothing original in the letter; it simply repeated in
+different words the contents of its four predecessors--sorrow for her
+absence, prayers for her welfare, anxiety for the first long letter.
+
+"I can hardly wait until Monday morning.  I am so longing to know how
+you are faring!"  Rhoda read these words, and looked slowly down upon
+her own letter.  Well! it would arrive, and the butler would place it on
+the breakfast-table, and her mother would come hurrying into the room,
+and seize it with a little cry of joy.  She would read it over, and
+then--then she would hand it to her husband, and take out her
+handkerchief and begin to cry.  Mr Chester would pooh-pooh her
+distress, but she would cry quietly behind the urn, and despite his
+affectation of indifference he, also, would look worried and troubled;
+while Harold would declare that every one must go through the same stage
+before settling down, and that Rhoda might be expected to "make a fuss."
+She had been so spoiled at home!
+
+Rhoda dug her pen into the blotting-paper, and frowned uneasily.  Five
+days' experience at school had impressed her with the feebleness of
+"making a fuss."
+
+"If you are hurt--bear it!  If you are teased--look pleasant!  If you
+are blamed--do better next time!  If you feel blue--perk up, and don't
+be a baby!"  Such were the Spartan rules of the new life, and an
+unaccustomed shame rose up in her mind at the realisation of the
+selfishness and weak betrayal of that first home letter.  Was it not
+possible to represent the truth from the bright side as well as the
+dark, to dwell on the kindnesses she had received, and leave
+disagreeables untold?  Yes, it _was_ possible; she would do so, and save
+her dear ones the pain of grieving for her unhappiness.  So the thick
+sheets were torn across with a wrench, which made Thomasina look up from
+her desk.
+
+As a head girl, "Tom" possessed a study of her own, to which she had
+prepared to depart earlier in the afternoon, but had been persuaded to
+stay by the entreaties of her companions.
+
+"Tom, don't go!  Don't leave us!  It's a wet day, and so dull--do stay
+with us till tea-time.  You might!  You might!" urged the suppliant
+voices, and so Tom sat down to her desk in the house-parlour which was
+the property of the elder Blues, and indited letters on blue-lined,
+manly paper, with a manly quill pen.
+
+As her eyes rested on the torn letter and on the clean sheet of paper
+drawn up for a fresh start, she smiled, a quiet understand-all-about-it
+smile, which Rhoda chose to consider an impertinent liberty.  Then down
+went her head again, and the scrape, scrape of pens continued until four
+o'clock, by which time the girls were thankful to fold the sheets in
+their envelopes and make them ready for post.  Rhoda read over her
+second effort in a glow of virtue, and found it a model of excellence.
+No complaints this time, no weak self-pity; but a plain statement of
+facts without any personal bias.  Her father and mother would believe
+that she was entirely contented; but Harold, having been through the
+same experiences, would read between the lines and understand the
+reserve.  He would say to himself that he had not expected it of Rhoda,
+and that she had behaved "like a brick," and Harold's praise was worth
+receiving.
+
+Altogether it was in a happier frame of mind that Rhoda left her desk
+and took her place in one of the easy chairs with which the room was
+supplied.  From four to five was a free hour on Sundays, and the girls
+were allowed to spend it as they liked, without the presence of a
+teacher.
+
+This afternoon talk was the order of the day, each girl in turn relating
+the doings of the holidays, and having her adventures capped by the next
+speaker.  Thomasina, however, showed a sleepy tendency, and kept dozing
+off for a short nap, and then nodding her head so violently that she
+awoke with a gasp of surprise.  In one of these intervals she met
+Dorothy's eyes fixed upon her with a wondering scrutiny, which seemed to
+afford her acute satisfaction.
+
+"Ah!" she cried, sitting up and looking in a trice quite spry and wide-
+awake.  "I know what you are doing!  You are admiring me, and wondering
+what work of nature I most resemble.  I can see it in your face.  And
+you came to the conclusion that it was a codfish!  No quibbles, please!
+Tell me the truth.  That was just exactly it, wasn't it?"
+
+"_No_!" cried Dorothy emphatically, but the emphasis expressed rather
+contrition for a lost opportunity than for a wrongful suspicion.  "No, I
+did not!" it seemed to say, "How stupid not to have thought of it.
+You--really--are--extraordinarily like!"
+
+"Humph!" said Thomasina.  "Then you are the exception, that's all.  All
+the new-comers say so, and therein they err.  It's not a cod at all,
+it's a pike.  I am the staring image of a pike!"
+
+She screwed up her little eyes as she spoke, and pulled back her chin in
+a wonderful, fish-like grin which awoke a shriek of merriment from the
+beholders.  Even Rhoda laughed with the rest, and reflected that if one
+were born ugly it was a capital plan to accept the fact, and make it a
+joke rather than a reproach.  Thomasina was the plainest girl she had
+ever seen, yet she exercised a wonderful attraction, and was infinitely
+more popular among her companions than Irene Grey, with her big eyes and
+well-cut features.
+
+"Next time you catch a pike just look at it and see if I'm not right,"
+continued Tom easily.  "But perhaps you don't fish.  I'm a great angler
+myself.  That's the way I spend most of my time during the holidays."
+
+"I don't like fishing, its so wormy," said Irene, with a shudder.  "I
+like lolling about and feeling that there's nothing to do, and no
+wretched bells jangling every half-hour to send you off to a fresh
+class.  `Nerve rest,' that's what _I_ need in my holidays, and I take
+good care that I get it."
+
+"I don't want rest.  I want to fly round the whole day and do nice
+things," said a bright-eyed girl in a wonderful plaid dress ornamented
+with countless buttons--"lunches, and teas, and dinners, and picnics,
+and dances, and plays.  I like to live in a whirl, and stay in bed to
+breakfast, and be waited on hand and foot.  I don't say I _get_ it, but
+it's what I would have if I could."
+
+"Well, I'm a nice, good little maid who likes to help her mother and be
+useful.  When I go back I say to her, `Now don't worry any more, dear;
+leave all to me,' and I run the house and make them all c-ringe before
+me.  Even the cook is afraid of me.  She says I have such `masterful
+ways.'"
+
+The speaker was a tall, fair girl, with a very large pair of spectacles
+perched on the bridge of an aquiline nose.  She looked "masterful"
+enough to frighten a dozen cooks, and made a striking contrast to the
+next speaker, a mouse-like, pinched little creature, with an air of
+conscious, though unwilling, virtue.
+
+"I spent the last half of these holidays with a clergyman uncle, and
+helped in the parish.  I played the harmonium for the choir practice,
+and kept the books for the Guilds and Societies.  His daughter was ill,
+and there was no one else to take her place, so, of course, I went at
+once.  It is quite a tiny little country place--Condleton, in
+Loamshire."
+
+"What!" cried Rhoda, and sat erect in her seat sparkling with animation.
+"Condleton!  I know it quite well.  I often drive over there with my
+ponies.  It is only six miles from our place, and such a pretty drive.
+I know the Vicarage quite well, and the Church, and the funny little
+cross in the High Street!"
+
+She spoke perfectly simply, and without thought of ostentation, for her
+parents' riches had come when she herself was so young that she had no
+remembrance of the little house in the manufacturing town, but looked as
+a matter of course upon the luxuries with which she was surrounded.  It
+never occurred to her mind that any of her remarks could be looked upon
+as boasting, but there was a universal glancing and smiling round the
+room, and Thomasina enquired gravely:
+
+"Do you drive the same pair every day?"
+
+"Of ponies?  Oh, yes, generally," replied Rhoda innocently.  "They are
+frisky little things, and need exercise.  Of course if we go a very long
+way, I give them a rest next day and drive the cobs, but as a rule they
+go out regularly."
+
+Thomasina shook her head in solemnest disapproval.  "That's a mistake!
+You should change _every_ day.  The merciful man is merciful to his
+beast.  I can't endure to see people thoughtless in these matters.  My
+stud groom has special orders _never_ to send out the postilions on the
+same mounts oftener than twice a week!"
+
+There was a moment's pause, and then a shriek of laughter.  Girls threw
+themselves back in their seats, and held their sides with their hands;
+girls stamped on the floor, and rolled about as though they could not
+contain their delight; girls mopped their eyes and gasped, "Oh, dear!
+oh, dear!" and grew red up to the roots of their hair.  And Rhoda's face
+shone out, pale and fixed, in a white fury of anger.
+
+"You are a very rude, ill-bred girl, Thomasina Bolderston!  I made an
+innocent remark, and you twist it about so as to insult me before all
+the house!  You will ask my pardon at once if you have any right
+feeling."
+
+"I'm the Head Girl, my dear.  The Head Girl doesn't ask pardon of a
+silly new-comer who can't take a joke!"
+
+"I fail to see where the joke comes in.  If you are Head Girl a dozen
+times over, it doesn't alter the fact that you don't know how to behave.
+You have bullied me and made me miserable ever since I came to this
+school, and I won't stand it any longer, and so I give you notice!"
+
+"Much obliged, but it's no use.  The rules of this school are that the
+pupils must obey the Head Girl in her own department, and there can be
+no exception in your favour, unpleasant as you find my yoke."
+
+"When _I_ am a Head Girl I shall try to be worthy of the position.  I'll
+be kind to new girls, and set them a good example.  I'll not jeer at
+them and make them so wretched that they wish they never had been born!"
+
+Thomasina leant her head on her hand, and gazed fixedly into the angry
+face.  She made no reply, but there was no lack of speakers to vindicate
+her honour.  Sneering voices rose on every side in a clamour of
+indignant protest.
+
+"When _she_ is Head Girl indeed!  It will be a good time before _that_
+happens, I should say."
+
+"Not in our day, let us hope.  We are not worthy to be under such a
+mistress."
+
+"Oh my goodness, what a pattern she will be; what a shining example!
+You can see her wings even now beginning to sprout."
+
+"Nonsense, child!  It's not wings, it's only round shoulders.  These
+growing girls _will_ stoop.  You had better be careful, or you will be
+set in order next."
+
+Rhoda looked across the room with smarting, tear-filled eyes.
+
+"Don't alarm yourselves; I wouldn't condescend to bandy words.  You are
+like our leader--not worthy of notice!"
+
+"Look here, Rhoda Chester, say what you like about us, but leave
+Thomasina alone.  We will not have our Head Girl insulted, if we know
+it.  If you say another word we will turn you out into the passage."
+
+"Thank you, Beatrice; no need to get excited; I can fight my own battles
+without your help.  This little difference is between Rhoda and me, and
+we must settle it together.  I think we could talk matters over more
+comfortably in my study, without interrupting your rest hour.  May I
+trouble you, Miss Chester?  Three doors along the passage.  I won't take
+you far out of your way!"
+
+Thomasina rose from her seat, and waved her hand towards the door.  She
+was all smiles and blandness, but a gasp of dismay sounded through the
+room, as if a private interview in the Head Girl's study was no light
+thing to contemplate.
+
+Rhoda's heart beat fast with apprehension.  What was going to happen.
+What would take place next?  It was like the invitation of the spider to
+the fly--full of subtle terror.  Nevertheless, her pride would not allow
+her to object, and, throwing back her head, she marched promptly, and
+without hesitation, along the corridor.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+HAVING IT OUT.
+
+Thomasina led the way into her study, and shut the door behind her.  It
+was a bare little room, singularly free from those photographs and nick-
+nacks with which most girls love to adorn a private sanctum.  It looked
+what it was--a workroom pure and simple, with a pile of writing
+materials on the table, and the walls ornamented with maps and sheets of
+paper, containing jottings of the hours of classes and games.  On the
+mantelpiece reposed a ball of string, a dogskin glove, a matchbox, and a
+photograph of an elderly gentleman, whose pike-like aspect sufficiently
+proclaimed his relationship.  There were three straight-back chairs,
+supplied by the school, and two easier ones of Thomasina's own
+providing, both in the last stages of invalidism.
+
+The mistress of this luxurious domain turned towards her visitor with a
+hospitable smile.
+
+"Sit down," she cried, "make yourself comfortable.  Not that chair--the
+spokes have given way, and it might land you on the floor.  Try the
+blue, and keep your skirts to the front, so that it won't catch on the
+nails.  I can't think how it is that my chairs go wrong.  I'm always
+tinkering at them.  Nice little study, isn't it?  So cosy!"
+
+"Ye-es!" assented Rhoda, who privately thought it the most forlorn-
+looking apartment she had ever seen, but was in no mood to discuss
+either its merits or demerits.  It was in no friendly spirit that she
+had paid this visit; then why waste time on foolish preliminaries?  She
+looked expectantly at Thomasina, and Thomasina stood in front of the
+chimney-piece with both hands thrust into the side pockets of her
+bicycling skirt, jingling their contents in an easy, gentlemanly
+fashion.  From her leathern band depended a steel chain which lost
+itself in the depths of the right-hand pocket.  Rhoda felt an
+unaccountable curiosity to discover what hung at the end of that chain
+and rattled in so uncanny a fashion.
+
+"Well!" began Thomasina, tilting herself slowly forward on the points of
+her flat, wide shoes, "Well, and now about this little matter.  I asked
+you to step in here because I think differences of opinion are more
+easily settled without an audience, and as it were, man to man."  She
+buried her chin in her necktie, and gazed across the room with a calm,
+speculative glance.  The likeness between her and the pike-like
+gentleman grew more startling every moment.  "Now, we have known each
+other barely a week, and already I have offended you deeply, and you,
+without knowing it, have hit me on a tender spot.  It is time that we
+came to an understanding.  Before going any further, however, there are
+one or two questions I should like to ask.  You have had time to notice
+a good many things since you arrived.  You have seen me constantly with
+the girls.  Do they dislike me?  Do they speak of me hardly behind my
+back?  Do they consider me a bully or a sneak?  Should you say on the
+whole that I was popular or unpopular?"
+
+"Popular!" said Rhoda firmly.  Whatever happened she would speak the
+truth, and not quibble with obvious facts.  "They like you very much."
+
+"And you wonder how they can, eh?  Nevertheless it's true.  I'll tell
+you something more.  I'm the most popular Head Girl at Hurst.  You ask
+the other colours to-morrow, and they'll tell you to a man that you are
+lucky to have me.  Very well then, Rhoda, who's to blame if you think
+the opposite?  Yourself, and nobody but yourself, as I'll proceed to
+prove.  You come to school with a flourish of trumpets, thinking you are
+doing us a mighty big favour by settling among us, and that you are to
+be allowed to amble along at your own sweet will, ignoring rules you
+don't like, graciously agreeing to those you do, and prepared to turn
+into a wild cat the first moment any one tries to keep you in order.
+Then, when you are unhappy, as you jolly well deserve to be, you turn
+and rend me, and say it is my fault.  If all the new girls behaved as
+you have done, I should have been in my little tomb long ago, and you
+would have some one else to deal with.  It seems to me, my dear, that
+you don't recognise my duties.  I am placed in a position of authority,
+and am bound to enforce the rules.  If the girls are obedient, well and
+good; if they kick, well and good also.  _I break 'em in_!  I'm going to
+break _you_ in, Rhoda Chester, and the sooner you realise it the happier
+you'll be."
+
+Rhoda looked at her fully, with a firmness of chin, a straightness of
+eye, which argued ill for the success of the project.
+
+"You will never break me in, as you call it, by domineering, and
+treating me like a child."
+
+"I know it, my dear.  I haven't been studying girls all these years
+without learning something of character.  Some fillies you can drive
+with a snaffle, others need the curb.  You drive yourself, and
+understand what I mean.  I can see quite well that you are a proud,
+sensitive girl, with a good heart hidden away behind a lot of nonsense.
+If it were not for that heart I shouldn't trouble myself about you, but
+simply give my orders, and see that they were obeyed.  But there's
+nothing mean about me, and I'd scorn to take an unfair advantage.  Now,
+I'll tell you straight that I have come to the conclusion that I judged
+you wrongly about that pony business, and that you didn't mean to brag.
+I saw by the way you flared out that you were really hurt, and I was
+sorry.  I've no pity on brag, but when I judge a girl wrongly I feel
+sick.  If it's any relief to your mind to know it, I believe that little
+episode upset me more than it did you.  When you said I was not worthy
+of my position, and made new-comers wretched, you hit me very hard,
+Rhoda, very hard indeed!"
+
+She stopped short and jingled furiously at her chains, then suddenly
+looked up, gave a roguish smile, and cried, insinuatingly--
+
+"There, I've done my part.  I've acknowledged I was wrong.  You are no
+coward, so you will do as much!  You will admit that you have been a
+difficult subject, won't you now?"
+
+Rhoda looked at her and hesitated.  She cleared her throat and
+determined to speak openly, and then suddenly, suddenly, something
+swelled at her throat, and she heard her own voice say chokingly:
+
+"I suppose I've been stupid...  I've never been accustomed to be--
+ordered about!  I'm sorry if I was disagreeable, but I never, never
+meant to--give myself airs!"
+
+"But you did though, all the same," cried Thomasina briskly.  "Bless me,
+yes!  The way you came into a room, the way you walked out, the way you
+looked at your food, and turned it over on your plate, the way you eyed
+the other girls up and down, down and up--it all said as plainly as
+print `I'm Her Royal Highness of Chester, and I won't have any dealings
+with the likes of _You_!'  If you had been a Princess of the blood you
+couldn't have put on more side, and so, of course, we judged your words
+by your actions, and thought you were bragging when you meant nothing of
+the sort.  Now, just make up your mind, like a sensible girl, to forget
+your own importance, and don't always be on the lookout for insults to
+your dignity.  Your dignity will look after itself if it's any good, and
+you'll be a heap happier if you give up coddling and fussing over it all
+day long.  There was that little matter of the pigtail the other
+morning!  It wasn't my wish that you should tie back your hair.  I don't
+mind telling you that it's much less becoming than it was, but I was
+simply acting as the mouthpiece of Miss Bruce, as you might have known
+if you had taken one minute to consider.  Your friend, Dorothy What-
+ever-she-calls-herself, behaved like a sensible girl, and did as she was
+told without making a fuss, but you must needs work yourself into a
+fury.  You'll have a fit one of these days if you are not careful.  You
+are just one of those fair, reddy people who are subject to apoplexy, so
+don't say I didn't warn you.  When we went down to breakfast I tried to
+be friendly, just to show there was no ill-feeling, and you went and
+starved yourself rather than accept a crumb from my hands.  It reminded
+me awfully of my little cousin of three.  When he is made to do what he
+doesn't like, he refuses to eat his bread and milk.  He seems to think
+he is punishing us somehow; but, bless your heart, _we_ don't mind!  We
+know he is strong and hearty, and that it will do him no harm to starve
+once in a way.  I wasn't in the least anxious about you, but I don't
+want you to go on feeling wretched in my house, so I'll do my best to
+consider your feelings.  I warn you, however, I can't stop chaffing.  If
+I think of a funny thing to say, I _must_ say it or burst, and if you
+don't like it you can comfort yourself by thinking that it's for your
+good, and will teach you to control your temper.  If you get offended
+after this, the more fool you, for I tell you straight there will be no
+ill-feeling in my mind, nothing but simple, pure buffoonery."
+
+Rhoda smiled feebly.  The cool, unemotional tones of the other had
+effectually dried her tears, but the softened expression remained, and
+her voice had almost an humble intonation.
+
+"I'll try.  I know I am touchy, but I shan't mind so much now that you--
+that you have explained!  I think you have been very generous."
+
+"All right," interrupted Thomasina briskly.  "Don't gush.  I loathe
+gush.  That's all right, then, and I'll tell the girls I was wrong just
+now.  They will all treat you decently if I tell them to; so behave
+sensibly, and don't be a young jackass, and all will be well."
+
+"I--er, I _beg_ your pardon!"
+
+"Don't mention it!"  Thomasina beamed amiably over her shoulder.
+"Jackass, I said--don't be a jackass!  The gong will ring in ten
+minutes, so you'd better be off to your room.  Pleased to have seen you!
+Good afternoon.  Come again another day!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+HARD WORK.
+
+From that day forward matters moved more smoothly for Rhoda.  Dorothy
+reported that Tom had returned to the house-parlour to explain her
+regret at having misjudged a new-comer, and her desire that her
+colleagues would second her effort to make Rhoda happy, and, as usual,
+Tom's word was law.  That very evening several of the girls took an
+opportunity of exchanging friendly remarks with Rhoda, while at supper
+an amount of attention was bestowed upon her plate which was positively
+embarrassing.  It was a delightful change, but through all the relief
+rang the sting of remembering that it had been accomplished by
+Thomasina, not herself; that the new friendliness was the result of
+Thomasina's orders rather than her own deserts.  To her fellow-students
+she was still an insignificant new-comer, with no claim to distinction.
+If she excelled in one subject, she was behind in the next, while at
+games she was hopelessly ignorant.  It was wormwood and gall to be
+obliged to join the "Bantlings" at hockey, and be coached by a girl of
+twelve; but Rhoda set her teeth and determined that if pluck and energy
+could help, it would be a short time indeed before she got her reward.
+Oh, those first few games, what unmitigated misery they were!  The ankle
+pads got in her way, and made her waddle like a duck, and when at last
+she began to congratulate herself on overcoming the first difficulty,
+they tripped her up, and landed her unexpectedly on the ground.
+Although she was repeatedly warned to keep her stick down, it seemed to
+fly up of itself, and bring disgrace upon her; and then, alas! the ball
+followed its example, bounded up from the ground, and landed neatly on
+her cheek immediately beneath her left eye.  A hideous swelling and
+discolouration was the result, but after the first rush to see that the
+damage was not serious, no one seemed in the least agitated about the
+mishap.  Erley Chase would have been convulsed with panic from attic to
+cellar, but Thomasina only struck an attitude, and exclaimed, "Oh! my
+eye!" and even Miss Everett smiled, more in amusement than horror, as
+she cried, "In the wars already, Rhoda?  You _have_ begun early."  Mrs
+Chester would hardly have recognised her darling in the knickerbockered
+girl, with her curly mane screwed into a pigtail, her dainty feet
+scuffling the ground, and her face disfigured by a lump, which changed
+to a different colour with each new dawn.  If she could have had a
+glimpse of her during that tragic period it is certain that Rhoda's term
+at "Hurst" would have been short indeed: but she was not informed of the
+accident, while each letter showed an increasing interest in work and
+play.  Rhoda had put her back into her studies, and worked with an
+almost feverish earnestness.  The hours of preparation were all too
+short, but she found a dozen ways of adding to their length, so that
+from morning to night her brain was never allowed to rest.  She grew
+white and tired, and so perceptibly thin that Miss Bruce questioned her
+class-mistress as to the change in her appearance.
+
+"She is an ambitious girl," was the reply, "and does not like to feel
+behind.  She is working hard, and making progress; but she never
+complains, or appears to feel ill."
+
+"Oh, well, everything in moderation.  See that she is not overworked.
+There will be no time gained in that way," said the principal, and
+forthwith banished the subject from her busy brain.  There came a day,
+however, half way through the term, when Rhoda collapsed, and found it
+impossible to rise from her bed.  Three times over she made the effort,
+and three times sank back upon her pillow faint and trembling, and then
+in despair she raised her voice, and wailed a feeble "Tom!"
+
+Tom came promptly, buttoning her magenta jacket, and went through a most
+professional examination.
+
+"To the best of my judgment," she announced finally, "you are sickening
+for scarlatina, tonsilitis, and housemaid's knee, but if you stay in bed
+and have an invalid's breakfast I should say you would be fairly
+convalescent by twelve o'clock.  Snoddle down, and I'll see Nurse as
+soon as I'm dressed, and put her on the track."
+
+"I want Miss Everett!" sighed Rhoda plaintively, and Tom gave a grunt of
+assent.
+
+"I expect you do.  All the girls want her when they are ill.  She's no
+time to spare, but I'll tell her, and probably she'll squeeze in five
+minutes for you after breakfast.  You are not going to die this time, my
+dear, so don't lose heart.  We shall see your fairy form among us before
+many hours are past!"
+
+Perhaps so.  Nevertheless it _was_ good to be coddled once more, to lie
+snugly in bed and have a tray brought up with a teapot for one's very
+own self, and egg, and fish, and toast--actually toast! instead of thick
+slices of bread-and-scrape.  The luxury of it took away one's breath.
+It was pleasant, also, to have Nurse fussing around in motherly fashion,
+and hear her reminiscences of other young ladies whom she had nursed, in
+days gone by, and brought back from the jaws of death.  From her manner,
+it is true, she did not appear to suffer any keen anxiety about her
+present patient: but, as Rhoda looked at the empty dishes before her,
+she blushingly acknowledged that, after all, she could not have been so
+ill as she had imagined.
+
+After breakfast came Miss Everett, sweet as ever, and looking
+refreshingly pretty in her pale blue blouse and natty collar and cuffs.
+If one did not know to the contrary, she would certainly have been
+mistaken for one of the elder girls, and her manner was delightfully
+unprofessional.
+
+"Well, my poor dear, this is bad news!  I _was_ sorry when Tom told me.
+What is it?--headache--back-ache--pain in your throat?"
+
+Rhoda stretched herself lazily and considered the question.
+
+"A kind of general all-overishness, if you know what that means.  I feel
+played out.  I tried to get up, but it was no use, I simply couldn't
+stand.  I feel as if I had no back left--as weak as a kitten."
+
+Miss Everett looked at her quietly, then her eye roved round the room
+and rested meaningly on half-a-dozen pieces of paper fastened up in
+conspicuous positions.  One sheet was tacked into the frame of the
+looking-glass, another into a picture, a third pinned against the
+curtain, and each was covered with Rhoda's large writing, easily legible
+across the few yards of space: Rules of Latin Grammar, List of
+Substantives, Tenses of Verbs--they stared one in the face at every
+turn, and refused to be avoided.  Miss Everett laid her hand upon the
+bed, and something rustled beneath her touch.  Yet another sheet had
+been concealed beneath her pillow.
+
+"Oh, Rhoda!" she cried, reproachfully; "oh, Rhoda!"
+
+The girl put on an air of protest.
+
+"What?  There's no harm in it, is there?  I can't catch the others up
+unless I work hard.  I have not enough time in preparation, so I put
+these up and learn them while I dress and undress, and every time I come
+in to prepare for a meal.  You have no idea what a lot I get through.
+And I keep a list in my pocket too, and take it out at odd moments.
+Miss Murray is surprised at the way I am getting on."
+
+"I have been surprised too, to see you look so ill, with such white
+cheeks and heavy eyes.  I understand it now."
+
+"But, Miss Everett, I _must_ work.  I _must_ get on!  If I am behind I
+_must_ catch up.  Even if I am tired I must get on in my class."
+
+"Why?"
+
+Why?  Why must she get on?  It was such an extraordinary question to
+come from a teacher, that Rhoda could only gasp in bewilderment--"Why?
+You ask _why_?"
+
+"Yes, I do.  One has always some object in work.  I wondered what yours
+might be.  Why are you so terribly anxious to come to the front?"
+
+A dozen answers rose to Rhoda's lips.  To impress Thomasina; to show her
+that if I do think a good deal of myself, it's not without a cause...
+To take the conceit out of the girls who patronise me.  To be able to
+patronise in my turn, and not remain always insignificant and
+powerless...  To show Harold how clever I am, and to have my name put on
+the Record Wall when I leave! ...  They were one and all excellent
+reasons, yet somehow she did not care to confide them to Miss Everett.
+Instead, she hesitated, and answered by another question.
+
+"I suppose you think there is a wrong and a right motive?  I suppose you
+think mine is the wrong one.  What is the right, then?  I'm ill, and
+reduced in my mind, so it's a good time to preach; I'll listen meekly!"
+
+"And disagree with every word I say," cried Miss Everett laughing.  "No,
+no, Rhoda, I never preach.  I know girls well enough to understand that
+that doesn't pay.  There are some secrets that we have to find out for
+ourselves, and it is waste of time telling the answers before the hearer
+is ready to receive them; only, when one has oneself suffered from
+ignorance, and sees another poor dear running her head against the wall,
+one is sorry, that's all, and one longs to point out the danger signals.
+Find out, dear, what your motive is, and be satisfied that it's a good
+one.  Meantime, I'm going to take away these papers.  Do you see?
+Every--single--one!"  She walked round the room, confiscating the lists,
+and putting them in her pocket with an air of good-natured
+determination.  "Let that tired head rest, and believe me, my dear, that
+your elders understand almost as much about girls as you do yourself.
+We are never blamed for under-working at Hurst, and you may take for
+granted that the hours for work are as long as you can stand.  The short
+time spent in your cubicle is not intended for work, but for rest--of
+all kinds!"
+
+Rhoda blushed guiltily.  During the first days at school the morning
+hymn had been both a delight and stimulus.  She had listened to the
+words with a beating heart, and whispered them to herself in devout
+echo; they had seemed to strike a keynote for the day, and send her to
+work full of courage; but, alas! for weeks past the strains had fallen
+on deaf ears, and the lips had been too busy conning Latin substantives
+to have leisure for other repetition.  Her sense of guilt made her meek
+under the confiscation of her lists, and pathetically grateful for the
+kiss of farewell.
+
+"Thank you for coming.  I know you are busy, but I wanted you so!  It's
+nice to see you; you look so sweet and pretty!"
+
+"Oh, you flatterer!  I'm surprised at you.  As if it matters what a
+staid old teacher looked like; I'm above such silly vanities, my dear."
+
+She looked, however, extremely pleased, quite brisked up in fact, and so
+delightfully like a girl that Rhoda took heart of grace, and enquired:--
+
+"I wish you would tell me _your_ object!  That wouldn't be preaching,
+and you are so young to be working so hard!  I have often wondered--"
+
+"Ah!" cried Miss Everett, and a curious look passed over her face--half
+glad, half sad, wholly proud.  "I'll tell you my object, Rhoda--it's my
+brother, Lionel!  I have an only brother, and he is a genius.  You
+remember his name, and when you are an old lady in a cap and mittens you
+can amuse other old ladies by telling how you once knew his sister, and
+she prophesied his greatness.  At school he carried all before him, and
+he is as good as he is clever, and as merry as he is good.  He won a
+scholarship at Oxford, but that was not enough.  My father is the vicar
+of Stourley, in D--shire, and has such a small stipend that he could not
+afford to help him as much as was needed.  Then I wrote to Miss Bruce,
+and asked her if she could give me an opening.  She is an old family
+friend, and knew that I had done well in examinations and was good at
+games (the younger teachers here must be able to play with the girls--
+it's one of the rules), so she gave me my present position, and I am
+able to help the boy.  He went up last year and did famously, but I have
+had sad news this week.  He had been obliged to go home and convalesce
+after an attack of influenza, and is so weak still that the doctor says
+he will want any amount of rest and feeding up before he can go back.
+So you see I am more thankful than ever to be able to help!"
+
+"I don't see it at all," said Rhoda bluntly.  "I should be mad.  What's
+the good of your slaving here if, after all, he can't get on with his
+work?  You might as well be comfortably at home."
+
+"Rhoda!  Rhoda! be quiet this moment.  It's bad enough to fight against
+my own rebellious feelings without hearing them put into words.  I won't
+stay another moment to listen to you!"
+
+She gave a playful shake to the girl's shoulder, and ran out of the
+room, while Rhoda "snoddled" down to think over the conversation.
+
+"Well, then, I suppose her motive is love--love for her brother, and--
+er--thinking of him before herself.  She comes here and slaves so that
+he may have his chance.  She is an angel, of course, an unselfish angel,
+and I'm a wretch."  She lay still for a few moments, frowning fiercely,
+then suddenly the bedclothes went up with a wrench--"I don't care--she's
+ambitious too!  She thinks he is clever, and wants him to be great!
+Well, so do I want to be great!  If it isn't wrong for one person, it
+can't be for another.  My motive is _success_, and I'll work for it till
+I drop!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+TOM'S EXAMINATION.
+
+A day in bed renewed Rhoda's energy, and she took up her work with
+unabated fervour.  The "lists" were, perhaps, less conspicuously
+displayed than before, but were none the less in readiness when needed,
+and if Miss Everett disapproved, the Latin mistress was all praise and
+congratulation.
+
+"I certainly have a gift for languages, and with lessons during the
+holidays I shall soon be steaming ahead," Rhoda told herself proudly.
+"I'll ask mother to let Mr Mason coach me.  He is a splendid teacher,
+and if I have an hour a day I shall learn a lot.  Won't the girls stare
+when I come back, and go soaring up the class!  I shouldn't wonder if I
+got a remove.  It will be impossible to work up to Thomasina and her
+set, but at any rate I'll be past the baby stages, and not disgrace
+myself in the examinations."
+
+All the world seemed bounded by examinations at present.  Thomasina and
+the elder girls working steadily towards the goal of the "Matric";
+Kathleen and her friends dreaming night and day of the "Oxford"; while
+nearer at hand loomed the school examinations, which ended the term.
+Rhoda was in a fever of anxiety to acquit herself well in the eyes of
+her companions on this occasion, and could think, speak, and dream of
+nothing else.  Even her joy of getting her remove from the "Bantlings"
+into a higher team was swallowed up in the overwhelming interest, while
+Dorothy was filled at once with admiration and disgust at the monotony
+of her conversation.
+
+"I don't know, and I don't care!" she replied callously, when anxiously
+consulted about a point in mathematics.  "I've come out to play, and I'm
+not going to rack my brains for you or anyone else.  You are getting a
+regular bore, Rhoda!  It's like walking about with `Magnall's
+Questions.'  Let's talk about frolics, or holidays, or something nice,
+and not worry about stupid old lessons."
+
+Well!  Rhoda told herself, it was no wonder if Dorothy _were_ medium, if
+this was the way she regarded her studies.  If she took no more interest
+than this in the coming contest, what could she expect from the result?
+She would be sorry, poor dear, when she saw her name at the bottom of
+the list!  There was no help to be expected from Dorothy; but Rhoda
+stored up a few knotty questions, and took the first opportunity of
+asking Tom for a solution.  She had discovered that Tom liked nothing
+better than to be consulted by the younger girls, and had a tactful way
+of asking help in return, which took away the sense of obligation.
+
+"Oh, by-the-by," she would call to Rhoda, in her elegant fashion, "you
+are a bit of a German sausage, aren't you?  Just read over that passage
+for me.  I've been puzzling over it for the whole of the evening," and
+then would follow some blissful moments, when Rhoda would skim lightly
+over the difficulty, and feel the eyes of the girls fixed admiringly
+upon her.
+
+In the present instance a wet Saturday afternoon afforded a good
+opportunity for the desired questioning.  The Hurst girls did not stay
+indoors for an ordinary drizzle, but this was a downpour of so hopeless
+a character that even the most enthusiastic athletes felt that the
+house-parlour was preferable to the soaking, wind-swept grounds.  They
+gathered together, stoked up the fire, and prepared to spend the two
+hours' leisure as fancy should dictate, some girls reading, some sewing,
+and some making themselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit,
+and doing nothing at all with every appearance of enjoyment.
+
+"If we had only some chestnuts," said one of the lazy ones, "how happy
+we might be!  I have a wild craving for chestnuts.  It came over me
+suddenly just now, sitting looking at that fire."
+
+"I think," said Irene Grey solemnly, "it's very sad, but I do think a
+school like this makes one horribly greedy.  You get so tired of the
+food, and have such a longing for something that _isn't_ wholesome.  I
+assure you, my dears, there have been occasions when the centre table
+has had beef, while we have had mutton, when I could have wept--simply
+wept!  I should like to order a meal regardless of everything but what I
+like--lobster mayonnaise, and salmon, and veal cutlets, and ice pudding,
+and strawberries and cream, and fizzy lemonade.  That would be something
+like a dinner--better than old joints and milk puddings!"
+
+The girls groaned in sympathy, and Rhoda took advantage of their
+absorption to cross to Tom's desk and consult her quietly on the knotty
+points.  The solutions were remarkably simple--when you knew them!--and
+Tom delivered herself solemnly on the subject.
+
+"You don't think, my dear; you don't reflect.  Your brain would help you
+out, but you don't give it a chance.  It's what I am always saying to
+this room--it's not cram you need, it's intelligence!  Use your reason!
+Cultivate your faculties!  Now, then, I'll tell you what I'll do!"--she
+raised her voice suddenly, and swung round in her seat.  "I'll give you
+girls an examination myself.  You need some practice before the real
+business begins, and it will be just the thing for this wet afternoon.
+Get out your books and pencils and I'll dictate the questions.  It's to
+be a `General Intelligence' paper, and the examiner's instructions are--
+use your wits!  They will not be the ordinary blunt, straightforward
+questions manufactured by the masculine mind, and intended mainly for
+the coarse, masculine ability, but full of depth and subtlety, so that
+they will require careful consideration.  If you go scribbling down your
+answers before you have read the questions, you'll be sorry, that's all;
+but don't say you were not warned.  Now, then, are you ready? ...  We
+will begin our studies to-day, young ladies, with a problem in
+calculation!"  She deepened her voice into such an accurate imitation of
+the Arithmetical Mistress as filled her listeners with delight.
+"Attention to the board!--If a room were 20 feet long, 13 feet broad, 11
+feet high, and 17 feet square, how much Liberty wall-paper 27 inches
+wide would be required to paper it, allowing 5 feet square for the
+fireplace and seven by three for the door?"
+
+The girls wrote down the question, not, however, without some murmurs of
+protest.
+
+"If there is one kind of sum I hate more than another, it's these horrid
+old wall-papers!" declared Bertha Stacey.  "I shall never be a paper-
+hanger, so I don't see why I should worry my head.  I don't call _this_
+General Intelligence."
+
+"I expect we shall have a taste of most subjects; but really, Tom,
+really now--the room could not be 17 feet square if your other
+measurements were right!" argued Irene, who knew arithmetic to be her
+strong point, and was not sorry to impress the fact on her companions.
+"You have made a mistake."
+
+She expected the examiner to be discomfited, but Tom fixed her with a
+glittering eye, and demanded if perchance she had _seen_ the room in
+question, since she was so positive.
+
+"No, of course not, but then-- You know quite well--"
+
+"Well, I _have_, so perhaps you will allow me to know better.  Go on,
+young ladies, and the next one who dares to raise any objections gets
+ten bad marks to begin her list.  I must have perfect submission.  Five
+minutes allowed for working!"
+
+The time proved all too short for some of the workers, for the less
+expert they were the more elaborate became their calculations, until
+page after page was filled with straggling figures.  Thomasina made a
+round of inspection, frowning over each book in turn, protesting,
+scolding, marking the result with a big black cross.  According to her
+verdict everyone was wrong, although five girls had arrived at the same
+result; and Irene obstinately disputed the decision.
+
+"I _know_ it is right!  Work it for yourself, and see.  It's a simple
+enough sum, and any one could tell--"
+
+"That's apparently just what they can't do!  I don't deny that you may
+be correct in the broad, vulgar sense, but that is not enough for me.  I
+expect you to grasp the inner meaning.  Now the _real_ answer to this
+question is that there can be no answer!  To a perceptive mind it would
+be impossible to reply without further information.  It entirely depends
+on how the paper is cut out, and the amount of waste incurred in
+matching the pattern!"
+
+The girls shrieked aloud in mingled protest and delight.  It was too
+bad; it was ripping, it was mean; it was killing; they all spoke
+together and at the pitch of their voices, and alternately abused and
+applauded until they were tired.  The _denouement_ had taken them by
+surprise, though in truth they knew their Head too well to have taken
+the examination seriously.  When Tom played schoolmistress there was
+bound to be a joke in ambush, and they settled down to question number
+two with minds alert for a trap.
+
+"We will now, young ladies, take an excursion into the realms of
+Literature, and test your insight into human nature.  I will ask you, if
+you please, to compare the respective characters of Alfred the Great and
+Miss Charlotte Yonge--`Jo March' and Joseph Chamberlain--four great,
+and, it will be obvious to all, strongly-defined personalities.  I shall
+be interested to hear your distinctions!"
+
+It appeared, however, as if there would be little to interest, for most
+of the girls stared blankly into space, as if powerless to tackle such a
+subject.  Rhoda was one of the few exceptions, and scribbled unceasingly
+with a complacent sense of being on her own ground until the limit of
+time was reached.  Tom had evidently noticed her diligence, for she
+called out a peremptory, "Rhoda, read aloud your answer!" which was
+flattering, if at the same time slightly alarming.
+
+"Ahem--er--er--in the historical character of Alfred the Great we find
+combined the characteristics of courage and simplicity.  He waged a long
+and unequal fight, and was equally inspired by failures or success.
+
+"In the person of Miss Charlotte Yonge we discover the same virtues, but
+in a softer and more feminine mould.  Her heroes are for the most part
+refined and cultivated young men, actuated by the highest motives--"
+
+"Stop!  Stop!" screamed Thomasina desperately.  "For pity sake spare us
+the rest.  Such deadly propriety I never encountered!  It reminds me of
+the Fairchild family at their very worst.  If _that's_ the sort of thing
+you are going to write, Rhoda, I pity the poor examiners.  And what do
+you mean by Alfred fighting?  He was a most peaceful creature, so far as
+I have heard!"
+
+"Thomasina! the war with the Danes--all those years!  You must
+remember!"
+
+"I don't remember a thing about it.  How could a man fight the Danes
+living in a peaceful retreat in the Isle of Wight, as Tennyson did
+for--?"
+
+Tennyson!  Tennyson!  Who spoke of Tennyson?  Oh! it was too bad; too
+mean!  How on earth could anyone be expected to guess that Tom had meant
+Tennyson, when she had expressly said Alfred the Great?  Rhoda protested
+loudly, and the other girls backed her up; but Tom was obdurate.
+
+"And isn't Tennyson known as `Alfred the Great' as well as the other
+crittur?  It is just another example of want of intelligence!  You read
+the words, and never trouble about the connection.  Who in their sane
+senses would ask you to compare a warrior king with old Miss Yonge?  A
+little reflection would have saved you from the pitfall into which you
+have all fallen headlong.  Five bad marks each!  Now, then, for the next
+two.  What have you got to say about the two Joes?"
+
+Very little apparently.  No one had tackled the comparison in Rhoda's
+grandiose fashion, but a few pithy sentences were to be found scribbled
+on the sides of exercise books.  "Jo March was very clever, and my
+father says Mr Chamberlain is, too!" from one dutiful pupil.  "Jo March
+was a darling, and Chamberlain is not," from another of Radical
+principles.  "Both wore eye-glasses, and wrote things for magazines,"
+and other such exhaustive criticisms.
+
+"You are _all_ plucked in Literature," announced Thomasina, solemnly,
+"and I am deeply pained by the exhibition!  I will give you one more
+chance in Arithmetic before going on to the higher branches, because, as
+you are aware, this is a most vital and important subject.  Write down,
+please: A and B each inherited thirty thousand pounds.  A invested his
+capital in gold-mine shares to bring in eighteen per cent, interest.  B
+put his money into the Post Office Savings Bank, and received two and a
+half per cent.  State to three places in decimals the respective wealth
+of each at the expiration of twenty-seven years!"
+
+"Er--with what deduction for current expenses?" queried Irene, with an
+air.  She had been snubbed once, but was not in the least subdued.
+"What were their current expenses?"
+
+"There were none!"
+
+"Thomasina, what bosh!  There _must_ have been.  They couldn't live on
+nothing."
+
+"Well, they did, then.  Since you are so particular, I may tell you that
+they were in prison!  They had their wants supplied by their native
+land."
+
+"I'm not going to do sums about convicts!  My mother wouldn't like it,"
+said Dorothy, shutting up her book with a bang.  She leaned forward, and
+whispered in Rhoda's ear, "Don't bother; it's only another joke.  What's
+the use of worrying for nothing?"
+
+"It's practice," said Rhoda, and away went her pencil, scribbling,
+calculating, piling up row upon row of figures.  To her joy the answer
+came out the same as Irene's, which surely must prove it right; yet, as
+Dorothy had prophesied, Tom was once more sweeping in denunciation,
+"Wrong!  Wrong!  All wrong!  The gold-mine failed, and left A a pauper,
+while B lived happily ever after.  You are old enough to know that gold-
+mines that pay eighteen per cent, invariably _do_ fail and ruin their
+shareholders; or if you don't, you may be thankful to me for telling
+you.  I must say, young ladies, you are coming exceedingly poorly
+through my test.  I cannot congratulate you on your insight.  I doubt
+whether it is any use examining you any further."
+
+"Oh, yes, let us have the higher branches, Tom!  Do let us have the
+higher branches!  Who knows?  Perhaps we may distinguish ourselves at
+last.  Give us another chance!" pleaded the girls, mockingly; and, thus
+challenged, Tom could not but consent.  She tackled Zoology, and giving
+the three divisions of Plantigrada, Pinnigrada, and Digitigrada, added a
+list of animals to be classified accordingly.  When it is said that the
+list included such widely diverging creatures as "A camel-leopard, a
+duck-billed platypus, Thomasina Bolderston, and Spring-heeled Jack," it
+can be imagined with what zest the pupils began their replies.
+
+Tom professed to be mortified beyond endurance to find her fairy tread
+unanimously classed under the first heading, and begged the Blues to
+take notice that if any girl pined to call her "splay-footed" to her
+face she might do so, and take the consequences!  No one accepted the
+challenge, however; so she proceeded to Latin, and, with much jingling
+of keys, gave out a sentence for translation:--
+
+"Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem."  The girls smiled at
+this, confident of their powers.  The students at Hurst prided
+themselves on their Latin, and could have stood a much severer test
+without wavering.  The seniors did not trouble to write their answers,
+but waited complacently until the time came when they should have an
+opportunity of airing their proficiency.  It never came, however, for
+Tom chose to disappoint expectations by reading aloud her own
+translation from her position in front of the fire.
+
+"Memento--remember; mentem--and mind; servare--to hold up; aequam--your
+mare; in rebus arduis--going up hill.  That translation, young ladies,
+was given by an undergraduate in the University of Oxford.  He
+afterwards rowed stroke in the 'Varsity boat, and was the best billiard
+player of his year, so it would ill become us to dispute his
+conclusions.  You will observe the valuable moral lessons inculcated in
+the words, and, I trust, take them to heart--`Remember and mind--'"
+
+A laugh sounded from the direction of the door, and there stood Miss
+Everett, looking round with mischievous eyes.  Rhoda noted with relief
+that she looked brighter than for days past, as if some good news had
+arrived from the home about which she was so anxious.
+
+"This sounds improving," she cried, merrily.  "Thomasina holding a Latin
+class!  I am glad you have found such an exemplary way of passing the
+afternoon.  I am afraid you must stop, however, as the gong will ring in
+five minutes, and meantime I must break up the class.  I want,"--her eye
+roved enquiringly round the room--"I want Rhoda!"
+
+"Certainly, Miss Everett.  Anything to oblige you.  Rhoda, my love, you
+have my permission to retire," drawled Thomasina, wagging her head in
+languid assent, and Rhoda left the room in no little wonder as to the
+reason of the summons.
+
+Arrived in the corridor, Miss Everett laid both hands on the girl's
+shoulders, and asked a quick, laughing question:--
+
+"What about that hamper?"
+
+"Hamper?" echoed Rhoda.  "Hamper?"  Her air of bewilderment was so
+unaffectedly genuine that the other's expression became in turn doubtful
+and uncertain.
+
+"Yes, yes, the hamper!  The hamper of good things that has just arrived
+for my brother.  I thought you--"
+
+"I know nothing about it; truly I don't!  I wish I did, but--"
+
+"But, my dear girl, it came from your home.  There was a game label upon
+it, with your father's name in print--`From Henry Chester, Erley Chase.'
+There cannot be two Henry Chesters living at houses of the same name."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Rhoda, and her face lit up with pleasure.  "It's mother!
+Of course it's mother!  It's just the sort of thing mother would do.  I
+told her that your brother had been ill, and that you were anxious about
+him, and so she set to work to see how she could help.  That's just like
+mother, she's the kindest dear!  I believe she sits down in her armchair
+after breakfast every single morning, and plans out how many kind things
+she can do during the day."
+
+"Bless her heart!" cried Miss Everett devoutly.  "Well, Rhoda, she
+succeeded this time.  My mother has written me all about it.  It was a
+dull, wet day, and Lionel seemed depressed, and there was nothing nice
+in the house, and nothing nice to be bought in the little village shops,
+and she was just wondering, wondering how in the world she could cheer
+him, and manufacture a tempting lunch out of hopeless materials, when
+tap-tap-tap came the carrier's man at the door.  Then in came the
+hamper, and Lionel insisted upon opening it himself, and was so
+interested and excited!  There were all sorts of good things in it--
+game, and grapes, and lovely, lovely hot-house flowers filling up the
+chinks.  They were all so happy!  It was such a piece of cheer arriving
+in that unexpected fashion, and mother says the house is fragrant with
+the scent of the flowers.  Lionel arranged them himself.  It kept him
+quite happy and occupied.  How can I thank you, dear?"
+
+"Don't thank me.  It was not my doing.  It's mother."
+
+"But how did your mother know where we lived?  How did she know who we
+were?"
+
+"Well!"  Rhoda smiled and flushed.  "Naturally I tell her the news.  I
+suppose I must have mentioned that your father was Vicar of Stourley.  I
+don't remember; but then I've so often written about you, and she would
+naturally be glad to do anything she could, for she knows you have been
+kind to me, and that I'm very--fond of you!"
+
+Miss Everett bent down quickly, and kissed her on the cheek.
+
+"And my people knew who Mr Chester was because I've written of you, and
+they know that you have been kind to _me_, and that I'm fond of you,
+too.  Oh Rhoda, you don't know how lonely it feels to be a teacher
+sometimes, or how grateful we are to anyone who treats us as human
+beings, and not as machines.  You don't know how you have cheered me
+many a time."
+
+"But--but--I've been tiresome, and stupid, and rebellious.  I've given
+you lots of trouble--"
+
+"Perhaps, but you have been affectionate too, and seemed to like me a
+little bit, in spite of my lectures; and if it had not been for your
+kind words the hamper would never have come, so I insist upon thanking
+you as well as your mother.  Many, many thanks, dear!  I shall always
+re--" She stopped short suddenly, her attention arrested by the scraping
+of chairs within the parlour, and concluded in a very different tone,
+"The girls are coming!  For pity's sake don't let Tom find us
+sentimentalising here!  Fly, Rhoda, fly!" and off she ran along the
+corridor, flop, flop, flop, on her flat-soled shoes, as much in fear of
+the scrutiny of the head girl as the youngest Blue in the house!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+HOME AGAIN.
+
+The week of examination passed slowly by, and the morning dawned when
+the all-important lists were to be read aloud.  The girls were tired
+after the strain, the teachers exhausted by the work of reading over
+hundreds of papers, and it was consequently a somewhat pale and
+dejected-looking audience which assembled in the Hall to hear the
+report.
+
+Rhoda sat tense on her seat, and puzzled for some moments over the
+meaning of a certain dull, throbbing noise, before discovering that it
+was the beating of her own heart.  It seemed to her morbid sensitiveness
+that every eye was upon her, that everyone was waiting to hear what
+place the new girl had taken.  When Miss Bruce began to read she could
+hardly command herself sufficiently to listen, but the first mention of
+her own name brought her to her bearings with a shock of dismay.  After
+all her work, her care, her preparation, to be so low as this, to take
+so poor a place!  The mortification was so bitter that she would fain
+have hidden herself out of reach of consolation, but to her surprise, so
+far from condoling, teachers and pupils alike seemed surprised that she
+had done so well.
+
+"You have worked admirably, Rhoda.  I am pleased with you," said Miss
+Murray.
+
+"Well done, Fuzzy!" cried Tom, and even Miss Bruce said graciously:
+
+"Very good progress for a first term, Rhoda!"
+
+It was evident from their manner that they meant what they said, and
+another girl might have gleaned comfort from the realisation that she
+had expected too much of her own abilities.  Not so Rhoda!  It was but
+an added sting to discover that she had been ranked so low, that an even
+poorer result would have created no astonishment.  She was
+congratulated, forsooth, on what seemed to her the bitterest
+humiliation!  If anything was needed to strengthen the determination to
+excel at any and every cost, this attitude of the school was sufficient.
+In the solitude of the cubicle she vowed to herself that the day should
+come, and that speedily, when she would be estimated at her right value.
+She stood in the damp and cold gazing up at the Record Wall, and
+renewed the vow with fast-beating heart.  The sun struggled from behind
+the clouds and lit up the surface of the tablets, and the Honours girl,
+and the B.A. girl, and the girls who had won the scholarships, seemed to
+smile upon her and wish her success, but Eleanor Newman's name was in
+the shade.  The sun had not troubled to light it up.  She was "stupid,"
+and had never won a prize.
+
+The last two days were broken and unsatisfactory, and Rhoda longed for
+the time of departure to arrive; yet it was not without a pang of regret
+that she opened her eyes on the last morning, and gazed round the little
+blue cubicle.  It was delightful to be going home, yet school had its
+strong points, and there were one or two partings ahead which could not
+be faced without depression.  How nice it would be if she could take all
+her special friends home--Dorothy and Kathleen, and Miss Everett, and--
+yes!  Tom herself; for, wonderful to state, she was unaffectedly sorry
+to part from Tom.  What fun they would have had running riot in Erley
+Chase, and summoning the whole household to wait on their caprices!
+
+The gong rang, and all the little bells followed suit in their usual
+objectionable fashion, but the girls yawned and lay still for another
+five minutes, aware that leniency was the order of the day.  The roll of
+the organ and the first two lines of the hymn found them still in bed,
+and the words were clearly distinguishable:--
+
+  Awake my soul, and with the sun, Thy daily course of duty run--
+
+"How stupid!" commented Rhoda to herself.  "`Course of duty' on the very
+day we are leaving school.  What a ridiculous choice!" and then she
+tumbled out of bed and listened no more.
+
+The rest of the morning seemed a comical Alice-in-Wonderland repetition
+of the day of arrival.  The same long queues were formed to march down,
+instead of upstairs; the teachers stood on the landings to say good-bye,
+instead of welcome; the "Black Marias" bore the pupils to, instead of
+from, the station, where the saloon carriages stood waiting as before.
+The Blues crowded into one carriage, and Tom seated herself by Rhoda,
+and with twinkling eyes called attention to the undulating beauty of the
+landscape.  It was all exactly the same, yet delightfully different, for
+now there was no shyness nor restraint, but the agreeable consciousness
+of liberty to chaff in return, and be as cheeky as one chose.
+
+There was unceasing talk on the journey, yet each girl realised as the
+train steamed into Euston that she had forgotten to say the most
+important things, and was divided between regret and anxiety to look out
+for friends waiting on the platform.  Rhoda had heard that Harold was to
+meet her, and presently there he was--handsomer than ever, or looking so
+after the three months' separation, and as immaculate as if he had
+stepped out of the traditional bandbox.
+
+"There he is!  That's Harold!  That's my brother!" she cried, with a
+thrill of pride in the tall, frock-coated figure; and Thomasina looked,
+and rolled her little eyes to the ceiling.
+
+"What a bee-ootiful young man!  A perfect picter!  Give him my fond
+love, Fuzzy, and say that I am desolated not to be able to stay to make
+his acquaintance, but I must make a bolt for my train."
+
+She seized her bag as she spoke and hurried to the door, prepared to
+jump on to the platform at the first possible moment, while her
+companions impatiently followed in her wake.  Rhoda had a vague
+recollection of promising to write regularly to half a dozen girls, and
+then she was shaking hands with Harold, and laughing in pure joy at
+seeing the familiar face.
+
+"Here I am!  Here I am!  I have come back at last!"
+
+"So I see!"  He swept a glance over her, half smiling, half startled.
+"Awfully glad to see you.  Got your luggage in the van, eh?  Don't know
+how on earth we shall get hold of it in this crowd.  What an--excuse
+me!--an appalling set of girls!"
+
+"I thought so too, at first, but they look different when you know them.
+Some of them are sweet, and awfully pretty."
+
+"Humph!" said Harold, sceptically.  "They are not conspicuous.  I don't
+see a decent-looking girl anywhere, except--who's the girl in the grey
+hat?"
+
+"That's Miss Everett, our house-mistress, the one I'm so fond of--the
+one who has the invalid brother, you know, to whom mother sent the
+game!"
+
+"Teacher, is she?  I thought she was a pupil.  Sorry for her, poor
+little thing, if she has to manage a lot of girls like you.  Ha!  `R.C.'
+That's your box at last.  I'll get a porter to put it on a four-
+wheeler.  Watch where I go, and keep close behind."
+
+He strolled forward, and such was the effect of his imposing appearance
+and lordly ways, that the porters flew to do his bidding, and piled the
+luggage on the cab, while others who had been first on the scene were
+still clamouring for attention.  Rhoda glanced proudly at him as they
+drove away together, but the admiration evidently was on one side, for
+he frowned, and said critically--
+
+"You--er--look pale!  You have lost your colour!"
+
+"I've been working hard."
+
+"You have grown thinner!"
+
+"Games, I suppose.  We are always running about."
+
+"Er--what has become of your hair?"
+
+Rhoda first stared, and then laughed.
+
+"Oh, my pigtail!  I forgot that you hadn't seen it.  I hated it too, at
+first, but I've grown accustomed to it, and find it very comfortable.
+It worries me now to have my hair blowing about and tickling my face."
+
+"All the same, my dear, you had better untie it before we get home.  We
+will lunch at the Station Hotel, and you can comb it out there.  It will
+give the mater a shock if she sees you looking so changed.  She would
+hardly know you, I think."
+
+The tone of disapproval hit hard, and to hide her chagrin Rhoda adopted
+an air of indifference.
+
+"Oh, we don't trouble ourselves about appearances at Hurst.  So long as
+we are comfortable we are satisfied.  If a girl worries to dress up, we
+chaff her unmercifully."
+
+"The more foolish you!  I hope and pray, Rhoda, that you are not going
+to develop into one of the strong-minded young women one meets nowadays,
+who seem to spend their lives in trying to be as much like men as
+possible.  It will be a mistake if you do.  Be as learned as you like,
+and as sensible as you like, and as hardy as you like--that is all to
+the good--but, for pity's sake, be pretty too, and dainty, and feminine!
+We don't want to have all our womenkind swallowed up in athletes,
+warranted to be `hard kicks,' or `useful forwards!'  We want them to
+play the ornamental part in life, and be pretty, and sweet, and
+attractive."
+
+"Ha, ha, yes!  That's the man's point of view!" quoth Rhoda loftily, and
+her brother smiled good-naturedly as the cab stopped before the hotel.
+
+"It is, my dear, that's very certain; and as you will probably meet a
+good many men as you go through life, you might as well study their
+opinion.  It may be regrettable, but it is certainly true, that you will
+have more influence if you are agreeable to look at.  You would have
+more influence over _me_ at this moment if you would kindly walk
+upstairs and make yourself look--er--a little more like your old self!"
+
+"Oh, I don't mind.  Anything to please you!" said Rhoda carelessly, and
+strode upstairs after the chambermaid, smiling to herself in lofty
+superiority at Harold's "dandy ways."  She did not smile, however, when,
+on coming suddenly in front of the mirror, she caught a full-length
+reflection of herself, for her brother's presence had unconsciously
+altered her point of view, so that she saw herself no longer from the
+standpoint of Hurst Manor, but that of Erley Chase.  Yes, Harold was
+right!  It was not only the pigtail; there was an indefinable difference
+in her whole appearance.  The clothes were the same, the girl was the
+same, but there was no longer the immaculate neatness, the dainty care,
+the well-groomed look which had once characterised her.  In her usual
+impetuous fashion, she had rushed from one extreme to the other; in
+discarding vanity, had run perilously near neglect.
+
+"I look a nasty, horrid, hidjus fright!" she cried aloud, staring in
+disgust at the unwelcome vision.  "I couldn't have believed it--really I
+couldn't!  It's the fault of those horrid little cubicles with the glass
+stuck in the darkest corner.  Harold was right.  Mother would have been
+shocked."
+
+She slipped off coat and hat, and with the aid of the well-stocked
+dressing-bag went through such a process of dusting, brushing, and
+combing-out as she had not known for weeks past.  Finally the old Rhoda
+seemed to smile upon her in response, in her own eyes at least, but when
+Erley Chase was reached some hours later Mrs Chester was far from
+satisfied with her darling's appearance.  Her anxious eyes took in at a
+glance every change in the beloved features, and nothing could shake her
+conviction that the child had been starved and overworked.  An elaborate
+system of coddling was inaugurated, to which Rhoda submitted with
+wonderful meekness.
+
+Oh, the delight at being home again, of being loved and fussed over, and
+indulged in one's pet little weaknesses!  How beautiful everything
+looked; the richly-furnished rooms, the hall with its Turkey carpet and
+pictured walls; the dinner table with its glittering glass and silver!
+How luxurious to awake in her own pretty room, to hear the fire
+crackling in the grate, and to sit up in bed to drink the early cup of
+tea!
+
+"I never realised before how nice home was!" sighed Rhoda to herself,
+and for four whole days she succeeded in forgetting all about school,
+and in abandoning herself to the enjoyment of the festivities of the
+season.
+
+Christmas Day once over, however, recollections came back with a pang,
+and she was all eagerness to begin the proposed lessons with the Vicar.
+To her surprise, father and mother looked coldly upon the project, and
+so far from admiring her industry thought it a pity to introduce work
+into the holidays.  It needed a hard struggle to induce them to consent
+to three lessons a week instead of six, and she had to face the
+certainty that private study would be made as difficult as possible.
+Even Harold elevated his eyebrows and enquired, "Why this tremendous
+hurry?" as if he had never been to a public school himself and known the
+necessity for advance.
+
+Rhoda betook herself to the faithful Ella in no very gentle mood, and
+stormed about the small Vicarage garden like a young whirlwind.
+
+"Well, I must say grown-ups are the most tiresome, aggravating,
+unreasonable creatures that were ever invented!  First they want you to
+work, and urge you to work, and goad you to work, and `Oh, my dear, it
+would do you all the good in the world to compete with other girls,' and
+then, the moment you take them at their word and get interested and
+eager, round they turn, and it's, `Oh the folly of cram!  Oh the
+importance of health!'  `Oh what does it matter, my dear good child, if
+you _are_ a dunce, so long as you keep your complexion!'  No, I'm not
+angry, I'm perfectly calm, but it makes me _ill_!  I can't stand being
+thwarted in my best and noblest ambitions.  If I had a daughter, and she
+wanted to cram in her holidays, I'd be proud of her, and try to help,
+instead of throwing hindrances in the way.  It's very hard, I must say,
+to get no sympathy from one's nearest and dearest.  Even your father
+looked at me over his spectacles as if I were a wild animal.  I thought
+he would have been pleased with my industry."
+
+"He is; I know he is; but he thinks you may overdo it.  You know, Rhoda,
+you _are_ impetuous!  When you take up an idea you ride it to death, and
+in lessons that doesn't pay.  Slow and sure wins the--"
+
+"Rubbish!  Humbug!  It will never win my race, for I have a definite
+time to run it in, and not a day more.  It has to be a gallop, and a
+pretty stiff one at that.  For goodness' sake, Ella, don't _you_ begin
+to preach.  You might be grown-up yourself, sitting there prosing in
+that horribly well-regulated fashion."
+
+"I'm not well-regulated!" cried Ella, incensed by the insinuation.  "I
+was only trying to calm you down because you were in such a temper.
+What is the use of worrying?  You have got your own way; why can't you
+be happy?  Leave the wretched old Latin alone, and tell me about school.
+There are a hundred things I am longing to hear, and we have not had a
+proper talk yet.  Tell me about the girls, and the teachers, and the
+rules, and the amusements, and what you like best, and what you hate
+worst."
+
+It was a "large order," as Harold would have said, but Rhoda responded
+with enjoyment, for what can be pleasanter than to expatiate on one's
+own doings to a hearer with sufficient knowledge to appreciate the
+points, and sufficient ignorance to prevent criticism or undue
+sensitiveness as to consistency of detail!
+
+Rhoda told of the chill, early breakfasts, of the seven o'clock supper
+when everything looked so different in the rosy light, especially on
+Thursdays, when frolics and best clothes were the order of the day; of
+Miss Mott, with her everlasting "Attention to the board"; the Latin
+mistress, with her eye-glasses; Fraulein, with a voice described by Tom
+as sounding "like a gutter on a rainy day"; and of Miss Everett,
+sweetest and best-loved of all.  Lastly she told of the Record Wall, and
+Ella was fired, as every girl hearer invariably was fired, with interest
+and emulation.
+
+When Rhoda went off to her lesson in the study the poor little stay-at-
+home recalled the words of Eleanor Newman's inscription, and capped them
+by one even more touching:
+
+"Ella Mason, a student of exceptional promise, voluntarily relinquished
+a career of fame and glory to be a cheerful and uncomplaining helper at
+home."  Alas, poor Ella! at the word "cheerful" her lips twitched, and
+at "uncomplaining" the big tears arose and trickled down her cheeks!
+
+For the rest of the holidays Rhoda worked more persistently than anyone
+suspected, with the exception of her tutor, who invariably found the
+allotted task not only perfectly accomplished, but exceeded in length.
+Even making allowances for the girl's undoubted gift for languages, he
+was amazed at her progress, and complimented her warmly at the close of
+the lessons, watching with half-amused, half-pitying eyes the flush of
+pleasure on the girl's cheeks.
+
+"You are very ambitious, Rhoda.  Very anxious to distinguish yourself?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, well! you are young.  It is natural.  Remember only that there
+are different kinds of success, and aim for the best.  When I was your
+age I had dreams of a deanery or a bishopric, but I have remained all my
+life in this sleepy village.  My college companions have soared over my
+head, yet I can never feel myself an unsuccessful man.  I have had great
+compensations, and have discovered that obscurity has many lessons which
+I needed badly to learn.  Don't be too anxious for honour and glory;
+there are other things better worth having!"
+
+"The worst of old people is--they _will_ preach!" said Rhoda to herself
+as she walked home across the Park.  "He is a good old thing, the Vicar,
+but a terrible bore.  Unsuccessful!  I should think he _is_
+unsuccessful, with half-a-dozen children, and that wretched little bit
+of a house, and a poor stipend.  No wonder he gets prosy.  Young people
+understand young people best, and Miss Everett was quite right when she
+said it was no use trying to stuff lessons down your throat until you
+were ready to swallow them.  If all the fathers, and mothers, and
+brothers, and vicars in the world were to lecture me now, and tell me to
+take it easy, and not to worry about the examination, it would have no
+effect.  In another two days I go back to school, and then--then--" She
+stood still in the midst of the bare, wintry scene, and clasped her
+hands together passionately.
+
+"Rhoda Chester, you must work, you must win!  If you don't do well in
+that examination, it will break your heart!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+"IF I PASS--"
+
+The Christmas holidays were over, the Easter holidays were over, and
+spring was back once more.  On the slope over which the new students had
+gaily tobogganed two months before the primroses were showing their
+dainty, yellow faces, and the girl gardeners were eagerly watching the
+progress of their bulbs.  Hearing that other plots boasted nothing rarer
+than pheasant eye and Lent lilies, Rhoda had promptly written home for a
+supply of Horsfieldi and Emperor, which were expected to put everything
+else in the shade, but, alas! they were coming up in feeble fashion, and
+showed little sign of flowering.  "Another year," the gardener said,
+"they would do better another year!  Bulbs were never so strong the
+first season."  Whereat Rhoda chafed with impatience.  Always another
+time, and not _now_!
+
+Always postponement, delay, uncertainty!  Try as she might, checks
+seemed to be waiting on every side, and she could never succeed in
+distinguishing herself above her fellows.  In moments of depression it
+seemed that she was as insignificant now as on the day when she first
+joined the school; but at other times she was happily conscious of a
+change in the mental attitude towards herself.  Though still far from
+the front, she was recognised as a girl of power and determination; an
+ambitious girl, who would spare no work to attain her end, and who
+might, in the future, become a dangerous rival.  Dorothy had long ago
+thrown up the unequal fight, and even Kathleen had moments of doubt,
+when she said fearfully to herself, "She is cleverer than I am.  She
+gets on so well.  Suppose--just suppose..."
+
+With milder weather, cricket had come into fashion, and on the occasion
+of the first pavilion tea the Blues turned up in force.  Thomasina sat
+perched in manly attitude on the corner of the table, where, as it
+seemed to the onlooker, every possible hindrance was put in the way of
+her enjoyment of the meal.  Irene Grey presided at the urn, Bertha
+handed round the cups, and a bevy of girls hung over the cake basket,
+making critical and appreciative remarks.
+
+"Bags me that brown one, with the cream in the middle!  I've tried those
+macaroons before--they are as hard as bricks!"
+
+"I wish they would get cocoa-nut cakes for a change; I adore cocoa-nuts,
+when they are soft and mushy.  We make them at home, and they are ever
+so much nicer than the ones you buy!"
+
+"That's what they call plum-cake, my love!  Case of `Brother, where art
+thou?' like the Friday pudding.  Those little white fellows look
+frightfully insipid.  What Rhoda would call a `kid-glove flavour,' I
+should say."
+
+Every one laughed at this, for it was still a matter of recent
+congratulation in the house that Rhoda Chester had invented an
+appropriate title for a certain mould or blancmange, which appeared at
+regular intervals, and possessed a peculiar flavour which hitherto had
+refused to be classified.
+
+In a moment of inspiration, Rhoda had christened it "Kid-Glove Jelly,"
+and the invention had been received with acclamation.  Did she say she
+had never distinguished herself, had never attracted attention?  No,
+surely this was wrong; for in that moment she had soared to the very
+pinnacle of fame.  So long as the school endured, the name which she had
+created would be handed down from generation to generation.  Alas, alas!
+our ambitions are not always realised in the way we would choose!  When
+one has pined to be in a first team, or to come out head in an
+examination, it is a trifle saddening to be obliged to base our
+reputation on--the nickname of a pudding!
+
+Rhoda smiled brightly enough, however, at the present tribute to her
+powers, and passed her cup for a third supply with undiminished
+appetite.  She had been playing with her usual frantic energy, and was
+tired and aching.  Her shoulders bent forward as she sat on her chair;
+she shut her eyes with a little contraction of the brows; the dimple no
+longer showed in her cheek; and when Bertha upset the tray upon the
+floor, she started with painful violence.  Her nerves were beginning to
+give way beneath the strain put upon them; but, instead of being warned,
+and easing off in time, she repeated obstinately to herself:--"Three
+months more--two and a half--only two!--I can surely keep up for eight
+weeks, and then there will be all the holidays for rest!"
+
+It seemed, indeed, looking forward, as if the world were bounded by the
+coming examination, and that nothing existed beyond.  If she succeeded--
+very well, it was finished!  Her mind could take in no further thought.
+If she failed--clouds and darkness! chaos and destruction!  The world
+would have come to an end so far as she was concerned.
+
+It filled her with surprise to hear the girls discuss future doings in
+their calm, unemotional fashion; but though she could not participate,
+the subject never failed to interest.  The discussion began again now,
+for it was impossible to keep away from the all-engrossing subject, and
+the supposition, "If I pass," led naturally to what would come
+afterwards.
+
+"If I do well I shall go up to Newnham, and try for the Gilchrist
+Scholarship--fifty pounds a year for three years.  It's vacant next
+year, and I don't see why I shouldn't have it as well as anyone else,"
+said Bertha, modestly, and Tom pounded the table with her heels.
+
+"Go in, my beauty, go in and win!  I only wish you could wait a few
+years until I am there to look after you.  I am going to be Principal of
+Newnham one of these fine days, and run it on my own lines.  No work,
+and every comfort--breakfast in bed, and tea in the grounds--nothing to
+do but wait upon me and pander to my wishes!"
+
+"I daresay!  So like you, Tom!  You would be a terror, and work the
+girls to death.  You are never tired yourself, so you would keep them
+going till they dropped.  I pity the poor creatures who came under your
+rule, but most likely you will never be tried.  You may be first
+mistress, or second, or third, but it's not likely you'll ever be a
+Principal!"
+
+"It's not likely at all, it's positive sure," retorted Tom calmly.
+"Principals, like poets, are born not made, and the cause can't afford
+to lose me.  I don't say for a certainty it will be Newnham; it may
+possibly be Girton, or Somerville, or Lady Margaret Hall, but one of the
+two or three big places it's bound to be.  No one shall call me
+conceited, but I know my own powers, and I intend that other people
+shall know them too.  Education is my sphere, and I intend to devote my
+life to the advancement of my sex.  Pass the cake, someone!  I haven't
+had half enough.  Yes, my vocation is among women.  You will hardly
+believe me, my dears, but men don't seem to appreciate me, somehow!
+There is a `Je-ne-sais-quoi' in my beauty which doesn't appeal to them a
+mite.  But girls adore me.  I've a fatal fascination for them which they
+can't withstand.  There's Rhoda there--she intended to hate me when she
+first came, and now she adores the ground I tread on.  Don't you, Fuzzy?
+You watch her smile, and see if it's not true!  Very well, then; I see
+plainly what Providence intends, and I'm going straight towards that
+goal."
+
+"And it is what you would like?  You would choose it if you had the
+choice?"
+
+"Rather, just!  It's the dream of my life.  There is nothing in all the
+world that I should like so much."
+
+Pretty Dorothy sighed, and elevated her eyebrows.
+
+"Well--I wouldn't.  I enjoy school very much, and want to do well while
+I am here, but when I leave, I never want to do another hour's study.
+If I thought I had to teach, I should go crazy.  I should like to have a
+good time at home for a few years, and then--yes, I should!--I should
+like to marry a nice man who loved me, and live in the country--and have
+a dear little home of my own.  Now, I suppose you despise me for a poor-
+spirited wretch; but it's true, and I can't help it."
+
+But Tom did not look at all scornful.  She beamed at the speaker over
+her slice of plum-cake, and cried blandly--
+
+"Bless you, no!  It's quite natural.  You are that sort, my dear, and I
+should not have believed you if you had said anything else.  You'll
+marry, of course, and I'll come and visit you in the holidays, and
+you'll say to `Him,' `What a terrible old maid Thomasina has grown!' and
+I'll say to myself, `Poor, dear old Dorothy, she is painfully domestic!'
+and we will both pity each other, and congratulate ourselves on our own
+escape.  We have different vocations, you and I, and it would be folly
+to try to go the same way."
+
+"You are happy creatures it you are _allowed_ to go your own way," said
+Bertha sadly.  "I'm not, and that's just the trouble.  I'm not a star,
+like Tom, but I love work, and want to do some good with my education.
+I should be simply miserable settling down at home with no occupation
+but to pay calls, or do poker work and sewing; yet that's what my
+parents expect me to do.  They are rich, and can't understand why I
+should want to work when there is no necessity.  I may persuade them to
+send me abroad for a year or so for languages and music, but even then I
+should be only twenty, and I can't settle down to vegetate at twenty.
+It's unreasonable to send a girl to a school where she is kept on the
+alert, body and mind, every hour of the day, and then expect her to be
+content to browse for the rest of her life!  Now, what ought one to do
+in my position?  _I_ want one thing; _they_ want another.  Whose duty is
+it to give way?"
+
+She looked at Tom as she spoke, but Tom swung her feet to and fro, and
+went on munching plum-cake and staring into space with imperturbable
+unconsciousness.  Bertha called her sharply to attention.
+
+"Tom! answer, can't you?  I was speaking to you."
+
+"Rather not, my dear.  Ask someone else; some wise old Solomon who has
+had experience."
+
+"No, thank you.  I know beforehand what he would say.  `Submission, my
+child, submission!  Parents always know best.  Young people are always
+obstinate and hot-headed.  Be ruled!  Be guided!  In time to come you
+will see'--Yah!" cried Bertha, with a sudden outburst of irritation.
+"I'm sick of it!  I've had it dinned into my ears all my life, and I
+want to hear someone appreciate the other side for a change.  I'm young;
+I've got all my life to live.  If I were a boy I should be allowed to
+choose.  Surely! surely, I ought to have _some_ say in my own affairs!
+Don't shirk now, Tom, but speak out and say what you think.  If you are
+going to be a Principal you ought to be able to give advice, and I
+really do need it!"
+
+"Ye-es!" said Tom slowly.  "But you needn't have given me such a poser
+to start with.  It's a problem my dear, that has puzzled many a girl
+before you, and many a parent, too.  The worst of it is that there is so
+much to be said on both sides.  I could make out an excellent brief for
+each; and, while I think of it, it wouldn't be half a bad subject to
+discuss some day at our Debating Society: `To what extent is a girl
+justified in deciding on her own career, in opposition to the wishes of
+her parents?'  Make a note of that someone, will you?  It will come in
+usefully.  I'm thankful to say my old dad and I see eye to eye about my
+future, but if he didn't--it would be trying!  I hate to see girls
+disloyal to their parents, and if the `revolt of the daughters' were the
+only outcome of higher education I should say the sooner we got back to
+deportment and the use of the globes the better for all concerned.  But
+it wasn't all peace and concord even in the old days.  Don't tell me
+that half a dozen daughters sat at home making bead mats in the front
+parlour, and never had ructions with their parents or themselves!  They
+quarrelled like cats, my dears, take my word for it, and were ever so
+much less happy and devoted than girls are now, going away to do their
+work, and coming home with all sorts of interesting little bits of news
+to add to the general store.  It's impossible to lay down the law on
+such a question, for every case is different from another, but I think a
+great deal depends on the work waiting at home.  If a girl is an only
+daughter, or the only strong or unmarried one, there is no getting away
+from it that her place is with her parents.  We don't want to be like
+the girl in _Punch_, who said, `My father has gout, and my mother is
+crippled, and it is so dull at home that I am going to be a nurse in a
+hospital!'  _That_ won't do!  If you have a duty staring you in the face
+you are a coward it you run away from it.  An only daughter ought to
+stay at home; but when there are two or three, it's different.  It
+doesn't take three girls to arrange flowers, and write notes, and pay
+calls, and sew for bazaars; and where there is a restless one among
+them, who longs to do something serious with her time, I--I think the
+parents should give way!  As you say, we have to live our own lives,
+and, as boys are allowed to choose, I think we should have the same
+liberty.  I don't know how large your family is, Bertha, or--"
+
+"Three sisters at home.  One engaged, but the other two not likely to
+be, so far as I can see, and Mother quite well, and brisk, and active!"
+
+"Well, don't worry!  Don't force things, or get cross, and they'll give
+in yet, you'll see.  Put your view of the case before them, and see if
+you cannot meet each other somehow.  If they find that you are quiet and
+reasonable they will be far more inclined to take you seriously, and
+believe that you know your own mind.  That's all the advice I can give
+you, my dear, and I'm afraid it's not what you wanted.  Perhaps someone
+else can speak a word in season!"
+
+"Well, I side with the parents, for if the rich are going to work, what
+is to become of the poor ones like me, who are obliged to earn their
+living?" cried Kathleen, eagerly.  "Now, if Bertha and I competed for an
+appointment, she could afford to take less salary, and so, of course--"
+
+"No, no!  That's mean!  I do beg and pray all you Blues that, whatever
+you do, you never move a finger to reduce the salaries of other women!"
+cried Tom fervently.  "If you don't need the money, give it away to
+Governesses' Institutions--Convalescent Homes--whatever you like; but,
+for pity's sake, don't take less than your due.  For my own part, I must
+candidly say that when I am Principal I shall select my staff from those
+who are like Kathleen, and find work a necessity rather than a
+distraction.  It seems to me, if I were rich and idle, I could find lots
+of ways of making myself of use in the world without jostling the poor
+Marthas.  I could coach poor governesses who were behind the times, but
+couldn't afford to take lessons; I'd translate books into Braille for
+the blind; I'd teach working boys at their clubs, and half a dozen other
+interesting, useful things.  There's no need to be idle, even if one
+_does_ live at home with a couple of dear old conservative parents.
+Where there's a will there's a way!"
+
+"But I want it to be my way!" sighed Bertha, dolefully.  Like the
+majority of people who ask for advice, she was far from satisfied now
+that she had got it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+THE "REVELS."
+
+One of the Hurst Manor institutions was a whole holiday on the first
+Saturday in June, which was technically known as "Revels."  The holiday
+had been inaugurated partly to celebrate the coming of summer, and
+partly as a kindly distraction for the students, who at this season of
+the year were apt to be too absorbingly engrossed in the coming
+examinations.  Old pupils declared that at no other time was the
+Principal so indulgent and anxious to second the girls' fancies, while
+the particular form of entertainment was left entirely to their
+discretion.  When the programme was drawn up it was submitted to Miss
+Bruce for approval, but, as she had never been known to object, the
+consultation was more a matter of form than necessity.
+
+To Rhoda's surprise, she found her name among those of the General
+Committee posted on the notice board, and the delight and pride
+consequent thereon diverted her thoughts into a new channel, and were as
+good as a tonic to her nervous system.  It was a compliment to have been
+chosen, for the dozen girls had been drawn from all five houses, and
+Irene Grey and herself were the only representatives of the Blues.
+
+"It's a beauty competition, evidently.  Can't think why they haven't
+asked me!" was Tom's comment; but Rhoda felt convinced that she had been
+selected because of the dramatic abilities which she had exhibited on
+more than one of the Thursday "Frolics," and was not far wrong in her
+surmise.  She had, in truth, a keen eye for effect, a power of
+manufacturing properties, and of learning and even inventing suitable
+rhymes, which were invaluable in organising an entertainment.
+
+"And besides," said the Games Captain to her Secretary, "there's her
+back hair!  She has really admirable back hair!"
+
+The Committee held their meetings in the study of the Head Green, and
+anxiously discussed their programme.  On previous years they had held
+Gymkhanas and various kinds of picnics, but the ambition was ever to hit
+on something so original and startling as to eclipse all that had
+previously been attempted.  They racked their brains and gazed
+helplessly at the ceiling, while the Chairwoman begged for remarks,
+after the manner of all Committees since the world began.  Then, at
+last, someone hazarded a suggestion, someone else took it up and added a
+fresh idea; and the ball, once set rolling, grew bigger and bigger,
+until, at last, there it was, complete and formed before them!  It was a
+charming programme--quite charming!  They were full of admiration for
+their own cleverness in inventing it, and away they flew, smiling and
+confident, to consult Miss Bruce in her sanctum.
+
+The Principal read the sheet handed to her, and the corners of her lips
+twitched in humorous fashion.  She looked across at the twelve eager
+young faces, and smiled a slow, kindly smile.
+
+"It sounds _very_ charming!" she said; "I am sure it would be most
+entertaining, but--would it not involve a great deal of preparation?  Do
+you think you have realised how much work you will have?"
+
+"Oh yes, Miss Bruce, but we can manage it easily!" cried the Chairwoman.
+"We can get as many helpers as we like in game hours, and you always
+allow us an afternoon off to make preparations."
+
+"Certainly, certainly!  You can do nothing without time.  Very well,
+then, if you think you can manage, I have no objection.  You have my
+permission to ask the carpenter and gardeners to help you, and if
+anything is needed, one of the governesses shall go into town to make
+your purchases."
+
+Nothing could have been more gracious.  The Committee gave a unanimous
+murmur of acknowledgment, and were immediately smitten with
+embarrassment.  So long as one has something to say it is easy to retain
+self-confidence, but, when the business is finished, the necessity of
+saying good-bye and beating a retreat becomes fraught with terror to the
+timid guest.  The girls felt that it would be discourteous to retire
+without speaking another word, but what to say they could not think, so
+they huddled together beside the door, and waited to be dismissed, which
+they presently were in the kindest of manners.
+
+"I shall look forward with great pleasure to the performance.  Success
+to your efforts!  You will have plenty to do, so I won't detain you any
+longer.  Good afternoon!"
+
+The Committee retired in haste, gasped relief in the corridor, and
+promptly set about collecting forces for the furtherance of its aim.
+They enlisted the sympathies of the workmen engaged in the grounds,
+selected parties of amateur gardeners to supplement their efforts, and
+chose the forty prettiest girls in the school to be on the "acting
+staff."  Each new worker was pledged to secrecy, as surprise was to be
+the order of the day, and a certain portion of the grounds was marked
+off by placards bearing the announcement that "Trespassers would be
+persecuted!"  A casual observer might have imagined a slip of the pen in
+this last word, but the girls knew better.  It would be persecution,
+indeed, and of no light nature, which would be visited upon a willing
+violator of that order.
+
+For the next ten days preparations went on busily, both outdoors and in
+the various studies.  Lessons, of course, could not be interrupted, but
+the hours usually devoted to games, added to odd five minutes of
+leisure, made up a not inconsiderable total.  The onlookers reported
+eagerly among themselves that the dancing mistress had been pressed into
+the service, and that sundry mysterious boxes had been sent to the
+leading members of the Committee from their various homes.  Everyone was
+agreed that "It" was to be very grand, and they prepared to enjoy the
+entertainment in a hearty, but duly critical fashion; for when we
+ourselves have not been asked to take part in an enterprise, pride has
+no better consolation than to think how much more successful it would
+have been in happier circumstances!
+
+The Committee announced that, should the weather prove unpropitious, a
+modified form of the proposed entertainment would be given in Great
+Hall, but no one seriously contemplated such a catastrophe.  Providence
+was so invariably kind to "Revels" that the oldest student could not
+recall a day that had been less than perfect, and this year was no
+exception to the rule.  The air was soft, the sky was blue, the grass,
+unscorched as yet by the heat of summer, of a rich emerald green, the
+sunshine sent flickering shadows over the paths; it was one of those
+perfect days when our native land is seen at its best; and when England
+is at her best, go east or west, or where you will, you can find no
+place to equal it!  Every single inmate of school came down to breakfast
+with a smile on her face, for this was a day of all play and no work,
+and as the formal entertainment did not take place until three o'clock,
+the whole morning remained in which to laze after one's heart's desire.
+Even the Committee were so well on with their preparations that by
+eleven o'clock they were free to join their friends, and Rhoda looked
+eagerly round for Miss Everett.  No one had seen her, however, and a
+vague report that she was "headachy" sent the searcher indoors to
+further her inquiries.  She found the study door closed, but a faint
+voice bade her enter, and there on the sofa lay Miss Everett with a
+handkerchief bound round her head.  She looked up and smiled at Rhoda's
+entrance, and said immediately:
+
+"Do you want me, dear?  Can I do anything to help you?"
+
+"So likely that I would let you, isn't it?" returned Rhoda scornfully.
+"What is the matter?  Is your head bad?"
+
+"Yes!  No!  It isn't really so very bad, but one seems to give way when
+there is nothing to do.  If it had been an ordinary day I should have
+gone on with my work, and even played games.  I have managed to get
+through many a time when I've been worse than this; but it's a luxury to
+lie still and rest.  I--I'm enjoying it very much!"
+
+"You look like it!" said Rhoda shortly, noting with sharp eyes the
+flushed cheeks, the drops of tell-tale moisture on the eyelashes.  "This
+room is like an oven, and it will get worse and worse as the day goes
+on.  Now, it's my turn to order you about, and you've got to obey.  Get
+up and put on your hat, and come out with me!"
+
+"Rhoda, I can't!  It's cruel!  I can't walk about.  Do--do let me rest
+when I get a chance.  I'm _so_ tired!"
+
+"You are not going to walk about; you are going to rest better than you
+could ever do here, so don't worry and make objections.  Here's your
+hat, and here's my arm, and please come along without any more arguing.
+You'll be thankful to me when I get you nicely settled!"
+
+"_When_!" echoed Miss Everett ungratefully; but she was too languid to
+oppose the girl's strong will, so she sat up, put on her hat, and
+allowed herself to be led downstairs and into the grounds.  The girls
+were scattered about under the trees, but Rhoda skirted round the paths
+so as to avoid them as much as possible, and presently came to a
+sheltered spot, where Dorothy lay swinging to and fro in a most superior
+Canadian hammock which had been sent from Erley Chase at the beginning
+of the summer weather.  She peered over the edge as footsteps approached
+and Rhoda cried briskly:
+
+"Tumble out, Dorothy!  I said you could have it until I needed it
+myself, and I want it now for Miss Everett.  She has a headache, and is
+going to rest here until lunch.  Now then, I'll shake up the pillows,
+and if you don't say it is the most delicious hammock you ever lay in, I
+shan't think much of your taste.  I'll put up the parasol and tuck it
+into the ropes--so!--that you may feel nice and private if anyone
+passes.  Now then, how's that?  Isn't that comfy?  Isn't that an
+improvement on the stuffy little study?"
+
+Miss Everett rested her head on the cushion, and drew a long breath of
+enjoyment.
+
+"It's--beautiful!  It's perfect.  I'm so happy!  I never want to move
+again."
+
+"You are not to move until I tell you.  Go fast asleep, and I'll promise
+faithfully to wake you in time for lunch.  We must have you well for the
+afternoon, you know.  I'd be heart-broken if you didn't see me in my
+grand--.  Never mind, that's a secret, but you _will_ rest, won't you?
+You will be good, and do as you are told?"
+
+"Kiss me!" replied Miss Everett simply, lifting her dark eyes to the
+girl's face with an appeal so sweet that it would have touched a heart
+of stone.  No sooner was the kiss given, than down fell the eyelids, and
+Rhoda crept away realising that sleep, the best of medicines, was indeed
+near at hand.  She herself spent a happy morning lying flat on her back
+on the grass in company with half a dozen other girls, discussing the
+affairs of the world in general, the blatant follies of grown-ups, and
+the wonderful improvements which would take place when they in their
+turn came into power.  Rhoda was specially fervid in denunciation, and
+her remarks were received with such approval that it was in high good
+temper that she went to awaken the sleeper from her two hours' nap.
+Miss Everett declared that she felt like a "giant refreshed," had not a
+scrap of pain left, and had enjoyed herself so much that if "Revels"
+ended there and then, she would still consider it an historic occasion,
+which was satisfactory indeed.
+
+But there was more to follow!  There was a great dressing up in the
+cubicles after lunch, the girls making their appearance in pique skirts
+and crisp new blouses, and rustling into the grounds, all starch and
+importance.  The "persecuting placards" had been withdrawn, and replaced
+by others directing the visitors' steps in the right direction.  They
+followed meekly, "This way to the Opening Ceremony!" and found
+themselves on the south side of the lake, where a semicircle of chairs
+had been set for the teachers, and gaily-hued rugs spread on the grass
+to protect the freshness of the pique skirts.  Here, no doubt, was the
+place appointed, but where was the Ceremony?  The girls took their
+places, and began to clap in impatient fashion, speculating vaguely
+among themselves.
+
+"What's going to happen now?  Why do we face this way where we can't see
+anything except the lake?  There's the landing place opposite--perhaps
+they are going to play water-polo?  It wouldn't be bad fun in this
+weather."
+
+"I think some one should have been here to receive us.  It's rude to let
+your guests arrive without a welcome.  If I had been on the Committee--
+What's that--?"
+
+"What?  Oh, music!  But where--where?  It is growing nearer.  It's a
+violin, and a 'cello--and someone singing.  This grows mysterious!  Oh,
+I say--Look! look to the right!  To the right!  Oh, isn't it romantic
+and lovely?"
+
+The girls craned forward, and cried aloud in delight, for round the
+corner of the lake was slowly coming into view a wonderful, rose-
+wreathed barque, with Youth at the prow and Pleasure at the helm, clad
+in the most fanciful and quaint of garments.  It would have been idle to
+assert that this wonderful craft was the old school tub, guaranteed to
+be as safe as a house, and as clumsy as hands would make it; for no one
+could have been found to listen to such a statement.  Garlands of roses
+fluttered overhead; roses wreathed the sides, pink linings concealed the
+dark boards, and, as for the occupants, they looked more like denizens
+of another world than practical, modern-day schoolgirls.  The oarswomen
+stood at their post, wearing pale green caps over their flowing locks,
+and loose robes of the same colour.  The musicians were robed in pink,
+with fillets of gauze tied round their heads, and underneath the central
+awning sat a gorgeous figure who was plainly the Queen of the Ceremony.
+
+Amidst deafening applause the boat drew up before the landing-stage,
+and, while the oarswomen stood to attention, the central figure
+alighted, and moved slowly forward until she stood in front of the
+semicircle of watchers.
+
+"It's Rhoda Chester!" gasped the girls incredulously, pinching their
+neighbours' arms in mingled excitement and admiration; and Rhoda Chester
+in truth it was, transformed into a glorified vision, far removed from
+the ordinary knickerbockered, pigtailed figure associated with the name.
+A white robe swept to the ground, the upper skirts necked over with
+rose-leaves of palest pink; in the right hand she bore a sceptre of
+roses, and a wreath of the same flowers crowned her head.  Her cheeks
+were flushed with excitement, and she bore herself with an erect,
+fearless mien which justified her companions' choice.
+
+When it had become necessary to apportion the _role_ of "Mistress June"
+the Committee had unanimously agreed that it would be safest in Rhoda's
+hands.  She would not quail at the critical moment, mumble her words,
+nor forget her duties; but, on the contrary, would rise to the occasion,
+and find the audience a stimulus to her powers.
+
+It was her genius also which had invented the verses for recitation, so
+that there seemed a double reason for giving her the place of honour.
+So Rhoda had sent home an imperious dressmaking order, and here she was,
+dainty as loving care could make her, her flaxen mane streaming over her
+shoulders, the sceptre extended in welcome--as fair a personation of
+"Mistress June" as one need wish to see--
+
+  "Friends and companions, and our teachers dear
+  We give you welcome to our kingdom here.
+  Once more has kindly summer come to stay,
+  And Mistress June resumes her wonted sway.
+  We are your hosts, and to our leafy bowers
+  We welcome you to spend the sunny hours;
+  In happy revels we will all unite,
+  In song, and dance, and ancient pastimes bright;
+  All cares forgotten, labours laid aside,
+  Hearts turned to joy, and glad eyes open wide
+  To watch, as when bright fay and sportive faun
+  Wove their gay dances on the woodland lawn.
+  Alas! the stress of higher education
+  Has vanished these, the poet's fond creation.
+  But nature--not to be denied--has sent
+  Yet fairer forms for gladsome merriment,
+  Who wait my nod.  The beauty of the nation
+  Are gathered here to win your approbation.
+  But you grow weary--Hither, maidens all,
+  Forth from your bowers, responsive to my call,
+  With roses crowned, let each and all advance,
+  And let the Revels start with song and dance!"
+
+It was astonishing how well it sounded, recited with an air, and to an
+accompaniment of smiles and waving hands.  Little Hilary Jervis, the
+youngest girl in the school, remarked rhapsodically that it was "Just
+like a pantomime!" and the finale to the address was so essentially
+dramatic that her elders were ready to agree with her decision.
+
+Rhoda backed gracefully to the spot where her flower-decked chair had
+been placed by her attendants, and having taken her seat, clapped her
+hands as a signal to her handmaidens.  Instantly from behind the shelter
+of the trees there tripped forward a band of pink and green-robed
+figures, bearing in their hands garlands of many-coloured roses.  The
+roses were but paper, it is true, and of the flimsiest manufacture, but
+at a little distance the effect could not have been improved, and when
+the dance began to the accompaniment of music "on the waters" the effect
+was charming enough to disarm the most exacting of critics.  It was an
+adaptation of the "scarf dance" practised by the pupils, but the
+dresses, the circumstances, the surroundings added charm to the
+accustomed movements, and there were, of course, deviations from the
+original figures, noticeably at the end, when, with a simultaneous
+whirling movement, the dancers grouped themselves round their Queen,
+holding up their skirts so as to entirely conceal their figures.  The
+greens were on the outside, the pinks arranged in gradually deepening
+lines, and Rhoda's smiling face came peeping out on top; it was evident
+to the meanest intellect that the final tableau was intended to
+represent a rose, and--granted a little stretch of imagination--it was
+really as much like it as anything else!
+
+This first item of the programme over, the dancers grouped themselves in
+attitudes of studied grace, while little green-robed heralds led the way
+to what, for want of a more high-flown name, was termed "The Rose
+Bower," where various sports and competitions had been organised.  Roses
+were, indeed, conspicuous by their absence; but there was an archery
+ground, an amateur Aunt Sally (clad, one regrets to state, in the garb
+of a University Examiner!) and many original and amusing "trials of
+skill."  Tom came off victorious in an obstacle race, in the course of
+which the competitors had to pick up and set in order a prostrate deck
+chair, correctly add up a column of figures, unravel a knotted rope, and
+skip with it for fifteen or twenty yards, thread a needle, and hop over
+the remaining portion of the course; while Dorothy, who held a stick
+poised in her hand, called out in threatening tones, "You _would_ pluck
+me in arithmetic, would you?  Take _that_!" and let fly with such energy
+that the "Examiner" fell in fragments to the ground.
+
+It was a scene of wild hilarity, for even the teachers threw off their
+wonted airs of decorum, and entered into the spirit of the occasion, and
+to see severe Miss Mott throwing for cocoa-nuts, and fat little Fraulein
+hopping across the lawn, were by no means the least entertaining items
+in the programme.
+
+Rhoda sat enthroned on her rose-wreathed chair, looking on at the
+revels, well content with idleness since it was the badge of
+superiority.  The pleasantest part of her duties was still to come, and
+the girls realised for what purpose the sixpence-a-head contribution had
+been levied by the Games Captains, as they saw the prizes which were
+awarded the successful competitors.  No one-and-eleven-penny frames this
+time; no trashy little sixpence-three-farthing ornaments; nor shilling
+boxes supplied with splinty pencils and spluttering pens; but handsome,
+valuable prizes, which any girl might be proud to possess.  Dorothy was
+presented with an umbrella with a silver handle; another lucky winner
+received the most elegant of green leather purses, with what she
+rapturously described as "scriggles of gold" in the corners; Tom won a
+handsome writing-case, and a successful "Red" the daintiest little gold
+bangle, with six seed pearls encircling a green stone, concerning the
+proper name of which it was possible to indulge in endless disputations.
+
+Rhoda was in her element distributing these gifts, and afterwards in
+leading the way towards the pavilion, which had been transformed into a
+veritable bower by the hands of willing workers, and in which were
+displayed a supply of the most luxurious refreshments.  Miss Bruce had
+contributed generously towards the afternoon's entertainment, and as the
+girls sat about upon the grass, and were waited upon by the "Rose
+Maidens," no one had need to sigh in vain for "something nice."  The
+choice of good things was quite bewildering, and little Hilary Jervis
+was reported to have reverted twice over from coffee to lemonade, and to
+have eaten an ice-cream and a ham sandwich in alternate bites.  She was
+blissfully happy, however, and so was everyone else, and when at last
+Mistress June returned to her Barque, and the singers started the first
+notes of "Good Night," two hundred voices took up the strain with a
+strength and precision which made the unrehearsed effect one of the most
+striking in the programme.
+
+And so ended "Revels"--the happiest day which many of the students were
+to know for long weeks to come.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+DRAWING NEAR.
+
+A week after "Revels" had taken place the very remembrance seemed to
+have floated away to an immeasurable distance, and only wonder remained
+that any interest could have been felt on so trivial a subject.  From
+morning to night, and from night till morning, the same incessant grind
+went on, for of what rest was sleep when it opened the door for fresh
+torture, as, for instance, when a Cambridge Examiner condescended to the
+unfair expedient of kidnapping a candidate's wardrobe, leaving her to
+decide between the alternative of staying at home or attending the
+examination room attired in a _robe de nuit_?  On other occasions it
+appeared that by some unaccountable freak of memory one had forgotten
+about the examinations until the very hour had arrived, and was running,
+running--trying to overtake a train that would _not_ stop, not though
+one leapt rivers and scaled mountain heights in the vain attempt to
+attract attention!  It was really more restful to lie awake and study
+textbooks by the morning light, which came so early in these summer
+days; or so thought Rhoda, as she sat up in bed and bent her aching head
+over her task.  Her head was always aching nowadays, while occasionally
+there came a sharp, stabbing pain in the eyes, which seemed to say that
+they, too, were inclined to rebel.  It was tiresome, but she had no time
+to attend to them now.  It was not likely that she was going to draw
+back because of a little pain and physical weakness.
+
+She never complained, but amidst all the bustle of preparation the
+teachers kept a keen eye on their pupils, and Rhoda found more than one
+task mysteriously lightened.  No remark was made, but Miss Mott reduced
+the amount of preparation; Miss Bruce sent an invitation to tea, which
+involved an idle hour, and shortcomings were passed over with wonderful
+forbearance.  Only Miss Everett "croaked," and, dearly as she loved her,
+Rhoda was glad to keep out of Miss Everett's way just now.  It was
+unpleasant to be stared at by "eyes like gimlets," to be asked if one's
+head ached, and warned gravely of the dangers of overwork.
+
+"When I went up for the Cambridge Senior," began Miss Everett, and the
+girl straightened herself defiantly, on the outlook for "sermons."
+
+"When I went up for the Cambridge Senior I was not at school like you,
+but studying at home with a tutor.  My sister was delicate, so an old
+college friend of my father's came to us for three hours a day.  He was
+delightful--a very prince of teachers--and we had such happy times, for
+he entered into all our interests, and treated our opinions with as much
+respect as if we had been men like himself.  I remember disputing the
+axioms of political economy, and arguing that a demand for commodities
+_must_ be a demand for labour, and the delight with which he threw back
+his head and laughed whenever I seemed to score a point.  Instead of
+snubbing me, and thinking it ridiculous that I should presume to dispute
+accepted truths, he welcomed every sign of independent thought; and
+there we would sit, arguing away, two girls of fifteen and sixteen and
+the grey-headed man, as seriously as if history depended on our
+decision.  Later on, when I was going in for the examination, I joined
+some of his afternoon classes at a school near by, so that I could work
+up the subjects with other candidates.  There was one girl in the class
+called Mary Macgregor, a plain, unassuming little creature, who seemed
+most ordinary in every way.  When I first saw her I remember pitying her
+because she looked so dull and commonplace.  My dear, she had a brain
+like an encyclopaedia!--simply crammed with knowledge, and what went in
+at one ear stayed there for good, and never by any chance got mislaid.
+You may think how clever she was when I tell you that she passed first
+in all England, with distinction in every single subject that she took.
+She won scholarships and honours and went up to Girton, and had posts
+offered to her right and left, and practically established herself for
+life.  Well, to go back a long way, to the week before the Cambridge.
+We had preliminary examinations at school, and had worked so hard that
+we were perfectly dazed and muddled.  Then one day `Magister,' as we
+called him, marched into the room to read the result of the arithmetic
+paper.  I can see him now, standing up with the list in his hands, and
+all the girls' faces turned towards him.  Then he began to read: `Total
+number of marks, one hundred.  Kate Evans, eighty-nine; Sybil Bruce,
+eighty-two; Hilda Green, seventy-one;' so on and so on--down, and down
+and down until it came to thirties and twenties, and still no mention of
+Mary or of me!  The girls' faces were a study to behold.  As for the
+`Magister' he put on the most exaggerated expression of horror, and just
+hissed out the last few words--`Laura Everett, _twelve_!  Ma-ry Mac-gre-
+gor, _ten_!'  We sat dumb, petrified, frozen with dismay, and then
+suddenly he banged his book on the table and called out, `No more
+lessons!  No more work!  I forbid any girl to open a book again before
+Monday morning.  Off you go, and give your brains a rest, if you don't
+wish to disgrace yourselves and me.  Give my compliments to your
+mothers, and say I wish you _all_ to be taken to the Circus this
+evening.'  He nodded at us quite cheerfully, and marched out of the room
+there and then, leaving us to pack up our books and go home, Mary and I
+cried a little, I remember, in a feeble, helpless sort of way; but we
+were too tired to care very much.  I slept like a log all the afternoon,
+and went to the Circus at night, and the next day I skated, and on
+Saturday spent the day in town, buying Christmas presents, and by Monday
+I was quite brisk again, and my mind as clear as ever.  I have often
+thought how differently that examination might have turned out for Mary
+and for me if we had had a less wise teacher, who had worked himself
+into a panic of alarm, and made us work harder than ever, instead of
+stopping altogether!  I am convinced that it was only those few days of
+rest which saved me."
+
+"There!" cried Rhoda, irritably; "I knew it!  I _knew_ there was a
+moral.  I knew perfectly well the moment you began, that it was a
+roundabout way of preaching to me.  If I am to have a sermon, I would
+rather have it straight out, not wrapped up in jam like a powder.  I
+suppose you think my brain is getting muddled, but it would go
+altogether if I tried to do nothing but laze about.  I should go stark,
+staring mad.  I must say, Evie, you talk in a very strange way for a
+teacher, and are not at all encouraging.  I don't think you care a bit
+whether I get the scholarship or not."
+
+"Yes, I do!  I hope very much that you will _not_!  Wait a moment now; I
+am very fond of you, Rhoda; and I hope with all my heart that you will
+pass, and pass well--I shall be bitterly disappointed if you don't; but
+I want Kathleen to get the scholarship.  She _needs_ it, and you don't;
+it means far, far more to her than you can even understand."
+
+"In one way, perhaps--not another!  She wants the money, which she could
+have in any case; but she is not half so keen as I am for the honour
+itself--and, after all, that's the first thing.  I can't do anything in
+a half-and-half way, and now that I have taken up examinations I am just
+burning to distinguish myself.  It would be a perfect bliss, the height
+of my ambition, to come out first here, and go up to Oxford, and take
+honours, and have letters after one's name, and be a distinguished
+scholar, written about in the papers and magazines like--like--"
+
+"Yes!  Like Miss Mott, for instance.  What then?"  Rhoda stood still in
+the middle of her tirade, and stared at the speaker with startled eyes.
+_Miss Mott_!  No, indeed, she had meant nobody in the least like Miss
+Mott.  The very mention of the name was like a cold douche on her
+enthusiasm.  The creature of her dream was gowned and capped, and moved
+radiant through an atmosphere of applause.  Miss Mott was a commonplace,
+hard-working teacher, with an air of chronic exhaustion.  When one
+looked across the dining-room, and saw her face among those of the
+girls, it looked bleached and grey, the face of a tired, worn woman.
+"The idea of working and slaving all one's youth to be like--Miss Mott!"
+Rhoda exclaimed contemptuously, but Miss Everett insisted on her
+position.
+
+"Miss Mott is a capital example.  You could not have a better.  She was
+the first student of her year, and carried everything before her.  Her
+position here is one of the best of its kind, for she is practically
+headmistress.  She would tell you herself that she never expected to do
+so well."
+
+"I think it's very mean of you, Evie, to squash me so!  It's most
+discouraging.  I don't want to be the _least_ like Miss Mott, and you
+know it perfectly well.  It's no use talking, for we can't agree; and
+really and truly you are the most unsympathetic to me just now."
+
+Miss Everett looked at her steadily, with a long, tender gaze.
+
+"I _seem_ so, Rhoda, I know I do, but it is only seeming.  In reality
+I'm just longing to help you, but, as you say, you think one thing and I
+think another, so we are at cross purposes.  Come and spend Sunday
+afternoon with me in my den, dear, and I'll promise not to preach.  I'll
+make you so comfy, and show you all my photographs and pretty things,
+and lay in a stock of fruit and cakes.  Do; it will do you good!"
+
+But Rhoda hesitated, longing, yet fearing.
+
+"I'd love it; it would be splendid, but--there's my Scripture!  I want
+to cram it up a little more, and Sunday afternoon is the only chance.
+I'm afraid I can't until after the exam., Evie, dear.  I need the time."
+
+"A wilful lass must have her way!" quoted Miss Everett with a sigh, and
+that was the last attempt which she made to rescue Rhoda from the result
+of her own rash folly.  Henceforth to the end the girl worked
+unmolested, drawing the invariable "list" from her pocket at every odd
+moment, and gabbling in ceaseless repetition, nerved to more feverish
+energy by the discovery that her brain moved so slowly that it took
+twice as long as of yore to master the simplest details.  She felt
+irritable and peevish, disposed to tears on the slightest provocation,
+and tired all over, back and limbs, aching head, smarting eyes, weary,
+dissatisfied heart.  Did every ambition of life end like this?  Did it
+always happen that when the loins were girded to run a race, depression
+fell like a fetter, and the question tortured: "Is it worth while?  Is
+it worth while?"  What was the "right motive" of which Evie had spoken?
+What was the Vicar's meaning of "success"?  They, at least, seemed to
+have found contentment as a result of their struggles.  Rhoda groped in
+the dark, but found no light, for the door was barred by the giant of
+Self-Will.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+THE EXAMINATION.
+
+Four o'clock on the morning of Examination Monday.  The clock on the
+wall chimed the hour, and Rhoda awoke with a start, and sat up wearily
+in bed.  The pale, grey light already filled the room, and the birds
+clamoured tumultuously in the trees outside.  Three hours before the
+gong rang--the last, the very last chance of preparing for the fray!
+
+She slipped noiselessly out of bed, sponged her face with cold water,
+seized the eau-de-Cologne in one hand and a pile of books in the other,
+and settled herself against a background of cushions.  There was silence
+in the room, broken only by fitful cries from Dorothy, who was given to
+discoursing in her sleep, and more than once in the course of the first
+half-hour Rhoda's own eyes glazed over, and the lids fell.  Nature was
+pleading for her rights, but each lapse was sternly overcome, and
+presently nerves and brain were fully awake, and battling with their
+task.  She learned by heart passages marked as likely to be useful,
+searched to and fro for answers still unknown, and worked out imaginary
+calculations.  One thing was no sooner begun than she recalled another
+which needed attention, and so on it went from arithmetic to
+Shakespeare, from Shakespeare to history, from history to Latin, back
+and forward, back and forward, until her head was in a whirl.
+
+The clock struck six, the girl in the next cubicle murmured sleepily,
+"Such a noise!  Something rustling!" and Rhoda held her breath in
+dismay.  Her haste in turning over the leaves had nearly brought about
+discovery, but henceforth she moved with caution, turning from place to
+place with wary fingers.  Her back ached despite the supporting
+cushions, and her head swam, but she struggled on until at last the roll
+of the gong sounded through the house, and the girls awoke with yawns
+and groans of remembrance.
+
+"Black Monday!  Oh!  Oh!  I wish I'd never been born!"
+
+"Misery me, and I was having such a lovely dream, all about holidays and
+picnics, and walks on the sands--"
+
+"I've had the most awful night, doing sums all the time, with the
+Examiner looking over my shoulder.  My head is like a jelly!"
+
+Then Tom's voice arose in derisive accents.  Happy Tom! who was well
+through her June Matric, and could afford to chaff the poor victims.
+
+"Would any young lady like to explain to me how to find the resultant of
+a system of parallel forces?"
+
+"Tom, you are brutal!  Be quiet this moment, or we'll come and make
+you--"
+
+"Ha!  Ha!  Ha!  Rhoda, love, just give me the Substance of King
+Richard's speech to Northumberland, when the latter announced that he
+was to be removed to Pomfret!"
+
+Rhoda began to reply, but stopped abruptly, for on rising from bed she
+was attacked by a strange giddiness, and lay back against the pillows
+trembling with cold and nausea.  Her hands shook as she uncorked the
+eau-de-Cologne, and the scent, so far from being reviving, made her
+shudder afresh.  She dressed with difficulty, sitting down at frequent
+intervals, and growing colder and colder with each exertion, so that
+when she emerged from her cubicle her pallid face roused Tom's instant
+attention.
+
+"Rhoda, you are ill!" she cried, her chaffing manner changing at once,
+as she realised the seriousness of the occasion.  "What's the matter?
+Didn't you sleep?  Let me feel your hand--.  Goodness, what a frog!  You
+had better lie down, and let me send for nurse."
+
+"No, thank you, Tom, _please_!  It's only excitement.  I shall be better
+after breakfast.  Please, please, don't make a fuss!"
+
+"Humph!" said Tom shortly, "just as you like.  If you feel yourself
+going, stoop down and pretend to fasten your shoe, and give a scrub to
+your cheeks before passing Miss Bruce.  She'll spot you in a moment if
+you go in with a face like that."
+
+Thus adjured, Rhoda "scrubbed her cheeks" all the way downstairs, and
+looked so rosy as she passed the Principal that the good lady felt much
+relieved.  She had had some anxious thoughts about Rhoda Chester of
+late, and was only too glad to feel that her anxiety had been needless;
+but, alas! three times over during breakfast did Rhoda stoop down to
+button her shoe, and in vain did her companions press food upon her.  A
+sumptuous breakfast had been served in honour of the occasion, but ham
+and eggs seemed just the last things in the world that she wanted to
+eat, while the sight of fried fish took away the last remnant of
+appetite.  She drank her tea, trying to laugh with the rest, and to take
+no notice of the swaying movement with which the walls whirled round
+from time to time, or of the extraordinary distance from which the
+girls' voices sounded in her ears.
+
+"She's game!  She's real game!" said Tom to herself, watching the set
+face with her sharp little eyes, "but she's uncommon bad all the same.
+I'll put Evie on her track!"  So Miss Everett's attention was duly
+called to the condition of her pupil, and Rhoda was dosed with sal-
+volatile, and provided with smelling salts to keep in her pocket.  Not a
+word of reproach was spoken, and Evie indeed appeared to treat the
+indisposition as quite an orthodox thing under the circumstances.  So
+affectionate was she, so kind and cheery, and so thoughtful were the
+girls in giving up the best seats in omnibus and train, and in offering
+supporting arms along platforms, that Rhoda felt inclined to cry with
+mingled gratitude and remorse.
+
+When the hall was reached in which the examination was to be held, she
+had yet another dose of sal-volatile as a preparation for the ordeal of
+the arithmetical paper, and then, gathering up pens and pencils, marched
+slowly into the dreaded room.  It was shaped like an amphitheatre, with
+a railed-in platform at one side, and sloping seats descending all
+round.
+
+"It's like the operating theatre at a hospital!  Oh my! and don't I feel
+as if I were going to be cut up too!" groaned Dorothy, as she filed
+along in front of a seat, looking for her place.  At a distance of every
+two or three yards the desks were marked with a number, in front of
+which was a supply of blotting and writing paper.  Some of the
+candidates made out their own number at once, others went roaming
+helplessly about, and Rhoda found herself perched in the furthest
+corner, far from her companions.  She looked across and received
+Dorothy's smiling nod, but Kathleen's face was set in stern anxiety, and
+the others were too busy arranging papers to remember her existence.
+The Examiner, in cap and gown, stood on the platform, talking to the
+lady secretary of the Centre.  She made a remark, and he smiled, and
+said something in reply at which they both laughed audibly.  It shocked
+Rhoda in much the same way as it would have done to hear a chief mourner
+laugh at a funeral.  Such levity was most unseemly, yet on the other
+hand the pictures on the walls were surely unnecessarily depressing!
+They were oil-coloured portraits of departed worthies, at that gloomy
+stage of decay when frame, figure, and background have acquired the same
+dirty hue, and the paint has cracked in a hundred broken lines.  One old
+gentleman--the ugliest of all--faced Rhoda as she sat, and stared at her
+with a mocking gaze, which seemed to say:
+
+"You think you are going to pass in arithmetic, do you?  Wait until you
+see the paper!  _You'll_ be surprised--!"
+
+It was a relief to turn to the paper itself and know the worst, which
+seemed very bad indeed.  She glanced from question to question, feeling
+despair deepen at the sight of such phrases as--"Simplify the
+expression"; "debenture stock at 140 1/8"; "at what rate per cent.?"
+etcetera, etcetera.  In the present condition of mind and body it was an
+effort to recall the multiplication table, not to speak of difficult and
+elaborate calculations.  Poor Rhoda!  She dipped her pen into the ink,
+and wrote the headline to her paper, hesitated for a moment, added
+"Question A," and then it seemed as if she could do no more.  The
+figures danced before her eyes, her knees shook, her hands were so
+petrified with cold that she clasped them together to restore some
+feeling of warmth, and the faintness of an hour ago seemed creeping on
+once more.  She leant her elbows on the desk, bowed her hands in her
+head, and remained motionless for ten minutes on end.  The other girls
+would think that she was studying the paper, and deciding what question
+she could best answer; but in reality she was fighting the hardest
+battle of her life, a battle between the Flesh, which said, "Give in;
+say you are too ill!  Think what bliss it would be to lie down and have
+nothing to do!" and the Will, which declared, "No, never!  I must and
+shall go on.  Brain!  Hands!  Eyes! you are my servants.  I will not
+_let_ you fail!"  In the end Will conquered, and Rhoda raised her face,
+pale to the lips, but with determination written on every feature.
+
+The girl next to herself had covered half the sheet with figures, and
+was ruling two neat little lines, which showed that Question A was
+satisfactorily settled.  All over the room the girls were scribbling
+away, alert and busy; there was plainly no time to be wasted, and Rhoda
+began slowly to puzzle out the easiest problem.  The answer seemed
+inappropriate; she tried again, with a different result; a third time,
+with a third result; then the firm lips set, and she began doggedly the
+fourth time over.  To her relief this answer was the same as number two,
+so it was copied out without delay, and the next puzzle begun, and the
+next, and the next.
+
+Oh, the weariness of those two hours, the struggle against weakness, the
+moments of despair when memory refused to work, and simplest facts
+evaded her grasp!  Nobody ever knew all that it meant, and as she had
+the presence of mind to tear up her blotting-paper, no examining eyes
+were shocked by the sight of the expedients to which a senior candidate
+had been reduced in order to discover the total of six multiplied by
+six, or eight plus eleven.  There were other moments, however, when the
+brain cleared and allowed a space for intelligent work.  More faintness
+came on again, and at the end she could announce to her companions that
+she had answered nine out of the twelve questions.
+
+"What did you get for the square root?" enquired Kathleen anxiously.
+"Irene's answer was different from mine; but I _did_ think I was right.
+I went over it twice!"
+
+The girls were all surging together in the ante-room, comparing answers,
+and referring eagerly to Irene, who read aloud her own list with a self-
+satisfied air.  Those whose numbers agreed with hers announced the fact
+with whoops of joy, those who had differed knitted their brows and were
+silent.  Kathleen looked worried and anxious, and could not think what
+she had been about to get "that decimal wrong."
+
+"But it was horrible, wasn't it?  The worst we have had."
+
+"The wall-paper was vile," cried another voice indignantly.  "_Toujours_
+wall-paper!  They might have a little originality, and think of
+something else.  I longed to give Tom's answer!"
+
+"It wasn't really difficult, but tricky!  Decidedly tricky!" said Irene,
+with an air.  She could afford to be superior, for there was no doubt
+that she had passed! and passed well.  "The square root was absurdly
+easy."  Then her eye fell on Rhoda, and she asked, kindly enough, "What
+did you make it, Rhoda?  I hope you got on all right, and feel better."
+
+"Thanks, yes; but I didn't put down my answers.  I really can't remember
+what they were."
+
+"And a good thing too!  You have done your best, so don't worry over it
+any more, but come along to lunch!" cried Miss Everett, cheerily; and
+the girls obeyed with willing haste, for it was one of the "treats" of
+examination time to lunch in a restaurant, and be allowed to order what
+one chose.
+
+Rhoda was so much revived by the walk and the joy of knowing the ordeal
+over that she was able to eat a morsel of chicken, but the fascinations
+of jam puffs had departed for the time being, and she could even look
+unmoved at the spectacle of a dozen strawberry ices in a row.
+
+"If every candidate indulges in an ice a day, state accurately the
+number of bushels of fruit--" began Dorothy, with her mouth full of
+Vanilla biscuit, but she was promptly elbowed into silence; no one being
+in the mood for further calculations just then.
+
+For the next four days the examination dragged its weary course, and
+Rhoda was carefully nursed and coddled so as to be able to stand the
+strain.  She was sent to bed immediately on her return from the train;
+was not allowed to rise until eight o'clock; was dosed with nurse's pet
+tonic, and with Bovril and sandwiches between the papers, and for once
+she was sufficiently conscious of past errors to acknowledge that Nature
+could not be defied, and to attempt no more four o'clock preparation
+classes.  On the whole she got through fairly well, growing stronger
+each day, and even feeling occasional bursts of exultation at the
+conclusion of a paper which might have been written especially for her
+benefit.  What rapture to be questioned about those very rules in French
+grammar which one had rubbed up the week before; to have pet passages
+selected from Shakespeare, and find the Latin prose for translation
+become gradually intelligible, as one telling substantive gave the clue
+to the whole!  Once assured of the meaning, it was easy to pick out the
+words, skimming lightly over difficult phrases, but making a great show
+of accuracy when opportunity arose.  As to the elegance of the
+translation from English into Latin the less said the better, but even
+with a realisation of its shortcomings, Rhoda was hopeful of the result.
+
+"They will say, `She doesn't know much, poor thing, but she has worked
+hard, and deserves to pass.  Her grammar is good, and she has mastered
+the books.  Oh, yes; certainly she has enough marks to pass.'"
+
+"I think I have done fairly well in Latin," she told Miss Mott on her
+return, and that severe lady actually smiled, and said graciously:
+
+"I hope you have.  You have certainly worked with a will."
+
+Miss Bruce, however, was not nearly so encouraging, and her last
+interview with her pupil was somewhat in the nature of a cold douche.
+
+"Now that the week is over, Rhoda," she said, "I must tell you that I
+have felt a good deal of anxiety on your account, which I would not
+willingly have repeated.  There is a strain about examinations which
+some girls feel more than others.  The head of your house, for instance,
+Thomasina Bolderston, is a capital subject, and seems able to hit the
+happy medium between working hard and over-working; but you appear to
+suffer physically from the strain.  I thought you seemed ill even before
+the breakdown on Monday, and I fear your parents will be far from
+satisfied with your looks.  In the case of a girl who is preparing to
+earn her livelihood, and to whom certificates are all-important, one
+must take all reasonable precautions and then face the risk; but with
+you it is different.  You are the only daughter of wealthy parents, and
+as, in all probability, you will never need to work for yourself, it
+would be wiser to content yourself with taking the ordinary school
+course and leaving examinations alone.  I shall feel it my duty to
+acquaint your mother with my opinions, and to advise--"
+
+Rhoda gave a gasp of dismay, and stared at her with horrified eyes.
+
+"You will forbid me to go in for any more exams.!  You won't allow me to
+try again?"
+
+The Principal smiled slightly.
+
+"That is, perhaps, over-stating the case.  The final decision must, of
+course, rest with your parents.  If, in opposition to my advice, they
+should still desire--"
+
+But Rhoda heard no more.  The idea that her father and mother should
+wish her to go in for any work which interfered with health was so
+impossible to conceive that it might as well be dismissed at once.  With
+one fell crash her castle in the air had fallen to the ground and lay in
+ruins at her feet.  If she had not done well this time, farewell for
+ever to her dreams of distinction, for no other opportunity would be
+granted!
+
+For the first half of the holidays the thought weighed upon her with
+depressing force, but gradually, as health improved, the outlook
+lightened also, and she began to pose to herself in a new light.  If she
+passed well--and, despite her illness, she looked back on most of the
+papers with a feeling of complacency--if she won the scholarship, or
+even gained distinction, her reputation among her class-mates would be
+to a certain extent established, and the fact that the delicate nature
+of her nervous system debarred her from further efforts would entitle
+her to a tribute of peculiar sympathy.  When other girls succeeded,
+their companions would shake their heads, and whisper among themselves,
+"If Rhoda could only--"
+
+"A good thing for her that Rhoda," etcetera, etcetera.  In imagination
+she could hear the remarks, and her face unconsciously assumed the
+expression of meek endurance with which she would listen.  And so more
+and more did the result of that week's work fill the horizon of her
+life; she thought of it day by day, and dreamt of it by night; she
+talked of it to Ella, until even that patient listener wearied of the
+theme; she counted the weeks, the days, the hours, until the report
+should arrive.  And then one morning, half-way through breakfast, Mr
+Chester looked up from his eggs and bacon and remarked casually--as if
+it were an ordinary, commonplace subject, and not an affair of life and
+death:
+
+"By the way, Rhoda, there is something about your examination in the
+paper to-day.  I noticed the heading.  You may like to see it!"
+
+Rhoda leant back in her chair, and held out her hand in dumb entreaty.
+The newspaper was open at the right page, and her eye fell at once on
+the familiar heading, and, underneath, a long list of numbers.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+FAILED!
+
+First Class, Second Class, and still no sign of the familiar number.
+Third Class--it was not there!  Rhoda gave a little gulp, and began
+again from the very beginning.  She had been too quick, too eager.  It
+was so easy to miss a number.  One by one she conned them over, but it
+was not there.  The long Pass List lay below, and she looked at it with
+dreary indifference.  To scramble through with the rabble was a sorry
+attainment, or it seemed so for one moment, but at the next it became,
+suddenly, a wild, impossible dream, for--the number was not there!  No
+fear of overlooking this time, for the figures stood out as if printed
+in fire, and burned themselves into her brain.  The number was not in
+the First Class, nor the Second, nor the Third; it was not in the Pass
+List, it was not mentioned at all.
+
+If she had ever permitted herself to anticipate such a situation, which
+she had not, Rhoda would have pictured herself flying into a paroxysm of
+despair; but in reality she felt icy cold, and it was in a tone almost
+of indifference that she announced:
+
+"I am plucked!  I have not passed at all."
+
+"Never mind, dear; you did your best, and the work matters more than the
+result.  Very uncertain tests, these examinations--I never cared about
+them," said her father kindly, and Mrs Chester smiled in her usual
+placid fashion, and murmured, "Oh, I expect it's a mistake.  It's so
+easy to make a mistake in printing figures.  You will find it is all
+right, darling, later on.  Have some jam!"
+
+They were absolutely placid; absolutely calm; absolutely unconscious of
+the storm of emotion raging beneath that quiet exterior; but Harold
+glanced at his sister with the handsome eyes which looked so sleepy, but
+which were in reality so remarkably wide-awake, and said slowly:
+
+"I think Rhoda has finished, mother.  You don't want any jam, do you,
+Ro?  Come into the garden with me instead.  I want a stroll."
+
+He walked out through the French window, and Rhoda followed with much
+the same feeling of relief as that with which a captive escapes from the
+prison which seems to be on the point of suffocating him, mentally and
+physically.  Brother and sister paced in silence down the path leading
+to the rose garden.  Harold was full of sympathy, but, man-like, found
+it difficult to put his thoughts into words, and Rhoda, after all, was
+the first to speak.  She stopped suddenly in the middle of the path, and
+confronted him with shining eyes.  Her voice sounded strange in her own
+ears.
+
+"Harold, I--have--failed!  I am plucked.  I have not passed at all--not
+even a common pass."
+
+"No?  I'm uncommonly sorry, but--"
+
+"But do you realise it; do you understand what it means?  I _think_ I
+do, but I don't.  If I did, I should not be here talking quietly to you.
+I should go mad!  I should want to kill myself.  I should be
+desperate!"
+
+"Don't be silly now, Ro.  It's a big disappointment, and I'm sorry for
+you, but it's not a bit of use working yourself into hysterics.  Face
+the thing quietly, and see--"
+
+"All that it means--.  It means a good deal, Harold; more than you can
+understand.  I think I'd rather be alone, please.  You are very kind,
+but I can't stand consolation just yet.  I'll sit in the arbour."
+
+"Just as you please.  I don't want to force myself, but I'd like to help
+you, old girl.  Is there nothing else I can do?"
+
+"Yes; keep mother away!  Don't let her come near me until lunch.  I am
+best left alone, and she doesn't understand--no one understands except
+those who have been at school, and know how--how hard--"
+
+The girl's voice trembled, and broke off suddenly, and she walked away
+in the direction of the summer-house, while Harold thrust his hands into
+his pockets and kicked the pebbles on the gravel path.  He was very fond
+of his impetuous young sister, and the quivering sob which had strangled
+her last word echoed painfully in his ears.  He realised as neither
+father nor mother could do what such a failure meant to a proud,
+ambitious girl, and how far-reaching would be its consequences.  It was
+not to-day nor to-morrow that would exhaust this trouble; the bitterest
+part was yet to come when she returned to school, and received the
+condolences of her more successful companions; when she sat apart and
+saw them receive their reward.  Harold longed to be able to help, but
+there was nothing to do but persuade his parents to leave the girl
+alone, and to return at intervals to satisfy himself that she was still
+in her retreat, and not attempting to drown her sorrows in the lake.
+Three times over he paced the path, and saw the white-robed figure
+sitting immovable, with elbows planted on the table, and falling locks
+hiding the face from view.  So still she sat that he retired silently,
+hoping that she had fallen asleep, but on the fourth visit he was no
+longer alone, but accompanied by a graceful, girlish figure, and they
+did not halt until they stood on the very threshold of the arbour
+itself.
+
+"Rhoda!" he cried, then, "look up!  I have brought someone to you.
+Someone you will be glad to see."
+
+The flaxen mane was tossed back, and a flushed face raised in protest.
+"I don't--" began Rhoda, and then suddenly sprang to her feet and
+stretched out her arms.  "Oh, Evie--Evie!  You have come.  Oh, I wanted
+you--I wanted you so badly!"
+
+Miss Everett stepped forward and drew the girl to her side, and Harold
+waited just long enough to see the fair head and the dark nestle
+together, and then took himself off to the house, satisfied that comfort
+had come at last.
+
+"I have _failed_, Evie!" cried Rhoda, clasping her friend's hands, and
+staring at her with the same expression of incredulous horror with which
+she had confronted her brother a couple of hours earlier.  "Yes,
+darling.  I know."
+
+"And what are you going to say to me, then?"
+
+"Nothing, I think, for the moment, but that I love you dearly, and felt
+that I must come to be with you.  Aren't you surprised to see me,
+Rhoda?"
+
+"No, I don't think so.  I don't feel anything.  I wanted you, and then--
+there you were!  It seemed quite natural."
+
+"But it was rather peculiar all the same.  I have been staying with Tom,
+and we were both asked down to D-- for a four days' visit.  That is only
+half an hour's rail from here, as you know; so this morning when I saw
+the list in the paper I thought at once--`I must see Rhoda!  I will go
+down and chance finding her at home!'"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"So I came, and am so glad to be with you, dear.  I have seen your
+mother, and have promised to stay to lunch.  I need not go back until
+four o'clock."
+
+"Oh, that's nice.  I like to have you.  Evie, I believe it was the
+arithmetic.  I was so ill, I could hardly think.  You might as well know
+all now.  It was my own doing.  I had been working every morning before
+getting up, and that day I began at four.  I tired myself out before the
+gong rang."
+
+"I guessed as much.  Dorothy told me that she heard someone turning over
+leaves!"
+
+"Why don't you say, `I told you so!' then, and tell me that it's my own
+fault?"
+
+"I--don't--know!  Perhaps because I do so many foolish things myself;
+perhaps because I haven't the heart to scold you just now, you poor
+dear."
+
+Rhoda's face quivered, but she pressed her lips together, and said with
+a gulp:
+
+"I suppose--it's a childish trouble!  I suppose--when I am old--and
+sensible--I shall look back on to-day, and laugh to think how I worried
+myself over such an unimportant trial."
+
+"I am sure you will do nothing of the kind.  You will be very, very
+sorry for yourself, and very pitiful, and very proud, too, if you can
+remember that you bore it bravely and uncomplainingly."
+
+"But I can't!  I can't bear it at all.  It gets worse every moment.  I
+keep remembering things that I had forgotten.  Miss Bruce preaching, and
+Miss Mott staring through her spectacles--the girls all saying they are
+sorry, and the--the Record Wall, where I wanted to see my name!  I
+_can't_ bear it, it's no use."
+
+"But you will _have_ to bear it, Rhoda.  It is a fact, and nothing that
+you can do will alter it now.  You will have to bear it; but you can
+bear it in two ways, as you make up your mind to-day.  You can cry and
+fret, and make yourself ill, and everyone else miserable, or you can
+brace yourself up to bear it bravely, and make everyone love and admire
+you more than they have ever done before.  Which are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to be cross and horrid.  I couldn't be good if I tried.  I'm
+soured for life!" said Rhoda stoutly, but even as she spoke a smile
+struggled with her tears, and Evie laughed aloud--her sweet, ringing
+laugh.
+
+"Poor, dear old thing!  She looks so like it!  I know better, and am not
+a bit afraid of you.  You will be good and plucky, and rejoice
+unaffectedly in Kathleen's success."
+
+"Has Kathleen--Oh!  Is Kathleen first?"
+
+"She has won the Scholarship.  Yes, it will be such a joy.  She needed
+it so badly, and has worked so hard."
+
+"I hate her!"
+
+"She was always kind to you.  I remember the very first day she took you
+round the grounds.  You were very good friends."
+
+"I hate her, I tell you!  I detest her name."
+
+"I am sure you will write and congratulate her.  Imagine if _your_
+parents were poor, and you saw them harassed and anxious, how thankful
+you would feel to be able to help!  Kathleen had a harder time than any
+of you, for she could take none of the nice, interesting `Extras.'  I
+think all her friends will be glad that she has won."
+
+"I shall be glad, too, in about ten years.  If I said I was glad now I
+should be a hypocrite, for I wanted it myself.  I suppose Irene is all
+right, and Bertha, and all the Head girls?  Has--has Dorothy--"
+
+"Yes, Dorothy has passed too."
+
+Rhoda cried aloud in bitter distress.
+
+"Oh, Evie--oh!  Dorothy passed, and I have failed!  Oh it is cruel--
+unjust.  I am cleverer than she!  You can't deny it.  I worked harder.
+I was before her always, in every class, in every exam.  Oh, it's mean,
+it's mean that they should have put her before me!"
+
+The tears streamed down her face, for this was perhaps the bitterest
+moment she had known.  To be beaten by Kathleen, and Irene, was
+bearable, but--Dorothy!  Easy-going, mediocre Dorothy, who had so little
+ambition that she could laugh at her own shortcomings, and contentedly
+call herself a "tortoise."  Well, the tortoise had come off victor once
+more, and the poor, beaten hare sat quivering with mortified grief.
+Miss Everett looked at her with perplexed, anxious eyes.
+
+"You will probably find when the full report comes out that you have
+done better in most respects, but that it is the preliminaries which
+have caused your failure.  But Rhoda, Rhoda, how would it help you to
+know that another poor girl had failed, and was as miserable as
+yourself?  Would you be _glad_ to hear that Dorothy was sitting crying
+at home, and Kathleen bearing her parents' grief as well as her own?
+You could not possibly be so selfish.  I know you too well.  You are far
+too kind and generous."
+
+"I'm a pig!" said Rhoda contritely, and the tears trickled dismally off
+the end of her nose, and splashed on to the wooden table.  "I should
+like to be a saint, and resigned, and rejoice in the good fortunes of my
+companions like the girls in books, but I can't.  I just feel sore, and
+mad, and aching, and as if they were all in conspiracy against me to
+make my failure more bitter.  You had better give it up, Evie, and leave
+me to fight it out alone.  I'll come to my senses in time, and write
+pretty, gushing letters to say how charmed I am--and make funny little
+jokes at the end about my own collapse.  This is Monday--perhaps by
+Wednesday or Thursday--"
+
+"I expect it will be Tuesday, and not an hour later.  You are letting
+off such an amount of steam that you will calm down more quickly than
+you think.  And now, hadn't we better go indoors, and bathe those poor
+red eyes before lunch?  Your mother will think I have been scolding you,
+and I don't want to be looked upon as a dragon when I'm out of harness,
+and posing as an innocent, unprofessional visitor.  Come, dear, and
+we'll talk no more of the horrid old exam., but try to forget it and
+enjoy ourselves!"
+
+Rhoda's sigh was sepulchral in its intensity, for, of course, happiness
+must henceforth be a thing of the past, so far as she was concerned; but
+as she did not appreciate the idea of appearing at lunch with a tear-
+stained face, she followed meekly to the house, and entering by a side
+door, led the way upstairs to her own luxurious bedroom.
+
+Half an hour of chastened enjoyment followed as she sat sponging her
+eyes, while Evie strolled round the room, exclaiming with admiration at
+the sight of each fresh treasure, and showing the keenest interest in
+the jugs and their histories.  She admired Rhoda's possessions, and
+Rhoda admired her, watching the graceful figure reflected in the
+mirrors; the pretty dress, so simple, yet so becoming; the dark hair
+waving so softly round the winsome face.  Evie was certainly one of the
+prettiest of creatures, and Rhoda felt a sort of reflected glory in
+taking her downstairs and exhibiting her to her family.
+
+If the tear marks had not altogether disappeared, no one appeared to
+notice them, and despite her own silence, lunch was a cheery meal.  Evie
+chattered away in her gayest manner; Mrs Chester agreed with every word
+she said, and called her "dear" as if she were a friend of years'
+standing.  Mr Chester beamed upon her with undisguised, fatherly
+admiration, and Harold looked more animated than Rhoda had seen him for
+many a long day.  The brisk, bright way in which Evie took up his
+drawling sentences, and put him right when he was mistaken in a
+statement, would have made him withdraw into his shell if attempted by a
+member of the household, but he did not seem in the least annoyed with
+Evie.  He only smiled to himself in amused fashion, and watched her
+narrowly out of the corners of his eyes.
+
+When dessert was put upon the table, Mrs Chester looked wistfully at
+Rhoda's white face, lighted into a feeble smile by one of her friend's
+sallies, and was seized with a longing to keep this comforter at hand.
+
+"I suppose you must go back to D-- this afternoon, dear," she said, "but
+couldn't we persuade you to come back and pay us a visit before you
+leave this part of the world?  It would be a great pleasure to Rhoda,
+and to us all, and any time would suit us.  Just fix your own day,
+and--"
+
+"Oh, Evie, do!" cried Rhoda eagerly, and both the men joined in with
+murmurs of entreaty; but Miss Everett shook her head, and said
+regretfully:
+
+"I'm so sorry, but it's impossible.  I have already been away longer
+than I intended, and cannot spend another day away from home.  My mother
+is busier than usual, for a sister who used to teach has had a bad
+illness and is staying with us for six months, to rest and be nursed up.
+It would not be fair to stay away any longer."
+
+"I should think you might be allowed to rest in your holidays.  You work
+hard enough for the rest of the year, and I need you more than the old
+aunt, I'm sure I do.  You must come, if only for a week!"
+
+"I wish I could, Rhoda, but it is not possible.  I'll tell you, however,
+who I believe _could_ come, and who would do you more good than I, and
+that is Tom Bolderston!  She is in no hurry to return home, and as it is
+decided that she is not to come back to Hurst Manor, but go on straight
+to Newnham, it will be your last opportunity of seeing her for some
+time.  You would enjoy having Tom, wouldn't you, Rhoda?"
+
+Rhoda lifted her eyebrows with a comical expression.  Tom here; Tom in
+Erley Chase!  Tom sitting opposite to Harold and blinking at him with
+her little fish eyes--the thought was so comical that she laughed in
+spite of herself.
+
+"I think I should.  It would be very funny.  If I may ask her, mother--"
+
+"Of course, of course, darling!  Ask whom you will, for as long as you
+like," cried the fond mother instantly.  From what she had heard of Tom
+she had come to the conclusion that she was a very strange, and not
+entirely sane, young woman; but Rhoda wished it, Rhoda had laughed at
+the suggestion, and said it would be "funny," and that settled the
+question.
+
+A letter of invitation was duly written and given into Miss Everett's
+hand when the time came for departure, and brother and sister escorted
+her to the station.  Rhoda was insistent in her regrets at parting, and,
+wonderful to relate, Harold condescended to make still another plea.  If
+it were impossible to arrange a visit, could not Miss Everett spare a
+few hours at least, come down by an early train, and spend a day on the
+river with himself and his sister?  He urged the project so warmly that
+Evie flushed with mingled pleasure and embarrassment.
+
+"Don't tempt me!  I should love it, but we are here only for four days,
+and I have been away for one already.  It would not be courteous."
+
+"She is so horribly conscientious, that's the worst of her!" said Rhoda,
+as she and Harold retraced their steps across the Park.  "She is always
+thinking about other people.  A day on the river would have been
+lovely."
+
+"Yes, it's a pity.  I thought we would ask Ella, and take up lunch and
+tea."
+
+"Yes, of course, a very good idea.  Then we should have been four, and I
+could have had Evie to myself--"
+
+"Y-es!" drawled Harold slowly.  Two minutes later Rhoda happened to look
+at his face, and wondered why in the world he was smiling to himself in
+that funny, amused fashion!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+TOM ARRIVES.
+
+Tom wrote by return to state that she considered Rhoda "a brick" for
+sending her such a "ripping" invitation; that it would be "great sport"
+to see her at home, and that she would arrive by the twelve o'clock
+train on the next Monday.
+
+"She isn't pretty," Rhoda explained anxiously to Harold, the fastidious;
+"in fact, she's plain, very plain indeed.  I'm afraid you won't like
+her, but she likes _you_.  She saw you on the platform at Euston, and
+said you were a `bee-ootiful young man,' and that she was broken-hearted
+that she couldn't stay to make your acquaintance."
+
+"Good taste, evidently, though unattractive!" said Harold, smiling.
+"I'm sorry she's not good-looking, but it can't be helped.  No doubt she
+makes up for it in moral worth."
+
+"Well, she does, that's perfectly true.  I loathed and detested her at
+first, but I'm devoted to her now.  She's just, and kind, and awfully
+clever, and so funny that you simply can't be in low spirits when she's
+about.  All the girls adore her, but you won't.  She says herself that
+men can't appreciate her, so she's going to devote her life to women,
+out of revenge.  Men never care for women unless they are pretty and
+taking," cried Rhoda, with an air, and Harold protested sententiously.
+
+"I'm the exception to the rule!  I look beyond the mere exterior, to the
+nobility of character which lies behind.  Dear Tom's lack of beauty is
+nothing to me.  I am prepared for it, and shall suffer no disillusion."
+
+He changed his mind, however, when at the appointed time "dear Tom"
+arrived, and stepped from the carriage on to the platform of the little
+station.  When his eye first fell upon her, in response to Rhoda's
+excited, "There she is!" he felt a momentary dizzy conviction that there
+must be a mistake.  This extraordinary apparition could never be his
+sister's friend, but yes! it was even so, for already the girls were
+greeting each other, and glancing expectantly in his direction.  He went
+through the introduction with immovable countenance, saw the two friends
+comfortably seated in the pony carriage, and called to mind a message in
+the village which would prevent him from joining them as he had
+intended.  He required a few minutes' breathing time to recover his
+self-possession, and the girls drove off alone, not at all sorry, if the
+truth were told, to be deprived of his company.
+
+"Well, Fuzzy!" cried Tom.
+
+"Well, Tom!" cried Rhoda, and stared with wondering eyes at the
+unaccustomed grandeur of her friend's attire.  Thomasina had done honour
+to the occasion by putting on her very best coat and skirt, of a shade
+of fawn accurately matching her complexion, while on her head was
+perched that garment unknown at Hurst, "a trimmed hat."  Fawn straw,
+fawn wings sticking out at right angles, bows of fawn-coloured ribbon
+wired into ferocious stiffness--such was the work of art; and
+complacent, indeed, was the smile of its owner as she met her
+companion's scrutiny.
+
+"Got 'em _all_ on, haven't I?" she enquired genially.  "Must do honour
+to the occasion, you know, and here's yourself all a-blowing, all a-
+growing, looking as fresh as a daisy, in your grand white clothes!"
+
+"Indeed, then, I feel nothing of the kind, or it must be a very dejected
+daisy.  You have heard the news, of course, and know that I am--"
+
+"Plucked!" concluded Tom, pronouncing the awful word without a quiver.
+"Yes.  Thought you would be; you were so cheap that arithmetic morning.
+You can't do sums when you are on the point of fainting every second
+minute...  Very good results on the whole."
+
+"Yes, but--isn't it awful for me?  Don't you pity me?  I never in my
+life had such a blow."
+
+"Bit of a jar, certainly, but it's over now, and can't be helped.  No
+use whining!" said Tom calmly, and Rhoda gave a little jump in her seat.
+After all, can anyone minister to a youthful sufferer like a friend of
+her own age?  Tom's remarks would hardly have been considered comforting
+by an outsider, yet by one short word she had helped Rhoda more than any
+elderly comforter had been able to do.  It was interesting and
+praiseworthy to grieve over such a disappointment as she had
+experienced, to be sorrowful, even heart-broken, but _to whine_!  That
+put an entirely different aspect on her grief!  To whine was feeble,
+childish, and undignified, a thing to which no self-respecting girl
+could stoop.  As Rhoda recalled her tears and repinings, a flush of
+shame came to her cheeks, and she resolved that, whatever she might have
+to suffer in the future, she would, at least, keep it to herself, and
+not proclaim her trouble on the house-tops.
+
+When the Chase was reached, Tom was taken into the drawing-room and
+introduced to Mrs Chester, who poured out tea in unusual silence,
+glancing askance at the fawn-coloured visitor who sat bolt upright on
+her chair, nibbling at her cake with a propriety which was as
+disconcerting to the kindly hostess as it was apparently diverting to
+her daughter.  Rhoda had been accustomed to see Tom play a hundred sly
+tricks over this sociable meal, a favourite one being to balance a large
+morsel on the back of her right hand, and with an adroit little tap from
+the left send it flying into the mouth stretched wide to receive it, and
+it tickled her immensely to witness this sudden fit of decorum.  She sat
+and chuckled, and Mrs Chester sat and wondered, until Tom politely
+declined a third cup of tea, and was dragged into the garden, with
+entreaties to behave properly, and be a little like herself, "I thought
+I was charming," she declared.  "I tried to copy Evie, and look exactly
+as she does when she is doing the agreeable.  Didn't you notice the
+smile?  And I didn't stare a bit, though I was longing to all the time.
+You _do_ live in marble halls, Fuzzy, and no mistake!  We could get the
+whole of our little crib into that one room, and we don't go in for any
+ornaments or fal-lals.  A comfortable bed to sleep in, and lots of
+books--that's all my old dad and I trouble about."
+
+Rhoda thought of the dismal little study at Hurst Manor, with the broken
+chairs, and the gloves on the chimney-piece, and could quite imagine the
+kind of home from which the owner came; but she murmured little
+incredulities, as in politeness bound, as she led the way in the
+direction best calculated to impress a stranger.  Tom did not pay much
+attention to the grounds themselves, but she raved over the horses, and
+made friends with all the dogs, even old Lion, the calf-like mastiff,
+who was kept chained up in the stable-yard because of his violent
+antipathy to strangers.  When he beheld this daring young woman walking
+up to his very side, and making affectionate overtures for his favour,
+he showed his teeth in an alarming scowl, but next moment he changed his
+mind, and presently Tom was pinching and punching, and stroking his
+ears, with the ease of an old acquaintance.
+
+"I've never met the dog yet that I couldn't master!" she announced
+proudly.  "That old fellow would follow me all round the grounds as
+meekly as a lamb, if he had the chance!"
+
+"We won't try him, thank you; he might meet a messenger-boy _en route_,
+and we should have to pay the damages.  Come along now, and I will show
+you--" but at this opportune moment Harold came in view, sauntering
+round the corner of the stable, and Rhoda called to him eagerly, glad to
+be able to impress him with a sense of Tom's powers.
+
+"Harold, look here!  See what friends Tom has made with Lion already.
+He lets her do anything that she likes.  Isn't it wonderful?"
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Harold, and looked unaffectedly surprised to see
+his gruff old friend submitting meekly to the stranger's advances.
+"Tastes differ!" was the mental comment, but aloud he said suavely,
+"Lion is a good judge of character.  He knows when he has found a
+friend."
+
+"Yes, they all recognise me.  I was a bulldog in my last incarnation,"
+said Tom calmly, and by some extraordinary power which she possessed of
+drawing her mobile features into any shape which she chose, certain it
+is that she looked marvellously like a bulldog at that moment: twinkling
+eyes set far apart, heavy mouth, small, impertinent nose, all complete!
+Harold was so taken aback that he did not know what to say, but Rhoda
+dragged laughingly at her friend's arm and cried,--
+
+"Come along!  Come along!  It will soon be time to go indoors and dress
+for dinner, and we haven't done half our round.  I was going to take Tom
+to the links, Harold.  She is a great golfer, and will be interested in
+seeing them.  You'll come too, won't you?"
+
+"With pleasure.  They are just our own tame little links, Miss
+Bolderston, which we have faked up in the park.  You won't think much of
+them if you are a player, but they give an opportunity for private
+practice, and we have some good sport there occasionally."
+
+"Ah, yes!  How many holes?" enquired Tom, sticking one thumb between the
+buttonholes of her coat, and tilting her head at him with such a
+businesslike air that he felt embarrassed to be obliged to reply.
+
+"Nine, with a little crossing about; some of the distances are very
+short, I'm afraid.  Still, it has its points, and I've played on larger
+links with less enjoyment.  We will take a short cut across here to the
+first hole.  We start here, as you see, and a good full cleek shot
+should land you on the green.  There are only two holes which really
+give a chance for a driver.  Now you can see the second green, but it's
+not so easy a hole as it looks from here, for the grass is tussocky, and
+one almost always gets a bad lie for the approach."
+
+"Yes, but why not drive for the green?"
+
+"Well, you see, it's rather too far for a cleek, and too short for a
+driver.  Sometimes I try it with a brassey, but on the whole I think the
+cleek is best.  If you over-drive you get into awful trouble, as you
+will see."  So the course was gone over and explained, and Tom's eye was
+quick to see the possibilities, and note the dangers, nor did she
+hesitate sometimes to differ from Harold's tactics.
+
+"Well," said he, in conclusion, "what do you think of 'em?  Rather
+sporting, aren't they?"
+
+"Humph--yes!" said Tom.  "That fifth hole is a little tricky, but I
+think they ought to be done in--er--What's your record?"
+
+"M-well, it varies--of course.  I'm no pro., but I can get round in
+forty, with luck."
+
+"Forty!  Humph!"  Tom wheeled round on her heel, and gazed from right to
+left with calculating eyes.  Her lips moved noiselessly, then she nodded
+her head, and cried confidently:
+
+"I'll take you!  I'll play you to-morrow for the better man!"
+
+"Done!" agreed Harold at once, but he straightened his shoulders as he
+spoke with a gesture which meant that he had no intention, if he knew
+it, of being beaten by a school-girl, and his sister looked forward to
+the contest with very mingled feelings.  If Tom lost, it would be a
+distinct blow; yet if Tom won, how Harold would dislike her!  How
+hopeless it would be to look for any friendship between them after that!
+She was glad that the game would have to be deferred for a day at
+least, for an evening spent in Tom's company must surely instal her in
+public favour.  When, however, she went to her friend's room to convey
+her downstairs to dinner, Rhoda's confidence was shaken, and she nearly
+exclaimed aloud in dismay at the apparition which she beheld.
+
+Tom in full evening dress was a vision which had been denied to Hurst
+Manor, but on the present occasion she had evidently determined to pay
+every honour to her hosts, and bony arms and neck emerged festively from
+a shot-silk gown, which Rhoda felt convinced must have been a possession
+of the long-deceased mother.
+
+"What do you think of _that_?"  Tom cried proudly, rustling round to
+confront the new-comer, arms akimbo, and eyes twinkling with
+complacency.  "There's a natty get-up!  Quite a fashion plate, ain't I?
+The very latest from Par-ee.  You didn't expect to see anything like
+that, did you?"
+
+"I didn't!" cried Rhoda, truthfully enough; but Tom suspected no satire
+in her words, and taking up the hand-glass, began twisting and turning
+before the mirror so as to get a view of her hair, which was no longer
+plaited into a pigtail, but screwed into a knot the size of a walnut,
+planted accurately in the middle of her head.
+
+"I say, what do you think of my coiffure?"
+
+Rhoda looked, and burst into a shriek of laughter.  "Oh, Tom! that's it!
+I noticed there was something different, but couldn't think what it
+was.  Oh, no, no, Tom, you can't leave it like that!  You must make it
+bigger, and wear it either high or low.  It's too ridiculous--that
+little button just in the very wrong place.  Sit down for one moment,
+and I'll arrange it for you!"
+
+But Tom beat her off resolutely with the hair-brush.
+
+"I won't!  It's my own hair, and I like it this way.  It's _distingue_--
+not like every other woman you meet.  Now that I've left school and am
+grown-up, I must study _les convenances_, and it's fatal to be
+commonplace.  I may be prejudiced, but it seems to me that in this get-
+up I'm a striking figure!"
+
+The beaming good-humour of her smile, the utter absence of anything
+approaching envy or discontent, struck home to Rhoda's heart, and
+silenced further protestations.  She put her arm round Tom's waist, gave
+her an affectionate grip, wishing, for perhaps the first time in her
+life, that she herself had put on an older frock, so that the contrast
+between herself and her guest should be less marked in the eyes of the
+household.
+
+Alas! socially speaking, Tom was not a success.  Mrs Chester was
+plainly alarmed by her eccentricities; Mr Chester did not know whether
+to take her in fun or in earnest; and Harold's languor grew more and
+more pronounced.  The very servants stared with astonishment at the
+peculiar guest, and when dinner was over Rhoda, in despair, took Tom up
+to her own den to avoid the ordeal of an evening in the drawing-room.
+
+Once alone, with closed doors and no critical grown-ups to listen to
+their conversation, the hours sped away with lightning speed, while Tom
+told of her own plans, sympathised with Rhoda's ambition, and let fall
+words of wisdom, none the less valuable for being uttered in the most
+casual fashion.  Every now and again the remembrance of her recent
+disappointment would send a stabbing pain through Rhoda's heart, but, as
+she had said, it was impossible to remain in low spirits in Tom's
+company, and if no one else enjoyed that young lady's society it was
+precious beyond words to her girl companion.
+
+The game of golf was played as arranged, but though Harold came off
+victor it was too close a contest to be agreeable to his vanity, or to
+increase his liking for his opponent, while Mr Chester confided to his
+wife that he could not understand Rhoda's infatuation for such a
+remarkably unattractive companion.
+
+"If it had been that sweet little Miss Everett, now, she might have
+stayed for a year, and been welcome, but I confess I shall be glad when
+this girl takes her departure.  She makes me quite nervous, sitting
+blinking at me with those little eyes.  I have a sort of feeling that
+she is laughing to herself when she seems most serious."
+
+"Oh, she could never laugh at you, dear.  She couldn't be so audacious!"
+declared Mrs Chester fondly; "but I can't bring myself to like her, and
+where her cleverness lies is a mystery to me.  I never met a more
+ignorant girl.  She can neither sew nor knit nor crochet, and the
+remarks she made in the market yesterday would have disgraced a child of
+ten.  I pity the man who gets _her_ for his wife!"
+
+But, as we have seen, Thomasina had other ideas than matrimony for her
+own future.  As she drove to the station by Rhoda's side she fell into
+an unusual fit of silence, and emerging from it said slowly:
+
+"I'm glad I've seen your home, Fuzzy.  It's very beautiful, and very
+happy.  You are all so fond of one another, and so nice and kind, that
+it's a regular ideal family.  I think you are a lucky girl.  I like all
+your people very much, though they don't like me!"
+
+Rhoda exclaimed sharply, but Tom's smile was without a shadow of offence
+as she insisted--
+
+"My dear, I know it!  Don't perjure yourself for the sake of politeness.
+I'm sorry, but--I'm accustomed to it.  Strangers _don't_ like me, and
+it's not a mite of use trying to ingratiate myself.  I did all I knew
+when I came here.  I wore my best clothes, I tried to behave prettily,
+and you see, dead failure, as usual!  You needn't look doleful, for no
+doubt it's all for the best.  If I were beauteous and fascinating I
+might be distracted from my work, whereas now I shall devote myself to
+it with every scrap of my strength.  Girls love me, and I love them, so
+I'll give up my life for their service.  We have all our vocation, and
+it would be a happier world if everyone were as well satisfied as I am.
+`In work, in work, in work always, let my young days be spent.'  Bother
+it!  Here's the station already, and I haven't said half I wanted to!"
+
+"Nor I to you.  It's horrid to say good-bye, and think of school without
+you, but you'll write to me, won't you, Tom?  You will promise to write
+regularly?"
+
+"Indeed, I won't!  Fifty odd girls implored me to write to them, and
+it's too big an order.  No, my dear Fuzz, I shall have no time to tell
+you how busy I am.  Here we part, and we must leave it to fate or good
+fortune when we meet again.  Bless you, my infant!  Perk up, and be a
+credit to me."
+
+"But--but--how am I to know, how am I to hear what happens to you?  I
+_can't_ say good-bye and let you fade away completely, as if we had
+never met.  It's horrible.  You _must_ let me know!"
+
+"Look in the newspapers.  You will see my doings recorded in the Public
+Press," replied Tom, as she skipped into the carriage.  Rhoda looked on
+blankly, her heart sinking with a conviction that Tom did not care; that
+it was nothing for her to say good-bye and part without a prospect of
+reunion.  She was too proud to protest, but, waving her hand, turned
+abruptly away and walked out of the station.  The train lingered,
+however, and the temptation to take one more peep became too strong to
+be resisted, so she ran along the path for twenty or thirty yards, and
+peered cautiously through a gate from which a sight of the carriage in
+which her friend sat could be commanded.  Tom had leant back in her
+seat, and flung her hat on one side; her little eyes were red with
+tears, and she was mopping them assiduously with a ball-like pocket
+handkerchief!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+SCHOOL AGAIN.
+
+School again, and no Tom!  The house-parlour with no manly figure to
+lean with its back against the mantelpiece, and jingle chains in its
+pocket; the dining-hall with no one to make faces at the critical moment
+when a girl was swallowing her soup, or to nudge her elbow as she lifted
+a cup to her lips; the cubicle with no magenta dressing-jacket whisking
+to and fro--it was ghastly!  The girls could not reconcile themselves to
+their loss, and the first fortnight of the term was one of unalloyed
+depression.  No one dared to joke, for if she did her companions
+instantly accused her of "apeing Tom" and snubbed her for the feebleness
+of the attempt; no one dared to be cheerful, lest she should be charged
+with fickleness, and want of heart.  And Irene, the beautiful, reigned
+in Tom's stead!  It would have been a difficult post for any girl to
+have succeeded Thomasina Bolderston, but, curious though it may appear,
+Irene's flaxen locks and regular features were for the time being so
+many offences in the eyes of her companions.  They were accustomed to
+Tom; Tom had been the Head Girl of their heart, and they resented the
+"finicking" ways of her successor as an insult to the dear departed.
+
+Irene strove by a gentle mildness of demeanour to soften the prejudice
+against her, and the girls but abused her the more.
+
+"Catch Tom saying `_It didn't matter_'!  Imagine Tom pretending she
+didn't hear!  A nice Head Girl _she_ is!  We might as well have Hilary
+Jervis!"  Irene assumed a pretence of firmness; the girls rolled their
+eyes at each other and tittered audibly.  The idea of Irene Grey
+ordering others about!  Plainly, it was time, and time only, which could
+give any authority to Tom Bolderston's supplanter!
+
+How keenly Rhoda felt her friend's absence no one guessed but herself.
+Tom's attitude towards the result of the late examinations would have
+given the keynote to that of her companions, and have shielded the poor,
+smarting victim from much which she now had to endure.  The girls were
+unaffectedly sorry for her, but pity is an offering which a proud spirit
+finds it hard to accept.  It seemed strange to realise that girls cast
+in such graceful moulds as Dorothy and Irene should be so deficient in
+tact as to gush over the humiliation of another, and check the
+rhapsodies of successful candidates by such significant coughings and
+frownings as must have been obvious to the dullest faculties.  Oh, for
+Tom's downright acceptance of a situation--her calm taking-for-granted
+that the sufferer was neither selfish nor cowardly enough to grudge
+success to others!  Rhoda felt, as we have all felt in our time, that
+she had never thoroughly appreciated her friend until she had departed,
+and she was one of the most enthusiastic members of the committee
+organised to arrange about the tablet to be composed in Tom's honour.
+
+Of course, Tom must have a place on the Record Wall!  Blues, Reds,
+Greens, and Yellows were unanimously decided on the point; contributions
+poured in, and on Sunday afternoon the Blues sat in consultation over
+the wording of the inscription.
+
+"The simpler the better.  Tom hated gush!" was the general opinion; but
+it was astonishing how difficult it was to hit on something simple yet
+telling.  A high-flown rhapsody seemed far easier to accomplish, and at
+last, in despair, each girl was directed to compose an inscription and
+to read it aloud for general approval.  None were universally approved,
+but Rhoda's received the largest number of votes, as being simple yet
+comprehensive:--
+
+"This tablet is erected to the memory of Thomasina Bolderston, the most
+popular `Head Girl' whom Hurst Manor has ever known.  Her companions
+affectionately record the kindly justice of her rule, and the unfailing
+cheerfulness which was a stimulus to them in work and play."
+
+"Yes--it's the best, decidedly the best, but I should like it to have
+been better still!" said Kathleen thoughtfully.  "It is so difficult to
+describe Tom in three or four lines."
+
+"And it leaves so much unsaid!  I should like to describe her a little
+bit so that future pupils might know what she was like.  If they read
+that, they would imagine her just like anyone else," objected Bertha,
+frowning.  "I suppose it wouldn't do to say something about her--
+er--`_engaging ugliness_!' or some expression like that?"
+
+Howls of indignation greeted this audacious proposition, and Bertha was
+alternately snubbed, reproached, and abused, until she grew sulky and
+retired from the discussion.  Rhoda herself came to the rescue, and with
+the critical spirit of the true artist acknowledged the defect in her
+own work.
+
+"Bertha is right!  What I have written gives no idea of Tom herself.
+It's a pity, but I don't see how it can be helped.  What words could
+describe Tom to anyone who had not seen her?  Now, here's another idea!
+Why not make a rule that every girl who has had her name inscribed on
+the Record Wall must present a framed portrait to the school?  All the
+frames would be alike, and they would be hung in rows in the Great Hall,
+so that future generations of pupils might be able to see what the girls
+were like, and feel more friendly towards them!"
+
+"Rhoda!  What a h-eavenly idea!" cried Irene rapturously.  "How s-imply
+lovely!  Why in the world have we never thought of that before?"
+
+"I never heard of anything so splendid!" cried the girls in chorus,
+while Rhoda sat beaming with gratified smiles.  Well, if her own name
+would never be printed in that roll of honour, at least she had composed
+the inscription of one of the most important tablets, and had suggested
+a new idea which bade fair to be as much appreciated as the Wall itself!
+Already the girls were debating eagerly together as to its
+inauguration, and deciding that the different "Heads" should be deputed
+to write to those old members of each house who had been honoured with
+tablets, to ask for portraits taken as nearly as possible about the date
+of leaving school.  Irene, of course, would communicate with Tom to
+inform her of the step about to be taken by her companions, and to
+direct her to be photographed at the first possible moment.
+
+"And--er--you might just drop a hint about her attire!" said Rhoda,
+anxiously, as a remembrance of the dress and coiffure of Erley Chase
+rose before her.  Nothing more likely than that Tom would elect to do
+honour to her companions by putting on her very best clothes for their
+benefit, and imagine the horror of the Blues at seeing their old Head
+decked out in such fashion!  "We should like best to see her as she used
+to look here."
+
+"She must wear the old blue dress, and stand with her back to the
+fireplace, with her hands in her pockets," cried Kathleen firmly.  "We
+don't want to see Tom lying in a hammock against a background of palms,
+or smirking over a fan--not much!  It's the genuine article we want, and
+no make-up.  What will she say, I wonder, when she hears she is going to
+have a tablet?  Will she be pleased or vexed?"
+
+"She must be pleased--who could help it?--but she will pretend she is
+not.  Mark my words, she'll write back and say it's a piece of
+ridiculous nonsense."
+
+So prophesied Irene; but the result proved that she was wrong, for Tom,
+as usual, refused to be anticipated.  Instead of protesting that she had
+done nothing worthy of such an honour, and beseeching her companions not
+to make themselves ridiculous, she dismissed the subject in a couple of
+lines, in which she declared the proposed scheme to be "most laudable,"
+and calmly volunteered to contribute half-a-crown!
+
+The Blues agreed among themselves that such behaviour came perilously
+near "callousness," but Rhoda recalled that last peep through the bars
+of the station gate, and could not join in the decision.  She believed
+that Tom would be profoundly touched by the honour, so touched and so
+proud that she dared not trust herself to approach the subject from a
+serious view.  And she was right, for if imagination could have carried
+her old companions to the study where Tom was then domiciled, they would
+have seen her chalking an immense red cross on her calendar against the
+date when Irene's letter had arrived, and mentally recording it as the
+proudest day of her life.
+
+No mention was made of the photograph, but in due time it arrived, so
+life-like and speaking in its well-known attitude, that the more
+sentimental of the girls shed tears of joy at beholding it.  Closely
+following it came other contributions to the gallery, which the new-
+comers examined with keenest interest, feeling more able to understand
+the enthusiasm of their seniors, now that the well-known names were
+attached to definite personalities.
+
+About this time, too, arrived a full report of the examination, and, as
+had been expected, Rhoda was found to have failed in arithmetic.  In
+other subjects she had done well, gaining the longed-for distinction in
+German and French, so that if only-- Oh! that little "If!"  How much it
+meant!  That terrible mountainous "If," which made all the difference
+between failure and success!  _If_ it had been a dark morning and she
+had slept on!  _If_ she had given way to temptation, and dozed off in
+the middle of her work!  _If_ she had listened to Evie's words of
+warning!--If but one of those possible Ifs had been accomplished, she
+would have been among the happy crowd to-day, and not standing miserably
+apart, the only girl in the house who had failed to pass.  The wild
+grief of the first few days swept back like a wave and threatened to
+overwhelm her, but she clung to the remembrance of Tom's words, and told
+herself passionately that she would _not_ "whine"!  She would not pose
+as a martyr!  Even on that great occasion when the certificates were
+presented in Great Hall, and the school burst into ecstatic repetitions
+of "See the Conquering Hero Comes!" as each fresh girl walked up to the
+platform, even through that dread ordeal did Rhoda retain her self-
+possession, attempting--poor child--to add a trembling note to the
+chorus.
+
+She never knew, nor guessed, that the girls honoured her more in that
+moment than if she had won a dozen distinctions.  She did not see the
+kindly glances bent upon her by the teachers, for they were careful to
+turn aside when she looked in their direction; and if she had seen, she
+would never have believed it was admiration, and not pity, which those
+looks expressed.  In her estimation the occasion was one of pure,
+unalloyed humiliation, and when she reached the shelter of her cubicle
+she seized the hand-glass and examined her ruddy head anxiously beneath
+the electric globe.
+
+"It isn't true!" she exclaimed.  "The ghost stories tell lies.  I don't
+believe now that anyone's head ever turned white in a night.  I can't
+see a single grey hair."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+AN ACCIDENT.
+
+After a storm comes a calm.  Compared with the struggle and anxiety of
+the summer term, the one which followed seemed stagnation itself.  The
+arrival of the report had been an excitement, it is true; but when that
+was over the days passed by in uneventful fashion, until autumn waned
+and winter came back, with the attendant discomforts of dark mornings,
+draughty corridors, and coatings of ice on the water in the ewers; for
+this was a good, old-fashioned winter, when Jack Frost made his
+appearance in the beginning of December, and settled down with a
+solidity which meant that he had come to stay.  The hardy girls declared
+that it was "ripping," and laughed at the shivery subjects who hobbled
+about on chilblained feet, and showed faces mottled blue and red, like
+the imitation marble in lodging-house-parlours; the shivery girls
+huddled in corners, and wished they could go to bed and hug hot bottles
+until May came back and it was fit for human creatures to go about
+again!  People who possess brisk circulations can never understand the
+sufferings of those whom no amount of clothing will keep warm, and who
+perform their duties for four months in the year feeling as though icy
+water were streaming down their backs.  Human sympathy is an elastic
+virtue, but it seems powerless to reach so far as that!
+
+Poor Miss Everett belonged to this latter unhappy class, and perhaps the
+hardest duty which she had to perform at Hurst Manor was the spending of
+two hours daily in the grounds with her pupils, be the weather warm or
+cold.  To be sure, they always moved about briskly, playing hockey and
+lacrosse so long as the weather allowed, and then turning to skating and
+tobogganing, but there were moments of waiting and hanging about, when
+the wind cut through her like a knife, and made her pretty face look
+pinched to half its size.  Rhoda, brisk and glowing, would look at her
+with affectionate superiority, call her a "poor, dear, little frog," and
+insist upon running races to restore circulation.  Evie would declare
+that she felt warmer after these exertions, but when at the expiration
+of ten minutes she was found to be shivering and chattering as much as
+ever, Rhoda would grow anxious, and consequently more flattering in her
+similes.
+
+"You are a hot-house flower, and not fit to rough it like this!  It
+makes me cold to look at you.  I have a great mind to tell Miss Bruce
+how you suffer, and ask her to forbid you to come out to games in this
+weather!"
+
+But at this Miss Everett protested in genuine alarm.
+
+"Rhoda, you must do nothing of the kind!  Don't you see that it would be
+as much as saying that I am unfit for my work?  Miss Bruce thinks it
+quite as important that I should be with you for games as for work;
+perhaps more so, for there is more likelihood of your getting into
+mischief.  I don't like feeling cold, but after all it is only for a few
+weeks in the year, and as I thoroughly enjoy being out of doors for the
+rest of the time there is not much to grumble about.  It won't kill me
+to shiver a little bit."
+
+"Cold, cough, consumption, coffin!" quoted Rhoda cheerfully.  "I hate to
+see you with a blue nose, when I am tingling all over with heat, and
+feeling so fit and jolly.  It's unsociable--and unbecoming!  Now just
+skate once more round the field with me, and I won't worry you any
+more!"
+
+Miss Everett sighed, and consented.  Her feet were so numbed that she
+had believed them incapable of any feeling, but now the straps of her
+skates were beginning to cut into her like so many sharp-edged knives.
+She longed to take them off, but did not like to refuse the girl's
+kindly invitation, while, unselfishly speaking, it was a pleasure to see
+the graceful figure skimming along by her side, with such healthful
+enjoyment in the exercise.
+
+The pupils at Hurst Manor were seldom, if ever, allowed to skate on the
+lake, for it was deep, and the Principal preferred to have one of the
+fields flooded in its stead, where the girls could disport themselves
+with that sense of security which comes from seeing little tufts of
+grass showing beneath the surface of the ice.  Even nervous subjects
+grew bold under such conditions, and while the more advanced skaters cut
+figures, or even essayed a game of hockey, the spectators circled round
+and round, looking admiringly at their exploits.  At one end of the
+field was a slight ditch, or rather undulation in the ground, which when
+frozen over afforded a source of unending amusement, being as good as a
+switchback itself.  Daring skaters went at it with a dash which brought
+them safely up the incline on the further side, but by far the greater
+number collapsed helplessly at the bottom, or, rising half-way up the
+ascent, staggered back with waving arms and gasping cries, vastly
+entertaining to the spectators.  Evie would never be induced to make
+this experiment, having, as she said, "too much respect for her ankles"
+to subject them to so severe a trial, and having also passed that age
+when to tumble down in an icy ditch twenty times over in the course of
+an afternoon seems the height of mortal bliss.
+
+The hardihood of the vast majority of the girls, the imperturbable good
+nature with which they picked themselves up from their recumbent
+position and hobbled up the banks on the edge of their skates, spoke
+volumes for the success of the system on which they were educated.  They
+returned to the house glowing and panting, and surged up the staircase--
+a stream of buoyant young life which seemed to warm the draughty
+corridors and bring sunshine into the colourless rooms.  The piles of
+"bread and scrape" which disappeared at tea after such an afternoon as
+this would have amazed the parents of the daughters whose appetites at
+home had been so captious as to excite anxiety in the maternal heart!
+
+"Of course," as the croakers had it, as soon as a week's consecutive
+skating had made everyone proficient enough to enjoy the pastime, the
+snow descended, and fell in a persistent shower which made the ice
+impossibly rough.  The girls looked out from their windows on a
+wonderful white world, whose beauty was for the time hidden from them by
+disappointment, but, in the end, even snow seemed to bring with it its
+own peculiar excitements.  Relief gangs of pupils were organised to
+sweep the principal paths in the grounds, while those not so employed
+set to work to manufacture "snow men."  Not the ordinary common, or
+garden snow man, be it understood--that disreputable, shapeless
+individual with his pipe in his mouth, and his hat perched on the back
+of his head, with whom we are all familiar--the Hurst Manor girls would
+have none of him; but, superintended by the "Modelling Mistress," set to
+work with no smaller ambition than to erect a gallery of classic
+figures.  Some wise virgins chose to manufacture recumbent figures,
+which, if a somewhat back-breaking process, was at least free from the
+perils which attended the labours of their companions.  What could be
+more annoying than to have two outstretched arms drop suddenly, at the
+very moment when the bystanders were exclaiming with admiration, and to
+be obliged to convert a flying god into a Venus de Milo as the only
+escape from the difficulty?  Or, again, how was it possible to achieve a
+classic outline when a nose absolutely refused to adhere to a face for
+more than two minutes together?  The recumbent figures lay meekly on
+their beds and allowed themselves to be rolled, and patted, and pinched
+into shape, until at a distance, they presented quite a life, or rather
+deathlike, effect.  The girls declared that the sight gave them the
+"creeps," whatever that mysterious malady might be, and snowballed the
+effigies vigorously before returning to the house, so that no straggler
+through the grounds might be scared by their appearance.
+
+All this time an eager outlook was kept on a sloping bank at the end of
+the cricket ground, where the snow lay first in patches and then by
+degrees in an unbroken mass.  When it grew deep enough tobogganing would
+begin, and that was a sport held in dearest estimation.  The course was
+dubbed "Klosters," after the famous run at Davos, for the school-girl of
+to-day is not happy unless she can give a nickname to her haunts, and it
+was sufficiently steep to be exciting, though not dangerous.
+
+Rhoda had been accustomed from childhood to practise this sport at home,
+and had brought to school her beautiful American toboggan, with the
+stars and stripes emblazoned on polished wood, ready for use if
+opportunity should occur.  She knew that her experience would stand her
+in good stead, and was now, as ever, on the outlook for a chance of
+distinguishing herself in the eyes of her companions.  One may be
+naturally clever and athletic, but it is astonishing how many others,
+equal, and even superior to oneself, can be found in an assembly of over
+two hundred girls.  Do what you would, a dozen others appeared to
+compete with you, and it was ten to one that you came off second best.
+
+"But wait till we can toboggan!" said Rhoda to herself.  "They will see
+_then_ who has the most nerve!  I'll astonish them before I have done!"
+And she did.
+
+Following a fall of snow came a frost, which pressed down and hardened
+the soft surface until it was in perfect condition for the desired
+sport.  The games captains surveyed the course, and pronounced it ready,
+and directly after lunch a procession of girls might have been seen
+wending their way from the house, dragging toboggans in their wake, and
+chattering merrily together.  The wind blew sharp and keen, and many of
+the number looked quite Arctic, waddling along in snow shoes, reefer
+coats, and furry caps with warm straps tied over the ears.  It was _de
+rigueur_ to address such personages as "Nansen"; but Rhoda gained for
+herself the more picturesque title of "Hail Columbia" as she strode
+along, straight and alert, her tawny curls peeping from beneath a
+sealskin cap, her stars and stripes toboggan making a spot of colour in
+the midst of the universal whiteness.  No one thought of addressing her
+except in a more or less successful imitation of an American twang, or
+without including the words "I guess" in every sentence, and she smiled
+in response, well satisfied to represent so honoured a nation.
+
+The progress of dragging toboggans to the top of an incline is always
+uninteresting, and never takes place without an accompaniment of
+grumbling, in which, we may be sure, the Hurst Manor girls were in no
+way behind.  They groaned, and sighed, and lamented, as in duty bound,
+while Dorothy went a step further and improved the occasion by moral
+reflections.
+
+"If I were a man I could preach a splendid sermon on tobogganing.  All
+about sliding down hill, you know, and how easy it is, and how quickly
+done, and how jolly and lively it feels, and then the long, long drag
+back when you want to get to the top again.  It is a splendid
+illustration; for, of course, sliding down would mean doing wrong things
+that are nice and easy, and the climb back the bad time you would have
+pulling yourself together again and starting afresh...  It's really a
+splendid idea.  I wonder no--" But at this moment it occurred to Dorothy
+to wonder at something else, namely, how it was that her toboggan had
+grown suddenly so light, and turning round to discover the reason, she
+found it rapidly sliding downhill.  The girl immediately behind had
+nipped out her knife and deftly cut the leading string, as a practical
+demonstration of the favour in which "sermonising" was held at Hurst,
+and the whole band stood and screamed with laughter as the would-be
+preacher retraced her steps to the bottom of the hill, and started
+afresh on her symbolic climb!
+
+Five minutes later, with a rush and a whoop the first toboggans came
+flying down the slope.  Their course was, perhaps, a trifle erratic, and
+apt to be followed by a spill at the bottom, but these were unimportant
+details only to be expected in the first run of the season, and the
+style improved with every fresh start.  One girl after another came
+flying down, drew her toboggan up a little slope facing the run, and sat
+down upon it to recover breath and watch the exploits of her companions.
+Experience had proved that, however rapid the descent, a toboggan
+invariably stopped short before this edge was reached, so that it was
+accepted as a retreat of absolute safety, and, as a rule, there were as
+many girls resting there as starting from the brow of the hill.  All
+went on merrily, then, until in the very height of the fun Dorothy was
+seized with an attack of her usual sickness.  It was not a very deadly
+complaint--nothing more serious than haemorrhage from the nose, but it
+was astonishing how much trouble it seemed able to give her!  To the
+gaze of the world that nose was both a pretty and innocent-looking
+feature, but it must surely have been possessed with an evil spirit,
+since there was no end to the plights in which it landed the unhappy
+owner!  It disdained to bleed in a cubicle, or any such convenient
+place, but delighted in taking advantage of the most awkward and
+humiliating opportunities.  It bled regularly at Frolics, when she wore
+her best clothes, and wished to be merry; it bled in the ante-room of
+the Examination Hall, so that she went in to tackle the mathematical
+paper with three pennies and two separate keys poked down her back; it
+bled at the critical part of a game or when she went out to tea, or
+forgot to put a handkerchief in her pocket.  "It is my cross!" she would
+sigh sadly, and to-day she was inclined to say so more than ever, since
+the attack was so severe, that she must needs go indoors, and leave her
+favourite sport on the very first day when it had been possible to enjoy
+it.
+
+Miss Everett walked with her across the field, cheering and encouraging,
+and directing her to go straight to Nurse when she reached the house,
+then retraced her own steps and hurried back to her charges.  She had
+been away only five minutes, barely five minutes, but in that short time
+something had happened which was destined to bring about life-long
+consequences to more than one member of the party, for it chanced that
+just as she turned away Rhoda Chester reached the top of the run, on the
+lookout for fresh opportunities.  It was absurd to go over the same
+course, with no change, no excitement--to do what thirty other girls
+could do as well as herself!  She must try to discover some variety this
+time, and so she gazed about with critical eyes, and suddenly had an
+inspiration, for why not drag the toboggan a yard or two further up the
+steep bank beyond the path which made the present start?  It was a tree-
+crowned bank, forming the very crest of the hill, so short that it
+measured at the most six or seven yards, but of a steepness far
+eclipsing any other portion of the run.  If she could start from this
+higher point she would accomplish a feat unattempted by any of her
+companions, and descend at a velocity hitherto unknown!
+
+No sooner thought than done, and she began to climb the bank, dragging
+the toboggan behind her, while the onlookers stared aghast.
+
+"In the name of everything that is crazy, Rhoda Chester, what are you
+doing up there?"
+
+"Rhoda, come _down_!  Don't be absurd!  You can't possibly start from
+there!"
+
+"Why not, pray?  I can, if I choose.  I'm tired of ambling down that
+baby-run.  I want a little variety!"
+
+"You will have it with a vengeance, if you start from there.  It's far
+too steep.  Don't be obstinate now, and get into trouble.  Evie will be
+furious with you."
+
+"Why should she be?  There's no rule against it.  I'm not doing anything
+wrong...  Get out of the way, please.  I'm coming!"
+
+"No, no; wait, wait!  Wait until Evie comes back, and says you may.  She
+will be here in a moment.  _Do_ wait, Rhoda, just one minute!"
+
+But Rhoda would not wait.  Although, as she had argued, there was no
+rule forbidding what she was about to do, she had an instinctive feeling
+that Evie was too anxious about the safety of her charges to give
+consent to anything that involved unnecessary risk.  Evie's absence was
+her opportunity, and she must act now or never; so, seating herself
+firmly on her toboggan, she called out the last word of warning; "I'm
+coming, I tell you!  Stand back!"
+
+"You will break your neck!  You will kill yourself, if you are so mad!"
+
+"Oh, bother my neck!  I'll risk it!  I'll not blame you if it _is_
+broken!" cried Rhoda, recklessly; and even as she spoke the last word
+the toboggan shot forward and bounded over the edge.  _Bounded_ is the
+right word to use, for it did not seem to glide, but to leap from top to
+bottom with a lightning-like speed which took away breath, sight, and
+hearing.  That first moment was a terrible blank and then she shot over
+the path itself, and was flying down, down the slope, drawing her breath
+in painful gasps, and staring before her with distended eyes.
+
+The girls on the bank were craning forward to watch her approach.  She
+saw the blur of their whitened faces, and behind them a little figure
+running wildly forward, waving its arms and crying aloud:
+
+"Girls, girls!  Jump!  _Run_!  Get away, get away!"
+
+The words rang meaningless in her ears, for she was dazed beyond the
+power of thought.  The running figure drew nearer and nearer, still
+waving its hands, still calling out that agonised cry.  The girls
+disappeared to right and left, but the figure itself was close at hand--
+closer--closer--at her very side.  Then came a shock, a jar.  Evie's
+tottering figure fell forward over her own; Evie's shriek of anguish
+rang in her ears, and then came blackness--a blackness as of death!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+THE CONSEQUENCES.
+
+When Rhoda opened her eyes she was lying in a strange bed, and some one
+was sitting by her side, anxiously watching her face.  It was not Nurse
+_par excellence_, but the matron of another house, whose features seemed
+unfamiliar, despite their kindly expression.
+
+"You are better?  You feel rested now?" she questioned, and Rhoda
+struggled wearily to form a a reply.
+
+"My head aches.  I feel--tired!"
+
+"Yes, yes, of course.  Don't speak, but lie quite still; I will stay
+beside you."
+
+A soothing hand was pressed upon her own, and once again her eyes
+closed, and she floated away into that strange, dream-like world.
+Sometimes all was blank, at other times she was dimly conscious of what
+went on around, as when voices murmured together by her side, and Nurse
+related how she had spoken and answered a question, and the doctor
+declared in reply that she was better, decidedly better!  She was heavy
+and weary, and had no desire but to be left alone, while time passed by
+in a curious, dizzy fashion, light and darkness succeeding each other
+with extraordinary celerity.  Then gradually all became clear; she was
+lying in the sick room where patients suffering from non-infectious
+complaints were taken.  The pressure at her head was giving way,
+allowing glimmering flashes of memory.  What was it?--a terrible,
+terrible nightmare; a horror as of falling from a great height; a
+sudden, numbing crash...  Where has she been?  What had she done?  And
+then with another struggling gleam--the toboggan!
+
+Her cry of distress brought the nurse to her side, while she gasped out
+a feeble--
+
+"I remember!  I was tobogganing.--I was too quick.  I suppose I fell?"
+
+"Yes, you fell, but you are better now; you are getting on finely.  Just
+keep quiet, and you will be up again in a few days."
+
+There was a tone of relief in the good woman's voice as though there had
+been another remembrance which she had feared to hear, but Rhoda did not
+notice it, for a very few words seemed to tire her in those days, and
+her brain was unable to grasp more than one idea at a time.
+
+The next time she awoke her mother was sitting by the bed.  It appeared
+that she had been staying in the house for the past four days, peeping
+in at the invalid while she slept, but waiting the doctor's permission
+to appear before her waking eyes.  Rhoda was languidly pleased to see
+her, but puzzled to account for the air of depression which lay so
+constantly on the once cheery face.  If she were getting better, why did
+everyone look so doleful--the doctor, her mother, Miss Bruce--everyone
+whom she saw?  She questioned, but could get no answer, struggled after
+a haunting memory, which at one moment seemed at the point of shaping
+itself into words, and at the next retreated to a hopeless distance.
+And then suddenly, by one of those marvellous actions of the brain which
+we can never understand, the whole scene flashed upon her as she lay
+upon her pillow, thinking of something entirely different, and not
+troubling her head about the mystery.
+
+She saw herself dragging the toboggan up the bank, felt again the horror
+of that first mad rush, saw the girls flying to right and left before
+Evie's waving arms, and heard Evie's voice shriek aloud in the pain of
+the sudden collision.  Her own agonised exclamation brought mother and
+nurse hurrying across the room to lay soothing hands upon her, and hold
+her down in bed as she cried out wildly--
+
+"Oh, I remember!  I remember!  Evie!  The toboggan dashed up the bank,
+and she was looking after the girls, and I crashed into her, and she
+shrieked.  Oh, Evie!  Evie!  She was hurt, terribly hurt...  She fell
+down over me.  Where is she now?  I must go to her--I must go at once!"
+
+The two watchers exchanged a rapid glance, and even in that moment of
+agitation Rhoda realised that this was the awakening which they had been
+dreading, this the explanation of the universal depression.  A new note
+of fear sounded in her voice, as she quavered feebly:
+
+"Is Evie--dead?"
+
+"No, no, nor likely to die!  She has been ill, but is getting better
+now.  She is in her own room, with Nurse to look after her.  You cannot
+possibly see her yet, for it would be bad for both."
+
+"But you are sure she is better?  You are sure she will get well?  You
+are not deceiving me just to keep me quiet?"
+
+"No, indeed.  It is the truth, that she is getting stronger every day.
+When I say that, you can believe that I am not deceiving you, can't you,
+dear?"
+
+Yes, of course, she was bound to believe it; but in some patients the
+faculties seem strangely sharpened in convalescence, and despite her
+mother's assurance Rhoda felt convinced that something was being kept
+back--that something had happened to Evie which she was not to be
+allowed to know.  She asked no more questions, but with sharpened eyes
+watched the faces of the visitors who were now allowed to see her, and
+found in each the same shade of depression.  She was waiting for an
+opportunity, and it came at last on the first day when she was allowed
+to sit up, and Miss Bruce came in to pay her usual visit.  No one else
+was in the room, and Rhoda looked up into the strong, grave face, and
+felt her heart beat rapidly.  Now was her opportunity!  Miss Bruce could
+be trusted to answer truthfully, however painful might be the news which
+she had to unfold; she was neither hard nor unsympathetic, but she had
+the courage of her convictions, and had faced too many disagreeable
+duties to understand the meaning of shirking.  Rhoda clasped her hands
+tightly together, swallowed nervously once or twice, and began--
+
+"Miss Bruce please--I want to ask you--Mother won't tell me.  Was it my
+fault that--Evie was hurt?"
+
+The Principal's face hardened involuntarily.
+
+"What do you think yourself, Rhoda?  Your companions, as you know, are
+never ready to speak against a friend, but I have made the strictest
+enquiries into this sad affair, and I hear that the girls warned you
+that you were attempting a dangerous feat, and implored you to wait
+until Miss Everett returned.  You chose to disregard them, and to take
+no thought of the risk to others, and--"
+
+Rhoda turned, if possible, a shade paler than before.
+
+"I see!" she said slowly.  "I suppose it's no use saying that I never
+thought I could hurt anyone but myself.  I _should_ have thought!
+Everyone who knows me, knows that I love Evie, and would rather have
+been smashed to pieces than have harmed her in any way."
+
+"Yes, Rhoda!"  Miss Bruce sighed heavily, "that is quite true,
+nevertheless it seems to me a little inconsistent that you did not think
+more of her feelings.  She was responsible for your safety, and you can
+hardly have believed that she would have allowed such a mad trick.
+However, I don't wish to reproach you, for your punishment has been
+taken out of my hands.  Nothing that I could do or say could affect you
+half so much as the thought of the trouble which you have brought upon
+your kind, good friend--"
+
+It was coming now; it was coming at last!  Rhoda's heart gave a wild,
+fluttering leap; she looked up breathlessly into the unbending face.
+
+"What is the trouble?  I thought she was like me--stunned and shaken.  I
+never heard--"
+
+"No, it is not at all the same.  You had a slight concussion, from which
+you have now recovered.  Her injury is much more lasting.  Her right
+knee-cap was broken, and the doctors fear it will never be quite right
+again.  She will probably be lame for life."
+
+Rhoda turned her head aside, and said no word, and Miss Bruce stood
+looking down at her in silence also.  The curly hair was fastened back
+by a ribbon tied in the nape of the neck, and the profile was still
+visible leaning against the pillows.  It was motionless, except for one
+tell-tale pulse above the ear which beat furiously up and down, up and
+down, beneath the drawn skin.  The Principal looked on that little
+pulse, and laid her hand pitifully on the girl's head.
+
+"I will leave you now, Rhoda.  You would rather be alone.  I am truly
+sorry for you, but I am powerless to help.  One can only pray that some
+good may come out of all this trouble."
+
+She left the room, and Rhoda was alone at last, to face the nightmare
+which had come into her life.  Evie _lamed_, and by her doing!  Evie
+injured for life by one moment's thoughtlessness--rashness--call it
+_wickedness_ if you will--even then it seemed impossible that it should
+be _allowed_ to have such lasting consequences!  One moment's
+disobedience, and then to suffer for it all her life! to see Evie--dear,
+sweet, graceful Evie--limping about, crippled and helpless; to keep ever
+in one's mind the memory of that last wild run--the last time Evie would
+ever run!  Could retribution possibly have taken to itself a more
+torturing form?  She had spoiled Evie's life, and brought misery into a
+happy home.
+
+"I could have borne it if it had happened to myself," she gasped.  "But
+no!  I must needs get well, and be strong, and rich, and healthy.  I
+suppose I shall laugh again some day, and forget, and be happy, while
+Evie--.  I am a Cain upon earth, not fit to live!  I wish I could die
+this minute, and not have a chance to do any more mischief."
+
+But we cannot die just because we wish to escape the consequences of our
+own misdoing; we are obliged to live, and face them day after day.
+Crises of suffering, moments of humiliation, stabbing returns of pain
+just when we are congratulating ourselves that the worst is over--they
+must be lived through, and though we fly to the ends of the world they
+will still follow in our wake.
+
+One of the consequences which Rhoda dreaded, and yet longed for in
+curious, contradictory fashion, was her first interview with Evie
+herself.  What would she say?  What would she do?  Would she be sweet
+and self-forgetful as of old, or full of bitter reproaches?  She could
+gather no clue from her companions, and her first request to be allowed
+to visit the invalid in her room was vetoed on the ground that the
+excitement would be bad for herself, and could do Evie no good.  When,
+however, she was allowed to walk about, and even entertain her
+companions to tea, the first excuse could no longer be offered, and at
+last, consent being given, she tapped tremblingly at the well-known
+door.  Nurse's voice bade her enter, and she walked forward with her
+eyes fixed on the bed on which Evie lay.  Her face was thin and drawn,
+and had lost its colour, yet it was none of these things which struck a
+chill to Rhoda's heart, but the expression in the eyes themselves--
+Evie's sweet brown eyes, which of old had been alight with kindly
+humour.  They were blank eyes now, listless eyes, which stared and
+stared, yet seemed hardly to see that at which they gazed.  Rhoda stood
+before her for a full moment, before the light of recognition showed in
+their depths, and even then it was a flicker more than a light, and died
+out again with startling rapidity.
+
+The girl stood trembling, the carefully rehearsed words fading away from
+memory, for excuses and protestations seemed alike useless in the
+presence of that despairing calm.  She looked pitifully into the set
+face, and faltered out:
+
+"Evie, I've come...  I wanted to see you!  I have thought about you
+every minute of the time...  I could not stay away--"
+
+No answer.  Evie might not have heard her speak, for all signs of
+emotion which appeared on her face.  Rhoda waited another moment and
+then with a catch in her voice asked another question:
+
+"Is--is your knee very painful, Evie?"
+
+"No!"  Evie winced at that, and turning towards the other side of the
+bed, held out her hand appealingly towards the Nurse, who took it in her
+own, and frowned a warning to the visitor.
+
+"You had better go now, Miss.  She isn't equal to much yet.  You have
+got your way and seen her, so just give her a kiss, and go quietly
+away."
+
+Tears of disappointment rushed to Rhoda's eyes, and as she stooped to
+give that farewell kiss the salt drops fell upon Evie's cheeks, and
+roused her momentarily from her lethargy.
+
+"Poor Rhoda!" she sighed softly.  "Poor little Rhoda!" then her eyes
+closed, and Nurse took hold of the girl's arm and led her resolutely
+away.
+
+"You look as if you were going to faint yourself, and I can't have two
+of you on my hands," she said as soon as the corridor was reached, and
+the door closed behind them.  "You'll just come back to your own room,
+my dear, and lie down on the bed."
+
+"Nurse--tell me! you have been with her the whole time, and know how she
+feels.  Will she ever forgive me?  I never, never thought it would be so
+bad as this.  She would not speak to me, would not look at me even."
+
+"She wasn't thinking of you at all, my dear, she was thinking of her
+knee.  That is all she can find time to think of just now.  The doctors
+kept it from her as long as they could, but she questioned them, and
+would not be put off, so they had to tell her the truth.  She knows she
+will be lame, and it has pretty well broken her heart.  It's the bread
+out of her mouth, poor lamb, and she knows it.  It will be many a long
+day before she is herself again."
+
+And this was the end of Rhoda's first meeting with Laura Everett after
+her accident!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+MRS. CHESTER'S PLAN.
+
+It was many days before Rhoda saw Miss Everett again, but, if she was
+not admitted to the sick room, her mother was a frequent and welcome
+visitor, and took entire charge of the invalid while the nurse fulfilled
+her ordinary duties.  There was little actual nursing to be done, but
+the doctors were anxious to prevent solitary repinings, and to do what
+was possible to raise the spirits of their patient.  Evie's own mother
+had come down for a few days to satisfy herself concerning her
+daughter's condition, but had been obliged to hurry back to the
+Vicarage, where the invalid sister was growing worse rather than better,
+so that her presence could badly be spared.  She was a worn, faded
+edition of Evie, and looked so typical of what the girl herself might
+now become that Rhoda could not bear to look at her.  The two mothers,
+however, became great friends, for they met with a remembrance of
+kindness on the one side, and an overwhelming sympathy on the other, and
+were drawn together by hours of mutual anxiety.  In each case the worst
+dread was unfulfilled, but what remained to be borne required all the
+fortitude which they could summon.  The Vicar's wife saw one of the
+props of the home disabled for life, and Mrs Chester's kind heart was
+wrung with anguish at the thought that her child had been the cause of
+so much suffering.  It seemed a strange dispensation of Providence that
+she, the main object of whose life had been to help her fellow-
+creatures, should have this burden laid upon her; but she bore it
+uncomplainingly, striving to cheer the poor woman whose lot was so much
+harder than her own.
+
+Before they parted she broached a scheme which she had been planning in
+secret, and, having received a willing consent, bided her opportunity to
+lay it before the invalid herself.  It came at last one chilly
+afternoon, when Evie was laid on a sofa before the fire, as a sign that
+convalescence had really begun.  The knee was still bound up, as it was
+not proposed that she should attempt to walk until the journey home had
+been accomplished, and it was on this subject that Evie made her first
+remark.
+
+"I suppose," she began, looking at Mrs Chester with the brown eyes
+which had grown so pathetic in their gaze in the last few weeks, "I
+suppose I can travel now, as soon as it can be arranged.  I shall have
+to be carried about at each of the changes, and it must be planned ahead
+in this busy season.  I must speak to Miss Bruce, and ask her what I had
+better do."
+
+Mrs Chester bent forward and poked the fire in a flurried, embarrassed
+manner; she knitted her brows, and her rosy face grew a shade deeper in
+colour.
+
+"Er--yes," she assented vaguely.  "Of course; but Evie, dear, I have
+been waiting to talk to you about something which has been very much on
+my mind lately.  We are leaving on Thursday, Rhoda and I, and are having
+a through carriage and every possible appliance to make the journey
+easy, and I thought that it would be so much simpler for you, dear, to
+travel with us, and spend a few weeks at the Chase before going home!"
+
+Evie smiled, with the languid courtesy with which an invalid listens to
+an impossible proposition.
+
+"It is very kind of you," she said.  "Some day I shall be glad to come,
+but not at present, thank you.  I am not well enough to pay visits."
+
+"But my child, it would not be like an ordinary visit; you should do
+exactly as you would in your own home--stay in bed, or get up, as you
+pleased, and make out your own programme for the day.  You know me now,
+and can surely understand that you need feel no ceremony in coming to my
+house."
+
+"No, indeed!  You have been so kind to me all this time, that I should
+be ungrateful if I did not realise that.  I would rather be with you
+than anyone else outside my own family, but--but--" the tears gathered
+and rolled down the pale cheeks--"Oh, surely you understand that just
+now I want to be at home with my own mother and father!"
+
+"Yes, I do understand, poor dear; it would be unnatural if you felt
+anything else; but listen, Evie, it is for your parents' sake, as well
+as for your own, that I urge you to come.  You need constant care and
+nursing, and cheering up, and it would be very difficult for them to
+manage all this just now.  Your mother is overworked as it is, and has
+already one invalid on her hands; but if you come to us, the whole
+household will be at your service.  My kind old Mary shall be your
+nurse, and wait upon you hand and foot.  I will drive you about so that
+you can get the air without fatigue, and you shall have your couch
+carried into the conservatory off the drawing-room, and lie there among
+the flowers which you love so much.  Every comfort that money can buy
+shall be yours to help to make you strong again.  I say it in no spirit
+of boasting, dear, for we have been poor ourselves, and owe our riches
+to no merit of our own.  We look upon them as a trust from God, to be
+used for the good of others even more than ourselves, and surely no one
+had ever a nearer, stronger claim--"
+
+Her voice broke off tremblingly, and Evie looked at her with a troubled
+glance.
+
+"Dear Mrs Chester, you are so good!  It all sounds most attractive and
+luxurious, and I am sure you would spoil me with kindness, but--would it
+not be rather selfish?  You say mother is overworked, and that is quite
+true; but, all the same, she might feel hurt if I chose to go somewhere
+else."
+
+"Now, I'll tell you all about it," cried Mrs Chester briskly, scenting
+victory in the air, and beginning to smile again in her old cheery
+fashion.  "Your mother and I had a talk about it before she left.  She
+felt grieved not to have you at home for Christmas, but for your own
+sake was most anxious that you should come to us.  She realised that it
+would be better for you in every way, and the quickest means to the end
+which we all have in view, to make you well and strong again.  She left
+it to me to make the suggestion, but you will find that she is quite
+willing, even anxious--"
+
+"Yes," said Evie, and lay silently gazing at the heart of the fire.  The
+downcast face looked very fair and fragile, but for the moment the old
+sweetness was wanting.  The lips were pressed together, the chin was
+fixed and stubborn, outward signs of the mental fight which was going on
+between the impulse to give way, and a sore, sore feeling of injury
+which made it seem impossible to accept a favour from this quarter of
+all others.  The elder woman saw these signs, and read their meaning
+with painful accuracy, and the exclamation which burst from her lips
+startled the invalid by its intensity.
+
+"Oh, my lassie!" she cried.  "Oh, my lassie, be generous!  You have been
+sorely tried, and our hearts are broken to think of your trouble, but
+don't you see this is the only way in which it is left to us to help?
+Sympathy and regret are abstract things, and can do no real good, for,
+though they ease our minds, they leave you untouched.  My dear girl, can
+you be generous enough to accept help from the hands that have injured
+you?  It's a hard thing to ask--I know it is; but I am an old woman, and
+I plead with you to give us this opportunity!  Let me be a mother to
+you, dear, and ease your recovery in every way that I can.  Money has
+great power, and one never realises it more than in time of sickness.  I
+can spare you many a pain and discomfort if you will give me the
+opportunity, and my poor girl is fretting herself thin by brooding over
+the past--it would be new life to her to be allowed to wait upon you!
+It's hard for you, dear, I know it's hard!  You would rather cut
+yourself adrift from us, and never see us again; but it is in your power
+to return good for evil--to lighten our trouble as no one else could do.
+Will you come, Evie?"
+
+Evie looked into the quivering face, and her eyes shone--then the kind
+arms opened wide and the brown head nestled down on the broad, motherly
+shoulder.  There was no need for words, for the answer was given far
+more eloquently in look and gesture.
+
+"God bless you, my lassie!" murmured Mrs Chester fondly, and they sat
+in silence together, gazing into the fire.  A few tears rose in Evie's
+eyes and ran silently down her cheeks, but they were happy tears, with
+which were wiped away all remains of bitterness.  There is no truer way
+of forgiving our enemies than by consenting to be helped at their hands,
+and, if the effort be great, it brings with it an exceeding great
+reward.  At the end of ten minutes Evie raised her head from its resting
+place and said, in her old, bright voice:
+
+"Shall we ask Rhoda to tea?  It is such a lovely fire, and you brought
+in such a bountiful supply of cakes and good things that it seems greedy
+to keep them all to myself.  Ask Rhoda to come in and help to make a
+cosy little party."
+
+Then, as Mrs Chester stooped to kiss her cheek, she whispered hastily,
+"Tell her not to mention the past--never to mention it again!  We will
+turn over a new leaf to-day and think only of the future."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+GOOD-BYE TO HURST MANOR.
+
+The morning of the day dawned on which the invalids were to travel to
+Erley Chase, and Rhoda lay awake upon her bed, listening to the echo of
+the girls' voices as they sang the morning hymn in the hall below.  Her
+heart was softened with a feeling at once of thankfulness and dread--
+thankfulness that Evie's life had been spared, and her friendship
+renewed, and dread because, she dimly realised, this was the last of the
+dear school days as they had been.  Even if she returned after the
+holidays, which seemed doubtful, it would be a changed house indeed,
+with the older girls scattered all over the country, and Evie no longer
+at hand to soothe and lighten every trouble.  Her thoughts went back to
+her first coming to Hurst Manor eighteen months before, and dwelt sadly
+on her own ambitious hopes.  It had all seemed so easy, so certain; she
+had planned her career with such happy assurance, with never a thought
+but that success and distinction lay waiting for her grasp; and it had
+all ended in this--that she was returning home, enfeebled in health,
+foiled in ambition, with the bitter weight on her conscience that her
+self-will had inflicted a life-long injury on the kindest of friends.
+
+"I have failed!" sighed Rhoda humbly to herself.  "But why?  I never
+meant to do wrong.  I intended only to work hard and get on.  Surely,
+surely, there was nothing wicked in that?  It can't be possible to be
+too industrious, and yet Evie evidently thought something was wrong, and
+the Vicar...  What can it have been?  I wish, I wish I knew!  I'm tired
+of going my own way, for it leads to nothing but misery and
+disappointment.  I should like to find out the secret of being happy and
+contented like other people."  Her eyes filled with tears, those blue
+eyes which had been so full of confidence, and she clasped her fingers
+upon the counterpane.  The roll of the organ sounded through the house,
+and the girls' clear voices singing a familiar tune.  She listened
+unthinkingly, until suddenly one verse struck sharply on her ear, and
+startled her into vivid attention:--
+
+  "The trivial round, the common task, Will furnish all we ought to ask;
+  Room to deny ourselves, a road To bring us daily nearer God."
+
+She had heard those words a hundred times before, had repeated them at
+her mother's knee, had sung them in church, not once, but many times,
+yet it seemed that until that moment no conception of their meaning had
+penetrated to her brain.  What was it, which was all we ought to ask?
+"_Room to deny ourselves_!"--to put ourselves last--to be careless of
+our own position?  And this path of self-denial was the road that led to
+God Himself?  Was this what Evie had meant when she spoke of the secret
+which each one must find out for herself?  Was this the explanation of
+the contentment which the Vicar had found in his ill-paying parish?
+"_Room to deny oneself_!"  Oh, but this had been far, far from her own
+ambitions.  She had asked for room to distinguish herself, to shine
+among her fellows, to be first and foremost, praised and applauded.  Her
+own advancement had been the one absorbing aim in life, and to gratify
+it she had been willing to see others fail, and to congratulate herself
+in the face of their distress.  Never once in all the miseries of
+disappointment which she had undergone had it occurred to her that the
+explanation of her difficulties lay in the _motive_ underlying her
+efforts--the point of view from which she had started.  Other girls had
+worked as hard as herself, but with some definite and worthy aim, such
+as to help their parents, or to fit themselves for work in life.  Rhoda
+was honest, even when honesty was to her own hurt, and she acknowledged
+it had been far otherwise in her case when she had failed in her
+examination, it had not been deficiency in knowledge which she had
+deplored, but the certificate, the star to her name, the outward and
+visible signs of success.  When she realised the hopelessness of seeing
+her name on the Record Wall, loss of honour and glory had been her
+regret, not sorrow for the thought that she had passed through school
+and failed to leave behind a tradition of well-doing whereby future
+scholars might be strengthened and encouraged!
+
+Rhoda hid her face in the pillow and lay still, communing with her own
+heart.  How bitter they are, these moments of self-revelation!  How
+mysterious is the way in which the veil seems suddenly to lift and show
+us the true figure, instead of the mythical vision which we have
+cherished in our thoughts!  They come suddenly at the most unexpected
+moments, roused by apparently the most trivial of causes, so that the
+friend by our side has no idea of the crisis through which we are
+passing.
+
+Rhoda Chester never forgot that last morning at school; she could never
+hear that hymn sung without a thrill of painful remembrance.  When the
+years had passed and she had daughters of her own, the sound of the
+familiar words would still bring a flush to her cheeks, but no human
+friend ever knew all that it meant to her.  Rhoda learnt her lesson none
+the less surely for keeping silence concerning it.
+
+A few hours later the travellers were ready to depart, and Evie was
+carried down the staircase into the hall.
+
+Mrs Chester had promised that everything that wealth could secure
+should be done for the comfort of her guest, and royally did she keep
+her promise.  If she had been a Princess of the Blood, Evie declared she
+could not have had a more luxuriously comfortable journey.  An ambulance
+drove up to the door to convey the little party to the station, and
+inside sat a surgical nurse, ready to give her skilled attention to any
+need that might arise.  The girls flocked in hall and doorway to wave
+farewells, edging to the front to cry "Come back soon!" in confident
+treble, and then retiring to the background to gulp back the tears which
+rose at the sight of the thin little face, which told such a pathetic
+story of suffering.  Not a single tear did Evie see, however, nor any
+face that was not wreathed in smiles, and when the strains of "For she's
+a jolly good fellow" followed the ambulance down the drive, she laughed
+merrily, and waved her handkerchief out of the window, never suspecting
+with what swelling throats many of the singers joined in the strain.
+
+Rhoda laughed too, but she did not wave her handkerchief.  Curiously
+enough, it never occurred to her to think that she herself was included
+in that farewell demonstration, or to resent the apparent indifference
+with which she had been allowed to depart.  Her own special friends had
+embraced her warmly enough, but even they had given the lion's share of
+attention to Evie, while the majority of the girls had no eyes nor
+attention for anyone else.  The Rhoda of six months or a year ago would
+have bitterly resented such a slight, but to-day she found no reason to
+blame others for following her own example.
+
+Evie was the supreme consideration, and the girl was so entirely
+absorbed in looking after her comfort that she had forgotten all about
+her own poor little importance.  Love is the gentlest as well as the
+cleverest of schoolmasters, and teaches his lessons so subtly that we
+are unconscious of our progress, until, lo! the hill difficulty is
+overcome, and we find ourselves erect on the wide, breezy plain.
+
+At the station a saloon carriage was waiting labelled "Engaged," inside
+which were all manner of provisions for the comfort of the journey.
+Hot-water bottles, cushions, rugs, piles of papers and magazines, and a
+hamper of dainty eatables from the Chase Evie was wrapped in Mrs
+Chester's sable cloak and banked up with cushions by the window, so that
+she might look out and be amused by the sight of the Christmas traffic
+at the various stations.  She stared about her with the enjoyment of a
+convalescent who has had more than enough of her own society, and the
+lingerers on the platform stared back at the pretty, fragile-looking
+invalid who was travelling in such pomp and circumstance.
+
+"They think I am a princess!" cried Evie.  "I _hope_ they think I am a
+princess!" and she laid her little head against the cushions, and
+sniffed at a big silver-mounted bottle of smelling salts with an air of
+languid complacency which vastly amused her companions.  Presently nurse
+lighted an Etna and warmed some cups of soup, while one good thing after
+another came out of the hamper to add to the feast; then followed a
+stoppage, with the arrival of obsequious porters with fresh foot-
+warmers; then, dusk closing in over the wintry landscape, the lighting
+of electric lamps, and the refreshing cup of tea.  It was Evie's first
+experience of luxurious travelling, and she told herself with a sigh
+that it was very, very comfortable.  Much more comfortable than
+shivering in a draughty third class carriage, and changing three times
+over to wait in still more draughty stations!
+
+With the arrival at Erley Chase came more pleasant surprises, for she
+was not carried upstairs, but into a room on the ground floor, which was
+ordinarily used as Mrs Chester's boudoir, and had been transformed into
+the most cheerful and delightful of bedrooms.  There was really little
+to distinguish it from a sitting-room, except the bed with its silken
+cover, and even this was hidden behind a screen in the daytime.  A couch
+was drawn up before the fire, and over it lay the daintiest pink silk
+dressing-gown that was ever seen, with the warmest of linings inside,
+and trimmed without with a profusion of those airy frills and laces dear
+to the feminine heart.
+
+"For me?" gasped Evie, staring at its splendour with big, astonished
+eyes.  A glow of colour came into her cheeks as she turned it over and
+over to inspect its intricacies.  "I should think I _would_ come in to
+dinner just, with such a gown to wear!" she cried laughingly.  "I am
+longing to put it on and see what it feels like to be a fashionable
+lady."
+
+She would not acknowledge that she was tired, but even after an hour's
+sleep she still looked so fragile that the two members of the household
+who had not seen her before were deeply impressed with the change which
+had taken place since their last meeting.  Very charming did she look
+when the sofa was wheeled into the dining-room, and she lay in her
+pretty pink fineries the centre of attraction and attention; but the
+flush of excitement soon faded, and the dark eyes looked pathetic in
+spite of their smiles.  Rhoda watched the faces of father and mother,
+and her heart sank as she saw the elder man knit his brow, and the
+younger look away quickly and bite his lip under his moustache as if the
+sight were too painful to be endured.  Beyond a few loving words at
+greeting, neither had manifested any concern about herself, and once
+again she had not noticed the omission.
+
+"I've had such a happy day.  I feel like a princess--such a spoiled
+princess!" said Evie, when she went to bed that night; but there were
+sad days in store for the poor little princess from which all the care
+and love of her friends could not save her.
+
+When the decree went forth that she should make her first attempt to
+walk, Rhoda clapped her hands with joy, and could not understand the
+reason of the quick, grave glance which the nurse cast upon her.  She
+and her mother had decided that the attempt must be made in the drawing-
+room after tea, and nurse made no objection, hoping, perhaps, that the
+presence of onlookers would give her patient extra strength for the
+ordeal.  She knew what it meant if the others did not; but, alas! they
+all learned soon enough, as, at the first slight movement, Evie's white
+face turned grey, and she groaned in mingled anguish and dismay.
+
+"I can't!" she cried; "Oh, I can't!  It is like knives going through me!
+I can't move!"
+
+"Ah, but you must, my dear.  It has to be done; and the braver you are,
+the sooner it will be over.  You are bound to suffer the first few
+times, but it would be ten times worse to allow the joint to stiffen.
+Now be brave, and try to take just two steps with me!  I will support
+you on one side, and--" Nurse looked round questioningly--"Mr Harold
+will take the other.  You can lean all your weight on us.  We won't let
+you fall."
+
+Harold stepped forward without a word and put his strong arm under hers,
+and, as he did so, Evie raised her eyes to his with a look which those
+who saw it never forgot--a look such as might have been given by an
+animal caught in a snare from which it was powerless to escape.  Rhoda
+told herself savagely that Harold was a brute to persist in the face of
+that dumb appeal, but he did not quail even when the sob rose to a cry,
+and a trembling plea for mercy.  The two steps were taken, and
+henceforth, for weeks to come, the nightmare of repeated effort weighed
+upon the spirits of the household.  At eleven o'clock, after tea, after
+dinner--three times a day--was the inexorable programme repeated, in
+spite of prayers and protestations.  Mrs Chester's theory was that it
+was brutal to torture the child, and that if she were to be lame, for
+pity's sake let her be lame in peace.  Rhoda suffered agonies of remorse
+and passionate revolts against the mystery of pain, but the nurse and
+her assistant never showed a sign of wavering.  As a rule, Evie made a
+gallant attempt to control her sufferings, but there were occasions when
+even her fortitude gave was, as, on one afternoon, when, after taking a
+certain number of steps, she was informed that still more must be
+attempted.  She was powerless in the hands that held her, but when she
+collapsed into helpless sobbings on the sofa, Rhoda turned on her
+brother with furious indignation:
+
+"You are a _brute_, Harold!  You have no heart!  How dare you do it--how
+_dare_ you make her suffer so!"
+
+He did not answer, but turned his head aside, and stared steadily out of
+the window.  Rhoda glared at him with smarting eyes, and suddenly saw
+something which put a check on her excitement.  Harold's profile was
+turned toward her, and the light showed great drops of moisture standing
+upon the brow, and rolling slowly down the cheek.  She realised, with a
+pang, that once again she had been too quick in her judgment.  In spite
+of his firmness, Harold had suffered more than she, more than her
+mother--ay, perhaps, more than Evie herself!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
+
+Despite the painful incidents of Evie's convalescence, Christmas was a
+happy season at Erley Chase, for it had always been a tradition of the
+household to make much of this festival, and Mrs Chester could not
+bring herself to change her habits as the years advanced.  Every twenty-
+sixth of December Mr Chester would say solemnly, "This is the last
+time!  I cannot let you wear yourself out like this.  When Christmas
+cards have to be sent off by the hundred, and presents by the score, it
+is time to call a halt, for what has been a pleasure becomes a burden.
+Next year you drop these outside people, and think only of our immediate
+circle," and Mrs Chester would murmur meekly, "Yes, dear; of course.
+Just as you wish," and begin laying in stores for next Christmas at her
+first visit to the January sales.  There was a cupboard in one of the
+spare rooms which was dedicated entirely to the keeping of presents, and
+into it went all manner of nick-nacks which were picked up during the
+year--bazaar gleanings, in the shape of cushions, cosies, and table-
+cloths, relics of travel, and a hundred and one articles useful and
+ornamental, which had been bought because they were so cheap, and it
+really seemed wicked to leave them lying on the shop counter!  When a
+need arose, as when a birthday was suddenly remembered the day before it
+fell due, or an anniversary suggested the propriety of a little
+offering, it was the easiest thing in the world to poke about in the
+cupboard until a suitable gift was discovered.
+
+Laura Everett was much amused by this novel way of apportioning
+presents, which was so strangely different from that practised at her
+own home.  When she was wheeled into the morning-room a few days before
+Christmas, it was to find a small bazaar of fancy articles spread on
+tables and sofas, while Mrs Chester sat checking off the names written
+on a long sheet of paper, and Rhoda cried out: "Here's a yellow silk
+cushion.  Whom do we know who has got a complexion that can bear being
+set off against a background of sulphur yellow?" ...  "Here's a gorgeous
+table centre, quite beautifully worked.  Whom do we know who is old-
+fashioned enough to use table centres still?" ...  "Here's a piece of
+Turkish embroidery, which would be the very thing to cover that shabby
+old sofa at the Vicarage; it was absolutely in holes the last time I saw
+it."
+
+"Turkish embroidery--Mrs Mason.  Thank goodness, that's one thing
+settled!  Wrap it up at once, Rhoda dear.  It will be one thing less to
+do," cried Mrs Chester in a tone of relief, while Evie held up her
+hands in astonishment.
+
+"Of all the extraordinary ways of giving presents!  To have a room full
+of things and then to puzzle as to whom you can give them!  This is
+indeed a new experience for me.  When we talk over our presents at home
+it is to wonder how in the world we can contrive to buy twenty things
+for nineteen shillings.  Such a wholesale way of managing things I never
+imagined in my wildest moments."
+
+She gave a little sigh of envy as she looked at the lavish profusion
+which lay around; yet, after all, there was a pleasure in contriving
+those simple gifts--in putting in delicate stitches to add to the value
+of cheap materials, a triumph in manufacturing something out of nothing,
+which Rhoda and her mother could never enjoy!  She was not at all sure
+that that old home fashion was not the sweeter after all.
+
+While the apportioning of gifts was going on in the morning-room, the
+cook and her kitchen maids were busy at work in the great nagged
+kitchen, manufacturing all sorts of dainties to be packed away in the
+hampers ranged in readiness along the walls.  It was a sight to see the
+good things laid out on the tables, and Evie was carried down on her
+chair to admire and praise with the rest, and to watch the interesting
+process of packing.  Far and wide these hampers went, carrying good
+cheer into many a home where otherwise there would have been scanty
+provisions for the day of rejoicing, and bringing unexpected gleams of
+sunshine to many an anxious heart.  Needless to say, one of the best was
+addressed to a country parsonage especially dear to Evie's heart, and
+was accompanied by a parcel of presents, which had not been lightly
+bought, but worked by loving fingers during long hours of convalescence.
+
+Christmas Day itself was a busy occasion, when the home party had little
+leisure to think of themselves, so unending was the stream of pensioners
+which came up to the Chase to receive their gifts, and to be fed and
+warmed in the gaily-decorated rooms.  Dinner was served early, so that
+the servants might be free to have their festivities in the evening, and
+at nine o'clock all the employees on the estate came up, dressed in
+their best, and danced with the servants in the hall.  Mr and Mrs
+Chester, with Harold and Rhoda, honoured the assembly by joining in the
+first dance, and Evie sat in her wheeled chair, looking on and trying to
+keep a smiling face, the while she fought one of the mental battles
+which seemed to meet her on every step of the road to recovery.  She had
+been so much occupied grieving over the serious financial loss which her
+inability to work would involve, that she had taken little thought of
+the pleasures from which she was debarred; but, after all, she was but a
+girl, and a girl with a keen capacity for enjoyment, and it was a very
+keen pang which went through her heart as she listened to the seductive
+strains of the band, and watched the couples glide slowly by.  The dark
+brows twitched as if in pain, and she drew aside the folds of the pink
+tea-gown to cast a longing glance at the little useless feet stretched
+before her.  A sudden remembrance arose of the day when Rhoda protested
+in dismay at the thought of wearing the ugly regulation school shoes,
+and of her own confession of love for pretty slippers, of the
+satisfaction with which she had donned the same on Thursday evenings,
+and danced about the hall as blithely as any one of her pupils.  Those
+days were over--for ever over; she would never again know the joy of any
+rapid, exhilarating motion.  She lifted her hand to wipe away a tear,
+hoping to escape observation the while, but, to her dismay, Harold stood
+by her side, and his eyes met hers with an expression of pained
+understanding.  Any reference to her infirmity seemed to distress him so
+acutely that the first instinct was to comfort him instead of herself,
+and she smiled through her tears, saying in the sweetest tones of her
+always sweet voice:
+
+"Don't, please!  Don't look so sorry!  It was babyish of me, but just
+for one moment--I was so fond of dancing, you know, and I had never
+realised before--"
+
+"Just so.  You realise fresh losses every day.  I know what you must
+feel.  You have not been babyish at all, but most brave and heroic."
+
+Evie sighed.  "It's nice to be praised, but I feel as if I don't deserve
+it.  I am not in the least brave at heart...  Sometimes I almost dread
+getting strong, for then I shall have to face so much...  I'm conceited,
+too, for I hate the idea of limping, and being stiff and ungraceful.  I
+thought I did not care for appearance, but I did--oh, a great deal!  It
+is a humiliating discovery, and I am trying hard to cure myself, but
+pride dies slowly!  There was a girl at school who was lame.  I used to
+be so sorry for her, and yet, compared with other misfortunes, it is a
+very little thing.  I can still move about and use my faculties.  It is
+not so bad, after all!"
+
+"Yes," said Harold, unexpectedly.  "It _is_ very bad.  It is a mistake
+to pretend to yourself that it is only a small trial, for it's not true,
+and the pretence is sure to break down some day, and leave you where you
+were.  It is a great affliction for people to be crippled, even when
+they are old and have lost their energy; but for a girl like you it is
+ten times worse.  Don't be too hard on yourself, and expect resignation
+to come all at once.  I believe the best plan is to face it fully, and
+to say to yourself, `It's a big test--one of the biggest I could have to
+bear.  I shall feel the pinch not to-day only, but to-morrow, and the
+next year, and as long as I live.  It is going to take a big effort to
+save myself from growing bitter and discouraged, but it's worth
+fighting, for my whole life hangs on the result.  If I can succeed--if I
+can rise above infirmity, and keep a bright, uncomplaining spirit'--"
+
+He broke off suddenly, and Evie breathed a quick "Yes, yes, I know!  I
+feel that too.  Thank you so much.  It is good to talk to someone who
+understands.  It helps me on."
+
+"Don't thank me.  It is like my presumption to venture to preach to you.
+But you have helped me so much that when I saw you in trouble I could
+not be silent.  I was obliged to do what I could."
+
+"I--I have helped you?" repeated Evie, blankly; and a flush of colour
+rose in her pale cheeks, which made her look for one moment the happy,
+blooming girl of old.  "In what way have I ever helped you, or been
+anything but an anxiety and care?"
+
+But Harold did not answer, and that was the last chance of a _tete-a-
+tete_ conversation that evening, for presently she was carried off to
+her own room, and helped into bed, where she lay awake for a long, long
+time, staring before her in the twilight, and recalling the lessons of
+consolation to which she had just listened.  It must surely have been
+wonderfully wise, wonderfully true, since it did not so much comfort, as
+do away with the very necessity for comfort!  She could not delude
+herself that she felt sad or despondent, or anything but mysteriously
+happy and at rest, as she lay smiling softly to herself in the
+flickering firelight.
+
+Two days later came a delightful surprise.  Evie and her late pupil were
+sitting in the morning-room writing letters of thanks to the many donors
+of Christmas presents, when the door opened and shut, and someone walked
+into the room.  It was such an ordinary, matter-of-fact entrance that
+neither of the writers troubled to look up, taking it for granted that
+the new-comer was Mrs Chester, who had left the room but a few minutes
+before.  Two minutes later, however, Evie finished her sheet and lifted
+her eyes to make a casual remark, when she promptly fell back in her
+chair with a shriek, and a hand pressed over her heart.  Rhoda jumped up
+in alarm, and then--was it a dream, or did a well-known figure really
+lean up against the mantelpiece, in familiar, gentlemanly attitude, a
+roguish smile curling the lips, and little eyes alight with mischief?
+
+"Tom, Tom!  Oh, Tom, you angel!  Where in the world have you come from?"
+cried Rhoda, rushing forward with outstretched arms, in a very whirlwind
+of welcome.  "How perfectly delicious to see you again, and what a
+terrific start you gave me!"
+
+"Oh, what a surprise!" chanted Tom easily, rubbing her cheeks as if to
+wipe away the kisses pressed upon it, and advancing to greet Evie with a
+nonchalance which for once was a trifle overdone, though neither of her
+friends was in the least danger of mistaking her real feelings.  "The
+same to you, and many of them," she continued, sitting down without
+waiting for an invitation, and smiling round in genial fashion.  "It
+really was as good as a play, standing there, and watching you two
+scribbling away with faces as solemn as judges--and what a squeal Evie
+gave!  It made me jump in my skin!  Yes; I'm visiting my female
+relative, and determined to pay you a visit even if it were only for an
+hour.  It can't be much longer, for we have a tea fight on this
+afternoon, when every spinster in the neighbourhood is coming to stare
+at me and deliver her views on higher education.  Such a lark!  Some of
+them strongly approve, and others object, and I agree with each in turn,
+until the poor dears are so bamboozled they don't know what to do.  They
+think I am an amiably-disposed young person, but defective in brains,
+and poor aunt Jim gets quite low in her mind, for she wants me to
+impress them, and branch off into Latin and Greek as if they came more
+naturally to me than English.  I wish they did!  It takes the conceit
+out of one to go up to college and compete with women instead of girls."
+
+"Don't you like it, Tom?  Are you happy?  Didn't you miss the Manor, and
+feel home-sick for the girls and the old school parlour?" queried Rhoda
+eagerly, and Tom screwed up her face in meaning fashion.
+
+"Should have done, if I had not kept a tight hand; but you know my
+principle--never to worry over what can't be cured!  Plenty to bother
+oneself about, without that.  I thought of you all a great deal, and
+realised that I'd been even happier than I knew, and that I disliked
+taking a bottom place so abominably that it was plainly the best thing
+for me to do.  I love power!" sighed Tom, wagging her head in sorrowful
+confession, "and that's just what I see no chance of getting again for a
+precious long time to come.  I haven't much time to grieve, however, for
+my poor little nose is fairly worn away, it's kept so near to the
+grindstone."
+
+"You look thinner," said Rhoda, truthfully enough.  "Poor old Tom, you
+mustn't let them wear you out.  We will take care of you, at least, so
+I'll go and order lunch earlier than usual, if you really must be off so
+soon.  The three o'clock train, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, please.  Don't worry about anything special for me.  Half a dozen
+cutlets or a few pounds of steak is all I could eat, I assure you!" said
+Tom modestly, and Rhoda went laughing out of the room, leaving her two
+friends gazing at one another in an embarrassed silence.
+
+No reference had so far been made to the accident which was the cause of
+Evie's presence at the Chase, but it was impossible that the visit
+should end in silence, and both instinctively felt that Rhoda's absence
+gave the best opportunity for what must be said.  The colour came into
+Evie's face as she nerved herself to open the painful subject.
+
+"You know, of course, Tom, that I am not going back to Hurst.  Miss
+Bruce has been most kind, but she must consider the good of the greater
+number, and this accident has shown more plainly than ever the necessity
+of having a House-Mistress who can job in the games with the girls.  I
+shall never be any good for a large school again, for, even apart from
+the games, the long stairs and corridors would be too trying.  So you
+see my career is cut off suddenly."
+
+"Yes, I see; I thought of that.  It's very interesting!" said Tom in a
+dreamy voice, which brought a flush of indignation into Evie's eyes.
+
+"Interesting!" she repeated.  "Is _that_ what you call it?  It's not the
+word I should have used, or have expected from you, Tom, or from any of
+my friends."
+
+"No!  Perhaps not, but it _is_ interesting all the same, for one is so
+curious to see what will happen next.  When you have planned out your
+life, and fitted in everything towards one end, and then suddenly, by no
+fault of your own, that end is made impossible--why, if you believe in a
+purpose in things, what could be more interesting and exciting?  What
+_is_ to happen next?  What is one to do?  It is like reading a story in
+parts, and breaking off just at the critical crisis.  I should like to
+turn over the pages, Evie, and see what is going to happen to you!"
+
+Evie smiled faintly.
+
+"Would you, Tom?  I am afraid I have been hiding my head like an
+ostrich, and trying not to look forward, but your view is the healthier,
+and I'll try to adopt it.  I don't give up all idea of teaching, though
+big schools are impossible.  Perhaps they would take me at some small,
+old-fashioned seminary where sports are considered unladylike, and the
+pupils take their exercise in a crocodile up and down the parade."
+
+"Ugh!" said Tom, with a grimace which twisted every feature out of
+recognition.  "No, surely, Evie, you will never condescend to that!  You
+lie low for a bit and get strong, and keep up your classics, and I'll
+see if I can't find you some coaching to do among the girls I meet.  If
+you could get along that way for a few years it would be all right, for
+I shall be settled by that time and able to look after you.  You shall
+be my secretary, dear, and have a jolly little den to yourself, where I
+can take refuge when the girls get too much for me.  We could be very
+happy together, you and I, couldn't we, and grow into two nice,
+contented old maids, with too much to do to have time to envy our
+neighbours?"
+
+She fixed her bright little eyes on Evie's face as she asked the
+question, and to her horror and dismay Evie felt the colour rush to her
+cheeks and mount higher and higher in a crimson tide which refused to be
+restrained by the most desperate mental efforts.  How idiotic to blush
+at nothing--how senseless, how humiliating, and how quite too ridiculous
+of Tom to turn aside and stare at the opposite side of the room in that
+ostentatious manner!  Evie felt inclined to shake her, but at that
+opportune moment Rhoda returned, and during the remainder of Tom's visit
+there was no opportunity for private confidences.
+
+Once more Rhoda accompanied her friend to the station, and waited
+anxiously for the word which would surely be said concerning the
+escapade which had cost so dear, but, like Evie, she was obliged to
+introduce the subject herself.
+
+"Have you nothing to say to me, Tom?" she asked wistfully.  "I haven't
+seen you since--you know when--but, of course, you heard how it
+happened.  It was all my fault.  What are you going to say to me about
+it?"
+
+"Why, nothing, Fuzz!" said Tom, turning her little eyes upon the
+quivering face with a tenderness of expression which would have been a
+revelation to casual acquaintances who believed Miss Bolderston
+incapable of the softer emotions.  "Why should I?  You have said it all
+to yourself a hundred times better than I could have done, and who am I
+that I should make myself a ruler or a judge over you?"
+
+"But she is lame, you know!" said Rhoda, sadly.  "Nurse says the knee is
+stronger than she expected, but even so she will always limp.  Imagine
+Evie limping!  She was such a graceful little thing, and tripped about
+so lightly, and she was so proud of her little feet--I have spoiled her
+future too, for she can never take such a good post again.  I have
+ruined her whole life."
+
+"We will discuss that point ten years later; it is too early to decide
+it yet.  Many things happen that we do not expect," remarked Tom sagely,
+whereat Rhoda shook her head in hopeless fashion.
+
+"I cannot imagine anything happening that would make this any better--on
+the contrary, Tom, it has made me realise how little help one can give,
+and what a fraud money is when it comes to the test.  I used to imagine
+that I could do pretty nearly everything I wanted because I was rich,
+but look at Evie!  I would give my life to help her, but beyond a few
+trumpery presents, and a little lightening of pain, what can I do?  She
+would not accept more, and one dare not offer it, though if she would
+allow it we would be thankful to pension her off for life.  Money can't
+do everything I see!"
+
+"That's a good thing!  Let's be thankful for that, at least.  It's worth
+something to have learned that lesson," cried Tom cheerily, and for the
+rest of the way to the station she talked resolutely on indifferent
+subjects, refusing to be drawn back to the one sad topic.  Only when the
+last good-bye was said did she soften into tenderness, actually allowing
+herself to be kissed without protest, and saying hurriedly in a low,
+half-shamed voice:
+
+"Good-bye, Fuzzy.  Bless you!  Never say die.  Sometimes, you know, it
+takes a big thing to open one's eyes.  Keep straight ahead from where
+you are now, and you'll have no more tumbles."  Then the train moved off
+and Rhoda lost the last glimpse of her friend in a mist of tears.  Dear
+Tom!  Dear, blunt, kindly, honest Tom; what a strength she had been to
+all who knew her--what a strength she was going to be to generations of
+girls to come!  Rhoda looked forward into the future and prophesied to
+herself that she would know no prouder boast than that she had been one
+of Tom Bolderston's girls, and had been brought up under her rule!
+
+That evening the occupants of the drawing-room looked up in amaze as a
+rustle of silken garments struck their ears, and a stately young lady
+came forward with a fan waving in one hand, and masses of ruddy hair
+piled high upon her head.  Rhoda, of course; and yet, could it be Rhoda?
+for with the short skirts and flowing mane the last traces of childhood
+had disappeared, and the woman of the future seemed already to stand
+before them.  Mr Chester gave a quick exclamation, and Rhoda turned to
+him and swept a stately curtsey.
+
+"At your service, sir.  I thought you might like to see your grown-up
+daughter.  My new dress came home to-day, and I looked so fine in it
+that I was obliged to do up my hair to be in keeping.  And I went to
+mother's room and stole her pearls and took her very best fan.  When
+girls come out they always help themselves to their parents' fineries,
+so I thought I had better begin at once.  Do you like me, dear?"
+
+She looked up at him, half shy, half laughing, and there was silence in
+the room while each of the onlookers felt a thrill of unexpected
+emotion.  It was like looking on at the turning point in a life, and the
+girl was so beautiful in her fresh young bloom that it was impossible to
+behold her unmoved.  The coiled-up hair showed the graceful poise of her
+head, the shoulders were smooth and white as satin, the blue eyes had
+lost their hard self-confidence, and shone sweet and true.  Yes!  Rhoda
+was going to be a beautiful woman; she was one already, as her father
+realised, with a natural pang of regret mingling with his pride.  His
+eye softened as he laid his hand on her shoulder.
+
+"Yes, my daughter, you are grown-up indeed!  I never realised it before.
+You had better prepare for the duties of chaperon, mother, for I
+foresee that this young lady will keep us busy.  We shall have to take
+her about, and entertain her friends, and yawn in the corners while they
+dance half through the night.  That's it, isn't it, Rhoda?"
+
+Rhoda looked at him with a start of surprise.  By tacit agreement
+nothing had yet been said of future arrangements, so that this was the
+first definite hint which she had received of her parents' intention.
+Her voice was half regretful, half relieved, as she said:
+
+"Then I am not to go back to school, father?  You have decided that it
+is better not?"
+
+Mr Chester put his hands on her arms and looked at her fondly, a
+remembrance rising in his mind as he did so of that other evening
+eighteen months ago, when the prospect of school had been proposed, and
+the girl had taken up the question and settled it out of hand, in
+arrogant, youthful fashion.  It was a very different tone in which the
+present question was asked, and he was quick to note the difference.
+
+"What do you say, mother?  She doesn't look very much like a school-girl
+to-night, does she?  No, Rhoda, I think those days are ended.  You have
+had a year and a half at school, and it has been a valuable experience
+for you in many ways, but both your nerves and ours have been
+overstrained lately, and we will not risk any more separations, but try
+what travel will do to complete your education.  It has always been my
+dream to go abroad for a year when you were able to come with us, and
+now that time has arrived.  We will plan out a tour that shall be both
+pleasant and educational, and enlarge our minds by learning something
+about other countries besides our own."
+
+"Rome for Easter, the Italian lakes and Switzerland in summer, the
+Riviera and Egypt in winter--Oh, father, how lovely!  _How_ I shall
+enjoy it!  How happy we shall be travelling about all together!  I could
+not have told you what I wanted, but this is the very thing of all
+others I should most enjoy.  And mother will like it too?  It will not
+tire you, will it, dear, or worry you to be away from home?"
+
+"My home is where you are.  I shall be perfectly happy, dear, so long as
+we are together," said the mother, who had never been known to oppose
+her own wishes to those of her family; and in this easy fashion the
+matter was settled.  One moment the project was mooted, the next dates
+and routes were being eagerly discussed, and the question of wardrobe
+being taken into account.  Presently Mr Chester must needs consult the
+atlas which was in constant reference in every conversation, and away
+went the three in happy conclave to turn over the leaves on the library
+table, while Evie was left to look after them with wistful eyes, and
+Harold to study her face in his turn.  She turned to find his eyes fixed
+upon her, and struggled hard to speak brightly.
+
+"They all seem so happy--it is good to see them; and how pretty Rhoda
+looks to-night!  It is so interesting to see the girls grow up, and come
+out as full-fledged young ladies.  I've seen two transformations to-
+day--Rhoda and Tom!"
+
+"Miss Bolderston?  Really!  Would you call her a transformation?"
+queried Harold, raising his eyebrows with an expression which said all
+that he dare not put into words.  "If that is a transformation, one is
+tempted to wonder what she was like before--"
+
+"Don't!"  Evie looked at him pleadingly.  "Don't make fun of her,
+please, because we love her so dearly.  Men don't appreciate Tom, and
+she doesn't show her best side to them, but she is a splendid girl, and
+the truest of friends.  She was so kind to me to-day."
+
+"You were talking to her about your work, and worrying because you could
+not go back at once!" said Harold shrewdly, and Evie looked at him under
+raised, apologetic eyebrows, quite overcome at being read in so easy a
+fashion.
+
+"Well--just a little!  I said that I could not go back to Hurst, as I
+should not be able to take part in games again--"
+
+"And she sympathised with you, and agreed that it was a desperate lot?"
+
+"No, indeed!  You don't know Tom!  She is far too much of an optimist to
+see the black side.  She only said she was interested to see what would
+happen next, and that it was like being stopped suddenly in the middle
+of a story.  I thought it was a very cheerful way of looking at it."
+She paused, not caring, for some indefinite reason, to say anything of
+that later proposition, in the carrying out of which she and Tom were to
+grow old side by side; but the idea lay on her mind, and presently she
+added dreamily, "But, even if I _am_ lame, my mind is not affected.  I
+can teach just as well as ever.  There must be an opening for me
+somewhere.  There are plenty of small schools where they don't go in for
+sports, plenty of girls who have to be educated at home--delicate girls,
+backward girls, girls who are, perhaps, like myself!  I could teach them
+still if they would let me try--"
+
+It was a very sweet little voice, and the quiver with which it broke off
+sounded strangely pathetic in the silence.  Harold did not speak, and
+his head was bent forward so that Evie could not see his face.  His
+hands were clasped and pressed so tightly together that the muscles
+stood out under the skin, but presently one of them was stretched
+forward and laid pleadingly over her own.
+
+"Dearest and sweetest," said Harold softly; "teach me instead!"
+
+When Rhoda came rushing into the room ten minutes later it was to find
+her brother seated by Evie on the sofa, and to meet two pairs of eyes
+which tried vainly to look calm and composed, but which were in reality
+so brimming over with happiness that the news was told without need of a
+single word.
+
+"Oh!" she cried, stopping short and staring in astonishment.  "_Oh_!"
+and then Evie struggled to her feet and held out wide, welcoming arms.
+
+"Oh, Rhoda, I am never going to be unhappy any more.  Harold won't let
+me.  He is going to help me all my life!"
+
+"She is going to help _me_!" corrected Harold firmly.  "I'm the happiest
+fellow in the world, Rhoda, and you must be happy too.  Come and kiss
+your new sister."
+
+Rhoda gave a little sob of joy, and flew into Evie's arms.
+
+"My own sister!  And I can take care of you always.  I shall have a
+right, and you will not have to worry any more, or be anxious, or
+troubled.  Evie, Evie, you can forgive me now, you can feel that I have
+not spoiled your life!  You will be happy even if you are lame!"
+
+"Yes, she will be happy--she has found a good man to take care of her!"
+said Mrs Chester, coming forward from the background, and taking Evie
+into a warm embrace.  "My dear child, I thought, I hoped, it might come
+to this!  Once upon a time I was afraid I might be jealous of Harold's
+wife, but not you, dear, not you!  That would be impossible.  We owe you
+too much.  You are welcome--a thousand times welcome!  I am a rich woman
+indeed, for I have two beautiful daughters instead of one!"
+
+Evie dropped her head on the broad, motherly shoulder and shed a tear of
+pure happiness and thankfulness.
+
+"Tom was right!" she said to herself softly.  "Tom was right--it was too
+early to judge!  Good has come out of evil!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom and Some Other Girls, by
+Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
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