"I will try!" she whispered, "and oh, if it is possible, I'll get it, just to repay them for letting me have this lovely Winter. I wonder if it is to be a medal!"
It was her first morning at the home of John Atherton, and as she looked around the pretty chamber, she knew that she could be very happy there.
She had enjoyed her stay at Sherwood Hall.
Now commenced another visit with dear Rose Atherton as her companion, and Sprite wondered why such great good fortune had been given her.
Once she had been a dear little lass by the sea, with two loving parents, but no playmates. Now, she had Princess Polly, and Rose, beside ever so many little schoolmates, and she was being cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood, and Captain Atherton, who had asked her to call him, "Uncle John."
"I'm having so much pleasure," she whispered, "that I want to send some down to the 'Mermaid's Cave.' I'll begin to-day to work for the prize!"
She seemed unusually quiet at breakfast, and Uncle John wondered if she were tired from the excitement of the night before, or if she were a bit homesick.
Gently he questioned her, and she laughed so gaily that at once his fears were allayed.
"I'm not tired, and not a bit homesick," she said, "but I've been thinking that I mustn't waste one single minute before Christmas. I mean to win that prize, and to do that I'll have to work very hard."
"Why, Sprite!" cried Rose, "you've been working hard ever since school opened."