"Let her get punished. Pulling Mary's hair like that!"
"Well, Mary tattled. I was wishing Phœbe'd yank that darned kid's hair half off."
"Mary just told the truth. You think everything Phœbe does is right and you help her along in her temper. She needs to be punished sometimes."
"Ach, you make me tired, standing up for a tattle-tale! Anyhow, you go on home. I'm goin' to hang round a while and see if Miss Lee does anything mean."
Phares went on alone and the other boy stole to a window and crouched to the ground.
Inside the room Phœbe waited tremblingly for the teacher to speak. It seemed ages before Miss Lee walked down the aisle and stood by the low desk.
Phœbe raised her head—the look in the dark eyes of the teacher filled her with a sudden reversion of feeling. How could she go on hating any one so beautiful!
"Phœbe, I'm sorry—I'm so sorry there has been any trouble the first day and that you have been the cause of it."
"I—ach, Miss Lee," the child blurted out half-sobbingly, "Mary, she tattled on me."
"That was wrong, of course. I made her understand that at noon. But don't you think that pulling her hair and creating a disturbance was equally wrong?"