"I would rather not go than be late," she said.
The girls laughed. Mabel took the belt from her hand and hung it over her arm, meaning to buckle it as she ran.
"All right, you little goose," she said; and then the door closed behind them with a slam.
Sarah was desperately frightened. Perhaps they called a roll and the absentees were punished. There was no one in sight in the hall from whom she could ask advice, and she began wearily to make her bed.
"Perhaps I will have to pack my trunk, too," she said to herself. "But if I do not know what to do and nobody will tell me, how shall I find out?"
She felt a thrill of both terror and relief when she heard a footstep in the hall. It came directly to the door, there was a rap, then the door was pushed open.
"Why, Sarah, don't you want any breakfast?"
Sarah made a brave effort to steady her voice.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then why don't you come down?"