"We were looking for you, Sarah."
"I don't believe it will ever ring," cried Sarah.
"Hark!" said Ethel.
They heard the first faint ring of the gong on the boys' side of the building, then the bell rang sharply above their heads.
"Our fate is sealed!" cried Gertrude. "We are doomed. Come on to the slaughter!"
She seized Ethel by one hand and Sarah by the other, and they were the first to reach the chapel-stairs. Behind them doors were opening, and there was the sound of hurrying steps and excited voices.
"Let us sit here on the last row," suggested Sarah.
"So that we can be more easily borne hence," laughed Gertrude.
The State Board was already seated on the platform. They were all talking and laughing as heartily as they had the day before. The Chairman carried a paper in his hand. He made some joke about it, and his colleagues all laughed; then he laid it down on a long box on the table by his side.
"The names are on that paper," whispered Ethel.