"I don't suppose you will, if it is the first time you have tried—both from one school, too," she added.
This remark, from one who might be supposed to know so much more about the matter than they did, was not very encouraging. And they looked at each other as if wondering which would have it, if there could be only one scholarship given to each school.
The afternoon questions proved to be a little less severe for our two girls, and both sat writing away until the bell rang for them to put down their pens, and put their papers together in the required order. After this they were free to go home; the gentleman telling them to be in their places the next morning by ten minutes to nine.
"It will be arithmetic, I expect," said the girl who had gone through this ordeal the previous year. "Are you good at arithmetic?" she asked.
"We can do fractions," said Mary, with a little toss of her head, they having been taught this branch quite recently.
"I should think you could, or it wouldn't be much good for you to come here. You see, if you do the other questions ever so well, and fail in arithmetic, you fail altogether."
"Come, Mary, we must make haste home," said Elsie. For she did not want to stay talking to the girl, who seemed to enjoy piling up the difficulties that were before them.
So the two friends bade the other a hasty good-bye, and hurried along the road until they could have a quiet talk to themselves.
"I wouldn't let her frighten me," said Elsie, when they were by themselves. "We have made up our minds to go through this examination, and we must do it the best way we can."
"But suppose we are sure to fail," said Mary, who was easily disheartened.