A winsome little lassie was Amethyst Drury; at least, so her fond parents thought. She looked less than her fourteen years, because she was so very slight, and the pretty fair hair, simply tied back with a scarlet ribbon, and falling loose about her neck, accentuated the appearance of fragility. Her scarlet frock was almost hidden by the white overall pinafore which her mother sensibly insisted upon her wearing indoors, and which really added to the charm of her appearance. Amethyst was not specially good-looking, but her soft complexion and sparkling grey eyes made up for any little defects in her mouth and nose, the former being a trifle too large, and the latter too retroussé, to be termed strictly pretty.
"Well, girlie," said her father, as grace having been said he began to carve the joint of roast beef; "how did you get on the first day of term?"
"Pretty well, I think, thank you, father, although the lessons seem harder now than they did with Miss Hemming; I've brought home a lot for to-morrow," and Amethyst looked somewhat ruefully at the lesson books lying on the table in the window.
"You must expect to pay the penalty of honour," remarked the vicar, who had, of course, been immediately informed of the change of class. "You cannot hope to be so high in this form as you were in the other, Amethyst, because many of these girls will be older than you, I presume."
"Yes, father, some of them are, but they can't be very sharp or they would not have been left behind. I am going to try hard to get near the top of this class by the time the reports come out," said Amethyst, a ring of determination in her young voice, as she began to attack her dinner with a school-girl's appetite.
Her parents exchanged glances. "My girlie mustn't be too confident of her own powers," said Mrs. Drury gently, but firmly; "father and I want you to do your very best to learn well, and grow up to be a clever woman, but you must not expect to take all the honours, Amethyst."
"Oh! of course, mumsie, I only meant I was going to do my lessons as well as I possibly could," and the clear grey eyes met her mother's unfalteringly. "There are several girls who are really clever, in my form now, who find it quite easy to learn difficult things. I wish I did," she added with a little sigh.
"You must remember the hare and the tortoise, girlie," said the vicar, with a smile. "If you have more trouble to learn than they do, you may depend upon it you will remember better. Are there any new girls?"
"Only one in our form, father, and she comes from Mydenham. Her name is Monica Beauchamp. I don't think I like her very much," added Amethyst meditatively.
"Don't judge hastily, darling," said her mother; "she may be a very nice girl, when you know her."