“The turtle?”
“Yep,” said Bobby, “You know what the little boy said when he first went into the country? He came running to his father and says: ‘Oh, Dad! what’s this thing I found? When I poked it, it put its hands and feet in its pockets and swallowed its head!’ Now, there can’t be anything much more retiring than the turtle—or me.”
The bell called them in for the final session then, and half an hour before closing time the signal from Mr. Sharp’s office announced that the girls of all classes were to file to the Assembly hall and take their seats. On this occasion the boys were not present.
“If I don’t get it I hope you do, Jess,” whispered Laura Belding to her chum as they went to their seats.
But to herself Jess kept saying: “Oh, it would be too good to be true—too good to be true! It would be just like a story-book.”
Mr. Sharp was smiling when he rose to speak.
“I must admit that I am surprised—happily surprised,” he began. “Several of the plays submitted to the committee are really marked by a vigor of style and originality of text and plot that have delighted me. Particularly are ‘The Strong Defense,’ by Miss Belding, ‘Appearances,’ by Miss Hilyard, ‘The Arrow’s Flight,’ by Miss Agnew and ‘Harrowdale,’ by Miss Buford to be praised upon these points.
“Of course, there were some handed in to the committee that were utterly unintelligible; the writers had not grasped the first principles of play-writing. But, as a whole, I am proud of your efforts, and I know Miss Gould is. I only fear that many of you young ladies who began plays did not finish them. It narrowed the choice down to a very few.
“And yet,” pursued Mr. Sharp, “there was really little doubt in the minds of any of the committee at the first reading of the manuscripts. And when the plays considered, from a literary standpoint, really acceptable, were put in the hands of Mr. Monterey for a final reading and judgment, we were assured that our opinion was correct.
“There is but one, among them all, that is a really actable (pardon the coining of the word), and that one, too, has in it the elements of a really heart-moving story. The author has failed in many of the professional rules of play-writing—even her grammar is somewhat shaky in spots,” added Mr. Sharp, smiling suddenly. “But the story is so sweet and so moving, and is so well fitted to the acting capacity of you girls and your brothers, that there is not the shadow of a doubt as to the worth of the piece and the success of the writer.”