"Ah!" she said, stopping before the Corner House girl's desk. "You are Theresa Kenway?"
Tess arose before replying. "Yes, ma'am," she said.
"Ah! Didn't I give you a question to answer this first day?"
"Yes, ma'am," replied Tess, trying to speak calmly.
Miss Pepperill evidently expected to find Tess at fault. "What was the question, Theresa?" she asked.
"You told me to be prepared to recite for you the succession of the sovereigns of England."
"Well, are you prepared?" snapped Miss Pepperill.
"Yes, ma'am," Tess said waveringly. "I learned them in a rhyme, Miss Pepperill. It was the only way I could remember them all—and in the proper succession. May I recite them that way?"
"Let me hear the rhyme," commanded the teacher.
Tess began in a shaking voice, but as she progressed she gained confidence in the sound of her own voice, and, knowing the rhyme perfectly, she came through the ordeal well.