“But dear sakes,” said Betty, “we’ll be in school and have to study!”
“Not to hurt,” remarked Chauncey Allen.
[CHAPTER XIII: BETTY MEETS TROUBLE]
There are degrees of satisfaction or of disappointment, but Betty Lee had never met what she would consider real trouble connected with her school life until after Christmas in her freshman year.
The happy Thanksgiving vacation with Janet and Sue as her guests came duly to a close after a pleasant Sabbath during which they went to Sabbath school and church and spent part of the afternoon in wandering around the main art gallery of the city, open to visitors. The girls took an early morning train on Monday and Betty, more or less upset by too many good times, went back to school not feeling much like study. But neither did any one else and the teachers in the main, having had a good rest themselves, seemed not to be too hard on any one.
Betty, however, buckled down to the work of what is always the hardest term of the year, that before Christmas, and had many delightful anticipations of that beautiful celebration. They could not “go to Grandma’s” this year, but they could and did enjoy Christmas day together. Accustomed, now, to the demands of the city school, she felt a real satisfaction in the fact that her work was being well done and her grades upon the cards such that she need not feel ashamed.
There were many interesting distractions toward Christmas and Betty joined the Girl Reserves, the group that included freshmen in her high school, in time to help with the Christmas basket which was to go to make some one’s Christmas brighter. The stores, with their fascinating windows, the hurrying crowds of shoppers, the entertainments and the Christmas music, all had their accustomed charm; but Betty’s vacation of only the one week, with an extra week-end, was spent largely at home, for none of the girls whom she knew well entertained and were absorbed in home affairs.
Again it was hard to settle down to work, but Betty was anxious to do well in the semester examinations and worked particularly hard on her Latin and mathematics. By some shifting of pupils, Betty was now in the adorable Miss Heath’s Latin class, though she had not begun the year with her. Betty was always very shy with her teachers and although Miss Heath was most “human,” as Carolyn said, and friendly with the girls and boys there was a certain bound over which none of them stepped and Betty never presumed even upon the privileges which she might have enjoyed, in a chat or talk or consultation. It was characteristic of her family, perhaps, to be independent. Even at home she always wanted to “get everything herself” if she could, preferring to spend much more time upon a problem rather than ask any one for light upon it.
And now Miss Heath, gave them an examination which they all felt was important. Indeed she told them so. “It is going to help me find out whether you have gotten the important things that I have tried to teach you,” she said. “As you know, I have emphasized some things. Some things we have gone over again and again. I see you smile, for you think that we have gone over everything again and again. So we have. But this may help you, too, in reviewing for your semester finals. The questions for those I do not make out, except in some line assigned to me by the head of the department. This I call a review examination and its results will be most interesting to me. This is not to ‘scare’ you at all, and it will be recorded in my grade book as an ordinary test, but I want you to use your brains to the best of your ability. Day after tomorrow, Thursday, at this hour, come prepared for a test.”
The next day a strange teacher was at the desk, a “substitute,” young and worried. The boys who were in the habit of “acting up” performed as far as they dared, Betty reported at home; and the girls giggled, “because they couldn’t help it. It was so funny.”