Anne stood up, half dazed, still wondering what it was all about, and made her way through a sea of faces to the platform.
"Hurrah!" roared the pupils of the High School in one voice.
"Hi-hi-hi! Hi-hi-hi! Oakdale, Oakdale, HIGH SCHOOL!"
This was an honor usually accorded only to football and baseball heroes.
When Anne reached the platform she appeared so small and plain, in her simple white muslin frock, that people looked at her wonderingly. It was not everyone in Oakdale who was familiar with the little, dark-haired girl.
"My dear," said Miss Thompson, very handsome and imposing in a gray silk dress, "I am happy to be the one to hand you these two prizes. You have worked hard and richly deserve them both. I am sure everyone in this house to-night is glad that your winter's unceasing labors are crowned with success, and I now recommend you to take a good rest, for such prizes are only earned by earnest and hard application, and hard work carries with it, sometimes, its own penalty." (She placed special emphasis on these last words.) "You have indeed earned the right to a happy vacation."
Two bouquets were handed over the footlights at this point, one a beautiful bunch of pink roses and the other of lilies of the valley.
Mrs. Gray had sent the roses Grace felt sure. It was her custom always to send such a bouquet to the one who carried off the prize. But who had sent the lilies of the valley?
"Very likely David," Grace said to herself, watching the boy's face as Anne took the flowers from the usher.
Had he known then that his sister had lost the prize, or was his faith in Anne so great?