"How sweet you are, Miss Delicia! You will never, never repent of this forbearance."
"But there is Miss Dent to be thought of, my love. She is most unhappy about the whole thing."
"You will talk to her," said Janet; "you will talk to her as if from yourself; you will, of course, not mention me, for who am I? nothing but a schoolgirl. You will tell Miss Dent that you have thought it wisest to defer saying anything to Mrs. Freeman until the anxieties of to-morrow are over. Oh, it does seem only right and natural; I am so deeply obliged to you. May I kiss you? This lesson in Christian forbearance will, I assure you, not be thrown away on me, and will, doubtless, be the saving of poor, poor Biddy."
Janet ran out of the room; Miss Delicia pressed her hand in a confused way to her forehead.
"Have I really promised not to tell?" she murmured; "I suppose so, although I don't remember saying the words. What a queer, clever girl that is, and yet, at the same time, how really kind. It is noble of her to plead like that for Bridget! Well, after all, twenty-four hours can't greatly signify, and the delay will certainly insure Henrietta and Patience a peaceful time. Now, I must go and talk to poor, dear Sarah Dent."
CHAPTER XV. BRIDGET O'HARA'S STALL.
"And now, my dears," said Mrs. Freeman, addressing her assembled school, "we have come to the end of our school term; the prizes have been distributed; the examinations are over. To those girls who have succeeded in winning prizes, and who have, in consequence, been raised to higher classes in the school, I offer my most hearty congratulations; they have worked well and steadily, and they now reap their due rewards. You, my dears"—the head mistress waved her hand in the direction of the successful girls who were each of them pinning a white satin badge into their dresses, and were standing together in a little group—"you, my dears, will wear the badge of honor all through the remainder of this day; may honor dwell in your hearts, and may success attend you through life; that success, my dear girls, which comes from earnest living, from constant endeavor to pursue the right, from constant determination to forsake the wrong. You have been successful in this day's examinations; you have every reason to be pleased with your success; but, at the same time, it must not render you self-confident. In short, my dear girls, you must ask for strength other than your own to carry you safely though the waves of this troublesome world. I now want to say a word or two to those girls who have not to-day earned prizes. I want you, my dear children, not to go away with any undue sense of discouragement. If, through carelessness or inattention, you have not got the prize you coveted, you must try very hard to be careful and attentive next term; you must also, however, remember that every girl cannot win a prize, but that patience and constant endeavor will secure to each of you the best rewards in due time. On the whole, the term's work has been satisfactory, and the progress made in every branch of study gratifying. I now declare the school closed as far as lessons are concerned. Some of you will go away to your own homes to-night; some to-morrow morning. We shall all meet again, I hope, in September; and now there is a very happy time before us. To the courage and the thoughtfulness of a young girl in this school whom you all know—I allude to Janet May—we are going to have a Fancy Fair for the benefit of a child who has none of the advantages which you one and all possess. Evelyn Percival, as the head girl of the school, and as my special friend and right hand, will hold the first stall at the Fancy Fair; this, of course, is her due—but, that every justice should be done, I wish you all, girls, now to acknowledge that the first thought of the fair was due to Janet. Shall we cheer her?"
A chorus of applause followed the head mistress's speech. Janet, in her white dress with green ribbons, the glistening satin badge of a prize-winner pinned on her breast, stood pale and slender, a little in advance of the other girls who had also won prizes. A brief gleam of triumph filled her dark, steel-blue eyes; she glanced at Evelyn, who, next to her, occupied the most conspicuous position; her breath came fast; her lips trembled. The burst of applause was delicious to her.