Maria shook her head drearily.
“No! I can’t go out; and I will not keep you from them. Go, please, Moriole! I will not bring disgrace on you. Please go!”
Honor stood her ground hotly, determined to carry her point; finally the school bell settled the matter by summoning all hands to the classroom.
It was a wretched morning. Maria drooped in her corner. Honor blazed and flashed in hers like a Catherine wheel. She flung her scornful glances here and there, and all quailed beneath them, except Patricia, who only laughed. Stephanie was on the verge of tears and made sad work of her lessons.
“What then ails these children?” said Madame to Soeur Séraphine at recess. “Do they conspire, or are they sickening? There is a fever in the suburbs, Margoton tells me. Perhaps it would be well to send for the doctor?”
“Wait a little, my sister! We shall soon know.” Soeur Séraphine was her usual serene self. “Our little casserole bubbles furiously; soon it will overflow, and we shall learn all about it. They are like that, our dear children! No, they are not sickening: I have examined tongue and pulse of all; all are perfect, except this poor Maria, who is the root of the trouble, I am convinced, and who as yet can tell me nothing. To-morrow I look to know all.”
That was the Sister’s way. She never “poked the nose,” as we said. She hardly ever asked a question; she simply waited and things came to her.
This time she had not long to wait.
The day wore through somehow; a dreadful day. Honor never liked to recall it. In the afternoon walk, she stalked ahead of the rest, her arm round Maria, her head thrown back defiantly, her heart full of rage and bitterness. If only Maria had a particle of spirit, it would be easier, she felt; but Maria had no thought of anything but despair, with the added misery of having involved Honor in her disgrace. She was not in the least a bad girl, poor Maria; only a silly, inquisitive one.
“Look, Maria! what a strange-looking old lady! Isn’t she beautiful? She is looking at us, so don’t stare, but just glance as you go by!”