"Is her mother a good washer?"
"Oh, yes, ma'am; and she does up white dresses beautifully."
"I will see what can be done for her. Remember, Emma, not to say a word about this," said Mrs. Hausen, in a whisper. "I should be very much displeased if you did. Poor Florry would never hear the last of it; and she has been punished enough, poor little thing. Now, remember!"
"Of course I sha'n't, mamma," answered Emma. "Poor Florry! I would not do it for anything."
And, at the time, she meant what she said.
[CHAPTER III.]
THE LITTLE BIRD THAT CARRIED THE MATTER.
FLORA LESTER and Emma Hausen went to the same school—the primary, or, as it was called, the Kindergarten, department of "Hausen Institute." This was a large, flourishing, and richly endowed girls' school, in the pretty village of Round Springs. Hausen School, as it was usually called, was a very nice place. It was not a grand "institution," with long halls and little rooms, and numberless rules and regulations, and a wonderful "system," which required so much time to develop it, that there was no time left to take care of the girls.
The school building had originally been a substantial square brick mansion, such as one sees in our pretty country villages; but a room had been added here and another there, a large, airy gymnasium on one side, and some equally airy and spacious class-rooms on the other. You were always coming on little snug bedrooms and study-rooms in unexpected corners, with "engaged" cards hung on the doors, to denote that the inmates were busy, and must not be intruded on. There was a very fine library, containing not only what are usually called "standard works," but a great many curious, interesting, and readable books besides. Behind the house were large grounds, at present somewhat rough and neglected, but none the worse for that in the eyes of the little girls, who found beautiful places for play-houses among the rocks, and nice seats on the roots of the old trees. The health of the young ladies was carefully looked after, and their comfort promoted in every possible way.
But we have nothing to do at present with any part of the school except the primary department, or Kindergarten, presided over by Miss Van Ness and Miss Garland. In this department, Florry Lester and Emma Hausen were the oldest girls; and they were already beginning to feel tall, and out of place, in the midst of the children. Promotion in Hausen School depended not on age, but on scholarship and good conduct, and both Florry and Emma hoped to be advanced to the "fourth class," which was the first step in the upper school, at the coming term-day. Florry felt pretty sure about herself; but she was not so confident about Emma, who was, it must be confessed, a little apt to be idle and giddy. She had thought the matter over, and had secretly made up her mind that, if Emma should be put back for a term, she would ask leave to wait for her, that they might be promoted together.