Emma's grandfather had founded the school, and her uncle was its president; and some of the girls said Miss Van Ness favoured Emma on that account; but Florry insisted that this was not the case.
"Miss Van Ness is too impartial," she said, one day. "She stands up so straight that she leans over. She notices things in Emma that she would not see at all in anybody else; and that is one reason why Emma gets so many more marks than I do."
It may be that, in this matter, Florry was misled by her affection for her friend. But certain it was, that Emma was very unlucky in the matter of getting marks. She was apt to forget herself during the "hour of silence," and begin studying aloud, or whispering to her neighbour. Then she was always getting into trouble because she never could say "No" when asked to lend her pencils or her books; for it was one of the very few strict rules of the school, that there should be no borrowing without express permission, but that every girl must have what was necessary for her school-work. This was a very good rule, and, if it had been kept, would have saved a deal of trouble; but Emma always had plenty of spare pens and pencils; and, as she said, she hated to be disobliging. I suspect the real truth was that she disliked the trouble of saying "No;" and thus she was always getting "marks," and being obliged to answer "Yes" when asked if she had broken any rules of the school.
"But why will you keep on lending, Emma, when you know that it is against the rules?" asked Florry, one night, when Emma was crying and saying, "It is too bad! I never have half a chance!"
"If you only lent to the girls you like, and that like you, I wouldn't mind so much; though even then I don't think you ought to break rules: but you lend to Lavinia Stephens, and get into trouble for her, when you know you don't like her, and that she just lives by sponging on the other girls."
"Well, I know she will think I am mean, if I don't."
"And suppose she does; what harm will that do you?" asked Florry, very sensibly. "I should think you would care more for what your father and mother and Miss Van Ness think, than you do for Lavinia Stephens."
Emma didn't know, only that it was not very pleasant to refuse; and nobody liked to do disagreeable things. In fact, Emma was one of those people with whom a little present inconvenience outweighs any amount of discomfort in the future. If promotion had depended only on answers given at an examination, Emma would soon have "caught up" and passed Florry; for she was very quick to learn when she gave her mind thereto. But this was not the case in Hausen School. It was the record throughout the term which decided whether any girl should be promoted at the end; and for this reason, Florry's chances were much better than Emma's.
"Now, Emma," said Florry, as they were riding down to school that morning, "you don't mean to get any marks this week, do you? You know this is the last of the term, and half a dozen marks may make all the difference."
"I suppose you think you are certain of being promoted?" said Emma.