In recalling this interview at a later hour, Alice did not feel one qualm of conscience in regard to the dreadful untruths of which she had been guilty; but she was somewhat vexed that anything should have excited the suspicion of the teachers, as now it would be more difficult to evade them.
That very evening, she wrote a note to Mr. Morris, begging him to be more careful what he said of her, and consenting to ride with him the next afternoon which was a half-holiday.
Throwing a veil over her head, she stole softly out to the garden to a place in the hedge accessible from the street, where of late she had placed her letters.
Miss Salsbury acknowledged to her niece that she felt much easier after her interview with Alice, who appeared wholly indifferent to the admiration of Mr. Morris, if indeed any such feelings existed. She even owned that she had been prejudiced against the young lady ever since the affair of the composition; but Alice had explained that, if not to her satisfaction, at least so as to prove that she might have been guilty of such a plagiarism without understanding that it was improper.
It was true that soon after the event occurred, Alice was summoned to account for her misdemeanor. She told the preceptress that in Mrs. Lerow's school, the young ladies all made selections from favorite authors; that the teachers were not only aware of it, but often referred them to particular passages when they found it difficult to select for themselves. This, like most of her other statements, since her arrival at the seminary, was wholly false.
When the teacher explained the deception, she thanked the lady warmly and declared she would never be guilty of copying again.
[CHAPTER XVII.]
LYING CONTAGIOUS.
THE next morning, when school was dismissed, Miss Salsbury and her niece, Miss Farley, started immediately for the next town, where they had business. It was near night before they were able to return, and they were driving through a retired street which shortened their distance about a mile, when they saw in front of them a buggy upset, and a crowd rapidly gathering about it.
"I am afraid some one is injured," remarked Miss Farley, as they drew nearer. "See, they are lifting a lady from the ground."