CHAPTER V.
JESSIE'S TRUTH.
On the day appointed, Harriet and I went over by Miss Bennett's request, to see the prize delivered to her who should be found to deserve it. A lamb had been chosen by Mr. Mackay, and without telling Mary any thing of it, he had had a small silver collar engraved, "reward of merit." After the lamb had been washed as white as snow, this had been put on it, and a blue riband tied to the collar by which the lamb might be led, so that Jessie, should she win it, would have no difficulty in getting it home. As I entered my brother's house, I met Jessie and Mary in the piazza. Mary was talking very earnestly, and I heard her say, "There is your box, Jessie. Don't open it till you give it to papa."
"But I must open it, Mary. I want to divide the cards, so as not to give Mr. Mackay much trouble."
"Nonsense, Jessie—what does papa care for trouble? You must not open it, I tell you. I have counted the cards, and you will have the lamb."
"Mary, how can you laugh at me so? You know that I cannot get it."
At this moment Mary was called away by her mother. I had watched her closely, and I thought I could see some roguery in the demure smile which played around her mouth, in spite of her evident efforts to be serious. As soon as she was out of sight, Jessie seated herself on the steps and took out her tickets. They were already made into parcels, and I saw her turn her eyes with a wondering look from one to the other,—then she loosed the string which tied each parcel together, counted them rapidly, and then, dropping them into the box, said, "What does this mean?"
I began to be quite interested in this little mystery, of which I suspected Mary knew more than anybody else, so when I went into the schoolroom, I took my seat at a window, the sash of which was raised, and which overlooked the piazza, and kept my eye on Jessie. I was scarcely seated before Mary ran up to her. As soon as she was near enough to see the box opened and the cards loosed, she cried out in a vexed tone, "And so, Jessie, you would open the box after all?"
"Oh, Mary!" said Jessie, "it is the strangest thing—my blank cards are almost all gone, and here are a great many more merit cards than I had. Where can they come from?"