And we shall part never
Till life at school ends!”
The girls always laughed at Lily’s ready versification whether it was funny or not, so the approval she had learned to expect came now.
“Don’t cross a bridge till you come to it,” said Delia.
“O, you dear, original creature, I have come to it, I know it by the pricking of my thumbs. and I feel it in my bones, and existence isn’t going to be worth having!”
“Here’s my bottle of toothache-drops, with a caution on the label not to swallow any, because it’s poison. I guess I can spare one fatal dose for you and have enough left to last till term ends.”
“Thanks, Katie, but I prefer to end my days by opening a vein; besides, your toothache-drops smell of cloves, and I hate cloves. I’m very fastidious, and prefer to ‘die of a rose in aromatic pain.’ I don’t quite know what that means, but it sounds better than cloves.”
“Well, go on living till you see Miss Stubbs; she may be such a queen of love and beauty that even that name can’t spoil her.”
The door opened then, admitting Mrs. Abbott and little Ethel, who shrank away as the girls made a dash at her.
“Her shyness will not last when she has had time to make acquaintance with you all,” said Mrs. Abbott, sitting down in the rocking-chair Lily placed for her and taking Ethel upon her lap.