“Susan,” said Miss Ashton, as with a pale face and downcast eyes the girl stood before her, “when I asked you about your brother’s visit to you on the night of the sleigh-ride, you did not tell me of the note he gave you, and you gave to Mamie Smythe. If you had, you would have saved me many troubled hours.”
“You did not ask me,” said Susan promptly.
“True. Did you know the contents of the note?”
“Mamie asked me to go with them, but I refused. I was afraid you wouldn’t like it, and I’d much rather lose a ride any time than displease you;” and Susan, as she said this, looked bravely in Miss Ashton’s face. 134
“That’s all,” the principal said gravely, and Susan, with a lighter heart than that with which she had entered, left the room; but Miss Ashton thought, as she watched the forced smile on the girl’s face, “There’s one that can’t be trusted; what a pity, for she is not without ability!” Then she remembered the story she had read and praised, and wondered over it.
Two days before the time for the term to close, Miss Ashton received this note:—
Our dear Miss Ashton,—We, the undersigned, do regret in sackcloth and ashes our serious misconduct in going away at an improper time, and in an improper manner, on a sleigh-ride, without your consent and approval.
We promise, if you will forgive us, and restore us to your trust and affection, that we will never, NEVER be guilty of such a misdemeanor again. That we will try our best faithfully to observe the rules of the school, and endeavor to be good and faithful scholars.
Pray forgive and test us!
Mamie Smythe, Helen Norris,
Jane Somers, Julia Abbey,
Myra Peters, Etta Spring.