Her heart was pounding away vigorously as she knocked and inquired if Mr. Johnston was in. She had known him ever since she could remember, but he seemed suddenly to have become almost a stranger. Outwardly, however, it was a very dignified young lady who presented her case before him.
It seemed to her that he looked at her for fully five minutes without speaking.
“So you want to teach?” he asked at last. “Pretty young, aren’t you? How old are you? Seventeen?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Hilda. “I suppose that isn’t very old, but I have a good certificate, and I am pretty sure that I can teach a good school. At least, I’d try my best if you would give me a chance.”
“That’s what they all say,” remarked Mr. Johnston.
“I know. But that is all I can say till somebody gives me a chance to show what I can do.”
“You have had no experience, of course.”
“No. But if I am ever to make a teacher, I’ll have to teach my first school sometime and somewhere.”
“I guess that’s so. Got some pretty good grades here.” He had been examining the certificate she had handed him.