Page:A New England Tale.djvu/89

78 was all astonishment to behold her now so persevering in her resolution to accomplish her purpose. But Jane's and Mrs. Wilson's estimate of the importance of any given object was very different. The same fortitude that enabled Jane to bear, silently and patiently, the "oppressor's wrong," nerved her courage in the attainment of a good end.

Mrs. Wilson had no longer any pretence to oppose Jane's wishes; and the following day she took her place, with her cousins, at Mr. Evertson's school. Her education had been very much advanced for her years; so that, though four years younger than Martha Wilson, she was, after a very careful examination by the teacher, classed with her. This was a severe mortification to Martha's pride; she seemed to feel her cousin's equality an insult to herself, and when she reported the circumstance to her mother, she said, she believed it was all owing to Jane's soft answers and pretty face; or "may be the Quaker, who takes such a mighty fancy to Jane, has bribed Mr. Evertson."

"Very likely, very likely," answered her mother. "It seems as if every body took that child's part against us."

Jane, once more placed on even ground with her companions, was like a spring relieved from a pressure. She entered on her new pursuits with a vigour that baffled the mean attempts of the family at home to impede or hinder her course. She was not a genius, but she had that eager assiduity, that "patient attention," to which the greatest of