Page:Harper's New Monthly Magazine - v109.djvu/518

476 sounded natural, and I knew I had known the answers once, but somehow I couldn't remember them now, and I felt all mixed up. So I chewed my penholder and thought and thought. Kittie James wrote as fast as she could, and every now and then she looked over at me and nodded and smiled the way she did in the morning, but I did not smile back. I was too busy. So at last she caught Mabel Muriel's eye, and Mabel Muriel smiled and nodded and wrote fast the way Kittie was doing; and at three they had both finished, and they handed in their papers and got excused and went out under the trees. I could see them through a window near me, and they were laughing and hugging each other. It made me feel almost bitter to realize how thoughtless some girls are when their dear companions are in trouble, but let us hope the careless children did not know.

The next morning we had constitution, and that was just as bad. I was not sure of a single answer, and I will admit right now that it did me good to see Mabel Muriel Murphy and Maudie Joyce chewing their penholders the way I was doing. They looked worried to death. But Kittie was writing away so hard you could have heard her pen if you were in the hall, and so was Mabel Blossom. Mabel's whole face shone, the way it does when she is interested, and all her teeth showed—both rows,—and she beamed on Kittie James, and their pens scratched away together like a duet. They finished at eleven, and were excused, and went out into the grounds and sat under a tree where we could all see them, and they told stories and laughed, and Kittie held Mabel's hand every minute. Somehow all I could think of was about how sharper than a serpent's tooth an ungrateful child is. I could not remember much of the constitution, but of course I did my best.

In the afternoon we had algebra, and I seemed to be rusty on that, too. You see, algebra is a thing you can't talk about in a general way in answer to questions, and that made it harder. I got bluer and bluer and bluer, and it was five o'clock when I handed in my paper and staggered from the room. Sister Irmingarde let me have the extra hour, and she let Mabel Blossom have it, and Mabel Muriel Murphy, too. Kittie was through at four, and so was Maudie Joyce. They went off together, and Kittie patted my back and left three chocolate creams on my desk, but they did not help much. What are chocolate creams when the heart is breaking and disgrace stares one in the face!

That night I locked myself in my room and I studied and studied the subjects that were to come the next day. I was afraid the girls might come, but they did not. Kittie and Maudie Joyce were making a Welsh rabbit, and the other girls were studying just as I was. They told me so afterwards.

The next morning I cheered up a good deal, for the examination was in Latin, and as soon as I read the questions I saw I was all right. So then I remembered to sit properly in my seat and keep my features smoothed out, which I had forgotten about for two days, and by eleven my paper was finished. Kittie's was, too, so we went out together, and I realized that she was sweet and good at heart, though sometimes a thoughtless child. Just as I closed the door I looked back and saw all too plainly that despair had claimed for its very own my dear friends Mabel Blossom, Maudie Joyce, and Mabel Muriel Murphy. It was sad to see them suffer, so Kittie and I sat out on the rustic seat where they could see us and be cheered up by the sight of our happiness. And we laughed a great deal; for Kittie is very entertaining at times, and this was one of them.

In the afternoon we had physiology, and I got nervous again. It looked as if Sister Irmingarde had taken trouble to pick out questions we never heard of. I was pretty sure of two or three, and I guessed at several more, but there were three I didn't even try to answer. I chewed my penholder worse than ever, till there wasn't much left of it. By and by Sister Irmingarde came to my seat and handed me a fresh one. She smiled as she did it, in the sweetest way, and her eyes showed that she was sorry for me. A great big lump came into my throat, and at that very minute Maudie Joyce and Kittie James handed in their papers, and left the room, and sat on that old bench where we could see them. I took out my handkerchief and wiped my eyes. I couldn't help it. Then I remembered