d as though she had been crying. "What do you
want?" she asked in a low voice.

"To talk with you," said Miriam boldly, stepping forward and slipping
her arm through Mildred's. "Shall we sit down here and begin? All my
friends have deserted me to-night. There were ever so many vacant places
at the dinner table. I noticed you were away, too."

"I--I--have--haven't had any dinner," faltered Mildred. Then, staring
disconsolately at her companion for an instant, she dropped her head on
her arm and gave way to violent sobbing. "I am so miserable," she
wailed.

Miriam sat silent, touched by Mildred's distress, yet undecided what to
do. Things were evidently going badly with the "cute" little girl. "She
has done something she is sorry for," was Miriam's reflection. After a
slight deliberation she said gently, "Is there anything you wish to tell
me, Miss Taylor?"

Mildred raised her head, regarding Miriam with troubled, hopeless eyes.
Miriam took one of the little girl's hands in hers. "Do not be afraid to
tell me," she said earnestly. "I am your friend."

"You wouldn't be if you knew what a miserable, contemptible coward I
am," muttered Mildred. "I can't tell you anything. Please go away." Her
head dropped to her arm again.

Miriam, still holding her other hand, patted it comfortingly. "No one is
infallible, Miss Taylor. I once felt just as you do to-night. Only I am
quite sure that my fault was much graver than yours can possibly be."

Mildred raised her head with a jerk. She looked at Miriam incredulously.
"I don't think _you_ ever did anything very contemptible," she said
sceptically.

"Let me tell you about it," replied Miriam soberly. "Then you can judge
for yourself. The person whom I wronged has long since forgiven me, but
I can never quite forgive myself or forget. It was during my first year
in high school that I began behaving very badly toward a new girl in the
freshman class, of whom I was jealous. I was the star pupil of the class
until she came, then she proved herself my equal if not my superior in
class standing, and I tried in every way to discredit her in the eyes of
her teachers and her friends. At the end of the freshman year, a sum of
money was offered as a prize to the freshman who averaged highest in her
final examinations. Feeling sure that this other girl would win it, I
managed, with the help of some one as dishonest as myself, to gain
possession of the examination questions, but before I had