od. But the teacher smilingly shook her head. Lizzie was
getting too far ahead. "Where did he live?" was the next question read
off in the direction of Katie Price, and so on they went until all the
questions were read and answered, Elizabeth supplying whatever
information the rest of the class failed to give. Next came the
"Application," which Elizabeth enjoyed most, because it left room for
discussion. The "Application" applied to each verse and was also read
by the teacher. "Zaccheus was a small man. We may be small and
insignificant in the eyes of the world, but none the less does
responsibility devolve upon each one of us." "Zaccheus climbed a tree.
We learn from this that we should all strive to climb to the loftiest
that life can attain." Elizabeth put in an occasional remark, and
Martha Ellen responded. This was one of the former's grown-up moments
and she reveled in it. There was none of the family there to carry
home the tale that Lizzie was putting on pious airs, and so expose her
to Jean's ridicule; and Martha Ellen's marked appreciation drew her out
to make the wisest and profoundest remarks.

Occasionally Miss Robertson would take out her gold watch and look at
it in surprise, and then continue. Occasionally, also, she glanced
across the aisle to the big boys' class, and once she was rewarded by a
smile and a gracious bow from its teacher. Then Martha Ellen's cheeks
grew pink and the cherries on her hat, Elizabeth noticed, shook just as
the cherries in the orchard did when the wind swept through the boughs.
She looked very much pleased, too, and glanced back to where Annie
Gordon in her plain, blue cotton dress sat with drooping head, striving
to give her attention to the lesson.

Miss Robertson had finally read all the "Application," and again she
looked at her gold watch, while the class sat admiring it. There were
still some minutes left, and, with a sigh, the teacher twisted her gold
bracelets and then turned the page. "We have just time for the moral
piece," she said. "The moral piece" was a little sermon at the end of
the Lesson, containing an admonition to all youthful minds, and Martha
Ellen sometimes used it to fill in the last few minutes. Elizabeth
always listened to it solemnly, for it was full of long, high-sounding
words that gave her an exalted feeling. But just now her attention was
diverted by signs of dire trouble brewing across the aisle. John and
Charles Stuart, all