ty. She would surely be heard all over
the church."

He went away, and Abby crept upstairs with burning cheeks and an
unpleasant suspicion that she had made herself ridiculous.

Mrs. Clayton suspected that her little daughter had overheard the
message. She therefore spared the children any reference to the
subject. But the next time they met Father Dominic he alluded, as if
casually, to the devotions suitable for May, and then quite naturally
went on to speak of the virtues of the Blessed Virgin, especially of
her humility and love of retirement; saying how, although the Mother of
God, she was content to lead a humble, hidden life at Nazareth, with no
thought or wish to proclaim her goodness from the house-tops. The
lesson was gently and kindly given, but Abby was shrewd enough and
sufficiently well disposed to understand. She felt that she was indeed
learning a great deal during this Month of Mary.

About the middle of the month there was a stir of pleasurable
excitement at St. Mary's School.

"Suppose we get up a May drama among the younger pupils?" suggested
Marion Gaines, the leading spirit of the graduating class.

The proposition was received with enthusiasm, and Mother Rosalie was
applied to for permission.

"Yes," she answered, "you have my consent to your plan; but on one
condition--that you arrange the drama and drill the children
yourselves. It will be good practice for you in the art of
composition; and, by teaching others, you will prove whether or not you
have profited by Professor Willet's lessons in elocution."

The Graduates were delighted.

"That is just like Mother Rosalie," said Marion. "She is willing to
trust us, and leaves us to our own resources, so that if we succeed all
the credit will be ours. Now we must draw up a plan. Shall we decide
upon a plot, and then each work out a portion of it?"

"Oh, dear, I never could think of anything!" declared one.

"I should not know how to manage the dialogue. My characters would be
perfect sticks," added a second.

"I can't even write an interesting letter," lamented some one else.

"I respectfully suggest that Marion and Ellen be requested to compose
the drama," said the first speaker, with mock ceremony.

"I agree with all my heart!" cried one.

"And I,"--"and I!" chimed in the others.

"It is a unanimous vote," continued their spokesman, turning to the
young ladies in question, with a low bow.

"But we shall have all the wor