good terms with her classmates, for she was merry
and humorous as well as accommodating. Her friendship with Dorothy
increased daily. As they travelled backwards and forwards by train
together they were necessarily thrown much in each other's company, and
they earned the nicknames of "David" and "Jonathan" in the Form.

The contrast between the circumstances and the upbringing of the two
girls could not, however, have been stronger. Miss Sherbourne, in
adopting Dorothy, had undertaken a charge that was a heavy if
self-imposed burden upon her small means. Rigid economy was the rule at
Holly Cottage; no luxuries could be afforded, and pleasures were mostly
of a kind that did not involve any great expenditure. It was rarely that
Aunt Barbara indulged herself even to the extent of a concert ticket or
a piece of new music. A fresh piano was out of the question, so she
managed to coax a good deal of melody from the old one. If it had not
been for the help of her writing she could not have sent Dorothy to the
College, and, as it was, such extras as dancing lessons were impossible.

Though Dorothy clearly understood the necessity for economy, she often
secretly chafed against it. She was a girl who liked to shine before her
schoolfellows, and she felt keenly that she lacked their advantages. It
was hard, when all were talking of a play or an exhibition, to have to
confess that she had not been, and to hear the others say pityingly:
"Why, Dorothy, you never go anywhere!" Her clothes, made by Aunt Barbara
at home, though beautifully neat and quite sufficient for a schoolgirl,
could not compete with the pretty dresses worn by many of her
companions; and she did not possess even a watch, much less bangles and
chains such as Hope Lawson was fond of displaying.

The knowledge of her dependent position, which Aunt Barbara had so
carefully kept hidden, came to her as the most serious of her drawbacks.
She could not help brooding over it, and the more she dwelt upon the
subject the more disconsolate and discontented she became. Aunt Barbara,
whose loving eyes were quick to notice, saw only too clearly the phase
through which Dorothy was passing; but she knew that the girl must fight
her own battle before she learnt to set the right value on this world's
possessions, and to discover for herself what things are really of
worth. With Dorothy's character Miss Sherbourne often felt as though she
were working in the dark. She did her best t