de no effort to stop him,
knowing how useless further remonstrance on this point would be.

Next day Mabel was allowed to come to school, greatly to Minnie's
delight, and was not worse on that account contrary to her aunt's
confident expectation, indeed the life and activity with which she found
herself surrounded there, and into which she was ere long sucked, seemed
to raise and disperse the cloud of depression which had enveloped her,
so that in a few days she was her old self again.

The examination in which Mona and Minnie were to take part, was now
drawing near, and both were very hard at work in consequence. Minnie,
who never did anything by halves, wrought with all her energy, and
denied herself the pleasure of being at Hollowmell as often as usual,
that she might keep herself in right working order.

Not that she hoped to stand first on the list, for that hope she had
abandoned when she resolved to keep back her Latin translation, but
there were candidates from other schools in the neighbourhood, and the
honour of the school was as much a consideration with her as any
individual honour could be.

They were both too busy just at that time to indulge in any of their
usual skirmishes, even if they had been particularly inclined, which,
singularly enough, neither happened to be. Mona, to do her justice, had
not, since the day on which she had been so ignominiously defeated about
the Hollowmell scheme, troubled Minnie with any of her ordinary most
provoking remarks; she held aloof, it is true, in a way which many
considered to bode no good to their future peace when she would once
more be at liberty to resume her attacks.

In this, however, they were mistaken, for matters remained "in statu
quo" after the examination was over, and the school had fallen into its
usual routine again.

There was a good deal of speculation as to which would stand highest,
but as it would be some time before the result could be communicated,
these speculations were soon allowed to die away, and be replaced by
objects of more immediate interest.

About this time the girls were making preparations for a grand floral
demonstration which was to take place at the end of June, for their work
had been going on now for four months. It was still almost a month till
then, but the hearts of these youthful missionaries were already growing
troubled as they contemplated the ambitious nature of their undertaking,
when an incident occurred which