her sister, but Dreda had forgotten her sister's existence. Her heart
was beating in quick, sickening thuds; her feet and hands were icy cold;
her knees jerked up and down, and in her throat was a hard, swelling
pain. It seemed as if all the happiness of life depended upon the next
few minutes; as if she could never hold up her head again if she failed
now. The girls were smiling and nudging each other gaily; Norah was
whispering to Susan, and Susan was listening with an air of genuine
interest. Were they all sticks and stones, who had no capacity for
feeling? Then Mr Rawdon rose to his feet, and there was an outburst of
clapping from the audience. Dreda's own hands moved automatically, and
again she wondered at their cold. The first few sentences sounded like
a meaningless buzz; then gradually her brain took in the words. Mr
Rawdon was expressing conventional pleasure at the "privilege" accorded
him by his "kind friend;" these formal civilities were just the clearing
of the way before the real business began, and speaker and hearers alike
heaved a sigh of relief when they were over and the interesting
criticism had begun. Mr Rawdon considered that four out of the twelve
essays submitted to him were decidedly above the average of such
productions, showing evidences of originality, thought, and literary
style. His lips twitched humorously as he described himself as having
been quite overwhelmed by the flights of eloquence of one of these
budding authoresses, but although four essays had stood out
conspicuously from the rest, he had not had a moment's hesitation in
deciding on the prize-winner. The essay of this young writer bore the
inevitable marks of youth and inexperience, but it bore something else
too--something which it was a joy to discover--something which had given
himself as a writer a deep pleasure and satisfaction--it bore the marks
of a strong literary gift. The girl who had written this essay
possessed the great gifts of wit, pathos, and charm; she could not only
feel, but she could clothe her thoughts in apt, telling words. She had
faults to overcome, and her apprenticeship to art might be long and
hard; but he had confidence in making a prophecy to-day, a prophecy
which he called upon his hearers to remember and recall in after years,
a prophecy that the writer of this schoolgirl essay would live to make
an honoured name for herself in the English-speaking world.

A wild burst of applause so