ladies," she said,
"I have received a communication from Sir John, and as you are all
interested in the Scholarship, which may be offered another year to
some further girls of Cherry Court School, I may as well say that I
have just received a letter from him suggesting the theme for the
essay. I will repeat to you what he has said."

Mrs. Clavering stood beside her desk and looked down the long
school-room. The room contained at this moment every girl in the
school, also the teachers. Florence glanced in the direction of Bertha
Keys. She was standing just where a ray of light from one of the
windows caught the reflection of her red hair, which surrounded her
pale face like a glory. She wore it, not in the fashion of the day,
but in an untidy and yet effective style. The girls of the day wore
their hair neatly plaited and smooth to their heads.

One of Mrs. Clavering's special objections to Bertha was her untidy
head. She often longed to ask her to get a brush and smooth out those
rough locks.

Nevertheless, that very roughness of her hair gave her face a look of
power, and several girls gazed at her now half fascinated. Bertha's
light blue eyes flashed one glance in Florence's direction, and were
then lowered. She liked best to keep her most secret thoughts to
herself.

Mrs. Clavering glanced round the room, and then, opening Sir John's
letter, spread it out before her.

"I will read you my friend's letter aloud," she said; "you will all
clearly understand what he says." She then proceeded to read:

"MY DEAR MRS. CLAVERING: After a great deal of reflection I have
resolved that the all-important essay which the lucky three are to
write shall be on the following subject--Heroism. This opens up a wide
field, and will test the capacities of each of the young competitors.
The essay is to be written under the following conditions: It is to be
the unaided work of the competitor; it is to contain not less than two
thousand words and not more than two thousand five hundred. It is to
be written without the aid of books of reference, and when finished is
to be unsigned and put into a blank envelope. The three envelopes
containing the essays are to be handed to you, who will not open them,
but will place them before me on the night of the Scholarship
competition.

"Further particulars with regard to the competition I will let you know
in a few days, but I may as well say now that most of the examination
will