e dear, nothing could be more becoming to you."

Miss Dartmoor was heard to give an indignant snort. She went up to
Kitty and looked at her with marked attention.

"I hate the heathenish sort of dress," she exclaimed, "but if it comes
to that, I believe that Catherine Sharston will look just as well with
a chaplet of leaves round her head as anyone else in the room."

"Oh, we are not disputing that point," said Mrs. Aylmer the less,
chirruping away as she spoke, and dancing up to a neighboring
looking-glass to take a side view of her own dress; "we are not
disputing that point. The one who wins the Scholarship will look
beautiful in her wreath of glory. Time will prove who that lucky
person will be."

Here she winked at Florence, who turned away.

Her head ached; there was a heavy, heavy feeling at her heart. She had
one great desire, which for the time being swallowed up all others, and
that was to see Bertha Keys for a moment alone. Bertha was to arrive
with the rest of the school in time for the great ceremony, which was
to take place in the great central hall of the old house.

The hall had been decorated for the occasion, and in its dark recesses
gleamed now many fairy lamps. In the middle of the hall was a dais, on
which the judges were to sit, and before whom the young competitors
were to appear when the crucial moment came.

A flood of light from many incandescent burners poured down upon this
dais, making it one of dazzling light.

The rest of the girls of the school were to sit in a darker part of the
hall; they were to be dressed in their best. The guests were to occupy
a gallery to the left, except those guests who, by Sir John's special
invitation, were to sit upon the dais and give their votes in favor of
the essays. Desks were provided also in the middle of the hall for the
three young competitors, at which they were to sit to answer the
questions which were to be asked them by three professors specially
sent for from London by Sir John.

There was not to be the slightest indication of who the successful
winner was to be until the crucial moment, and the examination from
first to last was expected to occupy about an hour and a half.

While it was going on very soft music was to be played on a distant
organ; the competitors were then to go forward and to stand in front of
the judges while the three essays were read aloud by no less a person
than Sir John himself.

The judges would reti