ool life, at the close of which, like a steep wall to be
scaled, rose the university examination, she was behindhand with her
work, and occupied a mediocre place in her class. So steadfastly was
her attention pitched on Evelyn that she could link it to nothing else:
in the middle of an important task, her thoughts would stray to
contemplate her friend or wonder what she was doing; while, if Evelyn
were out for the evening, Laura gave up her meagre pretence of study
altogether, and moodily propped her head in her hand. This was why she
had hit on the small hours for the necessary cramming; then, there were
no distractions: the great house was as still as an empty church; and
Evelyn lay safe and sound before her. So, punctually at two o'clock
Laura was startled, with a pounding heart, out of her first sleep; and
lighting the gas she sat up in bed and pored over her books. Evelyn was
not disturbed by the light, or at least she did not complain; and it
was certainly a famous time for committing things to memory: the
subsequent hours of sleep seemed rather to etch the facts into your
brain than to blur them.

You cannot however rob Peter to pay Paul, with impunity, and in the
weeks that followed, despite her nightly industry, Laura made no
headway.

As the term tapered to an end, things went from bad to worse with her;
and since, besides, the parting with Evelyn was at the door, she was
often to be seen with red-rimmed eyelids, which she did not even try to
conceal.

"As if she'd lost her nearest relation!" laughed her school-fellows.
And did they meet her privately, on the stairs or in a house-corridor,
they crossed their hands on their breasts and turned up their eyes, in
tragedy-fashion.

Laura hardly saw them; for once in her life ridicule could not have
her. The nearer the time drew, the more completely did the coming loss
of Evelyn push other considerations into the background. It was bitter
to reflect that her present dear friendship had no more strength to
endure than the thin pretences of friendship she had hitherto played
at. Evelyn and she would, no doubt, from time to time meet and take
pleasure in each other again; but their homes lay hundreds of miles
apart; and the intimacy of the schooldays was passing away, never to
return. And no one could be held to blame for this. Evelyn's mother and
father thought, rightly enough, that it was time for their daughter to
leave school--but that was all. They did not re