el, for she had so much to
tell them that she could not get the words out fast enough.

At last it was supper-time, and then began the important operation of
dressing for the evening. The girls might wear their hair any way they
liked this last evening, and Maude was delighted when she looked in the
glass and saw her hair floating about her shoulders once more. Maude's
mother was not coming till the next day, so she was not quite as happy
as Ruby was.

The girls were all very much excited by the time the company began to
arrive. The long school-room had seats placed in one end of it for the
audience, and at the other end were seats for the scholars, for the
teachers, and the piano upon which the girls were to play.

Ruby was fairly radiant with delight when the moment to begin came, and
she was not troubled by any of the doubts that the other girls had that
they might fail. She was quite sure that she knew her pieces so
perfectly that she could not possibly forget anything; and company
never frightened her, it only stimulated her to do her best.

She was so glad her papa was there, for it was so delightful to look
into his pleased, proud face when she recited her piece. She could not
look at him during the dialogue, but she was quite sure that his eyes
were following her, and the moment she had finished she looked at him
and saw how pleased his face was, and how proud he looked.

Then came the duet. Agnes and Ruby were to play this together, and
they had practised it so much that they were both sure that they could
play it without the music. If any one had told Ruby that in this very
piece she would make the only mistake of the evening, she would not
have believed it possible, and yet that was the thing that really
happened.

The first bar Agnes had to play alone, then she struck a chord with
Ruby and then had a little run of several notes by herself. Ruby felt
very grand when the duet was announced and she walked to the piano with
Agnes and seated herself. She was sorry that she was on the side away
from the audience, because then her father could not see her quite as
well, but then he was so tall that perhaps he could see past Agnes and
watch her.

They were both ready, and Aunt Emma stood by the piano with the little
black baton with which she beat time.

Ruby counted softly under her breath so she should be sure not to make
a mistake. Agnes played her first notes, then Ruby came in promptly
with