ence.

"Come, come, my dear, come in!" some one behind her exclaimed
impatiently. "You're not allowed to stand there."

Beth turned and saw a thin, dry, middle-aged woman, with keen dark
eyes and a sharp manner, standing in the doorway behind her, with a
gentler-looking lady, who said, "It is a new girl, Miss Bey. I expect
she is all bewildered."

"No, I am not at all bewildered, thank you," Beth answered in her easy
way. As she spoke she saw two grown-up girls in the hall exchange
glances and smile, and wondered what unusual thing she had done.

"Then you had better come at once," Miss Bey rejoined drily, "and let
me see what you can do. Please to remember in future that the girls
are not allowed to come to this door."

She led the way as she spoke, and Beth followed her across the hall,
up a broad flight of steps opposite the entrance, down a wide corridor
to the right, and then to the right again, into a narrow class-room,
and through that again into another inner room.

"These are the fifth and sixth rooms," Miss Bey remarked,--"fifth and
sixth classes."

They were furnished with long bare tables, forms, hard wooden chairs,
a cupboard, and a set of pigeon-holes. Miss Bey sat down at the end of
the table in the "sixth," with her back to the window, and made Beth
sit on her left. There were some books, a large slate, a slate pencil,
and damp sponge on the table.

"What arithmetic have you done?" Miss Bey began.

"I've scrambled through the first four rules," Beth answered.

"Set yourself a sum in each, and do it," Miss Bey said sharply, taking
a piece of knitting from a bag she held on her arm, and beginning to
knit in a determined manner, as if she were working against time.

Beth took up the slate and pencil, and began; but the sharp
click-click of the needles worried her, and her brain was so busy
studying Miss Bey she could not concentrate her mind upon the sums.

Miss Bey waited without a word, but Beth was conscious of her keen
eyes fixed upon her from time to time, and knew what she meant.

"I'm hurrying all I can," she said at last.

"You'll have to hurry more than you can, then, in class," Miss Bey
remarked, "if this is your ordinary rate of work."

When the sums were done, she took the slate and glanced over them.
"They are every one wrong," she said; "but I see you know how to work
them. Now clean the slate, and do some dictation."

She took up a book when Beth was ready, and began to rea