ey gazed at her; but she was too much taken aback by
Beth's readiness to correct her on the instant, although it was an
unaccustomed and a monstrous thing for a girl to address a mistress in
an easy conversational way, let alone differ from her.

She took Beth to the great class-room where the seventh and eighth
worked, and the fifth and sixth joined them for recreation and
preparation, and where also the Bible lessons were given by Miss
Clifford to the whole school.

There were a good many girls of various ages in the room, who all
looked up.

"This is a new girl," Miss Bey said, addressing them generally,--"Miss
Beth Caldwell. Please to show her where to go and what to do."

She glanced round keenly as she spoke, then left the room; and at the
same time a thin, sharp-looking little girl with short hair rose from
the table at which she was sitting and went up to Beth.

"I'm head of the fifth," she said. "Has Bey been examining you? What
class did she put you in?"

"The sixth," Beth said.

"I should have thought you'd have been in the third at least," the
head of the fifth piped, "you're so big. Here are some sixth
girls--Jessie Baker, Ina Formby, Rosa Bird."

The sixth girls were sitting at a round table, with their little desks
before them, writing letters. One of them pulled out a chair for Beth.
They had just returned from the holidays, and were in various stages
of home-sickness--some of them crying, and the rest depressed; but
they welcomed Beth kindly, as one of themselves, and inspected her
with interest.

"You can write a private letter to-day, you know," Rosa Bird said to
Beth.

"What is a private letter?" Beth asked.

"One to your mother, you know, that isn't read. You seal it up
yourself. Public letters have to be sent in open to Miss Clifford. One
week you write a public letter, and the next a private one. Hello!
here's Amy Wynne!"

A dark girl of about eighteen had entered by a door at the farther end
of the room, and was received with acclamation, being evidently
popular. Beth, who was still in her mask of calm indifference, looked
coldly on, but in herself she determined to be received like that some
day.

Most of the girls in the room jumped up, and Amy Wynne kissed one
after the other, and then shook hands with Beth.

"Are all my children back?" she asked.

"I don't know," Rosa Bird rejoined, glancing round. "They are not all
here."

"That's one of the mothers," Rosa explained to