A day in bed renewed Rhoda's energy, and she took up her work with
unabated fervour. The "lists" were, perhaps, less conspicuously
displayed than before, but were none the less in readiness when needed,
and if Miss Everett disapproved, the Latin mistress was all praise and
congratulation.
"I certainly have a gift for languages, and with lessons during the
holidays I shall soon be steaming ahead," Rhoda told herself proudly.
"I'll ask mother to let Mr Mason coach me. He is a splendid teacher,
and if I have an hour a day I shall learn a lot. Won't the girls stare
when I come back, and go soaring up the class! I shouldn't wonder if I
got a remove. It will be impossible to work up to Thomasina and her
set, but at any rate I'll be past the baby stages, and not disgrace
myself in the examinations."
All the world seemed bounded by examinations at present. Thomasina and
the elder girls working steadily towards the goal of the "Matric";
Kathleen and her friends dreaming night and day of the "Oxford"; while
nearer at hand loomed the school examinations, which ended the term.
Rhoda was in a fever of anxiety to acquit herself well in the eyes of
her companions on this occasion, and could think, speak, and dream of
nothing else. Even her joy of getting her remove from the "Bantlings"
into a higher team was swallowed up in the overwhelming interest, while
Dorothy was filled at once with admiration and disgust at the monotony
of her conversation.
"I don't know, and I don't care!" she replied callously, when anxiously
consulted about a point in mathematics. "I've come out to play, and I'm
not going to rack my brains for you or anyone else. You are getting a
regular bore, Rhoda! It's like walking about with `Magnall's
Questions.' Let's talk about frolics, or holidays, or something nice,
and not worry about stupid old lessons."
Well! Rhoda told herself, it was no wonder if Dorothy _were_ medium, if
this was the way she regarded her studies. If she took no more interest
than this in the coming contest, what could she expect from the result?
She would be sorry, poor dear, when she saw her name at the bottom of
the list! There was no help to be expected from Dorothy; but Rhoda
stored up a few knotty questions, and took the first opportunity of
asking Tom for a solution. She had discovered that Tom liked nothing
better than to be consulted by the younger girls, and had a tactful way
of asking help in return, which took away the sense of obligation.
"Oh, by-the-by," she would call to Rhoda, in her elegant fashion, "you
are a bit of a German sausage, aren't you? Just read over that passage
for me. I've been puzzling over it for the whole of the evening," and
then would follow some blissful moments, when Rhoda would skim lightly
over the difficulty, and feel the eyes of the girls fixed admiringly
upon her.
In the present instance a wet Saturday afternoon afforded a good
opportunity for the desired questioning. The Hurst girls did not stay
indoors for an ordinary drizzle, but this was a downpour of so hopeless
a character that even the most enthusiastic athletes felt that the
house-parlour was preferable to the soaking, wind-swept grounds. They
gathered together, stoked up the fire, and prepared to spend the two
hours' leisure as fancy should dictate, some girls reading, some sewing,
and some making themselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit,
and doing nothing at all with every appearance of enjoyment.
"If we had only some chestnuts," said one of the lazy ones, "how happy
we might be! I have a wild craving for chestnuts. It came over me
suddenly just now, sitting looking at that fire."
"I think," said Irene Grey solemnly, "it's very sad, but I do think a
school like this makes one horribly greedy. You get so tired of the
food, and have such a longing for something that _isn't_ wholesome. I
assure you, my dears, there have been occasions when the centre table
has had beef, while we have had mutton, when I could have wept--simply
wept! I should like to order a meal regardless of everything but what I
like--lobster mayonnaise, and salmon, and veal cutlets, and ice pudding,
and strawberries and cream, and fizzy lemonade. That would be something
like a dinner--better than old joints and milk puddings!"
The girls groaned in sympathy, and Rhoda took advantage of their
absorption to cross to Tom's desk and consult her quietly on the knotty
points. The solutions were remarkably simple--when you knew them!--and
Tom delivered herself solemnly on the subject.
"You don't think, my dear; you don't reflect. Your brain would help you
out, but you don't give it a chance. It's what I am always saying to
this room--it's not cram you need, it's intelligence! Use your reason!
Cultivate your faculties! Now, then, I'll tell you what I'll do!"--she
raised her voice suddenly, and swung round in her seat. "I'll give you
girls an examination myself. You need some practice before the real
business begins, and it will be just the thing for this wet afternoon.
Get out your books and pencils and I'll dictate the questions. It's to
be a `General Intelligence' paper, and the examiner's instructions are--
use your wits! They will not be the ordinary blunt, straightforward
questions manufactured by the masculine mind, and intended mainly for
the coarse, masculine ability, but full of depth and subtlety, so that
they will require careful consideration. If you go scribbling down your
answers before you have read the questions, you'll be sorry, that's all;
but don't say you were not warned. Now, then, are you ready? ... We
will begin our studies to-day, young ladies, with a problem in
calculation!" She deepened her voice into such an accurate imitation of
the Arithmetical Mistress as filled her listeners with delight.
"Attention to the board!--If a room were 20 feet long, 13 feet broad, 11
feet high, and 17 feet square, how much Liberty wall-paper 27 inches
wide would be required to paper it, allowing 5 feet square for the
fireplace and seven by three for the door?"
The girls wrote down the question, not, however, without some murmurs of
protest.
"If there is one kind of sum I hate more than another, it's these horrid
old wall-papers!" declared Bertha Stacey. "I shall never be a paper-
hanger, so I don't see why I should worry my head. I don't call _this_
General Intelligence."
"I expect we shall have a taste of most subjects; but really, Tom,
really now--the room could not be 17 feet square if your other
measurements were right!" argued Irene, who knew arithmetic to be her
strong point, and was not sorry to impress the fact on her companions.
"You have made a mistake."
She expected the examiner to be discomfited, but Tom fixed her with a
glittering eye, and demanded if perchance she had _seen_ the room in
question, since she was so positive.
"No, of course not, but then-- You know quite well--"
"Well, I _have_, so perhaps you will allow me to know better. Go on,
young ladies, and the next one who dares to raise any objections gets
ten bad marks to begin her list. I must have perfect submission. Five
minutes allowed for working!"
The time proved all too short for some of the workers, for the less
expert they were the more elaborate became their calculations, until
page after page was filled with straggling figures. Thomasina made a
round of inspection, frowning over each book in turn, protesting,
scolding, marking the result with a big black cross. According to her
verdict everyone was wrong, although five girls had arrived at the same
result; and Irene obstinately disputed the decision.
"I _know_ it is right! Work it for yourself, and see. It's a simple
enough sum, and any one could tell--"
"That's apparently just what they can't do! I don't deny that you may
be correct in the broad, vulgar sense, but that is not enough for me. I
expect you to grasp the inner meaning. Now the _real_ answer to this
question is that there can be no answer! To a perceptive mind it would
be impossible to reply without further information. It entirely depends
on how the paper is cut out, and the amount of waste incurred in
matching the pattern!"
The girls shrieked aloud in mingled protest and delight. It was too
bad; it was ripping, it was mean; it was killing; they all spoke
together and at the pitch of their voices, and alternately abused and
applauded until they were tired. The _denouement_ had taken them by
surprise, though in truth they knew their Head too well to have taken
the examination seriously. When Tom played schoolmistress there was
bound to be a joke in ambush, and they settled down to question number
two with minds alert for a trap.
"We will now, young ladies, take an excursion into the realms of
Literature, and test your insight into human nature. I will ask you, if
you please, to compare the respective characters of Alfred the Great and
Miss Charlotte Yonge--`Jo March' and Joseph Chamberlain--four great,
and, it will be obvious to all, strongly-defined personalities. I shall
be interested to hear your distinctions!"
It appeared, however, as if there would be little to interest, for most
of the girls stared blankly into space, as if powerless to tackle such a
subject. Rhoda was one of the few exceptions, and scribbled unceasingly
with a complacent sense of being on her own ground until the limit of
time was reached. Tom had evidently noticed her diligence, for she
called out a peremptory, "Rhoda, read aloud your answer!" which was
flattering, if at the same time slightly alarming.
"Ahem--er--er--in the historical character of Alfred the Great we find
combined the characteristics of courage and simplicity. He waged a long
and unequal fight, and was equally inspired by failures or success.
"In the person of Miss Charlotte Yonge we discover the same virtues, but
in a softer and more feminine mould. Her heroes are for the most part
refined and cultivated young men, actuated by the highest motives--"
"Stop! Stop!" screamed Thomasina desperately. "For pity sake spare us
the rest. Such deadly propriety I never encountered! It reminds me of
the Fairchild family at their very worst. If _that's_ the sort of thing
you are going to write, Rhoda, I pity the poor examiners. And what do
you mean by Alfred fighting? He was a most peaceful creature, so far as
I have heard!"
"Thomasina! the war with the Danes--all those years! You must
remember!"
"I don't remember a thing about it. How could a man fight the Danes
living in a peaceful retreat in the Isle of Wight, as Tennyson did
for--?"
Tennyson! Tennyson! Who spoke of Tennyson? Oh! it was too bad; too
mean! How on earth could anyone be expected to guess that Tom had meant
Tennyson, when she had expressly said Alfred the Great? Rhoda protested
loudly, and the other girls backed her up; but Tom was obdurate.
"And isn't Tennyson known as `Alfred the Great' as well as the other
crittur? It is just another example of want of intelligence! You read
the words, and never trouble about the connection. Who in their sane
senses would ask you to compare a warrior king with old Miss Yonge? A
little reflection would have saved you from the pitfall into which you
have all fallen headlong. Five bad marks each! Now, then, for the next
two. What have you got to say about the two Joes?"
Very little apparently. No one had tackled the comparison in Rhoda's
grandiose fashion, but a few pithy sentences were to be found scribbled
on the sides of exercise books. "Jo March was very clever, and my
father says Mr Chamberlain is, too!" from one dutiful pupil. "Jo March
was a darling, and Chamberlain is not," from another of Radical
principles. "Both wore eye-glasses, and wrote things for magazines,"
and other such exhaustive criticisms.
"You are _all_ plucked in Literature," announced Thomasina, solemnly,
"and I am deeply pained by the exhibition! I will give you one more
chance in Arithmetic before going on to the higher branches, because, as
you are aware, this is a most vital and important subject. Write down,
please: A and B each inherited thirty thousand pounds. A invested his
capital in gold-mine shares to bring in eighteen per cent, interest. B
put his money into the Post Office Savings Bank, and received two and a
half per cent. State to three places in decimals the respective wealth
of each at the expiration of twenty-seven years!"
"Er--with what deduction for current expenses?" queried Irene, with an
air. She had been snubbed once, but was not in the least subdued.
"What were their current expenses?"
"There were none!"
"Thomasina, what bosh! There _must_ have been. They couldn't live on
nothing."
"Well, they did, then. Since you are so particular, I may tell you that
they were in prison! They had their wants supplied by their native
land."
"I'm not going to do sums about convicts! My mother wouldn't like it,"
said Dorothy, shutting up her book with a bang. She leaned forward, and
whispered in Rhoda's ear, "Don't bother; it's only another joke. What's
the use of worrying for nothing?"
"It's practice," said Rhoda, and away went her pencil, scribbling,
calculating, piling up row upon row of figures. To her joy the answer
came out the same as Irene's, which surely must prove it right; yet, as
Dorothy had prophesied, Tom was once more sweeping in denunciation,
"Wrong! Wrong! All wrong! The gold-mine failed, and left A a pauper,
while B lived happily ever after. You are old enough to know that gold-
mines that pay eighteen per cent, invariably _do_ fail and ruin their
shareholders; or if you don't, you may be thankful to me for telling
you. I must say, young ladies, you are coming exceedingly poorly
through my test. I cannot congratulate you on your insight. I doubt
whether it is any use examining you any further."
"Oh, yes, let us have the higher branches, Tom! Do let us have the
higher branches! Who knows? Perhaps we may distinguish ourselves at
last. Give us another chance!" pleaded the girls, mockingly; and, thus
challenged, Tom could not but consent. She tackled Zoology, and giving
the three divisions of Plantigrada, Pinnigrada, and Digitigrada, added a
list of animals to be classified accordingly. When it is said that the
list included such widely diverging creatures as "A camel-leopard, a
duck-billed platypus, Thomasina Bolderston, and Spring-heeled Jack," it
can be imagined with what zest the pupils began their replies.
Tom professed to be mortified beyond endurance to find her fairy tread
unanimously classed under the first heading, and begged the Blues to
take notice that if any girl pined to call her "splay-footed" to her
face she might do so, and take the consequences! No one accepted the
challenge, however; so she proceeded to Latin, and, with much jingling
of keys, gave out a sentence for translation:--
"Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem." The girls smiled at
this, confident of their powers. The students at Hurst prided
themselves on their Latin, and could have stood a much severer test
without wavering. The seniors did not trouble to write their answers,
but waited complacently until the time came when they should have an
opportunity of airing their proficiency. It never came, however, for
Tom chose to disappoint expectations by reading aloud her own
translation from her position in front of the fire.
"Memento--remember; mentem--and mind; servare--to hold up; aequam--your
mare; in rebus arduis--going up hill. That translation, young ladies,
was given by an undergraduate in the University of Oxford. He
afterwards rowed stroke in the 'Varsity boat, and was the best billiard
player of his year, so it would ill become us to dispute his
conclusions. You will observe the valuable moral lessons inculcated in
the words, and, I trust, take them to heart--`Remember and mind--'"
A laugh sounded from the direction of the door, and there stood Miss
Everett, looking round with mischievous eyes. Rhoda noted with relief
that she looked brighter than for days past, as if some good news had
arrived from the home about which she was so anxious.
"This sounds improving," she cried, merrily. "Thomasina holding a Latin
class! I am glad you have found such an exemplary way of passing the
afternoon. I am afraid you must stop, however, as the gong will ring in
five minutes, and meantime I must break up the class. I want,"--her eye
roved enquiringly round the room--"I want Rhoda!"
"Certainly, Miss Everett. Anything to oblige you. Rhoda, my love, you
have my permission to retire," drawled Thomasina, wagging her head in
languid assent, and Rhoda left the room in no little wonder as to the
reason of the summons.
Arrived in the corridor, Miss Everett laid both hands on the girl's
shoulders, and asked a quick, laughing question:--
"What about that hamper?"
"Hamper?" echoed Rhoda. "Hamper?" Her air of bewilderment was so
unaffectedly genuine that the other's expression became in turn doubtful
and uncertain.
"Yes, yes, the hamper! The hamper of good things that has just arrived
for my brother. I thought you--"
"I know nothing about it; truly I don't! I wish I did, but--"
"But, my dear girl, it came from your home. There was a game label upon
it, with your father's name in print--`From Henry Chester, Erley Chase.'
There cannot be two Henry Chesters living at houses of the same name."
"Ah!" exclaimed Rhoda, and her face lit up with pleasure. "It's mother!
Of course it's mother! It's just the sort of thing mother would do. I
told her that your brother had been ill, and that you were anxious about
him, and so she set to work to see how she could help. That's just like
mother, she's the kindest dear! I believe she sits down in her armchair
after breakfast every single morning, and plans out how many kind things
she can do during the day."
"Bless her heart!" cried Miss Everett devoutly. "Well, Rhoda, she
succeeded this time. My mother has written me all about it. It was a
dull, wet day, and Lionel seemed depressed, and there was nothing nice
in the house, and nothing nice to be bought in the little village shops,
and she was just wondering, wondering how in the world she could cheer
him, and manufacture a tempting lunch out of hopeless materials, when
tap-tap-tap came the carrier's man at the door. Then in came the
hamper, and Lionel insisted upon opening it himself, and was so
interested and excited! There were all sorts of good things in it--
game, and grapes, and lovely, lovely hot-house flowers filling up the
chinks. They were all so happy! It was such a piece of cheer arriving
in that unexpected fashion, and mother says the house is fragrant with
the scent of the flowers. Lionel arranged them himself. It kept him
quite happy and occupied. How can I thank you, dear?"
"Don't thank me. It was not my doing. It's mother."
"But how did your mother know where we lived? How did she know who we
were?"
"Well!" Rhoda smiled and flushed. "Naturally I tell her the news. I
suppose I must have mentioned that your father was Vicar of Stourley. I
don't remember; but then I've so often written about you, and she would
naturally be glad to do anything she could, for she knows you have been
kind to me, and that I'm very--fond of you!"
Miss Everett bent down quickly, and kissed her on the cheek.
"And my people knew who Mr Chester was because I've written of you, and
they know that you have been kind to _me_, and that I'm fond of you,
too. Oh Rhoda, you don't know how lonely it feels to be a teacher
sometimes, or how grateful we are to anyone who treats us as human
beings, and not as machines. You don't know how you have cheered me
many a time."
"But--but--I've been tiresome, and stupid, and rebellious. I've given
you lots of trouble--"
"Perhaps, but you have been affectionate too, and seemed to like me a
little bit, in spite of my lectures; and if it had not been for your
kind words the hamper would never have come, so I insist upon thanking
you as well as your mother. Many, many thanks, dear! I shall always
re--" She stopped short suddenly, her attention arrested by the scraping
of chairs within the parlour, and concluded in a very different tone,
"The girls are coming! For pity's sake don't let Tom find us
sentimentalising here! Fly, Rhoda, fly!" and off she ran along the
corridor, flop, flop, flop, on her flat-soled shoes, as much in fear of
the scrutiny of the head girl as the youngest Blue in the house!