THE WALL THAT PARTED
While this exciting conference was in session, dainty Alois Maise and
little Pearl, finding that the deliberations of their elders were
interfering too much with their own private conversation, had left the
room. After tripping gaily down the village street at Alois's urgent
invitation, Pearl consented to visit the Eldon Maise mansion. The
beautiful home captivated the orphan whose life in the circus had
deprived her of all real comfort such as she saw here. But it was before
the piano that she paused the longest. And when she sang for Alois, that
young lady was much gratified to discover that Pearl's singing was as
exquisite as the charm of her spoken words.
"I'm going to tell Joe Smith," she cried in delight. "You must sing in
the Children's Choir." The expectation that these words aroused was
sufficient to make Pearl happy as a lark for a week. Joe heard her and
Peri sing and both were admitted in the choir.
On the second week in September, when the magic of autumn had
transformed the fields and orchards and groves into tints of gold, and
colors of brilliant hue, the village school began. It was the first time
Myra's children had ever gone to school, but the Fat Woman had proved
such a good teacher that they were only a year or so behind in their
studies. This only served as an incentive to make them study.
Periwinkle especially made rapid progress. Pearl however was not so
fond of books, but her ways were so gentle and charming that no one
objected when she had to count up her sums on the rosy tips of her
dainty fingers.
Joe Smith had kept his promise to use his influence with the Greys to
protect his young friends from annoyance: for all the little Greys, from
Zeke to Mehitable, treated the newcomers quite politely. But this
attitude on the part of the Greys was not quite to the liking of the
rest of the Maises and they showed their resentment. To have the Greys
patronizing their two prime favorites was too bitter a pill to swallow.
But a few days after school opened, Emil Maise and Zeke Grey spent two
hours at the brook, each bathing a pair of swollen eyes.
The "accident" had occurred when the two had fought a rough and tumble
battle because Pearl--a Maise--had presumed to give her pencil to Zeke
Grey to sharpen; and the courageous Zeke had dared to sharpen it before
the very eyes of Emil. Such accidents are hard to explain to parents and
so the brook had been the only alternative. But when news of the fight
reached the ears of the teacher, the ruler descended on Grey and Maise
alike, while Pearl wide-eyed, wept for both and made the lads shake
hands before she would speak to either of them.
When Esther Tull of the Grey "camp" furtively pushed Ruth Hayton's
lunchbox out of the open window, Pearl shared her own lunch with her
cousin Ruth. Periwinkle however had regarded the Tull girl with such
fine contempt that she gave Ruth a bead ring as a peace offering and
Ruth then wrote her name in Esther's autograph album.
These incidents did not escape the notice of the teacher who with
growing hope saw that what had appeared to be impossible was gradually
taking place. She had tried everything within her power to break down
this wall of hatred that separated the two factions, but the barrier had
proved invincible to her every effort. And now she saw that while she,
armed with the rod of authority and exercizing the strictest discipline,
had made a dismal failure, these two orphaned circus children were
unconsciously melting the icy wall with the benevolent sunshine of their
smiles and the warm love beams of their tender young hearts.
The minister heard of it too and although he shook his head rather
doubtfully over the teacher's hopeful predictions, yet he wrote
cheerfully to his son: "I can't understand it. The children seem to know
the magic of some fairy alchemy, for whatever they touch becomes like
them--lovely."
But it was not all smooth sailing, especially for the boy. Periwinkle
had never known his grandfather Maise, but he nevertheless held the old
gentleman in high esteem. Therefore when Washington Grey called that
relative "a mean old fellow," Peri's fist darted out with amazing
rapidity but was just as quickly withheld before it reached Washington's
eye. And that lad, wondering at his escape, showed his appreciation by
presenting Periwinkle a horse-hair chain the next day which was accepted
with all the graciousness of Peri's sweet nature. The teacher, observant
as ever, and wondering too, blessed Myra's "dreadful" children in her
heart.