SARAH EXPLAINS
Many years afterward Sarah said that nothing in her life had ever
frightened her like the sight of Miss Ellingwood standing outside her
door, with the water dripping from her hair and dress. Miss Ellingwood
herself came to laugh heartily at it, but no amount of teasing
could ever induce Sarah even to smile. It seemed an hour until Miss
Ellingwood spoke, and in that time Sarah saw clearly not only the
laughing, triumphant faces of her room-mates immediately before her,
but of all the family at home: William and Laura, who were sending her
to school at a great sacrifice, the twins and Albert, who had faith in
her, and to whom she should have been an example. She seemed to hear
herself trying to explain to them.
"You see, it was this way," she would begin. But she never got any
further. There was no explanation, no excuse to make.
"This," they would say, "this is what you do with your education!"
In reality, it was only a moment until Miss Ellingwood spoke. Her eyes
flashed; it seemed to Sarah that they would burn through her.
"Come to my room in half an hour. I don't want to hear anything from
you now." Then she turned to the girls laughing behind her, and her
eyes flashed still more brightly. Perhaps it was for their illumination
that the flash existed. "You have been here for a year, and you know
the rules of the school. Dr. Ellis will hold you responsible for any
misconduct in this room, rather than a newcomer."
Ellen and Mabel looked at each other guiltily as Miss Ellingwood's door
closed behind her. Then they went to their own room.
Sarah was not to be seen, and their uneasiness turned to fright. There
was no exit save through the window, and they were on the third floor.
It could not be possible that she was as badly frightened as that!
"Sarah!" cried Mabel sharply.
Sarah appeared from the closet. She had taken off her school dress, and
carried the blue one across her arm.
"What are you going to do?" asked Ellen.
Sarah did not answer. If she tried to speak, she should scream. She
would at least put on her second-best dress and brush her hair before
she went to Miss Ellingwood's room. She remembered in agony that
she had never worn her red dress; probably she would never have an
opportunity now, at least at the Normal School. She looked at her
little silver watch with eyes which could scarcely find the hands.
Mabel and Ellen avoided each other's glance, and sat down by the table.
"What is the History lesson for to-morrow, Sarah?" asked Ellen in a
tone which was meant to be conciliatory.
Sarah silently pushed forward her note-book. She was dressed now and
staring at her Physiology. "Man is the only living creature that can
stand or walk erect." In what long-past stage of her life had she read
that?
At twenty-eight minutes past eight, she closed her book and went into
the hall, where, watch in hand, she lingered outside Miss Ellingwood's
door until the hand pointed to the half-hour. Then, fearfully, she
rapped.
A low "Come in" answered. It took all her strength to turn the knob.
She saw nothing of the beautiful room with its books, its fireplace,
its wide and crowded desk, its low tea-table; she saw only Miss
Ellingwood entering from her bedroom beyond, her curls wet and shining,
clad in a fresh, stiffly starched white shirt-waist and a dry skirt.
She went across to the big chair before her desk, and turning her head
away, stooped to straighten out some papers. She saw the blue dress,
and the smooth hair. Both judge and defendant, she said to herself,
were dressed for the occasion.
"Now, Sarah," she began, "suppose you tell me how it is that an
inoffensive non-combatant, rapping at your door, is received with a
shower of water. Your room-mates asked me to get you to let them in.
They said that you had locked them out, and they couldn't study. Is
this true?"
"Yes, ma'am," faltered Sarah.
"Why did you do it?"
"Because--they--_ach_!" Sarah burst into a flood of tears. She did
not wish to tell on them, she could not bear to recount the foolish
trick which had been played on her. It seemed so ridiculous now to have
been taken in. It was so absurd,--her anxiety at hearing that William
had come, her mystification at the foolish figure which met her at the
door, her rage, when she realized what they had done. That was worst of
all.
"_Ach_, if you will only let me make it up to you," she cried. "I will
never do such a thing again. I will dry your hair if they are wet
yet, and I could iron your shirt-waist, and if it is spoiled, I could
try to earn some money to buy you a new one. Or William would send me
the money right away. I could give you my umbrella to make up, or my
f-fountain-pen. They are new--they--"
"Mercy, child!" Miss Ellingwood put her arm round Sarah, who in her
anguish had moved close to her side. "Don't cry about my clothes,
_please_. They are almost dry already, and water couldn't hurt them.
I'll forgive you willingly, entirely, Sarah. But you must never do
anything of the kind again. You see the evening study-hour is meant for
work. You have long hours in the afternoon and earlier in the evening
to play, and all day Saturday, and you need every minute in study-hour.
By the time you get settled to work again, you will have lost a whole
hour."
"I know it, I know it!" wailed Sarah. "That is the trouble. They will
not let me study. When--when they are out I can study, but not when
they are with. I will have to go home. I am anyhow too dumb for anybody
to learn me anything."
Miss Ellingwood hid her face against Sarah's shoulder.
"Say that again, dear."
"_Ach_, I mean I am too--too stupid to be taught."
"That is better. Now--" Miss Ellingwood meditated for an instant. She
did not approve of putting three persons into a room; even she and
Laura had been a little crowded. It would be very difficult for this
child to get into studious habits if she were constantly in the room
with Ellen and Mabel. They were very evidently not diligent. "Suppose
you bring your books over here this evening, Sarah. Perhaps you can
study here."
Sarah was not gone for two minutes. Ellen and Mabel had disappeared,
and she gathered her books together, made another dab at her hair with
her stiff brush, and was back.
Miss Ellingwood had pulled a chair up to the side of her own desk.
"There, Sarah, is a chair and a foot-stool. Now, if I can help you, ask
me." And she bent her head over her own work.
Peace descended upon Sarah's heart. Once, she sighed, and Miss
Ellingwood looked up.
"Are you tired?"
"_Ach_, no! I am just thinking. It is so nice and still here. I could
learn the whole book through."
Once she ventured to ask a question.
"Please, ma'am, it gives a word here. I cannot say it right, s-y-n,
swine, t-a-x, tax, swinetax. Is that the way to say it?"
"No. S-y-n, sin--syntax. It is not English to say, 'it gives a word
here,' Sarah. Try again."
"Here is a word," said Sarah painstakingly. "_Ach_,--no, I don't mean
_ach_! But will you tell me sometimes when I am wrong?"
"Yes, indeed."
Sarah gazed at Miss Ellingwood with deep admiration and gratitude, and
set again to work. She had only the simple Latin rules to commit to
memory, and then all the lessons assigned her would be learned, even
though it was not until the day after to-morrow that she recited them.
But the page of rules was the most difficult task she had attempted.
The words seemed to dance before her eyes, the lines were crooked, the
letters blurred. She propped her head on her hand, and rubbed her eyes
a countless number of times.
Miss Ellingwood was too much engrossed by her task to see. Each year
under the direction of the teacher of Elocution, the Junior class
gave a play. It was given usually the week before Christmas, and Miss
Ellingwood had selected an arrangement of Dickens's "Christmas Carol,"
whose spirit was so appropriate to the season. She was going over it
now, so that the parts should be fresh in her mind before she began to
get acquainted with the Juniors in her classes, and she smiled at old
Scrooge and sighed over Tiny Tim. She had quite forgotten the student
at her side.
Then, suddenly, there was a dull little bump, as her guest slid from
her chair to the floor, asleep. Strange to say, the fall did not rouse
her. Miss Ellingwood thought that she must be sleepy indeed.
"Come, Sarah," she said. "You must get up and go to bed."
With Miss Ellingwood's help, Sarah got up slowly, and sat down on
her chair, and was immediately asleep once more. Miss Ellingwood was
a little frightened. The child was evidently exhausted, which was not
strange after her passion of tears. Miss Ellingwood glanced at her
again, then at the couch which had been made up for a guest who had not
arrived.
In a moment she went down the hall and rapped at the door of Sarah's
room. No one was within. Smothered laughter a little farther down the
hall implied the presence of Ellen and Mabel. Miss Ellingwood took a
few steps in that direction, then returned. The warning bell would ring
in a moment; after that, for fifteen minutes, the students were allowed
to visit one another. This was really the first day of school, and
rules were not so strictly kept. And Miss Ellingwood hated to scold.
She pushed open Sarah's door and went in, to look for her school dress
and the things she would need for the night.
The smothered laughter became open shrieks as the warning bell rang.
"She's a perfect little spitfire," Ellen Ritter was saying. "I wish you
could have seen her face when she saw me all dressed up. It was white
and purple by turns, she was so angry."
Ethel Davis and Gertrude Manley, going arm-in-arm down the hall, had
stopped at the door to hear, and the group of sub-Juniors opened to let
them in. Blonde Ethel and dark-eyed Gertrude were Juniors, the next
year they would be Middlers, and after that Seniors, and they sometimes
allowed the dignity of their position to awe the sub-Juniors.
"I think it was a pretty mean trick to play on such a youngster," said
Ethel hotly. "Now, if you had played it on Mabel, or Mabel on you, it
might have had some point."
"Oh, she can take care of herself," laughed Ellen. "You needn't worry
about her! Then she locked the door, and wouldn't let us in, and Mabel
and I were very anxious to study, and--"
"Doubtless," laughed Gertrude.
"Well, we were, and we knocked and asked politely to be let in, and
not a word would she say. So we went over to the new hall teacher and
told her that we were afraid our little room-mate was ill. So she came
over and rapped, and there was no answer but a wild yell. And then--"
Ellen rolled over on the bed, helpless with laughter, and Mabel took up
the tale.
"Then out of the transom came a pitcherful of water,--bang!"
"Not on Miss Ellingwood!" said Ethel.
"Yes, right on Miss Ellingwood."
Mabel's cheeks were flushed with pleasure. Ethel and Gertrude never
paid much attention to her, and it was delightful to have them listen
so closely.
"What did she do?"
"Told the youngster to come over in half an hour, and the youngster put
on her Sunday dress and went over."
"And what then?" asked a breathless sub-Junior. "Did Miss Ellingwood
nearly murder her? That's what I should have done."
"No. I guess Sarah told her the whole tale, because in a few minutes
she came back and got her books, and she's been over there all evening.
There'll be no more fun on this hall with a teacher's pet spying on us.
I suppose Miss Ellingwood will come in after the retiring bell, and
read us a lecture."
But Miss Ellingwood did not appear except to say that Sarah would spend
the night with her, and that she wished everything to be very quiet.
Mabel and Ellen looked at each other after she went out.
"What did I say?" said Mabel. "She'll tell everything we do."
"We'll settle her," answered Ellen cheerfully. "Oh, dear, to-morrow the
grind begins!"
Sarah did not see the sun rise the next morning, nor hear the first
sounds of life in the great building. She did not even stir at the
thunderous rising-bell. When she finally woke, she saw Miss Ellingwood
standing by her bed.
"It's time to get up, Sarah."
Sarah rubbed her eyes.
"The rising-bell has rung, dear, and you'll just have time to jump
into my bathtub and then get dressed quickly. Your things are all here."
Sarah looked confusedly about her, while she struggled out of bed.
"Did I stay here?"
"Yes."
"All night?"
"Yes."
"Did I oversleep myself?"
"No, you slept till just the proper time. Now, run along."
It was a pleasure to see the bright eyes and glowing cheeks with
which Sarah presently appeared. She had never seen a bathroom like
Miss Ellingwood's, she had never smelled such soap or seen so many
mysterious brushes and sponges. She had been a little frightened by the
depth of the cool water in the tub which Miss Ellingwood had filled
for her. She did not like to say that she had never been in a bathtub
before, because Miss Ellingwood seemed to expect her to know all about
bathtubs. Miss Ellingwood had never lived on a farm.
Never before had Sarah dressed in such a physical and mental glow. She
tied the ribbon on her hair just as the breakfast-bell began to ring.
"Come here, and I'll button your dress for you. I brought your school
dress over. You poor little chicken, did you think that you would make
a better impression on the ogress if you put on a better dress? If the
girls bother you again, you must bring your books over here. Now, come
along."
Sarah drew a deep breath of delight. She had never had such a good
time. She looked once more about the pretty room before the door
closed. Would she see it again? And then Sarah's heart was guilty of a
very wicked wish.
"_Ach_, I wish," she said to herself, as they went downstairs to
breakfast, "I wish those girls would cut always up so that I could not
study!"