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Miriam was not studying so hard. But then she never did anything hard. She simply seemed to absorb, without taking the trouble to plod. She had been very defiant of late, Grace thought, and more insolent than ever before. She and Miss Leece were "thicker" than was good for Miriam, considering that teacher's peculiar disposition to flatter and spoil her.
"Didn't Miss Leece mention it? She looked up and saw me just as you unlocked the door. Then the other door slammed and some one hurried down the passage. I saw her, too, but " "But what, Anne?" asked the principal slowly. "But I am not sure who it was." "Have you an idea?" "I could only guess from the outline of her figure," replied Anne.
Anne would no more do such a thing than I would, and I am going to fight to save her if it takes my last breath. Do you know how hard she has worked to win this prize? Simply all the time. I believe, if she knew what you suspected, it would kill her. I believe it's some tale Miss Leece has made up. And besides, why shouldn't she have come back to the building?
"She's all dressed up to step up on the stage and get her twenty-five," whispered Nora to Jessica. "Perhaps she already knows she's going to get it," answered Jessica doubtfully. "Perhaps Miss Leece has told her."
"Miss Harlowe," said Miss Leece, stamping her foot, and again giving way to rage, "I must ask you to take your seat at once and never interfere again with the way I conduct this class." "You conduct this class with injustice and violence, Miss Leece," said Grace, turning very white, but holding herself in admirable control considering the conduct of the older woman.
"I believe Miss Leece really wants to prevent my winning the prize. That's all." "She has certainly adopted a pet," cried Marian Barber. "What did Miriam Nesbit mean by studying ahead like that?" exclaimed another. "It was disloyal to the whole class." "It looks very much as if they had fixed it up between them," continued Grace.
It was incredible that Anne Pierson, who stood so well in her classes that she had already been mentioned by the faculty, should have engaged in such an escapade as Miss Leece had accused her of. "Sit down," she said kindly to the young girl, whose small, tired face appealed to her sympathies.
When the first class in algebra met, Anne trembled with fear, but Miss Leece, in a robin's egg-blue dress, which offset the angry hue of her complexion, was apparently too angry to trust herself to look in the direction of the young girl and the lesson progressed without incident. However, she was only biding her time.
"What is this trouble between you and Miss Leece, Miss Pierson?" she continued, plunging into the subject. "I do not know myself, Miss Thompson," answered Anne quietly.
"Yes," she said, "I remember it very well. It was the trimming on a blouse Miss Leece wore last autumn. I do not believe anyone could forget such a hideous piece of material." Miss Thompson paused a moment and considered. "My dear," she continued presently, "I believe this is all I shall need to confront Miss Leece with. Your bringing it to me at this moment shows most excellent judgment.
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