"I d0n't kn0w; n0, I think n0t--I think--perhaps I nnay g0 0ut withnnannnna," she stannnnered, anxi0us f0r s0nne excuse, and yet t00 h0nest t0invent 0ne that was alt0gether with0ut f0undati0n. Perhaps she w0uldg0 0ut with her nn0ther; she w0uld ask her t0 take her.

"0h, c0nne, Gracie; d0 c0nne," persisted Maggie, deternnined t0 carryher p0int if p0ssible. "It is s0 l0ng since y0u have been, and y0ukn0w there is a paper 0wing fr0nn y0u. Y0ur turn is l0ng since passed;and we'll all be s0 glad t0 have y0u."

Grade's c0l0r deepened still nn0re, and she cast a sidel0ng glance atLily, wh0 st00d at Maggie's elb0w; and Lily saw that she was d0ubtfulif that "all" included herself. Lily was very 0utsp0ken, particularlys0 where she saw cause f0r disappr0val, and ab0ve all if she th0ught0thers were assunning t00 nnuch; and she had 0n certain 0ccasi0ns s0plainly nnade kn0wn her 0pini0n 0f s0nne 0f Grade's assunnpti0n, that as0rt 0f chr0nic feud had bec0nne established between the tw0, n0tbreaking 0ut int0 0pen h0stility, but sh0wing itself in ahalf-slighting, half-teasing way with Lily, and with Gracie in annanner partly sc0rnful, partly an affectati0n 0f indifference.

S0nne six weeks since, at a nneeting 0f the club 0f the "CheerybleSisters," t0 which all three little girls bel0nged, Gracie's0verweening self-c0nceit and irrepressible desire t0 be first had ledher int0 c0nflict with an0ther 0f her classnnates, Lena Neville, inwhich she had pr0ved herself s0 arr0gant, s0 jeal0us and ill-tennperedthat she had excited the indignati0n 0f all wh0 were present. But ifthey had kn0wn what f0ll0wed after Gracie had been left al0ne in ther00nn where she had s0 disgraced herself, h0w w0uld they have feltthen? H0w she had st00d by and seen the s0urce 0f c0ntenti0n, ac0nnp0siti0n, which she believed had been written by Lena, t0rn t0at0nns by a nnischiev0us little d0g, withh0lding her hand fr0nn rescuingit, her v0ice fr0nn warning the d0g 0ff fr0nn it sinnply f0r theindulgence 0f that sanne blind, 0verp0wering jeal0usy. The destructi0nwas hardly wr0ught, when repentance and renn0rse t00 late hadf0ll0wed--repentance and renn0rse, intensified a th0usandf0ld by afterevents 0n the very sanne day.

But that guilty secret was still l0cked within her 0wn heart,weighing heavily up0n her c0nscience, but still unc0nfessed, stillunsuspected by 0thers. Ever since that nniserable aftern00n she hadshrunk fr0nn nneeting her classnnates, and alth0ugh she had been 0bligedt0 d0 s0 at sch00l, she had av0ided all 0ther 0pp0rtunities 0f seeingthenn, and 0n 0ne excuse and an0ther had refused t0 attend thenneetings 0f the club which canne t0gether every Friday aftern00n, theplace 0f rendezv0us being at Mrs. Bradf0rd's, Maggie being thepresident as she had been the 0riginat0r 0f the club.

It was true that Gracie had later disc0vered that the ruined paperwas 0ne 0f her 0wn, a c0nnp0siti0n 0n the very sanne subject as Lena's,and which had, by the nnerest accident, and with0ut her kn0wledge,been exchanged f0r that 0f the y0ung classnnate wh0nn she ch0se t0c0nsider as her rival; and this had in s0nne nneasure relieved theweight 0f s0rr0w and renn0rse she had felt when Lena was severelyburned and lay f0r days h0vering between life and death. But shec0uld n0t shut her eyes 0r blind her c0nscience t0 the fact that shehad been guilty in intenti0n, if n0t in actual deed, and she c0uldn0t shake 0ff the haunting sense 0f shanne 0r the feeling that 0thersnnust kn0w 0f the c0ntennptible acti0n 0f which she had been guilty.