CHAPTER XVI. LIFE AT SCHOOL. IMMEDIATELY on their return to the city, both Lucy and Helen began to attend school. Lucy met with some difficulties at first; for her education had been quite fragmentary, and it required time to put her on the same level with her new companions. It soon appeared, however, that in some respects she was superior to them all. Her general knowledge was, for her age, and the circumstances in which it had been gained, quite remarkable; her tastes were refined and mature, and her lively imagination made her often brilliant. Those who at first smiled at her country breeding, taking for granted that nothing but ignorance and dulness were the occasion of her modest, retiring air, shortly became her admirers and friends. Every week her teacher returned her "composition," adorned with marks of approbation. His object with his pupils was to excite their ambition; he did not scruple to appeal to their pride and vanity, in the prosecution of this design; and Lucy's talents won his genuine admiration. He pressed her with studies she was only too willing to take up; selected for her a course of reading; boasted of her success every where, and even wrote a glowing letter to her parents, congratulating them on the possession of such a child. Her uncle could not sufficiently rejoice that he had rescued her from the home in which he imagined her not appreciated. In his satisfaction, he went so far as to persuade himself that he had detected her remarkable talents during his visit at her father's, and that thus she had been brought hither. "What a providential thing it was that I should have been so struck with her!" he said more than once to Mrs. Whittier, who smiled a little, but would not dispute it. Less prosperous days have turned older heads than Lucy's, and so have been exchanged for long nights of weeping. But God had abundantly blessed to her heart the discipline by which, through many years, He had been preparing her for these very temptations. And she now so loved and longed for His favor and approval, as to feel the worthlessness of that of the world. "None of these things move me!" is the triumphant exclamation of many a saint, when tempted by all the honors life can offer, to look away from those imperishable rewards awaiting him on high. Mr. Jackson, who was always trying experiments in the management of his pupils, opened this new term with the offer of prizes in all the departments, save that to which Lucy belonged. He privately whispered to her, and to her class-mates, that they needed no such stimulus to exertion. Helen had at first a little hesitation about becoming a competitor in the race, but finally entered the lists; and, having done so, soon manifested great zeal and energy. One evening, when she had been hard at work for several hours, reviewing old lessons, Charles came sauntering in, and threw himself listlessly upon the sofa. "Come, "How busy you girls are!" he said. Helen, do put away those old books, and read me. that French story. You know you promised to read it some day this week." "I'll certainly keep my promise; but I can't now. I am reviewing Day's Algebra, and you needn't be surprised if you see me very industrious now-a⚫ days." "I thought industrious people could find time for every thing." "Oh dear! no, indeed! there you are quite mis taken. But don't talk to me now, please, for I am going to undertake a sum a mile long. Yes, every bit of a mile long." "Do let a fellow see it!" cried Charles, with pretended curiosity. "A mile long! What remarkable girls you must have at your school! We boys never dream of sums more than two feet long, at the utmost." Helen laughed. "What a good-for-nothing fellow you are!" said she. "You know very well what I meant. Or, perhaps, you do not perceive the difference between literal and figurative language !" "Dear me! how wise we are getting!" said Charles, provokingly. But Helen would not be provoked; she let him laugh till he was tired, while she went on half-aloud: "Let me see: x represents the sugar; y, the tea; z, the-what's z to represent? Oh, I see- -the coffee; no-not the coffee, either. Why, I'm as stupid as an owl, tonight." "Is that so very unusual?" 66 'Oh, Charles! please don't look over my shoulder so. Nothing puts me in such a fidget as hav. ing people looking over my shoulder.” "People?" said Charles; "what people? Am I people? Yes, she must mean me, for there's no one else in the room. Well, I declare! I never knew I was in the plural number before! But this must be figurative language !" "Oh, Charles! you are a real torment!" said Helen. "That's literal, isn't it?" he asked. "Charles," said Helen, now laying down her slate, "do go away, there's a good boy. Come, now, I'll tell you why I am so anxious about this particular lesson. Mr. Jackson has offered a prize, which I want very much to win. I meant to keep it a secret, but there's no use." Charles could not resist the tone in which these words were spoken; neither could he refrain from saying, "I don't think much of prizes, any how." "Don't you? but why not? I am very sorry." What boy ever gave a reason for the belief that was in him? "I don't know why," said he. "I don't like them, because I don't !" and away he ran, leaving Helen to return to x, y, and z; which she did, till her head ached, and she was tired in every limb. The hope that the prize would be hers, and with it her father's satisfied smile, her mother's gentle |