CHAPTER XIV.
SCHOOL.
At half-past six the next morning, the rising-bell sounded through thehouse, and Ruby sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to rememberwhere she was, and what the bell was.
It did not take her very long to remember, and she jumped out of bedquite happy again, and wondering what the first day of school would belike.
By the time she was all dressed, and had put on one of her pretty newschool dresses, the bell rang again, and as Ruby followed Aunt Emma outinto the hall, she saw that all the other doors down the longpassage-way were opening, and the girls were coming out, some of themfastening their collars, as if they had not had quite time enough todress.
They went down to the dining-room and sat in their chairs around thesides of the room while Miss Chapman read morning prayers. MissChapman was seated in her large chair at the end of the room when thegirls entered, looking, as Ruby thought to herself, like a queen uponher throne. As they came in one after another, each one said, "Goodmorning, Miss Chapman," and she answered them.
Some of the girls, those who had been there the year before, made alittle courtesy as they entered, but the new scholars were too shy toeven try to do this, and they only said "Good morning," and some ofthem were so shy that their lips only moved, and not even the girl nextto them could hear what they were trying to say.
After prayers came breakfast, and then the girls went upstairs to maketheir beds and put their rooms in order. There were sixteen girlsaltogether, and two teachers besides Miss Chapman and Miss Emma, as thegirls called her. There was Miss Ketchum, and Mrs. Boardman, who wasreally the matron, though the girls always thought of her as a teacher,and she sometimes taught a class if any of the other teachers were illor away.
Mrs. Boardman went around to the rooms and told the girls how the roomswere to be kept, and she was such a motherly, warm-hearted body thatvery often if she found a homesick girl in her room she would know justhow to cheer and comfort her, and help her to dry her tears.
Poor little Maude was really very unhappy. Her room-mate had not comeyet, so she was all alone in her room, and when Mrs. Boardman went inshe found her packing her trunk again, with her tears falling fast andthick upon her dresses. For once she did not care whether they werespoiled or not. All she thought of was to go home again as fast as shecould, and it had not entered her head that she might not be permittedif she really made up her mind to go.
Before Mrs. Birkenbaum had gone, she had told Miss Chapman that Maudewould probably want to come home, and that they would have hard workkeeping her, as she was used to having her own way, so Mrs. Boardmanwas not very much surprised when she saw what Maude was doing.
Maude did not look up when the teacher entered the room. She was veryhomesick, poor child, and then besides her desire to see her father andmother, she was very much aggrieved because no one had paid any specialattention to her. She had been used to having people make a great dealof her because her clothes were so fine, and here no one had seemed tonotice nor care whether she was better dressed than the others or not.
This was a new experience to the little girl, and she did not like it.Even Ruby had been more noticed than she had been, and she had alwayslooked down upon Ruby because she lived in the country, and did nothave fashionable clothes. It was quite too hard to bear, and Maudedetermined to go home.
"Wait a minute, my dear," said Mrs. Boardman, pleasantly. "That is n'twhat you ought to be doing just now. This is the time to make beds,and as your room-mate has not come, I will help you this morning, soyou will not have to make it all alone; but perhaps you know how tomake a bed, so that you would just as soon make it by yourself."
Maude lifted her face, her eye flashing through her tears.
"I don't know how to make a bed," she answered. "I never made a bed.My mamma has a servant make them at home, and she never had me do sucha thing. I don't want to know how to make it, nor to do anything else.I want to go home. I am packing my trunk."
"But you can't go home, you know, my dear," said Mrs. Boardman,pleasantly. "I know just how you feel. When I was a little girl aboutyour age I went away from home for a few weeks, and I am afraid I wasn't very brave about it."
"Did you go to school?" asked Maude.
"No, but I will tell you where I went while we are making the bed. Nowyou take that side of the sheet, that is the way, and draw it up so,and tuck it in snugly, so your toes won't peep out in the night. Well,I was going to tell you how I happened to go away from home. One daywhen I came home from school, my father met me down by the gate and hetold me that my little brother had the scarlet fever and the doctorthought that perhaps I might not have it, too, if they sent me rightaway, so I was to go to board with an old lady about ten miles away whowas willing to take care of me. He had the carriage all ready,--nowthe blanket, dear; that's right,--and a bundle with the dresses in thatI should want for a few weeks, and before I knew it I was on my way. Icould n't even say good-by to my mother, for she was with my brother."
"And were you homesick?" asked Maude.
"Yes, indeed," answered Mrs. Boardman. "I cried and cried the firstnight, and I thought I would surely walk home the very first thing inthe morning. I did not care whether I had the scarlet fever or not, ifI might only go home; but when morning came I remembered what my fatherhad said, when he bade me good-by, and so I changed my mind, andstayed."
"What had he said?" asked Maude, helping to turn the top of the sheetover, and quite forgetting, in her interest in the story, that she hadnot intended to make the bed.
"He had said when he kissed me good-by, 'Now I know that you will bevery homesick, Eliza, and will want to come home a good many times, butI know that you are mother's brave, helpful little maid, and that I cantrust you to stay here until brother gets well so that she will notworry about you.' Of course I was not going to disappoint my fatherwhen he trusted me; so though I was homesick enough and very unhappy, Istayed there for several weeks until the doctor said it was safe for meto go home again. But you see I remember just how it feels to behomesick, and feel as if one could n't stay away one single day morefrom home. It takes a brave girl to make up her mind that she will notgive up to homesickness, but will do what she knows is going to pleasethose whom she loves. Yes, I know that sounds as if I meant that I wasbrave, when I was a little girl, but then I really think I was, don'tyou?"
"Yes," admitted Maude. "I think I should have gone home if I had beenin your place, and had only ten miles to walk. Did you have a nicetime staying with the old lady?"
"No, it was not very pleasant," said Mrs. Boardman. "Now pat thepillow, this way, Maude, before you put it in its place, so. I did nothave any lessons nor any books to read, and I had no time to bring mypatchwork or knitting, and so the time hung very heavy on my hands. Ihelped about the work when there was anything that a little girl coulddo. I fed the hens, and looked for eggs, and wiped dishes, and sewedcarpet rags, and sometimes I went with the hired man to bring the cowshome. There, the bed looks very nicely now, does n't it? I think youwill be able to make it look as well as that every day, don't you? Andthen when you go home again even if the servant does make it, you willnot have to think that she knows how to do something which you do notknow how to do. It is very nice to know how to do every useful thing,even if it may not be necessary to practise it. Suppose your mamma didnot know how to make a bed, and she should have a servant who couldnot, how do you suppose she would show her without knowing herself?Now shall we hang up these dresses? It is almost time for the bell toring, so I think you can put these away just as nicely as you could ifI stayed and helped you, and then I can go and look after some of theother girls. Now I am going to say to you what my father said to me,'You are a brave little maid,' and I know you are to be trusted to dowhat is right. I know you are going to forget all about how much youwant to go home, and you are going to do the very best you know howto-day, so that your papa and mamma will be pleased with you;" and Mrs.Board
man hurried away, giving Maude a motherly little squeeze as shepassed her.
Maude stood looking at her trunk for a few moments after Mrs. Boardmanhad gone away, rather undecided what to do with her dresses. Fifteenminutes before she had quite made up her mind that she was going homeand that nobody in all the world should make her stay atboarding-school now that she had made up her mind that she did not likeit, but Mrs. Boardman had taken it for granted that she was a good,brave little girl who wanted to do just what was right, and somehowMaude did not want to disappoint her.
Usually Maude's one aim in life was to do just what she chose, and tohave her own way in
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Ruby at School Page 14