Arizona -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Religious fiction; Teachers -- Fiction
Rosa's heart beat high as she rode demurely home with her father,
answering his pleasantries with smiles and dimples and a coaxing word,
just as he loved to have her. But she was not thinking of her father,
though she kept well her mask of interest in what he had to say. She was
trying to plan how she might use what she had heard to get rid of
Margaret Earle. If only Mrs. Brownleigh would do as she had hinted and
send some one Tuesday morning to escort Miss Earle over to her home, all
would be clear sailing for Rosa; but she dared not trust to such a
possibility. There were not many escorts coming their way from Ganado,
and Rosa happened to know that the old Indian who frequently escorted
parties was off in another direction. She could not rest on any such
hope. When she reached home she went at once to her room and sat beside
her window, gazing off at the purple mountains in deep thought. Then she
lighted a candle and went in search of a certain little Testament, long
since neglected and covered with dust. She found it at last on the top
of a pile of books in a dark closet, and dragged it forth, eagerly
turning the pages. Yes, there it was, and in it a small envelope
directed to "Miss Rosa Rogers" in a fine angular handwriting. The letter
was from the missionary's wife to the little girl who had recited her
texts so beautifully as to earn the Testament.
Rosa carried it to her desk, secured a good light, and sat down to read
it over carefully.
No thought of her innocent childish exultation over that letter came to
her now. She was intent on one thing--the handwriting. Could she seize
the secret of it and reproduce it? She had before often done so with
great success. She could imitate Miss Earle's writing so perfectly that
she often took an impish pleasure in changing words in the questions on
the blackboard and making them read absurdly for the benefit of the
school. It was such good sport to see the amazement on Margaret's face
when her attention would be called to it by a hilarious class, and to
watch her troubled brow when she read what she supposed she had written.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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