"Wait--the dress," Annabel said. She got out the pink organdy.
Blue Bonnet glanced at it shyly.
"If you don't mind, I believe I'll wear my own."
Annabel looked hurt.
"All right, if you feel that way, of course. Then we won't wear yours."
She handed Blue Bonnet the Peter Thompson.
"Oh, yes, you will--please do! You are quite welcome. I only thought---
I--you see, I have never worn anybody's clothes in my life. It seems so
funny--"
Sue came to the rescue.
"Nonsense. You'll get over that. You can't be so particular in
boarding-school. Everybody does it. If Annabel doesn't care, why should
you?"
Blue Bonnet took the dress and went to her room. When the gong sounded
for dinner she emerged, radiant in the pink organdy. A critical observer
might have thought the waist line a trifle too high, and the skirt a wee
bit short. Of the becomingness, however, there could be no doubt. The
gown was pretty, and it suited Blue Bonnet, bringing out the wild rose
coloring in the face that glowed and dimpled above it.
* * * * *
Miss North bore the reputation in the school, with pupils and teachers,
of being just. She was often accused of being severe--of being cross; of
being too strict; but even those who cared for her the least had to
acknowledge her general fairness.
Therefore, although it may have been in her heart to pardon Blue Bonnet
unreservedly, she felt that a punishment was due her; and she proceeded
to mete out that punishment in full accordance with the offence. Blue
Bonnet's privileges were taken away for a week. That meant she could
have no communication with the girls outside of school hours. She could
not visit during the chatting hour; she was denied shopping
expeditions--even the Friday afternoon Symphony concert; which was,
perhaps, the hardest thing to bear, because Blue Bonnet loved music.
Severe? Yes, perhaps; but nothing could have served half so well to
give the girl a proper regard for authority and self government. Blue
Bonnet finished the week happier for having expiated her treason to
school law--ready to begin the next week with the slate wiped clean.
The week slipped by quickly, too, as weeks have a habit of doing. There
were other things beside visiting with the girls and dancing in the
gymnasium after dinner. There was the half hour every day just after
lunch when Miss North read to the girls in the study hall--a half hour
Blue Bonnet always looked forward to eagerly. Miss North was an
excellent reader, as well as a keen critic. She read from the poets
usually,--Shakespeare, Tennyson, Browning,--though sometimes, by way of
variety, an essay or modern drama was substituted.
Miss North felt the pulse of her audience by instinct. She could tell
without so much as a glance who was giving attention and who was
indifferent. She had a habit of pointing a long, slender finger at some
particular girl, and asking for an explanation of what she had been
reading.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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