"Have you learned any of your letters?" asked Miss Rose. "No'm," said Clematis. The other children giggled, for Clematis was as large as Jane. Jane was eight, and could read very well. "Tomorrow you must go into the special class, and you must work hard, and catch up as fast as you can." "Yes'm." Clematis was angry. She didn't like to be laughed at. At recess, all the children ran out into the yard to play. It was a large yard, with a high wooden fence around it. Glad to be free, Jane ran off to find some chums, and left Clematis to play by herself. So Clematis wandered round by the fence till she came to a sunny spot, near the big maple tree with the red buds. Here she picked up a dead twig and sat down, turning over the dried leaves with the twig, and throwing them in the air. As she picked up the leaves, she saw some blades of grass beneath them. Then she picked up more leaves, and found many blades of grass growing beneath their warm shelter. Clematis got up and walked near the fence, where the leaves were thicker. There she poked them away, and found longer blades of grass, and new leaves, green and shiny. "Oh," she said to herself, "I hope I can come out here every day." Then she stopped. She pushed away some more leaves. She looked around at the other children. None of them were looking at her. She stooped, and took something from under the pile of leaves. Again she looked about, but nobody was paying attention to her. All the children were playing games. Then a sound made her look up. It was the bell. Recess was over, and all the children were going in. Clematis put her hand into her apron pocket quickly, and followed the other children back to school. "How has the new girl done today?" asked Mrs. Snow, just before they sat down to dinner. "She seems to feel more at home," replied Miss Rose. "She doesn't know her letters yet. I guess she has grown up all by herself." "That is too bad. I will give her a test this afternoon, about three. If she would like to play with her kitten in the playroom for an hour, after dinner, she may do so." "Oh, I am sure she would be glad to see her kitten. She is a queer child. At recess she stole away all by herself, to play by the fence." The children were coming in now, and Mrs. Snow nodded to Miss Rose, as she went to her chair. Little Sally had been just behind Miss Rose as she said the last words to Mrs. Snow. She heard part of the words she said, and began to whisper to her neighbor. "She said somebody stole something. It must be that new girl. See how queer she looks." Then of course the neighbor had to whisper to the girl next to her. "Do you know what it was the new girl stole? See how funny she looks. She'd better not steal anything of mine." In a minute Clematis knew they were talking about her. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it was unkind.