But Marjorie was trying in earnest to be good in school, and not get into mischief, so she resolutely put her card away in her desk, and studied diligently at her lessons. Indeed, so well did she study that her lesson was learned before it was time to recite, and she had a few moments' leisure. She took out her pretty card to admire it further, and she scrutinized closely the funny old witch riding on a broomstick, after the approved habit of witches. The witch wore a high-peaked black hat, and her nose and chin were long and pointed. Suddenly the impulse seized Marjorie to make for herself a witch's hat. She took from her desk a sheet of foolscap paper. But she thought a white hat would be absurd for a witch. It must be black. How to make the paper black was the question, but her ingenuity soon suggested a way. She took her slate sponge, and dipping it in the ink, smeared it over the white paper. This produced a grayish smudge, but a second and third application made a good black. The process, however, of covering the whole sheet of paper with ink was extremely messy, and before it was finished, Marjorie's fingers were dyed black, and her desk was smudged from one end to the other. But so interested was she in making a sheet of black paper that she paid no heed to the untidiness. Gladys, who had turned her back on Marjorie, in order to study her lesson without distraction, turned round suddenly and gave an exclamation of dismay. This startled Marjorie, and she dropped her sponge full of ink on her white apron. She straightened herself up, with a bewildered air, aghast at the state of things, and as her curls tumbled over her forehead, she brushed them back with her inky hands. This decorated her face with black fingermarks, and several of the pupils, looking round at her, burst into incontrollable laughter. Midget was usually very dainty, and neatly dressed, and this besmeared maiden was a shock to all beholders. Miss Lawrence turned sharply to see what the commotion might be, and, when she saw the inky child, she had hard work to control her own merriment. "What _is_ that all over you, Marjorie?" she said, in as stern tones as she could command. "Ink, Miss Lawrence," said Midget, demurely, her simple straightforward gaze fixed on her teacher's face. This calm announcement of a fact also struck Miss Lawrence ludicrously, but she managed to preserve a grave countenance. "Yes, I see it's ink. But why do you put it on your face and hands and apron?" "I don't know, Miss Lawrence. You see, I was using it, and somehow it put itself all over me." "What were you doing with it?" Miss Lawrence was really stern now, for she had advanced to Marjorie's desk, and noted the sponge and paper. "Why, I was just making some white paper black." "Marjorie, you have been extremely naughty. What possessed you to ink that large sheet of paper?" "I wanted to be a witch," said Marjorie, so ruefully that Miss Lawrence had to laugh after all.