"Yes, ma'am. I have been considering about it, and I asked Miss Carpenter, and she said I should write by all means." "You can take that little table by the window," said Miss Brown. "I like to have you sit where I can see you. What a pretty little desk you have!" "It was given me last Christmas," said Rhoda, sadly. "I little thought then where I should be when Christmas came round again." "We can none of us tell that, my child." "I asked mother whether I should come home at Christmas, and she said it would be just as the teachers thought best," said Rhoda, after she had finished her letter, taking out her work and sitting down in the arm-chair by the bed. "I don't think I ever was happier in my life than I was that very morning. I was so pleased with the thought of going to school, for I had set my heart on having a good education. But that is all over now," she added, sighing. "I must put it all out of my head." "Why?" asked Miss Brown. "Because I never shall have any chance," answered Rhoda. "I suppose I shall have to go to work and earn my own living." "That need not prevent your getting an education," said Miss Brown. "If I were you, I would set my heart on it more than ever, and improve every chance I had. You need not be uneducated because you don't go to school. Mrs. Thomas Conroy, who used to have the charge of Miss Dickey's orphan asylum, was one of the most cultivated women I ever knew, and she never went to school after she was twelve." "But what chances shall I be likely to have?" asked Rhoda, doubtfully. "Plenty of them," answered Miss Brown, smiling. "You are likely to have your home here for some time—at least as long as there are so many sick and helpless. Why shouldn't you learn some lessons and recite them to me as I lie here doing nothing?" "That would be delightful," said Rhoda, with a little of her old animation; "only I am afraid it would give you too much trouble." "On the contrary, it would be a great amusement to me," said Miss Brown. "Oh no; don't give up the idea of an education, but make up your mind to improve every opportunity you have, be it ever so small, and you will be sure to succeed." "One can do a good deal in that way," said Rhoda. "I learned all the music I know by practising on Fanny Badger's piano when I was up there." "Then you can play a little?" "Yes, ma'am—several pieces; and I have played in Sunday-school sometimes, but I suppose I shall lose it all. I wonder," exclaimed Rhoda—"I wonder whether I might practise sometimes on the little piano down stairs? I don't believe I should hurt it; do you?" "I should say there was very little danger," answered Miss Brown, dryly. "You can ask Miss Carpenter about it. There is a lady in the house—Miss Wilkins—who plays the piano. I dare say she might help you along with your music. Meantime, let us talk a little about these same lessons. Tell me what you have studied."