Here the classes changed, each teacher helping a group of men with a simple reading lesson. Then followed the lesson in penmanship, taught by Esther Bright, and the work of the evening was over. As the three teachers left the schoolhouse door, Mr. Clayton laid his hand on Kenneth's shoulder, and said: "Come over to see Mrs. Clayton a little while. It's still early." Kenneth hesitated. "Yes, do," urged Esther. "We have some plans to work out for the club, you know, and we need your help." Again there was an appeal in her voice. What a brute he had been! What a fool! So he strolled along with the two. As they stepped on the veranda, they heard a deep voice. "Lord Kelwin!" exclaimed John Clayton. The greetings over, the meeting of the club and its possibilities became the subject of discussion. "Why can't you join us, Lord Kelwin?" questioned the host. "Yes, why not?" said Esther, with sudden animation. Kenneth Hastings' face darkened. "Ah--I--well--" stammered Lord Kelwin. "I didn't suppose my services--ah--would--ah--would be agreeable to the _teacher_,"--and he looked first at Esther Bright, and then at Kenneth Hastings. A single, hectic flush suddenly appeared in one of Esther's cheeks. Then Mr. Clayton spoke. "You do not seem to understand, Lord Kelwin, that Miss Bright's class has grown so rapidly she has had to have assistance, and Mr. Hastings and I, for lack of better material, have been pressed into service. Come, yourself, and you'll want to help the good work on." Lord Kelwin raised his monocle. Esther spoke quickly, with more enthusiasm than usual. "The girls have been seeking the same opportunity we are giving the men. They need help just as much, and so we must plan to help them too!" "Yes, and kill yourself!" growled Kenneth Hastings. John Clayton smiled. "Not if Miss Bright has sufficient help. If she will organize the work, we can surely assist her." For a time, it seemed as though a club for girls was doomed. Then Mrs. Clayton came to Esther's rescue. "Miss Bright is already in touch with the girls, and knows something of their great need." "But they're such a tough lot," rejoined Lord Kelwin. "Then they need her influence all the more. She can help them if anyone in the world can." Again Mrs. Clayton had helped her out. The hectic flush deepened. Esther's eyes grew brilliant. Her voice, when she spoke, was low, calm, sweet, but vibrating with an earnestness the group about her had occasionally heard in her voice before. She spoke with decision: "I shall help the girls!" "That settles it!" responded Kenneth, half in admiration, half in disgust. He could not understand what it was that could make a girl of her fine and sensitive nature, a girl of her beauty and culture and great attainments, not only willing, but eager, to help a group of coarse, uncouth men and women, of doubtful reputation, and who, to his mind, were utterly incapable of appreciating her. John Clayton spoke again.