"Yes, I do," said Harriet; "I don't pretend otherwise; she has taken
everything from me."
"Oh, what _do_ you mean?" said Jane.
"I had not much," continued Harriet; "but yet I had one thing. I was at
the head of my form; I was certain of the best prizes; I was considered
the clever one. I was not vain of it, but I was glad. Now, I am the
clever one no longer. She is at the head of the form. Although she has
been such a short time in the school, she will get a prize at break-up;
I know she will. It isn't that she has ever been taught in the school
way, but she knows such a lot. Oh, I do hate her, Janie! I wish--I
wish she had not come!"
"Poor Harriet!" said Jane.
She felt immensely pleased herself at this confidence reposed in her.
Hitherto Harriet, with her pale face, her lank hair, her tall young
figure, had been very condescending to black-eyed, roly-poly Jane. She
had kept Jane under, and had only condescended to listen to her now and
then. It was delicious to be confided in; to have Harriet explain to
Jane what she felt about things. After a time, Jane said softly: "Until
Robina came, we were the _only_ naughty girls in the school."
"Oh, we were not a bit naughty in reality," said Harriet. "It pleased
you to think it, Janie. When I told you that we were the naughty ones,
you used to be as proud as Punch; but we were not really naughty as she
could be naughty. I declare since she came I feel that I could do
anything."
"Let us make _her_ naughty," said Jane, in a low tone.
"Let us what?" asked Harriet, turning and facing her little companion.
"I know!" said Jane after a pause. "I heard what they said when I was
hiding under the holly bush. They said that she was sent to school
because she was so noisy and wouldn't obey anyone. Up to the present
she has only been a little naughty; she has done the sort of things that
people forgive. Let us make her do something that people don't forgive:
let's make her awfully disobedient."
"I declare, Janie," said Harriet, "you're a much cleverer girl than I
gave you credit for. That isn't at all a bad idea. Of course it's
naughty of us to wish anything of the sort; but then she is too
aggravating, and--and--if she takes my character for cleverness away,
and keeps the head of the form, and wins my prize--I _cannot_ stand it.
Oh, she put me to shame just now before the others--I won't tell you
how, for it isn't worth while; but she--she laughed as I went out of the
room, and--the others laughed, too. I _hate_ her! I don't mind what I
do to get her into trouble!"
"We mustn't do too much, we must be careful," said Jane. "But if she is
really very disobedient at home, why should she not be disobedient just
once at school? You are clever enough to manage that, aren't you,
Harriet?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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