"Jane," he said; "I have nothing to do with you except to thank you. I leave you your own conscience to punish you for what you did. You were guilty of the great sin of moral weakness. You yielded to the wishes of a companion who was stronger than yourself: but at the eleventh hour you have saved the situation for me, and whoever else punishes you, Jane Bush, I am not the one. I believe, too, in the law of kindness, and I fully believe in that everlasting law of God's forgiveness. I trust, Jane, that this will prove a lesson to you, and that you will turn over a new leaf; and if, in the future, I can help you, I will: and I know your kind school-fellows will not forsake you. Patience Chetwold, my dear, you have earned my undying gratitude. By your promptness and decision and cleverness and bravery you have saved my dear little son from the greatest catastrophe which could ever have occurred to him. Now, as to you, Harriet Lane--but I would rather speak to you not in the presence of your companions." At these words, all the other school-mothers went out of the room, Jane still completely surrounded by a phalanx of her companions. When the door was shut behind them and Mr Durrant and Harriet were alone, he turned to her. "Some day, you will understand what you have done," he said. "I understand now," said Harriet. "It is all up," she added. "I wouldn't have been such a bad school-mother as you think. There was nothing heroic or noble about me; but I wanted the post very badly; you should not have tempted me, Mr Durrant, by offering it. You began by offering a pony, which we all wanted very badly; and I did wrong to try to secure that. I failed, and I was sorry; and Robina won it. Then you offered something much more important than a pony. My feelings of jealousy towards Robina returned, and I thought I would try hard to become school-mother to Ralph; for we are poor at home, and I am not very happy, and you offered things which would have made my success in life--" "You don't suppose for a single moment that the path you choose to walk in could have conduced to success--real success in life, Harriet Lane?" said Mr Durrant. "Did ever deceit really prosper? I tell you what it is, Harriet," he said, changing his tone now and going up to the girl and taking her hand, "that you ought to be down on your knees thanking Providence that at that terrible moment which you so cleverly and wickedly planned in order to show off your own bravery, little Ralph was not drowned. Had that sailor not unexpectedly come to the rescue, Ralph could certainly never have reached the shore, and it is even doubtful whether you could have done so yourself. You played with edged tools, my child, and you may be thankful you were not more severely punished." There was no answer from Harriet, whose eyes were fixed on the ground.