"There is some fancy work for you, since you want amusement," said she. "You shall cut every one of them into carpet-rags before you leave that room." She closed the door, and Calista heard her lock that and the room opposite before she went down stairs. Calista, though she had been so cool with her aunt, was in a tempest of rage and mortification. She had never met with any personal violence before, except a box on the ear now and then when she was a little girl. And now to be so insulted and degraded before the servants; to hear her father and mother abused and slandered; to see her own mother's property, and not to be allowed to touch it,—it was too much. Her head swam, her eyes seemed full to bursting, and she felt as though she could have killed Aunt Priscilla on the spot. A burst of tears came at last to her relief. She cried passionately for a long time, till her mood calmed itself. And she began to consider her situation and think what she had better do. Look at it as she would, she could not see that she had done anything very wrong. True, she had put the working-case in her pocket, but she certainly had no intention of stealing it; and though she had been tempted to take the gold pieces, she had not touched them with her little finger. She did not feel that she had wronged Miss Priscilla in any way. Neither could she feel under any obligation to her. Kindness she had had none, and as to support, it was clear from Mr. Settson's story that her grandfather had intended to give her father his share of the estate, which, therefore, owed her much more than the bare maintenance she had received from it. She felt that she could not stay longer with Miss Priscilla if Miss Druett went away, and that she would go Calista was pretty sure. At last she made up her mind. She would go to Mr. Settson, lay the whole matter before him, and be guided by his advice. At another time she would have looked forward with pleasure to residing in his family, but Mary's conduct in the morning had thrown a cloud over that prospect. Perhaps Miss McPherson would let her live in the school for the help she would give Miss Meeks and Miss Jessie. Miss Priscilla could not keep her shut up always, and as soon as she was at liberty, she would hasten to town, lay the case before her best friends, and be guided by their opinion. Having settled this matter in her mind, Calista felt comfortable. She bathed her eyes, arranged her hair and her dress, and looked about for something wherewith to divert herself. She could not perform the task of cutting carpet-rags, even if she had been so disposed, for the very sufficient reason that she had no scissors; so she hung the garments away in a disused closet, after examining the pockets of the coats, in one of which she actually found an old sixpence. "Really, what a treasure!" said Calista. "I think I will hand it over to Aunt Priscilla; or shall I buy a lead pencil with it?"