winona laid down the letter with an agitated[pg 8] gasp. the proposition almost took her breath away.
"what an idea!" she exclaimed indignantly. "mother, of course you won't even dream of it for an instant! i'd hate to go and live with aunt harriet. it's not to be thought of!"
"well, i don't know, winona!" wavered mrs. woodward. "we must look at it from all sides, and perhaps aunt harriet's right, and it really would be for the best. miss harmon's a poor teacher, and i'm sure your music, at any rate, is not a credit to her. you played that last piece shockingly out of time. you know you said yourself that you were getting beyond miss harmon!"
whatever impeachments winona may have brought against her teacher, she was certainly not prepared to admit them now. she rejected the project of the seaton high school with the utmost energy and determination, bringing into the fray all that force of character which her mother lacked. poor mrs. woodward vacillated feebly—she was generally swayed by whoever was nearest at the moment—and i verily believe winona's arguments would have prevailed, and the whole scheme would have been abandoned, had not mr. joynson opportunely happened to turn up.
mr. joynson was a solicitor, and the trustee of mrs. woodward's property. he managed most of her business affairs, and some of her private ones as well. she had confidence in his judgment, and she at once thankfully submitted the question of winona's future to his decision.[pg 9]
"the very thing for her!" he declared. "do her a world of good to go to a proper school. she's frittering her time away here. send her to seaton by all means. what are you to do without her? nonsense! nobody's indispensable—especially a girl of fifteen! pack her off as soon as you can. doesn't want to go? oh, she'll sing a different song when once she gets there, you'll see!"
thus supported by masculine authority, mrs. woodward settled the question in the affirmative, and replied to her aunt by return of post.
naturally such a stupendous event as the exodus of winona made a sensation in the household.
"well, of all the rum shows!" exclaimed percy. "you and aunt harriet in double harness! it beats me altogether!"
"it's atrocious!" groaned winona. "i'm a victim sacrificed for the good of the family. oh! why couldn't mother have thought of some other way of economizing? i don't want to win scholarships and go in for a career!"
"buck up! perhaps you won't win! there'll be others in for the exam., you bet! you'll probably fail, and come whining home like a whipped puppy with its tail between its legs!"
"indeed i shan't!" flared winona indignantly. "i've a little more spirit than that, thank you! and why should you imagine i'm going to fail? i suppose i've as much brains as most people!"
"that's right! upset the pepper-pot! i was only trying to comfort you!" teased percy. "in my opinion you'll be returned like a bad halfpenny,[pg 10] or one of those articles 'of no use to anybody except the owner.' aunt harriet will be cheated of her prey after all!"
"if win goes away, i shall be the eldest daughter at home," said letty airily, shaking out her short skirts. "i'll sit at the end of the table, and pour out tea if mother has a headache, and unlock the apple room, and use the best inkpot if i like, and have first innings at the piano."
"you forget about the nursery governess," retorted winona. "if i go, she comes, and you'll find you've exchanged king log for king stork. oh, very well, just wait and see! it won't be as idyllic as you imagine. i shall be saved the trouble of looking after you, at any rate."
"what i'm trying to ascertain, madam," said percy blandly, "is whether your ladyship wishes to take up your residence in seaton or not. with the usual perversity of your sex you pursue a pig policy. when i venture to picture you seated at the board of your venerable aunt, you protest you are a sacrifice; when, on the other hand, i suggest your return to the bosom of your family, you revile me equally."
"you're the most unsympathetic beast i've ever met!" declared winona aggrievedly.
when she analyzed her feelings, however, she was obliged to allow that they were mixed. though the prospect of settling down at seaton filled her with dismay, percy's gibe at her probable failure touched her pride. winona had always been counted as the clever member of the family. it would be too ignominious to be sent home labeled unfit. she set[pg 11] her teeth and clenched her fists at the bare notion.
"i'll show them all what i can do if i take a thing up!" she resolved.
in the meantime mrs. woodward was immersed in the subject of clothing. every post brought her boxes of patterns, amongst which she hesitated, lost in choice.
"if i knew whether you're really going to stay at seaton or not, it would make all the difference, winona," she fluttered. "it's no use buying you these new things if you're only to wear them at home, but i'd make an effort to send you nice to aunt harriet's. i know she'll criticize everything you have on. dear me, i think i'd better risk it! it would be such a nuisance to have to write for the patterns all over again, and how could i get your dresses fitted when you weren't here to be tried on? miss jones is at liberty now, and can come for a week's sewing, but she'll probably be busy if i want her later. now tell me, which do you really think is the prettier of these two shades? i like the fawn, but i believe the material will spot. what have you done with the lace collar aunt harriet gave you last christmas? she's sure to ask about it if you don't wear it!"
having decided that on the whole she intended to win a scholarship, winona bluffed off the matter of her departure.
"i've changed my mind, that's all," she announced to her home circle. "it will be a great comfort to me not to hear mamie scraping away at her violin in the evenings, or letty strumming at scales. think[pg 12] what a relief not to be obliged to rout up dorrie and godfrey, and haul them off to school every day! i'm tired of setting an example. you needn't snigger!"
the family grinned appreciatively. they understood winona.
"don't you worry! i'll set the example when you're gone," letty assured her. "i'll be as improving as a copy-book. i wish i'd your chance; i'd stand aunt harriet for the sake of going to a big high school. younger sisters never have any luck! eldests just sweep the board. i don't know where we come in!"
"don't you fret, young 'un, you'll score later on!" cooed an indulgent voice from the sofa, where percy sprawled with a book and a bag of walnuts. "remember that when you're still in all the bliss and sparkle of your teens, winona'll be a mature and passée person of twenty-two. 'that eldest miss woodward's getting on, you know!' people will say, and somebody'll reply: 'yes, poor thing!'"
"they won't when i've got a career," retorted winona, pelting percy with his own walnut-shells.
"you assured us the other day that you despised such vanities."
"well, it depends. perhaps i'll be a lady tram conductor, and punch tickets, or a post-woman, or drive a government van!"
"if those are careers for girls, bag me for a steeple jack," chirped dorrie.
it was perhaps a good thing for winona that such a short interval elapsed between the acceptance[pg 13] of aunt harriet's proposal and the date of the scholarship examination. the ten days were very busy ones, for there seemed much to be done in the way of preparation. miss jones, the dressmaker, was installed in the nursery with the sewing-machine, and demanded frequent tryings-on, a process winona hated.
"i shall buy all my clothes ready made when i'm grown up!" she declared.
"they very seldom fit, and have to be altered," returned her mother. "do stand still, winona! and i hope you're learning up a few dates and facts for this examination. you ought to be studying every morning. if only miss harmon were home, i'd have asked her to coach you. i'm afraid she'll be disappointed at your leaving, but of course she can't expect to keep you for ever. i heard a rumor that she means to give up her school altogether, and go and live with her uncle. i hope it's true, and then i can take the little ones away with an easy conscience. i don't want to treat her badly, poor thing, but i'm sure teaching's not her vocation."
winona really made a heroic effort to prepare herself for the coming ordeal. she retired to a secluded part of the garden and read over her latest school books. the process landed her in the depths of despondency.
"i'll never remember anything—never!" she mourned to her family. "to try and get all this into my head at once is like bolting a week's meals at a single go! i know a date here and there, and i've a hazy notion of french and latin verbs, and a[pg 14] general impression of other subjects, but if they ask me for anything definite, such as the battles of the wars of the roses, or a list of the products of india, i'm done for!"
"go in for post-impressionism, then," suggested percy. "write from a romantic standpoint, and don't condescend to mere facts. stick in a quotation or two, and a drawing if possible, and make your paper sound eloquent and dramatic and poetical, and all the rest of it. they'll mark you low for accuracy, but put you on ten per cent. for style, you bet! i know a chap who tries it on at the coll., and it always pays."
"it's worth thinking about, certainly," said winona, shutting her books with a weary yawn.
