YES, my notes were lost; I hunted everywhere for them, but I could not find them. I turned over every leaf in my dictionary in vain ; asked every girl in the school if she had seen them, but no one could help me.
My heart was beating very fast as I went into Herr Liebstein’s class, knowing that once more I should be in disgrace, and that Miss Maynard would be grieved with me and disappointed in me.
Of course I could not answer half the questions that were asked me, and Herr Liebstein said at the end of the lecture that he was very sorry that Miss Olive Stewart had become so inattentive, for he had quite expected that she would win the second prize.
‘What is the matter with you, Olive?’ asked Miss Maynard.
‘Please, ma’am, it is the notes,’ I said, bursting into tears. ‘I could not help it; they are lost again.’
‘When will you learn to be careful, Olive? Surely this will be a lesson to you!’
‘If you please, ma’am,’ I said, through my tears, ‘I put them so very carefully away in my dictionary, and I have not opened it since.’
‘Oh, nonsense, Olive ! If you really had put them there, you would have found them there; they cannot have run away You must really be more thoughtful and less careless; and, above all, do not, my dear child, get into the habit of making excuses for a fault. It is a dangerous thing to make excuses, for we are often led to say what is not strictly true.’ Oh, how miserable I felt when she said this! My dear Miss Maynard evidently thought that I had not only been careless, but also that what I had told her was not true. I cried so much about it that it gave me a very bad headache ; I could say none of my lessons correctly, and I was in disgrace all the day.
‘What shall I do? What shall I do?’ I kept saying over and over to myself. ‘How shall I show Miss Maynard that I have not been careless and untruthful?’
I went upstairs perplexed and troubled, and asking myself once more, ‘What shall I do?’
I went into the bedroom, and my eyes fell on my motto, ‘WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?’
There it stood out before me, in the midst of the wreath of blue forget-me-nots. What would Jesus do in my place ? What as our Example did Jesus do when He was on earth ?
I took up my Bible before I went to bed, and in the chapter which came in order for my evening reading was the account of a great multitude coming to Jesus, and wanting to take Him by force to make Him a King, and about His having to send them away. And then about the evening of that day of difficulties, and how He told His disciples to cross the lake without Him, and then how He Himself went up the lonely mountain, and continued all night in prayer to God.
I felt sure that if Jesus had been in my place He would have told God His Father all about it, and would have turned His trouble into prayer.
I thought I would try to do it. So I knelt down and said,—
‘O Lord, I do want Thy help very much. Please show Miss Maynard that I have not been careless and untruthful, and oh, do Thou help me always to come to Thee in every tine of trouble. For Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.’
I felt happier when I had said this, and went to bed, and tried to feel that all would be right. But all that week Miss Maynard was very grave and silent, and I felt in disgrace.
The girls were very kind to me, especially Alice Marshall, who told me that she was as much disappointed as I was, for she had always wanted me to get the prize. Her indignation was very great when the following Monday evening my notes were again missing!
Alice could hardly keep silent during the silent hour, so anxious was she to speak to me when she saw the trouble I was in.
Directly we rose from our seats she drew me to the other side of the room and whispered,—
‘Olive, some one must have taken your notes away; I am sure of it !’
I really could not help being afraid that she Was right, for I had put them away so carefully that it was impossible that I could have lost them. But who could have done such a cruel thing? I could not imagine.
Flora was very anxious to help me to find my notes that night, which I thought was very kind of her, as she was so anxious to get the prize herself. She and I turned out all the things in the closet, but it was of no use, for the notes were not there.
I dreaded the next day very much, for I was afraid Miss Maynard would be angry with me. But, to my surprise, she said nothing about it while the lecture was going on, though she looked very grave the whole time. When it was over, she told us to dress for a walk. I happened to be the last in the schoolroom, for I waited behind the others to But my notes once more safely away.
Miss Maynard came up to me as I was kneeling down by the cupboard, and laid her hand on my shoulder.
‘Is that where you put your notes last week, Olive?’ she said.
‘Yes, Miss Maynard,’ I said. ‘I put them just in that place.’
‘And were they lost again, Olive ?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ I said sorrowfully; ‘we could not find them anywhere. Flora helped me to look, but they were not here.’ Miss Maynard said no more, but went out of the room.
I felt very unhappy when we were walking out, for I did not know what to do, or how to find out what had become of my notes. I had lost all hope of winning the prize, but I did not mind that now, though it had been a great trouble to me at first. What made me most unhappy was that Miss Maynard was displeased with me, and thought me disobedient and careless.
There are some beautiful downs about half a mile from Marlborough Place, and we generally walk there in fine weather when the grass is dry. The air is very fresh and sweet, and the pretty green hills, covered with hawthorn bushes, look bright and pretty at any time of year, but I think they are most lovely in spring, when the bushes are as white as snow with may-blossoms, and the larks are singing in the blue sky overhead. We always walk ‘two and two’ through the town, but when we get to the downs, Mademoiselle lets us wander about amongst the bushes as we like.
On the day of which I am writing, I left the other girls gathering large bunches of blue hyacinths, and went wandering on by myself, I did not feel disposed to talk or I was in very low spirits. I almost seemed as if I was to get no answer to my prayer.
I found myself, after a few minutes, wandering on the side of the downs near the river, and I looked down over the rocks to the stream below.
I thought I was quite alone as I stood there looking and thinking, but to my surprise I heard voices close beside me.
And on the other side of the rock on which I was leaning, I saw, sitting on the grass, a lady and a little girl.