would be sad," replied Mr Hayes, "for that would be taking adirectly opposite direction to the path which Providence clearly intendsyou to walk in."
Priscilla raised her eyes, and looked earnestly at the old rector.Then, clasping her hands tightly together, she said with suppressedpassion--
"Why do you encourage me to be selfish, Mr Hayes?"
"I will not," he replied, answering her look; "I will listen patientlyto all you have to say. How do you propose to earn bread for yourselfand your sisters?"
"I thought of dressmaking."
"Um! Did you--make--the gown you have on?"
"Yes," replied Priscilla, looking down at her ungainly homespun garment.
The rector rose to his feet, and smiled in the most sweet and benevolentway.
"I am no judge of such matters," he said, "and I may be wrong. But myimpression is that the style and cut of that dress would scarcely have alarge demand in fashionable quarters."
"Oh, sir!" Prissie blushed all over. "You know I said I should have tolearn."
"My dear child," said Mr Hayes, firmly, "when it becomes a question ofa woman earning her bread, let her turn to that path where promise lies.There is no promise in the fit of that gown, Prissie. But here--herethere is much."
He touched her big forehead lightly with his hand.
"You must not give up your books, my dear," he said, "for, independentlyof the pleasure they afford, they will also give you bread-and-butter.Go home now, and let me think over matters. Come again to-morrow. Imay have important things to say to you."
From this conversation came the results which, shortly after thecompletion of her eighteenth year, made Priscilla an inmate of StBenet's far-famed College for Women. Mr Hayes left no stone unturnedto effect his object. He thought Priscilla could do brilliantly as ateacher, and he resolved that for this purpose she should have theadvantages which a collegiate life alone could offer to her. He himselfprepared her for her entrance examination, and he and Aunt Raby betweenthem managed the necessary funds to give the girl a three-years' life asa student in these halls of learning.
Prissie knew very little about the money part of the scheme. She onlyguessed what had become of Aunt Raby's watch and chain; and a spasmcrossed her face when one day she happened to see that Aunt Raby's poorlittle jewel case was empty. The jewels and the watch could certainlynot fetch much, but they provided Prissie with a modest little outfit,and Mr Hayes had got a grant from a loan society, which furtherlightened expenses for all parties.
Priscilla bade her sisters, her aunt, and the old rector good-bye, andstarted on her new life with courage.
CHAPTER SIX.
COLLEGE LIFE.
The routine of life at St Benet's was something as follows:--
The dressing-bell was rung at seven, and all the students were expectedto meet in the chapel for prayers at eight. Nothing was said if theydid not appear; no reproofs were uttered, and no inquiries made; but thegood-fellowship between the students and the dons was so apparent in thethree Halls, that known wishes were always regarded, and, as a rule,there were few absentees.
The girls went to chapel in their white-straw sailor-hats, simplytrimmed with a broad band of ribbon of the college colours, green with anarrow stripe of gold. Breakfast immediately followed chapel; tea andcoffee and different cold meats were placed on the side-tables, and thegirls helped themselves to what they pleased.
The great event at breakfast was the post. Each student, when sheentered the breakfast-hall, would make an eager rush to the side-tablewhere the letters were neatly placed. During breakfast these were readand chatted over. The whole meal was most informal, and seldom lastedmore than a quarter of an hour.
After breakfast the notice-board in the large entrance-hall was visitedand eagerly scanned, for it contained a detailed account of the hoursfor the different lectures, and the names of the lecturers who wouldinstruct the students during the day. By the side of the large officialnotice-board hung another, which was read with quite as deep interest.This contained particulars of the meetings of the different clubs andsocieties for pleasure or profit got up by the girls themselves.
On the morning after her arrival, Priscilla, with the other students,read the contents of these two boards, and then, in the company of aFresher, nearly as shy as herself, she wandered about the lovely groundswhich surrounded Heath Hall until nine o'clock, when lectures began.
Lectures continued without interruption until lunch-time, a meal whichwas taken very much when the girls pleased. The time allowed for thislight midday refreshment was from half-past twelve to two. Theafternoons were mostly given up to games and gymnastics, althoughoccasionally there were more lectures, and the more studious of thegirls spent a considerable part of the time studying in their own rooms.
Tea was the convivial meal of the day; to this the girls invited outsidefriends and acquaintances, and, as a rule, they always took it in theirown rooms.
Dinner was at half-past six, and from half-past seven to half-past ninewas usually the time when the different clubs and societies met.
There was a regularity and yet a freedom about the life; invisiblebounds were prescribed, beyond which no right-minded or conscientiousgirl cared to venture, but the rules were really very few. Studentsmight visit their friends in Kingsdene, and receive them at the college.They might entertain them at luncheon or dinner, or at tea in their ownrooms, at a fixed charge; and provided the friends left at a certainhour, and the girls themselves asked for leave of absence when theywished to remain out, and mentioned the place to which they proposed togo, no questions were asked, and no objections offered.
They were expected to return to the college not later than eleven atnight, and one invitation to go out in the week was, as a rule, the mostthey ever accepted.
Into this life Priscilla came, fresh from the Devonshire farm and fromall the pursuits and interests which had hitherto formed her world. Shehad made a very firm niche for herself in Aunt Raby's old cottage, andthe dislodgment therefrom caused her for the time such mental disquietand so many nervous and queer sensations that her pain was often acuteand her sense of awkwardness considerable.
Priscilla's best in her early life always seemed but a poor affair, andshe certainly neither looked nor was at her best at first here. After afew days, however, she fitted into her new grooves, took up the line ofstudy which she intended to pursue, and was quickly absorbed in all thefascinations which it offered to a nature like hers.
Her purse was restored to her on the morning after her arrival, andneither Maggie Oliphant nor Nancy Banister ever guessed that she hadoverheard some words of theirs on the night of her arrival, and thatthese had put bitterness into her heart and nearly destroyed her faithin her fellow-students. Both Maggie and Nance made several overtures ofkindness to Prissie, but the cold manner which was more or less habitualto her never thawed, and, after a time, they left her alone. There isno saying what might have happened to Prissie had she never overheardthis conversation. As it was, however, after the first shock it gaveher courage.
She said to herself--
"I should think very little of myself if I did not despise a girl likeMiss Oliphant. Is it likely I should care to imitate one whom Idespise? There was a brief, dreadful hour when I absolutely pined tohave pretty things in my room as she has in hers; now I can do withoutthem. My room shall remain bare and unadorned. In this state it willat least look unique."
It did. The other students who lived in the same corridor came to visitPriscilla in the free and easy manner which characterised them, and maderemarks the reverse of flattering. When _was_ she going to put herpictures up? Miss Day would be delighted to help her whenever she choseto do it. When did she intend to go down to Kingsdene to order hereasy-chairs and little Japanese tables, and rugs, and the other smallbut necessary articles which would be required to make her roomhabitable?
For several days Priscilla turned these inquiries aside. She blushed,stammered, looked awkward, a
nd spoke of something else. At last,however, she summoned up courage, and, once for all, delivered herselffrom her tormentors. She did that remarkably brave thing whichsometimes very nervous people can brace themselves to do.
It was evening, and Miss Day, Miss Marsh, and Nancy Banister had allcome in for a few minutes to see Priscilla on their way to their ownrooms.
"Do come and cocoa with me to-night, Miss Peel," said Miss Day. "You'reso dreadfully unsociable, not a bit like an ordinary St Benet's girl.If you go on in this fashion you'll be moped to death before your firstterm is over."
"I am accustomed to a very quiet life," responded Priscilla, "and I wantto work; I have come here to work."
"Dear, dear! anyone would suppose you were going in for a tripos. Ifthis were your last term I could understand it--but your first!"
It was Miss Marsh who said these