Ruby at School

by Mrs. George A. Paull

  CHAPTER XXI.

  MAUDE.

  If Maude's mother could have looked into the school and watched herlittle daughter for a day, I am sure she would have found it hard tobelieve that she was the same child as the selfish, self-willed littlegirl, who had made every one else miserable as well as herself if shecould not have her own way when she was at home.

  School life was very hard for Maude in a great many ways, and she hadbeen more homesick than any of the other girls,--not so much becauseshe wanted to see her father and mother as because she wanted to gowhere she could have her own way and do as she pleased.

  All her life she had been accustomed to having her own way, and aftersuch training it was very hard for her to submit to the same rules towhich the other girls had to submit, and to obey her teachers. It wasa new experience to her to find that her fine clothes did not win forher any esteem, and that unless she showed herself kind and obliging toher schoolmates, they did not care to have anything to do with her.

  It was not altogether Maude's fault that she had been so selfish; itwas partly because she had never been taught to be unselfish, and shehad grown so used to putting herself and her own comfort before that ofevery one else, that it seemed the most natural thing in the world todo, and she was surprised when every one else did not do so too.Nothing could have been better for her than to come to this quiet homeschool, where she could find a friend who would take the trouble tohelp her correct her faults as Mrs. Boardman did.

  Maude had never really loved any one before in all her life. She hadvalued others only for what they did for her, but now she was learningto love from a better reason than that. She really tried to pleaseMrs. Boardman by obeying the rules and trying to study her lessons, andthough it was hard for her to keep up with her class, Mrs. Boardmanencouraged her because she could see that Maude was really doing herbest.

  If Maude grew discouraged, and began to think that it was of no use forher to try to learn, that she would never be able to learn her lessonsand get up to the head of any of her classes, Mrs. Boardman would tellher how much she had improved since she first came, and encourage herto try again.

  For the first few weeks Maude found herself frequently in disgrace. Itseemed almost impossible for her to understand that she must obeywithout arguing the point, and that she must not be quarrelsome norselfish in her intercourse with the other scholars. If Maude had beenin a large school where she would not have had any one to help her, shemight not have improved so much; but in this little school, where itwas more like a family than a boarding-school, she was helped toconquer herself just as wisely as she could have been by a wise mother.

  When at last she really learned that no one cared for her father'smoney nor her mother's servants, nor her own jewelry, which she was notallowed to wear, and had to content herself with exhibiting, she beganto wish that there was something about herself which should win thelove of her schoolmates.

  She had made such an unpleasant impression upon them at first that theywere not very anxious to make friends with her, but as they saw thatshe was really trying to make herself pleasant, they were more willingto invite her to join in their games and share their amusements.

  She did not talk so much about her possessions, and tried to care moreabout others and their happiness. But all this was hard work. It isnot an easy matter to be selfish and wilful and then all at once becomethoughtful of others, and of their comfort; and many and many a nightMaude sobbed herself to sleep, quite discouraged with the efforts shehad to make to do things that seemed to come as a matter of course tothe other girls.

  Mrs. Boardman had grown to love the lonely little girl, when she sawhow much she needed a friend, and how grateful she was for the kindnesswhich was shown her; and sometimes she would ask Miss Chapman to letMaude spend the night with her, when she found that the little girl wasvery homesick and discouraged.

  Perhaps because she had never known before what it was to have a friendwho really wanted to help her make the most of herself, Maude lovedMrs. Boardman with all her heart, and she really tried and kept ontrying, so that she should not disappoint the one who took so muchinterest in her.

  Mrs. Boardman could see how the little girl improved from one week toanother, and though there was still much room for improvement, and itmight take months and perhaps years to undo the effect of Maude's earlytraining in selfishness, yet there was a great deal that was very sweetand lovable in her character, hidden away under all the dross; and Mrs.Boardman knew that if she kept on trying to improve, some day she wouldbe a very sweet girl, and one who would win love from all around her.

  Every hour Maude learned something that was of use to her, for she hadmuch more to learn than many of her schoolmates. In the first placeshe had always thought that work was something that belonged only toservants, and that a lady would not know how to do anything about thehouse; but here Miss Chapman insisted upon each little girl's caringfor her own room, and insisted that the work should be carefully andwell done, and the general feeling among the girls was that it wassomething to be proud of when their rooms won commendation from Mrs.Boardman.

  Maude no longer felt that it was a disgrace to be obliged to make herown bed, but on the contrary, she took a great deal of pride in makingit so well that when Mrs. Boardman went around to look at the roomsafter the girls had gone into school, she could find nothing toreprove, but on the contrary could leave a little card with "Good"upon the pillow.

  Once a week there was a cooking-class which the girls attended in turn,and Maude was as proud as any of the other girls could have been uponthe day when she made a plate of nice light biscuit all by herself, forsupper; and she looked forward with a good deal of pleasure to the timewhen she should show her mother how much she could do.

  Miss Chapman did not believe in education making little girls uselessat home, but she tried to have them taught practical things as well asthe more ornamental ones, for she wanted them to grow up useful as wellas accomplished women.

  So the scholars learned to sweep and dust, to make beds, and bread andcake, while they studied their other lessons; and when they went homein vacation times their mothers found them very useful little maids.

  Maude had not made any special friends among the girls. In her timeout of school hours she stayed with Mrs. Boardman as much as she could,and her teacher was very kind about letting the little girl come to herroom whenever she wanted to, and curl up in the big rocking-chair andwatch Mrs. Boardman as she sat by the window in her low sewing-chairand did the piles of mending which accumulated every week.

  The boxes of cake and candy which Maude had been so anxious that hermother should send her were not permitted to any of the scholars atMiss Chapman's school. Perhaps one reason why they were so well, andthe doctor seldom, if ever, paid any of them, a visit, was because theyate such good, wholesome food and were not allowed to spoil theirappetites with candy.

  Once a week they had candy, and then it seemed all the nicer because itwas such a treat. A little old woman kept a candy store some littledistance down the street, and the girls were allowed to go down thereSaturday mornings and buy five cents' worth of candy. This little oldwoman was quite famous among the scholars for her molasses cocoanutcandy, and they almost always bought that kind of candy.

  As Ruby said to her Aunt Emma after she had been to school a fewSaturdays,--

  "It looks very nice, and is good, and then you get more of it for fivecents than any other kind of candy, so it is really the best kind tobuy, you see."

  The old woman always expected Miss Chapman's young ladies everySaturday, and had nice little bags of candy all tied up, ready forthem, so that she should not keep them waiting; and if the day wasstormy, and she knew that they would not be allowed to go out, she tooka covered basketful of candy-bags up to the school, that they mightmake their purchases there.

  Saturday morning was a very pleasant one at school. There was a shortstudy hour, which was really a half-hour, and then the girls wrote
letters home, or visited each other in their rooms.

  In the afternoon they put on their very best dresses, and had a nicersupper than usual, and almost every Saturday evening the minister andhis wife came and took that meal with them.

  He was not at all like the minister Ruby had known at home all herlife, and whenever she looked at him, she wondered how it was possiblefor so young a man to be a minister. He never asked any of the girlswhether they knew the catechism or not, and Ruby was quite disappointedat this, though I do not think any of the other girls wanted to say it.Ruby was so sure that she knew it perfectly, even the longest andhardest answers, that she was always glad of a chance to show how wellshe knew it. Perhaps if the others had known it as well, they mighthave been willing to say it, but as it was, they were quite satisfiedthat he never asked for it; and Maude, who did not know a word of it,and who had all she could do to learn what her teachers required ofher, would have been quite discouraged, I am afraid, if the recitationof the catechism each week had been added to her other tasks.