St. Mary's gazette., 1864-08-25

fHE GOLDEN PRIZE.

..AtteQlian. yonng ladies'"
Forty ye1kg girls. varying in age from
twelve 70 e16eDteen, simultaneously look
ed up fropf their books. snd. Eith glances
Of euriositr regarded Madame De Lancy,
l.ef whos sydi!se ashssl they 3 we're. all
'nembeis. Having secured their attention,
the teacher proceeded.
You are aware. yo,n, ladies. thai
our setni-annual exhibition is appointed
for the twenty fourth of this mouth, o.
three weeks from today. It is scarcely
necessary for ME to say that desire it ia
appear rs well as possible. A part of the
exercists Will consist of essays. the bess
SIX th.t have been written during the tcru,
Icing St le ted. In order to excite your
emulatit n'. and induce you to exert your.
selves more than you otherwise would, I
offer thi gold pencil as prize. to BE- gis.
en- to the writer of the best ESSAY, by q
N mber this :ch 'ol. They are to be
b 'ndsd in fortnight from to-day, aud
the decision will be announced the day
before exhibi ion. will add that the
manuscript must he lcrfac ly neat and
that blot will be considered sufficient to
exclude it fr 'm cor p .ttion.'
The gold pencil winch Madame DE Ian
cy held up was elegant and without doub,
costly.
1t was natural that more than one Of
the g'rs should have felt strong desire
tpos< g. if. Yet most hoped against OK.
pectstion, feeling tha. there was only one
present who would probably bear off the
coveted prize. much as they might exert
themselves.
This fortunate one was Miriam Hamil-
ton. brilliant, dashipg girl. with consid-
erable beauty. and not a little talent.
She was generally considered "genius !"
being able to make snowy recitation az
t'r slender preparation. In truth. she
was little disposed to exert herself, confid-
ing in her readiness, and making it her
boast.
1t could hardly be said tnat she was a
favoriie. She was too imperious, and too
exacting of admiration for that. Y,t. hy
sort of tacit consent. the chief place in
the school was assigned to her
At recess. she remarked to a eea,pan-
ion who expressed her admiration Of the
prize.
"Yes. it is very pretty 1t will be
Just the thing for me to wear at my birth
day party"
'When viii your birthday come %
''On the twenty seventh, three days
after the exhibition.
Then of course you will exert your
. f to get it."
II shall write for it," sad Miriam,
proudly bat I conceive that it will be
hardly necessary for me t. exert myself
particularly. Marian Trevor"
20 no. certainly not" said her COM
plaisnnt friend. Everybody knows you
are the best writer in s.hool"
Standing at the distance of few feet,
sufficiently near t" hear every word that
vas said was plain girl, dressed in a
cheap calico. whose appearance contras:ed
strongly with the rich attire Of the briiliau,
Miriam.
An expression of pain swept over the
face Of Jane Asbt"hn. as she heard these
words. and she said to herself, respondent
ly. Of course Miriam will get the prize
Why should be foolish enough TO hope
for i,2 And yet would like to get it. 1t
would please Or Herman so much"
She fell into reverie. We will i'm
prove the time If her self-communion by
By mentioning briefly the outlines Of her
history.
In the first place, she was poor. 1t
needed only a glance at her plain DIRE t,
assure one # that. How then did she
happen to be in attendance at Madame De
Lancy's fashionable boarding school !
She was not there as boarding ch liar.
A few day scholars were admitted, and
she was one of these. Even the high
rates of tuition would have been too much
f.r her slender means, but this was de-
frayed by a young Physician. DR.. Her
man. who had taken an interest in her.
She had at first, with considerable inde-
pendencc. declined his generous proposal.
but he promised her that when she be.
came teacher-the goal Of her ambition
and had saved enough to make it perfectly
convenient, lie would permit her to repay
him. On This condition she accepted biz
offer with grateful thanks, and entered the
school. Yet none the less did she feel
grateful to the kind physician who had ex.
tended her the helping hand which nc
one else would have been inclined to do.
None the less did she pray for his health
and happiness every night upon he'
knees.
Apd now she was ambitious to show HIN
| that his kindness was not thrown away
For this only, AID not 10 gra.ify any am
bition o: her own, she hoped to carr Of
the prize.
| She was not very hopeful of l.: Miriam
Hamilton had enj' yed the advantage o
the school twice as long as she. Miriam
had talent and briIliancy. Jane vas DO
/ ure whether shs had or not Sh. knew