Year: 1864

his generous proposal, but he promised hcT
that when she became a teacher-the goa
of her ambition and had saved enough t.
make it perfect y convenient, he would
permit her to repay him. Ou this condi
ton she accepted his offer, with grateful
thanks and entered the school. Yet none
the less did 81 e feel grateful to the kind
physician who had extended her the help
lug hand which no one else would have
been inclined to do None the less did
she pray for his healtn ami happiness
every night upon her knees


And now she was ambitions to show
him that his kindness was not thrown
away For this only, and not to crafty
any ambition of her own, she hoped to
carry off the prize.


She was not very hopeful Of it Miriam
Hamilton had enjoyed the advantage of
the school twice as long as she. Miriam
had talent aud brlllancy. Jane vas not
sure whether she had or not She knew
that she was not brilliant nor quick She
could not get diff, ult lesson lu fifteen
minutes, as Miriam had frequently done
Whatever succ, IS she had achieved had
cost her hard and persevering labor. Bat
as she began to feel despundent in calcu
lating the chances of success, this passage
came into her mind: The race is not to
the swift, nor the battle to the strong -
Besides. if she did not win the prize, she
would AT least have the benefit If t"yng.
So she resolved 10 enter the list-to do as
we'll AZ she poss rli coniu, and then quiet.
ly leave the result to time


Are you going to write for the prize,
Jane ! a>kea one Ot her sch"oi fellows


The questoner was Marian Trevor, al
ready mentioned as sycophautic admir-
er of Miriam Hamilton.


She ran straight to her idol to tell her
of Jane Ashton's intention.


Let the heggar write said Miriam, in
acceuts OF strong contempt It'll amuse
her, and | fatter myself it will not inter.
fere particularly with me. Do you think
there's any chance of gaining the prize ov,
er my head, Marian?'


Gain the prize over! She might as
we'll undertake to climb up to the moon
with ten foot ladder


Miriam smiled a smiie of self satisfied
approval of this adolation, and dismissed
the SUBJECT from her mlnd.


Meanwhile, Jane Ashton lost no time in
selecting a subject for her essay. She felt
that in order to stand any chance of sue.
cess, it would be necessary to do her best.
After considerable reflection, she decided
to make choice OF Self Reliance, and its
important hearing upon the individual
character and upon success in life.


IpF
prominent instances of this trait as her
reading should supply, and enforce her
view ny appealing to their examples. Ii
Was not long before she became interested
in her self chosen task. and when at length
she completed it, it was not without de
gree of pardonable pride, that she survey
ed her work


Meanwhile, Miriam Hamilton did not
hasten to undertake her task She was
not disposed to exert herself When the
question was asked why she delayed So
long, she answered with confdence, One
day will be enough to write mine | don t
pretend to dig like some folks Thank
gooiness, am d rapid worker


Finally, she selected as her subject the
ut uncommCn one-'A parallel between
Washington and Napoleon She Was in
fuenced in the selection chiefly by the
thought that it would be less trouble to
wri upon this subject than any other
Certainly her heart was not in it, nor was
she one in any way fitted to comprehend
and appreciate the character OF Washing
ton


However to do her Justice it must he
arknowledg ged that her essay Was very
good one, considering the amount OF time
and labor she had expended upon it, She
had the faculty OF easy and smooth ex
preston, and to the superficial reader her
essay would seem very good.


Only the day before the essays were to
be handed in, rumors reached Miriam that
Jane Ashton had written a very superior
essay. Some OF the girls had seen it, anu
were confident that she would gain the
prize. Until this time Miriam had not
felt doubt of her own success. Even
now. she thought that the merit OF her
rlVai essay must be very much exagge
rated, still the possibility of James sue
cess was enough to fill her with uneasi
ness, and she determined to find out
through her fatterer, Marian Trevor. how
good 1t really was Accordingly, Marian
borrowed the essay, and secretly showed
it to Miriam. She read it with i'll con.
ceal~d dsnIay 1t was much better than
her own. In spite of her self love, she
could not help seeing that, nor did Ma
rians deprecating remarks at all blind her
to the fact Without, however, betravng
her dsquiet, she requested Marian to re-
turn it, and then formed her plans


She remembered that Madame De Ian