Year: 1864

sufficiently near to hear every word tha


was said, was plain girl, dressed in


cheap calico, whose appearance contrastco


strongly with the rich attity of the bril-


liant Miriam.


An EXPRESSION of pain swept over the


face Of Jane Ashton, as she heard these


words, and she said to herself, despon.


IDENTIFY, "Of coafsc Miriam will get the


prize. Why should be foolish enough


to hope for it And yet I would like tc


get it. 1t would please DR.. Herman Sc


mich"


She fell into reverie. We will i'm


prove the time of her comm union by
mentioning briefly the outlinesof her his


tory.


In the first place she was poor. 1t
needed only a glance at her plain dress
to assure one of that How then did she
happen to be in attendance at Madame
DE Lhncys fashionable boarding school =?
She was not there as u scholar. A few
day scholars were admitted and she sa-
one of these. Even the high rate of tut
ton *o"d have been too much for her
slender means, but this was betrayed b.
II young physician, DIR. Herman, who
had taken an interest in her. She had
at first with considerable iiidSpcndciist
declined his generous proposal, but he
promised her that when she became {.
teacher, the goal of her ambition, and
had saved enough tt make it perfectly
convenient, he would permit her to repay
hiIii. On this condition she accepted his
offer, with grateful thanks and entered
the school. Yet none the less did she
feel grateful to the kind physician who
had extended her the helping hand which
no one else would here been inclined to
do. None the less did she pray for his
health and happiness every night upon
her knees.


And now she was ambitious IL 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 of the prize.


She was not very hopeful of it. Mi
riam Hamilton hid enjoyed the advantage
of the school twice as long as she. Mi
riam had talent and brilliancy. Jane was
not sure whether she had or not. She
knew that she rr- not brilliant or quick.
She could not get dificti, lesson in fif-
teen minutes as Miriam had frequently
done. Whatever success she achieved
had cost her hard and pcrsevering labor.
But r. she began to feel Respondent in
the chances of success, this
passage came into her mind. The race
is not with the swift, nor the battle with
the strong" Besides, if she did not win
the prize, she would at least have the
benefit of trying. So she resolved to en-
ter the list-to do as well as she possibly
could and tl!ch quietly leave the result to
time


" Are you going to write for the prize,
Jane p asked one of the girls.


The qucstioner was Marian Trevor, al
ready mentioned as sycophantc admirer
of Miriam Hamilton.


She ran straight to fser idol to tell her
of JAMS intention.


"Lct the bcggar write'" said Miriam,
in accents of strong cUhte.nbt. It'll
amuse her, and | fatter myself it will no.
interfere with ne. DO you think there's
any chance of gaining the prize over my
head, Marian"


" Gain tire prize over. She might as
well undertake to Climb up to the moon
with Il ten-foot ladder"


Miriam smiled smile of sclf-satisficd
approval of this adolation, and dismissed
the subject from her mind:


Meanwhile, Jane Ashton lost no time
in selecting a subject for her essay. She
'clt that Ill order to s.arh nny chance Of
success, it would he necessary to do her
best. After considerable reflection, she
lecided to make choice of Self Reliance,
md its important bearing upon the lndi-
ridual character and upon success in life.


ltcr design was to weave in as many
prominent instances Of this tfaIt us her
reading should supply, and enforce hcf
view by appealing to their examples. 1t
was not long before she became very
much interested in her self-chosen task,
md when at length she completed it, it
vas not without degree Of parGonahle !
pride, that she surveyed 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
ong, she answered with confidence
'' One day will be enough to write mine.
| don't pretend to dig like some folks
Thank goodness, l am a rapid worker"


Finally, she selected as her subject the
not uncommon one" A parallel between
Washington and Napoleon" She was
influenced in the selection chiefly by the
thought that it would be less trouble to
write 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
lon.


However, to do her justice, it must be