Chapter 8 TRIAL BY FIRE

Aunt Elizabeth drove Emily to school the next morning. Aunt Laura

Had thought that, since there was only a month before vacation, it

Was not worth while for Emily to "start school." But Aunt

Elizabeth did not yet feel comfortable with a small niece skipping

Around New Moon, poking into everything insatiably, and was

Resolved that Emily must go to school to get her out of the way.

Emily herself, always avid for new experiences, was quite keen to

Go, but for all that she was seething with rebellion as they drove

Along. Aunt Elizabeth had produced a terrible gingham apron and an

Equally terrible gingham sunbonnet from somewhere in the New Moon

Garret, and made Emily put them on. The apron was a long sack-like

Garment, high in the neck, with SLEEVES. Those sleeves were the

Crowning indignity. Emily had never seen any little girl wearing

An apron with sleeves. She rebelled to the point of tears over

Wearing it, but Aunt Elizabeth was not going to have any nonsense.

Emily saw the Murray look then; and when she saw it she buttoned

Her rebellious feeling tightly up in her soul and let Aunt

Elizabeth put the apron on her.

"It was one of your mother's aprons when she was a little girl, Emily, " said Aunt Laura comfortingly, and rather sentimentally.

"Then, " said Emily, uncomforted and unsentimental, "I don't wonder

She ran away with Father when she grew up."

Aunt Elizabeth finished buttoning the apron and gave Emily a none

Too gentle push away from her.

"Put on your sunbonnet, " she ordered.

"Oh, please, Aunt Elizabeth, don't make me wear that horrid thing."

Aunt Elizabeth, wasting no further words, picked up the bonnet and

Tied it on Emily's head. Emily had to yield. But from the depths

Of the sunbonnet issued a voice, defiant though tremulous.

"Anyway, Aunt Elizabeth, you can't boss God, " it said.

Aunt Elizabeth was too cross to speak all the way to the

Schoolhouse. She introduced Emily to Miss Brownell, and drove

Away. School was already "in, " so Emily hung her sunbonnet on the

Porch nail and went to the desk Miss Brownell assigned her. She

Had already made up her mind that she did not like Miss Brownell

And never would like her.

Miss Brownell had the reputation in Blair Water of being a fine

Teacher--due mainly to the fact that she was a strict disciplinarian

And kept excellent "order." She was a thin, middle-aged person

With a colourless face, prominent teeth, most of which she showed

When she laughed, and cold, watchful grey eyes--colder even than

Aunt Ruth's. Emily felt as if those merciless agate eyes saw clean

Through her to the core of her sensitive little soul. Emily could

Be fearless enough on occasion; but in the presence of a nature

Which she instinctively felt to be hostile to hers she shrank away

In something that was more repulsion than fear.

She was a target for curious glances all the morning. The Blair

Water school was large and there were at least twenty little girls

Of about her own age. Emily looked back curiously at them all and

Thought the way they whispered to each other behind hands and books

When they looked at her very ill-mannered. She felt suddenly

Unhappy and homesick and lonesome--she wanted her father and her

Old home and the dear things she loved.

"The New Moon girl is crying, " whispered a black-eyed girl across

The aisle. And then came a cruel little giggle.

"What is the matter with you, Emily?" said Miss Brownell suddenly

And accusingly.

Emily was silent. She could not tell Miss Brownell what was the

Matter with her--especially when Miss Brownell used such a tone.

"When I ask one of my pupils a question, Emily, I am accustomed to

Having an answer. Why are you crying?"

There was another giggle from across the aisle. Emily lifted

Miserable eyes and in her extremity fell back on a phrase of her

Father's.

"It is a matter that concerns only myself, " she said.

A red spot suddenly appeared in Miss Brownell's sallow cheek. Her

Eyes gleamed with cold fire.

"You will remain in during recess as a punishment for your

Impertinence, " she said--but she left Emily alone the rest of the

Day.

Emily did not in the least mind staying in at recess, for, acutely

Sensitive to her environment as she was, she realized that, for

Some reason she could not fathom, the atmosphere of the school was

Antagonistic. The glances cast at her were not only curious but

Ill-natured. She did not want to go out to the playground with

Those girls. She did not want to go to school in Blair Water. But

She would not cry any more. She sat erect and kept her eyes on her

Book. Suddenly a soft, malignant hiss came across the aisle.

"Miss Pridey--Miss Pridey!"

Emily looked across at the girl. Large, steady, purplish-grey eyes

Gazed into beady, twinkling, black ones--gazed unquailingly--with

Something in them that cowed and compelled. The black eyes wavered

And fell, their owner covering her retreat with another giggle and

Toss of her short braid of hair.

"I can master HER, " thought Emily, with a thrill of triumph.

But there is strength in numbers and at noon hour Emily found

Herself standing alone on the playground facing a crowd of

Unfriendly faces. Children can be the most cruel creatures alive.

They have the herd instinct of prejudice against any outsider, and

They are merciless in its indulgence. Emily was a stranger and one

Of the proud Murrays--two counts against her. And there was about

Her, small and ginghamed and sunbonneted as she was, a certain

Reserve and dignity and fineness that they resented. And they

Resented the level way she looked at them, with that disdainful

Face under cloudy black hair, instead of being shy and drooping as

Became an interloper on probation.

"You are a proud one, " said Black-eyes. "Oh, my, you may have

Buttoned boots, but you are living on charity."

Emily had not wanted to put on the buttoned boots. She wanted to

Go barefoot as she had always done in summer. But Aunt Elizabeth

Had told her that no child from New Moon had ever gone barefoot to

School.

"Oh, just look at the baby apron, " laughed another girl, with a

Head of chestnut curls.

Now Emily flushed. This was indeed the vulnerable point in her

Armour. Delighted at her success in drawing blood the curled one

Tried again.

"Is that your grandmother's sunbonnet?"

There was a chorus of giggles.

"Oh, she wears a sunbonnet to save her complexion, " said a bigger

Girl. "That's the Murray pride. The Murrays are rotten with

Pride, my mother says."

"You're awful ugly, " said a fat, squat little miss, nearly as broad

As she was long. "Your ears look like a cat's."

"You needn't be so proud, " said Black-eyes. "Your kitchen ceiling

Isn't plastered even."

"And your Cousin Jimmy is an idiot, " said Chestnut-curls.

"He isn't!" cried Emily. "He has more sense than any of you. You

Can say what you like about me but you are not going to INSULT MY

FAMILY. If you say one more word about them I'll look you over

With the evil eye."

Nobody understood what this threat meant, but that made it all the

More effective. It produced a brief silence. Then the baiting

Began again in a different form.

"Can you sing?" asked a thin, freckled girl, who yet contrived to

Be very pretty in spite of thinness and freckles.

"No, " said Emily.

"Can you dance?"

"No."

"Can you sew?"

"No."

"Can you cook?"

"No."

"Can you knit lace?"

"No."

"Can you crochet?"

"No."

"Then what CAN you do?" said the Freckled-one in a contemptuous

Tone.

"I can write poetry, " said Emily, without in the least meaning to

Say it. But at that instant she knew she COULD write poetry. And

With this queer unreasonable conviction came--the flash! Right

There, surrounded by hostility and suspicion, fighting alone for

Her standing, without backing or advantage, came the wonderful

Moment when soul seemed to cast aside the bonds of flesh and spring

Upward to the stars. The rapture and delight on Emily's face

Amazed and enraged her foes. They thought it a manifestation of

Murray pride in an uncommon accomplishment.

"You lie, " said Black-eyes bluntly.

"A Starr does not lie, " retorted Emily. The flash was gone, but

Its uplift remained. She looked them all over with a cool

Detachment that quelled them temporarily.

"Why don't you like me?" she asked directly.

There was no reply. Emily looked straight at Chestnut-curls and

Repeated her question. Chestnut-curls felt herself compelled to

Answer it.

"Because you ain't a bit like us, " she muttered.

"I wouldn't want to be, " said Emily scornfully.

"Oh, my, you are one of the Chosen People, " mocked Black-eyes.

"Of course I am, " retorted Emily.

She walked away to the schoolhouse, conqueror in that battle.

But the forces against her were not so easily cowed. There was

Much whispering and plotting after she had gone in, a conference

With some of the boys, and a handing over of bedizened pencils and

Chews of gum for value received.

An agreeable sense of victory and the afterglow of the flash

Carried Emily through the afternoon in spite of the fact that Miss

Brownell ridiculed her for her mistakes in spelling. Miss Brownell

Was very fond of ridiculing her pupils. All the girls in the class

Giggled except one who had not been there in the morning and was

Consequently at the tail. Emily had been wondering who she was.

She was as unlike the rest of the girls as Emily herself, but in a

Totally different style. She was tall, oddly dressed in an

Overlong dress of faded, striped print, and barefooted. Her thick

Hair, cut short, fluffed out all around her head in a bushy wave

That seemed to be of brilliant spun gold; and her glowing eyes were

Of a brown so light and translucent as to be almost amber. Her

Mouth was large, and she had a saucy, pronounced chin. Pretty she

Might not be called, but her face was so vivid and mobile that

Emily could not drag her fascinated eyes from it. And she was the

Only girl in class who did not, sometime through the lesson, get a

Barb of sarcasm from Miss Brownell, though she made as many

Mistakes as the rest of them.

At recess one of the girls came up to Emily with a box in her hand.

Emily knew that she was Rhoda Stuart and thought her very pretty

And sweet. Rhoda had been in the crowd around her at the noon hour

But she had not said anything. She was dressed in crispy pink

Gingham; she had smooth, lustrous braids of sugar-brown hair, big

Blue eyes, a rose-bud mouth, doll-like features and a sweet voice.

If Miss Brownell could be said to have a favourite it was Rhoda

Stuart, and she seemed generally popular in her own set and much

Petted by the older girls.

"Here is a present for you, " she said sweetly.

Emily took the box unsuspectingly. Rhoda's smile would have

Disarmed any suspicion. For a moment Emily was happily anticipant

As she removed the cover. Then with a shriek she flung the box

From her, and stood pale and trembling from head to foot. There

Was a snake in the box--whether dead or alive she did not know and

Did not care. For any snake Emily had a horror and repulsion she

Could not overcome. The very sight of one almost paralysed her.

A chorus of giggles ran around the porch. "Who'd be so scared of

An old dead snake?" scoffed Black-eyes.

"Can you write poetry about THAT?" giggled Chestnut-curls.

"I HATE you--I hate you!" cried Emily. "You are mean, hateful

Girls!"

"Calling names isn't ladylike, " said the Freckled-one. "I thought

A Murray would be too grand for that."

"If you come to school to-morrow, MISS Starr, " said Black-eyes

Deliberately, "we are going to take that snake and put it around

Your neck."

"Let me see you do it!" cried a clear, ringing voice. Into their

Midst with a bound came the girl with amber eyes and short hair.

"Just let me SEE you do it, Jennie Strang!"

"This isn't any of your business, Ilse Burnley, " muttered Jennie, Sullenly.

"Oh, isn't it? Don't you sass me, Piggy-eyes." Ilse walked up to

The retreating Jennie and shook a sunburned fist in her face. "If

I catch you teasing Emily Starr to-morrow with that snake again

I'll take IT by the tail and YOU by YOUR tail, and slash you across

The face with it. Mind that, Piggy-eyes. Now you go and pick up

That precious snake of yours and throw it down on the ash pile."

Jennie actually went and did it. Ilse faced the others.

"Clear out, all of you, and leave the New Moon girl alone after

This, " she said. "If I hear of any more meddling and sneaking I'll

Slit your throats, and rip out your hearts and tear your eyes out.

Yes, and I'll cut off your ears and wear them pinned on my dress!"

Cowed by these ferocious threats, or by something in Ilse's

Personality, Emily's persecutors drifted away. Ilse turned to

Emily.

"Don't mind them, " she said contemptuously. "They're jealous of

You, that's all--jealous because you live at New Moon and ride in a

Fringed-top buggy and wear buttoned boots. You smack their mugs if

They give you any more of their jaw."

Ilse vaulted the fence and tore off into the maple bush without

Another glance at Emily. Only Rhoda Stuart remained.

"Emily, I'm awful sorry, " she said, rolling her big blue eyes

Appealingly. "I didn't know there was a snake in that box, cross

My heart I didn't. The girls just told me it was a present for

You. You're not mad at me, are you? Because I like you."

Emily had been "mad" and hurt and outraged. But this little bit of

Friendliness melted her instantly. In a moment she and Rhoda had

Their arms around each other, parading across the playground.

"I'm going to ask Miss Brownell to let you sit with me, " said

Rhoda. "I used to sit with Annie Gregg but she's moved away.

You'd like to sit with me, wouldn't you?"

"I'd love it, " said Emily warmly. She was as happy as she had been

Miserable. Here was the friend of her dreams. Already she

Worshipped Rhoda.

"We OUGHT to sit together, " said Rhoda importantly. "We belong to

The two best families in Blair Water. Do you know that if my

Father had his rights he would be on the throne of England?"

"England!" said Emily, too amazed to be anything but an echo.

"Yes. We are descended from the kings of Scotland, " said Rhoda.

"So of course we don't 'sociate with everybody. My father keeps

Store and I'm taking music lessons. Is your Aunt Elizabeth going

To give you music lessons?"

"I don't know."

"She ought to. She is very rich, isn't she?"

"I don't know, " said Emily again. She wished Rhoda would not ask

Such questions. Emily thought it was hardly good manners. But

Surely a descendant of the Stuart kings ought to know the rules of

Breeding, if anybody did.

"She's got an awful temper, hasn't she?" asked Rhoda.

"No, she hasn't!" cried Emily.

"Well, she nearly killed your Cousin Jimmy in one of her rages, "

Said Rhoda. "That's true--Mother told me. Why doesn't your Aunt

Laura get married? Has she got a beau? What wages does your Aunt

Elizabeth pay your Cousin Jimmy?"

"I don't know."

"Well, " said Rhoda, rather disappointedly. "I suppose you haven't

Been at New Moon long enough to find things out. But it must be

Very different from what you've been used to, I guess. Your father

Was as poor as a church mouse, wasn't he?"

"My father was a very, VERY rich man, " said Emily deliberately.

Rhoda stared.

"I thought he hadn't a cent."

"Neither he had. But people can be rich without money."

"I don't see how. But anyhow, YOU'LL be rich some day--your Aunt

Elizabeth will likely leave you all her money, Mother says. So I

Don't care if you ARE living on charity--I love you and I'm going

To stick up for you. Have you got a beau, Emily?"

"No, " cried Emily, blushing violently and quite scandalized at the

Idea. "Why, I'm only eleven."

"Oh, everybody in our class has a beau. Mine is Teddy Kent. I

Shook hands with him after I'd counted nine stars for nine nights

Without missing a night. If you do that the first boy you shake

Hands with afterwards is to be your beau. But it's awful hard to

Do. It took me all winter. Teddy wasn't in school to-day--he's

Been sick all June. He's the best-looking boy in Blair Water.

You'll have to have a beau, too, Emily."

"I won't, " declared Emily angrily. "I don't know a thing about

Beaux and I won't have one."

Rhoda tossed her head.

"Oh, I s'pose you think there's nobody good enough for you, living

At New Moon. Well, you won't be able to play Clap-in-and-clap-out

If you haven't a beau."

Emily knew nothing of the mysteries of Clap-in-and-clap-out, and

Didn't care. Anyway, she wasn't going to have a beau and she

Repeated this in such decided tones that Rhoda deemed it wise to

Drop the subject.

Emily was rather glad when the bell rang. Miss Brownell granted

Rhoda's request quite graciously and Emily transferred her goods

And chattels to Rhoda's seat. Rhoda whispered a good deal during

The last hour and Emily got scolded for it but did not mind.

"I'm going to have a birthday party the first week in July, and I'm

Going to invite you, if your aunts will let you come. I'm not

Going to have Ilse Burnley though."

"Don't you like her?"

"No. She's an awful tomboy. And then her father is an infidel.

And so's she. She always spells 'God' with a little 'g' in her

Dictation. Miss Brownell scolds her for it, but she does it right

Along. Miss Brownell won't whip HER because she's setting her cap

For Dr Burnley. But Ma says she won't get him because he hates

Women. _I_ don't think it's proper to 'sociate with such people.

Ilse is an awful wild queer girl and has an awful temper. So has

Her father. She doesn't chum with anybody. Isn't it ridic'lus the

Way she wears her hair? YOU ought to have a bang, Emily. They're

All the rage and you'd look well with one because you've such a

High forehead. It would make a real beauty of you. My, but you

Have lovely hair, and your hands are just lovely. All the Murrays

Have pretty hands. And you have the SWEETEST eyes, Emily."

Emily had never received so many compliments in her life. Rhoda

Laid flattery on with a trowel. Her head was quite turned and she

Went home from school determined to ask Aunt Elizabeth to cut her

Hair in a bang. If it would make a beauty of her it must be

Compassed somehow. And she would also ask Aunt Elizabeth if she

Might wear her Venetian beads to school next day.

"The other girls may RESPECT me more then, " she thought.

She was alone from the crossroads, where she had parted company

With Rhoda, and she reviewed the events of the day with a feeling

That, after all, she had kept the Starr flag flying, except for a

Temporary reverse in the matter of the snake. School was very

Different from what she had expected it to be, but that was the way

In life, she had heard Ellen Greene say, and you just had to make

The best of it. Rhoda was a darling; and there was something about

Ilse Burnley that one liked; and as for the rest of the girls Emily

Got square with them by pretending she saw them all being hanged in

A row for frightening her to death with a snake, and felt no more

Resentment towards them, although some of the things that had been

Said to her rankled bitterly in her heart for many a day. She had

No father to tell them to, and no account-book to write them out

In, so she could not exorcise them.

She had no speedy chance to ask for a bang, for there was company

At New Moon and her aunts were busy getting ready an elaborate

Supper. But when the preserves were brought on Emily snatched the

Opportunity of a lull in the older conversation.

"Aunt Elizabeth, " she said, "can I have a bang?"

Aunt Elizabeth looked her disdain.

"No, " she said, "I do not approve of bangs. Of all the silly

Fashions that have come in nowadays, bangs are the silliest."

"Oh, Aunt Elizabeth, DO let me have a bang. It would make a beauty

Of me--Rhoda says so."

"It would take a good deal more than a bang to do that, Emily. We

Will not have bangs at New Moon--except on the Molly cows. THEY

Are the only creatures that should wear bangs."

Aunt Elizabeth smiled triumphantly around the table--Aunt Elizabeth

DID smile sometimes when she thought she had silenced some small

Person by exquisite ridicule. Emily understood that it was no use

To hope for bangs. Loveliness did not lie that way for her. It

Was mean of Aunt Elizabeth--mean. She heaved a sigh of

Disappointment and dismissed the idea for the present. There was

Something else she wanted to know.

"Why doesn't Ilse Burnley's father believe in God?" she asked.

"'Cause of the trick her mother played him, " said Mr Slade, with a

Chuckle. Mr Slade was a fat, jolly-looking old man with bushy hair

And whiskers. He had already said some things Emily could not

Understand and which had seemed greatly to embarrass his very lady-

Like wife.

"What trick did Ilse's mother play?" asked Emily, all agog with

Interest.

Now Aunt Laura looked at Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Elizabeth looked

At Aunt Laura. Then the latter said: "Run out and feed the

Chickens, Emily."

Emily rose with dignity.

"You might just as well tell me that Ilse's mother isn't to be

Talked about and I will obey you. I understand PERFECTLY what you

Mean, " she said as she left the table.