this. She
must be taught wholesome respect and reticence, but I don't want to be
too hard upon her at first. She's a lovable little creature, and I've
no doubt will be a favourite with the girls. They like to be amused,
and I fear they may encourage her for the sake of their own amusement.
You must help me, dear, by setting a good example and checking her
gently when she gets excited."

"I'll try!" said Margaret, but she looked by no means hopeful of
success. "I did try before tea. She was telling the most extraordinary
tales about home, and I said it was not right to repeat such things, but
she seemed quite puzzled. She doesn't seem to have the same ideas that
we have, or the same feelings about things."

Miss Phipps sighed, and shook her head.

"She is a difficult subject," she repeated anxiously; then her face
lighted up suddenly and she began to laugh. "But you can't help liking
her!" she cried. "Funny little mite! I am growing quite fond of her
already."

CHAPTER FIVE.

THE ALICE PRIZE.

To the surprise of all concerned, Pixie took a very fair place in the
school. The sorely tried Miss Minnitt was by no means an accomplished
woman, but what she did know she taught well, and she felt rewarded for
her efforts when she heard that Miss Bruce, the English teacher, had
remarked that Pixie had been well grounded, and knew more than many
girls of her age. The mixture of knowledge and ignorance which the
child displayed was indeed incomprehensible to those who did not
understand the conditions under which she had lived. She was quite a
botanist in a small way, could discourse like any farmer on crops and
tillages, was most sporting in her descriptions of shooting and hunting,
and had an exhaustive understanding of, and sympathy with, the animal
world, which seemed quite uncanny to town-bred girls. Here, however,
her knowledge stopped, and of the ways of the world, the hundred and one
restrictions and obligations of society which come as second nature to
most girls, she knew no more than a South Sea Islander dancing gaily
upon the sands, and stringing shells in her dusky locks. "I wish I was
born a savage!" was indeed her daily reflection, as she buttoned her
tight little frock, and wriggled to and fro in a vain search for
comfort.

"Now listen to me!" said Miss Bruce, at the end of the examination which
was conducted after breakfast the day following Pixie's arrival. "I am
undecided which of tw