she had never
quite gotten over the uncomfortable feeling that she was an intruder,
particularly as Susan so often showed hostility to her; but a
prayer-meeting surely was a thing no right-minded girl ought to object
to. Of Dorothy's approval she had no doubt. Gladys, if she did not
wish to stay, would go away without the least hesitation. Susan! What
Susan would do, who could tell? Knowing the need she had of a vital
change in character, in order to be a Christian, Marion made no
attempt to conceal from herself that her conversion alone was an
object worth earnest and constant prayer; really the reward for the
conquering of any diffidence she might have to overcome in instituting
the meeting. It was not an hour after she had decided upon the twelve
girls she would invite, before the tempter had her in his power again.
She was planning the order of exercises for the meeting, which was as
it should be; but it was not as right that she was leaping forward in
her thoughts to the criticisms which the girls would make upon the
part she should take, the hope that they would admire her fluency and
spirituality, and say to her when they were leaving the room,--

"O Marion! how much good you have done us! We shall be grateful to you
as long as we live."

If any one had told her that here, by this same desire for
self-aggrandizement, or, to call it by its more common name of
popularity, Susan had fallen, she would have been astonished indeed.

Prayer-meetings were by no means uncommon in this academy; but they
were under the care of a teacher, and it was not long before the
necessity of asking leave for the one in her room occurred to Marion;
but here was a difficulty! Would not Miss Ashton ask her questions
about this, which she would find difficult to answer; such as, "What
made her propose it? What did she expect to accomplish?" If she did
ask these, what could she say?

There followed another day of poor recitations, and Marion, for almost
the first time since she joined the school, was undeniably cross. By
night she was sitting on the penitential stool, ashamed, tired, and
full of wonder as to what had happened to her. As is not unusual in
such cases, she was inclined to blame every one but herself. Miss
Palmer had lost her patience with her because she hesitated over a
difficult place in her mathematical lesson, and had snapped her up
before the class; Anna Dawson had laughed at her blunder, and the
whole class had mos