sion, when they honorably decided to refund the
money for all tickets offered after that, and explain to new-comers the
state of affairs. But some of the young men proposed a dance; and they
went on for the next two hours in hearty, healthy jollity.

Out of ten loaves of bread offered, Mary Moran took the prize. That for
the cake was awarded to quite a new scholar; while Kitty Miles carried
off that for broth, three doctors concurring in the decision. And the
treasurer found they had cleared fifty dollars above expenses, so that
it proved a success in more ways than one. There had been a great dearth
of amusement for the poorer classes in Yerbury this winter.

"Sure, it was just splendid!" said Bridget McKim. "My boy Mike had a
week's wages in his pocket that night, and he was goin' off to the Ivy
Leaf to raffle for a turkey; an' ses I, 'Mike, ye niver took me out of a
Christmas, so do it now along o' the cookin' school party, an' ye'll get
the best bit o' turkey yes ever put in yer mouth.' An' so he did; an' he
said it was the best show he iver was to, and he wouldn't 'a' missed
seein' Mary Moran get the prize fur twice the money. An' so he went home
with me, ye see, as sober as an owl, and we bought our own turkey; but
if he'd gone to the tavern, not a cint would he had of his week's wages,
and been drunk beside! An' he used to be swate on Mary too, so there's
no knowin' what may happen!"

The school took a fortnight's vacation. Sylvie and Miss Morgan felt that
it was no longer an experiment. It would be put to wider uses, and
perhaps was the corner-stone of a great work, sorely needed in this
world; the same kind of work Jack Darcy had begun over in the mill
yonder,--planting beacon-lights on the path where so many had stumbled
and gone down for want of true and honest guidance.

"It will have to be remodelled somewhat," said Miss Morgan. "I can't
have you working like a slave, even if it is in a good cause. There is
something still higher for you."

CHAPTER XVIII.

AFTER the first of January it came off bitterly cold. Coal went up half
a dollar on a ton; and flour rose, more by the greed of speculators than
any scarcity, or any demand for it abroad. There was considerable
suffering, though not as much as the winter before. The men and women
and boys and girls at Hope Mills were thankful enough for their
seventy-five per cent, and did their very best. A spirit of economy and
emulation ran through the wh