ike people to be kind, and make a fuss! When we
were at the station the other day the people nudged each other and bent
out of the windows of the train as I passed. I saw them, though I
pretended I didn't. And I should look far nicer if I had proper
clothes. If I could only have had that fur boa, and the feather for my
hat! But what does it matter what I wear in this wretched place? There
is no one to see me."

The firelight played on three thoughtful faces as the girls sat in
silence, each occupied with her special train of thought. The room
looked grey and colourless in the waning light, and the glimpse of
wintry landscape seen through the window did not add to the general
cheeriness. Hilary shivered, and picking up a log from the corner of
the grate dropped it into the fire.

"Well, there is no use repining! We have had our grumble, and we might
as well make the best of circumstances. It's New Year's Day, so I shall
make a resolution to try to like my work. I know I do it well, because
I am naturally a good housekeeper; but I ought to take more interest in
it. That's the way the good people do in books, and in the end they
dote upon the very things they used to hate. There's no saying--I may
come to adore darning stockings and wending linen before the year is
out! At any rate I shall have the satisfaction of having done my best."

"Well, if you try to like your work, I'll try to remember mine--that's a
bargain," said Lettice solemnly. "There always seems to be something I
want particularly to do for myself, just when I ought to be at my
`avocations,' as Miss Briggs has it. It's a bad plan, because I have to
exert myself to finish in time, and get a scolding into the bargain. So
here's for punctuality and reform!"

Norah held her left hand high in the air, and began checking off the
fingers with ostentatious emphasis. "I resolve always to get up in the
morning as soon as I am called, and without a single grumble; always to
be amiable when annoyed; always to do what other people like, and what I
dislike myself; always to be good-tempered with the boys, and smile upon
them when they pull my hair and play tricks with my things; always be
cheerful, contented, ladylike in deportment, and agreeable in manner.
What do you say? _Silly_! I am not silly at all. If you are going to
make resolutions at all, you ought to do it properly. Aim at the sky,
and you may reach the top of the tree; aim at the top