the first few moments they seemed unable to speak; but presently,
bending towards Dreda, they appeared to question her in whispered tones,
to question anxiously, to cross-question,--to draw her attention to page
after page of the typed essay, as if searching for a refutation of her
statement. But Dreda shook her head, and could not be shaken. Then
Miss Drake turned aside and sat down, turning her chair so that her face
was hidden from the audience, and two little patches of red showed
themselves on Mr Rawdon's cheek bones.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "a mistake has arisen--a most
regrettable mistake. The numbers attached to two of the essays
submitted to me have apparently been misplaced. It is impossible to say
how this confusion has arisen. Neither Miss Drake nor I can think of
any satisfactory explanation. If by chance it should be due to any
carelessness of my own, I can only say that I am most deeply sorry, and
that I feel myself painfully punished. It appears that the writer of
the prize essay is not Etheldreda Saxon, as we believed. She herself
discovered the mistake when glancing at the paper which I had returned
to her while I was giving my address just now, and has taken the first
possible opportunity of making public her discovery. I regret more than
I can say that she should have had so painful an experience, and I am
sure that you will all share my sorrow. Miss Saxon's essay was one of
the four chosen from the rest, and I can only hope that the prophecies
which I have already made as to her future will in all truth be
fulfilled." (Great applause.) "I now call upon Miss Susan Webster, the
author of the selected essay, to come up to the platform and receive her
prize." (Faint clapping of hands.)

There is no doubt that it was a painful anticlimax. It is not often
that a literary genius looks the part so delightfully as Dreda had done
twenty minutes before--Dreda, in her new blue dress, with her flaxen
mane floating past her waist, her beautiful eyes darkened with
excitement, her complexion of clearest pink and white. As she had
mounted the steps to the platform the watching faces had shone with pure
artistic pleasure in the sight. So young, so strong, so lovely, and so
gifted--it was a privilege even to look upon so fortunate a creature.
And now! Guided by Miss Drake's thoughtful hand, the fairy princess had
slipped behind the screen which hid the back of the platform, and
creeping slo