So, Edna felt she had made quite a discovery, and
planned all sorts of times with Nettie when the winter was over.

Matters went on at school uninterruptedly, until just before Christmas,
when it was suddenly made known that Miss Ashurst was to be married,
and that another teacher would take her place after the holidays. The
G. R.'s got up a linen shower for the departing teacher, but the
Neighborhood Club did nothing. Its numbers were dwindling, for when it
was learned what good times the rivals had at their meetings, there was
more than one deserter. For some reason, Clara Adams had picked out Edna
as the prime cause of all this. She had never forgiven her for winning
the doll at the fair the year before, and was likewise furiously jealous
of her friendship for Jennie Ramsey. If Edna had been a less generous
and sweet-tempered child, matters might have been much worse, but even
as it was they were made bad enough.

No sooner had the new teacher appeared than Clara set to work to do
everything in her power to make Edna appear to disadvantage, by all
sorts of mean innuendoes, by sly hints, by even open charges, till the
child was almost in tears over the state of affairs.

"I would just tell Miss Newman, so I would," said Dorothy indignantly,
when a specially mean speech of Clara's came to her ears.

"Oh, but I couldn't be a tattle-tale," declared Edna.

"She'd better not say anything about you to me," returned Dorothy. "She
knows better than that. I'd tell her a thing or two."

"If Uncle Justus knew, he would believe me and not Clara," said Edna. "I
don't cheat in my lessons, and he knows I don't, whatever Clara may say,
and I'm not the one who sets the girls up to mischief, you know I'm
not."

"I know mighty well who it is," declared Dorothy, "and if this keeps up
I shall tell, so I shall."

It did keep up till one morning the climax was reached when Miss Newman
came into her school-room to find on the board a very good caricature of
herself, with under it written: "Ugly, old Miss New," in scrawling
letters. Clara came into the school-room late, and slipped into her seat
after the exercises had begun. Miss Newman left the drawing on the board
and made no reference to it, using a smaller board for what was
necessary. She was far less attractive than Miss Ashurst, and had a dry
little way with her, which many of the girls thought oldmaidish, but she
was a good teacher, if not a very beautiful one. When the girls