former tormentors dared not even yet show the true courage to
confess what they had done, but they daily sent little bouquets of
fragrant flowers and many delicacies to tempt her returning appetite.
Her eyes would light up with surprise and pleasure at the little gifts.

[Illustration: _In the Sick Room_]

One day madam was sitting by her side, and as Fanny seemed to be much
stronger, she ventured to ask after her friends.

"I have no friends, madam, only cousin John who has a large family of
his own, and has never cared for me. Mother died when I was born. I had
a step-mother, but father died five years after, and I've taken care of
myself ever since."

"And you are only fifteen now?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How did you get money enough to pay for a year's board and tuition
here?"

[Illustration: "_I used to fix a book open on my loom_."]

"I earned it all madam, every cent of it. As soon as I was big enough I
went into a factory, and earned two dollars a week at first, and finally
three dollars and a half; and I worked for my board nights and
mornings."

"Poor child!"

"Oh no, ma'am, I was very glad to do it."

"But how did you keep along so well with your studies?"

"I used to fix a book open on my loom, where I could catch a sentence
now and then, and the overseer did not object, because I always did my
work well. You see, madam, I wanted to be a teacher sometime, and I'd
have a better chance to learn here than anywhere else, so I determined
to do it."

"What are your plans for the long vacation?"

"I must go back to the factory and earn enough to get some warmer
clothes for the winter. You see, madam, why I can't afford to dress
better."

Madam's heart was full. She bent over the white, thin, little face, and
kissed it reverently.

That evening, when the girls gathered in the chapel for worship, she
told Fannie's story. There was not a dry eye in the room. The moment
madam finished, Belle Burnette sprang up with the tears coursing down
her cheeks, and said:--

"Oh, madam! We have been awfully cruel and wicked to that poor girl. We
have made fun of her from the first, and she would not have been sick as
she was if we had not tormented her almost to death. I was the most to
blame.

"It was I that led on the rest, and we have suffered terribly all these
weeks, fearing she might die. You may expel me, or punish me in any way
you please; for I deserve it; and I shall go down on my knees to ask her
par