d her with a feeling of absolute dislike, which she took little
pains to conceal; and many were the petty annoyances she endured from
the vain and haughty Julia Carlton. She soon learned that Emma was poor;
and that her mother toiled early and late to defray the expenses of her
education; and more than once she threw out hints regarding this fact,
among the other pupils, even in hearing of Emma; and, as often as
opportunity offered, she slighted the unoffending girl, and treated her
with all the rudeness of which she was capable. "Let those who wish
associate with Miss Ashton," she would often say to her companions; "but
I am thankful that I have been better taught at home than to make a
companion of a girl whose mother is obliged to take in sewing to pay her
school bills." These and other remarks equally malicious were daily made
by Miss Carlton; and I am sorry that she soon found others in the school
who were weak enough to be influenced by her also to treat Emma with
coldness and contempt. Emma could not long fail to notice the many
slights, both direct and indirect, which she endured from many members
of the school, and she taxed her memory to recall any act by which she
might have given offence; but, finding herself unable to recollect any
thing on her part which could have offended any member of the school,
she was not a little puzzled to account for the rudeness with which she
was treated. It happened one day that during recess she remained at her
desk in the school-room to complete an unfinished French exercise.
Several of her companions soon after entered the adjoining recitation
room, and, as they were not aware of her proximity, she became an
unwilling listener to a conversation which pained her deeply. As Sarah
Lebaron entered the room one of the girls addressed her, saying:--"When
you first introduced Miss Ashton among us, I supposed her to be at least
a companionable girl, but I have lately been informed that she resides
in a cheap tenement, and, further, that her mother takes in sewing, and,
if such is the case, I wish to cultivate no further acquaintance with
her." "But then," added another girl, "Miss Hinton thinks her almost a
saint, and sets her up as a model for us all; if there's any thing I do
detest, it's these model girls, and I don't believe she's half as fond
of study as she pretends; and, in my opinion, its only to hear the
commendations of the teachers that she applies herself with such
diligen