omfortable rooms. The lists were expected to
appear early in the morning, and the confident parents had arranged a
picnic "celebration" party for the afternoon.

Darsie never forgot that morning--the walk to the Senate House with Dan
and Hannah on either side, the sight of the waiting crowd, the strained
efforts at conversation, the dragging hours.

At long last a list appeared--the men's list only: for the women's a
further wait would be necessary. But one glance at the paper showed
Dan's name proudly ensconced where every one had expected it would be,
and in a minute he was surrounded by an eager throng--congratulating,
cheering, shaking him by the hand. He looked quiet as ever, but his
eyes shone, and when Darsie held out her hand he gripped it with a
violence which almost brought the tears to her eyes.

The crowd cleared away slowly, the women students retiring to refresh
themselves with luncheon before beginning a second wait. The Vernons
repaired to their rooms and feasted on the contents of the hamper
prepared for the picnic, the father and mother abeam with pride and
satisfaction, Dan obviously filled with content, and dear old Hannah
full of quips. Darsie felt ashamed of herself because she alone failed
to throw off anxiety; but her knees _would_ tremble, her throat _would_
parch, and her eyes _would_ turn back restlessly to study the clock.

"Better to die by sudden shock,
Than perish piecemeal on the rock!"

The old couplet which as a child she had been used to quote darted back
into her mind with a torturing pang. How much longer of this agony
could she stand? Anything, anything would be better than this dragging
on in suspense, hour after hour. But when once again the little party
approached the Senate House, she experienced a swift change of front.
No, no, this was not suspense; it was hope! Hope was blessed and
kindly. Only certainty was to be dreaded, the grim, unalterable fact.

The little crowd of girls pressed forward to read the lists. Darsie
peered with the rest, but saw nothing but a mist and blur. Then a voice
spoke loudly by her side; Hannah's voice:

"First Class! _Hurrah_!"

Whom did she mean? Darsie's heart soared upward with a dizzy hope, her
eyes cleared and flashed over the list of names. Hannah Vernon--Mary
Bates--Eva Murray--many names, but not her own.

The mist and the blur hid the list once more, she felt an arm grip her
elbow, and Dan's voice cried cheeril