"There's no time to make things up now, either," she thought. "The exam. begins on the sixteenth, and that's actually next Monday. Oh dear! If only I were better up in maths! I know the chemistry'll stump2 me too. That's to say if I'm even allowed to go in at all!"
On this last point her doubts were soon dispelled3. At eleven o'clock she received a summons to the headmistress's study.
"Well, Gwen," said Miss Roscoe. "It has been very unfortunate that you were obliged to stay away so long, but you must do your best, notwithstanding. I entered your name as a candidate for the Senior Oxford, so you will, of course, take the examination. Miss Trent has arranged to give you some extra coaching in the dinner hour every day this week, and I think you ought to be able at least to secure a pass. You're fairly certain all round."
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"Except in maths.," said Gwen.
"Well, you must give all the time you can spare to that. But don't overdo4 the cramming5. It's sometimes a fatal mistake to work early and late till your brain's utterly6 exhausted7. I did that once myself and missed a scholarship through it. Take an hour at tennis every evening before you go to bed. Exercise is an absolute necessity if you're to be in form for next week. You're looking pale, and you mustn't break down before Monday. Tell your father to buy you a tonic9."
Miss Roscoe spoke10 kindly11, more sympathetically indeed than Gwen ever remembered to have heard her before. She had a wide experience with girls, and could estimate their capacities to a nicety. She had chosen her candidates carefully, and would ensure that they were sent in well prepared. So far she had had few failures in public examinations, and every pass brought extra credit to the school.
Five members of the Form were to take the Senior Oxford; Elspeth Frazer, Edith Arnold, Louise Mawson, and Betty Brierly, being the other four, all of them considerably12 older than Gwen.
"We call you the five victims!" said Charlotte Perry. "I'm glad I'm out of it. I sang a jubilee13 last week when Miss Roscoe read the list and my name wasn't on it."
"There were eight girls sent in last year," said Hilda Browne.
"Yes, and two failed—Majorie Stevens and Daisy Wilson. I don't think Miss Roscoe has forgiven them yet."
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"Oh, dear! I'm afraid she'll be very down on me then," wailed14 Gwen. "I'm a doubtful quantity!"
"You? Oh, you'll be all right! She'd never let you try if you weren't—trust her!" said Charlotte Perry, and the rest agreed.
In spite of her schoolmates' assurances Gwen did not feel at all certain of success, and it was in very blue spirits and a state of woeful apprehension15 that she betook herself on the fateful sixteenth of July to the Stedburgh Town Hall, which was the local centre for the examination. It was her fifteenth birthday, and it seemed a funny way of celebrating the day. She had been so agitated16 that morning that she had scarcely been able to realize her presents, except the fountain pen which Father and Beatrice and Winnie had clubbed together to give her, and which she had brought with her to the exam. room.
At her first paper, however, she cheered up a little. It was easier than she had expected, and though one or two questions were beyond her, the rest were well within her capacity. Her new pen flew over the sheets of foolscap, and if she was too nervous to do herself full justice she at least acquitted17 herself with credit. The time-table only allowed an hour between one and two o'clock for lunch, which was provided for the candidates in a room at the Town Hall. Gwen anxiously compared notes with Elspeth, Edith, Louise, and Betty, as they hastily demolished18 plates of beef sandwiches and drank tumblers of lemonade. On the whole she had done as well or even better than they, and she began to cherish hopes.
As the week went on, Gwen, though not daring
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to be too sanguine19, could not help feeling that her papers had reached a fair standard even in her weakest subjects. She had grown so accustomed to the examination room that she was no longer nervous and was able to express the facts she knew at their best advantage.
"There!" she said, when she had at last handed in her final sheets. "It's a toss-up whether I'm through or not. I expect it depends on the temper of the examiner who reads my papers. I'll hope he'll get his dinner before he tackles them!"
"Your writing's clear at any rate," said Elspeth. "Mine's such a scrawl20 I'm afraid that will be against me. Aren't you thankful the thing's over?"
"Thankful hardly expresses my state of bliss21."
"It's rather sickening to have school exams, next week, after all this!" said Louise.
"They'll seem a mere22 trifle compared with the Oxford!" declared Gwen.
After the ordeal23 they had passed through in common the candidates were on terms of good comradeship, and with Elspeth Frazer Gwen felt there was a prospect24 of permanent friendship.
The last days of the term passed rapidly away. To Gwen the great event of the school year was over. Though she did her best at them, Rodenhurst examinations were a matter of quite minor25 importance. She welcomed the breaking-up with intense relief. After the strain of the past few weeks the holidays seemed an imperative26 necessity. It was delightful27 to have a complete rest, to idle about in the garden or on the shore, or take long invigorating
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walks on the moors28. It would be five or six weeks before she could hear the result of the Senior Oxford, so she was obliged to endure the suspense29 as best she could.
In the meantime something happened—something so very unexpected and extraordinary that for a time it almost put even her examinations in the shade. It was Beatrice who told her the good news. Lately Beatrice had begun to treat Gwen as one of the grown-up members of the household, and to include her in their discussions of family affairs.
"It seems almost too wonderful to believe," said Beatrice. "Old Mr. Sutton has resigned his incumbency30 of North Ditton, and do you know the living is to be divided, and Skelwick, Basingwold, Hethersedge, and Rigby are all to be one big new parish by themselves. And who's to be Vicar, do you think?"
"Not Dad?" gasped31 Gwen incredulously.
"Yes. It has been formally offered to him, and he's going to accept it. Oh! and, Gwen, the funny part is, do you know, that queer old gentleman you met upon the wold turns out to be Sir Benjamin Hazlett, the patron of the living."
"He didn't look like a Sir Anything!" exclaimed Gwen. "He was the oddest, shabbiest, crankiest old fellow, and so inquisitive32!"
"I hear he's very eccentric, and of course one sees now why he asked so many questions. He'd actually never been at Skelwick before, although he's the patron, and nobody here in the village knew him. He told the bishop33 you'd suggested dividing the parish!"
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"I!" shrieked34 Gwen, "I wouldn't have dared to suggest such a thing. I only said it would be nice."
"Well, you put it into his head, anyway. He said the idea had never occurred to him before, and he saw at once its extreme advisability. He talked it over with the bishop, and they both agreed it ought to be done. I suppose he came to church that evening to hear Dad preach, and judge for himself what he was capable of."
"He evidently liked him. But who wouldn't?" returned Gwen. "Then Dad has refused Rawtenbeck?"
"Yes; thank goodness we needn't go and live amongst chemical works and factory chimneys! The Diocesan Society's going to build an extra bedroom on to the Parsonage. Isn't that lovely?"
"It will be the Vicarage now, if you please!" declared Gwen, rubbing her hands with satisfaction.
That her father's hard work should be recognized and rewarded at last was indeed a triumph, and the thought that she had perhaps had an unconscious share in bringing this about added a special element of joy.
"It was like entertaining an angel unawares!" she chuckled35. "Though anybody less angelic-looking than poor old Sir Benjamin one couldn't imagine! I'm glad I took that solitary36 walk on the wold, Bee!"
"So am I, as it happens, though it's the exception that proves my rule."
The appointment to the new parish was indeed an important event for Mr. Gascoyne in more ways than one. It not only gave him a better position and larger opportunities of carrying on the work he had
[293]
begun, but it meant also pecuniary37 benefit. The living of Skelwick was to be worth treble his curate's stipend38, and though he was an unworldly man, his children's future was a necessary consideration. He would not be opulent, but he would now at any rate be free from money troubles, and the family could carry out many precious schemes which before had seemed mere dreams. The boys could be educated in course of time at Stedburgh Grammar School, Lesbia could take music lessons, and Gwen's visions of college might actually some day see fulfilment. Winnie could give up the teaching she hated and become housekeeper39 at home, that her elder sister might be free to take her training at a great London hospital, for Beatrice's heart was still set on entering the nursing profession.
"You'll see me a matron yet!" she announced. "I warn you that I'm ambitious, and mean to get on!"
"I'll be a B.A. by then, and we'll shake hands over our mutual40 success!" laughed Gwen.
"Don't forget you promised to be a lady doctor and study at college with me!" put in Dick, who had become almost one of the family at the Parsonage.
"You'll have to look out then, or I'll get ahead of you!"
"You won't do that, madam! I'm going back to school next term, remember."
Dick was fortunately quite strong again. The specialist who had examined him before declared he had outgrown41 his temporary delicacy42, and even gave him permission to play football when the season began, as well as to recommence his work at Stedburgh.
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"I shall be sorry to lose my pupil," said Mr. Gascoyne. "The children will miss you here on Saturdays."
"I'll see them all every day in the bus," returned Dick cheerfully.
As the holidays wore on and it grew nearer and nearer to the time when she might expect to hear the result of the Senior Oxford, Gwen waxed impatient. The suspense was hard to bear, and seemed harder the longer she waited.
"I want to be put out of my misery," she declared. "If I've failed I'd like to know and have done with it."
"But you thought you'd done pretty well," said Winnie.
"How can I tell? Every day I think of something more that I left out in my papers, and it makes me less and less hopeful. I've borrowed one of Dad's big pocket handkerchiefs all ready to weep into! I warn you I shall cry gallons if I've not passed."
Miss Roscoe had arranged that a telegram should be sent to each of the candidates announcing the lists, and on the day when the news was likely to arrive the Gascoyne family haunted the rampart on the wall, watching eagerly for the advent43 of the telegraph boy. It was Basil who spied him first, and Giles who got to the gate quickest to meet him, and Beatrice who tore open the yellow envelope and read the message to the excited audience.
"'First-class Honours, and Geographical44 Society's Silver Medal!'"
Gwen nearly dropped on the grass.
"Let me look at it!" she quavered. "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake, Bee?"
"Here it is in black and white. Look at it yourself, then, you sceptic, and be convinced! I do congratulate you!"
"Hip8, hip, hooray!" yelled the boys with such vigour45 that their shouts aroused curiosity in the village, and several parishioners came to enquire46 the cause of the rejoicings.
Gwen had known that the Royal Geographical Society offered two medals, one of silver and one of bronze, to the two Senior candidates who gave the best answers to the geography papers, but in her wildest visions she had never contemplated47 winning one of them. To come out first in all England in geography seemed an honour almost above the flights of ambition.
"Miss Roscoe will be so rejoiced!" said Winnie. "She always thought you'd do well, Gwen. Why, you'll be a credit to the school. She'll boast about this silver medal for evermore. I expect it will go down in the prospectuses48! You'll get coached up for a scholarship next, you'll see."
"I still can't quite, quite believe it—it's too absolutely, perfectly49, deliriously50 scrumpshus!" bleated51 Gwen hysterically52.
"Dad's big pocket handkerchief won't be wanted after all to dry your tears," laughed Lesbia. "Oh, there's Dad coming up the road now—go and meet him, Gwen, and tell him your own self!"
The next prize-giving at Rodenhurst was a more than usually special occasion, for not only had four
[296]
girls matriculated, but five had passed the Senior Oxford, two of them in the Honours Division. Gwen's medal was acknowledged the triumph of the school, and both pupils and mistresses spoke of her as likely to win more laurels53 in the future.
"She's one of the best workers we have," said Miss Roscoe to the Mayor, who was acting54 chairman; "a very clever girl. I believe she has a career before her."
As Gwen went up to receive her prizes and certificate the girls clapped and clapped till, not content even with the noise they were making, they broke into ringing cheers. Half-dizzy with emotion, Gwen returned to her place—these were the very same schoolfellows who, only one short year ago, had allowed her to walk down the hall without a sign of recognition or appreciation55. From being the outcast of her Form she had risen to the height of popularity.
"I always said, childie, that if you only bided56 your time and worked your very hardest, the girls would be proud of you in the end!" declared Father when the celebrations were over and the Gascoynes had returned to the Parsonage.
"Oh, it was ripping to hear them all clapping and cheering, Gwen! And after last year, too—it's like a miracle!" exclaimed Lesbia rapturously.
"Yes, that's just what it is—a miracle," said Gwen, thinking of the motto that hung on her bedroom wall.
The End
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1
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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overdo
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| vt.把...做得过头，演得过火 | |
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cramming
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| n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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10
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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11
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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12
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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13
jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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14
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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18
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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27
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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incumbency
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| n.职责，义务 | |
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31
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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stipend
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| n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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45
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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46
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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47
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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48
prospectuses
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| n.章程，简章，简介( prospectus的名词复数 ) | |
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49
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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50
deliriously
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| adv.谵妄（性）；发狂；极度兴奋/亢奋；说胡话 | |
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51
bleated
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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52
hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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54
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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55
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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bided
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| v.等待，停留( bide的过去式 )；居住；等待；面临 | |
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