Her 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 pardon, as soon as you will let me see her.”

“My child, I am shocked to hear this.  I can scarcely believe that any of my pupils would ill-treat a companion because she was so unfortunate as to be plain and poor.  But you have made a noble confession, and I forgive you as freely as I believe she will, when she knows how truly you have repented of your unkindness.”