The furniture of the parlor was also very offensive to the young lady, and when Miss Lyon came in to meet them, she, too, was secretly styled, “a prim, fussy, slippery-tongued old maid.”  Jenny, however, who always saw the bright side of every thing, was completely charmed with the sweet smile, and placid face, so well remembered by all who have seen and known, the founder of Mt.  Holyoke Seminary.  After some conversation between Miss Lyon and Aunt Martha it was decided that Rose and Jenny should room together, as a matter of course, and that Mary should room with Ida.  Rose had fully intended to room with Ida herself, and this decision made her very angry:  but there was no help for it and she was obliged to submit.

Our readers are probably aware, that an examination in certain branches is necessary, ere a pupil can be admitted into the school at Mt.  Holyoke, where the course of instruction embraces three years, and three classes, Junior, Middle, and Senior.  Rose, who had been much flattered on account of her scholarship, confidently expected to enter the Middle class.  Jenny, too, had the same desire, though she confessed to some misgivings concerning her knowledge of a goodly number of the necessary branches.  Ida was really an excellent scholar, and was prepared to enter the Senior class, while Mary aspired to nothing higher, than admission into the Junior.  She was therefore greatly surprised, when Aunt Martha, after questioning her as to what she had studied, proposed that she should be examined for the Middle class.

“Oh, no,” said Mary quickly, “I should fail, and I wouldn’t do that for the world.”

“Have you ever studied Latin?” asked Aunt Martha.

Before Mary could reply, Rose exclaimed, “She study Latin!  How absurd!  Why, she was never away to school in her life.”

Aunt Martha silenced her with a peculiar look, while Mary answered, that for more than two years, she had been reading Latin under Mrs. Mason’s instruction.

“And you could not have a better teacher,” said Aunt Martha.  “So try it by all means.”

“Yes, do try,” said Ida and Jenny, in the same breath; and after a time, Mary rather reluctantly consented.

“I’ll warrant she intends to sit by us, so we can tell her every other word,” muttered Rose to Jenny, but when the trial came she thought differently.

It would be wearisome to give the examination in detail, so we will only say, that at its close, Rose Lincoln heard with shame and confusion, that she could only be admitted into the Junior Class, her examination having proved a very unsatisfactory one.  Poor Jenny, too, who had stumbled over almost every thing, shared the same fate, while Mary, expecting nothing, and hoping nothing, burst into tears when told that she had acquitted herself creditably, in all the branches requisite for an admission into the Middle class.

“Mrs. Mason will be so glad, and Billy, too,” was her first thought; and then, as she saw how disappointed Jenny looked, she seized the first opportunity to throw her arms around her neck, and whisper to her how sorry she was that she had failed.