“Oh, yes,” said Priscilla, starting forward and a flush coming into her face.  “I know that—­ that is what it is for.  To pay back worthily—­ to give back a thousandfold what you have received.  Those girls can’t be idle, can they?” she added in a gentle, piteous sort of way.

“My dear, there have been several such girls at St. Benet’s, and none of them has been idle; they have been best and first among our students.  Many of them have done more than well—­ many of them have brought fame to St. Benet’s.  They are in the world now and earning honorable livelihoods as teachers or in other departments where cultivated women can alone take the field.  These girls are all paying back a thousandfold those who have helped them.”

“Yes,” said Prissie.

“You would like to follow their example?”

“Oh, yes; please tell me about them.”

“Some of them were like you and thought they would take up everything—­ everything I mean in the scholastic line.  They filled their days with lectures and studied into the short hours of the night.  Maggie, dear, please tell Miss Peel about Good-night and Good-morning.”

“They were such a funny pair,” said Maggie.  “They had rooms next to each other in our corridor, Miss Peel.  They were both studying for a tripos, and during the term before the examination one went to bed at four and one got up at four.  Mary Joliffe used to go into Susan Martin’s room and say good morning to her.  Susan used to raise such a white face and say, ‘Good night, my dear.’  Well, poor things, neither of them got a tripos; they worked too hard.”

“The simple English of all this,” said Miss Heath, “is that the successful girl here is the girl who takes advantage of the whole life mapped out for her, who divides her time between play and work, who joins the clubs and enters heartily into the social life of the place.  Yes,” she added, looking suddenly full at Priscilla, “these last words of mine may seem strange to you, dear.  Believe me, however, they are true.  But I know,” she added with a sigh, “that it takes rather an old person to believe in the education of play.”

Priscilla looked unconvinced.

“I must do what you wish,” she said, “for, of course, you ought to know.”

“What a lame kind of assent, my love!  Maggie, you will have to gently lure this young person into the paths of frivolity.  I promise you, my dear, that you shall be a very cultivated woman some day; but I only promise this if you will take advantage of all sides of the pleasant life here.  Now tell me what are your particular tastes?  What branch of study do you like best?”

“I love Latin and Greek better than anything else in the world.”

“Do you truly?” said Maggie, suddenly starting forward.  “Then in one thing we have a great sympathy.  What have you read?  Do tell me.”

Miss Heath stepped directly into the background.  The two girls conversed for a long time together.