Summary

Ermengarde St. John, a student about Sara's age, is introduced in this chapter. Sara noticed her in French class. Ermengarde was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who was overweight and did not look to be very clever. Sara noted that her mouth seemed like she was good-natured, though. Ermengard had her braid pulled in front of her face and bit the end of it during class. She seemed to daydream and could not answer the tutor's questions when he called upon her. When the other girls giggled, Sara felt sorry for her. After class, Sara introduced herself to Ermengarde. Ermengarde talked about her inability to learn and how her father told her many times that she had no sense. The narrator said the girl spent most of her life crying because of her inability to learn. Sara offered to help tutor her and invited...