Old Mortality, Part Two, 1904 Summary

Miranda and Maria are forced to spend their winters at a Catholic boarding school in New Orleans, where they live dull, sheltered lives. They like to imagine that they are tragically shut up in a dungeon-like convent, with skeletons in the closets, but in fact their school is wholesome, safe, and boring. The girls play in the walled gardens and imagine that they live dangerous, exciting lives. They live for Saturdays, when they often have the chance to go on outings with their relatives, if they have been good that week. If they have not been good, they are crushed when no one comes to pick them up. Usually on these outings, the girls are taken to the horse races, and they are each given a dollar to bet on a horse of their choice. Miranda secretly...