Page 61 - An Australian Lassie

"Elizabeth Bruce, what is that you have under your arm," Miss Sharman inquired, as Betty walked to her
place, which was somewhere in the second form.

Betty looked in surprise--and there was her bonnet. She had to walk out and hang it up, while the class, and
even the babies tittered at her blunder.

But there in the cloak-room she found John Brown. He was in the act of hanging his hat upon his own
particular peg--the highest one in the room.

"Oh!" said Betty, "here you are!"

"You're a nice one," said John Brown.

"What have T done?" asked the little girl eagerly.

But John Brown simply looked his scorn, and it made his face very ugly indeed.

"Oh, what have T done?" begged Betty. "Do tell me."

"Trust a girl to mull things up," said John.

"Elizabeth Bruce, return to your class," said a stern voice from the schoolroom, and Betty shot herself back
through the door in the twinkling of an eye.

A lengthy space of valuable time was given over to moods and tenses, perfects, pluperfects, pasts, futures; and
Betty, whose fortitude was much shaken by John Brown's remarks, sat listlessly five places above him, caring
not the least about such mighty words as "cans" and "coulds" and "shalls" and "shoulds," although the air was
full of them.

She went down a place, through not being able to find a passive participle for the verb "to bid," Miss Sharman
shaking an angry head at her eager "bidded." And she went down two for knowing nothing of the present
tense of "slain."

That brought her one place removed from John Brown, and all her eagerness now was to go one lower and
learn at once wherein lay her offence.

So, although she knew perfectly that the verb "to fall" had "fell" for its past participle, she uttered an eager
"failed" and sat next to John Brown.

"Disgraceful!" said Miss Sharman. "You could not have opened your book, Elizabeth (which was only too
true). Your little sister Nancy, in the babies' class, could have told you that."

But Elizabeth saved herself with the verb, "to sing," and sat uneasily in case John should blunder over "to
fight." But he was quite correct and did not need his small neighbour's eager whisper.

And then Miss Sharman passed on to other verbs and other pupils, and John and Betty were left in peace, side
by side, outwardly two indifferently intelligent pupils, inwardly perplexed, distressed and elated by their new
ambition.

"What have T done?" whispered Betty.

"Silly!" whispered John.