to give up that little room to you nor to send poor Muff away."

"_Didn't_ you? well, now I always thought you did; I always kid that to
you, and so I don't believe I have half thanked Edith as I ought."

"Indeed you might have done."

"Well, I hope I shall not get quarrelsome at school again, but I wish I
was in a large school. I fancy I should be much happier. Only being us
five at Mr. Barton's, we are so thrown together, somehow we can't help
falling out and interfering with each other sometimes. Now there is
young White, I never can agree with him, it is _impossible_."

"Dear me!" said Emilie, without contradicting him, "why?"

"He treats me so very ill; not openly and above-board, as we say, but in
such a nasty sneaking way, he is always trying to injure me. He knows
sometimes I fall asleep after I am called. Well, he dresses so quietly,
(I sleep in his room, I wish I didn't,) he steals down stairs and then
laughs with such triumph when I come down late and get a lecture or a
fine for it. If I am very busy over an exercise out of school hours, he
comes and talks to me, or reads some entertaining book close to my ears,
aloud to one of the boys, to hinder my doing it properly, but that is
not half his nasty ways. Could _you love_ such a boy Miss Schomberg?"

"Well, I would try to make him more loveable, Fred, and then I might
perhaps love him," said Emilie.

"Ah, Emilie, your 'overcome evil with good' rule would fail there _I_
can tell you; you may laugh."