Mrs. Small answered the summons and without ceremony Sandy entered, gently pushing Phoebe before him.
"This package was delayed in arrivin'," he commenced, but there seemed to be no need of finishing the sentence.
As Phoebe stood held close in her mother's embrace, she cried,
"Oh, I never, never will go away to school again."
"You never shall," said Mrs. Small, "but Phoebe, child, how is it that you are here, and with Mr. McLeod at this time of night?"
"Oh, I told them yesterday that I must come home, but they said at the school, that you had paid for the term in advance, and that I could not leave until the end of that term.
"I said nothing, but this morning I ran away to the depot and when I had bought my ticket and was in the cars riding toward home I was happier than I had been for weeks. But the train was late and it was very dark when I left the cars at the Centre and started to walk home."
"The lass reached our door," said Sandy, "an' she was aboot faintin' when I lifted her in, and set her doon before the fire. An' noo, as I'm not necessary to ye're happiness," said Sandy with twinkling eyes, "I think I'll bid ye 'good night,' and be drivin' hame tae Margaret."
"I'm so glad to be at home again," said Phoebe, when Sandy had gone.
"I cannot tell you, Phoebe, how we've missed you," her mother answered. "Your father had to visit Boston yesterday and will be back to-morrow. When Sandy arrived with you, I was sitting here alone and wondering how long you would be willing to stay at boarding school."
"I never wish to see or hear about one again," said Phoebe. I shall never be discontented again.
"It was a hard lesson," said Mrs. Small, as she kissed Phoebe, "but perhaps it was a good one after all."
Randy had become a favorite among the girls at the school, and one and all declared that her frankness had been the trait which had first won their admiration.
"She always means what she says," said Nina Irwin. "I value a compliment which Randy gives, for she never flatters. If she says a pleasant word, it comes straight from her heart, and her heart is warm and loving."
Randy had made rapid progress in her studies, and it seemed as if her zeal increased as the months sped by. She had attended many concerts since the memorable one when she had given her single rose to Madame Valena, "and now the finest thing is yet to happen," she said in a letter to her mother.