"
"But why did you act so, Kathleen O'Hara?" said Miss Mackenzie. "Why did
you, a silly young girl, come over here, a stranger, to ruin the school
and make us all unhappy?"
"I can't answer you that," said Kathleen, flinging out her hands. "I did
what I was made to do. I am a rebel by nature. I believe I shall always
be a rebel. I shall go home to father and mother and tell them I am not
suited for a school like this. But don't expel Ruth, and don't expel the
others."
"But we will all go if you are not kept," suddenly cried one of the
sixty, Kathleen never quite knew which; and suddenly one girl after
another began to speak up for her, and all promised that if Kathleen
were allowed to remain, and if the whole story of the great rebellion
was allowed to blow over, they would work as they had never done before.
They wanted their queen to stay with them. Would the governors forgive
their queen, just because she was an Irish girl and like no one else?
How it came to pass it was impossible to tell. There was something about
Kathleen--the bold, bright, and yet generous look on her face, the love
which darted out of her eyes when she grasped Ruth's hand--that even
impressed Miss Mackenzie. She said after a pause that she was willing to
reconsider matters, and that she and all the other governors would meet
in a day or two to give their opinion.
Thus the school broke up. It had lived through its greatest and most
exciting hour.
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