Bashful Fifteen by L.T. Meade — Read

"And now, my dears," said Mrs. Freeman, addressing her assembled school, "we have come to the end of our school term; the prizes have been distributed; the examinations are over. To those girls who have succeeded in winning prizes, and who have, in consequence, been raised to higher classes in the school, I offer my most hearty congratulations; they have worked well and steadily, and they now reap their due rewards. You, my dears" -- the head mistress waved her hand in the direction of the successful girls who were each of them pinning a white satin badge into their dresses, and were standing together in a little group -- "you, my dears, will wear the badge of honor all through the remainder of this day; may honor dwell in your hearts, and may success attend you through life; that success, my dear girls, which comes from earnest living, from constant endeavor to pursue the right, from constant determination to forsake the wrong. You have been successful in this day's examinations; you have every reason to be pleased with your success; but, at the same time, it must not render you self-confident. In short, my dear girls, you must ask for strength other than your own to carry you safely though the waves of this troublesome world. I now want to say a word or two to those girls who have not to-day earned prizes. I want you, my dear children, not to go away with any undue sense of discouragement. If, through carelessness or inattention, you have not got the prize you coveted, you must try very hard to be careful and attentive next term; you must also, however, remember that every girl cannot win a prize, but that patience and constant endeavor will secure to each of you the best rewards in due time.

On the whole, the term's work has been satisfactory, and the progress made in every branch of study gratifying. I now declare the school closed as far as lessons are concerned. Some of you will go away to your own homes to-night; some to-morrow morning. We shall all meet again, I hope, in September; and now there is a very happy time before us. To the courage and the thoughtfulness of a young girl in this school whom you all know -- I allude to Janet May -- we are going to have a Fancy Fair for the benefit of a child who has none of the advantages which you one and all possess. Evelyn Percival, as the head girl of the school, and as my special friend and right hand, will hold the first stall at the Fancy Fair; this, of course, is her due -- but, that every justice should be done, I wish you all, girls, now to acknowledge that the first thought of the fair was due to Janet. Shall we cheer her?"