While this exciting conference was in session, dainty Alois Maise and little Pearl, finding that the deliberations of their elders were interfering too much with their own private conversation, had left the room. After tripping gaily down the village street at Alois's urgent invitation, Pearl consented to visit the Eldon Maise mansion. The beautiful home captivated the orphan whose life in the circus had deprived her of all real comfort such as she saw here. But it was before the piano that she paused the longest. And when she sang for Alois, that young lady was much gratified to discover that Pearl's singing was as exquisite as the charm of her spoken words.

"I'm going to tell Joe Smith," she cried in delight. "You must sing in the Children's Choir." The expectation that these words aroused was sufficient to make Pearl happy as a lark for a week. Joe heard her and Peri sing and both were admitted in the choir.

On the second week in September, when the magic of autumn had transformed the fields and orchards and groves into tints of gold, and colors of brilliant hue, the village school began. It was the first time Myra's children had ever gone to school, but the Fat Woman had proved such a good teacher that they were only a year or so behind in their studies. This only served as an incentive to make them study. Periwinkle especially made rapid progress. Pearl however was not so fond of books, but her ways were so gentle and charming that no one objected when she had to count up her sums on the rosy tips of her dainty fingers.

Joe Smith had kept his promise to use his influence with the Greys to protect his young friends from annoyance: for all the little Greys, from Zeke to Mehitable, treated the newcomers quite politely. But this attitude on the part of the Greys was not quite to the liking of the rest of the Maises and they showed their resentment. To have the Greys patronizing their two prime favorites was too bitter a pill to swallow. But a few days after school opened, Emil Maise and Zeke Grey spent two hours at the brook, each bathing a pair of swollen eyes.

The "accident" had occurred when the two had fought a rough and tumble battle because Pearl—a Maise—had presumed to give her pencil to Zeke Grey to sharpen; and the courageous Zeke had dared to sharpen it before the very eyes of Emil. Such accidents are hard to explain to parents and so the brook had been the only alternative. But when news of the fight reached the ears of the teacher, the ruler descended on Grey and Maise alike, while Pearl wide-eyed, wept for both and made the lads shake hands before she would speak to either of them.

When Esther Tull of the Grey "camp" furtively pushed Ruth Hayton's lunchbox out of the open window, Pearl shared her own lunch with her cousin Ruth. Periwinkle however had regarded the Tull girl with such fine contempt that she gave Ruth a bead ring as a peace offering and Ruth then wrote her name in Esther's autograph album.

These incidents did not escape the notice of the teacher who with growing hope saw that what had appeared to be impossible was gradually taking place. She had tried everything within her power to break down this wall of hatred that separated the two factions, but the barrier had proved invincible to her every effort. And now she saw that while she, armed with the rod of authority and exercizing the strictest discipline, had made a dismal failure, these two orphaned circus children were unconsciously melting the icy wall with the benevolent sunshine of their smiles and the warm love beams of their tender young hearts.

The minister heard of it too and although he shook his head rather doubtfully over the teacher's hopeful predictions, yet he wrote cheerfully to his son: "I can't understand it. The children seem to know the magic of some fairy alchemy, for whatever they touch becomes like them—lovely."

But it was not all smooth sailing, especially for the boy. Periwinkle had never known his grandfather Maise, but he nevertheless held the old gentleman in high esteem. Therefore when Washington Grey called that relative "a mean old fellow," Peri's fist darted out with amazing rapidity but was just as quickly withheld before it reached Washington's eye. And that lad, wondering at his escape, showed his appreciation by presenting Periwinkle a horse-hair chain the next day which was accepted with all the graciousness of Peri's sweet nature. The teacher, observant as ever, and wondering too, blessed Myra's "dreadful" children in her heart.