IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT How examinations loom up on the fatal day, like monstrous obstacles that must be overcome! How the hours slip past, with nothing to break the stillness save the scratching of pens on foolscap paper, while each student draws upon the supply of knowledge stored up during the winter months! A fly buzzes on the window pane; a teacher rises, tiptoes slowly about the room and sits down again.

She can do nothing, now, but keep watch on the pairs of drooping shoulders and the tired, flushed faces.
Anne was so absorbed in her work that she was oblivious to everything about her.

Her pen moved with precision over her paper and her copy was neat and clear.
It was the second day of the examinations and she felt that her fate would soon be decided; but she was too tired now to worry.

She worked on quietly and steadily.

She had almost finished, and, as she answered one question after another, she was more and more buoyed up by the conviction that she would win the prize.
Miriam had finished her work.