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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Caps and Capers
+       A Story of Boarding-School Life
+
+Author: Gabrielle E. Jackson
+
+Illustrator: C. M. Relyea
+
+Release Date: September 7, 2008 [EBook #26549]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPS AND CAPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CAPS AND CAPERS
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[Illustration: _Frontispiece--Caps and Capers_.
+"NOW, GIRLS, COME ON! LET'S EAT OUR CREAM." See p. 92.]
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CAPS and CAPERS
+A Story of Boarding-School Life
+
+by
+GABRIELLE E. JACKSON
+
+Author of "Pretty Polly Perkins,"
+"Denise and Ned Toodles," "By Love's
+Sweet Rule," "The Colburn Prize,"
+etc., etc.
+
+With illustrations
+by C. M. Relyea
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1901, by Henry Altemus
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+To
+the dear girls of "Dwight School,"
+who, by their sweet friendship, have unconsciously helped to make
+this winter one of the happiest she has ever known, this little
+story is most affectionately inscribed by the AUTHOR.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                                                PAGE
+     I.  Which Shall It Be?                              13
+    II.  "A Touch Can Make or a Touch Can Mar"           21
+   III.  "A Feeling of Sadness and Longing"              29
+    IV.  New Experiences                                 41
+     V.  Two Sides of a Question                         53
+    VI.  Dull and Prosy                                  63
+   VII.  The P. U. L.                                    71
+  VIII.  Caps and Capers                                 81
+    IX.  A Modern Diogenes                               89
+     X.  "They Could Never Deceive Me"                   97
+    XI.  "La Somnambula"                                107
+   XII.  "Have You Not Been Deceived This Time?"        119
+  XIII.  English as She is Spelled                      127
+   XIV.  "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells"                   135
+    XV.  "Pride Goeth Before a Fall"                    143
+   XVI.  Letters                                        153
+  XVII.  "Haf Anybody Seen My Umbrel?"                  161
+ XVIII.  The Little Hinge                               169
+   XIX.  "Fatal or Fated are Moments"                   179
+    XX.  "Now Tread We a Measure."                      187
+   XXI.  Conspirators                                   197
+  XXII.  "We've Got 'em! We've Got 'em!"                205
+ XXIII.  A Camera's Capers.                             213
+  XXIV.  Whispers                                       225
+   XXV.  "What Are You Doing Up this Time of Night?"    233
+  XXVI.  "Love (and Schoolgirls) Laugh at Locksmiths"   243
+ XXVII.  Ariadne's Clue                                 253
+XXVIII.  "When Buds And Blossoms Burst"                 261
+  XXIX.  Commencement                                   271
+   XXX.  "O Fortunate, O Happy Day"                     279
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+                                                              PAGE
+"Now, girls, come on! let's eat our cream."           Frontispiece
+"You could have popped me over from ambush."                    37
+"Do you wish to join the P. U. L.?"                             71
+"Go, tell Mrs. Stone she isn't up to snuff."                   109
+"Sthick to yer horses, Moik."                                  141
+"Let us begin a brand new leaf to-day."                        165
+"I feel so sort of grown up and grand."                        181
+"An' have ye been in there all this time?"                     207
+"Away went Marie, vanishing bit by bit."                       231
+"Her hand resting lightly on the arm of her friend."           267
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHICH SHALL IT BE?
+
+
+"And now that I have them, how am I to decide? That is the question?"
+
+The speaker was a fine-looking man about thirty-five years of age, seated
+before a large writing-table in a handsomely appointed library. It was
+littered with catalogues, pamphlets, letters and papers sent from dozens
+of schools, and from the quantity of them one would fancy that every
+school in the country was represented. This was the result of an
+advertisement in the "Times" for a school in which young children are
+received, carefully trained, thoroughly taught, and which can furnish
+unquestionable references regarding its social standing and other
+qualifications.
+
+It was a handsome, but seriously perplexed, face which bent over the
+letters, and more than once the shapely hand was raised to the puckered
+forehead and the fingers thrust impatiently through the golden brown hair,
+setting it on end and causing its owner to look more distracted than
+ever.
+
+"Poor, wee lassie, you little realize what a problem you are to me. Would
+to God the one best qualified to solve it could have been spared to you,"
+and the handsome head fell forward upon the hands, as tears of bitter
+anguish flooded the brown eyes.
+
+Can anything be more pathetic than a strong man's tears? And Clayton
+Reeve's were wrung from an almost despairing heart.
+
+For ten years his life had been a dream of happiness. At twenty-five he
+had married a beautiful, talented girl, who made his home as nearly
+perfect as a home can be made, and when, three years later, a little
+daughter, her mother's living image, came to live with them, he felt that
+he had no more to ask for. Seven years slipped away, as only years of
+perfect happiness can slip, and then came the end. The beautiful wife and
+mother went to sleep forever, leaving the dear husband and lovely little
+daughter alone. For six months Mr. Reeve strove to fill the mother's
+place, but until she was taken from him he had never realized how
+perfectly and completely his almost idolized wife had filled his home,
+conducting all so quietly and gracefully that even those nearest and
+dearest never suspected how much thought she had given to their comfort
+until her firm, yet gentle, rule was missed.
+
+Happily, Toinette was too young to fully appreciate her loss, and although
+she grieved in her childish way for the sweet, smiling mother who had so
+loved her, it was a child's blessed evanescent grief, which could find
+consolation in her pets and dollies, and--blessed boon--forget.
+
+But Clayton Reeve never forgot, not for one moment; and though the six
+months had in a measure softened his grief, his sense of loss and
+loneliness increased each day, until at last he could no longer endure the
+sight of the home which they together had planned and beautified.
+
+Unfortunately, neither he nor his wife had near relatives. She had been an
+only child whose parents had died shortly after her marriage, and such
+distant relatives as remained to him were far away in England, his native
+land. His greatest problem was the little daughter. Nursemaids and
+nursery-governesses were to be had by the score, but nursemaids and
+nursery-governesses were one thing with a mistress at the head of the
+household and quite another without one, as, during the past six months,
+Mr. Reeve had learned to his sorrow, and the poor man had more than once
+been driven to the verge of insanity by their want of thought, or even
+worse.
+
+At last he determined to close his house, place Toinette in some "ideal"
+school, and travel for six months, or even longer, little dreaming that
+the six months would lengthen into as many years ere he again saw her. The
+trip begun for diversion was soon merged into one for business interests,
+as the prominent law firm of which he was a member had matters of
+importance to be looked after upon the other side of the water, and were
+only too glad to have so efficient a person to do it.
+
+So, before he realized it, half the globe divided him from the
+sunny-haired little daughter whom he had placed in the supposed ideal
+school, chosen after deliberate consideration from those he had
+corresponded with.
+
+But this anticipates a trifle.
+
+As he sits in the library of his big house, a house which seems so like
+some beautiful instrument lacking the touch of the master hand to draw
+forth its sweetest and best, the sound of little dancing feet can be heard
+through the half-open door, and a sweet little voice calls out:
+
+"Papa, Papa Clayton. Where is my precious Daddy?" and a golden-haired
+child running into the room throws herself into his arms, clasps her own
+about his neck and nestles her head upon his shoulder.
+
+He held her close as he asked:
+
+"Well, little Heart's-Ease, what can the old Daddy do for you?"
+
+The child raised her head, and, looking at him with her big brown eyes,
+eyes so like his own, said, reproachfully: "You are _not_ an old Daddy;
+Stanton (the butler) is old, you are just my own, own Papa Clayton, and
+mamma used to say that you _couldn't_ grow old 'cause she and I loved you
+so hard."
+
+Mr. Reeve quivered slightly at the child's words, and with a surprised
+look she asked:
+
+"Are you cold, dear Daddy? It isn't cold here, is it?"
+
+"No, not in the room, Heart's-Ease, but right here," laying his hand upon
+his heart.
+
+The child regarded him questioningly with her big, earnest eyes, and
+said:
+
+"Did it grow cold because mamma went so sound asleep?"
+
+"I'm afraid so; but now let us talk about something else: I've some news
+for you, but do not know how you will like it; sit still while I tell it
+to you," and he began to unfold his plan regarding the school.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+"A TOUCH CAN MAKE OR A TOUCH CAN MAR"
+
+
+The school was chosen and Toinette placed therein. What momentous results
+often follow a simple act. When Clayton Reeve placed his little girl with
+the Misses Carter, intending to leave her there a few months, and seek the
+change of scene so essential to his health, he did not realize that her
+whole future would be more or less influenced by the period she was
+destined to spend there. No brighter, sunnier, happier disposition could
+have been met with than Toinette's when she entered the school; none more
+restless, distrustful and dissatisfied than her's when she left it, nearly
+six years later.
+
+If we are held accountable for sins of omission, as well as sins of
+commission, certainly the Misses Carter had a long account to meet.
+
+Like many others who had chosen that vocation, they were utterly incapable
+of filling it either to their own credit or the advantage of those they
+taught. While perfectly capable of imparting the knowledge they had
+obtained from books, and of making any number of rules to be followed as
+those of the "Medes and Persians," they did not, in the very remotest
+degree, possess the insight into character, the sympathy with their pupils
+so essential in true teachers.
+
+It is not alone to learn that which is contained between the covers of a
+book that our girls are sent to school or college, but also to gather in
+the thousand and one things untaught by either books or words. These must
+be absorbed as the flowers absorb the sunshine and dew, growing lovelier,
+sweeter and more attractive each day and never suspecting it.
+
+And so the shaping of Toinette's character, so beautifully begun by the
+wise, gentle mother, passed into other and less sensitive hands. It was
+like a delicate bit of pottery, the pride of the potter's heart, upon
+which he had spent uncountable hours, and was fashioning so skilfully,
+almost fearing to touch it lest he mar instead of add to its beauty;
+dreading to let others approach lest, lacking his own nice conceptions,
+they bring about a result he had so earnestly sought to avoid, and the
+vase lose its perfect symmetry. But, alas! called from his work never to
+return, it is completed by less skilful hands, a less delicate conception,
+and, while the result is pleasing, the perfect harmony of proportion is
+wanting, and those who see it feel conscious of its incompleteness, yet
+scarcely know why.
+
+We will skip over those six miserable years, so fraught with small trials,
+jealousies, deceptions and an ever-increasing distrust, to a certain
+Saturday morning in December.
+
+The early winter had been an exceptionally trying one, and Toinette, now
+nearly fourteen years old, had seen and learned many things which can only
+be taught by experience. She had seen that in some people's eyes the
+possession of money can atone for many shortcomings in character, and that
+certain lines of conduct may be condoned in a girl who has means, while
+they are condemned in a girl who has not; that she herself had many
+liberties and many favors shown her which were denied some of her
+companions, although those companions were quite as well born and bred as
+herself, and with all the latent nobility of her character did she scorn
+not only the favors but those who showed them, and often said to her
+roommate, Cicely Powell: "If _I_ chose to steal the very Bible out of
+chapel, Miss Carter would only say, 'Naughty Toinette,' in that smirking
+way of hers, and then never do a single thing; but if Barbara Ellsworth
+even looks sideways she simply annihilates her. I _hate_ it, for it is
+only because Barbara is poor and I'm--well, Miss Carter likes to have the
+income I yield; I'm a profitable bit of 'stock,' and must be well cared
+for," and a burning flush rose to the girl's sensitive cheeks.
+
+It was a bitter speech for one so young, and argued an all too intimate
+acquaintance with those who did not bear the mark patent of
+"gentlewoman."
+
+The six years had wrought many changes in the little child, both in mind
+and body, for, even though one had been cramped, and lacked a healthful
+development, the other had blossomed into a very beautiful young girl, who
+would have gladdened any parent's heart. She was neither tall nor short,
+but beautifully proportioned. Her head, with its wealth of sunny, wavy
+hair, was carried in the same stately manner which had always been so
+marked a characteristic in her father, and gave to her a rather dignified
+and reserved air for her years. The big brown eyes looked you squarely in
+the face, although latterly they had a slightly distrustful expression.
+Hurry home, Clayton Reeve, before it becomes habitual. The nose was
+straight and sensitive, and the mouth the saving grace of the face, for
+nothing could alter its soft, beautiful curves, and the lips continued to
+smile as they had done in early childhood, when there was cause for smiles
+only. The mother's finger seemed to rest there, all invisible to others,
+and curve the corners upward, as though in apology for the hardened
+expression gradually creeping over the rest of the face.
+
+It is difficult to understand how a parent can leave a child wholly to the
+care of strangers for so long a period as Mr. Reeve left Toinette, but one
+thing after another led him further and further from home, first to
+Southern Europe, then across the Mediterranean into wilder, newer scenes,
+where nations were striving mightily. Then, just as he began to think that
+ere long his own land would welcome him, news reached him of trouble in a
+land still nearer the rising sun, and his firm needed their interests in
+that far land carefully guarded. So thither he journeyed. But at last all
+was adjusted, and, with a heart beating high with hope, he started for his
+own dear land and dearer daughter.
+
+It must be confessed that he had many conflicting emotions as the great
+ship plowed its way across the broad Pacific, and ample time in which to
+indulge them. Many were the mental pictures he drew of the girl there
+awaiting him, and would have felt no little surprise, as well as
+indignation, could he have known that she was left in ignorance of the
+date of his arrival. But Miss Carter had reasons of her own for concealing
+it, and had merely told Toinette that her father was contemplating a
+return to the States during the coming year. It seemed rather a cold
+message to the girl whose _all_ he was, for she had written to him
+repeatedly, and poured out in her letters all the suppressed warmth of her
+nature, yet never had his replies touched upon the subject of her
+loneliness and intense desire to see him, but had always assured her that
+he was delighted to know that she was happy and fond of her teachers. And
+Toinette had not _quite_ reached the age of wisdom which caused her to
+suspect _why_ he gave so little heed to such information, although it
+would not have required a much longer residence at the Misses Carter's to
+enlighten her. Happily, before the revelation was made she was beyond
+further chicanery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"A FEELING OF SADNESS AND LONGING"
+
+
+The half year was nearly ended, and most of the girls were looking eagerly
+forward to the Christmas vacation, which would release them from a
+cordially detested surveillance. But Toinette had no release to look
+forward to; vacation or term time were much the same to her. She had spent
+some of her holidays with her schoolmates, but the greater part of them
+had been passed in the school, and dull enough they were, too.
+
+The past week had been a particularly stormy one, and the outcome had
+reflected anything but credit upon the school. Consequently, the girls
+were out of sorts and miserable, and the world looked decidedly blue, with
+only a faint rosy tint far down in the horizon, where vacation peeped.
+
+As in most schools, Saturday was a holiday. The day was wonderfully soft
+and mild for December, and shortly after breakfast Toinette threw her
+golf-cape about her shoulders and stepped out upon the piazza to see if
+the fresh air would blow away the mental vapors hovering about her, for
+she felt not unlike a ship at sea without a compass. Poor little lassie,
+although what might be called a rich girl, in one respect she was a very
+poor one indeed, for she had scarcely known the influence of a happy home,
+or the tender mother love which we all need, whether we be big daughters
+or little ones. True, she had never known what it meant to want those
+things which girls often wish to have, but which limited means place
+beyond their reach. But often amidst the luxuries of her surroundings, for
+her father provided most liberally for her, she would be seized with a
+restless longing for something, she hardly knew what, which made her feel
+out of sorts with herself and everybody else.
+
+"What ails you, this morning?" asked her chum, Cicely Powell, joining her
+upon the piazza. "You look as solemn as an oyster, and I should think
+you'd feel jolly because it's Saturday, and that horrid Grace Thatcher
+won't be here to poke her inquisitive nose into all our plans," referring
+to the prime mischief-maker of the school, already departed for her
+vacation, with the admonition to think twice before returning.
+
+"I don't know _what's_ the matter with me: I wish I did. Somehow, I don't
+feel satisfied with myself or anyone else, and I half believe I _hate_
+everybody," was Toinette's petulant reply.
+
+"Well, I like that, I declare!" was the sharp retort. "Perhaps you include
+_me_ among those you hate, and if that is the case, Toinette Reeve, you
+may just do as you like; I don't care a straw."
+
+Ordinarily Toinette's reply would have been as sharp as Cicely's, but this
+time she just looked at her with her big eyes--eyes suspiciously bright,
+as though tears lay not far back of them--and walked away, leaving Cicely
+to wonder what had come over her.
+
+"Well, I never!" was her rather vague comment. "I don't see what has come
+over Toinette since that last flareup. Mercy knows, we've had so many that
+we all ought to be used to them by this time. She has acted as though she
+were sorry that that horrid Grace was sent off earlier than the others,
+and I'm sure she has as much reason to be glad of it as any of us have.
+She did nothing but tell tales about all of us, and peep and spy upon her
+more than anyone else. Miss Carter would never have found out about half
+the things she did if it hadn't been for Grace, and we could have had no
+end of fun," and after this rather prolonged monologue Cicely went to join
+the other girls.
+
+Meanwhile Toinette had drawn the hood of her cape over her head and
+strolled down to the lower end of the garden, where a rustic summer-house
+not far from the gate afforded a quiet little nook in which to indulge
+one's fancies, whether pleasant or painful. Curling herself up in one
+corner, she rested her cheek upon her arm, which she had thrown over the
+railing, and looked down the road toward the railway station.
+
+Although a very beautiful one, it was a sad, wistful young face which
+turned toward the sunshine and shadows dancing upon the road. Poor little
+Toinette, now is the moment in which the mother-love you are unconsciously
+longing for would make the world anew for you. If, as you sit there, a
+gentle form and face could creep up quietly, slip an arm about your waist
+as she takes her seat beside you, and ask in the tender tone that only
+mothers use: "Well, Sweetheart, what is troubling you? Tell mother all
+about it, and let us see if there is not a sunny lining to the dark cloud
+that is casting its unpleasant shadow over this cozy nook."
+
+Where is the daughter who could resist it? It would not be many minutes
+before the head would find a happy resting-place upon the shoulder beside
+it, and all the little trials and troubles--trials so very real and very
+appalling to young hearts--would be put into words, and lose half their
+bitterness in the telling just because love--that mighty magician--had
+come to help bear them.
+
+A great man once said: "O opportunity, thy guilt is great!" and I have
+often wondered why he did not add, "or thou art very precious." So much
+depends upon an auspicious moment. A big door can swing upon a very small
+hinge.
+
+As Toinette looked down the road with unseeing eyes, the whistle of an
+incoming train, brought her back to a realization of things around her.
+The station was barely half a mile away, and ere ten minutes had passed a
+man appeared in the distance. Evidently the owner of that athletic figure
+knew where he was bound, and was going to _get_ there as quickly as his
+firm, long strides could carry him. He was a large man, sun-burned to the
+point of duskiness, bearded and moustached as though barbers were unknown
+in the land from which he hailed. Dressed in servicable tweed
+knickerbockers and Norfolk jacket, his Alpine hat placed upon his head to
+_stay put_, his grip slung by a strap across his broad shoulders, he came
+striding over the ground as though intent upon very important business.
+Toinette watched his approach in a listless sort of way, but as he drew
+nearer and nearer seemed to recognize something familiar.
+
+"Who can he be, and where have I seen him, I wonder?" she said, half
+aloud, as she peered at him from behind the lattice-work of the
+summer-house.
+
+On he came, quite unconscious of the big eyes regarding him so intently,
+and presently stopped to look about him, as though trying to recall old
+landmarks. He now stood almost opposite Toinette, when, chancing to glance
+toward the house, he became aware of her presence.
+
+"Why, little lady, you could have popped me over from ambush if you had
+had a gun, for I walked straight upon you and never suspected that you
+were there. Can you direct me to the Misses Carter's school? The
+station-master said it was about ten minutes' walk, but it is so many
+years since I have been here that I find I've forgotten the lay of the
+land, and I don't want to waste much time, for I've a very precious
+somebody there whom I'm very anxious to see. Last time I saw her she was
+only about knee-high to a grasshopper, but I suspect I shall find a young
+lady now, and have to be introduced to her."
+
+At the sound of his voice Toinette arose to her feet, her color coming and
+going, and her heart beating so loudly that she was sure he could hear it.
+As he finished speaking he regarded with very genuine surprise the young
+girl who, with parted lips and outstretched hands, was walking toward him
+like one who doubted the evidence of her own senses, and with a cry of,
+"Papa! oh, papa! don't you know me?" she was gathered into the strong arms
+whose owner had travelled half around the globe in order to win that one
+precious moment.
+
+[Illustration: "YOU COULD HAVE POPPED ME OVER FROM AMBUSH."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+NEW EXPERIENCES
+
+
+It did not take Clayton Reeve very long to gain a pretty clear idea of the
+condition of things at the Misses Carter's school, or to realize what
+influences had been brought to bear upon his only daughter. To say that he
+was keenly disappointed but mildly expresses it, and he reproached himself
+bitterly for having left her so long to the care of strangers. He remained
+with Toinette until the school closed for the holidays, and the time was
+the happiest she had ever known. Nor was it for her alone, for the other
+girls came in for their full share. He was a very liberal man, and it gave
+him genuine pleasure to make others happy.
+
+The Misses Carter lost no opportunity of putting their establishment in a
+favorable light, for they had a strong suspicion that they were in a fair
+way to lose something of much more tangible value to themselves: a very
+handsome income. But Mr. Reeve easily saw through their little foibles,
+and was not deceived by the pretty veneer into believing that all was
+strong and firm beneath.
+
+He had traveled about the world too much during the past six years not to
+have learned something of human nature, and to read it pretty correctly.
+Furthermore, his feeling of self-reproach made him keenly alive to every
+change upon Toinette's speaking countenance, and when he saw the look of
+questioning surprise which came over it when one or the other of the
+Misses Carter made some playful overture at petting her, or one of the
+other girls, he drew his own deductions.
+
+When vacation arrived he settled his bill for the year, bade them a
+courteous farewell, and, with Toinette, "scraped the dust from his feet
+and left the mansion." Then came a two-weeks' holiday such as she had
+never even dreamed of. Mr. Reeve took rooms in one of New York's finest
+hotels, and gave himself up to the pleasure of renewing his acquaintance
+with his daughter. That holiday was never forgotten by either of them, but
+for very different reasons.
+
+"By Jove," he said to himself more than once, "I've let a good bit of
+precious time, and many happy hours, slip away, if I'm not mistaken, and I
+don't know whether I shall ever catch up."
+
+During their stay in the city Mr. Reeve went in quest of his old college
+chum, Sydney Powell, Cicely's father, and had an interview with him that
+was brief, but very much to the point.
+
+"Go ahead, Clint, old chap, and find what is needed for the little girls,
+if you can. Cicely will never go back to the Carter school, and I should
+be glad to have the girls keep together. They seem fond of each other. How
+would you like to run out to Montcliff to look up that school? I've had
+fine reports of it from Fred Hubbard, whose daughter is a pupil there?"
+
+And so it came to pass that directly after vacation the two girls were
+escorted to Sunny Bank, as the school was called, and, after a very
+satisfactory talk with its sensible principal, Mr. Reeve left them to her
+care, feeling sure that this time he had not made any mistake.
+
+Toinette and Cicely had adjoining rooms, and nothing could have been
+daintier than the room appointments. From their windows they could look
+out over a wide sweep of the western valley, where the sun was just
+sinking behind the hills, and leaving upon the sky a glorious promise of
+the day to follow.
+
+They were still busy arranging their pretty trifles about the rooms when
+the soft chime of the Chinese gong in the wide hall below announced
+dinner. Thus far they had not seen any of the other girls, but as they
+stepped from their rooms they were met by Miss Preston, who said, as she
+slipped an arm about each waist:
+
+"I do not forget how lonely _I_ felt when I first entered a strange
+school, so let me try to make it easier for my new girls by introducing
+some of my old ones; _real_ old," she added, laughingly, as she called to
+two girls who were curled up on one corner of the big divan at the lower
+end of the hall.
+
+"Come here, chicks, and let me make you acquainted with Miss Reeve and
+Miss Powell. These are Miss Gordon and Miss Osgood, my dears, but as we
+are all sort of 'sisters, cousins and aunts' in this big home, I'll just
+hint right off that their home names are Ruth and Edith, who will be glad
+to welcome my Toinette and Cicely."
+
+By this time they had reached the cheerful dining-room, and with a very
+significant exchange of glances Toinette and Cicely took their seats, the
+latter whispering under cover of the bustle caused by the entrance of the
+other pupils: "My goodness, if Miss Carter had ever spoken like that to
+us, we should have fallen flat, shouldn't we?"
+
+Ruth sat upon one side, and Edith upon the other, and it did not take the
+new girls long to discover that the dinner hour must be one of the
+pleasantest of the day, for all talked and chatted in the liveliest
+manner, discussing various happenings, and again and again appealing to
+Miss Preston, who was not one whit behind in the spirit of good-fellowship
+which prevailed.
+
+There were six tables, each accommodating ten people, and a teacher sat at
+the head of each. In every instance a teacher who was wise enough not to
+observe _too_ much, but who in reality saw everything, although she could
+laugh and joke with the girls, put them at their ease, and at the same
+time set them so perfect an example that few girls would have cared to
+fail in following it. Far from exercising a restraining influence, they
+proved the jolliest of companions, as the repeated appeals to their
+opinions, or the requests for some anecdote or amusing story, evidently
+old favorites, amply testified.
+
+When the pleasant dinner was ended the girls gathered in the big hall,
+where Toinette and Cicely were introduced to many of the others.
+
+"What have we to do now?" asked Toinette, whose sharp eyes had been
+observing everything worth observing, and whose active mind had received
+more impressions within the past hour than it had been called upon to
+receive in a year. It is needless to add that she was quick enough to
+profit by them, and to appreciate that in _this_ school were taught more
+surprising things than chemistry or science.
+
+"Do?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Yes; isn't there some RULE to be observed after dinner?" and a rather
+ironical tone came into Toinette's voice.
+
+"Yes; come along, and Edith and I'll show you the rule, as you call it,"
+answered Ruth, as she caught up the big basket-ball lying upon one of the
+chairs in the hall, flew through the door with it, across the piazza and
+into the gymnasium beyond.
+
+After an instant's hesitation the two girls followed, joining her and
+Edith, who had run Ruth a lively race.
+
+"You don't mean to say that the teachers let you run and romp like this,
+do you?" demanded Cicely.
+
+"Let us!" cried Edith in surprise. "Why shouldn't they? We aren't doing
+any harm, are we?"
+
+"No, I don't suppose there is any harm, but if we had done such a thing at
+Miss Carter's, what do you think would have happened, Toinette?"
+
+Toinette pursed her mouth into the primmest pucker, rolled her eyes in a
+horrified way, clasped her hands before her, and said, in a tragic tone:
+"Young _ladies!_ Such conduct is most _unseemly_," in such perfect mimicry
+of Miss Carter that Ruth and Edith shouted.
+
+"Well, all I can say is, that I'm thankful _we_ were not sent to that
+school; aren't you, Ruth?" said Edith.
+
+"Better believe I am," was the feeling reply. "I get skittish even in this
+blessed place sometimes, but if I had been sent there I'd have been just
+like one of those little red imps that Miss Preston has standing on her
+writing table."
+
+"Yes, you'd have felt all rubbed the wrong way, just as Cicely and I feel,
+and just hate the sight of a teacher, and want to do everything you could
+to plague them," said Toinette, petulantly.
+
+"Well, you won't want to do that _here_" answered Edith, emphatically. "If
+you cut any such capers in _this_ school, it won't be the _teachers_ who
+will go for you, but the _girls_," with a significant wag of her head.
+
+"The girls?" asked Cicely, with a puzzled expression.
+
+"Certain. We think our school about the best going, and we aren't going to
+let anyone else think differently, if we can help it; are we, Ruth? So, if
+a girl takes it into her head to be rude and cranky to the teachers, or
+other girls, she finds herself in a corner pretty quick, I can tell you."
+
+"Suppose you break the rules?" asked Toinette.
+
+"Aren't any to break," answered happy-go-lucky Ruth, as she pranced down
+the big room after the ball, which had gone bouncing off.
+
+"No _rules!_" incredulously.
+
+"Not a single one. All you've got to do is to be nice to everybody,
+remember you're a gentlewoman (or you wouldn't be here, let me tell you),
+and do your jolly best to pass your examinations. If you don't it is your
+own fault, and you have to suffer for it; no one else, that's sure; for
+you can have all the help you ask for."
+
+Toinette and Cicely exchanged glances.
+
+"Oh, I daresay you don't believe us," said Edith, who had correctly
+interpreted the glances, "but just you wait and see. All the new girls
+think the same, and I daresay that we should have, too, if we had come
+here from some other school; but, thank goodness, we didn't. There aren't
+any more schools like this, are there, Ruth?"
+
+"Nary one; there's only one, and we've got it," cried the irrepressible
+Ruth, and two weeks later the girls found that, truly, no rules could be
+broken where none existed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TWO SIDES OF A QUESTION
+
+
+It could hardly be expected that, after her training of the past six and a
+half years, Toinette would at once respond to the wiser, more elevating
+influences now surrounding her. The old impulses would return, and a
+desire to conceal where no concealment was necessary often placed her in a
+false light. She distrusted those in authority simply because they were in
+authority, rather than that they ever made it apparent. It seemed to have
+become second nature with her, and bade fair to prove a work of almost
+infinite patience and love upon the part of the teachers to undo the
+mischief wrought in those miserable years.
+
+But, after making a toy of the poor child for all that time, fickle fate
+seemed about to make amends, and, although it was yet to be proven,
+Toinette was now launched upon a sunny sea, and destined to sail into a
+happy harbor.
+
+She was sitting in her room one beautiful afternoon about a week after her
+arrival at the school, and, unconsciously doing profitable examples in
+rhetoric by drawing nice contrasts between her present surroundings and
+her former ones. Presently a tap came upon her door, and she called: "Come
+in."
+
+In bounced Ruth, crying: "Come on down to the village with us, will you?
+Edith and Cicely are waiting at the gate."
+
+"Which teacher is going with us?" asked Toinette, suspiciously.
+
+"Teacher?" echoed Ruth. "Why, none, of course. Why don't you ask if we are
+going in a baby-carriage?" and she laughed as she slipped her arm through
+Toinette's.
+
+"You don't mean to say that we will be allowed to go by ourselves?"
+
+"Toinette Reeve, I think you've got the queerest ideas I ever heard of!
+Come on!"
+
+In spite of Ruth's assurance, Toinette cast apprehensive glances about
+her, as though she expected a frowning face to appear around some corner
+and rebuke them. Instead, however, they came upon Miss Howard just at the
+end of the corridor, who asked in a cheery voice:
+
+"Where away so briskly, my lady birds?"
+
+"Only to the village; good-bye," answered Ruth, waving her hand in
+farewell.
+
+"Pleasant journey. You will probably run across Miss Preston down there
+somewhere, and can act as bodyguard for her."
+
+The girls walked briskly on, and presently Cicely asked:
+
+"What are you going for, anyway?"
+
+"Some good things, to be sure. I'm just perishing for some
+cream-peppermints, and my week's pocket-money is scorching holes in my
+pocket as fast as ever it can."
+
+"Do you think Miss Preston would scold if I got something, too?" asked
+Toinette.
+
+"What would she scold about? You didn't _steal_ the money you're going to
+buy it with, did you? And your stomach's your own, isn't it? Besides, when
+you've been here a while longer you'll learn that Miss Preston _doesn't_
+scold. If she thinks a thing isn't good for you to do, she just asks you
+not to do it, and she takes it for granted that you've got sense enough to
+understand why."
+
+"Oh, I guess you're all _saints_ in this school," replied Toinette,
+sarcastically.
+
+"Well, as near as _I_ can make out, you had a pretty good supply of
+sinners where you came from," was the prompt retort.
+
+When Ruth's pocket was saved from destruction the girls started homeward.
+They had not gone far when three of the boys from the large school at the
+upper end of the town were seen coming toward them.
+
+"Oh, jolly," cried Edith, "there are Ned, Allan and Gilbert! Now we'll
+have fun; they're awfully nice. Allan has the dearest pony and trap you
+ever saw, and is just as generous as can be with it."
+
+The boys were now beside them, and, raising their caps politely, joined
+the party and were introduced to the new girls. This was a complete
+revelation to Cicely and Toinette, for at Miss Carter's school boys had
+been regarded as a species of wild animal, to be shunned as though they
+carried destruction to all whom they might overtake.
+
+But here were Ruth and Edith walking along with three of those monsters in
+manly form, and, still worse, talking to them in the frankest, merriest
+manner, as though there were no such thing on earth as schools and
+teachers. Toinette and Cicely dropped a little behind, and soon found an
+opportunity to draw Edith with them.
+
+"Don't forget that Miss Howard said that Miss Preston was down in the
+village. I'll bet a cookie there'll be a fine rumpus if she catches us
+gallivanting with all these boys," whispered Toinette.
+
+A funny smile quivered about the corners of Edith's mouth, but before she
+could answer Miss Preston herself stood before them. She had suddenly
+turned in from a side street. As though detected in some serious
+misdemeanor, Toinette and Cicely hung back, and Edith remained beside
+them.
+
+With such a smile as only Miss Preston could summon, she bowed to the
+group, and said:
+
+"How do you do, little people? Are you going to let me add one more to the
+party? I'm not very big, you know, and I like a bodyguard. Besides, I
+haven't seen the boys in a 'blue moon,' and I think it high time I took
+them to task, for they haven't been to call upon us in an age. Give an
+account of yourselves, young sirs. Before very long there is going to be a
+dance at a house I could mention, and you don't want to be forgotten by
+the hostess, do you?"
+
+Toinette and Cicely found it difficult to believe themselves awake.
+Touching Edith's elbow, they indicated by mysterious signs that they
+wished to ask something, and dropped still further behind.
+
+"What does it all mean, anyhow? She doesn't really mean to have the boys
+at the house, does she?"
+
+Edith's eyes began to twinkle as though someone had dropped a little
+diamond into each, and, without answering, she gave a funny laugh and took
+a few quick steps forward. Slipping an arm about Miss Preston's waist, she
+said: "Miss Preston?"
+
+"Yes, dear," turning a pleasant face toward the girl.
+
+"The girls are planning a candy frolic for next Friday night, and were
+going to ask your permission to-day, only they haven't had time yet. May
+we have it over in the kitchen of the cottage, and may the boys come,
+too?"
+
+A merry smile had overspread Miss Preston's face, and when Edith finished
+speaking, she said:
+
+"Young gentlemen, I hope you didn't hear the last remark made by my
+friend, Miss Osgood; at all events, you're not supposed to have done so;
+it would be embarrassing for us all. But, since you did not, I'll say to
+her: Yes, you may have your candy frolic, and that is for her ears alone.
+Now to you: The girls are to have a candy frolic Friday evening, and would
+be delighted to have your company."
+
+It had all been said in Miss Preston's irresistibly funny way, and was
+greeted with shouts of laughter. Toinette and Cicely had learned something
+new. All now crowded about her urging her to accept some of their goodies,
+and, joining heartily in the spirit of good-comradeship, she took a
+sweetie from first one box and then another. Possibly another person, with
+a stricter regard for Mrs. Grundy's extremely refined sensibilities, might
+have hesitated to walk along the highways surrounded by half a dozen boys
+and girls, all chattering as hard as their tongues could wag, and munching
+cream-peppermints; but Miss Preston's motto was "Vis in ute," and, with
+the fine instinct so often wanting in those who have young characters to
+form, she looked upon the question from their side, feeling sure that
+sooner or later would arise questions which she would wish them to regard
+from hers; and therein lay the key-note of her success.
+
+She would no more have thought of raising the barrier of teacher and pupil
+between herself and her girls than she would have thought of depriving
+them of something necessary to their physical welfare. The girls were her
+friends and she theirs--their best and truest, to whom they might come
+with their joys or their sorrows, sure of her sympathy with either, and,
+rather than cast a shadow upon their confidence, she would have toiled up
+the hill with the whole school swarming about her, and an express-wagon of
+sweets following close behind. That was the secret of her wonderful power
+over them. They never realized the disparity between their own ages and
+hers, because she had never forgotten when life was young.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+DULL AND PROSY
+
+
+It is to be hoped that those who read this story will not run off with the
+idea that I am trying to set Miss Preston's school up as a model in every
+sense of the word, for I am not. I am simply trying to tell a story of
+boarding-school life as it really was "once upon a time." And I think that
+I ought to be able to tell it pretty correctly, having seen with my own
+eyes and heard with my own ears many of the pranks related. The methods
+followed and the results obtained may be believed or not; that rests with
+the individual reading. Long ago, in my own childhood days, our "old
+Virginy" cook used to say to me: "La, chile, dey's a heap sight mo' flies
+ketched wid 'lasses dan vingegar," and I have come to the conclusion that
+she had truth on her side.
+
+The girls were by no means saints. Saints, after all, are rather ethereal
+creatures, and Miss Preston's girls were real flesh and blood lassies,
+brimful of life and fun, and, like most lassies, ready for a good time.
+
+As Ruth had said, there were no rules; that is, the girls were never told
+that they must _not_ do this, or that they _must_ do the other thing. A
+spirit of courtesy dominated everything, and a subtle influence pervaded
+the entire school, bringing about desired results without words. The girls
+understood that all possible liberty would be granted them, and that their
+outgoings and incomings would be exactly such as would be allowed them in
+their own homes, and if some were inclined to abuse that liberty they soon
+learned where license began.
+
+No school turned out better equipped girls, and none held a higher
+standard in college examinations. A Sunny Bank diploma was a sure
+passport. When the girls worked they worked hard, and when playtime came
+it was enjoyed to the full. Naturally, with so many dispositions
+surrounding her, Miss Preston often in secret floundered in a "slough of
+despond," for that which could influence one girl for her good might prove
+a complete failure when brought to bear upon another. Never was the old
+adage, "What is one man's meat is another man's poison," more truly
+illustrated.
+
+But Miss Preston had a stanch friend, and trusted Him implicitly. Often,
+when perplexed and troubled, a half-hour's quiet talk with Him close shut
+behind her own door would give her wisdom and strength for the baffling
+question, and when she again appeared among them the girls wondered at her
+serene expression and winning smile, for in that half-hour's seclusion she
+had managed to remove all trace of the soil from the "slough," and,
+refreshed and strengthened by an unfailing help, could resume her
+"Pilgrimage."
+
+She often said, in her quaint way: "The hardest work I have to do is to
+undo," and that was very true. Many times the home influence was of the
+worst possible sort for a young girl, or else there was just none at all.
+Such girls were difficult subjects. Many had come from other schools, as
+in Toinette's case, where distrust seemed to be the key-note of the
+establishment, and then came Miss Preston's severest trials. The
+confidence of such girls must be won ere a step could be taken in the
+right direction. It was a rare exception when Miss Preston failed to win
+it.
+
+"You feel such a nasty little bit of a crawling thing when you've done a
+mean thing to Miss Preston," a girl once said. "If she'd only give you a
+first-class blowing up--for that's just what you know you deserve all the
+time--you could stand it, but she never does. She just puts her arm around
+you and looks straight through you with those soft gray eyes of hers, and
+never says one word. Then you begin to shrivel up, and you keep right on
+shriveling till you feel like Alice in Wonderland. You can't say boo,
+because _she_ hasn't, and when she gives you a soft little kiss on your
+forehead, and whispers so gently: Don't try to talk about it now, dear;
+just go and lock yourself in your room and have a quiet think, and I'm
+sure the kink will straighten out. I could lie flat on the floor and let
+her dance a hornpipe on me if she wanted to."
+
+It was not to be expected that all the other teachers would display such
+remarkable tact as their principal, but her example went a long way.
+Moreover, she was very careful in the choice of those in whose care her
+girls were to be given, and often said: "Neither schools nor colleges make
+teachers: it is God first, and mothers afterward." And she was not far
+wrong, for God must put love into the human heart, and mothers must shape
+the character. When I see a child playing with her dollies, I can form a
+pretty shrewd guess of the manner of woman that child's mother is.
+
+Frolics and pranks of all sorts were by no means unknown in the school,
+and often they were funny enough, but what Miss Preston did not know about
+those frolics was not worth knowing. Her instructions to her teachers
+were: "Don't see _too much_. Unless there is danger of flood or fire,
+appendicitis or pneumonia, be blind."
+
+Many of the girls had their own ponies and carriages, and drove about the
+beautiful suburbs of Montcliff. If the boys chose to hop up behind a trap
+and drive along, too, where was the harm? The very fact that it need not
+be concealed made it a matter of course. Friday evenings were always ones
+of exceptional liberty. Callers of both sexes came, and the girls danced,
+had candy pulls, or any sort of impromptu fun. Once a year, usually in
+February, a dance was given, which was, of course, _the_ event of the
+season.
+
+During the week the girls kept early hours, and at nine-thirty the house
+was, as a rule, en route for the "Land o' Nod," but exceptions came to
+prove the rule, and nothing was more liable to cause one than the arrival
+of a box from home. Upon such occasions the "fire, flood, appendicitis and
+pneumonia" hint held good.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE P. U. L.
+
+
+"What upon earth are you doing!" exclaimed Toinette, as she opened Ruth's
+door, in response to the "come in" which followed her knock, and stood
+transfixed upon the threshold at the spectacle she beheld.
+
+"Cleaning house, to be sure. Didn't you ever do it?"
+
+"Well, not exactly that way," was Toinette's reply.
+
+Ruth threw back her head and gave a merry peal of laughter.
+
+"It _is_ rather a novel way, I will admit, but, you see, I hate to do
+things just exactly as everybody else does, so I sailed right in, head
+over ears. To tell the truth, now I'm in, I wish it wasn't _quite_ so
+deep," and Ruth cast a look strongly savoring of despair at the
+conglomeration surrounding her.
+
+She was seated in the middle of the floor, and almost buried beneath the
+contents of every drawer and closet in the room. Not only her own, but
+Edith's belongings, too, had been dumped in a promiscuous heap on the
+floor, and such a sea of underclothing, stockings, shoes, dresses, waists,
+jackets, coats, hats, gloves, collars, ties, ribbons, veils,
+dressing-sacques, golf-capes and belts, to say nothing of the contents of
+both their jewel boxes, no pen can describe.
+
+Not content with the contents, the drawers, too, had been dragged out to
+be dusted, and were standing on end all about her, a veritable rampart of
+defence.
+
+"I shouldn't think you would know where to begin," said Toinette.
+
+"I don't, and I think I'll leave the whole mess for Helma to tidy up in
+the morning," and up jumped Ruth, to give the last stroke to the disorder
+by overturning the tray of pins and hairpins which she had been sorting
+when Toinette entered.
+
+"There, now you have done it!" exclaimed Edith, "and I can tell you one
+thing, you may just as well make up your mind to put my things back where
+you got them, 'cause I'm not going to," and she wagged her head
+positively.
+
+"Oh, dear me, this is what comes of trying to be a P. U. L.," said Ruth.
+
+"A P. U. L.?" asked Toinette. "What in the world is that?"
+
+"_That's_ what it is! I found it stuck up in my room when I got back from
+recitations to-day. I've been in such a tear of a hurry for the last few
+mornings that my room hasn't been quite up to the mark, I suppose, but
+Miss Preston never said a word, and now here's this thing stuck here."
+
+Toinette took the sheet of paper which Ruth handed to her, and began to
+read:
+
+                           THE PICK-UP LEAGUE
+
+            Do you wish to join the P. U. L.?
+            Then listen to this, but don't you tell,
+            For it's a great secret, and will be--well--
+            We _hope_, as potent as "book and bell."
+
+            A P. U. L. has a place for her hat,
+            And keeps it there; O wonder of that!
+            Her gloves are put away in their case;
+            Her coat hung up with a charming grace.
+
+            School-books and papers are laid away,
+            To be quickly found on the following day.
+            Then, ere she starts, so blithe and gay,
+            She tarries a moment just to say:
+
+            "Wait, just a jiff, while I stop to put
+            This blessed gown on its proper hook,
+            And tuck this 'nightie' snugly from sight
+            Under my pillow for to-night.
+
+            "And all these little, kinky hairs,
+            Which, though so frail, can prove such snares,
+            And furnish some one a chance to say:
+            'Your comb and brush were not cleaned to-day.'
+
+            "Hair ribbons, trinkets, scraps and bits,
+            Papers and pencils and torn snips,
+            Left scattered about can prove _such_ pits!
+            And _in_ we tumble, and just 'catch fits.'
+
+            "And this is the reason we formed the league,
+            And will keep its rules, you had better believe:
+            To keep our rooms tidy, to keep things neat,
+            So much that is 'bitter' may be turned 'sweet.'"
+
+[Illustration: "DO YOU WISH TO JOIN THE P. U. L.?"]
+
+When she had finished reading, she sat down on the edge of the bed and
+laughed till she cried.
+
+"Great, isn't it?" asked Ruth. "That's the way Miss Preston brings us up
+to schedule time. When I came home from the school-building this afternoon
+I thought I'd do wonders; and," she added, ruefully, "I guess I've done
+them. Good gracious, I'm so hungry from working so hard that I just can't
+see straight. Isn't there something eatable in the establishment?"
+
+"If that much work reduces you to a state of starvation, what will you be
+when it's all done?" asked Edith. "There _were_ some crackers on the
+shelf, but land knows where they are now; you've dragged every blessed
+thing off of it."
+
+"There are your crackers, right under your nose," said Ruth, triumphantly,
+as she pointed to a box of wafers half hidden under Edith's best hat.
+"There's some tea in that caddy, and you can heat some water in the
+kettle. What more do you want?"
+
+Edith scratched a match and held it to the little alcohol lamp under the
+tea-kettle, but no flame resulted.
+
+"Every bit of alcohol is burned out. Have you any more?"
+
+"Not a drop; used the last to get the pine-gum off my fingers after we
+came back from the woods last Tuesday. Here, take the cologne, that will
+do just as well," and forthwith the cologne was poured into the lamp,
+which was soon burning away right merrily. The water was heated, the tea
+made, and four girls sat down in the midst of the topsy-turvy room to sip
+tea and munch saltines.
+
+"I came in to ask," said Toinette, "whether you girls have any secret
+societies in this school; have you?"
+
+"Nary one, as I know of," answered the irrepressible Ruth. "Wish we had."
+
+"Let's start one," said Toinette. "We had two or three at Miss Carter's;
+they had to be secret or none at all, and it was no end of fun. Papa wrote
+me that he was going to send me a box of good things before long, and when
+it comes let's meet that night and have a feast. He will no doubt send
+enough for the entire school, he always does, and I want some of the girls
+to have the benefit of it."
+
+"Don't believe you will have to urge them very hard," said Edith,
+laughing.
+
+"Good!" cried Ruth. "Which girls shall we ask?"
+
+Toinette named eight girls beside themselves, saying:
+
+"That will make an even dozen to start with. More may come later, but that
+is enough to begin; don't you think so?"
+
+"Plenty. If we have too many there will be sure to be someone to let the
+cat out of the bag. Come on, Cicely, let's go hunt the others up," and,
+leaving Toinette and Edith in the orderly (?) room, off they flew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CAPS AND CAPERS
+
+
+The eight girls were quickly gathered in Ruth's and Edith's room and
+listening eagerly to the scheme afoot. It need not be added that it was
+unanimously carried, and it was only necessary to choose a name for the
+society.
+
+"Let's all wear masks and caps and cut all sorts of capers. It will be
+just no end of fun," cried Ethel Squire, a pretty, bright girl of fifteen
+who was always ready for a frolic.
+
+"Splendid!" cried Toinette, "and Ethel has given me a fine idea for a
+name; let's call it the C. C. C."
+
+"C. C. C.? What under the sun does that stand for?" asked Helen Burgess, a
+quiet, serene little body, and a general favorite with the other girls.
+
+"Guess," said Toinette.
+
+"Cuffs and Collars Club," said May Foster; "mine cause me more trouble
+than all the rest of my toilet, so they are never far from my thoughts."
+
+"Cake and Cackle Club," said another.
+
+"Cheese and Cider; a delicious combination when you've acquired a taste
+for them!" said Marie Taylor.
+
+"Clandestine Carnivori," was the last guess, which raised a shout.
+
+"Good gracious! let me tell you quickly before you exhaust the
+dictionary," laughed Toinette; "how will the Caps and Capers Club do?"
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Ruth, "just the very thing. We'll all wear our bath-robes
+and white caps and masks. I've loads of white crepe paper, which will be
+the very thing to make them of, so let's sit down and make them right
+away. Come on, girls, help clear up this mess, and then I'll find the
+paper. I can give the finishing touches to the closets and bureau drawers
+to-morrow."
+
+All turned to with more ardor than skill, and in a very few moments the
+conglomeration upon the floor had vanished. How it fared with Ruth and
+Edith when it came time to dress has never been disclosed. However, the
+room restored to outward order, twelve girls set to work to fashion caps
+and masks, and, as the last one was completed, the dressing-bell rang and
+all scattered to prepare for dinner.
+
+The evening hours at Sunny Bank were very pleasant ones, for during the
+winter, while days were short and nights were long, there was not much
+opportunity for outdoor diversion. Immediately after dinner Miss Howard,
+the literature teacher, would place her snug little rocking-chair before
+the cheerful open fire in the big hall, and the girls would gather about
+her; some on chairs, some on hassocks, and some curled upon the large fur
+rug in front of the blazing logs, while she read aloud for an hour. A fine
+library in Mont Cliff supplied books of every imaginable sort, and the
+girls were allowed to take turns in selecting them; providing, of course,
+their selections were wise ones. But with Miss Howard as guide they could
+not go far astray, and many a delightful hour was passed before the fire.
+Just at present the books chosen were those relating to English history,
+and contained good, hard facts, but, when the girls grew a little tired of
+such substantial diet, historical novels came handy for a relish. As
+England was cutting a prominent figure in the world just then, the girls
+were encouraged to keep in touch with the current events, and to talk
+freely about them. The last book read, at least the one they were just
+concluding, was one which brought into strong contrast the reigns of
+England's two greatest queens, and the subject was discussed in a lively
+manner.
+
+The book was finished shortly before the hour ended, and, laying it upon
+her lap, Miss Howard began to ask a few leading questions in order to get
+the girls started. As always happens, there were some girls not wildly
+enthusiastic over historical subjects, and such books did not hold their
+attention as a modern novel filled with thrilling situations would have
+done. But these were the very ones whom Miss Howard most wished to reach,
+and, feeling sure that her chances of doing so through such methods were
+far greater than could be hoped for if she pinned them right down to hard,
+dry facts, she took infinite pains to make her readings as interesting as
+much research and a careful selection of books could make them.
+
+The conversation was in full swing, and Miss Howard, in high feather over
+the very evident impression the book had made, was congratulating herself
+upon her choice of that particular volume, when one girl asked:
+
+"Miss Howard, what particular act of Elizabeth's reign do you think had
+the greatest influence upon later reigns?"
+
+"That is rather a difficult question to answer, Natala. It was such a
+brilliant reign and so fraught with portentous results in the future that
+it would be very difficult to say that this or that one act was greatest
+of all; although, unquestionably, the translation of the Bible was one of
+the greatest blessings to posterity. Who can tell me something of great
+interest which happened then?"
+
+"I can!" cried Pauline Holden.
+
+"I'm more than delighted to hear it," answered Miss Howard, for Pauline
+was at once her joy and her despair. Affectionate and good-natured to the
+last degree, she was never disturbed by anything, but I put it very mildly
+when I say that Pauline did not possess a brilliant mind.
+
+"Yes," continued Pauline. "There are not many things in history that I
+care two straws about, but I remembered that because the names made me
+think of a rhyme my old nurse used to say when she put me to bed."
+
+"Miss Howard's hopes received a slight shock, but she asked:
+
+"Will you tell us what it is?"
+
+"It was letting Matthew, Mark, Luke and John out," triumphantly.
+
+"Letting whom out?" asked Miss Howard, wondering what upon earth was to
+follow.
+
+"Yes, don't you remember they let them out during Elizabeth's reign?"
+
+"Let them out of _where_?"
+
+"Why, out of the Tower, to be sure, and it made such a difference in a
+history some man was writing just then, because they had had a lot to do
+with it somehow--I don't remember just what it was. Maybe one of the other
+girls can."
+
+By this time all the other girls were nearly dying of suppressed laughter,
+and when poor Pauline turned to them so seriously it proved the last
+straw, and such a shout as greeted her fairly made the wall ring. It was
+too much for Miss Howard, and, with one last look of despair, she gave way
+and laughed till she cried.
+
+When the laugh had subsided and they had recovered their breath, Miss
+Howard endeavored to explain to the brilliant expounder of English history
+that Queen Elizabeth had had more to do with keeping Matthew, Mark, Luke
+and John out of the Bible than _in_ the Tower of London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A MODERN DIOGENES
+
+
+"Half-past nine. Sh! Yes, down in the old laundry."
+
+"Who's coming?"
+
+"The whole club. No end of fun."
+
+This whispered conversation took place in the upper corridor. Many of the
+girls had come from schools where frolics were looked upon as an almost
+heinous crime, and strict rules and surveillance had made their lives a
+burden to them.
+
+It was about ten o'clock when ghostly figures began to slip through the
+dark halls. Lights had been extinguished at nine-thirty and all was now
+silent.
+
+Miss Preston was in her room in a remote part of the house, and most of
+the other teachers had rooms in the adjoining building. The laundry in
+this house was never used, and stout blinds shut out--and in--all light.
+
+Tap, tap, tap.
+
+"Who's there?" was whispered from within.
+
+"C. C. C., open for me."
+
+The door opened, and in skipped a figure arrayed like the six already
+assembled, in a warm dressing-gown and a high peaked paper cap, with white
+tissue mask and spy-holes.
+
+All spoke in whispers, so it was almost impossible to recognize any one.
+But this only added to the fun and mystery. "Spread the feast, girls; the
+others will soon be here. Let's see, how many are there? Seven! Why don't
+the other five hurry? I wonder which ones here aren't here?" one girl
+laughingly whispered.
+
+"They'll come, never fear, but their rooms are nearer 'headquarters,'"
+said another.
+
+"What luck! Miss Preston doesn't suspect a thing. I met her in the hall
+just before 'lights' bell, and she said as innocently as could be, 'You
+look as though you were quite ready for the "land o' dreams," Elsie, but
+so long as you do not take a gallop on a "night mare" all will be well,'
+and I could hardly help laughing when I thought how soon I might be
+equipped for one."
+
+"This fudge is my contribution," said another.
+
+"Hold on, girls! I've a brilliant idea," said Toinette. "Who's got a long
+hairpin? Good! that's fine. Now prepare for something delectable," and,
+straightening out the pin, she stuck a marsh mallow on it and held the
+white lump of lusciousness over the one candle until it was toasted a
+golden if rather smoky brown.
+
+Tap, tap, tap.
+
+"It's the others. Quick! let them in, for it's half-past ten already."
+
+The signals were exchanged, and in walked not five but nine more figures.
+
+"Oh, girls, such luck! Just as I came out of my room I ran right into Maud
+Hanscomb's arms, and she _wouldn't_ let me go till I'd told her what was
+up and promised to let her and the other girls share our fun. She said
+they suspected something was up, and they were bound to share it. And such
+a spread! Land knows how they got it! Just look."
+
+The tubs were now groaning under their burden of king apples, cookies,
+which bore a striking resemblance to those served at dinner; crackers,
+which had surely rested in the housekeeper's pantry, and, joy of joys, a
+huge tub of ice cream, to say nothing of what the original five brought.
+
+"Now, girls, come on! Let's eat our cream and make sure of it in case of
+accidents," said the stout red ghost, in red cap and mask, who presided
+over the tub. "No time to get plates, so hand over anything you've got,
+and excuse the elegance of my spoon. It's cook's soup spoon, and may give
+the cream an oniony flavor, but that will add to the novelty," she said as
+she served it.
+
+"Who is she, anyhow?" asked one girl, who sat eating cream from a soap
+dish.
+
+"Haven't the least idea. One of the old girls, I dare say, but who cares
+when she can conjure up such delicacies?"
+
+As midnight struck appetites and feast came to an end.
+
+"I vote," whispered one girl, "that we all take off our masks and have a
+good look at each other, so we'll know who's who when we meet in public."
+
+"It's a go," whispered several others, and off they all came.
+
+"Let's have more light," said the donor of the cream, and reached up and
+touched the electric button.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh! Don't! Miss Preston will catch us!" cried dismayed voices,
+but Miss Preston herself stood before them, a red mask in one hand and a
+great spoon in the other.
+
+"This isn't the first spread I've attended," she said, "and I hope it
+won't be the last. I've had too good a time. I had an idea the old laundry
+would prove an inviting place to-night, but I never attend a feast without
+my tub and candle--or electric light in this twentieth century--for, like
+another mortal who had a fancy for tubs and a candle, I am in search of
+honest folk.
+
+"Your spread was a great success, girls. Only next time let me know
+beforehand. I may not be able to be present in person, but I can still
+furnish the tub and light, and it will be a comfort to me to know the menu
+in order to guard against future ills. Good-night. I'm ready for my bed,
+and I shouldn't wonder if you were, too," and, with a flourish of her red
+cap and big spoon, Miss Preston slipped through the door.
+
+Some very wise ghosts sped away through the dark corridors, and whispered
+conversations were held far into the "wee, sma' hours."
+
+The next day the story was all over the school, and met with various
+comments. One of Miss Preston's combined torments and blessings was the
+teacher of chemistry, a thoroughly conscientious woman, and exceptionally
+capable, but a woman who took life very seriously. Miss Preston used to
+say that Mrs. Stone must have been forty years old when she was born, and
+consequently had missed all her child and girlhood. She was kind and just
+to the girls, but could not for the life of her understand why they _must_
+have fun, and that fun in secret was twice the fun that everybody knew
+about.
+
+Well Miss Preston knew that Mrs. Stone would take advantage of her
+privilege as an old friend, as well as one of the oldest teachers, and
+come in her solemn way to discuss the latest escapade, pro and con, so she
+was not in the least surprised when there came a light tap upon her door
+that afternoon, and Mrs. Stone entered. "'Save me from my friends,'"
+quoted Miss Preston, under her breath.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+"THEY COULD NEVER DECEIVE ME"
+
+
+"Well, Mrs. Stone, what can I do for you, and why such a serious
+expression?"
+
+"My dear Marion," said Mrs. Stone, using Miss Preston's Christian name, as
+she sometimes did when more than usually solicitous of her welfare, "I've
+come to have a little talk with you regarding what happened last night,
+and I'm sure you will not take it amiss from one who has known you since
+your childhood."
+
+"Do I often take it amiss?" asked Miss Preston, with an odd smile.
+
+"Indeed, no; you are most considerate of my feelings, and I fully
+appreciate it, considering our business relations. Of course, I have not
+the slightest right to dictate to you, nor would I care to have you regard
+it in the light of dictation. It is only my extreme interest in your
+welfare that prompts me to speak at all."
+
+"And is my welfare in serious peril now?" asked Miss Preston, half
+laughing as she recalled the previous evening's prank and her own very
+thorough enjoyment of the fun.
+
+"No, my dear, not in peril, but I fear that you will never grow to look
+upon your position in the world with sufficient seriousness, for, I assure
+you, your responsibility is enormous."
+
+"Would I could forget that mighty fact for one little fleeting moment,"
+thought Miss Preston, but, aloud, she asked:
+
+"And do you think that I am not fully conscious of it, Mrs. Stone?"
+
+"Oh, most conscious! most conscious! You could not be more conscientious,
+I am sure, but you sometimes let a misdemeanor, such as occurred last
+night, go unpunished, and it establishes an unfortunate precedent, I
+fear."
+
+"Did you ever know me to punish any girl placed in my charge?" asked Miss
+Preston, a slight flush creeping over her face.
+
+"Certainly not! Certainly not!" cried Mrs. Stone, hastily, for she had
+touched upon a point which she knew to be a very sensitive one with her
+principal, and wished to smooth matters down a trifle. "I do not mean
+punishment in the generally accepted term, but do you think it wholly wise
+to let the girls feel that they can do such things and, in a measure, find
+them condoned?"
+
+"Do you think that forbidding them would put an end to them?"
+
+"Merely forbidding might not do so, but exacting some penalty for such
+disobedience would probably make them think twice before they disobeyed
+again."
+
+"Did they disobey this time?" Miss Preston asked quietly.
+
+Mrs. Stone looked a trifle disconcerted as she answered:
+
+"Possibly it was not direct disobedience, but it certainly savored of
+deceit."
+
+"I should be glad to have you ask any girl who has become a member of that
+comical C. C. C. if she thinks she has been guilty of deceit, and I'll
+venture to say that she will look you squarely in the eyes and say:
+'Deceit! How could _that_ fun be deceitful?'"
+
+"Do you not think that it may lead to other undesirable lines of
+conduct?"
+
+"It may lead to other sorts of innocent fun," was the dry remark. "Mrs.
+Stone, were you ever young? Surely, you have not forgotten what the world
+looked like then. Wasn't it invariably the thing you were least expected
+to do that it gave you the most satisfaction to do? Listen to me one
+moment, for, while I appreciate your sincere interest in my work and
+myself, I cannot allow you to run off with the idea that I regard my girls
+as prone to deceitful actions. It is just fun, pure and simple, and the
+natural result of happy, healthy girlhood. Far better let it have a safe
+vent than try to suppress it, and take very strong chances of directing it
+into less desirable channels. At the worst, a deranged stomach can follow,
+and a glass of bi-carbonate of soda-water is a simple remedy, if not an
+over-delightful one. I knew all about the feast several days ago, and took
+my own way of letting the girls know that I'd found it out. It was no use
+to forbid it for that night, for, just as sure as fate, they would have
+planned it for another, and devoured a lot of stuff far less wholesome
+than the contents of Toinette's box and my tub. As it was, we all had a
+good time, and I'll warrant you that the next time the C. C. C.'s meet
+I'll get a hint regarding the tub, at any rate."
+
+"Perhaps it will prove so. I trust so, at all events. You are a far wiser
+woman than I am."
+
+"Perhaps no wiser, but better able to recall the things which helped to
+make my girlhood a sunny one, and school frolics played no small part in
+them."
+
+"I can but hope that the girls will refrain from practicing deceit. Of
+course, they cannot deceive _me_; no girl has ever yet succeeded in doing
+so, although many have tried to. But I can invariably detect the sham, and
+meet it successfully."
+
+"I hope you may never find yourself undone," said Miss Preston, with a
+laugh. "Girls are pretty quick-witted creatures."
+
+Girls are not blind to their elders' weaknesses and pet delusions, and it
+was an understood thing among them all that Mrs. Stone was easily "taken
+in," to use their own expression. Consequently, they told her things, and
+laid innocent little traps for her to walk into, such as they would never
+have thought of doing for a more wide-awake teacher, or, at least, one who
+did not make such a strong point of her power of discernment.
+
+It was the very night after the Caps and Capers escapade that the girls
+were gathered in the upper hall talking about the previous night's fun.
+
+"It's no use talking; you _can't_ get ahead of Miss Preston," said one of
+the older girls. "You may think you have, and feel aglow clear down to the
+cockles of your heart, then--whew! in she walks upon you as cool as--"
+
+"Ice cream!" burst in another girl. "To my dying day, girls, I shall never
+forget that red ghost."
+
+"How did she ever find it out, I'd like to know," asked Toinette. "Not a
+soul said a word, and my box didn't come till the very last minute. I
+hardly had time to let the girls know, and how Miss Preston ever got her
+tub of cream in time is more than I can puzzle out. Maybe Mrs. Stores had
+it on hand."
+
+"Mrs. Stores! Yes, I guess so," cried the girls, scornfully. "You don't
+for one moment suppose that _she_ would let us have a whole tub of ice
+cream, do you? Not much," said Lou Perry.
+
+"Why, if Miss Preston wanted it it would be different, you see," answered
+Toinette.
+
+"No, it wouldn't, either. Miss Preston never bothers with the housekeeping
+or the housekeeper, although she is always just as lovely to her as she
+can be--she is to everybody, for that matter."
+
+"For my part, I'm glad she found it out," laughed Cicely, "but if I'd
+suspected beforehand that she would, wild horses wouldn't have dragged me
+into that laundry. It's pretty easy not to be afraid of such a teacher;
+she seems just like one of us. Wasn't she too funny with that big spoon
+and the red mask?"
+
+"Are all the other teachers so quick to 'catch on?'" asked Toinette.
+
+"Most of them are sharp as two sticks," replied Ethel, "but they never let
+on. There is only one who makes the boast that she has never been deceived
+by any girl, and we've all been just wild to play her some trick, only
+we've never yet hit upon a really good one."
+
+"You ought to get Toinette to do the scene from 'Somnambula,'" said
+Cicely, laughing.
+
+"What is it? What is it? What is it?" cried a half-dozen voices.
+
+"The funniest thing you ever saw in all your born days," said Cicely.
+
+"Oh, tell us about it; please, do," begged the girls.
+
+"Let her do it for you; it will be ten times funnier than telling it."
+
+"When will you do it?"
+
+"To-night, if I can manage it; it will be a good time after last night's
+cut-up."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+"LA SOMNAMBULA"
+
+
+When the bell for retiring rang at half-past nine that night, it produced
+a most remarkable effect, for, instead of suggesting snug beds and
+dream-land, it seemed instantly to banish any desire for sleep which the
+previous study hour from eight to nine had aroused in several of the
+girls.
+
+They all went to their rooms, to be sure, but once within them a startling
+change took place. Instead of undressing like wise young people, they
+slipped off their dresses, and put on their night-dresses over the rest of
+their clothing, then all crawled into bed to await the first act of "La
+Somnambula."
+
+They had barely gotten settled when footsteps were heard coming softly
+down the corridor, as though the feet taking the steps were encased in
+wool slippers, and the owner of those feet wished to avoid being heard. A
+few steps were taken, then a pause made to listen, then on went the
+cat-like tread from door to door.
+
+Toinette's and Cicely's rooms communicated, and just beyond, with another
+communicating door, was the room occupied by Ruth and Edith, but the door
+was always fastened. Perhaps Miss Preston considered three communicating
+rooms altogether too convivial, and decided that "an ounce of prevention
+was always worth a pound of cure."
+
+As the stealthy footfalls passed on down the hall, a light tap fell upon
+Toinette's door, and, springing out of bed, she flew to give a
+corresponding tap, and listen for what might follow.
+
+"Sh-h!" came in a whisper from the other side.
+
+"Yes," was the low reply.
+
+"Did you hear the 'Princess' walk down the hall?" The Princess was the big
+Maltese house cat, and a privileged character.
+
+"A pretty big _cat_," was whispered back.
+
+"That was Mother Stone, and she was just as anxious to avoid being heard
+by Miss Preston as she was anxious to hear what might be going on in our
+rooms. If Miss Preston caught her listening at anybody's door, she would
+be angrier than if we sat up all night."
+
+"What does she think we're up to, anyway?" whispered Toinette.
+
+"No telling, but she knows we had a frolic last night and is on the
+lookout for another to-night, I guess."
+
+"Maybe she won't look in vain," laughed Toinette, softly.
+
+Twelve o'clock had just been struck by the tall clock in the lower hall,
+when a white figure walked slowly down the corridor. Her hair fell in
+long, waving ringlets far below her waist, her pretty white hands were
+outstretched in front of her, and the great eyes, wide open, stared
+straight before her with a strange, unseeing stare. As she walked along
+she whispered softly to herself, but the words were hardly audible. On she
+went, through the long corridor, down the little side hall, which led to
+the pantry below, still muttering in that uncanny manner.
+
+It had long been a standing joke in the school that Mrs. Stone slept like
+a cat, with one eye open and one ear alert for every sound, for she was
+continually hearing burglars, or marauders of some sort or other. So it is
+not surprising that before that ghost had gone very far another white
+figure popped its head out into the hall and uttered a smothered
+exclamation at sight of number one.
+
+"Dear me! dear me!" she murmured, "my suspicions were not amiss. Poor,
+dear Marion, is so very self-confident. I was sure the last night's folly
+would lead to something else. Such is invariably the case," and she
+followed rapidly after the figure which was just vanishing around the turn
+in the lower hall.
+
+"Those children are certainly planning another supper, and, what is far
+worse, are adding to the discredit of such an act by resorting to
+dishonest means of procuring the wherewithal for it. Oh, it is shocking,
+shocking! And yet Marion cannot be convinced that her girls are capable of
+deceit. Poor child, poor child, it is fortunate for her that there is
+someone at hand to come to her rescue at such a crisis," and Mrs. Stone
+reached the bottom of the stairs just as the evil-intentioned ghost
+slipped into the housekeeper's pantry.
+
+"Really, I must be quite sure before I speak, or I may bring about still
+greater trouble. But what _can_ she want here at this hour of the night if
+it be not some of Mrs. Store's provisions?" and she wrung her hands in
+despair.
+
+A dim light burned in the lower hall, rendering everything there plainly
+visible from above; and if Mrs. Stone had not been so distressed by that
+which was before her, she might have been aware of certain happenings just
+above her. Why did not some good fairy whisper in her ear just at that
+moment: "An' had you one eye behind you, you might see more detraction at
+your heels than fortune before you," but there were apparently none out of
+Dream Land.
+
+As her foot touched the lower step, five or six heads peered over the
+banister railing above, and what mystery of gravitation prevented as many
+bodies from toppling over after them I am unable to say.
+
+"Do look! Do look! She is after her full tilt, girls," whispered Cicely.
+"Didn't I tell you it would be the funniest thing you ever saw?"
+
+"Sh! She'll hear us, and the whole thing will be spoilt," said Ethel.
+
+"No, indeed, she won't," answered Ruth, "she is too intent upon catching
+Toinette."
+
+"O, why _can't_ I stretch my neck out a yard or two so that I may see what
+is going on in that pantry? Come on girls, I'm going downstairs if I die
+for it," and down crept Lou, followed by all the others, for there was no
+lack of bedroom slippers at Sunny Bank.
+
+Meantime Toinette had entered the store-room, and, going straight to the
+corner where some smoked hams and bacon were hanging, took a monstrous ham
+from its hook, then, muttering, "Crackers, too, crackers, too," opened the
+cracker box and drew forth a handful.
+
+Mrs. Stone was thoroughly scandalized, but, just as she was about to
+speak, Toinette turned full upon her and said:
+
+"Yes, I will have some mustard, and a beefsteak, and baked beans, please.
+Mrs. Stores had some on the table to-night."
+
+By this time Mrs. Stone began to realize that the girl was not accountable
+for her actions, for never was there a better bit of acting for an
+amateur. Yet she dared not wake her, for stories of the serious harm which
+had befallen somnambulists, when wakened suddenly in unfamiliar
+surroundings, flashed through her brain, and she was nearly beside herself
+with anxiety.
+
+"What shall I do? what _shall_ I do?" she said aloud in great distress;
+and, as though in answer to her question, Toinette answered:
+
+"Go, tell Mrs. Stone that she isn't up to snuff as much as she thinks she
+is."
+
+This was too much, and, laying her hand gently on Toinette's arm, she
+said, softly:
+
+"My dear child, hadn't you better come back upstairs with me?"
+
+Without changing her expression, Toinette replied:
+
+"How oats, peas, beans and barley grow, nor you, nor I, nor Mrs. Stone
+knows," and began to dance around in a circle with her ham tightly clasped
+in one arm, and the crackers scattering from one end of the pantry to the
+other.
+
+Now thoroughly alarmed, and almost in tears, Mrs. Stone said:
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear little girl, won't you come back to your room with me?"
+and, grasping hold of Toinette's arm, endeavored to lead her from the
+pantry.
+
+[Illustration: "GO, TELL MRS. STONE SHE ISN'T UP TO SNUFF."]
+
+But my lady was having altogether too good a time to end her frolic so
+soon, while the audience upon the stairs were nearly dying from their
+efforts not to scream. So, without changing that dreadful stare which she
+had maintained throughout her performance, she said, as though repeating
+Mrs. Stone's own words:
+
+"Come back--come back--come back, my Bonny, to me," and turned to leave
+the pantry. She had barely gotten outside the door, however, when she
+paused, and, muttering something about lemons and pickles, slipped away
+from Mrs. Stone's grasp and disappeared within the pantry again.
+
+Trembling with excitement, Mrs. Stone stood for one instant, and then
+saying, "Miss Preston must be called, Miss Preston must be called," turned
+and literally flew up the stairs, for once too lost to everything but the
+matter in hand to be aware of anything else, which was certainly fortunate
+for the white-robed figures, which nearly fell over each other in their
+scramble to escape.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"HAVE YOU NOT BEEN DECEIVED THIS TIME?"
+
+
+When Miss Preston arrived upon the scene Toinette was serenely making her
+way upstairs, her burdens still in her arms, but supplemented by several
+lemons and a bottle of pickles. She took no notice whatever of the new
+arrival, but walked straight to her own room, and, placing her treasures
+upon her bed, covered them carefully with her bedclothes. At this covert
+act poor Mrs. Stone gasped despairingly, and, grasping Miss Preston's arm,
+said, in a most tragic whisper: "Marion, Marion, what did I tell you?"
+
+But "Marion" was very much alive to the situation, and, had not a slight
+quiver about Toinette's mouth while Mrs. Stone was speaking confirmed her
+suspicions, some very audible giggles from the rooms close at hand would
+have done so.
+
+Having tucked her ham snugly to bed, Toinette proceeded to tuck herself
+there, and, with a sigh as innocent as a tired infant's, she closed those
+staring eyes and slipped off to the land of dreams.
+
+"Well, I think the first act is ended," said Miss Preston, with the
+funniest of smiles, "and we shall not have the second to-night, at any
+rate. But this one was certainly performed by a star," and, stepping to
+Toinette's bedside, she quietly drew from beneath the covers the "dry
+stores" there sequestered, placed them upon the table, and then smoothed
+the clothes carefully about her.
+
+Mrs. Stone began to gather up the articles Miss Preston laid upon the
+table, and, consequently, did not see her slyly pinch the rosy cheek
+resting upon the pillow nor the flash of intelligence which two big brown
+eyes sent back.
+
+They then left Toinette to her slumbers (?), and, after carrying the
+pilfered articles back to the housekeeper's pantry, returned to Miss
+Preston's room, where Mrs. Stone dropped into the first chair that came
+handy. She was as near a nervous collapse as she well could be, and came
+very close to losing her temper when Miss Preston seated herself upon her
+couch, clasped her hands before her, and laughed as poor Mrs. Stone had
+never known her to laugh before.
+
+"Why, Marion! Marion!" she cried. "_Have_ you taken leave of your
+senses?"
+
+It was some seconds before Miss Preston could control her voice enough to
+reply, and, when she did, it proved the very last straw to complete Mrs.
+Stone's discomfiture, for her words were:
+
+"Mehitable Stone, had anyone told me that I was sheltering beneath my
+roof-tree such a consummate actress, I should have been the most surprised
+woman in Montcliff. Upon my word I never saw anything better done."
+
+"Acting!" exclaimed Mrs. Stone, aghast. "You do not for one moment imagine
+that poor child was acting? Impossible! Why, she was as sound asleep as
+she ever was in all her life, and there was not the least sign that she
+was conscious of my touch when I took hold of her arm to lead her from the
+pantry. Do you suppose it would have been possible for her to dissemble to
+that extent? _Never!_"
+
+Miss Preston did not answer, but laughed softly again.
+
+It was too much for Mrs. Stone; rising suddenly to her feet, she said,
+with asperity: "It is useless for us to discuss the matter further
+to-night, nay, _this morning_," looking at the tiny clock ticking away
+upon Miss Preston's desk, "but I trust that in broad daylight you may see
+more clearly. For my part, nothing will ever convince me that that child
+was deceiving me; my knowledge of girls is too perfect. It was a most
+pronounced case of somnambulism, the outcome of last night's injudicious
+eating, and, in my opinion, a very alarming condition, as one can never
+tell to what it may lead. Her digestion may be seriously impaired. It is
+quite unsafe to leave her alone to-night, for she may be seized with
+another attack at any moment. I shall spend the remainder of the night
+upon the couch in her room," and away she went to take up her sentinel
+duty.
+
+"It is quite unnecessary," called Miss Preston after the retreating
+figure, but no heed was given to the words, and when Toinette waked in the
+morning what was her surprise to find Mrs. Stone bending over her asking,
+in the most solicitous of voices, if she were feeling quite well.
+
+For a moment Toinette was unable to take in the situation, but her wits
+got into working order pretty quickly, and only her quivering lips would
+have betrayed her to a more discerning person. Mrs. Stone, however, saw
+nothing but an inclination to weep, and, stooping over Toinette, said,
+soothingly: "There, there, dear, don't hurry to rise, you are a little
+nervous this morning and ought to rest."
+
+But Toinette was at the breakfast table as promptly as anyone, and as she
+took her seat she gave a quick glance toward Miss Preston; but that astute
+woman was pouring cream into her coffee-cup. An hour later, when all were
+scurrying about getting ready for the walk to the schoolhouse, which was
+situated several blocks from the home house and its adjacent cottages,
+Toinette came face to face with Miss Preston in one of the upper halls.
+Both stopped short, looked each other squarely in the eyes, and said
+nothing. Then Miss Preston's eyes began to smile, and her mouth followed
+their example, and, placing one finger under Toinette's chin, she said:
+
+"I am forced to admit that it was one of the funniest things I've ever
+seen, and extremely well done, but it scared Mrs. Stone nearly to death;
+so, please, don't favor us with the second act."
+
+And that was the only allusion ever made by Miss Preston to the midnight
+ramble, nor was it ever repeated for Mrs. Stone's benefit, although
+nothing could ever have persuaded the good lady that she had been the
+victim of a hoax that night.
+
+It would have been difficult to find a more consummate teacher than Miss
+Preston, or one who, without their ever suspecting it, could so bring her
+girls up to the mark. It was a rare exception when she failed to
+accomplish her aim, and her tact was truly wonderful. There was rarely a
+harsh word spoken, although Miss Preston could speak sharply enough when
+occasion required. But she seldom felt that it did. She had most unique
+methods, and they proved wonderfully successful. Then, too, some very
+old-fashioned ideas were firmly imbedded in her mind, which in the present
+day and age are often forgotten. That bad spelling is a disgrace to any
+girl was one of these, and most nobly did she labor to make such a
+disgrace impossible for any of her girls.
+
+Knowing how cordially human nature detests doing the very thing best for
+it, she never had regular spelling lessons in the school, but twice a week
+every girl in it, big and little alike, gathered in the large assembly
+room to choose sides and spell each other down. So irresistibly funny were
+these spelling matches, and so admirably did they display Miss Preston's
+peculiar power over the girls, and their response to her wonderful
+magnetism, that I think they deserve a chapter to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPELLED
+
+
+The last half hour before recess on Wednesdays and Fridays was the time
+set aside for the spelling matches. On Wednesday the words were chosen at
+random, sometimes from history, sometimes from geography, again from
+something which the classes had been reading; but Friday's words were
+invariably a surprise.
+
+One morning, immediately after the opening exercises were concluded, Miss
+Preston rang her bell, and, when the girls were all attention, said:
+
+"It will be well for those girls who are to lead the opposing sides of the
+spelling match to-day to choose with exceptional acumen--Annabel, spell
+that word!" So suddenly had the command been sprung upon her that,
+whatever knowledge poor Annabel might have possessed five seconds before,
+promptly flew straight out of her head, and she answered:
+
+"_Ackumen._"
+
+"Sorry I haven't time to pass it on just now, but I'll reserve that honor.
+As I was saying, the heads had best keep their wits wide-awake, for I'm
+going to choose the words from a highly scientific and instructive volume
+to-day. It is called "How to Feed Children," and in this you will observe
+that I have a double object in view: to teach you which words, as well as
+the sort of food, to be digested. Wholesome instruction, my dears; and now
+to work, every woman Jill of you."
+
+At ten-thirty all were again assembled in the big room, and a lively
+choosing of sides ensued. It was not by any means invariably the older
+girls who could spell best, for often some of the younger ones led them a
+fine race.
+
+Taking up the brilliantly bound little book, Miss Preston said:
+
+"Now, my friends, I hope you will look upon the cover of this book as a
+brilliant and rosy example of what I expect, and, I beg of you, do not
+disappoint me," holding up the bright red book for the inspection of all.
+"Do not become excited, but learn to take a 'philosophical' view of it."
+Miss Preston paused, and so well did the girls understand her original way
+of doing things that "philosophical" was at once essayed. The first
+attempt resulted in "_philosopical_."
+
+"A little too suggestive of milk-toast, I'm afraid, Marion. We must have
+our philosophy upon a sound basis. Next."
+
+Several words passed successfully down the line until "course" was given,
+and when that was spelled "_cource_" Miss Preston's face was a study.
+
+"That which we are most inclined to accept as a matter _of course_ we may
+be sure will prove a matter of mortification to us. Katherine, you are
+given to poetic flights. Who was it that said: 'The course of true love
+never did run smooth?' He would have had an opportunity to learn that
+there were also other courses which did not run smoothly had he
+followed--'pedagogy.'"
+
+This proved a stumbling-block for the first girl, but the next one spelled
+it correctly.
+
+"You see, Alma, that even the road thereto has its pitfalls, so take
+warning."
+
+"Catch me ever teaching," was the half-audible reply, but softly as it was
+spoken sharp ears caught it.
+
+"Posterity will be grateful for the blessings in store for it,
+'undoubtedly.'"
+
+The word fell to a little girl, but was rattled off as quick as a wink, to
+Miss Preston's great amusement, for the child was an ambitious little body
+who hated to be outdone by the big girls.
+
+"Desirability" was the next word, and was given to one of the largest,
+although by no means the most brilliant, girls in the school.
+
+She hesitated a moment, and then said: "If desire is spelled d-e-s-i-r-e,
+I suppose the other end of it will be a-b-i-l-i-t-y."
+
+"A quality in which you are lacking," was the instantaneous retort. "If
+you desired it more, your ability would be greater."
+
+When desirability had been successfully dealt with, ten or more words were
+happily disposed of, then came another poser in the form of
+'physiognomical,' and the groans which greeted it foretold its fate.
+
+"What does it _mean_, anyway, Miss Preston?" asked one girl.
+
+"Well, there is more than one way of telling you its meaning, but I
+believe in simple explanations, so I will say, that when you all rush off
+to the cloak-room at one o'clock that it would be well for you to observe
+carefully the expression upon the other girl's face when you throw down
+her hat and coat in your eagerness to get your own first. You will then,
+doubtless, have an excellent opportunity to form a correct idea of the
+meaning of physiognomical. Then you may come and tell me whether you
+consider her character an angelic or impish one."
+
+How well Miss Preston was aware of their besetting sins, and how shrewdly
+did she use them to their undoing.
+
+I should never dare tell the wonderful combinations of letters which were
+brought together ere that dreadful word was spelled correctly; but such a
+rapid sitting down followed that a stranger coming suddenly upon them
+might have supposed that Miss Preston's girls were fainting one after
+another.
+
+About fifty words, all told, were spelled with more or less success, and
+then came the grand summing up, and those girls who could not yield a
+clean record from beginning to end had to pay the penalty.
+
+Not a very severe one, to be sure, but one they were not likely to forget,
+for each word that they had misspelled was written upon a good-sized piece
+of paper and pinned upon their breasts "as a reward of demerit," Miss
+Preston told them, and, although it was all done in fun and joked and
+laughed over at the time, each girl knew that those words must be
+thoroughly committed to memory before the Wednesday spelling match began
+its lively session, or her report at the end of the term would be lacking
+in completeness.
+
+And so, between "jest and earnest," did Miss Preston handle her girls,
+drawing by gentleness from a sensitive nature, by firmness from a careless
+one, by sarcasm (and woe to the girl who provoked it, for it was, truly,
+"like a polished razor keen") from a flippant, and by one of her rare,
+sweet smiles from the ambitious all that was best to be drawn.
+
+Toinette was naturally a remarkably bright girl, and possessed qualities
+of mind which only required gentle suggestions to develop their latent
+powers. Refined and delicate by nature, keen of comprehension, she slipped
+into her proper niche directly way was made for her, and filled it to her
+own credit and the satisfaction of others. Nor did it take Miss Preston
+long to discover that a delicately strung instrument had been placed in
+her hands, and that it must be touched with skillful fingers if its best
+notes were to be given forth.
+
+The weeks slipped away, and winter, as though to pay up for its tardy
+arrival, came in earnest, bringing in February the heavy snowstorms one
+looks for much earlier in the season in this part of the globe. The girls
+hailed them with wild demonstrations, for snow meant sleigh-rides, and it
+is a frosty old codger who can frown and grumble at the sound of
+sleigh-bells.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS"
+
+
+One morning early in February the girls looked out of their windows to
+behold a wonderful new world--a white one to replace the dull gray one,
+which would have made their spirits sympathetically gray, perhaps, had
+they been older. But, happily, it must be a very smoky gray indeed that
+can depress fifteen.
+
+"Quick, Edith, come and look!" and then, flying across the room, Ruth
+thumped upon Toinette's door, and called out: "Sleigh-bells! Sleigh-bells!
+Don't you hear them?"
+
+The snow had fallen steadily all night, piling up softly and silently the
+great white mounds, covering up unsightly objects, laying the downiest of
+coverlids upon the dull old world until it was hardly recognizable. Every
+ledge, every branch and tiny twig held its feathery burden, or shook it
+softly upon the white mass covering the ground. Hardly a breath of air
+stirred, and the fir trees looked as though St. Nick had visited them in
+the night to dress a tree for every little toddler in the land.
+
+Down, down, down came the flakes, as though they never meant to stop, and
+as one threw back one's head to look upward at the millions of tiny
+feathers falling so gently, one seemed to float upward upon fairy wings
+and sail away, away into the realms of the Snow Maiden.
+
+It was hard to keep one's wits upon one's work that day, and many a stolen
+glance was given to the fairy world beyond the windows of the
+recitation-rooms. About five o'clock the weather cleared, the sun setting
+in a glory of crimson and purple clouds. An hour later up came my lady
+moon, to smile approval upon the enchanting scene and hint all sorts of
+possibilities.
+
+Lou Cornwall came flying into Toinette's room just after dinner to find it
+well filled with seven or eight others.
+
+"May I come, too?" she asked. "Oh, girls, if we don't have a sleigh-ride
+to-morrow, I'll have a conniption fit certain as the world."
+
+"Do you always have one when there is snow?" asked Toinette.
+
+"Which, a sleigh-ride or a conniption fit?" laughed Lou. "You'd better
+believe we have sleigh-rides."
+
+"You'd better believe! I've been here five years, and we've never missed
+one yet. Do you remember the night last winter, when we all went sleighing
+and came home at eleven o'clock nearly frozen stiff, Bess? Whew! it was
+cold. When we got back we found Miss Preston making chocolate for us.
+There she was in her bedroom robe and slippers. She had gotten out of bed
+to do it because she found out at the last minute that that fat old Mrs.
+Schmidt had gone poking off to bed, and hadn't left a single thing for
+us."
+
+"I guess I _do_ remember, and didn't it taste good?" was the feeling
+answer.
+
+"You weren't here the year before," said Lou. "Sit still, my heart! Shall
+I ever forget it?"
+
+"What about it? Tell us!" cried the girls in a chorus.
+
+"That was the first year Mrs. Schmidt was here, and, thank goodness, she
+isn't here any longer, and she hadn't learned as much as she learned
+afterwards. My goodness, wasn't she stingy? She thought one egg ought to
+be enough for six girls, I believe. It took Miss Preston about a year to
+get her to understand that we were not to be kept on half rations. Well,
+that night we were expecting something extra fine. We got it!" and Lou
+stopped to laugh at the recollection. "We rushed into the house, hungrier
+than wolves, and ready to empty the pantry, and what do you think we
+found? A lot of _after-dinner coffee cups_ of very weak cocoa, with _nary_
+saucer to set them in, and two small crackers apiece. 'I was thinking you
+would come in hungry, young ladies, so I make you some chocolate. You
+don't mind that I have not some saucers, it make so many dishes for
+washing,' she said, smiling that pudgy smile of hers. Ugh! I can't bear to
+think of it even to this day, and she was ten million times better before
+she left last spring. That was the reason Miss Preston took matters into
+her own hands the next time, I guess."
+
+Just then a tap came at the door, and Miss Preston put her head in to
+ask:
+
+"Can you girls do extra hard work between this and eight o'clock?"
+
+Had she entertained any doubts of their ability to individually do the
+work of three, the shout which answered her in the affirmative would have
+banished them forever, for the girls were not slow to guess that some
+surprise was afoot.
+
+"Very well, I'll trust you all to prepare tomorrow's lessons without
+exchanging an unnecessary word, and at eight o'clock I'll ring my bell,
+and then you must all put on extra warm wraps and go out on the piazza
+to--look at the moon. I shall not expect you to come in till ten-thirty."
+
+As the last word was uttered Miss Preston met her doom, for five girls
+pounced upon her, bore her to the couch and hugged her till she cried for
+mercy.
+
+"Come with us, oh! come with us," they cried. "It will be twice as nice if
+you'll come!"
+
+"Come _where_? Do you suppose I've lived all these years and never seen
+the _moon_?" and laughing merrily she slipped away from them, only pausing
+to add: "It is ten minutes of seven now."
+
+The hint was enough, and not a girl "got left" that night.
+
+At eight o'clock a silvery ting-a-ling was heard, and never was bell more
+promptly responded to. Had it been a fire alarm the rooms could not have
+been more quickly emptied.
+
+The moonlight made all outside nearly as bright as day, and when the girls
+went out upon the porch they found three huge sleighs, with four horses
+each, waiting to whirl them over the shining roads for miles. Miss Preston
+did not make one of the party, but Miss Howard was a welcome substitute,
+for, next to Miss Preston, the girls loved her better than any of the
+other teachers, and Toinette was sorely divided in her mind as to which
+she was learning to love the better.
+
+Off they started, singing, laughing at nothing, calling merrily to all
+they overtook, or passed, and sending the school yell, which Miss Howard
+had made up upon the spur of the moment for them,
+
+                       "Hoo-rah-ray! Hoo-rah-ray!
+                           Sunny Bank, Montcliff,
+                                 U. S. A.,"
+
+out upon the frosty air, until the very hills rang with the cry, and flung
+it back in merry echoes.
+
+Miss Howard's sleigh led the van, and one or two of the girls had
+clambered up to ride upon the high front seat with the driver, a sturdy
+old Irishman, who would have driven twenty horses all night long to please
+any of Miss Preston's girls. Ruth sat beside him, with Toinette next to
+her, and Edith was squeezed against the outer edge. But who cares about
+being squeezed under such circumstances? It's more fun.
+
+The snow had fallen so lightly that sometimes the runners cut through
+slightly; but, all things considered, the sleighing was very good. Still,
+the driver kept the horses well in hand, for they were good ones and ready
+to respond to a word. Moreover, the hilarity behind them seemed to have
+proved infectious, for every now and again a leader or a wheeler would
+prance about as though joining in the fun, and presently another animal
+became infected and wanted to prance, too. Had she not, the next chapter
+need not have been written.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL"
+
+
+More than five miles had slipped away under those swiftly-moving runners
+ere Ruth was suddenly seized with a desire to emulate a famous charioteer
+of olden time, one "Phæton, of whom the histories have sung, in every
+meter, and every tongue," if a certain poet may be relied upon. So,
+turning a beguiling face toward the unsuspecting Michael beside her, she
+said:
+
+"You're a fine driver, aren't you, Michael?"
+
+"'T is experience ivery man nades; I've had me own," observed Michael,
+complacently.
+
+"It must be very hard to drive four horses at once."
+
+"Anny one what kin droive two dacently should be able enough to handle
+four; 't is not the number of horses, but the sinse at the other ind av
+the reins."
+
+"Is that so? I thought it needed a strong man to drive so many."
+
+"Indade, no; it does not that. I've seen a schmall, little man, hardly
+bigger than yerself, takin' six along with the turn av his hand."
+
+"Could he hold them if they started to go fast?"
+
+"Certain as the woirld, he cud do that same. 'T was meself that taught him
+the thrick av it. 'T is easy larnt."
+
+"Then teach me right now, will you?"
+
+Poor Michael, he saw when it was too late that boasting is dangerous work,
+but to refuse anything to "wan av the young ladies" never for an instant
+occurred to him. Probably had he asked Miss Howard's consent he would have
+been spared complying with a request which his better judgment questioned,
+but that did not occur to him, either, so, giving one apprehensive glance
+behind him at the twenty or more passengers in the sleigh, he placed the
+reins in Ruth's hands, adjusting them in the most scientific manner.
+
+They were skimming along over a beautiful bit of road with a thick fir
+wood upon one side and open fields upon the other. The road was level as a
+floor, and no turn would be made for fully half a mile. Horses know so
+well the difference between their own driver's touch and a stranger's
+hand, and the four whose reins Ruth now held were not dullards. They had
+been going along at a steady round trot, with no thought of making the
+pace a livelier one, but directly the reins passed out of Michael's hands
+the spirit of mischief, ever uppermost in Ruth, flew like an electric
+fluid straight through those four reins, and, in less time than it takes
+to tell about it, those horses had made up their minds to add a little to
+the general hilarity behind them.
+
+The change was scarcely perceptible at first, but little by little they
+increased their pace, till they were fairly flying over the ground. Not
+one whit did the girls in the sleigh object; the faster the better for
+them. The sleighs behind did their best to keep up, but no such horses
+were in the livery stable as the four harnessed to Michael's sleigh, for
+Michael was the trusted of the trusted.
+
+But he was growing very uneasy, and, leaning down close to Ruth, said:
+"Ye'd better be lettin' me take thim now, Miss. We've the turn to make
+jist beyant."
+
+"O, I can make it all right; you know you said that anybody who drives two
+horses decently could drive four just as well, and I've driven papa's
+always."
+
+"Yis, yis," said Michael quickly, seeing when too late that he had talked
+to his own undoing, "but ye'd better be lettin' me handle thim be
+moonlight; 't is deceptive, moonlight is," and he reached to take the
+reins from her. But alas! empires may be lost by a second's delay, and a
+second was responsible for much now.
+
+As Michael reached for the reins the turn was reached also, and where is
+the livery stable horse that does not know every turn toward home even
+better than his driver, be the driver the oldest in that section of the
+country! Around whirled the leaders, and hard upon them came the wheelers,
+and a-lack-a-day! hard, _very_ hard, upon a huge stone at the corner came
+the runner of the front bob.
+
+Had the whole sleighful been suddenly plunged into a hundred cubic feet of
+hydrogen gas, sound could not have ceased more abruptly for one second,
+and then there arose to the thousands of little laughing stars and their
+dignified mother, the moon, a howl which made the welkin ring.
+
+Shall I attempt to describe what had happened in the drawing of a breath?
+A bob runner was hopelessly wrecked; two horses were sitting upon their
+haunches, while two others were striving to prove to those who were not
+too much occupied with their own concerns to notice that, after all is
+said and done, the Lord _did_ intend that such animals should walk upon
+two legs if they saw fit to do so. Michael stood up to his middle in a
+snow-drift; Ruth sat as calmly upon a snow bank as though she preferred it
+to any other seat she had ever selected, albeit she was well-nigh
+smothered by the back and cushions of her novel resting-place; Toinette
+was dumped heels-over-head into the body of the sleigh, where she landed
+fairly and squarely in Miss Howard's lap; Edith hung on to the seat
+railing for dear life, and screamed as though the lives of all in the
+sleigh (or out of it) depended upon her summons for assistance. The sleigh
+had not upset, yet what kept it in a horizontal position must forever
+remain a mystery, and such a heap of scrambling, squirming, screaming
+girls as were piled up five or six deep in the bottom of it may never be
+seen again. Some had been dumped overboard outright, and were floundering
+about in the snow, which, happily, had saved them from serious harm. With
+the inborn chivalry of his race, Michael's first thoughts said: "Fly to
+the rescue of the demoiselles," but stern duty said: "Sthick to yer
+horses, Moik, or they'll smash things to smithereens, and, bedad, I sthuck
+wid all me moight, or the Lord only knows where we'd all have fetched up
+at that same night," he said, when relating his experiences some hours
+later.
+
+[Illustration: "STHICK TO YER HORSES, MOIK."]
+
+When excitement was at its height the other sleighs arrived upon the
+scene, and if there had been an uproar before, there was a mighty cry
+abroad in the land now. But, dear me, it is all in a lifetime; so why
+leave these floundering mortals piled up in heaps any longer? They were
+unsnarled eventually, gotten upon their feet (or their neighbors'), packed
+like sardines into the two other sleighs, and, with six instead of four
+horses now drawing each, started homeward, none the worse for their spill,
+excepting a good shaking up, a few handfuls of snow merrily forming rills
+and rivulets down their necks, some badly battered hats and torn coats,
+and one of them, at least, with some wholesome lessons regarding handling
+four frisky horses when the air is frosty and a number of lives may depend
+upon keeping "top side go, la!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+LETTERS
+
+
+When the sleighing party reached home they found hot chocolate and ginger
+cookies awaiting them. Before retiring, Miss Preston had seen to it that
+neither shivering nor hungry bodies should be tucked into bed that night.
+
+Five weeks had now sped away, and Toinette was beginning to look upon her
+new abiding-place as home; at least, it was nearer to it than any she
+could remember. The old life at the Carter school seemed a sort of
+nightmare from which she had wakened to find broad daylight and all the
+miserable fancies dispelled.
+
+She and Cicely were seated at their desks one afternoon. It was half-past
+four and study hour. Cicely was hard at work upon her algebra lesson, but
+Toinette was writing a letter. This, she knew quite well, was not what she
+was supposed to be doing, but the five weeks had not sufficed to undo the
+mischief done in seven years, and she was writing simply from a spirit of
+perversity. There was ample time to do it during her hours of freedom, but
+the very fact of doing it when she knew full well that she ought to be at
+work on her German added piquancy to the act. Moreover, the letter was to
+a boy with whom she had become acquainted while at Miss Carter's, and had
+kept the acquaintance a most profound secret. Not that she cared specially
+for the boy, although he was a jolly sort of chap, and had been a pleasant
+companion during their stolen interviews, and often smuggled boxes of
+candy and other "forbidden fruit" into the girl's possession.
+
+Still, at Miss Carter's a boy sprouting angel's wings would have been
+regarded in very much the same light as though he were sprouting imp's
+horns, and any girl caught talking to one--much less corresponding--would
+have had a very bad quarter of an hour, indeed. So, though she did not
+care two straws whether she ever saw him again or not, all the
+wrong-headedness which had been so carefully fostered for the past years
+delighted in the thought that she was doing something which might not be
+approved; indeed, from her standpoint, would be decidedly criticised, and
+to get ahead of a teacher had been the "slogan" of the Carter school.
+
+It was the custom at Sunny Bank for the teachers to go around to the
+girls' rooms during the study hour to help, suggest, or give a little
+"boost" over the hummocky places, so when a pleasant voice asked at the
+door: "Can I help you any, dearies?" Cicely answered from her room:
+
+"Oh, Miss Howard, will you please tell me something about this problem? I
+am afraid my head is muddled."
+
+"To be sure, I will," was the cheery reply, and Miss Howard passed through
+Toinette's room to Cicely's.
+
+As she did so her dress created a current of air which carried a paper
+from Toinette's desk almost to her feet. She stooped to pick it up and
+hand it back to Toinette, who had sprung up to catch it, and, as she
+handed it to her, Miss Howard noted the telltale color spring into the
+girl's face.
+
+"Zephyrus is playing you tricks, dear," she said, smiling, and passed on
+to Cicely. After giving her the needed assistance, she left them, and a
+little further down the corridor met Miss Preston.
+
+"How are my chicks progressing, Miss Howard?"
+
+"Nicely, Miss Preston. Cicely needed a little help with a problem in
+algebra, but I think Toinette needs a little of yours in the problem of
+life," and Miss Howard went her way.
+
+A word to the wise is sufficient.
+
+Meanwhile, the letter was finished, addressed, and slipped into Toinette's
+pocket, to be mailed later.
+
+Ordinarily, all letters were placed in a small basket to be carried to the
+office by the porter. As Toinette came down the hall shortly before dinner
+Miss Preston was just taking the letters from the basket to place them in
+the porter's mailbag.
+
+"Any mail to go, dear?" she asked.
+
+"No, thank you, Miss Preston," answered Toinette, and, jumping from the
+last step, ran off down the hall to join Cicely and the other girls. In
+jumping from the step something jolted from her pocket, but, falling upon
+the heavy rug at the foot of the stairs, made no sound. As the porter was
+about to take the pouch from her hands Miss Preston's eyes fell upon the
+letter, and, supposing it to be one which had been dropped from the
+basket, stooped to pick it up. She was a quick-witted woman, and the
+instant she saw the handwriting and the address she drew her own
+conclusions.
+
+"So that is part of the life problem, is it? Poor little girl, she has got
+to learn something which the average girl has to unlearn; where they
+entirely trust their fellow-beings, she entirely distrusts them. I wonder
+if I shall ever be able to show her the middle path?" Telling the porter
+to wait a moment, Miss Preston slipped into the library, and, catching up
+a pencil and slip of paper, wrote down the name and address which was
+written upon the envelope, then, stepping back to the hall, handed the
+porter the letter to post.
+
+Toinette joined the girls, and in the lively chatter which ensued forgot
+all about the letter until several hours later, and then searched for it
+in every possible and impossible place, but, of course, without finding
+it, and was in a very _un_comfortable frame of mind for several days, and
+then something happened which did not serve to reassure her, for a reply
+came to her from her correspondent.
+
+How in the world her letter had ever reached him was the question which
+puzzled her not a little, and she fretted over the thing till she was in a
+fever. Then she determined to write again to ask how and when the letter
+had reached him, although she was beginning to wish that boy, letter and
+all, were at the bottom of the Red Sea, so much had they tormented her. So
+a second letter was written, and then came the puzzle of getting it into
+the mail bag unnoticed. At Miss Carter's school all letters had been
+examined before they were allowed to be mailed, and as Toinette's
+correspondence was supposed to be limited to the letters she wrote to her
+father, she had never inquired whether Miss Preston first examined them or
+not, but, taking it for granted that she did so, handed them to her
+unsealed. On the other hand, Miss Preston, thinking that it was simply
+carelessness that they were not, usually sealed them and sent them upon
+their way.
+
+Although she had not said anything about it, the little affair had by no
+means passed from Miss Preston's thoughts, but she was trying to think of
+the wisest way of going about it, and was waiting for something to guide
+her.
+
+"If I can only win her confidence," she said to herself more than once.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"HAF ANYBODY SEEN MY UMBREL?"
+
+
+It was the last week in February, and in a few days the school dance was
+to be given. One afternoon a dozen or more girls were gathered in Ethel's
+room to see her dress which had been sent out from town. It was as dainty
+an affair as one could wish to see, and many were the admiring glances
+cast upon it, and many the praises it received. Possibly it was a trifle
+elaborate for a girl of fifteen, for it was made of delicate white chiffon
+over pale yellow satin, and exquisitely embroidered with fine silver
+threads. But Ethel looked very lovely in it as she preened herself before
+the mirror, and was fully aware of the fact.
+
+"What are you going to wear, Toinette?" she asked.
+
+"I've never worn anything but white yet," answered Toinette. "At Miss
+Carter's all my dresses were ordered by Miss Emeline, and she said I ought
+not to wear anything else till I was eighteen. I hope Miss Preston won't
+say the same."
+
+"I should think you would have hated to have the teachers say just what
+you must wear, as well as what you must study. Didn't your father ever
+send you any clothes?"
+
+"Papa was too far away to know what I wore or did," answered Toinette,
+rather sadly.
+
+"Aren't you glad he is home again?" asked quiet little Helen Burgess, who
+somehow always managed to say soothing things when one felt sort of
+ruffled up without knowing just why.
+
+"You had better believe I am!" was the emphatic reply. "What will you
+wear, Helen?"
+
+"The same thing I always wear, I guess. I haven't much choice in the
+matter, you know."
+
+Toinette colored slightly at her thoughtless remark, for she had not
+paused to think before speaking. All the girls knew that Helen's purse was
+a very slender one, and that it was only by self-sacrifice and close
+economy that her parents were able to keep her at such an expensive
+school. She made no secret of her lack of money, but worked away bravely
+and cheerfully, always sunny, always happy, with the enviable faculty of
+invariably saying the right thing at the right time. She had pronounced
+artistic tendencies, and Miss Preston was anxious to encourage them in
+every possible way. Her great desire was to go to Europe and there see the
+originals of the famous paintings of which she read. Each year Miss
+Preston went abroad and took with her several of the girls whose parents
+could afford such indulgences for them, and Helen longed to be one of
+them, although she never for a moment hoped to be.
+
+She did really remarkable work for a girl of her age, and was improving
+all the time, but the trip over the sea seemed as far off as a trip to the
+moon. Toinette was somewhat of a dilettante, and pottered away with her
+water-colors with more or less success. But she admired good work, and was
+quick to see that Helen was a hard student, and to respect her for it.
+Although so unlike in disposition, as well as position, a warm regard had
+sprung up between them, and Toinette spent many hours watching Helen work
+away at her drawing. The girl's ambition was to illustrate, and there was
+hardly a girl in the school who had not posed for her, and the drawings in
+her sketch-book were excellent.
+
+Toinette had never been taught to think much about others, and so it is
+not surprising that, while she admired Helen, and wished that she could
+have those things she so longed for, it never occurred to her that perhaps
+there were other and more fortunate girls who might have helped a trifle
+if they chose to do so. That she, herself, had it within her power to do
+it never entered her head till the girls began to talk about their new
+dresses, and what put it there then would be hard to tell. Nevertheless,
+come it did, and when she heard Helen speak so composedly of wearing to
+the school dance, _the_ event of the season, in their eyes, the same dress
+which had done service for many a little entertainment given through the
+winter, and which gave unmistakable signs of having done so, she realized
+for the first time what it must mean to be deprived of those things which
+she had always accepted as a matter of course.
+
+Still, no definite plans took shape in her head regarding it, and it is
+quite possible that none might ever have done so had not something
+occurred within a short time which seemed to be the hinge upon which her
+whole after-life swung.
+
+As the girls were in the midst of their chatter about the new gowns a tap
+came at the door, and Fraulein Palme looked in to ask:
+
+"Haf anyone seen my umbrel? I haf hunt eferywhere for him, and can't see
+him anywhere."
+
+"No, Fraulein, we haven't seen it," answered several voices.
+
+"Where did you last have it?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Right away in my room a little while before I am ready to go out. I go
+down to the post-office and must get wet without him."
+
+Two or three of the girls went into the hall to look for the missing
+umbrella, and others went back to Fraulein's room with her to make a more
+exhaustive search. But without success.
+
+"Have you more than one?" asked Edith.
+
+"No, it is but one I haf got. It is very funnee," and poor Fraulein looked
+sorely perplexed.
+
+"Take mine, Fraulein. Yours will turn up when you least expect it," said
+Toinette.
+
+"What did it look like, Fraulein?" asked Cicely.
+
+"Chust like thees," was the astonishing answer, as absent-minded Fraulein
+held forth the missing umbrella, which all that time she had held tightly
+clasped in her hand, and which had been the cause of Edith's question as
+to whether she had more than one, for she supposed, of course, that the
+one Fraulein was so tightly holding must either be one she did not care to
+carry, or else one she was about to return to someone from whom she had
+probably borrowed it.
+
+The shout which was raised at her reply speedily brought poor Fraulein
+back to her senses, and murmuring:
+
+"Ach, so! I think I come _veruckt_," she hurried off down the hall with
+the girls' laughter still ringing in her ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE LITTLE HINGE
+
+
+The day before the dance was to be given Toinette wrote her second letter,
+arguing that when everybody else had so much to occupy their thoughts they
+would have little time to notice other people's doings, and the letter
+could be mailed without exciting comment. Waiting until the very last
+moment, she ran down to the mail-basket to slip the letter in it
+unobserved. As ill-luck would have it, Miss Preston also had a letter to
+be slipped in at the last moment, and she and Toinette came face to face.
+It was too late to retreat, for the letter was in her hand in plain view,
+so, forced into an awkward position, she made a bad matter worse. Dropping
+the letter quickly into the basket, she said:
+
+"Just a note for papa about something I want for the dance to-morrow, Miss
+Preston; I didn't think you'd care, and I hadn't time to do it earlier,"
+and, with flaming cheeks, she turned to go away.
+
+"Wait just one moment, dear," said Miss Preston, "I've something to say to
+you. Walk down to my room with me, please," and she slipped her arm about
+the girl's waist.
+
+No more was needed, and all the suspicion and rebellion in Toinette's
+nature rose up to do battle with--windmills. It was a hard young face that
+looked defiantly at Miss Preston.
+
+"Toinette, dear, I want to have a little talk with you," she said, as she
+locked the door of her sitting-room, and, seating herself upon the divan,
+drew Toinette down beside her.
+
+Toinette never changed her expression, but looked straight before her with
+a most uncompromising stare.
+
+"You said just now that you did not think I would care if you sent a note
+to your father; why should I, sweetheart?"
+
+It must have been a stubborn heart, indeed, which could resist Miss
+Preston's sweet tone.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, but teachers always seem to mind every little thing one
+does," replied Toinette, sulkily.
+
+"It seems to me that this would be entirely too 'little a thing' for a
+teacher or anyone else to mind. Don't you think so yourself?"
+
+"Well, of course, I didn't think you would mind simply because I wrote to
+papa, but because I posted the letter without first letting you read it,"
+answered Toinette.
+
+Now, indeed, was Miss Preston learning something new, and not even a child
+could have questioned that her surprise was genuine when she exclaimed:
+
+"Read your letters, my dear little girl! What are you saying?" and a
+slight flush overspread her refined face.
+
+It was now Toinette's turn to be surprised as she asked:
+
+"Isn't that the rule here, Miss Preston?"
+
+"Is it anywhere? I can hardly believe it. One's correspondence is a very
+sacred thing, Toinette, and I would as soon be guilty of listening at
+another person's door as of reading a letter intended for another's eyes.
+Oh, my little girl, what mischief has been at work here?"
+
+While Miss Preston was speaking Toinette had risen to her feet, her eyes
+shining like stars, and her color coming and going rapidly. Now, taking
+both Miss Preston's hands in her own, she said, in a voice which quivered
+with excitement:
+
+"Is that _truly_ true, Miss Preston? Aren't the girls' letters ever read?
+Haven't mine been? _Do_ you trust me like that?"
+
+Miss Preston looked the girl fairly in the eyes as she answered:
+
+"I trust you as I trust the others, because I feel you to be a
+gentlewoman, and, as such, you would be as reluctant to do anything liable
+to cast discredit upon yourself as I would be to have you. I do not wish
+my girls to fear but to love me, with all their hearts, and to trust me as
+I trust them. I do not expect you to be perfect; we all make mistakes; I
+make many, but we can help each other, dear, and remember this: 'Love
+casteth out fear.' Try to love me, my little girl, and to feel that I am
+your friend; I want so much to be."
+
+Miss Preston's voice was very sweet and appealing, and as she spoke
+Toinette's eyes grew limpid. Miss Preston still held her hands, and, as
+she finished speaking, the girl dropped upon her knees and clasped her
+arms about her waist, buried her face in her lap and burst into a storm of
+sobs. All the pent-up feeling, the longing, the struggle, the yearning for
+tenderness of the past lonely years was finding an outlet in the bitter,
+bitter sobs which shook her slight frame.
+
+Although Miss Preston knew comparatively little of the girl's former life,
+she had learned enough from Mr. Reeve, and observed enough in the girl
+herself, to understand that this outburst was not wholly the result of
+what had just passed between them. So, gently stroking the pretty golden
+hair, she wisely waited for the grief to spend itself before she resumed
+her talk, and, when the poor little trembling figure was more composed,
+said:
+
+"My poor little Toinette, let us begin a brand new leaf to-day--'thee and
+me,' as the Quakers so prettily put it. Let us try to believe that even
+though I have spent thirty more years on this big world than you have,
+that we can still be good friends, and sympathize with each other either
+in sunshine or shadow. To do this two things are indispensible: confidence
+and love. And we can never have the latter without first winning the
+former. Remember this, dear, I shall never doubt you. Whatever happens,
+you may rest firm in the conviction that I shall always accept your word
+when it is given. Our self-respect suffers when we are doubted, and one's
+self-respect is a very precious thing, and not to be lightly tampered
+with."
+
+[Illustration: "LET US BEGIN A BRAND NEW LEAF TO-DAY."]
+
+She now drew Toinette back to the couch beside her, put her arm about her
+waist, and let the tired head rest upon her shoulder. The girl had ceased
+to sob, but looked worn and weary. Miss Preston snuggled her close and
+waited for her to speak, feeling sure that more was in her heart, and
+that, in a nature such as she felt Toinette's to be, it would be
+impossible for her to rest content until all doubts, all self-reproach
+could be put behind her.
+
+She sat perfectly still for a long time, her hands clasped in her lap, and
+her big, brown eyes, into which had crept a wonderfully soft expression,
+looking far away beyond the walls of Miss Preston's sitting-room, far
+beyond the bedroom next it, and off to some lonely, unsatisfied years,
+when she had lived in a sort of truce with all about her, never knowing
+just when hostilities might be renewed. It had acted upon the girl's
+sensitive nature much as a chestnut-prickle acts upon the average mortal;
+a nasty, little, irritating thing, hard to discover, a scrap of a thing
+when found--if, indeed, it does not succeed in eluding one altogether--and
+so insignificant that one wonders how it could cause such discomfort. But
+it is those miserable little chestnut-prickles that are hardest to bear in
+this life, and so warp one's character that it is often unfitted to bear
+the heavier burdens which must come into all lives sooner or later.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"FATAL OR FATED ARE MOMENTS"
+
+
+"Nobody has ever spoken to me as you have, Miss Preston," Toinette began
+presently, "and I can't tell you how I feel. Maybe heaven will be better,
+but I don't believe I shall ever feel any happier than I feel this minute.
+It seems as though I'd been living in a sort of prison, all shut up in the
+dark, and that now I am out in the sunshine and as free as the birds. But
+I must tell you something more: I can't rest content unless I do. The
+letter I posted to-day wasn't to papa, I sent it to Howard Elting, in
+Branton, and it isn't the first I've written him, either. I didn't lie
+about the other one, Miss Preston; I was ready to mail it, but lost it; I
+don't know how. Somebody must have found it and posted it, for he got it
+and answered it, and I was so puzzled over it that I wrote again. That was
+the letter you saw me post. Now, that is the truth, and I know that you
+believe me."
+
+Toinette had spoken very rapidly, scarcely pausing for breath, and when
+she finished gave a relieved little sigh and looked Miss Preston squarely
+in the eyes. Truly, her self-respect was regained.
+
+Will some of my readers say: "What a tempest in a teapot?" To many this
+may seem a very trivial affair, but how small a thing can influence our
+lives! A breath, the passing of a summer shower, may help or hinder plans
+which alter our entire lives. And Miss Preston was wise enough to
+understand it. Here was a beautiful soul given for a time into her
+keeping. Now, at the period of its keenest receptive powers, a delicate
+and sensitive thing needing very gentle handling.
+
+Stroking the head again resting upon her shoulder, as though it had found
+a safe and happy haven after having been tossed about upon a troubled sea,
+she said, quietly:
+
+"I posted the letter, dear; I found it in the hall where it had been
+dropped; it never occurred to me that there was any cause for concealment;
+the girls all correspond with their friends; it is an understood thing. I
+recognized your writing, and, as I had friends at Branton, I wrote to ask
+if they knew the person written to. They replied that they did, and told
+me who he was. Knowing how few friends you have, I wrote to this boy
+asking him to come to our dance to-morrow night, because I thought the
+little surprise might give you pleasure, and you would be glad to welcome
+an old friend. Does it please you, my little girl?"
+
+"Oh, Miss Preston!" was all Toinette said, but those three words meant a
+great deal.
+
+The dressing-bell now rang, and Toinette sprang up with rather a dismayed
+look. As though she interpreted it, Miss Preston said:
+
+"You are in no condition to meet the other girls to-night, dear. They
+cannot understand your feelings, and, without meaning to be unkind or
+curious, would ask questions which it would embarrass you to answer. You
+are nervous and unstrung, so lie down on my couch and I will see that your
+dinner is brought up. I shall say to the other girls that you are not
+feeling well, and that it would be better not to disturb you." Then, going
+into her bedroom, Miss Preston quickly made her own toilet. She had just
+finished it when the chimes called all to dinner, and, stooping over
+Toinette, she kissed her softly and slipped from the room.
+
+Some very serious thoughts passed through Toinette's head during the
+ensuing fifteen minutes, and some resolutions were formed which were held
+to as long as she lived.
+
+A tap at the door, and a maid entered with a dainty dinner. Placing a
+little stand close to the couch, she put the tray upon it, and then asked:
+"Can I do anything more for you, Miss Toinette?"
+
+"No, thank you, Helma. This is very tempting."
+
+When Miss Preston came to her room an hour later she found the tray quite
+empty, and Toinette fast asleep. Arranging the couch pillows more
+comfortably, and throwing a warm puff over the sleeping girl, she
+whispered, softly: "Poor little maid, your battle with Apollyon was short
+and sharp, but, thank God, you've conquered, even at the expense of an
+exhausted mind and weary body."
+
+It was nearly midnight when Toinette opened her eyes to see Miss Preston
+warmly wrapped in her dressing-gown, and seated before the fire reading.
+The lamp was carefully screened from Toinette, who could not at first
+realize what had happened, or why she was there, but Miss Preston's voice
+recalled her to herself.
+
+"Do you feel rested, dear?" she asked. "Don't try to go to your room; just
+undress and cuddle down in my bed with me to-night; I've brought in your
+night-dress."
+
+Toinette did not answer, but, walking over to Miss Preston, just rested
+her cheek against hers for a moment. Twenty minutes later she was fast
+asleep in her good friend's bed.
+
+The following day all was bustle and excitement at Sunny Bank, for great
+preparations were being made for the dance in the evening, and
+understanding how much pleasure it gave the girls to feel that they were
+of some assistance, she let them fly about like so many grigs, helping or
+hindering, as it happened.
+
+They brought down all the pretty trifles from their rooms, piled up sofa
+pillows till the couches resembled a Turk's palace; arranged the flowers,
+and rearranged them, till poor Miss Preston began to fear that there would
+be nothing left of them. However, it was an exceedingly attractive house
+which was thrown open to her guests at eight o'clock that evening, and the
+girls had had no small share in making it so.
+
+A very complete understanding seemed to exist between Toinette and Miss
+Preston now, for, although no words were spoken, none were needed; just an
+exchange of glances told that two hearts were very happy that night, for
+love and confidence had come to dwell within them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"NOW TREAD WE A MEASURE."
+
+
+Shall we ever grow too old to recall the pleasure of our school dances?
+Then lights seem brighter, toilets more ravishing, music sweeter, our
+partners more fascinating, and the supper more tempting than ever before
+or after.
+
+The house was brilliantly lighted from top to bottom, excepting in such
+cosy corners as were specially conducive to confidential chats, and in
+these softly shaded lamps cast a fairy-like light.
+
+Miss Preston, dressed in black velvet, with some rich old lace to enhance
+its charms, received her guests in the great hall, some of the older girls
+receiving with her.
+
+There were ten or more girls who were taking special courses, and these
+were styled "parlor boarders," and at the end of the school term would
+enter society. Consequently, this dance was looked upon as a preliminary
+step for the one to follow, and the girls regarded it as a sort of "golden
+mile-stone" in their lives, which marked off the point at which "the brook
+and river meet."
+
+A prettier, happier lot of girls could hardly have been found, and none
+looked lovelier, or happier, than Toinette. Her dress, a soft, creamy
+white chiffon, admirably suited to her golden coloring, had been sent to
+her by her father, whose taste was unerring. No matter how many miles of
+this big globe divided them, he never forgot her needs, and, if unable to
+supply them himself, took good care that some one else should do so. So
+the dress had arrived the night before, and Miss Preston had been able to
+give her another pleasant surprise for the dance. And now she looked as
+the lilies of the field for fairness.
+
+She was whirling away upon her partner's arm, when, chancing to glance
+toward the door, she beheld something which brought her to an abrupt
+stand-still, much to her partner's amazement. Miss Preston stood in the
+doorway, and, standing beside her, with one hand resting lightly upon his
+hip and the other raised a little above his head, and resting against the
+door-casing, stood a tall, remarkably handsome man. His attitude was
+unstudied, but brought out to perfection the fine lines of his figure.
+
+Hastily exclaiming: "Oh, please, excuse me, or else come with me,"
+Toinette glided between the whirling figures, and, forgetful of all else,
+cried out in a joyous voice: "Papa, papa Clayton, where _did_ you come
+from?"
+
+It was so like the childish voice he had loved to hear so long ago, that
+he started with pleasure.
+
+During the brief holiday Toinette had spent with him he had missed the
+spontaneity he had known in the little child, and, without being able to
+analyze it, felt that something was wanting in the girl. She had been
+sweet and winning, yet under it all had been a manner quite
+incomprehensible to him, as though she did not feel quite sure of her
+position in his affections. Her laugh had lacked the true girlish ring,
+and her conversation with him seemed guarded, as though she had never
+quite spoken all her thoughts.
+
+He had been immeasurably distressed by it, for he could not understand the
+cause, and bitterly reproached himself for not being better acquainted
+with his own child. In the merry girl who now stood before him, her eyes
+shining, her cheeks flushed with excitement, her voice so joyous, he saw
+no trace of the listless one he had placed in Miss Preston's charge two
+months before.
+
+Slipping one arm about her, he snuggled her close to his side, as he
+answered:
+
+"A blue-coated biped left a good, substantial hint at my office not long
+since, and this is what came of following it."
+
+"_You_ did it! I'm sure of it," laughed Toinette, shaking her finger at
+Miss Preston, as the latter said: "I leave you to a livelier entertainer,
+now, Mr. Reeve, while I go to look after some of my guests who may not be
+so fortunately situated," and she slipped away, Toinette calling after
+her: "You are responsible for most of the nice things which happen here.
+Oh, daddy," dropping unconsciously into the old childish pet name, "I've
+such stacks of things to tell you. But, excuse me just one second, while I
+find a partner for that boy I've left stranded high and dry over there;
+doesn't he look miserable? Then I'll come back," and, kissing her hand
+gaily, she ran off. Returning a moment or two later, she said:
+
+"There! he's all fixed, and is sure to have a good time with Ethel and
+Lou; they're not a team, but a four-in-hand. Now, come and have a dance
+with me, and then we'll go off all by ourselves and have the cosiest time
+you ever dreamed of. I feel so proud to have you all to myself," she
+added, as they glided away to the soft strains of the music, "so sort of
+grown-up and grand with such a handsome partner."
+
+"Hear! hear! Do you want to make me vain? I haven't been accustomed to
+hearing such barefaced compliments. They make me blush."
+
+"I really believe they _do_," answered Toinette, throwing back her head to
+get a better look at him, and laughing softly when she saw a slight flush
+upon his face. "Never mind, it is all in the family, you know."
+
+"Perhaps I have other reasons for feeling a trifle elated," he said, as
+the dance came to an end and he followed Toinette to one of the cozy
+corners. Springing up among the cushions, she patted them invitingly, and
+said:
+
+"Come, sit down here beside me, and let me tell you all about the
+loveliest time of my life. Oh, daddy, I _do_ so love to be here, and you
+don't know how good Miss Preston is to me. She is good to us all, but,
+somehow the other girls don't seem to need so much setting straight as _I_
+have. I think I must have been all kinked up in little hard knots before I
+came here, and Miss Preston has begun to untie them. She hasn't got all
+untied yet, but I feel so sort of loosened up and easy that everything
+seems lots more comfortable."
+
+[Illustration: "I FEEL SO SORT OF GROWN UP AND GRAND."]
+
+Clayton Reeve did not smile at Toinette's odd way of explaining her
+feelings. He knew it to be a fourteen-year-old girl who spoke, and that
+her thoughts, to be natural, must be put into her own words.
+
+On she rambled, telling one thing after another, and, while they were
+talking, Helen Burgess stopped near their snuggery. It was too dimly
+lighted for her to discover them, and the next thing they knew they were
+unwitting eavesdroppers, for Helen was talking very earnestly to one of
+her boon companions, a day-pupil at the school, and one of the brightest
+in it, but, like Helen, not embarrassed with riches. For some time the
+girls had been saving their small allowances toward the purchase of
+cameras, but so slowly did the sums accumulate that it was rather
+discouraging for them. They were now talking about their respective ways
+of procuring the sums of money needed, and the trifle they had managed to
+save, and the small amounts they earned in one way or another, to augment
+the original sums, seemed so paltry to Toinette, who never stopped to ask
+whence came the five-dollar bills so regularly sent her each week, and
+who, had a fancy entered her head for one, would have walked out and
+bought a camera very much as she would have bought a paper of pins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CONSPIRATORS
+
+
+Mr. Reeve would have risen from his snug corner and discovered himself to
+the girls, but Toinette laid her finger upon her lips to enjoin silence,
+and, although he could not quite understand her desire to play
+eavesdropper, he complied. From the subject of the cameras the girls went
+on to Helen's work in the art class, for Jean was much interested in that
+also, and they often built air-castles about the wonderful things they
+would do when that fabulous "stone ship" should sail safely into port.
+They talked earnestly for girls of thirteen and fifteen, and Mr. Reeve
+could not fail to be impressed by the strength of purpose they seemed to
+possess, and, having a good bit of stick-to-ativeness himself, admired it
+in others. Moreover, he had been forced to make his own way in life when
+young, and could sympathize with other aspiring souls.
+
+Presently the two girls moved away, and then Toinette whispered: "I don't
+know what you think of me for making you play 'Paul Pry,' but I had a
+reason for it, and now I'll tell you what it was."
+
+"I inferred as much, so kept mum."
+
+"Well, you see, since I've been here I've waked up a little, and, somehow,
+have begun to think about other people, and wonder if they were happy. At
+Miss Carter's school everybody just seemed to think about themselves, or,
+if they thought of anybody else, it was generally to wonder how they could
+get ahead of them in some way. But here it is all so different, and
+everybody seems to try to find out what they can do to make someone else
+happy. I can't begin to tell you how it is done, because I don't know
+myself; only it _is_, and it makes you feel sort of happy all over," said
+Toinette, trying to put into words that subtle something which makes us
+feel at peace with all mankind, and little realizing that its cause lay
+right within herself; for a sense of having done one's very best and a
+clear conscience are wonderful rosy spectacles through which to see life.
+
+"Go on, I'm keenly interested, and these little confidences are very
+delightful," said her father, with an encouraging nod and smile.
+
+"So I began to want to do little things, too, and, do you know, daddy,
+you'd be really surprised if you knew what a lot of ways there are of
+making the girls happy if you only take the trouble to look for them. For
+instance, there is Helen Burgess, the larger of the girls you saw just
+now: we have become real good friends, and she is very clever, and draws
+beautifully. But she has so little to do with that she can't afford to get
+the things the other girls have to work with, nor have the advantages they
+have. She and Jean have been trying ever so long to get cameras, for they
+think that they could take pretty views of Montcliff and sell them to the
+people who come here in the summer, and I'm sure they could, too. It does
+not make so much difference to Jean, for, although she isn't rich, she
+isn't exactly poor, either, you know, and has a good many nice things, but
+Helen never seems to have any. So I thought I'd have a little talk with
+you and get you to send out a cute little camera for each of them and
+never let them know where they came from. Wouldn't that be great fun? But
+I want to pay for them. You can use ten dollars of my money, and not send
+me my allowance for two weeks; I've got enough to last."
+
+"And what will my poverty-stricken lassie do meantime?" asked Mr. Reeve.
+
+"Oh, she is not so poverty-stricken as you think," laughed Toinette. "She
+won't suffer. And then I wanted to ask you if there wasn't some way of
+helping Helen in her art work. She wants so much to go abroad with Miss
+Preston, but has no more idea of ever being able to do so than she has of
+going to the moon. What would it cost, papa? Isn't there some way of
+bringing it about? Couldn't you have a talk with Miss Preston and find out
+all about it, and then we could plan something, maybe."
+
+Toinette had become very earnest as she talked, and was now leaning toward
+her father, her hands clasped in her lap, and her expressive face alive
+with enthusiasm.
+
+Mr. Reeve hated to spoil the pretty picture, but said, in the interested
+tone so comforting when used by older people in speaking to young folk: "I
+am sure we can evolve some plan. I shall be very glad to speak to Miss
+Preston before I return to the city, and haven't the slightest doubt that
+great things will come of it."
+
+"How lovely! You're just a darling! I'm going to hug you right here behind
+the curtains!" cried Toinette, as she sprung up and clasped her arms about
+his neck.
+
+"Haven't you one or two more favors you'd like to ask?" said Mr. Reeve,
+suggestively.
+
+"No, not another one, just now," she answered, laughing softly. "Too many
+might turn your head, and mine, too. But it is so good to have you home
+once more. You don't know how lonely I've been without you, daddy. There
+wasn't anyone in the world who cared two straws for me till you came back
+and I came here. But I've got you now, and I'm not going to let you go
+very soon again, I can tell you. You are too precious, and we are going to
+have lovely times together by-and-by when I grow up, aren't we?"
+
+"We are not going to wait till then, sweetheart; we are going to begin
+right off, this very minute. I can't afford to waste any more precious
+time; too much has been wasted already," he said, as he raised the pretty
+face and kissed it, and then, drawing her arm through his, added: "Now let
+me do the honors. Introduce me to your friends, and let me see if seven
+years' knocking about this old world has made me forget the 'Quips, and
+Cranks, and Wanton Wiles, Nods, and Becks, and Wreathed Smiles' I used to
+know."
+
+They left the snuggery, and, blissfully conscious of her honors, Toinette
+presented her father to the girls. Just how proud they were of the marked
+attention he showed to each I'll leave it to some other girls to guess. He
+danced with them, took them to supper, sought out the greatest delicacies
+for them, and played the gallant as though he were but twenty instead of
+forty-two. "He treated us just as though we were the big girls," they
+said, when holding forth upon the subject the next day.
+
+Twelve o'clock came all too soon.
+
+Mr. Reeve remained over night, and the following day found an opportunity
+to have a long talk with Miss Preston--a talk which afforded him great
+satisfaction for many reasons.
+
+Toinette, with several of the other girls, escorted him to the train, and
+gave him a most enthusiastic "send-off."
+
+In the course of a few days a package was delivered at the school. Had
+bomb-shells been dropped there they could hardly have created more
+excitement. Jean's house was only a few blocks from the school, and one
+Saturday morning--for the cameras were obliging enough to choose that day
+to appear--Mrs. Rockwood's sitting-room was the scene of the wildest
+excitement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+"WE'VE GOT 'EM! WE'VE GOT 'EM!"
+
+
+Mrs. Rockwood was in her sitting-room one morning. It was Saturday, and a
+day of liberty for Jean. She had gone over to the school to spend a few
+hours with Helen, and Mrs. Lockwood did not expect her home until
+lunch-time, but, happening to glance from her window about ten o'clock,
+what was her surprise to see two figures approaching, one with a series of
+bounds, prances and jumps, which indicated a wildly hilarious and
+satisfied frame of mind in Jean, and the other with a subdued hop and
+skip, and then a sedate walk, which, although less demonstrative, was
+quite as indicative of a very deep and serene happiness to any one
+familiar with Helen.
+
+A moment later the front door slammed, and two pairs of feet came tearing
+up the stairs as though pursued by Boer cavalry, and two eager voices
+cried:
+
+"We've got 'em! We've got 'em! We've got 'em!" and both girls came tearing
+into the room to cast themselves and two very suggestive looking parcels
+upon Mrs. Rockwood.
+
+"What in this world has happened?" she asked, in amazement, for both girls
+were breathless, and could only point at the parcels in her lap and say:
+"Open them! Open them, quick!"
+
+Mrs. Rockwood was a woman who entered heart and soul into her daughter's
+pleasures, and nothing was ever quite right in Jean's eyes unless her
+mother shared it. Every little plan must be talked over with her, and it
+was pretty sure not to suffer any from one of her suggestions. Helen spent
+a great deal of time with Jean and was devoted to Mrs. Rockwood.
+Consequently, when the cameras arrived at the school that morning, and
+they found out that there was really no mistake, but that they were
+certainly intended for the persons whose names were so plainly written
+upon the boxes, and sent in Miss Preston's care, they could hardly wait to
+get over to Jean's house to show their treasures to her mother. Many had
+been the surmises as to whom had sent such beauties, but Toinette kept a
+perfectly sober face, and no one suspected the secret.
+
+Carefully removing the wrappings, Mrs. Rockwood brought the contents of
+the boxes to view. She was as much surprised as the girls, and exclaimed:
+"Why, who could have sent them to you, and how did anyone learn that you
+were so anxious to have them? Such beauties, too!"
+
+"That is the funniest part of it all, for we never told a soul, and didn't
+mean to till we had them, and now here they are. I believe St. Nick must
+have heard us wishing for them," said Helen.
+
+"And to _both_ of us, and just _alike_! Think of it! Oh, moddie, isn't it
+lovely?" and Jean threw her arms about her mother's neck by way of giving
+vent to her feelings.
+
+"I'm as delighted as you and Helen are, dear, only I wish we might learn
+who our benefactor is."
+
+"Yes, isn't it too bad. Well, it may crop out later. I thought first it
+must be Miss Preston, but she said that she did not know any more about it
+than we did," said Helen.
+
+"Now, when may we take our pictures, and what shall we take?" cried Jean.
+
+"You suggest something, Mrs. Rockwood; it will be nicer if you do it,"
+said Helen, dropping down upon her knees beside Mrs. Rockwood, and placing
+her arm around her friend's waist.
+
+Mrs. Rockwood drew her close to her side as she replied:
+
+"Let me examine these treasures which have arrived so mysteriously, read
+the directions concerning them, and then we'll see what we'll see," and
+she began to read: "Take the camera into a perfectly dark closet, where no
+ray of light can penetrate (even covering the keyhole), and then place
+within it one of the sensitive plates, being careful not to expose the
+unused plates. Your camera is now ready to take the picture, etc." "That
+is all very simple, I'm sure, and if the taking proves as simple as are
+the directions you need have little apprehension of failure. But your
+directions add very explicitly that you must _not_ attempt to take a
+picture unless the day is sunny. So I fear those conditions preclude the
+possibility of your taking any upon this cloudy day, and you will have to
+possess your souls in peace till 'Old Sol' favors you."
+
+"Oh, dear, isn't that too bad! I thought we could take some right off.
+Don't you think we might at least try, mamma?"
+
+"I fear they would prove failures; better wait a more favorable light."
+
+As though to tantalize frail humanity, "Old Sol" remained very exclusive
+all day, and, even though Helen remained till evening in the hope that he
+would overcome his fit of sulks, nothing of the kind happened, and she was
+forced to go back to the school without one.
+
+"Just wait till Monday, and we'll do wonders; see if we don't," said Jean,
+as she bade her farewell, little dreaming what wonders she was destined to
+do with her magical box ere the sun set Monday night.
+
+"I'll ask Miss Preston to let me come over at four o'clock on Monday, and
+then we'll go out in the little dell and get a lovely picture. You know
+the place I mean: where that old clump of fir-trees stands by the ruined
+wall," said artistic Helen.
+
+But when Monday arrived unforeseen difficulties arose for Jean. The day
+was the sunniest ever known, and, while waiting for Helen to come, she got
+out the precious camera to set the plates.
+
+"Why, mamma, there isn't a dark closet in the whole house; not a single
+one," cried Jean, coming into her mother's room as she was dressing to go
+out on Monday afternoon. "Now, where in this world am I to open my
+plate-box, I'd like to know?"
+
+Mrs. Rockwood laughed as she turned toward Jean, whose face was the
+picture of dismay. "True enough, there isn't. Now, who would have supposed
+that the architect who designed this house, and put a window in every
+closet, could have been so short-sighted as not to anticipate such a need
+as the present one?"
+
+"But what am I to do?" desperately.
+
+"Try putting a dark covering over the windows."
+
+"I have, but it's just no use, for I can't get it pitch dark to save me."
+
+"And to think that barely forty-eight hours ago I was congratulating
+myself that every closet in the house could be properly aired. Alas! how
+do our recent acquisitions alter our views?"
+
+"Now, moddie, don't laugh, but stop teasing me, and just think as hard as
+ever you can _how_ I am to find a dark place."
+
+Mrs. Rockwood thought for a few moments, and then said:
+
+"I have it! Mary's pot-closet, under the back stairs; that is as dark as a
+pocket, I'm sure."
+
+"There! I knew you'd find a way; you always do. Just the very place, and
+now I'm going straight down to fix it. Good-bye," and, kissing her mother,
+away she flew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+A CAMERA'S CAPERS.
+
+
+"Mary!" cried Jean, as she bounced into the kitchen, where the maid, a
+typical "child of Erin," who worshipped the very ground Jean trod upon,
+stood at the sink paring her "taties" for the evening meal, "see my new
+camera; I'm going to take a picture with it, and I've got to go into your
+pot-closet to fix the plates."
+
+"A picter, is it? And will ye be afther takin' a picter wid that schmall
+bit av a black box? How do ye do it at all, I do' know."
+
+"Oh, I go into a dark closet and put a gelatine plate in the box, and then
+I go outdoors and take my picture."
+
+"A gilitin plate, is it? Thin, faith, ye'll take ne'er a picter this day,
+for Oi'm jist afther usin' the last schrap av gilitin in the house to make
+the wine jilly fer the dinner."
+
+"I don't mean _that_ kind of gelatine; the kind I use is already prepared
+on little plates in this box, and I have to go in the dark closet to fix
+them."
+
+"Faith, I'd fix thim out here, thin, where ye can see what ye're about.
+It's dungeon dhark in the pot-closet."
+
+"That is exactly what I want, and, _please_, don't come near it, or open
+the door while I'm in there, will you?"
+
+"No, no; I'll not come near ye. The minute I've done me taties it's down
+in the laundry Oi'm goin', an' Oi'll not bother ye at all; but here, take
+this schmall, little candle wid ye whan ye go in, fer it's that dhark
+ye'll not see yer hand forninst ye," and she caught up a candle from the
+shelf.
+
+"No, no! I don't _want_ any light; the darker it is the better."
+
+"It's crackin' yer head aff ye'll be."
+
+"No, I sha'n't," said Jean, as she whisked into the closet and drew the
+door together just as Mary started down the back stairs to the laundry.
+
+Had the closet been designed for an eel-pot it would have proved the most
+complete success, for getting into it was a very simple matter, whereas,
+getting _out_ required considerable ingenuity. Absorbed in the one idea of
+getting the plates placed in the camera, Jean entirely forgot the
+peculiarities of the fastening upon the door. As she slammed it together
+every ray of light vanished, and she was instantly enveloped in an
+Egyptian darkness. Carefully opening her box, she drew from it one of the
+plates, touched it with her fingers to find which side was coated with the
+gelatine preparation, placed it in the camera and turned to leave the
+closet.
+
+"Now, I'll have a picture in just about two jiffs," she said, and pushed
+against the door. To her surprise, it did not open. Another push, with the
+same result. It then dawned upon her that the spring-bolt had fastened
+upon the outer side. Feeling carefully about in the pitch darkness, she
+laid her things upon the shelf and tried to find a way of getting out.
+But, push, shake and rattle as she might, it was useless; the door
+remained tightly fastened.
+
+"Mary," she called, "come and let me out, please."
+
+No response.
+
+"M-a-r-y! I'm locked in; come let me out!"
+
+"What in the whorld is the matter wid ye?" came from the foot of the
+stairs.
+
+"I'm locked _in_ and can't get out; come and open the door!"
+
+"Och, worra! Don't be callin' to me not to _open_ the door; didn't Oi tell
+ye Oi wouldn't come near ye, and Oi _won't_. It's goin' down to the bharn
+Oi am, and ye needn't be for worritin', at all, at all," and receding
+footsteps proved Mary's words only too true.
+
+"Now, I'm in a pretty fix, am I not? Like enough she won't come back for
+twenty minutes, and here I've got to stay. Plague take the old bolt!"
+
+What imp of mischief made Mary return to the laundry by the cellar-door,
+take up her basket of freshly laundered clothes, and, after carrying them
+up to Mrs. Rockwood's bedroom, go on to her own in the third story to
+dress for the afternoon, must forever remain a mystery. But this she did,
+and, as Jean heard her go up the back stairs, beneath which she was
+securely fastened in the pot-closet, she thumped and pounded with renewed
+energy. But the only response was:
+
+"No, no; not for the whorld, darlint, would Oi disthurbe ye and spoil yer
+purty picter."
+
+About an hour later Mrs. Rockwood, returning from her call, met Helen upon
+the front piazza.
+
+"Has Jean got everything ready to take the pictures?" she asked, eagerly.
+"It is such a perfect day for it, and I am so anxious that I can hardly
+wait. It seems too good to be true that we have really got cameras at
+last, doesn't it?"
+
+"It seems as though the fairies must have been aware of your great desire
+to have them, and so took matters into their own hands," replied Mrs.
+Rockwood, as she unfastened the front door with her latch-key and held it
+open for Helen to enter.
+
+As they entered the hall they were greeted with a series of muffled thumps
+and bangs.
+
+"I _do_ wish Mary would remember what I have so often told her about
+breaking her kindling upon the cellar floor," she exclaimed.
+
+Rattle, rattle! Bang, bang! and then a crash as though the roof were
+falling.
+
+"What under the sun can be the matter!" exclaimed Mrs. Rockwood.
+
+Just then Mary appeared at the head of the stairs.
+
+"Why, Mary, what is all this noise?"
+
+"Shure, it was comin' down mesilf Oi was to see. Saints presarve us, can
+there be thieves in the house, Oi do' know!"
+
+"Rather noisy thieves, I should think. Where is Miss Jean?"
+
+"Out in the fields beyant, wid her bit av a camela takin' her picter, Oi'm
+thinkin'. 'Twas there she said she'd be goin' afther she came out of the
+pot-closet--saints have mercy! Could she _git_ out at all, at all?" and
+Mary tore down the stairs, with Mrs. Rockwood and Helen close at her
+heels. She reached the closet, flung open the door, and beheld a
+spectacle. Seated on the floor, in the midst of a scattered array of pots,
+kettles and frying-pans, her box of plates upset, her precious camera in
+her lap, and blissfully unconscious that the slide was open, sat Jean, a
+very picture of despair.
+
+"Mighty man! And have ye been in here all this toim, an' not to be
+smothered dead!" cried Mary.
+
+"How could I be anywhere _else_, I'd like to know?" said Jean,
+indignantly. "I called and _called_, but I couldn't get you to let me
+out," and, bouncing up, she scrabbled the plates back into their box, then
+caught up the camera to see if all was as it should be with that. As she
+jumped up the slide closed, and, quite unaware that it had ever been open,
+she announced to her nearly convulsed audience:
+
+"Well, I'm _out_ at last, and now I hope I can take a picture; come on,
+Helen," little dreaming that the treacherous sunlight, which flashed
+through the hall window and straight into the pot-closet, had already
+printed a most perfect one on the plate.
+
+A few moments later both she and Helen were out in the fields back of the
+house, and had snapped charming little scenes.
+
+Bemoaning her unintentional trick, Mary went back to her work, while Mrs.
+Rockwood went up to her room to laugh heartily over the mishap, never
+suspecting that the funniest part would appear in the sequel.
+
+A half hour later the girls came flying into her room to say, excitedly:
+
+[Illustration: "AN' HAVE YE BEEN IN THERE ALL THIS TIME?"]
+
+"We've taken them! We've taken them!"
+
+"And I know they will be just lovely, for the sun shone right on the trees
+and the ruins. How I wish we could develop them; don't you, Helen?"
+
+"Yes, I'd like to know how, and, now that I have the camera, I shall get a
+developing outfit and learn; but let's take these right over to Charlton's
+and have him develop them for us."
+
+They started for the village to leave the plates to be developed, and
+waited with what patience they could for the following day, when the
+photographer promised to send them the proofs.
+
+They came, and one at least was truly a marvel.
+
+In the foreground of Jean's was a pretty clump of fir-trees growing beside
+an old ruined stone wall, under which nestled a bunch of dry goldenrod.
+But the background! Did ever the maddest artist's brain conceive of such?
+Clear and distinct, where sky should have been, stood--a frying-pan!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+WHISPERS
+
+
+March, with its winds and storms, slipped away as though glad to whisk
+such trying days off the calendar, and, ere the girls realized it, Easter
+vacation was upon them, and capricious April was playing the schoolgirl
+herself, with one day a smile and the next a frown. But, like the
+schoolgirl, her smiles were all the sunnier for the frowns.
+
+It must indeed be a dull, prosy old heart which cannot respond to the soft
+beauty of early spring, and want to frisk and frolic for very sympathy
+with all the new life springing into existence all about it. And there
+were no dull or prosy ones at Sunny Bank.
+
+For some time the girls had known that this would be Miss Howard's last
+year with them; but now little whispers began to fly about, as little
+whispers have a trick of doing, that Miss Howard was about to enter
+another school, where she would be pupil instead of teacher, and there
+learn the sweetest lesson ever taught on this big earth--a lesson which
+says, "Not mine and thine, but ours, for ours is mine and thine;" and,
+while they rejoiced in her happiness, they were nearly inconsolable at the
+thought of losing her, for she had filled a very beautiful place in their
+lives--far more beautiful than they suspected. It was always Miss Howard
+who entered into all their little plans and pleasures, participated in
+their joys, and sympathized with their sorrows.
+
+She was little more than a girl herself, yet possessed the strength of
+character sometimes wanting in a much older person, and by it set a
+beautiful example for her girls to follow. And they followed it
+unconsciously to themselves and to her, for never was there a more modest
+little body than Miss Howard, and had anyone hinted that she was a mighty
+balance-wheel to her fly-away girls, a source of encouragement to her
+timid ones, an inspiration to her ambitious ones, and an object of very
+sincere affection to all, she would probably have been the most surprised
+person in the school. Yet such was undoubtedly the fact, and it would have
+been a very wrong-headed girl, indeed, who was not ready to yield to her
+influence.
+
+"If I felt criss-cross with all the world, I believe I'd have to smile
+back when Miss Howard smiled at me," said Toinette, shortly after she
+became a pupil in the school. "Her eyes are just as soft as the little
+Alderney bossie's, and her lips look sort of grieved if the girls look
+cross."
+
+And so the whispers grew louder and louder till just after the Easter
+holidays were over, and then all who loved her best learned that early in
+June wedding bells would ring and a very bonny bride would step forth from
+Sunny Bank, with several bonny bridesmaids leading the way, and one maid
+of honor to scatter the posies which were to be symbolical, as all hoped,
+of her future pathway through life.
+
+And then arose the all-important question as to whom Miss Howard would
+choose for that great honor, and excitement ran high.
+
+All the girls had a strong suspicion that it would be Toinette, although,
+to do her justice, Toinette herself did not suspect it. Still, Miss Howard
+had taken a keen interest in the girl ever since she entered the school,
+and felt strongly drawn toward her, being quick to see her good qualities,
+and to understand that the undesirable ones were very largely the result
+of unfortunate circumstances. So she had striven in her sweet and gracious
+way to help Toinette without words, and had been a strong support to Miss
+Preston.
+
+As the warm spring days made wood and field to blossom, the girls spent a
+great deal of their time out of doors. Sunny Bank's grounds were very
+beautiful, and the adjacent field and woodland very enticing at that
+season. Basket-ball was a favorite source of amusement, and the lawn
+devoted to it as soft and smooth as velvet. So nearly every afternoon the
+team could be seen bounding about like so many marionettes, and if
+touseled hair and demoralized attire resulted, what did it matter? Rosy
+cheeks and ravenous appetites were excellent compensations.
+
+It was the fifteenth of April, and Toinette's birthday. Many a climb had
+the expressman's horse taken up the long hill leading to Sunny Bank that
+morning, for, if Toinette had but few friends, she certainly had a very
+generous father, who meant that she should have her full share of birthday
+remembrances, and they kept coming thick and fast all day. With each came
+a funny note to say that he was sending still another package because he
+did not want her to have all her surprises in a lump; they would seem so
+much more if coming in installments. So they kept coming all day long, and
+by four o'clock her room looked like a fancy bazaar. Last of all to arrive
+was a large box upon which was printed in flaring scarlet letters: "Not to
+be opened till it is ten A. M. in _Bombay_."
+
+The box stood in the hall when Miss Preston passed through the hall to
+dinner, and, unless suddenly stricken with ophthalmy, she could not fail
+to see the flaring notice. "Ah," she said, softly, to herself, "you have a
+triple mission, you inanimate bit of the carpenter's skill: first, to
+teach my girls a lesson in longitude and time, second, to mutely ask my
+permission for a frolic to-night, and, third, to suggest that when
+birthdays arrive it would be a most auspicious time for the "C. C. C.'s"
+to hold their revels, and that Diogenes' tub, if not himself, would be
+welcome, so I had better act upon the hint and contribute my share. Thank
+you, sir," and, with a funny little nod to the box, she went on to the
+dining-room.
+
+"What is the joke, Miss Preston?" asked Cicely, as Miss Preston took her
+seat.
+
+"Do you think I'm going to spoil it by revealing it so soon? No, indeed,"
+and she laughed softly.
+
+When dinner was ended the girls flocked around the box and curiosity ran
+riot. "What does that mean, Miss Preston? Do tell us."
+
+"I have other matters of such importance on hand that I must deputize Miss
+Howard to unravel the mystery for you," she said, as she slipped away to
+the upper hall where the telephone was placed, and a moment later the
+girls heard the bell jingle and a funny, one-sided conversation followed.
+"Hello, Central! 1305. Is this 1305? Send me the usual order. Yes, four
+kinds. Eight. Well packed. Be prompt."
+
+The porter carried the big box to Toinette's room and removed the lid for
+her. Such an array! I'm not going to attempt to tell about it, but shall
+let every girl who has ever attended a chum's birthday feast mention the
+articles of which that feast consisted, and then, after combining the
+entire list, they can form some idea of the contents of Toinette's box.
+
+"Fly, Cicely, and hunt up every C. C. C., and a dozen besides! We can
+never dispose of such a cartload of stuff in a week if we don't have the
+entire school to help us," cried Toinette, as she lifted one thing after
+another from the box.
+
+There is a saying that "Ill news flies fast," but, in my humble opinion,
+it is as a stage-coach beside the Empire State Express when compared to
+the fleetness of good news. So it did not take long to start this bit like
+an electric fluid through the school, and what sort of "Free Masonry"
+filled in details so successfully I know not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THIS TIME OF NIGHT?"
+
+
+It so happened that of the ten resident teachers but three were at home
+that evening; the others having joined a theatre party going to town, and
+it would be midnight before they returned.
+
+Those at home were Miss Preston, Miss Howard, and, unfortunately, Mrs.
+Stone. Of the first two mentioned the girls felt small apprehension, for
+they understood them pretty thoroughly, but Mrs. Stone was an obstacle not
+so easily surmounted, and it seemed to them that she was never more
+ubiquitous.
+
+At nine-thirty Miss Preston had bade all good-night in an unusually
+solicitous manner, wishing each happy dreams. Miss Howard had also retired
+to her room promptly at the stroke of the clock, and everything worked
+most auspiciously excepting the tucking away of Mother Stone, and she
+positively refused to be tucked, but kept prowling about like a lost
+spirit, till Ruth said, in desperation: "If she doesn't get settled down
+pretty soon I'll do something desperate; see if I don't."
+
+From room to room she went, popping her head in at one to ask if there was
+anything she could do for this girl, listening at the next door for sounds
+of insomnia, creeping stealthily on through the corridors to learn if any
+girl who ought to be en route for Sleepy Town had by chance missed her
+way.
+
+She had made her way as far as the lower end of the hall, where on one
+side the stairs leading to the third story joined it, and on the other a
+door opened into the bath-room, when a rustle at the head of the stairs
+caused her to glance quickly in that direction; but it was too dark for
+her to see anything at the top of them. She paused to listen, and her
+sharp ears detected the sound again. That was sufficient. Up she flew and
+came plump upon Lou Cornwall, who had not had time to fly. Lou was stout
+and did not move quickly, and was fair prey for Mrs. Stone, who was as
+thin as a match, and managed to glide about like a wraith.
+
+Lou was arrayed in her bath-robe, and had her cap and mask in her hand.
+Quickly concealing them behind her lest Mrs. Stone's sharp eyes should
+discover them even in the dark, she stood stock still waiting
+developments. Mrs. Stone stooped from her towering height of five feet
+nine to peer into the face of the plump little figure huddled in the
+corner. "How you startled me," she said. "Why are you standing here when
+everyone else is in bed, and what are you doing up this time of night?"
+
+"I had to get up, Mrs. Stone."
+
+"Why, may I enquire?"
+
+"I am going to the bath-room."
+
+"Then, why in the world don't you _go_ and not stand huddled up here as
+though you were bent on some mischief? It is no wonder that we suspect you
+when you take such extraordinary ways of doing perfectly simple things. Go
+on at once, and, if you have been hesitating because you are timid, I'll
+wait here till you return," and down she planted herself upon the top step
+to mount guard.
+
+Groaning inwardly, away went Lou, muttering: "If I don't keep you perched
+there till you nearly freeze, my name isn't Lou Cornwall!"
+
+And keep her she did, till Mrs. Stone had another trouble added to her
+many, for she began to fear that Lou had been taken ill, and went to the
+bath-room door to speak to her. Finding that she could not hold out any
+longer, out she came, and, after receiving some very emphatic admonitions
+from Mrs. Stone, crept away to her room disgusted with herself, the world
+at large, and Mrs. Stone in particular.
+
+Meantime, the other girls began to suspect that Lou had fallen into
+ambush, and sent out a scout to reconnoiter, and it was not many seconds
+before the scout came scuttling back with the alarming information that
+the enemy was close at hand; in fact, that she was even now coming upon
+them in force, for, when Mother Stone found that Lou did not come from the
+bath-room as promptly as she thought she should, all her suspicions were
+instantly aroused, and she was keen to make discoveries.
+
+The girls had planned to meet in Toinette's room, and creep from there to
+the old laundry as soon as all were assembled. About a dozen were already
+there, but, when the scout returned with such dire tidings, they decided
+that discretion was the better part of valor, and all made haste to get
+back to their rooms ere the enemy appeared. But, alack-a-day! that enemy
+could flit about in a surprisingly lively manner, and, ere some of them
+had reached safety behind their own doors, she came in view. To get to
+their rooms now was out of the question, so, making a virtue of necessity,
+they all slipped into a large closet used by the housemaids for their
+brooms, etc.
+
+Whether it was from a wholesome fear that Miss Preston would be very apt
+to criticize a too pronounced vigilance that Mrs. Stone refrained from
+opening the girls' doors, but contented herself with simply listening, I
+cannot say, but if she heard no sound within she always passed on and left
+them to their innocent (?) slumbers. So on she went from one room to
+another, but, luckily, the alarm had gone before, and at each room
+darkness and profound silence prevailed. Satisfied that "all was well,"
+she murmured something about, "It is always well to be upon the alert, for
+once the girls understand that someone is sure to detect the first signs
+of mischief, they are far less liable to carry it to excess," she set off
+for her own room. In passing by the housemaid's door she saw that it was
+not tightly closed and locked, as was the custom at night, and, with a
+joyous chuckle at her own astuteness, she pounced upon it, locked the
+door, and withdrawing the key sailed triumphantly to her room, where,
+serene in her sense of well-doing, she fell as sound asleep as her nature
+permitted.
+
+Meantime, how fared it with the mice in the trap? When the key was turned
+in the door, and they were made prisoners, nothing but the pitch darkness
+which enveloped them as a garment prevented each girl's face from plainly
+announcing to her neighbor: "Here is a pretty kettle of fish!" There were
+five in the closet: Ruth, Edith, Pauline, May and Marie. Luckily, a
+resourceful party. When all sound from the hall had ceased, Ruth gave just
+one howl, and then jumped up and down three times as hard as she could
+jump, by way of giving vent to her state of mind. Fortunately, the door
+was a heavy one and the sound did not reach Mother Stone's ears.
+
+"You crazy thing!" exclaimed Edith, "next thing you know you will have her
+after us again."
+
+"Suppose we do; we've got to get out somehow, haven't we?"
+
+"Yes, but she is the last one in the world we want to let us out. What a
+fix! If the girls only knew of it, they would come and let us out."
+
+"How could they when she has the key, I'd like to know?"
+
+Edith groaned: "I never thought of that plagued old key. Bother take her
+and it, too! Why couldn't she have gone to bed just as everybody else did,
+and have minded her own business, too."
+
+"That was exactly what she thought she was doing," laughed May.
+
+"It's all very well to laugh, but _how_ are we to get down to the laundry,
+I'd like to know; or the girls ever find out where we are?"
+
+While all this talking had been going on, little Marie, the liveliest,
+slightest, most quick-witted girl in the school, had been doing a lot of
+thinking, and now turned to the others and said:
+
+"Do you see that scrap of a window up there?"
+
+"Yes, we see it, but it might as well be a rat-hole, for all the good it
+will do us; nothing but a rat could crawl through it!"
+
+"Don't be too sure," answered Marie, with a knowing laugh. "I can get
+through a pretty small space when occasion demands, and, if I'm not much
+mistaken, the demand is very urgent just at this moment."
+
+"How under the sun can you reach it, even if you can get through it after
+you've reached it?"
+
+"What good have you derived from your gymnastic training this winter, I'd
+like to know, if you have to ask me that?" demanded Marie.
+
+The window was one of those odd little affairs one sometimes sees built in
+houses, perhaps simply to excite curiosity and make one wonder why they
+were ever built at all, for they do not seem to be of the slightest use.
+The one in question was situated high up in the closet, and had probably
+been put there for ventilating purposes, if anyone ever felt inclined to
+get a step-ladder and clamber up to open it. It was shaped like a segment
+of a circle, was only about eighteen inches high at the widest part, and
+fastened at the top with a bolt. Getting at it in broad daylight would not
+have been an easy matter, and now, with only the light of the moon shining
+through it, it seemed an impossibility.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"LOVE (AND SCHOOLGIRLS) LAUGH AT LOCKSMITHS"
+
+
+"Here, I'm going to take command of affairs, since no one else seems
+inclined to," cried Marie. "May, you are the strongest girl here; just
+give me a shoulder, will you?"
+
+"What shall I do?"
+
+"Stand close to the wall underneath the window, and let me get on your
+shoulder; it may hurt a bit, but we can't stay stived up in here all
+night. Lend a hand, Ruth, and boost me up."
+
+A step-ladder of knees and arms was formed, and up scrambled Marie as
+nimbly as a squirrel. Then another obstacle confronted her. The window had
+probably never been opened since it was built, and, having never been
+called upon to do its share in the economy of that household, was
+disinclined to begin now. Marie's slender fingers were dented and pinched
+in vain; that window remained obdurate.
+
+"For mercy sake come down and give the old thing up! My shoulder is
+crushed flat," said May.
+
+"Wait just one second longer, and I'll have it; see if I don't. Ruth, hand
+me that stair-brush, please."
+
+Ruth gave her the brush, and, saying to May: "Now, brace yourself for a
+mighty push," she used the handle as a lever, gave a vigorous jerk, when
+away went bolt, window, Marie and all. Down she came with a thud, but,
+luckily, on a pile of sweeping cloths, which saved her from harm.
+
+Scrabbling up, she cried: "Never mind, I'm not hurt a bit; now boost me up
+again, and let me see what is outside."
+
+She was promptly lifted up, and, poking her saucy head out into the
+moonlight, drew in long whiffs of the sweet night air, which was
+wonderfully refreshing after the stuffy closet.
+
+"The shed is about ten feet below, girls. If I had anything to lower
+myself down with I could easily reach it; I'm almost afraid to let myself
+drop, the shed slopes so."
+
+"Hang fast a second while Ruth and I tie the sweeping-cloths together,"
+cried May, and quickly catching up the calico covers they began to tie
+them together.
+
+"See that you tie them tightly," warned Marie. "I've had one bump already,
+and I don't want another."
+
+The cloths were soon ready, and one end handed to her. She fastened it
+securely about her waist, and, warning the others to hang on for dear
+life, she began to crawl through the narrow opening.
+
+"My goodness, she is just like a monkey," said Pauline. "I never could
+have done it in the world," a most superfluous assertion, as no one in the
+world would ever have suspected her of being able to.
+
+Away went Marie, vanishing bit by bit from their sight till only her
+laughing black eyes, with the soft dark hair above them, were visible in
+the moonlight. The girls lowered away slowly, and presently felt the
+strain upon the cloths relax.
+
+"She's on the shed! Good!" said Edith, "and now she'll have us out in less
+than jig time."
+
+But "many's the slip twixt the--lip and the birthday box," and the girls
+began to suspect Marie of treachery to the cause ere they again heard her
+voice.
+
+[Illustration: "AWAY WENT MARIE, VANISHING BIT BY BIT."]
+
+Meantime, how fared it with her? Once upon the shed all seemed plain
+sailing, but the shed was somewhat like the mountains Moses climbed so
+wearily; it gave her a glimpse of the promised land without permitting her
+to enter it. The ground was fully sixteen feet below her, and to reach it
+without some means other than her own nimble legs was obviously
+impossible. The shed was only a small one built out over the kitchen, but
+just beyond, with perhaps five feet dividing them, was the end of the
+piazza roof, and if she could only reach that she could let herself down
+to the ground by the thick vines growing upon it. But those five feet
+intervening looked a perfect gulf, and how to get over them was a poser.
+Jump it she dared not; step it she could not. It began to look as though
+she must signal to the girls in the closet to haul in their big fish, when
+she chanced to spy something sticking up through the honeysuckle vines.
+Crawling carefully down to the edge of the shed, she peered over, and saw
+the ends of the gardener's ladder. Pauline had not made a mistake when she
+called her a monkey, for in just one second she was at the bottom of that
+ladder.
+
+"Now I'm all right, and will soon have the girls free," and off she
+scurried to the side of the house upon which Toinette's room was situated.
+Gathering up a handful of soft earth she threw it against the window, but
+with no result. Then a second one followed. Had she but known it, Toinette
+and her revellers had long ago given them up, and were now down in the old
+laundry spreading forth their array of goodies. After wasting considerable
+time, Marie suddenly bethought her of the above fact, and instantly
+skipped off to that Mecca.
+
+There was not a ray of light visible, but, happily, sight is not the only
+sense with which we are endowed, and Marie's ears were as keen as her
+eyes. Giving the three signal taps upon one of the tightly closed
+window-blinds, she waited a reply. But the girls were not expecting taps
+from that quarter, and at once became suspicious. But precious moments
+were fleeing, and Marie was becoming desperate, so, flinging prudence to
+the winds, she gave three sounding bangs upon that window, and called
+out:
+
+"If you don't open this window and let me in I'll set Mother Stone on your
+track, sure as you live!"
+
+Open flew the window, and a moment later Marie was relating her
+experiences to them. Then came the question of rescuing the others. Not an
+easy one to answer. But Marie had gone so far, and, being a very
+resourceful little body, had no notion of giving up yet, and saying to the
+revellers: "I'm going to let those girls out if I have to take the door
+down to do it," off she flitted, as quickly and silently as a butterfly.
+In less time than it takes to tell it she stood outside their prison, and
+saying, encouragingly: "Don't give up, girls; I'll soon have you out," she
+slipped into the sewing-room opposite, and emerged a second later with the
+little oil-can and screw-driver from the machine drawer.
+
+"For gracious sake, what _are_ you going to do?" whispered Cicely, who had
+come with her to help if possible.
+
+"Something I once saw a carpenter at our house do, if I can. Sh! Don't
+make any noise," and, reaching up to the top hinge, Marie dropped a few
+drops of oil from her can upon it, and then treated the lower one in the
+same manner. The hinges were what are known as "fish hinges," the door
+being held in place by a small iron peg slipped into the sockets of the
+hinge. After she had oiled them, she placed her screw-driver under the
+knob of the peg, when, lo! up it slid as easily as could be, and when both
+had been carefully slid out of place, nothing prevented the door from
+being softly drawn away from the hinges, swung outward, and if it did not
+open from left to right, as it had been intended to open, it was quite as
+easy to walk through it when it opened from right to left. To slip it back
+into place, when five giggling girls had escaped, was equally easy, and no
+one would ever have suspected the skillful bit of mechanical engineering
+that had taken place under their very noses at ten-thirty that night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+ARIADNE'S CLUE
+
+
+The manner in which those liberated girls skipped down to the laundry was
+certainly not snail-like. They had nearly reached it when Ruth's feet
+became entangled in a piece of string, and, stooping down to loosen it,
+she discovered a slip of paper fastened to the end, and a large pin which
+had evidently stuck it fast to the door-casing. No doubt some of the girls
+had brushed against it in their hurry-scurry to reach the laundry, and,
+but for the ill wind which blew five of them into the housemaid's closet,
+this significant scrap of paper would never have been discovered. The
+candle they carried was brought to bear upon it, and they read the
+following words:
+
+               In ancient days, so the stories say,
+               One Theseus found a remarkable way
+               Of reaching a point he wished to gain,
+               And down to posterity came his fame.
+
+               So, perhaps, posterity may also do well
+               To follow a "clue," but never to tell
+               Just what they found at the further end,
+               Lest a rule should break instead of bend.
+
+"What can it mean? Where does it lead to?" were the questions eagerly
+whispered.
+
+"Come on, and let's find out," was Ruth's practical remark, and she began
+to wind up the string. There seemed no end to it, and it led them through
+the corridor, out of that into the kitchen, then out to a small store-room
+built beneath the kitchen porch. Here the end was tied to a very
+suggestive-looking tub.
+
+Had Diogenes succeeded in discovering an honest man he could not have felt
+greater satisfaction than these girls felt at the sight of that modest
+little oval tub, with its sawdust covering; and the way in which it was
+pounced upon, and borne in triumph to the laundry, brings my story of that
+night's revels to a climax, and no more need be told.
+
+When the twelve o'clock train whistled it was the signal for the revels to
+end, and, ere the carriages which were to meet the theatre-goers could
+bring them up the hill, Sunny Bank was as quiet and peaceful as though all
+its inmates had been dreaming for hours.
+
+The weather had become beautifully soft and balmy for the middle of April,
+and the girls were able to sit out of doors, and do many of the things
+they had not hoped to do till May should burgeon and bloom.
+
+A few days after the frolic Toinette was sitting in one of the pretty
+little summer-houses, of which there were several dotted about the
+grounds, when Miss Howard came in and took her seat beside her.
+
+"You have been playing at hide-and-seek with me without knowing it," she
+said, "for I have been searching for you everywhere, and only discovered
+you here by the glint of the sunshine upon your hair."
+
+"Did you want me, Miss Howard? I'm sorry you had to hunt for me," answered
+Toinette. "What can I do for you?"
+
+"Give me some wise advice," said Miss Howard, smiling.
+
+"_I_ give you advice!" exclaimed Toinette.
+
+"Yes; don't you think you can?"
+
+"I shall have to know what it is about before I dare say yes or no, Miss
+Howard."
+
+"You know that I am going to leave you in a few weeks, dear, and I want my
+leave-taking to be closely identified with my girls, whom I have learned
+to love so dearly, and whom, I think, love me as well as I love them. I
+have spent many happy years in this school, first as pupil and then as
+teacher, and it has been a very dear home to me. Now I am going away from
+it forever, and though the future looks very enticing, and I have every
+reason to believe that it will be happy, still I cannot help feeling sad
+at the thought of leaving the old life behind. These are serious
+confidences for me to burden you with, Toinette, but you have crept into a
+very warm corner of my heart since you became a pupil here, and I know
+that there is a wise little head upon these shoulders," said Miss Howard,
+as she placed her hand on Toinette's shoulder.
+
+The girl reached up, and drawing the hand close to her cheek held it
+there, but did not speak.
+
+"So now," continued Miss Howard, "I am going to ask you to help my
+outgoing from this happy home to be a pleasant one, by being my maid of
+honor when the time comes; will you, dear?"
+
+"You want _me_ to be the maid of honor, Miss Howard? You don't truly mean
+it? There are so many other girls whom you have known so much longer, and
+whom you must love better than you do me; although I don't believe they
+_can_ love _you_ any better than I do," said Toinette, naively.
+
+"That is just it, dear. I do love them all, and am sure that they are very
+fond of me. But in your case it is just a little different. All these
+girls have pleasant homes, and many loved ones in them who plan for their
+happiness, and to whom they will go directly vacation begins. For many
+years you, like myself, have had no home but the one a school offered, and
+which, unlike mine, was sometimes not as happy a home as it might have
+been, I fear. So, you see, we have, in one way, had a bond of sympathy
+between us even before we knew it to be so. And now we have still another,
+for when we leave here in June we shall each go to our own dear home; you
+to one your father shall make for you, I to the one my husband will
+provide for me."
+
+A soft, pretty color had crept over Miss Howard's face as she spoke, and a
+very tender look came into her beautiful eyes. Truly, she was carrying
+something very sweet and holy to the one who was to bear that name.
+
+"So we shall step out into the new life together, shall we not, Toinette,
+and each will be the sweeter for our having done so?" asked Miss Howard.
+
+"It is too lovely even to think about, Miss Howard. I don't know how to
+make you understand how proud and happy it makes me to think that you
+chose me from among all the others, and I hope they will not feel that you
+should not have done so. Do you think they will mind?"
+
+"On the contrary, they are delighted with my choice, for I told them my
+reasons, as I have told them to you, and they see it in the same light
+that I see it."
+
+"Then I shall be the happiest girl in Montcliff," cried Toinette.
+
+"No, _next_ to the happiest," said Miss Howard, laughing softly.
+
+"Well, I shall be the happiest in _my_ way, and you in _yours_," and
+Toinette wagged her head as though it would be of no use for Miss Howard
+to try to make her concede _that_ point.
+
+"And now let us plan our maid of honor's toilet, and also what our six
+bridesmaids must wear. It was upon that important question I wished your
+advice, and, now that you know, do you feel qualified to give it?"
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" cried Toinette. "Why, Miss Howard, it is almost like
+planning for my own wedding, and you are too sweet for anything to let
+me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+"WHEN BUDS AND BLOSSOMS BURST"
+
+
+The planning of the toilets took considerable time, and Miss Howard felt
+that she had made no mistake when she asked the girl's advice. Like her
+father's, Toinette's taste was unerring, and when she said:
+
+"Wouldn't it be pretty to have the girls represent flowers?" Miss Howard
+was delighted with the idea.
+
+"What flowers would you suggest, dear?" she asked.
+
+"Let me think just a moment, please," said Toinette, and she rested her
+chin upon her hands, a favorite attitude of hers when thinking seriously
+of anything. "How would a lily, a violet, a pansy, a daffodil, a
+narcissus, and a snowdrop do?"
+
+"How pretty!" exclaimed Miss Howard. "What put such a picturesque idea in
+your head? It is beautiful, and can be carried out admirably. You must be
+my fair and lovely lily; then shall come my violet and daffodil; then my
+narcissus and lilac; then my pansy and modest little snowdrop. That will
+exactly suit Helen."
+
+"Who are to be the bridesmaids?"
+
+"Edith, May, Ruth, Marie, Natala and Helen."
+
+"How nice of you to choose all the younger girls; it makes us feel so
+important. Now, let's plan just what the dresses are to be," said
+Toinette, becoming quite excited, and looking at Miss Howard as though all
+must be completed ere they left the summer-house.
+
+"I am waiting for your suggestions," said she.
+
+"Wouldn't it be pretty to have all the dresses made of white chiffon, or
+something soft like that, and have white, violet and yellow slips under
+them? Then have the hats trimmed with the flowers they represent. Would
+you like that, Miss Howard?"
+
+"Yes, immensely; but now I want to think about Helen. You know she has
+very limited means, and what might seem a small outlay for the others
+would probably be a large one for her, and I do not want to tax her
+resources, much as I wish to have her for one of my bonny maids."
+
+"Yes," said Toinette, meditatively, "I suppose the dresses will be rather
+expensive, but it would be too bad not to have Helen; she is so sweet and
+is so fond of you, Miss Howard."
+
+"Yes, she is a dear child, and I have felt a great interest in her from
+the moment she entered the school. I wish I knew of some way of bettering
+her circumstances. Mr. Burgess is a most estimable man, but not one liable
+to advance rapidly through his own efforts, I fear. He is most reliable
+and capable, but seems to lack the push so essential in this bustling day
+and age. He would prove invaluable in any position of trust, but would
+never secure such if it depended upon his own efforts to do so."
+
+Toinette had listened very attentively while Miss Howard was talking, and
+when she finished said:
+
+"When papa was out here for the dance I spoke to him about Helen, and we
+had such a nice little talk. The next day he spoke with Miss Preston about
+those very things, but I do not know what came of it. I wish I did. His
+business affairs bring him into contact with so many large firms of
+different kinds that I am almost sure he could secure something for Mr.
+Burgess. Do you know what I am going to do?" said Toinette, eagerly, "I am
+going to write to him right off, tell him all about our plans; may I?
+About the wedding, the bridesmaids, and everything; then I am going to ask
+him if he has heard of anything that he thinks would help Mr. Burgess,
+and, who knows, maybe, by the first of June all will be fixed up so nicely
+that Helen can have things as nice as the other girls--and, oh, Miss
+Howard!--wouldn't it be _lovely_ if she could go abroad with Miss
+Preston?" and Toinette clasped her hands in rapture at the very thought.
+
+Miss Howard laughed a happy little laugh, and, taking Toinette's face in
+both her hands, kissed her cheeks very tenderly, saying as she did so:
+
+"I see that I made no mistake in my estimate of your character, dear,
+although I did not bargain for quite such a wise, resourceful little head
+and efficient helper as you have proved. How did you manage to think out
+so much in so short a time?"
+
+"I suppose it is because my brains have never been overburdened with
+thoughts for other people," said Toinette, with an odd expression
+overspreading her face, "and so the part of them devoted to that sort of
+thing has had time to develop to an astonishing degree. But I guess I'd
+better begin to use the power before it becomes abnormal; Miss Preston
+says that abnormal development of any sort is dangerous," and she gave a
+funny little laugh as she glanced slyly into Miss Howard's eyes.
+
+Miss Howard understood the quaint remark, and, rising from her seat, said:
+"I shall not soon forget our little talk, but must leave you now for the
+'school ma'am's' duties. One of them will be to endeavor to persuade
+Pauline that it was _not_ Henry VIII. who sought to reduce the American
+Colonies to submission, nor Lafayette who won the battle of Waterloo.
+Good-bye," and away tripped Miss Howard over the soft green lawn.
+
+Toinette sat for a few moments, and then, springing up, said to herself:
+"I might as well go and write that letter this very minute, and I do hope
+papa will know of something right off. How lovely it would be!"
+
+The letter was soon written, and within two hours was speeding upon its
+way to New York. Toinette had reasoned well, and, as good luck would have
+it, the letter arrived at a most auspicious moment. As Mr. Reeve sat
+reading it, his face reflecting the happiness he felt at receiving it so
+close upon the one which came to him every Monday morning, a client was
+shown into his office.
+
+It happened to be one who was about to embark upon a new line of business
+in which he was venturing large sums of money, and which required capable,
+trustworthy men to carry out his plans. He had consulted with Mr. Reeve
+many times before, and nearly all details were completed; the few that
+remained dealt with minor matters, so Mr. Reeve felt considerable
+satisfaction at the thought of having brought all arrangements through so
+successfully. But it was certainly anything but a contented face he saw
+before him when he glanced up from Toinette's letter upon Mr. Fowler's
+entrance, and his first words were: "Well, for a prosperous capitalist,
+you bear a woeful countenance, Ned."
+
+"If mine is woeful, yours certainly is not," was the prompt answer. "You
+look as though you had been the recipient of some very pleasing news."
+
+"A pretty good sort," said Mr. Reeve, smiling. "The sort that makes a man
+feel old and young at the same time. Ever get any of that?"
+
+"Don't know as I do; it must be a rare specimen," said Mr. Fowler, dryly.
+"Better let me know the kind it is; perhaps it will counterbalance the
+kind I have for you this morning; confound it!"
+
+Seeing that Mr. Fowler was really disturbed about something, Mr. Reeve
+dropped his bantering tone, and went to serious matters. He then learned
+that the bookkeeper whom Mr. Fowler had engaged for the new line of
+business, and who would also act as his confidential clerk and office
+manager, would be unable to accept the position, as he was called to
+England by the death of his father, and would in future make his home
+there. This was a serious loss to Mr. Fowler, for he had known this man
+for years, and felt deep satisfaction at the thought of having such an
+efficient assistant.
+
+"And now," he said, when he had told Mr. Reeve all the facts, "who under
+heavens am I to find to fill his place at such short notice, I'd like to
+know? Such men are not to be picked up at every corner."
+
+"Read that letter," was all Mr. Reeve said, and handed him Toinette's
+letter.
+
+Mr. Fowler took the letter, and began reading with a very mystified
+expression, as though he could not for the life of him understand what a
+letter from Mr. Reeve's daughter had to do with his private affairs. But,
+as he read, his expression changed, and when he came to the end he said:
+"Well, it may be Kismet; can't say. Funnier things have happened. Look
+into it, will you, Clayton? I'm sick and tired of the thing, particularly
+when I thought all important details settled."
+
+And Clayton Reeve did "look into it" very thoroughly, leaving no stone
+unturned which would help him to learn all that it was necessary to know
+about Mr. Burgess, and nothing could possibly have been more gratifying
+than what he learned. As a result of it, Mr. Burgess was offered the
+position from June first, and the salary offered with it seemed a princely
+one to him as compared to the one he had received as clerk in the bank in
+Montcliff. It would be hard to understand the happiness which that
+schoolgirl letter brought to one family, or how the writing of it changed
+two lives very materially, and a third completely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+COMMENCEMENT
+
+
+Many a girl has asked: "Why do they call it commencement when it is really
+the end?" If they have not found out why, I am not going to tell the
+secret. But one thing I have found out is this: Never in after life do we
+ever feel _quite_ so important as we do when that day has been reached
+upon our life's calendar.
+
+It was no exception at Sunny Bank, and when the fifth of June dawned that
+year it found a busy, bustling household. No, I am not telling the exact
+truth: it was not when it _dawned_, but fully three hours later, and then
+began the hurry-scurry which continued till all were assembled in chapel
+to listen to the opening prayer of the good man who had for many a year
+opened the Sunny Bank commencement exercises.
+
+He had grown old in faithful service in Montcliff, and was beloved and
+revered by all.
+
+It is of no use for me to tell you all about those exercises; to an
+outsider they were exactly like many others that had taken place before;
+to the girls themselves they were unique, and stood out pre-eminent above
+all others. Everybody was there who had the smallest excuse for being, and
+just how happy six bodies were I will leave you to learn from what
+follows.
+
+The exercises were to take place in the evening, and all day long
+relatives and friends of the girls arrived thick and fast. Among the first
+was Toinette's father. "Couldn't wait till evening, you see," he cried, as
+he met Toinette at the railway station. "Yes, it is all settled; I got
+them by a lucky chance at the very last moment."
+
+"Did you say anything to Mr. Burgess about it?" asked Toinette.
+
+"No, I have not seen him; daresay he has had his hands full since the
+first. We'll speak to Miss Preston first, and then call at the Burgess'
+and tell them."
+
+"How perfectly splendid! Oh, daddy, you are a perfect wonder! How do you
+ever manage to fetch things about so successfully?"
+
+"Because I have found a wonderful incentive to spur me on," he answered as
+he handed her into the carriage which was waiting for them, and they
+whirled off up the hill.
+
+"And you will stay here till after the wedding, won't you?" asked
+Toinette, snuggling close to his side and slipping her arm through his.
+
+"What! Five whole days? What will you do with me all that time?"
+
+"No danger of your suffering from ennui, I guess," laughed Toinette. "I
+will guarantee to keep you occupied. And then, daddy, after all is over
+we'll go off together, and won't we have glorious times!" and she gave a
+rapturous little bounce at the thought of the delightful days to come.
+
+Miss Preston was to sail for Europe on the fifteenth of June, five days
+after Miss Howard's wedding, and six girls were to go with her. When it
+became an understood thing that Mr. Burgess' financial affairs were to be
+so improved, the possibility of Helen making one of the party was talked
+over, although Mrs. Burgess was filled with dismay at the thought of
+having her daughter take such a step upon such short notice; it seemed a
+tremendous thing to that quiet, home-staying body. Still, Miss Preston had
+long been anxious to have Helen go with her, and, now that there seemed no
+further obstacle to her doing so, could not make up her mind to go without
+her.
+
+She had talked it over with both Mr. and Mrs. Burgess, but, it must be
+confessed, had met with only lukewarm enthusiasm. Furthermore, it was very
+late in the day to secure stateroom accommodation upon the steamer by
+which Miss Preston would sail, her own and the girls having been engaged
+for weeks.
+
+Helen herself said very little, but Miss Preston knew that the girl's
+heart had long been set upon going, and this year the route planned took
+in the very points she had most wished to visit, and which would prove the
+most profitable for her to visit. In desperation, Miss Preston turned to
+Mr. Reeve once more, for she had found him a most resourceful man, and one
+not likely to be easily baffled.
+
+The result was that he had succeeded in making a mutually agreeable
+exchange of staterooms with some other people, and was now primed and
+ready to carry the war into the enemy's country.
+
+Soon after luncheon they all drove to Stonybrook, a town about ten miles
+from Montcliff, and Helen's home. Evidently their persuasive powers were
+strong, for ere the visit ended it was decided that Helen should make one
+of Miss Preston's party to sail with her "over the ocean blue," and some
+very happy people drove back to Montcliff that afternoon.
+
+The house seemed very quiet after the girls' departure for their homes on
+the day following commencement, for, excepting those who lived too far
+away to return for the wedding, and would remain as Miss Preston's guests
+until after the tenth, all had left that morning, and when a house has
+been filled with twenty-five or thirty girls, and all but eight or ten
+suddenly depart from it, the quiet which ensues cannot be overlooked.
+
+Mr. Reeve gave himself up to the enjoyment of his five days' vacation as
+only a busy man can, and when I add that he was a very happy man, too, I
+need say no more.
+
+The year had been one of many experiences both for him and for Toinette,
+and for both was ending far more happily than he had hoped it would. The
+future seemed to promise a great deal to them both, for they were growing
+to understand each other better every day, and Toinette was developing
+into a very lovely, as well as a very lovable, companion. They had planned
+a delightful summer vacation, to be spent in travelling leisurely from
+place to place, as the fancy took them, and Toinette had suggested nearly
+all.
+
+The five days at Montcliff were spent in driving about the beautiful
+country, playing tennis, rambling about the pretty woods, and doing an
+endless number of delightful nothings, as people can sometimes do when
+they fully make up their minds to put aside the cares of the world for a
+time.
+
+They soon came to an end, and then came Miss Howard's wedding day.
+
+There has always seemed something inexpressibly sweet in Longfellow's
+words in reference to the forming of new ties and establishing the new
+home. In Miss Howard's case it was to be a home filled with all the
+sweetest hopes that can come into a woman's life: hopes sanctified by love
+and founded upon respect. Could they have a firmer foundation? The future
+held great promise for her, although worldly-minded folk might say that
+the step she was about to take was not marked off by a _golden_
+mile-stone, nor the path she would follow be paved with a golden pavement.
+She knew that quite well, and had wisely decided that a noble character
+and a brilliant mind were excellent substitutes, however agreeable it may
+be to have the former, and, also, that the former minus the latter are
+fairy gold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+"O FORTUNATE, O HAPPY DAY"
+
+
+                "O fortunate, O happy day,
+                    When a new household finds its place
+                  Among the myriad homes of earth,
+                  Like a new star just sprung to birth,
+                And rolled on its harmonious way
+                    Into the boundless realms of space!"
+
+As though all that was loveliest had united to do her honor, and make the
+boundary-line between the old and the new life one to be long remembered
+by all who stood beside her at it, the day set for Miss Howard's wedding
+was all that Lowell has written about it. It was as "rare" and "perfect"
+as dear Mother Nature could make it for one of her loveliest children.
+
+The girls had dressed the church, until it seemed a very bower of bloom,
+and at every turn Miss Howard would find the posies of which she was so
+fond. The three colors, if white may be called a color, chosen for the
+bridesmaids' dresses were used in the decorations, and altar, chancel,
+transept and aisles were brilliant with daffodils, narcissuses and lilacs,
+which filled the church with their perfume.
+
+The wedding was to take place at four o'clock, and when that hour arrived
+little space was left in the church for the tardy ones.
+
+Nearly all the girls had returned for the ceremony, and a bonnier lot it
+would have been difficult to find than that which filled the front pews of
+the church, for Miss Howard would have them all near her, insisting that
+none of the other guests could possibly have the same loving thoughts for
+her that her girls would have.
+
+Promptly at the stroke of four the great organ rolled out its message to
+all, and, after her few distant relatives had been conducted to their
+seats, Miss Howard's bonny bridesmaids appeared, following another fancy
+of hers by walking together, with the ushers leading. First came Edith and
+Marie; Edith's yellow golden hair a perfect background for the big white
+chip hat, with its masses of violets, and her fair, soft skin made softer
+and fairer by the fairy-like chiffon draped so artistically over the pale
+violet satin beneath it. A daintily gilded basket filled with violets told
+all the story.
+
+Saucy and pert beside her walked the little brownie Marie, looking for all
+the world like the bobbing daffies in her white basket. One wanted to sing
+the old nursery rhyme: "Daffy-down-dilly has come to town," for they were
+nodding a friendly greeting from her hat, and seemed to lend their golden
+sheen to the satin beneath the white chiffon gown.
+
+Behind them followed May Foster and Natala King. May's bronze-brown hair
+and brilliant coloring were a perfect foil for the creamy-white narcissus
+blossoms on her hat and the creamy-white of her gown. While Natala's
+light-brown hair and hazel eyes needed just the lilac tints to show how
+pretty they were.
+
+Then came Ruth and Helen. Could Miss Howard have chosen two who, placed
+beside each other, would have formed a more pronounced contrast? Not even
+the solemnity of the occasion could overcome Ruth's ruling passion,
+curiosity: she was determined to see all to be seen if it rested with her
+to do so. Nor were the pert pansy blossoms upon her hat, nodding a welcome
+to all, more on the alert. Or could those which peeped from the folds of
+her pansy-yellow gown, with its white chiffon draperies, smile in a more
+friendly manner than did Ruth, as she walked slowly up that aisle, with
+shy, modest Helen at her side. Helen looked the snowdrop to perfection,
+for if the pansies needed Ruth's gypsy coloring for a foil, the snowdrops
+needed Helen's pale blonde daintiness for theirs. The only color which
+relieved its pure white was the deep green of the wax-like leaves, and the
+contrast was perfect. The dress was of that soft silvery white only to be
+contrived by the combination of satin and chiffon, and Helen looked very
+lovely.
+
+Behind them, a dream of fairness, walked Toinette. Through the chiffon of
+her gown ran fine golden threads, which caused it to glint and glisten as
+the sunbeams. The white satin underneath was of that peculiar ivory tint
+which combines so exquisitely with gold tints. Her hat was made of the
+chiffon, and trimmed with Easter lilies, which nestled in its soft folds
+and against the beautiful golden hair beneath them. Her basket was also
+white, and she was a fitting emblem of the pure soul she was leading to
+the altar.
+
+Then came the bride, her hand resting lightly upon the arm of the friend
+who had led her along the greater part of her life's pathway, for Miss
+Preston had been Miss Howard's "guide, philosopher and friend" almost as
+long as she could remember. Very stately did she look, as she walked up
+that aisle to give away at the altar something which the years had
+rendered very precious to her, for sometimes "old maids' children" are
+more dear to them than are the children who claim the love of parents.
+
+Miss Preston was very proud of her honors.
+
+But no words can describe the girl who walked at her side, her beautiful
+face made transcendently so by the tenderest, holiest thought that can
+fill a woman's heart: that she is about to become the wife of the man she
+loves. She seemed to forget the church and all who were gathered there to
+witness her happiness, and the soft, dark eyes looked straight before her
+to the altar, where her husband to be awaited her, as though that altar
+was to her as the entrance to the holy of holies; as, indeed, it was.
+
+How brief is a marriage ceremony! A few words are spoken and two lives are
+changed forever, never again to be the same as they were less than ten
+minutes before, but filled with new duties, new obligations, and the
+responsibilities we must all assume when we utter the words: "I will." God
+meant that it should be so, and it is one of this world's many blessings.
+
+[Illustration: "THE BRIDE, HER HAND RESTING LIGHTLY ON THE ARM OF HER
+FRIEND."]
+
+The reception Miss Preston gave for her "adopted daughter," as she called
+Miss Howard, now Mrs. Chichester, was long talked over by the school, and
+quoted by the girls as "our reception" for months.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Chichester sailed for Europe on the same steamer which
+carried Miss Preston and her girls, and a happier, merrier party it would
+have been hard to find. Toinette and Mr. Reeve went to bid them farewell
+and a pleasant voyage, and the last faces those upon the great ship saw as
+they swung out into the stream were Toinette's and her father's.
+
+And now we, too, must leave them--leave them to the happy summer vacation,
+when they learned how dear they were to each other, and what a dear old
+world this is, after all, when two people manage to look at it through
+little Dan Cupid's spectacles.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson
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diff --git a/26549-8.zip b/26549-8.zip
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+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson.
+</title>
+
+<style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    p                 {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;}
+    body              {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    a                 {text-decoration: none;}
+    h3                {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size: 1.2em;}
+    .pncolor          {color: silver;}
+    div.ce p          {text-align: center; margin: auto 0;}
+    .figcenter        {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center;}
+    .caption          {font-size:.8em;}
+    table             {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;}
+    .pagenum          {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;}
+    hr.major          {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;}
+    hr.silver         {width: 100%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;}
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+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Caps and Capers
+       A Story of Boarding-School Life
+
+Author: Gabrielle E. Jackson
+
+Illustrator: C. M. Relyea
+
+Release Date: September 7, 2008 [EBook #26549]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPS AND CAPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-cvr.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 327px; height: 463px;' /><br />
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style='font-size:1.4em;'>CAPS AND CAPERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 333px; height: 455px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 333px;'>
+<i>Frontispiece&mdash;Caps and Capers</i>. &#8220;NOW, GIRLS, COME ON! LET&#8217;S EAT OUR CREAM.&#8221; See p. 92.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style='font-size:2.2em; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em;'>CAPS and CAPERS</p>
+<p style='font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:2em; font-style:italic;'>A Story of Boarding-School Life</p>
+<p>by</p>
+<p style='font-size:1.5em; margin-bottom:1em; font-variant:small-caps;'>Gabrielle E. Jackson</p>
+<p style='font-size:0.8em; font-style:italic;'>Author of &#8220;Pretty Polly Perkins,&#8221;</p>
+<p style='font-size:0.8em; font-style:italic;'>&#8220;Denise and Ned Toodles,&#8221; &#8220;By Love&#8217;s</p>
+<p style='font-size:0.8em; font-style:italic;'>Sweet Rule,&#8221; &#8220;The Colburn Prize,&#8221;</p>
+<p style='font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:3em; font-style:italic;'>etc., etc.</p>
+<p>With illustrations</p>
+<p style='margin-bottom:2em;'>by C. M. <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Relyea</span></p>
+<p style='letter-spacing:0.5em;'>PHILADELPHIA</p>
+<p>HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style='font-size:0.8em;'>Copyright, 1901, by Henry Altemus</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce' style='font-size:0.8em; font-variant:small-caps;'>
+<p>To</p>
+<p>the dear girls of &#8220;Dwight School,&#8221;</p>
+<p>who, by their sweet friendship,</p>
+<p>have unconsciously</p>
+<p>helped to make this winter</p>
+<p>one of the</p>
+<p>happiest she has ever known,</p>
+<p>this little story is most</p>
+<p>affectionately</p>
+<p>inscribed</p>
+<p>by the</p>
+<p>AUTHOR.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style='font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>Contents</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='500' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-size:small;'>CHAPTER</span></td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small;'>PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>I.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Which Shall It Be?</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#I_WHICH_SHALL_IT_BE'>13</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>II.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;A Touch Can Make or a Touch Can Mar&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#II__A_TOUCH_CAN_MAKE_OR_A_TOUCH_CAN_MAR'>21</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>III.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;A Feeling of Sadness and Longing&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#III__A_FEELING_OF_SADNESS_SND_LONGING'>29</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>New Experiences</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IV_NEW_EXPERIENCES'>41</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>V.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Two Sides of a Question</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#V_TWO_SIDES_OF_A_QUESTION'>53</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Dull and Prosy</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VI_DULL_AND_PROSY'>63</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VII_THE_P_U_L'>71</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Caps and Capers</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VIII_CAPS_AND_CAPERS'>81</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Modern Diogenes</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IX_A_MODERN_DIOGENES'>89</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>X.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;They Could Never Deceive Me&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#X__THEY_COULD_NEVER_DECEIVE_ME'>97</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;La Somnambula&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XI__LA_SOMNAMBULA'>107</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Have You Not Been Deceived This Time?&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XII__HAVE_YOU_NOT_BEEN_DECEIVED_THIS_TIME'>119</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>English as She is Spelled</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIII_ENGLISH_AS_SHE_IS_SPELLED'>127</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIV__JINGLE_BELLS_JINGLE_BELLS'>135</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Pride Goeth Before a Fall&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XV__PRIDE_GOETH_BEFORE_A_FALL'>143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Letters</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVI_LETTERS'>153</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Haf Anybody Seen My Umbrel?&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVII__HAF_ANYBODY_SEEN_MY_UMBREL'>161</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Little Hinge</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVIII_THE_LITTLE_HINGE'>169</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Fatal or Fated are Moments&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIX__FATAL_OR_FATED_ARE_MOMENTS'>179</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Now Tread We a Measure.&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XX__NOW_TREAD_WE_A_MEASURE'>187</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Conspirators</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXI_CONSPIRATORS'>197</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;We&#8217;ve Got &#8217;em! We&#8217;ve Got &#8217;em!&#8220;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXII__WE_VE_GOT__EM_WE_VE_GOT__EM'>205</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Camera&#8217;s Capers.</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIII_A_CAMERA_S_CAPERS'>213</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Whispers</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIV_WHISPERS'>225</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;What Are You Doing Up this Time of Night?&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXV__WHAT_ARE_YOU_DOING_UP_THIS_TIME_OF_NIGHT'>233</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;Love (and Schoolgirls) Laugh at Locksmiths&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVI__LOVE_AND_SCHOOLGIRLS_LAUGH_AT_LOCKSMITHS'>243</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Ariadne&#8217;s Clue</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVII_ARIADNE_S_CLUE'>253</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;When Buds And Blossoms Burst&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVIII__WHEN_BUDS_AND_BLOSSOMS_BURST'>261</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Commencement</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIX_COMMENCEMENT'>271</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>&#8220;O Fortunate, O Happy Day&#8221;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXX__O_FORTUNATE_O_HAPPY_DAY'>279</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style='font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>Illustrations</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='400' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Illustrations' style='margin:1em auto'>
+<col style='width:80%;' />
+<col style='width:20%;' />
+<tr>
+  <td></td>
+  <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small'>PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Now, girls, come on! let&#8217;s eat our cream.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_1'>Frontispiece</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;You could have popped me over from ambush.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_2'>37</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Do you wish to join the P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.?&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_3'>75</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Go, tell Mrs. Stone she isn&#8217;t up to snuff.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_4'>115</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Sthick to yer horses, Moik.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_5'>149</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Let us begin a brand new leaf to-day.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_6'>175</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;I feel so sort of grown up and grand.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_7'>193</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;An&#8217; have ye been in there all this time?&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_8'>221</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Away went Marie, vanishing bit by bit.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_9'>247</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;Her hand resting lightly on the arm of her friend.&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_10'>285</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style='font-size:1.4em;'>CAPS AND CAPERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 0em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='I_WHICH_SHALL_IT_BE' id='I_WHICH_SHALL_IT_BE'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>WHICH SHALL IT BE?</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now that I have them, how am I
+to decide? That is the question?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The speaker was a fine-looking man
+about thirty-five years of age, seated before a
+large writing-table in a handsomely appointed
+library. It was littered with catalogues, pamphlets,
+letters and papers sent from dozens of
+schools, and from the quantity of them one
+would fancy that every school in the country
+was represented. This was the result of an advertisement
+in the &#8220;Times&#8221; for a school in
+which young children are received, carefully
+trained, thoroughly taught, and which can furnish
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+unquestionable references regarding its social
+standing and other qualifications.</p>
+<p>It was a handsome, but seriously perplexed,
+face which bent over the letters, and more than
+once the shapely hand was raised to the puckered
+forehead and the fingers thrust impatiently
+through the golden brown hair, setting it on end
+and causing its owner to look more distracted
+than ever.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor, wee lassie, you little realize what a
+problem you are to me. Would to God the one
+best qualified to solve it could have been spared
+to you,&#8221; and the handsome head fell forward
+upon the hands, as tears of bitter anguish flooded
+the brown eyes.</p>
+<p>Can anything be more pathetic than a strong
+man&#8217;s tears? And Clayton Reeve&#8217;s were wrung
+from an almost despairing heart.</p>
+<p>For ten years his life had been a dream of
+happiness. At twenty-five he had married a
+beautiful, talented girl, who made his home as
+nearly perfect as a home can be made, and when,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+three years later, a little daughter, her mother&#8217;s
+living image, came to live with them, he felt that
+he had no more to ask for. Seven years slipped
+away, as only years of perfect happiness can slip,
+and then came the end. The beautiful wife and
+mother went to sleep forever, leaving the dear
+husband and lovely little daughter alone. For
+six months Mr. Reeve strove to fill the mother&#8217;s
+place, but until she was taken from him he had
+never realized how perfectly and completely his
+almost idolized wife had filled his home, conducting
+all so quietly and gracefully that even
+those nearest and dearest never suspected how
+much thought she had given to their comfort
+until her firm, yet gentle, rule was missed.</p>
+<p>Happily, Toinette was too young to fully
+appreciate her loss, and although she grieved in
+her childish way for the sweet, smiling mother
+who had so loved her, it was a child&#8217;s blessed
+evanescent grief, which could find consolation
+in her pets and dollies, and&mdash;blessed boon&mdash;forget.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span></p>
+<p>But Clayton Reeve never forgot, not for one
+moment; and though the six months had in a
+measure softened his grief, his sense of loss and
+loneliness increased each day, until at last he
+could no longer endure the sight of the home
+which they together had planned and beautified.</p>
+<p>Unfortunately, neither he nor his wife had
+near relatives. She had been an only child
+whose parents had died shortly after her marriage,
+and such distant relatives as remained to
+him were far away in England, his native land.
+His greatest problem was the little daughter.
+Nursemaids and nursery-governesses were to be
+had by the score, but nursemaids and nursery-governesses
+were one thing with a mistress at
+the head of the household and quite another
+without one, as, during the past six months, Mr.
+Reeve had learned to his sorrow, and the poor
+man had more than once been driven to the verge
+of insanity by their want of thought, or even
+worse.</p>
+<p>At last he determined to close his house, place
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+Toinette in some &#8220;ideal&#8221; school, and travel for
+six months, or even longer, little dreaming that
+the six months would lengthen into as many
+years ere he again saw her. The trip begun for
+diversion was soon merged into one for business
+interests, as the prominent law firm of which he
+was a member had matters of importance to be
+looked after upon the other side of the water,
+and were only too glad to have so efficient a
+person to do it.</p>
+<p>So, before he realized it, half the globe divided
+him from the sunny-haired little daughter whom
+he had placed in the supposed ideal school,
+chosen after deliberate consideration from those
+he had corresponded with.</p>
+<p>But this anticipates a trifle.</p>
+<p>As he sits in the library of his big house, a
+house which seems so like some beautiful instrument
+lacking the touch of the master hand to
+draw forth its sweetest and best, the sound of
+little dancing feet can be heard through the half-open
+door, and a sweet little voice calls out:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Papa, Papa Clayton. Where is my precious
+Daddy?&#8221; and a golden-haired child running
+into the room throws herself into his arms, clasps
+her own about his neck and nestles her head
+upon his shoulder.</p>
+<p>He held her close as he asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, little Heart&#8217;s-Ease, what can the old
+Daddy do for you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The child raised her head, and, looking at him
+with her big brown eyes, eyes so like his own,
+said, reproachfully: &#8220;You are <i>not</i> an old Daddy;
+Stanton (the butler) is old, you are just my own,
+own Papa Clayton, and mamma used to say that
+you <i>couldn&#8217;t</i> grow old &#8217;cause she and I loved
+you so hard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Reeve quivered slightly at the child&#8217;s
+words, and with a surprised look she asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you cold, dear Daddy? It isn&#8217;t cold
+here, is it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not in the room, Heart&#8217;s-Ease, but right
+here,&#8221; laying his hand upon his heart.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span></p>
+<p>The child regarded him questioningly with
+her big, earnest eyes, and said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did it grow cold because mamma went so
+sound asleep?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid so; but now let us talk about
+something else: I&#8217;ve some news for you, but do
+not know how you will like it; sit still while I
+tell it to you,&#8221; and he began to unfold his plan
+regarding the school.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='II__A_TOUCH_CAN_MAKE_OR_A_TOUCH_CAN_MAR' id='II__A_TOUCH_CAN_MAKE_OR_A_TOUCH_CAN_MAR'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;A TOUCH CAN MAKE OR A TOUCH CAN MAR&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The school was chosen and Toinette placed
+therein. What momentous results often
+follow a simple act. When Clayton
+Reeve placed his little girl with the Misses
+Carter, intending to leave her there a few
+months, and seek the change of scene so essential
+to his health, he did not realize that her
+whole future would be more or less influenced
+by the period she was destined to spend there.
+No brighter, sunnier, happier disposition could
+have been met with than Toinette&#8217;s when she
+entered the school; none more restless, distrustful
+and dissatisfied than her&#8217;s when she left
+it, nearly six years later.</p>
+<p>If we are held accountable for sins of omission,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+as well as sins of commission, certainly the
+Misses Carter had a long account to meet.</p>
+<p>Like many others who had chosen that vocation,
+they were utterly incapable of filling it
+either to their own credit or the advantage of
+those they taught. While perfectly capable of
+imparting the knowledge they had obtained
+from books, and of making any number of rules
+to be followed as those of the &#8220;Medes and Persians,&#8221;
+they did not, in the very remotest degree,
+possess the insight into character, the sympathy
+with their pupils so essential in true teachers.</p>
+<p>It is not alone to learn that which is contained
+between the covers of a book that our girls are
+sent to school or college, but also to gather in
+the thousand and one things untaught by either
+books or words. These must be absorbed as the
+flowers absorb the sunshine and dew, growing
+lovelier, sweeter and more attractive each day
+and never suspecting it.</p>
+<p>And so the shaping of Toinette&#8217;s character, so
+beautifully begun by the wise, gentle mother,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+passed into other and less sensitive hands. It
+was like a delicate bit of pottery, the pride of
+the potter&#8217;s heart, upon which he had spent uncountable
+hours, and was fashioning so skilfully,
+almost fearing to touch it lest he mar instead of
+add to its beauty; dreading to let others approach
+lest, lacking his own nice conceptions, they bring
+about a result he had so earnestly sought to avoid,
+and the vase lose its perfect symmetry. But,
+alas! called from his work never to return, it is
+completed by less skilful hands, a less delicate
+conception, and, while the result is pleasing, the
+perfect harmony of proportion is wanting, and
+those who see it feel conscious of its incompleteness,
+yet scarcely know why.</p>
+<p>We will skip over those six miserable years,
+so fraught with small trials, jealousies, deceptions
+and an ever-increasing distrust, to a certain Saturday
+morning in December.</p>
+<p>The early winter had been an exceptionally
+trying one, and Toinette, now nearly fourteen
+years old, had seen and learned many things
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span>
+which can only be taught by experience. She
+had seen that in some people&#8217;s eyes the possession
+of money can atone for many shortcomings in
+character, and that certain lines of conduct may
+be condoned in a girl who has means, while they
+are condemned in a girl who has not; that
+she herself had many liberties and many favors
+shown her which were denied some of her companions,
+although those companions were quite
+as well born and bred as herself, and with all the
+latent nobility of her character did she scorn not
+only the favors but those who showed them, and
+often said to her roommate, Cicely Powell: &#8220;If
+<i>I</i> chose to steal the very Bible out of chapel,
+Miss Carter would only say, &#8216;Naughty Toinette,&#8217;
+in that smirking way of hers, and then never do
+a single thing; but if Barbara Ellsworth even
+looks sideways she simply annihilates her. I
+<i>hate</i> it, for it is only because Barbara is poor
+and I&#8217;m&mdash;well, Miss Carter likes to have the
+income I yield; I&#8217;m a profitable bit of &#8216;stock,&#8217;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+and must be well cared for,&#8221; and a burning flush
+rose to the girl&#8217;s sensitive cheeks.</p>
+<p>It was a bitter speech for one so young, and
+argued an all too intimate acquaintance with
+those who did not bear the mark patent of
+&#8220;gentlewoman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The six years had wrought many changes in
+the little child, both in mind and body, for, even
+though one had been cramped, and lacked a
+healthful development, the other had blossomed
+into a very beautiful young girl, who would have
+gladdened any parent&#8217;s heart. She was neither
+tall nor short, but beautifully proportioned. Her
+head, with its wealth of sunny, wavy hair, was
+carried in the same stately manner which had
+always been so marked a characteristic in her
+father, and gave to her a rather dignified and
+reserved air for her years. The big brown eyes
+looked you squarely in the face, although latterly
+they had a slightly distrustful expression.
+Hurry home, Clayton Reeve, before it becomes
+habitual. The nose was straight and sensitive,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+and the mouth the saving grace of the face, for
+nothing could alter its soft, beautiful curves, and
+the lips continued to smile as they had done in
+early childhood, when there was cause for smiles
+only. The mother&#8217;s finger seemed to rest there,
+all invisible to others, and curve the corners upward,
+as though in apology for the hardened
+expression gradually creeping over the rest of
+the face.</p>
+<p>It is difficult to understand how a parent can
+leave a child wholly to the care of strangers for
+so long a period as Mr. Reeve left Toinette, but
+one thing after another led him further and
+further from home, first to Southern Europe,
+then across the Mediterranean into wilder,
+newer scenes, where nations were striving
+mightily. Then, just as he began to think that
+ere long his own land would welcome him, news
+reached him of trouble in a land still nearer
+the rising sun, and his firm needed their interests
+in that far land carefully guarded. So thither
+he journeyed. But at last all was adjusted,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+and, with a heart beating high with hope, he
+started for his own dear land and dearer
+daughter.</p>
+<p>It must be confessed that he had many conflicting
+emotions as the great ship plowed its
+way across the broad Pacific, and ample time in
+which to indulge them. Many were the mental
+pictures he drew of the girl there awaiting him,
+and would have felt no little surprise, as well as
+indignation, could he have known that she was
+left in ignorance of the date of his arrival. But
+Miss Carter had reasons of her own for concealing
+it, and had merely told Toinette that her
+father was contemplating a return to the States
+during the coming year. It seemed rather a
+cold message to the girl whose <i>all</i> he was, for
+she had written to him repeatedly, and poured
+out in her letters all the suppressed warmth of
+her nature, yet never had his replies touched
+upon the subject of her loneliness and intense
+desire to see him, but had always assured her
+that he was delighted to know that she was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+happy and fond of her teachers. And Toinette
+had not <i>quite</i> reached the age of wisdom which
+caused her to suspect <i>why</i> he gave so little heed
+to such information, although it would not have
+required a much longer residence at the Misses
+Carter&#8217;s to enlighten her. Happily, before the
+revelation was made she was beyond further
+chicanery.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='III__A_FEELING_OF_SADNESS_SND_LONGING' id='III__A_FEELING_OF_SADNESS_SND_LONGING'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;A FEELING OF SADNESS AND LONGING&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The half year was nearly ended, and most
+of the girls were looking eagerly forward
+to the Christmas vacation, which would
+release them from a cordially detested surveillance.
+But Toinette had no release to look forward
+to; vacation or term time were much the
+same to her. She had spent some of her holidays
+with her schoolmates, but the greater part
+of them had been passed in the school, and dull
+enough they were, too.</p>
+<p>The past week had been a particularly stormy
+one, and the outcome had reflected anything but
+credit upon the school. Consequently, the girls
+were out of sorts and miserable, and the world
+looked decidedly blue, with only a faint rosy
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+tint far down in the horizon, where vacation
+peeped.</p>
+<p>As in most schools, Saturday was a holiday.
+The day was wonderfully soft and mild for
+December, and shortly after breakfast Toinette
+threw her golf-cape about her shoulders and
+stepped out upon the piazza to see if the fresh
+air would blow away the mental vapors hovering
+about her, for she felt not unlike a ship at sea
+without a compass. Poor little lassie, although
+what might be called a rich girl, in one respect
+she was a very poor one indeed, for she had
+scarcely known the influence of a happy home,
+or the tender mother love which we all need,
+whether we be big daughters or little ones.
+True, she had never known what it meant to
+want those things which girls often wish to have,
+but which limited means place beyond their
+reach. But often amidst the luxuries of her
+surroundings, for her father provided most liberally
+for her, she would be seized with a restless
+longing for something, she hardly knew what,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+which made her feel out of sorts with herself
+and everybody else.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What ails you, this morning?&#8221; asked her
+chum, Cicely Powell, joining her upon the
+piazza. &#8220;You look as solemn as an oyster, and
+I should think you&#8217;d feel jolly because it&#8217;s
+Saturday, and that horrid Grace Thatcher won&#8217;t
+be here to poke her inquisitive nose into all our
+plans,&#8221; referring to the prime mischief-maker of
+the school, already departed for her vacation,
+with the admonition to think twice before returning.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know <i>what&#8217;s</i> the matter with me:
+I wish I did. Somehow, I don&#8217;t feel satisfied
+with myself or anyone else, and I half believe I
+<i>hate</i> everybody,&#8221; was Toinette&#8217;s petulant reply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I like that, I declare!&#8221; was the sharp
+retort. &#8220;Perhaps you include <i>me</i> among those
+you hate, and if that is the case, Toinette Reeve,
+you may just do as you like; I don&#8217;t care a
+straw.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ordinarily Toinette&#8217;s reply would have been
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+as sharp as Cicely&#8217;s, but this time she just looked
+at her with her big eyes&mdash;eyes suspiciously
+bright, as though tears lay not far back of
+them&mdash;and walked away, leaving Cicely to
+wonder what had come over her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I never!&#8221; was her rather vague comment.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t see what has come over Toinette
+since that last flareup. Mercy knows, we&#8217;ve
+had so many that we all ought to be used to
+them by this time. She has acted as though
+she were sorry that that horrid Grace was sent
+off earlier than the others, and I&#8217;m sure she has
+as much reason to be glad of it as any of us
+have. She did nothing but tell tales about all
+of us, and peep and spy upon her more than
+anyone else. Miss Carter would never have
+found out about half the things she did if it
+hadn&#8217;t been for Grace, and we could have had
+no end of fun,&#8221; and after this rather prolonged
+monologue Cicely went to join the other girls.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile Toinette had drawn the hood of
+her cape over her head and strolled down to the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+lower end of the garden, where a rustic summer-house
+not far from the gate afforded a quiet little
+nook in which to indulge one&#8217;s fancies, whether
+pleasant or painful. Curling herself up in one
+corner, she rested her cheek upon her arm, which
+she had thrown over the railing, and looked
+down the road toward the railway station.</p>
+<p>Although a very beautiful one, it was a sad,
+wistful young face which turned toward the sunshine
+and shadows dancing upon the road.
+Poor little Toinette, now is the moment in which
+the mother-love you are unconsciously longing
+for would make the world anew for you. If,
+as you sit there, a gentle form and face could
+creep up quietly, slip an arm about your waist
+as she takes her seat beside you, and ask in the
+tender tone that only mothers use: &#8220;Well,
+Sweetheart, what is troubling you? Tell mother
+all about it, and let us see if there is not a sunny
+lining to the dark cloud that is casting its unpleasant
+shadow over this cozy nook.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Where is the daughter who could resist it?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+It would not be many minutes before the head
+would find a happy resting-place upon the
+shoulder beside it, and all the little trials and
+troubles&mdash;trials so very real and very appalling
+to young hearts&mdash;would be put into words, and
+lose half their bitterness in the telling just because
+love&mdash;that mighty magician&mdash;had come to
+help bear them.</p>
+<p>A great man once said: &#8220;O opportunity, thy
+guilt is great!&#8221; and I have often wondered why
+he did not add, &#8220;or thou art very precious.&#8221;
+So much depends upon an auspicious moment.
+A big door can swing upon a very small
+hinge.</p>
+<p>As Toinette looked down the road with unseeing
+eyes, the whistle of an incoming train,
+brought her back to a realization of things
+around her. The station was barely half a mile
+away, and ere ten minutes had passed a man
+appeared in the distance. Evidently the owner
+of that athletic figure knew where he was bound,
+and was going to <i>get</i> there as quickly as his firm,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+long strides could carry him. He was a large
+man, sun-burned to the point of duskiness,
+bearded and moustached as though barbers were
+unknown in the land from which he hailed.
+Dressed in servicable tweed knickerbockers and
+Norfolk jacket, his Alpine hat placed upon his
+head to <i>stay put</i>, his grip slung by a strap across
+his broad shoulders, he came striding over the
+ground as though intent upon very important
+business. Toinette watched his approach in a
+listless sort of way, but as he drew nearer and
+nearer seemed to recognize something familiar.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who can he be, and where have I seen him,
+I wonder?&#8221; she said, half aloud, as she peered
+at him from behind the lattice-work of the
+summer-house.</p>
+<p>On he came, quite unconscious of the big eyes
+regarding him so intently, and presently stopped
+to look about him, as though trying to recall old
+landmarks. He now stood almost opposite
+Toinette, when, chancing to glance toward the
+house, he became aware of her presence.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, little lady, you could have popped me
+over from ambush if you had had a gun, for I
+walked straight upon you and never suspected
+that you were there. Can you direct me to the
+Misses Carter&#8217;s school? The station-master said
+it was about ten minutes&#8217; walk, but it is so many
+years since I have been here that I find I&#8217;ve
+forgotten the lay of the land, and I don&#8217;t want
+to waste much time, for I&#8217;ve a very precious
+somebody there whom I&#8217;m very anxious to see.
+Last time I saw her she was only about knee-high
+to a grasshopper, but I suspect I shall find
+a young lady now, and have to be introduced to
+her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At the sound of his voice Toinette arose to her
+feet, her color coming and going, and her heart
+beating so loudly that she was sure he could
+hear it. As he finished speaking he regarded
+with very genuine surprise the young girl who,
+with parted lips and outstretched hands, was
+walking toward him like one who doubted the
+evidence of her own senses, and with a cry of,
+&#8220;Papa! oh, papa! don&#8217;t you know me?&#8221; she
+was gathered into the strong arms whose owner
+had travelled half around the globe in order to
+win that one precious moment.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-037.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 329px; height: 461px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 329px;'>
+&#8220;YOU COULD HAVE POPPED ME OVER FROM AMBUSH.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IV_NEW_EXPERIENCES' id='IV_NEW_EXPERIENCES'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3>NEW EXPERIENCES</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It did not take Clayton Reeve very long to
+gain a pretty clear idea of the condition of
+things at the Misses Carter&#8217;s school, or to
+realize what influences had been brought to bear
+upon his only daughter. To say that he was
+keenly disappointed but mildly expresses it, and
+he reproached himself bitterly for having left
+her so long to the care of strangers. He remained
+with Toinette until the school closed for
+the holidays, and the time was the happiest she
+had ever known. Nor was it for her alone, for
+the other girls came in for their full share. He
+was a very liberal man, and it gave him genuine
+pleasure to make others happy.</p>
+<p>The Misses Carter lost no opportunity of putting
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
+their establishment in a favorable light, for
+they had a strong suspicion that they were in
+a fair way to lose something of much more
+tangible value to themselves: a very handsome
+income. But Mr. Reeve easily saw through
+their little foibles, and was not deceived by the
+pretty veneer into believing that all was strong
+and firm beneath.</p>
+<p>He had traveled about the world too much
+during the past six years not to have learned
+something of human nature, and to read it pretty
+correctly. Furthermore, his feeling of self-reproach
+made him keenly alive to every change
+upon Toinette&#8217;s speaking countenance, and when
+he saw the look of questioning surprise which
+came over it when one or the other of the Misses
+Carter made some playful overture at petting
+her, or one of the other girls, he drew his own
+deductions.</p>
+<p>When vacation arrived he settled his bill for
+the year, bade them a courteous farewell, and,
+with Toinette, &#8220;scraped the dust from his feet
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
+and left the mansion.&#8221; Then came a two-weeks&#8217;
+holiday such as she had never even dreamed of.
+Mr. Reeve took rooms in one of New York&#8217;s finest
+hotels, and gave himself up to the pleasure of
+renewing his acquaintance with his daughter.
+That holiday was never forgotten by either of
+them, but for very different reasons.</p>
+<p>&#8220;By Jove,&#8221; he said to himself more than once,
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve let a good bit of precious time, and many
+happy hours, slip away, if I&#8217;m not mistaken,
+and I don&#8217;t know whether I shall ever catch
+up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During their stay in the city Mr. Reeve went
+in quest of his old college chum, Sydney Powell,
+Cicely&#8217;s father, and had an interview with him
+that was brief, but very much to the point.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go ahead, Clint, old chap, and find what is
+needed for the little girls, if you can. Cicely
+will never go back to the Carter school, and I
+should be glad to have the girls keep together.
+They seem fond of each other. How would you
+like to run out to Montcliff to look up that school?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+I&#8217;ve had fine reports of it from Fred Hubbard,
+whose daughter is a pupil there?&#8221;</p>
+<p>And so it came to pass that directly after
+vacation the two girls were escorted to Sunny
+Bank, as the school was called, and, after a very
+satisfactory talk with its sensible principal, Mr.
+Reeve left them to her care, feeling sure that
+this time he had not made any mistake.</p>
+<p>Toinette and Cicely had adjoining rooms, and
+nothing could have been daintier than the room
+appointments. From their windows they could
+look out over a wide sweep of the western valley,
+where the sun was just sinking behind the hills,
+and leaving upon the sky a glorious promise of
+the day to follow.</p>
+<p>They were still busy arranging their pretty
+trifles about the rooms when the soft chime of
+the Chinese gong in the wide hall below announced
+dinner. Thus far they had not seen
+any of the other girls, but as they stepped from
+their rooms they were met by Miss Preston, who
+said, as she slipped an arm about each waist:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not forget how lonely <i>I</i> felt when I first
+entered a strange school, so let me try to make
+it easier for my new girls by introducing some
+of my old ones; <i>real</i> old,&#8221; she added, laughingly,
+as she called to two girls who were curled up on
+one corner of the big divan at the lower end of
+the hall.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come here, chicks, and let me make you
+acquainted with Miss Reeve and Miss Powell.
+These are Miss Gordon and Miss Osgood, my
+dears, but as we are all sort of &#8216;sisters, cousins
+and aunts&#8217; in this big home, I&#8217;ll just hint right
+off that their home names are Ruth and Edith,
+who will be glad to welcome my Toinette and
+Cicely.&#8221;</p>
+<p>By this time they had reached the cheerful
+dining-room, and with a very significant exchange
+of glances Toinette and Cicely took their
+seats, the latter whispering under cover of the
+bustle caused by the entrance of the other pupils:
+&#8220;My goodness, if Miss Carter had ever spoken
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+like that to us, we should have fallen flat,
+shouldn&#8217;t we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ruth sat upon one side, and Edith upon the
+other, and it did not take the new girls long to
+discover that the dinner hour must be one of the
+pleasantest of the day, for all talked and chatted
+in the liveliest manner, discussing various happenings,
+and again and again appealing to Miss
+Preston, who was not one whit behind in the
+spirit of good-fellowship which prevailed.</p>
+<p>There were six tables, each accommodating
+ten people, and a teacher sat at the head of each.
+In every instance a teacher who was wise enough
+not to observe <i>too</i> much, but who in reality saw
+everything, although she could laugh and joke
+with the girls, put them at their ease, and at the
+same time set them so perfect an example that
+few girls would have cared to fail in following it.
+Far from exercising a restraining influence, they
+proved the jolliest of companions, as the repeated
+appeals to their opinions, or the requests
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+for some anecdote or amusing story, evidently
+old favorites, amply testified.</p>
+<p>When the pleasant dinner was ended the girls
+gathered in the big hall, where Toinette and
+Cicely were introduced to many of the others.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have we to do now?&#8221; asked Toinette,
+whose sharp eyes had been observing everything
+worth observing, and whose active mind had received
+more impressions within the past hour
+than it had been called upon to receive in a
+year. It is needless to add that she was quick
+enough to profit by them, and to appreciate that
+in <i>this</i> school were taught more surprising things
+than chemistry or science.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do?&#8221; asked Ruth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; isn&#8217;t there some RULE to be observed
+after dinner?&#8221; and a rather ironical tone came
+into Toinette&#8217;s voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; come along, and Edith and I&#8217;ll show
+you the rule, as you call it,&#8221; answered Ruth, as
+she caught up the big basket-ball lying upon one
+of the chairs in the hall, flew through the door
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+with it, across the piazza and into the gymnasium
+beyond.</p>
+<p>After an instant&#8217;s hesitation the two girls followed,
+joining her and Edith, who had run Ruth
+a lively race.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean to say that the teachers let
+you run and romp like this, do you?&#8221; demanded
+Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let us!&#8221; cried Edith in surprise. &#8220;Why
+shouldn&#8217;t they? We aren&#8217;t doing any harm,
+are we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t suppose there is any harm, but
+if we had done such a thing at Miss Carter&#8217;s,
+what do you think would have happened, Toinette?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette pursed her mouth into the primmest
+pucker, rolled her eyes in a horrified way,
+clasped her hands before her, and said, in a
+tragic tone: &#8220;Young <i>ladies!</i> Such conduct is
+most <i>unseemly</i>,&#8221; in such perfect mimicry of Miss
+Carter that Ruth and Edith shouted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, all I can say is, that I&#8217;m thankful <i>we</i>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+were not sent to that school; aren&#8217;t you, Ruth?&#8221;
+said Edith.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better believe I am,&#8221; was the feeling reply.
+&#8220;I get skittish even in this blessed place sometimes,
+but if I had been sent there I&#8217;d have
+been just like one of those little red imps that
+Miss Preston has standing on her writing table.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, you&#8217;d have felt all rubbed the wrong
+way, just as Cicely and I feel, and just hate the
+sight of a teacher, and want to do everything
+you could to plague them,&#8221; said Toinette, petulantly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you won&#8217;t want to do that <i>here</i>&#8221; answered
+Edith, emphatically. &#8220;If you cut any
+such capers in <i>this</i> school, it won&#8217;t be the <i>teachers</i>
+who will go for you, but the <i>girls</i>,&#8221; with a significant
+wag of her head.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girls?&#8221; asked Cicely, with a puzzled
+expression.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certain. We think our school about the
+best going, and we aren&#8217;t going to let anyone
+else think differently, if we can help it; are we,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+Ruth? So, if a girl takes it into her head to be
+rude and cranky to the teachers, or other girls,
+she finds herself in a corner pretty quick, I can
+tell you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose you break the rules?&#8221; asked Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aren&#8217;t any to break,&#8221; answered happy-go-lucky
+Ruth, as she pranced down the big room
+after the ball, which had gone bouncing off.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No <i>rules!</i>&#8221; incredulously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a single one. All you&#8217;ve got to do is to
+be nice to everybody, remember you&#8217;re a gentlewoman
+(or you wouldn&#8217;t be here, let me tell
+you), and do your jolly best to pass your examinations.
+If you don&#8217;t it is your own fault, and
+you have to suffer for it; no one else, that&#8217;s
+sure; for you can have all the help you ask for.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette and Cicely exchanged glances.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I daresay you don&#8217;t believe us,&#8221; said
+Edith, who had correctly interpreted the glances,
+&#8220;but just you wait and see. All the new girls
+think the same, and I daresay that we should
+have, too, if we had come here from some other
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+school; but, thank goodness, we didn&#8217;t. There
+aren&#8217;t any more schools like this, are there,
+Ruth?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nary one; there&#8217;s only one, and we&#8217;ve got
+it,&#8221; cried the irrepressible Ruth, and two weeks
+later the girls found that, truly, no rules could
+be broken where none existed.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='V_TWO_SIDES_OF_A_QUESTION' id='V_TWO_SIDES_OF_A_QUESTION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3>TWO SIDES OF A QUESTION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It could hardly be expected that, after her
+training of the past six and a half years,
+Toinette would at once respond to the
+wiser, more elevating influences now surrounding
+her. The old impulses would return, and
+a desire to conceal where no concealment was
+necessary often placed her in a false light.
+She distrusted those in authority simply because
+they were in authority, rather than that they
+ever made it apparent. It seemed to have become
+second nature with her, and bade fair to
+prove a work of almost infinite patience and
+love upon the part of the teachers to undo the
+mischief wrought in those miserable years.</p>
+<p>But, after making a toy of the poor child
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+for all that time, fickle fate seemed about to
+make amends, and, although it was yet to be
+proven, Toinette was now launched upon a sunny
+sea, and destined to sail into a happy harbor.</p>
+<p>She was sitting in her room one beautiful
+afternoon about a week after her arrival at the
+school, and, unconsciously doing profitable examples
+in rhetoric by drawing nice contrasts
+between her present surroundings and her
+former ones. Presently a tap came upon her
+door, and she called: &#8220;Come in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In bounced Ruth, crying: &#8220;Come on down
+to the village with us, will you? Edith and
+Cicely are waiting at the gate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which teacher is going with us?&#8221; asked
+Toinette, suspiciously.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Teacher?&#8221; echoed Ruth. &#8220;Why, none, of
+course. Why don&#8217;t you ask if we are going in a
+baby-carriage?&#8221; and she laughed as she slipped
+her arm through Toinette&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean to say that we will be allowed
+to go by ourselves?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Toinette Reeve, I think you&#8217;ve got the
+queerest ideas I ever heard of! Come on!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In spite of Ruth&#8217;s assurance, Toinette cast apprehensive
+glances about her, as though she
+expected a frowning face to appear around some
+corner and rebuke them. Instead, however,
+they came upon Miss Howard just at the end of
+the corridor, who asked in a cheery voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where away so briskly, my lady birds?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only to the village; good-bye,&#8221; answered
+Ruth, waving her hand in farewell.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pleasant journey. You will probably run
+across Miss Preston down there somewhere, and
+can act as bodyguard for her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The girls walked briskly on, and presently
+Cicely asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you going for, anyway?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Some good things, to be sure. I&#8217;m just
+perishing for some cream-peppermints, and my
+week&#8217;s pocket-money is scorching holes in my
+pocket as fast as ever it can.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think Miss Preston would scold if
+I got something, too?&#8221; asked Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What would she scold about? You didn&#8217;t
+<i>steal</i> the money you&#8217;re going to buy it with,
+did you? And your stomach&#8217;s your own, isn&#8217;t
+it? Besides, when you&#8217;ve been here a while
+longer you&#8217;ll learn that Miss Preston <i>doesn&#8217;t</i>
+scold. If she thinks a thing isn&#8217;t good for you
+to do, she just asks you not to do it, and she
+takes it for granted that you&#8217;ve got sense enough
+to understand why.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I guess you&#8217;re all <i>saints</i> in this school,&#8221;
+replied Toinette, sarcastically.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, as near as <i>I</i> can make out, you had a
+pretty good supply of sinners where you came
+from,&#8221; was the prompt retort.</p>
+<p>When Ruth&#8217;s pocket was saved from destruction
+the girls started homeward. They had not
+gone far when three of the boys from the large
+school at the upper end of the town were seen
+coming toward them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, jolly,&#8221; cried Edith, &#8220;there are Ned,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+Allan and Gilbert! Now we&#8217;ll have fun; they&#8217;re
+awfully nice. Allan has the dearest pony and
+trap you ever saw, and is just as generous as can
+be with it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The boys were now beside them, and, raising
+their caps politely, joined the party and were
+introduced to the new girls. This was a complete
+revelation to Cicely and Toinette, for at
+Miss Carter&#8217;s school boys had been regarded as
+a species of wild animal, to be shunned as though
+they carried destruction to all whom they might
+overtake.</p>
+<p>But here were Ruth and Edith walking along
+with three of those monsters in manly form,
+and, still worse, talking to them in the frankest,
+merriest manner, as though there were no such
+thing on earth as schools and teachers. Toinette
+and Cicely dropped a little behind, and soon
+found an opportunity to draw Edith with them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t forget that Miss Howard said that
+Miss Preston was down in the village. I&#8217;ll bet
+a cookie there&#8217;ll be a fine rumpus if she catches
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+us gallivanting with all these boys,&#8221; whispered
+Toinette.</p>
+<p>A funny smile quivered about the corners of
+Edith&#8217;s mouth, but before she could answer Miss
+Preston herself stood before them. She had
+suddenly turned in from a side street. As
+though detected in some serious misdemeanor,
+Toinette and Cicely hung back, and Edith remained
+beside them.</p>
+<p>With such a smile as only Miss Preston could
+summon, she bowed to the group, and said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you do, little people? Are you
+going to let me add one more to the party? I&#8217;m
+not very big, you know, and I like a bodyguard.
+Besides, I haven&#8217;t seen the boys in a &#8216;blue
+moon,&#8217; and I think it high time I took them
+to task, for they haven&#8217;t been to call upon us
+in an age. Give an account of yourselves,
+young sirs. Before very long there is going to
+be a dance at a house I could mention, and you
+don&#8217;t want to be forgotten by the hostess, do
+you?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span></p>
+<p>Toinette and Cicely found it difficult to believe
+themselves awake. Touching Edith&#8217;s elbow,
+they indicated by mysterious signs that
+they wished to ask something, and dropped still
+further behind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What does it all mean, anyhow? She
+doesn&#8217;t really mean to have the boys at the
+house, does she?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Edith&#8217;s eyes began to twinkle as though someone
+had dropped a little diamond into each, and,
+without answering, she gave a funny laugh and
+took a few quick steps forward. Slipping an
+arm about Miss Preston&#8217;s waist, she said: &#8220;Miss
+Preston?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, dear,&#8221; turning a pleasant face toward
+the girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The girls are planning a candy frolic for
+next Friday night, and were going to ask your
+permission to-day, only they haven&#8217;t had time
+yet. May we have it over in the kitchen of
+the cottage, and may the boys come, too?&#8221;</p>
+<p>A merry smile had overspread Miss Preston&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+face, and when Edith finished speaking, she
+said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Young gentlemen, I hope you didn&#8217;t hear
+the last remark made by my friend, Miss Osgood;
+at all events, you&#8217;re not supposed to have
+done so; it would be embarrassing for us all.
+But, since you did not, I&#8217;ll say to her: Yes,
+you may have your candy frolic, and that is for
+her ears alone. Now to you: The girls are to
+have a candy frolic Friday evening, and would
+be delighted to have your company.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It had all been said in Miss Preston&#8217;s irresistibly
+funny way, and was greeted with shouts
+of laughter. Toinette and Cicely had learned
+something new. All now crowded about her
+urging her to accept some of their goodies, and,
+joining heartily in the spirit of good-comradeship,
+she took a sweetie from first one box and
+then another. Possibly another person, with a
+stricter regard for Mrs. Grundy&#8217;s extremely refined
+sensibilities, might have hesitated to walk
+along the highways surrounded by half a dozen
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+boys and girls, all chattering as hard as their
+tongues could wag, and munching cream-peppermints;
+but Miss Preston&#8217;s motto was &#8220;Vis in
+ute,&#8221; and, with the fine instinct so often wanting
+in those who have young characters to form,
+she looked upon the question from their side,
+feeling sure that sooner or later would arise questions
+which she would wish them to regard from
+hers; and therein lay the key-note of her success.</p>
+<p>She would no more have thought of raising
+the barrier of teacher and pupil between herself
+and her girls than she would have thought of
+depriving them of something necessary to their
+physical welfare. The girls were her friends
+and she theirs&mdash;their best and truest, to whom
+they might come with their joys or their sorrows,
+sure of her sympathy with either, and,
+rather than cast a shadow upon their confidence,
+she would have toiled up the hill with the whole
+school swarming about her, and an express-wagon
+of sweets following close behind. That
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+was the secret of her wonderful power over
+them. They never realized the disparity between
+their own ages and hers, because she had
+never forgotten when life was young.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VI_DULL_AND_PROSY' id='VI_DULL_AND_PROSY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3>DULL AND PROSY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is to be hoped that those who read this
+story will not run off with the idea that I
+am trying to set Miss Preston&#8217;s school up
+as a model in every sense of the word, for I am
+not. I am simply trying to tell a story of boarding-school
+life as it really was &#8220;once upon a
+time.&#8221; And I think that I ought to be able to
+tell it pretty correctly, having seen with my own
+eyes and heard with my own ears many of the
+pranks related. The methods followed and the
+results obtained may be believed or not; that
+rests with the individual reading. Long ago,
+in my own childhood days, our &#8220;old Virginy&#8221;
+cook used to say to me: &#8220;La, chile, dey&#8217;s a heap
+sight mo&#8217; flies ketched wid &#8217;lasses dan vingegar,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
+and I have come to the conclusion that she had
+truth on her side.</p>
+<p>The girls were by no means saints. Saints,
+after all, are rather ethereal creatures, and Miss
+Preston&#8217;s girls were real flesh and blood lassies,
+brimful of life and fun, and, like most lassies,
+ready for a good time.</p>
+<p>As Ruth had said, there were no rules; that
+is, the girls were never told that they must <i>not</i>
+do this, or that they <i>must</i> do the other thing.
+A spirit of courtesy dominated everything, and
+a subtle influence pervaded the entire school,
+bringing about desired results without words.
+The girls understood that all possible liberty
+would be granted them, and that their outgoings
+and incomings would be exactly such as would
+be allowed them in their own homes, and if
+some were inclined to abuse that liberty they
+soon learned where license began.</p>
+<p>No school turned out better equipped girls, and
+none held a higher standard in college examinations.
+A Sunny Bank diploma was a sure passport.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+When the girls worked they worked hard,
+and when playtime came it was enjoyed to the full.
+Naturally, with so many dispositions surrounding
+her, Miss Preston often in secret floundered
+in a &#8220;slough of despond,&#8221; for that which could
+influence one girl for her good might prove a
+complete failure when brought to bear upon
+another. Never was the old adage, &#8220;What is
+one man&#8217;s meat is another man&#8217;s poison,&#8221; more
+truly illustrated.</p>
+<p>But Miss Preston had a stanch friend, and
+trusted Him implicitly. Often, when perplexed
+and troubled, a half-hour&#8217;s quiet talk with Him
+close shut behind her own door would give her
+wisdom and strength for the baffling question,
+and when she again appeared among them the
+girls wondered at her serene expression and
+winning smile, for in that half-hour&#8217;s seclusion
+she had managed to remove all trace of the soil
+from the &#8220;slough,&#8221; and, refreshed and strengthened
+by an unfailing help, could resume her
+&#8220;Pilgrimage.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span></p>
+<p>She often said, in her quaint way: &#8220;The
+hardest work I have to do is to undo,&#8221; and that
+was very true. Many times the home influence
+was of the worst possible sort for a young girl,
+or else there was just none at all. Such girls
+were difficult subjects. Many had come from
+other schools, as in Toinette&#8217;s case, where distrust
+seemed to be the key-note of the establishment,
+and then came Miss Preston&#8217;s severest
+trials. The confidence of such girls must be
+won ere a step could be taken in the right
+direction. It was a rare exception when Miss
+Preston failed to win it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You feel such a nasty little bit of a crawling
+thing when you&#8217;ve done a mean thing to Miss
+Preston,&#8221; a girl once said. &#8220;If she&#8217;d only give
+you a first-class blowing up&mdash;for that&#8217;s just what
+you know you deserve all the time&mdash;you could
+stand it, but she never does. She just puts her
+arm around you and looks straight through you
+with those soft gray eyes of hers, and never says
+one word. Then you begin to shrivel up, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+you keep right on shriveling till you feel like
+Alice in Wonderland. You can&#8217;t say boo, because
+<i>she</i> hasn&#8217;t, and when she gives you a soft
+little kiss on your forehead, and whispers so
+gently: Don&#8217;t try to talk about it now, dear;
+just go and lock yourself in your room and
+have a quiet think, and I&#8217;m sure the kink will
+straighten out. I could lie flat on the floor and
+let her dance a hornpipe on me if she wanted to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was not to be expected that all the other
+teachers would display such remarkable tact as
+their principal, but her example went a long
+way. Moreover, she was very careful in the
+choice of those in whose care her girls were to
+be given, and often said: &#8220;Neither schools nor
+colleges make teachers: it is God first, and
+mothers afterward.&#8221; And she was not far
+wrong, for God must put love into the human
+heart, and mothers must shape the character.
+When I see a child playing with her dollies, I
+can form a pretty shrewd guess of the manner of
+woman that child&#8217;s mother is.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></p>
+<p>Frolics and pranks of all sorts were by no
+means unknown in the school, and often they
+were funny enough, but what Miss Preston did
+not know about those frolics was not worth
+knowing. Her instructions to her teachers were:
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t see <i>too much</i>. Unless there is danger of
+flood or fire, appendicitis or pneumonia, be
+blind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Many of the girls had their own ponies and
+carriages, and drove about the beautiful suburbs
+of Montcliff. If the boys chose to hop up
+behind a trap and drive along, too, where was
+the harm? The very fact that it need not be
+concealed made it a matter of course. Friday
+evenings were always ones of exceptional liberty.
+Callers of both sexes came, and the girls danced,
+had candy pulls, or any sort of impromptu fun.
+Once a year, usually in February, a dance was
+given, which was, of course, <i>the</i> event of the
+season.</p>
+<p>During the week the girls kept early hours,
+and at nine-thirty the house was, as a rule, en
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+route for the &#8220;Land o&#8217; Nod,&#8221; but exceptions
+came to prove the rule, and nothing was more
+liable to cause one than the arrival of a box
+from home. Upon such occasions the &#8220;fire,
+flood, appendicitis and pneumonia&#8221; hint held
+good.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VII_THE_P_U_L' id='VII_THE_P_U_L'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3>THE P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;What upon earth are you doing!&#8221;
+exclaimed Toinette, as she opened
+Ruth&#8217;s door, in response to the
+&#8220;come in&#8221; which followed her knock, and stood
+transfixed upon the threshold at the spectacle
+she beheld.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cleaning house, to be sure. Didn&#8217;t you
+ever do it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, not exactly that way,&#8221; was Toinette&#8217;s
+reply.</p>
+<p>Ruth threw back her head and gave a merry
+peal of laughter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It <i>is</i> rather a novel way, I will admit, but,
+you see, I hate to do things just exactly as everybody
+else does, so I sailed right in, head over
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+ears. To tell the truth, now I&#8217;m in, I wish it
+wasn&#8217;t <i>quite</i> so deep,&#8221; and Ruth cast a look
+strongly savoring of despair at the conglomeration
+surrounding her.</p>
+<p>She was seated in the middle of the floor, and
+almost buried beneath the contents of every
+drawer and closet in the room. Not only her
+own, but Edith&#8217;s belongings, too, had been
+dumped in a promiscuous heap on the floor, and
+such a sea of underclothing, stockings, shoes,
+dresses, waists, jackets, coats, hats, gloves, collars,
+ties, ribbons, veils, dressing-sacques, golf-capes
+and belts, to say nothing of the contents of both
+their jewel boxes, no pen can describe.</p>
+<p>Not content with the contents, the drawers,
+too, had been dragged out to be dusted, and
+were standing on end all about her, a veritable
+rampart of defence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t think you would know where to
+begin,&#8221; said Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t, and I think I&#8217;ll leave the whole
+mess for Helma to tidy up in the morning,&#8221; and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+up jumped Ruth, to give the last stroke to the
+disorder by overturning the tray of pins and
+hairpins which she had been sorting when
+Toinette entered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There, now you have done it!&#8221; exclaimed
+Edith, &#8220;and I can tell you one thing, you may
+just as well make up your mind to put my
+things back where you got them, &#8217;cause I&#8217;m not
+going to,&#8221; and she wagged her head positively.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear me, this is what comes of trying to
+be a P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.,&#8221; said Ruth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.?&#8221; asked Toinette. &#8220;What in
+the world is that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>That&#8217;s</i> what it is! I found it stuck up in
+my room when I got back from recitations to-day.
+I&#8217;ve been in such a tear of a hurry for
+the last few mornings that my room hasn&#8217;t been
+quite up to the mark, I suppose, but Miss Preston
+never said a word, and now here&#8217;s this thing
+stuck here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette took the sheet of paper which Ruth
+handed to her, and began to read:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span></p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='text-align: center;'>THE PICK-UP LEAGUE</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Do you wish to join the P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.?</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Then listen to this, but don&#8217;t you tell,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>For it&#8217;s a great secret, and will be&mdash;well&mdash;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>We <i>hope</i>, as potent as &#8220;book and bell.&#8221;</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>A P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L. has a place for her hat,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And keeps it there; O wonder of that!</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Her gloves are put away in their case;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Her coat hung up with a charming grace.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>School-books and papers are laid away,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>To be quickly found on the following day.</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Then, ere she starts, so blithe and gay,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>She tarries a moment just to say:</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8220;Wait, just a jiff, while I stop to put</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>This blessed gown on its proper hook,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And tuck this &#8216;nightie&#8217; snugly from sight</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Under my pillow for to-night.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8220;And all these little, kinky hairs,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Which, though so frail, can prove such snares,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And furnish some one a chance to say:</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8216;Your comb and brush were not cleaned to-day.&#8217;</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8220;Hair ribbons, trinkets, scraps and bits,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Papers and pencils and torn snips,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Left scattered about can prove <i>such</i> pits!</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And <i>in</i> we tumble, and just &#8216;catch fits.&#8217;</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8220;And this is the reason we formed the league,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And will keep its rules, you had better believe:</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>To keep our rooms tidy, to keep things neat,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So much that is &#8216;bitter&#8217; may be turned &#8216;sweet.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-075.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 317px; height: 449px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 317px;'>
+&#8220;DO YOU WISH TO JOIN THE P.&nbsp;U.&nbsp;L.?&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span></div>
+<p>When she had finished reading, she sat down
+on the edge of the bed and laughed till she
+cried.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Great, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; asked Ruth. &#8220;That&#8217;s the
+way Miss Preston brings us up to schedule time.
+When I came home from the school-building
+this afternoon I thought I&#8217;d do wonders; and,&#8221;
+she added, ruefully, &#8220;I guess I&#8217;ve done them.
+Good gracious, I&#8217;m so hungry from working
+so hard that I just can&#8217;t see straight.
+Isn&#8217;t there something eatable in the establishment?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If that much work reduces you to a state
+of starvation, what will you be when it&#8217;s all
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+done?&#8221; asked Edith. &#8220;There <i>were</i> some crackers
+on the shelf, but land knows where they
+are now; you&#8217;ve dragged every blessed thing
+off of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are your crackers, right under your
+nose,&#8221; said Ruth, triumphantly, as she pointed
+to a box of wafers half hidden under Edith&#8217;s best
+hat. &#8220;There&#8217;s some tea in that caddy, and you
+can heat some water in the kettle. What more
+do you want?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Edith scratched a match and held it to the
+little alcohol lamp under the tea-kettle, but no
+flame resulted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Every bit of alcohol is burned out. Have
+you any more?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a drop; used the last to get the pine-gum
+off my fingers after we came back from the
+woods last Tuesday. Here, take the cologne,
+that will do just as well,&#8221; and forthwith the
+cologne was poured into the lamp, which was
+soon burning away right merrily. The water was
+heated, the tea made, and four girls sat down in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+the midst of the topsy-turvy room to sip tea and
+munch saltines.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I came in to ask,&#8221; said Toinette, &#8220;whether
+you girls have any secret societies in this school;
+have you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nary one, as I know of,&#8221; answered the
+irrepressible Ruth. &#8220;Wish we had.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s start one,&#8221; said Toinette. &#8220;We had
+two or three at Miss Carter&#8217;s; they had to be
+secret or none at all, and it was no end of fun.
+Papa wrote me that he was going to send me a
+box of good things before long, and when it
+comes let&#8217;s meet that night and have a feast.
+He will no doubt send enough for the entire
+school, he always does, and I want some of the
+girls to have the benefit of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t believe you will have to urge them
+very hard,&#8221; said Edith, laughing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; cried Ruth. &#8220;Which girls shall
+we ask?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette named eight girls beside themselves,
+saying:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That will make an even dozen to start with.
+More may come later, but that is enough to
+begin; don&#8217;t you think so?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Plenty. If we have too many there will be
+sure to be someone to let the cat out of the bag.
+Come on, Cicely, let&#8217;s go hunt the others up,&#8221;
+and, leaving Toinette and Edith in the orderly (?)
+room, off they flew.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VIII_CAPS_AND_CAPERS' id='VIII_CAPS_AND_CAPERS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<h3>CAPS AND CAPERS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The eight girls were quickly gathered in
+Ruth&#8217;s and Edith&#8217;s room and listening
+eagerly to the scheme afoot. It need not
+be added that it was unanimously carried, and
+it was only necessary to choose a name for the
+society.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s all wear masks and caps and cut all
+sorts of capers. It will be just no end of fun,&#8221;
+cried Ethel Squire, a pretty, bright girl of fifteen
+who was always ready for a frolic.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Splendid!&#8221; cried Toinette, &#8220;and Ethel has
+given me a fine idea for a name; let&#8217;s call it
+the C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C.? What under the sun does that
+stand for?&#8221; asked Helen Burgess, a quiet, serene
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+little body, and a general favorite with the other
+girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Guess,&#8221; said Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cuffs and Collars Club,&#8221; said May Foster;
+&#8220;mine cause me more trouble than all the rest
+of my toilet, so they are never far from my
+thoughts.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cake and Cackle Club,&#8221; said another.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cheese and Cider; a delicious combination
+when you&#8217;ve acquired a taste for them!&#8221; said
+Marie Taylor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clandestine Carnivori,&#8221; was the last guess,
+which raised a shout.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good gracious! let me tell you quickly before
+you exhaust the dictionary,&#8221; laughed Toinette;
+&#8220;how will the Caps and Capers Club do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurrah!&#8221; cried Ruth, &#8220;just the very thing.
+We&#8217;ll all wear our bath-robes and white caps
+and masks. I&#8217;ve loads of white crepe paper,
+which will be the very thing to make them of,
+so let&#8217;s sit down and make them right away.
+Come on, girls, help clear up this mess, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+then I&#8217;ll find the paper. I can give the finishing
+touches to the closets and bureau drawers
+to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>All turned to with more ardor than skill, and
+in a very few moments the conglomeration upon
+the floor had vanished. How it fared with Ruth
+and Edith when it came time to dress has never
+been disclosed. However, the room restored to
+outward order, twelve girls set to work to fashion
+caps and masks, and, as the last one was completed,
+the dressing-bell rang and all scattered
+to prepare for dinner.</p>
+<p>The evening hours at Sunny Bank were very
+pleasant ones, for during the winter, while days
+were short and nights were long, there was not
+much opportunity for outdoor diversion. Immediately
+after dinner Miss Howard, the literature
+teacher, would place her snug little rocking-chair
+before the cheerful open fire in the big
+hall, and the girls would gather about her; some
+on chairs, some on hassocks, and some curled
+upon the large fur rug in front of the blazing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+logs, while she read aloud for an hour. A fine
+library in Mont Cliff supplied books of every
+imaginable sort, and the girls were allowed to
+take turns in selecting them; providing, of course,
+their selections were wise ones. But with Miss
+Howard as guide they could not go far astray,
+and many a delightful hour was passed before
+the fire. Just at present the books chosen were
+those relating to English history, and contained
+good, hard facts, but, when the girls grew
+a little tired of such substantial diet, historical
+novels came handy for a relish. As England was
+cutting a prominent figure in the world just
+then, the girls were encouraged to keep in touch
+with the current events, and to talk freely about
+them. The last book read, at least the one they
+were just concluding, was one which brought into
+strong contrast the reigns of England&#8217;s two
+greatest queens, and the subject was discussed in
+a lively manner.</p>
+<p>The book was finished shortly before the hour
+ended, and, laying it upon her lap, Miss Howard
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+began to ask a few leading questions in
+order to get the girls started. As always happens,
+there were some girls not wildly enthusiastic
+over historical subjects, and such books
+did not hold their attention as a modern novel
+filled with thrilling situations would have done.
+But these were the very ones whom Miss Howard
+most wished to reach, and, feeling sure that
+her chances of doing so through such methods
+were far greater than could be hoped for if she
+pinned them right down to hard, dry facts, she
+took infinite pains to make her readings as interesting
+as much research and a careful selection
+of books could make them.</p>
+<p>The conversation was in full swing, and Miss
+Howard, in high feather over the very evident
+impression the book had made, was congratulating
+herself upon her choice of that particular
+volume, when one girl asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Howard, what particular act of Elizabeth&#8217;s
+reign do you think had the greatest influence
+upon later reigns?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That is rather a difficult question to answer,
+Natala. It was such a brilliant reign and so
+fraught with portentous results in the future
+that it would be very difficult to say that this or
+that one act was greatest of all; although, unquestionably,
+the translation of the Bible was one
+of the greatest blessings to posterity. Who can
+tell me something of great interest which happened
+then?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can!&#8221; cried Pauline Holden.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m more than delighted to hear it,&#8221; answered
+Miss Howard, for Pauline was at once
+her joy and her despair. Affectionate and
+good-natured to the last degree, she was never
+disturbed by anything, but I put it very mildly
+when I say that Pauline did not possess a brilliant
+mind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; continued Pauline. &#8220;There are not
+many things in history that I care two straws
+about, but I remembered that because the names
+made me think of a rhyme my old nurse used
+to say when she put me to bed.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Howard&#8217;s hopes received a slight shock,
+but she asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you tell us what it is?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was letting Matthew, Mark, Luke and
+John out,&#8221; triumphantly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Letting whom out?&#8221; asked Miss Howard,
+wondering what upon earth was to follow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, don&#8217;t you remember they let them out
+during Elizabeth&#8217;s reign?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let them out of <i>where</i>?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, out of the Tower, to be sure, and it
+made such a difference in a history some man
+was writing just then, because they had had a
+lot to do with it somehow&mdash;I don&#8217;t remember
+just what it was. Maybe one of the other girls
+can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>By this time all the other girls were nearly
+dying of suppressed laughter, and when poor
+Pauline turned to them so seriously it proved
+the last straw, and such a shout as greeted her
+fairly made the wall ring. It was too much for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+Miss Howard, and, with one last look of despair,
+she gave way and laughed till she cried.</p>
+<p>When the laugh had subsided and they had
+recovered their breath, Miss Howard endeavored
+to explain to the brilliant expounder of English
+history that Queen Elizabeth had had more to
+do with keeping Matthew, Mark, Luke and
+John out of the Bible than <i>in</i> the Tower of
+London.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IX_A_MODERN_DIOGENES' id='IX_A_MODERN_DIOGENES'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<h3>A MODERN DIOGENES</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Half-past nine. Sh! Yes, down in
+the old laundry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who&#8217;s coming?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The whole club. No end of fun.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This whispered conversation took place in the
+upper corridor. Many of the girls had come
+from schools where frolics were looked upon as
+an almost heinous crime, and strict rules and
+surveillance had made their lives a burden to
+them.</p>
+<p>It was about ten o&#8217;clock when ghostly figures
+began to slip through the dark halls. Lights
+had been extinguished at nine-thirty and all was
+now silent.</p>
+<p>Miss Preston was in her room in a remote
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span>
+part of the house, and most of the other teachers
+had rooms in the adjoining building. The
+laundry in this house was never used, and stout
+blinds shut out&mdash;and in&mdash;all light.</p>
+<p>Tap, tap, tap.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who&#8217;s there?&#8221; was whispered from within.</p>
+<p>&#8220;C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C., open for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The door opened, and in skipped a figure
+arrayed like the six already assembled, in a
+warm dressing-gown and a high peaked paper
+cap, with white tissue mask and spy-holes.</p>
+<p>All spoke in whispers, so it was almost impossible
+to recognize any one. But this only
+added to the fun and mystery. &#8220;Spread the
+feast, girls; the others will soon be here. Let&#8217;s
+see, how many are there? Seven! Why don&#8217;t
+the other five hurry? I wonder which ones
+here aren&#8217;t here?&#8221; one girl laughingly whispered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll come, never fear, but their rooms
+are nearer &#8216;headquarters,&#8217;&#8221; said another.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What luck! Miss Preston doesn&#8217;t suspect a
+thing. I met her in the hall just before &#8216;lights&#8217;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+bell, and she said as innocently as could be, &#8216;You
+look as though you were quite ready for the
+&#8220;land o&#8217; dreams,&#8221; Elsie, but so long as you do
+not take a gallop on a &#8220;night mare&#8221; all will be
+well,&#8217; and I could hardly help laughing when
+I thought how soon I might be equipped for
+one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;This fudge is my contribution,&#8221; said another.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hold on, girls! I&#8217;ve a brilliant idea,&#8221; said
+Toinette. &#8220;Who&#8217;s got a long hairpin? Good!
+that&#8217;s fine. Now prepare for something delectable,&#8221;
+and, straightening out the pin, she stuck a
+marsh mallow on it and held the white lump of
+lusciousness over the one candle until it was
+toasted a golden if rather smoky brown.</p>
+<p>Tap, tap, tap.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the others. Quick! let them in, for
+it&#8217;s half-past ten already.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The signals were exchanged, and in walked
+not five but nine more figures.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, girls, such luck! Just as I came out of
+my room I ran right into Maud Hanscomb&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+arms, and she <i>wouldn&#8217;t</i> let me go till I&#8217;d told
+her what was up and promised to let her and
+the other girls share our fun. She said they
+suspected something was up, and they were
+bound to share it. And such a spread! Land
+knows how they got it! Just look.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The tubs were now groaning under their
+burden of king apples, cookies, which bore a
+striking resemblance to those served at dinner;
+crackers, which had surely rested in the housekeeper&#8217;s
+pantry, and, joy of joys, a huge tub of
+ice cream, to say nothing of what the original
+five brought.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, girls, come on! Let&#8217;s eat our cream
+and make sure of it in case of accidents,&#8221; said
+the stout red ghost, in red cap and mask, who
+presided over the tub. &#8220;No time to get plates,
+so hand over anything you&#8217;ve got, and excuse the
+elegance of my spoon. It&#8217;s cook&#8217;s soup spoon,
+and may give the cream an oniony flavor, but
+that will add to the novelty,&#8221; she said as she
+served it.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is she, anyhow?&#8221; asked one girl, who
+sat eating cream from a soap dish.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Haven&#8217;t the least idea. One of the old girls,
+I dare say, but who cares when she can conjure
+up such delicacies?&#8221;</p>
+<p>As midnight struck appetites and feast came
+to an end.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I vote,&#8221; whispered one girl, &#8220;that we all
+take off our masks and have a good look at each
+other, so we&#8217;ll know who&#8217;s who when we meet
+in public.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a go,&#8221; whispered several others, and off
+they all came.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s have more light,&#8221; said the donor of
+the cream, and reached up and touched the
+electric button.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! Oh! Oh! Don&#8217;t! Miss Preston will
+catch us!&#8221; cried dismayed voices, but Miss
+Preston herself stood before them, a red mask
+in one hand and a great spoon in the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t the first spread I&#8217;ve attended,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;and I hope it won&#8217;t be the last. I&#8217;ve
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+had too good a time. I had an idea the old
+laundry would prove an inviting place to-night,
+but I never attend a feast without my tub and
+candle&mdash;or electric light in this twentieth century&mdash;for,
+like another mortal who had a fancy
+for tubs and a candle, I am in search of honest
+folk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your spread was a great success, girls. Only
+next time let me know beforehand. I may not
+be able to be present in person, but I can still
+furnish the tub and light, and it will be a comfort
+to me to know the menu in order to guard
+against future ills. Good-night. I&#8217;m ready for
+my bed, and I shouldn&#8217;t wonder if you were,
+too,&#8221; and, with a flourish of her red cap and big
+spoon, Miss Preston slipped through the door.</p>
+<p>Some very wise ghosts sped away through
+the dark corridors, and whispered conversations
+were held far into the &#8220;wee, sma&#8217; hours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The next day the story was all over the school,
+and met with various comments. One of Miss
+Preston&#8217;s combined torments and blessings was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+the teacher of chemistry, a thoroughly conscientious
+woman, and exceptionally capable, but a
+woman who took life very seriously. Miss
+Preston used to say that Mrs. Stone must have
+been forty years old when she was born, and consequently
+had missed all her child and girlhood.
+She was kind and just to the girls, but could not
+for the life of her understand why they <i>must</i>
+have fun, and that fun in secret was twice the
+fun that everybody knew about.</p>
+<p>Well Miss Preston knew that Mrs. Stone
+would take advantage of her privilege as an old
+friend, as well as one of the oldest teachers, and
+come in her solemn way to discuss the latest
+escapade, pro and con, so she was not in the
+least surprised when there came a light tap upon
+her door that afternoon, and Mrs. Stone entered.
+&#8220;&#8216;Save me from my friends,&#8217;&#8221; quoted Miss
+Preston, under her breath.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='X__THEY_COULD_NEVER_DECEIVE_ME' id='X__THEY_COULD_NEVER_DECEIVE_ME'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;THEY COULD NEVER DECEIVE ME&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Mrs. Stone, what can I do for you,
+and why such a serious expression?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear Marion,&#8221; said Mrs. Stone,
+using Miss Preston&#8217;s Christian name, as she
+sometimes did when more than usually solicitous
+of her welfare, &#8220;I&#8217;ve come to have a little talk
+with you regarding what happened last night,
+and I&#8217;m sure you will not take it amiss from
+one who has known you since your childhood.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do I often take it amiss?&#8221; asked Miss
+Preston, with an odd smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, no; you are most considerate of my
+feelings, and I fully appreciate it, considering
+our business relations. Of course, I have not
+the slightest right to dictate to you, nor would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+I care to have you regard it in the light of dictation.
+It is only my extreme interest in your
+welfare that prompts me to speak at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And is my welfare in serious peril now?&#8221;
+asked Miss Preston, half laughing as she recalled
+the previous evening&#8217;s prank and her own
+very thorough enjoyment of the fun.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, my dear, not in peril, but I fear that
+you will never grow to look upon your position
+in the world with sufficient seriousness,
+for, I assure you, your responsibility is enormous.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would I could forget that mighty fact for
+one little fleeting moment,&#8221; thought Miss Preston,
+but, aloud, she asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;And do you think that I am not fully conscious
+of it, Mrs. Stone?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, most conscious! most conscious! You
+could not be more conscientious, I am sure, but
+you sometimes let a misdemeanor, such as occurred
+last night, go unpunished, and it establishes
+an unfortunate precedent, I fear.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you ever know me to punish any girl
+placed in my charge?&#8221; asked Miss Preston, a
+slight flush creeping over her face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not! Certainly not!&#8221; cried Mrs.
+Stone, hastily, for she had touched upon a point
+which she knew to be a very sensitive one with
+her principal, and wished to smooth matters
+down a trifle. &#8220;I do not mean punishment in
+the generally accepted term, but do you think it
+wholly wise to let the girls feel that they can do
+such things and, in a measure, find them
+condoned?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think that forbidding them would
+put an end to them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Merely forbidding might not do so, but exacting
+some penalty for such disobedience would
+probably make them think twice before they
+disobeyed again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did they disobey this time?&#8221; Miss Preston
+asked quietly.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Stone looked a trifle disconcerted as she
+answered:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Possibly it was not direct disobedience, but
+it certainly savored of deceit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should be glad to have you ask any girl
+who has become a member of that comical C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;if
+she thinks she has been guilty of deceit,
+and I&#8217;ll venture to say that she will look you
+squarely in the eyes and say: &#8216;Deceit! How
+could <i>that</i> fun be deceitful?&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you not think that it may lead to other
+undesirable lines of conduct?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It may lead to other sorts of innocent fun,&#8221;
+was the dry remark. &#8220;Mrs. Stone, were you
+ever young? Surely, you have not forgotten
+what the world looked like then. Wasn&#8217;t it
+invariably the thing you were least expected to
+do that it gave you the most satisfaction to do?
+Listen to me one moment, for, while I appreciate
+your sincere interest in my work and myself, I
+cannot allow you to run off with the idea that
+I regard my girls as prone to deceitful actions.
+It is just fun, pure and simple, and the natural
+result of happy, healthy girlhood. Far better
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+let it have a safe vent than try to suppress it,
+and take very strong chances of directing it into
+less desirable channels. At the worst, a deranged
+stomach can follow, and a glass of bi-carbonate
+of soda-water is a simple remedy, if not an over-delightful
+one. I knew all about the feast several
+days ago, and took my own way of letting the
+girls know that I&#8217;d found it out. It was no use
+to forbid it for that night, for, just as sure as
+fate, they would have planned it for another,
+and devoured a lot of stuff far less wholesome
+than the contents of Toinette&#8217;s box and my tub.
+As it was, we all had a good time, and I&#8217;ll
+warrant you that the next time the C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C.&#8217;s
+meet I&#8217;ll get a hint regarding the tub, at any rate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps it will prove so. I trust so, at all
+events. You are a far wiser woman than I am.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps no wiser, but better able to recall
+the things which helped to make my girlhood
+a sunny one, and school frolics played no small
+part in them.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I can but hope that the girls will refrain
+from practicing deceit. Of course, they cannot
+deceive <i>me</i>; no girl has ever yet succeeded in
+doing so, although many have tried to. But I
+can invariably detect the sham, and meet it successfully.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope you may never find yourself undone,&#8221;
+said Miss Preston, with a laugh. &#8220;Girls
+are pretty quick-witted creatures.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Girls are not blind to their elders&#8217; weaknesses
+and pet delusions, and it was an understood
+thing among them all that Mrs. Stone was
+easily &#8220;taken in,&#8221; to use their own expression.
+Consequently, they told her things, and laid
+innocent little traps for her to walk into, such
+as they would never have thought of doing for a
+more wide-awake teacher, or, at least, one who
+did not make such a strong point of her power
+of discernment.</p>
+<p>It was the very night after the Caps and
+Capers escapade that the girls were gathered in the
+upper hall talking about the previous night&#8217;s fun.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s no use talking; you <i>can&#8217;t</i> get ahead of
+Miss Preston,&#8221; said one of the older girls. &#8220;You
+may think you have, and feel aglow clear down
+to the cockles of your heart, then&mdash;whew! in
+she walks upon you as cool as&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ice cream!&#8221; burst in another girl. &#8220;To
+my dying day, girls, I shall never forget that
+red ghost.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How did she ever find it out, I&#8217;d like to
+know,&#8221; asked Toinette. &#8220;Not a soul said a
+word, and my box didn&#8217;t come till the very last
+minute. I hardly had time to let the girls know,
+and how Miss Preston ever got her tub of cream
+in time is more than I can puzzle out. Maybe
+Mrs. Stores had it on hand.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Stores! Yes, I guess so,&#8221; cried the
+girls, scornfully. &#8220;You don&#8217;t for one moment
+suppose that <i>she</i> would let us have a whole tub
+of ice cream, do you? Not much,&#8221; said Lou
+Perry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, if Miss Preston wanted it it would
+be different, you see,&#8221; answered Toinette.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;No, it wouldn&#8217;t, either. Miss Preston never
+bothers with the housekeeping or the housekeeper,
+although she is always just as lovely
+to her as she can be&mdash;she is to everybody, for
+that matter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;For my part, I&#8217;m glad she found it out,&#8221;
+laughed Cicely, &#8220;but if I&#8217;d suspected beforehand
+that she would, wild horses wouldn&#8217;t have
+dragged me into that laundry. It&#8217;s pretty
+easy not to be afraid of such a teacher; she
+seems just like one of us. Wasn&#8217;t she too funny
+with that big spoon and the red mask?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are all the other teachers so quick to &#8216;catch
+on?&#8217;&#8221; asked Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Most of them are sharp as two sticks,&#8221; replied
+Ethel, &#8220;but they never let on. There is
+only one who makes the boast that she has never
+been deceived by any girl, and we&#8217;ve all been
+just wild to play her some trick, only we&#8217;ve
+never yet hit upon a really good one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You ought to get Toinette to do the scene
+from &#8216;Somnambula,&#8217;&#8221; said Cicely, laughing.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it? What is it? What is it?&#8221;
+cried a half-dozen voices.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The funniest thing you ever saw in all your
+born days,&#8221; said Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, tell us about it; please, do,&#8221; begged the
+girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let her do it for you; it will be ten times
+funnier than telling it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When will you do it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-night, if I can manage it; it will be a
+good time after last night&#8217;s cut-up.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XI__LA_SOMNAMBULA' id='XI__LA_SOMNAMBULA'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;LA SOMNAMBULA&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the bell for retiring rang at half-past
+nine that night, it produced a
+most remarkable effect, for, instead of
+suggesting snug beds and dream-land, it seemed
+instantly to banish any desire for sleep which
+the previous study hour from eight to nine had
+aroused in several of the girls.</p>
+<p>They all went to their rooms, to be sure, but
+once within them a startling change took place.
+Instead of undressing like wise young people,
+they slipped off their dresses, and put on their
+night-dresses over the rest of their clothing, then
+all crawled into bed to await the first act of
+&#8220;La Somnambula.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They had barely gotten settled when footsteps
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+were heard coming softly down the corridor, as
+though the feet taking the steps were encased
+in wool slippers, and the owner of those feet
+wished to avoid being heard. A few steps were
+taken, then a pause made to listen, then on went
+the cat-like tread from door to door.</p>
+<p>Toinette&#8217;s and Cicely&#8217;s rooms communicated,
+and just beyond, with another communicating
+door, was the room occupied by Ruth and Edith,
+but the door was always fastened. Perhaps
+Miss Preston considered three communicating
+rooms altogether too convivial, and decided that
+&#8220;an ounce of prevention was always worth a
+pound of cure.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As the stealthy footfalls passed on down the
+hall, a light tap fell upon Toinette&#8217;s door, and,
+springing out of bed, she flew to give a corresponding
+tap, and listen for what might follow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sh-h!&#8221; came in a whisper from the other
+side.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; was the low reply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you hear the &#8216;Princess&#8217; walk down the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+hall?&#8221; The Princess was the big Maltese house
+cat, and a privileged character.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A pretty big <i>cat</i>,&#8221; was whispered back.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was Mother Stone, and she was just as
+anxious to avoid being heard by Miss Preston
+as she was anxious to hear what might be going
+on in our rooms. If Miss Preston caught her
+listening at anybody&#8217;s door, she would be angrier
+than if we sat up all night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What does she think we&#8217;re up to, anyway?&#8221;
+whispered Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No telling, but she knows we had a frolic
+last night and is on the lookout for another
+to-night, I guess.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe she won&#8217;t look in vain,&#8221; laughed
+Toinette, softly.</p>
+<p>Twelve o&#8217;clock had just been struck by the
+tall clock in the lower hall, when a white figure
+walked slowly down the corridor. Her hair
+fell in long, waving ringlets far below her waist,
+her pretty white hands were outstretched in front
+of her, and the great eyes, wide open, stared straight
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+before her with a strange, unseeing stare. As
+she walked along she whispered softly to herself,
+but the words were hardly audible. On she
+went, through the long corridor, down the little
+side hall, which led to the pantry below, still
+muttering in that uncanny manner.</p>
+<p>It had long been a standing joke in the school
+that Mrs. Stone slept like a cat, with one eye
+open and one ear alert for every sound, for she
+was continually hearing burglars, or marauders
+of some sort or other. So it is not surprising
+that before that ghost had gone very far another
+white figure popped its head out into the hall
+and uttered a smothered exclamation at sight of
+number one.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear me! dear me!&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;my
+suspicions were not amiss. Poor, dear Marion, is
+so very self-confident. I was sure the last night&#8217;s
+folly would lead to something else. Such is
+invariably the case,&#8221; and she followed rapidly
+after the figure which was just vanishing around
+the turn in the lower hall.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Those children are certainly planning
+another supper, and, what is far worse, are adding
+to the discredit of such an act by resorting to
+dishonest means of procuring the wherewithal
+for it. Oh, it is shocking, shocking! And yet
+Marion cannot be convinced that her girls are
+capable of deceit. Poor child, poor child, it is
+fortunate for her that there is someone at hand
+to come to her rescue at such a crisis,&#8221; and Mrs.
+Stone reached the bottom of the stairs just as the
+evil-intentioned ghost slipped into the housekeeper&#8217;s
+pantry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really, I must be quite sure before I speak,
+or I may bring about still greater trouble. But
+what <i>can</i> she want here at this hour of the night
+if it be not some of Mrs. Store&#8217;s provisions?&#8221;
+and she wrung her hands in despair.</p>
+<p>A dim light burned in the lower hall, rendering
+everything there plainly visible from above;
+and if Mrs. Stone had not been so distressed by
+that which was before her, she might have been
+aware of certain happenings just above her. Why
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+did not some good fairy whisper in her ear just
+at that moment: &#8220;An&#8217; had you one eye behind
+you, you might see more detraction at your
+heels than fortune before you,&#8221; but there were
+apparently none out of Dream Land.</p>
+<p>As her foot touched the lower step, five or six
+heads peered over the banister railing above,
+and what mystery of gravitation prevented as
+many bodies from toppling over after them I
+am unable to say.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do look! Do look! She is after her full
+tilt, girls,&#8221; whispered Cicely. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t I tell
+you it would be the funniest thing you ever
+saw?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sh! She&#8217;ll hear us, and the whole thing will
+be spoilt,&#8221; said Ethel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed, she won&#8217;t,&#8221; answered Ruth,
+&#8220;she is too intent upon catching Toinette.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;O, why <i>can&#8217;t</i> I stretch my neck out a yard
+or two so that I may see what is going on in that
+pantry? Come on girls, I&#8217;m going downstairs
+if I die for it,&#8221; and down crept Lou, followed by
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+all the others, for there was no lack of bedroom
+slippers at Sunny Bank.</p>
+<p>Meantime Toinette had entered the store-room,
+and, going straight to the corner where some
+smoked hams and bacon were hanging, took a
+monstrous ham from its hook, then, muttering,
+&#8220;Crackers, too, crackers, too,&#8221; opened the cracker
+box and drew forth a handful.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Stone was thoroughly scandalized, but,
+just as she was about to speak, Toinette turned
+full upon her and said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I will have some mustard, and a beefsteak,
+and baked beans, please. Mrs. Stores
+had some on the table to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>By this time Mrs. Stone began to realize that
+the girl was not accountable for her actions, for
+never was there a better bit of acting for an
+amateur. Yet she dared not wake her, for stories
+of the serious harm which had befallen somnambulists,
+when wakened suddenly in unfamiliar
+surroundings, flashed through her brain, and
+she was nearly beside herself with anxiety.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What shall I do? what <i>shall</i> I do?&#8221; she
+said aloud in great distress; and, as though in
+answer to her question, Toinette answered:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go, tell Mrs. Stone that she isn&#8217;t up to snuff
+as much as she thinks she is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This was too much, and, laying her hand
+gently on Toinette&#8217;s arm, she said, softly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear child, hadn&#8217;t you better come
+back upstairs with me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without changing her expression, Toinette
+replied:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How oats, peas, beans and barley grow,
+nor you, nor I, nor Mrs. Stone knows,&#8221; and
+began to dance around in a circle with her ham
+tightly clasped in one arm, and the crackers
+scattering from one end of the pantry to the other.</p>
+<p>Now thoroughly alarmed, and almost in tears,
+Mrs. Stone said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear, dear little girl, won&#8217;t you
+come back to your room with me?&#8221; and, grasping
+hold of Toinette&#8217;s arm, endeavored to lead
+her from the pantry.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-115.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 305px; height: 467px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 305px;'>
+&#8220;GO, TELL MRS. STONE SHE ISN&#8217;T UP TO SNUFF.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span></div>
+<p>But my lady was having altogether too good
+a time to end her frolic so soon, while the
+audience upon the stairs were nearly dying from
+their efforts not to scream. So, without changing
+that dreadful stare which she had maintained
+throughout her performance, she said, as though
+repeating Mrs. Stone&#8217;s own words:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come back&mdash;come back&mdash;come back, my
+Bonny, to me,&#8221; and turned to leave the pantry.
+She had barely gotten outside the door, however,
+when she paused, and, muttering something
+about lemons and pickles, slipped away from
+Mrs. Stone&#8217;s grasp and disappeared within the
+pantry again.</p>
+<p>Trembling with excitement, Mrs. Stone stood
+for one instant, and then saying, &#8220;Miss Preston
+must be called, Miss Preston must be called,&#8221;
+turned and literally flew up the stairs, for once
+too lost to everything but the matter in hand
+to be aware of anything else, which was certainly
+fortunate for the white-robed figures, which nearly
+fell over each other in their scramble to escape.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XII__HAVE_YOU_NOT_BEEN_DECEIVED_THIS_TIME' id='XII__HAVE_YOU_NOT_BEEN_DECEIVED_THIS_TIME'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;HAVE YOU NOT BEEN DECEIVED THIS TIME?&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Miss Preston arrived upon the
+scene Toinette was serenely making
+her way upstairs, her burdens still in
+her arms, but supplemented by several lemons
+and a bottle of pickles. She took no notice
+whatever of the new arrival, but walked straight
+to her own room, and, placing her treasures
+upon her bed, covered them carefully with her
+bedclothes. At this covert act poor Mrs. Stone
+gasped despairingly, and, grasping Miss Preston&#8217;s
+arm, said, in a most tragic whisper:
+&#8220;Marion, Marion, what did I tell you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>But &#8220;Marion&#8221; was very much alive to the
+situation, and, had not a slight quiver about
+Toinette&#8217;s mouth while Mrs. Stone was speaking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+confirmed her suspicions, some very audible
+giggles from the rooms close at hand would have
+done so.</p>
+<p>Having tucked her ham snugly to bed, Toinette
+proceeded to tuck herself there, and, with a
+sigh as innocent as a tired infant&#8217;s, she closed
+those staring eyes and slipped off to the land of
+dreams.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I think the first act is ended,&#8221; said
+Miss Preston, with the funniest of smiles, &#8220;and
+we shall not have the second to-night, at any rate.
+But this one was certainly performed by a star,&#8221;
+and, stepping to Toinette&#8217;s bedside, she quietly
+drew from beneath the covers the &#8220;dry stores&#8221;
+there sequestered, placed them upon the table,
+and then smoothed the clothes carefully about
+her.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Stone began to gather up the articles Miss
+Preston laid upon the table, and, consequently,
+did not see her slyly pinch the rosy cheek resting
+upon the pillow nor the flash of intelligence
+which two big brown eyes sent back.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span></p>
+<p>They then left Toinette to her slumbers (?),
+and, after carrying the pilfered articles back to
+the housekeeper&#8217;s pantry, returned to Miss Preston&#8217;s
+room, where Mrs. Stone dropped into the
+first chair that came handy. She was as near
+a nervous collapse as she well could be, and
+came very close to losing her temper when Miss
+Preston seated herself upon her couch, clasped
+her hands before her, and laughed as poor Mrs.
+Stone had never known her to laugh before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Marion! Marion!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;<i>Have</i>
+you taken leave of your senses?&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was some seconds before Miss Preston
+could control her voice enough to reply, and,
+when she did, it proved the very last straw to
+complete Mrs. Stone&#8217;s discomfiture, for her words
+were:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mehitable Stone, had anyone told me that I
+was sheltering beneath my roof-tree such a consummate
+actress, I should have been the most surprised
+woman in Montcliff. Upon my word
+I never saw anything better done.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Acting!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Stone, aghast.
+&#8220;You do not for one moment imagine that poor
+child was acting? Impossible! Why, she was
+as sound asleep as she ever was in all her life,
+and there was not the least sign that she was conscious
+of my touch when I took hold of her arm
+to lead her from the pantry. Do you suppose
+it would have been possible for her to dissemble
+to that extent? <i>Never!</i>&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Preston did not answer, but laughed
+softly again.</p>
+<p>It was too much for Mrs. Stone; rising suddenly
+to her feet, she said, with asperity: &#8220;It is
+useless for us to discuss the matter further to-night,
+nay, <i>this morning</i>,&#8221; looking at the tiny
+clock ticking away upon Miss Preston&#8217;s desk,
+&#8220;but I trust that in broad daylight you may see
+more clearly. For my part, nothing will ever
+convince me that that child was deceiving me;
+my knowledge of girls is too perfect. It was a
+most pronounced case of somnambulism, the outcome
+of last night&#8217;s injudicious eating, and, in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+my opinion, a very alarming condition, as one
+can never tell to what it may lead. Her digestion
+may be seriously impaired. It is quite unsafe
+to leave her alone to-night, for she may be
+seized with another attack at any moment. I
+shall spend the remainder of the night upon the
+couch in her room,&#8221; and away she went to take
+up her sentinel duty.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is quite unnecessary,&#8221; called Miss Preston
+after the retreating figure, but no heed was
+given to the words, and when Toinette waked in
+the morning what was her surprise to find Mrs.
+Stone bending over her asking, in the most solicitous
+of voices, if she were feeling quite well.</p>
+<p>For a moment Toinette was unable to take in
+the situation, but her wits got into working order
+pretty quickly, and only her quivering lips
+would have betrayed her to a more discerning
+person. Mrs. Stone, however, saw nothing but an
+inclination to weep, and, stooping over Toinette,
+said, soothingly: &#8220;There, there, dear, don&#8217;t hurry
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+to rise, you are a little nervous this morning
+and ought to rest.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Toinette was at the breakfast table as
+promptly as anyone, and as she took her seat
+she gave a quick glance toward Miss Preston;
+but that astute woman was pouring cream into
+her coffee-cup. An hour later, when all were
+scurrying about getting ready for the walk to
+the schoolhouse, which was situated several
+blocks from the home house and its adjacent cottages,
+Toinette came face to face with Miss Preston
+in one of the upper halls. Both stopped
+short, looked each other squarely in the eyes,
+and said nothing. Then Miss Preston&#8217;s eyes
+began to smile, and her mouth followed their example,
+and, placing one finger under Toinette&#8217;s
+chin, she said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am forced to admit that it was one of the
+funniest things I&#8217;ve ever seen, and extremely
+well done, but it scared Mrs. Stone nearly to
+death; so, please, don&#8217;t favor us with the second
+act.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span></p>
+<p>And that was the only allusion ever made by
+Miss Preston to the midnight ramble, nor was
+it ever repeated for Mrs. Stone&#8217;s benefit, although
+nothing could ever have persuaded the
+good lady that she had been the victim of a hoax
+that night.</p>
+<p>It would have been difficult to find a more
+consummate teacher than Miss Preston, or one
+who, without their ever suspecting it, could so
+bring her girls up to the mark. It was a rare
+exception when she failed to accomplish her aim,
+and her tact was truly wonderful. There was
+rarely a harsh word spoken, although Miss Preston
+could speak sharply enough when occasion
+required. But she seldom felt that it did. She
+had most unique methods, and they proved wonderfully
+successful. Then, too, some very old-fashioned
+ideas were firmly imbedded in her mind,
+which in the present day and age are often forgotten.
+That bad spelling is a disgrace to any
+girl was one of these, and most nobly did she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+labor to make such a disgrace impossible for any
+of her girls.</p>
+<p>Knowing how cordially human nature detests
+doing the very thing best for it, she never had
+regular spelling lessons in the school, but twice
+a week every girl in it, big and little alike,
+gathered in the large assembly room to choose
+sides and spell each other down. So irresistibly
+funny were these spelling matches, and so admirably
+did they display Miss Preston&#8217;s peculiar
+power over the girls, and their response to her
+wonderful magnetism, that I think they deserve
+a chapter to themselves.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIII_ENGLISH_AS_SHE_IS_SPELLED' id='XIII_ENGLISH_AS_SHE_IS_SPELLED'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+<h3>ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPELLED</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The last half hour before recess on Wednesdays
+and Fridays was the time set
+aside for the spelling matches. On Wednesday
+the words were chosen at random, sometimes
+from history, sometimes from geography,
+again from something which the classes had been
+reading; but Friday&#8217;s words were invariably
+a surprise.</p>
+<p>One morning, immediately after the opening
+exercises were concluded, Miss Preston rang her
+bell, and, when the girls were all attention, said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be well for those girls who are to
+lead the opposing sides of the spelling match to-day
+to choose with exceptional acumen&mdash;Annabel,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+spell that word!&#8221; So suddenly had the
+command been sprung upon her that, whatever
+knowledge poor Annabel might have possessed
+five seconds before, promptly flew straight out of
+her head, and she answered:</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Ackumen.</i>&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sorry I haven&#8217;t time to pass it on just now,
+but I&#8217;ll reserve that honor. As I was saying,
+the heads had best keep their wits wide-awake,
+for I&#8217;m going to choose the words from a highly
+scientific and instructive volume to-day. It is
+called &#8220;How to Feed Children,&#8221; and in this you
+will observe that I have a double object in view:
+to teach you which words, as well as the sort of
+food, to be digested. Wholesome instruction,
+my dears; and now to work, every woman Jill
+of you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At ten-thirty all were again assembled in the
+big room, and a lively choosing of sides ensued.
+It was not by any means invariably the older
+girls who could spell best, for often some of the
+younger ones led them a fine race.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span></p>
+<p>Taking up the brilliantly bound little book,
+Miss Preston said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, my friends, I hope you will look upon
+the cover of this book as a brilliant and rosy
+example of what I expect, and, I beg of you, do
+not disappoint me,&#8221; holding up the bright red
+book for the inspection of all. &#8220;Do not become
+excited, but learn to take a &#8216;philosophical&#8217; view
+of it.&#8221; Miss Preston paused, and so well did
+the girls understand her original way of doing
+things that &#8220;philosophical&#8221; was at once essayed.
+The first attempt resulted in &#8220;<i>philosopical</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A little too suggestive of milk-toast, I&#8217;m
+afraid, Marion. We must have our philosophy
+upon a sound basis. Next.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Several words passed successfully down the
+line until &#8220;course&#8221; was given, and when that
+was spelled &#8220;<i>cource</i>&#8221; Miss Preston&#8217;s face was a
+study.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That which we are most inclined to accept
+as a matter <i>of course</i> we may be sure will prove
+a matter of mortification to us. Katherine, you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+are given to poetic flights. Who was it that said:
+&#8216;The course of true love never did run smooth?&#8217;
+He would have had an opportunity to learn that
+there were also other courses which did not run
+smoothly had he followed&mdash;&#8216;pedagogy.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>This proved a stumbling-block for the first
+girl, but the next one spelled it correctly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see, Alma, that even the road thereto
+has its pitfalls, so take warning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Catch me ever teaching,&#8221; was the half-audible
+reply, but softly as it was spoken sharp
+ears caught it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Posterity will be grateful for the blessings
+in store for it, &#8216;undoubtedly.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+<p>The word fell to a little girl, but was rattled
+off as quick as a wink, to Miss Preston&#8217;s great
+amusement, for the child was an ambitious little
+body who hated to be outdone by the big girls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Desirability&#8221; was the next word, and was
+given to one of the largest, although by no means
+the most brilliant, girls in the school.</p>
+<p>She hesitated a moment, and then said: &#8220;If
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+desire is spelled d-e-s-i-r-e, I suppose the other
+end of it will be a-b-i-l-i-t-y.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A quality in which you are lacking,&#8221; was
+the instantaneous retort. &#8220;If you desired it
+more, your ability would be greater.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When desirability had been successfully dealt
+with, ten or more words were happily disposed
+of, then came another poser in the form of
+&#8216;physiognomical,&#8217; and the groans which greeted
+it foretold its fate.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What does it <i>mean</i>, anyway, Miss Preston?&#8221;
+asked one girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, there is more than one way of telling
+you its meaning, but I believe in simple explanations,
+so I will say, that when you all rush off
+to the cloak-room at one o&#8217;clock that it would be
+well for you to observe carefully the expression
+upon the other girl&#8217;s face when you throw down
+her hat and coat in your eagerness to get your
+own first. You will then, doubtless, have an excellent
+opportunity to form a correct idea of the
+meaning of physiognomical. Then you may
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+come and tell me whether you consider her
+character an angelic or impish one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>How well Miss Preston was aware of their
+besetting sins, and how shrewdly did she use
+them to their undoing.</p>
+<p>I should never dare tell the wonderful combinations
+of letters which were brought together
+ere that dreadful word was spelled correctly; but
+such a rapid sitting down followed that a stranger
+coming suddenly upon them might have supposed
+that Miss Preston&#8217;s girls were fainting one after
+another.</p>
+<p>About fifty words, all told, were spelled with
+more or less success, and then came the grand
+summing up, and those girls who could not yield
+a clean record from beginning to end had to pay
+the penalty.</p>
+<p>Not a very severe one, to be sure, but one they
+were not likely to forget, for each word that they
+had misspelled was written upon a good-sized
+piece of paper and pinned upon their breasts
+&#8220;as a reward of demerit,&#8221; Miss Preston told
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+them, and, although it was all done in fun and
+joked and laughed over at the time, each girl
+knew that those words must be thoroughly committed
+to memory before the Wednesday spelling
+match began its lively session, or her report at
+the end of the term would be lacking in completeness.</p>
+<p>And so, between &#8220;jest and earnest,&#8221; did Miss
+Preston handle her girls, drawing by gentleness
+from a sensitive nature, by firmness from a careless
+one, by sarcasm (and woe to the girl who
+provoked it, for it was, truly, &#8220;like a polished
+razor keen&#8221;) from a flippant, and by one of her
+rare, sweet smiles from the ambitious all that was
+best to be drawn.</p>
+<p>Toinette was naturally a remarkably bright
+girl, and possessed qualities of mind which only
+required gentle suggestions to develop their latent
+powers. Refined and delicate by nature, keen
+of comprehension, she slipped into her proper
+niche directly way was made for her, and filled
+it to her own credit and the satisfaction of others.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+Nor did it take Miss Preston long to discover
+that a delicately strung instrument had been
+placed in her hands, and that it must be touched
+with skillful fingers if its best notes were to be
+given forth.</p>
+<p>The weeks slipped away, and winter, as though
+to pay up for its tardy arrival, came in earnest,
+bringing in February the heavy snowstorms
+one looks for much earlier in the season in this
+part of the globe. The girls hailed them with
+wild demonstrations, for snow meant sleigh-rides,
+and it is a frosty old codger who can frown and
+grumble at the sound of sleigh-bells.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIV__JINGLE_BELLS_JINGLE_BELLS' id='XIV__JINGLE_BELLS_JINGLE_BELLS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>One morning early in February the girls
+looked out of their windows to behold a
+wonderful new world&mdash;a white one to
+replace the dull gray one, which would have
+made their spirits sympathetically gray, perhaps,
+had they been older. But, happily, it
+must be a very smoky gray indeed that can
+depress fifteen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quick, Edith, come and look!&#8221; and then,
+flying across the room, Ruth thumped upon
+Toinette&#8217;s door, and called out: &#8220;Sleigh-bells!
+Sleigh-bells! Don&#8217;t you hear them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The snow had fallen steadily all night, piling
+up softly and silently the great white mounds,
+covering up unsightly objects, laying the downiest
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+of coverlids upon the dull old world until it
+was hardly recognizable. Every ledge, every
+branch and tiny twig held its feathery burden,
+or shook it softly upon the white mass covering
+the ground. Hardly a breath of air stirred, and
+the fir trees looked as though St. Nick had
+visited them in the night to dress a tree for every
+little toddler in the land.</p>
+<p>Down, down, down came the flakes, as though
+they never meant to stop, and as one threw back
+one&#8217;s head to look upward at the millions of tiny
+feathers falling so gently, one seemed to float
+upward upon fairy wings and sail away, away
+into the realms of the Snow Maiden.</p>
+<p>It was hard to keep one&#8217;s wits upon one&#8217;s work
+that day, and many a stolen glance was given to
+the fairy world beyond the windows of the recitation-rooms.
+About five o&#8217;clock the weather
+cleared, the sun setting in a glory of crimson and
+purple clouds. An hour later up came my lady
+moon, to smile approval upon the enchanting
+scene and hint all sorts of possibilities.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span></p>
+<p>Lou Cornwall came flying into Toinette&#8217;s room
+just after dinner to find it well filled with seven
+or eight others.</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I come, too?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;Oh, girls, if
+we don&#8217;t have a sleigh-ride to-morrow, I&#8217;ll have
+a conniption fit certain as the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you always have one when there is
+snow?&#8221; asked Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which, a sleigh-ride or a conniption fit?&#8221;
+laughed Lou. &#8220;You&#8217;d better believe we have
+sleigh-rides.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d better believe! I&#8217;ve been here five
+years, and we&#8217;ve never missed one yet. Do you
+remember the night last winter, when we all went
+sleighing and came home at eleven o&#8217;clock nearly
+frozen stiff, Bess? Whew! it was cold. When
+we got back we found Miss Preston making
+chocolate for us. There she was in her bedroom
+robe and slippers. She had gotten out of bed to
+do it because she found out at the last minute
+that that fat old Mrs. Schmidt had gone poking
+off to bed, and hadn&#8217;t left a single thing for us.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess I <i>do</i> remember, and didn&#8217;t it taste
+good?&#8221; was the feeling answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You weren&#8217;t here the year before,&#8221; said
+Lou. &#8220;Sit still, my heart! Shall I ever forget
+it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What about it? Tell us!&#8221; cried the girls in
+a chorus.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was the first year Mrs. Schmidt was
+here, and, thank goodness, she isn&#8217;t here any
+longer, and she hadn&#8217;t learned as much as she
+learned afterwards. My goodness, wasn&#8217;t she
+stingy? She thought one egg ought to be enough
+for six girls, I believe. It took Miss Preston
+about a year to get her to understand that we
+were not to be kept on half rations. Well, that
+night we were expecting something extra fine.
+We got it!&#8221; and Lou stopped to laugh at the
+recollection. &#8220;We rushed into the house, hungrier
+than wolves, and ready to empty the pantry,
+and what do you think we found? A lot of
+<i>after-dinner coffee cups</i> of very weak cocoa, with
+<i>nary</i> saucer to set them in, and two small crackers
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+apiece. &#8216;I was thinking you would come in
+hungry, young ladies, so I make you some chocolate.
+You don&#8217;t mind that I have not some
+saucers, it make so many dishes for washing,&#8217; she
+said, smiling that pudgy smile of hers. Ugh!
+I can&#8217;t bear to think of it even to this day, and
+she was ten million times better before she left
+last spring. That was the reason Miss Preston
+took matters into her own hands the next time,
+I guess.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Just then a tap came at the door, and Miss
+Preston put her head in to ask:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can you girls do extra hard work between
+this and eight o&#8217;clock?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Had she entertained any doubts of their ability
+to individually do the work of three, the shout
+which answered her in the affirmative would
+have banished them forever, for the girls were
+not slow to guess that some surprise was afoot.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well, I&#8217;ll trust you all to prepare tomorrow&#8217;s
+lessons without exchanging an unnecessary
+word, and at eight o&#8217;clock I&#8217;ll ring my bell,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+and then you must all put on extra warm wraps
+and go out on the piazza to&mdash;look at the moon.
+I shall not expect you to come in till ten-thirty.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As the last word was uttered Miss Preston met
+her doom, for five girls pounced upon her, bore
+her to the couch and hugged her till she cried
+for mercy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come with us, oh! come with us,&#8221; they cried.
+&#8220;It will be twice as nice if you&#8217;ll come!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come <i>where</i>? Do you suppose I&#8217;ve lived
+all these years and never seen the <i>moon</i>?&#8221; and
+laughing merrily she slipped away from them,
+only pausing to add: &#8220;It is ten minutes of
+seven now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The hint was enough, and not a girl &#8220;got
+left&#8221; that night.</p>
+<p>At eight o&#8217;clock a silvery ting-a-ling was
+heard, and never was bell more promptly responded
+to. Had it been a fire alarm the rooms
+could not have been more quickly emptied.</p>
+<p>The moonlight made all outside nearly as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+bright as day, and when the girls went out upon
+the porch they found three huge sleighs, with
+four horses each, waiting to whirl them over the
+shining roads for miles. Miss Preston did not
+make one of the party, but Miss Howard was a
+welcome substitute, for, next to Miss Preston, the
+girls loved her better than any of the other
+teachers, and Toinette was sorely divided in her
+mind as to which she was learning to love the better.</p>
+<p>Off they started, singing, laughing at nothing,
+calling merrily to all they overtook, or passed,
+and sending the school yell, which Miss Howard
+had made up upon the spur of the moment for
+them,</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8220;Hoo-rah-ray! Hoo-rah-ray!</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47em;'>Sunny Bank, Montcliff,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 3.67em;'>U. S. A.,&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>out upon the frosty air, until the very hills rang
+with the cry, and flung it back in merry echoes.</p>
+<p>Miss Howard&#8217;s sleigh led the van, and one or
+two of the girls had clambered up to ride upon
+the high front seat with the driver, a sturdy old
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+Irishman, who would have driven twenty horses
+all night long to please any of Miss Preston&#8217;s
+girls. Ruth sat beside him, with Toinette next to
+her, and Edith was squeezed against the outer
+edge. But who cares about being squeezed under
+such circumstances? It&#8217;s more fun.</p>
+<p>The snow had fallen so lightly that sometimes
+the runners cut through slightly; but, all things
+considered, the sleighing was very good. Still,
+the driver kept the horses well in hand, for they
+were good ones and ready to respond to a word.
+Moreover, the hilarity behind them seemed to
+have proved infectious, for every now and again
+a leader or a wheeler would prance about as
+though joining in the fun, and presently another
+animal became infected and wanted to prance,
+too. Had she not, the next chapter need not
+have been written.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XV__PRIDE_GOETH_BEFORE_A_FALL' id='XV__PRIDE_GOETH_BEFORE_A_FALL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>More than five miles had slipped away
+under those swiftly-moving runners ere
+Ruth was suddenly seized with a desire
+to emulate a famous charioteer of olden time,
+one &#8220;Phæton, of whom the histories have sung,
+in every meter, and every tongue,&#8221; if a certain
+poet may be relied upon. So, turning a beguiling
+face toward the unsuspecting Michael beside
+her, she said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a fine driver, aren&#8217;t you, Michael?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;T is experience ivery man nades; I&#8217;ve had
+me own,&#8221; observed Michael, complacently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It must be very hard to drive four horses at
+once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anny one what kin droive two dacently
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+should be able enough to handle four; &#8217;t is not
+the number of horses, but the sinse at the other
+ind av the reins.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that so? I thought it needed a strong
+man to drive so many.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indade, no; it does not that. I&#8217;ve seen a
+schmall, little man, hardly bigger than yerself,
+takin&#8217; six along with the turn av his hand.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Could he hold them if they started to go
+fast?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certain as the woirld, he cud do that same.
+&#8217;T was meself that taught him the thrick av it.
+&#8217;T is easy larnt.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then teach me right now, will you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Poor Michael, he saw when it was too late
+that boasting is dangerous work, but to refuse
+anything to &#8220;wan av the young ladies&#8221; never
+for an instant occurred to him. Probably had
+he asked Miss Howard&#8217;s consent he would have
+been spared complying with a request which his
+better judgment questioned, but that did not
+occur to him, either, so, giving one apprehensive
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+glance behind him at the twenty or more passengers
+in the sleigh, he placed the reins in
+Ruth&#8217;s hands, adjusting them in the most scientific
+manner.</p>
+<p>They were skimming along over a beautiful
+bit of road with a thick fir wood upon one side
+and open fields upon the other. The road was
+level as a floor, and no turn would be made for
+fully half a mile. Horses know so well the difference
+between their own driver&#8217;s touch and a
+stranger&#8217;s hand, and the four whose reins Ruth
+now held were not dullards. They had been
+going along at a steady round trot, with no
+thought of making the pace a livelier one, but
+directly the reins passed out of Michael&#8217;s hands
+the spirit of mischief, ever uppermost in Ruth,
+flew like an electric fluid straight through those
+four reins, and, in less time than it takes to tell
+about it, those horses had made up their minds to
+add a little to the general hilarity behind them.</p>
+<p>The change was scarcely perceptible at first,
+but little by little they increased their pace, till
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+they were fairly flying over the ground. Not
+one whit did the girls in the sleigh object; the
+faster the better for them. The sleighs behind
+did their best to keep up, but no such horses
+were in the livery stable as the four harnessed
+to Michael&#8217;s sleigh, for Michael was the trusted
+of the trusted.</p>
+<p>But he was growing very uneasy, and, leaning
+down close to Ruth, said: &#8220;Ye&#8217;d better be lettin&#8217;
+me take thim now, Miss. We&#8217;ve the turn
+to make jist beyant.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;O, I can make it all right; you know you
+said that anybody who drives two horses decently
+could drive four just as well, and I&#8217;ve driven
+papa&#8217;s always.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yis, yis,&#8221; said Michael quickly, seeing when
+too late that he had talked to his own undoing,
+&#8220;but ye&#8217;d better be lettin&#8217; me handle thim be
+moonlight; &#8217;t is deceptive, moonlight is,&#8221; and he
+reached to take the reins from her. But alas!
+empires may be lost by a second&#8217;s delay, and a
+second was responsible for much now.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></p>
+<p>As Michael reached for the reins the turn was
+reached also, and where is the livery stable
+horse that does not know every turn toward
+home even better than his driver, be the driver
+the oldest in that section of the country! Around
+whirled the leaders, and hard upon them came
+the wheelers, and a-lack-a-day! hard, <i>very</i> hard,
+upon a huge stone at the corner came the runner
+of the front bob.</p>
+<p>Had the whole sleighful been suddenly plunged
+into a hundred cubic feet of hydrogen gas,
+sound could not have ceased more abruptly for
+one second, and then there arose to the thousands
+of little laughing stars and their dignified
+mother, the moon, a howl which made the welkin
+ring.</p>
+<p>Shall I attempt to describe what had happened
+in the drawing of a breath? A bob runner
+was hopelessly wrecked; two horses were sitting
+upon their haunches, while two others were
+striving to prove to those who were not too much
+occupied with their own concerns to notice that,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+after all is said and done, the Lord <i>did</i> intend
+that such animals should walk upon two legs if
+they saw fit to do so. Michael stood up to his
+middle in a snow-drift; Ruth sat as calmly upon
+a snow bank as though she preferred it to any
+other seat she had ever selected, albeit she was
+well-nigh smothered by the back and cushions
+of her novel resting-place; Toinette was dumped
+heels-over-head into the body of the sleigh,
+where she landed fairly and squarely in Miss
+Howard&#8217;s lap; Edith hung on to the seat railing
+for dear life, and screamed as though the lives of
+all in the sleigh (or out of it) depended upon
+her summons for assistance. The sleigh had not
+upset, yet what kept it in a horizontal position
+must forever remain a mystery, and such a heap
+of scrambling, squirming, screaming girls as
+were piled up five or six deep in the bottom of
+it may never be seen again. Some had been
+dumped overboard outright, and were floundering
+about in the snow, which, happily, had saved
+them from serious harm. With the inborn
+chivalry of his race, Michael&#8217;s first thoughts
+said: &#8220;Fly to the rescue of the demoiselles,&#8221; but
+stern duty said: &#8220;Sthick to yer horses, Moik, or
+they&#8217;ll smash things to smithereens, and, bedad,
+I sthuck wid all me moight, or the Lord only
+knows where we&#8217;d all have fetched up at that
+same night,&#8221; he said, when relating his experiences
+some hours later.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-149.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 332px; height: 466px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 332px;'>
+&#8220;STHICK TO YER HORSES, MOIK.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></div>
+<p>When excitement was at its height the other
+sleighs arrived upon the scene, and if there had
+been an uproar before, there was a mighty cry
+abroad in the land now. But, dear me, it is all
+in a lifetime; so why leave these floundering
+mortals piled up in heaps any longer? They
+were unsnarled eventually, gotten upon their
+feet (or their neighbors&#8217;), packed like sardines
+into the two other sleighs, and, with six instead
+of four horses now drawing each, started homeward,
+none the worse for their spill, excepting a
+good shaking up, a few handfuls of snow merrily
+forming rills and rivulets down their necks,
+some badly battered hats and torn coats, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
+one of them, at least, with some wholesome lessons
+regarding handling four frisky horses when
+the air is frosty and a number of lives may
+depend upon keeping &#8220;top side go, la!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVI_LETTERS' id='XVI_LETTERS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+<h3>LETTERS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the sleighing party reached home
+they found hot chocolate and ginger
+cookies awaiting them. Before retiring,
+Miss Preston had seen to it that neither
+shivering nor hungry bodies should be tucked
+into bed that night.</p>
+<p>Five weeks had now sped away, and Toinette
+was beginning to look upon her new abiding-place
+as home; at least, it was nearer to it than any she
+could remember. The old life at the Carter
+school seemed a sort of nightmare from which
+she had wakened to find broad daylight and
+all the miserable fancies dispelled.</p>
+<p>She and Cicely were seated at their desks one
+afternoon. It was half-past four and study hour.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+Cicely was hard at work upon her algebra lesson,
+but Toinette was writing a letter. This,
+she knew quite well, was not what she was supposed
+to be doing, but the five weeks had not
+sufficed to undo the mischief done in seven years,
+and she was writing simply from a spirit of perversity.
+There was ample time to do it during
+her hours of freedom, but the very fact of doing
+it when she knew full well that she ought to be
+at work on her German added piquancy to the
+act. Moreover, the letter was to a boy with
+whom she had become acquainted while at Miss
+Carter&#8217;s, and had kept the acquaintance a most
+profound secret. Not that she cared specially
+for the boy, although he was a jolly sort of chap,
+and had been a pleasant companion during their
+stolen interviews, and often smuggled boxes of
+candy and other &#8220;forbidden fruit&#8221; into the girl&#8217;s
+possession.</p>
+<p>Still, at Miss Carter&#8217;s a boy sprouting angel&#8217;s
+wings would have been regarded in very much
+the same light as though he were sprouting imp&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+horns, and any girl caught talking to one&mdash;much
+less corresponding&mdash;would have had a
+very bad quarter of an hour, indeed. So, though
+she did not care two straws whether she ever
+saw him again or not, all the wrong-headedness
+which had been so carefully fostered for the past
+years delighted in the thought that she was
+doing something which might not be approved;
+indeed, from her standpoint, would be decidedly
+criticised, and to get ahead of a teacher had been
+the &#8220;slogan&#8221; of the Carter school.</p>
+<p>It was the custom at Sunny Bank for the
+teachers to go around to the girls&#8217; rooms during
+the study hour to help, suggest, or give a little
+&#8220;boost&#8221; over the hummocky places, so when a
+pleasant voice asked at the door: &#8220;Can I help
+you any, dearies?&#8221; Cicely answered from her
+room:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Miss Howard, will you please tell me
+something about this problem? I am afraid my
+head is muddled.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To be sure, I will,&#8221; was the cheery reply,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+and Miss Howard passed through Toinette&#8217;s room
+to Cicely&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>As she did so her dress created a current of
+air which carried a paper from Toinette&#8217;s desk
+almost to her feet. She stooped to pick it up
+and hand it back to Toinette, who had sprung
+up to catch it, and, as she handed it to her, Miss
+Howard noted the telltale color spring into the
+girl&#8217;s face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Zephyrus is playing you tricks, dear,&#8221; she
+said, smiling, and passed on to Cicely. After
+giving her the needed assistance, she left them,
+and a little further down the corridor met Miss
+Preston.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How are my chicks progressing, Miss
+Howard?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nicely, Miss Preston. Cicely needed a little
+help with a problem in algebra, but I think
+Toinette needs a little of yours in the problem of
+life,&#8221; and Miss Howard went her way.</p>
+<p>A word to the wise is sufficient.</p>
+<p>Meanwhile, the letter was finished, addressed,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+and slipped into Toinette&#8217;s pocket, to be mailed
+later.</p>
+<p>Ordinarily, all letters were placed in a small
+basket to be carried to the office by the porter.
+As Toinette came down the hall shortly before
+dinner Miss Preston was just taking the letters
+from the basket to place them in the porter&#8217;s
+mailbag.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Any mail to go, dear?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, thank you, Miss Preston,&#8221; answered
+Toinette, and, jumping from the last step, ran
+off down the hall to join Cicely and the other
+girls. In jumping from the step something
+jolted from her pocket, but, falling upon the
+heavy rug at the foot of the stairs, made no
+sound. As the porter was about to take the
+pouch from her hands Miss Preston&#8217;s eyes fell
+upon the letter, and, supposing it to be one which
+had been dropped from the basket, stooped to
+pick it up. She was a quick-witted woman, and
+the instant she saw the handwriting and the address
+she drew her own conclusions.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;So that is part of the life problem, is it?
+Poor little girl, she has got to learn something
+which the average girl has to unlearn; where
+they entirely trust their fellow-beings, she entirely
+distrusts them. I wonder if I shall ever
+be able to show her the middle path?&#8221; Telling
+the porter to wait a moment, Miss Preston slipped
+into the library, and, catching up a pencil and
+slip of paper, wrote down the name and address
+which was written upon the envelope, then, stepping
+back to the hall, handed the porter the
+letter to post.</p>
+<p>Toinette joined the girls, and in the lively
+chatter which ensued forgot all about the letter
+until several hours later, and then searched for
+it in every possible and impossible place, but, of
+course, without finding it, and was in a very <i>un</i>comfortable
+frame of mind for several days, and
+then something happened which did not serve to
+reassure her, for a reply came to her from her
+correspondent.</p>
+<p>How in the world her letter had ever reached
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+him was the question which puzzled her not a
+little, and she fretted over the thing till she was
+in a fever. Then she determined to write again
+to ask how and when the letter had reached him,
+although she was beginning to wish that boy,
+letter and all, were at the bottom of the Red Sea,
+so much had they tormented her. So a second
+letter was written, and then came the puzzle of
+getting it into the mail bag unnoticed. At Miss
+Carter&#8217;s school all letters had been examined
+before they were allowed to be mailed, and as
+Toinette&#8217;s correspondence was supposed to be
+limited to the letters she wrote to her father, she
+had never inquired whether Miss Preston first
+examined them or not, but, taking it for granted
+that she did so, handed them to her unsealed.
+On the other hand, Miss Preston, thinking
+that it was simply carelessness that they were
+not, usually sealed them and sent them upon
+their way.</p>
+<p>Although she had not said anything about it,
+the little affair had by no means passed from
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+Miss Preston&#8217;s thoughts, but she was trying to
+think of the wisest way of going about it, and
+was waiting for something to guide her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I can only win her confidence,&#8221; she said
+to herself more than once.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVII__HAF_ANYBODY_SEEN_MY_UMBREL' id='XVII__HAF_ANYBODY_SEEN_MY_UMBREL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;HAF ANYBODY SEEN MY UMBREL?&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was the last week in February, and in a
+few days the school dance was to be given.
+One afternoon a dozen or more girls were
+gathered in Ethel&#8217;s room to see her dress which
+had been sent out from town. It was as dainty
+an affair as one could wish to see, and many
+were the admiring glances cast upon it, and many
+the praises it received. Possibly it was a trifle
+elaborate for a girl of fifteen, for it was made of
+delicate white chiffon over pale yellow satin, and
+exquisitely embroidered with fine silver threads.
+But Ethel looked very lovely in it as she preened
+herself before the mirror, and was fully aware
+of the fact.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you going to wear, Toinette?&#8221; she
+asked.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never worn anything but white yet,&#8221;
+answered Toinette. &#8220;At Miss Carter&#8217;s all my
+dresses were ordered by Miss Emeline, and she
+said I ought not to wear anything else till I was
+eighteen. I hope Miss Preston won&#8217;t say the
+same.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should think you would have hated to have
+the teachers say just what you must wear, as well
+as what you must study. Didn&#8217;t your father
+ever send you any clothes?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Papa was too far away to know what I wore
+or did,&#8221; answered Toinette, rather sadly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aren&#8217;t you glad he is home again?&#8221; asked
+quiet little Helen Burgess, who somehow always
+managed to say soothing things when one felt
+sort of ruffled up without knowing just why.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had better believe I am!&#8221; was the emphatic
+reply. &#8220;What will you wear, Helen?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The same thing I always wear, I guess.
+I haven&#8217;t much choice in the matter, you
+know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette colored slightly at her thoughtless
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+remark, for she had not paused to think before
+speaking. All the girls knew that Helen&#8217;s purse
+was a very slender one, and that it was only by
+self-sacrifice and close economy that her parents
+were able to keep her at such an expensive school.
+She made no secret of her lack of money, but
+worked away bravely and cheerfully, always
+sunny, always happy, with the enviable faculty
+of invariably saying the right thing at the right
+time. She had pronounced artistic tendencies,
+and Miss Preston was anxious to encourage them
+in every possible way. Her great desire was
+to go to Europe and there see the originals of
+the famous paintings of which she read. Each
+year Miss Preston went abroad and took with
+her several of the girls whose parents could
+afford such indulgences for them, and Helen
+longed to be one of them, although she never for
+a moment hoped to be.</p>
+<p>She did really remarkable work for a girl of
+her age, and was improving all the time, but the
+trip over the sea seemed as far off as a trip to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
+the moon. Toinette was somewhat of a dilettante,
+and pottered away with her water-colors with
+more or less success. But she admired good
+work, and was quick to see that Helen was a
+hard student, and to respect her for it. Although
+so unlike in disposition, as well as position,
+a warm regard had sprung up between
+them, and Toinette spent many hours watching
+Helen work away at her drawing. The girl&#8217;s
+ambition was to illustrate, and there was hardly
+a girl in the school who had not posed for her, and
+the drawings in her sketch-book were excellent.</p>
+<p>Toinette had never been taught to think much
+about others, and so it is not surprising that,
+while she admired Helen, and wished that she
+could have those things she so longed for, it
+never occurred to her that perhaps there were
+other and more fortunate girls who might have
+helped a trifle if they chose to do so. That
+she, herself, had it within her power to do it
+never entered her head till the girls began to
+talk about their new dresses, and what put it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+there then would be hard to tell. Nevertheless,
+come it did, and when she heard Helen speak so
+composedly of wearing to the school dance, <i>the</i>
+event of the season, in their eyes, the same dress
+which had done service for many a little entertainment
+given through the winter, and which
+gave unmistakable signs of having done so, she
+realized for the first time what it must mean to
+be deprived of those things which she had always
+accepted as a matter of course.</p>
+<p>Still, no definite plans took shape in her head
+regarding it, and it is quite possible that none
+might ever have done so had not something occurred
+within a short time which seemed to be
+the hinge upon which her whole after-life swung.</p>
+<p>As the girls were in the midst of their chatter
+about the new gowns a tap came at the door, and
+Fraulein Palme looked in to ask:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Haf anyone seen my umbrel? I haf hunt
+eferywhere for him, and can&#8217;t see him anywhere.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Fraulein, we haven&#8217;t seen it,&#8221; answered
+several voices.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Where did you last have it?&#8221; asked Ruth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Right away in my room a little while before
+I am ready to go out. I go down to the post-office
+and must get wet without him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Two or three of the girls went into the hall
+to look for the missing umbrella, and others
+went back to Fraulein&#8217;s room with her to make
+a more exhaustive search. But without success.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you more than one?&#8221; asked Edith.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, it is but one I haf got. It is very
+funnee,&#8221; and poor Fraulein looked sorely perplexed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take mine, Fraulein. Yours will turn up
+when you least expect it,&#8221; said Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did it look like, Fraulein?&#8221; asked
+Cicely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Chust like thees,&#8221; was the astonishing answer,
+as absent-minded Fraulein held forth the missing
+umbrella, which all that time she had held tightly
+clasped in her hand, and which had been the
+cause of Edith&#8217;s question as to whether she had
+more than one, for she supposed, of course, that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+the one Fraulein was so tightly holding must
+either be one she did not care to carry, or else
+one she was about to return to someone from
+whom she had probably borrowed it.</p>
+<p>The shout which was raised at her reply
+speedily brought poor Fraulein back to her
+senses, and murmuring:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ach, so! I think I come <i>veruckt</i>,&#8221; she hurried
+off down the hall with the girls&#8217; laughter
+still ringing in her ears.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVIII_THE_LITTLE_HINGE' id='XVIII_THE_LITTLE_HINGE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+<h3>THE LITTLE HINGE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The day before the dance was to be given
+Toinette wrote her second letter, arguing
+that when everybody else had so much
+to occupy their thoughts they would have little
+time to notice other people&#8217;s doings, and the
+letter could be mailed without exciting comment.
+Waiting until the very last moment, she
+ran down to the mail-basket to slip the letter in
+it unobserved. As ill-luck would have it, Miss
+Preston also had a letter to be slipped in at the
+last moment, and she and Toinette came face to
+face. It was too late to retreat, for the letter
+was in her hand in plain view, so, forced into
+an awkward position, she made a bad matter
+worse. Dropping the letter quickly into the
+basket, she said:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Just a note for papa about something I want
+for the dance to-morrow, Miss Preston; I didn&#8217;t
+think you&#8217;d care, and I hadn&#8217;t time to do it
+earlier,&#8221; and, with flaming cheeks, she turned to
+go away.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait just one moment, dear,&#8221; said Miss
+Preston, &#8220;I&#8217;ve something to say to you. Walk
+down to my room with me, please,&#8221; and she
+slipped her arm about the girl&#8217;s waist.</p>
+<p>No more was needed, and all the suspicion
+and rebellion in Toinette&#8217;s nature rose up to do
+battle with&mdash;windmills. It was a hard young
+face that looked defiantly at Miss Preston.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Toinette, dear, I want to have a little talk
+with you,&#8221; she said, as she locked the door of
+her sitting-room, and, seating herself upon the
+divan, drew Toinette down beside her.</p>
+<p>Toinette never changed her expression, but
+looked straight before her with a most uncompromising
+stare.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You said just now that you did not think I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+would care if you sent a note to your father;
+why should I, sweetheart?&#8221;</p>
+<p>It must have been a stubborn heart, indeed,
+which could resist Miss Preston&#8217;s sweet tone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I don&#8217;t know, but teachers always seem
+to mind every little thing one does,&#8221; replied
+Toinette, sulkily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems to me that this would be entirely
+too &#8216;little a thing&#8217; for a teacher or anyone else
+to mind. Don&#8217;t you think so yourself?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, of course, I didn&#8217;t think you would
+mind simply because I wrote to papa, but because
+I posted the letter without first letting you
+read it,&#8221; answered Toinette.</p>
+<p>Now, indeed, was Miss Preston learning something
+new, and not even a child could have
+questioned that her surprise was genuine when
+she exclaimed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Read your letters, my dear little girl! What
+are you saying?&#8221; and a slight flush overspread
+her refined face.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span></p>
+<p>It was now Toinette&#8217;s turn to be surprised as
+she asked:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t that the rule here, Miss Preston?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it anywhere? I can hardly believe it.
+One&#8217;s correspondence is a very sacred thing,
+Toinette, and I would as soon be guilty of listening
+at another person&#8217;s door as of reading a letter
+intended for another&#8217;s eyes. Oh, my little girl,
+what mischief has been at work here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>While Miss Preston was speaking Toinette
+had risen to her feet, her eyes shining like stars,
+and her color coming and going rapidly. Now,
+taking both Miss Preston&#8217;s hands in her own,
+she said, in a voice which quivered with excitement:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that <i>truly</i> true, Miss Preston? Aren&#8217;t
+the girls&#8217; letters ever read? Haven&#8217;t mine been?
+<i>Do</i> you trust me like that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Preston looked the girl fairly in the eyes
+as she answered:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I trust you as I trust the others, because I feel
+you to be a gentlewoman, and, as such, you would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+be as reluctant to do anything liable to cast discredit
+upon yourself as I would be to have you.
+I do not wish my girls to fear but to love me,
+with all their hearts, and to trust me as I trust
+them. I do not expect you to be perfect; we
+all make mistakes; I make many, but we can
+help each other, dear, and remember this: &#8216;Love
+casteth out fear.&#8217; Try to love me, my little girl,
+and to feel that I am your friend; I want so
+much to be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Preston&#8217;s voice was very sweet and appealing,
+and as she spoke Toinette&#8217;s eyes grew
+limpid. Miss Preston still held her hands, and,
+as she finished speaking, the girl dropped upon
+her knees and clasped her arms about her waist,
+buried her face in her lap and burst into a storm
+of sobs. All the pent-up feeling, the longing,
+the struggle, the yearning for tenderness of the
+past lonely years was finding an outlet in the
+bitter, bitter sobs which shook her slight frame.</p>
+<p>Although Miss Preston knew comparatively
+little of the girl&#8217;s former life, she had learned
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span>
+enough from Mr. Reeve, and observed enough
+in the girl herself, to understand that this outburst
+was not wholly the result of what had just
+passed between them. So, gently stroking the
+pretty golden hair, she wisely waited for the
+grief to spend itself before she resumed her talk,
+and, when the poor little trembling figure was
+more composed, said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;My poor little Toinette, let us begin a brand
+new leaf to-day&mdash;&#8216;thee and me,&#8217; as the Quakers
+so prettily put it. Let us try to believe that
+even though I have spent thirty more years on
+this big world than you have, that we can still
+be good friends, and sympathize with each other
+either in sunshine or shadow. To do this two
+things are indispensible: confidence and love.
+And we can never have the latter without first
+winning the former. Remember this, dear, I
+shall never doubt you. Whatever happens, you
+may rest firm in the conviction that I shall always
+accept your word when it is given. Our
+self-respect suffers when we are doubted, and
+one&#8217;s self-respect is a very precious thing, and
+not to be lightly tampered with.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span>
+<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-175.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 327px; height: 469px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 327px;'>
+&#8220;LET US BEGIN A BRAND NEW LEAF TO-DAY.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span></div>
+<p>She now drew Toinette back to the couch beside
+her, put her arm about her waist, and let
+the tired head rest upon her shoulder. The girl
+had ceased to sob, but looked worn and weary.
+Miss Preston snuggled her close and waited for
+her to speak, feeling sure that more was in her
+heart, and that, in a nature such as she felt
+Toinette&#8217;s to be, it would be impossible for her
+to rest content until all doubts, all self-reproach
+could be put behind her.</p>
+<p>She sat perfectly still for a long time, her
+hands clasped in her lap, and her big, brown
+eyes, into which had crept a wonderfully soft
+expression, looking far away beyond the walls of
+Miss Preston&#8217;s sitting-room, far beyond the bedroom
+next it, and off to some lonely, unsatisfied
+years, when she had lived in a sort of truce with
+all about her, never knowing just when hostilities
+might be renewed. It had acted upon the
+girl&#8217;s sensitive nature much as a chestnut-prickle
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+acts upon the average mortal; a nasty, little, irritating
+thing, hard to discover, a scrap of a thing
+when found&mdash;if, indeed, it does not succeed in
+eluding one altogether&mdash;and so insignificant that
+one wonders how it could cause such discomfort.
+But it is those miserable little chestnut-prickles
+that are hardest to bear in this life, and so warp
+one&#8217;s character that it is often unfitted to bear
+the heavier burdens which must come into all
+lives sooner or later.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIX__FATAL_OR_FATED_ARE_MOMENTS' id='XIX__FATAL_OR_FATED_ARE_MOMENTS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;FATAL OR FATED ARE MOMENTS&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nobody has ever spoken to me as you
+have, Miss Preston,&#8221; Toinette began
+presently, &#8220;and I can&#8217;t tell you how I
+feel. Maybe heaven will be better, but I don&#8217;t
+believe I shall ever feel any happier than I feel
+this minute. It seems as though I&#8217;d been living
+in a sort of prison, all shut up in the dark, and
+that now I am out in the sunshine and as free as
+the birds. But I must tell you something more: I
+can&#8217;t rest content unless I do. The letter I posted
+to-day wasn&#8217;t to papa, I sent it to Howard Elting,
+in Branton, and it isn&#8217;t the first I&#8217;ve written him,
+either. I didn&#8217;t lie about the other one, Miss
+Preston; I was ready to mail it, but lost it; I
+don&#8217;t know how. Somebody must have found it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+and posted it, for he got it and answered it, and
+I was so puzzled over it that I wrote again.
+That was the letter you saw me post. Now,
+that is the truth, and I know that you believe
+me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette had spoken very rapidly, scarcely
+pausing for breath, and when she finished gave
+a relieved little sigh and looked Miss Preston
+squarely in the eyes. Truly, her self-respect
+was regained.</p>
+<p>Will some of my readers say: &#8220;What a tempest
+in a teapot?&#8221; To many this may seem a
+very trivial affair, but how small a thing can influence
+our lives! A breath, the passing of a
+summer shower, may help or hinder plans which
+alter our entire lives. And Miss Preston was
+wise enough to understand it. Here was a
+beautiful soul given for a time into her keeping.
+Now, at the period of its keenest receptive powers,
+a delicate and sensitive thing needing very gentle
+handling.</p>
+<p>Stroking the head again resting upon her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+shoulder, as though it had found a safe and happy
+haven after having been tossed about upon a
+troubled sea, she said, quietly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I posted the letter, dear; I found it in the
+hall where it had been dropped; it never occurred
+to me that there was any cause for concealment;
+the girls all correspond with their
+friends; it is an understood thing. I recognized
+your writing, and, as I had friends at Branton,
+I wrote to ask if they knew the person written
+to. They replied that they did, and told me
+who he was. Knowing how few friends you have,
+I wrote to this boy asking him to come to our
+dance to-morrow night, because I thought the
+little surprise might give you pleasure, and you
+would be glad to welcome an old friend. Does
+it please you, my little girl?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Miss Preston!&#8221; was all Toinette said,
+but those three words meant a great deal.</p>
+<p>The dressing-bell now rang, and Toinette
+sprang up with rather a dismayed look. As
+though she interpreted it, Miss Preston said:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You are in no condition to meet the other
+girls to-night, dear. They cannot understand
+your feelings, and, without meaning to be unkind
+or curious, would ask questions which it
+would embarrass you to answer. You are nervous
+and unstrung, so lie down on my couch and
+I will see that your dinner is brought up. I
+shall say to the other girls that you are not feeling
+well, and that it would be better not to disturb
+you.&#8221; Then, going into her bedroom, Miss
+Preston quickly made her own toilet. She had
+just finished it when the chimes called all to dinner,
+and, stooping over Toinette, she kissed her
+softly and slipped from the room.</p>
+<p>Some very serious thoughts passed through
+Toinette&#8217;s head during the ensuing fifteen minutes,
+and some resolutions were formed which
+were held to as long as she lived.</p>
+<p>A tap at the door, and a maid entered with a
+dainty dinner. Placing a little stand close to
+the couch, she put the tray upon it, and then
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+asked: &#8220;Can I do anything more for you, Miss
+Toinette?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, thank you, Helma. This is very tempting.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Miss Preston came to her room an
+hour later she found the tray quite empty, and
+Toinette fast asleep. Arranging the couch pillows
+more comfortably, and throwing a warm
+puff over the sleeping girl, she whispered, softly:
+&#8220;Poor little maid, your battle with Apollyon was
+short and sharp, but, thank God, you&#8217;ve conquered,
+even at the expense of an exhausted
+mind and weary body.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was nearly midnight when Toinette opened
+her eyes to see Miss Preston warmly wrapped
+in her dressing-gown, and seated before the fire
+reading. The lamp was carefully screened from
+Toinette, who could not at first realize what had
+happened, or why she was there, but Miss Preston&#8217;s
+voice recalled her to herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you feel rested, dear?&#8221; she asked.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t try to go to your room; just undress
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span>
+and cuddle down in my bed with me to-night;
+I&#8217;ve brought in your night-dress.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette did not answer, but, walking over to
+Miss Preston, just rested her cheek against hers
+for a moment. Twenty minutes later she was
+fast asleep in her good friend&#8217;s bed.</p>
+<p>The following day all was bustle and excitement
+at Sunny Bank, for great preparations
+were being made for the dance in the evening,
+and understanding how much pleasure it gave
+the girls to feel that they were of some assistance,
+she let them fly about like so many grigs, helping
+or hindering, as it happened.</p>
+<p>They brought down all the pretty trifles from
+their rooms, piled up sofa pillows till the couches
+resembled a Turk&#8217;s palace; arranged the flowers,
+and rearranged them, till poor Miss Preston began
+to fear that there would be nothing left of
+them. However, it was an exceedingly attractive
+house which was thrown open to her guests
+at eight o&#8217;clock that evening, and the girls had
+had no small share in making it so.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span></p>
+<p>A very complete understanding seemed to
+exist between Toinette and Miss Preston now,
+for, although no words were spoken, none were
+needed; just an exchange of glances told that
+two hearts were very happy that night, for
+love and confidence had come to dwell within
+them.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XX__NOW_TREAD_WE_A_MEASURE' id='XX__NOW_TREAD_WE_A_MEASURE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;NOW TREAD WE A MEASURE.&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Shall we ever grow too old to recall the
+pleasure of our school dances? Then
+lights seem brighter, toilets more ravishing,
+music sweeter, our partners more fascinating,
+and the supper more tempting than ever
+before or after.</p>
+<p>The house was brilliantly lighted from top to
+bottom, excepting in such cosy corners as were
+specially conducive to confidential chats, and in
+these softly shaded lamps cast a fairy-like light.</p>
+<p>Miss Preston, dressed in black velvet, with
+some rich old lace to enhance its charms, received
+her guests in the great hall, some of the
+older girls receiving with her.</p>
+<p>There were ten or more girls who were taking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+special courses, and these were styled &#8220;parlor
+boarders,&#8221; and at the end of the school term
+would enter society. Consequently, this dance
+was looked upon as a preliminary step for the
+one to follow, and the girls regarded it as a sort
+of &#8220;golden mile-stone&#8221; in their lives, which
+marked off the point at which &#8220;the brook and
+river meet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A prettier, happier lot of girls could hardly
+have been found, and none looked lovelier, or
+happier, than Toinette. Her dress, a soft,
+creamy white chiffon, admirably suited to her
+golden coloring, had been sent to her by her
+father, whose taste was unerring. No matter
+how many miles of this big globe divided them,
+he never forgot her needs, and, if unable to supply
+them himself, took good care that some one
+else should do so. So the dress had arrived the
+night before, and Miss Preston had been able
+to give her another pleasant surprise for the
+dance. And now she looked as the lilies of the
+field for fairness.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span></p>
+<p>She was whirling away upon her partner&#8217;s
+arm, when, chancing to glance toward the door,
+she beheld something which brought her to an
+abrupt stand-still, much to her partner&#8217;s amazement.
+Miss Preston stood in the doorway, and,
+standing beside her, with one hand resting lightly
+upon his hip and the other raised a little above
+his head, and resting against the door-casing,
+stood a tall, remarkably handsome man. His
+attitude was unstudied, but brought out to perfection
+the fine lines of his figure.</p>
+<p>Hastily exclaiming: &#8220;Oh, please, excuse me,
+or else come with me,&#8221; Toinette glided between
+the whirling figures, and, forgetful of all else,
+cried out in a joyous voice: &#8220;Papa, papa Clayton,
+where <i>did</i> you come from?&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was so like the childish voice he had loved
+to hear so long ago, that he started with pleasure.</p>
+<p>During the brief holiday Toinette had spent
+with him he had missed the spontaneity he had
+known in the little child, and, without being
+able to analyze it, felt that something was wanting
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+in the girl. She had been sweet and winning,
+yet under it all had been a manner quite incomprehensible
+to him, as though she did not feel
+quite sure of her position in his affections. Her
+laugh had lacked the true girlish ring, and
+her conversation with him seemed guarded, as
+though she had never quite spoken all her
+thoughts.</p>
+<p>He had been immeasurably distressed by it,
+for he could not understand the cause, and bitterly
+reproached himself for not being better acquainted
+with his own child. In the merry girl
+who now stood before him, her eyes shining, her
+cheeks flushed with excitement, her voice so
+joyous, he saw no trace of the listless one he had
+placed in Miss Preston&#8217;s charge two months before.</p>
+<p>Slipping one arm about her, he snuggled her
+close to his side, as he answered:</p>
+<p>&#8220;A blue-coated biped left a good, substantial
+hint at my office not long since, and this is what
+came of following it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>You</i> did it! I&#8217;m sure of it,&#8221; laughed Toinette,
+shaking her finger at Miss Preston, as the
+latter said: &#8220;I leave you to a livelier entertainer,
+now, Mr. Reeve, while I go to look after some of
+my guests who may not be so fortunately situated,&#8221;
+and she slipped away, Toinette calling
+after her: &#8220;You are responsible for most of the
+nice things which happen here. Oh, daddy,&#8221;
+dropping unconsciously into the old childish pet
+name, &#8220;I&#8217;ve such stacks of things to tell you.
+But, excuse me just one second, while I find a
+partner for that boy I&#8217;ve left stranded high and
+dry over there; doesn&#8217;t he look miserable?
+Then I&#8217;ll come back,&#8221; and, kissing her hand
+gaily, she ran off. Returning a moment or two
+later, she said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;There! he&#8217;s all fixed, and is sure to have a
+good time with Ethel and Lou; they&#8217;re not a
+team, but a four-in-hand. Now, come and have
+a dance with me, and then we&#8217;ll go off all by
+ourselves and have the cosiest time you ever
+dreamed of. I feel so proud to have you all to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+myself,&#8221; she added, as they glided away to the
+soft strains of the music, &#8220;so sort of grown-up
+and grand with such a handsome partner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hear! hear! Do you want to make me
+vain? I haven&#8217;t been accustomed to hearing
+such barefaced compliments. They make me
+blush.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I really believe they <i>do</i>,&#8221; answered Toinette,
+throwing back her head to get a better look at
+him, and laughing softly when she saw a slight
+flush upon his face. &#8220;Never mind, it is all in
+the family, you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps I have other reasons for feeling a
+trifle elated,&#8221; he said, as the dance came to an
+end and he followed Toinette to one of the cozy
+corners. Springing up among the cushions, she
+patted them invitingly, and said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, sit down here beside me, and let me
+tell you all about the loveliest time of my life.
+Oh, daddy, I <i>do</i> so love to be here, and you don&#8217;t
+know how good Miss Preston is to me. She is
+good to us all, but, somehow the other girls don&#8217;t
+seem to need so much setting straight as <i>I</i> have.
+I think I must have been all kinked up in little
+hard knots before I came here, and Miss Preston
+has begun to untie them. She hasn&#8217;t got all
+untied yet, but I feel so sort of loosened up and
+easy that everything seems lots more comfortable.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-193.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 322px; height: 462px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 322px;'>
+&#8220;I FEEL SO SORT OF GROWN UP AND GRAND.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></div>
+<p>Clayton Reeve did not smile at Toinette&#8217;s odd
+way of explaining her feelings. He knew it to be
+a fourteen-year-old girl who spoke, and that her
+thoughts, to be natural, must be put into her own
+words.</p>
+<p>On she rambled, telling one thing after another,
+and, while they were talking, Helen
+Burgess stopped near their snuggery. It was
+too dimly lighted for her to discover them, and
+the next thing they knew they were unwitting
+eavesdroppers, for Helen was talking very earnestly
+to one of her boon companions, a day-pupil
+at the school, and one of the brightest in it, but,
+like Helen, not embarrassed with riches. For
+some time the girls had been saving their small
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+allowances toward the purchase of cameras, but
+so slowly did the sums accumulate that it was
+rather discouraging for them. They were now
+talking about their respective ways of procuring
+the sums of money needed, and the trifle they
+had managed to save, and the small amounts
+they earned in one way or another, to augment
+the original sums, seemed so paltry to Toinette,
+who never stopped to ask whence came the five-dollar
+bills so regularly sent her each week, and
+who, had a fancy entered her head for one,
+would have walked out and bought a camera
+very much as she would have bought a paper of
+pins.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXI_CONSPIRATORS' id='XXI_CONSPIRATORS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+<h3>CONSPIRATORS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Reeve would have risen from his
+snug corner and discovered himself to
+the girls, but Toinette laid her finger
+upon her lips to enjoin silence, and, although
+he could not quite understand her desire to play
+eavesdropper, he complied. From the subject of
+the cameras the girls went on to Helen&#8217;s work
+in the art class, for Jean was much interested in
+that also, and they often built air-castles about
+the wonderful things they would do when that
+fabulous &#8220;stone ship&#8221; should sail safely into
+port. They talked earnestly for girls of thirteen
+and fifteen, and Mr. Reeve could not fail to be
+impressed by the strength of purpose they seemed
+to possess, and, having a good bit of stick-to-ativeness
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+himself, admired it in others. Moreover,
+he had been forced to make his own way
+in life when young, and could sympathize with
+other aspiring souls.</p>
+<p>Presently the two girls moved away, and then
+Toinette whispered: &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what you
+think of me for making you play &#8216;Paul Pry,&#8217;
+but I had a reason for it, and now I&#8217;ll tell you
+what it was.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I inferred as much, so kept mum.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you see, since I&#8217;ve been here I&#8217;ve
+waked up a little, and, somehow, have begun to
+think about other people, and wonder if they
+were happy. At Miss Carter&#8217;s school everybody
+just seemed to think about themselves, or, if
+they thought of anybody else, it was generally
+to wonder how they could get ahead of them
+in some way. But here it is all so different,
+and everybody seems to try to find out what
+they can do to make someone else happy. I
+can&#8217;t begin to tell you how it is done, because I
+don&#8217;t know myself; only it <i>is</i>, and it makes you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+feel sort of happy all over,&#8221; said Toinette, trying
+to put into words that subtle something which
+makes us feel at peace with all mankind, and
+little realizing that its cause lay right within herself;
+for a sense of having done one&#8217;s very best
+and a clear conscience are wonderful rosy spectacles
+through which to see life.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on, I&#8217;m keenly interested, and these
+little confidences are very delightful,&#8221; said her
+father, with an encouraging nod and smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So I began to want to do little things, too,
+and, do you know, daddy, you&#8217;d be really surprised
+if you knew what a lot of ways there are
+of making the girls happy if you only take the
+trouble to look for them. For instance, there is
+Helen Burgess, the larger of the girls you saw
+just now: we have become real good friends, and
+she is very clever, and draws beautifully. But
+she has so little to do with that she can&#8217;t afford
+to get the things the other girls have to work
+with, nor have the advantages they have. She
+and Jean have been trying ever so long to get
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+cameras, for they think that they could take
+pretty views of Montcliff and sell them to the
+people who come here in the summer, and I&#8217;m
+sure they could, too. It does not make so much
+difference to Jean, for, although she isn&#8217;t rich,
+she isn&#8217;t exactly poor, either, you know, and
+has a good many nice things, but Helen never
+seems to have any. So I thought I&#8217;d have a
+little talk with you and get you to send out a
+cute little camera for each of them and never
+let them know where they came from. Wouldn&#8217;t
+that be great fun? But I want to pay for them.
+You can use ten dollars of my money, and not
+send me my allowance for two weeks; I&#8217;ve got
+enough to last.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what will my poverty-stricken lassie do
+meantime?&#8221; asked Mr. Reeve.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she is not so poverty-stricken as you
+think,&#8221; laughed Toinette. &#8220;She won&#8217;t suffer. And
+then I wanted to ask you if there wasn&#8217;t some
+way of helping Helen in her art work. She
+wants so much to go abroad with Miss Preston, but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+has no more idea of ever being able to do so than
+she has of going to the moon. What would it
+cost, papa? Isn&#8217;t there some way of bringing
+it about? Couldn&#8217;t you have a talk with Miss
+Preston and find out all about it, and then we
+could plan something, maybe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette had become very earnest as she talked,
+and was now leaning toward her father, her
+hands clasped in her lap, and her expressive face
+alive with enthusiasm.</p>
+<p>Mr. Reeve hated to spoil the pretty picture,
+but said, in the interested tone so comforting
+when used by older people in speaking to young
+folk: &#8220;I am sure we can evolve some plan. I
+shall be very glad to speak to Miss Preston before
+I return to the city, and haven&#8217;t the
+slightest doubt that great things will come of
+it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How lovely! You&#8217;re just a darling! I&#8217;m
+going to hug you right here behind the curtains!&#8221;
+cried Toinette, as she sprung up and
+clasped her arms about his neck.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Haven&#8217;t you one or two more favors you&#8217;d
+like to ask?&#8221; said Mr. Reeve, suggestively.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not another one, just now,&#8221; she answered,
+laughing softly. &#8220;Too many might turn your
+head, and mine, too. But it is so good to have
+you home once more. You don&#8217;t know how
+lonely I&#8217;ve been without you, daddy. There
+wasn&#8217;t anyone in the world who cared two straws
+for me till you came back and I came here.
+But I&#8217;ve got you now, and I&#8217;m not going to let
+you go very soon again, I can tell you. You are
+too precious, and we are going to have lovely
+times together by-and-by when I grow up, aren&#8217;t
+we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are not going to wait till then, sweetheart;
+we are going to begin right off, this very
+minute. I can&#8217;t afford to waste any more precious
+time; too much has been wasted already,&#8221;
+he said, as he raised the pretty face and kissed
+it, and then, drawing her arm through his,
+added: &#8220;Now let me do the honors. Introduce
+me to your friends, and let me see if seven years&#8217;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+knocking about this old world has made me forget
+the &#8216;Quips, and Cranks, and Wanton Wiles,
+Nods, and Becks, and Wreathed Smiles&#8217; I used to
+know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They left the snuggery, and, blissfully conscious
+of her honors, Toinette presented her
+father to the girls. Just how proud they were
+of the marked attention he showed to each I&#8217;ll
+leave it to some other girls to guess. He danced
+with them, took them to supper, sought out
+the greatest delicacies for them, and played
+the gallant as though he were but twenty instead
+of forty-two. &#8220;He treated us just as though
+we were the big girls,&#8221; they said, when holding
+forth upon the subject the next day.</p>
+<p>Twelve o&#8217;clock came all too soon.</p>
+<p>Mr. Reeve remained over night, and the following
+day found an opportunity to have a long
+talk with Miss Preston&mdash;a talk which afforded
+him great satisfaction for many reasons.</p>
+<p>Toinette, with several of the other girls, escorted
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+him to the train, and gave him a most
+enthusiastic &#8220;send-off.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In the course of a few days a package was delivered
+at the school. Had bomb-shells been
+dropped there they could hardly have created
+more excitement. Jean&#8217;s house was only a few
+blocks from the school, and one Saturday morning&mdash;for
+the cameras were obliging enough to
+choose that day to appear&mdash;Mrs. Rockwood&#8217;s
+sitting-room was the scene of the wildest excitement.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXII__WE_VE_GOT__EM_WE_VE_GOT__EM' id='XXII__WE_VE_GOT__EM_WE_VE_GOT__EM'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;WE&#8217;VE GOT &#8217;EM! WE&#8217;VE GOT &#8217;EM!&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rockwood was in her sitting-room
+one morning. It was Saturday,
+and a day of liberty for Jean. She
+had gone over to the school to spend a few hours
+with Helen, and Mrs. Lockwood did not expect
+her home until lunch-time, but, happening
+to glance from her window about ten o&#8217;clock,
+what was her surprise to see two figures approaching,
+one with a series of bounds, prances and
+jumps, which indicated a wildly hilarious and
+satisfied frame of mind in Jean, and the other
+with a subdued hop and skip, and then a sedate
+walk, which, although less demonstrative, was
+quite as indicative of a very deep and serene
+happiness to any one familiar with Helen.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span></p>
+<p>A moment later the front door slammed, and
+two pairs of feet came tearing up the stairs as
+though pursued by Boer cavalry, and two eager
+voices cried:</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got &#8217;em! We&#8217;ve got &#8217;em! We&#8217;ve
+got &#8217;em!&#8221; and both girls came tearing into the
+room to cast themselves and two very suggestive
+looking parcels upon Mrs. Rockwood.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What in this world has happened?&#8221; she
+asked, in amazement, for both girls were breathless,
+and could only point at the parcels in
+her lap and say: &#8220;Open them! Open them,
+quick!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Rockwood was a woman who entered
+heart and soul into her daughter&#8217;s pleasures,
+and nothing was ever quite right in Jean&#8217;s eyes
+unless her mother shared it. Every little plan
+must be talked over with her, and it was pretty
+sure not to suffer any from one of her suggestions.
+Helen spent a great deal of time with
+Jean and was devoted to Mrs. Rockwood. Consequently,
+when the cameras arrived at the school
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+that morning, and they found out that there was
+really no mistake, but that they were certainly
+intended for the persons whose names were so
+plainly written upon the boxes, and sent in Miss
+Preston&#8217;s care, they could hardly wait to get over
+to Jean&#8217;s house to show their treasures to her
+mother. Many had been the surmises as to
+whom had sent such beauties, but Toinette kept
+a perfectly sober face, and no one suspected the
+secret.</p>
+<p>Carefully removing the wrappings, Mrs. Rockwood
+brought the contents of the boxes to view.
+She was as much surprised as the girls, and exclaimed:
+&#8220;Why, who could have sent them to
+you, and how did anyone learn that you were so
+anxious to have them? Such beauties, too!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is the funniest part of it all, for we
+never told a soul, and didn&#8217;t mean to till we had
+them, and now here they are. I believe St.
+Nick must have heard us wishing for them,&#8221; said
+Helen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And to <i>both</i> of us, and just <i>alike</i>! Think of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span>
+it! Oh, moddie, isn&#8217;t it lovely?&#8221; and Jean
+threw her arms about her mother&#8217;s neck by way
+of giving vent to her feelings.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m as delighted as you and Helen are,
+dear, only I wish we might learn who our benefactor
+is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, isn&#8217;t it too bad. Well, it may crop out
+later. I thought first it must be Miss Preston,
+but she said that she did not know any more
+about it than we did,&#8221; said Helen.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, when may we take our pictures, and
+what shall we take?&#8221; cried Jean.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You suggest something, Mrs. Rockwood; it
+will be nicer if you do it,&#8221; said Helen, dropping
+down upon her knees beside Mrs. Rockwood,
+and placing her arm around her friend&#8217;s waist.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Rockwood drew her close to her side as
+she replied:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me examine these treasures which have
+arrived so mysteriously, read the directions concerning
+them, and then we&#8217;ll see what we&#8217;ll
+see,&#8221; and she began to read: &#8220;Take the camera
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+into a perfectly dark closet, where no ray of
+light can penetrate (even covering the keyhole),
+and then place within it one of the sensitive
+plates, being careful not to expose the unused
+plates. Your camera is now ready to take the
+picture, etc.&#8221; &#8220;That is all very simple, I&#8217;m sure,
+and if the taking proves as simple as are the
+directions you need have little apprehension of
+failure. But your directions add very explicitly
+that you must <i>not</i> attempt to take a picture unless
+the day is sunny. So I fear those conditions
+preclude the possibility of your taking any
+upon this cloudy day, and you will have to possess
+your souls in peace till &#8216;Old Sol&#8217; favors you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear, isn&#8217;t that too bad! I thought we
+could take some right off. Don&#8217;t you think we
+might at least try, mamma?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I fear they would prove failures; better wait
+a more favorable light.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As though to tantalize frail humanity, &#8220;Old
+Sol&#8221; remained very exclusive all day, and, even
+though Helen remained till evening in the hope
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+that he would overcome his fit of sulks, nothing
+of the kind happened, and she was forced to go
+back to the school without one.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just wait till Monday, and we&#8217;ll do wonders;
+see if we don&#8217;t,&#8221; said Jean, as she bade her farewell,
+little dreaming what wonders she was destined
+to do with her magical box ere the sun set
+Monday night.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll ask Miss Preston to let me come over
+at four o&#8217;clock on Monday, and then we&#8217;ll go
+out in the little dell and get a lovely picture.
+You know the place I mean: where that old
+clump of fir-trees stands by the ruined wall,&#8221; said
+artistic Helen.</p>
+<p>But when Monday arrived unforeseen difficulties
+arose for Jean. The day was the sunniest
+ever known, and, while waiting for Helen to
+come, she got out the precious camera to set the
+plates.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, mamma, there isn&#8217;t a dark closet in
+the whole house; not a single one,&#8221; cried Jean,
+coming into her mother&#8217;s room as she was dressing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span>
+to go out on Monday afternoon. &#8220;Now,
+where in this world am I to open my plate-box,
+I&#8217;d like to know?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Rockwood laughed as she turned toward
+Jean, whose face was the picture of dismay.
+&#8220;True enough, there isn&#8217;t. Now, who would
+have supposed that the architect who designed
+this house, and put a window in every closet,
+could have been so short-sighted as not to
+anticipate such a need as the present one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what am I to do?&#8221; desperately.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Try putting a dark covering over the windows.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have, but it&#8217;s just no use, for I can&#8217;t get it
+pitch dark to save me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And to think that barely forty-eight hours
+ago I was congratulating myself that every closet
+in the house could be properly aired. Alas!
+how do our recent acquisitions alter our views?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, moddie, don&#8217;t laugh, but stop teasing
+me, and just think as hard as ever you can <i>how</i>
+I am to find a dark place.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Rockwood thought for a few moments,
+and then said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have it! Mary&#8217;s pot-closet, under the
+back stairs; that is as dark as a pocket, I&#8217;m
+sure.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There! I knew you&#8217;d find a way; you always
+do. Just the very place, and now I&#8217;m
+going straight down to fix it. Good-bye,&#8221; and,
+kissing her mother, away she flew.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIII_A_CAMERA_S_CAPERS' id='XXIII_A_CAMERA_S_CAPERS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+<h3>A CAMERA&#8217;S CAPERS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mary!&#8221; cried Jean, as she bounced into
+the kitchen, where the maid, a typical
+&#8220;child of Erin,&#8221; who worshipped
+the very ground Jean trod upon, stood at the
+sink paring her &#8220;taties&#8221; for the evening meal,
+&#8220;see my new camera; I&#8217;m going to take a picture
+with it, and I&#8217;ve got to go into your pot-closet
+to fix the plates.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A picter, is it? And will ye be afther takin&#8217;
+a picter wid that schmall bit av a black box?
+How do ye do it at all, I do&#8217; know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I go into a dark closet and put a gelatine
+plate in the box, and then I go outdoors
+and take my picture.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A gilitin plate, is it? Thin, faith, ye&#8217;ll
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+take ne&#8217;er a picter this day, for Oi&#8217;m jist afther
+usin&#8217; the last schrap av gilitin in the house to
+make the wine jilly fer the dinner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mean <i>that</i> kind of gelatine; the kind
+I use is already prepared on little plates in this
+box, and I have to go in the dark closet to fix
+them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Faith, I&#8217;d fix thim out here, thin, where ye
+can see what ye&#8217;re about. It&#8217;s dungeon dhark
+in the pot-closet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is exactly what I want, and, <i>please</i>,
+don&#8217;t come near it, or open the door while I&#8217;m
+in there, will you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; I&#8217;ll not come near ye. The minute
+I&#8217;ve done me taties it&#8217;s down in the laundry
+Oi&#8217;m goin&#8217;, an&#8217; Oi&#8217;ll not bother ye at all; but
+here, take this schmall, little candle wid ye
+whan ye go in, fer it&#8217;s that dhark ye&#8217;ll not see
+yer hand forninst ye,&#8221; and she caught up a
+candle from the shelf.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no! I don&#8217;t <i>want</i> any light; the darker
+it is the better.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s crackin&#8217; yer head aff ye&#8217;ll be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I sha&#8217;n&#8217;t,&#8221; said Jean, as she whisked
+into the closet and drew the door together just
+as Mary started down the back stairs to the
+laundry.</p>
+<p>Had the closet been designed for an eel-pot it
+would have proved the most complete success,
+for getting into it was a very simple matter,
+whereas, getting <i>out</i> required considerable ingenuity.
+Absorbed in the one idea of getting the
+plates placed in the camera, Jean entirely forgot
+the peculiarities of the fastening upon the
+door. As she slammed it together every ray of
+light vanished, and she was instantly enveloped
+in an Egyptian darkness. Carefully opening
+her box, she drew from it one of the plates,
+touched it with her fingers to find which side
+was coated with the gelatine preparation, placed
+it in the camera and turned to leave the closet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, I&#8217;ll have a picture in just about two
+jiffs,&#8221; she said, and pushed against the door.
+To her surprise, it did not open. Another
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+push, with the same result. It then dawned
+upon her that the spring-bolt had fastened upon
+the outer side. Feeling carefully about in the
+pitch darkness, she laid her things upon the shelf
+and tried to find a way of getting out. But,
+push, shake and rattle as she might, it was useless;
+the door remained tightly fastened.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mary,&#8221; she called, &#8220;come and let me out,
+please.&#8221;</p>
+<p>No response.</p>
+<p>&#8220;M-a-r-y! I&#8217;m locked in; come let me out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What in the whorld is the matter wid ye?&#8221;
+came from the foot of the stairs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m locked <i>in</i> and can&#8217;t get out; come and
+open the door!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Och, worra! Don&#8217;t be callin&#8217; to me not to
+<i>open</i> the door; didn&#8217;t Oi tell ye Oi wouldn&#8217;t
+come near ye, and Oi <i>won&#8217;t</i>. It&#8217;s goin&#8217; down
+to the bharn Oi am, and ye needn&#8217;t be for worritin&#8217;,
+at all, at all,&#8221; and receding footsteps proved
+Mary&#8217;s words only too true.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, I&#8217;m in a pretty fix, am I not? Like
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+enough she won&#8217;t come back for twenty minutes,
+and here I&#8217;ve got to stay. Plague take the old
+bolt!&#8221;</p>
+<p>What imp of mischief made Mary return to
+the laundry by the cellar-door, take up her
+basket of freshly laundered clothes, and, after
+carrying them up to Mrs. Rockwood&#8217;s bedroom,
+go on to her own in the third story to dress for
+the afternoon, must forever remain a mystery.
+But this she did, and, as Jean heard her go up
+the back stairs, beneath which she was securely
+fastened in the pot-closet, she thumped and
+pounded with renewed energy. But the only
+response was:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no; not for the whorld, darlint, would
+Oi disthurbe ye and spoil yer purty picter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>About an hour later Mrs. Rockwood, returning
+from her call, met Helen upon the front
+piazza.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has Jean got everything ready to take the
+pictures?&#8221; she asked, eagerly. &#8220;It is such a
+perfect day for it, and I am so anxious that I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+can hardly wait. It seems too good to be true
+that we have really got cameras at last, doesn&#8217;t
+it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems as though the fairies must have
+been aware of your great desire to have them,
+and so took matters into their own hands,&#8221; replied
+Mrs. Rockwood, as she unfastened the
+front door with her latch-key and held it open
+for Helen to enter.</p>
+<p>As they entered the hall they were greeted
+with a series of muffled thumps and bangs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I <i>do</i> wish Mary would remember what I
+have so often told her about breaking her kindling
+upon the cellar floor,&#8221; she exclaimed.</p>
+<p>Rattle, rattle! Bang, bang! and then a crash
+as though the roof were falling.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What under the sun can be the matter!&#8221;
+exclaimed Mrs. Rockwood.</p>
+<p>Just then Mary appeared at the head of the
+stairs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, Mary, what is all this noise?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shure, it was comin&#8217; down mesilf Oi was to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span>
+see. Saints presarve us, can there be thieves
+in the house, Oi do&#8217; know!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rather noisy thieves, I should think. Where
+is Miss Jean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Out in the fields beyant, wid her bit av a
+camela takin&#8217; her picter, Oi&#8217;m thinkin&#8217;. &#8217;Twas
+there she said she&#8217;d be goin&#8217; afther she came
+out of the pot-closet&mdash;saints have mercy! Could
+she <i>git</i> out at all, at all?&#8221; and Mary tore down
+the stairs, with Mrs. Rockwood and Helen close
+at her heels. She reached the closet, flung open
+the door, and beheld a spectacle. Seated on the
+floor, in the midst of a scattered array of pots,
+kettles and frying-pans, her box of plates upset,
+her precious camera in her lap, and blissfully
+unconscious that the slide was open, sat Jean,
+a very picture of despair.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mighty man! And have ye been in here
+all this toim, an&#8217; not to be smothered dead!&#8221;
+cried Mary.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How could I be anywhere <i>else</i>, I&#8217;d like to
+know?&#8221; said Jean, indignantly. &#8220;I called and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span>
+<i>called</i>, but I couldn&#8217;t get you to let me out,&#8221;
+and, bouncing up, she scrabbled the plates back
+into their box, then caught up the camera to
+see if all was as it should be with that. As she
+jumped up the slide closed, and, quite unaware
+that it had ever been open, she announced to
+her nearly convulsed audience:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m <i>out</i> at last, and now I hope I can
+take a picture; come on, Helen,&#8221; little dreaming
+that the treacherous sunlight, which flashed
+through the hall window and straight into the
+pot-closet, had already printed a most perfect
+one on the plate.</p>
+<p>A few moments later both she and Helen
+were out in the fields back of the house, and
+had snapped charming little scenes.</p>
+<p>Bemoaning her unintentional trick, Mary
+went back to her work, while Mrs. Rockwood
+went up to her room to laugh heartily over the
+mishap, never suspecting that the funniest part
+would appear in the sequel.</p>
+<p>A half hour later the girls came flying into
+her room to say, excitedly:</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-221.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 332px; height: 461px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 332px;'>
+&#8220;AN&#8217; HAVE YE BEEN IN THERE ALL THIS TIME?&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve taken them! We&#8217;ve taken them!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I know they will be just lovely, for the
+sun shone right on the trees and the ruins.
+How I wish we could develop them; don&#8217;t you,
+Helen?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I&#8217;d like to know how, and, now that I
+have the camera, I shall get a developing outfit
+and learn; but let&#8217;s take these right over to
+Charlton&#8217;s and have him develop them for us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They started for the village to leave the plates
+to be developed, and waited with what patience
+they could for the following day, when the photographer
+promised to send them the proofs.</p>
+<p>They came, and one at least was truly a
+marvel.</p>
+<p>In the foreground of Jean&#8217;s was a pretty
+clump of fir-trees growing beside an old ruined
+stone wall, under which nestled a bunch of dry
+goldenrod. But the background! Did ever
+the maddest artist&#8217;s brain conceive of such?
+Clear and distinct, where sky should have been,
+stood&mdash;a frying-pan!</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIV_WHISPERS' id='XXIV_WHISPERS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+<h3>WHISPERS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>March, with its winds and storms, slipped
+away as though glad to whisk such
+trying days off the calendar, and, ere
+the girls realized it, Easter vacation was upon
+them, and capricious April was playing the
+schoolgirl herself, with one day a smile and the
+next a frown. But, like the schoolgirl, her
+smiles were all the sunnier for the frowns.</p>
+<p>It must indeed be a dull, prosy old heart
+which cannot respond to the soft beauty of early
+spring, and want to frisk and frolic for very
+sympathy with all the new life springing into
+existence all about it. And there were no dull
+or prosy ones at Sunny Bank.</p>
+<p>For some time the girls had known that this
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+would be Miss Howard&#8217;s last year with them;
+but now little whispers began to fly about, as
+little whispers have a trick of doing, that Miss
+Howard was about to enter another school, where
+she would be pupil instead of teacher, and there
+learn the sweetest lesson ever taught on this big
+earth&mdash;a lesson which says, &#8220;Not mine and
+thine, but ours, for ours is mine and thine;&#8221; and,
+while they rejoiced in her happiness, they were
+nearly inconsolable at the thought of losing her,
+for she had filled a very beautiful place in their
+lives&mdash;far more beautiful than they suspected.
+It was always Miss Howard who entered into
+all their little plans and pleasures, participated
+in their joys, and sympathized with their sorrows.</p>
+<p>She was little more than a girl herself, yet
+possessed the strength of character sometimes
+wanting in a much older person, and by it set
+a beautiful example for her girls to follow.
+And they followed it unconsciously to themselves
+and to her, for never was there a more modest
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+little body than Miss Howard, and had anyone
+hinted that she was a mighty balance-wheel to
+her fly-away girls, a source of encouragement to
+her timid ones, an inspiration to her ambitious
+ones, and an object of very sincere affection to
+all, she would probably have been the most surprised
+person in the school. Yet such was undoubtedly
+the fact, and it would have been a very
+wrong-headed girl, indeed, who was not ready
+to yield to her influence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I felt criss-cross with all the world, I believe
+I&#8217;d have to smile back when Miss Howard
+smiled at me,&#8221; said Toinette, shortly after she
+became a pupil in the school. &#8220;Her eyes are
+just as soft as the little Alderney bossie&#8217;s, and
+her lips look sort of grieved if the girls look
+cross.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And so the whispers grew louder and louder
+till just after the Easter holidays were over, and
+then all who loved her best learned that early
+in June wedding bells would ring and a very
+bonny bride would step forth from Sunny Bank,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
+with several bonny bridesmaids leading the way,
+and one maid of honor to scatter the posies which
+were to be symbolical, as all hoped, of her future
+pathway through life.</p>
+<p>And then arose the all-important question as
+to whom Miss Howard would choose for that
+great honor, and excitement ran high.</p>
+<p>All the girls had a strong suspicion that it
+would be Toinette, although, to do her justice,
+Toinette herself did not suspect it. Still, Miss
+Howard had taken a keen interest in the girl
+ever since she entered the school, and felt
+strongly drawn toward her, being quick to see
+her good qualities, and to understand that the
+undesirable ones were very largely the result of
+unfortunate circumstances. So she had striven
+in her sweet and gracious way to help Toinette
+without words, and had been a strong support to
+Miss Preston.</p>
+<p>As the warm spring days made wood and field
+to blossom, the girls spent a great deal of their
+time out of doors. Sunny Bank&#8217;s grounds were
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span>
+very beautiful, and the adjacent field and woodland
+very enticing at that season. Basket-ball
+was a favorite source of amusement, and the lawn
+devoted to it as soft and smooth as velvet. So
+nearly every afternoon the team could be seen
+bounding about like so many marionettes, and if
+touseled hair and demoralized attire resulted,
+what did it matter? Rosy cheeks and ravenous
+appetites were excellent compensations.</p>
+<p>It was the fifteenth of April, and Toinette&#8217;s
+birthday. Many a climb had the expressman&#8217;s
+horse taken up the long hill leading to Sunny
+Bank that morning, for, if Toinette had but few
+friends, she certainly had a very generous father,
+who meant that she should have her full share
+of birthday remembrances, and they kept coming
+thick and fast all day. With each came a funny
+note to say that he was sending still another
+package because he did not want her to have all
+her surprises in a lump; they would seem so
+much more if coming in installments. So they
+kept coming all day long, and by four o&#8217;clock
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+her room looked like a fancy bazaar. Last of all
+to arrive was a large box upon which was printed
+in flaring scarlet letters: &#8220;Not to be opened till
+it is ten A. M. in <i>Bombay</i>.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The box stood in the hall when Miss Preston
+passed through the hall to dinner, and, unless
+suddenly stricken with ophthalmy, she could not
+fail to see the flaring notice. &#8220;Ah,&#8221; she said,
+softly, to herself, &#8220;you have a triple mission,
+you inanimate bit of the carpenter&#8217;s skill: first,
+to teach my girls a lesson in longitude and time,
+second, to mutely ask my permission for a frolic
+to-night, and, third, to suggest that when birthdays
+arrive it would be a most auspicious time
+for the &#8220;C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C.&#8217;s&#8221; to hold their revels, and
+that Diogenes&#8217; tub, if not himself, would be welcome,
+so I had better act upon the hint and contribute
+my share. Thank you, sir,&#8221; and, with a
+funny little nod to the box, she went on to the
+dining-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the joke, Miss Preston?&#8221; asked
+Cicely, as Miss Preston took her seat.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think I&#8217;m going to spoil it by revealing
+it so soon? No, indeed,&#8221; and she
+laughed softly.</p>
+<p>When dinner was ended the girls flocked
+around the box and curiosity ran riot. &#8220;What
+does that mean, Miss Preston? Do tell us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have other matters of such importance on
+hand that I must deputize Miss Howard to unravel
+the mystery for you,&#8221; she said, as she
+slipped away to the upper hall where the telephone
+was placed, and a moment later the girls
+heard the bell jingle and a funny, one-sided conversation
+followed. &#8220;Hello, Central! 1305. Is
+this 1305? Send me the usual order. Yes,
+four kinds. Eight. Well packed. Be prompt.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The porter carried the big box to Toinette&#8217;s
+room and removed the lid for her. Such an
+array! I&#8217;m not going to attempt to tell about
+it, but shall let every girl who has ever attended
+a chum&#8217;s birthday feast mention the articles of
+which that feast consisted, and then, after combining
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+the entire list, they can form some idea
+of the contents of Toinette&#8217;s box.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fly, Cicely, and hunt up every C.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;C.,
+and a dozen besides! We can never dispose of
+such a cartload of stuff in a week if we don&#8217;t
+have the entire school to help us,&#8221; cried Toinette,
+as she lifted one thing after another from
+the box.</p>
+<p>There is a saying that &#8220;Ill news flies fast,&#8221;
+but, in my humble opinion, it is as a stage-coach
+beside the Empire State Express when compared
+to the fleetness of good news. So it did not take
+long to start this bit like an electric fluid
+through the school, and what sort of &#8220;Free
+Masonry&#8221; filled in details so successfully I know
+not.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXV__WHAT_ARE_YOU_DOING_UP_THIS_TIME_OF_NIGHT' id='XXV__WHAT_ARE_YOU_DOING_UP_THIS_TIME_OF_NIGHT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THIS TIME OF NIGHT?&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It so happened that of the ten resident
+teachers but three were at home that evening;
+the others having joined a theatre
+party going to town, and it would be midnight
+before they returned.</p>
+<p>Those at home were Miss Preston, Miss Howard,
+and, unfortunately, Mrs. Stone. Of the first
+two mentioned the girls felt small apprehension,
+for they understood them pretty thoroughly, but
+Mrs. Stone was an obstacle not so easily surmounted,
+and it seemed to them that she was
+never more ubiquitous.</p>
+<p>At nine-thirty Miss Preston had bade all
+good-night in an unusually solicitous manner,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
+wishing each happy dreams. Miss Howard had
+also retired to her room promptly at the stroke
+of the clock, and everything worked most auspiciously
+excepting the tucking away of Mother
+Stone, and she positively refused to be tucked,
+but kept prowling about like a lost spirit, till
+Ruth said, in desperation: &#8220;If she doesn&#8217;t get
+settled down pretty soon I&#8217;ll do something desperate;
+see if I don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<p>From room to room she went, popping her
+head in at one to ask if there was anything she
+could do for this girl, listening at the next door
+for sounds of insomnia, creeping stealthily on
+through the corridors to learn if any girl who
+ought to be en route for Sleepy Town had by
+chance missed her way.</p>
+<p>She had made her way as far as the lower
+end of the hall, where on one side the stairs
+leading to the third story joined it, and on the
+other a door opened into the bath-room, when a
+rustle at the head of the stairs caused her to
+glance quickly in that direction; but it was too
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span>
+dark for her to see anything at the top of them.
+She paused to listen, and her sharp ears detected
+the sound again. That was sufficient.
+Up she flew and came plump upon Lou Cornwall,
+who had not had time to fly. Lou was
+stout and did not move quickly, and was fair prey
+for Mrs. Stone, who was as thin as a match, and
+managed to glide about like a wraith.</p>
+<p>Lou was arrayed in her bath-robe, and had
+her cap and mask in her hand. Quickly concealing
+them behind her lest Mrs. Stone&#8217;s sharp
+eyes should discover them even in the dark, she
+stood stock still waiting developments. Mrs.
+Stone stooped from her towering height of five
+feet nine to peer into the face of the plump little
+figure huddled in the corner. &#8220;How you startled
+me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Why are you standing here
+when everyone else is in bed, and what are you
+doing up this time of night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I had to get up, Mrs. Stone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, may I enquire?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to the bath-room.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, why in the world don&#8217;t you <i>go</i> and not
+stand huddled up here as though you were bent
+on some mischief? It is no wonder that we suspect
+you when you take such extraordinary
+ways of doing perfectly simple things. Go on
+at once, and, if you have been hesitating because
+you are timid, I&#8217;ll wait here till you return,&#8221;
+and down she planted herself upon the top step
+to mount guard.</p>
+<p>Groaning inwardly, away went Lou, muttering:
+&#8220;If I don&#8217;t keep you perched there till
+you nearly freeze, my name isn&#8217;t Lou Cornwall!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And keep her she did, till Mrs. Stone had
+another trouble added to her many, for she began
+to fear that Lou had been taken ill, and
+went to the bath-room door to speak to her.
+Finding that she could not hold out any longer,
+out she came, and, after receiving some very
+emphatic admonitions from Mrs. Stone, crept
+away to her room disgusted with herself, the
+world at large, and Mrs. Stone in particular.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span></p>
+<p>Meantime, the other girls began to suspect
+that Lou had fallen into ambush, and sent out a
+scout to reconnoiter, and it was not many seconds
+before the scout came scuttling back with the
+alarming information that the enemy was close
+at hand; in fact, that she was even now coming
+upon them in force, for, when Mother Stone
+found that Lou did not come from the bath-room
+as promptly as she thought she should, all
+her suspicions were instantly aroused, and she
+was keen to make discoveries.</p>
+<p>The girls had planned to meet in Toinette&#8217;s
+room, and creep from there to the old laundry
+as soon as all were assembled. About a dozen
+were already there, but, when the scout returned
+with such dire tidings, they decided that discretion
+was the better part of valor, and all made
+haste to get back to their rooms ere the enemy
+appeared. But, alack-a-day! that enemy could
+flit about in a surprisingly lively manner, and,
+ere some of them had reached safety behind
+their own doors, she came in view. To get to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+their rooms now was out of the question, so,
+making a virtue of necessity, they all slipped
+into a large closet used by the housemaids for
+their brooms, etc.</p>
+<p>Whether it was from a wholesome fear that
+Miss Preston would be very apt to criticize a
+too pronounced vigilance that Mrs. Stone refrained
+from opening the girls&#8217; doors, but contented
+herself with simply listening, I cannot
+say, but if she heard no sound within she always
+passed on and left them to their innocent (?) slumbers.
+So on she went from one room to another,
+but, luckily, the alarm had gone before, and at each
+room darkness and profound silence prevailed.
+Satisfied that &#8220;all was well,&#8221; she murmured something
+about, &#8220;It is always well to be upon the
+alert, for once the girls understand that someone
+is sure to detect the first signs of mischief, they
+are far less liable to carry it to excess,&#8221; she set
+off for her own room. In passing by the housemaid&#8217;s
+door she saw that it was not tightly
+closed and locked, as was the custom at night,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
+and, with a joyous chuckle at her own astuteness,
+she pounced upon it, locked the door, and
+withdrawing the key sailed triumphantly to her
+room, where, serene in her sense of well-doing,
+she fell as sound asleep as her nature permitted.</p>
+<p>Meantime, how fared it with the mice in the
+trap? When the key was turned in the door,
+and they were made prisoners, nothing but the
+pitch darkness which enveloped them as a garment
+prevented each girl&#8217;s face from plainly
+announcing to her neighbor: &#8220;Here is a pretty
+kettle of fish!&#8221; There were five in the closet:
+Ruth, Edith, Pauline, May and Marie. Luckily,
+a resourceful party. When all sound from the
+hall had ceased, Ruth gave just one howl, and
+then jumped up and down three times as hard
+as she could jump, by way of giving vent to
+her state of mind. Fortunately, the door was
+a heavy one and the sound did not reach Mother
+Stone&#8217;s ears.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You crazy thing!&#8221; exclaimed Edith, &#8220;next
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span>
+thing you know you will have her after us
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose we do; we&#8217;ve got to get out somehow,
+haven&#8217;t we?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but she is the last one in the world we
+want to let us out. What a fix! If the girls
+only knew of it, they would come and let us
+out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How could they when she has the key, I&#8217;d
+like to know?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Edith groaned: &#8220;I never thought of that
+plagued old key. Bother take her and it, too!
+Why couldn&#8217;t she have gone to bed just as
+everybody else did, and have minded her own
+business, too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was exactly what she thought she was
+doing,&#8221; laughed May.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all very well to laugh, but <i>how</i> are we
+to get down to the laundry, I&#8217;d like to know;
+or the girls ever find out where we are?&#8221;</p>
+<p>While all this talking had been going on,
+little Marie, the liveliest, slightest, most quick-witted
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+girl in the school, had been doing a lot
+of thinking, and now turned to the others and
+said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you see that scrap of a window up
+there?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, we see it, but it might as well be a rat-hole,
+for all the good it will do us; nothing but
+a rat could crawl through it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be too sure,&#8221; answered Marie, with a
+knowing laugh. &#8220;I can get through a pretty
+small space when occasion demands, and, if I&#8217;m
+not much mistaken, the demand is very urgent
+just at this moment.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How under the sun can you reach it, even
+if you can get through it after you&#8217;ve reached
+it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What good have you derived from your
+gymnastic training this winter, I&#8217;d like to
+know, if you have to ask me that?&#8221; demanded
+Marie.</p>
+<p>The window was one of those odd little affairs
+one sometimes sees built in houses, perhaps
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span>
+simply to excite curiosity and make one wonder
+why they were ever built at all, for they do not
+seem to be of the slightest use. The one in
+question was situated high up in the closet, and
+had probably been put there for ventilating purposes,
+if anyone ever felt inclined to get a step-ladder
+and clamber up to open it. It was shaped
+like a segment of a circle, was only about eighteen
+inches high at the widest part, and fastened
+at the top with a bolt. Getting at it in broad
+daylight would not have been an easy matter,
+and now, with only the light of the moon shining
+through it, it seemed an impossibility.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVI__LOVE_AND_SCHOOLGIRLS_LAUGH_AT_LOCKSMITHS' id='XXVI__LOVE_AND_SCHOOLGIRLS_LAUGH_AT_LOCKSMITHS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;LOVE (AND SCHOOLGIRLS) LAUGH AT LOCKSMITHS&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here, I&#8217;m going to take command of
+affairs, since no one else seems inclined
+to,&#8221; cried Marie. &#8220;May, you are the
+strongest girl here; just give me a shoulder, will
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What shall I do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stand close to the wall underneath the
+window, and let me get on your shoulder; it
+may hurt a bit, but we can&#8217;t stay stived up in
+here all night. Lend a hand, Ruth, and boost
+me up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A step-ladder of knees and arms was formed,
+and up scrambled Marie as nimbly as a squirrel.
+Then another obstacle confronted her. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+window had probably never been opened since
+it was built, and, having never been called upon
+to do its share in the economy of that household,
+was disinclined to begin now. Marie&#8217;s
+slender fingers were dented and pinched in vain;
+that window remained obdurate.</p>
+<p>&#8220;For mercy sake come down and give the
+old thing up! My shoulder is crushed flat,&#8221;
+said May.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait just one second longer, and I&#8217;ll have
+it; see if I don&#8217;t. Ruth, hand me that stair-brush,
+please.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ruth gave her the brush, and, saying to May:
+&#8220;Now, brace yourself for a mighty push,&#8221; she
+used the handle as a lever, gave a vigorous jerk,
+when away went bolt, window, Marie and all.
+Down she came with a thud, but, luckily, on a
+pile of sweeping cloths, which saved her from
+harm.</p>
+<p>Scrabbling up, she cried: &#8220;Never mind, I&#8217;m
+not hurt a bit; now boost me up again, and let
+me see what is outside.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></p>
+<p>She was promptly lifted up, and, poking her
+saucy head out into the moonlight, drew in long
+whiffs of the sweet night air, which was wonderfully
+refreshing after the stuffy closet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The shed is about ten feet below, girls. If
+I had anything to lower myself down with I
+could easily reach it; I&#8217;m almost afraid to let
+myself drop, the shed slopes so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hang fast a second while Ruth and I tie
+the sweeping-cloths together,&#8221; cried May, and
+quickly catching up the calico covers they began
+to tie them together.</p>
+<p>&#8220;See that you tie them tightly,&#8221; warned
+Marie. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had one bump already, and I
+don&#8217;t want another.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The cloths were soon ready, and one end
+handed to her. She fastened it securely about
+her waist, and, warning the others to hang on
+for dear life, she began to crawl through the
+narrow opening.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My goodness, she is just like a monkey,&#8221; said
+Pauline. &#8220;I never could have done it in the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span>
+world,&#8221; a most superfluous assertion, as no one
+in the world would ever have suspected her of
+being able to.</p>
+<p>Away went Marie, vanishing bit by bit from
+their sight till only her laughing black eyes,
+with the soft dark hair above them, were visible
+in the moonlight. The girls lowered away
+slowly, and presently felt the strain upon the
+cloths relax.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s on the shed! Good!&#8221; said Edith,
+&#8220;and now she&#8217;ll have us out in less than jig
+time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But &#8220;many&#8217;s the slip twixt the&mdash;lip and the
+birthday box,&#8221; and the girls began to suspect
+Marie of treachery to the cause ere they again
+heard her voice.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-247.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 326px; height: 466px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 326px;'>
+&#8220;AWAY WENT MARIE, VANISHING BIT BY BIT.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span></div>
+<p>Meantime, how fared it with her? Once upon
+the shed all seemed plain sailing, but the shed
+was somewhat like the mountains Moses climbed
+so wearily; it gave her a glimpse of the promised
+land without permitting her to enter it. The
+ground was fully sixteen feet below her, and to
+reach it without some means other than her own
+nimble legs was obviously impossible. The shed
+was only a small one built out over the kitchen,
+but just beyond, with perhaps five feet dividing
+them, was the end of the piazza roof, and if she
+could only reach that she could let herself down
+to the ground by the thick vines growing upon
+it. But those five feet intervening looked a
+perfect gulf, and how to get over them was a
+poser. Jump it she dared not; step it she could
+not. It began to look as though she must signal
+to the girls in the closet to haul in their big
+fish, when she chanced to spy something sticking
+up through the honeysuckle vines. Crawling
+carefully down to the edge of the shed,
+she peered over, and saw the ends of the gardener&#8217;s
+ladder. Pauline had not made a mistake
+when she called her a monkey, for in
+just one second she was at the bottom of that
+ladder.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now I&#8217;m all right, and will soon have the
+girls free,&#8221; and off she scurried to the side of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span>
+the house upon which Toinette&#8217;s room was situated.
+Gathering up a handful of soft earth
+she threw it against the window, but with no result.
+Then a second one followed. Had she
+but known it, Toinette and her revellers had
+long ago given them up, and were now down in
+the old laundry spreading forth their array of
+goodies. After wasting considerable time, Marie
+suddenly bethought her of the above fact, and instantly
+skipped off to that Mecca.</p>
+<p>There was not a ray of light visible, but,
+happily, sight is not the only sense with which
+we are endowed, and Marie&#8217;s ears were as keen
+as her eyes. Giving the three signal taps upon
+one of the tightly closed window-blinds, she
+waited a reply. But the girls were not expecting
+taps from that quarter, and at once became
+suspicious. But precious moments were fleeing,
+and Marie was becoming desperate, so, flinging
+prudence to the winds, she gave three sounding
+bangs upon that window, and called out:</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t open this window and let me
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+in I&#8217;ll set Mother Stone on your track, sure as
+you live!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Open flew the window, and a moment later
+Marie was relating her experiences to them.
+Then came the question of rescuing the others.
+Not an easy one to answer. But Marie had
+gone so far, and, being a very resourceful little
+body, had no notion of giving up yet, and saying
+to the revellers: &#8220;I&#8217;m going to let those girls
+out if I have to take the door down to do it,&#8221;
+off she flitted, as quickly and silently as a butterfly.
+In less time than it takes to tell it she
+stood outside their prison, and saying, encouragingly:
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t give up, girls; I&#8217;ll soon have you
+out,&#8221; she slipped into the sewing-room opposite,
+and emerged a second later with the little oil-can
+and screw-driver from the machine drawer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;For gracious sake, what <i>are</i> you going to
+do?&#8221; whispered Cicely, who had come with her
+to help if possible.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something I once saw a carpenter at our
+house do, if I can. Sh! Don&#8217;t make any
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
+noise,&#8221; and, reaching up to the top hinge, Marie
+dropped a few drops of oil from her can upon
+it, and then treated the lower one in the same
+manner. The hinges were what are known as
+&#8220;fish hinges,&#8221; the door being held in place by
+a small iron peg slipped into the sockets of the
+hinge. After she had oiled them, she placed
+her screw-driver under the knob of the peg,
+when, lo! up it slid as easily as could be, and
+when both had been carefully slid out of place,
+nothing prevented the door from being softly
+drawn away from the hinges, swung outward,
+and if it did not open from left to right, as it
+had been intended to open, it was quite as
+easy to walk through it when it opened from
+right to left. To slip it back into place, when
+five giggling girls had escaped, was equally
+easy, and no one would ever have suspected
+the skillful bit of mechanical engineering that
+had taken place under their very noses at ten-thirty
+that night.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVII_ARIADNE_S_CLUE' id='XXVII_ARIADNE_S_CLUE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2>
+<h3>ARIADNE&#8217;S CLUE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The manner in which those liberated girls
+skipped down to the laundry was certainly
+not snail-like. They had nearly
+reached it when Ruth&#8217;s feet became entangled in
+a piece of string, and, stooping down to loosen
+it, she discovered a slip of paper fastened to the
+end, and a large pin which had evidently stuck
+it fast to the door-casing. No doubt some of
+the girls had brushed against it in their hurry-scurry
+to reach the laundry, and, but for the
+ill wind which blew five of them into the housemaid&#8217;s
+closet, this significant scrap of paper
+would never have been discovered. The candle
+they carried was brought to bear upon it, and
+they read the following words:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span></p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>In ancient days, so the stories say,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>One Theseus found a remarkable way</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Of reaching a point he wished to gain,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And down to posterity came his fame.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So, perhaps, posterity may also do well</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>To follow a &#8220;clue,&#8221; but never to tell</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Just what they found at the further end,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Lest a rule should break instead of bend.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&#8220;What can it mean? Where does it lead
+to?&#8221; were the questions eagerly whispered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on, and let&#8217;s find out,&#8221; was Ruth&#8217;s
+practical remark, and she began to wind up the
+string. There seemed no end to it, and it led
+them through the corridor, out of that into the
+kitchen, then out to a small store-room built beneath
+the kitchen porch. Here the end was tied
+to a very suggestive-looking tub.</p>
+<p>Had Diogenes succeeded in discovering an
+honest man he could not have felt greater satisfaction
+than these girls felt at the sight of that
+modest little oval tub, with its sawdust covering;
+and the way in which it was pounced upon,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span>
+and borne in triumph to the laundry, brings my
+story of that night&#8217;s revels to a climax, and no
+more need be told.</p>
+<p>When the twelve o&#8217;clock train whistled it was
+the signal for the revels to end, and, ere the
+carriages which were to meet the theatre-goers
+could bring them up the hill, Sunny Bank was
+as quiet and peaceful as though all its inmates
+had been dreaming for hours.</p>
+<p>The weather had become beautifully soft and
+balmy for the middle of April, and the girls
+were able to sit out of doors, and do many of
+the things they had not hoped to do till May
+should burgeon and bloom.</p>
+<p>A few days after the frolic Toinette was sitting
+in one of the pretty little summer-houses, of
+which there were several dotted about the
+grounds, when Miss Howard came in and took
+her seat beside her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have been playing at hide-and-seek
+with me without knowing it,&#8221; she said, &#8220;for I
+have been searching for you everywhere, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span>
+only discovered you here by the glint of the sunshine
+upon your hair.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you want me, Miss Howard? I&#8217;m sorry
+you had to hunt for me,&#8221; answered Toinette.
+&#8220;What can I do for you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me some wise advice,&#8221; said Miss Howard,
+smiling.</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>I</i> give you advice!&#8221; exclaimed Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; don&#8217;t you think you can?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall have to know what it is about before
+I dare say yes or no, Miss Howard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know that I am going to leave you in
+a few weeks, dear, and I want my leave-taking
+to be closely identified with my girls, whom I
+have learned to love so dearly, and whom, I
+think, love me as well as I love them. I have
+spent many happy years in this school, first as
+pupil and then as teacher, and it has been a very
+dear home to me. Now I am going away from
+it forever, and though the future looks very
+enticing, and I have every reason to believe
+that it will be happy, still I cannot help
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span>
+feeling sad at the thought of leaving the old
+life behind. These are serious confidences for
+me to burden you with, Toinette, but you have
+crept into a very warm corner of my heart since
+you became a pupil here, and I know that there
+is a wise little head upon these shoulders,&#8221; said
+Miss Howard, as she placed her hand on Toinette&#8217;s
+shoulder.</p>
+<p>The girl reached up, and drawing the hand
+close to her cheek held it there, but did not speak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So now,&#8221; continued Miss Howard, &#8220;I am
+going to ask you to help my outgoing from this
+happy home to be a pleasant one, by being my
+maid of honor when the time comes; will you,
+dear?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You want <i>me</i> to be the maid of honor, Miss
+Howard? You don&#8217;t truly mean it? There
+are so many other girls whom you have known
+so much longer, and whom you must love better
+than you do me; although I don&#8217;t believe they
+<i>can</i> love <i>you</i> any better than I do,&#8221; said Toinette,
+naively.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That is just it, dear. I do love them all, and
+am sure that they are very fond of me. But
+in your case it is just a little different. All
+these girls have pleasant homes, and many loved
+ones in them who plan for their happiness, and
+to whom they will go directly vacation begins.
+For many years you, like myself, have had
+no home but the one a school offered, and which,
+unlike mine, was sometimes not as happy a home
+as it might have been, I fear. So, you see, we
+have, in one way, had a bond of sympathy between
+us even before we knew it to be so. And
+now we have still another, for when we leave
+here in June we shall each go to our own dear
+home; you to one your father shall make for
+you, I to the one my husband will provide for
+me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A soft, pretty color had crept over Miss Howard&#8217;s
+face as she spoke, and a very tender look
+came into her beautiful eyes. Truly, she was
+carrying something very sweet and holy to the
+one who was to bear that name.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;So we shall step out into the new life together,
+shall we not, Toinette, and each will be
+the sweeter for our having done so?&#8221; asked
+Miss Howard.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is too lovely even to think about, Miss
+Howard. I don&#8217;t know how to make you understand
+how proud and happy it makes me to
+think that you chose me from among all the
+others, and I hope they will not feel that you
+should not have done so. Do you think they
+will mind?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the contrary, they are delighted with
+my choice, for I told them my reasons, as I have
+told them to you, and they see it in the same
+light that I see it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I shall be the happiest girl in Montcliff,&#8221;
+cried Toinette.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, <i>next</i> to the happiest,&#8221; said Miss Howard,
+laughing softly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I shall be the happiest in <i>my</i> way,
+and you in <i>yours</i>,&#8221; and Toinette wagged her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span>
+head as though it would be of no use for Miss
+Howard to try to make her concede <i>that</i> point.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And now let us plan our maid of honor&#8217;s
+toilet, and also what our six bridesmaids must
+wear. It was upon that important question I
+wished your advice, and, now that you know, do
+you feel qualified to give it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, how lovely!&#8221; cried Toinette. &#8220;Why,
+Miss Howard, it is almost like planning for my
+own wedding, and you are too sweet for anything
+to let me.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVIII__WHEN_BUDS_AND_BLOSSOMS_BURST' id='XXVIII__WHEN_BUDS_AND_BLOSSOMS_BURST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;WHEN BUDS AND BLOSSOMS BURST&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The planning of the toilets took considerable
+time, and Miss Howard felt that
+she had made no mistake when she asked
+the girl&#8217;s advice. Like her father&#8217;s, Toinette&#8217;s
+taste was unerring, and when she said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t it be pretty to have the girls
+represent flowers?&#8221; Miss Howard was delighted
+with the idea.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What flowers would you suggest, dear?&#8221; she
+asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let me think just a moment, please,&#8221; said
+Toinette, and she rested her chin upon her hands,
+a favorite attitude of hers when thinking seriously
+of anything. &#8220;How would a lily, a violet, a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span>
+pansy, a daffodil, a narcissus, and a snowdrop
+do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How pretty!&#8221; exclaimed Miss Howard.
+&#8220;What put such a picturesque idea in your
+head? It is beautiful, and can be carried out
+admirably. You must be my fair and lovely
+lily; then shall come my violet and daffodil;
+then my narcissus and lilac; then my pansy and
+modest little snowdrop. That will exactly suit
+Helen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who are to be the bridesmaids?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Edith, May, Ruth, Marie, Natala and
+Helen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How nice of you to choose all the younger
+girls; it makes us feel so important. Now, let&#8217;s
+plan just what the dresses are to be,&#8221; said
+Toinette, becoming quite excited, and looking at
+Miss Howard as though all must be completed
+ere they left the summer-house.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am waiting for your suggestions,&#8221; said she.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t it be pretty to have all the dresses
+made of white chiffon, or something soft like
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span>
+that, and have white, violet and yellow slips
+under them? Then have the hats trimmed with
+the flowers they represent. Would you like
+that, Miss Howard?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, immensely; but now I want to think
+about Helen. You know she has very limited
+means, and what might seem a small outlay for
+the others would probably be a large one for her,
+and I do not want to tax her resources, much
+as I wish to have her for one of my bonny
+maids.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Toinette, meditatively, &#8220;I suppose
+the dresses will be rather expensive, but it
+would be too bad not to have Helen; she is so
+sweet and is so fond of you, Miss Howard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, she is a dear child, and I have felt a
+great interest in her from the moment she entered
+the school. I wish I knew of some way
+of bettering her circumstances. Mr. Burgess is
+a most estimable man, but not one liable to advance
+rapidly through his own efforts, I fear.
+He is most reliable and capable, but seems to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span>
+lack the push so essential in this bustling day
+and age. He would prove invaluable in any
+position of trust, but would never secure such if
+it depended upon his own efforts to do so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Toinette had listened very attentively while
+Miss Howard was talking, and when she finished
+said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;When papa was out here for the dance I
+spoke to him about Helen, and we had such a
+nice little talk. The next day he spoke with
+Miss Preston about those very things, but I do
+not know what came of it. I wish I did. His
+business affairs bring him into contact with so
+many large firms of different kinds that I am
+almost sure he could secure something for Mr.
+Burgess. Do you know what I am going to
+do?&#8221; said Toinette, eagerly, &#8220;I am going to
+write to him right off, tell him all about our
+plans; may I? About the wedding, the bridesmaids,
+and everything; then I am going to
+ask him if he has heard of anything that he
+thinks would help Mr. Burgess, and, who knows,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span>
+maybe, by the first of June all will be fixed up
+so nicely that Helen can have things as nice
+as the other girls&mdash;and, oh, Miss Howard!&mdash;wouldn&#8217;t
+it be <i>lovely</i> if she could go abroad with
+Miss Preston?&#8221; and Toinette clasped her hands
+in rapture at the very thought.</p>
+<p>Miss Howard laughed a happy little laugh,
+and, taking Toinette&#8217;s face in both her hands,
+kissed her cheeks very tenderly, saying as she
+did so:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see that I made no mistake in my estimate
+of your character, dear, although I did not bargain
+for quite such a wise, resourceful little
+head and efficient helper as you have proved.
+How did you manage to think out so much in
+so short a time?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose it is because my brains have never
+been overburdened with thoughts for other people,&#8221;
+said Toinette, with an odd expression overspreading
+her face, &#8220;and so the part of them
+devoted to that sort of thing has had time to develop
+to an astonishing degree. But I guess I&#8217;d
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span>
+better begin to use the power before it becomes
+abnormal; Miss Preston says that abnormal
+development of any sort is dangerous,&#8221; and she
+gave a funny little laugh as she glanced slyly
+into Miss Howard&#8217;s eyes.</p>
+<p>Miss Howard understood the quaint remark,
+and, rising from her seat, said: &#8220;I shall not soon
+forget our little talk, but must leave you now for
+the &#8216;school ma&#8217;am&#8217;s&#8217; duties. One of them will
+be to endeavor to persuade Pauline that it was
+<i>not</i> Henry VIII. who sought to reduce the
+American Colonies to submission, nor Lafayette
+who won the battle of Waterloo. Good-bye,&#8221;
+and away tripped Miss Howard over the soft
+green lawn.</p>
+<p>Toinette sat for a few moments, and then,
+springing up, said to herself: &#8220;I might as well
+go and write that letter this very minute, and I
+do hope papa will know of something right off.
+How lovely it would be!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The letter was soon written, and within two
+hours was speeding upon its way to New York.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span>
+Toinette had reasoned well, and, as good luck
+would have it, the letter arrived at a most auspicious
+moment. As Mr. Reeve sat reading it,
+his face reflecting the happiness he felt at receiving
+it so close upon the one which came to
+him every Monday morning, a client was shown
+into his office.</p>
+<p>It happened to be one who was about to embark
+upon a new line of business in which he
+was venturing large sums of money, and which
+required capable, trustworthy men to carry out
+his plans. He had consulted with Mr. Reeve
+many times before, and nearly all details were
+completed; the few that remained dealt with
+minor matters, so Mr. Reeve felt considerable
+satisfaction at the thought of having brought all
+arrangements through so successfully. But it
+was certainly anything but a contented face he
+saw before him when he glanced up from Toinette&#8217;s
+letter upon Mr. Fowler&#8217;s entrance, and
+his first words were: &#8220;Well, for a prosperous
+capitalist, you bear a woeful countenance, Ned.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;If mine is woeful, yours certainly is not,&#8221;
+was the prompt answer. &#8220;You look as though
+you had been the recipient of some very pleasing
+news.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A pretty good sort,&#8221; said Mr. Reeve, smiling.
+&#8220;The sort that makes a man feel old and
+young at the same time. Ever get any of that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t know as I do; it must be a rare specimen,&#8221;
+said Mr. Fowler, dryly. &#8220;Better let me
+know the kind it is; perhaps it will counterbalance
+the kind I have for you this morning;
+confound it!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Seeing that Mr. Fowler was really disturbed
+about something, Mr. Reeve dropped his bantering
+tone, and went to serious matters. He then
+learned that the bookkeeper whom Mr. Fowler
+had engaged for the new line of business, and
+who would also act as his confidential clerk and
+office manager, would be unable to accept the
+position, as he was called to England by the
+death of his father, and would in future make
+his home there. This was a serious loss to Mr.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span>
+Fowler, for he had known this man for years,
+and felt deep satisfaction at the thought of having
+such an efficient assistant.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; he said, when he had told Mr.
+Reeve all the facts, &#8220;who under heavens am I
+to find to fill his place at such short notice, I&#8217;d
+like to know? Such men are not to be picked
+up at every corner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Read that letter,&#8221; was all Mr. Reeve said,
+and handed him Toinette&#8217;s letter.</p>
+<p>Mr. Fowler took the letter, and began reading
+with a very mystified expression, as though he
+could not for the life of him understand what a
+letter from Mr. Reeve&#8217;s daughter had to do with
+his private affairs. But, as he read, his expression
+changed, and when he came to the end he said:
+&#8220;Well, it may be Kismet; can&#8217;t say. Funnier
+things have happened. Look into it, will you,
+Clayton? I&#8217;m sick and tired of the thing,
+particularly when I thought all important details
+settled.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Clayton Reeve did &#8220;look into it&#8221; very
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span>
+thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned which
+would help him to learn all that it was necessary
+to know about Mr. Burgess, and nothing could
+possibly have been more gratifying than what
+he learned. As a result of it, Mr. Burgess was
+offered the position from June first, and the
+salary offered with it seemed a princely one to
+him as compared to the one he had received as
+clerk in the bank in Montcliff. It would be
+hard to understand the happiness which that
+schoolgirl letter brought to one family, or how
+the writing of it changed two lives very materially,
+and a third completely.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIX_COMMENCEMENT' id='XXIX_COMMENCEMENT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIX</h2>
+<h3>COMMENCEMENT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Many a girl has asked: &#8220;Why do they
+call it commencement when it is really
+the end?&#8221; If they have not found out
+why, I am not going to tell the secret. But one
+thing I have found out is this: Never in after
+life do we ever feel <i>quite</i> so important as we do
+when that day has been reached upon our life&#8217;s
+calendar.</p>
+<p>It was no exception at Sunny Bank, and when
+the fifth of June dawned that year it found a
+busy, bustling household. No, I am not telling
+the exact truth: it was not when it <i>dawned</i>, but
+fully three hours later, and then began the hurry-scurry
+which continued till all were assembled
+in chapel to listen to the opening prayer of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span>
+good man who had for many a year opened the
+Sunny Bank commencement exercises.</p>
+<p>He had grown old in faithful service in Montcliff,
+and was beloved and revered by all.</p>
+<p>It is of no use for me to tell you all about
+those exercises; to an outsider they were exactly
+like many others that had taken place before;
+to the girls themselves they were unique, and
+stood out pre-eminent above all others. Everybody
+was there who had the smallest excuse for
+being, and just how happy six bodies were I
+will leave you to learn from what follows.</p>
+<p>The exercises were to take place in the evening,
+and all day long relatives and friends of the
+girls arrived thick and fast. Among the first
+was Toinette&#8217;s father. &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t wait till evening,
+you see,&#8221; he cried, as he met Toinette at
+the railway station. &#8220;Yes, it is all settled; I
+got them by a lucky chance at the very last
+moment.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you say anything to Mr. Burgess about
+it?&#8221; asked Toinette.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I have not seen him; daresay he has
+had his hands full since the first. We&#8217;ll speak
+to Miss Preston first, and then call at the Burgess&#8217;
+and tell them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How perfectly splendid! Oh, daddy, you
+are a perfect wonder! How do you ever manage
+to fetch things about so successfully?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because I have found a wonderful incentive
+to spur me on,&#8221; he answered as he handed her
+into the carriage which was waiting for them,
+and they whirled off up the hill.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you will stay here till after the wedding,
+won&#8217;t you?&#8221; asked Toinette, snuggling
+close to his side and slipping her arm through
+his.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What! Five whole days? What will you
+do with me all that time?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No danger of your suffering from ennui, I
+guess,&#8221; laughed Toinette. &#8220;I will guarantee to
+keep you occupied. And then, daddy, after all
+is over we&#8217;ll go off together, and won&#8217;t we have
+glorious times!&#8221; and she gave a rapturous little
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span>
+bounce at the thought of the delightful days to
+come.</p>
+<p>Miss Preston was to sail for Europe on the
+fifteenth of June, five days after Miss Howard&#8217;s
+wedding, and six girls were to go with her.
+When it became an understood thing that Mr.
+Burgess&#8217; financial affairs were to be so improved,
+the possibility of Helen making one of the party
+was talked over, although Mrs. Burgess was filled
+with dismay at the thought of having her
+daughter take such a step upon such short notice;
+it seemed a tremendous thing to that quiet,
+home-staying body. Still, Miss Preston had
+long been anxious to have Helen go with her,
+and, now that there seemed no further obstacle
+to her doing so, could not make up her mind to
+go without her.</p>
+<p>She had talked it over with both Mr. and
+Mrs. Burgess, but, it must be confessed, had met
+with only lukewarm enthusiasm. Furthermore,
+it was very late in the day to secure stateroom
+accommodation upon the steamer by which Miss
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span>
+Preston would sail, her own and the girls having
+been engaged for weeks.</p>
+<p>Helen herself said very little, but Miss Preston
+knew that the girl&#8217;s heart had long been set
+upon going, and this year the route planned
+took in the very points she had most wished to
+visit, and which would prove the most profitable
+for her to visit. In desperation, Miss Preston
+turned to Mr. Reeve once more, for she had
+found him a most resourceful man, and one not
+likely to be easily baffled.</p>
+<p>The result was that he had succeeded in making
+a mutually agreeable exchange of staterooms
+with some other people, and was now primed
+and ready to carry the war into the enemy&#8217;s
+country.</p>
+<p>Soon after luncheon they all drove to Stonybrook,
+a town about ten miles from Montcliff,
+and Helen&#8217;s home. Evidently their persuasive
+powers were strong, for ere the visit ended it was
+decided that Helen should make one of Miss
+Preston&#8217;s party to sail with her &#8220;over the ocean
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span>
+blue,&#8221; and some very happy people drove back
+to Montcliff that afternoon.</p>
+<p>The house seemed very quiet after the girls&#8217;
+departure for their homes on the day following
+commencement, for, excepting those who lived
+too far away to return for the wedding, and
+would remain as Miss Preston&#8217;s guests until after
+the tenth, all had left that morning, and when
+a house has been filled with twenty-five or thirty
+girls, and all but eight or ten suddenly depart
+from it, the quiet which ensues cannot be overlooked.</p>
+<p>Mr. Reeve gave himself up to the enjoyment
+of his five days&#8217; vacation as only a busy man
+can, and when I add that he was a very happy
+man, too, I need say no more.</p>
+<p>The year had been one of many experiences
+both for him and for Toinette, and for both was
+ending far more happily than he had hoped it
+would. The future seemed to promise a great
+deal to them both, for they were growing to understand
+each other better every day, and Toinette
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span>
+was developing into a very lovely, as well as
+a very lovable, companion. They had planned
+a delightful summer vacation, to be spent in
+travelling leisurely from place to place, as the
+fancy took them, and Toinette had suggested
+nearly all.</p>
+<p>The five days at Montcliff were spent in driving
+about the beautiful country, playing tennis,
+rambling about the pretty woods, and doing an
+endless number of delightful nothings, as people
+can sometimes do when they fully make up their
+minds to put aside the cares of the world for a
+time.</p>
+<p>They soon came to an end, and then came Miss
+Howard&#8217;s wedding day.</p>
+<p>There has always seemed something inexpressibly
+sweet in Longfellow&#8217;s words in reference
+to the forming of new ties and establishing
+the new home. In Miss Howard&#8217;s case it was
+to be a home filled with all the sweetest hopes
+that can come into a woman&#8217;s life: hopes sanctified
+by love and founded upon respect. Could
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span>
+they have a firmer foundation? The future
+held great promise for her, although worldly-minded
+folk might say that the step she was
+about to take was not marked off by a <i>golden</i>
+mile-stone, nor the path she would follow be
+paved with a golden pavement. She knew that
+quite well, and had wisely decided that a noble
+character and a brilliant mind were excellent
+substitutes, however agreeable it may be to have
+the former, and, also, that the former minus the
+latter are fairy gold.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXX__O_FORTUNATE_O_HAPPY_DAY' id='XXX__O_FORTUNATE_O_HAPPY_DAY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXX</h2>
+<h3>&#8220;O FORTUNATE, O HAPPY DAY&#8221;</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>&#8220;O fortunate, O happy day,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47em;'>When a new household finds its place</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.73em;'>Among the myriad homes of earth,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.73em;'>Like a new star just sprung to birth,</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And rolled on its harmonious way</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47em;'>Into the boundless realms of space!&#8221;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>As though all that was loveliest had united
+to do her honor, and make the boundary-line
+between the old and the new life
+one to be long remembered by all who stood beside
+her at it, the day set for Miss Howard&#8217;s
+wedding was all that Lowell has written about it.
+It was as &#8220;rare&#8221; and &#8220;perfect&#8221; as dear Mother
+Nature could make it for one of her loveliest
+children.</p>
+<p>The girls had dressed the church, until it
+seemed a very bower of bloom, and at every turn
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span>
+Miss Howard would find the posies of which she
+was so fond. The three colors, if white may be
+called a color, chosen for the bridesmaids&#8217; dresses
+were used in the decorations, and altar, chancel,
+transept and aisles were brilliant with daffodils,
+narcissuses and lilacs, which filled the church
+with their perfume.</p>
+<p>The wedding was to take place at four o&#8217;clock,
+and when that hour arrived little space was left
+in the church for the tardy ones.</p>
+<p>Nearly all the girls had returned for the ceremony,
+and a bonnier lot it would have been difficult
+to find than that which filled the front pews
+of the church, for Miss Howard would have
+them all near her, insisting that none of the
+other guests could possibly have the same loving
+thoughts for her that her girls would have.</p>
+<p>Promptly at the stroke of four the great organ
+rolled out its message to all, and, after her few
+distant relatives had been conducted to their
+seats, Miss Howard&#8217;s bonny bridesmaids appeared,
+following another fancy of hers by walking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span>
+together, with the ushers leading. First
+came Edith and Marie; Edith&#8217;s yellow golden hair
+a perfect background for the big white chip hat,
+with its masses of violets, and her fair, soft skin
+made softer and fairer by the fairy-like chiffon
+draped so artistically over the pale violet satin
+beneath it. A daintily gilded basket filled with
+violets told all the story.</p>
+<p>Saucy and pert beside her walked the little
+brownie Marie, looking for all the world like
+the bobbing daffies in her white basket. One
+wanted to sing the old nursery rhyme: &#8220;Daffy-down-dilly
+has come to town,&#8221; for they were
+nodding a friendly greeting from her hat, and
+seemed to lend their golden sheen to the satin
+beneath the white chiffon gown.</p>
+<p>Behind them followed May Foster and Natala
+King. May&#8217;s bronze-brown hair and brilliant
+coloring were a perfect foil for the creamy-white
+narcissus blossoms on her hat and the creamy-white
+of her gown. While Natala&#8217;s light-brown
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span>
+hair and hazel eyes needed just the lilac tints to
+show how pretty they were.</p>
+<p>Then came Ruth and Helen. Could Miss
+Howard have chosen two who, placed beside
+each other, would have formed a more pronounced
+contrast? Not even the solemnity of
+the occasion could overcome Ruth&#8217;s ruling passion,
+curiosity: she was determined to see all to
+be seen if it rested with her to do so. Nor were
+the pert pansy blossoms upon her hat, nodding
+a welcome to all, more on the alert. Or
+could those which peeped from the folds of her
+pansy-yellow gown, with its white chiffon draperies,
+smile in a more friendly manner than
+did Ruth, as she walked slowly up that aisle,
+with shy, modest Helen at her side. Helen
+looked the snowdrop to perfection, for if the
+pansies needed Ruth&#8217;s gypsy coloring for a foil,
+the snowdrops needed Helen&#8217;s pale blonde daintiness
+for theirs. The only color which relieved
+its pure white was the deep green of the wax-like
+leaves, and the contrast was perfect. The
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span>
+dress was of that soft silvery white only to be
+contrived by the combination of satin and chiffon,
+and Helen looked very lovely.</p>
+<p>Behind them, a dream of fairness, walked
+Toinette. Through the chiffon of her gown ran
+fine golden threads, which caused it to glint and
+glisten as the sunbeams. The white satin underneath
+was of that peculiar ivory tint which combines
+so exquisitely with gold tints. Her hat
+was made of the chiffon, and trimmed with
+Easter lilies, which nestled in its soft folds and
+against the beautiful golden hair beneath them.
+Her basket was also white, and she was a fitting
+emblem of the pure soul she was leading to
+the altar.</p>
+<p>Then came the bride, her hand resting lightly
+upon the arm of the friend who had led her
+along the greater part of her life&#8217;s pathway, for
+Miss Preston had been Miss Howard&#8217;s &#8220;guide,
+philosopher and friend&#8221; almost as long as she
+could remember. Very stately did she look, as
+she walked up that aisle to give away at the altar
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span>
+something which the years had rendered very
+precious to her, for sometimes &#8220;old maids&#8217; children&#8221;
+are more dear to them than are the children
+who claim the love of parents.</p>
+<p>Miss Preston was very proud of her honors.</p>
+<p>But no words can describe the girl who walked
+at her side, her beautiful face made transcendently
+so by the tenderest, holiest thought that
+can fill a woman&#8217;s heart: that she is about to
+become the wife of the man she loves. She
+seemed to forget the church and all who were
+gathered there to witness her happiness, and the
+soft, dark eyes looked straight before her to the
+altar, where her husband to be awaited her, as
+though that altar was to her as the entrance to
+the holy of holies; as, indeed, it was.</p>
+<p>How brief is a marriage ceremony! A few
+words are spoken and two lives are changed forever,
+never again to be the same as they were
+less than ten minutes before, but filled with new
+duties, new obligations, and the responsibilities
+we must all assume when we utter the words:
+&#8220;I will.&#8221; God meant that it should be so, and
+it is one of this world&#8217;s many blessings.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span>
+<a name='linki_10' id='linki_10'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-285.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 329px; height: 470px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 329px;'>
+&#8220;THE BRIDE, HER HAND RESTING LIGHTLY ON THE ARM OF HER FRIEND.&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span></div>
+<p>The reception Miss Preston gave for her
+&#8220;adopted daughter,&#8221; as she called Miss Howard,
+now Mrs. Chichester, was long talked over by
+the school, and quoted by the girls as &#8220;our reception&#8221;
+for months.</p>
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Chichester sailed for Europe on
+the same steamer which carried Miss Preston
+and her girls, and a happier, merrier party it
+would have been hard to find. Toinette and
+Mr. Reeve went to bid them farewell and a
+pleasant voyage, and the last faces those upon the
+great ship saw as they swung out into the stream
+were Toinette&#8217;s and her father&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>And now we, too, must leave them&mdash;leave
+them to the happy summer vacation, when they
+learned how dear they were to each other, and
+what a dear old world this is, after all, when two
+people manage to look at it through little Dan
+Cupid&#8217;s spectacles.</p>
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.26 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Sat Sep 06 20:59:45 -0400 2008 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Caps and Capers
+       A Story of Boarding-School Life
+
+Author: Gabrielle E. Jackson
+
+Illustrator: C. M. Relyea
+
+Release Date: September 7, 2008 [EBook #26549]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPS AND CAPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CAPS AND CAPERS
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+[Illustration: _Frontispiece--Caps and Capers_.
+"NOW, GIRLS, COME ON! LET'S EAT OUR CREAM." See p. 92.]
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CAPS and CAPERS
+A Story of Boarding-School Life
+
+by
+GABRIELLE E. JACKSON
+
+Author of "Pretty Polly Perkins,"
+"Denise and Ned Toodles," "By Love's
+Sweet Rule," "The Colburn Prize,"
+etc., etc.
+
+With illustrations
+by C. M. Relyea
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1901, by Henry Altemus
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+To
+the dear girls of "Dwight School,"
+who, by their sweet friendship, have unconsciously helped to make
+this winter one of the happiest she has ever known, this little
+story is most affectionately inscribed by the AUTHOR.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                                                PAGE
+     I.  Which Shall It Be?                              13
+    II.  "A Touch Can Make or a Touch Can Mar"           21
+   III.  "A Feeling of Sadness and Longing"              29
+    IV.  New Experiences                                 41
+     V.  Two Sides of a Question                         53
+    VI.  Dull and Prosy                                  63
+   VII.  The P. U. L.                                    71
+  VIII.  Caps and Capers                                 81
+    IX.  A Modern Diogenes                               89
+     X.  "They Could Never Deceive Me"                   97
+    XI.  "La Somnambula"                                107
+   XII.  "Have You Not Been Deceived This Time?"        119
+  XIII.  English as She is Spelled                      127
+   XIV.  "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells"                   135
+    XV.  "Pride Goeth Before a Fall"                    143
+   XVI.  Letters                                        153
+  XVII.  "Haf Anybody Seen My Umbrel?"                  161
+ XVIII.  The Little Hinge                               169
+   XIX.  "Fatal or Fated are Moments"                   179
+    XX.  "Now Tread We a Measure."                      187
+   XXI.  Conspirators                                   197
+  XXII.  "We've Got 'em! We've Got 'em!"                205
+ XXIII.  A Camera's Capers.                             213
+  XXIV.  Whispers                                       225
+   XXV.  "What Are You Doing Up this Time of Night?"    233
+  XXVI.  "Love (and Schoolgirls) Laugh at Locksmiths"   243
+ XXVII.  Ariadne's Clue                                 253
+XXVIII.  "When Buds And Blossoms Burst"                 261
+  XXIX.  Commencement                                   271
+   XXX.  "O Fortunate, O Happy Day"                     279
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+                                                              PAGE
+"Now, girls, come on! let's eat our cream."           Frontispiece
+"You could have popped me over from ambush."                    37
+"Do you wish to join the P. U. L.?"                             71
+"Go, tell Mrs. Stone she isn't up to snuff."                   109
+"Sthick to yer horses, Moik."                                  141
+"Let us begin a brand new leaf to-day."                        165
+"I feel so sort of grown up and grand."                        181
+"An' have ye been in there all this time?"                     207
+"Away went Marie, vanishing bit by bit."                       231
+"Her hand resting lightly on the arm of her friend."           267
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHICH SHALL IT BE?
+
+
+"And now that I have them, how am I to decide? That is the question?"
+
+The speaker was a fine-looking man about thirty-five years of age, seated
+before a large writing-table in a handsomely appointed library. It was
+littered with catalogues, pamphlets, letters and papers sent from dozens
+of schools, and from the quantity of them one would fancy that every
+school in the country was represented. This was the result of an
+advertisement in the "Times" for a school in which young children are
+received, carefully trained, thoroughly taught, and which can furnish
+unquestionable references regarding its social standing and other
+qualifications.
+
+It was a handsome, but seriously perplexed, face which bent over the
+letters, and more than once the shapely hand was raised to the puckered
+forehead and the fingers thrust impatiently through the golden brown hair,
+setting it on end and causing its owner to look more distracted than
+ever.
+
+"Poor, wee lassie, you little realize what a problem you are to me. Would
+to God the one best qualified to solve it could have been spared to you,"
+and the handsome head fell forward upon the hands, as tears of bitter
+anguish flooded the brown eyes.
+
+Can anything be more pathetic than a strong man's tears? And Clayton
+Reeve's were wrung from an almost despairing heart.
+
+For ten years his life had been a dream of happiness. At twenty-five he
+had married a beautiful, talented girl, who made his home as nearly
+perfect as a home can be made, and when, three years later, a little
+daughter, her mother's living image, came to live with them, he felt that
+he had no more to ask for. Seven years slipped away, as only years of
+perfect happiness can slip, and then came the end. The beautiful wife and
+mother went to sleep forever, leaving the dear husband and lovely little
+daughter alone. For six months Mr. Reeve strove to fill the mother's
+place, but until she was taken from him he had never realized how
+perfectly and completely his almost idolized wife had filled his home,
+conducting all so quietly and gracefully that even those nearest and
+dearest never suspected how much thought she had given to their comfort
+until her firm, yet gentle, rule was missed.
+
+Happily, Toinette was too young to fully appreciate her loss, and although
+she grieved in her childish way for the sweet, smiling mother who had so
+loved her, it was a child's blessed evanescent grief, which could find
+consolation in her pets and dollies, and--blessed boon--forget.
+
+But Clayton Reeve never forgot, not for one moment; and though the six
+months had in a measure softened his grief, his sense of loss and
+loneliness increased each day, until at last he could no longer endure the
+sight of the home which they together had planned and beautified.
+
+Unfortunately, neither he nor his wife had near relatives. She had been an
+only child whose parents had died shortly after her marriage, and such
+distant relatives as remained to him were far away in England, his native
+land. His greatest problem was the little daughter. Nursemaids and
+nursery-governesses were to be had by the score, but nursemaids and
+nursery-governesses were one thing with a mistress at the head of the
+household and quite another without one, as, during the past six months,
+Mr. Reeve had learned to his sorrow, and the poor man had more than once
+been driven to the verge of insanity by their want of thought, or even
+worse.
+
+At last he determined to close his house, place Toinette in some "ideal"
+school, and travel for six months, or even longer, little dreaming that
+the six months would lengthen into as many years ere he again saw her. The
+trip begun for diversion was soon merged into one for business interests,
+as the prominent law firm of which he was a member had matters of
+importance to be looked after upon the other side of the water, and were
+only too glad to have so efficient a person to do it.
+
+So, before he realized it, half the globe divided him from the
+sunny-haired little daughter whom he had placed in the supposed ideal
+school, chosen after deliberate consideration from those he had
+corresponded with.
+
+But this anticipates a trifle.
+
+As he sits in the library of his big house, a house which seems so like
+some beautiful instrument lacking the touch of the master hand to draw
+forth its sweetest and best, the sound of little dancing feet can be heard
+through the half-open door, and a sweet little voice calls out:
+
+"Papa, Papa Clayton. Where is my precious Daddy?" and a golden-haired
+child running into the room throws herself into his arms, clasps her own
+about his neck and nestles her head upon his shoulder.
+
+He held her close as he asked:
+
+"Well, little Heart's-Ease, what can the old Daddy do for you?"
+
+The child raised her head, and, looking at him with her big brown eyes,
+eyes so like his own, said, reproachfully: "You are _not_ an old Daddy;
+Stanton (the butler) is old, you are just my own, own Papa Clayton, and
+mamma used to say that you _couldn't_ grow old 'cause she and I loved you
+so hard."
+
+Mr. Reeve quivered slightly at the child's words, and with a surprised
+look she asked:
+
+"Are you cold, dear Daddy? It isn't cold here, is it?"
+
+"No, not in the room, Heart's-Ease, but right here," laying his hand upon
+his heart.
+
+The child regarded him questioningly with her big, earnest eyes, and
+said:
+
+"Did it grow cold because mamma went so sound asleep?"
+
+"I'm afraid so; but now let us talk about something else: I've some news
+for you, but do not know how you will like it; sit still while I tell it
+to you," and he began to unfold his plan regarding the school.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+"A TOUCH CAN MAKE OR A TOUCH CAN MAR"
+
+
+The school was chosen and Toinette placed therein. What momentous results
+often follow a simple act. When Clayton Reeve placed his little girl with
+the Misses Carter, intending to leave her there a few months, and seek the
+change of scene so essential to his health, he did not realize that her
+whole future would be more or less influenced by the period she was
+destined to spend there. No brighter, sunnier, happier disposition could
+have been met with than Toinette's when she entered the school; none more
+restless, distrustful and dissatisfied than her's when she left it, nearly
+six years later.
+
+If we are held accountable for sins of omission, as well as sins of
+commission, certainly the Misses Carter had a long account to meet.
+
+Like many others who had chosen that vocation, they were utterly incapable
+of filling it either to their own credit or the advantage of those they
+taught. While perfectly capable of imparting the knowledge they had
+obtained from books, and of making any number of rules to be followed as
+those of the "Medes and Persians," they did not, in the very remotest
+degree, possess the insight into character, the sympathy with their pupils
+so essential in true teachers.
+
+It is not alone to learn that which is contained between the covers of a
+book that our girls are sent to school or college, but also to gather in
+the thousand and one things untaught by either books or words. These must
+be absorbed as the flowers absorb the sunshine and dew, growing lovelier,
+sweeter and more attractive each day and never suspecting it.
+
+And so the shaping of Toinette's character, so beautifully begun by the
+wise, gentle mother, passed into other and less sensitive hands. It was
+like a delicate bit of pottery, the pride of the potter's heart, upon
+which he had spent uncountable hours, and was fashioning so skilfully,
+almost fearing to touch it lest he mar instead of add to its beauty;
+dreading to let others approach lest, lacking his own nice conceptions,
+they bring about a result he had so earnestly sought to avoid, and the
+vase lose its perfect symmetry. But, alas! called from his work never to
+return, it is completed by less skilful hands, a less delicate conception,
+and, while the result is pleasing, the perfect harmony of proportion is
+wanting, and those who see it feel conscious of its incompleteness, yet
+scarcely know why.
+
+We will skip over those six miserable years, so fraught with small trials,
+jealousies, deceptions and an ever-increasing distrust, to a certain
+Saturday morning in December.
+
+The early winter had been an exceptionally trying one, and Toinette, now
+nearly fourteen years old, had seen and learned many things which can only
+be taught by experience. She had seen that in some people's eyes the
+possession of money can atone for many shortcomings in character, and that
+certain lines of conduct may be condoned in a girl who has means, while
+they are condemned in a girl who has not; that she herself had many
+liberties and many favors shown her which were denied some of her
+companions, although those companions were quite as well born and bred as
+herself, and with all the latent nobility of her character did she scorn
+not only the favors but those who showed them, and often said to her
+roommate, Cicely Powell: "If _I_ chose to steal the very Bible out of
+chapel, Miss Carter would only say, 'Naughty Toinette,' in that smirking
+way of hers, and then never do a single thing; but if Barbara Ellsworth
+even looks sideways she simply annihilates her. I _hate_ it, for it is
+only because Barbara is poor and I'm--well, Miss Carter likes to have the
+income I yield; I'm a profitable bit of 'stock,' and must be well cared
+for," and a burning flush rose to the girl's sensitive cheeks.
+
+It was a bitter speech for one so young, and argued an all too intimate
+acquaintance with those who did not bear the mark patent of
+"gentlewoman."
+
+The six years had wrought many changes in the little child, both in mind
+and body, for, even though one had been cramped, and lacked a healthful
+development, the other had blossomed into a very beautiful young girl, who
+would have gladdened any parent's heart. She was neither tall nor short,
+but beautifully proportioned. Her head, with its wealth of sunny, wavy
+hair, was carried in the same stately manner which had always been so
+marked a characteristic in her father, and gave to her a rather dignified
+and reserved air for her years. The big brown eyes looked you squarely in
+the face, although latterly they had a slightly distrustful expression.
+Hurry home, Clayton Reeve, before it becomes habitual. The nose was
+straight and sensitive, and the mouth the saving grace of the face, for
+nothing could alter its soft, beautiful curves, and the lips continued to
+smile as they had done in early childhood, when there was cause for smiles
+only. The mother's finger seemed to rest there, all invisible to others,
+and curve the corners upward, as though in apology for the hardened
+expression gradually creeping over the rest of the face.
+
+It is difficult to understand how a parent can leave a child wholly to the
+care of strangers for so long a period as Mr. Reeve left Toinette, but one
+thing after another led him further and further from home, first to
+Southern Europe, then across the Mediterranean into wilder, newer scenes,
+where nations were striving mightily. Then, just as he began to think that
+ere long his own land would welcome him, news reached him of trouble in a
+land still nearer the rising sun, and his firm needed their interests in
+that far land carefully guarded. So thither he journeyed. But at last all
+was adjusted, and, with a heart beating high with hope, he started for his
+own dear land and dearer daughter.
+
+It must be confessed that he had many conflicting emotions as the great
+ship plowed its way across the broad Pacific, and ample time in which to
+indulge them. Many were the mental pictures he drew of the girl there
+awaiting him, and would have felt no little surprise, as well as
+indignation, could he have known that she was left in ignorance of the
+date of his arrival. But Miss Carter had reasons of her own for concealing
+it, and had merely told Toinette that her father was contemplating a
+return to the States during the coming year. It seemed rather a cold
+message to the girl whose _all_ he was, for she had written to him
+repeatedly, and poured out in her letters all the suppressed warmth of her
+nature, yet never had his replies touched upon the subject of her
+loneliness and intense desire to see him, but had always assured her that
+he was delighted to know that she was happy and fond of her teachers. And
+Toinette had not _quite_ reached the age of wisdom which caused her to
+suspect _why_ he gave so little heed to such information, although it
+would not have required a much longer residence at the Misses Carter's to
+enlighten her. Happily, before the revelation was made she was beyond
+further chicanery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"A FEELING OF SADNESS AND LONGING"
+
+
+The half year was nearly ended, and most of the girls were looking eagerly
+forward to the Christmas vacation, which would release them from a
+cordially detested surveillance. But Toinette had no release to look
+forward to; vacation or term time were much the same to her. She had spent
+some of her holidays with her schoolmates, but the greater part of them
+had been passed in the school, and dull enough they were, too.
+
+The past week had been a particularly stormy one, and the outcome had
+reflected anything but credit upon the school. Consequently, the girls
+were out of sorts and miserable, and the world looked decidedly blue, with
+only a faint rosy tint far down in the horizon, where vacation peeped.
+
+As in most schools, Saturday was a holiday. The day was wonderfully soft
+and mild for December, and shortly after breakfast Toinette threw her
+golf-cape about her shoulders and stepped out upon the piazza to see if
+the fresh air would blow away the mental vapors hovering about her, for
+she felt not unlike a ship at sea without a compass. Poor little lassie,
+although what might be called a rich girl, in one respect she was a very
+poor one indeed, for she had scarcely known the influence of a happy home,
+or the tender mother love which we all need, whether we be big daughters
+or little ones. True, she had never known what it meant to want those
+things which girls often wish to have, but which limited means place
+beyond their reach. But often amidst the luxuries of her surroundings, for
+her father provided most liberally for her, she would be seized with a
+restless longing for something, she hardly knew what, which made her feel
+out of sorts with herself and everybody else.
+
+"What ails you, this morning?" asked her chum, Cicely Powell, joining her
+upon the piazza. "You look as solemn as an oyster, and I should think
+you'd feel jolly because it's Saturday, and that horrid Grace Thatcher
+won't be here to poke her inquisitive nose into all our plans," referring
+to the prime mischief-maker of the school, already departed for her
+vacation, with the admonition to think twice before returning.
+
+"I don't know _what's_ the matter with me: I wish I did. Somehow, I don't
+feel satisfied with myself or anyone else, and I half believe I _hate_
+everybody," was Toinette's petulant reply.
+
+"Well, I like that, I declare!" was the sharp retort. "Perhaps you include
+_me_ among those you hate, and if that is the case, Toinette Reeve, you
+may just do as you like; I don't care a straw."
+
+Ordinarily Toinette's reply would have been as sharp as Cicely's, but this
+time she just looked at her with her big eyes--eyes suspiciously bright,
+as though tears lay not far back of them--and walked away, leaving Cicely
+to wonder what had come over her.
+
+"Well, I never!" was her rather vague comment. "I don't see what has come
+over Toinette since that last flareup. Mercy knows, we've had so many that
+we all ought to be used to them by this time. She has acted as though she
+were sorry that that horrid Grace was sent off earlier than the others,
+and I'm sure she has as much reason to be glad of it as any of us have.
+She did nothing but tell tales about all of us, and peep and spy upon her
+more than anyone else. Miss Carter would never have found out about half
+the things she did if it hadn't been for Grace, and we could have had no
+end of fun," and after this rather prolonged monologue Cicely went to join
+the other girls.
+
+Meanwhile Toinette had drawn the hood of her cape over her head and
+strolled down to the lower end of the garden, where a rustic summer-house
+not far from the gate afforded a quiet little nook in which to indulge
+one's fancies, whether pleasant or painful. Curling herself up in one
+corner, she rested her cheek upon her arm, which she had thrown over the
+railing, and looked down the road toward the railway station.
+
+Although a very beautiful one, it was a sad, wistful young face which
+turned toward the sunshine and shadows dancing upon the road. Poor little
+Toinette, now is the moment in which the mother-love you are unconsciously
+longing for would make the world anew for you. If, as you sit there, a
+gentle form and face could creep up quietly, slip an arm about your waist
+as she takes her seat beside you, and ask in the tender tone that only
+mothers use: "Well, Sweetheart, what is troubling you? Tell mother all
+about it, and let us see if there is not a sunny lining to the dark cloud
+that is casting its unpleasant shadow over this cozy nook."
+
+Where is the daughter who could resist it? It would not be many minutes
+before the head would find a happy resting-place upon the shoulder beside
+it, and all the little trials and troubles--trials so very real and very
+appalling to young hearts--would be put into words, and lose half their
+bitterness in the telling just because love--that mighty magician--had
+come to help bear them.
+
+A great man once said: "O opportunity, thy guilt is great!" and I have
+often wondered why he did not add, "or thou art very precious." So much
+depends upon an auspicious moment. A big door can swing upon a very small
+hinge.
+
+As Toinette looked down the road with unseeing eyes, the whistle of an
+incoming train, brought her back to a realization of things around her.
+The station was barely half a mile away, and ere ten minutes had passed a
+man appeared in the distance. Evidently the owner of that athletic figure
+knew where he was bound, and was going to _get_ there as quickly as his
+firm, long strides could carry him. He was a large man, sun-burned to the
+point of duskiness, bearded and moustached as though barbers were unknown
+in the land from which he hailed. Dressed in servicable tweed
+knickerbockers and Norfolk jacket, his Alpine hat placed upon his head to
+_stay put_, his grip slung by a strap across his broad shoulders, he came
+striding over the ground as though intent upon very important business.
+Toinette watched his approach in a listless sort of way, but as he drew
+nearer and nearer seemed to recognize something familiar.
+
+"Who can he be, and where have I seen him, I wonder?" she said, half
+aloud, as she peered at him from behind the lattice-work of the
+summer-house.
+
+On he came, quite unconscious of the big eyes regarding him so intently,
+and presently stopped to look about him, as though trying to recall old
+landmarks. He now stood almost opposite Toinette, when, chancing to glance
+toward the house, he became aware of her presence.
+
+"Why, little lady, you could have popped me over from ambush if you had
+had a gun, for I walked straight upon you and never suspected that you
+were there. Can you direct me to the Misses Carter's school? The
+station-master said it was about ten minutes' walk, but it is so many
+years since I have been here that I find I've forgotten the lay of the
+land, and I don't want to waste much time, for I've a very precious
+somebody there whom I'm very anxious to see. Last time I saw her she was
+only about knee-high to a grasshopper, but I suspect I shall find a young
+lady now, and have to be introduced to her."
+
+At the sound of his voice Toinette arose to her feet, her color coming and
+going, and her heart beating so loudly that she was sure he could hear it.
+As he finished speaking he regarded with very genuine surprise the young
+girl who, with parted lips and outstretched hands, was walking toward him
+like one who doubted the evidence of her own senses, and with a cry of,
+"Papa! oh, papa! don't you know me?" she was gathered into the strong arms
+whose owner had travelled half around the globe in order to win that one
+precious moment.
+
+[Illustration: "YOU COULD HAVE POPPED ME OVER FROM AMBUSH."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+NEW EXPERIENCES
+
+
+It did not take Clayton Reeve very long to gain a pretty clear idea of the
+condition of things at the Misses Carter's school, or to realize what
+influences had been brought to bear upon his only daughter. To say that he
+was keenly disappointed but mildly expresses it, and he reproached himself
+bitterly for having left her so long to the care of strangers. He remained
+with Toinette until the school closed for the holidays, and the time was
+the happiest she had ever known. Nor was it for her alone, for the other
+girls came in for their full share. He was a very liberal man, and it gave
+him genuine pleasure to make others happy.
+
+The Misses Carter lost no opportunity of putting their establishment in a
+favorable light, for they had a strong suspicion that they were in a fair
+way to lose something of much more tangible value to themselves: a very
+handsome income. But Mr. Reeve easily saw through their little foibles,
+and was not deceived by the pretty veneer into believing that all was
+strong and firm beneath.
+
+He had traveled about the world too much during the past six years not to
+have learned something of human nature, and to read it pretty correctly.
+Furthermore, his feeling of self-reproach made him keenly alive to every
+change upon Toinette's speaking countenance, and when he saw the look of
+questioning surprise which came over it when one or the other of the
+Misses Carter made some playful overture at petting her, or one of the
+other girls, he drew his own deductions.
+
+When vacation arrived he settled his bill for the year, bade them a
+courteous farewell, and, with Toinette, "scraped the dust from his feet
+and left the mansion." Then came a two-weeks' holiday such as she had
+never even dreamed of. Mr. Reeve took rooms in one of New York's finest
+hotels, and gave himself up to the pleasure of renewing his acquaintance
+with his daughter. That holiday was never forgotten by either of them, but
+for very different reasons.
+
+"By Jove," he said to himself more than once, "I've let a good bit of
+precious time, and many happy hours, slip away, if I'm not mistaken, and I
+don't know whether I shall ever catch up."
+
+During their stay in the city Mr. Reeve went in quest of his old college
+chum, Sydney Powell, Cicely's father, and had an interview with him that
+was brief, but very much to the point.
+
+"Go ahead, Clint, old chap, and find what is needed for the little girls,
+if you can. Cicely will never go back to the Carter school, and I should
+be glad to have the girls keep together. They seem fond of each other. How
+would you like to run out to Montcliff to look up that school? I've had
+fine reports of it from Fred Hubbard, whose daughter is a pupil there?"
+
+And so it came to pass that directly after vacation the two girls were
+escorted to Sunny Bank, as the school was called, and, after a very
+satisfactory talk with its sensible principal, Mr. Reeve left them to her
+care, feeling sure that this time he had not made any mistake.
+
+Toinette and Cicely had adjoining rooms, and nothing could have been
+daintier than the room appointments. From their windows they could look
+out over a wide sweep of the western valley, where the sun was just
+sinking behind the hills, and leaving upon the sky a glorious promise of
+the day to follow.
+
+They were still busy arranging their pretty trifles about the rooms when
+the soft chime of the Chinese gong in the wide hall below announced
+dinner. Thus far they had not seen any of the other girls, but as they
+stepped from their rooms they were met by Miss Preston, who said, as she
+slipped an arm about each waist:
+
+"I do not forget how lonely _I_ felt when I first entered a strange
+school, so let me try to make it easier for my new girls by introducing
+some of my old ones; _real_ old," she added, laughingly, as she called to
+two girls who were curled up on one corner of the big divan at the lower
+end of the hall.
+
+"Come here, chicks, and let me make you acquainted with Miss Reeve and
+Miss Powell. These are Miss Gordon and Miss Osgood, my dears, but as we
+are all sort of 'sisters, cousins and aunts' in this big home, I'll just
+hint right off that their home names are Ruth and Edith, who will be glad
+to welcome my Toinette and Cicely."
+
+By this time they had reached the cheerful dining-room, and with a very
+significant exchange of glances Toinette and Cicely took their seats, the
+latter whispering under cover of the bustle caused by the entrance of the
+other pupils: "My goodness, if Miss Carter had ever spoken like that to
+us, we should have fallen flat, shouldn't we?"
+
+Ruth sat upon one side, and Edith upon the other, and it did not take the
+new girls long to discover that the dinner hour must be one of the
+pleasantest of the day, for all talked and chatted in the liveliest
+manner, discussing various happenings, and again and again appealing to
+Miss Preston, who was not one whit behind in the spirit of good-fellowship
+which prevailed.
+
+There were six tables, each accommodating ten people, and a teacher sat at
+the head of each. In every instance a teacher who was wise enough not to
+observe _too_ much, but who in reality saw everything, although she could
+laugh and joke with the girls, put them at their ease, and at the same
+time set them so perfect an example that few girls would have cared to
+fail in following it. Far from exercising a restraining influence, they
+proved the jolliest of companions, as the repeated appeals to their
+opinions, or the requests for some anecdote or amusing story, evidently
+old favorites, amply testified.
+
+When the pleasant dinner was ended the girls gathered in the big hall,
+where Toinette and Cicely were introduced to many of the others.
+
+"What have we to do now?" asked Toinette, whose sharp eyes had been
+observing everything worth observing, and whose active mind had received
+more impressions within the past hour than it had been called upon to
+receive in a year. It is needless to add that she was quick enough to
+profit by them, and to appreciate that in _this_ school were taught more
+surprising things than chemistry or science.
+
+"Do?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Yes; isn't there some RULE to be observed after dinner?" and a rather
+ironical tone came into Toinette's voice.
+
+"Yes; come along, and Edith and I'll show you the rule, as you call it,"
+answered Ruth, as she caught up the big basket-ball lying upon one of the
+chairs in the hall, flew through the door with it, across the piazza and
+into the gymnasium beyond.
+
+After an instant's hesitation the two girls followed, joining her and
+Edith, who had run Ruth a lively race.
+
+"You don't mean to say that the teachers let you run and romp like this,
+do you?" demanded Cicely.
+
+"Let us!" cried Edith in surprise. "Why shouldn't they? We aren't doing
+any harm, are we?"
+
+"No, I don't suppose there is any harm, but if we had done such a thing at
+Miss Carter's, what do you think would have happened, Toinette?"
+
+Toinette pursed her mouth into the primmest pucker, rolled her eyes in a
+horrified way, clasped her hands before her, and said, in a tragic tone:
+"Young _ladies!_ Such conduct is most _unseemly_," in such perfect mimicry
+of Miss Carter that Ruth and Edith shouted.
+
+"Well, all I can say is, that I'm thankful _we_ were not sent to that
+school; aren't you, Ruth?" said Edith.
+
+"Better believe I am," was the feeling reply. "I get skittish even in this
+blessed place sometimes, but if I had been sent there I'd have been just
+like one of those little red imps that Miss Preston has standing on her
+writing table."
+
+"Yes, you'd have felt all rubbed the wrong way, just as Cicely and I feel,
+and just hate the sight of a teacher, and want to do everything you could
+to plague them," said Toinette, petulantly.
+
+"Well, you won't want to do that _here_" answered Edith, emphatically. "If
+you cut any such capers in _this_ school, it won't be the _teachers_ who
+will go for you, but the _girls_," with a significant wag of her head.
+
+"The girls?" asked Cicely, with a puzzled expression.
+
+"Certain. We think our school about the best going, and we aren't going to
+let anyone else think differently, if we can help it; are we, Ruth? So, if
+a girl takes it into her head to be rude and cranky to the teachers, or
+other girls, she finds herself in a corner pretty quick, I can tell you."
+
+"Suppose you break the rules?" asked Toinette.
+
+"Aren't any to break," answered happy-go-lucky Ruth, as she pranced down
+the big room after the ball, which had gone bouncing off.
+
+"No _rules!_" incredulously.
+
+"Not a single one. All you've got to do is to be nice to everybody,
+remember you're a gentlewoman (or you wouldn't be here, let me tell you),
+and do your jolly best to pass your examinations. If you don't it is your
+own fault, and you have to suffer for it; no one else, that's sure; for
+you can have all the help you ask for."
+
+Toinette and Cicely exchanged glances.
+
+"Oh, I daresay you don't believe us," said Edith, who had correctly
+interpreted the glances, "but just you wait and see. All the new girls
+think the same, and I daresay that we should have, too, if we had come
+here from some other school; but, thank goodness, we didn't. There aren't
+any more schools like this, are there, Ruth?"
+
+"Nary one; there's only one, and we've got it," cried the irrepressible
+Ruth, and two weeks later the girls found that, truly, no rules could be
+broken where none existed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TWO SIDES OF A QUESTION
+
+
+It could hardly be expected that, after her training of the past six and a
+half years, Toinette would at once respond to the wiser, more elevating
+influences now surrounding her. The old impulses would return, and a
+desire to conceal where no concealment was necessary often placed her in a
+false light. She distrusted those in authority simply because they were in
+authority, rather than that they ever made it apparent. It seemed to have
+become second nature with her, and bade fair to prove a work of almost
+infinite patience and love upon the part of the teachers to undo the
+mischief wrought in those miserable years.
+
+But, after making a toy of the poor child for all that time, fickle fate
+seemed about to make amends, and, although it was yet to be proven,
+Toinette was now launched upon a sunny sea, and destined to sail into a
+happy harbor.
+
+She was sitting in her room one beautiful afternoon about a week after her
+arrival at the school, and, unconsciously doing profitable examples in
+rhetoric by drawing nice contrasts between her present surroundings and
+her former ones. Presently a tap came upon her door, and she called: "Come
+in."
+
+In bounced Ruth, crying: "Come on down to the village with us, will you?
+Edith and Cicely are waiting at the gate."
+
+"Which teacher is going with us?" asked Toinette, suspiciously.
+
+"Teacher?" echoed Ruth. "Why, none, of course. Why don't you ask if we are
+going in a baby-carriage?" and she laughed as she slipped her arm through
+Toinette's.
+
+"You don't mean to say that we will be allowed to go by ourselves?"
+
+"Toinette Reeve, I think you've got the queerest ideas I ever heard of!
+Come on!"
+
+In spite of Ruth's assurance, Toinette cast apprehensive glances about
+her, as though she expected a frowning face to appear around some corner
+and rebuke them. Instead, however, they came upon Miss Howard just at the
+end of the corridor, who asked in a cheery voice:
+
+"Where away so briskly, my lady birds?"
+
+"Only to the village; good-bye," answered Ruth, waving her hand in
+farewell.
+
+"Pleasant journey. You will probably run across Miss Preston down there
+somewhere, and can act as bodyguard for her."
+
+The girls walked briskly on, and presently Cicely asked:
+
+"What are you going for, anyway?"
+
+"Some good things, to be sure. I'm just perishing for some
+cream-peppermints, and my week's pocket-money is scorching holes in my
+pocket as fast as ever it can."
+
+"Do you think Miss Preston would scold if I got something, too?" asked
+Toinette.
+
+"What would she scold about? You didn't _steal_ the money you're going to
+buy it with, did you? And your stomach's your own, isn't it? Besides, when
+you've been here a while longer you'll learn that Miss Preston _doesn't_
+scold. If she thinks a thing isn't good for you to do, she just asks you
+not to do it, and she takes it for granted that you've got sense enough to
+understand why."
+
+"Oh, I guess you're all _saints_ in this school," replied Toinette,
+sarcastically.
+
+"Well, as near as _I_ can make out, you had a pretty good supply of
+sinners where you came from," was the prompt retort.
+
+When Ruth's pocket was saved from destruction the girls started homeward.
+They had not gone far when three of the boys from the large school at the
+upper end of the town were seen coming toward them.
+
+"Oh, jolly," cried Edith, "there are Ned, Allan and Gilbert! Now we'll
+have fun; they're awfully nice. Allan has the dearest pony and trap you
+ever saw, and is just as generous as can be with it."
+
+The boys were now beside them, and, raising their caps politely, joined
+the party and were introduced to the new girls. This was a complete
+revelation to Cicely and Toinette, for at Miss Carter's school boys had
+been regarded as a species of wild animal, to be shunned as though they
+carried destruction to all whom they might overtake.
+
+But here were Ruth and Edith walking along with three of those monsters in
+manly form, and, still worse, talking to them in the frankest, merriest
+manner, as though there were no such thing on earth as schools and
+teachers. Toinette and Cicely dropped a little behind, and soon found an
+opportunity to draw Edith with them.
+
+"Don't forget that Miss Howard said that Miss Preston was down in the
+village. I'll bet a cookie there'll be a fine rumpus if she catches us
+gallivanting with all these boys," whispered Toinette.
+
+A funny smile quivered about the corners of Edith's mouth, but before she
+could answer Miss Preston herself stood before them. She had suddenly
+turned in from a side street. As though detected in some serious
+misdemeanor, Toinette and Cicely hung back, and Edith remained beside
+them.
+
+With such a smile as only Miss Preston could summon, she bowed to the
+group, and said:
+
+"How do you do, little people? Are you going to let me add one more to the
+party? I'm not very big, you know, and I like a bodyguard. Besides, I
+haven't seen the boys in a 'blue moon,' and I think it high time I took
+them to task, for they haven't been to call upon us in an age. Give an
+account of yourselves, young sirs. Before very long there is going to be a
+dance at a house I could mention, and you don't want to be forgotten by
+the hostess, do you?"
+
+Toinette and Cicely found it difficult to believe themselves awake.
+Touching Edith's elbow, they indicated by mysterious signs that they
+wished to ask something, and dropped still further behind.
+
+"What does it all mean, anyhow? She doesn't really mean to have the boys
+at the house, does she?"
+
+Edith's eyes began to twinkle as though someone had dropped a little
+diamond into each, and, without answering, she gave a funny laugh and took
+a few quick steps forward. Slipping an arm about Miss Preston's waist, she
+said: "Miss Preston?"
+
+"Yes, dear," turning a pleasant face toward the girl.
+
+"The girls are planning a candy frolic for next Friday night, and were
+going to ask your permission to-day, only they haven't had time yet. May
+we have it over in the kitchen of the cottage, and may the boys come,
+too?"
+
+A merry smile had overspread Miss Preston's face, and when Edith finished
+speaking, she said:
+
+"Young gentlemen, I hope you didn't hear the last remark made by my
+friend, Miss Osgood; at all events, you're not supposed to have done so;
+it would be embarrassing for us all. But, since you did not, I'll say to
+her: Yes, you may have your candy frolic, and that is for her ears alone.
+Now to you: The girls are to have a candy frolic Friday evening, and would
+be delighted to have your company."
+
+It had all been said in Miss Preston's irresistibly funny way, and was
+greeted with shouts of laughter. Toinette and Cicely had learned something
+new. All now crowded about her urging her to accept some of their goodies,
+and, joining heartily in the spirit of good-comradeship, she took a
+sweetie from first one box and then another. Possibly another person, with
+a stricter regard for Mrs. Grundy's extremely refined sensibilities, might
+have hesitated to walk along the highways surrounded by half a dozen boys
+and girls, all chattering as hard as their tongues could wag, and munching
+cream-peppermints; but Miss Preston's motto was "Vis in ute," and, with
+the fine instinct so often wanting in those who have young characters to
+form, she looked upon the question from their side, feeling sure that
+sooner or later would arise questions which she would wish them to regard
+from hers; and therein lay the key-note of her success.
+
+She would no more have thought of raising the barrier of teacher and pupil
+between herself and her girls than she would have thought of depriving
+them of something necessary to their physical welfare. The girls were her
+friends and she theirs--their best and truest, to whom they might come
+with their joys or their sorrows, sure of her sympathy with either, and,
+rather than cast a shadow upon their confidence, she would have toiled up
+the hill with the whole school swarming about her, and an express-wagon of
+sweets following close behind. That was the secret of her wonderful power
+over them. They never realized the disparity between their own ages and
+hers, because she had never forgotten when life was young.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+DULL AND PROSY
+
+
+It is to be hoped that those who read this story will not run off with the
+idea that I am trying to set Miss Preston's school up as a model in every
+sense of the word, for I am not. I am simply trying to tell a story of
+boarding-school life as it really was "once upon a time." And I think that
+I ought to be able to tell it pretty correctly, having seen with my own
+eyes and heard with my own ears many of the pranks related. The methods
+followed and the results obtained may be believed or not; that rests with
+the individual reading. Long ago, in my own childhood days, our "old
+Virginy" cook used to say to me: "La, chile, dey's a heap sight mo' flies
+ketched wid 'lasses dan vingegar," and I have come to the conclusion that
+she had truth on her side.
+
+The girls were by no means saints. Saints, after all, are rather ethereal
+creatures, and Miss Preston's girls were real flesh and blood lassies,
+brimful of life and fun, and, like most lassies, ready for a good time.
+
+As Ruth had said, there were no rules; that is, the girls were never told
+that they must _not_ do this, or that they _must_ do the other thing. A
+spirit of courtesy dominated everything, and a subtle influence pervaded
+the entire school, bringing about desired results without words. The girls
+understood that all possible liberty would be granted them, and that their
+outgoings and incomings would be exactly such as would be allowed them in
+their own homes, and if some were inclined to abuse that liberty they soon
+learned where license began.
+
+No school turned out better equipped girls, and none held a higher
+standard in college examinations. A Sunny Bank diploma was a sure
+passport. When the girls worked they worked hard, and when playtime came
+it was enjoyed to the full. Naturally, with so many dispositions
+surrounding her, Miss Preston often in secret floundered in a "slough of
+despond," for that which could influence one girl for her good might prove
+a complete failure when brought to bear upon another. Never was the old
+adage, "What is one man's meat is another man's poison," more truly
+illustrated.
+
+But Miss Preston had a stanch friend, and trusted Him implicitly. Often,
+when perplexed and troubled, a half-hour's quiet talk with Him close shut
+behind her own door would give her wisdom and strength for the baffling
+question, and when she again appeared among them the girls wondered at her
+serene expression and winning smile, for in that half-hour's seclusion she
+had managed to remove all trace of the soil from the "slough," and,
+refreshed and strengthened by an unfailing help, could resume her
+"Pilgrimage."
+
+She often said, in her quaint way: "The hardest work I have to do is to
+undo," and that was very true. Many times the home influence was of the
+worst possible sort for a young girl, or else there was just none at all.
+Such girls were difficult subjects. Many had come from other schools, as
+in Toinette's case, where distrust seemed to be the key-note of the
+establishment, and then came Miss Preston's severest trials. The
+confidence of such girls must be won ere a step could be taken in the
+right direction. It was a rare exception when Miss Preston failed to win
+it.
+
+"You feel such a nasty little bit of a crawling thing when you've done a
+mean thing to Miss Preston," a girl once said. "If she'd only give you a
+first-class blowing up--for that's just what you know you deserve all the
+time--you could stand it, but she never does. She just puts her arm around
+you and looks straight through you with those soft gray eyes of hers, and
+never says one word. Then you begin to shrivel up, and you keep right on
+shriveling till you feel like Alice in Wonderland. You can't say boo,
+because _she_ hasn't, and when she gives you a soft little kiss on your
+forehead, and whispers so gently: Don't try to talk about it now, dear;
+just go and lock yourself in your room and have a quiet think, and I'm
+sure the kink will straighten out. I could lie flat on the floor and let
+her dance a hornpipe on me if she wanted to."
+
+It was not to be expected that all the other teachers would display such
+remarkable tact as their principal, but her example went a long way.
+Moreover, she was very careful in the choice of those in whose care her
+girls were to be given, and often said: "Neither schools nor colleges make
+teachers: it is God first, and mothers afterward." And she was not far
+wrong, for God must put love into the human heart, and mothers must shape
+the character. When I see a child playing with her dollies, I can form a
+pretty shrewd guess of the manner of woman that child's mother is.
+
+Frolics and pranks of all sorts were by no means unknown in the school,
+and often they were funny enough, but what Miss Preston did not know about
+those frolics was not worth knowing. Her instructions to her teachers
+were: "Don't see _too much_. Unless there is danger of flood or fire,
+appendicitis or pneumonia, be blind."
+
+Many of the girls had their own ponies and carriages, and drove about the
+beautiful suburbs of Montcliff. If the boys chose to hop up behind a trap
+and drive along, too, where was the harm? The very fact that it need not
+be concealed made it a matter of course. Friday evenings were always ones
+of exceptional liberty. Callers of both sexes came, and the girls danced,
+had candy pulls, or any sort of impromptu fun. Once a year, usually in
+February, a dance was given, which was, of course, _the_ event of the
+season.
+
+During the week the girls kept early hours, and at nine-thirty the house
+was, as a rule, en route for the "Land o' Nod," but exceptions came to
+prove the rule, and nothing was more liable to cause one than the arrival
+of a box from home. Upon such occasions the "fire, flood, appendicitis and
+pneumonia" hint held good.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE P. U. L.
+
+
+"What upon earth are you doing!" exclaimed Toinette, as she opened Ruth's
+door, in response to the "come in" which followed her knock, and stood
+transfixed upon the threshold at the spectacle she beheld.
+
+"Cleaning house, to be sure. Didn't you ever do it?"
+
+"Well, not exactly that way," was Toinette's reply.
+
+Ruth threw back her head and gave a merry peal of laughter.
+
+"It _is_ rather a novel way, I will admit, but, you see, I hate to do
+things just exactly as everybody else does, so I sailed right in, head
+over ears. To tell the truth, now I'm in, I wish it wasn't _quite_ so
+deep," and Ruth cast a look strongly savoring of despair at the
+conglomeration surrounding her.
+
+She was seated in the middle of the floor, and almost buried beneath the
+contents of every drawer and closet in the room. Not only her own, but
+Edith's belongings, too, had been dumped in a promiscuous heap on the
+floor, and such a sea of underclothing, stockings, shoes, dresses, waists,
+jackets, coats, hats, gloves, collars, ties, ribbons, veils,
+dressing-sacques, golf-capes and belts, to say nothing of the contents of
+both their jewel boxes, no pen can describe.
+
+Not content with the contents, the drawers, too, had been dragged out to
+be dusted, and were standing on end all about her, a veritable rampart of
+defence.
+
+"I shouldn't think you would know where to begin," said Toinette.
+
+"I don't, and I think I'll leave the whole mess for Helma to tidy up in
+the morning," and up jumped Ruth, to give the last stroke to the disorder
+by overturning the tray of pins and hairpins which she had been sorting
+when Toinette entered.
+
+"There, now you have done it!" exclaimed Edith, "and I can tell you one
+thing, you may just as well make up your mind to put my things back where
+you got them, 'cause I'm not going to," and she wagged her head
+positively.
+
+"Oh, dear me, this is what comes of trying to be a P. U. L.," said Ruth.
+
+"A P. U. L.?" asked Toinette. "What in the world is that?"
+
+"_That's_ what it is! I found it stuck up in my room when I got back from
+recitations to-day. I've been in such a tear of a hurry for the last few
+mornings that my room hasn't been quite up to the mark, I suppose, but
+Miss Preston never said a word, and now here's this thing stuck here."
+
+Toinette took the sheet of paper which Ruth handed to her, and began to
+read:
+
+                           THE PICK-UP LEAGUE
+
+            Do you wish to join the P. U. L.?
+            Then listen to this, but don't you tell,
+            For it's a great secret, and will be--well--
+            We _hope_, as potent as "book and bell."
+
+            A P. U. L. has a place for her hat,
+            And keeps it there; O wonder of that!
+            Her gloves are put away in their case;
+            Her coat hung up with a charming grace.
+
+            School-books and papers are laid away,
+            To be quickly found on the following day.
+            Then, ere she starts, so blithe and gay,
+            She tarries a moment just to say:
+
+            "Wait, just a jiff, while I stop to put
+            This blessed gown on its proper hook,
+            And tuck this 'nightie' snugly from sight
+            Under my pillow for to-night.
+
+            "And all these little, kinky hairs,
+            Which, though so frail, can prove such snares,
+            And furnish some one a chance to say:
+            'Your comb and brush were not cleaned to-day.'
+
+            "Hair ribbons, trinkets, scraps and bits,
+            Papers and pencils and torn snips,
+            Left scattered about can prove _such_ pits!
+            And _in_ we tumble, and just 'catch fits.'
+
+            "And this is the reason we formed the league,
+            And will keep its rules, you had better believe:
+            To keep our rooms tidy, to keep things neat,
+            So much that is 'bitter' may be turned 'sweet.'"
+
+[Illustration: "DO YOU WISH TO JOIN THE P. U. L.?"]
+
+When she had finished reading, she sat down on the edge of the bed and
+laughed till she cried.
+
+"Great, isn't it?" asked Ruth. "That's the way Miss Preston brings us up
+to schedule time. When I came home from the school-building this afternoon
+I thought I'd do wonders; and," she added, ruefully, "I guess I've done
+them. Good gracious, I'm so hungry from working so hard that I just can't
+see straight. Isn't there something eatable in the establishment?"
+
+"If that much work reduces you to a state of starvation, what will you be
+when it's all done?" asked Edith. "There _were_ some crackers on the
+shelf, but land knows where they are now; you've dragged every blessed
+thing off of it."
+
+"There are your crackers, right under your nose," said Ruth, triumphantly,
+as she pointed to a box of wafers half hidden under Edith's best hat.
+"There's some tea in that caddy, and you can heat some water in the
+kettle. What more do you want?"
+
+Edith scratched a match and held it to the little alcohol lamp under the
+tea-kettle, but no flame resulted.
+
+"Every bit of alcohol is burned out. Have you any more?"
+
+"Not a drop; used the last to get the pine-gum off my fingers after we
+came back from the woods last Tuesday. Here, take the cologne, that will
+do just as well," and forthwith the cologne was poured into the lamp,
+which was soon burning away right merrily. The water was heated, the tea
+made, and four girls sat down in the midst of the topsy-turvy room to sip
+tea and munch saltines.
+
+"I came in to ask," said Toinette, "whether you girls have any secret
+societies in this school; have you?"
+
+"Nary one, as I know of," answered the irrepressible Ruth. "Wish we had."
+
+"Let's start one," said Toinette. "We had two or three at Miss Carter's;
+they had to be secret or none at all, and it was no end of fun. Papa wrote
+me that he was going to send me a box of good things before long, and when
+it comes let's meet that night and have a feast. He will no doubt send
+enough for the entire school, he always does, and I want some of the girls
+to have the benefit of it."
+
+"Don't believe you will have to urge them very hard," said Edith,
+laughing.
+
+"Good!" cried Ruth. "Which girls shall we ask?"
+
+Toinette named eight girls beside themselves, saying:
+
+"That will make an even dozen to start with. More may come later, but that
+is enough to begin; don't you think so?"
+
+"Plenty. If we have too many there will be sure to be someone to let the
+cat out of the bag. Come on, Cicely, let's go hunt the others up," and,
+leaving Toinette and Edith in the orderly (?) room, off they flew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CAPS AND CAPERS
+
+
+The eight girls were quickly gathered in Ruth's and Edith's room and
+listening eagerly to the scheme afoot. It need not be added that it was
+unanimously carried, and it was only necessary to choose a name for the
+society.
+
+"Let's all wear masks and caps and cut all sorts of capers. It will be
+just no end of fun," cried Ethel Squire, a pretty, bright girl of fifteen
+who was always ready for a frolic.
+
+"Splendid!" cried Toinette, "and Ethel has given me a fine idea for a
+name; let's call it the C. C. C."
+
+"C. C. C.? What under the sun does that stand for?" asked Helen Burgess, a
+quiet, serene little body, and a general favorite with the other girls.
+
+"Guess," said Toinette.
+
+"Cuffs and Collars Club," said May Foster; "mine cause me more trouble
+than all the rest of my toilet, so they are never far from my thoughts."
+
+"Cake and Cackle Club," said another.
+
+"Cheese and Cider; a delicious combination when you've acquired a taste
+for them!" said Marie Taylor.
+
+"Clandestine Carnivori," was the last guess, which raised a shout.
+
+"Good gracious! let me tell you quickly before you exhaust the
+dictionary," laughed Toinette; "how will the Caps and Capers Club do?"
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Ruth, "just the very thing. We'll all wear our bath-robes
+and white caps and masks. I've loads of white crepe paper, which will be
+the very thing to make them of, so let's sit down and make them right
+away. Come on, girls, help clear up this mess, and then I'll find the
+paper. I can give the finishing touches to the closets and bureau drawers
+to-morrow."
+
+All turned to with more ardor than skill, and in a very few moments the
+conglomeration upon the floor had vanished. How it fared with Ruth and
+Edith when it came time to dress has never been disclosed. However, the
+room restored to outward order, twelve girls set to work to fashion caps
+and masks, and, as the last one was completed, the dressing-bell rang and
+all scattered to prepare for dinner.
+
+The evening hours at Sunny Bank were very pleasant ones, for during the
+winter, while days were short and nights were long, there was not much
+opportunity for outdoor diversion. Immediately after dinner Miss Howard,
+the literature teacher, would place her snug little rocking-chair before
+the cheerful open fire in the big hall, and the girls would gather about
+her; some on chairs, some on hassocks, and some curled upon the large fur
+rug in front of the blazing logs, while she read aloud for an hour. A fine
+library in Mont Cliff supplied books of every imaginable sort, and the
+girls were allowed to take turns in selecting them; providing, of course,
+their selections were wise ones. But with Miss Howard as guide they could
+not go far astray, and many a delightful hour was passed before the fire.
+Just at present the books chosen were those relating to English history,
+and contained good, hard facts, but, when the girls grew a little tired of
+such substantial diet, historical novels came handy for a relish. As
+England was cutting a prominent figure in the world just then, the girls
+were encouraged to keep in touch with the current events, and to talk
+freely about them. The last book read, at least the one they were just
+concluding, was one which brought into strong contrast the reigns of
+England's two greatest queens, and the subject was discussed in a lively
+manner.
+
+The book was finished shortly before the hour ended, and, laying it upon
+her lap, Miss Howard began to ask a few leading questions in order to get
+the girls started. As always happens, there were some girls not wildly
+enthusiastic over historical subjects, and such books did not hold their
+attention as a modern novel filled with thrilling situations would have
+done. But these were the very ones whom Miss Howard most wished to reach,
+and, feeling sure that her chances of doing so through such methods were
+far greater than could be hoped for if she pinned them right down to hard,
+dry facts, she took infinite pains to make her readings as interesting as
+much research and a careful selection of books could make them.
+
+The conversation was in full swing, and Miss Howard, in high feather over
+the very evident impression the book had made, was congratulating herself
+upon her choice of that particular volume, when one girl asked:
+
+"Miss Howard, what particular act of Elizabeth's reign do you think had
+the greatest influence upon later reigns?"
+
+"That is rather a difficult question to answer, Natala. It was such a
+brilliant reign and so fraught with portentous results in the future that
+it would be very difficult to say that this or that one act was greatest
+of all; although, unquestionably, the translation of the Bible was one of
+the greatest blessings to posterity. Who can tell me something of great
+interest which happened then?"
+
+"I can!" cried Pauline Holden.
+
+"I'm more than delighted to hear it," answered Miss Howard, for Pauline
+was at once her joy and her despair. Affectionate and good-natured to the
+last degree, she was never disturbed by anything, but I put it very mildly
+when I say that Pauline did not possess a brilliant mind.
+
+"Yes," continued Pauline. "There are not many things in history that I
+care two straws about, but I remembered that because the names made me
+think of a rhyme my old nurse used to say when she put me to bed."
+
+"Miss Howard's hopes received a slight shock, but she asked:
+
+"Will you tell us what it is?"
+
+"It was letting Matthew, Mark, Luke and John out," triumphantly.
+
+"Letting whom out?" asked Miss Howard, wondering what upon earth was to
+follow.
+
+"Yes, don't you remember they let them out during Elizabeth's reign?"
+
+"Let them out of _where_?"
+
+"Why, out of the Tower, to be sure, and it made such a difference in a
+history some man was writing just then, because they had had a lot to do
+with it somehow--I don't remember just what it was. Maybe one of the other
+girls can."
+
+By this time all the other girls were nearly dying of suppressed laughter,
+and when poor Pauline turned to them so seriously it proved the last
+straw, and such a shout as greeted her fairly made the wall ring. It was
+too much for Miss Howard, and, with one last look of despair, she gave way
+and laughed till she cried.
+
+When the laugh had subsided and they had recovered their breath, Miss
+Howard endeavored to explain to the brilliant expounder of English history
+that Queen Elizabeth had had more to do with keeping Matthew, Mark, Luke
+and John out of the Bible than _in_ the Tower of London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A MODERN DIOGENES
+
+
+"Half-past nine. Sh! Yes, down in the old laundry."
+
+"Who's coming?"
+
+"The whole club. No end of fun."
+
+This whispered conversation took place in the upper corridor. Many of the
+girls had come from schools where frolics were looked upon as an almost
+heinous crime, and strict rules and surveillance had made their lives a
+burden to them.
+
+It was about ten o'clock when ghostly figures began to slip through the
+dark halls. Lights had been extinguished at nine-thirty and all was now
+silent.
+
+Miss Preston was in her room in a remote part of the house, and most of
+the other teachers had rooms in the adjoining building. The laundry in
+this house was never used, and stout blinds shut out--and in--all light.
+
+Tap, tap, tap.
+
+"Who's there?" was whispered from within.
+
+"C. C. C., open for me."
+
+The door opened, and in skipped a figure arrayed like the six already
+assembled, in a warm dressing-gown and a high peaked paper cap, with white
+tissue mask and spy-holes.
+
+All spoke in whispers, so it was almost impossible to recognize any one.
+But this only added to the fun and mystery. "Spread the feast, girls; the
+others will soon be here. Let's see, how many are there? Seven! Why don't
+the other five hurry? I wonder which ones here aren't here?" one girl
+laughingly whispered.
+
+"They'll come, never fear, but their rooms are nearer 'headquarters,'"
+said another.
+
+"What luck! Miss Preston doesn't suspect a thing. I met her in the hall
+just before 'lights' bell, and she said as innocently as could be, 'You
+look as though you were quite ready for the "land o' dreams," Elsie, but
+so long as you do not take a gallop on a "night mare" all will be well,'
+and I could hardly help laughing when I thought how soon I might be
+equipped for one."
+
+"This fudge is my contribution," said another.
+
+"Hold on, girls! I've a brilliant idea," said Toinette. "Who's got a long
+hairpin? Good! that's fine. Now prepare for something delectable," and,
+straightening out the pin, she stuck a marsh mallow on it and held the
+white lump of lusciousness over the one candle until it was toasted a
+golden if rather smoky brown.
+
+Tap, tap, tap.
+
+"It's the others. Quick! let them in, for it's half-past ten already."
+
+The signals were exchanged, and in walked not five but nine more figures.
+
+"Oh, girls, such luck! Just as I came out of my room I ran right into Maud
+Hanscomb's arms, and she _wouldn't_ let me go till I'd told her what was
+up and promised to let her and the other girls share our fun. She said
+they suspected something was up, and they were bound to share it. And such
+a spread! Land knows how they got it! Just look."
+
+The tubs were now groaning under their burden of king apples, cookies,
+which bore a striking resemblance to those served at dinner; crackers,
+which had surely rested in the housekeeper's pantry, and, joy of joys, a
+huge tub of ice cream, to say nothing of what the original five brought.
+
+"Now, girls, come on! Let's eat our cream and make sure of it in case of
+accidents," said the stout red ghost, in red cap and mask, who presided
+over the tub. "No time to get plates, so hand over anything you've got,
+and excuse the elegance of my spoon. It's cook's soup spoon, and may give
+the cream an oniony flavor, but that will add to the novelty," she said as
+she served it.
+
+"Who is she, anyhow?" asked one girl, who sat eating cream from a soap
+dish.
+
+"Haven't the least idea. One of the old girls, I dare say, but who cares
+when she can conjure up such delicacies?"
+
+As midnight struck appetites and feast came to an end.
+
+"I vote," whispered one girl, "that we all take off our masks and have a
+good look at each other, so we'll know who's who when we meet in public."
+
+"It's a go," whispered several others, and off they all came.
+
+"Let's have more light," said the donor of the cream, and reached up and
+touched the electric button.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh! Don't! Miss Preston will catch us!" cried dismayed voices,
+but Miss Preston herself stood before them, a red mask in one hand and a
+great spoon in the other.
+
+"This isn't the first spread I've attended," she said, "and I hope it
+won't be the last. I've had too good a time. I had an idea the old laundry
+would prove an inviting place to-night, but I never attend a feast without
+my tub and candle--or electric light in this twentieth century--for, like
+another mortal who had a fancy for tubs and a candle, I am in search of
+honest folk.
+
+"Your spread was a great success, girls. Only next time let me know
+beforehand. I may not be able to be present in person, but I can still
+furnish the tub and light, and it will be a comfort to me to know the menu
+in order to guard against future ills. Good-night. I'm ready for my bed,
+and I shouldn't wonder if you were, too," and, with a flourish of her red
+cap and big spoon, Miss Preston slipped through the door.
+
+Some very wise ghosts sped away through the dark corridors, and whispered
+conversations were held far into the "wee, sma' hours."
+
+The next day the story was all over the school, and met with various
+comments. One of Miss Preston's combined torments and blessings was the
+teacher of chemistry, a thoroughly conscientious woman, and exceptionally
+capable, but a woman who took life very seriously. Miss Preston used to
+say that Mrs. Stone must have been forty years old when she was born, and
+consequently had missed all her child and girlhood. She was kind and just
+to the girls, but could not for the life of her understand why they _must_
+have fun, and that fun in secret was twice the fun that everybody knew
+about.
+
+Well Miss Preston knew that Mrs. Stone would take advantage of her
+privilege as an old friend, as well as one of the oldest teachers, and
+come in her solemn way to discuss the latest escapade, pro and con, so she
+was not in the least surprised when there came a light tap upon her door
+that afternoon, and Mrs. Stone entered. "'Save me from my friends,'"
+quoted Miss Preston, under her breath.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+"THEY COULD NEVER DECEIVE ME"
+
+
+"Well, Mrs. Stone, what can I do for you, and why such a serious
+expression?"
+
+"My dear Marion," said Mrs. Stone, using Miss Preston's Christian name, as
+she sometimes did when more than usually solicitous of her welfare, "I've
+come to have a little talk with you regarding what happened last night,
+and I'm sure you will not take it amiss from one who has known you since
+your childhood."
+
+"Do I often take it amiss?" asked Miss Preston, with an odd smile.
+
+"Indeed, no; you are most considerate of my feelings, and I fully
+appreciate it, considering our business relations. Of course, I have not
+the slightest right to dictate to you, nor would I care to have you regard
+it in the light of dictation. It is only my extreme interest in your
+welfare that prompts me to speak at all."
+
+"And is my welfare in serious peril now?" asked Miss Preston, half
+laughing as she recalled the previous evening's prank and her own very
+thorough enjoyment of the fun.
+
+"No, my dear, not in peril, but I fear that you will never grow to look
+upon your position in the world with sufficient seriousness, for, I assure
+you, your responsibility is enormous."
+
+"Would I could forget that mighty fact for one little fleeting moment,"
+thought Miss Preston, but, aloud, she asked:
+
+"And do you think that I am not fully conscious of it, Mrs. Stone?"
+
+"Oh, most conscious! most conscious! You could not be more conscientious,
+I am sure, but you sometimes let a misdemeanor, such as occurred last
+night, go unpunished, and it establishes an unfortunate precedent, I
+fear."
+
+"Did you ever know me to punish any girl placed in my charge?" asked Miss
+Preston, a slight flush creeping over her face.
+
+"Certainly not! Certainly not!" cried Mrs. Stone, hastily, for she had
+touched upon a point which she knew to be a very sensitive one with her
+principal, and wished to smooth matters down a trifle. "I do not mean
+punishment in the generally accepted term, but do you think it wholly wise
+to let the girls feel that they can do such things and, in a measure, find
+them condoned?"
+
+"Do you think that forbidding them would put an end to them?"
+
+"Merely forbidding might not do so, but exacting some penalty for such
+disobedience would probably make them think twice before they disobeyed
+again."
+
+"Did they disobey this time?" Miss Preston asked quietly.
+
+Mrs. Stone looked a trifle disconcerted as she answered:
+
+"Possibly it was not direct disobedience, but it certainly savored of
+deceit."
+
+"I should be glad to have you ask any girl who has become a member of that
+comical C. C. C. if she thinks she has been guilty of deceit, and I'll
+venture to say that she will look you squarely in the eyes and say:
+'Deceit! How could _that_ fun be deceitful?'"
+
+"Do you not think that it may lead to other undesirable lines of
+conduct?"
+
+"It may lead to other sorts of innocent fun," was the dry remark. "Mrs.
+Stone, were you ever young? Surely, you have not forgotten what the world
+looked like then. Wasn't it invariably the thing you were least expected
+to do that it gave you the most satisfaction to do? Listen to me one
+moment, for, while I appreciate your sincere interest in my work and
+myself, I cannot allow you to run off with the idea that I regard my girls
+as prone to deceitful actions. It is just fun, pure and simple, and the
+natural result of happy, healthy girlhood. Far better let it have a safe
+vent than try to suppress it, and take very strong chances of directing it
+into less desirable channels. At the worst, a deranged stomach can follow,
+and a glass of bi-carbonate of soda-water is a simple remedy, if not an
+over-delightful one. I knew all about the feast several days ago, and took
+my own way of letting the girls know that I'd found it out. It was no use
+to forbid it for that night, for, just as sure as fate, they would have
+planned it for another, and devoured a lot of stuff far less wholesome
+than the contents of Toinette's box and my tub. As it was, we all had a
+good time, and I'll warrant you that the next time the C. C. C.'s meet
+I'll get a hint regarding the tub, at any rate."
+
+"Perhaps it will prove so. I trust so, at all events. You are a far wiser
+woman than I am."
+
+"Perhaps no wiser, but better able to recall the things which helped to
+make my girlhood a sunny one, and school frolics played no small part in
+them."
+
+"I can but hope that the girls will refrain from practicing deceit. Of
+course, they cannot deceive _me_; no girl has ever yet succeeded in doing
+so, although many have tried to. But I can invariably detect the sham, and
+meet it successfully."
+
+"I hope you may never find yourself undone," said Miss Preston, with a
+laugh. "Girls are pretty quick-witted creatures."
+
+Girls are not blind to their elders' weaknesses and pet delusions, and it
+was an understood thing among them all that Mrs. Stone was easily "taken
+in," to use their own expression. Consequently, they told her things, and
+laid innocent little traps for her to walk into, such as they would never
+have thought of doing for a more wide-awake teacher, or, at least, one who
+did not make such a strong point of her power of discernment.
+
+It was the very night after the Caps and Capers escapade that the girls
+were gathered in the upper hall talking about the previous night's fun.
+
+"It's no use talking; you _can't_ get ahead of Miss Preston," said one of
+the older girls. "You may think you have, and feel aglow clear down to the
+cockles of your heart, then--whew! in she walks upon you as cool as--"
+
+"Ice cream!" burst in another girl. "To my dying day, girls, I shall never
+forget that red ghost."
+
+"How did she ever find it out, I'd like to know," asked Toinette. "Not a
+soul said a word, and my box didn't come till the very last minute. I
+hardly had time to let the girls know, and how Miss Preston ever got her
+tub of cream in time is more than I can puzzle out. Maybe Mrs. Stores had
+it on hand."
+
+"Mrs. Stores! Yes, I guess so," cried the girls, scornfully. "You don't
+for one moment suppose that _she_ would let us have a whole tub of ice
+cream, do you? Not much," said Lou Perry.
+
+"Why, if Miss Preston wanted it it would be different, you see," answered
+Toinette.
+
+"No, it wouldn't, either. Miss Preston never bothers with the housekeeping
+or the housekeeper, although she is always just as lovely to her as she
+can be--she is to everybody, for that matter."
+
+"For my part, I'm glad she found it out," laughed Cicely, "but if I'd
+suspected beforehand that she would, wild horses wouldn't have dragged me
+into that laundry. It's pretty easy not to be afraid of such a teacher;
+she seems just like one of us. Wasn't she too funny with that big spoon
+and the red mask?"
+
+"Are all the other teachers so quick to 'catch on?'" asked Toinette.
+
+"Most of them are sharp as two sticks," replied Ethel, "but they never let
+on. There is only one who makes the boast that she has never been deceived
+by any girl, and we've all been just wild to play her some trick, only
+we've never yet hit upon a really good one."
+
+"You ought to get Toinette to do the scene from 'Somnambula,'" said
+Cicely, laughing.
+
+"What is it? What is it? What is it?" cried a half-dozen voices.
+
+"The funniest thing you ever saw in all your born days," said Cicely.
+
+"Oh, tell us about it; please, do," begged the girls.
+
+"Let her do it for you; it will be ten times funnier than telling it."
+
+"When will you do it?"
+
+"To-night, if I can manage it; it will be a good time after last night's
+cut-up."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+"LA SOMNAMBULA"
+
+
+When the bell for retiring rang at half-past nine that night, it produced
+a most remarkable effect, for, instead of suggesting snug beds and
+dream-land, it seemed instantly to banish any desire for sleep which the
+previous study hour from eight to nine had aroused in several of the
+girls.
+
+They all went to their rooms, to be sure, but once within them a startling
+change took place. Instead of undressing like wise young people, they
+slipped off their dresses, and put on their night-dresses over the rest of
+their clothing, then all crawled into bed to await the first act of "La
+Somnambula."
+
+They had barely gotten settled when footsteps were heard coming softly
+down the corridor, as though the feet taking the steps were encased in
+wool slippers, and the owner of those feet wished to avoid being heard. A
+few steps were taken, then a pause made to listen, then on went the
+cat-like tread from door to door.
+
+Toinette's and Cicely's rooms communicated, and just beyond, with another
+communicating door, was the room occupied by Ruth and Edith, but the door
+was always fastened. Perhaps Miss Preston considered three communicating
+rooms altogether too convivial, and decided that "an ounce of prevention
+was always worth a pound of cure."
+
+As the stealthy footfalls passed on down the hall, a light tap fell upon
+Toinette's door, and, springing out of bed, she flew to give a
+corresponding tap, and listen for what might follow.
+
+"Sh-h!" came in a whisper from the other side.
+
+"Yes," was the low reply.
+
+"Did you hear the 'Princess' walk down the hall?" The Princess was the big
+Maltese house cat, and a privileged character.
+
+"A pretty big _cat_," was whispered back.
+
+"That was Mother Stone, and she was just as anxious to avoid being heard
+by Miss Preston as she was anxious to hear what might be going on in our
+rooms. If Miss Preston caught her listening at anybody's door, she would
+be angrier than if we sat up all night."
+
+"What does she think we're up to, anyway?" whispered Toinette.
+
+"No telling, but she knows we had a frolic last night and is on the
+lookout for another to-night, I guess."
+
+"Maybe she won't look in vain," laughed Toinette, softly.
+
+Twelve o'clock had just been struck by the tall clock in the lower hall,
+when a white figure walked slowly down the corridor. Her hair fell in
+long, waving ringlets far below her waist, her pretty white hands were
+outstretched in front of her, and the great eyes, wide open, stared
+straight before her with a strange, unseeing stare. As she walked along
+she whispered softly to herself, but the words were hardly audible. On she
+went, through the long corridor, down the little side hall, which led to
+the pantry below, still muttering in that uncanny manner.
+
+It had long been a standing joke in the school that Mrs. Stone slept like
+a cat, with one eye open and one ear alert for every sound, for she was
+continually hearing burglars, or marauders of some sort or other. So it is
+not surprising that before that ghost had gone very far another white
+figure popped its head out into the hall and uttered a smothered
+exclamation at sight of number one.
+
+"Dear me! dear me!" she murmured, "my suspicions were not amiss. Poor,
+dear Marion, is so very self-confident. I was sure the last night's folly
+would lead to something else. Such is invariably the case," and she
+followed rapidly after the figure which was just vanishing around the turn
+in the lower hall.
+
+"Those children are certainly planning another supper, and, what is far
+worse, are adding to the discredit of such an act by resorting to
+dishonest means of procuring the wherewithal for it. Oh, it is shocking,
+shocking! And yet Marion cannot be convinced that her girls are capable of
+deceit. Poor child, poor child, it is fortunate for her that there is
+someone at hand to come to her rescue at such a crisis," and Mrs. Stone
+reached the bottom of the stairs just as the evil-intentioned ghost
+slipped into the housekeeper's pantry.
+
+"Really, I must be quite sure before I speak, or I may bring about still
+greater trouble. But what _can_ she want here at this hour of the night if
+it be not some of Mrs. Store's provisions?" and she wrung her hands in
+despair.
+
+A dim light burned in the lower hall, rendering everything there plainly
+visible from above; and if Mrs. Stone had not been so distressed by that
+which was before her, she might have been aware of certain happenings just
+above her. Why did not some good fairy whisper in her ear just at that
+moment: "An' had you one eye behind you, you might see more detraction at
+your heels than fortune before you," but there were apparently none out of
+Dream Land.
+
+As her foot touched the lower step, five or six heads peered over the
+banister railing above, and what mystery of gravitation prevented as many
+bodies from toppling over after them I am unable to say.
+
+"Do look! Do look! She is after her full tilt, girls," whispered Cicely.
+"Didn't I tell you it would be the funniest thing you ever saw?"
+
+"Sh! She'll hear us, and the whole thing will be spoilt," said Ethel.
+
+"No, indeed, she won't," answered Ruth, "she is too intent upon catching
+Toinette."
+
+"O, why _can't_ I stretch my neck out a yard or two so that I may see what
+is going on in that pantry? Come on girls, I'm going downstairs if I die
+for it," and down crept Lou, followed by all the others, for there was no
+lack of bedroom slippers at Sunny Bank.
+
+Meantime Toinette had entered the store-room, and, going straight to the
+corner where some smoked hams and bacon were hanging, took a monstrous ham
+from its hook, then, muttering, "Crackers, too, crackers, too," opened the
+cracker box and drew forth a handful.
+
+Mrs. Stone was thoroughly scandalized, but, just as she was about to
+speak, Toinette turned full upon her and said:
+
+"Yes, I will have some mustard, and a beefsteak, and baked beans, please.
+Mrs. Stores had some on the table to-night."
+
+By this time Mrs. Stone began to realize that the girl was not accountable
+for her actions, for never was there a better bit of acting for an
+amateur. Yet she dared not wake her, for stories of the serious harm which
+had befallen somnambulists, when wakened suddenly in unfamiliar
+surroundings, flashed through her brain, and she was nearly beside herself
+with anxiety.
+
+"What shall I do? what _shall_ I do?" she said aloud in great distress;
+and, as though in answer to her question, Toinette answered:
+
+"Go, tell Mrs. Stone that she isn't up to snuff as much as she thinks she
+is."
+
+This was too much, and, laying her hand gently on Toinette's arm, she
+said, softly:
+
+"My dear child, hadn't you better come back upstairs with me?"
+
+Without changing her expression, Toinette replied:
+
+"How oats, peas, beans and barley grow, nor you, nor I, nor Mrs. Stone
+knows," and began to dance around in a circle with her ham tightly clasped
+in one arm, and the crackers scattering from one end of the pantry to the
+other.
+
+Now thoroughly alarmed, and almost in tears, Mrs. Stone said:
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear little girl, won't you come back to your room with me?"
+and, grasping hold of Toinette's arm, endeavored to lead her from the
+pantry.
+
+[Illustration: "GO, TELL MRS. STONE SHE ISN'T UP TO SNUFF."]
+
+But my lady was having altogether too good a time to end her frolic so
+soon, while the audience upon the stairs were nearly dying from their
+efforts not to scream. So, without changing that dreadful stare which she
+had maintained throughout her performance, she said, as though repeating
+Mrs. Stone's own words:
+
+"Come back--come back--come back, my Bonny, to me," and turned to leave
+the pantry. She had barely gotten outside the door, however, when she
+paused, and, muttering something about lemons and pickles, slipped away
+from Mrs. Stone's grasp and disappeared within the pantry again.
+
+Trembling with excitement, Mrs. Stone stood for one instant, and then
+saying, "Miss Preston must be called, Miss Preston must be called," turned
+and literally flew up the stairs, for once too lost to everything but the
+matter in hand to be aware of anything else, which was certainly fortunate
+for the white-robed figures, which nearly fell over each other in their
+scramble to escape.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"HAVE YOU NOT BEEN DECEIVED THIS TIME?"
+
+
+When Miss Preston arrived upon the scene Toinette was serenely making her
+way upstairs, her burdens still in her arms, but supplemented by several
+lemons and a bottle of pickles. She took no notice whatever of the new
+arrival, but walked straight to her own room, and, placing her treasures
+upon her bed, covered them carefully with her bedclothes. At this covert
+act poor Mrs. Stone gasped despairingly, and, grasping Miss Preston's arm,
+said, in a most tragic whisper: "Marion, Marion, what did I tell you?"
+
+But "Marion" was very much alive to the situation, and, had not a slight
+quiver about Toinette's mouth while Mrs. Stone was speaking confirmed her
+suspicions, some very audible giggles from the rooms close at hand would
+have done so.
+
+Having tucked her ham snugly to bed, Toinette proceeded to tuck herself
+there, and, with a sigh as innocent as a tired infant's, she closed those
+staring eyes and slipped off to the land of dreams.
+
+"Well, I think the first act is ended," said Miss Preston, with the
+funniest of smiles, "and we shall not have the second to-night, at any
+rate. But this one was certainly performed by a star," and, stepping to
+Toinette's bedside, she quietly drew from beneath the covers the "dry
+stores" there sequestered, placed them upon the table, and then smoothed
+the clothes carefully about her.
+
+Mrs. Stone began to gather up the articles Miss Preston laid upon the
+table, and, consequently, did not see her slyly pinch the rosy cheek
+resting upon the pillow nor the flash of intelligence which two big brown
+eyes sent back.
+
+They then left Toinette to her slumbers (?), and, after carrying the
+pilfered articles back to the housekeeper's pantry, returned to Miss
+Preston's room, where Mrs. Stone dropped into the first chair that came
+handy. She was as near a nervous collapse as she well could be, and came
+very close to losing her temper when Miss Preston seated herself upon her
+couch, clasped her hands before her, and laughed as poor Mrs. Stone had
+never known her to laugh before.
+
+"Why, Marion! Marion!" she cried. "_Have_ you taken leave of your
+senses?"
+
+It was some seconds before Miss Preston could control her voice enough to
+reply, and, when she did, it proved the very last straw to complete Mrs.
+Stone's discomfiture, for her words were:
+
+"Mehitable Stone, had anyone told me that I was sheltering beneath my
+roof-tree such a consummate actress, I should have been the most surprised
+woman in Montcliff. Upon my word I never saw anything better done."
+
+"Acting!" exclaimed Mrs. Stone, aghast. "You do not for one moment imagine
+that poor child was acting? Impossible! Why, she was as sound asleep as
+she ever was in all her life, and there was not the least sign that she
+was conscious of my touch when I took hold of her arm to lead her from the
+pantry. Do you suppose it would have been possible for her to dissemble to
+that extent? _Never!_"
+
+Miss Preston did not answer, but laughed softly again.
+
+It was too much for Mrs. Stone; rising suddenly to her feet, she said,
+with asperity: "It is useless for us to discuss the matter further
+to-night, nay, _this morning_," looking at the tiny clock ticking away
+upon Miss Preston's desk, "but I trust that in broad daylight you may see
+more clearly. For my part, nothing will ever convince me that that child
+was deceiving me; my knowledge of girls is too perfect. It was a most
+pronounced case of somnambulism, the outcome of last night's injudicious
+eating, and, in my opinion, a very alarming condition, as one can never
+tell to what it may lead. Her digestion may be seriously impaired. It is
+quite unsafe to leave her alone to-night, for she may be seized with
+another attack at any moment. I shall spend the remainder of the night
+upon the couch in her room," and away she went to take up her sentinel
+duty.
+
+"It is quite unnecessary," called Miss Preston after the retreating
+figure, but no heed was given to the words, and when Toinette waked in the
+morning what was her surprise to find Mrs. Stone bending over her asking,
+in the most solicitous of voices, if she were feeling quite well.
+
+For a moment Toinette was unable to take in the situation, but her wits
+got into working order pretty quickly, and only her quivering lips would
+have betrayed her to a more discerning person. Mrs. Stone, however, saw
+nothing but an inclination to weep, and, stooping over Toinette, said,
+soothingly: "There, there, dear, don't hurry to rise, you are a little
+nervous this morning and ought to rest."
+
+But Toinette was at the breakfast table as promptly as anyone, and as she
+took her seat she gave a quick glance toward Miss Preston; but that astute
+woman was pouring cream into her coffee-cup. An hour later, when all were
+scurrying about getting ready for the walk to the schoolhouse, which was
+situated several blocks from the home house and its adjacent cottages,
+Toinette came face to face with Miss Preston in one of the upper halls.
+Both stopped short, looked each other squarely in the eyes, and said
+nothing. Then Miss Preston's eyes began to smile, and her mouth followed
+their example, and, placing one finger under Toinette's chin, she said:
+
+"I am forced to admit that it was one of the funniest things I've ever
+seen, and extremely well done, but it scared Mrs. Stone nearly to death;
+so, please, don't favor us with the second act."
+
+And that was the only allusion ever made by Miss Preston to the midnight
+ramble, nor was it ever repeated for Mrs. Stone's benefit, although
+nothing could ever have persuaded the good lady that she had been the
+victim of a hoax that night.
+
+It would have been difficult to find a more consummate teacher than Miss
+Preston, or one who, without their ever suspecting it, could so bring her
+girls up to the mark. It was a rare exception when she failed to
+accomplish her aim, and her tact was truly wonderful. There was rarely a
+harsh word spoken, although Miss Preston could speak sharply enough when
+occasion required. But she seldom felt that it did. She had most unique
+methods, and they proved wonderfully successful. Then, too, some very
+old-fashioned ideas were firmly imbedded in her mind, which in the present
+day and age are often forgotten. That bad spelling is a disgrace to any
+girl was one of these, and most nobly did she labor to make such a
+disgrace impossible for any of her girls.
+
+Knowing how cordially human nature detests doing the very thing best for
+it, she never had regular spelling lessons in the school, but twice a week
+every girl in it, big and little alike, gathered in the large assembly
+room to choose sides and spell each other down. So irresistibly funny were
+these spelling matches, and so admirably did they display Miss Preston's
+peculiar power over the girls, and their response to her wonderful
+magnetism, that I think they deserve a chapter to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPELLED
+
+
+The last half hour before recess on Wednesdays and Fridays was the time
+set aside for the spelling matches. On Wednesday the words were chosen at
+random, sometimes from history, sometimes from geography, again from
+something which the classes had been reading; but Friday's words were
+invariably a surprise.
+
+One morning, immediately after the opening exercises were concluded, Miss
+Preston rang her bell, and, when the girls were all attention, said:
+
+"It will be well for those girls who are to lead the opposing sides of the
+spelling match to-day to choose with exceptional acumen--Annabel, spell
+that word!" So suddenly had the command been sprung upon her that,
+whatever knowledge poor Annabel might have possessed five seconds before,
+promptly flew straight out of her head, and she answered:
+
+"_Ackumen._"
+
+"Sorry I haven't time to pass it on just now, but I'll reserve that honor.
+As I was saying, the heads had best keep their wits wide-awake, for I'm
+going to choose the words from a highly scientific and instructive volume
+to-day. It is called "How to Feed Children," and in this you will observe
+that I have a double object in view: to teach you which words, as well as
+the sort of food, to be digested. Wholesome instruction, my dears; and now
+to work, every woman Jill of you."
+
+At ten-thirty all were again assembled in the big room, and a lively
+choosing of sides ensued. It was not by any means invariably the older
+girls who could spell best, for often some of the younger ones led them a
+fine race.
+
+Taking up the brilliantly bound little book, Miss Preston said:
+
+"Now, my friends, I hope you will look upon the cover of this book as a
+brilliant and rosy example of what I expect, and, I beg of you, do not
+disappoint me," holding up the bright red book for the inspection of all.
+"Do not become excited, but learn to take a 'philosophical' view of it."
+Miss Preston paused, and so well did the girls understand her original way
+of doing things that "philosophical" was at once essayed. The first
+attempt resulted in "_philosopical_."
+
+"A little too suggestive of milk-toast, I'm afraid, Marion. We must have
+our philosophy upon a sound basis. Next."
+
+Several words passed successfully down the line until "course" was given,
+and when that was spelled "_cource_" Miss Preston's face was a study.
+
+"That which we are most inclined to accept as a matter _of course_ we may
+be sure will prove a matter of mortification to us. Katherine, you are
+given to poetic flights. Who was it that said: 'The course of true love
+never did run smooth?' He would have had an opportunity to learn that
+there were also other courses which did not run smoothly had he
+followed--'pedagogy.'"
+
+This proved a stumbling-block for the first girl, but the next one spelled
+it correctly.
+
+"You see, Alma, that even the road thereto has its pitfalls, so take
+warning."
+
+"Catch me ever teaching," was the half-audible reply, but softly as it was
+spoken sharp ears caught it.
+
+"Posterity will be grateful for the blessings in store for it,
+'undoubtedly.'"
+
+The word fell to a little girl, but was rattled off as quick as a wink, to
+Miss Preston's great amusement, for the child was an ambitious little body
+who hated to be outdone by the big girls.
+
+"Desirability" was the next word, and was given to one of the largest,
+although by no means the most brilliant, girls in the school.
+
+She hesitated a moment, and then said: "If desire is spelled d-e-s-i-r-e,
+I suppose the other end of it will be a-b-i-l-i-t-y."
+
+"A quality in which you are lacking," was the instantaneous retort. "If
+you desired it more, your ability would be greater."
+
+When desirability had been successfully dealt with, ten or more words were
+happily disposed of, then came another poser in the form of
+'physiognomical,' and the groans which greeted it foretold its fate.
+
+"What does it _mean_, anyway, Miss Preston?" asked one girl.
+
+"Well, there is more than one way of telling you its meaning, but I
+believe in simple explanations, so I will say, that when you all rush off
+to the cloak-room at one o'clock that it would be well for you to observe
+carefully the expression upon the other girl's face when you throw down
+her hat and coat in your eagerness to get your own first. You will then,
+doubtless, have an excellent opportunity to form a correct idea of the
+meaning of physiognomical. Then you may come and tell me whether you
+consider her character an angelic or impish one."
+
+How well Miss Preston was aware of their besetting sins, and how shrewdly
+did she use them to their undoing.
+
+I should never dare tell the wonderful combinations of letters which were
+brought together ere that dreadful word was spelled correctly; but such a
+rapid sitting down followed that a stranger coming suddenly upon them
+might have supposed that Miss Preston's girls were fainting one after
+another.
+
+About fifty words, all told, were spelled with more or less success, and
+then came the grand summing up, and those girls who could not yield a
+clean record from beginning to end had to pay the penalty.
+
+Not a very severe one, to be sure, but one they were not likely to forget,
+for each word that they had misspelled was written upon a good-sized piece
+of paper and pinned upon their breasts "as a reward of demerit," Miss
+Preston told them, and, although it was all done in fun and joked and
+laughed over at the time, each girl knew that those words must be
+thoroughly committed to memory before the Wednesday spelling match began
+its lively session, or her report at the end of the term would be lacking
+in completeness.
+
+And so, between "jest and earnest," did Miss Preston handle her girls,
+drawing by gentleness from a sensitive nature, by firmness from a careless
+one, by sarcasm (and woe to the girl who provoked it, for it was, truly,
+"like a polished razor keen") from a flippant, and by one of her rare,
+sweet smiles from the ambitious all that was best to be drawn.
+
+Toinette was naturally a remarkably bright girl, and possessed qualities
+of mind which only required gentle suggestions to develop their latent
+powers. Refined and delicate by nature, keen of comprehension, she slipped
+into her proper niche directly way was made for her, and filled it to her
+own credit and the satisfaction of others. Nor did it take Miss Preston
+long to discover that a delicately strung instrument had been placed in
+her hands, and that it must be touched with skillful fingers if its best
+notes were to be given forth.
+
+The weeks slipped away, and winter, as though to pay up for its tardy
+arrival, came in earnest, bringing in February the heavy snowstorms one
+looks for much earlier in the season in this part of the globe. The girls
+hailed them with wild demonstrations, for snow meant sleigh-rides, and it
+is a frosty old codger who can frown and grumble at the sound of
+sleigh-bells.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS"
+
+
+One morning early in February the girls looked out of their windows to
+behold a wonderful new world--a white one to replace the dull gray one,
+which would have made their spirits sympathetically gray, perhaps, had
+they been older. But, happily, it must be a very smoky gray indeed that
+can depress fifteen.
+
+"Quick, Edith, come and look!" and then, flying across the room, Ruth
+thumped upon Toinette's door, and called out: "Sleigh-bells! Sleigh-bells!
+Don't you hear them?"
+
+The snow had fallen steadily all night, piling up softly and silently the
+great white mounds, covering up unsightly objects, laying the downiest of
+coverlids upon the dull old world until it was hardly recognizable. Every
+ledge, every branch and tiny twig held its feathery burden, or shook it
+softly upon the white mass covering the ground. Hardly a breath of air
+stirred, and the fir trees looked as though St. Nick had visited them in
+the night to dress a tree for every little toddler in the land.
+
+Down, down, down came the flakes, as though they never meant to stop, and
+as one threw back one's head to look upward at the millions of tiny
+feathers falling so gently, one seemed to float upward upon fairy wings
+and sail away, away into the realms of the Snow Maiden.
+
+It was hard to keep one's wits upon one's work that day, and many a stolen
+glance was given to the fairy world beyond the windows of the
+recitation-rooms. About five o'clock the weather cleared, the sun setting
+in a glory of crimson and purple clouds. An hour later up came my lady
+moon, to smile approval upon the enchanting scene and hint all sorts of
+possibilities.
+
+Lou Cornwall came flying into Toinette's room just after dinner to find it
+well filled with seven or eight others.
+
+"May I come, too?" she asked. "Oh, girls, if we don't have a sleigh-ride
+to-morrow, I'll have a conniption fit certain as the world."
+
+"Do you always have one when there is snow?" asked Toinette.
+
+"Which, a sleigh-ride or a conniption fit?" laughed Lou. "You'd better
+believe we have sleigh-rides."
+
+"You'd better believe! I've been here five years, and we've never missed
+one yet. Do you remember the night last winter, when we all went sleighing
+and came home at eleven o'clock nearly frozen stiff, Bess? Whew! it was
+cold. When we got back we found Miss Preston making chocolate for us.
+There she was in her bedroom robe and slippers. She had gotten out of bed
+to do it because she found out at the last minute that that fat old Mrs.
+Schmidt had gone poking off to bed, and hadn't left a single thing for
+us."
+
+"I guess I _do_ remember, and didn't it taste good?" was the feeling
+answer.
+
+"You weren't here the year before," said Lou. "Sit still, my heart! Shall
+I ever forget it?"
+
+"What about it? Tell us!" cried the girls in a chorus.
+
+"That was the first year Mrs. Schmidt was here, and, thank goodness, she
+isn't here any longer, and she hadn't learned as much as she learned
+afterwards. My goodness, wasn't she stingy? She thought one egg ought to
+be enough for six girls, I believe. It took Miss Preston about a year to
+get her to understand that we were not to be kept on half rations. Well,
+that night we were expecting something extra fine. We got it!" and Lou
+stopped to laugh at the recollection. "We rushed into the house, hungrier
+than wolves, and ready to empty the pantry, and what do you think we
+found? A lot of _after-dinner coffee cups_ of very weak cocoa, with _nary_
+saucer to set them in, and two small crackers apiece. 'I was thinking you
+would come in hungry, young ladies, so I make you some chocolate. You
+don't mind that I have not some saucers, it make so many dishes for
+washing,' she said, smiling that pudgy smile of hers. Ugh! I can't bear to
+think of it even to this day, and she was ten million times better before
+she left last spring. That was the reason Miss Preston took matters into
+her own hands the next time, I guess."
+
+Just then a tap came at the door, and Miss Preston put her head in to
+ask:
+
+"Can you girls do extra hard work between this and eight o'clock?"
+
+Had she entertained any doubts of their ability to individually do the
+work of three, the shout which answered her in the affirmative would have
+banished them forever, for the girls were not slow to guess that some
+surprise was afoot.
+
+"Very well, I'll trust you all to prepare tomorrow's lessons without
+exchanging an unnecessary word, and at eight o'clock I'll ring my bell,
+and then you must all put on extra warm wraps and go out on the piazza
+to--look at the moon. I shall not expect you to come in till ten-thirty."
+
+As the last word was uttered Miss Preston met her doom, for five girls
+pounced upon her, bore her to the couch and hugged her till she cried for
+mercy.
+
+"Come with us, oh! come with us," they cried. "It will be twice as nice if
+you'll come!"
+
+"Come _where_? Do you suppose I've lived all these years and never seen
+the _moon_?" and laughing merrily she slipped away from them, only pausing
+to add: "It is ten minutes of seven now."
+
+The hint was enough, and not a girl "got left" that night.
+
+At eight o'clock a silvery ting-a-ling was heard, and never was bell more
+promptly responded to. Had it been a fire alarm the rooms could not have
+been more quickly emptied.
+
+The moonlight made all outside nearly as bright as day, and when the girls
+went out upon the porch they found three huge sleighs, with four horses
+each, waiting to whirl them over the shining roads for miles. Miss Preston
+did not make one of the party, but Miss Howard was a welcome substitute,
+for, next to Miss Preston, the girls loved her better than any of the
+other teachers, and Toinette was sorely divided in her mind as to which
+she was learning to love the better.
+
+Off they started, singing, laughing at nothing, calling merrily to all
+they overtook, or passed, and sending the school yell, which Miss Howard
+had made up upon the spur of the moment for them,
+
+                       "Hoo-rah-ray! Hoo-rah-ray!
+                           Sunny Bank, Montcliff,
+                                 U. S. A.,"
+
+out upon the frosty air, until the very hills rang with the cry, and flung
+it back in merry echoes.
+
+Miss Howard's sleigh led the van, and one or two of the girls had
+clambered up to ride upon the high front seat with the driver, a sturdy
+old Irishman, who would have driven twenty horses all night long to please
+any of Miss Preston's girls. Ruth sat beside him, with Toinette next to
+her, and Edith was squeezed against the outer edge. But who cares about
+being squeezed under such circumstances? It's more fun.
+
+The snow had fallen so lightly that sometimes the runners cut through
+slightly; but, all things considered, the sleighing was very good. Still,
+the driver kept the horses well in hand, for they were good ones and ready
+to respond to a word. Moreover, the hilarity behind them seemed to have
+proved infectious, for every now and again a leader or a wheeler would
+prance about as though joining in the fun, and presently another animal
+became infected and wanted to prance, too. Had she not, the next chapter
+need not have been written.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL"
+
+
+More than five miles had slipped away under those swiftly-moving runners
+ere Ruth was suddenly seized with a desire to emulate a famous charioteer
+of olden time, one "Phaeton, of whom the histories have sung, in every
+meter, and every tongue," if a certain poet may be relied upon. So,
+turning a beguiling face toward the unsuspecting Michael beside her, she
+said:
+
+"You're a fine driver, aren't you, Michael?"
+
+"'T is experience ivery man nades; I've had me own," observed Michael,
+complacently.
+
+"It must be very hard to drive four horses at once."
+
+"Anny one what kin droive two dacently should be able enough to handle
+four; 't is not the number of horses, but the sinse at the other ind av
+the reins."
+
+"Is that so? I thought it needed a strong man to drive so many."
+
+"Indade, no; it does not that. I've seen a schmall, little man, hardly
+bigger than yerself, takin' six along with the turn av his hand."
+
+"Could he hold them if they started to go fast?"
+
+"Certain as the woirld, he cud do that same. 'T was meself that taught him
+the thrick av it. 'T is easy larnt."
+
+"Then teach me right now, will you?"
+
+Poor Michael, he saw when it was too late that boasting is dangerous work,
+but to refuse anything to "wan av the young ladies" never for an instant
+occurred to him. Probably had he asked Miss Howard's consent he would have
+been spared complying with a request which his better judgment questioned,
+but that did not occur to him, either, so, giving one apprehensive glance
+behind him at the twenty or more passengers in the sleigh, he placed the
+reins in Ruth's hands, adjusting them in the most scientific manner.
+
+They were skimming along over a beautiful bit of road with a thick fir
+wood upon one side and open fields upon the other. The road was level as a
+floor, and no turn would be made for fully half a mile. Horses know so
+well the difference between their own driver's touch and a stranger's
+hand, and the four whose reins Ruth now held were not dullards. They had
+been going along at a steady round trot, with no thought of making the
+pace a livelier one, but directly the reins passed out of Michael's hands
+the spirit of mischief, ever uppermost in Ruth, flew like an electric
+fluid straight through those four reins, and, in less time than it takes
+to tell about it, those horses had made up their minds to add a little to
+the general hilarity behind them.
+
+The change was scarcely perceptible at first, but little by little they
+increased their pace, till they were fairly flying over the ground. Not
+one whit did the girls in the sleigh object; the faster the better for
+them. The sleighs behind did their best to keep up, but no such horses
+were in the livery stable as the four harnessed to Michael's sleigh, for
+Michael was the trusted of the trusted.
+
+But he was growing very uneasy, and, leaning down close to Ruth, said:
+"Ye'd better be lettin' me take thim now, Miss. We've the turn to make
+jist beyant."
+
+"O, I can make it all right; you know you said that anybody who drives two
+horses decently could drive four just as well, and I've driven papa's
+always."
+
+"Yis, yis," said Michael quickly, seeing when too late that he had talked
+to his own undoing, "but ye'd better be lettin' me handle thim be
+moonlight; 't is deceptive, moonlight is," and he reached to take the
+reins from her. But alas! empires may be lost by a second's delay, and a
+second was responsible for much now.
+
+As Michael reached for the reins the turn was reached also, and where is
+the livery stable horse that does not know every turn toward home even
+better than his driver, be the driver the oldest in that section of the
+country! Around whirled the leaders, and hard upon them came the wheelers,
+and a-lack-a-day! hard, _very_ hard, upon a huge stone at the corner came
+the runner of the front bob.
+
+Had the whole sleighful been suddenly plunged into a hundred cubic feet of
+hydrogen gas, sound could not have ceased more abruptly for one second,
+and then there arose to the thousands of little laughing stars and their
+dignified mother, the moon, a howl which made the welkin ring.
+
+Shall I attempt to describe what had happened in the drawing of a breath?
+A bob runner was hopelessly wrecked; two horses were sitting upon their
+haunches, while two others were striving to prove to those who were not
+too much occupied with their own concerns to notice that, after all is
+said and done, the Lord _did_ intend that such animals should walk upon
+two legs if they saw fit to do so. Michael stood up to his middle in a
+snow-drift; Ruth sat as calmly upon a snow bank as though she preferred it
+to any other seat she had ever selected, albeit she was well-nigh
+smothered by the back and cushions of her novel resting-place; Toinette
+was dumped heels-over-head into the body of the sleigh, where she landed
+fairly and squarely in Miss Howard's lap; Edith hung on to the seat
+railing for dear life, and screamed as though the lives of all in the
+sleigh (or out of it) depended upon her summons for assistance. The sleigh
+had not upset, yet what kept it in a horizontal position must forever
+remain a mystery, and such a heap of scrambling, squirming, screaming
+girls as were piled up five or six deep in the bottom of it may never be
+seen again. Some had been dumped overboard outright, and were floundering
+about in the snow, which, happily, had saved them from serious harm. With
+the inborn chivalry of his race, Michael's first thoughts said: "Fly to
+the rescue of the demoiselles," but stern duty said: "Sthick to yer
+horses, Moik, or they'll smash things to smithereens, and, bedad, I sthuck
+wid all me moight, or the Lord only knows where we'd all have fetched up
+at that same night," he said, when relating his experiences some hours
+later.
+
+[Illustration: "STHICK TO YER HORSES, MOIK."]
+
+When excitement was at its height the other sleighs arrived upon the
+scene, and if there had been an uproar before, there was a mighty cry
+abroad in the land now. But, dear me, it is all in a lifetime; so why
+leave these floundering mortals piled up in heaps any longer? They were
+unsnarled eventually, gotten upon their feet (or their neighbors'), packed
+like sardines into the two other sleighs, and, with six instead of four
+horses now drawing each, started homeward, none the worse for their spill,
+excepting a good shaking up, a few handfuls of snow merrily forming rills
+and rivulets down their necks, some badly battered hats and torn coats,
+and one of them, at least, with some wholesome lessons regarding handling
+four frisky horses when the air is frosty and a number of lives may depend
+upon keeping "top side go, la!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+LETTERS
+
+
+When the sleighing party reached home they found hot chocolate and ginger
+cookies awaiting them. Before retiring, Miss Preston had seen to it that
+neither shivering nor hungry bodies should be tucked into bed that night.
+
+Five weeks had now sped away, and Toinette was beginning to look upon her
+new abiding-place as home; at least, it was nearer to it than any she
+could remember. The old life at the Carter school seemed a sort of
+nightmare from which she had wakened to find broad daylight and all the
+miserable fancies dispelled.
+
+She and Cicely were seated at their desks one afternoon. It was half-past
+four and study hour. Cicely was hard at work upon her algebra lesson, but
+Toinette was writing a letter. This, she knew quite well, was not what she
+was supposed to be doing, but the five weeks had not sufficed to undo the
+mischief done in seven years, and she was writing simply from a spirit of
+perversity. There was ample time to do it during her hours of freedom, but
+the very fact of doing it when she knew full well that she ought to be at
+work on her German added piquancy to the act. Moreover, the letter was to
+a boy with whom she had become acquainted while at Miss Carter's, and had
+kept the acquaintance a most profound secret. Not that she cared specially
+for the boy, although he was a jolly sort of chap, and had been a pleasant
+companion during their stolen interviews, and often smuggled boxes of
+candy and other "forbidden fruit" into the girl's possession.
+
+Still, at Miss Carter's a boy sprouting angel's wings would have been
+regarded in very much the same light as though he were sprouting imp's
+horns, and any girl caught talking to one--much less corresponding--would
+have had a very bad quarter of an hour, indeed. So, though she did not
+care two straws whether she ever saw him again or not, all the
+wrong-headedness which had been so carefully fostered for the past years
+delighted in the thought that she was doing something which might not be
+approved; indeed, from her standpoint, would be decidedly criticised, and
+to get ahead of a teacher had been the "slogan" of the Carter school.
+
+It was the custom at Sunny Bank for the teachers to go around to the
+girls' rooms during the study hour to help, suggest, or give a little
+"boost" over the hummocky places, so when a pleasant voice asked at the
+door: "Can I help you any, dearies?" Cicely answered from her room:
+
+"Oh, Miss Howard, will you please tell me something about this problem? I
+am afraid my head is muddled."
+
+"To be sure, I will," was the cheery reply, and Miss Howard passed through
+Toinette's room to Cicely's.
+
+As she did so her dress created a current of air which carried a paper
+from Toinette's desk almost to her feet. She stooped to pick it up and
+hand it back to Toinette, who had sprung up to catch it, and, as she
+handed it to her, Miss Howard noted the telltale color spring into the
+girl's face.
+
+"Zephyrus is playing you tricks, dear," she said, smiling, and passed on
+to Cicely. After giving her the needed assistance, she left them, and a
+little further down the corridor met Miss Preston.
+
+"How are my chicks progressing, Miss Howard?"
+
+"Nicely, Miss Preston. Cicely needed a little help with a problem in
+algebra, but I think Toinette needs a little of yours in the problem of
+life," and Miss Howard went her way.
+
+A word to the wise is sufficient.
+
+Meanwhile, the letter was finished, addressed, and slipped into Toinette's
+pocket, to be mailed later.
+
+Ordinarily, all letters were placed in a small basket to be carried to the
+office by the porter. As Toinette came down the hall shortly before dinner
+Miss Preston was just taking the letters from the basket to place them in
+the porter's mailbag.
+
+"Any mail to go, dear?" she asked.
+
+"No, thank you, Miss Preston," answered Toinette, and, jumping from the
+last step, ran off down the hall to join Cicely and the other girls. In
+jumping from the step something jolted from her pocket, but, falling upon
+the heavy rug at the foot of the stairs, made no sound. As the porter was
+about to take the pouch from her hands Miss Preston's eyes fell upon the
+letter, and, supposing it to be one which had been dropped from the
+basket, stooped to pick it up. She was a quick-witted woman, and the
+instant she saw the handwriting and the address she drew her own
+conclusions.
+
+"So that is part of the life problem, is it? Poor little girl, she has got
+to learn something which the average girl has to unlearn; where they
+entirely trust their fellow-beings, she entirely distrusts them. I wonder
+if I shall ever be able to show her the middle path?" Telling the porter
+to wait a moment, Miss Preston slipped into the library, and, catching up
+a pencil and slip of paper, wrote down the name and address which was
+written upon the envelope, then, stepping back to the hall, handed the
+porter the letter to post.
+
+Toinette joined the girls, and in the lively chatter which ensued forgot
+all about the letter until several hours later, and then searched for it
+in every possible and impossible place, but, of course, without finding
+it, and was in a very _un_comfortable frame of mind for several days, and
+then something happened which did not serve to reassure her, for a reply
+came to her from her correspondent.
+
+How in the world her letter had ever reached him was the question which
+puzzled her not a little, and she fretted over the thing till she was in a
+fever. Then she determined to write again to ask how and when the letter
+had reached him, although she was beginning to wish that boy, letter and
+all, were at the bottom of the Red Sea, so much had they tormented her. So
+a second letter was written, and then came the puzzle of getting it into
+the mail bag unnoticed. At Miss Carter's school all letters had been
+examined before they were allowed to be mailed, and as Toinette's
+correspondence was supposed to be limited to the letters she wrote to her
+father, she had never inquired whether Miss Preston first examined them or
+not, but, taking it for granted that she did so, handed them to her
+unsealed. On the other hand, Miss Preston, thinking that it was simply
+carelessness that they were not, usually sealed them and sent them upon
+their way.
+
+Although she had not said anything about it, the little affair had by no
+means passed from Miss Preston's thoughts, but she was trying to think of
+the wisest way of going about it, and was waiting for something to guide
+her.
+
+"If I can only win her confidence," she said to herself more than once.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"HAF ANYBODY SEEN MY UMBREL?"
+
+
+It was the last week in February, and in a few days the school dance was
+to be given. One afternoon a dozen or more girls were gathered in Ethel's
+room to see her dress which had been sent out from town. It was as dainty
+an affair as one could wish to see, and many were the admiring glances
+cast upon it, and many the praises it received. Possibly it was a trifle
+elaborate for a girl of fifteen, for it was made of delicate white chiffon
+over pale yellow satin, and exquisitely embroidered with fine silver
+threads. But Ethel looked very lovely in it as she preened herself before
+the mirror, and was fully aware of the fact.
+
+"What are you going to wear, Toinette?" she asked.
+
+"I've never worn anything but white yet," answered Toinette. "At Miss
+Carter's all my dresses were ordered by Miss Emeline, and she said I ought
+not to wear anything else till I was eighteen. I hope Miss Preston won't
+say the same."
+
+"I should think you would have hated to have the teachers say just what
+you must wear, as well as what you must study. Didn't your father ever
+send you any clothes?"
+
+"Papa was too far away to know what I wore or did," answered Toinette,
+rather sadly.
+
+"Aren't you glad he is home again?" asked quiet little Helen Burgess, who
+somehow always managed to say soothing things when one felt sort of
+ruffled up without knowing just why.
+
+"You had better believe I am!" was the emphatic reply. "What will you
+wear, Helen?"
+
+"The same thing I always wear, I guess. I haven't much choice in the
+matter, you know."
+
+Toinette colored slightly at her thoughtless remark, for she had not
+paused to think before speaking. All the girls knew that Helen's purse was
+a very slender one, and that it was only by self-sacrifice and close
+economy that her parents were able to keep her at such an expensive
+school. She made no secret of her lack of money, but worked away bravely
+and cheerfully, always sunny, always happy, with the enviable faculty of
+invariably saying the right thing at the right time. She had pronounced
+artistic tendencies, and Miss Preston was anxious to encourage them in
+every possible way. Her great desire was to go to Europe and there see the
+originals of the famous paintings of which she read. Each year Miss
+Preston went abroad and took with her several of the girls whose parents
+could afford such indulgences for them, and Helen longed to be one of
+them, although she never for a moment hoped to be.
+
+She did really remarkable work for a girl of her age, and was improving
+all the time, but the trip over the sea seemed as far off as a trip to the
+moon. Toinette was somewhat of a dilettante, and pottered away with her
+water-colors with more or less success. But she admired good work, and was
+quick to see that Helen was a hard student, and to respect her for it.
+Although so unlike in disposition, as well as position, a warm regard had
+sprung up between them, and Toinette spent many hours watching Helen work
+away at her drawing. The girl's ambition was to illustrate, and there was
+hardly a girl in the school who had not posed for her, and the drawings in
+her sketch-book were excellent.
+
+Toinette had never been taught to think much about others, and so it is
+not surprising that, while she admired Helen, and wished that she could
+have those things she so longed for, it never occurred to her that perhaps
+there were other and more fortunate girls who might have helped a trifle
+if they chose to do so. That she, herself, had it within her power to do
+it never entered her head till the girls began to talk about their new
+dresses, and what put it there then would be hard to tell. Nevertheless,
+come it did, and when she heard Helen speak so composedly of wearing to
+the school dance, _the_ event of the season, in their eyes, the same dress
+which had done service for many a little entertainment given through the
+winter, and which gave unmistakable signs of having done so, she realized
+for the first time what it must mean to be deprived of those things which
+she had always accepted as a matter of course.
+
+Still, no definite plans took shape in her head regarding it, and it is
+quite possible that none might ever have done so had not something
+occurred within a short time which seemed to be the hinge upon which her
+whole after-life swung.
+
+As the girls were in the midst of their chatter about the new gowns a tap
+came at the door, and Fraulein Palme looked in to ask:
+
+"Haf anyone seen my umbrel? I haf hunt eferywhere for him, and can't see
+him anywhere."
+
+"No, Fraulein, we haven't seen it," answered several voices.
+
+"Where did you last have it?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Right away in my room a little while before I am ready to go out. I go
+down to the post-office and must get wet without him."
+
+Two or three of the girls went into the hall to look for the missing
+umbrella, and others went back to Fraulein's room with her to make a more
+exhaustive search. But without success.
+
+"Have you more than one?" asked Edith.
+
+"No, it is but one I haf got. It is very funnee," and poor Fraulein looked
+sorely perplexed.
+
+"Take mine, Fraulein. Yours will turn up when you least expect it," said
+Toinette.
+
+"What did it look like, Fraulein?" asked Cicely.
+
+"Chust like thees," was the astonishing answer, as absent-minded Fraulein
+held forth the missing umbrella, which all that time she had held tightly
+clasped in her hand, and which had been the cause of Edith's question as
+to whether she had more than one, for she supposed, of course, that the
+one Fraulein was so tightly holding must either be one she did not care to
+carry, or else one she was about to return to someone from whom she had
+probably borrowed it.
+
+The shout which was raised at her reply speedily brought poor Fraulein
+back to her senses, and murmuring:
+
+"Ach, so! I think I come _veruckt_," she hurried off down the hall with
+the girls' laughter still ringing in her ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE LITTLE HINGE
+
+
+The day before the dance was to be given Toinette wrote her second letter,
+arguing that when everybody else had so much to occupy their thoughts they
+would have little time to notice other people's doings, and the letter
+could be mailed without exciting comment. Waiting until the very last
+moment, she ran down to the mail-basket to slip the letter in it
+unobserved. As ill-luck would have it, Miss Preston also had a letter to
+be slipped in at the last moment, and she and Toinette came face to face.
+It was too late to retreat, for the letter was in her hand in plain view,
+so, forced into an awkward position, she made a bad matter worse. Dropping
+the letter quickly into the basket, she said:
+
+"Just a note for papa about something I want for the dance to-morrow, Miss
+Preston; I didn't think you'd care, and I hadn't time to do it earlier,"
+and, with flaming cheeks, she turned to go away.
+
+"Wait just one moment, dear," said Miss Preston, "I've something to say to
+you. Walk down to my room with me, please," and she slipped her arm about
+the girl's waist.
+
+No more was needed, and all the suspicion and rebellion in Toinette's
+nature rose up to do battle with--windmills. It was a hard young face that
+looked defiantly at Miss Preston.
+
+"Toinette, dear, I want to have a little talk with you," she said, as she
+locked the door of her sitting-room, and, seating herself upon the divan,
+drew Toinette down beside her.
+
+Toinette never changed her expression, but looked straight before her with
+a most uncompromising stare.
+
+"You said just now that you did not think I would care if you sent a note
+to your father; why should I, sweetheart?"
+
+It must have been a stubborn heart, indeed, which could resist Miss
+Preston's sweet tone.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, but teachers always seem to mind every little thing one
+does," replied Toinette, sulkily.
+
+"It seems to me that this would be entirely too 'little a thing' for a
+teacher or anyone else to mind. Don't you think so yourself?"
+
+"Well, of course, I didn't think you would mind simply because I wrote to
+papa, but because I posted the letter without first letting you read it,"
+answered Toinette.
+
+Now, indeed, was Miss Preston learning something new, and not even a child
+could have questioned that her surprise was genuine when she exclaimed:
+
+"Read your letters, my dear little girl! What are you saying?" and a
+slight flush overspread her refined face.
+
+It was now Toinette's turn to be surprised as she asked:
+
+"Isn't that the rule here, Miss Preston?"
+
+"Is it anywhere? I can hardly believe it. One's correspondence is a very
+sacred thing, Toinette, and I would as soon be guilty of listening at
+another person's door as of reading a letter intended for another's eyes.
+Oh, my little girl, what mischief has been at work here?"
+
+While Miss Preston was speaking Toinette had risen to her feet, her eyes
+shining like stars, and her color coming and going rapidly. Now, taking
+both Miss Preston's hands in her own, she said, in a voice which quivered
+with excitement:
+
+"Is that _truly_ true, Miss Preston? Aren't the girls' letters ever read?
+Haven't mine been? _Do_ you trust me like that?"
+
+Miss Preston looked the girl fairly in the eyes as she answered:
+
+"I trust you as I trust the others, because I feel you to be a
+gentlewoman, and, as such, you would be as reluctant to do anything liable
+to cast discredit upon yourself as I would be to have you. I do not wish
+my girls to fear but to love me, with all their hearts, and to trust me as
+I trust them. I do not expect you to be perfect; we all make mistakes; I
+make many, but we can help each other, dear, and remember this: 'Love
+casteth out fear.' Try to love me, my little girl, and to feel that I am
+your friend; I want so much to be."
+
+Miss Preston's voice was very sweet and appealing, and as she spoke
+Toinette's eyes grew limpid. Miss Preston still held her hands, and, as
+she finished speaking, the girl dropped upon her knees and clasped her
+arms about her waist, buried her face in her lap and burst into a storm of
+sobs. All the pent-up feeling, the longing, the struggle, the yearning for
+tenderness of the past lonely years was finding an outlet in the bitter,
+bitter sobs which shook her slight frame.
+
+Although Miss Preston knew comparatively little of the girl's former life,
+she had learned enough from Mr. Reeve, and observed enough in the girl
+herself, to understand that this outburst was not wholly the result of
+what had just passed between them. So, gently stroking the pretty golden
+hair, she wisely waited for the grief to spend itself before she resumed
+her talk, and, when the poor little trembling figure was more composed,
+said:
+
+"My poor little Toinette, let us begin a brand new leaf to-day--'thee and
+me,' as the Quakers so prettily put it. Let us try to believe that even
+though I have spent thirty more years on this big world than you have,
+that we can still be good friends, and sympathize with each other either
+in sunshine or shadow. To do this two things are indispensible: confidence
+and love. And we can never have the latter without first winning the
+former. Remember this, dear, I shall never doubt you. Whatever happens,
+you may rest firm in the conviction that I shall always accept your word
+when it is given. Our self-respect suffers when we are doubted, and one's
+self-respect is a very precious thing, and not to be lightly tampered
+with."
+
+[Illustration: "LET US BEGIN A BRAND NEW LEAF TO-DAY."]
+
+She now drew Toinette back to the couch beside her, put her arm about her
+waist, and let the tired head rest upon her shoulder. The girl had ceased
+to sob, but looked worn and weary. Miss Preston snuggled her close and
+waited for her to speak, feeling sure that more was in her heart, and
+that, in a nature such as she felt Toinette's to be, it would be
+impossible for her to rest content until all doubts, all self-reproach
+could be put behind her.
+
+She sat perfectly still for a long time, her hands clasped in her lap, and
+her big, brown eyes, into which had crept a wonderfully soft expression,
+looking far away beyond the walls of Miss Preston's sitting-room, far
+beyond the bedroom next it, and off to some lonely, unsatisfied years,
+when she had lived in a sort of truce with all about her, never knowing
+just when hostilities might be renewed. It had acted upon the girl's
+sensitive nature much as a chestnut-prickle acts upon the average mortal;
+a nasty, little, irritating thing, hard to discover, a scrap of a thing
+when found--if, indeed, it does not succeed in eluding one altogether--and
+so insignificant that one wonders how it could cause such discomfort. But
+it is those miserable little chestnut-prickles that are hardest to bear in
+this life, and so warp one's character that it is often unfitted to bear
+the heavier burdens which must come into all lives sooner or later.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"FATAL OR FATED ARE MOMENTS"
+
+
+"Nobody has ever spoken to me as you have, Miss Preston," Toinette began
+presently, "and I can't tell you how I feel. Maybe heaven will be better,
+but I don't believe I shall ever feel any happier than I feel this minute.
+It seems as though I'd been living in a sort of prison, all shut up in the
+dark, and that now I am out in the sunshine and as free as the birds. But
+I must tell you something more: I can't rest content unless I do. The
+letter I posted to-day wasn't to papa, I sent it to Howard Elting, in
+Branton, and it isn't the first I've written him, either. I didn't lie
+about the other one, Miss Preston; I was ready to mail it, but lost it; I
+don't know how. Somebody must have found it and posted it, for he got it
+and answered it, and I was so puzzled over it that I wrote again. That was
+the letter you saw me post. Now, that is the truth, and I know that you
+believe me."
+
+Toinette had spoken very rapidly, scarcely pausing for breath, and when
+she finished gave a relieved little sigh and looked Miss Preston squarely
+in the eyes. Truly, her self-respect was regained.
+
+Will some of my readers say: "What a tempest in a teapot?" To many this
+may seem a very trivial affair, but how small a thing can influence our
+lives! A breath, the passing of a summer shower, may help or hinder plans
+which alter our entire lives. And Miss Preston was wise enough to
+understand it. Here was a beautiful soul given for a time into her
+keeping. Now, at the period of its keenest receptive powers, a delicate
+and sensitive thing needing very gentle handling.
+
+Stroking the head again resting upon her shoulder, as though it had found
+a safe and happy haven after having been tossed about upon a troubled sea,
+she said, quietly:
+
+"I posted the letter, dear; I found it in the hall where it had been
+dropped; it never occurred to me that there was any cause for concealment;
+the girls all correspond with their friends; it is an understood thing. I
+recognized your writing, and, as I had friends at Branton, I wrote to ask
+if they knew the person written to. They replied that they did, and told
+me who he was. Knowing how few friends you have, I wrote to this boy
+asking him to come to our dance to-morrow night, because I thought the
+little surprise might give you pleasure, and you would be glad to welcome
+an old friend. Does it please you, my little girl?"
+
+"Oh, Miss Preston!" was all Toinette said, but those three words meant a
+great deal.
+
+The dressing-bell now rang, and Toinette sprang up with rather a dismayed
+look. As though she interpreted it, Miss Preston said:
+
+"You are in no condition to meet the other girls to-night, dear. They
+cannot understand your feelings, and, without meaning to be unkind or
+curious, would ask questions which it would embarrass you to answer. You
+are nervous and unstrung, so lie down on my couch and I will see that your
+dinner is brought up. I shall say to the other girls that you are not
+feeling well, and that it would be better not to disturb you." Then, going
+into her bedroom, Miss Preston quickly made her own toilet. She had just
+finished it when the chimes called all to dinner, and, stooping over
+Toinette, she kissed her softly and slipped from the room.
+
+Some very serious thoughts passed through Toinette's head during the
+ensuing fifteen minutes, and some resolutions were formed which were held
+to as long as she lived.
+
+A tap at the door, and a maid entered with a dainty dinner. Placing a
+little stand close to the couch, she put the tray upon it, and then asked:
+"Can I do anything more for you, Miss Toinette?"
+
+"No, thank you, Helma. This is very tempting."
+
+When Miss Preston came to her room an hour later she found the tray quite
+empty, and Toinette fast asleep. Arranging the couch pillows more
+comfortably, and throwing a warm puff over the sleeping girl, she
+whispered, softly: "Poor little maid, your battle with Apollyon was short
+and sharp, but, thank God, you've conquered, even at the expense of an
+exhausted mind and weary body."
+
+It was nearly midnight when Toinette opened her eyes to see Miss Preston
+warmly wrapped in her dressing-gown, and seated before the fire reading.
+The lamp was carefully screened from Toinette, who could not at first
+realize what had happened, or why she was there, but Miss Preston's voice
+recalled her to herself.
+
+"Do you feel rested, dear?" she asked. "Don't try to go to your room; just
+undress and cuddle down in my bed with me to-night; I've brought in your
+night-dress."
+
+Toinette did not answer, but, walking over to Miss Preston, just rested
+her cheek against hers for a moment. Twenty minutes later she was fast
+asleep in her good friend's bed.
+
+The following day all was bustle and excitement at Sunny Bank, for great
+preparations were being made for the dance in the evening, and
+understanding how much pleasure it gave the girls to feel that they were
+of some assistance, she let them fly about like so many grigs, helping or
+hindering, as it happened.
+
+They brought down all the pretty trifles from their rooms, piled up sofa
+pillows till the couches resembled a Turk's palace; arranged the flowers,
+and rearranged them, till poor Miss Preston began to fear that there would
+be nothing left of them. However, it was an exceedingly attractive house
+which was thrown open to her guests at eight o'clock that evening, and the
+girls had had no small share in making it so.
+
+A very complete understanding seemed to exist between Toinette and Miss
+Preston now, for, although no words were spoken, none were needed; just an
+exchange of glances told that two hearts were very happy that night, for
+love and confidence had come to dwell within them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"NOW TREAD WE A MEASURE."
+
+
+Shall we ever grow too old to recall the pleasure of our school dances?
+Then lights seem brighter, toilets more ravishing, music sweeter, our
+partners more fascinating, and the supper more tempting than ever before
+or after.
+
+The house was brilliantly lighted from top to bottom, excepting in such
+cosy corners as were specially conducive to confidential chats, and in
+these softly shaded lamps cast a fairy-like light.
+
+Miss Preston, dressed in black velvet, with some rich old lace to enhance
+its charms, received her guests in the great hall, some of the older girls
+receiving with her.
+
+There were ten or more girls who were taking special courses, and these
+were styled "parlor boarders," and at the end of the school term would
+enter society. Consequently, this dance was looked upon as a preliminary
+step for the one to follow, and the girls regarded it as a sort of "golden
+mile-stone" in their lives, which marked off the point at which "the brook
+and river meet."
+
+A prettier, happier lot of girls could hardly have been found, and none
+looked lovelier, or happier, than Toinette. Her dress, a soft, creamy
+white chiffon, admirably suited to her golden coloring, had been sent to
+her by her father, whose taste was unerring. No matter how many miles of
+this big globe divided them, he never forgot her needs, and, if unable to
+supply them himself, took good care that some one else should do so. So
+the dress had arrived the night before, and Miss Preston had been able to
+give her another pleasant surprise for the dance. And now she looked as
+the lilies of the field for fairness.
+
+She was whirling away upon her partner's arm, when, chancing to glance
+toward the door, she beheld something which brought her to an abrupt
+stand-still, much to her partner's amazement. Miss Preston stood in the
+doorway, and, standing beside her, with one hand resting lightly upon his
+hip and the other raised a little above his head, and resting against the
+door-casing, stood a tall, remarkably handsome man. His attitude was
+unstudied, but brought out to perfection the fine lines of his figure.
+
+Hastily exclaiming: "Oh, please, excuse me, or else come with me,"
+Toinette glided between the whirling figures, and, forgetful of all else,
+cried out in a joyous voice: "Papa, papa Clayton, where _did_ you come
+from?"
+
+It was so like the childish voice he had loved to hear so long ago, that
+he started with pleasure.
+
+During the brief holiday Toinette had spent with him he had missed the
+spontaneity he had known in the little child, and, without being able to
+analyze it, felt that something was wanting in the girl. She had been
+sweet and winning, yet under it all had been a manner quite
+incomprehensible to him, as though she did not feel quite sure of her
+position in his affections. Her laugh had lacked the true girlish ring,
+and her conversation with him seemed guarded, as though she had never
+quite spoken all her thoughts.
+
+He had been immeasurably distressed by it, for he could not understand the
+cause, and bitterly reproached himself for not being better acquainted
+with his own child. In the merry girl who now stood before him, her eyes
+shining, her cheeks flushed with excitement, her voice so joyous, he saw
+no trace of the listless one he had placed in Miss Preston's charge two
+months before.
+
+Slipping one arm about her, he snuggled her close to his side, as he
+answered:
+
+"A blue-coated biped left a good, substantial hint at my office not long
+since, and this is what came of following it."
+
+"_You_ did it! I'm sure of it," laughed Toinette, shaking her finger at
+Miss Preston, as the latter said: "I leave you to a livelier entertainer,
+now, Mr. Reeve, while I go to look after some of my guests who may not be
+so fortunately situated," and she slipped away, Toinette calling after
+her: "You are responsible for most of the nice things which happen here.
+Oh, daddy," dropping unconsciously into the old childish pet name, "I've
+such stacks of things to tell you. But, excuse me just one second, while I
+find a partner for that boy I've left stranded high and dry over there;
+doesn't he look miserable? Then I'll come back," and, kissing her hand
+gaily, she ran off. Returning a moment or two later, she said:
+
+"There! he's all fixed, and is sure to have a good time with Ethel and
+Lou; they're not a team, but a four-in-hand. Now, come and have a dance
+with me, and then we'll go off all by ourselves and have the cosiest time
+you ever dreamed of. I feel so proud to have you all to myself," she
+added, as they glided away to the soft strains of the music, "so sort of
+grown-up and grand with such a handsome partner."
+
+"Hear! hear! Do you want to make me vain? I haven't been accustomed to
+hearing such barefaced compliments. They make me blush."
+
+"I really believe they _do_," answered Toinette, throwing back her head to
+get a better look at him, and laughing softly when she saw a slight flush
+upon his face. "Never mind, it is all in the family, you know."
+
+"Perhaps I have other reasons for feeling a trifle elated," he said, as
+the dance came to an end and he followed Toinette to one of the cozy
+corners. Springing up among the cushions, she patted them invitingly, and
+said:
+
+"Come, sit down here beside me, and let me tell you all about the
+loveliest time of my life. Oh, daddy, I _do_ so love to be here, and you
+don't know how good Miss Preston is to me. She is good to us all, but,
+somehow the other girls don't seem to need so much setting straight as _I_
+have. I think I must have been all kinked up in little hard knots before I
+came here, and Miss Preston has begun to untie them. She hasn't got all
+untied yet, but I feel so sort of loosened up and easy that everything
+seems lots more comfortable."
+
+[Illustration: "I FEEL SO SORT OF GROWN UP AND GRAND."]
+
+Clayton Reeve did not smile at Toinette's odd way of explaining her
+feelings. He knew it to be a fourteen-year-old girl who spoke, and that
+her thoughts, to be natural, must be put into her own words.
+
+On she rambled, telling one thing after another, and, while they were
+talking, Helen Burgess stopped near their snuggery. It was too dimly
+lighted for her to discover them, and the next thing they knew they were
+unwitting eavesdroppers, for Helen was talking very earnestly to one of
+her boon companions, a day-pupil at the school, and one of the brightest
+in it, but, like Helen, not embarrassed with riches. For some time the
+girls had been saving their small allowances toward the purchase of
+cameras, but so slowly did the sums accumulate that it was rather
+discouraging for them. They were now talking about their respective ways
+of procuring the sums of money needed, and the trifle they had managed to
+save, and the small amounts they earned in one way or another, to augment
+the original sums, seemed so paltry to Toinette, who never stopped to ask
+whence came the five-dollar bills so regularly sent her each week, and
+who, had a fancy entered her head for one, would have walked out and
+bought a camera very much as she would have bought a paper of pins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CONSPIRATORS
+
+
+Mr. Reeve would have risen from his snug corner and discovered himself to
+the girls, but Toinette laid her finger upon her lips to enjoin silence,
+and, although he could not quite understand her desire to play
+eavesdropper, he complied. From the subject of the cameras the girls went
+on to Helen's work in the art class, for Jean was much interested in that
+also, and they often built air-castles about the wonderful things they
+would do when that fabulous "stone ship" should sail safely into port.
+They talked earnestly for girls of thirteen and fifteen, and Mr. Reeve
+could not fail to be impressed by the strength of purpose they seemed to
+possess, and, having a good bit of stick-to-ativeness himself, admired it
+in others. Moreover, he had been forced to make his own way in life when
+young, and could sympathize with other aspiring souls.
+
+Presently the two girls moved away, and then Toinette whispered: "I don't
+know what you think of me for making you play 'Paul Pry,' but I had a
+reason for it, and now I'll tell you what it was."
+
+"I inferred as much, so kept mum."
+
+"Well, you see, since I've been here I've waked up a little, and, somehow,
+have begun to think about other people, and wonder if they were happy. At
+Miss Carter's school everybody just seemed to think about themselves, or,
+if they thought of anybody else, it was generally to wonder how they could
+get ahead of them in some way. But here it is all so different, and
+everybody seems to try to find out what they can do to make someone else
+happy. I can't begin to tell you how it is done, because I don't know
+myself; only it _is_, and it makes you feel sort of happy all over," said
+Toinette, trying to put into words that subtle something which makes us
+feel at peace with all mankind, and little realizing that its cause lay
+right within herself; for a sense of having done one's very best and a
+clear conscience are wonderful rosy spectacles through which to see life.
+
+"Go on, I'm keenly interested, and these little confidences are very
+delightful," said her father, with an encouraging nod and smile.
+
+"So I began to want to do little things, too, and, do you know, daddy,
+you'd be really surprised if you knew what a lot of ways there are of
+making the girls happy if you only take the trouble to look for them. For
+instance, there is Helen Burgess, the larger of the girls you saw just
+now: we have become real good friends, and she is very clever, and draws
+beautifully. But she has so little to do with that she can't afford to get
+the things the other girls have to work with, nor have the advantages they
+have. She and Jean have been trying ever so long to get cameras, for they
+think that they could take pretty views of Montcliff and sell them to the
+people who come here in the summer, and I'm sure they could, too. It does
+not make so much difference to Jean, for, although she isn't rich, she
+isn't exactly poor, either, you know, and has a good many nice things, but
+Helen never seems to have any. So I thought I'd have a little talk with
+you and get you to send out a cute little camera for each of them and
+never let them know where they came from. Wouldn't that be great fun? But
+I want to pay for them. You can use ten dollars of my money, and not send
+me my allowance for two weeks; I've got enough to last."
+
+"And what will my poverty-stricken lassie do meantime?" asked Mr. Reeve.
+
+"Oh, she is not so poverty-stricken as you think," laughed Toinette. "She
+won't suffer. And then I wanted to ask you if there wasn't some way of
+helping Helen in her art work. She wants so much to go abroad with Miss
+Preston, but has no more idea of ever being able to do so than she has of
+going to the moon. What would it cost, papa? Isn't there some way of
+bringing it about? Couldn't you have a talk with Miss Preston and find out
+all about it, and then we could plan something, maybe."
+
+Toinette had become very earnest as she talked, and was now leaning toward
+her father, her hands clasped in her lap, and her expressive face alive
+with enthusiasm.
+
+Mr. Reeve hated to spoil the pretty picture, but said, in the interested
+tone so comforting when used by older people in speaking to young folk: "I
+am sure we can evolve some plan. I shall be very glad to speak to Miss
+Preston before I return to the city, and haven't the slightest doubt that
+great things will come of it."
+
+"How lovely! You're just a darling! I'm going to hug you right here behind
+the curtains!" cried Toinette, as she sprung up and clasped her arms about
+his neck.
+
+"Haven't you one or two more favors you'd like to ask?" said Mr. Reeve,
+suggestively.
+
+"No, not another one, just now," she answered, laughing softly. "Too many
+might turn your head, and mine, too. But it is so good to have you home
+once more. You don't know how lonely I've been without you, daddy. There
+wasn't anyone in the world who cared two straws for me till you came back
+and I came here. But I've got you now, and I'm not going to let you go
+very soon again, I can tell you. You are too precious, and we are going to
+have lovely times together by-and-by when I grow up, aren't we?"
+
+"We are not going to wait till then, sweetheart; we are going to begin
+right off, this very minute. I can't afford to waste any more precious
+time; too much has been wasted already," he said, as he raised the pretty
+face and kissed it, and then, drawing her arm through his, added: "Now let
+me do the honors. Introduce me to your friends, and let me see if seven
+years' knocking about this old world has made me forget the 'Quips, and
+Cranks, and Wanton Wiles, Nods, and Becks, and Wreathed Smiles' I used to
+know."
+
+They left the snuggery, and, blissfully conscious of her honors, Toinette
+presented her father to the girls. Just how proud they were of the marked
+attention he showed to each I'll leave it to some other girls to guess. He
+danced with them, took them to supper, sought out the greatest delicacies
+for them, and played the gallant as though he were but twenty instead of
+forty-two. "He treated us just as though we were the big girls," they
+said, when holding forth upon the subject the next day.
+
+Twelve o'clock came all too soon.
+
+Mr. Reeve remained over night, and the following day found an opportunity
+to have a long talk with Miss Preston--a talk which afforded him great
+satisfaction for many reasons.
+
+Toinette, with several of the other girls, escorted him to the train, and
+gave him a most enthusiastic "send-off."
+
+In the course of a few days a package was delivered at the school. Had
+bomb-shells been dropped there they could hardly have created more
+excitement. Jean's house was only a few blocks from the school, and one
+Saturday morning--for the cameras were obliging enough to choose that day
+to appear--Mrs. Rockwood's sitting-room was the scene of the wildest
+excitement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+"WE'VE GOT 'EM! WE'VE GOT 'EM!"
+
+
+Mrs. Rockwood was in her sitting-room one morning. It was Saturday, and a
+day of liberty for Jean. She had gone over to the school to spend a few
+hours with Helen, and Mrs. Lockwood did not expect her home until
+lunch-time, but, happening to glance from her window about ten o'clock,
+what was her surprise to see two figures approaching, one with a series of
+bounds, prances and jumps, which indicated a wildly hilarious and
+satisfied frame of mind in Jean, and the other with a subdued hop and
+skip, and then a sedate walk, which, although less demonstrative, was
+quite as indicative of a very deep and serene happiness to any one
+familiar with Helen.
+
+A moment later the front door slammed, and two pairs of feet came tearing
+up the stairs as though pursued by Boer cavalry, and two eager voices
+cried:
+
+"We've got 'em! We've got 'em! We've got 'em!" and both girls came tearing
+into the room to cast themselves and two very suggestive looking parcels
+upon Mrs. Rockwood.
+
+"What in this world has happened?" she asked, in amazement, for both girls
+were breathless, and could only point at the parcels in her lap and say:
+"Open them! Open them, quick!"
+
+Mrs. Rockwood was a woman who entered heart and soul into her daughter's
+pleasures, and nothing was ever quite right in Jean's eyes unless her
+mother shared it. Every little plan must be talked over with her, and it
+was pretty sure not to suffer any from one of her suggestions. Helen spent
+a great deal of time with Jean and was devoted to Mrs. Rockwood.
+Consequently, when the cameras arrived at the school that morning, and
+they found out that there was really no mistake, but that they were
+certainly intended for the persons whose names were so plainly written
+upon the boxes, and sent in Miss Preston's care, they could hardly wait to
+get over to Jean's house to show their treasures to her mother. Many had
+been the surmises as to whom had sent such beauties, but Toinette kept a
+perfectly sober face, and no one suspected the secret.
+
+Carefully removing the wrappings, Mrs. Rockwood brought the contents of
+the boxes to view. She was as much surprised as the girls, and exclaimed:
+"Why, who could have sent them to you, and how did anyone learn that you
+were so anxious to have them? Such beauties, too!"
+
+"That is the funniest part of it all, for we never told a soul, and didn't
+mean to till we had them, and now here they are. I believe St. Nick must
+have heard us wishing for them," said Helen.
+
+"And to _both_ of us, and just _alike_! Think of it! Oh, moddie, isn't it
+lovely?" and Jean threw her arms about her mother's neck by way of giving
+vent to her feelings.
+
+"I'm as delighted as you and Helen are, dear, only I wish we might learn
+who our benefactor is."
+
+"Yes, isn't it too bad. Well, it may crop out later. I thought first it
+must be Miss Preston, but she said that she did not know any more about it
+than we did," said Helen.
+
+"Now, when may we take our pictures, and what shall we take?" cried Jean.
+
+"You suggest something, Mrs. Rockwood; it will be nicer if you do it,"
+said Helen, dropping down upon her knees beside Mrs. Rockwood, and placing
+her arm around her friend's waist.
+
+Mrs. Rockwood drew her close to her side as she replied:
+
+"Let me examine these treasures which have arrived so mysteriously, read
+the directions concerning them, and then we'll see what we'll see," and
+she began to read: "Take the camera into a perfectly dark closet, where no
+ray of light can penetrate (even covering the keyhole), and then place
+within it one of the sensitive plates, being careful not to expose the
+unused plates. Your camera is now ready to take the picture, etc." "That
+is all very simple, I'm sure, and if the taking proves as simple as are
+the directions you need have little apprehension of failure. But your
+directions add very explicitly that you must _not_ attempt to take a
+picture unless the day is sunny. So I fear those conditions preclude the
+possibility of your taking any upon this cloudy day, and you will have to
+possess your souls in peace till 'Old Sol' favors you."
+
+"Oh, dear, isn't that too bad! I thought we could take some right off.
+Don't you think we might at least try, mamma?"
+
+"I fear they would prove failures; better wait a more favorable light."
+
+As though to tantalize frail humanity, "Old Sol" remained very exclusive
+all day, and, even though Helen remained till evening in the hope that he
+would overcome his fit of sulks, nothing of the kind happened, and she was
+forced to go back to the school without one.
+
+"Just wait till Monday, and we'll do wonders; see if we don't," said Jean,
+as she bade her farewell, little dreaming what wonders she was destined to
+do with her magical box ere the sun set Monday night.
+
+"I'll ask Miss Preston to let me come over at four o'clock on Monday, and
+then we'll go out in the little dell and get a lovely picture. You know
+the place I mean: where that old clump of fir-trees stands by the ruined
+wall," said artistic Helen.
+
+But when Monday arrived unforeseen difficulties arose for Jean. The day
+was the sunniest ever known, and, while waiting for Helen to come, she got
+out the precious camera to set the plates.
+
+"Why, mamma, there isn't a dark closet in the whole house; not a single
+one," cried Jean, coming into her mother's room as she was dressing to go
+out on Monday afternoon. "Now, where in this world am I to open my
+plate-box, I'd like to know?"
+
+Mrs. Rockwood laughed as she turned toward Jean, whose face was the
+picture of dismay. "True enough, there isn't. Now, who would have supposed
+that the architect who designed this house, and put a window in every
+closet, could have been so short-sighted as not to anticipate such a need
+as the present one?"
+
+"But what am I to do?" desperately.
+
+"Try putting a dark covering over the windows."
+
+"I have, but it's just no use, for I can't get it pitch dark to save me."
+
+"And to think that barely forty-eight hours ago I was congratulating
+myself that every closet in the house could be properly aired. Alas! how
+do our recent acquisitions alter our views?"
+
+"Now, moddie, don't laugh, but stop teasing me, and just think as hard as
+ever you can _how_ I am to find a dark place."
+
+Mrs. Rockwood thought for a few moments, and then said:
+
+"I have it! Mary's pot-closet, under the back stairs; that is as dark as a
+pocket, I'm sure."
+
+"There! I knew you'd find a way; you always do. Just the very place, and
+now I'm going straight down to fix it. Good-bye," and, kissing her mother,
+away she flew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+A CAMERA'S CAPERS.
+
+
+"Mary!" cried Jean, as she bounced into the kitchen, where the maid, a
+typical "child of Erin," who worshipped the very ground Jean trod upon,
+stood at the sink paring her "taties" for the evening meal, "see my new
+camera; I'm going to take a picture with it, and I've got to go into your
+pot-closet to fix the plates."
+
+"A picter, is it? And will ye be afther takin' a picter wid that schmall
+bit av a black box? How do ye do it at all, I do' know."
+
+"Oh, I go into a dark closet and put a gelatine plate in the box, and then
+I go outdoors and take my picture."
+
+"A gilitin plate, is it? Thin, faith, ye'll take ne'er a picter this day,
+for Oi'm jist afther usin' the last schrap av gilitin in the house to make
+the wine jilly fer the dinner."
+
+"I don't mean _that_ kind of gelatine; the kind I use is already prepared
+on little plates in this box, and I have to go in the dark closet to fix
+them."
+
+"Faith, I'd fix thim out here, thin, where ye can see what ye're about.
+It's dungeon dhark in the pot-closet."
+
+"That is exactly what I want, and, _please_, don't come near it, or open
+the door while I'm in there, will you?"
+
+"No, no; I'll not come near ye. The minute I've done me taties it's down
+in the laundry Oi'm goin', an' Oi'll not bother ye at all; but here, take
+this schmall, little candle wid ye whan ye go in, fer it's that dhark
+ye'll not see yer hand forninst ye," and she caught up a candle from the
+shelf.
+
+"No, no! I don't _want_ any light; the darker it is the better."
+
+"It's crackin' yer head aff ye'll be."
+
+"No, I sha'n't," said Jean, as she whisked into the closet and drew the
+door together just as Mary started down the back stairs to the laundry.
+
+Had the closet been designed for an eel-pot it would have proved the most
+complete success, for getting into it was a very simple matter, whereas,
+getting _out_ required considerable ingenuity. Absorbed in the one idea of
+getting the plates placed in the camera, Jean entirely forgot the
+peculiarities of the fastening upon the door. As she slammed it together
+every ray of light vanished, and she was instantly enveloped in an
+Egyptian darkness. Carefully opening her box, she drew from it one of the
+plates, touched it with her fingers to find which side was coated with the
+gelatine preparation, placed it in the camera and turned to leave the
+closet.
+
+"Now, I'll have a picture in just about two jiffs," she said, and pushed
+against the door. To her surprise, it did not open. Another push, with the
+same result. It then dawned upon her that the spring-bolt had fastened
+upon the outer side. Feeling carefully about in the pitch darkness, she
+laid her things upon the shelf and tried to find a way of getting out.
+But, push, shake and rattle as she might, it was useless; the door
+remained tightly fastened.
+
+"Mary," she called, "come and let me out, please."
+
+No response.
+
+"M-a-r-y! I'm locked in; come let me out!"
+
+"What in the whorld is the matter wid ye?" came from the foot of the
+stairs.
+
+"I'm locked _in_ and can't get out; come and open the door!"
+
+"Och, worra! Don't be callin' to me not to _open_ the door; didn't Oi tell
+ye Oi wouldn't come near ye, and Oi _won't_. It's goin' down to the bharn
+Oi am, and ye needn't be for worritin', at all, at all," and receding
+footsteps proved Mary's words only too true.
+
+"Now, I'm in a pretty fix, am I not? Like enough she won't come back for
+twenty minutes, and here I've got to stay. Plague take the old bolt!"
+
+What imp of mischief made Mary return to the laundry by the cellar-door,
+take up her basket of freshly laundered clothes, and, after carrying them
+up to Mrs. Rockwood's bedroom, go on to her own in the third story to
+dress for the afternoon, must forever remain a mystery. But this she did,
+and, as Jean heard her go up the back stairs, beneath which she was
+securely fastened in the pot-closet, she thumped and pounded with renewed
+energy. But the only response was:
+
+"No, no; not for the whorld, darlint, would Oi disthurbe ye and spoil yer
+purty picter."
+
+About an hour later Mrs. Rockwood, returning from her call, met Helen upon
+the front piazza.
+
+"Has Jean got everything ready to take the pictures?" she asked, eagerly.
+"It is such a perfect day for it, and I am so anxious that I can hardly
+wait. It seems too good to be true that we have really got cameras at
+last, doesn't it?"
+
+"It seems as though the fairies must have been aware of your great desire
+to have them, and so took matters into their own hands," replied Mrs.
+Rockwood, as she unfastened the front door with her latch-key and held it
+open for Helen to enter.
+
+As they entered the hall they were greeted with a series of muffled thumps
+and bangs.
+
+"I _do_ wish Mary would remember what I have so often told her about
+breaking her kindling upon the cellar floor," she exclaimed.
+
+Rattle, rattle! Bang, bang! and then a crash as though the roof were
+falling.
+
+"What under the sun can be the matter!" exclaimed Mrs. Rockwood.
+
+Just then Mary appeared at the head of the stairs.
+
+"Why, Mary, what is all this noise?"
+
+"Shure, it was comin' down mesilf Oi was to see. Saints presarve us, can
+there be thieves in the house, Oi do' know!"
+
+"Rather noisy thieves, I should think. Where is Miss Jean?"
+
+"Out in the fields beyant, wid her bit av a camela takin' her picter, Oi'm
+thinkin'. 'Twas there she said she'd be goin' afther she came out of the
+pot-closet--saints have mercy! Could she _git_ out at all, at all?" and
+Mary tore down the stairs, with Mrs. Rockwood and Helen close at her
+heels. She reached the closet, flung open the door, and beheld a
+spectacle. Seated on the floor, in the midst of a scattered array of pots,
+kettles and frying-pans, her box of plates upset, her precious camera in
+her lap, and blissfully unconscious that the slide was open, sat Jean, a
+very picture of despair.
+
+"Mighty man! And have ye been in here all this toim, an' not to be
+smothered dead!" cried Mary.
+
+"How could I be anywhere _else_, I'd like to know?" said Jean,
+indignantly. "I called and _called_, but I couldn't get you to let me
+out," and, bouncing up, she scrabbled the plates back into their box, then
+caught up the camera to see if all was as it should be with that. As she
+jumped up the slide closed, and, quite unaware that it had ever been open,
+she announced to her nearly convulsed audience:
+
+"Well, I'm _out_ at last, and now I hope I can take a picture; come on,
+Helen," little dreaming that the treacherous sunlight, which flashed
+through the hall window and straight into the pot-closet, had already
+printed a most perfect one on the plate.
+
+A few moments later both she and Helen were out in the fields back of the
+house, and had snapped charming little scenes.
+
+Bemoaning her unintentional trick, Mary went back to her work, while Mrs.
+Rockwood went up to her room to laugh heartily over the mishap, never
+suspecting that the funniest part would appear in the sequel.
+
+A half hour later the girls came flying into her room to say, excitedly:
+
+[Illustration: "AN' HAVE YE BEEN IN THERE ALL THIS TIME?"]
+
+"We've taken them! We've taken them!"
+
+"And I know they will be just lovely, for the sun shone right on the trees
+and the ruins. How I wish we could develop them; don't you, Helen?"
+
+"Yes, I'd like to know how, and, now that I have the camera, I shall get a
+developing outfit and learn; but let's take these right over to Charlton's
+and have him develop them for us."
+
+They started for the village to leave the plates to be developed, and
+waited with what patience they could for the following day, when the
+photographer promised to send them the proofs.
+
+They came, and one at least was truly a marvel.
+
+In the foreground of Jean's was a pretty clump of fir-trees growing beside
+an old ruined stone wall, under which nestled a bunch of dry goldenrod.
+But the background! Did ever the maddest artist's brain conceive of such?
+Clear and distinct, where sky should have been, stood--a frying-pan!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+WHISPERS
+
+
+March, with its winds and storms, slipped away as though glad to whisk
+such trying days off the calendar, and, ere the girls realized it, Easter
+vacation was upon them, and capricious April was playing the schoolgirl
+herself, with one day a smile and the next a frown. But, like the
+schoolgirl, her smiles were all the sunnier for the frowns.
+
+It must indeed be a dull, prosy old heart which cannot respond to the soft
+beauty of early spring, and want to frisk and frolic for very sympathy
+with all the new life springing into existence all about it. And there
+were no dull or prosy ones at Sunny Bank.
+
+For some time the girls had known that this would be Miss Howard's last
+year with them; but now little whispers began to fly about, as little
+whispers have a trick of doing, that Miss Howard was about to enter
+another school, where she would be pupil instead of teacher, and there
+learn the sweetest lesson ever taught on this big earth--a lesson which
+says, "Not mine and thine, but ours, for ours is mine and thine;" and,
+while they rejoiced in her happiness, they were nearly inconsolable at the
+thought of losing her, for she had filled a very beautiful place in their
+lives--far more beautiful than they suspected. It was always Miss Howard
+who entered into all their little plans and pleasures, participated in
+their joys, and sympathized with their sorrows.
+
+She was little more than a girl herself, yet possessed the strength of
+character sometimes wanting in a much older person, and by it set a
+beautiful example for her girls to follow. And they followed it
+unconsciously to themselves and to her, for never was there a more modest
+little body than Miss Howard, and had anyone hinted that she was a mighty
+balance-wheel to her fly-away girls, a source of encouragement to her
+timid ones, an inspiration to her ambitious ones, and an object of very
+sincere affection to all, she would probably have been the most surprised
+person in the school. Yet such was undoubtedly the fact, and it would have
+been a very wrong-headed girl, indeed, who was not ready to yield to her
+influence.
+
+"If I felt criss-cross with all the world, I believe I'd have to smile
+back when Miss Howard smiled at me," said Toinette, shortly after she
+became a pupil in the school. "Her eyes are just as soft as the little
+Alderney bossie's, and her lips look sort of grieved if the girls look
+cross."
+
+And so the whispers grew louder and louder till just after the Easter
+holidays were over, and then all who loved her best learned that early in
+June wedding bells would ring and a very bonny bride would step forth from
+Sunny Bank, with several bonny bridesmaids leading the way, and one maid
+of honor to scatter the posies which were to be symbolical, as all hoped,
+of her future pathway through life.
+
+And then arose the all-important question as to whom Miss Howard would
+choose for that great honor, and excitement ran high.
+
+All the girls had a strong suspicion that it would be Toinette, although,
+to do her justice, Toinette herself did not suspect it. Still, Miss Howard
+had taken a keen interest in the girl ever since she entered the school,
+and felt strongly drawn toward her, being quick to see her good qualities,
+and to understand that the undesirable ones were very largely the result
+of unfortunate circumstances. So she had striven in her sweet and gracious
+way to help Toinette without words, and had been a strong support to Miss
+Preston.
+
+As the warm spring days made wood and field to blossom, the girls spent a
+great deal of their time out of doors. Sunny Bank's grounds were very
+beautiful, and the adjacent field and woodland very enticing at that
+season. Basket-ball was a favorite source of amusement, and the lawn
+devoted to it as soft and smooth as velvet. So nearly every afternoon the
+team could be seen bounding about like so many marionettes, and if
+touseled hair and demoralized attire resulted, what did it matter? Rosy
+cheeks and ravenous appetites were excellent compensations.
+
+It was the fifteenth of April, and Toinette's birthday. Many a climb had
+the expressman's horse taken up the long hill leading to Sunny Bank that
+morning, for, if Toinette had but few friends, she certainly had a very
+generous father, who meant that she should have her full share of birthday
+remembrances, and they kept coming thick and fast all day. With each came
+a funny note to say that he was sending still another package because he
+did not want her to have all her surprises in a lump; they would seem so
+much more if coming in installments. So they kept coming all day long, and
+by four o'clock her room looked like a fancy bazaar. Last of all to arrive
+was a large box upon which was printed in flaring scarlet letters: "Not to
+be opened till it is ten A. M. in _Bombay_."
+
+The box stood in the hall when Miss Preston passed through the hall to
+dinner, and, unless suddenly stricken with ophthalmy, she could not fail
+to see the flaring notice. "Ah," she said, softly, to herself, "you have a
+triple mission, you inanimate bit of the carpenter's skill: first, to
+teach my girls a lesson in longitude and time, second, to mutely ask my
+permission for a frolic to-night, and, third, to suggest that when
+birthdays arrive it would be a most auspicious time for the "C. C. C.'s"
+to hold their revels, and that Diogenes' tub, if not himself, would be
+welcome, so I had better act upon the hint and contribute my share. Thank
+you, sir," and, with a funny little nod to the box, she went on to the
+dining-room.
+
+"What is the joke, Miss Preston?" asked Cicely, as Miss Preston took her
+seat.
+
+"Do you think I'm going to spoil it by revealing it so soon? No, indeed,"
+and she laughed softly.
+
+When dinner was ended the girls flocked around the box and curiosity ran
+riot. "What does that mean, Miss Preston? Do tell us."
+
+"I have other matters of such importance on hand that I must deputize Miss
+Howard to unravel the mystery for you," she said, as she slipped away to
+the upper hall where the telephone was placed, and a moment later the
+girls heard the bell jingle and a funny, one-sided conversation followed.
+"Hello, Central! 1305. Is this 1305? Send me the usual order. Yes, four
+kinds. Eight. Well packed. Be prompt."
+
+The porter carried the big box to Toinette's room and removed the lid for
+her. Such an array! I'm not going to attempt to tell about it, but shall
+let every girl who has ever attended a chum's birthday feast mention the
+articles of which that feast consisted, and then, after combining the
+entire list, they can form some idea of the contents of Toinette's box.
+
+"Fly, Cicely, and hunt up every C. C. C., and a dozen besides! We can
+never dispose of such a cartload of stuff in a week if we don't have the
+entire school to help us," cried Toinette, as she lifted one thing after
+another from the box.
+
+There is a saying that "Ill news flies fast," but, in my humble opinion,
+it is as a stage-coach beside the Empire State Express when compared to
+the fleetness of good news. So it did not take long to start this bit like
+an electric fluid through the school, and what sort of "Free Masonry"
+filled in details so successfully I know not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THIS TIME OF NIGHT?"
+
+
+It so happened that of the ten resident teachers but three were at home
+that evening; the others having joined a theatre party going to town, and
+it would be midnight before they returned.
+
+Those at home were Miss Preston, Miss Howard, and, unfortunately, Mrs.
+Stone. Of the first two mentioned the girls felt small apprehension, for
+they understood them pretty thoroughly, but Mrs. Stone was an obstacle not
+so easily surmounted, and it seemed to them that she was never more
+ubiquitous.
+
+At nine-thirty Miss Preston had bade all good-night in an unusually
+solicitous manner, wishing each happy dreams. Miss Howard had also retired
+to her room promptly at the stroke of the clock, and everything worked
+most auspiciously excepting the tucking away of Mother Stone, and she
+positively refused to be tucked, but kept prowling about like a lost
+spirit, till Ruth said, in desperation: "If she doesn't get settled down
+pretty soon I'll do something desperate; see if I don't."
+
+From room to room she went, popping her head in at one to ask if there was
+anything she could do for this girl, listening at the next door for sounds
+of insomnia, creeping stealthily on through the corridors to learn if any
+girl who ought to be en route for Sleepy Town had by chance missed her
+way.
+
+She had made her way as far as the lower end of the hall, where on one
+side the stairs leading to the third story joined it, and on the other a
+door opened into the bath-room, when a rustle at the head of the stairs
+caused her to glance quickly in that direction; but it was too dark for
+her to see anything at the top of them. She paused to listen, and her
+sharp ears detected the sound again. That was sufficient. Up she flew and
+came plump upon Lou Cornwall, who had not had time to fly. Lou was stout
+and did not move quickly, and was fair prey for Mrs. Stone, who was as
+thin as a match, and managed to glide about like a wraith.
+
+Lou was arrayed in her bath-robe, and had her cap and mask in her hand.
+Quickly concealing them behind her lest Mrs. Stone's sharp eyes should
+discover them even in the dark, she stood stock still waiting
+developments. Mrs. Stone stooped from her towering height of five feet
+nine to peer into the face of the plump little figure huddled in the
+corner. "How you startled me," she said. "Why are you standing here when
+everyone else is in bed, and what are you doing up this time of night?"
+
+"I had to get up, Mrs. Stone."
+
+"Why, may I enquire?"
+
+"I am going to the bath-room."
+
+"Then, why in the world don't you _go_ and not stand huddled up here as
+though you were bent on some mischief? It is no wonder that we suspect you
+when you take such extraordinary ways of doing perfectly simple things. Go
+on at once, and, if you have been hesitating because you are timid, I'll
+wait here till you return," and down she planted herself upon the top step
+to mount guard.
+
+Groaning inwardly, away went Lou, muttering: "If I don't keep you perched
+there till you nearly freeze, my name isn't Lou Cornwall!"
+
+And keep her she did, till Mrs. Stone had another trouble added to her
+many, for she began to fear that Lou had been taken ill, and went to the
+bath-room door to speak to her. Finding that she could not hold out any
+longer, out she came, and, after receiving some very emphatic admonitions
+from Mrs. Stone, crept away to her room disgusted with herself, the world
+at large, and Mrs. Stone in particular.
+
+Meantime, the other girls began to suspect that Lou had fallen into
+ambush, and sent out a scout to reconnoiter, and it was not many seconds
+before the scout came scuttling back with the alarming information that
+the enemy was close at hand; in fact, that she was even now coming upon
+them in force, for, when Mother Stone found that Lou did not come from the
+bath-room as promptly as she thought she should, all her suspicions were
+instantly aroused, and she was keen to make discoveries.
+
+The girls had planned to meet in Toinette's room, and creep from there to
+the old laundry as soon as all were assembled. About a dozen were already
+there, but, when the scout returned with such dire tidings, they decided
+that discretion was the better part of valor, and all made haste to get
+back to their rooms ere the enemy appeared. But, alack-a-day! that enemy
+could flit about in a surprisingly lively manner, and, ere some of them
+had reached safety behind their own doors, she came in view. To get to
+their rooms now was out of the question, so, making a virtue of necessity,
+they all slipped into a large closet used by the housemaids for their
+brooms, etc.
+
+Whether it was from a wholesome fear that Miss Preston would be very apt
+to criticize a too pronounced vigilance that Mrs. Stone refrained from
+opening the girls' doors, but contented herself with simply listening, I
+cannot say, but if she heard no sound within she always passed on and left
+them to their innocent (?) slumbers. So on she went from one room to
+another, but, luckily, the alarm had gone before, and at each room
+darkness and profound silence prevailed. Satisfied that "all was well,"
+she murmured something about, "It is always well to be upon the alert, for
+once the girls understand that someone is sure to detect the first signs
+of mischief, they are far less liable to carry it to excess," she set off
+for her own room. In passing by the housemaid's door she saw that it was
+not tightly closed and locked, as was the custom at night, and, with a
+joyous chuckle at her own astuteness, she pounced upon it, locked the
+door, and withdrawing the key sailed triumphantly to her room, where,
+serene in her sense of well-doing, she fell as sound asleep as her nature
+permitted.
+
+Meantime, how fared it with the mice in the trap? When the key was turned
+in the door, and they were made prisoners, nothing but the pitch darkness
+which enveloped them as a garment prevented each girl's face from plainly
+announcing to her neighbor: "Here is a pretty kettle of fish!" There were
+five in the closet: Ruth, Edith, Pauline, May and Marie. Luckily, a
+resourceful party. When all sound from the hall had ceased, Ruth gave just
+one howl, and then jumped up and down three times as hard as she could
+jump, by way of giving vent to her state of mind. Fortunately, the door
+was a heavy one and the sound did not reach Mother Stone's ears.
+
+"You crazy thing!" exclaimed Edith, "next thing you know you will have her
+after us again."
+
+"Suppose we do; we've got to get out somehow, haven't we?"
+
+"Yes, but she is the last one in the world we want to let us out. What a
+fix! If the girls only knew of it, they would come and let us out."
+
+"How could they when she has the key, I'd like to know?"
+
+Edith groaned: "I never thought of that plagued old key. Bother take her
+and it, too! Why couldn't she have gone to bed just as everybody else did,
+and have minded her own business, too."
+
+"That was exactly what she thought she was doing," laughed May.
+
+"It's all very well to laugh, but _how_ are we to get down to the laundry,
+I'd like to know; or the girls ever find out where we are?"
+
+While all this talking had been going on, little Marie, the liveliest,
+slightest, most quick-witted girl in the school, had been doing a lot of
+thinking, and now turned to the others and said:
+
+"Do you see that scrap of a window up there?"
+
+"Yes, we see it, but it might as well be a rat-hole, for all the good it
+will do us; nothing but a rat could crawl through it!"
+
+"Don't be too sure," answered Marie, with a knowing laugh. "I can get
+through a pretty small space when occasion demands, and, if I'm not much
+mistaken, the demand is very urgent just at this moment."
+
+"How under the sun can you reach it, even if you can get through it after
+you've reached it?"
+
+"What good have you derived from your gymnastic training this winter, I'd
+like to know, if you have to ask me that?" demanded Marie.
+
+The window was one of those odd little affairs one sometimes sees built in
+houses, perhaps simply to excite curiosity and make one wonder why they
+were ever built at all, for they do not seem to be of the slightest use.
+The one in question was situated high up in the closet, and had probably
+been put there for ventilating purposes, if anyone ever felt inclined to
+get a step-ladder and clamber up to open it. It was shaped like a segment
+of a circle, was only about eighteen inches high at the widest part, and
+fastened at the top with a bolt. Getting at it in broad daylight would not
+have been an easy matter, and now, with only the light of the moon shining
+through it, it seemed an impossibility.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"LOVE (AND SCHOOLGIRLS) LAUGH AT LOCKSMITHS"
+
+
+"Here, I'm going to take command of affairs, since no one else seems
+inclined to," cried Marie. "May, you are the strongest girl here; just
+give me a shoulder, will you?"
+
+"What shall I do?"
+
+"Stand close to the wall underneath the window, and let me get on your
+shoulder; it may hurt a bit, but we can't stay stived up in here all
+night. Lend a hand, Ruth, and boost me up."
+
+A step-ladder of knees and arms was formed, and up scrambled Marie as
+nimbly as a squirrel. Then another obstacle confronted her. The window had
+probably never been opened since it was built, and, having never been
+called upon to do its share in the economy of that household, was
+disinclined to begin now. Marie's slender fingers were dented and pinched
+in vain; that window remained obdurate.
+
+"For mercy sake come down and give the old thing up! My shoulder is
+crushed flat," said May.
+
+"Wait just one second longer, and I'll have it; see if I don't. Ruth, hand
+me that stair-brush, please."
+
+Ruth gave her the brush, and, saying to May: "Now, brace yourself for a
+mighty push," she used the handle as a lever, gave a vigorous jerk, when
+away went bolt, window, Marie and all. Down she came with a thud, but,
+luckily, on a pile of sweeping cloths, which saved her from harm.
+
+Scrabbling up, she cried: "Never mind, I'm not hurt a bit; now boost me up
+again, and let me see what is outside."
+
+She was promptly lifted up, and, poking her saucy head out into the
+moonlight, drew in long whiffs of the sweet night air, which was
+wonderfully refreshing after the stuffy closet.
+
+"The shed is about ten feet below, girls. If I had anything to lower
+myself down with I could easily reach it; I'm almost afraid to let myself
+drop, the shed slopes so."
+
+"Hang fast a second while Ruth and I tie the sweeping-cloths together,"
+cried May, and quickly catching up the calico covers they began to tie
+them together.
+
+"See that you tie them tightly," warned Marie. "I've had one bump already,
+and I don't want another."
+
+The cloths were soon ready, and one end handed to her. She fastened it
+securely about her waist, and, warning the others to hang on for dear
+life, she began to crawl through the narrow opening.
+
+"My goodness, she is just like a monkey," said Pauline. "I never could
+have done it in the world," a most superfluous assertion, as no one in the
+world would ever have suspected her of being able to.
+
+Away went Marie, vanishing bit by bit from their sight till only her
+laughing black eyes, with the soft dark hair above them, were visible in
+the moonlight. The girls lowered away slowly, and presently felt the
+strain upon the cloths relax.
+
+"She's on the shed! Good!" said Edith, "and now she'll have us out in less
+than jig time."
+
+But "many's the slip twixt the--lip and the birthday box," and the girls
+began to suspect Marie of treachery to the cause ere they again heard her
+voice.
+
+[Illustration: "AWAY WENT MARIE, VANISHING BIT BY BIT."]
+
+Meantime, how fared it with her? Once upon the shed all seemed plain
+sailing, but the shed was somewhat like the mountains Moses climbed so
+wearily; it gave her a glimpse of the promised land without permitting her
+to enter it. The ground was fully sixteen feet below her, and to reach it
+without some means other than her own nimble legs was obviously
+impossible. The shed was only a small one built out over the kitchen, but
+just beyond, with perhaps five feet dividing them, was the end of the
+piazza roof, and if she could only reach that she could let herself down
+to the ground by the thick vines growing upon it. But those five feet
+intervening looked a perfect gulf, and how to get over them was a poser.
+Jump it she dared not; step it she could not. It began to look as though
+she must signal to the girls in the closet to haul in their big fish, when
+she chanced to spy something sticking up through the honeysuckle vines.
+Crawling carefully down to the edge of the shed, she peered over, and saw
+the ends of the gardener's ladder. Pauline had not made a mistake when she
+called her a monkey, for in just one second she was at the bottom of that
+ladder.
+
+"Now I'm all right, and will soon have the girls free," and off she
+scurried to the side of the house upon which Toinette's room was situated.
+Gathering up a handful of soft earth she threw it against the window, but
+with no result. Then a second one followed. Had she but known it, Toinette
+and her revellers had long ago given them up, and were now down in the old
+laundry spreading forth their array of goodies. After wasting considerable
+time, Marie suddenly bethought her of the above fact, and instantly
+skipped off to that Mecca.
+
+There was not a ray of light visible, but, happily, sight is not the only
+sense with which we are endowed, and Marie's ears were as keen as her
+eyes. Giving the three signal taps upon one of the tightly closed
+window-blinds, she waited a reply. But the girls were not expecting taps
+from that quarter, and at once became suspicious. But precious moments
+were fleeing, and Marie was becoming desperate, so, flinging prudence to
+the winds, she gave three sounding bangs upon that window, and called
+out:
+
+"If you don't open this window and let me in I'll set Mother Stone on your
+track, sure as you live!"
+
+Open flew the window, and a moment later Marie was relating her
+experiences to them. Then came the question of rescuing the others. Not an
+easy one to answer. But Marie had gone so far, and, being a very
+resourceful little body, had no notion of giving up yet, and saying to the
+revellers: "I'm going to let those girls out if I have to take the door
+down to do it," off she flitted, as quickly and silently as a butterfly.
+In less time than it takes to tell it she stood outside their prison, and
+saying, encouragingly: "Don't give up, girls; I'll soon have you out," she
+slipped into the sewing-room opposite, and emerged a second later with the
+little oil-can and screw-driver from the machine drawer.
+
+"For gracious sake, what _are_ you going to do?" whispered Cicely, who had
+come with her to help if possible.
+
+"Something I once saw a carpenter at our house do, if I can. Sh! Don't
+make any noise," and, reaching up to the top hinge, Marie dropped a few
+drops of oil from her can upon it, and then treated the lower one in the
+same manner. The hinges were what are known as "fish hinges," the door
+being held in place by a small iron peg slipped into the sockets of the
+hinge. After she had oiled them, she placed her screw-driver under the
+knob of the peg, when, lo! up it slid as easily as could be, and when both
+had been carefully slid out of place, nothing prevented the door from
+being softly drawn away from the hinges, swung outward, and if it did not
+open from left to right, as it had been intended to open, it was quite as
+easy to walk through it when it opened from right to left. To slip it back
+into place, when five giggling girls had escaped, was equally easy, and no
+one would ever have suspected the skillful bit of mechanical engineering
+that had taken place under their very noses at ten-thirty that night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+ARIADNE'S CLUE
+
+
+The manner in which those liberated girls skipped down to the laundry was
+certainly not snail-like. They had nearly reached it when Ruth's feet
+became entangled in a piece of string, and, stooping down to loosen it,
+she discovered a slip of paper fastened to the end, and a large pin which
+had evidently stuck it fast to the door-casing. No doubt some of the girls
+had brushed against it in their hurry-scurry to reach the laundry, and,
+but for the ill wind which blew five of them into the housemaid's closet,
+this significant scrap of paper would never have been discovered. The
+candle they carried was brought to bear upon it, and they read the
+following words:
+
+               In ancient days, so the stories say,
+               One Theseus found a remarkable way
+               Of reaching a point he wished to gain,
+               And down to posterity came his fame.
+
+               So, perhaps, posterity may also do well
+               To follow a "clue," but never to tell
+               Just what they found at the further end,
+               Lest a rule should break instead of bend.
+
+"What can it mean? Where does it lead to?" were the questions eagerly
+whispered.
+
+"Come on, and let's find out," was Ruth's practical remark, and she began
+to wind up the string. There seemed no end to it, and it led them through
+the corridor, out of that into the kitchen, then out to a small store-room
+built beneath the kitchen porch. Here the end was tied to a very
+suggestive-looking tub.
+
+Had Diogenes succeeded in discovering an honest man he could not have felt
+greater satisfaction than these girls felt at the sight of that modest
+little oval tub, with its sawdust covering; and the way in which it was
+pounced upon, and borne in triumph to the laundry, brings my story of that
+night's revels to a climax, and no more need be told.
+
+When the twelve o'clock train whistled it was the signal for the revels to
+end, and, ere the carriages which were to meet the theatre-goers could
+bring them up the hill, Sunny Bank was as quiet and peaceful as though all
+its inmates had been dreaming for hours.
+
+The weather had become beautifully soft and balmy for the middle of April,
+and the girls were able to sit out of doors, and do many of the things
+they had not hoped to do till May should burgeon and bloom.
+
+A few days after the frolic Toinette was sitting in one of the pretty
+little summer-houses, of which there were several dotted about the
+grounds, when Miss Howard came in and took her seat beside her.
+
+"You have been playing at hide-and-seek with me without knowing it," she
+said, "for I have been searching for you everywhere, and only discovered
+you here by the glint of the sunshine upon your hair."
+
+"Did you want me, Miss Howard? I'm sorry you had to hunt for me," answered
+Toinette. "What can I do for you?"
+
+"Give me some wise advice," said Miss Howard, smiling.
+
+"_I_ give you advice!" exclaimed Toinette.
+
+"Yes; don't you think you can?"
+
+"I shall have to know what it is about before I dare say yes or no, Miss
+Howard."
+
+"You know that I am going to leave you in a few weeks, dear, and I want my
+leave-taking to be closely identified with my girls, whom I have learned
+to love so dearly, and whom, I think, love me as well as I love them. I
+have spent many happy years in this school, first as pupil and then as
+teacher, and it has been a very dear home to me. Now I am going away from
+it forever, and though the future looks very enticing, and I have every
+reason to believe that it will be happy, still I cannot help feeling sad
+at the thought of leaving the old life behind. These are serious
+confidences for me to burden you with, Toinette, but you have crept into a
+very warm corner of my heart since you became a pupil here, and I know
+that there is a wise little head upon these shoulders," said Miss Howard,
+as she placed her hand on Toinette's shoulder.
+
+The girl reached up, and drawing the hand close to her cheek held it
+there, but did not speak.
+
+"So now," continued Miss Howard, "I am going to ask you to help my
+outgoing from this happy home to be a pleasant one, by being my maid of
+honor when the time comes; will you, dear?"
+
+"You want _me_ to be the maid of honor, Miss Howard? You don't truly mean
+it? There are so many other girls whom you have known so much longer, and
+whom you must love better than you do me; although I don't believe they
+_can_ love _you_ any better than I do," said Toinette, naively.
+
+"That is just it, dear. I do love them all, and am sure that they are very
+fond of me. But in your case it is just a little different. All these
+girls have pleasant homes, and many loved ones in them who plan for their
+happiness, and to whom they will go directly vacation begins. For many
+years you, like myself, have had no home but the one a school offered, and
+which, unlike mine, was sometimes not as happy a home as it might have
+been, I fear. So, you see, we have, in one way, had a bond of sympathy
+between us even before we knew it to be so. And now we have still another,
+for when we leave here in June we shall each go to our own dear home; you
+to one your father shall make for you, I to the one my husband will
+provide for me."
+
+A soft, pretty color had crept over Miss Howard's face as she spoke, and a
+very tender look came into her beautiful eyes. Truly, she was carrying
+something very sweet and holy to the one who was to bear that name.
+
+"So we shall step out into the new life together, shall we not, Toinette,
+and each will be the sweeter for our having done so?" asked Miss Howard.
+
+"It is too lovely even to think about, Miss Howard. I don't know how to
+make you understand how proud and happy it makes me to think that you
+chose me from among all the others, and I hope they will not feel that you
+should not have done so. Do you think they will mind?"
+
+"On the contrary, they are delighted with my choice, for I told them my
+reasons, as I have told them to you, and they see it in the same light
+that I see it."
+
+"Then I shall be the happiest girl in Montcliff," cried Toinette.
+
+"No, _next_ to the happiest," said Miss Howard, laughing softly.
+
+"Well, I shall be the happiest in _my_ way, and you in _yours_," and
+Toinette wagged her head as though it would be of no use for Miss Howard
+to try to make her concede _that_ point.
+
+"And now let us plan our maid of honor's toilet, and also what our six
+bridesmaids must wear. It was upon that important question I wished your
+advice, and, now that you know, do you feel qualified to give it?"
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" cried Toinette. "Why, Miss Howard, it is almost like
+planning for my own wedding, and you are too sweet for anything to let
+me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+"WHEN BUDS AND BLOSSOMS BURST"
+
+
+The planning of the toilets took considerable time, and Miss Howard felt
+that she had made no mistake when she asked the girl's advice. Like her
+father's, Toinette's taste was unerring, and when she said:
+
+"Wouldn't it be pretty to have the girls represent flowers?" Miss Howard
+was delighted with the idea.
+
+"What flowers would you suggest, dear?" she asked.
+
+"Let me think just a moment, please," said Toinette, and she rested her
+chin upon her hands, a favorite attitude of hers when thinking seriously
+of anything. "How would a lily, a violet, a pansy, a daffodil, a
+narcissus, and a snowdrop do?"
+
+"How pretty!" exclaimed Miss Howard. "What put such a picturesque idea in
+your head? It is beautiful, and can be carried out admirably. You must be
+my fair and lovely lily; then shall come my violet and daffodil; then my
+narcissus and lilac; then my pansy and modest little snowdrop. That will
+exactly suit Helen."
+
+"Who are to be the bridesmaids?"
+
+"Edith, May, Ruth, Marie, Natala and Helen."
+
+"How nice of you to choose all the younger girls; it makes us feel so
+important. Now, let's plan just what the dresses are to be," said
+Toinette, becoming quite excited, and looking at Miss Howard as though all
+must be completed ere they left the summer-house.
+
+"I am waiting for your suggestions," said she.
+
+"Wouldn't it be pretty to have all the dresses made of white chiffon, or
+something soft like that, and have white, violet and yellow slips under
+them? Then have the hats trimmed with the flowers they represent. Would
+you like that, Miss Howard?"
+
+"Yes, immensely; but now I want to think about Helen. You know she has
+very limited means, and what might seem a small outlay for the others
+would probably be a large one for her, and I do not want to tax her
+resources, much as I wish to have her for one of my bonny maids."
+
+"Yes," said Toinette, meditatively, "I suppose the dresses will be rather
+expensive, but it would be too bad not to have Helen; she is so sweet and
+is so fond of you, Miss Howard."
+
+"Yes, she is a dear child, and I have felt a great interest in her from
+the moment she entered the school. I wish I knew of some way of bettering
+her circumstances. Mr. Burgess is a most estimable man, but not one liable
+to advance rapidly through his own efforts, I fear. He is most reliable
+and capable, but seems to lack the push so essential in this bustling day
+and age. He would prove invaluable in any position of trust, but would
+never secure such if it depended upon his own efforts to do so."
+
+Toinette had listened very attentively while Miss Howard was talking, and
+when she finished said:
+
+"When papa was out here for the dance I spoke to him about Helen, and we
+had such a nice little talk. The next day he spoke with Miss Preston about
+those very things, but I do not know what came of it. I wish I did. His
+business affairs bring him into contact with so many large firms of
+different kinds that I am almost sure he could secure something for Mr.
+Burgess. Do you know what I am going to do?" said Toinette, eagerly, "I am
+going to write to him right off, tell him all about our plans; may I?
+About the wedding, the bridesmaids, and everything; then I am going to ask
+him if he has heard of anything that he thinks would help Mr. Burgess,
+and, who knows, maybe, by the first of June all will be fixed up so nicely
+that Helen can have things as nice as the other girls--and, oh, Miss
+Howard!--wouldn't it be _lovely_ if she could go abroad with Miss
+Preston?" and Toinette clasped her hands in rapture at the very thought.
+
+Miss Howard laughed a happy little laugh, and, taking Toinette's face in
+both her hands, kissed her cheeks very tenderly, saying as she did so:
+
+"I see that I made no mistake in my estimate of your character, dear,
+although I did not bargain for quite such a wise, resourceful little head
+and efficient helper as you have proved. How did you manage to think out
+so much in so short a time?"
+
+"I suppose it is because my brains have never been overburdened with
+thoughts for other people," said Toinette, with an odd expression
+overspreading her face, "and so the part of them devoted to that sort of
+thing has had time to develop to an astonishing degree. But I guess I'd
+better begin to use the power before it becomes abnormal; Miss Preston
+says that abnormal development of any sort is dangerous," and she gave a
+funny little laugh as she glanced slyly into Miss Howard's eyes.
+
+Miss Howard understood the quaint remark, and, rising from her seat, said:
+"I shall not soon forget our little talk, but must leave you now for the
+'school ma'am's' duties. One of them will be to endeavor to persuade
+Pauline that it was _not_ Henry VIII. who sought to reduce the American
+Colonies to submission, nor Lafayette who won the battle of Waterloo.
+Good-bye," and away tripped Miss Howard over the soft green lawn.
+
+Toinette sat for a few moments, and then, springing up, said to herself:
+"I might as well go and write that letter this very minute, and I do hope
+papa will know of something right off. How lovely it would be!"
+
+The letter was soon written, and within two hours was speeding upon its
+way to New York. Toinette had reasoned well, and, as good luck would have
+it, the letter arrived at a most auspicious moment. As Mr. Reeve sat
+reading it, his face reflecting the happiness he felt at receiving it so
+close upon the one which came to him every Monday morning, a client was
+shown into his office.
+
+It happened to be one who was about to embark upon a new line of business
+in which he was venturing large sums of money, and which required capable,
+trustworthy men to carry out his plans. He had consulted with Mr. Reeve
+many times before, and nearly all details were completed; the few that
+remained dealt with minor matters, so Mr. Reeve felt considerable
+satisfaction at the thought of having brought all arrangements through so
+successfully. But it was certainly anything but a contented face he saw
+before him when he glanced up from Toinette's letter upon Mr. Fowler's
+entrance, and his first words were: "Well, for a prosperous capitalist,
+you bear a woeful countenance, Ned."
+
+"If mine is woeful, yours certainly is not," was the prompt answer. "You
+look as though you had been the recipient of some very pleasing news."
+
+"A pretty good sort," said Mr. Reeve, smiling. "The sort that makes a man
+feel old and young at the same time. Ever get any of that?"
+
+"Don't know as I do; it must be a rare specimen," said Mr. Fowler, dryly.
+"Better let me know the kind it is; perhaps it will counterbalance the
+kind I have for you this morning; confound it!"
+
+Seeing that Mr. Fowler was really disturbed about something, Mr. Reeve
+dropped his bantering tone, and went to serious matters. He then learned
+that the bookkeeper whom Mr. Fowler had engaged for the new line of
+business, and who would also act as his confidential clerk and office
+manager, would be unable to accept the position, as he was called to
+England by the death of his father, and would in future make his home
+there. This was a serious loss to Mr. Fowler, for he had known this man
+for years, and felt deep satisfaction at the thought of having such an
+efficient assistant.
+
+"And now," he said, when he had told Mr. Reeve all the facts, "who under
+heavens am I to find to fill his place at such short notice, I'd like to
+know? Such men are not to be picked up at every corner."
+
+"Read that letter," was all Mr. Reeve said, and handed him Toinette's
+letter.
+
+Mr. Fowler took the letter, and began reading with a very mystified
+expression, as though he could not for the life of him understand what a
+letter from Mr. Reeve's daughter had to do with his private affairs. But,
+as he read, his expression changed, and when he came to the end he said:
+"Well, it may be Kismet; can't say. Funnier things have happened. Look
+into it, will you, Clayton? I'm sick and tired of the thing, particularly
+when I thought all important details settled."
+
+And Clayton Reeve did "look into it" very thoroughly, leaving no stone
+unturned which would help him to learn all that it was necessary to know
+about Mr. Burgess, and nothing could possibly have been more gratifying
+than what he learned. As a result of it, Mr. Burgess was offered the
+position from June first, and the salary offered with it seemed a princely
+one to him as compared to the one he had received as clerk in the bank in
+Montcliff. It would be hard to understand the happiness which that
+schoolgirl letter brought to one family, or how the writing of it changed
+two lives very materially, and a third completely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+COMMENCEMENT
+
+
+Many a girl has asked: "Why do they call it commencement when it is really
+the end?" If they have not found out why, I am not going to tell the
+secret. But one thing I have found out is this: Never in after life do we
+ever feel _quite_ so important as we do when that day has been reached
+upon our life's calendar.
+
+It was no exception at Sunny Bank, and when the fifth of June dawned that
+year it found a busy, bustling household. No, I am not telling the exact
+truth: it was not when it _dawned_, but fully three hours later, and then
+began the hurry-scurry which continued till all were assembled in chapel
+to listen to the opening prayer of the good man who had for many a year
+opened the Sunny Bank commencement exercises.
+
+He had grown old in faithful service in Montcliff, and was beloved and
+revered by all.
+
+It is of no use for me to tell you all about those exercises; to an
+outsider they were exactly like many others that had taken place before;
+to the girls themselves they were unique, and stood out pre-eminent above
+all others. Everybody was there who had the smallest excuse for being, and
+just how happy six bodies were I will leave you to learn from what
+follows.
+
+The exercises were to take place in the evening, and all day long
+relatives and friends of the girls arrived thick and fast. Among the first
+was Toinette's father. "Couldn't wait till evening, you see," he cried, as
+he met Toinette at the railway station. "Yes, it is all settled; I got
+them by a lucky chance at the very last moment."
+
+"Did you say anything to Mr. Burgess about it?" asked Toinette.
+
+"No, I have not seen him; daresay he has had his hands full since the
+first. We'll speak to Miss Preston first, and then call at the Burgess'
+and tell them."
+
+"How perfectly splendid! Oh, daddy, you are a perfect wonder! How do you
+ever manage to fetch things about so successfully?"
+
+"Because I have found a wonderful incentive to spur me on," he answered as
+he handed her into the carriage which was waiting for them, and they
+whirled off up the hill.
+
+"And you will stay here till after the wedding, won't you?" asked
+Toinette, snuggling close to his side and slipping her arm through his.
+
+"What! Five whole days? What will you do with me all that time?"
+
+"No danger of your suffering from ennui, I guess," laughed Toinette. "I
+will guarantee to keep you occupied. And then, daddy, after all is over
+we'll go off together, and won't we have glorious times!" and she gave a
+rapturous little bounce at the thought of the delightful days to come.
+
+Miss Preston was to sail for Europe on the fifteenth of June, five days
+after Miss Howard's wedding, and six girls were to go with her. When it
+became an understood thing that Mr. Burgess' financial affairs were to be
+so improved, the possibility of Helen making one of the party was talked
+over, although Mrs. Burgess was filled with dismay at the thought of
+having her daughter take such a step upon such short notice; it seemed a
+tremendous thing to that quiet, home-staying body. Still, Miss Preston had
+long been anxious to have Helen go with her, and, now that there seemed no
+further obstacle to her doing so, could not make up her mind to go without
+her.
+
+She had talked it over with both Mr. and Mrs. Burgess, but, it must be
+confessed, had met with only lukewarm enthusiasm. Furthermore, it was very
+late in the day to secure stateroom accommodation upon the steamer by
+which Miss Preston would sail, her own and the girls having been engaged
+for weeks.
+
+Helen herself said very little, but Miss Preston knew that the girl's
+heart had long been set upon going, and this year the route planned took
+in the very points she had most wished to visit, and which would prove the
+most profitable for her to visit. In desperation, Miss Preston turned to
+Mr. Reeve once more, for she had found him a most resourceful man, and one
+not likely to be easily baffled.
+
+The result was that he had succeeded in making a mutually agreeable
+exchange of staterooms with some other people, and was now primed and
+ready to carry the war into the enemy's country.
+
+Soon after luncheon they all drove to Stonybrook, a town about ten miles
+from Montcliff, and Helen's home. Evidently their persuasive powers were
+strong, for ere the visit ended it was decided that Helen should make one
+of Miss Preston's party to sail with her "over the ocean blue," and some
+very happy people drove back to Montcliff that afternoon.
+
+The house seemed very quiet after the girls' departure for their homes on
+the day following commencement, for, excepting those who lived too far
+away to return for the wedding, and would remain as Miss Preston's guests
+until after the tenth, all had left that morning, and when a house has
+been filled with twenty-five or thirty girls, and all but eight or ten
+suddenly depart from it, the quiet which ensues cannot be overlooked.
+
+Mr. Reeve gave himself up to the enjoyment of his five days' vacation as
+only a busy man can, and when I add that he was a very happy man, too, I
+need say no more.
+
+The year had been one of many experiences both for him and for Toinette,
+and for both was ending far more happily than he had hoped it would. The
+future seemed to promise a great deal to them both, for they were growing
+to understand each other better every day, and Toinette was developing
+into a very lovely, as well as a very lovable, companion. They had planned
+a delightful summer vacation, to be spent in travelling leisurely from
+place to place, as the fancy took them, and Toinette had suggested nearly
+all.
+
+The five days at Montcliff were spent in driving about the beautiful
+country, playing tennis, rambling about the pretty woods, and doing an
+endless number of delightful nothings, as people can sometimes do when
+they fully make up their minds to put aside the cares of the world for a
+time.
+
+They soon came to an end, and then came Miss Howard's wedding day.
+
+There has always seemed something inexpressibly sweet in Longfellow's
+words in reference to the forming of new ties and establishing the new
+home. In Miss Howard's case it was to be a home filled with all the
+sweetest hopes that can come into a woman's life: hopes sanctified by love
+and founded upon respect. Could they have a firmer foundation? The future
+held great promise for her, although worldly-minded folk might say that
+the step she was about to take was not marked off by a _golden_
+mile-stone, nor the path she would follow be paved with a golden pavement.
+She knew that quite well, and had wisely decided that a noble character
+and a brilliant mind were excellent substitutes, however agreeable it may
+be to have the former, and, also, that the former minus the latter are
+fairy gold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+"O FORTUNATE, O HAPPY DAY"
+
+
+                "O fortunate, O happy day,
+                    When a new household finds its place
+                  Among the myriad homes of earth,
+                  Like a new star just sprung to birth,
+                And rolled on its harmonious way
+                    Into the boundless realms of space!"
+
+As though all that was loveliest had united to do her honor, and make the
+boundary-line between the old and the new life one to be long remembered
+by all who stood beside her at it, the day set for Miss Howard's wedding
+was all that Lowell has written about it. It was as "rare" and "perfect"
+as dear Mother Nature could make it for one of her loveliest children.
+
+The girls had dressed the church, until it seemed a very bower of bloom,
+and at every turn Miss Howard would find the posies of which she was so
+fond. The three colors, if white may be called a color, chosen for the
+bridesmaids' dresses were used in the decorations, and altar, chancel,
+transept and aisles were brilliant with daffodils, narcissuses and lilacs,
+which filled the church with their perfume.
+
+The wedding was to take place at four o'clock, and when that hour arrived
+little space was left in the church for the tardy ones.
+
+Nearly all the girls had returned for the ceremony, and a bonnier lot it
+would have been difficult to find than that which filled the front pews of
+the church, for Miss Howard would have them all near her, insisting that
+none of the other guests could possibly have the same loving thoughts for
+her that her girls would have.
+
+Promptly at the stroke of four the great organ rolled out its message to
+all, and, after her few distant relatives had been conducted to their
+seats, Miss Howard's bonny bridesmaids appeared, following another fancy
+of hers by walking together, with the ushers leading. First came Edith and
+Marie; Edith's yellow golden hair a perfect background for the big white
+chip hat, with its masses of violets, and her fair, soft skin made softer
+and fairer by the fairy-like chiffon draped so artistically over the pale
+violet satin beneath it. A daintily gilded basket filled with violets told
+all the story.
+
+Saucy and pert beside her walked the little brownie Marie, looking for all
+the world like the bobbing daffies in her white basket. One wanted to sing
+the old nursery rhyme: "Daffy-down-dilly has come to town," for they were
+nodding a friendly greeting from her hat, and seemed to lend their golden
+sheen to the satin beneath the white chiffon gown.
+
+Behind them followed May Foster and Natala King. May's bronze-brown hair
+and brilliant coloring were a perfect foil for the creamy-white narcissus
+blossoms on her hat and the creamy-white of her gown. While Natala's
+light-brown hair and hazel eyes needed just the lilac tints to show how
+pretty they were.
+
+Then came Ruth and Helen. Could Miss Howard have chosen two who, placed
+beside each other, would have formed a more pronounced contrast? Not even
+the solemnity of the occasion could overcome Ruth's ruling passion,
+curiosity: she was determined to see all to be seen if it rested with her
+to do so. Nor were the pert pansy blossoms upon her hat, nodding a welcome
+to all, more on the alert. Or could those which peeped from the folds of
+her pansy-yellow gown, with its white chiffon draperies, smile in a more
+friendly manner than did Ruth, as she walked slowly up that aisle, with
+shy, modest Helen at her side. Helen looked the snowdrop to perfection,
+for if the pansies needed Ruth's gypsy coloring for a foil, the snowdrops
+needed Helen's pale blonde daintiness for theirs. The only color which
+relieved its pure white was the deep green of the wax-like leaves, and the
+contrast was perfect. The dress was of that soft silvery white only to be
+contrived by the combination of satin and chiffon, and Helen looked very
+lovely.
+
+Behind them, a dream of fairness, walked Toinette. Through the chiffon of
+her gown ran fine golden threads, which caused it to glint and glisten as
+the sunbeams. The white satin underneath was of that peculiar ivory tint
+which combines so exquisitely with gold tints. Her hat was made of the
+chiffon, and trimmed with Easter lilies, which nestled in its soft folds
+and against the beautiful golden hair beneath them. Her basket was also
+white, and she was a fitting emblem of the pure soul she was leading to
+the altar.
+
+Then came the bride, her hand resting lightly upon the arm of the friend
+who had led her along the greater part of her life's pathway, for Miss
+Preston had been Miss Howard's "guide, philosopher and friend" almost as
+long as she could remember. Very stately did she look, as she walked up
+that aisle to give away at the altar something which the years had
+rendered very precious to her, for sometimes "old maids' children" are
+more dear to them than are the children who claim the love of parents.
+
+Miss Preston was very proud of her honors.
+
+But no words can describe the girl who walked at her side, her beautiful
+face made transcendently so by the tenderest, holiest thought that can
+fill a woman's heart: that she is about to become the wife of the man she
+loves. She seemed to forget the church and all who were gathered there to
+witness her happiness, and the soft, dark eyes looked straight before her
+to the altar, where her husband to be awaited her, as though that altar
+was to her as the entrance to the holy of holies; as, indeed, it was.
+
+How brief is a marriage ceremony! A few words are spoken and two lives are
+changed forever, never again to be the same as they were less than ten
+minutes before, but filled with new duties, new obligations, and the
+responsibilities we must all assume when we utter the words: "I will." God
+meant that it should be so, and it is one of this world's many blessings.
+
+[Illustration: "THE BRIDE, HER HAND RESTING LIGHTLY ON THE ARM OF HER
+FRIEND."]
+
+The reception Miss Preston gave for her "adopted daughter," as she called
+Miss Howard, now Mrs. Chichester, was long talked over by the school, and
+quoted by the girls as "our reception" for months.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Chichester sailed for Europe on the same steamer which
+carried Miss Preston and her girls, and a happier, merrier party it would
+have been hard to find. Toinette and Mr. Reeve went to bid them farewell
+and a pleasant voyage, and the last faces those upon the great ship saw as
+they swung out into the stream were Toinette's and her father's.
+
+And now we, too, must leave them--leave them to the happy summer vacation,
+when they learned how dear they were to each other, and what a dear old
+world this is, after all, when two people manage to look at it through
+little Dan Cupid's spectacles.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Caps and Capers, by Gabrielle E. Jackson
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