Show A IL by anna mcclure copyright by W 0 chapman SYNOPSIS on her way to a acuity faculty position in loftland Lost land academy janet mercer meets a young man arthur fleming also on his way to the academy at the rail road station they meet mrs denver engaged as matron at the school the group Is to struck by an air of mystery pervading the place gordon haskell proprietor welcomes them wilton payne completes the academy faculty in a schoolroom janet finds a group which the teachers had supposed were scholars are really highly artistic wax figures CHAPTER II 11 continued 6 certainly we would be only too glad payne answered quite sure that he spoke for all of them to have students eager for education a teachers road exactly but there Is one pupil of of another class berenice bracebridge the youngest daughter of the late dr jethro bracebridge he paused impressively as it the announcement must change their en tire conception of the state of affairs in loftland Lost land academy it Is chiefly for her that this whole arrangement exists I 1 am her guardian and the sole trustee of the estate and under the terms of her father fathers s will she Is to receive her education at loftland Lost land academy until she comes into control of her own for tune at twenty one I 1 have under taken much of her education myself with the aid of various governesses to comply with the spirit of the will it if not the letter but lately she has de banded certain subjects on which I 1 have no hesitancy in saying I 1 am not an authority now you see the reason for your high salaries I 1 could rit really could I 1 ask specialists on these subjects to bury themselves in these hills for the sake of one young girl lovely and intelligent as she Is and since you are in loftland Lost land I 1 wanted the farmers children to share the advantages which you are bringing to berenice janet felt acute remorse that she had so misjudged this man who could throw open the doors of the old acad emy to boys and girls stranded on these hills 1 I think that Is most kind and generous of you he ile waved his hand to indicate that it did not lot signify you will not find berenice d though of course she has had very little of the usual life of young girls may lay I 1 asis ask a question sir this from arthur As many as you like are you a relative of U ss brace bridge no the tact fact Is I 1 was the adopted son of airs mrs henry haskell of call fornia and I 1 took her name when I 1 was about twenty seven my adopted mother became the second wife of doctor jethro bracebridge and stepmother to his five children of whom berenice was the youngest and then four years old I 1 was an instructor in a western college but my adopted mothers marriage led to my taking a position as teacher of foreign lan ian in this academy which thirteen years ago was in a very flourishing condition he paused and looked about the circle with his keen rest less eyes 1 I 1 I presume there were the then n a number of deaths payne said yes doctor bracebridge s long III ness and a number of deaths doc doe tor bracebridge did me the honor to rely on me to trust me hence he smiled rather wearily this strange situation I 1 A rather lonely girl to be educated in a great academy to corn com ply with the terms of a rather sin gular will though of course all wills are singular to some one As trustee I 1 do not receive enough to keep this great place in order but t you turn it into what it was in the days of its glory no there theres s an obstacle he said stubbornly he looked at his watch well any more questions do your pupils ever study by moon light sir he ile turned quite pale oh ex plain that circumstance very slight very odd yet it has held up the whole situation here not now its after nine and I 1 think I 1 heard the day pu pils coming in the side entrance As they cannot pay much they tend the vegetable garden in the summer and two are told off to look after the tw two 0 furnaces and to bring coal up to the cook in winter now it Is nine and we be begin in wor work k at nine he continued you will take tale the study with the glass door miss mercer and mr payne o 0 will turn down the hall on the right as you face the staircase and the first door you come to will be your schoolroom and next mr flemings s we have thirty pupils eaon of 0 you will have ten tor for one hour waa each three h baui jurs s at a stretch at non no in you will hae have reccea tion until ore and the students a study hour at one lunch will be served here for the three of you at two the students who have their lunch in another d ding room will begin three tort fort five the minute shifts of ing back baek to you what you taught them in the moraln and you will give out tas tasks s to be lone in the evening in their homes and by berenice here that will bring us to about 3 45 in the afternoon or allowing tor for in evitable eti table delays four clock making about five teaching hours a day from four 0 clock I 1 on your time Is your own where Is the library iwed payne across the ball hall from twe show you ile led the way to a room which janet thought gloomy in the extreme but it was well stocked with books which payne examined eagerly then they went ent to their respective class rooms in hers jaget found a number of boys and girls at the clumsy desks and amora them the girl she was most eager to t behold berenice bracebridge who would janet thought have ar rested anyone s attention anywhere by her singular type of beauty she seemed to be of those who look proud ly out on life but are not proud a slender aloof creature her features where had janet seen before the short upper up lip the thick lashes the delicate skin the abundant fair hair the eyes with their expression of wanting to understand something which they could not understand she rose gracefully as janet entered and looked about on her fellow students they seemed to be nice boys and girls and they rose rather uncertainly fol lowing miss Brace bracebridge brIdges s example I 1 think were we re all here and we are very glad to see you she said halt half shyly janet was unaccountably nervous and she felt a certain uneasiness in her pupils their eyes wandered to the corridor even when she was sure they were most attentive in a rather shaky voice she opened her subject a kind of prologue of the glories of english literature from chaucer down the hour came to an end quickly As berenice passed her desk she held Z its good to make things live out her hand thank youl ton you made things live it its s good to make things live janet felt relieved grateful almost happy again she left her platform and went to raise a window higher when she returned other pupils were entering the room and on her desk lay a folded note addressed simply the teacher she slipped it into her bag for gordon haskell was ap preaching pro aching in his quiet quick way which reminded her of a leopards movements his sleek shining hair his dark eyes and rather elongated refunded rounded nose emphasized his appear ance well how did you get along very well thank youl you I 1 I 1 am glad you are not nervous some of my governesses have been very nervous his face had a cruel expression and she recalled an old painting she had once seen of the burning of a witch in salem and of the pale la in tense puritan countenances lit up by the flames of the bonfire in the of which a woman wilthel the thought crossed her mind that she would be glad when berenice ceased te to be the ward of this man meanwhile the object of this wish sat in the third schoolroom and lis IN bened to wilton payne s introduction of his subject he had been expect ing her all the morning but she did not come until the third hour a radi radl ant creature he thought in her rather gay little mountain suit of copper colored corduroy the coat worn over a plain white silk blouse her serious young face recalled to his mind faces he had seen on canvases in the na lional gallery adorably delicate al most whimsical in expression yet with a kind of sadness when the features were in repose she spoke at last asked him some simple question her voice thrilled him and its quality brought to him many memories as the spiritual es sence of a sound or a fragrance can always do he ile had not heard such a voice outside of europe and then only echoes ot of it the soprano notes of singing boys gondoliers in venice the gentle gantle voices of girls dolne like a flock of white wlate d ives ves to their first corn com munlin to BE CONTINUED |