s own countenance.

"Ah-ha!" he ejaculated, and stood upright. He was not a small man, but
he was very bony. He had a big, long, smoothly-shaven face, on which
his beard had sprouted in patches only, and these shaven patches were
gray, whereas the rest of his face was smooth and dead-white. Indeed
he had so much face, and it was so bald, that if the brown wig had
chanced to tumble off Ruth thought that his appearance would have been
actually terrifying.

"Ah-ha!" he said again, and smiled not unkindly. The thick spectacles
he wore hid his eyes, however, and to look into his big face was like
looking at the white wall of a house with the windows all shuttered.
"You want something!"

He said it as though he had made a most profound discovery. Indeed,
they found afterward that Doctor Tellingham always spoke as though he
were pronouncing a valedictory oration, or something quite as important
as that. The doctor never could say anything lightly. His mind was
given up entirely to deep subjects, and it seldom strayed from his work.

"You want something," he repeated. "Stop! never mind explaining. I
shouldn't be able to aid you. Mrs. Tellingham--my wife, my dears--will
be here anon."

He at once bobbed down his head, revealing nothing to the eyes of the
two girls but the brown wig and the hair that didn't match, and went on
whispering to himself. Helen and Ruth exchanged glances and Helen had
difficulty in keeping from laughing outright.

In a moment more Mrs. Tellingham came into the room. At close view
Ruth saw that she was even more attractive than she had seemed at a
distance. Her countenance was firm without being stern--the humor
about the mouth relieved its set expression.

"My dear! my dear!" ejaculated the Doctor, raising his head so that the
long, bald expanse of his face came into view again for a moment,
"somebody to see you--somebody wants something."

Mrs. Tellingham approached Helen first and took her hand. Her
handclasp was firm, her manner one to put the girl at her ease.

"You are Mr. Macy Cameron's daughter?" she questioned. "We are glad to
see you here. You have found your room?"

"Yes, Mrs. Tellingham," replied Helen.

The Preceptress turned to Ruth and shook hands with her. "And you are
Ruth Fielding? Do as well this first half as your last teacher tells
me you did, and we shall be good friends. Now, girls, sit down. Let
us talk a bit."

She had a quick, bright way of spe