aughter cut into enduring marble by the
man who _sculped_. But, unfortunately for the old gentleman's peace of
mind while he _sculped_ the marble the artist likewise made love to the
young lady and they ran away and were married, leaving the old
gentleman nothing but the cold marble statue playing the marble harp,
in place of a daughter.

"The father's heart at once became as adamant as the marble itself, and
he refused to support the sculptor and his wife. Now, either the
runaway couple died miserably of starvation in a garret, or were
drowned at sea, or were wrecked in a railroad accident, or some other
dreadful catastrophe happened to them--I'm not sure which; for after a
time there began to be something strange about the fountain. The old
man lived here alone with his servants for a number of years; but the
servants would not remain long with him, for they said the place was
haunted."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Helen.

"That's right, Miss Cameron. Please show the proper amount of
thrilling interest. They said the fountain was queer. The water never
poisoned anybody; but sometimes the marble strings of the marble harp
in the marble hand or the marble daughter would be heard to twang in
the night. Weird music came from the fountain at ghostly hours. Of
course, the little harp the statue holds is in the form of a lyre; and
what the people were who told these stories about the ghostly twanging
of the instrument--you may draw your own conclusions," laughed Lluella
Fairfax.

"However, the old gentleman at last broke up his household, or died, or
moved to town, or something, and Briarwood was put up for sale and the
school came here. That was a good many years ago. Dr. Tellingham's
wig matched his fringe of hair when the school first began here, so
that must have been a good while ago. The twanging of the marble harp
has been heard down through the school ages, so it is
said--particularly at queer times----"

"Queer times?" asked Ruth.

"Why, when something out of the common was about to happen. They say
it twanged the night before our team beat the basket-ball team from
Varden Preparatory. There was a girl here once who ran away because
her folks went to Europe and left her behind at school. She was
determined to follow them, and she got as far as New York and stole
aboard a great steamer so as to follow her parents; only the steamship
she boarded had just come in instead of just going out. They say the
m