length reached school. In the
fourteenth century Morton Priory had been a monastery of the Franciscan
order, and it now seemed a strange irony of fate that feminine
petticoats should reign supreme within the very walls where the grey
brothers had lived in such seclusion. The old refectory where they had
dined, and the cloister where they had been wont to meditate, were now
given up to a lively, laughing crew of girls, whose serge skirts and
white blouses among the quaint surroundings made a curious blending of
ancient and modern. What remained of the monastic building occupied one
side of a large quadrangle, while the other three sides were taken up
with modern additions, erected, however, in such excellent taste, and so
closely in accordance with the architecture of the older portion, that
the whole had a strictly mediaeval appearance. In the centre of the
courtyard was a pretty Italian garden, with neat box edgings, where
stood the sundial which had marked the hours for the monks who once
paced there, and still remained an old-world protest against the big
clock in the tower over the gymnasium that set the time for the clanging
school bell. Situated in the midst of beautiful scenery, the large
grounds formed a little self-contained kingdom, shut off from the rest
of the world: the numerous tennis courts and the playing fields provided
ample space for outdoor sports; the home farm supplied milk, butter, and
eggs; the kitchen garden grew the fruit and vegetables; while a small
sanatorium in a breezy corner ensured a safe retreat for anyone who
happened to be placed upon the sick list.

Parents were received in the library by Miss Lincoln, who spoke a few
pleasant words to Dr. and Mrs. Hirst about Patty's education and
attainments, and then, as other visitors arrived, passed them on to an
under-mistress, who took them to have tea in the drawing-room, and
afterwards showed them round the school. To Patty, fresh from Miss
Dawson's modest arrangements, it seemed indeed a new world, and she
looked with eager eyes at the classrooms with their Girton desks, their
maps and their blackboards, the studio with its array of casts, models,
and easels, the row of little practising rooms, each with piano, music
stool, and a chair for the teacher; and she gazed almost with awe at the
laboratory with its mysterious bottles and retorts, and the gymnasium
fitted with ropes, bars, and other appliances as yet unknown to her. Her
bag was alr