rner's school could not very well have been mentioned in it. The
English language, it is to be feared, is not quite flexible enough to
mention this secret with delicacy. Did Honora know it? Who can say?
Self-respecting young ladies do not talk about such things, and Honora
was nothing if not self-respecting.

"SUTCLIFFE MANORS, October 15th.

"DEAREST AUNT MARY: As I wrote you, I continue to miss you and Uncle
Tom dreadfully,--and dear old Peter, too; and Cathy and Bridget and
Mary Ann. And I hate to get up at seven o'clock. And Miss Hood,
who takes us out walking and teaches us composition, is such a
ridiculously strict old maid--you would laugh at her. And the
Sundays are terrible. Miss Turner makes us read the Bible for a
whole hour in the afternoon, and reads to us in the evening. And
Uncle Tom was right when he said we should have nothing but jam and
bread and butter for supper: oh, yes, and cold meat. I am always
ravenously hungry. I count the days until Christmas, when I shall
have some really good things to eat again. And of course I cannot
wait to see you all.

"I do not mean to give you the impression that I am not happy here,
and I never can be thankful enough to dear Cousin Eleanor for
sending me. Some of the girls are most attractive. Among others,
I have become great friends with Ethel Wing, who is tall and blond
and good-looking; and her clothes, though simple, are beautiful.
To hear her imitate Miss Turner or Miss Hood or Dr. Moale is almost
as much fun as going to the theatre. You must have heard of her
father--he is the Mr. Wing who owns all the railroads and other
things, and they have a house in Newport and another in New York,
and a country place and a yacht.

"I like Sarah Wycliffe very much. She was brought up abroad, and we
lead the French class together. Her father has a house in Paris,
which they only use for a month or so in the year: an hotel, as the
French call it. And then there is Maude Capron, from Philadelphia,
whose father is Secretary of War. I have now to go to my class in
English composition, but I will write to you again on Saturday.

"Your loving niece,

"HONORA."

The Christmas holidays came, and went by like mileposts from the window
of an express train. There was a Glee Club: there were dances, and
private theatricals in Mrs.