acant lot, fenced in, which made a beautiful playground.

There were numbers of such schools at that period, but they were mostly
for little girls. Hanny liked it very much. On Wednesday afternoon they
had drawing, and reading aloud, when the girls could make their own
selections, which were sometimes very amusing. On Friday afternoon they
sewed and embroidered and did worsted work. There was quite a rage about
this. One girl had a large piece in a frame--"Joseph Sold by his
Brethren." Hanny never tired of the beautiful blue and red and orange
costumes. Another girl was working a chair seat. And still another had
begun to embroider a black silk apron with a soft shade of red. Then
they hemstitched handkerchiefs, they marked towels and napkins with
ornate letters, and really were a busy lot. Little Eleanora Whitney
couldn't sew a stitch, and some of the girls thought it "just dreadful."

Friday from half-past three until five Miss Helen Craven gave the
children, whose parents desired it, a dancing lesson. If Nora couldn't
sew, she could dance like a fairy. Her education was a curious
conglomeration. She could read and declaim, but spelling was quite
beyond her, and her attempts at it made a titter through the room. She
could talk a little French, and she had crossed the ocean to England
with her papa. So she wasn't to be despised altogether.

CHAPTER VIII

THE END OF THE WORLD

"'Taint no such thing! The world couldn't come to an end!" Janey Day
quite forgot Mrs. Craven's strictures on speech. "It's too strong.
And--and----"

"And it's round," said the wit of the school. "Round as a ring and has
no end. There now."

"But the world ain't like a ring."

"So is_n't_ my love for you, my friend."

There was quite a little shout of laughter.

One of the larger girls, Hester Brown, stood with upraised head and
earnest countenance.

"It _is_ coming to an end in October. It is only two or three weeks off.
My father has read it all in the Bible. And we are getting ready."

Her demeanor silenced the little group.

"But how _do_ you get ready?"

"We must repent of our sins. And that's why mother wouldn't let me come
to the dancing-class. She thinks it wrong, any way. And mother and
Auntie are making their ascension robes. We go to church every night."

The girls stood awestruck.

"What's going to happen?" asked one.

"Why, the world will be burned up. All those who love God are to be
caught up to heaven