decided, as the
result proved--to say nothing to Sydney until the answer was received.
Randal's correspondent wrote back with as little delay as possible. He
had made every inquiry without success. Not a trace of the boy had been
found, or (in the opinion of the police) was likely to be found. The one
event that had happened, since the appearance of the paragraph in the
New York journal, was the confinement of James Bellbridge in an asylum,
as a madman under restraint without hope of recovery.

Chapter VI. Sydney Teaches.

Mrs. Presty had not very seriously exaggerated the truth, when she
described her much-indulged granddaughter as "a child who had never been
accustomed to wait for anything since the day when she was born."

Governesses in general would have found it no easy matter to produce a
favorable impression on Kitty, and to exert the necessary authority in
instructing her, at the same time. Spoiled children (whatever moralists
may say to the contrary) are companionable and affectionate children,
for the most part--except when they encounter the unfortunate persons
employed to introduce them to useful knowledge. Mr. and Mrs. Linley
(guiltily conscious of having been too fond of their only child
to subject her to any sort of discipline) were not very willing
to contemplate the prospect before Miss Westerfield on her first
establishment in the schoolroom. To their surprise and relief there
proved to be no cause for anxiety after all. Without making an attempt
to assert her authority, the new governess succeeded nevertheless when
older and wiser women would have failed.

The secret of Sydney's triumph over adverse circumstances lay hidden in
Sydney herself.

Everything in the ordinary routine of life at Mount Morven was a source
of delight and surprise to the unfortunate creature who had passed
through six years of cruelty, insult, and privation at her aunt's
school. Look where she might, in her new sphere of action, she
saw pleasant faces and heard kind words. At meal times, wonderful
achievements in the art of cookery appeared on the table which she
had not only never tasted, but never even heard of. When she went out
walking with her pupil they were free to go where they pleased, without
restriction of time--except the time of dinner. To breathe the delicious
air, to look at the glorious scenery, were enjoyments so exquisitely
exhilarating that, by Sydney's own confession, she became quite light
hea