or Rast and the children. Her voice floated
through the house, she shaded her eyes with her hand, and leaned
forward, gazing, as though she saw the boat across the water, and then
she smiled, as, with a long soft note, the song ended.

But the instant it was over, her timidity came back with double force,
and she hastily sought refuge beside Helen, her voice gone, in her eyes
a dangerous nearness to tears.

There was now an outburst of compliments from Blum; but Helen kindly met
and parried them. Mr. Dexter began a few well-chosen sentences of
praise; but in the midst of his fluent adjectives, Anne glanced up so
beseechingly that he caught the mist in her eyes, and instantly ceased.
Nor was this all; he opened a discussion with Miss Teller, dragging in
Heathcote also (against the latter's will), and thus secured for Anne
the time to recover herself. She felt this quick kindness, and was
grateful. She decided that she liked him; and she wondered whether Helen
liked him also.

The next morning the fairy-time was over; she went back to school.

CHAPTER X.

"There are three sorts of egoists: those who live themselves and
let others live; those who live themselves and don't let others
live; and those who neither live themselves nor let others live."

"With thoughts and feelings very simple but very
strong."--TOURGUENIEFF.

The winter passed. The new pupil studied with diligence, and insisted
upon learning the beginnings of piano-playing so thoroughly that the
resigned little German master with ear-rings woke up and began to ask
her whether she could not go through a course of ten years or so, and
become "a real blayer, not like American blayers, who vant all to learn
de same biece, and blay him mit de loud pedal down." Sometimes Helen
bore her away to spend a Sunday; but there were no more New-Year's Days,
or occasions for the gray silk. When together at Miss Teller's, the two
sat over the dressing-room fire at night, talking with that delightful
mixture of confidence and sudden little bits of hypocrisy in which women
delight, and which undress seems to beget. The bits of hypocrisy,
however, were all Helen's.

She had long ago gathered from Anne her whole simple history; she was
familiar with the Agency, the fort, Miss Lois, Pere Michaux, Dr.
Gaston, Rast, Tita, and the boys, even old Antoine and his dogs, Rene
and Lebeau. Anne, glad to have a listener, had poured out a flood of
det