nd square; a glass door on one side
showed within a long narrow refectory, with tables, an armoire, and
two lamps; it was empty; large glass doors, in front, opened on the
playground and garden; a broad staircase ascended spirally on the
opposite side; the remaining wall showed a pair of great folding-doors,
now closed, and admitting: doubtless, to the classes.

Mdlle. Reuter turned her eye laterally on me, to ascertain, probably,
whether I was collected enough to be ushered into her sanctum sanctorum.
I suppose she judged me to be in a tolerable state of self-government,
for she opened the door, and I followed her through. A rustling sound of
uprising greeted our entrance; without looking to the right or left, I
walked straight up the lane between two sets of benches and desks,
and took possession of the empty chair and isolated desk raised on an
estrade, of one step high, so as to command one division; the other
division being under the surveillance of a maitresse similarly elevated.
At the back of the estrade, and attached to a moveable partition
dividing this schoolroom from another beyond, was a large tableau of
wood painted black and varnished; a thick crayon of white chalk lay on
my desk for the convenience of elucidating any grammatical or verbal
obscurity which might occur in my lessons by writing it upon the
tableau; a wet sponge appeared beside the chalk, to enable me to efface
the marks when they had served the purpose intended.

I carefully and deliberately made these observations before allowing
myself to take one glance at the benches before me; having handled the
crayon, looked back at the tableau, fingered the sponge in order to
ascertain that it was in a right state of moisture, I found myself cool
enough to admit of looking calmly up and gazing deliberately round me.

And first I observed that Mdlle. Reuter had already glided away, she
was nowhere visible; a maitresse or teacher, the one who occupied the
corresponding estrade to my own, alone remained to keep guard over me;
she was a little in the shade, and, with my short sight, I could only
see that she was of a thin bony figure and rather tallowy complexion,
and that her attitude, as she sat, partook equally of listlessness and
affectation. More obvious, more prominent, shone on by the full light of
the large window, were the occupants of the benches just before me, of
whom some were girls of fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, some young women
from eigh