six. There was a resident French
mistress in the school and also a resident German, and there was an
English governess, and, of course, Mrs. Clavering herself; but the
other teachers came from the neighboring town of Hartleway to instruct
the pupils in all those accomplishments which were in the early
seventies considered necessary for a young lady's education. I can
assure those of my readers who are well acquainted with modern schools
that no one could have been more particular than Mrs. Clavering with
regard to her girls. In such things as deportment and nice manners and
all the code which signifies politeness, and in the almost lost art of
brilliant conversation, she could instruct as very few other people
could in her day, and then what accomplishments she did teach were
thorough. The girls were taught French properly, they understood the
grammar of the language, and could also speak it nicely; and their
German was also very fair, if not quite as thorough as their French.
And their music had some backbone in it, for a little of the science
was taught as well as the practice, and their singing was very sweet
and true. They could also recite, those of them who had any gift for
it, quite beautifully, and if they had a turn for acting that also was
brought to the fore and made the most of. As to their knowledge of the
English language, it bade fair to eclipse many of the High School girls
of the present day, for they did understand in the first place its
literature, and in the next its grammar, and were well acquainted with
the works of Shakespeare and those other lions of literature whose
names we are so proud of and whose works we love.

CHAPTER II.

THE GIRLS.

It was a lovely day in the beginning of June, and, being Wednesday, was
a half-holiday. The girls of the Upper school, numbering seven in all,
were assembled in the cherry garden. The cherry garden stood a little
apart, to the left of the great general garden, and was entered by a
low walled-in door.

Mrs. Clavering was so proud of her cherries and so afraid that the
neighbors might be tempted to help themselves to the luscious fruit,
that she kept the door locked between the cherry garden and the other,
and only those girls who were very privileged were allowed to sit in
it. But the girls in the Upper school were, of course, privileged, and
they were now enjoying a fine time seated on the grass, or on little
camp-stools and chairs, under