the ears of the venerable volume. All this time
Miss Susan Posey was catching the little books by the small of their
backs, pulling them out, opening them, and clapping them together,
'p-'p-'p! 'p-'p-'p! and carefully caressing all their edges with a
regular professional dusting-cloth, so persuasively that they yielded
up every particle that a year had drifted upon them, and came forth
refreshed and rejuvenated. This process went on for a while, until Susan
had worked down among the octavos and Master Gridley had worked up among
the quartos. He had got hold of Calmet's Dictionary, and was caught by
the article Solomon, so that he forgot his occupation again. All at
once it struck him that everything was very silent,--the 'p-'p-'p! of
clapping the books had ceased, and the light rustle of Susan's dress was
no longer heard. He looked up and saw her standing perfectly still, with
a book in one hand and her duster in the other. She was lost in thought,
and by the shadow on her face and the glistening of her blue eyes he
knew it was her hidden sorrow that had just come back to her. Master
Gridley shut up his book, leaving Solomon to his fate, like the worthy
Benedictine he was reading, without discussing the question whether he
was saved or not.

"Susan Posey, child, what is your trouble?"

Poor Susan was in the state of unstable equilibrium which the least
touch upsets, and fell to crying. It took her some time to get down
the waves of emotion so that speech would live upon them. At last it
ventured out,--showing at intervals, like the boat rising on the billow,
sinking into the hollow, and climbing again into notice.

"O Mr. Grid-ley--I can't--I can't--tell you or--any-body--what 's the
mat-mat-matter. My heart will br-br-break."

"No, no, no, child," said Mr. Gridley, sympathetically stirred a little
himself by the sight of Susan in tears and sobbing and catching her
breath, "that mustn't be, Susan Posey. Come off the steps, Susan Posey,
and stop dusting the books,--I can finish them,--and tell me all abort
your troubles. I will try 'to help you out of them, and I have begun
to think I know how to help young people pretty well. I have had some
experience at it."

But Susan cried and sobbed all the more uncontrollably and convulsively.
Master Gridley thought he had better lead her at once to what he felt
pretty sure was the source of her grief, and that, when she had had her
cry out, she would probably make the hole