en walk,
giving a pretended scared look over her shoulder as she caught
Marian's hand. "Don't let her get me, will you?" she said. Marian
fell in with her mood and promised that she should not be delivered
to the ogress, though in her heart of hearts she felt that a person
who would dare to take liberties with Grandma Otway's best room
surely could not be a very scary individual, and by the time they
had reached the apple tree, she had decided that Miss Dorothy would
probably have no fear of climbing to the very top, if she cared to.

"The Garden of Hesperides and the Golden Apples!" exclaimed Miss
Dorothy, settling down into the crotch and giving Marian a hand to
help her to a seat by her side. "Isn't this too lovely for
anything? It will be the finest place in the world to come and read
fairy-tales. Do you know many? I have brought a lot with me, and
we'll have a lovely time here before it gets too cold to stay out."

"I don't know many fairy-tales," Marian answered doubtfully.
"Grandma doesn't exactly approve of them; at least she never tells
me any. She says that Bible stories are entertaining enough for any
one, and she lets me read those 'simplified for the understanding of
a child.'" She spoke with perfect gravity, though Miss Dorothy
turned her head to hide the smile she could not prevent.

"I suppose, then," said Miss Dorothy, "that you have a book of
those."

"Yes; it belonged to grandpa when he was small, and it is called
'Tales from the Bible, simplified for the understanding of a child';
I read it generally on Sundays. Mrs. Hunt knows about Cinderella and
the Glass Slipper and about the Pig that huffed and puffed till he
blew the house down."

"Oh, I don't know that last one," said Miss Dorothy; "you will have
to tell me, and I'll tell you about the Golden Apples. Don't the
apples smell good? Do we dare have any of them when they are ripe?"

"Oh, yes, we can have two a day; one in the morning and one at noon;
grandma says they are lead at night."

"Goodness me! I believe I have heard that saying before," said Miss
Dorothy, mentally determining to carry apples to her room to eat
when she felt inclined. Mrs. Otway should not decide such matters
for her. She sat with her chin in her hand looking off at the ocean,
blue in the distance. Marian, watching her, decided that although
the new teacher did not exactly fill her expectations in some
respects, in others she far exceeded them. She had very blue ey