ment from one to another of her pupils in a sort of amazed, reproving
silence that presently had the effect of quieting them down a little. Then
she spoke.

"Young ladies and young gentlemen, I am astonished! especially at your
expressions and behavior, Miss Gertrude Ross. How you can permit yourself
to indulge in such invectives against parents so extremely indulgent as
Mr. and Mrs. Ross, I cannot conceive."

Sophie whose screams had sunk to sobs, now permitted the servant to lift
her to her high chair, Kate and the boys slunk shamefacedly into their
seats at the table, and Gertrude, muttering something about "people not
keeping their promises," followed their example.

"Come, sit down, my dears," Miss Fisk said, turning to Violet and her
brothers; "the tempest seems to have nearly subsided and I hope will not
resume its violence."

Herbie was clinging to Vi in a frightened way, sobbing "I want mamma!" and
Harold's eyes too were full of tears. It took coaxing and soothing to
restore their equanimity and then the breakfast proceeded, everybody
seeming to grow brighter and more good humored with the satisfying of the
appetite for food.

Vi was a merry little creature, a veritable bit of sunshine wherever she
went, and under the influence of her bright looks and ways, sweet rippling
laughter and amusing speeches, the whole party at length grew quite merry:
especially after Miss Fisk had announced that there were to be no lessons
that day but instead a picnic in the woods.

CHAPTER SIXTH.

"By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd,
The sports of children satisfy the child."
--GOLDSMITH.

"Good! good!" cried the children. "Oh, delightful! But where are we
going?"

"To the grove adjacent to the schoolhouse," replied the governess. "We
could not find a lovelier spot, and its proximity to the mansion renders
it most eligible."

"'Proximity, eligible, adjacent;' what do you mean by those words, Miss
Fisk?" asked Gertrude, a little contemptuously.

"I desire you to consult one of our standard lexicographers. You will then
be far more likely to retain the definitions in your memory," returned the
governess, ignoring the tone of her pupil.

Gertrude shrugged her shoulders, with impatience, muttering audibly, "I
wish you'd talk like other people, and not like a dictionary."

"You quarrel with my phraseology, because you do not understand it,"
obs