the children quite a bewildering maze of dark passages, so dim and
sombre after the bright sunshine, that Grace overheard Jean say in an,
abrupt whisper, which was instantly smothered by her brother, "I'm
afraid, Geordie; I'm no gain' farther upon this dark road."

At last the little company reached the room that had been assigned to
them. It was the old still-room, but it had been long in disuse, and
was scarcely less dim than the passages which led to it. The high narrow
window only admitted a few slanting rays of sunlight, that danced on the
white vaulted roof, which was queerly curved and arched by the windings
of a narrow staircase above. It looked, however, none the less an
imposing chamber to Geordie, who instinctively drew off his cap as he
came in from the sunny glare of the fresh spring day to its
semi-darkness.

Then Jean, who had decided that the best code of manners was to watch
what Geordie did, and follow implicitly, began to pull the strings of
her little bonnet, to remove it from her head. It had been a present
from Mistress Gowrie on New Year's Day, and this was the first occasion
on which Jean had worn it, though it had often been taken from its
resting-place in a red cotton pocket-handkerchief, and viewed with
complacency. To-day, when it came to be-tied, she had to apply to
Geordie, her unfailing help in all extremities; and he in his efforts to
make an imposing bow like the one which decorated Mistress Gowrie's
ample chin, had knotted the strings after the manner of whipcord, so
that they required all Grace's ingenuity to disentangle them.

Presently, after all these preliminaries were satisfactorily
accomplished, the young teacher seated herself at the table, and began,
to fumble nervously among the books which she had brought to use. There