interest of curiosity; her father's mysterious friend was a
person whom she honestly desired to see again. Perplexed by the
difficulty of finding a means of tracing Miss Jethro, she reached
the shady limit of the trees, and turned to walk back again.
Approaching the place at which she and Francine had met, an idea
occurred to her. It was just possible that Miss Jethro might not
be unknown to her aunt.

Still meditating on the cold reception that she had encountered,
and still feeling the influence which mastered her in spite of
herself, Francine interpreted Emily's return as an implied
expression of regret. She advanced with a constrained smile, and
spoke first.

"How are the young ladies getting on in the schoolroom?" she
asked, by way of renewing the conversation.

Emily's face assumed a look of surprise which said plainly, Can't
you take a hint and leave me to myself?

Francine was constitutionally impenetrable to reproof of this
sort; her thick skin was not even tickled. "Why are you not
helping them," she went on; "you who have the clearest head among
us and take the lead in everything?"

It may be a humiliating confession to make, yet it is surely true
that we are all accessible to flattery. Different tastes
appreciate different methods of burning incense--but the perfume
is more or less agreeable to all varieties of noses. Francine's
method had its tranquilizing effect on Emily. She answered