The thought of opposing the plan did not occur to her. Mrs. Graham's
rule, gentle though it was, was not of the flabby, nor yet of the
elastic sort. Her decisions were not hastily arrived at; but once made,
they were final and abiding. "You might just as well try to oppose the
Gulf Stream!" Mr. Graham would say. "They do it sometimes with icebergs,
and what is the result? In a few days the great clumsy things are bowing
and scraping and turning somersaults, and fairly jostling each other in
their eagerness to obey the guidance of the insidious current. Insidious
Current, will you allow a cup of coffee to drift in my direction? I
shall be only too happy to turn a somersault if it will afford
you--thanks!--the smallest gratification."

So Hildegarde's first lessons had been in obedience and in truthfulness;
and these were fairly well learned before she began her ABC. And so she
knew now, that she might storm and weep as she would in her own room,
but that the decree was fixed, and that unless the skies fell, her
summer would be passed at Hartley's Glen.




CHAPTER II.

DAME AND FARMER.


When the first shock was over, Hilda was rather glad than otherwise to
learn that there was to be no delay in carrying out the odious plan.
"The sooner the better," she said to herself. "I certainly don't want to
see any of the girls again, and the first plunge will be the worst of