clearly. In fact, when Clover went to Bolton, she was quite struck
with the hill: it was so much higher than the sand-bank which bordered
the lake at Burnet.

There was a great deal to do to make the girls ready for school by
the third week in April. Mrs. Hall was very kind, and her advice was
sensible; though, except for Dr. Carr, the girls would hardly have had
furs and flannels enough for so cold a place as Hillsover. Every
thing for winter as well as for summer had to be thought of; for it
had been arranged that the girls should not come home for the autumn
vacation, but should spend it with Mrs. Page. This was the hardest
thing about the plan. Katy begged very hard for Christmas; but when
she learned that it would take three days to come and three days to
go, and that the holidays lasted less than a week, she saw it was of
no use, and gave up the idea, while Elsie tried to comfort herself by
planning a Christmas-box. The preparations kept them so busy that
there was no time for any thing else. Mrs. Hall was always wanting
them to go with her to shops, or Miss Petingill demanding that they
should try on linings, and so the days flew by. At last all was
ready. The nice half-dozens of pretty underclothes came home from
the sewing-machine woman's, and were done up by Bridget, who dropped
many a tear into the bluing water, at the thought of the young ladies
going away. Mrs. Hall, who was a good packer, put the things into
the new trunks. Everybody gave the girls presents, as if they had
been brides starting on a wedding journey.

Papa's was a watch for each. They were not new, but the girls thought
them beautiful. Katy's had belonged to her mother. It was large and
old-fashioned, with a finely wrought case. Clover's, which had been
her grandmother's, was larger still. It had a quaint ornament on the