and nearly shut the door in Mr. Summers's face, who had been in vain
hallooing to him to stop, in order to apprise him of my expected
arrival, and make some provision for my accommodation.

These things were all explained to me by degrees; and in the uneventful
routine upon which I had entered, I learned to consider them quite spicy
and champagne-ish.

Mr. Summers called at fifteen minutes before nine, according to
agreement, and we set out together for the Academy. It was a one-storied
edifice, after a Grecian model, which probably looked well in marble,
with classical surroundings, but which, repeated in dingy wood, with no
surroundings at all, grated on an eye that studied the fitness of
things. But, unfortunately, my business was with the inside; and I felt
uneasy when I saw the formidable rows of desks.

'And now, Miss Wade,' said my companion, with admirable seriousness,
'you see your field of action. You will have charge of about thirty
girls; and when they behave badly, so that you have any difficulty with
them, just send them in to me.'

This sounded as though they were in the habit of behaving very badly
indeed; but I doubted if sending them in to him would have been much of
a punishment for any over fifteen.

There was one scholar there when I arrived--a tall, awkward-looking
girl, somewhat my senior--whom Mr. Summers introduced as 'Helen Legram.'
Her only beauty was a pair of very clear eyes, that seemed to comprehend
me at a glance; for the rest, her face was oddly shaped, her figure bad;
and a narrow merino scarf, tied around her throat, was not a becoming
article of dress.

But scarcely had I made these observations when the Philistines were
upon me--arriving by twos, threes, and fours, and pouring through the
open door like overwhelming hordes of barbarians. Of course, every pair
of eyes that entered was immediately fixed upon me; and, although I
endeavored to keep up my dignity under the infliction, I could not help
wishing that it were possible to be suddenly taken up and dropped into
the middle of next week, when my _mauvaise honte_ would have had a
reasonable chance to wear off by several days' contact.

This _beginning_ is a terrible lion blocking up the way of every
undertaking, and never does he appear so formidable as at the outset of
school teaching, unless it is in writing a story. I cast about in my
mind for various models, as a sort of guide; but the only spirits that
emerged from th