ad in Jean's
direction. Her blue eyes rested upon the other girl with the cold,
impersonal gaze of a stranger. Beneath that maddening, ignoring glance
Jean's good intentions curled up and withered like leaves that are
touched by frost, and her aching desire for reconciliation was once more
driven out of her heart by her pride.

CHAPTER XIX

THE SWORD OF SUSPENSE

When Miss Wharton sent Jean Brent and Grace Harlowe from her office with
the threat of dismissal hanging over them she fully intended to keep her
word. From the moment she had first beheld Grace Harlowe she had
conceived for her a rooted dislike such as only persons of strong
prejudices can entertain. Her whole life had been lived narrowly, and
with repression, therefore she was not in sympathy with youth or its
enthusiasm. According to her belief no young woman of Grace's age and
appearance was competent to assume the responsibility of managing an
establishment like Harlowe House. She had again delivered this opinion
most forcefully in Miss Wilder's presence after Grace had left the
office on the afternoon of their first meeting, and Miss Wilder's
earnest assurances to the contrary served only to deepen Miss Wharton's
disapproval of the bright-faced, clear-eyed girl whose quiet
self-possession indicated a capability of managing her own affairs that
was a distinct affront to the woman who hoped to discover in her such
faults as would triumphantly bear out her unkind criticism.

Miss Wharton had held the position of dean in an unimportant western
college, and it was at the solicitation of a cousin, a member of the
Board of Trustees, that she had applied for the office of dean at
Overton, and had been appointed to it with the distinct understanding
that it was to be for the present college year only. Should Miss Wilder
be unable to resume her duties the following October, Miss Wharton would
then be reappointed for the entire year. The importance of being the
dean of Overton College, coupled with the generous salary attached to
the office, were the motives which caused Miss Wharton to resign her
more humble position, assured as it was, for an indefinite period of
years, for the one of greater glory but uncertain length.

Possessed of a hard, unsympathetic nature, she secretly cherished the
hope that Miss Wilder would not return to Overton the following year.
She also resolved to prove her own wort