tood out starkly, even while their
misshapen spires were kindly hidden in the low, driving storm. Near
the railroad station, the new Methodist chapel, whose resemblance to
an enormous locomotive was further heightened by the addition of a
pyramidal row of front steps, like a cowcatcher, stood as if waiting for
a few more houses to be hitched on to proceed to a pleasanter
location. But the pride of Genoa--the great Crammer Institute for Young
Ladies--stretched its bare brick length and reared its cupola plainly
from the bleak Parnassian hill above the principal avenue. There was
no evasion in the Crammer Institute of the fact that it was a public
institution. A visitor upon its doorsteps, a pretty face at its window,
were clearly visible all over the township.

The shriek of the engine of the four-o'clock Northern express brought
but few of the usual loungers to the depot. Only a single passenger
alighted, and was driven away in the solitary waiting sleigh toward the
Genoa Hotel. And then the train sped away again, with that passionless
indifference to human sympathies or curiosity peculiar to express
trains; the one baggage truck was wheeled into the station again; the
station door was locked; and the stationmaster went home.

The locomotive whistle, however, awakened the guilty consciousness
of three young ladies of the Crammer Institute, who were even then
surreptitiously regaling themselves in the bakeshop and confectionery
saloon of Mistress Phillips in a by-lane. For even the admirable
regulations of the Institute failed to entirely develop the physical
and moral natures of its pupils. They conformed to the excellent dietary
rules in public, and in private drew upon the luxurious rations of their
village caterer. They attended church with exemplary formality, and
flirted informally during service with the village beaux. They received
the best and most judicious instruction during school hours, and
devoured the trashiest novels during recess. The result of which was
an aggregation of quite healthy, quite human, and very charming young
creatures that reflected infinite credit on the Institute. Even Mistress
Phillips, to whom they owed vast sums, exhilarated by the exuberant
spirits and youthful freshness of her guests, declared that the sight of
"them young things" did her good, and had even been known to shield them
by shameless equivocation.

"Four o'clock, girls! and, if we're not back to prayers by five, we'll