he said, from time to time, in a dreamy way,
"Pretty!--sweet! Sing more;" and then she lay perfectly quiet, and soon
fell into a gentle slumber. Often and often, after that, when poor Tiney
was seized with these excruciating attacks, as soon as the first intense
suffering was over, she would say, "Cousin Agnes, sing!" and, from the
time she heard the gentle tones of Agnes' voice, she would be quiet and
gentle as a lamb. The effect could be likened to nothing but the calming
of the evil spirit which possessed the monarch of Israel, by the tones
of the sweet harp of David.

XIV.

THE SCHOOL IN THE WEST WING.

"Scatter diligently, in susceptible minds,
The germs of the good and beautiful,
They will develop there to trees, bud, bloom,
And bear the golden fruit of paradise."

Agnes found it no easy task to bring into training minds so ignorant and
so utterly undisciplined as those of her little pupils. Left entirely to
themselves, as they had been for many months, with a mother too indolent
to trouble herself about any systematic plan of government, and a father
too easy and good-natured to carry out the many plans he was ever
forming for their "breaking in;" scolded and fretted at by their older
sisters, to whom they were perfect torments; by turns playing
harmoniously, and then quarrelling most vigorously,--they roamed the
house and grounds, doing mischief everywhere, and bringing wrath upon
their heads at every turn.

With a perfect horror of anything like _study_, they had expected with
great dread the arrival of a governess, as putting a final stop to all
their fun and freedom. This dread had been in nowise diminished by the
constant remarks of their older sisters upon governesses in the
abstract, and their own expected governess in particular. One evening
with Agnes served to dispel the horror, so far as she was concerned,
though the dread of books was still as great as ever. Before the evening
was over, Agnes had them all round her, as she sat on the sofa, telling
them beautiful stories, and asking them questions.

"Have you any pretty flowers in the woods about here?" she asked.

"Oh, lots!" answered Rosa; "yellow flowers, and blue flowers, and white
flowers."

"Then if you would like to learn something of Botany, so as to know the
names of all these beautiful flowers, we will take many pleasant
rambles in the woods, and gather the lovely wild flowers, and I will
teach you how to press