o fury.

Harsh, loud tones made Amy shiver, and brought a look into her eyes
which the Colonel did not like to see, and with her he was usually very
docile, or if roused, the touch of her hand and the expression of her
eyes subdued him, as they did now when he told her of his broken
carriage and ruined cushions and the young girl for whom Amy at once
wished to do something.

"Certainly," he had said; "only don't bring her here," and he was
beginning to wonder where Howard was, and to feel irritated at the
delay, when the latter came in with Jack, and found a tolerably urbane
and courteous host.

Naturally the conversation turned upon the storm and accident, the
particulars of which were briefly gone over, while Amy stirred her
coffee listlessly and did not seem to listen. She was very lovely, Jack
thought, with no sign of her mental disorder, except the peculiar
expression of her eyes at times. Her dress was faultless, her manner
perfect, her language good, and her smile the sweetest and saddest he
had ever seen, and Jack watched her curiously, while the conversation
drifted away from Eloise, in whom the Colonel felt no interest. She was
a graduate, and probably knew nothing of what he thought essential for a
teacher to know. She was not rooted and grounded in the fundamentals.
Probably she had never heard of the grindstone, or the sheep, and could
not work out the problems if she had. She was superficial. She belonged
to a new generation which had put him and his theories on the shelf. Her
blue dress had stained the cushions of his carriage, and there was a
puddle of water in the hall where Sam had put down her satchel and hat,
which had been found in the driveway near the stable. They had been
thrown from the carriage, and lain in the rain all night. The hat was
soaked through and through, and the ribbons were limp and faded; but he
did not care a rap what became of them, he said to himself, when Howard
spoke of them and their condition, saying that bad as they were he
presumed she wanted them.

Amy on the contrary was instantly on the alert, and as they passed
through the hall from the dining-room, and she saw the poor crushed hat,
she said to Jack, "Is it hers?"

"Yes, and I'm afraid it is ruined," Jack answered, taking it in his hand
and examining it critically.

"I will fix it," Amy replied, and, carrying it to her room, she tried to
bend it into shape and renovate the bows of ribbon.

But it was beyond h