xpect her to return? Oh, er--I think by
tomorrow at latest. Is she where you can communicate with her by phone?
Oh, certainly, certainly. The number? Why, er, I must ascertain for you.
You must know immediately? You have heard alarming rumors? Ridiculous!
Your niece missing since last evening? Preposterous! Absurd! Yes, of
course, if you insist. And you will be over by the first train in the
morning? Really, you are over-solicitous. My pupils are well looked after
and cared for. You have reason to believe they are? Your tone hardly
bears out your statement. She must be here to receive you when you
arrive? Oh, certainly. _Very_ well. Good-by." The Empress came nearer
fainting after that conversation than she had ever come in all her life.

But such a nature as hers must have a vent for its spleen, and what
better ones than Eleanor and Petty, the cause of all the mischief? The
electric bell which summoned them to Miss Woodhull's study fairly
sputtered sparks. Eleanor was sulkily silent. Petty, as usual, in tears.
Tears were Petty's long suit.

We have not time to dwell upon the details of that interview even if we
would. Eleanor was one of the few girls to really be expelled from the
school, and Petty promptly fled to "darling mamma" and "Reggie."

Early Monday morning Admiral Seldon arrived upon the scene and was
closeted with the Empress for two solid hours. This time his guns were
_not_ silenced, and those passing the study door could hear a steady
rumble like heavy firing afar off, and in the intervals lighter shots, as
though a gatling gun were popping its stacatto fire. Ultimately the heavy
gun silenced the gatling. The last shot was something upon this order:

"Your methods, Madam, may prevail elsewhere, but permit me to say that
they are a dead failure here. You are not training cart horses, but
thoroughbreds, and you can't lash and spur _that_ breed. No, my niece
will _never_ return to Leslie Manor while it continues under its present
management, and the next time I select a school for her the character and
personality of its head will influence my choice far more than the
curriculum, or modern methods. We have managed in bygone days to produce
some pretty fine specimens of the true gentlewoman by the old methods in
vogue in this part of the United States, and I am hopeful that we may
produce a few more before the race dies out. Yes, I assuredly advise a
rest, Madam, and that you prolong it indefinitely. It wil