Grace Harlowes Junior Year at High School | Page 5

a double
motive in asking us up here to-day. I believe she wants to talk to us
about Eleanor Savell. Miss Nevin called on Mrs. Gray yesterday and
they were in the parlor together for a long time. After Miss Nevin had
gone, Mrs. Gray told me that Miss Nevin was anxious that Eleanor
should associate with girls of her own age. That is the reason she
brought her to Oakdale."

"Hurry up, you two," called Nora, who had reached the steps. "How
you do lag to-day."
"You will hear more of this later," whispered Anne.
Mrs. Gray stood in the wide hall with hands outstretched in welcome.
She kissed each girl affectionately, but her eyes lingered upon Anne,
who was plainly her favorite. The old lady had become so accustomed
to the sympathetic presence of the quiet, young girl that it seemed, at
times, as though her own daughter had come back to her once more.
"Come right into the library and make yourself comfy," cried Mrs.
Gray cheerily. "I spend most of my time there. The view from the
windows is so beautiful, and as one grows old, one resorts more and
more to book friendships."
"What shall we do with you, Mrs. Gray, if you keep on insisting that
you are old?" said Grace. "You're not a day older at heart than any of
the rest of us. Here, sit down in this nice, easy chair, while we take
turns telling you just how young you are."
"It is due to my adopted children that I am not a cross, crotchety,
complaining old woman," said Mrs. Gray, allowing Grace to seat her in
the big leather-covered arm chair.
"Now, what does your Majesty crave of her loyal subjects?" inquired
Grace, bowing low before the little, old lady.
"Very well, if I am queen, then I must be obeyed. Draw up your chairs
and sit in a circle. I want to tell you a little story. That is partly my
reason for inviting you here this afternoon, although you know you are
welcome whenever you choose to come."
"Is it a fairy story, dear Mrs. Gray, and does it begin with 'Once upon a
time'?" queried Jessica.
"It is a story of real life, my child, but I'll begin it like a fairy tale if you
wish it."

"Oh, please begin at once," said Grace, who, at eighteen, was as fond of
a story as she had been at six.
"Well, 'once upon a time,' there were two sisters. They were really only
half sisters, and the one was almost twenty years older than the other.
The mother of the elder sister had died when she was about fifteen
years of age, and two years later the father had married a beautiful
young Irish girl of very good family, who loved him dearly in spite of
the difference in their ages.
"After they had been married a little over two years, a little girl came to
them, and the older sister loved the tiny baby as dearly as she loved her
beautiful, young step-mother."
"Why, that sounds very much like Grimm's fairy tales!" exclaimed
Nora. "Only the book people are all kings and queens, but this is even
better because the heroine is actually Irish."
There was a general laugh over Nora's remark in which Mrs. Gray
joined.
"It's a case of Ireland forever, isn't it Nora?" said Grace teasingly.
"'Fine and dandy are the Irish,'" said Nora with a grin, quoting from a
popular song she had heard in a recent musical comedy. "But stop
teasing me, and let Mrs. Gray go on with her story."
"When the baby sister, whose name was Edith, was about three years
old, the beautiful young mother died and left the husband inconsolable.
A year later he was killed in a railroad accident, and the elder sister,
named Margaret, was left with only little Edith to comfort her. The
father had been a rich man, so they had no anxiety about money, and
lived on year after year in their beautiful old home, with everything
heart could wish.
"As Edith grew older, she developed a decided talent for music, and
when she was fifteen Margaret decided to take her abroad and allow
her to enter one of the great conservatories of Europe. They went to

Leipsic, and Edith, who had high hopes of one day becoming a concert
pianiste, continued her studies under the best instructors that money
could procure. Things ran along smoothly until Edith met a young
Italian named Guido Savelli, who was studying the violin at the same
conservatory. His brilliant playing had already created a sensation
wherever he appeared, and he gave promise of being a virtuoso.
"He fell violently in love with Edith, who had her mother's beautiful
blue