The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1893-12-20

ana what makes IL perfectly certain
is that my mother would never have
gone to it unless it had been. Miss
Lepington used to limit the number of
scholars to forty and there were many
stories current rs to the early applica-
tions made for place in that school.
1t was no uncommon thing for happy
father to send in an application as soon
as daughter was born; and it was
said that when Tom Smelling and
Eunice Dunbar were engaged, they
wrote to Miss Lexington that in case
they were married and had daughter
they wanted a place reserved for her.
l don't exactly know whether to be-
lieve that or not. do know that my
mother applied only six years before
hand but then her mother knew Miss
Lepington very well, and so Miss Lep-
ington was probably willing to strain
point.
But things cannot always stay in
fashion. Hoop skirts went out of style
after time, and ever SO many crino-
line makers were ruined Even these
beautiful great sleeves must go out of
fashion. greatly fear that they may
have disappeared before this story
comes out. And Miss Lepington's Is
school went out of fashion, too. You
see, Miss Lepington would not have
German taught at her school; and
there was Miss Cartwight's school
that had n second coasin of Goethe's
as a German teacher; and nowadays,
of course, every girl ought to know
German. That was only one reason
ont of dozen for the falling off in
pupils. 4.
Miss Lepington must have noticed
the diminution in applications
but she did not seem to: She
was sterner than ever in. her re-
quirements. She had never taken
any one whose grandfather was not
somebody" she said, and she never
would. So at last the time came
when there were only thirty-f five
pupils; and then the remaining ones
dropped off, one by one, in way that
pains me to tell of.
But Miss Lepington never thought
of giving up teaching. She was just
as erect as in the old days, and little
stricter; and she taught just as well as
ever-much better, L don't doubt,
than Miss Cartwright, whose ancestors
were l don't know what when the
Lepingtons were lolling at their ease
in Lepington Manor, or fighting for
their king at Agincourt.
/ suppose one reason the pupils
stopped coming was because Hanover
street deteriorated SO. Every one
lives on Enderby square now, or else
on Collingwood avenue, and you can't
really expect a girl of fifteen to walk
past all those queer shops on Hanover
street. 1t is II strange old place, and
one wonders how it could ever have
been so fashionable.
Miss Lepington had nephew,
Densil Smith, of Smith, Allen AZ Com
pany. They lived together in an old
house on Puritan square. He was
rich, and she must have been quite
we'll off herself He was so wrapped
up in his business that he never knew
much about her school. He may have
had some little suspicion of what was
going on but one of his business rules
was to get everything at first hand
His news about Miss Lepingtons
school was always derived from Miss
Lepington herself, and thus he thought
he was sure to know the truth. He
was the only friend of Miss Leping
ton's who did not know it,
The school grew smaller and smaller,
till there were only twenty pupils.
Then ten of these left in body to go
to Miss Cartwright's. Then the rest
deserted, one by one, until don't
like to say it-until Constance Afford
was the only pupil in Miss Lepington's
school And now the worst is said,
for if any one were to have a school
with one scholar, Constance would he
just the scholar to have.
She always seemed to me more like