The Lamar register., 1900-11-14
CHAPTER 4.

uOrmltory. ana l nau no luea tndt
| possessed so many things"
You hef been these four years
mere" said the German governess
kindly, land you spend much money,
bad child. But they will be pleased
to see you home-o-h. yes"
Il don't know who will be pleased,
] am sure" Returned Mollie, with a
sigh, for there is only my half-sister
Kate"
''Ach himmel! Well, she is no doubt
looking forward to your return. She
is older than you--wiser?"
She is ten years old" interrupted
the girl. sitting down on the edge of
the bed, and regarding the well mean
ing Fraulein gloomily. when last
saw her she was about six, and my
stepfather spoilt her shamefully."
What? With whom will you lif
then. mine Mollie? With the step
father?"
"Oh. no; he died twelve months ago.
| shall live at Chalfont House. the
property of my half-sister. Kate. with
her. and her aunt Madame Debois.'
"Ach, French LADY,"
mo. but she married Frenchmah.
She is now a widow with one son.
and after my mothers death she went
to keep house for her brother. Mr..
Barlowe."
THY stepfather?''
II never called him that" And a
strange look of scorn and bitterness
swept over the girls pretty, glowing
face. "It is wrong to hate any one
h It,,fr I N
hard not to hate him dead
so, so, the Bible tells us to hate
no man." reproved the governess. with
a placid shake of her head. as she be-
gan to fold up some of her favorite
pupils clothes.
"And try not to do SO; I pray ev-
cry night to forgive him." burst forth
Mollie in shaking voice. "but he
separated me from my mother; he did
not make her happy"
She paused abruptly. conscious how
impossible 1t was to make the Solo
Fraulein understand that the wrongs
that were ranking in her mind had
grown with her growth, and become
part of her life; and, as rosy-cheeked
German maid entered at the same mo-
ment and announced that she had
been sent to assist Fraulein LES
TRANCE to pack, nothing more was
said.
For four years Mollie L'Estrange
had been left at Frau Seckendorf's
school in Hanover. without once re-
turning to England. without any one
coming to see her. But she had been
very happy, for she had naturally
merry, buoyant disposition. and was
the pet and favorite of the school es-
tablishment, from the grave, kindly
Frau herself downwards
Then she was literally supplied with
pocket money by her fathers trustees,
generously paid for in every way.
while Frau Seckendorf had carte
blanche to do everything for her
amusement in the holidays, and the
time had gone SO fast that Mollie
could hardly believe she was nearly
nineteen, and that few days would
see her once more in her native land.
All. that dear native land! How often
in her dreams had she seen it as it
would be looking now, with the first
faint breath of spring rustling through
the bare, brown branches. the leaves
SDTOulluS III Lie hSuSCio"o, thC NAc"
lets peeping forth from some sheltered
nook! Yes, though there was no one
now in the house where she was born
to welcome her home with affection.
it would be something to be in Eng
land in the sweet spring time, to gath
er violets and primroses in the well
remembered woods and fields around
Reverton.
The packing was accomplished at
last, more by the Frauleins and Liza's
exertions than her own, for the girl
was restless and excited, torn by con-
ficting feelings, sorry to bid farewell
to quaint old Hanover, and all those
who had been SO kind to her since
she came there,-a pale, motherless
child of fourteen-yet anxious to rush
into the future, to see what it held in
store for her.
So when the trunks were shut and
Liza had departed with her arms full
Of the gifts she had bestowed upon
her, Mollie made her way with un-
usual ssdateness to Frau Seckendorf's
private apartments. Since the girls
of her own age had left one by one,
and she had outgrown the class rooms,