Miss Jane Higgins, otherwise Aunty Jane, had been intrusted with money to be devoted to the education of her orphaned niece, little Marjory Vale. Aunty Jane possessed a conscience that would not rest until that money was spent for that particular purpose. Then there were accomplishments that Mrs. Mapes desired for her daughter Jean and that Mrs. Slater wanted for her granddaughter Henrietta that were not, at that time, procurable in Lakeville. The solution to all these problems was boarding school, since the girls were much too young for college.
Of course Bettie Tucker, their inseparable companion, wished to go too. But her father, a clergyman with a large family and a small salary, could see no way to afford what seemed to him an unnecessary outlay; until Mr. Black, an elderly widower with a young heart and a warm affection for all children and especially for Bettie, offered generously to pay all expenses connected with Bettie’s education.
Of course the selecting of a proper school had proved a matter of much importance and thought. The mothers and Aunty Jane had sent for and received vast numbers of catalogues, each more fascinating than the last. Aunty Jane was in favor of something near Boston. Mrs. Bennett preferred Philadelphia, while Mrs. Mapes showed a partiality for Ohio.
“I think,” said Mrs. Tucker, “that we’d better be guided by Mrs. Slater. She has traveled a great deal and I’m sure she must have a great many friends whose daughters have been to boarding school. Let’s talk to Mrs. Slater about it.”
“I agree with you,” said all the other parents and Aunty Jane.
Mrs. Slater had, indeed, a great many friends who had had boarding school daughters. Also, she too had a tall stack of catalogues. Also she had, in her own mind, already selected a school for Henrietta.
“In the first place,” said she, when her guests were seated in her handsome house, “we don’t want our little girls too far away from us, so I am in favor of something near Chicago. In the second place I am greatly inclined toward the school founded by my old friend Doctor Rhodes in Hiltonburg. A very fine old gentleman, my dears, with high ideals and beautiful manners. Highland Hall is perhaps rather an old fashioned school; but the catalogue states that there is a new gymnasium and new, up-to-date dormitories. The most charming young woman of my acquaintance attended that school—Ruth Belding, her name was. Dr. Rhodes, I assure you, is a wonderful man, splendidly educated, highly cultured and charming in every way. His teachers are chosen with the greatest care and only really nice girls are admitted to his school. There are more expensive schools and some cheaper ones—I had been thinking of consulting you about this very matter.”
“It sounds all right to me,” said Mrs. Bennett.
“I had thought of that Painesville place,” said Mrs. Mapes, “but Hiltonburg is certainly nearer home—though any place is far enough from Northern Michigan.”
“Of course there’s no place like Boston,” said Aunty Jane, who had been born in the East, “but Marjory could get home from this Hiltonburg place for her Christmas vacation.”