“Would you like to see my great uncle’s study?” she asked, turning from the flowers to her guests.
“Oh!” Ronny drew a wondering audible breath. She could hardly believe her ears.
The others laughed at her, but the eager light in their eyes told its own story.
“May we see it, Miss Susanna?” Vera’s tone was almost imploring.
“You may. Another time, when all of you come to see me, I will show you about the house. It is well worth seeing. My great uncle gathered beauty from the four corners of the earth. He loved to travel and brought back with him the treasure of other lands. I should like you to see the study. It holds one thing, in particular, in which I am sure you will be interested.”
“There is no corner of this house without interest,” Leila said warmly. “I am sure of that.”
“So it seems to me,” nodded Miss Hamilton. “I have lived in it many years. I am not over the wonder of it yet. At times I am sorry that others cannot enjoy it with me. Again I am glad to be alone.”
Following the old lady, who mounted the broad staircase as nimbly as any of them, they found on the second landing the same solid magnificence of furnishing that marked the first floor. Down a long hallway, which extended back from the main reception hall, they went. At the end of the hall was a door of heavy walnut, its upper half of stained glass. This their guide opened. They were now seeing the room where the founder of Hamilton College had spent so many hours planning the institution which bore his name.
The murmur of voices died out among them as they stepped into the study. Compared with other rooms in the house which the girls had seen, it was rather small. The floor was bare save for one medium-sized rug in the center of the room, on which stood a heavy-legged mahogany writing table. A tall desk, a book-case, three high-backed chairs and a filing cabinet, all of carved mahogany, completed the furnishings, plus one broad-seated chair, leather cushioned, and with a rounding back. It was drawn up before the library table; Brooke Hamilton’s own chair.
The most notable object in the study was a framed, illuminated oblong about five feet long and perhaps two and a half feet wide. It was hung at a point on the wall directly opposite the founder’s chair.