Jean looked obediently at the teacher’s desk. Yes, she would get to work at once.
But somehow her head did not feel just right. She took out her books, and bravely tried to conquer her stupid feelings.
Suddenly the floor moved—her desk moved—and then—Jean Faval fell in a dead faint!
CHAPTER XXV
TEACHERS
Mrs. Pangborn was not a woman to allow her pupils too much liberty—she felt the very responsibility of a mother, and, following Jean’s break-down, she at once started a personal investigation of the girl’s doings on the morning when she came late into the classroom.
She found out that Jean had gone to the post-office. One of the gardeners had seen her cross to where the fortune teller sat in the woods. Then, someone else remembered that she had seen her run all the way up the path. Mrs. Pangborn determined that this fortune teller should be put out of the place, as she was plainly an evil influence.
Taking the simplest and most reasonable course first, the principal of Glenwood found her way to the cabin of the alleged fortune teller.
Her dignity seemed offended, as she stepped into the ill-smelling room. Madam Shebad was not so stupid as to think that she had, in the white-haired woman, a customer, but, nevertheless, she was equal to the occasion.
“I have come to complain,” began Mrs. Pangborn without preliminaries, “about your receiving my pupils here for the purpose of telling fortunes. Those young ladies are in my charge. I am responsible for them to their parents, and if you again allow them to come here I shall have to make known your business to the proper officials. I suppose you know it is against the law.”