Several teachers and pupils were going out and in. Reising remarked _en passant_ that Lori returned their greetings with a certain condescension, and these greetings were very polite--she was already looked upon as future mistress, and felt herself to be such. The little creature could assume very dictatorial manners. Fräulein Sohle received her and Reising in her drawing-room. She was a lady of imposing stature, but astoundingly thin and so short-sighted that without very strong spectacles she should have mistaken all her pupils when quite close to her. Lori's principal object was by means of her brother-in-law, who was known to be rich, to represent herself to Fräulein Sohle as a lady of fortune. Fräulein Sohle respected that motive, and received her to-day with peculiar politeness. "I will conduct you through all the apartments, but the spirit of my institution you must also learn. The rooms are a little confined; one must do the best one can in a town. But as far as the spirit is concerned, I may surely say that on the wings of freedom it soars above the commonplace into the atmosphere of most refined cultivation. Look at the daughters of the educated classes in our town; they quite fulfil the name which it enjoys as the beacon of the East. And this, to a great extent, is my humble merit. My pupils interest themselves in every question of life; I have awakened the feeling for it within them. Enlightenment--no obscurity--is my watchword. There must be no veil for the mind." The mistress commenced her round with her guests. At that moment one of the lower classes was rushing out for a few moments to enjoy the fresh air in the garden, which consisted of a small patch of gravel and an arbour. It was a wild troop that clattered down the stairs, and did not allow itself to be disturbed by Fräulein Sohle's cries. "I will keep better order," said Lori softly, but with decision, to her companion. First the rooms of the pupils were subjected to inspection; they were not inelegantly furnished, but small, and considerable disorder reigned within them. Several of the elder fair creatures had used their beds for a short afternoon nap; cushions and coverlets were therefore in a chaotic condition, and the emblems of future rule, the little slippers, lay isolated about the room, just as they had been thrown from the tiny feet. Here and there upon writing tables lay open books, which were treated by Fräulein Sohle with much discretion, while Lori cast her eyes coolly upon the essays, and pretended to discover from the superscriptions of letters which were begun, that there must be several cousins in the school, who were on friendly terms with absent ones, and she was touched at the assurances of affection that prevailed between these loving relatives.