“I need not ask if I am addressing Miss Tish,” said the colonel loftily, “for without having the pleasure of—­er—­previous acquaintance, I can at once recognize the—­er—­Lady Superior and—­er—­chatelaine of this—­er—­establishment.”  Miss Tish here gave way to a slight cough and an embarrassed curtsy, as the colonel, with a wave of his white hand towards the burden carried by his follower, resumed more lightly:  “I have brought—­er—­few trifles and gewgaws for my ward—­subject, of course, to your rules and discretion.  They include some—­er—­dainties, free from any deleterious substance, as I am informed—­a sash—­a ribbon or two for the hair, gloves, mittens, and a nosegay—­from which, I trust, it will be her pleasure, as it is my own, to invite you to cull such blossoms as may suit your taste.  Boy, you may set them down and retire!”

“At the present moment,” stammered Miss Tish, “Miss Stannard is engaged on her lessons.  But”—­She stopped again, hopelessly.

“I see,” said the colonel, with an air of playful, poetical reminiscence—­“her lessons!  Certainly!

     ’We will—­er—­go to our places,
     With smiles on our faces,
     And say all our lessons distinctly and slow.’

Certainly!  Not for worlds would I interrupt them; until they are done, we will—­er—­walk through the classrooms and inspect”—­

“No! no!” interrupted the horrified, principal, with a dreadful presentiment of the appalling effect of the colonel’s entry upon the class.  “No!—­that is—­I mean—­our rules exclude—­except on days of public examination”—­

“Say no more, my dear madam,” said the colonel politely.  “Until she is free I will stroll outside, through—­er—­the groves of the Academus”—­

But Miss Tish, equally alarmed at the diversion this would create at the classroom windows, recalled herself with an effort.  “Please wait here a moment,” she said hurriedly; “I will bring her down;” and before the colonel could politely open the door for her, she had fled.

Happily unconscious of the sensation he had caused, Colonel Starbottle seated himself on the sofa, his white hands resting easily on the gold-headed cane.  Once or twice the door behind him opened and closed quietly, scarcely disturbing him; or again opened more ostentatiously to the words, “Oh, excuse, please,” and the brief glimpse of a flaxen braid, or a black curly head—­to all of which the colonel nodded politely—­even rising later to the apparition of a taller, demure young lady—­and her more affected “Really, I beg your pardon!” The only result of this evident curiosity was slightly to change the colonel’s attitude, so as to enable him to put his other hand in his breast in his favorite pose.  But presently he was conscious of a more active movement in the hall, of the sounds of scuffling, of a high youthful voice saying “I won’t” and “I shan’t!” of the door opening to a momentary apparition of Miss Tish dragging a small hand and half of a small black-ribboned arm into the room, and her rapid disappearance again, apparently pulled back by the little hand and arm; of another and longer pause, of a whispered conference outside, and then the reappearance of Miss Tish majestically, reinforced and supported by the grim presence of her partner, Miss Prinkwell.