Helen Grant's Schooldays

Amanda M. Douglas

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• Publié par: anki
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 48
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Helen Grant's Schooldays, by Amanda M. Douglas This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Helen Grant's Schooldays Author: Amanda M. Douglas Illustrator: Amy Brooks Release Date: May 23, 2010 [EBook #32496] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOLDAYS *** Produced by Darleen Dove, Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Pg i] HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOLDAYS BOOKS BY AMANDA M. DOUGLAS [Pg ii] THE HELEN GRANT BOOKS ILLUSTRATED HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOLDAYS HELEN GRANT'S FRIENDS HELEN GRANT AT ALDRED HOUSE HELEN GRANT IN COLLEGE HELEN GRANT, SENIOR HELEN GRANT, GRADUATE HELEN GRANT, TEACHER HELEN GRANT'S DECISION HELEN GRANT'S HARVEST YEAR $1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 ALMOST AS GOOD AS A BOY . Illustrated by BERTHA G. DAVIDSON HEROES OF THE CRUSADES. Fifty full-page Illustrations from GUSTAVE DORÉ 1.25 1.50 LARRY (THE $2000 PRIZE STORY) 1.0 THE KATHIE STORIES. Six 1.00 Volumes. Illustrated. Per volume THE DOUGLAS NOVELS. Twenty- 1.00 four Volumes. Per vol. LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. BOSTON [Pg iii] Helen tells her dreams to the old apple tree. (Frontispiece.) Page 6. HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOLDAYS BY [Pg iv] AMANDA M. DOUGLAS Author of "In the King's Country," "In Trust," "Larry," "The Kathie Stories," "Almost as Good as a Boy," etc. ILLUSTRATED BY AMY BROOKS BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. Published, August, 1903 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY LEE AND SHEPARD [Pg v] All rights reserved HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOLDAYS Norwood Press BERWICK & SMITH CO. Norwood, Mass. U.S.A. [Pg vi] CONTENTS CHAPTER I. HELEN, II. AN EXCURSION TO HOPE, III. AIR CASTLES WITH FOUNDATIONS, IV. PLANTING OF SMALL SEEDS, V. A GIRL'S DREAMS, VI. HOW THEY ALL PLANNED, VII. SUCCESSFUL, VIII. MRS. VANDORN'S WINNING HAND, IX. DIFFERENT STANDPOINTS, X. BEGINNING ANEW, XI. SCHOOL IN EARNEST, XII. THE COURAGE OF CONVICTIONS, XIII. A LITTLE SEED SOWN, XIV. AND THORNS SPRANG UP, XV. BETWIXT TWO, XVI. HOPE THROUGH A WIDER OUTLOOK, XVII. IN THE DELIGHTFUL CURRENT, XVIII. WRIT IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE, PAGE 1 20 41 65 87 106 127 148 169 196 218 238 263 284 306 328 348 371 [Pg vii] ILLUSTRATIONS Helen tells her dreams to the old apple-tree. (Frontispiece) Helen put her head down suddenly, and pressed her lips on the jewelled hand Helen's first day at Aldred House When Helen returned there was a box that had been sent across the water, with some pretty laces and a fine neck-chain and charm He looked like an old picture, but he was a gentleman, every inch of him PAGE 6 55 192 272 390 [Pg 1] HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOLDAYS CHAPTER I HELEN It had been a great day for the children at Hope Center the closing day of school, the last of the term, the last of the week. The larger boys and girls had spent the morning decorating the "big" room, which was to be the assembly-room. At the Center they were still quite primitive. There were many old or rather elderly people very much opposed to "putting on airs." Boys and girls went to school together, but they wouldn't have called it co-education. So the main room where various meetings and occasional entertainments were held, was always known by the appellation "big." It was very prettily trimmed with the shining sprays of "bread and butter," and wild clematis, and the platform was gay with flowers. Seats were arranged on either hand for the graduating class, and the best singers in school. There was a very good attendance. Closing day was held in as high esteem as Washington's [Pg 2] Birthday, or Decoration Day. Christmas was only partly kept, the old Hope settlers being an offshoot of the Puritans, and the one little Episcopalian chapel had almost to fight for its Holy days. The first three seats in the audience-room were full of children in Sunday attire. The girl graduates were in white, with various colored ribbons. The boys' habiliments had followed no especial rule. But they were a bright, happy-looking lot, taking a deep interest in what they were to do. The boys had an entertaining historical exercise. One began with a brief account of causes leading to the revolution. Another followed with the part Boston played, then New York, then Philadelphia, Virginia, and the surrender of Cornwallis; afterward, two or three patriotic songs, several recitations—two distinctly humorous—another song or two, and then Helen Grant's selection, which was "Hervé Riel," a poem she had cut from a paper, that somehow inspired her. Diplomas were then distributed, and the "Star Spangled Banner," sung by everybody, finished the exercises. Helen was fourteen, well-grown and very well-looking, without being pretty enough to arouse anyone's envy. [Pg 3] "A great girl for book-learning," her uncle said, while Aunt Jane declared "She didn't see but people got along just as well without so much of it. It had never done a great deal for Ad Grant." Helen had a bright, sunny nature—well, for that matter, she had a good many sides to her nature, and no girl of fourteen has them all definite at once. Some get toned down, some flash out here and there, and those of real worth come to have a steady shining light later on. But she never could hear Aunt Jane say "Ad Grant" in the peculiar tone she used without a sharp pang. For Addison Grant was her father, that is if he was still alive, and when Aunt Jane wanted to be particularly tormenting, she was sure he was roaming the world somewhere, and forgetting that he had a child. Sixteen years before he had come to Hope Center and taught school. A tall, thin nondescript sort of man, a college graduate, but that didn't raise him in anyone's estimation. He was queer and always working at some kind of problems, and doing bits of translating from old Latin and Greek writers, and spent his money for books that he considered of great value. Why pretty Kitty Mulford should have married him was a mystery, but [Pg 4] why he should have taken her would have seemed a greater puzzle to intellectual people. They went to one of the larger cities, where he taught, then to another, and so on; and when Helen was seven her mother came back to the Center a hopeless invalid with consumption, and died. Mr. Grant seemed very much broken. No one knew what a trial the frivolous, childish wife had been. He was disappointed at not having a son. He had some peculiar ideas about