seated all round on benches, a congregation of girls of every age,

from nine or ten to twenty. Seen by the dim light of the dips, their

number to me appeared countless, though not in reality exceeding

eighty; they were uniformly dressed in brown stuff frocks of quaint

fashion, and long holland pinafores. It was the hour of study; they

were engaged in conning over their to-morrow's task, and the hum I had

heard was the combined result of their whispered repetitions.

Miss Miller signed to me to sit on a bench near the door, then