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FLORA LESTER and Emma Hausen went to the same school-the primary, or, as it was called, the Kindergarten, department of "Hausen Institute. " This was a large, flourishing, and richly endowed girls' school, in the pretty village of Round Springs. Hausen School, as it was usually called, was a very nice place. It was not a grand "institution," with long halls and little rooms, and numberless rules and regulations, and a wonderful "system," which required so much time to develop it, that there was no time left to take care of the girls.
The school building had originally been a substantial square brick mansion, such as one sees in our pretty country villages; but a room had been added here and another there, a large, airy gymnasium on one side, and some equally airy and spacious class-rooms on the other. You were always coming on little snug bedrooms and study-rooms in unexpected corners, with "engaged" cards hung on the doors, to denote that the inmates were busy, and must not be intruded on. There was a very fine library, containing not only what are usually called "standard works," but a great many curious, interesting, and readable books besides. Behind the house were large grounds, at present somewhat rough and neglected, but none the worse for that in the eyes of the little girls, who found beautiful places for play-houses among the rocks, and nice seats on the roots of the old trees. The health of the young ladies was carefully looked after, and their comfort promoted in every possible way.