"It's Christmas, almost, dear Fraulein. It's secrets here now. We can't let you in."

"Indianee?" asked the Fraulein, pointing to the placard. "What you mean, Marione?"

"It was meant to mean 'No Admittance' in German, Fraulein."

Such funny little shrieks as the Fraulein uttered, no one could understand, not even Marion, who was looking in her face. There were anger and fun and amazement, chasing each other in quick succession, her hands beating time to each feeling, as an instrument utters its music to the touch.

To the amazement of all, it ended in the Fraulein shrieking out,--

"Lilly White! You be a--what you call um der thor, narr, dummkopf, fool, idiotte; you know German, nicht! nicht, you idiotte!"

In these hard words the little German teacher's anger wholly vanished; pulling down the placard, she tore it in bits, gathered them up in her small white ap.r.o.n, made a sweeping courtesy, and trotted away.

As soon as she was fairly out of hearing, the girls began to busy themselves about their Christmas work. Lilly White's room was full of things to be made into pretty gifts for the tree, of which the Fraulein's share was by far the largest.

There is a wonderful degree of thoughtfulness among a company of girls. Not one there but knew of Marion's circ.u.mstances, and how impossible it would be for her, out of her slender purse, to meet the demands of the occasion. If Gladys Philbrick had generously helped her to prepare the pretty gifts which were on their way to her far-away home, so these girls as generously planned that in the Fraulein's festival she should not find herself in the embarra.s.sing position of being the one who should receive, without making a return.

It was beautiful to see the delicacy with which they managed the whole, so that Marion hardly felt how much they gave, and how pleasantly she received.

On Christmas morning the whole house was early astir. All up and down the corridors, long before the dim light penetrated into them, white-robed figures flitted noiselessly from door to door. "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" was whispered inside, until a ghost-like procession of some twenty girls headed for the Fraulein's room.

This was at the end of the second corridor, and as they approached it not a sound was to be heard from within but the satisfactory one of long and loud snores.

It had been agreed on the previous night that not a door should be locked on the inside, and Helen Stratton, "the cute girl," who could do anything she tried to do, was chosen to open this door. This she did so noiselessly, that the whole twenty girls entered the room and surrounded the Fraulein's bed without so much as interrupting a single snore. Then all at once a merry chorus broke out with,--

"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, Fraulein!"

The Fraulein stirred in her bed. Then another shout, louder than the first, and she sat bolt upright.

The gas in the hall had been lighted, and stole in through the transom sufficiently to give the ghost-like look the girls sought; but even with this, she was slow in comprehending what was happening.

One more shout, and she sprang out of bed, catching the one nearest to her, and giving her a good, hard shaking. "Der Christtag! Der Christtag! Frohlich Weinacht! Frohlich; I wishes you 'arpy Christtag!

What _you_ call it?"

"Merry Christmas!" shouted the girls.

"Ah, Ja! Ja! Merrie Christmas! one Merrie Christmas, a t'ousand Merrie Christmas. Now you go dress! Miss Ashton say, 'Fraulein, the young ladies tak cough.' You catched me, I catched you to-nacht. You see!

gute nacht! gute nacht!"

And like a very small queen, in her pretty nightdress, she waved the girls away, then locked her door; if they had come back only a few minutes later, they would have heard the same musical sounds coming from her bed.

But when the day had fairly dawned, it would have been difficult to find a more wide-awake, alert teacher than the Fraulein, or one that could have given a truer and pleasanter Christmas day and night.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

FRaULEIN'S GYMNASTICS.

"Fraulein, can you have prayers for the young ladies in the small reception-room on Christmas morning?" Miss Ashton asked with much hesitation the day before leaving.

"Ja! Ja!" answered the Fraulein, all smiles and nods.

"Very well, then, I will give the notice to-night. As Christmas is a religious festival, I shall be glad to have a religious as well as a festival observation of it. As for the matter of going to church, the young-ladies can do as they please; there need be nothing compulsory about it."

"I mistand," and the Fraulein congratulated herself on her correct English. "All wrong; nein! nein, all."

"Right," said Miss Ashton, laughing.

"Oui, Ja! Der Dank! Tanks. I learn Anglais soon. Patientia, Fraulein Ashton. I learn soon, by un by."

In compliance with this request, after a hasty Christmas breakfast, the girls a.s.sembled in the reception-room, and waited with more curiosity than devotion the coming of the Fraulein.

She had not been down to breakfast, and when she made her appearance now, it was as if an odd-shaped swan was waddling into the room. From head to foot she was dressed in a fluffy white stuff, that stood out all over her like snow-feathers.

A stifled laugh greeted her, but of this she took no notice; walking slowly to the table that had been prepared for her, she turned a solemn face toward the girls, opened a German prayer-book, and began to read the service for Christmas morning, stopping when she came to the places for the chant, and, motioning to her audience to rise and join her, she sang in sweet tones music familiar to the girls, in which, with the English words they were accustomed to, they all joined.

Then down she fell upon her knees, the others following her example, and with her eyes half shut, and her little hands folded reverently upon her prayer-book, she rattled off prayer after prayer with astonishing rapidity.

Now, though the young ladies had come in anything but a solemn frame of mind, which the Fraulein's droll appearance was not calculated to change, there was something so devotional, almost solemn, in her rapidly changing expression of face, that they became at once and unconsciously devout. Dropping on their knees, and covering their faces, they joined her "Amens" with hushed voices, and into their susceptible hearts the hallowing influence of the religious festival found ready entrance.

They were hardly prepared to see the Fraulein spring lightly upon her feet, to hear a merry laugh ring out, and "Good-morgen! good-morgen!"

spoken with the accompaniment of a cloud of white batting, that flew off from her arms and shoulders as she laughed.

Queer little Fraulein! but good and kind as she was queer!

All day long she worked indefatigably alone in the big parlor. Not one of the girls was allowed even so much as a peep within the doors.

The day was a rarely fine one for a New England Christmas. The sun shone out of a cloudless sky; a warm south wind blew gently over the deep snow-drifts; little sparrows hopped delightedly upon the branches of the Norway spruces that grew close to the house, lifted their pretty wings as if to coax the wind and sun, while they chirped their cheerful Christmas carols, stole the late berries from the trees, and twisted their round heads so they could send loving glances up to the bevy of pretty girls that watched and smiled down upon them, as they fed them from their windows.

At seven o'clock the gong was sounded, and the young ladies in gala dresses filed into the bright parlor.

In the centre of the room was a large tree. Near it stood the Fraulein, smiling and courtesying to each one as she entered. A quaint little figure she was; yet, with all her quaintness, there was enough of dignity to suppress any merriment her appearance might have caused.

The number and variety of these gifts was a marvel to them. When they were fairly distributed, the Fraulein lifted the cover of an unopened box, and took from it a gift for every teacher.

Good, happy Fraulein! Not a thoughtful word or a kind act from these to you strangers in a strange land, but you have treasured in your homesick heart, and from the Vater Land you bring to them all to-day your grateful recognition of it all!

Perhaps the happiest of them was the lame Nellie, who, yet weak and pale from her sickness, had with the Fraulein's consent brought to the Christmas-tree little pictures which she had painted in her convalescence, as gifts to them all. She held tight to Marion's hand.

In some way, she could not have told you how, she seemed to herself to have owed to this dear friend the ability to have painted them. It was a little cross she gave Marion, but she had hung on it a wreath of lovely rosebuds, meaning, through them, to convey to Marion how her love had made the cross of her suffering beautiful.

As the vacation had commenced on the twenty-third of December, and school did not begin again until the fifth of January, there was quite a time remaining after the excitement of Christmas had pa.s.sed.

The more scholarly and industrious of the girls remaining at the academy at once applied themselves to making up whatever deficiencies had occurred in their studies.

Marion found plenty to do, not only for herself, but also for Nellie, whose lessons had necessarily run behind during her illness.