"
They trimmed the little schoolhouse with evergreen and erected a
small stage, where the teacher's desk had been. Sheets were hung,
for curtains, on a ten-foot rod.
A while after dark one could hear a sound of sleigh-bells in the
distance. Away on drifted pike and crossroad the bells began to
fling their music. It seemed to come in rippling streams of sound
through the still air, each with its own voice. In half an hour
countless echoes filled the space between them, and all were as one
chorus, wherein, as it came near, one could distinguish song and
laughter.
Young people from afar came in cutters and by the sleigh load;
those who lived near, afoot with lanterns. They were a merry
company, crowding the schoolhouse, laughing and whispering as they
waited for the first exhibit. Trove called them to order and made
a few remarks.
"Remember," said he, "this is not our exhibition. It is only a
sort of preparation for one we have planned. In about twenty years
the Linley School is to give an exhibition worth seeing. It will
be, I believe, an exhibition of happiness, ability, and success on
the great stage of the world. Then I hope to have on the programme
speeches in Congress, in the pulpit, and at the bar.
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