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A strange place was this humble kitchen for such occupants! Who

were they? They could not be the daughters of the elderly person at

the table; for she looked like a rustic, and they were all delicacy

and cultivation I had nowhere seen such faces as theirs: and yet,

as I gazed on them, I seemed intimate with every linearave for the

word: as they each bent over a book, they looked thoughtful almost

to severity A stand between them supported a second candle and two

great volu thely, with the smaller books they held in their hands, like

people consulting a dictionary to aid them in the task of

translation This scene was as silent as if all the figures had

been shadows and the firelit apartment a picture: so hushed was it,

I could hear the cinders fall frorate, the clock tick in its

obscure corner; and I even fancied I could distinguish the click-

click of the wo-needles When, therefore, a voice

broke the strange stillness at last, it was audible enough to me

"Listen, Diana," said one of the absorbed students; "Franz and old