The class-rooms smelt of varnish and throbbed with the monotonous rattle of the fan; in the wilds one breathed the resinous fragrance of the pines and heard the splash of running water.

For all that, she must not shirk her duty and she tried to make the meaning of the symbols on the board plainer to the languid girls.
By and by she remarked that they were more alert.

Some were making notes, and one or two looked past her with frank curiosity.

The door was behind the board, and Agatha had heard nobody come in, but when she looked round she saw a gray-haired gentleman standing near the lady principal.

He seemed to be listening to what she said and she thought his eyes twinkled as if he understood the difficulty of rousing her pupils' interest.