Janet looked again in the upper left hand corner. The initials were P.V.M. But it was the address which filled her with surprise. The package was addressed to Miss Jannetje Jan Van Meter Eldon!
The longer she looked at it, the stranger it seemed. "Why, Miss Hilliard, I don't understand it at all. Could it be some joke? Oh, I just imagine that there is some mistake in addresses. Shall we open it?"
"Yes, Janet. But I shall be very busy for a while and have no time for this. I will have it taken to your room and you may do the investigating. I need not tell you to preserve the treasure intact if it should be full of diamonds."
Janet looked up at the tall, slender woman beside her and laughed at the suggestion. She was not afraid of Miss Hilliard, though many of the girls were. Had not Janet been in this school since her sixth year? The older woman's arm now drew her close and her cheek was laid for a moment against Janet's hair.
"Now run along, child. Get back to your lessons and I will have this sent upstairs by Oliver. There he is now, in the hall. Report to my own room after dinner, Janet, and I shall be able to see you in your room if necessary."
Through the partly open door they could see the janitor passing. Summoned by Miss Hilliard, he came after the box immediately and started up the stairs with it. Janet, holding Miss Hilliard's hand looked up into the kind eyes and asked soberly, "Do you suppose that really is my name, Miss Hilliard?"
"It is not impossible, Janet. You have always thought that the Janet came from your grandmother's Scotch ancestry, haven't you?"
"Yes, Miss Hilliard. You know I have everything about her family and pictures of my father from the time he was a baby."
"I hope that there will be something very interesting inside that box, Janet,--but there is the bell now. I must go to the parlors in a moment. I am expecting a call from one of our patrons this afternoon." Miss Hilliard was now the gracious head of the school in her manner, which had the dignity that usually accompanies such management.
Janet, too, made her departure with the formal curtsey which was the custom of the school. Never in the presence of Miss Hilliard did the girls forget their "manners". If so, they were instantly reminded of them.