Still it would last Professor Le
Beau's time, for his heart would have broken had he been
compelled to move. He had taught here for the last thirty
years, and had become part and parcel of the neighborhood.
Jennings, quietly dressed in blue serge with brown boots and a
bowler hat, turned down the lane and advanced towards the
double door of the Academy, which was surmounted by an
allegorical group of plaster figures designed by Le Beau
himself, and representing Orpheus teaching trees and animals
to dance. The allusion was not complimentary to his pupils,
for if Le Beau figured as Orpheus, what were the animals?
However, the hot-tempered little man refused to change his
allegory and the group remained. Jennings passed under it and
into the building with a smile which the sight of those
figures always evoked. Within, the building on the ground
floor was divided into two rooms--a large hall for the
dancing lessons and a small apartment used indifferently as a
reception-room and an office. Above, on the first story, were
the sitting-room, the dining-room and the kitchen; and on the
third, under a high conical roof, the two bedrooms of the
Professor and Peggy, with an extra one for any stranger who
might remain. Where Margot, the French cook and
maid-of-all-work, slept, was a mystery. So it will be seen
that the accommodation of the house was extremely limited.
However, Le Beau, looked after by Peggy and Margot, who was
devoted to him, was extremely well pleased, and extremely
happy in his light airy French way.
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