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In a few weeks she became perfectly obedient and docile, and a change came over her whole manner; she would submit to have her sister leave her for hours together, moaning, however, sometimes most piteously; until at last she came to desire the society of others, and not only permitted them to caress her, but seemed to grow fond of them. She would sit quietly at her desk, and submit to what was to her the incomprehensible efforts of her teacher: she began also to partake in the sports of the children, and to grow happy, showing but rarely any signs of discontent. She would not, however, remove the mysterious covering from her head, nor could we divine what manner of face she had, for a month; at the end of which time she made a pair of shades, such as the blind children wear over their eyes, and at bed time, made signs to one of the girls, that if she would sleep with her she would remove the bag: the girl did so, and Lucy having first stuffed cotton into the sockets of her eyes, and put on the shades, removed the bag. There had been much curiosity to see her face, and her teacher went up, and found her apparently pleased, but still anxious, and inclined to cover up her head in the bed-clothes.

The next morning she came down with her face exposed, but was evidently uneasy, and if any one approached her she instantly covered it with her hands, or her apron. Judging from her looks and actions, her feelings were those of pleasure at having carried her point, mixed with anxiety and bashfulness about her appearance. She sat much of the time in a corner, with her face turned to the wall; but soon all shyness went off, and in a few days she smiled, and looked happy. Her face presented a singular appearance, being perfectly etiolated, as white and as inexpressive as the unexposed part of a person's arm or chest; but her features were very good, and when she smiled her countenance became very expressive and pleasing.

For the first two months, the daily and patient efforts of her teachers were of no avail whatever. She sat passive and obedient as far as she knew how to be so; but gave no sign of intellectual activity, or the slightest indication that she comprehended the strange movements which she was obliged to make with her fingers. Still I hoped that by some fortuitous combination of thought -- by some chance effort, she might seize hold of the helping hand which was held out to her in the dark.

The first indication of success is thus noticed, April 14, by her teacher. "I tried to teach Lucy to spell the word fig with her fingers, and succeeded in doing so after much trouble; she would not do it however a second time, although she seemed very desirous of having the fig."

Nothing more of note until April 26th, when the following gratifying record was made. "I took a fork and gave her the letters. She was very indifferent, and manifested unwillingness to do what I wished her to, but she made the letters once, and as she was ill I did not urge. Presently Laura came in with some figs. I told her she must give Lucy one. She said, Lucy must spell fig before I give it to her: she went to her, therefore, and showed her the fig, and then spelled it very slowly on her own hand, then signed to her to make the letters: this Lucy would not do at first, but Laura persevered and motioned to her that she might have the fig if she would spell it, and made the letters again on her own hand, and signed again to her to make them herself: at last Lucy found that Laura was in earnest, and she spelled the word f- i - g. Laura then patted her on the head and cheek, and seemed to be perfectly delighted that she had accomplished so much.

I had determined to persevere for six months at least, even if she should not manifest any improvement at all; but before that time the principal difficulty was vanquished, and it became perfectly clear to me that she had hold of the clue which was to guide her mind out of its dark labyrinth. The following extracts from the journals of two different teachers will show that I was not alone in this opinion. The first says,

"June 11th. Took Lucy and Laura as usual in the morning -- made the letters k - e - y, and Lucy set them up correctly without assistance twice; I then began again upon ring, and gave her a copy in the types. She selected the proper ones, but arranged them without order. I then gave her to understand that they must be as the copy, r first, &c., -- this she finally followed, and selected the types a second time, arranging them herself. After she had done this, I motioned for her to go, but she took a nut out of her pocket, and showed by signs that she wished to know what types she must set up for that. Gave her a copy, and she followed it correctly, noticing the order also. Her lesson was nearly an hour long, and she was not inattentive a moment."

"June 21st. Lucy did better than ever before; she set up three words alone, and the fourth with very little assistance."

"July 3d. Tried to find if Lucy really knew the letters in each word, or if it was all by imitation that she succeeded in spelling them; made the letter k with my hand, and a sign that she should find it on the board and give it to me. She tried three other letters before she came to k but afterwards handed it out. I then took another letter, e, and met with the same success.''