ss Winn's explanation. "Miss Leverett was
telling about her. I was teaching school here when she was born, and
then the captain took her away to the Ingies again." Most folks
pronounced it that way. "Rather meachin' little thing--I s'pose it was
the climate over there. They say it turns the skin yellow. Let's see how
you read, sissy?"

She read several verses out of the New Testament quite to the dame's
satisfaction. Then about spelling. The second word, in two syllables,
floored her. Had she ciphered? No. Did she know her tables? No. The
capital of the state? That she could answer. When the war broke out?
When peace was declared?

"I'll ask Cousin Leverett," she answered, in nowise abashed by her
ignorance. "He tells me a great many things."

"You must study it out of books. I s'pose she's going to live here?
She's not going back to the Ingies? I heard the captain was coming
home."

"He is settling up his affairs," was the quiet answer.

Dame Wilby looked the child all over.

"You'll sit on that bench," she said. Then she rang the bell and the
children trooped in, staring at her. The little boys--four of them--were
on the seat back of her, on her seat she made the fifth. Betty Upham was
in the desk contingent.

They repeated the Lord's prayer in concert. Then lessons were given out.
The larger girls read.

"You can come and read with this class;" nodding to Cynthia.

She was not a regularly bashful child, but she flushed as the children
stared at her. They sometimes wore their Sunday white frock one or two
days at school. Cynthia was so used to her clothes, cared so little
about them that they were rarely in her mind. But this universal
attention annoyed her.

"'Tend to your books, children."

Cynthia acquitted herself finely, rather too much so, the dame thought.
She would talk to her about it. A girl didn't want to read as if she was
a minister preaching a sermon.

Then she was given a very much "dog's-eared" spelling-book to study down
a column. Another class read some easy lesson; a story about a dog that
interested her so much that she forgot to study. While the older
children were doing sums one little boy after another came up to the
desk and spelled from a book. One's attention wandered and the dame hit
him a sharp rap. Tables followed, eight and nine times; dry measure, and
then questions were asked singly. Some few missed. Cynthia followed the
spelling where they went up and down. Then the lar